Rise of the Necrotics (Book 7): Into The Woods Read online

  Rise Of The Necrotics

  Into The Woods

  Bradford Bates

  Copyright © 2018 Bradford Bates

  All rights reserved. This book is an original work of fiction, licensed for your personal enjoyment only. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  First edition: March 18, 2019

  Edited by: Jeanie Creech

  Proofreading by: Becky Bates

  If you need to contact the author, he can be reached at: [email protected]

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Also by Bradford Bates

  Chapter One

  Max Meridious

  We moved north on the I-17, leaving Phoenix further and further behind us. Holly kept the Bronco moving with confidence. Somehow she guided the bulky vehicle through groups of necrotics like a seal dodging a great white. The dense compressed feeling of the city slipped away, and I wondered if we really had a chance to make it. Looking out the window and not seeing a single one of the shambling monsters made it almost believable.

  The last of the major buildings faded away as we drifted out into the sticks. Yeah, we needed to get back to the freeway before we could make some real headway, but that didn’t mean we had to get back on it by a strip mall where people might be deployed to stop us. Instead, I directed Holly up New River Road toward the Wrangler’s Roost.

  There wasn’t a lot on the I-17 between Carefree Highway and Flagstaff, at least not once you passed Anthem. After that your last real big stop was Camp Verde. Everything between Verde and Flagstaff was just trees. It was actually a beautiful drive under normal circumstances. It was almost surreal to think that in two hours you could go from being in the harshest of deserts to a pine tree forest, but that was Arizona.

  Once we were thoroughly in the boonies, Holly drifted to the side of the road and pulled to a stop. Climbing out of the Bronco, she lazily stretched her back before looking out at the flat open ground in front of us. She quickly checked both of her guns before turning back toward the open door.

  Holly poked her head through the door. “Mind taking over for a bit? I want to go back over the gear and make sure we have it separated into go bags. We might not have enough time to grab everything if we have to run.”

  “It’s like having my own logistics officer.” I beamed back at her, happy that I wasn’t going to be doing any of the grunt work. If I had to pick between shuffling our pilfered gear and driving, I’d pick driving every time. “Plus, it’s good for a man to have a job more fitting to his position.”

  “All you need now is a Hummer and a tank top,” Holly dropped her voice to make it deeper. “Then you could go around grunting and saying, me man, me only able to drive and lift heavy things.”

  “That sounds about right,” I intoned smugly, “but you’ll be thanking me for carrying all the stuff when you want something to eat or ammo for your guns.”

  “You’d be surprised by how much I can carry,” Holly smirked at me. “You know, super soldier and all that.”

  “Ah, and here I was thinking my slightly better than average ability amongst mortal men to lift heavy objects was going to be enough to impress you.” Two could play at this game, and I wasn’t about to back down first.

  Holly started to laugh, and it fell on my ears like the sound of angel wings. “If you want to impress me, you’re going to have to do better than lifting heavy objects. Although if you took your shirt off and flexed a bit while you did it,” she put a finger up to her lips and pretended to think about it, “we just might be onto something,” Holly quipped, taking no prisoners.

  “Maybe I’ll just keep my shirt on and drive the Bronco.” Holly smirked at me but almost seemed disappointed that I folded so easily.

  Holly smiled at me with the rosy flush of victory on her cheeks. “That would be a good start.”

  Maybe she was right, maybe I caved too easily. It wasn’t that I was worried to take off my shirt around her. I’d burned through my fat stage as soon as Garfield took control of my training. What I didn’t want to do was imagine us having to ditch the Bronco. Life was easier when you could drive places. The walk to Flagstaff from here wasn’t a real option, not if we wanted to make it in time to save the world.

  Who knew waking up and almost getting killed would make me so morose. I tried to put the thought of us not making it to Flagstaff out of my head and focus on what was really important. Holly wanted to see me with my shirt off. That and I really didn’t want to let Holly win. So I decided to go for it before I could back out.

  “I’m glad that you agree, I mean most women probably shouldn’t drive anyway. I mean at some point you have to focus on the road and stop using the car as a mobile makeup station.” I hit Holly with a deadpan expression. “Am I right, or what?”

  “Maybe, but if you were driving on our way out of town, we’d already be walking.”

  Damn, score one for Holly.

  “Plus, with a man driving,” Holly said with all seriousness, “we might never get there. Google maps isn’t working, and we all know men can’t ask for directions. They’d rather drive around for hours saying things like I know right where we are, you’ll see.”

  “Maybe I’ll just go back to taking my shirt off and flexing.” I smiled at her as I joined Holly outside of the Bronco. “To be fair, I always ask for directions, I just don’t always follow them.”

  Holly giggled. “They say recognizing your shortcomings is the first step to overcoming them.“ Holly moved to stand in front of the Bronco beside me and looked out into the night again.

