The Mortis Desolation (Book 1): Mortis (6 page)

I
pulled
my gun to my shoulder, and unleashed a flurry of bullets that exploded through the cracked windshield and tore through the zombies that were trying to make their way inside.

I unbuckled my seatbelt and fell in a heap to the ground. I flopped over onto my stomach, and looked in the back seat. We weren’t going too fast, so everybody was alive. Daniel and John had huge gashes on their heads, and were bleeding pretty heavily. And from the way Peter’s arm twisted, I could tell it was broken, even though he was too dazed to realize the pain yet. Rachel seemed to be the least hurt, as she was already checking on Daniel’s wounds.

I turned my attention to Julia, who clutched at her arm as she hung in the air. Her seatbelt dug into her body as it kept her from falling on top of me. Blood seeped from between her fingers, and dripped onto my shirt, absorbing into the fabric. “It’ll be alright, Julia,” I told her. “We’ll get out of here.”

She mumbled something, but her face was beginning to turn white. She was close to losing consciousness.

I shot a few more zombies that were getting a little to close for comfort. I turned to the back. Daniel and John almost had their wits about them, but Peter was beginning to feel the pain from his broken arm. “You guys help Julia, I’ll get out and lay down some cover fire.”

I could hear the Roves shouting and coming our way, but I also became aware of the stomping sounds on the side of the car above us. The zombies began to use our car as a bridge, as well as coming across the dirt-packed bridge that was already there for cars. These two walkways provided enough distraction for the Roves, but it wouldn’t be long until either they, or the zombies, got to us.

I shot a couple more zombies who laid in the trench, reaching out for us. I used my arms to help push myself forward. I pushed my leg on the seat behind me, but as I put pressure on it, pain coursed through it and I let out a yell. I looked down, remembering that the bullet that shot through Julia grazed my leg. My pants were torn, but the wound was more of a burn from the heat of the bullet then it was a gash. The bullet barely nicked me, but damn did it hurt.

I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain. What the zombies and the Roves had in store if they caught us would be a lot worse then a little pain from a bullet. I again pushed my leg on the back of the seat, and ignored the pain that traveled through me. I crawled out of the van, glass tearing into my arms. I grabbed onto a dead zombie, and used it to pull myself out of the van.

The zombie oozed black blood, and I fought the urge to throw up from the smell. The blood mixed with the dirt creating a disgusting mud that began to cover me. I got off my hands and knees and into a crouching position. I got my gun ready, and peeked over the edge of the trench.

The Roves were about a hundred and fifty feet away, taking out zombie after zombie. A lot of them were coming now, all the noise and commotion drawing them to the Roves. I didn’t fire my weapon. It was best to let the Roves stay distracted by the zombies, and forget about us for a few seconds so we could get out of there.

I crawled over the dead zombies and stuck my head into the van. John crawled out just as I did.

“Alright,” he told Daniel, “I’m ready.”

He reached in, and hooked his arms under Julia’s armpits. He pulled her out, and Julia cried out in pain.

A zombie that was walking over the van heard her, and turned to look. I looked up just in time to see the zombie walk off the edge of the van, and land right on top of me.

He only had two teeth in his rotting mouth, but he was determined to sink them into my flesh. I wrapped my hands around its throat, trying to keep its snapping mouth away from me. I couldn’t even focus on pushing it off me, or reach for any of my weapons. All I could do was keep its mouth away, and let John do the rest.

I looked behind the zombie at John, just in time to see him grab the zombie around his chest, and pull him back off me.

Using the butt of my gun, I slammed it into the zombie’s head, bashing its brains in. The zombie went weak, and John threw it aside.

“We gotta get out of here,” I said, stating the obvious.

John turned around and helped pull Daniel out. I reached in and grabbed Peter by his unbroken arm. I pulled him out, while he held back a scream of pain the entire time. Rachel crawled out last.

Once we were all out, it didn’t look good. We were all injured in some way, and we still had to climb out of the trench and get away from the Roves.

Not wanting to waste any time, I got down next to the side of the trench that led away from Jefferson Memorial and interlaced my fingers, creating a step. “We gotta go,
now
.”

Rachel went first, digging her boot into my hand, and pushing herself up and out of the trench. She lay down, and reached into the trench. “Daniel next, so the both of us can pull Julia out,” she said frantically as he looked over her shoulder to make sure no zombies had noticed him. They hadn’t, but it was only a matter of time.

Daniel grabbed Rachel’s hand and, using my hands as a step, climbed out of the trench in one swift motion.

I grabbed Julia and pulled her over to me. “You’re gonna have to stand,” I told her.

