“I’m not sure I’d be very good at following orders,” I quipped.
“Point taken,” he said with a sigh at my implication and went back to staring at the blinds.
“So, all that’s left is stocking them with food and water, and then assigning guard duty.”
“Yep.”
“I don’t think I can hardwire a landline to them due to the distance, but they’ll have portable radios. What else do you think we need to do?”
“The school gang is getting the church prepped,” I responded. “We’ll keep all bartering goods off sight until everyone has arrived, so in the meantime all we need to do is conduct multiple patrols to root out and destroy any nests of zombies that might be inclined to crash the party.” Justin nodded.
“I’ll handle that,” he said. “I hope you’ll join in as well.”
“I’m always up for killing zombies.” I lowered my voice. “Speaking of which…” I inclined my head toward one of the outhouses where Sammy currently was.
“Yeah, about that. On the one hand, he needs to get acclimated to this lifestyle, but still, he’s only ten.”
“Yeah,” I responded. “And no doubt the women will be up in arms if we include him. I don’t know, dude, I’m with you, we need to get him acclimated, but if he were to get hurt…” We were interrupted by the sound of a bicycle bell. I knew who it was before I even turned my head. Ward and Marc were peddling up on their tandem bike. I waved and motioned them toward us.
“Alright, guys, we have a question for you.” I quickly explained as Sammy rode the bike around the parking lot out of earshot.
“He’s awfully young, Zach,” Marc said.
“He hasn’t even reached puberty,” Ward enjoined.
“So, you two think it’s too soon.”
“Think about it, Zach. You’ve even admitted you have PTSD. What if he witnesses one of you getting attacked and killed, God forbid, he’d be devastated.” I looked at Justin, who shrugged.
“He’s already seen people get killed.”
“It’s like a boxer being punched,” Ward explained. “The more times he’s punched, the greater the likelihood of brain damage.”
“Okay, point taken. But, we can’t shelter him forever.”
“There’ll be plenty of time. Wait until he hits adolescence.”
“Like when his voice starts changing and he’s bragging about growing hair on his balls?” I asked facetiously.
“Exactly,” Ward replied with a big grin.
“Who has hairy balls?” Sammy asked as he peddled up.
“Alright, we need to go over a few things before the rendezvous,” Tonya proclaimed. We had all gathered for dinner at the school. They looked at her expectantly as everyone waited on Marc and Ward to finish cooking. She gestured toward me.
“Start us off, Zach.”
“First, we don’t have an overabundance of food, so everyone needs to help prevent waste.”
“We’re with you,” Rachel said.
“Okay, good. The only food items we’re going to trade for are items we have an abundance of; sweet corn, potatoes, and honey. Tonya and I will be in charge of all trading in that area. If anyone asks, refer them to us.” I then gestured at Sarah.
“Major Fowkes is coordinating security with Justin and Ruth. If they ask you to perform any type of duties, please help them out.”
“Janet and I will be handling the kids, right?” Rhonda asked.
“Yes, so you two will be exempt from guard duty.” Everyone seemed to be on the same page, which was the purpose of this meeting. Floyd tentatively raised a hand.
“Yes, sir?”
“Do you people expect any trouble?”
“It’s hard to say, Floyd. We’ve had trouble in the past with some unsavory folks, but we think the plan we have in place will deal with it if that happens.” There was a lot of murmuring.
“I bet all of you have been wondering if this is worth the risk. I won’t try to throw out a line of,” I glanced over at the kids, who were listening attentively, and changed my response. “I won’t make any false promises, but we believe it’ll work.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Gus pressed.
“We have contingency plans in place to deal with it,” Justin answered. “I seem to recall you bowing out when I asked for volunteers for a reactionary squad, are you wanting in now?”
“Oh, no. I’m sure you soldier boys and soldier girls have it covered.” Justin gave him a cold stare.
