Harley had been sleeping on his stomach and he rolled over onto his back and stretched.
“Oh, man, did I sleep the sleep of the just,” he said with a huge yawn. “Should we ring up room service or will we be going out?”
“Out I should think,” I replied. “Let’s find a place out of the way. I don’t feel like fighting crowds today.”
Steve was now awake also and he was rubbing his hands together to warm them up.
“Are we gonna move like we got a purpose?” he asked.
“You bet we are, buddy,” I said. “Just let me check to see if the coast is clear.”
I started to crawl over to the steel ledge, but Steve stopped me.
“Allow me, man. Consider it my good deed for the day.”
“Okay, but keep your head down and don’t draw any attention.”
I sank back on my haunches and he crab walked his way over to edge of the catwalk and slowly raised his head over the railing wall and looked down. He said nothing and stayed frozen in his position for what seemed like forever. Harley and I exchanged glances and he shrugged his shoulders.
Steve turned around and sank to the walk and leaned his head back.
“Well what is it?” I asked with irritation. “What did you see?”
Steve met my gaze. His eyes seemed black.
He said slowly, “I see dead people. We’re trapped.”
Chapter Sixteen
I felt a cold shiver run through my body, but I fought it.
“Look for yourself,” said Steve and he sank down. He grabbed his head with both hands and began rocking back and forth. Harley and I both moved to the railing wall and peered over it. The ground was covered in mist, but there were figures milling about beneath the tower. I didn’t bother to count the swaying figures, but there was no doubt that there were dozens and God knew how many just out of sight. I swore under my breath and retreated lest the zombie army caught sight of me. Harley joined me in this retreat and sat down. I squinted up at the sky and shielded my eyes from the sun. It was going to be a clear day it seemed. What day was it now? It was Monday I thought. I have always hated Mondays.
Suddenly Steve came out of his reverie.
“You got us trapped up here! We’re treed just like a possum. How long do you think we can last up here? No food and exposed to the weather plus we’re going to die of thirst with thousands of gallons of water right next to us. You’ve killed us.”
“No, he saved us, Steve, and you know it,” said Harley. “What were our choices last night? We would be dead if we had continued bumbling around in the dark and don’t forget we were pretty much surrounded. You didn’t help firing your gun. That’s probably what brought them down on us.”
Steve was breathing heavily. His chest was heaving and his fists were balled at his side. I was scared, but I was also aware of the dull ache coming from my stomach. I was as hungry as I had ever been. I wondered if that was the way the living dead felt all the time. Looking into their ravenous eyes made me wonder if they were driven insane, at least partially by hunger. Could they be reasoned with if that need was fulfilled? I shook my head and decided there were more pressing issues at hand.
“Okay. Listen. I don’t know what we are going to do now, but I don’t think we’re treed in the sense that they are waiting for us. I don’t think they are aware of us,” I said moving back to the railing wall. “Look at them. They are not looking up.”
Harley and Steve both moved to the edge and peered over with me.
“You see what I mean? I think that they are starving and this area is where they last saw us. I’m not sure how much, if any, rational thought they have, but I think their basic instinct is simply to look for food where their own eyes told them it was. They saw us here, at least in this block, last night and they are not moving until they think they have a better chance of food somewhere else.”
“It’s just a theory,” said Steve in frustration.
“A theory based on observation,” I returned. “Look the old couple survived for weeks because they kept quiet. We’re responsible for their deaths because we blundered in driving the truck and attracting attention. I think these zombies are sight, sound, and maybe even smell hunters. They can’t see us here, they haven’t heard us, and I don’t believe they can smell us from down there. They might disperse on their own if we sit tight.”
Steve was running his fingers through his hair and shaking his head, “Listen I don’t want to go all game over on you guys, but I ain’t sitting here waiting and praying those zombies go away. For all we know they realize we’re here and more are coming. I say we start shooting before more of them show up.”
“Any shooting will guarantee more will show up,” said Harley in a quiet, but firm voice. “Now, I don’t plan to starve or freeze to death up here either, but Billy is making sense. Let’s give this some time and see what happens. I will tell you something though, Billy. If we have to fight our way out, I’m ready and willing to kill as many of those critters as I can. But Steve is right about one thing. We can stand going without food for days, maybe even weeks, but we will die for lack of water before that, so we can’t wait forever. For now though, I say we go along with Billy”
Steve wanted to fight about it, but he simply did not have the energy. He turned his back to the tower tank and closed his eyes. I was grateful for Harley’s support and hoped it was justified. I looked over the edge again and the mist had largely been burned away by the sun. The figures were clearer now. There were at least fifty of them aimlessly walking about. At least it seemed aimless to me. They did not seem to be guarding the tower, they just seemed to be there.
I looked around and realized that I could see a good chunk of the town. Water towers are usually built in the highest ground on the area they serve and, of course, we were on the tower. I wasn’t certain how many feet up. The town seemed very serene. I was surprised no fires had sprung up since the apocalypse, but there was no smoke and no burned out houses that I could see.
I was thinking about water and fire and what the ancient people must have thought about their environment when I realized a car horn was blowing.
