El Paso Under Attack - 01 (15 page)

“What the hell was up with the sprinklers and the water? I can’t believe that actually worked.”

“Hell if I know,” answered Jax. “It was your idea. The water kinda numbed the pain and by the time the grass began to move over me, the damage was just sort of melting away. In fact, I feel a lot better now.”

“Yeah,” I said. “You look it. Ever since the park, you’ve been different somehow. Back at the apartment complex, when you ran your head under the water… it healed that deep cut you had.”

“Not completely.” He answered. “The cuts still there, but it’s not bleeding anymore.”

“I bet the longer you stay under the water or under the grass, the more it will heal.” I said.

“What the hell are the two of you smoking?” asked Tito with a definite annoyance in his tone. “Jaxon is no different from anyone else. He’s no champion. He’s no hero. He’s just a guy that keeps getting lucky.”

“Then why do his wounds heal?” I asked.

“They probably weren’t as deep or as bad as we thought they were,” said Tito. “It’s not like either one of us actually studied the damage before he sat under the sprinklers.”

“What about the way the grass moved over him?”

“Maybe the grass was going to eat him or something. Maybe it’s infected in the same fucked up way that the zombies are.”

“Alright Tito, whatever you say.” I wasn’t going to waste any more of my time arguing with him.

It was the weirdest thing…I, like most people wanted Jaxon to be special in some way. It very much sounded like Tito was angry at the idea that Jaxon might be special.

“
Why did you want Jaxon to be special and why do you think other people wanted him to be special as well?
”

Because we were trapped in hell, on every side we were staring down evil. It was nice to have hope. These vile, rowdy monsters rose up from their own deaths and destroyed a city in less than one day. That’s a horrible thought. It meant our time was very limited, but what if there was an opposite? What if there was some guy that could right the wrongs and stamp them out?

“
Kind of like an antidote to a poison?
”

Exactly…a savior, that’s what everyone wanted. Someone that they could stand behind, someone that could win…Tito just didn’t want that someone to be Jaxon.

“
Why do you suppose that is?
”

Jealousy.

Chapter 4

Jaxon

On my second round of questions for Jaxon, he’s already waiting for me in his backyard.. As usual, Merrick is by his side. She gives a quick bark when I enter and then proceeds to jump all over me.

Jaxons attitude is still very relaxed, despite all the papers on the table detailing assignments and other emergencies. For a moment I feel what Ivana felt when she first heard that this man was the General…A suspension of belief. Could this seemingly normal looking person, who’d rather crack jokes and hang out with his friends, really be the hero I’ve been hearing about. He isn’t ten feet tall; he doesn’t wear some S on his chest, where does it all come from?

So how are your interviews coming?

“
Pretty good, I’ve just finished with Dudley telling me about how the two of you rescued Tito.
”

I heard you talked to Ivana. Is that true?

“
Yes. She gave me some interesting insights.
”

On what?

“
What things were like for someone that wasn’t really able to fight back.
”

Ah…you see, I disagree with that, I think on a basic level, everyone is capable of fighting back. What they don’t want is to be put into a position in which they have to fight back.

“
Is that what you tell your critics?
”

I have critics?

“
You didn’t know?
”

He’s laughing and so am I. The fact is, there have been a number of factions that would like to see the General retired. They believe that as an average citizen with zero military or government experience, he has been given too much power.

Actually, I don’t tell my critics anything.

“
Why is that?
”

They aren’t really important. I mean at the end of the day, I’m going to be doing exactly what it is that I do. The government sanctions it and unfortunately, some people really need it. If I stop, people die. That’s something that I’m not prepared to live with at the moment. Maybe there will come a day when I’m not needed anymore. It’s what I’m hoping for at least.

“
I think it’s entirely fair to say that you’re a hero to many.
”

I’ve often wondered what would happen if one of these so called critics were surrounded by an army of dead. Would they at that point stop whining and realize that I’m actually needed?

“
That’s an interesting thought. Would you help them?
”

Of course I would, but I’d be rubbing it in the entire time. I’m no saint.

“
So, after rescuing Tito, what happened when you returned to the safe zone?
”

I took a shower. It was lovely. It was heaven. I can’t tell you how glad I was to be able to shower. I guess I’m a bit of a clean freak.

“
Did you have trouble getting into the safe zone?
”

Not really. The guards were keeping everything pretty devoid of any undead lives. This of course, is a nice way of saying that they shot down every zombie that they saw.

One of the happiest moments was when I realized that our numbers had swelled. More and more people were traveling to our safe zone. They were braving the dangers and joining our ranks. We were barely gone a day and I think close to a hundred people had already arrived.

