This is the End 2: The Post-Apocalyptic Box Set (9 Book Collection)

by J. Thorn

  “It was going great…until one of them creepers under a truck reached out and tripped me,” Sammi slurred. She was getting worse. “I landed on my canteen and knocked the wind out of myself. All I could do was lay there helpless while that sumbitch gnawed on my leg.”

  “Your luck is terrible.” I shook my head in disbelief.

  “Yeah…well it seems to be contagious,” Jon spoke up. “Of course Sammi here is obviously immune. We wouldn’t have rescued her otherwise.” I briefly wondered at what point he’d made that determination. Had he watched her for a while on top of the RV? “And when we finally got her moving, which took a while since she wouldn’t let us touch her at all.”

  “I might not’ve turned, but the infection is in my blood,” Sammi spoke up again as we climbed the stairs to the house. “If y’all woulda had any cuts, you’d be done for.”

  “That’s news,” I said, shaking my head. Again I was curious as to what bit of information had led her to such a discovery.

  “We couldn’t move fast enough to shake ‘em,” Jamie offered, sounding apologetic. “We tried doubling back, you name it. We just couldn’t give ‘em the slip.”

  “Because of me,” Sammi said sadly.

  “What have we got?” Dr. Zahn stepped out on to the porch. Sunshine must’ve been thorough when she found the doc and gave a report because Dr. Zahn was already in gloves and scrubs.

  “She’s lost a lot of blood,” Jon reported.

  “Obviously,” Dr. Zahn said with a dismissive wave as she took Sammi by the arm and led her back to the former pantry that now served as her makeshift triage space. The door closed, but not before I saw Sunshine hooked up to a blood bag.

  “They can’t be more than twenty minutes behind us.” Jon turned to me. “We might be able to take the leading edge of this mob with handhelds, but I’d be surprised if we get fewer than two hundred.”

  “Jamie,” I turned to the young man, “go disable the trip wires on the perimeter flares. No sense wasting them since we know they’re coming. Billy is in the tower; take him with you.”

  “I’m on it.” He nodded and left on the run.

  “Melissa and the girls are at the stream,” I told Jon. “Get them up here. I’ll put Teresa in the tower, she’s the best shot.”

  “Fine,” Jon agreed. “Then I’ll help with the disabling of the flare trips and get set up to meet the leading edge.”

  “Good, I’ll—”

  “Stay up here,” he cut me off. “You will need to make certain that everybody is ready. Get all hands loading every single spare magazine we have.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing; you’re on crutches, Steve. It’ll be enough for me to watch our junior Rambos and ensuring that they retreat before it gets too ugly. I can’t be watching over you, too.”

  He was right. I didn’t like it, but it was true. I nodded and he gave me a consoling pat on the shoulder before turning to go.

  I cursed my injury…again as I made my way to the weapons room. Sitting on the now useless toilet, I went to work. A few minutes later, Melissa arrived.

  “I brought help.” She opened the door to reveal Thalia and Emily. With much more enthusiasm than I felt, they went to work shoving rounds into magazines.

  This is what I’d been reduced to: loading duty with the little girls. Try as I might, it was becoming increasingly difficult to not spiral into self-pity. As we worked, I marveled at how fast and competent both Thalia and Emily were at loading. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that Thalia was the fastest six-year-old girl for miles when it came to that activity.

  A knock at the door snapped us out of our repetitive action trances. I looked up to see Dr. Zahn standing in the doorway. “She didn’t make it,” the doctor announced. “I spiked her so she wouldn’t get back up. We need to toss the body as soon as possible.”

  “Who died?” Melissa looked up with alarm.

  “The gal Jon and Jamie brought back with them,” I said. “She was pretty chewed up…but was immune. Unfortunately, she’d lost a lot of blood by the time they got her here. Poor gal had some of the worst luck I’ve ever heard of.”

  “That’s too bad,” Melissa sighed. After a pause, she asked, “Is it me, or are we becoming desensitized to people dying. I don’t feel a thing.”

