The Tide (Tide Series Book 1) (31 page)

“What the hell?” The girl aimed the shotgun at the Skull’s chest again.

“Doesn’t work on all of them,” Meredith said. She leveled her pistol and sent a bullet through the Skull’s eye. “You’ve got to go for the face.” Meredith fired at another Skull. She was back in the rhythm, firing and swiveling, catching her breath. “I’m Meredith Webb, an old friend of your dad’s.”

“Kara,” the young woman said, standing side-by-side with Meredith. She readjusted her aim, and another Skull’s head exploded in a splatter of blood and bone fragments.

For as youthful as she looked, Kara appeared to be a hardened warrior.
Definitely Dom’s daughter.
“Where’s your sister, your mother? Are they okay?”

Kara arched the shotgun around the cul-de-sac. No other Skulls charged at them, but with the gunfire, more would be on their way.

“My sister’s fine.”

“Good,” Meredith said, ignoring the unspoken suggestion that the girls’ mother was
not
all right.

“Yep,” Kara said, pumping the shotgun. “She’s inside with the others.”

“Others?”

Kara nodded. “The neighbors and their kids.”

“All clear?” Meredith called to Shauna and Eric.

“Looks like it,” Eric said.

Shauna pushed a Skull’s body over the side of the bus’s roof. Its body smacked against the asphalt, and Shauna and Eric climbed down over the hood and onto the ground.

Meredith made brief introductions as they ran to Kara’s house. When Kara closed the door and locked it, Meredith felt a wave of relief, almost as if she’d come home. For the past week, she’d been on the run from the CIA, staying at temporary lodging where she could get it. Then on the Appalachian Trail in an attempt to hide in plain sight while making her way to Fort Detrick. The outbreak had made what was already a perilous race for her life all the more dangerous.

And now, she was finally in a home where a family lived normally.

Had
lived normally.

The house certainly smelled lived in—a distinct odor brought on when too many people resided in a place with minimal air circulation. Meredith sniffed, thinking she could detect the scent of something similar to rotting meat. Maybe food had gone bad with the power outage.

The looks on the faces of the survivors told her spoiled food wasn’t the worst of their worries. These people, in the short time since the spread of the Oni Agent, must have their own harrowing stories to tell.

A golden retriever hobbled over. The dog’s tail wagged as she licked Meredith’s open palm. It favored one of its legs.

Meredith knelt down, eye level with the dog, and scratched behind its ears. She examined the homemade splint. “Did you do this?”

“I did,” Kara said. She introduced the other five people waiting at the edge of the front hall. There was a smaller version of her who must be Sadie. A family, too: Joe, Nina, Zack, and Leah. The children seemed too young to have to witness the atrocities in their front lawn. In turn, Meredith introduced Eric and Shauna to the group.

Now that the fighting had hit a lull and they were safely in the house, Kara’s eyebrows scrunched together, and she shot Meredith a skeptical look. “How do you know my dad? He never once mentioned your name.”

“He probably wouldn’t.” Meredith inhaled and exhaled deeply. She knew there was no point in sugarcoating the truth or keeping secrets. “I met your father when we were both at the CIA.”

Sadie and Kara shared a baffled expression. Their eyes widened in disbelief as Meredith continued the story of how she and Dom had worked together to defend the nation against both homegrown and international threats. She revealed his current status as a private covert contractor and his second home aboard the
Huntress
.

Meredith paused. “I’m sorry, I know this is a lot to handle.”

“I have no idea if you’re crazy or just making up this story,” Kara said, “but I guess it isn’t any crazier than what’s going on outside, huh?”

“You’ve got that right,” Meredith said. “You should ask him to show you his old CIA badge. It’s not like he’s got any reason to hide it anymore.”

“I think it’s awesome,” Sadie said. “No wonder he’s always gone. He’s like James Bond.”

“Not exactly, but he is good at what he does.” Meredith checked her watch. “He should be here with the Hunters any minute. Everyone needs to be ready to move as soon as they're here so we can go straight to Detrick.” Another thought struck her, something she’d been afraid to ask before. “Kara, where’s your mother?”

Kara chewed her bottom lip, clearly putting on a brave face. “She...turned.”

