Charlie felt it, too. “What the hell?”
“Yeah.”
Tommy led us down towards the river, and then turned onto Tapawingo Drive. The singing was much louder, although it seemed like it was aimed across the river. In the trees in a small park were hundreds of young men and women. They were singing and clapping, yet they all to a person were not smiling. It was as if there was purpose behind the songs, and they were very serious about it.
“Tommy?” I asked, looking around as people looked at me while they were still singing. To say it was creepy would be putting it mildly.
“Come on, she’s over here,” Tommy said. He led the way until we were standing at the river’s edge looking out over a destroyed pedestrian bridge. Across the river, thousands of zombies groaned and reached for us, and some even fell into the river to be slowly swept away. Down river I could see several men with long poles waiting to jab a zombie who somehow made it to the shallows of the wrong side.
The picture was getting clearer. The singing drew the zombies to the river where they would stay as long as they heard something to chase. They couldn’t cross the river, and while they were here, they might not be paying as close attention to other things in their vicinity.
In a word, brilliant.
“Mr. Talon?” came a voice behind me.
I turned and looked into the clear blue eyes of a pretty young woman. She was in her late twenties and simply dressed. She didn’t wear any weapons, which struck me as unusual, and she seemed completely unaffected by the concert we were somewhat enjoying. Duncan was right behind her, tapping his hand in time with the music. The song ended, and the next one came up. I did recognize the song and had to smile.
“That’s me. Nice use of a Jimmy Buffett song. If he’s alive still, he’d be proud.” I held out my hand. “Miss…?”
“Radcliffe. Katie Radcliffe. Welcome to my world. Mr. Fries here has told me a few things about you, Mr. Talon.” Katie smiled, and I could see she used that smile as a tool in social situations.
“Just believe the bad things,” I said. “He’s a sinful liar, otherwise.”
“Well, I hope he’s telling the truth, because we need assistance from men like you.” Katie said.
“We’d be glad to help. What do you need?” I asked.
Katie smiled again and then pointed across the river at the sea of Z. “I need you to go over there.”
Somehow, I knew it. “Before that happens, tell me about what happened here.”
“Let’s get somewhere a little more quiet,” Miss Radcliffe said. “Days like this I can’t hear myself think.”
We walked back up the trail and into a large building. It was a visitor center of sorts, although it looked like it had a few people living in it permanently. We sat around a table, and Katie told us a few things about the current situation.
Turns out, Charlie was right in his estimations. The kids had known the zombies were coming and decided to make a stand. Being college kids, they realized they had engineers, med students, architects, and other skilled people all right here in front of their faces. So they built their walls and kept an eye out for signs of the virus. It worked, but they realized they had also lost everything else as well. With nothing to go home to, they made this place as safe as possible. They grew crops, tended to livestock (thanks to their agriculture students), and were able to survive. Engineering students figured out how to generate power through the windmills scattered about, and the med students took care of the sick.
“So what is the singing for?” I asked, impressed with the way things had gone in this part of the country. For my part, I had little to add to what Duncan already had told her.
“We distract and lure the zombies to come this way, while our scouts cross the river to look for needed supplies. Unfortunately, our scouts have been gone too long, and we fear they might be dead,” Katie said, her eyes tearing up.
“You need us to go find them or find what they were looking for?” I asked.
“You have to understand, Mr. Talon. We’ve spent the last two years just outsmarting the zombies, not fighting them. If we had to kill one, we usually lured it to a place where we could pin it down and kill it. We’re not…” Katie paused.
“Killers?” Charlie asked, bluntly.
Miss Radcliffe gave us a half smile and nodded. “We’ve done pretty well here considering the alternative across the river. But there are things we need, things we don’t have access to, and we’re running out of time.”
A few more minutes of discussion and the four of us were being driven by golf cart back to our trucks. The driver of the cart was surprised we had managed to get so far into their territory before being challenged. Charlie suggested they find out who was responsible and replace him or her immediately.
We geared up for battle and took the trucks to the Harrison Bridge, guided by our golf cart friend. This was the bridge they used to cross over for supplies and things, and at the moment, thanks to the singing, the way was clear. Katie was insistent we get across before too long because the singers were only good for about three hours, even with taking shifts. Our target was a cancer care center right in the heart of Lafayette.
Before we crossed the river, Charlie asked a question.
“What do we get out of this?” he wanted to know.
“Goodwill, and a chance to address the entire population,” I said.
Charlie thought a minute. “That would work.”
“Let’s go.”
We crossed the river, climbing over another one of those smart barricades. The difference was that on the other side of the wall, there was a hole that had been punched through the bridge, leading to the water below. A narrow footbridge led from the narrow wall to the other side. No zombie could traverse that ledge and then navigate the ladder without falling through the hole. The footbridge was slick with zombie goop from Z’s that had done just that.
On the other side, Tommy quickly checked a map Katie had provided us.
“Head south, we’ll follow the river until we reach Ferry Street. It’s a straight shot in from there,” Tommy said.
Charlie grunted. “Assuming everything goes perfectly well, and the zombies don’t know we’re here.”
“Well, that happens all the time, right?” Duncan asked.
