Living Dead 2.0

by Radovick, Ronda

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  Scarlett said, “Keep me posted.” Rachel took the gun, and two extra magazines, then ran to her daughter, kissed her on the forehead. “ Honey, stay here with Scarlett. I'll be right back.” Okay, Mommy.” Rachel went outside and ran down to the gate. When she climbed up on top of the storage- container-watch-post. She said, “Hey, Girl. I am here. What is happening?” Stella answered, “Nothing on this end. Yet.” Rachel said, “Scarlett said that, someone came up to the gates at Rose's place.” Stella said, “Yes. The guys think, it's those guys that killed Keith.” Rachel said, “Good thing your Dad put in double gates.” They both sat there, just watching the outer area of the property. Nothing had happened on their end, but they needed to ready, in case something did. Over at Rose's place, the men stood on the upper wall, staring at the dead goat that lay headless on the outside of the outer gate. They had built a second gate a hundred feet outside of the walls. They were trying to give themselves a double layer of protection from the large herd of zombies that were coming at them. The dead animal lay right outside that gate. Will asked, “Just like that? They just dumped it off, and drove away?” Jimmy said, “Yep.” Scott said, “Well.... At least, we know they are dumb enough to warn us, before attacking.” Kyle said, “Or, clever enough, to draw our attentions to one part of the group, so that, they can enter from an unguarded side. They all looked at each other, in fearful surprise. Scott yelled into the radio, “Nicole! Get Devon and the kids. Warn everyone to get to the school, now!” Kyle yelled into the radio, “Renee! Imogen! Get everyone together. Hurry! We think they might attack that side. They all ran for the cars. Scott turned to Jimmy, “Sergeant. I know you love that lady. Stay here. Guard the walls.” Jimmy said, “Yes, Sir. Call me, if you need me.” Scott shot back, “Will do.” He joined the others. Rose had walked up, as they all took off. She heard what Scott had said. She had an AR-15 in one hand, and a pistol in her side holster. She climbed up the home made steps, and placed a burlap bag onto the floor of the wall top. Jimmy looked inside. It was ammunition. She said, “I can keep watch, here. You should go with them.” Jimmy said, “Nope. My orders are to stay here, and protect you, Granny, and the kids.” He stared straight ahead. She asked, “How many do you think that there are?” He said, “Probably, too many. But, we'll handle them.” She stared outward. “Yes, we will.” Rachel, and Stella listened, in horror, as they yelled to each other on the radio. Renee was yelling, “They are climbing the outer gate. There was gunfire in the background. Kyle yelled, “How many?” Pastor Dom was frantic. He yelled, “At least thirty, or forty. Hurry up!” They could hear the pops coming from where they were. Will yelled, “Where are they, exactly?” Chloe got on, now. She was screaming, “The front! The front! The front gate, at the front of the property!” More gun fire. Will yelled, “We're on our way!” Imogen blurted out, “I'm coming!” Kyle yelled to Imogen, “ Imogen! Stay at the school!” Matt yelled into the radio, “Should I go to the front gate?” Nina yelled, “No, Matt! Stay there. Watch for any coming from the back. Shoot anything that moves.” Renee yelled, “Hurry up!” There was more gun fire.” Will told the men, “Hurry! Follow me. We can come up on them, from the side.” He drove his truck down the path towards the old school. Only, he made a fast turn to the left, into some trees. He weaved back and forth around trees and even drove through a creek. Aidan asked, “What is he doing?” Kyle said, “Just follow him. He has lived here his whole life. He knows these woods.” Then, they stopped near the highway. Just, outside Renee's outer gate. They could hear heavy gun fire. Will nearly jumped from his truck. He had an AR-15, and another rifle slung over his back. They all exited their vehicles.

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  Will frantically, took charge. He told Kyle, “Walk through the path, on the right. Be careful, as soon as you come to the trees, you'll be on them.” Jessie's voice blared over the radio, “What is going on? I don't want to leave the back wall. Is everyone okay? Someone tell me what is going on! Mary, get to the school!” Pastor Dom said, “Stay there, Jessie. They may try to get in from the back.” Inside the school, Mary answered, “I am okay, Jessie. Be careful.” Pastor Dom said, “ Mary. Stay inside with the children. Right now, his side is clear.” Mary was worried. She didn't know what she should do.

  Heather said, “Mary, we all need to be ready to protect Mrs. S., and the children. Just in case, they get inside the walls.” Mary looked at the old, and young. She unlocked her gun. “Okay.”

