Run from the dead book 5.., p.22
Run from the Dead: Book 5: A Zombie Apocalypse, page 22
Chapter 46
The heavy axe in Tess’s hands felt good. She moved it from one hand to the other, enjoying of the smooth wood and the weight of the sharp metal on the other end. She lifted her eyes to the opening door at the far end; a dark tunnel sat beyond. The shadows shifted within, then several bodies forced their way through the narrow opening.
Everyone shifted into position, silently forming a line with Morgan and Sumi behind them. Liz stepped to Tess’s side and met her eyes with a smile. Her face was relaxed, and her smile so fucking genuine it made Tess’s heart ache. If they’d known each other a little longer, maybe she’d have been able to say a few things, share a few feelings. But it felt too soon for that. So instead, she smiled back, both happy and sad in equal measures that Liz stood next to her right now.
Anna stood on Liz’s other side, then Frankie next to her. Frankie bounced on the balls of her feet like she was made for this shit, and Tess suppressed a chuckle. She watched her friend grip her two swords, holding them down at her sides. Frankie was clearly in pain, but knowing her, she’d make the zombies pay for it, or anyone else who got in her way.
Anna glanced up at the boxes one more time, as if trying to catch sight of Rob. She was convinced they’d make him watch this, and Tess agreed. That Collins dude was a complete arsehole and seemed to have a serious hard on for Rob.
Tess turned back to the threat as thunder rolled across to them over the once immaculate lawn. The rumble danced through her chest, mixing with her pulse until the pounding was indistinguishable from the zombie feet bouncing off the ground and shaking them into oblivion. They filtered out of the tunnel and then no more came. Tess narrowed her eyes. “About twenty?”
Anna nodded. “For now, yeah.”
The raging herd neared, several parting to run around the table and others simply charging like it didn’t exist. Because of the narrow doorway, though, the dead were staggered. Tess’s mouth curled up at one side as she realised success might just be possible after all. She had clocked every single entrance to the football pitch, and from what she could make out, they were all narrow entrances—unless there was some other way inside, that was.
She swung back her axe as the first one reached her; the first kill would be hers alone, and she felt more ready than ever before. The double-headed axe sliced through the air and through the skull of the young female. It cut through her head like a sharpened knife through a soft sandwich, dropping the girl in a second flat.
Anna let out a fierce battle cry and lunged forwards. Tess followed, as did Frankie and Liz, as they stormed ahead instead of waiting for the dead to reach them. Tess twirled the axe over her head as a second beast neared. It was timed perfectly, allowing her another easy kill; a second skull cleaved in two and another body added to the carcasses on the grass.
Tess tightened her grip on the long shaft and lifted it high over her head to bring down on a much larger man than her five foot six. The feeling was greater than she had ever experienced, and it made her eyes shine with power and fury. She had momentum, speed and a really fucking sharp thing to open wide any cranium that was presented to her. They could do this. They could kill every last one of them.
Her axe stuck fast in the dead man as he dropped to the grass. Tess placed her foot on his shoulder to lever the thing out, when a zombie flew at her. She leant to the side with speed she never knew she possessed, allowing the zombie to sail straight past. She quickly righted herself and released the axe as the beast recovered. Her blade dissected its neck, decapitating the man from his overalls.
Tess swivelled as soon as she lifted the axe from the ground again and met the milky white eyes of the next dead thing. She let the axe swing in a circle above her head, using one hand to build speed, then added her second to create power as the blade sliced across the neck of the next zombie. The woman’s head toppled from her shoulders with a battle cry from Tess’s mouth.
She had a little room around her for a few seconds, until she locked eyes on her next target. It was moving towards Sumi and Morgan, through the dead centre of the group. Sumi lifted her machetes, and Morgan raised her spear towards it. All weapons shook in their owners’ hands. Tess was a few feet to the side, so she ran to intercept the beast.
