The Dead Live On (28 page)

“Is it worth all this, Kate? Your friends are dead and I think you can guess where I’m going next.”

Weak and breathless, Kate struggled to speak but he began kicking her in her sides and relentlessly rained heavy blows down upon
her until she fell unconscious. Out of breath now himself, Montgomery stood and ran his hand through his hair and adjusted his jacket. He walked over to the bar and finished the untouched glass of bourbon that Jack had poured earlier. He was in no hurry to get to the children; they would be plenty of time for that later. Where could they go? He laughed to himself, and thought that they were all stupid. Everything would have been fine if they had just agreed to cooperate. He didn’t ask for much and they made him kill them. Hopefully, there would be more cooperative citizens above who would recognize leadership when they saw it. He watched Kate for five minutes more to make sure that she was dead, and satisfied with his conclusion, he went in search of the children.

Chapter Forty Three

“Let’s go.” Ethan whispered. They’d been standing in the entrance to the west hall and had been waiting for Montgomery to head to the east hall to find them. Ethan had the gun pointed down to the floor, just like he’d seen in the cops and robbers shows. He held Angel’s hand and together they ran to Kate as soon as Montgomery left the room.

Angel slapped Kate’s face several times and finally managed to wake her, but barely. She mumbled to Angel about the necklace and a journal that she must get.
Though it was hard for Ethan to understand, Angel understood perfectly. Ethan handed her the gun and she weakly grabbed it. She pushed it under her hip so it would be out of view if Montgomery came back. Ethan waked over to the bodies of his father and Pat. Though there were no tears, his heart was crushed and suddenly this young boy seemed to carry the look of a man. His face filled with grief and rage. Soon they heard Montgomery’s footsteps and he was calling their names, having discovered their room empty.

Kate feebly begged them to find somewhere to hide and Angel ran and slid underneath the large sofa, it did not serve very well for a hiding space but there was nowhere else to hide. Ethan remained standing next to his father’s body, waiting for Montgomery to enter the room. Kate became still once again and prayed that Ethan didn’t get too close to Montgomery.

    
As soon as Montgomery entered the room, Ethan ran at him headfirst, pummeling at his chest and legs. Montgomery laughed at him, grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him down in the recliner. He puts his hands on both arms of the chair and towered over Ethan.

“Where is Angel?” He asked Ethan.

      “None of your business! You leave Angel alone!” Ethan began kicking out at Montgomery’s shins and his head spun from the vicious slap that Montgomery delivered.

Montgomery asked again only screaming this time, “WHERE IS ANGEL?”

      “I’ll never tell you!” Ethan screamed back.

     
“Oh, really? You little shit.” Montgomery picked him up out of the chair and carried him to the sofa where he slammed him down flat and began choking him. Ethan’s hands and legs flailing out at him but having no effect.

      
Kate had lain there waiting for him to get in a position where she wouldn’t hurt one of the children if she fired and now he was positioned with his back to her. Angel stared at her from under the couch, her eyes wide with fear. Kate used the last of her strength to remove the gun from under her hip and struggled to aim the gun at Montgomery’s back. Her body shook from the effort and she could only see with one eye. Praying for God to guide the bullet she pulled the trigger and her shot was true. It hit Montgomery in the right buttock causing him to release Ethan and stand up straight. Mustering the strength to fire another shot, it entered the left side of his back and it burst out the front of his chest, Montgomery fell dead to floor. Kate’s arm flopped back down and the gun left her hand. The children ran to her and Angel rained kisses all over her face and told her, “You did good, Kate. You did good.” Kate squeezed Angel’s hand and uttered the word ‘journal’ before expelling her last breath.

      
Angel sat with her for a long time while Ethan gathered their shoes and clothes for them to change into. While he was gone, the time lock had disengaged and they were free to go. Taking Angel’s hand, Ethan led her out into the hall leading to the hatch and found the packs that Kate had packed for their exploration journey earlier. Ethan rummaged through them and put all of the food that he found into one pack and the weapons, he placed in another with only one of the first aid kits that he had found in them. Ethan carried the heavier of the two and led Angel to the ladder to the hatch.

    
“Wait here,” he told her. Ethan entered the code that he had memorized a year before when his father called it in to Pat. The light turned green and he pulled the handle and pushed the door open. The sunlight cast a bright shaft of light down into the shelter and they both shielded their eyes, squinting repeatedly until their eyes adjusted to the intensity of it. Ethan climbed out of the hatch and looked around. The trees were just as green, the air fresh and renewing and the sky a beautiful blue. At that moment it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

    
“Come on out, Angel! It’s beautiful!”

      
Angel seemed to hesitate and Ethan looked down the shaft and called for her again. She scrambled up the ladder, and Teddy fell from her hands, she turned and watched him drop to the floor and lay there face up smiling at her. Instead of going back down for him, she scrambled the rest of the way to the top.

    
“Shut the door! Shut the door. He’s back!” She cried.

    
“Who’s back?” Ethan said while shutting the door.

    
“Now lock it! Hurry!” she told him.

    
“Ethan lifted the patch of grass and entered the code again. They heard the lock engage.  

    
“Who was it?” he asked her.

    
“Him! Mr. Mason! He’s a scary monster!” she said reaching to pick up the bag that was almost too heavy for her to carry. Ethan helped her pick it up and put the straps around her shoulders. “It’s much easier this way,” he said. Ethan put his bag on his back, too and they began walking away from the entrance to the shelter. They could hear Montgomery beating on the door every few seconds. Though it was slow and weak, they could hear it still as they neared the entrance to the woods.

    
“I’m scared, Ethan! I don’t want to go into the woods!” Angel cried. Ethan thought about this for a moment, and said, “Well, we can’t go back. All we can do is move ahead.”  They joined hands and entered the surrounding woods to find a path that led to the outside world, all the while unaware that the chem-bombs had been a failure.

Dr. O’Dey had created the formula in such a small time frame that the proper tests couldn’t be run. Though it served its purpose in the initial testing, they had no idea that it would lose its potency within days of being packed into the canisters. It had taken over a month to get them launched and at that point, could cause no harm, to even a fly. When the bombs exploded, it served only to cover the land in fine white dust and had no effects whatsoever on the infected. In fact, there were far more now than there were when they entered the shelter a year ago, and many were gathered on the other side of the woods, just a few hundred yards ahead of them.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading The Dead Live On.

I am currently working on the sequel and will be released at a time undetermined. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. If you have enjoyed this book, please share with your friends.   Juli
e


Copyright©2013
TheDeadLiveOnJulieCooperBrown