Hamsikker 2 (21 page)

“Gabe. Stop the van,” said Jonas.

The van continued to speed up, and nobody said anything.

“Gabe. I’m not asking you. I’m telling you, stop. You saw what just happened, right?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, that. No harm, no foul, right? No, I’m not stopping. We have a plan to stick to, or had you forgotten about Canada?”

Jonas looked at Gabe. He was smiling. He was actually smiling.

“Gabe, just what are you doing? When you stop this van, I’m going to kill you.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“You son of a bitch, have you forgotten what’s going on? Seems you’re confusing right and wrong. You’d be dead if it wasn’t for me, and this is how you repay us?” Jonas remembered his promise to Dakota. As much as he wanted to, he just couldn’t kill Gabe. But he could cut him off. Send him packing and resume control of the group. They didn’t leave people to die, that wasn’t their style. Gabe was different. He lived by his own rules, and he wasn’t fitting in with the group anymore.

“Really?” Javier passed Rose the gun, and told her to point it at Hamsikker. “Say that again. You were going to, what, kill me?”

Jonas looked at the gun. “Gabe, I know it’s not loaded, so stop playing games. This is ridiculous.” Jonas wasn’t afraid. He didn’t believe even if it was loaded that Mara would shoot him. “Mara, don’t be a fool. Gabe’s lost it. Surely you can see that? He may as well have killed that girl with his own hands. I had her.
I had her
. Look, we’ve got no beef with you. You can stay with us. We can help you. We can protect you.”

Rose stroked a hand across Javier’s cheek and cocked the gun.

“You’re going to protect me?” Rose sneered. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“Now listen up,” said Mrs. Danick. “I’ve just about had enough of you. Put down that gun you silly girl, and…”

Rose pulled the trigger, and the sound of the gun firing was deafening. Blood splattered Jonas’s face. Screams and shouting erupted around the van, and Jonas looked around. He hadn’t been hit. By rights, he should be dead, but then he saw blood pouring over Mrs. Danick, and her face had gone a deathly white.

“Put…it…” Mrs. Danick passed out, and Dakota screamed as Rose began to giggle.

“Mara, put that gun down.” Jonas wiped Mrs. Danick’s blood from his face. Quinn and Dakota were tending to her. Something terrible was happening, and before things got any more out of control, he had to make Mara see sense. “Listen, I know you didn’t mean that. It was an accident, right? You didn’t know there was a bullet left in the chamber.”

“Sure. An accident.” Rose couldn’t stop smiling. “Trust me, I’ve plenty more bullets where that came from. Keep pushing, Hamsikker, and you’ll find out exactly how many.” Finally she had the power. Finally, she would be in charge. Javier had trusted her with the gun, and…

Rose flinched away as she caught sight of Javier’s hand coming at her from the side of her eye, but she was too late. The back of his hand swept across her face with a sharp sting, and the shock of it took her breath away.

“I told you to take the gun, not to start shooting the place up. What
was
that?”

Rose was shaking. She had been so exhilarated when she’d shot Mrs. Danick, and she thought Javier would be proud of her. She looked at him, but he wasn’t smiling. He looked angry. He looked angrier than she’d seen in a long time.

“I thought…I just thought I…”

Javier hit her again, and Rose fought back the tears. Her breaths came in short, sharp gasps. “I just thought…”

Javier hit her a third time. Her cheeks were glowing bright red, and her eyes were watery. She wouldn’t cry, no matter what. She had messed up. She could see that now.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. Slowly she reached out a hand to touch Javier. Her fingers brushed his shoulder before tenderly rubbing the warm back of his neck. “I’m sorry.”

“Now, for once, just do what I ask. Don’t start your shit up again. I’m not in the mood.”

Javier swung the van around a corner in the road, and they were free of Utica.

“What a backwater shithole that place was,” said Javier. “Okay, here’s the deal. From now on, you guys keep quiet. I don’t want to hear a peep from any of you unless I speak to you.”

“What should I do?” asked Rose.

“Keep the gun on them. Just try not to shoot anyone else. If you do have to shoot anyone, make sure it’s a head shot. The last thing we need is a zombie slipping around inside this damn van.”

