Zombies! (Book 7): Still Standing

  A bird was chirping somewhere in the darkness. Kyler emerged from a dream within a dream to awaken in the middle of his real-world nightmare. Swimming up out of the deep sea of an exhausted slumber it took him a minute to figure out how to turn off the alarm. He sat up wearily and got his bearings. Walking out of the cool cabin he answered the call of nature after a careful search to make sure no Zombies were going to jump out at him. He discovered some extra-large spiders in the outhouse but other than that all was quiet. The screeching had even died down.

  Hoisting his pack up on his back he took a long pull from his canteen then began the hike up to the road. Once he got to the road, he needed to walk along the side of it until he got to his moped. His plan after that wasn’t great. It basically consisted of riding the moped to Norfolk. If he got stopped by Brotherhood soldiers, he’d show them his brand and try to talk his way through whatever roadblock he ran into. If he got stopped by settlement soldiers, he’d tell them he was a spy for Captain Hartfield and hope they believed him enough not to execute him on the spot. Life or death pivoted around the scarred flesh on his back in both cases. On one side of the battlefield it was a get out of jail free card while on the other side it meant a bullet to the head if he couldn’t talk fast enough.

  He’d only been walking along the side of the road for about a minute when headlights up ahead had him hustling into the trees to get out of sight. It wouldn’t be good to be seen walking away from where the battle was supposed to be. He didn’t want to end up getting an awkward ride from someone. He greatly preferred the idea of cruising along on the moped by himself to sitting in a troop transport full of soldiers who’d shoot him in the back if he tried to sneak off. The headlights turned out to belong to an electric car that made almost zero noise as it cruised by.

  Kyler continued walking along the road cloaked in darkness thinking of the brilliance of what he’d just seen. How come he’d never thought about snagging a Tesla to zip around the apocalypse in? Sure, it’d suck trying to find a charging station but plenty of houses had solar hook ups. The ability to get around quietly was huge. Anything to avoid a parade of Zombies marching along after you was worth whatever inconvenience figuring out the charging part would incur. Plus, the world was going to run out of gas at some point, but the sun wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  His moped was laying right where he’d left it. He’d been careful to throw some pine straw over it and loosen up a couple of wires in case someone happened to find it. He tightened the wires back up and pushed the moped up onto the road. He was about to hop on it when he noticed more headlights coming his way. He quickly walked the moped back into the woods to let whoever it was pass him by as well.

  It wasn’t another Tesla. He could hear a low roar as the lights got closer. A string of big rigs hauling large trailers with the names of train companies written on them. A few of the trailers they were hauling were camouflage in color. A couple of them were open to the world as they were carrying oversized loads. Kyler shrank back deeper into the woods as he started making out the shapes of tanks and large artillery weapons. Suddenly the Brotherhood going up against an aircraft carrier didn’t seem so crazy.

  The convoy was still roaring past him when the first Zombies started showing up. They stumbled out of the woods like you’d expect a mass of crazed cannibals to come out. The infected screamed and launched themselves straight at the big rigs roaring by. These were hardened drivers steering the rigs though. They didn’t even swerve when the infected ran and jumped for their windshields. Most of the rigs didn’t have the chain link welded around the windows so they couldn’t stop even if they wanted to. If they did, they’d be swarmed and killed once the Zombies broke through the windows.

  Kyler wasn’t currently attracting any attention but there was a large number of infected beginning to show up all around him. He didn’t see any convenient trees to climb either. When a handful of Zombies came out of the woods almost directly behind him, he was spotted. He didn’t even attempt to take that many of them out quietly. He mowed them down with his rifle then pushed the moped up the steep incline. Hoping the truck drivers would just roll with it he started the moped and accelerated up to its governor controlled top speed of thirty-five miles per hour.

  He kept the moped in the emergency lane as the trucks roared past him. None of them swerved away from him or otherwise indicated they cared one way or the other that he was fighting for his life in the breakdown lane. The wind from their passing buffeted him around on the narrow piece of asphalt he was being allowed. The trucks smashed into Zombies right beside him slinging Zombie gunk all over him. That got especially dangerous when the gunk included body parts that threatened to knock him off the moped. He was constantly fighting the wheels spinning out in puddles of Zombie gore leaking into his lane.

  He was trying his best to dodge random crap in the breakdown lane in front of him when an adrenalized jumper knocked him completely out of his seat. The jumper and Kyler went rolling into the middle of the road directly in the path of an oncoming truck. The driver didn’t slow down, but he did at least have the courtesy to honk his horn. In case Kyler hadn’t noticed he was about to be creamed by the chromed-out bumper of the speeding Kenworth bearing down on him.

  Kyler ignored the snarling jumper and kicked both of his feet down hard on the asphalt to propel himself across the road. He was kicking before his body had even completely hit the road. Doing it a second time propelled him clear of the trucks enormous chrome covered fender by a few inches. The Zombie had held on to him for the ride. It’s feet got tangled in the truck somehow and it got tossed about thirty feet up into the trees on the opposite side of the road. Kyler caught some of that momentum and did a backwards series of somersaults into the ditch.

