Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 02

by Rescue

  "Shit," Liam cursed and grabbed at the dash to steady himself. The humvee bounced over the debris and through the small ditch as Alex sped into the field on the other side.

  "Where are the others?" Alex asked, his voice harsh and demanding.

  "Right behind," Hayden responded.

  "Everyone buckle up," Alex commanded. "I don't know what's in this field and we don't need anyone to get thrown around and injured." All did as they were told including Alex. "Liam," Alex began. "Get on that radio and see if you can get ahold of someone back there. I need to know where John's body is."

  Liam responded immediately, but asked as he moved, "Alex, I don't think this is a good time..."

  "Do it!" Alex snapped. "We need to know if they recovered the body or left it..."

  "Alex..."

  "Now!" Alex yelled. "Listen, if they brought that body into the humvee with them they are screwed. They are infected. Don't you understand? If they get John's blood on them, there is nothing we can do to save them."

  Liam paused for a moment and the realization of what Alex had told him made the blood drain from his face. Everyone in the car suddenly realized that if anyone in the second humvee had John's blood on them, all would have to die.

  Liam flipped the switches of the radio and began to desperately call for anyone in the second vehicle. "Come in. Come in anyone. Pick up the radio, someone"

  A crackle through the radio's speakers preceded a frantic voice on the other. "Hello? Hello, who is this?" Luke's voice was panicked.

  "Luke, it's Liam. Can you tell me where John's body is?" Liam released the button on the radio and listen for a response.

  "What?" Luke said.

  "John's body," Liam repeated. "Where is John's body? Is it in the humvee with you?"

  Silence follow. When the radio crackled to life again, Dr. Cahn's voice sounded through. His tone was calm.

  "The bodies not with us, Liam. It's back there where he died." There was another small pause before he continues. "No one touched the body, Alex."

  Liam looked up somewhat surprised. "He knows, Liam," Alex said. "He knows why, I just hope he understands."

  "Understands what?" Marshal asked.

  Alex looked in the rear view mirror at the vehicle following him through the field. "That John was already dead. As soon as that zombie got ahold of him, he was a dead man. The bullets just prevented him from getting up again."

  -----

  The two humvees sped through the field bouncing over unseen ruts and berms. No one spoke in the vehicles, but everyone was far from contemplative. The click-click of spent magazines being reloaded with ammo replaced any words that thy could speak.

  Almost three quarters of a mile south of the attack, Alex turned the humvee back towards the main road. The large mass of deaders were now safely behind them with only a few industrious individuals left. Alex easily steered the humvee around them and continued.

  "Holy shit," Hayden said under his breath. The three other passengers turned to look behind them at what Hayden had seen. The source of the detractive pile up was now very clear. An large freight truck lay buckled and broken at the rear of the mass of cars, the cab resting atop the large pile. It was apparent that for some reason, the truck had smashed into the congestion of cars in the road at a high rate of speed, destroying everything in front of it and piling cars one on top of the other. The trailer had jack-knifed bringing more cars with it as it swung around on it destructive path. If anyone had survived the initial crash, the ensuing fire would surely have killed them.

  Prayers were muttered by the men in the humvees for those that were killed and for their families. As the crash disappeared around a bend in the road, everyone returned to their work.

  Their trip continued mostly in silence. There were a few incidents in which the group was forced to leave the roadway, once again traversing across empty fields to bypass heavily infested sections of the road. Alex could only guess that the concentration of zombies in particular areas was due to a possible food source that had already been depleted. Once gone, and with no sounds or activity to draw them away, the zombies had simply milled around the area. Alex felt a shiver run down his spine whenever he realized he had referred to people as a food source. His sense of reality had been seriously warped.

  "Alex, where are we?" Trapper asked from the back seat.

  "Somewhere between here and there," Liam quipped. Alex chuckled next to him. It seemed as if the adrenaline rush they had experienced had returned some of Liam snarky humor.

  "So why aren't we on the highway?" one of the men asked from the back seat.

  Liam and Alex exchanged an alarmed look. "Do you want to explain it, or shall I?" Liam asked.

