People Are Not Your Friends [Book 2]

by William R. Rohn

  They were only a couple of blocks away when the gunfire started. There was a lot of it at first. Then less.

  "That at the hangout?" said Barry.

  "Nothing much else around here," said Marcus.

  "We need to go help," said Barry.

  "We need to be careful or we may get our heads blown off by our friends," said Marcus. "Let's see if we can figure out what's going on without being seen."

  "Fine," said Barry. "But we need to make it quick."

  They wandered through the maze of back alleys and abandoned buildings, until they got closer. There was still sporadic gunfire. Then Marcus saw smoke.

  "That's not good," said Barry.

  "Nope."

  They crept down an alley a few streets up from the hangout and peered around the corner. It was the fucking Seventh Street Boys. They were attacking the hangout. The hangout was burning.

  "We need to help them," said Barry.

  "How are we suppose to do that?" said Marcus. "There are like twenty of them."

  "So we just go get them," said Barry. "The others will come out as soon as we attack."

  "If there are any others," said Marcus. "How many rounds you got?"

  "Twelve."

  "Shit," said Marcus. "I only got fifteen."

  "Guess we need to be accurate."

  "A little too accurate."

  "So we get close."

  "How we suppose to do that?"

  "Well they are watching the hangout. How about we approach from the other side."

  "Still risky."

  "We cannot let our friends die. They don't have much time left because of the fire."

  "OK, but we need to go down the street further or they will see us cross."

  "Fine but let's get a move on."

  Six

  Megan noticed a lot of zombies moping about as they neared the van. There were plenty up and down the streets. They didn't seem to be going anywhere. As they came within sight of the van there didn't seem to be any special gathering around it. That was good. Plus there weren't any corpses around. That meant that no one had been fighting near the van. But there were plenty of zombies within sight of the van. That meant that they would begin drawing them to the van as soon as they were noticed getting the food.

  They weren't going to have much time at the van. They needed to get in and out fast, before the zombies converged on them. Otherwise they would have to fight their way out while carrying the food. Not an ideal situation by any means.

  "We are going to have to move fast as soon as the zombies notice us at the van," said Megan.

  "Just a quick in and out," said Josh. "Carlos can load the bags and we can kill any zombie that gets too close."

  "Why am I loading the bags," said Carlos. "It should be her."

  "While that is all nice and chivalrous," said Josh. "You are the only one that has any idea what you have in there. She would have to look it all over and hope she found everything."

  "Well at least that makes some sense," said Carlos. "No offense Megan."

  "Whatever. Let's get this done," said Megan.

  They slipped past the last group of zombies between them and the van. They kept low and nothing was coming towards them.

  Carlos opened the side door of the van and climbed inside. Megan and Josh handed him their bags.

  Megan went past the van and looked for zombies. There were a few a hundred feet away. But not as many as in the direction they had come from. Well at least there was a weak side, even if it was in the wrong direction.

  "What the fuck?" said Josh.

  Megan looked back and saw a boy crawling out from under the van. He stood at the door and stared in.

  "Manny?" said Carlos.

  Carlos tossed a candy bar out of the van and the boy chased it over by the wall.

  "You know him?" said Josh.

  "He was with me yesterday," said Carlos.

  "And you left him here!" said Megan.

  "He's dead. I left him in an empty lot," said Carlos. "I don't understand he wasn't bitten. The marauder's bullet killed him."

  The kid was chewing the candy bar, wrapper and all. There was blood on his shirt. A lot of blood, but it was dry or at least sticky. It wasn't fresh. He maybe looked a little pale, but not like the others.

  "This is bad," said Carlos.

  "Keep filling the bags," said Josh. "Some of the others are coming."

  "Manny?" said Megan. "Manny can you speak?"

  The kid looked up and continued chewing the candy bar in its wrapper. Josh stepped forward and stuck the knife through his head. The boy dropped to the pavement.

  "What the fuck?" said Megan.

  "He was gone," said Josh. "You weren't ready to do what needed to be done."