  He hopped to his feet dizzy as hell struggling to get his bearings. The truck was down the road now slowing to a stop with sparks shooting up in the air beside it. It took Kyler a second to guess the moped must’ve gotten stuck in the wheel well. Standing in the mud on the side of the road in a state of shock he watched as the truck driver swerved around trying to get the moped to come loose.

  The driver swerved too hard and the front tires slipped off the road. He tried to accommodate for the tires sliding and the trailer jackknifed around behind him ripping the whole truck off the road. The momentum of the truck took it sideways into the forest where it came to rest on its side. The back door to the trailer popped open and armed men began pouring out. Kyler didn’t see them until they topped the incline and could be seen in the high beams of the trucks that kept roaring past them.

  The men began shooting at the infected that were running towards them. The sound of the weapons just attracted more of the infected. Kyler didn’t need to skip to the end of the chapter to see how that situation was going to end. There was going to be a desperate last stand followed by most of the soldiers being ripped apart. They’d go down in a pile of their own brass at least. There was something to be said for that. The ones Kyler really felt sorry for were the ones laid out in the back of the trailer with injuries from the crash keeping them from escaping. The ones too injured to get out of the trailer and fight. The infected would pour in and eat them alive.

  Shivering Kyler turned and ran off into the woods. He needed to get away before he was spotted and ended up starring in his own last stand scene. He stumbled through the woods trying to put distance between himself and the road. The convoy was attracting Zombies like moths to a bright light. He’d acquired some new aches and pains thanks to his recent eighteen-wheeler enabled Cirque De Soleil acrobatics he’d performed crossing the road with his ghoulish partner. The more distance he put between himself and the road the more his shock at actually having survived wore off and the more he hurt.

  His neck, back and shoulders were all openly rebelling against him. He picked up speed regardless and ran straight through the woods ignoring the sounds around him. He was having issues turning his neck to look anyway. He ran face first into
a massive spider web and felt something crawling in his hair. Picturing some huge evil looking spider about to bite his ear he realized his arms were too sore to swat his own head. Freaking out the spider would crawl down on his face or go down the back of his shirt he ran over to a tree and smacked his head into it a few times. In his rush to kill the spider he managed to hurt himself even more.

  He ran another fifty yards into the woods before calling it safe enough to sit down and self-medicate. He had a nice sized collection of the happy pills he’d been given to feed his platoon. Ritz had handed Kyler a Ziploc with half of the pills in it. Even if Kyler didn’t want to take them the pills were great currency in the post-apocalyptic world. Addicts would trade you pretty much anything for a bag with that many pills in it. He wasn’t sure what the hell the pills were. He decided it really didn’t matter. If they were good enough to make people feel ok about shooting up a village filled with women and children, then they should be more than capable of helping him run through the woods without freaking out about spiders.

  He took two then added a third for good measure. He washed them down with water and waited for the pain in his neck and arm to go away. It suddenly occurred to him a lot of these pills tended to make him fall asleep. That wasn’t something he could afford to do right now. Hoping he’d taken the ones that were more like speed he stiffly got to his feet and began doggedly moving east. Every step seemed to be easier as the drugs kicked in. He was back to running through the forest in no time at all. It didn’t occur to him to watch out for the infected or even check on which way he was running. His mind was just locked on the fact that he was moving, and his neck didn’t hurt.

  He alternately walked and ran for a few hours. At some point he emerged onto a small two-lane road winding through the woods. By then he was coated in sweat and suffering from serious medicine head. His mouth was dry, and the pain was seeping back into his body. He reached into the baggie and swallowed another pill. He started jogging down the two-lane road. A jeep Cherokee pulled up next to him with three Brotherhood soldiers in it. They were on their way to scout out where they’d be situated for the battle. They noticed Kyler walking on the side of the road. His arms were jerking back and forth like he was running.

  The men slowed the jeep down and asked him who he was. One look in his eyes and they could tell he was stoned out of his gourd. Kyler tried to answer them, but nothing came out. The act of turning around to speak to them was too much. His stomach decided it wasn’t happy with all the medicine and before anyone could say anything else, he was on his knees puking out his guts. One of the men jumped out of the truck and started pulling Kyler’s pack off. He had no intention of putting the puking druggie in the jeep with them, but he was good with jacking the guys supplies and leaving him there to die.

  Once he had Kyler’s pack off, he threw it in the back of the jeep. He was about to get in when one of the other men in the jeep told him to check Kyler’s back. Not expecting to find anything the man pulled Kyler’s shirt up and sighed. The Brotherhood brand burnt into Kyler’s back meant they couldn’t just leave him on the side of the road to die. No matter how much more convenient that’d be. The man patiently waited for Kyler to quit puking then helped him get in the jeep.

  He handed Kyler a bag and told him to puke in the bag if he had to puke anymore. Looking in Kyler’s glazed eyes he knew he’d have just as much luck politely asking one of the infected not to bite him. While he was still looking at Kyler the glaze melted away partially and Kyler took the bag and held it in his lap. He was still staring straight ahead but he didn’t look like he was going to puke anymore for the time being. The man handed him a full canteen of water and slid into the seat next to him. Even in his drugged state Kyler noticed the man attempting to put as much distance between himself and Kyler as possible just in case the water didn’t stay down.