I limited my response to a simple eye roll and ran across the bridge. At the first off ramp I ran down, keeping an eye out for zombies that might not be able to get to the concert to the south on time. My pick was out, my rifle was secure, my knife was sharp, and my Glock was loaded. If I wasn’t running into the possibility of thousands of hungry ghouls, I might be enjoying myself. Something must seriously be wrong with me.
We could hear the singing across the river, and I had to admit it was effective. Most, if not all, of the zombies were gathered south, and from where we were we could see a kind of fog drifting in and out of the buildings and undulating near the water’s edge. Trouble was, it wasn’t fog; it was thousands of tightly packed zombies, shifting and pushing and grasping at empty air. We stayed close to the buildings and ducked behind cars, keeping ourselves as invisible as possible. All it took was one to see us and raised the alarm, and then the chase would be on.
I moved along the sidewalk, keeping a steady pace, trying to stay in the shadows. It wasn’t easy with the sun rising higher and taking away the cover we needed.
I kept an eye on the zombies to the south, trying like crazy to make sure we could duck away if one turned its head. I could see the street we needed, and it was just a block away. Trouble was, the zombies were just a short block away from that.
In between the buildings there was an alleyway, and I decided to take a chance.
“Come on, we can try through here,” I said.
Tommy looked down the dark passage and nodded. “Has to be safer than getting close to that horde. I’ll take point.” Without another thought, he disappeared.
Charlie ducked in second and Duncan followed, with me chasi
ng behind. I dodged around overturned dumpsters and ducked under fire escape ladders that must have assisted a means of escape in the past. I slipped through some sort of slimy mass on the ground, and jumped over a box that had legs sticking out of one end. Unless I was mistaken, the other end of the legs was nowhere to be found.
At the end of the alley, Tommy checked his bearings. He actually pulled out a compass and double-checked. Duncan started to make fun of him when Tommy stopped him short.
“Sun is nearly overhead, dipshit. Which way is east?” Tommy demanded quietly.
Duncan looked up, looked back the way we came, and then smiled. He pointed to the end of the alley. “That way.”
“Smart ass,” Tommy grumbled. Tommy was directionally challenged on the best of days. Duncan on the other hand, could find north in the middle of a snowstorm at midnight.
Looking around the corner, Tommy made his way down another alley. This one must have been where a bad stand was made. Decayed body parts were strewn about, most of them fingers and finger bones. Black streaks were everywhere, decorated with white mold. A couple of dead zombies were lying with their crushed skulls against the walls. Someone put up a fight before they went down.
At the corner of the building, Tommy stopped again. He peeked around the corner, then quickly ducked back.
“Holy shit,” He whispered. “They’re right there.”
“How close is ‘right there’?” Duncan asked.
“See for yourself.” Tommy said, moving away from the corner.
Duncan looked around and ducked back.
“Holy shit. They are right there.” Duncan confirmed.
“We have to move. Secure anything with noise, and we’ll run one at a time to the next cover. Car, building, alley, whatever. I’ll go first,” I said.
We double-checked our gear, jumping slightly in place to see if anything jingled, jangled, clicked, or clacked. Nothing made a sound, so we braced ourselves to run.
“I’ll wave out from where I am, then wave twice when it’s clear,” I said. “If they see me, I’ll just keep running and meet you on the next street north, three blocks down. We’ll figure it out from there.”
“Watch yourself,” Charlie said.
“Have to. I need to be back in the capital in five months,” I said.
“Just five?” Charlie asked.
“Maybe. I don’t remember.”
Without another word, I went to the edge of the alley, and with a quick look west I broke cover and ran in a crouch next to the line of parked cars. Behind me the air was filled with groans and wheezes. If we could only trap them all in some way and kill them en masse, we’d have an entire city of supplies to use or distribute. We could even repopulate this place if we could manage that level of kills.
I ducked in between two cars and used the headrests inside to mask my head as I peeked up from the rear. I didn’t see anyone following, and in fact they seemed to be moving in the opposite direction. All the better. I stuck my hand out and waved three times. Tommy came sprinting out, and went right past me, slipping in between the cars behind me. I waited to see if anyone saw him, then waved again.
Charlie came out and slipped past, silent as a breeze. He made it to the car behind Tommy and ducked back there.
I checked the crowd again and saw it was clear for Duncan to go. I waved again, and Duncan left cover.
When Duncan was just reaching the cars, the universe decided we needed more excitement in our lives. A seagull, finding something shiny to investigate, landed in the middle of the street with a loud cry. I watched as several heads turned to look at the disturbance of the choir concert. Those same heads looked at the seagull and then at Duncan’s retreating back as he ran towards cover.
“Oh my God,” I said to no one in particular.
The groans got suddenly louder, and the ten that saw Duncan turned and walked our way, moaning and grasping. The other zombies saw the shift and followed, not really sure what they were chasing but certain they wanted whatever they were following. That caused several more to follow, and we were less than fifty feet away from them.
I broke cover on the sidewalk side keeping as low as possible. If the only ones who chased us were the ten that saw Duncan, we might survive this.
“They saw him, move out! We’ll try to keep it isolated,” I said, moving past Tommy and Charlie. We were still unseen by the ten following, but that wouldn’t last.
