Rotter Apocalypse (25 page)

The three Angels sat in the top row of bleachers facing Piedmont Hills High’s baseball diamond, munching on their MREs. Natalie would have preferred to be alone, but Ari and Doreen wanted to join her, so she’d accepted. The other two chatted amicably, and Natalie occasionally added something to the conversation so as not to appear rude. In truth, all she wanted to do was get some sleep. After the day they had gone through, she needed it.

Following the race across San Jose to rescue the downed Apache crew, headquarters had ordered Tango Alpha One to set up a Forward Area Refuel Point and be ready to provide support for the ground troops if necessary, which never happened. The drive through San Jose encountered no concentrations of rotters that the regular forces couldn’t handle. Natalie and the others didn’t see any activity until half an hour before dusk when the advancing line swept past the school and continued on to the foothills of the Diablo Mountains half a mile to the east. The rest of Tango Alpha joined them and, after setting up a makeshift perimeter, settled down for the evening.

Doreen finished off her MRE and packed the remnants into the main pouch. “If you’ll excuse me, I have the nine to midnight watch.”

“Better you than me,” Ari joked.

“Good luck,” Natalie said.

“Thanks.” Doreen stood up and made her way down the bleacher, pausing long enough to place her hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “I’m glad we’re back together again.”

Natalie patted her wrist. “Me too.”

Ari waited until Doreen had reached the bottom of the bleachers before saying, “She’s right.”

“About what?”

“About us all being back together.”

For the first time in days, Natalie thought about the Angels no longer with them. Leila had died at Site R after being bitten by a baby rotter. Bethany had succumbed at the beginning of the trip west from an infection caused by a bite. Rotters had killed Tiara on a sandbar just north of St. Louis, and Katie during the evacuation from Omaha. Sarah and Emily were lost in the explosion on the Golden Gate Bridge. The losses that hurt the most, however, were Josephine, Stephanie, Amy, and Sandy. Deaths were understandable, and she could deal with that. Those four joined other parts of the government-in-exile. Having them walk away from what they had built, what they had gone through for so long, felt like betrayal.

Natalie also thought about Robson, which weighed even heavier on her heart. She had not wanted to leave him behind in Portland. They had only recently fallen in love, and going ahead without him shattered what little hope she had left for the future. Deep down, she knew she had no choice. Every life lost over the past month would have been wasted if the Angels had not at least tried. She had no illusions about ever seeing him again, or even about his still being alive. Natalie only wished she knew what had happened to him. The closure would have been nice.

“You okay?” Ari asked.

Natalie suddenly realized tears were streaking down her cheek. She nodded and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes.

“You’re thinking about Robson, aren’t you?”

“I know he’s probably dead. Even if he isn’t, the chances of us ever seeing each other again are….” Natalie choked back a sob.

Ari slid across the bleacher and wrapped an arm around Natalie’s shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Natalie lied.

“No you’re not.”

“I am. Believe m—” Natalie never completed her sentence before the tears began to flow again. She cried for five minutes. Ari cradled Natalie’s head against her shoulder, stroking her hair. She said nothing, letting her friend purge. When there were no more tears to flow, Natalie lifted her head.

Ari rubbed her shoulder. “Do you feel better?”

“I do. It’s….”

“What?”

“I hate for anyone to see me weak like this.”

“Look at me,” said Ari.

“No.”

“Why?”

“I’m a mess.”

“No you’re not. You’re as beautiful as ever.” Ari placed her hands under Natalie’s chin and raised her head. She used her thumbs to wipe away the tears. “As for being weak, no one could have done what you did over the past year without crying at least once.”

Natalie chuckled. “You’re biased.”

“I admit it. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known.”

Natalie smiled. “Thanks.”

Ari leaned forward and closed her eyes. Before Natalie could respond, their lips touched. The kiss was gentle. Ari’s tongue glided along Natalie’s lips. Natalie didn’t know what to do. When she pulled back a little, Ari released her.

“I’m sorry,” Ari said quickly. “I shouldn’t have done that. It was—”

Natalie placed her hands on Ari’s cheeks and pulled her close. Their lips met again, only now the kiss was more passionate. Their tongues explored each other’s mouths. Ari slid her hands around Natalie’s waist and leaned onto the bleacher seat, pulling Natalie on top of her. She ground herself against Natalie, who moaned deep into Ari’s throat.

Ari broke the embrace. “Are you sure you want to do this here?”

“Are you changing your mind?”

