by Gallier, TW
"And then the US government will return?" I asked. "I've heard from other survivors that the government said we were all infected, either zombies or carriers of the infection, so everything east of the Rockies will forever be no man's land. And soldiers will kill us if we tried to migrate to the western US."
"That's about what we know," Dad said. "The rest of the world wants to keep this contained, so we've been quarantined."
"Have y'all considered moving west to the desert of West Texas and New Mexico?"
"We thought about it, but decided there was too much uncertainty," Mr. Forrester said. "We couldn't guarantee we'd be welcomed, or even find a location with water. We're better off here."
I couldn't argue that assumption. They had better information about what could be expected out west. Still, staying deep inside the zombie lands seemed crazy. From what little I'd picked up, they hadn't seen any really big hordes in Indian Village. Yet. In fact, the road warriors we'd killed and scattered the night before was the greatest threat they'd face so far.
The rest of the villagers were assembled when I reached the top. I quickly found Olivia sitting between our mothers. I squeezed in between her and my mom.
"I want to thank everyone for joining us here," Mr. Forrester said. "I won't beat around the bush. We welcomed two new members to the village today, Kyle Holt and Olivia Monday. Before anyone objects, their parents are citizens, and we don't turn away family.
"But they came bearing bad news," he continued. "They spotted a huge horde of infected several days north of us. Kyle believes the horde will surround the village and try to get inside."
"Let them try," a woman called. "I've never seen an infected so much as try to enter the moat."
"They'll give up after a few days and move on," a man called. "This so called threat is hardly meeting worthy."
I couldn't handle it. Standing, I held up my hand and looked them all over. Everyone quieted down.
"You've been lucky so far," I said. "Olivia and I have fought our way through the zombie lands from Carson, and let me tell you zombies are tenacious and aren't smart enough to realize it would be easier to bypass us. We spent ten days in Emory, fighting a horde that completely encircled the city. They have two rivers to keep the zombies at bay, and the zombies are still there trying to get to them."
"Zombies won't move on as long as they can see someone over here," Olivia said. "They aren't that smart. They will stay here until they get across, or they all die."
"Let them die," the man said. "I can wait."
"How long. Three months? Six months?" I asked. "As they die, the other zombies eat them. That horde could survive all winter. It's that big. We have to deal with them now or we won't be able to plant crops come spring."
"We'll gas bomb them."
"That won't work. They'll fill the fields all the way to the woods," I said, starting to feel frustrated. Maybe it was me. I've only fought zombies. The idea of sitting back and waiting was alien. "You're super-sized Molotov Cocktails might work on a small – Oh."
I got the chills as an idea began to form. It was crazy, but it might work.
"What?" Olivia asked.
"I just had a thought. Maybe we can kill them all," I whispered. "But I have to ask the people in the know first."
"What?" Mr. Forrester demanded. "Just say it. We're a democracy here."
I held my hand up for quiet and thought it through. Walking past him, I looked out across the open fields. I wasn't surprised to see a few zombies already halfway across the fields, all heading straight for the hilltop village.
"I noticed you have lots of irrigation pipes and sprinklers," I said.
"Yes. The old corporate farm brought them in a few years ago to help with the drought," Mr. Forrester said. "Why?"
"How fast can you put them out all around the village?"
"Couple of days," he said. "Again, why?"
"Is there a way to make gasoline flow through them?"
"That would kill the crops!"
"It would kill the zombies, too," I said. I caught Olivia's eyes and grinned. "Or actually, we set off the sprinklers and spread a little gas all around. Just enough to cover the zombies with gas."
"And we fire them up," Olivia said, nodding. "Wow."
"The explosion would kill us all!" another man cried.
"No," I said. "Listen. We don't have to have an explosion. We just have to light the zombies on fire. A quick sprinkling of a few seconds, then set them on fire before the gas evaporates. It's the evaporated gas that explodes."
