Deadwood a zombie apocal.., p.13
Deadwood: A Zombie Apocalypse Thriller,
p.13
Liz came out of a bedroom, the kids huddling together inside. “Was that a gunshot?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t them. Someone else. I don’t know. But it means they will investigate every building.”
“Can’t we get to the pickup and leave?” said Ember.
Joe shook his head. “If they spot us and report we’re here…” She nodded, understanding the issue. “I have to take care of them. I think they’re split up. Now’s the time to do it. Get everyone in the pickup. Liz’s got the keys.”
Liz turned around and with Ember moved back into the room, both telling the kids to pack what they had, while Joe moved back downstairs to where Mathew was keeping watch at the front facing windows.
“Anything?”
“No… We have to kill them, don’t we?”
“Yes, but that’s my job. I need you to help get everyone to the garage and into the pickup.”
Mathew nodded as Ember came down the stairs, Amaya in a sling across her chest. Rifle in one hand, her other holding Fran’s. The other children were behind, with Liz last, using her cane to descend as best she could.
Joe looked at his wife. “This shouldn’t take long. Be ready.”
She nodded, getting to the bottom, and he pulled open the front entrance, running along the path, then across the tall grass to better see down the slope and to the other buildings. There was still no sign of anyone. No soldiers. No Aiden or Swanson. Nor was there any sounds. It was as if everyone was hiding, waiting for him, Liz and the others to make their move.
The rear of the next lodge was just a hundred feet away. From this distance he could clearly see through the windows into rooms devoid of any activity. Using what cover he could from trees, bushes and outbuildings he made his way down the hill, listening out for the sound of footsteps or conversation but arrived at the back of the lodge without any indication of life.
He crept around the side of the building, allowing him a view of the humvee which was still empty then swept his view across the landscape including the other lodges and restaurant, wandering where the soldiers were…
A knocking sound came from the building he was leaning against. Someone was inside. He waited for the sound to repeat but instead there was silence, so he cautiously moved to the rear entrance, ducking below the windows and pulled the door quietly open.
He immediately heard the heavy sound of boots coming down some stairs, the soldier arriving at the bottom as they tightened their belt buckle and picked up a rifle that had been leaned against a coat stand near the front door.
Looking down the sight of his gun, Joe fired, hitting the soldier directly between his shoulders, who fell forward against the door, then to the floor.
Joe waited for a reaction from elsewhere in the building, but there wasn’t any, so he ran forward while placing his gun back in his belt and picked up the rifle, checking its magazine which was full, then peered through the glass panels of the front door to the clearing in front of the lodges, where the truck was parked. The other soldier must have—
A scream rang out behind him.
He swung around, but his next step sent a cascade of sheering pain down his left leg, dropping him to the floor.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
LIZ
Liz looked at the young soldier, whose rifle was pointing directly at her, through the pickup’s windscreen. Worse, the barrel was shaking.
“Every… everyone… out!” he shouted as he stood at the entrance to the garage. He flicked his head back down the road then back to those in front of him. “Now!”
The sweat was obvious on his forehead, just beneath his helmet, which he hastily corrected.
“What do we do?” asked Mathew, sitting in the rear with the kids.
Liz pushed her door open. “We do what he says…”
Mathew glanced at her, while Ember opened her door as well.
Liz saw the younger woman’s hand linger on her rifle. “No,” she said. Ember subdued a frown but then got out. Liz and the others doing the same.
“We haven’t done anything,” said Liz. “We’re just a family. You can see we have young children.”
“The children!” he threw his hand in their direction. “Bring them forward! I want to see them!”
Ember hovered near her open door. “What should we do…”
Without taking her eyes off the soldier, Liz waved the children forward. “Tia, Owen, Fran, stand near me.”
“And the other one! The girl! I can see her behind you! I want to see her too! What’s all of your names?”
“I’m Grace…” said Liz.
“Jenn,” said Ember.
“And the kids! What’s their names!” The soldier looked anxiously back to the road, before returning to those in front of his rifle. “The youngest one! I want to see her!”
Liz turned slightly, holding Hope’s hand, then encouraged her forward, so she was standing near her. “This is my daughter, Yasmin. What do you want with us?”
The soldier’s eyes grew large, and he fumbled for something in his jacket pocket, pulling out a piece of paper, which he unfolded while flicking his attention between it and Hope. “Her! Tell her to come to me!” He waved his rifle between them.
“She’s my daughter!” said Liz, pulling Hope a little more behind her.
The soldier’s rifle flicked to Liz, directly at her head. “Bring me the kid!”
