Zombie Rules (Book 5): Mount Weather

by David Achord

  “Oh, I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself before guard duty. I took the liberty of raiding the cafeteria, so we’re going to have hot coffee and some real food to snack on,” I said. I then unslung one of the assault rifles I had with me.

  “I also went ahead and signed out a rifle for Savannah.” I looked at Melvin and explained. “Whoever is running the armory isn’t making people clean their weapons before turning them in. So, I checked one out and gave it a quick once over.” I then patted the buttstock of the one still slung over my shoulder. “This one is mine. It’s good to go.”

  “What, you didn’t bring me one?” Melvin asked questioningly.

  I chuckled. “I’ve heard about you, Sergeant, and I strongly suspect you have your own personal weapon you’re going to use.”

  He responded with a wry grin and retrieved a rifle from behind the open door.

  “Yep,” he said. He took the rifle I brought for Savannah and handed it to her.

  “Check it,” he directed. I watched as Savannah ejected the magazine, inspected the bolt, performed a flawless function check, looked over the loaded magazine, and then inserted it, charged the handle, and put it on the safety. She then looked at Melvin expectantly.

  “Atta girl,” Melvin said. “C’mon, let’s get up top.”

  Melvin drove us to the main post and we relieved the evening shift guards ten minutes early. They showed their gratitude by helping themselves to a couple of the biscuits before leaving.

  “I take it you know this guard duty procedure,” he said to me.

  “Yeah, a little bit,” I replied.

  He nodded and then focused on Savannah. “Alright, I have other duties to attend to. If there’s any issues, get on the field phone. I have someone constantly monitoring it if I’m out and about.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  “If anyone comes wandering up, they aren’t allowed inside the compound under any circumstances.” He saw her looking at him questioningly. “Yeah, I know, we broke that rule, but anyone coming inside the compound has to be tested first.

  “I’ll be back in an hour, so if you need to go the restroom, I can run you back to the main building.”

  “Okay,” she said again. The nervousness was apparent.

  Melvin gave her a reassuring look and then motioned to me. “Zach, can I have a word with you?”

  I followed him over to his truck, which was parked about fifty feet down the road. His zombie wife sensed our approach and a hissing noise came out from beneath her helmet.

  “Savannah is a little nervous around strangers, especially men,” he said in a quiet voice. “She’s had a hard time lately.”

  “Not a problem,” I said, remembering Kelly’s same admonishment. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

  “Oh, and she’s just now getting her strength back, so she may nod off.”

  “I’ll let her sleep. In fact, if you want, you can send her back to the room. I can take care of it.”

  Melvin shook his head. “As much as I’d like to, I can’t show favoritism.”

  “Okay,” I said in understanding.

  “Hmm, let’s see,” he said and scratched his chin. “Oh, that zombie over there is what’s left of my wife. If she starts snarling and raising hell, it means there’s zombies nearby.”

  “Okay, good to know. My dog is a pretty good zombie alarm too,” I said, gesturing at Zoe, who had taken a sniff of Peggy and was now growling.

  “Well, alright then,” Melvin said. “I need to make sure the other guard posts are properly relieved and all of that bullshit.”

  “She’ll be fine, Melvin,” I said. “I promise.”

  He looked at me and nodded. “Alright then.”

  “What did Melvin say?” Savannah asked after Melvin had ridden away on the golf cart.

  “Not much,” I said and smiled. “He’s just worrying over you.” I poured myself a cup of coffee. “Would you like some?” I asked. Savannah tentatively nodded. I poured her a cup and handed it to her.

  “I’d love to have some fresh coffee one day,” I said. “None of this freeze dried stuff. When I’m free again, I’m going in search of coffee plants.”

  “Free?” Savannah asked.

  I nodded and explained about my immunity and how they were keeping me out of harm’s way.

  “So, until they’ve created a vaccine, I’m not allowed to do anything risky. They apparently think guard duty is harmless, which I guess is true enough.”

  “You’re a prisoner then,” Savannah said.

