by Dennis Elder
“Yea, what’s that?” responded Gracie, with some suspicion.
“You and I are going to create a diversion,” responded Silvia.
Chapter 40: Save girls, kill boys
Twenty minutes later Silvia and four other individuals suddenly burst out of the side garage on five bicycles. They rode west like their hair was on fire. No one tried to stop them. Each rider wore a small school backpack filled with water and dry food. Silvia rode out first with her hair flying in the wind. She still moved pretty good for a 38 year old. The other four followed right behind her, wearing hoodies and sunglasses. They had big jackets on too, which made them look bigger than they really were.
Oscar was down the side street. He caught a quick glimpse of the riders has they sprinted across the side street to his left.
“Well, that was easier than I thought,” said Oscar. “No useless sentimentality in that group.”
Oscar scanned Silva’s home one more time with his binoculars. Nothing moved. The curtains on the front of the corner house remained motionless. Oscar thought he’d have to attack the home and kill the boys. “Guess we won’t need everyone for this after all,” thought Oscar to himself.
One of the HBs standing right behind Oscar sensed Oscar’s renewed interest and asked, “Now?”
“Not just yet,” responded Oscar. “We’ll only need a few…”
But Oscar’s instruction was cut short when five running figures suddenly darted across the same side street, following the earlier bike riders. The runners carried baseball bats in their hands. Oscar didn’t understand what happened immediately. Then he realized he’d been tricked. “The girls must have been on the bikes!” he thought.
“Mutt and Jeff,” commanded Oscar, as he pointed at the last person running past their point of view. The two HBs saw the runner, their interest instantly piqued.
“Attack,” continued Oscar. “Save girls, kill boys.”
Mutt and Jeff turned back to the other fifty HBs. They didn’t have to speak. Oscar didn’t know how they communicated, but somehow the two trained leaders were able to immediately direct the others to follow them. They streamed past Oscar and into the street. Some of the HBs ran pretty well and quickly turned the corner in pursuit of the runners. These weren’t like clumsy TV zombies. “My girls and boys can hunt and kill,” thought Oscar as he emerged from the bushes with a skip in his step. He carried a handgun in a holster and a shotgun over his shoulder. Oscar trotted forward after his HBs, confident his little army would soon catch its prey.
Chapter 41: Seems we had a miscommunication…
Silvia, Caroline, Cheryl, Connie and Gracie rode close to Silvia. They were way out ahead of the four boys and Teresa. In order to get the right count and trick the enemy one of the girls had to run with the boys. Teresa was the easy choice. Anyways, she was faster than Jacob and Robert.
Everyone knew the regrouping address. It would be in the Calvary Chapel Church in La Habra, 4 miles to the West and then South a bit. The kids all knew the route by heart. They had traveled it every Sunday.
It took the bikers about thirteen minutes to get there. They found a door in the back and kicked it in, and then hid their bikes inside the Sunday school auditorium. Once they got inside they moved into the front chapel. The old building had very heavy doors and the windows were over seven feet above the floor. The girls sat down hard on the pews to rest while Silvia went to the front of the building and opened the Chapel’s front door just a crack to watch for her boys and Teresa.
Ten minutes later the sweaty runners showed up in T-shirts, running shorts and tennis shoes. Silvia stepped out under the Chapel’s entry awning and waved them to her. They slipped in quietly and Silvia shut the door behind them.
The backpacks they carried held some food, but they also contained pants and light jackets. Everyone settled down and tried to get comfortable. They planned to wait a day or two in the Chapel and then search for a different and hopefully more secure place to live.
Unfortunately, a few of the more athletic HBs had been following them and just caught sight of the last boy as he slipped inside the Chapel’s front door. One of the HBs was Jeff. Two of the other HBs tried to advance toward the Chapel but Jeff held them back, out of sight.
Somewhere deep in Jeff’s half-baked nervous system he thought Oscar would want them to wait. Something Jeff had seen or done recently, made him think of that. He couldn’t remember anything specific. But he was sure he should wait. So, he held back the growing number of Oscar’s HBs as one by one they caught up with him and stood nervously behind him. Mutt came in somewhere in the middle of the group. Behind Mutt the remaining HBs strung out like so many marathon runners on a Saturday afternoon foot race. Except this group was mostly clothed in pajamas, or underwear, and ran on bare feet.
And there they remained out of sight, just across the street from the Calvary Chapel Church. Their mouths hung open as usual as they breathed in and out, waiting for directions. Oscar would come soon, and he would direct them. Jeff was sure of that.
An hour later Oscar arrived. He walked most of the way with the last of the HBs. As the marathon went on, Oscar decided to just walk along with the last of the slowest mouth breathers. He knew from experience that they could follow each other until everyone of them were together again.
“Strange what they’ve kept versus what they’ve lost,” thought Oscar, as he caught up with the main group.
Oscar confidently moved to the front of the HBs. Mutt and Jeff had taken their traditional place at the head of the pack.
