I'm Tired of Zombies | Book 2 | Full Scale War

by Murphy, James W.

  Dave, Chet, and I took tools of all kinds, especially those for gardening and farming. I took more wire mesh, bailing wire, and every three-inch screw I could find. Dave collected wire, rope, chain, and anything to do with towing. Chet helped him.

  Julia and Ruth emptied the last of the seeds and spices, all the kitchen supplies they needed, footwear and clothing.

  The second place, a ranch and farm store, we cleaned it out of seeds, fertilizers, and dog food. Dave suggested we take two stock tanks and turning them over, tied them down on the two trailers without gas tanks, covering the supplies we’d already loaded.

  When we left that place, the trucks were loaded to the gills. The only places not filled with goods, was our seats. We turned north on Highway 287 and stopped at the truck stop on the northern edge of Fort Collins. Now we had a full tank of diesel and two of gasoline, and twenty-six, six-gallon cans filled with gas – not to mention our trucks. The trucks strained with the load as we pulled out and headed north.

  It was late so we stayed the night in Tie Siding, and the next morning, after filling the trucks again, set off for home. The whole trip we didn’t see any other zombies other than the ones near the NG base. Yes, we found that odd. As we turned west out of Laramie, I thought about that and the fact that we had not seen any bodies lying about. We did see skeletal remains, but they had obviously been there for quite some time. We saw nothing ‘fresh’ so to speak, and that bothered me. Where were they? What had happed, if anything, that reduced the zombie threat even more than the signal the doc had used? We would probably never know.

  We were safe and that was all that mattered to us at this stage of the game. From Tie Siding, home was only about two hours and we got there mid morning. We unloaded some of the supplies at Julia and Dave’s then went up to my place and finished unloading. Dave and I had split the thumpers with him keeping one, with half the rounds at his place and me with the other set. I would put mine in the underground armory.

  Dave kept one trailer with fuel, and I had the other two at my place. He also kept fifteen gas cans. We separated goods and clothing like we always did. We knew we would be well off for the winter months ahead.

  I asked Dave and Julia to stay the night with us and have dinner and a movie. I’d pop some popcorn and we’d have drinks and relax. They agreed, and the ladies pulled a couple of chickens out of the freezer and said we’d have fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn for dinner. Of course, that was a hit.

  First thing the next morning, I climbed up to the Underground and quietly knocked on the door. Dave answered and I went in. Together we sat in the kitchen having a mug of coffee and some toast, and strawberry jam.

  “What do you think about Chet?” I asked him.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. “Ever since you said you and Ruth had misgivings about him, I’ve been edgy when he was around. He did fine on the trip and was a big help during that firefight. Having that fifth rig to fill was a plus also. I just don’t know.”

  “I agree with you he was a big help on the trip and the firefight, but I’m still not convinced he’s on the up and up. I actually didn’t see him shoot anyone during the fight; did you?”

  “Actually no, and I agree with you we still need to keep an eye on him. So, what are you going to do today to change the subject?”

  “I thought I’d spend the day cutting wood for the punji stake project. I’ll need three or four hundred of the things, so I figured I’d better get started. I plan to start with the flats to the north and south, making my way back to the house. Next spring, I plan putting in those bastions. I figure six of them will do and I’ll need several hundred ten to twelve-foot logs for that project.”

  “How are you going to put them in?”

  “I’m going to dig a ‘V’ shaped trench, with the pointy end towards the east, about six feet wide and deep, place logs around the edge, bracing them, then backfill with dirt and rock. This will give me a shooting position that’ll be about one-hundred sixty degrees or so. I plan to build six of them, three to the left of the barn and three around the front of the garage.”

  “Why not just build a solid wall?” Dave asked.

  “Snow removal; I’ll need the open lanes to push snow through down the hill.”

  “Nice thinking,” Dave, said.

  “It was actually Chet’s idea,” I told him.

  Just then, Ruth came in and said, “Where did Chet go?”

