Myriah turned and jogged down the stairs sobbing. Kelly hoped she didn’t go into a full-scale panic attack even though in this particular case a full-scale panic attack was completely understandable. They’d just survived a night of hunters in the neighborhood and now it was like the Brotherhood had doubled down on finding them. This wasn’t a handful of guys checking doors at night. These guys looked like they were here to do some damage. Kelly hefted the comforting weight of her rifle. Not that it would do a ton of good if they had to go head to head with the guys on the machine guys outside.
“Hey babe. Thanks for letting me sleep in.” Randy had crept up the carpeted stairs to hug her from behind. Myriah was standing quietly behind him with tears streaking down her face. She was still letting out the occasional sob and struggling with a case of the hiccups.
“We can’t fight them. There’s too many of them and they’ve got machine guns.” Kelly said. She let herself break down a little bit in the comfort and security of her husband’s arms. He held her tighter and told her sweet lies like it was all going to be ok and that they’d figure out a way to get through this.
“Attic?” Randy blurted.
“You want to hide in it?” Kelly asked. It might work she thought to herself. It wasn’t like these guys would be trying to find Zombies up in attics. Randy looked elated for a second then he seemed to deflate.
“Shit! We’ve screwed up the inside of this house too much. Anybody who comes in here will think something’s been going on and search the whole house. We’ve got dead bodies that’ve been moved and chef boy ardee all over the place. Even the den looks like people have been in it recently. I don’t know how we can go around putting all the dust back where it needs to be and sucking the Febreze out of the damned air.” Randy put his face in his hands and bent over for a second taking deep breaths to try to reign himself in.
Seeing her dad at a complete loss looking like he was thinking about giving up made Myriah break down completely. She sat on the ground and buried her face in her hoodie. She began crying in earnest. Randy looked up and saw her but couldn’t think of anything to say to try and comfort her. Kelly sat down beside Myriah and started rubbing her back. Randy realized how beaten they looked. They had to come up with something.
“Ok. They’ve got machine guns and more men than us and we’ve messed this house up to the point I don’t think we can hide that people have been here recently. We’ve got a handful of guns with limited bullets and a car in the garage that works. We’d just have to drive through the huge moving trucks with the machine guns mounted on them to get out. What kind of Mad Max bullshit is that anyway?” Randy said trying to lighten the tension. Kelly barely acknowledged that he’d been joking and Myriah was too young to have any idea who Mad Max was.
“What are they doing now?” Kelly asked getting up and offering Myriah a hand.
“They’re all getting ready for something I just don’t know what.” Randy said staring down at the activity by the trucks. Between the two trucks there were easily thirty to forty armed men down there moving around. They didn’t seem to be trying to be quiet either. Randy could actually see a few Zombies running down the street towards the trucks. None of the men seemed particularly worried.
Shots rang out and the Zombies running in the road fell to the ground and rolled around a little bit before dying. Randy and Kelly stared at each other with their mouths open. What kind of crazy people shot their weapons in the middle of the day? That was going to attract every Zombie within a mile or two. Staring out the window the men down below still didn’t seem too worried. The number of Zombies running towards the truck was steadily increasing. The answering gunfire increased in sync with the rising numbers of Zombies headed in their direction.
“What the hell are they doing?” Kelly asked quietly.
“Trying to get all the Zombies to come to them so they can kill them is my guess. I mean why else would they park those trucks there and make all that noise.” Randy answered. They continued to stare down at the street where the Zombies were really starting to show up now. The men on the trucks firing steadily into the crowds of Zombies. They were firing in all four directions as the large moving trucks became surrounded.
“What the hell are they going to do when those Zombies start sweeping over the top?” Kelly asked. She was in awe of the men down below who seemed fearless in the face of the oncoming wave of death.
They watched as the moment came when the fences around the top of the truck seemed like they might not hold any longer. Adrenalized Zombies ran over the backs of their normal brethren to leap up and hoist their way onto the top of the truck. Nothing happened. The Zombies slowly just started to calm down. Some started to leave the area although most just milled around by the trucks looking pissed for being cheated out of some tasty flesh.
“They must be in the trucks. I bet they pop back out in a little while and start the whole process again.” Randy said after they observed for a little bit longer.
“Worse case they’d have to spend the night in the truck then they could move it forward a little bit to get away from the piles of dead Zombies and do the whole thing all over again. Wash, rinse, repeat. As long as the trucks full of extra bullets and food they could just do this over and over.” Kelly mused.
They both sat still contemplating what this may mean for them. If the people in the truck were stuck until the Zombies wandered away, then that gave them a window when they could possibly make a run for it. That would’ve worked fine if they were back further in the neighborhood. The house they were in was close to the front though and they were going to have the same issue the guys in the truck were having. They were surrounded by Zombies. There were some who’d stopped to hang out after the noise from the truck died off and some that looked like they were leaving to wander elsewhere. The large open area behind the house was covered in random wanderers.
“We could try and get in another house. That way if we get stuck hiding in the attic, they wouldn’t be able to tell someone had been living in it at least.” Randy said breaking the silence.
