by Barry Slater
“I am positive. I'm positive these guys suck zombie sausage.”
#
Kim, driving the truck, stopped in front of the gas station. There a small group of the dead had gathered in the parking lot.
“Hurry back to the house while no one's in the way.”
Kim placed her hand on Dwayne's arm. “Be careful.”
Dwayne turned to Kim and looked into her bright green eyes.
“I will.” Dwayne gave her a smile of reassurance. “Don't worry; everything's going to be OK.”
Kim forced a slight smile then turned the truck around and drove back up the highway.
Attracted by the noise, the zombies zeroed in on Dwayne. Dwayne approached the gathering crowd and began playing.
Wearing his tuxedo and the thermal blanket underneath, Dwayne led the dead up to the tree line behind the gas station.
Standing on the hill above them, Dwayne played as if he were in concert and the zombies were his audience, and then led his army of dead into the forest.
#
“I hear music,” Joe said rising slightly from the prone position. “It's a violin.”
“He's coming,” Colonel Tibbets said.
“What's taking him so long?” Colbert complained after several moments.
“Patience,” Colonel Tibbets whispered. “The music's getting louder. He's getting closer.”
“He's got the dead people with him,” Joe said with discernment. “We didn't think about that. What if he stops playing?”
“I don't think so,” Colonel Tibbets said. “That would be suicide for him.”
“What if he's suicidal?” Joe questioned. “We don't know what the hell has happened in that house. What if he's the last one and wants to end it all?”
“You're over thinking this,” Colonel Tibbets whispered.
“Where the hell is he?” Joe demanded after pausing for a moment.
Emerging from the mist shrouded forest, Dwayne came in toward the trail behind the ambush site. He stood on a rise at the open end of the “V” formation and waited for the crowd to gather.
As the crowd gathered around him, Dwayne finished the overture then performed an entr'acte, an extended version of Jean's song. The zombies were entranced. Their minds were flooded with past thoughts of the lives they once lived. Even the rouge militants conjured a spark of appreciation as they absorbed the sound of Dwayne's divine music.
Dwayne stopped playing then held his arms out to release the heat that had built up underneath the thermal suit. All that the dead could see was the slight temperature difference of Dwayne's body heat escaping from his sleeves and around his neck.
The rogue militants were awestruck. The rays of the sun came in from behind Dwayne’s outstretched arms and was emitting its rays around him. He stood on top of the rise in an image of being the king of the zombies.
Colonel Tibbets marveled at the sight. “Look at that,” he said.
Drawn like moths to a light, the zombies searched for heat sources and zeroed in on the rogue militants lying on the cold ground as confirmed human thermal images.
The shrilling began and raised the hair on the back of Colonel Tibbets' neck on end.
“Son of a Bitch!” Colbert aimed at Dwayne’s head. Colbert quickly turned his M4 and began pumping rounds into the zombies swarming around him.
Flowing around Dwayne, the dead converged on the militants. Colonel Tibbets' men fired as they were bitten and clawed by the onslaught of zombies.
The lifting fog revealed the extent of the crowd, several hundred in all, which stretched back into the forest and down the hill to the stragglers coming up from the gas station.
Joe, closest to the trail, crossed over to the snow-patched field. Torn between fighting with the rest of the men and saving his own life, he fired to cover his retreat as he ran into the meadow toward the forest on the other side.
The ambush was overrun. Overwhelmed, the remaining men fired their last rounds into the crowd then were pulled down by the zombies, chewed and gnawed on until their last screaming breath.
Colonel Tibbets, running as fast as he could in his old age, headed down the trail toward Round Hill.
Dwayne breathed slowly as a male zombie approached him. The zombie searched for a thermal image to target. The cold air had cooled Dwayne's face to a light blue hue. Only his eyes showed any significant amount of heat radiating from his body.
The man, his face seeping body fluids in an early stage of decay, starred into Dwayne's eyes. Seeing only his reflection in the mask, the man passed Dwayne by.
Dwayne breathed out in relief.
