American Revenant (Book 3): The Monster In Man (9 page)

Chapter 14

The men woke early,
stepping outside to greet first light as it broke over the horizon.   The mass
of zombies still milled around the burned husk of a car, though the horde
looked to have thinned.  A few burned or melting corpses could be seen twitching
on the ground nearby.

Wasting no time the men
moved as fast as they could, helping the still-weak Maxwell along.

Though they intended to
return with the truck and trailer, several of the men chose to bring certain
items along that they did not want to risk losing should someone else come
along before they returned.

Jimmy, Dean, Calvin and
Alex each carried a metal ammo box containing one hundred belted rounds of .50
BMG ammunition.  Mike, the biggest of the men, shouldered the M2 machine gun,
carrying it’s nearly eighty-five pounds with little effort, his hand resting on
the barrel support as he stepped lightly around the corner of the building,
leaving the shuffling horde behind.

Rick fit the forty-five
pound bipod for the heavy gun in his pack, leaving his hands free to help Maxwell
if needed as well as keep his hands on his rifle.

Despite the weight they
carried and moving slow to accommodate Maxwell they made good time. 
Unconcerned with hiding their movements as they had been when first going to
the small house, the group followed as direct a route as possible to their
vehicles. 

Less than ninety minutes
after leaving they were loading up and heading back to Oko Tipi.

****

“He died about two-thirty
this morning.  Anna was awake when he went.  She woke me, and I… took care of
him.”  Jan walked across the small space and sat heavily in the folding chair
by the door.  Her shoulders sagged, as if pressed down by the weight of another
lost life.

“You couldn’t have done
anything else for him Jan.  You know that as well as the rest of us.”

“I know, Mike, I know. 
Doesn’t make it any easier.  If we had…”  She was about to say
equipment
,
before stopping herself.  Wishing for something the group did not have was a
weak salve to a wounded psyche, an indulgence she refused herself.

“Now that we don’t have
to worry about harassment attacks we can think about hitting the hospital for
medical supplies.”  Gordy reclined in the little cot, propped up on a pile of
pillows and blankets, left leg stretched out in front of him.  The knee was
still swollen, though not as badly as the day before. 

“Damn it, Gordon, a
hospital will be the single most infested place anywhere!  How many sick and
frightened people were crowding the hospitals when everything went bad?  We
can’t send people out into that.” 

“We need the medicines
and supplies from the hospital, Jan.  You know that, I know that, we all do. 
That stuff is just too important to let sit there and rot while people lay here
and die.  If we had had those things then maybe…”

Jan cut him off mid-sentence,
“I don’t know that I
could
have saved him Gordon, even if we had the
proper medical supplies.”  They were both thinking of Sam, as well as Garret. 

“It has to be done, Jan. 
We’ll do our best to keep everyone safe, but we all know the risks going out
there, and we also understand why it has to be done.  This group, these people
are family and every single one of us will do what it takes to make us
stronger, give us a better chance.”

Jan and Gordy both
watched Rick closely as he spoke, his words striking a chord within them.  Jan
nodded, having no more words.  Gordy told Rick and Mike, “Do what you guys have
to, but be safe.  Wish I could be out there with you guys.”

Rick nodded at them both,
and turned for the door.  “It’ll be a few days before we go.  We still need to
go back to the armory and empty the place out, as well as get some idea of a
plan for the hospital.”

“Wait, guys,” Jan said
standing up.  She went to a cupboard and rummaged inside for a moment before
reaching out to Mike with a piece of folded paper.  “It’s a campus map of the
hospital.  Anna found it when we were unloading all of the medical supplies I
had brought with us.  Maybe it’ll help.”

“Hell yes, thanks Jan,
this is perfect.”  Jan took no pleasure from the big smile on Mike’s face,
fearing that none of the men would return from a trip to the hospital.

Mike and Rick left the
couple at the infirmary and headed for the sports building, which had become
the supplies storage warehouse.

“I want to talk to Alex
about that M2 machine gun.  If we can somehow mount that on top of the trailer,
then the rig becomes both an offensive and defensive weapon.”

Mike nodded, “I was
thinking the same thing.  If we go back to the armory and that horde is still
there then having a heavy mounted weapon could make a huge difference in
getting everything out of there.”

“I’m more concerned with
the hospital, and getting everyone in and out of
there
alive.”

