Perhaps Cumberland was a last stand for the local government? We were almost to the old train station and Cumberland, Museum. The SUV only had to make it a hundred yards and we could go to the right and escape across the railroad tracks.
With the front tires shedding themselves on the pavement, our alloy rims were already throwing up sparks on the sidewalk. But, we were almost past the train depot. Karen jinked right as we passed the building and came to a screeching halt. We couldn't cross the tracks. A train was stopped just past the crossing.
We were screwed.
Our front tires were completely gone. The path ahead was blocked by abandoned official vehicles. Zombies were shambling towards us from the front, left, and rear. A parked railroad train blocked our retreat to the right.
"Bail and run for the locomotive!" I yelled.
I got out and stabbed the first Zombie I saw in the forehead. Then, seeing a solid wall of Zombies coming to the driver's side, I yelled, "Karen get out on my side!"
There were already zombies reaching their bony claw-like fingers through the busted rear window of the Highlander. Vijay crawled out of the rear passenger-side door. He pulled on Charan’s torso, but several zombies were pulling on the wounded man's feet. I went to the back of the truck and pulled my pistol.
Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! I shot three zombies in the head and one in the shoulder.
"Try now!" I yelled to Vijay.
Vijay and Karen were able to pull the barely conscious Charan out through the rear passenger door and struggled to get him on his feet. Karen grabbed one of Charan's shoulders and Vijay grabbed the other. Together they walked and dragged him towards the rear of the diesel locomotive.
The zombies were all around us, but most were advancing towards us in a semi-circle. They didn't have a tactic other than to advance relentlessly. The horde was thick and unrelenting. I fired deliberate headshots and dropped them one by one. More fell by tripping over the corpses of front rank zombies. We were at the train when I fired the last shot from my magazine. With no time to reload, I shoved my pistol pistol awkwardly into its cheap nylon holster but I couldn’t get the nylon strap to snap shut. I couldn’t mess with it. It was time to go.
Karen climbed up onto the locomotive and tried to pull Charan up while Vijay pushed. They weren't having much luck so I grabbed Charan by the waist and threw him up onto the locomotive. While Vijay clambered up the steps to the locomotive, I turned to face the horde. I drew my knife again, grabbed the closest zombie, stabbed him in the throat, and shoved him at other zombies.
I whirled and started to clamber up the steps. Zombies were clutching at my shoes, pants, belt, and gun. I felt the pistol fall away from my holster and hit the gravel rail bed below with a sickening thud and then slide over rocks. I’ll bet it was scratched.
"Leave it," Karen said firmly in a tone she typically reserved for our dog.
There we were. No car. No gun. Surrounded by a thousand zombies.
Chapter 40
As zombies continued to surround the motionless locomotive, Karen decided to cry.
"It's going to be o.k.," I said.
"If you would have taken that job in Silicon Valley when the head hunter called we wouldn't be surrounded by Zombies right now," she lamented.
I checked the door. It was still locked and the zombies were still outside. I felt bad and thought about joining them. Instead I double checked the doors.
"Let's leave IT, Headhunters, short-term employment, and H1B competition in the past." I said. "We're full-time Zombie killers now."
"Well, you're still an A-hole."
"But I'm your A-hole."
"You know," Vijay interjected uncomfortably, looking up from a greasy papers in a three ring binder. "I think we can start the engine and actually move this train."
"That sounds like a plan!" I said.
"I'm glad somebody was smart enough to think of reading the frigging manual," Karen added glancing my way.
Chapter 41
It took a little while to figure out how to start the locomotive. We had to read the manual and then actually find the referenced gauges, dials, and switches. There were fuel pumps to activate and we had to figure out how to uncouple from the train without leaving the cab. The sun was getting low in the western sky when the big diesel finally roared to life.
