As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3] Read online

  “Are you?”

  “Romero all the way.” Katie walked out into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed.

  Jenni climbed in after her, looking much more relaxed now. “I had hoped if this ever happened, they at least wouldn’t run like they do in the new movies.” Jenni pouted.

  Outside, the moaning continued; it had become almost a lulling sound as it ebbed and flowed over and over again. Jack crawled into the bed between them and nestled down.

  Snuggling on either side of the dog, the women were both lost in thought. The tension that had been brewing between them had dissipated. They now knew where they both stood, and it was good.

  Without fear, without reservation, without being afraid of being misunderstood, Katie reached across the dog and took Jenni’s hand. Jenni squeezed it tenderly.

  “Tomorrow, we’ll get your stepson,” Katie assured her.

  “And kill more zombies,” Jenni added.

  Katie half laughed, her eyes still feeling horribly large and swollen. “Yeah, and kill zombies.”

  “But avoid farmhouses and malls and helicopters.”

  “And find ourselves a handsome black man to play the main lead in our story,” Katie added.

  They both started to laugh, and it felt amazingly good.

  Outside, the zombies gathered and moaned.

  3.

  The Midnight Hour

  Jenni’s heart pounded almost as fiercely as her footfalls as she rushed down the stairs with Mikey beside her. Her fingers slid along the banister while she struggled not to fall headlong down the stairs. Mikey’s hand was slippery in hers and she tugged him along when she reached the bottom of the staircase and headed for the front door.

  She felt Lloyd grab her long hair and yank her backwards.

  “Don’t touch my mom!” Mikey’s hand slipped from hers, and her little boy launched himself at his father.

  “No,” Jenni whispered, and her eyes snapped open. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest, it hurt. She struggled to catch her breath.

  Katie was sleeping with her arms wrapped around the German shepherd. The dog eyed Jenni drowsily and she rubbed his brow.

  “I’m okay,” she lied.

  He licked her arm lightly before laying his head back on his paws. She was sure he was tired, too, after their long day. Plus, he had started the day with surgery and endured their crazed escape from the city in a drugged stupor.

  Still feeling shaken, Jenni slid from the bed and stood in the darkened room, listening to the moans of the dead outside. Lloyd always used to make her watch zombie movies because he knew they scared her. Scaring her had been something he enjoyed. Every time they watched a zombie film, he’d do things to upset her, like pretend to be a zombie. His moaning always made her scurry away from him. She hated it. Zombies terrified her.

  And then this morning …

  Don’t think about it, she told herself.

  She ran her fingers through her hair, combing it back from her face, and walked to the door. Careful not to make too much noise, she turned the handle and slipped into the hallway. She saw a dim light in the living room, where the TV was still on but muted. An ashen-looking anchorman from one of the major networks was talking to several people, including a minister. Ralph was asleep in his lounge chair with a quilt laid over him. A rifle lay on the floor next to him.

  “He couldn’t sleep,” Nerit said quietly from behind Jenni.

  Jenni turned around. The older woman was dressed in a nightgown and holding a cup of tea. “I had nightmares.”

  “Me, too,” Nerit said with a weary smile. “Would you like some tea and cheesecake?”

  “That would be awesome.”

  In the kitchen, Jenni settled into a stiff-backed chair as Nerit put on a fresh pot of tea.

  “You know, zombies always scared me,” Jenni said after a quiet moment.

  “I never thought much about them or any movie monsters,” Nerit replied honestly. “I always thought the monsters of the real world were much more terrifying.”

  “Serial killers and all that?”

  “All that.” Nerit’s expression was shadowed with pain, her gaze flicking to the wall near the table.

  Following Nerit’s gaze, Jenni drew close to the old black-and-white photos hung in gilded frames. Some were of farmers and cattlemen, probably Ralph’s ancestors. But some had a distinctly old-world look about them. In one photo, there were Stars of David sewn onto the coats of the family posing outside a shop.

  “Oh,” Jenni said, understanding. “Oh.”

