by Scott W Cook
Tara, Hector, Carl and Brenda looked first at Andrea, then at me. Andy only chuckled. Tony was the closest to the two of them and he only turned and gave the newbies a smile, “She can handle it.”
“The hell you’re not,” Andrea snapped, “You agreed to come on this mission under Sam’s terms. That means you observe proper fire discipline, the chain of command and basic common fucking sense… of which you seem to have none. You’ve already fucked things up. Hand over your weapon.”
Mark’s eyes went wide, “Get the fuck outta here. I ain’t giving—“
Her fist shot out and connected with his solar plexus hard enough so that we all heard the thump. Mark’s eyes bulged out and he doubled over, letting his rifle clatter to the asphalt. Stupidly, he made a clumsy lunge toward Andrea. She grabbed his right wrist, pivoted so that her back was toward him and threw the larger man over her shoulder where he landed flat on his back, trying to gasp for air.
She reached down, retrieved the rifle, safed it and stood over him, her feet apart and her jaw set, “You’re one dumb fucker.”
Andy, Tony and I whooped – softly, but still.
“Ay deos mio,” I heard Hector say appreciatively.
While it was pretty awesome watching my girlfriend kick Mark’s stupid ass, it did leave us with a problem. Tony seemed to read my mind as he turned to me, indicated Mark’s air gulping prone form and said, “What do we do about him?”
“As far as I’m concerned,” I said, “I don’t want him on this mission. But we can’t just leave him. I don’t trust him. We’ll have to take him with us. No weapon, though.”
“What if we get into a horde or something?” Brenda asked.
I turned and shrugged, “You mean when we get into a horde. Fuck stick over there has pretty much guaranteed it. Besides, we’ve still got eight shooters. Either that or one of you volunteer to take him back across the bay. I don’t trust him and I don’t want him holding a weapon. I wouldn’t put it past him to shoot one of us in the back.”
Andrea snorted.
“He wouldn’t do that,” Carl offered lamely.
“Carl,” I said with a sigh, “He’s been a prick ever since we met. He’s shown no indication that he respects anyone else that he has any discipline and he’s got a shitty attitude. We’re in a life and death situation here. I want people around me I can count on. People that want to pitch in and help out. People who can follow basic orders and combat doctrine. What I don’t need is some hot head who’s at best a distraction and at worst liable to get us all killed.”
“Speaking of getting us all killed,” Andy said, “We’ve got company coming.”
He pointed into Tampa and we all turned to look. There were hundreds of them. They flowed among and around the stalled vehicles on Gandy Boulevard like a living tidal wave. Slowly but inexorably closing the distance between us.
“Fuck!” Brenda said, “Where the hell did they all come from?”
I sighed, “The city, of course. Densely populated urban areas, like Tampa, Saint Pete, Orlando or New York or wherever are packed with people so it follows they’d be packed with G’s. That’s why you don’t discharge a high powered weapon irresponsibly. Stealth is our greatest weapon and Mark has robbed us of it.”
“What do you want to do, Skip?” Tony asked.
“Shit…” I grumbled, “I’d rather not waste so much ammo right now. We haven’t even moved from our landing yet…”
Andy had climbed up onto a big RV for a better vantage point. He did a three hundred and sixty-degree scan and called out, “Sir, they’re on the bridge too. Not as many, but coming across from our side.”
“Good eye, Lieutenant,” I replied, “What can you see of the main horde?”
“Looks like at least a couple of hundred,” Andy reported, “A single group, though, not many stragglers behind. At least none I can see now. Guess that jackass really did ring the dinner bell.”
“Dammit,” I whispered harshly, then louder, “Okay, Lieutenant, you stay there and start picking the ones coming east off with your Marlin. Tony, Andrea, find a couple of vehicles to get up on and flank me. We’ll start taking them out.”
“What about us?” Carl asked.
