Z Chronicles (Books 2 & 3)

by A. L. White

  Boo made a U-turn at the far end of the bridge and jumped out of the cab. Opening the tail gate as quietly as he could, he motioned for the others to get out.

  “Hank, you grab a few of those ten foot chains there and take them over by the railing on the walk way. Tom, you and Jim give me a hand with the chain link,” Boo ordered. When he noticed Hank standing petrified looking at the creatures Boo yelled, “Hank, if you don’t get a move on, we will be getting a much closer view of them!”

  Hank grabbed the chain and went where he was told to go.

  The chain link scraped across the bed of the old Ford, causing the herd to go silent. Lori motioned to Boo that they needed to be as quiet as possible. Boo nodded his head yes and then shrugged his shoulders. They dragged the heavy chain link fence roll over to the walkway, loosening the end so that Hank could work the chain through it as best he could, fastening it to the post.

  Boo pulled out a padlock and handed it to Hank. “Lock the ends together, Hank, and then get another section of chain.”

  They rolled it to the first support beam on the bridge, where Hank once again wove the chain through the links in the fence. Lori noticed a lone zombie closing in on them, so she drew an arrow from her quiver and sighted it on the creature. As it grew dangerously close to Boo, she let fly watching the arrow as it found its mark in the side of the skull. The creature fell at the feet of Boo, just between him and Tom.

  “You let that one get a little close, didn’t you?” Boo joked.

  Lori smiled back at him and shrugged her shoulders as he had done earlier, walking over and retrieving her arrow from the skull. Seeing that the herd was within fifteen feet of them now, Lori shouted to Boo, “We need to move quicker! They are too close now!”

  “One more beam to latch to, and we are done,” Boo replied as the three men unwound the chain link fence across the road. Lori brought down three more zombies as the guys reached the end with just enough fence left. There was a three or four-inch gap, but Boo didn’t think anything could squeeze between that, and if it could, there was the length of tow chain fastening it to the beam. They all stood back and looked at their handy work when Boo noticed that the angle of the beams caused the fence to bow downward in the center. Looking around he saw old lady Morris’s antique, beat up Volkswagen Beetle parked in front of her house. “Tom, stay here with Lori and help her keep them off the fence. You two meet me over by the beetle,” Boo said as he climbed into his truck, starting the engine.

  Lori watched as Boo pulled the truck out from behind the beetle. He got out with what looked like a tire iron and smashed the driver’s side window in, and reached in, unlocking the door. The three men then pushed the beetle onto the bridge up to the fence, where Boo started to angle it up next to the fence. There, they worked it back and forth until the passenger side was snug up against the fence causing it to bow outward, instead of inward. In all of the excitement Lori had lost track of where the herd was at. When she finally did look out the fence, she could see that they were unbelievably close now.

  “How is that for just-in-time suspense?” Boo asked.

  “Do you think it will hold?” Hank asked as he backed toward the middle of the bridge, making it clear that he was ready to get off.

  “I think it will hold for now,” Boo replied looking over at Lori. “We will post someone down here to signal us if it doesn’t.”

  “That would be the best idea, just in case they do push it down,” Lori added.

  Before Boo could say another word, Tom spoke up, “I will take the first watch if I can come back with something to sit in, and something that I can use to warm up a little every fifteen or twenty minutes.”

  Boo thought about it for a few minutes, looking up at the sky in that way people do. He looked like he thought the answer was waiting for him to pluck it right from the clouds.

  “I will send Hank back with Smithy’s tow truck. Hank can follow him in my truck to give him a ride back.”

  “That will do just fine, Boo. I always wanted to drive that thing,” Tom replied grinning.

  “All kidding aside, Tom, if they start to push through that fence and that bug starts sliding, push them back with the tow truck.” Tom shook his head yes, confirming that he understood what to do.

  *****

  Charlie did have a plan for his bridge. He was still not used to the idea that they were not using the school buses to block them off. Boo had told him that the ‘cry uncle’ scenario would require the buses to get all the people out of Rivers Crossing if it came to that. When Boo put it that way, there wasn’t a whole lot of argument that Charlie could come up with. In the meantime, he was being drawn to the idea of using the empty fifty-five gallon drums that they were saving to collect gas for the generator. Knowing how Boo would react to that was one of the reasons that Charlie had kept the idea to himself, until now. Charlie thought Boo had given himself the easy bridge to work with. Strong iron beams running all over the place while Charlie had the early 80’s concrete bridge with only concrete sides. No place to fasten a fence or anything else to it, hence the metal drum idea. They could line them up across the road, and then use the fresh water pump to fill them with water. Allowing for expansion, the water would freeze and they would be too heavy to just push out of the way. The bridge was just barely wide enough to fit two modern day, mid-sized cars on it going in opposite directions. Even then, the two cars were awfully close when they passed, causing the drivers to have to slow down to a crawl.

  After pulling into the lot behind the library and hooking up the homemade trailer that held the empty barrels in it to the truck, Charlie headed down to the bridge. Once they went through the train viaduct they could get a clear view of the bridge, which was just roughly a football field’s distance from the viaduct.

