The Week of the Dead

by Viktor Longfellow

  “A couple of vehicles, and then there were a couple of meth-head people. Couldn’t stop twitching or talking all weird. We figured they were high on something they found. Two of them turned and ate the third one. They were operating out of this camp, so we took care of them,” she said and then strolled away to meet her husband at the road. Clint came to the highway and left the mobile home running. Jamison handed him a radio and a box of shells.

  Back at the pile of wood, Redbeard struck a match and ignited the wood. “Sorry guys, this is the best I could do,” Redbeard said as he set the flaming book of matches on the pyre. “We need to go.” The rest gasoline was siphoned out of the motorcycle tanks, and the vehicles rolled over what creatures remained on the road.

  SNEAKY BASTARDS

  CHAPTER 70

  FRIDAY 0930 CST

  ELIZABETHTOWN

  Phil drove the bus into Elizabethtown city limits. It looked the same as the other towns and colonies they had visited: destroyed and broken. Phil breathed a sigh of relief when he saw familiar vehicles. They were some of the ones that fled from the fort. “Hey, get up here!” Phil shouted over his shoulder.

  Reynolds came rushing up followed by everyone else in the bus. They crowded around the driver seat looking at the gathering of cars and trucks. Phil rolled to a stop. Reynolds grabbed his radio. “This is Reynolds. Who’s in Elizabethtown? Over.” He stood in awe as there was no response from the speaker. Reynolds changed frequencies and tried again. No response to the first four channels. When he raised the radio again, he felt the vehicle lift off the ground and shift to the right with force as the wall of the bus came crashing in.

  Reynolds found himself on his side. Staring through broken glass, he saw grass and trees at an awkward angle. He came to realize the bus was lying on its side. He looked around to find the other occupants scrambling to their feet. “Did we hit something?” Reynolds called out.

  “More like something hit us,” Ethan said as he found his footing. He pulled Jenna up. He peered out of the emergency hatch that was facing the direction of whatever pushed them off the side of the road. The bus from the second seat to the fifth on the driver side had been smashed inward. The shattered glass littered the other side, which they were standing upon.

  “The fuckers set a trap!” Ethan said as he pulled a weapon from the ground. He tossed it to Reynolds who checked the action of the weapon.

  “What about the other cars?” Harrison said as he sat up. The grunting noise and screams from outside the bus were enough to answer his question. Through the back door, they watched as two Alphas tore through the automobiles with monstrous force. Reynolds picked up the radio. “This is Lieutenant Reynolds! We are in Elizabethtown! We are under attack! Repeat! Under attack! Our vehicle is compromised. We need assistance! Is anyone out there?” A bloody hand appeared through the emergency hatch. Ethan took this opportunity to fire a shotgun through the hatch.

  Reynolds heard voices over the receiver. “Uh. Hello?” a voice said followed by military tone shouting into the radio. “This is Staff Sergeant Jamison! We almost to Elizabethtown! Two miles out! Coming to your aid! What is the situation?” He heard over the radio. “Hot damn! It’s good to hear from you! Sitrep, SNAFU! I repeat SNAFU! There are at least two Alphas, maybe more. We are holding up inside the bus. They knocked us into a ditch on the side of 65! Friendly numbers are sinking by the second. Small arms fire. Civilian weaponry. Over!” Jamison slammed on the brakes and looked at Walker who already had his vest packed with fresh magazines. “Let’s get to it!” Walker said, checking his rifle. Jamison got back on the radio using the same channel he just heard from Reynolds as it was also the radio channel his caravan was using. “Weapon readjustment. Everyone meet up at the truck. Caboose, meet me up here!” Jamison shouted on the radio.

  CB RADIO

  CHAPTER 71

  FRIDAY 0925 CST

  ELIZABETHTOWN

  Devin was chatting over the radio to his new companions. They reminisced about those who they had just lost at the campground. “Wesson family, Wesson family, your call sign is ‘Rolling Pig.’” That was Clint’s vehicle name.

  “What did you do before the shit hit the fan?” Walker asked over the radio.

  “I was a chef, a sushi chef. My wife was a teacher,” he responded quickly.

  “What about you, Caboose?” he asked Devin.

  “We worked in a junkyard. When it went down, we ran,” Devin said trying not to remind Erica about her dad and the rest of the crew they lost at the junkyard.

  “So how do we know this guy is for real? How do we know he’s not some fucking weirdo in his mother’s basement?” Clint asked over the comm.

  “We don’t, but it’s a lot better than your tree house hangout that’s burning down behind us,” Tara chimed in.

  She was still upset about losing her brother and Malik. “That wasn’t our fault. We didn’t scout the whole fucking park. Besides, how do we know you didn’t lead them there?” Faith spoke instead of her husband.

  “Kids, kids, can we all play nice until we get to the playground?” Walker said sharply, trying to keep the bullshit to a minimum.

  “Heard,” Clint said.

  “Got it,” Tara spoke.

  “I just got word from the guy. He says it’s totally not his mother’s basement. And that we will be impressed with his setup. He said we can stay as long as we’re all cool and willing to work together for the betterment of mankind,” Erica said as she read off the cell phone.

  “That sounds cheesy as shit!” Walker called.

  “Under attack…vehicle…-mpromised! Assistance…- out there?” broke through the radio. Everyone listened as they heard this new voice from the radio.

  “Uh…hello?” Clint asked.

