Once it got dark he figured he would end up breaking the window to let at least some of them have shelter to sleep in. But sundown was some seven hours away. Between now and then he had to think.
Fifteen minutes later the answer drove up the plaza’s main entrance. Two soldiers in an Army jeep crested the hill. One was driving and the other had a really big machine gun. They were doing an easy forty miles an hour and blew past the Hummer without noticing the seven people huddled on top. The machine gunner was aiming and firing at random zombies with no pattern or reason. The driver was aiming at clumps of them and flattening them with the crash bars attached to the giant front end of the jeep. Jessie recognized the song blasting on the radio as “Seek and Destroy” by Metallica. He didn’t know if them going unnoticed was a good thing or not, but he would find out soon enough.
They continued to the end of the plaza and stopped in front of Target. The machine gunner stayed outside laughing hysterically taking target practice – no pun intended – while the driver went into the store for whatever it was they needed or wanted.
“What do we do Jessie?” Mauri asked.
“I don’t know. They didn’t pull enough creatures away for us to make it.” He said.
“Should we try and wave them down when they come back?” Mauri asked already feeling the answer with every nerve in her body.
“No, I don’t think we will.” He said.
“What do you mean? We could get out of here on that thing.” Abby said not understanding.
“Or they could shoot us. Or shoot me and Kenny and take you.” Jessie said intentionally trying to scare her.
“Alright Jessie, we get it.” Mauri said.
“Let’s just sit tight and hope they fly right by on the way out. Maybe more of these things will follow them and we will have an opening.” Jessie said.
Ten minutes later the jeep came back. It looked like they were going to sail right by but at the last second the gunner turned is head and locked eyes with Jessie. He tapped the driver’s head and pointed. The vehicle pulled a U-turn and stopped nose to nose with the Hummer.
The gunner kept his finger in the trigger guard and the driver stood and raised a pistol. Jessie noticed their uniforms had been altered. Instead of the US flag there was a Swastika in its place. Kenny and Jessie stood up shielding the women and children from the jeep.
“Are any of you German?” The gunner asked.
“We are American.” Kenny replied.
“America?” The gunner laughed. “That’s all over now my friend.”
“What does it matter?” The driver asked. “Look at them. They are all pussies. No breeders. Shoot them.”
The gunner flipped off the safety and took aim.
“The women?” He asked the driver.
And that was when his head exploded. Bone and blood and little bits of brain showered the hood of the Jeep. The sound of the shot came a millisecond after the impact. The remaining body fell to the right and out of the Jeep. The zombies all around the Jeep went into a feeding frenzy. The driver stood up in horror pointed his pistol at Jessie’s chest and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Jessie looked in stunned disbelief. In his haste the driver never released the gun’s safety. He thumbed the button activating the gun and steadied his aim. I giant hole appeared in his chest. Blood sprayed and the gun tumbled from his hand. The echo of the shot filled the plaza. The driver fell onto the bench seat. He was taking large gulps of air that sounded like water sloshing down the drain. Then he started coughing. With each cough a fine mist of blood coated the Jeep’s dashboard. Finally the man took a last gasping breath, gurgled and died.
Jessie and Kenny stood in stunned amazement. They heard a whistle and looked around and saw two men on top of the movie theater a hundred yards away. One was waving his hands. It was too far to hear him speak, but he knew he was trying to communicate. Jessie watched as the man gestured.
The man pointed to his eyes then down the hill. He held up one finger and then mimed someone driving.
“Another vehicle.” Jessie said.
Jessie gave him two thumbs up.
The man pointed at the ground and covered his head with his arms.
“Hide.” Jessie said
Jessie did not hesitate. He jumped to the jeep, scooped up the gun, spun it to the left and aimed for a zombie close by. He hit his target. The kick wasn’t too bad.
“Get back.” He said to the rest of them.
Once they were back he shot out the windshield of the Hummer.
“Get in.” He said.
As everyone got into the hummer Jessie heard what he thought was a freight train coming up the hill. He spun the machine gun around to face whatever was coming but dropped it and ducked into the passenger side foot well when he saw what it was.
An Abrams M1 tank rolled up the hill squashing everything in its path. It continued up the hill until it was next to the Army jeep on the right hand side. Jessie sprang from the foot well and climbed up on the tank and positioned himself so the hatch would hide him when it opened. A moment later the tank’s engine cut out and the hatch’s mechanism started to click. The hatch popped open and the barrel of a machine gun poked out facing left towards the jeep. As more of the gun came into site Jessie could see the arm of the man holding it - another Swastika.
Jessie leaned back and rammed his shoulder into the hatch. It struck the guy on the head and he started to fall back into the tank’s cockpit. Jessie landed on the hatch and the machine gun was pinched between the hatch and the rest of the tank. The man was screaming in pain from the cockpit and Jessie knew he was no longer holding the gun. No one inside attempted to open the hatch. No one tried to start the tank. Jessie had no idea if one person could operate the tank. He had no way of knowing how many people were inside. Jessie heard another whistle from the guy on the roof of the movie theater. He turned and saw the man was making more hand signals.
