Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place (27 page)

Mick held the binoculars up. “Oh,” was all he could get out. He swallowed and tried again. “Scott, you see what’s going on?”

“
Yep,” he replied without moving. “I’m trying to slow the zombies down, but there’s too many.”

“
I was afraid of that,” Mick responded. “We have zombies all around us and there’s not a damn thing we can do to save those people down there.”

He glanced at Matt. "Would you mind going up on the roof to help Jeff with the zombies swarming out back?"

"Right on it," Matt replied with a curt nod.

Mick looked through the binoculars again. To his surprise, he saw a man lift what looked like a boy of twelve or thirteen onto his shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Scott raise his head. He was watching, too.

The women moved over to the railing to see what was going on. Scott pointed at a building halfway down the street. “See the pole running down the side of that warehouse? Looks like the kid can climb it up to that flat area on the third floor. Kinda like what we have here with the balcony, only there’s not a balcony there, only a recessed area and a window.”

Sure enough, the man gave the boy a big boost and like a monkey, the boy began to shimmy up. To their relief, he made it safely. Mick realized he’d been holding his breath and let it out in a big whoosh. The boy quickly lay down on his stomach and reached down. Once again, the man below hoisted up another child, this time a girl of about eight or nine. She grabbed onto the pipe, digging her tennis shoes into the brackets holding the pipe in place. She slowly held up a hand, which the boy grabbed with both of his. She inched her way up the pipe, supported by the boy. Once she was level with him, he reached over and grabbed her by the back of her jacket, helping her to slide over next to him. The boy stood and turned his back to the girl. She quickly reached into his backpack and pulled out a crowbar, handing it to him. They both turned their backs to the window as he reached behind and shattered the glass with the crowbar. He quickly disappeared inside with the girl following a moment later.

The group below was only moments away from being swarmed, the man tried frantically to hoist a young woman onto the pipe, but she was having trouble holding on and kept sliding back down.

“
Shoot them,” Cindy said from right beside Mick. He jumped; he hadn’t realized she was right next to him.

“
What did you say?” He thought he knew what she meant, but surely he hadn’t heard right.

“
We were all talking,” she said, her face as hard as her voice. “They’re not going to make it. If that were us and someone was watching, we’d want them to shoot us and not leave us to be torn apart.”

Mick looked at her in horror, and then glanced back at the group on the ground. They had their backs against the wall with the exception of the man still trying to help the woman get up the pipe. They were doing their share of taking out zombies, but Mick knew it was over for them. He gulped and glanced at Scott. “What do we do?”

Scott looked back with pain in his eyes. “Mom’s right. We shoot them.”

Mick started to argue when his attention was diverted by a scream. The zombies had reached the group and were attacking. Without thought or hesitation, father and son took aim and began firing.

Chapter 31

Charlie noticed they had fallen into step, which helped them keep a good pace going. No one wasted much time talking; they were busy concentrating on getting to the end of the alley. Charlie glanced back at the others and gave a thumb up. Turning his head back, he noticed movement further up and to the left. He immediately stopped and turned to the others.

“
Movement ahead,” he whispered. Glancing around, he pointed toward a gate leading into a back yard. Next to the gate was a large shrub. “Let’s get behind that,” he whispered, gesturing toward the bush.

They quickly leaped behind the bush. Charlie peered out cautiously for a moment before whipping his head back. “Another group of zombies came into the alley.” He nodded toward the gate. “Let’s go through the yard and make a dash for the street.”

Megan was closest to the gate. She gingerly opened the latch and they relaxed when it opened silently. Quickly, they hurried single file through the yard, pausing when they reached the side of the house.

Once again, Charlie peered out, looking both right and left numerous times before stepping out. He set off at a slow trot; glancing back often to make sure everyone was still with him. Although the day was cloudy and cool, he could feel sweat beginning to break out on his forehead. He was pretty sure it was more from stress and fear rather than exertion.

Darrell trotted up to Charlie and gave him a slight nudge. “Glad you saw those things, we would have run right into them.”

“
We would have if we hadn’t slowed down,” Charlie agreed, huffing a bit. He slowed down slightly. He could see the end of the block. They’d need to stop before proceeding onto the main road to make sure it was safe.

“
Does it seem to you like all those zombies were converging on where we were on purpose?” Darrell took a deep breath. “The first ones we saw, they were really slow until the others got to us, then they picked up speed. Did you notice that?”

Charlie nodded. “Yeah, I did notice. The ones we almost ran into just now are headed over there, too. I don’t think it was coincidence.”

“
Me either,” Darrell agreed with a shake of his head. “Guess what we’ve all been thinking about these things is true; they’re getting their minds back to some extent.”

They reached the end of the street and stopped. Dexter and Megan were right behind them and from the expressions on their faces; Charlie knew they’d been listening.

“
The thing that really bothers me,” Megan interjected with a wave of her hand. “How do the different groups know where to go? They seem to be communicating, but how?”

Charlie hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know,” he said slowly, still trying to digest what Megan said.

“
I know,” Dexter said, puffing out his chest. “They aren’t just getting smart; they are developing that ESP stuff.” At their blank looks, he continued, putting a finger up to his temple. “Telepathy, people! They’re talking to each other inside their rotten little heads!”

