Z-Burbia 7: Sisters of the Apocalypse (22 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

"A nuke?" Jack snaps. "You sure?"

"One hundred percent sure," Antoinette says. "I saw enough to know Doyle wasn't lying. He liked to brag. A lot. Until I cut off his junk and jammed it in his mouth. Then I cut off his head." She nods back again at the bloody pack she carries.

"Fuck," Jack says. He waves at the kids. "We need to get them moving. Now!"

"It's a nuke," Antoinette says. "Where are we going to go?"

"We're going to try," Audrey says. "We're sisters. We don't give up, right?"

I smack Antoinette in the shoulder.

"We're sisters. We don't give up, right?" I say too and smack her again.

"Stop hitting me," she says then nods. "Yeah, we're sisters and we don't give up."

"Where's the nuke?" Jack asks. "I'm trained. I can disarm it."

"I'm trained too, but it don't matter," Antoinette says. "We're all trained. We can't get to it in time. It's in Albuquerque. Too far to travel before it goes off. Too much city to cover to even find it. He never said exactly where it was, just that he was gonna use it if things don't go his way. Things didn't go his way."

"But he set it on a timer, so I guess he thought things would go his way enough for him to escape," Jack says. "That means the nuke isn't big enough to wipe all of this out in the initial blast. The shockwave may flatten the town, but I doubt it'll catch fire right off."

"Then we get the fuck gone!" Audrey snaps. "Antoinette, if I have to slap your ass silly to get you in gear then I will. Wake up, bitch. We have work to do."

"Don't call me a bitch," Antoinette says, but I see some of her sister gleam pop back into her eyes.

A baby cries and I look for it then realize kids are carrying babies. Bigger kids are carrying smaller kids. They are all dirty and look hungry as shit. Their eyes are empty. I know empty eyes. I used to have empty eyes.

"We'll get them moving," I say to Jack. "You run back and get the truck. When you catch back up to us then Audrey can run up and get the Jeep."

Jack is still trying to figure out which of the kids are his grandkids. He's smart enough to know that maybe none of them are and they died when the Doyles started butchering kids. But that don't mean he ain't gonna hope.

"Jack!" Audrey snaps.

"On it," Jack says. He turns and takes off as fast as he can. It's pretty fast. Frogmen run fast.

A baby shrieks then quiets down and Audrey looks at me. I shrug.

"I don't know nothing about babies," I say.

"Just keep us covered," Antoinette says. She leaves the baseball bat, but picks up the fire axe. She holds out her empty hand. "Gimme one of your .45s."

"Promise not to lose it?" I ask.

"Shut up and give me the pistol," she says. I give it to her.

Antoinette looks back at all the kids and gives them a smile. It's weak as shit, but it's a smile.

"These are the sisters I told you about," she says. "They are gonna get us somewhere safe."

"You said the nuke was going to blow us all up," a young boy about eight says.

Most of them is boys. There's some girls, but not a lot. I swallow hard and try not to think of where the girls might have ended up.

"The nuke might," Antoinette says. "But Albuquerque is a long way off. Far enough that maybe we won't die when it explodes. If we can get out of here fast enough then we might make it. So I need you all to stay close to us and to keep moving. I don't want one of you to even think of lagging behind. Do you hear me?"

They nod. All of them.

"You're like Peter Pan," I say, "but with boobies."

Some of the older boys, and a couple of the older girls, the few there are, laugh.

"Missed you, El," Antoinette says and starts walking. "How about you be a smart ass while we walk?"

"We need to jog," Audrey says.

"I ain't jogging," I say. "Leg won't let me."

"And the kids aren't up for jogging," Antoinette says. She looks at my leg. "I'll fix that up nice for you when I can."

"It's okay," I say. "A lady named Vivian stitched it up right."

"Vivian?" one of the girls asks. "That's my grandma."

"Well, you got yourself a nice grandma," I say. Then it hits me. Stupid El. Don't know why I didn't think of it before. "Hey, which one of you is Kimmy's?"

An older boy, maybe twelve, raises his hand. "This little guy I'm holding," he says. "I don't know where his sister is. I don't think she… I mean…"

"I get it," I say. "No need to say anymore." I give the boy a stern look. "You do me a favor and don't you dare let that little boy go, you hear? The man that ran off to get the truck is his grandpa. He's going to very happy to know one of his grandkids made it."

