“Sparks?” The Principal looked shocked. “Officer Sparks, from the radio?”
She nodded. “The same.”
“A lot of people standing here today, myself included, owe you a debt of gratitude,” he said, extending his hand to shake. “As soon as I heard that message I got a few teachers and came down here to the school to open it up as a shelter. We started warning everybody we could, and it gave us a fighting chance.”
“Well it seems like you’ve done a hell of a job so far,” Sparks replied after she shook his hand.
“Not as good as I would have liked,” he admitted. “We’re only a town of twenty-five hundred, but we’ve lost a lot of people in the last couple of days. It’s been open warfare in the streets and in homes. We have cleanup crews going door to door trying to secure the town, but as you may have overheard, we’re losing people at an alarming rate.”
“Dan, it’s admirable that you want to clean up the town,” Sparks said gently. “But you really need to be focused on moving the survivors out west.”
“I’m sorry.” He shook his head firmly. “But this is our home, and we aren’t leaving without a fight.”
“You don’t get it, sooner or later, San Antonio is going to evacuate,” Sparks replied. “It may be survivors, or it may be a horde of zombies. In either case, they will swallow this town whole.”
“We’re aware of the possibility, and have taken precautions,” Dan assured her. “The first morning of this, we expected to be overrun but nobody came. Finally in the afternoon, three cars pulled off to refuel and some of my men spoke to them. Just outside of Boerne, about twenty miles down the road, a tanker truck flipped and exploded. Complete gridlock in both directions after that.
“So if anybody is fleeing San Antonio, zombie or not, they are going to have a difficult time reaching here in any significant numbers. And just in case, I have a couple of scouts set up ten miles down the road to keep an eye out for anything of significance headed our way.”
“Well it seems like your mind is made up,” Sparks said. “But you need to understand something. No help is coming. We are on our own.”
“Oh no, we understand,” Dan agreed. “But we’re trying to take this one day at a time. And today’s task is clearing out the town.”
“MEDIC!” a voice in the distance cried, accompanied by screeching tires.
Dan led the quartet from the tent, approaching a black pickup truck brandishing a decal for Ricky’s Auto Bodyshop. A young couple exited the truck, covered from head to toe in blood.
“Medic!” the woman screamed. “We need a medic!”
“Mary, Ricky, what happened?” Dan asked as a group of people in aprons pulled an older man out of the bed of the truck. They helped him towards the school, holding a bloody rag to his bicep.
“The supermarket is a goddamn shitshow of biblical proportions,” Ricky replied, running crimson stained shaking hands through his dark hair.
“Calm down, talk to me,” Dan said, voice steady. The young man began to stutter and ramble until the Principal put a firm hand on his shoulder, effectively shutting him up. “Mary, what happened?” Dan addressed the blonde woman.
“We went in the secure the supermarket like you asked, but we were overwhelmed,” she replied, shaking her head. “We didn’t see too many of them at first, so we thought we could take them out without backup. Ricky split us into two teams of three, with the other squad trying to flank them to create a crossfire. As soon as that first shot rang out, the three zombies we targeted became thirty. They just started pouring out of the back. We unloaded everything we could at them but it wasn’t enough. Chuck was with us and you can see he got his arm bitten.”
“What about the other team?” Dan furrowed his brow.
“One of them is dead for sure,” she continued. “Couldn’t tell who it was, but I saw one of them trip while they ran towards the back of the store. I know he didn’t make it because the zombies chasing him jumped on top.”
“What about the other two?” the Principal asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” Mary replied, eyes wide and sad. “We had to pull out, but I swear I heard gunshots coming from the back of the store.”
“I used to work there as a butcher back in the day,” Ricky spoke up, taking a deep breath to steady his voice. “They have a big ass freezer in the back where they keep the meat. If they were able to lock themselves inside they could survive. At least until they froze to death. They like to keep their meat cold, and them boys weren’t exactly dressed for winter.”
