As The World Dies: The First Days-A Zombie Trilogy Read online

  "Just go," Jenni shouted.

  The zombies reached the truck and began to slam their fists against the metal and the glass.

  Katie reversed, shoving her foot hard down the accelerator, looking very satisfied as the truck bounced over a few zombie bodies. She aimed the truck for the narrow path to the side of the blockade of cars.

  "We might tip," Katie said.

  "Go down it! Off road through the field," Jenni said urgently. She glanced at the zombies banging on her window. "Before they break in!"

  Katie didn't say a word, but expertly dodged one crashed car and started the truck down the embankment. The vehicle tilted scarily to one side and Jenni found herself clinging to the door to keep from falling into Katie. Some of the zombies were still with them and banging on the windows.

  The truck hit the field and the wheels plowed through the sun-hardened earth. Luckily, it was just a field of wild flowers and the truck was a 4X4. The zombies still followed. Some even clung to the edges of the truck bed. In the mirror, Jenni could see the zombies from the school flowing into the field.

  Katie aimed the truck for the road on the other side of the field. "How are we doing?"

  "We got stowaways and lots more trying to catch up.

  There was a tremendous jolt as the truck struggled up the embankment and back onto the road. Jenni looked back to see two zombies go flying off the back of the truck and onto the road as they lost their grip. The last one had managed to get into the truck bed and was staggering toward the back window. Jack was barking wildly at this point.

  "Slam on the brakes!"

  Katie obeyed immediately.

  The zombie was flung forward and hit the back of the cab. It fell back into the bed out of sight.

  Jenni flung the door open, slipped out, and held her gun up.

  The zombie grabbed hold of the side of the truck and hauled itself up. It found itself looking straight into Jenni's determined gaze.

  "Pop," Jenni said, fired, and the zombie's head did pop like an enormous blister.

  "Get back in!" Katie was struggling to keep Jack from jumping out.

  Jenni could see the two zombies who had fallen off closing fast. Not far behind them an enormous crowd of the undead students, parents and teachers from the schools.

  Jumping into the cab, she slammed the door shut and Jack licked her face with relief.

  Katie drove on at top speed, her gaze flicking toward the gas gauge.

  "How far?"

  "An hour, but just back roads from this point out," Jenni answered, trying to get the map turned the right way.

  "But we have the interstate to worry about..."

  "He's alive, Katie. Jason is alive. I know it. And if there are zombies on the interstate, they may not go near the camping ground."

  Katie nodded. "I know, hon. I know. We're close. We're going to get him."

  Jenni nodded back. "We have to," Jenni said softly. She did not add that she needed to save him to make up for her failures as a mother. Katie wouldn't understand.

  "We will save him," Katie assured her. "We will."

  Jenni believed her.

  Chapter 6

  1. Frayed Edges

  Katie was still trembling from the episode at the schools. Leaving that poor man behind was bad enough, but seeing that torrent of zombified families coming out of the school buildings had left her feeling sick to the very pit of her stomach.

  Maybe they were being foolish for thinking Jason was still alive. Hell, it was sheer luck that she and Jenni were both alive. Right place at the right time. She didn't want to dwell on it too much but what if she hadn't slipped free of her coat and ended up in the maw of that horrible undead thing that had tried to drag her from her car? Or what if Jenni's zombified son had made it out the window just a little faster?

  Up to this point luck had a lot to do with the fact they were still alive. Now it would be more about them keeping their wits in situations like they had just experienced that would dictate if they survived or not.

  So far, so good.

  Katie glanced at Jenni, who was staring straight ahead. Her lips were pressed firmly together and her brow was knotted. Jenni wasn't exactly expressing how much this rescue meant to her, but Katie knew. She understood. Jason, even if he wasn't Jenni's flesh and blood, was all she had left. Yes, technically she now had Katie and Jack, but Jason was a connection to her past. To her previous life.

  Katie was envious of that fact. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, left of her former life but a picture of her wife in a phone that's battery was slowly running out and she did not have a charger for.

