Crawlerz | Book 4 | From The Ashes

by Merritt, R. S.

  That much needed nap was interrupted at around one in the afternoon when Jeff returned with food and coffee. Drew was going around waking everyone up. He’d already taken the blankets off the windows to let the light into the room. If Jeff hadn’t been lugging a big jumbo sized container of coffee the situation could’ve gone downhill very quickly. Between the Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies and the fresh meat platter though he was quickly forgiven. Drew made it known to one and all that he’d gotten up and helped Jeff hump all this stuff up the three flights of stairs to their room.

  “My hero.” Lisa said giving him a kiss before dunking the jumbo sized cookie into her steaming hot mug of coffee. She was hoping the black coffee would absorb some of the cream flavor from the snack cake.

  Once the food was gone Drew left to return the containers to the kitchen. The plate of freshly cooked meat had been especially well received. One thing the country didn’t have a shortage of now that the human population had been drastically reduced was game animals. Deer, turkey, wild pigs, bears and pretty much anything else you could think of could now be found wandering down the middle of overgrown city streets in broad daylight. LeBron had always wondered if the infected consumed those animals as well or if their hunger was reserved for uninfected humans only.

  “Hey Jeff. When do you think I might be able to check out those videos we talked about?” LeBron asked.

  “You can go as soon as we’re done here if you want. I’ve told them to give you full access to everything. They also have a highlights reel they’ve been working on with some of the key observations. I’d start with that one if I was you.” Jeff answered.

  “Excellent. I can’t wait to see that stuff. There’s just so many questions.” LeBron said. He got up and walked over to the cot he’d slept on to grab the iPhone he’d put his notes on. He wanted to make sure he didn’t forget anything. Especially if he’d be leaving immediately afterwards to go check out the videos.

  “I have a question while we’re waiting on Drew to get back.” Yue said. She paused to wait for Jeff’s full attention. “What happened to us having the day off? This kind of seems like working.” She said once her boyfriend had focused on her.

  “You got the day off from any of the thousand manual labor kind of tasks everyone chips in on around here. The big one being scraping body parts off the ground outside and taking them to be burnt. As to what we’re doing now you can look at it more as a dinner party with lots of interesting conversation around your observations so far. There really isn’t a ton of time to mess around. We lost two men last night in a way that we should’ve been able to prevent. If we can come up with ways to save lives, then the sooner the better.” Jeff said. There was no real arguing with that.

  LeBron began the conversation by walking them through the ideas he’d had since getting there. The very first subject he broached was his theory on the nightmare images that radiated out from the crawlerz. Once he’d said it out loud there was a collective sigh of understanding. It may only be a theory, but it felt like the right answer to everyone. They were all at a loss as to how the information could help them in their fight against the infected though. Hopefully by understanding where the images being forced into their brains were coming from it would make them a little less terrifying.

  Encouraged by how well his first point had been taken LeBron launched into his next bullet. Attempting to kill millions of crawlerz by having snipers shooting at them one at a time was stupid. Ground level armored machine gun nests would be a much better idea. If they needed to conserve ammunition, then they should be rigging up claymores to set off throughout the night whenever the crawler party started getting heated. The main issue with explosives was that the bait for the crawlerz was people. It was easier to be surgical with a sniper rifle than with a bunch of C-4.

  Snaring crawlerz and trapping them to be dispatched once the sun came up were two more ideas Lebron was mulling over. Jeff filled him in that they were doing that in certain areas. They’d setup places the infected could crawl into when the sun was coming up. They swept those places every morning and killed whatever they caught. It was still hideously slow going. A long and dangerous war where the enemy could suffer a thousand casualties to every one of theirs and still come out ahead.

  LeBron’s final notes were mostly just brainstormed ideas on how to protect humanity while killing as many of the infected as possible. Jeff stopped him when he started talking about digging massive pits and putting land mines and spikes in them. Once he’d verified that was the last bit LeBron had to say he looked around to get impressions and ideas from everyone else.

  “Why don’t we all just go live on an island? Maybe take over Australia or Cuba or something?” Lisa asked.

  “That sounds good to me mon. Hammocks and Ganja on a Jamaican beach versus getting ripped into pieces and eaten.” Harley said. It was his first contribution to the conversation since asking if there were any more cookies anywhere.

  “Sounds good to me too but it’s not the mission.” Jeff said.

  “Why do we care about the mission exactly?” Lisa asked. She didn’t say it in a confrontational way. She was genuinely curious. It’s not like she felt bound by her elementary school pledge of allegiance recitations. The star spangled banner belonged to another time and place as far as she was concerned.

  Jeff opened his mouth to speak then shut it again. It was hard to argue with the two punch combo he’d just received. To be honest why shouldn’t they be trying to find an island somewhere to live on? Why should they risk killing themselves to reclaim the United States? For that matter why should he. He knew for a fact the POTUS would be happy to hear he’d died. The only reason he hadn’t already been killed was because he had some powerful friends in the military who thought he had some good ideas. That could all change at any time though so why weren’t they reading up on how to operate a sailboat?

