Zombies! (Book 5): Greater Love Hath No Man

by Merritt, R. S.

  While Rodriguez was freeing the truck from the bikes grip another one of the riders walked out of the weeds in front of them. He looked like a Zombie at first the way he appeared out of nowhere and the shuffling way he was walking. One of his legs was obviously not working right. Rodriguez finished up with the handlebars and ran and got back in the driver’s seat. Kyler put his rifle down. He’d pulled it up and aimed it at the man who’d appeared out of nowhere thinking it really was a Zombie coming for them. Rodriguez drove up beside the guy and Kyler leaned out to tell him to go find the other guy and make sure he was alive.

  “Those chic’s on the four-wheelers are no joke.” Rodriguez said. He was driving forward a little more slowly now trying to avoid running into anymore bikes or anymore of their people. Thanks to going slow he managed to avoid hitting the third guy they passed although it didn’t look like it really mattered. Based on the blood and the funny angle the guy’s head was at he wasn’t going to be getting up anytime soon.

  With no bikers left in front of him to worry about Rodriguez’s foot got a lot heavier on the gas pedal. They surged forward eating a lot of weeds and dirt. Through their squinted eyes they both saw the back of a four-wheeler appear out of nowhere. What Rodriguez focused in on was the barrel of the shotgun pointing directly at them as it swung up onto the girls shoulder riding backwards in front of them.

  Kyler missed most of what happened next. Rodriguez had his pistol out and was blasting away then they hit a big bump. When they landed the girl had a pistol out and was blasting away at them. Kyler thought they’d gotten off safe and was getting ready to yell at Rodriguez to stop shooting and back off when the truck suddenly swerved hard to the left, spun around, and felt like it may flip before finally coming to a rough stop.

  When Kyler was able to look over, he saw that Rodriguez was holding his shoulder trying to stop the blood that was pouring out of it. Kyler ripped off his pack and pulled out the dressing and bandages he kept in there and went to work on Rodriguez. It took a minute or two, but he thought Rodriguez may actually survive. Working on that had caused him to lose focus on what was going on around them. The busy task a welcome distraction from the fact that they’d just been in a gunfight with a young girl riding backwards on a four-wheeler and lost.

  “Clearer Actual this Clearer Ten. We have the fugitives in custody. Sector ten in the subdivision over.” The message came blasting over the radio reminding Kyler once again what they were in the middle of doing. Without saying anything he hopped over Rodriguez and pushed him over to the passenger side. Rodriguez flinched in pain and put his hand on top of the bandages to hold it in place but didn’t say anything otherwise.

  Kyler drove the truck like he was possessed. He bounced them through the rough terrain and up into the overgrown grass of a once expensive home. Up in front of him he saw the four-wheelers parked and two clearers moving slowly towards the fugitives with rifles at the ready. He slammed the car into park and hopped out trying his best to look important.

  “Hey man. Hand me that walkie and focus on getting these guys tied up. I’ll cover you.” Kyler said taking the walkie from one of the clearers. He noticed the man he was taking it from looked like he was tweaking out on something. His eyes were all over the place and he kept licking his lips. Dismissing that bit of trivia as useless to him Kyler backed up a couple of steps and raised his rifle waving for the men to move forward.

  Kyler sensed the family coiling up getting ready to attack. He felt his own senses tingling with the anticipation of a fire fight. His adrenaline kicking into high gear knowing he was fixing to put it all on the line. Never minding the consequences Kyler fired two quick shots into the backs of the clearers he’d just ordered forward then pointed his gun at the ground and waited to see if he was going to die or not.

  “You guys need a ride?” He asked in a voice that seemed to emanate from someone else.

  He found himself flat on his back with a pistol jammed against his head a couple of seconds later.

  “Shoot him I shoot you.” Came the familiar voice of Rodriguez from the truck. The man on top of him yelled over his shoulder.

  “Honey. Please shoot the guy aiming a gun at me from the pickup so we can get the hell out of here.”

  “I saw you through the window. You were dressed up like a Zombie! Your kid came out and grabbed your leg. Don’t shoot the guy in the truck. He’s with me.”

  “Don’t shoot him.” A woman’s voice echoed.

  “We don’t have time for prisoners.” The man said. He seemed intent on ignoring Rodriguez who was being eerily quiet. Kyler hoped they hadn’t already managed to kill him.

  “This is the guy who could’ve had us in the house when I dumped all the food on my head and slammed my face into the window acting like a Zombie.” The woman explained. The pistol barrel moved away from his face.

  “Oh. Cool. Thanks. Can you tell your guy in the truck to stop aiming his pistol at me?” The man asked Kyler.

  A loud screech broke through their conversations. Kyler heard fire break out as the family of fugitives started taking out the Zombies who’d started showing up all around them.

  “We’ve got to go!” The man yelled. He’d climbed off Kyler now. “Tell your man to get out of the truck and we’ll let you both live.”

  Kyler stood up slowly hoping no one accidentally shot him.

