Zombie Civilization: Exodus (Zombie Civilization Saga Book 2)

by Steven Ehrman

  “Jenks it is,” said Billy. “What about you, Private Turk? What do you go by?”

  “Turk is good enough,” said the young private. “Heck, even my girlfriend calls me Turk.”

  “Well, I don’t want to be your girlfriend, but let’s go with Turk,” said Jude with a laugh.

  All four men joined together in a laugh and forgot their troubles for at least that moment. Billy suddenly realized that Jenkins was the first black person he had seen since the troubles had started. He couldn’t even remember if any of the zombies had been black. Wow, this county is white, he thought.

  “So what do you guys think about your chances on the river?” asked Billy.

  Jenkins and Turk each glanced at the sergeants again.

  “That’s just it,” said Jenkins quietly. “We don’t want to go south. We want to join up with you guys and head north.”

  “That’s okay with us, isn’t it, Jude?”

  Jude nodded his head, but looked wary.

  “It’s not gonna be that easy,” said Turk. “You heard Kerns. He still thinks the world exists and that we’re all still in the service. As far as I’m concerned until I hear from the president I’m a civilian.”

  Billy could see the problem clearly.

  “Why don’t you approach Edwards by himself. He seems pretty reasonable. At least he doesn’t seem crazy like Kerns does.”

  “Edwards is the worst one,” said Jenkins. “He just hides it better around company if you know what I mean. Why I’ve seen him take his knife and…never mind just take my word for it he’s as bad as Kerns hopes to be in his nightmares.”

  It was hard for Billy to reconcile the even-tempered Edwards with the man Jenkins was describing, but he had noticed Turk was nodding the entire time Jenkins was talking. It was undoubtedly true that Edwards had had to do terrible things to stay alive, but they all had. Billy pushed the image of Steve out of his mind. He had left out the manner in which Steve had met his death from the soldiers and he had noticed Jude’s glance when he did. It was over and he didn’t want to think about it.

  “If you guys want to come with us you can,” said Jude suddenly.

  He looked very grim and in the shadows cast by the fire he looked like a hardened old man instead of a pale youth.

  “That might cause trouble, Jude, and we don’t need it,” cautioned Billy.

  “Billy, you said you weren’t leaving anyone behind right? Well, let’s start now.”

  Billy considered it and felt Jude’s eyes on him as well as the eyes of the two privates.

  “Okay, Jude,” he said finally. “You’re calling the play this time. I just hope to Hell you’re right.”

  “Me too, buddy. Me too.”

  The sergeants broke up their conference and rejoined the group. A silence fell over everyone as they sat down again. Kerns was fiddling with his rifle and Edwards was chewing on an energy bar.

  “Well, here’s where we are men,” Edwards said between bites. “I think we should sleep in the vehicles tonight and we should keep a watch. You two guys have your own truck and we’ll take the Humvee. I’m not too tired so I’ll take the first watch and when I get tired I will wake someone else. We have a long day tomorrow so lets hit the rack, men.”

  With that, Kerns, Turk, Jenkins piled in their military vehicle while Billy and Jude retreated to the SUV. Edwards began to pace between the two vehicles whilst scanning the woods with occasional glances at the island. The island was only dimly in view, but ghostly figures could be seen lined up on the shore and the growls could be faintly heard over the water.

  “Sarge, I’ll take the second watch if you like,” said Billy.

  “I think we got this.”

  “Just trying to help, sarge.”

  “I hear, ya, but we’ll handle guard duty. Just get yourself some rest. I think we’ll all need it tomorrow.”

  Billy nodded and began to walk to the SUV with Jude when he heard a soft snap like a branch being broken coming from the woods. He immediately froze and looked at the dark forest. Jude kept walking as if he heard nothing. Billy began to say something to Edwards, but the sergeant had already turned his back on Billy and was walking the other way. Billy got into his SUV and shut and locked the doors. He held his rifle tightly in his hands and leaned back into the seat.

