Zombies! (Book 6): Hold The Line

by Merritt, R. S.

  He’d pretty much expected the door to be locked. He’d expected his skin to be ripped off his body by hungry Zombies within seconds. It was a very welcome surprise when the door opened easily for him. He opened it just enough to squeeze through then went inside. There was a push bar on the other side. He remembered from his days working at a deli when he was in high school that you needed a little Allen wrench thing to lock these kinds of doors. Feeling fortunate that the soldier must not have had previous deli experience Randy cringed when the Zombies began slamming into the door he’d just shut. Unless there was some sort of weird accident, they shouldn’t be able to figure out how to pull the door open.

  Elsewhere in the warehouse he heard grunting noises. It sounded like some of the infected must’ve managed to get in the warehouse at some point. The warehouse wasn’t a fortress. That’s one of the reasons they’d abandoned it immediately when the Zombie herd was detected rolling towards them. It was hoped that if they weren’t in the warehouse then the Zombies would sense that and leave the warehouse alone.

  The warehouse was sealed up pretty well. It was big though. A big building with lots of doors and windows that a lot of people had left in a rush. People in a panic don’t necessarily remember to lock all the doors and close all the shutters. Somewhere someone had screwed up and it’d given a handful of Zombies the opportunity to get into the warehouse. The one’s who’d gotten in had torn through the place. Their virus addled brains driving them to rip the place apart in search of the non-infected. They’d slowed down at this point as they wandered the dark building occasionally grunting or lunging lustily at shadows.

  One of the ones who’d broken into the building was a waif of an infected girl. She’d slid in under one of the loading dock garage doors that didn’t go down quite all the way. The little gap there was so small no one really considered it a risk. She’d left a good bit of her skin and the last bit of her clothes stuck to the bloodied concrete floor. Sensing humans in the building she’d worked her body through the tiny crack. She’d been driven to put everything she had into getting in when she heard a voice inside yelling out for his daughters. Now she padded quietly on bare feet past the cots Randy and his family had spent the previous night on. Her body covered in sores that’d been ripped open by the rough concrete floor and hard metallic bottom of the garage door she’d squeezed in between.

  She felt no pain. She felt only a driving need to find and rend the uninfected. Occasionally she felt the psychic tug of the other Zombies pulling her along with the herd. She stumbled along with them united in the search for normal human flesh to contaminate. Who she’d been before she became infected was forgotten. The fever and the sickness seared all that away. There were occasionally brief flashes of memory from that other life before the infection gripped her. One such flash came to her now as she walked her open sore covered self past the hall by the breakroom.

  The first morning at her dads house after her mom had died. Her dad had made coffee and sat at the table sobbing into his elbow. The girl stopped and sniffed at the air. She struggled to maintain that memory. There’d been a cheap plastic tablecloth that crinkled when you touched it and leftover cake. That fleeting insight into who she was. She was more than this thing that she’d become. The whole episode lasted only a few brief seconds. Her eyes had changed as sanity briefly reared its head. It was too late for her though. The virus induced insanity reared back up and easily beat down the rebellious thoughts. The synapses sparked by the smell of coffee settled back down as the virus attacked the brain again in its endless quest to completely own the host.

  The little girl took a stumbling step away from the break room. A barely perceptible noise causing her to look to her right just in time to see the flash of the blade. Cocking her head to the side as she considered the sharpened metal hurtling towards her head the impulse to screech overcame her. She began to puke out the noise she made whenever she saw something that made her think a human was near. The noise never left her throat. The machete Randy swung at her head buried itself in her brain. She felt the weirdly tingling sensation of the metal slicing through her head. She lost control of everything. Still completely insane she fell to the floor as her lifeblood pooled up around her head. Her journey ended.

  Randy walked past the corpse without a second thought. His mind was going a million miles a minute trying to figure out what to do next. He was so focused on surviving it didn’t even occur to him to feel bad about dropping the little girl Zombie. He’d become immune to murder by this point. Especially the murder of one of the infected. It was why he preferred to think of them as Zombies. A Zombie was a monster you could kill with impunity. An infected person was someone who needed help. You shouldn’t go around smashing open the skulls of people who needed help. Maybe only the sociopaths could survive the apocalypse.

  Randy couldn’t find the guard anywhere. He felt like the man may need help. He was hoping it’d been blind panic that’d caused the guard to shut the door in his face. If the guard had been that pissed about getting stuck here thanks to Randy, then why would he have saved him from the Zombie that’d been riding him like a human bob sled?

  At the other end of the warehouse it sounded like there may be a lot more of the infected hanging out. Rather than risk running into them Randy decided to try and go out the back of the warehouse. He could just as easily sneak around to the water that way. If he could get in the water the men on the pontoons could come and get him or he could swim over to the island. If there weren’t any Zombies by the canoes, then he may be able to snag one of those to get across the lake in style. Moving quickly away from the sounds of the infected Randy headed towards the back of the warehouse.

