Kyler was a natural athlete who was young and hadn’t picked up any vices yet. He’d been beaten, burned and cut but he was still in excellent shape. Krantz pulled out a compass to try and figure out the right way to go. The sounds of screeching coming from the patch of woods they were in had him tucking that right back in his shirt and just pointing for Kyler to move deeper into the woods. Each of them was sporting their preferred hand weapons at this point. Krantz had put his badass leather armored gloves on. Kyler realized his generic five for twenty-dollar work gloves were tucked deep in his backpack where he couldn’t easily get to them. He guessed that was why Krantz was an officer while he got to share a cabin with Rodriguez.
At the edge of the woods was a road they needed to cross that had Zombies moving around all over it. Between whatever the clearers were doing and the helicopter buzzing overhead this town was turning into a Zombie street festival. They couldn’t get across the street. Krantz tried to make contact with the clearers using his handheld but didn’t have any luck. That could’ve been since he just tried sending clicks and whispers. There were way too many agitated looking Zombies rolling around where they were at to risk making any human sounding noises. Especially since they knew there were now new and improved Zombies out there with superior auditory capabilities.
Sinking into the bushes about ten feet back from the road they sat and stared at one another. There were Zombies crashing around in the woods near them as well as the ones out on the road randomly making noise. Kyler was ok with the ones that randomly made moaning and snorting noises. He vastly preferred them to the eerily quiet ones that sometimes seemed to just appear out of nowhere. Krantz had agreed with that opinion when Kyler mentioned it. Rodriguez had just snorted and said the only good Zombie was a dead Zombie.
Krantz pulled out a notebook and scribbled a message across the first page of it before handing it over to Kyler to look at. Kyler read it and passed it along to Rodriguez. It said what they were all thinking. Unless the Zombies surrounding them decided to leave, they were pretty much stuck sitting there until nightfall. Kyler put his back against a tree and pulled out the little blackjack game. He made sure the volume was turned off and hit the bet button. He studiously ignored Rodriguez staring at him waiting for his turn to play with the cheap little handheld game.
Passing the time in complete silence while infected, insane, supercharged cannibals roamed all around them was starting to become way too routine Kyler reflected as the sun slowly set. The shadows lengthened as Rodriguez tried to beat Kyler’s score on the blackjack game. Judging by the pissed off look on his face it wasn’t playing out the way he wanted it to. Smiling to himself at the look on Rodriguez’s face Kyler glanced over at Krantz. Krantz was standing up but hunched over. He looked like he was trying to see through the bushes to see if the road was clearing out at all yet. Considering the time of the day the Zombies should be wandering off the road and bedding down soon.
As soon as Kyler thought about the fact that the Zombies should be bedding down soon, he realized they may have made a serious error in where they’d decided to hang out. He poked Krantz in the leg to get his attention. Krantz turned around to see why he was being poked. He saw Kyler wanted to tell him something, so he handed him the pad with the pen shoved through the spiral metal part of it. Kyler scribbled in the pad and passed it back to Krantz.
A fat Zombie in overalls sauntered into the middle of the little clearing they were in looking for a place to lie down. It saw the three uninfected humans staring at it and opened its mouth to let out a screech. From out of nowhere Rodriguez appeared and shoved the blackjack game deep into the Zombies mouth. The Zombies eyes got big and it stepped forward grabbing Rodriguez in a bear hug. The good ol’ boy looking Zombie looked like half its face had either rotted off or just transformed into one giant blood blister. It’s one eye was almost hidden by the massive pus- and blood-filled growth on its face. The eye that was visible had gone comically round when it opened its mouth to screech and instead found itself inhaling a video game.
That enormous blood blister face was now rubbing all over Rodriguez as the Zombie tried to work the game out of its mouth to get its teeth into him. Rodriguez had the work gloves on and was holding tight to keep the game crammed in. Kyler took his hatchet and hacked away at the hillbillies leg trying to make it fall over. He didn’t have the right angle to hit the Zombie in the head. Krantz took out his machete and started sawing at the things face trying to force it back from Rodriguez. The fat bastards giant blood pimple burst spraying Krantz’s hand down and completely soaking Rodriguez.
A look of complete disgust covered Krantz’s face as he steadfastly kept his hand and machete in place to keep the beast off Rodriguez. The face was just one big bloody flap of purplish skin on one side now after spewing all the pus and blood all over Rodriguez and Krantz. Krantz was fighting the Zombie and dry heaving at the same time. Trying to ignore the smell of the septic pus that’d sprayed from the Zombies face Kyler worked his way behind the beast to carve away at the back of its big melon. He hacked into the skull and could actually see the brain before the Zombie finally fell to it’s knees. It’s dirty, flabby, sore covered arms letting go of a thoroughly traumatized Rodriguez when it finally collapsed onto the pine straw covered ground.
The brief, intense battle had been fought in complete silence. The only noise the slight sound from the dry heaves and the noises made when their weapons struck flesh and bone. Rodriguez took two steps away from the massive carcass of the bloated hillbilly who’d almost finished him and fell to the ground gasping. Krantz was pulling out an economy sized tube of hand sanitizer and wiping himself down. When he finished up with the sanitizer, he handed it to Rodriguez who applied it liberally to all of his exposed skin. It burnt like hell but if it kept you from getting infected then it was worth it. If it didn’t actually kill the virus it did at least leave you smelling like lemon pledge.