  "Be my guest, sir," said Alex.

  Liam turned around in his seat and assumed the air of a disapproving grandfather. "Well, you see son," Liam began with a slightly condescending tone. "Over there," he pointed west in the direction of the highway, "are the zombies. These," again gesturing, this time to the car littering the road they were traveling on, "are just stragglers. If you think what we just went through was bad, you should have been with us when we made this trip north the first time."

  Liam shuddered more for effect than with any recollection of their initial trip out of Austin. None of the men in the backseat responded or made any acknowledgment that they had asked the initial question. Liam, feeling rather proud of himself, turned back to the front smiling.

  "Sound about right to you?" he asked Alex. Alex just nodded his head in agreement and smiled wide at his friend's ribbing.

  "We seem to just be taking a nice country drive," Liam mused. "Got any plans?" he asked turning to Alex.

  "Yup. You wanna hear it?" Alex asked.

  Liam paused for a moment, realizing that Alex had just asked for input to one of his ideas instead of just issuing a command. "Sure. What'ya have in mind?"

  Alex thought for a moment gathering his thoughts together. "We'll be getting to a small town called Fairfield soon. We've got to ditch these vehicles somewhere and find shelter for the night. We can't put these cars anywhere near our bunker, but it's got to be in a place that we can get back to...hopefully."

  "Okay," Liam started. "Explain why we are ditching the cars?"

  "Simple, really. Any zombies in the area are going to be drawn to the noise of those engines from a couple of miles around. We park them where we shelter, and we are going to bring every deader right to us." Alex finished and looked Liam in the eye. "Might as well ring the dinner bell."

  Liam nodded his head in agreement. "Good point," Liam said. "We can find a place to stash the humvees, no problem. Now what about shelter?"

  "Shelter?" Alex repeated. "That's easy. We go upstairs. Second floor of just about any building. Clear the first and second floor, blockade the stairs, three man guard rotation, stick in some cotton ball earplugs and catch some sleep." Alex smirked at Liam. "Easy, don't you think?"

  "You have an odd sense of 'easy,'" Liam said. "Sounds pretty good by me. I'm just concerned with the guard shifts at night. I understand it all about the noises from the engines, but aren't we going to face the same problem if we have to clear a building? Those gunshots are going to be a pretty loud calling card."

  "Ah, you have a good head on those shoulders, my friend," Alex jibbed. "Hey, Hayden. Look behind you and grab that small tan canvas bag." Hayden reached behind him and dug through the bags until he found what he was looking for; a small tan bag, covered in mesh webbing. "Open it."

  Hayden unzipped the bag and laid it flat on his lap. The passengers looked over his shoulder at the contents, curious as to what Alex had brought. Eight black cylinders about the size of an old film container and three times as long were held firmly in place by elastic straps.

  "What are these?" Trapper asked.

  "Dude," Marshal exclaimed. "Are those silencers?" The other two backseat passengers cooed over the metal tubes as if they were precious stones.

  "You need to stop watc
hing so many bad action movies," Liam said. "There is no such thing as a 'silencer.' Those, however, are suppressors."

  "What do you mean? Isn't that the same thing?" Marshal asked.

  "Not really," Alex explained. "A silencer would mean that there was zero sound, or very little sound. Hiding in the shadows and no one would hear it go off. You know, like you see in the movies. Trouble is, that's the movies. Silencers don't really exist. Suppressors, on the other hand, muffle the sounds of the gun firing. You still hear it, but the sound is greatly reduced. Makes it sound more like a .22 going off than a .357 magnum...or a .45 Glock."

  "Yup," Liam chimed in. "These for the Glocks then?"

  "Yes. There are enough for all the handguns, plus a couple for the spare Glocks," Alex said. "Anything that you're going to tag with one of those on will have to be close, probably a little closer than any of us really want. But it kinda beats the alternative."

  "And what's that?" Hayden asked.

  Alex glanced over his shoulder at his brother-in-law. "Ding-dong. Dinner's ready..."

