Zombie Rush 2 (3 page)

Groups of boats sat anchored off the southern tip of the lake, which Krupp ignored—with the exception of one that he recognized. He and the duty officer, Tanner, were fishing partners and they had gone in on a sweet all-weather rig—solid in the roughest river water, and a jet outboard to handle the shallowest areas.

He couldn’t get to the boat himself since it was on the opposite side of the lake, but he was relieved that his friend was able to get to it. He pulled up alongside the craft, knowing that he probably wasn’t noticed in the early dawn light. He grabbed hold of the swim ladder and quietly tied his boat off while telling the other two to wait for him. He was going to surprise his buddy, and knowing his experience, there was only a small risk of getting shot. What Krupp couldn’t know was that Tanner had met his fate earlier, a few miles north, and thirty feet up on a bridge.

Krupp kept the M4 slung vertically down his back so as not to bump it and to keep it out of sight—if he surprised someone, the assault rifle would likely be all they’d see. He heard muted voices from inside and was surprised that no one was on deck keeping watch. Tanner should know better. He knocked on the door and waited as the voices inside ceased. A female’s voice he didn’t recognize broke the silence.

“Take what you want out there. If you try to come in, you
will
be shot,” she said.

As soon as the woman spoke, Krupp knew that his partner was not on the boat. He also didn’t smell gas or fumes of any kind, so he doubted that they got the boat running or had found the other key stashed on board. He pulled his M4 around in front as he pressed himself against the cabin next to the door.

“This is stolen property, miss. I have to ask you and your friends to step out onto the back deck with your hands where I can see them.”

“Don’t even try to pretend that you’re a cop. We didn’t steal anything; it was abandoned.”

“I highly doubt that, ma’am; not only am I a police officer, but I am also the owner of this boat. Now, please, step out onto the back deck and leave any weapons inside the cabin,” he said sternly.

He waited as they continued to discuss the situation for a few seconds before the back cabin door slowly opened just enough to let a young man and two young women exit.

They held their hands out shakily when they saw the man in uniform with an assault rifle trained on them. Krupp was not thinking clearly and speculated that Tanner, his best friend, was probably dead and these punks may have had something to do with it.

“Where’s Tanner?”

“Who?”

“Tanner … the man who owns the other half of this boat.”

“Hey man, there never was anyone else here. Dude, you said that
you
owned the boat. The gates were smashed at the marina, and we just unhooked the first boat we came to and drifted.” The younger, athletic-looking man who spoke reminded him of his daughter’s boyfriend … prideful, nervous, and all wrong.

He lowered his rifle just a touch, when a body hurled itself from inside the cabin, landing on his gun barrel, and knocking it downward. The action caused Krupp to pull on the trigger enough to leave an athletic-looking man curled into a ball with a 5.56 round in his stomach.

Krupp pulled his barrel away as he blocked another attack with a whirling elbow. He caught the one he was speaking to on the shoulder, sending him to the ground. He didn’t know if the man had one of the firearms that they had threatened him with, so he took the safest, smartest course by putting two rounds center mass as he lay prone on the ground.

The girl on the left sprang for Krupp with a scream of rage, and Krupp reacted by sidestepping and kicking her in the knee, sending her to the deck. She didn’t stop as she twisted and grabbed the barrel of the M4. As soon as she touched steel, the look on her face said she realized her mistake, and twin rounds ripped through her chest.

The scene stopped; everything was suddenly frozen in place, giving the living a second to think their adrenaline-fueled thoughts. The initial attacker had stopped moving, his belly distending as it filled with blood. Two others were also dead—or soon would be—as panting heaved the woman’s chest wildly in her last gasps for air. He looked at the girl still standing and staring him in the eye, pleading. She shrugged and Krupp looked down. She shook her head when Krupp looked back up at her, and tears started to flow.

“No,” she whimpered.

Krupp gave the slightest nod, as if he had made up his mind about something. “I’m sorry.”

“No, please.”

He pulled the trigger once and marveled at the perfect dot that appeared upon the young woman’s forehead. She fell into the lake. When he looked back at his companions, he could tell they were trying to appear as if they hadn’t seen what happened, but he knew better. Stanley would be out for blood at the atrocities he was forced to witness … if there was still something resembling a civilized society, that is. But now, here on this lake, with the situation they were in, Stanley would look away and keep his mouth shut. Because he was a coward and his existence depended on it. Lu, though … she was another story, and Krupp wasn’t ready to make determinations about what she was capable of.