"He's going to be sad as shit to know one of them didn't," Audrey says. "Maybe we don't tell him until we're at the prison?"

I get what she's saying. I do. Jack is walking a tight rope. He's way, way, way up high and ain't got no net. Telling him his granddaughter didn't live might send him falling all the way down until his brainpan goes splat.

"Okay," I say and nod as I drift back and let the kids pass me so I can take our six.

Once they are all about six feet ahead of me, I start walking, keeping an eye on the shadows that are lengthening as the sun gets lower and lower. I watch the alleys. I watch the boarded-up buildings. Antoinette says she killed all the Doyles, but I think Doyles is like cockroaches and just because you can't see any don't mean they ain't hiding right there in front of you.

I ain't wrong.

I hear the window slide up and I'm firing before I even know where to shoot. My Steyr is sending slugs ripping into every window on every second floor all up and down the block. The kids scream and start to panic and run. I hear Antoinette shouting at them to calm down and get down. I don't know if they get down, but from their screams, I do know they don't calm down.

Audrey is firing with me and it isn't until my magazine clicks empty that I even stop to see if I've hit anything. I slap in the half-full magazine and close ranks on the kids. Audrey comes to me, her eyes up, studying the air above us, looking for the attack.

"I caught two," she says.

"You did?" I ask. "I ain't got a clue how many I caught."

"You didn't see your targets?" she asks and laughs. "Jesus, El. I sometimes wonder if Kramer didn't put a little extra in your doses. I'm supposed to be the better shot with a rifle."

Then I see what she means. Hanging out of two windows are dead Doyles. One is missing most of his head and the other has holes all through his chest. Audrey points to a fire escape and I see a third Doyle with only one eye, the other just a gaping, bleeding hole. She points again to a window far down the street and I see brains dripping from the bricks below it. No corpse, but he probably fell back inside.

"Why didn't they shoot us when we first got here?" I ask.

"They're supposed to kill the children, not just us," Antoinette says. "That was Doyle's last order."

"Sick fuck," I mumble.

"Come on," Audrey says. "Let's get these kids up and calmed the fuck down so we can get out of here."

"You should be in charge of the daycare when we get back to the Stronghold," I say to Audrey. "You're so huggy."

"Fuck off," she says. "Come on."

We get the kids all chilled, or as chilled as kids can be when they've been through what they've been through. I can tell some of them ain't gonna recover from any of this. Others will. Even a few may get stronger over time. The apocalypse ain't the end for everyone.

The next street over is clear of Zs and Doyles, but as we take our second right, we see quite a few undead assholes shambling around. They see us too and start walking our way. Not really a problem. Maybe twenty or so. With three sisters, we can take them without breaking a sweat.

"Mine," Antoinette says and tucks my .45 into her belt then grips the fire axe with both hands.

Audrey doesn't argue with her and I don't neither. If a sister needs some Z-therapy then we let her have some Z-therapy. Only way to do it.

We don't let the kids slow down and gawk as Antoinette gets to work. Still have to keep moving. Some of them cringe as Antoinette takes off head after head, but most just let it wash over them.

There are still four or five left when Jack brings the truck around the corner and stops. He hops out and stares as Antoinette finishes her therapy session, adding a shit-ton more blood and gore to what's already covering her.

"Hey," she says to Jack then turns and waves at the kids. "Come on. It's all clear."

They listen. They move. They hurry to the truck as Jack opens the back. He and Antoinette help everyone inside and it is a tight fit. A very tight fit. Audrey takes off running to get the Jeep as Antoinette climbs in back with the kids. Jack starts to close the door, but a few of the kids start screaming.

"Don't," she says. "It's too much like the box."

"Do I want to know?" Jack asks.

"Do you?" Antoinette replies.

"No," he says. "Use the rope over by that bench to create some straps for the kids to hang onto. May even want to tie up some of the smaller ones."

"Okay," Antoinette says.

Jack hurries to the driver's side and jumps back in. I climb into the passenger's side and sigh. It's nice to sit down.

"You good?" he asks. "I heard the gunfire and thought maybe you'd been ambushed."

"The Doyles tried," I said. "Then the Doyles died. Stupid fucking Doyles."

"I hear that," Jack says and gets us turned around.

He pushes the truck as fast as it can go without throwing kids clear from the back. We take the next corner and see Audrey coming at us with the Jeep. She whips it around to my side.

