Dead America: Lowcountry | Book 3 | Lowcountry [Part 3] Read online

  DEAD AMERICA

  LOWCOUNTRY

  PART 3

  BY DEREK SLATON

  © 2021

  CHAPTER ONE

  Day Zero +2

  Dante laid on his makeshift cot that consisted of a beaten down comforter with some questionable stains on it and a musty knitted blanket that barely covered half of his body. Even though this was far from the Ritz Carlton, he was happy to have it.

  He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, his muscles still sore from the chaos of the previous day. Fighting, running, a high dive off of a perfectly good bridge. As he ran through the events in his head, rubbing his biceps to soothe them, he could see Grace’s terrified face as he grabbed Bailey and leapt from that bridge.

  Just hang in there, he thought, prayed. I’m going to figure out how to get to you.

  He gazed around the living room, where most of the crew slept soundly, or at least as soundly as they could given the accommodations. Lily sprawled on the couch, her shoulder length bleach blonde hair splayed across her face in an epic tangle. Bailey was tucked away in the corner, still wearing her vest from her work at the superstore. Cam and Phillip shared a blanket in the middle of the floor, occasionally tugging it back and forth to try and get some more coverage.

  He ran a hand down the puckered skin of his face, thinking darkly of the last time he’d seen Grace so terrified. The first time he’d thought he was going to lose her. He’d risked everything for her then, and he would do it again, a million times, to keep her safe.

  There was a shuffle on the front porch, and he sat up straight, heart pounding a mile a minute. He caught the shadow of someone outside and let out a deep breath of relief when he spotted an arm bringing a cigarette up to a face.

  Looks like Ace is up early, he thought, and pulled himself from the small mattress with a groan. He stretched his arms above his head, reveling in the crackle of his back as he relieved some of the tension in his muscles. He moved softly to the front door so he wouldn’t disturb anyone, and slipped out onto the porch, closing the door silently behind him.

  As he stepped forward, Ace jumped, nearly fumbling with his cigarette.

  “Goddamn Scarface,” he blurted, “you part ninja or something?”

  Dante cracked a smile. “I was the neighborhood hide and go seek champion four years running,” he said. “So I guess that counts.”

  “It must, because you quiet as hell,” Ace replied, and motioned for his companion to join him on the stairs. He moved his hunting rifle from the step next to him to make a spot.

  The sun had barely risen above the trees, painting the sprawling yard in a beautiful golden glow. Dante took a deep breath of the nice and crisp fall air, the light breeze hitting his face as he sidled up on the stairs.

  Ace pulled out his pack of cigarettes and flipped the top, holding it out to him, but he shook his head, politely holding up a hand.

  “So you sleep all right?” Ace asked, stuffing the pack back into his shirt pocket. “I know my place ain’t exactly set up to be a hotel, after all.”

  Dante chuckled. “Believe it or not, I’ve stayed in worse,” he admitted. “Learned the hard way hotels are like tattoos, you shouldn’t go for the budget option.”

  Ace laughed and shook his head, but sobered quickly at a rustle in the bushes. He tensed and put his hand on his rifle, eyes widening, but then a squirrel darted out from the leaves and he let out a deep breath of relief.

  “Man, we’re gonna be on edge for a while, aren’t we?” he asked, rubbing his forehead as he took a deep drag of his smoke.

  Dante nodded slowly, offering him a sad smile. “Afraid so,” he replied. “Still trying to process everything.”

  “You ain’t kidding,” Ace agreed. “When my neighbors would get drunk and start yelling at each other all hours of the night, I’d lay in bed swearing to myself that one of these days I was going to shoot those fuckers.” He clucked his tongue with a wet smack. “Kind of crazy I had to do that yesterday.”

  Dante clasped his hands together, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Amazing how quickly this illness spreads and turns people.”

  “Oh, they hadn’t turned into those things,” his companion drawled. “I just saw on the news that the world was going to shit and decided to take my shot.”

  Dante blinked at him with concern, his mouth slightly agape in shock.

