by Rich Baker
“I want to go scout the area going into Longview. I want to start planning out the assault on the Puckett’s. And you two are coming with me.”
Jesse and Danielle look at each other, each one wondering what Max has in mind.
“I’m going too,” Addie says.
“Fine,” Max says. “Gear up. We roll in five.”
Jesse keeps his rifle with him at all times, but he takes Danielle to their armory – formerly the parts room in the repair shop – and gets her a vest and an AR15.
“The Puckett’s didn’t trust me with a gun,” she says. “The one I had when they caught me I had to steal from them.”
“Well, here everyone carries when we go out. Just keep the safety on until you’re going to shoot at something.”
He runs through the basics of operating the gun for her and loads a few extra magazines into her vest. He grabs his sniper rifle, a bolt action rifle chambered in .308, and extra magazines for his primary AR15. He tosses a backpack to Danielle for her to carry. It contains a couple of bivy sacks, high-calorie protein bars, bottles of water, and a first-aid kit.
“That should be enough for a day trip,” he says. “Let’s go. I’ve seen Max like this before. We shouldn’t make him wait.”
They arrive back at the big pickup about thirty seconds before Addie does. They load their gear and get in the cab, the four of them squeezing together. Paco and another man are at the front gate. They wave at the group as they open the gate, then close it behind them.
They drive on the long roadway that take them to the east-west running Highway 52.
“I’m going to County Line Road,” Max says. “We know from your assault on the sporting goods store that Highway 287 has bridges out, and I’m betting the other bridges in town aren’t doing any better. The scouts we sent into Boulder said that Boulder Creek is running really high, but it’s not taken out any bridges yet, so I’m hoping County Line will get us to the south end of Longview at least.”
“Sounds good,” Jesse says.
They ride in silence for a few minutes, and Max finally addresses the issue no one wants to bring up.
“You know he had to die, right? Little Nicky, I mean.”
“I’m not questioning you on that, Max,” Jesse says.
“He had a big mouth, you know? Eventually, he would have said something. Hell, even Blondie here knew about it and said it in front of Mani. Mani can keep a secret, but not forever. And if he knows I tolerated that behavior from Nicky, well, all bets are off. And I won’t have that happen to someone else’s sister.”
“I didn’t mean to cause problems,” Danielle says. “I was only telling you what happened, and what I heard. I didn’t mean for any of this to go down this way.”
“It’s okay; I’m not mad at you. It’s better I find out now rather than later. And now people are talking about it, and they won’t cross that line, or they know the consequences.”
“How’s Cris taking it?” Jesse asks.
“Cris. That momma’s boy is freaking out. Said I’m a murderer. I told him to call the cops. I thought for a minute he was going to hit me like he could win that fight. Instead, he told me to stay away from him and his family.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him I’ll do whatever I like, or he can go scrounge food for him and his kids himself. That shut him up.”
They crest the hill, descending toward County Line Road. Boulder Creek crosses Highway 52 just before the intersection with County Line on its journey northeast. The creek has gone over its banks, flooding the fields on either side of it and running across the road on the east side of the bridge, but the water doesn’t look impassible, and the bridge looks in good shape.
“Here goes nothing,” Max says, and he drives over the bridge. It holds, no signs of fatigue showing as they cross. As he approaches the intersection, the water rises to a depth of eighteen inches, but the huge truck has no problem navigating through it. Max turns left, and the road descends another couple of feet as they drive away from the intersection, but the elevated air intake and sealed engine components do their job, and the truck can keep moving through the three and a half foot-deep water. The current is stronger than Max expected, so he angles the truck into it while keeping his foot on the gas. Once, he feels the wheels lose contact with the road, and he feels a moment of, not quite panic, but close to it. The series of retention ponds on both sides of the road have merged, making the expanse of water a half mile wide, and he has a vision of them ending up in zombie infested waters in a sinking truck. Then the front tires find purchase and pull them forward, and in another moment they’re out of the deep water. They climb the hill, heading north. The farmland on both sides of the road is water logged, and the channels on the sides of the road are full of water rushing toward Boulder Creek, carving the drainage channels deeper by the minute, weakening the road. Then as they crest the hill, the water flows the opposite direction, toward North Creek. As they descend the hill, they can see that the road here is in far worse shape than it was on Highway 52.