"Jump in," she says. "Gonna need a gunner."

"Only if I get to push the button," I say.

She sighs. "Yes, you get to push the button."

"Woohoo!" I cry and scramble out of the truck and into the Jeep.

Audrey leans past me to look at Jack. "Let me get turned around then you follow," she says. "We'll take point on this. No way we'll be able to blow them all up, so I'll have El improvise and clear our path as we go."

"Sounds good," Jack says. "Lead the way. I'll be right behind you."

Audrey pulls out and zips around the back of the truck.

"What the hell?" she says as she sees the open back.

I tell her why it's open.

"Bullshit. We need to close the back," she says, looking past me to talk to Antoinette. "Too many Zs in that herd. The truck stalls at all and they'll get up in there and eat all the kids. No arguing."

"Okay," Antoinette says. She pulls the door down and we hear kids start crying and screaming right off.

"Jesus," Audrey says. "Antoinette gets a vacation when we get back to the Stronghold. She's gonna need it big time."

"No shit," I say as we race back out in front of the truck and take off for the edge of town. "We're all gonna need one. Maybe we can find a lodge way, way up in the mountains and do some skiing?"

"You know how to ski?" she asks.

I shrug. "Not sure. Probably. Wouldn't be surprised if I do."

"No, I wouldn't be surprised if you do either," she says and laughs.

The laugh doesn't stay for long as we get closer to the edge of town and catch glimpses of the huge herd of Zs before between buildings. It looks a lot bigger than it did earlier. Shit.

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Do not press that button until I say so," Audrey orders.

She actually orders. Doesn't suggest, doesn't ask, just orders. I'd be offended, but I know Audrey and she's got good timing. I do too, but if she's gonna get her order voice on then who the fuck am I to ignore it? Sometimes sisters have to know when other sisters are right.

"Just give me the word," I say as I hold the transmitter in my hand.

It's a one-shot deal. When I press the button, all the bombs go up at once. No way to chain them to go off one after the other. We got to time it right because when they do go off, we're gonna have a very short window to get through the herd before it regroups and closes in on us. That's why Audrey wants me as a gunner in the Jeep. We may have to get a little messy before we see the other side of this herd.

She brings us around the last turn of the last block of the town and there it is: one big shitfucking herd of Zs. Thousands of them shuffling along in every direction. But, not all of them is shuffling. Nope. There are some runners.

I stand up in the Jeep, careful to keep my body braced against the frame since my leg sucks balls. I hold the transmitter in my left hand and pull my .45 in my right. Three shots and I take down three running Zs before they can get to us. The noise draws the attention of the other Zs and the front row, or back row, I don't fucking know, a stupid row of Zs turns to us.

I fire until my .45 is empty then toss it onto my seat and pull my other one.

"Sit your ass down," Audrey says as she aims us straight for the herd. "Buckle up."

"Buckle up?" I say. I haven't worn a seatbelt since forever. "Whatever."

I holster my .45 and buckle up, careful not to press the transmitter button as I fumble around with the latch.

A Z lunges for us and Audrey demolishes it with the Jeep's bumper. Guts and blood spill up over the windshield and I close my eyes as I get sprayed.

"Nice," I say.

"Gonna get a lot nicer," Audrey replies. "You ready?"

"I'm holding the transmitter with my thumb over the button, ain't I?" I say. "Just say the word, dammit."

"The word," she says.

"What?" I ask. "Oh, right. Nice one, smartass."

She looks over and smiles at me then frowns.

"No, really, El, push the fucking button," she snaps.

"Shitfuck," I say and press it.

Here's the thing, we have two choices to make. We can slow down and let what's gonna happen just happen and see what the aftermath is. Or we can floor it and head straight into the herd like crazy banshees and fuck the whole slowing down and being cautious thing.

Guess which choice Audrey makes?

The Jeep lurches forward as she hits the accelerator and sends us flying towards the thick of the herd. But it ain't so thick for long. About half a second after I push the button on the transmitter, the bombs start going off. There's a little delay from one bomb to the next, but that's to be expected since each bomb is a unique boom boom of its own. Just like sisters.

From about fifty yards in front of us to the horizon, small towers of flames go shooting up into the evening sky. They're like tiny mushroom clouds, but minus the end of the world nuke thing. Good thing since we're probably going to be dealing with a real one pretty damn soon.

