Z-Risen (Book 2): Outcasts (18 page)

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15:15 hours approximate

Location: Trailer Park - Undead Central

Among the horde that poured out of the forest were shufflers.
A lot of shufflers. I’d never seen so many in one place. Back in San Diego, Joel and I had run into a small group of Z’s with a pair of the faster creatures almost herding the group along. Of course they weren’t actually directing; that would have been ridiculous. These were mindless creatures.

Ten, twenty, thirty – they kept appearing, and the only thing keeping them from us was a flimsy chain link fence.

Claude poked his head out of his RV. He looked from us to the shuffler and made a cutting motion with his hand next to his throat. He stepped out, a pistol in his hand, but then stopped and stared in horror at the Z’s.

“What have you done?” He was ashen.

Joel ran toward Claude. It was only a hundred feet but I wasn’t as fast. A few days of rest had done me good, but I was still in a lot of pain.

Anna stalked toward the water.

The shuffler lifted his head to howl again, but Anna didn’t wait around for him to unleash another one. She lifted her .357, aimed, and blew a hole through the kid’s chest.

The shuffler was blown off his feet and thrown a couple of meters across the pond. He splashed down into the water and floated on its surface before sinking.
A few seconds later he floundered out of the water and hopped to the shore. He flopped over in a pool of blood. His hands clutched at the ground as he tried to drag himself toward his brethren at the fence.

Anna moved in on him.

He tried to get out another howl but Anna finished him with a shot that drove his forehead into the ground and left a mess of blood and brains. I’d been moving on the kid’s location and maybe I was seeing things. Maybe it was just grass, but I swear I saw green among the muck left by Anna’s bullet.

“That’s our drinking water!” Claude yelled.

I spun from the sight of the kid and clambered toward him and Joel. Anna seemed to be more circumspect and simply stared at the mass of gathering Z’s.

“Anna, come on!” I called to her but she didn’t seem to hear me.

Joel and Claude were well into a heated argument. Jesus, we didn’t have time for this shit.

“This place is blown. Get your people together and get ready to move out!” Joel ordered.

“What have you done?” He stared in shock at us.

“It wasn’t us, it was that damn kid. He went insane when we opened the last RV.”

“Our home, our water – it’s all gone now.”

Anna finally moved to join us, checking her handgun as she walked. She spun the cylinder open, removed a couple of spent shells, and reloaded. She did it
like a pro, hands moving but her eyes on us. She slapped the cylinder into place and reholstered.

“This is a fucking mess,” she said.

“Hey, man,” I continued to argue with Claude, “It was that kid. He’s some kind of weird and smart fucking Z. He called them here.”

Anna stared at me like I was insane.

“It’s true. Damn thing went crazy, busted loose, and then ran into the water and started howling,” Joel said.

“That’s why I took out the threat,” Anna said, but her tone left no doubt
that we were idiots for letting the shuffler get away. “Smart or not, he was just going to bring more of them with all that noise.”

“He called them here. The shuffler called them,” I said, not really believing it. What Anna said had to be true. It was just the noise. Z’s that could call other Z’s to them? It was horrifying.

“Never heard one of those things make a noise other than moans or groans,” Joel observed.

“There might have been an army of Z’s out there but they were
shamblers. They weren’t banding together like that until the little shit called them,” I told Joel.

“That is
unfuckingthinkable.” Joel shook his head.

“Fools. I told you to leave things alone,” Claude said and stalked away.

Joel unslung his AR and dropped to one knee. He completed a quick inspection, lifted the rifle to his shoulder, and switched on his holographic site. The gun bucked against his shoulder.

The first shuffler took a shot to the head and flopped back, lifeless, into the horde. Joel fired again but a second shuffler moved too quickly and the bullet ended up catching a Z in the groin. The milky-white-eyed fuck didn’t even feel it; he just staggered back and then went at the fence again.

“Creed, get them organized and get them out of here. Everyone in his or her RV and ready to move as quickly as possible.”

Joel fired again and took a Z in the head. The guy had been thrashing at the fence, trying to get his hands through. The moans grew louder.

Claude had gathered the other travelers together and began issuing instructions punctuated with hand gestures.

“Everyone get ready to move. There’s too many for us,” I said.

“I have a solution,” Claude said.

He gave me a look that was pure hatred and then stomped away with Belle in tow. She glanced back at me but I couldn’t read her look. Was it pity? Sadness? Understanding?

How the hell was I going to get through to this guy? Someone would have opened the RV at some point and let the shuffler out. Too damn late to go back in time and just shoot the kid while he was stuck in the bathroom.

“We should fight,” one of the
men said. He was dressed in shorts, a tropical shirt, and white tennis shoes. He looked like he was going to pick up a racket and find a court to play on.

Even if we set up a line of fire and everyone had automatic weapons, there was no way we could take them all out, and the noise would continue to draw others.