  “What’s the matter, buddy?” asked Jude. “You look all wound up.”

  “I thought I heard something. Maybe like something in the woods.”

  “Billy, there’s all sorts of things in the woods. You’ll drive yourself crazy looking for a zombie behind every tree. Besides, we have some real firepower here. We’re fine and Edwards is standing guard. I don’t think anything is going to sneak up on him.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Listen, I don’t care if Edwards is standing guard, I think I’ll stay up awhile and keep watch myself.”

  “Suit yourself, Billy. This might be the last good nights sleep we’ll get for awhile. We’re out in the open again and I am going to sleep the sleep of the just. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  With that, Jude stretched out on the back seat and pulled his hat down over his eyes. Billy settled into the drivers seat and tried to stay alert. Edwards faded in and out of his vision. When the sergeant was at the far end of his beat it was hard to see him and Billy imagined several times that when Edwards returned along the same path that it was a zombie instead of the nom com. Billy soon heard Jude gently begin snoring. The repetitive sound did not aid him in staying awake and, in fact, caused him to feel even more drowsy. Sometime around midnight he finally fell into a restless sleep. He dreamed that Edwards was trying to open the door and let in a zombie army. He gripped his gun even harder in his sleep.

  ****************

  The morning sunshine woke up Billy and he was chagrined to discover that he had fallen asleep, leaving their safety in the hands of relative strangers. Apparently the night had passed without event as he could see Kerns and Edwards standing at the beach together and the two privates seated together on a bench in front of the dead fire. Jude began to stir as Billy opened the door to step outside. Sleeping in a seated position had caused Billy’s muscles to yelp in pain as he stepped to the ground. He was soon stretching like a cat.

  “You’re sleeping your life away, buddy,” Billy called out to his friend.

  Jude grumbled and sat up in the backseat.

  “Give me a stack of flap jacks and bacon, waitress,” he called out.

  “We’ll stop at the first diner we see, Jude, but we better get started.”

  Jude nodded and got out of the vehicle on the other side and walked around. He and Billy walked to the remains of the fire and took advantage of the sergeant’s absence.

  “Good morning, men,” Billy said in a loud voice and then continued somewhat softer. “Are you guys still fixed on coming with us?”

  They both nodded and Jenkins spoke: “I don’t see how they can stop us if we are united in this, but they’ll raise Cain, you can count on that.”

  As he was speaking Edwards and Kerns returned.

  “Well, this is where the band breaks up, men. I wish you two luck,” Edwards said gesturing at Billy and Jude. “But we’re burning daylight here. Let’s move like we have a purpose, men.”

  As he finished his short speech Edwards began walking towards the Humvee. Kerns stared at the woods while Jenkins and Turk shared a glance and remained seated.

  “That was an order,” said Edwards from the vehicle.

  Both Turk and Jenkins now stood up.

  “We heard you,” said Jenkins with Turk nodding. “But we are mustering out here. We’re going north with these guys and nothing you can do can make us change our mind.”

  “That’s desertion,” said Kerns menacingly.

  “Call it what you like it, but we’re not going south and that’s final.”

  “How do you two civilians feel about this?” asked Edwards.

  “We’re neutral, sarge, but if they want to com
e with us they are welcome. So are you for that matter,” said Billy.

  “Well I’ll tell you what,” began Edwards. “Sergeant Kerns and I sort of saw this coming and you guys are probably just dead weight anyway. As far as we’re concerned you can go if you want. We don’t want any slackers anyway.

  Turk and Jenkins looked relieved, but Billy was suspicious.

  “Just like that, sarge?” Billy asked. “That’s seems like a pretty big concession after what you said last night.”

  “Well, young man, things change and in this world I guess we better get used to change. So you can go, but one small thing. If you aren’t government issue anymore then you aren’t taking any government issue with you. I’ll have to ask for your weapons back, boys.”

  Kerns grinned and Turk and Jenkins smiled tight smiles.

  “You’ll have to pry this out of my cold dead hands, sergeant,” said Jenkins.