With a little luck at the controls, we were able to drop the train behind us and start moving down the tracks. Since we were eager to get away from the huge mass of Zombies, we poured on speed. Fortunately for us, the Zombies on the running boards had no remnant of human common sense. Instead of grabbing the handrails or staying low to maintain their balance, they simply started falling off of the fast moving diesel.
As we passed a darkened railroad signal, I began to wonder what lay ahead of us down the tracks. Perhaps the train was stopped in Cumberland for a reason?
"Hey Vijay," I said. "We should slow down!"
"Why? We are making progress."
"The traffic control signals for trains are out. There may be a train stopped on the track ahead."
Vijay throttled back and we settled into a slower cruising speed of about twenty miles per hour. We finally had a moment to breathe. The sun was setting in the red skies to the west. The tracks ahead of us had a silver glow. We were leaving all the zombies of Cumberland town center behind.
Chapter 42
At twenty, the locomotive crawled along giving us plenty us plenty of time to contemplate the city around us. On our left, Marietta Road ran parallel to the tracks. It linked Marietta and the City of Atlanta. Before the Zombies, Marietta Road had been a popular way for commuters to sneak into the city without hitting the highway. Now, it was filled with groups of wandering zombies.
On our right, we soon had Air Force Reserve Base, the aircraft plant, and a variety of light industrial establishments. All were quiet and dark. Even the runway lights were off.
"I'd give anything to see that damn plane," Karen observed.
The Reserve Base was home to a squadron of C-130 Hercules transport planes. On training days, the venerable four engine propeller plans circled the skies of Cumberland and Marietta for hours and hours. In the twilight we couldn't see any movement on the base.
On the left was a run down neighorhood of small houses, trailer parks, and auto repair shops. No one really wanted to live at the end of a runway. Yet, there was an entire community in the shadow if the base. One of the trailer parks was known to have chickens running freely in the parking lot. On this rail journey we saw plenty of zombies milling about in the streets. As the locomotive chugged by, many of them turned and watched. I hoped they would not follow.
The sun was slipping into the treeline and it was getting hard to see. The city of Marietta and our destination was just ahead. As we rounded the bend into town, we could make out the silhouettes of the building around Marietta Square. But, it was getting hard to see.
In the distance ahead, we saw something that appeared to be on the tracks. Was it just the shadow of a building? We strained our eyes in the darkness. The only light was the powerful one on the locomotive.
"Stop!" Karen shouted.
There was something big ahead on the tracks: a train. The brakes squealed as the locomotive slowed. As our light illuminated the dark shapes ahead, we clearly saw the last car of train full of shipping containers. It got bigger and bigger and bigger. Then, BAM!
We hit the stopped train at a slow speed. We were all thrown forward in the cab. The train rolled forward a few more feet and we stopped. There was no major damage that we could see. However, our train journey was over.
Chapter 43
As Vijay shut down the engine, we looked around to get our bearings. On our right was Marietta Road and some new loft condos, made to look old, and on our left was the historic Confederate Cemetery. However, our choice of direction was simple. The dead were emerging from the condo condo development while the dead in the cemetery were sleeping quietly.
We g
athered up Charan and made our way down the running boards of the locomotive. Since most of the Zombies were on the other side of the train, Vijay and Karen got off first. I gingerly lowered the wounded man down to them. A few Zombies were ambling up the track from the direction of Marietta Square.
We beat a hasty retreat behind the cemetery fence.
"Run up to the caretaker’s office!" I yelled at Karen and Vijay.
I pulled up the metal stakes that were holding the gates open and slammed them shut. Fortunately, there was a tube in the center of the road so that I could use the same spikes to secure the bottom of the gate. A few twists of a rusty old chain provided a measure of security to the top of the gate.
As I made the final loop, a Zombie slammed into the gate from the other side. He was lean, wiry, and wearing a blue jogging suit with double white stripes down the legs of the sweatpants.
"The 70s called and wants the jogging suit back," I told him.
He let out a guttural moan and tried to reach through the fence.
"Dude," Vijay replied. "There are two more gates on this side!"
