Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (30 page)

“No shit? Should we go an’ find ‘im an’ bring ‘im back here?” Slapping Tyler in the arm, she gave him a thumb’s up and a big grin.

“Yep, you could go find him. Since the smell is so strong it probably means he’s closer than you think. Use your sniffer power.”

“Okay, we’ll get things ready an’ I’ll take a group out to see what’s up.” She motioned to Tyler. “Tell squad A to get ready for research mission an’ tell squad B to take point on roof an’ keep watch. I’ll talk to Squad C.”

“Listen to you! I need a few more like you and we’d have this shit kicked in the balls. Good luck tonight. Keep me posted about what you find.”

“You got it, over an’ out.” She clicked it once and the conversation ended. Walking over to the dining room, she went to seek out the leader of Squad C. “Hey Nell, I think we’re gonna have a few more for dinner tonight.”

Turning, she looked at Dani, but noticed she was alone. Stepping to the side, she peered around her and behind her. “A few more, huh?”

“Yeah,” she watched her curiously. “What are you doin’?”

Standing tall, looking her in the eyes, Nell smirked. “Okay, will your imaginary friends need their own chairs, or will they sit on each other’s laps? I’ll forgive it this time, but imaginary friend night was last night with the imaginary cook.”

Dani laughed. “No silly, we’re goin’ out. We might be bringin’ a few back with us.”

“Having a few more people is a great thing!”

“One o’ the joys apparently to this gift o’ mine is I can smell others like me, an’ I smell one close.”

“Okay, I have to know. What does that smell like?”

“It smells like cotton candy an’ it’s the sweetest thing.”

“Ooh damn! Bring me some of that back! I would love to eat me up some cotton candy.”

Dani laughed. “Yeah, I know what ya mean. Tyler an’ I are takin’ out Squad A to investigate.”

“Okay.”

“You guys go ahead an’ eat without us. We’ll eat when we get back. I don’t know how many I’m bringin’ back with us.”

“You got it, boss!”

Charles rushed over to her. “Tyler said you were looking for me?”

Turning, she nodded. “Yes, I want Squad B on tight formation keepin’ watch tonight. I think you guys need some more trainin’ so tomorrow mornin’ we’re heading out bright an’ early.”

“You got it boss.” He turned to his squad. “You heard the lady. It’s time to get to work.”

“Tyler, tell Squad A we’re rollin’ out in fifteen minutes.”

He nodded. “You got it.” After getting everything ready, he popped into the tent he shared with Jessi. “Hey baby, how are you feeling?”

Groaning, she looked at him. “I’m feeling like shit. What’s up with you?”

“We’re getting ready to head out for a mission. Dani thinks there might be another one like her in the area.”

“What makes her think that?”

He shrugged. “She smells cotton candy. All I smell is shit.”

“I would love to smell cotton candy right now, but I wonder why?”

“Vince said it has something to do with how they find each other.”

She rubbed her belly. “Okay, well just hurry back. The baby’s not happy when daddy’s out there fighting stuff.”

Leaning down, he smiled kissing her belly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Feel better baby.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Feel better, mommy.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Dani yelled from the roof door. “Let’s get a move on team one while we still have daylight.”

Tyler rushed out to join her and the rest of his squad. “We’re ready. Let’s go find your cotton candy.”

She opened the roof door and rushed down the stairs. “Okay, I figure we’ll take the beast. It offers enough protection should somethin’ happen.”

“What are we bringing with us; bows, arrows, swords, and grenades?”

“No, not the grenades. We need to save those.”

Squad A consisted of; Dani, Tyler, Liam, and Noah and they all piled into the beast. The beast was an army jeep at one time. They reinforced it with so much steel. It was the beast. Dani drove, Tyler sat in the passenger seat, and the other two sat in the back.

“So, what exactly are we looking for?”

“We’ll know it when we see it, or when I smell it.”

“Of course,” Tyler looked out the window, chuckling. “Stupid question.”

