Apex Predator

by Glyn Gardner

  Eighty minutes later Jésus pulled into the apartment complex. It was 5:00 am. The sun was still down. The apartment that the cargo would be stored in was in the back of the complex. It was actually 3 apartments, with all the internal walls secretly knocked down.

  Manuel opened the back of the truck. Something heavy fell into him as the door flew open. What the fuck? Whatever had hit him knocked him over. Was it one of his charges? He tried to push it off, but it was dead weight. That’s when he felt the cold fingers on the back of his neck.

  Shit, a snake! He was deathly afraid of snakes. He lifted his head, and tried to squirm out from under whatever it was on top of him. This brought his neck closer to the gaping maw of the monster.

  Aaaagggghhhh! He screamed as the teeth bit into his neck. His brain was still stuck on the imagined snake. It took it a second to realize that something had hold of his neck. What the hell? He pushed again, this time dislodging his assailant, and a chunk of his own neck. His head turned, bringing him face to face with the monster.

  It was as if his mind had taken a picture. He could see the pale-grey-lifeless eyes. The creature’s skin was grey, like the color of the dead. And the smell, it smelled dead. And its mouth, what was in its mouth? Oh shit! That was his blood dripping from its lips. His flesh caught in its teeth.

  Ambulante; he thought about the crazy old lady. No! Where is Jésus? Help! Jésus, why can’t I scream? Oh God, is someone gonna help me? Oh God! He could feel himself going numb. His panic was subsiding. His senses were dull. A cloud seemed to fall over him. Light, quiet. He could hear his own heart race. His eyes fell onto a disembodied head. Was its mouth still moving? The sound of his heart faded. He could hear his breathing get shallow…shallow …nothing. Death.

  Jésus couldn’t believe his eyes. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have a gun. He had seen the old lady pull the Mexican down. He’d heard the screams. He backed away from the horror in disbelief. His mind raced, not believing what he had seen. It was as if an army of the dead had fallen at his feet. They were spreading out, walking aimlessly. He failed to notice the young child to his right. She was not wandering aimlessly. She had a purpose. He felt her pull his shirt, throwing him off balance. He stumbled on top of her, knocking both to the ground. He turned to see who he had fallen on top of.

  The last thing he saw was the little girl’s open mouth. It bit into his face before he had a chance to move. He shoved with all his might, but he could not dislodge the little girl. He could feel the panic welling up inside. He could also feel the other monsters biting into the flesh of his legs. NO! He kicked his legs and tried to push the monsters away, but the weight was too much. Jesus did not go quickly. He felt every bite and scratch as he was consumed, one mouthful at a time.

  His screams eventually faded away, leaving only the moans of 20 zombies in its wake. Then the onlookers came. Several residents of the apartment complex came out to investigate the sounds of screaming. They also fell prey to the hoard of zombies, eventually adding to its numbers.

  Day 4

  Oak Hills Drive, Bossier City LA.

  They awoke to the sounds of heavy diesel engines in the distance. They couldn’t tell how far away. The normal sounds of urban life long gone. No barking dogs. No car horns or lawn mowers. No kids playing, just the incessant moaning of the dead.

  “Mike, you hear that?” asked Dave, a shiny Colt Python strapped to his hip.

  “Yeah.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t know, maybe the National Guard. The TV did say something about the Governor declaring Martial Law.”

  “What’s going on outside “

  “I can see maybe forty or so of those things walking round out there. We picked up a few on the porch.”

  “Well, I guess we wait it out. If Uncle Sam is in town, then it won’t be long yet right Mike?”

  Jen climbed down the ladder, Mike’s shotgun slung across her back. “How’re we doing this morning boys?”

  “Morning Ms. Jen.”

  “Morning honey.”

  “Any chances the world has returned to normal?”

  “Sure. There’s Mrs. Drawbond walking down the street, like she does every day. Shambling along, walking on her intestines. Oh and there’s some random guy crawling across Dave and Theresa’s yard. Guess that’s the new gardener.”

  “No, Mr. Mike, That’s the pool boy. They all laughed.

  “Ok, guess not.”

  She went into the kitchen. “You know you boys can cook some you know. I got breakfast, but someone with a Y chromosome gets to make lunch.”

