Dying To Live & Fighting To Live-Book One and Book Two (Zombie Overload Series) (8 page)

We enter a small
suburb of Springfield and I look around at what used to be beautiful
homes. The sight of bodies and blood takes away from that beauty,
immensely.

I turn my head as
far as I can without interfering with the baby and her bottle, and
look at my boys in the backseat. They are passed out from exhaustion.
I smile, and wish I could tuck them into a nice warm bed, brush their
foreheads with a kiss, and tell them to have sweet dreams. The things
we take for granted.

I burp the baby girl
when she decides she's finished and turn to the back to place her in
her seat. Securing her in, I cover her with a blanket, then do the
same to Bo and Ash, running my hand over their cheeks and foreheads.
I whisper that I love them and then turn back toward the front. I
sigh and do my best to hold in my tears but a few leak out anyway. My
husband puts his arm out to me and I lean against his side, not an
easy thing to do in a van with bucket seats, but we manage...for
about thirty seconds. Then my back screams at me to quit being so
stupid, that I'm not that flexible. I sit up and settle back in my
seat.

We are a few blocks
away from where it turns from quiet outer-residential to busy
inner-city chaos. The dead are already everywhere. I don't even want
to imagine how packed with the undead the downtown area will be,
which is where the hospital just happens to be located. Right now, I
see the dead stumbling and shuffling around. Beating on doors,
windows, outer walls of homes. Eating parts of what was once a living
breathing human being like they themselves once were. I don't feel
the same as I did even an hour ago. Sure it still sickens me. Still
horrifies me. Still scares me. But now, it also pisses me off. I want
to know what happened? Who did this? And WHY?

Up ahead I see so
many zombies. So many of the damn things just everywhere.
Fortunately, they don't seem to pay much attention to us. Maybe it's
only when we are sitting still, and they can focus on the fact there
are people in the vehicles, that they take an interest in us. I don't
know. We are about a mile from the hospital and I have no idea where
the armory is. Jake leads us down several more streets and,
eventually, we pull up outside a large fenced gate with an even
larger brick building on the other side. Jake jumps out of his
vehicle and motions for everyone to wait. He runs to a little cement
guard shack next to the gate, and with a set of keys he has in his
hands, unlocks it, and disappears inside. Suddenly, the gate starts
to open. Jake runs back out and jumps into his SUV. Driving it
through and parking to the side, he motions the rest of us to follow.

Still three vehicles
to go and a horde of zombies start to gather and come our way. We all
yell at them to hurry up. The first two make it through in plenty of
time but the single man in the very last car, does something none of
us expect. He stops his car, gets out, takes a few steps toward the
zombies, then throws his head back and spreads his arms wide. We are
all standing with our mouths open in shock and horror.

Finally, someone
starts screaming for him to run and we all join in with our own
screams. He doesn’t seem to even hear us. The first four
walking dead reach him and take him to the ground. We watch as one
pulls his right arm from it's socket and twists until it comes
completely off. Another sinks it's teeth deep into the man's left
leg, while still another stabs it's hands into the mans stomach,
taking out chucks of meat each time it's hands go down and comes back
up. The fourth bites into his left arm and once he gets a good chunk
in his mouth, he peels the rest of the skin off. At that point, most
of us remember that we
can
turn away, and we do. The most
unnerving part was, that entire time, the man never screamed. Not
once.

We all back up as
the rest are still coming for us. Jake is over next to the gate on
the inside, opening a black box he unlocked with his key. The gate
starts to slowly close. There is no way it's going to shut in time!

Jake lifts his rifle
and takes out the closer zombies. Will runs to the van and grabs a
long sword. Standing on the inside of the gate, he takes down the
ones Jake can't shoot in time. Finally, the gate closes with a bang.
We all relax and sigh with relief. They can't get through that gate.
It's way too strong.

"Alright. Let's
move. That gate's not strong enough to stop them if too many start
pushing on it at once," Jake informs us.
Thanks for totally
screwing up that relief I had going on, Asshole.

The armories doors
are right in front of us but Jake gets back in his vehicle, so we all
pile back in our own. We follow as he leads us on a road to the left
which leads to the back of the building. I'm shocked to see all the
smaller buildings and the much larger metal one. Why didn't any of us
know this was here? It's huge!

He pulls up outside
the large metal building and motions, once again, for us to stay.
Rifle on a strap over one shoulder, he walks up and unlocks the huge
metal door then slides it to the right, leaving an opening the size
of a four car garage. As he's sliding it open, four undead in
military fatigues come shuffling toward him. Calmly, and seemingly
unsurprised, he shoots each one. He just stands there and waits,
watching the door. Eventually another comes out and he takes that one
down, as well. Finally satisfied, he goes back to his vehicle and
drives it inside the building. We all follow.

Inside, I see at
least twelve Hummers along one wall of the building, parked at an
angle. All shiny black and looking brand new. The opposite side is
empty and Jake parks his vehicle there, so we do the same. We wait
for him to tell us when it's safe. After he secures the door, he
motions for us to get out.

