by TW Gallier
Chapter 7
Charlie kept us moving as fast as the small children could handle. It wasn't long before they began to protest and slow. Since he didn't have children, I swapped places and took point after a short rest stop.
"I'll keep the pace down for the kids," I told the parents. I paused, looked at Quinn and then pulled my pistol. "Can you fire a pistol?"
"Absolutely," Quinn said, and his wife nodded. I handed him my pistol and the two spare magazines. "Thanks."
Charlie gave his pistol and spare magazines to Yancy. Both held the pistols like they knew how to use them, while stuffing the spare ammo in back pockets.
"I hope we don't find any trouble, but chances are good we will," I said. "The mountain is crawling with zombies and killer survivors."
"And they call it a wilderness," Charlie said. "Go figure."
"Where are the other families and children you said you were with?" Yancy asked.
I explained that Charlie and I had provided a distraction while the others escaped, and that we were going to meet up with them in Ocoee. There was a good chance that would happen by nightfall, but I wasn't sure how fast the group could travel with so many children. I didn't mention the fact their three kids were slowing us down considerably.
"I'm not sure our kids can walk that far in one day, or even two days," Quinn said.
He and his wife looked worried. They probably were afraid we'd abandon them.
"It'll take as long as it takes," I said. "We don't leave anyone behind."
"Maybe we can take turns carrying them," Charlie said. "Kids like riding piggyback."
I shared a look with the Jeffers. He called his oldest over. I got the next oldest girl to climb up on my back, and Charlie gave the little toddler a ride. And then I led us down the trail.
That allowed us to move more quickly, but we also tired quicker. Still, those kids were a lot lighter than the packs we'd be wearing if we hadn't gone off to distract the horde. Since Charlie and I were used to carrying packs and walking all day, we took the extra burden better than the Jeffers. Quinn and Yancy alternated carrying their eldest daughter, Aishley.
I stopped to suggest we switch the kids around, so that Charlie and I carried the eldest, Aishley and Chantal, while the Jeffers swapped little Quinton back and forth between them. Just as I turned around, zombies came charging down the hill from above. Quinn was tackled, knocked off the trail to tumble down the mountainside with Quinton screaming. Yancy was first to open fire, killing two before I opened up on them. A moment later she was bowled off the trail by tumbling bodies.
"Shit," I cried. "Hang on, Aishley."
Charlie and I went over the side, too, sliding down to where Quinn and Yancy were still fighting zombies. Quinn was already out of ammo, and the zombies were pressing him too hard to reload. He was pistol whipping zombies, and mostly trying to keep them off his wife. I shot two, and then Charlie and Yancy each killed one. But there were still living zombies above us.
"Follow me," I said, taking off at an angle down the mountain side.
Zombies pursued, but they were lousy at sliding down mountainsides, so most of them lost control and went tumbling far below us. I didn't have time to gloat or pat myself on the back, because more were coming down the mountain ahead of us.
"We have to cross that creek," I called. There was a deep ravine below us, with an equally steep climb on the other side. But the creek looked wide and deep, so I was confident the zombies couldn't and wouldn't cross it. "Zombies are afraid of water."
The zombies that tumbled down into the ravine paced us from below. They'd be waiting when we arrived. I ordered everyone to hold their fire until we were closer.
"We can't waste ammo," I said.
"Get used to him saying that," Charlie replied.
I started to reply, but my distraction made me misstep. My left foot went off the narrow game trail, and then I followed it down the mountainside. Aishley squealed in terror as we slid down on my left side. Yeah, that was painful, but I had to protect the child. I could hear the others shouting above me, and then open fire.
We hit bottom, and immediate flipped over into that cold mountain stream water. Quite a shock. I shoved Aishley towards the opposite bank. She panicked, but was small enough for me to keep my grip on her thrashing body. The water was fast, but I got us across and pushed her up onto the bank.
"Are you okay, sweetie?"
"Yes. I think so."
