Total Apoc 2 Trilogy (Book 3): Night of the Savages

by TW Gallier

Pulling out my city map, we knelt behind a tall wooden fence and studied it. I hated civilian maps. They didn't show half of what I needed, but I tapped a spot to our north.

  "What's this? Manheim Metro Detroit?" I asked. "Looks like a big square at the end of this road."

  "It doesn't say, but the name makes me think it could be subway substation or something," he said. "All the commuters park their cars there and ride the train into downtown Detroit."

  "But Manheim?"

  He shrugged.

  The troops were heading south, so we had to go north. We'd find out soon enough what it was. Like Mike, I thought it part of their mass transit system. If so, maybe we could find some working vehicles.

  "Let's scout a little ways to the north before heading back," I said. "Just to make sure we don't run into any surprises."

  "The zombie apocalypse is one surprise after another," Mike replied. "You haven't figured that out yet?"

  "All of the zombies have moved out of this area," I said. "It's just soldiers and survivors we have to avoid now."

  Mike pointed off to the northwest. "Tell him that."

  Sure enough, there was a stupid zombie. Then we heard the Canadians start shooting to our south. It wasn't anywhere near the house we left behind, so I wasn't concerned too much. Since no one was shooting back, they had to be killing zombies.

  "They're harder to get rid of than crabs," Mike said.

  "Too much information," I said. "He's heading this way, so don't let him see you."

  The Canadians made too much noise. Maybe they didn't care if they attracted zombies, but I had a wife and kids in that subdivision.

  "Change of plans," I said. "Zombies are headed this way, so we have to go get the others and head north."

  We retraced our route back to the house. Jenny didn't say anything, but she gave me a hostile look. I quickly advised everyone of what we'd seen, and the approaching zombie threat. So we put on our packs and headed out. Once again, Mike was point and I led the others northward. I had Mike go due north, since we knew there was at least one zombie on Olmstead Road. The subdivision wasn't that large, and before we knew it Mike led us into a patch of woods.

  Mike proved his worth by leading us around built up areas and keeping us in wooded terrain. It was rougher going, but provided overhead cover from aircraft. And we heard both jets and helicopters.

  It was probably only a mile or two, but felt like ten by the time we reached the Manheim Metro Detroit spot on the map. As expected, it was a vast parking lot. There were a lot of cars and trucks, but I still couldn't determine exactly what it was supposed to be. There were a few buildings scattered across it. But it was what we spotted on the other side of that giant parking lot that excited me.

  "A Ford dealership," Charlie said, with a big grin. "I bet there are running vehicles inside."

  The eastern side of the Manheim Metro Detroit parking lot was wooded, so we didn't have to expose ourselves by crossing it. It took a little longer, and it was almost dark by the time we finally reached the dealership, but we arrived safely.

  Sean sent Mike, Charlie, and Brett to scout out the dealership. I didn't volunteer, and he didn't ask me to go. Jenny gave me a challenging look, which kept my mouth shut. That seemed to satisfy her. So while they were gone, I sat down with Timmy, Harlan, and Spooky and shared a pair of MREs.

  "Why won't the Canadians let us in?" Spooky asked.

  "They're afraid we have the disease that causes zombies," I replied. "We don't, but they are being overprotective out of fear."

  "What are we going to do?"

  "We're going to find a nice place to live and make sure you have a happy life, Spooky."

  "Sookie," she said.

  "Pardon?"

  "My real name is 'Sookie.' I don't want to be Spooky anymore. I want to be Sookie now."

  I glanced at Jenny, who was crying for some reason. Tears were rolling down Sookie's face. Apparently, I missed something, but they had me tearing up. And I didn't know why.

  "Then you, my dear, are Sookie from now on," I said. I looked at the boys. "Understand?"

  "Yes, sir," they said in unison.

  Our scouts returned then, so I was able to extract myself from there before I started crying. They went straight to Sean and Kate, who were sitting together and speaking low to each other. Yeah, I could see a love connection happening.

