Slow Burn: A Zombie Novel (45 page)

"It's time to go, Rob," I stated.

Rob just shook his head with a determined look on his face. "My wife and kids are inside; I have to reach them. I'll see you at the prison."

At that he was running to the school gymnasium. That same moment the perimeter lights started to fail one by one as the press of undead knocked them over. There were a few lights that survived near the school entry doors, but we were soon left with nothing but the darkness and the rain.

Chaos soon followed. Stephen grabbed Mattie and me, and shoved us ahead of him towards the far end of the safe zone. He turned and emptied a full mag into the nearest bunch of zombies before turning to follow. Hundreds of screaming civilians ran for the school entrances as a last stand area. Knowing that it would be a death trap, we fought against the flood of people streaming to get inside the building and made our way towards the ambulance. Finally we made it to edge of the crowd, and I found Jack trying to direct people into the school as hundreds of zombies now inside the perimeter fell upon the poor bastards in the rear of the crowd and started tearing into them. No longer were there any guards on the perimeter, and it would be mere minutes before it was all over.

“
It’s every man for himself now!" Stephen yelled, dragging Mattie along with him.

Grabbing Jack by the arm, I said, “Follow us, Jack! This place’s done for! We’ve got a fallback position set up we can evacuate to!”

Jack fought me for a second or two and then the sight of the thousands of zombies filling the safe zone sank in.

“
Don’t be a fucking hero, Jack,” I said. “Come with us if you want to live.”

Jack stood there a second with tears in his eyes then gave in and followed as we took off after Stephen and Mattie, who had about fifty yards on us already.

Stephen and Mattie reached the ambulance just as the Joliet Police Mobile Command Center roared past me towards the gate. It seemed that Marvin and the rest of his cronies were making a break for it as well. The glorified motor home reached the gate, but was unable, on the rain soaked pavement, to make the sharp turn needed and veered off course. Next clipping a parked squad car, it slammed into the already weakened perimeter wall. The wreckage came to a stop, completely blocking the only way out by vehicle. The heavily damaged mobile command post now had made a very large gash in the improvised vehicle barrier wall allowing a steady stream of undead to filter through. I heard gunshots and screams come from the RV as it was engulfed. A large hole had been ripped into the command center’s side and dozens of howling undead clambered inside the incapacitated police vehicle. The strobe lights were activated, as the flashing red and blue lights came on suddenly and cast an eerie light show in the wind and rain. This, mixed with several muzzle flashes from the darkened windows, mesmerized me for a few seconds as several of my former colleagues perished inside.

"Goddammit, the ambulance is out! We’re on foot from here!" I reached Stephen and Mattie with Jack in tow. "Let’s head to the barrier wall on the northeast side of the parking lot!"

“
Roger that,” Stephen replied. “I didn’t have a chance to raise Dan on the ambulance radio either.”

Stephen and Mattie again reached our destination first and began to engage the few zombies that were on that side. Although there were quite a few, there was not nearly the amount that came in from the west. Plus we only needed to cut a path out, not hold a line. Finally, after stopping to retrieve my bag from the ambulance, I reached the barrier, and I clambered over it. I was tired as hell, as I had been running on empty for the last few hours of solid combat. Jack was not faring much better, but he had never been a physically active person up until recently and was starting to lag behind a bit. Glancing back to make sure he was still with us, I could see a few other civilians followed us and were crossing over the wall that was now about sixty yards behind me.

Maybe a few others would still make it out after all.

Up ahead of me, the dim figures of Stephen and Mattie ran east down Glenwood Avenue and away from this clusterfuck.

Stephen, being an avid runner, and Mattie being seventy-five pounds lighter than me, did not seem like they were too worried that my old white ass was falling farther behind.

I drew in painful ragged breaths, fighting to catch up with them, and was struck by a morbid thought:
I guess they really don’t have to run that fast when it comes to zombies, just faster than me
.

* * * * * * * *

At 10,000 feet the F-16’s vector followed their flight path toward the target’s location. Visibility was low due to a heavy storm hitting the target area, and they were relying on instruments for the bomb run.

Lt. Powell radioed Central Command that he and Capt. Trevino were in position.

"This is Command. You are clear to engage the target.”

Lt. Powell acknowledged and began to input the final GPS coordinates for the two, 2000 pound JDAM GBU-31 bombs that he carried. The massive bombs would undoubtedly destroy the entire safe zone and all of the infected in it.

“
Bombs away and on target,” Lt. Powell stated.

Capt. Trevino would follow at a much lower altitude with his payload of four, 1000 pound CBU-87 cluster bombs in an attempt to clear the entire area of anything that might survive the first salvo.

Saying a quick prayer, Lt. Powell watched on his screen as the bombs reached their target and deployed with devastating effect. He pulled up and away from the explosion, hoping that this would allow any survivors a chance to escape.

Shortly after, Lt. Powell heard Capt. Trevino state that he had successfully unloaded his ordnance as well.

The F-16s veered away and began their trek back to base. Command advised them that they needed to return with all possible speed back to base to use their 20mm cannons to stem an assault by the infected on their own airbase.

“
We are in the shit now,” Capt. Trevino told his wingman.

Lt. Powell hit the afterburners and as the F-16s cracked the sound barrier, he realized that he may not have a place to land when he returned.

* * * * * * * *

Father Kettle looked out over his small group of hardened killers and criminals and began to speak to them in a fiery sermon to strengthen his hold over them.

