The Clock Runs Down: Half Past the Apocalypse

by Joe Kelly

  “bullcrap” Jill shot back.

  “Mutiny, I swear” Jared muttered.

  “Jared…”

  “Jill who else is going to drive it?” Jared said flatly not wanting to argue or fight about this. “I know you can do it, honestly its not all that different than just driving a car.”

  “its your gear you had better be right” She said nervously why the thought of driving Jared’s jacked up truck worried her she couldn’t have said but it did. No that wasn’t true, she thought I’m stressed out and I can’t stop seeing my sisters headless body lying on my living room floor.

  “our gear” Jared corrected gently touching her hand in reassurance. “and it will be fine.

  Two minutes later the entire convoy stopped in the middle of the road just long enough for Jared and Steve to switch to Ori’s truck. nothing moved in the woods to either side of the road the silence only broken by the rumble of idling truck motors.

  “see I told you he can be reasonable” Steve told Ori as he slammed the door closed squeezing Jared against Ori.

  Jared wedged between the two men shook his head in resignation. “Steve can you lean against the door or something. You’re like an ape in people clothing.”

  “Bite me Jared” Steve replied as Ori’s dark mood lifted long enough for him to chuckle.

  “listen Jared, I think if we park a mile away, I can recon the area with out drawing attention.” Ori said after a moment.

  “After the crap you two put me through for wanting to clear the gate by myself and now you want to go sneaking off alone. NO”

  “he has a point Ori” Steve added. “and we are on a schedule remember”

  “All right, but think about it those things probably can’t see very well if we are careful we could probably sneak right past groups of them.”

  “maybe, or maybe they can smell us or something” Steve said leaning forward to look around Jared. “and if they really are zombies, the dead kind, then they might have some weird power that tells them where we are at.”

  “now there’s a positive thought” Jared muttered.

  The Storage center where the company stored their excess gear was on the northeast side of town in a heavily wooded area with few business and homes nearby. Jared saw no sign of infected in the fields and pastures they passed but he wasn’t going to trust that there were none in the area.

  “There it is” Jared said as they rounded a wooded curve and saw the tan and beige buildings off to the left. The entire complex covered 2 acres and was completely enclosed by a seven foot tall fence topped with razor wire. Usually all a client had to do was drive up and swipe their access card. But that was when the power was on. The power was off now and would probably never come back on.

  A small number of infected lingered at the closed gate hearing the motors they had already started towards the sound. none of them appeared to be sprinters so that was a plus.

  “Not too many of them” Jared observed. Ori grunted in reply. “Please twelve slow moving, spread out, badly coordinated zombies it’s a not a problem.”

  “I think Custer said something similar” Ori observed.

  “Custer couldn’t count.” Jared countered.

  “I’ve got your back” Steve said his voice flattening as he psyched himself up for the coming confrontation. “let’s just do it fast the longer we take the greater chance more of those things will show up.” He had half hoped that there wouldn’t be a single zombie in sight or so many they would have to give up the plan. But it is what it is, he told himself. I just wish we could use guns, but Jareds right the noise will bring every zombie for miles around us.

  Jared wasn’t all that worried as long as his people didn’t spend more than forty minutes inside. There were only seven houses, a convenience store and a hair salon along the road that fronted the storage center. So there would be little threat from that direction, it was the interstate a half mile away he was worried about. Any shooting and he would lay good odds that a few thousand zombies would show up pretty quickly.

  Jared sighed as he mentally prepared himself and loosened his pistol in its holster just in case he needed it. “Get us to the gates,” he told Ori. “no guns unless we have to.” He told Steve.

  “roger that” Steve said patting the large hunting knife on his thick thigh.

  “Can I have your truck if you die?” Ori asked. “not that I think you will, being all big and muscle bound with the best kung fu around. I mean your brave and tough and…”

  “Ori unless you have a child seat and blocks to attach to the pedals, there is no way you could drive Jareds truck” Steve said.

  Jared snorted a laugh. It might sound insane to a civilian but humor, especially dark humor was a defense mechanism that most soldiers, hell anyone in the military used to stay sane. Whether it came naturally or not He didn’t know but that was just how it was.

  “are you seriously trying to suck up after asking for my truck” Jared asked his eyes on the approaching zombies and the gate behind them.

  Ori chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “Well I figured it couldn’t hurt my chances.” Ori replied as he slowed the truck. “Well have it at it old boy. I'll just sit here in the truck and cover your butt.” He replied with a look that might have been a grin but looked more like a worried expression or he was constipated.

  The infected, seeing the truck slowly rolling down the debris littered street, stumbled and lurched a little faster. They knew that a Vehicle meant meat and were determined to get to it

  “Remind me to shoot you later” Jared said giving Ori a crooked smile. His nerves were already winding tighter into the old and familiar pre combat jitters.

  Steve then Jared leaped out of the truck as Ori came to a stop fifteen feet from the nearest zombie.

