The Deadlands (Book 2): The Clock Runs Down [The Servant]

by Kelly, Joe

  “Stand by I’m going to get a better look” Jared transmitted to the rest of the group as he drove over the curb into the parking lot, running down as many zombies as he could reach as he swung around the lot to stop in front of the store. Through the shattered windows, He could see more zombies inside; they had been wandering around the empty shelves.

  From what he could see there wasn’t anything left on the shelves, and with this many zombies in the store, he wasn’t sure that whatever was left in the stock rooms was worth it. “Forget it, its stripped bare.” He said over the radio a minute later. “Let’s go up the road a bit, I see a convenience store and I really want a phone book.” He said ignoring the look Jill gave him.

  The great phone book battle as it was later called started off like a textbook operation. They hit the parking like a swat team dropping every zombie in sight around the modest vinyl sided store. Someone had’ had a sense of humor up to the end, a sign had been hung in one of the plate glass windows that read. “going extinct sale, fifty percent off everything while you last.”

  Team one hit the store spreading out around the counter. Jared leaped on top the counter making sure the area behind it was clear then leaped down and began looking under the counter. “Found a shotgun, Jason catch” Jared said passing the Remington to Jason. Who had flinched expecting a thrown weapon. Jared chuckled.

  “What a damn waste” Jared said as something under the counter caught his eye. “the butterfingers under the counter are ruined.” He said shaking his head slowly, it looked like rats had chewed through the wrappers. He grabbed the phone book and leaped over the counter again. “Let’s go” he called out as he snatched a chamber of commerce map off a stand and stuffed it in his pocket.

  They hit the parking lot heading for their vehicles when they heard shouts for help. A quick glance showed all his people were accounted for. Ori scrambled into the back of Steve’s truck and then pointed back towards the Piggly wiggly they had left ten minutes ago.

  “Two men and a woman” Ori called out. “And a shit load of Zombies”

  “how many are a shit load” Logan asked.

  “Way too many to see in one sitting” Ori yelled as lifted his rifle into position waiting for the range to drop to increase his odds of hitting targets. He could have started dropping them from here but anything that made his job easier he would use.

  “Jared,” Jill said tugging his sleeve and pointing. Zombies were coming from behind the convenience store they had just left. At least twenty and probably more behind that group too.

  “Mount up” he bellowed shooting down the first two zombies. No point in being silent now he thought as Logan stepped up next to him. Team two was firing on the move as they headed for the relative safety of their vehicles. Jared backed up slowly; Logan at his side, knowing if any zombies were coming from the other side Jill or Chris would have said something. He was only partly wrong; the warning shouts came ten seconds too late.

  One moment he was in the zone, shooting tangos like a precision time piece then next moment, something slammed into Jared, his commando flying from his hands to skitter across the parking lot. Hitting the ground, he took the fall and did hand spring back to his feet. The wall, disguised as a zombie had smashed into Jared then taken Logan down and was tearing at him. He was by far the biggest man, zombie whatever that Jared had ever seen. Easily seven foot tall and three hundred pounds.

  He drew his tomahawks, and leaped forward. Only to have to spin away to face two more zombies that had followed the wall out of the store and were lunging towards him.

  They must have been in the back he thought in the stock room or whatever it was called he told himself as he torque’d into a spinning snap kick. The zombies head splitting with a loud crack as Jared's boot slammed into the side of its head. he dropped into a crouch, and hooked the bearded point of the tomahawk behind the second zombies’ ankle and pulled. Sending the mobile corpse falling to the ground. Logan was screaming for help as he used both hands to hold the zombies snapping teeth away from his neck.

  The zombies that had come from around the side of the store, were almost on top of he and Logan. I really hate the undead, Jared thought as he slipped a tomahawk back into his belt and drew his pistol firing from the hip as it cleared the hostler.

  Logan screamed again as the head of the zombie on top of him exploded spraying his face with bits of bone and brain then the full weight of the seven-foot tall wall of dead muscle collapsed on him. Jared pivoted and shot the zombie in the head that he had sent to the ground then sprinted over and managed to roll the zombie off Logan. Who scrambled to his feet, cursing steadily his hands shaking from the brush with death.

  The sudden crack of the commando and the whine of a bullet startled Jared. he looked around and saw Jill had leaped out of the van and collected his weapon and was shooting the lead zombies coming around the store. He gave her a thumbs up then helped Logan to his feet and together they ran back to the van.

  Steve’s truck roared to life and backed up weaving from side to side to run down as many zombies as possible. With squeal of brakes, Steve slammed the truck into drive and pulled forward, then reversed again, crushing more undead. Jared pushed Logan into the side door of the van then leaped in himself as Jill climbed back into the driver’s seat.

  “Steve, get going, we will catch up.” Jared said over the radio then turned to Jill. “Head for the people” Jared said pointing to the three survivors who raced for the line of Trucks. Behind the survivors, the street was filling up with undead, all of whom were heading straight for Jared and his people.