  Kyler passed out for most of the drive. He missed the roadblocks where they all had to present their identification and answer questions. He missed seeing the long line of big rigs parked next to a small airport. The men driving the jeep he was in were all Brotherhood branded. They assumed Kyler would be useful to them if he ever came down from all the drugs. The brand on his back meant he was a skilled fighter. If he didn’t want to come down, they’d just drop him off with one of the groups they were passing.

  Their mission was to get close to Norfolk and scout out the best observation posts. They were looking for tall buildings near the port that they could climb and observe everything via high powered scopes. They had radio equipment to help coordinate the attacks and assist in calling in the artillery fire. To be effective they weren’t going to be able to take the jeep much farther. At some point they were going to have to proceed on foot.

  Knowing the New American troops that they were still occasionally passing might be some of the last troops they got close to for a while they talked about what to do with Kyler. If he wasn’t up to walking, they could hardly continue to carry him along with them.

  “I’m good to go. I just overdid the pain pills.” Kyler announced from the backseat. He still felt groggy but the rest he’d gotten on the drive had him feeling human again. His neck hurt so bad he barely even noticed the massive pain in his arm.

  “You’ve got enough pills here to kill your average junkie. You need another one?” The man in the front passenger seat asked holding up the Ziploc baggie of pills.

  “Not unless you know what they are. I hate feeling drugged out. I think I took the wrong stuff.” Kyler answered. He felt like it was the right answer since the man started picking through the pills for him.

  “Good. I was hoping you weren’t just an addict. Where we’re headed is no place for somebody who isn’t firing on all cylinders. You good coming with us or do you have somewhere else to be?” The man asked.

  “Good to go. I was in charge of a platoon of volunteers which is where I got the bag of pills from. We ran into a herd and got scattered all over the damned place. I ended up helicoptering a moped last night. Hence my need for some muscle relaxers. All those pills look the same in the dark though.” Kyler said hoping his cover story would work. People didn’t generally dig too deep in the New American forces.

  “Cool. We’re headed towards Norfolk now so get ready to fight. I’m not big on walking myself but we need to jettison the jeep before too much longer. Makes us a pretty obvious target. You good to hump your stuff in with us? Sounds like you just became our fourth. Hope you’re good with a rifle and enjoy sitting on the tops of buildings for days on end while everything is exploding around you.”

  “I call that Tuesday.” Kyler joked. He swallowed the muscle relaxer pill the man in the front seat handed him.

  They rode along in silence speeding towards Norfolk. The carrier should actually be docked up at the Naval station, but it made sense that Norfolk would be defended. They’d need to take the city of Norfolk and use that as a beachhead to assault the Naval Air station. There were waterways and rivers all over the place up here as well. If the bridges were still there, they’d have a straight path to the base. More than likely if the bridges were still standing, they were wired to explode and would do so at the most inopportune moment possible for the invaders.

  The driver stopped the jeep again so the soldier in the front seat could unload a small civilian drone. He took out an expensive looking tablet and guided the drone to search the blocks around them. All the men stuck their heads close to the screen to see what the drone was showing them. There was a settlement checkpoint up ahead. The men manning the checkpoint were heavily armed. They had a few vehicles parked behind them for a quick getaway if needed. None of them looked up in the direction of the nearly silent drone hovering far above them. The scout team in the jeep moved the drone around looking for the best vantage point to climb to snipe the enemy at the checkpoint.

  Kyler casually pulled his pistol and shot them all in the heads as they were huddled around the tablet. The soldiers were highly trained and condition
ed to react quickly even to casual violence, but Kyler’s betrayal caught them completely off-guard. After firing a second shot into each of them to make sure they stayed dead Kyler got in the driver’s seat. Instead of throwing the driver on the ground he shoved him on top of the other dead body in the passenger seat. He put the jeep in drive and headed for the checkpoint with his gruesome load of Brotherhood corpses.

  He drove up to the checkpoint very slowly. He stopped the jeep in front of the men aiming weapons at him and got out of the jeep with both hands held high in the air.

  “Who are you?” One of them called out.

  “I’m a spy. Please get in contact with Captain Hartfield and let him know Kyler made it back. I’ve got urgent news for him.” Kyler said.

  “How do we know you’re on our side?” The guard asked.

  “I just killed three Brotherhood soldiers who were watching you on drone footage and arguing about the best place to snipe you from. Their bodies are still warm if you don’t believe me.” Kyler said.

  Five minutes later he was cuffed and sitting in the back of a transport waiting for the checkpoint guards to get relieved so he could get moved to the back. The guards had already radioed back the information he’d given them to relay to Captain Hartfield. The handcuffs weren’t helping his upper body pain at all. He nodded off in the back wondering if he should invest in his own handcuffs to carry around with him. Maybe some fuzzy ones that wouldn’t hurt his wrists so bad. If he was going to spend so much time in cuffs, he should at least look to see about getting some comfortable ones for himself.