“Jonas, we need to stop. If we don’t do something she’s going to bleed out.” Dakota was pressing a dirty rag onto Mrs. Danick’s shoulder, but blood was still seeping through.

Jonas felt like he had slipped into a parallel universe, a warped version of reality which was already freaky enough without adding a couple of psychos into the mix. Gabe and Mara were acting like Mickey and Mallory. It wasn’t real. They had to see what they were doing was crazy. Jonas could see Mrs. Danick sat behind him, with her blood all over Dakota. Her eyes were closed, and it looked as if she was dead. This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening.

“Jonas, she’s been hit in the shoulder. She’s still alive, but we need to do something quickly.”

Jonas could see Dakota was serious. Her eyes were full of fear, not for herself, but for Mrs. Danick. Jonas looked at Quinn. She looked scared. He looked at Erik who was holding his wife and daughter. There were no answers, just questions. What was going on?

Erik looked angry, and he leant forward. “You get the chance, you kill them,” he whispered.

“No talking. You think I don’t know you’re planning something back there,” said Rose. “One more word out of you, and I’ll blow your brains out.”

Jonas stared ahead, trying to figure things out. He kept wondering when things had gone wrong. What had happened to make Gabe flip out like this? Whatever it was, he sure had Mara convinced too. Why would she put up with him beating her like that?

“Mara, talk to me,” said Jonas. He kept his voice low, and his eyes fixed on her. He thought maybe he could make her see sense. He tried to take on a soothing tone. He didn’t want to come across as threatening. “Mara, we look out for each other, that’s what we do. There’s really no need for this. Whatever it is you want, or Gabe wants, we can help. We can…”

“Shut the fuck up. Seriously, just, like, listen to me, and shut up. I need to think. Jesus.” Javier hit the driving wheel, and looked across at Rose. “One more word out of Hamsikker, and you have my permission to shoot him.”

Jonas sighed. For now, he was going to have to do things their way. He still thought there was time to retrieve the situation. Gabe might come round. Mara was following his every word, but that didn’t mean she would follow his every order.

Jonas looked back at Dakota. Mrs. Danick’s breathing was shallow, but she was still alive. How long would she be able to hold on? There was little they could do right now, and Jonas hoped that Gabe would hurry up with what whatever it was that he was thinking about.

The land around them changed, and as they left Utica behind, Jonas saw less chance of finding any other survivors. That poor girl had been the only one lately who had even come close to living. She had been so scared when she’d fallen. She offered no threat, so why had Gabe cast her aside like that? The cracking sound of her head breaking still reverberated around his head. He could see her being pulled apart, still fighting for her life even as the zombies ripped her body open. Gabe had to answer for that. It wasn’t fair. The girl had probably been squirrelled away all summer, waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the right moment to escape. And just when it seemed like she had made it, just when she thought she could relax, and she felt the touch of another human, the warmth in Jonas’s hands, salvation had been snatched away from her. Her death echoed around Jonas’s head, and the pictures of her last moments of agony refused to die.

They drove past fields full of dead corn and dried up wheat that no longer served any purpose. Now and again a zombie stumbled into the road, and sometimes Jonas saw small groups of them, pockets of the dead on street corners or scavenging in the fields. He saw a whole herd of slaughtered pigs, their skin flayed from their bodies, and zombies munching on the pigs’ carcasses with relish. He kept looking, hoping he might see some sign of life, but all he found were the dead. The zombies ruled the world now.

He tried to think if they had anything left with which to overpower Gabe and Mara, but they had precious little. He still had his axe, and Erik the hammer, but he was quite sure that was all. Evidently Gabe had been holding onto the gun with good reason, hiding the fact he still had some ammo; wrestling it from Mara was out of the question. He couldn’t afford to take the risk and get someone else shot. Quite what Gabe’s motives were, Jonas didn’t know, but at some point they would have to stop. Gabe wouldn’t be able to drive them all the way to Canada, and when they stopped he would take his chance.

“How far from the border are we?” asked Gabe.

Erik sighed. “A long way. Couple of day’s drive easily. Depends on a lot of things, but we haven’t even reached the Mississippi yet. I assume you’re trying to get to the Interstate?”

“None of your business. Not yet.” Javier slammed on the brakes, and they came skidding to a halt. “Shit a brick.”

