by TJ Weeks
Tears filled Denson’s eyes. He backed out and ran into someone. A half faced man stood eye to eye with him. He swayed back and forth as he sized up Denson for his next meal. It growled at him and went in for his kill, Denson held the man by his neck and pulled his gun up to only shoot him in the chest. The man continued snapping his teeth at him while he tried to fight him off. Denson could feel his arm giving out while he tried push the man far enough away to be able to raise the gun to the rotting man’s head when the man suddenly fell to the ground. Manuel stood over the dead man’s body and pulled Denson over him.
“We have a ride outside, but we need to hurry.” Manuel stated quietly.
They both took the stairs in very few steps only hitting every few. Manuel headed for the front door as Denson headed to the back. Simmons stopped him in his tracks.
“She came out and is gone Denson.” He broke the news. “Your back yard is filled with them. Let’s go!” He ordered.
Denson stopped, deciding if he wanted to stay and die with his family or move forward with his group. Simmons pulled him by the front of his jacket and pointed him toward the front door.
“GO NOW!” He barked orders again.
Denson made his way slowly to the door. Simmons took his place in front of him and snuck a peek out of the front door before opening it fully. He peered out and viewed the six Humvees and three deuce trucks filled with other service men from the base.
Simmons grabbed Denson’s collar and guided him past two women that were having a feast off of a man from their company. Denson slowed his stride and was almost pulled to the ground as Simmons continued to pull him toward a truck.
Simmons jumped into the back of the last truck and Manuel helped Simmons pull Denson up with them. Denson held onto the side as the truck vibrated under his feet. He glanced around at all the other soldiers and scanned across Manuel sitting off to the side.
He reached his hand out to him and pulled him back up to stand next to him. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder and squeezed. They stood together as the Humvees and huge trucks began to exit the gates of the base. Denson finally gained a bit of composure and began to notice that they were hitting speed bumps that he had not noticed before as they exited. He looked over the side toward the front of the Deuce truck and saw splatter of body parts fly over the top and down the sides of the truck. Some were going under the truck and out the back.
“Zombies?” Denson quietly questioned himself.
Manuel looked in all directions to see what Denson was seeing as well as all of the other men.
“The apocalypse?” Manuel questioned Denson.
As the Humvees and trucks passed some and left them alive…or dead, the men would step back without a clue as to what to do with them if they somehow got into the truck.
Soon the large group of Army men came to a stop at a secluded gas station. They piled out from the line of vehicles and into the gas station hoping for some food and drink. Some went to the side of the abandoned building and began to vomit. As others stood guard watching for any of the dead that were lingering nearby. Others ravaged the store in search of necessities. The group brought out cases of water and any food that they were able to load into their arms and began to load the Humvees and as much as they could on the trucks. They syphoned gas from the underground well and filled up their line of vehicles as well as the few gas cans that the convenient store still had and the extras that were always carried on the trucks. Simmons came around the corner with a water hose and filled any canteens that were left on any of the trucks. He unhooked the water hose and loaded it back onto the truck. Everyone loaded back up into their vehicles and moved on. There were herds that would appear out of nowhere and the only option was to hit them and knock them out of the way. They stopped at any store or location they thought may have supplies that they may need and did not look ravaged by the human eating creatures. They were able to rid a few that were present in the store easily with them moving so slow. Some even stood still for them as they approached and they would easily slide a knife in and back out of their head as they knew had to be done to zombies.
The bit of light they did have as they left the base had now disappeared. The group was getting tired and weary of what the darkness held. A few miles up, the group found an area that was secured with gates. It appeared it may have been a car lot at one time, but all of the cars had been taken. The front Humvee bumped the gate and broke it open. The convoy entered and as the last truck pulled in, Simmons jumped down, closed the gate and directed the truck to back up against the gate. The groups began to pile out and take advantage of the time to eat and drink. Some took their jackets and used as pillows to get some sleep before morning appeared while others stood guard. Within a few hours, they switched to allow all of the soldiers to sleep.
Denson and Manuel chose to guard first as they needed the moment to gain perspective on the situation. There were many men they had lost but many that had made their way to the trucks and had also lost their families as they had. Both of them were unsure how to handle all of this.
They stood against the fence that surrounded the property they had overtaken. Both grieved for their families and tried to figure out how this all began out of nowhere as it had.
Simmons walked up on them as they talked about places that were in the area and where would be safest. A few of the zombies plastered themselves against the fence without being seen and startled the three. Simmons pulled his knife and stabbed each of them in the head and let their bodies drop to the ground.
“I talked to some of the others and the only way to kill these things is through the brain just like the television shows. They are the dead that have come back to life. We haven’t figured out where it started or how, but we are in contact with some that are working on that. However, it seems to be becoming more widespread. So, if you see one of these things wandering, stab it in the head. If one of our guys gets eaten or bitten, they will have to be shot in the head or killed the same way so they do not turn into these.” He explained pointing toward the dead lying at their feet outside the fence.