  “No, it’s not like that. I made an agreement with them. I can leave at any time, but this is the best place for my kids to grow up. We have doctors here, a formal education system in place, a fortified location, and don’t forget about the Marines. So, I’m trying to conform. What about you? What’s your long-term plans?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it, but, I don’t know.”

  We were getting along, but my last two questions seemed to have struck a nerve or something, so I backed off and changed the subject.

  “Anyway, Kelly and the kids really like it here. Personally, I’d rather be back home on my farm, but don’t tell them that,” I said with a small chuckle.

  She did not respond and had become quiet. I guess my attempt at light conversation had run its course.

  I looked around in the shack and saw a thermal imaging sight. I pulled it out of the case and tried it out. One of the lenses was scratched, but I had no problem seeing objects in the dark. The only thing outside at the moment were trees.

  “Have you ever been to the ocean?” Savannah suddenly asked.

  I turned the night-sight off and looked at her in the dim red light.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “I did once, when I was a little kid. I remember standing on the beach at the edge of the water. I was too afraid to go in, but the surf felt wonderful on my feet. Every time a wave would come in, my feet would sink a little further in the sand. My uncle told me if I stood there long enough, I’d sink all the way to China.”

  I chuckled. “Sounds like he liked to joke around.”

  “I’d like to see the beach again one day,” she said softly.

  “Maybe one day we can get up a big road trip and all go together,” I suggested. “That’d be pretty cool.”

  “Yeah,” Savannah agreed.

  I was about to say we’d need to find some fresh fuel somehow before doing something like that, but I didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer.

  We talked throughout the night. Unlike Priss, Savannah was a pleasant person with a little bit of smartass to her. She reminded me of Andie. I told her so.

  “Was she an old girlfriend?” she asked.

  I chuckled. “No, she started out as an adversary, but we eventually became good friends. In fact, she saved my life once or twice.” I absently rubbed the knife scar on my cheek.

  “I take it she’s dead.”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “A lot of good people have died and a lot of evil people are out there, still alive.”

  “Yeah,” Savannah replied. There was some anger in her tone and I looked over at her. The dim red light barely illuminated the interior of the guard shack. Even so, I could see pain in her expression.

  “People that have lived out there, not these people here at Weather, people like you and me who had no protection of an underground bunker, we’ve had it rough, but we survived. Andie was petite, but she was tough as nails. I bet you are too.”

  There was a long pause before she spoke. “Thanks, Zach.” She said it so quietly I almost missed it.

  Before I knew it, the sky was turning a light gray. I looked at my watch. “Only one hour to go,” I said. “Man, this night flew by. Maybe our relief will come early. I don’t know about you, but I’m heading straight to bed. Kelly will have the kids in daycare and I’ll have a nice, quiet room all to myself.”

  “This is the first time in a while I’ve stayed awake for eig
ht hours straight.”

  I looked at her in understanding. It confirmed what I suspected; she’d been suffering from starvation recently.

  “That’s a good sign. You’re getting stronger.” I looked at my watch again. “Time to call in.” I started to reach for the phone but Savannah stopped me.

  “Let me,” she said. She picked up the phone. “Post one, negative SITREP.”

  I smiled at her as she hung up the phone, but then Zoe awoke suddenly and gave a small bark.

  Savannah looked at me in concern. “I heard something too,” she said.

  My hearing wasn’t as good, so I utilized the binoculars. As I watched, a car slowly came into view. When it came to within fifty feet, Savannah gasped. I looked over.

  “Do you recognize the car?” I asked.

  Savannah looked frightened and tried to answer, but all she could do was stutter.

  “Okay, get back on the field phone and call Melvin.”

  The car, it was a Prius, approached quietly. The driver stopped near the barricade and made a point of showing his hands before getting out. He was an oafish-looking man with a fat face. The passengers, there were two of them, also got out of the car, but lingered back and stood behind the open doors like they were using them as shields. The driver took a long hard look at Melvin’s truck, and when he turned back around, he had a goofy grin on his face.

