Military Against Zombies (The Against Zombies Series Book 2)

by Alathia Paris Morgan

  “Oh, excuse my manners, I’m Angela, and this is Todd. We and a few others were up here resting when everything went crazy. I’ve never shot a gun before, but it would be much better than this.” She held up the broken metal leg from a chair that was covered in blood and brains.

  Todd cringed when she held it up and moved a few paces back from her, confirming my first thought about his usefulness. Although, he might be a great nurse who just didn’t like the sight of blood.

  “Before it got really bad, I was able to make it to the breakroom on this floor and gather some food, but we’re out of what I found.” Angela brushed a blonde strand out of her face.

  “So you killed all those bodies we found?” Len asked, eyeing her like she was a piece of candy.

  I would have to deal with him later, but for now, we had one civilian that wouldn’t freak out and one that was a liability.

  Angela nodded nervously. She was probably afraid that we wouldn’t take them with us.

  “This is the only floor that we’ve completely cleared, but we would like to see if there are any more survivors, or if they’ve all become ZITs. If we can clear this out, then the military can use it as a base, and it’s got the added benefit of medical supplies as well.”

  “You won’t be able to do that in one day. This is only one tower of the hospital. There are three more wings, and I’m sure that there are infected all over the place. Once the sick died, there wasn’t any place to put them and they filled the parking garage with those who were coming down with it until it was full.”

  “Aw shit, Corporal. There’s no way we have enough ammo for that kind of stuff. We may not even have enough in the supply truck,” Rick complained, stating the obvious.

  “That could be why there were so many dead outside, and why we kept finding more to replace what we killed,” Tom concluded. “We should go ahead and get these guys out and regroup. The base may not want us to continue with what we’re doing.”

  “Is there a way to close off this tower from the main area and other sections?” I looked to Angela, knowing that Todd probably wouldn’t have very much to contribute.

  “There are two roll gates that they close at night when visitor hours are over. The rest are keycard doors or emergency exits that should be shut already,” Angela verified.

  “What about main stairs that lead to each floor? Is the stairwell we came up the only one on each floor?” Tom questioned.

  “Um, there are two stairways on each floor in case of fire. The elevators are what we normally use, but there must be two ways out since it’s a hospital,” Todd answered as he stepped carefully around Angela into the hallway, as if he didn’t want to be associated with her.

  “Okay, so this floor is secure for now, and this stairway as well. Are there any clean scrubs up here for you two to take with us?”

  “There’s a linen closet with clean stuff. Honestly, that completely slipped my mind since I knew I would have to go back out there and get bloody all over again. It’s this way.” Angela led the way, still clutching her metal chair leg.

  Even though we’d told her that we’d cleared everything, she still cautiously looked around corners before proceeding. I exchanged a happy glance with Tom. This civilian looked like a good addition to our team.

  Confidently walking to the linen closet, Angela opened the door, banging the leg against the doorframe to call anything out that might have been hiding.

  She flipped the switch on and got light because of the backup generators. They would keep working, and with so many floors having all the lights off, they would last a lot longer.

  A duffle was quickly filled with several sets of scrubs, and being a nurse, Angela was thinking ahead as she added some bandages and a few other medical extras that would certainly be welcome.

  While she loaded up, I motioned for Rick and Len to come around the corner with me, leaving Tom to watch over Todd.

  “I need both of you to keep him behind us as we move out. Len, you watch our backs, and Rick, you watch Todd’s because he’s more likely to run when we’re not looking. If he gets into trouble, do not go after him. Only help if you can prevent it beforehand. He’s not worth dying over because he wouldn’t think twice about pushing you in front of one of these things so he can live. Got it?”

  Yes, ma’am,” they both whispered.

  “Okay, time to head down.” I went back around the corner, just as Angela came out of the room, turning the light out.

  “We’re not going to worry about the extra floors right now. It’s almost lunch time, and by the time we fight our way back to the trucks, it’ll be getting dark, and I don’t want to leave Joe and Steve out there longer than they need to be. So, straight to the bottom, and you two will stay in the stairwell until we give you the all clear.”

  Rick made sure that the door shut behind us as we started the trek down the ten flights.

  Tom and I opened the door carefully to check and see how our beds were holding up. Evidently, it was working because there were only a few ZITs hanging out in the two hallways that we hadn’t cleared yet.

  I waved Angela out and the others followed.

  “Now which way are the gates? Down these two halls, correct?” I pointed to where the ZITs had been hanging out. “How far down are they, and are there a lot of rooms that could hide infected?”

  “No. From here, this one,” Angela pointed to the main branch, “is only a foot around the corner. The other hallway is longer because it connects to another tower that will let you go over to the children’s hospital.”

  “Is there any special way to pull the gate down or lock it?” Tom asked, making sure that we had all the facts before we made a run for it.

  “No, the security guards would lock it up occasionally, but most of the time they would just put it down to keep people from wandering around. The only time was if there was a lockdown, so just pull it down and that should work.”

  “Stay here.” I pointed to the four others. “Tom and I will take this one.”

  “Got it, Boss.” Both Rick and Len echoed, while Angela nodded her agreement.

