Zombies! (Book 6): Hold The Line

by Merritt, R. S.

  The water was shallow enough for the three men in team one to hop out and get their footing. They quickly began to scale the clay cliff. It looked like everything was going great until the first guy up the cliff started dancing around like his pants were on fire. He jumped backwards off the steep embankment crashing into one of the canoes drifting in the shallows. The two other men on the team stared at him for a second at a complete loss. One of the men peeked over the top of the cliff to see what the deal was. He toppled over backwards with a snake attached to his face.

  Everyone who’d been watching put their guns down and paddled in to help team one. Kyler had his machete out as he drifted towards the muddy shoreline. Once he was close enough, he jumped overboard and hacked the snake in half that was attached to the cheek of the guy who’d just gotten bit. The man ripped the rest of the snake off his face and tossed it away in disgust before trying to climb back into his canoe. Another member of the team was trying to help him back into the canoe when the infected woman from the dock appeared at the top of the cliff.

  In all the excitement caused by stumbling on the snake nest she’d been forgotten about. She immediately hurled herself straight at the guy trying to climb into the canoe. Bryan got a couple of shots off, but it was too late. The infected woman disappeared under the water with the soldier who’d just ripped a water moccasin off his face. The other guy who’d landed on one of the canoes tried to stand up to help him and managed to flip his canoe over. Losing all of the supplies in the canoe as well as completely screwing up his ankle.

  The soldier who’d been bit by the moccasin reappeared out of the water. He was screaming in terror and rage while slamming a kabar knife into what was left of the infected woman’s face and chest. He’d turned her upper body into waterlogged hamburger in his desperate fight to keep her from sinking her teeth into him. He finally stopped screaming when he noticed everyone staring at him.

  “You get bit Branson?” Bryan asked.

  “Just. By. The. Snake.” Branson managed to get out between his chaotic breathing. He let go of the Zombies neck. The remains floated away from him before settling deeper into the water.

  “Should we try and get the ammunition out of the water?” Kyler asked. He was feeling around with his feet and finding the boxes below him. He reached down and pulled up one of the heavy boxes packed with bullets.

  “Yes. See how much of that you –“ Bryan stopped talking when about twelve more of the water moccasins came over the side of the cliff plopping into the water all around them. He didn’t bother saying another word as everyone still in the water scrambled to get into a canoe as fast as they could.

  “Sir my face is numb and burns at the same time.” Branson said. His words were badly slurred. He’d been pulled into the canoe that had flipped over. Two of the other team members had righted it and picked it up so the water was out of it. It was riding pretty high now that it wasn’t loaded down with supplies.

  “Ok.” Bryan said trying to get his arms around this complete cluster they’d managed to get themselves into before they even made it to the parking lot. “Let’s paddle over to the docks for now. We may just need to go back and try this again in an hour or something. I’m assuming you don’t have the plans for the death star or something else super time sensitive?” Bryan asked Kyler as they paddled over to the dock.

  “Nothing crazy like that. Probably a lot of information they already have to be completely honest. I spent about half my time over there chasing the family that I ended up helping to escape.” Kyler said.

  Multiple screeches suddenly split the air. Evidently the Zombie Branson had just tenderized had been heard by others. Or the shots fired at her when she jumped from the cliff had been heard. Either way another variable had just been added to the equation on how soon they needed to leave. Bryan cursed under his breath while he did the math. He waited for the others to paddle up to the dock. Of the three men from team one only one was still what he’d consider operational.

  “Team one. You morons just earned yourselves a few more days of vacation. Head back to the warehouse and try to get Branson patched up. Make sure to get him shot up with some antivenom before his face falls off. The rest of us are going to take the Expedition and roll out. Help us get all the gear loaded up before any more Zombies show up and we’re out. Let’s try to stop acting like a monkey raping a football for five seconds and get it done by the numbers. On the bounce let’s do it.” Bryan ordered.

  The next five minutes was spent running boxes of supplies from the canoes into the trunk of the extra-large Ford SUV. Kyler was covered in sweat by the time they loaded the last box. The screeches were getting louder as the infected heading their way got steadily closer. They were getting closer way too quickly for comfort. They were going to have to drive right through the infected to get to the main road. Bryan sent team one paddling back across the lake to get Branson patched up. With them gone it was just Bryan, team two, and Kyler. The five of them hopped in the big black SUV and started driving towards the sounds of the incoming infected.

  Kyler was once again crammed in the middle seat between two of the men from team two. They’d told him it was for his protection since they were expected to deliver him alive. Both of the men had started cracking up when he’d accepted what they said at face value and sat in the middle seat. Their laughter dried up when the first two Zombies appeared. Their faces tensing as they went into warrior mode.

