Allie nodded and then both girls slid out of the back.
"Who"s with you?" asked Nora, trying to catch a glimpse of the two people in front. The windows were so dark she could barely see their silhouettes.
Neither girl said anything, just stared at her with fear in their eyes.
Not good.
"Um, why don"t you girls run into the house and I"ll just thank your ride, personally."
Just then the front pa.s.senger door opened up and the dirt-bag, Travis, stepped out of the SUV.
"Well, well, well...we meet again," he laughed. "How delightful. Well, I"ll bet you didn"t expect this happy reunion when you woke up this morning."
"Get into the house, girls," said Nora, raising her voice. "Now!"
"Tisk, tisk," said Travis, walking up to her as the girls started running towards the porch. "I don"t know about you but I don"t think that"s the right way to greet someone who has just returned your friends."
"You a.s.shole," she growled, raising her ax. "Get the h.e.l.l out of here or I"ll chop off one of your hands and make sure you never start another fire as long as you live."
"Oh, scary," he giggled, mocking her with his hands waving in the air.
Just when she was about to take a swing and relieve some of her anger, the sound of groans and snarls caught their attention and they both turned towards the street.
"Oh my G.o.d," she gasped, staring in horror.
Hundreds of zombies had turned the corner of the street and were moving towards them through the pouring rain.
Travis smiled and clapped his hands. "Ah...some of my lovely minions have arrived to a.s.sist me. Oh, this is going to be fun to watch."
Nora turned and ran to the front door when Tiny opened it from the inside.
"What"s happening?" he asked. "Who"s our new friend?"
"He"s not a friend and look," she pointed towards the zombies. "We"ve got some major problems."
He swore and then turned around. "Kristie! Get my gun!"
"Oh, you"re going to need more than that," chuckled Travis, stepping onto the porch.
Furious, Nora turned around and launched herself at Travis.
"Foolish mortal," he growled, catching her by the throat. "You just don"t learn, do you?"
Nora"s face turned red as he lifted her into the air and flung her down the steps and onto the gra.s.s.
Tiny, after shaking off his initial shock, rushed Travis, but found himself slammed back into the door with such force that he slid down to his b.u.t.t.
"What in the h.e.l.l is going on out here?!" hollered Kristie, now standing over him by the door. "Oh my G.o.d, Nora, are you okay?" She looked down at Tiny. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing, Tiny? Your pants are getting wet and dirty."
Nora stood up and grabbed her ax. "I will be great when I kill this freak."
"You can"t kill me, girl," scoffed Travis. "Look, people, just give me the infant and this will all go away."
Tiny stood up and grabbed the gun out of Kristie"s hands. "That"s it, brother, get the h.e.l.l off of this property or I"ll shoot your a.s.s to the curb."
Travis smiled. "Tell you what- I will leave and even take my army with me if you give up the child."
Kristie and Tiny stared at each other and then at the large crowd of zombies that were nearing the edge of the gra.s.s.
Kristie looked at Travis. "Your army?"
He turned towards the zombies. "Yeah, I know, they aren"t exactly the most pristine of soldiers but they"re all I have at the moment."
Tiny raised the gun. "Listen, I don"t know what the h.e.l.l is going on here, but you"d better turn it around and get back into that SUV."
Travis sighed. "Very well. I guess we"re going to have to do things the hard way. No worries, though. I always enjoy watching other people"s blood being spilled."
"From where I"m standing, it looks like yours is the only one that"s going to be spilled," said Tiny, c.o.c.king the gun. "Now, move it."
"Tiny, with your determination and biceps, I"m quite certain that you"d make an impressive a.s.sistant, since the position appears to be open again. Tell me," he wrinkled his nose, "Are you a n.o.ble man?"
"d.a.m.n straight."
"So I take it you"re a Christian? A believer?"
"Of G.o.d? Certainly, just like I believe you"re going to be meeting him very soon if you don"t get your a.s.s off of this porch."
"Pity. Well," he said turning around and lifting his hand in the air. "Let the bloodshed commence!"
The zombies, who"d been eerily waiting on the street, lurched forward towards the house.
"Lord Almighty, would you look at that?!" gasped Henry as we turned the corner to my grandparent"s street. Hundreds of zombies were gathered around the house, trying to get in and there was a black SUV parked in front of the house.
"That guy is definitely after Adria," I said, holding on to the seat as Bryce whipped around the block to the back alley.
"We have to get them out of that house before they find a way in. There"s too many zombies."
We pulled up to the garage and all of us jumped out of the van with our weapons.
