Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 01

by Outbreak

  Josh threw a punch that caught Alex between his hands and connected with his nose. Blood sprayed across his face and Alex's world began to spin around him. He lost his balance and fell hard, hitting the back of his head against the asphalt road when he landed. Alex's vision shrank to a pinpoint of light in a tunnel of darkness and he fought to stay conscious. Through the haze he heard someone in the distance say "I'm going to end this here!" Alex could not move.

  Morgan screamed when the gun cracked. "Alex!" She started to run towards her husband and the man standing over her when Paula grabbed her, keeping her away from the violence taking place. Another shot rang out and a second fist sized hole opened in Josh's back. He staggered over Alex and turned to look behind him. Confusion and pain spread across his face when he saw Stacey pointing the barrel of a smoking gun at him.

  "You cunt," he stammered and tried to raise his gun. Stacey squeezed the trigger two more times, one bullet catching him in the lower right of his abdomen, the other catching him just on the left side of his head above his left eye. Josh's head snapped back with the force of the impact and a cloud of red blood sprayed behind him. Josh's lifeless body pitched backwards and fell on top of Alex. Josh did not move.

  "Alex," Morgan screamed again and wrenched herself free from Paula's grasp. She raced to her husband and fell to her knees trying to see where he had been shot. From behind her a woman screamed and a final shot went off causing Morgan to loose her balance and fall to the ground next to Alex. Searching for where the shot came from, Morgan saw Stacey sobbing and Paula clutching Stacey's arm that held the gun. Paula was frantically telling Stacey that she did not need to do that. Morgan realized that Stacey had tried to kill herself with the last bullet remaining in her gun.

  Liam raced to Stacey's side to help Paula calm her and Sam appeared next to Morgan. "I think he's been shot," Morgan cried and resumed her desperate attempt to get at her husband who remained motionless underneath the dead body of Josh. Sam pulled at her hands and away from the bodies laying in front of her and pushed her behind him.

  "I'll help him, Morgan. Let me do it." Sam turned back to the bloody mess that was Alex and Josh and began to carefully untangle the two bodies. Blood was everywhere and Sam had a hard time determining whose blood it was. Or even if it was from both men. Sam managed to untangle Josh's body to a point that he was able to roll the lifeless form off of Alex. A groan escaped Alex's lips.

  Followed by more groans. And these did not stop, but continued to grow louder and gain more voices. Sam looked around it confusion until the realization of who was groaning set in. The blood drained from his face.

  "We have to get out of here," whispered Alex through the pain and haze of a broken and bloody nose. "They're coming."

  -----

  The joy of finding Alex alive and relatively uninjured save for a broken nose was quickly replaced by near panic and a frantic attempt to leave. Stacey fell to Josh's body as she passed, her tears starting again and let loose a wailing that drowned out any groans from the walking dead approaching. Gunfire cracked from Liam's rifle and he dropped a zombie that had appeared nearest them from behind a support column. A shadow from above passed over the party, followed quickly by a second, and the wet crunch made clear what they were seeing. Zombies drawn by the sound of gunfire and moans from beneath them were falling from the overpass in their attempt to reach prey. The impact, thankfully, destroyed the creatures brains killing them instantly.

  "We have to go," Liam commanded. "They're falling from the fucking sky!" Another gunshot cracked, another zombie fell. Sam helped Alex to his feet and Morgan and Paula pulled at Stacey to leave. Stacey hugged Josh's lifeless body one last time and kissed him.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered and rose to leave with the others. Liam grabbed the guns that Josh had been carrying as he passed.

  Good fortune smiled down upon the party for there was not a single zombie in their path of escape. The sound of bodies crashing down from the overpass above accompanied the pounding of their feet as they ran towards safety. Crossing up and over the train tracks, Liam led the group off the main road towards a commercial park full of warehouses and strip centers. Liam knew that they were taking a huge risk by running as they were, making it hard to pick out any movement from the surrounding areas, but Liam felt it was worth it. The gunfire and yelling would have been heard by any zombies in the area, and the moans of the alerted creatures would carry further in the distance. Liam's hope was to put as much distance between them and the area before the hellish demons could converge.

  Hope at finding safety was quickly dashed as the party neared another train crossing. Cars lined the streets in all directions and crossroads, most of the twisted together in tangled masses of metal and fiberglass. Every driver tried to beat everyone else, causing accidents and pileups, clogging the streets and intersections. They could see movement in some of the cars and it took a few moments before they realized what they were seeing. Infected drivers who were trying to leave the city had died in their cars, only to reanimate locked behind the wheel. Most of these would not have been a problem, trapped by their seat belts and the windows of the car. But this was not the case every time as Liam began looking for the arms and heads of trapped zombies who were reaching from their windows, some hanging halfway out the doors only to be tangled in their safety restraints. And Liam knew they had to get through.

  "Give me the scoped .22," Liam ordered. Sam quickly switched the scoped .22 rifle for Liam's AR-15. "Don't let anything creep up behind us," Liam said as he knelt and took aim. The rifle popped and cracked once every second until the magazine was emptied, each round fired finding a moving target somewhere in the tangle of cars. Windows shattered and sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off the doors and roofs of cars. Another magazine loaded and emptied, followed quickly by one more and Liam surveyed the area in front of him through the scope. Sam spoke up from behind.