“What is that?” asked Harley. “More survivors?”
The horn continued blowing.
Steve did not even look up, “It’s probably just a car alarm. One of the dead probably bumped into it. I’m surprised it’s the first time we’ve heard an alarm.”
“No, no, no,” I said with enthusiasm. “Listen, that’s not a car alarm horn that’s a person. I real live person. Listen.”
The horn was not the steady repeating honk of any car alarm I had heard of. It was kind of rhythmic. I was trying to remember what it reminded me of when I heard Harley snap his fingers and laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Can’t you tell what it is?” he asked with a huge smile.
I cocked my head and listened again. The driver was hitting quick honks then slower ones. It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“It’s La Cucaracha you dopes!” Harley said at last.
“Oh my God! Jude!” I gasped. That was why it was so familiar. One of Jude’s little quirks was whistling La Cucaracha. It was him sending us a message that he was alive.
“But with all the ruckus he is raising he is going to drive these things crazy. What’s he thinking?” asked Steve.
I kind of agreed with Steve. It was great to know Jude was still with us, but this was madness.
“He’s just not thinking it through,” I said.
“He’s thought it through plenty, guys. It you guys who aren’t thinking,” laughed Harley. “He’s drawing them to him since he’s mobile. I think he’s trying to pull them out of town or at least all to one side of town.”
I suddenly got it.
“He’s doing a zombie Pied Piper, isn’t he?”
“Yeah,” said Steve brightening. “It’s just like Saint Patrick.”
“Buddy, Saint Patrick didn’t�
��forget it,” I said with a sigh. “Try to avoid all religious discussions in the future though, okay?”
Harley grabbed his rifle from Steve’s hands, because it was the one with the scope, and tried to spot Jude and the truck. Jude was staying on the horn and I noticed that it was working. The mob of zombies under the tower was shuffling towards the new noise.
It was obvious to us, and the zombies, that Jude was in the northern section of the town and Harley soon spied him out.
With a low whoop Harley said, “There he is, boys. And it looks like he has quite a following.”
Harley passed the gun to me and I gazed through the scope. In between houses I could see the SUV and what looked like a huge mob of people following him. He was going just fast enough to keep ahead of the creatures intent on devouring him if they caught him.
I looked down again after another ten minutes or so and the area beneath the tower was now deserted.
“Now is the time to move,” Harley exclaimed. “Let’s get out of here and with any luck we’ll be traveling in style in no time.”
Steve grunted his agreement with a wide smile and they gathered up what little equipment we had and readied themselves to begin the descent down the ladder.
I saw a flaw in this plan immediately and voiced my opposition.
“Guy’s wait. If we go charging towards the car there’s a good chance that we’ll get overrun by a herd of those things. Remember they are heading in the same direction we are.”
“Then what’s the call, coach?” asked Harley.
“We bring Jude to us. Once he knows where we are at he can gun the SUV. Leave the undead ghosts behind him and come get us.”
Harley frowned, “But how do we do that. I guess I could squeeze off a few rounds. He’s should hear it and he could probably figure out we are up here if we wave and jump around”
“Good in theory, wrong in execution,” I said. “Gunshots are just going to draw the crew right back here. We need to go back to our scout training.”
“I don’t think being polite and honest will save the day here,” said Steve with a smirk.
I said, “I say we set something on fire.”
“Smoke signals?” asked Harley. “That’s just stupid enough to work.”
“Burn what?” asked Steve. “I don’t have a cord of wood on me.”
“Well I was thinking we could burn your camouflage vest, Steve”
“What? Why my vest?
“For the simple reason that you’re the only one of us wearing one,” I said. “If it’s not enough I’ll put my shirt and pants with it, but let’s start with the vest. It’ll work. I promise.”
“Of course, it’ll work. The vest will burn smoky as all get out. We are already up high and Jude wouldn’t be doing this if he weren’t looking for us. He’ll be on the alert for a signal. Let’s get started,” Harley said.
In minutes Steve had pulled off his vest with a little bit more grumbling. The sun felt good and I basked in it while Steve started the fire. He was the acknowledged firebug in our group, so it only seemed fair.
I looked at the sky. Not a cloud in sight and the sun was shining as brightly as a fall sun could. The fire caught and the flames were licking at the fabric of the vest. The combination of cotton and nylon and whatever else was in the material, set an inky black smoke that I was certain would draw Jude’s attention. The honking was continuing. He must have had a huge mob by this time. The fire was burning down. I was getting anxious and I could tell the others were too. I was about to suggest adding more material to the fire when the horn stopped.
“Oh my God,” I said. “Do you think they got him?”
Harley had the scope out again scanning for Jude.
“I don’t think so, guys. I think it means he’s spotted the signal and is coming for us. He wouldn’t keep blowing the horn if he was coming for us. It only makes sense that he’s on his way and he’s trying to leave the dead behind him.”
Harley proved prophetic as we soon could make out the SUV zooming down a street heading straight for us. We all jumped and waved and maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I could swear I saw Jude’s hand out of the driver’s side window waving back. Once we were certain he was heading towards us, we began to clamber down the ladder as fast as prudence would allow.
