Riders of the Apocalypse (Book 3): Eat Asphalt

by Alex Westmore

  As Honey clip-clopped along, Roper and Dallas kept a watchful eye out for packs of wolves or feral dogs.

  “There’s the tracks,” Dallas said, pointing to the train tracks in the distance.

  Roper slowed Honey down and slid out of the saddle. Then she shielded her eyes from the sun and studied the glow coming from the warehouse district.

  “What is it?”

  “Look at that fire. That’s more than what you started.” Dallas smiled. “Must be our guys.”

  “Which is why I stopped.” Roper knelt to the ground and studied multiple tire tracks. “Fresh tire tracks. Looks like a mass exodus happened here, and if they weren’t trying to escape, they may have been going after Butcher and company. We need to be really careful.”

  Dallas held her rifle at the ready. “You know, I’m getting really sick of these people.”

  “Come on.” Hopping back on, Roper kicked Honey into gear, and in less than fifteen minutes they were at the long ago abandoned train station.

  “I’ll be damned,” Roper said, staring at an antique train sitting on the tracks. There were eleven cars— seven passenger, two flatbed, and the caboose—plus the engine that looked like something out of an old western movie. It was black with a steam chimney and could have just rolled off a Hollywood set. “That’s like the oldest train I’ve ever seen.”

  “Doesn’t even look like it would work.”

  “It must. It has passenger cars and —”

  That’s when they heard it: The pounding and coalescing moaning of the undead.

  “Oh shit,” Roper said, grabbing the reins. “They’re all over that train.”

  “Can only mean one thing.”

  Roper spurred Honey on until they were right behind the caboose. Hundreds of zombies were clawing at and pounding on the sides of the train.

  “Damn it. No sign of the Fuchs.”

  “No, but someone is in there.” Roper held her rifle with one hand and the reins with the other as she rode up one side of the antique train and down the other. On both sides of one particular car, the undead were the loudest. “See anyone in there?”

  Dallas shook her head. “No, but you know there’s someone in there. Let’s hope like hell it’s Sanchez and Hannah.”

  “We’ll check it out together. Leave Honey out here.” Roper slid off the saddle and helped Dallas down. The galloping had reopened her wound.

  “You use the machete,” Dallas said. “I’ll use the butt of my rifle. I’m in no condition to swing that yet.”

  As they approached the caboose, Roper cut down ten zombies before she and Dallas could get inside.

  “Be really careful in here, love,” Roper said softly. “There are far too many of these things for it to just be Sanchez and Hannah.”

  Dallas knelt down and touched blood on the floor. “Whoever it was has been injured.” Slowly rising, she looked out the other side of the train and saw a military Jeep had smashed into a concrete barrier.

  Roper followed her gaze and together, they exited the caboose on the other side and made their way to the Jeep separately, approaching from opposite sides.

  Raising her rifle, Dallas cautiously moved in. Someone was still in the driver’s seat behind the wheel.

  “Put your hands on the wheel,” She commanded from the back of the Jeep.

  Roper shook her head and lowered her weapon. “Not alive.”

  Dallas joined her at the driver’s side door. “And yet, not quite dead.”

  A zombie sat, still strapped in the seat.

  “Well, let’s see if they left us any goodies.” Dallas opened up the back and found a cache of weapons, including a crowbar. “Well, it’s not a machete, but it will do.”

  Roper kept looking from side-to-side.

  “What?”

  “Where do you suppose the others went? He didn’t just drive out here by himself.”

  They both looked at the train.

  “Shit. Come on.”

  Moving past the zombies near the back of the train, Dallas held the crowbar in one hand and her sidearm in the other. Her rifle, as it always was, was slung around her back.

  “Be careful, love. If they were chased in here, they are scared and trigger happy.”

  They made it through the first car when Dallas stopped. “It’s old but clean.”

  Roper nodded. “My guess is it doesn’t work. Was just here for show.” She pulled out her sidearm and lead with it.