Krantz bent down and picked up the notebook he’d dropped as they all moved back into the forest to give themselves more of a buffer from the road. He read what Kyler had written while the light was still available for it to be legible. He hit Kyler in the head with the book then slid it back into the large pocket on the side of his pants. Kyler smirked remembering what he’d written. Rodriguez just looked back and forth between them until Krantz handed him the notebook to read. Rodriguez looked like he might whack Kyler with the notebook as well for a second. Instead he just grinned and handed the book back to Krantz who put it back away again with a chagrined smile playing at the corners of his lips.
‘We should go a little deeper in the woods in case a Zombie decides to pick this spot to nest for night.’
Kyler was a little peeved that they’d gotten ticked at him for pointing out the obvious. Even if he’d pointed it out a few seconds too late at least he’d thought of it to begin with. On the plus side he was the only one who hadn’t been covered in goo when Krantz had used his machete on the Zombie like Dr. Pimple Popper going for a record pop.
In the dark the forest made all the normal forest noises. Knowing that some of those creaks and snaps were more than likely due to Zombies bedding down for the night made every noise seem more ominous than normal. They gave it another hour then Krantz led them across the street through a parking lot out onto another street. He basically just went west until they ran into the interstate. Instead of walking down the middle of the road and risking being noticed he took them through the woods. Once there he turned confidently to the right and kept walking. Rodriguez and Kyler obediently following him to the next mile marker. Krantz squinted to make out which mile marker it was. Once he saw it, he flipped around without missing a beat and marched them with just as much confidence as before in the opposite direction.
Kyler was impressed. Krantz had done it so smoothly that for a second Kyler had been arguing with himself whether they’d been going the wrong way originally or not. Like there was some other reason they’d flip around and go the othe
r way. Deciding he didn’t care as long as he ended up sitting in a nice truck at the end of the day he trudged along. Twenty minutes later they were rewarded by the silhouette of a truck on the side of the road up ahead. Krantz grabbed the keys and they all piled in. Once they were sitting there Krantz started the truck and turned it around to drive to where they’d left the other truck.
“Ok. I’m going to drop you two at the other truck. I’m going to pick up a driver and we’re going to do sweeps on the roads and see if we can’t find the traitors. I’d love for us to take tonight off, but I feel like we’ve already lost too much time as it is.”
Kyler and Krantz both nodded. They were exhausted but they understood the mission needed to come first. Kyler felt a little dirty acting like he was going to obey the command to search the area thoroughly. No one else knew that he’d already picked a side as far as the refugee family they were chasing went. He’d drive around aimlessly all night though. Rodriguez would more than likely drink himself into a stupor anyway. Kyler liked the idea that he seemed to have finally mastered the art of loafing while appearing busy. He’d get to practice all night long.
Krantz pulled up to the other truck and waited for them to start it up. Once they’d headed off to drive the roads that he’d asked them to cover he got on the radio and asked the clearers for a status. The clearers in Jasper and Talking Rock both reported everything looked normal and no sign of the traitor family. The clearer in Ball Ground came on and said he may have something.
Feeling like he should be turning on sirens and blue lights Krantz turned the truck to drive over to where the clearer team lead was waiting to meet him. A few miles away Kyler listened to the radio interaction and felt a sinking pit in his stomach.
Chapter 23: Hundred Yard Dash
“How’s it looking?” Kelly asked Randy. He’d just come out of the back bedroom. He’d gone in there to see if the Zombies where settling down yet or not.
“A little bit better. There’s still a couple I still see strolling around. All that noise today got them all riled up. How about with the guys out front?” He asked.
“Still hiding.” Kelly said gesturing at the window for Randy to take a look. In the dimming light Randy could just make out the shapes of the two large moving trucks parked in the front of the neighborhood. From the angle they were looking out at he couldn’t see the road but from the intensity of the gunfire earlier there must be a ton of bodies lying around it.
“I wonder how they get the trucks out when they’re surrounded by all those bodies?” Randy wondered out loud. It was worth thinking about. If the trucks just sat there building up huge drifts of dead bodies, then they’d have a hell of a time digging their way out when they were done. They must either move the trucks each night or spend a ton of time manually shifting the bodies around each night. He got more excited thinking about it as he thought he may be on to something that could help them.
“Fire? A bulldozer? Giant snow shovels? They all get out and just shovel the bodies to the side?” Kelly started rattling off her guesses at how the problem could be addressed. The answer to that question could be the key to their escape from this mess.
They sat there brainstorming for about fifteen minutes before Randy went back and checked outside again. This time he came back in the room sounding relieved.
“I can’t really see anything so I want you to look too but I think we can make a run for it now.” He told Kelly. She got up and took a look out the window. She couldn’t see much more than vague blobs out in the darkness but none of them seemed to be moving or Zombie shaped. Deciding that was going to have to be good enough they went downstairs to get the band back together.
