Last Stand of the Dead - 06 (14 page)

“Over
here!
” Charlie called.  He had gone down the small embankment, and through the bushes.

I made my way down and cursing as a sticker bush scratched my hand, joined Charlie on a small peninsula of land.  A small creek made an oxbow here, and it was here we found the remains of fifty of Freeman’s soldiers.  They had retreated to this spot, and thought to defend it.  It wasn’t a bad place, but I could see where a problem could be.  Behind the oxbow was a hill, and at the top of that hill was a railroad track.  The kids could have easily stormed the position without a shot being fired. 

They didn’t get it for free, though.  About a dozen zombie kids were lying about in various poses, and their snarling faces and vicious leers told me they weren’t the children of the town.

We
weren’t alone, however.  Two forms burst from the bushes and threw themselves at Charlie and me, little hands ready to grab and little mouths ready to bite. 

Charlie was almost contemptuous as he backhanded the taller of the two with the hammer side of one of his ‘hawks.  It fell sideways, and before it could get set, he clobbered it with his other one.

The smaller one, a boy, ran at me with his face torn open. His teeth showed through his cheek, and his right eyebrow looked to have been torn off.  He jumped at me, trying to get to my face and neck.

I wasn’t about to give him the chance.  I swung hard with my pick, connecting with the side of his head with the flat edge, stopping the attack cold.  The body fell in a heap, and I realized I had swung hard enough to crack
its
neck.

I looked over at Charlie. 
“Took you two.”
I chided.

Charlie frowned.  “The sun was in my eyes.”

I looked around.  “The sun isn’t anywhere near your eyes!” I complained.

“
Exactly,
” Charlie said, turning and walking away through the bushes.

I just shook my head and followed.  We got back to the vehicles just as Tommy and Duncan came walking in, having walked a bit further south.  They reported that there
were
a lot of dead people by the creek, and quite a few zombie kids.

“Looks like this place didn’t just lie down and
die,
” Tommy
said.

“Well, it still doesn’t look
good,
” I said.

“You mean clean up?” Duncan asked.  “We could do that
quickly
enough.”

“No, I meant there doesn’t seem to be any kids, outside of the ones that run with the zombies.”

That got their attention.  All of the kids from one or two towns was a significant force, and not to be taken lightly.  If the force that hit Freeman just got bolstered by another hundred, we were looking at maybe three hundred zombie kids.  And as far as we knew, they were headed straight for home.

“Let’s get to putting them down for good.  We don’t have a lot of
time,
” I said.

We got back in the truck and I sat on the tailgate with Charlie
,
while Tommy drove.  Sarah and Rebecca were sweeping the town center for survivors. We hoped
to find someone who had managed to shelter somewhere while the disaster played out.

Tommy drove slowly, and we took turns getting out and spiking the heads of the people that were down.  It was grisly work, no matter how you looked at it, and we were just past Turner Street when we saw the bodies were starting to stir.

Charlie thumped on the tailgate.  “Better get past this and into a clearer area!” He yelled at Tommy, moving back.  I slid back onto the bed of the truck and pulled the tailgate closed.

Chapter 24

A dead hand reached up just as I closed it, and as we drove away, the owner of the hand slowly got to his feet.  If you had to face a zombie that was standing, this was the best time.  They were just getting their bearings and just figuring out how to walk.  You had about ten seconds to decide what you were going to do with them. 

Fortunately, we had been here before.  I took the right side and Charlie took the left.  Bracing ourselves in the space between the
wheel
well and the tailgate, we took swings at zombie heads as we drove past.  Tommy kept us to about five miles an hour, and swerved like a lunatic to try and get them all. 
We had
both nearly fallen out twice as Tommy circled to get one that we couldn’t reach. The best part was
that
if Tommy misjudged, he took it out anyway, since the bumper killed a zombie just as quickly as a pickaxe or a tomahawk.   The only danger was sometimes a zombie got the timing
right
and landed on the edge of the truck bed just in front of us.  The momentum of the truck slid them right at you
quickly
, and you could choose to duck and let them pass, or be damn quick on the kill.

I usually let them pass.  We always came back for them anyway.  Charlie angled a ‘hawk so they bumped upright, and he took them out as they fell back.  It was more efficient than my method, but it didn’t matter.

Tommy turned down the main business road, and we were confronted with a near wall of zombies.  From Putnam County Public Library to
Grainville
Bancshares, there had to be at least seventy newly pressed zombies lurching around and leaving several kinds of nasty all over the landscape.

Charlie looked over at me. 
“Your call.”

I thought for a second.  “Well, we do have that extra ammo from Freeman’s boys.  Let’s pull them out of there.”  I thumped on the roof.  “Back up, slowly, and hit the horn a few times.”

“Got it.”
 
Came
the answer through the back window of the truck.

The truck backed up slowly, honking loudly to get the attention of the zombies.   I
laid
over the cab roof, with Charlie doing the same next to me.  He had a bipod on his
rifle;
I was going to have to use my elbows.

“I got the left of the center line,
chief,
” Charlie said, looking through his scope and firing.  His shot took out the lead zombie and the one right behind it.

“Nice.  I’m on
it,
” I
said, lining up and taking a shot which took out a woman in her
mid fifties
.