He questioned himself though. What had changed in him to make him think that what he’d done was acceptable? Was it the loss of so much? That he would rather kill an innocent young woman than have to face … what? An inquiry? There weren’t any inquires anymore; those days were gone.

Overnight, the world had changed to a kill or be killed existence. Eat or be eaten. Do unto others before they do unto you. Down the road, that girl would have been trouble for him; he knew it. Just like Stanley was going to be. But could they really affect him in what the world has become? Are there still those who would prosecute such crimes?

***

A pair of binoculars, which had risen at the first sounds of rifle fire, lowered to the rail of the darkened boat. He had seen the small boat tying up to the larger one not twenty yards away and thought nothing of it … until he heard the rifle shots. He shook his head with regret over the fate of the young woman. Who could he turn to if even the police needed to be feared? He pulled his head down and stayed still in hopes of not being seen by the man with the gun on the other boat.

***

“Help me with these,” Krupp said, and the two climbed into the boat. Lu eyed him, calculating what a man like this could offer, while Stanley practically whimpered from fear of what Krupp was capable of. When they were done, Krupp flipped a tray down from behind the console and pulled a series of keys out.

“How did you know about that?” Lu asked, amazed by the man’s resourcefulness.

“It’s my boat; I know everything about it,” Krupp said as he focused on the control panel.

***

Lu found herself wondering
Why them?
What made him keep her and Stanley around yet kill those four? Lu shuddered as she recalled how coldly he had finished the girl off. She would have to be careful and find a way to tie herself to this man. Her survival depended on it.

***

The growl of a large four-stroke outboard purred to life, and the lights in the cabin and on deck lit up brightly before Krupp could turn the sensors from auto to manual. He left one spotlight on as he headed across the lake at a slow troll … watchful … ready.

Chapter Two

Cat

Lisa walked through the Bed Bath and Beyond store where many of the equipment operators, who had been doing the heavy lifting, were asleep. It was important that they rested. They carried the bulk of the battle to the zombies without training or mental conditioning. Lisa counted on there being PTSD issues eventually and everyone was going to suffer from it. The operators had been in reaction mode and were sure to be suffering from a semi-state of shock.

She expected snores after all of the hard work they had done in keeping the zombies from overwhelming the makeshift compound, but the showroom was quiet. Men sat within impenetrable globes of their own silence, staring blankly at a wall or the floor, rubbing or picking at their hands or worrying their face.

That was when it hit—these men were more than just tired; they were tapped and falling into a mental funk. It was calm, quiet, and controlled, so why did the warning lights in her head start flashing in panic? She backed out the door quickly—well, as quickly as her throbbing head would allow after getting blasted with a chunk of rebar. Her instincts told her that, as tired as these men were, they should not be alone right now.

As she headed over to a group that was cleaning up after the last phase of meals, an idea sprouted in her perpetually active mind. When people arrived at the compound, a lot of them fell into their most comfortable roles so a lot of cooks took over the kitchens and servers took over where they could best contribute.

She pulled the servers, bartenders, and cooks from their seemingly never-ending jobs and spoke with them.

“I need all of you to just be yourselves. We need to keep everyone healthy and on an even keel if we are going to survive this, so just be how you are and start talking to these people.”

Confused at first, the hard-working crew entered the showroom and instantly felt the gloom that hung heavily in the air. It didn’t take long for the pros to start mingling amongst the weary men with warm smiles, drinks, and even the offer of a joint here and there. Lisa smiled; they knew she couldn’t give a fuck about marijuana right now. Not that she gave a fuck about it before the world went to shit, but she had done her job when it came to enforcing the laws concerning weed.

The scene did not become one of revelry or a party by any means, but it was a much-needed respite. With a couple of shots and some good conversation, the mood in the room lightened a bit. The professionals casually chewed the fat with the equipment men, who were the backbone in this fight. Some wept as they released their pent up emotions. A lot of them knew each other, or at least had found common ground, and the room started to group together, their pain shared as they worked through what they could.

Lisa wore a small, resigned smile as she headed for the door, when a shout from one of the operators caught her attention. The man held a bottle of whiskey up with the neck pointed right at her. He slowly stood, preparing to say something. His face was filled with so much emotion that she didn’t know if she should run away, or what. Her hand unconsciously slipped down to the Glock in her holster.