“Alright, I want y’all to hang tight for a few minutes,” Dan instructed. “Go get some water and decompress. I think Grandma Suzie even has some sandwiches made up, so y’all better eat while you have the chance. In the meantime I’ll put something together and we’ll go get them out of the freezer.”
“Thanks, Principal,” Mary said, voice thick.
Ricky nodded. “Yeah, thank you.” They grasped each other’s hands tightly and walked off in search of sandwiches.
“You need to quarantine that bite victim,” Sparks said immediately. “That bite will turn him.”
“Yeah I know.” Principal Dan sighed. “Learned that lesson the hard way I’m afraid. In my haste to set up a rescue shelter I didn’t listen closely enough to your broadcast. We had a med unit set up in one of the classrooms, but somebody turned the first night. Luckily a nurse was able to lock the room from the inside to prevent an outbreak.”
“So, wait, you have a room full of zombies in there?” Jeff’s eyes widened.
“Afraid we do.” Dan nodded. “But it’s locked up tight and closely guarded.”
“Well Principal, it seems like you have your hands full at the moment, so if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be on our way,” Sparks said. “If you can spare us a tank of gas that would be swell, but if not we’ll make do.”
“So, before I say anything else I would like you to know that I really am a nice guy,” Dan said slowly, hand lowering to rest on his belt buckle. “If you had met me any other time I would have gladly invited you over for a barbecue. So it pains me to have to do this.” He sighed, and Sparks’ stomach sank. “We’ve confiscated your supplies, and if you’d like them back I am going to need your help.”
“You motherfucker,” Rufus spat. “I’ve seen cum encrusted Vietnamese prostitutes with more class than you.”
“I completely understand your rage,” Dan replied, putting up his free hand. “But I hope you understand the position that I’m in. This is a war, and not one we’re currently winning. We’re only a few days in and if I had to guess I’d say that there are more of them than there are of us still alive.
“And worse, when one of us falls they typically get back up and join their ranks. Right now it looks like I have two people trapped in an industrial strength freezer that is surrounded by undead cannibals. If you go with Ricky and Mary and help get my people back safe, you can have your supplies and as much fuel as you can carry. You have my word.”
The Officer shared a look with her crew and then took a deep breath. “Alright, but I have conditions.”
“Within reason of course,” Dan replied.
“Of course,” she said. “For starters, I lead the raid. If those two come along, they follow my orders.”
Dan nodded. “Ricky is a mechanic and his wife Mary taught Algebra, so I don’t see a problem with them being led by someone who knows what they are doing.”
“Secondly, Ben stays here,” Sparks said.
“What?!” The young man threw his hands up. “Why?”
“Because you’re smart, Ben,” she explained, turning to him. “Smarter than any of us, and if we can get you to the right people you can do a lot of good. Not going to risk your life when we don’t need to.”
“But,” he protested, “goddammit, I can help.”
“I know,” she replied, swallowing hard. “But please do this, for me.”
He growled, but nodded, and took a step back.
“You have my word,” the Principal agreed. “Anything else?”
“Yeah, gonna need a notebook and pens,” Sparks finished.
He nodded. “I think I can scare that up pretty easily.”
“Alright.” She turned to her bald companion. “Jeff, you ready?”
He saluted her with his gun. “Yep.”
“What about me?” Rufus furrowed his brow.
“Well, we know you’re old,” Jeff teased. “Didn’t know if you needed to sit this out.”
“Hell, the whole reason I came along with y’all is because you promised I’d get to shoot some shit.” The old man scowled. “Don’t tell me ya lied to me.”
“Alright, come on Rufus,” Sparks chuckled. “Let’s go shoot some shit. No explosives though.”
He grunted. “Eh, you’re no fun.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“Park far away from the building,” Sparks instructed. “We don’t want to alert them that we’re here.”
Ricky parked in the last available space furthest from the supermarket and killed the engine.