“Alright, moving on to legitimate matters. Tomorrow at zero-seven-hundred hours, we’ll be conducting the first of several search and destroy patrols. It’ll be yours truly and Zach leading it off. I’m taking volunteers of who wants to join in.” To my surprise, Kelly raised her hand.
“You want to kill zombies?” I asked. “I thought you hated killing them.” Kelly wouldn’t look at me. I glanced at Justin and shrugged.
“Okay,” Justin replied. “Kelly, Sarah, Rachel, Cutter, Shooter, Floyd, Sarah, Rachel, Jorge, Josue. That’ll work. I’ll see all of you right here in the morning.”
I waited until the two of us were snug in bed before talking about it.
“Why the turnaround?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve never liked killing anything, you know that’s what we’ll be doing on these patrols, right?”
“Yes, I know,” she said quietly. “It’s something I’ve got to get used to doing.”
“We might encounter unfriendly humans too,” I said in the same quiet voice. “You’ll be expected to pull your weight if things get hairy.”
“I know.” She turned and kissed me. “You’re being overly protective.”
“I can’t help it.”
“You know the attack the other night?”
“Yeah?”
“What if it happens again? And what if you’re not here, or maybe you’re injured? I need to do this. I need more confidence.”
“Something tells me you’ve been talking with Sarah and Rachel.”
“Well you keep going on and on about what a badass she is.” I sighed, knowing I wasn’t going to prevail in this discussion. I gave her a kiss and held her closely.
Chapter 30 – Ambushing 101
We dismounted from the school bus immediately. Our mission objective for the day was to clear Interstate 65 from Concord Road to Old Hickory Boulevard. Floyd kept the bus a half mile back, and when the mission was complete, Justin would give him the word and he’d pick us up. It was roughly four miles, but by the time we’d finished exploring every nook and cranny, I expected we’d have put a good ten miles on our boots.
We planned on doing this for every major roadway leading back to the school until we satisfied ourselves a thousand snarling zombies weren’t lurking nearby. Justin ordered Kelly to partner up with Ruth. When I got him alone, I asked why.
“Because if you partner up with her, you’ll be watching her so close you won’t be worth a shit otherwise.” I glared at him. “You know I’m right.”
Yeah, he was probably right. I couldn’t argue with his logic, but I still didn’t like it. I took point and we walked along both sides of the Interstate. After three miles, Justin called a halt and walked over to me.
“Okay, Mister Photographic Memory, has anything changed since the last time you’ve been through here?”
“Nothing,” I answered. Oh, the weeds were thicker than ever, but that’s not what he wanted to know. There were no new dead bodies, no signs of any recent scavenging, no cars moved from their original resting spot, and no newly abandoned cars. Nothing. Even all of the zombies trapped inside their vehicles had long since expired, confirming my suspicions that if they went long enough without food, even the virus that festered inside them would die.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said under my breath. “Instead of stopping at the Old Hickory Boulevard exit, let’s make our way to the Harding exit and work back along Franklin Pike.”
“You’re talking about fifte
en miles round trip.”
“Yep, we should make it back by nightfall, but if anything slows us down we can always jump on the bus and ride the rest of the way home.” Justin looked at me quizzically for a moment and then enlightenment spread across his face.
“You think if she gets enough blisters on her feet, she’ll never volunteer to go on a patrol again.” My response was a very small smile. Justin grunted. “You’re forgetting, you’re not the only one who has a girlfriend. Ruth isn’t going to like this at all.”
“Remind her that she’s a tough Marine.” Justin frowned, but he went along with it.
We reached our original stopping point a little after noon. When Justin informed everyone we were going to continue patrolling and make our way down Franklin Pike, I saw Kelly literally wince at the thought of more hiking. It was bad of me, I know, and I had to fight hard to keep from grinning.
“Alright,” Justin said. “We’re going to take twenty for lunch. Rest your feet. Zach and I will keep watch.”
The two of us took up a position on the Harding Place Bridge overlooking the Interstate and dug into some dehydrated venison and hardtack.
