Zombies! (Book 5): Greater Love Hath No Man

by Merritt, R. S.

  The radio was super active now that the fugitives had been spotted. Krantz was on it ordering them to gather the men on dirt bikes and follow the fugitives down the trail while he tried to get people to head them off. Rodriguez and Kyler yelled at the two men on dirt bikes to follow the four-wheeler then they got in the truck to follow the dirt bikers. Another clearer on a dirt bike showed up with blood on his shoulder. Rodriguez asked the man if he could still ride and when told he could they sent him down the trail after the fugitives as well. Now with the three bikers providing a meat shield in front of them Rodriguez drove off the road to go down the trail in the pickup.

  Chapter 27: Totally Screwed

  Randy drove through the orchard and out the other side of it back into a strip of woods on the other side of the yard of a huge ranch. The yard was overgrown in weeds now with nature slowly encroaching back into it. Before long all the houses set off these small roads in the woods like this would be reclaimed by the woods. For now though there was still a paved driveway leading into the yard that they could use. Randy considered going back in the woods or jumping on the driveway. He made his decision based on needing to pick up the pace and needing to provide a smooth ride to let Myriah and Caitlyn have a better chance of accurate shooting.

  He slowed down driving up to the driveway to tell everyone to get ready to shoot straight. He told Kelly to not even try. The two of them were just going to focus on driving. Finally, he turned all the way around in his seat and told the little girls to hunch down as low as they could get and make sure they didn’t sit up for anything. He felt the difference when the wagon wheels made it from the rough terrain onto the smooth pavement of the driveway and gunned the engine.

  Right as him and Kelly started moving on the driveway the dirt bikes popped out of the woods. The men on the bikes saw them and headed in their direction. In the open ground like this the bikes were much faster and way more maneuverable than the four-wheelers they were driving. Randy noted the men chasing them all had their rifles slung and nothing in their hands to shoot at them with. He started to yell for Myriah to start shooting when he was deafened by the sound of her rifle going off right behind his ear. A few seconds later he heard an echoing boom from behind them as Caitlyn started shooting.

  Randy couldn’t afford to take his focus off the narrow driveway they were on, but he still glanced over towards where he’d seen the bikers last. He saw two bikes lying on the ground next to their prone riders. The rest of the bikers didn’t seem quite as excited about catching up to them anymore. Myriah and Caitlyn kept shooting which drove the men even further away occasionally putting one of them on the ground. Then they were at the end of the driveway where it ran into the main road. They’d been driving along a wide-open trail the entire time. Staring ahead it looked like the trail kept going on the other side of the road.

  When they reached the edge of the road Randy saw a large pickup truck parked on the side with two men staring across at them with rifles pointed in their direction. He nudged Myriah with his elbow and yelled for her to look that way. Understanding exactly what he meant Myriah spun around anticipating she’d need to shoot something. Seeing the truck, she started shooting at it. She had no idea if there were people in it or not but figured her dad wouldn’t have elbowed her in the ribs otherwise. She didn’t actually see the men until they drove past the truck to go down into the ditch on the other side. As soon as she saw them, she sent a couple more rounds their way. She wasn’t trying to miss them but to be honest she wasn’t really trying to kill them either. She just wanted everyone to leave them alone so they could find somewhere to live again without having to hide all the time.

  Randy drove into the weeds wishing he’d worn sunglasses. There was no time to try and pick out the best trail, so he just went with blasting straight ahead in the middle of the wide treeless gully they were in. The tall weeds whipped him in the face as he drove. He imagined everyone else was protected a little better since he was breaking the trail for them. He just wished he wasn’t doing it with his face.

  The nice thing about driving into the weeds was he knew it wouldn’t take long for them to disappear from sight. It was a good thing they’d all put the ponchos on earlier as otherwise they’d have been soaked to the bone driving through the wet weeds. On top of the rain now they were getting hit with water from every angle as it shot up from the tires and was wiped all over them by the tall bushy weeds they were driving through. He sucked up the discomfort and kept the throttle open on the four-wheeler to keep beating through the weeds with the heavy wagon in tow.

  The wagon was his biggest fear. He kept waiting for it to tip over or get stuck. He knew it was slowing them down considerably since it probably weighed a few hundred pounds with all the junk he’d shoved into it on top of the three kids miserably huddled under the tarp. He had no visibility in front of him. The tall weeds didn’t present him with the option of being able to see where they were going. He was driving with his eyes squeezed mostly shut at this point to keep them from being thrashed out of his skull. There could be a car parked directly in front of them and he’d have no clue until he ran into it.

  Driving behind Randy was Kelly. She had Caitlyn riding shotgun with her. Caitlyn had taken her cue from Myriah and was riding backwards behind her mom so she could shoot at anyone who came up on them from behind. They were going slower now that they weren’t on an actual road but not that much slower. The result being on top of the weeds whacking them around there was also the fact that they were being bounced all over the place on the four-wheelers. All that added up to Caitlyn really wondering if she’d be able to actually shoot anyone if they got close. She was thinking it’d be a miracle if she didn’t drop her gun altogether.