"Good girl. Just sit here a moment," I said as I crawled out of the water. Thank God my M-4 was strapped to my body. There were a couple dozen zombies across the creek staring at us in rage. Not a single one of them tried to cross the creek. I looked up hill and waved. "We're okay! Aishley is okay!"
I watched Charlie take the point and continue down at a sharp angle. Some of the zombies broke off to continue pacing them up the creek. So I took careful aim and started shooting the departing zombies in their heads. At that close range I couldn't miss. Unfortunately, that really freaked Aishley out.
"I'm sorry," I said. "But the zombies are not real people anymore. They are monsters."
She was crying, eyes squeezed shut, and hands over her ears. I realized all of that shooting was hurting her ears, as well as freaking her out. My ears were starting to go numb from the loud, sharp sound. After three weeks I pretty much had incurable tinnitus. All the killing was hurting her, and everyone else, at a much deeper level.
When the others were almost to the creek, I grabbed Aishley and had her follow me up the creek. It was precarious going. The game trail along the creek was on the other side. I continued to shoot the leading zombies as we went.
Charlie set Chantal down, and took up a position to fight off the incoming zombies. I found a thick branch and eased down into the water, extending it to Yancy and Quinton. She came across quickly and rushed up to embrace her daughter. Quinn came across with Chantal on his back. And then I helped Charlie across while the family all hugged and kissed.
Aishley and Chantal were tired of riding, so Quinn took his son and we started up the steep ridge, moving away from the creek before the zombies found a log spanning it or some other obstacle they could use to cross over.
We found a paved road at the top of that ridge. I headed northwest on it, ready to dart into the trees at the first sign of company. There was a burnt out house at the next intersection.
"The garage is intact," Charlie said, pointing past the house and deep in the backyard. "Worth checking."
The garage was actually a steel building, and considerably larger than the average two-car garage. I had little faith there would be anything we could use inside it, but headed over anyway. The rollup garage door was locked, but not the side door. There was a dark green Jeep Wrangler, two four-wheel ATVs, and a single Kawasaki dirt bike.
Aishley hung back at the door to act as lookout.
"Oh man, a pair of Kawasaki Mules," Quinn said. They were four-wheelers and seated four. He jumped in the first one, while his wife went to the other. "I've always wanted one."
The ATVs were painted camo, so were probably for hunting. There was a lot of dried mud on their tires. The dirt bike was pretty dirty, too. The Jeep, though, looked immaculate. I jumped in to find no key. Since it was inside a steel building, I had hoped it would start. I suspected it was left behind because the key was lost in the house fire.
"Does anyone know how to hotwire a car?" I asked.
The Jeep would be perfect for our group, with a hardtop and doors. Unfortunately, no one knew how to hotwire. I cursed myself for not paying closer attention to what Mike did when he hotwired a car.
"This family liked their Kawasakis," Charlie said. "I prefer Suzuki." He checked out the dirt bike. "This one is pretty old."
The dirt bike was lime green, with a 250cc engine. Charlie climbed on and started it. He revved the engine three times, and killed it. Quinn tried to start one of the Mules, but it didn't even click when he tried to start it. Yancy's ATV did start.
> "So we have a four-wheeler and a dirt bike," I said. "That'll help."
"People are coming," Aishley called as she ran inside.
Charlie and I rushed to the door, weapons ready. I wasn't sure what we'd do if it was the vehicles' owners coming back for them. Stealing from another survivor seemed wrong, but it was survival of the fittest nowadays. Still, I didn't want to sink to the level of the other savages out there. Maybe we could work out a deal where we'd get one of the Kawasaki Mules.
"Not exactly people," Charlie said.
Aishley's people were zombies. There had to be at least fifty of them, and they were coming straight to our location. There was no hiding from them. The bastards knew we were in there. And we didn't have enough ammo to kill them all.
Pushing Charlie back inside, I slammed the door and locked it. Zombies were not strong enough or smart enough to gain entry to that steel building, but we couldn't stay there forever, either. A moment later countless fists started pounding on both doors and the side of the building. It was pretty loud.
