Joe exited first and scanned the area, looking down the sights of his rifle. After he was satisfied, there was not a soul around - living or otherwise - he motioned for Andrew and Jamie to come out. Jamie took up beside of Joe, giving them better coverage around them as Andrew helped get Donnie out of the back of the ambulance. Donnie handed Andrew his pack, not substantially lighter. Each man had split Donnie’s supplies to make him more mobile. He was going to have a hard time moving without the extra gear slowing him down more. Andrew reached up and gingerly helped him out of the back. Once Donnie was out of the unit and on his feet, Joe nodded at him and Donnie returned the gesture. They were now on foot.
The torrential downpour kept up as the men moved along the ridge of the first mountain. The steepest part of their journey had begun without the help of added speed and mobility that the truck would have afforded them. After nearly a half-mile, they came upon a rockslide in the middle of the road.
“Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?” Joe jokingly mused to his friends.
“Yeah no shit, doesn’t look like the truck would have done us any good anyway. Course if you had been drivin’ you woulda hit the damn rock and busted your tire again.” Andrew reminded Joe of his less-than-fortunate trip across the mountain a few weeks before. Joe was on his way to work when he rounded a corner and hit a large, watermelon-sized rock in the road. The impact had split open the rim and busted the less-than-week old tire that Joe had just bought. Luckily enough, Andrew was also on his way to work a few minutes behind of Joe. Joe had flagged him down as he passed and caught a ride into work that morning. Joe’s day continued to be a running joke that day as he tried to put on a spare that did not fit, and ended up buying another new tire as well as a rim to go along with it. As he was putting on the new rim and tire, he also had split the crotch in his pants. He had repeated the same phrase to Andrew as he tried in vain to fix the tire on the side of the road that day.
“Yeah, tell me about it” Joe laughed, “I would have left that fucker there that day had anything else gone wrong, I swear!” Joe led the men into another guffaw as they all joined in the revelry of laughter. Joe’s laugh faded shortly thereafter as he spotted a derelict vehicle on the side of the road as they rounded the first of many S-curve turns. “Well speaking of broke-ass cars.”
“We are gonna need one if we plan on getting anywhere fast,” Jamie observed.
“Yeah, but not a broke-ass one,” Joe fired back.
Andrew moved forward, and then turned to face the men. “We should check it out. I know there’s gonna be a shit-ton of these things, but maybe we can get lucky, find us one that works.”
“He’s got a point,” Joe said as he looked back to the car. “Let’s see what is up with it and any other we run into.”
Jamie shrugged his shoulders. “That will slow us down big-time. We can’t be stopping at every car we see. God knows how many of ‘em we are gonna run into and...”
“And we can’t sleep in the damn rain all night with the weather getting cooler either. We will get sick and could die from a fucking sinus infection. Not to mention the fact that if we get pneumonia we will be as good as dead.”
“Ah, dammit, alright then,” Jamie hastily agreed. “You know I hate it when you make a point. Right?”
Joe grinned and patted his friend reassuringly on the shoulder. “That’s what I love about you. Keeping me honest is part of your job description. Come on, let’s check it out.”
The group of men - minus Donnie who was told to take a seat and rest, which he did reluctantly - moved towards the abandoned car slowly with Joe taking lead, Jamie, and Andrew off to his right. Andrew rounded the passenger side first, weapon raised. He darted to the window on the passenger’s side, prepared for anything. Jamie raised his weapon and covered Andrew from the back of the car, looking through the back glass. Joe moved around to the driver’s side as his friends closed in tight to the vehicle. All three men both saw the same thing at once.
Absolutely nothing.
The three men let out a collective sigh of relief and lowered their weapons. Joe turned and motioned to Donnie. “Come on dude. Nothing here. Let’s move out, see if we can get some shelter from this rain for a bit.” Andrew walked over to Donnie and helped him up. Donnie did so gingerly and got to his feet. He and Andrew then moved to meet up with Joe and Jamie who were going through the abandoned car. They found a six-pack of water in the back seat, which each man guzzled down feverishly. They did not want to carry the extra weight but did not want to leave the contents in the vehicle. They tossed the bottles aside and continued their trek across the mountain.
