They reached the mall at a time of day, in a normal world would have found a full parking lot and loads of people. However, the world was no longer normal and only a handful of cars were present in the parking lot. Their arrival did alert about twenty of the dead who began shambling towards their vehicles. Those that had been the most proficient with the crossbows fanned out and began taking down the advancing dead. Tobin chose to stick with the re-curve and with his faster rate of fire was able to drop two Dee's for every one shot by a crossbow.
The sergeant bent to retrieve a ring of keys from one of the dead in a security guard uniform, “This thing happened so fast that most folks looking to get away were looking for the basics, water, food and weapons. A place like this holds appeal to these less forward thinking individuals. I'm guessing they came here to loot. The latest big screen TV and jewelry not real useful.”
Matt rolled over a couple of the bodies, “These two look to have died from gun shots.”
“Makes you wonder why this guard tried so hard to secure this place. Things went south so fast, how do you make people understand. It doesn't matter how you die, you still turn. Until you see … until you live through it you don't understand the true meaning of that. By killing the looters the guard made a host of adversaries he was not prepared to deal with. They no longer cared about the baubles inside, their only focus was to get at him, to feed on him.”, The sergeant answered, his eyes screwed shut as he tried to not recall a tragic scene witnessed to many times.
Sgt. Andrews shook himself out of his revery, “Matt, Mac take your squads around the perimeter. Look for signs of forced entrance.”
With the exterior secure they entered the mall finding it eerily quiet. Ed gave a boyish, 'Whoop', enjoying the sound of the echo in the empty space. When no dead were drawn to the noise they investigated the mall directory for likely stores to collect the needed clothing. Mac's squad drew the food court so Tobin could determine if any of the food there was worth salvaging.
On the way Mac stopped them at a store specializing in woman's lingerie, “You boys don't have a problem packin up some dainties for the ladies do you?”
Ed looked at Mac as if he had lost it, “I thought we were after winter coats and stuff?”
Mac roared in laughter, “Ed my boy there is more than one way to stay warm on a cold winter night.”
They loaded up as quick as they could, but it was nearing dark before they finished. When done they returned to their camp location just outside of Lexington. They ate a quick supper and began planning how they were going to handle the next days mission.
Sergeant Andrews started by elaborating on the reality of their situation, “Do the math within a 100 miles in any direction of our valley is tens of thousands of the dead. Even at the rate they move a herd could reach us in 2 or 3 days. If we don't get that fence up and a large herd of the dead shows up they'll rip those buildings apart to get at us. We need to buy time and hope the winter freeze will give us a chance.”
The plan that was hatched was a game of cat and mouse to draw the dead away from the home improvement center. Sgt. Andrews, Cpl Byrne and by drawing the short straw Tobin, headed off in one of the jeeps ahead of the main group.
When the jeep got close to the center Sgt. Andrews gave the order, “Make some noise.” and pressed down on the jeeps horn.
The dead turned to the sounds of gunshots and blaring car horn and moved in mass towards the jeep. By the time the sergeant put the jeep into gear and began to move the herd away the dead were advancing from the other direction causing Blade to use the 50 caliber machine gun to rip open a hole. Once clear they began leading the combined herds to a park near the center of town.
Once they were close to the park Tobin began turning on a collection of CD players that they had grabbed from the mall. When they hit the park, Sgt. Andrews slowed enough to let Tobin hop out with the bag of CD players. As Tobin ran behind the jeep, dropping CD players as he went, Blade fired at any of the dead getting to close to Tobin. Despite Blades best efforts the dead were getting real tight by the time Tobin dropped the last CD player and dove back in the jeep.
On the streets things got worse. There were so many dead on the street there was no way to drive through them and they would melt the barrels of their guns before shooting their way through. The dead were converging on the jeep and Sgt. Andrews frantically looked for a way out.
Suddenly Blade tapped the sergeant on the shoulder, “Boss over there.”
“Make a hole Corporal.”, Andrews replied.
Blade turned the machine gun and shot out one of the floor to ceiling windows of the nearby courthouse. Sergeant Andrews mashed the accelerator and drove the jeep up the steps and through the shattered window. The jeep smashed its way through the lobby as Blade shot out the window on the other side. For good measure Blade dropped a couple of grenades behind as they exited.
With the way clear they made their way back to the home store where the rest of the group had finished clearing the stragglers. It was an indoor lumberyard and they knew it was going to pitch black inside. The generator they had brought to power lights was a significant concern to Sgt. Andrews.
“Slinger your with the genny, as muffled as it is, it will draw the dead like moths to a flame. Drop em before they get close. You make the call if it looks like we could get overrun.”, Andrews commanded.
The sergeant turned to Blade, “Corporal get the men we'll go in first bring in the lights and make sure its clear inside. Mister Gant here will assign each squad a list of materials to secure. When we send the squads in I'll assign each of you to keep eyes on the squad, make sure they all get out alive.”
