Revealed
Parables From The Apocalypse, Book Two
Written by Norman Christof
Published by Digital Storm Solutions Inc.
This is a work of fiction. If you find any similarities to real people, places, events or planets you're sadly mistaken.
© 2014 Norman Christof / Digital Storm Solutions Inc.
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
Author Info at http://NormanChristof.com
Also by Norman Christof
Parables From The Apocalypse
Endings
Revealed
Mutation
Awakening
Rising
Here's to all the dreamers.
Cover Photo Credits
flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/
flickr.com/photos/24874528@N04/
flickr.com/photos/jepoirrier/
Table of Contents
A Bridge Too Far
Here Piggy Piggy
Running With The Pigs
The Lost Girl
Favorite Weapon
I'm Not Having Kids
Big Game Hunting
Zombie Convoy
Road Side Chat
Breaking The Bank
Sleeping Through
Race To The Bank
Fort Under Siege
Zombies & Tanks
Reunion Planning
Zombies & Helicopters
Walk In The Woods
Smoking Out The Colonel
Hide & Seek
Fire To Frying Pan
Copter And The Girl
Bird On The Ground
Fighting For Your Flight
Water Hazard
The 18th Hole
Tanks & Banks
Down And Out
A Bridge Too Far
Chaz fought off sleep for as long as he could. Between the fading light and sitting in the back with nothing to do except watch Christa and Alex, he finally nodded off. Alex noticed, and took a few minutes to reassure Christa that she should relax more around Chaz.
"You don't need to worry so much about him. He'll get used to you. Just try not to talk about zombies so much, and try acting more like a little kid."
"What do you mean act like a little kid? You don't think I act like a little kid?"
"I mean, no more talk about changing from zombie to human, and making strange remarks about being asleep and awake at the same time. Your freaking him out, and giving him reason to be suspicious. Just pretend you're a little girl out for a drive with her two favorite uncles."
As they drove northwest down highway 24, Alex made out ahead the main bridge crossing the Tennessee River. There were two bridges crossing the river. One was the main highway with a longer span over water. The other to the north was narrower, but shorter over the river. They both had their advantages. The wider but longer river crossing had more room to maneuver. The shorter crossing got them out into the open sooner. Alex stopped the car in the middle of the road to take a closer look. He preferred the longer span, but figured some reconnoitering was in order. No doubt the colonel would have something to say.
Chaz, startled from his slumber by the slowing vehicle, quickly grabbed his rifle and scanned the car. Alex, with a big grin, and Christa, with the sweetest smile she could manage, stared back at him.
"You've got a bit of drool on your chin there, Colonel," Alex noted, pointing to Chaz's face.
Wiping his chin with his left sleeve, he asked, "Why have we stopped? Is there a problem?" He noticed Christa's bindings were still intact as he relaxed the grip on his rifle.
"We're about to cross the Tennessee River, and I'd like to look ahead with the binoculars. The bridge connects to a smaller island halfway across the river. I'd like to know if there's anything waiting for us on that island."
Chaz and Alex proceeded to get out of the car.
Christa fidgeted nervously. "Wait, what about me? You're not leaving me here, are you?"
"Don't worry, kiddo, we're not going far," Alex assured her.
Alex climbed up on the roof of the car to get a better view with the binoculars. "There's seven abandoned vehicles I can count on the bridge between here and the island. I can't make out anything past the island. We'll have to check the second half of the bridge on the other side of the island once we get there. We'll have to make one stop between here and the island. Two of the cars are side by side, blocking both lanes, so we can't drive around them. Shouldn't be a problem to push one of them out of the way. I don't see any movement on the bridge between here and the island, so I think it's safe to cross."
Alex jumped down and handed the binoculars to Chaz. He looked across the bridge for a few minutes, nodding in agreement with Alex's assessment. Then he turned, and took a look down the road behind them. He climbed down and returned the binoculars to Alex.
"Never forget to check your rear, boy. It's not always just about where you're going, but where you've been. There's a group of a dozen or so zombie freaks coming up from behind. As long as we have no trouble past the island it shouldn't be a problem. But if for any reason we have to track back from the island, things could get ugly. As long as that group stays small it won't be a problem. The sooner we get moving the better."
As Alex checked out what he had missed on their six, Chaz climbed in, started the engine and began to pull away. Alex scrambled to the rear door, and jumped in as Chaz accelerated. Christa gave Chaz a nervous, confused look. He did and said nothing to reassure her. Alex kept watch out the back window, and saw that more zombies had joined the group following them. He didn't say anything to Chaz. They were on the bridge over the open water. It was a half mile to the island and Alex kept a close watch on the herd marching down the road behind them. They stopped once, about halfway, and moved the vehicles blocking their path. After they climbed back in the car, Alex resumed his rear watch. The herd was indeed crossing the bridge, and their numbers had grown to sixteen. Alex wiped away the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and looked ahead to see the island closing in.
