Those Who Remain (Book 2) (6 page)

Her gaze runs around the court before she answers me.
Not again. Mrs. Terrence what’s the matter with you today?

“Danny and your mother.”

“Why not Gutierrez and O’Neil?”

Mom did have some experiencing tracking, so that made sense. But Danny? What did he know about sneaking inside a college and close combat? Didn’t he hate guns?

“Roger thought if something happened… Someone with experience should stay to protect the town. We have few people who can shoot here, we need those two. And Danny did manage to kill a few zombies these past weeks.”

I bite my lip. It feels weird to have her call those crazy people “zombies.” I guess Danny was the one responsible for that. I don’t like it. Makes me think I’m a survivor in a horror flick. And I know those movies end badly.

“Okay. So it has been twelve hours since they left?”

She nods. This is bad. They should have come back by now.

“I’m going after them.” I place the truck’s keys on her hands. “Take the guns and arm these people. Place them all against the front windows, and your best shots should go to the roof with the long-range rifles, to keep watch. Block the back doors too. Put sentries on them. The gym teacher is alive?”

“Yes, but Lily—”

“Good, then he must have whistles. Distribute them to each room. At any sign of danger, tell people to blow it and warn the others. Communication is key here.”

“Lily—”

“Also, you can arm them with fire extinguishers, hammers, kitchen knives or even scissors. An invader in pain has no focus and can be tackled by a big group with no problem. Remind them to force the guy's gun upwards always, so a possible gunshot doesn’t hit them while they jump at him.”

Mrs. Terrence places a hand on my right shoulder. My winter coat protects my skin from the contact, but I still flinch instinctively. “Lily, listen to me. All your suggestions are very reasonable, but I’m going with you.”

“No way—”

“I’m done waiting. I waited too much in my life. First with Tony, now with Danny. I can’t stand it anymore. Whatever happened, I need to know.”

I nod. No way I’m capable of saying no to this woman. I spent too much time inside her office to know that she doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. “Okay. Do you have a gun?”

“Yes. Of course. A shotgun.”

“Where is it?”

Her eyes open wide. “Oh no. I forgot to keep it with me, haven’t I? Danny… He won’t be happy.” Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “He said to keep it with me at all times. It must’ve slipped my mind; I had so many things to do….”

Poor Mrs. Terrence. I never saw her so unfocused. Worrying about her son all night could break even her, I suppose.

“It’s okay. Just go grab it. We should leave as soon as possible.”

She nods, jogging to the corridor and disappearing from view. I’m suddenly very aware of the crowd watching me. They must have heard our conversation. A burly man that I vaguely remember as a father of the town’s only pothead stands in front of me. His arms are crossed and he looks at me like I’m nothing but a nuisance.

Beside him is Linda Fords, with her pointed nose up and familiar condescending smirk. This is the same woman who tried to put my father’s presence in town to a vote.
A vote.
I had to watch as people raised their hands to decide if we could keep our house. To this day, it still is the most humiliating experience of my whole life. I hate lawyers. I hate her.

“So your father is dead, then?” She asks, a step behind the man.

“No.”

“Then why isn’t he here?”

“He—”

“We let him stay. We pretended he wasn’t bat-shit crazy. And this how he repays us?”

My SIG Sauer is aimed at her in a blink of a second. Angry at Father or not, I can’t stand anyone badmouthing him. She widens her eyes, as the man beside her places himself between us. I clench my teeth.

“Don’t ever say anything about my father ever again. Hear me?”

A few months back I could have ignored them, laughed it off at her stupidity. I don’t need to do that anymore. There’s no more stupid social order to follow; no reason to take any more shit from these people.

“He should be here,” The man says, not afraid of my gun. “He owes us.”

“He doesn’t owe you nothing. And I’ll shoot you both right here if you don’t leave.” They don’t step away. I place my finger at the trigger. “Now.”

They mumble, but obey. People whisper, gasp, spreading chatter around me and filling my ears with the usual crap: ‘Crazy’, ‘Horrible’, ‘Fascist’, ‘Violent’, ‘Unstable’, ‘Dangerous’. Well, today I won’t keep my head down and listen to any of that.

I point my SIG Sauer toward the ceiling. The harsh sound echoes around the court and shuts them up for good.

“Yeah, I’m dangerous and crazy. But guess what? My father was right. He was right. And now you need me to save this town. Deal with
that
.”

I wait for Mrs. Terrence outside. It’s easy to forget how petty this town can be. If it wasn’t for Roger… Well, at least I have the satisfaction of shutting them up now. My ex-Principal opens the doors and is followed by Gutierrez and O’Neil, Roger’s deputies.

“Everything alright, Lily?” I nod to her. “Sorry, I took so long, I needed to find these two to help unload your truck and distribute the guns. Also, I had to tell the council where we are going.”

“Do they still waste time discussing if cream is actually white?”

She laughs, but I don’t join her. It wasn’t a joke. Everything is possible in this town.

Mrs. Terrence stops laughing and clears her throat at my lack of reaction. “No. They don’t. Not after our first zombie attack. They learned their lesson.”

The four of us walk by along Main Street. As we reach Old Joe’s Pizzeria and my truck, we hear the distant sound of cars approaching.

“Did Roger take any cars?” I ask Mrs. Terrence.

With widening eyes, she shakes her head.

“Get in. Now,” I tell them, hopping on the driver’s seat and turning the ignition key.

