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

by Murphy, James W.

  “I’ll be someplace high with a fifty and all the mags I can get and take out vehicles. Once I’ve disabled all of them, I can concentrate fire on people.”

  “I’m glad you read all those books,” Ruth said with a smile. “I’m glad you’re on my side. I’d hate to have you mad at me.”

  “You and me both, sister,” Jeff said.

  I chuckled and said, “Come on, let’s hit the sack.” We went to bed but had trouble getting to sleep. I heard Ruth begin to cry again, turned over and put my arm around her. I woke when the sunlight streamed in through the window. Ruth was still out so I quietly got out of bed and put my robe on. I left the bedroom and went in the kitchen to make some coffee, but Dan had beaten me to it. I’d no sooner poured myself a mug full than Julia came in and said, “Hey.”

  “Morning, Julia, how are you feeling?” I asked her. She just looked at me and shook her head. I fully understood. I wasn’t feeling too well myself. “Did you get any sleep at all?”

  “I did doze off for a while,” she said. “The light coming in woke me.”

  “Me, too,” I told her. “Dan made the coffee. Can I pour you a mug and fix you anything to eat?”

  “Have you got any of your bread made?”

  “Yeah, I’ve got some…want some toast?”

  “That would be nice, thank you, and some coffee, too.”

  I got the loaf, cut several slices, placing them in the toaster oven. Ruth came in then, went over to Julia and gave her a hug and the two of them began to cry. I turned off the toaster oven and Dan and I left the kitchen for a bit to let them have some time. It would be a long forlorn day at best.

  I went into the bedroom and changed clothes then went outside with my M4 to look around. Two of our attackers had reanimated and were ambling around so I made my way down the west side of the mountain. I looked at the smoldering ruins of my home and became even more depressed. The Zs were ambling my way so I got my knife out. This would almost be enjoyable.

  After I had taken care of the two creatures, I climbed down to the aspen stand where we buried Erskine. There was plenty of room to add Dave. I stood there looking at the ground and felt an overwhelming feeling of doom. My best friend was gone. Being a Christian, I knew I would see him once again. He and I had talked about that on many occasions and both promised each other we would meet at the gate when the time came. I suddenly felt just a bit jealous that Dave was in Heaven before me. Not that either of us wanted it to be a competition - I was ready to go, but I wasn’t in a hurry to get there - I was a bit jealous just the same.

  I went over to the barn and going in, looked at the damage. It had actually made it without much. Some wall work and a few of the stalls needed repair, but it was still usable. We were fortunate the few animals we had in there were not injured, although scared out of their minds over the racket. We did lose one dairy cow which had been killed in the pasture, hit by a stray round from somewhere. The chickens wouldn’t lay eggs for who knew how long.

  I went out back where I kept the front-end loader and pulled it around to the Aspen stand to dig Dave’s grave when I noticed movement from above and saw Ruth waving her arms. I parked the tractor and got out and she yelled that breakfast was ready. Being the lazy guy, I walked around to the garage and drove the ATV back up the back way.

  I ate like a mad man, as I hadn’t had anything save the cheese and crackers since breakfast and the light dinner meal the day prior. The ladies and the three Marines ate also. I drank a mug of coffee with breakfast and poured myself another travel mug full to take with me. I kissed Ruth then gave Julia a hug and a peck on the cheek and said, “I’ll be in the Aspen stand for a while. You two relax and take it easy.”

  Dan asked, “Can we help you, Doug?”

  I looked down at the floor and answered him dejectedly, “Thanks for the offer, Dan, but this is something I need to do on my own. I’ll let you know,” and headed to the aspens.

  “I’ll keep watch,” Ruth said to my back.

  “No,” Dan said, “you stay with Julia. We’ll take the watch.” The look on his face was serious to say the least. If he did see someone, I pity them.

