"Looks like meat's back on the table, boys," I grinned.
“I have to admit the meat last night was pretty gamey, but it was better than nothing,” I said.
“A little fucking gratitude?” Scott looked hurt.
“Dude. Squirrel is the bomb!” I exclaimed.
“Now you’re just being a dick,” Scott said.
Joel frowned, put the crackers back, and went upstairs as he muttered, "Fucking elk, man."
Christy threw down a full house, leaned over, and grabbed her winnings. I tossed my cards on the table in frustration. The single Reese’s peanut butter cup quickly went from the pile into her mouth.
"Damn," Scott muttered.
"Biggest mistake of the apocalypse," I said. "Teaching her how to play poker."
The rest of her winnings amounted to a few baubles. The Reese’s was the prize, and we all knew it. Erik crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his cards.
We'd had a quiet evening and morning. Joel and Erik had gone out hunting again but had come back empty handed again. Scott and I had set a few more deadfalls and managed to snag a squirrel and an opossum, who was a fat little guy. Chopping up the tough meat had been nasty, but now we had a pot of stew on a gas-powered grill in the backyard.
We'd been playing for close to an hour when Scott mentioned the fact that he'd discovered a candy wrapper in the pantry. It had fallen behind the shelves and must have laid on the ground for a year. The wrapper was still yellow, and thanks to how cool the basement was, it was probably okay. I wished I could have found out just how okay.
Christy closed her eyes as she chewed.
"I'm gonna go upstairs and cry for a while," I said and pushed my chair back.
Katherine hadn't played with us, but she had sat by Erik's side and watched us throw cards down. Anna had said she wasn't interested and had stayed upstairs to read. There was a bookshelf in our room with rows of classics and modern novels. She liked to read romance, something I never would have guessed. After the second time I teased her, she said I could quote the first Star Wars movie by heart. Score one for Anna.
Maybe I would read a book. There were a few Stephen King novels, and I'd liked his stuff when I was a kid, and Mom used to toss them on my bed when she had finished them.
Either that or I could sweet talk Anna back into bed.
The best part about our new home was that it was warm again. After a few days of unease, our new guests had not only proved themselves useful, but they had all contributed. Katherine made herself useful by creating a complete inventory of our food and supplies so we knew what we were low on. Her hand written notes became our future shopping lists. By shopping, I meant breaking into abandoned homes and taking everything that wasn’t nailed down.
She even put a map on the wall of the local area and had us detail where we had scavenged. An hour later, Katherine and Erik had departed for a few hours to explore an apartment complex. They returned with a couple of boxes filled with canned goods, some flour, sugar. Fruit, vegetables, and even some chili.
We ate well for a few days.
Then everything went to hell.
It was my turn to hang back and do some stuff in Fortress. I started the morning by stripping a half-dozen guns, cleaning them, and oiling parts. I also loaded mags and double checked our ammo inventory. With increasing runs to abandoned homes, stores, and other buildings, we had an assortment of weapons at our disposal as well as ammunition.
At some point, Erik had taken a seat across from me and helped. He had picked up a Heckler and Koch and stripped it to the bone. He'd pulled the firing pin and inspected it in the light. When he was happy, he resembled the weapon and tested the slide a couple of times.
"You're a pro, man," I said.
"Yeah. Had a lot of practice in the military.”
"I got a lot of practice via Joel yelling at me," I said.
“I can see that,” Erik said. “So what did you do in the Navy?”
“I fixed compressors, packed steam valves, monitored the desalinization plant, and got in a lot of trouble,” I said with a grin.
“So, basically nothing that would help survive a zombie filled world,” Erik replied.
“Pretty much, man. I learned it all OJT, on the job training,” I said. “Although, one time, I got to dig chicken heads and feet out of a main condenser’s pipes while we were in Singapore. It was one of the grossest jobs I ever performed. Until the zombie fucking apocalypse.”
“Thanks for putting your trust in us. It means a lot,” Erik said.