“Aaargh!” she screamed, hoping to draw its attention, but Sumi and Morgan both screamed too. There was no way it would turn away from them.
Tess ran at full speed, pushing her trainers into the overgrown grass. She gritted her teeth as she lifted her axe up over her head as she neared—but so did the zombie. In the next few steps, it would be on them, but so would she.
She forced her axe down with everything she had and slammed it into the back of the dead man’s pale-orange shirt. She hadn’t been able to reach its head for a kill strike, but it was enough to take the beast to the ground.
The thud of the axe was music to her ears, along with the sound of muffled snarling as the beast swallowed a mouthful of turf. Then, before she could pull her blade free from the man’s spine, a machete carved down onto his skull.
Tess’s eyes lifted to meet Sumi’s as she pulled her machete free. She stepped back a little as she scanned the area behind Tess. “I think that’s it. Well, I mean the first wave, anyway.”
Tess yanked her axe from the zombie’s back with a back-and-forth motion—the thing was jammed in far—then she twisted to see Frankie carving down the last of the running zombies with an easy slice.
Tess moved towards the others as they gathered themselves and caught their breaths. Sumi and Morgan followed, sticking close.
“Is that it? Did we do it?” Frankie asked.
Anna shook her head. “I doubt it.”
Morgan cleared her throat. “It won’t be. They’ll send in a bigger group next. It’s what they do.”
Liz nodded as well. “Yeah, they will. These fuckers like to play with you first before they kill you.”
Tess lifted her axe head towards her own face, studying the blood oozing along its edge. She may have been in meltdown mode a short while ago, but now she was ready to do whatever she had to, to find her people and get the fuck out of there.
“Yeah, well. Let ’em try.”
Chapter 47
Rob didn’t think his heart rate would ever return to normal after what he had just witnessed. He’d seen Anna in action many times before, but being stuck up here with no way to help made watching feel a thousand times worse.
But the girls were fucking awesome—not a close call in sight. Pride soared through his chest as he looked down at them. It hurt to smile, but he didn’t give a shit. The fight had barely lasted a minute.
He glanced across at Collins to see his cheek twitching and his brows bunched together in fury. As much as Rob loved seeing the man pissed off, it only made him worry about what was to come next.
Collins snapped his head away from the pitch and towards one of his men. “Release two this time. Let’s see how they do with twice as many.” His voice was like venom.
Rob kept his eyes away from Collins and on the girls instead. As much as he enjoyed goading the man, he didn’t want Anna and the others to suffer for his stupid mouth.
It took just a minute for the crackle of a radio to signal the order had been carried out. Rob clenched his jaw and squeezed his fists together, still firmly tied behind his back. He closed his eyes for a moment to take a deep breath, then opened them again.
His eyes fixed on Anna’s ponytail as she rounded to the location of the noises on the pitch. Everyone on the grass stilled as the dead poured from two doorways on opposite ends of the stadium.
Anna pointed to one side as her mouth moved, and the women all took up positions, separating into two teams with the unknown women in the centre of the group. Liz went with Tess, and Frankie joined Anna.
Then, as he had witnessed the first time, all the women screamed a ferocious battle cry that reached through the glass of the spectators’ box. They lifted their weapons as they charged at the dead, attacking the nearest and obliterating them with ease.
Rob’s mouth dropped open as he watched Liz get the hang of her new weapon, her sword swishing and slicing through zombie after zombie as she twirled and danced with almost the ease that Frankie was capable of.
His eyes moved over to Frankie to see her decapitating two of the dead at the same time. She leapt and darted and even rolled over the back of a zombie as she light-footedly moved amongst them, not a single grey finger ever getting close to her dark skin.
Tess whirled the enormous axe similar to the way she used a baseball bat, but this thing was far more deadly. And from the look in her eyes, she was loving every second of it. It was like she was born to wield the long handle and double-edged blade.
