Total Apoc Trilogy (Book 2): Fighting the Hordes (17 page)

            Mike let everyone replace empty boxes of ammo with full.  Ralph and I took twice as many as we used.  You can never have too much ammo.

            Billy and Travis each took a cargo truck.  Until then, I never knew they came along as drivers.  Mike quickly got everyone pointing in the same direction, southwest down the highway, and put our jeep in the lead.

            "Zombie Patrol," Mike called over the radio.  "I can see their headlights down the road.  I don't think they've given up yet.  So I want you to lead the trucks onward.  The rest of us will hold back to keep them at bay."

            "Roger and out," I said.

            "They sucked us back in," Ralph grumbled.

            "They saved our lives," Olivia said.  "We still have time to escape."

            We moved out.  Olivia took us to a 50 MPH cruising speed.  I started to miss that windshield.  When I complained, Ralph barked a laugh.

            "Welcome to my world," he said.

            I grinned.  He probably did have it rougher than me.

            "Dig out that M203," I said.  "We need quick and easy access to it, but don't wave it around.  I don't want anyone to know we have it.  Just in case."

            They both nodded, faces grim.  No one wanted to think about fighting the men who'd just saved our lives.  Yet, they were also our jailors.

            "I can see headlights behind us, about a mile back," Ralph said.  "I sense trouble in our future."

            He had a knack for understatements.

Chapter 19

            The road went from a four lane with a wide grass medium to a two lane road.  The forest pressed in closer on the borders of the road, maybe as close as ten or twelve feet.  It was like driving down a tunnel.  Even though the clouds were breaking up, it got a lot darker on the road.

            "This is why I never take this road," Olivia said.  "Even with headlights it sucks."

            We still weren't driving with lights.  Despite the darkness, the road looked rather light and easy to see.  If we hit a patch of true black top we might have to turn on the lights.  I wondered if we needed Mike's permission to do so, or if we should just slow down.

            "Can they see us back there," Ralph asked.

            I slanted a look back at the dark shape of the truck behind us.  That was a good question.  He might ram into us if we slowed down.  It was, of course, the biggest of the cargo trucks right behind us.

            "Do the brake lights work on this jeep?" I asked.  I couldn't recall when brake lights were required on vehicles.  "Tap them so we can see."

            "You don't have to," Ralph said.  "They work.  I've seen them."

            I felt better.  At least we wouldn't die in a tragic auto accident due to driving without lights.

            "Ask Mike if we can use headlights," Olivia said.  When I hesitated, she said more aggressively, "I said ask him."

            "Okay," I replied.  I felt foolish, expected to be chewed out.  Still, it was pretty damned dark.  "Rat Leader, this is Zombie Patrol.  It's pretty dark along this section of road, can we use headlights?  Over."

            The radio remained silent.  I looked at Olivia, who scowled and leaned forward.  She was squinting, hands tight on the wheel.  Until that moment, I hadn't considered the kind of stress she was enduring.  Driving 50 MPH without lights wasn't something I ever wanted to do.

            "If you really can't see," Mike finally said.  "Don't crash, over."

            Olivia had the lights on in a heartbeat.  She sighed and smiled.  Not only did she turn on the lights, but she turned them on bright.  Until that moment, I hadn't realized there were zombies walking along the treeline.

            "Roger that," I said.  "Thanks.  Over and out."

            "Just say out," Mike responded, sounding annoyed.  "It's just out.  Out."

            "Well, you're not the golden boy anymore," Ralph said.

            Was I ever?  It didn't matter.  My mind was already working on parting company with our friends.  The zombies, which weren't as numerous along that stretch of road as I first thought, gave me an idea.  There were thousands of them surrounding Emory.  Getting through them would be hell.

            "Listen," I said, speaking loud enough for Ralph to hear.  "Let's discuss how we break off from the others."

            Ralph moved up and leaned in between us.  Olivia perked up.  Ralph looked eager.  My heart rate ramped up with the prospect.

