My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road (29 page)

“What’s she waiting for?” Cody asked. “Bite him!”

I held my courage. Her breath scorched my face.

I’m sorry, Jay . . .

I heard her voice, but her mouth didn’t move.

Kaylynn yanked me away from Cody. I landed on the floor next to Jewel. When I looked back, Kaylynn had her teeth in Cody’s neck. He screamed and fought back, pulling away and covering a chunk of his neck.

Blood oozed through his fingers as he went for Kaylynn’s bat. Before he could swing, Kaylynn had her hands up, and Cody’s feet left the floor. Using her powers, Cody levitated into the air. And then, with the thrust of her hands, Cody soared across the room and crashed into the chamber of bees. Hundreds of swollen marks popped up on his body as the insects attacked.

He fell from view and screamed no more.

Cody was dead.

Dozens of Zombees buzzed into the laboratory. Unless we took off, they would swarm the place and come for us. Kaylynn just stood there, her head jerking from one cloud of bees to another, flying around her.

I didn’t want to believe it, but the blood dripping down her chin told me that she was gone.

I ran to Jewel and took up the vaccine gun. It wasn’t fair. The math didn’t add up. With just one dose, I could only save one infected sister or one infected friend. And I had no guarantee that it would work. Why did Sanders have to knock over the centrifuge? There was enough for everyone. And what did he mean if Jewel
survived the vaccine
? What would happen then?

Jewel coughed. Really hard. She was slipping away.

I had no answers. I had a choice to make. Now.

I shot every last drop into Jewel’s shoulder.

She winced for a second and nodded off again. I let the gun fall, wondering how long it would take for the vaccine to work. Kaylynn shifted around, her red eyes focused on me again. I held out hope—was it really too late for her? She wasn’t
dead
dead. I felt her warm breath on my skin. Her heart was still beating. If we found a way to contain the infection, she could come back.

A swollen hand rose from the chamber of bees.

I can’t control this, Jay . . . Get out of here . . .

Kaylynn’s voice hit me again, deep inside my brain. Her mouth didn’t move. The voice in my head belonged to her, not my imagination. Her staggered movement hinted that she was holding back. With the last of her humanity, she was helping us. A zombified Cody pulled himself through the broken window. I took up the Glock and aimed at his stupid, swollen head.

“Jeremy . . .?”

I turned back in time to see Jewel’s brown eyes before I could shoot. She looked better. The vaccine had worked. I wrapped my arms around her, relieved that she would make it. I kept her head tucked in my chest. I couldn’t let her see Cody feasting on Sanders.

“Hey,” Jewel uttered. “What’s the siren for?”

Five minutes and counting—evacuate immediately . . .

Jewel’s face turned to me in terror. “Oh shit!”

I put my Glock away and helped her up.

“Where’s Chloe?” she asked. “Kaylynn?”

Taking hold of my sister, I pulled her to the exit.

Goodbye, Kaylynn
. . . I hoped she could hear me.

Wading our way through a white mist, we entered the laboratory airlock and kept moving for the office hallways. The mist made it harder for us to navigate through, and easier for Vectors to sneak up on us. Two of them jumped out of the haze, leaving me with two fewer bullets in my Glock. About six rounds left. I had to make them count. We had to keep running, had to keep fighting. I wouldn’t let Kaylynn die for nothing.

Thanks to her, my sister was going to live.

“Where’s Kaylynn?” Jewel asked again. “What happened to Doctor Sanders? How am I not sick?”

“Later,” I said. “We’ve got less than five minutes.”

“How do we get out?” Jewel cried. “I can’t see!”

My lungs struggled to hold onto a fresh breath of air. The white mist had to be some kind of halon system. I kicked another Vector out of our way.

“Don’t breathe too deeply,” I said.

“Okay,” Jewel coughed. “I’m really dizzy, Jeremy.”

“I’ll pull you to the elevator if I have to.”

Four minutes and counting—evacuate immediately . . .

That motivated me to pull harder. I wasn’t sure how we would get out. The undead had overrun the main door, and the first two alternate routes had led us to dead ends. Running around was pointless. In a few short minutes, we would die in an explosion that Sanders had described as a smoldering crater. To navigate through the thick mist, we would need a guide.

The bark of a golden retriever renewed my hope.

“Chloe!” Jewel cried.

The dog darted through the mist, her tail wagging out of control. Jewel fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Chloe’s neck. Now wasn’t the time. I’d sensed that Chloe agreed with me. Slipping out of Jewel’s arms, Chloe barked and pranced to a nearby corner. She must have scouted the place after chasing Cody away. We let her guide us out, and we ducked under the lunging Vectors when we entered the corridor, forcing me to use another precious bullet.

Vectors this way. Vectors that way.

No direction was safe.

Hanging a right, Jewel and I flew past the chemistry wing. Another right later, we ran for the commons area, and we stopped at the elevator. Jewel tested the buttons. Nothing happened. I fished out the smartphone and swiped my finger on the screen. There were plenty of icons, but I wasn’t sure what to choose. The first two icons opened texts and algorithms, formulas and data. Nerd stuff. Only a programming expert could navigate it. The power icon flashed. The battery was about to die. Chloe barked, and Jewel tugged on my sleeve.

“Jeremy!”

