“Mary and I will keep watch tonight,” stated Lizzy. She waited until we broke apart before speaking. “You two can have some alone time – I don’t think either of us will be able to sleep much anyways – but tomorrow you have to work like normal.”
“Understood,” I said.
“Damn, I really do wish Lois had seen this.”
* * *
The following morning we held our discussions high in the branches of some pine trees. I realize that sounds rather unusual, and it is. While the house seemed a better place, none of us wanted to remain there, cooped up in the dark. So instead, we drove back to US-385, parked the Jeeps in a sheltered gully, and found a spot from which we could watch the highway and the service road leading to the meadow.
“Cherie never leaves the castle,” said Briana.
“Then I’m going to go in and get her,” replied Lizzy, “and rip out her hair, her fingernails, her heart.”
“We have children in there,” I said, reminding them all of this fact. “We can’t go after her like that. One, we’re too outnumbered to pull it off. Two, I’m not going to risk hitting some kid. We need to be smart about this.”
“What do you suggest?” asked Mary.
“I think we’ll wait a few days, maybe a week. Let them think we’re gone. Other than Dean, none of them wander about the woods much, not more than a couple miles out, and now that Pamela’s been dealt with, he likely stopped that. Even if Dean does keep on with his hunting trips, we’re on the far side. I don’t see him finding us.”
“Just wait for Cherie to relax and calm down then?” asked Briana. “And what, hope she gets careless?”
“Exactly. Let her think she’s won. We can move in and spy on the castle from a distance. It’s in that big field pretty much surrounded on all sides by forest. We get under cover and watch with binoculars. She’ll get back to normal, going out to the cars and animals. There’ll be a chance.”
“Winter is going to be hard,” continued Briana, “after we kill her and run off for real. We aren’t prepared, not personally.”
“I know.” Lizzy shook her head. “We’ll survive. We can always find a small house in the middle of nowhere, fortify it, and hit some towns for food. Then we stay put till spring. It’ll suck, big time, but we can do it. Hell, we can head back to Martin. Tons of food and stuff still lying about there, and the area is mostly cleared already.”
“We can figure that out later,” I added. “We have time.”
“Not good,” interrupted Mary. She pointed to the north.
It was hard to make out – my eyesight doesn’t compare to hers – but it seemed that several motorcycles were approaching, traveling slowly. I lifted my binoculars. Wonderful. The riders were all wearing denim jackets covered in those dreadful patches we’d been so worried about.
“More coming up behind them,” added Briana. From her perch she had a slightly better view through the trees. “Hundreds, I think.”
“Hundreds? Everyone shimmy over so you stay out of sight. We’ll let them pass us by.”
“Shouldn’t we climb down and hide instead Jacob?” Briana looked scared, really scared. “I know we’re back a ways, but that’s an awful lot of eyes heading for us.”
“You’re right. Okay, everyone down instead. We’ll hide in the thicket over there. We can still see them, but we’re better concealed.”
“Can maybe even run out the back,” remarked Lizzy, “if we had to.”
Lowering myself to the ground, I helped Briana and the others descend. Then we sprinted for the mass of underbrush. It was forty yards from the road with only a few trees between it and the highway. The thorns would be a pain, but I didn’t think they’d ever notice us.
“Mary, you and Briana keep a general eye out for any zombies. I don’t want to get hit from behind.”
“The main group is, what, a mile, a mile and a half further back?” asked Lizzy.
“Something like that. I guess the front ones are scouts or outriders. I don’t see the point in scouting such a short distance though, unless they’re just looking for obstructions or something.”
“Sure is a lot of them. And… What the fuck are those things on their handlebars?”
I zeroed in where Lizzy was pointing with my binoculars. “God,” I muttered.
“What is it?” asked Briana.
Lizzy closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“What?” Mary chimed in. “Tell us.”
“You two remember to watch for zombies or anything else. Lizzy and me will keep an eye on the road itself.” I hesitated. “They have human heads tied to the front of their motorcycles, not all of them, but I’d say maybe a third. Looks like they’re held on with barb wire.”
“That’s sick.”
I had to agree with Mary.
“It goes way beyond that. These people are… I don’t even know. They did wipe out that settlement, raping and killing everyone.”
Couldn’t argue with Lizzy either.
The scouts in front of the convoy moved forward, stopping a hundred fifty yards away, opposite our position.
“What are they doing?” asked Briana, bending down to speak in my ear.
“Taking a leak. I think they’re going to just pass right through the forest on their way south to wherever.”
“Damn it!” snarled Lizzy, quietly so not to be overheard. The whispering did nothing to hide her fury.
“What?” I began. Then I saw Georgy Boy.
He pulled off a dirt track south of us, crossed the highway, and drove down the road leading to the castle. His pickup was full of firewood – I guess Cherie thought my orders to accumulate a large supply were worthwhile after all. There was no indication he saw the men, and the lay of the land hid the approaching convoy itself. Plus, I could just hear his stereo, despite the windows being rolled up. The volume was at maximum as he rocked to his tunes paying absolutely no attention to the world around him.
“That idiot!” exclaimed Lizzy.
“They’re following,” I said.