  Drawing the telescoping ASP batons he carried he strode forward extending the ASPs with a flick of his wrists. His military issue Tomahawks or his Kukri would have been better, but he really didn’t relish the idea of getting zombie blood and tissue all over himself.

  The closest zombie was a heavyset woman in a floral print dress, half her right bicep was missing, torn out by who ever had attacked her. She reached for him, her mouth snapping. Jared slipped to her left and pushed her off balance. She tumbled to the ground and he drove the asp as hard as he could across her neck and heard the bone snap. She fell limply. Good he thought makes things easier.

  Steve waded into a zombie, grabbing it by the throat he rammed his blade into its eye socket, angling the blade upwards into the brain pan. He wrenched his knife free and leaped towards another of the infected that came at him with crooked fingers and gnashing teeth.

  Something suddenly gripped Jareds shoulder from behind cursing heavily he spun away, snapping teeth barely missing his shoulder. Somehow it had gotten past and behind him while he was dealing with the woman.

  He cracked the ASP across the male zombie's jaw breaking it then broke its leg with a foot strike. As it went down he slammed a booted foot down and crushed its skull. He knew that when this was over he was going to be sick.

  What if your wrong and these people are alive and just sick, He asked himself. Doesn’t matter really, If I don’t deal with them, they will kill me just as dead or infect me and I doubt that there are any courts open just about now to take issue with me over it.

  What surprised him, he was also sure the list would grow, was how fast some of them seemed to move when you weren’t looking directly at them.

  “Get your head in the game,” he said aloud as he turned and waded into the remaining zombies with a vengeance Steve at his side till not a one was moving. By the time they reached the gate he was covered in blood and other things, things he didn’t want to look to closely at.

  Steve wiped his blood covered hands on his jeans with a grimace of distaste. “I really hope we don’t have to do this to often” He muttered. Trying hard not to look at the mostly coagulated blood and the thick black fluid that had erupted from the walking dea
d. First thing I am going to do when it was safe is strip off these pants, he decided, and wash my hands.

  I have a feeling we are going to have to do this for a long while to come, Jared thought. He didn’t say it aloud It would have been bad for Morale. I guess using blades would have been the wiser move, since I’m covered in zombie ooze anyway, he thought as he looked into the main parking lot of the storage center before turning his attention to the box that held the key card reader. Just below the card reader was the emergency manual lock for use during power outages.

  All the renters were given a key along with their key cards and today that was going to pay off. He inserted the key sent a silent prayer to the heavens then twisted. The lock opened with a click. He rolled the gate back and stood there on watch as his friends drove past heading for his storage building. Bridget stopped only long enough for Steve to slide behind the wheel. With a wave Steve drove into the lot.

  Ori was the last one through stopping just on the other side of the gate, waiting while Jared closed and locked the gate. Just great, Jared thought seeing ten more zombies emerge from the Hair salon and head towards the gate drawn by the sound of the engines. Well they aren’t a problem till we go to leave, He told himself.

  He hopped on the bumper and gripped the tailgate as Ori drove up to the Storage center office and parked. As soon as the truck stopped Jared leaped off rifle in hand.

  “How do you want to do this?” Ori asked climbing from the truck and slinging his rifle across his chest

  “Silent if we can. But I would rather make noise and live if that’s what it takes” Jared said with no obvious tension in his voice. His face was still showing nothing of the emotions if any that might be rolling around inside. He was in the zone, Ori thought just like back in the war.

  “Roger that,” Ori said flashing Jared a smile that looked more like a nervous grimace than anything involving humor. Jared tried the door and found it open. No surprise there, the place was supposed to be open 24/7 for the customers. He stepped into the lobby and moved to the left this time drawing his Khurkri. The Asps were fine against the living but as he had found out only semi effective against the undead but the large angled blade of the Khurkri was made for chopping limbs and heads off.

  The place looked almost normal he thought, fake potted plants, cheap posters showing vacation spots, the ever present sign with the rules on it. A pressboard desk with a pile of folders on it. Which Jared had always suspected were placed on the desk so the girl who usually sat there answering the phones looked busy.

  It still smelled of the potpourri that the receptionist loved put out in a large bowl on the waiting room table but there was another smell under that, a coppery smell that both men recognized.

  It would have been completely normal if the brunette in the skimpy dress had been sitting behind the desk and if there hadn’t been an overturned chair by the coffee table in the waiting area, with what looked like drops of blood on the chair and the cheap beige carpet. The drops continued behind the flimsy looking counter and up to the Manager's office door. Jared pointed at the blood trail that had soaked into the carpet and Ori nodded.

  They moved silently across the carpeted floor totally alert. Jared’s eyes were darting from side to side the tension building. Both men had taken shallow breaths to keep from gagging on the rotted meat smell that filled the air the closer he got to the manager's door. Neither of them had to point out the bloody hand print on the wall, or the blood on the door handle.