  “Well, that might not be as hard as you think men. You see Sergeant Kerns and myself took the liberty of unloading your rifles while you were asleep. A good soldier would have noticed that this morning, but then again, you boys aren’t soldiers anymore.”

  The two privates were momentarily stunned, but they quickly checked and found that Edwards was being truthful. Edwards was completely in the Humvee by this time and Kerns began walking backwards towards the vehicle keeping his weapon trained on the privates as well as Billy and Jude.

  “You can’t leave us with no ammo, sergeant,” pleaded Jenkins. “Leave us with a few bullets anyhow for, God’s sake.”

  Kerns stopped walking and an impassive look came over his face.

  “You’ve touched me, Stormy,” he said. “Here’s all the bullets you’ll need.”

  He pulled the trigger and a three round burst belched from his rifle, hitting Jenkins and spinning him to the ground.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Before anyone could react, Kerns trained the gun on the rest of the group. He was smiling and looking at each man as if choosing his next victim.

  “Kerns, you idiot! That wasn’t necessary,” screamed Edwards from the Humvee. “What the Hell is the matter with you?”

  “By any means necessary, Edwards, right? That’s what we said last night. These boys were in a full mutiny and we needed to shut it down. Don’t want to set a bad precedent for the other men.”

  “What other men, you lunatic? Kerns, get back in the truck and lets get out of here.”

  “Not yet. Turn your head if you’re squeamish,” said Kerns. “Now, Billy, you’re the leader of your little group and you encouraged these men to desert, didn’t you?”

  Kerns had his gun pointed menacingly at Billy’s chest. Billy swallowed hard and stared back into Kerns’ eyes. He’s completely mad, thought Billy. Maybe I am too.

  “Sergeant, you’ve already made one bad decision today. Don’t make another,” said Billy. “Take off right now and we’ll take care of Jenks.”

  “There’s nothing to take care of, boy. He’s dead.”

  “There’s one more thing to do,” said Jude softly. “It ain’t pretty, but we don’t let our friends turn and Jenks was our friend.”

  “Well good news,” said Kerns. “You’re all going to the same place.”

  Kerns leveled his gun to fire.

  From the Humvee Edwards screamed: “Kerns, no!”

  Before Kerns could pull the trigger, a shot rang out from the woods behind them. A shell exploded in Kerns’s chest. The rifle was flung from his hands and he fell backwards in a heap with blood gushing from the hole in his chest.

  Turk hit the ground while Billy and Jude spun around in amazement. Edwards jumped from the Humvee and had his rifle to his shoulder and sprayed the woods with a wild volley.

  “I’ve got you in my sights, sergeant,” said a voice from the woods. “One more dumb move like that and I’ll put you down just like I did your friend.”

  Billy couldn’t believe his ears. It was Harley. There was no doubt in his mind. One glance at Jude showed him that Jude had arrived at the same conclusion. Maybe they were going to live to see another day after all.

  “You got 30 seconds to get down the road,” said Harley, still hidden from view.

  Edwards lowered his weapon and his shoulders sagged. He got back inside the truck and slammed the door shut. He started the engine and the vehicle lurched into gear. Edwards put the truck in a wide turn to go back up the access road to the highway. As he passed the group he leaned his head out of the window.

  “I want you boys to know I had no part in this,” he said. “We unloaded the guns so there wouldn’t be any accidents if tempers flared. I’ve had to do some bad things since this started, but I’ve never killed an unarmed man. You gotta believe that.”

  “Just drive, sergeant. We have work to do,” said Billy.

  Edwards seemed to want to say something else, but the grim expressions on everyone’s face, and Harley’s unseen sniper rifle caused him to clamp his mouth shut. He pressed the accelerator and up the gravel lane he went. He passed from view for a few seconds and then reappeared on the highway. He drove at a steady speed to the south and vanished from view in the distance.

  Billy turned and put a cupped hand to his mouth.

  “Come out, come out wherever you are,” he said.