  A gunshot rang out making everybody jump and keeping anyone from responding to her query. With my usual awkwardness, I was the last one to my feet and out of the room. Everybody had grabbed an assortment of weapons and rushed to the front porch. I slung a pair of rifles over my shoulders and followed.

  The popcorn-like sounds of gunfire were picking up. All the shooting did not bode well. Seeing all the slumped shoulders of the crowd gathered at the window sure didn’t help.

  Just then, the door flew open. It was Billy, and he was panting heavily. “Jon says that anybody who can shoot needs to get out here before the main body makes it to the driveway leading up.”

  I followed out onto the porch after I told Emily to go and bring up more of the weapons and loaded magazines. As I stepped outside, I saw them. They were pouring through the tree line in numbers too big to count. I had no idea how many had fallen to the countless pits and traps we’d set in the woods, but it wasn’t enough. The berm-bordered road was already clogged with a sludge-like tide of walking death. Jon and Jamie were firing down into it. I couldn’t tell if it was helping or not.

  They’d found us.

  16

  Win some…lose some…

  “I’m out!” I yelled over the sounds of gunfire and the moans of the undead. Dr. Zahn handed me another rifle. “Thanks, now set as many loaded ones as you have, then take Thalia and Emily up to the tower with Teresa.” She opened her mouth as if to protest, but thought better of it and quickly nodded.

  I returned my attention to the horde’s leading edge that had figured out following the road would make it easier for them to make progress toward their goal: us. At least fifty were limping up the slope. I sighted one in my scope and pulled the trigger. The back of its skull exploded, splattering the ones behind it. When it fell, it took the legs out from under a few of its brethren. I didn’t have time to enjoy the effects of my shot, I simply moved to the next.

  “Jamie, no!” I heard from above.

  Looking in the general direction I had last seen him and Jon, I saw why Teresa screamed. Jamie had lost his footing and slid down the back side of the berm. The good news was that he hadn’t slipped into the space between the two berms which was packed with those things standing shoulder to shoulder. The bad news was that there were still plenty of walking dead coming from the fields.

  Both Jon and Jamie had run out of bullets long ago and were using handheld weapons. Jamie was on his back, holding one of those things at bay by the throat. Then, suddenly, its head rocked and it collapsed. I couldn’t clearly see his expression, but I could see that Jamie was looking this way. Teresa had taken the shot. He pushed the body aside and scrambled up the berm. Twice more, zombies that tried in vain to crawl up and get ahold of Jamie’s legs fell to Teresa’s sniper fire.

  “The barricade isn’t working!” Sunshine pointed.

  Of course it wasn’t, I thought. It was designed to keep out a few, maybe even twenty or so of those things. When we’d started digging the trench, I’d given the instructions to leave the narrow roadway intact. My thinking was that it would allow us to drive a vehicle up to the house if we ever had the need. In saving us a few minutes of walking, I’d provided the only way that those things could make it all the way up.

  Almost on cue, the large metal gate from up the road where the actual entrance to this campground existed and had been relocated to our encampment, folded over. The way was still narrow, but far too many of those things were trudging up the path. Jon and Jamie yelled needless warnings. Actually, from my vantage point, they were now the safest of all.

  “Fire into the front!” I yelled. “If we can stack ‘em, it’ll slow down their advance.”
r />   I watched as the leading element that had been condensed between the berms stepped out onto that little piece of road; the piece I’d suggested we keep intact. Of course, plenty of them tumbled off either side and into the trench. Also, many of those that had trudged across the open fields had reached our trench and, as more of their numbers came up from behind, tumbled in.

  I emptied my rifle, but it felt like trying to stem the flow of a busted dam with a roll of paper towels. The only thing positive that I could see at this point was that it looked like the main body was fully upon us. Only a few stragglers were coming up the road where it emptied into the campground and plunged between the berms. Singles and small clusters continued to emerge from the trees, but it looked like the majority of this herd was currently gathered around us. Of course, the problem now was how we would deal with what we were facing.