Caitlyn had been working on getting everyone ready. They were all sitting on the edge of the pull-out bed in the den fully dressed. Each of them had their own backpacks and gear strapped on as well. Caitlyn and Myriah both had their weapons shoved in the straps from their backpacks. The way they carried the pistols speaking to their experience with wearing them at this point. Caitlyn had taken to firearms like a fish to water while Myriah still held her pistol like it was a snake that might decide to bite her at any second. Randy and Kelly shrugged into their gear then spent a few minutes staring out the back sliders into the darkness.
Randy gave Kelly a quick peck on the cheek then rounded up everyone to stand by the back door. He squatted down so he was at the same level as the littles.
“Ok. We’re going to try and get out of here as fast as we can. There are too many bad guys around here, so we want to go somewhere else. We need to go fast and quiet. Caitlyn will carry Doreen. Myriah I want you holding on to Zoey and Doreen’s hands. Your moms going to lead, and I’ll cover the rear. We’re headed for the trees on the back side of the neighborhood. If we get split up hide right where we lose you at and stay there. If you wander too far away, we might not be able to find you again. Everybody understand? Any questions?” Randy waited but everyone was silent. It reminded him of the somber silence of mourners standing around a coffin at a funeral.
“I love you guys.” Kelly whispered before she opened the back door and stepped out into the shadows. Randy waited for the children to follow her. Even though Kelly may be a little bit navigationally challenged she still had better eyesight than him. Her eyesight was one of the reasons he’d asked her to run point on their evacuation. He was in the back because it was the most dangerous spot to be in. This is where the Zombies would hit first if they noticed something odd about the group traipsing around in the dark. It also put him in position to watch over the kids and make sure none of them got lost. He was paranoid about losing one of them. It wasn’t like he could use an iPhone app to track them down or call the police to help him look for them. The first chance he got he wanted to find some walkie talkies of some kind so he could make sure each kid had one and knew how to use it. That way they’d have some chance of finding them if they did get separated.
They’d made it about twenty yards from the house when the sound of trucks starting up drifted to them across the homes. It was soon followed by the sound of rifle fire. Kelly started running towards the houses on the side of the neighborhood by the woods. The houses they needed to reach to get out of the subdivision. Movement and sounds all around them fueling her need to get everyone moving as quickly as possible. Caitlyn was running with Doreen flopping around on her shoulders in a fireman’s carry right above her backpack. Myriah was pulling Zoey and Ali around like a couple of miniature water skiers across the overgrown grass. A house directly in front of them began spewing out a line of misshapen screeching blobs.
Kelly couldn’t really see them in the dark as more than vague shapes, but they were between them and the woods. Considering there was plenty of noise in the air already she decided to just roll with it. She started punching rounds through everything in front of her she saw that looked humanoid or moved. She slowed from a jog to a walk to try and be as accurate as possible. Reaching the house as two more Zombies emerged, she plugged both of them as well. Stepping over the dead bodies she waved for everyone to keep following her. On the other side of the neighborhood it sounded like the shooting may be tapering off. Luckily it was still plenty loud enough to attract the Zombies who’d started moving towards the sound of Kelly’s firing.
Kelly checked to make sure Caitlyn was right behind her then ran around the side of the house by the woods. The rest of the crew snaked along behind her until they got to the bushes by the edge of the home. Kelly paused there to watch as some shadowy shapes ran by. One of them was screaming as it ran by unable to contain its excitement at the possibility of rending human flesh. That scream was echoing around the whole neighborhood as it erupted from other throats. Glass shattered and doors were ripped off hinges as Zombies who’d been trapped in homes for years finally broke out leaving the bodies of their half-eaten families to continue to rot.
Kelly held her magazine up to the sky trying to see how many rounds she had left. Unable to figure it out she
popped the magazine back in her rifle and made sure she had a bullet ready to go in the chamber. She stood up to leave. Randy put his hand on her shoulder.
“Shouldn’t we wait until we see a break?” He whispered in her ear.
Kelly shook her head side to side and put a finger to her lips to shut him up. Randy backed off. One of the rules of being the point person was that you got to pick the direction and pace for everyone else. It was kind of the same rules that applied to her being the mom in the group. Kelly hesitated then turned and made sure everyone was looking at her. She pretended like she was running really fast until everyone nodded that they got it. They needed to run as fast they could to get across the road.
Kelly unslung her rifle and handed it to Myriah indicating that it was low on ammunition. Then she took the pistol from Myriah and made sure it was ready to shoot. After verifying that is was, she hoisted Zoey up with her free arm keeping her other arm free to use the pistol. She nodded at Randy to do the same thing. He slung his rifle and scooped up Ali pulling his pistol out and making sure it was good to. Satisfied with how they were arranged to get across the street Kelly started moving in that direction. She went slowly at first but once out in the open she took off running. Caitlyn carrying Doreen with Myriah right behind her and Randy on their six. Kelly was so focused on running she missed the two Zombies who started skipping towards them from out of the ditch. Randy fired the pistol five times and those Zombies stopped moving. The noise from the gunfire attracting the attention of more Zombies.
Zombies! (Book 5): Greater Love Hath No Man Page 20