Without bothering to remove his face concealing helmet, the sniper’s muffled voice disturbed the tender moment. “We need to get moving. These men call themselves the River Road Rangers and there’s a lot more of them out there and it isn’t like this shooting isn’t drawing attention.”

“Why should we do anything you say,” Emily blurted out. “Jewels is dead and you’re the one that killed her!”

Spencer’s father looked at Emily and said, “Please keep it down Em, these undead will be finished with their feast soon and come looking for more.” Then his eyes softened. He looked Spencer’s way. “Is it true? Did Jewels die?”

Emily answered for her younger brother. “Of course it’s true. I had to put a bullet through her head myself.” Her lower lip began to tremble. “and…and…” she couldn’t hold it together any longer and burst into tears.

Spencer watched as his father took Emily into a huge hug and Spencer’s tears joined his family’s as they lamented the loss of Jewels.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened,” the helmeted man said. “Shooting an innocent woman would have been the last thing I’d want to do, but this gang has been trying to kill me for months, but right now I think they’re the least of our problems.”

Spencer quickly saw what the guy meant. Although most of the zombies in the area still struggled to get a mouthful of the gang Spencer had just doomed, more undead were still responding to the gunfire from every direction and many had spotted their group and headed toward them.

Without waiting for an answer, the sniper said, “Follow me. I can get us out of this.” As the man moved past his father and Emily, Spencer noted something. The man’s gaze seemed to linger over his sister for a moment too long.

He frowned as he fell in behind the rest, but followed them as the masked sniper led them between houses. Soon they had left the big pack of undead behind and were able to make good progress through the luxury homes that doted northern Tucson.

No one was more surprised than he, when they reached a secret bunker the sniper had without much opposition. They’d had to hack and bash their way through a few small groups of zombies, but they’d managed to do so without firing a shot.

The man opened his bunker with a long drawn out shriek of metal on metal. He held the door open so that Spencer’s family could go in first. Spencer’s father led the way with Emily going in next.

Spencer was just about to head in when the man grabbed him and tossed him onto the sand. Spencer wasn’t sure what was happening, until the dropped bunker door hit his father on the head and he collapsed with a grown.

The black helmet glared his way. “Enjoy playing with your new friends, punk,” he said. “I’m about to teach your sister how to play house.”

With a growl, Spencer rushed to his feet, while drawing his pistol, but it was too late. The bunker door slammed shut with his unconscious father, the sniper, and Emily inside.

Before this could even set in, Spencer heard the moans of approaching zombies and they seemed to be coming from every direction. “Son of a shitstorm.”

Spencer and Emily’s tale is not over yet, so turn in next weekend for a new chapter in the Eternal Aftermath!



You can explore more of the Eternal Aftermath here!