Twenty-Three

The man sat on the ground holding the dying woman in his arms. Arm missing, the empty socket gushed blood. “What the hell do we do, Rob?”

Rob looked around. “Fire stops bleeding, so we need to cauterize her wound or she’s going to die.”

The woman shook her head, choking, spitting up blood. “We can’t do that. It will draw them straight in. I’m dying, so you two just leave me here.”

The man sighed. “Oh hush you. We promised to die together. I’m not ready to do that just yet.”

“I don’t think I have a choice in my day to die.”

The growl ripped through the night as a movement in black tore the woman from the man’s arms. He was attacked as another struck at him biting his neck. His scream was garbled at best.

Rob jumped to action, fighting off the attackers. He tossed them away from the couple on the ground. Falling to his knees, he pressed his hand to the bleeding wound on the man’s neck. “What do you want me to do?”

Looking down at the dead woman, he chuckled, shivering lightly. “I think she was right. We’re going to die together.” The man’s head fell to the side, eyes wide with death.

“No!” Rob screamed. They surrounded him. Holding his hands out to the sides, he lowered his head. “I guess it’s my day to die as well.”

Dani put her fingers to her lips and the whistle pierced the night. Everyone turned to look in her direction, all ceasing their actions. “Well, maybe not today.”

Sniffing the air, he turned, looking at her. She stood with a sword in each hand, while the men surrounding her held guns. Turning, the diseased saw the newcomers and began to spread out around them, though staying clear of Dani.

Looking around, Tyler repositioned his gun. “Any orders, boss?”

“If someone gets close to you open fire.” She leaped into the crowd, swinging one of the blades and it severed a man’s head. It bounced off into the crowd.

That was the start of the fight like the flag at the racetrack. The head flying in the air was enough to get the group of people fired up, and they went in for the attack. Rob took out his rifle, which had no ammo using it like a bat. Turning, he knocked many in the head that got too close, sending them flying to the ground. When they were just about finished with this fight, one of the crazed women jumped on Dani, knocking her to the ground. She struggled under the woman who tried every way to get close enough to bite.

Finally, Dani allowed her to bite her arm. “Have a taste, ya stupid bitch.”

Rob watched the woman stagger away, howling, and bleeding from her mouth, eyes, and nose. “What the fuck?”

She stood, lifted her blade, and sliced through the howling woman, kicking the head away. “That happens when we get bit.”

The others fleeing were gunned down with a shot to the head. When they were finished, Rob stood and walked over to Dani sniffing the air around her. Smiling, Dani sniffed back.

Leaning, Liam pointed to them, whispering to Tyler. “I feel like I’m at a dog park.”

Tyler laughed. “It looks that way too.”

“If they start smelling each other’s ass, I’m going to lose it.”

“They smell cotton candy.”

“Well, that would make an interesting topic at a party. What’s that sweet smell? Oh, that’s me. Would you like a taste?”

“I wish I smelled cotton candy instead of this shit.”

“I know that’s right.”

Curiously, Rob watched her. “Are you the one who smells like cotton candy?”

Shaking her head, she smiled. “No, you are. Actually, we both smell like cotton candy to each other.”

“Okay. I’ll bite, why?”

“We’re attracted to each other.”

“Are you coming on to me?”

She smirked. “It’s a long story, which I can get into once we get back to our camp. You can get somethin’ to eat, a shower, maybe a good night’s sleep.” She turned to her team. “Everyone clean up. Take back anything of use an’ leave the rest. Keep your eyes peeled because it’s dark an’ you know what that means; watch each other’s backs.” She turned back to Rob with her hand extended. “I’m Dani.”

Reaching forward, he shook her hand. “I’m Rob. Nice to meet you. So does anyone know what’s going on around here?”

“I do. However, it’s not safe here an’ I have to get my squad back. If you want answers, come with us to camp. Grab whatever gear ya have or wanna take with you.”