  I hoped that they would stay there for the ten minutes we needed to clear the area out.

  A few friendly ZITs were waiting for us and drew the attention of the others in the lobby area. While it would have been nice to have target practice from behind the closed gate, I didn’t want to waste our ammo because we might still need it.

  Everyone was waiting in the hall exactly where we’d left them.

  I didn’t want to go down a long hallway with only two of us, and there shouldn’t be anything coming from behind us.

  More ZITs filled the hall, but with four guns, we made fairly good progress. The gate was just ahead, but the amount of infected milling about seemed to be more than it had been in the main lobby.

  “Angela, stay here and watch Todd,” I called over my shoulder as we continued to shoot our way to the gate.

  Tom and Rick shot those closest, and I took out the one farther away. After several intense minutes, the gate was finally closed and the guys kept shooting, thinning out the herd.

  “Guys, stop and we’ll head back.”

  As I faced Angela and Todd, I wasn’t surprised to find Todd seated on the floor with his hands over his ears.

  Disgusted, I shook my head and headed back down the hall to the ER where more ZITs were waiting to try and kill us.

  They all followed me as I crawled over the beds, and watched as the group caught up.

  Tom took the lead, with me right behind him as we entered the already cleared area. Everything looked the same, so I had us regroup at the first door.

  “Angela, I want you to take my gun and hit anything that looks like it’s too close to us. We have flamethrowers, and the guys on the truck out there are going to set some grenades to distract them away from the door so that we can make a pathway out.” I handed her my rifle.

  “Todd, if you
don’t stay right behind Angela and out of Rick and Len’s way, you won’t have to worry about the infected killing you because I’ll do it myself. Are we clear?”

  Todd gave me a nasty look before he answered belligerently, “Yes.”

  “Yes, ma’am to you,” I corrected, wanting to make sure he knew who was in charge.

  He gave me a tight nod.

  I switched the radio on. “Steve, you still out there? We’re ready to come out and need you to distract them. We also have two civilians with us so don’t shoot them. They’re in green scrubs, but are looking kind of rough after dealing with these things.”

  “Loud and clear, Corporal. We’re ready for you. Joe, let’s give them something to talk about in hell.” Steve’s words came over the radio, followed by loud explosions.

  “Open the inner doors and grab the flame guns.” This was the kind of order I thoroughly enjoyed. “Everyone inside and ready?”

  I glanced at the six of us, well, five of us, who had looks of determination, ready to take out this new enemy.

  Tom hit the switch and the streams of fire lashed out, pushing the backs of the ZITs away from us.

  Rick closed the outside door and the dent in the infected between us and the truck slowly leveled off enough that we could make a stand while Todd and Angela climbed up to safety.

  A few more grenades exploded behind us, and I turned to make sure that Rick and Len could take care of things.

  Steve and Joe were picking off those that I couldn’t see because of the fire and smoke. When my gun sputtered, it was time to make a getaway. Three of us left on the ground, making a break for it, hoping the guys up top would keep them off of us. A hand reached down and I took it, only to find Todd pulling me up as my boots walked up the side of the truck.

  “Thank you,” I gratefully acknowledged his help.

  “Least I could do for the rescue. Please tell me that we don’t have to deal with those things ever again?” Todd looked down the other side of the truck to the empty side of the bridge.

  “For the moment, but I would always be watching your surroundings because the world is only going to get worse.”

  I gazed out at the damage we had managed to accomplish in only a few hours. It wouldn’t save the world, but there were certainly less ZITs running around to kill us then there had been eight hours ago.

  A hot shower, food, and a call to HQ were the extent of my plans for the evening, but I never scheduled anything that couldn’t be changed quickly. I’d learned to live with low expectations over the years. I could only hope that HQ would want our two civilians since they had some medical training, because Todd was going to be a problem if he stayed with us for too long.

  Linc

  Sunrise was such a beautiful concept if it weren’t for the people we were waiting on to show up.

  Sure enough, the sound of a loud truck muffler greeted us at breakfast. I watched from the front porch as Jim Danvers got out his old truck, that he added chrome step-ups onto, as well as a set of loud pipes. If all the zombie things weren’t following him already, then they would be shortly.

  His bright orange roof had me so mesmerized, it took the slamming of his door to remind me to put a smile on for our performance.

  Jim adjusted his pants over his large stomach and tried to tidy up as he approached the porch steps.

  I’d been sitting in the corner, hidden mostly by the porch plants, so when he lifted his hand to knock, I called out to him.

  “Morning, Jim.”

  He turned toward me so fast, his hand went to the gun attached to his hip. When he saw it was me, he relaxed slightly.

  “Hey, Linc, didn’t see you sitting there.” While his tone was polite, there was an accusation hidden in his words. “What are you doing out here? You’ve already finished doing all the morning chores?”

  Oh, this was rich. He was acting like I was a kid that he’d caught doing something wrong.

  “Yep. Not that it’s really any of your business. I just stepped out here to enjoy the quiet before all the children get stirred up. Once you let them out of the house, there’s never a quiet moment. Just go on in, Jessica won’t mind, and probably couldn’t hear you knock over all the kids.” I waved him in, knowing that Jessica looked the worst I’d ever seen her.

