“I have an idea,” I said.
“Is it dangerous?” Charlie asked.
“Pretty much.”
“Is it stupid?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Charlie asked. “Duncan isn’t here yet to give his endorsement, so we’ll have to go on without him.”
“Let’s get to the creek and cross over to the other side. I’ll stay in one spot and try to keep their attention; you sneak along the bank, and get to the truck. I’ll meet you further up the way, and we’ll get out of here,” I said.
“Better hurry.” Charlie picked up a large rock and hurled it at a zombie who was moving faster than the others. The rock flattened his nose and caused one eye to bug out further than the other, which didn’t improve his looks any. He fell down and immediately started to get back up.
We ran straight away from the road and into the heavy brush that grew along Bear Creek. Charlie made his way through the tall grass and trees towards the truck while I stood at the edge of the grass and waved my arms.
“Over here! Right here! Lunch buffet! All you can eat!” I think I heard a chuckle coming from the direction Charlie went, but I couldn’t be sure. The zombies took to it all right, and they stumbled and weaved and swayed their way over to me. When they were about twenty feet away, I ducked through the grass and down to the creek.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for what was in front of me. I must have forgotten that western standards of water were vastly different than what I was used to. In Illinois, a creek was anything that was between five and ten feet wide. Rivers had to be at least fifty feet across. Hell, parts of the Mississippi River were a mile across.
What I thought was going to be a creek turned out to be little more than a stream barely two feet across. Sure, the zombie might trip on the stream bank, but they weren’t going to be stopped by it. The water looked very cold and I couldn’t see the bottom, but that was likely due to the overhanging branches reflecting off the water.
Well, some barrier was better than none. I went up the hill a little bit and started shouting some more. It was funny how, when you needed to make noise, you always sounded like the biggest idiot.
“Whoo! Over Here! Right Here!” I had to give Charlie a chance to get to the truck despite the small size of the water. I raised my pick over my head and yelled for all I was worth.
It was in the middle of the second round of yelling that it occurred to me that there was another side of the creek, and it was entirely possible that there were zombies on this side. I looked over my shoulder and suddenly ducked, avoiding the sweeping hand that came to grab me from behind. I stood suddenly as the corpse fell over my back and pushed away at the same time. The zombie went flying and landed on the other side of the creek with a wet smack in the mud.
I didn’t have time to laugh since there were three more that were converging on my position. I darted away to the west, following the tree line and making the Z’s come after me. I waited for the first one to get close enough, and I took a full swing at his head. He went down without a sound, and I wrenched the flat head of my pick out of his skull. I swung a mean back-handed blow to the next one, punching through his skull with the pointed end. The zombie took my pick away with it, and I whipped out my grandfather’s Ka-Bar to deal with the third zombie. The point easily went through the last zombie’s skull, and it made a high-pitched squeaky sound as it slid out of the Z’s brain.
I kept running, and when I figured I was about parallel with the truck, I charged through the grass. I crossed the stream, but I nearly fell in it when I saw the zombies down the way struggling in the water. The ones who stepped over the creek were fine; they were climbing up the other side. The ones who took a step in the water were up to their waists, clinging to the grass on the other side while the current threatened to wash them down a ways. Deep in the recesses of my mind came a reference to mountain streams and how they are a lot deeper and more dangerous than people think they are.
I came out of the woods on the other side, and as it happened, I was about twenty yards too far. I could see Charlie in the truck, and further down I could see groups of zombies still headed into the woods for either disappointment or baptism, depending on their footing.
I went over to the truck, and as I got closer I could hear Charlie talking on the radio. I figured he must be talking to Tommy or Duncan. I opened the truck door and ducked as Charlie bellowed and aimed a gun at me.
“Jesus Christ! I yelled. “What the hell?”
“Christ yourself!” Charlie yelled. “You scared the shit out of me!”
I don’t know why, but the situation struck me as funny, and I spent a minute laughing while Charlie composed himself.
I climbed in the truck and Charlie shook his head. “Thank God I let go of the send button. Duncan would never let me live that one down,” he said.
“Are they nearby?” I asked.
“They’re just south of us. And Tommy says they heard a report from a scout on the eastern edge that they heard faint radio chatter from the rest of the army,” Charlie said.
“Damn, that is good news,” I said.
Charlie nodded. “We get the rest of them here, we’ll clear this place out in a week, and we can use this as a base of operations.”
“Good point. It’s a central location, up against the mountains, and we’ll need it for the next phase,” I said.
“What’s that?” Charlie asked.
“We seal off the mountains, keep the west coast from getting through and starting the apocalypse all over again,” I said.
Charlie was quiet for a minute. “What if there’s communities alive in there?”
“I thought about that. We’ll make sure anyone living could get through without a problem. Anyone dead will have to stay where they are,” I replied.
“Well, let’s just hope no one is dumb enough to want to go into the mountains,” Charlie said.
“Amen to that. By the way, we’ll need to come back for my pick later.”
We drove south the first chance we got, and it took some work to get through a few traffic jams. I had to push some vehicles out of the way, and Charlie had to kill a few Z’s, but we pushed on and eventually made it to where Duncan and Tommy and the rest of their band were waiting.
