by Evans, Mike
Shaun didn't say anything, using his man of few words at times. He slid out of the truck knowing he’d have to shoot from behind the plane or risk shooting it. Shaun basically melted behind the scope, falling into a cool smooth rhythm. Shaun watched as they raced towards the giant manure pile. He had donned it or covered it with a gigantic pile of cow guts. The zombie horde had made it pretty easy for him to get anything he wanted off of that thing so long as he didn't want to eat anything of course. When he finished, he knew that once that blood got their senses that nothing at all would stop them until they were able to get what they craved even if it was for a short time.
Shaun waited patiently watching as they ran mouths open screaming practically jumping in the air for those who were not running on all fours. Shaun smiled as they got close to the propane tank. Shaun knew what was going to come next was either going to be a fantastic victory or an absolute clusterfuck. He fired off the single round it would take to give them safe passage back to their base.
The bullet raced the thousand yards across the rolling hill. A reaction which no one could have foreseen took place. The ground beneath them shook, and in the distance it disappeared. The Turned did as well, and the eruption that went off even from ten football fields away was more than enough to ensure that all of their ears were ringing by the time everything was said and done. Had there not been so much dirt flying up in the air from the newly formed crater in the ground they would have seen endless pieces of Turned in a black midst of gore going everywhere.
Everyone took a well-deserved minute with which to process the Hell they’d just unleashed. Not surprising remorse wasn’t something they felt, this was retaliation and it was absolutely amazing. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left. They had decimated everything without question. Greg started laughing before saying, “So...did a plan work without any backlash, I mean it just happened and then worked?”
Earl said, “You guys know how to party. That was one crazy god damn explosion. I mean I’ve blown some serious shit up, but for legal legacies, I’m unable to discount them to you.”
Scott whispered, “You went to school, right Earl?”
“Hell yes, the best public free schooling money could buy. I like to think of myself as more street smart than book smart. I always think I get a little bit more from life experience.”
Clary brought up the obvious and said, “Guys, we probably need to get going. You thought the gunfire was going to bring them in, then you have no idea what this is going to do. Christ, it’ll bring everyone one of them for a hundred miles.”
“Let’s hope not. But let’s not forget about how well this worked. Maybe we can use it in the future?” Shaun advised.
Earl put it in gear, and they did a helluva job to make the rest of the trip back without incident. Everyone peered around as they made their way through the countryside until they finally made their way up to a gravel road which from there made the rest of the ride back incredibly easy...not a word used too often.
When they made it to the gate, they waited for Henry to put the poles down so they could enter. Clary had figured that it’d be down when they saw them approaching but assumed he knew better than to put it down if a strange truck no one knew was pulling up to the gate. Clary figured he would have been really annoyed if someone had put that down not knowing so in the end whoever was inside was damned if they did and damned if they didn't.
Clary sighed and whispered, “Greg, can you please go hit the gate. We can find out if he’s hiding or if he’s not there any longer and just needs to be tracked down and dealt with verbally. You’d think after the ass-chewing Jon got that that’d be the last person that fucks up gate duty.”
Shaun didn’t hear anything. He thought that when he got back that Ellie and everyone would be waiting for them. This was a big deal, this was the future, this was everything. Greg put the poles down and they made their way onto base. The only ones that seemed interested were Brandy and Timmy. Everyone else either had a job to do or something else that was necessary to be done. No one would blame them for not waiting around and watching. There was work to be done here, and regardless of what was happening, it still needed to be done. As well it wasn’t like a siren or welcome home parade was going off when they pulled in.
Shaun didn’t wait until the truck came to a stop. He didn’t mean to be hasty but when he didn’t know if they were going to make it back, there was only one thing...or more importantly the person that he was thinking about. He wanted to put his lips on hers worse than he’d ever wanted to before and that was saying a lot for a teenage boy.
Brandy waved and said, “So, you are looking a little rough. How did things go today? Did it work? Is there a reason that you didn’t come back with the Humvee that you left with? No offense but this truck looks like a piece of crap. Although the airplane looks pretty damn badass. Is there anyone besides Bob that knows how to fly?”
Shaun shrugged, “I don’t know any of these new people. But Bob was specifically who I brought it back for. We had an accident when we were out trying to test fire the powder. The Turned caught up to us and were practically sitting inside of the Humvee with us. It wasn’t really as planned. But we found this small farm, they had a plane in the back so we got it strapped down on that trailer, Earl got the truck running, and we came home.”
Timmy said, “So, since you got your head, then that powder must’ve worked out pretty good, huh?”
Shaun pulled his shirt down a little in front smiling, “Totally still got my head, Timmy. Look, not even a tear in my neck. Yeah, it worked, and it saved our lives.”
Timmy gave a thumbs up double checking for himself that Shaun was alright. He said, “Well, I am glad that you still got your head.”
Shaun rubbed Timmy’s hair until he jumped back into a martial art fighting stance. Shaun put his hands up, but was already thinking about why he’d stopped. These two were as close to family as everyone he’d loved who he left on the base. But right now, he needed to see the others with his own eyes. Shaun asked, “So, have you guys seen Ellie...or Joey around?”
Timmy answered first, “They aren’t back yet.”
Just knowing someone left the base without a full crew Shaun knew was dangerous. He was well aware that when he’d left on his own it was as good as a death wish, almost guaranteeing him he wouldn’t survive. But since day one, that was what he had done and continued to do. He knew without the training that Clary and Aslin had put them through, along with Mr. Li, that he wouldn’t still be alive. He would not have had the skills necessary to survive the Hell that Earth had become. Shaun snapped, “Back from where? Were they doing chores? Where did they go, who went with her, Timmy?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know almost anybody's names. But that big guy Joey you introduced me to, he went. The cop that came with us on the plane, he went too, but other than that I just know one guy needed a haircut really bad. The other ones were your age but probably weren’t ninjas like us.”
Shaun didn’t bite and looked to Brandy, “Do you have anything...anything at all that you can add to this? I mean, did she say anything?”
“No, she pretty much left. I don’t think she is too worried about being friends with me. I think that your girlfriend might think that you haven’t been too faithful while you were away.”
“She’d be sadly mistaken. I mean, we are just friends.”
“Well, after having that long of a wait, I’m sure there’s been a million things that she has had to think about. I can’t imagine you coming back with an entire crew and another girl was anything that she’d thought about.”
“Well, she’ll get over it at some point I’m sure. Did you hear anything at all about where they were going? Timmy, anything buddy?”
“Bull dogs, they were going to a bull dog.”
“A bulldog? My head hurts, what the Hell are you talking about, Timmy?”
“A Drake bulldog. I don’t know what that is. But she said it was…”
Brandy said, “You realize she might be alright, right? Not everyone needs to be saved, Shaun. I mean she didn’t make it this long without being a little bit smart and maybe a little bit lucky, right?”
Shaun relaxed a little bit; he didn’t even have a plan and he was ready to drop everything. Besides, she was with Joe and others, and it wasn’t like she left on her own. She wasn’t an idiot but he knew she wouldn’t want to just sit around feeling useless when they were so close. He wouldn’t have been any more patient about not taking the chance...any chance to try and help.
Brandy spun him around holding out a black rectangle. She said, “God, boys are dumb at your age. Check the radio, Shaun!”
Shaun didn’t have to look; he could tell where the channel clicker was in his sleep. They had engrained it in their heads what channels to use. When Shaun turned it on his heart melted, he could hear through tear infused words Ellie’s vulnerable voice saying, “We are at Drake. I don’t know if we’ll still be alive, but if someone can come out here, we need help, we need it now!”
To be continued!
By Mike Evans
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