She mumbled something and nodded. I helped her stand; she put most of her weight on me as she did so. Daniel and Rachel hooked their arms with hers, and pulled her up. She didn’t yell in pain this time, simply because she didn’t have the strength to.

Peter climbed out next, and once he was out, John went next. He helped pull me out last.

We all stayed low to the ground, not wanting to be seen by the Roves, who were beginning to thin out the horde of zombies. If we just stood up and ran, not only would we be seen by the Roves, most of whom had night vision goggles, but having to carry Julia would slow us down.

I came to the horrifying realization that we didn’t have another option. Despite the risk, if we just slowly crawled out, Julia would bleed to death, or the Roves would finish taking care of the zombies, find us, and kill us.

“We’re going to have to make a break for it,” I whispered loudly in order to be heard over the gunfire.

John looked at me with fear in his eyes, but Daniel nodded. “John and I will help Julia.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll make sure Peter keeps up.” I turned to Rachel. “You lead the way.”

She nodded. “If we can just get across the street and behind the Johnny’s, we’ll be fine.”

I looked out toward the Johnny’s convenience store. There was a tiny field, a two-lane road, and a small parking lot between us and Johnny’s, and we only had the light of the moon to guide us.

“Okay,” I said as I got up from the ground and crouched. “Let’s go.”

I
stepped
through the broken floor-to-ceiling window of the car lot, and scanned the area with the flashlight attached to my gun for any signs of hostiles. My light rid the room of the long shadows caused by the bright moonlight filtering through the broken windows of the long-since-raided building. The showroom had a few desks and tables, but no cars. Two couches sat in the corner around a coffee table and next to an overturned and empty water fountain. Next to the fountain was a door—that led to more offices, I assumed. The door stood there, dark and ominous, and I felt uneasy just thinking about having to go through it to search the rest of the building. It would surely be dark and tight.

A rabbit ran out from behind the desk, the sudden noise and movement causing me to jump a little. Other than that, the main lobby seemed to be deserted.

I turned to where the rest of the group was hiding behind the shell of a burnt-up car, and waved them over. They crossed the parking lot staying dead silent. John and Daniel held Julia, who was close to passing out. Once we got behind the Johnny’s, Rachel was able to bandage up the wound with some of the supplies she’d brought. Still, Julia had lost a lot of blood, and Rachel still needed to stitch up the bullet holes.

My thoughts went to my own bullet wound, and how much it hurt. It pulsated with pain, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to ignore it. I didn’t have the time for pain.

“It looks clear,” I said once the group reached me. “There’s a couch in there we can put Julia on. Rachel,” I said as I turned to her. “You patch up Julia and then figure out some way to take care of Peter’s arm.” I turned to Peter, whose face was white and sweat dripped off his body. He was on the verge of passing out. “Daniel, John,” I said to them. “We’ll check out the rest of the building. Make sure it’s empty and safe. If so, we’ll set up camp deep inside it, out of sight.”

They nodded their heads. “Sounds like a good plan to me,” Daniel said.

We walked through the windows, the glass crunching beneath our feet. The cool night’s wind blew past us, blowing around a few stray papers, the sound of which echoed around the empty showroom. With the safety on my gun clicked off, I kept my finger ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

We reached the couch, and John and Daniel set Julia down onto it with ease. Rachel crouched down next to her and took off her backpack. She began rummaging through it, getting right to work.

Peter lay down on the other couch, wincing in pain as he settled in.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked him.

“Adrenaline is keeping most of the pain at bay,” he mumbled as his eyes bored into the ceiling. “If I don’t get this bone set and in a splint…” His voice trailed off as he didn’t have the energy to speak anymore, only focusing on not passing out.

Rachel looked over her shoulder at him. “Shit,” she breathed under her breath.

“Is everything going to be alright?” I asked.

She nodded as she unwrapped Julia’s bandage and began to clean her wound. “They’ll both live, as long as nothing gets infected. I brought some pain meds, but we don’t have a lot. This isn’t going to be comfortable for anybody.”

I sighed. “At least we’re alive. We’ll feel better after getting some rest.”

“Which will be a while,” Daniel said.

I nodded. “You’re right about that.” I looked toward the door that sat back and to my right. “There should be some office furniture back there we can use as beds.”

“Can’t we just stay out here?” John asked.

I shook my head. “We’re only a couple of blocks away from Jefferson. The Roves probably won’t come looking for us tonight, if at all. But if they do, we need to be out of sight. Staying out here is too open.”

“Okay, into the lot it is, then, I guess.”

I looked at the gash on John’s head and the similar one on Daniel’s. Both of the wounds had dried blood caked around them, while also slowly secreting more blood, as the bleeding had yet to fully stop.