“You!” he said, and waited to make sure everyone was paying attention. “Lieutenant Reynolds … saved us all.” There was only a slight slur to his words as he stenciled the air with the mouth of the bottle.

“Get some sleep, bud. We got a lot of work ahead of us,” Lisa said, and was about to turn away when the man spoke again.

“So what did the Army man tell you?”

The question was so clearly spoken and precise that it stopped her in her tracks. She vaguely recalled the conversation she had with …? Captain? Colonel maybe? She knew it wasn’t a general, and his name was nothing but fog. Damn it, why did Skit have to hit her so hard with that rebar? Her memory was still there, but that particular situation was dimming. She remembered a few things but …

“Tell me about what, exactly?” Lisa stalled, trying to recollect something that she could give them.

“I don’t know … about the world? Or Little Rock, at least?” he asked, naming the larger city to the east. “Where is the Army, and when are we going to get some help here?” he continued, genuinely curious and patiently waiting for just a little bit of information. And they deserved it.

“It’s not good out there. Regular Army for a lot of states was deployed a couple of days ago and are nowhere near us. Little Rock is burning and the dead are feasting.” She paused to let the gravity of her words sink in. “National Guard and others might be trickling in from time to time, but as far as any
help
, I don’t think there is anybody else.”

“So what are we going to do?” a female’s voice from somewhere behind asked. A veil was lifted within her mind, and she knew what she needed to tell them. She only hoped that they would take it in a positive light.

“He told us to take back this city and get ready.”

“Ready? Ready for what?”

“People.”

“People? Come on, you gotta give us more than that.”

“There is nowhere else for them to go, and there is not much more to give you. To his knowledge, there is nowhere else where they have fared as well as we have. Our radio broadcast has gone viral and is being played on computers, radios, and phones across the nation. They are all trying to come here, and we have to get ready.” She could tell by the looks on their faces that they weren’t quite getting it. They understood her words but were still confused.

“How are we going to stop them?” someone asked, and it was Lisa’s turn to be confused.

“Stop who?”

“The people who are coming to take our town,” someone else said, as if it were obvious.

“Take our town? They aren’t coming to take our town. They are coming to join with us because we are
it
: the last bastion, humanity’s hope. We need them and they need us; without that, we will have nothing. We have to join together and fight the millions of dead who want to make a meal of us.”

“But how will we feed them all? Not to mention, house them.”

“We just had a city empty out and there are tons of stores, warehouses, and semis filled with food. The farmers are already organizing to help and be a part of what we’re doing.” Lisa paused as she tried to collect herself and control the rage that was starting to simmer within her. It galled her that these people, who were themselves rescued and provided with a haven, would deny that to someone else. She eased her breathing and looked at the crowd, not wanting to know who had made the last statement. She started slowly maintaining her calm.

“From my understanding, billions of people around the world have fallen victim to an unknown sickness that kills then re-animates. Hundreds more have died in order to see that we few survived. How do we repay that sacrifice? Those lives that were lost? We re-start. We do whatever we can to see that humanity as a whole has a chance to survive. We don’t do that by fighting amongst the living or being selfish and creating divisive factions over food or weapons. We join together and fight those things that want us dead. We are not food, nor are we rats who squabble over every last crumb. The time of selfishness is over; now is the time to be selfless. All races and religions are welcome here. If that doesn’t work for you, there will be rations—enough to last a couple of days—provided for you at the gate as you leave.” She looked over the crowd and saw most nodding their heads in agreement, but there were a few …

“Get some sleep … we have a lot to do,” she said with a small smile, not really sure where they stood and distressed that someone was already thinking of isolation.

She walked out into the parking lot, wondering how many would be on board with what they were planning—with what they had to do. How much should she tell people? What exactly did they need to know? Should they be voting on something like this? Did people even know what they want? Could anybody truly be denied refuge? Something told her that pushing away the future refugees would turn out a lot worse than opening the doors for them, but it would have to be done in a way that people would accept it.

