Z-Risen (Book 5): Barriers

by Long, Timothy W.

"Thought you didn't need a knight in shining armor?"

  "I don't, but I'll take you in those dingy overalls. Reminds me, it's time to wash them. Please," she said. "I'm serious. The other night they got up and walked around the bedroom all by themselves."

  "Okay. Okay. I get the message. I'll do our laundry as soon as I'm back and the shooting has died down," I said. "In that order."

  "I'll try not to shoot too many strange people," Anna said. "See you soon."

  "I hear that," I said and clicked off.

  I turned to tell Joel we needed to hustle back, even though he had heard our entire conversation, but his attention had been drawn elsewhere.

  The trees rustled fifty or so feet away, and a group of men came out of the woods. They wore the same kind of clothing as the ones in the camp, but they were heavily armed. Between them were four people tied in a line. The first prisoner had curly brown hair going to gray. He spotted me but didn't say a word. Then the man behind him, a Latino stumbled and was prodded back to his feet.

  The others were an older man and woman. She had a bloody bandage around one of her arms. They four of them looked like they wanted to start some shit. The main guy especially. When he turned his gaze back on the man who led them, I thought he was going to burn a whole in the man's skull.

  He was freaking pissed.

  "What fresh hell is this?" I whispered.

  "Don't know, brother. But if Anna said things are okay back there, I say we stick around or even get closer. This is too close to us, and we don't need a bunch of whackos in our backyard," Joel said.

  "She also said some guys were poking around Fortress. You sure we shouldn't head straight back?"

  "We need to head back?" Joel asked.

  "She said they have it handled," I said. "But I'm worried."

  "They can take care of themselves. Probably just some hungry mouths looking for a handout."

  "Maybe it's a lot of hungry mouths armed to the teeth," I said.

  I knew they could take care of themselves, but if they were outnumbered ten to one, they would need help.

  "Just stay in touch with Anna. If they need us, we're only five minutes out on those ATVs," Joel said. "I want to know what is going on here. If these cult guys come looking for us, we need to know what they’re after."

  "Thought you'd just shoot them and ask questions later," I said.

  "I like how you think," Joel said and clapped me on the shoulder.

  I considered going back alone. Joel could handle himself. But Anna said they had things covered, and she was right. I didn't need to swoop in and rescue her. She and Christy would be able to defend Fortress without much effort. We had made sure of that.

  Plus, Joel had a point. We dug out of weapons and waited.

  Hell of a Rescue

  We moved closer to the freaky cult’s location, but kept our heads down. With so much foliage, it was easy to hide but one wrong move and a shuffler might catch wind of us. That meant me. I wasn't exactly a small guy, and even though I'd shed weight since this whole nightmare had started, I still had a frame that was larger than most men. Joel Kelly included.

  They escorted the three men and one woman to the pen, but instead of locking them up, they took the rope off the lead man's arms and dragged him into the shed. One of the shufflers detached himself from guarding the pen and crept to the little place of misery. The door slammed shut behind them.

  "Fuck. I don't like this, Joel," I said and gritted my teeth.

  "It's not our fight. Maybe you were right and we should go."

  "There's just the one shuffler. Those other three near the house ran off. Plus, a couple of guards. If we start shooting, those three will be able to get loose and cause some havoc. I want to know what's happening in that shed," I said.

  "Not our fight," Joel said more fiercely.

  The man they had dragged inside the shed screamed.

  I should really listen to Joel more often.

  I closed my eyes and tried to find some peace by counting to ten. When I hit five, I clutched my wrench and shifted the Remington to my shoulder. I'd constructed a half-assed sling out of some old rope and a piece of leather, and it worked well enough.

  "Cover me. Take out the shuffler first, then at least one of the guards. I'm going into that shed," I said, and then I was on the move.

  "Creed, you asshole. Stop!"

  I didn't.

  I dug out my Beretta but kept the wrench in my left hand. When I broke the tree line, one of the Zs got an eye on me but it stopped and stared dumbly. I didn't give him a chance to make up his undead mind and cleaved in his skull.

