Zombies! (Book 7): Still Standing

by Merritt, R. S.

  Kyler understood immediately when Chief Presly had him squat down and put his ear close to him why he’d been lied to about the details around the plan to find and kill the Senator. Being brought into the mission late in the game with a Brotherhood brand on his back there were bound to be some trust issues. Kyler had assumed the original plan he’d been told was misinformation from the very beginning. It’d made zero sense that they’d be able to parachute in behind enemy lines and then somehow locate and kill the Senator quickly enough to make a difference. He was surprised to find out only two of the men who’d jumped had actually known the real plan. If Presly and Ritz had both died in the jump, then the rest of them would’ve been standing around staring at each other wondering why they’d been dropped off in the middle of such a massive forest.

  The real plan called for them to be dropped in a couple of miles south of the parking lot. They weren’t sure what kind of security there was surrounding the bunker but assumed the worst. Life was made a little easier since the bunker was so high tech it very reasonably could’ve been utilizing satellite technology for a lot of its perimeter surveillance. The place had been built to survive a nuclear war though so old tech would still be incorporated. The kind of tech that’d survive an EMP. All the systems would have the capability to be fully redundant, standalone and survivable. It would’ve been planned and constructed with the same meticulous detail as was given to spacecraft and nuclear submarines. The budget wouldn’t have been limited at all since the ones approving the funding would’ve been the ones who would be depending on the bunkers to save them and their families lives if it ever did really hit the fan.

  Two more of the men who’d made the jump joined them at the rendezvous point. Presly reviewed the plan with all of them. No one was surprised to find out the operational details were very different from what they’d originally been told. The chief also dropped a few more nuggets of information. A bomber would be taking off soon to strike the bunker. They only had a few hours to try and tag the location. If they weren’t able to do it then the bomber would just pick a couple of likely targets and let fly. In that case there’d be a good chance the bombs would fall on them instead of on the bunker. Presly handed out the devices that the bomber would use to pinpoint where to aim the bombs. He spent a few minutes showing them how to engage the devices. They needed to be placed and activated as close to the target as possible.

  Presly then let them in on how they were going to find the bunker. Kyler had been hoping to hear about heat shielding coveralls or something that would allow them to sneak past infrared cameras. Instead they were going to assume the enemy was going to be able to see them coming. There were no heat shielding coveralls. The idea of pretending to be a Zombie and wandering in had been shot down since their heat signature would still get them shot in the head. Instead they were going to get as close as they could to where they thought the bunker might be then wait for the bomber to be in the air. Once the bomber was in the air, they’d have about an hour to find and tag the base.

  Each of them was assigned a sector to search. They’d move forward communicating over secure comms and try to tag the base and break away as quickly as possible. If they were too close when the missile went off, they’d die in the massive blast that was going to follow. The bomb was designed to go deep before exploding so as long as they got to a minimum safe distance they might not die. No one seemed to be quite sure what that minimum safe distance was. When a concerned Kyler asked for more detail the chief said to assume it was as far as he could run in whatever time was left before the bomb hit. If it turned out that wasn’t far enough then he’d be too dead to care anyway.

  The team stared at the chief after he was finished. Each of them hoping this was yet another coverup to the real plan. A much better plan that didn’t involve them becoming targets for very large bombs. When the chief asked if there were any questions, they realized he was serious and got their game faces on. They moved out as a group towards the target area. The small force of deadly men readied themselves for a high stakes game of capture the flag.

  Chapter 8: In Hindsight I’d Have Put All My Chips on Red

  “The girls seem to be loving this place.” Bryan said walking over to where they were lounging by the lake basking in the glow of the setting sun. Kelly took her eyes off Zoey and Ali long enough to look up at Bryan. His sunken eyes showed the depths of his exhaustion. There was an aura of seriousness around him that hadn’t been there before. He was obviously taking the loss of his men very hard.

  “We’re sorry to hear about your team. Frank told us you were the only one who made it back.” Randy said. Bryan nodded absently then stared over at the girls playing at the edge of the water. Ali and Zoey were digging a hole while Doreen worked on a long trench to pour water into the hole Ali and Zoey were digging. They’d been doing that for about two hours now. It didn’t look like they were going to get tired of it anytime soon.

  “You look like you could use some more rest. Do you want to meet up in the morning?” Kelly asked with concern. The man looked like hell. The bags under his puffy eyes were so big his face look deformed.

  “No. I’m worried if we don’t leave tonight, we might not get a chance to make it off this island. If we get caught, we’re screwed.” Bryan said.

  “How close are they?” Randy asked.

  “They’re already here. We got hit by one of their advance squads. They got the whole team except for Kyler and me. We got lucky. If we don’t move soon the main roads are going to be impossible. I talked to Frank already. We’re all leaving tonight. We’ll stop to grab supplies from the backup site then load it into the trucks up on I-40. It’s a straight run from there if we can get ahead of the Brotherhood. I’m hoping we can ride that wave all the way to the beach.” Bryan said.

