Going from office to office, they did not hear the commotion in the center of the store, but they did find the manager had shot himself in the head. There was a goodbye note on the desk in front of him addressed to “My darling.”
“I can’t imagine what it is like to just give up,” Bill said.
“It’s so sad,” Charity replied.
Bravo team was moving along well: there had only been a single thriller behind the gun counter and a few in the fishing department. When they got to the center of the clothing department, though, all hell broke loose.
Sam was going in to clear out the dressing room when a hand lashed out from under one of the doors and grabbed her ankle. She screamed bloody murder at the top of her lungs as she fell, and she fear coursing up from deep within her bowls. Her stomach clenched so suddenly she felt like she was going to throw up. There were thrillers in all eight dressing rooms, and they were instantly in a frenzy at the prospect of fresh meat. Seven of them busted through the flimsy dressing room doors and were on top of her before Sally and Papaw could react. He was shooting them in the head as fast as he could line up the shots in the fray, while Sally was pulling on her sister’s leg, trying to remove her from the pile.
Almost as fast as it had started, the fight was over, with Sam covered in blood and brain matter. She grabbed ahold of Sally, and they both cried from fear, relief, and happiness that it was over. Q grabbed a shirt off a nearby rack, poured some of his water bottle on it, and began cleaning away some of the debris to discern what was thriller and what was Sam. Much to the dismay of all present, she had three chunks of meat missing from her left arm, which was bleeding profusely. Now it was Sally’s turn to cry until she vomited.
Alpha team came up to reintegrate with the others after clearing the rest of the offices, and Bill learned of what had just happened to his oldest daughter. Q and Papaw had already cleaned the wounds, poured some QuikClot on them, wrapped them in bandages, and then given her some ibuprofen. He pulled her into a bear hug and told her they would find some antibiotics and see if that would keep the infection from spreading. His chest tightened with the cold grip of fear he hadn’t felt in a long time. He was not prepared to lose a child yet. Nobody is ready for that, but in the back of his subconsciousness, he’d known it was a possibility. Stating it in the face, though, he felt his balls suck up into his stomach, and he too felt like throwing up.
“Look, baby, I won’t let you become one of those things,” he said as the tears rolled down his cheeks for the second time in six days. “We really don’t know how you become a zombie. Urban legend has always been transference of the disease from saliva. We will see what Memaw thinks and get you some antibiotics as soon as we make our next stop.”
“Daddy, I am so scared. I don’t want to die.”
“I know, baby. I know,” Bill whispered into her ear.
Jane was furious that he’d allowed this to happen to Sam. She stood toe to toe with him and screamed her feelings into his face. He was filled with rage, but he’d never laid a hand on Jane. Ever. He knew she was an emotional firecracker and would go off on the smallest thing. Not that this was small, but it reaffirmed one of the reasons their marriage hadn’t worked out.
“Look, you do realize that Sam is twenty-one years old and can make decisions for herself, right? It was her decision to be on the clear team. She wants to learn how to defend herself and how to fight for her life. Do NOT blame me for this. We all agreed on what everyone’s job would be last night when the plan was discussed. Now, if you’re quite through being a bitch, we need to get a move on and get her some antibiotics and pray. You better fucking pray to God that it works.”
With nothing further to say, Bill went back inside to complete what they’d started. Memaw had been a registered nurse before she’d retired and was going to monitor Sam’s condition so everyone would know if it was getting worse.
Once the convoy was halfway loaded up with everything they’d come for, Papaw asked Jake and Shane to grab two propane tanks each from the cage out front. He had found the keys at the customer service desk. While they did that, he grabbed a bunch of the Tannerite from off the shelves, mixed it up, and poured it in a circle around two turkey fryers he’d set up just inside the building. Then he had Jake spread a couple of bags of smoking chips from the BBQ section on top of the Tannerite. The younger men then stacked wood from the display outside on top of the turkey fryers and, finally, the other two propane bottles on top of that. They looked like whipped topping on toffee ice cream.
