"It'll be all right," he said in a low voice.
"I'm sure it will be ok, it's hard to believe we're back here getting reading to fight these things again."
Before Charlie could reply, music began blaring from the loudspeakers. "Wow! That is loud!" He turned to look over his shoulder. He could hear the music echoing out into the surrounding area. "If that doesn't draw them in, nothing will!"
Jenny nodded, and then pointed directly in front of them. "Look!"
Charlie leaned forward then sucked in his breath. He could see several figures heading their way. He heard Jenny lock her door and he did the same. "Don't move until they pass by," he said quietly. From the corner of his eye he could see Jenny nodding.
More figures appeared, drew nearer, and began to pass by. Everyone sat motionless in their respective vehicles. Those who had ridden in the backs of the pickups were up on the roof of the school or on top of the bleachers hunkered down from view. Jenny closed her eyes against the gruesome sight of the ruined bodies that passed by her window. Charlie was thankful for the booming music; it helped drown out their dreadful moans.
His eyes darted to the rear view mirror. Darkness was beginning to take over and he could barely make out a large group of zombies slowly making their way toward the football field. The group that passed their way was small and didn't even seem to notice them. So much for being smart, he thought. He sighed and tried to relax a little before the floodlights came on. Dexter had explained that would be their signal to attack.
Minutes seemed to pass and they continued their silent wait. Occasionally he would glance Jenny's way and she always rewarded him with a small smile. He was beginning to wonder what was going on when the sky lit up. Vehicles roared to life around him as he fumbled with the key.
"Here we go," Jenny said as she straightened up and unlocked her door. Charlie shot her a quick look, her eyes were shining but her hands were shaking. Adrenaline was starting to kick in and he could tell she was feeling it, too.
"Hang on to your hat," he said grimly. As the engine turned and they headed back toward the field, he said a quick prayer. "Stick close to me."
"You know it," she replied curtly. She gripped her rifle tightly, eyes peeled straight ahead.
He quickly fell in line behind the other trucks. Upon reaching the field, each truck pulled up beside the next, making a type of barrier on their end. Charlie stepped out of the truck and heard a whooshing sound close by. He looked around and spotted Sean with a flamethrower. He wasn't sure who had the other one, probably Dexter. He hurried over to Jenny's side and they lined up with the others. He was glad to see Darrell take a place next to them.
What happened next took on a nightmare quality. They opened fire and slowly, their line began to advance. Zombies were shot then shoved into the trenches. The flamethrowers were catching stragglers and setting them on fire. Others were using long poles to shove them into the nearest trench. Burning zombies caught the hay on fire and soon both trenches were full of shrieking, writhing bodies. The sound was horrendous, drowning out even the sounds of gunfire.
Charlie could see tears coursing down Jenny's cheeks, but she kept firing away, only stopping to reload. He grabbed her by the elbow and slowed his pace; she immediately fell into step, shooting him a grateful smile. As they progressed, bodies began to pile up and to his horror; he found he had no recourse but to walk on them. He was about to give up when the call to cease fire came down the line. Thankfully, he came to an immediate stop and surveyed his surroundings.
For a moment the only sound came from the trenches, some zombies were still wailing in the inferno. He didn't know when the music had been shut off; he hadn't been able to hear it since they started. He reached over and pulled Jenny to him, she grabbed him around the middle. Together, they stood silently in the middle of the worse carnage they had ever seen.
They didn't move until Dexter barreled up and gave Charlie a whack on the back. "That's how you take care of business," he shouted in Charlie's ear. He grabbed Darrell's sleeve and shook him like a rag doll in his excitement. "Whoopee! That was fun!"
He continued on down the line, some joined him in the whooping and hollering. Others were busy dragging bodies into the trenches and the sound of random shots peppered the night.
Charlie had seen enough. "Let's go home," he said softly. With his arm still around his daughter, he turned and slowly retraced his steps with Darrell following close behind.
"Dad, I didn't see a single dog," Jenny remarked.
