Murphy's Law (Roads Less Traveled Book 2) (27 page)

“Remember, don’t shoot or make any noise unless you really need to. Find Nancy, get out, get to the stable. Got it?”

They both nodded and slid down the wall until they were kneeling. I followed suit and turned my attention back towards the open garage door. It seemed very quiet inside, though we could still hear runners. The screams were muffled, so that told me the runners had left the garage and were making their way out of the building. The ones who hadn’t already made it out, that is. If the garage was clear, our only obstacle would be the slower zombies. I’d take those sonsabitches over the fast ones any day of the week, twice on Sunday.

Already kneeling, I leaned over and took a quick peek inside the garage. The only thing I could see clearly was the front end of a Ford pickup truck. I pulled my head back, took a breath, and peeked again. Mia and Jake were keeping their eyes on everything around us—the deadheads, the corner behind us, anywhere and everywhere something could sneak up from behind and tear our heads off. On my second look I started noticing more details; blood, more vehicles crammed together like sardines, supplies, other junk tossed around and littering the floor, no runners. There were probably slower ones in there, but I didn’t think they would be a problem.

Duck and dodge, that was the plan.

I motioned with my hand for the other two to follow close, and crab-walked around the corner and into the garage. I waited until we were all inside before standing slightly, still hunkered down a bit, and motioning for them to split up around the vehicles. Slowly, cautiously, we spread out and began looking into the windows of the vehicles, trying not to step in the massive pools of blood that seemed to be everywhere. As luck would have it, we didn’t have to look very far before finding Nancy. She was lying down across the seat of the Ford pickup. I snapped my fingers to get Jake and Mia’s attention, and waved them over to where I was standing next to the passenger side of the truck. They walked over as I tapped on the glass. Nancy jumped, Gus snorted, and Jake almost shit his pants.

“Shh,” I motioned with my finger to my lips.

Nancy cupped her hand over Gus’s mouth, said something into his ear, shifting her body as quietly as she could until she was sitting up. Gus was doing his best to remain calm, but his body shook from excitement. Mia and Jake stood next to me, their eyes darting all around, waiting for something to come screeching at us at any second. I reached out and grabbed the door handle. It clicked, the door popped open, and I eased it back, hoping like hell someone had oiled the hinges recently. Luck was still with us and it opened without a sound. Nancy looked like she was about to explode, so happy to see us she was. I held out a hand to still them.

“Time to go.”

Her smile vanished and she shook her head. I knew Jake and Mia were growing restless; each second that ticked by increased our chances of being discovered. I furrowed my brow, asking Nancy with my face what the hell she was talking about. She pointed behind her, to a large SUV just off to the driver’s side of the truck.

“The kids are in there,” she mouthed. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. Mia gripped my shoulder and pressed her mouth to my ear.

“We can’t leave them.”

I stood there, trying to figure out how to get all of us out of there. The SUV was blocked in, so we couldn’t drive it out without moving the pickup. And that was noise I didn’t want to be making at the moment. I had no idea how many kids there were, or how many of them were capable of riding a horse.

“How many?” I asked Nancy. Our voices so far had been hushed, but I was getting a very bad feeling that we were doing too much talking and not enough moving. Nancy shrugged and held out her hands.

“At least five, but I’m not sure.”

“We’ll get the kids. You wait here for us, then we’ll all sneak outside.”

Those were the words that came out of my mouth, but in my head I was actually cussing a blue streak. I tapped Jake and Mia on the shoulders and made my way around the back of the truck. They followed and drew their pistols. I eased the back door open on the SUV; sure enough, there were six kids piled into the back seat, all asleep except for one.
That
one opened his mouth the second he saw me and drew in a deep breath, getting ready to let out a war-whoop. I reached in and slapped my hand over his mouth, making a fair amount of noise in the process, and shushed him as best as I could.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. We’re here to help. We won’t hurt you.”

