Determined To Live (29 page)

Jordan nods her
head in agreement, even though I could have sworn she was a bit
jealous just a short time ago. Jake releases Vicki's hair at last and
stands next to Jordan, who wraps her arm around Jake's. Both of them
just stand in front of us and grin. My skin crawls from so much evil
in this one room.

Before I can blink,
Jake rushes me and grabs me by my arms, lifting me to a stand. He
turns me and orders me to get moving. His hand shoves hard into my
back and I crash to the floor, unable to keep my balance.

I hear Jordan
laugh, and then I hear her order Vicki to stand and follow us. Jake
pulls me up again, and I hop toward the back door. Vicki cries, and
her screams of pain are loud behind me. Each scream makes me clench
my teeth; the fear of what's being done to her behind my back makes
me sick to my stomach - but Jake won't let me turn to check on her.
His laughter, combined with Jordan's, makes everything worse.

I reach the back
door, push the screen door open, and hop over the threshold into the
dark porch. I hop four or five times forward, and then a few hops to
the side to wait for the rest of them, not knowing how they plan to
get us to the building without getting attacked by all the zombies
wandering around outside. I know they don't care about me and Vicki,
but I
do
know they value their own lives.

Jake comes out and
walks past me to the door leading to the stairs outside. I catch
movement to my left right next to the wall but have no time to react
before Vicki, and then Jordan, comes out the door. I hear a loud bang
and then Jordan's red head jerks to the side. Jake screams Jordan's
name and rushes toward her. I finally make out Nick's face in the
darkness and the fact his gun is now aimed at Jake.

Vicki, unaware of
what's going on, panics and starts to run between the gun and Jake. I
launch myself at her; we both go down as my body slams into her, just
as the gun goes off and I hear the bullet zing past my ear.

Vicki is silent. I
know she wasn't shot, but for some reason I feel the need to make
sure. So I do. Nick falls to his knees beside us and pulls Vicki into
his arms. I stay beside them and breathe through the need to pass
out. After a few minutes of making sure we're both ok, Nick stands
and tells us we have to get out of here because the shots will
attract more undead; plus Paul is still here, and he's
very
loyal to Jake.

No need to tell
me twice.

He helps me and
Vicki to our feet and we take off through the house to the front door
this time. Just as Nick's opening the door, I remember the antidote.

"Nick! Wait.
We need the antidote. We can't leave without it."

Nick raises a large
black bag. "Taken care of."

He grins at me and
I respond with a quick nervous grin of my own. We step out onto the
front porch and see zombies scattered on the driveway, and moving in
and out of the trees.

Vicki starts crying
loudly and I wrap an arm around her, telling her to hush. But it
doesn't take much to alert the zombies. Our fear rises to the level
of terror as their heads turn toward us, and their bodies follow.

Nick tells us to
hurry as he hands me a gun. I hold on to the banister, choosing to
forgo the butt-bumping and take the chance on hopping down. I make
it, though not without a few heart-stopping moments. Nick and Vicki
get on each side of me and help me to the truck Jake had conveniently
left for us.

Nick tells me to
drive, so I jump in the passenger side and scoot over under the
wheel. Vicki jumps in and throws herself into the backseat. Finally,
Nick jumps inside just in the...well, in the
nick
of time. Zombies slam into the closed door and start beating on the
truck.

I start the Hummer,
spinning the tires as I turn the truck, and leave the property I had
expected to die on. Nick climbs into the back with a sobbing and
scared Vicki, and it's clear he cares more about her than she thinks
he does. I hear Vicki tell him what Jordan had done to Kris and he
shushes her, telling her he'd heard it all. He holds her until she
stops crying and falls asleep in his arms. I see him leave a kiss on
her forehead before he lays her on the seat and covers her with a
blanket.

Then he crawls back
over the seat - sighing as he sits and drops his head back against
the headrest. I look over at him briefly because the scary-ass turns
will be coming up soon. In that quick glance, I see how exhausted he
looks - exhausted, but relieved to be away from that place and those
people. Pretty much a mirror image of how I know I must look, and
definitely how I feel.

We make it to the
bottom of the mountain and go back around the outside of Gatlinburg,
which is all open field. Just before I turn on the highway that takes
us back to Pigeon Forge, I see headlights appear back at the bottom
of the mountain. They turn, moving fast on the road around the open
field...heading straight for us.

To
be continued...

Thank you for purchasing and reading the fourth
book in the Zombie Overload series.

If
you liked it - and I hope you did - please
give
it a good rating/review and tell your friends about it. If you would
like to be updated when the next book is finished, you can send an
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Please be sure to type UPDATES in the subject line.

Again, thanks!

C. M. Wright

Find
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Fan Mail Address

C. M. Wright

PO Box 107

Harristown, IL 62537

Thank you to my fans who read the previous books and have given me
the confidence and courage to keep writing.

*****

Special thanks to: William, Bryson, and Austin Noble, Nancy James,
Nancy Creamer, and all my family and friends. I love you all. You
have no idea how much I appreciate each of you!

*****

Many,
many
thanks to Trisha Wilko for the amazing photo (and for being the
model) on the cover of all the Zombie Overload Series books. You are
beautiful, even when you look hideous! Love you, my friend and fellow
Walking Dead freak!

*****

A huge thank you to Fiona Wilson
for beta-reading this book, but mostly for helping me understand why
this book was so hard for me to write. Because of that insight, I was
able to finish what I thought was a lost cause. The series may have
ended with book three if it hadn't been for you.

C.
M. Wright
is
a
wife
and mother who lives outside Decatur, IL. She loves all things
zombie, and is a huge fan of The Walking Dead.
She likes to laugh
and make others laugh, so she does her best to bring that to her
readers...for the Zombie Overload series, anyway. Eventually, she is
planning to write about other creatures that go bump in the night.

Send
C.M. Wright an email, find her on Facebook and Twitter. She always
responds to her fans, answers questions -
if
she can
- and even holds contests on her Facebook Page. She loves hearing
from her readers, whether it's good or bad.