  Ori flanked him and gave the ready sign. Jared knocked softly on the door and waited. From the other side, he thought he heard a thump. Then something made a soft scratching noise on the other side of the door.

  He and Ori exchanged glances. Not a good sign, that scraping noise. Only one-way to do this Jared thought as he slammed a boot into the doors sweet spot. The bolt tore free of the frame and slammed into something on the other side, then bounced back towards the two men. Jared kicked the door again and whatever was blocking it fell clear with a thud. As the door swung open Jared rushed into the room. The only light in the room was from the narrow rectangular window high on the wall behind the desk.

  A zombie lay on the floor struggling to get to its feet. Arnold Greer had been a nice enough guy, in death he was anything but. With unnerving savagery Arnold lurched up right and threw himself at Jared his teeth snapping open and closed. Oh, I really hope they all don’t start moving like that Jared thought as he stepped forward inside the reaching arms and rammed the Khurkri into Arnolds eye. Arnold stopped dead, literally, then folded over and collapsed. Jared pulled out his Khurkri and wiped it on Arnolds shirt. It may not be made for thrusting but it works in a tight spot, Jared thought looking around the office.

  “Poor bastard” Ori muttered his face completely blank. For a moment Kelly’s face floated up in his mind, bloody, mindless and savage. He clamped down on the thought he didn’t need that pain, not now.

  “Must have gotten bitten outside and ran in here to hide,” Jared said as he knelt and studied the body. He found the bite marks a moment later on Arnolds side and right wrist. “Let's finish this.” he said, rising and they moved to the closet door. Jared eyed the door handle for a moment. Part of him wishing he really didn’t have to open it.

  Ori moved to stand to one side of the closet door his hand resting on the door knob. Jared stood ready. When the door opened Ori would be covered by the door and Jared would take the brunt of whatever might be inside. He nodded to Ori when he was ready, Ori opened the door fast and wide Jared saw nothing that might be a threat in the closet. Breathing a sigh of relief Jared led the way towards the bathrooms.

  By the time Jared and Ori had rejoined the group at the storage room, the lot had been cleared and Ronny had put down the only zombie inside the fence, A skinny drug addict looking guy who had been towards the back near their storage room. Steve was washing his hands with hydrogen peroxide and had changed pants, Jared noted.

  Jared gazed at the zombie corpse for a moment with no expression on his face. Probably, Jared thought, That was the one that had bitten Arnold.

  The lot was as secure as they could make it at that point. Jared didn’t waste time he unlocked the doors to his rented storage room. “Food, medical and ammo first.” He said as he lifted the door, which rolled upwards with a metallic rattle.

  .

  Jill stared into the building, with something like shock. Then cast a quick puzzled glance at Jared. What in the hell had they been planning that they needed all this. Racks of backpacks, cases of MRE’s and other sealed food stuffs. More rope than most S&M places could use, harness’s, carabineers, pitons, axes, stoves, packages of clothes and much more.

  But what really stood out were the cases and cases of Military Ammo boxes of all sizes stacked in the large room and the gun safes in the back. This entire storage building was like a Militarized outdoors shop. Jared noticed the looks she was giving the contents of the building and himself and had to grin.

  Most of the ammo crates were packed with supplies of one kind or another, instead of the ammo they had once held. But all she saw were wooden crates, plastic and metal boxes of all sizes and shapes with labels like Mortar round HE, or some other nasty sounding ammo type.

  “Business Jill, we sold firearms, ammo, reloading tools, Die’s, the works to select customers. You'd be amazed at how many people show up for a guided hunt and end up forgetting ammo, or screw up their weapons, or just plain want a new one.” He shrugged “Besides, I didn’t have enough room to store the excess so it got stored here.”

  “And we were planning on taking over the world, instituting a Woman must go topless, free plastic surgery for ugly people program. But the zombies beat us to the taking over the world part” Ronny commented as he walked past with a crate in his arms.

  Jared gave a bark of tense laughter and stopped Rob who was carrying a crate that was supposed to contain LAWs if the label was correct. He opened the clasp and flipped the lid open revealing
the box contained bandages sealed in plastic. “A friend of mine gives, gave,” he corrected “me all the crates, ammo boxes and barrels I wanted. I use them to store supplies in.”

  “Oh,” Jill replied feeling a bit foolish, but who could have blamed her really.

  Jared glanced at his watch “lets hurry this up, the longer we take the more of those things might show up.”

  Once they had the essentials loaded Jared had them start loading weapons and other gear. Essentials, Jared thought, were a lot less than he wished they had. The total count of the groups ammo including what was here in storage was, Five thousand rounds of .223, two thousand rounds each of 7.65 and 5.56, and about five thousand rounds between six different calibers. He wasn’t sure how much extra ammo the guys might have brought from their homes.

  Every man in the group carried seven magazines for their weapons and an eighth in the weapon, which came up to an additional 1680 rounds before they started shooting. It sounded like a lot, but in a real firefight or against a massive horde of zombies, they could burn thru the ammo pretty fast.