Chapter 34
Chaos Reigns
Olivia
The first arrow I let loose finds its target and lodges itself into the skull of the zombie to my left. It drops to the ground like stone and I move onto my next target as Bean gallops toward the front gate.
As I near the gate, several guards from the camp race up the road.
They skid to a halt and stare in horror at the battle raging between the living and the dead.
One guard recovers from his shock, spots me, and takes aim with his shotgun.
I wheel Bean around and barely dodge the shot, but the loud noise catches the attention of the zombies.
Most of the living have been turned, doubling the number of zombies. And they’re hungry for more. As one, over a dozen glowing predatory eyes turn to the guards seconds before they race toward them. The gate barely slows them down as they pour over it and dive at the guards.
More screams, shouts and gunshots fill the cold night air as the dead find their targets and attack.
Bones crack, limbs are ripped from bodies and skulls explode into bloody confetti.
The moon illuminates the horrifying sight, a silent witness to the carnage.
In the blink of an eye, the zombies decimate the number of guards and add more to their ranks.
Shit. If this keeps happening, we’re going to have a horde on our hands.
I turn Bean back around and fire more arrows at the zombies struggling with the gate. Alex, who’s just joined the party with Harlow, quickly dispatches the ones I miss.
He pauses once the zombies at the gate are dead and watches the horror show beyond the gate. “That’s going to be a really big problem.”
I wince. “Yeah. We should deal with it before it gets worse.” It really sucks being future Ollie sometimes.
While Alex sets about opening the gate, I hop off Bean and collect my arrows from the dead zombies. After cleaning and checking for damage, I shove them back into my quiver and remount as the gate swings open. Just in time for more guards to join the fray.
The added manpower turns the tide of the fight and whittles down the number of zombies until there’s only a few left.
However, the guards took heavy damages and those that remain look worse for wear, panting and covered in blood and gore.
Seeing this as our best chance to get rid of the remaining guards, I urge Bean into a gallop toward them.
Arrow after arrow flies from my bow as I use the open space on either side of the road to manoeuvre Bean. I block out the screams of agony from the guards as my arrows find their marks and focus on survival. I can freak out later once everyone is safe.
Alex joins the fight with his pistol, shooting anything that moves with devastating accuracy. Harlow stays by his side, barking and growling at anything that comes close to him. Even Ketchup has joined in, dive-bombing the guards to hinder their aim whenever they try to shoot.
It’s going so well I don’t notice the guard sneaking up on me until it’s too late.
He grabs my arm as I ride past, causing me to lose my balance and slide from the saddle. His body breaks my fall and there’s a slight flare of pain as my temple collides with his chin. Beneath me, the guard grunts and wheezes out a curse before an arm snakes around my neck and cuts off my air.
I gasp and struggle against him as panic surges inside me.
But I can’t get the leverage to loosen his hold on my neck.
Spots dance in my vision, my lungs scream for air and blood pounds in my ears.
Everything feels so sluggish, my arms weighed down until I can barely lift them and my struggles become pitiful.
My hands drops and my palm brushes against something rounded and hard; the handle of my knife.
The same knife Andy gave to me after telling me to use the correct weapon for the job.
The memory flits across my mind and, before I know it, my hand wraps around the hilt of the blade.
It takes serious effort to slide it from the sheathe as the edges of my vision darken.
I’m going to pass out any second if I don’t do something.
With my head swimming and my body screaming for air, I tighten my grip and slam the knife into the body below me. There’s a bellow behind me as the blade sinks into the side of my target and the arm around my neck loosens. Sweet, sweet air rushes into my lungs as I gulp in as much oxygen as I can.
“You fucking bitch!” the guard howls as I twist the knife still stuck in his side.
I yank the knife free of his body and slam it back into him. He shrieks in pain, his hold on me disappearing as he tries to snatch the knife from me. I don’t let him. Instead, I roll off him with my bloody knife still clutched in my hand like a lifeline and see my attacker for the first time.
Two vicious stab wounds on his side pour blood onto the ground below him, saturating the grass. The guard writhes and gurgles in pain, his trembling hands failing to stem the flow of blood until he eventually falls still.
