Man Eaters (Book 2): The Horde Read online

  Luke pushed The Survivor to her limit as everyone regained their balance, composure, and their aim.

  Butcher stood fast, waiting. Had she just consigned them all to a fiery grave? She hoped not. “Luke?”

  “Working on it, love. We need cover fire and eyes in the sky!”

  “Got it,” Einstein said, keeping his eyes glued to the ship. “They’re a bit stunned, I think. They’re not even manning the anti-aircraft.”

  Butcher yelled for the shooters to keep firing at anything that moved, which they did until Luke swung her about.

  The Survivor clipped along at a steady pace, sliding between trees and inlets until it was deep under the cover of the bayou. To everyone’s surprise, no retaliation came.

  “Einstein?”

  “Nothing. No movement on deck whatsoever. If that ship had a full crew, wouldn’t we see something? Anything?”

  “No return fire?”

  Einstein shook his head. “None. Not only no return fire, but I don’t see anyone on deck.”

  Luke slowed the engines. “That’s not at all how I expected them to react. I think they are too blown away by the fact that someone actually shot at them to react right away. After all, they’ve been sitting idle for a year. That’s a long time even for trained soldiers.”

  Einstein put the binoculars into sharper focus. “Wait a minute.”

  “What is it?” Butcher asked, standing next to him.

  He handed the binoculars to Butcher, who peered through trees at the deck of the ship.

  “What am I looking for?”

  “For starters, try people.”

  “People?” Butcher lowered the binoculars and turned to Einstein. “You haven’t seen any people?”

  He shook his head. “Go on. See how many you find.”

  Butcher looked through the glasses once more. It took her several minutes to find a single human. “How many people does it take to run one of those things?”

  “As a fighting vessel? Skeletal crew, three, maybe three fifty,” Luke replied.

  “They’re running a skeleton crew?”

  Einstein nodded. “Why not? Makes perfect sense. It’s not like we’ve fought back in almost a year, you know? They haven’t experienced a push back in all that time. Our military has done nothing that we know of. My guess is the expense of maintaining a full crew became unnecessary since we’ve never shown any hostilities toward them. They think they have us.”

  Luke cut the engines and joined them. “Not a bad assumption, Einstein, because trust me—they should have blown us to bits. There’s a reason those yahoos came out in small boats instead of firing on us like they did when the outbreak first happened.”

  “You mean, we’re safe?” Butcher’s heart was still banging away in her chest.

  Luke shook his head. “Not really. They could just be regrouping. We can’t ever forget that while we’re mired in the muck, the rest of the world has gone on. Who knows what the hell has happened globally? As soon as night falls, we’re getting out of here.”

  “You’re going to take us out of here in the dark?”

  Luke grinned. “You know I do my best work in the dark.”

  Einstein groaned. “Spare me.”

  Luke and Butcher laughed. “Come on, kid, lighten up. If they’d have wanted us dead, we’d be dead. I’m going to move her a little deeper into the swamp and then let’s grab something to eat and let everyone know the plan.”

  “Dallas will send a search party if we’re any later than a day, so we need to make up for lost time and get the hell out of here as soon as we can.”

  “Really?” Einstein asked, “Are we in that big of a hurry?” He cut his eyes over at Luke, who couldn’t hide his grin.

  Butcher knew him well enough to know by the sound of his voice he had an idea brewing. “Why? What’s going on in that demented teenage brain of yours?”

  Einstein peered through the binoculars once more. “Oh nothing. I just thought…maybe…maybe there’s an opportunity we don’t want to pass up.”

  ****

  Dallas hugged Roper for a long time after the Fuchs finally arrived back at the ‘gator farm. It was dark out and the half moon had now risen above the tree line. The others had tiki torches lighting the entrance in creepy, flickering, yellow lighting.

  Stepping out of the embrace, Dallas looked over at the bus. “A bus? Brilliant idea, baby.”

  Roper put her arm around Hunter’s shoulders. “This is Hunter, and his dad, Fletcher. They’re bowmen.”