We argued about it until people slowly started coming on board. The men who understood the sprinkler system, who had used it before for its intended purpose, reluctantly agreed it was possible. After that, the conversation turned technical to the point I didn't really understand, but they worked out how to pump gas out the gas station's underground tank.
"One other thing," I said. "I think we need to start posting lookouts on the highway so the horde doesn't surprise us."
Most of the villagers thought it would take the horde at least five days to reach us. Olivia and I argued they could cover more than forty miles in a day if they wanted. Zombies seemed tireless at times. As far as we knew they didn't really need to sleep, so they could walk day and night. I gave us three days, four at the most.
Chapter 25
I squinted into the darkness. It was late, or early morning, depending on how you thought. In an hour or so we'd get the predawn light. Maybe sooner. It got light awful early in summer. My guard shift would end after our relief ate breakfast.
"All night guard is killer," I said.
"That's why Forrester post guards in pairs," Mr. Monday said.
After so long on the road with Olivia and Ralph, it was strange being with others. They didn't do things like we did. I didn't agree with how they operated, but it was working for them. Who was I to call them out on things like guard shifts and separation of duties and responsibilities?
There was a lot to admire there, too. If the villagers were nothing else, they were fast and efficient. The irrigation system was deployed and tested with just a half-second burst with gasoline. Worked like a charm. I seemed to get most of the credit, though I just had the idea. They made it work.
Mr. Forrester setup a monitoring station, as he called it, a little past where Olivia and I had stashed the ATVs. It was on high ground overlooking the highway and farmlands to the north. They even built a treehouse for the lookouts. The lookouts were all women and any men too old to help with the preparations. Olivia couldn't get out of her watch on the third night, which I thought was much too close to when the horde would arrive. The horde's outliers were reaching us after the second day, from north, west, and east.
Worse, the village only had two ham radios and refused to risk one at the lookout point, so the lookouts had to send a rider on an ATV to tell us when they spotted the horde. Personally, I argued they should both return the moment the main horde was spotted. Mr. Forrester insisted they stay on post until told to return. He was in charge.
I did convince them to get both of the pickups up and running, with makeshift cowcatchers welded to the front. I think they agreed in part because they were intrigued by the idea. Maybe amused was a better word. On the evening of day three, Olivia had to go to her post before they finished the trucks, but the next shift would have safer transportation. I tried to get them to swap out a pickup right away, but I was denied.
"Don't worry, Olivia will be fine," her father reassured me.
We were pulling the all night guard shift together at the gas station. There were dark shadows moving out in the fields making me nervous, but that wasn't unusual. Best I could tell, since there was no moon due to cloud cover, the early arrivals were feasting on other zombies killed over the last three days. The village sharpshooters would take them out come daylight with deer rifles. They were quite good at it.
"I know. She's really good at taking care of herself," I said. "But I still don't lik
e it. It scares me."
The lookouts were only allowed a single pistol each. Olivia snuck out with her sawed off shotgun. I felt a little better. The fact that none of the lookouts had been spotted by passing zombies helped, too. All reports said zombies ignored the ATVs and never looked up, so the previous lookouts thought they'd be safe.
But still, it was my Olivia out there.
"Jesus!" Mr. Monday cried when three zombies charged up to the moat. One of them fell in, splashed around as if he'd drown, and finally crawled out. I shook my head. The moat was only waist deep. "They surprised me."
The zombies were staring at us with those rage filled eyes. Very creepy.
"How many are out there?" I asked.
The overpass blocked our view westward, and the hill behind us blocked more of the rest. The only zombies I saw were coming through the underpass. That was my first overnight watch, so I wasn't sure if their numbers were unusually high or not. Seemed like an awful lot of them. Yet, no one came back from the lookout to warn us the horde had arrived.
"More and more are coming in every night," Mr. Monday said. "Forrester isn't concerned, but I – "
Shots rang out from the north.
"Olivia!" I cried.
"Why are they shooting?" her father asked.
