Part 28 (1/2)

However, their success would condemn him to a life of loneliness because only Windows had ever shown him any kindness.

Bowing his head, Lee sobbed.

Dravko crouched in a ditch opposite the main gate of the storage facility. The heat signatures of the humans tied to the perimeter defense burned bright against the cold night.

”They look delicious,” said Tibor.

”Can it,” Dravko snapped. ”We promised Robson we'd help him.”

”Half those people won't make it through the next few days.”

”I said no.”

Tibor growled. ”If we were fighting with them inside the compound, at least we'd have a chance to feed.”

Dravko didn't respond, although he agreed. A part of him hoped some of the gang members would try to escape.

Meat rolled over on his sleeping bag and wrapped a fat arm around Windows. His erection strained against his pants and pushed against her a.s.s.

”Come on, baby. It's our last night in this dump. Let's celebrate.”

”That sounds great.” Windows could already feel herself heading into that cold, emotionless void that allowed her to survive the constant molestation.

Meat stood up and slid off his pants. ”Tonight I want a three-way.”

”I'll get one of the other girls. Do you have anyone particular in mind?”

”Yeah.” Meat pointed to Cindy. ”Her.”

Windows' fight-or-flight senses cranked into overdrive. ”Are you serious?”

”Yeah. She's watched us enough times to know what to do. Besides, she's the only virgin around.”

Windows glanced over at Cindy, who sat in the corner of the unit, her legs pulled against her chest until the knees touched her cheeks. The girl's eyes widened with fear. Windows turned back to Meat. ”You promised you wouldn't touch her.”

”I never made no such promise. I've just never wanted to tap that s.h.i.+t until now.” Meat spoke slowly, his tone deep and menacing. He picked up his pants as he spoke and slid out the belt through the loops. ”She's gettin' f.u.c.ked tonight. It's your choice whether it's gentle or not.”

Windows stiffened and placed herself between Meat and Cindy. ”I'm not going to let you tou-”

Meat slapped her across the face with the belt. The buckle hit her left cheek, gouging out a chunk of skin. Pain and shock shot through her body. Meat wrapped the belt around his right hand, with the buckle on the outer knuckles.

”All right, ya c.u.n.t. I'm goin' to beat the f.u.c.kin' s.h.i.+t out of ya, and then you're gonna watch me take the b.i.t.c.h's cherry.”

Robson breathed through his mouth, though it barely helped. The stench of decay had become so thick inside the school bus he could taste it. When he did open his mouth, flies crawled in. He had already swallowed back vomit half a dozen times, as well as G.o.d only knew how many insects. When he broke through the woods at the end of Parade Road into the open and saw the storage facility off to his right, his relief was palpable. He didn't have any fears about entering the battle of his life. He just wanted to get out of this rolling carnage house.

Veering right, Robson pushed his foot down on the accelerator, s.h.i.+fted into second gear, and steered toward the main gate of the outer defense perimeter. The bus slammed into it at over sixty miles per hour. The cowcatcher hooked the gate in the bottom right quadrant, slicing through the chain links and impaling the metal frame. Because of its momentum, the bus ripped the gate off its hinges and bent it over the hood. The upper left quadrant curled over and crashed into the driver's side winds.h.i.+eld. Robson closed his eyes. He heard the shattering of gla.s.s and the sc.r.a.ping of metal against metal. When he opened them again, a piece of the upper gate support and the barbed wire strands stuck through the winds.h.i.+eld.

Ignoring the damage, Robson kept his foot pressed on the accelerator and aimed for the metal security gate built into the brick wall of the storage facility. The bus slammed into it, and Robson felt his senses being overwhelmed: the sudden deceleration distorting his equilibrium; the pain of the seat belt digging into his chest and shoulders; the sound of metal grinding against metal; of rotters being tossed around the back; of flies and wasps being stirred into a frenzy; and of people yelling. When Robson opened his eyes, he was staring into the barbed wire. The crash had shoved the gate section through the winds.h.i.+eld until it sat only a few inches from his face. He had busted through, and the front third of the bus sat inside the storage facility.

Robson unbuckled and slid out of his seat. He opened the folding doors, and then spun around and lifted the two-by-four from its mounts. The cage door popped open. Grabbing his AA-12, Robson jumped off the bus.

”Freeze, motherf.u.c.ker!”

Two gang members stood ten feet away, their weapons aimed at his face. Cries and yells could be heard all over the compound. The larger of the two men leveled a Remington hunting rifle at Robson.

”Drop your weapon and get on your knees!”

”Whatever you say.” Robson tossed his gun back and to the side so it landed beside the bus, and knelt down.

”Jesus Christ!” said the younger guard.

”What's wrong, Billy?”

”That's him!” He gestured with his shotgun at Robson. ”The one I was telling you about. That's the guy with the vampires down by-”

The first rotter stumbled off the bus.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO.

The two guards s.h.i.+fted their weapons from Robson to the lead rotter, a male in a soiled hospital gown. Robson used the opportunity to drop to the ground and roll under the school bus, grabbing his AA-12 in the process. The guards ignored him, concentrating on the main threat. They each fired a round, blasting apart its head and upper torso. It tumbled off the stairs and dropped to the ground, and two more took its place. The guards also took these down. While Billy reloaded, three more of the living dead staggered off the bus.

Price and Carter heard the school bus approaching seconds before it slammed into the outer gate. Both men jumped out of their seats and headed for the compound. Price saw his guards get the drawdown on the driver and heard Billy yelling, ”That's him! The one I was telling you about. That's the guy with the vampires down by-”

Price could barely control his anger. ”s.h.i.+t. Those motherf.u.c.kers came for us.”

”And they brought h.e.l.l with them.” Carter pointed to the first rotter stumbling off the bus before taking off toward the rear of the compound.

Price ignored his second in command, focusing instead on the intruders.

From his position on top of the hill, Simmons watched the opening minutes play themselves out. He had to admit that so far this crazy scheme seemed to be working. Robson had inserted a dead horde into the compound and, as expected, now faced the compound's security detail. That's why he and Wayans were there.

Simmons centered his scope on the younger of the two guards by the bus. Before he could pull the trigger, he saw two men emerge from the office. He quickly calculated their threat potential. Neither carried weapons, and one of them got scared and ran off. This would be simple.