"Hmm, come to think of it, neither did I."
"They're definitely smarter than the zombies and knew to stay away, but what will we do about them if they're infected?"
"Well fortunately there's not that many dogs out there, definitely not going to be the problem the zombies were - guess we'll deal with them as we go."
Their ride back to the apartment was silent. He said his good nights to Jenny, Scott, and Darrell then went across the street in search of Judith. She was back in her house and Charlie was glad, he really needed a place to unwind. She opened the door, took one look at him, and pulled him inside.
"You can stay the night, Travis has plans and won't be home tonight," she said as he wrapped his arms around her.
That was all he needed to hear. Holding her tightly to him, he lowered his head and cried.
Chapter 37
Mick threw the last bag into the SUV. He turned and gazed at his friends. Now it was their turn to say goodbye and he wasn't sure he could do it. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He had to make this move, for his family's well being and for his own sanity.
Everyone was in the garage except for Parker and Matt; they were on the balcony keeping watch. Cindy and Lilly were deep in conversation, Mick smiled at Curtis and Amy and they returned his smile. He was thankful Lilly had the kids; they needed her as much as she needed them. Scott had his family loaded in their car already and he was yelling for Mick and Cindy to hurry up because the girls were getting restless. Brooke was already in the SUV and from the look on her face she was ready to go, too.
He did feel better about leaving since talking to Sean the night before on the ham radio. They'd had great success in dealing with the zombies with no loss of life. There was going to be another block of houses ready for occupancy so housing wasn't an issue any longer. The water had tested out fine and they were planning on having the entire plant running by tomorrow. Things were definitely looking up for a change. He was ready to get out and start helping make Shady Oaks a good place for all of them.
In a few days Sean, Scott, and most likely Charlie and Darrell would be returning to Dave's Place with most of the vehicles. They would bring back with them any of the newcomers who wanted to move on. They would also help remove the growing pile of bodies around Dave's place while they were here. That was one job Mick was not sorry to hand over to someone else. He realized he was delaying and when Scott jumped out of his car, he grinned at his son.
He put up a hand. "Ok, we're going," he said with a laugh. Scott returned to his car. "Cindy, it's time."
Cindy gave Lilly one last hug and hurried over to the SUV. "I'm sorry; it's just so hard..."
He gave her a smile. "I know how you feel, but we can't wait any longer, it won't be safe."
Cindy hopped into her side and Mick slowly opened the driver's side door and slid in. He shut the door and leaned out the window.
"Scott, see if it's clear."
He saw Scott talking into the walkie and nodding. Scott stuck his head out the window. "All clear, we're good to go!"
As the door slowly rolled up, he could hear Cindy quietly sniffling. He looked in the mirror at Brooke, who favored him with a rare smile. She was deliriously happy because she would be with Jimmy again. With a small sigh, he started up the SUV and listened to it purr for a moment. He looked out the window behind him and waved, Cindy was already waving and calling goodbye. Scott rolled out and he slowly followed. They continued waving as the
y pulled away and the garage door lowered. With another sigh, he focused his attention on the job ahead. At least Scott had traveled this way enough to know the route by heart. With a little luck, they'd be there in no time. With one last glance back in the rearview mirror, he watched Dave's Place slowly disappear from view.
The End
Epilogue
“Hey Mick! What is that!” Dexter pointed toward a house on the outskirts of Harris. Something is moving over there!”
He raised his binoculars and looked in the direction Dex was still pointing. At first he didn’t see anything, but then he thought he detected slight movement in one of the windows on the lower floor of the two-story farmhouse. He pursed his lips together and made a slight clicking noise with his tongue.
“Not sure Dexter, get the bullhorn and give a shout out first, ok?”
“Will do; hope it’s someone we can actually talk to.” He raised the bullhorn to his lips and bellowed. “Hey! If there’s someone in the house, don’t be afraid! We’re from Shady Oaks and we’re here to help so come on out!”