  “Ok sweaty, I got lunch. Let me catch a nap after breakfast and I got it.” Breakfast went uneventfully. Theresa came down as the rest finished. She looked tired.

  “You ok Sis?”

  “I couldn’t sleep. The moaning was too loud.”

  “I’m sure we’ll all get used to it. Here, get some breakfast.”

  Throughout the day, they heard gun shots, engines, and helicopters flying over.

  “Mr. Mike, can we get on your roof from inside?” Davy asked

  “We can get to the roof of the back porch from our bedroom. From there you can get to the edge of the roof. Why?”

  “You here those choppers out there? They need to know we’re here. If we can get something on the roof that lets those guys know we need help, they may come get us.”

  “Good idea. Honey, we’ll be upstairs for a bit.” He and Dave climbed the ladder to the second floor. Mike opened the linen closet, pulled out a couple of sets of white sheets. “Run down stairs and get a hammer and nails from the garage.”

  Dave returned a few minutes later with hammer and nails.

  “I’ll go out Mike. I’m a little fleeter of foot.”

  “Alright Davy, be careful.”

  Dave climbed out the window, tucking the hammer into his belt as he went. Mike watched him climb off of the porch roof and onto the roof of the house. He heard the footsteps as Davy moved to the front of the house. Bang! Bang! Bang! Each hammer blow sounded like and explosion. Mike ran to the spare bedroom, raising the window. All the zombies on the street were shuffling towards the house.

  Davy continued to work as fast as he could, not noticing the crowd of monsters. He drove in one final nail. He stood to make sure his work was legible.

  “Alright Davy,” Mike ordered, “back inside.”

  “Ok Mike,” he replied. As he reached the corner of the roof his foot slipped. Mike looked on horrified as Davy fell off the roof, screaming.

  “NO!” Mike ran down stairs. He could hear Davy screaming on the front lawn. BANG! BANG! BANG! He peered through the slats of the front window. Davy was desperately trying to climb into the back of the pickup truck next door. Mike could see Davy wasn’t using his left arm. He could see blood dripping onto the ground

  “What happened?” asked Jen

  “Davy fell of the roof!”

  “Davy!” cried Theresa, running towards the door. Dave intercepted her.

  “No Theresa! You can’t go out there. It’s too late.”

  “Davy! No!” she cried.

  Mike looked back out the window. Dave was in the back of the red pickup, holding his dad’s silver revolver. He was sitting on the cab of the pickup, blood pooling underneath his jeans.

  “MIKE! KEEP THERESA INSIDE! I’M DONE FOR!” After a short pause he yelled to her. “I’M SORRY SIS! I LOVE YOU!”

  “Davy!” she cried.

  He ejected the spent cartridges from the revolver. He had five left in his pocket. He loaded them with his right hand. He fired four more round, taking down four more zombies.

  “MIKE!”

  “YES DAVE!”

  “PROMISE ME YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THERESA.”

  Jen responded, “OH DAVY, WE WILL!”

  The girls began to sob.

  “I’M SORRY YOU GUYS!”

  BANG! Davy slumped over, falling off the truck, his daddy’s pistol falling from hi
s lifeless hand.

  Highway 71 South of Barksdale Air Force Base

  “Dismount! Everybody outa the truck!” SSgt Brown dismounted the LMTV with the rest of his squad.

  “Squad leaders on me!” Lt Foote continued.

  “Alright guys, hang out here. Smoke ‘um if you got ‘um. If you gotta piss stay close.” SSgt Brown trotted back to the Lieutenant’s Hummer. The other squad leaders gathered around the Lieutenant.

  “Alright guys, here’s the scoop.” Foote said as he laid out a map on the hood of his hummer. “There’s some sort of civil unrest going on up 71. Not sure exactly what it is. So, brigade sent us up here with Alpha Troop to help secure the Air Force Base.”

  “Sir, what about HHT and Bravo?” asked Sgt Thorne, 2nd squad leader.

  “Right now, they’ve had about half their folks answer the call-up, and those troops are stuck inside their armory. It looks like the rioting is pretty bad down there. Squadron is being run by Major Fletcher. He’s got about 15 guys from HHT who couldn’t get to the armory. So, they’re mustering with us as a forward TOC.”

  “How bad are these riots sir? TV didn’t make them out to be much,” asked Sgt Sykes leader of 3rd squad.