"Here," said Bryce, tossing Justice a wrench. "You"re going to need it."
I threw open the gate by the garage, ran down the concrete steps and rushed to the back door just as the zombies broke through the side-gate.
"Wild!" hollered Bryce. "Get into the house!"
The backdoor was locked and I began pounding on it. "Kristie! Tiny!"
"Get back you creeps!" yelled Paige, swinging her bat at the zombies barreling towards us. As the metal hit pay-dirt, I could hear Bryce and Henry emptying their shotguns into the crowd of dead.
"Oh, thank G.o.d!" cried Kristie, swinging the door open.
"Stand back girls!" hollered Tiny as he ran past us and launched himself at the zombies.
"We have to get Adria out of here," I said to Kristie as she pulled me and Paige into the kitchen.
"I know," she said. "There"s a crazy lunatic out front who wants to take her away."
I looked past Kristie at Nora, who held Adria in her arms. "Is it Travis?"
"It sure is. Don"t worry," said Nora. "There is no way in h.e.l.l that I"m letting that monster have Adria."
More gunshots from outside.
"I have to get back out there and help kill those zombies," I said. "You guys get the baby ready for travel. Something tells me we don"t have a lot of time."
"Ca.s.sie!"
I turned to find my sister running towards me. She flung herself into my arms and I squeezed her tightly.
"What were you thinking?" I said, blinking back tears. "We could have lost you! Where"s Kylie?"
"Right here," said Kylie, stepping into the kitchen with a bag. "I grabbed some diapers and things for Adria."
"Hi Kylie," said Paige, giving her a quick hug. "You okay?"
"Yeah, although we"ve both been better. Listen, we have to leave before that demon takes Adria away."
Kristie sighed. "He"s not a demon." She looked at me. "She keeps insisting that weirdo outside is some kind of demon."
"Actually, I"m starting to think he is, too," I said.
Her eyebrows shot up. "What?"
"Yeah, mom, me too. Evidently this thing believes that Aria might be the "Chosen One"," said Paige.
"The "Chosen One"? Chosen for what?" asked Kristie, walking over to the baby.
"Chosen to save the world," replied Kylie, stepping closer to Nora. "The one that"s going to defeat Satan and save our souls."
Adria grinned as if she knew what we were talking about and we all stared at her.
Kristie cleared her throat. "Um-."
Just then, we heard a loud crash from the front of the house.
"Oh, my G.o.d, the zombies have already gotten in!" groaned Paige.
"Oh my G.o.d!" mimicked Travis, walking through the kitchen door. "Whatever will we do?!"
The baby stared at him, her lip began to tremble, and then she started to wail.
"Out Demon!" hollered Kristie, crossing her fingers together to form a "t".
"Seriously?" cried Travis, roaring with laughter.
"Get Adria out the back, quickly!" I yelled to Nora.
"Wow, would you look at this," said Travis, staring at all of us. "I"m kind of outnumbered here by women. I think we"d better remedy this situation."
He then snapped his fingers and Billie, who was no longer restrained, stumbled through the kitchen door.
"Billie!" cried Nora, reaching one of her hands towards him.
He didn"t answer.
I stared in horror, realizing that something was very wrong. Earlier today he was slightly pale but now his face was ashen, his eyes unfocused.
"Grab the child," ordered Travis.
Billie lurched towards Nora and we all tried blocking his path.
"Stop it, Billie!" I yelled, trying to push him back.
He growled and began snapping his teeth at me.
"Destroy them," demanded the Demon.
I stared at Billie in horror and realized that he was truly, gone. Nothing remained but the zombie who"d taken over his body.
"No!" cried Nora, noticing it too. The misery in her face was so heart-wrenching that I had to blink back tears.
"Nora, get Adria out of here!" I cried, trying to hold Billie"s face away from my skin. "The girls too!"
With a choked sob, Nora ran through the back of the house, followed by Kylie and Allie "That"s it," growled Travis. "Finish these three and meet me out back."
"I don"t think so," snarled Henry, stepping through the kitchen, his shotgun raised. "You ain"t meeting n.o.body but your friends in h.e.l.l, Slick."
Then he fired the gun, hitting Travis in the middle of his chest.
We all screamed as Travis fell backwards, a large b.l.o.o.d.y hole in the spot where he may or may not have had a heart.
"No way," whispered Paige. "Seriously, it can"t be that easy?"
I"m not sure what I expected, but it wasn"t the dead body lying in the middle of my grandparent"s kitchen.
Billie dropped to the ground and I kneeled next to him.