  “Get in the back. Lay low. I’ll drive. The Brotherhood is on the way here right now. No way you get out without my help.” Kyler told the man.

  “Randy, get the kids in the back. This guy let us live at the house and he just killed two of his own guys to save us. What’s your name?” The lady asked him.

  “I’m Kyler and that guy bleeding to death in the truck over there is Rodriguez. Rodriguez gave a confused looking wave at Kyler shaking the woman’s hand then seemed to give up and settle into the passenger seat for a nap.

  “I’m Kelly. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I hope it’s for the right reasons. Don’t make me regret this. Those little kids getting in the truck right now are everything to me and if you hurt them, I’ll put a bullet through the back of your head without a second thought.” Kelly promised him in her scary voice.

  “Yes Ma’am. Now hurry up and get in the back before the Zombies get here. I need you all to stay low. I’ve got a plan but if they see you in the back it’s all over and we’re dead. Hurry!” Kyler said rushing for the door as more Zombies came out of the ditch and sprinted towards them. The family in the back gunning them down as quickly as they’d appeared.

  Kyler climbed in the truck and started driving them through the subdivision. He completely ignored the looks he was getting from Rodriguez telling himself he’d deal with having that little talk once they were safe. He reached over and pulled the mic off the radio and pressed the send button.

  “Clearer Actual this is Rover One. Over.” Kyler said.

  “Rover One this is Clearer Actual. What’s your status? Over.” The excited voice of Krantz came back to them. The sound of the excitement in his voice made Kyler feel nauseous. It completely reinforced that he’d made the right choice. Didn’t these people realize they were trying to track down and kill a family that’d just been trying to survive? A mom and her kids?

  “Clearer Ten is Kilo Indian Alpha. Fugitives are headed south in the gully now. Rover One driving to intercept. Over.” Kyler sent.

  “Roger that Rover One. All other units continue to envelop and shift. Do not let them slip out. Keep it tight. Over.” Krantz didn’t sound quite as thrilled now that he’d received the news that they didn’t have the fugitives locked down.

  Kyler dodged a Zombie coming at the side of the truck and drove out of the weed enveloped neighborhood they were in. He pointed the truck east and put the hammer down. The wind whipping through the windshield reminding him at some point he needed to stop and get them a new vehicle.

  “You know they’re going to kill us, right?” Rodriguez said.

  “Probab
ly.” Kyler answered not able to look over at Rodriguez. No matter what else was going on he had just dragged Rodriguez into his own personal dilemma without even asking him.

  “Well. Drive fast and if we do manage to escape hopefully the people up north don’t kill us for these damned brands on our back. Wake me up if they catch us or if we pass a liquor store. I feel the need to mix prescription pain killers with a few shots of Cuervo.”

  Kyler smiled. He’d hoped Rodriguez would be good with going along with this plan. Not that he’d been given much of a choice. Kyler had pretty much kidnapped him at gunpoint. He didn’t feel too bad though. Rodriguez was basically a good guy. The Brotherhood had just been corrupting him like it was corrupting everyone else. Rodriguez would be happy again as soon as they got up north and they ended up in another fighting unit up there. It’s not like they had any loyalty to the Senator. The only one Kyler felt eve a little bad about right now was Krantz.

  Krantz was also the main reason he was driving like a maniac. He knew Krantz was smart and resourceful. It wouldn’t take him long to figure out Kyler and Rodriguez had gone rogue. Once he did there wasn’t going to be anything that’d keep him from coming after them. A man like Krantz wouldn’t be able to forgive this kind of betrayal. He’d keep coming for them no matter how long it took. Assuming the Senator didn’t have him executed for failing at capturing the fugitives that Kyler had hiding in the back of the truck.

  Feeling sorry for the people in the back Kyler kept up the crazy driving. He was hitting all kinds of garbage in the road that threatened to make him lose control. He watched the family in the back levitate up in the air a few times when he hit particularly large bumps in the road. He noted the whole family had come together and wrapped their arms around each other. That was smart since it gave them more overall weight and ensured the little ones wouldn’t just bounce right out of the truck bed.

  Rodriguez wasn’t loving the bouncing either. He’d snaked a few pills out of his pocket at some point that’d put him right over the edge. He was flopping around like a ragdoll over in the passenger seat. He wasn’t going to be much help if something happened. A suspicious part of Kyler wondered if he hadn’t done it on purpose so he could get out of having to shoot at anyone in the Brotherhood. If they were captured, he could claim he’d been out cold the whole time. Kyler pushed those thoughts out of his head when he saw a sedan driving towards them.

  There was nowhere for them to hide on the narrow road. They were just going to have to go for it. Kyler slowed way down yelling for the people in the back to keep their heads down and get as low as they could get. When he was beside the sedan he stopped and rolled his window down. As soon as the man driving the sedan did the same Kyler threw out the challenge phrase and waited for the response. Once they’d confirmed they were both on the same side the sedan driver visibly relaxed.

  “We’re moving in to tighten the net. We were pretty far out to try and catch them in case they got past everybody else.” The man told Kyler.

