I'm The Only Psychic In The Zombie Apocalypse

I looked at her, flat.

Kara got kidnapped by the mafia. Her dad got kidnapped by a biker gang.

[Coincidence? Heh... who cares.]

”So how’d that even happen?”

”Same day it kicked off...” She dropped back onto the sofa arm. ”I parked the RV I rented at a gas station on the edge of the city, left Dad with it, and went to your place to wait for you with no clue what I was gonna say when you showed... Then it started. I rushed back, and the RV was gone. So was Dad.”

”How d’you know a few infected didn’t just show up and forced him to move?”

”Tire marks... Went looking, found this place, a bunch of biker dudes had already dug in... Ran a recon at night and spotted the RV in the basement parking. That’s also when they made me, and I had to bug out.” She shrugged. ”... There’s a lot of them in there.”

”But why’d they kidnap your dad?” I couldn’t help asking, ”I mean, that’s just one more mouth to feed...”

”He’s a trauma surgeon...” Nai replied, and I could see the little proud curve on her lips as she said that, ”And before you ask, I told him to show his certs and licenses in case someone pointed a gun at him... nobody’s stupid enough to hurt a doctor like him.”

”Damn...” My eyebrows shot up. In all my years of knowing her, she had never once mentioned her father, so this was a first for me too, ”... So you’ve been burning bullets on them ever since.”

”I haven’t wasted a single round...” she chuckled, walking up to the window. ”Every shot chips at their heads. Think about it. If you were just a normal biker dude... Could you have slept if some psycho was sniping at your place around the clock? Especially knowing you can’t shoot back and you can’t leave?”

”Ahh...”

It landed.

She was outnumbered how-knows-how many to one, so she’d skipped the fight entirely and gone straight for their minds.

One woman running a full psychological siege on a compound full of armed men, and enjoying it.

But then again, even before the shit show, she was a Designated Marksman in the army with two combat deployments under her.

So I wasn’t really surprised when she told me about her little plan while grinning at me like a fox settling into a chicken coop.

”They stop sleeping first... Then they start hearing shots that never went off. By day five, they’ll be flinching every time somebody drops a mug...” She tipped her head. ”And here’s the good part... They have no idea it’s the doctor’s daughter doing the shooting. So they won’t think to use him against me... And they can’t fire back, because the second they do, that horde I’ve parked below would swarm them.”

”Yep, figured the last part out...”

”Plan was to run it another day or two...” She turned back to the window, hands in her pockets, looking out at the compound like she was checking the weather. ”Once they’re properly wrecked and paranoid, I’d go in...Biker or not, nobody’s desensitized enough yet to sleep through active fire. Cover or no cover.”

”How were you getting out?” I asked. ”You’re boxed in.”

”There’s a mine between here and my hometown. So, I snuck in and liberated some dynamite on my way here... Rigged charges on a building a few blocks away, and ran the detonator to the balcony at the far end of this building’s corridor.” She kept her eyes on the compound. ”Was gonna blow it, get the horde to chase the noise, while I’d rappel down the far side.”

”Smart... and stupid.”

”But you’re here now. So we’re doing it today...” She turned. ”I’ll take your shotgun, you take my rifle. I need you on overwatch on the far side of the compound. I’ve herded most of them to the basement, but a few’ll be up top.”

”Huh...” I rubbed my chin before chuckling. ”For the record, that’s Lexie’s shotgun. Got the entire old kit out of the System.”

”You’re kidding...” Her green eyes cut straight to the gear stacked on the cabinet, and she was across the room within that very same second, already turning pieces over in her hands. ”Holy shit, that’s actually- wait. Is that the Glock Angelica gave you?”

”Uh-huh... and I’ve got something even better.”

I walked over, pulled the M110A2 out of Inventory, and held it out, with a massive grin on my face.

She turned, saw what I was holding, and immediately stiffened.

Slowly, she took a shaky breath, while her hands took the rifle, and without thinking about it, her fingers found the side of the receiver, the spot where she’d scratched Nikki × Nia into the metal with a rusty shiv a year and a lifetime ago.

”Yeah...” she said, thumb dragging over the letters. ”Still top five most embarrassing things I’ve ever done.”

”Top five best, for me.” I gave her a teasing smile.

She rolled her eyes and moved to hand it back.

”You run it this time...” I said, ”I’ll be on the ground.”

”You never could clear a single room...” she said quietly. ”Let’s just both do what we’re good at.”

”Yeah... let’s.” I smiled and reached out with telekinesis.

And the very next second, the fridge drifted out of the kitchen, through the doorway, and into the living room, humming its little compressor hum the whole way, until the wire went taut.

”How much do you figure that weighs?” I tilted my head at her.

And she tilted her head. Her default animation whenever she’s confused.

”What d’you mean?”

”Ninety kilos, give or take...” I said, feeling my grin widening. ”Now, picture that fridge is a guy... And instead of lifting the ninety kilos, I put that same force into snapping his neck... From the next room over.”

Her eyes went wide as it caught up with her.

”I had you in my Awareness from the roof... I could’ve snapped your neck from up there without ever laying eyes on you.”

”Holy-” Her mouth dropped half open for half a second before a laugh punched out of her. ”Yo! That is absolutely insane!”

”Wait, so you don’t need eyes on it?” She grabbed my shoulder with one hand, damn near bouncing on the spot, with a smile as wide as it goes.

”Nope... I don’t.” I chuckled, absolutely smug about it. ”I got a twenty-meter radius... Like a sixth sense. I can feel things inside it and manipulate them~”

She immediately spun on her heel and vanished into the kitchen.

”What am I holding?” she called.

”Ladle.”

A drawer rolled open.

”Which drawer?”

”Second one down.”

A beat of quiet before she put her hand behind her back.

”How many fingers?”

”Three.”

She came back around the corner, cackling like some Disney villain.

”I’m definitely doing overwatch. And I’m keeping the damn rifle too!”

”Now, before we kick off... there’s one more thing we need to sort out.”

She tilted her head.

”About what happens after we’ve got your dad back...”

”We go to your place,” she said, frowning. ”What else?”

”Nah...” I grinned. ”We go on a little road trip~”