The Swamp

by Yates, R

  “Hey mike, know anything about guns?” Sam asked, breaking the heavy silence.

  “Oh just a little, 8 years with the marines as a scout sniper, 2 tours in Iraq before I was stop-lossed and sent to Afghanistan. I got out and had a gun store in Ocala before some bastards looted it. So yeah, I know a little...”

  “I think I love you.” Paul quipped and they sat down to making plans.

  By the time they turned in, they had a plan. Paul would take one of the dairy trucks they had seen in the lot and cause a distraction while Sam snuck into the compound and, covered by Mike in the trees with the 30.06, and try to get close enough to take out the guard at the barn and free the prisoners, Then they would beat feet back to the RV and get the hell out of dodge. They decided three in the morning would be the best because the prisoners would still be locked up, but they would have the daylight by the time they made it back to the RV.

  That night, Sam had elected to sleep on the roof of the RV and let the others have the comfort of the beds; he drifted off as he stared up at the stars.

  He was in a field of potatoes, the scarecrows of men working around him. He looked around and finally spotted Mark a dozen yards away. He called out to him, and Mark turned to look at him. Sam found himself staring into glazed eyes that seemed to look through him. Mark moaned and lurched forward, crossing the distance with alarming speed. Before Sam tried to step back and tripped over a furrow of dirt. He hit the ground hard.

  The corpse of his brother fell to its knees beside him as the others limped forward. He felt a searing pain as his brothers claws dug into his stomach and drew his organs out and into his mouth.

  He was trying to scream as the others knelt beside him and began to feast, but nothing would come out.

  He jerked awake, and found himself alone and staring at the brightening morning sky. He wished he had brought the vodka with him.

  Chapter 9

  The day passed in preparation. Mike napped, obviously much better prepared for this kind of thing mentally. Paul and Sam spent the day in nervous energy packing and repacking their kits, cleaning and oiling their weapons and hours of fidgeting. Sam was relieved when dark arrived and the appointed hour came for he and Mike to leave, they wished Paul good bye and set off.

  It took them a little longer to pick their way through the woods. The dark greatly hindered the way and they had decided to not use the flashlights they had brought. They arrived a little after one. The moon provided some light, so they were able to make out the lay of the land. The barn was guarded as expected, the lone sentry making his slow circle looking bored as hell. They could make out one soldier drawing abreast to them between the fences. He was smoking a cigarette and staring at his feet as he walked.

  “That’s one thing you can say about the end of the world,” whispered Mike, “It sure helped me quit smoking quickly, and the damn cigarettes were looted faster than the damn food.” Sam started to chuckle, but felt bad when he say the longing look on Mikes face.

  It took almost twenty minutes before the other guard was seen and passed by, this one also smoking. Mike groaned softly.

  “That’s your cue Sam.” Mike finally said.

  “Yay” Sam replied and after a heavy sigh started to crawl forward. He crossed the distance to the fence quicker than he thought, and had to hide behind a downed log while the sentry passed. When the man was 50 yards away, Sam crossed the remaining distance to the outer fence. They had decided to use sticks to prop the razor wire up and then take them out after Sam had scooted under. They didn’t want it to be obvious that anyone had gotten through. They had also chosen this spot because the chain link looked loose, and they hoped the same trick would work there.

  It didn’t. No matter how hard he pulled he couldn’t get the fence high enough to get under. He knew time was running out before the next patrol happened by, so with a muttered “fuck” he pulled the wire cutters out of his pocket and went to work. The wire made a sharp click as he cut, but he didn’t think it would travel far enough to be heard. He only had to cut a few before he was able to use the stick trick to get through. He hoped the cut wouldn’t be noticed.

  He made his way quickly into the potato patch that bordered the fence and lay amongst the rows. Anyone looking would be able to see his prone form, but he hoped the guards would be paying more attention to the outside of the perimeter.