  "We hit the jackpot," Charlie said. "The buildings over there are full of brand new cars and trucks. All we have to do is find the keys and we have transportation."

  I calmed him down quickly. We didn't need to get everyone's hopes up until we actually started some vehicles. The buildings might've offered some protection from EMP bursts, but if nothing else I've learned there are exceptions to everything in our new reality.

  "All right," I called to the group. "We're going to move over to the dealership. Keep alert. If we spot any zombies, I want them killed with machetes or axes. I don't want to attract any other zombies, or those damned Canadian soldiers."

  Mike took off, with me following as my family stuck close to my heels. We had that night to decide what to do and where to go. Our options were becoming fewer and fewer. I had a bad feeling that no one was going to be happy.

  We had at least five or six hundred feet of open terrain to cross from the treeline to the dealership. Jenny watched to our left, while I scanned our right flank for any threats. Our kids jogged between us. Sean controlled when everyone left, so spaced family groups about twenty seconds apart, with single men and went between them. That way snipers couldn't kill all of us at once.

  The Ford dealership had a few small sales buildings, but our destination was the main structure. It was basically one long building with a showroom up front, and maintenance in back. Mike led us straight to a closed bay door in back. In fact, all of the doors were closed.

  I tried to open the bay door, but it was locked. "We need to find an unlocked door."

  Before Mike could say anything or move, someone started pounding on the inside of that bay door. And he was joined by another and another. We froze and stared at each other.

  "Zombies locked inside?" Jenny asked.

  "Well that sucks big – "

  "Roger!" Jenny snapped. "The children."

  Sookie was looking at me with one brow raised, while Timmy and Harlan were staring at the bay door. She would be the one paying attention. I smiled at her.

  "We'll check it out," I said. "Mike, come with me."

  Others were arriving to press flat against the side of the building. Jenny apprised the new arrivals of the situation while I led Mike northward, towards the front. We found a door and kicked it open. I could hear the sounds of people moving around in back. The showroom was clear.

  "The door to the back has been barricaded," Mike said. "I think someone locked the zombies in there on purpose."

  "They're still alive after a month?" I replied. "What are they eating?"

  I knew enough to know they had to eat and drink just like us. Though, I'd never actually seen a zombie drinking anything.

  Mike caught my eyes. "Each other?"

  That gruesome image popped into my mind. I'd seen it too many times. So as zombies died of starvation or thirst, the others would devour them. Sick. All I could hope was the depraved scientists who created the chemical agent that caused the zombie plague fell victim to it as a part of divine justice. I wanted something even worse to happen to the terrorists that shot the missiles at us.

  "We have to clear it quickly so everyone can hide inside," I said.

  I moved up to the barricaded door. There was a window in the door that looked into the maintenance bays. I spotted lots of vehicles inside, as well as about two dozen zombies. The zombies were dressed in suits, nice dresses, and even some mechanic uniforms. There were numerous piles of rags and bones which I assumed were the remains of the dead.

  "The most pathetic looking zombies ever," Mike said. "They look like concentration camp victims."

 
They were in horrible shape. Just skin and bones, they looked even worse than the zombies around the airfield. I couldn't imagine anyone in that condition capable of putting up much of a fight, but zombies had surprised me before. Something about that infection made them damned hard to kill.

  Sean and Terrel joined us a moment later, and I showed them what we were up again. So Charlie, Brett, and Vince were called up to help us. The rest of the adults were left to defend the children.

  "Seven men against twenty-six," Charlie said while looking through the window. He made a show of racking his weapon. "Seems about par for the course."

  "Machetes and axes only," I said. "To keep the noise down."

  Charlie looked at the heavens and sighed. "Of course. Last thing we want to do is have an advantage over the zombie horde."

  "That wouldn't be sporting, now would it?" Terrel asked.

  "Can someone help tie one hand behind my back?" Brett said. "Then I'll be ready."

  "Well, I'm glad to see we're all in such a good mood," Sean said. "Now let's cheerfully go in there and kill some zombies."