  "You heard him he hadn't been bit," said Megan.

  "He hadn't been treated for a chest wound either," said Josh. "Check your side."

  Josh went back the way they had come and met the first zombie. He easily stabbed his knife through its head. Just as he had done to Manny.

  Megan turned away. The zombies on her side were coming too, but they had a ways to go. Maybe he was right. Maybe she hadn't been ready to bean a kid in the head with her aluminum bat. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She wasn't sure. The kid hadn't been interested in attacking them. That was strange behavior for one of the dead. Maybe he wasn't hungry for blood yet? Maybe he still thought candy bars would satisfy him. Megan didn't know. But change was scary. The zombies had always been predictable. If people that weren't bit were becoming something else? That wasn't good.

  Carlos tossed the bags out of the van. Then he got out and shut the door. "Alright let's go. There is enough for another trip, if we live through this one."

  Megan dashed out and hit the first zombie from her side in the head with her bat. It went down. Then she ran back and shouldered her bags. Josh was still busy with the zombies on his side.

  Megan went forward to help him. She stepped around his right side and slammed the bat into the next zombie's head. There were only two more close by and they weren't together.

  "Go get your bags," said Megan. "I got this."

  Josh just nodded at her and moved back towards the van. Megan stepped up and swung at the middle aged woman in sweat pants. She hit, but her momentum was more than she was used to. She stepped forward and tripped over the body. She went to one knee. The second zombie was close.

  Carlos went past her and hit it in the head with his tire iron. There was a mushy thump and it went down. Megan stood. She looked back. Josh was stopped right behind her. He just nodded and she turned and followed Carlos up the street.

  The easy part was over, now they had to make it back with their prize. Otherwise it was all for naught.

  Seven

  Lisa noticed that the zombies were no longer banging at the dive-thru window. That was good. She didn't like going near the body very much anyways, but she knew that there was a dead zombie outside the window that had a purse. She just didn't know how to get it.

  She stepped over the body and went to the window. She looked to see if there were any zombies nearby. She didn't see any, so she opened the window. She stuck her head out and looked to both side quickly just to be sure, but there were no zombies. The woman's body lay below the window. The purse was there. But it wasn't like she could reach out and get it. She needed to find something to hook it with.

  Lisa closed the window and went back to the cooking stations. There were some long turner that they used to flip the burgers. That might reach, but it wouldn't really hook anything. Maybe she could bend it?

  She set it on the floor. Stepped on the flat part and pulled on the handle. It bent. It didn't look pretty, but it was worth a try. She didn't see anything better laying around.

  Lisa went back to the window and looked for zombies. It seemed calm outside for now. She opened the window and did a quick check of the sides. Still OK. Then she leaned out and tried to hook the woman's purse. It was further down tha
n it looked. Lisa had to lean out the window and reach way down.

  She hooked it. Then she drew it towards her, but the strap was stuck under the body. She leaned further out and tried to jiggle it loose. It was moving, but it was slow.

  She heard gunfire and a vehicle. Someone was coming. She jerked at the purse, but she couldn't get it free. The vehicle was getting closer. Lisa could see the zombies starting to move in this direction. Shit, that was just what she needed, company. She freed her tool from the purse and pulled herself back inside. She couldn't see the vehicle, but it was getting closer. She closed the drive-thru window.

  Lisa heard the loud pop. She was just getting to the front, when a truck came crashing through the windows and into the restaurant. It stopped about halfway in. Holy shit! This was bad, really bad. What was going to keep the zombies out now?

  Eight

  Marcus had successfully slipped across the street further down. No one had spotted him or Barry. Marcus followed Barry as they crept forward while the hangout burned. If they didn't get there soon, there would be no one left to save.

  Barry looked around a corner. He turned back to Marcus and nodded. Well here goes nothing. Marcus went up to the corner. He stood while Barry knelt. They both took aim at the marauders.

  "Ready," whispered Marcus.

  "Now," said Barry.