The water level has dropped from its peak, evidenced by the twenty yards of washed out asphalt on this side of the flooded creek. Pieces of pavement at the edge of the washed out road jut up into the air as the front edge dangles over the channel the creek cut through the substrate. The water here is still over a half mile across.
“Jesus,” Addie says. “This is worse than I thought it would be.”
“This is definitely going to make it tough to get into town,” Jesse says. “Not impossible, but it complicates things.”
“Well, the great thing about Longview has always been its location relative to water. That’s why people chose this spot to make the town back in the 1800’s,” Max says. “but that also means the Puckett’s are cut off.” He points to the east of their location. “Boulder Creek joins this one east of town. So that bridge is going to be flooded now too if it hasn’t been washed out completely. North of town you have the Little Thompson, and the Big Thompson, both of them are bigger than these creeks to start with. And,” he points to the west, “It looks like it’s still raining in the mountains, so it’s going to be a while before the water levels go down much further.”
“If they can’t get out, it means we can’t get in,” Addie says.
“We’ll find a way,” Max says.
A glint of a reflection catches Jesse’s eye.
“Contact, on the overpass!” he says. He nudges Danielle, ushering her out of the truck. He takes his bolt-action rifle and gets in the bed of the truck. He flips the legs of the bipod down and settles his eye behind the thirty-six-power scope.
“I’ve got two men…no, make that three. One has his back to me. And three women. A blonde and two brunettes.”
“Is one of the brunettes wearing glasses?” Danielle asks.
“Yeah, she is. They’re all armed.”
“Let me see,” Max says. He takes the rifle and looks through the scope for a couple of seconds, then holds it out to Danielle. “Are these your people?”
She takes the rifle and peers through the scope. It takes her a few moments to get it settled on the people on the overpass.
“Shit!” Danielle calls out. “It sure is! The guys are Kyle and Marc, and the new guy and his woman, and the other two are Annie and Stephenie. She’s the blonde.”
“So, we know those new people you told us about stayed with them, that’s good info,” Addie says.
Jesse takes the rifle back and looks through the scope. The third man on the bridge turns around, and Jesse recognizes him.
“Max, that third guy? It’s D-Day Bowling.”
“You’re kidding me? Are you sure?”
“Yup. Look for yourself.”
Max takes the rifle and looks through the scope.
“Son of a bitch,” he says. He clicks the safety off and looks through the scope again.
“Max, what are you doing?” Jesse asks. “Max, that’s a long shot. It’s gotta be pushing a thousand yar
ds. You’ll never hit them.”
Max pulls the trigger, the shot sending a shockwave that scares Danielle. She jumps over the side of the truck and hides by the rear tire.
Max works the bolt, reloading the rifle, pauses, and fires again, then he hands the rifle to Jesse.
“Here, they fled like rats for cover. I’m gonna bait them…shoot off any heads that pop up.”
Max unzips his fly and starts urinating over the side of the truck while Jesse gets behind the rifle.
Jesse scans the area where the people were standing but doesn’t see anyone peeking over the railing. A second later, he catches a glimpse of someone with a spyglass looking over the top of the cement K-rails that divide the lanes of traffic, but he’s unable to get a shot off. He pulls the rifle down.
“They’re dug in, Max. We won’t get a clean shot. D-Day probably has them crawling out of sight back down the overpass by now.”
Max zips up his fly. “It was worth a try anyway,” he says.
Jesse hops down from the truck and helps Danielle get up. She’s got mud on half of her body, including in her blonde hair. He puts his arm around her.