He let out all the air he had drawn in and nodded his head. I cautiously slid my hand away from his mouth. The rest of the kids were still asleep.

“Are you gonna get us outta here, lady?” he asked in a small but strong voice.

He was so serious and intense, it was hard to keep from laughing. I looked over my shoulder at Mia and Jake. They were still keeping a sharp eye on the rest of the garage. Finally I turned back to the kid, narrowed my eyes, and leaned in close.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Sam.”

“Sam. I need your help, okay?”

The boy nodded once, his face mirroring my expression. Ever notice how a kid might not have the foggiest clue what’s going on, but they can usually run a damn good bluff?

“Alright, here’s what I want you to do,” I whispered and patted his shoulder. We put our heads together as I explained his job, then once I was finished he nodded once more and unfastened his seatbelt. I turned to Mia and Jake, who were still on the lookout, and told them to stay with the kids.

“Well where are you going?” Mia asked.

“I’m going back outside, see if I can get John’s attention,” I said. “Just stay with the kids. I’ll be right back.”

I turned and snuck back the way I came, past Nancy and Gus, who were both throwing a confused look my way. I just motioned with one finger for them to stay put inside the pickup. We had all heard gunshots a few moments earlier, nothing consistent, but the sounds were coming from the back of the building and off to the side, close to the stable. My guess was, whoever was still alive up top was keeping the areas in front of and behind the stable clear of deadhead activity. I was hoping I would be able to dodge the slower variety long enough to catch John’s attention, then somehow get him to toss a radio down to me. At least, that was the idea.

I knelt down inside the garage door and scoped out the situation outside. There were still a few dozen zombies staggering about, but there was no sign of runners. Hopefully they were still all contained inside the prison walls, and considering their only exit to the outside was the corridor which led directly into the garage, we were living on borrowed time. Those bastards could come tearing back into the garage at any second, and that pleasant thought did nothing to settle my nerves.

One thing at a time.

I strode into the open. I had some space between me and the nearest of the deadheads, so after walking out as far as my guts and weak knees would allow, I turned my back to them and looked up at the rooftop. Nothing. I could hear them shooting from what sounded like the far side of the roof, which I guess explained why I couldn’t see them.

Shit
.
I have to get their attention
.

I drew my pistol and raised it into the air, barrel pointing up, realizing just before pulling the trigger that shooting into the air would be a perfectly good waste of a bullet. So I turned, picked out the nearest deadhead who had taken notice and started stumbling towards me, aimed, and fired. The sack of guts who used to be a gas station attendant judging by what was left of his clothing hit the dirt, and the shouting and scuffling from the rooftop was music to my ears. I turned and saw a head pop into view.

“Kasey?!” John yelled down to me.

I waved once, then made a phone-shape with my hand, thumb and pinky sticking out with the other fingers curled in, and held it to my head. He tilted his head and looked at me with his mouth open, so I pointed to him, then to myself, and made the phone-gesture again. His lips mouthed the word “shit” before he started frantically motioning over his shoulder. Another head popped into view: Abby. The two of them talked a moment before she grabbed at something on her belt and handed it to John. He stretched his arm over the ledge and made a tossing motion with his hand. I looked behind me, saw a few more nasties had gotten a little too close for comfort, and put them down before walking over to the side of the building underneath where John’s hand was hanging high above.

I holstered my gun and held my hands up. John let go and Abby’s radio dropped straight down towards my face. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, I would have ducked and dodged it. But instead I caught it, gave the big man a thumb’s up, and hurried inside the garage. Just before turning my back and heading towards Nancy, I saw zombie after zombie start to drop outside the doors. John finally knew we were alive, and I had a feeling he was catching on to what I was thinking. Regardless of what the plan ultimately ended up being, we needed the area behind the building cleared out. I did notice however, that whoever was doing the shooting wasn’t going overboard. They were merely picking off the deadheads that came too close to the open garage door.