  Their shots rang out. Marcus's target dropped, so he switched to the next one and fired again. He shot off five rounds in quick succession before there were no more targets in sight. They moved down the alleyway quickly.

  Marcus moved along the wall towards the other marauder vehicles. When he got to the end he looked around the corner and ducked back as bullets impacted against the wall. There were a lot of them still out there.

  He looked at the bodies lying on the ground. Only three. He was sure some of the others had been hit, but they had gotten to cover. What they needed was their guns and ammo. He saw a shotgun lying on the ground and a pistol, but how was he going to get either one without getting shot?

  All he could do was make a run for it. This was not a good idea, but he didn't have another.

  "Cover me!" he yelled.

  Then he ran out grabbed the pistol and tossed it back at Barry. He scooped up the shotgun. Rounds were impacting around him. He knew he needed to not be predictable, so he jumped in the back of the truck.

  Marcus didn't think that he had been hit. He looked around. He saw a few boxes of bullets, 9mm, 12 gauge and .223. Hallelujah! He dumped out some 9mm rounds on the truck bed, then closed the box back up and tossed it towards Barry.

  He looked over the edge of the truck bed at the hangout. It was in flames. He hoped some of them got out the back. Marcus saw the bodies lying out front. It was bad, really bad.

  Bullets were bouncing off of the walls, a few hit the truck. He looked through the cab. They were coming, moving from car to car and building to building. He needed to get out of here. Marcus looked at the ignition. The keys were in it.

  He slid open the back window and crawled into the cab. He kept low, ducking below the dashboard. He turned the key. The truck roared to life.

  Marcus threw the truck into reverse and backed up until he hit the building next to the alleyway that Barry was in.

  "Get in!" Marcus yelled.

  Barry jumped into the back of the truck.

  "Go! Go! Go!" Barry shouted.

  Marcus took off down the street. He heard Barry firing at the marauders from the back. Marcus turned on the first street that he came to.

  "You all right?" said Marcus.

  "Yeah," said Barry. "That was pretty stupid of us to try."

  Marcus passed the shotgun back through the window.

  "Well we got a few and we got some guns and a vehicle," said Marcus. "It could have turned out a lot worse."

  "There were just too many of them," said Barry. "Shit! They are coming."

  Marcus had been weaving around on the roads, but the marauders had at least three other vehicles. Plus there weren't a lot of vehicles traveling on the roads to hide amongst. Marcus increased speed. He hadn't been going slow, but he hadn't pushed it once they had escaped.

  Now a black SUV was gaining on them. Marauders were hanging out the windows firing at them already. Marcus made a turn onto another street at high speed. There were vehicles clustered in the street ahead and zombies. Lots of zombies.

  He had to slow as he came up to the vehicles. Barry started shooting the shotgun at the SUV. Marcus concentrated on weaving through the vehicles. He hit more than one zombie. He tried not to catch them full on, but it wasn't always possible. A few less zombies wasn't a bad thing, he just didn't want to damage the truck.

  The SUV hit a zombie, went out of control and crashed into one of the parked cars.

  "That's right," said Barry. "Fuck you guys!"

  Marcus saw another vehicle pulling up and following them through the cars and zombies. He heard the gunfire, but didn't see where any of the bullets hit.

  "We got another one," said Barry. "Drive faster."

  "I'm going as fast as I can," said Marcus. Still he tried to push it a little more.

  The came to the end of the cars, but there seemed to be hundreds of zombies milling around. Except of course for those that had heard them coming and were already started towards them. The only thing Marcus could do, was try to pick up speed so that they wouldn't be stopped by a mob.

  Marcus was not picking up much speed. He was running over quite a few zombies now, which made for a bumpy ride. Gunfire erupted behind him as the other pickup came past the maze of vehicles. Marcus could hear Barry shooting back, but he needed to keep his eye on where he was going. Unfortunately he really didn't know where he was going, so he just steered for the area with the least amount of zombies. At least he was picking up some speed.

