Jake's Law: A Zombie Novel (17 page)

Night fell over the valley like a hand smothering a candle flame. Peals of thunder shook the windows, as rapid-fire lightning flashes cascaded across the sky, creating a mosaic of light. The rain came down in torrents, a solid sheet of water that reduced visibility to near zero, deafening in its fury. Gusts of wind drove the raindrops almost horizontally onto the windows, tapping an unreadable Morse-code message. The lights flickered. Jake worried that his solar panels might be ripped from their frames.

Sipping a whiskey while Jessica read, Jake couldn’t shake the sense of gloom that enveloped him. A storm even of this magnitude shouldn’t trouble him so much.
He had survived many Arizona monsoons. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, and he didn’t think it was from static electricity. He rose from his chair and began to pace the room.

After a few minutes,
Jessica set aside her book and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jake shrugged and took another sip of whiskey. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m getting paranoid.”

She smiled up at him. “Maybe you just need another drink.”

He downed the remains in his glass. “No, I think maybe I’ll go talk to Reed. See if the monitors show anything.”

“In this storm? Don’t be silly. You’ll get soaked. Besides, it’s as dark as the inside of a paper bag out there. The rain is like a veil. The cameras will be useless.”

Jake nodded.
“Yeah. That’s what worries me.”

He didn’t bother with a raincoat or umbrella. The wind would have ripped the latter from his grip, and the former was useless against such a downpour.
He pulled his baseball cap tighter on his head. Muddy water cascaded down the slope and over the ledge, making the path slick. He almost lost his footing on the wet wooden-plank bridge. Only his grip on the rope railing prevented him falling off. The roar of Split Rock Falls grew louder, as water funneled down from higher up the slope and into the narrow creek. The wash was running swiftly. He hoped it didn’t overflow its banks.

He knocked on Reed’s door. Reed answered the door
clad only in his underwear. He saw Jake’s soaked condition and frowned. “What’s up?”

Jake brushed Reed aside and stepped into the trailer. He
scanned the bank of monitors they had installed in a cabinet against one wall, studying their hazy, dark screens. Even the infrared camera positioned along the road showed nothing.

Noticing the direction of Jake’s gaze, Reed said
turned down his stereo. “It’s raining too hard to see anything.” 

“That
’s what bothers me. I didn’t consider a storm.”

Reed shrugged. “It’ll just last a few hours.”

Jake shook his head. “A lot can happen in a few hours.”

Reed started to reply, but Jake cut him off. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this storm.
I’m going to patrol the wall, maybe walk down the road a bit.”

“Do you want me to come along?”
he motioned toward his pants and shirt thrown across the back of the sofa.

“No. Go
stay with Jessica. You remember where I stored the ammo?”

“Sure. You buried it beneath the chicken coop.”

Jake nodded. “Just outside the north-facing chicken coop wall, I buried another crate. If things go badly, dig it up.”

Reed began dressing. Jake went back outside. It was impossible to see if any
Staggerers or anyone else lurked outside the wall. He would just have to trust to luck. He pulled his pistol, opened the gate, and stepped through. Immediately, he knew he had made a huge mistake. Shadows rushed at him from the darkness. He raised the pistol, but something hit him across the back of the head. He went down, coughing up a mouthful of mud as he tried to rise. A foot pressed down between his shoulder blades, forcing his face back into the mud. He was drowning in a mud puddle. He sputtered out his last breath just as the boot eased its pressure. Hands rolled him over onto his back. He gasped to take in air. Illuminated by a flash of lightning, a face grinned down at him. Water dripped from the brim of a Stetson. It wasn’t a Staggerer, but he wished it was.

The
Cowboy!

“Last time we
met, you tried to kill me.”

Jake spat out a clump of mud. “I regret missing.”

Levi stared down at him. “You’ll soon regret it more.”

With a defiant tone, he said, “
Levi, right? Get it over with. It’s wet out here.”