  "Exactly," I said. "We're wasting time. The longer this takes, the more likely we'll be spotted by patrolling aircraft."

  "Vince, Terrel, Brett, and Charlie," Sean said. "You four move up and prepare to pull away the crap barricading the door. The rest of us will rush in first and start hacking up those walking dead motherfuckers."

  "Don't forget to join us," I added. "There's plenty for everyone."

  "Good luck. Don't take unnecessary chances," Sean said. "Go!"

  They made a god-awful noise dismantling and dragging away the barricading furniture. Zombies were charging by the time I squeezed my way through the door. I barely had time to think before I was swinging my machete, suddenly more concerned with staying alive than anything else.

  Chapter 26

  Roger

  "Get in there!" Sean shouted at Mike. "Go! Go! GO!"

  Mike squeezed through the doors even as the others continued to pull the barricade apart. I was hard-pressed and desperate. And then Mike was through and Vince pulled away a desk that allowed Sean to fully open the door.

  "Son of a bitch!" Sean cried as he swung left and right, while helping to clear a beachhead.

  I swung my machete and took off the left arm and shoulder of a female zombie, before thrusting my blade through her heart. Charlie came charging through the door at that moment, kicked the zombie off my machete, and then he plowed into the other zombies. Vince and Brett rushed through the door a second later, each carrying axes.

  Mike had about three dead in front of him already, and the rest of us took out about another dozen in as many seconds. The floor was slick with blood, and I almost lost my footing a couple of times.

  "I hate my life!" Brett shouted when he lodged his ax in a zombie's chest.

  "Fall back, Brett," Sean said. "You can shoot any zombie you think had gotten past one of our guards."

  I slashed open a belly, spilling slippery guts all over my legs. A second later I finally went down hard on my back. The disemboweled zombie leapt at me, arms wide. I caught him on my feet, and managed to kick him over behind me. Brett pressed his pistol to the monster's head and blew away his brains.

  I cringed at the pistol's muted report. Hopefully the sound wouldn't travel far since we were inside a thick-walled structure.

  Sean and Charlie closed the gap caused by my failure, so I could regain my feet. Instead, and going right back where I'd dropped out, I saw some zombies trying to flank us on the left, and charged straight into them.

  "They might look like death warmed over, but these bastards are still strong and fast," Sean said. "Fuck it. Guns!"

  "Hell yes," I gasped out, hot, sore, and exhausted. I pulled my M-4 around and began firing. The maintenance area filled with the pap, pap, pap of our rifle fire. "Die, motherfuckers!"

  There were only eight of them left when we finally abandoned the machetes and axes, and lit them up. They didn't even last ten seconds.

  "Stash the bodies in a room before we let the others in," I shouted, ears ringing. "I don't want the kids seeing them."

  "Use your inside voice," Sean said, grinning at me.

  "Sorry," I said, though I might've still spoken rather loudly. My blood was up. "Brett, can you find the closest room with a door we can drag them into?"

  "Vince, go out and let them know everyone is okay in here," Sean said. "And we'll let them in as soon as we clean up the mess."

  I grabbed the arm of a zombie and started dragging her toward the door. Brett met me just inside, and indicated the room to take her. It took a little while, but we stacked the bodies in that office and managed to wash away most of the blood on the floor. By the time we opened a bay door and let the others inside the only fresh blood they saw was on us.

  "Mothers and fathers can take care of their children, but I want everyone else checking out the vehicles in here. Some of these cars have to start," Sean said. "You get extra points for pickups, vans, and four-wheel drive vehicles."

  Jenny pulled me aside and started cleaning the blood off my face, hands, and clothes. All she could do for my clothes was pour water over them and rub vigorously. That washed off the worst of the blood and gore. Other women likewise helped the rest of the team.

  "Are we starting to see people pairing off?" Jenny asked quietly.

