This Dying World (Book 2): Abandon All Hope Read online

  “Would you think I was too selfish if I said I’m glad you stayed?” Rosa questioned.

  “Not at all,” Joe smiled. “Everything happens for a reason. When I lost my family, I didn’t think I had anything left to live for. Now my last thought when I fall asleep and the first thought I have when I wake up is about you. It’s strange, but if the world hadn’t come to an end, we’d have never met.”

  Her tears spilled over her cheeks and across her trembling smile. She let out a muffled laugh before throwing her arms around him and locking him into a deep passionate kiss. He held her tight, closing his eyes and losing himself in her embrace. He felt her breath on his neck, her hair gently grazing his cheek.

  When he opened his eyes again, he saw Dan across the room. At that moment, Joe understood. Even though he’d only met Rosa a few weeks prior, a deep love had formed between them. He started to understand Dan ‘s emotional state much more clearly than before. He knew it had been hard for his friend, but until that moment he couldn’t fathom the depth of pain the man was living through.

  “What’s wrong?” Rosa asked as she pulled away. She turned around, leaning against him and laying her head on his chest.

  “Nothing at all,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I was just thinking about…everything. But mostly, I’m thinking about how happy I am right now.”

  “You were thinking about Dan and Abby, weren’t you?”

  “Guilty,” he answered. “When did you take up mind reading?”

  “Well, I didn’t think you were suddenly staring off at Dan for his good looks.”

  “Oh, you think Dan is good looking, huh?”

  “Stop it,” she said, slapping his arm playfully.

  “Hey now! I’m still healing,” he teased. “How was he last night?”

  “A little better I think. Getting away from that farm was a good thing for him. I think he needed quiet time with his daughter.”

  “Good to hear. Did he find anything interesting in that book?”

  “Maybe,” Rosa replied. “But it would be better to hear it from him or Chris.”

  “Someone say my name?” Chris strode in, limping slightly from the injury he had earned the day before. He walked as softly as he could with his outdoor boots on the old wooden floor. “I thought I heard voices,” he said through his half chewed granola bar.

  “Rosa was just telling me that Dan found something useful in that notebook.”

  “Maybe,” Chris replied. “But something else is bothering me right now. It looks like every zed that ate that screamer is outside right now, and they are all laid out on the ground around the body.”

  “Are they dead?” Rosa asked with hints of hope in her tone.

  “I don’t think they are any more dead than they were yesterday,” Chris replied. “We see them move once in a while, so they’re still alive-ish. But they’re just lying there like they’re sleeping.”

  “That’s a good thing, right?” It was Joe’s turn to sound hopeful. “I mean we can kill them from up here and not have to worry about them moving around.”

  “That would be a bad idea,” Chris replied, shaking his head. “There’s movement everywhere out there. Either the scream or the smell of that screamer’s brain juice brought in a lot of curious corpses. I’m hoping they’ll eventually move on, but the ones just lying on the ground out there, that’s something new. New things make me nervous. My gut’s telling me we’re not going to like what’s next.”

  “Buddy, I hope you’re wrong,” Joe said as he unraveled himself from the blanket pile. “‘Cause we’re not going anywhere until I get that plow up off the ground.”

  “I know. If you can pull yourself away from your lovely woman for a few minutes, I think we may need to get started on it sooner rather than later.”

  “I suppose I can start cutting things off,” Joe nodded. “But that’s going to leave the front end exposed. We’d have to go even slower than yesterday. And we still haven’t fixed the problem with the fumes.”

  “Yeah, I was thinking about that. How long will it take to put something together to keep us breathing?” Chris glanced back out into the area on the other side of the plastic curtain. He nodded at someone before turning his attention back to Joe.

  “Not long. I just need to unblock the vents. Maybe ten minutes for that depending on the damage. Another hour to disassemble the front plow blades. I could knock a lot of time off that if I just cut it off, but it will take a hell of a lot longer to fix later.”

