by Derek Slaton
“What was that?” the Principal asked as he barreled out of the classroom.
“Are there stairs down that hall?” Sparks pointed across the lobby, in the opposite direction of the locked stairs.
“Yeah!” Dan replied, confused, as the two sprinted in that direction. They threw themselves against the doors just as the echoing snarls made it to the doors. They grunted with effort as they struggled to hold them shut, and in desperation, jam the stocks of their weapons between the door handles.
Gunfire erupts outside, the sound of screaming and then more shots.
“Christ, now what?” Sparks huffed. The front doors slammed open and a group of Dan’s men scrambled into the lobby.
“What’s going on?” Rufus barked.
One of the men turned to him, wild eyed. “They’re killing everybody!” he cried.
“You!” Sparks pointed at him. “Come here!” He immediately approached her. “There’s a horde of zombies on the other side of that door, so for the love of fucking christ, don’t abandon your post,” she instructed.
“Frankie! Paul! Teddy! Give me a hand!” the man yelled, and the other guys bustled over to help barricade the doors. Rufus and Sparks reclaimed their weapons, rounding the corner just in time to see more people flooding inside.
A few of them dropped from bullets and Ricky backed in, firing off some cover shots to try to get more people inside.
“Ricky, get everyone into the classrooms, and shut and lock the doors!” Sparks demanded. “Stay there until we come and get you.”
He ducked behind the door. “Where the hell are y’all going?”
She cocked her gun. “Out.” Sparks and Rufus moved down the other hallway, to the side door, weapons raised. They crept out onto the pavement and she immediately shot a running enemy in the chest.
“Nice shot,” Rufus commended. “Could have used you back in the day.”
They skirt the spot where the fallen militia member was, a tent with boxes stacked behind it. Blood poured out of his mouth as he struggled to get to his fallen gun.
Rufus stabbed him in the skull and joined Sparks behind the boxes. “Don’t know about you, but I’m done playing with these motherfuckers,” he said. “If they want a war, they’re gonna get one.”
“Agreed.” She nodded. “How you doin’ on ammo?”
“Got half a mag loaded in, another full one in reserve,” he replied. “You?”
She ejected her mag to check it, and tossed it aside. Empty. She loaded up a fresh one with a sharp click.
“Last one,” she said.
Rufus nodded grimly. “Well, let’s hope there ain’t too many of them.”
Almost as if on cue, five full sized Humvees pulled into the parking lot to form a barricade. Two dozen armed men poured out and started setting up a perimeter.
“Guess we just got the advance team,” Sparks muttered.
A dark haired man stepped out of the passenger side of the center vehicle, and they recognized him as the leader of the pack from the truck stop. He reached into the backseat and pulled out a heavily beaten man with his arms bound behind him.
“Whoever is in charge,” the leader bellowed, voice carrying across the parking lot. “You have thirty seconds to get out here before your friend loses his head!” He put a revolver to his prisoner’s temple.
“Shit,” Sparks hissed.
Rufus shook his head. “I think the Principal is out of his depth here.”
“Ya think?” She ran a hand over her crimson locks. “You stay here. If this shit goes sideways, you take that motherfucker out first.”
“Twenty seconds!” The militia leader yelled.
Rufus rolled his eyes. “If he does a countdown from ten I might jump the gun,” he said.
“And you’d be justified,” Sparks replied and patted him on the shoulder. She sprinted back into the school, skidding around to the front entrance where Principal Dan stood, wringing his hands.
“Ten seconds!” The militia leader called, and Rufus took aim. “What, do you not care about the fate of your man, here?” He looked down at his hostage. “Well, looks like you’ll be joining your family shortly.”
The man’s eyes were glazed, in shock from recently witnessing his family’s demise at the hands of his captors.
“Five seconds,” the leader yelled. “Four. Three. Two.”
“I’m here!” Principal Dan burst from the front doors with his hands up. “I’m here!”
“Ah, you’re the one giving me so many headaches,” the leader greeted. “Who are you?”
