Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Since the Sirens (29 page)

But always more came.

Liam could see the faintest hint of the approaching dawn, but it
could also be his mind playing tricks on him; he wanted the night to
end so badly. The train ride was nice, but being surrounded by
moaning terrors was enough to drive a person mad. Not knowing where
he was going was similarly stressful. He imagined it was safer to the
south, but what did he really know? Maybe it was way worse.

For a few more minutes Liam was lost in thought, wondering how
much longer he could stay awake under such conditions. He felt
himself nodding and wasn't going to fight it. He vaguely wondered if
he'd have another vision of Victoria, but he quickly shut that out.
The adrenaline of the jump up to the train had all but worn off.

Then the train suddenly lurched to a complete stop. The adrenaline
was coming back. It started to overflow as the train reversed—into
the horde emerging from the blackness behind the train.

It's just not fair.

2

Liam was awake now.

The rear car was backing into the main mass of zombies, though not
fast enough to do any real damage. A few might have been pushed down
and gotten caught under the car, but most bounced harmlessly to one
side or the other. They weren't tall enough to grab anyone up on the
flat car—the men and women all moved to the middle, underneath
the two trailers.

The backward movement didn't go on for too long. Soon the train
actually stopped. Then the shooting started.

It was coming from the front section of the train. From their
position under the trailers and behind the taller freight cars they
couldn't see much of anything up there. They did see flashes of light
off the glass of industrial buildings in the area so they knew
trouble was coming from the area of the engine.

Many of the undead started heading for the commotion, although the
bulk of those surrounding the last car remained at their post. Food
was right there.

Jones' radio crackled.

“The train started up a siding, so the engineer had to back
up so we can change the track switch by hand. We are also pushing and
pulling another engine with its brakes locked. We need time up here.
Out.”

Zombies had been stacking up behind the train, and the noise had
been attracting the infected who were already near the tracks in this
part of town. There were plenty to keep everyone who had a gun quite
busy.

Jones looked at Liam, then at the rest of the people on the last
car.

“Everyone with a gun start shooting at these guys.
Especially the ones moving forward toward the engine!”

He looked at Liam and said he only had a few more rounds for his
shotgun, so he was going to save those. He pulled out his service
pistol, a Glock 22, and checked the mag. There was no safety on that
model, so he got right to it.

Liam got out his Mark I, threw off the safety, and then took
careful aim of the nearest target.

Bang!

He hit it right in the center of the side of the zombie's head. It
dropped right down.

Yippee Kai Yay! You're dead!

Victoria was soon at his side with her gun. Together they took aim
at the next nearest pair of zombies and shot.

“Yes!” Liam was quite proud of his shooting. It had
been a while since he'd last been at the range to practice, but the
little pistol was very stable and easy to shoot.

Victoria's didn't go off as planned—she had forgotten the
safety. She quickly disengaged it and got in on the second shot with
Liam.

They both missed.

From there they both began to fire at will. Always at the closest
zombies who were moving forward. To do this they had to avoid
shooting some of the others who were still hounding them at the side
of the rail car. It was a bit disconcerting to leave them alive.

Why not kill them?

He took aim at one of the zombies standing in the front row and
put a bullet through his eye. Then he did that for four others in
quick succession. Then he reloaded.

Victoria was hitting some, but missing many of those moving
around.

She was soon out and had to reload too.

Liam got his box of 1000 rounds out of the backpack, and together
they huddled over it.

Liam was done first and banged out all nine rounds on the zombies
level with him as he sat on the deck of the car. He was nearly
finished when Victoria got busy with her next nine rounds. She was
again aiming for those who were walking.

Liam reloaded.

Nine hammers slammed.

Liam reloaded.

Nine hammers slammed.

It was the first time he got to use his gun the entire trip. He
found himself in some kind of a bloodlust. He was mad as hell at the
zombies for ruining—everything. He couldn't even enjoy a proper
time with this girl because they had sullied that too.

A couple of the other men with guns had taken the massive
bloodletting as an invitation to shoot any of the bloody targets they
wanted. They aimed at the easy pickins' right in front of them too,
which added to the pile of undead below. Several zombies were
struggling onto the pile and could almost shimmy their way onto the
deck.

Liam was reloading for the fourth time when Jones came over to
him.

“Hey Liam. What the hell are you doing?” He was
pointing to the dead standing right up against the side.

“I'm killing zombies. Why?”

“Well for one you are supposed to be aiming at the walking
ones like your girlfriend here. But also you are making a pile of
dead below this side of the car. These guys are almost up to the deck
as they stand on their dead friends.”

I made a pile of them?

He snapped out of it.

“Hey, we have to stop firing at the close ones!” Liam
tried to order his fellow shooters to halt what they were doing, but
it didn't stop the two men right away. The noise was intense. When
they paused to reload Liam was able to point out what they had done.

“—and we can't shoot them if they are close to getting
up, because that would only make it easier for the next ones.”

Liam was pissed at himself for not doing things the right way, but
he was also inwardly proud he was able to dispatch so many of them.
He had to admit it felt good to deliver some payback.

Victoria and Jones went back to work on the forward-moving
zombies. There were too many for them to effectively shoot them all,
but they still tried.

Liam was left to tend to the growing problem he had created.

One of the zombies had made it partially onto the deck by grabbing
one of the chains holding the tractor-trailer. Another then used his
friend as a crude stepping stone.

He was just starting to right himself to stand up when Liam shot
him in the head. He rolled back off the train car, back onto the
pile.

If I can't shoot them what can I do? Yell at them?

