by T. W. Brown
The women seemed to be looking at me like I had something stuck between my teeth. Then, one by one, they nodded. I did my best to hide my sigh of relief.
We all climbed back down the ladder and hugged the wall of the closest building. It had been some small insurance dealer’s office, but now it was all boarded up.
When we reached the first intersection, I raised a hand to signal everybody that I wanted them to stop. I knew a little of the field signals from my time with Jon and hoped that all the stuff I was doing with my hands was enough to let them know that I wanted them to stay put while I crept across and got a look around the corner of the street that I wanted us to take.
Three heads nodded, so I figured I was doing pretty well. Slipping away from the building, I ran in a crouch. Reaching the husk of a Plaid Pantry, I pressed myself into the shadows and peeked around the corner. I knew that we were going to have to join in this fight; I just had not expected it to be so soon. Crouched down behind a big Dumpster, I saw five people pointing at places on something spread on the ground that I had to assume was some sort of map.
I pulled back and took a deep breath. My mind raced with the choices I had before me. The brief thought that these people might be on the side that I was taking flashed in my mind. Just as quickly, I tried to dismiss it as my conscience trying to interfere with the terrible things that I knew were ahead of me. Why would they be needing a map? I asked myself. And what would they be doing here, away from the center of the compound where all of the fighting was taking place? Still, I had to be certain before I just unloaded my M4 into these people.
Pressing myself as tight against the wall as I could, I peeked around again and strained to see if I could hear any of their conversation. All I got was a low buzz of indistinguishable talk. I crept closer, one agonizing step at a time. Each shift of gravel under my boot sounded like a thunder clap to my hyper-sensitive hearing. Thankfully I only had to take three steps before I could make out the first person’s words.
“…a park just up this street. That is where we were told that they have a storage shed with stacks of seed for their crops.”
“And the beginnings of their power station is on the other side of that park,” another voice added.
For the briefest of seconds, my mind skimmed my memory for all of the post-apocalyptic stuff that I had seen in movies. Gas, women, weapons. Not once had I watched a movie where the evil raiders were coming for seed to plant in their garden. This zombie apocalypse is not acting at all like it was supposed to, I thought.
Bringing my rifle up, I pressed the stock against my shoulder and brought it to bear on the person at the far left of this cluster as I was facing them. I took in a breath and sent a prayer to whatever entity might be listening.
Please forgive me.
I squeezed the trigger and sent short bursts of death slamming into the five unsuspecting figures. Either the report of the M4 was too loud, or my brain just muted the screams. In either case, I didn’t hear them so much as utter a squeak. Maybe they died without knowing or feeling a thing. That was what I would tell myself.
I lowered the weapon and approached the sprawled figures. Crap, one of them was still moving. My hand went to the pistol that I wore on my hip, but for some reason, I couldn’t release the flap. I was sending the message to my hand, but it was refusing a direct order.
BLAM!
The shot from right beside me made me jump and spin with my rifle up and ready for action. Katrina pushed the barrel of my weapon down and stepped past me to inspect the bodies all lying face down on the ground. She rummaged through pockets and gave them all a good frisking. I had to admire her for it. I would have no trouble searching a zombie, but those had been living people just a moment ago. No matter how bad things became, I vowed to never get comfortable with taking human life.
“Pretty detailed map of the place,” Katrina announced as she stood and moved away from the dead bodies. “It has the storage sites marked, weapons lockers, and even the residences of what I have to assume are the upper echelon of this place. Graham’s house is circled along with five others.”
“One of those is Carol’s,” Darla spoke up, having moved close and peered over Katrina’s shoulder.
“Figures,” I breathed. Granny Rambo was definitely somebody that I would want to neutralize if I were taking this place down.
“Let’s get moving!” Sunshine urged. I glanced at her and saw that she was just as uneasy around the dead bodies as me.
We slipped down an alley that took us between the fenced yards of several houses. I passed an old basketball hoop that had been knocked over. If Joseph were here, he would be making a note of that and dragging it back to our house when this was all done; provided we survived the night that is.
A staccato burst of gunfire came from just ahead and I saw two men turn into our alley at a dead run. They were firing over their shoulders and didn’t know we were there. With no time to make any sort of identification, I did the only thing that I could think of; I clotheslined the first and dropped my shoulder into the second, sending him sprawling on his side. Both men lost their weapons and were momentarily stunned. Before they could recover, they were staring down the barrels of our assorted firearms.
Seconds later, several figures rounded the same corner. They were skidding to a halt, but we were now in a similar state as our supposed captives.
“Lower your weapons!” Graham’s familiar voice called. He stepped out of the cluster and approached.
“I take it these are the bad guys?” I asked, nodding my head to the pair still on the ground with hands up in surrender.
“Yep, and now they are officially prisoners,” Graham replied, motioning for a few of his people to come forward and secure the two men. He scanned us and his face clouded. “Did something happen to Dr. Zahn?” The concern in his voice was very real.
“She is fine,” Sunshine said as she stepped forward and took a spot beside me. “How bad is this attack?”