Dan swallowed nervously. “I’m the Principal of this school.”
“I wasn’t aware today was a school day,” his opponent chuckled. “You’d figure zombie apocalypse would be like a snow day, only more common in these parts.”
“Be that as it may,” Dan continued, “why don’t you let my friend there go and we can talk things out?”
“Now, why would you want him back?” the militia leader wondered. “He’s the one who told us about this place, how to get in, the zombie room. Everything. Now before you get too mad at him you should know he did hold out for quite a while. Took a hell of a beating. Didn’t break until we started executing his family.”
“Why would you do that?” Dan asked, desperation in his eyes. “There are plenty of supplies in this town.”
“That’s the thing, Principal, there aren’t,” his opponent replied with a sneer. “At least not enough to sustain everyone. Hell, there’s barely enough to sustain me and my men for more than month or so. But as you can tell, I’m willing to do everything in my power to give my men that month.”
“Take it and go, then!” Sparks demanded, exiting the front doors with Bryan in front of her at gunpoint.
“Ah the girl from the truck stop this morning,” the militia leader said. “Somehow I’m not surprised to see you still alive and kicking.”
She raised an eyebrow. “More than I can say about some of your men I’ve come across today.”
“I have lost quite a few troops today, but it’s for the greater good,” he replied in a jovial tone. “Fewer mouths means the provisions will last longer.”
“Look.” Sparks sighed. “I can sit here and insult your troupe of wannabe army boys til the sun comes up, but frankly I have shit to do. So let me spell out what’s gonna happen. First, we’re gonna do a prisoner swap. I got one of yours, you got one of mine. Easy peasy.
“Then, you’re gonna take your boys back to whatever rock you crawled out from and you’re going to give us a day to evacuate. You win, the town is yours. We’re keeping the supplies we have here at the school, and you’re gonna let us gas up. By the afternoon tomorrow we’ll be out of here.”
“Wow, that is quite the little fantasy you have weaved for yourself there.” He laughed. “Literally the only part of that you got correct is that the town is ours. Given that you are severely outgunned, let me lay out what’s going to happen. For starters, your little prisoner swap idea wouldn’t really be fair to me, since we have five more of yours.”
He pointed to the last SUV in the row, where a few of the troops were shoving hostages inside. Rufus and Sparks both managed to catch a glimpse of Ben’s defiant face as he disappeared inside, stomachs sinking.
“Plus, generally speaking, if you are going to take a hostage, make sure it’s one that has value,” the leader continued. “This isn’t one of my men.”
“Come on, Elijah,” Bryan stammered. “I did everything you asked of me.”
“No, young man, you did everything your cousin asked of you,” came the retort. “He was the man I trusted. I don’t know you.”
Bryan’s wrists writhed against their duct tape bonds. “Motherfucker!”
“Now, what’s left from your fantasy that still needs addressing,” Elijah pursed his lips in mock thought. “Oh, yes, that’s right, your evacuation. You have until sun up to vacate this town. Anyone still here will be shot on sight. If anyone approaches the gas stati
on or the supermarket, they will be shot on sight. And just to show you I mean what I say-”
The gunshot took off the top of his hostage’s head, and Sparks immediately fired back, using Bryan as a shield. The militia opened up as Principal Dan tackled the redhead back through the doors of the school.
Rufus took out a few of the men from his position, causing more than one to turn towards him, but they were quickly distracted by Jeff shooting with his handgun from the second floor window. The assault was enough to spook the militia into retreating.
“You alright?” Dan moaned, rolling off of Sparks in the front lobby.
Her eyes widened at the blood pouring from his shoulder. “Holy shit, are you?” she asked.
“Looks like they got me,” he grunted.
“Thank you, for saving my life there,” she said as she rolled him over to inspect the damage.
“I don’t deserve all the credit.” Dan chuckled hoarsely, motioning to Bryan’s twitching, bullet-riddled corpse. “That murdering asshole there deserves some.”