Oscar looked at the Chapel, pointed at the door, and asked, “They in there?”
“In there,” responded Jeff, as best he could.
Oscar didn’t need his binoculars this time. The Chapel door was 60 feet away. He could read the name of the Church on the outside sign. He slid a pack off his shoulder and pulled out a small plastic cone. It was like one of those long bullhorns the police used to speak to large crowds. But this bullhorn was much smaller. Oscar stepped forward a few feet and put the small plastic cone to his lips. He had found it useful when training HBs. They seemed a little hard of hearing at times.
“Attention Calvary Chapel,” barked Oscar.
A few of the kids had dozed off while sitting on the uncomfortable Church Pews. Oscar’s bellowing woke everyone up instantly. Silvia was standing by the door. She dropped her hand to her side to make sure her 357 magnum was still in its holster.
“It seems we had a miscommunication during our last encounter,” continued Oscar.
Oscar continued his speech as Sylvia peered across the street through a window and spotted a man standing calmly among fifty or so of the walking people.
“I believe I gave express direction earlier. You and the boys were to leave the girls behind, right?” questioned Oscar. “Wasn’t that what I wrote? And since you’ve now violated the spirit of the contract I thought we had agreed too… ”
Silvia pulled her 357 from the holster. She was considering popping open the chapel door and putting a bullet into the obnoxious man across the street.
“So, I’m afraid you’ve forced my hand,” shouted Oscar.
Oscar put the small cone back into his pack and moved back toward the rear of the HBs. He looked over toward Mutt and Jeff. They had kept their eyes on Oscar since he arrived, anticipating his command.
Oscar pointed toward the Calvary Chapel and said one word, “Remember, kill the boys, and save the girls.”
Mutt and Jeff didn’t move at first. Oscar had already told them to kill the boys and save the girls. When Oscar said nothing new, the two lead HBs looked at each other awkwardly. Oscar sensed their hesitation.
“Attack,” barked Oscar.
Mutt and Jeff instantly relayed the command to the fifty plus HBs. The pack moved forward immediately. They were wound tight with anticipation and were hungry too. Oscar hadn’t fed them in two days.
The pack made straight for the large double oak Chapel doors. By then Sil
via was dragging a large pew across the marble floor in an effort to reinforce the door.
“Boys!” commanded Silvia. “To the front door, now!”
The boys all responded quickly and rushed to add their weight against the door. But Silvia could see how the weight of fifty people was already beginning to work on the large oaken door and its frame.
While the boy’s kept their weight against the door Silvia walked back into the main chapel.
“Girls, we need to move all these pews from in here to the entry area, to reinforce the doors,” said Silvia.
Caroline was standing next to the closest pew and trying to move it. But the solid oak pews were fastened solid to the floor.
“But they’re bolted to the floor,” exclaimed Caroline, in a slightly panicked voice.
“Then we need to find a way to get them unbolted,” responded Silvia.
Chapter 42: No problemo
Everybody was finished with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and juice. Second team had been out early and scavenged the food at a local convenience store. They weren’t sure about the eggs, but Doc tested them and pronounced them clean. Having a kitchen on hand meant there were plenty of spices available. The food tasted good. Tyrone grabbed a large bottle of Cajun seasoning from the cupboard and threw it in his food sack. “Might come in handy once we get in country,” he thought to himself.
They even took showers. Cold showers, but at least the water pressure was still working in the two homes. Heck even the toilets flushed. They all knew that running water would soon become a memory.
The garage doors were pulled up and the bikes and trailers were nearly packed. Everybody was well hydrated with full stomachs. Mark wanted to make good time today. The sooner they got back on the freeway and heading north the better.
“No lolly gagging today,” shouted Mark as they started out. “We’re gonna make twenty five miles today, minimum.” If nothing went wrong they should be able to make 40 miles. But he also knew they were still getting use to the bikes – and there were always the flats.
It was Frank Jones’ day as scout. Per the standard, he took the point. Mark followed him about a hundred yards back. The rest followed Mark. They followed Fern Road west until they came to Euclid again. Then they headed North. The plan was to take Euclid about five miles North to Imperial and then head back East for five more miles until they came back to the Orange Freeway. Yesterday’s fight with the supremacists had cost them an extra 20 miles.
Boon kept a close eye on his street map. They were starting off in the town of Fullerton. They’d be in La Habra when they reached Imperial Boulevard.
The road was pretty flat for the first 3 miles. Then they started up a long hill that curved to the left. The incline really slowed them down. Everybody was breathing hard. The sweat was dripping off Randy by the time the road flattened out again.
Up ahead Frank suddenly stopped. Instantly the radio cracked.
“We’ve got a large pack of HB’s up ahead, about a hundred yards out,” said Frank.
“Roger that,” said Mark on his radio, as the rest of the team stopped too.
Frank was the closest to the HBs. He pulled up his rifle and took a closer look through the SmartScope.
