“Eli is not going to forgive you for this,” Clayton said.
“He’ll have to get over it,” Jones replied. “As my dad used to say, let’s get this show on the road.”
Garver let out a long sigh but took the controls in his hands and headed up the river toward the Stimson Avenue bridge. This was the same bridge that the combined forces of Eli’s people, plus the new arrivals of Jo’s group and Donovan’s, took on a small throng of zombies and decimated them. The bullets flew, and the zombies fell on the bridge while another small horde of zombies was being led across a shallow place in the river for an end-around into the city. That’s when they knew they were in trouble.
Garver held their bird perpendicular to the bridge, floating in the air, looking down on the center of its span.
“You sure about this?” Garver asked.
“No, I’m not sure about anything in this fucked up world, but this is the only way I see to slow them down,” Jones said. “The river is high and not shallow like before. The way the current is running, I’m betting it will sweep a lot of them away.”
“Betting or hoping?” Clayton asked.
Jones closed his eyes and gritted his teeth for a moment. “Let’s just do this.” He refused to look at Clayton, but to Garver, he said, “You think two will take it down?”
“No, but it’ll knock a section out if I do it right,” Garver said as he worked to position the chopper just right.
“Then do it right, old man,” Jones said.
Garver guided the helicopter down and to the left, lining it up with the center of the bridge. His fingers played with the trigger on the rocket launcher for several seconds as his eyes narrowed.
“Take the shot,” Jones said.
That’s all Garver needed as he squeezed the trigger. A half-second later, a rocket fired from the right side of the helicopter. In an explosion of fire, the rocket slammed into the center section of the bridge. The sound of the explosion shocked the people inside the aircraft after getting used to the drone of the engines and the steady beat of the blades.
A billowing smoke cloud obscured a direct view of the bridge for several seconds, but a stiff breeze from the west blew most of it away. It was quite a revelation. Most of the roadway was gone, leaving a gaping hole in the bridge. A narrow section barely wide enough for two people to cross was all that remained.
“I don’t want to take any chances,” Jones said. “Blast that last part.”
A voice blared from the walkie-talkie sitting between Jones’ legs. “What the hell is going on down there?” It was Eli.
“Get that last part now, before he can do anything,” Jones said with some force behind the words.
Garver took two seconds to line up the shot and fired away. His aim was just as true the second time around. The small section that had remained after the first shot was no longer there. The gap in the bridge was nearly ten-feet wide. No one or nothing was jumping that.
An explosion sounded to their east. When Garver pivoted the helicopter, he gave Jones and Clayton a clear view down the river to watch Bradbury take his second shot on the bridge.
“Jones!” Eli’s voice bellowed over the walkie-talkie’s little speaker. “Don’t you take out that last bridge. Don’t you do it. We’ll need that bridge when this is all over.”
“Take us down to that last west bridge,” Jones said. “We’ll act like we didn’t hear him.”
Clayton said, “Hey Sarge, I’m looking down river and see a footbridge down there. Shouldn’t we take that out, too?”
“We only have so many rockets, and we need to take out the next bridge,” Jones said.
“That’s the last one on this side of town,” Garver said. “We do this, and there’s no heading west unless you take the long way around.”
“These bridges are a highway right into the Sanctum,” Jones said. “They have to go.”
“Whatever you say, Herr Captain,” Garver said.
“Don’t you worry, little pilot, there’s another full bridge on the far side of town. I’d take that out, but if everything turns to shit, we may need it to get the hell out of here.” He paused as Bradbury took a third shot. He just wasn’t as good as Garver, but he got the job done, creating a fair-sized gap in the bridge.
“JONES!” Eli shouted, and his voice was close to a screech.
“Let’s get to that bridge and get the hell out of here before Eli sends out someone to shoot us down,” Jones said into his comms, and Garver shot them with some haste to the next bridge.
The last bridge fell, and Garver headed them westward. Bradbury followed close behind.
Chapter 29
The Waiting Game
“Did you see that?” Eli shouted at the top of his lungs. “Did you see what they fucking did?!”
He wasn’t frothing like a rabid dog, but a decent amount of spittle sprayed from his mouth.
Even fifty feet away, Jo could hear him as could anyone within a hundred yards. Eli was on the west wall, standing next to the gate. A group of his men gave him safe assured distance as he raged at what Sergeant Jones had just done.
“That bridge was our only way to get to the west,” Eli shouted.
None of his men looked at him but instead found something else to examine.
“Geez, the guy’s going to stroke out on us,” Del said.
Willow, who was a woman Jo had become friendly with, stared uncomprehendingly at what was left of the bridge and asked, “Why did he blow up the bridge?”
“That’s the main way the zombies are going to get into town,” Del said.
“But they crossed the river last time,” she said.
“We had a good rain,” Jo said. “I’m guessing the river is running, and Sergeant Jones saw that.”
“Me, too,” Del said.
“Can’t they get across it?” Willow asked.
“They don’t like rushing water much,” Del said.
Willow turned to Del and said, “You guys have a lot of experience with zombies, don’t you?” She was a tall, slender woman with handsome features that came across a little manly.
“And you don’t?” Del asked.