Lisa suddenly felt dirty. She wondered if a politician ever felt dirty as they manipulated opinion toward what they felt was in the best interests of the people … or in this case, humanity. The realization that more was needed here hit her like a wet rug across the face. They couldn’t be a fortress; this had to be a city with free trade and laws or it in itself would crumble to the laws of the jungle. Only the strong survive in the wild but within humanity as a whole, this was not the case. This was the primal difference between man and beast. Man had the ability and desire within them to help those who can’t help themselves. It was the most beautiful of human qualities and must be salvaged.

Another portion of fog lifted from her conversation with the mysterious major.
In America, we have a citizen army. Welcome to the Army.
“Fuck!” she said to no one as she started off in search of Benson or Bret Junior, feeling trapped by a morality she didn’t even know she had.

“Lisa!” The small, excited voice came to her from across the parking lot where Cat was hurrying toward her. She wondered how her father, Ed Krupp, a man who despised her for such petty reasons, could have such a cool daughter. The girl reminded her of the girl she always wanted to be while growing up … with family, activities, and friends. Lisa pushed the useless thought away and smiled as the young woman approached.

“Hey, Shooter! Did ya get some sleep?”

“Yeah, slept like a rock over in one of the hospital meeting rooms that they converted into bunk dorms. I wanted to give you your rifle back,” Cat said.

“Are you nuts? The way you shoot, I’d be a fool to take that from you. Unless, of course, you wanted something bigger,” Lisa replied.

“No, no, this is perfect for close-in fighting. Now if you wanted to set me up on a wall and take some distance shots, I would want a .308 or something a little bigger,” Cat said in a casual way, but Lisa was able to detect intent behind the innocence.

“Exactly how good of a shot are you, Cat?”

“I was two-time national teen champion for rifle a few years ago and held the skeet title all through high school. I was a little slow on the sidearm comps but still placed third or fourth consistently.” Again, she tried to be casual, but she couldn’t help but show pride in her tone and she had every right.

“Tell ya what, I am going to find Benson, and we’ll see if I can hook you up.” Lisa draped an arm around the shoulder of the young lady and suddenly felt vulnerable. It was as if she walked from a warm, dry room into an extremely cold, blowing world, where she was exposed to everyone’s scrutiny. There was really no way to explain it with exception of being a ten-point buck stuck in the peep sights of an archer’s string.

She looked around, trusting in her instincts and pulling Cat in closer in case she had to cover her, but there was nothing. No one was looking toward them or toward anything threatening. Lisa reached up and touched the bandage on her head, reminding herself that she might not be processing certain things properly yet, but it felt so real …

The rumble of diesel engines outside filled the air with their comforting sounds as the compound repelled another surge while others slept or worked. It was a picture of normality that probably shouldn’t exist within a zombie apocalypse, yet it did.

“What are you doing up and about?” Benson said as he sat in front of his tent eating with his kids and obviously just out of bed.

“Hey, who is manning the fort?” Lisa asked, concerned that neither one of them were out there conducting things.

“Bret Junior. Just like he has been doing since the moment he met you. People think you’re in charge bu—”

“Do we really want to go down that bullshit road again, Benson? Christ!” Lisa said, not even realizing that their last conversation had hurt. Him implying that she was getting some kind of rush from being the go-to on all of this.

“Potty mouth, potty mouth, potty mouth,” Danny sang while prancing around with a half-eaten sandwich in his hand, making Lisa’s stomach growl.

“No, I mean … I wasn’t going there. I meant that he really took over. We’d be lost without him and his old man.”

“Oh, sorry. I agree, he has to stay with the game plan or we’re screwed.” Lisa instantly calmed down when she realized he wasn’t dredging up the bad blood from their earlier conversation. “So what is our game plan? I mean, exactly.”

“What, did that bump on your head rattle you up a little too much?” Benson replied as Cat stayed behind as a silent witness. She learned a long time ago with her parents that staying quiet and out of the line of sight is the best way to learn what is really going on.

“Yeah, it did actually, and most things seem to be more of a blur than anything else—not to mention the headache that comes with it.”

“You should still be in bed, you know,” Benson said, to which she waved off dismissively. “The whole day and night yesterday seems like a blur to me. The only plan I had was to find a place to hole up and get some fighters together. That has obviously morphed into much more.”

“I know, but how much more can we do? And I think we have to have a meeting, but who should we have come?”

“I think we should try to get reps from all of the groups here so that we can best understand what we can do and who is willing to go through it with us. No more than ten though, I would think,” Benson replied.