  “I don’t know, why?” I responded.

  “He’s not downstairs. His room door was open, and he wasn’t downstairs in the kitchen or anywhere. I wondered if you sent him somewhere to work on something.”

  “No, maybe he’s taken it on his own to do something. I’ll go have a look. Mind if I refill?” I asked Dave, getting up.

  “Go ahead, here refill mine, too, ‘cause I’m going with you. I suddenly have alarm bells going off.”

  I stopped and looked at him - now I did, too. Taking our full mugs, we took off down the stairs, looked around the house including the armory and the root cellar then went outside, Sam on my heels. It was a chilly morning and the air heavy with humidity. No wind…uh oh. I knew a storm was coming in. We walked to the barn but other than the animals, the place was quiet. I pointed to the garage and opening the door, found the truck Chet had used on the Colorado trip gone. I opened the garage doors, looked down the lane and did not see him or the truck.

  Dave had fired up an ATV and pulled out to me and together we took off down the lane. As we got to the main road, we could see the tire tracks turning to the left, towards Centennial. Dave floored the ATV and we charged up the road but never saw Chet or the truck.

  Dave did a bat-turn in the road and sped to the road we’d built to his place. “Load that shotgun,” he said.

  I racked a round into the chamber and backfilled another round of buckshot. We pulled out of the trees, stopped, and looked at Dave’s place but didn’t see any sign the truck had been there.

  “He stole your truck and left,” Dave proposed. “We’re going back to your place and see what else he took.” He floored the ATV and doing another bat-turn, headed back up the mountain to Paradise Valley.

  By the time we arrived, Ruth and Julia were standing on the front porch with mugs of coffee and concern written on their faces.

  “See any sign of him?” Ruth asked as we stopped in front of the steps.

  “No, and he took the truck,” I answered. “He’s gone. We need to look around and see what else he took, so do an inventory. Will you go through the root cellar and see if anything is missing? We’ll do the armory,” I said getting out and running up the steps, Sam and Dave on my heels.

  Julia and Ruth turned and went inside just before I got to the door and they went to the root cellar. Dave, Sam, and I went to the armory. About twenty minutes later, we gathered in the kitchen and the ladies told us one of the bug-out bags was missing. We’d made several bug-out bags with ten days worth of food supplies in them and stored them in the cellar for quick access.

  “Dave and I found we’re missing an M4, a suppressed nine, one tactical shotgun and enough magazines to go along with them. Two belts of twelve-gauge shotgun shells were missing, too. We know he didn’t go up to the armory in the Underground, as we would have heard him, so I knew the other fifties and the thumper were still here.

  “I knew that guy wasn’t right,” Ruth said.

  “What do you suppose that means, him taking off like that? He had it so good here,” Julia said.

  “I wonder if he’s heading to the doc with intelligence about Paradise Valley and your place,” I said to Dave.

  “He knows just about everything, huh?” Dave supposed aloud.

  “Not everything,” I said. “He didn’t know about your underground. And he won’t know about any changes we make now that he’s gone.”

  “Well this throws a monkey wrench into things,” Ruth said.

  “What should we do,” Julia asked.

  “No
t much we can do except plan,” I answered her. “On what, I don’t know. Without knowing what he was up to, or intends, we really cannot do anything.”

  “Ok, everybody,” Dave said, “we all need to carry weapons again at all times - no exceptions. At least handguns but we should have an M4 handy.”

  “I’ll get my AR-10 ready,” Ruth said and motioned for Julia to follow her. They went into the armory together, coming out a few minutes later packing, Ruth with her AR-10 and a sidearm and Julia with an M4 and sidearm. “We’re taking the ATV and go over to their place and check things out.”

  “Bring Boxer back with you when you come back over here…and be careful,” Dave said.

  “Yeah, be careful,” I added. Dave and I would sit at the table and talk about this some more.

  The ladies left and we could hear them drive down the lane. Dave and I sat at the table after refilling our mugs and he said, “This must really tick you off.”

