The Eliminators | Volume 1

by Druga, Jacqueline

  Rigs looked down to the staff she held. It wasn’t long, about three feet, with a sharp end. He nodded to acknowledge it. “Is that the reason for the stick, you’re out of bullets?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “It was a full magazine. I only used two rounds. One for Greg and another last week when one of them was too close to Kasper.”

  “Wait, you and Kasper have been going out for nearly two weeks. How are you killing them?”

  “A variety of ways. Knives don’t really do it. The most effective is a honing steel rod.”

  “You have to get awfully close.”

  “It’s tricky with the runners, you have to kind of like get them down. It’s hard to explain. You really should come out with us.”

  “I may start doing that,” Rigs said. “I guess, you know, it’s a therapy for you?”

  “Worried about me?” Rachel asked.

  “Actually, yes. You suffered some massive losses.”

  “I know what I suffered.”

  Rigs held up his hand. “I know you know. But I also know. I’ve been there.”

  “We all handle grief differently,” Rachel said. “I am no less sad or heartbroken, I just take it out on the culprit. I hate this virus and the things it created. I just prefer to take these creatures out instead of drinking myself into oblivion or, well, other things.” She walked across the room to the sales counter and lifted a beer.

  “As she chugs one.”

  Rachel shrugged and drank.

  “Kasper said you want to join the cause of this congresswoman.”

  “I do. Some of us want to rid the world of them. Not saying that you don’t, you’re just not doing your part,” Rachel said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look, it’s all basic math. Congresswoman Liz said that they estimate right now it’s close to eighty percent of the population has risen and reanimated. Two weeks ago it was forty percent. Anyhow, that leaves twenty percent remaining and healthy, right. In the US that's sixty million people. Alive. Think about it. If half of those alive all killed ten zombies each …” She took another drink. “Apocalypse over. Undead gone. Ten, that’s it. Hell I killed more than that yesterday. It’s not easy. Look.” She held up her hand “I have blisters. That’s why I want to try something new.”

  “The staff is new?” Rigs asked.

  “Three days ago we made this at Home Depot,” Rachel replied. “Okay, wait, stop, this one we made today. I broke the first one. It came to me when we were at Walmart and I saw this …” She lifted a DVD. “I figure the way this guy in this show wields the staff. But I’m not taking anything down. Hell, I tried on Kasper and broke the staff, gave him a welt.”

  Rigs laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You’re learning from a character on a TV show. Of course he’s gonna take them down, it’s TV.”

  “They have to have stunt men, right? Some sort of realism. It’s based on Aikido which is a very real form of martial …”

  “Guys.” Kasper rushed in. “You have to come quick. We have company.”

  Rachel not only had her staff, she grabbed for her honing steel rod.

  “You don’t need weapons,” Kasper said.

  “Then what’s the company?” Rachel asked.

  “Get this,” Kasper said. “Congresswoman Liz.”

  <><><><>

  She was joined by numerous soldiers who felt the need to take a post on the upper level, while what looked like a high ranking military man sat at the table with her in the food court. Liz wasn’t made up like she was when on television. In fact she looked older and tired, and to Barry, finally presented an honest front.

  Sandy set down a cup of coffee for her.

  “Thank you. Thank you so much,” Liz said, then sipped the coffee. “Oh, this is wonderful, thank you. You folks have been out here for how long, two weeks?”

  “Three,” Barry corrected.

  “Looks like you have things quite organized. And secure,” she said.

  “We’re very secure,” Barry replied.

  “You never ventured out of here? You have been here since you arrived from Nassau?” she asked.

  “Some of our group did. Is that how you know about us?” Barry asked.

  Liz shook her head. “Three days ago two of your group rescued a family on the road. A father, mother and two children. They said you took out the hoard surrounding their car. They said it was a close call and they would have been dead if it wasn’t for the two of them. The young man actually helped get a car running and they mapped out back roads to the city.”