  He frowned as he opened the screen door, and hesitated, looking over at me to make sure. Then he caught himself and grabbed the doorknob so hard, it almost came off in his hand.

  I waited to snicker until he was out of hearing, but the thud followed by a yell-grunt had me on my feet and to the door, leaving my fun behind.

  Poor dude hadn’t even had a chance to get in before he’d put a foot on the skate board ‘someone’ had left in the entryway.

  As the entry filled up with kids standing over Jim like he was an exotic beached whale, I backed away when Jessica walked in.

  “What’s all the commotion?” Jessica finally focused on Jim, who was laying in the middle of the floor. “Oh my goodness.”

  Jessica was standing there in a stained flannel pj set that was way too big for her, with her hair in curlers and a green scrub mask on her face.

  She held out hand to help him up that was covered in syrupy goodness.

  Once he was standing up, she released his hand.

  “Are you okay?” Jessica looked around at the kids crowding into the entry. “Who left the skateboard out where people could get hurt?”

  All the children scattered, ignoring her question.

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry, I’ll work out the sore muscles when I get to the gym later.”

  I stood just outside the door listening to his stupid attempts to impress her. Go to the gym. Who does that when there are dead people everywhere?

  “Um, Jessica, was there something on the hand you helped me up with?” Jim’s hesitation was so cute.

  “Oh, crap. I must have had syrup on them. I was refilling the bottles when you fell. You can use the sink to wash up if you’d like.”

  Jim muttered under his breath, “I didn’t fall, I tripped on a stupid skateboard.”

  A chair scraped across the floor as he sat down.

  Tracy had been coaching the kids from the other room, and suddenly, all the outside dogs were inside under the table, eating all the ‘crumbs’ we’d left for them last night.

  “Food’s ready!” Tracy yelled as she entered the kitchen, and the normal amount of screaming, fighting kids entered the room in a scramble for seats.

  I heard Trevor’s little voice and I could just see him tugging on Jim’s arm. “Mister, you’re in my spot. You gotta let me sit in your lap ’cause you’re in my spot.”

  “What? I think you’re mistaken, little man. I was here first.” Jim proudly defended his rights against a two-year-old.

  The room went dead silent, until Trevor realized that this adult wasn’t going to move or let him sit in his lap.

  A shrieking scream erupted. “Mommy!” Trevor’s face was turning red, and snot started running out of his nose.

  “I’m sorry, sir. He’s going to keep crying until you move. Here, let me get you the spare we keep in the other room.” Tracy apologized as Trevor raised the volume of his screams.

  Jessica had been dishing pancakes out to all the other children, completely ‘unaware’ there was a problem.

  Tracy wheeled in the computer chair that was on its last leg.

  Jim’s head looked like it was a ping-pong ball as he glanced back and forth between Jessica and Tracy, who were both motioning him to get in the chair.

  He moved over just in time for the syrup that had been in Jessica’s hand to be grabbed by Carson and given a good squeeze. The syrup hit Jim squarely in the face and began to run down his chin onto his shirt.

  Trevor had climbed into his seat and onto the table, trying to reach a pancake when he let out a horrible smelling toot.

  This was going better than I could have imagined.

&nb
sp; Trevor sat back on his chubby little legs and giggled. “I tooted!” he shouted as he clutched the hard-fought for pancake in his hand.

  “That’s it!” Jim yelled, startling all of the kids into silence.

  “I can’t marry you, Jessica. You have too much baggage and kids around. I hope the infection takes care of all this.” He gestured at the children seated at the table. “It’ll be doing the world a favor.” He stomped out the door, not even seeing me, and pulled open his truck door.

  Thankfully he’d left the gate open because I’m not sure that he wouldn’t have slammed through it in his present mood.

  I opened the door and walked into the kitchen. “Is everyone okay in here?”

  That seemed to break the spell as the kids resumed saying what a horrible man he was, and the entire time, Trevor was just sitting in the chair, happily munching on his dry pancake.

  Jessica came forward and I wrapped my arms around her, syrup stickiness and all.

  “I hope that keeps him from coming back.” Tracy wiped up the trail of syrup from floor due to Jim’s hurried departure.

  “It will until the memory fades and he gets pissed off about something else and takes it out on us. We just need to stay under his radar for a while. At least we saved Jessica from his unwanted attentions.”

  A week later, all was still quiet on the farm. I’d been calling mom every day to check in on her progress.

  She’d been working at the clinic when she could. Having been a nurse, she could keep an eye on things.

  “Linc, any time someone gets really sick, they ‘transport’ them to the hospital. You and I both know that isn’t the case. I asked a few questions but didn’t want to draw attention to myself. Peter came to visit me yesterday and see how I was doing with all of this. He told me that they’re taking them out of town to the cemetery, shooting them, then burying them so that no one knows.”

  “Mom, I know that’s horrible, but at the same time, if even one of these sick people dies they could kill everyone. It’s not ideal, but the needs of the one for the many is sometimes the better option.” I sighed into the phone. It was a huge responsibility, and while I didn’t like Jim Danvers, it was a smart strategy.