The Road to Macon: A Zombie Novel (15 page)

"What ya got?" he asked, looking up into the cab of the truck where Eric was just handing down the binoculars. Kyle reached up and pulled himself up to the first step on the truck. He took a look in the cab to find the old man with his head leaned back on the seat and his mouth hanging open, causing loud snores to fill the truck. Kyle looked at Eric who just gave a shrug. Kyle took the binoculars and looked down the road. He saw where two cars had been pushed together, but looking closer he saw that one of them had been pushed backed or rammed. Maybe someone had the same idea as them. He also saw what looked like a few bodies on the ground, but couldn't be sure at this distance. He didn't see anyone moving.

"Okay, looks deserted now. Let's take the truck closer and see if anything moves." It wasn't the best plan but he wasn't sure what to do at this point. It was getting darker and they needed to move. It was only a few more miles until the bridge to the island.

"You want anyone else to come along?"

"No, I want to have them stay in their vehicles and keep a lookout." Kyle got on the radio and explained what they were going to do. He waited for everyone's response and handed the radio microphone back to Eric.

"Let's go," Eric said, as he positioned himself on the truck. Kyle positioned himself on Ben’s side of the truck. The top step into the truck was big enough for him to squat on, and the hood of the truck gave him some cover. Eric drove slowly until they were about twenty yards away. Kyle and Eric both took a look and found nothing moving. The pulled up to where the roadblock had been and found five dead bodies laying out around the cars. Kyle walked over to take a look and found that the blood was still fresh. This hadn't happened that long ago. He squatted down and took a look around. Nothing moved. It seemed that even birds in the surrounding trees were quiet. Kyle had had enough, there was nothing for them here. He told Eric to call the others up. Time to move on.

"You know what we need is light sabers? Over," the radio blurted out. Kyle was intently watching all around as they neared the bridge that would take them onto Oak Island. "They could cut right through a zombie."

"Patrick, keep a look out. We need to focus and not talk about
Star Trek
right now," scolded Yolanda from beside Kyle. She looked at him as she hung the receiver back up and gave him a wink. Kyle gave a laugh.

"
Star Wars
," came in inevitable return. "You know that Yolanda, I have told you about them many times and I know you've seen the movies at XR-12."

"You need to stop spying on people Captain Spock."

Kyle could hear the aggravation in Patrick's voice when he got back on the radio. "I wasn't spying, I was manning the cameras and Spock wasn't the captain. Over" Kyle was laughing now. Maybe they needed to be paying better attention but he figured the group needed the laugh, and he and everyone else enjoyed the bickering between these two.

"You know," interrupted a pouty English voice, "Star Wars was filmed in London. Tis’ true."

"Hey Lobster-back," Eric chimed in, "make sure you're paying attention. That truck is my baby and the girls are in back. Over."

"Yes, I know. They're quite smelly, aren't they?" asked Edmund.

"I told you about that questioning thing and no, the girls don't smell, least not that bad."

Kyle grabbed the receiver that Yolanda was picking up, about ready to jump into the conversation again. "Okay, everybody, we’re about to cross the bridge. After that, the road will come to a T, with the left going to the fort and the right taking you into Southport, is that right Eric?”

"That's right, Professor, the bridge is down and looks okay."

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't mentioned it to anyone since he had thought of it just recently, but if the bridge had been up, then they would have been in big trouble. Anyway, it was down. "Also, Patrick we probably can't get light sabers but grabbing some swords isn't a bad idea, and there should be some at the museum, over."

Kyle hung the receiver back up as they began to cross the river. This was still an area that didn't have a lot of people, but they would be seeing more and more houses as they got closer. Luckily, they would be driving away from town again, when they made their turn.

"Professor, looks like another roadblock," Eric said on the radio. Kyle just sighed as he answered. "Copy that, same procedure as last time.”

They pulled over and Kyle repeated his actions from last time. When he got up to Eric, he saw the hairy man shaking his head at Kyle as he walked up. "You're not going to believe this."

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure that's Neil up there, and he's got us roadblocked before we can make the turn." Kyle grabbed the binoculars from Eric and stared intently at the distant figures. He could see the other Tahoe from work and behind it, a familiar figure looking back at him. That man's got a lot of balls showing up here.