I could think of lots of reasons. One big one. They were overrun by so many zombies they couldn't get to the ATV and escape. I couldn't imagine them shooting unless zombies had spotted them.
Could zombies climb trees?
I looked at the pickups, backed up to the moat. The zombies were ignoring them. The keys were in the ignitions. There were no weapons mounted at the moment. Still, they ran and had a full tank of gas. The area between the gas station and the overpass would not be gassed up. We were worried about blowing up the underground tanks. It wouldn't be too hard to clear that area with guns.
Someone started clanking on the bell atop the hill. That was the alarm. The all hands on deck call. Everyone with a weapon would go to their fighting position on the side of the hill.
"Did the horde sneak past Olivia?" her father asked. "Maybe they're trapped and shooting is the only way for them to warn us."
Gunfire erupted all around the hill. My heart leapt into my throat as I looked northward. We were surrounded, so cut off from Olivia who was clearly in trouble.
"Sir, we can clear out the zombies around the trucks, and go save Olivia," I said.
That was part of my argument for getting the pickups ready. Not to save Olivia, but in case we had to conduct a rescue mission through zombies. Four men, me included, were assigned to each pickup. I was given the gunner job on one of the trucks.
"Forrester could set off the fire at any moment," he said. "Jesus. Jesus."
The lookouts could be killed if he did. Did I lead Olivia there through all those hordes and other dangers just to be burned alive? Could Forrester do that to her and the other lookout. Then it hit me.
"Wait. Forrester's daughter is pulling the watch with Olivia. He'll let us go," I said. "Go talk to him. Hurry! The longer we wait, the worse it'll get."
Mr. Monday didn't argue. He climbed out of our sandbag guard post, and took off up the hill. I looked north, then up. The sky was starting to brighten. Sunrise wasn't too far away.
"Hold on, Olivia," I muttered. "How come you're not still shooting?"
I never felt so sick in my life. My hands started shaking. Soon my whole body was shaking. There was no way the zombies took them out so fast. They were twenty feet up in a tree. Unless they were caught trying to reach the ATV.
As more dim predawn light spread across the sky, I got a better look at our situation. It was bad. Like bile in the throat bad. Unable to stand it, I climbed out of the sandbag pillbox, found a ladder, and climbed up onto the gas station store.
"Oh. My. God."
The mega horde surrounded us. It was mostly coming around the east and west sides of the hills north of the village. There were thousands of walkers moving toward the moat. They had to be a hundred feet deep over on the eastern side of our hill. The western side wasn't as bad but off in the middle distance I could see the incoming horde and it was thick with those insane monsters.
Five men came rushing down the hill toward me. Mr. Monday was leading them. One of the men was carrying a M60; the rest had boxes of ammo. All had personal weapons, mostly hunting rifles and shotguns.
"He's going to let us go?" I asked, already heading toward the fence.
"No," Mr. Monday said. "Forrester said it's too dangerous. He said they are far enough away that lighting the gas won't hurt them."
"His daughter is out there!" I screamed. "I'm not worried about an explosion killing them, but it will probably start a forest fire."
The men looked grim. Mr. Monday looked on the verge of tears. I was crying. How could any man be so cold blooded?
"If I go, will you try to stop me?" I asked.
They all looked at me emotionlessly. My heart sank.
"We're here to help you," Frank Jepson said. "Fuck Forrester."
"Let's go," Mr. Monday said.
Frank cut a small hole in the fence. Mr. Monday and I slipped through and waded into the moat. The other men followed, including Jake Forrester with the M60. I stopped and gawked at him.
"My father's wrong," Jake said. "I'm not going to stand around and let my sister die."
I smiled and nodded. We both had good reason and determination.
"Okay, let's clear out those zombies!" I cried, and opened up with my M16A2.
I was the only one there with a military grade weapon, not counting the M60. Jake proved Rambo enough to fire the M60. He did more to clear away the closest zombies than anyone.