“
Revelation 9:6… the star opened the abyss, and the smoke poured out of it, like smoke from a large furnace, and the sunlight and the air were darkened from it. Locusts came down out of the smoke upon the earth and were given the power of a scorpion. They were told not to harm the grass or plants. They could only harm those who did not have the mark of God’s seal on their foreheads. The locusts, like these infected now roaming the land, were not allowed to kill people, but torture them for five months. During these five months mankind will seek death but not find it. They will want to die but death will flee them.”

Kettle looked back into their eyes and he could see the glimmer of fanaticism reflect back like the many candles that were lit around him.

Like clay in my hands to be molded
, he thought, and began reading once again.

* * * * * * * *

Inside the safe zone, chaos ruled. Hundreds of people crushed one another trying to get past the narrow entrance as scores were pulled down by the ravenous zombies in the rear. Here and there, small children were left crying alone, abandoned by parents and adults who were separated by the crushing crowds or pulled down by the infected. Inside the school, prayers were whispered fervently in fear as other parents huddled with their children. Outside, screams of pain ripped through the air as more were fed upon by the increasing number of zombies. Pleas for mercy or help were ignored by both humans and zombies. Throughout it all the ever present moaning and growls of the zombies dominated the rain soaked night. Several tried to rally others to fight back, only to be overrun as they attempted to hold a line. Many, realizing hope was lost, shot themselves in the head to avoid becoming zombies themselves. Still, many were safe inside the school for the moment and may have a chance to survive the night.

But that was not to be the case.

Above the doomed safe zone, the stabilizer fins on the two JDAM’s made small adjustments to keep themselves on target. Like a bolt of lightning the two bombs struck the safe zone school building from the dark turbulent sky like the fist of an angry god. The resulting explosion pulverized the building into hundreds of tons of twisted steel, concrete and glass. Scores of vehicles lining the perimeter were also shredded into deadly shrapnel that tore into civilian and zombie alike.

* * * * * * * *

I had a cramp inside a cramp that was ripping my spleen out as I tried to catch up to Stephen and Mattie.

“
Son of a motherless goat!” I shrieked. “This hurts!”

As bad as I felt right now, it looked worse for Jack. I heard him puke a minute ago. Up ahead of me, Mattie and Stephen finally came to a halt and turned to wait for us. It was now very dark without the lights from the portable generators of the safe zone, but enough light from the school itself was reaching us that I could dimly see their outline up ahead of us. The storm had finally broken, and the rain was beginning to let up. At least I had that going for me as my lead heavy legs plodded their way to them.

In the first moments of the explosion I could see Stephen from the light of the flash, staring open mouthed in amazement while Mattie instinctively covered her eyes. I had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen. Before I could even start to turn my head, I heard Jack scream, and a thunderous boom deafened me. A split second later, the following shockwave hit me like a truck and tossed me several feet up onto the porch of a nearby house. My head was slammed painfully into the front door, and fireworks exploded in my head. I groggily turned over onto my back. My vision swam back and forth until it locked onto Jack, who was lying motionless on the grass behind me with what appeared to be a fragment of a truck bumper protruding from his chest.

* * * * * * * *

Father Kettle was in a zone giving his sermon to his followers. He paced back and forth in front of the altar like a caged animal, while his followers screamed “yes” and “praise God” and fell to their knees. He tore into more verses and altered them to cement his hold over his men.

“
Revelations continues with the following warnings we must heed!” he preached.

“
The first Angel went and poured out his bowl and terrible and painful sores appeared on those who had the mark of the beast.”

“
The power of Lucifer has grown, my children. The evil has been prophesized and those that they refer to are now blanketing the world with their blasphemy! We have seen these very same creatures ourselves on our way here to the church!”

Kettle himself, now caught up in his tirade, had bits of spit foaming on his lips as he began again his twisted verses.

“
Satan will bring all of his cursed and wretched peoples and armies together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the sea shores. They shall spread out over the earth and surround the camp of God’s people…”

Reaching a momentous peak, Kettle closed his bible and stretched his arms straight out to the side, tilting his head back and screaming his perverted verses to the ceiling.

“
My friends, the time of reckoning is near! The dead have risen to punish the evil and weak among us. So says the bible that the sea and the world will give up the dead to be judged! Then Death and the world of the dead will be thrown into a lake of fire!”

As Kettle stood there with arms outstretched, the immense explosion that destroyed the doomed safe zone sent a massive wave of light that made its way through the dirty stained glass window of the dilapidated church. The picture on the window was of a cross. With the light shining through for a few seconds, it sent a shadow of the cross that lined up exactly with where Kettle stood. To Kettle’s fanatical followers it appeared that he was Christ himself crucified on the cross, illuminated by almighty God.

Kettle smiled in his glory as he watched the reverence in his new flock’s eyes. “Now my children,” Kettle continued after the pause, “there is much work to be done.”

I had been thrown like a ragdoll from the massive shockwave, and blood streamed into my eyes from a nasty head wound.

That’ll leave a mark!
I thought, desperately trying to hold onto consciousness.

With my vision spinning, I realized that other than the fact that I ended up landing on someone’s front porch like a welcome mat, I was not injured too badly. Looking over at Jack’s cooling corpse, with the large piece of car part in his chest, I decided it could have been a lot worse.

It didn’t take Murphy’s Law long to prove how much worse it could get. The night again exploded in brilliant flashes followed by a series of violent concussions as the 808 combined effect bombs contained in the cluster bombs left a footprint of 400 x 800 yards, completely covering the former high school that had served as our sanctuary until tonight. They ripped to shreds anyone unlucky enough to be in the former safe zone.