****

As much as they hated
waiting, Alex took the time to rig up a mount on top of the trailer.  Using
two-by-fours and some bolted in metal struts he was able to create a
functioning mount for the heavy gun, as well as posts to keep the roof from
caving in on the gun and the person manning the weapon.   Small gun ports were
cut in the walls of the trailer as well, allowing the men to travel with only
one vehicle, while still being able to fire on external threats.

Alex also opened a hole
in the front wall of the trailer and the back window of the cab to make
communicating easier between those in back and the driver, or to pass a weapon
through.

Others joined in the
work, following Alex’s orders, doing what was asked.  With the added help, Alex
was able to attach a small plow blade to the front of the truck, extending two
feet from the bumper.

Alex parked the
up-armored vehicle in the empty church parking lot, sending a runner up to the
camp to let the others know it was done. 

Once everyone had a
chance to examine and exclaim over the truck and trailer, Rick spent time with
those that would be going on the mission to the armory and the hospital to show
them the workings of the M2.

He took some time to
re-familiarize himself with the weapon, loading, unloading, clearing jams. Once
he was confident that he could teach the others he began to call people up one
at a time. 

Mike was the first to
climb up on the roof of the trailer, the thin metal popping and groaning
beneath him, but holding thanks to Alex’s stout beams inside. 

Everyone had a general
understanding of firearms, which helped them quickly grasp the basics of the
formidable weapon.  Rick had each man fire a single shot out across the river,
then switch to automatic and let off a short burst.  After just a few hours of
training he felt confident that they could handle the weapon without issue.

They left the following
morning, before dawn broke over the horizon.

Chapter 15

Alex drove slowly,
stopping at the highest point of the hill nearest the turnoff toward the
armory.  He leaned back over his shoulder and spoke through the hole, “Ok, Rick,
were here.  I’ll leave the engine idling while Jimmy climbs up to look.”

Jimmy nodded at Rick, and
opened the passenger door, using the frame of the truck to pull himself up to
the top of the trailer.  He stood near the heavy gun, a large set of binoculars
hung around his neck. 

He watched the distance
for a time before lifting the field glasses, scanning the area around the
armory.  It was no surprise to him that most of the horde still seemed to be
wandering around. 

He knew that in the still
silence of the early dawn, the sound of the trucks’ running engine would carry
far.  The thought was confirmed when he could see the herd begin to cluster
together, though they were unable to tell just where the sound was coming from,
yet.  He climbed back down into the cab, careful to place hands and feet so
that he wouldn’t slip.

“Ok, they’re still there,
and they’ve heard the truck.  Way I see it, we can fire up the gun and mow down
as many as possible with the ammo that we have, or we can lead them on a chase.”

“What do you mean,
chase?” Alex asked before anyone else could.

“We can let them get
close, then lead ‘em down Clinic Road.”  Jimmy pointed to the turn off for
Clinic Road, which bowed out from the highway into a small business area, curving
back to the highway nearly a mile away.  “Don’t know if that will give us the
time we need to get back to the armory and shut the truck down, but it might. 
If not, we open fire.”

“We start shooting and
we’re going to draw in every gut-sucker for miles,” Calvin said.

“Maybe not, I think any
that were going to show up here already have,” Rick offered.

“I’m for the chase, let’s
pull them away.  We can shoot later if we have too,” Dean said.

“Jimmy, you want to climb
back up there?  Fire a few shots into them, get their attention.”

Jimmy turned to look at
Rick through the small portal and grinned.  “Hell yes.”

Back on top of the
trailer Jimmy got behind the M2, readied the weapon and aimed far into the
distance, where the horde had begun to pull back together into a cohesive
eating machine. 

Jimmy depressed the
trigger, letting the recoil vibrate through his arms and shoulders, the sharp
crack of the .50 caliber rounds making his ears ring painfully.  Down range he
could see the ground tossing up divots of earth as bullets chewed their way
towards the horde that had now begun to move in the direction of the truck.

Letting up off the
trigger, Jimmy controlled the bursts, knowing he was only to get the attention
of the zombies, but he couldn’t resist firing into the ranks of undead
shuffling his way.

The jerk of the gun and
the dancing of distant bodies satisfied him in a way that would have made
others uncomfortable.  A large grin split his face as the heavy rounds tore
easily through the rotting shufflers, often going through several bodies.  Many
fell, legs ripped away, torsos shredded, torn in half, he could see the face of
one creature as it seemed to implode, pulling in on itself before releasing
pressure, the resulting red haze appearing to hang in the air as other zombies
walked through it.