  Kate helped Sean clean up. The new woman, Corinne, was helping Charlie clean up, while Mike and Tanya were smiling at each other as she helped wash the blood off his clothes. Brett and Willa were off in the corner speaking softly to each other. I notice Ally was helping Fred with his three kids, too. Even the two teenagers, Jake and Haley, seemed to be pairing off.

  I looked around again. "When did this start?"

  "Well, the single men have been hovering around the single women all along," Jenny said. "But I think it was the addition of four new, single women that allowed everyone to find someone."

  My first worry was the men would be distracted now. But then, maybe having someone special would give them more reason to try harder. I know Jenny and my children motivated me. Yet, I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.

  For one thing, no one had moved to obey Sean's last command to look for running vehicles. I started to say something, but Jenny put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

  "Let them have a moment," she whispered. "We all just went through hell these last few days."

  "You mean these last thirty days," I said. "But you're right. It's almost dark anyway."

  When the mothers turned their attention to feeding the children, the others gathered and divided up the dealership. The maintenance area was easiest to check vehicles, since the keys were with each car's paperwork. Unfortunately, nothing started. So we searched the offices until we found the keys to the cars in the lot. By midnight, we'd failed to find a single vehicle that would start.

  "I have an idea," Charlie said when we decided to stop for the night.

  He popped the hood on a big four-door F150 in a bay that was being prepped after purchase. Then he hurried into a storage room, before emerging with a new battery. My jaw dropped.

  Mike helped him install the new battery, and then Charlie slipped in behind the wheel and started it. A cheer went up.

  Newly energized with success, we put new batteries in all of the vehicles being prepared after purchase. Every one of them started. So Sean took batteries out to some 4X4 pickups in the lot, but none of them started. He and Brett spent two hours trying to find a four-wheel drive that would start, but failed.

  In the end, we had a F150 SuperCrew, a pair of Transit minivans, and a four-door Focus. We'd have to divide everyone between them.

  "We have transportation," Jenny said. "But nowhere safe to go. It feels like the whole world is against us."

  That reminded me of a fact I didn't really want to accept. The US military was a lot more aggressive and brutal dealing with anyone trying to enter from the eastern US. If we couldn't get pa
st the Canadians, then what chance did we have of sneaking past the US military's border defenses? Was I leading them to their death?

  Chapter 27

  Roger

  After a few hours sleep, we woke up to finish our preparations in the early morning light. Sean had wanted to leave before sunrise, but we stayed up too late and then overslept. Poor Fred fell asleep during his guard shift, so there was no one to wake us at the appointed time.

  After the vehicles were loaded with what little weapons and ammo we had left, as well as any vending machine food and drinks found, the adults gathered to decide our next move. First, it was decided who would drive and ride in each vehicle. Then we had to decide on our route. That caused a big argument. Half wanted to continue north on I-75 so we could cross over the bridge to Upper Michigan at Mackinaw City. The rest agreed with Sean and me on crossing over to the Lake Michigan shore, finding a boat, and then crossing over to Wisconsin.

  "We might not find a boat," Terrel said. "The bridge is guaranteed passage."

  "Not necessarily," I replied. "The Canadians might have bombed it to keep people like us out. That bridge is close to their border."

  "Also, Mackinaw is twice as far as Ludington," Sean said. "We could already be in Wisconsin by the time we reached Mackinaw."

  That was a good point. Mackinaw was far enough away that we'd face refueling issues. I wasn't sure how many abandoned cars and trucks would be available to siphon gas from, because the map showed lots of open space between towns.

  Terrel wasn't convinced. "Even if the bridge is bombed out, it'll be a shorter water crossing there than across the middle of Lake Michigan."

  Jenny stiffened next to me. She leaned closer to the map, nose scrunched up in concentration. Before I could ask what she saw, Sean distracted me.

  "Not if the Canadians are as vigilant as they are here in Detroit," Sean said. "They'll blow us out of the water. We'll be sitting ducks and drown."

  "He's right. There's nowhere to hide on the water," I added.

  "There's no place to hide in the middle of Lake Michigan, either," Willa said. "And that'll be a much longer swim to shore."