  After a beat, Ace dissolved into laughter, shaking his head and slapping his thigh. “Holy shit Scarface, you thought I was serious?” he gasped through a gale of giggles. “Come on man, I got a mirror, I know damn well I don’t look that trustworthy!”

  His new friend joined in the contagious laughter, relief washing over him. “Man, I may be part ninja just rolling out of bed,” he said, “but my brain definitely needs coffee.”

  “Well, we’ll run up to the store here in a bit,” Ace replied. “But I want to ask you something first.”

  Dante’s brow furrowed. “Have at it,” he said.

  “You know I’m just fucking with you, right?” his companion asked, the smile gone from his face.

  Dante raised his eyebrow. “About shooting the neighbors?” he asked. “Yeah, I gathered that.”

  “Nah, I mean about calling you Scarface,” Ace replied, waving his hand in front of his face before taking another drag of his cigarette.

  The bigger man shrugged. “I mean, I don’t take any offense to it,” he assured him. “People handle the way I look differently, I don’t let it get to me.”

  “Nah man, it’s not like that. I don’t give a shit how you look,” Ace replied through a lungful of smoke, and then exhaled before flicking the butt into the yard. “I had this buddy from school, Scotty Sterling. We came up together from first grade with a few other boys. Just a bunch of holy terrors causing teachers to drink and rethink their life choices.” A ghost of a smile crossed his face at the memory, and then disappeared. “Well, as hard as we were on them, we were a lot harder on each other. Calling each other every name under the sun, pulling pranks, I mean you name it and we did it to each other. I swear, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve shit in a bag and threw it at a moving car, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be living in this place.”

  Dante smirked. “Nothing like the charm of that small town life,” he said.

  “You ain’t kidding,” Ace agreed with a chuckle. “Anyway, after high school, Scotty decided to join up and serve his country. That lasted all of about eighteen months. Guy got deployed and sent home after an IED fucked him up good. He was so bad he made you look like a beauty queen.”

  Dante spread his arms, motioning to his chest. “I mean, I do have a hell of a swimsuit body,” he joked.

  “As long as it ain’t a speedo,” Ace quipped.

  The bigger man grimaced and shook his head. “I think we have enough horror going on without that,” he replied, and then motioned for Ace to continue.

  “So Scotty gets back and me and the boys don’t really know how to act around him,” he said, leaning back on his hands. “I mean, we tried to be supportive and friendly, and definitely no bag bombs. Finally after about two weeks he snapped and laid into us. Turns out, ever since the attack, people had been treating him with kid gloves. Doctors, nurses, his family, and he was pissed that we were doing it too.” He shook his head. “Only thing he wanted was to be treated normally.” He held up a finger. “So, from that moment on, we mocked the hell out of him. Pulled pranks, called him shit, you name it. There was this one time about six months after he got back, he managed to snag a date.” He snickered before continuing, “He had just had another surgery on his leg
and was in a wheelchair for a bit. Well, he made the mistake of telling us what restaurant he was taking this pretty little thing to, so we took it upon ourselves to support him.”

  Dante put a hand over his eyes. “I’m guessing that doesn’t mean sending them a bottle of wine?” he asked.

  “No sir, it did not,” Ace said through a shit-eating grin. “We got one of those steering wheel club things that little old ladies would put on their cars, so if someone tried to steal it, they wouldn’t be able to drive it. Well, we rushed in, and attached it to one of his wheels, and ran out.” He let out a big belly laugh, and then through his mirth added, “I still remember his parting words, This isn’t what I meant, you assholes!”

  Dante barked a laugh, shaking his head. “I get where you’re coming from,” he finally said, offering his new friend a smile. “So you feel free to lay into me all you want.”

  “Oh, it’s going to happen,” Ace replied, pointing a warning finger at him.

  “And on that note,” Dante replied, all trace of humor gone from his face, “I just want to say about the sister fucking comment from yesterday. I meant every single word of it.”

  Ace guffawed at his companion’s serious tone, and Dante couldn’t keep a straight face for long before joining in.