  “Bowmen…as in—”

  Fletcher held up the crossbow that never seemed to leave his hands. It was an intricate piece of weaponry complete with a scope, quick load, and titanium tipped bolts. “Bows and arrows, ma’am. We own an archery supply store in town—er—we did. Now it’s a zombie cemetery.”

  “And he’s been gracious enough to supply us with retrievable ammo.”

  Dallas extended her hand. “Welcome to the rebellion, gentlemen. You guys were out there a long time. You must be starving.”

  “A bite to eat would be great. We’ve been eating the same rations for two months now.”

  Ferdie stepped up and escorted them to the dining area. “Let’s see if we can’t fix that.”

  “You’re late,” Dallas said, softly touching Roper’s face with her fingertips. “What happened?”

  Roper and Churchill quickly glanced at each other.

  “Oh crap. What is it?”

  “Where the hell is Michael?” Ben demanded, making a beeline for Roper.

  Dallas’s reaction was instinctive and immediate. Her arm shot out to stop Ben in his tracks, her forearm clipping him in the neck. He bounced off it, sputtering.

  “Hold up there, cowboy.” Dallas whirled on him. “You ever come at one of my people like that again, and it’ll be the last thing you do.” To Roper, she asked, “What happened?”

  Roper shook her head, a small vein protruding on her forehead as she glared at Ben. “The asshole isn’t gay.”

  Dallas lowered her head and heaved a painful sigh. “Oh. I see. And?”

  “And he got us into some unnecessary trouble with the eaters who came after his hetero ass. It was dicey for a moment, until Fletcher and Hunter gave us a hand. The eaters were everywhere and very hungry. Seems the city is pretty void as a food source.”

  “Hold on a second,” Ben said a little too loudly. “I thought you people were immune.”

  Dallas whipped around, her index finger in his face. “They may not bite us or eat us, but that doesn’t mean a horde can’t hurt us. Your man lied to us. He put my people in danger.” She nodded to Roper. “Go on, love.”

  “After locking us out of the Beast, Michael let us face the horde as it closed in on us, sequestering himself in the Fuchs and leaving the rest of us to fight his battle.”

  Dallas stood taller. “He what?”

  “Locked himself in,” Churchill answered, “and us out. We had no choice but to keep fighting until we couldn’t swing our arms any more. Thank god Fletcher and Hunter weren’t afraid of helping, or we might still be there.”

  “Bastard,” Dallas spat.

  “Yeah. Our thoughts exactly.” Roper leveled her gaze at Ben. “We cleaned up his mess and then let him go on his merry way about three clicks up the road. If he’s that important to you, you can just go after him.”

  “You…let him go? What does that mean?”

  “Exactly how it sounds. I kicked him out of the Fuchs.”

  A blush of red anger was evident on Ben’s cheeks. “How…how could you? He’s one of us!”

  “No, Benjamin, he wasn’t. He lied, got us in a jam, and then went to hide without regard for the rest of us. Does that sound like someone you want to be one of us? Someone like that is a danger to the whole group. Good riddance, I say.”

  Ben closed the gap, shoving Dallas’s outstretched arm away once more. “If this is how you people operate, then I’m going to have to rethink joining up with you.”


  Roper went chest-to-chest with him. “You can rethink it all you want, but I bet your people will have a few things to say about the way he left us to fight in the open. Why don’t you bring them all here and we can see what they think we ought to do.”

  Ferdie joined them. “Did I hear you say he lied about being gay?”

  Roper nodded. “That piece is almost understandable, but locking us out of the Fuchs? That’s unforgivable.”

  Ferdie turned to Ben. “This decision is not yours to make, Ben. I’ll get everyone together and Roper can tell her story. If you want to stick up for some guy who’s as likely to let your ass hang out to dry as mine, fine, but you’re not making a unilateral decision for us.”

  Ben’s eyes scanned every face. “Fine. Let’s do that. Everyone can decide for themselves then. You people are dangerous and cruel. You didn’t have to leave him alone. That was completely unnecessary.”