  "Liam, we've got a problem." Liam turned to see a mass of fifty to sixty zombies cresting the train track overpass. Once more Liam surveyed the area in front of them and came to a decision.

  "We're going through the cars. Watch out for grabbers and anything moving in or near the cars. Keep your eyes moving and don't forget to check the ground you are about to step on for broken class, blood, or crawling zombies." Liam turned around to stand next to Sam. "Give me the AR-15 and get Alex and the women through there. Watch out for any zombies that may be crawling of reaching through windows as you pass and avoid any areas that even look as if they are contaminated with blood. I'll be right behind you."

  With a shove Liam pushed Sam, Alex and the others towards the intersection and turned back towards the zombies approaching from behind. The party could hear the crack of his rifle as they carefully navigated through the cars.

  -----

  The flames from the burning cars still illuminated the night, even hours after Liam had set fire to them. His plan was pretty ingenious really. Liam lured the zombies straight into the blocked intersection, shot holes in the gas tanks of several cars, then set fire to the gas spilling on the ground. The flames spread quickly and consumed everything they touched including the nearby trees and grass. This was the only thing that did not go exactly to plan because it threatened the buildings and homes that Liam and the others had planned on taking refuge in. The zombies, on the other hand, walked straight into the consuming flames. Their clothes caught fire and the flames spread through the massing dead. Luck continued to smile down as the lead zombies collapse in the only openings between the cars, causing others to trip, fall and further block the ways through the cars. Soon the last of the approaching zombies succumbed to the flames and Liam relaxed his guard and began searching for his family and friends.

  A sharp whistle alerted Liam to someone standing at the corner of a children's clinic. Sam waved Liam over and the two rounded the corner and entered the clinic. Most of the windows were shattered, others were full of so many bullet holes that Liam could
not understand how they had not shattered as well. Two heads pupped up from behind the counter, guns drawn and aimed at the door Sam and Liam had just entered. "Whoa, it's me...Sam! Put the guns down." Both Liam and Sam had their hands over their heads hoping that they would not be shot where they stood.

  "Sorry...sorry, dude. We...we didn't know." A scared kid no older that sixteen stammered as he spoke to Sam, the gun in his hands shaking more than his voice.

  "It's okay, just put the guns down. This is the man I was telling you about," and Sam indicated Liam who was standing just behind him. The two kids slowly lowered their weapons and stood gawking at the newcomer. Cautiously Sam and Liam lowered their hands and proceeded to move farther into the clinic. "Alex is back here. We were able to find some penicillin and Paula was able to patch him us. She said that he looks worse than he is and will be back on his feet in no time."

  Liam stopped Sam with a hand to the arm and turned him so that they could talk face to face. "We have to get out of here, Sam. That fire outside is dangerously close to this clinic, and if it catches the fire or grass we may not have enough time to get out." Looking back over his shoulder Sam asked, "And who are those kids?"

  "Those are my two boys," a thin dark haired man stepped out of one of the side rooms, closing the door behind him. "My name is Dr. JJ Cahn, and my boys are Markus and Perry. Their good boys, just a little skittish. But who could blame them?"

  Liam stood transfixed for a moment unable to talk. "My apologies," he finally said. "I'm Liam Beard. It's good to meet you." Liam stepped forward and held out his hand in greeting.

  "Likewise" Dr. Cahn said, taking Liam's hand and shaking it firmly. "Did I just hear you say that we needed to leave?"

  Liam shook his head in agreement. "There's quite the fire raging outside and we can't afford to take the chance it won't head this direction. We need to pack up as much supplies as we can and get out of here." Liam looked around the room taking stock. "Do you think that they left anything here that would be useful?"

  "I certainly hope so, this is my clinic." Dr. Cahn put his hands in his pockets and looked rather proud of himself. "We were able to keep the people out of here who were looting and stealing. We had some help." Just then two men entered the hallway behind Dr. Cahn and coming into the room where Liam stood. They seemed to be heavily armed, each with guns strapped to various parts of their bodies, tactical vests bulging with spare clips, and a large caliber rifle in their hands. "Speaking of," Dr. Cahn half turned to introduce the men approaching. "Mr. Beard, this is Shawn Davies and Luke Berryman. These two gentlemen are owners of the gun store just across the parking lot from this clinic, and were extremely helpful in keeping this clinic secured. I owe a lot to these men."

  "Mr. Beard," each man said in turn, shaking Liam's hand in greeting. "We were just talking to your friend Alex back there, and he seems to have an idea to get everyone out of here. Sounds like it could work and we would like to help out if you'll have us." Both men seemed to be waiting for approval from Liam, who in turn had no idea what he was supposed to do.

  "I'll have to talk to everyone else, make sure they are okay with this, but I can't see that there would be a problem." Liam shrugged his shoulders, hoping that he was not overstepping his bounds. The man introduced as Shawn chuckled.