  Nerit nodded as she cut two slices of the Italian-style cheesecake. “I used to fear the real monsters and had very little patience for fantasy. But Ralph likes the monster movies. He said they’re a safe kind of scary.”

  “Not anymore,” Jenni decided grumpily.

  “No, not anymore,” Nerit agreed, and set down the dessert plates before taking a seat.

  “My children died this morning,” Jenni said, gazing at Nerit. She half expected the older woman to accuse her of being incompetent, but Nerit only responded with, “I’m sorry.”

  “My husband got bit last night. A bum, he said.” Jenni stabbed at the piece of cheesecake with her fork.

  “Ralph discovered what was going on at the grocery store. We had stayed in bed late to celebrate his birthday. He was going across the road to grab the paper when he saw the attacks inside.” Nerit cut her piece of cake into small sections and played with one tiny slice with her fork. “I didn’t believe him at first. People eating each other. It sounds so ludicrous.”

  Jenni set down her fork and stared at her plate. “Lloyd liked to sleep on the sofa. He said I move around too much in my sleep and that he couldn’t get a decent night’s rest. I would hear the TV on all night. If he had been in our room …

  “Benji’s room is the first one off the stairs. I think that’s why Lloyd went in there first. …” She covered her face with her hands and tried so hard not to think of what she had seen. It was a blur, actually, just a swift image of Lloyd stuffing something thick and fleshy into his mouth and Benji’s little body looking wrong and all that blood staining the floor. Her mind fought between adding in details and wiping the image out altogether.

  Nerit’s fingers were soft and dry as she drew Jenni’s hand down from her face. Gently, she held Jenni’s hand in her own and said, “There was nothing you could do.”

  Jenni forced back a sob and wiped away her tears. She wasn’t sure if that was the truth, and she didn’t want to think about it anymore. Already, yesterday morning felt so far away, and the world already felt very different. Mikey, Benji, and even Lloyd felt like shadows to her.

  “When you saw them inside the store, what did you do?”

  “At first, we were going to go in and try to rescue people. But the … zombies—” Nerit slightly laughed at the word. “—the zombies rushed toward the door, and we realized very quickly that we couldn’t go inside. We ran back here and locked ourselves in. At first, we thought the people were infected with some strange virus, like the news said, but one of them came up behind the hunting store, and he was chewed down to the bone. There was no way in heaven he could be that badly damaged and walking. He saw us through the window and beat on it. We decided to head back upstairs and figure out exactly what was going on. That is when we saw our neighbors forcing themselves into people’s homes and attacking them. We took some out from a distance, but…” Nerit shook her head. “We’ve been killing our neighbors all day. We had no choice.”

  Jenni took another bite of cheesecake and let the rich flavor distract her for a few precious seconds. Then she said, “Does it bother you to kill them?”

  Nerit stood up, stretched, and headed toward the teakettle, which had begun to whistle. “The real question is, Do we have a choice?”

  “It doesn’t bother me to kill them,” Jenni confessed. “Not at all.”

  The older woman poured hot water into a cup and set it down in front of Jenni. “It
doesn’t bother me either.”

  The hot water was letting off a small plume of steam, and Jenni waved her hand through it. It felt good against her skin. The cold spring night was pressing against the windows and she could feel a chill in her bones. The warmth from the hot water was a soothing sensation. Dumping too much sugar into the tea, Jenni tried hard not to think too deeply about anything other than rescuing Jason in the morning.

  Nerit sipped some tea and eyed Jenni thoughtfully. “It’s a good thing, you know.”

  “What is?” Katie padded into the room appearing bleary eyed. Jack was at her heels, yawning and investigating for the nearest food bowl.

  “Being able to kill them,” Nerit answered.

  Spotting the teakettle, Katie headed over to it.

  “Couldn’t sleep?” Jenni dumped in more sugar for good measure.

  “Nightmares,” Katie confessed. “But I guess we better get used to them.”

  “Get used to all of it,” Jenni agreed. Her friend looked pale and tired. They both needed to rest, but the sound of the zombies was dragging on all of them.