  “You said it, my friend,” I answered “perplexing to say the least. So many questions are coming up that I cannot answer. Why? Why take a truck? I would have given him one if he’d asked. Where is he going? What’s he gonna do? The list can go on and on.”

  “We may never know,” Dave said. “Maybe he doesn’t like winter and is doing a snow-bird thing and going to Arizona or something. I don’t know. It really makes me nervous. If that guy was here on an intel mission, where is he taking the information he’s gathered and what are they going to do with it? Those are a few of the questions I’d like answered.”

  “Should have shot him while I had the chance. I can’t help but think he’s on his way to the doc’s facility. Almost makes me want to move somewhere else.”

  “No moving; we have too much invested in this valley to move. Heck, you know that.”

  “I was just being facetious. I’m never leaving my valley and I’m not going to let them take it either,” I said with determination.

  “Then we need to disperse ammo and weapons and make a solid defense plan for both homesteads,” Dave said.

  “I’m thinking you and Julia should move back in here with us. Might be safer and we would only have to defend one place.”

  “That is something we should consider, but not now, maybe in the spring or next summer, but not now.”

  “I’m with you on the planning, though. We need to do that and do the dispersal of weapons and ammo, even consider placing some of the extra materials in strategic spots in case we need to run from one place or another. You know, because of fire or something. You already know about the things I have on the west side. There are two of those ammunition crates up there with weapons, ammo, food, clothing, and camping equipment. We’ll need to place some others around the area and make sure all of us know the locations. I think one in my spot down near the river would be good for one.”

  “Yeah, I know the spot,” Dave said. “We can put one on the east side, somewhere on the upslope of Sheep Mountain. We should put one on the south side near the creek about halfway between our two homes. To the north…way too much open area to the north, I don’t know.”

  “We could put some stuff in Centennial and the Ranger’s Station both. The Ranger’s Station has all those other supplies, too.”

  “Yeah, then that should be the first place we put stuff. We all know what’s in there.”

  “Make sure your ATV is well tuned and a fresh oil change. We may need to run in those across the open country. They’ll do better than the trucks,” I said.

  “Good idea. I’m going to clean the 240s and 249s and make sure they’re operational. We have thirty, two-hundred fifty round belts stored up - in a real fight that won’t last long. We have the M240s for back up and we have loads of ammo for them thanks to all that we found at the base over in Cheyenne.”

  “You and I should consider a trip over there and search those places for more ammunition, grenades and those forty-millimeter rounds for the thumpers,” I said. “We could take four trucks and just one fuel tank and three empty trailers. Load up if we find the mother load.”

  “That’s a thought. You and I already know where there is a lot of ammo left in a truck. I loaded a bunch but there was quite a bit more. We should go back and get the rest. Don’t know if the ladies will go for it but…”

  “We would have to be careful over there when we go to the bunkers. They had nukes; you know.”

  Dave looked at me and said, “Yes, I remember. Don’t want a nuke, just the little stuff. Maybe a bazooka or two.”

  “Bazooka…I don’t think they make those anymore. We might find some LAWs though.”

  “LAWs? What’s that?”

  “Light Anti-tank Weapon. It comes in a tube that once fired you throw it away. Those would be good to have. When we go, and we will go, I hope we find some of them. Maybe we can find some Claymore’s, too.”

  “Claymore’s would be ideal. I remember them. You know how to use them?”

  “Yeah, I had that training when I was in the army. We could set a bunch of them around both homesteads. That would surprise the tar out of them,” I told him.

  “We need to tell the girls and hit the road,” Dave said standing. He refilled his coffee mug and said, “I’m going outside and check the weather.”

  “Coming,” I answered rising and refilling my mug. We stood on the front porch feeling the wind and humidity. It was still heavy, wet air - and no wind. Dave and I looked at each other, knowing we were probably in for a storm. The sun was high in the east and the sky blue, not a cloud to be seen. Even though clear, sunny sky, the feeling of heaviness in the air foretold snow, and probably a lot of it.