Meredith’s stomach twisted. “Is she still—”

“She’s in the basement,” Kara said. “She attacked us, but...she’s in the basement now.”

The mere thought that one of these Skulls was below them, residing in their shelter, sent a shiver crawling down Meredith’s spine. She’d been so concerned about safety from what lay outside, she hadn’t considered the dangers she might face indoors.

“But Dad’s people are working on a cure, right?” Sadie asked, her eyes alight in hope.

“They’re trying,” Meredith said. “But I haven’t heard the latest updates.”

Sadie seemed to accept the answer, jubilantly optimistic that Dom’s team would cure their mother.

But Kara frowned. “They don’t even know what this thing is. How can they even hope to cure it then? Most pharmaceutical products take years to test in the lab before they ever help a patient.”

“Correct.” Meredith nodded, impressed with the young woman’s knowledge. She recalled Dom saying Kara attended the University of Maryland and figured she must be an attentive student in some medical-related degree program. “But it’s possible the Oni Agent is composed of a pathogen or combination of pathogens we already have a cure for. If that’s the case, I believe Lauren’s lab can identify the culprit agent and use an existing therapy.”

“And if that’s not the case?” Kara raised an eyebrow.

“Then we’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

Kara’s cheeks flushed red as the others waited around the living room in silence.

“Who would make a biological weapon that does something like this to people? Why would they unleash it on us?” Kara’s nose wrinkled in indignation. “It isn’t right!”

“I completely agree. Trust me, we’re working hard on figuring out how to stop the Oni Agent and find out who or what is behind it.” Meredith reached a hand out, but Kara recoiled from her attempt at comfort. She continued, “Your dad is the best at what he does. We’re going to get out of this, and we’re going to do what we can to help your mother.” As the words left her mouth, she wondered if she was making empty promises.

“And make sure whoever is responsible for doing that to her pays,” Kara said through gritted teeth.

“Absolutely,” Meredith said.

Silence drew on between them for a moment. The unmistakable whir of a helicopter grew in the distance.

“There it is again,” Sadie said. “I knew we heard a helicopter before.”

Kara peeled back the blinds over one of the kitchen windows. “Is that the Army?”

Meredith checked her watch and then joined Kara. “If I had to guess, it’s your father.”

––––––––

D
om and his team had no cover from the Skulls except for the swing set and the hedges. One of the Skulls pushed through the greenery and howled when he spotted the team.

“Into the house!” Dom yelled.

He led the rush toward the house as more Skulls filtered in from beyond the hedges and from the front yard. Wails filled the air. Leading with his shoulder, Dom hammered the sliding glass door until it shattered. He ushered the other Hunters inside and picked off a couple of the closest Skulls. Once his team was inside, his boots crunched over the broken glass as he entered the country-style kitchen.

“We need a barricade, now!” Dom said, pointing at Renee and Hector. They hoisted up the kitchen table as a makeshift replacement for the sliding door and positioned it into place. “We’re going to need more than that!”

Miguel nodded. “Yes, sir!”

Hector and Dom laid down a stream of cover fire. Miguel and Renee disappeared out of the kitchen as bullets pierced the flesh of the Skulls. While their salvos knocked out the first wave, some continued their unabashed charge, unfazed by the rounds pounding against their freshly grown skeletal pseudo-body armor.

“Faces!” Dom yelled. “Like on the rig!”

When Miguel returned with Renee, they were carrying a leather sofa between them.

“Thought we could use a rest,” Miguel said, sweat beading out from under his helmet as they braced the table with the couch.

“Dom, this is Frank.” The pilot’s voice sounded over the comm link. “It looks like you’ve got a swarm of them. Seem to be a bit agitated by the gunfire. Coming in from the north.”

“Hector and Renee, take the front of the house,” Dom said.

“You got it,” Renee said. She and Hector ran out of the kitchen. Dom heard glass shatter as they broke windowpanes to fire out of.

The backyard was filling with Skulls. It seemed every time they brought one down, two more showed up.

“Reloading,” Miguel said, jamming in a new magazine. “There aren’t enough bullets on the
Huntress
to take these all out.”

“Bullets aren’t the only thing we brought,” Dom said. He pulled an M67 hand grenade from his tac vest. “Fire in the hole.”

