Half Past The Apocalypse

by Joe Kelly

  Rob was silent for a moment as he worked then with a growl whacked the pump with the wrench he held. “You know if you really don’t want to go on the run, Jared wouldn’t force the issue.” Rob said getting back to Marks problem.

  “I know, but I won’t let him down either.” Mark said not pointing out that he had known Jared for years. Rob was just trying to help and Mark appreciated that. “The Sarge has been there for me anytime I needed help even if it was just having someone to talk too.”

  “he has a way of making people feel that way, sometimes I don’t think he realizes it.”

  “I don’t think he does or at least he has never taken advantage of it if he does realize it.” Mark said. “some times that pisses Sharon off, not at Jared, at me for not being able to put my foot down and say no and this is one of those times. You watch she is going to insist on going with us. Then we will fight about it later in private and in the end she will go because I am going.”

  Rob snorted a laugh then said “how did you and Jared meet. I mean I know you were in the army together but no one really talks about when you all first met..”

  “Long story, but the short version was after he was cleared for combat duty again, he was assigned to our squad. I knew him before that but he wasn’t in our company but didn’t really get to know him till he showed up at our bar, by our bar I mean the entire company had laid claim to this local bar called “the hole”

  “sounds like a gay bar” Rob said with a laugh. “and what do you mean again.”

  “oh, when his parents died his CO had Jared put on non deployment status so he could stay on base to take care of Eric. Jared always suspected someone who had known his dad pulled in a few favors to make it happen.

  But when he wakes up and finds he was non deployable he just did as he was told. Actually, Ori knew him before that, they were both stationed together at Hood, I think. Ori was a scout by then. But anyway, Jared comes walking into the bar all shiny new to the Company …..”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  The sun slid down behind pewter colored clouds, the pearly gray light retreating before the advancing wave of Darkness that inch by inch engulfed the world. Warm orange light spilled from the windows of the cabins keeping the darkness at bay.

  What conversation there were around the dinner table were about old things, movies they had loved, books they had read, rarely about places they had been. To talk about those places was to remember the people who had lived and died there, to realize that outside of memory the streets of New York, Berlin, Tokyo were filled with the walking dead.

  Those not guarding the sick or walking the wall ate slowly, savoring each bite like tomorrow might be there last, and in this world, that wasn’t a stretch of the imagination. Finally, Jared pushed aside his empty plate and sighed. Beth had done a great job on dinner with meager supplies. Tomorrow was Steve’s turn to cook and Jared half hoped that maybe he would break a leg and get stuck outside of camp to miss those meals. Only Pappys cooking was worse, and he was restricted to breakfast only.

  He rose and began gathering empty plates and headed to the kitchen the others taking his cue quickly cleaned off the table. Once they had cleaned the dishes and put them away, they gathered their drinks and returned to the table. None of them looked eager to hear what Jared had to say not even Jared.

  “okay listen up, “Jared said as he toyed with his glass. “I know we need to go into town for supplies, but not everything we need is on the other side of town. So, we are going to start by hitting Allred and the outskirts of Bergstown. Allred is small enough that there won’t be a lot of undead there, and there is a clinic there that might have meds which will buy us a little more time to come up with a plan for the raid into town. “So here is what I propose.”

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  .

  It was odd, Jared thought, some areas were filled with the dead, while others stood empty. I wonder if there are people still alive in the areas the dead are hanging out in. That would explain it I guess.

  This was one of those areas that looked clear of the undead. At least till they appear out of no where and bite us in the butt. Jared told himself.

  “I say we find an electric car to scout in,” Mark whispered as Jared knelt behind the pile of fallen trees they had been using as a observation hide. “those things key in on sound and those cars are silent or close enough to silent at any rate.”

  “Good idea” Jared acknowledged. “know where any are at around here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in town.” He didn’t bother to mention that charging an electric car would use up more gas than just pouring it into a truck and using it to drive into town. But all that aside it was still a good idea.

  “Okay a hybrid car then.” Mark suggested.

  “Tell me where one is at and we will go get it, I’m not sneaking through town to look for a car.” Jared said with a shake of his head. I need a hair cut too, he thought feeling the longish hair brush against his ears. God I hate long hair.

  Can we keep it quiet, there still might be some of them in the area, he signed. Mark flushed as he nodded. Sorry, got carried away, Mark signed back.

  Jared glanced at Steve who was concealed in a tangle of mountain laurel, from just ten feet away he looked more like a shadow than a person. Whether that would fool the walking dead was something else entirely, he thought. Ori was the one he couldn’t see.

  He tapped the transmit button twice and slipped around the tree fall heading towards the closest house, Mark trailing him. He didn’t have to see Steve and Ori to know they were already moving and would be covering his six

  Chris and Jeff were waiting with the trucks a couple of miles down the road and would come running when needed.

