Rise of the Undead Box Set | Books 1-3 | Apocalypse Z
look like shit, but it’ll have to do, I guess.”The bandage on her arm had to stay put. She had nothing to replace it with, nor was there anything to eat or drink in the car. To top it off, she had a fever. Her forehead radiated heat. After swallowing another couple of painkillers, she climbed back behind the wheel and mentally prepared herself for what lay ahead. “Keep it together, Dylan. Fort Knox isn’t that far. You can still make it.”
First, she had to get through Vandalia and drove toward it with a sense of trepidation. A board announced that the town lay straight ahead, and her eyes soon picked it up against the horizon. As she neared the entrance, a roadblock loomed, and Dylan slowed to a stop in front of it. She opened her window and stuck her head out, evaluating the scene.
The barrier was made up of a few parked cars, and she could discern movement behind them. The barrel of a gun pointed at her over the roof of one. Several seconds passed in ominous silence before a voice on loudspeaker announced, “Get out of the vehicle with your hands above your head.”
Dylan hesitated, but in reality, she had no choice. Opening the door, she stepped out with her hands held at shoulder-height. The sun shone in her eyes, and she had to squint to look ahead. The warmth felt good on her aching body, though, and for a brief moment, she closed her eyes and imagined she was elsewhere. Standing on a sun-drenched beach in the Bahamas, maybe, with a cocktail in one hand and a cheeseburger in the other. Her stomach cramped in protest, and her dry mouth produced a tiny amount of drool. A feat she’d have thought impossible in her current dehydrated state.
The crunch of boots on the asphalt ruined her fantasy, and she watched a figure approach with wary caution. He stopped a few feet away and eyed her with a curious stare, his hands on his hips. He was young, too young to be in charge of the town but old enough to think he was.
“Are you in charge here?” Dylan asked, not lowering her hands.
“Yes, I am,” he said, flashing her a grin that was all teeth and no substance. “Can I help you?”
“I need to pass through,” Dylan said.
“Sorry, but I can’t allow that. We’re on lockdown.”
“But, it’s the only way,” Dylan protested.
The stranger shrugged and tucked his hands into his pockets. “Not my problem.”
“You can’t be serious. All I need to do is pass through. I won’t stop anywhere or take anything, I promise,” Dylan said.
“You’ll have to take the long way around, I guess…” His eyes flicked between her and her car. “Unless you have something to trade?”
“Are you blackmailing me?” Dylan asked with narrowed eyes.
“I wouldn’t call it that. Think of it as a toll fee,” the stranger said.
“Well, I haven’t got anything to give, so you can forget about it. No food, or water,” Dylan said.
“You’ve got a gun,” he said, pointing at her pistol.
Dylan shook her head. “Forget it. No trade.”
The stranger laughed. “Alright. How about a different kind of trade then?”
A cold shiver ran down Dylan’s spine when she noticed the way his eyes raked her body from top to bottom. “Woah, eyes up here. I’m not a slab of meat, you know?”
“That’s funny because that’s exactly what you are. Your body is just another commodity on the market. Lucky for you, it’s worth something, even banged up as you are.” The stranger rocked back on his heels, his hands still in his pockets, and his disregard infuriated Dylan.
“Seriously? You want me to sleep with you for passage through your shitty little town?” Dylan said, hot blood flushing her cheeks. A flame of anger churned in her gut, twisting, and turning.
“When you put it like that, it does sound rather bad. How about I throw in some supplies as payment? Maybe even a can of fuel? I’m sure you’ll make it worth my while,” he said with a grin.
The flame curling inside Dylan’s stomach exploded into full-blown rage. It burned through her veins until she thought she would combust and go supernova on him. Her hands twitched, and she had to fight the urge to strangle him on the spot. A vivid picture of his bulging eyes beneath her squeezing fingers caused her to smile.
“What are you smiling at?” the stranger asked, removing his hands from his pockets. He took a step back, clearly unnerved by her bared teeth.
Dylan didn’t answer. Instead, her eyes roved over the barricade behind him, spotting two more guns leveled at her. That brought the total up to three. She was outmanned and outgunned, but there was no chance in hell that she’d trade her body. A wave of recklessness washed over her, and she laughed. Might as well go out in a blaze of glory.
She took a sudden step to the side, placing her behind the open door of her car. At the same time, she hunkered down, whipped out her gun, and pointed it at the stranger’s face through the open window. “I’m smiling because, in the next ten seconds, I’m going to blow a hole right through that stupid grin of yours.”
The stranger froze, the cocky smile vanishing from his face as he stared down the cold length of her gun barrel. “Don’t be an idiot. We’ve got guns on you. You’ll be dead the second you pull that trigger.”
“Maybe, but I’d rather go out like that than let you touch even one hair on my head,” she said. “Now, call off your men, or I’ll kill you right where you stand. Got it?”
He raised his hands and waved at the men behind him. “Back off, guys. This bitch is crazy. She’ll kill me for sure.”
Dylan smirked. “You’ve got that right, at least. It seems you’re not completely dumb.”
He shot her a venomous look. “Now what?”
“Now, I’m going to get in my car,