The Infected (Book 3): Nightfall (9 page)

Frank pulled his Beretta
and held it an inch from the Stranger’s forehead. “You want to hurt someone you
sick son-of-a-bitch?!” Frank’s gun shook wildly. He quickly switched up his
grip and added his second hand to the butt of the gun.

“Frank, don’t do it!” Jim’s
voice called to him softly.

“You want him to hurt
someone else?” Frank pressed the barrel down onto the Stranger’s skin.

“What if your wife and
kids walked in here before us?” Sara was on Frank’s side and her point was
valid. Jim knew what he wanted to do, but would killing this man, no matter how
horrible he was, feel right in the end?

Could I live with the
knowledge that I killed a man?

No.

No matter how bad it is
out in this new world, Jim Blackmore is no killer.

“I made a promise to
someone today,” Jim said as he backed away and headed for the counter that held
the pistols.

“Are you serious?” Sara’s
jaw dropped.

“No one is watching us!”
Frank pushed the gun even harder against the Stanger’s skull.

“Pl….please…” the Stranger
coughed up blood onto his own face.

“Shut up! Shut the fuck
up! You don’t get to beg for mercy!” Frank cracked the barrel of his gun across
the top of the Stranger’s noggin.

“We have to-” Sara
followed after Jim.

Jim cut off Sara, turned
and swiftly got right in her face, “You want to kill him?!” Jim’s face was all
fury. It took Sara’s breath away. “You want to be a monster like him?”

Sara caught her breath and
stood her ground, “We can’t let him hurt anyone else!”

“Are we doing this?!”
Frank looked over his shoulder for the go ahead to end this creep.

“We’re wasting time, let’s
get the shit we came for and leave.” Jim reached out and grabbed Sara by her
shoulder. He nodded his head at her. It was an old sales technique he learned
years ago from his manager, Bill. Get the customer nodding yes and they are
more likely to agree with you and buy whatever stupid thing you are showing
them. “Devon’s waiting for us. We are still alive and we aren’t like the monsters
out there.” Jim pointed towards the gate. “We need to hold onto that for as
long as we can.” Jim’s words rang true.

Sara wasn’t a killer and
nor was Frank. They were caught up in the fear. The adrenaline sizzling in
their veins only fed their desire for vengeance. Jim was right, no matter how
bad it was out in the world they had to do their best to stay humans.

Sara’s eyes narrowed as
she mulled over the dilemma, “Frank, find your ammo and let’s go. We don’t have
to kill him, but he’s not coming with us either,” Sara gave the order and this
was her compromise.

Frank’s spine straightened
and he lifted the gun away from the Stranger’s forehead. He was not used to
being ordered around, but she said it with such authority that he listened.

Frank slid his Berretta
back into its holster, “They’re right. You’re not worth the bullet.” He raised
his hand towards Sara, “Cuffs?” he asked. She handed him the steel restraints
that were just around his wrists. Frank grabbed the Stranger by the collar and
pulled him across the floor. Every move caused him to yelp like an injured dog.
Frank pulled him over to a heavy-duty gun safe behind the counter. Frank
propped him up against it. He locked the cuff around one of the Stranger’s
wrists and then onto the handle that was bolted to the door. Frank gave it a
good yank and the handle was solid.  

He did not waste anymore
time with the Stranger. Frank flicked a set of switches and the place filled
with bright fluorescent light. The back of the store had a small office and on
the far wall was a selection of army surplus duffle bags. “Both of you grab a
bag.” Frank cased the place and found exactly the stashes he was looking for.

The crew made speedy work
of filling the green canvas bags. Frank pointed out and grabbed plenty of shotgun
shells, nine-millimeter rounds, and ammo for his SKS. They also snatched up a
fresh set of pistols, plus matching holsters, for everyone. They kept the
weasel’s shotgun, grabbed another assault rifle, it looked similar to an M16,
but Jim couldn’t be sure and didn’t want to waste time asking what everything
was. Frank also pulled down a large hunting rifle with a powerful scope attached
and a large case of its ammo. It took only five minutes to fill their bags and
hands to the limit of what they could carry.

