“There should be chains hanging off the back of each of the trucks.” Mikey said. He was happy for the distraction. Anything beat his mind replaying the shooting of that woman over and over again as he drove through the snow in silence.
He recalled vividly how he’d automatically brought up his weapon to engage the woman who shot Gus. He couldn’t blame his actions completely on his training though. His training had taught him to analyze the threat before shooting. There’d been a split second when he knew what was going on. He’d still pulled the trigger. He’d been able to tell the woman was freaked out over shooting Gus. She may not have pulled the trigger again. He’d put her down anyway. Put her down in front of her kids. All he could think of now were those two blood covered kids. Because of him they’d be forced to live in this messed up reality without their mom.
“You know how to put them on?” Gus asked.
“Absolutely. It’s going to suck doing it for three trucks in the snow, but I’ve done it before. The big question is do we have enough chains for each of the trucks.” Mikey answered. He then climbed up onto the back of the lead truck to start poking around. A few minutes later they were helping him unload about two hundred pounds worth of chains from the back of the truck. It didn’t look like they’d ever been used before.
“Should we make sure all the trucks have chains before we do this one?” LeBron asked. Mikey shrugged and they all marched back to inspect the other two trucks. Both trucks did indeed have the chains hanging off the back of them.
Starting with the lead truck they worked on getting the chains on the tires. Mikey was right about it sucking to do it in the snow. A few missing fingernails later they had the first truck done in only an hour. They had to keep taking turns jumping up in the cab to warm up. Parts of their bodies were threatening to get frostbit from squatting in the snow for too long. None of them were dressed warmly enough for what they were doing. They needed snowsuits and insulated gloves instead of the jeans and truck stop mittens half of them were wearing.
It was late afternoon by the time they got the chains on all three trucks. Late afternoon and they were all exhausted. The physical labor coupled with the mind-numbing cold had been a welcome distraction from the events of the morning. Yue had even talked Jeff into getting out and helping. She’d opted to stay in the nice warm cab herself. She was fine with letting the boys handle putting chains on the tires in the freezing cold mess outside. To make herself useful she kept an active lookout to make sure no surgers came stumbling out of the snow. Not that she would’ve seen them before it was too late anyway.
Yue went back into the sleeper compartment as Gus, LeBron and Jeff all climbed back into the cab. She almost felt guilty seeing how miserable they all looked. She slid over so LeBron could join her in the sleeper compartment. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped himself up in it. His chattering teeth telling her all she needed to know about how cold it was outside. The temperature had dropped ridiculously low in no time flat. The last time she’d looked at the outside temperature displayed on the dashboard it’d indicated it was eight degrees outside.
“We better get moving.” Yue announced as soon as Gus was in his seat. Gus looked way more interested in the heater vents than he did in getting the truck moving anytime soon.
“What’s the rush?” Jeff asked. He’d removed his gloves and was holding his hands up to the heater vents. Yue was actually getting uncomfortably warm but decided it was probably best not to complain.
“If we’re stuck out here when the sun goes down, we’ll need to spend the night in the trailer.” Yue said.
“We’re going to have to spend the night in the trailer pretty much no matter where we end up tonight.” Jeff said looking at her in a confused way. He got that it was going to be cold here, but it was going to be cold a few miles down the road as well. They had sleeping bags and other gear in the back. They shouldn’t freeze to death if that’s what she was worried about.
“I’m more worried about getting stuck out here in the middle of nowhere in a massive snowstorm.” Yue said. She realized her concerns must sound pretty weak. It was the middle of nowhere now even if you were standing in the middle of Times Square.
Gus put the truck in gear and drove slowly through the steadily deepening snow. Another issue had popped up that no one had considered before either. Thanks to the heavy snow it was almost impossible to see the road. Gus was keeping the truck in the middle of the open space between the trees. Thanks to the lack of visibility, they were in no danger of exceeding the recommended thirty miles per hour for driving with chains on.
“We need to stop and get in the back right now.” LeBron suddenly blurted out. He’d been staring out the window like everyone else when a buzzing sound penetrated his thoughts. It came on so slowly he almost didn’t place it. Then he did.
“How come? It’s not officially night for a few more hours.” Jeff said turning his head to look back at LeBron.
“I don’t think the crawlerz care what time it is. All they care about is not getting caught out in the sun. You guys don’t hear them?” LeBron asked. The buzzing inside his head felt like a roach had crawled in through his ear. A vibrating roach that was taking a tour of the inside of his cranium. He had no idea how the others weren’t feeling it.
“We’re in a snowstorm in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere. You sure you hear something?” Gus said in a slightly patronizing tone of voice.
Wham! Out of nowhere a crawler slammed into the cage in front of Gus. Gus reacted by turning the wheel way too hard and slamming on the brakes. His fear and adrenaline overriding his admittedly very limited training on driving the eighteen-wheeler. The big rig jackknifed into the snow-covered ditch on the side of the road.
