Zombie Civilization: Exodus (Zombie Civilization Saga Book 2)
Page 6
“Come on, buddy,” he hissed at Jude. “We gotta make tracks.”
Jude’s face was a mask of pain and he was gripping his ankle.
“I rolled it, Billy. I think it’s broken.”
There was fear in Jude’s voice as he noticed the gathering dead staggering towards them. Billy pulled him to his feet and he screamed in agony.
“I can’t walk, Billy. I’m done,” said Jude, in what he hoped was a calm voice. “I’m zombie bait man. Take my guns and I’ll take as many down with me as I can with my axe.”
“Screw that,” said Billy. “You’re coming with me now lets go. If you can’t walk, you can limp. If I have to I’ll take you piggy back I will.”
“I thought you said you’d leave me behind if I couldn’t walk.”
“I lied,” said Billy. “I’m never leaving anyone behind again. We’re civilized, remember.”
Billy shouldered his rifle and he got his shoulder under Jude’s and put his arm around him. With his free hand he grabbed his revolver from his holster. One zombie had almost reached them and Billy blew its head off. The noise was muffled by the sound of the roaring fire, but it was by no means quiet. The others were sure to be alerted now.
There was a corridor of freedom to the boat and they took it, staggering along in a macabre three-legged race. The adrenaline running through Jude’s body helped lessen the pain and they picked up speed as they went. Billy fired three more times by the time they got to the beach. As they reached the dock they were tackled from behind by a large, hulking zombie. They fell heavily to the ground and Billy fired quickly twice and the zombie moved no more. Billy picked Jude up and half threw him onto the boat. Jude felt like his ankle was on fire and screamed in pain.
“Hang on, buddy. We’re almost there,” shouted Billy.
Billy twisted the wires together in the shattered ignition and the engine did turn over, but very slowly.
“Trouble coming, Billy!” screamed Jude.
Billy looked up and a dozen of the dead were closing in on the dock, but that wasn’t what disturbed him. The shelter house was fully engulfed in flames now and around the corner of the building the survivors of the flames were emerging. There looked to be at least seventy or eighty of them. That was far more bullets than they had left. Billy exchanged a look with Jude and continued to try and start the motor. There was one zombie almost to the boat. It was a young girl in tattered clothes, but she was coming fast with an implacable hunger in her eyes. Billy raised his revolver and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened and he pulled the trigger twice more in quick succession. He realized he was out of rounds for the handgun. He tried to unshoulder his rifle and fumbled with it and nearly lost it in the water. It clattered to the deck and Billy dove for it. As he did a shot rang out and the zombie fell back from the boat. Billy looked over and saw Jude’s rifle smoking in his hands. Jude had pulled himself up to a sitting position.
“I got this, buddy. Just get this boat moving,” said Jude.
As Billy tried again to start the motor, Jude decided to take out all the closest zombies. His rifle barked out rounds until only the horde back by the flaming shelter house were left and they were still at least fifty yards away.
“I’d say we got about one minute left, Billy, so it’s now or never.”
Billy continued to try and coax the motor to life, but it was still turning very slowly. Billy could hear the growls of the zombies as they neared the boat. They would soon be overrun as their ammunition was very low and was certainly not enough to hold off the small army headed their way.
“I got an idea, Jude,” Billy said.
“Another one?”
“Yeah, another one. Lets just untie her and cast off from the dock. If we can get this thing moving by pushing away from the dock we might be able to build enough momentum to keep them off of us.”
Billy didn’t wait for an answer and ran to the back of the boat and pulled the loop of the rope off of the post and made his way to the front and did the same. He shoved as hard as he could and the front of the boat began to pivot, but it pushed the rear of the craft up harder against the dock.
Jude noticed the trouble immediately and hobbled to his feet and made his way to the stern and shoved with all his might. It was a heavy boat and the wind was pushing them gently towards the dock, but together they were gaining ground. Billy grabbed a pole and pushed hard again.
“There are a couple of paddles in the storage compartment, Billy. Grab them and we’ll try and gain some more space. Billy ran to the storage locker, which doubled as a bench seat, and opened it up. He couldn’t see any paddles at first and he threw several life preservers over his shoulder trying to find them. He finally saw them on the bottom of the locker and tore them free.
“Here you go,” he said tossing one to Jude. “Now row like you’ve never rowed before.”
“That’ll be easy since I never have rowed before,” returned Jude.
They were still only six or seven feet from the dock when the dead arrived. Billy and Jude were splashing frantically with the paddles as the dead filled the dock. The ones in front attempted to slow down, but they were pushed into the water by the ones in back. Like lemmings going over a cliff, they fell into the water.
“Take that, you bastards,” shouted Jude with undisguised glee. “That’s what you get for messing with your betters.”
Jude threw Billy a grin and Billy felt a smile cross his lips. They had been stuck on the island surrounded by zombies and now the zombies were stuck on the island. The smile fell from his face as the dead began to rise up out of the water and reach out for the boat.
“Oh crap,” said Billy. “Jesus, Jude, the water is only a few feet deep here. Keep rowing.”