  “Ok. What time are we leaving?” Kelly asked after she worked out the meaning of Bryans surfing analogy. She was putting a list together in her head of what they needed to pack. Their gear had exploded all over the tent. Given a safe place they weren’t concerned about having to be able to leave at a moment’s notice they’d gotten a little sloppy. She needed to get the girls dried off and cleaned up before they left. It was amazing how much sand they were able to accumulate on their small bodies.

  Bryan let them know the details were still being worked out, but it’d be in a few hours at most. They had a long cruise to get to the vehicles stashed by I-40. They needed to get there while it was still dark outside. Bryan told them to be ready then left to get everyone else moving.

  They collected the girls and got them cleaned up back at the tent. Once the bulk of the sand had been scrubbed off them, they put them in clean clothes and started shoving all their gear back in their bags. Randy looked over at Kelly. Her cheeks were wet with tears. She kept aggressively wiping them off. He handed her a bottled water and a towel then pulled her in close for a hug.

  “Sorry. It’s stupid. I just loved being here and feeling safe for the first time in forever. I don’t want to leave. I know we have to but it’s scary as hell that we have to take our girls back out there again.” She whispered in Randy’s ear. He couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound lame, so he just held her until she pushed him away to keep cleaning up. She looked resigned now rather than depressed. That was a step in the right direction at least. They needed to get their game faces on to challenge the real world again.

  Caitlyn and Myriah ignored the whole exchange. Zoey and Doreen were so busy trying to find all of their stuff that they hadn’t even really noticed. Ali was staring at Randy with accusing eyes while she tried to figure out if mommy was sad or not. All the girls were depressed. They’d all loved being on the island. It’d been a vacation from the terror of monsters and evil men. The little girls were balancing the sadness of leaving with the fact that they were going to get to go on a nighttime boat ride. That was exciting for them at least.

  They were checking under all the cots to make sure they hadn’t forgot
ten anything when one of Bryans men swung by to collect them. They marched down to the beach and boarded one of the large pontoon boats. The loud engines coughed into life making them all cringe. The one thing uniting everyone in this new normal was the fear of making too much noise and attracting the infected. They cast off and began cruising north through the large lake towards the warehouse they’d fled from what seemed like a lifetime ago. As the island slipped into the darkness Randy reflected that in the old days the island would’ve been a source of nightmares for them. They’d been viciously attacked on the beach. His daughters had killed a man there. It was messed up how differently everything was perceived now.

  The friend of the man they’d killed was on the other boat. Frank had decided the man wasn’t a risk. He’d just gotten caught up in the moment. Randy and Kelly both suspected Frank was just concerned about the shortage of men he had available to him. He’d had his weapons taken away from him and was serving as labor for now. He was forbidden to be around any of the girls or Kelly. Frank had informed him loudly in front of everyone that if he was seen near the girls, he was to be considered target practice. It wasn’t an idle threat. Most of the men there were still extremely embarrassed that a man from their own team had threatened the lives of a woman and her children. That he’d backed up a man who’d actually struck Kelly was pretty much unforgivable in their eyes. Chivalry being a key component of the esprit de corps of the majority of the military.

  The sounds of the motors didn’t go unnoticed. Isolated screams of fury broke out from around the lake. Those random screeches were nothing compared to the mad wailing that started up after Frank walked to the bow and pressed the button on the remote detonator he was holding. The humongous warehouse exploded in a blinding flash of light before crumpling in on itself to slowly be devoured by massive orange flames spreading all over it.

  “I’m guessing that’s to keep the Brotherhood from getting their hands on the supplies.” Randy said to Kelly. One of the soldiers had walked over right before Frank triggered the explosion and told them it was coming. Frank had wanted to make sure the kids weren’t scared by it. Instead of being scared they’d sat around and watched it like it was the 4th of July fireworks at the city park.

  “Hopefully it attracts all the Zombies from upriver. If they all go running towards the fire there’ll be less for us to deal with when we land.” Kelly answered considering the repercussions of the gigantic fireball.

  “If there’s any Brotherhood patrols around here a big wave of Zombies running through the woods will hopefully ruin their night. We’re going to have to get the kids some popcorn. It’s like they’ve never seen a fire before.” Randy observed.

  “It’s not like we have cable anymore.” Caitlyn said immediately. She was working on making that her catch phrase.

  “I’d rather watch the fire on YouTube.” Myriah said joining in on the fun. No matter how deep into death and despair they all sank there was always time to make wisecracks directed at their dad.

  Frank didn’t order the boats stopped to enjoy the fireworks. He actually had them moving dangerously fast considering there wasn’t anyone making sure the lake was safe for boaters anymore. It became apparent very quickly why Frank had given the order to go full ahead into the orange hued darkness. The warehouse hadn’t been rigged to explode to keep the massive wall of canned foods from being used by the Brotherhood to resupply. The main purpose was to keep the stockpiled weapons and ammunition out of their hands.