  I nodded at Dan and headed out the east hatchway after dressing. I drove the ATV back down to the front of the house and got to work digging Dave’s grave first then I would pull the truck around with his body for the burial. It only took about an hour to be ready. I got back into the ATV and drove up the hill.

  As I crested, I could see Dan standing watch. He had cleaned up. He was looking through his binos to the east and as I stopped and got out, he said, “Nothing but animals moving out there. You ready?”

  “Yes, and thank you for standing watch for us,” I answered. He nodded and we opened the hatch.

  Once inside the Underground, I found the ladies had both cleaned up and were ready. Jack and Jeff stood as we entered the room, dressed and ready, also. I told them I needed to take a shower and would be ready in a while.

  Afterwards, Julia, Ruth and I got into an ATV and drove down the mountain with the three men in the second ATV. I parked ours next to the Aspen stand and we got out. Dan parked behind me. I had already pulled the truck into position and we gathered around the back. Ruth had her Bible, and asking her for it, I turned to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen, and read verses forty-two through forty-nine: “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it rose imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So, it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.”

  I looked at Julia and Ruth and said, “Because of what Paul says here, I know for a fact that I will see my brother, Dave, once again in Heaven, and we’ll be in our spiritual bodies. I can be sure of that because of the faith I have in Christ Jesus. We hurt and are sad that Dave’s earthly time has come to a tragic end and we will sorely miss him, but we can press on knowing we will see him once again.” I held my hands out to them and the six of us joined hands and prayed for a while.

  Finally, with Dan, Jack, and Jeff’s help, we pulled Dave from the truck and slid his body into his final resting place next to Erskine. The six of us prayed once again and the women went around to the barn while we four men filled the grave. I couldn’t help but cry as I did so.

  Out of habit, I parked the tractor behind the barn and walked out front, where the ladies were waiting with an ATV. We got in and sat for a moment in silent reflection then Ruth motioned for me to head out. I started the little rig, telling the Marines we were going to get Julia some things from the other place. Dan handed me his M4 and chest rig and said to be careful. I turned the ATV and headed down the lane. Instead of heading back up to the Underground, I turned down the lane then to the south and just drove along the main road in silence. When I got to the turn for Highway 11, I turned right and headed for Albany. I figured a short drive would be a good thing for all of us and driving up into the mountains would be a nice change of scenery. The ladies didn’t argue.

  I went all the way to Rob Roy Reservoir before stopping at the bridge since it had begun to show significant signs of aging and looked unsafe. We got out of the ATV and looked across the water and I could tell I’d done a good thing as I looked at the ladies. They seemed to get some satisfaction from the trip. I watched as Ruth put her arm around Julia and together, they gazed out over the reservoir to the south. Ruth finally gave her a tight hug. Julia looked at Ruth, then me and said, “Come on you two. Let
’s get back and cook a real nice dinner and bust open a couple of bottles of wine and scotch in Dave’s honor.”

  I let out a whoop and said, “I’m all for that and I bet those Marines will be, too. Hop in ladies.”

  Chapter 13: Final Shot

  Doug had written his last will and testimony a few days prior to the attack and left it in a protective can in the underground. He’d had another bad feeling something terrible was about to happen and sat down and wrote it in a night. His premonition was spot on as the attackers had hit them two days later. After their battle and laying Dave to rest, Ruth, Julia, and Doug took that drive, mainly to go get Julia some things from their underground facility.

  Doug was still driving, and after the enjoyable and reflection time, they were looking forward to a nice dinner. He was in the turn around the curve heading back to Paradise Valley, when Doug flew forward, striking the steering wheel. Blood and brain tissue splattered on the inside of the windshield and a hole appeared in it. The little ATV veered more to the right and almost made the turn in the road but went off into the aspen trees, hitting a large lilac bush and almost turning over on its passenger side. Ruth and Julia quickly undid their seat belts and together tumbled out of the rig.