The zombies were advancing on the boat. Most of them were chest deep in icy water, but it did not seem to bother them. The water did slow their progress though and the two men were frantically paddling trying to reach deep water. Billy heard Jude shouting and looked down at the stern of the boat. Several zombies had gotten close enough to them to grab Jude’s paddle and he was trying not to have it pulled from his hands. Billy started to rise up to go to Jude’s aid when he saw Jude manage to pull his revolver and level point blank shots to the head on both of his tormenters.
“Just take care of your end and I’ll handle mine,” said Jude over his shoulder. “I’m okay here.”
The next ten minutes were a blur to Billy as he and Jude both tried to keep paddling while at the same time fighting off the arms and claws of the hungry zombies. Just when Billy felt that he could take no more, they found themselves to be suddenly in deep water. The zombies chasing them disappeared into the dark muddy water to be seen no more. They continued to paddle for another few minutes when Billy called time out.
“I’m bushed, Jude. I need a break if I’m gonna paddle all the way to shore.”
“Fine with me, Billy, but the wind is gonna push us right back to the island if we stop paddling.”
“I’ll take care of that,” said Billy and he throw the bow anchor overboard. It sank with a splash and the line soon tightened. “There you have it, my friend. We’re back on another safe island and this time it moves.”
“You’re the one, Billy. I always knew you’d get us out of there.”
“Oh, I think you had your doubts cause I know I sure did, but we’ve made it and with a little rest I’ll be ready to start paddling again.”
Jude took a look at the distance yet to go and frowned.
“With the wind working against us it’s going to be a long day, man. It’s too bad we couldn’t start the engine.”
“Well it’s dead. That cold snap just sucked the life out of the battery. How’s the leg?”
“I’m sure its not broke,” said Jude as he gingerly tested it on the deck. “Probably just sprained it, but it hurt like the devil, I’ll tell ya.”
Jude began hobbling around the deck and seemed to be putting more pressure on it with each step.
“Well, we’re not walking home anyway so as long as you can get around we’ll be fine. That is if the SUV will start.”
“Don’t worry, Billy. If that won’t start we have a whole world full of cars and trucks to choose from.”
“But I like my mine best,” grumbled Billy. “And it will start anyway. The old girl has never let me down yet.”
“Don’t let her hear you call her an old girl. She might not like that.”
“Alright, enough of that. I think we should start with the paddles again. We’ve got a lot of water to cover and I’m in a hurry to hit the road for once.”
“I’ll paddle when I’m ready,” said Jude. “In fact I’m declaring a sit down strike until we get better working conditions from management.”
Jude made good his threat and sat down in the captain’s chair and began to swivel back and forth. The chair squeaked and Jude wondered if there was an oil can around.
“Dude, will you stop playing around and start paddling? I can’t do it alone. It turns the boat into a pinwheel. You’re not doing any good where you are.”
“Just another couple of minutes, mom,” said Jude.
He looked down at the wires from the smashed dash and absentmindedly twisted two of them together. The motor turned over slowly. Billy began to protest when it coughed, sputtered, and leapt to life.
“You were saying?” asked Jude, with an evil grin as he faced Billy.
Chapter Ten
The boat was skimming over the water towards the marina. Bowing to Jude’s accidental skill in starting the boat, Billy had allowed him to steer it to shore. As the marina docks came into view Billy was regretting his decision, as Jude showed no signs of slowing down.
“Ease up on the throttle, hot rod,” scolded Billy.
Maybe I am the mom, he thought, but then again someone had to be the voice of reason.
“Hey, Jude,” said Billy. “On second thought lets just skip tying up to the dock. Just run her up on the beach next to the parking lot. Its closer to the truck and we can load up what equipment we have left a little easier.”
“No problem,” shouted Jude over the noise of the motor. “Looks like the coast is clear too.”
Billy turned and scanned the shoreline and saw no monsters in sight. They did not seem disposed to hide, so he figured that they must have trapped all, or most, of the local zombies on the island. After all they were in BFE and they had killed, burned, and trapped hundreds of the dead. In fact, he wondered if they had pretty much cleaned out the local area. It didn’t matter to him anyway. As soon as they got the SUV loaded he wanted to head for home. He hadn’t dared say her name ever since this had started, but he wondered if his mother was still alive. She was all he had in the way of family and his heart ached as he let himself think of a possible reunion for the first time since this thing had started. Jude had a mother and father and three sisters, but for Billy, mom had been all he ever had. He felt his eyes begin to water and he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He hoped Jude hadn’t seen him.
The beach was rapidly approaching and Jude still showed no signs of slowing down. Billy began to tell him to slow down again and then bit it off. What harm could Jude do sliding onto the beach anyway? When they were only ten yards away or so Jude finally started to back down the throttle. They still hit the beach hard enough to knock Billy off of his feet. He went down hard on the deck and he heard the motor scream and then die out. It sounded like the motor had been grounded on the beach as the water became more shallow. Billy got back to his feet and threw a baleful glance at Jude.
“Just like downtown,” said Jude with a huge grin. “Seventh floor. Ladies notions, toiletries, and ball point pens.”
