Broken Lands (Benny Imura 6)

Before Alethea could reply, there was a thud that shook the wall, and they hurried to the edge and looked down.

The first wave of the dead had arrived. They were not ravagers, but they were faster than shamblers and had outpaced the rest. There were a dozen of them, men and women, ragged and wild. They didn’t moan but instead snarled like wildcats as they leaped at the wall, clawing at it for handholds, falling, slipping, trying again, relentless. Sombra snarled and barked.

Gutsy had come to the wall prepared for a fight. She had a dozen different clubs, including a crowbar. She understood enough about physics to know that hitting downward gave her extra force because of gravity; and the dead had to use their hands to climb. Waiting, though, was hard. Some of the tower guards were firing, but she saw half the bullets miss.

“Aim!” yelled Gutsy. “Pick your targets. Conserve your ammunition.”

If any of the adults on the wall heard her, they gave no indication and kept firing wildly. A moment later Karen’s voice rang out.

“You heard her,” she roared, and added some curses that made Spider grin despite his terror. Karen gave Gutsy a nod and turned away to organize more of the defense.

“At least she doesn’t treat you like a dumb kid,” said Spider.

“No, she doesn’t care that you’re a kid,” amended Alethea. “That’s better.”

The shamblers were almost to the town now. Gutsy looked down at the people in the streets. Most milled around as if they had no idea where they were. She saw plenty of people she knew well and some she saw only in passing. Some of her friends from school were down there.

So was Alice.

Despite every wrong thing in the world, despite her own fear, Gutsy’s heart skipped a happy beat when Alice looked up and their eyes met. Alice wore jeans and a white blouse embroidered with flowers, as if this was any other evening in town. She might have been on her way to the general store or to hang out at the library. Her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she held a spade shovel in her small hands.

Alice smiled up at her and gave the shovel a strong shake, as if promising to fight like a hero. Gutsy lit up and returned the smile. Then suddenly one of the tower guards screamed and toppled backward from his post. Gutsy whirled, and only then, like an afterthought, she heard the crack of a rifle.

“Where did that come from?” she asked,

and Spider pointed with his staff. Down there on the wrong side of the wall was a knot of ravagers armed with rifles. That thought made Gutsy feel faint.

“It’s too much,” she said, but only loud enough for her own ears to hear it. “It’s too much.” As if in agreement, she heard people screaming behind her. Men and women. Children, too.

And then the dead reached the top of the wall and the Battle of the Alamo began in earnest.

85

FOUR QUADS RACED ACROSS THE plain in a straight line.

They had watched the zoms approaching the town of New Alamo and had stood helpless, their minds shocked into blank canvases.

Chong finally said, “We’re too late.”

“Yes,” said Nix. She looked stricken.

“There are too many of them,” said Lilah.

When Benny said nothing, they glanced at him. Nix frowned.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Oh God,” said Chong. “I think he has an idea.”

“Maybe,” said Benny.

“We won’t like it, will we?” Nix asked.

“Not even a little bit.”

He reminded them of the last thing the dying soldier had told him. Chong gaped at him. “Let me get this straight: You want us to find the entrance to a tunnel?”

“Yes.”