  I went down the steps and Dave followed, walking to the area of the front yard that was to the left of the barn. I looked down the hill out to the flat and said, “About twenty Claymores along the front here. I’ll put one of those bastions here, one there and another next to the edge of the lane. That should give me good firing lanes down into the flats. Come on,” I said pointing to the garage.

  There, I pointed again saying, “I’ll put another here, there and over near the base of the mountain’s slope. Those should be more than enough. I’d have access from the house…they won’t be able to see us move up here because of the slope.”

  “I’d say so,” Dave said. “I’d put the Claymore detonators with each. You and Ruth would be able to cover the entire flat area out front here, just the two of you. Sweet.”

  “Wonder where the girls are now? Come on let’s get the trucks ready to go. We’ll make this trip tomorrow. We’ll take our trailer with the fuel tank.”

  We went inside the garage and I fired up my truck, Dave starting Ruth’s vehicle. We pulled out, backed up to the trailers and hooked up. I pulled my rig up to the steps at the house and parked it. Dave slid to a stop right behind me and we got out and went inside. I threw another log on the fire and Sam came up and nuzzled me, wanting to have her ears scratched. I obliged. I sat down in my recliner and Sam put her head in my lap for more.

  Dave said, “How about a sandwich? There’s some left-over chicken in here.”

  “Sure…and an apple please,” I answered.

  “Water?”

  “Glass please,” I said. I put another log on the fire, wanting it to get warm. I was pretty ticked off about Chet and taking off the way he did. It left too many questions.

  “You still look mad,” Dave said handing me a sandwich and apple.

  “I am,” I answered.

  He came back and handed me a glass of water, “Thank you,” I said.

  “Fire feels good,” he said. He sat in the other recliner and began eating his sandwich. “Don’t get all moody on me,” he said between bites. “Your sixth sense was right on about him so you knew it might happen…didn’t you.”

  “Umm hmm,” with my mouth full.

  Chapter 6: Cheyenne, Chet, and Chickens

  The women were none too happy with Dave and me as we told them our plan to go to the military base in Cheyenne. We woul
d leave early the next morning, with Dave and Julia staying in the Underground. I asked Ruth to make her mother’s pork chops for dinner and giving me the motherly look, said she would.

  Dave and I then began preparations for our trip. We packed camping gear and put in one of the bug-out packs for our food. We both had water bladders and I added another five-gallon jug with fresh water. In the bed of my truck, I threw in a shovel, axe, some towing chain, and several spans of rope, crowbar, and other things for breaking and entering. Dave put another shovel and axe in his truck.

  Now we loaded weapons. Dave had his fifty, reloaded his seven mags, giving him thirty-six rounds then he added a can of fifty rounds just for ‘giggles’ as he said. I put in my Remington XPSX sniper rifle in .308 and a hundred rounds. I packed an M249 and five belts of ammo with it. We packed our M4s and suppressed nine-millimeters and seven mags each for those, our twelve-gauge shotguns and two belts each of fifty additional rounds, and two pouches of grenades. All of that on top of the extra M4s, nine millimeters and shotguns with ammo we always kept in the trucks.

  Dave and I stood on the porch thinking of anything else we may need. The air was still thick with humidity, but now the wind had begun. It was just a gentle breeze, but with the signs the way they were, Dave and I both felt it might snow. Snow shovels and tire chains went in. Now we were set.

  Julia came out as we got back on the porch and handed each of us a tumbler of scotch. We both said thank you and clinking glasses, Dave said, “To our trip, may it be safe and eventless.”

  “Here, here,” I said. “Eventless…is that a word?”

  “Who cares?” Dave said with a shrug of his shoulders.

  I laughed and said, “I guess no one now days.” I turned for the house and the warmth of the fire and he followed.

  Inside, the chops smelled wonderful. The fire had warmed the great room and Dave and I plopped down in the recliners.