The Orphans | Book 8 | Retaliation

by Evans, Mike

  Joe yelled, “Yes, good God, yes! we are getting the fuck out of here, and doing it now!”

  Yassa wasn’t usually all that nervous of a guy but having this many people losing their shit did little to make him feel more comfortable about the current circumstances. He wasn’t super stoked that he’d been recruited into this mission. Being one of the only adults did little to put him in safer spots he thought. The fact that the other guy got to stay at the base only because he was a pilot didn’t make him any happier about having a lack of skills. He figured not changing something that was working was still as good of an idea as any.

  They got across the campus seeing that they indeed had rung a bell, but luckily for them they had enough time to get up on the bus and from there just needed to hit the Humvee and get the hell out of there. Everyone felt like the fact they were still alive after such a thing was a miracle for sure. If they could get back to base Ellie thought, then when they got the powder made, they would come back and save those who had saved them and would also put an end to all of the Turned that they saw. The idea of not having to worry about being outnumbered, or going up against them was an intoxicating feeling. She knew it was a little morbid but could walk over the dead for thousands of miles and would feel zero remorse for any of them. The souls that once occupied their bodies were long forgotten.

  Yassa didn’t slow down as they made their final stretch to the buses. The steel walls surrounding them would be their savior so long as the Turned were only coming from behind them. Yassa hit the flattened tire with precision, pushing himself up without ever stopping and gripped tightly onto it with both hands. He disappeared over the top and everyone was beginning to feel sick to their stomachs waiting for the rope to come down. Kya, not a patient one, especially when their lives quite literally were counting on it, screamed, “Yassa, quit fucking around, hurry up, they are burning the distance between us. Come on, please, you aren't being funny!”

  Ellie was going to tell her to relax and take it easy but something came over the side of the bus. She jumped a foot back when it hit her boots. Ellie knew as soon as she looked down and saw Yassa’s neck up looking back at her with dead eyes that this was bad...this wasn’t bad, this was horrific. His body was tossed over the side next, multiple bite marks plagued his corpse. There were giant chunks of his flesh no longer attached. Joe thought that at the very least it probably wasn’t good but the fact that they decapitated him meant that he could not worry quite as much about a crazy wiry super-fast, stupidly strong zombie Yassa coming after them.

  Ellie was looking behind her trying to see what was going on and to figure out what time they had. She didn’t know what to do, where to go from there, or which place was going to provide them any sort of safety. Joey grabbed her shoulder, holding his baseball bat like it was an extension of his own arm. He pointed it up to the top of the buses showing the Turned standing across the edge of the bus, most of them either barefoot, or had run so much in the last year that their shoes were mostly just being held on by scraps. Ellie did the sign of the cross hoping that they survived the next few minutes.

  Chapter 16

  Earl walked around the Morton shed until he found a vehicle that he liked. Earl didn't waste any time checking to see what would and what wouldn't run. The first Ford F250 cranked over after a little love. One other deciding factor was the fact that it could pull the plane if they had a trailer to get it on. As well, they would be able to utilize the crew cab so they didn't have to worry about anyone on the outside of the truck for the ride back to the base.

  Earl did everything he could to make sure they had the best chance of getting back safely in that truck: checking the tires, jack, and the gas, and making sure it wasn't out of oil or overall wasn't just a piece of shit. He took it around a few laps before deeming it worthy of taking them back to base. Shaun was so enamored with the idea of the plane that he hadn't been paying attention to Greg. When he finally realized his friend wasn't standing next to him, he walked out of the Morton shed looking around. He could see shadows moving in the house and a moment later the window to the second floor opened up and out popped Greg with a blanket over his shoulder. It didn't take Shaun much to figure out what he was doing and was glad for the fact that he was still thinking about what needed to be done even though there was such excitement at hand.

  Greg effortlessly climbed up to the roof of the old farmhouse laying the blanket out and lying down on it setting up the bipod on his rifle so he could see into the distance. All that noise and gunfire was guaranteed to call the Turned unless there was something more appetizing for them to spend their time on.

  Shaun yelled up to Greg asking, “What do you see?”

  I see a really ugly ass field with rotten crops in it mixed with new crops and on top of that I don't see anything. I did a 360 there's no Turned to be found as of yet. But optimism isn't my forte so don't worry, I'm going to keep checking up until the second that we leave. I'm over today and I don't want anything else to have to worry about going on.”

  Shaun just said, “Make sure you give me a heads up if we need to come back for the plane later. Unless there's a reason for it, I can't see why the Turned would start going after it and destroying the plane. I mean there's no way they would know how huge this thing could be if it works for us.”

  Earl pulled to a stop in front of Shaun, killing the engine. Shaun watched the man for a moment, thinking there are probably very few truck types which Earl would not look 100% comfortable in. He definitely looked at home driving this Ford. In a normal world it could be his daily commuter. Earl yelled, “this thing's ready to kick-ass-and-take-names, brother. Did anyone find something to put that plane on?”