It didn’t. The zombies on the sidewalk turned and saw me leave my cover. They set up a serious groan and began the chase. We were now in a race.
“Screw it, run!” I said. Charlie was right behind me, and we reached Duncan’s hiding spot. Duncan had his backpack off and was fishing out a black disk. It was about eight inches in diameter and about two inches thick. It was completely wrapped in black electrical tape and had a fuse sticking out of it. I wanted to know what it was, but then I didn’t want to know, either.
“May as well thin the herd while I have a chance.” Duncan placed the sinister looking disk on the top of the car and lit the fuse. “We have about a minute; you might want to run.”
I didn’t need any more incentive than that. Duncan was forever trying to figure out ways to blow stuff up, and his failures were even more spectacular than his successes. We had been around enough of Duncan’s experiments to know when to run like hell and put some serious cover between us and his devices.
We managed to get three blocks before Duncan called out.
“Get inside somewhere!”
Charlie dove into a storefront, crashing open the door, and stumbling inside. Tommy was right behind him, and Duncan and I came in together. A second later, there was a blast behind us and the front window cracked. Three small holes appeared in the window on the far end, and two books sitting on a head-high shelf blew apart in a fury of paper.
We all looked at each other, then the three of us looked at Duncan. Duncan shrugged and smiled. He went over to the door and looked outside.
“Wow,” was all he said.
The rest of us took a quick look outside. Down the street, dozens of zombies were scattered about, most with their heads blown apart. Others, taller ones, had huge gaping holes in their necks.
Tommy did a quick check and gave his estimate. “You probably killed two or three hundred with that blast.”
“Nice work,” I said. “Got any more?”
Duncan ruefully shook his head. “Only have the one with me. Wasn’t even sure that would work as well as it did.”
Charlie clapped him on the shoulder. “Well done, little brother. I forgive you for the warehouse incident.”
Duncan beamed. A while ago, we had explored a warehouse close to the capital that was supposed to be full of zombies. Duncan set his explosive around the outside, not bothering to check if anyone was looking inside. When he blew it, the concussive air blast threw Charlie across the street and into a very old pile of mulch. He smelled like moldy cedar chips for a month.
“Let’s move. We slowed them down, but there’s more where that came from. And in case you hadn’t noticed, that blast killed the singing, too,” I said.
We moved back onto the street, and the surviving horde behind us walked over their fallen comrades, slipping and tripping on parts and pieces of zombies.
Another block down, and Tommy, who was leading, called us to a stop. He pointed to a building ahead, and I gave it a look.
About fifteen zombies were gathered around a small storefront, beating on the doors and windows. They were packed tightly enough that they couldn’t get their hands to give a full swing and break the glass.
“I think we might have found the other team,” I said. “We don’t have much time, and since quiet is no longer an option, let’s get this over with.”
We all swung our rifles up, and without any other conversation, proceeded to shoot the zombies down. The crack of our rifles echoed through the streets, likely urging the Z’s coming up behind us to greater speed.
In a
minute it was over as Duncan shot down the last Z. Charlie went over to the window and looked in.
“Well, this might be difficult,” he said.
I went over and looked in. Three young men were sitting in the back of the store, two of them were slumped over while the third was alive and staring wildly back at us. I went inside and checked the two boys who were down. I could see bite marks on their hands and wrists, and their eyelids were fluttering. In a minute they were going to wake up as very hungry zombies.
I looked back at Charlie, and he caught my look. Without a word he pulled out his knife, and with a quick stab in the back of each kid’s head, he laid them fully to rest on the ground.
The other boy cried out when Charlie performed his surgery. “Why did you do that? They weren’t going to turn! They just were resting!”
“Son, they were turning. In a minute, they were going to awaken and try to eat you. Since you don’t seem to have any weapons, how were you planning on fighting them off?” I asked. I knew he was going to go into shock unless he pulled it together quickly.
“They weren’t dead! You killed them for no reason!” The boy kept up his blame game, and I didn’t have time for it.
“Get focused here, son. There’s a whole mess of zombies coming this way. You need to either come with us or get the hell out of here. We’re leaving now.” I stood up and followed Charlie out the door. There was a scramble behind us, and the boy crashed out of the building, turned up the street, and ran north.
“Let’s keep moving. We need to buy ourselves as much time as we can. If we get far enough ahead, we might be able to lose that crowd,” I said.
“I got point,” Duncan said, taking off down the street.
The rest of us groaned slightly. Duncan had the stamina of a marathon runner. He wouldn’t stop until we reached our destination which could be a mile or could be ten miles.
Duncan led us down the street, weaving in and out of cars and avoiding some piles of debris. The town center was a mess with burned out buildings and smashed glass everywhere. Bones were all over, and there were several dead people still sitting in cars. A bus had three corpses in it, and by the looks of things they died by dehydration. That wasn’t uncommon. People got trapped and had no way out or hope of rescue. They either killed themselves or just wasted away and died. I still think we were very lucky to survive the Upheaval the way we did.
The Zombie Wars: Call To Arms (White Flag Of The Dead Book 7) Page 8