“Glad to have you guys here,” I said, and I meant it.
Since Scott, Erik, and Katherine had proved not to be dicks who wanted to take our stuff, Joel had eased up on his worry. We shared what we found and everyone carried weapons now that distrust was a thing of the past.
One of my favorite pistols had come courtesy of a pile of rotting corpses a mile east of our location. Joel had dug out the Glock 17. I'd taken to carrying as a backup to the Beretta M9A1. There was only one magazine for the Glock, and I was on the lookout for more.
Erik and I chatted as we finished up with the weapons, then we put everything back in neat rows, and Erik excused himself to go check on Katherine.
I practiced field stripping the Glock as well as loading the magazine without looking. That didn't go over so well, and I slammed the metal into my knuckles a couple of times.
I nearly dropped it when someone tapped on the back door. Three knocks, then two, then three more. I moved fast and unbolted it. We had a dead bolt, but after taking over the farm house, we had decided to bolt it up with a 2x4 chunk of wood. I slid this up and worked the locks. The window was covered with the exception of a small murder hole through the corrugated metal that covered the entry way.
Joel was out there with Scott just behind him. The Latino man looked over his shoulder. His eyes were wide.
I slid the door open and moved aside as Joel and Scott rushed in.
"You look spooked. What happened?" I asked.
"Get everyone ready and get everything we can carry. We need to be out of here in two minutes," Joel said as he looked around the kitchen.
"What fresh hell is this?" I asked
"Go. Everyone move it. We have at least two hundred Zs being herded by shufflers and they're headed straight for us."
"It's a nightmare, man. A goddamn nightmare," Scott said, then crossed himself.
"Erik and Katherine are upstairs. Anna's around. Shit," I said, looking between Joel and Scott.
"No joke, brother," Joel said.
I spun and headed for the living room, bellowing at the top of my lungs: "Evac ASAP! We are about to be overrun!"
I pounded up the stairs and nearly ran smack into an opening door as Erik stuck his head out to see what the ruckus was about.
"You kidding?" His hair was frazzled, and his eyes were bloodshot.
"Two minutes. Get Katherine and anything you can carry into the bus," I said as I rushed past him. "Most of the weapons are clean and sitting on the kitchen table."
I ran for our bedroom to find Anna. The door to the bathroom was closed. I yanked it open and found Anna, completely naked, leaning over a large bin filled with water. She had a wash cloth in one hand but her head was in the water as she worked at her hair with some shampoo.
"Anna! We're blown. Time to hustle," I yelled.
She whipped her head out, hand reaching for her holster, which had been left within easy reach on the toilet.
"Don't you knock?"
"Babe, I'd love to stand here and argue while you're in the buff. Really, but we're about to be overrun. Joel said two minutes and that was thirty seconds ago."
"Then get out of the way, you big dope." Anna pushed herself to her feet, splashing water all over the floor. "Bug out bag is under the bed. Grab that green box next to it. I have a few guns stashed there."
She slid into her jeans. I leaned over planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "It's going to be alright."
> "You trying to reassure me or yourself?"
"Goddamn I love that fiery attitude." I backed out of the bathroom and went to collect our goods.
Christy came up from the pantry with Frosty in tow. She had a box of supplies under one arm and a tight grip on the dog's leash. Frosty's hackles rose as they reached the top of the stairs. The dog pointed her nose at the back door, and then looked up at me and let out a soft whine.
"Sorry, girl. We're about to do what we do best. Haul ass with a bunch of Zs at our back," I said.
"There's another box at the bottom of the stairs. Can you grab it?" Christy said as she brushed past me.
I had deposited our bug out pack, an old duffle bag with a few clothes, water filters, flint for fires, kindling, a small supply of food consisting mostly of canned beans, a fishing hook and line, and some other survival gear, near the door. I rushed downstairs and heaved the heavy box onto my shoulder. Coming back up the stairs, I nearly barreled into Erik.