I saw them. A massive horde had gathered at the other end of the corridor. Like water in a funnel, they had nowhere to go but towards us. Jewel tried the buttons again. I poked three more icons, including the Vector frequency and a
Voice Command
setting. If I stalled the countdown, it could buy us time—enough to figure out something. I activated the Voice Command.

“Deactivate sequence Three Nine . . . err, Nine, clearance five?” I guessed.

Voice command denied. Three minutes and counting—evacuate immediately . . .

I wanted to smash the phone, so I yelled at it. “How do we use the elevator?”

To request the elevator, please press and hold the call button for five seconds.

I nearly face palmed myself. “Now she tells us . . .”

Jewel already had her thumb on the call button. Five seconds later, we heard it coming down. The Vectors were also coming for us. Jewel grabbed the shotgun. It had no shells, but she could use it as a club.

Chloe’s nervous pace didn’t help calm my nerves. Two of my bullets went into chests while the last found a head. Clicking on empty, I dropped the Glock, dug into my pack and pulled out the .500. Two rounds verses two-dozen plus Vectors. The worst odds ever.

“Jeremy,” Jewel’s voice was hopeless. “We’re not gonna make it!”

“Yes we are! Just a few more seconds . . .”

Being so close to their dead skin and greasy hair made my insides twist. Jewel was right. This was it. If there was anything left of us, we’d become one of them. My heart was so loud I couldn’t hear their cries to eat us. Their arms rose. Their fingers curled into claws.

I grabbed Jewel and pointed the .500 straight ahead. My hand froze. I couldn’t pull the trigger. Vector fingernails were inches away, but they didn’t scratch me.

“What’s going on, Jeremy?” Jewel asked. “They stopped?” The Vectors answered by clearing a path for Kaylynn. “No,” Jewel cried. “Jeremy, she’s, she’s a—”

“I know,” I said, a pang in my chest. “I know.”

Kaylynn moved like the other bloodshot zombies, but her eyes had a new glow to them. The Vectors fell back, allowing her to step forward, as if they were following her command. The Vectors were like drones.

And Kaylynn was their queen.

I can hold them back . . . Get your sister out of here . . .

“It’s not too late,” I said. “Control it, Kaylynn.”

“Jeremy?” Jewel tugged my sleeve. She was scared.

Apparently, she couldn’t hear what I was hearing.

A soft
ding
meant the elevator door was open.

Two minutes and counting—evacuate immediately . . .

Kaylynn took another step. Her hand reached for me, her palm touching the dragon pendant on my chest.

I believe in you, Jeremy . . . Keep her safe . . .

Behind her placid face, I saw Kaylynn’s smile.

I pulled my sister into the elevator with me.

I promise
. . . I said back, inside my head.

Chloe ran inside before the doors closed. The Vectors resumed their attack, but their fists would never catch us now. I backed away until my shoulders pressed against the opposite wall. I slid down and sat on my heels while Jewel was holding back tears. As we went up, I tousled her head with my hand, holding back tears of my own. She knew what happened, but we couldn’t sit on our butts and feel sorry for Kaylynn. We had a lot of ground to cover and less than two minutes to spare.

The elevator opened to the lobby with the eagle on the floor. With the alarm still blaring, we ran over to the other elevator. I pressed the call button for five seconds and waited. I knew by the time we reached the surface, we would never escape in time. So I wrapped my arm around Jewel’s trembling shoulders. Like many others before and after us, we were as good as dead.

Chloe faced the tower elevator and barked at it. Jewel looked at me as the door opened. Three people were already inside. They had gasmasks on, and they wore blue military fatigues. They had bright flashlights on their M4s. I had no idea who they were until one of them dropped his light and removed his headgear.

“Dad!” Jewel ran into his arms.

His face brimmed with relief.

I did the same when the other took her mask off.

“Mom!”

Chloe wagged her tail, her bark happier than ever.

One minute and counting—evacuate immediately . . .

The countdown was news to our parents.

“I don’t like that,” Dad said. “Let’s move!”

We made it to the surface thirty seconds later.

The guy with his mask still on led us past a few hollow-headed Vectors on the ground and down the stairs to a loading area, carrying the empty 30.06 that Jewel had left behind. An armored Humvee waited for us on a narrow road. Once inside, Dad told the driver to take off. The wheels squealed on the pavement.

I had so many questions. I had to know who the others were. We hadn’t driven passed the east pantheon when the car wobbled, as if its tires had gone flat.

I imagined Kaylynn turning to face a wall of fire.

Except—I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination.

Jewel grabbed my arm, pulling me to reality.

“What’s happening?” asked a woman.

It wasn’t Mom, but I knew that voice.

“An earthquake?” a man answered her.

It wasn’t Dad. I knew that voice, too.

The sky was still dark, but it brightened as fire blasted from the ground. We dodged the flame. Another pillar exploded ahead, forcing us off the road and onto the grass. The car made a hard right and stopped next to the Explorer. I looked out the front window. The memorial was on fire. Flames flew through the doors and out the windows. Seconds later, the memorial fell. The grounds close by sank into a crater, the closest thing to a fiery lake that I’d ever seen. The museum and part of the IRS building fell with it.

I opened the door and walked to the edge of the pit. I still don’t know what possessed me to do that, but I did it anyway. Heat radiated from the hole and set fires to trees. Dirt melted as it lapped into the core. A strong hand held my shoulder, followed by a hug that only a father could give. Jewel and Mom came next. We huddled on the grass for the longest minute in history.