Our reunion was brief. Tommy brought us up to date on what they accomplished in Texas and New Mexico, and I gave them the information about Montana. I had to laugh about how the hotel people pulled the same kind of fast one as the people in Missouri did.
“I ever get back there, I’m going to knock that smug son of bitch out,” Duncan said.
“Leave it be,” Tommy said. He turned to me. “He’s been bitching about that for about three hundred miles.”
I laughed. “It stings, but it happened. Let’s focus on the here and now.”
We set up camp outside the city in Cherry Creek State Park next to a decent-sized lake. The lake was formed by a dam, and there were good sized trees all around us. Access was limited, so we were secure. I wasn’t going to go in again; not when the rest of the army was on its way. I got in touch with Casey, and we soon had a much bigger reunion going on. Casey set up a perimeter and we relaxed a bit. I sent scouts far out east to try and contact our other army and let them know where we were.
We were outside the city proper and had been there for two days. The teams we had with us were slowly pushing in, but it was a street-by-street process. We didn’t have the manpower to do much more. The earth movers were not with us and neither were our supply trucks, so we were taking it easy, not trying to strain the resources any more than we had to.
On the third day, we had secured the area south of the lake as well as the suburbs to the east all the way to E-470. Buckley Air Force Base actually had a large number of people living in it, and we were able to clear out the zombies that had hemmed them in and allow them to leave. There were three helicopters out on the tarmac, bu
t since we didn’t have any pilots, they were going to have to stay there. Duncan tried to figure it out, but one look at the control panel and even he admitted defeat.
On the fifth day I was out with Duncan trying to find a high place to scout the city without actually having to go in. We’d ducked several pockets of zombies and were getting closer to a decent-sized tower when we got the radio call to come back to camp. Charlie was vague with details, and that was never a good sign. My first thought was Who did we lose now?
Half an hour later we were at the camp, and I went over to where the radio tower had been set up. It wasn’t very high tech; we just ran the antennae up into the air with a balloon.
Charlie was waiting for me and he had a grin on his face.
“I think you’ll want to take this call,” he said.
I cocked my head at him. “Is it the army?”
“Better.”
I took the microphone. “This is John.”
“Hey babe!” The voice that came through the speaker sounded like peace on Earth at last.
“Sarah?” I held my breath, hoping I was right but prepared to be wrong.
“That’s me. Rebecca is here, Julia is here, Jake is here, Aaron is here. We’re all safe and sound.” Sarah sounded a little strained, but maybe it was the reception of the radio.
“Where are you?” I asked, looking over at Charlie, who shrugged.
“Somewhere east of the Rockies, in Kansas, I think,” Sarah said.
I had to chuckle. Sarah wasn’t exactly the best with directions. “Well, as long as you keep the mountains in front of you, you’re headed in the right direction. If you start to go down a really big hill, then you’ve gone too far,” I said.
“Not funny, John,” Sarah said. She couldn’t be mad; she knew I was right.
“Okay, seriously, how far are you from Denver?” I asked, winking at Charlie.
Sarah was quiet for a moment, then responded. “We’ll be there in about half a day,” she said.
“All right,” I said. Then it hit me that she had said ‘we.’ “Who are you travelling with?”
“The rest of the army. I ran into them on my way through Kansas,” Sarah said.
Charlie raised a fist in the air and went to get the commanders together. We were finally going to have a shot at clearing out this city and using it for a base.
“That’s great news, babe! You drive carefully, okay?” I said.
“John?”
“Yes?”
“How secure is Denver?” Sarah asked.
“Not so great right now, but it’s going to get cleared out once you get here,” I said.
“Umm, okay. I’ll talk to you in a bit,” Sarah said.
“I’ll station someone to monitor the radio in case you need something,” I said.
“Okay, thanks. Love you!”
“Love you more,” I said.
I set the microphone down and gave a small silent prayer of thanks for the safety of my family. I know I go on about how God hates us and has turned his back on us, but the truth be known I think everything happens for a reason. We just don’t pay enough attention to figure out what that reason is.
I found Charlie with the commanders and they were going over a map of the city one of them had found in a gas station. It was kind of comical to watch since the map was more of a book and was only a foot square, so ten men and women had to stick their heads together like coconuts on a tree just to see anything.
“What if we just punch our way downtown and fight our way out from there, create a corridor with the trucks, and make safe zones?” someone said.
“How about we send ten people in from different directions, have them converge on the highest building, draw the zombies in, then set the place on fire?” someone else suggested.
“Do we even know how many we are dealing with?” came the most sensible question so far.
“I may have an idea,” I said.
The coconuts separated and became human heads again.
Charlie spoke first. “What have you got?”
“Why don’t we wait for the rest of the army, spread out three deep, and just walk our way through? Sweep it three times, and call it a week,” I said.
“Okay, there is that. Who will search the buildings?” Charlie asked.
“Second sweep. First sweep clears the streets; second sweep clears the buildings,” I replied.
“What about the third sweep?” Charlie asked.
