Treasure of the Dead

Chapter 38

Maddock, Bones and Willis slipped unseen past the guarded front entrance to Avila’s main house. After coercing information from the front gate guard by scaring but not actually hurting him, they had left the man trussed up outside the gate and made their way here.

“Back door should be on this side.” Maddock crouched low and pointed to the house. Bones and Willis nodded. They were about to move out when something stirred in the waist-high brush that surrounded much of the house. A man rose about twenty-five feet in front of them and walked toward them without speaking. The person had a slackjawed look about him, lifeless eyes and a deathly pallor about the skin.

“More over here!” Bones pointed to the right.

“And here!” Willis indicated their left flank.

Maddock pointed at a forty-five degree angle to their left, toward the back door the guard had told them about. More zombii poured out of the brush and stalked after the three intruders. The treasure seekers ran for the back door, slipping through gaps in the zombie ranks before sprinting the rest of the way to the house.

A chain link fence surrounded the house close to the door, with a gate that was closed and locked. Worse, a guard patrolled the area between the house and the gate, pacing the narrow space up and back. Maddock tapped Bones on the arm.

“You take care of the gate. Willis, you’re on zombie duty. I’ll handle the guard.”

Willis held up a hand. “Hold up, there’s gotta be at least a dozen of those things coming this way. I can’t take ‘em all out, at least not without making some noise.” He patted his holstered pistol.

Maddock tilted his head toward Bones, who was already moving to the gate. “You know how Bones is with locks. Shouldn’t be very long. But if that guard sees us and raises the alarm…” He turned and looked back to the approaching zombie squad. “My guess is that we could end up as one of those things.”

Willis nodded. He turned around and headed a little ways back through the brush while Maddock crept off to the left, a rock in one hand. When Maddock saw the guard turn around and begin walking back in their direction, he tossed the rock along the fence. When it landed the guard spun around and moved his weapon to the ready position before moving off to investigate.

Maddock breathed a sigh of relief and looked back to check on Bones, who had thankfully just sprung the lock. Maddock then looked around for Willis and saw two shadowy figures circling in a fighting dance. He went to Willis and dispatched the combatant zombie by pistol whipping it in the skull. It crumpled to the ground, but three more were heading their way.

“Come, let’s get inside.” Maddock and Willis turned and ran to Bones at the gate. The zombii closed fast and the men hurried inside the fence without closing the gate, running for the door. As they reached it, the guard walked around the corner of a metal utility housing, where Willis grabbed him, pinning his arms to his sides, while Bones relieved him of his weapon and Maddock took the swipe card he wore on a lanyard around his neck.

The sound of approaching zombie footsteps neared, and they moved on to the door on this side of the house. When they got to it, Bones tried it and found it locked. He pointed to the card reader. Maddock took a glance back at the zombii before pulling the card through. A light turned green and Bones pulled the door open. He stood there a moment, straining to see what was inside, but Willis shoved him in. “”Go! Go! They’re coming!”

Bones and Willis entered the building first. Maddock followed them, pulling the door shut just as they heard the screams of the guard as the zombii got to him and began to maul.