  One thing was clear, I was completely out of my depth trying to match wits with Holly. Maybe it was time I focused on her actions instead of her words. Why did she keep gazing off into the distance? If she was worried about necrotics, we’d hear them before they got close. Otherwise, out here it didn’t seem like there was a lot to worry about. Slowly I spun in a circle, just focusing on the darkness and the lights in the distance.

  The power was still on. All the streetlights were lit up behind us, but there weren’t any sparkling lights marking the houses in the distance. Not a single light glowed out from the road in the direction we were facing. Sure this was the boonies, but at least one person had to be home and alive, didn’t they? Maybe the news told everyone to keep their lights off, but if they didn’t then things were worse than I’d imagined. Was it really less than forty-eight hours ago the world was normal? It seemed like a lifetime, but things were changing fast.

  Holly gave the horizon one last look and then climbed into the back of the Bronco. It wasn’t long before I heard her rooting through our packs. That must have been my cue to get us back on the road. That was fine by me. The night air had a little chill to it, and I was looking forward to the heater. At least there were still things to look forward to. It took me a few moments to adjust the seat and the steering wheel, but once everything was in place, I hit the gas, and we were officially back on the road.

  At least this far out we weren’t still running into roving packs of chompers. The people out here must have fared a little better than the one
s packed in the city. Dropping one necrotic in the city was like watching cancer cells devour the healthy ones. It was only a matter of time before you lost the fight. When we got to Flagstaff Holly was going to change that.

  It took everything I had to keep focused on the job. There wasn’t time for doubt, time to wonder about what would happen if Holly couldn’t fix anything. Trying to take my mind off of things, I glanced in the rearview mirror and shouted back to Holly. “You know, my driving might be better than you think. While I lack your superior skills, I passed my field test in the snow.”

  “You only had to deal with snow? For my test they covered the entire course in ice.”

  Damn, she didn’t miss a beat. I barely stopped myself from snorting. The point of the game was to win, not to laugh when the other person made a funny. “Oh, that must have been my instructor’s day off. Ice on the track, that’s nothing, when they really want to test your metal they cover the track in Crisco. The guy literally handed me a helmet with a skull sticker on the side and said death waits for us all, try not to let her catch you today.”

  “But they let you drive a car. Imagine showing up to the test and finding out you had to take it in the pope-mobile. Imagine the pressure. I had God looking over my shoulder the entire time.”

  I mean you couldn’t argue with that, nothing and no one drops the guilt bomb like God or Jesus. If I had a nickel for every time I wanted to do something fun and was told to think about what God would want me to do so I wouldn’t do it, I’d be a rich man. I mean when the lady hands you two lollipops, one of them isn’t for your Dad. She’s clearly just trying to give you a sugar high, and no, I don’t want to give up the other one. I want to eat both the damn lollipops.

  Since Holly decided to up her game, it was finally my chance to score a point. “Did you also have to peddle the car with your feet?” A Flintstones joke might not have been the ultimate comeback, but I was on shaky ground, and I just wanted to win once before we made it to Flag. I mean, it must have been her super DNA or something. There was no reason for me to feel inferior. By normal human male standards I thought I was doing pretty well.

  Seriously, it wasn’t my fault Holly was wicked smart and tactically sound. I was just some over obsessed video game nerd the Hilltop picked up because they thought my knack for sensing trouble before it happened was worth exploiting. Not that I was complaining. Before the world turned to shit I was making good money, and Garfield ran me through enough training that I was in damn good shape. In good enough shape to fight off the apocalypse, at least I hoped so.

  The Bronco kept rumbling north on New River Road, but eventually it started to curve back toward the West. It wouldn’t be long now until we faced the moment of truth. Would we be able to get on the highway again or was our journey going to end there? Whatever happened I was ready to face it, even if the reaper himself was waiting for us. If I was going to die tonight, at least I had good company.

  Casting a nervous glance back in the mirror, I asked, “We’re getting close to the freeway now. How’s the gear looking?”

  Holly popped her head up over the back seat. “I’ve got everything redistributed. If we’re in a hurry, get the red and black bags first. If there is time or you have enough strength, take whatever else you can.”

  “Red and black, that’s easy enough to remember.” Despite how easy it seemed, I repeated the colors to myself over and over again. If we had to run, I wasn’t going to make a mistake.

  Holly slithered over the seats and somehow squeezed back into the front without jostling me at all. “How long?”

  “Just a few more minutes until the freeway, then an hour and half or so to Flagstaff.”

  “I’m starting to think we might just pull this off.” Holly said with a grin.

  “I know what you mean.” I was trying to feel optimistic too. Still, there was a voice in the back of my head telling me to be ready, that our adventure wasn’t over just yet.

  The streetlights by the freeway were like a beacon. I was swaying from overly optimistic to soul-crushing despair with each breath. The lights would either reveal the end of the road or the beginning of one. With the necrotics being this widespread, it wouldn’t surprise me if law enforcement was in more of a shoot first, ask questions later mood. That was if there was any law enforcement left. If the cops were out, the freeway made a logical place to head off anyone fleeing the city. We’d be sitting ducks if anyone was waiting.