They traveled on for several more miles. No more vehicles were on the side of the road as they neared the top of the first mountain. From there they could see half of Tazewell County. There were fires burning out of control, despite the hammering rain that kept coming down. There was a crackle of gunfire that was nearly drowned out by the sound of far-off thunder rumbling across the valley. There were no houses on this side of the summit, though and they did not get to take shelter any. They moved along slowly as Donnie was having a hard time keeping up with the men. Joe took his pack and lashed it to his own, lightening his load. Donnie kept his weapon, better able to keep up after doing so.
The four drenched men slogged their way on down the road. Each step they took was closer to their goal, but no closer to a warm, dry, bed and a hot meal. They marched along the road as the rain continued to come down in sheets. They made small talk along the way, mostly joking about how many things were changed now. The biggest argument came from Joe and Andrew who were arguing on how the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry would play out now. Andrew argued that even zombified the Yankees could take out the Sox any day of the week. The men were happy to make small talk, which they also mentioned would become a lost art. Survival ruled the day and they no longer saw that they would have to make small talk to impress women. Jamie, of course being the only single man amongst them, got a good laugh out of it.
“Maybe I can find Mrs. Right now that every woman is a gun-toting commando. God bless America!” The men kept their spirits up as much as humanly possible to keep the horrid conditions they were surrounded by at bay. They were too busy moving along and conversing among one another to notice they were being watched from the upstairs window of the first habitable house they had seen on their journey.
Didn’t want me in your little fuckin’ group, did ya? Didn’t come and pick me up!
CHAPTER 9
The shadowy figure watched from the upstairs window of the house that he was hiding out in as the four men approached on foot. He was nervous at first, but after seeing who it was, began to fume with anger. He saw the tall, skinny one bringing up the rear. He was limping. This is gonna be too easy, he thought. He slowly closed the curtain that he had spotted the travelers from and slunk away from it stealthily. He grabbed his rifle that he had found downstairs in the office of the former occupants. Why they had not taken it was beyond him, but he did not care, he needed a gun and it was available. That was good enough for him. He moved toward the staircase that led down to the main foyer of the house. He sat at the landing, his high-powered 7mm Short Mag rifle aimed at the front door. He knew that he could not take out all four men with the bolt-action rifle, but if he could catch them by surprise and disarm them, he would take their gear and kill them all.
Kill them all.
Joe, Jamie, and Andrew approached the front of the first house they had seen that would be usable. Joe had suggested that Donnie stay outside and watch the exterior of the house while they went in and secured it. Donnie waited at the small logwood fence that was end of the driveway. He sat down and flicked the safety off his rifle as the rest of his crew approached the door. Joe was in the front of the group. He also flicked the switch from SAFE to SEMI and shortened the stock on his AR-15. He remembered from his military teachings that it was best to have a shorter, more mobile weapon to clear rooms. Jamie, with his six-foot frame and “sp
are tire” build went ahead of Joe. Jamie turned the handle on the front door. It was locked, most likely dead bolted. Jamie stepped back and looked over to Joe.
“I guess we gonna have to break it down” Jamie grinned as he spoke. He stepped up to the door and sized up his target. “I have always wanted to do this,” he said, grinning. He motioned Joe back to his right.
“Okay, big guy” Joe said waving him ahead, also while smiling. Joe nonchalantly stepped back, and Jamie kicked the door.
It did not move.
Neither did the figure on the staircase.
“Motherfucker! That hurt!” Jamie howled as he limped away from the door. The other three men burst into uncontrollable laughter.
“Alright, dude let the professional door-kicker handle this one,” Joe said in between his howling laughter. Joe again stepped forward and turned his back to the door. He reared back and donkey-kicked the door. It splintered along the handle and creaked open. Joe raised his weapon and stepped forward. He scanned left and right quickly. He did not look up to the landing and see the figure as he slowly crept down the staircase.
