Zombie Rush 2 (5 page)

He put the sights back to his eye, not knowing whether he would take the shot or not. A head with long, straight, reddish-blond hair came into his view. He pulled his barrel up. He couldn’t believe it; was that really her? Putting the safety on, he lowered the rifle barrel, looked again, and saw the smile he longed for. His world went from gloomy and oppressive to bright and sunny in an instant. Cat lived; his joy, his love … his daughter still lived and he didn’t even care that Reynolds had an arm draped over her shoulder as if they were old friends. Anyone who may have helped his daughter survive was now a godsend in his world.

“He’s bit! He’s bit!” he heard Lu shout and turned around just as she slammed a knife into his eye. Stanley fell … dead.

“What the hell?” Krupp said before looking at Lu pleadingly.

“I don’t know. He was here talking about the kind of trouble you were going to get in as soon as he could turn you in to the other cops, and then he just started acting weird. I remembered his limp and the one who had grabbed him, along with the blood on his pant leg. He was turning; I know it.” Lu was panicked, but in Krupp’s eyes, it seemed a little dramatized.

“He kept on ranting about that girl on the boat and … an …”

“That was self-defense; they tried to jump me.”

“I'm sure they did,” Lu replied. “We just didn’t see that girl’s weapon, right?”

Krupp suddenly knew what she was doing and didn’t quite know how to react. Did she have his back, or was this some kind of set up? Not that it really mattered. Someone like Stanley would never survive this new world, so whether it was Lu who took him out or a zombie, it didn’t really make much difference.

“It’s all right; just calm down. In the future get me before you start executing people, all right?” A sudden thought occurred to him, and he pulled out his cell phone and texted,
R U huntin wabbits?
While he did this, he kept a side eye on Lu and would from here on out. She had a game of her own and he had no desire to get caught up in it. Sadly, he felt he already might be.

Then he watched as Cat, who had joined up with Benson, answered her phone. He could tell that her world stopped as she read the screen, and she looked around to see if he was in sight. She texted back as she walked over to the other officers.

Thank god u r alive. Where r u?

On top of the world looking down on creation,
he replied.

Don’t mess with me, Dad; we’ve been through enough. Is Mom with you?

No
He paused before sending another text wondering how much he should tell her like this.

It’s just U and me now, sweetheart. I am on the highway watching you through the optics on my rifle

Well, get down here; we need u

Looks like you’re doing fine without me

Trust me, Dad, u r needed

K. C ya soon
He ended his text message only to have his phone suddenly ring.

“Hey, glad to see you made it.”

“Hi, Art. Who’s in charge down there?”

“Couple of contractors, me, and Lisa.”

“Lisa is it now? What, did you two have a layover where you got to sniff each other’s biscuits?”

“Too soon for jokes like that. I lost my wife yesterday, Ed; how ’bout you?” Benson asked.

Krupp didn’t reply right away. He and his wife had stopped entertaining each other years ago. You could say that they stayed together for the kids, but the truth was neither cared enough to spend the energy to leave. In a way, they still loved each other and always would, and there was genuine regard or respect for one another. It was just that the magic had passed with the events of life. He didn’t feel much for his son and considered him to be a little on the effeminate side, even before he came out and admitted he was gay. Surprisingly, everyone thought Ed would fly into a rage finding out that his son was gay. In truth, it was simply confirmation of what he already knew. He was aware that they are born that way, but it didn’t matter; it was still unnatural in his book.

Cat was the apple of his eye, the son he always wanted in the shape of a girl. It was only fitting that the two of them survived, while the others perished. Shit, that girl could shoot. She was born with an assault rifle strapped to her back and a Smith & Wesson on her hip. She preferred a Glock, but Ed didn’t want her shooting any of that foreign crap. It would be like driving a fucking Volkswagen.

“Yeah, it is too soon. I lost my wife and son yesterday, so seeing Cat with you was … I can’t even tell you what it was, bro.”

“I know; I get it. You got more family than you have ever had down here now.”

“I hope you are not referring to that tequila queen as family now, Art,” Ed said, dropping his guard to try to see what Benson really thought about Lieutenant Lisa Reynolds.

Benson turned away from the group and took a couple of steps away for a more private statement, as Lisa was watching intently.

“She’s not what you think, Ed. She took it to the wall for me and my kids several times yesterday. She’s tough and fair, dude. I hope you can give her a break. Twice I would have been dead if she wouldn’t have been there risking it all. If you hang out with us, I guarantee that she would do the same for you.”

Krupp took it in and remembered how she handled herself during the first altercation when they got off the ferry; he had to admit, she was solid in a fight.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. Anyone who has survived this long has to have something going on,” Krupp replied, feeling it as much as saying it.