  She’d swapped out the rifle for the shotgun her mom had slung over her shoulder. They were all riding around with weapons dangling off them now. The guns banging all over the place to make riding the ATVs even more uncomfortable. She was hoping the shotgun was loaded with buckshot or something that’d be easier to hit the dirt bike riders with. She wasn’t betting on accuracy to get them out of this mess. She did like the fact that the bikers hadn’t figured out how to shoot back at them without getting off their bikes. She was just thinking about that when the high-pitched whine of the bikes reached her ears. If she could hear them over all the other noise, then they must be close.

  She pointed the shotgun directly behind them and got it snug against her shoulder. Holding the gun like that she had to use her legs to hold onto the four-wheeler. That hadn’t been as hard when they were cutting through the forest and driving up the paved driveway. Now that they were beating their way through a bumpy ditch it was almost impossible. The seat wasn’t intended for someone to ride backwards on. She really wished she’d taken the time to tie herself to the seat or something. Falling off at this point wouldn’t be conducive to a long and healthy life.

  A man riding a dirt bike dressed in camouflage appeared out of the bushes behind her. The man had goggles on and was hunched low over his handlebars trying to keep the bike upright driving over all the bumps. Based on how quickly he’d appeared out of nowhere to her Caitlyn wondered if they’d popped up out of nowhere to the rider as well. Regardless she took a shot at the bike knowing she’d missed when her mom had hit a big bump right as she’d pulled the trigger. The bikers back tire got away from him and he went down in a tumble of limbs and metal bike parts anyway. One key difference between fighting Zombies and fighting people is that people would actually get scared if you shot at them. Not that there were a ton of dirt bike driving Zombies out there that would necessarily apply to.

  Caitlyn worked on pumping another shell into the chamber. Not an easy task while you’re bouncing through a ditch struggling to hang on to the ATV underneath you with just your extremely tired and aching legs. Up in front of her Kelly was big time impressed Caitlyn was able to hang on and keep shooting. She was thinking it was akin to riding one of those mechanical bulls on full speed while
trying to apply your makeup.

  Kelly needed Caitlyn focused on the bad guys behind them because it was all she could do to keep the four-wheeler on the path Randy was making for them. She’d never in her life driven something like this and was hoping she’d never have to again. Her entire body hurt. Her arms felt like they were going to fall off from the strain of wrestling with the four-wheeler enough to keep it going straight up the gully. She’d almost jumped out of her skin at the sudden boom from behind her when Caitlyn took a shot at someone. Not knowing what was going on and trying to see how the kids in the wagon ahead of her were doing she silently prayed over and over again that they survived this ride.

  They were driving past subdivisions that backed up to the gully they were in. From where they were at, they could’ve seen them if they turned and looked through the weeds. They may have had to stand up on the seats to see all the way over the weeds but the big houses in the subdivisions were well within view. The neighborhood had a few wandering Zombies in them as well as houses with one or two Zombies lying in a coma like state waiting for some stimuli to call them to their feet. There was also a pack of the adrenalized Zombies close by that’d already heard the shooting from earlier despite the muting effect of the rain.

  The adrenalized Zombies sprinted through the woods headed in the direction the noises had come from. Every time a new shot was fired the Zombies would let out a low screech and tweak the direction that they were running to head more towards wherever the new sound had come from.

  Oblivious to all the activity they were causing in the Zombie world around them they kept riding through the weeds. A total of three bikes had presented themselves to Caitlyn and a single shot had sent each of them to the muddy ground. Caitlyn almost felt sorry for them being forced to come chase her without having the ability to shoot back. It was kind of like being ordered to go charge an enemies machine gun nest. Those were the guys who were posthumously given the fancy medals. What could the Brotherhood possibly have to entice these men to do it? She decided they must not have much since she was pretty sure she’d missed all three shots, but the men had still gone down.

  Caitlyn put her gun in one hand and held on to the seat with her free hand while she waited to see what was going to happen next. An unfamiliar growling sound and then a big pickup truck came out of the weeds towards them like a great white shark coming out of the water after a seal. The truck lurched towards them with the driver and his passenger both staring straight at Caitlyn. They looked comically surprised at having actually caught up with her. They also looked like they were getting pretty beat up driving through the tall weeds with the shattered windshield.

  Surprised by the sudden appearance of the truck Caitlyn gripped the seat tightly with her legs and began swinging the shotgun into position to fire. The sound of gunfire erupted from the truck as the man driving the truck pointed a pistol in her direction and emptied his clip. Caitlyn tried to shoot back before she had the shotgun firmly against her shoulder and the recoil when she pulled the trigger made the butt of the shot gun slam painfully hard against her chin. She accidentally dropped the gun as she scrambled to get her hands on the back of the seat to keep from falling off.

  Missing her shotgun and not having time to try and pull one of the other long guns off her mom’s back she unholstered her pistol and used that to shoot back at the pickup. Her rounds were much more on target as she was able to hold onto the bucking seat with one hand while firing with the other. The truck was basically right behind her now. They’d only been separated by a distance of about ten feet when she got her pistol out and started pulling the trigger. The truck surged forward to try and ram them then skidded off to the side when a couple of her rounds went into the cab.

