Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Since the Sirens (35 page)

Liam gave him a nudge. “Be nice!”

“Pass. Our orders are to stop everyone. We have family here
and aren't taking any chances.”

Hayes took a moment, appearing to think.

“What about locals? My friend here lives in Imperious, to
the south of here.”

Liam spoke up. “Imperial!”

“HAHA, nice try! Look I don't care who you are. I had to
send a sweet little group of nuns packing, so my sympathy meter is in
the toilet. You people aren't getting across this bridge.”

“Just allow me to come over. I'm perfectly healthy. These
others aren't important. I'll make sure you're rewarded by the
Federal Government.”

One of the officers stepped forward. He was dressed in the black
uniform of the local constabulary. Liam noticed he was the only one
holding an AR-style tactical rifle. The big scope was unmistakable.
He seemed to take it personally.

“Are you bribing us?”

He lowered his rifle, pointing it at the ground, though there was
a message there.

Hayes gave a huff, as if he wasn't used to being turned away from
anywhere he wanted to go. Then he spun around and started walking
back.

Liam felt spent. He didn't know what they were going to do next.

Victoria asked the officers, “Is there any hope? We have a
whole train of families, kids, old people. Can you at least give us
an idea how to survive?”

Victoria's plea, and Hayes' retreat, seemed to placate the lead
man.

He slung his rifle back over his shoulder and took several steps
in their direction. Still a good distance away.

“Look. There's nothing we can do. Our orders are very clear
to hold this bridge and prevent the plague from reaching our
neighborhoods. Reach our families. I feel for you. I really do. But
if I let you across and the plague kills my best friend's baby girl,
I'd never forgive myself.”

He took another couple of steps.

“You guys can hole up in that power plant. It has strong
doors. Lots of room. Good for defending yourselves. It has a chance.
We might even be able to get some food to you.”

It sounded like the most reasonable thing Liam had heard all day.

Not ten seconds after the offer was made, the shots started to
echo from the back of the train. Liam and Victoria knew what that
meant.

“Thank you for your offer. Really. But those gunshots mean
the walking plague has caught up with us. We can't abandon his
grandma. We have to fight.”

With a small wave of her dirty hand, Victoria was off and running.

Liam, with nothing to say, and nowhere left to run or hide, spun
around and followed her.

The final battle was at hand.

4

Liam was quickly ahead of Victoria. She may have been a runner,
but her shoes really slowed her down. He was running to rescue
Grandma. He wasn't stopping for anything.

He ran past Hayes, who was near the front of the dead
train—presumably to remount the engine and continue doing
nothing useful for them.

He ran past the two engineers and their family—standing at
the door of the Valkyrie's engine room. One of the little ones waved
down. Liam had a fleeting thought he could ask the engineer to back
up the train again, but that would only doom grandma sooner.

Liam yelled to the others as he went by, “Zombies are here!
Train is blocked ahead.”

Liam repeated himself as he ran by all the cars of the train. He
could see the confusion of those left alive. Stay on the train and
fight until overwhelmed, or get off the train and hope to escape.
Liam wasn't looking back to learn which choices they made.

His only concern was Grandma.

The tracks were bullet-straight here, so he could already see the
last car. The zombies were widely spread out behind the train, but
they were much thicker a bit further down the right-of-way. Some of
them were faster than the others. Those advance zombies were being
picked off by the remaining shooters, but any fool could see guns
would be useless in a matter of minutes.

This is it.

Liam had never really appreciated the concept of death. Not even
in any of the many situations he'd survived the past several days. He
knew he'd been in a bad spot with that robber, but he didn't have
time to think about death until after it happened. Now he was staring
at Death as it walked toward him. It felt like walking along the edge
of a high cliff over a bottomless pit. He felt the anxiety trying to
blossom. Would it force him to cower in a clump of flowers like he
did on that first day?

Man up Liam!

It was the voice of his stern father in
his head.

He scrambled up onto the flatcar in one fluid running jump. Unlike
his fiasco jumping the fence in Grandma's yard, he wasn't doing it to
look cool. He was doing it to save lives. He was instantly pulling
her out from under the trailer, apologizing profusely for being
rough. She wasn't complaining though, he was glad of that.

She was the only living person still on the trailing car. She'd
been aware of that too. Perhaps assuming she was left for dead her
Rosary was out in her hands, and she had a speech of sorts worked up
for Liam.

“I've been very proud of you Liam. You've really grown into
a man the last few days. Now you have to let me go. We can't both
survive this. You need to run with Victoria. I told her you would run
with her.”

Liam didn't even acknowledge the statement. He slid off the side
and pulled her off the car and into his arms. He was surprised how
light she was.

He set her down, put his arm around her waist, and started walking
away from the horde.

Something in him solidified. He was adamant he was not going to
abandon this woman and run. He couldn't explain the sentiment. It
certainly wasn't logical, but it wasn't baseless emotionalism either.
He felt
compelled
to save her. Like everything would be OK if
he could get her to safety.

In seconds Victoria was with them. She grabbed Grandma on the
other side and the trio made even better time. Not quite a run, but a
very fast walk.

Don't look back.

As they passed each car they noted that some people were choosing
to stay and fight. Others were running like mad to all points on the
map. Some were heading to the nearby Mississippi river—perhaps
hoping to swim to safety. Some were heading up the steep wooded slope
on the other side of the train. Hoping to outclimb the pursuit.
Neither way was realistic for Grandma. Liam knew their only hope was
the bridge. Ahead. Not a great hope either.

The survivors made short work of the advancing stragglers, but the
rest of the tide was now enveloping the train, starting with the
flatcar they'd just vacated.

Since no one was left on that one, they moved forward. Always
forward. Devouring.

