Siege (As the World Dies 3)

As expected, the helicopter drew the dead out and toward them. Some staggered, some crawled, and a few did a weird little skip, but none ran.

The older they got, the slower they were.

“I hate this,” Greta hissed.

As the rotors slowed, Kevin thought briefly of that zombie movie where a zombie had the top of his head whacked off by the blades.

“I got four on this side,” Thomas said.

“I got nine,” Valerie responded.

“They should be out here with a vehicle in a few,” Kevin assured his people.

Then the zombies began to fall. One by one, a plume of bone and brain exploded out of their heads and they slumped to the ground.

“Snipers?” Valerie looked shocked.

The zombies kept falling and Kevin said, “Shit. Dead on aim. ”

Greta watched through the window and looked toward Kevin. “Think they got military here?”

“They didn’t say anything,” Kevin answered.

Another zombie tumbled to the ground as more appeared from the side streets.

“We’re drawing a crowd,” Valerie said, her voice growing tense.

Suddenly jets of flame exploded up out of the street and sent the zombies into retreat, some of them on fire.

“Fire traps,” Thomas said with a grin. “Bad ass. ”

A civilian version of the Hummer came racing around the corner at top speed. It ran over a few of the crawling zombies then roared up to the helicopter.

“Out,” Kevin ordered.

They slid the doors open and leaped to the ground. Racing toward the Hummer, they saw more zombies falling near the edge of the lot. Piling into the Hummer, they sat in amazement as country music flooded their ears.

“Hi,” a woman with bright red hair said. “Hold on. ”

She floored the vehicle and the Hummer flew over the ground, smashing into a few zombies, before the woman whipped the wheel around and headed back toward the hotel.

“My name is Katarina,” she said.

The Hummer hit an old man zombie and sent the creature’s broken body careening off into a tree.

“First Lieutenant Kevin Reynolds,” Kevin said as he held onto the dashboard.

The Hummer turned sharply and slid through an opening in the wall.

Kevin briefly glimpsed heavy metal gates beginning to slide closed as they breached the perimeter. A few zombies tried to enter, but jets of flame erupting from the ground sent them fleeing. The Hummer was in a lock of some kind with another set of gates closed in front of them. Once the gates behind them closed, he watched as a man and woman on the wall extended long poles with mirrors on the ends and examined under the Hummer. Satisfied, they signaled and the second gate opened.

“You are all civilians?” Valerie finally asked.

“Except for Nerit,” Katarina answered. “She was a sniper for the Israeli army. ”

Kevin blinked as the gate opened to reveal a large courtyard. A block down, garage doors were open into the bottom half of a building.

A tall handsome man stood with a pregnant blond and an older woman.