            "I originally thought we'd just go straight when we reached the turn off for Emory.  With the Deathdealers dogging their tail, they couldn't really come after us," I said.  "But then the Deathdealers might follow us instead, since we'd be an easier target."

            "What if we just took off now?" Ralph said.  "Just book out of here."

            "Their trucks can outrun us," Olivia said.  "Billy or Travis might get pissed and run us down."

            "I can shoot them."

            I looked at him a long moment.  "I don't want to kill any of them."

            He looked suitably ashamed, nodding agreement.  "Sorry."

            "We have to do two things," I continued.  "First and foremost, we have to eliminate the pursuit.  If we don't, they'll attack while we fighting off the zombies around Emory."

            I let that sink in a moment.  They frowned as they considered my words.  I understood their confusion.

            "Second, I think the best time to break away is while they are fighting the zombies around Emory," I added before they could ask any questions.  "We'll be knee-deep in zombie before we reach the intersection with Interstate 50.  All they will want to do is plow through zombies and get to that bridge over the river and to safety." I wagged my brows at them.  "But we'll turn south onto the highway and haul ass out of there.  I cannot imagine anyone coming after us."

            "They don't have to," Ralph said.  "They can shoot us.  Their .50 cals can shoot us a mile away."

            "But will they?" I asked.  "I don't think so.  We'll have been loyal and helpful up until that point."

            "I'd rather die escaping than go back into the NML Zone," Olivia said.

            I nodded.  Jake promised we wouldn't, but I didn't think he really had the authority to make it happen.  We were outsiders.  The leaders in Emory wouldn't want to deal with us, so we'd eventually get tossed back into the buffers.  I couldn't imagine another scenario.

            "It's decided," I said.  "Now, about that ambush…"  I picked up the handset and keyed it, "Rat Leader, I have an idea.  Over."

            "Speak, over."

            "There are some steep hills up ahead.  I think we should steal something out of their playbook and ambush them just on the other side of one."

            Mike liked the idea.  So we discussed it, with other members of the team joining in.  It was decided that Mike and the other jeeps would do the deed, while we remained with the two cargo trucks and continued on.

            Olivia hit the gas, pushing us up past 55 MPH.  That was probably about the top end of cruising for that jeep.  The ride deteriorated and the engine sounded like it was straining.

            "What are you doing?" I asked.

            "Putting more distance between us and Mike's ambush," she said.  "I have an idea, too."

            Olivia laid out her idea as we went.  Ralph and I nodded, grinning.  Actually, I wished we could've pulled it off with the first ambush.  But Mike's ambush would give us time to set up the second, and hopefully between the two we'd wipe out the Deathdealers.

            We topped the first of the really steep hills about five miles up the road.  It was another five minutes before Mike radioed that they were stopping to set up the ambush.  We were further ahead of them than I realized, but we continued onward.  My heart rate ramped up again.  There was a good chance people I knew and kind of liked now would be killed.  And it was my idea that would get them killed.

            "What kind of range do we have on this radio?" Ralph asked.

            I shrugged.  That question never occurred to me.  The walkie-talkies we used on the trip up to Carson were extremely close range.

            "Fifteen to twenty miles on average," Olivia said matter-of-factly.

            "How do you know that?" I asked.

            "I asked Mike when he installed it," she said.  "It depends on terrain and weather, and a bunch of other shit, too.  But he said fifteen to twenty miles was a safe bet."

            That was good to know.  After we parted company with them the radio was going to be useless.  Of course, we could use it to monitor the military frequencies in the hope of contacting a military unit, though that was highly unlikely.

            "They are about five miles behind us," I said, estimating that distance on how long it took Mike to say they were on the ambush site after we passed by it.  And our speed, of course.  "I think we can be ten or fifteen minutes ahead of them before they ambush the Deathdealers."

            By that time we should be to the next steep hill.  That wasn't a lot of time to set up our more elaborate ambush.  Really, it was more of a barricade.

