DEAD: Confrontation (16 page)

C
limbing into the cab, he stood on the step for a moment and took a good look around. He would only have two parts of this operation that put him in harm’s way. The first part was securing the gate after he left the driveway of the house. The next part would be when he exited this little gated community. Both times he would have to actually get out of the truck.

A voice he hadn’t heard for quite a while spoke up.
Just take what you got and screw those punks.
That voice sounded a lot like Gary Messer for some reason. He took a deep breath and turned the key. The engine roared to life causing the head of every zombie in the area to twist in his direction.

Juan popped the truck into gear and rocketed to the street. Sure enough, a zombie stepped out in front of him as he reached the cul-de-sac. The body launched several feet. If he hadn’t
known exactly what he hit, Juan would have guessed that it was a garbage can. Clothes and parts went everywhere. As he jumped out of the rig and yanked the gate shut, two zombies came out from behind a nearby hedge. Having no need to be quiet, Juan brought the same pistol that Frank had held on him only moments before. The first shot from the SIG Sauer P239 sounded like a cannon. The effect it had on the zombie’s head was almost equal to the noise as the entire back of the head seemed to burst open and spray its contents.

Juan jumped back in the truck after giving three hard yanks on the gate to ensure it was shut and latched secure. As he raced through the small, gated neighborhood, he felt a rush of adren
aline. He didn’t aim for any of the staggering deaders that were coming his way…but he did not try to avoid them either.

As he reached the main access gate, he noticed that there were four figures inside the security shack. They all pawed at the Plexiglas windows, smearing the accumulated filth, but acco
mplishing nothing.

“Poor bastards,” Juan said
with genuine sadness. To think that they would spend forever locked in that box almost made him want to take the time to put them down…almost.

Climbing out of the cab again, Juan searched the wrought-iron gate for a latch. He had assumed that the big electric gate would have
the same sort of set up as the one that sealed off the driveway to the house he’d just left. Only, he couldn’t find a latch anywhere. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw all the residents of this little gated piece of Hell heading his way. He had another minute at the most before things got nasty.

Scuttling along the length of the gate, Juan could find not
hing that looked like a latch. He had no other choice. He very briefly considered returning to the house and trying to convince the pair of misguided kids to come along, but decided against it when he saw the stirrings of more than a few zombies that still wandered the area on the other side of the gate. The sound of the diesel engine was bringing them his way.

Juan jumped back in the cab.
So much for coming back and making an easy run
, he thought.
If
they came back, he would know where to look and everything was pretty much in place for him to just snatch and go, but once this gate was gone…the ‘easy’ part was gone.

Backing up enough to get a good running start, Juan whi
spered his apology to Frank. Their chances had just decreased drastically. Certainly there were not enough zombies in the gated community to be more than a nuisance. That was about to change. And if those two didn’t stay quiet and out of sight…they were as good as dead.

Twenty minutes later, Juan was shutting off the truck at the water’s edge. He climbed out and headed for where he and Frank had left the boat
with his first load of gear in his arms. An hour later, he was heading up the river towards Mackenzie and home.

***

Chad had his machete in his hand before his eyes were even fully open. The scream sounded close and made the hair on his arms and the back of his neck stand up. He could hear everybody else scrambling from their beds, but in the pitch blackness of a cloudy night, he could barely see his own hand in front of his face.

“What the hell was that?” Brett whispered.

“Who would be outside in this?” Ronni was already at the window.

Chad joined her and saw the reason for her question. Big, wet snowflakes were pelting the window. Now that he was more alert, he could hear the sound of it hitting the glass.

“Scott, grab the lantern,” Chad said as he began pulling on the foul-weather gear that they’d discovered in one of the lockers.

“You aren’t seriously considering going out in this are you?” Scott challenged.

“Somebody is in trouble.” Chad sat on the stool and flipped open the woodstove. The coals cast the room in an orange glow where everybody could see as he tugged on the rubber boots.

“No,” Brett corrected. “Somebody
was
in trouble.”

“He’s right, Dad,” Ronni added. “Whoever it was
, isn’t making any noise now. I doubt there is anything that you can do.”

Chad sighed. Deep down he knew that they were right. B
esides, who would be out here in the middle of absolutely nowhere…wandering the mountains while a blizzard raged? Still, someone or something had made that noise…and it was close.

As he struggled with inaction, a lone howl sounded. Wolves. He knew well enough that the zombie version did not howl.

“I think that, like it or not, our days of helping anybody are gone,” Scott said. “We need to focus on staying alive. We can’t chase every scream and sound that we hear.”

“So we just sit here in this tower?” Chad asked.

“Actually,” Brett spoke up, “I think this place is a bad idea. Sure…there is a serious lack of zombie activity, but we got lucky the other day. Wild game is not going to be plentiful this far up. Like it or not, we need to head
down
the mountain. We need to get someplace that we can fortify that is still off the beaten path, but will allow us to scavenge. Perishables are shot, but canned goods will still be edible. If we stay here too long, we will starve.”

Silence settled in the darkness. It went on for so long that Chad began to think that everybody had gone back to sleep.

“I agree with Brett,” Ronni’s voice finally broke the silence.

“But we discussed this back at the village,” Chad said.

“We were running for our lives…hundreds, possibly thousands of zombies were on our tail and this seemed like a good idea,” Scott argued. “But we have been at this for days and it has gotten worse, not better. Instead of running from zombies, we are going to freeze or starve ourselves.”