“Sorry,” she says. “I wasn’t expecting it to be that loud. It shook my insides!”
“I take it you’ve never heard an unsuppressed rifle before?” he asks.
“I’ve never been next to one before. I’ve heard them from a distance. My ears are ringing.”
“Mine too. Well, now you know what to expect. And next time,” he turns his gaze to Max, “we’ll get a heads up before someone shoots.”
“I had the shot, and I took it,” Max says.
“Tom Cruise, Top Gun,” Danielle says.
The other three look at her with confused stares.
“And broke a major rule of engagement? Never mind, it’s a stupid game my ex and his friend used to play. I guess you had to be there.”
“I guess so,” Max says. “But you know what? This water recedes and soon enough, we WILL be there.”
Thirteen
Max hops out of the truck and tosses the keys to one of the minions to gas it up. He keeps all their vehicles topped off in case they need to evacuate.
Jesse goes to return the sniper rifle to the armory, while Addie takes Danielle to get something to eat. Mani approaches Max.
“So, what’s it like?” he asks.
“The flood is bad, Mani. County Line has washed away just south of Longview. We barely got through Boulder Creek. It’s rolling over County Line. All the fields are flooded. It’s water, water, everywhere, man.”
“So, no way into town is what I’m hearing.”
“No, not yet, but we’ll see when the water levels drop. It’s going to be a few weeks though, I think, before we’ll be able to cross over in force.”
“So, what do we do until then?”
“We train, Mani. We use what the gringa told us, we build a plan, and we train the shit out of our crew.
“The Puckett’s are dead; they just don’t know it yet.”
* * *
“What the fuck is with that broad?” Robert asks. “Can’t she just find someone else to bother and leave us alone? Jesus, she’s like a bad case of herpes.”
“She certainly does have a knack for hooking up with the absolute worst people,” D-Day says. “Max Montero is bad news. If he hadn’t been blown up in Iraq, he would have been dishonorably discharged eventually, maybe even court-martialed. Some of the guys in his unit were, in fact, after he shipped home. The other guy, Jesse Rios, seemed like a decent enough guy. I never knew him to get into some of the things Max and the rest did, and after Max had shipped out, he served well, to my knowledge. He’s not the type to take the lead, but he’s loyal, and if he’s following Max’s lead that could make things tough for us.”
“So, we’re back to leaving, right?” Natalie asks. “Even if we can’t get out of town we could go to the other side of town and hide until the flood stops, right?”
“We could, but we’d still be risking a fight with them if they find us,” D-Day says. “And if they do, we’ll be in an area we don’t know as well as this one.”
“Yeah, but they know exactly where we are. They know how to get in, they know everything,” Annie says. “You know that Danielle is going to tell them everything.”
“That could work to our advantage. They’ll know everything as it was when she left. They won’t know what we do now.”
A sly smile creeps across Kyle’s face.
“So, you’re saying we use her treachery against them, set up some traps, and even the odds a little,” he says.
“Yes. Even the odds a LOT.”
“What do you have in mind? Kyle asks.
“We need to recruit some help. Feel like going for a run?”
SIXTH CYCLE
Nuclear war has destroyed human civilization.
Captain Jake Phillips wakes into a dangerous new world, where he finds the remaining fragments of the population living in a series of strongholds, connected across the country. Uneasy alliances have maintained their safety, but things are about to change. — Discovery leads to danger. — Skye Reed, a tracker from the Omega stronghold, uncovers a threat that could spell the end for their fragile society. With friends and enemies revealing truths about the past, she will need to decide who to trust. — Sixth Cycle is a gritty post-apocalyptic story of survival and adventure.
Darren Wearmouth ~ Carl Sinclair
DEAD ISLAND: Operation Zulu
Ten years after the world was nearly brought to its knees by a zombie Armageddon, there is a race for the antidote! On a remote Caribbean island, surrounded by a horde of hungry living dead, a team of American and Australian commandos must rescue the Antidotes' scientist. Filled with zombies, guns, Russian bad guys, shady government types, serial killers and elevator muzak. Dead Island is an action packed blood soaked horror adventure.
