I smiled at them both and decided not to let Miller’s obvious affection for Page bother me. I would keep an eye on them both, but I highly doubted there was anything to worry about between them. At least for several years. And when that time came they would either be old enough to deal with it or they would see each other as brother and sister and it would be a non-issue.
All in all, after today’s many conversations and decisions, I decided that I could relax some. Hendrix still wanted nothing to do with me, but we’d made progress away from completely avoiding each other. And the thought of killing Matthias Allen and Linley Allen gave me a soothing peace that probably signified some kind of mental disorder. But I couldn’t help it.
I wanted them dead.
And I knew if I made sure they were dead I would be able to relax in a way that I hadn’t since before the infection.
I snuggled back into the couch and smiled genuinely. Only this morning, life had seemed impossibly bleak. But things were looking up. Life seemed like much more of a possibility now than it did before.
I hadn’t lied to myself.
I was a survivor.
And I was surviving this.
It was in that exact moment, when I had that exact thought that the front door was ripped off its hinges.
Chapter Four
Every last one of us jumped to our feet in perfect, alert synchronization. Haley and I gathered up Page between us and Tyler stepped in front of Miller.
The room roared with chaos and noise. All three of us girls seemed frozen in place. For a minute, I couldn’t remember where I’d left my backpack full of guns and ammo but I thought maybe near the front of the store. I also couldn’t decide whether to run towards the intruder or stay back here and cower.
Not that we were cowering exactly. But I only had two guns on me and not nearly enough ammo. I knew Haley would be in a similar situation and I doubted Tyler had any gun close by. She wasn’t exactly comfortable with them carrying them on her constantly yet.
Also, I didn’t want to run one way and miss the Parker brothers running the other way. The scientists were close to the front and I prayed for their sake that they moved back here with us. Their weapon situation was unclear, but I knew they didn’t get anything new from us. We had offered them food and sanctuary, but our hospitality did not go as far as giving up our own armory.
For painful seconds, I also contemplated the enemy. So much noise surrounded me that I couldn’t decide if Zombies or humans attacked. Guns fired rapidly, incoherent men’s voices could be heard shouting over the explosions. Then there were the women shrieking and crying.
That had to be the scientists.
My heart hammered in my ears and I looked desperately to Haley. She pulled out a silver handgun and checked the clip and flicked off the safety. She shrugged casually but fear glinted in her wide eyes.
Yeah, I didn’t know what to do either. But these girls were looking at me like I was the leader.
Well, shoot.
I pulled out my own gun and went through the usual routine before I motioned down an aisle to the left of the front door. We crouched lower than the shelving and moved quickly through the dark aisles.
I could hear Vaughan, Nelson and Hendrix yelling at each other, but I was too pumped full of adrenaline and fear to comprehend what they were saying.
I did realize that they had stayed in the front of the store. Their guns went off at regular intervals and their shouts seemed orderly if not informative for each other’s benefit.
I waved those behind me back and peeked around the corner. The prisoners, Kane and his mother, still stood bound against one wall. They flinched from the onslaught of gunfire and attack by the breaking and entering Feeders. Five Parker brothers, plus Gage, lined up in front of the store and aimed at anything and everything that forced their way through the front door.
The undead had apparently decided we’d overstayed our welcome. They clawed, fought and pushed their way into the building only to meet the business side of a Parker bullet.
A big, bloody mess of rotting bodies started to pile up in front of the door. I breathed in and instantly gagged. In the back of the store I hadn’t been able to smell them yet, or I hadn’t even noticed. Now, it was all I could do to keep from choking on their filthy stench.
My movement caught all the guys’ attention and they glanced my way in their own time. I waved at Vaughan and he shouted at me to stay back.
So far, the Feeders could only enter the store funnel-style, which made them easy to pick off. The scientists huddled on the other side of the large room with only a few guns drawn. Whether they didn’t have any more or they figured the Parkers had this covered, I wasn’t sure.
I had just decided not to get involved. I would hang back here and wait this out. Let the Parkers do the dirty work, while I watched over everyone else. I came to the conclusion that this wouldn’t be so bad and I might actually get a break from the fighting when the pounding started.
The antique store had been built in a barn, or at least built like a barn. The walls were windowless but without much insulation or metal framing. Basically, there were just slats of wood separating us from the cannibals wanting to munch on our brains.
What started as scratching turned into frantic clawing and then fully developed heavy beating. The Feeders knew we were in here and they would bring this entire building to the ground if that’s what it took to get to us.
I glanced up at Kane on impulse and saw his face go white with the vibrations at his back. He told his mom to duck down further and she listened without hesitation. He shielded her with his body.
I didn’t know why they stayed over there; maybe Hendrix or someone had told him not to move or maybe he felt safest the closer he stood next to the gunfire.
Obviously, that was a sarcastic thought. He was an idiot to wait over there.
And that thought was only reinforced when a slimy hand punched through the wall just two inches to the right of his head. The look on his face would have been hilarious if I hadn’t been scared out of my mind for his sake.