Rob’s heart almost beat right out of his chest as he watched the women chop down every single thing in their way. Even the women in the centre were taking part more. The one with the machetes ran to join one of the lines and killed two zombies in quick succession, then the one with the spear jabbed out, striking a beast in the face.
But when Rob’s eyes moved over to Anna, his breath caught in his throat as his heart swelled with even more pride. Anna was utterly magnificent. Her twin machete blades hacked off heads, sliced up abdomens, spilling guts, and cleaved skulls in two. She stabbed, she moved, she sliced, and she kicked out at knees and chests as she moved farther into the throng of monsters.
Rob pressed his lips together, willing her back to the group. But Anna was one of the quickest thinkers he’d ever known. If she was throwing herself into the middle of them, she knew what she was doing. And if she didn’t, she’d always be able to find a way out of it.
The women battled through to the end of the assault, moving amongst the crawling dead to finish them. They then huddled in the centre again as Rob released the breath he’d been holding and dared to turn towards Collins.
A cheer went up from another room, and Collins’s fury lit up. “FUCK, FUCK, FUUUCK!” He turned from the glass and picked up a chair, throwing it at the glass, causing a spiderweb of cracks to spread out from the centre. He whirled and kicked one of his own soldiers in the nuts before turning to punch another in the face.
Then he turned and faced Rob. He panted, his face shining bright red as he marched over and swung his fist straight into Rob’s gut. Shouting from far away reached Rob as he doubled over in pain. Collins sent a knee into Rob’s face, smashing his nose and mouth. Agony raced through his head as it snapped back and he fell to the floor.
Rob’s clouded vision only just revealed Collins staring down at him, and he couldn’t help the next words out of his bloodied mouth. “Is that the sound of the people who’re supposed to feel so run down they’ll never fight back?” Then Rob laughed, spraying blood and spitting a single tooth across the carpet towards Collins trousers and boots.
Collins’s eyes bulged before he unleashed another vicious kick at Rob, hitting him in the ribs. Rob grunted and curled in on himself, but Collins didn’t stop. He continued the onslaught, using both fists and feet to batter Rob whilst spilling obscenities.
“You fucking piece of shit. You worthless, inbred, moronic loser. Son of a fucking whore!”
At those last words, Rob roared up from the floor, pushing his feet into the plush carpeting and forcing his head and shoulders towards Collins’s body. His cranium collided with the underside of Collins’s chin, ramming his head upwards, and his shoulder struck Collins’s abdomen, throwing the man onto the floor. Before any of the soldiers could respond, Rob straddled the leader of this pathetic once army and rammed his head into Collins’s nose over and over until he was pulled off him.
Blood clouded Rob’s vision as more fists and feet pummelled him on the ground. Before he blacked out, Collins spoke again:
“Send them all in. Get ready, Rob. They’re all gonna fucking die.”
Chapter 48
Anna twisted toward the cheering that erupted from somewhere above. The top boxes were almost impossible to see into from this angle, but she was certain she could see the glass wobbling in its frame.
“Did you hear that?” Frankie asked.
Sumi and Morgan looked at each other, then Sumi spoke: “I knew they’d have everyone watching for this. But I bet they’re seriously regretting giving you guys weapons right about now.” She grinned and tried to see into the boxes.
“They usually give weapons, though, right?” Tess asked.
“Yeah,” Sumi replied. “Because they’re arrogant arseholes, and it usually prolongs their enjoyment.”
Anna twisted to watch the other doorways of the sports ground. “So, they’ll probably send even more in next?”
“Right. Although I’ve not heard of anyone getting further than this.”
“But there are quite a few of us.” Anna shrugged, trying not to get too excited at the possibility of getting out of this alive.
“I’ve heard of teams of ten out here before, and they’ve never done this.” Sumi waved her hands all around her. “You guys are unbelievable.”
Morgan nodded. “Yeah, and I’ll bet Collins is shitting bricks as well.”