“Looks like,” she agreed. “What do we do?”
“We have to help,” said Briana. “We can’t let them do what they did in Martin.”
“I know sweetie.” More riders drew close while the main band continued its steady approach. “We’re not getting over there without being seen.”
“What then?”
“Briana, call the castle and let them know what’s coming. I think of all of us, they’ll most likely believe you.”
“Simon,” she said, speaking into the handheld, “if you or anyone else is paying attention, there are some raiders approaching the castle. They’re following Georgy Boy in his pickup. We saw them from near US-385. Can you hear me?”
“Briana, that you?”
“Who’s this?”
“It’s Larry.”
“Larry, they’re wearing the same jackets as the gang that attacked Steph in Chadron, and when we went to Martin, we found the settlement there destroyed, everyone killed, even the babies. The bodies left behind, the ones who attacked, they had those same jackets. It’s like a giant motorcycle gang or something.”
There was a moment of silence. “I’ll tell everyone we might get attacked. Thanks.” He abruptly severed the connection.
“Think he’ll really do that?” asked Mary.
“Probably,” said Lizzy, slowly. “He sounded like he believed us, or at least enough to not risk it being a lie.”
“Then, what do we do?”
“We have to get back,” Lizzy told her, “and help, somehow. Not sure how. God, look at that shit.”
My eyes were drawn to an old Jeep Wrangler, missing its doors and top. The driver, a woman, had a flag pole of sorts mounted in the back, but what waved from it was a flayed human skin.
“Do you think maybe the change that made the zombies did something to these people?” asked Briana. She squeezed my shoulder.
“I’d like to go with that theory,” I replied, “but I don’t think s
o.”
“Just sick fucks who took advantage of the change to indulge themselves,” said Lizzy.
“More than that,” argued Briana. “Look at them. Think that many would be together from the start or get together so fast?”
“They started doing what they wanted, found they enjoyed it, and it spiraled.”
“Doesn’t matter Lizzy,” I said. “We’ve seen what they do. We know what they’re like.”
“What about the back trail?” asked Mary.
“Which one?”
There were a lot of trails in the Nebraska National Forest.
“The one down by the southern edge,” she explained, “that goes past the house with the orange flower pots by the windows…”
“Through the stream bed and up around toward the castle,” I finished. “Darling, you are brilliant.”
The barest of smiles touched her lips. Normally, Mary would have been grinning ear to ear and giggling after receiving the compliment. I found my hatred of Cherie increasing.
“Let’s head out,” I ordered, “quietly.”
Lizzy led the way, mostly crawling until we were out of sight of the road. We managed to get to the Jeeps without any difficulty.
* * *
“Stay here while I take a look.”
Briana slid into the driver’s seat in case we had to leave fast.
“Careful,” called Lizzy, through her rolled down window.
I jogged toward the highway, keeping to the trees until I reached a point where I could see the service road leading to the castle. Distressingly, the bulk of the convoy was already following it, and it appeared all of them planned on doing so. But while the number of vehicles was high, the variety was somewhat limited. Most of the raiders were on motorcycles. There were also a few trucks and storage vans, along with a pair of big rigs. One was pulling a gas tanker, the other a normal trailer. I had no idea what was inside.
I waited long enough to see the last of them turn onto the dirt track before hurrying back. “They’re going there, every last one.”
“We won’t get there first,” said Lizzy, “not the way we’re going.”
“But we come out behind the castle, on a rise, and in the forest,” I countered. “They won’t know we’re there.” I looked over at Briana. “I’ll drive. You let Larry know that he can expect nearly three hundred of them, and there are zombies trailing behind too. Those will almost certainly show up.”
“Zombies?” asked Mary. “How many?”
“Sixty or seventy, best I could tell. They looked to have been following the gang. They were back a ways, maybe close enough to see them, definitely close enough to hear.”
“One thing after another,” muttered Lizzy.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, we were trotting toward the edge of the wood. The animal trail exited near the meadow where we’d built our settlement, nearly a quarter mile from the castle. Lizzy, Briana, and I had donned our bullet proof vests. After carting them about for months, it was somewhat reassuring, and disturbing, to have finally found a use for the things. Lizzy tried to make Mary take hers, but it was too big and awkward for the thirteen year old. Briana’s and mine wouldn’t fit her any better. Mary was therefore assigned to watch our rear.
We had all our pistols on hand, and the clips were loaded. Lizzy and Briana also had twelve gauge shotguns while I carried the hunting rifle. The plan was to get positioned in a safe, concealed spot from which I could kill the raiders at a distance. Briana and Lizzy would provide close support if they approached. Worst case, we would try to run back to the Jeeps and escape.
“Nothing?” asked Lizzy, as Briana tried, yet again, to raise someone on the radio.
“Not a thing since Larry left to give warning.”
“Well, he seems to have done that,” she replied. “Lots and lots of gunfire. They’re fighting back.”
We reached the meadow a moment later and were finally able to see what was happening. It was indeed a full scale firefight. The gang had left their bikes and trucks in the back and were advancing on foot. Some of the animals had been killed, and many of our vehicles were shot up. However, the majority had been ignored. Their primary focus was on the castle itself.
