Page 81 of Night of the Living Manny
“Three kids, an adult, and a great big dog,” Liam said.
Lieutenant Kyle blinked. “You got it.”
Another soldier approached him. “Please put these on, sir.”
What looked like a bulletproof vest and a helmet. Hell, yes.
He suited up quickly.
I’m coming, guys. I’m coming to get you.
The soldiers loaded him into a helicopter outside, all of them stoic but kind. His stomach was still churning, but he thought this was going to work.
And it was his first helicopter ride, to boot.
Chapter Ten
BRENDENpanted, his nerves shredded from listening to Susanna cry as if she were dying. Should he give her another dose? It had barely been four hours, so he didn’t dare. What if the vaccine made it worse if she overdosed?
He’d fed her, giving her sandwiches and water. Her hands were shaking, her eyes were red, and she was weak, but she hadn’t tried to get at him. In fact, she’d begged him not to let it get worse.
Just about the time he started up the stairs, the motion sensor alarms began to go off. Then Moose set up a furious barking.
“Fuck! Peter, get your sister away from the windows!” He grabbed the shotgun and headed for the front door.
“Britt. Now!” Peter was like a minisoldier, grabbing Brittany’s hands and yanking her behind the couch.
“Moose, guard!” He pointed to the kids, and Moose put his big body between the kids and the windows.
Brenden grabbed a box of shells. He needed to reload.
His hands were shaking bad enough that he damn near lost one of the shells, but he managed. As soon as he reloaded, he hit the spotlights. The infected didn’t love the light.
There were two by the back patio door, and they staggered back once the lights hit them. The security screen was still pulled down there, so he went to the kitchen window next.
There was a bloody handprint on the glass, and he groaned. “What the fuck? Where are they all coming from?”
The glass rattled, and he shouted when a ravening face appeared like smoke.
He jumped back, his shotgun at the ready, but it was a window in the back bedroom that broke first, the claxon going off in concert.
“Shit!” He ran, stopping in the doorway to take his shot. The thing went down, and he waited a few beats, but no one else came in there.
Susanna appeared at the end of the hallway, a pistol in hand. “Get with the kids.”
“No. I’m with you.” He glared at her. “You’re still part of this family, missy. We do this together.”
“You know you’re not my fath— Duck!”
He ducked because he trusted her implicitly. The gun went off, and he heard the awful splat of it hitting something.
“Brenden! They’re coming in!”
He whirled, firing off two shots at the creatures coming in from the patio. “Peter. Come this way!” Basement or garage? He wasn’t sure what to do. They had to get somewhere safe. “Moose, come.” The basement hadn’t held Susanna, so they had to get to the car. “Garage!”
Britt ran to Susanna, and Susanna almost went down when that solid little body hit her, but she found her feet and stayed upright.
“We have to get out of here!” Brenden shouted as more glass broke. “Get them to the car.” Brenden handed Peter the shotgun, because the kid had proven himself with it, so he could bolt downstairs and get the other three syringes from the fridge. They might need them. He stuffed the needles in his pocket, then raced back up.