“We’ve got sub-sonic silent rounds,” I said, “I was hoping to save them for a better… or worse… situation, but this will have to do. We’ll take these stinky fucks out silently so as not to draw more. If things get hairy, you guys can join in. Not until I give the word, though. And one more thing… watch that dumb shit and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
Tony and Andrea found a couple of big pickup trucks to stand in. They got into the beds and used the cab roofs to steady their aim. I got up into a jacked up Jeep with its top down and used the frame to do the same.
The horde was only about two hundred yards off by now. Fortunately, the density of the vehicles in the road were keeping them from coming on in a body. They stumbled along, bouncing off cars and off each other in what would be a funny scene if not for the fact that these beings were hell bent on devouring us all.
I could hear the muffled puff of Andy’s rifle from a few yards back and then Tony’s join in. This meant that Andrea was waiting to use her own .22 until the gobble got into effective range.
I sighted in with my AK and put a round in a particularly nasty looking zombie.
The… thing… I couldn’t tell it’s gender, wore the tattered remains of jeans and a T-shirt. Most of its scalp had been torn away leaving only a few wispy strands of hair on one side. Both eyes were missing and through the scope all I could see were two black dead sockets… and yet I couldn’t help but feel that they could see. I got the very unpleasant sensation that those two black voids were focused right in on me.
I knew it was impossible but the tingling up my spine wasn’t making the rationalization any easier. I put a bullet into one of those diseased eye holes and the zombie toppled over, following the path of its blown out occipital lobe.
There were a lot of them, but it was a pretty easy fight. Fish in a barrel. After only a few minutes, we’d reduced the horde to less than half of their original number.
Of course, they’d reduced the distance between us to less than half as well. Close enough that Andrea could start firing with a reasonable expectation of her rounds entering the brain.
“How you doing back there, L T?” I called to Andy.
“A-Okay, Skipper,” Andy called back, “This group behind us is only a small munch.”
That got a laugh from Tony and Andrea.
Another minute or so and the ghouls had halved the distance again, but their numbers were diminishing quickly. That’s when I heard Andy swear.
“What are you doing, you stupid son of a bitch!” I heard him call out urgently.
“What’s up, L T?” I asked.
“Mark!” Andy exclaimed, “He’s on a bike and headed back across the bridge!”
I turned around and saw him. He’d gotten to his feet and grabbed a bike before Carl, Hector or Brenda had been able to stop him. So much for watching the guy. I bit back a harsh recrimination about how three of them couldn’t even keep an eye on one dumb fuck. Tara was up on the RV with Andy feeding him magazines and reloading for him.
Mark, the stupid shit, was pedaling nowhere but right toward the small number of remaining zombies to our rear. He had a pretty clear lane, though, as his bike was narrow enough to ride between the cars and the guard rail of the bridge.
Andy was still firing into the munch of Z’s, trying to keep them from changing course toward Mark. He wouldn’t be able to do it long, though. As the idiot approached the few dozen remaining ghouls… I guess a small munch now… maybe a chomp… yeah, a chomp is a small munch… they took notice and were trying to get to him.
“You guys got this?” I asked Tony and Andrea.
“Why?” Andrea asked.
I handed my weapon to Carl along with a couple of extra magazines, “One shot, one kill, Carl.”
&nbs
p; I jumped on one of the bikes and began to pedal after Mark.
“Sharky what the fuck!” I heard Andrea call back angrily.
Then I heard, “Andy, what the fuck!”
It was Tara and she’d said this last in so close an imitation of Andrea that I had to laugh before I realized why.
Andy had climbed down a ladder and was running straight toward the group of zombies.
“Lieutenant!” I shouted, “What in the hell—“
“They’ve got him, sir!” Andy barked as he ran.
The kid had actually gotten ahead of me and by the time I was even with him, I could see what was happening. The two dozen or so zombies had completely lost interest in us and had surrounded Mark. They’d been able to do this because as the man had rode past a vehicle with an open window, a gray, rotting pair of hands had shot out and grabbed his light jacket. He’d lost his bike and was frantically trying to pull away from the car.