  Luck was with him and the man passed without incident. Checking his watch he saw it was already passed two in the morning, he had to get a move on or he wouldn’t be in position when the semi arrived. He decided to risk a crouching run.

  He worked his way to the edge of the fields and waited for the barn guard to work his way by, and rushed in and hid between the walls of the barn by the silo. Now all there was to wait for the sounds of an engine. They had discussed the need to not make a move on the barn until they were sure Paul was going to make it on time. His wait seemed like hours. The soldier passed several times. Sam’s legs began to cramp from the awkward position he had to maintain to stay hidden.

  He pressed an ear to the still warm metal of the barn. He could hear a hushed conversation, oddly enough about football, and a few people snoring punctuated by the occasional cough.

  From his dark place, he could see to the left and the right in narrow slits. He saw the guard approach again, but this time he changed his course and headed towards the silo. Sam’s heart accelerated and he began to worry that the guard would be able to hear it. The guard walked to the side of the silo, and unzipped. The sound of urine streaming against the metal walls of the silo made a weird droning sound. The man finished and went back to his rounds. Sam slowly let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  It occurred to him he hadn’t even bothered to draw his pistol from his holster, if that guard had seen him it would have been all over. He would have been dead before he could draw and fire, perforated by the guard’s rifle. Sam carefully drew the Taurus and cursed his carelessness.

  About the time the guard passed the twelfth time, he froze and looked over his shoulder as if listening to something. Sam stranded his ears and could hear it too. The sound wasn’t what he expected, instead of the thrum of a diesel engine, he heard music. He could almost swear he heard the tune of “Do your ears hang low”. Its melodic tune reminded him of chasing the ice cream truck when he was young.

  The guard’s belt squawked, and an excited voice said something Sam couldn’t make out. This had to be Paul’s distraction; He leveled the pistol at the man and fired three times. The man fell to the ground, and all hell broke loose.

  The massive area lights flared and he could hear voices yelling.

  Sam leapt to his feet and rushed over to the downed soldier. The man was dead, but to be sure, Sam fired a shot into the bottom of his chin, they didn’t want anyone coming back unexpectedly. That done, Sam began to rifle the man’s pockets and was eventually rewarded with a keychain.

  The Ice cream truck sound was closer, and he could hear the engine revving up. From the tree line he heard a boom as the 30.06 fired and knew a perimeter guard was down. The rifle boomed again and again but Sam couldn’t tell what he was firing at. At the front of the farm, the music rang loud through the night. At the sound of a huge crash and the music stopped, but was replaced with gun fire, lots of it. He heard an engine accelerating and another crash rang through the night followed by the vehicle speeding away. Its engine was knocking badly, and he could hear a grinding noise, but it sped off into the night. Sam caught a glimpse of it as it made off, it really was an ice cream truck, and He could just make out the yellow and blue polka dot paint job.

  Sam fumbled at the lock on the barn, he could hear shouts from inside, and someone was banging a fist against the door. He finally got it open and it swung out revealing a startled looking group standing with in.

  “MARK!” was all he could think to yell. The stunned crowd stared at him, but one figure pushed to the front. His brother stood there, looking beat down and
haggard, but alive. They came together in a hug.

  To the front of the property, the automatic gunfire started again and drew their embrace short. Sam didn’t have time to wonder what they were shooting at since Paul had left. He had to get these people out of here.

  “Mark is everyone here okay and can everyone walk?”

  His brother’s voice was weaker than he ever remembered as he responded, “Not well, we have had it rough here.”

  “I know I am sorry I didn’t come looking sooner.” Sam said as he hung his head. “Get these people and take them that way. Look for the lights.” He raised his hand and indicated the direction Mike was waiting. Mike was to wave two flash lights to signal the way out of here. “Take these.” He added as he thrust the wire cutters into his brother’s hands.

  The survivors of the farm started out and across the field painfully slowly. He glanced towards the trees and saw the light waving in the woods. He followed behind the group, gun ready. He had made a resolution to be the last one to step foot across the fence.