"Got everything you need?" I asked as I moved around him.
He opened the back door and nodded. "We didn't have much. I'll go out and take up watch after this load. Be a lot easier with a long gun."
Joel helped move boxes, but he kept drifting to either side of the house to check for threats.
"How bad is it?" I asked.
"Hundreds, and they’re dead set on hitting us. We watched them for a fifteen minutes," Erik said as he hauled a green duffle bag onto the back porch.
"Why can't we wait them out?" I said.
"Too many, and they got shufflers. A lot of shufflers. Seems like they're on a mission," Joel hustled around me and dropped a box near the bus. Kristy picked it up and hustled it in the back door of the transport. Then she was on the move again.
Frosty sat in the driver's seat, peering over the steering wheel.
"Is the bus gassed up?" Joel asked."
Noises from the direction of the front of the house made me stop moving. I craned my head around and listened. Something clanked. No, several something's clanked. They had immediately run into the razor wire and set off our tin can alarm bells. The noise probably just attracted more of them instead of being a simple warning system. I filed that away in case we setup a similar system in the future. Of course, that would mean we would have to survive this one.
Joel was already on the move with Erik close behind.
Joel had a black pistol in each hand, and Erik carried the Remington hunting rifle. The crept to the corner of the house, and then Joel peeked. He motioned, and the pair faded from sight.
"Move it," Anna urged us.
Christy came barreling out of the back door with pair of bags under each arm filled to the brim with small containers of food. A box of noodles fell out and spilled onto the ground. She cursed and delivered the bags to Anna who was busy loading our supplies in the back of the bus.
I wished we'd had another month to work on our transport. I'd had big plans, but now those weren't going to happen. I hadn't even fired up the engine in the last week. That would be the perfect horror movie ending. Get everyone on board and then the bus doesn't start. Then we'd be joining the ranks.
"Move it!" Joel yelled from the side of the house.
Gunfire rippled and made me move double time.
I nearly ran into Christy as I spun. She had Frosty by the scruff of the neck. Frosty wanted a piece. She snarled and pulled back her lips to expose her teeth.
"Get her on the bus," I urged.
"I'm trying. She wants to go eat Zs," Christy said and tugged the dog back.
Frosty went, but she wasn't happy.
I snatched up the last large box and ran for the bus. My pipe banged against my side, striking my hip over and over. I was going to have bruises. I deposited the box, and then unslung the new beast.
Three Zs had broken away and were flanking us.
"I got these," I yelled and broke for them.
I kicked the first one right in the gut and swung the pipe at the woman next to him. Maybe a married couple? I don't know, they looked like they hated each other, and me. And everyone in the world.
Her head turned inside out, and she fell on her BFF, a guy in a torn smiley face T-shirt covered in gore. Sick joker.
He struggled to his feet. I waited, judged, then swung the pipe again. I missed my big wrench but the new weapon was proving to be a suitable replacement.
The guy reached for me and I let him get to his feet. Only I got caught up in the downed girl’s arm and nearly fell on my ass. His rancid mouth came at my face, I shoved him aside and bashed him up side the neck so hard it snapped. Then I caved in his head.
"Stop playing with them and get your ass back here," Anna yelled.
"Just getting the feel for my new weapon," I said, but when I looked, she was already gone from sight and loading the last few items on the bus.
Rattling from the front of the house. They were trying to get in the door but it was boarded up and secured.
More gunfire.
Katherine rushed out the back door with a few plastic bags under her arms. She wore a revolver and a large hunting knife on a belt over dark jeans with a red and black flannel shirt.
"Got everything you need?" I asked as she passed me.
"Enough. Where's Erik?" she asked.
"On our two o'clock keeping them busy with Joel," I said.
She took a step in that direction but seemed to pause. "Okay. If we're ready to roll, call them back."
Anna barreled out of the door with a huge backpack over her shoulders. She had hastily thrown on some yoga pants and a yellow sweater, making her look very different from her normal military garbed self. I winked as she ran to the barn, and she winked back.