  Suddenly the truck flew into the air. Marcus wasn't sure what he had hit. He heard the tire pop as the truck came back down hard. It jerked to the left. Marcus fought to control it, but he couldn't.

  A building loomed ahead. He saw its glass enclosed dining area. Then the truck hit the curb and flew into the front of Zippy's Burgers.

  Nine

  Lisa stared in horror at the truck sitting in Zippy's dining area. She had been safe here and now this. Zombies were moving towards the restaurant. They could get in. She was doomed.

  The truck's driver side door opened. A black man got out. He had a gun. Lisa couldn't move. Another black man got out of the back of the truck with a shotgun. He was bleeding.

  "What the fuck was that Marcus?" said the bleeding man.

  "Hit something and blew a tire," said Marcus. "It wasn't my fault Barry. Nothing I could do. Are they coming?"

  "No," said Barry. "They got stopped by the zombies and swarmed."

  "Any coming our way?"

  "Plenty."

  Barry looked over and saw her. He pumped the shotgun.

  "Not a zombie," said Lisa meekly. Oh god, they were going to kill her.

  "What are you doing here?" said Marcus.

  "Been trapped here since, you know," said Lisa shrugging.

  "Why did you stay at work?" said Barry.

  "Needed the money," said Lisa.

  "There food here?" said Marcus.

  "Yeah," said Lisa. "It is starting to thaw since the power went out. Hard to cook it too. You wouldn't have a lighter, would you?"

  "No, you smoke?" said Barry.

  "I haven't eaten since the power went out. I been trying to rig a fire on the grills under the vent, but I got nothing to light it with. I tried luring some zombies to the drive-thru window, but the zombie that came through didn't have anything either and the lady with the purse fell outside."

  "So you saying you got some burgers in here?" said Marcus.

  "Sure," said Lisa. "Just need to get a fire started. Of course now we have to worry about zombies coming in. I tried to hook the purse, but I'm not strong enough to get it off her shoulder."

  "Fucking burgers!"
said Barry. "We been eating canned shit for a week and there were burgers."

  "Watch the front," said Marcus. "Put some chairs or trashcans or whatever to block the zombies." He came over to Lisa. "Where is this lady with the purse?"

  "Drive-thru window," said Lisa pointing at the back.

  He swung over the counter and walked back towards it. Lisa followed him.

  "I bent one of the flippers and was able to hook it, but it wouldn't come loose. Then I heard the gunshots," said Lisa.

  Marcus picked up the bent flipper. Stepped over the body. Opened the window and looked out. He reached down with the flipper and then pulled up.

  "Damn," said Marcus. "She does seem to have a grip on it."

  Lisa watched Marcus pull the flipper up. She could see the purse. He grabbed it, but still it was hooked on the body. She saw the body as he wrestled the purse off of it and dropped it back to the ground.

  Marcus brought the purse in and started searching through it. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and then a lighter.

  "Jackpot," he said. He handed her the lighter. "Go do your thing."

  Lisa took the lighter. Well they hadn't killed her yet and she couldn't eat all the burgers before they spoiled anyways. So she might as well put a few extras on. If this hodge podge barbecue worked anyways.

  She went to the freezer. There was water pooling on the floor. She dug into the back and pulled out a bag of sirloin patties. Might as well have the good stuff. Then she closed it back up and went to the grill.

  Lisa lit the grease and it caught on fire. Hopefully it would last long enough to cook a few. Best if these guys were happy. No telling what they might do if they didn't get fed.

  God she hoped this worked.

  Ten

  They weren't far from the van when Josh saw the fire. Fires were never good. There was no one to put them out now, so they might burn a large area. But it also meant that someone had probably started it. There wasn't many good reasons to start a fire of this size. He had done it with his place, but fuck those marauder jerks.

  The food was heavier than he thought it would be. It was the bottled water. But that was much more valuable than the food at this point. You could go a long time without food, but not without water. He didn't think he could drink his own piss, so carrying water was the best option. At least they would have enough for a few days.