  “Looks bad. Homeland Security is reporting that all the local hospitals are off closed as of yesterday. Local cops are reporting that they have taken quite a few casualties. They’re pretty much just holding down the local cop shops until we rescue ‘um.”

  “Shit!” exclaimed Sgt Thorne.

  “Ok, here’s the deal. Alpha’s gonna move up 71 line abreast. They got the riot gear. Charlie follows behind, along with battalion vehicles. 1st platoon will drop a squad at the bridge, here,” he pointed to a bridge over the Red River leading to the Air Force Base’s main gate.

  “As we get to this cross street here,” he pointed to the map. “2nd platoon will drop a squad at the corner. The battalion will turn north until we get to this street, here. We move east until we get to Northgate Rd. We’ll drop your squad Sgt Thorne at this corner. Set up a checkpoint with wire, a hummer, and LMTV. The rest of us will follow Alpha through the north gate and set up shop in the base’s lodging, here. Our main objective is to secure the Air Force Base, and its resident nukes.”

  “Now, get your guys ready. Alpha’s forming up.” They returned to their trucks.

  “Alright guys gather round,” SSgt Brown bellowed.

  “You hear about the riots. Well, our job is to babysit Barksdale. We follow Alpha up 71 here until we hit this street. 1st and 2nd platoons are gonna drop checkpoints here and here,” he pointed to the map. “We cross over here and move towards the north gate. Sgt Thorne’s squad is gonna set up a checkpoint at the corner. We move to billeting and sleep on warm beds tonight.”

  “What the hell is going on Serge?” asked Cpl Ramirez. “Where the hell is Bravo?”

  “Not real sure. It sounds like this is big. Local cops are holing up in the police station until someone can get them out. Bravo and HHT are stuck in the armory. We still have contact with them, but it sounds like they can’t get out of the gate. Major Fletcher has some headquarters guys that couldn’t get into town with him. They’re gonna act as a forward TOC. I would expect to get detailed for radio watch once we get setup.”

  “Ok, looks like Alpha’s moving. Let’s get online with the rest of the platoon.”

  “Hey Sarge, why don’t we climb in the LMTV?” asked Pvt. Peeves.

  “Because Peeves, Captain Watson said your fat ass needs more PT.”

  They formed up online about 100 meters behind Alpha. As they moved up Highway 71 they could see people milling about in the neighborhood across the railroad tracks. They made it to the bridge. A squad from 1st platoon started stringing concertina wire across the road.

  SSgt Brown looked right. The gate to the Air Force Base was secured. There was a HMMWV with a machinegun on top covering the squad of airmen guarding the imposing looking gate. He shot a quick Boy Scout salute at the airmen. One of them snapped to attention and gave him a left-handed salute. Fucking Air Force, thought SSgt Brown.

  They continued on, barely noticing the growing crowd of people shadowing them from across the railroad tracks on their right. As they approached the corner of Airline and HW 71 Alpha made contact with its first rioters. SSgt Brown could barely tell the other troop was in contact. A couple of the guys seemed to slow as they pushed the rioters back. It was almost imperceptible at first. Then the entire line seemed to stop in its tracks. Then forward again.

  They turned left onto Airline; SSgt Brown noticed that all of 2nd platoon fell out of line.

  Lt Foote’s hummer pulled up next to Brown. “There’s a lot more of these folks than we expected. 2nd platoon is going to secure this corner. We keep going with Alpha. We might have to do the same thing at our checkpoint.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  They pushed up the street. Mostly little shops and a bunch of daycare centers that must cater to the military population. They turned east. The road curved right and the surrounding terrain dropped off about 3 feet below the level of the road. Alpha slowed to a crawl again. Now SSgt Brown could see why. It seemed like the entire neighborhood was out. Suddenly there was shooting from behind him.

  “What the fuck is that, Sarge? I didn’t know we could shoot anyone,” Peeves shouted.

  “Shut the fuck up and keep online Peeves!”

  There was more shooting. Then a couple of Alpha guys went down, then a few more. From behind it looked to SSgt Brown as if they were pulled over. The Alpha guys seemed to converge on the center. It reminded SSgt Brown of the settlers circling the wagons in the face of Indian attack.

