The Hunt Chronicles (Book 2): Revelation

by Demers, J. D.

  Enrique was pulling Big Red around and we stormed down the side road where the dental office was located.

  “Status?”

  “Sir, we’re outside of the dental office,” Jenna reported. “The place is crawling with dead-heads. I’d say at least eighty to a hundred.”

  “Captain, this is Kolin,” another voice said. “We’ve got scabs on the roof tops. Dead-heads are coming at our truck. I can see Alpha Three. They’re getting surrounded as well.”

  “Can you see Vader?” Campbell asked, referring to the Police Armored Vehicle we had requisitioned.

  “Yes sir,” Kolin answered.

  “Jenna, can you get Sam into Vader?” the Captain asked. “We can’t lose it.”

  “Yeah,” she replied. “Should be easy, as long as he left the keys.”

  One standard we had when making runs into the city was to leave the keys of our vehicles under the driver’s seats, primarily for reasons like this. We didn’t want a whole team stranded because the driver had been killed.

  I didn’t like what I was hearing. It sounded too much like we were about to abandon Cecil and Chad. Even if Chad was dead, I didn’t want to leave him behind.

  “We can’t just leave them,” I said, still unknowingly referring to Chad as a living person.

  “Quiet, kid!” Fish barked, and then hit his transmitter. “Cecil, are you there?”

  Nothing but static came over the radio.

  “Drive by the place and run down as many dead-heads as you can,” Campbell told Enrique.

  We rounded the corner and saw the parking lot in front of the dental office swarming with the undead. There was easily three times the hundred that Jenna originally reported. Many were crawling on Vader, most likely trying to get at Sam, who had already started up the APC. Jenna’s truck was slowly pushing its way through the flood of zombies, leaving Vader’s side.

  “Kolin, where are the scabs?” Fish asked.

  “Across the street. They’re just watching us. I’ve seen three so far,” he reported back.

  “Damn it, Cecil, come in!” Fish growled into the radio. There was no response.

  “We can’t do this,” Campbell whispered, more to himself than to us.

  “I know, sir,” Fish agreed heavily.

  Campbell closed his eyes and let out a breath. “All teams. Head back to base. Scab-Wag.”

  Scab-Wag was a term we used when we knew scabs had spotted us. The monsters were notorious for tracking down prey. Whenever we knew they may be onto us, we would ‘Scab-Wag’, by driving down side roads in the opposite direction of Camp Holly, and slowly work our way back home.

  I wanted to argue with them, but I knew they were right. Cecil had already killed Chad.

  Cecil had yet to answer. Chances were that he was dead, too. Hopefully, it was quick. There was always the possibility that he had been bitten and got away. That was the real fear. As a scab, it was likely that he would backtrack to Camp Holly. And though our defenses were as good as I thought possible, scabs were still sneaky sons of bitches.

  Fish tried Cecil a couple more times as we zigzagged through Melbourne. No answer came.

  By the time we drove into the motor pool of Camp Holly, it was past noon.

  Boomer and I grudgingly got out of Big Red and began to walk away.

  We were greeted by guards who gave everyone a once over, ensuring we were not infected. After I was checked, Boomer and I turned and headed out of the motor pool.

  “Christian!” Campbell called from behind me.

  I stopped and slowly turned around. There were no tears, but my chest hurt and hot pressure was building on my face. I was pissed and sad at the same time.

  “Christian… I’m sorry about Chad. I know you guys were close,” Campbell said as he laid a hand on my shoulder. “I knew Chad from the first days of this nightmare. He had a good heart. Just not everyone could see it.”

  I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? Losing Gonzales was one thing. I was friends with him, but not like I was with Chad. He was my partner.

  Dobson climbed off the back of Big Red with the help of Trent.

  “Sorry about your men, Captain,” Dobson said. I couldn’t tell if he meant it or not, though.

  “I bet you are,” I said, not realizing that I said it aloud. I clamped my mouth shut.

  “Excuse me?” Dobson growled

  “Give him a break, Major. I’ve lost three men since we found you. He has the right to be pissed,” Campbell said.

