CHAPTER 5
Joe was having a nightmare. He had dreamt that he was stuck with the two biggest dimwits at Star Ambulance. If that was not bad enough, one of those cretins had wrecked the truck and the other was eaten by what appeared to be a zombie. The nightmare, he realized, was as real as the sharp pain in his right side. He rolled away from the pain and took stock of his injuries. A broken rib or two, he thought. Joe was still woozy from the collision and subsequent tumble across the bridge. The truck was still on its side and the only way out was directly above him, out the driver’s side door. He slowly began to recall what had happened and what was currently going on now. He had no idea what time it was, but he could not have been out long. He knew that David had to be dead, but on closer inspection in the back of the unit, he was gone. Joe slowly panned over the bloody slaughterhouse that was the patient compartment. Dark red blood caked nearly every inch of the back of the ambulance, and there was no sign of David or the now-undead Mr. Keene. He did not know where they were at and was not going to say around to find out. Joe took stock of his situation and assets. He had his assault pack, his tactical tomahawk, two MRE’s and water. That would have to do for now until he could get up with one of the other crews or get help otherwise. He looked up to the driver’s seat above him and grabbed the seatbelt. It swung loosely above him, cut in half. Dammit, James, save your own ass and leave me here. I will deal with you later, motherfucker.
Joe also noticed that the batteries were still on for the truck and the radio was still working. He turned the volume up on the Tazewell County VHF radio only to hear unintelligible screaming and desperate cries for help. There would be no help coming for the poor souls on the other end of that radio, as there was no one to send. Joe turned the VHF radio off as not to attract the undead. He remembered from all the zombie movies that he had seen before that these things came running towards sound especially, and he did not want to test the theory to see if it was correct. Joe reached up, turned the knob on the Star Ambulance UHF company radio, and was surprised to notice the volume turned up but there was no traffic on the radio. He grabbed the mic to the company radio and tried to contact someone, anyone, to try to help.
“Unit 49 to Star Dispatch. Kelly, are you there?” Joe said in a hoarse whisper. “Larry, Jamie, anybody there?”
Silence.
“...Joe is that you?” a voice crackled across the radio.
“Yeah, it’s me. Who is this?” Joe replied.
“This is Kody, I’m at the office. I’m stuck here, but I got Jamie and his crew comin’ to get me.”
Even under the circumstances, Joe had to smile. Once the dead came back to life he was sure that Jamie had made his way to his house and his arsenal. Jamie had a small army’s worth of handguns, shotguns, and a few AR-15 assault rifles. If Virginia law did not prohibit it, Joe was sure he would have more than just semi-auto stuff as well.
“Okay, I’m in 49, James took off, and David is dead. James wrecked us somewhere near the bridge goin’ across to the high school. I’m hurt and I don’t think I can make it by myself, and I think I got company,” Joe said as he heard movement outside the wrecked unit. He instinctively got into his assault pack and got his tomahawk out. It was the only means of self-defense that he had, but it would do. He stuffed the hatchet into the belt of his pants. Joe slowly got to his feet as best he could and tried to figure out what to do next. He knew that he could not climb above him and get the driver’s side door open with any speed or stealth. The sounds of movement outside signaled that he would have to make a hasty escape out the back of the truck. He zipped up is assault pack and pushed it through the hole between the patient compartment and the drivers area. Acting fast, he began to climb in the back through the small opening when he spotted David.
David had never been the most adept EMT that Joe had ever worked with and, now that he had turned into one of the undead, he seemed to carry that trait as a zombie. Joe first noticed him as he was approaching the back of the truck. It appeared that David was trying to open the one of the back doors on the ambulance. However, every time he would move forward to move into the truck the door would come back down, smacking him on the back of the head. Undead and heedless to the law of gravity, David attempted this feat several times over as Joe sat and observed. If David was as ignorant in death as he was in life Joe figured he could get the drop on him and dispose of him with as little noise and commotion as possible.