  Shaun shrugged saying, “Nothing that I've seen. I don't know if the guy has anything? I'm starting to wonder if he had his own field that was mowed down that he could take off from.”

  A moment later Scott yelled from around the corner, “Earl get that big ass thing over here, let's hook it up. There's a legit looking wagon back here that we should be able to pull it up onto with the truck. The tires on it don't look great but if we take our time, I think it's going to be just fine.”

  Earl didn't waste any time nodding to Shaun as he pulled away. Shaun watched as he disappeared around the corner and looked back up seeing Greg’s and the boy’s composure had changed drastically. Greg didn't look very peaceful sitting up on the country roof. Shaun hollered, “Were you going to let me know or you just going to sit and stare all day?”

  Greg said, “Unfortunately, there's too many to count. Shooting off those guns inside that building must have amplified how loud it really was. They either need to have that plane on something to go in probably the next 5 minutes or we're going to have to come back for it later. But if we stick around here, we're screwed. We do not have the firepower needed to take care of these.”

  Shaun looked around, not really wanting to have to come back to pick up the plane at a later date and time. Things in their world rarely were the same way twice if you had to leave it and come back. Something he was appreciative of since his friends, which were basically his only family along with Ellie, were still all alive. Shaun knew, if he couldn’t count, there were dozens coming. Shaun looked around the property, hoping that anything bright and shiny was going to draw those assholes attention.

  Shaun whistled to Clary pointing into the distance. He didn’t need to be told again. He’d seen that look too many damn times. A lot less than if they had not cleared out the base. Clary never against another idea from someone he respected and occasionally an Earl, said, “What’s your plan? You have that evil look of fear on your face, Shaun.”

  Shaun pointed to a large dark pile and threw Clary off when he asked, “Is that a big pile of shit over there?”

  “Yep, that’s definitely a big pile of shit. What are we needing to do with a big pile of shit, Shaun?”

  “Well, this probably will sound crazy but what if we pushed it with the tractor inside the
shed over to the propane tank and covered it?”

  “So, what you're saying is you paid attention all this time?”

  “Yep, I want to really, really put a hurt on the Turned. Do you think it will work?”

  “For as long as that manure has been sitting there, I'm pretty confident it's going to decimate them. I'll go try and start the tractor and if not, we might have to just hope the propane itself is enough.”

  Clary ran to the barn, hoping using the tractor was going to be as easy as twisting a key and having a lift and lower function for the bucket attached to it. He climbed in using a lighter to look around seeing thank God that there was a key already in place. He pulled the choke letting it sit for just a second before hitting the red button hoping there was enough juice in the battery to bring the giant green beast to life. Clary’s optimism was rewarded when the tractor rumbled to life, shaking violently at first until it got some diesel fuel pushing through it.

  Clary studied the controls on the tractor, taking it out the front and around the side of the barn slowly until he got used to the accelerator. Scott and Earl were working on using a winch to drag the plane that Earl had hooked around the landing gear and they were almost done getting it on the trailer. Earl saw what Clary was doing and yelled, “What in the hell are you doing with the tractor? I'm almost ready to go. We got everything we need.”

  “Zombies are coming! I'm going to blow them up!”

  “With a tractor? And he's calling me stupid earlier? I think he's calling the bowling ball white, if you know what I mean.”

  Scott followed behind watching Clary sloppily get the bucket down and started pushing a very pungent smelling pile of manure straight towards the giant white propane tanks on the property. Scott yelled, “Are you insane? Do you know what that's going to do?”

  “I sure as shit do. I was the demolition expert on my SEAL team and shit like this is what I absolutely fucking live for. It wasn't my idea though; Shaun had actually thought of it when Greg saw the Turned headed this way.”

  “Do you need any help?”

  “Nope, I'm going to push this shit over there and then we're going to do our best to draw the Turned in this direction, and once that happens all bets are off until we see how this works out. Either way we're going to have at least a thousand-yard head start on those things.”

  “Will it kill them?”

  “That is definitely my intention.”

  “You're sure there's nothing else that I can do or I guess anything I can do to help?”

  Come to think of it go into that Morton shed and the barn, round up every single screw, screwdriver, bolt, nail, hammer, whatever the fuck you can find and bring it out and go throw it in this big old pile of shit. It might not seem like much now, but if this thing sends off a gas-powered shockwave like I hope it does then it is going to make every piece of metal and tools that you can put in there a wet fucking mess for the Turned. They're going to be royally pissed when this thing goes off.”