The zombie holding the chain seemed—somehow—to know he
was providing a service to his fellows. Either by design or by
accident the dead man shifted while holding the chain but couldn't
haul himself up completely. That left him half up and half down—the
perfect means for others to shimmy up using him as a piece of
climbing gear.

Liam shot the chain-holder in the face. He rolled back down, but
not very far.

The sound of gunshots were loud in his ears. He noticed one of the
men previously shooting the front row was doing it again. Liam looked
at him—and was distraught to see the man's eyes had a glint in
them. Was it suicidal? Was he
purposefully
making the pile
larger?

“Hey! Stop shooting those standing by the car!”

The man did not stop until he was out of ammo again. He racked his
shotgun and saw it was empty.

Liam walked in front of him as he reloaded.

“Hey, you can't shoot these close ones. You're making a pile
of bodies the others can use to get up here.”

“I don't care. We have to kill them all!”

He pushed Liam out of the way and took a step forward. Liam nearly
lost his balance, but regained it quickly and moved safely from the
edge.

He could have easily pushed me to my death just now.

Liam flopped on the ground under the trailer to take stock of
himself. He could feel the panic rising—

Two seconds is all it would have taken. Dead.

—but with great effort was able to keep it in check. As he
took deep breaths he watched the nutter who almost killed him.

The man had moved forward to line up more shots, but did not
expect a zombie to be high enough to grab his legs with both hands.
Once he had hold, he pulled himself up a little and took a bite of
bare calf.

The loud, regular banging sound began at the front of the train
again, and was making its way to the back. The commotion and gunfire
was so loud Liam doubted anyone else heard it, but he was listening
for it so they could move and get out of here. He steadied himself as
he sat, still watching the action.

The man became frantic with fear, shooting wildly with his
gun—hitting the one that bit him but not much else—and
then he lost his balance just as the banging sound reached the last
car. The train was moving.

The sudden jerk was too much. The doomed man tipped sideways, and
fell directly on top of the unbalanced pile of infected still working
their way up. The whole stack crumpled as the flatcar started
rolling. The man was lost somewhere in that scrum. He screamed for
many minutes after the train had moved well up the tracks.

Each scream reminded Liam it could have been him. Lose yourself
for even a second and it could get people killed. Just that fast.

I won't forget that lesson sir.

3

As the train moved along again, the zombies dropped back into the
night. Marty remained at her station, perched near the wheel of the
trailer—leaning back to get as comfortable as the situation
would allow.

She saw everything that happened with Liam and the pile up of
dead, and she saw what happened to the poor man who fell over the
side. She grasped her Rosary—currently it was around her neck
for safekeeping—and said a prayer for the man. His screams had
been heartbreaking as they pulled away.

Liam had gone to the back of the train and sat down away from
everyone else. Marty suspected he needed some time to digest what had
just happened.

Victoria used the opportunity to reload her gun and then sit down
next to her.

“I really thought we were goners there. I can't believe how
fast those zombies were up and onto the decking.”

“No my dear. I think that surprised us all.”

“I saw Liam go to the back. Do you think he's OK?”

Marty chewed on that question for a full minute. How well was Liam
taking the end of the world? She had always seen him as a bright boy,
but somewhat socially awkward. Perhaps not unusual for a boy his age,
and certainly reminiscent of his dad—her grandson. He was also
a shy young man, who only blossomed after some time in college. Maybe
her progeny needed to get a broader perspective on life before they
began to understand their own role in it? Or maybe it just took the
right woman.

She gave Victoria an approving look.

“Liam will be fine. He just has a lot to process. We all do.
There are so many things changing even as we watch them. I think his
biggest problem is that he feels responsible for me. Not that I blame
him, I'm just a frail old lady after all—”

Victoria tried to interrupt and beg her off that line of thinking,
but Marty was having none of it.

“No, no, it's OK. I can be honest about myself. He feels
like he has to take care of me now that his father isn't around and
my nurse was taken by this plague. It's natural that a young man with
his character would feel that way.”

Victoria nodded her assent, but Marty continued before she could
say anything.

“I want to share something with you. Woman to woman.”

“Liam is the type of young man that would do anything to
save someone he loves. Oh he may not understand the true nature of
love, and he may not be able to distinguish between real love and
infatuation as well as an older man, but you've surely seen flashes
of his selflessness already. I'm asking you to ensure Liam doesn't do
anything TOO heroic if it looks like I'm not going to make it. Again,
I'm honest with myself—I don't have that long left no matter
how this whole affair plays out. He does. You do.”

Victoria sat speechless.

“Liam thinks I'm pretty helpless these days, and I guess I
can only blame myself. I've come to rely heavily on my nurse for many
things I once could do on my own. Maybe I let her do more than I
should, merely because I've gotten lazy in my recent years.”

She seemed to dwell on that for a bit, leaving Victoria hanging.

“But I'm going to tell you a little secret that I haven't
told anyone.”

Victoria leaned in to hear the revelation. Marty wore a
conspiratorial smile on her face, as if she were really enjoying the
moment.

“The other day Liam was getting beat up by a bad man trying
to rob us. Liam and his impatience to save me led him to a bad
decision. The man pulled Liam out of our car and was getting ready to
really hurt him. Kill him in fact.”

“I remember him mentioning that.”

“Well I didn't tell Liam what really happened. I used his
other gun—the one you have now—to shoot that man. I fired
three times. The robber never knew what hit him. It was the first
time I ever murdered someone—” She knew that wasn't an
accurate statement. She smacked her lips as she thought of the right
phrase. It wasn't murder to kill in self-defense. “It was the
first time I killed someone with a gun. It was very disturbing to
take a life.”

Forgive me Lord. I was happy to save Liam, not happy to kill
that man.