“Two in the tank.” Jessie said out loud and gave the thumbs up.
He turned back to the hatch and opened it. The machine gun slid down the side of the tank and clanged to the ground.
“Listen guys, your friends in the jeep are dead. They were going to shoot us so we had no choice.”
“What the fuck do you think we are going to do to you?” A voice from inside the tank said cutting Jessie off.
“You are going to die if you don’t listen to me, that’s what you are going to do.” Jessie said.
“Bullshit you fucking idiot, we have a tank.” The guy said.
“I want you to come up slowly and unarmed. I have a sniper on the roof and he doesn’t miss. If he sees a gun or any other weapon he will make you a foot shorter.” Jessie said.
The man in the tank fired his weapon. The bullets hit the hatch and it bounced on its springs and clocked Jessie in the forehead. Not hard enough to really hurt him, but hard enough to piss him off.
“Really asshole?” He bellowed. “You have five seconds to throw that weapon up here.
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck me?” Jessie said shaking his head. “One, two, three, four, four and a half, five.”
No weapon came up from the hatch.
“Alright, I gave you a chance.” Jessie said and stood up. He walked to the back of the tank closer to ground level and reached into the zombie hoard. He grabbed one that was facing away from him by her long hair and hoisted her up onto the tank. He repositioned his grip to the back of her neck and right shoulder. He dragged the creature up the tank and dangled it over the hatch.
“You have one chance to come out or I will throw her in.” Jessie said as the creature snarled and struggled and snapped its jaws at the air.
“Alright. Don’t do that!” a voice exclaimed from inside the tank.
“Get out here right now. No weapons.” Jessie demanded.
“I’m coming up.” The voice said.
As Jessie struggled to keep control of the hungry creature the man climbed out of the tank. His hands wer
e empty. He got to the top and knelt on top of the tank. His uniform was altered with the Nazi symbol like the others.
“The guy on the roof behind you has his crosshairs on you. Stay kneeling and don’t move.” Jessie said.
The creature bucked and almost broke from Jessie’s grip. He tightened his grip and pulled her back.
“In the tank, it’s your turn. Slow and empty handed.” Jessie ordered.
“Get up here bro, this guy is crazier than you.” The kneeling soldier said.
The second man emerged empty handed and stood beside his comrade.
“One guy?” He said
“He says he has a sniper, what do you think the odds are?” the kneeling soldier said.
“A good sniper, if any sniper at all? Piss poor I reckon.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” The kneeling soldier said and stood up.
“If you guys take one step towards me you will end up like your friend.” Jessie said gesturing towards the headless Jeep driver.
The soldiers looked and their expressions changed. They understood it took something bigger than a hand gun to do that kind of damage. The solder that had been kneeling panicked and reached for the handgun hidden in his waistband. He got it six inches from his body when the arm holding the gun blew off in a red and white mess. The arm still holding the gun fell into the crowd below as the soldier stood looking at Jessie unbelieving.
The second soldier rushed Jessie taking his chance with the zombie in hopes of getting a human shield. Jessie anticipated this move and lunged the zombie at him. The soldier grabbed the zombie by the neck and was able to keep it at arm’s length. He spun the creature in the direction of the sniper for protection from the bullets. No shots came, but the soldier had left his back exposed.
Jessie took three strides and threw a good old shoulder block. The soldier and the creature pin wheeled forward and off the end of the tank. The soldier landed feet first, but awkwardly. His weight and the weight of the creature were too much for his knee and it buckled unnaturally to the right. Jessie heard the snap from the tank. The soldier screamed and reached for the bone sticking out the side of his leg. Before he took a breath for a second scream there were three zombies on him and he would scream no more.
Jessie looked around. The two men on the roof were standing still, watching from the movie theater’s roof. Mauri and Kenny had been watching from the Hummer’s front seats. The zombies on the ground were feasting on the new flesh. He looked back at the Hummer.
“Are you alright, babe?” Mauri asked.
Jessie’s heart rate had started to calm down and the tunnel vision he started experiencing when the asshole in the tank took a shot at him was gone.
“I’m good. You guys alright?” He asked in return.
“We are now.” Kenny said.
Jessie nodded.
A whistle came from the movie theater’s roof. Both men were giving thumbs up. Jessie pointed at them and saluted.
“We have to go get those guys.” Jessie said to no one in particular.
“Take the Jeep.” Mauri said. “We will wait here.”
He climbed back to the Jeep kicked the dead body off the bench seat. He took five of the gallons of water stored in the back and washed as much blood as he could from the Jeep’s interior. He used army issue fatigues to wipe the rest. The Jeep was big enough to plow the road in front of him. He drove around to the back of the movie theater and watched as the two men climbed down the fire access ladder onto a dumpster. Jessie pulled the Jeep alongside of it and waited for the men to climb on. Before the first one did he knocked on the plastic hood on the dumpster, and pulled it open. Two women appeared.