"I'll drive," Mr. Monday shouted.
I paused. So that's where Olivia got it.
"Try not hitting zombies at more than 30 MPH," I said. "Faster than that might damage the cowcatcher and rattle the truck apart."
I climbed into the bed and Jake handed the M60 to me. I mounted it while he climbed in back with me. The rest of the men placed two boxes of ammo each in the bed and then waded back across the moat. More zombies were rushing toward us.
"It's just us," Jake said when I looked back at the departing men.
The engine turned over, and then he put it in drive. Jake probably thought he'd get to fire the M60, but I swung it around and started shooting. He started getting another box of ammo ready.
The pickup lurched forward. Apparently Olivia learned to drive from him. I kept firing in short bursts, not wanting to waste ammo or burn up the barrel. Mr. Monday showed a real talent at driving through zombies to use the cowcatcher to best effect. He plowed through them up the service road, and then up the on-ramp. There weren't as many on the highway, since they were crossing it from the west, not following it from the north.
I only fired when a large number of them crossed our path.
"They're turning on the sprinklers!" Jake cried.
I was incredulous. Did they not see us? Also, it seemed early to me. Was someone panicking? I know I was starting to panic.
"Are they out of their fucking minds?" I called. I started pounding on the cab. "Faster! Faster!"
The pickup was a lot bigger, a lot heavier and sturdier. I couldn't tell how fast he was driving, but it was a helluva lot faster than 30 MPH. The cowcatcher started bending, getting twisted, but the pickup handled the harder strikes much better than the jeep ever did.
I fired and fired, doing my best to clear the road of zombies. The road wasn't being covered by the sprinkler system but I still worried one of my shots would ignite the gas.
"Fuck!" Jake screamed.
I glanced back to see a Molotov Cocktail arching out from a catapult emplacement.
"FLOOR IT!" I screamed.
The pickup lurched forward. Both Jake and I fell back against the tailgate. Thank god it had a tailgate. The other pickup didn't. I turned to see flames leaping into the air, spreading out at phenomenal speed. We dropped to t
he bed as it reached the road, and then swept over us.
The pickup continued racing up the road, plowing loudly and roughly through zombies. I spotted the treehouse and both women as we crested the hill. Zombies were gathered below the tree. Olivia had a long stick and was keeping climbers at bay.
I opened up with the M60. Jake picked up my rifle and picked off the climbers. Mr. Monday drove off the road, plowed into the mini-horde, and stopped under the treehouse.
"Jump down!" Jake called.
"I'll die!" Sophie Forrester said.
Olivia spoke to her, and Sophie backed over the edge to dangle above the truck, with Olivia holding on to her. I had to turn back to the advancing zombies, firing the closest ones up. Sophie pounded into the roof of the truck a moment later, bashing in it a few inches. Half a second later Olivia landed next to her.
"Let's go, Daddy!"
The women dropped down into the bed. Olivia looked wild-eyed when our eyes met. Then she smiled.
"I knew you'd come."
My throat was too knotted up to answer. Instead I reloaded the M60 as Mr. Monday turned us around to head back to the village.
"Dad's going to be so pissed," Jake said, grinning like an idiot.
"But happy," I said, looking at Sophie.
Heading south, the pickup slowed when we reached the open fields. Everywhere I looked were zombies running around on fire. Most of the unburned crops were also on fire, and just like I feared the fires were sweeping up into the surrounding forestland.
"That's going to really stink tomorrow," I said.
There was no way to gather up and dispose of so many thousands of bodies. Raw, burned bodies, too. I really didn't want to think about it.
"Wow," Olivia said. "I thought the other zombies would turn away, but they are walking right past all of the burning ones. Maybe fire doesn't scare them as much as we thought."
I was speechless. The horde was coming toward us down the highway from the north, too. No hesitation. I spotted zombies coming out of the woods, picking their way through the fires as best they could. Not all of them made it, but the wall of fire didn't deter them.