“Shoot a couple of zombies so I can see where you’re at.”

“I’m up here on the highway with too many Z’s around to be shooting willy nilly. In a straight line from San Carlos Point Road to you.”

“We have a couple of end loaders and skiddies up there; I will send you some transport and have the band thin them out.”

“The band? What, do you have a concert down there?”

“No, we have a big job down here, and we need you. The band is what we call the music trucks sent out to draw the zombies away. Some contractors have set us up so that we’re only dealing with a reasonable number of zombies at one time. It is pretty amazing. I’m almost grateful the Army was deployed, but I will explain that when you get here.”

“All right, out.” Krupp hung up the phone, the sound of music from an approaching truck catching his ear. He looked over the cars and waved his rifle when the truck came into view. It stopped, did a hasty three-point turn, and slowly departed, drawing the zombies with it.

Several loud shrieks signaled that the runners had spotted the music van. Fast feet slapped the pavement as they passed on their way to rush the vehicle. Krupp, with his suppressed M4, shot runners on the fringes while keeping low to a car’s hood. Assault rifles began shooting out the back, joined by shots coming in from the shoulder by an unseen source. The runners died and the shooting stopped as they simply controlled the slow ones. He was watching the mass of zombies following the truck when a front-end loader came from around the side of the horde, smashing and crushing everything in its path. Krupp realized that killing the slow ones with a gun was merely a waste of bullets compared to the devastation the machines could make in such a short time.

“Need a ride?” the driver shouted when he got near. Lu and Krupp got up into the cab of the loader and marveled at the battle. Never in his day did Krupp imagine being escorted across a battlefield in full-out maneuvers without a care in the world.

They walked into a manlift, which carried them cleanly over the wall of trailers. Both were impressed by the four-jointed boom’s ability to complete a one hundred and eighty degree loop to set them on the ground.

Lu pulled in closer and Krupp looked at her with a discerning eye. His marriage may have been stale, but it was way too soon for this. There was also something about her that made him nervous.

She whispered, “Can we just completely forget about Stanley? I mean, he was bitten but I don’t want to have to mention what he was talking about, you know what I mean? Like the people on the boat you had to … well … let’s just say we hooked up and survived. Nobody needs to know any other details, am I right?” She smiled innocently as her large, soft eyes locked on his. He suddenly felt lust and hate at the same time and wondered how he was going to deal with her.

Krupp knew a shakedown when he saw it, but her timing was perfect. He couldn’t eliminate her when so many watched and he was forced to either agree to her terms right here, right now or face fate. He gave a single nod.

She wrapped her arm through his and smiled as she snuggled in close. “I am excited to meet all of your friends,” she said to what she thought was her new pet.

Chapter Four

Togetherness

“Sucks out there, don’t it?” Lisa said as she sat down across from Krupp, who had his daughter on his knee as if she were still a child on Christmas morning. A scene that Lisa never had herself, which left her envious.

“Thanks for taking care of my daughter,” he said with a guarded voice.

“Taking care of? It’s not like that. The chick watched my back during the shit fire in the hospital,” Lisa started only to be interrupted by Danny’s chant.

“Potty mouth, potty mouth.”

It wasn’t so bad the first time she heard it, but now she had a sneaking suspicion that he was talking about her. Krupp couldn’t help but smile, and Lisa continued on after glaring at Benson, who shrugged as if to say
it is what it is
.

“Then when they breached the compound, she must have dropped fifteen with that Marlin .22 Magnum she’s carrying.”

“She is a hell of a shot; better than her old man,” he replied with pride.

“So, what happened to Traynor?”

“I don’t know. We split when she wanted to go to her house first. She couldn’t keep her voice down and talked way too much, so I figured I was safer on my own. I heard multiple shots in the distance, but it was too far for me to get to in time, not to mention she didn’t have any rounds left that I knew of. I saw the horde but couldn’t tell if she was still there.”

“That sucks. I wish we could have all made it. It would have made things much easier.”

“Things? What things in particular?” Krupp asked as more people started to show up.

“I don’t know; whatever it is we decide to do, which is partly why we’re having this meeting. I picked Tyrell, who comes with Amber, Cat, Larry, Bret Junior, and that tall guy right there for my five. Benson picked you, Tommy, Malcolm—an old vet that he came in with—and two more who I don’t see, but I hope it’s someone dealing with the food.”

Benson was spot on. He grabbed a man who seemed to be running the kitchens in an impromptu fashion and another man who had started taking inventory on what was inside the trailers that made up their fortress; a number of which were reefers, which meant food.