“Jack, are there any survivors?” Dwayne asked softly into his handset. The stragglers moved past him and then into the field while others followed the trail to Round Hill. “Did any of them make it?”
“I saw one cross the field and another on the trail,” Captain Jack said as he scanned the area with the thermal goggles. “There are no hot spots near you. Can you count the bodies?”
“No,” Dwayne said looking at the carnage. “There's nothing left to count.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing. They tore these guys apart then scraped the flesh off their bones,” Dwayne said solemnly. “It would be easier to just count the dead zombies. At least they are all in one piece.”
“My God,” Captain Jack said softly.
“Let's go home Jack.”
#
“We'll go to town tomorrow,” Dwayne said.
“Are the militants gone?” Kim asked.
“We'll know tomorrow,” Dwayne answered. “Captain Jack, we'll take the trail to the pharmacy. You'll wear the thermal suit.”
“Can I go with you?” Kim asked.
“I'd rather you stay here,” Dwayne answered. “Until we know for sure they are gone.”
#
Colonel Tibbets limped into the McDonald's across the highway. The gout in his right foot was causing severe pain. The cold air and the two-day static position at the ambush site waiting for Dwayne to pass along the trail, and being ambushed themselves, had taken its toll.
After a short nap, Colonel Tibbets woke to the sound of music. He was cold, tired and hungry, and had no one left to cover his back.
In his tuxedo, Dwayne played the Stradivarius to the stragglers from the ambush the day before.
Upon reaching the pharmacy, Dwayne and Captain Jack entered through the rear door.
“No one's here,” Captain Jack said as he and Dwayne searched the interior of the pharmacy.
“Let's take a break,” Dwayne said as he leaned against a shelf on the food aisle. “Once we cool down, you put on the thermal suit. I'll be the bait and you cover me. You'll blend in with the crowd and then we'll sweep through town.”
It was only a few moments before the mice came. Dwayne kicked them away as Captain Jack hurriedly put on the thermal suit.
Dwayne, after he and Captain Jack had exited through the rear door, moved around to the side of the pharmacy and began playing the Stradivarius. He led the dead gathered there through the crowd in front then crossed the highway. Captain Jack fell in and blended into the middle of the crowd.
The group slowly continued along the roadway past the McDonald's. Gingerly, Colonel Tibbets fell in with the stragglers behind the main group where Captain Jack was.
After a short distance, Colonel Tibbets made out Captain Jack's rifle barrel swinging back and forth in the crowd ahead of him.
Colonel Tibbets took aim at the back of Captain Jack's head bobbing and swaying along with the zombies. An unfortunate zombie unwittingly stepped into the line of fire and took the full force of the 5.56mm round.
The round entered the back of the zombie's head, spun around inside its skull and exited through its right eye socket. Skull fragments and brain tissue splattered onto Captain Jack's back.
Reacting to the report of Colonel Tibbets' M4, Dwayne and Captain Jack took cover on both sides of a nearby Shakey's sandwich shop. Captain Jack rid
dled the crowd with his AK47 as Colonel Tibbets ran to the other side of the street.
“I've got 'em,” Captain Jack shouted.
Colonel Tibbets took cover behind an abandoned SUV then clicked off a three-round burst that sprayed chunks of cement off the corner of the building in front of Captain Jack.
Dwayne shouted out from the other corner of the building. “You've played your cards all wrong in this, Ed.”
“I want you and your house,” Colonel Tibbets responded. “But I can do without your bodyguard here.”
The zombies, in the middle of the action, were drawn to the voices as each man spoke.
Captain Jack riddled the side of the SUV with his AK47.
“Wahoo!” Colonel Tibbets yelled rebel-like, revealing his heat image reflecting in the window of the building behind him to the dead as he moved up to the front wheel of the vehicle. “Can't we all just get along?” he laughed out loud.
The shrilling began. The zombies zeroed in on the reflection and moved in Colonel Tibbets direction. The first two zombies stepped onto the sidewalk then attacked the reflection in the window.