"Oh crap!" He was right. There were three gates on each side of the cemetery, three along the back fence, and none on the low bluff facing the square. I had to close the other gates.
I ran about 300 feet to the next gate with the Zombie jogger trailing along behind me on the other side of the fence. Again, I pulled the stakes and slammed the gate shut. He slammed into them again. Another dozen Zombies were trailing behind the jogger.
I started running for the final gate on the eastern side. But, I was running out of gas. We hadn't eaten. We had left our food and water behind when we abandoned our truck. My head was beginning to spin. I could feel the heat and the humidity. But, I looked over and I saw the jogging dead.
The Zombie was pacing me. He was dead, but he wasn't tired. I tried to reach deep and summon some reserve of energy. But, my knees were starting to get wobbly. I was just twenty feet from the goal when I saw additional zombies shuffling towards the gate from the other direction. My world was beginning to spin. I dropped to my knees. Then, to my left, I saw a line of blue and gray and, as I fell, the world exploded.
Chapter 44
Ugh! Ammonia! Gas! Gas! My head was spinning and I rocked from side to side to get away from the smell. Then I opened my eyes and looked up into the angelic face of Robert E. Lee. He had a neatly trimmed white beard and distinguished looking white hair. He wore a grey confederate uniform. Apparently, I had crossed over into a very politically incorrect place. Over his left shoulder, I could see a battered and tattered battle flag of Confederacy waving gently. He had his right hand on my wrist feeling for a pulse and his left hand was waving a nasty little packet of smelling salts in front of my nose.
“Robert E. Lee,” I exclaimed. “Get that shit out of my face!”
“Ha! Ha! Ha!” the general laughed. “I think this feller is gonna be alright.”
As the old man stood up, a Union soldier took a knee in front of me and offered a bottle of water. I sat up, grabbed it, and took a swig. It was warm like it had been sitting in a hot car all day. But, it was water.
“Sorry,” the Union soldier explained. “It was cool when we set off this morning.”
I just shook my head and looked around. A line of Union and Confederate Civil War soldiers were at the fence. They were dispatching zombies by thrusting the bayonets of their rifles through the fence.
“Who are you guys?” Karen asked incredulously.
“Ma’am,” the General answered in a thick, somewhat exaggerated, Southern accent, “We are actually remnants of the Kennesaw Civil War Re-enactment Society.”
“My name is actually Bob Scott,” he offered. “I’m a history professor at the state university just up the road.”
“Thanks for saving us,” I said meekly. “We were in a bad situation.”
“We can’t stay too long,” the professor offered. “There are too many monsters here in Marietta. We’re just looking to pick up some supplies.”
“We are trying to take my friend, Charan, to the hospital.” Vijay interrupted. “He is badly hurt.”
“Son, I don’t know how to tell you this,” Professor Scott replied pensively. “But, the hospital has been over-run.”
“What? Where did the doctors go?” Vijay asked.
“Those that didn’t get out fast enough are still shuffling around Marietta Square.”
“What about their medical supplies? What about their equipment?”
“Much of it is still in a hospital full of rotten, nasty, shuffling, corpses. But, it isn’t sanitary and it isn’t safe to get in there.”
A man with a blue wool coat and some sort of sergeant’s stripes jogged over.
“Sir,” he said with a sense of urgency. “We’re going to have to move.”
It was getting dark quickly and a sea of zombies was gathering on the other side of the iron fence. The smell was getting bad and the sound of their growls and snarls was growing louder. Each soldier had dropped three or four using their bayonet, but that was just growing a mound of bodies on the other side of the fence. As the pressing onslaught of the dead came closer they stepped up on the bodies of their predecessors. Soon, the dead would be toppling over the fence and into the cemetery.
“We can fix your friend up,” the professor told Vijay. “We have a doctor, a doctor’s office, and the basic gear we need.”
“But,” he nodded towards Vijay. “You have to come and help us while he is recovering.”