  Continuing on through the second car, Dallas ignored the banging, clawing and moaning of the zombies, which were now on either side of the cars. The third and fourth cars yielded nothing as well.

  It was the fifth car where all hell broke loose.

  As soon as Dallas entered, she knew. With the Glock held straight out, she stepped into the car.

  “Move one more step and I’ll blow her brains out.”

  Dallas kept her weapon trained on the man with his arm wrapped around Hannah’s neck and his gun pointed at her head. A second gunman had his weapon pointed at Sanchez.

  “Toss your weapons down or we’ll blow their heads off.”

  Roper trained her weapon on the man who had his gun pointed at Sanchez. Sanchez stood erect and appeared unafraid.

  “You got her?” Dallas asked Roper.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  “We’re not fucking around!” The kid said. He looked all of twenty-one. “I’ll blow her brains out all over this train. I’m not bluffing!”

  Dallas leveled her gun at the kid with Hannah, making sure he was in her crosshairs. “Here’s the thing, John Boy. Ask yourself if you’re fast enough to shoot the girl and me before I blow your brains out the back of your head? Because that’s quite a feat. You’re going to have to be much, much faster than I am. So now you’re wondering if maybe you aren’t pointing your guns at the wrong people, but it’s too late for that now, isn’t it? Because the moment either of your barrels move, you’re both dead men.”

  “I’ll kill her,” he said, voice frantic, his gun trembling in his hand.

  “And then I’ll kill you, so what good will killing her do? Your only options right now are to try to shoot us and...well…we have our weapons pointing right at you...or lay your weapons down. I’ll give you a minute to—”

  The muzzle of the gun pointed at Hannah swung toward Dallas, who gently stroked the trigger of her Glock. It was so loud in the train, it sounded more like a bomb exploding than a sidearm.

  The bullet went in his left eye and out the back of his head before he could even get off a single round. His buddy instantly put his hands up in surrender.

  “Don’t shoot! Please!”

  “Good decision,” Roper said, motioning with her gun for him to stand up. Hannah ran to her mother and hugged her.

  “So, here’s how this is gonna play out for you,” Dallas said, leaning over and glaring at the kid. “You’re going to take your buddy there outside.”

  “What? No way. Those things are out there.”

  “Yes they are, and you should have thought about that before you put a gun to a little girl’s head.”

  “I…I can’t. Please don’t make me.”

  Roper pointed her rifle at his head.

  “Then you’ll die here.”

  “Wait. Wait. Wait!” He came out from behind Sanchez and Hannah, his hands still in a posture of surrender. “What if I do as you tell me?”

  “And you live through it?”

  “Yeah. What then? Will you kill me anyway?”

  “I might. What’s your name?”

  “Templeton.” Hi hands were shaking as he stood there, hands in the air.

  “Like the rat in Charlotte’s Web?”

  He nodded.

  Roper motioned for Sanchez and Hannah to come to her. “Are you guys alright?”

  “Yes. Yes, we’re fine.” Sanchez picked up his rifle and held it on him. For a moment, Dallas wondered if she was going to shoot him.

  “Okay, then Templeton, grab your buddy an
d dump him outside. Far enough away so he doesn’t stink it up. Give the eaters something for breakfast.”

  “I’ll never make it.”

  “You will if you’re really, really fast.” Dallas stepped closer to him. She could smell his fear. “Do you know who I am?”

  He blinked and nodded. “You’re the one who killed JB’s son.”

  “That’s right. Do you know how I killed him?”

  Templeton shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

  “Oh, now I’m a ma’am. Yesterday, I was a piece of meat, but today, I am a ma’am?” She leaned closer. “Well, son, let me tell you how I killed that rat bastard’s son. I bit off his dick before nearly decapitating him. So you need to know I’m not fucking around here. You manage to get out and back without getting bitten or eaten alive and we’ll talk.”

  Templeton nodded. “I could help you people. I’m a good shooter.”

  “We don’t need your help.”

  “Everyone needs help.”