All through the herd in a zigzag pattern the bombs go off, clearing a way for us to drive through for a good mile. That's just enough space to get the fuck away from the herd. Only problem is the herd had spread back towards the town because of all the noise we made, so we still have that first fifty yards of Zs to deal with.

Not a problem. I'm pretty damn good at dealing with fifty yards of Zs.

"Frag out!" I yell as I pull a grenade from the case, yank the pin free, and toss it out in front of the Jeep.

The avocado of death rips apart two rows of Zs, making it easier for Audrey to punch through. I grab another grenade and another, clearing our way the best I can without blowing us up too. It does a damn good job, but with everything in this stupid world, there's a goddamn downside.

The noise of the grenades grabs the Zs' attention and they begin to close the huge gap that the bombs created. Shit.

"I see it," Audrey says before I can say a word. "How far can you throw?"

"Don't need to," I say and climb into the back of the Jeep. "We still got bungees."

Now, this shit ain't easy. I got to put a grenade into the launch cradle we made for our bomb slingshot, pull the pin, yank the bungees back, and fire that grenade out into the far side of the herd before it goes off. Grenades is courteous in that they give you a couple seconds before they try to kill you. But a couple seconds is still just a couple seconds. All it takes is one stupid bobble and this Jeep goes kaboom.

"El!" Audrey yells.

"Don't push me," I snap.

I put the first grenade in, pull the pin, yank back the bungees, and let 'er rip. Th grenade flies way out to the side of the herd and explodes just before it lands. It doesn't do much damage other than shredding some Z scalps, maybe taking a head off here and a head off there. But the boom and the pretty fire get the Zs' attention and they begin to turn that direction.

I launch another and another until half the grenades are gone. Most of the herd starts going that way. That makes another problem. One side of the herd is collapsing in on our escape route.

Audrey keeps us moving, swerving around the stray Zs that stumble into our path. She has a pistol out and is firing from the window as she swerves this way and that way. I'm all jostled and shit, but I keep it together enough to turn myself around in the backseat and start launching grenades in the other direction.

That side of the herd that had started to cross our empty gauntlet of bomb space begins slowly turning themselves around to go play with their own pretty fire and boom boom noises.

A quarter of the grenades are left when I finally stop and climb back into the passenger's seat. I look back over my shoulder and am relieved to see the truck right behind us. Jack is staring straight ahead with huge eyes. He looks like he's gonna have a stroke. I don't blame him. The guy has been hiding in a cave for years. SEAL or no SEAL, nobody is prepared to deal with a Z-herd. I been through a ton and they still freak my shit out.

Stupid fucking Z-herds.

"We aren't going to make it," Audrey says. "The way is closing."

I ignore her quitter attitude and grab my Steyr. I'm up and firing, taking out Zs in our way with surgical precision. If a surgeon was aiming for the head and trying to blow some brains apart. I don't think that's how surgeons work, but it's how I work.

"Eleven," Audrey shouts and I turn that way and fire, dropping two Zs in a row.

"One," she says and I turn that way. "Two, two, two."

A whole group comes shuffling into the opening from our right. I drop six, but there are easily twenty more to deal with. The way ahead is closing fast. The bombs were a good idea, but we just don't have the speed and room to get through. Great plan, shitty-ass execution.

"Just keep firing," Audrey says. "Fuck it. We'll go down fast and hard."

"That's what a porn star says," I say.

"I don't think that's how the joke works, El," Audrey replies.

"What joke?" I ask. Really, what joke? "That's what a porn star would say in one of those porno movies."

"When have you been watching porno movies?" Audrey asks.

I shrug. "At times. Sometimes, when John is down by my—"

"Nope," Audrey says. "You can keep that to yourself right now, El. I need to concentrate on FUCK!"

I was gonna ask what "concentrate on FUCK" means, but I don't have to as eight fast Zs leap at us. Audrey swerves and takes out two, but that leaves six hanging from the sides and back of the Jeep. Too close to use the Steyr so I toss it to the floor of the Jeep and pull my .45. I never did reload the other one, so I'm looking at limited ammunition.

Good thing I can shoot.

I put down one then another on my side then stand and shoot past Audrey at the others on her side. By the time I take those out, I got two Zs coming at me from the back, their nasty asses getting bloody goo all over our gear. They totally slime the rocket launcher, which pisses me off because I like that rocket launcher, and now it's got Z goo all over it. Son of a bitching Zs.

