Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Since the Sirens (36 page)

“Don't trouble yourself with minor things like that. You
made a legitimate decision to protect your great-grandson. Though
looking at how hard he tried to save you just now I think your plan
backfired.”

“I think he wants to prove to Victoria he can protect me.”

“Perhaps. But maybe he wants to prove to
you
, that he
can protect you.”

“I guess we all lose. We're all going to die aren't we?”

“You mean eventually? Yes, I'm afraid you are all going to
die. But are you going to die today? That is less clear.”

He stood up, offering a hand. Her body was strong in this place,
so she was able to take it and be on her feet in a flash.

He guided her to the clear pond with the waterfall above it.

“Can you guess what this waterfall is?”

“Of course not, but it is beautiful. The stars are beautiful
too. What is this place?”

He walked slightly ahead of her, and began speaking while looking
up at the waterfall. He wouldn't answer her question.

“Do you know what makes you so important?”

“No, I've been kinda busy lately to be introspective.”
She gave a tired laugh. Her body might be refreshed in this place,
but her mind was still saddled with the death and destruction of the
last four days.

“HA! I love your sense of humor.”

He then pointed to a tiny drop on the frozen waterfall, very near
the bottom.

“You see that drop there? Right there! That is Earth.”

“I think I'm hallucinating. Planet Earth is in a waterfall?”

“Actually, it would be most accurate to say you are looking
at a type of chart of all the known planets in our existence. Not to
scale of course.” He said this matter-of-factly.

“Now, let's get a little closer.” As he said it, the
“waterfall” seemed to magnify so the Earth was about the
size of a marble among an untold number of similar marbles. Marty
noticed he was moving his fingers over a very faint ghost keypad,
manipulating the waterfall.

“Ah, there we go. Now, do you notice anything unusual about
your planet?”

Marty looked at the multitude of planets, falling to distraction
at the beauty and wonder of it all. Some looked very much like Earth,
verdant and cloud-filled. Others were desert worlds. Some appeared to
be gas worlds, shown with slightly larger size marbles. Looking up, the planets
seemed to stretch to infinity. But most—not all—of the
planets had a bright light around them; an artificial background glow
which seemed to make them pop out from the waterfall itself.

“The Earth doesn't have that white glow behind it. Many of
the others do.”

“Most excellent! Yes. Yes. That glow represents many
wonderful things. The underpinning science would take me a human
lifetime to explain with mathematics—and perhaps some
philosophy.”

“Oh dear. I don't have that much time left in my life.”

“
Au contraire
my Martinette. You are just now
reaching an age where you can appreciate what I'm about to tell you.
A younger person doesn't have the maturity to reach this place at
all. That maturity is what makes you so special.”

“Is that a polite way of saying I'm an old and worn out
woman? That's what I feel like when I come here.”

“No! Not at all. I wish I had more time with you, but
demands have been placed on both of us. Your attention is needed out
on the bridge. I have a whole universe to manage, so-to-speak.”

As he said it he used his ghost keypad and seemed to swipe the
waterfall away and replace it with an overhead view of herself lying
on the bridge, surrounded by Liam and a distraught Victoria. Panning
out, the scene showed the police on one side of the bridge, armed but
not shooting, and the infected attacking en masse toward the
survivors of the train on the other side of the railroad bridge.

“You have much to do. The first baby step you must take is
to carry a tool with you out into the world. That aid will help you
get off this bridge. Your next steps must be to establish a
connection with the two most important people in your life. I'm
impressed how fast you developed the link with Liam—the green
car on the bridge was
his
memory, probably from one of his
books by the looks of it. And the last cosmic leap you will take is
establishing the light behind your planet on the waterfall I showed
you.”

“I want to believe I'm important to whatever,” she
looked around her, “this incredible place is, but you can see
what's going to happen just as I can. There is no way, short of a
miracle, I'm going to survive the day.”

Al just smiled. “My dearest Martinette, have I got a
surprise for you. I'm not only going to get you across that bridge,
but I'm going to change the course of your entire life in the
process.”

“You are talking in riddles. What
exactly
is the tool
you're going to give me?”

“A message.”

He whispered something in her ear.

Then he whispered it again.

“Your planet's future depends on your ability to remember
this information.”

He gave her a tooth-filled smile, and winked exactly as she would
have done.

No pressure.

2

Grandma began to cough.

Liam and Victoria screamed in unison.

“She's still alive!”

Their tears continued to fall, but the emotions had completely
changed.

Grandma was trying to say something.

They gave her some room.

Her first words were, “Call out for Beth Ramos. Call loud.”

Liam heard her request and did as she instructed. He spent no time
asking questions. He would have done anything she asked of him just
then.

“Beth Ramos! Looking for Beth Ramos!”

Grandma whispered again, “Louder.”

“Where is Beth Ramos!!!” He yelled as loud as he was
able into the din of the chaos. He was facing the group from the
train, assuming Beth was one of the women she'd been talking to back
on the flatcar.

Instead, the lead officer of the police blocking the bridge walked
the remaining distance to where Grandma was lying. Another officer
from the vanguard ran up to be by his side.

Liam spun around to face them. Victoria turned as well.

“What are you doing sarge? You can't mingle with them. You
might get sick.”

“She is calling out for Beth Ramos.”

The other officer could only say, “You're kidding me.”

“Who is looking for Beth Ramos? Why do you want her?”

Grandma was very weak, so the man had to take a knee to hear her
over the volume of gunfire in the battle nearby. Liam thought the
noise fell to a dull roar as they formed a tighter ring around her.

He and Victoria were still holding her as Grandma began her story.

“I don't know what this means, but I was told to ask for
Beth Ramos and then give a message to the person who answered the
call. I guess that's you?”

The officer shook his head, though he seemed distant.