  “What can I do for you, gentlemen?” I asked when the piggish-looking man had walked closer.

  “Hello,” he said and his grin increased in size. “We’re friends with Melvin,” he said, hooking a thumb back toward Melvin’s truck. “We don’t…”

  He stopped in mid-sentence as he looked at Savannah. His mouth dropped open before turning into a leer. He turned back to his friends.

  “Hey, look guys, it’s Stinky,” he said joyously and then turned back to Savannah with a lascivious grin. “How’ve you been, Stinky, we’ve missed you.”

  Savannah emitted a moan from deep within her throat. I looked back at her. She was holding the phone halfway up to her head in a death grip, her face ashen and fixed in an expression of sheer terror.

  When I looked back at the man, he was still grinning, like there was a big joke and Savannah was the punchline. His teeth, the ones he still had, were the color of old corn, making him look even uglier, more sinister. As he continued to leer at Savannah, it dawned on me. Call it an epiphany, a revelation, whatever you wanted. I understood.

  I didn’t know who he was, but I knew what he was, and I knew what he’d done to Savannah. He and his friends. I took one last look at Savannah, and the decision was crystal clear. The kinder, gentler, Zachariah Gunderson decided it was time to take a coffee break and let the other Zach take over for a while.

  My thumb flicked off the safety with practiced ease as I brought my M4 up to my shoulder. The piggish-looking man’s jaw dropped open about a microsecond before the 5.56 full metal jacket entered his skull between his eyes. It was an excellent shot. I could already see Fred giving one of his micro nods of approval.

  The oafish one hadn’t even hit the pavement before I started shooting at the next one. He already had his weapon out; it looked like an M1. An M1 was a wonderful rifle, but it was heavy. He was still trying to aim it when he caught two rounds, one in the chest, the second one in the neck. I moved on to the third one. He had taken cover behind the car and was now shooting back. I managed to squeeze off one shot before a round hit the wood framing inches from my face.

  I ducked down and saw Savannah, still standing there, frozen, staring out like she’d zoned out. I grabbed an arm and pulled her down.

  “Look at me!” I yelled. When she did so, I spoke in a calm voice.

  “Stay down and wait for Melvin. I’m sure he’s heard the gunfire and is on his way.”

  There was a lull in gunfire. I peeked my head up at about the time I saw the third one disappear into the wood line. I exited the guard shack and it took far too long for me to open up the heavy gate. Once I did so, I took only a second to insert a full magazine before taking off at a run. I entered the woods at the spot where I saw him go in and took up a position behind a tree.

  It was a cat-and-mouse game now. I saw a slight amount of ground disturbance and a couple of blood drops. Good, I’d hit him. Probably nothing more than a grazing wound judging from the scant amount of blood, but that was okay. I moved from tree to tree, deeper into the forest. His trail was easy to follow at first because he was blindly running and leaving a trail a blind man could follow. When he finally slowed to a walk, it became harder, but I was not deterred. I continued onward, and kept my eyes open. Suddenly, I heard something behind me. I turned sharply, rifle ready to fire.

  It was Zoe. In the heat of the moment, I’d forgotten all about her. She looked up at me with one of those dog expressions wondering why I’d left her. I squatted down and gave her a pat. It was as good a time to test her training as any. I pointed.

  “Such,” I commanded in a stern voice barely above a whisper. It was the German command for track and was pronounced Sook. Zoe hesitated at first. I repeated the command and she started walking, back and forth at first, sniffing the air, but then she took off at a lope.

  I ran to keep up and she stopped at a tree a hundred yards ahead. There was a blood smear on the tree trunk and several drops on the ground. He’d stopped here to catch his breath and his wound was bleeding faster now. There was also a Ruger Mini-14 lying on the ground, the fore stock broken. I tapped the ground where the blood spot was.

  “Such,” I commanded again. Zoe took off at a dead run now. Within seconds, she was barking furiously. I sprinted through the bushes to catch up, crossed a small glade, and approached a thicket of briars where Zoe was standing, the fur on her back standing up.

