Death Has Fallen: Freedom Rock Chronicles: Book 1 (10 page)

              Both the pistols and rifles were categorized by ammunition used.  Under the counters held the correct ammunition for the types of pistols above the same with the rifles.  There were other supplies as well which were used to fight the undead hordes. All types of melee weapons including crude swords, hammers, handmade maces, and bats with nails hammered through and wrapped tightly in barbwire.  It was a mix of 21
st
century modern weapons and old medieval melee weapons.  They also had an assortment of protective clothing.  Only a few sets actually made out of Kevlar the rest were leather.  As we looked around at the vast assortment of weaponry I saw Earl walk through the doorway from the back of the building.

              “Quite a supply you have here,” I said gesturing to all the equipment.

              “May seem like a lot, but for a population of 700 people this is not nearly enough.” He said looking at the weapons.

              “We have a few to add,” Jaime said standing behind me.

              “Are you guys planning on becoming security?” Earl asked with a hopeful tone.

              “Jaime and I would like to join, but Amanda would prefer to work with your brother.”

              “Two out of three isn’t bad.  Welcome, as part of security you will be expected to always have a gun ready and will be issued patrol schedules.  We also have security teams anytime there is a scavenge mission.  We will teach you to shoot any weapon you would like to use.”

              As the words left Earls mouth I could see Jaime getting excited at the thought of finally learning to defend herself.  We handed Earl all our guns and he told us to pick a gun, either from ours or the ones on the wall.  I kept my .357 and grabbed a few more bullets from the stockpile they had collected.  Jaime wanted a new gun this time grabbing one of the 9 millimeters.  As she attempted to fill a clip Earl noticed her fumbling with the bullets making it apparent that she had never touched a gun before.  He walked over and asked to show her.  She handed the gun and clip to Earl.  He set the gun down then holding the clip in front of her he started filling it. She reached taking the clip then performed the action herself filled with a sense of accomplishment.  Earl then showed her how to insert the clip into the gun and cocked it letting her know it was ready to fire.  He then showed her how to work the safety.

              Earl looked at us asking, “Are you going out the gate?”

              “Yea we need to collect supplies for our house.”

              He then looked at Amanda saying, “You need to take a gun with you.”

              She looked at him somewhat shocked and hesitant.  “I really don’t want a gun.”

              Earl immediately countered with, “Well I can’t in good conscious let any citizen walk out the door without protection.  It is fine that you would prefer not shooting, but for me to let you out of the gate you will have to take a gun for safety.”

              Amanda first looked around at all the choices then picked up a small .22 pistol laying on the table.  She loaded it quickly showing us she had some experience with firearms.  Earl looked at her somewhat shocked at her ability then said, “That will work, but for it to have any effect you will need to hit whatever you are shooting directly in the head.”

              Amanda shook her head in agreement.  We walked out once again into the bright sunlight.  The sun was beginning to fall in the sky letting us know we only had a couple hours to get out shelter up.  We hurried back up the road still impressed about the progress the town had made towards rebuilding a modern society.  As we walked about the small houses I made sure to take note of their building methods.  This would be the first time I had ever put together my own house in its entirety.

              As we came to the gate all carrying our guns the guards approached asking where we were going.  We told them we needed supplies to build a shelter, but we were not sure exactly where to go. 

              “As you leave turn right, stay close to the wall.  Our scrap is in a large pile about a fifty yards out.  I will be sending Zack with you.  He is one of the new security officers and needs some practice.  Understand the dead may not be as intelligent, but they know we are in here and lurk on the outskirts attempting to pick us off.  Do not under any circumstances travel away from the group.”  The guard stepped back to the gate and began spinning a large wheel which lifted the chain link once again high above the wall.

              As we stepped through the gate fear once again surrounded us.  Zac stepped out behind us following us as we walked along the wall.  The surrounding of the city was full of trees and brush giving anything out there cover.  We walked slowly trying to remain as quiet as possible.  As I looked back I was surprised to see the one who showed the most terror was Zack.  Quietly I whispered back to Zack, “Are you ok?”

              As I asked he gained composure giving the appearance of confidence.  He looked forward whispering, “I’m fine, this is my first assignment outside of the quarry, I am just a little anxious.”

              Understanding his fear I decided to leave him alone.  The walk seemed to take hours even though we reached the scrap pile within a matter of minutes.  The amount of materials in the pile was overwhelming.  I began grabbing large sheets of metal.  I handed them down the line trying to avoid cutting myself.  I then grabbed some pallets and began throwing them out of the pile.  As they hit the ground the noise cut through the silence echoing throughout the dark forest. 

              After the loud crash we all quickly became silent trying to hear any dangers that had been alerted to our presence.  The forest then answered with sticks breaking and rocks being kicked across the dirt floor.  It was apparent that there was something out there and where we were sitting left us perfect targets.  We grabbed all the materials we could.  I carried four pallets, Amanda had three large pieces of sheet metal, and Jaime ended up grabbing some loose boards and a few long pieces of cord.  It was a good start, but we would need to make a couple more trips for enough material to put a decent house together.  As we began heading back to the doorway the noises which began deep in the forest were making their way towards us. 

              The sounds caused us to pick up our pace into a jog.  We were unable to move any faster with the burden we had.  Zack stood behind us every few steps turning back to see if whatever we stirred was beginning to catch up.  We were twenty yards from the gate.  A dead woman came running out of the forest between us and the gate.  I threw my load on the ground and attempted pulling my .357 out.  The beast was too fast and closed the distance within a couple seconds.  I gave up trying to grab the gun and grabbed the woman by the shoulders as she slammed me up against the metal wall.  As we began struggling all I could hear was Zac screaming then running in the opposite direction.