  Again, Katie looked at the gas gauge. It was dropping faster than she liked. And, she sighed, she hadn't told Jenni yet, but they had blown one valuable point of their plan when they had escaped from the hunting store. The extra jugs of gas for "just in case" scenarios were still sitting in the back of that old beat up white truck. In their panic to get safely on the road, they had forgotten that part of their overall plan.

  Now they could not deviate one iota.

  What was in the tank was all there was. Pure and simple. Simple and terrifying. The needle was dropping far faster than she thought it would.

  "We're close," Jenni said softly. She was downright pale as a ghost now.

  Katie nodded. The trees were growing taller and more numerous. They had turned onto a logging trail and they had seen large patches of freshly hewed stumps. But so far, no undead.

  So far, so good.

  They were a mere five miles from the interstate and they had to consider this entire area a danger zone.

  "Katie," Jenni said in a hushed tone. "I'm scared."

  Katie took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Just keep breathing."

  Finally, a sign appeared directing them toward the back entrance to the camp. Jenni drew out the shotgun and laid it next to her.

  Katie could feel her chest tightening and her stomach fluttering.

  Please, God, please, let him be alive.

  The dirt road was very winding. Dry red dirt flew up in a cloud. It hadn't rained in a month and the earth was cracked. Finally, they could see the cabins used for youth camps through the trees as they continued down the dirt trail. There was no sign of anyone.

  Jenni was close to hyperventilating and her hands fluttered around her face.

  "Jenni, calm down. Calm down. He needs you to be calm," Katie said firmly.

  Jenni nodded, gulped air, nodded again. "Yes..yes...yes..."

  The whitewashed mess hall came into view and Katie slowed the truck to a stop. It was the main meeting hall for campers and, from where the truck sat idling, they could see the long road to the front entrance to the camp. One lone van sat in the gravel parking lot.

  The scream of the zombie girl as she hit Jenni's window made them both jump. The girl, her face a mask of blood, guts, and a gaping mouth with no tongue, slammed her hands continuously against the window.

  "They're here," Jenni whimpered.

  Jack barked angrily at the zombie.

  Katie reversed sharply, making sure not to end up in a tree, temporarily losing the girl. The zombie girl ended up right in front of them confused at their sudden disappearance. She realized where they were and charged. Katie slammed her foot down and the truck roared forward. When they hit the girl, her head hit the deer guard and blood, bits of brain, and grayish fluid spewed across the hood.

  Katie felt sickened yet satisfied at the same time.

  Jenni sobbed next to her and wrung her hands.

  "Jenni, calm down!" Katie ordered. But inside of her, she feared that Jason was gone. Gone like the rest of the world.

  She realized the mess hall shutters were all down and that there were smears of blood on them. The door cracked open for a moment and someone stepped out onto the front step, shading their eyes to see who was in the truck.

  "Jason!"

  Jenni was out of the truck and running before Katie could even try to grab her.
Jack bounded out of the truck and ran at her heels. Her gun lay on the seat.

  Katie cursed, reached over and slammed Jenni's door shut, grabbed the shotgun, grabbed the keys, shoved her door open, and was on her feet and running in an amazingly short period of time.

  Jenni was just ahead of her, running, crying, calling out to the form on the step. She was almost to the figure when she cried out in anguish.

  "You're not Jason!"

  Katie was right behind Jenni, shotgun cocked and ready in her hands. And a good thing. A zombie came screeching around the corner, his hands held out, and Katie didn't hesitate to blast him in the face.

  The boy on the doorstep grabbed Jenni and pulled her inside.

  2. Unraveled

  "Jenni!" Katie screamed, terrified, the shotgun raising to shoot the shadowy person in the face.

  Jack ran in, growling.

  "Get in," the figure called out.

  Human! She barely kept from pressing the trigger. Katie jumped through the doorway and the door slammed shut behind her. Instantly, there was banging on the door behind her.

  Oh, God! There had been a zombie or zombies right behind her and she hadn't seen them she had been so panicked.

