by Kris Beus
As we stepped in the guns were the first noticeable items. These were not the same personal fire arms our camp had stockpiled. These guns were made for war. Quickly Aaron became ecstatic reaching for the first M16 he saw.
“Do you know how many men I killed with this little beauty, before I was trained as a sniper?” He was looking at his new gun while speaking.
“Ha, you are a sniper then yes? Follow me.” The old man headed to the back of the room and took one of the largest guns off the wall.
“Oh my god. Is that a .50 cal? No they don’t sale those to citizens it can’t be.” As he stepped closer his eyes widened as he saw it was exactly that.
“You are right they are illegal as hell in the United States, but I have a few connections down in Africa that supplied me with it and most of the other weapons you see here.” It was easy to see the pride flowing through the old man as he told us how he acquired all these weapons.
The man looked at me waving for some help. I walked over to him and helped him push back a door showing entrance into another room. Rather than guns this room was piled to the ceiling with dehydrated food and 50 gallon drums of water.
“Guys, fuck the guns check this out!” I yelled.
They walked in and lighted up even more seeing the thousands of pounds of food and water stored here. Every food and commodity one would need to cook was held within these walls.
“We don’t have enough trucks to hold everything here.” I said bringing the mood down some.
Aaron turned to me and said, “I don’t care how many trips we need to take. The supplies in here will provide our town with weeks if not months of survival. Let get started moving the gun’s first then we will come back for the food and water.”
I nodded my head and walked with the group back into the armory to begin hauling guns outside. As we walked towards the trucks, the driver still sitting patiently in the front seat of The Dozer smiled and jumped out of the truck as we walked towards him. All our arms were full of different military grade weapons. He ran taking a couple guns away from Aaron and the driver of the Chevy. He asked, “Where did you find these?”
Aaron simply nodded towards Old Jim who was following us. Between the five of us we were able to carry a decent load and we had the majority within the first two trips. We finished grabbing the rest and headed out of the vault. I asked the old man to lock the gate behind us just in case. He was able to close the door by himself and we began making our way up to the sunlight.
A couple of us dropped our supplies and quickly covered the entrance back up with the metal. As we started kicking dirt over the entrance we heard the engines of what sounded like Harleys approaching. Not knowing if they were friendly or enemies we began running towards the truck. As we hit the store gunfire erupted. The driver was standing with the door open firing at the five bikers heading towards us. As I got a good look at the bikers I noticed they all had guns pointed towards our trucks and were unloading. It looked as though they were trying to disable our vehicles which would make us easy targets.
We made it to our trucks before they completely closed the distance. I jumped in the back of the Chevy pulling out my 300 and aiming towards the center of their group. As I was doing this I noticed Aaron was doing the same with his 270. I decided to wait a second to see who he was going to shoot. His shot rang out taking the biker on the right side of the group with it. I pulled the trigger hitting the center rider in the chest. I saw Jaime sitting next to Aaron in the truck with her pistol ready for when they passed.
Only two bikers had been killed. The other three passed our trucks aiming at the driver of The Dozer. When they passed I saw blood spray inside covering all the windows. It was clear they hit him in the head. Aaron and I ducked as they drove past still firing. Jaime was holding her pistol just above the bed of the truck and unloaded as they came by. She put a couple in the first one to pass dropping him right next to our trucks. They pulled down the road turning around to make another pass. By this time Aaron and I had both of our guns ready to fire. I heard the crack of the 270 and watched down the scope as one of the last two fell over. The last biker noticing he was alone and without a chance at killing the rest of us stopped and began turning to run away as fast as he could.
No longer being under threat I put my gun down to hear Aaron screaming, “Kill him, if he has anymore in his group they will come for us!”
I put the gun back up to my eye. The biker had made it a quarter mile in the few seconds. I knew the bullet would drop quite a bit at this distance. Not completely sure I placed the crosshair just a couple inches above his head and slowly pulled the trigger. Even though the bullet found its target within seconds I was terrified of missing the mark and causing people in our town to die from an attack. Finally the bullet hit the man and flung him in past the handlebars of the bike causing him to fall face first on the pavement.
Chapter 15
When the last man hit the road we all ran directly to our man who was shot when they passed. He was laying back against the front seat with a hole in his neck which had sprayed the blood all over the cab. Aaron gently led him down the pavement and ripped his own shirt off to cover the wound. I stared at the man wanting to render aide. Aaron looked up at us with a tear in his eye shaking his head saying there was nothing we could do. Our group fell silent and stayed with the man until he bled out. We wrapped his body in a blanket and placed him in the back of The Dozer to be buried with the rest of the town’s dead.
After placing him in the truck we started walking to the dead bikers. All were loaded with large pistols and long knives. We took everything of value including the guns and bullets. Needing gas we grabbed one of the gas hoses and cut out a long length. Only a couple of the vehicles had any gas in them. The bikes were all full, but each only held a gallon or two.