“Well, nothing wrong with your sense of humor,” Sparks replied. “Here, put pressure on the wound. Looks like it’s a through and through. It’s gonna hurt like hell, but you’ll be alright.”
“Help here!” A panicked voice cried from down the hallway.
“Fuck the zombie horde,” Sparks muttered.
“Go help ‘em.” Dan waved her off. “I’ll be fine.”
“Ricky!” she cried as she ran towards the stairwell, and he poked his head out of a classroom.
“Where the hell is Mary?” he barked.
Sparks pointed up. “Upstairs with Jeff.”
“Oh God.” He blanched.
“First things first,” she said, “we gotta secure this door. You got chains in the truck?”
“Yeah got it,” Ricky ran to the front doors, peering out just in time to see the last Humvee disappear around the bend. He darted out into the parking lot and flung open the door of his truck.
“Ricky!” Mary’s voice called out and he whipped around. “Look up!”
He saw the blonde and Jeff hanging out of the infirmary window, waving at him. “Baby, are you safe?” he asked.
“Yeah, can you get us a ladder?” she asked.
“I gotta help Sparks, so people don’t die, but Rufus there can,” Ricky held up the chain and shook it for effect, disappearing back into the school.
“Hang tight, be with you in a minute,” Rufus called. He moved from dead militia man to dead militia man, jabbing each skull with his knife to make sure they wouldn’t reanimate.
Sparks waved Ricky impatiently as he rounded the corner inside with the chain, and together they wound it around the handles and secured it. The four men that had been holding the doors shut collapsed with exhaustion, huffing against the walls of the hallway.
The zombies in the stairwell smacked against the doors angrily, the chains allowing barely any give.
“Mary and Jeff are safe,” Ricky said. “Rufus is getting a ladder for them to get down.”
Sparks nodded in relief. “Well at least something went right for us.”
“So what are we gonna do now?” he asked.
“When Rufus gets them down, bring them to the interrogation room,” Sparks instructed. “These assholes took our friends. We’re gonna get them back.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Okay, we’re here,” Sparks said, leaning forward and marking an X on the map. “Both times we’ve seen them leave and they’ve been driving south, so we can rule out anything north of us.” She looked to Principal Dan, who was sitting in the chair next to her, holding a compress against his shoulder.
“If they didn’t get on the I-ten, we can rule out anything east of us as well,” he added.
“Well, couldn’t they just take the eighty-seven and pick it up?” Ricky spoke up. “You know, to throw us off and stuff?”
Dan shook his head. “Exit’s been closed a week for construction,” he replied.
“Well, if that’s the case, then they took the twenty-seven out of town.” Ricky shrugged.
Sparks leaned forward. “Wait, what was the name of the town Bryan said they hit?”
“Center Point,” Dan said. “It’s about eight miles up twenty-seven, straight shot.”
“They got Center Point?” Mary bent over the map and ran a finger over the area, prompting Sparks to circle it. “Had a friend who worked at the gas station. I hope they didn’t hurt her.”
“I’m sorry Mary,” the Principal said. “I hope she’s alright.”
“Okay,” Sparks cut in, leaning on her hands. “If they hit Center Point then came at us, we have to assume they’re somewhere on that road. Does anybody have any ideas?”
“Well, why do you think they’re off that road?” Ricky furrowed his brow, motioning to the paper. “I mean look at all this empty land, they could be anywhere.”
“See all that land out here?” Rufus inquired. “You know what it doesn’t have? A river running through it.” He pointed to the Guadalupe River.
“Rufus is right,” Sparks agreed. “If they are building this to be a survivalist compound, having a source of water would be vital.”
Mary made a noise of excitement. “The thirteen-fifty turnoff.”
“What about it, Mary?” Dan raised an eyebrow.
“That’s where they’ve gotta be,” she said. “It’s just before the quarry, there’s a huge wooded area right after the turnoff, and the river runs right through it.”