  “I feel responsible. My job was to come up with ways to avoid the massive mess we’re in. I failed. I’m going to stay and make it right. That’s why I care about the mission. None of you carry that kind of weight. I wouldn’t blame you if you took off. It’s probably the smart thing to do in your cases. We’re most likely going to die trying to do the impossible.” Jeff said thoughtfully. It was the first time he’d ever put it all out there like that.

  “I’m not going anywhere unless you pull that shed crap again.” Yue said. She got up and embraced Jeff. She’d seen how he started to tear up when he admitted to having failed more people than he could ever atone for. He was a good man. It didn’t surprise her that he felt the weight of all those lives lost. She saw how one way for him to make up for it was to succeed at protecting those who’d survived.

  “I’m with Yue.” LeBron stated simply. Drew looked at Lisa who nodded.

  “Same here. We’re staying for now.” Drew said. Everyone turned their heads to look at Harley.

  “I get sick on boats and I’m way too big for a hammock.” Harley said.

  “Ok. So what next?” Drew asked rubbing his hands together.

  “We come up with better ways to kill more of the crawlerz. We come up with solid designs for secure places to live. We figure out how to safely grow food and salvage building supplies. We take our country back.” Jeff said. He must’ve realized he was being borderline melodramatic since he coughed and spun around to ‘go find something to drink’.

  The ideas they came up with had their own sets of hurdles. They needed someone who understood explosives. They needed people who could build stuff. They needed supplies and time. Jeff filled up a notebook with all the ideas and needs and wants they came up with. By the time they’d exhausted their creativity it was beginning to get dark. They’d already agreed that no soldiers should be put on the roof that night. If they were correct about the crawlerz then the roof was just going to get overrun again anyway.

  Jeff left to set things in motion on the ideas they’d come up with. He took LeBron with him since he was still adamant about wan
ting to watch the videos. Everyone else was looking forward to a crawler free night. Drew was busy pushing his cot and Lisa’s over into a corner so they could have some privacy. Harley pulled out a book to read and Yue inventoried her gear while waiting for Jeff to come back. She’d agreed she’d hang out with him for the evening once he was done for the day. She thought it was pretty cool that if any of those ideas worked then the world would owe it’s survival to her little brother. LeBron hadn’t had all the ideas, but he’d had the best ones. He’d also thought to ask questions that hadn’t even occurred to the rest of them.

  She was wondering what LeBron was seeing in the videos as she walked over to look out the window. It was definitely dark out now. The lights that normally lit up the area outside had not been turned on. There were no tower snipers deployed for the evening. No firework shows to attract the attention of the indigent infected. The goal for the evening was to rest. To do their best not to attract any attention. To that end they’d pulled everyone inside. The third floor was lights out at dusk. Yue had to pull a blanket out of the way to even look outside.

  She leaned against the section of chain link fences bolted to the wall inside the classroom. It was mirrored by another section of chain link fence that’d been bolted to the outside of the window. The fence had been what’d given the crawlerz the ability to get to the roof the previous night. It was why they weren’t putting men on the roof tonight. The following day they were going to replace the chain link on the outside with bolted on sheet metal instead. Something strong enough to keep the crawlerz out that wouldn’t allow them to get a good grip like the fence gave them.

  Yue turned to walk back to her cot. She was thinking she’d go find a place to brush her teeth before Jeff came back when there was a smashing sound from the window behind her. It was followed a few seconds later by another smashing sound against the other window in the room. Yue forced herself to breathe. The crawlerz had come back after all. They were recreating the tactic that’d gotten them to the roof the previous night. Only this time when they got up there, they’d find there weren’t any more victims to be had.

  She sat down on her cot making sure her weapons were all nearby. Louder, more abrasive noises drifted to them from outside. The next sound was that of one of their windows shattering. She heard a man screaming in pain out in the hallway. She turned around to look that way then flipped her head back to the windows in their room when she heard a shotgun go off behind her. Harley was standing in front of one of the windows where the blanket had started bouncing around. He was racking another shell and moving towards the other window.

  Chapter 7: The Red Kool-Aid

  The blanket covering the window fell off revealing an enraged crawler silhouetted against the night sky. The crawler was doing its best to rip the chain link fence apart so it could get at the people it sensed in the room. Yue shot it in the forehead before Harley could make it back over to that window. He’d been running in between the two large windows playing whack-a-zombie with his tactical shotgun.

  “You stay on that window! Drew, go figure out what the hell is going on in the hallway! Lisa watch our backs!” Yue ordered moving forward to cover the other window. As if by magic a crawler drifted into the window frame. It balanced on the tiny ledge and began ripping away at the fence. Before it could do any real damage, Yue gave the beast a nine millimeter lobotomy.

  “We need to go!” Drew came running back into the room. Behind him came the sound of automatic weapons ripping up the hallway. There was no need to ask them twice. There was nothing for them to pack. They all lived out of their backpacks. Slinging their gear across their shoulders they followed Drew out into the hallway.

