Total Apoc Trilogy (Book 2): Fighting the Hordes (11 page)

            Honestly, half the plan I was making up as I spoke.  It all made sense to me.  Mike thought about it, got up and watched the zombies for a moment, and finally looked around at the lost trucks and back of the store.

            "If we lure the zombies over here, what's to keep them from just going down to the back of the store?" he asked.

            That stumped me for a second.  Going over the layout of the area, as best as I remembered, I came up with a solution.  I wasn't a hundred percent sure it would work, but it was all I had.

            "What if we went over another block down Cartwright, turned down the next street up, and got the zombies' attention?" I suggested.  "My experience with them is that every one of them will turn on us and attack.  We lead them up to Cartwright and over to the shopping mall."

            "How will you get them to go after the others and not just keeping chasing you?" Billy asked.

            "Easy," Mike said, grinning and nodding.  "We run across the parking lot past the store, and shoot at them.  They'll shoot back, and the zombies will notice them.  I suspect most of the zombies will turn on them."

            "Yes," I said, now excited.  "Zombies aren't as fast as us, so we can easily outrun them.  Once we're out of sight, they'll turn on those other guys."

            I wasn't a hundred percent sure of that last part.  Still, it was all we had.

            "Sounds like a plan," Travis said, grinning.  "So the rest of us will bring the trucks to the corner, jump the fence, and then go in the back door."

            "No," Mike said.  "While Kyle and I are luring the zombies over, you two will bring all of the trucks up to that far corner."  He indicated the south-west corner, on the other side of the shopping center.  "Kyle, will then take you two, with his friends, around to the back."

            "Just four of us are going to rescue them?" I asked.  "Are you crazy?"

            "No, you just have to gun down the guards and get to the door before they can lock it."

            "What if they lock it?" I asked.  That was the one scenario I hadn't thought about.  "How will we get inside?"

            "We have grenade launchers.  Travis will take one with you guys," Mike said.  "Meanwhile, when you start shooting, I'll lead the rest of the trucks into the shopping center and around behind the store.  Then we get everyone into the trucks and go straight down the back alley to the street, and then up onto Cartwright."

            I nodded.  "Yeah.  I like it.  We should be able to plow through that zombie horde easily enough.  They'll be all spread out, after all."

            I was getting excited again.  In a way, Mike and I were taking the biggest chance.

            "Go," Mike ordered Billy and Travis.  He slapped me on the shoulder, "Come on, Kyle."

            We ran across 18th Street and into another strip mall, which wasn't as big.  Jogging, we kept a close watch out for other survivors and zombies.  That short run left me more than a little winded.  I was starting to have doubts.

            "Let me rest a second," I said.

            "We don't have a second," he said.  "It's do or die time."

            "Don't put it that way," I said.

            We ran into the middle of the street.  Zombies were crossing the street a block up.  There were a few stragglers wandering around on that street.  As soon as one of them looked our way and spotted us, a hundred faces turned in our direction.

            "Whoa," Mike said.  "Did you see that?"

            "I've seen it before.  I think they are all mentally connected in some way," I replied.  "Here they come.  We better start moving away."

            The zombies surged towards us.  My fear of them probably made it appear they were moving faster than they were, but why take chances?  Even exhausted I could outrun them the short distance required.  Still, I didn't want them to get too close.

            "Billy and Travis better be waiting for us on the other side," I called.

Chapter 12

            I got a stitch in my side before we reached the shopping center.  Ten days in Emory's NML Zone hadn't prepared me for so much running.  Mike looked winded, but he was holding up much better.  I looked back to see a few zombies were running in their awkward way, but were closer than I found comfortable.

            "Faster!" I said.  "They're gaining."

            "Damn, they're faster than I thought."

            "They don't get tired," I added.

            We ran across the street and into the shopping center.  I noticed the jeep pull up to the corner to our right front, stopping on the sidewalk just out of view.  And then I heard gunfire erupting over there.

            "The barricade!" I shouted.

            "Shit!  Shit!" Mike said, running even faster.  "Hurry up!"

            The trucks were all shooting at the barricade, which was behind them now.  How did we forget about that?  That damn barricade started the whole debacle.  Five crew-served weapons should be more than a match for the few men guarding it.  I hoped.

            We ran straight at the store, and then veered away about halfway to it.  The zombies were in hot pursuit.  The guards out front rushed to the edge of their little enclosure and gawked.

            "Zombies!" I screamed.  "Run for your lives!"

            They started shooting.  Both at us and at the zombies.  Soon, they forgot about us and concentrated on the incoming horde.  The zombies turned their attention to the bigger target.  A few continued to follow us.

            I ran straight up to the jeep and jumped onto the hood.  Travis was in my seat, with Billy in back with Ralph.  Mike's pickup was next in line, and he jumped into it.

            "Hurry up and get into position!" Mike yelled at me.

            "Go!"

            I leaned back against the windshield in front of Travis.  Olivia didn't hesitate.  She turned the jeep onto the street, did a U-turn, and we headed back towards the alley between the houses and that side wall, while all four of us fired at the remaining barricade guards.  Those embattled men mostly stayed down under cover.

            Olivia raced down the alley forcing me to hold onto the windshield for dear life.  She did glance at me with a worried look.  Didn't stop her from driving like a maniac.  Thankfully, she did slow to a stop so that I didn't go flying off.

            "Take the jeep around to the other side as soon as Mike arrives with the other trucks," I told her, pointing down the back wall.  "Ralph, shoot down the back of the store and start clearing out the guards."

            He was high enough to have a clear shot.  I lead Travis and Billy down the fence line until we were even with the sporting goods store and the trucks.  Ralph wasn't bothering with short bursts.  That was some intense suppressive fire!