Yue watched it all happen in slow motion. The truck dipping down into the deep snow on the side of the road. The trailers momentum causing it to continue forward jerking them along with it. The crawler struggling to rip its way through the bars and get at them. Then everything returned to normal speed. She realized she was still yelling for Gus to look out. Gus had a nosebleed where he’d bounced his face off the steering wheel. At least the airbags hadn’t deployed. Those things suck when they hit you.
They were fortunate to have only been going about twenty miles per hour. It limited the damage to them and to the truck. Although the truck might as well be totaled as useful as it was going to be to them at this point. There wasn’t a local roadside service to dispatch a tow truck to pull the big machine out of the ditch. Good thing they had two more tractor trailers with them to use. Mikey must’ve been able to avoid slamming into them. Not a given even with their slow speed considering the lack of visibility.
“Convoy two this is convoy actual over.” Jeff transmitted the message on the walkie talkies they were using to communicate between the trucks.
“Convoy actual convoy two here. You all ok?” Drew’s concerned voice boomed out the tiny speakers on the Motorola walkie talkie.
“That’s affirmative. We’re going to go ahead and stop here for the night. Be aware there are crawlerz in the snow. One’s currently trying to rip the cage off our truck. I’m thinking you park so that the end of your trailer is parallel to us. You exit your truck and kill the crawler on our windshield. Once its dead we can all pile into your trailer. We’ll bail and meet you in there along with convoy three. How do you copy over?” Jeff transmitted his orders and waited for confirmation. If someone had a better idea, he was all ears. He wasn’t super excited about climbing out of the ditch they were stuck in. Especially not with the crawlerz on the prowl.
“Convoy two copy. Moving forward now to park with the end of the trailer next to you.” Drew’s voice came back.
“Convoy three copy. Parking behind convoy two and waiting on orders to move up to the convoy two trailer for the night.” The convoy three driver transmitted. Jeff considered that and decided he’d have the convoy three crew move before them. It should be easier and quicker for them to get in the trailer. Now
that he thought about it, he should have them go before Drew and Mikey.
“Convoy three this is convoy actual we’re going to have you move to convoy two trailer and pop it open before convoy two exits their cab. Then you’ll provide cover as they come around. How copy?” Jeff once again waited to hear either an affirmative or to be given a better idea.
“Convoy actual convoy three copy. Moving into position now. Over.” The voice of the driver from the third truck sounded over the radio.
“Convoy two copies. Standing by for orders to move once convoy three has the back secured.” Drew’s voice boomed out of the little speakers. Yue thought Drew sounded a little silly using the radio lingo. She could pretty much picture Mikey coaching him along on it. She loved that he was learning it though. Those were the kinds of skills they needed to learn to survive in this world.
“Convoy actual to convoy three proceed when ready. Be aware there’s a tango on the windshield of convoy one.” Jeff transmitted.
The crawler was staring at them though the windshield with hate filled eyes. It was a woman wearing what appeared to be the remains of a thick onesie. It was hard to tell for sure since it was stained to the max and covered in snow. The woman’s hair was frozen in patches and her face was bright red from the cold. Despite her skin freezing off her body she still moved with a terrifyingly fluid grace. She pulled on the bars again looking for a way to get at them. Not finding any way to squirm in she suddenly disappeared completely from view. Her disappearance coincided with convoy three pulling up next to them.
“Convoy three this is convoy actual please be advised we no longer have eyes on the tango.” Jeff broadcast the warning quickly. He needed to make sure they heard it before they left the relative safety of their cab.
“Convoy actual this is convoy two we have a tango crawling up our cage now. Big guy with a pair of nasty looking boxers on. He’s wearing a hoodie as well. He’s beating the hell out of our cage.” Drew reported in. That wasn’t good if more crawlerz were starting to show up. The cages were well built but nowhere near as safe as the trailers themselves. The cages would provide protection against the random surger or two but a group of crawlerz would eventually rip it to pieces.
“We can’t just stay in here all night.” Yue said. She was starting to freak out. The longer they stayed the more crawlerz would show up. The more crawlerz showed up the less chance they had of making it into one of the trailers. They needed to make a run for it. Jeff nodded. They were all on the same page.
“Convoy three and two prepare to dismount and proceed towards the back of convoy two trailer on my mark. Convoy three to dismount and proceed first. Convoy three execute now.” Jeff ordered.
“Convoy three executing.” Came the terse reply. They all knew they had no choice but to move forward with the plan as quickly as possible. The guys in the third truck had the easiest route to the back of the second truck’s trailer. That meant they’d been handed the short straw. They had to leave the safety of their cage and secure the entry to the trailer. They got to go first. They were the bait to see how many crawlerz were out there waiting in the snow.
The four Marines exited the cab through the passenger and driver’s side doors. One Marine covered while his battle buddy exited through the access hatch to post up below. They then waited for the other person to come down through the access hatch. Once all their boots were on the ground, they proceeded towards the back of the trailer directly in front of them.