Sgt. Andrews and Blade took up positions behind the two privates and Mac popped the lock on the big roll-up loading dock. With a nod from the sergeant Mac pushed up the door and stepped out of the way. Tobin without realizing it was holding his breath anticipating a flood of dead to come out. The flood lights aimed in the doorway gave evidence of an initial all clear and the soldiers made their way slowly inside, trailing out extension cords as they went. The trucks got into their predetermined positions for loading and the squads nervously waited for the soldiers to return.
After what felt like an eternity, but in reality was about ten minutes the soldiers returned. Blade was suspiciously wiping off his knife before sheathing it. Sgt. Andrews took a moment to speak with Joe Gant while pointing to a scavenged store map. When he finished talking with Joe the sergeant called the squads to attention in preparation to talking to them.
“I'm calling it clear in there, but we did take out two Dee's. Its a big place inside with lots of places for them to nest. Let get what we are here for and get back out. Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouths shut.”, Sgt. Andrews said in a 'I don't expect any nonsense' tone.
Sgt. Andrews kept his squad on the loading dock to keep watch and to assist in loading the trucks. The other two squads were assigned a soldier to guard them as they salvaged supplies from the store. The final soldier took a jeep to the end of the line of trucks to guard their rear. The building supplies they wanted were closest to the loading dock and they began loading and moving them out as quick as they could, constantly taking a moment to look over their shoulders to make sure a Dee was not creeping up on them.
An hour into the work even the big guy Mac was starting to wear from all the lifting. No more dead had shown themselves and they were nearing the end of the list.
Mac called a short break, “Tobin you and Ed get to work on the fencing and Althea and I will get this load of posts out to the dock and be back with a couple of empty carts.”
Once they left Ed started to chatter, “We got this gig licked Tobin. Can't wait till we roll up with all this stuff. Folks back home are gonna treat us like heroes.”
Tobin was atop a rolling stairway tossing down rolls of fence, “Sergeant said keep our mouths shut.”
“Tobin don't be that way, it just like the outlet mall nothins in here.”, Ed pou
ted.
Tobin touched the shell casing, from Crystal, that was hanging around his neck, “Ed I don't intend on getting my ass chewed off, cause your dickin around. If you can't keep your mouth shut come up here and start hauling fence.”
Ed complied, “Alright alright I'm on it.”
Ed was quiet then for all of 30 seconds and started up again, “Hey Tobin that Amelia Cavendish she's pretty hot ain't she. Do you think I could have a shot with her, I mean goin on this deal has got to count for something don't it.”
Tobin just ignored him and kept tossing down rolls of fencing until he heard Ed scream. Looking down Tobin saw one Dee ripping out Ed's throat and a second one coming up the stairway towards him. Tobin chucked a roll of fence at its chest knocking it back down the stairway.
Tobin pulled his machete and yelled “Dee's”.
Scrambling down the stairway and past the dead one pinned under the roll of fence, Tobin split its skull Moving quickly Tobin pulled the other dead one off of Ed and ran his machete up under its jaw through the top of its skull. Tobin put his foot on the things face and jerked his machete free as he scanned about looking for more of the dead. Seeing none Tobin went over to Ed who was covering the gaping wound in his throat with one hand. Tobin grabbed Ed's other hand and helped him sit down.
By then Mac and Blade were back and all they could do at that point is watch Ed bleed out. Once Ed had died, Blade rolled Ed onto his stomach and pulled his knife.
“I guess I'm the closest to a friend Ed had in this world. Its the least I can do.”, Tobin stated as he slipped his machete up the back of Ed's skull.
Blade radioed the other squads and ordered them to pull back to the loading dock. They wrapped Ed's body in a tarp, loaded it onto a cart and pulled back to the loading dock as well. Blade quickly filled in Sgt. Andrews as to what transpired. When Blade finished Sgt. Andrews turned to Joe Gant.
“I know there is still a lot of stuff we would like from in there, but we got to cut that list down to what we absolutely need. It is too dark in there and too big, I don't want to pay any more than what we have already.”
“We still need more fencing and posts. We need some tools and nails and bolts. I could go with you in there point out exactly what we need.”, Joe offered.
“Mister Gant you need to build this wall once we get back, I ain't risking your ass for nothing. We'll figure it out. Mac, Matt we are going in as one unit. We'll post guards all around those loading.”, Sgt. Andrews directed.
Three times they fought off attacks from the dead as they creeped in from the dark into the dim pools of light cast by their spot lights. Finally Joe Gant said they were good and they hustled to get the final bits loaded and make their way to camp. Ed's body was placed carefully on a truck for burial later this evening.
As the final supplies were being pulled out and loaded, a large heavy set man who went by Big Lou was finishing strapping his load. A cart loaded with fence posts overturned as it was being brought to the neighboring truck. Lou told his guard to go give them a hand as he just needed a second before he would be climbing in his truck. In the distraction of picking up the posts no one saw the dead one advancing on Lou until it took a bite of his arm. Lou shook it off and smashed its head against the side of the truck.
Blade was the first one to get to Lou, “Your choice friend a bullet to the brain or I take the arm and we roll the dice.”