The Stranger had regained
control of his lungs, “Please, do not leave me here!” he begged.

The crew did not answer or
even look at him. Jim picked up his spear and used it to take down the small
horde that had gathered by the entrance. A dozen thrusts through the gate and
he had cleared out all of the infected.

The Stranger franticly pulled
at his shackled wrist, “You can’t leave me! Please don’t go! I’m sorry for what
I said. I wasn’t really going to do it. I am a good person. I promise. You said
your name was Jim, right? Jim, you have to save me! Please!” The Stranger’s
voice cracked under the pressure of his fate.

Sara used the keys to the
cuffs to unlock the gate. “What are we going to do about him?” she asked.

Jim looked over the store
and there was a small display case of cheap looking knives. He popped it open
and picked out a small lock-blade with a serrated edge. Jim took a few steps
closer to the Stranger and then slid the blade along the floor over next to
him.

“What is this for?” he asked
as he lifted the knife with his free hand.

“That’s up to you.” Jim’s
words were ice cold. He rejoined his crew at the front door and popped the lock
to open the PT Cruiser. As they left the gun shop they made sure to leave the
gate wide open. The Stranger’s voice called and pleaded after them long after
they had gone. 

Leon sunk the last screw
into the last plank of wood that secured the last window of the house.

Finally done!

The place was a fortress.
Kind of. They needed to get a little better lock system on the front door, but
the windows could handle a good sized horde without a breach.

Karen gave Leon a tired
thumbs up. She needed the strongest cup of coffee on the planet. Exhausted was
not a strong enough word to describe her. Way past any point she had ever felt
before, including popping both of her children out. But the day wasn’t over
yet. There were a handful of hours left and Karen really wanted a vehicle lined
up just in case they had to make a fast escape. That meant sending Leon out to
find a car.

Would he go alone?

Without backup, going
alone might be a death sentence.

There was no one else to
send. Troy was laid out on the couch watching cartoons with the girls. He was
one notch above a teenage babysitter at best. He was in no condition to run and
fight. Was it worth the risk to step outside and help Leon find them a ride,
just so they had a chance to escape if the worst was to happen? The worst
almost happened earlier today when the apartment was smashed in. If it wasn’t
for Troy they would have died.

Running on foot with
the girls is not an option.  

If they found a decent set
of wheels on this block, depending how fast Leon was able to hotwire the
vehicle, they might make it back in under a half an hour. The first thing they
needed to do was clear out the garage to fit the new car. Plus they would need
to find Penny’s spare garage door opener, so that if a legion of the dead were
in hot pursuit they wouldn’t have to get out of the car to get back inside.

Leon peeled off his sweat
soaked dress shirt and laid it on the kitchen counter. His undershirt was a
tank top that revealed his lean muscular arms. A poorly drawn black tattoo
covered his left shoulder. It read “Light on my feet, but heavy on the gas”.

The wording perplexed
Karen so much that she couldn’t help herself but ask, “What’s that mean?” She
pointed at his shoulder.

Leon looked at his shoulder
as if he totally forgot that he was the proud owner of this baffling work of
art. He grimaced. “I was drunk and I thought I was being clever. The first line
is about being a thief, like faster than the law. The second line was to symbolize
my skills behind the wheel, you know how I’m good at high speeds and racing.”
Leon flashed a crooked unsure smile at Karen.

“Oh, okay I get it now.”
Karen couldn’t hide the smile that grew with every passing second.

“Yeah, that’s what it was
supposed to mean, but when you read it sober it sounds like I’m a dancer and
that I have a digestive track problem.” Leon’s crooked smile changed to a pout.

The smile on Karen’s face
exploded into a full blown laugh at the top of her lungs. It was her first real
laugh in quite a while, but she felt bad that it was aimed at Leon’s
misfortune, “I’m sorry, that’s not funny.” She bit both of her lips together to
keep them from grinning ear to ear.

“It’s alright. It is a
little funny. That’s the problem. Guys read it and they no longer take me
serious.” Leon could see how hard Karen was fighting to keep a straight face.
“It’s fine, get it out of your system.” As she giggled it made him start to
giggle too. It was contagious. He pointed at his other shoulder, “I thought
about getting the words Twinkle Toes and Toot Pants on this shoulder.”

