by Schafer, Jon
Heather kept up a steady stream of well-spaced single shots, punching holes in dead craniums and sending the creatures to hell where they belonged.
With only one zombie left clinging to the MRAP when it finally came into pistol range, Steve said, "Show off," to Heather out of the corner of his mouth before dispatching the last attacker. Heather paused and gave him a smile, saying, "I'm hell on wheels with this thing, baby, so look out."
To prove her point, she focused toward the gap between the structures where more of the dead now appeared in pursuit of Tick-Tock. Firing five rounds, she dropped five zombies.
Steve said, "Good shooting, I'm impressed. Now you're elected to teach Meat how to shoot. But make sure to wear your Kevlar."
Steve picked up an aluminum extension ladder and readied it as the MRAP slowly pulled below the walkway. After the armored car stopped with its nose underneath the concrete bridge, Steve leaned over and let the ladder down on to its roof while Heather covered him with her CAR-15. The engine revved twice and then stopped. Steve climbed onto the low wall and gingerly tested the ladder to make sure it was secure on top of the driver's compartment. Satisfied, he quickly made it down onto the roof of the MRAP before leaning around the heavy machine gun to rap his knuckles on the armored flaps set into its steel skin.
A muffled voice singing, knock three times on the ceiling if you want me, reached Steve's ears as Tick-Tock opened the gunner’s hatch on the roof of the MRAP. He grinned at Steve and then looked up at Heather who was leaning over the rail.
"You're hell on hitchhiker's, girl," he said to her.
"Ass, gas, or grass, no one rides for free," she shot back.
Flushed by his success, Tick-Tock laughed and asked Steve, "Do you want to check this hog out now, or do you want to wait until the neighbors calm down?" He looked to the rear and indicated with a wave of his hand that there were only a few dead in view, "We got Annie Oakley covering the high ground so we should be all right."
Steve looked questioningly up at Heather who said, "Haven't had any misfires but that's not to say I won't."
Reaching down, Tick-Tock came up with an M4 assault rifle, which he handed to Steve, "Run that up to her. It's got a full clip in it. It's the one that was on top, hanging off the flap. The one on the hood slid off."
Steve climbed the ladder and presented the rifle to Heather with a slight bow, "For the girl who has everything," he said.
Quickly checking the weapon, she aimed and fired one round at a small tree a hundred feet away. Its branches shook with the impact against its trunk.
Slinging her CAR-15 over her shoulder, she held up the M4 and said, "You'll have a hard time out-doing this. You better think hard because Christmas is coming."
Descending to the MRAP, Steve called out, "I'll see if I can find you a rocket launcher."
Steve and Tick-Tock couldn't find one, but among the equipment in the MRAP they did collect two more M4's, a .45 caliber pistol and case and a half of ammunition for the rifles. They debated taking two Kevlar vests that they found hanging from the driver's seat until Tick-Tock suggested that they might come in handy when they went from office to office to clear the bank building. Slipping them on, they began searching the rest of the crew compartment.
As they picked through the vehicle, the two men cached everything they found on the bench seats that stretched along both sides of the rear of the MRAP. They had amassed a small pile of additional items they wanted to take when they heard a series of rifle shots from outside.
Poking his head out of the gunner's hatch, Steve saw that a group of about thirty dead had gathered at the end of the space between the building and the parking ramp. He heard Heather fire two shots and watched two of the dead drop as if their bodies had suddenly become boneless. Flowers of black pus erupted from their heads from the impacts of the assault rifle rounds.
"Time to go?" Heather called down, "Or do you want to use the .50 and clear away some of them? Might give you a little more time."
Looking past the front of the MRAP, Steve could see that the thick privacy hedge that stretched across that end of the gap between the bank and ramp had kept the zombies from coming at them in that direction. But for how long? Beyond the green, leafy foliage he could see figures moving back and forth and hear branches cracking as the dead tested the barrier. Heather could easily hold off the zombies from the front, but if they broke through the hedge it would be too many even for her.
Saying to Heather, "Nope, we're out of here." Steve called below to Tick-Tock, "Grab the ammo and weapons, we'll come back later for the rest."
After securing the armored car, the two men climbed to the walkway, pulling the ladder up after them.
"Let's get out of sight." Steve said, "We'll come back later when the natives aren't so restless." Looking at the lethal gear the two men brought out of the MRAP, Heather asked in surprise, "There's more?"
Speaking as he moved to the security door of the bank building, Steve said with excitement, "All kinds of good stuff. Some MRE's and water, more ammunition for the M4's and some canisters that Tick-Tock says are thermite grenades. And that's just what we found doing a quick search. We were getting ready to open the compartments under the seats in the rear when we heard you start shooting."
"There's more ammo for the .50 caliber too," Tick-Tock said. "I'll come back later, check out the machine gun and cover it for the night."
What they both left unspoken though, was that one of them would also have to return and clean up the blood, bones and dried chunks of meat from the murdered crew that was strewn about the inside of the MRAP.