  Dobson’s face softened. “I understand, Captain. Pitman is the only man I have left.”

  It didn’t occur to me at the time, but in hindsight, I can see why Dobson was so stiff and uncaring. I didn’t know what he had been through. He and a team of eight went half way across the world to rescue Doctor Tripp, traveled for a thousand miles through hostile lands, surrounded by zombies and scabs and God knows what else, and was trapped on a ship for almost a month at sea. He had his own loses and had as much grief as anyone else.

  But at the time, I was selfish. I only cared about my pain, my loss. I didn’t say anything else and walked off.

  I found little comfort sitting on the river bank, just outside the fence line. But it was away from everyone else and that is what I needed at the time.

  I sat by the river all afternoon lost in my own thoughts. I focused on the water mills spinning, providing Camp Holly with a portion of our electricity. Occasionally, I would see an alligator surface or a fish jump.

  Boomer lay next to me the entire time, as though he could feel my pain and loss. His wet nose would occasionally nuzzle my hand, and then he would lay his head back on my lap. I absently stroked his back, combing out fur he had yet to shed.

  No one approached me for a long period. Chad didn’t have too many friends around Camp Holly, but everyone knew we were close.

  I heard footsteps approaching from behind.

  Karina plopped down next to me with a bowl of soup and a bag of dog food for Boomer.

  “Are you hungry?” Jenna said. I turned and she was standing with two bowls of soup.

  “Not really,” I replied. My stomach hurt, but it wasn’t from hunger.

  “Well, you need to eat,” Jenna argued.

  “So does Boomer,” Karina said as she spread out the dog food on a towel for Boomer. He dipped his head down and gobbled up the pellets.

  I reluctantly took the soup and sat it in front of me.

  Jenna sat down on the other side of me and began to eat. No words were spoken. Just having them there was comforting. They knew how I felt.

  I only finished half of the soup and let Boomer lap up the rest.

  “It’s just wrong,” I said. Both girls looked at me sympathetically.

  I was going to say more, but Fish came up behind me.

  “Gear up, kid,” he ordered.

  “Gear up?” Jenna asked before I could say anything.

  “Not you, missy. Just me and the duo here,” he motioned to Boomer and me.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, standing up. The thought of going back outside the wire sounded good to me. I knew I wouldn’t have time to think about losing my friend if I was busy trying to stay alive in the city.

  “I’ll tell you on the way,” he said, and pulled me toward our shack.

  Once inside, I began to riffle through my equipment.

  “Just bring your Glock. No rifles,” he said, as he put on minimal gear. “Hurry up. We don’t have that much time before nightfall.”

  “Where are we going, Fish?” I asked, only grabbing my ammo vest. I attached my Glock and slid my .22 pistol behind my vest.

  “Cecil radioed,” he answered. “He’s trapped in the dentist office.”

  “He survived?” I asked, shocked.

  “Yeah. Said he jumped into a room to get away from the Zulus. It ended up being an X-ray room. He couldn’t get a signal out. He keeps cracking the door to send messages.” Fish finished gearing up and walked over to the door. “You
coming or what?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Who else?”

  “Just us, kid. I’m not risking anyone else. You and I can pull off runs better than the rest of these pogues.”

  We circled the inner wall of the camp, and I could tell Fish was being a little sneaky about it.

  “Does the Captain know we’re going?”

  Fish scowled as we walked into the motor pool. “Hell no. He said Cecil would have to wait the night out. He thinks it’s too close to sundown to send in a rescue mission.”

  I looked up at the sky. It was still clear, but we only had about an hour and a half until sunset.

  “Campbell’s right, Fish. It will be a tight run.”

  “Yeah, but it will be tighter if Cecil gets turned over night and we have a scab hunting our camp,” Fish argued as we walked between the vehicles in the motor pool.

  “Who’s going to open the gates?” I asked as I let Boomer into our Ford F350.

  Just then, DJ came around the corner.

  “You sure you want to do this?” DJ asked Fish.