  “What the hell are Jamie and Jon doing?” Melissa yelled.

  Both men had run down the length of their berm and were back by the entrance. Each one was moving into the open field. All of the zombies near them had turned and followed the closer prey. However, it just wasn’t enough to matter. Maybe a couple of dozen had taken the bait, but those were from the number that would eventually reach the trench. It was the few hundred coming up the narrow roadway that was the concern.

  “Don’t worry about them!” I yelled back. “I want you to get inside. Tell Dr. Zahn and Teresa to transfer food, water, and ammo up to the tower.”

  “And put it where?” Melissa argued as she swapped out magazines in the pair of M4s at her feet.

  “I don’t care if you stack it on the roof,” I replied. “If those things get inside, maybe they’ll get bored and leave if you guys stay quiet.”

  “What do you mean ‘you guys’?” Sunshine asked before Melissa had the chance.

  “There’s no way in hell I can climb that ladder with my leg.”

  “But—” Brad started to protest.

  “But nothing,” I snapped. “We don’t have time for this! Keep shooting; every one of those things you don’t take out is one more I’ll have to deal with.”

  “I’ll stay with Steve,” Billy said grimly. “But he’s right…more shooting, less talking.”

  I resumed firing, and eventually everybody else joined in. The bridge—that’s what I now called the section of road that remained intact and allowed those cursed monsters to continue their march to our bastion—was littered with corpses that would walk no more. Still, far too many continued in their steady approach with the certainty of the tide.

  The door flew open and Teresa stepped out, “What the hell is this crap about you staying down here?”

  “I can’t make the climb.”

  “Then we’ll—”

  “NO!” I yelled cutting her off. “And there isn’t going to be a discussion. No more picking and choosing when I am the leader. I need to know that, if something happens to me, and you can bet that I’ll be fighting till the end, I have to know that Thalia and Emily will be taken care of. Now get your ass back in that tower!”

  Tears filled Teresa’s eyes. She opened her mouth, then closed it again and leaned in to kiss my cheek. I returned the gesture kissing her forehead.

  “Here they come!” Fiona called.

  “Go.” I nudged Teresa and turned back to the problem at hand.

  Just as Fiona had said, they were indeed rounding the corner and were coming for us. I surveyed the scene and made a decision.

  “Fiona, Billy, Brad, Sunshine,” I called over the gunfire. They stopped and looked at me expectantly. I could see it in their faces. They actually believed that I would have an answer, a solution. “Form a line at the head of the driveway. Once they reach the parking lot, they can fan out again. We need to take down as many as possible before they reach the top of this hill.”

  To their credit, I could see each of them swallow their fear. Each brought an M4 and as many loaded magazines as they could scoop up and carry—seven or eight apiece—before they headed down the stairs. I, on the other hand, was confined to the porch. Since I couldn’t shoot over the heads of my companions, I returned my attention to the bridge. At the least, I could slow down their advance. Hopefully, this would allow my improvised firing squad to bring down enough so that when we had to switch to close-in fighting, we stood a chance.

  As I reloaded, I scanned the fields for a sign of Jon or Jamie. Apparently both had sought the relative safety of the woods. I was sure that Jon had a plan and that he and Jamie were up to something. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that might be. I was just grateful that they were out there. If I fell, at least I would die knowing that Jon would eventually come to the rescue.

  A roaring engine brought my attention back to the road that emerged from the woods. There was a loud ‘BRRRP’ from a heavy machinegun as a military Jeep with a .50 caliber mounted in back skidded to a stop just past where our night watch stand sat.

  Jake Beebe stood in the driver’s seat and brought an M16 to his shoulder. He commenced firing into the rear of the mob that was packed in between the berms while Jesus Sanchez practically vaporized them with the .50 caliber. Once they’d cut down a huge number, Jake dropped back down behind the wheel and moved forward, rolling over the carpet of fallen corpses. Zombies being what they are, many of those that had just moments ago been heading our way, turned to face their final demise.