  He made it to the loading dock area without any issues. Sitting with his back against the large steel doors with his rifle aimed at Randy was the guard.

  “Hey man it’s me!” Randy whispered urgently. He was glad he’d found the guard but the whole situation was giving new meaning to the word awkward.

  “I know. Have a seat. We can sit here and wait to die.” The guard replied in a southern accent tinged with pain.

  “You ok?” Randy asked.

  “Nope. Got bit thanks to you being an idiot. I was sitting back here trying to man myself up enough to put this barrel in my mouth and pull the trigger when you showed up.”

  “Oh man. You want me to look at it? Maybe I can do something. You sure you got bit?” Randy said. This whole situation had just turned a million times more awkward. Especially since Randy knew the guard was right. He’d been stupid and let his kids out of his sight knowing Zombies were on the way. He’d stayed in the warehouse way too long making sure the kids were out. The guard had just been trying to help and was now paying the ultimate price for trying to do the right thing.

  “Honestly you should probably leave since I’m thinking about shooting you. It’s the only thing that’s making me happy right now. You should probably keep your mouth shut and leave.” The guard coughed out.

  Randy nodded and keeping his mouth shut walked towards the loading dock door. There was a wide path of blood under one spot where the door was a bent up a few inches. A few scraps of pink cloth were stuck to the bottom of the door. Randy saw all that and disregarded it. He walked towards the exit door forcing himself not to break into a sprint. He expected to feel bullets tearing his back apart any second. He wondered if he’d even notice if he took a bullet to the head or if everything would just go dark.

  He pushed on the door release bar and the door swung open. Looking out he could just make out the lake through the dense bushes behind the warehouse. There were no Zombies visible on this side of the building. He should have a relatively easy jog to the lake. Then it was just going to be a long swim unless he could find a boat somewhere.

  “I’ll see you in hell.” The voice floated to Randy from a few feet behind him. The cryptic sentence punctuated in the end by a single gunshot. The guard had managed to get the nerve up after all.

&n
bsp; He’d also totally screwed over Randy. Screeches came from all around. Inside and outside of the warehouse an entire herd of Zombies began converging on him. With his pistol in his hand Randy ran towards the lake knowing his life depended on getting in the water and swimming out deep before the Zombies caught him.

  Chapter 33: All In

  Krantz couldn’t see. The air was too thick with dust. He couldn’t hear. The bombs exploding had been beyond loud. The sentry he’d run inside with was gone. The last thing an unbelieving Krantz could remember after the impact was seeing the guards head vaporize. It must’ve been hit by a flying brick or something. The floor was shifting under his feet. Not sure which way was the exit he turned a hundred eighty degrees and blindly felt his way to a wall. He found a door and pushed on it.

  It was stuck. He pushed as hard as he could. It didn’t budge. He backed up and began kicking the push bar until he heard a squeal and the door budged a few inches. He put his shoulder to the door and pushed harder. The rush of outside air into his lungs made him swoon. He sucked on the life-giving air like a man who’d just emerged from a ship sinking into the deep. He pushed hard on the door until he was able to squeeze out. Noises from all around indicated the building he was in might not be standing for very long. He could feel the floor swaying and settling.

  He’d only heard two loud explosions but there could’ve been more. It wouldn’t have taken a lot to knock this hospital outpost down to its knees. It wasn’t like it’d been built to withstand direct missile strikes. Even in an age of terrorism it wasn’t feasible to build to that degree of security.

  The bridge was still there connecting the hospital to the parking lot. The helicopter still sat on the roof of the parking garage. It was his teams rally point if something like this happened. Hoping some of his team were still alive Krantz began the walk across the bridge. It was swaying like a rope bridge over a ravine on a windy day. Paranoid it was going to collapse into the sea of Zombies below at any second he kept his eyes on the prize and moved steadily forward. He was well aware of the futility of making it to the chopper if none of his team showed up who knew how to fly the damned thing.

  One thing at a time though. Worse case if he made it there and no one else ever emerged from the hospital he could die in the air-conditioned front seat. He was pretty sure he could figure out how to get the air conditioning working. There should be supplies in it as well. He’d die in comfort at least if no one came for him. It wasn’t like the tidal wave of Zombies converging on the broken outpost was going to ebb in time for him to be able to hike out of there. Maybe he could make it out in a few nights after everything quieted down.

  He collapsed by the helicopter in a coughing fit. His ears were ringing, and his head was pounding. He sat there working on his breathing while he stared at the bridge willing his men to make it out. He was rewarded as shadowy figures began to emerge from the hospital and cross the bridge. He was reminded of the footage from the World Trade Center bombing as everyone coming out was covered in white powder. It occurred to him as the figures moved across the bridge that they could be the infected coming to eat his ass.