Anna pursed her lips. “Then what, though? Say we beat the next round of the dead and maybe even their entire stock of them. What will they do after that?”
“We keep fighting, Anna. That’s what you all said, wasn’t it?” Tess offered.
“Well, yeah. Of course. I’m not backing out of that. I’m just wondering if we can come up with some sort of a plan for after.” Anna chewed on the inside of her cheek as she assessed the pitch and stands.
“Like what, though?” Liz asked.
Anna slowly shook her head. “I don’t have a clue. We don’t know where Rob is, or the others we were trying to help in the first place.” She lifted her head to the boxes again as screams rang out alongside the shouts of males. She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe…”
“What?” Tess asked.
“I’m not sure, but if we keep this up, maybe we can inspire those up there.” She lifted her chin toward the boxes. “Maybe we’ve got more people on our side than we thought.”
Tess, Anna, and Frankie all looked up at the boxes, then Tess spoke: “So, we make sure they help us when the time comes.”
“How?” Frankie frowned, as if the thought was ridiculous. “They’re up there and we’re down here.”
Tess lifted her axe above her head and marched towards the side where the boxes loomed over them. “Come on.”
Anna shared a grin with Liz and Frankie, then followed, her own weapon held high. Tess let out a warrior’s cry, and everyone joined in. They marched towards the seats that surrounded them in the stands, still holding their weapons over their heads. The box erupted into an inaudible chant before silencing suddenly. Sumi shouted from behind them.
“Guys, something’s happening!”
They all whirled and hurried back to the centre of the pitch. Banging reverberated through the door on the opposite side of the stadium, but their attentions were drawn to the right at the sound of footsteps.
“What the fuck?” Frankie asked as they watched a group of soldiers carrying something out to the opposite end of the pitch.
The soldiers held weapons pointed at them, but Anna still wasn’t sure if any had bullets. At one point, they would need to test the theory, but for now, they had to bide their time. The soldiers dumped something on the grass at one of the goal ends, then retreated up the stairs, disappearing into an open doorway that banged shut behind them.
Anna frowned at the heap on the ground, then her eyes bulged. “ROB!” Her voice came out hoarse. She set off at a blistering run towards him, but before she had even taken two steps, several doors slammed open around the pitch and the dead rushed out into the sunny afternoon.
Growls filled the air as her feet raced to get to him. She could see more and more of Rob as she neared. His face was covered almost entirely in blood, and his clothes were ripped and dirtied from whatever assault he had been subjected to. As if this fucked-up gladiator match wasn’t enough, Collins had placed Rob inside as well, battered to a pulp and not able to defend himself.
Movement to the right of where he lay on the grass drew Anna’s eye. The dead were filtering in from that way too. But right now, her only focus was on the man she loved.
A zombie raced for Rob, so Anna veered off course and stormed straight for it. She hurdled several dead bodies, then launched herself through the air, swiping one blade across the side of its neck as it closed in.
The zombie dropped as she pivoted and darted back for Rob. But before she could drop to her knees next to him, more dead appeared all around. She ducked under the swinging arm of a beast too close to her, then stabbed upwards at another trying to grab her hair.
She yanked the blade back and straightened while her other blade swung at the next nearest beast. She screamed as she hacked at anything that got too close to Rob. She kicked, then dipped to send another beast up and over her back when it raced at her. Its own momentum sent it flailing into the air as she moved on and killed another in several rapid movements.
She almost straddled Rob’s body as she fought the assault of many, many dead, until a blade sliced its way into the fold, then an axe hacked at a nearby dead man, then a woman. Then a spear was next to Anna and stabbing through a zombie about to bite onto Rob’s leg.
Everyone had followed her there. They all stood around her and Rob as they battled the unending sea of dead that lurched their way. Tess screamed as she whirled the axe over her head, fighting several at the same time. Liz lunged at one monster too close to Tess’s back, then Tess swung her axe into the skull of another trying to get at Frankie.
