Generation Dead Book 2: What You Fear (8 page)

Returning to our truck, we did a quick tour of the city and found that there were a few more zombies that were just now coming out of their homes.  I was about to stop and deal with them when Jake called out. 

“Keep going, faster!  Get to the end of the block!”  He yelled.

I gunned the engine and fairly flew down the street, but it was hard because I didn’t know what I was chasing or running from.

“Turn left!” Jake pointed and started scrambling in the back seat for a gun.

“Hey!  Watch it!” Julie protested Jake’s rummaging.

“Give me the carbine, dammit!” Jake cursed.

“Here, you jerk!”  Julia shoved the gun in his face.  I was very uncomfortable with the fact the muzzle was behind my ear when she did that.

“See that car going away?” Jake asked as he rolled down the window

“Yeah?”

“Get close.  I think they’re the ones who were spreading the virus
,” Jake said, sitting out on the edge of the window.

“How do you know?” I shouted, the roar of the engine loud in the cab.

“I saw them run out of a house.  If they try to run, they’re guilty,” Jake said, shouldering his weapon. 

Julia spoke up from the back seat.  “
Maybe, they’re running because a big black truck is chasing them.”

“Shut up, will you?” Jake said.

I swerved a little and he shifted enough to grab onto the handle above the door inside the cab.

“All right! Sorry!  Try not to kill me, Aaron.” Jake’s apology sounded sincere given the fact I was ready to dump his ass if he was rude to Julia again.

Julia, for her part, put a hand over the seat and rubbed my shoulder in thanks. I kissed her hand and got back to chasing the car in front of me.  It was a small, two-door car, the ideal kind for travelling, since it used very little gas and was nimble enough to go around obstacles. 

The car sped off, and I hadn’t a hope of catching it with my big truck.  I just hoped Jake’s shooting had improved.

“Must be them, hang on!” I shouted.  I slammed the gas pedal down, not really caring I was practically dumping gas in the street.  I wanted to catch someone alive to answer some questions about these outbreaks.

“Whoa!” Jake shouted, momentarily slipping a little.  He recovered quickly and aimed at the rear tires with his rifle.  We were bouncing enough that I figured he wasn’t going to get a shot, but Jake found a way.  He just kept the gun aimed at a general point and let fly.

Fifteen shots later, the back passenger tire blew with a neat explosion, and the car careened sideways.  I slowed down and parked the truck in the blind spot of the car, jumping out and grabbing my rifle.  Jake ran to the side and started shooting at the windows, taking care that his shots wouldn’t hit the people inside.  That was a trick Julia’s dad had taught us.  Someone who was trying not to get shot would more likely surrender if they thought you were more than willing to ventilate their hides.

It should have worked, but it didn’t.  These guys had rolled out of the vehicle as neat as you could hope for, and dashed off into the homes.  They paid us back for wrecking their car by firing over their shoulders, causing us to duck for cover by our vehicle.  Rolling behind our truck, I didn’t have a chance to shoot back, and when I did look for a shot, there was no one in sight.

“Well, shit,” Jake said, changing the magazine on his rifle.  “That didn’t go well.”

I just shook my head.  “Get in the damn truck, I’m going after them.”  I checked to make sure a round was chambered, my knife and ‘hawk were secure, and my sword was in
its place on the truck.  I pulled another Beretta out of the gun box on the truck, slammed a full magazine in it, and took off. 

I could hear Julia call out as I ran, but there wasn’t anything to say at that point.  I needed to make up precious time and hoped I wouldn’t get shot.

Chapter 17

I ran right after the pair, following the same path.  The trail followed a sidewalk, and I thought I was getting close when something went “Whap!” right past my left ear. I heard the shot immediately after I ducked instinctively and kept running, hoping my next move wouldn’t be met with another bullet.  I saw some movement over to my right behind a small home, and I ran in that direction.  Another shot sounded, but I had
no idea where the bullet went.

Running through the space between two homes, I saw a pair of small-looking people climbing a fence and disappearing over the edge.  They were cutting through backyards, and trying to get to the sidewalk on the other side.  If I let them through, they may have enough time to ambush me when I came after them. 

I cut to the right, quickly climbing a wooden fence, and bolting across the yard.  I ducked under a rusty swing set, and used a small table to launch myself over the next fence.  I landed heavily in the adjourning yard, just missing a trampoline.  I ran around the rotted thing, and grabbed the plastic fence that closed off this yard.  Swinging my legs over, I ran as fast as I could, cutting through the gate to the front yard.  I figured I was one house over from where I thought they would be.

I rounded the house and pulled up short.  The two were there, and one was on one knee, waiting for me to climb over the fence they just vacated.  I wasn’t about to walk into that trap, so I took a second to catch my breath a
nd look over my enemy.  They were small men, both wearing black clothing from head to toe.  Their faces were covered with scarves, and I couldn’t see any facial features.  The one with the rifle kept aiming it at the fence, and I decided to make things interesting.

I took out my tomahawk and measured the distance between
them and me.  I was a long throw, but I had made longer ones.  I took out my gun and kept it in my left hand.  I didn’t care of my first throw killed or maimed, I just needed them down and surprised.

A low growl came from the south and right before I cut
loose, something caught their attention.  Our truck came tearing around the corner, grinding the gravel and making a lot of noise.  From my little corner, I could see Julia driving and Jake was shooting from the window.

The pair by the mailbox
was struck stupid for a second, but it was enough to do a lot of damage.  Jake managed to send enough bullets their way to hit one of them, and the other never hesitated, he just took off across the street, darting in between the houses.

I ran out to the one left behind, and even as I approached, I could see it was a waste of time.  Blood poured out of a shot to the head, and this one wasn’t going to tell me anything.  I was mad enough to yell at Jake when Julia pulled the truck up alongside. 