  Jenni stood nearby crying with her hands over her face. Katie grabbed her arm.

  "Don't do that again! We can't afford to screw up!"

  Jenni looked at her stricken and Katie suddenly grabbed her close and held her tight. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought...I thought..."

  Katie became aware that they were standing in a hallway into the kitchen. Beyond the door at the end of the hall stood a tall, good-looking boy with masses of straight brown hair falling into his eyes.

  "Jenni?"

  "Jason?" Jenni's voice rose in a scary pitch. She ran down the hall into the arms of a boy almost as tall as she was. "Jason! Oh, Jason."

  "Jenni, where's Dad? And the kids?"

  Katie glanced at the door and the other boy standing there. He was staring at her with such sorrow it made her wince.

  "The door will hold. The others won't," he said simply. He pointed at another set of doors. They probably opened into the mess hall. They were trembling under the onslaught of someone or maybe quite a few people, throwing themselves against it. Heavy kitchen equipment had been piled in front of the door, but Katie knew the boy was right. It wouldn't hold.

  Jenni was sobbing to the point she couldn't answer the handsome boy who was cuddling her close.

  "Jenni? Jenni? Where are Dad and the boys?"

  Finally, all she could do was shake her head "no" and the boy's face crumpled and he fell against her and began to sob.

  Katie collected herself, forced her fear down and looked at the other boy. "What is the situation here?"

  He sighed. "My family drove out here to get my sister last night. They got here this morning. All day yesterday people were showing up and picking up kids. Me and Jason and a few other kids ended up here all night. The counselors bailed and left us here, saying our families would get us. Around midnight one of the families showed up, but one of them was bitten. We didn't know that. We thought the mother was just asleep. We were all asleep in the mess hall…you know…to stay together and safe. We woke up and she was eating one of the girls. The one you creamed outside. Jason hit the Mom over the head with a chair and kept hitting her until she was really dead. We ditched the girl out the door before she could...come back."

  Katie nodded, but motioned to him to hurry up. Behind her, Jenni and Jason were crying together, holding each other, mourning.

  But they didn't have time for that and Katie knew it.

  "What we didn't know is that others had gotten bit by her in the scuffle. Jason and I had come in here to get some food when the screams started. We looked in and saw another attack. But this one was bad. He was a football player before. We...just slammed the doors shut and bolted them. But..." He showed Katie his hand. "I got bit. "

  Katie looked sharply at Jason.

  "He's fine. We were going to try to escape, but that was when my family got here. But...the girl outside…she bit my Dad. He's over there with my Mom. Dad lost the keys out there in the scuffle. I...didn't...We couldn't leave..." The boy's sad eyes looked at Katie again. "I know we're dead. I watched zombie flicks with Jason. But take my Mom, okay?"

  Katie looked back at the door behind her that was being systematically tackled over and over again. Jack sat in front of the door growling low in his throat. She looked at the door to the outside behind the boy.

  "I think there are more out there now. From the interstate or maybe from families that didn't make it to safety."

  Katie nodded. "We need to leave now."

  "Kill me and my Dad first"

  Katie looked sharply at the boy.

  "Please, I don't want to be...that." The boy looked at the doors to the mess hall, his lips trembling.

  Unable to look into his face anymore, Katie walked into the kitchen and found a man and a woman locked in a tight embrace in one corner. Already, he was not looking very well. He was sweating hard and his face looked grayish-green. He had multiple bites on his neck and shoulder. Blood was streaming down his chest. He was fading faster than his son who just had one little bite.

  The woman looked up at Katie with glassy eyes and said, "You need to help us."

  Katie walked over and looked at the man. He looked at Katie's gun, then at his wife.

  "Take my wife with you. Do me and the boy a favor," he said softly. "You better go soon."

  Katie hesitated, her brain feeling numb and overwhelmed, then nodded. "I will."

