Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Since the Sirens (33 page)

“I can help you!”

“No doubt. But those people are going to need all the
firepower they can get on the train. You have to hold off that group
coming in from the rear, and coordinate with the rest of my unit to
clear as many of the zombies as possible between the survivors and
the train. Wow, I can see the whole thing now that I'm in this seat.”

Liam shared his perspective. It was obvious what he needed to do.
It involved running over a lot of sick, bloody, ruined people to save
the healthy ones beyond.

He wanted to stay with Jones because he felt it was his idea to
use the truck, but he quashed his ego and acquiesced to his request
to return to the train.

As they were driving back over the ground they'd just run, Jones
pulled out his radio.

“This is Jones. I need you guys to coordinate some shooters
to help clear a path for those people—and kill any zombies I
miss when I drive through. Good luck. Out.”

“Good luck kid. Get ready to jump.”

There was no time for more talk. Jones expertly maneuvered the
truck alongside the flatcar and Liam was able to step out of the cab
while holding the door, then jump the couple feet of gap back over to
the crowded platform. Many hands helped rein him in.

Jones slowed so the train would pass him on his right, then he
turned to cross the tracks and accelerated along the right side of
the train. It was all physics from that point.

The train was about half way off the property of the pit mine. The
engineer actually stopped the train as the dump truck kicked the plan
into high gear. With the train stopped it was clear to those on foot
they had to get over there as fast as possible. The engine was
sounding the horn over and over for extra emphasis, drawing them all
in.

Jones also laid into his horn as he started crushing zombies in
his way. The dump bed was empty, but the vehicle was so massive it
had no problem handling the ever greater number of infected it was
pushing aside—and under. And it was making a path as promised.

The big dump truck started turning along the outermost ring of the
spiral around the top of the mine. It was moving almost directly away
from the rail line and directly toward the mass of people pushing for
the salvation of the train.

Liam couldn't see exactly what was happening with the truck once
it started moving away, but the bloody trail of downed zombies behind
it told him enough. He had his own problems.

Victoria made a keen observation that made Liam feel he didn't
have his brain on today.

“We should have gotten several of those dump trucks working
and we could have really cleaned up this mess!”

It was way too late for that now.

Liam and Victoria moved as best they could through all the people
huddled in the middle of their car. Grandma was safely ensconced
under the truck's axle, so they didn't have to worry about her. That
was the only good news.

So many zombies.

Liam knew that with all the zombies converging on the back of the
train, they would have to shoot to stay alive, but he also knew
shooting would lead to the dead stacking up under foot—which
was how they almost made it onto the car the last time.

What they really needed was for the train to start moving again.
That would have to wait until the people were rescued. In the
meantime everyone was in danger.

And so they waited and watched the wave arrive.

Then the shooting began.

6

As Liam suspected, there were a lot of new guns on the back of the
train. Many of the people who came out of the coal cars had weapons,
and they were anxious to get in the action. So as soon as the zombies
shambled up to the back of the train they started plugging away at
them. Before he could shout any warnings, it became impossibly noisy.

Liam and Victoria tried to use their weapons from where they were
standing, but they were dismayed to realize there were too many
people standing in front of them to even take a good shot. Those
people were leaning back from the edge as they recoiled from the
plague-driven zombies washing up to their feet. It was mere moments
before the first people were pulled off the car and into the sea of
hands. That incited panic in the remaining train passengers as they
pushed, pulled, punched, and clawed their way into the middle of the
train car. Some folks were tossing strangers off the train—they'd
gone mad.

What was once going to be a heroic defense of the rear car, turned
swiftly into a debacle of major proportions. Liam grabbed Victoria's
hand and pulled her back on top of him as he fell beneath the
tractor-trailer near Grandma. She was packed in like a sardine in her
section, though Liam wondered if she was being hurt by all the
struggling people.

The most effective shooters were at the rear. They had the most
room and because they grouped together in anticipation of the
trailing zombies—they had plenty of time to prepare. They also
did the most damage.

In under a minute they had created enough carnage to stack the
dead directly behind them...

Therefore it wasn't long before there was such a pile that more
zombies were using their fallen comrades as a biological ramp up to
crawl up to the survivors. Soon hands were grabbing at legs even with
all the shooters back there. One shooter fell, then another. Then
more.

Within minutes Liam could see through the mass of people that the
zombies were up on the flatcar, tearing through the rear contingent
and moving forward. He looked at Victoria and saw the fear in her
emerald eyes.

The tractor-trailer was parked so the legs holding it up were near
the back of the rail car. That put about 80 feet, and fifty or so
adults—only some with weapons—between them and the
incoming wave.

Liam looked at Grandma who was watching the whole thing unfold.
She gave him a weak smile as she huddled with everyone else under the
truck. Victoria gave him the look of someone who just had an idea
explode in their head.

“Liam can you call the engineer? We have to move this train
or we're going to be swamped back here.”

“I don't know if she has a police radio up there. But I'll
try.”

As shots rang out all around them, Liam tried repeatedly to raise
someone up in the front of the train. No one answered.

He tried to get a look over to Jones and his effort with the dump
truck, but there were too many faces staring back at him—blocking
his view.

“Liam. We have to do it ourselves. We can jump on the car in
front of us and keep going until we reach the engine.”

Liam thought it sounded crazy, but he couldn't think of a better
plan. He knew Grandma was in some serious trouble if they didn't make
something happen. He could stay here and fire round after round from
his gun, but there were more zombies surrounding the train than he
could realistically dispatch, even if he used all 1000 rounds from
his backpack.