I was last in line and Harley and Steve were on the ground waiting for me when I jumped the last ten feet or so. I did a shoulder roll and bounced to my feet.
“Watch the acrobatics,” said Steve. “You don’t want to get one of those cliché sprained ankles and get eaten. Remember, it’s the guy who is limping who is next to go.”
“Thanks I’ll remember your concern.”
I dusted myself off and noticed two of the dead approaching behind us.
“Zombies at six o’ clock,” I said softly.
Harley turned and saw the zombies lurching towards us and said, “Well, we’re heading towards twelve o’clock to Jude, so let’s forget about them.”
We began sprinting through the back yard of the home in front jumping a fence in the process and leaving our pursuers behind, though I could hear their rabid growls and imagined their hunger and remembered my own. They must be starving. I shivered at the thought, in spite of the warm sun, and continued running behind Steve and Harley.
As we came around into the side yard the street was in sight, but two zombies were also in sight and were blocking our way. One was a huge middle-aged man and the other was a teenage girl. The man was in grimy pajamas and the young girl was in shorts and a tee shirt. Neither of them had shoes on and they both advanced upon us. I raised my revolver, but it was not necessary.
With a roar Harley charged the man with his Bowie knife at the ready. He knocked the creature down with his shoulder. His knife flashed in his hand and he plunged it through the eye of the zombie. Steve confronted the girl. As she attempted to claw at him, with her jaws snapping, Steve crushed her skull with the butt of his rifle.
It was over in seconds and I was astonished just how quickly my two friends had morphed into efficient killers. Harley kept his knife in his hand. It was covered in blood and brains. We soon found ourselves in the street. It was deserted, but I was afraid that would not last. Suddenly we heard an engine whining and within moments we saw Jude come careening around the corner, two blocks down, in the SUV. He headed towards us at a high rate of speed and came to a screeching halt right in front of us. He had both of the front seat windows down and grinned at us from behind his sunglasses.
“Fellas, I never thought I’d be so happy to see anyone in my life,” he said. “Hop in and let’s blow this town.”
Chapter Seventeen
We all piled in quickly as zombies began to appear from side streets. I jumped in the front and Steve and Harley got into the backseat. It felt like home and I closed my eyes in a thankful prayer as Jude jammed the truck into gear and sped off down the road.
“I was afraid you guys were all dead,” he said as we picked up speed.
The street ahead was blocked by abandoned cars. Jude drove up into a yard, shattering a white picket fence, and bypassed the obstruction. He resumed on down the road. I noticed he was driving down the center of the road and I started to tell him to get into his lane when I realized the absurdity of it. I also realized we had an issue that we needed to talk about.
“Jude,” I said softly. “What happened to you yesterday? You left us in a tough spot.”
Jude turned towards me with genuine hurt in his eyes.
“Billy, you can’t believe I would just take off.”
I heard Steve stir behind me, “Yeah. That’s right, you dirty little coward. You really fell apart when the chips were down.”
“Guys, I know how it must have looked to you, but those monsters swarmed the truck. I thought they were going to flip it I swear. I tried to warn you with the horn and I even got a shot off, but I nearly got pulled from the car and-”
“Were you bitten?” I interrupted.
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“What? Bitten? No,” Jude nearly shouted. “Anyway, I had to move the truck. If they had gotten in I would have been killed and you wouldn’t have had wheels. I tried to just go around the block or something, but they were everywhere all of the sudden. A couple of times I ran over a few, but it was an absolute madhouse.”
“You don’t have to tell us,” muttered Steve.
“By the time I managed to get free, I wasn’t even certain where the house was. I drove around looking for you guys but eventually I…I…”
“Thought we were dead?” I asked.
He looked at me with shame, “Yeah, I thought you guys bought it and I decided to pull out of town and get away from those things. I drove around out in the county for a couple of hours and then realized I was wasting gas. I pulled into a field and kept the doors locked and tried to think of what I was going to do in the morning. I didn’t sleep much, but no one bothered me either. Come morning, I hit upon this plan. The horn seemed to drive them crazy last night so I thought I could use it to herd them all into one area and if you guys had managed to make through the night, maybe we could find each other again. I felt like the last man on earth. Did I do the right thing, Billy?”
I looked at the others and they both nodded.
“You did just fine, Jude,” I said to my old friend. “Under the circumstances, you did great and this stunt you pulled this morning was inspired.”
Jude grinned like an idiot, while Steve and Harley pounded him on the shoulder.
“So bring me up to date on you guys,” Jude said.
I quickly recounted our conversation with the old couple. He was particularly interested in the beginnings of the apocalypse. I then recounted how we had survived the night and everything up until we climbed in the car. Harley and Steve passed up some food from our packs and I ate greedily.
We were all basking in the glow of our survival and reunification when Harley asked the obvious question.
“What now, guys?”
“Yeah, I guess we should think about that,” I said. “Any ideas?”
Zombie Civilization: Genesis (Zombie Civilization Saga) Page 9