“No,” Ari said. “I mean out here in the open.”

“Who cares? I need you now.”

For the next hour, Natalie and Ari lost themselves in each other’s love.

“Will I be okay?” Linda said, her voice cracking from the pain.

“You’ll be fine.” Vladimir stroked the back of her head. “Your body will regenerate quickly, and by tomorrow night you’ll be healed.”

“It’s agonizing,” Linda moaned.

“You get used to it after a while and learn to control it. Remember, we have a much higher tolerance than do humans. Levels of pain that would shock their bodies into closing down have little effect on us.”

A quiet knock sounded on the door. Tibor stuck his head inside the bedroom and mouthed the words, “We found him.” Vladimir nodded, and Tibor discreetly exited.

“I have to go,” said Vladimir.

“Please don’t leave me.”

“I have things to attend to.” Vladimir raised his right arm and placed his wrist in front of Linda’s mouth. “Take some of my blood.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“It’s not for food. A vampire’s blood is curative to other vampires. It’ll help you regenerate.”

Linda placed her mouth over the veins in Vladimir’s wrist. She extended her fangs, bit through the skin, and drank. After a few seconds, she let out a sigh that sounded part relief and part sexual. Vladimir let her continue for a minute before pulling his arm away. When Linda leaned forward for more, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back onto the bed.

“When you wake up tomorrow night, you’ll be back to normal.”

Linda fell asleep before her head hit the mattress.

Vladimir exited the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Tibor stood further down the hall at the top of the stairs.

“Where did you find him?”

“Miles and Tamara found him wandering the woods,” Tibor replied.

Vladimir descended the stairs. “What was he doing out there?”

“Brooding.” Tibor fell in behind the Master.

“About what?”

“What else? Having to turn Robson and the others.”

Vladimir reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the room the coven used as their living area. Dravko stood by the fireplace, his back to the door. Vladimir crossed the room.

“Do you mind telling me what your fucking problem is?”

Dravko turned to face him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Bullshit.” Vladimir moved up close and got into Dravko’s face. To his credit, he did not back down or wince. “Why did you leave the barn tonight during the feeding?”

“You know I have a problem with us going after Robson.”

“I know. You’re protecting your pet human.” Vladimir nearly spat the words. “But tonight we fed on the other two.”

“They’re friends of Robson’s.”

Vladimir took several steps back to lessen the temptation to rip out the insolent bastard’s throat. “You betrayed the coven back in Maine when you went along with banishing me from the humans’ camp. Even after I offered to give you another chance to redeem yourself, you betrayed the coven again.”

“I didn’t betr—”

“Shut up!” screamed Vladimir. Even Tibor jumped at the virulence seething from him. “I’ve fucking had it with you. You need to get something straight. You are no longer the Master of this coven. You never should have been. I’m in charge now. The only way to keep our species alive and rebuild our numbers is to create a coven of vampires who are strong and loyal. You’re undermining that effort. I’m sick of coddling you. Tomorrow night, one way or another, I’m making you an example for the rest of the coven.”

“An example?” asked Tibor from the open doorway.

“Yes.” Vladimir glanced over his shoulder at Tibor, his icy glare warning the vampire not to question him, and then back to Dravko. “Tomorrow night you are going to turn or feed on one of the humans and show the rest of the coven that you’re a loyal member of our group. If not, then Tibor and I are going to cut you down where you stand. Is that understood?”

Dravko hesitated.

“Do you understand me?” Vladimir hissed.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now get the fuck out of my sight.”

Dravko stalked across the room and exited the house, refusing to make eye contact with Tibor. Once he had left, Vladimir stepped up to Tibor. “Don’t you dare tell me you think I’m out of line.”

“On the contrary. I think what you’re doing is long overdue.” Tibor pushed himself off the door jamb. “He’s grown weak after spending so much time with the humans. And you need to exert dominance over every vampire in your coven.”

“Even you?”

“I didn’t think my loyalty was in question.”

“It’s not,” Vladimir said. “It’s good to know I can count on—”

The opening of the front door interrupted Vladimir. Jonathon and Stamos entered. They were agitated.

“What’s wrong?” Vladimir asked.

“We’re in no immediate danger,” said Stamos. “We were hunting north of here when we heard something that sounded like gunfire, and plenty of it. So we investigated.”

“What did you find?”

“The noise was too far away, maybe thirty or thirty-five miles from where we are. It sounded like the humans were battling the rotters and trying to push their way south.”