The man watched as the first one moved in followed by two of his friends. He moved down the steps slowly and aimed the rifle at the back of the fat one’s head. A board on the steps creaked as he did, alerting the three men. They spun around to meet their assailant. He had his rifle raised at Jamie, Joe, and Andrew.
“Don’t fuckin’ move assholes!” he demanded of the men. The three men had their AR-15s raised and the man in their sights. “Are you fuckin’ deaf? I said don’t move you sons a’ bitches!”
“Just in case you can’t count we got you outnumbered three to one, buddy. We don’t want any trouble, just a place to stay for the night.” Joe tried to ease the tension with their attacker. Joe could not see his face in the low light and could not judge his facial expressions, but he sounded pissed. The man’s voice did sound familiar to Joe as well, but he could not place it. They heard footsteps as the man inched closer to them.
“I can’t get all of ya’ll but I damn sure can take out at least one of ‘ya. SO DROP YOUR FUCKIN’ GUNS!”
Donnie heard the commotion going on inside the house and ducked down, wincing in pain as he did so. He heard a man’s voice, and he sounded very agitated. Donnie got on the ground and low crawled until he could see an outline in the doorway. He raised his weapon and steadied himself in a prone shooting stance. He did not want to kill the man; he just wanted to disarm him. The man was probably just protecting his house from looters, although there had not been many people on the road as far as they had seen.
“Now look, friend, we don’t want any trouble. Just let us go and we will leave you alone. Or if not, we can make this real messy real fast.” Jamie and Andrew were visibly shaken and were silently keeping aim on their adversary. Joe was running out of ways to reason with the man. He was positive that he knew the voice of their belligerent attacker.
He caught a glimpse as the man stepped into the doorway.
“James?”
The gunshot that rang out as soon as he recognized his ill-tempered, arrogant (former) co-worker made all of the men inside the house jump. James dropped the rifle and grabbed his hand, screaming bloody murder. Joe took advantage of the situation, tossing his rifle to his side by the sling and pouncing on James, pinning him to the ground. Jamie and Andrew followed suit, holding the combative man down. Joe got off James and got to his feet. Jamie and Andrew both had an arm holding him down as he kicked and screamed.
“I’ll kill all you fuckers! You sorry sacks of shit left me to die!” James cursed as he lay struggling on the ground.
“WE LEFT YOU? YOU FUCKING LEFT ME TO DIE IN THAT GODDAMN WRECK!” Although none of the men could see it, Joe’s face was beet red.
“I was savin’ my own ass! I knew you sorry motherfuckers wasn’t gonna help me so I got out while the gettin’ was good!” James said as he writhed in Jamie and Andrew’s grip.
Joe turned around, took his rifle off, and set it on the staircase beside him. He faced James and cracked his knuckles. “Stand him up.”
Jamie and Andrew did as they were told and got James to his feet. His left hand was bleeding and he looked to be missing his index finger of that hand. Joe stepped over to James as he was brought to his feet. “I got a bone to pick with you, asshole.” Joe grabbed the front of James’ shirt and swung with his right hand, connecting with James’ jaw. Jamie and Andrew immediately let go of him as Joe tagged him in the face. James fell to the ground, howling in pain from his now-broken jaw. He grabbed James up to his knees. Joe stood over James and drew his 9mm from its holster.
“My son almost lost his father because of your ignorant ass,” Joe hissed as he pointed the gun at James’ temple and cocked the hammer back. “A problem that I am not going to let happen twice. I knew you were trouble the minute you started working for us to sorry piece of shit.” Joe pressed the gun to the side of James head. The cold steel embedded against James’ face as Joe pushed it harder and harder, driving the point home.
“Come on Joe, he’s not worth it.” Donnie said, now appearing in the doorway of the house. “You kill him, and you are no better than he is.” Donnie sounded legitimately worried about James, a certain amount of kindness and mercy in his voice.