Unfortunately, they did bring some bad news with them.

“
What was that?
”

The zombies were coming.

Our guards killed anywhere from ten to twenty a day. Not a big deal, but some of our new arrivals claimed to have narrowly avoided a mass of thousands.

Maybe it was all the human smells coming from the safe zone. I really have no idea. All I knew is that if a mass that large attacked, there was no way our fences would hold.

Now, the survivors that saw this mass told us that they weren’t all traveling together like some great army, zombies don’t work that way, but they were more than certain that the zombies were headed right towards us.

“
And you think it was the human smell coming from the safe zone?
”

It’s just a guess. The fact is, I have no idea. All I know is that zombies follow humans. I don’t know how, but they do. The more humans you have together, the more zombies you’ll have attracted.

They wouldn’t all come at once, but once they reached the area, it would only be a few short days before our fences were totally surrounded by the dead. After that, it wouldn’t take long before those same fences fell. We simply didn’t have enough bullets or people for that kind of force.

We needed to act and we needed to act fast.

We had two or three days at the most.

That night we had a meeting. My usual gang was all that were in attendance. I didn’t invite the others in the safe zone, because it would have then become a free for all with about a thousand different ideas and nothing would get done.

The group was small and after all, whatever we decided to do, we weren’t forcing others to do it with us. If they didn’t like our ideas, they were free to follow their own paths.

I should also mention that Georgie was very glad to have me back safe and sound, but at the same time he was somewhat pissed at me. I told him to get over it, we had work to do and to his credit he did what I asked.

The first thing we realized is that people exaggerate. Someone had to go out into the night and find out just how large this mass of the undead was. That was our first idea. It might just end up being something we could handle without a problem. At least that’s what we were hoping for.

As usual for Tito, he was playing devil’s advocate.

“I don’t think it’s right for us to be making these decisions,” said Tito.

“We aren’t making decisions for anyone.” I answered. “They don’t have to go along with what we decide.”

“Yet, they will,” he answered. “And sooner or later they’ll resent you for it. You weren’t elected. They didn’t choose you.”

“They did choose him,” said Ivana. “I chose him. As soon as I found out where he was, I went there. I wanted to be along side of him.”

“Okay, some people may have decided to stand beside this so called General,” answered Tito. “But what are his qualifications? Why should they follow Jax? He’s just a normal guy that got lucky?”

“Are you seriously saying that the things he accomplished were due to luck?” answered Dudley. “I was there dude. I had a front row seat to everything he did and I can tell you with the utmost certainty that there was no luck involved. He was born to do this shit.”

“I’m sure there was a little luck involved.” I laughed. Might as well make light of a tense situation and in truth, I never expect anyone to be on my side. It’s always a bit of a shock when they are.

“
Why is that?
”

I’m just used to fighting my own battles. Plus, most people won’t engage themselves in a confrontation. I however, have never had much of a problem with that.

“Let’s make it simple.” I said. “If there’s anyone here that doesn’t think I’m a fit leader, raise your hand.”

No hands were raised, including Tito’s.

“Tito, are you sure you want involved with this?” I asked with a bit of pleasure. “You were the one so against me leading.”

“I’m with you.” He answered. “I just think that whatever decisions you make should at least be run by us first.”

“I can agree with that.” I said. “When I have the time, I’ll run my ideas by everyone.”

Nobody said a word. All that I meant was that in the middle of a fight or something I didn’t want to have to ask permission before I gave out some orders.

“
Were you comfortable giving these orders?
”

Somebody had to do it. Nobody else was stepping up. I was getting kind of used to it. Still, if the government got off its ass and threw us a bone, I’d gladly step out of the way. That just wasn’t happening. All those people were looking to me. They weren’t asking to be lead by some group; they were asking to be led by me.

“Now, what do we do if they are indeed an incredibly huge mass and are headed this way?” I asked.

“Let’s reinforce the fences,” volunteered Georgie.

“With the kind of mass those people were talking about, the fences will fall or they will eventually be able to climb right over them.” I answered. “A mass of thousands is just too much; the first time one of them sees our group and blurts out with one of those fucked up screams…we’ll be overrun. We just don’t have the forces or ammo.”

“Are you serious…then we’re all dead,” shouted Lucy. She seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I pretty much just ignored her. It wasn’t something I could deal with anyway. Let her husband handle it.

Nobody else said anything after her outburst. Great!

“Nobody has any ideas?” I asked. “I only have one and you guys aren’t gonna like it.”

“What’s your idea?” asked Georgie in the same very calm voice that he often used when his wife was freaking out.