  Everyone in his platoon could see the mass of flesh moving their way. It swallowed the Alpha guys in a heartbeat. Screams. Shots rang out from the front.

  “Fuck, I’m hit!” It was Cpl Ramirez. He rolled on the ground holding his right side. “Oh God!”

  “Medic!” SSgt Brown yelled. “Doc, get your ass over here!”

  “Jesus Christ! Are they shooting at us?”

  “No God Damnit! That was Alpha. Everyone get down until those idiots stop shooting!” SSgt Brown crouched down waiving the rest of the squad to do the same.

  SPC Lee ran up, tossing his aid bag to the ground next to Cpl Ramirez. He ripped into it, pulling out a set of scissors. He opened Ramirez’s shirt. Damn there’s so much blood, thought SSgt Brown. He watched as Lee put a large bandage on Ramirez’s belly. He started pulling more stuff out of his bag: IV bag, needle, and tubing.

  “Shit Sarge! You gotta see this,” Pvt. Peeves shouted. Sgt Brown looked up. The shooting had stopped, so had most of the screaming. The crowd was moving forward again. Shit! They were about 100 meters away. Jesus it looked like a thousand of them; just shuffling towards C Troop 1st Squadron 108th Cavalry Louisiana National Guard.

  “El-Tee!”

  “I see ‘um. Get your people online!”

  “You heard the man. On your feet third herd! Doc, you and Peeves get Ramirez back to the truck. Everyone else form up on me.”

  “3rd platoon, Fix bayonets!”

  “Fix bayonets,” SSgt Brown repeated. “Sir what exactly are we doing?”

  “We’re going up there and getting Alpha out of that crowd. Now move out 3rd!”

  They advanced on the mass that was, in turn, advancing on them. There was still shooting from 2nd platoon’s checkpoint. They could hear machinegun fire behind them as they advanced. As the crowd got closer, they could see the blood. Every one of those people was virtually covered in it.

  “What the Fuck!”

  “Where did all that blood come from?

  “Jesus! Their faces, they look dead!”

  And then the two masses met. It was chaos. SSgt Brown shot one of the creatures trying to pull down Pvt. Hayes. The thing fell, and then struggled to get back up. Hayes bayoneted another creature. Sgt Brown was shocked to see that the creature didn’t even pause as the 7 inches of steel pierced its chest. Hayes fired. The thin
g continued to grapple with Hayes, finally pulling him to the ground. Five of the creatures immediately fell upon him. His screams were muffled by the mass of flesh that consumed him.

  Shit! Sgt Brown did a quick nose count. He could only see two of his guys.

  “Fall back 3rd!”

  “Anderson, Jackson; get your asses to the trucks!” He turned to run and immediately knew it was too late. Even from 200 meters away he could see the trucks were swarming with a mass of dead flesh.

  “Fuck! Follow me!” He bolted for a fenced yard to his left. He looked over his shoulder as he hurdled the 6 foot chain link. Jackson almost landed on top of him. Anderson was just getting to the fence. One of the creatures grabbed his boot as he got to the top. The creature pulled him off balance. He struggled to get over the fence. The creature’s grasp tightened. Anderson kicked the monster in an attempt to free himself. The creature pulled harder on the trooper’s boot, biting his ankle above the boot as it did.

  “OOOWWWW! Help me,” he screamed in panic, kicking even harder. They reached out to him, grabbing his arms. They pulled him free of the creature and over the fence.

  “Jackson, get a dressing on that wound. Hurry, we gotta move.”

  Jackson grabbed his field dressing out of its pouch, and quickly wrapped it around Anderson’s ankle. SSgt Brown did a quick survey. The yard they were in was almost smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood. Some of the houses were surrounded by chain link fences, and some were not. Some of the yards had creatures in them, some did not.

  “Shit Sarge! Did you see that? I shot one of those fuckers center mass. He got right back up and got Lester,” rambled Jackson.

  “Fuck I know. I know.”

  “What the fuck are those fucking things?”

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Anderson shouted. “Don’t you watch movies? Fuck man, those are fucking zombies, man. Fuck! I got bit! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Anderson paced around the little corner they were in. He banged his fist against the house.

  “God Damn it, Anderson, relax. We don’t know how this happened. We get you through the gate to the medics and they’ll square you away.”