The Infected (Book 3): Nightfall (22 page)

Frank peeked a look at the
action from the back of the Cruiser, just as Sara stepped from the driver’s
side. She was showered in blood.

“Oh my god! Were you hit?”
He raced to her side. As he neared the open door he could see where the blood
had come from. “Oh, no!”

“Devon’s dead! They killed
him!” Sara had lost it. She reached back into the car, grabbed her shotgun and
headed for the gunmen.

Karen reached her pistol and
turned to face Eric. He leapt to his feet and grabbed ahold of her wrists to
keep the gun pointed towards the wall. Karen squeezed off a round. It ripped a
hole in the kitchen wall and sailed off into the garage. The collision sent the
gun clattering over the counter top and into the dining room. Eric pinned Karen
into a corner of the kitchen. He swung a devastating hook that caught her in
the cheek. Karen saw stars as she spun around and her head and hands landed in
the sink. She was slumped over the counter with her head in the stainless
basin. Eric stood behind her with his groin pressed against her butt.

“You think you’re safe?!”
Blood flew off his lips and splattered the back of her shirt. “You are not
safe.” He dropped an elbow into the center of her back and followed it up with
a jab to her skull. Karen teetered on the brink of unconsciousness.

“I am going to cause you
so much pain.” He dropped another elbow into her back.

Penny’s favorite cast-iron
skillet was still in the sink next to her head. Leon had used it to make
pancakes that morning. Her fingers curled around the handle.

Troy racked another round
and stood over the group of gunmen. Jim wanted to give the big guy a hug, but
there was no time.

“I gotta check on Karen!”

Leon stomped across the
front yard and took a stance next to Troy. He stuck the revolver against the
back of a gunman’s head. “Go check her out. We’ve got them covered.”

Cliff rolled to his back.
His body ached everywhere from the car crash. His brain throbbed. He had
blacked out for a moment. Something was in his eyes. He wiped his face and
rubbed at his eye sockets with his hands and they came back red. Cliff was not
sure where he was and what had happened to him. In a flash it all came back. He
looked up at the opened van door. It was quiet inside the vehicle.

“No!” Cliff wailed as he
got up on his elbows. He struggled to get to his feet. Cliff pulled himself up
the side of the van and peered into the busted window. He couldn’t see anything.
It was too dark. Something was on the window. He tapped at the back of the van
as he made his way around to the sliding side door. “Babies…?” he whimpered. “Tina…?
Morgan…?” Cliff slid the door open and a pool of red poured out onto the
street. Cliff fell to his knees a broken man.

Jim raced to the front
door only to find it locked, “KAREN!” He stomped his foot into the door to bust
it open, but the solid oak held firm.

The noise at the door
caught Eric’s attention and he was about to strike a right cross into the back
of her head when he turned slightly toward the noise. Karen could feel his
weight lift off of her back. She stood up from the sink, spun into him and with
both hands squeezing the life out of the pan’s handle, nailed Eric in his jaw.
His face cracked and his jawbone snapped. He spun like a top and collapsed to
the wood floor. Jim kicked at the door again and again until the frame gave and
the door swung open. He stepped inside the house just in time to see a blood
covered Karen straddling Eric. She lifted the pan above her head.

“Karen don’t!” Jim pleaded.

Karen held the pan high in
the air and looked at her husband standing in the kitchen entryway.

It’s a dream.

He isn’t real.

This asshole punched me
senseless and now I’m hallucinating.

The suffering had sent her
over the edge. She swung the skillet down onto Eric’s face. Her face had already
started to swell when Eric’s strikes had landed. Jim dropped his gun and rushed
to her side. She threw her arms up and around Jim’s neck and began to cry. He
lifted her off of the dead body and carried her out of the room quickly.

“It’s okay. You’re going
to be all right. I got you.”

“Daddy?” Valerie called to
her father.

“Baby, it’s me!” Jim
carried Karen toward the couch to set her down. Valerie crawled out from behind
the couch. She paused for a minute and helped Robin get out from their hiding
spot.

“Girls!” Jim set Karen
down on the sofa and knelt down in front of her. Seeing both of his children
alive and racing toward him filled Jim with more emotion than he thought was
possible. Tears instantly streamed down his face. Both girls climbed up into
their father’s arms. Jim kissed them over and over again.

“Where were you Daddy?”

“Mama’s hurt.”

“We stay in Ganny’s bed.”

“What happened to your
head, Daddy?”

They hammered him with
questions he couldn’t begin to answer. It had been twenty hours of misery, loss
and fear but all of that was washed away with the simple embrace of his sweet
children. Jim interlaced his fingers with Karen’s. She wasn’t ready to tell Jim
what had happened. She was covered in blood and it was clear she had just gone
ten rounds with the stranger that was lying dead in the kitchen. Jim wanted
this moment with his family to last forever, but a commotion was erupting
outside.

“Girls, stay here with
Mama. Daddy has to check on his friends.” None of the females that were
clinging to Jim wanted to let him go. He gave all three of them another round
of kisses, “I’ll be right outside and back in a second I promise.” He had to
pry the little arms off of him. The commotion was now a full on screaming
match.