Allen Gamboa
INVASION OF THE DEAD SERIES
This is the first book in a series of nine, about an ordinary bunch of friends, and their plight to survive an apocalypse in Australia. — Deep beneath defense headquarters in the Australian Capital Territory, the last ranking Army chief and a brilliant scientist struggle with answers to the collapse of the world, and the aftermath of an unprecedented virus. Is it a natural mutation, or does the infection contain — more sinister roots? — One hundred and fifty miles away, five friends returning from a month-long camping trip slowly discover that death has swept through the country. What greets them in a gradual revelation is an enemy beyond compare. — Armed with dwindling ammunition, the friends must overcome their disagreements, utilize their individual skills, and face unimaginable horrors as they battle to reach their hometown…
Owen Ballie
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Alone in a foreign land. The radio goes quiet while on convoy in Afghanistan, a lost patrol alone in the desert. With his unit and his home base destroyed, Staff Sergeant Brad Thompson suddenly finds himself isolated and in command of a small group of men trying to survive in the Afghan wasteland. Every turn leads to danger.
The local population has been afflicted with an illness that turns them into rabid animals. They pursue him and his men at every corner and stop. Struggling to hold his team together and unite survivors, he must fight and evade his way to safety. A fast paced zombie war story like no other.
W.J. Lundy
ZOMBIE RUSH
New to the Hot Springs PD Lisa Reynolds was not all that welcomed by her coworkers especially those who were passed over for the position. It didn’t matter, her thirty days probation ended on the same day of the Z-poc’s arrival. Overnight the world goes from bad to worse as thousands die in the initial onslaught. National Guard and regular military unit deployed the day before to the north leaves the city in mayhem. All directions lead to death until one unlikely candidate steps forward with a plan. A plan that became an avalanche raging down the mountain culminating in the salvation or destruction of t
hem all.
Joseph Hansen
THE ALPHA PLAGUE
Rhys is an average guy who works an average job in Summit City—a purpose built government complex on the outskirts of London. The Alpha Tower stands in the centre of the city. An enigma, nobody knows what happens behind its dark glass. Rhys is about to find out. At ground zero and with chaos spilling out into the street, Rhys has the slightest of head starts. If he can remain ahead of the pandemonium, then maybe he can get to his loved ones before the plague does. The Alpha Plague is a post-apocalyptic survival thriller.
Michael Robertson
ZED’S WORLD
BOOK ONE: THE GATHERING HORDE
The most ambitious terrorist plot ever undertaken is about to be put into motion, releasing an unstoppable force against humanity. Ordinary people – A group of students celebrating the end of the semester, suburban and rural families – are about to themselves in the center of something that threatens the survival of the human species. As they battle the dead – and the living – it’s going to take every bit of skill, knowledge and luck for them to survive in Zed’s World.
BOOK TWO: ROADS LESS TRAVELED
A terrible plague has been loosed upon the earth. In the course of one night, mankind teeters on the brink of extinction. Fighting through gathering hordes of undead, a group of friends brave military checkpoints, armed civilians, and forced allegiances in an attempt to reach loved ones. Thwarted at every turn, they press forward. But taking roads less traveled, could cost them everything.
Rich Baker
THE RECKONING
Australia has been invaded.
While the outnumbered Australian Defence Force fights on the ground, in the air and at sea, this quickly becomes a war involving ordinary people. Ben, an IT consultant has never fought a day in his life. Will he survive? Grant, a security guard at Sydney's International Airport, finds himself captured and living in the filth and squalor of one of the concentration camps dotted around Australia. Knowing death awaits him if he stays, he plans a daring escape. This is a dark day in Australia's history. This is terror, loneliness, starvation and adrenaline all mixed together in a sour cocktail. This is the day Australia fell.