  “Oh, we’re gonna have some fun, Scarface,” he said, clapping him on the back.

  “You boys are in a good mood today,” Lily said as she stepped out of the house.

  Ace and Dante both startled at her voice, the former turning around to bark at her, “Goddamn, don’t do that!” He gave Dante’s shoulder a playful punch. “See, what’s the shit you did to me.”

  The bigger man shrugged sheepishly before moving over so Lily could take a seat between them.

  “So, what has you in such a good mood today?” she asked.

  Ace sighed wistfully. “Just telling Scarface here about ole Scotty.”

  “Oh, I haven’t thought about him in years,” she said with a smile. “Whatever happened to him?”

  Her cousin motioned vaguely before pulling out his pack of cigarettes. “Moved up to Columbia about a year ago,” he replied, shoving a smoke between his lips. “His wife got a job or something up there, so they headed out.”

  “I hope they’re all right,” Lily said quietly.

  Ace lit his cigarette and blew out a long stream of smoke. “Eh, he’s a tough bastard,” he said flippantly, “I’m sure he’s laughing his ass off wondering how we’re faring down here in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Yeah, that wouldn’t surprise me,” she agreed, though she didn’t sound convinced. She glanced down at his offered cigarette pack and shook her head. “Quit a few months back,” she said.

  Ace shrugged and stuck the pack back in his pocket. “Works for me,” he declared, “gonna be a shortage of these, so glad to know I have dibs when we come across ‘em.”

  “Hopefully we’re going to find more than just smokes,” Dante piped up. “I’m pretty sure food is going to become an issue sooner rather than later.”

  Ace nodded, taking a thoughtful drag. “Yeah, I barely had enough in the cupboard to keep me going for the week, let alone everybody else.”

  “Looks like we’re going to have to do a store run,” Lily said, clapping her hands together.

  Her cousin leaned back on one hand. “We can hit the gas station up the road,” he said, pointing with his cigarette hand. “There’s about half a dozen houses nearby too that we can take from.”

  “What if there are people still there?” she asked.

  Ace shook his head. “Ain’t nobody left,” he drawled. “Had to put a few of them down myself, and the rest of them just fled when the news started going south.”

  “Fled?” she asked, furrowing her brow. “To where?”

  Her cousin shrugged. “Didn’t ask, didn’t care,” he replied. “This shit is everywhere, so the more people who get away from me, the better.”

  “Even so,” Lily said slowly, “I doubt there’s going to be enough food to keep us all fed for very long.”

  “Just means we’ll have to add a grocery store stop when we go into Beaufort today,” Dante piped up, and the two cousins blinked at him in shock.

  “I’m sorry, what?” Ace asked, cigarette forgotten in his hand.

  Dante raised his chin. “We’re going to Beaufort today,” he repeated. “We gotta get Bailey’s family, and since we’ll be in the neighborhood, we can save whoever is trapped in the TV station. Just doesn’t feel right to leave someone to die when there’s something we can do about it.”

  The cousins shared a pointed look with each other.

  “Ain’t you been complaining how the men you meet are lazy and good for nothing?” Ace drawled, poking her in the shoulder. “There you go Lil, man of action right there.”

  Ignoring him, she leaned forward on her knees, regarding the larger man to her left. “I know you want to help,” she said softly, “but what about those things?”

  “We’re just going to have to deal with them,” he replied firmly. “While they are fast and do doubt vicious, they’re dumb, and we can use that to our advantage.” His eyes darkened. “Plus, we need information about those goons on the island. Grace was taken by them, and if I’m going to get her back, I need to know what I’m up against.”

  Lily straightened. “We,” she corrected, putting a hand on his arm. “You aren’t doing anything alone out here.”

  Ace patted his rifle lovingly. “Damn straight,” he added. “And don’t worry, I got a few toys that can help us out, too.”

  “I appreciate it,” Dante said, sincerity in his eyes. The expression broke when he couldn’t fight out a violent yawn, and he covered his mouth before composing himself. “Unless I’m mistaken, didn’t you say something about coffee?”