Neil stared into the binoculars and saw Kyle looking back at him. He giggled to himself at the thoughts that must be going through Kyle's head. He almost trembled in excitement to see Kyle finally get what was coming to him. He would be able to rest now, to see after his family, all those things he had to put on hold in order to do his duty. He just needed to punish Kyle for what he did, then, and only then, he could move on.

Neil kept stopped looking at Kyle and noticed the amount of trucks that were with him, they had grown. Didn't matter how many cowards Kyle brought with him. Right would prevail. After all, Kyle was the coward. If he had listened to Neil, then Tim wouldn't be dead now. Kyle had caused that by not following orders. But that wasn't the worst of Kyle's sin, oh no. He had abandoned his post, the most important of the general orders in the military, and the worst offence. He had learned that lesson the hard way in the marine corps, though he had never seen action working in logistics. But he still knew that to leave your post the way that Kyle did, and convincing others to do it too, was unforgiveable. Then he had the nerve to steal from the plant that he was supposed to be protecting. Thief! And lastly, Tim's death, but that wasn't as bad because he had signed on to defend and death was always there. He was willing to give his life if he needed to, but Neil knew he was important as a sergeant, a leader. These people needed him. He would stop Kyle.

"Get ready people," he snapped in a military tone. "The traitors are coming. Let's finish this."

A small woman raised her hand uncertainly in the air like she was afraid the teacher would lash out at her, "Neil, shouldn't we talk to them and see if they will surrender or give the weapons back?" The people around her didn't look at her as she asked this, except the two Neil had recruited from somewhere. They thought they might have been ex-military. Maybe.

Neil's eyes bore into her and then he gave a small smile. "Maybe a talk couldn't hurt."

"Looks like he wants to talk. He's walking out in front with a white something," Eric stated as he looked at Neil.

"Maybe he wants to surrender?" offered Abe, who hadn't quite gotten the whole story on this guy. The CB radio wasn't conducive to having long conversations, especially with everyone jumping in the conversation. Everyone looked at Kyle.

"We can pull up and talk, but not too close," Kyle said, rubbing his hand through his hair. "He doesn't have that many people, but I want everyone to stay behind their engines when we pull up. Let's hope he just doesn't do anything stupid." The others nodded and jogged off to get in their trucks. Kyle again jumped up on the running board of the Peterbilt and let Yolanda drive his truck.

When they were just close enough to be heard, Kyle slapped the back of the cab and Eric stopped the big truck. He saw that Neil's was still wearing his uniform from the plant, and gave a small laugh in annoyance. Neil handed his gun to someone and started walking out in front. Kyle gave a sigh and handed his 9mm to Eric and started walking.

Neil looked terrible. His always immaculate uniform was stained and in disarray. His eyes sunken and bloodshot. He looked pale and was sweating profusely though it was a cool day. He also hadn't shaved in a few days, another first for Sergeant Neil.

"What do you want?" said Kyle. Behind Neil, he could see the rifles of Neil's people poking up from the cars. Kyle moved over a bit, making sure that Neil would be blocking the path of any bullets slung his way.

"I want to give you the chance to surrender and give up your guns," Neil almost shouted, his body visibly shaking. Kyle was thinking it wasn't such a good idea to meet him this close, weapons or not.

"What are you talking about Neil? Surrender for what?" Despite his anger at the sheer absurdity of the demand, Kyle was genuinely surprised at the request.

"You left your post and stole weapons from our employer!" screamed Neil, his voice becoming higher and shrill. "You are a traitor and a thief!"

Kyle just stared at Neil, almost not comprehending what he was talking about. The guy's gone crazy. He can't be still going on about this. How do you reason with someone like this?

"Neil, the plant is safely shut off and I see that you also have weapons and a truck from the plant," he called out. He knew that arguing with him wouldn't do any good, but he couldn't help himself. The guy was a delusional idiot. He heard footsteps coming from behind him and turned to find Yolanda walking up with her rifle slung.

They both heard Neil's response, "It's my job now to stop you from hurting anyone else. You're a traitor and a coward."