That made her laugh even
harder. Karen needed it and it helped wake her back up.

“That’s so funny. Sorry.
Thank you for that.” She covered her mouth and got control of herself.

“I’m glad I could help.
Now what do we need to do?” Leon said as he picked up his shirt and slid it on
to his thin frame. He did it only to cover up the bad tattoo because he was still
hot as hell from all the construction work.

“Let’s clear a space in
the garage for our new ride. Then we’re hitting the street to find us something
just in case we need to get the fuck out of here in a hurry.” She talked as she
headed for the garage door.

“Alright, that sounds like
a plan. We already cleared up space by using all of the wood so it shouldn’t
take too long.” Leon followed right behind her.

Karen opened the door to
the garage and kicked on the light switch, “Some of this is mine and my
husband, Jim’s, old furniture.” She headed for an old sofa and end tables that
sat close to the garage door. “Maybe we could put these where the stack of wood
was and then pile everything else onto it?”

“Let’s do it,” Leon gave
his back a quick pop and then was ready to lift the hunk of furniture.  

They worked quietly and
moved the junk away from the garage door. Some of the possessions were still
brand new in their boxes. Leon lifted one of the old boxes and looked it over.
It was an old fashioned popcorn machine and the box had never been opened.
Karen noticed Leon inspecting it.

“I once said to Mama that
it would be fun to do movie nights at her place and we should make popcorn. The
next week she got that, but we never scheduled a movie night to use it.”

Leon set the box down on
the sofa and then picked up another box with a bird feeder in it.

“I told Mama we should try
and get some more birds to come around to her house because the girls would
think it was fun. So she got that, but we never got around to putting it up.”

Again Leon set it down and
went to move another never opened box. This one was a kit to make clay pots. He
picked it up and looked at Karen, “Told Mama it would be fun to make your own
pots and then she got this?”

“Bingo. Mama, had such a
big heart and she…” Karen struggled. She had made the deal with her tear ducts
and she was about to break it if she wasn’t careful. “She did her best to make
everyone happy.”

“She sounds like a
wonderful woman.” Leon set the box down on top of the others. They lined the
walls and stacked everything up to the ceiling. Karen tried her best to turn
off her thoughts. It took them only a few minutes to get the room cleared out
enough to handle any sized ride they came across.

Karen could feel her ass
dragging along the floor. She was beat. Today had been like running a marathon,
but she had done nothing to train or prepare for it. She limped her way into
the kitchen to get a glass of water.

Leon leaned against the fridge
and rubbed at his neck, “What do we have to drink around here?” He didn’t mean
water or tea.

“I think we got a couple
bottles of wine in the cupboard.”

“You think the stores
around here would be thick with biters?” He waited for Karen to move away from
the sink so he could get his own glass.

“I don’t know. Why, do you
want to make a pit stop and get a bottle of booze?” Karen said with a laugh.

“After the day we’ve had.
I could use a stiff drink. How about you?” Leon slurped down his water.

“I could use six stiff
drinks, but I don’t want to leave the girls for that long.”

“Maybe we don’t have to go
to the store. I bet one of the neighbors has a liquor cabinet we could loot.”
Leon raised his eyebrows at her.

“I bet you know how to pop
open doors too, am I right?”

“I’m no lock picker, but
today if no one’s home, I think we can just walk in and take what we need. In
and out real slick like before any biters notice.” Leon mimed pouring a drink
into his glass, takes a sip of his fake drink, licks his lips and rubs his
belly. “Yummy mind numbing booze.”

“Mama said a couple times
that the neighbors five houses down throw a lot of parties. We could hit it
first. See if anyone’s home.”

“Sounds good. Let’s gear
up and head out before it gets dark.” Leon put his hand up in the air for her
to give it five. Seeing Leon’s hand up in the air reminded Karen of Jim. Her
husband prided himself on giving the best high-fives. Karen raised her hand to
meet his in the middle of the kitchen.

Slap!

It was a damn good fiver.

Jim would have been
proud.
   