  “You don’t think it will be stopped, do you?” Katie slipped into a chair, a mug in her hand.

  Nerit shook her head and reached out for a pack of cigarettes sitting on the table. “No. It’s too late. They didn’t do what they needed to do in the beginning.”

  “Which was?” Katie shoved her blond curls out of her face.

  “Kill everyone bitten,” Jenni answered. She leaned her head on Katie’s shoulder and sighed softly. “Everyone bitten should have been killed right away. Lloyd was bitten. The emergency room gave him some shots and told him to make a follow-up appointment with his doctor.”

  Nerit lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly. She leaned over and flipped on an air filter next to the table to suck up the secondhand smoke. “The authorities told all the wounded to go to the hospitals and rescue centers. They accelerated the infection rate.”

  “They still don’t get it.” Ralph walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. Clad in pajamas and an old robe, he looked frail. “Anyone saying zombies or end of the world is getting mocked. Got the CDC taking back some of what they said and still telling people to go to rescue centers. Got major cities burning all over the States, and they still can’t figure it out.”

  “What does the president say?” Katie drank her tea without any sugar; Jenni winced at the thought.

  “Nothing since he was evacuated to Camp David,” Ralph answered.

  “And the vice president?” Katie poured herself more tea, tilting her head toward Ralph.

  “In East Texas on a hunting trip,” Ralph answered, and sat next to Nerit. “News is all confusing now, full of half truths and bullshit. Got one guy on last night saying it’s a strain of Ebola.”

  Jenni rolled her eyes. Katie snagged her plate and dragged the uneaten cheesecake over to her. Jenni didn’t mind. She couldn’t eat, now that she was thinking of all they had endured. All they would endure. She laid her head down on her folded arms on the table. Ralph reached out and patted her head lightly. It comforted her.

  “It really is the end,” Katie decided.

  They all knew it, but hearing the words again helped it sink in. To accept it was to be empowered. Jenni understood that and she knew the people at the table understood it, too. To survive meant to kill and to fight.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  1.

  Into the Breach

  The hammering on the back windows was annoying, but Katie tried to block out the sound. The number of undead outside the building had grown during the night, and they were insistently banging on the windows. There had been some discussion about trying to thin out the new horde of undead, but they all recognized time was of the essence if they were going to have a chance at saving Jenni’s stepson. Ralph was confident that the heavy bars over the windows and the reinforced doors would keep the zombies out. The sound wore on the survivors’ nerves, but they tried to ignore the undead as they brainstormed for a good plan to save Jason.

  Ralph spread out a map on a table in the office downstairs. Nerit leaned against the wall nearby with her hands tucked into her jeans pockets. Her yellowish white hair was pinned up on top of her head, and her dark green eyes looked sharp and intense.

  Jenni, perched on a folding chair, was clad head to toe in hunting gear: camouflage pants and jacket, a T-shirt that read I AIM TO SHOOT, and heavy Doc Martens. Her black hair was in a ponytail; she looked very young and delicate. Katie noted that today there was a difference in the way she held herself. After they had returned to bed after their midnight snack, Katie had trouble falling asleep, but Jenni seemed to have found some peace within herself and had slept soundly.

  Katie drew near to Ralph and crossed her arms over her breasts. Like Jenni, she was wearing camo pants, plus a black tank top and the reverend’s hunting jacket. The scents that clung to the fabric—the warm smell of tobacco and the faint smell of her savior’s aftershave—gave her a sense of security as well. It was as though the old man was still watching over her. She sipped from a cup of coffee and tucked a blond curl behind one ear as she studied the map.

  “Truck you came in is not going to cut it. This ain’t the old world, where a low tank means a trip to the gas station. Electricity is still up here. Grid hasn’t gone down—yet. TV is static except for the emergency broadcasting network. Bunch of horseshit regurgitation like yesterday. Not worth much. But we can’t take it on face value that any of the gas stations between here and the camp are up and working. Gotta plan for the opposite.”

  “Gotcha. So we’re limited to what we can carry in canisters and what is in the tank,” Katie said.

