Sidney pulled her pistol from the holster on her hip and shot the thing in the face. The loud report of the pistol firing near his head made Mark drop one end of the rifle and duck away from her in fear.
“Oww, fuck!” he screamed.
The body of the infected tumbled back and Sidney grabbed Mark, dragging him toward the back door. Her boots thumped loudly up the old wooden steps and she reached up to unlatch the door. They spilled inside just as more nearby screams filled the morning air.
She closed the door quietly and locked the deadbolt.
“Stay out of sight,” Sidney hissed into Mark’s ear. He nodded dumbly, his hand still pressed against the opposite side.
She took her rifle from him and crab-walked into the living room where the couch would provide her the most concealment. Once there, she peeked around the edges of the couch through the windows into the back yard.
There were a whole lot of infected in the yard, jostling forward to get to the fresh meat of the one she’d killed. The sight was shocking to her. She knew the fields held the infected. They were like locusts, eating their way deeper and deeper into the cornfields. But she had no clue that there were this many of them out there. They walked the roads almost every day without realizing that they were literally surrounded by them.
Nearby, machine gun fire chattered. It sounded like it came from where the Iranian truck had veered into the field. The infected in the back yard screeched and began running toward the sounds of battle. The sounds meant there’d be more meat than what the single dead creature in the yard provided.
In seconds, the farmyard looked clear. The sound of the machine gun was joined by reports from several small caliber rifles. There shouldn’t have been that many men left alive in the truck. She ran to Mark in a crouch, still trying to stay below line of sight through the windows. “I’m going upstairs to see what’s going on.”
He nodded, pulling a large fixed-blade knife from the sheath on his belt. “I’ll guard the door.”
She patted him on the arm and went quickly to the stairs. They creaked underfoot as she went up, but it wasn’t loud enough to draw attention from outside the house. There was a bedroom in each of the unimaginative farmhouse’s four corners, so she rushed into the one nearest the sounds of action and brought up her binoculars. She slipped them through the curtains to try to determine what was happening.
Three more trucks sat in a line on the road. Men fired wildly in all directions from the open beds. She wondered if they’d came to the aid of the single truck that Mark had shot up, or, more concerning, had that first truck been a decoy, meant to lure out the rebels so these next three could wipe them out?
Sidney was just in time to see the first truck of the new force get overwhelmed by the mass of creatures. They surged over the sides, dragging men down to their deaths. The driver panicked, slamming the truck into reverse. It crashed into the middle truck, sending several of the soldiers in back tumbling to the ground. They were set upon in seconds.
The third truck reversed course, its men firing into the gathering horde as they retreated. A few of the creatures gave chase, but then quickly turned back toward the guaranteed meal. The two remaining trucks were deadlocked by the press of bodies. All resistance soon stopped as all the soldiers on the outside were killed.
She watched in horror as the soldiers in the cab of the lead vehicle shot themselves in the head. They would rather commit suicide than become a meal for those things. The men in the second truck attempted to hide, but the infected slammed their heads into the glass. It was only a matter of time until they broke through.
She’d seen enough. She put away her binoculars and rushed back down the stairs. Now was the best time for them to try their escape while the beasts were distracted by the carnage down the road.
“Let’s go,” she ordered, reaching down to pull Mark to his feet.
“Vern said we should wait several hours after they get all riled up.”
“They’re distracted now. The yard’s clear.”
“But my machine gun,” he said, pointing out to the road.
“It’ll be there when we come back in a few days,” she assured him.
He nodded glumly. “Okay.”
She twisted the deadbolt and opened the door. As soon as she stepped out onto the back porch, one of the creatures hissed at her.
Sidney brought up her rifle, finger on the trigger. A skeletal creature crouched near the body of the infected that she’d shot with her pistol. It held an arm, chewing noisily on the flesh of its fallen brother. It eyed her warily, growling as it tore another chunk of flesh from the bone.
She brought up her suppressed M-4 and aimed. The creature stared at her with malice, but didn’t move to attack. She fired, directly into its forehead, dropping it instantly.
Sidney relaxed slightly, allowing the barrel of her rifle to dip toward the ground. Behind her, Mark secured the door so they could use the house again if needed.
She missed Lincoln. She needed to see her baby. “Okay, let’s go home,” she said.
2
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
MARCH 2ND
Movement in windows told them that they were being watched. Every time Jake tried to see who it was, the faces would disappear, hiding from the soldiers as they’d walked down the
