Read OUTNUMBERED volume 1: A Zombie Apocalypse Series Online
Authors: Robert Schobernd
Connie sat apart from the rest of us. A guard sat to either side and slightly behind her, and another guard sat directly in front of her and faced her. All three guards kept their attention focused on Connie. She had already confessed to the crimes and had attempted to shoot Kira. They knew they were dealing with a conniving, deranged murderer.
Forty-five minutes passed before Martin returned. He moved quickly and was unusually somber. He, Shane, Marilyn, Ed, and Kira stepped aside and spoke for several minutes in hushed tones. Since Connie had already confessed, the evidence was merely a formality necessary to protect a mentally disturbed person who might make a false confession. The group spoke a short time before Martin left them and joined the waiting audience.
Three minutes later, Shane stood in front of the group and raised his arms for silence. The murmuring voices quieted. "Martin found partial fingerprints belonging to Kira and Connie on the bullets found in Connie's pockets and in her room. Connie's prints are also on the magazines Kira changed out from her firearms shortly before she engaged a group of the undead this afternoon. There is no logical reason for Connie's prints to be on those magazines other than the crime she is charged with. We dealt with the physical evidence against Connie, and we didn't take her verbal confessions of murder into account until the evidence was judged separately."
He turned to Connie. "Connie Diuguid, please rise for the reading of the Judicial Group's verdict on the charge of the attempted murder of Kira Schafer."
Connie sat sullenly and refused to stand. She struggled violently and cursed the guards as they propelled her upward by her upper arms until she stood facing Shane. "The judicial team and Kira Schafer have discussed the evidence, and we have agreed unanimously on a verdict of guilty of attempted murder. Your punishment for the attempt to murder Kira Schafer is death. Since you have also confessed to arranging the deaths of Cory Petersen and Emma Jacobs, your punishment is to be harsh and fitting of your crimes. Connie Diuguid, you will be held in detention until zombies are known to be in this area. Then you will be secured to a tree at the edge of the woods and used as bait to draw the zombies in close enough for them to kill you. We will then exterminate the zombies and you. Following your death, your corpse will be buried with the zombies and not with the deceased members of our group who served and died with honor." Shane addressed the group, "We are adjourned. Thank you."
I took a deep breath, glad to have passed the leadership role over to Shane. Kira was right, I was too involved to have stayed objective enough to be fair and impartial. The punishment doled out was harsh, but the crime was dastardly and deserved harsh justice.
Kira stood talking to Marilyn as I waited for them to part. I caught her eye before she left. "I apologize for ripping you earlier at the lake. I didn't realize you thought you were on a mission to rescue me. Thanks for risking your life to save mine," I extended my right hand and she smiled as she grasped it in friendship and nodded once.
Paige stood beside Kira. She said, "Mom, I'm hungry. Can we go now?"
~*~*~*~
Nine days later, the southeast watchtower reported zombies were at the end of the gravel road leading to our compound. I authorized Connie to be taken from her cell to initiate her punishment. Shane, Ed, Kira and I drove Connie to an oak tree at the edge of the woods.
I placed a heavy chain around Connie's neck and pulled it tight to the tree that was about her width. The sound of the padlock clicking shut sealed her fate.
"God damn you, Tom. You and that bitch cheated behind my back. I know you did. I don't deserve this, she does."
The four of us were silent. Connie's struggles, vile curses and screams were to no avail. We got in the truck to drive back to the compound as Connie relentlessly cursed us loudly. Her most vulgar diatribes were directed at Kira.
Eight of us took positions on the second floor at shooting ports designed to ward off a major attack by our undead enemies. I never dreamed in my most abhorrent nightmares they would be used against our own people. Kira stood at the station to the left of me, and Shane took my right side. Both were quiet and somber.
Connie lost all of her bravado and went silent. Through my rifle scope, her demeanor appeared fearful. Her neck twisted so her head faced toward where the undead could be heard as they scoured the terrain for living prey. It seemed fitting that she be submitted to the same horror her scheming actions had imposed first on Cory Petersen, then Emma, and finally on Kira.
A group of nine undead slowly approached Connie from our left. Deep guttural moans and occasional high pitched shrieks filled the air and drew us into their unreal world. I thought about how the undead sickness had ravished the planet, our country, and changed our lives so drastically. Connie had grown silent when the undead were close enough to hear her voice. The lead zombie focused on her, and it lurched forward at a faster gait. The others increased their shuffling, stumbling walk through the alfalfa to keep up. Three zombies stood out. They were fast and more coordinated. The faster ones quickly passed the slow monster at the front of the horde. These were the ones we had grown cautious of. A healthy person could easily outrun the slow undead, but these faster mutants could eventually catch and kill unarmed people. The undead didn't need to stop to rest or catch their breath. They simply kept coming and coming like a bowling ball rolling down Pike's Peak.
Connie watched them approach and finally couldn't restrain her fear any longer. She turned to face us and begged, screaming in a frightened, pleading tone. I could barely make out some of her words across the distance and filled in the rest. "Please someone, shoot me now, please. I beg you. Don't let them do this to me. I'm guilty, but for God's sake show me mercy. Please, I don't want to be torn apart by those dirty monsters. Please!"
I watched Kira's features soften and her bottom lip quiver. She raised her rifle, hesitated, then aimed and slowly exhaled. The zombies converged on Connie, and she screamed loud and nonstop in a terrified frenzy. Her legs moved in spasms as if to run away from the horror, but the chain held fast. Because of her thrashing, the chain cut into her neck so tight it drew a ring of blood. The fastest zombie was in a dead run four or five feet from Connie when Kira's first bullet jerked Connie's head back. Blood, brain and bone matter splattered the tree behind her. Her head fell forward as two more bullets buffeted her broken skull in quick succession. The rest of us shot the remaining zombies in the head with lethal accuracy. And then an eerie silence enveloped us as no one spoke.
Kira was a conundrum. Her action in granting Connie's last wish of mercy showed more compassion than I'd expected or that Connie deserved for that matter. I was determined to learn more about this intriguing woman.
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THE END
- of Vol. 1
I hope you've enjoyed the first story in the OUTNUMBERED zombie apocalypse series published at Amazon.com.
To access additional works in the Outnumbered series follow the link to my book page at Amazon.
There, you will also find my other horror stories and crime novels.
Thank you,
Robert Schobernd