Just before they left, Papaw lit the fryers to get the wood burning. He figured it would be about ten minutes before the propane bottles on top got hot enough to explode and light the Tannerite. He was building a diversion. The next stop would be about a block away, and they were attracting the attention of the thrillers from the nearby neighborhood. The security team was doing a good job of keeping them back, but their numbers were increasing as the hunger call spread from thriller to thriller. The explosion would hopefully set off the fire alarm and attract thrillers and mouth breathers alike to this location. Nobody had seen a breather yet, but they wanted to be super careful about such things.
Loaded up and leaving the sporting goods store behind, Bill estimated that there were at least fifty dead thrillers scattered across the parking lot. “Good job, sniper team. Seems like that part of our plan is working well.”
Looking towards Interstate 85, he saw a large horde of thousands coming towards them. They were swarming between a hotel and some restaurants along Chantilly Parkway, looking for the path of least resistance towards the commotion Bill and his team had created over the last hour and a half. He felt a wave of relief wash over him that they were moving out now. Another ten minutes and they would be fighting for their lives.
“UGH! I hate Costco,” Kathrin said.
“Well, suck it up, buttercup. We need food and medicine. This is the best place to get a lot of both,” Jane said before anyone else could reply. The clear teams this time would be Bill, Charity, Shane, and Anna on Alpha team, Q, Jake, Leah, and Kathrin on Bravo team. Papaw, Terry, Sally, and Sam would be on ground security, with the same three on sniper team. They rotated intentionally to give everyone training and practice. Bill also knew that this would help bring the whole group closer together. As soon as they pulled up to the front of the Costco, the doors opened, and a couple of thrillers came staggering out.
“Well, gang, looks like we don’t have the advantage of herding them to one spot like last time,” Bill said as he stopped right there in the middle of the parking lot. “Alpha team on me. Bravo, be ready to go in once we have the entrance cleared.”
Alpha team joined together less than a minute later and started making re-dead. There were only eight thrillers there, but Bill could see more movement inside.
“Bravo, move out. We’ll meet you in the back.”
“Copy,” Q replied.
Once inside, Alpha team headed to the left and passed in front of the checkout lanes. It was now ZomPoc day six, and Bill was thankful the power was still functioning in this area. The layout was different from the one they’d been forced to stop at three days ago. This one had no tire center, but it had a pharmacy to the left of the entrance. Shane turned and quickly dispatched the pharmacist and a technician through the security bars designed to prevent people from reaching in. It did nothing to stop a bullet though. Getting inside would be an issue they would have to work through later. Anna and Charity forged ahead and cleared the food court and kitchen of five thrillers while Bill sighted down the left main aisle, taking down four thrillers back by the produce section.
Bravo team split in two, with Q and Leah going down the right main aisle, leaving Jake and Kathrin to clear their way past optometry and the aisle along the wall. Leapfrogging from aisle to aisle so they didn’t cross-shoot anyone, both teams made it to the back, where the meat and bakery sections were. Bravo team went in back this time to clear the bakery and butcher areas while
Alpha cleared the center this time. Working their way forward through the center and then back to the front doors, they only happened upon three more thrillers hiding in the clothing section.
“We might have a situation here,” D said.
“Talk to me goose. What’s going on?”
“That horde we saw when we were leaving the sporting goods store is on its way here. They have been drawn by the sound of the RVs.”
Just as Alpha team approached the main entrance to investigate, there was a loud explosion off in the distance. Bill threw himself onto the ground and yelled, “Get down!”
A second explosion, then a third and fourth could be heard.
“Disregard that issue. Papaw’s diversion is working like a champ,” D reported.
“Fucking sweet.”
“What the fuck was that?” Q’s voice came over the coms.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! HOOOWEEE! IT WORKED!” Papaw hooted and hollered.
“Oh, that. I forgot about that already. We’re all clear in the back here. Let’s get that pharmacy open and shove some antibiotics into Sam,” Q replied.