  It was a long straight stretch of blacktop in front of them. The road had leaves and other debris on it but was fairly clean for an apocalyptic highway. Up in the distance were two figures running impossibly fast straight towards them. The soldier driving the truck slowed down to pull the standard maneuver of waiting for the Zombies to get beside them then driving away too fast for them to catch up. That worked great most times. It was the exceptions to the rule that made the maneuver so gut wrenchingly stressful.

  As the SUV slowed the Zombies kept coming full speed. They both were running faster than they should be able to. They weren’t slowing down either. They were puttering along at about three miles per hour when the first Zombie jumped straight into their windshield. The other one came around the side and started slamming it’s hands into the passenger window. The one on the hood was completely blocking the vision of the driver. Knowing the road was straight he started accelerating while letting Bryan feed him information on how fast to go.

  The Zombie on the side of the truck started falling behind. Then it stepped on the running board and held on to the roof while smashing it’s head into the window. The Zombie on the windshield ripped both of the windshield wipers off and stood up trying to figure out how to get in. Slamming on the brakes sent that one flying. Bryan had his pistol out as the Zombie on his side was getting some momentum on the passenger window with his head. He didn’t think the thick glass would break considering the Zombie was at an awkward angle to be headbutting the window.

  The passenger window splintered into a million pieces with the next blow from the Zombies head. With the window gone the Zombie stuck one of its hands in the truck as it struggled to get in and get its teeth into Bryan. Bryan had gotten stuck in his seatbelt when the driver hit the brakes to eject the other Zombie off the hood causing it to lock up on him. The Zombie who’d been ejected off the hood suddenly popped up and started slamming its face into the driver side window. On the passenger side Bryan was holding the Zombie who’d come through his window by the hair to keep it off of him.

  Bryan got a knife free and used it to saw away at the Zombies jugular. Blood squirted everywhere completely ruining the luxurious leather interior of the pricey soccer mom machine. Bryan pushed the Zombie out the window in disgust once the life left its eyes. Screeches from down the road told them more were coming. Kyler truly hoped the next few would be the slower, dumber ones. He wasn’t sure how many more of the adrenalized ones they could take on.

  The next ones they passed were slightly slower than the first pair the
y’d ran into. The problem was they couldn’t do the slowing down trick because they didn’t have a passenger window anymore. Bryan didn’t seem too keen on using himself as bait and hacking off multiple heads as they drove down the road. With no time to really come up with anything original they stuck with the standard plan. The driver just made sure to take off as soon as the Zombie was no longer in front of the truck.

  Kyler became much more appreciative of his middle seat. The truck was big enough where he wasn’t overly squished where he was sitting. Even though they were all fully dressed out in all of their battle rattle and taking up more room than adults normally would. He decided the worse seat in the house was the one their fearless leader had climbed into. Being the leader, he didn’t have to call shotgun for the coveted passenger seat position. With the window missing though the passenger seat was quickly turning into the carving station on the Zombie buffet line.

  By the time they made it to the highway Bryan was covered in blood and had definitely committed mass murder. He’d left a trail of nearly headless cadavers stretching all the way back to the dock. The dude was beyond hard core and definitely deserving of respect. Kyler knew he personally would’ve just pulled out his pistol after the first encounter and used it on any Zombie that got close to the open window. It was only later that he found out Bryan had been trying to do that but with the seat belt locked on him he couldn’t get his holster to unsnap. He hadn’t thought of asking for anyone else’s weapon because he kept thinking he could get to his own.

  “If a Zombie bite can get you infected then why wouldn’t being covered in their blood infect you?” Kyler asked. The question was part rhetorical and part humorous jab at Bryan who looked like he’d been swimming in a lake full of chunky tomato soup. The smell was simply indescribable.

  “Beats me but if it did then we’d all have been turned like twenty times over.” One of the soldiers next to Kyler responded. It was nice to know they’d talk to him now that they knew he wasn’t a Brotherhood spy.

  “As long as you don’t have any open wounds, I don’t see why it’d matter. Then again I don’t really understand how poison ivy works either.” The driver chimed in.

  “Pull over up ahead so I can change. Hand me the wipes and a towel.” Bryan said. He didn’t sound amused or even slightly interested in their banter.

  The driver drove for another few minutes with everyone looking around to see if they could see any Zombies coming up on them. Not seeing anything the driver pulled to the side of the road. Everyone got out to stretch their legs and guard Bryan while he stripped down and gave himself a quick sponge bath using a box of Lysol wipes. He was using the Lysol wipes in an attempt to kill any of the nastiness that may be crawling around on him from all the infectious bodily fluids he’d just been marinating in.

  “Sir. There’s stop sticks across the road up ahead!” The driver who’d walked out in front of the vehicle yelled. He’d obviously already figured out that wasn’t a good thing as he turned and ran back towards the truck. Kyler looked up in time to see the man’s head explode.

  “Ambush!” One of the other soldiers yelled rushing back towards the truck.