He trusted Victoria.

“Grandma, Victoria and I—”

“Yes dear. Please hurry!”

Liam did something he had never done in his entire life. He gave
his Grandma a kiss on the cheek.

“I'll save you. I promise.”

Liam and Victoria slithered through the mass of people and made
their way to the front of the rear car so they could jump the small
gap to the next car—an open-topped coal hopper. A couple of
zombies were milling about in the gap but it was an easy jump for
both. A quick climb and then over the lip of the car.

There were several people in the coal car, but only a pair of men
were looking over the edges to shoot at the zombies. The walls of the
hopper were too high to effectively wield a weapon. It made the
people inside very secure—unless there was an impossibly large
pile of zombies outside—but it took them out of the fight as
well.

Liam and Victoria ran along the interior, and with a quick run up
to the front wall, and a quick pull to the top Liam was straddling
the wall. He put his foot on the ladder up the outside of the car and
held his hand to help Victoria up and out. He could tell she wanted
to do it on her own, but she was still wearing a black dress and
flats with broken heels. Not exactly the best accoutrement for
running, jumping, and climbing.

The next car was a big enclosed freight car. The pair hurriedly
clambered on top and began running forward among a few of the people
who were sitting up there. They could see the engine about twenty
cars ahead.

Liam turned to his right, and was able to take in the action
playing out by Jones as he reached the group of survivors on foot.

Jones had forced his way through to the cheering men and women.
The way had indeed been cleared of zombies, perhaps by as much as a
half along the roadway. It might be enough.

They had to keep moving though, and were unable to watch more. It
looked like Jones was going to turn the truck around and then push
more dead out of the way on his way back. Easy peasy.

The pair worked their way up the train cars. Some were simple
up-and-overs like the freight car. Many were challenging such as
dropping into and climbing out of the coal cars. One special coal car
was particularly difficult because it had sloped panels in the front
and rear, making it slippery as grease to get out. Victoria's shoes
were incredibly slick on the coal dust, and when she finally dragged
herself high enough Liam could grab her, it looked like she had black
stockings on her legs. Her arms and face weren't much better.

They passed many of the remaining cops and gang members, both
frantically firing into the core of the zombies swarming between them
and the arriving survivors. He hoped they wouldn't accidentally hit
anyone that wasn't already infected. He couldn't worry about every
detail though.

They were only a few cars from the front when they heard the
desperate wailing. It was collectively coming from the group of
survivors Jones had tried to rescue. When Liam looked over he didn't
see the dump truck anywhere. There was nowhere it could have gone in
that short of time. Except—

“Oh no.” Liam could guess what had happened. Jones had
driven off the edge of the pit mine. How far down was the next level?
He couldn't see from his vantage point.

Victoria was speechless. She gave him a slight nudge in the back,
as if to say they had to keep moving.

There was no time for mourning.

The runners seemed enraged at the loss. They kept coming, killing
zombies as they got in their way.

A few minutes later and Liam and Victoria were boarding the
walking platform surrounding the engine. They wasted no time getting
inside.

They found the engineer standing on the right side of the
compartment, watching the action unfold out her window.

“You have to move the train! Even a hundred feet will help.”

She was startled when Liam spoke. The volume of gunfire had
covered their approach.

“Good god you scared me!”

“Shouldn't we wait for those people to get here? They aren't
far now. I stopped so we could save those poor people.”

“They can still reach the train even if we move down the
line. The rear car is piled high with infected. That pile will fall
if we move the train. We have to do it now!”

She looked at Liam, then at Victoria who was vigorously nodding.

“OK, just give me a second and I'll push us a few feet down
the line.”

True to her word, the train started to move. Liam looked out the
window and could see the panic in the eyes of those running toward
him—even through the remaining throng of zombies. So he moved
out onto the walkway of the engine and starting waving them in. He
hoped it was encouraging to them. He noticed Hayes was already out on
the platform, toward the back, watching the action. Not doing much
else.

Liam had no intention of doing nothing. He started carefully
aiming at the zombies down below. Each hit making a little more room
for those who were so close to sanctuary. He ran though his nine
rounds and was left with an empty gun in his hands. He hoped he
helped. There seemed to be large gaps in the crowd of dead closest to
the side of the train. Enough space for the runners to make it
through.

Thank you Jones. I won't forget you. They won't either.

Soon the panting survivors were scrambling up to whatever car they
happened to reach first. Several children were being dragged on the
ground by older siblings, as they had become exhausted in the long
pursuit. Their parents were nowhere to be seen in many cases. Liam
was sad to see there were many fewer survivors than when he first saw
them on the far rim of the mine. They had suffered horrible
casualties.

Once safely on board, the train began to roll. The survivors at
the bottom of the mine were left to their own version of Dante's
Inferno. But then so were hundreds of thousands of others behind
them, back in the city. Each a potential vector for the deadly
plague.

A new day indeed.

Liam had only a few minutes to think about what just happened.
They had saved a lot of people—maybe forty or fifty by his
estimate. But he had lost his new friend and he was unsure of the
status of Grandma, or how many had died defending the rear car. He
knew they had to put some room between themselves and the frenzy of
zombies behind them, but he wanted to get back and check on his
guardian.

“I need to check on my Grandma, she is on the last car.”

“No sweat. We have one more stop just ahead. There is road
and a little park around the corner where I'm meeting my family. You
can run back when I pick them up.”

Victoria, always looking ahead, noted the problem.

“Won't that give the zombies a chance to catch us again?
They seem to be able to follow us pretty well.”