  Ruth was up in an instant checking Doug, and found he had been killed, shot from behind with a rifle. She stood there, stunned, unbelieving what she was seeing. Julia knew from looking Doug was gone. She collected weapons as another bullet went through the cab of the rig, missing both. Julia grabbed Ruth, forced an M4 into her hands and literally dragged and pulled her into the thicker stand of aspens to find cover.

  The camouflaged and black-clad men from the Doc’s facility quietly eased out of the Aspen trees to the east and looked at the small ATV lying on its side. The leader, a Doctor Miller, placed his hand on the young soldier’s shoulder that had fired the rifle and said, “Nice shot. You three, spray those aspens and the ATV now.” He then radioed for their pickup vehicles and when two black hummers arrived, they got in and headed to their underground facility in Colorado.

  Hearing the gunfire, Dan, Jack, and Jeff, grabbed and loaded their weapons and jumping in the second ATV and with Jack driving, charged down the east face of the mountain. They could see light smoke rising to the south as they turned in front of the garage and down the lane. They turned to that direction and slowly drove along until they reached the site, knowing immediately what had happened. They knew their friends were probably dead seeing the ATV almost on its side and the redness on the front windshield, so Dan yelled for Jeff to slide out and check the bodies, and he and Jack charged onward, pushing the little ATV for all it was worth trying to catch the black hummers they could see heading in the distance racing to Highway 11.

  Dan said, “Come on, Jack, floor this thing and let’s get these guys.”

  “I’m pressing as hard as I can,” Jack yelled. “Top speed in this thing is only around fifty miles an hour. And that’s pushing it hard. With the two of us in here and all the weapons and ammo, we’ll be lucky to hit forty!”

  The duo drove on attempting to catch vehicles that could double the speed of their ATV. They saw the black hummers crest the hill on Highway 130, as they made the last curve before arriving at the junction of 130 and 11. Jack slowed to a stop and watched the two black vehicles disappear over the crest, over seven miles away. They would never catch them in the ATV.

  “Should have jumped in the truck,” Jack said.

  “That’s an understatement,” Dan said, rather sarcastically.

  “Turn this thing around and lets go help Jeff,” Dan said, sadly.

  “No, not yet,” Jack said, looking to the east.

  “What’s wrong?” Dan asked following Jack’s eyes to the eastern horizon.

  “I got a bad feeling, suddenly,” he replied. “We need to take it slow and watch ourselves, so we don’t wind up like the other ATV. I’m thinkin’ it’s purty dangerous around here right now. We don’t need no more surprises, brother.”

  “Okay, let me get the binos, hang on and we’ll take a look around,” Dan said. He found the binos and standing on the doorjamb, looked out over the valley and out to Sheep Mountain. He looked to the south and could make out two of their three places up the ridge and didn’t see anyone. “Don’t see anyone or anything so turn around and slowly head back to Jeff. Let’s see who bought it.”

  Jeff slowly turned the ATV and drove back to the accident site. Jeff had found the ladies and neither of them had been hit. A few bumps and bruises from the crash, but none the less for ware as it was. He raised his rifle over his head as Dan and Jack approached, signaling it was clear.

  Dan jumped out as soon as Jeff stopped the rig and ran down the embankment. As he approached Jeff, he knew something bad had happened. “They killed Doug,” Jeff said flatly. “Shot him in the back of the head. Ain’t pretty. Ruth’s upset something awful and Julia’s trying to comfort her. My suggestion is to get them up to our places and hole up for a while and keep watch. I gotta bad feeling, seeing this.”

  Dan looked into the ATV and bowed his head, dejectedly, gave a great sigh and shook his head. “This really makes me angry.” He charged his M4, turned and slowly started walking to the east.

  Jack came down the embankment and seeing Dan moving off to the east, knew the man was enraged and needed space. He looked at Jeff and asked, “How long do you think he’ll be this way this time?”

  Shaking his head, he answered, “No tellin’. Come on, lets help the ladies get outta here. The ATVs toast as they shot it up pretty good. It may still be good for parts, but not many.”