Vladimir stepped away from the group as he thought this over. He had always expected that sooner or later the humans would try and take the world back from the rotters, he just didn’t think it would happen this soon. Based on what Jonathon and Stamos told him, he would have to change his plans and move the coven before it reached the size he had hoped for. Even with eleven vampires, they would prove no match for a heavily-armed group of humans on the hunt for the living dead. It sucked because this was the ideal location to rebuild the coven. At least he had a contingency plan.

He stepped back over to Jonathon and Stamos. “You said this gunfire was about thirty-five miles away?”

“Yes.”

“Then we have time.”

“Time for what?” Tibor asked.

“To move the coven to a safer location.”

“If we have to move, shouldn’t we do it tomorrow night before the humans get too close?”

Vladimir shook his head. “Tomorrow night we’ll turn or feed on the rest of the humans. The night after that, we’ll take care of Robson once and for all.”

Derrick filled the spare backpack Andre had lent him with five cans of Red Bull, two dozen stale candy bars, and some rudimentary medical supplies such as rubbing alcohol, bandages, and Motrin. The food and drinks were the healthiest items left in the store. He didn’t intend to live off of them for long, merely for a few days until he found someplace else to ride out the apocalypse and get a better feel for whether or not the approaching forces were going to rescue him or throw him in a prison camp. He’d deal with that later. Right now his goal was to get across Route 302 without getting killed. Stepping over to the boarded up window behind the cash register, Derrick peered through a gap between two boards. It was growing brighter outside, although the sun hadn’t yet crested the horizon. He still had enough light to see by and, with luck, could sneak by the zombies before they spotted him. He had to move now if he wanted to take advantage of the pre-dawn.

“It’s time for me to go.”

“All right.” Andre stood ten feet away, another backpack hanging off of his shoulder.

“Thanks. I don’t need a second backpack.”

“It’s not for you. It’s for me.” Andre stepped closer. “I want you to take me with you.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Hear me out,” Andre pleaded. “I’m not asking to go on a road trip with you. If I stay here much longer I’m going to kill myself, and if I try to make it out of the city on foot I’m as good as dead. Take me as far as the countryside and we’ll go our separate ways. I promise.”

Derrick didn’t like the idea of trying to cross the road with a passenger. He still remembered what a pain in the ass Cassi had been. On the other hand, Andre had given him a place to hide out and shared what little food he had left, so it would’ve been douchey of him to leave the guy behind. Besides, he didn’t have time to argue.

“Okay, you can go. But only to the city limits.”

Andre rushed forward and hugged him. “Thank you.”

“Have you ever ridden a motorcycle before?”

“No.”

“Then do exactly as I tell you.”

Opening the front door, the two silently crept to the back of the Shell station where Derrick’s Harley stood. He would have loved to top off the gas tank, but that would have made too much noise. Raising the kickstand with his foot, Derrick wheeled the Harley around the corner and toward Route 302, keeping the gas pumps between them and the zombies’ line of sight. It seemed like there were fewer zombies in the intersection than yesterday. Derrick climbed on first and motioned for Andre to get on behind him.

“Wrap your arms around my waist,” Derrick whispered.

“It’s hard because of your backpack.”

“It’ll only be until we clear the zombies, then you can sit upright. When we get to the intersection, hold on tight and don’t move. Let me worry about keeping us upright. If you squirm around you’ll throw us off balance and then we’re dead. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Derrick placed his foot of the starter pedal. “Wish us luck.”

He pushed down on the starter. The engine roared to life. The living dead heard the noise, and glanced around in various directions, having no idea where the sound came from.
Now or never
, thought Derrick, throttling the engine. He drove out of the parking lot and raced for the intersection.

Several of the zombies on their side of the road saw the Harley approaching and moved toward it. Derrick ignored them, keeping his attention focused on the gap in the traffic that he needed to traverse. As he approached the intersection, he cut his speed in half to maneuver through the thin line that ran between the vehicles across the lanes of highway. A few zombies headed toward them. Derrick steered left, swung around the rear end of the pick-up truck in his path, and steered back right. Only then did he notice a zombie with two broken legs spread out across his path. It raised its arm, clutching at him. Derrick throttled the Harley. The motorcycle drove over its head and outstretched arm, the weight crushing the rotten skull beneath it. When its head exploded, Derrick lost balance, tipping the motorcycle to the left. He reached out and prevented himself from falling by placing his left hand on the hood of a nearby car, and then righted the Harley. Loud moaning caught his attention. A zombie two meters away approached on his right and two more ahead of him threatened to close off the gap at the other end of the intersection. He throttled the engine again. The Harley shot forward as the zombie to the right lunged, falling into the space he had been a second ago. Breaking through the other side of the intersection, Derrick felt two pairs of dead hands clutching at him, fortunately not grabbing hold of anything. The road ahead was wide open.