  Then they spun around and ran right back into the classroom. The hallway was filled with bullets and blood. Silent crawlerz charged from one end of the hallway into the rifle volleys coming from the men standing further down the hallway. Drew had seen a mix of refugees and soldiers rushing past when he went out. In the thirty seconds he’d spent back in the room waiting for them to be ready to follow him the hallway had gone from traversable to a death trap. It wasn’t like they could nicely ask the people in the hall to stop shooting so they could get out. Not in the darkness and confusion.

  “What a cluster.” Yue said. A shotgun blast from behind her a stark reminder that they still had two big entrances for crawlerz to attack them from. This time she ordered Drew to take the other window. She yelled for them to try not to shoot the actual chain part of the chain link fence. Any weakness in that barrier would only allow the crawlerz to get in quicker. Harley and Drew both nodded with very limited enthusiasm. Standing that close to the fence to shoot wasn’t going to be fun. They reluctantly moved to within an arm’s reach of the barriers to save the fences.

  “No way we go out this way anytime soon.” Lisa called out to Yue. Lisa was down on one knee near the door. She’d cracked it open to peek out and then slammed it shut again immediately. The hallway was turning into a meat grinder.

  “Options!” A frustrated Yue yelled out. She had nothing personally. She hoped someone was able to come up with something. She was fully prepared to kick Drew right between the legs if he dared say something along the lines of teleportation, miracles, or made any sort of superhero references. He must have sensed her frustration because he made a quick gesture instead of answering verbally.

  It was way too noisy for using words anyway. He’d simply pointed at the tiled ceiling overhead. It was way overhead. It might very well be their only option though. She wanted to give him a big hug and ruffle his hair or something. Instead she found herself trying to figure out how to access the ceiling that soared an additional nine feet over her head. The obvious solution was currently playing tug of war with his rifle against an infected woman with straggly hair down to her dirt covered thighs. Framed against the glow of the nighttime sky the crawler looked like Cousin It.

  Harley had stuck the barrel of his shotgun through the chain link to avoid breaking any more pieces of the barrier off when he shot. The fence on his side was already looking pretty rough. When Cousin It jumped onto the ledge, he’d blown off a big chunk of her thigh with his first shot. The hippie haired freak hadn’t even flinched. She’d just grabbed the barrel of his shotgun and started whacking it around like a hyperactive toddler with a sparkler. Harley lost his grip on the shotgun when Yue put the barrel of her pistol near the top of the mound of hair and pulled the trigger a few times.

  “Too close!” He yelled hopping back with his hand clapped over his ear. In retrospect Yue supposed putting the gun right next to him like that may have been a little callous. She had neither the time nor the inclination to apologize to him though.

  “You’re supposed to kill them not hand them your gun! I need you to go get on the desk and see if you can get up into the ceiling. We need a way out.” Yue shouted the order to be heard over all the background noise. She was wondering if she’d maybe made Harley deaf by shooting so close. The big guy still had his hand firmly clasped over his ringing ear. She started to yell out what she wanted him to do again. He stopped her by nodding and walking quickly towards the big desk in the front of the room.

  Yue positioned herself in front of the window Harley had been guarding. She was half looking at the window and half trying to make out what Harley was doing. The beam from his little flashlight was jerking around like he was trying to get a rave started. Made sense considering the drugs he’d probably taken when he thought he had a full night free. He was barely sober during the days when he did know he was going to have to focus.

  Drew fired a couple times out his window while roaring out a challenge to whatever beastie had hopped up and managed to freak him out. All that sudden noise and motion from that direction while Yue was already looking in two other directions freaked her out. She glanced over in the direction of Drew to make sure he was ok. While checking on Drew she completely missed the shadowy form that suddenly filled her own window frame.

  She je
rked her head back around as the creature in the frame hurled itself hard against the fence. The fence that’d already been subjected to some serious abuse. The muscular crawler smashed through the fence onto Yue. She went over backwards with her pistol in the monster’s stomach. She pulled the trigger multiple times as she was slammed hard into the floor. Her last conscious thought being that she was never going to live it down if she‘d just gotten yet another concussion.

  Lisa rushed forward to slam a serrated six inch blade into the side of the monster’s neck. She prayed she’d gotten there before it’d had the opportunity to sink its teeth into any part of her friend and potential sister in law. She ripped the blade out and buried it in the broad back spread out in front of her. She started shoving the disgustingly warm bloody carcass off of Yue. Before she’d gotten a good enough purchase to push it off, she felt something blocking the moonlight. Looking up she saw another of the merciless enemy in the window. It leapt for her.

  She had no time to get to her other weapons so she ripped the knife out of the corpses back and thrust it in the air as hard as she could. She aimed for where she thought the things face was going to be. Luckily Drew had already started moving towards her when he saw the fence get ripped apart by the crawler lying in a pile on top of Yue. He glimpsed the shadowy form in midleap and promptly sprayed a burst of three rounds in the space between Lisa and the flying freak. In this kind of combat there was no time to think. Only to act.