Bouncing off the window, they turned to Colonel Tibbets.
“Joe?” Colonel Tibbets said. “Colbert? I guess you two didn't make it to the mountains after all. I didn't really want to go there. It's just not my idea of comfortable living.”
Colonel Tibbets put a round in each of the dead men's heads then moved to the back of the SUV.
Captain Jack, watching Colonel Tibbets in the window, fired a burst of rounds into the vehicles trunk lid and through the rear window. One of the rounds exited through the sheet metal at the top of the left rear fender then lodged into Colonel Tibbets' back.
Reacting to the noise, more zombies came up the roadway at an angle allowing them to see Dwayne's thermal image at the corner of the building.
“Dwayne,” Captain Jack shouted. “Move to the back of the building!”
Wounded, Colonel Tibbets encountered several zombies as he limped back to the McDonald's. He dispatched two of them with head shots. More zombies were attracted by the noise. The crowd followed him as the new zombies zeroed in on his heat signature.
“I can take him,” Captain Jack said. The two men had come back to the front of the building. Captain Jack had Colonel Tibbets in his sights and was still in range.
“Let them take him,” Dwayne said as Colonel Tibbets began firing into the crowd, clearing a path to the rear door of McDonald's.
Almost there, Colonel Tibbets was overwhelmed by zombies. He fired his last round then used the butt of the M4 to beat the zombies back.
In close contact, the zombies ripped at his clothing as Colonel Tibbets knocked them down. The zombies clung to his feet and bit at his legs. He kicked them back only long enough for fresh zombies to take their places.
As he punted their heads with his good foot, one of the zombies bit hard through Colonel Tibbets' boot.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Colonel Tibbets cried out then bashed the zombie's head in with the butt of his rifle. With a burst of energy, he fought off the attackers and made his way back inside the McDonald's building.
Father Bryan
“We could have saved him,” Captain Jack said.
“He never asked for help,” Dwayne said. “Which tells me everything I need to know about Colonel Tibbets.”
Dwayne's heart was growing cold. He was tired of death and he knew there was only more to come. This was just the beginning of their suffering.
“It's safe to go to town now,” Dwayne said. “At least safer than it was.”
“What you boys did out there was huge,” Doc Martin bragged. “It was a risky move. I'm just glad you made it back.”
“Me too,” Kim said. She placed her hand on Dwayne's arm and smiled.
Kim's smile was getting brighter each time, which was understandably not often. It was the only bright spot in life for Dwayne, Captain Jack and Doc Martin.
“I'd like to pay a visit to my home,” Doc Martin said changing the subject. “To see if there is anything left.”
“It's still a little bit risky out there Doc,” Captain Jack said. “Is it important?”
“I just need something to remind me of the fair times,” Doc Martin said. “The good times Linda and I had together. Otherwise, there's only this.”
“We'll go with you,” Dwayne said.
“I'll go with you,” Captain Jack said sternly. “You two stay here.”
“Fair enough,” Dwayne said.
“Thank you,” Doc Martin responded somberly.
#
Captain Jack pulled Dwayne's truck into the driveway as far as he could. Doc Martin got out and looked over the exterior of his once beautiful home.
The door was unlocked. The gray sky cast dark shadows in the interior of the house. The air inside was heavy with the smell of death. Adjusting their eyes to the dim light making its way past the draperies, Captain Jack and Doc Martin could see several bodies dressed in military clothing lying on the living room floor.
“My God,” Captain Jack said softly. “What the hell happened here?”
“It must be—or was—their wounded,” Doc Martin responded. “They must have brought them back here after the attack on Dwayne's house.”
The face of one of the bodies had been scraped clean of flesh. The body beside it was face down with its feet and hands tied behind its back.
“Be careful,” Doc Martin said. He handed Captain Jack a closed umbrella from the wooden coat rack standing beside the door. “Here, use this.”
With his 9mm ready, Captain Jack used the umbrella to roll the body over. The body sat up, looked at Captain Jack and began shrilling.