  Bryan grabbed his pack and weapons and jumped over the guard rail yelling for everyone to follow him. Kyler jumped over the guard rail without even bothering to look. A messed-up ankle was going to be a lot better than getting shot. He hit the steep incline on the other side and sort of slide rolled down the side into a bunch of trees and shrubbery. The sound of automatic fire bursting into the truck and the screams of the other two men from team two echoed down to them.

  “Did you see where they were shooting at us from?” Bryan asked.

  “All I saw was Jacksons head explode. Since we’re not dead I guess they’re on the other side of the interstate.” Kyler answered.

  “Ok. I’m going up to check on everybody. You stay here.”

  “Screw that. I’m with you.” Kyler replied checking to make sure the M-16 he was carrying was good to go.

  “You’re my mission. If I die, I need you to keep going.” Bryan said.

  “If you die why the hell do you care if I keep going?” Kyler said.

  “Good point. Just don’t die unless I do first. Let’s go.” Bryan started crawling up the incline through the rocky mud and brush. Kyler followed along right beside him. He was moving a bit faster since he wasn’t crawling through all this crap in just his boxers like Bryan was.

  At the top of the incline they stopped and looked at the bodies of their three comrades in arms laid out on the blacktop in puddles of blood. Bryan got a deadly gleam to his eye as he settled in to wait. Off in the distance came the inevitable screeches of the damned as they responded to the noise of the one-sided firefight. Bryan didn’t move at all as the screeches drew closer. Kyler stayed right beside him letting the area in his sights become his whole world. With the screeches starting to get danger close Kyler began wondering when Bryan was going to decide they should bug out. They could always find another vehicle although it was going to suck to lose all those supplies.

  Kyler was about to nudge Bryan and indicate they needed to move back from the road when there was movement on the other side. A group of three men in camouflage started moving slowly across the road towards them and the truck. A fourth man appeared and ran towards the stop sticks. Bryan held up his fingers to indicate they should wait five seconds then shoot. Kyler did a slow count in his head. He tried not to think that he was going to be shooting uninfected humans. These pricks had just shot his battle buddies so he might as well treat them like they were Zombies.

  Kyler counted down from five in his head then shot the man on the far left in the leg. He moved quickly to the next man in line shooting him in the leg as well. He was shooting underneath the Expedition so the leg was as high as he could get while they were standing. He turned his attention back to the first man he’d shot who was lying on the road screaming his head off in pain. Another quick three round burst shut him up.

  The other soldier either hadn’t been hurt as bad or was just channeling his inner Rambo. He was actually lying in a prone position trying to shoot back. Before he had the chance to aim and pull the trigger Kyler sent a couple of three round bursts into his head. Job done he turned to see how Bryan was doing. Bryan had stood up and was running towards the Expedition. Kyler followed suit. He noted Bryan had gotten the third man who’d come straight at them. That left only the guy who’d gone for the stop sticks. That guy was currently running for the side of the road while shooting randomly behind him with a pistol.

  Bryan stopped and rested his rifle on the hood of the Expedition while the randomly fired bullets buzzed around them. One shattered the back drivers side passenger window. Kyler reflected on the fact that a random bullet could kill you just as dead as a superbly aimed one. Throwing that thought away he charged around the side of the SUV and lit up the guy who’d almost made it across the street. A shadowy mob down the road was headed for them. Screeches were coming from all around.

  “Help me get their bodies in the truck!” Bryan yelled.

  “We don’t have time!” Kyler yelled back.

  “Then we die. I’m not leaving them to be Zombie food.” Bryan replied without an ounce of give in his voice. Wondering where the hell the guy had gone who wanted to put the mission first Kyler jumped in the driver’s seat and found the button to pop the trunk.

  They got two of the bodies in before the Zombies started showing up. Kyler ran with the body of the driver in a fireman’s carry across his shoulders while Bryan shot at the Zombies running towards them. Kyler slid the third body into the cargo area then ran to the passenger side of the SUV. Bryan hopped in the driver’s seat and started driving forward.

  “What about the stop sticks!” Kyler blurted out remembering them before it was too late, he hoped.

  “That’s why I had you count to five. The first guy who ran out was the one responsible for moving those things off the road. Five seconds gave him time
to get them moved enough so we’ll be able to drive on through.”

  Ten minutes later they were on the road again with the ambush spot firmly in their rearview. They were both covered in blood and lost in their thoughts. For the other three passengers in the back the struggle was over. Kyler was almost envious of them. He knew he was on a path where he’d be joining them sooner rather than later.

  The Expedition was looking the worse for wear as well. The interior was covered in broken glass and blood. The exterior covered in bullet holes and dents from Zombies slamming into it. None of the bullets or Zombies had done any damage to the powerful engine though. After driving along at close to ninety miles per hour for a couple of hours Kyler finally asked where they were going.

  “I’m dropping you off at a rest stop for another patrol to pick up. They don’t tell us any more than we need to know. Loose lips and all that crap.” Bryan answered then lapsed back into silence.