White-boned fingers barely encased in peeling skin blew through the wall. A greenish-blackish film had coated the back of the single hand and dripped off the ragged fingertips. It felt around wildly, slapping at the inside of the wall and dragging long, yellowed fingernails until they dug deep marks into the wood. They finally found purchase and pulled back, tearing a huge hole through the barn side.
Kane finally moved away from the wall.
It only took a Zombie at his back to get his ass in gear.
He nudged his mother forward, and they sprinted toward me and the shelving unit I half-hid behind. Linley was out of breath when they reached us and as pale a ghost. Kane looked at me with a determined look in his eyes that I didn’t entirely understand.
The hole in the wall increased as a Feeder pushed her rotting body through the wood. The wall shook violently with the force of their influx, and the entire structure wobbled over our heads. More Feeders scrambled behind her and met the fierce, fast bullets from the nearest Parker brothers.
The pounding and scraping sounded on the opposite wall near the scientists, and I knew it was only a matter of time before they made an alternative entrance over there as well.
Through the gaping hole in front of me, I could see that the horde of Feeders didn’t end. An insane amount of them all fought to get inside, to get to us. And I knew that I was only seeing part of them.
Where did they come from?
Had they gathered and waited to attack us as one army?
This seemed way too coincidental.
“Wait here,” I shouted over all the firing. I didn’t stick around for them to agree to obey; I just took off running. I skidded on the smooth floor but kept my balance. I ran behind the line of Parker brothers, who were spread out in a genius formation and dove for my pack sitting in the middle of the floor.
I wrestled with it to get it situated and tightly strap
ped it to my back; I glanced around for Haley’s pack and Tyler’s. If Miller and Page had one, I couldn’t take the time to look for them. Besides, we should be covered with three.
Hopefully.
“Reagan, get back to my sister,” Hendrix shouted over his shoulder. “Keep her safe.”
“I’m on it!” I shouted back. I finally located the other two packs and picked them up. I was just about to sprint back when Hendrix caught my attention again.
“Reagan,” he called and I turned to him. I stood right behind him, shielded by his body and his one objective to keep his family safe and together. “Be smart. Stay alive.”
His blue eyes glittered brightly at me. He wasn’t asking nicely. He was commanding me.
The strength and solidity in his voice made my knees weak, and I wouldn’t have argued with that resolute tone in any circumstance.
“You too,” I told him.
He gave me an arrogant smirk and turned back to his Zombies.
I missed those words, words that I desperately wanted to hear him say, but I supposed we were beyond that. I had found it so utterly obnoxious when he’d first come at me with all that “By me” crap, but it hadn’t taken long until I found it endearing and sweet, and a pillar of my courage and resolve. Now the absence of those words cut me to my core, and I wanted to beg him to want me by his side again. I didn’t. I wouldn’t. But it hurt in every possible way that he didn’t say those words.
I raced around the corner and threw Haley’s bag at her. I handed Tyler’s over a little more gently, but only because I figured she would probably drop it and blame me when everything inside broke.
I started pulling weapons from the sides of my bag and strategically placed them all over my body. I tucked a few knives into my cargo pockets along with some extra clips. I gave Page a smaller gun that she checked over with an expert eye and nodded at Tyler, who did the same with Miller.
My plan was to wait back here and stay out of danger for as long as we could. I didn’t really think that would be very long, but I wanted to keep Page out of the fighting. I just got her back; I sure as hell wasn’t going to lose her to another Feeder-induced coma.
But at least I knew she could live through it.
The rest of us? Yeah, I wasn’t so sure about that.
I looked at Kane. “Have you ever been through radiation or chemotherapy?”
He looked at me incredulously. “No.”
“Turn around.”
He obeyed immediately, and I couldn’t help but smile. I liked a compliant Kane. I liked to get my way with him.
I pulled a switchblade from my pocket and flicked a button so that the blade sprung free. With a quick, decisive slice I cut the zip tie that kept his hands bound behind his back.
His arms jerked forward, and he spun around wide-eyed and surprised. “You didn’t have to-”
“I did,” I told him. “Don’t read into that. But I had to do it.”
Linley noticed what I had done for him and turned around and wiggled her bloodied wrists at me. I focused on her tie and readied my knife when Kane’s calm hand over mine stayed the blade.
“Don’t,” he told me. “She will not behave.”
She threw a nasty look his way and let out a very vulgar curse word.
“Linley!” I gasped, honestly shocked. She was such the always-a-lady type.
She turned the word on me.
I couldn’t stop the laughter. Especially when Tyler exclaimed, “Mother!” And then to Haley she said, “I’ve never heard her use that word before.”
“Reagan,” Kane scolded, putting his hand on my arm. “Stop laughing.” But he was also helplessly chuckling.
“Listen up, you little assholes, untie me right now.” Okay, Linley Allen was no longer entertained.
“She’s not untying you, Mama. You’re going to have to stick close to me and try not to attract Feeders.”