“I don’t want to sit in a dark attic trying to keep everybody quiet while men with guns rip the house apart looking for us. If they found us, we’d have no chance. Right now, I think we have a chance. We just have to time it right.” Kelly said. Her hope was that the Zombies around the house would thin out before the Zombies around the trucks did. If that happened, they’d be able to make a run for it and hopefully get out of the neighborhood without being seen by Zombies or the Brotherhood.
“I think you’re right. We just all need to suit up and be ready to haul ass the second the coast is halfway clear.” Randy kissed Kelly as they sat down to plan out the route they’d take once they made the call to pick up the kids and run for their lives.
Chapter 22: A Blue Label Day
Rodriguez and Kyler were reclining on leather chairs in a small cabin on the edge of the island. The cabins were part of a string of upscale hunting lodges that’d been built for both serious hunters and adventure seeking business executives. Krantz had left them there while he’d accompanied Roberts to another planning session. Rodriguez was busy getting wasted off the blue label Krantz had finally gotten around to giving to him. Kyler had been subjected to almost an hour of Rodriguez telling him how damned good it tasted. The descriptions becoming more grandiose the more Rodriguez drank.
Krantz showed back up to check on them as the sun was starting to go down. Kyler had already lit the gas lantern sitting on the ledge by the oven in the small kitchen in the cabin. In addition to the kitchen and dining areas there were two sets of bunk beds and a bathroom. The bathroom had been turned into a storage area and was full of bottled water and crates of Yahoo. Rodriguez had lost interest when he couldn’t find any ice. He’d hoped the refrigerator was hooked up to solar or something. The search for ice had led to a lecture about how much better the whiskey would taste over ice. If Kyler could’ve found some ice, he would’ve gladly beaten
Rodriguez with it until he stopped talking.
“I see you’re enjoying the whiskey.” Krantz said smiling crookedly at Rodriguez. Rodriguez was splayed out in the leather recliner with the remainder of the bottle sitting on the end table beside him. He had a half full tumbler of the brown liquid swirling in a cup in his hand. One way you could tell it was an upscale cabin was it had the proper glasses for drinking a fine whiskey. Rodriguez had been happy to tell Kyler all about how the proper glass was essential.
“Grab a glass sir. Join me. The kid here doesn’t drink. Something about his uncle molesting him or something.” Rodriguez grinned stupidly waiting for Krantz to go and grab a glass.
“Only because I’ve been dying to open this and see what it tastes like. Just the one though. The three of us are shipping out tomorrow and I don’t want to feel as bad as you’re going to in the morning.” Krantz answered.
“This stuff is too expensive to give you a hangover.” Rodriguez promised with that same stupid looking grin plastered on his face. One look at him reaffirmed all the reasons Kyler avoided any kind of binge drinking.
“Where are we shipping out to?” Kyler asked.
“The Senator asked Roberts where his sisters killer was. He had to tell him they got away. Roberts trusts us and since we were already on the case, he wants us to go meet up with the clearers and keep up the search.” Krantz answered simply. He was swirling the liquor around in his cup and holding it up to the lantern to look at it.
“You gonna take a picture of it or drink it sir?” Rodriguez slurred comically looking offended that Krantz wasn’t swilling down every bit in his glass and asking for seconds immediately. Krantz smiled and raised the glass to his lips taking a generous sip.
“That’s good. That’s really good. Anyway, first thing tomorrow morning we fly back. I’ll come by and get you. Be ready. If I have to leave you here, you’ll end up fighting with the Willie Nelson brigade to take back Broadway.” Krantz finished the rest of the liquor in his glass, started to tell Rodriguez to go easy on the liquor and visibly thought better of it, said a simple goodnight instead and walked out the door.
“You think maybe you – “ Kyler cut himself off. What did it really matter if Rodriguez drank himself into oblivion? Like plenty of men Kyler had known Rodriguez was a functional alcoholic. He’d get up in the morning, drink a water and be good to go. They were on an island in the middle of what’d been enemy territory up until that afternoon. Kyler imagined a lot could still go wrong with all of that which was why he was happy they were getting the hell out of Tennessee in the morning. At least on an island Zombies weren’t going to show up in the middle of the night to attack them. That was good because if they did Rodriguez would be completely useless.
The next morning Krantz didn’t show up at their cabin until about ten. Kyler was awake staring at the roof of the cabin. He’d woken up to the sight of Rodriguez spread out on the floor face down with no pants on. His body was pointed in the direction of the door, so Kyler thought maybe he’d been heading outside to pee and just gotten confused. Who knew? He’d yelled at Rodriguez to get up and get dressed. Once Rodriguez had pulled some pants on and found a water bottle, they’d both gone back to sleep expecting Krantz to come disturb them at any second.
“Good morning gentlemen!” A chipper looking Krantz announced as he came through the door. “Grab your crap and let’s get out of here. We’re next on the docket to leave. You’ve got three minutes.”