  “That would have been Kasper and Rachel,” Barry said.

  Kasper stepped forward and extended his hand to shake hers. “Ma’am.”

  Then Rachel stepped forward. “It is such an honor to meet you.”

  “You two chatted quite a bit with the family,” Liz said.

  “It was a two hour walk,” Rachel replied. “I guess we did.”

  “I'm glad,” Liz smiled. “All of you are to be commended for making it out of Nassau and back to the US. Then to be out there. Great work. Can I ask,” Liz said looking mainly at Kasper. “Why you two go out there?”

  “Rachel’s idea,” Kasper said. “I thought it was a good one.”

  “I hate them,” Rachel said. “I hate them all. I want them gone. They took everything from me.”

  Liz nodded sadly. “I understand. They took from me, too. My husband, My son. I want them gone as well.”

  “Is that why you’re here?” Barry asked, “To meet them.”

  “Two reasons,” Liz replied. “We’re going to need the airport.” She held up her hand to the complaining groans. “Hear me out.”

  “No,” Rigs said strong. “We just got this place in order. It’s ours.”

  “And you can stay,” Liz said. “We need this as a hub. One of many. We’re planning the future. Those of you already here can be a great asset. We’re not telling you to leave, we’re just needing some of this space. Mainly the other terminal. But the other reason … the president and I are putting together teams. We’re hoping hundreds of teams. Six person elite teams to go in after our military sweeps in and picks off the infected. Those who don’t fear them. Clear neighborhoods and cities so we can rebuild and bring people back to their homes. This is the only way to get the country back and not have it turn into one of those television shows. If you join, you’ll have transportation, weapons, food. It won’t be easy. You’ll be told where to go, moved from place to place.” She looked at Kasper and Rachel. “You two are out there already doing what I need. I …”

  “I’m in,” Rachel said without hesitation. “I wanted to volunteer anyhow.”

  “Me, too,” Kasper added. “Count me in as well.”

  Liz sat back with a look of surprise. “That was easy. We’re organizing now. In a week when we send out trucks with supplies and to set up here, we’ll pick you up. If anyone else is interested, please … we need you.” Liz looked around. No one else said anything. “Think about it.” She took another drink of her coffee and still holding the cup, stood and walked to Rachel and Kasper. “Thank you,” she said. “Welcome to the Eliminators.”

  NINE

  EIGHT MONTHS LATER – PRESENT DAY

  Maplewood, MO – Suburb of St. Louis

  “See this …” Rigs said, stepping out of the safe house, there was a deep chill to the air and a spring mist had settled over the neighborhood giving it an eerie look. But the eeriness of the fog was nothing compared to the dead that meandered around the yard. “This is why we should blackout the windows at night.”

  “Oh, please,” Rachel replied, coming out as well. “There’s like six of them.” She pacifyingly looked at him. “You need me to take them out for you, Rigs?”

  “What the fuck, Rach?” Rigs snapped.

  Stepping out of the house in the morning, Sandy let out an, “Oh my. Look at them all.”

  “See?” Rigs nodded to Rachel.

&n
bsp; “Rachel, you should take care of this,” Sandy said. “Am I safe to walk to the RV?”

  “Yeah, you’re good,” Rachel replied then before she could say anything further, Barry came out.

  “Rachel, you are slacking. Why do we have six out here?” Barry asked.

  Rachel pointed to Rigs. “He was out before me.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Rigs said.

  “How about both of you take care of it,” Barry suggested. “I’ll get Sandy to the RV. We get the new guy today.”

  Rachel grumbled and turned her head to the honk of the horn.

  Kasper poked his head out the door. “You guys coming?”

  “Wait.” Rigs said. “He was out here the whole time and he didn’t take any out?”

  “He was cleaning the RV since dawn. They probably weren’t out here. And technically …” Rachel winced. “Our time in Maplewood ended so we’re not obliged to get any that we missed.”