Liam could hear shots ringing out behind them. Very close.

As they walk-ran along the train, so did the undead. Screams of
people who got caught. Curses of men and women who ran out of ammo.
The drone of a huge pack of angry, feral, zombies.

Some who jumped off the train to escape returned as they realized
what was heading their way. But many people who had abandoned the
train had the same idea as Liam. They were gambling their lives on
being able to cross the smaller river to their front.

Don't look back.

Liam and Victoria were moving as fast as their legs would let
them. He was shocked to realize there were fewer and fewer gunshots
behind them. Liam figured they had finally run out of ammo. They'd
been shooting at targets all morning.

He saw several police and a few of the remaining gang members and
their families in a tight group ahead of them—running for the
bridge. Finally he saw the engineers and their family. Everyone left
alive from the train was making for the only direction suitable for
the very young, the very old, or the slow.

They reached the midpoint of the train and saw most of it was now
empty, save the scattered few who chose to stay put. For the most
part, those folks were hiding and unwilling to shoot and call
attention to themselves.

There were fewer and fewer shooters to blunt the washing wave
behind them.

They walked as fast as Grandma could go with two extra people to
help her along.

As he approached the Valkyrie, Liam dropped Grandma's weight onto
Victoria and told them to continue on without him for a minute. She
had no time to argue because he was already climbing the side of the
diesel. The pair moved on, though slower because Victoria was
supporting most of Grandma's weight. Liam wasted no time. He honed
into the precise point where the engineers and crew stowed their
gear. The item he had spotted earlier was still there. He grabbed it,
tucked it into his waistband, and ran back outside and along the
railing. He ran forward, hopping to the dead engine at the very
front. Once he reached the absolute front of the entire train he flew
over the handrail, hanging on just long enough to slow himself so he
could deftly drop the last few feet to the ground. He willed himself
to ignore the infected wave approaching him.

He pumped hard as he ran toward the two women. Victoria and
Grandma were entering the nominal safety of the bridge. He was
relieved his diversion didn't slow them down significantly. He knew
what he did was reckless, but it felt right and necessary.

He closed the distance. Waiting in front of him, just on the cusp
of the bridge decking, were all the remaining police officers and
gang members. The one man that stood out from the whole group was a
shirtless guy with a pair of bandoliers over both his shoulders,
forming a distinctive “X” on his chest. It was filled
with vibrant red shotgun shells. He had the shotgun itself lying over
his shoulder as he was waving them in. Liam had no idea if it was a
cop, gang member, or civilian—just a man looking to defend his
mates.

Never look back!

He crossed the last fifty feet of rail before the reaching the
bridge and was entering the protection of the men and women standing
their ground on the edge. An explosion of shots rang out, making Liam
almost soil himself at the shock. Some of the zombies were much
closer than he thought possible, given his speed. The fusillade gave
them all some breathing room. But the end was already written unless
they could all get over to the other side.

Liam caught up with Grandma and Victoria and they continued
running over the bridge, passing all the survivors left from the
train. There were several he recognized as the “new people”
from the pit mine. He recognized lots of kids saved from the Arch
grounds. Now almost universally in tears. There were a few older
people, though no one even close to Grandma's age. And a group of
nuns were there. Where did they come from?

Liam and Victoria had started carrying Grandma, without realizing
it. They reached the very furthest point on the bridge before the
Arnold Police told them once again to stop.

They were near the midpoint of the bridge. As they helped her
down, Liam knew she had passed away. He wasn't sure how he knew, but
he knew.

Victoria, having no such premonition, took it much harder when she
realized—

“NO! NO! NO!”

She burst out in tears, the emotions of the morning piling on, and
released a torrent of expletives a good Christian girl shouldn't
know.

Her ire turned immediately to the men blocking them.

“You could have saved her! Can't you see that you stupid
bastards? We are all going to die for your worthless rules. The
plague can't be stopped. Look! It's here right now and you're
standing there with your hands in your pockets! Damn you all.”

She collapsed over Grandma and began crying profusely.

Liam considered getting his gun out and going over to help the men
fighting off the huge flood of infected. They were still holding out,
mainly because they had chosen the most advantageous spot to group
up—but it was still inevitable given the sheer disparity in
numbers.

The lead police officer blocking the bridge closed more of the
distance to Grandma. He was near enough to see it all. Victoria
physically hugging her. Liam standing over her with tears in his
eyes.

What do I do now?

For the first time in a long while, he was out of ideas.

Marty woke up with an exclamation of incredulity. She was lying
next to a large frozen waterfall. Not frozen in ice. Frozen without
motion. The ground under her body was lush with green grass, and
there were several trees and bushes in her vicinity, but the primary
feature was the waterfall tumbling into a crystal clear natural pool.
Around her on all sides was darkness.

Her amazement multiplied when she looked up. Beaming down from the
heavens were a nearly infinite number of stars. To Marty's eyes they
had to be part of an elaborate illusion. She swore she could see each
one clear enough to see planets spinning around them. The number of
visible points of light was beyond reckoning.

Her husband or angel—she wasn't sure which—was sitting
cross-legged not far from her.

“Hello Marty. You've made it to the end of the line.”

“Am I dead?”

“Why do you always think you're dead? No. I'm pleased to say
you still aren't dead. I meant you made it to the end of the rail
line.” He chuckled a little bit and continued.

“You passed out while you were running with your two young
friends. I don't think they realized you had surpassed your limits.
They now believe you are dead.”

“Poor Liam. I'd hate for him to think that, though I get
mistaken for dead a lot these days.”

“It's no wonder you are so loved. You never think of
yourself.”

She couldn't help but think of her deceptions of not telling Liam
about Angie or about shooting the robber. She was feeling guilty from
her sins of omission.