“What’s up?” asked Rose.

“Road-block.” Javier sighed and unbuckled. “Nothing we can’t handle. Right, Hamsikker?” Javier turned around and looked at Jonas with a glint in his eye. “You’ve still got that precious axe of yours, right? So get your ass out here, and help me.”

Javier jumped out of the van and pulled the Pulaski out from under his seat. He pointed at Rose. “Stay here. Hamsikker’s coming with me. Anyone else moves, kill them.”

Jonas slid the van door back. Dakota squeezed his shoulder as he picked up the axe, and he got out of the van.

“I’ll be fine. Whatever it is, I’m sure we can handle it. Stay here.”

He hated leaving her, but there was no point arguing. Plus there may be an opportunity to take Gabe down. That was something he was not going to miss.

“What’s going on?” asked Quinn. “This is such a crock. Just let us out. Mara? Are you listening to me?”

Rose frowned. She could shoot Quinn now, but it was too simple. She wanted to take her time. There wasn’t really enough time to do anything now, not with Javier absent. She was going to have to bide her time. Rose raised a finger to her lips.

“Shush.” Rose drew her gun from left to right across the van and watched as they all recoiled when the gun was trained on them. Quinn, Dakota, Erik, and Pippa: they all flinched when she pointed it at them. Finally, she left the gun in her hand pointed at Freya. The girl was the last person she’d shoot, but the others didn’t know that. “We wait here. No talking. One word, and Freya bites a bullet.”

“Animal,” muttered Erik. He pulled Freya into him, trying to shield her from Mara, but knowing there was little he could do to stop a bullet should she shoot.

* * *

“I hope you’ve got a plan,” said Jonas. He was looking at the road ahead of them, with Javier at his side.

They’d stopped at a bridge that crossed the Illinois River. It had to be twenty or thirty feet across and was full of zombies. An overturned garbage truck at one end barred their way, and a pile up at the other meant they were trapped.

“There’s no way round,” said Javier plainly. “I’m not backtracking. It could cost us hours looking for the next bridge. Plus, we’re way too close to Chicago. If we get stuck on the wrong road and head east, we’re going to find exactly the same thing except a hundred times bigger. We’re best to clear this now.”

“Even if we take all the zombies down, which isn’t going to be easy, by the way, we still have to get around the vehicles. You think we can squeeze past them?”

“At a push. There’s room if we use the sidewalk. The zombies are too stupid to figure it out. But we’re going to have to take it slow, and with all those zombies in there, they could easily overwhelm us. Too many get in front of the van, and we’d be stuck. No, our best option is to kill as many as we can, get back to the van, and mosey along.”

Jonas reckoned there to be over fifty zombies. The cars that littered the bridge should spread them out thinly, giving them enough time to take them on. It evened up the odds a little. Still, armed with just one axe, it was daunting having to face so many.

“You know, we’d be able to so this a lot quicker if we used the gun. I’ll take both axes, you use the gun, and…”

“Oh, please, I’m not stupid, Hamsikker. I give you this axe, and you’ll start getting ideas above your station. No, we do this my way. One weapon each. You go ahead, and I’ll follow.”

“Oh, yeah, well I’m not stupid either, Gabe.” Jonas knew full well that Gabe would leave him hanging and had no intention of going out there first. He didn’t doubt any longer that Gabe had let Terry die. The man had flipped out. “We clear this together. Side by side.”

“Need I remind you who’s in charge here? Get out there, Hamsikker, and stop delaying. Those crispy zombies are waiting.”

“Gabe, I’m not going out there alone.”

“Hamsikker,” said Javier quietly. “I didn’t want to bring this up, but, you know, I kind of feel like you’re forcing my hand here.”

Jonas could hear the dead banging on the vehicles ahead, walking into them, trying to find a way out. The longer they delayed this, the more chance they would bring more of the dead with the noise they made. “What are you talking about? Look, we need to…”

“I know what you think. Back off. Run away. But if we go back, then we end up losing yet more time. I can’t do that. I
won’t
do that.”

“If you think I’m going to stroll up there and start taking them on without any support, you’re even crazier than I thought. You want me to do this? Well I’m telling you we need to do it together.” Jonas was exasperated.