  He flopped to the ground.

  Joel fired and struck one of the shufflers. I breathed a sigh of relief because he had my back. I was doing something stupid and Joel had every right to leave me to it. But I knew the man well enough to know he would protect my stupidity.

  It was a good twenty-five feet to the shed, and the group of guards had seen me. I shot one and struck him in the gut. One of them dropped to the ground and aimed an assault rifle at me. I was about to hit the dirt when Joel fired from behind me. The guy let out a yelp, and then struggled to clasp his hand over his shoulder. Blood squirted from between his fingers. Joel fired again, and he stopped moving.

  The Latino guy moved fast as a whip and got his rope bound hands around one of the guards. A kid no older than eighteen. They went to the ground, but the prisoner didn't let go. His other friends fell on the kid.

  Another shuffler poked his head out of the duplex, but then ducked back. A chunk of wood exploded where his face had been. Damn things must have been becoming telepathic because it should have had a 5.56 round though his noggin.

  A guy opened the door to the shed and looked out to see what in the hell was happening. Green eyes locked on mine. I ran as fast as my feet could carry me and smashed into the door. It slammed shut and knocked the bastard flat. I swept the wrench around but the shuffler was already sliding back inside the shed.

  The door popped open and a man appeared. We looked each other in the eye.

  "The fuck is going on in there?" I asked.

  He snarled and went for his gun so I smashed his hand for his effort. He howled in pain and fell away. The door swung open, and I found that a fight had already broken out. The pissed off man they had dragged in there was loose and doing his best to take on three opponents, one of which was a shuffler.

  I'm not sure who was more surprised to see me in the doorway. The man they were torturing or the shuffler and his crew of assholes.

  With my appearance, the battle inside shifted. The guy punched one of his captors in the face. I came in swinging and put the shuffler down for good with the wrench after she leapt at me. Talk about a hell of a lucky shot. That shuffler had been livid when I opened the door. I crashed into another of the captors and drove him to the ground. Then I swung the weapon, and he didn’t move again.

  The older man rolled away from a knife slash from one of the captors. I wanted to come in swinging but feared I would hit the man I had been intent on rescuing. The knife wielder barreled past me and fled for the woods. A shot rang, and he dropped. Thanks for the assist, Joel.

  The poor captive had been through hell. He was covered in bruises and there was blood on his face. He had a hastily stitched wound on his arm.

  “Shit. I blew it this time. Joel’s gonna give me hell. You ready to move?” I said.

  "Who are you?" he asked.

  "Jackson. Didn't plan on a rescue operation. We were just checking things out when one of those shufflers caught wind of us. Truth is, I saw them drag you in here and it pissed me off. Gets me into trouble every time. My temper, know what I mean?” I said.

  "Not a minute too soon," the man said, and wiped blood off his forehead. “The name’s Erik Tragger. Nice to get rescued by you.”

  One of the men struggled to his feet so Erik kicked him in the head, and the captor dropped like a rock. Then he did it a few more times just for good measure.
I liked Erik’s style.

  I still hadn't fired my weapon so it wasn’t a bad ambush if I do say so myself.

  I liked his style, but I didn't know the first thing about him. Why I'd got this hair up my ass to go on a rescue mission was beyond me. The way things looked, he had it under control in here.

  "I don't know you from Adam, brother. Appreciate the assist, but you turn on me or my friends and you're not going to like the results. We cool?" I said.

  "Yeah, we're cool. Me and my friend came out here to investigate these guys, too. Then they captured us. As crazy as it sounds, I think they wanted to turn us all into ghouls," he said.

  "Fuck those guys," I muttered.

  I knew he was a target for the shufflers, and that made him a temporary ally. Maybe it wasn't smart, but I unslung the Remington and handed it to him.

  "Know how to use this? Probably a silly question considering the way you fought those guys," I asked.

  "Yeah, I do," he said. “Fighting’s easy. Surviving’s the hard part.”

  “Oh man. You and Joel are going to get along great,” I muttered.