“Karen!” Jim gave her hand
a squeeze. She had zoned out completely, possibly shock. Most likely she had a
concussion. “I’ll be right outside.” Jim waited for her to nod at him before he
stepped out of the living room.

Without thinking about it
Jim picked up his rifle before going outside. An argument was taking shape and
Jim could make out who was yelling bloody murder. He paused and waited in the
doorway. He just realized that he did not want to step back out into this
zombie filled world. He wanted the people outside to solve it without him. He
was sure that they would look to him for the answer and he did not want the
blood of these men on his hands. He stood still, closed his eyes and listened.

Sara was scream-crying at
the gunmen, “You killed him! You killed Devon, you fuckers! You’re dead!”

The four men huddled on
their knees around the injured man. Two of the gunmen were using their hands to
put pressure on their friend’s injuries.

“Please, someone help him!”
One of the men playing nurse begged.

Troy stood between her and
the five men. He did not know what to do, but he was not about to step aside
and let this young lady gun these men down in cold blood.

“Hold on! Hold on! We will
figure this out!” Troy tried to calm her down.

“There is nothing to
figure out! They’ve got to die!” Frank stood by Sara’s side and was one hundred
percent on board with her idea.

“Guys, we don’t know
what’s going on here. Try and calm down.” Leon chimed in.

“Look at that car!” Sara
pointed at the PT. “That’s Devon’s blood.” She pointed at her face. “This is
Devon’s blood! He’s dead because of these assholes. What are you going to do
call the cops? There are no cops!”

“Big fella, step aside and
let us take care of it.” Frank slid the bolt back on his rifle.

“Don’t let them kill us!
It wasn’t our idea! Talk to Eric! He’s inside!” One of them pleaded.

“Just let us go and we
will never come back. We promise! We’re sorry! It wasn’t our idea. Eric’s the
one you want!” A second one begged.

Jim stepped out of the
house, “Eric’s dead. My wife killed him. It looks like she had a good reason.”

The news of their fallen
leader hit the five men hard.  

“Please let us go! We’re
not bad people. We were just following orders.”

Right when Jim was about
to step back into the house and continue his reunion with his family he paused.
Something was moving at an incredible speed across the front lawn. It was at
the corner of his eye when he first noticed it. At first Jim was sure it was an
infected coming to take a bite out of someone until he saw that it was carrying
something.

Without a word or even the
slightest noise Cliff closed in on the five gunmen. The first one didn’t see it
coming. Cliff chopped down onto the injured man’s chest. The saw blade drove
through the man’s ribs and it was like a blood grenade had gone off. The four
other gunmen were hosed with their friend’s blood. Cliff swung the saw like a
maniac. Over and over again he hit them. The victim’s cries for help were cut
short by his wicked blade.

Leon leaped back and Troy
stepped away quickly. Jim and his crew were caught completely off guard. They
stood silent. No one moved. They just watched. Afraid if they tried to
intervene that he would turn his blade on them. Once there was nothing left
wiggling on the ground Cliff released the handle. The saw was stuck in the
skull of his last kill. He took two steps back, turned away from his handy work
and sat down on the grass. He sat quietly and stared off into the distance. It
was only at that moment that the rest of them noticed the crime scene in the
van.

“Oh my god,” Jim said
under his breath.

The man’s actions were
justified.

Jim thought about what he
would do if it was his family in that van. He didn’t need to see any more of
this and began to head back inside. The thrill of holding his family tight to
his chest was too great. He needed to feel their love before he lost his mind
like his neighbor. 

He would cry for Devon
later.

He would mourn with Cliff
later.

He would make a plan for
tomorrow later.

He would worry about
Brother Paul and his crazy followers later.

Right now he had to patch
up his wife and hold his children. He needed to tell them that he loved them a
million times. The three females inside were the only things that mattered to
him now. As Jim stepped across the doorway he heard a noise in the distance. It
was a low rumble. It sounded like a fleet of dump trucks coming over the
horizon. It was the sound of a thousand infected zombies stomping their way
across Vancouver and heading straight for them.

Just fucking fantastic!
Thought Jim.

The End.

    Thank
you for checking out
The Infected: Nightfall
. I hope you had as much fun
reading it as I did writing it. It would mean the world to my family and I if
you could take a couple of minutes and leave an honest review. Books on Amazon
are measured by reviews and total downloads. The more reviews I can get the
more people will have a chance to see my books. Then they too can join in on
the fun of the
Infected World
I have created. When people see honest
reviews it helps them decide if they want to take a chance on me. It also helps
me figure out what I need to add or take away in the sequels to make future
books even more fun. I check every review I’m given and they truly help me
become a better writer. Thanks again for your time.

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Coming soon.
Sweet
Home.
A story of a small mountain town in Oregon that is visited by a few
homicidal maniacs one New Years Eve. Only the strongest in town will survive
the night. Expect this book sometime winter of 2015.