by S. Ganley
Once Miranda and the others were well on their way across the open ground towards Garrett, Calvin made his move out into the backyard. He was trying to stay close enough to the first few zombies coming after him to keep their attention focused only on him while not getting so close that they may actually have a chance to get their hands on him. Stopping every few feet he would turn and fire off a round or two, dwindling their numbers down. He knew that all he had left for ammo was the remains of the magazine in his rifle and one additional full reload. It was not nearly enough to do much damage to all the zombies that were popping up around the houses, but it should be enough to keep them interested in him and give him a means to deal with the most threatening ones. He could hear Miranda calling out encouragement to Doug and his wife and he thought of what a good solider the girl would have made. When they first met her all he could see was her feminine side and his thoughts had focused on her as a sex object, he had never thought for a second that the small little woman would actually become a hardened fighter who would be a valuable contributor in the face of the apocalypse.
Calvin picked a point at the edge of the yard where he could slip into a thicket of trees and then start using them for cover as he led this group of zombies away from Garrett and the others. As he ran through the back yard he started feeling the first throbs of a headache and was also becoming aware that his body temperature was starting to rise. He knew enough about how his own body chemistry worked under stressful and physical conditions and what he was starting to feel could not be as a result of the fight he was involved in. The toxins that kid had pumped into his body were speeding through his blood system and were already hard at work doing their job. He knew what the end result would be once those toxins completed their work, but he was not going to let it get that far. When he felt that he was getting to a point where death was imminent he would take care of it himself, turning into one of those things was not an option for him, the last bullet in his rifle would have his own name on it.
Reaching the edge of the woods he saw that he had a comfortable lead on the closest zombies still racing after him. He thought there were close to twenty five of them eager to get the next bite out of his ass, but he also could now see that Garrett was dealing with another group of roughly the same number if not a little larger coming up the driveway towards him. Once they crossed the hedges they would have a chance to put some distance between them, but they would not be able to stop and smell the roses, if Emily or Doug fell out at any time they would have to leave them behind.
Leaning up against a tree trunk Calvin steadied his increasingly shaky aim and fired off a round that just missed his target. As the virus tore through his system he was going to have to keep letting them get closer to him to ensure an accurate shot. His second round blew a gash in the zombies shoulder and sent its arm flopping uselessly down against its side. Not a kill or disabling shot, but Calvin found a little humor in seeing the zombie struggle to raise his arm again. Only a thin tendril of muscle and meat kept it attached to the shoulder and the zombie twisted its body to the opposite side trying to raise the arm only resulting in it flailing out to the side like a poorly affixed prosthetic. He turned back into the woods and picked another tree further along that would offer a clear line of sight as the first of the zombies started entering the tree line behind him. He would continue leapfrogging forward in this fashion and firing a round or two at his pursuers until he reached a point far enough from Cameron's house that he was confident the zombies chasing him would have lost sight of the others. At that point he would break contact and work his way back towards Cameron's house, hopefully leaving the remaining zombies coming after him to wonder around the woods aimlessly searching for him.
Gunfire behind him told him that the others were starting to feel the pressure from the zombies coming up the driveway. He knew that Garrett was much more disciplined when it came to gun play that he ever was. Where he was more of a cowboy that preferred rushing into a situation with guns blazing, Garrett was a patient man who would only take a shot when he was confident of a kill. That calculation and patience were the abilities that would allow Garrett to effectively lead those people to safety, if he couldn't do it then Calvin didn't believe it could be done.
He noticed that not far ahead of him the trees started to thin out with small gardens and foot paths springing up between them as the next street of houses started to come into view. For him to break away from the zombies he had lured into this stretch of woods, he needed the thickest patch of cover possible. Glancing right and then left he spotted an area where the ground dipped down into a depression and still maintained a decent growth of brush and trees, it looked like his best chance. Firing off two more shots and scoring only a single glancing wound in return, he adjusted his course and rushed head long into the depression. Reaching a spot where he could duck down and use the rise of the ground behind him to conceal his movements, he darted to his left and sped up his pace. After running full speed for just over fifty feet he turned back towards Cameron’s house and climbed back out of the depression. He could still hear the zombies coming after him as they clumsily crashed their way through the woods and it sounded like they were continuing on a straight path into the back yards of the houses behind him instead of picking up his trail again. Satisfied that he had pulled off a successful diversion, he slowed down and began carefully picking his way back between the trees to avoid making any more noise than necessary and possibly tipping off the zombies that they had been tricked into falling a false path.