  The first house was a wreck, someone had been living in it recently. A smoker had been set up in the corner of the boarded up living room beside a pile of empty food cans. Candy wrappers littered the floor and from the urine smell that filled the house whoever it was had stayed for a while.

  He didn’t expect to find much and a search revealed he was right, the place had been stripped.

  I bet they have stripped every house on this road, he thought, good news is some one else is still alive or was at least.

  The next two homes they searched had been stripped, some ne had even pulled out the copper wiring. But the fourth still held some winter clothes and a couple of boxes of self canned goods in the basement. They carried what they had found up stairs and placed it on the porch.

  Entering the fifth house Jared stopped in the entry hall shaking his head sadly, a man lay on the living room floor a pistol in his hand, beside him was the corpse of a little girl in a sleeping bag. A pill bottle lay beside the man. Jared could see what had happened the man had fed the kid pills to knock her out and had then shot her and then himself in the head.

  If we had started searching the town a couple of weeks ago, they both might still be alive, he told himself then angrily shook his head. I can’t save everyone and even if we had started searching the edges of town a month ago, we might not have reached here till later or not at all. Hitting here today was just whim on my part seeing how clear of the dead it looked.

  “Search it” Jared said stepping out onto the porch to keep watch and get some fresh air.

  A search turned up only a small supply of camping gear, but no food or water and no notes. Poor bastard probably didn’t think any one was left to read a note or a journal.

  “Don’t do this to yourself Jared” Mark said while Steve called the trucks in. “Sometimes you take on responsibility that isn’t yours and this Buddy ain’t yours. That guy did them both a mercy, it wasn’t nice but it was the only card he had left to play if they didn’t want to starve slowly to death and come back as one of those things.”

  “I know Mark, but I just can’t help but wonder how many others might still be alive if I had gotten off my ass sooner and pushed into town.”

  Steve turned to face Jared, frowning “who knows, all of
them, none of them. We are low on food and other essential supplies ourselves how could we feed another ten, twenty hell maybe a hundred Jared. I feel for them and I know you.” Steve said as he looked down the road hearing the motors of the approaching trucks. “maybe we have to stop being the nice guys to survive in this damned world.”

  Mark opened his mouth, to protest or to agree Jared didn’t know he cut him off with the wave of a hand. “Steve, I know we can’t save everyone. But I will be damned before I toss the values I’ve held all my life out a window just because the world has gone down the tubes. We will survive, and we will do it without giving up who we are. But that doesn’t mean we have to be stupid about this either.”

  “I’m just saying Jared, keep it in mind.”

  “Keep this in mind, we have to few people to accomplish every damn thing we need to do or do you want to keep having three or four hours of sleep every night because we are trying to do to much with to few. That will get us killed sooner or later and you know it.”

  Jared grabbed an armful of camping gear and walked to the trucks that had just come to a stop outside the house. It only took a couple of minutes to load the few supplies they had found but that was long enough for the undead to start staggering out of the woods behind the homes as well as appear far down the road,

  “Time to go” Jared said opening the driver’s door of his truck, He wanted to be gone before the undead were close enough to be a threat. Jared stepped up on the running board and stopped looking west towards town as the echoes of the gunshot they had heard rolled back them.

  “that was a gunshot” Rob said unnecessarily.

  “Jared” Steve said knowing Jared to well.

  “Don’t even Steve, we should try to help any survivor. Who knows this one could be a Doctor or something else vital we need.”

  “Or a lucky pizza delivery guy” Steve said shaking his head. It wasn’t that he was against helping others but he was more concerned with feeding and protecting the people they already had. More mouths could cause problems for all of them. It was a hell of a bind but not one he was willing to overlook.

  “We check it out” Jared said as he slid into his truck. “its close by anyway.”

  “One day he is going to listen to me” Steve muttered as started his truck and he followed behind Jared. “if he did, would it make a difference” Rob asked from the passenger side.

  “On this topic yes it would.” Steve said swerving to take out three zombies. Rob shrugged then turned his head to look out the window.

  “Whoever it is, they are going through a lot of Ammunition” Jared said as he clearly heard the steady firing over the engine noise.

  “Up there” Jill said pointing as he came around a curve. Jared didn’t have to ask what up there was, he could see it for himself. It was a two story home, probably built back in the 20’s with a low stone wall around the tree shaded lawn. A lawn filled with undead, they were pushing their way up onto the already filled porch. “well that’s pleasant” Jared muttered as he noted that more undead were on the road, around a hundred that he could see. “this is going to be tough.”

  “we could always leave” Jill said it sounded more like a question than a suggestion.

  “no, we can’t” Jared said. If pressed he couldn’t have told anyone why he felt driven to save people. It just felt right, and he was a big believer in following his gut. But this, this could get people killed there were an awful lot of undead out there. If everyone survives and hates me then at least I no longer have to be leader. So there is a possible bright side, Jared told himself almost smiling.

