Z-Burbia 7: Sisters of the Apocalypse by Jake Bible

hides to get me. I'm already up on my feet when Antoinette reaches me and gives me a big hug.
    "You hurt?" she asks.
    "All good," I say. "But they ain't."
    I turn in a circle and look at the dead. Most were taken out with one shot, some with two. Out of all the Inezes, only three are still alive. One of them is Inez One, the dumb bitch that thought she could trick me. I kneel next to her and slap her on the cheek. Her eyes turn to me and try to focus, but there's really just pain left in there. Half her right shoulder is no more. Goodbye, right shoulder.
    She's bleeding out fast.
    "Why?" she asks. "You could have joined us. We didn't want to kill you."
    I pick up her rifle and show it to her.
    "These are for women, not girls playing at army," I say. "You pointed them at the wrong sister and paid the stupid price. Next time, just ask a bitch if she wants to join your crazy Inez club. I'd have said no and there wouldn't have been any hard feelings."
    "Or mass murder," Audrey says as she comes up to us.
    "You okay?" Steph asks, following right behind Audrey.
    "I'm okay," I say. Inez One ain't breathing anymore. Bye bye, Inez.
    The second Inez still living tries crawling away, but Audrey puts a .45 slug into her back and she doesn't do no more crawling. That just leaves one Inez.
    "Help me," a weak voice pleads from a few feet away.
    "Froggy Girl," I say and move to her. She's got a gunshot wound to her left bicep, but that's all. "You'll live."
    "Don't leave me," she cries as I start to walk away. She's boring and she ain't gonna live on her own anyway. "I won't survive out here. Not with the Doyles everywhere."
    "The Doyles? What the hell are the Doyles?" Steph asks. She puts a boot toe against Froggy Girl's arm and the chick pisses herself right there. "Jesus."
    "I got this, I got this," I say and push Steph out of the way. "You gotta be gentle."
    I grab Froggy Girl by the shoulders and shake her ass hard.
    "Who the fuck are the Doyles?" I shout in her face.
    She screeches and tries to get away from me, but she ain't gonna be able to do that. Even without a shot arm, she ain't even close to my league.
    "Doyles," I snarl, my nose almost touching hers. "Who the fuck are they?"
    "Men," she says. "They're like us, but men. A lot more of them than us. We've been fighting for years. They find us and take—"
    "Why does this matter?" Steph asks. "Gut her and let's go. We don't have time for crazies, El. We have to track those kids."
    "The kids?" Froggy Girl asks, her eyes shifting from mine to Steph's. I don't think she likes what she sees, so she looks back to me. "Blind kids? A couple deaf ones?"
    "Yeah," I say. "You know them?"
    "I know where they're hiding," she says. "They ran into the Doyles and messed a couple of them up, but they got away. The men have been hunting them for days."
    "She's full of shit," Steph says. "The kids are probably long gone by now."
    "No, no!" Froggy Girl cries. "They aren't! The Doyles have the town sealed off. No way for anyone to get in or out."
    "We got in," Audrey says.
    "Easy," Antoinette says. "Except for all the Zs."
    "The Zs," Froggy Girl says. "The Doyles control the Zs. If you ran into trouble with the undead, it's because the Doyles sent them after you."
    "Did they now," Steph says and crouches next to me and Froggy Girl. "How the hell did they do that?"
    "They've been training them," Froggy Girl says. "Like dogs. They use fresh meat to make them go where they want then ring a bell. Anytime the Zs hear that bell, they start shuffling that way."
    "And you just let them do that?" Antoinette asks. "Why not kill them? Or leave?"
    "Too many Doyles," Froggy Girl sighs. "Always too many Doyles. They hunt us too. Use us as the fresh meat and other things. Some of us tried to escape the town, but the Doyles found them and…"
    "We get it," Antoinette says. She smacks her rifle and gives Steph a nudge. "Rapists. Killers. Z users. I think we should check these Doyles out."
    "Forget the Doyles," Steph