Siege (As the World Dies #3)(166)

Jack looked up at him with his clear brown eyes and Jason could see the concern in their depths. Jack seemed to think this foolhardy, but obediently began to lead him slowly through the hot, acrid air and dark smoke. A low moan near him made Jason jump and he twisted around. Jack growled low in his throat and Jason raised his gun in the direction of the moan. The stench of decaying burning flesh filled his nostrils and he stared into the smoke in terror.

A woman suddenly lurched out of the mist and Jason instinctively pulled the trigger. She fell back a few feet, snarled, then started forward again. He fired again, this time the bullet punching through her forehead. The zombie fell back without a sound.

He took a deep breath to try to steady his nerves and began to cough. A groan behind him startled him and he spun around in time to see a burned zombie right on him. It growled low as it seized his shoulders. Jack was instantly tearing at the creature as Jason brought the gun up and fired through the creature’s head. Another one staggered toward him and he aimed at it.



Jack shoved hard into his legs, knocking him sideways just as the new zombie revealed himself to actually be a living Calhoun. “Damn clones,” Calhoun muttered as grabbed Jason’s arm to help him up. “They’re all around. We gotta back up toward the wall.”

Together, the dog at their side, they moved toward the wall.

“Where is your gun?” Jason whispered.



“No clue. Got the living bejeezus knocked out of me by that explosion,” Calhoun answered. The dark smoke began to dissipate as the fires began to burn down. They moved a little faster as more and more figures materialized out of the haze.



“This ain’t good, boy,” Calhoun decided.

Another explosion near the opening made the zombies howl and more body parts rained down on them. The roar of a motorcycle filled their ears as Rune returned to the fort. “That crazy hippie,” Calhoun muttered as he grabbed Jason tight as the motorcycle drew close to them.

Rune looked a bit bedraggled and was covered in soot. His shotgun was across his lap and he motioned to them. “Get on.”

Calhoun shoved Jason onto the bike, then managed to squeeze his skinny butt on. Jason grabbed hold of Rune as Calhoun grabbed hold of both of them. Jason wasn’t sure what smelled worse: the zombies or Calhoun.

“Sorry, boy, you gotta run back,” Rune said to Jack, then hauled ass toward the elevator at top speed. They dodged around zombies at a breathtaking speed.

Jason looked behind him to see Jack running as fast as he could with a big doggy grin on his face. He supposed a motorcycle was almost as good as a car when it came to chasing.



The smoky haze was continuing to clear. More zombies were pushing through the opening. The motorcycle reached the elevator just as Travis reached the ground. “Rune!”



“Hey, dude. Wazzup?” Travis helped Calhoun off the bike and onto the elevator. “Didn’t know where you got off to.”



“Got a lot of them moving out of town, then double-backed and got past the traps right when the tanks blew.” Rune climbed off his motorcycle and lifted his shotgun calmly to blow the head off an approaching zombie. “Gotta leave you here, Charlain,” he said to the bike and climbed onto the elevator. “Sorry, babe.”

Jack caught up and leaped onto the elevator just as it began to lift. Jason went down on his knees to hold onto the dog.

Travis and Rune began to calmly fire at anything that staggered out of the smoke as they were lifted back into the safety of the fort. Just as they reached the top, a shift in the wind blew much of the smoke away from the fort. Jason looked over the wide expanse of land and saw that a lot of the zombies were moving off away from the town. The fire had spooked them. Once they were moving in one direction, they kept going.

What remained was a large number of zombies still approaching and moving into the kill zone.

“We’re clear,” Travis said as they reached the top of the wall as Katie grabbed up Jason to hug him.



“No one is bitten? Right?” Katie ran her hands over Jason’s arms. “No, we’re good. Promise,” Jason answered.

Calhoun reluctantly let Reggie check him for bites. “Damn things smell to high heaven, don’t they?”

Reggie, trying hard not to smell the old man, nodded. ‘Oh, yeah.

Katie watched anxiously as Travis and Rune were checked for bites. The moans of the zombies grew louder as they drew ever closer to the fort. Cleared of any bites, Travis kissed his wife as Rune heaved his bag of grenades over his shoulder.

“Time to get to work,” Rune said.



Together, Travis and Katie looked out over the wide expanse of land before the fort. It was filled with the shambling dead. “They’re here,” Travis whispered.



Within seconds the catapults began to creak and moan, then sling their heavy loads into the air and down on the zombies. The war began…





Chapter 35





1. The War





It is common knowledge that war is hell. But what is also not so well known is that war is surreal. Hyper-reality often mixes with moments of feeling oddly disconnected from reality. A sense of fragility wrapped up in a feeling of invincibility. Nothing about it makes sense. Nothing about it registers fully in the human senses.