Lou responded, “You'll be killin my sex life, but I've always been a gamblin man. Take the arm son.”
Blade wrapped his belt around Lou's arm for a tourniquet. He called out for a couple of men to hold Lou down, as he slipped a board under Lou's arm. Using a propane torch Blade heated his machete.
“OK on three then. One,”, Blade brought the machete down swiftly severing Lou's arm just above the elbow.
Heating the machete again with the propane torch until it glowed red he used the hot blade to cauterize the stump. The men holding Lou grimaced at the smell of burning flesh. Blade applied a field dressing as a jeep was brought up. Lou passed out from the pain and loss of blood required several men to load him into the jeep. The three men from Sgt. Andrews squad and Blade got into the jeep to take Lou back.
“Haul ass outta here corporal, I don't need to tell what happens if he dies and nobody is there to take care of it. See that does not happen.”, the sergeant warned.
“Message received.”, Blade replied.
Back at their base camp the mood was very somber. It wasn't just that they were preparing to bury Ed. It was the realization that whenever they go out in the world, the dead would be there. However, prepared they thought they were, how many precautions they've think they have taken, all it takes is a single mistake, a single moment of distraction and the dead will claim another of them.
They laid Ed's body into the shallow grave they had dug for him. Before covering him with earth Slinger asked for a moment.
“I've lost friends and comrades, recently a lot of friends. Everybody has something about them that makes them special. I turn that into a unit name and inscribe it on a shell casing. I have one for each of you that I'll give to you after we finish here. For Ed who's eye was keen and hand steady, I've chosen Shooter.”, said Slinger as he placed the shell casing onto Ed's chest.
The following day their target was an outdoors lumberyard on the homeward side of the outskirts of Lexington. With Blade back at the resort watching over Lou, Slinger took his place in the jeep used to lead off the dead.
“Things don't look as thick over here.”, Tobin commented.
“It only takes one Stay alert.”, Sgt. Andrews cautioned.
“I was planning on it.”, Tobin answered.
They drove past the lumberyard then circled back and slowly headed off, shooting any of the dead that got within 10 or 15 feet of the jeep. Tobin found this easier said than done even with the jeep barely crawling along. After missing more than he connected with his first magazine Tobin found his rhythm and was hitting his targets more than he missed. With the shots drawing in more dead Slinger would occasionally call on Tobin to help him clear the way in front.
After about an hour of this they felt they had lured them far enough away. They left another CD player suspended out of reach on a tree branch and hustled back to the lumberyard. When they got to the gates of the lumberyard the others were already in place. Being an outdoor lumberyard they were able to pull the trucks up close and finished loading by mid-morning. Heading the trucks towards home, relief was evident in all their faces, but so was a tinge of worry that they may be returning to late.
When the convoy was close Sgt. Andrews radioed to give them a heads up.
“Roger that. It'll be good to have you back sir. Sir, you should know we've lost Myles Cavendish. Mister Braun's militia have really stepped up and if it weren't for the Innes woman the whole Cavendish family would have been lost.”, Cpl Landers answered him.
“Copy. Glad you picked up some help. Lou Miller what's his status?”, Sgt. Andrews responded.
“He's stable. Blade insisted that he be kept strapped to a bed and he's on round the clock watch. The Doc is optimistic he'll pull through. We'll get ready for your return, Landers out.”
“Justin the supply convoy is on its way back. Have the work crews head into the community building, its almost lunch time anyhow.”, Crystal directed over her radio.
When the convoy arrived they were greeted by two militia guards posted at the C-store, near the entrance to the resort. The guards gave them a pleasant greeting and directed them to pull their trucks near the building with their community room. Mac and Sgt. Andrews exchanged glances as they began to understand Corporal Landers statement that the new militia was stepping up.
When they pulled up they had expected to be greeted by a crowd, but instead only Corporal Landers and Crystal Innes were outside. The trucks pulled to a stop, but before they could disembark a squad of militia came out of the building and took up defensive positions.
“Nicely do
ne Corporal.”, Sgt. Andrews said to Amy.
“Actually, I can't take the credit. This was Crystal's idea.”, acknowledged Amy.
“The credit should really go to Percy, he is very knowledgeable. I've just been listening to him.”, Crystal stated humbly.
“Umm, we've been holding lunch for your return. Why don't we head on in, everyone is anxious to greet you.”, Crystal offered.
Crystal held back as they filtered in waiting for Tobin to get out, nervously biting at her lip. Tobin was one of the last to hop out and smiled sheepishly at Crystal when he saw her.
“I'm back”, Tobin said with a shrug.
Crystal walked up to him and hugged him quickly, “When Corporal Byrne came in yesterday, with Lou and said that one of the young men from my hometown had been killed … I was so worried it was you. I am just so glad your back safe.”
Tobin slipped off the shell casing she had given him before he left, “I have my own now. Having this really helped. It gave me a reason to get back here.”
Heartland Zombie Apocalypse (Vol. 1): Surviving The Dead Page 5