“Are you two going to be okay?” I asked as looked at their wounds.

“I’m fine,” John said.

“Me too. We’ll need them stitched up, but it can wait,” Daniel said, motioning to Rachel who was stitching up Julia. “She has more important things.”

“Okay, well, let’s clear the area, then.” I pointed to the door that led to the offices. “Let’s just check whatever’s behind those doors for tonight. We’ll look around the rest of the place tomorrow when it’s daylight.”

I walked past John and Daniel who both fell in line behind me. I wrapped my fingers around the cold metal doorknob and took a deep breath. Daniel and John had their guns up and flashlights on, pointing at the door.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Ready,” they both replied.

I took another deep breath and opened the doorknob with a
click
. The door squeaked open, and I slowly pushed it against the wall, opening it fully. I raised my gun, my flashlight’s beam joining with Daniel’s and John’s.

Our beams stopped on a door at the other end of the long hallway, with a sign that said
Garage
on the wall. The outside walls of the offices that faced the hallway were floor-to-ceiling windows, like the ones at the offices at Jefferson Memorial. From what I could tell by looking through the windows, the rest of the walls were bare, without even a window to the outside.

We walked to the first office door on our right, and I opened the door. The room seemed clear, and was small. There was only a two-foot gap between the wall and the side of the desk, with barely enough room behind it for a computer chair. The office smelled musty and sour, causing my nose to wrinkle with disgust.

I walked into the office, and shined my light underneath the desk. It was empty, so we moved on to the next office across the hall. That one too held nothing but a desk and a few chairs. As did the next, and the next, and the rest of them until we got to the one at the end of the hall.

We opened the doors to the office at the end, and already I was expecting something different from the rest, which were all carbon copies of each other. This office had blinds on its windows, and looked to be larger than the others, at least from the outside.

I opened the door, and my suspicions were confirmed. It seemed to be the office of the owner of the car lot. A large desk sat in the center of the room, with a large comfy computer chair sitting behind it. Two cushioned chairs sat across from the desk, while up against the wall to our right, was a couch with a mini fridge next to it.

Dust-covered plaques and frames with certificates signifying various achievements and certifications hung on the walls, along with a painting of an Native American chief sitting on a horse atop a hill, looking out on the American Plains.

We stepped into the office, the beams of light from our flashlight showing up clearly in the cloud of dust. I made my way over to the desk, intending to search beneath it. Before I could, however, the sound of a door slamming shut down the hallway outside reached my ears.

I
turned
and ran out of the office and into the hallway. The door at the end that led to the showroom that we left open was now closed. I sprinted for it, ignoring the pain in my leg. I threw the door open and raised my gun.

My flashlight’s beam landed on Rachel right as she tackled a person to the ground. The person clawed at Rachel’s face, but Rachel grabbed the person’s wrist and pinned them to the ground.

I ran over to Rachel’s side, and pointed my gun in the face of the attacker. It was a girl in her late teen years with long brunette hair that was in a mess. Parts of her hair covered her olive-skinned face, and billowed in and out as she breathed fast and hard. Her brown eyes darted between the two of us, frantic. She struggled against Rachel’s grip, but Rachel wasn’t letting go.

“Stop fighting,” I said in a harsh whisper. “We aren’t going to hurt you, but you have to calm down. We can’t risk you bringing around any unwanted company, or else we
will
leave you here to deal with them.”

She began breathing through her nose, trying to calm down. Her eyes stayed wide and alert, waiting for the moment for one of us to put our guard down so she could take advantage.

“How many more of you are there?” I asked.

She looked deep into my eyes, not saying a word.

“How many more are there?” Daniel whispered, spit flying from his mouth as he did so.

“Just me,” she said, her voice shaking.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “Because if you’re lying, it’s not going to end well.”

She nodded her head quickly.

“If we let you go, do you promise not to run? We have some Roves that might be looking for us, and we’d hate if you ran off and helped them with their search,” I said, my tone of voice condescending.

“Why would I not turn you in?” she asked through gritted teeth. “I could turn you over in exchange for some food and supplies for my people.” Her eyes went wide and she knew she’d just made a mistake.

“You
people
?” I asked. I got closer to her face. “I thought you said there were no more of you.”

“There aren’t anymore
here
,” she said, trying to make up for her mistake. “I’m a scout for the Brinn camp.”

I sat back and chuckled. “You’re with Brinn?”

She nodded her head. “Yes, I am.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Rachel’s going to let you go now. If you run, you won’t be able to make it out of this showroom, alright?”

“Fine. Just get this woman off me.”

Rachel let her go but didn’t break eye contact. Julia made a moaning sound, so Rachel got up and returned to tending to Julia’s wounds, but kept an eye on the girl.