  "I'm not leaving them! I'm not leaving them," the woman shrieked. She was the classic soccer Mom of this area. Blond, short bob haircut, slightly pudgy, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

  Katie ignored her and walked over to the big stainless steel sinks. If she was correct, she could see the outside door from the high window over sinks. Hoisting herself up, she peered out. To her relief, just one zombie was banging on the door. But that didn't mean there weren't more out there.

  Jumping down she moved over to Jason and Jenni.

  "Listen. Now." Her voice was so authoritative she sounded like her father for a moment. "We're leaving. I need both of you to stop crying right fucking now!"

  They both blinked rapidly at her words and she could see that Jason immediately understood and wiped his tears away. Jenni reluctantly let go of her stepson and stood trembling.

  "Okay. Now. Jason's friend is bit. So is the Dad. The mother is fine. Those who are not bitten, we're leaving now. Before more arrive and the zombie football player busts through those doors." Katie pulled her revolver out of her holster and turned around to look at the man who was looking more and more dead with every second. "I'll take your wife."

  He nodded, his fingers pressed tight to his bleeding throat. "Finish me. And my son. Don't let us...don't let us...Take my wife with you, please."

  Katie nodded.

  The man kissed his wife and his son threw his arms around his neck. They all three clung together as Katie approached.

  She felt sick. She felt shaken. She felt anger. She felt sadness. But she didn't want this self-sacrificing man to die like the man back in that town. Like Lydia had.

  The wife's head was buried in the man's shoulder, her body heaving.

  The man closed his eyes and Katie fired a single shot.

  Blood spray didn't affect her anymore, she realized dully.

  The son looked up at her, crying, covered in fresh blood, but nodding...ready.

  The mother, though, launched herself at Katie, screaming, "MURDERER!" and almost sank a knife she had been holding the whole time into Katie's chest. It was only her son tackling her and driving her to the ground that stopped her.

  "Shit!" Katie said, her eyes wide, watching the struggle on the floor.

  The boy rolled off his Mom, the knife buried in his side. The mother rose screaming and charged at Katie again.

  Jenni stepped forward and
slammed her upside the head with a pan and sent the crazed woman sprawling.

  Wordlessly, Katie handed off the revolver to Jenni and headed to the door to the outside, snatching the shotgun up and cocking it. Not even hesitating, she whipped the door open and shot the zombie in the head before he could register that the door was open. Then she was running while reloading the shotgun with Jack at her heels and Jenni and Jason taking up the rear.

  The woman came out of the building behind them, still screaming her incoherent words of rage at them. Howls rose in the forest. It was obvious they heard the woman and were now alerted of their escape.

  "Fucking bitch," Jenni shouted in anger.

  "Just run!" As Katie ran she could see figures emerging from the woods, moving fast. It would be close. Down to seconds.

  She automatically hit the UNLOCK button on the keyless remote and the truck whistled at them. Ripping the driver side door open, she turned to cover those behind her with the shotgun. Knowing the drill, Jack hurtled into the truck. Jenni raced past her, Jason in tow, to the passenger side.

  Two sharp cracks of Jenni's revolver let Katie know it was getting closer.

  The woman was almost on top of her now, screaming wordlessly. Not a zombie, but not human anymore. She wasn't infected, but her mind was gone. Behind her, still stabbed through, her son followed.

  "Mom! Mom," he cried out.

  And behind him, appearing in the doorway, a large, looming zombie followed by others.

  Football Zombie guy had arrived.

  The first blast of Katie's shotgun took out the mother.

  The boy recoiled, stopped, stared at Katie, then leaned forward, his hands on his knees, and nodded.

  Feeling numb, tired, but determined to do as the boy had asked, Katie fired and the boy fell back just as the football zombie hit him.

  Then she was in the truck, slamming the door shut. She turned to look at Jenni and found herself looking at Jason. Jenni was crammed between him and the door. A zombie was already banging on the passenger side door.

  "That went well," Katie finally said as she turned on the truck and shifted gears.

  The truck did a sharp U-turn and sped down the dirt road away from the camp.