Miguel ducked behind the makeshift barricade as Dom threw the grenade. It landed in the middle of the yard as Skulls swarmed past it. They ignored the explosive.

But not for long.

A loud blast shook the house. The Skulls nearest the detonation point tore apart, and those several yards out flew through the air like rag dolls.

The others continued to press on Dom’s position, unperturbed by those fallen around them.

Dom’s jaw clenched as he chose his marks carefully. One, two, three Skulls torn apart by a flurry of gunfire. Corpses filled the yard, and the ferrous odor of blood intermingled with the scent of gunpowder. More gunshots rang out in the front of the house, adding to the din of howling Skulls and small arms fire.

“We can’t hold them off much longer,” Renee called out.

“Hunters, I’m going to come in low, see if I can’t pull them away from your position,” Frank said over the comm link. The heavy beat of the chopper came to a roar as the AW109 buzzed over the backyard. A half dozen Skulls turned and followed the drone of the chopper, but their void was filled in by more charging the house.

Dom and Miguel cut down the ranks of Skulls, but a couple made it to the patio. They slammed against the makeshift barricade. The table tremored, but Dom and Miguel leaned against it, bracing the structure.

“Good lord, these guys are like cockroaches,” Miguel said between grunts.

Two hands reached over the table, grasping. Dom planted a bullet in the Skull’s face, and the creature dropped to the patio.

“Renee, how are you holding up in the front?” he asked over the comm link.

Shrieks and howls answered before Renee could. “I think I see an end of the swarm in sight, but these guys are relentless.”

Another three Skulls made it past Dom’s wall of gunfire. They climbed over the others, desperate to make it into the house. He considered they might just be able to hold off the Skull assault, but beating down this swarm would require every last round they’d brought. He’d hoped they could take this mission more covertly—a quick in and out.

He wasn’t prepared for a full-on siege.

An inhuman cry almost deafened him. This one wasn’t from outside.

Dom spun around in time to see a woman barreling at him. She sprang into the air, her talons outstretched and her face contorted in a vicious snarl. Dropping and rolling to the side, he dodged the woman. She crashed into the kitchen-table barricade. The wood cracked under the pressure of the Skulls outside and now inside the house.

Miguel shouldered his rifle, trying to get a bead on her. She swiped it aside. The weapon skittered across the floor. In one fluid motion, Miguel ducked her second attack and blocked a downward swing with his prosthetic arm. The woman’s claws tore into his fatigues. Vessels bulged out of the side of his neck as he strained to withstand her blow.

Dom recovered and shouldered his rifle. He plugged two rounds into the woman’s torso, sending her off Miguel and into the wall.

Chest heaving, Miguel stood and recovered his rifle. As he did, the Skull followed suit, shaking herself off. From beneath her blouse, the remnants of the bullets fell and clattered to the floor.

Miguel twisted his prosthetic arm, and the blade slid out from it. He used it to stab under the woman’s chin and through her brain. She dropped again, this time for good.

“Renee, Hector, do we have a breach?” Dom asked, panting.

“Nothing from the front,” Hector reported.

“We had a hostile inside the house,” Dom said. “Might’ve been one of the house’s occupants. Stay alert.”

Miguel continued picking off the Skulls in the backyard as more threw themselves at the barricade and windows. A harsh crack sounded as a fracture formed in one of the windows. Three more Skulls pounded against the window, their fists sending spider webs of fissures across the glass. Other Skulls rammed into each other, desperate to be the first to sink their teeth into Dom and his Hunters.

They couldn’t hold them off. Dom knew it. He glanced around the kitchen, formulating a secondary plan.

“Renee, Hector, how’s the front yard look?” Dom asked.

“We got a couple dozen Skulls clambering to get in,” Renee said.

“Is there a roof over the front porch?”

“Sure is, Captain.”

“What the hell’s going on?” Hector asked.

“When I give you the word, you run your asses up to the second floor and get on that roof. We’re going to exit from the second floor.”

“And what about the Skulls?” Hector yelled.

“Open the front door for them. Let them all in.”

“You’re crazy, Chief,” Miguel said. “If we die, I want you to know that.”

“We aren’t dying,” Dom said. “Set a plastic explosive. Doesn’t have to be big, just enough to start a small fire. Give me sixty seconds on the wire.”