He broke out into the backyard at the far end of Cameron's house almost exactly where he had anticipated. Calvin was just in time to see the last of their small group disappearing into the back door of the house. The scattered bodies of dead zombies along the edge of the deck gave testament to the fact that Garrett and the others had run up on more resistance than they had hoped for, but seeing none of their own laying amongst the dead, he was hopeful that they were all still alright. From his position in the far reaches of the backyard he had a partial view of the closed garage door and driveway on the far side of the house, something that Garrett would not have been able to view by keeping tight to the back of the house. He could see close a small cluster of the creatures meandering about near the top of the driveway and within only a few feet of the outside garage door. Calvin knew that to get clear of the garage Garrett was going to have to expose himself for a few moments while he pulled the large bay door open before he could drive out. As soon as that door started coming up Garrett was going to be swarmed with the things and Calvin doubted he would be able to fend off that many in such close quarters. Checking the magazine in his rifle he counted six rounds remaining, with the other full one still in his pocket that gave him thirty six shots, actually thirty five he reminded himself, that last one had a special purpose. Even with his hands shaking and unsteady as a result of the toxins racing through his system and quickly killing him from the inside out, he thought he should still be able to give his friends in the garage the break they needed to make their escape.
As he took his first step from the edge of the woods into Cameron's backyard, he doubled over in agonizing pain as an incredible wave of vomit rushed from the depths of his stomach and exploded from his mouth spewing out almost a dozen feet in front of him. Again and again the waves of uncontrollable vomit rocketed from his body until he finally collapsed to the ground nearly exhausted from the worst round of puking he could ever recall. His stomach was still tied in knots and it felt like acid was eating through his intestines and stomach lining. The smell of the vomit on the grass just inches in front of his face almost sent him into another round of violent heaving but there was just nothing left in his stomach to come up and instead he gagged and coughed as he turned his head away and buried his nose in a patch of dirt to escape the rancid stink that had escaped his own stricken body. It took him almost two full minutes to recover enough that he felt he could attempt to regain his feet. Once standing he re
alized that his strength was quickly failing him, his legs were like rubber and the rifle in his hands weighed three times what he remembered, he didn't think he could hold it to his shoulder and fire accurately anymore. For him to clear the path along the driveway he was going to have to get up close and personal, it would be a blood bath on his part, he had not doubt about that but there was no real alternative.
Calvin stumbled his way through the backyard all the while concentrating as hard as he could on reaching the driveway and garage. His sense of time was failing him and he couldn't say if Garrett and the others had entered the house five minutes earlier or fifteen. He didn't think it would take them more than a couple minutes to lock themselves in the garage and get the Range Rover loaded and ready to leave, at any time he thought he would see the large bay door starting to rise and a tide of zombies turning towards it and pouring into the garage on top of the small group.
When he was just about even with the back deck and still walking towards the driveway he pulled the rifle up as high as he could to try and squeeze off a couple shots and hopefully get their attention away from the garage, but the movement of his arms triggered a tight pain inside his chest and he thought for sure he was about to have a heart attack. He dropped to his knees, the rifle clattering to the ground in front of him as his hand involuntarily clutched his chest. His breathing was labored and difficult and his lungs were starting to burn from an insufficient supply of oxygen. He now noticed that his vision was starting to become frosted as if he was seeing the world through a pair of lenses coated in a film of milk. It occurred to him that it was possible that was how the zombies viewed the world around them after their eyes became completely milky white.
A steady banging sound caught his attention, at first he thought it as just a hallucination but as he concentrated on it he realized it was coming from inside the house only a few feet in front of him. The distinct sound of something banging relentlessly on a wooden surface. They had heard similar sounds enough times already for him to deduce its source. There were likely zombies inside the house trying to break down the garage door on the heels of Garret and the others. With only a flimsy wooden door between the garage and house keeping those zombies at bay it was a good bet that Garrett had everyone moving as fast as possible to get ready to pull out of the garage. That notion helped feed a little more adrenaline into his system and gave him the energy to stand back up on his wobbling feet. Picking up his rifle as he stood, he decided against trying for any more ranged shots and instead walked a stumbling path forward until he was just at the edge of the driveway. He was sure that the zombies in the drive could easily see him but they were making no effort to come after him. Calvin had to assume that his body was already reaching a point where his scent and movements must have made him appear to be one of their own kind and they had no interest in trying to feed from him or impede his actions.
He was able to walk right up beside what had once been a very attractive middle aged woman, someone who Calvin would have referred to as a MILF with his drinking buddies. She looked directly at him through those milky eyes but there was no change in her demeanor and no interest at all in his presence. She bumped against his shoulder as she continued walking a path around him and continued on. Calvin heard a distinct clunking sound from the other side of the outside garage door. He was positive that someone had just disengaged the motorized garage door opener and was now about to raise the door by hand. In the next few seconds he expected to see the door start to rise open exposing the lower half of Garrett's body to the outside and focusing the attention of close to a dozen zombies on himself. Mustering all the strength he could Calvin hefted the rifle in both arms and raised it the back of the MILF's head as she walked away from him, he heard the sound of the garage door starting to rise as the barrel of his rifle pressed up against the back of her head. He caught a flurry of motion near the garage door in his peripheral vision, without turning away from the woman's head he pulled the trigger and exploded her mangled brain out from a fist sized hole that materialized where her face had been and splattering remains across two other zombies walking a circle just in front of her. The round traveling out of her head still had sufficient velocity to punch a nice little crater in the back of a second zombie and knock him to the ground just in front of the garage door.