“Oh, I think I’ll take my time. Why don’t we go visit your friends?”

“What friends?” Jake regretted sending Reed to stay with Jessica. Now, they would have no warning. He had failed them all.

“The fat guy and the chick,” Levi replied.

Two men grabbed him by the arms, stretching them to their limits, almost wrenching them from his shoulder blades. They half-dragged, half-carried him though the open gate and up the path. Six men broke away from the large group. Two went to check out Reed’s RV. The others headed toward the smokehouse and work shed. In total, Jake counted fifteen men. He suspected more lurked in the shadows outside the gate. Levi had a small army.

To his astonishment, o
ne of his soldiers was a woman. She stared at him for the entire journey. Her eyes were as dark as her cropped black hair. They were cold and calculating. She seemed amused at his plight. The scar on her forehead lent her an air of fierceness. When he smiled at her, she jabbed him hard in the stomach with the butt of her AK47.

“It’s not polite to stare,” she said.

“My pardon,” he gasped.

They were on Jessica and Reed before the
pair knew what was happening. Two men slammed Reed to the floor. The woman pointed her AK47 at Jessica. Jessica wisely tried nothing foolish, but she continued to stare at the woman with the gun. Levi plopped down the couch and shook out his Stetson, sending water flying everywhere.

“Nice place you’ve got here. I’ll bet you’re wondering how we found you.”

Jake was, but he wasn’t going to give Levi the pleasure of asking. “I suppose you floated here down the wash like all the other trash.”

His captors tossed him to the floor. One of them delivered a swift
kick to his ribs. The pain radiated through his abdomen and chest like a fire brand.

“Okay, bad guess.
The Yellow Pages?” He waited for another blow.

“I watched the jets. They seemed to favor this area. I wondered why. Yesterday, one of my men found fresh
jeep tracks. I knew it was you.”

“Now that you know where we live, why don’t you drop by sometime?
Leave your cell phone number. We’ll chat.”

This time the blow landed near the base of his spine, sending
a spasm of pain racing up his back and radiating out into his arms and legs. His lower body went numb. He hoped it wasn’t a permanent disability. He decided that his barbed remarks were serving no useful purpose and might hasten his demise.

“Oh, I think we’ll stay. It’s a nice place. You’ve done a good job.”
Levi picked up a University of Arizona throw pillow. “Though I think your taste sucks.” He tossed the pillow into the corner, knocking over and breaking a lamp. He covered his mouth with his hand and arched his eyebrows in mock regret. “Oops. Never mind. I’ll do a bit of shopping.”

Jake
couldn’t resist one more jab. “Just when I had it the way I liked it.”

This time,
Levi raised his hand before he received another kick. Jake was grateful for the brief respite of pain. “Be careful with our guest,” he said to the two men standing above Jake. “Mustn’t damage him too badly. There’s no sport in mercy killing.”

Great,
Jake thought.
They want to play games with me before killing me
.

Levi’s gaze strayed toward Jessica. The
tall female with the AK47 noticed the direction of his gaze and frowned. “She can stay,” he said.

“I’ll take whatever you’re going to do to him,” she snapped
, nodding her head in Jake’s direction.

Don’t be stupid
, Jake thought.
Play for time
.

Levi shook his head. “I don’t think you really mean that. I owe him and he’ll pay dearly. You … might be useful.”
Several of Levi’s men laughed. Fear flashed on Jessica’s face. He turned to Reed. “You, fat man, what do you do?”

“I
’m a science teacher,” Reed answered. He tried to keep his voice calm and even, but failed miserably. “I built the bomb that almost killed you.”

Levi stared at him a long moment before pronouncing,
“You might be useful as well.” He turned back to face Jake. “I’m not sure just how to deal with you. I’ve contemplated this moment many times in my mind, but the reality is much sweeter. Oh, don’t worry. Your death won’t be quick. That’s too easy. I have something extra special in mind for you, Copper.”

“I can’t wait,” Jake replied.
“I love surprises, and I’m not a cop.”

Levi reached down ripped the Arizona Ranger’s badge from his shirt. He stared at it a moment before saying, “The badge says otherwise.”

“It’s a souvenir.”

“You act like a cop, so either you’re a cop wannabe, or you’re an ex-cop. I hate cops.”

He tossed the badge across the room. It struck a photo of Jake standing beside a hunter kneeling over a trophy elk and shattered the glass. He turned to his men.

“
Take the fat guy and the girl to the shed. Check it good for anything they might use to escape, and then post a guard. I’ll deal with them later.”

“You want us to tie them up, Levi?” one of the men asked.

“Duh! Of course I do, you dimwit. I said I don’t want them to escape.”

The dimwit and two others forced Jessica and Reed’s hands behind their backs and tied them with rope.
Reed cried out in pain as the rough cord bit deeply into his flesh. Jessica said nothing, but the tall woman smiled as the ropes were tightened. Jessica cast one last forlorn look in Jake’s direction before they were forced from the room with guns jammed in their backs.

I’ll get you out of this
, he promised,
just as soon as I figure out how to save myself
. 

Levi
nudged Jake with the toe of his boot. He winced as the boot touched a sore spot near his ribs. “When the rain stops, I’m going to stake you out like a scarecrow and watch you die slowly.” He smiled. “Unless a Staggerer gets to you first.”

He jerked his head and two men grabbed Jake roughly by the arms
, tied his hands behind his back, and then dragged him from the room. He fought his way to his feet and staggered between them on numb legs, biting his tongue to keep from crying out as the feeling slowly returned. They escorted him down the path and across the canyon floor, applying a liberal amount of blows to urge him to move faster. The stream, fed by heavy rains higher up the slope, was now a raging river lapping hungrily at the top of its banks. The roar of water echoed down the canyon, almost drowning out the claps of thunder that accompanied the fireworks coloring the sky. At first, he was afraid they were going to ignore their leader’s orders and toss him into the raging waters to die when the water slammed him into the narrow drainage pipe running beneath the wall, but after standing him at the edge of the crumbling bank for a few minutes and laughing, they marched him to the smokehouse and locked the door.

His side ached and his head pounded
, but he was still alive. He was glad Levi wanted revenge more than immediate satisfaction. Dead men can’t escape. Maybe Levi believed in
Jake’s Law #10 – Serve revenge in big doses
. He hoped so. He needed time to decide on his next move. Weary, but not defeated, he collapsed on the floor to rest.

* * * *

Jessica hadn’t had time to react as the armed intruders pushed into the house. Too late, she realized her pistol was across the room out of reach. Resisting would serve no purpose, only hasten her death. Two of the men slammed Reed to the floor, knocking off his glasses. He groaned in pain, as he groped the floor for them. A tall fierce woman with a scar on the right side of her forehead leveled an AK47 at her. Water dripped from her wet, dark hair onto her face, but she didn’t blink. Her cold stare was more frightening than the gun she held. Jessica held her breath, believing she was about to die, as the woman’s finger toyed with the trigger for a few seconds.

A man wearing a Stetson entered the room. She knew immediately it was Levi,
the cowboy. He glanced at the woman, and she withheld her fire. Jessica released her breath but stood rooted to the spot, afraid to move. They tossed Jake to the floor beside Reed. Her heart sank.

Jake’s stoic refusal to give an inch to
Levi strengthened her resolve. She had rather die with Jake than become a plaything for the lowlife characters filling the room. To her disappointment, Levi had other plans for her. She trembled as he pronounced Jake’s sentence of death. She and Reed would remain prisoners for as long as they remained useful. Reed was resourceful. She didn’t doubt he would find ways to prove his worth. To such a bunch of animals, she had only one thing of value they were interested in – her body. If the look of hatred from the tall, dark-haired bitch were any indication, she might not live long enough for even that humiliation.