  “Help we can trust is one thing. You’ve proven yourself to not only be untrustworthy, but a coward to boot.” Dallas shook her head. “Pointing a gun at a little girl. Pfft.”

  Templeton picked up his friend and threw him over his shoulder. “Are you gonna cover me?”

  “And waste the ammo? Hell no. You’re on your own.”

  Templeton nodded, sweat beading up on his lip as he struggled beneath the dead weight of his buddy.

  “I’ll slide the doors open, you get your pal over to that tree and back again, and we’ll consider letting you join us.”

  Sanchez started to protest, but Roper shook her head. “FYI. When Dallas leads, we follow. End of story.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Dallas opened the door and quickly shot three zombies before Templeton took off for the tree. Quickly closing the doors, Dallas watched him struggling with the weight of his friend as the zombies turned to follow.

  “Why did you make him do that, Dallas? We could have just dumped the body outside.”

  “See what he’s made of. If we’re going to let him stay, he needs to throw some logs on the fire.” She watched as the zombies staggered after him. “You know, have some skin in the game, otherwise he is nothing but dead weight.”

  “He’s pretty fast.”

  Sanchez joined them at the door. “Like he has a choice.”

  They watched him dump his friend on the ground and the man eaters climbed over each other to get to the corpse. Templeton pushed two out of his way as he made his way back to the railroad car.

  “Let me in!”

  Dallas looked over his shoulder. There were three man eaters about twenty feet away and closing in. “How does it feel?”

  “Let me in! Please!” Looking over his shoulder, he turned back and began pounding on the door. “Come on!”

  “What you’re feeling is that helplessness those women felt every time some dickweed came into their prison cell. How does it feel?”

  Templeton looked over his shoulder once more, panic drawing lines across his face. “I’m begging you!”

  “On one condition. You do absolutely everything I tell you without question...without hesitation. You pause, hesitate, or question me ever, and Roper here will put a bullet in your mouth.”

  “Yes! Yes! Please just let me in.”

  Dallas opened the door and he burst through it just as the three man eaters reached him. Roper took all three of them down with three whacks of her machete.

  “Use your belt to keep this door closed.”

  He pulled it out and secured the door. “Thank you. Thank you.”

  Dallas jammed her weapon under his chin. “You even look cross-eyed at any of us and I’ll fucking tie you to a tree and let those things eat you for lunch. Are we clear?”

  He nodded. “Yes. Yes. Thank you.”

  “Good. Okay, first thing we need to do is figure out how best to use this train.”

  “Use this? This thing is a relic. We’re trapped here.”

  “We’re never trapped. Temporarily inconvenienced, yes. Trapped, no.”

  Templeton gazed out at the zombies as they finished up with his friend. “Sure feels like we’re trapped.”

  Dallas patted his shoulder. “We’re not, and very soon, you’ll see what I mean.”

  Butcher stood on top of the Fuchs, binoculars to her face watching the warehouses burn and the people running for their lives like ants from an anteater. They had found the railroad tracks and were making their way west when a loud explosion caused her to stop and take a look.

  “I know we need to get to the train station, Butcher, but can’t we kill those bastards on their way out?” Einstein asked.

  Lowering her binoculars, Butcher shook her head. “Do you think that’s what Dallas would do?”

  “Not a week ago, but now?” He stared up at her. “It’s anyone’s guess.”

  She nodded once. “Got me there, but she’s not here, and I don’t believe she would risk getting caught again in order to exact revenge. She knows we’re out here. It’s time we found her, buddy. I know how badly you want to go after these guys, but we can’t. We need to regroup with our people and leave these rednecks to their own devices.”

  Einstein stuffed a revolver down the front of his pants, gangster style, before grabbing a rifle and a bat. “Then you’re going to have to go without me.”

  Butcher whirled around. “Hey, now. Just wait a minute here.”

  The blue eyes glaring at her were cold and bitter. “No, Butcher. Look, I’m not a kid anymore, and I know what I need to do. You guys don’t need me to find Dallas. You know where she is. She’s looking for Roper and if she found her they are on their way to the train station. I have something I have to do.”