Remember, the castle was constructed on a slight rise, and even though it is near the far end of the meadow, there’s still a good five hundred feet to the nearest tree line. This provided the defenders with a clear, open view in all directions. They also had plenty of long range rifles, like mine, designed for hunting and equipped with powerful scopes. Shooting from a fixed position behind our decorative battlements gave them an advantage over the more heavily armed attackers.
“They have machine guns!” exclaimed Mary.
“M-16’s aren’t machine guns,” I corrected. “They’re assault rifles that shoot itty bitty bullets, smaller than what we have. Those won’t get through our walls. No gun will. They’re too thick.”
“Yeah, well that didn’t help Patty,” observed Lizzy. She was watching through her binoculars. “She just fell into the courtyard, and I don’t see her getting up either. Maybe hurt, maybe dead. I don’t see Cherie anywhere, probably hiding.” She sounded disgusted.
I took off my jacket and set it atop the pine needles. Then I took up a prone firing position. It was cold outside, but I cared more about freedom of movement than staying warm.
“In the back Mary. Keep an eye out all around. Lizzy, keep doing what you’re doing now and let me know of any good targets. Briana, keep an eye out too, both directions.”
I really, really hoped they wouldn’t see us. Overall, we were outnumbered six to one, at least, more if you excluded the children and younger teens. The raiders could rush our position without ever slowing their primary attack on the castle.
“Get their sharpshooters Jacob,” ordered Lizzy. She plopped down nearby.
“Where?”
I chambered a round, and Briana set several boxes of ammo beside me.
“By their trucks. A few are next to the motorcycles too.”
I found the first quickly enough. He was carrying a gun I’d never seen before. It was huge, maybe a military sniper rifle. I didn’t know. We were a quarter mile from the castle walls and a bit more than a third a mile from where they’d left their vehicles. It was a long shot, but I’d hit deer at further. My bullet struck him a couple of inches above the heart.
“Good one,” said Lizzy, approvingly. “To the right and back.”
“See him.”
Someone else dropped the man before I had the chance to fire.
“That was Dean, I think,” said Briana. “He has his rifle and is up on the townhouse roofs.”
“Hope he doesn’t fall,” commented Lizzy.
From there the battle, and it was a battle in every sense of the word, continued unabated. Between myself, Dean whom we thought was targeting the same group, and possibly some others, their snipers died quickly. There’d only been twelve of them, and I counted for seven. I’d just killed seven men, and it didn’t bother me in the least. No, I hadn’t killed anyone. I’d never killed a human being. These were… I’d have to come up with a derogatory name later. They had ceased being part of humanity. Or not. I didn’t know, but I felt better thinking of them as something other than people.
An explosion filled the air, and dirt and stone flew up by the castle gate. There didn’t appear to be much damage to the walls, but the steel horse trailer resting immediately behind the ornate iron barricade was blasted back a few feet. It rocked violently for a moment and then tipped over onto its side. The way inside wasn’t exactly clear, but an opening had been made.
“Shoot faster Jacob,” urged Briana.
Some of the attackers charged forward. I ignored those and dropped the one who was trying to reload his RPG. At least, I think it was rocket propelled grenade. It might have been a bazooka of some sort. Damn it. I needed to find a book on military arms. I hated not knowing what I was facing. More importantly, I hated not kno
wing what these different weapons could do to me and the ones I cared about.
“Yes!” shouted Lizzy.
“What?” Looking through the scope I had a limited view of the proceedings. I shot another man. “What happened?”
“Someone just dropped a Molotov cocktail into the opening, burned up two of the raiders. Our guys are shooting down there too, big time. They can’t get in. Most aren’t even close enough to really try. There was just the one group that managed to get close.”
“Are we winning?” called Mary. True to form, she was paying attention to her job and making certain nothing came up behind us.
“No,” replied Lizzy, after a pause. “Not losing either. There are people on the walls who are injured, and some are dead. They have a lot more dead, a whole lot in the meadow, but they don’t seem inclined to give up. Brave little shits.”
“Crazy,” I corrected. “This is insanity. They did not have surprise. They didn’t even try for it. They just saw the settlement and attacked right off, best as I can tell. Most of them are running across the meadow, in the open. You’d think they would try to get some trucks up for cover.”
“That too,” conceded Lizzy. “Got one with a grenade in his hand. Nope, he tripped. There he goes in little pieces.” She began to giggle.
“Keep it together,” I cautioned.
“I am. I am. This is just… not what I expected.”
I agreed. I’ve watched hundreds of war movies over the years. In the films, battles always seemed to involve people dying left and right. In reality, it was a whole lot of shooting with most of it useless. Our guys were under cover. The raiders were constantly running about. Almost every bullet missed. People were falling, but the rate was far less than what I anticipated. With my hunting rifle, I couldn’t fire effectively at speed. The ones standing still were easy enough, but those moving, which was most of them, were hard to hit, even with the scope. It was difficult just keeping them in view.
“Zombies,” said Briana.
“Where?” asked Mary and Lizzy in unison.
“Far end of the meadow, coming up behind them, not too many.”
Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary Page 40