  “Oh, that is such bull,” Rigs said. “Our job is to eliminate in our assigned areas.”

  “Yeah, but they pulled us,” Rachel argued. “So we’re done. They’re probably bringing in another team. Let them have something to do.”

  “If you two …” Barry hollered as he was about to step in the RV. “don’t mind, can you take care of those? Thank you.”

  Watching Rachel and Rigs react as if they forgot about the dead, Barry shook his head and went into the RV through the open side door. “Sheesh.” He stood in the RV and looked at his watch. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be forgetting things.” He glanced up when Rigs and Rachel entered. “Forty-five seconds. That’s good timing.” He looked toward the front. “You can drive now.”

  “Roger that,” Kasper replied. Within seconds the RV started moving.

  Barry handed Rigs a towel as he washed his hands. “You okay, Jeremiah?”

  “Yeah.” Rigs took the towel and balked. “Why?”

  “Just making sure we don’t have to worry about you.” Barry said.

  Rachel clarified. “He means hesitating,”

  “One time,” Rigs spoke defensively. “One time. And that was in the beginning.”

  “Technically, two.” Rachel took a seat at the RV’s kitchen table. “Cranberry Pa, four months ago.”

  “That doesn’t count. That was ... that was a kid. The first little kid we saw. Because you know, mostly because there’s nothing …”

  “Don’t.” Rachel stopped him. “You didn’t fire.”

  “It was a kid.”

  “That son of a gun was fast,” Barry said.,

  “And thank God you were ready, Barry,” Sandy added. “He would have gotten me. He had already bitten … bitten …”

  Barry tilted his head. “Sandy?”

  “Who was it? They got bit because Rigs hesitated.”

  “No,” Rigs argued. “They were bit before I hesitated. It was Fletcher.”

  Barry shook his head. “No, Fletcher was before … what’s his name that just died.”

  “Dan,” Rigs said. “Dan just died. Maybe you’re right. Maybe it wasn’t Fletcher.”

  “Was it Belinda?” Sandy asked.

  Rachel shook her head. “Belinda didn’t die.”

  “Ah,” Sandy nodded. “That’s right. She requested a new team because she said Rigs was sexually aggressive toward her.”

  Rachel scoffed. “She was so full of herself, we all know Rigs did no such thing.”

  “Thank you,” Rigs said.

  “I did warn you.” Rachel waved her finger. “Not to tell that post grief nympho story.”

  “I give up.” Rigs tossed up his hand.

  From the driver’s seat, Kasper hollered “It was Charles. I remember, because I kept singing the Charles in Charge song.”

  Everyone responded with a remembering, ‘Ah.’

  “Darn,” Barry shook his head. “Way too many. Maybe this new guy will last.” He noticed he only received stares. “Maybe not.” He turned and made his way to the front to sit with Kasper as he drove. He sat down and buckled in.

  “Rigs okay?” Kasper asked.

  “He’s fine.”

  “Were you worried?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Then why did you ask?”

  “Remember that one guy, the red head?”

  “Stork. He was with us early.”

  Barry nodded. “He was good wasn’t he?”

  “Man, he was really good,” Kasper said. “Fast, creative.”

  “Confident.”

  Kasper quickly looked at him. “You have to be confident, Barry, you can’t be scared.”

  “Maybe confident isn’t the right word. Overconfident. He was so overly confident, he went into a situation he couldn’t handle.”

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “I see how good Jeremiah has gotten. I mean, he would give Stork a run for his money. I just want to make him think once in a while. I don’t want him overly confident. Because you know that’s what causes the one spot on our team …”

  “The red shirt spot.”

  “Yeah, the red shirt spot. That’s what causes it to keep opening. I can’t lose him.”

  “Well,” Kasper said with an exhale. “Lucky for us and him, we get a new red shirt today.”