“What’s your name?” I asked her as she sat up and crossed her legs. I sat back a couple of feet and did the same, setting my gun down, but motioning for the others to do the same. I clicked off my flashlights, as did everyone else. We didn’t want to draw any attention to ourselves by shining lights all around, so we sat there in the light of the moon that filtered through the broken windows.

“Mila,” she responded. Her breathing slowed, but she still looked at us with caution. A breeze blew through the room, causing her hair to move across her face. “Do you know of Brinn?” she asked.

I nodded my head. “My name’s Miles. We’re with the Jefferson Memorial group.”

Mila rolled her eyes and, like the flip of a switch, her caution turned to annoyance. “Oh god, really?” she sighed. “Great. What a bunch of arrogant pricks you lot are.”

John flinched and Daniel tensed up. I turned and looked at them, giving them a look to calm down.

I turned back to Mila. “I’m gonna pretend like you didn’t say that.”

“My point exactly,” she mumbled.

I scoffed. “Okay, so you don’t like us. Alright. But what are
you
doing all the way out here? Brinn’s twenty miles away, so what are you doing in our territory?”

She chuckled. “Well, it’s not exactly
your
territory anymore. Seems like the Roves have moved in. Which is exactly why I was out here. We noticed their movement spreading outside of Dallas, so I was out here to see what they were up to. Apparently they liked your Wall and all the supplies you hoard behind it.” She said that last sentence with spite.

“Look, whatever your personal feeling toward us and the way we do business may be, the fact of the matter is that the worst people on the planet are currently in control of our camp. That includes our people, our Wall, and all of our supplies, including our munitions,” I said.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “With all those supplies you’re so eager
not
to share, you’d think you’d be able to hold off a couple of Roves.”

My body tensed and I could feel my skin flush with anger. “For someone who’s outnumbered, you sure are cocky.”

Mila pushed part of her hair behind her ear and flashed a white smile. “You really mean it? Aww.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice. “It’s called acting, kid. I would’ve gotten out of here if it wasn’t for Miss Grabby over there,” she said, pointing at Rachel with the tip of her knife.

“Whoa,” I said reaching for my gun. “Where’d you get the knife? Put it down.”

Mila chuckled and set it down next to her. “You should be more observant of your surroundings,” she said. “Had you not told Rachel to get off me when you did, it would’ve been just a few more moments before I pulled the knife on her.”

I tightened the grip on my gun, ready to defend myself if need be.

“You wouldn’t try anything,” she said, her tone changing. “If I don’t report back soon, a group from Brinn will be sent out looking for me. When they find out that the Knights of Jefferson killed me from their high horses, you’ll have the Roves
and
my people hunting for you.”

“Nobody ever said anything about killing,” I said, trying to bring the situation back under control. “That’s exactly why I got Rachel off you. I have no problem with Brinn and don’t want to start any. In fact, we could use your help.”

“We what?” Daniel asked from behind me.

I turned and looked up at him. “Yes, we could.” I turned back to Mila who looked at me, enjoying every moment. “We can’t just stay out here, especially not this close to the Roves.”

“Awww, poor baby feels scared without his Wall and bullets?”

“Right now, all I need is one,” I said, motioning toward my rifle. I was fed up with her being so condescending. Asking her for help was hard enough, I didn’t need her childish jabs.

She rolled her eyes but said nothing more.

“If we could use Brinn as a base of operations while we plan our retaliation, maybe use some of your supplies and people, it’d be very beneficial for the both of us.”

“Oh yeah? How so?” Mila asked.

I smiled and gave her a smug smile. I knew I was about to play my checkmate. “We’d reward you for your generosity, of course. Maybe spare you some of those munitions you’re so jealous of?”

Mila scoffed and looked away. “Yeah, if there’s any left once the Roves get through with it,” she said, although with not as much snark as her earlier comments.

“It’s a good plan,” John said. “Everybody wins, and the Roves lose.”

“Exactly,” I said. “We’d drive the Roves away. Brinn wouldn’t be in danger from them, and if they ever did, not only would you have more weapons and ammunition to defend yourselves with, but we’d owe you one.”

Mila perked up. She definitely liked the idea of us owing her and her people one. She smiled and nodded. “It’s not up to me, but I think that you and my people would be able to negotiate something that would be mutually beneficial,” she said, as if the whole thing was her idea.

“Well, good then,” I said as I stood.

I reached down to help her up, but Mila stood up on her own.

“We’ll stay here tonight,” she said. “The journey to Brinn isn’t safe at night, with so many more zombies out.”

“Sounds good, then,” I said. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning."