The Zee Brothers: Zombie Apocalypse Now?: Zombie Exterminators Vol.4

by Grivante

  Bodies littered the floor but Judas’s gun clicked empty again and there were many more surging from the bedroom. JJ stood and took out a couple before hers ran dry too.

  “Get inside, reload, and put your armor on,” Jonah said, swapping the grenade to his left hand and pulling a Walther P38 pistol out of his waistband. He fired off a few shots and his brother and JJ moved. “As soon as you’re armored up, I’m lobbing this and praying it takes out as many of these bastards as possible, and hopefully whoever is shooting at us.”

  “You got it, bro,” Judas said, dropping the empty magazine to the floor and looking for a loaded one on the shelves. JJ did the same for the Glock as the ‘pop-pop’ of Jonah’s pistol sounded.

  Judas found a full magazine and put it in the AR, then grabbed the small set of armor from the rack, handing it to JJ. “Here, put this on quick. I’ll go cover Jonah while you get suited up and reloaded. There’s ready-to-go mags in that box.” He pointed to a blue and red shoebox with ‘G-Mags’ written in Sharpie on the side.

  “Thanks, sugar,” JJ smiled and grabbed the armor, slipping it on, then reached for the box of magazines.

  “You ready, Jonah?” Judas asked as he reemerged.

  Jonah glanced at his brother and saw that he was still shirtless, but at least his pants were all the way on now. “Not until you've got your armor on.”

  “JJ’s putting hers on, there’s not enough room in there for us both, plus, you don’t have enough ammo in that pea shooter to last long.”

  Jonah grimaced, knowing Judas was right. The Walther P38 ran dry and he tossed it away. “Take out those nearest the door and make me some room so I can get this in there!” He shifted the grenade back to his right hand and prepared to throw it, eyeing a few new crawlers that were getting near.

  Judas fired rapid bursts at head level into the green-eyed crowd coming from the bedroom, killing a few and knocking others down. The space cleared, giving enough room at the top of the door frame for Jonah to lob the grenade in.

  “That work?”

  Jonah smiled. “Yeah, now get back in there and—”

  A slamming thud sounded from the front of the garage, something hitting the main door, followed by a thunderous explosion. A bright light and a concussive wave knocked Jonah against the wall, stunning him. The grenade fell from his hand. Behind him, the blast threw Judas forward into the weapons locker, sending him crashing into JJ, both of them collapsing and knocking over shelves of weapons and ammunition.

  The lights in the garage flickered and smoke billowed from the blast area. Jonah, dazed and stumbling about, dropped to the floor and groped for the grenade as the sound of a man’s voice barking commands filled the air.

  “Go find the target! Acquire and kill all remaining hostiles!”

  Part III - Bit Bang Booty

  Jonah counted the seconds as his hand groped around on the floor. If he didn’t find it, they’d all die. If he did find it, he likely still would. His heart pounded, his head ached, and his stomach lurched until his fingers felt the small pineapple shape of the grenade in his left hand, he squeezed the safety lever tight and let out a long gasp. “Whoo!” Then, he made the mistake of looking over the top of the couch he crouched behind, at least two dozen green-eyed dead stumbled their way towards him. From the front of the garage, three men in black body armor and carrying assault rifles, scanned the room with flashlights and a device Jonah didn't recognize.

  “Heat signature, there!” The man with the box pointed directly at Jonah.

  “Get down!” Jonah shouted hoping the others were out of sight and protected within the small armored space of the weapons locker.

  The two men in front raised their weapons and opened fire. The bullets whizzed above Jonah and thunked into the wall behind him. He looked around for a weapon, anything he could use to defend himself, but he only had the grenade. Throwing it in the confined but open area of the garage would be a deathtrap for all of them. His hand squeezed the grenade tight.

  “I’ve spotted the target,” the man carrying the box called out, pointing to the left and shining a bright tactical flashlight into the kitchen, the firing stopped.

  Another man turned and followed the path of the light’s beam, Jonah did as well, sliding back toward the weapons locker trying to find cover. His eyes caught sight of Xanadu, now illuminated by the flashlight cowering in the corner near the refrigerator.

  “Shit,” Jonah gasped, realizing that if he’d thrown the grenade at the attackers, it would’ve taken out Xanadu as well.

  From somewhere nearby, Jefe’ appeared, running at the commandos and barking. One turned to fire but another pushed the gun out of the way and gave the small dog a kick, punting him across the room with an anguished yelp.

  The little Chihuahua smacked against the concrete floor, got up and skittered away into the darkness.

  The men crouched and moved toward where Xanadu huddled against the far wall, now rising and growling at them. One of the men turned and fired another automatic rifle blast in Jonah’s direction. He kept low and made it inside the small room where a dazed Judas and JJ struggled back to their feet.

  “Are you two injured?” Jonah whispered as he squeezed inside.

  JJ and Judas looked each other over, a stream of blood dripped from a gash in JJ’s forehead and a few large bruises covered Judas’s right arm where they had impacted the shelves during the explosion.

  “Nothing serious,” Judas said. “What the hell’s the situation out there?”

  “Three armed men blew open the front door.” Jonah poked his head out, peering toward the kitchen. He could see two of the men facing in his direction, lights mounted to the end of their guns sweeping the darkness, illuminating the approaching zombies. The third had set the box on the ground and had Xanadu trapped in the corner. The dog’s head shifted back and forth, looking for an escape.

  The pair caught sight of Jonah and resumed firing. He spun back into the room, pushing himself flat against the wall. Back when the building had been an auto mechanic's garage, it stored flammable materials. It had reinforced steel walls and a thick fireproof door.

  “Jonah,” Judas asked from behind him, “Is the pin on that grenade pulled?”

  “Yes!” Jonah spat, “and there’s only a second or two left on the fuse. I was about to throw it but dropped it when they blew the front door.”

  “Oh shit,” Judas said.

  “Throw it at those assholes,” JJ said.

  Jonah turned to look at her, ducking as a fresh burst of rounds pinged into the open door. “I can’t. They’ve got Xanadu.”

  “What?” JJ eye’s shot wide and she lunged toward the door.

  Jonah stepped in front of her, dropped his right shoulder and slammed her back into Judas, collapsing the three of them to the ground.

  Outside the room, shots continued firing at the weapons locker, the groans of the dead grew closer.

  JJ and Judas cried out as they crumpled under Jonah, weapons, and ammo falling off the shelves and hitting them on the head.

  “Get off me!” JJ shouted, pushing at Jonah, who used his body's weight to keep her down.

  “We can’t,” he spat. “They’ve got us pinned in here. We step out and they’ll take us out.”

  She twisted around, huffing hard and glaring at him, then screamed. Behind Jonah, a male zombie dressed in a blood-stained white dress shirt and slacks loomed, its eyes fiery green. Jonah spun, still clutching the grenade in his left hand, with no time to think. He threw his forearm up to hit the zombie in the chest and knock it back but missed as the zombie dove in head first. Jonah’s forearm landed squarely in the zombie’s mouth.

  Teeth dug in, blood spurted, and the zombie tore free a silver-dollar-sized chunk of Jonah’s flesh. He cried out, pulled his arm away and then back-handed the zombie across the face, knocking it out of the room.

  JJ screamed and screamed, having seen it happen. The zombie stood there dazed but chomping away on the piece of Jonah
it held in its mouth while moving forward for more.

  Shots blasted from the living room and thumped into the body of the dead man until a voice shouted to stop firing. “Stand down. We’ve got what we came for. Let the dead do what they do!”

  The shooting stopped but several of the zombies were right outside the door, pushing in.

  “Duck!” Judas yelled.

  Jonah glanced back, saw Judas with a pair of handguns at the ready, grabbed JJ and pulled her to the ground. Judas opened fire above them, raining bullets into the dead and extinguishing the green light from their eyes.

  “Eat lead!” Judas shouted, popping them in the forehead with ease at such close range.

  Jonah wrapped his arms around JJ, hugging her tight as she cried and screamed, squirming against him to get away. Her mind was roiling. Xanadu dognapped, Jonah bit, a horde of vicious green-eyed zombies atop them.

  “Let me up!”

  Jonah turned, his brother had laid out a heap of bodies in front of the doorway and continued to fire. He made enough room for JJ to stand and got his own footing back.

  She searched the room until she found a handgun with a loaded magazine, then she stood and joined Judas in the maelstrom. Shots echoed like a thunderstorm in the small enclosed space. Her face red, eyes wet, lips tight, and nostrils flared.

  Jonah looked at the bloody, oozing wound on his forearm and grimaced. It burned. He reflexively moved the stumps of his missing fingers on his left hand, squeezing the grenade. “Well, shit.” He got to his feet and took in the situation. The men were gone, Xanadu too. Dozens of the undead, eyes bright green made their way from the bedroom and now from the front of the garage as well, coming straight for the trio. He switched the grenade to his right hand and glanced at Judas and JJ.

  “Get back!”

  He waited a moment for them to step into the small room, then leaned out, tossing the grenade towards the bedroom. He grabbed at the door handle to close it but a pile of bodies blocked it. His hands slipped away as Judas yanked him by the body armor from behind, pulling him into the locker.

  The explosion came a mere second later.

  Fragments pinged against the metal door, a few whizzing into the room itself, while the whole building shook. They huddled in the back of the locker as things hissed and sizzled in the living room. Jonah turned from his crouched position and saw at the entrance a massive green-eyed man, probably three-hundred pounds or more, lumbering before it, hands reaching out. Blood oozed from various holes but his head was intact.

  Jonah lunged forward with his right shoulder, screaming. “Ahhhhhhh!” He hit the man with an upward thrust to the belly, just below the rib cage, and stopped cold, not even budging him. He glanced up, seeing the dead man raise its arms above its head.

  “Oh shit!”

  The huge zombie smashed them into Jonah’s back, knocking the wind from his lungs. He coughed, gasped, and looked up. Between the man’s legs was an opening, Jonah kept to all fours and scurried between them, emerging in the smoky chaos on the other side. The monster roared.

  Jonah turned and almost laughed. While the grenade had done plenty of damage, sending fragments everywhere and taking out many of the dead, it had only shredded the back of this man’s clothing, making a bloody mess. But what made Jonah laugh was the fact that the seat of his pants was missing, leaving his butt exposed. Bright pink panties stretched thin over his massive booty.

  A quick scan of the room showed most of the undead on the ground, but those the grenade didn’t kill were already rising. A dark haze hung in the room, but the glowing-green eyes made it easy to see which ones still moved. Jonah raised his leg and sent a hard kick into the knee pit of the man. It gave a satisfying crack and he watched him fall to the right, slamming into the door of the locker.

  Inside, JJ had found a revolver on the shelf and loaded it. She clicked the chamber shut, pulled the hammer back, and shoved the gun into the bare-butted zombie’s face, squeezing the trigger twice. His brains exploded, splattering across the wall.

  Jonah turned back to Judas. “Get me a weapon and ammo. We need to get out of this death trap. Spread out and give us some breathing room. With their eyes lit up, they’ll be easy targets!”

  JJ looked at him. “Jonah, your arm!”

  He glanced at it. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Fine?” JJ shouted at him, spittle flying from her lips. “Are you fucking crazy? I don’t believe you!” She stuffed the revolver in her waistband and turned, grabbing the assault rifle Judas had just stuck a magazine in for Jonah and took it out of his hands. She stepped over the dead zombie, past Jonah, and into the destruction inside the garage, muttering under her breath and crying. “Stubborn. Macho. Jackass!” She walked straight into the crowd of zombies, gun held high and aimed at head level.

  “Give me a gun, quick!” Jonah shouted. “She’s gonna get herself killed!”

  Most of the weapons and ammo lay on the floor from the various explosions and frenzied attempts to get at them. Judas looked around and spied a riot shotgun in the corner. He grabbed it, popped it open, saw it was loaded and tossed it to Jonah. “Take the boomstick! I’ll be right behind you.”

  Jonah chuckled and spun, returning to the darkness of the garage. JJ stood near the kitchen, dropping one green-eyed asshole after another with the assault rifle.

  She had a good flow going, as each one she dropped made it harder for the others to get at her, and she quickly thinned their numbers. Curses and grunts flew from her mouth as she fired, working her aggression out.

  A handful of mangled crawlers were nearing the weapons room. Jonah stepped back and out of their way. “Judas, you’ve got crawlers coming from your left.” He turned back to JJ and ran in her direction. From the front door, a fresh stream of dead careened toward her, their arms outstretched, eyes glowing, jaws gnashing.

  Part IV - Light's Out

  “I’ve got your right,” Jonah said, coming into position next to her and raising the shotgun. He blasted the heads off a pair nearing from the front door. There were at least fifty more still standing or entering from two access points. They didn’t have enough ammo for this. “We need to get outside. We’re cornered in here.”

  JJ turned and looked at him, seeing the bleeding bite wound on his arm. She choked back fresh tears and stammered. “Wh-what about the soldiers? What if they’re out there waiting to finish us if these bastards don't?”

  Jonah bit his lip. She had a good point, they could be out there ready to complete the job as they flee the zombies.

  Judas came up behind them, two large backpacks in his hands. “I threw everything I could into our bug-out bags.” He hefted them, the muscles on his naked chest straining under their weight.

  JJ fired a few more shots and the rifle ran dry. She dropped it and turned to Jonah. “What about your bite? We need to do something, fast. Do we—” she heaved, “do we have to cut it off?”

  The elder Zee Brother smiled at her. “No, JJ. I’m immune to these, at least I should be.”

  “Wh-what?”

  “It’s a long story,” he grabbed her by the arm, “let’s get through thi—”

  She threw her arms around him, cutting off his words. “Oh my god! I thought, I thought—”

  “I know, honey. I know.”

  “Hey,” Judas shouted and pointed ahead. “Their eyes are fading”

  Jonah and JJ let loose of one another and looked about, taking in the mass of dead lumbering around, going from a focused group to a confused stumbling crowd.

  “They’re gone,” Jonah said.

  “Who's gone?” JJ asked.

  “Whoever was controlling them. They got what they came for. I don’t think we were the primary target.”

  “Xanadu!” JJ shouted. “Why?” She pulled the revolver from the back of her pants and looked for the nearest object to take her aggression out on.

  “Quick! Let’s blast the ones by the door and get to the parking lot. We’ll have more room to maneuve
r.” Jonah moved, rapid-firing the shotgun and clearing them a path.

  “Hey!” JJ shouted. “Save some for me!”

  They emerged into the cool light of an autumn morning. The sun just rising over the hills in the distance. There were far fewer dead in the parking lot than were inside. Most of the ones out here were crawlers, with broken bones jutting out of their legs from the fall from the trailer. The semi remained parked in the smashed gate of the garage. Whoever put it there must have had another means of escape at the ready.

  The trio ran past the few near the door and hustled to the far corner of the parking lot, stopping there and turning, taking a moment to rest.

  “You sure we shouldn't take care of that, Jonah?” Judas asked, indicating the bite mark as he bent and pulled a twelve-inch knife from one of the backpacks.

  Jonah glanced at it and grimaced. “Yeah, if that was Nitsau’s formula, which it looks like, I should be okay. But if not, it’s too late at this point. The infection will have spread beyond the bite.”

  “How can you be immune?” JJ asked again.

  “Later,” Jonah said, taking the knife from Judas. “Let’s get this situation under control and then I’ll tell you the story.” He raised his left hand and wiggled the stumps of his missing fingers.

  “Oh,” JJ said. “I’ve always wondered how that happened.”

  Jonah looked down at Judas who held another knife up to JJ. “Let’s take these out one at a time and lead the rest in a circle around the garage. We’ll keep them moving and stay ahead of them. We’ll rotate in and out of the head position to catch our breath. The person at the rear needs to have an eye on our backs.”

  “Hey, that’s just like in the game you guys were playing the other day.”

  “Yep,” Jonah nodded. “It’s a pretty simple strategy but works well when they're slow and not being controlled by someone.”