  “Right. Now, the truck yer in, well, it got you here, but probably not much further without a refuel.”

  “We are dangerously low on fuel,” Katie admitted, “though we have at least five gallons of extra gas in those red canisters in the back of our pickup.”

  “My truck has a half tank of gas, and we can move your gas cans into it. Also, my truck has a bigger cab. You can fit your young one and any other survivor back there, along with Jack. Gun rack is perfect for your weapons. Also got a CB in there that can keep you in touch with us. Keep to Channel Twenty-three.” Ralph pointed at their location. “Here’s Hillsboro. This is the state park. Mapped out the most fuel-efficient way for you to get there. You can do a round trip sticking to the route, but any detour might stick you out yonder with just the reserve fuel.”

  Katie agreed and glanced at Jenni. Jenni’s eyes were huge and desperate. Katie knew instantly what she was thinking. “We’re still going,” she promised her, and Jenni relaxed.

  “Keep to the route. Don’t veer off. I mean it. There’s a major highway near that park. If any infected people made it that far, you could have zombies on the roads.” Ralph stood staring at the map, rubbing his chin, and looking deadly serious.

  “I understand,” Katie assured him. “We’ll grab Jason and head back.”

  “Don’t hesitate to run those things over,” Nerit said from her corner. “Don’t hesitate to shoot them.”

  Jenni giggled a little and Katie smirked. “I don’t think that will be a problem. Not anymore” She wanted to survive and unlike yesterday, she understood to so meant she had to kill both the undead and the infected.

  “Okay, then take the map, gear up. Take what you can in three backpacks. If you get caught out there, you’ll need supplies,” Ralph said. His eyes were so sharp and thoughtful, Katie couldn’t look at him. His expression reminded her too much of her father.

  “MREs, ammo,” Katie ticked off.

  “Flashlight, knives…” Ralph faltered. “I should go with you.”

  “No, no. You belong here with Nerit.”

  A loud crash made everyone jump. Jenni ran across the room and whipped back the curtains, revealing an massive zombie slamming his body into the bars across the window. Though huge chunks of his flesh had been torn away, there was still a lot of him to h
url against the building. The empty cavity of his torso behind the sheets of shredded flesh made Katie turn away.

  “You fucking stop that!” Jenni shouted at the zombie, and slammed her hand against the glass.

  The zombie growled and crashed into the bars again.

  Something about him drove Jenni over the edge. She turned and raced up the stairs. Katie followed, her boots thudding against the wood steps. Jack charged past her, barking, excited.

  When Katie hit the second floor, she saw no sign of Jenni, but the door to the back patio was open. After running to the doorway, she saw Jenni standing near the rail, gun raised, Jack at her heels, barking away.

  “Hey, fuckface!” Jenni’s voice was full of hatred.

  The zombie turned slowly, saw her up on the balcony, opened his mouth to shriek, and rushed forward. As soon as he was clear of the window, Jenni put a nice little hole through his right eye. The enormous zombie pitched forward onto two female zombies who had turned to see Jenni, effectively trapping both of them under his immense girth.

  Katie stood next to Jenni, a little shocked by Jenni’s sudden violent streak. Jenni turned and saw at her, then shrugged. “He looked like my dad,” she explained, then calmly walked back into the building.

  Katie hesitated before following. She’d been questioning Jenni’s sanity for a while now, but then again, they were all slightly insane now, weren’t they? She watched the two female zombies trying to wiggle out from under the huge dead man and smiled slightly. Turning on her heel, she followed Jenni into the store.

  She was surprised to find Jenni standing near the top of the stairs, apparently waiting for her. From her expression, Katie could see that she was struggling internally.

  “We should have gone last night,” Jenni grumbled.

  “In the dark? With those things?” Katie lifted an eyebrow. “Would you really want to do that?”

  Jenni shook her head. “I’m just worried about Jason.”

  “I know, but we have to take care of ourselves, too, you know.”

  “I know, Katie.” Jenni sighed. “But we really need to get out of here and go save him.”