Joe began to slowly climb above his head, grabbing the steering wheel to pull himself up. Pain stabbed throughout his ribs as he dragged himself further upward. Joe managed to get his right foot in the steering wheel and maneuver himself vertically toward the door. He propped himself against the seat and put both feet into the steering wheel and reached for the door handle. Joe carefully pulled on the door latch and it mercifully opened. Joe slid his hand between the door latch and the door and pushed the mangled driver’s side door open. The door creaked as it was pushed open and Joe froze. He did not hear any movement aside from David continuously hitting himself in the head. Maybe he will off himself and I won’t have to worry about it, you do gotta shoot 'em in the head, right? He thought. He was about to start climbing out when the radio chattered again.
“Joe this is Kody, again. Jamie is here. We are headed your way. Hang tight, buddy!”
“Shit.” Joe mumbled under his breath. He knew the sound would attract undead if they were within earshot. As if to read his mind, he began to hear banging up against the underside of the truck. He knew Mr. Keene was still missing in action and was willing to bet that he had not left the area after the crash. Realizing he was out of options, Joe hastily climbed out through the door and slowly peered down. Mr. Keene had indeed not left the scene and was pounding away at the underside of the truck as it lay on its side. The undead miner looked up at Joe and began his assault on the undercarriage of the ambulance in earnest now. Joe did not know how long it would take his rescue party to arrive; he needed to deep six the miner now. He reached into his belt loop, pulled out the tomahawk, and unsheathed the hatchet. It was sharp. He did not have to use it much aside from trying to learn how to throw it. He was no Apache with it, but he could stick it on one and two turns. Tossing it at a zombie was not in his repertoire, especially a headshot. Joe crept to the edge of the doorframe and sized up his target. Mr. Keene was within arm’s reach and still pounding away towards him in a desperate try to get dinner. Joe waited until a lull in his tantrum, and the creatures arms dropped out of the way. He reared back and swung, point first, meeting the zombie’s head with a satisfying crunch. Mr. Keene ceased his angry fit and dropped to the ground. One down, one to go.
Joe jumped down from the truck, landing hard, the pain in his ribs intensifying. He would need help soon and was praying that Jamie and the others were coming quickly. He removed the tomahawk from the now twice-dead Mr. Keene and moved stealthily toward the back of Unit 49. He could hear David again, constantly trying to get in the truck despite himself. Joe rounded the corner and identified his target, blind to his presence. David’s right arm at the elbow was missing, hence his problem with getting in the truck. Joe gripped his weapon tightly and swung at David, spike end first. The tactical tomahawk nearly split David’s head in half as it re-killed the inept EMT. Joe pulled the weapon from David’s head and crawled into the back of the ambulance to get his assault pack. He grabbed the bag and started to get out when he heard several undead moaning outside. Dammit, more? Where the hell are they coming from?
Joe frantically darted toward the back of the ambulance and was met nearly face to face with another of the walking dead. The zombie’s face was nearly rotted away, his teeth clamped together in an eerie grin. He was covered in weeds and algae, apparently crossing the creek on his way to his victim. Oh my God, it’s reanimating the ones in the cemetery too. Joe scurried backwards into the truck, unable to get room to kill the swamp-thing with the tomahawk. He was about to come to terms with being overrun when he heard a diesel engine pull up.
He heard three doors slam, and then a hail of gunfire from the road. The swamp zombie at the end of the truck was missed as it crawled into the unit, however.
“I don’t think so you dead motherfucker!” It was Andrew. Joe saw him aim at the zombie and realized he was in the line of fire.
“WAIT! I’M IN HERE!” Joe cried out. He did not want to be on the receiving end of a twelve-gauge.
“Hang on, man! Jamie, Larry, over here!” Andrew called to his reinforcements. Jamie and Larry came bounding down to the wrecked unit and dragged the swamp zombie out from the back of the truck. Andrew stomped the ghoul down face first into the ground and held him there. “Finish him!” he ordered.
“Nighty night, bitch” Larry said, aimed his shotgun at the zombie, and ended him in a loud blast of buckshot. “Joe! You in there?”
“Yeah I’m here! Gimme a hand, I’m hurt pretty bad.” Joe exasperatedly called out to his friends.