Heads on swivels they were all looking in every direction at once waiting for the inevitable assault. When it came, they weren’t ready for the angle it came from. Crawlerz had climbed on top of the trucks. A few of the amped up infected jumped into the sky from each truck. The silent monsters came down on the small group of Marines like a flock of oversized vultures. The Marines barely even got any shots off before they were on the ground being ripped apart by the rabid mob.
Jeff saw it all. He’d been staring out his window through the thick snow flurries watching the Marines move forward. Seeing the confidence of their movement he’d held up hope they were going to make it. When no crawlerz immediately challenged them, he took that as a sign they might actually survive. Seeing the flock of demons descend down on the doomed men from out of nowhere emphasized to him how hopeless their situation was.
Suddenly unable to breathe Jeff leaned back in his seat gasping for air. By the time he looked back towards the men the crawlerz had all disappeared again. They left behind the mangled bloody meat of the brave men who’d left the safety of their truck on his command. Jeff could barely make out the lumps in the snow that were all that was left of the men from convoy three.
“Convoy actual this is convoy two should we proceed over?” Drew’s voice coming out of the radio freaked Yue out. She’d been watching Jeff stare out the window. She correctly interpreted the way he looked to mean the men from convoy three hadn’t made it. That didn’t say a lot for their chances.
“Convoy actual can you read me over?” Drew asked after a minute passed with no response. Jeff was frozen. He didn’t know what to do next. Yue reached down and gently took the walkie talkie out of his hand.
“Hey guys. It’s Yue. Convoy three didn’t make it. They got swarmed before they even got to the back of your trailer. No way we’ll make it. What do you think over?” Yue asked.
“I think we’re screwed. Mikey confirms. Over.” Drew and Mikey had summed it up pretty nicely. It was an accurate assessment of their situation. Not extremely useful from a planning perspective though. Although there was a certain amount of freedom that came from having nothing left to lose.
Chapter 9: Desperate Measures
“There’s more of them!” Drew said sliding back in his seat. Mikey looked equally horrified even if he was keeping it together a little better than Drew.
Mikey shifted the truck into gear and started driving forward.
“What are you doing! We can’t leave the others!” Drew yelled.
“It doesn’t make sense for all of us to die.” Mikey said somberly as he slowly accelerated down the snow-covered road.
“Stop then and let me out.” Drew said loudly. When Mikey ignored him and kept going Drew put his gun barrel on the side of Mikey’s face.
“You really want to die out here! Get the hell out!” Mikey screeched in a complete panic. He slammed on the brakes. The crawlerz hanging on to the cage swayed around violently at the sudden change in momentum.
Drew holstered his pistol and pulled up the walkie talkie. He transmitted that he was coming to join them then dropped the little radio in his pocket. He’d clicked it off before they could ask any awkward questions. He put his hand on the door handle and Mikey smacked him in the back of his head. Drew spun around ready to fight. He had his pistol back out again before he noticed Mikey was just sitting in his seat with a resolute look on his face.
“What the hell man?” Drew asked confused. Without saying a word Mikey just put the big rig in reverse and backed them back up to where they’d started from. The back of the trailer even with the truck Drew’s sister and brother were stuck in. There were crawlerz swarming all over the cage covering the cab of their truck. Drew clicked back on his radio to get a status.
“Convoy actual this is convoy two what’s your status over?” Drew broadcast.
“What does it look like our status is? We’re screwed bro. Thought you and Mikey were taking off. That’s actually a really good idea. If you can get out of here, go for it. We’ll meet you at the end of the road.” LeBron’s voice came back across the airwaves. He didn’t sound scared at all. He sounded resigned.
Drew glanced up at Mikey who just snorted. Drew looked back down at the radio in his hand. He looked out the window at the crawlerz trying to rip the cage off the truck. He looked down at his rifle. Finally, he looked back over at Mikey.
“Turn the heater up some. It’s going to get chilly in here.” Drew said before raising his pistol and sighting in on one of the shadowy craw
lers trying to rip its way into the cab. From this distance headshots were pretty much guaranteed. He aimed carefully. They had a ton of ammunition, but he had a feeling they were going to need every last bullet. He let his breath out slowly as he squeezed the trigger. A hole appeared in the windshield and the crawler fell backwards off the cage.
“Convoy two this is oh whatever. Drew are you ok? What’s going on?” Yue’s voice came over the radio. Rather than LeBron’s stony indifference Yue’s voice was was dripping with concern.
“Shoot them. They can’t rip the cage off the cab if they’re dead. Just be careful not to hit the big metal bars. Take your time and make your shots count.” Drew said sighting in on another one of the crawlerz. This one was climbing up on the passenger side right outside his window.
“Dude roll the freakin window down. You don’t have to destroy the whole truck.” Mikey yelled over at him.
In the other truck Gus got into the shooting gallery sprit. He cranked out shot after shot until the crawlerz started forming the foundation for a big bloody snow fort. It was freezing inside the cab with the windows all shot out but none of them felt the cold. Their adrenaline was as amped up as the psychos attacking them at this point.
Crawlerz: Book 3: The Mountains Are Calling Page 7