  “You,” Will pointed to Aidan, “Go that way, through the trees. We are right behind them. We will half- flank them from one side. But, we have to do it at the same time. They'll have nowhere to go, but into the ditch on their other side.” They were shocked. They all stared at him. He blurted out, “Come on! There are children in there! We have to act, now! We can't let em get to those women and kids!” Kyle said, “We know. We are with you, Will.” He looked at Scott, “Scott. You and me are going through here.” He pointed in front of them. Then, continued, “We are gonna ambush, the ambushers. Are you all with me?” He looked at each one of them, waiting for acknowledgment. Gun fire continued from the other side of the trees. They were surprised at Will's ability, to just take control. “Yes.” said, Kyle. “I'm in.” Scott and Aidan said, “Yes,” in sync with each other. “Okay. Come on!” They moved into action. Will sliced through the trees, with his Ar-15 pointing ahead. All three followed the paths that Will had told them to follow. They could hear Renee yelling from the other side of the gate. She was on top of the storage container, at the second gate. She was firing at the men climbing the first gate. Jose and Ben were shooting at them, from on top of the other side of the second gate. Other members of the group had joined, and were shooting. Will, and the others, came rushing out of the trees. They started to shoot. They shot at least half of them, before any of them knew that they were behind them. Some of the men turned around, and shot back at them. Kyle and Scott moved closer, they hid behind two separate vehicles. Now, the men that were left alive, were trapped between their vehicles. Some were shooting at the gates, and some back at Will and the others. Then, as the attackers realized they were trapped, the firing stopped. Kyle peeked around the corner of the truck. He could see two men. He mouthed silent speech at Scott. “Two, there.” He held up two fingers, while pointing in their direction. Scott nodded. He turned to Will, who was on the other side of him. He whispered, “Where is Aidan?” Will looked around. His face went white when he saw where Aidan was. He had been sneaking around another vehicle, attempting to get closer to the men. Will muttered, “Oh, no!” under his breath. He turned back to Scott, “He is sneaking up on them.” Scott crawled to the other side of Will, to get a look at Aidan. Scott said, “We have to get their attention over there.” He pointed to the other side of the men. He looked around for something that, he could use to create a diversion away from Aidan. Before he could figure something out, they heard a gun shot and a man yell, “I'm shot!” Then, they heard a sequence of shots. They looked around the truck, and saw Aidan struggling with one of the men. They were both holding onto a rifle and the man pulled the trigger. Scott crawled around to the other side. He saw the other man holding his side, and crawling towards another gun that lay on the ground. Scott stood up, and shot him. He went limp. The man, and Aidan, were now fist fighting. The man pulled out a knife. He swung, and lunged at Aidan. Aidan jumped back. Kyle yelled, “We need him alive!”

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  ran towards the two fighting men, and kicked the man's feet out from underneath him. The man went down. Kyle grabbed his hair, then slammed his head into the nearest vehicle. “Stay down!” The man was out. He said, “Watch him.” Aidan turned to the gate. He could see several members of the group standing on top of the wall, still holding their guns. Ruby was there, too. He spoke into the radio, “Is everyone okay? Is my Aunt alright?” Renee answered, “We think so. I am going to check with everyone.” Will got on, “ Can everyone sound off, if you are okay?” One at a time, everyone else checked in, as alr
ight. Kyle held his radio to his mouth, “ Renee, Don't let your guard down.” Renee climbed down. Ruby followed. Renee asked her, “Was that all of them?” Ruby said, “I don't know. I recognize a couple of them. Whenever they came up on me, they always had numbers.” Naomi ran up, “ What is happening?” Renee said, “It's alright. You should go check on the children, Naomi.”

  Naomi, nervously agreed, and left. Renee said to Ruby, “Thank you, for fighting with us. I have to make sure that, everyone is okay. Then, go back to the walls. Will you help?” Ruby said, “Of course. Where do you want me? ” Renee answered, “I am not sure, but I noticed that you can shoot. We need someone on lookout. Maybe, you could relieve Jessie and Matt. They can help me do rounds. I'll send someone over to you. You should not be alone on the wall, not now. Stay on your radio. Please? Don't go outside the walls. Call on one of us, if you see anything.” Ruby said, “Okay.” She turned around, “Come on Pepper.” The newest member of the group, and her dog walked away. Renee went to the house, no one was there. She rushed to the school. She held her radio to her mouth, “Imogen. Mrs. S. Where are you guys?” A voice came over the radio,. It was Imogen, “We're inside the school. Where are you?” Renee said, “ I am here. Where are you? Is everyone accounted for?” Imogen said, “We're coming out. We're in the faculty office. In the back. We have the children here. I don't know about all of the men.” Renee walked into the office. She saw them huddled along the back wall. She sighed, in relief. Back out side of the gates, Kyle had tied up the man, and intended to interrogate him. He started to drag the guy inside. Will said, “I don't think that, we should bring him inside the walls.” Kyle said, “I need a sturdy place to bring him to. A place that can be locked up tight.” Will said, “We need to talk this over with the group.” Scott said, “Let him do what has to be done. He is the only survivor. We need to get what info out of him that we can.” Will said, “We can go to another part of the place. Blindfold him.” Aidan asked, “Do you know where we can bring him, to keep him from getting too close?” Will reluctantly, said, “Yes. Cover his head, just in case.” Kyle went to the truck, grabbed some heat duct tape, and wrapped the man's head, so that the tape covered his eyes, and mouth. Then, he took a cloth bag, and pulled it over the man's head. Will led them to an empty storage container, sitting on the back of the group land. It was one of the extras that they'd brought in. They led the man inside. Then, Kyle shoved him to the ground. He tied the mans feet, so he could not walk. They closed the door. Kyle made sure that it was locked. Will said, “Come on. We need to check on the group.” Scott, Aidan, and Will knew that Kyle was going to torture the truth out of this man. Will didn't like it, but he also knew they needed information. Aidan said, “Kyle. We should question him together.” Kyle said, “Just be ready, in case there are more of them. He needs to stew in here for a couple of hours.” Scott said, “ If you leave him inside there too long, he'll bake alive.” Kyle replied, “ Or, if we leave him there a while, he'll think that he will bake alive.” Scott said, “Well, he is locked tight. Why don't we meet back here in an hour?” Kyle said, “Agreed.” They all walked away. After Kyle checked on Imogen, he went back to the prisoner.