Denson and Manuel listened to their Sargent in awe.
“How in the fuck can this be?” Manuel stated. “Are you telling me that this is the zombie fucking apocalypse that we are stuck in?”
Simmons nodded. Denson dropped his head with the break of the news as he thought about his wife and children being eaten by these monsters.
They peered outside the gate trying to see through the dark and hoping that there would not be any more until they were able to see them.
The sun rose soon after that, Manuel and Denson had not had a wink of sleep through the night and everyone was soon ready to move out.
Everyone switched drivers and riders and moved out of their safe area. They were all alert and on the look-out for herds. Denson drove the last Deuce in the line and Manuel rode shot gun. Simmons rode in back watching the area. A sudden bang came on the top of the truck warning them there was a group of the dead somewhere nearby. Denson scanned the area and saw nothing but abandoned cars here and there. There was a few lingering on the side of the road.
“WATCH OUT!” Manuel screamed.
Denson pulled the wheel to the right and tried to dodge whatever it was Manuel was screaming at him for. The truck veered off of the road and head on into a large group of them. The deuce bounced over them and two stuck to the front of the truck. Denson could see the men bouncing around in the back and tried to slow the truck.
“Don’t slow down! Keep going, don’t stop!” Denson heard Simmons scream at him.
Denson slammed his foot on the gas to keep the mass of a truck rolling through them. He held onto the steering wheel with both hands as Manuel grabbed the handle on the door and held on. Their eyes were both wide as they watched the dead fly past them and under the wheels of the truck. They all walked toward the truck with no clue that they were about to get creamed by this massive machine.
Denson began to sm
ile as he could feel each bump under him. Manuel began to hoop and holler.
“KILL THOSE MOTHER FUCKERS!!! WOOO HOOO!” He screamed out.
Both laughed as they made their way through the rest of the crowd. Until a loud pop came from the back of the truck. The truck instantly began to slow down. The men in the back were banging and yelling for him to go.
Denson had the gas on the floor, but the truck continued to slow down. Steam began to pour from the front of the truck and it came to a halt with another loud pop as the remaining water from the radiator splashed up onto the hood of the truck.
Zombies began to swarm the sides, front and back of the truck. Manuel and Denson watched them run into the front of the truck and bounce off, their skin would stick to the hot metal and they would continue to try and make their way. Some of the men were just trying to stay away from the sides of the truck, some were stabbing them in the tops of their heads and making headway on getting rid of them, some were panicking and began jumping into the herds. Denson watched the ones that had jumped down stab at some and then be thrown to the ground by the group of zombies and being made a meal. Denson could not understand why they were just jumping off of the truck when the dead ones couldn’t seem to climb, they just banged up against the truck and grabbed at them. Denson wanted to help, he turned left and then right and grabbed for the handle of the door when Simmons slammed his hand on the windshield. He had climbed over the roof and stood on the hood looking in at them. Manuel and Denson jumped as they saw him.
“Don’t get out of the truck!” Simmons shouted. “Just wait!”
Simmons shouted something to the truck in front of them and guided the truck to back up to him. Slowly it backed up over zombies and anything in its way. The men that had not jumped off the back of the truck were stabbing the remaining creatures in the head to rid them from trying to get at them from the side of the truck.
As the truck backed up, it put its ass end to the bumper of the broke down one and squished two of the zombies in between the two. Brains splattered up on Simmons’ feet and their heads hung there. Their skin fell off and stuck to the front of the truck, their eyes were still wide open as if they were watching Simmons.
The soldiers from the back of the broke down Deuce climbed over the roof as Simmons instructed and stepped over the two dead zombies and onto the bed of the other truck. Simmons then hung off of the oversized mirror of the passenger side and stabbed a woman in the top of her skull. He pulled his knife out with a hard pull and told Manuel to climb out. Manuel took hold of the side and the top of the door and climbed through the window to the hood. Simmons directed him to the other truck and then went to the driver’s side and stabbed the few zombies that stood there hoping to get a bite of Denson.
“Let’s go!” Simmons yelled at his soldier.
Denson sat for a moment, looking as though he wasn’t sure what to do. Simmons leaned into the window a bit more and smacked Denson on the chest.
“Move soldier!” Simmons screamed seeing a herd moving in.
Denson began to pull his legs up to his chest putting his feet in the seat and thrust his body out of the window and up onto the roof of the truck just before a zombie ran into the side of the truck reaching for him as he hurled himself up. Denson peered down at the wrinkled face man. He looked almost normal except for the chattering teeth that it showed while he bit at the air. Denson kicked the chomping man in the head and he fell to the ground. His body twitched while his eyes fluttered open and closed.
“Good one” Simmons told him.
Denson stepped down off of the roof to the hood of the truck and across to the back of the other truck with the group that had already transferred over.