“Damn, this is salty. I hope there’s a nice meal waiting for us when we get back,” Justin quipped and he washed it down with several gulps of water from his camel back. I shared his hope; this stuff had no flavor other than salt. It would never be mistaken for a gourmet delicacy. Ruth walked over and sat beside Justin.
“Did you tell him?” she asked. Justin gestured with a finger as if he’d casually forgotten something.
“Oh, by the way, Ruth said we’re being followed.” I looked at him and started to pull out my binoculars, but Justin stopped me. “Don’t look; we don’t want them to know we spotted them.”
“Okay, how about a SALUTE report then, Marine,” I suggested.
“I only caught a glimpse of four or five of them. I think they came from the railroad tracks. When we exited the Interstate they moved a little bit closer, but right now they’re hiding,” Ruth answered. “They looked like zombies, but they could be very dirty humans. I only caught a glimpse.”
“It’s got to be humans,” Justin surmised. “Zombies don’t surreptitiously follow you, right?”
“I think we picked them up from the railroad tracks,” Ruth added. She was undoubtedly right. Radnor Yards was nearby, on the north side of Harding. It was a huge rail yard, one of the biggest in the south, and I’d never ventured into that area.
“Alright, I’ve got a suggestion.” I was met with quizzical stares. “Whether they’re zombies or humans, I think I’d like to see how Marines set up an ambush.” Justin looked at me and a big grin crept across his face.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” he said.
Between the Interstate and Franklin Pike is a hill, commonly known as Peach Orchard Hill. I suppose there was a peach orchard there once, hence the name, but it was before my time. Now, there was a subdivision on the north side and a high school on the south side. We made it to the crest of the hill when Kelly stumbled and screamed out in pain. I rushed back to her as she fell to the asphalt and grabbed her ankle. The rest of the patrol circled around the two of us in a defensive perimeter.
“It feels broken,” she said loudly. I grabbed it gruffly and she let out another anguished scream.
“If it’s not broken, she’s got a bad sprain,” I said in a loud, disgusted tone. “I told you not to come.” Justin put his hands on his hips in frustration.
“Damnit!” he barked. “We’ll abort and call for the bus.”
“No, don’t abort. This area’s clear. Y’all Charlie-Mike and I’ll wait for the bus with her.” We discussed it for a few minutes and there was more than a little yelling back and forth, but Justin cussed me as he relented, rounded up the rest of the patrol members, and headed out. Kelly and I sat in the roadway, and waited.
“Thanks,” she said quietly.
“For the record, I absolutely do not like this.”
“You’re the one who suggested it,” she retorted.
“That’s before you volunteered to be bait. I mean, what the fuck?” Before she could respond, I saw movement. There were eight of them, four men and four women. All of them were wearing the same type of work uniforms, making me wonder if they all had worked for the railroad at one time.
“I’ll be damned, they are zombies.” I would have bet a dollar, if I had one, our stalkers were going to be nefarious humans looking for easy prey rather than zombies that hadn’t the state of mind to do anything other than mindlessly charge us.
“Alright, phase two of this goat-fuck is now a go.” Kelly frowned at me. “That means it’s time for you to suddenly spot them and scream like a hysterical bimbo in one of those stupid horror movies.” Kelly responded with a malicious grin before looking toward the zombies and emitted an earsplitting scream. I tried my best to look frightened as I helped Kelly to her feet, draped one of her arms around my shoulders, and the two of us began moving toward the awaiting ambush.
“Alright, get ready,” I directed as I moved us between two derelict cars. Kelly hastened a look behind her.
“They’re close, Zach,” she said urgently. I glanced back. She was right.
“Now!” I shouted and the two of us sprinted into a run toward another group of cars. As we did so, the undead octet loped into the kill zone.
Justin had set it up nicely. There were four derelict cars parked together, all nice and neat like they had parked to go shopping, and then there was an opening in the roadway about fifty feet in diameter before there was a knotted mass of other derelicts. Justin had placed everyone in good positions amongst the second group where everyone was hidden but with overlapping sectors of fire. When the order was given to fire, it was over with quickly.