Karen searched the kitchen
drawers. She dug to the back of every one of them until she found the second
remote to the garage. It was in the last drawer. Of course. She checked it to
make sure it had a fresh set of batteries. She tapped the button and heard the
garage door start to open. Karen quickly tapped it again and it came to a stop.
One last tap and the garage closed. She tucked the opener into her pocket.
Karen checked and then rechecked all three magazines for her gun. They were
loaded and ready to jack up any infected monster that crossed her path.

Leon slid his suit jacket
back on. He grabbed a set of pliers and a few screwdrivers from the tool belt
and tucked them into his jacket. Then he slung one of Troy’s bandoliers over
his shoulder. He looked the shotgun over and familiarized himself with its
workings and popped a few new shells up into the pipe.

Click Clack! Leon was
ready to roll.

Karen took a knee in front
of Troy. She had a fresh icepack for his head, “I have to step out for a minute
to get us some new wheels.” Karen helped him replace the pack on his forehead,
“Don’t go outside, just stay here and watch TV with the girls?”

“Okay, I feel a little
better than before.” Troy had a sharper gaze than he did an hour ago, but he
wasn’t all the way back yet.

“That’s good. The girls
have been fed and I just took them to the bathroom.” She switched to her girls
and drew their attention off the TV with a snap of her fingers. “Girls, Uncle
Troy is still hurt. I need you to be good and keep an eye out for him. You’re
my little doctors, so take care of him, okay?”

“Yes, Mama. Can we still
watch Dora and take care of Uncle Troy?” Valerie’s eyes darted around the room
from Troy, to the TV, to Leon and then back to her Mama.

“Yes, you can keep
watching the show, just stay here in the living room with him.” She stretched
her arms out wide to give both girls the same hug. Robin noticed the wrap on
her wrist.

“Mama, you hurt?” she
could barely focus on the hug she was so caught up with the wrap on her Mama’s
injured wrist.   

“Yep, Mama has a hurt
wrist, but it’s okay you don’t have to worry about it.” Karen smooched both
girls on the top of their little heads. Robin already forgot that she asked
about it and was pulled back into the epic drama of
Dora the Explorer
.
Swiper
the Fox
was up to his old tricks.

“I love you girls. Mama
will be right back.”

“Love you too, Mama,” the
children didn’t break away from the TV screen. Karen thought maybe in this
instance that was okay. They wouldn’t let her go if they really knew what she
was up to.

Karen clutched her keys
and headed for the front door. She checked the peephole and it was still clear
out in the street. She swung the door open and Leon stepped out onto the front
porch. He kept the shotgun up and ready. Karen pulled the door closed and
clicked both locks into place. She checked the door three times.

One. Two. Three. It was
locked.

She slipped her keys into
her front pocket and pulled out her Ruger.

“Show me this party house,”
Leon clicked off the safety and jogged across the lawn towards the street.

“It’s the house with the
RV parked out front.” Karen kept pace with him and pointed to the house down
the street.

“RV?” Leon’s breath was
already labored.

“I know, I thought about
that, but it’s too big to fit in the garage,” She was at the end of her candle,
Karen’s feet felt like blocks of cement. A strong breeze could knock her to her
ass. They crossed the street and headed for the targeted house.

An infected woman tossed
itself through the living room window of the house next door.

There was a goddamn
infected next door this whole time?!

The sudden noise and scare
of the blood covered body crashing to the ground woke Karen all the way back
up. She had another adrenaline charge left in her system. The window shredded
chunks of meat off of her body and she gushed black sludge out onto the lawn.
Leon took point and rocked it with a blast from the twelve gauge before it got
to its feet.

Karen pushed herself
harder and got her legs chugging. She really hated being out in the open like
this and wanted to be indoors as quickly as possible. They raced up the
driveway next to the RV and headed for the garage door. Leon pressed his nose
to its window and covered his forehead to get a better look in the garage.

“What do they have?” Karen
puffed out the words and watched their backs.

“It’s a Jeep.”

“That’s good. They can go
off road.” Karen backed up to the garage’s window and took a look herself. It was
a new model Jeep but the rag top was off.

Damn!