Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (69 page)

Something
was
going
on
with Mrs. Johnson.
It
threw
even
more
confusion
into the mix.

“Drop
‘em!”
Quinn ordered
again.
He
lifted
Liet’s
arms
up, causing
a
groan
of
pain
to
leave
his mouth.
“Now!”

They
did
as
they
were
told. The
bodyguard
stood
with mouth open.
He
looked
back
at
me.

“Don’t
listen
to
them,”
he
croaked. “Shoot
them.”

Another
scream
sounded
from
the
next room.
My
stomach
fluttered.
We
had
to
get
in
there.
Our
whole
takeover
depended
on using
Mrs. Johnson
as
a
bargaining
tool.
If
something
happened
to
her,
we
were
out of
luck.
Who
was
in
there?
What
was
going
on?

The
bodyguard
stared
at
the
door.

“What
are
you
gonna
do?”
I
wondered.
“She’s
counting
on
you
to
save
her.”
I
fired
my
gun
again, this
time into the
ceiling
right
above
his
head.
He
flinched
as
bits of
ceiling
fell onto him.
“Into
the
room,
slowly.”

The
soldiers
held up their
hands
and
backed
in. We
followed
behind
them.

Mrs. Johnson
was
on the
couch.
A
soldier
stood
behind
her,
a
gun
pressed
to her
temple.
Crap!
How
could
we
talk our
way
out of
this?
Quinn
pushed
Liet
onto the
floor
and
held
him
down with the
heel
of
his
boot. The
soldiers
gathered
in a
corner
of
the
room. I
moved so
I
had Mrs. Johnson
and
the
prisoners
in
my
line
of
sight.

“I
thought
that
was
you
out
there,”
a
female
said.

I
glanced
at
the
soldier
behind Mrs. Johnson
and
almost
burst out
laughing.

“Abby,
right?”

She
nodded.

Thank
goodness
she was
on our
side. I
knew
there
was
something about
her the
first
time
I
met
her.
Of
course,
I
didn’t want to
get
my
hopes
up.
I’d
been
disappointed
before.

“Krista,
watch
Mrs. Johnson. I
need to
get
something
to tie
these guys
up.”

I
took her
place behind
the
couch.
She
moved to
the
curtains
and
pulled
out the
ties.
She
motioned
toward
Quinn.

“Can
you
help
me
with this?”

He
dug
his
heel
deeper
into
Liet’s
back,
a
warning
that if he
should
decide
to
move, he
would
pay
for it,
before
walking
across the
room
to
help
Abby.
Mrs. Johnson
looked
at
me. Her
mascara
ran
down her
face,
her
hair
stuck up in
all
directions.
She
was
dressed, but
part
of
her
shirt
was
untucked, the
rest
was
wrinkled. She
looked
anything
but
stately.

The
two
finished
immobilizing
the
soldiers,
then
moved to the
bodyguard.
He
growled
and
swatted
at
them, but he
was
too
weak.
He
lost a
lot of blood.
It
pooled on the
carpet
below him, his
face
was white
and
dotted
in
sweat. Dark
circles
formed
under his
eyes.
He
swayed,
like
he
would fall
over
any
moment.

“Staunch
the
bleeding.”
Abby
grabbed
a
pillow
off
the
couch
and
ripped
of the
cover.
She
tossed
it to Quinn.

He
folded
it and
wrapped
it
around
the
man’s
shoulder. Using
a
cord,
he
secured
the
case
in
place.
The
bodyguard
flinched,
a
small
grunt
of
pain
escaped
his
mouth. Quinn
tightened
the
makeshift
bandage
with a
cord
from
the
blinds. When he
finished,
he
tied
the
bodyguard’s
hands
to his
waist.

I
would
have
felt sorry
for the
guy,
should
have.
I
knew
exactly
how he
felt. The
agony
of being
shot in the
shoulder. But
he planted
zombies in the
back of the
truck,
killed
innocent
people,
and
blamed
it on us.
In
a
way,
it
was
justice. Actually,
no.
Justice
would
have
been him
being
torn limb
from
limb
by
the zombie
horde.
It
was
still a
possibility,
but we’d
have
to
keep
him
alive
long
enough.
I
doubted it
was
worth
the
risk.

When
everyone
was secure,
Abby
focused
her
attention
back
on me.

“You
have
the
number?”

“Yeah.
In
my
sling.”
I
didn’t
want
to risk taking
the
gun
away
from
Mrs.
Johnson.
I
didn’t know
why.
It wasn’t
like she
could
hurt me.
Still, we
didn’t
get
as
far
as
we
did
by
taking chances.

Abby
approached
and
dug
around
my
arm.
She
found
the
card
and
headed for
the
phone.
She
dialed
the
number
carefully
and
waited
for a
moment.
“Abby
here.
Johnsons’
Town
occupied.”

I
couldn’t
help but smile.
It
was
about
time
luck
came
back
to
me,
and
I
was
happy
fate
favored
the
righteous.

CHAPTER
21

I
relaxed
slightly
as
Abby
hung
up the phone.
The
hard
part
was
over.
All we
had
to do
was
wait.
As soon
as
we
had
control
over
the
other
Families, it
was
only
a
matter
of time
before
they
lost their
power.