“Copy. Headed that way now. Alpha team on me. Bravo, grab some carts and start filling trailers with dry goods. Get all the flour, rice, beans, salt, and sugar. Anything we can cook with. Big and small bags of everything. All of it. I want this place cleaned out. Ground security, reposition the RVs for ease of access. Then I want you to stuff every RV freezer full of meat while we can. When the power goes out eventually, we’re not going to have fresh meat for a while. Once you’re done with that, get back to your post and expect to be swapped out in an hour or so.”
Everyone replied an affirmative, and the work began. Alpha team brought Memaw in so she could point out every kind of antibiotic and painkiller she thought would be helpful. They also grabbed all the first aid, antacid, and cold medicine from the aisles. Once Memaw had had her say, they’d filled up fourteen reusable shopping bags with pharmaceuticals.
“Here, sweetie, take these. Since we don’t really know what is causing zombies.”
“Thrillers, Memaw.”
“Yes, your father has always been a silly sort. Like I was saying, we don’t know what is causing the change in people, so I’m giving you a combination of Doxycycline, Vancomycin, and Levofloxacin and, of all things, vitamin C. If it is something that can be treated by antibiotics, this combination will work. Now, your temperature is still normal, but you need to tell me if you start getting chills or body aches.”
“Yes, ma’am. You will be the first to know.”
“I want you drinking a bottle of water every thirty minutes. You’re going to pee a lot, but it will help the antibiotics flush out this thing. But keep in mind that’s only if thrillers are created by bacteria. Now, get back out there and keep us safe.”
From her perch up top, D watched throngs of thrillers from a nearby apartment complex shamble on towards the explosions Papaw had set up earlier. The flames from inside were beginning to eat through the roof and climb out. Thirty minutes after the initial surprise, there were a series of several more explosions. Papaw figured it was the remaining propane tanks outside that had gotten hot enough to blow. D was pleased by this because it would continue to pique the curiosity of thrillers and draw them away from where they were now. The crowd was so large that the parking lot was filling up like they were waiting for an autograph from their favorite author. She sighed and wished she were reading a good book instead of lying on top of her camper, occasionally picking off the wandering thriller.
“Freezers are all full, and all the fridges have been stocked up with cheeses and other items from the refrigerator section,” Terry reported in.
“Bad ass, thanks for the update. We have one trailer almost full of dry goods, and the second one, we’re filling up with wine, beer, sodas, and energy drinks now. We even have a whole pallet of Smart Water. I estimate we will be done here in a couple of hours.”
Bill hoped it would be sooner than that. His lower back and knees were burning from the effort of the day already.
Memaw made a big stack of ham and cheese sandwiches, cut them into little triangles, and presented them on a platter like it was a fucking back yard BBQ. Everyone enjoyed their favorite chips, and she made everyone drink sports drinks to replenish their electrolytes.
“Enjoy the store-bought bread while you can. We need to eat it up before it goes bad,” she said.
The convoy finally rolled out just after noon once the lunches had been eaten. They took Highway 231 north, running over the occasional thriller in small towns here and there. The miles rolled by, and everyone enjoyed the rest. They were all sweaty and tired from the manual labor that most weren’t used to. A couple of hours later, they were about to hit Interstate 59 on the other side of Ashville, Alabama. Two miles from the city limits, there was a hand-painted sign. KEEP OUT. ANYONE CROSSING THE CITY LIMITS WILL BE SHOT.
Bill hung a left at the next intersection and headed northwest on County Road 22.
“What’s the plan?” Q asked.
“Not sure, but if someone is alive enough to make that sign, I’m not testing if they are alive enough to follow through with it. So, I figure for now, we follow this road up. I have my navigator here looking into possi- awe shit. Everyone stop.”
Bill pulled his .45 out of its holster and held it in his lap. Staring at what lay before them, he made sure the laser sight came on and was glowing against the door panel with his peripheral vision.