  Jill passed Jared his rifle then started the van. The three survivors were eighty feet away and running hard. “Strap in” Jared told Logan who gave him a look but buckled up. “ Now hang on to my belt” Jared said has he turned to the open side door.

  Logan got the idea and grasped Jared's web belt. Jill bounced up over the curb then down into the ditch, the vans motor howling as the big tires dug deep but it climbed out the other side with ease. Logan grimly hung onto Jared's belt to keep him from falling out of the of the van, The muscles in Logan’s arms straining. Once they were back on the street Jared hung out the door and began to fire into the leading zombies of the crowd chasing the three people. Bodies tumbled, and some lay still. The zombies behind them tripped and sprawled on the street creating more hazards for the zombies behind them to navigate. Sadly only a few more stumbled and fell, the rest began to stream around their fallen comrades.

  “Drive past them and turn around,” Jared called out. As they drew even with the runners, Jared shouted, “Keep going, we will turn around.” The van surged ahead leaving the desperate survivors behind.

  “Hang on,” Jill yelled. Logan had just enough time to tighten his grip and pray the chair he was buckled into didn’t come lose and send both men flying out the door before she twisted the steering wheel making the tightest turn she dared. Oh crap, Logan thought as the van leaned to one side as it slews around, the rear end smashing into the horde and sending zombies flying. She jammed the gas pedal down and the van surged forward heading back the way it came.

  Jill slowed but didn’t stop as she drew even with the runners. Jared slung his rifle and helped the survivors scramble inside, the two men were filthy, and under fed. But the Asian girl looked cleaner and certainly better fed. He slammed the door shut as Logan released his death grip on the web belt with a grunt. “GO!” Jared called out. Jill, tight lipped only nodded and sped up.

  “Damn we need to put in something you can hook to for that.” Logan said relieved that he hadn’t dropped Jared out on the road. In seconds they had rejoined the others, turning onto a side street.

  “You do realize we are heading deeper into this town right,” Logan said. Jill nodded and kept driving.

  “Are you folks okay?” Jared said as he knelt and looked over each one. The men had only a hand axe and a bat for weapons. The woman had a holster but no pistol.

  “Yeah go
od thanks dude, thought you were going to leave us for a moment there.” the blonde man said as he sniffed and wrinkled his nose in distaste. “Man, I knew I stank but god!” he said. He turned and looked at his reflection in the small window and began to rub at the streaks of dirt that covered his face.

  Jared laughed. “We had to turn around to make it easier to get you inside and compared to the zombs you smell like a rose.”

  “I’m Roger, that’s Thomas, and she is Mai Linn. We just met yesterday.” The blonde guy said giving up on getting the dirt off for the moment.

  “I’m Jared, that’s Jill driving, and that’s Logan.” Jared said introducing them.

  “Are you from around here. Is there a shelter or something?" Roger asked looking hopeful.

  “No just passing thru.” Jared replied. “There’s no shelters, no Government either.”

  “Damn, was kind of hoping.” Roger replied softly. “to be honest I doubted there would be but.. well you know there was still a chance.” Jared nodded in agreement.

  “who knows, somewhere out there, there might be shelters, but we haven’t seen one so far.” Jared said with a shrug.

  “Maybe,” Roger allowed, “Thanks we weren’t’ sure you would help us but we had to take the chance. We’ve been hiding and looting since June. Broke down on the interstate the day it all started. Walked into a town down the road from here, to ask for help and saw. Well people attacking and eating other people. When we saw the local sheriff’s deputies get dragged down and eaten. We ran around behind some old store and went in the back door.” Roger said

  He went on to describe how they found four other people hiding in the store. And how they had slowly and silently blocked the doors, then went upstairs where the owner had lived and sat down to wait for help. After a while the canned food on the shelves downstairs had gone and they had begun to sneak out and hit other stores and then homes trying to find food. They had survived the winter thanks to the Natural gas heater upstairs and the huge full tank out back.

  “Anyway, it started getting warm and we all headed out to try to get into a grocery store down the way. Me and Thomas were the only ones who lived thru it. The zombies followed us all the way to the store we had been staying in. so we just hopped on some bicycles and rode out of town. Met Mai Linn here and were making plans when we heard your vehicles. Had to take the risk you might be assholes because we need food pretty bad.” Roger said, and then leaned back his story finished and closed his eyes for a moment.

  Jared rummaged in his pack for a moment then pulled out some beef jerky and passed it to the three people who were almost drooling as soon as they smelled it. They wolfed it down quickly. “What’s your story?” Logan asked Mai Linn pointedly. She had been quiet, watching both Jared and Logan like a hawk.

  “No story saw people die, some were close to me. I survived, and now I just want to get to Charleston and see if my mother and father, brothers and nieces and one nephew are still alive.” She didn’t sound hopeful about that, Jared noted, what are the odds of being this far out in the sticks, off the beaten path as it were, and find a woman, hell anyone from the very area they were heading to..

  “We could get Ronny,” Logan started to say but Jared only shook his head. There was no real reason to have Ronny fly over the town, at least not yet. Better to save the fuel for later.