  Everyone in the humvee chuckled and the mood lightened some. "Liam, would you get on the radio and let the others know what the plan is. We'll be there before too long, so everyone needs to be on the same page. Sit back and relax. It's going to get a little rough."

  -----

  Donovan Murphy lead the team of nine through the backstreets and allies of Fairfield. For a team of mostly civilians with absolutely zero training, each man moved as silent as a ghost.

  "Where're we stopping, Donovan?" Dr. Cahn asked.

  Donovan kept moving, not stopping to answer the doctor's question. "Keep moving, doc," Alex spoke from the rear of the group. "We've got to put a little more distance between us and those trucks." As if on cue, moans raised up from behind them, far closer than Alex would have preferred. "Let's go, guys," he urged.

  Donovan rounded the corner of another house followed closely by Shawn. The two men stopped suddenly, a mass of zombies clustered on the porch of the house they had just passed. Moans from the zombies and startled cries from the two men filled the air.

  "Shit!" Shawn yelled as he raised his .45 and opened fire. "Keep going," he yelled to the others while he and Donovan finished the tangle of zombies on the porch.

  "That's going to bring us some attention," Luke mused.

  "Not as much as it could have been. Those suppressors are a lot quieter than those zombies, and definitely quieter than the Kriss." Alex slapped the man on the shoulder. "We'll just have to put a couple of more blocks between us and here. I think it'll be okay."

  "I hope so," Luke said. "Let's get someplace cozy and shelter for the night. That sun is going down pretty quick now, and I really don't feel like being out here in the open when it sets."

  "I couldn't agree more," Alex replied.

  Quick footsteps behind the group announced the arrival of Donovan and Shawn back with them. Each man slowed their pace as they caught up, breathing deeply to slow their heart rates. "Anyone hurt?" Alex asked a little to eagerly.

  "Calm down, man," Shawn started. "We're fine. You don't need to go putting a bullet in us too."

  Alex was unsure if Shawn's tone was playful or serious. Either way he felt it a little in poor taste considering the everts of a few hours ago.

  "Take the rear," Alex commanded. "Luke and Liam are on point."

  The group continued the face paced trek through the neighborhood, all the while looking for a suitable location that was far enough away from the humvees to provide some sort of comfort. Each man carried a large pack filled with extra ammunition, food and supplies. The longer they went, the slower they started to moved. They had to find a place to bunker and they had to find it quickly.

  "Up here," came Luke's voice from the front. "Hey, Alex, what do you think of that place?" Luke was pointing to a small house about half a block ahead of them. It was two stories and of somewhat smaller dimensions. A second story home was ideal since the first floor could be easily blocked, and the smaller the area, the smaller the perimeter that would have to be defended in case of an attack. The house before them was ideal.

  "Let's check it out," Alex told Luke. Any place that they decided to shelter in would have to be thoroughly checked before they could use it. Even a small house could take a long time to secure if there were any zombies inside. With the sun quickly lowering in the sky, Alex hoped they would have enough time to sweep the house and secure it before it became too dark to work effectively.

  Approaching the front door, Alex began to issue commands to the others. "Okay, Donovan and Luke. You two drop your packs and head in first. Shawn and I will follow when you've secured the main room. If there are too many in there..."

  "Define too many," Luke quipped and smiled at his own joke.

  Liam picked up the jab before Alex could answer. "For any of us, four or five. For you...well, maybe you should just stay here?"

  The others chuckled on Luke's behalf. "Ha ha ha...yeah bite me."

  "Not really the time or place for that kind of joke," Dr. Cahn scolded.

  Luke apologized, "Sorry."

  "Okay, listen," Alex sounded exasperated. "Luke and Donovan will go in first and secure the main room, the Shawn and I will go in. Once the four of us have the first floor cleared, I'll give the okay and the rest can come in. Dr. Cahn and Marshall will guard the front and rear doors of the house while everyone else heads upstairs to clear the second floor. If all goes well, Trapper will stand watch on the second story roof while the rest of us secure the doors and then we'll head up the stairs and blockade them behind us."

  "What are we going to use to blockade the stairs?" Liam asked.