  They made it half way across the field when the light dropped and a few seconds later was replaced by a muzzle flash, and then another, and another. Sam whirled to see what the target was. They had finally gotten far enough away from the barn to be able to see the front of the compound. The farmhouse was surrounded by the dead, as muzzle flashes could be seen coming out of the windows.

  A few of the dead had noticed the group moving across the field and had abandoned the farmhouse assault in favor of following them. Mike’s gun fired again and a bloody naked woman went down. He could see several on the ground already and only a few still coming. He raised his pistol and fired most of the clip before his target went down. By the time he was done with that, Paul had finished off the other three; it had taken him three shots.

  By this time the prisoners were already through the first fence and he could see Mark’s tall form working on the razor wire, in a few seconds they would be through, When Sam reached the fence, he was indeed the last one. He looked back towards the farmhouse and a fire in an upstairs window caught his eyes.

  No more of the dead were heading this way. So he went through the fence. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the dark shape of the first guard mike had shot and rushed over and rummaged in his pockets until he found what he was looking. He rushed after the survivors to catch up. The taste of freedom helped the refugees pick up their pace, and they made it to the woods in just a few minutes.

  At the farm house, they heard another engine fire up and turned to see the deuce and a half rumble away. At least one of the soldiers had managed to escape.

  Mike and Sam herded the people deeper into the woods. The way back to the RV was much easier, they used the flashlights and they could already see the sky starting to lighten in the east. The group required several breaks along the way. Mike passed out a duffel bag of water bottles they had brought and some miniature snickers they had scavenged before setting off from the tower. It amazed Sam how fast such simple things raised the spirits of down trodden people.

  The sun was up by the time they made the dairy plant, but Paul hadn’t made it back yet. The party collapsed around the big vehicle, the adrenalin finally failing them. Food was passed out with the urging to take it easy. Mike suggested they let them rest for a while, and volunteered to take the first watch. Sam started to argue, but Mike cut him off.

  “You have something more important to do...” he pointed over Sam’s shoulder. Mark stood there. Sam turned to him and they stared at each other for a minute.

  “About mom…” Mark started but Sam interrupted.

  “Mark, Moms fine, she made it out, they lied to you. She is at the tower.”

  Sam enjoyed the play of emotions, his brothers face went from sad, to confused, to disbelief, and finally to joy. They again embraced, and this time held it.

  When they eventually separated, Mark asked, “Have we heard from anyone else, Dad, Annie or the kids, Liz or Rene?”

  Sam could just shake his head. “No, until Mom showed up, I was beginning to think I was the last one.” Sam filled Mark in on what he knew, which wasn’t much.

  “But you are sure mom is okay?” Mark finally said.

  “I am positive, she is stronger than ever, and you know that is saying something. She showed up out in the swamp and found me half eaten by a hog. She saved my life and had we not found Paul and his brother, and his brother not been shot, she would be here now. She had to stay home and take care of him, of which I am very thankful. I didn’t want her coming back out here.” Sam said.

  Mark sat in silence for a few moments. “Me too, I don’t ever want to go back there again.” He paused as if something had finally dawned on him, “Eaten by a hog?”

  Sam laughed and rolled up his sleeve to show the pale and healing skin beneath. “I had a craving for bacon, and went hunting. I ended up in the brush with a big black bastard that seemed a little angry. He got me pretty good here on the arm, and gave me a nasty cut on my leg.”

  Mark tried to hold a straight face, but eventually cracked a smile “I bet you wimped out after that and didn’t even get your bacon.” They had been typical brothers, always harassing the other in that endless brotherly competition. It made Sam feel better. It meant Mark was feeling better

  “Nah, he seemed pretty attached to it, your girlfriends have always been selfish.”

  The laughed together at that one and talked like it was old times.

  By noon Sam stood watch from the top of the RV while Mike moved around the group, giving what medical care he could. The people they had rescued seemed to be doing well all things considered. He was surprised. He knew he wouldn’t have been doing as well as these people had he been through the same thing.