  Scott had been to some horrible places with his job and had seen the aftermath of shrapnel and what it could do to children and innocent bystanders. The idea of it going through The Turned did nothing but put a wide smile upon his face. He didn't waste any time running to get the supplies that Clary had requested. When he ran past Earl with a giant bucket full of metal pieces, Earl yelled, “Are you sure that you don't need any help? That shit looks a hell of a lot more fun than what I'm doing. You got some serious shrapnel going there, don't you? I mean as much fun as putting this plane is up on this stupid trailer, I bet we could have a hell of a lot more time if I get to help you pack that shit into that... Shit.”

  “Earl, if you don't get that plane on the trailer, then everything we are doing is not going to happen. There's no questioning, we cannot leave unless you get the plane on the trailer, so we can go. No one knows what the aftermath is going to be once we detonate this thing.”

  “You guys sure know how to take all the damn fun out of something. I mean how often is it that you getta blow up a whole goddamn horde of zombies and save the day?”

  Scott said, “If you can talk Pilot Bob into it, Earl, you have my absolute blessing to go up in the air with him when he drops a huge white payload of our zombie killing concoction and you can be one of the first ones to say you were there then.”

  Earl laughed, smiling while turning around going back to guiding the plane up with the winch, saying, “Huge white load, that's what she said.”

  Scott didn't care what his retort was from Earl; he just wanted to make sure he knew the importance of what he was doing right now. Shaun yelled for Greg to climb down and he did as asked. By the time he got down they had gotten quite a few bucket loads placed into the manure pile. If they were not all rusty all jagged bolts it would have been shining in the daylight reflecting down on it. Shaun looked at the makeshift destruction and thought that they might just stand a chance.

  Clary said, “You think you're good to go with your gun for the long shot? I know short things you're good to go but if you feel more comfortable having Greg take the shot just say something.”

  “I don't care who takes the shot so long as somebody does. I think the best idea here is to get the gas already coming out so that it's under and in the manure. We can put a flare on the side and shoot that to get it to ignite and cause the explosion between the propane and the manure and hopefully send a wave of Hell in every single direction hopefully taking out all of the Turned that we have to deal with.”

  “Well, I'd have to say that you probably have grown up more than a little bit since you've been gone, Shaun. Between us, it does take a real man to be able to pass on an opportunity as big as this one.”

  Shaun said, “It’s been a rough year. The one before that wasn't a hell of a lot better either. Quite frankly I could use a vacation. Besides, I might not need to take the shot but I guarantee everybody knows it was Einstein that made the bomb. Nobody knows who it was that delivered it, do they?”

  “I feel like this might not be quite as big of a boom as Einstein's but it should serve for our purpose for sure.”

  “Like I said, so long as it gets rid of these things so we can make a getaway.”

  Greg was laughing walking up to the two of them saying, “So there's an entire horde sprinting as fast as they can. We're focusing on hooking up an airplane onto a trailer courtesy of a little know-how from a redneck, then to make it better, quite literally, we're relying on a shitty idea, excuse the pun, to blow these things up and we hope that the shrapnel which are screws, nails, bolts and God knows what else is going to be able to penetrate their healing skin. Does that sound about right?”

  “Yeah, but when you say it like that it just sounds like such a bad idea,” Shaun replied with a smirk of confidence.

  Clary looked seeing Earl coming around the bend of the Morton shed hauling the plane and he could see where the straps were holding it down going directly across its landing gear. Clary said, “Holy shit you did it. This damn guy is proving more resourceful by the minute. Don't tell him that, because I'll deny it and then kill you. On a side note I don't know if I'm going to actually want him to leave. It's nice having someone else around with a little bit of mechanical aptitude without having to have it in blueprints directly in front of them.”

  Scott leaned out the side of the truck saying, “Did you guys want to keep standing around and discussing your feelings or do you think maybe we ought to get moving on now and get off this farm?”

  Earl didn't give anyone the chance to reply and yelled, “You guys get your asses on this here truck or I’m gonna leave all of y'all behind, now get it moving!”

  Clary gave a look at Earl not filled with love; Earl’s Cheshire cat smile faded away quickly. Earl said, “Just kidding Clary, I'm just kidding, buddy.”

  Clary gave a thumbs up and pointed to a hill far in the distance so far away that if this did not work that they should hopefully be able to keep the amount of space they need in between themse
lves and the Turned.

  Earl said, “So we're pretty confident about this, Clary?”

  “A little late now to change our minds. Besides, I got nothing but confidence in that young man and his ideas. But on the off-chance things go to shit, you make sure we get the plane unhitched as quickly as fucking possible, do you understand!

  “Unhook her or we die, yeah I think I got it, thanks.”

  The four drove up the hill, realizing they were not going to win any races towing this plane behind them. The trailer was less than impressive and was not going to win any beauty pageants. Earl was doing his best to stay still as they drove and stopped at the top of the hill where Clary had pointed to. Earl asked, “How's this?”

  Clary gave a thumbs up and looked at Shaun and Greg. Greg said, “You can take it if you want to. I mean I wouldn't want you to feel bad about having that idea and then not getting to be the one to absolutely blow the shit out of it.”