  Like a piece of taffy, the mob began to pull apart at the center. The good news was that more of them were turning to face the barrage from the Jeep. The bad news was that we’d still have to face a frightening number up here. The leading edge was almost to the little parking lot in front of the Visitor’s Center—our home. My four-person firing squad was backing up steadily. They would be forced to switch to handguns and personal handheld weapons any time now.

  “Fan out!” I called. “Try to keep them in front of you. Brad, stick with Sunshine; Billy, you stay with Fiona and watch each other’s back.”

  As much as I wanted to watch Jake and Jesus, I was needed right here. I could now be selecting targets without being a danger to my friends. Switching to my .45, I moved down the rail of the porch. I knew that if those things made it past the parking lot, I’d be cut off from the house; that couldn’t be helped. The slide locked back as I emptied the first of my five magazines.

  A handful of heartbeats later, I was reloaded and selecting targets once more. The others were switching to their hand-to-hand weapons as the zombies were now in the small parking lot. Trying to shoot them amidst the melee was too dangerous. It was obvious that Sunshine was the least adept of the bunch, so I kept most of my attention on the zombies around her.

  As I slammed my last magazine home and let the slide jack forward, I noticed that it had grown strangely quiet. Looking around, I spotted Jesus and Jake at the bridge. They’d cleared the road all that way! At some point they’d gotten out of the jeep to clear the mess of bodies and body parts off the bridge to enable their crossing. I also noted that our trench was a roiling sea of undead.

  The ‘Fearsome Foursome’ had methodically eliminated the zombies that managed to get this far. Now, everybody seemed unsure as to what to do. Down in the fields I could see several stragglers still wandering this way. But the worst of the threat was over…and we’d survived. Looking at all the corpses littering the ground, I was awestruck. It seemed like we’d overcome an impossible situation.

  Part of my mind refused to accept it. It seemed too incredible to fathom that we’d just faced so many of those things without suffering a single casualty. Then I began to search for any sign of Jon or Jamie. A small nugget of uncertainty began to grow in my gut. With the sound of gunfire gone, I could hear my companions talking as they moved through the carnage in order to ensure that the ones that were down would stay that way. I could hear the Jeep idling somewhere down the driveway. They were just around the corner by the sounds of it. Part of me truly wanted to hope, to believe, that we’d survived this latest horror. However, past exp
erience would not let me. There had to be another shoe that would drop any minute now and cause pain, grief, and heartbreak.

  The door to the house opened; out stepped Melissa, Dr. Zahn, Teresa, and the girls. Each of them was carrying a weapon; even Thalia who clutched a hammer in one tiny fist. Something felt odd and then I realized I was smiling.

  “Papi!” Thalia squealed and hurried over to me, careful to hug me on the side of my good leg. “Did we win?” She looked up at me expectantly.

  “I think so, Princess,” I said, looking up at the others. “I really think so.”

  The sound of the Jeep pulling up brought everybody’s heads around. Jesus stood in the rear, a big grin on his face. As Jake put the vehicle in park, he leaned down and opened the passenger door. A fuzzy-eared Border Collie came bounding out and scrabbled up to a shrieking Thalia.

  “Somebody missed his master,” Jesus said.

  I felt a nudge at my side. Emily had come to stand beside me. I put my arm around her shoulder and holstered my pistol. I noticed she was holding a hand axe. As odd as it seemed, I made a note to myself to ensure that she would learn how to use that weapon effectively.

  “Where’s Jon and Jamie?” Emily looked up at me and asked.

  “They’re doing a sweep of the woods,” Jake answered as he trudged up the stairs. “We actually passed them on the way in.”

  “Thank God you guys showed up!” Fiona exclaimed, still clutching a dripping machete.

  “We heard the gunfire and hauled a—” Jesus started, then glanced at Thalia who was scratching Buster’s exposed belly; a sight that couldn’t help but remind me of my dog Pluck. “We came in a hurry,” he amended.

  “You got here in the nick of time.” Sunshine glanced down at the blade in her hand and dropped it with a disgusted shiver.