They triumphantly arrived back at the station to find Meat waiting for them. He had gone with Tick-Tock to help with repositioning the ropes and then act as a lookout. He was the one who fired the signal shot to let Steve and Heather know Tick-Tock had made it safely to the MRAP and to get ready for phase two of the plan.
Holding out the .25 caliber handgun Steve had given him to use, Meat commented on the firepower the trio carried. "When do I get one of those? And when are you going to teach me how to shoot? After what happened with Donna, I don't ever want to be unarmed again."
Steve and Tick-Tock looked uneasily at each other. Neither man wanted to teach someone who had fired a weapon for the first time in his life on that very afternoon how to handle an automatic weapon.
Heather stepped forward and held out her hand to Tick-Tock, "Give me the .45 you took out of the MRAP. I'll take Meat up on the roof and teach him how to use it. When we go to clear the building tomorrow we'll want another gun with us."
Tick-Tock handed over the pistol, spare clip and a box of .45 caliber ammunition while saying, "I thought it was just going to be us clearing the offices. Between the three of us we should do okay."
Mindful of her position as the new person to the group, Heather replied, "I was just thinking about something you said earlier."
Tick-Tock looked at her curiously.
"About splitting up so we could cover the building faster," Heather reminded him. Now that she made it seem like it was all Tick-Tock's idea in the first place, she launched into explaining her own plan, which was loosely built off his original idea. "We split into three groups of two. Each of us acts as a leader with one rookie in tow. Each group takes a floor and works it office by office. When each team is done, they leap frog down to the next unsecured floor. We shouldn't have to go through all the inner offices and expose ourselves either. Those things are attracted to noise so if you open the main door to each office and call out, the dead will come to you."
Heather thought for a moment before adding, "Give it five to ten minutes at each door to make sure any Z's inside have heard you, and if nothing shows, lock up and move to the next one in line."
Tick-Tock gave her a sly grin and commented, "I said all that?"
Realizing Tick-Tock wouldn't be that easy to manipulate, Heather said with a self-deprecating smile, "Well, I expanded on it a little. Hope you don't mind."
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Tick-Tock shook his head and replied, "Don't mind at all. It sounds like a good plan. I just want to make sure that whoever I'm teamed up with knows what they’re doing. Who'll be going with us?"
"Who knows how to shoot and won't panic?" Heather asked in return.
"I'll help," Meat spoke up.
Steve nodded and said, "He hung tough in the deli. If he can learn how to shoot, I'll take him along with me."
From the door of what Mary claimed as her office and living quarters a voice spoke up, "I can shoot. My dad used to take me hunting every year until I went away to college."
They turned and saw Susan looking at them with a hopeful expression. "I want to help," she said.
Tick-Tock gave her an appraising look and said, "I’ll take her with me but I want to see her shoot first."
Heather said, "Since I'm taking Meat up to teach him, I can check her out on the M4 and the CAR-15."
"Who's going to be the sixth person?" Tick-Tock asked.
Steve debated between Jonny G, Marcia and Brain. He had already discarded Mary as a likely candidate.
"Get Brain," he finally said. Over the past days the tech had made himself useful in many ways and seemed to honestly want to help out. Steve got the feeling he would be disappointed if he weren’t asked to join them.
"Can he shoot?" Heather asked.
"I don't know," Steve replied. Turning, he yelled down the hall, "Brain, you there?"
The tech popped his head out of the doorway and asked, "What's up?"
"Can you shoot?" Steve asked.
"Kind of," he replied.
"How do you ‘kind of’ shoot?" Tick-Tock asked.
Stepping into the hallway, Brain explained as he walked toward them. "I point a gun in the general direction of the target, close my eyes and squeeze the trigger until I run out of bullets. That's ‘kind of’ shooting."
Heather laughed, "Want to learn how to do it with your eyes open?"
Looking at the M4 in her hands he asked excitedly, "With that?"
She nodded.
"Oh yeah," Brain said. Looking at the group gathered in the foyer he asked, "What are we going to be doing?"
"Hunting," Steve replied.
Steve and Tick-Tock went with Heather and her students up to the roof to watch her technique as an instructor and give their support to the trainees. After the two men made a production of putting on the Kevlar body armor they had taken from the MRAP every time Meat was handed a weapon, Heather ran them off.
Retreating to the east side of the roof, they looked out over the silent city of Clearwater, each man lost in his own thoughts.
A few new fires burned while some of the older ones still smoldered, both threw varying columns of smoke into the air to break apart in the slight breeze. Except for this, everything seemed clear and sharp as Steve looked at the abandoned city. It took him a minute to figure out why.
The smog that enveloped Clearwater had started to dissipate now that it wasn't being replenished on a daily basis. No smell of car exhaust filled his nostrils when he took a deep breath, and the perpetual haze that he had grown used to was gone. He had lived for so long with slightly burning eyes that it just seemed natural. Something he didn't even notice anymore. Now that the man-made irritants were no longer being pumped into the air, it was as if a pain he had endured his entire life had suddenly been lifted. He was about to mention this to Tick-Tock when the sound of distant gunshots came to them from out in the city.