  Erik poked his head out of the shed. More gunshots sounded as Joel picked out targets. Someone screamed in pain and didn't show any signs of letting up. I didn't envy that son of a bitch. A bullet wound, even a minor one, was deadly these days.

  Erik shouldered the shotgun and dashed into the open. He kept low as he went to assist the others who had been dragged into the camp. I stayed in the shed and covered him with the Beretta.

  With so little cover, he got the little band together and made for a low cedar fence. It wouldn't stop a bullet but it would keep them out of sight.

  A couple of guys dashed from the compound, firing as they ran. Erik dove around the side of the fence and fired at them. The shotgun boomed loudly and made them drop. I took the hint and opened up on them as well. One of the guys returned fire and almost took my damn head off. I hit the hard ground, and then rolled away.

  Joel fired and dropped one of the shooters.

  I needed to get the hell out of here. I'd done my good deed for the year and saved Erik. He, in turn, had gotten his friends free. It was time to wrap up operation Watch Jackson Creed do Something Stupid Again and rejoin Joel. I'm sure he'd have some choice words, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say I'd done the right thing.

  I made a run for it and pounded around the side of the fence. Erik and his pals were all free. The older guy had managed to pick up a backpack, and he dug through it. He came up with a radio and rolled under a bush. He started talking to someone a few seconds later.

  Erik swept the gun around as he tried to pick out new targets. Then he went absolutely still.

  "Katherine!" Erik yelled.

  Who the hell was he calling for?

  "Let's move, kids. Nothing else to see here," I said.

  "One of ours is inside the building," Erik said. "We have help on the way."

  "Sorry to hear that, but we're not here to fight. This rescue was sort of an accident," I said. "No offense, but I got enough problems without mounting another rescue. Hope you understand."

  "It's my girl. She was captured a few weeks ago. I thought for sure she was dead, but I saw her in there."

  Was that the short-haired woman I'd seen? If so, I felt sorry for both of them. There wasn't enough therapy in the old world to heal those kinds of wounds.

  Erik's friend, the Latino guy, said something in Erik's ear, then dragged him away so they could confer. What kind of help were they talking about? Joel and I didn't need anymore new friends.

  Erik shrugged free.

  "Can you help me?" he asked.

  Then Joel stormed out of the woods. Erik lifted the shotgun, but I batted it down.

  "What kind of happy horse shit was that, Creed?" he said. His eyes were tight, and he was pissed. "Almost got your sorry ass killed, and it would have been all your fault. How the hell would I explain that to Anna, you son of a bitch?"

  "My bad. I didn't really think about it. Just saw a guy in trouble and had to help. Then all hell broke loose," I said.

  Joel rolled his eyes. He checked over his rifle, and then changed magazines. We made hasty introductions. His friends were a guy named Scott, the Latino, and the older man was Thomas. The woman who'd been shot was named Joan.

  "How'd you end up there?" Joel asked Erik.

  "We got captured a few hours ago west of here. Heard rumors of some kind of ghoul activity and we wanted to make sure the way was clear before heading to our final objective," Erik said.

  "Military, huh. What branch?" Joel asked me.

  "Ex-Army. Wasn't in long."

  Joel and Jackson exchanged another glance.

  "Well hell, brother. If we had an Air Force puke here we'd have a complete circle jerk. I'm Navy and my friend here was a Marine," I said.

  "Still a Marine," Joel said.

  "Right. Once a jarhead always a jarhead," I said.

  Erik was itching to move. I could tell by the way he kept glancing at the house and rubbing the shotgun that Erik had no intention of sitting here for much longer. He was going to storm that building and see about getting back his girl.

  Joel and I had withdrawn a few feet and crouched next to each other so we could confer on the situation.

  "You did your good deed and almost got yourself killed. Now you want to help them assault that building, right?"

  "His girl is in there, man. We could at least provide cover."

  "It's not our fight. What's happened every single time we've gotten involved in someone else's battle? Anything good?" Joel said.

  Damn him for making sense.