I could see the zombie, hanging part way out of the window, it’s horrid broken teeth gnashing as it desperately tried to pull its snared meal into its hideous jaws.
Mark was holding his own, but the delay had given the other ghouls a chance to get close. Andy was firing his Glock furiously, and doing a pretty damned good job of it too.
“Can you hit the one who’s got him?” I asked.
Andy stopped and steadied his aim. Mark and his new pal were only twenty yards away and Andy took a breath, aimed, fired and exhaled. I saw the rotten thing’s head jerk sideways and hit the car’s window frame with an audible crack.
“Nice shot!” I said, still moving forward, “Mark, fucking run you dumb ass!”
He tried to pick up his bike but it had wedged itself partially under the car’s back bumper. I couldn’t believe this guy. There were at least two ghouls almost within reaching distance of him.
“Fucking here!” I growled. I hopped off my bike and pushed it to him. At the same time, I drew my gladius from its back scabbard, shouldered Mark aside and buried the point into the face of a G that was reaching for him.
He stared at me wide-eyed and his mouth dropped open. I side stepped and gave him a back kick in the ass, “Get back to the group, for fuck’s sake!”
He didn’t have to be told twice. He got on my bike and pedaled off. I quickly brought my short sword down on the crown of another zombie’s head and began back pedaling toward the group as well. Andy was beside me now, methodically pumping .22 rounds into the remaining skulls. He looked at me with what was clearly a what the fuck? Expression on his face.
I grinned and shook my head. He killed most of the rest of them and I took out another two with my melee weapon.
It was suddenly silent.
“Why’d you come after that piece of shit?” Andy asked me as we turned back to our landing area.
“Why did you?” I returned, “Pretty ballsy and not too smart, Andy.”
He shrugged, “Seemed like the thing to do. Although that asshole doesn’t deserve it.”
I nodded, “I know. Damned brave, Lieutenant, but not too bright. On either of our parts. Your mom is gonna be pissed… and so is your new girlfriend.”
Andy looked at me askance.
“Dude,” I said, “She likes you… but she’s gonna rip you a new one. We’ve got to be more careful about this shit. No heroics unless it’s really important. That crap only works in the movies.”
Andy nodded, “Yeah… sorry, Captain. I guess I just acted without thinking.”
I patted him on the shoulder as we rejoined our friends.
“The horde is down, Skip,” Tony said.
“What the fuck was that shit, you two?” Andrea asked hotly. Tara stood next to her with a strange expression on her face. I’d swear it was a mixture of fright, irritation and arousal. The kind of proud girlfriend look that could get Andy a chewing out and some pretty energetic sex afterwards.
I shrugged, “A rescue.”
“Why?” Tara asked in annoyance, “He’s an asshole. If we had any doubt before, he proved it now.”
She directed her gaze at Mark who stood by the rest of his group looking pale and sullen. There was no mixed emotion on her face now. She was furious. Good – let her take it out on the real cause not on the hero.
“You’re right, ladies,” I said, “It was ill considered and I’ve already told Andy so.”
Andrea frowned at me, then at Andy and then a little smile crossed her face, “My two brave soldiers… just don’t do it again, okay? Not for his stupid ass.”
Andrea too directed a withering gaze at Mark. If looks could kill he’d be a bullet ridden corpse by now.
I turned my own ire on the rest of the Fish Tails group, “I asked you three to watch him. What the hell?”
They all three grimaced. Brenda said, “He got to his feet and was just standing there. I guess we were distracted by the fight and he snatched a bike and took off. Sorry, Captain.”
I sighed, “Okay, we’re all alive, that’s what’s important. However, this does leave us with an immediate problem.”
They looked at me questioningly.
“What to do with him,” I said, nodding toward Mark, “He’s a problem and a liability and I want him gone.”
Mark looked like he was going to protest. I shook my head at him, “You’ve been a prick since we met. Andrea had to take you down and then you took off on us. Clearly you don’t want to be here, clearly you aren’t a team player, clearly you’ve already turned this mission into a goat fuck and clearly it’s time for you to be on your way. Any suggestions?”