“We are still alive,” Chad insisted.

“Barely,” Brett snapped. “And we are running out of luck. We keep slipping away by the skin of our teeth, and we have no idea what we are doing.”

“But we are alive!” Chad retorted.

“I can’t keep doing this,” Ronni added.

“So what are we supposed to do?” Chad asked the darkness.

“I think we need to go back,” Scott said after a long silence.

“To Yosemite Village?” Chad could not believe what he was hearing. Even if that horde had come and gone, it was doubtful that there would be any survivors. And if there were, it was even less likely that they would be very receptive.

“No, back down to someplace that is not a frozen wasteland.” Brett’s voice was distant. Not farther away, but he was obviously thinking about something. Chad decided to wait to speak. It was obvious that the man had something on his mind.

“I had a friend just outside of Turlock who was a bit of a nutcase—” he began, but Scott interrupted.

“You aren’t selling your idea very well, Brett. Just tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Chad asked. He was confused. Had they been discussing and planning this without him?

“The guy is a gun nut. He was also certain that China was going to invade. He has a huge farm out in the middle of nowhere.”

“Turlock
is
the middle of nowhere,” Ronni quipped.

Brett ignored her and continued. “He is pretty hardcore about religion. I have no idea what faith, but I do know that if anybody is still alive and well despite all of this…it is him.”

“So why do you mention the religious thing?” Chad asked.

“Mostly because I don’t want you to be caught off guard,” Brett said.

“That can’t be the only reason.” Chad was not about to fall in with a fanatic…provided that the guy was even still alive.

“He has…issues with women,” Brett finally admitted. “It isn’t like he treats them bad, it’s just that he sorta sees them as second-class citizens.”

“Excuse me?” Ronni moved away from the window. Chad couldn’t see her, but he could hear her moving around.

“We can at least check it out,” Brett insisted. “If it is too crazy, we can split.”

“So…” Chad was not sure exactly what to ask. “Does he have like a bunch of underage brides or some weird crap?”

“No,” Brett actually laughed, “he isn’t some sort of crackpot fringe Mormon.”

“Hey!” Scott snapped. “What do you mean by that? I’m Mormon…well…not practicing anymore, but that was the religion I was raised with and nobody in my family had a bunch of wives.”

“I said
fringe
,” Brett stressed the word. “I’m not speaking for the entire flock…jeez, I’m a Catholic and was an altar boy for like ten years…not one priest ever touched me. It is only the screwballs that make the news. Makes it seem like the whole batch is off the rail.”

“So you say he has some sort of thing about women being lesser people or something?” Chad asked for clarification.

“I am only bringing that up because of your daughter. I wanted to give you a warning just in case so you don’t slug the guy. If he is too over the top, we can split, but it is a start. And if you all decide against it, that is fine…but we can’t stay up here anymore. We can’t survive the winter like this.”

A distant howl was the only thing to break the silence until dawn. The four woke to a crystal blue sky as the last of the storm could be seen as a dark smudge on the horizon. A scene of ca
rnage waited just feet away from the ladder to the tower. A deer had been ravaged by wolves from the looks of things.

“I’ve always heard that they have a scream that is almost human,” Scott said as they began their cross-country ski trek that would lead them out of the mountains.

***

“We need to make it to across the street to that alley,” Vix whispered.

Gemma peeled off her jacket and stuffed it in her knapsack. They had been running and dodging for the past few hours. She was sweating more than she ever believed possible.
Ladies do not sweat…they perspire
. How many times had she heard her mum say that when she was growing up? What a load of bollocks.

“It looks pretty dark,” Gemma said with a trace of doubt in her voice.

“Yes, but from there we can make it up that ladder and probably the roof of those flats.”

Gemma followed where Vix was pointing. She
saw a plain, brown building that looked like all the windows had been busted out. Scraps of material fluttered from several of the dark holes in the building’s face.

“Did you pick that building because you couldn’t possibly find one creepier?” Gemma complained.

“Would you rather stay out here?” Vix waved her arms to encompass the entire area.

No matter where you looked, there was movement. In fact, Gemma had not seen this many zombies scattered about since the whole thing began. She had seen a few small herds, but here, on the outskirts of London, it was like the undead travelled in packs simply waiting for somebody to show up and be devoured.
Actually, the more Gemma watched, the more she felt like those things were actually
waiting
.

“When we get to that ladder, head to the third floor,” Vix whispered, snapping Gemma back to the situation at hand. “See that second window from the left? That is where we are going. If we get separated, just get there and stay put.”

“What?” Now Gemma was definitely confused. Why would they get separated? After all, they were just running across the street and into that alley. Then it was a simple matter of up the ladder and along the fire escape to the window that Vix had pointed out.

“Go!” Vix hissed and shoved Gemma forward.

They were side by side as they stayed hunched over and hurried across the street. Gemma reached the ladder first and started up. When she looked back…Vix was nowhere to be seen. She felt something start to well up from deep inside. Somehow, she had known for the past couple of days that something was going on. Vix was even more short-tempered with her than normal. She wanted to climb back down and go find her. Maybe she had said or done something wrong. Whatever it was, she could fix it if Vix just gave her the chance.

Unfortunately, time and circumstance were not on her side. Almost a hundred of those things were now
gathered at the base of the ladder, reaching up for her and making all sorts of noise. Just beyond the crowd, she saw a figure scurry around the corner and disappear into another alley.