The HBs were pounding on the front door of a Church.
Then he noticed two of the HB’s that were standing next to each other and apart from the pack. One raised his right arm and pointed in Frank’s direction.
“Oh boy,” muttered Frank to himself.
But Frank didn’t panic. He kept his scope on the two HBs. They seemed to be looking over their left shoulders toward someone Frank couldn’t see, and motioning back to Frank again.
“What’s your status?” asked Mark over Frank’s radio speaker.
Frank brought the radio up to his mouth. He kept the binoculars focused on the two HBs and then swung them back to the place where somebody was talking back, but couldn’t be seen.
“Stand by,” responded Frank.
When Frank swung back his binoculars back toward the two solitary HBs, the quickly realized he was in trouble.
“Need assistance, need assistance!” shouted Frank into the radio trying unsuccessfully to manage the obvious panic in his voice.
Frank needed assistance because all the HBs that had been at the Church door, were now suddenly running toward him. They were 70 yards away by the time he switched off his bushmaster’s safety switch and squeezed off a first round. The bullet struck a running HB woman right in the middle of her stomach. She wavered a moment but then kept on running. And fast. They were growing larger in Frank’s scope with every step.
“Remember to target the head,” said Frank to himself, as he dropped to one knee, took a deep breath, and found the closest target. He dropped the HB with a single round through its head. Then he found the next and fired again. Then the third, then the fourth. But the HBs were within 40 yards now. He flipped his Bushmaster to full automatic. Just before he pulled the trigger he heard running footsteps behind him. It was Tyrone. He was always the fastest in a footrace. Both men opened up on full automatic at almost the same time. The results were impressive. Almost instantly 15 of the running HBs fell dead to the ground. By then Junior and Sam had also joined them too and added their full fire.
The last walking HB fell seven yards from Frank’s feet. Everyone kept their guns leveled on the trail of dead bodies – their military training kicking in. One HB was still moving. Tyrone finished him with a final round to the head. A second later the rest of the crew ran up.
“Many thanks,” offered Frank, as the gun smoke slowly cleared. Frank kept his eyes on the dead HBs but extended his right arm out toward Tyrone and offered his fist. Tyrone raised his left arm up and bumped Frank’s fist.
“No problemo,” responded Tyrone.
“Never seen them charge like that before,” said Sam.
“Yea,” responded Frank. “It was like they were coordinated or something.”
“Coordinated?” questioned Mark.
“I know it sounds weird, but I could have sworn they followed the command of two HBs that were standing apart from the others,” responded Frank.
“There’s no way,” said Doc. “We’ve watched them for days now. They just don’t have the capacity to reason.
“I know,” replied Frank. “But I’m sure of what I saw. And it was like those two HBs were smarter and were telling these guys what to do. One of them raised his arm toward me and then turned to the pack and said something to them. The next thing I knew they charged me hell bent for leather. I had the scope on them. It was pretty clear.”
“Did those two smart HBs charge too,” asked Boon, who was still searching for additional HBs though his SmartScope.
“I don’t think so,” offered Frank has he peered back at the Church. But there was no one in sight now.
“Maybe they’re in these bodies,” suggested Randy as the motioned toward the trail of dead HBs.
“I don’t think so,” said Frank. The two I saw didn’t move. They just stood there while the others charged.
“But that’s so different from anything we’ve seen before,” added Doc again.
“I know. But it’s what I saw!” finished Frank. He was getting a little hot that everyone was questioning his account of what just happened.
“Ok. Maybe some of the HBs are getting smarter,” said Mark. “We’ll just have to be more cautious from now on. Let’s get our bikes and find out why the HBs were so interested in that building.”
The team went back to get their bikes. Frank stayed a beat longer, looking over the dead. Killing was always hard, even if they were only HBs.
Mark parked his bike about 20 yards from the front door of the Calvary Chapel. A couple of the other guys got off their bikes and leveled their Bushmasters toward the front door. Everyone else stayed on their bikes. They were anxious to keep moving. The recent gunfire was sure to attract more HBs.
“Anybody inside the Chapel!” yelled
Mark, not really expecting a response.
After a brief moment a reply came back.
“Yes,” said Silva Harmon. “There’s a few of us in here. What do you want?
That got a grin out of Mark. He turned back the group and raised his hands slightly out of laughable frustration.
“Well mam…” began Mark. “We were just passing by and noticed that your visitors weren’t very friendly and so we….” Mark paused to find the right words. “Persuaded them to move on.”
“You persuaded them to move on?” came Silvia’s voice, with doubt in its inflection.
“Yes mam,” replied Mark.
Sylvia peeked out of the small window. She could see a large man and few of the others with him. They certainly didn’t look like bad people. And there was a woman with them. Their bikes were packed to the max. They looked like they were on a long trip. But if they were with the people who chased the kids and her into the chapel, then if they opened the door they’d be toast.