  Ace smacked his thighs and stood up, flicking his butt into the grass. “You are absolutely right, Scarface,” he said, and pulled out his keys. “Come on, let’s head up to the gas station.” He locked the front door of the house, and then snatched up his rifle, strolling down the driveway to the road. When he didn’t hear footsteps behind him, he turned around and spread his arms. “Well come on now, it’s only about a half a mile up. Walk will do us some good.”

  Dante chuckled and nodded, motioning with a flourish for Lily to go first.

  She smirked as she got to her feet, planting her hands on her hips. “You just want to check out my ass, don’t you?” she teased.

  “Well, if you insist,” he drawled, winking at her with his one eye.

  She laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him up off of the steps. They joined Ace, and the trio headed up the road towards the gas station.

  It was empty of cars, and thankfully, of zombies. Birds chirped in the distance, as if it were just a normal fall day. It was almost eerie.

  “So man, I don’t think you ever said where you’re from,” Ace said, resting the barrel of his rifle on his shoulder.

  Dante cocked his head. “Is it that obvious I’m not from around here?” he asked.

  “Yeah, just a bit,” Ace agreed, holding up two fingers just a hair’s breadth apart.

  “I’m from Seattle,” Dante replied with a chuckle.

  Ace let out a low whistle. “Seattle?” he repeated, shaking his head. “Holy shit, there you go Lil, you always said you wanted a big city boy.”

  She smirked. “No, I said I wanted a big city boy,” she said.

  Ace wrinkled his nose, waving his hand back and forth in front of his face at the innuendo. “Yeah, we ain’t going there.”

  The other two laughed at his discomfort, and then Lily cocked her head. “So, how did you end up down here?” she asked. “Seattle isn’t exactly just around the corner.”

  “We were in town for a funeral,” Dante explained with a sigh. “Just so happened this hit while we were here. Probably a good thing, too, because I can’t imagine what’s going on in a city that size.”

  Silence descended on the trio as they cont
emplated the horror of that.

  Dante took a deep breath and then spotted the gas station about seventy yards ahead. Ace stopped and held up a hand, motioning for them to follow him as he knelt on the asphalt. He pointed to two zombies roaming around the parking lot, moving slowly and aimlessly without a target to focus on.

  He readied his rifle, adjusting the scope on the top, and then took a breath, squeezing the trigger. The gun fired, and a split second later, a zombie's head exploded, the rest of it crumpling to the ground.

  The other ghoul whipped around, frantically searching for the source of the noise before spotting them. It let out a screech and sprinted towards them.

  Ace calmly chambered another round, taking aim and firing at forty yards. The running zombie didn’t fare any better than its partner, its head blowing off with an impressive spray of blood and brain.

  “Nice shooting,” Dante said, nodding appreciatively.

  Ace threw him a wink. “Years of hunting combined with a father yelling at me for not being a good enough shot finally paying off,” he said.

  Dante patted him on the back, and they continued their walk towards the store. When they reached the doors, Ace drew a knife from his belt and handed it to Dante. He then raised his rifle like a baseball bat and nodded that he was ready.

  Lily threw open the door and then followed the duo as they burst inside. The trio spread out, quickly clearing the small space, relieved to find it empty.

  The store had a few rows of goods, candy and snacks mostly, but there was a single shelf of non-perishable items like canned soups and ramen noodles. In the back there was a small grilling area that still had some charred food on the heated top.

  Ace hopped behind the counter as the others checked the meager offerings on the shelves.

  “Well, this might feed the crew for a day or so,” Lily lamented.

  Dante nodded with a sigh. “Even if we ration we wouldn’t be able to stretch it to the end of the week.”

  “Who wants an omelette?” Ace exclaimed as he scraped the burnt food from the grill with a spatula.

  The others wandered over, confused, then spotted him kneeling down in front of a mini fridge full of eggs and other perishable ingredients like cheese and cubed ham.