Jimmy suddenly felt a
vibration beneath him, one that was different from that made by the gun.  He
let off the trigger, and felt it again, this time he could barely hear someone
yelling at him from inside the trailer, like a distant voice heard through
thick cotton batting. 

“Ok, Ok,” he called, “I
was just thinning the ranks a little!”

Alex put the truck in
gear, slowly rolling forward as the horde neared the highway.  Waiting, he kept
one foot on the brake, one on the clutch, left hand on the steering wheel,
right on the gear shift.  When the first rank of zombies was within ten feet of
the cab he slipped the shifter into low and slowly released the clutch, turning
onto Clinic Road.  “Tell me when the last of them cross the highway!” he
shouted out the window.  Jimmy, laying low on the roof reached forward and
slapped the roof of the cab in acknowledgment. 

“Another burst, Jimmy,
keep them interested!”

Getting up on his knees
Jimmy grabbed the rifle, his response to Rick a short burst into the center of
the shambling crowd.  Several fell, though he knew none were down.  Hitting the
head from this distance, from a moving vehicle, would be pure luck for anyone
but the most seasoned gunner. 

Sitting back on his
ankles, Jimmy kept an eye on the teeming mass of dead following close behind. 
Alex turned through the hard right just after entering Clinic Road, continuing
to roll slowly, letting the horde keep pace.

“Ok, man, the last of
them have crossed the highway, they’re all on Clinic now!”

“Five-hundred feet and
I’ll start picking up speed!”

Jimmy leaned forward
again, grasping the handles of the heavy machine gun.  When he felt the truck
surge forward he threw one last burst toward the gut-suckers, watching as they
fell away behind the truck.  Though his hands were still on the gun, he
withheld firing, even as he felt a need to burn up the entire belt of ammo. 
Within minutes the zombies disappeared as Alex followed the right-turning
curve.  Several minutes later Alex was backing the truck up to the large bay
door of the armory.

“We don’t have a loading
bay, so we’re going to have to do this the hard way,” Rick told the crew as
they all piled out of the truck, “and we have to do it in a hurry.  Dean you
take watch, let us know when those things come back around the bend down
there.  Everyone else, let’s make this happen.”

Calvin stood up inside
the trailer, taking the manual pallet jack from Mike and Alex as they handed it
up.  Rick and Jimmy went to start the small gas forklift.

Jimmy jumped up into the
forklift seat to find the key in the ignition, a yellow ball with a smiley face
hanging from it.  “Shit, anyone think that this thing might not start?”

Rick hung his head for a
moment, “Just try it.  It’s a pretty basic ignition system, so let’s hope…”

Jimmy twisted the little
key forward, breathing the word “shit” when nothing happened.  He tried twice
more before hopping off the machine, cursing the whole time.

“Alex, Mike, give us a
hand!”

“What’s up Rick?”

Jimmy spoke before Rick
could reply.  “Well, Mike, this piece of shit won’t do a damn thing when we
turn the key, and we can’t load the truck without it.”  Jimmy’s face turned red
as he spoke, his anger quick to rise to the surface. 

Alex went to the
forktruck, reached up and tried the key as Mike reached for the flip latches on
the side of the housing.  Raising the cowling, Mike peered into the inner
workings of the machine.  “Nothing looks off in here.  It’s most likely fried. 
I say throw what we can into the truck and get the hell out of here.”

Alex spotted an old screwdriver
in the little cubby under the dash.  Grabbing the red and black handled tool he
went around the open side and leaned over the machinery. 

“What’s going on?” Calvin
called from inside the trailer.

“Trying to get this damn
thing running,” Mike called back.  Right then he heard the motor try to crank
over, then again.  “What’d you do?”

Alex ignored his
question, attempting to start the motor once more.  “Damn it!  I don’t get it,
this should work.”  He looked over the engine compartment, up at the steering
column where he could see the key-chain dangling, mocking him with its cheery
smile. 

Jimmy stood behind the
lift; hand on the silver-gray gas tank mounted on the back.  “Try it again.”

“I don’t know what’s
wrong with it, Jimmy.  I keep doing that we’ll never get it started.”

Jimmy scowled, voice
dropping low.  “I said try the fucking thing again, damn it.”

Alex glanced at him, wary
of the dark timber in Jimmy’s tone.  He tinkered and clanked for a second, the
motor tried to turn over, coughing for a moment, then stopping. 