  "We'll take two doors off of their hinges and make a ramp out of them. Zombies aren't coordinated and can't climb, so any smooth doors will seem like crawling up ice to them." Alex finished explaining his plan and everyone nodded their agreement.

  "Sounds good to me," Donovan chimed in. "Let's get this over with. We all need some down time."

  Tapping Luke on the arm, both men in the first wave climbed the stairs and approached the front door. Just as Donovan was reaching for the door handle, there came the sound of a dead bolt turning. The two men flattened themselves on either side of the door and everyone else took cover as best they could. The door creaked open.

  "What do you want?" came a harsh and demanding whisper from the door. Donovan could see half a face peaking out from the small opening in the door. "Who are you? What do you want?" the voice demanded again.

  "I'm Donovan Murphy. We need a place to shelter for the night. Could we talk?" Donovan's voice was calm and confident, the kind of voice that could make anyone do anything if he asked.

  "You've got a lot of guns on you. Are you here to save us?" the whispering voice asked, a hint of hope tinging the edges.

  "No," Donovan responded honestly. "No, we're not..."

  "Then what good are you!" the whisperer said and started to close the door. Donovan's hand shot forward and held it open.

  "Wait, wait. We do have supplies with us. Maybe we can work out a deal?" Once again Donovan's voice was calm and soothing. They were going to be let into this house willingly. Alex just hoped that the bargain they struck wasn't too one sided.

  The door opened again and the whispering voice asked, "What you got?"

  "Why don't we come in and we'll make the trade. It's starting to get dark out here and we really don't want to be out when the sun goes down," Donovan pushed.

  "Now that just wouldn't be good for me, would it? You have guns, and who knows if you would still make the deal after I let you in." The voice sounded very nervous, but still had his wits about him. "If you guys don't want to be left out in the cold and dark, I suggest that you start talking. Make it a sweet deal, too. Things have been pretty rough around here lately."

  Donovan looked to Alex and laughed. "I think we've met our match here, Alex. What do you want to do?"

  "Give him what he wants," Alex said. "We don't
have time to look for another place, and we can be pretty sure this house is clear if someone is actually in there. Make the deal and lets go."

  Donovan looked back to the small opening in the door. "Okay, seems you're holding all the cards. What can we offer you?"

  "Guns and food. Lots of both," the voice stated quickly.

  "Just how much is 'lots?'" Donovan asked.

  "How much do you have?" the voice asked.

  Alex stormed up the stairs of the porch, grabbing Luke Berryman's pack that Dr. Cahn was holding. He threw the pack at the base of the door. "That's what you get. Take it or leave it," he said, ending any future debates. "This world has gone to shit, and you want to string people out for your own selfish gains. We can offer everything in that pack, plus security and safety for the night. That's a better deal than you will get from the deaders, don't you think?"

  There was silence on the porch as everyone considered what had just happened. The time seemed to stretch on forever as the person behind the door considered his options. "Deal," the voice said and closed the door. The sound, a the door chain being removed could be heard, then the door swung open slowly. A young man, a boy really, probably no older than twelve or thirteen, reached out and grabbed the pack from in front of the door. "Come on in," he told the men waiting outside.

  -----

  Each man filed past the boy, their eyes still darting from corner to corner, looking for any danger that could still be inside. Once everyone was safely inside, the boy quickly closed the door, dead-bolted the lock and replaced the chain on the door. He pulled a large chair in front of the door as well, further blocking access to the house from the front. The windows were likewise blocked with furniture and detritus from the rest of the house, effectively sealing all entrances to the lower level of the house.

  The boy turned around and stopped, facing the nine men who had just invaded his home. "Well, what do you want?" he asked somewhat rudely, Alex thought.

  "I'm sorry," Dr. Cahn began. "We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. My name is Dr. Cahn..."

  "I really don't care," the boy interrupted. "We made a deal. Make yourselves at home." The boy grabbed the pack and struggled to move it to the middle of the room. Dropping the pack he flopped to the floor in front of it and unstrapped the bag. The boy removed each item from the bag and began sorting through it with an efficiency that amazed the group of men.