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  They made it back to the group. Scott spoke over the radio, “Is everyone accounted for?” Renee said, “As far as I can see, everyone is here.” Jimmy said, “We're okay.” He stared at Rose. Matt and Jessie sounded off, “What happened? It's quiet here.” Then, Ruby said, “Can't see any action here. Did anyone get hurt?” Will said, “Stella, you at the wall?” Stella said, “Yes. How bad is it? ” Rachel asked, “Is everything is okay?” Scott said, “Okay. We need a meeting by radio. We all need to stay at our posts. We took one of them alive. Until we know, how many of these guys there are, and how well armed they happen to be, we have to keep eyes and guns on all parts of this place.” Rachel said, “Yell, when ready.” The people who had run to the old school, assembled in the large conference room that the Pastor had been using to give his sermons. Pastor Dom and Renee stood before the people. Renee spoke, “Okay people. The guys grabbed one of them.” Heather asked, “What for? The man is not going to tell on his friends. If these are the same men who were chasing us, they are very dangerous.” Pastor Dom said, “Kyle is trying to find out more about his group. “Imogen listened to people speaking back and forth. She asked, “Do we have another plan?” Renee answered, “Kind of. We're putting in into play.” Now, they had the microphone and radio linked. Everyone could hear what was being said. Jack spoke up, “We all need to help with guarding the walls. This is not something that, we should take lightly. Would I offend you, if I gave you my input?” Renee said, “Of course not, Jack. I would welcome it. And, I think the guys would, also.” Pastor Dom said, “Go ahead, Jack. Give us your ideas.” Just then, Will spoke over the radio, “Is everyone there?” Renee said, “Yes Jack has some ideas. I told him that we are interested.” Scott said, “Let's hear what you're thinking Jack.” Jack said, “Well. We have several big trucks here. And the bus, too. They are heavy. If those people are really determined to get in here, they are going to try to ram one of the gates. Or worse, they may try to blow them up. I say, just in case, we park a large vehicle up against each gate. Then, a truck right up against that vehicle. This wedges the the gates shut tight. If they try to ram any them with a big truck, they'll damage the gate, but it should still be wedged shut. And, if they blow one of them open, they can't drive right in. They'll have to come in on foot. And, I noticed that, there is no exit plan. I know thatwe have the bigger vehicles stocked, but w need an exit plan, too. Just as, a last resort. We need an exit route. And, extra fuel.” Jimmy asked, “We have double gates. That might seal them tighter. We have thre large vehicles, including the bus stocked, for that reason. We are working on a secret exit route. Frank, and some of us are finishing up on it soon.” Jack said, “What if, we drop some of the storage containers at the end of each of the pathways, at the entrances, they don't have the equipment to move them. That will make it harder for them to drive in. Then, if they do come in, it will have to be on foot, four wheeler, or horse back.” Nina asked, “That is a good point, but do we have time to do that?” Jack said, “We don't have a lot of time, but if we can cover each entrance with a container outside, it's an extra protective barrier. One that forces them to exit their vehicles, far enough away for us to get s few good shots in. If they are sending more people, make them work to get in. And, I say that, we booby-trap the place. Just on the exterior. On this side of the containers that we drop. If they don't give us anymore trouble, we move them back inside the walls.” Jimmy added, “We can't set off explosions. It will draw that herd here.” Scott said, “He may have a good idea, there. I don't know how big their group is, though. We don't want too many of them coming up on us, after we go outside the walls with the equipment.”