Willow bit her lip for a second, then said, “Truthfully, Eli and his men have taken care of most of the face-to-face encounters. Sure, I’ve seen them and even shot a few before I got here, but, well, the rest of us have been somewhat insulated from the worst of it.”
Del exchanged a quiet look with Jo, but both of them kept their expressions neutral.
In the world of killing zombies, Del and Jo would be considered blue ribbon finalists. They had fought their way across the state, and killing had become almost second nature to them, but neither of them would say that they were used to it. It was just what you had to do to survive.
Del spoke in a voice devoid of emotion but didn’t look at Willow. “We’ve had a lot of action. We started down in Portsmouth, hunkered down in a church. We got run out of there by some rogue soldiers. Then we found a new place to stay, but this mad genius nearly killed us there when he learned to control the zombies. And, oh yeah, a bunch of soldiers ran us away from that place.” He paused for a moment, and it was as if he wouldn’t continue, but he did. “Yes, we’ve been killing the dead and the living for quite a while.”
Willow shifted a half step away from Del but ran out of room, nearly falling off the wall. Jo immediately noticed her actions.
“But we only killed the living when we didn’t have any other choice,” Jo said.
“How many?” Willow asked as she took a half step away from Jo.
Jo realized that she had never really stopped to consider that question. There had been time to take a tally, and whenever she did think about it, she pushed it out of her mind. Facing the fact that she had killed a live human being challenged everything she had been before the world went down the drain. Now, it had become something she accepted without too much thought.
That made her wonder about what she had become. Had something
essential inside her died along with all the killings? Had she become a little colder and a little harder?
“In every case, we were only defending ourselves or the people we cared for,” Jo said, but she knew she sounded defensive. She also realized that she hadn’t answered the question because she had lost count.
Willow remained quiet for several seconds but then said, “We’ve had some problems with road bandits, but Eli and his men have handled that.”
Jo could sense the tension between them. Jo desperately wanted to defend herself by pointing out that it sounded as if Willow had been removed from the face-to-face conflict, but she knew that would only make Willow defensive. She would never understand the decisions Jo and Del had to make.
A dim, diffuse light crept across the sky to the east, but no one inside the Sanctum felt cheered by the idea of a new day. Instead, a pervasive sense of doom hung over them.
A hundred and fifty yards away from where Del, Jo, and Willow were, Donovan nudged a drowsy Mason on the shoulder.
“Huh,” Mason said as he shook his head back and forth, trying to revive himself.
“I told you to get some sleep,” Donovan said.
“You’ve been able to sleep anytime, anywhere,” Mason said. “I’m not built that way. Besides, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
“That may come sooner than you were expecting,” Donovan said.
“Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine,” Mason said.
Donovan’s head shifted to the right, and he looked past Mason and across the wall. “Uh, oh.”
“What is it?” Mason asked as he flipped around.
What he saw when he turned was Eli, Lassiter, and another one of Eli’s men striding down the wall toward where Jo and Del were positioned.
“That doesn’t look good,” Mason said.
“Let’s get over there,” Donovan said.
Mason wasn’t as eager to get involved, “Are you sure?”
Donovan stopped mid-stride and turned back to Mason. “Yes. They came in with us, and we’re on the same side. You can stay, but I’m going.”
Donovan left Mason and started along the top of the wall as Mason stood for at least another five seconds. Donovan slid by men who faced out, looking for the enemy on its way.
“Well, shit,” Mason said, and he had to play catch-up.
Jo peered into the distance when Del said, “Trouble is on its way.”
“I know that,” Jo said. “Everybody does.”
“No, not them,” Del said. “Him.”
Jo pivoted to him and then looked over his shoulder. Before she could say anything, Eli beat her to it.
“You knew all about that,” Eli yelled. “Didn’t you?”
Anybody standing in Eli’s way quickly made room, squeezing against the side of the wall.
“Do you know what he’s done?” Eli shouted.
Jo put up her left hand in a stop sign gesture, but she turned her body to conceal the fact that her other hand slid down to her holstered sidearm. “Eli, calm down,” she said in a calm and even voice.
“Like hell, I will,” Eli said. “And I think you did know about it.” He pulled to a stop ten feet away and shot up an arm, pointing at Del. “He’s the first one who talked about it.”
“Hold on,” Del shot back. “I only said that when the first wave of zombies were on their way.”
“But you said it,” Eli shouted. “You have no idea what those bridges mean to our community.”
“I know, I know,” Del said, “but Jones must have thought there was no other way to stop what’s headed our way.”
“They aren’t even here yet,” Eli bellowed.
“But they are coming,” Jo said as she took a step close to Eli. “And those bridges were like a highway for them to get to the Sanctum.”
“And they won’t go around the city to the bridge on the east side?” Eli asked, not even trying to hide his anger.
Donovan came up behind Eli but slowed before passing him. “Eli, listen to them. Jones did what he thought was right.”
Eli whirled on Donovan and said, “No one asked for your input. You're with them, anyway.”
“I’m with all of us,” Donovan said. “It’s the only way any of us will survive.”
“By blowing up two of our bridges?” Eli asked as he threw his hands in the air.