“Well the message I'm supposed to give you makes no sense to
me, but maybe it will to you. 'Darcy and Jokie Bunny want you to save
these people'.”

“What? How?”

The forty-something-year-old officer began to cry.

Liam's head was spinning.

What the hell just happened?

The second officer put his hand on the shoulder of his sergeant,
and spoke for him.

“Beth was Phil's wife. Darcy was his daughter. Jokie Bunny—I
don't know.”

“Jokie Bunny was Darcy's lovey. No one could possible know
about that rabbit. That little doll slept with Darcy every night, but
was never allowed out of her bed because we didn't want it to get
lost. We figured she couldn't live without it. But we did let her
take it out
one
time. She went with Darcy when my wife took
her to stay overnight at a friend's house. It was the first time we
let her sleep away from home. My girls never made it.” He was
able to get that much out, then was reduced to tears again.

The other officer continued.

“Phil's wife and daughter were killed this past winter.
Traffic accident. We all went to the funeral in support. Is that how
you knew their names?”

“I was told by,” she took a deep breath as she spoke,
“what I believe was an angel.”

Phil stared at Grandma for several long moments. Perhaps deciding
if she was crazy. But he was quick to act once the decision came to him.

“Ben, bring up the men. We are going to fight at the front
of this group. Let's bring them across. To the hell with orders. We
can't let these people die while we watch and do nothing.”

“You got it boss.”

Ben ran back to his mates and began rounding them up.

Phil jumped on his radio and also instructed those on the far
shore. He called out certain leaders, requested certain weapons, and
finished with “—and enact our plan Badrovik as soon as we're all across. Out.” Liam could see Badrovik was written in
huge letters on the crane holding the wrecking ball.

Phil stood up, brushed the tears from his eyes and simply said,
“Get your grandma across the bridge. I'd like to talk to her
when we're all safe on the other side. If my wife and
daughter—however it's possible—want me to let you guys
across, by God you are going to own this bridge.”

Ben's group arrived, ready for the evacuation effort. As they
reached Phil, Liam heard him yell, “OK guys, let's spray those
sickos with a lead shower—Go! Go! Go!” He then took off
with them into the crowd of people clumped on the dangerous side of
the bridge. Cheers went up with the survivors when they realized what
was happening.

The police began funneling the survivors over the bridge, putting
themselves nearest the fighting to fend off the blood-slick attackers
as they continued to swarm toward the officers and remaining armed
men from the train. With more law enforcement joining the defense, it
was much more certain they could hold off the zombies while the other
survivors made their way to safety, led by Grandma and her helpers.

The police then began retreating across the bridge, expending ammo
at a horrible rate. They were experts at the head shot—the only
shot that seemed to down the infection instantly. Of course any good
student of zombie literature knows that. These guys didn't
disappoint.

Liam stood with Grandma and Victoria off to the side of the bridge
so they could observe the whole scene. They were happy to see the
organized police line was able to fall back in good order, ensuring
no more loss of life. As each rank of officers crossed to the near
side they fanned out to cover their brothers and sisters still out on
the span. It was a thing of beauty.

As the last of the unit reached the near shore the large crane
came to life and moved the giant wrecking ball first backward a great
distance, and then forward, then backward again.

The last of the men reached safety. The bridge itself was crammed
full of the undead. Some were slipping off the sides as their numbers
swelled. Those closest to the police line standing on the near shore
were suffering grievous losses at the expert hands of the defenders.
The crush of infected funneling onto the narrow railway bridge evened
the odds, much as the Greeks had done at Thermopylae. These were not
flesh and blood Persians however, and the infected continued to
swarm—undeterred at any losses, willing to climb over piles of
their peers collecting on the near end of the bridge decking. Liam
saw an endless procession of zombies on the far side now arriving.
There wasn't enough ammo here to kill them all.

The wrecking ball slammed into the side of the railroad bridge,
directly over the concrete support pier sticking up from the muddy
water below. The first hit knocked many of the zombies over the side,
while ripping up a good portion of the bridge decking and rails. The
second hit sheared off the rest of the top decking, and left a gaping
hole where scores of the mindless horde tumbled in. The final few
blows hit the main pier on the near shore and the middle of the
bridge tipped into the water. It was ugly, but it worked.

The remaining zombies were visibly agitated at being denied the
most direct route to their victims, but Liam felt he spoke for
everyone when he silently gave them all the finger. Victoria, seeing
what he was doing, reciprocated. That small act of defiance made him
feel much better.

A few zombies still standing on the shortened near piece of bridge
were quickly eliminated, along with a handful in the mud down below
the bridge. Some continued to pour off the end of the blown bridge,
but were swept downstream or sank to the bottom. The rest seemed to
know the battle was ending, and they turned around to look for easier
pickings.

The sound of gunfire died down. Dust and debris floated
everywhere. The remains of the bridge were sitting in the stream
below. Rather than sink below the surface, much of it was sticking
out of the rushing water. The current moving through the debris made
a metallic howl as it resonated on some of the hollow girders wrapped
around the pier below. It didn't quite drown out the sounds of
moaning—and screams—coming from the remnants of humanity
on the far side of the river.

Liam took the opportunity to speak to his two lady friends.

“I say we take a five minute break.”

“That sounds heavenly.”

Then Grandma said, “I need to sit down again.”

They placed her on the ground up against the trunk of a large
sycamore tree, then each took a seat flanking her. Liam saw she had
dug out her Rosary and was holding it tightly to her chest, much as
she had when he first saw her in her bed several days ago. Was she
near the end again?

Liam didn't have long to reflect on the question, as Phil joined
them to speak with Grandma.

Liam stood up.

“Phil this is Marty, my grandmother.”

“Do you mind if I sit down and talk to your Grandma alone
for a few minutes?”