  “Ok. We’re taking on that role now. You keep going the way you’re going and keep your eyes open. We’re thinking now they doubled back down the gully to head south. They just killed two more of our men down there so keep your eyes open. I wouldn’t give them the benefit of the doubt either. Shoot first and live longer.”

  “Sounds good to me sir. Thanks.” The sedan driver drove away. Kyler gave himself the freedom to breathe again. He glanced over at Rodriguez who’d opened his eyes again during the exchange and had his pistol out and in his hand. That flipped Kyler out for a second and he started to go for his weapon.

  “I’m on your side moron. This was for them if you’d done a bad job lying. Turns out you might be a pretty good poker player though.” Rodriguez put the pistol back in his holster and went back to sleep without another word.

  “We going to sit here all day or get the hell out of Dodge?” A man’s voice drifted to Kyler from the back of the truck.

  “Heading out now. You guys stay down but based on what that guy just told me we may already be outside the net. My former boss is going to figure this out soon enough though, so we need to haul ass. I’ve got friends up north that may be able to help us out if we can make it that far.” Kyler yelled back over his shoulder to Randy or anyone else who was listening.

  Rodriguez had popped his eyes back open at the exchange.

  “Friends up north?” He asked in a slurred voice. He’d definitely been hitting some sort of narcotic over on his side.

  “It’s a long story.” Kyler said.

  Chapter 29: A Long Story

  Kyler drove slowly past the dilapidated service station and diner on the leaf covered two lane road. The service station had a house behind it where the owner had lived. Not seeing what he’d been looking for he kept on driving. Up ahead he saw a sign for a daycare and slowed down again to see if the parking lot there may provide any better options. This time he thought he saw something that may work.

  “Wake up.” He said poking Rodriguez in the side.

  “What?” Rodriguez said sitting up looking dazed and confused. Ignoring him Kyler yelled over his shoulder for Randy and Kelly to get ready.

  “Ready for what?” Kelly asked him through the broken window.

  “We’re going to see if that van runs. If it does, I think we should switch vehicles. The Brotherhood has posts all over the place and they note what cars they see go by. A white truck with the windshield blown out and a family sitting in the back puts a big target on our backs.” Kyler explained his reasoning as he turned into the circular driveway in front of the home turned daycare.

  That explanation seemed to have worked as everyone gathered their gear and weapons and positioned themselves in the truck to fight if needed. Kyler was happy to see the newcomers in the back of the truck all pulled out hand weapons instead of automatically going for their guns. This wasn’t their first rodeo.

  He stopped the truck and hopped out leaving it running in case they needed to get out of there in a hurry. He looked at Rodriguez who waved and blew him a kiss. Rodriguez obviously wasn’t planning on lending a hand on this particular operation. Probably due to the massive blood loss coupled with the self-medication. Rodriguez had long since gotten all the pills jumbled to the point where he had no idea how strong the different ones were anymore. Asking Rodriguez for an aspirin was akin to playing Russian roulette. You never knew what the hell he was going to hand you. Although if he was cackling like an idiot when he handed it to you there was a good chance that he was trying to sneak you a Viagra.

  Randy and Kelly hopped out of the truck and walked a few steps behind him. No one was talking anymore as they all went into stealth mode. You didn’t talk when you were going to be in an area for an extended amount of time. If you did the Zombies would come. About the only place you really could talk was in a moving car or if you were somewhere that would block most the sound like a room in a house. In the house you still only spoke when necessary just to be on the safe side.

  Kyler tried the door to the van. It was locked like he’d anticipated. He normally looked for cars that were in garages as they weathered the apocalypse much better than those left exposed to the elements. This van was sitting under a carport though, so he’d figured it was at least worth a try. He nodded towards the door leading into the house from the carport and Randy led the way over to it. Once all three of them were over by the carport door Randy made a tapping motion with his hand and Kyler nodded yes. Randy tapped the glass on the door three times hard with the funky looking axe he was carrying.

  They all stood silent listening for any disturbance in the house caused by the noise. Not hearing anything after a minute of waiting Kyler signaled for Randy to do it again. Randy did it again this time a little bit harder to make sure it’d be heard throughout the whole house. When that tapping failed to cause any freaks to materialize either Kyler stepped forward and used a hammer to break the pane of glass by the doorknob. He fumbled around for a second then
they were all moving into the house.

  A block of wood with some hooks hanging on it by the kitchen had some key chains dangling off it that looked promising. Kyler grabbed those while Kelly and Randy looted the pantry. It was a treasure trove of kid snacks packed with preservatives. Kyler had often wondered how the little fruit snacks could claim they were made with real fruit, yet manage to last two years sitting in a hot pantry. Two years in a hot pantry and still taste the same as the day they were picked off the real fruit snack tree. Kyler watched amused as the excited parents made room in the plastic grocery bags that they’d found in the pantry to shove in some toys. He was about to tell them they needed to hurry up when they both gathered what they’d found and went to stand by the carport door to wait for him. It looked like they were all working on the same wavelength already.