“Do
you
really
think
you’re
going
to
get
away
with
this?”
Mrs.
Johnson
growled.

I
chuckled. “Uh,
I
think
we
already
have.”

She
scoffed.
“I
haven’t
given in to
your
demands. Neither
has
anyone else. There
are
still
soldiers
out
there
who
will
fight
to the
death.
You
and
your
friends
won’t
get
out of this alive.”

“Really?”
Abby
snorted.
“You
truly
believe
that?
How
long
do
you
think those
soldiers
are
going
to
hold
out without
power?
Or
the people? You’ll
have
a
full-
fledged
riot on
your
hands
by
the end of
the
night. You’ll
give
in to our
demands.”
She
moved
across
the
room and
secured
the
doors,
wrapping
cords
around
the handles
and
placing
chairs
to
block
them. No one
was
getting
in or
out.

“What
should we
do with him?”
Quinn
pointed
at
the
bodyguard.
He
leaned
against
another
soldier,
his
head
lolled
backward.
He
was
going
to pass out.

“He
needs a doctor.”
Mrs. Johnson’s
voice was
laced
with
concern. “He’s
going
to
die.”

“Sounds
like
justice
to
me.”

Her
head
jerked
around
to
look at me.
Anger
pinched
her
face.

I
shrugged
and
turned
away. Like her
judgment
affected
me.

“We
should
get
him some
help,”
Abby
agreed.
“I’ll
call
a
doctor.”
She
walked
back
toward the
phone.

Quinn walked up
to the
bodyguard
and
helped
him sit up.
Keeping
him
conscious
was
the most
important
thing
to do. I
laid
my
gun
hand
on the
back of
the
couch,
sighing
loudly. I
wanted
them
to hear
my
disdain,
my
disregard
for
what
they
were
doing,
but they
ignored
me. I
rolled
my
eyes. Whatever.
They
could do
what
they
want.

Something
slammed
into
my
back
and
I
went
down,
my
face
smooshed
into the
carpet.
My
shoulder
crackled,
then
went
ablaze
with pain. I
couldn’t
catch
my
breath. Someone
grabbed
my
good
arm
and
flipped
me onto
my
back.
They
sat on
my
chest. I
blinked
and
looked
into
Liet’s
face.
It
was
red
from
neck
to
hairline,
rage
flashed
through
his
eyes.

“We
could
have
been a
family!”
he
screamed
before
slamming
his
hand
down
onto the
side of
my
head.
Stars
danced
in front of
my
eyes.
It
felt
like
my
skull
was
being
split
open. “I’m
the
only
one
who
can take
care
of
you!”

Whack!
Another
blow
to
the
head.
My
vision went
black.
I
struggled
against him,
trying
to
get
a
hand
free,
but he
had
me
pinned with his
knees.
I
wanted
to flip out
my
arm
sword,
but
it
was
crushed
into the
carpet.

“If
you
won’t be
mine,
you
won’t
be
anyone’s.”

Rough
hands
laced
around
my
neck, applying
pressure.
I
gagged
and
attempted to
suck
in
air.
Where
was
Quinn?
Abby?
Why
wasn’t
anyone
helping
me? I
wiggled
beneath
him, trying
with all
my
might to
get
away.
My
muscles
were slow to
respond,
lack
of
oxygen
made
them
sluggish.
I
thought
of
my
parents.
My
thoughts
drifted
to the
night
we
spent in the
attic.
I
remembered
my
mom’s
arms
around
me.
Then,
I
thought
about
how
I
slept between the two. The
images
drifted
to
the
horseback-riding
trip
we
took to
Yellowstone.
I
smelled
the pine
trees
and
felt
the
cool
breeze
in
my
hair.
In
the next
scene,
I
was in Disney
World, laughing
as
my
parents
and
I
ran
to the
next
ride.
We
all
wore
mouse
ears,
we
panted
in the heat.
After
that, the picture
went
black.
I
lost the ability
to
move.
Air
wasn’t
moving
through
my
lungs.
I
was
going
to
die.

Suddenly,
the
pressure
left
my
neck,
and
oxygen
flooded
into
my
lungs.
I
gasped
and
coughed
as
my
body
attempted
to
take
in the
air.
My
vision
was
still
blurry,
but
I
could
see
Liet
on the
floor
next to me, someone
on
top of him.
It
was
Quinn.
Finally.
What took him so
long?
I
pulled
myself
into a
sitting
position
and
took a
moment
to let
my
body
recuperate.
I
needed to help
Quinn. I
needed to
take
out
Liet,
but
I
didn’t have
the
strength.
I
couldn’t
stand.

The
pair
rolled
across
the
floor,
exchanging
punches
to any
part of
the
body
they
could
hit.
Grunts
and
swears
filled the
air.
My
vision
cleared
further. Liet
rolled
Quinn onto his
back,
his
hands
wrapped
around
Quinn’s
neck.
Quinn
gasped.
He
punched
Liet
in the
head
a
few
times,
each
one
weaker than the
last.
I
tried to
get
to
my
feet.
My
legs
shook and
gave
out. I
crawled
toward
them.