Three minutes was more time than either Rodriguez or Kyler needed. They both slept in their clothes. Normally they did anyway. Evidently a bottle of blue label is a lot like tequila in the making your clothes fall off category. Kyler shuddered at the memory. Standing up to walk outside he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. His M-16 was hanging off his arm fully loaded and ready to rock. His machete, hammer and pistol were hanging off him where he could easily get to them. He had knives shoved everywhere he could stick them without risking cutting himself. He didn’t want to end up with a scar like Rodriguez had on his posterior.
It was kind of depressing that he didn’t have anything he cared about losing anymore. He’d lost all his pictures on his phone and that’d been the last thing that really mattered to him. If he ever managed to get away, he was going to see about returning up north and going back to his old house. He’d love to grab some of the family pictures to keep. He’d stayed awake plenty of nights wishing he had a picture of his mom to look at every once in a while. He was scared every time he closed his eyes that his memory of her was going to fail him.
Krantz led them down a path through the trees to the other side of the island where there was a large field. Two helicopters were sitting out on the field with Brotherhood men milling around them. Krantz walked them over and they all sat around the helicopter until someone decided it was ok for them to leave. As in all military operations once they were told it was ok to leave, they were expected to go from zero to a hundred miles per hour in no time flat. Within minutes of receiving the order the rotors were spinning. Five minutes after the order was issued, they were in the air headed for the mountains.
Krantz hadn’t told them if they were being let off in Chattanooga or taken all the way back to Ball Ground. If finding the traitors hadn’t still been important to the Senator, then they’d probably have gotten stuck in Tennessee helping out with that operation. If they did get flown all the way to Ball Ground, then Kyler guessed that meant they really did have some prestige. Aviation fuel couldn’t be that plentiful and keeping these birds flying was probably challenging the mechanical skills of whoever they had servicing them. He decided he could get used to flying around as his primary mode of transportation. Every time you drove somewhere you ended up fighting for your life against Zombies. Up in the helicopter you could just wave as you flew over groups of them impotently screeching up at you.
He imagined the longer into the apocalypse they went the more dangerous it’d become to fly around in the machines though. When you’re surrounded by raving cannibals trying to eat you alive and human bandits trying to shoot you all the time. Preventative maintenance can sometimes fall to the wayside. Given the value of the machine they were in and the scarcity of everything needed to keep it flying he was pretty surprised when they didn’t land in Chattanooga.
It was a pleasant surprise though. He hadn’t been looking forward to having to make their own way back to Ball Ground. He definitely could’ve used another one of those toasted venison sandwiches though. Just thinking about it made him drool and his eyes get a little bit dreamy. He shifted his gun around and stared at the trees streaming past down below. His trance like state interrupted by Krantz coming over the channel to tell them to get ready to get out. It was time to get back to the reality of the constant risk of a misstep resulting in a Zombie snacking on your genitals.
“Get ready. The clearers are already in town, so the Zombies are all stirred up. They’re going to drop us in a field outside of Ball Ground and we’re going to hike in. If they drop us off any closer, we’ll just risk getting swarmed. Be ready to dismount in ten mics.”
Kyler and Rodriguez both acknowledged the order then watched the ground intently to see what kind of fun they were going to be dropped off in. Rodriguez tapped Kyler on the shoulder and pointed towards the subdivision by the first exit. The streets around the houses were crawling with Zombies. It looked like someone had kicked over a fire ant mound on that side of town.
They were dropped off in a field behind the elementary school. As soon as their feet hit the ground, they took off running for the trees. The noise caused by the rotors was going to act like a homing beacon for any nearby Zombies. The chopper pilot had said he’d fly low on his way out to broaden the area the Zombies would be looking for fresh meat in. The pilot didn’t want to make too much noise and screw up the clearers plan though. They also didn’t want to waste a bunch of fuel flying around in circles, so it was a situation where Krantz had to be happy with what the
y were willing to do for him.
Screeching Zombies were starting to show up on the edges of the field they were running through. Kyler felt the familiar fear tinged adrenaline flooding his system. The thought occurred to him that maybe he’d survived so long because he had such an easily triggered flight response. He let the terror coursing through him pump his legs to the point that he left Rodriguez in his dust and easily outpaced Krantz. He was the first one to get to the woods. He kept running until he was about thirty feet in before slowing to wait for the other two to catch up.
Breathing hard he watched Krantz bash his way into the woods directly behind him. Rodriguez was about ten feet back from Krantz and looked like he’d spent the morning trying to play the bagpipes for the first time. His face was bright red and he looked beyond nauseous. That bottle of blue must not be sitting right with him. Seeing they were behind him Kyler asked Krantz where they were trying to go.
“Let’s get to the trucks so we have the radio to talk to the clearers and so we’re mobile. We’ve got some other places to check besides Ball Ground.” Krantz huffed. He was in about the same shape as Rodriguez as far as aerobics went. He had the advantage though since his body wasn’t pulling double duty fighting off alcohol poisoning.
Zombies! (Book 5): Greater Love Hath No Man Page 19
