Fighting to Survive (As the World Dies #2)(94)

They made a sweep of the first floor, checking behind every counter and behind tables. Most of the merchandise remaining in the store was littered across the floor. As Katie passed one pile of canvas bags, she was disgusted to see someone had urinated and defecated on the pile.

“They're animals,” she grunted.

“Let's find the vault.” Travis tried to ignore the stench and kept moving.

To their relief, the old bank vault was still locked. There were signs that the bandits had tried to get into it, but it had remained impervious to their attempts to open it.

“Okay, this is a good sign,” Travis said with relief. He pulled out a piece of paper and began to twirl the knob, his brow burrowed with concentration.

Katie glanced toward the stairwell that lead up to Nerit and Ralph’s apartment. This place had felt so safe in those first horrible days. Now it was desecrated. It made her angry, sad, and filled her with other emotions she could not quite define. She wished she could walk up those stairs and find Nerit and Ralph in the kitchen, sipping coffee and talking in their strange shorthand version of a conversation.

Something upstairs moved.

Katie looked toward Travis as he grinned and yanked the door open. Inside the vault, she saw weapons and boxes of ammo piled high.

“”We’re in business,” Travis declared. “Let’s get this stuff loaded up.”

“Travis, I heard a noise upstairs,” Katie informed him.

“Shit,” Travis sighed. “Okay, let’s check it out. Bob, you and Felix get the stuff into the van. Have Lenore and Ken cover the road.”

Bob nodded. “Gotcha.”

Moving slowly, cautiously, and as quietly as possible, Katie and Travis moved up the stairs into Nerit and Ralph’s old apartment. The stench of death filled their nostrils when they reached the landing. They stood in horror at the destruction that had been wrought on the apartment.

The furniture was destroyed and tossed in pieces into corners. Mementos, photos, and personal possessions were strewn about. Some of the photos were deliberately defaced. Porn magazines were also mixed in with the debris.

“They’re animals,” Katie gasped.

“Yeah,” Travis said, and felt a chill sweep over him. He looked at her and felt fear. If these monsters ever got a hold of Katie...

He couldn’t bear the thought.

Moving down the hall, they entered the dining room and found the source of the noise Katie had heard.

A woman lay on the floor, spread eagle, naked. Her wrists and ankles were shackled and chained to huge spikes driven into the floor. Her mouth was duct taped shut. The silver tape went around her head so many times, only her eyes were visible.

There was a nasty bite on her shoulder and her undead condition explained her fate. She was trying to growl and was thrashing about. What looked like a tongue lay on the floor nearby. Travis had a feeling it was hers.

She had been brutally raped over and over again. That much was too clear. He grabbed a sheet off the floor and threw it over the zombie’s body. It was too much to bear to see her like that.

“Why do I have a feeling the rapes took place before and after her death?” Katie's expression was grim.

Travis raised his gun and put the woman out of her misery. He then called downstairs to explain the shot and told the others to keep working.

Katie moved cautiously into the kitchen and looked around in shock. It was a mess. “They built their own meth lab.”

Travis shook his head. “Damn. These guys are f*cked up.”

“Running around, strung out on meth, while zombies eat the living...what a nightmare.”

Together, Travis and Katie swept the rest of the apartment, finding it in utter shambles. The bandits had used photos as toilet paper and thrown them against the bathroom wall. It looked like they had squatted here for some time before moving on.

In silence, they pushed open the ajar bedroom door. Ralph’s remains lay in a jumble in a corner. It looked like someone had just ripped off the quilt with him in it and tossed it aside. To make matters even more disgusting, it appeared the bed had been used. Cigarettes, drug paraphernalia, and beer bottles littered the bed. But it was a relief to see that Ralph was still very truly dead. Travis moved to the body’s side and drew the blanket over its decomposing features.

“I hate these guys. Maybe even more than the zombies,” Katie gasped. Tears filled her eyes, but she fought not to spill them.

“Let's go,” Travis said in a tortured voice. “Let's get these bastards.”

Together they moved back downstairs and began to help load the rest of the boxes into the van.

“We’re being watched,” Lenore said after around twenty minutes of packing. “I saw the glint of glass through those trees over there. I’ve seen it three times now. I’m sure it's binoculars.”

“Nerit was right,” Travis said, working as though they didn’t know they were being watched. “Call it in, Ken.”

The younger man nodded. He calmly climbed into the van and pretended to do something other than call the fort.

Lenore raised her hunting bow and let another arrow rip. A zombie just coming around a far corner dropped. “So I guess this is it.”

“Can’t be sure yet, but my money is on yes,” Travis answered.

Katie shoved more ammunition boxes into the back of the Hummer. “I say we go now.”