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Miranda had cried out in alarm as soon as the door started to open and she could see multiple pairs of feet and legs just feet from the door. She instinctively squeezed off a single round into the kneecap of a zombie standing just outside the door near where Garrett was crouched down lifting against the door. The shot knocked the zombie onto the ground as it blew his kneecap out and Miranda found herself staring into the enraged face of the man as he started crawling forward towards the opening at Garrett's feet.
The gunshot from behind him along with Miranda's excited cry of warning caused Garrett to release his grip on the door sending it crashing back to the ground with a loud bang. An instant before the door hit the ground they both heard the familiar report of an AK firing just outside the door. Things were happening almost too fast for Garrett to process. He had opened the door, Miranda had yelled a warning to him and fired off a single shot that missed him by inches and then a rifle blasted away on the other side of the door. There could be only one explanation for those mystery shots outside in the driveway. Calvin had made his way back to that side of the house and was providing covering fire for them. If that was the case then they needed to make their move right away, he wasn't sure how many zombies Calvin was up against outside that door but he knew that his friend would be low on ammo and not able to keep the top of the driveway clear for long. More shots echoed outside the garage door, Calvin was firing slowly and methodically, Garrett knew that he would be clearing those closest to the door first. He grasped the door handle again and motioned for Miranda to go ahead and get in the Range Rover.
"Calvin!" Garrett shouted loud enough to be heard outside, "am I clear to open the door?"
Two more shots rang out and then he heard a strained reply coming back at him, "clear, but hurry your ass up!"
Garrett wrenched the door open with one single shoulder thrust and practically knocked it out of its tracks as it crashed into position above them. Outside the door he saw the bodies of several freshly killed zombies dotting the driveway just outside the door, some of them only a few feet away from him. Several more were still standing on the edge of the drive and then there was Calvin with his back to the garage struggling just to keep on his feet. Garrett immediately took note of the gaping wound on the back of his shoulder, a river of drying blood had soaked the entire backside of his shirt. Focusing on the wound he recognized it for what it was, the ragged edges of the skin and torn shirt still bore the distinctive signs of teeth marks.
"Calvin, what..." Garrett started to cry out, then his friend turned and faced him.
Calvin's skin tone had already taken on the pale washed out color that was reminiscent of a corpse and was common with almost all zombies they had seen so far. His eyes told the rest of the story, while Garrett was still able to make out a splash of color where he would have expected to see the brilliant emerald green that drove women crazy, he was now looking into the faded white eyes of someone in their last moments of life and in the process of being reborn into the world of the undead. Calvin didn't need to say anything, he turned around, locked eyes with Garrett for just a second and then turned back to the zombies in front of him. One zombie had spotted Garrett and was just about to rush past Calvin to get into the garage, when Calvin clumsily raised his rifle, jammed the barrel into the guy’s ear and squeezed the trigger sending him cartwheeling out of sight down the driveway. The fact that the remaining zombies at the edge of the driveway were all but ignoring Calvin was an even more damning sign that he was lost to them. Garrett knew that his friend was fighting hard to stay on his feet as the virus ravaged his body, he could see him cringing in pain and sweat had already soaked through
the rest of this clothing that wasn't already drenched in blood. He was fighting as hard as he could against the inevitable to give them a shot at getting clear.
"Thanks man." Garrett called out to his friends back as he turned and rushed to the open driver’s side door of the Range Rover and found the keys already in the ignition with the engine started.
"What about Calvin?" Miranda cried out as Garrett dropped the truck into gear and started easing out of the garage.
Garrett couldn't meet her eyes, he felt the moisture in his own eyes and the soldier in him refused to allow her to see tears rolling down his face. He shook his head and gritted his teeth to mask the pain in his voice as he replied, "there's nothing we can do for him, but he'll cover our backs so we can get out of this."
As the Range Rover pulled out into the open driveway clear of the garage, Miranda whirled her head around and pressed her face up against the glass watching as Calvin methodically continued to approach each zombie in turn, lift his rifle to its head and pull the trigger. It seemed as though he was purposefully keeping his back turned to them as they turned onto the straight stretch of the driveway leading out to the street and relative safety. Miranda watched as Calvin dispatched the last of the zombies at the top of the driveway and continued to stand with his back facing them as he scanned the backyard for any further threats. When they reached the halfway point down the driveway she saw him stagger on weak legs and fall to his knees. The wound on his back now clearly visible to her but too far away for her to make out the same telling details that Garrett had seen. Even without seeing the small details of the wound on the back of his shoulder she understood exactly what it signified and the realization of why Garrett had left him behind hit her like a brick. During their time together she had grown to appreciate the bond that Garrett had formed with Calvin. Garrett had talked to her about some of his experiences when he was in the service. The one thing that she had taken away from those talks was that his fondest memories of those times always seemed to be when he and Calvin were together. She knew that their friendship was more of a brotherhood and she understood just how hard it was for Garrett to turn them away from that house and leave his brother behind.