  The lights continued to get brighter, and I felt Holly tense beside me. I knew exactly how she felt. My fingers were itching to be wrapped around the grip of my trusty Desert Eagle instead of the steering wheel, but I wanted both hands in place if things got rough. We made the gentle right hand turn onto the ramp, and then I pumped the brakes.

  Two cars had been pulled across the street to block access to the freeway. I didn’t see anyone moving around, but there were enough shadows to hide behind that my not seeing anyone didn’t mean much. Flipping the brights on didn’t reveal anything new. Glancing over at Holly I asked, “You think the exit ramp looks any better?”

  Holly studied the two cars in front of us for a moment. “I doubt it.” She pointed at the cars in the street. “This wasn’t an accident; someone put these here deliberately.”

  “Let’s just hope whoever put them here isn’t here now or at the very least won’t be back until we are long gone.” I looked at the makeshift blockade and wondered if the Bronco could pull one of the cars out of the way. There was a winch on the front, and it wouldn’t hurt to try.

  “Do you think the winch on this thing is strong enough to pull one of those cars out of the way?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Holly replied as she flung her door open and stepped out into the night. I don’t see why not.”

  I watched as she grabbed the hook from the winch and ran toward the cars. One of her guns was out, but there still wasn’t any movement. I checked the mirrors as Holly bent down to secure the hook underneath the car. It was all I could do to keep my eyes on something besides Holly’s well-lit ass as she wiggled to get the hook in place. Hey, it wasn’t my fault, the brights lit her up like a model at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

  Holly jogged back to the Bronco and tapped her hand against the hood. Instead of using the winch itself to try and pull the car back to us, I locked it in place before putting the Bronco in reverse. I moved us back slowly until the steel wire was taut, and then I started applying more pressure to the gas. The car just stared back at me, the front bumper might as well have been the Cheshire cat’s smile as it refused to budge.

  I let my foot off the gas, popped the Bronco into first, and moved us a few feet closer. I looked over at Holly and smiled. This was going to be so cool. I mean how often did you get the chance to do this. “You ready.”

  Holly snickered. “Don’t be such a drama llama, hit the gas already.”

  The Bronco roared as I thrust the shifter into reverse and slammed my foot on the gas. We rolled back for all of a second and then came to a halt. I looked over at Holly, and she mouthed the words floor it, so I let it rip. The car in front of us started to wiggle, and then it slid forward, sparks shooting from the rims as I dragged it back on flat tires. Slowly I angled the Bronco so I could create the gap we needed to get on the road. The Bronco’s engine grumbled with the strain, but after another minute or so the gap was big enough for us to fit through.

  When I stopped, Holly darted back outside and unhooked the cable from the car. With all the noise we had just made it was easy for me not to keep my eyes glued to Holly’s assets this time. The dead seemed to like noise, and nothing was more important than keeping Holly safe. Granted she had her gun out again, and if I knew one thing about her, it was that she could handle herself well in a fight. That and she sure knew how to use those nine millimeters.

  Holly plucked the hook free and tossed it to the ground as she stood up. Jogging back to the Bronco, she smiled. She was right, this felt pretty good. We were
almost there, and then maybe we could put this situation right. I hit the button for the wench and then started going through the AM radio stations.

  The winch finished winding in the metal wire, and I put the Bronco back in gear and snapped the radio off. We pulled onto the freeway and started our trip north in earnest. “That went better than expected.”

  “Tell me about it. The whole time I was out there I kept waiting for something to grab me.” Holly looked in the rearview mirror. “I still can’t believe it was that easy.”

  I was starting to smile. “We were due for a bit of good luck.” The empty freeway stretched out in front of us, and I started to speed up. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  We’d been driving for about fifteen minutes when Holly’s head tilted to the side the same way my dog Basil’s did when she thought she heard something outside. Thirty seconds later I heard it too. Fuck, it was the one sound I hoped not to hear. Holly met my eyes and nodded once, and I knew we were both hearing the same thing. The only thing we could control now was how long we had before they caught up to us.

  The Bronco’s engine roared as I pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The further we made it down the I-17 before the helicopter caught us would save us hours on foot. That was if we could get away. It was one thing to outrun a few cops, it was another to try and get away from a chopper and a radio. All I knew was that we weren’t going to stop. It was Flagstaff or bust, baby, and we were going all the way.

  My fingers tightened on the wheel, and I started to grin as I looked up into the sky. “Bring it on.”

  Chapter Two

  Max Meridious

  The spotlight danced across the freeway behind us. The single cone of light seemed brighter than the sun. The bad news was no matter how fast I pushed the Bronco there was no way we could outrun a helicopter. My singular focus was only to get us as far down the I-17 as possible before we had to run for it. The way I was pushing Bob’s Bronco that moment might not be far off. The dial on the dash showed the engine temp was steadily climbing. Bob’s special lady was one hell of a ride, but she certainly wasn’t built for going over a hundred miles an hour for a sustained period of time.