  Forcing himself to his feet he pulled out his pistol and held it loosely in his hand. It was pointless yelling to the people on the bridge as the noise the Zombies were making would override any attempt at a conversation. One of the people on the bridge collapsed. Two of the others picked that one up to help across. Seeing them helping one another Krantz holstered his weapon and jogged over to help. As bad off as he was, he knew the people coming out now had to be worse. If nothing else, they’d been breathing in the asbestos and dust and whatever other crap was floating in the air from the old hospital walls longer than he had.

  Thirty minutes later a small crowd had formed around the helicopter on the roof of the parking garage. More people had made it out than Krantz would’ve ever expected. Of course, anyone who’d survived this far into the apocalypse had to be pretty tough. Most of his crew was out and Forrest had shown up with eight of his men he’d found wandering around the floors. Most of the men had on masks underneath the white powder covering their faces. They also had their weapons with them. A testament to the fact that in this day and age you never got more than a few feet from your go bag.

  Krantz didn’t let it show too much in his face, but he’d been thrilled to see his pilot was one of the people who’d made it out. They started loading everyone into the helicopter. With no real destination in mind they were doing it in a lackadaisical way. Krantz told the pilot to stay off the radio in case transmissions were being monitored. The last thing they needed was the enemy strike force to swing around to swat at them again. They’d been lucky the missiles had all struck the far side of the medical center. It was the only reason so many of them had survived.

  “Hey. Somebody else made it!” One of the men standing by the back of the helicopter yelled out over the noise of the Zombies below. He was pointing at a man limping jerkily across the bridge.

  Three of the men waiting to board the helicopter jogged across the top of the garage to help the man. Krantz watched and realized a second before everyone else that the man coming across the bridge was probably infected. The men who’d gone to help the man realized it too late. The dust covered figure lunged forward and attached himself to one of their arms. Ripping into it lustily and taking a big bite of bloody flesh. Both of the other men who’d run out to help jumped backward hurriedly pulling out weapons. They blasted away at both the Zombie and the man who’d just been bitten until they were both down.

  More figures appeared on the bridge moving with inhuman speed through the dust and grime. Krantz ordered the men to get out and get into defensive mode. The pilot was rushing to make sure everything was ready to get the helicopter in the air. The two men over by the bridge were running back for the helicopter now. One of them was dragged down by a couple of adrenalized Zombies who’d bunny hopped their way across the bridge. The three men who’d gotten out to guard their flank while the pilot got ready to fly started taking shots. The lone survivor of the ill-fated rescue attempt made it past the men firing at the Zombies and leapt into the back of the chopper.

  Forrest was yelling for everyone to get back in now. The pilot was ready to take off. The men jumped back in the chopper immediately positioning themselves to continue firing at the Zombies running across the top of the parking garage towards them. The pilot began lifting them into the air as Zombies streamed under the helicopter. Several leaping up to grab at it. The soldiers fired nonstop into the beasts until they were high enough to be out of reach. Even then they kept a watch out the windows.

  “Where to sir?” The pilot asked over the helmet communications system.

  “Hey Forrest. You got your ears on?” Krantz asked ignoring the pilots question for the moment.

  “Yes sir.” Forrest answered.

  “Any places around here you think may be safe to set down?” Krantz asked. He knew all the locations of the closest outposts that would support the helicopter but there was no easy way to know if they were still standing or not. If the north had been able to find out about Iron Turtle, they may have bombed all of the other outposts as well. Or even worse be planning to bomb them and not show up until after Krantz and crew had arrived. He really didn’t feel like having bombs dropped on his head twice in the same day if he could avoid it.

  “Not off the top of my head sir. Assuming the same places you’re already thinking of. We need somewhere we can supply as well as get you on comms to coordinate a response.” Forrest said.

  Krantz sighed and closed his eyes for a second to collect his thoughts. Forrest was right of course. They couldn’t just set down and rest for a minute while the military he was the commander of got it’s ass handed to them by the enemy. It was time to turn all his thoughts and planning into action. It was time to go toe to toe. If they didn’t then they’d continue to get picked apart by these surgical air strikes. No more half measures. No more reward programs for spy s
nipers. It was time to go all in and launch their own strikes.

  Krantz leaned back in his chair after ordering the pilot to head toward one of the facilities that he knew had just gotten hooked up with the latest technology. He needed to get in communication with the Senator. They’d been prepping for this course of action already so all that remained was giving the orders to set it in motion. It’d require mobilizing all of their men not needed for guarding existing camps to begin moving into strike positions. It’d require a hearty group of men to drive trucks hauling tanks up interstates crawling with the infected.

  Gone were his ethical dilemmas and doubts. The north kept attacking and punishing them even as they prepared to flee the land that the Brotherhood wanted to claim. The north better hope they’d done a great job on this last air strike because now the gloves were off. Unless they’d suffered an overwhelming number of casualties in this latest attack, they’d have thousands of men in North Carolina within the week. They’d sweep the settlements there before descending on the carrier and the rest of Virginia. The people of the north could either get on their boat and sail away or die. It no longer mattered which course they chose to Krantz.