  “I have a map” Jared said as he pulled a map from his pack and spread it out on the fold out table. Then as an afterthought he pulled out the chamber map and spread it out too.

  “At least the roads with important businesses are marked out,” Jared said as he pointed to one in particular. “We just passed that place. Jill slow down.” He called out. “See just ahead of us is another road that runs around the north side of this town and then hooks back up to the main road right at the Highway exit. Which puts us six miles from the park entrance. look for Commerce Street.”

  Moments later they were speeding past businesses and small homes set off the street. A few of those business’s Jared really wanted to hit, like the welder’s shop, a parts store, and medical supply store. Might do that on the way out of the campground he mused. He was only half listening to Logan telling the new folks about his escape from Knoxville and how they had met up with Jared’s band and then made their way across the state and thru the Smokies.

  “How many people are with you.” Roger asked. Before Logan could answer, Jared cut in. “More than what’s here.” And shot a warning look to Logan. He wanted to get to know them a little better before they got to the camp, and the suspicious paranoid deep inside wondered if they knew or were working with the one-eyed child killer.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have seen a scarred one-eyed man around recently,” Jared asked casually. Mai Linn jumped ever so slightly, and her eyes widened just a hair. Thomas and Roger shook their heads.

  “Is he a friend of yours?” Mai Linn asked her face totally blank. Something in her body language told Jason his answer would be important.

  “No, you might say we have business together.” Jared said. Jill flashed him a look of surprise at just how calm he sounded.

  “What kind of business” the woman asked obviously working to control her voice.

  “The kind that will end with one of us dead.” Jared replied, his voice flat and cold as his eyes. Roger actually recoiled at the tone in Jareds voice. Jared forced back the emotions and turned to Roger.

  “I’ll tell you the short story version, he killed a few people I knew and butchered one little boy to get at me.” Jared said fire flashed in his eyes and then was gone. “He is a stone-cold killer, and I’m going to put him in the grave for it and for all the others he might end up killing.” Jared said calmly, but fire flickered in his eyes. He turned his attention back to Mai Linn.” does that answer your question?” he asked, and she nodded. For some reason she reminded Logan of Jill.

  “When you do, shoot him twice for me” she said softly. “We, Me and two of my girlfriends ran into him as winter was ending. Claimed he had been in an accident. I got up early one morning and went out alone looking for food for us. It saved my life, I came back to a bloodbath. He had tortured them then let them die and come back. I managed to shoot both of them and lost my pistol when I fell running from a small group of the damn things a day later.” She said tears in her eyes. Screw it, I believe her, Jared decided.

  On the roundabout way out of town they saw few zombies. Once they were back on the park road. Everyone relaxed a bit. Except for maybe Jared, Logan thought. He seemed tense even though he was smiling off and on.

  They pulled into the camp and parked. Roger and Thomas piled out after Logan and stood staring at all the people, and the kids running across the grass playing chase. “My god” Thomas said and actually started crying. “I never thought I’d see kids again much less people fishing and enjoying the sun.” He managed to say without his voice breaking. Roger seemed a bit more composed, but it obviously affected him. He couldn’t stop looking around.

  They both gawked at the Sharon who was so obviously pregnant as Steve hugged her gently and then led her off toward one of the cabins. Mai Linn looked around with interest but didn’t comment. You could almost feel the walls she put around herself. Afraid to get to close to anybody. Believing, that sooner or later everyone would be dead around her, and she wasn’t willing to risk the hurt.

  “We have soap and towels. You can bath in the lake like everyone else. Sorry we haven’t filled up the water tanks on the RVs yet so no showers.” Jared said as he waved Carol over. “If you could get these folks some soap and whatever and get them something to eat Id appreciate it” he said. Carol smiled broadly and said. “No problem Jared, Anne just finished doing inventory I’ll get her busy on lunch. I hope you folks don’t mind fish. And we have some homemade tartar sauce too.”

  “You know sooner or later we are going to have to stop taking people in.” Ori said watching the three new folks follow Carol. Roger in particular kept staring at the Plane
floating by the shore.

  Jared turned slowly “what do you want me to do then Ori. Leave people to starve, or die alone thinking they are the last people left alive. Or even worse, see people who we could have helped and drove on by leaving them to die. I can’t man, I really can’t. We will make it work. There are warehouses full of food, and other gear scattered around every county, With enough people we can hit one and empty it.”

  “I trust you Jared, but just remember there might come a time were we can’t help. I don’t want to see you come apart when it happens.” Ori replied. Jared place and arm around his shoulder.

  “No problems, with you and Steve riding herd on me I cant go wrong.” Jared said then smiled. “At least not to badly” He amended.

  The final throes of winter ended with a late frost then the Blueberries bloomed. On day three at the camp Ori returned with an eight-point buck, and a brace of rabbits. He and the dirty dozen dressed them and then prepared them. Half the deer were added to the smoke racks, the rest of the meat was vacuum sealed and frozen. “We might want to consider a freezer truck,” Steve suggested as they hit the lake to wash off the blood.