Joe pressed the barrel of the FNP9 harder against the side of James’ head. “This fucker is sorry as whale shit and the world will be better off without him.” Joe looked back at Donnie, then over to Jamie and Andrew. All three men had flabbergasted looks on their faces. They had never seen Joe get mad, but he did have a temper that had landed him in jail on one occasion before. He had worked to get his anger flare-ups down over the years, but he still had the red-bearded Irish temper. Joe pondered his friend’s words, as his hand shook holding the gun at James’ temple. He released the gun from the side of his head and stepped back. James slumped down on his knees and let out a deep exhale.
“You’re right. He ain’t worth it.” Joe turned away from him and walked back towards his rifle. James began to laugh.
“I knew you wouldn’t do it you fucking PUSSY! Your kid is gonna be as dead as you are! BET HE’S A PUSSY JUST LIKE HIS OLD MAN!” James voice escalated and he spat at Joe as he turned away. Joe stopped dead in his tracks.
“What was that?” Joe said gritting his teeth and gripping the weapon tighter.
“I said he’s gonna be dead, motherfucker! Serves the little faggot right!” James said as a devilish grin permeated his face.
Joe spun around, aiming at James’ chest. He marched over to where James was on his knees.
“NO! DON’T!” From Jamie.
“STOP!” pleaded Donnie.
The appeals of his friends did not stop Joe this time as he unloaded the clip in James’ chest. Sixteen rounds tore through his torso as he was riddled with lead at point-blank range. James body jumped and flailed as he was pummeled with the 9mm rounds. Joe was still pulling the trigger after his magazine had emptied. The metallic smell of blood and cordite hung in the air. Joe dropped the clip and put another into the weapon. He chambered the first round and pointed it back at James’ corpse.
“What the hell, man? You didn’t have to kill him!” Donnie hobbled over to where Joe was standing. Joe did not acknowledge his friends presence, other than to hold up his index finger.
“Be right with you Donnie.” Joe’s index finger went from pointing up as to say just a second to pointing at James’ corpse. Jamie and Andrew stood in awe of what Joe had done. They all knew that James had left Joe for dead in the ambulance after the wreck, but did not imagine that he would take it so personal. Joe was taking no chances in seeing his family again, and as far as he was concerned, James was a bigger threat than the walking dead. The dead had no motives or grudges to hold and did not have the thought processes to carry out such deeds even if they did have any reasoning capabilities. Joe was simply removing a worse problem.
It took only two minutes before James’ lifeless bod
y began to re-animate. His fingers started at first followed by what sounded like shallow breathing mixed with a low growl. Joes aim never left James’ head during that time. James’ head slowly began to move and within another thirty seconds tried to get up and move. As he made an effort to come up from flat on his back, Joe stepped forward and stomped down on James’ chest. The creature let out an angry yelp. The zombie that was now their former ignorant co-worker started trying to get up again and Joe slammed his foot back down on his chest. Joe mumbled under his breath as he intently aimed the 9mm at James' head.
“I told you I would deal with you later motherfucker.” Joe fired two shots directly between the eyes of his assailant. James head exploded onto the floor behind him in a burst of skull fragments and the sickening sweet smell of gray matter. James immediately fell back to the floor in a large puddle of his own blood and did not get up a second time. Joe holstered his sidearm and looked back to his friends in a cold stare. “We need to put this thing outside before any dead fuckers hear those shots and come looking. I’m done with that fat shit.”
Joe lit up a cigarette as his friends dragged James’ lifeless body outside. Jamie and Andrew took the body out to the edge of the road, away from the house as not to give any of the walkers a reason to investigate the residence. Joe stood in the doorway of the abode as the men completed their task and headed back up the driveway. The drenching rain from earlier in the day had let up some, but was still coming down steadily. The temperature had dropped nearly fifteen degrees in the course of the day, as Joe’s breath hung in the cool air. Donnie slowly approached Joe as he stood covering his friends from the front door.
Six Feet From Hell: Books 1 - 3 Page 10