  Clay backed into the main hallway, he stopped only long enough to grab the couch he had propped against the wall and pulled it over to block the doorway. That would only hold them for so long. The front door was shaking in its frame as the undead out on the porch were pounding on it and from the sound of breaking glass and splintering wood they were getting into the kitchen and dining room.

  He limped to the stair case, glad that he had removed half the damn stair case months ago. his only warning was the smell growing stronger, he turned, almost falling and saw that one of the undead was behind him and at least seven more climbing over the couch.

  “Screw you” he snapped shoving the barrel of his rifle into the things open mouth and pulling the trigger. the body slid off his barrel and fell to the ground. he shot again and then again. Three shots and another undead fell over the couch, two more shots and another of the dead went down.

  “Need to reload,” He said knowing he wouldn’t have time not if he stayed here. He climbed into the old Hydraulic chair lift and hit the button. As the chair slowly rose on the track mounted on the wall next to the stair case, he started to reload. five zombies were over the couch now and more were coming.

  The hinges of the front door finally pulled free of the door frame the door freed of resistance fell into the entry way along with several zombies, who were promptly trampled by the undead that entered behind them.

  Clay stopped the lift and raised his rifle to his shoulder and began to fire again. A zombie toppled over vanishing into the mob, another followed and then another. Nothing he could do was going to stop them in the long term. But waste of ammunition or not he wasn’t going to let them have his house with out a fight.

  Over the ringing in his ears, he thought he heard motors and gun fire. I’m finally losing it, he told himself as the undead filled the hallway. Eager hands reaching up towards him, he tried not to look into those cloudy dead eyes. Tried not to recognize old friends and acquaintances. For months he had hidden from the end of the world and today it had come for him.

  “Stay close,” Jared told Jill as Steve, Mark and Ori Joined them at the wall. The other men on the scavenging team remained in the trucks, driving back and forth on the road using them as weapons to take out any of the dead who came into their reach. With their rear secured as much as the situation allowed they could concentrate on what was in front of them. Any truck that saw undead anywhere near Jared and the team would honk their horns to alert the ground team. The problem was time, all the gunfire and engine noise would draw in every zombie for five miles, if they took too long the numbers of undead could double or more and that was a danger they couldn’t face.

  “that’s a lot of undead” Steve muttered. Jared nodded in agreement, but he was committed now and if his plan worked then things would be fine. What was the old saying battle plans do not survive contact with the enemy, I hope its wrong today..

  “Take em down” Jared called out as he shifted from high ready to action. Lets just hope we have enough ammo, he thought as he pulled the trigger.

  Clays head came up as gunfire erupted in his front yard, I wasn’t hearing things. The undead at the door turned and plodded back onto the porch. Clay pulled another box of ammo out of the pouch slung on the chair and reloaded. The thought of living through today lent him speed, not to mention the thought of actually seeing other people.

  Chris turned at the end of the street and started back towards the house, he wasn’t happy about not being with his friends but as much as he hated it he felt some relief at not having to face the undead. He reached over and turned on the cd player, cranking the volume all the way letting Manowars God of war roar in defiance. There were times, Jared worried him, like today and this insane rescue.

  There it was, He thought seeing the flare arc into the sky, I really hope your right about this, Chris thought as he floored the accelerator and aimed for the driveway .

  “Here he comes” Jared warned his people as Chris’s truck bounced over the curb, cutting across the driveway at an angle, one side scraping the rock wall sending sparks flying. He yelled crazily as Undead vanished under the front of his truck.

  The timing could have been better Jared thought, the truck bounced and shuddered as it plowed through the mass of undead that had come down from the porch to get to Jared and his people. Twenty or so were to close to the team, but at least the bulk o
f the undead were either dead again or crushed and crippled and not much of a threat.

  As the last of the leakers fell, Jared led his people over the low wall, advancing on the front porch in a combat crouch firing two and three rounds into each target that crossed his sights.

  Jill stayed close, her job was more to keep an eye behind and to the sides to provide warning than to provide an extra gun. She was not all that good with a rifle, and could admit it to herself instead of pretending it was just sexism that kept Jared from placing her in the line. But up close and personal, she was better than all of the men but Jared and every one of them knew it.

  The steps were wide enough for two people at a time, which was a plus and a negative since it allowed more undead to press into the gap. Jared didn’t bother with hand weapons, he shot down anything in front of him as he and mark climbed the steps.

  Undead eager to get the living meat, tumbled over the rails into the yard. “Left five,” Jill called out as she leaped over the ornamental shrub using the butt of the rifle she carried as a club. Bone cracked and as her target fell away she slid into a sweep that took down a second zombie, before it even hit the ground she had spun up into a snap kick that shattered the jaw of another zombie.