“How are you doing back there?” he asked Andre.

“Okay,” the other man croaked.

Derrick felt something warm and wet collect around his ass.
Jesus fucking Christ
, he thought.
The wanker pissed himself
.

The next thirty minutes passed without incident. Derrick drove down Rue Saint Pierre. The residential neighborhoods gave way to suburbia, which then became the countryside. The farther they got from the city, the fewer zombies they encountered, which was fine with him. Once he came to the next intersection, he’d drop off Andre to go his separate way.

Derrick raced around a bend in the road into a mass of living dead moving south. The Harley was traveling so fast that they were twelve meters amongst them before Derrick could react. The horde had already started to close in around them. Going back was not an option, and continuing ahead would be suicide. He headed for the side of the road through a tight opening between the zombies on his left, weaving between them. The road became a rocky shoulder that merged into a slight incline leading up into the woods. They had made it halfway to the top when Andre glanced over his shoulder to see how close the zombies were, knocking Derrick off balance. The Harley flipped over backward, throwing off the two men. Andre tumbled back down onto the shoulder. Derrick fell to the side, cursing under his breath when he felt a sharp pain across his left hip. He rolled onto his back to assess the situation.

Five zombies had dropped to their knees around Andre, dead hands clawing at his face and digging into his chest. Andre screamed and flailed. Even if Derrick wanted to help him, there was nothing he could do. A dozen more of the living dead surrounded him, fighting the others for space to join the feeding frenzy. Another two dozen shambled up the incline toward Derrick. He went to stand up and screamed when his left leg collapsed under him. The pain was unbearable. His vision blurred and his senses dulled, and for a moment he thought he might pass out. That would have been a death sentence. Derrick forced himself to get back on his feet, this time favoring his right leg, his left still throbbing. As long as he didn’t put pressure on it, he could manage the pain. Hopping on his one good leg to the nearest tree, he pushed off it with his left hand and hobbled along to the next one, his left foot dragging beside him. Every time it bumped into a rock or tree branch, his vision blurred and his stomach heaved. It took him several minutes to scale an incline no higher than four meters. When Derrick reached the top, he glanced over his shoulder to check on the living dead. Except for those that had stopped to strip Andre clean, every zombie on that stretch of road was following him up the incline, a line of decaying bodies stretching for over thirty meters. Derrick assumed that there were at least one hundred converging on him. The closest were within ten meters.

Derrick ran. Being on level ground, he hoped to be able to outrun them, an idea that proved futile after he had limped about ten meters. The faster he moved, the greater the pain became until he could barely suck in air. He paused for several seconds at a time to catch his breath, and each time the mass of living dead got that much closer. He spotted a large stream flowing thirty meters away to the southeast. If he could get across that, then maybe the water would slow the zombies down enough for him to escape. Granted, it did not offer much of a chance, but right now it was the only one he had. Pushing off the tree he was leaning against, Dereck headed for the stream.

He mustered his energy and kept going, refusing to stop. Any more rests would be fatal. However, with every step the throbbing grew more intense. He focused on the opposite bank, pushing out all thoughts of the pain and the moans of the zombies chasing him. Step by step, he got closer to the stream. After a few minutes that seemed like hours, he approached the bank. The closest zombie was still five meters behind him. Wading into the water, Derrick took only two steps before his right leg sunk into a muddy patch of the bed. His ankle twisted and snapped. Crying out, Derrick collapsed into the stream. He attempted to crawl across, or at least he thought he did. He couldn’t tell for sure, the pain in his leg and hip having become so intense it overwhelmed his senses. Derrick didn’t even feel it when the first zombie splashed into the stream, dropped to its knees, and sank its teeth into his neck. Another dozen joined in, shredding the skin and organs from his body and feeding off the meat.

Unable to join in the feast, the other hundred living dead crossed the stream. Once on the opposite bank, they stumbled into the woods and continued their slow march south. They had no idea where they were going, and merely shuffled along in the same direction they had been heading after chasing the two humans, like thousands of rotters that roamed aimlessly throughout the area.

Except that this horde was on a path that would take them directly to the Denning farm.