“We’ have been hit before, but nothing like this,” Graham admitted. “They seem to know where everything is. If I would have been in my home instead of yours, I would not be standing here. They blew it and a few others to bits.”
“Was Carol’s one of them?” I asked. Now it was my turn to show my genuine concern.
“Yes,” Graham said slowly, caution oozing back into his voice. “How did you know?”
“This.” Sunshine thrust the hand-drawn map at the man. “They have some pretty detailed targets marked.”
“Where did you find this?” For some reason, Graham was suddenly sounding like he was interrogating us, like he suspected our involvement.
“We lifted it from a group that I gunned down.” It might have come off sounding flippant, but that certainly did not match how I felt about the whole situation.
“Where?” Graham obviously was not one hundred percent convinced; at least that was how it came across when he sent two of his little patrol back to where we told them that the bodies would be found.
Seconds later, we heard a gunshot from that very same direction. The sounds of weapons coming up and being brought to bear came in a flash. I tilted my head and glared at Graham.
“Seriously?” I snapped. “Are we going to keep playing this game until we actually end up shooting each other?”
The man never got a chance to respond as his two people came jogging back. “One of them must have been an immune. Just as we found them, the son of a bitch was starting to sit up.”
I mentally slapped my forehead. These days, it was standard practice to put a bullet in the head of somebody who died. You could not be sure if they were exposed to whatever it was that turned folks into zombies.
“Listen,” Graham sighed, signaling for his people to lower their weapons once again, “we have been on shaky ground. I think it is time that we start trusting each other. You are absolutely right about the whole drawing down on each other thing. It is starting to get a little bit old.” He
thrust a hand out and it actually took me a few seconds to recognize the gesture for what it was. “Welcome to La Grande.”
“We should probably save this for later when this attack is repelled,” a voice said from behind me that made everybody jump. I swear, if I survive the night without a damn heart attack, it will be a freakin’ miracle.
“Dr. Zahn!” Sunshine yelped.
It was the good doctor, but she was not alone. She had a small army in her wake. I recognized BP and Grady. There were a few faces that might have been in the room where I woke up, but I could not be sure. However, there were at least twenty more people in that crowd that I was certain I had never seen before.
For some reason that I can’t explain, I suddenly felt like the night was ours. I remembered a lot of lectures from Jon about being overconfident. He would have loved my old high school football coach who preached that the game was not over until the final second ticked off the clock. Still, something felt really good about the situation I now found myself in. At least it did until BP opened his big mouth.
“So what’s the plan, Billy?” he asked. All eyes shifted my direction. They did know that I was easily the youngest person in the group, didn’t they?
My gaze swept over the entire group, and I felt all that confidence that I’d just been so full of try to leak down my leg. I tensed my body as if suddenly constricting my muscles would matter.
“Give me that map,” I finally said in the loudest whisper that I dared. I felt it thrust into my hand and I turned and spread it out on the wall of the building that we were beside. I felt the group crowd in and somebody brought up a glow-stick without even being asked.
“It looks like whoever is behind this knew who they were targeting and where to strike.” I pointed to some of the places circled on the map. “They hit houses where some of this compound’s leadership were known to reside. In addition, they were also going for the weapons storage and power center.”
“It also looks like they were going after the hospital,” Dr. Zahn added, her finger stabbing a location on the map. Damn, I didn’t know this place had an actual hospital up and running.
Looking at the map, I made up my mind. “And that is where we will go.”
“Not the weapons storage locations?” I heard a male voice ask with a hint of dubious concern in his voice.
“These folks have a contingency plan in place that is up and running, isn’t that right, Graham?” The man might have nodded, but I already had my head of steam going and kept talking without his response. “They will have plenty of firepower in position at places like that. I am willing to bet that they did not think the hospital would be a location that needed defending. If these people gain the hospital, they have something to bargain with.” I turned to face my group. Some of them had blank stares, and I remembered that not everybody learned under the tutelage of Jon, Jesus, and even Jake. I was talking about Invasion Tactics 101.
“Hostages,” Graham breathed.
***
My group consisted of Sunshine, Katrina, and four individuals from Grady’s group. I was still feeling pretty good about my last big order before our group had divided and headed to their respective locations. I had sent Grady, Dr. Zahn, and three armed guards back to our house. The doc shot daggers from her eyes when I made that call, but I would be damned if I would risk somebody so valuable. To her credit, she went without a verbal argument. That did not mean I was not expecting the tongue lashing of my life to come once this was all over.
We were just across the street from what had once been a Walmart Superstore. They had converted it to their own medical facility because it had a massive pharmacy on the premises. I pressed against an RV that was resting on four flat tires. From here, we had a lot of open ground to cover.
“Everybody try to hug any shadow you can find,” I said. “Once we get to the parking lot, we gather over by that light post with the bushes around it. Even from here I could tell that was not going to offer much cover, but it was the best we had. “Any questions?” I was really glad when nobody raised a hand or spoke up. I am pretty sure I had no answers to give.
Staying in a low crouch, I was the first to make the dash. My heart was in the back of my throat and my mouth was absolutely dry. When I came to a stop at the light post, I was in the perfect position to see in the big entry doors. It was dark, but there were a few interior lights putting off enough brightness to offer a dull glow from the windows.
