Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale: A Short Story From the As The World Dies Universe (As The World Dies Untold Tales Book 4) Read Free

wasn’t a hot-blooded Irish-Mexican mix like Jenni.
    “There’s a baby crying,” Jenni explained simply, then pointed up the street.
    “What?” Katie peered around the corner.
    The plaintive cry of the baby came again.
    “See?”
    “It might be a bird. Or a cat,” Katie answered cautiously.
    “No. It’s a baby. I’m a mother, remember? I know what a baby sounds like.” Jenni glared at Katie. Lloyd, her abusive husband, had always ignored everything Jenni said. Sometimes she still heard his disapproving voice in her head. She hated being disregarded.  “I’m not making shit up.”
    “I didn’t say you were.” When the sound came again, Katie gave Jenni a brief nod. “Okay, I agree. That does sound like a kid.”
    “That truck wasn’t there before.” Again, Jenni gestured to the vehicle several blocks away.
    “I think it’s time to wake Nerit,” Katie decided. “We need to get back to the fort.”
    Jenni adamantly wagged her head. “No, we need to get down there and help whoever is in that truck.”
    “We need to get help first .” Katie scrutinized the open area before them. “We can’t just head out there without backup.”
    “We don’t have the time. We need to hurry. If we can hear the baby, so can the zombies.” Jenni gave Katie a defiant look. “Right?”
    “Shit, you’re right,” Katie muttered, unhooking her walkie-talkie from her belt. “I’ll call it in.”
    Jenni eyed the Beretta tucked into Katie’s belt. “Gimme the gun.”
    “Dammit, Jenni.”
    Jenni held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “C’mon.”
    “Fine. Just take the damn thing, but don’t run off.”
    Jenni stuck out her tongue and tugged the weapon out of Katie’s belt. “I’m not leaving you alone out here. You’re not used to being outside the wall.”
    Katie rolled her eyes, then lifted the walkie-talkie to her mouth. “Peggy, we have a situation. I need backup.”
    “I hear ya, hon. What’s going on?” Peggy’s voice asked.
    The baby’s cry came again.
    Jenni directed her full attention to the street while tucking the Beretta into her belt so her shirt bunched around it. Even with the full moon, it wasn’t easy to make out details. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she detected movement in the gloom.
    “We have survivors stranded several blocks from the fort on the corner of Williams.”
    While Katie talked, Jenni reached into Katie’s jean pockets and pulled out the spare clips for the Beretta and put them in her shorts. Katie’s green eyes narrowed with annoyance, but she continued answering all of Peggy’s questions.
    At last, Peggy said, “Gotcha, Katie. I’ll send Curtis to get Nerit up so she can deal with this.”
    The baby’s cries were very clear to Jenni now. She could even hear the little hiccup as the baby took a breath between wails. Then she heard something that sent shivers of fear and anger up her spine.
    Zombie moans.
    Grabbing the flashlight off Katie’s belt, Jenni shone it up the street. Caught in the beam were the dead shambling toward the stranded long haul vehicle and the baby inside.
    “No time to wait,” Jenni said to Katie. “Right?”
    “We need reinforcements now,” Katie said into the walkie-talkie. “Zombies are closing in on the stranded survivors!”
    Satisfied, Jenni took off running toward the zombies, clutching the crowbar and flashlight in her hands. There wasn’t time to sit around and make plans.
    It was time to save the baby.
     
     

     
    Chapter 3
     
    The mad gleam in Jenni’s eyes was enough to short-circuit Katie’s brain for a split second. Without a doubt, Katie knew that something bad was about to happen. 
    Jenni turned and rushed up the street.
    Sometimes dealing with Jenni was like trying to wrestle lightning.
    “Send people now, Peggy! Jenni is running toward the zombies. I need to cover her!”
    Katie sprinted after the other woman while clipping the walkie-talkie to her belt. To avoid drawing more zombie attention