“They were stalking us,” Ruth said in disbelief. “That’s not normal, right?”
“No, it’s not,” I replied.
“So, why were they doing that?”
“Several possibilities.”
“Okay,” Rachel said. “Are you going to tell us or should we perform a Vulcan mind meld or something?” I looked at her and she smiled sweetly.
“They may have been merely curious, which is doubtful.”
“Why?” Rachel asked.
“They’re motivated by primal urges. They see us as food, not as a source of amusement.”
“So, they were waiting, hoping to catch one of us alone,” Sarah surmised.
“Yeah, but there is a third possibility,” I said. “They could have been waiting until we encountered some more zombies and had our hands full.”
“If that’s true—” Justin didn’t get a chance to finish.
“There’s more of them down the road, somewhere,” Rachel interrupted. “Waiting to jump us and eat us all. I bet they like to save the buttholes for last. You know, like dessert.”
“Are you sure?” Ruth asked.
“About the buttholes?” Rachel countered. “I’m pretty sure.” Ruth shook her head in frustration.
“No, you smartass, not the buttholes.” Ruth started to say more but couldn’t because Kelly’s giggling became infectious. Soon, all of us were laughing. As soon as it died down, Sarah decided to join in.
“So, where are these butthole eaters, Zach?” she asked. I looked at her curiously. She was grinning along with Rachel.
“You realize you two are starting to act more alike every day,” I said. Rachel responded by sticking out her tongue and making lurid motions with it. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Alright, if I were to guess, I’d bet there’s a bunch of them right over there,” I said as I pointed at the nearby high school. Everyone looked at the school as I took a moment to check my weapon.
“Let’s go check it out,” I said.
“Looks like you’re spot on, again,” Justin commented as we stood at the front entrance. There were obvious signs; animal remains, dirty footprints, dried blood.
“Should we clear the school?�
� Ruth asked.
“We have to,” Justin replied with a tight smile. “That’s what we’re here for.” I looked pointedly at Kelly.
“I’d like for you to provide rear security,” I suggested. She frowned and started to say something, but Justin spoke up.
“Good idea, Ruth, you’re with her.”
It took us four long, sweaty hours clearing each classroom, but in the end we only found ten more. Everyone, with the exception of yours truly, hurled chunks at least once due to the rancid odor. We were all sitting outside under some shade trees after we had finished, waiting for Floyd to arrive.
“I think I’ve hurled everything I’ve eaten for the past three days,” Rachel moaned and stared at me. “Why doesn’t this shit bother you?”
“I’ve grown used to it,” I answered. She looked at me questioningly and I hooked a thumb toward the school.
“I’ve seen a lot of this during the past year.”
“They’re nasty fuckers is what they are,” Cutter said. Both he and his brother had been quiet all morning. Ruth had whispered to me earlier that Justin had given them a stern lecture and warned them there would be consequences if they pulled any nonsense.
“I mean, they shit where they sleep,” he continued. “And there were bones everywhere. Where did they find all those people to eat?” It was a good question, one I didn’t have an answer to. “Even animals don’t shit in their nests.”
“You got that right,” Shooter agreed.
“It’s sad,” Kelly said. I glanced at her. “I mean, they used to be civilized humans, and now they’re even lower than animals.”
We sat in silence and waited for Floyd. Justin got an ammo count while everyone else rested. It’d been a long day and we were tired, but it was the way things were now. It never got any easier.
“My feet are killing me,” Kelly quipped. I grunted, but held back with a smart assed retort. The truth be told, my feet were sore too, but I was never going to admit it.
“I have to pee,” she whispered, stood and coaxed the women to join her. I watched disinterestedly as they walked to a small copse of trees, dropped their pants, and squatted. They weren’t hidden very well and their skinny white asses were plain to see, but it certainly wasn’t arousing. I was too weary and it smelled too bad for anything to be arousing at the moment.
Zombie Rules (Book 4): Destiny Page 25