Charlie drew back in surprise. No way, was his immediate thought. He could tell by Darrell and Megan’s reaction that they had the same thought. Dexter noticed it too and his eyes narrowed.

“
Don’t believe me, it doesn’t really matter,” he grumbled. He pointed at them. “You’ll see for yourselves, give it time.”

“
Dexter, we're not saying we don’t believe you,” Megan said. “You have to admit that’s something we definitely need some time to think about.”

Dexter grunted and stalked over to a fire hydrant where he planted a foot and began to retie his shoe laces. Megan looked at the others and shrugged.

Darrell walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. “Dex, that’s very perceptive of you - and the more I think of it, I do believe you may have something there.”

Dexter looked up in surprise. Darrell smiled. “One way or the other, we will find out, won’t we?”

“
Imagine so,” came the sulky reply. “I’m glad you all at least didn’t outright laugh at my idea.”

Charlie frowned. He didn’t particularly care for Dexter, but he knew Dexter was trying to help, and he wanted to ease his mind.

“
No one is laughing. These things are doing stuff we never thought they’d be able to do. ESP? That is as good an answer as any in my book for right now.” Charlie looked down the main road. No one was in sight, at least not yet. He nodded toward the left. “Let’s head out and hope we meet a truck on the way back.”

“
They so better be coming back for us,” Megan grumbled. “I’m not looking forward to walking or jogging all the way back.”

“
That makes four of us,” Dexter said. He hitched up his jeans and looked at Charlie. “You’ve been leadin’ the way and doin’ a good job of it, so after you.” He gestured with his hand toward the road.

With a deep sigh, Charlie nodded and stepped out onto the two lane road.

****

Mick sat with his head in his hands. Cindy sat quietly next to him, rubbing his shoulders. Night had fallen and when he finally managed to escape to the roof, she had followed. He thought he wanted to be alone, but secretly he was glad to have her there. He was thankful that the night was quiet. After what transpired earlier, the zombies seemed to disappear. Perhaps it was too quiet, but at that moment Mick was grateful for the silence.

He raised his head. “They were testing us, you know,” he said, his voice wavering. “They herded those people over here; they surrounded us, and then watched what we would do.”

Cindy looked at him with worried eyes. “If what you say is true, then we’re in bigger trouble than we thought.”

“
Dave and I discussed this at length. From what everyone was observing, we came to the conclusion that the longer these monsters are around, that they’re beginning to get some cognitive function back. Although it’s on a limited basis right now, we had a sneaking suspicion that they’re getting smarter all the time.”

“
What if they get smart enough to figure out how to get over the wall or jimmy the doors?” Cindy asked. She stopped rubbing Mick’s back and frowned. “If that happens, we won’t be able to stay here. How will we know when it’s time to leave for Shady Oaks?”

Mick shrugged and straightened up. “Good question. They stay out of sight most of the time, so today is the first good look we’ve had of them for some time. Even after the big fight with the Connor Group, we only had stragglers show up and that was it.”

“
I think we need to go downstairs and discuss this turn of events with everyone,” Cindy suggested. “We all need to be on the same page here.”

“
Give me a few more minutes,” Mick replied. “I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around what we did today. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget what those things forced us to do; the hatred I have for those nasty bastards out there is beyond description.” Mick sighed loudly. “Go on down and get everyone together, I’ll be along shortly.”

Without reply, Cindy gently kissed Mick on the cheek by his new scar before going downstairs. Once she was gone, he tilted his head back and stared up into the beautiful blanket of stars over his head. The sky looked so peaceful; he wished the earth he sat upon was as equally at peace.

He desperately missed Dave. Besides Cindy, his friend had been his other sounding board and confidant. Now he felt as though he and Cindy were the only ones left to make the big decisions. Lilly was currently a shell of her former self, at times she reminded Mick of the zombies stumbling around. Cindy assured him that she would come out of it. He hoped so, right now he felt as though he’d lost both Dave and Lilly.

He rose slowly and stretched. As he headed downstairs, his thoughts once again turned toward what he and Scott had to do. Then he began to think of the two kids in the other warehouse. There had been no sign of them since they disappeared inside. One way or another, Mick vowed that they would get those kids safely over to Dave’s Place.

Once inside, he found everyone sitting around, obviously waiting for him. He blushed slightly when all eyes focused on him and the chitchat faded away.

“
Sorry for taking so long,” he mumbled apologetically. He took a seat next to Cindy and glanced around the room. He was surprised to see Lilly and gave her a smile, which she returned.

“
Cindy fill you in on what we wanted to talk about?” At their nods, he continued. “We don’t know what to expect anymore from these zombies, all we know is that they’re becoming smarter and that makes them more dangerous than ever. As a group, I’d like for us to make some decisions, including how to get those kids out of that warehouse safely.”

Lilly looked up at the mention of the kids. “I think our first priority is getting to those children. I can’t imagine how frightened and traumatized they must be right now.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Jeff raised a hand and said, “If no one objects, first thing tomorrow I’ll try my best to see if I can get their attention. We have to get them over here and the sooner the better.”

“
Agreed,” Mick replied. “Once the kids are safe we can deal with the zombies.”