“Rufus, front of the truck,” she continued. “Keep an eye on the entrance. No shots unless absolutely necessary.”
He saluted with a nod. “Yes ma’am.”
“Everybody else, bed of the truck,” Sparks waved the others to the back, tossing a notebook down on the open tailgate. She drew a square and put an X on the bottom of it before handing the pen to Ricky. “Alright, I need to know what we’re dealing with. This is the store and the X mark is the entrance. What’s the layout like in there?”
He passed the pen to Mary. “Babe, you are a better artist than I am, so why don’t you do the honors?”
“Sure thing, hon,” she replied and started drawing lines and boxes. “Okay, so when we first come in there’s going to be five checkout lines. Registers with low platforms for the groceries. Gonna be a pile of bodies there too, hopefully all of them down for good.
“To the left are the main aisles. Not sure how many, twelve, thirteen, something like that. It’s not a whole lot. In the back is where the freezer is and where we assume the survivors are. If we’re lucky, those things will all be congregating there.”
Sparks leaned forward. “So what else is there in the store?”
“Nothing else in the back that would be useful.” Mary shook her head.
“Wasn’t my question,” the redhead replied, raising an eyebrow. “What else is there?”
“There’s a deli counter in the front,” Ricky put in.
His wife nodded. “Oh yeah, forgot about that,” she said, and drew it in. “It’s almost directly in front of the meat market in the back. From the right aisle you can see it from the rear.”
“How high are the counters?” Sparks asked.
Ricky put his hand out in front of him. “Ain’t too tall, about tit high.”
“You can just say chest high,” Mary scolded.
Her husband shrugged. “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”
“You just like thinking of my tits,” she retorted.
“Well, it is why I married you,” he replied, and she playfully smacked him.
Sparks pursed her lips, stepping back from the truck bed.
“What are you thinking?” Jeff asked, watching the wheels turn in her head.
She looked up at him. “Jeff, how fast can you run?”
“Oh fuck me,” he moaned. “Why do I have to be the runner?”
“Cause I did it last time,” she smiled.
He scuffed. “It was like eight feet.”
“Fine,” Sparks relented. “Rock, paper, scissors?”
“Alright, now you’re talking,” Jeff agreed, and they faced each other intently. He threw a rock to her paper, and he grunted. “Best two outta three?”
She shook her head. “Nope.”
“Goddammit,” he cursed. “Okay, fine, what’s the plan?”
“Well, we’re going to go in and set up a firing line behind the deli counter,” Sparks replied, stepping forward to point at the map. “Then you are going to sneak to the back and get their attention. Then you run like hell to us, hit the deck, and we’ll mow them down.”
“From my perspective, that’s a terrible fucking plan,” Jeff said. “But if I was on the other side of the counter, I see the logic in it.”
“Ma’am, not meaning to butt in,” Ricky piped up, “but wouldn’t it be safer for all of us to get behind the deli counter and just fire off a warning shot to get their attention?”
“Yeah, what he said!” Jeff pointed to his new companion.
“If we do that, we run the risk of them scattering and emerging from multiple aisles,” Sparks explained. “With Jeff as the decoy, most of them will hopefully follow him up the aisle, creating a nice and tidy kill zone. It’ll help us conserve our ammo and hopefully prevent us from being overrun.”
“Alright, I gotcha,” Ricky agreed. “Sorry bubba, I tried.”
“Appreciate the effort,” Jeff replied. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”
As they entered the supermarket, they hugged the right wall, Jeff pulling up the rear and closing the door quietly behind them. Upon reaching the deli counter, the redhead turned to Ricky and Mary.
“If I fire my weapon,” she whispered, “run.” The couple nodded as she ducked behind the counter to do a sweep. There were no zombies to be seen, and she reached back to tap Rufus to signal clear.