“This should work in our favor,” I whispered once everybody had reached our final checkpoint.
“How so?” an unfamiliar voice asked. I could tell it wasn’t a challenge to my statement, but simply an honest inquiry.
“If any of these raiders are inside, even the little bit of light that is in there will have blown their night vision,” I answered. “Now we wait for the signal.”
BP and his group were supposed to come from the opposite side and take up positions at the loading docks. Darla was with another group—the largest of the three—that was tasked with reaching the roof. They would search for an entry and then split into two groups. One would make their way in and the other would create a diversion on the far side of the store; to the right as I faced it; that would be the farthest from any of our incursion teams.
We didn’t have to wait long. A lone flare was fired, and a moment later, there was the sound of gunfire to the right of the enormous Walmart.
“Move!” I barked.
As one, my group rose to a crouch and began the final charge that would get us to the doors. I kept waiting for the bullets that would come and shred our team. We reached the doors and, since I was in the lead, I yanked them open and ushered everybody inside.
The dull yellow glow from deep within the cavernous space gave us enough light to see the two dead bodies on the floor right where the checkout aisles sat; the black pool of where their blood had spread across the tile already hosting a few flies that were buzzing around.
I moved into the closest aisle and ducked low to use it as cover. My group followed my lead until we had all taken up a position that would allow each of us a look down the length of one small part of the converted store. From my vantage, I could actually see the length of two very long and empty aisles that still bore signs for low prices on items that had long since been scooped up by looters or the residents of this compound.
“Movement!” a voice hissed. I could not tell who it was, but my head immediately turned to the left in search of the source. I saw one of the people that had arrived with Dr. Zahn. He was pointing to his eyes and then towards the aisle that he was positioned to look down.
I gave a nod and moved to the end of my checkout corral. I paused and blinked my eyes. On the floor, shoved just far enough under the now empty bins that once brimmed with all the stuff that children wanted and adults were forced to buy to shut them up was the foil wrapper of a York Peppermint Patty. Without pausing, I grabbed it and dropped it into the pouch at my hip as I moved past.
Reaching the end of my cover, I looked to see everybody had moved to the end of his or her aisle. I held up my hand to signal that they stay put before I duck walked across the open space and tried to meld into the end of the end cap. I had to cross three open aisles to reach the one that had been indicated. Peering around the corner, I ensured the coast was clear before I scurried across. After two more repeats, I was in position.
Looking down, I saw a shadow moving at the far end of the long, free-of-anyplace-to-hide aisle. At first glance, I could tell that the person had his or her back to me. The individual seemed to be shifting nervously from one foot to another. I pointed to the guy who had made the initial sighting and signaled for him to take the next aisle over. With a few hand gestures that I hoped to God everybody else understood, I signaled for the rest of the team to stay put. I would want my ass covered if I had to make a hasty exit.
The man moved across the aisle from me and pulled what looked like a fancy slingshot from his belt. To each his own, I
thought.
“Move as fast as you can while staying quiet.” I mouthed the words with as little volume as I could manage. He nodded, and we both started down our respective aisles.
I’d been to Walmart with my mom a few times, but this place was enormous; only made to seem larger by how empty it was. It looked like my target was a mile away, but I knew that was just my brain playing tricks.
At the first intersection, I discovered another body. This one was wearing sweats and had a card on a lanyard still around her neck. I pulled it loose as I moved past and shoved it into my shirt, feeling the cool plastic slide down my body until sweat caused it to stick in place.
I was halfway there and really starting to heat up. Sweat was dripping into my eyes, and I fought to keep my breathing as quiet as possible so the person would not turn around. By now, I could hear soft voices speaking.
“…supposed to do anything but secure this place, Jerry,” my target was urging.
“Yeah, well that punk tried to stab me,” a voice snarled. I heard something rip, along with a muffled groan of pain.
Screw this, I thought. I came up to a three-quarters crouch and pulled my belt knife free with barely a whisper of steel on leather. I covered the last several steps on my toes and at a pace that I am amazed did not give me away.
My squeamishness about killing a living person was consumed by the anger and adrenaline coursing through me at the moment. I hit the unsuspecting person in the back; one hand snaked around to cover the mouth as my other hand drove the blade of my knife into where I imagined the kidneys to be located. I let the body fall off my blade and brought my gaze up to the person I had not yet been able to see.
He was a man in his forties or fifties with the weathered face of a chain-smoker who spent too much time in the sun. The deep wrinkles were scars of black in the scarce light. With one step, I moved in and shoved my blade into his eye socket. Something hot splashed the side of my face.
I was in the entrance of what was probably a single ward of this makeshift hospital. A very small part of my mind was registering the details, like the fact that this had once been the electronics section of the store. The man I’d just killed had been holding a roll of silver duct tape in one hand, his booted foot slid from the middle of the chest of a boy that was sprawled on the ground beside the dead body of a woman whose throat had been slit. A few strips of the tape had been slapped over the boy’s mouth.