“He’s buying us time,” Del said. “They’re coming from the west. Maybe they’ll circle around the city and just keep going?”
“And monkeys are going to fly out of my ass,” Eli said.
Del smirked and said, “And mine, too. Come on, Eli, we’re on the same side here.”
“Are we?” Eli said. “Are we, really? I see all of you outsiders coming in here and not really knowing that you are guests, and we set the rules!”
With those words, Jo had reached her limit and stepped toward Eli. Once she hit her pre-determined mark, she jerked up her arm out from her side and pointed it westward. “No! They set the rules! Those things on their way here. And they will kill every last one of us.”
“Those bridges belong to the people of the Sanctum, and we should have had a say in what happened to them,” Eli shot back.
“You’re missing the big picture,” Donovan said. “There won’t be a Sanctum if we all don’t work together.”
Eli turned on Donovan and said, “But it seems as if everything you outsiders do hurts my people. Those bridges were major conduits in and out of the city.”
“And that’s why they had to go,” Del said.
Eli looked down at the ground for a moment, then he returned his attention to Jo. “If we didn’t need you…”
“But you do,” Jo said as she fixed Eli in a hard stare.
Lassiter stepped up next to Eli and said, “This is probably something we need to take up later. What’s done is done.”
Eli closed his eyes tightly and said, “It may be done, but it is far from over. And I don’t care what Karen said. All of you are gone as soon as we make it through this.” He made a fast pivot, turning on his heels, and marched past Donovan and Mason back to his previous position by the gate.
Del turned to Jo and said, “That didn’t go well.”
“No, it did not,” she replied.
“Well, look at this way, he’s really an optimist,” Mason said.
All of them looked to Mason.
“He thinks we’re going to survive this,” Mason said as he spread his arms wide and smiled.
Chapter 30
Game Changer
“Oh my God,” Bradbury said over the comms.
Zombies covered the landscape ahead of them, almost blotting out the ground. They shambled, bobbed, and jostled together in tight little packs, making up the massive horde. The forest and fields below were completely filled with the undead.
“Stay cool,” Garver responded. “We’re a thousand feet above them.”
Jones peered out the right window of the helicopter and saw the bird Bradbury was piloting floating along in the air.
“Is he going to be okay?” Jones asked without hitting his comm button.
“He’ll be fine,” Garver said as he started the chopper in a gentle descent toward the leading edge of the horde.
“I’m betting that Berry is about to shit a brick over there,” Jones said.
Berry had the passenger seat next to Bradbury in the chopper. He was there to support the Martinez kid when they went on the offensive.
“We ready to start?” Garver asked Jones.
“They’re everywhere,” Bradbury said over the comms. “What am I supposed to target?”
Garver looked to Jones and nodded for him to take the lead.
“We want to look for any dense congregations of them,” Jones said. “If you see any one of these things that looks or acts different, spray that area with bullets. If one of those smart bastards is in that group, maybe they’ll get the idea that they shouldn’t fuck with us.”
“But they’re all packed to
gether,” Bradbury said.
“Son,” Garver said, “you’ll need to use your discretion, but if you blast away at a few hundred of them, that might send a message. In other words, there is no wrong place to take a chance.” He grabbed the stick and cut his bird to the left. “Let me take the first run, then you give it a try.”
Garver took them downward, picking up speed, and it seemed as if everyone in the chopper held their breath. Garver’s eyes focused on a thick group of the dead. They continued to dive, getting closer and closer to the ground until Jones thought he could see the dead eyes of the creatures covering the ground below.
Jones said, “Garver…”
Garver took that as his cue and let loose as he pressed the trigger on the twin guns on the front of the chopper. The helicopter shook from the concussions of the bullets being spit out at a dizzying rate.
The mass of the dead spanned across a large open meadow. The bullets ripped into them, tearing apart bones and muscle. Blood exploding out from their bodies as if someone had planted dynamite inside them as Garver held the trigger down. He brought the helicopter down to fifty feet off the deck before he ran out of ground and had to pull up to avoid running into the tree line at the end of the meadow.
“Oh yeah,” Garver said as he yanked back on the stick, pulling the chopper up with the skids nearly grazing the tops of the trees.
From the backseat, with a slight sense of awe, Clayton said, “That was impressive.”
“Sure,” Jones said, “but that was only a handful of what’s coming at us.”
Despite this simple truth, a sense of satisfaction radiated among the men inside the helicopter.
Garver took the chopper in a long looping arc to bring them back on a course to make another run at the horde covering the meadow. In the distance, they saw Bradbury hovering in the sky.
Jones asked, “Bradbury, why aren’t you attacking?”
Bradbury spoke via the comms, “I was waiting for the go ahead.”
Jones knew Bradbury was really waiting for Garver to make that first run.
“It’s safe, son,” Garver said. “Let me show you how it works.”
Garver pressed the helicopter forward and Jones could tell that he was primed for another run. The trees below passed by under the chopper in a blur as Garver picked up speed. Just as they passed the edge of the forest, Garver dipped them down and he opened up again, ripping into the zombies down below.
The Deadland Chronicles | Book 4 | Siege of the Dead: Page 14