            "They're coming," Mike radioed.  "Keep moving.  We'll let you know when it's over."

            Maybe not as much time as I hoped for.  We'd have to make due.

            "Roger and out," I said.

            We were coming up on the hill we wanted to set up our ambush.  The jeep naturally strained a little going up it, so slowed down.  She let up on the gas a little, too.  Once we were over the top, she slowed to a stop and pulled to the right side of the road.

            "Ralph, you stay on guard," I said.

            "Shouldn't we tell Mike what we're doing?" Olivia asked.

            "No, he has enough problems without worrying about what we're doing."

            The two cargo trucks rolled to a stop in the middle of the road.

            "Engine trouble?" Billy asked, shouting out his window.

            "No, we have an idea for a second ambush," I said.  "If any of them get past Mike's ambush, we don't think they'd expect the rest of us capable of pulling off an ambush."

            "They would be right," Billy said, starting to get a little angry.

            I wasn't going to argue with him.  I might consider myself in charge of our three vehicles, but I doubted any of them would agree.  I got them to dismount and gather around.  Then Olivia and I explained what we wanted to do.  After a moment, they reluctantly agreed it might work.  So we grabbed axes.  The jeep had an ax mounted to the side, and Billy brought a fire ax from the armory to fight zombies.  Since Billy and Travis were the biggest, strongest of our group, I put them to work chopping down trees.  Besides, they'd probably chopped a lot of trees down in their time.  They were country boys, after all.  Even I'd chopped down trees, and I was not the outdoorsy type at all.

            The cargo trucks were moved up a few hundred yards.  Billy and his gunner took one side of the road, and Travis and his gunner took the other side.  I "supervised" Billy's side, and Olivia took the Travis's side.  Not that we could control much, though I did take my turn with the ax.

            We chopped with all we had.  They were not small trees.  I picked out one tall enough to reach the road, and thick enough to stop any vehicle dead.  Olivia picked out an even bigger tree.  Our choppers never complained, and just went to work.

            I'd never timed how long it took to chop a tree down.  Either we picked especially hard-wooded trees, or it took a lot more time and effort than I thought.  Gunfire erupted in the distance just as we started chopping.

            "We have about fifteen minutes at best," I called.  "Probably a lot less."

            "Some of them got past us," Mike called over the radio a few minutes later.

            I could hear his transmission, but not Ralph's response.  They were too far away to hear their engines, but the gunfire continued.  Soon he warned us their bikes were too fast, and coming towards us.  Be ready.

            "Oh yeah, we're going to be ready for their asses," I said.

            Travis cut through his tree first.  It fell perfectly across the road.  Actually the canopy crashed smack in the middle of the road.  Just in time, too.  I could hear the distinct sound of dirt bikes coming towards us.

            "Ralph, kill the headlights," I called.

            We'd have to finish chopping the tree down in the dark.  Billy took the ax, and went after it with gusto.  The rest of us picked up our weapons and prepared to fight off the bad guys.

            Olivia moved the jeep to the center of the road, facing back towards the approaching motorcycles.  Ralph stood behind the M60.  Travis and his gunner dropped to one knee behind the trunk of the down tree.  And I started to worry we wouldn't have time to fell both trees.

            "If he doesn't get that tree down before they reach us, then we are toast," Olivia said.

            "Don't worry," I said.  Then to Billy, "Come on, man.  You can do it."

            The Deathdealers had learned at least one hard lesson.  They were racing towards us with their lights off.  I couldn't see any of them, but their engines were getting louder.  That high pitched sound grated on my nerves.  My heart pounded, making it harder to hear.

            "You want to let Jerry take over?" I asked Billy.

            "No," he gasped.  "Almost there."

            I wasn't so sure he was.  I hurried over to the jeep in case we had to make a hasty retreat.  Finger on trigger, I stared into the darkness and waited.

            "Oh!" Ralph said, and dropped to his knees.  "The 203.  Grenades."