  “What was unnecessary was to lock me and my people from the safe zone.”

  “You weren’t in any danger.”

  “You don’t know that!” Roper’s voice rose. “Selfish sack of shit. He’s lucky I didn’t put a bullet between his eyes. You support that kind of behavior, you should stay here. We don’t need this shit.”

  “That’s enough, Roper.” Dallas gently pulled Roper back and away from Ben. “Staying here is dangerous, but you do what you have to do. Right now, gather your people and let them decide.”

  Once everyone was in a semi-circle, they all listened to Roper and Churchill tell the story, then they followed up with a question and answer session that Dallas participated in as well. At the end, Ben asked for a show of hands of those who wished to stay. Ten people raised their hands. Ben’s was not one of them.

  “Why are you going with them?” An older woman asked him.

  “I may not agree with what they did, but I think a cement prison is safer than here.”

  The crowd was quiet for a few minutes as everyone discussed their decisions and options.

  “All right then. For the rest of you, we’ll be heading out at dawn. We’ll have two mounted shooters on the bus and one inside. They’ll keep anything away from the bus. The bus will follow the Beast, and we’ll have someone in the turret at all times, should any hostiles approach. Unless someone attacks us with a bazooka, we shouldn’t have any problems getting to Angola. The key to survival is complete honesty about bites or scratches—yours or any you see on anyone. We are only as safe as those who remain healthy around us.”

  “Does that include you all? The CGIs?”

  Dallas nodded. “Absolutely. Everyone follows the same rules. End of story. We cannot allow any infection among us. Any. Ever. That means blowing the whistle on anyone you suspect as being bitten. Our lives all rely on our honesty with each other.”

  Roper stepped up next to her. “And let’s have that honesty start with the fact that Dallas is our leader. This is not a democracy, and not a patriarchy. We don’t rule by committee or consensus. If you have any issues with strong women, do us all a favor and stay here. We aren’t gonna put up with that shit. We put up with it for too long, so if being lead by a strong lesbian bothers you, staying here is a better idea for us all.”

  Dallas squeezed her hand and smiled at her. “Are there any other questions?”

  When there were none, Dallas reminded everyone of the lift-off time, as well as who was on guard duty that night.

  When everyone dispersed for the night, Dallas returned to the picnic tables with Churchill, Roper, Sully, and Zoe.

  “Well, that could have gone better,” Zoe said. “Fucking sexist douchebag.”

  Dallas shrugged. “Change is hard. I’m sure half of those staying are relieved to be staying. No use trying to talk them out of it. If I’ve learned anything this past year, it’s that people are creatures of habit. We’d rather live underground in the darkness eating dead rats than take a risk on coming out for fresh air and a chance at a new life.”

  Sully inquired about Michael.

  “We left him a weapon and ammo, but he’ll never make it,” Roper said, her tone flat.

  Zoe leaned forward. “Roper did the right thing, Dallas. He left us out there to fight a battle his presence created. That was totally fucked up. I, for one, wish she would have shot him.”

  “You don’t need to defend her, Zoe. I trust Roper’s decisions. The fact that she let him live at all shows she has a much bigger heart than most.”

  “The truth is, I wanted to kill him,” Roper said softly. “But I agree with Dallas that we can’t run around acting as judge and executioner all the time.”

  Holding Roper’s hand, Dallas brought it to her lips and kissed the back of it. “You don’t think I know this? I know you very well, my love, and I’m certain it took every ounce of self-control you possess not to.”

  Roper kissed Dallas on the side of her neck. “You do know me well,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for the way it turned out, though. I never suspected anyone would actually pretend to be gay.” She shook her head. “For so long, so many of us had to pretend to be straight. Now, we’ve got some yahoo pretending to be gay. Funny how things change, huh?”

  Zoe chimed in. “Desperate people, ya know? If people think being gay will get them a seat in the Fuchs—”

  Dallas nodded. “I’ve thought about that. Once we are reunited with the others, things should level out. My goal is for us to get into a routine—a schedule. I have a great list of the skills people bring to the party. Unfortunately, the dentist has chosen to stay, but the people going with us bring a lot to the table.”