“Hello Jessie Brewster.” Jessica said. “Did you miss me?”
Jessie couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then his confusion turned to anger and pulled the gun from his belt.
“Explain.” He said pointing the gun at the closest man with the rifle.
“Easy son.” The man said. “We are all friends here.”
“I left these two particular friends two hundred miles away. Explain how they are here, now.” He said gesturing to Jessica and her sister, Dana.
“I’m Charlie Eckert and this is my brother, Patrick. We saw you cross Route 76 two days ago.
“Bullshit.” Jessie said.
“It wasn’t bullshit when you threw that guy off the roof of the ambulance.” Patrick said.
That got Jessie’s attention.
“How the fuck did you find me here?” Jessie asked.
“I found you.” Jessica said.
Charlie held a hand out to Jessica.
“Look Jessie, it went like this: We saw you cross the highway and started tracking you. It wasn’t too hard. We made it all the way to Jessica’s house then we lost the trail. We holed up to eat and rest when these two came back.”
“Why did you go back to the house?” Jessie said cutting Charlie off.
“I went back for my laptop.” Jessica said.
“Why would you go back for a goddamn laptop?” Jessie asked.
“Because of this.” Jessica said and held up his business card.
“Right.” Charlie continued. “When they came in and found us we had to convince them we were on the up and up. We told them about tracking you and that we thought you were a soldier and were headed someplace safe.”
Jessie laughed out loud. Charlie continued.
“They agreed to come with us to find you.”
“You still haven’t told me how you managed to do that.” Jessie said.
“My laptop you retard.” Jessica said. “I work for the FCC. You left your business card with your phone number on it along with your little message. My laptop can trace and track any phone number by satellite. As long as the phone was with you we knew where you were within a few miles.”
“My phone has been dead since yesterday.” Jessie said.
“But the GPS in your phone is run by a separate battery. It’s designed to work for years after the regular battery is dead.” Jessica said.
“Your laptop still works?” Jessie asked.
“Hello, government issue.” Jessica said and rolled her eyes.
“We had a visual on you when you left the mall, but so did the assholes in the tank. We were waiting for them to make a move before we revealed ourselves. You don’t want to know what they were planning on doing.” Charlie said.
“I have a pretty good idea.” Jessie said.
“So what’s the plan?” Patrick asked.
“The plan?” Jessie echoed. “Right now the plan is to go back to the tank and collect everybody. We all have to talk about what happens after that.”
The five of them got into the Jeep and drove back to the Hummer. The others had climbed out of the truck and were back on the roof. As he pulled the Jeep to a stop, he looked in back and thought there was a chance they could all fit between the cab and the bed.
He had pulled the jeep right next to the Hummer and everyone climbed into the bed of the truck. The sides and tailgate were high enough to keep the creatures from grabbing them as the tired children sat on the built in benches. Once everyone was on board, introductions, handshakes and thanks were exchanged.
“Did you hear the president this morning?” Jessie asked the newcomers.
“He’s alive?” Patrick asked.
“And well.” Jessie answered.
“Well, that’s something, right?” Patrick asked
“Yeah, well here is something else.” Jessie said and looked around at all the others.
“He addressed the nation this morning and starting at seven AM Tuesday he is going to start dropping bombs.” Jessie said.
Jessie and Kenny took turns regurgitating the president’s speech as Charlie, Patrick, Dana and Jessica listened in disbelief.
“So, are we going to be safe?” Dana asked.
“Yes, I think so.” Jessie said.
“How the hell can you be so sure?” Abby screamed.
“I’ve got a feeling.” Jessie said smiling.
“A feeling deep inside?” Mauri asked.
“Oh yeah.” He answered.
“Oh yeah.” Mauri echoed.
“How can you be so fucking calm about this? They are going to blow us up!” Abby continued.
Shawn started crying.
“Alright Abby.” Kenny said.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare him.” She said and started crying.
Mauri handed Shawn to Jessie went to Abby and gave her a hug.
“It’s alright. We are all fried. I think we will be alright too. Jessie is a pretty smart guy.” Mauri said and squeezed.
“So we have sixty hours to get where we are going.” Charlie said.
“Yep.” Jessie confirmed.
“Should be easy with the jeep.” Kenny said.
“It will be easier with the tank and the jeep.” Patrick said.
Jessie’s eyes lit up.
“You can drive that thing?” He asked.
“Yes sir. My brother and I are in the National Guard. I have thirty hours on one of those.” Patrick said.
“Outstanding!” Jessie exclaimed.
“Having the tank changes the plan a little, but not much. We should be good.” Jessie said at last.
“How much gas does it have?” Mauri asked.
“Don’t matter, it’s an M1. We can fill it at The 19th Wheel. It runs on eighty seven.” Kenny said.
“Are you sure?” Mauri asked.
“He’s right.” Charlie said. “It runs on diesel or gas. Runs better on jet fuel, but I don’t think we have any of that hanging around.”
“Saw it on the History Channel” Kenny said smirking at Mauri
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