The Horror Squad: An Apocalyptic Tale (8 page)

We spread out and started beating our blades into the rotter’s skulls. The screaming stopped long before we were done with putting the dead back into their rotting solitude. It was almost discomforting to me to not see that son of a bitch take his last breath, but it was too late now, his face had already passed its blistering point and had already ate down into the skull leaving only a few bits of crisped meat dangling.

Even though the man was surely dead, Steven still walked over and kung-fu kicked him in the chest for his own personal satisfaction.

We all walked back into the shop and quickly started replacing our weapons with new machetes and hatchets. Donald kept his distance like a scolded dog that was still too worried if it was still in trouble, but finally spoke. “The man was just scared.”

“You think there is one of us that wasn’t scared when all this shit broke out? You think any of us knew what to do, other than the fact of seeing bullshit zombie shows on TV growing up?...We were all scared and still scared half the time from each situation we’re put in, but we still managed to not use our goddamn kids as a ploy and lead them to safety. And let’s not talk about the ones that tried to save their kids and could not!” I stated as my temper grew close to breaking.

“Fuck that piece of shit!” Gizmo added.

“Not everyone thinks clearly when they’re scared.” Donald decided to throw out there.

“So what, did you want us to do save him? Did you want to take him back to camp so you could be his new bunk mate to see his next reaction when he got scared or maybe we should have bunked him in with our kids, would that of made you happy?” I demanded.

“Never mind.” He replied.

“You’re goddamn right, never mind.” I ended the conversation.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Justin suggested.

“Agreed, we got what we came for.” Howard stated.

Donald pushed the door open and we followed him outside. The street was clear minus the child killing man and the few rotters that we had already taken out. We aimlessly started wandering around the streets since we never established where we were going.

Each of us took to each side of the street, one behind the other, ready to attack if needed while trying to look into the strip of stores that lined each side hoping to catch a glimpse of things that might be helpful to take home. As we each found stores that looked as though they had not anyone in them, we would stop while three went in and three stood outside.

After a while, we had accumulated clothes, small amounts of snack foods and things like candles and matches and anything that had not already been rummaged through.

People never really thought to take things like small pipes or chemicals. It was the food that seemed to be what everyone had gathered. As three would exit one store, the other three would go into another and make their way through. I had found two extra back packs and was able to fill them with batteries and flashlights that someone had thrown to the ground in a small store. Gizmo had gathered a few things for the kids to do, as well as found hedge clippers and a few pieces of rebar that he made sure to grab and hoped that we could make it back with. Justin and Steven both came out of a store holding handfuls of Twinkies and little Debbies that someone had missed. Sodas were found and packed into the bags as well as a case of water and a large amount of screws and bolts that we confiscated from the small mom and pop hardware store on the corner.

WHAT THE FUCK

THE OTHER
two zombies that were lingering in the street started staggering up the driveway as well. It didn’t take long before they were ripping handfuls of the poor dog’s insides out as well and shoving it in their mouths.

Gizmo ran in the house and grabbed his hunting rifle and dumped a box of shells onto the bed, but was having a hard time steadying his hands from his nerves to load the bullets in it.

One of the men started trying to walk up the steps to get to us. His mouth still had entrails dangling from the corner of his lip and blood covering from the top of his nose to his chin and he kept snapping his teeth at me like a rabid dog. The man fell a few times. His face was now cracked open, but he kept coming. By now the other two had joined in, with one falling, which offset his leg and it snapped. The bone was protruding through the skin and was poking through the side of his dirty and thin pants. It didn’t phase him, fore he kept trying to climb and pull himself up the steps. 

Gizmo finally came running out of the door with his rifle now loaded. He took aim putting the crosshairs between one of their eyes. I could instantly start to see sweat start to bead off his forehead and into his face. I took a step over and eased the gun out of his hands. He looked over at me and gave a nod of acknowledgment and acceptance. I shouldered the rifle firmly and chambered the first round before finding my target through the scope which looked like a blur from being so close.

WHILE WE’RE AWAY

THE SUN
rose and Kris’s eyes squinted open to Daltin and Sidnie gathering their clothes and folding them. Kris just knew something was wrong and quickly sat up.

“What’s wrong?” Kris asked the unusual acting duo.

“Nothing, we were just waiting for you to get up mama.” Sidnie stated folding her one pair of good blue jeans.

“Why are y’all folding clothes?” Kris asked in confusion.

“Because…we are supposed to.” She stated to her mother.