  When you throw a bullet into a fire it creates a very hazardous and potentially deadly situation for anyone sitting close to the fire. When you set a building on fire with thousands of rounds of ammunition inside of it the result is even more hazardous to your health. If that building also has explosive charges, grenades, and hundreds of gallons worth of gasoline inside of it the result can be pretty spectacular. It was spectacular enough that everyone on board both vessels were soon lying on the deck with their hands over their heads praying they’d make it through.

  They made it past the exploding warehouse without any major casualties. There were a few minor injuries caused by the flying shrapnel from the explosions. Mostly where hot metal flew across the lake to land on someone’s exposed skin. One of the men who’d been lying on the deck right beside Randy got hit the hardest. Randy watched in shock as the man jumped up and started dancing around the boat. He jumped and yelped for a couple of seconds before dropping back to the deck and rolling on his back. Then he started trying to rip his pants off over his boots. A chunk of glowing red metal had fallen out of the sky and burnt its way through his pants. When he’d jumped up to knock it off of himself the red-hot piece of metal had fallen down the back of his pants leg.

  That guy and a couple of others were getting cold water poured over them courtesy of the on-board refrigerators. The boats hadn’t been turned on long enough yet to make ice, but the cold water was very welcome. Gauze was being wrapped around the man’s leg while they tried to figure out how to bandage the nasty looking burn on his butt cheek. The piece of metal had burnt so deeply into his skin that no one was even making any jokes about it yet.

  Kelly and Randy felt sorry for the man who’d gotten burnt but ridiculously relieved that none of the wounded were their own children. They were able to relax as they steadily moved further out of range of the bullet spewing volcanic warehouse. The roar from the explosions was replaced by the screeching from the tidal wave of awakened flesh eaters. Heedless of the flying molten red metal filling the air the men turned monsters sprinted towards the sounds of explosions. Wave after wave of the Zombies slamming into the unbearable heat and succumbing to the ring of death surrounding the explosive site.

  Since the warehouse was located at the end of a large spit that jutted out into the lake the explosion was visible from multiple directions. The open air above the lake made for almost zero blockage of the sound waves. That allowed the noise to travel a great distance from the actual source of the explosion. This caused several herds to surge through the night to converge on the nexus of the noise.

  One large herd swept across I-77 at the same time as a large Brotherhood convoy traveling up the interstate. The herd pivoted on the road seeing the line of hummers and moving trucks. Two green tanks were being towed by a massive big rig. The lead hummer tried to power through and was soon bogged down by the mass of Zombies in front of it. With too many Zombies to fight and no way to run the order was given for everyone to play dead. It was standard doctrine that in this exact circumstance the only way to survive was to put yourself in park and hope the Zombies couldn’t beat their way into your vehicle. You were betting they got distracted by something else and wandered off before they discovered any sort of chink in your vehicle’s armor.

  The convoy would be stuck on that stretch of road for the next two days before loud explosions to the east would send the bulk of the Zombies running in that direction. Once the Zombies left the convoy got moving again. Thanks to their Mad Max welding efforts most of the occupants of the vehicles would survive the intense onslaught. They’d all be a little more psychologically scarred. Their nightmares may also be marginally more horrifying, but they’d live to continue on their mission to bring the fight to the settlements. A fight most of them didn’t have a dog in.

  The pontoon boats steadily cut through the dark water navigating the lake to get to the river that fed it. The night was alive with the screams of the damned as they continued to race towards the exploding warehouse. It seemed like another round of ammunition went off every minute or two. None of that bothered them as long as they were cruising down the middle of the waterway insulated on both sides from the sharp teeth and grasping hands of the infected surging along the banks.

  Frank knew they were going to have to make a pitstop and risk the bank fairly soon though. He hadn’t counted on the tremendous impact the warehouse exploding was going to have on the entire area. He’d fully expected some localized increase in the number of Zombies, but he
hadn’t expected the activity to extend out so far. They were miles from the destroyed warehouse at this point and there still hadn’t been a visible decrease in the number of Zombies stirred up on the banks. This was going to be an issue for them if it stayed the same for another few miles.

  The secondary warehouse they needed to stop at to stock up on weapons and supplies was set back a half mile off the lake down an overgrown service road. If that area was too crowded with Zombies, they may have to anchor and wait it out. If the following night afforded them the chance to get what they needed, then killing a day was going to be worth it. He didn’t like the idea of camping out on a couple of pontoon boats visible to the whole world with minimal weapons and ammunition on them, but it was what it was. In hindsight they really should’ve stocked up the island with enough ammunition to get them out of any scrapes they wound up in. Of course, in hindsight they should’ve just killed everybody who came down with flu like symptoms the year of the dying and they wouldn’t be in this mess.