Larry and Andrew crawled into the wreckage and pulled Joe out to safety. Joe stayed on the ground outside the truck, thankful to be alive. After he had killed Mr. Keene, he had not had time to reflect on his situation. Now that he had, he was grateful his survival instincts kicked in.
“C’mon, dude. Don’t be a lazy shit now,” Larry said, smiling. He offered a hand to get Joe to his feet, and Joe obliged pulling himself up.
“I thought I was fucked. You know what’s happening, don’t you?” Joe said, getting right to the point. “It’s the goddamn apocalypse; I kinda always wanted to end like this though, to be honest.”
“Yeah it’s all of the dead doin’ it too. The miners were just the start. Whatever that gas was it has done it all over the world,” Larry explained. “If you die you come back. If you’re bit, you come back. The concentrated gas that first came out was deadly but now that it’s dispersed they say it only makes you come back if you kick the bucket.”
“Look, dude we can explain this later. Right now we need to get the fuck out of here and head back to my house and figure out what we gonna do” Jamie chimed in as he dropped another zombie as it came out of the creek bed.
“Agreed,” Joe seconded. He turned to and managed a smile at Jamie. “You bring me anything, Santa?”
Jamie and Larry helped Joe to the other waiting ambulance, Unit 41. It was a Dodge Ram and tough as nails. Four wheel-drive and heavy, it looked like it had seen its fair share of action since Joe’s unfortunate incident. Blood spatters across the hood and down both sides indicated that Jamie and Larry had run over more than a few of the undead on their way to rescue him. The four companions moved to the idling truck. “Here, I got the M4 stock you wanted for it,” Jamie said and handed Joe an AR-15 that Joe had been paying Jamie in installments. Joe nearly had it paid off and Jamie now bestowed it upon him. It was brand new and Jamie had outfitted it with a foregrip and a Trijicon 2x20 ACOG scope. Joe knew the scope itself was over a grand. Jamie took his guns seriously.
“Damn, spared no expense did ya?” Joe said as he accepted the rifle. He checked the safety and got into the ambulance. Larry got in the back of the unit with Joe. Larry had him lay on the stretcher and examined his wounds. He bandaged the numerous cuts and scraped that Joe had sustained. “You guys didn’t happen to see James on your way over did you?” Joe asked Larry. The truck roared as they pulled away from the scene and headed out.
“No, where the hell is he?” Larry asked as he bandaged Joe’s damaged ribs.
“Hell if I know, last thing I remember was the truck comin’ to rest on that embankment. I wake up and he was gone. The seatbelt was cut so I know he made it out. Sorry sack of shit didn’t even try to help me get out I don’t think.” Joe replied.
“Yeah, sounds about like him. I had a bad feeling about him when they hired him. Guess it was justified.” Larry said.
“So what’s the plan? From what I can gather the world has gone all Night of the Living Dead on us, so I hope we at least have a temporary idea.”
“We are holed up at Jamie’s house; Donnie, me, Jamie, Andrew, Kody and now you.”
“Where’s Missy and Cornbread?” Joe asked, hoping they were still alive.
“Missy made it home, we dropped her off.” Larry looked away in the look of bad news coming. “Cornbread didn’t make it, he got bit, and we didn’t know what to do. We took him home. He asked us to.” Larry said somberly. “Jamie is gonna drop me off at home. I’m gonna get Paige and the kids and head for her mom’s cabin in Tennessee, hopefully. She lives way out in the sticks so not as many dead fuckers there.”
“Shit, it’s gone that far?”
“Didn’t you hear me before? It’s all over the damn globe! Dead people coming up out of the ground, that gas seeped in to ‘em and made ‘em come back. There were mine explosions all over the damn planet, just like here. TV is still working, same with cell phones so far. Nobody is sayin’ anything worth a shit on the news, though, and there’s fucking zombies all over the damn place.”
“I’ve got to get home, Larry. I managed to call Buffey and get her and my friend Chris up to speed on what was happening earlier. They were goin’ to get supplies, God I hope I didn’t send them into a death trap!” Joe said becoming increasingly agitated. He needed to call Buffey right now and find out what was going on in Rural Retreat. If it was as bad as Larry said he would not be able to get home easily, let alone quickly. He reached for his cellphone. Luckily, it was still in one piece and working. He dialed home, praying for an answer. Buffey answered the other end again.