              “What kind of security is that?” I thought.

              Without missing a beat Jaime pointed her pistol at the Woman’s head and tried pulling the trigger not realizing the safety was still on.  She began screaming, “My gun won’t fire.”

              My strength was matched by this woman who continued pinning me to the wall and pushing her head forward attempting to taste my face.  Jaime finally saw the safety and clicked it off.  Taking aim she put a bullet in the side of the woman’s head.  Once again I witnessed the white eyes die this time instantly.  The woman fell to the ground and was without movement or sound.  I pulled her off my pallets.  We picked all our supplies up and left Zac to fend for himself.

              “What a coward,” I muttered under my breath as the thought of the security officer running away entered my head.

              Even though the trip was small we were beginning to lose daylight.  We hurried the rest of the way to the gate.  When we reached the gate they opened it then immediately asked where Zack was.

              “Your guard ran away when we were attacked.”

              The gate guard didn’t look surprised, but seemed a bit sad at hearing the news.  On the way to our lot we passed Timothy who stopped us asking if we required any assistance.  I asked if he had any tools and some nails or screws.  He said he did and would meet us down at our vacant lot.  We reached the spot where our new house was to be constructed.  Timothy was quick to respond bringing his tool box and a couple boxes of nails. I began tearing apart the pallets placing the wood away from the center of the lot.  Amanda, Jaime, and Timothy helped sorting and before long we had everything in piles ready to go. 

              I started working on the floor and asked the others to begin building walls for our house.  Timothy ran back up the road and came back with three guys which had more wood and metal from around the town.  With all of us working flawlessly together it only took a half hour to put all the materials we had together into a nice starter home.  The building was small and would require us to once again sleep together.  We thanked Timothy who left us returning back to his house.  The boards kept us high enough off the ground to prevent heat loss.  We all slept next to each other like we had previously so we wouldn’t freeze. Without the constant fear of attack all three of us found it easy to fall asleep quickly and stay asleep the entire night.

Chapter 12

              We awoke the next morning to the sounds of gunfire.  The horde that stalked our town decided to attack.  Quickly Jaime and I rose and ran to the front gate to see if we could offer any assistance.  Luckily we didn’t need to stop at the security office since we all had our guns from the previous night on hand.  We found out quickly that being security officers meant we were the ones who would go outside the walls and combat any threat.  Jaime and I were both let out to help the others who were attempting to quell the attack.  As we stepped through the gate the team of security had made progress pushing the evil that hunted us back.  They seemed now to just be picking off any of the dead that had not fully retreated.

              Within a couple seconds Jaime and I met them on the field awaiting any instructions.  We asked how we could help.

              Earl was the one leading the group.  To our question he quickly replied, “Head that direction and yell if you find anything.”

              He was pointing to the left and both Jaime and I headed deeper into the forest.  As we lost sight of the group fear began pouring through us.  With adrenaline pumping we both became extremely alert to our surroundings.  We were moving almost silently and with perfect unison. We walked into a part of the forest which offered a bit more visibility and realized we were not the only ones out there.  The dead were alert and ready for a fight.  We yelled to Earl, “Over here” which caused the three or four visible zombies to begin running straight at us.

              The white eyes shined in the sun.  Bringing up my pistol I slowly pulled the trigger taking one out instantly leaving it face down in the dirt.  Jaime took aim with her pistol pulling the trigger a little too soon shooting an undead in the shoulder.  Luckily the 9 millimeter does not kick off of aim and she was able to shoot once again hitting her target.  The undead had closed the distance and the two were upon us.  We heard multiple shots out in the jungle dropping the last two right at our feet.  After a couple seconds Earl stepped forward and said, “Nice timing huh?”

              We both shook our heads very grateful he had reached us in time and we were not forced to resort to melee combat.  The sounds in the jungle were becoming quieter.  Our group new they were out there, but the remaining stayed deep in the forest not wanting to end up like the others.  These dead only attacked when they had the upper hand or at least stood upon equal ground.  They reminded me of the ones at the pawn shop who refused to come in the door knowing their death laid in wait.  We could hear them travelling, the sounds growing faint as distance between us and them increased.

              I looked at Jaime and asked, “You ready to head back?”

              Earl and his group had already started back to town leaving us.  We followed the group and as we walked through the gate and past the parked trucks I saw one painted with “The Dozer” across the back.  Taking a minute to walk around the heavily modified vehicle I saw they added spikes which stuck out from the rims.  Walking around to the front of the truck they had taken a snow plow, cutting it in half and welding it onto the truck in such a way it pointed out a couple feet in the center and came back towards the truck on each side.  The grill had also been reinforced with steel pipes making it nearly indestructible.  A couple guards noticed me looking at the truck and came over excited to tell me about it.

              “Looks nice doesn’t it,” The one on the right said.

              Laughing a bit I replied, “Hell yea it looks like it would do most of the killing for you.”

              Both guards nodded agreeing.  The same guard who seemed to be in charge said, “It does well in the city, but is still no rifle.”

              At this I was very surprised.  Looking at the truck and at them I wondered how they could have gone into a city of millions.  My town was full of undead and it had less than a hundred thousand.  Wondering I asked, “How often do you guys head into the city?”

              Both looked as though they should not have said anything.  It was clear by looking at these men they had some terrible experiences.  Slowly they looked down then back up at the truck.  The one who had kept quite said, “We have lost a lot of good men trying to get into Denver.”