Deadrise (3 page)

"You saw how the soldiers kill those things?" Frank asked.

"Yeah." answered Matt. "They shot them in the head."

"This is almost too much to believe. If I weren't seeing it with my own eyes I wouldn't, I couldn't believe it."

"I know what you mean." Zack said.

"Do you have a gun?" Matt asked.

"You're damn right I own a gun… More than one." He and David disappeared back into the bedroom and a few moments later they came out, each carrying a rifle case and a holster buckled around his waist. Frank opened his case and pulled out a beautiful Winchester lever action 30.06 deer rifle. David's was a 30.30 lever action rifle.

"We go hunting every fall," said Frank, as if proud of the fact. "At least we used to." There was a hint of regret in Frank's voice.

"What kind of side arm are you packing?" Matt asked. Frank pulled a beautifully oiled .357 magnum from his hip.

"For home defense." he said.

Before the curfew, drive-by shootings and gang violence were on the rise in the neighborhood.

They were just getting ready to pile into the vehicles and leave when trouble came. A large white Grand Prix turned onto the street from the east end, stereo bumping with bass heavy rap music. Two of the zombie's had started down the street and the,
POP, POP, POP
of a small caliber handgun came from the car. One of the zombies crumbled to the road, the other staggered on behind the car.

"Oh shit!" burst Susan from the front porch.

"What's wrong?" Matt asked. He had seen the car at the Young’s house before so he assumed they were friends.

"It's Benny." She said acidly.

Zack hurried over to the truck in his driveway as the Grand Prix came to a halt in front of the Young house. There were at least four people in the car. The passenger was holding what appeared to be a 9mm automatic. The driver's door opened and a skinny Hispanic stepped out, a similar 9mm auto in his right hand.

"Hey baby." he said, smiling widely at Susan. "What's happening?" the sarcasm in his voice cut like a knife. Benny was a local gang member who considered Susan his woman. There was only one thing wrong with that picture; Susan didn't consider him her man. The day before the curfew had been set Frank beat the hell out of him when he came over drunk, screaming for Susan to get out there. As he limped back to his car, beaten to a pulp, he had told Frank that he would kill him. The curfew had put a stop to that. Now with the Army gone, it seemed that he was coming to fulfill his promise.

"Fuck you Benny!" Susan's tone was venomous.

Zack couldn't understand why she stood there arguing. Why didn't she go back in the house? He slowly walked around to the driver's side of the truck. The passenger of the car looked at him and spoke something in Spanish to Benny. Benny looked over at him then back to Susan. The passenger door on the Grand Prix opened and four more gangbangers climbed out. They all wore the baggy clothes and colored bandannas that signified their gang.

"Who's that? Your new boyfriend?" Benny asked, indicating towards Zack. Before Susan could answer Benny's question, Frank came out on the porch, carrying his rifle. At the sight of Frank the four other gang members began to spread out across the yard.

Down the street, the lone zombie drew nearer.

"I thought I told you to stay the hell away from here." Frank's rifle wasn't quite pointed at Benny.

"And I told you that you were a dead man! Remember?" Benny blurted, full of swagger.

"I don't want any trouble." said Frank.

Matt stood behind him on the porch. He was unarmed, but he hoped the gangbangers wouldn’t be able to tell.

"Just send Susan out here, and we'll be gone." said Benny, a large smile still across his face. The gang members on the lawn spread a little further and edged a step closer. Zack was on the driver's side of the truck and slowly reached his hand in through the open window and wrapped his fingers around the handgrip of the AR-15 lying there.

"She isn’t going anywhere with you." Frank said. Without taking his eyes off Benny he spoke to his daughter. "Get in the house." Susan started in the house.

"Listen motherfucker!" screamed Benny, stepping around from behind the car, the gun in his hand raised. Frank pointed straight at Benny. Benny halted in his tracks.

The gangbanger holding the 9mm raised it towards Frank but Zack stepped around to the bed of the truck, AR-15 sighted on the other gunman.

"Hold it!" Zack called. The gang member turned to him, gun pointed. "Drop it!" Zack ordered him. His adrenaline was pumping causing his ear's to ring.

"Get back in your car and get the fuck out of here." The barrel of Frank's rifle was steady as could be. Benny smiled, lowered his gun, and turned to leave. Then without warning, he spun and fired at Frank. The bullet was wide, smashing into the porch with a splinter of brick. Matt ducked, reaching for the magnum on Frank's hip.

The gang member facing Zack stiffened to fire, but Zack's trigger finger was quicker. His bullet tore through the guys left shoulder, spinning him around and dropping him to the ground. Zack had never shot anyone before, but he was to worked-up for it to even register.

Frank returned fire at Benny, missing as the punk sprinted for the safety of his car.

The other gang member’s rushed the porch, bloodlust in their eyes.

Frank cocked the lever action and fired again at Benny, blowing out the rear passenger window of the Grand Prix. Benny squeezed two more wild shots back at him before he ducked behind his car.

Matt pulled the Magnum free and fired wildly at the nearest enemy, putting the round through the punks kneecap. He fell screaming. The other two were up on the porch in a rush. One tackled Frank while he cocked the rifle, the other smashed into Matt.

Benny popped his head up but two quick shots into the hood from Zack caused him to duck for cover again. Zack ducked and moved around the front of the truck for better cover. The first one he had shot was climbing to his feet, the 9mm still in his right hand. His left arm hung like meat.

"Drop it!" screamed Zack. But the punk had a psychotic look in his eye. He gritted his teeth, screaming something in Spanish and raised the gun. Without thinking Zack squeezed off one more round, puncturing the punks sternum and exiting his back. His arms flew wide and he fell flat on his back in the crucifix position, gasping for his final breath.