My entire body aches, my head throbs, and my throat is on fire. All I want to do is curl up into a ball and cry, but I force myself to move. I grab my bow, wipe the knife on the dead man’s clothes and shove it back into its sheathe. As I push myself onto my feet, I look for my horse.
Bean stands in the corner of the field, tense and watchful, but not spooking. Thank fuck. Last thing I need is to have to chase a bolting horse in the middle of a fight. I stumble over to her and rub the mare’s neck soothingly before grabbing the reins and heaving myself onto her back.
Glancing around, I realise the fight is almost over, with only two guards and Alex remaining. Harlow is still at his side, snarling as the guards turn towards Alex. Alex doesn’t hesitate. He puts both guards down with two well-placed bullets before his eyes seek mine.
“You okay?” he asks as he strides toward me.
I swallow hard and nod, wincing at the rawness of my throat.
His eyes drop to my throat and harden. “What the fuck happened?” he demands as he closes the distance between us to glare at my neck.
“A guard caught me off-guard and yanked me out of the saddle.”
“The fucker better be dead,” he growls as he reaches up to brush his fingers over my bruised throat.
“He is.” My eyes dart over to where he lies dead in the grass.
Alex follows my gaze to the dead body and nods. “Good, he deserved it.”
I move my gaze from the corpse and grimace at the sight of all the dead bodies.
Yet more people to add to my kill count.
Even though the guards tonight were eager to kill me and those I cared about, there’s still a sliver of guilt in my gut from my lack of regret.
Sleeping tonight is going to suck, but that’s another future Ollie problem.
“We should get moving,” I say, desperate to see Rhys and Theo and make sure they’re still alive.
I wheel Bean around and urge her into an easy canter down the road.
The fight is still going strong in the camp, with screams, gunshots and inhuman moans echoing in the freezing night air.
At the bottom of the road, I spot more zombies spilling into the camp from the forest. Their inhuman eyes glow in the darkness as they relentlessly hunt for their prey.
I slow Bean to a trot and take out a few before they can clear the trees, but more dart out and race behind cover before I can take a shot.
Behind me, gunshots ring out and glancing over my shoulder, I see Alex striding down the road after me.
He looks badass as fuck as he fires shots at anything that gets close to him while a snarling Harlow protects his back.
On his other side, Ketchup dive bombs anything that moves and claws at them with her talons.
Apparently, Alex has replaced me as the resident Disney Princess.
Shots to my left catch my attention and I turn, almost falling off the saddle as relief rushes over me.
Rhys and Theo are firing at guards and zombies alike, both looking uninjured.
Although in the low light, I can see a dark stain on Rhys’s shoulder.
He must have ripped out some of his stitches.
But that doesn’t seem to slow him at all as he fires several shots from his rifle at two zombies who were rushing toward them.
I ride over toward them. “Thank fuck you guys are okay,” I shout as I slow Bean to a halt. During the chaos of the fight at the gate, I couldn’t afford to worry about Theo and Rhys. But seeing them mostly unharmed is a massive weight off my shoulders.
Theo gives me a wide smile. “Good to see you’re okay too, baby.” His smile dims and turns into concern when she sees the side of my face and the state of my clothes. “What the fuck happened to your face? Is any of that blood yours?”
Rhys is marching up to me in seconds. “Answer him, princess,” he demands, his amber eyes scanning over me as if trying to find more injuries.
“It’s, uh, a long story,” I say with a grimace as I shift in the saddle.
I just know that once they hear my idiotic plan to encourage the guards to shoot at me, they’re going to be pissed. “But long story short, a guard shot at me and it hit a nearby tree. Nothing to worry about.” Thank fuck it’s dark and they can’t see the bruising around my neck from being strangled.
Rhys practically growls at my explanation. “We’re discussing this later.” He shoots me a look that promises pain if I don’t obey before turning his attention to the surrounding chaos.
The camp looks like a bomb went off; blood, body parts, and corpses are strewn across the fields and concrete. Most of the guards are dead, leaving only zombies running around as more emerge from the forest. Although their numbers are rapidly dwindling thanks to the captives that joined our side.
Rhys shakes his head. “What the fuck did you do to cause this?”
“Uh, another long story, but it’s mostly the zombies’ fault.”