Except for the baby
and toddler who are both asleep, everyone gets out and walks over to
Jake. He tells us this armory is where he's stationed and is in
charge of. He and some of his men were ordered to Stephan to
"contain" the situation when all hell broke loose. His men
didn't make it out. But he got away and, realizing there was nothing
more he could do, started back to Springfield to get his brother. He
knows how many men are on each shift and knows how many of them
should have been in this building, and how many should be inside the
armory. Twenty-five guards are on shift at all times. Five were
inside this building. He had fifteen men with him in Stephan. So that
leaves five in the armory itself. He then tells us all to pick one of
the Hummers because our vehicles aren't worth a damn. He hands each
of us a key attached to a thick camo-colored tag that has a number on
it. He tells us the number matches the number painted on the wall in
front of each Hummer. We got number three. He also explains that
these may look like the Hummers we see on the streets that civilians
drive now, but other than that, there's no comparison. The entire
outside is bullet-proof. The inside is full of gadgets that can help
us, such as GPS, heat sensor and night vision displays, and several
storage compartments, including a large storage space underneath and
in the very back which are all accessible from inside
and
outside the vehicle. He says there are a lot more features but he
doesn't have time for the full salesman pitch.

While Will and the
boys go over to the Hummer, I go back to our van and start unloading
everything, careful not to wake the baby. Absorbed in unloading the
van, I don't notice the figure standing behind me until I back into
them.
Yeah.
Scared the shit out of me, too.

I scream and Peg
backs up with her arms out and her hands up.

"I'm sorry! I'm
sorry!" She yells back at me.

I
really
want
to beat the bloody hell out of her. She's such an idiot! But I force
myself to calm down and breathe. Suddenly we are surrounded by
people. Jake with his rifle pointed at Peg's head.
Oh, how I wish
I could tell him she's one of the undead! Now, wait. Before you go
getting all self-righteous on me, spend some time with her. You'll be
feeling the same way I do. Bet me.

Peg stares down the
barrel of Jake's gun and I think she's about to pass out from fear. I
tell Jake it's ok, that she had just scared me. He slowly lowers the
gun and, shaking his head in disgust at Peg, turns and walks away.
All but Kim goes back to what they were doing. Kim looks at me,
questioning me with her eyes. I smile and tell her it's ok. She
glares once more at Peg, then turns and goes to my parents van,
climbs to the top, and sits next to her son.

I look back at Peg.
"Did you need something?" I ask her, my voice filled with
irritation.

She looks away then
looks back at me. Slowly, she opens her mouth but it still takes a
few seconds for the words to come out.

"I was just
wondering if, um, well, if I could ride with you guys?" She asks
so quietly, I'm seriously hoping that I hadn’t heard her right.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Can I ride
with you guys?" She repeats a little louder.
Damn it!
I
heard her right.

I'm desperately
trying to come up with a good solid reason why she absolutely could
NOT ride with us.

"Don't you
think you should ride with Kim and your
kids
?" I ask her
and hope for once she's smart enough to choose her kids over herself.
Because if she rides with me, I may just kill her, if Will doesn’t
get to her first.

"I think Kim's
mad at me."
Wow. No shit?
"And I'd rather
not
be around those stupid kids right now. They're giving me a headache."

Alright, look. I
can't stand her, you knew that. And she has done so much to make me
feel that way. But this, this is just too much. Those little kids
watched their dad,
HER
fiance, get attacked by a zombie just a
few hours ago. Long hours ago, but still, just a few hours ago. Their
dad,
HER
fiance, has been strapped on top my parents van
almost since it happened. But she's worried about
HER
headache?
Un-freakin-believable!

I can't speak, I'm
so damn angry! So I growl at her as my hands reach for her throat.
She gives a squeak, turns, and runs off.
Stupid little bitch!

I pace about a
half-dozen times until Will shows up and asks me what she wanted. I
tell him and he turns beet-red, his body tightening in anger. I grab
his arm and tell him to let it go. She isn't worth it. And he does
his own pacing to calm down.

I go back to
unloading the van and eventually Will comes over to help. Jake
appears from around the back of the van and leans against the side,
crossing his arms against his chest.

"Who the hell
is that crazy chick?" He asks us.

Will explains it to
him. Jake shakes his head.

"She just asked
if I'd let her ride with me. Got on her knees and begged, even. Said
everyone wants to hurt her. Why didn't you let me shoot her?" He
asks me.

"My mistake.
Thought she was a human being. Won't happen again. Promise." I
tell him with anger dripping from every word. He raises an eyebrow at
me in question. But first, I ask him what he said to her.

"I told that
crazy bitch, hell no! She told me she would "pay" me, if
you know what I mean." Unfortunately, we do. Typical Peg. "So
now she's out offering God only knows what to all the others."

I then tell him what
she had said to me and I see anger transform his own face.

"Shit." He
leans against the Hummer, crosses his arms, and looks at the floor.
After a few moments, he lifts his head but he keeps his eyes on the
wall behind me.

"I think it
would be best if everyone bedded down here for the night. It's safe
enough. There's an upstairs with several offices that everyone can
sleep in and not be easily attacked should they somehow get in. I
don't think they can climb. I'm almost positive of that. So go ahead
and load up the Hummer with your stuff and then head up and get some
rest. I'll let the others know." Jake heads off to do just that.
I watch him go, my head cocked to the side, wondering at his reaction
to what Peg had said. I mean, sure, it was an awful thing to say but
his reaction was more than just disgust. It went deeper than that. I
am determined to find out. (
Oh, right. Like you're not curious,
too!)
I watch him until Will calls out, asking if I'm going to
help him or not. I walk over to where Will's standing and get to
work.

Will and I set
blankets, pillows, and a change of clothes for each of us aside and
then we load our stuff into the truck. It's even roomier inside than
I thought it was. Lots of gadgets, just like Jake had said. Mom and
Dad come over and help us finish up once they had theirs done.
Finally, everything is loaded and we holler at the boys to come help
carry stuff upstairs. They are with a couple of kids around their
ages, two boys and a girl. One boy and the girl are probably Bo's age
and the other boy is near Ash's age. Our boys come running over to us
and we load their arms and send them upstairs.