“I can do the needful.” Vijay agreed. “I have good training.”
“Babe,” I told Karen. “Let’s get out of here with these guys and then make our way back home.”
Karen and Vijay grabbed Charan and I followed with what gear we had. Between us and the Zombies were two lines of about 50 soldiers each. One rank wore blue and the other gray. The gray rank retreated about 15 yards into the cemetery and the blue rank retreated 20 yards in. A mass of zombies toppled over the gate, picked themselves up, and advanced toward the line.
“Front rank,” a sergeant in gray yelled. “Fire!”
A volley of fire rippled across the gray line. A thick, hazy smoke enveloped the zombies. For a few moments, we could not see them. The men of the gray line jogged to new positions 10 yards behind the men in blue. There they furiously reloaded their muzzle loading rifles. The zombies emerged from the haze. They were reduced in number. Some were bleeding from new holes. Some had lost jaws or ears or had broken arms dangling awkwardly. But still, they advanced.
The men in blue leveled their rifles and took careful aim. Another command to fire was given and the Union troops opened fire on the mass of zombies. Again, thick smoke wafted across the cemetery. We stood momentarily transfixed by the spectacle of it all.
“C’mon, c’mon,” the professor turned general tugged at my shoulder. “We’ve got to go.”
We turned and moved towards the back gate. I still felt a little nauseous. But, I had to keep it together. Fortunately, as we moved towards the back gates, we saw a line of pickup trucks, an ambulance, and a couple of brown package delivery trucks pulling up. We were hustled into the ambulance. It was staffed by two actual paramedics. As best I could tell peeking through the narrow windows, the reenactors filed out of the cemetery, closed the gates, and jumped into the pickup trucks and delivery trucks. Then the whole convoy moved off.
Charan was finally laying on a proper gurney. Vijay was watching him. Karen told the paramedics about my fainting. They made me sit down and proceeded to take my blood pressure. I could tell that the convoy wound its way through the streets of Marietta and headed towards the slightly further-flung suburb of Kennesaw.
“I know you are dehydrated,” the lead paramedic told me. “But, we can’t spare any IV fluids for you. Drink this. It should help.”
It was a purple sports drink. I was grossed out. But, now that the downfall of civilization had actually happened, I had no choice but to drink somethin
g other than orange or lemonade. I hesitated.
“I can’t believe you won’t drink it,” Karen said firmly.
“I will. I will! Give me a second, geez!”
I chugged the first third of the bottle. I didn’t like the taste. But, the electrolytes would help. Plus, it was actually cold. That was a miracle.
“How?” I asked the paramedic.
“We have a generator for our clinic and the ambulance has good coolers.”
I leaned my head back against the wall of the ambulance, took smaller swigs, and enjoyed the ride out to Kennesaw. The paramedics worked feverishly to clean and properly bandage Charan’s wounds and get him stabilized. They did have a bag of IV fluids for him. It seemed to help.
Chapter 45
Our destination was an urgent care clinic in a small neighborhood strip mall. As I got out of the ambulance, I could see that the L-shaped shopping center contained a grocery store, some restaurants, and some shops. There were some out buildings in the parking lot that included a bank, a fast food joint, and an urgent care clinic. The little settlement was ringed by a wall of sheet metal, chemical barrels full of sand, chain link fence, parked tractor trailers and the like. It wasn’t much of a fortress. But, somehow it was holding.
“Hi! Welcome to Kennesaw!” a rotund older lady in a grandma-style mou-mou dress said to us and we emerged from the ambulance.
“I’m Francine,” she continued. “And, I’m a one-woman welcome wagon.”
We introduced ourselves and told her where we were from. She nodded politely.
“There’s a few rules here that y’all need to know.”
“First of all, there is no light at night time and, second of all, there’s absolutely no noise at night and just a little during the day.”
Zombie Complex | Book 1 | The Battle For Chattahoochee Run Page 10