  Shaking with fear Caitlyn held onto the back of the four-wheeler with both legs. She kept one hand firmly gripping the metal bands on the back where you could strap gear. She was crying and she had no idea why. Overcome with the terror of being shot at and adrenaline and the responsibility of having to protect everyone. The guilt of having shot and maybe killed real, uninfected humans hit her as well. Her jaw ached from where she’d been hit by her own gun when she pulled the trigger prematurely. Crying or not she kept her pistol gripped firmly in her free hand and waited for the next target to appear.

  Randy had noticed they were driving past a few subdivisions. He didn’t think driving through this gully was going to be sustainable. They’d eventually get to a place another road crossed over it where the Brotherhood would be waiting with a firing squad for them. They were going way too slow to be able to outrun the men who’d be flanking them on the roads. Without another thought he turned the steering wheel to take them out of the gully and up into the subdivision he could see above the tops of the weeds. The wagon full of the kids and random supplies was bouncing around behind him as the powerful engine on the expensive four-wheeler slugged along to pull them out of the ditch. Kelly turned and followed him up and out of the ditch pulling up beside him once they’d gone from overgrown gully to overgrown cul de sac.

  “Now what?” Kelly asked. She was drenched in nervous sweat and her heart was racing. She felt like a fox who could hear the hunting dogs getting closer.

  “We find something faster than these four-wheelers and we try to bust through their line before they pin us down. Once we stop moving, we’re dead. They already have a good idea of exactly where we are. We’ve got to mix it up.” Randy answered her.

  “I’ve got no problem getting off this stupid machine.” Caitlyn said. She was trying to wipe away her tears before the little kids asked her why she’d been crying. The littles were too busy agreeing that the wagon also sucked.

  “If the dirt bike riders had pistols, we’d be captured already.” Myriah said. “I vote for getting off these death machines as soon as possible.”

  “Alright follow me.” Randy said and drove though the tall grass they were sitting in out to the actual paved portion of the cul de sac. He was looking for a likely garage to raid for a new vehicle when a couple of men in camouflage walked down the street with rifles pointed directly at them.

  “Hands in the air!” One of the men approaching them yelled.

  Randy did the math on what would happen if he went for his gun. Those guys were locked and loaded and ready to shoot. He didn’t think they’d hesitate to pull the trigger. He was actually a little surprised they hadn’t just shot them already. He assumed there must be orders for them to be captured alive if possible. Then again if they just stood there then they were all going to be killed anyway. Torn with indecision he threw his hands up in the air. The final decision being made by the thought of a random bullet hitting Zoey or one of the other little girls in the wagon.

  The men stopped across from them and talked into the radio some before ordering them to drop down to their knees and put their hands behind their heads. Frustrated beyond belief Randy looked over at Kelly as he hit his knees. Kelly’s eyes were full of tears, but her lip wasn’t quivering. Her expression was feral. She was just waiting for the chance to leap. Caitlyn and Myriah both looked scared to pieces. The little girls were just kind of standing beside the wagon milling around in a circle.

  The men stood in the middle of the road with guns aimed at them as they waited for something. That something turned out to be the truck that Myriah and Caitlyn had both put rounds through. The truck came crashing up out of the brush. A tall young man with burn scars on his face parking the truck in front of them. He got out and went to talk to the two men aiming guns at them. From the other side of the housing complex a few screeches drifted to them on the night air. The young man took the walkie talkie from the team standing in the street and ordered them to load the fugitives in the back of his pickup truck.

  The two men advanced slowly on the family with their guns pointed mostly at Randy the entire time. He stared hard at the men coming towards them. He wanted them to have eye contact with him. In his peripheral vision he saw Kelly go for her gun. He stood up
and charged straight at the men screaming as loud as he could to try and distract them. From behind him he heard shots ringing out from both sides so either Caitlyn or Myriah had also gotten in the fight. Looking in front of him he could see both the men were laying on the ground already. He immediately tugged his own rifle up into his hands and started looking for the young partially burnt guy who’d gotten out of the truck.

  That guy was standing in plain sight with his gun pointed at the ground with a sad smile playing across his lips.

  “You guys need a ride?” He asked.

  Chapter 28: Redemption

  “Chasing the crazy gun family down a ditch with no windshield. This is bound to end well.” Rodriguez muttered loudly shielding his eyes from all the junk flying in through the empty space where the windshield should be.

  “Yep. This sucks.” Kyler volleyed back before spitting out something he hoped wasn’t a bug that’d ended up in his mouth. ‘Sucks’ didn’t even begin to do this situation any justice.

  Shots rang out in front of them. Rodriguez let up on the gas but still ended up smacking a biker who’d been limping through the weeds trying to get back to the road. Kyler watched the man spin in a circle before falling backwards into the weeds and mud. A second later Rodriguez cussed even louder as they hit the guys bike and parts of it slammed into the bottom of the truck. They came to a full stop as Rodriguez tried to make sure the bike wasn’t still stuck under the truck. He ended up hopping out and kicking the handlebars of the bike out from where they’d gotten wedged in the front bumper.