Abi saw it and took a knee. She raised the rifle and sighted the target.
“Don’t shoot!” The person shouted as he got halfway out from under the deck. He put one hand up as if to ward off the bullet.
“It’s a kid.” Breanne said. She opened the door to the vehicle and was out without any hesitation.
“I’m going too. Keep an eye out.” Tammy instructed Steve as she left the vehicle. The smell of blood was the first thing Tammy noticed when she got out. She ran over to catch up to Breanne.
As they neared the boy, they could hear a woman’s voice shouting from inside the house.
Breanne had pulled the boy out from under the deck. He looked scared, but unharmed. She was helping him to his feet. Tammy just caught the end of his first sentence as she approached.
“–climbed out the window back there.” The boy said with a wave behind him. “I tried to pull her up, but they pulled her away from me...” He continued, clearly distraught.
Then he looked at the doorway to the house.
Tammy followed his gaze to see two women being led outside by Mike and BB. The dark-skinned woman looked pretty beat up, but the other woman appeared fine. The boy shook off Breanne and ran up to the two women. They held each other in a hug.
“How...?” The boy asked the older of the two women.
“I pulled Romy into the pantry with me and shut the door. It was a tight fit, but we managed to avoid detection.” She said with a small smile. The smile faded. “Where are Ed and Sandra?”
Q didn’t respond. He lowered his head and shook it.
Just then a gunshot rang out from the other side of the yard. “We got company!” Abi yelled.
Two zombies were coming up the driveway. One loped ahead in a stumbling run. Abi shot the fast approaching zombie two more times, catching it in the hip with her second shot. The zombie crashed down. It started to drag itself towards her. Then Mike and BB were there. They dispatched both zombies with head shots.
Breanne and Tammy guided the survivors to the vehicle on Mike’s signal. The Humvee wasn’t built for nine occupants, but they were going to have to make it work for now.
Breanne reluctantly got in the very back with the boys. “Jesus! I feel like we’re in a fucking clown car act.” She complained as she got in. “You’re going to have to get a god-damn shoe-horn to get me out of here!”
Abi laughed at the comment. But her amusement didn’t last as she had to go join the other short people in the back. Tammy got in the back seat with the two new women. The larger woman introduced herself as ‘Michelle’.
“Where do we go now?” Tammy wondered aloud as the vehicle started turning around.
“I’m just going to get us out of here for starters.” Mike replied
The vehicle maneuvered back out of the yard and onto the highway. The sun started breaking through the late afternoon clouds, bathing their escaping vehicle in pools of sunlight one moment, and plunging them into darkness the next as they traveled down the highway.
Mike took his eyes off the road for a second to look over his shoulder.
“So, where do we go now?” He asked Tammy.
“...I think I have an idea.” Michelle stated.
Chapter Fifty-six
The Ren
November 2, 7:00 AM
Jack jerked awake to the sound of a raised voice. He shot out of his bed as the voice turned into a scream. It took him a moment to get his bearings in the dim light and locate the door.
In the other bed his dad and mom were also getting up.
“Jack! Wait!” His dad called after him, but Jack was already out of the room. Once in the hallway, he was able to locate the sounds. The screams were coming from the next room.
The Bentleys! Jack yanked the door open. He stood at the doorway for a moment, shocked and confused at what he saw. Patrick was on top of Rosa and the two appeared to be struggling. He took a tentative step back, until he saw Patrick wind up and plow a fist into Rosa.
He quickly stepped into the room and closer. He could only see Patrick’s back as the man was on top of Rosa. The poor woman was grunting and crying with the effort to keep her husband from hurting her. Jack was triggered into action when he saw Patrick lunge in to try to bite his wife.
He stepped up behind Patrick and yanked the man as hard as he could by the back of his t-shirt, just as Patrick pulled his own head back, tearing a piece of flesh from Rosa. Blood sprayed from his mouth as Patrick fell backwards off the bed, to crash on the hard floor.
Jack’s froze for a second as he saw Rosa. She was completely naked. And covered in blood. He was just turning to look back at Patrick, when the man lunged at him, hitting him in the side. Jack hit the ground hard. He looked down at Patrick, who was dragging himself up Jack’s legs, and screamed at what he saw.
Patrick was a zombie! Blood dripped from his open mouth and down his pale neck. One of his eyes had a deep gouge through it, the pupil totally gone. The other eye stared at Jack with the wide-eyed look of the undead. It dragged itself closer and raised a fist with murderous intent.
Jack’s quick thinking saved him. He snapped his knee up, catching the zombie under the jaw and throwing it slightly off balance. Jack got his other leg up, placed his foot on Patrick’s chest and kicked out with all his might, sending the zombie backwards off him.
Jack quickly scrambled to his feet. The zombie was on its knees and about to get to its own feet when it got tackled to the ground.
“Dad!” Jack called out as