“We go underground, clearing the dark holes and the tunnels, utility access and everything,” I said.
“I like it,” Charlie said. “But then, I also liked the luring in of the people into the building and setting it on fire.”
“How do we get our people out?” I asked.
“Sometimes sacrifices have to be made,” one commander, a man by the name of Jimmy, spoke up.
I looked at him. “Are you serious?”
Jimmy looked around for support, and his face fell when he saw there was none. “I was, but maybe I spoke too soon,” he said.
“If we go with the luring idea, you can be one of the people sacrificed,” I said.
“Now wait a minute!” Jimmy protested.
I spoke over him. “If you are so casual with your fighters’ lives, then you are dismissed. Now.”
Jimmy looked around, but no one was willing to stand by him. He walked away muttering to himself.
I watched him go, and turned to the rest of the group. “What’s the one thing I ask of all my commanders, and even of myself?” I asked.
Three of them spoke together. “Never send anyone to do something you’re not willing to do yourself.”
“All right then. Now, let me throw another rabbit into the stew. I just spoke with Sarah, and she’s on her way here with the rest of the army.” I looked at the sun which was nearing the noon hour. “They should be here by sundown. That’s another six thousand fighters with earth movers, and ammo, and supplies.”
The commanders shared looks, and some of them were very grateful looks. I knew Sarah would be warmly hailed as a heroine for bringing all this together. I was just glad to be able to see her and know that she was safe.
For the rest of the day, I was fidgety, impatient, and irritable. I kept looking at the sun as if I could make the damn thing go down by sheer willpower. But it stubbornly stayed in the sky and moved agonizingly slow. I sighted in my rifle four times, sharpened my knife until I cut myself, and unloaded and reloaded my pistol magazines.
I was in the middle of a cutthroat game of solitaire when Charlie found me.
“Come on. Let’s give you something to do before you shoot someone or yourself,” he said, waving me out of my chair.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked, putting on my vest. It was still pretty cold in the mountains, but the zombies here were apparently used to the weather because they didn’t seem to mind the cold as much. They were slower than their lowlander cousins but still able to cause damage. What would be really nice was if we could get a cold snap for a few days. Really slow them down and reduce the risk factor to near zero. While I was dreaming, I may as well ask for a hot tub and a cold beer.
“Just this.” Charlie’s hand suddenly streaked towards my throat, and I barely got a hand up to deflect it. I swung an elbow towards his head, aiming for his ear, but he blocked it with his forearm and tried to hit me in the gut with an uppercut that would have elevated my spleen into my spine. I managed to leap back, and as the blow missed, I jumped back in and got a hit on Charlie’s elbow which knocked his fist into the side of his head.
Trying to press my advantage, I aimed a long hit on his neck, but he got under it and grabbed my arm with both hands. I cocked my arm and spun, dragging him across my hip. Pulling him further, I shifted and got him off balance, making him lose his grip before he broke my arm.
Charlie stumbled, but recovered instantly, spinning on his heel and facing me with his arms raised. His hands were open and held apart by his face, like
he was holding an imaginary ball next to his nose. He circled around and locked his eyes on my waist, using his peripheral vision to watch my movements. I held a perpendicular stance to his, offering the smallest target possible. My left hand was loosely held in a fist by my face, with my arm going down, then bending back up. That was my shield. My right hand was cocked by my ear, waiting to be fired when the opportunity presented itself. That was my sword. Of course, my shield could also stab and my sword could also block, I wasn’t rigid on the rules.
“Nice move,” Charlie said. He circled to the right, then tried a feint, which didn’t get past my left. I followed his circle and snapped out with my left, striking his hand near his face.
“Thanks. I like this one, too.” I jumped forward, thrusting my right arm up towards his face. When he reached up to block the blow, I grabbed his right wrist and pulled it towards me, pulling him off balance and within range of my knee which I brought up into his gut. I danced back, avoiding the swing that chased me away, then I stepped in as his hand was away from his face to land a blow on his shoulder. I hit him hard enough to turn him, and I used the opening to kick the back of his knee, bringing him down and exposing the back of his neck. I drew a line with my hand across it, and then stepped back, nodding as Charlie accepted the fact that he just lost.
“Nice moves. At least I know you’ve been practicing,” Charlie said.
“Who’s practicing?” I asked, grinning. “That’s just raw talent.”
Charlie shook his head, then we both looked over at Tommy and Duncan who were clapping.
“Bravo!” Duncan said. “Is there dinner with this show?”
Charlie’s hand streaked out for Duncan’s head, and that worthy leaned back to let it pass. Trouble was, he didn’t see Charlie’s other hand which reached out and grabbed Duncan’s belt, pulling him off the ground. Charlie literally flung Duncan across the small clearing, spinning him in a horizontal cartwheel, and he landed in a heap next to a small knurled oak tree.
We all laughed as a small voice came from the heap.
“Ow.”
“Come on, Duncan, get up,” Tommy called. “I want to get going to see if your plan will work.”
White Flag of the Dead (Book 9): The Zombie Wars (We All Fall Down) Page 14