We fired for a good ten minutes, with Tommy backing up slowly the whole time.  We dropped them in doorways, in the street, and in the ditches.  By the time we reached
Yespen
Chiropractic Health Center, we had taken the horde apart. 

I was refilling a magazine when Tommy stuck his arm out the rear window.  He was holding the microphone for the CB and it sounded like someone had poked a cat with a sharp stick and was letting it vent on the other end.

“Hello?”  I said.

Duncan’s voice came through loud and clear.  “What’s the third rule of firearm safety?”

What the hell? “I don’t have time for…Oh, shit.”  I looked down the street, and sure enough, the van was there.  “Anyone hurt?”
I asked, concerned.

Duncan replied.
“Just the front tires.
  I figure you two morons put three rounds apiece in them.

Damn.  I looked over at Charlie and his shoulders slumped.  “Well, we’ll be there shortly, Talon out.”

“Shit, damn, and double shit.  This is our
fault,
” I said.

“Let’s fix it first,
and then
blame Duncan
later,
” Charlie said.

I couldn’t argue with that
,
so we headed back down the street.  At the other end, the van sported eleven new vents, courtesy of yours truly.  I opened the door to Sarah kicking me in the chest and knocking me over.  Charlie laughed only once,
and
then Rebecca kicked him behind the knees and he dropped quicker than I did.  From the ground, we looked at our spouses.

“Would it help to say I was sorry?”  I asked, reaching for a hand up.

“If you ever…So help me, I’ll…Of all the irresponsible…
Oooo
!”  Sarah slapped my hand away and stalked off, presumably to find something
zombie like
so she could vent her frustrations properly.  I was just grateful she hadn’t decided to do it on me.

Tommy helped me to my feet, and I helped Charlie up after I had removed Rebecca from standing on his chest.  She took a swing at me, but missed by a mile.  Charlie watched her stalk off after Sarah.

“Well, you know what they say.  Any encounter with the opposite sex you walk away from…”  Charlie said.

I laughed. 
“All to
o
true.
  Let’s get the stuff into the truck, and we’ll put it in the big truck to take back home.”

We unpacked the van, and it took a heck of a lot longer than I thought it would.  The sun was in
its
deep setting stage, with streaks of pink and red arcing across the sky as the rays found clouds we couldn’t see.  The darkening sky of the east reached out with purple tendrils to try and push the sun past the horizon.

I was tempted to spend the night out here, but I couldn’t do it anymore, and I couldn’t do it to Sarah.

Chapter 25

We packed up and moved out, leaving a dead town behind.  There was nothing to be done for it, so we moved on.  I was more concerned about my family, and I could see that Sarah was, too.

We drove as quickly as we could, skirting Oglesby and staying on 71. That took
u
s to our own back yard and in an hour, just as night lay full claim to the sky.  We drove th
ro
ugh familiar territory, and were able to make decent time thanks to the fact that the country roads were deserted. 

I took us down the long driveway to Starved Rock Lodge, and Sarah was practically giddy.  I was excited as well, looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and seeing my sons again.  We had been gone for too long, and I knew we hadn’t finished the job.  But we did what we needed to do, and would let this night just be for us.

At the front entrance, I parked and got out, followed closely by the rest of the crew.  We were tired, worn out, and smelled like death, but we were home.  By all that’s holy, we were home.

Duncan
threw the first cup of cold water on the scene.  “Why are the lights off?”

I looked around.  Sure enough, it was dark.  We normally kept a couple on, just in case someone stopped by.  We didn’t get many visitors, but enough to be polite with the lights.

“Don’t know. 
Strange,
”  I
said.  “Let’s do a quick check, before we go in.” 

Charlie, Duncan, Tommy and
I
did a quick sweep of the lodge.  All of our defenses were in place, and nothing had been broken.  For all intents and purposes, the place was fine.

I stepped to the door, drawing my pistol.  “Just in
case,
” I said to several quizzical looks.

I unlocked the door, including the two deadbolts.  Once inside, the darkness was deep, and many corners were hidden in shadows.  Nothing seemed out of sorts, but it just wasn’t right.

I motioned to Tommy and Duncan to go check upstairs, while the rest of us checked out the main lodge area and the balcony.  In the main hall, I flicked the switch and bathed us in bright light.

“Well, that
works,
”  I
said, walking over to the balcony. 

“I don’t see anything amiss out
there,
” Charlie said.

“Well, what the hell?”  I said.   “
Where’s
Janna and Angela?”

Duncan came striding into the hall, with his wife and child right behind him.  Tommy came in holding Angela’s hand, and she held her child as well.  Angela gave Sarah and Rebecca a quick hug,
and
then turned to me.

“The little zombies were here, John.  They couldn’t get in, so they left. We heard firing coming from your brother’s place.”  Angela’s voice was full of concern.

My blood went cold.  “
Where’s
Jake and Aaron?” I asked quickly.

“They’re still
over
there.”

Oh, sweet Jesus.  No.

Chapter
2
6

“John, you can’t run out there!  The zombies are still in the woods!”

“John, no!
 
Stop!”

“Charlie, stop him!  Wait, where are you going?
Charlie
!”

I fairly flew through the woods, running as hard as I could for my brother’s lodge.  I only had my sidearm, my knife, and my trench hawk, but I didn’t care.  Absolutely nothing was going to stop me from getting to my sons.  If a zombie kid showed up, he’d be put through a tree, no questions asked.