  Moving around on the bridge, there were close to fifty zombies. They were just aimlessly wandering around, but they were still there in Charlie’s way. Stopping the truck, Charlie let out a loud sigh and felt like all was lost at that point. Just on the other side was what looked like hundreds of zombies just standing there, waiting for anything to come by.

  “Well, that is a real problem,” Albert said.

  “Maybe we can block the bridge on this side?” Charlie asked the group, still shocked.

  “We can move them off the bridge. How long to fill the drums?” Virginia asked.

  Charlie shook his head no as he replied, “Not quick enough to get it done before the rest of them come on to the bridge.”

  “Those gas cans full in the bed?” Jermaine asked pointing behind him.

  “I don’t think that is going to help us, Jermaine,” Albert said pointing down at the water where Zombies were already walking across.

  “I didn’t think that they could cross water!”

  “They can’t swim, but they can walk just fine! How deep is that?” Virginia asked.

  Charlie rose up in his seat so that he could get a better view, “This time of year, depending on the weather, it can be a few inches there or several feet.”

  “Looks like it is just a few inches to me, and they are moving across it just fine!” Jermaine stated.

  Charlie’s mind was racing now. The whole reason for saving the bridge was to have access to the water, without which there wasn’t a good way to bring water into the school.

  “Any ideas?”

  “We can go back and block off the viaduct. That should stop them for now,” Albert replied, looking for input from the others.

  Charlie shook his head yes as he put the truck into reverse and began to back up toward the viaduct. He knew that Boo wouldn’t be happy with this one bit, but there wasn’t another option left. It would open up a Pandora’s Box of issues that would have to be addressed but at that moment those were not Charlie’s concern.

  Once on this side of the river all that stood between the creatures and them was the embankment the train tracks were on, and the levy. The latter wasn’t even complete anymore as people took dow
n sections here and there to get a river view from their homes.

  Just as they backed through the viaduct, Boo’s truck pulled up with him slamming it into park, bringing it to a sliding stop.

  “Charlie, what the hell is going on here?” Boo shouted over to Charlie.

  Charlie shook his head and yelled back, “The river is too low! Damn thing is only a few inches deep off to the right of the bridge.”

  Boo shook his head angrily, “I told the mayor that we needed to have that dredged out again. Damn fool said no boats go pass that bridge, so there was no need for it!”

  “Boats? No. Creatures coming across? Yes,” Charlie stated.

  “What do you guys propose we do then?” Boo asked.

  “We were thinking about blocking off the viaduct and keeping them on the other side.”

  Boo turned to Hank and said, “Take Charlie’s truck and drop the tow truck off with Tom. Then go over to the creek bridge and use those barrels to block either side of it. You guys pick which side looks like it would work best. Take that hand pump and fill them with water, okay?” Both men nodded their head that they understood and left.

  Boo joined the rest of the group looking through the viaduct at the herd moving across the bridge and river.

  “Why don’t we use that old van there to block it off on the outside over there?” Charlie pointed over to the far side where he was sure that no matter how hard they pushed against the van it wouldn’t move an inch if it was set up against the sides.

  “Not a bad idea, really. We could easily pull it away if we needed to get through there,” Jermaine added.

  Charlie shook his head in agreement and then sprinted over to the van. Once inside, he was glad to see that Boo had insisted that any vehicle in the school lot have a key in it, just in case they needed to use it. Anyone still alive that didn’t want to leave a key in their car was welcome to park it up the street away from the school. This old clunker didn’t belong to anyone that was alive as far as Charlie knew, nor did he care now. He turned the key, and with a sputter, the old V8 roared to life and he threw it into gear. Within a few minutes the short nose of the van was against one wall, and the tail end was against the other side. Charlie went through making sure that all of the doors were locked on the passenger side. Not that he thought the creatures were smart enough to open them; he just didn’t want to take that chance.

  Walking back to the group, Charlie could see the faces plastered against the windows of the school and the small crowd that had formed against the fence. Pointing to them he told Boo, “This is going to be a problem, Boo.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Virginia was amazed at just how prophetic Charlie had been earlier. The one they called Doc had insisted on having a meeting with everyone, except the people that Boo had put on guard duty around the school and bridges, attending. They were packed into the gymnasium like sardines, with more people sitting on the stairway leading down to the area. Doc had given a long speech about how they had all but beat the odds so far to make it there, and how they could hold out for as long as they needed. All they had to do was stick together like they had been doing all along. Virginia didn’t think he was winning anyone over that had already decided to take flight, and look for a better place to go. He may have even tipped the scales to the leaving side for those who weren’t sure if they wanted to stick it out or not. Virginia wasn’t all that sure it was a good idea to stay now either. Then Doc opened it up to questions from the crowd, which, again, Virginia thought he had made another big mistake and rolled her eyes.

  At first they were all yelling questions at once. Some were just yelling out profanities and pointing fingers at who they thought caused it. Then Charlie rose up and motioned everyone to be silent. They all grew quiet in anticipation of his words.