I blow the head off one Z, but the other is too fast and he tackles me, sending my back slamming into the dashboard. My elbow hits Audrey right in the temple and she grunts. The Jeep swerves to the side and slams into about a dozen Zs. I can't think about what's happening outside the Jeep because I have a Z trying to eat my face inside the Jeep. Its ugly teeth are all black and broken, but they sure look sharp when they are up close.

I jam my forearm against its forehead and push the stupid thing far enough away to get my .45 up under its chin. I pull the trigger and Z brains go everywhere. They especially go all over my face.

"Damn," I say. "That sucked."

I toss the corpse clear of the Jeep and watch it smash into a whole horde coming for the passenger's side. They sure are getting close to us fast. They don't look like runners, so what the hell?

The horn sounds from the truck and I look back at Jack. He's pointing at us and waving his hand for us to go faster. Why would he be doing that? We aren't slowing down are we?

Oh, shitfuck, yeah we are slowing down.

I look over and see Audrey struggling to keep her eyes open. My elbow must have conked her brainpan hard. She's blinking fast, but I can tell her eyes ain't focusing on anything.

"Shit," I say and try to get her out of the driver's seat so I can get in.

It doesn't work so well.

Her hand gets caught in the steering wheel, and when I pull on her, the whole Jeep swerves to the right. I'm tossed back against the passenger's door and barely have time to grab onto something as the Jeep jolts then begins to flip onto its side. My side. Dammit.

I tuck my ass down into the floor of the Jeep as it hits a ton of Zs then rolls right into the herd. I'm screaming like a porn star faking her hoo-hah funtime and doing everything I can not to get thrown clear of the Jeep. That would be very bad. I get thrown clear and I'll be Z feed in two seconds.

The world is all tumbly and spinny and rolly then it comes to a stop. I fall from my spot and hit the road hard. I hit the road because it's right underneath me. The Jeep is upside down and shit is everywhere. My .45s are nowhere to be seen and one of my blades is missing. I look for some firearm, but I ain't got time as hundreds of Z hands start reaching in at me and Audrey.

I get my blade out and stab everything that comes at me. I hack at hands, slice through skulls, lop off heads. I don't even think as I do it, just let the training take over. Audrey is moaning next to me, but I can't get to her without the Zs pulling me free of the Jeep. But if I don't get to her then she's gonna end up as Z-food real fast.

The crack crack crack of gunfire gets my attention and I look back to see two sets of legs coming towards us. Jack and Antoinette. They're blasting away and clearing the Zs from behind the upside down Jeep. I know what to do and slice a Z's head off then slash behind me and cut Audrey's seatbelt. She falls onto me and I ignore all the pain in my shoulder and leg. No time for pain. Pain is for wusses and Doyles.

Jack and Antoinette keep coming and I struggle to drag Audrey out the back of the Jeep. When I'm almost clear, Jack kneels and helps me get her out then hands me his rifle. I scramble to my feet and start firing, helping Antoinette lay down some cover while we fight our way back to the truck.

It's a truck that is being overrun by Zs. Lots of Zs. We're doing a good job of fighting them off, good enough to get us to the back of the truck. But I'm pretty damn sure we ain't gonna make it. There are just too many of them, and as soon as we slide open that backdoor and try to climb in, they're gonna take us down.

"Fight them off!" Antoinette says. "We have to keep them from the truck and the kids!"

"Yeah, good idea!" I yell.

Jack is struggling to move Audrey, shoot Zs, and get the backdoor open so he can toss her inside, but he ain't doing such a great job at it. A Z lunges for him and I barely take its head off before it can rip Jack's neck open.

Then shit gets worse and makes things better.

We're facing southeast as the nuke goes off. It's a long ways away and so silent it's creepy as shit. But even at the distance we're at, we can see the air ripple with shockwaves. Those waves will get to us faster than the sound will.

The good thing is the explosion is so bright and so big it's caught the attention of the Z-herd and almost all of them turn to look at it. The bad thing is we're about to be ripped apart by a blast wave.

"Inside!" Jack shouts and gets the backdoor of the truck up and open enough for us to scramble in. "NOW!"

We don't argue.

Kid hands reach out and help yank Audrey inside as the rest of us roll under the backdoor and then slam it shut. We make it with about a quarter second to spare before the blast wave slams right into everything.