  Mike climbed to the roof and sat with him.

  “How are they doing?” Sam asked of the people below.

  “Not bad actually, there are a lot of sunburns and bruises, plus a few cuts. Nothing seems to be life threatening. The problem is a lot of these people have scars that won’t show.” He indicated a cute girl in her early twenties, “We have to watch that one, she was raped over and over again, everyone knows it even if she doesn’t say anything about it, and that will make her feel bad. Her name is Laurie, and she really is a sweet girl.”

  “What happened to the other girl, weren’t there two young ones?” Sam asked.

  “We were just a little too late for her, apparently she killed herself the night before we arrived, snatched a gun from one of those soldiers and shot herself, that’s why I am worried about Laurie.” Mike shook his head.

  “I just can’t imagine. I hope those guys rot in hell. I saw at least one get away. I saw the truck leaving as we did.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Said Mike, “We can’t worry about that now, I bet he hauled ass anyway. He is probably still going.”

  “I hope you are right, but part of me wished I could find him.” Sam confessed

  “Me first,” replied Mike.

  That sat quietly for a few minutes, watching the people mill around below them.

  Then Sam decided to raise the big question. “How long are we going to give Paul?”

  “I don’t know, we can’t stay here, our food won’t hold out much longer, they have already eaten most of it. But wasn’t it pretty how he did his little trick. Best damn distraction I have ever seen.” Mike slapped his knee and laughed.

  Sam thought back to his confusion over the events at the farm. “What happened back there? All I know is a saw an ice cream truck and then there were zombies everywhere.”

  “That’s right, you couldn’t see that,” Mike laughed again, “Right at the appointed time, Paul showed up in that damn truck, music blaring, and while the soldiers stood there with their mouths hanging open, Sam busted through the fence, drove through the yard and busted back out and took off. I’m guessing he went into town, because two minutes behind him came about a thousand dead people, as soon as they saw all those soldiers, dinner w
as on. The soldiers looked at the approaching dead, then looked at the holes in the fence and ran back into the house but that was all she wrote!”

  Sam pictured it and laughed. That was far better than anything they had planned, Paul must have had a brainstorm after they left. They talked about it for the next hour, before deciding they couldn’t wait any longer. They started to get everyone inside the Fleetwood to get going. Before the RV had seemed huge, but once you got all 14 survivors and the two of them in, it had shrunk considerably.

  They started out, but hadn’t made it a mile before they came across a lone figure in the road. Paul stood there with a thumb out and a big smile to greet them. They wedged him inside. Now Sam could consider the rescue a success.

  Paul’s poor truck had given up its ghost shortly after he drove off from the farm and left him stranded. It had taken him a while to work his way back to the dairy while avoiding the remaining undead. The feeling of elation lasted less than ten miles.

  Underneath the Fleetwood a loud series bangs was heard that reverberated through the entire cab. The big RV started to rumble and lurched slightly to one side. Sam was forced to lean into the steering wheel to maintain control as he braked. People in the back screamed at the sudden noise, still frazzled from their recent situations. After a few short seconds that felt like an eternity, they had pulled to the side of the road.

  Mike was already to his feet and headed towards the door. “Everyone stay calm, everything will be ok.” The door slammed behind before Sam made it half way. By the time he made it outside, he could already hear a long tirade of four letter words in Mike’s voice.

  “All Flat, every damn one of them,” Mike exclaimed as he examined the wheels on the passenger side, “they are full of holes.” To further show his anger he kicked the front tire.

  “What the hell? How? I know I didn’t hit anything.” Sam said defensively.

  Mike had crouched for a closer look, he seemed to concentrate on something, “the tires are full of screws and little strips of medal, and I don’t see how…” then suddenly rose to his feet with a gun in his hands as he scanned the trees. “Caltrops.” He muttered under his breath and then “Get back inside and get us moving, run it on the rims, but we have to get out of here.”