  “I didn’t get all pretty to skip the dance,” Fish countered.

  “Alright,” DJ huffed and walked over to move the gate.

  “It’ll be a foursome,” a female voice said from behind a vehicle.

  “Hell no, Jenna,” Fish barked.

  “Hell yes,” she smiled back.

  “You don’t even know where we’re going,” I told her.

  “You’re going to get Cecil. You two talk too loud and Karina is pretty damn sneaky. She overheard you talking in your shack.” Jenna opened the back passenger door and threw her rifle on the bench.

  “And if I hogtie you and leave you behind?” Fish asked.

  “You can try, honey, but I’ve fought off bigger assholes than you,” she grinned and climbed in.

  Fish glared at me, as if I should be agreeing with him. I simply shrugged and jumped in the front passenger seat.

  “I thought you people were supposed to follow my orders,” Fish grumbled as he got in and started up the truck.

  “Like you’re supposed to be following Campbell’s?” I reminded him.

  “Can it, kid.”

  Chapter 19

  Nightmare

  June 24th Evening

  “Isn’t Mann’s going to hear our radio chatter with Cecil?” I asked as we pulled onto the road.

  Fish smirked. “Naw. DJ is having him clean out the latrine or something.”

  “The Captain is going to have a heyday with you boys,” Jenna laughed.

  I wasn’t in the mood for their humor. A part of me wondered how they could not be upset after the losing Chad and Gonzales. Two months without a loss and two deaths in as many days.

  Fish looked over and wrinkled his nose. “Why isn’t the fleabag in the back with the other fleabag?”

  “Screw you, Fish,” Jenna shot back.

  “Because I wanted him up front,” I stated evenly. Fish glared at me, but I brushed it off.

  We drove into the city. Shadows were creeping in around us as the sun moved closer to setting.

  “Cecil, come in.” Fish said into his mic. It was then I realized that he was the only one with a radio. Runners never left the camp unless all were equipped with communications.

  There was nothing for a moment, and then Cecil responded.

  “Here,” he said in a whisper.

  Fish keyed the mic again. “Status?”

  “Only a couple dead-heads in the building. I can’t see into the lobby, but I can hear some moaning. There’s a good chance they busted open the front door.”

  “Alright. Sit tight.” Fish glanced into the rear view mirror. “Jenna, you’re going to drive. If there are Zulus in the parking lot, we’ll draw them off in the truck. You’ll loop back and drop us off. Keep the bastards occupied.”

  She grinned. “See, aren’t you glad I came along?”

  “I’d be happier if you had a muzzle on,” he said under his breath and pulled the truck over.

  Fish, Boomer and I got into the back seat while Jenna took over the wheel. She pulled ahead and drove toward the dentist office.

  Shadows were getting longer as we turned the corner and saw the parking lot. There were a dozen broken corpses on the pavement from earlier when Vader’s tires crushed them. More bodies were lying near the door, splashes of dark blood behind their heads.

  About thirty zombies were still in the area, mostly in the shade of the dental office building. The shadows were growing with every second, and they were starting to fan out.

  “This isn’t good. The streets will be full in twenty minutes,” Jenna remarked as she drove slowly around the parking lot. She managed to run a few over, but the front of her truck’s cattle catcher was designed to push them to the sides, rather than mow them down.

  “Hurry up, Jenna. We don’t have all day,” Fish snapped. Zombies were following us, but we needed to drag them further away to give Fish and I a shot at getting into the building safely.

  “Cecil, how many rounds do you have left?” Fish asked.

  The radio crackled. “Three. I spent a lot.”

  “What about Chad’s gun?” I asked.

  Fish relayed the question.

  “He was still wearing it when they got him. I think he’s reanimated already, because he’s no longer where he… I…” Cecil broke off, unable to complete what he was trying to say.

  Fish grimaced. “We get it. Alright. We’re breaching the door in two minutes. Be ready and for Christ’s sake, don’t shoot us.”

  “Roger that,” Cecil replied and the radio went silent.