  “We may have to chance it,” Chris replied, his attention again drawn to the other side of the curtain.

  “Chris, are we in trouble?” Joe stood, helping Rosa to her feet. He fingered his Desert Eagle on his hip as he tried to read Chris’ face.

  “Like I said,” Chris shot a quick glance at him. “There is a lot of movement out there.”

  “Can I do anything?” Rosa asked, her trembling voice betraying the fear she was trying to suppress.

  “I can use an extra pair of hands with that plow,” Joe said, pulling her close to him.

  “Can you use Mark for that?” Chris asked. “Rosa is the closest thing we have to a doctor, and I don’t want her to cut her hands up playing mechanic.”

  “He’s got a point, babe,” Joe sighed.

  “I’m not a helpless little girl you know,” she snapped. “I’ve worked on my own car for years.”

  “I never said you were,” Chris replied. “With Dan out of commission, we’re going to need every able bodied person to help get everyone out of here if things go south.”

  “Chris,” Mark suddenly appeared through the plastic wall, his voice shaking. “Something’s happening. I think you should see this.”

  Joe’s anxiety level rose as he watched the man tremble. Mark was generally one of the more laid back guys in the group, second only to Matt. There was nothing relaxed about him now. The subtle twitches in his facial muscles and white knuckled grip on the Saiga shotgun told him all he needed to know.

  Chris must have seen it too, as he shot Joe a worried look before charging through the plastic barrier. Joe followed, holding Rosa’s hand as they passed through the flap and to the other side.

  The immediate assault of cold sent his teeth chattering. A stiff unrelenting wind blew through the busted out windows, carrying large snowflakes through the room. Drifts of snow were already building in the corners, piling up against the red brick walls.

  “This is going to make driving without a plow a lot harder,” Joe said.

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Chris said as he hurriedly followed Mark. “We’ll cross that bridge when we have to.”

  Lexi stood at one window, her eye locked down her rifle’s iron sights. Clouds of steam enveloped her head as she exhaled. Her head and face were covered, bundled against the frostbite inducing cold. Only her right hand was exposed to the elements, her finger resting just above the trigger guard. She stood completely still, not shifting a muscle when they approached.

  “Holy shit!” Mark gasped as he reached the window. “I was just gone for a minute! When did they get here?”

  “They came out of the woods,” Lexi replied, not looking up from her sights. “As soon as the weird ones laying down stood back up.”

  Joe came up beside Chris, his heart picking up speed as he looked outside. Five creatures stood in a circle around the bloody remains of the little girl. A gathering of dead had converged in a semi-circle around the five, but kept a respectable distance from them.

  “How many of them are out there?” Rosa gasped as she stared outside.

  “I stopped counting at thirty,” Chris whispered. “Weren’t there more than five on the ground though?”

  “Yeah,” Mark whispered back. “These five just got up and stomped their heads in!”

  “What?!” Chris spun his head toward Mark. “They killed their own?”

  “I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it myself,” he answered.

  “I st
ill don’t–”

  “Chris,” Joe interrupted, nodding toward the gathering. “You seein’ this?”

  “What the hell?” Chris gasped as he returned his gaze out the window.

  The five monsters below started walking around in a circle, as if they were involved in an undead game of Ring Around the Rosie. They glared back and forth at each other, heads swiveling toward the others as they performed their strange dance.

  Suddenly they all stopped moving. In unison, all five growled, baring their teeth while emitting deep growls that sent arcs of fear rocketing through Joe’s spine. He looked over at Rosa, whose face had drained of color. He pulled her in tight, enveloping her in his massive arms before turning his attention back to the gathering below.

  The growing mass of dead silently shifted and swayed, their eyes locked on the strange behavior of the five creatures in the middle. Absent were the moans and hissing that usually accompanied the undead. They remained silent as the events unfolded before their flat, colorless eyes.

  “Rosa,” Joe whispered without looking at her. “Can you start waking everyone up? Keep everyone quiet but get them ready to leave.”