"Umm, Chaz, you should know ..."
"Yes, I know, there's more of them, right? Doesn't really matter at this point; we're going to the island and if we have a change of plans, we'll decide then. No point worrying about them now."
The path ahead was clear, and Chaz pushed the gas pedal further. Just two more cars between them and the island. As he passed the first of the two cars, the back door of the second car swung open into their path. Flopping out onto the pavement came the torso and badly mangled legs of a female zombie. Its legs we're useless, but it dragged itself right into their path.
"Damn it, boy, I thought you said there was no one between us and the island."
"Hey, you looked too, and didn't see anyone. She must have been lying in the back seat of that car."
"I can't avoid her, and there's no way I'm stopping again with that motley crew coming up behind us. Hold on to something, everyone."
The crawling zombie moved directly into their path. Chaz slowed down, and swerved a bit, but still hit her with the driver’s-side bumper. Her skull shattered on impact with the bumper, which killed any notion she had of dining on human flesh. The steering wheel lurched out of Chaz's hands as the left-front wheel drove over her torso. He pulled the wheel back in time to avoid losing control, but over-steered into the open door from the abandoned car she had vacated. Unlike the movies, where the door always tears off cleanly, this door hooked o
nto Chaz's bumper and they dragged the deserted car for twenty feet. Chaz stopped, reversed, and went forward enough times to jar the other car loose. Finally, they made their way to the far side of the island. The car screeched to a halt, and both Chaz and Alex jump out to view the other half of the bridge.
"What do you see, Alex?"
"Crap, it's not good. There's hundreds of those creepy bastards on this side of the bridge. There's some tractor trailer they're all swarming around. Ahhh, geez, the tractor’s full of pigs. Who the hell transports pigs across a high-risk area like this? They can't figure out how to get to the pigs. There's no sign of the driver, and the pigs are thrashing around like crazy in their crates."
"Any chance we can go around them?"
Christa leaned out her window. "What's going on? Can we go? Those zombies behind us are getting closer. Guys ... guys! Could you at least untie me? They're really getting close."
"I don't know, Colonel. If they're distracted by the pigs maybe we could make it. There's not much room with the trailer sitting the way it is, and if a few notice us, the whole group may decide we're easier pickings then a bunch of pigs in crates. We gotta decide quickly though."
"We're gonna have to go back, son. I'd much rather deal with that smaller group than hundreds. Hopefully the other bridge won't be as attractive to these freaks. It's likely all those squealing pigs are attracting zombies for miles. Free the girl and give her a gun: we're gonna need all the firepower we can muster."
Quickly turning the car around, Chaz started driving back. Alex untied Christa, and handed her his smaller backup pistol.
"You ever fired a gun before?"
"No, but I learn fast."
"OK, look here. Hold the gun in your right hand and put your left hand out the window, resting it on the sill. Only shoot if you're close. It's going to be hard with the car moving."
Chaz interrupted. "I'm not slowing down, people, I'm aiming for the smallest part of the group, to see if I can plow through. If I have to slow down, I will, so aim for the zombies blocking our path. The fewer of them I have to drive over the better."
As Alex got set up, Chaz gave a quick sideways glance to Christa. Her whole body was shaking, and she was having a hard time keeping the pistol steady.
"Try to breathe slowly, Christa. You may not have to fire a shot if I can navigate through this pack."
He gave her a reassuring smile. She half-heartedly smiled back.
They were practically on top of the group now, with the car going over fifty mph. Chaz was aiming for the path of least resistance through the pack, when Alex started picking off the ones directly ahead. Three pulls of the trigger, and two of them went down.
"Glad to see your aim is improving, son," Chaz said as Alex managed a smile.
Driving over corpses at fifty clicks is tricky business. Chaz fought the steering wheel as they bumped over half-rotten zombie corpses. The final bump caused Christa to drop her pistol onto the road. She looked to the two men as her eyes began to well up. Neither one noticed her, as they were too busy firing and driving. They were through about half the pack, and Alex killed another two zombies in their path.
"I lost my gun," Christa sobbed in between tears, once they were through.
"Ahh crap; that was my favorite pistol. Don't worry about it, kid, we're through now, which is the important thing."
"Well, not quite so fast there, son. Looks like there's more where they came from."
Alex looked up and saw the entire entrance to the bridge was now packed with zombies. There were more here than at the pig truck. Chaz was already wheeling the car around.
"Time to take our chances with the pigs," Chaz muttered as he punched the accelerator. "I hope bacon smells better than human."
Here Piggy Piggy
They raced towards the island, leaving the advancing mob behind. With the path already cleared, they quickly reached the island. The pigs continued to attract attention. There was an even bigger crowd around the pigs, as zombies approached from the far side of the bridge. There was no way the car could race through unnoticed.
