The Zombie Chronicles - Book 2 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (4 page)

“
For the record, I don’t agree,” Lucas said.

Val shot him a look like she was shocked that he didn’t want to hurry up and save her life.

“
I mean…your
butt’s not fat,” Lucas explained. “If you ask me, I think it’s perfection, and—”

She playfully slugged him. “C’mon, Mr. Sweet Talker. Let’s get a move-on before all that perfection rots off before your very eyes.”

In the distance, zombies stumbled toward us. I pounded on the glass window and motioned for Lucas to hit the gas, and fast.

Chapter
5

Val and Lucas chatted
up front while the rest of us sang songs and told jokes in the back of the pick-up truck. The cool wind whipped through my hair as I watched the blur of scenery pass around me. I hardly saw any zombies on the plains, and it was somewhat comforting to know there were some zombie-less places in the world. Not every single patch of land was flooded with them like the horror movies suggested. We drove through a seemingly endless stretch of gravel roads and farmland. I tried to distract myself and not dwell on our circumstances. I had faith that we’d find Tahoe and the vials; I had to have faith and hope because that was really all we had to rely on, besides each other. According to the tracking device, we were right on his tail.

Val slid open the window divider. “Hey, guys, I’ve got bad news.”

“
What?” I asked.

“
The low fuel light just popped on.”

“
Bad news is right,” I said. “
We’re gonna have to find a gas station,” I said with a grimace.

Nick nodded. “Definitely, but gas station pumps aren’t gonna work without electricity.”

Val squinted at a map. “We should be hitting a town soon. We’ll find some cars and siphon some gas.”

“
With what?” Jackie asked. “We don’t have a siphon hose.”

“
Yeah we do,” I said proudly. “I snagged one from the garage of that glass house for that very reason.”

Nick met my gaze. “Yeah, a
fter
I
told you to grab it.”

He was trying to upstage me, as usual. “
You’re just lucky it’s in my backpack,” I said.

We found a small country store, Morning Glory Farm, on a desolate stretch of road before we reached the next town. It was a lucky find, as there were a few cars sitting in the back parking lot. Once we parked, I walked around to the front of the store. Colorful flowers
and white-tipped ivy twisted around the railing and windows. A white sign exhibited the prices of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and firewood. In red, freehand painted lettering, they advertised free hay rides on the weekends. It was almost surreal—as if a little part of normal still lingered there and hadn’t been ruined by zombies.

Jackie took a seat in the wicker rocker. “Mmm…I
love
the country. This place reminds me of my grandma’s farm.”

“
Yeah, it’s nice out here,” Claire said, “so peaceful and quiet.”

“
Yeah,” I said. “I would love to hole up here for the night.”

But we all knew we couldn’t. We were in a hurry to find Tahoe and the stolen vials if we were going to save my sister. That was our top priority, as tempting as it was to sit there, rocking on that porch, pretending none of the horror had happened.

I peeked inside through the lace curtains of the display window.
Wood-framed photographs and paintings of old barns, farmhouses, and cowboys decorated the walls. They also sold hammered and painted metal wall hangings shaped like chickens, cows, tractors, ducks, and flowers. The shop was dark, and I couldn’t make out anything past the second aisle. The little store seemed abandoned.

All of the sudden,
Val doubled over and threw up by the bales of hay stacked against the wall. “Hey, I’m gonna go lie down in the truck. Everything’s spinning, and I swear, I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

“
Let me help you to the truck
,” I said.

“
Yeah
,” Lucas said. “Let us help you.”

“
Thanks, but I’ll be fine.
I just need a few minutes to get my—get my head straight.”

We respected her wishes. I knew if I were in the same situation, I would probably want some alone time too.

“
T
o be honest, as much as I hate to say it, I’m not feeling so great,” she admitted. “I hope you understand.”

“
We’ll be right back,” I said, feeling horrible for her—and for what we’d feel like if we lost her in the end.

“
Okay. I’ll hold down the fort,” she said, walking briskly back to the truck.

I motioned to the others to stay alert as I rounded the corner to the back of the store.

Beyond the parking lot, cornstalks grew in neat rows, sprouting high toward the horizon. I cringed. Cornfields tended to freak me out in general,
especially now, when zombies were lurking around in at every nook and cranny. I shivered, thinking I must have watched too many horror films about walking scarecrows and possessed little kids.

Jackie looked around. “You think it’s safe?”

“
I don’t see anything,” Lucas said. “We’ll keep our eyes open. Shouldn’t take us too long to get some gas. We should be back on the road in no time.”

“
Can you and the girls stand guard?” Nick asked me.

“
Sure,” I said, glancing around at the old, rusty cars. It seemed like they’d been left there for a reason. Most of them had been stripped down and didn’t even have tires. I wondered if we’d even find gas.

Lucas held up the clear, six-foot hose I’d packed. “So, uh…which car should we try first?”

