White Flag of the Dead (39 page)

I nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Cole sighed from his perch. “I knew it.” came his breathy reply.

I finished my sentence. “Because I’m the one who killed him. Large bullet wound to the chest? Was that how he died? I know that because it was my gun that killed him. He was scum who deserved to die for what he did to that family. Just like you’re scum for what you’ve done to the people of this area.”

Cole shuddered at the revelation. “You! You! I’ll kill you! Kill Him! Someone kill him!” Cole screamed at his people. Several of them started pulling weapons out from belts and pants pockets. He grabbed the knife from the girl and before I could shoot him, plunged it deep into Kristen’s chest. She raised her head briefly, then dropped it again as the life left her body.

“
No
!” I roared, firing my rifle. My bullet went high as Cole ducked to the ground. Charlie and Duncan chose that moment to open fire as well, dropping several of the teens who started firing wildly. Sarah dove to the ground and ducked under the platform, trying to present as small of a target as possible. I backed into the aisles and ran towards the pen where Sarah was being held.

As I rounded the corner I saw someone else had gotten there before me. Devon, the lieutenant of Cole, was striding purposefully towards the pen, his gun swinging in his hand. His back was towards me and he didn’t see me moving up behind him. Sarah saw me, but to her credit, did not give away that she had seen me.

Devon only had eyes for Sarah. “I wish I had more time to make you suffer, bitch. But I have others to kill today. For my brother.” Devon raised the gun and took aim at Sarah.

“Join him.” I said as I stuck my SIG in his ear and pulled the trigger, splattering Devon’s brains all over a display of decorative wallpaper. Devon dropped lifeless to the floor, and I heard a shrill scream from somewhere, then a bullet whipped past my arm. I could hear gunshots and screams, and figured my men were doing just fine. At the moment, I was focused on someone else

Sarah’s eyes were wet as I worked on opening the pen. It was crudely lashed together with zip ties, but effective. I cut through them and opened the door. Sarah fairly jumped into my arms and I hugged her fiercely, holding her as tightly as I could.

“Your woman?” she breathed into my ear, turning her head to look into my eyes.

“Yes.” was all I said, before kissing her deeply. It was ludicrous, taking this private moment in the middle of a firefight, but I didn’t care. If I died here, I was going to make it worth my while.

Sarah returned the kiss with as much emotion, grabbing my head and holding me close. After a second we broke apart and ducked as bullets whined past our heads to slam into the shelves behind us. We grinned like teenagers at each other then got down to business. Sarah had a bruise on her cheek and what looked like the remnants of a bloody nose, but she seemed fine, otherwise.

“Charlie, Duncan, and Tommy are with me, hook up with one of them. Take the rifle until you can find your weapons. Watch the kick, it’s worse than the AR’s. I’m going to find that bastard Cole.” I gave Sarah my extra magazines for the M1A and a quick kiss for luck. She gave me another in return and headed off to the sound of firing. I figured Cole had headed for cover the same way Devon had gotten down from the platform, and was hiding out somewhere. He wasn’t going to be able to leave the building, we had cut off his exits too well for that, but leaving that lunatic alive was inviting trouble. I intended to cut this cancer out once and for all.

Circling to the back of the aisles, I headed for a clearer part of the store. Tall shelving units effectively blocked my view, so the little rat could have been anywhere. Firing on the other side of the store began to taper off, and I could hear the heavy sound of the M1A as Sarah took her anguish out on her attackers. I could see Kristen still on the elevated platform, but several bodies lay around her feet. Her killers had paid a heavy price for her death, and I meant to add to the tally.

The light was getting darker, the deeper I went into the store, but I needed to make sure Cole didn’t get around me. Moving quickly towards the lighting department, a figure suddenly popped up from behind the Returns desk. I ducked and fired quickly, striking the figure in the chest and knocking them back against the counter. Moving quietly, I looked over the edge and saw I had managed to kill Tina, Cole’s woman.

Well, that ought to piss him off. Deciding to add fuel to the fire, I picked up the body and dumped it into a shopping cart, arranging it like a drunk sorority girl. I moved it to the main aisle and shoved it down, moving to a side aisle to see if it had any effect.

I heard a small voice whisper “Tina?” and then a shadowy form moved toward the slowly rolling cart. A thin squeal of anguish came from the figure, and I could see him turn his head my way to try and discern where I was. I caught a flash of something in his right hand, and figured it was the knife he had used to kill Kristen.

I stood up and moved to the center of the aisle, keeping my SIG centered on Cole. I didn’t say a word, I just moved steadily towards Tieman.

For his part, Cole just stood there, staring hate at me. I could imagine his frustration. I had killed his brother and now I had just killed his girlfriend. For someone with an unbalanced mind to begin with, I’m sure it was thoroughly scrambled in there right now.