  “That’s right,” Jude hollered. “Ollie, ollie oxen free.”

  There was a crashing of brush from the woods and Harley came lumbering out of cover looking more ursine than ever. He looked no worse for wear than the last time they had seen him and Billy and Jude rushed to embrace him. Billy took a step back and looked his friend up and down.

  “Harley, don’t take this the wrong way, but why aren’t you dead?” asked Billy. “The last I saw of you it looked like you were lunch. What happened?”

  “Well, that’s a long story. First introduce me to your new friend here.”

  “Oh right. Harley, this is Turk.”

  Turk stepped forward and began to salute out of habit and then grinned and shook hands with Harley.

  “Nice to meet you, Turk.”

  “Nice to meet me? Are you kidding? It’s nice to meet you, man. I’d be laying next to Jenks if you hadn’t come along,” said Turk.

  As he mentioned the name of his friend a pall was cast over the group. The joy of surviving and finding Harley alive had made them forget momentarily about recent events.

  “He was a good soldier,” said Turk quietly. “He died violently in a violent world. As a soldier we are prepared to die if need be. He’s with the Lord now.”

  “Not yet,” said Billy.

  He walked towards the body and pointed his rifle at Jenkins head.

  “What are you doing, man?” screamed Turk.

  “We don’t let our friends turn,” said Billy calmly and he pulled the trigger.

  The shot echoed through the trees and a puff of smoke was whisked away by the wind. Turk began to sob and Billy saw him for the first time as he really was. In his uniform Turk had appeared to be a tough guy, but in reality he was a nineteen year old guy who looked to be about ten pounds underweight. He wasn’t as skinny as Jude, but it was close. Billy felt for his loss. He had lost a lot too. He wondered if you ever really got used to it. He hoped not.

  “Well, now that the introductions have been made I want to hear how you got away from that mob that had you surrounded and where you have been,” said Billy.

  “That’s a long story, and a good story, boys, but I don’t want to bore you with details. Lets just say I’m back.”

  “Now that just ain’t good enough, buddy,” said Jude with a laugh. “We want details and even if it’s a long story I think we have time. Right, guys?”

  Turk and Billy both chimed in with approval of Jude’s statement and they made their way back to the benches and they all sat except Harley. He started his story slowly and paced the entire time.

  ****************

  “Well it was like this, fellas,” he began. “I could see that I was n
ever going to make it back to the shelter house and you guys were only going to get yourselves killed trying to help me so I hollered at Billy to shut the door and when I saw that you guys were safe I made a break for it. Those things are strong, but they are slower than us in their reactions. I kept my feet and broke through the perimeter. Most of them were after you guys anyway and I ran down the beach looking for firm ice. The west side of the island’s water was still frozen over with no breaks so took off over the ice towards the shore with about twenty of them, or so, on my tail.

  “I almost made it to the shoreline when I went through the ice. It was only about three feet of water by that point, but I got soaked to the waist and it gave the monsters a chance to catch up with me. I clawed my way to the shore and ran into the woods as fast as I could.”

  “Good God, Harley, it was still freezing that night,” said Billy. “Why didn’t you freeze to death?”

  “Because I never stopped running all that night,” said Harley in a matter of fact tone. “If you keep moving you’re okay, but if you stop without a fire you’re dead.”

  Billy and Jude exchanged a look and they both silently marveled at the stamina of their friend. Turk’s eyes were popping out of his head listening.

  “Anyway, our dead friends don’t run as fast as us, but they can lope along all day and night and not get tired.”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” laughed Billy. “I’ve had them on my tail too and it was no fun.”

  “Anyway, I lost track of where I was or even the direction I was headed. I eventually lost most of them, but a few were still on my tail at day break.”

  “Lucky you still had a gun, Harley,” said Jude.

  “But I didn’t dare to use it. I only had a few rounds left and God knows when I might need them.”

  “Like just a few minutes ago,” said Turk. “And I’m grateful you saved them.”