Lisa stood up to call the meeting to order and started off with a matter-of-fact tone.

“I am going to start out with the things I feel are a
must do
and will follow it up with the optional info. I’m not doing this because I am in charge—because I’m not. We are all going to be in charge because the only thing bigger right now than the basic daily struggle to survive is the struggle find a long-term solution. We are not going to find a solution hiding out at the Sam’s Club. We had an Army major with us last night, and he suggested that we re-take the whole city. ‘Impossible,’ I thought. Now after thinking about it for a while, it is what we must do and we have to do it fast while the resources are still fresh.

“Okay, that is what is on the must-do list in my book; next, would be the question of what are we going to be?” Lisa said and waited for a response, which didn’t take long.

“What exactly do you mean?” Larry asked.

“Well, are we going to be a compound, where the walls are defended against all invaders? Or are we going to be what Hot Springs has always been: open to the public?”

“I can’t see it being manageable if we just let everybody in. I mean, there are a lot of bad people out there that we just can’t have here in town.” Krupp spoke up and a couple of people nodded, including the LARPer, Tyrell.

“Wait a minute, this event was life changing, and those who might look bad, or may have been bad, might not be now. I think we need some bad on our side right now,” Amber, who was with Tyrell, spoke out.

“I had to kill a drug dealer early on yesterday; a carpenter named Buck, who is no longer with us, said the guy would have been a beast against zombies … so how do we play it?”

“Well, we are still Americans, and as such, I don’t see how we can deny another American refuge. If we have to put them out later, we will deal with that then.”

“I would rather have the gang bangers and shit in here defending us than messing with our people out in the field. Just have a couple of people assigning jobs as they come in; we’ll keep them busy enough to stay out of trouble,” the cook spoke up, trying to be helpful. And he was; Lisa had thought about the gangs that would form once they were put out.

“What if they just want supplies?” Amber asked, and Bret Junior cut the conversation off. Being a contractor, he was an expert at recognizing wasted time.

“We don’t have the time to go through every detail of every issue. Our main goal should be getting this camp secure and figure out how we are going to take back the city.” His words rang true, but there was more to do than that. The incoming human population, as well as the existing, needed to be handled at the same time or it could all blow up in their faces.

“All right, let me see a show of hands,” Lisa jumped in. “Who in this groups thinks they would be better at dealing with the camp and followers?”

Tommy, the cook, Amber, the tall man, and Benson raised their hands. “Okay, why don’t you five head over to that table over there and discuss how we want to set up the rules—who goes, who stays, and how they earn their keep. The rest of us will figure out the best way to reclaim the city. We’ll call this group ‘mission’ and the other … ‘personnel’.

“I’m thinking that we start at the beach and push them right out of the town,” Lisa continued, thinking it was the most obvious strategy. She was met with cold, dead eyes from everyone. “What?”

“You really haven’t spent much time thinking about it have you?” It was Cat who spoke as her father slapped her on the knee, giving her a parental stare about respect before he cracked a small smile.

“Oh, right. If y’all are so smart, what should we do?” Cat added, not willing to be stifled by her old man.

“Find an engineer,” Larry spouted out.

“Care to elaborate, Larry?” Lisa asked.

“Yeah, there is an inter-modal train yard down the highway a piece. We should drive as many up here as we can then use trucks, cranes, and trains to line them up just like we did the semis.”

“Why is inter-modal important?”

“Inter-modal is double stacked trains which means more boxcars to use for walls,” Krupp said.

“Yep, once we have our back covered, we push them into the sea,” Larry finished, and every one of them nodded their heads as they looked at the table.

“Okay, what is our biggest issue in enacting that plan?”

“Logistics,” five voices said as one, and then it was off and Bret was on a roll.

“Larry, didn’t I see Eugene around here?” Larry nodded. “He is a crane operator for that silo company on the north side of Piney. Do they have something big enough?”

“Maybe, but the steel yard is closer and I know that Senna Boga and the Terrex they have there could lift some boxcars and we have a ton of unused flatbeds since we used all of the walled trailers here …”

The planning lasted until well into the afternoon, leaving Lisa’s head spinning. “Did you get all of that?” she asked Krupp as they walked away from the meeting.

“Yep,” he replied.

“Good, let me know if I start fucking it up.”

“Gladly. Look, I know that we have a little history, Lieutenant.”

“Lisa, call me Lisa. Rank doesn’t mean much anymore.”

“Okay, Lisa. The people here, they’re looking to you for answers so you should be the go-between for the two groups and you should get back down to that radio station and give out some encouragement. I’ll keep you updated on our status here in this group,” Krupp said.