“We’ll watch him better…” Brenda said lamely.
“Not on my team,” I said.
“Hey man—“Mark began.
“You shut your fucking hole!” Tony thundered. A bit too loud but effective, “You had your chance and you blew it.”
I nodded, “The X O is right. Who wants to drive him back to Saint Pete?
“Seriously?” Carl asked, “You’re sending him away?”
“He wants to go!” Andy said indignantly.
“L T is right,” I said, “So who’s driving him back? I don’t like it any more than you do. But I won’t have him jeopardizing this mission anymore. It may already be compromised.”
“I’ll go, meng,” Hector said.
“And so will I,” Andy said sternly, “Just to make sure there’s no bullshit and that we get our boat back.”
“Yeah,” Tara said, “And I’ll come.”
I didn’t like splitting us up like this. But I knew what Andy was thinking and I admired him for it. It would also get the young people out of immediate danger.
“Concur,” I said, “Just drive him back to Fish Tails and come back. We’ll scout around and wait. Shouldn’t take you more than an hour at most.”
Andrea considered her son for a long moment, “And for Christ’s sake, be careful, kid.”
“Aye, aye, mom” Andy said with a grin.
I helped them untie the last boat in the line and set the stern anchor to the second. As the four of them motored away, I couldn’t help shake the feeling that I shouldn’t have let them go. Just another part of our brave new world, I guess.
Chapter 10
Zombie War Journal – 12/3/2019 (continued)
By Lieutenant Andy Summers
This was turning out to be the weirdest day of my life.
I mean, we get up, have coffee, have to go help a group of people fight off a horde of dead heads, I get sworn into the navy as a lieutenant, I meet a hot girl who likes me, we get into another zombie battle and now I have to babysit this prick Mark while the rest of my team waits for us.
And it’s like two in the afternoon… what else is gonna happen?
So here I am, driving one of the deck boats back over to Saint Pete to drop Mark off. Hector said he’d go with him but I don’t know… this guy worries me and I didn’t want Hector to be alone with him. Then Tara volunteers to go with me, too. I’m glad to have the company, especially hers.
>
Hector and Mark sat in the two swivel chairs on the bow. Neither one said much, but every now and then they’d talk a little. I was glad Hector was keeping him busy.
“Hey,” Tara said, standing very close to me at the wheel, “you’re quiet.”
I shrugged, “just thinking.”
She paused, “So why’d you run after Mark? That was kind of dumb, Andy. Were you trying to be a hero or some shit?”
I shrugged again and smiled at her. She really was beautiful, “It seemed like the right thing to do. I didn’t think about it, just acted…”
“You weren’t scared?” She asked. She sounded skeptical but there was something in her eyes. I don’t know what, but it didn’t seem like anger.
“No…” I said, “I mean, at the moment, I guess I was more worried about him. Yeah, I can’t deny that these things freak me out… but sometimes you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do. I guess it was dumb, though.”
“Yeah, but it was brave,” She said, sliding an arm around my waist, “And maybe you are a hero. A sexy one, too.”
I looked at her in surprise and she kissed me. It was even more intense than the first time. Her tongue darted into my mouth and she pulled my tongue into hers. Her lips were full and her mouth hot.
It certainly wasn’t the first time I’d kissed a girl but… I don’t know, this was different. She seemed turned on by all of this.
I caught Mark looking at us and stared at him. He only scoffed and turned forward again.
“You’re a good kisser,” Tara breathed up into my ear, “I haven’t had a good kisser in a long time. Wonder what else you’re good at?”
I let my left hand slide from around her slim waist and I gently squeezed one of her amazing cheeks, and not the ones on her face, either. She closed her eyes and gave a little moan of pleasure.
I’d kind of done it without thinking, but when I did I was surprised at myself. Kind of a bold thing to do, I guess. But damn she had a nice ass…
“Where should we drop him?” Tara asked, pointing to Mark.