Running a hand through his hair, Nick glanced around. “The red one.”

Lucas nodded and rushed over to the gas tank. I scanned my surroundings. Everything looked okay, peaceful, and quiet. Birds flew across the blue sky. The girls and I stood guard as gas traveled up the hose and started to flow down the loop toward the ground and into the can.

“
We got gas, baby!” Lucas shouted.

“
Awesome!” Claire’s voice rang.

“
That’s fantastic,” I said. “We should check out all these cars and take as much as we can get our hands on.”

He slapped me on the back. “That’s the plan, buddy.”

Jackie twisted the silver ring on her finger as she stared off into the field. “Hey, guys, uh…”

“
What is it?” I asked her.

“
There’s something moving over there.” She pointed to some rustling cornstalks, moving around as if something was pushing through them.

My senses were already on full alert, but now my heart began to race even faster. As I whipped out my gun, I felt a wave of anxiety come over me. Breathing slowly to
maintain my aim, I said, “She’s right. I see something!”

“
You guys are creeping me out,” Claire said. “Let’s hurry up and get outta here.”

I grabbed her shoulder, anxious to prove to her that I wasn’t making it up. “See it?”

Lucas took a few steps forward and scanned the fields ahead. “Don’t go playing Rambo until we know for sure. We sure as heck don’t wanna invite a bunch of zombies to this little siphoning party if we don’t need to. Maybe it’s just an animal—some lost groundhog or something.”

“
Right,” I agreed, having fought off enough zombies for one day.

Jackie grabbed my hand and started to lead me away from the car.
“Let’s just go. We’ve got enough gas for now.”

I put my gun away, knowing she was right. “Nick, let’s go.”

Nick squinted into the cornfield. “All right. Let’s get outta here. We don’t wanna take any chances.”

Lucas picked up the hose and gas can. “Well, this oughtta be enough gas to get us started.”

“
What a
cruel world we live in,” Jackie said. “Now all it takes is a shadow to drive us all into a panic.”

“
It’ll be different when we get back to the island, I swear,” I said, hoping it was true. “We’ll be able to walk around freely, without fear.”

She let out a long sigh. “It sounds like heaven.”

“
I’ve always taken the place for granted,” I admitted shamefully. “I’ve even been going around calling it a prison cell for a year, but now that I’ve been out here, I’ve come to realize that I had a pretty carefree life back there. Everyone out here struggles just to live another day, always having to be on constant guard. This has sure been a reality check for me! I love my island now because I know nothing is guaranteed anymore. I’m done taking things for granted.”

“
Yeah,” Nick said. “I thought the island was a slice of heaven, but I had to listen to you gripe and complain about how you were stuck on that rock and wanted nothing more than to get off of it.”

“
I know,” Lucas said, “and now he just wants to get back as soon as possible.”

“
I guess I was just…naïve,” I said.

“
And stubborn,” Nick chimed in.

“
Fine. And stubborn. You happy now? I admit it. I was completely clueless and stubborn as a jackass, okay?”

He clapped my back, and a wide grin grew across his face. “I think this little reality check will make you appreciate the Erie islands a whole lot more, and now maybe you’ll understand why they had all those security precautions in place. They were just trying to protect us.”

“
Well,
now
I know,” I replied smartly.

“
And knowing is half the battle!” Nick quickly replied, and everyone shook with laughter as he struck a rigid military salute.

Nick was right
, and everything made perfect sense. I actually understood why they felt compelled to kill the infected. There was little else they could do since there was no cure, and now I couldn’t blame them.

As we made our way around the store to get back to our Jeep, a deep, throaty growl snapped me back into reality. Zombies in tattered flesh and ripped clothing lumbered toward us. I turned and was greeted by more of the shuffling ghouls from behind. With the barn to the left of us and the store to the right, the zombies had us pinned in from both sides.
Everything had happened so fast that I could barely take one breath.

Claire clutched at my arm. “Where did they all come from?”

I didn’t know the answer to that question. What I did know was that we had to get back to Val and drive to safety. I aimed and began pulling the trigger again and again. The recoil sent shuddering vibrations through my arm, and with each wave of force, another zombie fell to the ground in a bloody, slimy heap. In total, four zombies fell, but more still came.

“
Dean!” my brother yelled. “Get any coming from the right! Girls, cover the left! Lucas and I will take center stage.”

Bullets started flying, and within a flurry of seconds that felt like hours, I’d already emptied an entire clip. Like true battle-hardened warriors, Jackie and Claire fired again and again, dropping the undead one by one.

I looked over to the cornfield and saw dozens more of the decomposing bodies pushing through the dried stalks of corn, immediately joining the mob surrounding us. There were too many of them. It was a growing army, worse than any horror film I’d ever seen. Some had missing arms, some no faces, and one zombie had been impaled right through the midsection with a giant sword that jiggled when he walked and stumbled.