“Hey babe you okay?” She asked. Joe wanted to lie and say that he was fine and on his way home but she needed to know the truth. He was stuck 50 miles from home and did not know how he was going to get back.
“I’m a little banged up, honey, but I’m okay,” he said “James wrecked the damn truck and left me, but Larry and the guys got me and we are going to hole up at Jamie’s until we figure out what to do next.”
“Oh God, are you hurt bad? Imma kill that little bastard if I see him!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah I’m gonna need to heal up a bit before I can try to get home, though.”
“Heal up? Why can’t you just go to the hospital in Tazewell?” Buffey did not know about the stomach-churning carnage that had been taking place. Joe had told her to stay put, and she had, but now she was missing critical need-to-know information.
“Buffey, it’s happening. The dead are coming back to life and attacking the living. You need to stay put and hole up with Chris and keep Rickey safe. I will figure out how to get home as soon as I can.” Joe was not sure that she had heard him, as she did not answer at first. When she did manage a response, however, she was calm and collected. She worked in the same line of work he had and knew how to handle herself during a crisis. Now, she had a full-blown apocalypse to deal with.
“Okay, babe, what do you need me to do?” She said firmly.
“Just stay there. Where is Chris?”
“He went to town to get supplies, like you asked.”
“Okay when he gets back, you guys stay put. I mean it; do not go out for anything. If Chris got what I think he did you should be good for a few weeks at least. I will get to you as soon as I can. I will have to avoid the main roads, so going back over the mountain looks a little easier. There will be less people and less undead.”
“A couple weeks? How long do you think you will be? Are you sure you can’t get here any sooner?” Buffey said, now in an increased state of panic. It was not that she could not handle the situation; she just needed him home, safe and sound. Rickey would want to know where his daddy was, and Buffey would not be able to adequately tell him when he would be home.
“I don’t know, but I will try to get there as fast as I can...not be able...later...cell...last long.” Joe began to lose signal, he thought. He looked at his phone and groaned. “No goddammit!” he exclaimed. His phone now said NO NETWORK. As far as Joe was concerned, it might as well have said YOU’RE FUCKED. He threw the phone across the back of the truck and ru
bbed his temples. He knew what he had to do, and hoped he did not have to go at it alone. They reached Larry’s house, the first stop, a short time later, each one carefully getting out of the truck. When they were satisfied that there were no zombies in the area they moved toward the door. The sounds of the undead moaning were the only noises they could hear, but the sound was far off. If they did not make any noise or draw attention to themselves, they would be able to get back out to the ambulance with little problems. The sky thundered and it began to rain.
Once they had gotten inside, they checked the phone, which was dead. The sound of a busy line was the noise it made. Larry switched on the TV and was greeted with chaos. The news networks were having a field day with speculation. One analyst said that it was an airborne virus released by Al-Qaeda, but could not validate his point as to how it was dispersed. Another talking head was saying that it was the end of times and that we were all to blame, for God was punishing the human race for so many years of transgressions against Him. The international news said that the stock market had crashed beyond recovery. There were reports of rioting and looting in almost every major city across Europe, Russia, and most of Asia. China had declared martial law and the news channel showed a video of Chinese soldiers firing on zombies and civilians alike. No selective targeting. The camera crew showing the video was then shot. The camera lay on the ground, showing vicious images of the undead running in front of it, devouring the living, and attacking the soldiers firing on them. The video was mercilessly cut after an image of a zombie eating a small Chinese girl was shown. The broadcaster showed a red screen warning after the fact of “Not Suitable for All Ages” then cut to the network logo. Larry changed the channel several more times, all with the same message - avoid the undead and head to evacuation centers. Several cities scrolled across the screen, none of which was near Joe and his friends. He took a deep breath and then noticed that Jamie was watching him watch the TV.
Six Feet From Hell: Books 1 - 3 Page 5