"We're not the only ones left alive, even though it feels like it sometimes," Tick-Tock commented. "There are probably hundreds of groups holed up in the city, and a lot of them would gladly kill us to get what we have."
"And I'll gladly kill them to keep it," Steve replied matter of fact.
Tick-Tock nodded in agreement. Looking over the parapet wall at the destruction he had wrought earlier through the open air dining area with the armored car, his eyes locked on a half-devoured body sprawled across a chair.
Steve followed his gaze and said, "Gives a new meaning to dining alfresco, doesn't it?''
They were brought out of their reverie by the loud, rapid booming of a .45 from behind them.
"If that's Brain, I hope he's got his eyes open," Tick-Tock said with a smile.
Steve chuckled and then shivered in the cooling November evening, "Come on. I want to check the foyer and the Galleria and then I'll stand watch while you check the .50 caliber on the MRAP. The Z's should have left by now."
Walking back to let Heather know where he'd be, Steve was suddenly struck by a thought. He’d always railed against the idea of having to let his other half know where he was going and what he was doing and here he was volunteering the information.
The amazing part was that it didn't feel wrong.
***
Night had covered the city for hours by the time Steve returned to his office. Heather was lying on the couch with her head leaning on the armrest and acknowledged him with a wave.
Setting down an armload of items he and Tick-Tock had scavenged from the MRAP, he held one of them up for her to see.
"Radios," he proclaimed proudly. "We found four of these hand held jobs and Tick-Tock thinks he can pull the main unit out of the hog."
"The hog?" Heather asked.
"That's what he's calling the MRAP. So how did sniper school go?'' Steve asked with a grin.
"Susan will be fine and Brain shows promise," Heather replied.
"What about Meat?"
Heather sighed, "He needs some more work but he'll be fine for what we're doing tomorrow."
Steve filed this away as he stretched his arms over his head and twisted his body to release the tension that had built up over the day. He considered taking a nap since he still had to cover the midnight shift but was suddenly very aware of Heather's presence.
They had never discussed sleeping arrangements and he didn't want to bring it up and appear awkward or look like he expected her to jump in the sack with him just because he said so. Heather saw his indecision and solved the problem for him.
With a raised eyebrow and a half smile, she said in a low voice, "Shut the door and come over here. I want to show you where I got bit."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Clearwater, Florida:
Steve locked the office door in front of him as Meat moved on to the last one at the end of the hall. Pausing in front of it, he said with a laugh. "Someone had it in for this guy, come and look at this."
Steve grimaced slightly, already knowing what Meat was talking about. Sliding up next to him, he looked at the sign on the door and wondered what he had been thinking. The graffiti had seemed like the perfect idea at the time, but in light of the present circumstances it now seemed childish.
Meat snickered, "Guy must be a real jerk for someone to write ‘asshole’ under his name. They even made it look like his profession. See how they blocked out money market specialist with a gold marker to match the color of the name plate?"
Steve nodded and put his ear against the door to determine if anyone was inside.
The three search teams had started going through the building an hour ago beginning at the fifteenth floor. Since Heather had experience in going into what could be a dangerous situation from her time as a cop, she set up a routine they could use as they checked each office.
First, they would listen at the door. If they didn't hear anything, then the lead person on the team, Heather, Steve, or Tick-Tock, would quietly insert one of the master keys and carefully unlock the door. Then they would signal the backup person as to which side of the doorway they would move to when it was opened so that the door was covered from two directions. This was determined by whether it was hinged on the right or left side.
The backup would remain ten to twelve feet away, taking up a position against the far side of the hall. This would enable them to aim their weapon into the office at an angle. The lead person would then twist the knob and throw the door open so that it banged against its
stop.
Both team members would call out that they were clearing the building and if anyone was inside they needed to identify themselves. This would either attract the dead if they were inside or declare their intentions to any living people in any of the offices.
Beside zombies being in the rooms, they also had to be careful of live people with weapons hiding in them. They didn't want to start a firefight between themselves and some poor scared slob who had holed up in his office trying to ride out the storm. Although unlikely, it was a possibility, thus the backup people who were the most exposed, Brain and Meat, got to wear the Kevlar vests salvaged from the MRAP while Heather let Susan use her personal body armor. As further incentive for any trigger-happy humans they might run across to play nice, the team leader carried two tear gas grenades taken from a case that Tick-Tock salvaged from the MRAP.
They practiced their maneuver in an office that Heather and Steve cleared first and then split up into their teams to check the rest of the fifteenth floor. Even with the air conditioning still running in the building, they were drenched in sweat by the time they were finished. Moving back to the elevator niche, they collapsed onto the floor and went over how they felt the plan was working.
It was decided that short of storming each office with guns blazing, the way they were handling it seemed to be best. Heather made a few minor adjustments to how they would position themselves, and after a short rest, split up the rest of the floors between each team.
Although Brain was already showing the strain of carrying his extra weight around, it was by silent acknowledgement that Steve and Meat would get the twelfth floor to check next. It was considered to be an easy one to clear since it had been traveled so much in the past days with people going in and out of the radio station. If one of the dead were hiding in an office on twelve, it would certainly have made its presence known by now.