“Why would I go anywhere with you just because you smell like cotton candy? For all I know that could be a trick to get me back to your lab.”

“It’s not a lab. It’s a camp not too far from here, an’ I have the information ya need. Ya wanna know more about what happened then you’ll come with us. It’s not prison. You can always leave when ya want.”

He rubbed his belly. “I am kind of hungry. Finding food out here isn’t the easiest thing to do.”

“We have food an’ a lot of other things.”

“Alright, I’ll come back then. I could definitely use a shower and some grub.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

It didn’t take long to get back to Walmart. He looked around curiously, as he got out of the jeep. “Wow, this place doesn’t even look like a Walmart, more like a warehouse mixed with an armory.” Walking over to one of the shelves, he lightly ran his finger over the weapon. “You guys got the hookup that’s for damn sure. The rest of us are out there scrambling to find food, weapons, and shelter. You’ve got it in here all in one nice, neat shop.”

“Yeah, well it didn’t come easily. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it though. Let’s get upstairs so you can meet the others.”

Looking around, he noticed the bus and blinked. “Whoa, interesting parking job there!”

Chuckling, she made her way up the stairs to the roof. “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll hear about that too. How long ago were you bitten?”

“About two weeks, give or take a few days. One day just kinda flows into the next. I’m starving. I haven’t eaten anything substantial in days.”

“Well, let’s get ya somethin’ to eat.”

He looked around at the amount of people in the store off doing their own things. Pointing, he looked back at her. “So, how many people are here?”

“Oh, I’d have to check the ledger, but I’d say we’re about fifty strong.”

“Wow! Did everyone just automatically come to Walmart for supplies or something? That would’ve been a smart idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“I wish it was ‘at easy. Every day we go out an’ find more. We’re lookin’ for any an’ all survivors we can find in the area. There was only a handful here from the start,” she pointed to the bus. “They came with the ride.”

“That’s impressive, and you all live here? Is there enough food for everyone?”

She opened the roof door and stepped through, holding it open for him. “Yep, we do the lunch meat, hotdogs, not to mention the food in boxes, bags, an’ cans so we’re good for a little while. You’d be amazed how much food a Walmart warehouse stores. We ration out our food. Everyone’s fed enough to survive, but it’s on a schedule. We have a few generators we run when we have to, mainly to charge the power tools.”

“What about those who try to steal from you?”

“There aren’t any who try to steal from us. Oh, don’t get me wrong, they did try… once.”

Looking around the roof, he stopped dead in his tracks. “Wow! You guys really do have the hookup here!”

“We do what we have to so we can survive.”

“Yeah, I’d say so.”

It didn’t take long for word to spread about the newcomer and people walked over to make their introductions. “Hey everyone, this is Rob. Nell, if ya could get the man a plate of your finest food. He hasn’t eaten in a few days.”

Nell nodded. “Oh you poor dear. I’ll set you right up.” She rushed off to the dining area to make him a plate and get him a drink.

Dani looked around at the growing crowd. Everyone came to investigate, except the squad who was keeping watch; they didn’t leave their post. “The rest of you make him feel welcome. Introduce yourselves one at a time an’ give ‘im an idea of who you are.” She reached into the backpack, handing him the leader’s folder. “When they’re finished tellin’ ya ‘bout what happened to bring ‘em here, check out what’s in ‘at folder. It’ll answer all your questions. When you’ve finished, just put it back in the backpack, please, an’ if ya have any questions, I’ll answer ‘em.” Turning, she looked at Tyler. “I’m goin’ down to make sure the bus is ready.”

He nodded. “Okay, just holler if you need any help.”

“You know it!” Opening the roof door, she headed back down to the store.

Nell brought over his plate of food. “Here you go darling. Sit down and eat this and let me tell you what happened to me.” She pulled up a chair, sitting beside him. “My name is Nell and I came in on that bus smashed into the side of the store. We called it the ride from hell.”