Stepping back, Captain Jack put a round through the zombie's forehead. The round passed through its infected brain and blasted out the back of its skull.
“Jesus!” Captain Jack exclaimed. “We have to hurry Doc. We just announced our presence to anything and everything with ears within a three-mile radius.”
“I'll be right back,” Doc Martin said as he hurried to the upstairs bedroom.
All of Linda's jewelry was gone which Doc Martin had fully anticipated. He folded and tucked a pair of pants and a pair of underwear under his arm along with some soap and deodorant from the bathroom. He stopped long enough to look at a picture of Linda in her youth. The white tube top and red short shorts that was all the rage back in the day, contrasted sharply with her dark skin and beautiful jet-black hair. There was no doubt that it was her exotic features that Doc Martin fell in love with. She was a beautiful woman no matter how much she drank, and she had remained at his side throughout as he fought his own demons. His battle with drug addictions, depression and post-traumatic stress would have destroyed him had it not been for her.
Captain Jack continued to search the main level. From behind the door of Doc Martin's study came a faint rustling sound. With his 9mm ready Captain Jack slowly opened the study door. Inside, in the darkened room, was a body slumped over in a metal frame chair. The closed blinds gently bumped against the open windows with the cold breeze.
Captain Jack carefully approached the body.
“Hey Doc, we've got something down here.”
Captain Jack nudged the body with the barrel of his 9mm. The body was stiff and coated with a layer of frost. It was tied hand and foot to the chair, gagged and blindfolded.
Raising the blinds, Captain Jack examined the body more closely. It was nude, pale and cold to the touch.
“Jesus,” Doc Martin said as he entered the room. He checked the body for a pulse or breathing but there was neither.
“Be careful Doc,” Captain Jack warned.
“He's dead,” Doc Martin said. “Rigor mortis has set in.”
Doc Martin knelt and removed the blindfold. “I know this young man,” he said as he examined the boy's face. “It's Ricky Johnson.”
“He played baseball at school,” Doc Martin remembered. “He was an All-Star athlete. He hit t
he winning homer for the state championship. I remember delivering him. His mother was late giving birth.”
Captain Jack examined the scene. “They were torturing him,” he said.
“Who?” Doc Martin blinked away the images from his mind.
“Those assholes. Look, they stripped him, tied him up and put him in this room by himself. They blindfolded him, lowered the blinds so no light or heat from the sun could get in and left the windows open so it would be like a freezer in here.”
“Why?” Doc Martin asked.
“Maybe he resisted,” Captain Jack suggested. “Maybe those assholes wanted him to join them. Maybe he said no.”
“He was a good boy,” Doc Martin said. “I'm sure he would have said no to that.”
Doc Martin went into the living room and gathered the plastic flowers Linda kept in the bay window then pulled the blanket away from the militant's half-eaten body. He wrapped the blanket around Ricky Johnson's body then gently laid the flowers in his lap.
“He died of hypothermia,” Doc Martin pronounced. “There were no militants left from the ambush to come back to him to keep him alive. We were a day late.”
Captain Jack looked down at the body.
“Let's go,” Doc Martin said in disgust. “I've had enough memories.”
Closing the study windows, Captain Jack could see Dwayne's truck in the driveway.
“We're gonna have to be careful,” Captain Jack said. “There's a couple of zombinees out front.”
Captain Jack and Doc Martin eased through the front door and came up behind one of the dead as it examined the engine heat coming up from the hood.
Attracted to the noise, the zombie turned just as Captain Jack slashed its neck and severed its vertebra with the Excalibur.
“Doc, get in!”
Captain Jack started the engine and shifted into reverse as Doc Martin got in on the passenger side and then backed over the zombie behind them.
“The trick is to run over zombinees slow so they don't bounce up and foul the drive train but fast enough so they don't grab hold of anything underneath. That way there are no hitch hickers.”
Doc Martin grimaced with the rocking of the truck as it rolled over the zombie's head.