Read Dead Highways (Book 2): Passage Online

Authors: Richard Brown

Tags: #Zombie Apocalypse

Dead Highways (Book 2): Passage (7 page)

BOOK: Dead Highways (Book 2): Passage
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It was as though I had psychic powers and could see into the future. I was Miss Cleo, only I was a white male and I didn’t speak with a fake Jamaican accent.

Obviously, Nicole would shoot a gun, because I would teach her. I would teach both of them. And when Olivia was old enough—if we all made it that long—she, too, would learn. What I didn’t realize was that the future I predicted—the future where Nicole would have a gun in her hands, blasting away—was right around the corner.

Minutes away, actually.

I stood in front of the weapon locker loading a couple of magazines that went with Ted’s Smith and Wesson M&P15’s. With a little coaxing, I could probably fit two of them in the Jeep with the other supplies.

All was quiet. Peaceful. I was a man working on manly stuff. For a while, nothing would disturb me. Then I heard the footsteps.

I stopped loading the bullets, listened. Definitely footsteps, outside the garage. At least two people were out in the driveway, walking around.

I put down the mag and went to the door that led back into the house. Poking my head inside, I could hear the girls still talking in the living room. They weren’t outside, which could only mean…

“Girls, come here now!” I yelled. “And bring Olivia! Hurry!”

I ran back to the weapon locker, loaded a few final rounds into the magazine, and then popped it into the rifle. Peaches and Nicole appeared in the doorway a moment later.

“What’s wrong?” Peaches asked.

“Get in here,” I whispered. “They’re outside.”

“Who?”

“Who do you think? I heard footsteps out in the driveway. Close the door and shut off the light.”

We hunkered down in the corner of the dark garage, behind a bunch of stacked boxes, opposite the door. Since Peaches had to hold Olivia, I gave Nicole the 1911 I’d loaded earlier. In my hands was one of Ted’s high-powered rifles, while Sally remained holstered at my side for backup.

More footsteps outside, approaching. Then came a sudden shattering of glass. Judging by the direction of the sound, my guess was they had broken the window near the front door. Through it, they would gain entrance to the house.

I propped the rifle up on one of the boxes, clicked on the laser sight, and pointed the red beam at the door. If anyone should open it, I could shoot them down before they even saw where I was.

“What do you want me to do?” Nicole asked. She had both hands wrapped around the pistol, holding on for dear life.

“Nothing. Just stay down and be ready. I’ll keep an eye on the door. If someone happens to get close enough to you, then shoot them.”

Another window broke, this one somewhere in the back of the house. As usual, they were coming at us from all sides. Scheming bastards.

We stayed quiet, listening to the sound of God knows how many of them walking around in the house, searching for us. Eventually, one of them would open the door, and then...

Hasta la vista, baby!

“What if it’s the others?” Peaches asked.

“You mean the rest of the group?”

Peaches nodded. “What if they came back?”

“Why would they need to break-in?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s not them. I would have heard a car pull up. And they would see the Jeep outside. They’d know we were here. Even if for some reason Ted no longer had the house keys, they’d still knock first.”

Wouldn’t they? I couldn’t think of a plausible scenario where Robinson and company would come back and just start breaking windows, multiple windows at that.

“Then what if they’re not infected?”

“What?”

“What if it’s people like us looking for a place to hide out?”

Good God. Enough with the
what if
questions, Peaches.

“If they’re not infected, they sure don’t talk much,” I replied. “And why pick a place so far out of town?”

“Same reason we’re here. It’s secluded.”

Before I could answer, the door swung open, answering for me. A bald-headed biker looking dude stood in the light of the doorway, arms down at his sides. His eyes shifted back and forth, examining the piles of stuff in the room. I had the laser pinned on the center of his black leather jacket, my finger itching to pull the trigger. He made no move to come further inside, and if he saw me, he gave no indication. I was sure he couldn’t see the girls, as they both had their backs flat against the supply table and their heads tucked down.