  “Many of you here know me. You have known me for my entire life, knew my parents, and later you knew my sweet Annie. I am not going to stand up here and tell you that everything is going to be all right. I don’t know if any of us will live through this or not. I know that there are more creatures out there than I can count. In some places, there are so many of them that you can hardly make out the landscape or any landmarks.” Charlie took a deep breath then continued, “I spent my whole life trying to get away from this town. I wanted out of here so bad, there were times that I felt like I was going to burst if didn’t leave. My Annie made me see just how special it was living here without all of the hustle and bustle of the big city. Looking back now, I think we survived because we were here—and not there.”

  Charlie looked around the room to make sure all eyes were on him now. The people on the stairway had even moved to the bottom, trying to hear him better. “All I am saying is this: if you want to leave, where will you go? Here, we have the school with heat and a water supply. Out there you have you, and your vehicle, and the creatures. Everywhere you stop you will have to look for them and deal with them, or move on quickly. Is that what we survived for? Did we survive just so we could run by day and cower in our cars by night? If we have to deal with the creatures; zombies, demons, or whatever you choose to call them, then let’s do it here right now for our home!”

  The crowd was starting to back Charlie up with more than a few yelling out ‘You tell ‘em Charlie’ and ‘Damn right brother!’

  “For those of you that want to leave, I can’t stop you. I will not even try to stop you. I will just wish you luck on your journey. Any man or woman that has a weapon and wants to fight for what we have, please meet me in the library parking lot in a half hour.” Charlie walked off the stage and tried to make it to the stairs. The mood in the gymnasium was electrified with the excitement of people who had run far enough.

  “I guess this means that we are fighting?” Albert asked Lori. Lori shrugged her shoulders and replied, “Virginia and I will fight, but I can’t decide for you, Al.”

  “There is no decision, child. We are all family now, and we’re staying with you and your sister,” Zoe added before Albert could say anything.

  “Damn straight pops!” added Jermaine.

  “Then I guess we should start making our way out to the parking lot then. I only ask to be by Virginia and those dogs during the fighting,” Albert replied with a smile.

  Virginia wondered how many would stay and fight as she surveyed the room. When they arrived yesterday, a lot of the faces had looked like they were just waiting to die and be free of this new life. Now she could see life in a lot of those faces. There were still many she did not think could make it there or out on the open road. It was funny to her how easy she felt it was to decide who had it in them to live, and who did not.

  Outside there were fifty or sixty people standing in the street between the school and library. Weapons amongst them ranged from handguns and rifles to large scissors and files. There was a man that Virginia didn’t know standing on top of a metal barrel yelling something out to the crowd. From where she was at Virginia couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. Whatever it was, the crowd up close was going nuts at every one of the man’s pauses.

  “There you guys are!” Todd ran toward them. “Mister, Doc says I should bring yous straight to the Library and not stop for any hot chocolate.”

  “We will follow you then,” Lori replied as she motioned the rest of the group to follow.

  Virginia and the lads fell in behind Todd as he cut a path through the crowd into the Library parking lot.

  Inside they found Doc, Charlie, and a few men that Virginia didn’t know.

  “Welcome, please come in,” Doc said. “Sit any place you like.”

  The room had a large conference table in the middle with the walls covered in book shelves.

  Doc motioned over to Boo, who then stepped forward to the head of the table. “We asked Todd to go find you guys because we have a big favor to ask. A few days ago, we created what we are calling the RCG, or Rivers Crossing Guard. We have between twenty or thirty people who volunteered.”

  “Sounds
like a decent number for a beginning,” Jermaine stated.

  “True enough. We just have a few small problems, though. I don’t think the majority of them have ever been in a fight; let alone fought those creatures out there,” Boo added.

  “How can that be? How can they still be alive and not have dealt with the zombies?” Lori asked shaking her head in amazement.

  “Most of them hid or sought shelter in the school from the beginning,” Charlie replied.

  “What do you need from us, then?” Al asked.

  “Boo and I are the only ones who have actually had any run in’s with the creatures. Doc here has killed his fair share, but most of them were behind bars. None were coming at him without an obstruction between them. We need to make a group that can react to any breakthroughs,” Charlie paused to gauge their reactions. “We think that you people would be perfect for that. Of course, Boo and I would also be part of it.”

  Lori looked over at Jermaine and Al, who nodded in agreement. Then before she could look at Virginia, she answered for them, “We are all in. Where do we start?”

  “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but aren’t you just a little young for this? You may feel more comfortable hanging with the others at the school,” Doc offered to Virginia.

  Before Virginia could voice an objection, Albert spoke up, “You may feel more comfortable with her hanging back at the school, and I am sure the folks over there would become very comfortable with her being there. I, for one, am more than comfortable with her and the dogs with us. If you have any notions of self-preservation, then she is with us.”

  Boo thought back to how he had seen the group calmly fighting against the onslaught of the creatures out on the road. Two people had stood out on that night apart from the others; one was the girl in question so he too spoke up, “The girl is as much a part of this unit as anyone else is. She stays!”

  “Now that we have that settled, what exactly do you want us to do then?” Lori asked.