They appeared on the right side of the house. I pulled the Beretta, lifted, took aim, and fired. The first shot struck a scraggly Z in the nose. He fell backward and toppled over the old woman behind him. Two more Zs got tangled up and fell into each other.
Anna took up station next to me and her big .357 boomed. Then Christy joined us. Frosty snarled through the windshield and barked a couple of times, but I was too busy to shush her. Besides, what were a few barks compared to the bullets.
Joel and Erik fell back, covering each other as they joined us. In pursuit came dozens. They swarmed the side of the house. They ripped up plants, walked into shrubs, and generally fucked up everything we had been building.
Then something hit the roof. I shot my gaze in that direction and found a pair of shufflers snarling down at us.
The two almost looked like twins. They were round and bald. Dressed in rags, they had stringy hair hanging over their faces.
I nicknamed them Humpty and Dumpty.
"Get everyone on. We're not going out the front," Joel yelled.
Anna and Christy fell back toward the bus. Katherine helped them on board while Erik rushed to cover them. Joel fell back to my side and pointed at the shufflers.
"Let's take them out," he said, aimed, and fired.
The pair disappeared from view as I got a shot off.
"Shit. Humpty and Dumpty got away." I said.
Joel didn't even look at me. He shifted his aim and dropped a Z in its tracks.
“Probably just hiding up there,” Joel observed.
“That’s not reassuring,” I said.
"Everyone's onboard, your turn. I'll go last," Joel ordered.
I knew better than to argue. I surged toward the short steps and pounded up them, then slid into the driver’s seat.
The keys were already in the ignition. I said a quick prayer and then turned them.
My horror movie moment never happened.
The engine sputtered to life, and I gunned it a few times.
Joel walked backwards, picking targets the whole time. He aimed, fired, dropped one. Aimed, fired, popped another in the head. He shot a kid in the neck, guy couldn't have been more than sixteen. He still wore an old parka that was covered in dried blood. His eyes were milky white and his teeth
were all jagged ends.
Joel climbed up one step, then got his hand on the doorway to brace himself. He put his back to the stairwell divider and leaned out. Joel had already dropped his AR to his front where it hung by a two-point sling. He pulled a handgun, looked like the Heckler and Koch, and kept on shooting. Erik perched behind me, lowered a window, and started picking out targets.
"We can't get through that mass," I said. We wouldn't make it ten feet. If we got up to speed, we might be able to barrel into the mass and push them aside. At this rate, they had massive numbers on their side as more and more of them came into view.
The driveway was blocked and that left us little choice.
"Just get us out of here," Joel yelled over the moaning horde.
"Sure, man. I'll just wave my fucking hands like Moses. They'll part for us," I called back.
"Creed, just make it happen," Anna urged me.
Well shit, if my lady wanted a rescue, why didn't she say so before? I was happy to let us sit around and become Happy Meals. I rolled my eyes and put the bus in gear.
I hit the gas and the beast rolled forward. The bus was a lot heavier with the new armor, but she was still had a capable engine. Joel ducked inside as a Z took a swipe at him. Before he could shoot it, Erik had already moved to that side and put it down with a single shot.
Then the first of the horde reached the bus and clawed at the windows.
Once more into the Breech
The horde of Zs poured around the sides of the houses, and the two shufflers, Humpty and Dumpty, perched on the top of the roof and directed the enemy. Fresh dead came at us in a wave with a more motley bunch behind them. The newer ones were always the most dangerous. They still had a lot of control over their bodies and could take you down if you weren't on your game.
Joel grabbed Scott’s arm and pulled him away from the window.
"I got an idea, you're with me," Joel ordered.
"The fuck is your idea? Go out there and offer them some tacos?"
"Creed, open the door. We're going to take the ATVs and try to get some of these biters to follow us."
“Can you make it?” I asked.
Z-Risen (Book 5): Barriers Page 10