We all held our breath. Unbelievably, even Olivia kept quiet.

I had planned to shoot anyone on sight, even a Harley fanboy, but now I changed my mind. If we could remain hidden long enough, maybe they’d come to the conclusion that the house was empty and leave. Was that wishful thinking? Plus, if I shot this guy, it would alert the others in the house to our position. I had almost thirty rounds at my disposal, but that might not be enough. There could be dozens of them. I could still hear footsteps outside. Sure, Nicole was armed, but she hadn’t ever shot a gun before, and there wasn’t much space to maneuver. She’d be just as likely to shoot herself, or one of us, if the infected began piling through the door. It would only take one or two getting through to overwhelm us.

Plan B: stay quiet, stay hidden, and hope they leave.

With my amazing powers of suggestion at work, the bald-headed biker turned and walked off down the hallway.

Whew. I could finally breathe. I adjusted my grip on the rifle. Unbeknownst to me, I was inadvertently making circles on the white wall in the hallway with the red laser. And by the time I realized my mistake, the biker dude was on his way back.

He rushed into the doorway and scanned the room again. This time, he was more determined, and before long, he was staring directly at me. He looked down at the red dot on his chest, and then back up at me. Then down at the red dot again. Then back up at me.

Nice knowing you Plan B.

When he made his move forward, I pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession. The bullets followed the red laser with perfect precision, ripping through his leather jacket and through his beefy chest with ease. His stocky legs gave out and he fell to the floor, revealing a splatter of blood on the white wall behind him, streaming down to the floorboards.

I stood up, kept the gun aimed at the doorway. No more hiding. Now that our position had been compromised, the rest would be upon us at any moment.

“Nicole, I need your help.”

Nicole swiveled around on her butt and then slowly stood up.

“Shoot anyone who appears through that doorway,” I said. “Okay?”

She raised the 1911, and with shaky hands, aimed it at the doorway.

Strangely, I heard no movement in the house. Nor did I hear any movement, or footsteps, outside anymore.

“This is bad,” I whispered. “This is really bad.”

I knew what they were doing, even though I couldn’t see them. Their sudden silence told me everything I needed to know. They hadn’t left, that I was sure of, but they also weren’t going to pop their heads in that doorway.

Peaches looked up at me and said, “What’s going on?”

“They’re gonna wait us out. That’s what’s going on. They’ve probably taken up positions in the house. They’re gonna force us to make the next move, lead us into one of their traps.”

Nicole began shaking so much she could barely hold the gun steady. “I don’t wanna die.”

I glanced down at Peaches. She was still looking up at me. “We have to leave. Make for the Jeep and get out of here. I’m sorry, but it’s our only chance.”

Peaches nodded. “How are we gonna get past them though?”

“The Jeep is right on the other side of this garage door. I’m gonna open it. Then I’m gonna shoot anyone standing in our way. Nicole, you keep your gun on that doorway until I tell you to move. This is important.”

With the butt of the rifle against my shoulder, I quietly moved to the front of the garage. On the wall near the open doorway was the big garage door button, glowing white. I waved for Peaches to come closer. I didn’t want her and Olivia stuck defenseless on the side with the big door once it started to open.

“Nicole, remember. Wait for my word.”

Ready?

One. Two. Three.

I pressed the garage door button. The electric motor kicked on, chain moving, slowly pulling the garage door upward. Bright sunlight filled the garage, illuminating all of Ted’s most treasured possessions—and the three infected standing in the driveway. Once the garage door came to a stop, a young black woman wasted no time diving for Nicole. I shot her down just as the tips of her fingers raked Nicole’s back. Despite having multiple infected just feet behind her, Nicole kept her 1911 pointed at the interior garage door, just as I had ordered.