  “That’s not how we do things, Einstein.”

  “No, Butcher. That’s not how we did things. But the rules have changed. I’ve changed. You can’t stop me.” He shrugged. “You can try, but it won’t end well for someone.”

  Butcher’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just…threaten me?”

  He shrugged. “I’m just being clear. I am not walking away from here without blood on my hands. End of story.”

  “It’s a fool’s mission, Einstein. It’s chaos down there. They’re all moving out. You’ll never find your target.”

  “Yes I will. I’m a kid genius, remember? They’ll move to a secondary warehouse location. They actually set up another secure location in the event the zombies overran them.”

  Butcher grit her teeth. “And you’re just telling me this now?”

  Einstein shrugged. “Because I don’t want him getting killed from afar, and I don’t want him to die anonymously in a burning building. I want him to look into my face when he dies. I want him to hear Cassie’s name as the last words before he cashes in.”

  “No, what you want is vengeance, and vengeance is a sword that cuts both ways.”

  Einstein started climbing down the outer ladder. “Save your platitudes, Butcher.” He stopped halfway down and said, “You guys always ask what Dallas would do. Well, answer me this. Wouldn’t she go after Roper’s killer?”

  Butcher opened her mouth, then closed it.

  “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

  “Einstein, there are eaters everywhere down there.”

  He jumped to the ground. “Yeah? What else is new? Frankly, they bore me.”

  Butcher stood there looking down at the angry young man who was now more man than boy. He would never be the same after watching Cassie and Churchill die. Never. She understood this now. “Fine. We’ll wait for you at the station.” As she watched Einstein walk away, she called out to him. “Kid?”

  He stopped and turned. “Yeah?”

  “Stay alive.”

  He smiled and saluted, “Roger that.”

  As Einstein disappeared down the hill, Zoe’s pink head popped up from the interior of the Fuchs. “Want me to go after him?”

  Butcher shook her head. “No. He can risk his ow
n life, but—”

  “I want to,” Zoe climbed all the way out. “He won’t last out there without a CGI. You know that. How could you just let him go?”

  “He would have gone regardless. His deep sorrow and intense anger have blinded him to the dangers. He is motivated by revenge, and that is never a good thing. Ever.”

  “Then he needs a seeing eye dog. I’m going after him.” Zoe grabbed her bow, quiver, and machete and climbed off the Beast. “I’ll keep him safe. We’ll meet you at the station.”

  As Zoe hustled away, Butcher called out to her. “Zoe?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you.”

  Zoe grinned. “It’s not easy being Dallas, is it?”

  Butcher shook her head. “I am a poor substitution, that’s for sure.”

  Zoe took two steps back toward the Fuchs. “No, Butcher. What you are is a really good friend. Don’t you forget that.”

  Sanchez examined Dallas’s wound. “It’s not healing very well because you keep busting it open. Let me see if I can find something to change your dressing out.”

  Templeton jumped to his feet. “I’ll go with her.

  Dallas raised an eyebrow. “You bored or just want another crack at a hostage?”

  Templeton looked down. “Ma’am, in the real world I was a toll taker. I spent my life doing nothing. Day in and day out, just standing around and watching life go by...watching my life go by. As messed up as it sounds, this plague was the best thing to happen to me. It woke me up. I aim on stayin’ awake for as long as I can is all.”

  Roper walked up and stared into his face. He looked away.

  She grabbed his chin. “Uh uh, look at me.”

  Templeton hesitated before turning his eyes back to her face.

  “I took a beating from your buddy, Clint, and lived to tell about it. If you aim on staying awake, don’t fuck with us. We’re just as likely to shoot you through the eye as to let you stay with us.”

  “Ma’am, I don’t mean no disrespect, but if Clint had wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. That dude’s a crazy motherfucker. Pardon my language.”

  Roper blinked. “And you, Templeton? What are you?”

  “Just a dude trying to stay alive. You ladies are the only game in town. If you’ll let me, I can be a valuable member of the team.”