Lisa looked at him for a long time before she made the decision to simply trust him. She was in over her head, and she needed people who could handle some of this stuff for her.

Benson came up and joined them with his own thoughts.

“We are going to need a team for recovery. There are a lot of technical and medical things we need, as well as munitions and … well, who’s to say? I want to put that together and get them going.”

“Okay,” Lisa said, not really knowing if he was asking or telling.

“Maybe we can pair them up with the crew we are going to put together for truck and fuel requisitions,” Krupp added, and soon he and Benson were deep in conversation about what they were doing as Lisa and Cat watched on.

Lisa looked at Cat, who shrugged and said, “This is kind of up their alley.”

“I am not going to be ruled out because I’m a woman.”

“You’re not. I made some points and they all listened and are even planning on using my ideas. I know that Amber was very vocal in their group and listened to, so I don’t think it’s that.”

“What is it then?”

“Well,” she started off hesitantly. “You’re new to the area and don’t know the city that well and … well.”

“Well what?” Lisa demanded.

“You have kind of become something like a figurehead,” Cat said warily and then added, “And you really suck at planning things like logistics and stuff.”

“Figurehead? It has only been a day, for Christ sake, and already I’m nothing but a figurehead. I can do logistics; nobody has ever seen me with logistics so how would they know?” She stopped when she noticed that Krupp and Benson were watching her warily. “Is that what I am, a figurehead?”

Neither man wanted to answer her, because, in truth, she was a figurehead. Nobody planned it; it just happened. But she was a very powerful figurehead who could get the whole complex in an uproar with very little effort.

“Hey, come on now, Lisa, look how this whole thing started. You mention the inklings of a plan in the basement of the police precinct, and it was immediately taken out of your hands. What were the odds that you were going to run into the one person in these parts that would have the ability to set up something like this? You stood on the top of a mountain and pushed a snowball. That snowball has grown overnight to momentous proportions and is still growing. Thank God enough smart people jumped on board to help us get to this point, because to tell the truth … I couldn’t have done it,” Benson finished with his arms out to the side.

“I couldn’t have done it either; I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Krupp added.

“Yeah, me either. This is way beyond my expectations,” Lisa replied.

“Yet you did it. I know that you are an atheist and all, so I won’t use the term ‘god’ but there is a force or power that’s behind you right now, and you’re attracting the right people and they listen to you. You could do nothing for the rest of the time here and somehow you would still be the backbone of this operation. Don’t ask me why, it just is.”

“Wow, Art, that’s quite a mouthful. I don’t know how accurate it is but … wow.”

“I don’t know how much any of us have to say about events happening around us,” Krupp began and then paused as if he was searching for the right words. “Not four hours ago, I stood up on the highway and scanned this compound, not knowing what to think. Then you came into view, Lisa, and I remembered how much I hated you just yesterday morning.”

Lisa’s eyes widened as she remembered the feeling of dread she felt. She stepped up to Krupp with her hand on her Glock.

“Relax, I didn’t even have one in the chamber,” he lied and continued on. “You see, I felt that my life was over. I was ready to live my life as a vagabond or a drifter or simply die. Then I saw this place and what was happening down here and knew that I had to be a part of it.”

“I’m calling bullshit on that one, Krupp,” Lisa said, making no bones about her attitude on it. “I felt it when you had your rifle trained on me. I felt like a deer on opening day and the feeling didn’t dissipate until Cat showed up. You were going to shoot me.”

“No, I wasn’t going to shoot you.”

Lisa stood at the chest of the large man, looking up at him, her voice unwavering with intimidation. “I need to know, Ed. I need you to look me in the eye and tell me that I was safe because I didn’t feel very safe when you had a rifle pointed at me.”

“Lisa, I spent the last month hating you for what I assumed was you ruining my career. I didn’t give you credit for your time served because I didn’t see it. After yesterday, the way you put Coleen down and pushed me and Traynor away, I hated you. I had to do some things that I am not proud of the last couple of days but being a murderer wasn’t one of them,” Krupp lied again. “This morning, when I had you in my sights, all of that came back to me. I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger because I am not a coward who kills and runs … I face the music and my fights head on. I will be honest though; I wanted you dead.”

“So what changed that will make it so I can trust that you will have my back?”

“First it was Benson and how he said you stepped up to save him and his kids several times yesterday. It’s how you got the people behind you and initiated this whole thing, whatever this thing may be. And as icing, you were a friend to Cat when she thought she didn’t have anybody left, and you never made mention of our strained relationship. I was wrong about you, Lisa. I want—I need—to be your friend,” Krupp said in a way that was more honest than the day he proposed to his wife.