They moved in behind her, and Sparks kept her rifle trained on the store as Jeff knelt down, getting ready. Rufus and Ricky carefully rolled a metal baking sheet cart to the entrance of the deli counter to give them a bit of a barrier should any zombies make it that far.
Sparks nodded down at Jeff, and he returned it with a thumbs up, mouthing I hate you at her. She grinned and blew him a kiss.
The skinhead stayed low to the ground as he held his handgun at the ready, moving through the aisles towards the banging at the back of the store. He carefully peered around the corner to see a dozen zombies hammering away at the door separating them from their frozen dinner.
He spotted a shelf of canned goods beside him and carefully placed them one by one in the aisleway, sideways so that they could easily roll. Once his little minefield was complete, he turned to give Sparks the thumbs up.
Jeff gently stepped over the minefield and leaned around the corner, and aimed his handgun at the closest zombie.
The gunshot drowned out the constant drumbeat against the freezer, bullet finding it’s mark in the base of his opponent’s neck.
As it crumpled to the floor, the horde turned and set their eyes on the fresh meat mere feet away from them. He shot two more times, not hitting any heads, before turning and darting down the aisle as fast as he could.
As the zombies gave chase, the first one to hit the cans slipped and fell flat on its face. The rest of them stumbled over it, giving Jeff enough of a head start to get away. Just as he cleared the aisle, he slid hard like he was stealing second base.
“NOW!” Sparks cried, loosing a bullet directly into a zombie’s face.
Jeff hit the deli case with his foot and then spun around, putting his back against it and readying his gun.
The others opened fire, bullets tearing flesh wildly. Some of the zombies fell from being riddled, and Jeff shot them in the head as they hit the floor to make sure they stayed down. The barrage went on for a good twenty seconds, zombie after zombie succumbing to the wall of bullets.
“Reloading!” Ricky cried as he and Mary flicked open their shotguns. The others continued to hold the horde.
Two stray zombies came at them from the left and Rufus pulled the trigger, but came up empty. Sparks stepped beside him and casually put a round in the fi
rst one’s head, but then there was a sharp click as her rifle ran out as well.
“Jeff!” she cried, and he reacted quickly to the panic in her voice. The angle was bad, and all three of his shots went into the zombie’s chest. He threw his leg up, kicking the zombie in the chest, and it turned towards him, teeth snapping.
Rufus leapt over the counter, plunging his knife into the zombie’s head. Sparks shoved the baking tray cart out of the way and jogged around the counter just as Jeff shoved the corpse off of him.
“Holy hell man, are you okay?” she asked as she reached out a hand to help him up.
Jeff took it and nodded. “Let’s never do that again.”
“Yeah, that didn’t look fun,” she agreed, letting out a relieved laugh.
“Come on, y’all, let’s go get our people,” Ricky said, and started towards the back of the store.
“Take it slow there cowboy,” Jeff warned. “I dropped one of them back there but pretty sure I just paralyzed him. His legs may not work, but his mouth sure will.”
“Babe,” Mary piped up. “Why don’t you let Sparks take the lead here.”
“Alright baby,” her husband agreed, running a shaky hand through his hair. “You’re probably right. Sorry, I’ve just seen too much death this week. Be nice to save someone for a change.” He swallowed thickly as his wife squeezed his arm with reassurance.
Sparks led the group down a neighboring aisle to avoid the pile of bodies they’d created. She held her reloaded rifle at the ready, staying alert. Upon investigating the back, there was one zombie still banging at the freezer, apparently stubbornly desperate for human popsicles.
She slung the rifle over her back and drew her knife, motioning for the others to stay behind the shelves. She silently moved up behind the distracted zombie and planted her knife into the back of it’s head up to the hilt.
The corpse crumpled to the floor and there was finally silence across the supermarket. She tried to open the door but it was locked, so she knocked the staccato pattern of shave and a haircut. A moment later, there were two quick raps in response and the door opened.
Dead Texas (Book 2): No Comfort Page 3