The other men and women in the group shifted slightly, weapons at the ready. Who could tell what would come out of that place, calling out could be dangerous and one time they’d lost three people when they were suddenly swarmed.
A faint voice came from inside, it was shaky and high pitched, but definitely human. Everyone relaxed a bit, but not all the way, that could be fatal.
Slowly the front door opened. “We’re coming out, please don’t shoot!” said the same voice. Out stepped a young woman with two terrified children clinging to her. They were all filthy and way too thin, but they were alive and very human.
Mick lowered his gun and leaned into the open window of the pickup cab. “Cindy, go over and say howdy, we don’t want to spook them anymore than they already are.”
“No problem, right on it,” Cindy replied lightly as she unfastened her seatbelt and opened the door. Smiling at the frightened family, she raised her hand and called out, “I’m Cindy, can I come over to talk a bit?”
The woman eyed her and the rest of the group who were either standing or sitting in the back of the two pickup trucks, then gave a slight nod of her head. Cindy walked slowly toward the threesome, hands held away from her body so they could see she meant them no harm. As she neared the steps of the porch, they involuntarily took a step back and she stopped immediately.
“Don’t be afraid,” she said softly, smiling gently at the woman, then at the children clinging to her like little leeches. “We won’t hurt you, we’re from Shady Oaks. We cleaned up the town and there are entire families living there now. All we’re doing here is trying to find people like you who might need help. We met a farmer and his family, the Jennings - you might know them - a few miles from here. They decided to move to Shady Oaks until this area is clear. They told us there might be people alive in Harris, so we came out to check.”
The fear in the woman’s dark brown eyes faded a bit, she knew the family, and her kids went to school with their kids. “I see,” she said softly. She took a step forward. “I’m Terry and this is Molly and Micah. This isn’t our house. We’ve been hiding here for about two weeks now and to tell you the truth, it’s wonderful to see people instead of those things out there.” She looked nervously about, bit her lip and continued. “Is Shady Oaks really safe?”
Cindy nodded. “As you probably know, the town backs up against the mountain with only one main road through there. We fenced the entrance and nothing can get through there until one of our guards lets them in. There are only two other side roads into town and they’re patrolled constantly, we’ve even searched the woods surrounding the town grid by grid. We haven’t even seen a zombie in over a month.”
Cindy turned her head slightly to see Mick slowly approaching. He’d been listening to their conversation and offered Terry a big smile. “If you want to come with us, we can offer you a home of your own with electricity and running water, food and clothing to get you started, and much more. We’re teaching folks how to put in their own vegetable gardens and how to raise chickens for meat and eggs, and goats for milk and cheese and other stuff like that. We have one family who almost has their dairy up and running again.”
He nodded toward the two children, who were now staring at them with eyes big as saucers. “We even have a school with twenty children attending. Would you two like to go to school and make new friends?” At their eager nods, he chuckled. Looking up at Terry he continued, “So what do you say, want to come with us?”
Terry glanced down at her children, then back up at Cindy and Mick. Tears of happiness and relief filled her eyes as she said, “Yes please, we want to very much!”
As the Carter’s gently ushered the family toward the waiting trucks, other eyes - malevolent eyes - also watched. They belonged to beings that could no longer be called human, but these were not brain-dead creatures. Far from it. They were something different that had spent the last few months of their new existence evolving in a way no one in Shady Oaks could have ever imagined. For now they stayed mostly out of sight and continued to watch. As a group, they were biding their time, listening to each other’s scattered thoughts that echoed around in all their minds. Other groups were doing the same. Their thoughts were still simple, but all of them knew their time would come. Soon.
To the Reader
I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. The basic premise is based on actual events. The Army did have to step in and retrieve lost vials used for training from the Great Salt Plains north of where I live. A Boy Scout did actually find and break some of the vials. Fortunately, he wasn't injured. You can do a search and find the news stories online.
There will be a sequel to this book involving mostly Shady Oaks and the Connor Group. Look for it sometime in 2012. Once again, thank you for reading my novel and I hope you found it entertaining.
Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place Page 25