Joel’s gun rang out a few more times and that did not help matters. If anything, it only helped to reinforce the idea for these folks that they might have a chance here.

“Joel, that might draw more here,” I said.

“I’m going after the shufflers.”

“Edgar, let’s pack up,” an older woman said. “We’re too old for this.”

“I know a thing or two about fighting,” he said.

“You did when you were nineteen. Now come away,” she said and tugged at his hand. Her eyes pleaded with him.

He nodded at her and the two left the group. The others watched them walk away and that seemed to stir them to action, because they moved toward their RV’s.

Claude came back from his RV and he had an actual
machine gun in hand. It was straight out of an old war movie. I’d seen a “Tommy Gun” before, but never up close. Over his shoulder hung a large green bag. He reached inside and took out a long magazine that resembled a stick instead of the curved mag’s I’d grown used to seeing.

Claude moved past Joel, toward the water.

“Claude, you can’t get them all,” Joel called.

Claude ignored Joel. He stopped when he was twenty-five feet from the fence and put the stock against his shoulder.

The gun was ripped up to the right as Claude unleashed a full magazine on the Z’s. Some were hit, but he mostly ended up shooting a whole lot of air. He slipped the magazine out, put it in a back pocket, and slapped another one home.

The Z’s were undaunted and more of them arrived. They were now a real threat to the fence. It buckled and nearly caved in as they pressed forward.

We didn’t have long.

“Anna, you with me? I’m taking the camper and leading this parade out of here.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” she said.

Joel gave up on shooting them and went to join Roz and Christy. They conferred for a few seconds.

“Joel?” I pointed at the truck we’d been occupying.

He gave me
a thumbs up.

Others came out to join Claude. The shooting rang out all around us, and for a split-second I wondered if they had the right idea. If we put enough fire on the group of Z’s they all be cut down in minutes.

I realized the futility when others poured out of the woods all around us. They came in their disgusting masses, filthy, shambling, clothing hanging in shreds. Missing some body parts and dragging some others. There were fifty, then seventy-five. I gave up on counting and instead grabbed Anna’s hand.

“Leg good?” She looked up at me.

“Hurts like a bitch but I’m managing.”

“I told you to take it easy.”

“Ain’t nothing easy about surviving the zombie fucking apocalypse,” I replied.

Anna snorted but she kept her eyes on the men that were trying to stop a tidal wave with nets. Gunfire rang out over and over again, but the Z’s kept on coming.

“I got the fence!” Joel yelled and ran toward the gate.

“Meet you there,” I said as we reached the truck.

Then a sound reached me and my blood went cold.

“Oh no,” Anna said.

A huge truck rumbled up to the gate and stopped. Around it came a flood of cars and motorcycles. Claude’s gun continued to fire but he didn’t once look back. I could only guess it was due to the noisy gun and not because he no longer gave a damn.

Entry #19 – Home of the Brave

16:05 hours approximate

Location: Trailer Park - Undead Central

We’d tried to warn Claude. Hell, we were at fault ourselves. Instead of just leaving, we’d stuck around and pissed away any head start we might have had on
McQuinn and his men. For all we knew, they’d been stalking the camp for a while. Had they seen Joel and me earlier in the day?

“Joel!” I yelled. “Regroup, now!”

Joel didn’t need a second warning. He was already running back toward us.

One of the guys took his helmet off and stared. I got a glimpse of a
bald head, a thick mustache, and a dark goatee. Ah hell. It was McQuinn, and I had no doubt that he’d recognize us if he got a clear look.

If these guys were smart they’d see the threat of the Z’s and just piss off.

I ducked around the truck with Anna, but McQuinn spotted us and pointed.

Another pair of vehicles roared up on our location and stopped
near the gate. We were completely blocked in.

Claude stopped shooting and turned to watch the new arrivals. He smiled and waved and started to walk toward the men.

“Mon Dieu!” he called out. “Just in time.”

He moved to the gate.

McQuinn’s men hopped out of their rides and formed a line near their leader.

McQuinn
gestured as he directed his men. They weren’t interested in the Z’s at all and pointed at the RV’s. Why else would these guys be here if not for our supplies? We’d seen just how much they cared.

“No need to come any closer, old man. Just clear out of here. We’ll take all of those lovely vehicles and be on our way. Before you ask, this isn’t up for discussion.”

“You cannot take our homes! Are you animals?” Claude called back.

“
McQuinn, we ain’t got time for this shit,” one of his men said loudly enough for us to hear.

Frank must have agreed, because he drew his gun and shot Claude through the chest.

The old man fell back, a look of shock on his face. Belle rushed to his side with a scream.

Joel reached us and ducked as the men that had been shooting at Z’s turned to take in this new opponent.