The other two infected, a man and a woman, stood in front of the Jeep watching as the eager black woman rolled on the pavement into a bush, blood spitting out of her side. I had my rifle sighted on the man, who was the next closest to Nicole, waiting for him to make his move. I thought about firing off a few warning shots in their direction. Maybe they’d back off and let us get to the Jeep. But I had to be extra careful about where I placed my shots. I didn’t want to accidently puncture one of the Jeep’s tires and ruin our getaway vehicle.

I started to squeeze the trigger just as two infected stormed through the interior door to my right. Nicole opened fire on the first one, a mountain of a man, tall and wide. His enormous frame made for an easy target, even for a novice like Nicole, as he took numerous shots in the chest and immediately fell to his knees in the doorway. The second one, much thinner, ducked behind him, used him as a shield. Once he noticed my rifle pointed at him, he scurried back into the hallway.

Meanwhile, Nicole had stopped shooting and started screaming. The infected man in the driveway had tackled her from behind while I was distracted. His female partner in crime thought she’d try her luck at Peaches, who was beside me with her arms wrapped tightly around Olivia.

I would have let this one live, had she just backed off. Instead, she ran toward the three of us at full speed. I might have been able to wrestle her away, but I wasn’t taking any chances—not with Peaches or Olivia. Last thing I wanted hanging over my head was more regrets, should I make the wrong choice. It wouldn’t take long to kill an infant. It took even less time to pull the trigger. I had a split second to make a decision, so I made the easy choice. The infected woman collapsed forward against a stack of boxes as bullets whipped through her body.

“Get to the car!” I yelled to Peaches.

Nicole, however, couldn’t
get
anywhere. She was preoccupied with the man on top of her, brutally slamming his fists into her face. I hurried over and jabbed the butt of the rifle into the back of his head. He didn’t go limp, as I had hoped. But I
had
gotten his attention. From his knees, he turned and tried to grab me, and I hit him again. And again. And again. I stopped when a large gash opened up next to his right eye; blood began pouring out, blinding him. Nicole snuck out from under his legs and then ran for the Jeep. Then I finished the job.

Peaches started the Jeep from the passenger seat as I ran over. Nicole was wondering where to sit, as the backseat was stuffed with the boxes I’d packed earlier.

I slung the rifle over my back. “Here,” I said, grabbing the first box I’d packed—the one with the assortment of random items—and tossed it out on to the driveway. A flashlight fell out and began rolling down toward the road. “Get in.”

Noises behind me. More breaking glass.

One of the infected had climbed back out of the broken window near the front door. I grabbed the rifle off my back and shot him down. Then I took some more shots into the garage. Three infected, including the one who had used the fat man as a shield, burst through the doorway. I pulled the trigger as fast as I could, firing off seven or eight rounds before one punctured the hot water heater. I winced, thinking the tank might explode from the sudden release of pressure, but all it did was release a torrent of water, gushing out in all directions from the bullet wound. In no time, the remaining infected and most of Ted’s supplies became drenched in water.

I had no clue if Ted’s generator had kept the hot water heater running, but if the water
was
hot, the infected didn’t show the least bit of pain as it rained down on them.

“Jimmy, come on!” Peaches yelled.

I lowered the rifle, slung it around my back, and then got into the Jeep.

Well, I fed his fish, if only once.

You’re welcome, Ted.

 

 

“What’s the name of the street?”

“Chestnut,” Nicole replied. “You’re gonna be making a left ahead.”

We weren’t two minutes away from Ted’s before we came to a unanimous decision.

Screw this fucking town.

The clock on the dash said it was 4:45 p.m. We had an hour and fifteen minutes to make it to a Walgreens somewhere in Orlando. I had read the note three or four times but couldn’t remember what road Robinson had said it was on. And I sure as hell wasn’t going back to Ted’s to retrieve the note to find out. Instead, we’d stop off at last night’s campsite to get the gear they left for us, and the map to the location.

BOOK: Dead Highways (Book 2): Passage
7.42Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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