“If you get me killed you can’t use me to carry out your hair-brained scheme,” she reminded me.
I looked at Kane. He shrugged. “We’ll just think of another hair-brained scheme. Nothing to worry too much about.”
“Who are you?” Tyler demanded. “Are you possessed? Are you turning into a Zombie?”
Kane shrugged again. “Reagan recruited me for Team Parker.” He looked back and forth at our stunned faces before finally landing on me. “What? You did.”
“I’m going to go kill some Zombies,” Tyler said. “That’s more normal than what is happening right here. Miller, come with me. I don’t want you to catch what those two have.”
And off they went.
“Is crazy contagious?” Haley asked with no small amount of amusement in her tone. “Should I remove Page from this potentially hazardous environment?”
I smiled at her. “Only if you take me with you.”
“But who will protect the hostages?” Kane asked innocently. “What about your hair-brained scheme?”
Linley went off on another cursing tangent.
By this time, there were two holes in the wall that had been torn open into gaping entrances. Feeders flooded through the spaces, knocking each other out of the way and gnawing on any body part that stood between them and us. Even if it was their own.
The noxious fumes they brought with them hit me like a punch in the face, and I swallowed back on my gagging reflex. The Parkers still held the line in front of them, but there were enough Feeders that our risk levels were escalating.
The scientists had been forced to engage on their side of the shop. They didn’t have enough weapons to defend themselves and the humanitarian in me desperately wanted to go over there and help.
“We should help them!” I shouted to Haley.
She looked around me and watched for a few seconds before agreeing. “Don’t give up your guns, but you’re right.”
“What about Page?”
“We’ll tuck her behind that register over there!” Haley shouted back.
I nodded, and we started to move.
Thankfully, the gunfight only went one direction. The five of us moved behind the Parker brothers with relative ease. They kept the Zombies at bay while we moved behind their human-wall of defense.
At the end of the line, Tyler had taken up position next to Gage. But it just needed to be said, Tyler was a terrible shot. Luckily for her, Miller, who was a natural at killing Feeders, helped flank her. He and Gage were able to keep her safe.
Kane kept his mother moving and when Haley tucked Page behind a solid wood-walled cash register stand, he shoved Linley down there as well. He shouted something at her, but I couldn’t make out exactly what he said. It looked like a threat of some kind.
I started taking aim and picking off what Feeders I could. I felt a little rusty at first, but I quickly fell into my old routine. Aim for the middle of their forehead, take a steady shot, and don’t miss. Simple.
Bam. One down.
Bam. Bam. Bam. Two down.
Bam. Re-aim. Bam. Bam. Three down.
I imagined it was from a scenario like this that the term “Like shooting ducks in a barrel,” came from.
However, as simple as this exercise in survival was, my nerves were still incredibly heightened. Adrenaline rushed through my body making me super aware of everything around me and super jumpy all at the same time. My weak hands trembled, but they held the gun securely and my shots were relatively accurate.
Haley was just as good next to me. I loved fighting with this girl. Not only did she have my back in every problem life threw my way, but she helped keep me alive. I couldn’t ask for more in a friend.
The scientists were another story. Why couldn’t they just fall back behind us? Brains before brawn and all that. I wanted to scream at them to protect their heads! But I didn’t think they would care.
They huddled in a corner with their few guns out in front of them. Their backs were to the side wall and they only had three weapons among them all. Haley and I tried our hardest to keep their Fee
der situation from growing out of control, but those fast bastards filed through the openings in the walls faster than we could kill them.
I glanced back at Kane, who stood protectively over the cash register. Haley and I weren’t far from it either, but I couldn’t help relaxing with a bit more protection near Page. I had no doubt in my mind that nobody else felt reassured that Kane was watching over the littlest Parker, but at that moment I didn’t care.
The cash register sat away behind the scientists but along that same wall. I should have seen it coming before it happened but honestly, I was more preoccupied from the threat in front than the strategic attack the Zombies were executing around the building.
How the hell did they learn to think so intelligently?
And how the hell were we going to get out of this mess?
I’d already replaced my first gun with a second and I was working through my second clip when the wall behind the scientists exploded open. Feeder hands were everywhere, too many for me to count accurately when they moved that fast.
Blackish blood splattered along with their papery, slimy flesh as they punched holes through thick wood and clawed and ripped at anything and everything they could. Their strength was utterly superhuman and matched the freakishness of their speed. The four walls of the barn trembled and groaned under their structural attack.
I screamed out when the first blast of splintering wood erupted into our space. The scientists in front of it were taken off guard and scattered forward, trying to escape the assault from their rear.
Kane speculated what was happening faster than I ever could and ran forward to help the two closest to him scramble out of the way. He reached for one hand and clutched the back of another man’s shirt. He yanked them back, but he didn’t have Zombie strength and he only managed to grab their attention.
They were panicked and wild and impossible to corral. I turned my gun that way, unsure where to aim with so many bodies moving in every direction. Kane felt the same way and gave up trying to pull the man back.