  “Good call,” Chris agreed.

  “Okay,” Rosa whispered. She leaned in, pulling Joe in for a kiss. He enveloped her in his arms as she put her lips to his ear, whispering softly to him. “Please be careful. You’re still healing you know.”

  “I promise, I’ll be okay,” Joe answered back. “I’ll do my best to keep all my stitches in place.”

  “I hope you’re better at it than Dan is,” she laughed nervously.

  “I’ll be okay,” he reassured her again.

  She nodded at him, their eyes locked on one another for a few more seconds before she turned away and disappeared behind the plastic wall. Smiling, he turned back to the window when he suddenly realized Mark was looking directly at him.

  “You were staring at her ass, weren’t you?” he teased.

  “Maybe,” Joe replied.

  “Lucky bastard,” Mark said under his breath.

  “Luck’s got nothing to do with it, my friend.”

  “You keep telling yourself that until you believe it,” Mark continued to chide.

  “Guys,” Chris snapped. “More pressing matters at hand right now!”

  “Sorry,” they both said in unison.

  “You are a lucky bastard though,” Chris said, glancing over to Joe.

  Mark snorted a laugh, but didn’t say anything. Joe simply smiled and returned his attention to the window to watch the next round of surprises the undead had to dish out. As soon as he did, his smile vanished.

  The creatures hunched over, raising their arms up and flaring their fingers like clawed talons ready to strike. Their growls intensified into what could only be described as savage rage. One of them moved forward a couple inches, before the other four snapped their heads around and stared it down. The creature relented, moving back to where it began.

  One of the creatures suddenly stepped to the center of the circle, its heavy construction boots crushing the bones of the girl into the snow with audible pops. Its white hard hat gleamed, rust colored splotches staining its reflective orange vest and brown coat underneath. A heavy hammer hung on its side, secured by a tool belt strapped to the creature’s waist.

  It turned to face each of the other four, growling wildly at each of them in turn. The thing raised its arms higher, flailing it’s clawed hands at each one of them as a torrent of blackened froth spilled from its lips.

  One by one, three of the others backed away, lowering their arms as they retreated toward the outer edge of the zombie mass. An opening formed to allow the things to pass by unhindered. As they reached the edge of the horde, a handful of zombies broke away and followed the creatures as they disappeared into the falling snow.

  Hard Hat continued to growl at the remaining feral creature. She glared back at him defiantly, her sheer red nightgown billowing in the fierce wind, flapping against deathly pale flesh. Black, frothy ooze dribbled from her lips, flowing across the exposed bones of her shoulder and over the red stained ribs above her left breast.

  Hard Hat stepped to her, baring his teeth like a challenging lion. Tense seconds passed until she too relented to the larger male. She backed away from Hard Hat, not turning from him until she was at the edge of the throng.

  Like with the other strange creatures, the zombies opened a path for the female monster to pass. She glided through the crowd, stopping when she neared the middle of the press of dead. A circle of flesh opened up around her as the shambling corpses created a space for her to stand.

  She slouched, legs slightly apart and arms hanging straight down. Her head hung low, silky black hair dangling over her face and swirling in the howling wind. Her haunting visage froze the breath in Joe’s lungs.

  “What…the…hell…was…that?!” Mark gasped.

  “Don’t ask me man, I just work here!” Joe replied, unable to take his eyes from the dead woman.

  Hard Hat appeared to relax, standing upright and allowing his hands to fall to his sides. He turned his head slowly from left to right, scanning across the horde that surrounded him like a general surveying his troops.

  Slowly his head turned upward, eyes tracking along the wall until they fell on the spectators above. Dozens of heads followed, eyes turning up until the gaze of death’s legion were upon the four living souls in the uncovered window.

  “Oh my God!” Lexi squeaked.

  “Joe–” Chris started.

  “I know,” Joe replied. “Already moving!”

  “Move faster!”

  “I know! Mark, I need your help!”

