CHAPTER FOUR
“So, why did you come back here for all this shit, anyway?” Brandt asked as they headed down the hallway to the supply room.
Dante and Ace, walking behind the officers, shared a glance.
“They’re gonna find out anyway,” the redneck said.
Dante sighed. “QXR group is in town,” he replied. “We led them here to keep them away from where we are holed up, and they’re combing the town for us. We’re probably going to have to fight our way out.”
The Sheriff wrinkled his nose, whirling on them and stopping short. “QXR? Those bad boys are after you?” He smirked.
“Before you even think about it,” Dante said, pointing a finger at him, “they’re not going to care whether you give us up or not. They’ll just kill all four of us, put us down like dogs.”
Brandt pursed his lips.
“He ain’t jokin’,” Ace added. “If you wanna walk out there with your hands up and offer yourself to them, go for it, cuz I would be happy to see ‘em make you into swiss cheese.”
Henson paled even further than he already was. “I don’t want to get mixed up with those guys,” he said hoarsely.
“You either help us get out of town, or you die,” Dante said with a shrug. “It’s not a threat, it’s just the facts.”
The Sheriff grunted and turned back towards the supply room, leading them down the hall. When he reached the keypad, he typed in the code quickly and the light on the top went green. When he reached for the handle, Ace smacked his hand away.
“Yeah, I don’t think so, we’re getting suited up first,” the redneck declared.
Brandt clucked his tongue and stepped back, leaning against the wall with Henson as Ace rummaged around in the storage room. He tossed out a vest and a shotgun to Dante, and he geared himself up.
“Can we trust you?” Ace asked as he handed some vests out the door to the Sheriff, and he rolled his eyes.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” he drawled. “You don’t trust my word, so you’re gonna have to decide for yourself.”
The redneck clenched his jaw and handed over two shotguns, glaring daggers at him in warning.
“How do I know I can trust you?” Brandt shot back as he strapped on the vest. “What if your QXR story is bullshit?”
Ace rolled his eyes. “If it was, we wouldn’t have given you any weapons or gear. Your asses would be going right back in that cell,” he said, and held up a hand. “As a matter of fact, we wouldn’t even be here. So I think you can trust that.”
Henson took in a ragged breath as he donned his vest. “Do you guys have any food?” he asked hoarsely.
Dante cocked a brow and pulled a granola bar out of his pocket, tossing it over.
Brandt glanced at Ace, but the redneck shook his head.
“Hell no, mine is chocolate-covered, I ain’t sharing shit,” he drawled.
Henson broke his in half and handed it to the Sheriff, and he wrinkled his nose as he looked it over, then stuffed it into his mouth.
“Let’s get this over with,” he mumbled through a mouthful of oats, and pushed off of the wall.
The unlikely quartet headed back to the front entrance, and Dante pressed himself against the wall to peek out the window and make sure they were alone. There was no movement outside, not even a zombie, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.
“See anything?” Ace asked.
He shook his head. “No, but I have a bad feeling,” he admitted.
“Let’s go!” Brandt demanded. “If they didn’t see you come in, they don’t know you’re here, let’s get the fuck out so we can go our own way.”
Dante nodded reluctantly, peering around once again just to be sure. He opened the door slowly, inch by inch, and then slipped out, head on a swivel to scan the area for enemies. But it seemed that the Sheriff was right for once, and they were in the clear.
He waved for Ace to follow, and the other three filed out into the parking lot. They hadn’t gotten three steps before a gunshot cracked, and a bullet buried itself into Henson’s head, dropping him to the ground.
The remaining trio dove behind a police car as bullets pinged off of the building, and Dante cursed under his breath.
I fucking told you, he wanted to scream at the Sheriff. I told you they’d kill you on sight, and I told you that I had a bad feeling! But it was no use and wouldn’t do any good in their situation.
“Where are they coming from?” Ace asked, as he tried to peer up through a window, but only succeeded in ducking as glass shattered above their heads.
Dante shook his head. “Too far away to take out with a damn shotgun,” he said. They looked left and right, hoping that there would be cover to get them to better cover, but the row of cars ended and there was nothing but open parking lot.
The roar of an engine approached, and a black SUV came screaming into the lot, somebody hanging out of the window with an assault rifle.
Dante popped up and fired, ducking back down quickly without waiting to see what he’d hit. By the sound of shattering glass, he’d hit the vehicle, and with no return fire, he hoped that meant that he caught the gunman with the blast.
“What did you morons do to these guys?” Brandt barked.
“Just tried to breathe the same air,” Dante grunted, and at the sound of a car door opening, he popped up again. This time, Ace jumped up with him, and they fired quickly on the vehicle.
Somebody screamed, and more glass shattered. Dante reloaded and peered around the hood of their cover car, and spotted a mercenary running over from the trees, skidding behind the SUV. He aimed the shotgun, waiting for a head to pop up, but there was nothing but the sound of low voices hissing.
He fired at the