Alex said, "Chaz, maybe if we go really slow, they'll hardly notice us. They're not the brightest bunch. If we stay under five mph we could kinda gradually nudge them aside. We could just lock the doors and stay low."
Christa joined in. "Maybe even cover ourselves up, so they can't see us through the windows. All they would see is a piece of metal on wheels creeping along. The pigs would keep them distracted. They really smell a lot more than we do."
"I don't like it," Chaz replied. "There's no back-up if they figure it out. We'll never get past the truck."
"Wait, stop up there next to those bodies," Christa said.
"We don't have time for sightseeing, little girl, we need to get past that truck of pigs and to the other side of this bridge before that crowd gets any worse."
"I've got an idea; just get out your knives. This should actually make things easier."
Reluctantly, Chaz pulled up next to the corpses, a few hundred feet from the pigs. They could smell the stench and hear their squeals from here. They pigs were in a panic from all the zombie activity around the truck.
"If we cover the car with zombie guts, it will mask our smell from the pack, don't you think?" Christa said.
Alex thought for a second. "It may just work; certainly couldn't hurt. We've got time before the second horde closes in."
"Let's get hacking and slashing, kids", Chaz replied.
Alex and Chaz removed arms, legs, heads, feet, and hands from the nearest corpses. The bones were brittle, so whatever their knives couldn't cut, they snapped with their bare hands. Christa grabbed a small shovel from the trunk, and started scooping up remains and throwing them onto the hood and trunk. The windshield and hood were soon covered with an assortment of arms, legs, guts, intestines, and bodily fluids. They wouldn't be driving that fast, but they did their best to secure parts to the car. The antenna sported a head skewered through the neck, and out through one of the eyeballs. Chaz open the engine hood and closed it with a few legs hanging out. Arms dangled from door handles, tied with fragments of shirt sleeve. Christa flung fluids and squishy parts over the windows. She left a bit clear on the driver’s side to aid steering. By the time they finished, the car looked like it had been decorated by a school of serial killers. The horde from behind grew closer and closer.
"Alright, boys and girls, we're out of time; that mob is getting closer, and we need to move," Chaz ordered.
Chaz jumped into the driver’s side and took the wheel. The others followed suit, and got down low, covering themselves with clothes stripped off corpses. As disgusting as that was, if it masked their smell, it would be worth it. Chaz slipped the car into gear, and proceeded slowly towards the pigs. It was tricky steering while peeking through the gut-smeared windshield. He couldn't actually see the road, but by watching the suspension beams of the bridge and the top of the guardrail, he could kept the car on track. None of them could see how close they were to the pig truck, but the smell and sounds guided them. Alex tried to get a fix out the windows with little success, while Christa chose to remain completely covered. It took everything she had to remain silent as the smell and sounds increased.
The car progressed along at an idle speed. Chaz didn't touch the accelerator or the brake; it was hard enough keeping things on track from his current vantage point. When they got to the fringe of the mob, they felt the thud of the occasional zombie hitting the car. They'd hit a zombie, it would go down, and then they'd feel a bump as the car rolled over some arm or leg. Chaz hoped it was only arms and legs. Eventually, the full torso of a zombie landed in front of one of the tires, and the car slowed to a dead crawl. Idle speed was barely enough. Too many of those, and I'll have to use the gas pedal, Chaz thought. The smell was palpable. Talking was impossible over the squeals of the frantic pigs. They were literally scared shitless. The crates in the truck were stacked one on top of the other, and the pigs were squealing, shit
ting, and pissing all over themselves. The pigs at the bottom were getting the worst of it. It didn't seem to deter the zombies in the slightest. They really wanted bacon.
The car was halfway there. Past the point of no return. There were as many zombies behind as there were ahead. Progress was slow, but they were still moving. They had just enough acceleration. Likely no more than half a mile per hour, but the camouflage was working. The mob just parted and worked its way around the car as they pushed through a sea of living dead. A couple of times the mob got too thick, and Chaz had to use the gas. The car lurched forward, but only a few zombies noticed. They were still focused on the smell of pigs.
Considering they were surrounded by killing machines, covered in clothing smelling of rotten flesh, inundated with the smell of pig shit, and listening to dozens of screaming pigs ... things were going well. Then, they felt the jarring thud of metal on metal. This wasn't the thud of a zombie, but something solid. The car stopped moving, and zombies began climbing onto the roof and hood of the car. Christa started sobbing.
"Chaz, what the hell, we're stopped! I think they know we're in here. They're starting to swarm us; they're climbing all over the car."
"I know, fool, give me a second. There's another damn abandoned car blocking our path. I can just barely make it out through the window. It's really hard to see. I’ll give it a bit of gas."
The engine revved, but created no forward movement. Chaz pushed a bit harder, and this time they moved. He kept the accelerator down, and progressed a few more feet, but then the car got stuck again. Christa's sobs grew ever louder.
Revealed: Parables From The Apocalypse - Dystopian Fiction Page 1