Alex tried again, this
time the stout little engine stayed running.  “What the hell Jimbo, what’d you
do?”

Nodding at the tank,
Jimmy said, “Gas valve was shut off.”

The men looked back and
forth, from Jimmy to the tank, and started laughing.  “I’ll never doubt you
again, Jimmy,” Alex told him.

Jimmy’s eyes narrowed
briefly, before he turned away, saying nothing.

Alex glanced at Mike, who
simply shrugged.

“Alright guys, we got
work to do!”

Dean came around the
corner a while later, watching back over his shoulder.  “Hey guys, they’re back
out to the highway, but they don’t seem to be really moving much, like they’ve
just stopped.”

“That’s good, gives us a
bit more time,” Cal said from the trailer, leaning on the handle of the pallet
jack.

“How much more is there?”

Mike walked up with an
armful of weapons he had collected from outside, where they had fallen when the
men were overtaken by the zombies.  He passed them up to Calvin, who took them
to the front of the trailer where a short section, starting from the support
beams, was left open for people.  A narrow walkway was left between the
pallets, so they could still get to the area once the truck was loaded.

The trailer was filling
up quickly, though the forklift would sputter out occasionally.  The cowl would
have to be opened, Alex working his magic to start it once again. 

Dean walked away, letting
the others work while he continued to watch the milling horde.

Ten minutes later Dean
came back around the corner of the building, this time at a run.  “They’re
moving, coming back this way!”

Rick waved his hand at
Jimmy, who was slipping the forks under a pallet of emergency water near the
center of the room. Mike ran up to Jimmy, who had not seen Rick waving yet,
shouting, “Time to go!” while making a cutting motion across his neck.

Jimmy flipped the toggle
to neutral, and slid down from the seat, stretching his back.  “What’s up?”

“Bastards are on their
way back, time for us to go.”

“Shit, we only had a few
more pallets left.”

“We can try for it some
other time, when things are a little less exciting.  Let’s go.”

Jimmy followed Mike for a
few steps before turning back to the still running forklift.  He reached up,
shut off the gas feed valve on the tank and let the motor die.  Then he
uncoupled the tank, quickly flipped the latches securing it to the back of the
machine and took the tank with him to the front seat of the truck. 

“What’s that for?”

Jimmy shot Alex a little
grin, saying, “You’ll see,” as he placed the tank on the roof of the cab,
climbing up behind it.  Alex smiled, having a pretty good idea of what Jimmy
had in mind.

“All in, Alex, let’s
roll!” Mike shouted from the back.

“Jimmy, you good up
there?”

“Yeah, I’m good!”

Alex set the truck into
gear, moving away from the door, slowing to make the sharp right turn out of
the parking lot.  He was surprised to see the horde nearly at the turnout to
the highway.  They were moving faster than he expected.

“Shit, time to haul ass!”

“No too fast, Alex, let
me slow them down a bit.”

“Gonna take me a minute
to build up speed with this load anyway,” he called from inside the cab.

Jimmy lay on the roof,
near the big gun, holding the propane tank tightly by the built-in handle.  He
scooted out to the side of the roof, watching, judging the distance to the
horde.  Alex began to climb a low slope in the highway, engine working hard to
haul the heavy load they were now carrying. 

Casting a glance over his
shoulder, Jimmy could see that they were nearly at the top of the rise.  Eyes
forward, he could see that the horde was still coming quickly, actually seeming
to gain ground on the straining diesel.  He cracked the valve on the tank,
barely a quarter of a turn, just until he could smell the sharp tang of the
compressed propane. 

Leaning over the side, he
lowered the tank as close to the ground as possible and let it drop.  The tank
hit with a loud
clang
, toppling on its side, rolling in an awkward
wobble toward the horde that was now closing in.  For a moment the tank looked
as if it were going to roll into the ditch. 

Before the tank could
leave the roadway the horde was on it, several zombies tripping over it as the
horde continued to surge forward.  Jimmy moved quickly to the M2, grabbed the
gun with both hands and began firing.  He lost sight of the tank beneath the
shambling mob so he directed the rounds, in short bursts, to where he thought
the tank might be.

He could hear people in
the trailer yelling at him, but just barely, unable to make out their words
through the ringing in his hears.  He depressed the trigger again, waited,
letting loose another stream of bullets, chopping the legs out from under the
zombies.  “Shit” he swore, frustrated at his inability to hit the tank.