The Geek VIII

December 17th, Thursday, 10 pm

The cold barrel hurts the back of my neck. Red Star makes us march with our hands raised as we go back inside the Science building. Roger and I trade frowns, and I feel like my heart is clogging my throat.

I flinch and wince as our group marches around the corridors and the armed men shoot at anything that comes running toward us. Screams and bullet noises come from inside the barred doors. Red Star kicks and breaks our mismatched barriers and makes way for his followers to get in and kill any zombies. At each room, more soldiers rejoin Red Star, most tired and with some kind of injury. After he cleared all of them, he takes us outside.

The night is freezing, with strong cold winds and snow falling constantly.

“Kneel,” Red Star orders us.

With guns pointed at each of our heads, we don’t have much choice but to obey him. A man with a ninja star tattooed on his neck ties our hands with rope. My wrists hurt, but I don’t think they are open to critique on their knots not being comfortable enough.

“Okay, let’s have a roll call, shall we?” Red Star says in a loud voice, so everyone can hear him. “Let’s see how many of you losers managed to survive.”

Seven men and women stand in line, guns on their shoulders and backs straight. They all have tattoos and helmets decorated with weapons, food or animals that signal their names.

Ninja, Applepie, Eagle, Tomahawk, Taco, Lion, and Panther.

Red Star moves along the line, checking their conditions. He stops at a small tanned man with a smiling taco drawn onto his helmet. He’s sweating and fidgets the closer his leader gets.

“Show me your arms, Taco. I ain’t got all night and you know the drill.”

“Boss, please… I’m….”

Red Star shoves the gun inside the man’s mouth. “Don’t talk, Taco. Just fucking do what I tell you to do.”

Nobody moves, nobody even looks at the scene in front of me. They all pretend nothing is happening. Roger and Margaret are too busy trying to break out of the bonds without drawing attention. I don’t even bother. I have no clue how to do it. If I try, I bet I’ll ruin everyone’s chances by being clumsy and obvious.

Taco pulls up his uniform’s sleeves and shows it to Red Star. The man laughs and removes the gun from the guy’s mouth. Taco’s left arm is full of lumps and a bite mark. Red Star appears to know what that means.

“Ah, Taco, you got yourself bitten, haven’t you? Tsk.”

“I’m sorry, boss. I was trying to save Tortilla.”

I can’t help it, I let out a laugh. I feel a bit dirty for doing it, but come on: Taco and Tortilla?

“What’s so funny, nerd?” Red Star turns to me, walking in my direction.

“Well, they are both named after Mexican food. Is just… A taco trying to save a tortilla. That’s just funny, sorry.”

“They were married, you punk,” Applepie declares.

I try everything to stop it, but it’s too late, and I snort loudly. Roger frowns at me, shaking his head slightly. He thinks I’m drawing too much attention to myself. He’s probably right, because Red Star lowers himself to face me directly. He’s smiling.

“I’m glad you enjoy my choice of names. Not everyone appreciates my humor. I like you little guy.”

“Enough to let me go?” I force a smile.

He hits me with the back of his gun. It stings and blood oozes over my right eye.

“No,” Red Star says. “So shut the fuck up.”

The leader moves back to face Taco. The poor guy is still shaking in his boots.

“Okay, Taco. Here’s the thing. You are going to turn pretty soon. Become a zombie and all that. But don’t worry, I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re not?”

He places a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Of course not. We’re family after all. And family takes care of each other.”

“Thank you, boss.”

Red Star takes a few steps back. “Ninja, Tomahawk, do me a favor and hold Taco down.”

There’s a second of hesitation, but in the end they do what he says. Taco shakes his head and fidgets, confused at what’s going to happen. I’m not sure myself.

Both men force Taco on his knees and hold his arms. Red Star takes Ninja’s samurai sword from his belt and unsheathes the blade. He licks the metal with a smile. Maybe this is some sort of ritual before this crazy guy gives Taco a fitting end. Or something. Decapitation, if quick, isn’t the worse way to go.

It soon becomes clear that Red Star doesn’t mean to end Taco’s suffering. At all.

“No, please no—”

The sword buries itself deep into Taco’s right shoulder. His screams reach my ears as warm blood splatters over my face. The arm is still attached to Taco’s body, so Red Star slices it off again and again. Somewhere between the third slice, yells of mercy, and muscles being ripped apart, Taco loses consciousness. Red Star chops his left shoulder in fewer hits, blood flowing freely from both sides. The arms are discarded over the ground while the body falls on its face. I taste bile coming up my throat.

I stare, breathless and heart accelerating, at Taco’s form, his left shoulder a mess of nerves and blood vessels. My eyes water a little. We are going to die, painfully and horribly.
Jesus… This is bad.

A pool of blood forms around Taco, reaching me. Red Star instructs Ninja and the other man to tie the soon-to-be zombie in chains by the waist. He takes the other end of the chain into his hands. I have a bad feeling about this. A very horrible feeling.

“Now, where was I? Oh, right.” Red Star strides in front of Roger. “Time for a little payback.”

He hits my friend right in the face with his gun. Roger grunts and blood comes out of his nose.

“Your little plan was kind of cute, I admit. The type of plan cowards would use, but hey, who am I to judge?” He smiles, then hits Roger in the face again. I wince. “My problem is not that you ruined my family by being a bunch of sneaky bastards. No. That I can appreciate. We're living in a dog eats dog world now, and I get that. We do what we have to do to survive."