“Just leave and you live,” McQuinn yelled. “Walk away and don’t look back. Like I said, this ain’t up for discussion.”

I’d be exposed, but I didn’t care. I laid the Mossberg on the truck’s hood, snatched out my Colt, stood, aimed, and fired at
McQuinn. Fuck this guy.

My first shot went wide, but my second blast got his attention as it whizzed right next to his head.
McQuinn dropped, and that’s when the shit really hit the fan.

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16:10 hours approximate

Location: Trailer Park - Undead Central

Say one thing for
McQuinn. His timing always sucked.

If we’d been left alone we could have escaped this new hell. We’d have piled into RV’s, campers, trucks, or anything else with wheels and left the camp. Now we were blocked in. To the east lay the highway that we’d been stuck on for a day. To the west lay the unknown, so it made sense to head in that direction. The problem was the
treeline and how to get through it. Our camper, even at full speed, would become a pile of warped metal if we challenged the growths.

So that left one direction out, and that was through
McQuinn.

I’d like to say that there weren’t many of them and we could just shoot our way out, but as the seconds ticked by we were forced to observe the arrival of more and more trucks. Men and women with guns jumped out and formed up with something approaching military precision. They were the same motley assortment we’d seen before we had to blow the hotel location, and they were all
well-armed.

Joel and I dove behind the truck. Anna dug out a handful of shells and did a quick count. Joel did the same. He was dressed in his IMTV tactical armor and wore an assortment of magazines, but even if he had a completely covered position, there was no way he could take out a quarter of this army.

I didn’t have to do much of a count. I knew how many rounds I had in the big Mossberg. I had even fewer for my Colt M45A1, but at least the mag was full and I had one in the breach.

Roz was caught out in the open with Christy. They ran, Roz dragging Belle by the arm, and hid behind the RV that Claude had occupied. Belle screamed and tried to dash back to her to her husband but Roz wasn’t having that and hauled her back.

“Can we bullshit our way out of this one?” I asked Joel.

“After you just tried to kill the man? I don’t fucking think so.”

“Good point,” I said and rolled to my right.

I didn’t have a good angle but I fired anyway and blew a windshield out. Maybe we could spook
McQuinn’s half-ass force into leaving us be, but it would take a lot of firepower.

“I wish Donny and Markus were still here. Those guys might have been dicks but they had a lot of experience,” Joel said.

“And weapons,” Anna finished.

“What’s the plan?” I asked after the two quieted down.

I popped my head up and got a quick look before ducking again.

“Six coming in. They’re at the gate. They’ve stopped to open it.”

Behind us, the dead howled for our blood and pushed on the fence. Several shufflers moved through the horde and tested the fence by jumping at it, but even they couldn’t clear the top.

“They will move fast. They aren’t dumb and know the Z’s are a threat, so we won’t have much time. We can spook them, make ourselves seem bigger than we are,” Joel said

“It’s like you can read my mind,” I muttered.

“There’s only one way out I can see and it’s currently blocked,” Anna chimed in.

She had her big .357 in one hand and took a peek around the side of the camper.

“I’ve never thought I’d wish for the Z’s to break through a barricade,” I said.

“Huh?” Joel said.

“If the Z’s broke through, it would keep the guys busy. We could probably make a run for a section of fence next to the gate.”

Joel chewed on his cheek while he mulled something over.

“That’s a solid plan,” Joel said and looked back the Z’s.

There had to be seventy of them now, and at least a dozen of them were shufflers.

“I didn’t come up with any plan, Joel. What the actual
fuck are you talking about?”

“The Z’s. That’s the answer. We just need to get them on this side of the fence.”

Anna grinned at me for some reason.

“No, man. I told you.
Enough of this hero bullshit. I’m not cut out for it. Besides, as soon as they see me, they’ll know who we are and nothing will stop McQuinn. Guy’s got it in for us. Let’s take our chance on hopping in an RV and making a new gate.”

“He’s got it in for you because you nuked half his trucks. That was a really brave move back there, Jackson,” Anna said.

If she started batting her eyes at me I was going to run into direct line of sight while screaming.

“That’s our Jackson Creed, man of the people and hero to all. He’s got women throwing panties at him.” Joel clapped me on the shoulder.

“Inappropriate,” Anna said. “I let him take them off.”

“Fucking kill me now,” I groaned.

I had about thirty more seconds of red-faced embarrassment before McQuinn’s voice interrupted us.

“Run. All
ya’ll rabbits need to run. Run!”

“This is the play,” Joel said.

He leaned in and pulled us close.

McQuinn
fired a few rounds into the air for effect. It had the effect of making me keep my head down.

When Joel was done laying out his plan I just stared at him.

“On three?”

“Ready,” Anna said.

“Wait one goddamn minute,” I protested.

“If you got something better, speak up. Otherwise, it’s go time,” Joel said.

I had nothing.

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