  "Actually, everyone else said that we would have to talk to you. Apparently Alex," and Shawn threw his head back indicating that Liam's friend was behind them in one of the rooms, "is in charge, but he wouldn't give overall consent because he was high on pain killers." Shawn laughed again and looked at Dr. Cahn. "Seems the Doc here has some pretty powerful stuff back there. Knocked Alex on his ass when they gave him that shot."

  "And he needed it," Dr. Cahn defended himself. "That boy was messed up something fierce. Not to mention that he is utterly exhausted, couldn't tell me the last time he had slept. He'll be out for a few hours now."

  "A few hours?" Liam interrupted. "I'm not sure we have a few hours here, Dr. Cahn. We need to come up with some idea and get out of here before that fire or something worse shows up. But we've got to move now."

  "Hang on there," Luke said. "We've already got a plan from your buddy in there. We just need some time to get things together. We've taken care of things around here long enough, we can handle a little more. But the real question in, can we come?" Luke grinned wide, already knowing the answer.

  "You own a gun shop...are you kidding?"

  -----

  It only took the group a couple of hours to collect all of the necessary equipment that they would need from the clinic and prepare to head out. Dollies and rolling carts were utilized to move the heavier equipment with the lighter supplies loaded in duffel bags. They were able to gather more supplies from the gun store, loading up on ammunition and weapons. Hand trucks from the back of the shop were loaded with as much as they would carry and they began to make their way through the adjoining neighborhood, looking for a place to hole up for the night. Alex's plan was simple, but quite hard to accomplish. He had found the trucks they would need, remembering the stone quarry less than a mile away from his home.

  The long night allowed Liam, Shawn and Luke to build upon Alex's original idea and a final plan was agreed upon. The following morning the group made their way to the stone quarry, finding the trucks they needed to make their run up north. Within three hours of reaching the quarry, gas tanks had been topped off and additional gas supplies had been gathered and stored for the trip. The open bed of the gravel trailers would allow for three hundred and sixty degrees of fire when they needed it. Gemma was made as comfortable as possible in the sleeper section of the cab along with Morgan and Paula. Stacey refused to stay in the cab, so she joined Alex, Sam, Dr. Cahn and his sons in the bed of the truck. Luke and Shawn would be following Liam and the main truck in a smaller 4x4 truck and would try to distract or clear the path of the rig.

  Everyone prepared for the night and the long road ahead of them tomorrow.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Farm

  And lo, a wandering minstrel wafteth through the village of zombieapocalypseburgville, singing: "Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop. Ain't no party like a zombie brain party cause a zombie brain party don't stop."

  The zombies around Alex shook and gyrated as if they were at a middle school dance. The beat of the music was entrancing and Alex felt himself lose the grip on his rifle, letting it slip to the ground as his body took up the rhythm and he began to dance among the dead...

  Alex shot straight up in his sleeping bag. He looked everywhere around him, searching for the dead that had just surrounded him only moments before and found nothing. Placing his head in his hands Alex realized that he had been dreaming one very strange dream. Ever since he had been drugged up in the clinic four days ago, the nightmares and dreams that took over his mind in the night were vivid and strange. But of them all, this one topped it.

  Alex and his party had been on the road going on five days and had nearly been overrun numerous times. As the sun set on their group two nights ago, the bodies of the dead and walking dead were piled so high around the truck that those in the bed of the trailer were threatened to be overtaken by zombies who simply walked up the mounded bodies. That was the horrific night that they had to pass through Waco, TX. Judging from the number of zombies attacking them that night, Alex was not sure that anyone in the town had been left alive or uncontaminated.

  The battle that
took place had a second consequence in that it put a severe drain on their ammunition. Most of the large caliber rifles and handguns were now useless, the empty casings littering the floor of the trailer. By the grace of god, Luke and Shawn were able to topple the pile of bodies stacking up against the front of the truck, giving Liam just enough space that he was able to move through. Alex and the others were forced to find any shops and stores that might possibly contain ammunition. The thought was that when, or if, they made it to the Beard family farm, there was equipment available to reload some of the ammunition, but if they ever faced another night even half as bad as Waco, they would never make it.

  Luck again shone down and the group had found a gun shop that had been only slightly looted. Most likely the looters had been caught in the midst of stealing the guns and ammunition and were scared off before they could finish. The store had then been left completely abandoned except for the three zombies that were trapped inside. A few well placed shots with the .22 Remington and they were able to move cases of ammunition to the truck. Alex had stood over the bodies of the zombies and assumed that they were the owners of the shop who had prevented it from being looted. He said a silent prayer of thanks for the three, thanking them for giving Alex and his family a chance to make it. Their sacrifice, whether intentional or not, had most likely saved them.

  Two more days and nights of slow driving and some intense battles and Liam was turning on the final road that would lead them all to the farm and hopefully salvation. A plume of smoke rose in the distance and Liam was unable to tell if it came from his father's farm or not. They had come too far now to have everything destroyed right before them.

  "How much farther,? Alex said through the passenger window of the truck, startling Liam out of his reverie.

  "Oh," he stammered. "Not much farther. 'Bout a mile down this road and we'll be there." Liam forced a smile that hardly seemed genuine. "Told you there would be no worries."