  “I mean it!” Chris was near shouting as he unslung his rifle.

  “I know!” Joe shouted back as he bounded down the stairs with Mark in tow.

  **********

  I woke up long before Chris came in to grab Joe and Rosa and lead them away. I decided to just stay quiet. It seemed like the two were having a private moment. Katie still slept in my lap, and I was perfectly content where I was.

  Well, content except for the fact that it was yet another morning waking up freezing my ass off. It’s happened so often in my life that if I woke up warm I would probably think I died in my sleep and ended up in the wrong place. Though for everything I’ve done since the day someone pressed the shiny red Apocalypse Start button, maybe that hot place is where I should end up. Knowing my luck, the devil sleeps with the window open too.

  Needless to say, when Chris led them out it wasn’t a moment too soon. As much as I tried to ignore them, there’s only so much I can block out when the world is so quiet you can hear a fly fart from across a room. Even when the wind started picking up outside, it didn’t do much to drown out what they were saying. It may have been the fact that I didn’t really want to hear them gushing over each other so soon after losing Abby, but the two of them are so sickeningly sweet on each other I may have become diabetic just listening to them.

  The numbing effect of the cold was less welcome on my feet than on my hands. My toes still burned whenever they got cold, and had been that way since the first night when Abby and I took shelter in that old barn. I wanted to ask Rosa about it, but after the way she tortured me after my gunshot I decided it’s best to only complain about the big stuff. Rosa is a lovely person, but as a caretaker she could very well kill me with kindness.

  The only blessing was the cold had numbed my hands somewhat. They still felt like over inflated balloons, and there was a very unpleasant sting whenever I had to move my fingers. But at least I still could move my fingers, a silver lining I guess. Any bit of good news you can find when you’re the main course in a global all you can eat buffet is welcome.

  Despite it all, for the first time in weeks I felt like I had my daughter back. Katie did not flee from me in the middle of the night. The fact that she came to me at all made me happier than I thought I had any right to be.

  Sometime that morning while list
ening to the makings of a bad romance novel across the room, I’d come to accept that no matter how hard I tried or how much people around me worked to help me through things, my emotional state would be measured moment by moment. There was no perfect cure for grief, and I had to figure out mine while living every second of life on constant high alert.

  I’m not sure what led to that epiphany. (Wow, another big word in two days. Abby would be impressed!) Maybe reading Greyden’s journal helped me process everything. Reading his thoughts helped me think a few things through. Misery loving company and all.

  I looked down at Katie’s sleeping face for the hundredth time that morning. It was nothing short of a miracle that I hadn’t lost her the previous day, and we were able to get away from the farm with only a damaged bus. I might have said God was watching out for us, but if He’d been paying any attention at all the dead would stay in their coffins where they belonged, and I would be sitting at home with my family intact and enjoying a huge plate of bacon. Not saying that I’m losing my faith, but me and the Big Guy are on opposite sides of the fence on this whole dead walking the earth thing.

  “Daddy, why are you staring at me?” Katie’s tiny voice floated through her blanket cocoon. She hadn’t opened her eyes, and had she not spoken I would have assumed she was still sleeping.

  “How did you know I was staring?”

  “‘Cause you’re breathing on me. Your breath smells icky.”

  “I bet it does,” I replied with a smile. “We forgot our toothbrushes at the farm.”

  I leaned in to kiss her forehead, but her hand shot out from under the blanket, catching me right on the mouth.

  “No kisses. You smell really icky!”

  “Way to shatter a guy’s ego, kid,” I laughed.

  “Eggo?” she asked, sitting up from her blanket nest. “I want waffles!”

  “I said ego, not eggo!” I rubbed the top of her head. She returned a dejected look, laying her head back down on my chest.

  “I wanted waffles,” she said sadly.

  “I’m sorry, Katie,” I replied. It killed me to see her so sad, especially over something I could have easily remedied before the dead started hunting us to near extinction. “When we can, I’ll see if we can find some waffles.”