“It’s where I’d build,” Rufus agreed.
“With them coming back at dawn we really only have one shot at this,” Sparks said firmly. “Does anybody have a reason to think they’d be elsewhere?”
“I’d be surprised if they were on the other side of Center Point since it’s only a mile or so until you hit the Kerrville Airport,” Dan pointed out. “Way too much government attention when you get that close to airplanes.”
“Alright, that’s our target,” she confirmed. “Now all we need is a plan.”
The Principal shook his head. “I’m going to leave that in your capable hands. I have an evacuation to facilitate.”
“Any idea where you’re headed?” Jeff piped up.
“There’s a farm with a lake up eighty-seven about five, six miles,” Dan explained. “It’s west of the highway and just before the racetrack. It’s not terribly far off the main road, but should be far enough away to give us a chance to regroup.”
“Well, hell, I’ve heard worse plans today.” Jeff nodded.
Sparks laughed and playfully smacked him. “Hey!”
“Hey Jeff,” he replied, voice a high falsetto, “how fast can you run?”
She pouted. “Point taken.”
“Principal Dan, if you can spare us I think Mary and I are gonna stick with these guys,” Ricky cut in. “This looks like it’s gonna be bigger than a three man operation.”
Dan raised an eyebrow. “Sparks?”
“We’re happy to have them,” she replied.
“Good luck, see you soon,” Principal Dan took his leave and exited the classroom.
“So.” Sparks leaned over the map again, lips in a thin line. “Anybody have any grand ideas on how to raid a militia compound? Cause I’m open to ideas.”
“Ricky, you got a pair of wire cutters I can borrow?” Rufus asked suddenly. “Big ones.”
“Yeah, I got a pair in the truck,” Ricky replied, brow low in confusion.
Sparks crossed her arms. “You aren’t thinking of going in there alone, are you?”
“I did this shit back in the sixties,” Rufus replied, “so I don’t see why I can’t do it when I’m in my sixties. I can get in there and secure the hostages, but getting out’s a whole other story.”
Jeff tapped his chest. “I think I might have an idea on that.”
“That could work,” Sparks agreed.
“What the hell you talkin’ about?” Ricky asked.
“Jeff has a way to ge
t their attention,” she replied. “If nothing else it will distract them and give Rufus a chance to find the hostages. Only question though is how are you gonna be able to signal us? We’re not exactly flush with communication technology at the moment.”
Rufus grinned. “I could whip up some hillbilly dynamite.”
“Well, I did say you were our resident blowing shit up expert,” Sparks conceded. “This seems like a good a time as any.”
Rufus clapped his hands. “Awesome, y’all got a science lab here?”
“A surprisingly well-stocked one,” Mary said. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
“Well, thank you, ma’am.” Rufus tipped an imaginary hat at her. “Ricky if you don’t mind, while she takes me there, could you run out to the maintenance shed and see if there’s any fertilizer?”
“Come on, I’ll give you a hand,” Jeff said.
“I’ll meet y’all at the truck,” Sparks told them. “Gonna collect some ammo from those militia douchebags we took out.”
“Rufus, can I ask you a question?” Mary piped up as they entered the science lab.
“You can ask me whatever you want, lil’ lady,” he replied.
She took a deep breath. “What’s hillbilly dynamite?”
“Well, in a nutshell, it’s fertilizer mixed with a variety of common chemicals in the correct portions,” he explained. “There’s a lot of different ways to do it, I mean I myself have a proprietary blend that I’d like to think gives it an extra kick. I would share the specifics with you, but pretty sure doing so would result in you being put on a government watch list.”
“Why would that matter?” Mary raised an eyebrow. “The world is ending.”
“You’re right, we’re dealing with the apocalypse, so the last thing you need is Big Brother giving you headaches.” He winked.
“Well, is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, motioning around the lab.
“You know what, there is something you can help me with,” Rufus replied with a snap of his fingers. “You have an art room?”
Her brows knit in confusion. “Um, yeah?”