“If they are headed this way, we can’t be here when they arrive.” I stated. “We need to move.”

“Where the hell are we going to go?” asked Kingsley. He seemed drunk. “Are we just going to bounce around the city? Every time they find us, we run somewhere else? That’s not a permanent solution. They said a mass of thousands. That’s thousands of zombies?”

“Yes,” said Tito. “There are thousands of zombies, what’s your point?”

I knew exactly what Kingsley was getting at before he even had a chance to answer. I just didn’t like it much.

“That just a small piece of the zombies running around this city,” said Kingsley. “El Paso has a population of about five hundred thousand. Georgie estimated that only around seventy thousand are not infected.”

“And?”

“Eventually, we’re going to attract a mass of zombies so large that thousands will pale by comparison.” I answered for Kingsley. “He’s right, if there are only thousands coming this way, we are seriously lucky. Sooner or later, probably when they run out of survivors outside the safe zone, every zombie in the city will be heading straight for us.”

There was a pause as everyone absorbed what I had just said. My mind meanwhile had kicked into overdrive. Eventually, we’d get caught. Eventually, we’d run out of places to hide. The odds were way too stacked against us. We needed to get out of El Paso as soon as possible.

“I’m taking my Jeep and I’m going to see how far away the mass of zombies really are, or if there actually is a mass. I’ll have a plan by the time I get back.”

Outside of Georgie’s house, the people were waiting for us. The survivors, the lost souls I was trying to help. All of them were looking to me for an answer. If worse came to worse, I could probably survive in this city for years. They couldn’t, but I’d never abandon them. Our fates were intertwined.

I needed a plan. I needed a way to open the barriers that blocked our way out of the city.

Their anxious faces watched me as I climbed onto the back of the nearest truck. I hated giving speeches, but this needed to come from me.

“I think everyone knows the score. The dead are coming. I’m going out to see how far away they are and how many are coming. I want all of you to make yourselves ready.”

I let it sink in. They already knew it, but hearing it from someone like me gave it a more menacing tone. They were murmuring amongst themselves. They were afraid. Some of them had just gotten here. They thought this place was safe. It wasn’t. In the long run, no place in the entire city was going to be safe.

“Where are we going?” Asked a man whose name I believe was Chewie.

“I don’t know yet.” I answered them honestly. I wasn’t going to lie to these people.

“Why can’t we stay and fight?” asked another man. I won’t even guess his name.

“Maybe we can.” I answered. “I haven’t seen this mass for myself yet. That’s why I’m going out there. I need to see how bad things are.”

“But there’s a chance that we may be able to stay here and fight them off?” Chewie asked.

“I don’t think so.” I answered. “There’s just too many of them out there. Eventually, this safe zone, or any place like it will become a death trap. It’s just a matter of time before we’re overrun by zombies.”

“Then why bother running?” Someone shouted out. The crowd surrounding the truck was quite large and still growing.

“I think it’s time to leave the city.” I answered.

The crowd was silenced. It’s what everyone wanted. It was also impossible. The last messages we heard about the barricades blocking the city also entertained the idea of soldiers shooting anybody trying to cross those barricades.

“I don’t want everybody getting too excited about this.” I added before the questions could begin. “I don’t have a way out yet. I’m just not prepared to let that stop me.”

They began to laugh. Then someone began to cheer and someone else joined them. Before I knew it, they were all cheering. Good, they were with me.

As I jumped down from the truck, a cowboy that I’d never met before grabbed my hand and pumped it furiously.

“We’re with you.” He said. “Wherever the General leads, we are going to follow.”

I dressed in black fatigues and a black t-shirt. I had on my utility belt and all my weapons. My backpack was slung over my shoulder. Dudley wanted to go, but he just looked too tired. He needed his rest. Tito was the same way and Kingsley needed to sober up.

“You’re the shooter.” I told Georgie. “I may need you.”

“I can’t go.” He answered. “My wife needs me.”

“You’re useless.” I said and shouldered by him. “While I’m gone, I want you to find out about the barricades around this city. If I have a question, I’m asking you and you’d better have an answer.”

I didn’t wait for his reply.

Dudley and Kingsley were having a fit over my going alone. They were waiting for me by my Jeep.

“Jax, I can go,” said Dudley. “If you think I’m too tired, I can always wait in the Jeep.”

“I can go with him,” said Kingsley. “It worked the first time we all went out together. He can drive and I can shoot.”

They didn’t look right. They looked too tired and drunk. Yet, the worry on their faces was difficult to weather. In the end, they were right. They could stay in the Jeep and watch each other’s backs. It might be better to have them watching my Jeep anyway.