"The guy has completely lost it I see," Yolanda commented, looking straight at Neil. She seemed amused by the whole thing. Neil stared at Yolanda, his face seeming to distort in all manner of shapes.

"Neil," Kyle was just tired and wanted to finish what they started, "we just need to reach the fort. We need the safety and so do you."

"You'll never have it. It belongs to the state and you can't trespass. You have no authority!"

"Okay Neil." Kyle reached out to grab Yolanda who was still smirking at Neil. She had a way of getting under the skin if she wanted to. He just wanted to get away from the guy. They began walking back. Kyle wondered if it was a good idea to turn his back on Neil but he couldn't do much without any weapons. He hoped. They had almost made it back to the truck when a shot was fired off. Instinctively Kyle and Yolanda dropped low and rushed back to the cover of the truck. Kyle was breathing hard, that shot has scared him. He turned to see Neil holding his rifle in the air and screaming at them.

"Judas Priest!" Eric exclaimed, "He'll draw the attention of every infected in the area. Neil then turned his rifle and aimed right at them. "He wouldn't!"

The metallic ping of bullets hitting metal caused all of them to dash behind whatever form of cover they could. Kyle, who knew any minute a bullet would find him, couldn't believe the fool was firing on him. Eric, already with his rifle out, began returning fire. He heard Abe yelling from behind him and turned to yell at him to get back when he felt a sting in his ear. He quickly slapped his hand to his ear as one might if they were stung by a hornet and felt the small, yet perfectly round, hole in the cartilage of his ear. He pulled his bloody hand back down and cursed Neil.

The firefight quickly ramped up. Kyle also started firing, though he was still dubious about doing so. He knew some of these people and he didn't want to shoot any of them, but they were forcing him to choose between those feelings and life. They would lose. The noise was overpowering, but the numbers quickly wrote the story. Neil was simply outnumbered and, Kyle thought, had the weaker shooters.

Kyle watched one of the trucks Neil's people were hiding behind settle to the ground as both of its tires facing them were blown, the truck was being shredded by bullets. He saw two people dash toward the other Tahoe and then the sound of an engine trying desperately to start. The engine coughed and finally caught, taking off toward the town.

He waved his hand to get the attention of the others. "Hold your fire, they’re bugging out."

"We ought to take care of them right now," complained the old man. "And it's no fun being in a firefight handcuffed to a truck."

"Sorry about that," Kyle said looking up, "but those were the terms." Kyle heard him grumble something to Eric who was checking his magazines.

"Let's count off!" Kyle shouted. He saw Abe walking toward them, looking unharmed but needed to check on everyone. All the trucks reported in, except for his. He was about to find Yolanda when Patrick shouted his name from the other side of the truck.

He darted around, expecting to see the worst. He found James, leaning over a prostrate form on the ground, Yolanda. James had ripped the front of her shirt open and had already started to put pressure on the wounds. Blood had quickly pushed past his hands and began to pool on her chest. Yolanda was alive but barely, her breathing coming in painful gasps. James said something quietly to Patrick, who tore off in another direction.

Kyle kneeled down on the other side of her, "How many hits?"

"Three," James replied evenly, not taking his eyes off what he was doing.

"Exit wounds?"

"We need to check, Yolanda, we are going to lift you up to see if the bullets came out," James's tone was light and compassionate, almost as if he were giving directions to a child.

"Don't bother," she coughed painfully, her speech slurring. "I'm done. Can you believe those idiots got me?" Her body convulsed in an almost rhythmic pace. Kyle, helpless to provide any help to his dying friend, clenched his hands in aggravation and sorrow. A blood bubble formed in her mouth and then popped, leaving her mouth and teeth coated in a ghastly appearance.

Yolanda stretched out her hand, intent to find James, and softly put her hand over James' eyes. With a fading voice she looked at him and said, "James, it's okay. It's okay." Her last words, soft and slow, were but faint and covered by the wind. James, his always stoic form on the verge of melting, slowly leaned over and kissed her now relaxed forehead. Not a word did James speak, and after a minute, as he got up and walked away from the shell that had once held the vibrant Yolanda.