"We're trapped," Charlie said. "Why did you do that?"
He was right. We should've taken off running. Yet, I didn't want to abandon running vehicles.
"Check the gas tanks. Are they full or empty?" I said.
The dirt bike and running ATV had full tanks. We couldn't check the non-running vehicles. Unfortunately, the running Mule was behind the non-running one, so we couldn't just open the bay door and drive away. The Jeep blocked the other half of the bay door.
"Can we move things around so we can push the Jeep back so we can drive the ATV up to the bay door?" I asked.
Even the two girls helped us shift everything from behind the Jeep. The pounding increased as more zombies joined the fun. Even Charlie and I started to get stressed out. The young family really looked worried.
It took a god-awful long time, but we finally cleared out a space and pushed the Jeep back. I was tempted to leave it in neutral and used the ATV to push it out first, just to see if I could push start it. But that was too dangerous and would get us all killed if it failed.
"Won't they swarm us as soon as we open the garage door?" Yancy asked after we pushed the running four-wheeler up to the door.
"They'll try," I said. "My plan is simple. Quinn will drive the ATV, with you and the kids riding inside. Me and Charlie will ride in back firing up the zombies. If you tear ass out of here, I think we can plow through without any of them getting a good hold on the vehicle."
"And if you are wrong?" Quinn asked.
"We'll deal with it," I said.
"I want to take the bike," Charlie said.
"Are you crazy?"
"I followed you here," he said. "So yes." He grinned. "I'm really good on a dirt bike. I raced them before joining the army."
He already had it pushed up behind the ATV. The dirt bike might be helpful in scouting out the road once we found transportation for our entire group. And he looked pretty confident in his chances of getting through the horde.
"Okay, I'll open the bay door. Give me a second to jump in back. I'll tell you when to take off," I said, moving to that door. "Charlie, let Quinn clear a path for you."
Once I was poised to unlock and open the bay door, they started their engines. My heart began to race. It was the end of us if this didn't go well.
I unlocked and heaved the bay door open. Then I leveled my M-4 on the zombies and cut them down with full automatic. Quinn was already moving forward as I ran around to jump in back.
"Go!" I shouted.
Charlie hit the gas and whipped out around the Jeep. I stared at him incredulously. Maybe he was crazier than Mike, but most of the zombies were down. Even the ones still alive hadn't climbed back to their feet yet, and he ran right over them. Then Quinn hit the gas. The ATV lurched forward.
And I fell out to land on hard concrete.
I sat up to see them speeding away. Did they even realize I'd fallen out? So I scrambled behind cover, ready to sell my life dearly. The zombies took off after the vehicles. I found myself alone in that steel building.
With the Jeep and a nice slope down to the road.
"If this doesn't work…"
Opening the driver's door, I ensured it was in neutral. Then I released the emergency brake and started pushing. The Jeep resisted me at first, but then slowly started creeping forward. How heavy was that damned thing? It was the first time I tried anything like that by myself. Once off the concrete pad, the Jeep started speeding up on the slope. Just before it reached the street I jumped inside.
Pressing down on the clutch, I put it into second gear.
"Here goes nothing," I cried, and popped the clutch.
The jeep's engine roared. I hit the gas. The vehicle shook and rattled violently, and then the engine smoothed out and I shot out into the street.
"Wahoo!"
Chapter 8
"All men to the rear! All men to the rear!" I shouted.
Mike and Greg just turned us off of the trail after a ten minute mad rush by everyone. And it wasn't a moment too soon, either. Several of the children and mothers carrying the very young were starting to slow.
We were past the horde, but barely. The zombies were fast on our heels.
"Where do you want me, Sean?" Kate Thames asked.
She was mid-twenties, fit and capable. Kate was also single and without children. She had a spear and a shoulder-holstered Glock 31. I previously had her shoring up the middle of the line's defenses.