“Very funny. Lets just hope we don’t need the boat again. I think you just voided the warranty.”
“We don’t need no stinking boats,” said Jude and with a wave of his hand he pointed to the marina. “If we need another one we can just appropriate any of those. Besides, we’re going home and it ain’t a boat ride is it?”
Billy could see that becoming liberated from the island had filled Jude with an enthusiasm that he had not demonstrated in quite a while. Billy had to admit he felt kind of giddy too. If everything went right they were only a couple of hundred miles from home. But what was it like out there now? He shook his head and tried to stay positive.
“Okay, man, let’s load up whatever we might need along the way and get going.”
They were soon busy stripping the boat of supplies and Billy walked to the SUV and held his breath. He unlocked it, wondering why he had bothered to lock it in the first place, and jumped in the drivers seat. He put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine turned over and roared to life just like he was starting it up the next day after going to work. He kissed the steering wheel and made soft cooing noises.
“That’s daddy’s little girl. I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
Jude walked up and frowned at Billy.
“Dude, even if this didn’t start there are other cars here. We could have started one of them.”
“Bite your tongue, you heathen. This ain’t just a car or a truck it is my SUV and don’t you forget it. It’s the pilot. I’m just the copilot and I will remind you this vehicle saved your life once already, so show a little respect.”
“Fine,” said Jude. “Consider me chastised. Hey what do you say we take a walk through the little store at the marina and pick up a few necessities for our trip? It’s going to be a nice little ride and I feel like a Twinkie.”
“Oh, dude, that’s a straight line, but I guess we have everything off the boat. Let’s do it.”
Billy jumped out of the truck and he and Jude walked over to the store side by side. They were both still carrying two guns and they had split up their precious supply of bullets between them. Billy was hoping they wouldn’t need them anymore that day anyway, but the new world was not one in which to walk around unarmed. Billy looked at the island as they walked. The shelter house was fully engulfed in flames and even seemed to be burning itself out, while the fire had spread to some of the trees and scrub brush on the island. It looked like a scene from Dante’s Inferno and Billy shuddered at their close call. He could make out the dead staring hungrily across the water at him. Jude seemed oblivious to the zombies, the close call, and his bad ankle; as Billy could detect only a slight trace of a limp as they walked along.
“You seem to be pretty spry on your feet there, buddy,” said Billy. “That’s gotta be the quickest recovery from a broken ankle on record.”
“Clean living, my friend,” returned Jude. “Also good genes. My grandpa lived to be 96.”
“Was he in a post apocalyptic world surrounded by flesh eating zombies?”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Then its apples to oranges, buddy.”
Jude laughed and they made their way to the front door of the marina. It was open and they cautiously made an entrance. The marina was a combination gas station for boats, a bait shop, and convenience store. The dead didn’t eat junk food, but it was obvious the first time they had entered it weeks ago that someone had been there after the change, as much of the foodstuffs were ransacked. After a while the dead had become so numerous they had abandoned any more attempts to get supplies from the place, but there were still enough supplies left to get them home. As long as nothing went wrong.
Jude grabbed two backpacks from a shelf and began stuffing all manner of sweets in it. He wondered how stale some of it must be and shrugged his shoulders. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. Billy meanwhile, was concentrating on a display of dried beef and pork products.
“Here’s the stuff to survive a holocaust, Jude,” he said. “Look here at this feast. I was getting tired of picking buckshot out of my meat. This stuff is chewy and salty, just like God intended.”
Jude smiled, walked over to the counter, and jumped over it. He was playing with the cash register. Billy watched with bemusement as Jude tried to ring up a sale. B
illy decided to make a quick sweep through the aisles to look for anything that might come in handy. He thought that maybe there might be some camping equipment, but if there ever had been, it was gone now. They could sleep in the SUV, but they had lost all their eating utensils and cooking equipment. Without a skillet they were on cold rations from now on. Maybe they could liberate some from a house along the way. The dead had no need for a frying pan, so there were probably plenty left. He wondered again if anybody else was still alive. He shook it off, as it wasn’t productive. If no one was left, then civilization was gone. There was no way to start a new world with two Adams.
He walked back up towards the front of the store and was surprised to see Jude still pawing at the cash register. He finally hit the right combination of keys and with the cling of a bell the cash drawer opened.
“Bingo!” Jude crowed. “I knew that summer at old man Fletcher’s grocery store would come in handy some day. They had an old mechanical register kind of like this one.”
Jude pulled the drawer fully open and began to take the bills out of it and jammed them in his pocket.
“Hey, Billy, looks like there are a few hundred dollars here. It’s not much, but it’s a beginning.”
Billy couldn’t understand what Jude was doing. His friend had never stolen anything in his life, yet there he was giddily counting his loot as he pocketed it.
“Jude, what are you going to do with money? Where are you going to spend it?”
“Hey, just because there’s no need for it now doesn’t mean we won’t need it someday. Besides, I’m leaving the change and I didn’t touch the ‘take a penny leave a penny’ bowl.”
“It just doesn’t make sense, man, and it’s still stealing.”