  Barry chuckled a little and sat back. He reached into his front shirt pocket and pulled out a small photograph of him, Ann, Len and Rigs. He carried it with him always and always looked at it. It reminded him why he was part of the Eliminators. It was too late to save his family, but he was working hard so no other father had to be where he was.

  TEN

  Saint Louis, MO

  In order to get to The Center, they had to go through the city and find the one lone bridge still standing.

  The Center was a temporary headquarters set up in whatever city the sweep and eliminator teams happened to be in.

  There were four roaming centers. Districts one through four.

  Because they joined Liz Nazinski they were District One. The center was not only a temporary headquarters, it was a place where survivors gathered and lived until they were able to be moved to a permanent location. Usually one Eliminators had cleared.

  At first the team thought it was lazy, but it was actually kind of ingenious how the sweep teams cleared mass amounts of risen dead.

  In small areas, they’d draw them in by blasting music, voices, old television shows, whatever attracted them. Then once most of them hoarded around the building, the snipers would take them out.

  In larger areas like Saint Louis, more aggressive means were needed, usually resulting in the area being uninhabitable, like most of Saint Louis currently was.

  The suburbs were ready. Yes, when they arrived at the center, buses were already in a row ready to take survivors somewhere. Rachel knew the area, they had to be taking them somewhere farther away, nothing in the Saint Louis area was ready or livable yet.

  They parked the RV just inside the erected fence. Rachel was the first to step out.

  She was surprised how many children she saw in line, along with elderly.

  One little girl waved and smiled to her. Lifting her floppy, rag doll bunny as she did. She wore the prettiest purple jumper, so bright in a dismal world.

  The girl, around seven, reminded Rachel of her own daughter with her long hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail.

  Rachel couldn’t stop looking at her. She knew she had to stop and move into the center before sadness and depression hit her like it always did whenever anything reminded her of her family.

  Rigs saw it. He always did. Whenever Rachel saw a reminder of her old life, her face immediately became drawn and slightly pale.

  He had been waiting for months for her ‘breaking’ point to come, but it never did. She carried the pain, hurt and agony of losing her family. She tucked the grief away like a pack of cigarettes in a pocket. Easy to spot, but never really one hundred percent visible.

  The Center was located in a former school turned off
ice building. The expediated fence with bright orange posts encircled it.

  Rachel had stopped to watch the children board the bus. As sad as it made her, like Rigs, she had to be grateful that they were doing their jobs as eliminators well enough that people were safe and could have homes.

  Six buses. It was the most Rigs had seen. Then again, they were usually never at a center when they moved all the survivors out.

  The five of them entered through the main door. Sandy wanted to get medical supplies and make sure they had enough rations for food. Barry, like Kasper, Rachel and Rigs was there for a check in and to meet the new team member.

  Liz was in the hallway when they entered, talking to a man. She turned her head and smiled, but it wasn’t to the group as much as it was to Rachel. They moved toward each other and embraced like old long, time friends.

  It wasn’t a bad thing, because the minute they embraced and talked, for that short time, it wasn’t the apocalypse, there were no zombies threatening man’s existence, it was as if none of it ever happened.

  “So good to see you,” Liz said genuinely to Rachel. “You look good.”

  “Thanks. So do you,” Rachel said. “I can’t believe you’re still out and about with the Center”

  “What else do I have to do?” She smiled. “Are you ready for this? I actually went out a couple times with an Eliminator squad. It was thrilling.”

  “It has its moments.’

  “Look at your hair.” Liz reached out and lifted the ends of Rachel’s hair. “It’s gotten so long.’

  “Well, almost a year without a cut. I was worried how bad it would look because my low lights grew out. I actually contemplated getting a box dye. But, you know, I’d only have to keep up on it because all this shit is making me gray.”

  “I hear you.”

  “I saw the bus loads of children and older people …” Rachel said.

  “Yes, quite a few.”

  “Where are they going?”

  “North of Kansas City,” Liz replied. “They tell me where to send the ones we collect and that’s what I do.”