Old Jim asked Jaime to follow him in the store while we drained what little gas there was to drain. He came back out with a key ring which held a couple keys. Interested I walked over to him to see what he was planning. Seeing me he pointed at the ground saying, “There may not be a whole lot under there, but the pumps usually can’t drain the entire thing. I have a wet vacuum in the store and a couple hundred feet extension cords which should reach from the bunker which runs on its own power supply.”
He reached down lifting a small cover to what looked like the fueling area. Seeing his plan I yelled out to our group and they brought the hose, wet vacuum and gas can. Old Jim just gave a little laugh, “You will need more than that little can.” Jim then pointed to the trucks telling the men to bring them over. I walked with Jim as we grabbed to two large extension cords. We ran the cords from the bunker to the large underground tank. We started the vacuum which slowly began pumping gas out of the tank and had it emptying into a small waste bucket we had inside.
Both trucks had extra tanks which were near empty and the main tanks needed some filling as well. The basin had enough to fill both trucks up completely and the small gas can as well. Not wanting to just leave gas in the ground Aaron brought me and Jim back down into the bunker. After Jim opened the main door he went and tried pulling one of the massive water jugs out. The water drum was too heavy. He signaled me to give him a hand, but even with both of us we struggled sliding it out. There would be no way to get the drum out of the bunker.
“Shit!” Jim yelled as he came to the same conclusion as I did.
His eyes filled with light and I turned to see what he was looking at. Once again Old Jim surprised us by dragging in a large dolly. I smiled while walking towards him. The dolly made it possible to get the water drum outside. Once outside Aaron brought the drum around front then asked Jim if the water was purified. He nodded yes and Aaron yelled at the group telling them to come and drink all they could before we dumped it out and filled it with gas. They did as instructed all extremely thirsty not having anything to drink today until now. After everyone had their fill with great hesitation Aaron tipped the drum over whispering, “What a wast
e.”
The drum took a couple minutes to empty completely. Once emptied he grabbed it hauling it over to the underground gas tank. We sat the wet vacuum top right on the drum and flipped it on. Aaron was holding the hose that went into the ground. He was moving it back and forth trying to find any gas that we may have missed. The drum took about twenty minutes to fill three quarters full.
Aaron stood up and stumbled looking extremely high on the fumes. We dragged him over and sat him next to the truck so he would not pass out. “I think it is empty,” He stuttered as he was sitting down.
I walked over placing the lid on the tank then grabbing the dolly. Everyone, but old Jim helped to put the massive drum in The Dozer. The extension cords were used to secure the drum in the corner making sure it would not bounce out on the way back. We headed back to town happy we found so much, but saddened at the loss we suffered.
The way back everyone was silent. Jaime got to drive the dozer and Aaron turned back over and over making sure we were still close behind. This first load took a heavy toll on the trucks forcing the drivers to take their time on the way back. It was past midday the sun beat down right in front of us making it difficult to see anything. We hit the valley Jaime and I had practiced killing. The dead bodies were easy spot against the dead brush of the hill. While we passed I contemplated my reservations on killing. I understood that this was a part of the world we lived in now. Death and destruction would be a common sight from here on out.
Turning on the dirt road Aaron and I focused on holding onto the sides of the trucks so we did not fall out. The cords surrounding the drum struggled to hold it in place. I saw the truck dip into the ground almost throwing both the drum and Aaron out. Aaron slammed on the top of the truck yelling, “Slow it down!”
She moved to a crawl now driving afraid. He leaned over to speak in the driver side window. I couldn’t hear what was whispered, but it seemed motivational since she picked up the pace once again. Reaching within vision of the wall once again filled me with a safe feeling. The closer we got though the more undead lay on the ground. It looked as though the town had been attacked once again. The bodies had not been picked up and burned yet. We pulled in the front gate seeing blood splattered on the ground right before it.
Aaron and I both jumped out of the trucks to examine the scene and ask what happened.
As the guard approached he said, “The worst attack we have had yet. There was at least thirty of them that rushed the front. We killed them all, but we lost a guard.”
After the guard was done speaking Aaron tilted his head back to the truck saying, “So did we, but it was not the undead that got him. We were attacked by five bikers who are all laying face down. Before we were able to finish them they shot Tim in the neck.”
The guard seemed a bit more distressed than what I had expected. The expression on his face told me he had known the man we lost. Aaron seemed to be consoling him somewhat. He put his arm around the guard and said, “Sorry we lost your brother Nick.”
The only thing Nick could say was, “He knew what he was getting into and would have gladly died to keep others safe.”
A couple moments after Aaron yelled into the gate, “Open up.”
The gate rose showing us the city and welcoming us into its safety once again. The trucks slowly drove in with Aaron yelling at them to drive to the security office. Aaron and I walked down following.
“Think Earl will be impressed?” I asked.
“I am pretty sure he will like what he sees.” Aaron said.
Once we reached the office Old Jim still sat in the truck seeming to wait for some instruction. Aaron passed right by and into the office leaving him. I looked up and said, “Follow me.”
He smiled getting out of the truck and followed me into the office. It was warm and there was around thirty or forty guards present all screaming. They were all addressing Earl and he attempting to calm them. Aaron and I stood in the back with Jaime and Old Jim. The driver of the Chevy seemed to have walked home. The man who handed me the binoculars and large knife stood next to me.
