Life After Z

Chapter 25 - Cooper

I could see Everett hesitating. The time wasn't right yet. The whole group was still right here in our faces. All of them were armed while we had nothing. We needed to buy more time. Maybe wait till some of them fall asleep. They were going through our stockpile of booze crazy fast. That would work in our favor but we still needed more time.

"Ivy is returning in the morning. She told us that she would talk to her group and they would make a decision about letting us in. She was going to tell us that decision and hopefully bring us to meet her people tomorrow. Our primary plan was to just let it play out. If they say yes, then the rest is easy. Allow them to let us in and see what they have. If she comes back and tells us no, then we are going to go to plan B," I said while carefully watching the driver. He wasn't drinking like his buddies were. Instead, his cold, shrewd eyes were watching us like hawks.

He knew we were playing him. He knew but was engaging us anyway. Looking for when we would crack.

"Hmmm, so if we clear out early enough and make it look like it is just you here, this sweet little Ivy will come back, none the wiser that we will be waiting for her instead of her new friends," the driver said more to himself than to me but I had no trouble seeing it play out. Ivy would come back here, riding her bike with a pack full of gifts for us and with her guard down. Instead of finding us inside the truck, these men would be hiding out with the sole purpose of grabbing her. Then they would question her about her people. Ivy wouldn't give them up and they would hurt her to get the information.

I looked over at Sebbie curled into Lucas' chest, watching the events unfold with wide, fear-laden eyes. I saw Jen had slowly made her way away from the driver and closer to me, her face stained with tears and her hands shaking as they kept her ripped shirt closed. They were my family. Mine to protect. I liked Ivy and was grateful for everything she had done for us, but she wasn't family. I had done reprehensible things to make sure this family survived. Jed had died protecting us. I couldn't betray those past actions by being weak now.

We needed a distraction so that we would see another sunset. Ivy would be that distraction.

"Sounds like a good plan to me. You can park your vehicles in the barn to get them out of sight. We can either wait with your vehicles or wait here with your guys in the trailer. Us being here for her to see might make everything go a little smoother, but it is your call," I said, guilt slamming heavily into my heart. I was sacrificing a good person who had done nothing but help us. My actions here would haunt me for years to come.

If I lived through this that is.

"Probably best to split the difference. You and the girl can stay here in plain sight. I'll take the boy with me in the trailer to make sure you don't try to warn your sweet little Ivy. Tattoos and Ginger can stay with the vehicles in the barn with half of my guys."

Not great with Sebbie getting separated from us, but the best we were going to get. We would have to wait until after they took Ivy and returned Sebbie to me but act before the whole group got together again. Our timing would have to be perfect and we couldn't even talk it out between us.

The group settled in after that. Drinking and eating their fill while speculating what Ivy's group might have set up. Everett and I joined the conversation, trying to build rapport and trust while Lucas held Sebbie and Jen remained quiet. The fire wasn't much more than embers when one of the men called out that there was a pack of Zs approaching. The driver directed three of his guys to go take care of it while another climbed to the top of our truck to watch their backs from a higher vantage point. Lucas caught my eye and I could see the urgency and questions within his gaze. He was asking if this was it. If we should use this distraction to make our move instead of waiting till morning.

Before I had time to make a decision, the driver let out a grunt and exclaimed, "What the fuck," as he tried to reach something on his back. I looked and saw a dart sticking out of his back between his shoulder blades. Then I heard several more soft puffs and watched in shock as darts hit another of the guys still around the fire. I didn't know what was happening, but I did recognize this as our best chance.

I surged to my feet and tackled the guy to my left, taking him to the ground near the fire. I hit him as hard as I could on the face once, twice, three times before his eyes rolled up and he lost consciousness. I grabbed the gun that he had in a shoulder holster and spun around on my knees, looking for another target. Shouting filled the air and I saw Everett take off in the direction of the group that had gone to deal with the Zs. There was one guy by the fire left standing and he already had a gun pointed right at me. I pulled the trigger, but he must have done the same because a line of fire tore through my side.

The shot had enough force to push me backward and I had the wish that they hadn't stripped us of our bulletproof vests before I pushed the pain away enough to move again. I rolled onto my good side and scanned the area. Lucas was running away from a man who was screaming because he was on fire and towards Sebbie who was curled on the ground behind the small pile of logs. Jen was huddled near the back tire of the big rig and I couldn't find Everett.

I pulled another gun from the guy I had knocked out and threw it at Jen before forcing myself to my feet through the pain. I staggered to the ladder of our truck and pulled myself up one rung at a time. When I reached the top I carefully allowed my head to clear the edge of the truck and looked for the guy that had climbed up here earlier. He was crumpled near the far edge. A dart sticking out of his thigh. I huffed out a relieved breath and heaved myself up on the roof. I used the higher vantage point to look out, but it was hard to see anything in the dark.

"Everett report," I called, taking the chance that I wasn't going to distract him and hoping that if there were still men attacking that they would come after me now that they knew I was here.

"Three down. One by dart and two by me. One dead, and the other two just knocked out. Three downed Zs too," Everett's voice called, giving me some clue as to where he was. I squinted and saw that he was tying the hands and feet of the men by him.

"Lucas? You and Sebbie good?" I called and saw that they and Jen were exactly where I had left them.

"Yeah, we are good," he replied and I started scanning the area for whoever was shooting the darts. The fact that none of us were hit by darts had me assuming it was Ivy's group. Somehow they knew that we had company and decided to do something about it. "What in the world just happened?"

"Ivy?" I questioned, wishing that I had my night scope. I couldn't see shit with the flickering light from the fire and the guy that was still smoldering. "Are you out there?"

"Who the fuck else would it be?" Everett asked as he made his way back to the fire. He disappeared within the truck for a moment and returned with rope to tie up the rest of the guys that were knocked out instead of dead.

"Ivy? Are you there? It is safe to come out now. Are you okay?" Lucas yelled and I forced myself to follow Everett's lead and secured the guy up here with his own shoelaces. I was starting to feel lightheaded and pulled up my shirt to find my entire right side drenched with blood.

Fuck.