On the porch the gang members wrestled with Frank and Matt, trying to take hold of their guns. Matt fired a quick right jab into the jaw of the one he fought, and got one back in return and they both tumbled to the floor. Frank and the other punk fell through the open front door and into the house, where David began pummeling the gangbanger with his rifle butt.

Matt got his foot under the chest of his opponent, and pushed with all his might. The punk flew across the porch, smashing into the wall at the far end. His head made a dull thunk as he hit and his hand went to the back of his head as he crumpled to the porch.

Zack squeezed off two more rounds in Benny's direction, shattering his windshield. Benny's hand came into view, holding the pistol. He emptied his clip wildly, hitting nothing.

In the house Frank pulled himself away from the gang member who had been clubbed senseless by his boy. Grabbing up his rifle, he cocked it and in a rage shot the downed gang member right between the shoulder blades. Sharon was screaming incoherently while Susan watched with eyes wide.

On the porch Matt pulled himself to his feet as the injured gang member scrambled off the porch, blood spurting from the back of his broken skull. On the lawn, the punk Matt had kneecapped screamed in agony. Frank stepped out onto the porch, cocking his rifle. He fired into the back of bloody skull as he fled for the shelter of the car. He fell to the lawn, face first, and lay unmoving. Matt looked at Frank, whose face was a mask of hatred. He cocked the rifle again, walked out into the front yard and shot kneecap right in the chest. He cocked the rifle and walked toward the car.

"Frank! Get back here!" Matt hollered to him with no avail. Biting back his fear, Matt followed him. Zack saw them and backed their play, keeping the rifle trained on the car incase Benny should pop out firing. But he didn't. When Frank walked around the other side of the car, Benny lay against the driver's door, shivering with fear.

"Please don't kill me." he broke into sobs. He held his empty hands out in front of him. "Please! I'm sorry!" Frank just raised his rifle. "NO! PLE-" Frank fired before Benny could finish his plea. The bullet took off the better part of his face.

By this time the lone zombie had made it halfway up the street and was just a few houses away. Zack put a bullet right through the zombie's forehead. It fell to the ground.

For a few moment's they all stood there looking at each other. Their ears rang from the gunshots. Zack suddenly weakened in the knees, and he fell to the ground vomiting.

Matt went to the truck and grabbed the other AR-15. He would not be caught unprepared again.

Frank walked slowly back into his house and dragged the dead gang member from his front room and deposited him next to his partner on the lawn. He then called his family to him and held them all tight.

Matt walked over to Zack and helped him to his feet. "I've never shot anybody before." he said weakly, "I’ve never been shot at either." He looked up at Matt with tears in his eyes. "How can you be so calm?"

"I think I'm in shock." Matt said. "Give me a little while."

"Frank went crazy." Zack said as they passed the dead bodies on the lawn.

"What would you have done? They were going to take his daughter and kill him. He didn't have much choice. If he would have let Benny go, he would have only come back later with more goon's and more guns."

"I guess your right."

"Lets get the hell out of here." Frank said. His eyes were red from crying.

"What about those bodies?" Matt nodded to the three dead gangbangers piled in the front yard. "If we don’t put a bullet through their brains they will reanimate as zombies."

"Fuck ‘em." Frank said and spit in the nearest ones direction. He and his family piled into the station wagon while Matt and Zack climbed into the truck. They backed out into the street, and drove east, into the unknown. Just as the two vehicles turned south onto another street, the bodies of the three dead gangbangers began to stir…

Chapter 3

Saturday, June 16, 2001

Salt Lake City, UT

9:04 AM

They made it a few blocks east before they ran across their first major obstacle. It was a major 4-way intersection, and it was the scene of a large traffic jam. It appeared that they weren't the only ones who had decided to get the hell out of town since the army had pulled back. The traffic was bumper to bumper, and if it was this bad down here, Zack could only imagine how bad it must be on the freeway.

Both vehicles flipped U-turns and headed west, hoping to try for another freeway entrance. As they drove, they noticed the occasional car abandon in the middle of the road. The sounds of gunfire both far and near was a constant, and they noticed the number of zombies was growing steadily. In some places, there were already large numbers of them, wandering about aimlessly. As they drove west, they noticed five of the creatures had pulled down an elderly man and were in the process of devouring him. One zombie was chewing on his neck, another on one of his arms. The other three pulled his stomach apart and fought over the roping strands of his intestines. The old man still kicked feebly as a large pool of blood spread beneath him. Frank shielded David's eyes from the carnage. The others turned away, horrified beyond speech.

Ahead the traffic was jammed up for several blocks. Discouraged they turned around and pulled into the parking lot of a small fast food place. The blinds were pulled shut, and the parking lot was empty save for them. They parked side by side, so the passenger door of the truck and the drivers door of the station wagon were parallel with each other.

"We're going to have a hell of a time with that traffic." Frank said. "It seems everybody had the same idea as us."

"What the hell should we do?" asked Matt. "We can't go back to the house. More of Benny's thugs might come looking for us."

"I really don't feel like battling that traffic. My nerves are shot."

"We've got to find some place to hole up for the night." Zack said. In the side view mirror he could see a school behind the fast food place, and a couple of zombies staggering about in the large parking lot.

From the east, the sound of gunfire startled them all. They looked up to see a gun battle ensuing between the occupants of several cars stuck in the traffic.

"Things are out of control. We have to get off the street." Frank said.

"We could go into that high school back there." Zack pointed over his shoulder.

"That's where my kids went."

"I doubt the police would respond to any alarms." Matt said.

"Its worth a look."

"I can't believe we're going to hide in the school." Susan muttered from the back seat of the station wagon.