  “So, what’s worrying you?” Roper asked, tucking a strand of hair behind Dallas’s ear.

  “What isn’t? A bus filled with ZBs and a three-hour or more bus ride comes with any number of hazards, the least of which is the zombies.”

  “No doubt. Unless we ride into a horde, we have the most to fear from the outlaws wanting our shit.”

  Roper agreed. “You gotta see our archers, though, Dallas. Those two make Robin Hood look like a poser. They are amazingly accurate and fast. Holy mother of God they shoot those crossbows nearly as fast as the rest of us pull the trigger.”

  “And they can teach a lot of CGIs how to shoot. Reclaimable ammo is brilliant. Once we start attracting ghouls to us, we can take them out, retrieve the arrows, and start all over again.”

  “Excellent. Then all we need to do is get to Angola and meet up with the others. I won’t rest easy until that happens.”

  “Yeah. I miss the kid.” Roper leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. “He was really bothered by splitting up.”

  “Well, we did make a pact.”

  Roper sighed. “Yes, we did. Let’s just hope they don’t run into any problems.”

  Dallas squeezed her hand. “Whatever problems come their way, I have no doubt Butcher and Luke can handle it.”

  ****

  “You want to what?” Butcher asked, pacing the deck of the yacht with her long stride. The sun had completely set now and Luke was staring through the binoculars at the Japanese ship.

  “There are only six or seven lights on that ship, babe. Six or seven. That thing ought to be lit up like a cruise ship. The only reason I can see that it wouldn’t be is because there just aren’t that many people on board. I’m guessing Einstein was right. They are running on a minimal crew.”

  “That doesn’t mean you take a skiff out to board the damned thing. That’s just insane.”

  Luke lowered the binoculars for the first time since Einstein had proposed boarding the ship. Only the moonlight cast a dim light upon Butcher’s face, but even then, he could see the changes the pregnancy created on her. Her cheeks were slightly fuller, her hair a little shinier. She was radiant.

  She was also carrying his child, and in the near future, she would give birth. If she wouldn’t let him overtly worry about her and the baby, he would certainly do so covertly. Part of his concern surrounded their lack of medical eq
uipment, which was why he loved Einstein’s suggestion of raiding the destroyer.

  It had things they were going to need, and he wanted them. Badly.

  “What’s insane is having a vessel like that at our disposal and not taking advantage of it.” “How is that ‘at our disposal’?”

  Taking both her hands in his, he said softly, “When is the last time we had any news about the outside world? It’s like we’re on a deserted island and the rest of the world has gone on without us.”

  Butcher remembered when.

  It was a month after they arrived in Louisiana. They’d gone to the NOLA pier to gas up and do a supply run. She and Einstein had stayed on the boat while Dallas and Roper went into town. While waiting, a Japanese sailor came running to The Survivor, a handful of man eaters trailing after him. After dispatching the zombies, Butcher held her rifle on the sailor and asked him what he was doing there. The man had leaned over with his hands on his knees, asking to come aboard in pretty decent English. Butcher told him if he answered her questions, she would allow him to come on.

  Apparently, he’d come to assess the situation on land, but an alligator had overturned his skiff, killing his partner.

  “What does assess mean?” She’d asked, jabbing her muzzle in his direction. “We haven’t seen a plane fly over in months.”

  He answered that Japan, China, and North Korea all wanted to send in troops to begin cleansing the area of dead and undead alike, but that the United Nations disagreed. They felt that the death of the Americans must come at their own hands. Otherwise, to future generations, it would be considered genocide on an international scale. The world would simply have to wait until the country was dead, he explained.

  “What about Hawaii and Alaska?”

  Both states had already been claimed as protectorates of Russia (Alaska) and Japan (Hawaii), so when the time came, they would fold into those two countries. Had the sailor stopped here, Luke would never be suggesting boarding the vessel.