“Shit.” Leo dropped to one knee and sighted down his rifle. “Jennifer, keep an eye out for more Russians.” He didn’t like revealing his location, but with any luck, he’d get rid of these assholes before the next fleet of vehicles arrived.
Leo fired. The first Russian dropped, a clean shot to the back. Leo racked his weapon and fired a second time, dropping a second Russian.
Two down. Three to go. And now he had their attention. Good. It would give Anton and Bruce time to regroup.
Leo sighted on the third Russian. The idiot looked around wildly, trying to discern where the shot had come from. Leo shot him in the chest and racked his gun.
Two left. They raced around a car parked on the road and took shelter in a circle of nezhit, using the infected for cover. Assholes. The infected barely noticed them, their attention still on the bleachers.
Leo inhaled slowly, waiting for an opening. Distantly, he noted the sound of cars—a whole bunch of them—getting close. Really, really close.
“Leo,” Jennifer hissed, “they’re here!”
Leo tuned her out. His sole focus was Anton and Bruce. Hell if he was going to let anything happen to them.
Shots cracked out from the bleachers. Anton and Bruce returned fire at the Russians. One of the Soviets yelped, momentarily slipping out from behind a zombie. Leo took him out with a shot to the head.
One more. He racked the gun, never taking his eyes from the crowd massed at the base of the bleachers. Get out of there, Anton!
“Leo!”
He could just make out the last Soviet. He was using a knot of three nezhit as a shield.
“Screw this,” Jennifer muttered. “We don’t have time for this shit.”
Before Leo could stop her, she lobbed a bomb. It sailed straight for the knot of nezhit.
Chapter 43Touchdown
“WHAT THE FUCK?” LEO shouted, never taking his eyes from the street below. “You just gave up our location!”
“I gave up our location?” Jennifer screamed. “The Russians are here!”
Her bomb exploded. The explosion sent a ripple through the mass of zombies. The Soviet was exposed for no more than a few seconds.
It was long enough for Leo to drop the man with two shots to the chest. “Get out of there, Anton!” he bellowed.
Shots ripped through the air, zipping over his head and thudding into the side of the auditorium. Leo threw himself down flat against the roof. Jennifer shrieked and dropped to the rooftop beside him. More bullets flew over them.
“Fuck!” Leo pounded his fist on the tar and gravel beneath him.
He’d fucked up. He knew it. He’d deviated from the plan. But it was either that or let his little brother get pinned down by those communist bastards.
He’d made his choice. Now he had to live with it.
Fuck it. He was ready to die to save the ones he loved. It was a good way to go out. He grabbed a Zippo and two bombs.
“Get out of here,” he said to Jennifer. “Take the ladder. I’ll catch up when I can.”
He touched the Zippo to the fuses. As soon as they began to spark, he jumped up.
In a split second, he took in the mayhem on the street below him. There were wrecked cars and bodies everywhere.
Another ten jeeps had arrived. They weaved through the destruction, their sights set on the theater. The foremost of them was almost upon them. Even in the dark, Leo could see the rocket launcher aimed in their direction.
He threw both bombs and dropped, scuttling back from the edge—and ran smack into Jennifer.
“What the hell?” He grabbed the back of her jean jacket and dragged her backward. “I told you get out of here.”
“Fuck you,” she shouted back. “I’m not leaving your crazy ass up here to die!”
The rocket hit the top edge of the roof where Leo had been standing and exploded. The shockwave sent them both rolling across the rooftop. Gravel tore at his exposed skin and bit through his jeans. Seconds later, more explosions went off—this time from below them.
Leo scrambled back to his feet. There was a gaping hole in a huge section of the roof. At least half of it was gone. Shit. If he went anywhere near there, the whole thing could collapse under his weight.
“Get out of here, Jen. I mean it!” Crouching low, he ran to the north side of the building, giving the hole a wide berth.
Jennifer followed him, pulling more bombs out of the backpack. “I already told you, I’m not leaving your ass to die up here.” She lit a bomb and shoved it at him.
Gritting his teeth, Leo took a few running steps and threw. The bomb sailed through the air, heading for the next closest jeep.
His bomb wasn’t the only one. Popping up from behind the bleachers, Anton lobbed several bombs of his own.
“Touchdown,” Anton bellowed as one of his bombs took out the side of a jeep. “Take that, fuckers!”
Leo ducked back down as the Russians returned fire. God dammit. Why wasn’t anyone listening to him? Why weren’t they falling back and getting the hell out of here? It was clear from the look on Jennifer’s face that she wasn’t going to budge.
He chanced a look back out at the street. Three jeeps were down, but there were still seven to go. Due to the wreckage and debris cluttering the road, they were forced to slow and weave their way up the street. The closest of them was fifty yards away. Leo could make a fifty yard throw with his eyes closed.
Another rocket was fired, this one at the bleachers. It struck the northern side, spewing shrapnel in every direction.
“Anton!” Leo cried.
Jennifer shoved another sparking bomb into his hand. Leo made his next throw.
Jennifer kept lighting. He kept throwing.
The bleachers listed to one side. Leo could