            I heard more gunfire erupt out front.  Mike was on the way!

            Ralph stopped firing.  Were the guards all dead?  We were about to find out.

            We climbed over the fence and dropped into crouches.  A second later we were between the trucks, checking inside them for hidden enemy.  I counted three bodies.  The door was closed and locked.

            "Travis," I said, running behind a truck.

           
BOOM!

            Grenades were a lot louder close up.  The steel door was blown apart, the remnants swinging on its hinges.  Travis led the charge in.

            "Travis, turn right and fire," I called.  "Billy, take the left!  I got straight ahead!"

            I probably should've told them what to do before that moment.  In my defense, I was new to Army tactics.  Kind of making it up as I went.

           
Pap-pap-pap-pap!  Pap-pap-pap!

            Funny how your own gunfire sounds so much more pathetic than what your enemies are shooting at you.  I knew AR15s were just modified M16s, a true weapon of war, but it sounded totally inadequate to me at that moment.  Still, everyone we shot at fell down and didn't get back up.

            Our friends were lined up sitting against the back wall, bound hand and foot.  Billy hurried over to start cutting them loose.  I opened up on the front door to keep any armed men from coming inside.  Travis helped me with the suppressive fire until he ran out of ammo, and went to help Billy.

            "Grab weapons and ammo," Jake shouted.  "Grab everything you can and load up the trucks!"

            Billy joined me to keep the others out of the front door.  Jake and Travis supervised the others returning all of our weapons and ammo.  I think they took some that previously belonged to the others.  They also grabbed a lot of canned food.  They moved remarkably fast.

            "That's it!  Let's go," Jake called.  "Come on, Kyle!"

            Just in time.  I ran out of ammo.  Turning, I took off running for the door.  As soon as I cleared the door, I took off running towards the other end of the back drive.  The trucks started behind me, and I heard them start moving.  Gunfire started up as our foes counterattacked.

            The jeep pulled out in front of me.  I let out a happy yell, and ran faster.

            "About time," Olivia said as I jumped into my seat.

            "We're not out of this yet," I said.  "Go!  Plow through the walkers, and then turn right up Cartwright."

            We hit the zombies at about 25 MPH.  It was quite a jolt, and did twist our cowcatcher a little.  Ralph and I fired into the horde, helping to open a path.  Hands reached for us.  One of them grabbed my sleeve, and another grabbed hold of the windshield next to Olivia.  She pulled her pistol and shot him in the face.

            "Wahoo!" Ralph cried joyfully.  "Best zombies fighters ever!"

            We were past them, turning onto Cartwright.  The horde surged into the road, but she veered to the far left, into the incoming lanes.  The convoy got past them without further incident.

            "That's how you do it," Ralph said.  "Damn."

            "Yep," I gasped out.  I sat there huffing and puffing, aching all over.  That stitch in my side felt like a knife wound.  But it would pass.  "Wow.  That was so intense I didn't have time to be afraid."

            "Yes you did," Olivia said, giving me an amused look.  "You pissed your pants."

            "What?" I said, looking down at a big wet stain.

            Ralph busted out laughing.  How embarrassing.

Chapter 13

            Driving through a city at night without any lights is creepy.  Carson was a giant ghost town, but with very real boogie men within.   Before leaving Emory, I thought the only problem would be dealing with small hordes of zombies.

            "How many survivors do you think there are?" I asked.

            "Not many," Ralph said.  "Why?"

            We were passing by a ten-story bank building.  I noticed an orangish flickering light coming from a corner office on the top floor.  Campfire?  That would indicate survivors holed up in that building.  I imagined desperate snipers atop that building, following us with deer rifles.  If we made one move toward their hideout…

            "I wasn't expecting anything like the Deathdealers," I said.  "Or those guys who blockaded the road back there.  There are a lot more survivors than I anticipated, and they are all hostile so far."

            "Everyone's turning into road warriors like in the movies," Olivia said.

            "Yes.  We need cool Mad Max names," Ralph added.

            I just shook my head as I looked back and up at the fire high above us.  I wasn't feeling like joking.  We were just trying to survive long enough to get home.  They were just trying to survive the best they could.  Why did we have to kill each other to do that?  Everyone just went wild and feral the second the trappings of government and civilization went away.

            "I thought we were better than this as a people," I said.  "I thought of the enemy as the walkers, not each other.  Everyone is shoot first, and don't bother with questions later.  Including me."

            "Kill and take your stuff so I can live," Olivia added.  "Yes, it's depressing how fast we devolved as a people."

            It was going to get worse before it got better.  The situation was already too far gone.  Every crime imaginable was happening, and there was no law left in the land.  No one would ever be accountable for their crimes, because everyone was guilty of something.

            "At least we haven't gotten to the point we kill without thought," Ralph said.

            "I'm not so sure about that," I replied.  "We shot first at the barricade."

            "It was an ambush," Olivia said.

            We didn't know that until we turned down that side road.  How did we know that ambush wasn't just for hostile people?  Maybe if we stopped and asked permission to pass they would've let us pass through.  Probably not.  The barricade kind of announced that there were survivors in the area.  I doubted we'd have even noticed them holed up in that store, or cared if we did see them.

            "We still shot first," I said.  "In fact, it might've been me who shot first.  It's all fuzzy now."

            "Zombies," Ralph announced.

            That brought me back to reality quick.  Olivia let off the gas at the same time, slowing down to about 20 MPH.  It was a small group of about twenty.  Not even enough of them to call a horde.  Like a squad of zombies.

            They were just dark shapes shambling up the road towards us.  Even in the dark I could tell all of them were wearing long dresses.  One was in all white.

            "Aww, a bridal party," Olivia said.  "So sad."