“Will you leave the next one to me?” I shouted, starting across the street after the second person.

“Have at it, you ungrateful prick
!” Jake retorted.

“Can’t get answers from a corpse, idiot!” I yelled back, running through the same two houses as the man did before me. I vaulted another fence, this one being closer
to the ground and made out of metal.  The wood fences were in rough shape, mostly rotten and green with algae. I had a feeling if I hit one hard enough, I’d go right through.  Trouble was, I wasn’t confident enough in my luck to let that experiment take place.

I saw a leg slip over the fence in front of me, so I knew I was closing in.  I stretched my legs and gave it all I had, using a child’s slide as a step.  The fence was tall.
Nevertheless, with my momentum, I grabbed the top and swung over, pulling out my tomahawk as I landed.

Across the yard, a black figure was getting close to the fence.  I didn’t know what he might be thinking
. That fence was tall, and would have been trouble to scale in the best of circumstances.

Just as he
jumped for a handhold, I let fly with my ‘hawk.  It embedded itself in the wood next to the man’s head, causing that one to drop to the ground.  He spun around, pulling two thin-bladed knives from their sheaths somewhere on his back.

I wasn’t about to get into a knife fight.  First of all, anyone who does will get cut, period.  I don’t care how good you are, you’re going to get cut. Second, I leave knife fights to Jake.  He seems to like them, the weirdo.  Last, I have no idea if those blades have zombie goop on them, and a scratch could still kill me.  I slid to a stop and pulled my pistol.

“Gunfight,” I said.  “Put them down.”  I waved the barrel of my gun at the knives which were still pointed at me. 

I had to give the guy credit.  He thought about it for a long moment.  I coul
d almost see the thoughts and calculations going on in his head.  However, my father didn’t raise a fool.  I was far enough away to avoid any tricks with flipping knives at me, and I was close enough not to miss if I had to shoot.

In the seconds it took for my e
nemy to make up his mind, I looked over my enemy.  He was about five six, with a narrow build, slender shoulders and waist.  This was a really small guy, so he had to be good with those knives.  He was wearing a black vest, black gloves, shirt, and pants.  His face was concealed by a balaclava, and his eyes were hidden by sunglasses.  In the dark, this guy would have been little more than a shadow.

“If you don’t drop those knives, I’m going to start by shooting you in the knees.  Then I’m aiming for your elbows.  Get my drift?  In one
piece, or bloody and broken, doesn’t matter to me,” I said, taking a small step forward.

He didn’t say a
word; he just threw the knives to one side.  Then he surprised me by reaching back and grabbing the handle of my tomahawk!  He jerked forward, and stopped suddenly as the ‘hawk went nowhere.  I had thrown that baby pretty hard, and it wasn’t going anywhere without effort.

I fired twice into the ground at his feet, kicking mud up at him.  He stepped away from the tomahawk, but stopped as I fired again, keeping him from reaching the spot where his knives were.

“You’re trying my patience, bub,” I snarled.  “I’d as soon kill you for what you’ve done to this community, but you’re going to give up some answers first.”

He said
nothing; he just looked at me with those dark, sunglass eyes.  I could hear the truck moving slowly down the street, passing in front of the house whose yard we were currently occupying.

“Put your hands on top of your head and turn around
,” I said, stepping closer.  I eased the slack on the trigger of my gun, making sure it would only take a small amount of pressure to send my friend to oblivion.

He did and I moved in, first pressing the muzzle of my gun against the back of his head and grabbing the collar of his shirt.  Any false move and he was going to be very dead.

Chapter 18

We moved to the gate, and without warning, I slammed him into it, splintering the wood around the latch and blasting our way through.  His hands came off his head, but I rapped him with my gun barrel and the hands returned.  This one was a thinker and given the lives he had taken without a second thought, I wasn’t taking any chances.

Walking past the faded lawn ornaments, I waited until we were seen by Jake.  I wasn’t about to take a hand off my prisoner and flag down the truck.

“Nice work, Aaron,” Jake said, coming around the truck.  He kept his rifle on the man in black, so I took my hand off the man’s collar, stepping to the side to be out of the line of fire in case the prisoner started something.

When I moved, I saw the man relax slightly, which told me he
was
going to try something but my moving kept it from happening. 
Gonna have to watch this one
, I thought.

To save myself trouble, I ordered the man to take
off his vest.  “Nice and easy.  Any sudden moves and I won’t play nice.” I was worried about another syringe or some sort of infecting device.

The man’s hands didn’t move.  I had to admit it was a little irritating to be ignored like that.  I knew he was planning
something; this just seemed to be a stalling tactic.  I walked around to the front of the prisoner, and without warning, I punched him in the gut.  The man folded and went to one knee, gasping for air.  I stepped back and looked at Jake.  Something seemed wrong, though.  The man wasn’t making the right noises.  The gasping seemed very high pitched for some reason.

Before I got too curious, Julia stepped in.  “Wait a minute, Aaron.” She pushed me aside, and with the tip of her spear on the man’s
chin, she raised his head.  I could almost feel the hatred coming from behind those sunglasses, but I was stunned by what Julia said next.

“Take off the mask, bitch, or I’ll open your throat.”  Julia shifted he
r stance so her hands were closer to her body.  All it would take was a small thrust and several inches of sharpened steel would end all resistance.

Slowly,
the hands went to the neck and pulled the balaclava and sunglasses off.  Bright blue eyes stared at Julia as shoulder-length and nearly white hair tumbled out.  I was surprised as hell to see I had been chasing a girl.  At the same time, I felt a little guilty for punching her.