The truck started up and began to move, pulling away from the zombies that were headed towards them. Denson watched them all disappear as they went over a hill. Looking to the front of them, the roads almost started to look normal. There were not very many abandoned cars and no zombies in sight. After a few miles, the convoy pulled into a Home Depot with a row of different stores surrounding it.
“Alright everyone, we need to find weapons, whatever is in this store is what we have to work with. I need some in the Home Depot and grab what you can to hand out to your brothers and sisters that have made it this far. I need some to go into the other stores and gather food, drinks, clothes, anything you can get that will be helpful in our current situation. Be careful and get back here as quickly as you can!” A Staff Sargent yelled from the top of the first Humvee in the line.
All of the men began unloading and turning in all directions to watch each other’s backs as well as their own. They all entered different stores at the same time, everyone had various weapons they had just grabbed from their homes or wherever they were at. Some had knives, others had pieces of wood, others had nothing and could only push the zombies away for others to kill and very few had guns they held but dared not shoot as to not attract any attention. The group cleared any unwanted visitor with stabs or blows to the head. All of the soldiers exited the buildings with arm loads and headed back to the convoy loading up the goods. Denson had grabbed numerous axes, machetes and shovels that were near the front door of the Home Depot when he entered. He saw Manuel run out of another store running to the front Humvee and began handing out things to the groups that were loading up, he then jumped into one of the Humvees towards the back as a scream came from one of the trucks in the back. Denson looked back and a soldier had been grabbed by a lonely wandering zombie that made his way into the parking lot. Denson jumped in the front Humvee that he had started at to hand out weapons, as soon as it began pulling off and landed on the laps of some of the other men. They all grabbed an axe or machete that Denson had brought in with him and held them ready to jump out and strike at anything that moved outside their vehicle if they had to. Back out on the road, the trucks roared to full speed to get to their next destination. No one was sure where that would be, but they did know they were unable to stop for any long periods of time and needed to find somewhere safe. They drove into the night and into the morning, only stopping to switch drivers and fill up with gas.
As morning approached, Denson had been switched over to drive the Humvee and was able to see Manuel in one of the Humvees behind him switching to drive as well. The two saluted to each other and took their places in the driver’s seat. The Sargents would quickly meet at each stop and share information and load back up. Sargent Simmons jogged by each Humvee slowing just enough to give the information to each group.
“Last of the gas just went in. Keep your eyes open for a safe point.” He stated as he moved back to the Deuce.
The men all looked at each other knowing if they did not find somewhere they were going to be left on foot to fend off the mass quantities of the dead.
Miles had been driven as they made the top of a hill and could see smoke stacks far off in the distance. Some murmurs from the others began as they hoped that their gas would get them that far. They all hoisted themselves up to see the many miles that would have to be driven, they all sat down crossing their fingers or saying Hell Mary’s or praying for enough gas to get them there. Denson and Manuel all drove on with the rest of the convoy while zombies would walk into the middle of the road and there was no choice but to ram them head on.
Denson’s Humvee began to slow as the herds began to thicken and finally just stopped with no way for it to push through them.
The men from the Humvee began striking the zombies from the hole in the top of the vehicle as they surrounded the truck, others jumped out from all of the other Humvees and the Deuce and began stabbing them in the skulls and striking them in the head with the random objects that they had accumulated from the Home Depot. All that had guns knew they were to not use them unless absolutely necessary.
Denson soon heard shots coming from behind him, he turned to see men falling to the ground, the zombies taking them over and ripping them apart from the outside in. He could see Sargent Simmons taking a
im on his own men from the Deuce truck that he had jumped off of and shooting them to give him time to make his escape. Denson quickly laid over in the seat hoping to not be seen by Simmons or noticed by the zombies. He sat up startled as a shot rang out closer and watched his brothers in arms fall to the ground. Denson wanted to get out and help, but was afraid of the attack of zombies that seem to affect everyone that had been injured and feared his Sargent would shoot him as he had shot the others.
Simmons ran by shooting only those that were outside the Humvees and a few that were inside the Humvees which in turn allowed the zombies to reach in and take at least a bite of soldiers inside the vehicles. Simmons would shoot and then look behind him to make sure a few of the zombies had stopped for their meal that he had left them. He would then take aim on another soldier and shoot him in the leg to slow his ability to escape the same zombies that he was running from. Manuel watched the large black man continue his targeting of his own soldiers so he would not be caught and ducked down in the Humvee he had driven to that point. Manuel heard the man run by and another shot go off in front of his Humvee and a slam to the hood of his vehicle. Manuel looked up to see a zombie take a bite out of the injured man’s chest. Manuel ducked down quickly again so he was not noticed by the crazed Sargent or the hungry zombies.
Denson and Manuel stayed hunkered in their Humvees as they listened to each shot from the man they had spent so much time with overseas and back home. Each shot that rang out, they would flinch knowing one of their fellow brothers or sisters were going to be eaten and Simmons was making sure he was able to get away by killing the people that he was assigned to keep safe.