I tapped on the window as I passed Nancy, motioning for her to follow me. The SUV’s back door was open and all the kids were awake now, listening intently to Sam. I wasn’t sure how old he was, but I could see he had a good little head on his shoulders. I smiled to my two friends and held the radio up as I approached.

“Are we ready?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah. Kids are good to go. Do we know what the hell we’re doin’ yet?” Jake asked.

Nancy walked up behind me with Gus in her arms. I glanced back at her before bringing the radio close to my mouth. Just as I was about to call John, Sam spoke up.

“Why don’t we just drive on outta here?”

The look on his face was priceless. It was one of those do-I-have-to-do-everything looks. He was even holding his little hands out to the sides, imitating a very grown-up look of exasperation. Jake actually laughed, but cut it short once he remembered where we were. He jerked a thumb at Sam and shrugged.

“Kid’s got a point. Why
don’t
we just drive on outta here?”

“I’m not leaving my horse, Jake,” I said, eyebrow arched. He opened his mouth to say something else but I cut him off. “I’m not
leaving
my
horse
.”

He held his hands up, surrendering for the moment. However, the kid did have a point. I brought the radio back to my mouth and called John.

“You guys alright down there?” he asked after a few moments.

“Yeah. We found Nancy and a carload of kids. Who else is up there?”

“Besides me and Abby, Michael is over on the west building with Jonah and a few of his grunts. That’s it. There’s no one else,” John said. Everyone around me started shaking their heads, no doubt having the same thoughts I was at the time.

“Can you get off the roof?” I knew that was probably a stupid question. Faint beginnings of a plan were starting to take form in my mind, and the more I knew about their situation up top, the better.

“Me and Abby can probably make it over to the barn roof, but Michael and Jonah are shit outta luck.”

“Hey, we’re not shit out of anything,” Michael’s voice came across the radio, slightly irritated, definitely at the end of his rope.

“What’s the ground look like on your side of the building, Michael, outside the prison?” I asked.

Mia was already starting to give me her oh-no-you’re-not look.

Jake was giving me the opposite hell-yeah-let’s-do-it look.

I held my hand up to keep everyone quiet, jabbing my finger behind them, letting them know they were still on watch duty for the time being. Mia sighed and turned her back to me, her pistol raised as she scanned the garage. Jake took up position at the tail end of the SUV. Nancy and I huddled in closer to the kids, who were remaining mercifully silent, no doubt thanks to Sam.

“It’s clear over here, Kasey. What are you thinking?” Michael finally answered.

Well, I wasn’t too sure he wanted to know what I was thinking, but I had to stop doubting myself and just spill it.

“John, are you listening?” I asked.

“Yeah girl, we’re here,” he answered, referring to Abby and himself.

“Alright guys, here’s what I’m thinking…”

* * *

The radio was silent for several minutes after I finished explaining the plan. Nancy was staring at me, and even Jake and Mia had turned to gawk. I raised my hands in the air and mouthed “What?” Seemed like a good idea to me.

Crazy, sure. But not as crazy as staying.

“Uh, Kasey…that’s a long ass drop,” Michael said.

“You got a better idea?” I asked.

Back when the prison was just a prison, there had been a huge gap where the stable now stood. Obviously in pre-Z days, barns weren’t a standard thing in correctional facilities. It was the only open area in the whole complex; the rest was boxed in by buildings. But between the corners of the south and west buildings, all there had been was a chainlink fence, decked out with razor-wire along the top, the only open view of the surrounding meadows the courtyard had at that time. When the townsfolk moved here, most saw the necessity of having horses, and if you have horses, you need a place to keep them, so they had gone about the long and laborious job of blocking that opening with a cinderblock wall and building a long, narrow barn in the space between the two buildings. It butted right up against the side of the south building, but in order to leave room for the front barn door, they had to build it several feet away from the side of the west building. Ultimately that left a gap of about twenty feet between the barn’s roof, and the west building’s roof.