Up ahead was a roadblock that had been made by four compact cars. The tires had been flattened to make moving them harder. The two in the middle were parked right on the center line, facing each other. Then the other two had been driven into the front quarter panels, effectively creating a plus sign if you looked at it from above. Bill could see five men with hunting rifles pointed right at the convoy. His heart sank, his pulse quickened, and he started to feel short of breath. None of the men moved from behind the cars blocking the road.
“We have five rifles pointed at us from what I can see here. Everyone watch for movement in the tree line, and Papaw, watch on our six.”
“I’m going to get on top of Behemoth and set up shop real quick,” Sasha said.
“Wait, do not get out. Open a window so you and Jane can set up inside like we talked about. We don’t know who’s out there, nor do we know how many there are.”
“I have movement on my side, at least two just inside the tree line,” Q reported.
An older gentleman about sixty years old stepped out from behind the cars to Bill’s left. He was holding a shotgun at the low ready, not pointing it directly at the convoy. Bill could tell he’d done this before. He watched the man carefully as he rolled the windows down to hear what this guy had to say. Old Guy walked with a confidence that most who’ve served in the United States military have, active and retired. This man was not afraid of much, and certainly not the people in front of him. Old Guy stopped twenty yards away, at a forty-five-degree angle from the front of the 4Runner
“Don’t do nuthin rash now, ya hear? We jus wanna talk,” Old Guy said in a southern drawl.
“Then, talk. You have us blocked in, and there are men in the woods. You seem to have us surrounded, and I can tell by your walk you think you have us. Go ahead and tell me what you want so I can go ahead and tell you no.”
“HAHAHAHA, y’all like playing army with them there helmets on? I bet none of you ain’t never served a day. Listen up and make sure your friends are listening too. This is how it’s gonna go. You and that perty lady there are gonna step out real slow like. All your friends there are gonna do the same. Then my boys here are gonna help themselves to whatever you got that they want. See, we’re runnin out of food, and most of our womenfolk died when everything went to shit. So they might help themselves to them too.”
“Sally and Leah have eyes on some guys in the woods on both sides. They are aimed and ready on your word,” Shane reported in.
“What that old gee
zer said is not going to happen, Bill. Andre and I are ready too. We each have the second guy from our left sighted in,” D chimed in.
“Count Kathrin and me in too. We have third from our left,” Terry added.
Of course, Old Guy couldn’t hear any of this, so Bill asked,
“What branch did you serve?”
“Army. I was Airborne out of the 101st. Served in the first Gulf War.”
“Oh, so you’re a fucking grunt. Once you landed, you were just a regular ground pounder. Your MOS was Eleven Bravo, I’m willing to bet. See, you picked a fight with the wrong folks. I was United States Air Force, a couple of folks back there were also Air Force, and a couple more were Army, but not Eleven Bravo.”
“I ain’t no fuckin’ grunt, you fat, lazy fuck. You think you’re hot shit, don’t ya there, chair force?” he said angrily.
“You want me to prove it?”
“HAHAHAHA! Hold on now, son. Like I said, don’t do any…”
Bill pulled up his .45, aimed the laser sight right between Old Guy’s eyes, and fired. Old Guy had the shotgun halfway up when the hollow point split the frontal bone of his skull. His body tensed up, including his trigger finger, sending double-ought buckshot into the front left fender of Bill’s 4Runner. By the time the hollow point opened up a six-inch-diameter hole out the back of Old Guy’s, skull, Charity had pointed her pistol out of her window and fired off at two of the guys standing dumbfounded at the blockade. She managed to hit them center of mass and hoped they weren’t wearing body armor. Upon hearing the first shot, everyone in the RVs fired. A few screams and a few groans were heard from the tree line, and then several gunshots went off. Bill readjusted his aim to the men on his side of the blockade and got one shot off before they ducked behind the cars.
Beginning of the New Beginning, Vol 1 Page 10