Cole stretched out the knife and I could see a feral gleam in his eyes. I stopped about fifteen feet away and kept the gun on him.

Cole surprised me with his next move. He dropped the knife on the floor and spread his arms wide. “I am unarmed, hero. You can’t kill an unarmed man, can you?” His voice was a purr and he looked at me sideways, grinning slightly.

“Your brother was unarmed.” I said coldly. “So was Kristen.” I fired rapidly, sending five rounds at Kristen’s killer. The bullets slammed into an incredulous Cole and threw him backwards, cartwheeling him over a low shelf and sprawling him spread-eagled on the ground. In the darkening light I could see a darker stain spreading out from underneath him.

A shrieking form burst out of the appliances section and hurtled towards me, screaming epithets and waving what looked like a branch trimmer. I ducked back in between aisles and holstered my SIG, pulling out my hand axe and waited for the next attack. I stood there for a second and didn’t hear anything.

Risking a peek around the corner I saw a sprawled figure lying on the ground with a tomahawk sticking out of the back of its neck. A closer look revealed that it was Rayanne, Devon’s girlfriend, who had been killed. Her weapon had been tossed when she fell to the ground. Charlie was walking down the aisle to retrieve his weapon.

“Thanks, man.” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I didn’t know you could throw those things, too.”

Charlie shrugged. “I didn’t either. I figured if it didn’t work, at least she’d be distracted and you could take her out.”

“Are we finished here?” I asked, looking into the gloom.

“Yeah, we’re done. Tommy took a bullet to the arm, but it’s nothing serious. Rebecca should get him moving in no time. Sarah found her guns, and is right now scared silly you’re hurt or something. What did you do to that woman, anyway.?”

“I kissed her.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at me. “About time.” he said wryly.

I smiled. “
I
thought so.”

Charlie turned serious. “Sorry about Kristen. Duncan brought her down and wrapped her in a blanket. Nothing you could do, man.” he said.

I looked at him. “I know. But it doesn’t make me feel any better. Even wasting the bastard that killed her won’t bring her back. She didn’t deserve any of this, Charlie. She was just a kid.”

Charlie didn’t say anything; he just walked alongside me as we worked our way to the others.

Duncan and Sarah were kneeling beside a wrapped form, and Tommy was standing out of the way. Sarah saw me, stood up and wrapped her arms around me. I held her for a moment then gently moved away. I reached down and picked up Kristen’s body, and walked over to the doors. I had a long walk back to the truck, but I didn’t care. I’d carry her if my legs fell off. Sarah moved in behind me and the rest of the men followed suit, forming a small funeral procession out of the store.

I walked to the truck, and gently placed Kristen in the bed. We climbed into the truck and headed back to the complex, none of us saying much of anything. Sarah put her head on my shoulder and I could feel the occasional tear hit my sleeve. I was angry at what had happened, angry at myself that I hadn’t seen what Cole was about to do and stop him. Part of me wanted to burn the building to the ground, but a larger part reasoned that it was not my fault, and I had actually managed to save Sarah and Kristen from worse fates. I didn’t regret killing Cole, unarmed though he was. He was a blight that needed to be eradicated, and I was assigned the job.

When we got back to the complex, there were more tears shed for Kristen. Charlie and I assigned ourselves the duty of digging her grave. We buried her next to her friend Chelsea, and said a small prayer for her eternal soul.

When the sadness of the day passed, I sent Charlie back to the McCord’s with Mark Wells, our resident electrician, and John Reef, our plumber, to look for supplies and things they might need to make our lives a little easier. They also had the job of burning that grisly pile of zombie heads. Charlie reported they popped like acorns. I was pleasantly surprised when they returned with a huge generator. Apparently the teens had no idea a large power source was right outside their lair, and instead had relied on sunlight and flashlights. Charlie pulled up with it, and Mark went to work immediately attaching the lines and seeing how much power could be had. In short order, we actually had working lights in the condos. We took the smaller generators and brought them over to the town homes, where they provided welcome relief from the darkness.

I spent the evening with Jake and Sarah, just taking in the activity and staying relatively quiet. Sarah and I didn’t speak about what happened, but we both were thinking about it. Part of me felt guilty, but I was reminded by a little voice in my head to
Get busy living
. Part of me was concerned about Sarah, but I wasn’t sure how to approach the subject. We went to bed in our separate rooms without a clear answer.

I got my answer about an hour after the lights went out. A soft rustling alerted me to someone in my room, and I saw Sarah moving towards my bedside.

“Your woman?” she asked again, with a sly smile.

I held out my hand. “Yes.” was all I said as she took my hand and climbed into bed.

I didn’t feel the need to say much else after that.