  He was right. We had hooked up with shadowy mercenaries who nearly got us killed. Then there was the caravan of the retired, a bunch of older people who'd been slaughtered almost to a man. Not to mention the maniacs who had taken over a Costco warehouse and brought an enormous army of ghouls and Zs. On top of that, a bunch of military assholes who wanted to nuke the entire city. That last one had cost us Roz.

  "I know, Joel. I know you're right. Just doesn't feel like it. Feels like we're deserting fellow survivors."

  "And saving our own asses in the process. Think they would stop for us?" He said pointedly, looking Erik in the eye.

  "As a matter of fact, I would. I saved a batch of survivors from a ghoul camp not too long ago."

  "Did you get your medal yet?" Joel said.

  "You don't know the first fucking thing about me, pal." Erik said.

  "And that's the problem. I don't know you or any of these other people. This isn't our problem," Joel's face was like granite.

  I touched Joel's shoulder, urging peace. He looked me in the eye, and then backed down but I could tell he wasn't happy.

  I clenched my hand on the wrench and thought about our options. Joel was entirely correct to call me out. We should get back to the girls. If some strangers were lurking around Fortress, we should be there to assist.

  Thomas tended to injuries while Scott kept an eye on the compound.

  Someone started blasting near the house, and that's when I knew we had to come to a decision. I'd done my good deed. Gotten Erik and his friends free, and now it was time for me and Joel to boogey out of there.

  Thomas got a call on the radio and, at about the same time, someone started hammering the house with bullets. Then more guns sounded.

  "It's Lisa. She's found the compound, and they're pouring fire on it," Thomas said as he put the radio back in his backpack.

  "Thanks for all the help. Sincerely, but my girl is in that place, and I need to get her out," Erik Tragger said. "I understand if you guys don't want to help. I really do. Truth is, were I in your situation, I'd probably leave, too."

  "Shit," I said and hefted my wrench.

  "No, man. We don't have time for this. They have enough support without us," Joel told him.

  "Yeah, but it's his girl, man. I understand," I replied.

  "I do too, but we don't know them. After al
l the shit we've seen, you're telling me you're ready to just jump when someone needs help? Ain't no one helped us in a long time."

  "Like I said, I get it," Erik said.

  He nodded at us, and then launched himself from out of the bushes. His companions gathered their things and followed.

  I chewed on the side of my cheek as they departed. This was some shit show we had stumbled upon.

  Joel urged me to retreat, but I watched Erik and the others run toward the shed, gather weapons, and then head toward the building.

  Smoke broke out of the top floor of the compound. Joel and I moved back but angled to the west so we had a clear view of what was happening. The group assaulting the building came under heavy fire from a couple of shooters on the top floor. The two sides exchanged gunfire, but it soon broke off. An army of ghouls descended on Lisa's people, and it became a ground war as they retreated.

  I clenched my wrench and thought hard about our choice not to get involved.

  "This ain't our fight, man." Joel said.

  "I know." I muttered. "I know."

  Erik and Scott made it around the side of the building and managed to find a door, then they disappeared as they went inside. Meanwhile, Thomas and Joan took up station under a window on the side of the house to provide cover. Someone poked their head through and almost got it taken off by Joan. Then a small firefight broke out as they exchanged fire.

  The army of ghouls and Zs had retreated away from the building. Gunshots echoed from the battle, but they were out of sight.

  Joel grabbed my arm and urged me to follow him.

  I turned my back on the house and, together, the two of us made for the ATVs.

  We'd gone maybe a hundred feet when I stopped in my tracks. I turned and found more smoke because the upper part of the house almost completely engulfed in flames.

  "I can't do it, man. I can't abandon them," I said.

  "Jackson, I know you mean well, but it's not like we can make that much of a difference. They got their own thing going on," he said, which was pretty sensible.

  "Brother, if it were just some assholes shooting it out, I'd be all for leaving them to sort out their differences. The way things just went down, though, that camp is like a goddamn ghoul factory. How many more are there out in the woods?"