  “You boys ready?” Jenna asked as she turned the truck one hundred and eighty degrees. We were about three hundred feet from the dentist office now.

  “Waiting on you, woman,” Fish muttered.

  “Here we go!” Jenna stomped on the gas and we sped toward the building. The zombies, while not fast, were still pretty swift as the sun sank further and further down near the horizon.

  She slowed down to a crawl as we approached the front door of the dentist office. Fish jumped out, followed by Boomer and then me.

  Cecil was right, the front door was ajar. It seemed to close on its own, but the arm of a nearby zombie was stopping it. A dime-sized hole was above its right eye. To the left of the door was a giant window with a half a dozen holes. The glass must have been industrial grade because the window was still holding strong.

  Boomer immediately gave off the sign that zombies were nearby. That was a given, with Jenna towing about thirty of them behind her, but Boomer was alerting into the building that we were about to go into.

  “Hurry, kid!” Fish rasped.

  I nodded and Boomer and I went to the door. A low growl erupted from the canine’s belly.

  I quickly turned on my flashlights after seeing Fish do the same.

  Boomer was hunched down, preparing to pounce as soon as the door opened all the way. I realized why when I heard a guttural moan coming from the other side.

  I kicked the zombie’s arm out of the way. An object scattered across the pavement and I realized the zombie was holding a popper. Cecil must have thrown them in a desperate attempt to distract the attacking corpses.

  “Coming in!” Fish said into the radio.

  I opened the door and stepped to the side. Boomer growled louder and Fish shoved his suppressed .45 in the face of the zombie waiting on the other side. The back of its head exploded in a black mist and it crumbled to the floor.

  Fish pushed forward and I heard another muffled shot and another body hit the floor. Boomer followed him and I shut the door behind us.

  The first room appeared to be a waiting area. There was one door leading to the back that was cocked halfway open. A receptionist window was located just to the right of the door. The glass that partially covered the opening was cracked and spider-webbed.

  Three more bodies of zombies lay motionless on the floor. One had to come from Fish’s recent shot.

&
nbsp; “Where are you at?” Fish called, not bothering to use the radio. It made sense. At the most, a zombie would come shambling out from somewhere and be an easy target. But none did.

  “Coming!” Cecil yelled from somewhere in the back of the building.

  Right then I realized Jenna wouldn’t know when we were coming out. We didn’t take the time to pick up multiple radios, and the CB in the truck wasn’t linked to our hand radio network.

  Boomer inched toward the door leading to the back rooms, sniffing. He was on edge.

  “I think it’s clear,” Fish concluded. “I’m sure we would have heard one when Cecil and I yelled at each other.”

  I nodded, but kept an eye on Boomer anyways.

  Fish pushed his way through the door leading toward the back. The hallway continued, but there was an open entryway leading to the receptionist desk on the right.

  Fish walked past the doorway just as Boomer growled. A hand reached out from the receptionist area and grabbed his ankle.

  “Fish!” I yelled and shot the zombie’s forearm. Fish jumped forward and spun, but not in time.

  My warning had attracted the zombie. Its head came around the corner and before I could shoot, the zombie sank its teeth into my shin. In our rush to leave Camp Holly I had neglected to put on my usual body armor, and I just paid the price.

  “Christian!” Fish barked. His boot swung around and kicked the zombie in the head, effectively pulling a small chunk of my jeans and flesh with it. Before the zombie could react, Fish fired two shots into the creatures head, spraying black ooze and brain matter on the tile floor.

  I fell back against the wall, shaking from the pain.

  “What happened?” Cecil asked as he walked toward us in the hallway.

  Fish was staring at my wound. Slowly his eyes came up to mine and locked on tight.

  It’s hard to describe the emotions I saw in them. Hatred really isn’t the right word. Disgust might be closer to what I saw. I don’t think it was directed at me as much as himself, though.

  “Holy shit!” Cecil exhaled when he saw what had happened. “My God, Christian. I’m sorry…” he said.

  Fish’s jaw clenched, and gave off an eerie ambiance in the glow of my flashlight.

  Slowly, he raised his weapon.