  The man had drug himself into the middle of a briar patch. The briars had scratched his face up and he stared at us both, his face bloody and fixed in a mixture of hatred and fear.

  “Ruhig,” I commanded. Zoe stopped barking and stood beside me, anxiously waiting for me to give the command to attack.

  “Crawl out of there,” I ordered.

  “Fuck you,” he growled.

  I coolly appraised him. He wasn’t much older than me, but shorter and far skinnier. His acne-covered face was intermixed with blood, sweat, and oil, and he generally appeared as if he wasn’t worried much about hygiene. I’d run into his type before and I’d never been impressed.

  “Suit yourself,” I said and raised my rifle. “The first shot’s going in your gut. Then I’ll leave you for the zombies.”

  “Wait!” he cried.

  As I held the rifle on him, he slowly crawled out and then worked himself into a sitting position. He cradled a bloody left arm.

  “How bad is it?” I asked.

  “You shot me through my arm, you sonofabitch,” he said. His tone was hateful, threatening. “Wait ‘til Lonnie and my boys get ahold of you.”

  “Who’s Lonnie?” I asked.

  He cackled now. “He’s the leader of the Blackjacks.”

  “Blackjacks?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we’re nobody to fuck with.” He then snickered. “We’re the ones who made Stinky one of our whores. Maybe we’ll do the same to you.”

  I’d had enough. I put the safety on and placed my rifle on the ground. He watched me cautiously. He was on edge, waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Ask your mom,” he said. “She was screaming it last night.”

  I chuckled. “Good one.”

  He thought he was being sneaky as he casually reached behind his back with his good arm. I obliged him and appeared to be distracted by Zoe. He sprang from the ground suddenly and lunged, swinging wildly with a blackjack. I easily stepped out of the way. He was momentarily off balance, which was all I needed.

  Or should I say, it was all Zoe needed. She latched on to his arm and bit down. The punk howled in pain. I grabbed the blackjack, wrenched it
from his grip, and then put a hard right into his nose. He landed on his back with Zoe still working on the arm. I commanded her to stop her attack and stood there, waiting. He was winded and gasping for breath, but when he looked up at me, the hatred was still there.

  “I’m going to kill you real slow,” he threatened between breaths.

  I smiled. “Ooh, you sound ominous.” I put a boot in his nose this time and blood exploded out.

  “Any other threats you want to make?” I asked.

  He stayed quiet now and stared at me sullenly.

  “Part of me wants to take you back because there will be some people who’d like to ask you some questions, but there’s a problem.”

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “Savannah,” I answered and raised the blackjack.

  I eventually found my way out of the forest and onto Morgan’s Mill Road. Within minutes, I heard the sound of horses cantering up. It was Fred and Burt.

  “Zoe and I could use some water,” I said. Fred tossed me a canteen as Burt pulled out his handheld radio and informed them they’d found me.

  I knelt and slowly poured water into my cupped hand as Zoe lapped it up. When she was sated, I took a few gulps before handing the canteen back.

  “Did you get him?” Burt asked. I nodded. He relayed the information and listened to the response.

  “They’re sending a vehicle to come get you.”

  I shook my head. “No, cancel that ride. I’d rather walk back with you two.”

  Burt nodded and spoke into the radio again. “Okay, done. There’s going to be a lot of questions.”

  “Yep, I imagine so. How’s Savannah?”

  “She’s pretty shook up,” Burt said. “Melvin wouldn’t let anyone speak to her and locked her in his room.”

  I nodded. She was in no condition to be peppered with questions by uncaring people. “That’s good. She doesn’t need any further trauma.”

  My response caused Fred to look at me oddly; it was more like his right eyebrow twitched a little, but he didn’t question it.

  Burt was puzzled as well. “Did something happen to her?” he asked. “She didn’t look injured.”

  I shook my head. “It’s nothing. Let’s get going.”