“Look, I folded mine.” Daltin held up a stack of crumbled up clothes.

“Well, okay then.” Kris laughed. “I am going to take a shower and then we will go get the rest of the crew and go get some breakfast. Keep cleaning.” Kris encouraged and gathered her half folded clothes and headed out.

The soap just lathering in her hair and the curtain in the gym bathroom pulled to, the door opened. Kris stopped for a moment waiting for someone to make themselves known.

“So are you going to be done sometime today so we can go eat?” Tina’s voice echoed.

Kris smiled hearing her normal grumpy morning voice. “Damn I just got in, gimme a minute or two.”

“Just wanted to let you know I am taking Sidnie and Daltin with me for breakfast. It’s Pancake Day and the kids are excited and I REALLY need some coffee.” Tina told her through the curtain.

“I will be there shortly. How is your stomach?” Kris asked.

“Crampy and it is making my morning extra pissy.” Tina slammed the door.

Kris finished her shower and walked back down the hall. She opened her door to a floor full of stacks of folded clothes. She laughed at the point that they at least folded them. She put her dirty clothes into the hamper and decided to put up the clothes up later. She made her way to some pancakes, even though they weren’t her favorite, she could handle a couple of them. 

She could hear the kids as she rounded the corner of the school towards the cafeteria.

“Did y’all already eat?” She asked the foursome.

They all shook their heads yes.

“It is Wednesday, y’all get your butts in there and help Milissa clean up breakfast stuff.” Kris told them.

They quickly rose from the ground and ran around to go inside, knowing that they had to get their chores done before they were supposed to be able to play.

“Tina, it is Wednesday; they are supposed to help with kitchen duty. Friday they help with the plant, remember?” Kris told her as she sat down.

“Hell, I can’t remember what day is what. I just know that they are supposed to be doing something. I haven’t even finished my first damn cup, give me a break.” Tina took another sip of her coffee.

Kris shook her head at her friend and watched as the girls wiped down tables and counters as Milissa and the couple of girls that helped her in the cafeteria got to sit down and take a break. Hudson tried his hardest to sweep the floor with the big yellow push dust mop, unfortunately he left a trail of dirt every time he turned the mop to go the other way. Daltin sprayed the few dishes that were in the sink to make sure there was plenty for the lunch crowd that always came through from the plant. After lunch the kid’s chores were to get with Karen and Milissa and help replenish the food in the cafeteria.

All of the group back at home felt lucky to have all that they had. They knew that the ones that were outside of the fence were risking their lives to bring back goods that were needed. Hopefully, they were able to bring back enough to not have to go out for a while; and the ones that were out, were thankful for the ones at home that would be there when they got home and the ones that stayed behind to run the plant.

Lisa had become the best at delegating everyone on what to do to keep things running smoothly. Plus, with everyone intimidated by her, she never had a problem getting them to work and keep things going.

Milissa stayed on top of things in the cafeteria and did what she could to make some great things for everyone’s meals. She would throw things together that no one had eaten before and they would love it and request her to make it again on a regular basis. She kept her food crew in line and followed all the ‘food serving’ rules even with all that was going on, like the health department would be coming soon or something.

Karen kept everything inventoried and did a good job. She had everything written down from food to linens, to ammo to hygiene products. She kept everything on its own shelf and had an abundance of all of it at this time, thanks to those that went out to gather it. She had so much that she did end up having to store some in one of the bunk houses as TJ had suggested before and had not had to pull any from there since they left with all that she had.

Martin guarded the gate a lot of the day and night, and was relieved for enough time to get a full eight hours sleep and he was back at his guard post. A few of the others that worked the plant would walk the fence line a few times a day and check for any inconsistencies in the fencing or walls that had been put up. It was a long drawn out process with as much land as there was. Sometimes they would find a rotted piece of metal wall that needed replaced and take care of it quickly or stabilize it the best they could with the tools that had been brought in or found there at the plant.

Everyone had their own jobs throughout except for Tina and Kris since they had been recently left behind off of the missions to take care of the kids. They both understood, but so wanted to be with their husbands. However, they both had decided that their children still needed to have normalcy, like chores and school and learning things that they would on a normal basis. So on Wednesday and Friday they would do chores around their new stomping grounds. On Mondays and Tuesdays they were to do worksheets that Tina and Kris had made up and they had made a classroom just for schooling for their children.

Unfortunately, no one else had children that had made it, so the four that were there, were the focus of everyone when they were out around the ones that did have children at one time. Everyone surrounded them and took them under their wing to keep them safe.