  Together they went and had a group hug with Ruth and Julia. Jeff had a few tears running into his beard and his anger rose.

  Jack and Jeff looked into each other’s eyes and both read, ‘Those men in the black hummers are dead. We’re gonna kill ‘em all.’ They both knew the looks they gave each other they turned and helped the ladies up the embankment. They helped the ladies up to the ATV and told them to sit there while they got Doug ready to transport.

  Ruth and Julia both were crying and understandably so. The events of the day before and right then were tragic – they’d lost their men. Jack and Jeff, knowing they could do nothing to help the ladies right at the moment, turned for Doug.

  They slung their M4s over their shoulders and Jeff got a tarp out of the back of the ATV. They went back down the embankment and as they neared the overturned vehicle, they heard an engine coming up the road from the west. They looked at each other with looks of surprise and Jeff turned back to the ladies and yelled, “Ruth, Julia, someone’s coming from the west; take cover.” The two jumped out of the ATV and got behind it, charging their M4s, as did the two Marines.

  Jeff stayed with the wrecked ATV, charging his nine, and Jack went into the aspens, also charging his nine. As Jeff got ready behind the cover of the wrecked ATV, a desert tan colored hummer pulling a trailer, rounded the curve and came to a stop. A tall man in a cowboy hat, wearing a Colt, forty-five caliber long Colt revolver and sporting a Henry rifle, stepped out and looked over the site. Sheriff Thomas J. Gerill had returned to Albany County.

  “Freeze, mister!” Jeff yelled stepping out from behind the wrecked ATV with his M4 aimed at the tall man in the cowboy hat. The man did freeze and slowly held his right hand up – the left held the Henry by the housing. Jack eased out of the aspens and the man took note of the movement and knew he’d better cooperate.

  “Who are you?” Jeff asked.

  “I’m Sheriff Thomas J. Gerill, Albany County Sheriff,” the tall man answered.

  Julia exploded from behind the ATV, yelling, “SHERIFF, it’s me, Julia Malone,” and she flew into his arms. The other three looked on in wonder. Julia began sobbing and clung to the sheriff.

  Ruth, wiping her tears, came out from behind the ATV and slowly approached Julia and the tall, rugged-looking man she was hugging and crying on. Jeff and Jack eased up the embankment one after the other, covering the scene all the wh
ile.

  After a few moments of silence other than the sobbing coming from Julia, everyone looked at each other wondering what the heck was going on. Finally, Julia let go of the tall man and looking at him said, “It’s really good to see you, TJ.”

  “Good to see you, too, Julia,” the tall man said. “Where’s Dave?”

  Julia broke down, hugging the man again, crying. He looked up at the two men covering him with M4s, and asked, “Can you tell me what’s going on? I saw a house back up the way that looked like there’d been a fire, and another smoke cloud rising to the east.”

  “First, just who are you, mister?” Jack asked.

  “I’m Sheriff Thomas J. Gerill, Sheriff of Albany County,” he answered.

  “I remember Dave talking about his boss, the sheriff, and went to find his sister someplace,” Jeff said to Jack.

  “Scottsbluff, Nebraska,” the sheriff answered.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” Jeff said. “You him?”

  “Yes; where’s Dave?” the sheriff asked.

  Jack and Jeff looked at each other and Jeff said, “He didn’t make it.”

  “He’s dead?” the sheriff said in disbelief.

  “Yes, sir, he was killed in the attack yesterday,” Jeff explained. “We buried him this morning up by Doug’s place.”

  “Doug Sutton?” the sheriff asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Jack said.

  “Where’s he?” the sheriff asked.

  Jack looked back and pointed at the tarp, and explained, “They killed him just about a half-hour ago.”

  It became silent for a few moments upon that revelation. TJ was the next to speak, asking in a voice that was low and menacing, “Whose ‘they’?”

  “Those men in the black hummers and black trucks and stuff,” Jeff explained. “They’ve been attacking the four of them for a while, and now us.”