“Liz…” said Ember.
Out of the corner of Liz’s eye, she could see Ember’s hand creeping towards the rifle in the pickup’s footwall.
“Liz!?” said the soldier, who took a step forward just as a shadow rose up and slid a blade into his skull, causing him to fire, the bullets spraying the walls and ceiling as everyone threw themselves behind the pickup’s open doors.
A high pitch sound rang in Liz’s ears, as she waited for more deafening gunfire.
“You can come out. He’s dead.”
Liz looked at Hope, making sure she was unhurt, then pulling on the pickup’s door, lifted herself upright. Aiden was standing over the soldier’s body, knife in his hand which was dripping with blood.
“You saved us!” said Tia.
The tall American smiled as footsteps came from outside, Joe appearing behind Aiden, and obviously in pain. Aiden turned, lending him his arm to lean on.
Joe looked frantically into the garage trying to count who was in there. “What happened?”
“Aiden saved us,” said Tia.
Joe looked at him with a knowing nod, then hobbled towards his wife and children, briefly hugging them. He looked back at Aiden. “Swanson?”
Aiden shook his head.
Joe moved toward the driver’s seat.
“Reckon I should drive,” said Aiden.
Joe nodded in agreement while grimacing and moved to the seats behind with his wife.
Aiden got in, firing up the engine and when everyone was inside, drove out of the garage.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
FORBES
Forbes sat in the back of the humvee. His driver was outside with the other soldiers, exploring the Main Street buildings of a small Vermont town. One of a hundred, the people he was hunting could have been hiding within. His life depended upon finding them, but that meant nothing to him. It was his wife and child, both being held captive three thousand miles away that he was doing this for. They had been spared the nightmare, being at home when the virus hit American shores. Home being Seatle. But he had been in New York at a conference for military contractors when the bodies started reanimating on the east coast. The infection gradually spreading westwards. He wanted to return, but instead he had been dragged into trying to fix the problem before it got worse. He wasn’t the only one that failed in that task, but he was one of the few that was aware of what would come next and that he could never return home. He had been infected like millions of others, and his only hope was for his family to survive without him.
But even that came under threat when he was contacted by an old friend, and told of how he could be useful to the new confederation of states.
‘Find the British child and Tracy and Eko will have a new life with us,’ he was told.
His radio crackled. He held it up.
“Go ahead. Over.”
“UAVs aren’t picking anything up,” said sergeant Boone. “It looks like they made it outside of the cordon. They could be anywhere. Do you think they will try and return to the other two locations?”
“No. These people are not stupid. They made it out of a country that was in a far worse state than we were. No. They will keep heading west or north.”
“Then they will go to the wall.”
“Perhaps. We have to assume they know about it and what’s beyond.”
“Nothing, dead or alive can make it past either of those barriers.”
Images of the deadzone slid into Forbes’ mind and he refrained from shivering. Multiple small tactical nukes had been detonated along a vertical strip, north to south, after the wall was constructed to create an extra layer of protection for the western states. Those in charge were nothing if not thorough.
Boone continued. “There is one thing that is strange. Over.”
“Go on. Over.”
“We lost communication with one of the scout teams. Over.”
Forbes’ heart skipped. “When and where? Over.” He pushed open his door, waving his driver closer.
“An hour ago. Few hundred miles from your location. I’ll ping you the location. Not far from where I am now. They said they were checking out some lodges and heard a gunshot. They never checked back in afterwards. The dead could have got them. Over.”
“Get to that location. Send the others further north and west of it. If it’s them, they would have already left, but they couldn’t have gotten far.”
The driver jumped into the driver’s seat, registering a new notification on his computer screen.
“There is something else. Over.”
Forbes registered but ignored the staggering bodies, beginning to build up at the end of the street.
“Yes? Over.”
“We cannot find… the major. Over.”
“Major? Who? Over.”
“Major Manter, sir. I’ve been told by those on the island, they cannot find him. He is no longer in his room.”
Infernal Contagion concludes in book nine.
Thank you for reading Deadwood, book eight in the Infernal Contagion series, I hope you enjoyed it. The final book in the series will be coming in March 2025.
If you would like news on my latest releases, special offers or a free book, you can sign up to my mailing list on my website at www.philmaxeyauthor.com .
Thank you again.
Phil.
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About the Author
Phil Maxey is an author who resides in the UK. Formally a game developer he now spends his time putting his love of sci-fi and the paranormal into words.
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Acknowledgements
Book cover design by Phil Maxey.
Phil Maxey, Deadwood: A Zombie Apocalypse Thriller