Turning to Aaron I asked, “What do you think is wrong?”
Without a second of hesitation he simply stated, “They’re scared.”
We waited for a solid twenty minutes before Earl was able to convince them they were safe and to get back to work. As the men left the office we headed towards where Earl was standing. He finally saw us and said, “I hope you guys have good news.”
Aaron told him to follow us out. When he saw the back of the trucks full of military grade weapons a big smile shined on his face. He looked through The Dozer first asking if the drum held water.
“That’s forty gallons or so of gas,” Aaron said.
His smile seeing the amount of gas grew wider knowing it meant more runs for supplies. After looking through the back of The Dozer he turned to Aaron noticing he shared none of his sentiment and asked, “What’s wrong with you? You guys did great out there today.”
Aaron was standing next to Earl. He pointed to the blanket in the back, “We lost a man”.
Earl quickly understood why Aaron and the rest of us did not seem thrilled to be back. He pulled the blanket away uncovering Tim’s face. He saw the wound on his neck and threw the blanket covering him back up.
“What the hell happened?” He asked visibly upset.
“Gang on bikes attacked us while we were loading the trucks. Five of them flew down the road shooting. Tim was standing out the driver’s side door unloading, but was hit as they drove by. Turns out Jake here has a good eye on him took two out by himself and Jaime shot one as well. Very good recruits you found Earl.”
Though still visibly upset at the loss of his man Earl continued looking through everything we found. He stepped in the back of the Chevy grabbing a few guns and asking us to help him haul them in. Jumping out the truck and walking back to the office Earl stopped suddenly finally realizing the presence of Old Jim who still stood behind me.
He looked up at him and asked, “Who are you?”
Aaron realizing he had completely forgotten about telling Earl about Jim introduced them.
“Earl this is the man whose store provided all of this.” Aaron said.
Still looking at Jim he asked, “So you run a military store?”
Jim finally gaining enough confidence to speak for himself said, “No just a small gas station with a bunker out back. There is plenty of food still in the bunker you are welcome to.”
As he said this Jim looked as though trying to gain the approval to stay. Earl seeing this simply said, “You don’t have to buy your way in this town you just need to be able to work. Are you good with a gun?”
“I am better at working with my hands than I am guns.”
Earl seemed pleased with this. Looking him up and down he pointed to the town hall and said, “If you good with your hands my brother Timothy will be interested in you. He can usually be found in the large building up there. If there is a meeting just wait patiently for him to finish.”
Before he sent him off I remarked, “Earl we will need him if we are going back to get the food. There is a lock on the bunker that only he knows the code to.”
Earl looked up at him with an interested expression, “We don’t like to let ordinary citizens leave the town on scavenging missions. If you really want to go you can, but I highly recommend letting guards go in your place and you giving the code to Aaron and Jake here.”
As soon as Jim heard the word citizen he realized that this town was his home and did not want to go face danger if he didn’t have to. He quickly gave the number to us. It was a five digit number and quite easy to remember. Aaron began repeating the code fearing he would forget it, “55611, 55611, 55611”. Earl seemed a bit annoyed at the repetition and told Aaron, “Come inside I got a pen and paper you can use.”
“Oh thank god my memory is terrible,” Aaron responded.
Earl looked back at Jim and said, “I will ask Nick if you can have hi
s brother’s room. If not there are many around here that will help you set up near Jake, Amanda, and Jaime.”
Once again Jim’s eyes seemed so thankful. He turned and began walking towards the large building Earl had pointed to.
Unloading the trucks went much quicker than loading. A few guards interested in the new weaponry came over and began helping. In the security office we quickly ran out of room for all the new weapons. Earl began taking down the weakest rifles walking them in the back room. By the time we finished there were guns covering the first room. Rifles standing against the walls and the piles of pistols on tables looked as though they would topple. We had no idea of the amount of guns we picked up until seeing them sprawled across the office mixed with the guns already found.
Chapter 16
“Do you want us to head back out?” Aaron asked Earl after he handed him the paper and pen.
“No wait till tomorrow we need to get those zombies burned and have a funeral for Tim.” As the words fell out the sadness in his voice was obvious.
Jaime and I left the house and saw Amanda and Timothy walking towards us. Her steps were those of someone forcing themselves to move after their body has been exhausted. Timothy had the same look and speed as he always did, but this time with his arm around Amanda. Jaime and I looked at each other and smiled knowing what was going on between the two. Once the couple reached us Jaime looked at Amanda and said, “Wow you look rough.”
Amanda gave a little smirk and said, “Yea I am exhausted. Timothy seems to run at a hundred miles an hour, it is impossible to keep up with him. I am going to go lay down.”
They walked past us down the road and Timothy keeping his arm around her holding her up. Jaime and I headed up towards the kitchen to see if they had any dinner ready yet. Walking in, I smelt deer cooking once again. The cooks were bustling trying to get dinner ready for seven hundred people. With no one around we figured they had not finished and went to go sit on your designated dining log to wait.