"Hang back with us," I said. And then more loudly to all of the men. "We have to give the women and children time to escape across the creek."
Mike swore the zombies would not cross such a wide body of water. I couldn't imagine zombies being afraid of anything, especially water, but he had more experience dealing with them.
"Go. Go," I called to the women and children. "Mike, don't wait for us on the other side. We'll catch up."
"Here they come!" Travis cried, voice dripping with fear. He'd already used up all of his ammo, so was reduced to just a spear. "There's too many. We have to fall back."
"Hold your ground," I commanded.
"Easy for you to say behind everyone else," he said.
That stung. I was the only combat veteran in the bunch. So I pushed my way up between Travis and Brett, forcing Randy to drop back. There was only room for three men abreast. We lowered our spears and zombies impaled themselves upon them. We all did a good job of stabbing them in the heart, so all three died instantly.
"Fall back," I cried. "Next rank, charge!"
Terrel, Vince, and Oscar surged forward, passing between the three of us. They skewered three zombies, and then pulled their spears out and stabbed three more. I then called for them to fall back and the next rank of three rushed forward to engage the zombies.
It was a tactic Roger came up with after we decided to make spears, and prior to departure. Every adult practiced fighting like that for five hours the previous afternoon. And that was the only real practice any of us had. I wasn't sure it would work, but so far so good.
I had fifteen fighters in my group, including two fifteen year old boys. We continued that delaying action until we were finally backed up to the spot the others left the trail to cross the creek. I glanced down at the creek. It was clear. No one there. I could barely see them through the trees moving up the far slope. The creek didn't look wide, but it was rocky and looked dangerous.
"Get ready to open fire," I called. "We'll concentrate fire on the lead zombies, working our way back, before we drop back and down to the creek in pairs."
It was my rank's turn to charge forward. We did so, using our spears first. I stabbed a big zombie in his pajamas, pulled my spear out as he collapsed, and stabbed another jumping over him. Travis, Brett, and I held our ground, killing five zombies.
"Fire!" I shouted, dropping to a knee with Brett and Travis.
They fired over our heads, blowing away a dozen zombies in that first volley. I glanced back and
saw Randy and Vince sliding down the path to the creek.
"Fire at will," I commanded, bringing my AR15 to bear and opening up. "Fall back, Travis."
He didn't have ammo, so wasn't helping. Travis didn't hesitate. He pushed all the way through the others and went over the side without hesitation. I shook my head and continued to shoot at zombies. There weren't as many as there were earlier, but still too many to deal with. And the gunfire would just attract more of the fiends.
It wasn't long before it was only Brett and I on the trail. I paused to look at all of the dead bodies stretching from ten feet in front of us, to beyond sight in that heavily forested trail. There had to be more than a hundred dead zombies, and at least three dead from our group.
"Does Randy know about Abigail?" Brett asked after we'd crossed the creek.
I paused to look up. I could see Randy O'Neil about halfway up the slope. He was in back taking a turn at rear guard when the zombies plowed into the middle of the group. Abigail was one of the three to be taken out immediately. Eight year old Chris Kelly and twelve year old Kendall Carr were killed outright, but Abigail was bitten and turned into a zombie. Someone shot and killed her a moment later.
"I don't think so," I said. "Damn. He's not the only one who'll be grieving."
The loss of the children hurt the most. Everything I did was to protect the youngest members of our group first and foremost. The Carrs and Kellys would be hurting beyond my ability to comprehend, having never lost a child.
It was a difficult climb and I marveled they'd gotten all of the children up without incident. Two of the men slipped and tumbled back to the creek. Brett and I helped them back up since they were exhausted and battered. I felt a great sense of relief to find a dirt road at the top of our climb.
Everyone was moving uphill, so I followed. I wasn't sure why Mike chose that direction instead of downhill. After a few minutes I came to an intersection with a paved road and found everyone sitting around and resting. Jenny was with the Carrs and Kellys, as were numerous others. I wanted nothing to do with that group. Way too much sobbing for me to handle.