  RICHARD’S PLAN

  CHAPTER 72

  THURSDAY 1600 CST

  VIRGINIA

  Richard and the man in the flight suit named Raven took the AH-6 helicopter from the Fort before it fell. For the last few days, they had been following Richard’s map. Every location on his map turned out to be an abandoned base or safe house of some kind. The second to last one wasn’t so abandoned. They were able to get some stocked supplies and a restful night’s sleep since there was a helipad and a refueling station on the roof of an apartment building.

  All they had to do was block the stairwells from the penthouse to below. Luckily, the electricity had seized, and they didn’t have to worry about the creatures using the elevators. They stocked up on weapons and food for the rest of their journey. Raven was along only because he slept in the back of the little-bird helicopter when Richard was stealing it. So Richard decided to put the young man to good use.

  After a few days of searching what seemed to be old abandoned housing structures, Richard drew the last circle on the map. He didn’t want to think this place was going to be the answer, but he knew something used to be there because he built it. It was the furthest away, but at least they weren’t walking.

  To kill time, Raven would toss grenades or fire at random creatures from the helicopter in motion. Both men were eager to finish the job and get back to the fort. Richard felt bad about leaving his son. Raven actually felt good for leaving the base. He was tired of those bullshit civilian pickups. He wanted to kill any walking corpses, and that was his intention to stop this epidemic. However, he enjoyed being the sexy first responder to all the human women in the Chinook. Young, old, black or white, Asian or brown, Raven didn’t care. But that was on hold while he was out doing “secret missions” with the old man.

  The last circle Richard drew on the map brought them to a suburb in Mississippi. From the forestry to the long stretches of fields, they flew to a single house on a hill. It looked like a church. The white bell tower stood erect. Most of the paint had been chipped off. The windows were barred shut. There were fingernail scratch marks on the exterior wood. “You’re fucking kidding me!” Raven whispered as the back side of the church revealed a cemetery plot.


  “Don’t worry!” Richard spoke over the communication headset. “It’s a facade.”

  THE RESCUE

  CHAPTER 73

  FRIDAY 0935 CST

  ELIZABETHTOWN

  Jamison and Walker were throwing supplies into the other vehicles. “I want weapons, ammo, and fighters in the back of the truck. Red, I want you and your people in the armored car. Distribute the other supplies so we can make room for the survivors, if there are any.” Jamison gave orders. He turned to Devin to give him orders, but he was already throwing anything that wasn’t useful out of the SWAT van.

  “What’s SNAFU?” someone asked.

  “‘Situation Normal, All Fucked Up’ also known as ‘Shit is fucked, and we need help,’” Jamison answered.

  After all the supplies were loaded and the weapons were distributed, Clint and his Rolling Pig mobile home took most of the supplies. “We want to help,” Clint said to Jamison, Redbeard, and Devin who were doing something with rolls of tape and magazines.

  “How are you with a gun?” Jamison asked. Clint looked at Faith and laughed. He opened his shirt to reveal his belt full of pistols in the daylight.

  “I’m pretty fuckin’ good. How are you?” Jamison laughed and then pointed at a lonely zombie coming down the highway. Creatures would randomly pop up from time to time. The lonely highway held pockets of houses loosely spread out in the wilderness.

  Faith took the rifle off her pack and checked the chamber. She racked the action closed and shouldered the weapon. “Too far for the bow,” she said and fired a single round. Within the half count of one, the head of the zombie exploded from the 30-06 held by the woman with the gray streak in her hair. Before Faith unshouldered the rifle, Clint was already speaking.

  “My kids don’t do guns. I never had a chance to take them shooting. But they hold their own in close quarters.” Jamison nodded and gave Rune, Raine, and Gavin some police vests from the van.

  “Just in case someone is a bad shot,” he said as he strapped the vest on Raine, giving her a polite smirk. She responded with a cold-faced stare.

  After everything was sorted and everyone was armed, they devised a plan. The Vikings and Wesson family were to ride in the armored car, Jamison and Walker would hold the transport truck, and Devin would take the SWAT van. Erica would take the Rolling Pig and those who weren’t able to help and their vehicles to stay back. They were going to be back up or defending a way out in case this thing went sour. She stood next to Isaac as they were both armed to the teeth, so she wasn’t scared. Tara came up and nodded at Redbeard. Redbeard then placed his hand on Devin’s shoulder.

  Devin stopped what he was doing and looked at the big man. “Do you believe in God?” Redbeard said.

  “Not right now, I don’t,” Devin said.

  “Well that’s good. This will be quick then. Take a knee.” Everyone who heard this turned to see the big man lower Devin to one knee.

  “Would you like to be one of us?” Redbeard asked.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Walker said. He was met with a nudge from Ferret’s elbow.

  “Shut up,” he quietly said. Redbeard motioned with an open hand for others to join him and Devin. “This is important,” Ferret said.

  Jamison, Clint, and his family, including the excited Rune, Erica, and finally Walker with an “Oh, what the hell?” attitude took a knee in front of Redbeard. Isaac and some of the others stood in the back and watched. Isaac rubbed the crucifix pendant around his neck. Redbeard began to speak. He began with “In these dark times, there must be a light to fight the darkness.” Ferret, Razor, and Tara were all holding shields. “I ask of you: be true to yourself, and fight the darkness!” He was met with a single clatter of shields from the current members. “This is the land of sword and shield, gun and bullet, life and death!” The shield smack was followed by a “Roo-yah!”

  “There is a path of righteousness! A path of glory! You may not believe in a God, but my gods believe in you!”

  “Roo-yah!” They shouted again.

  “Death meets us all. It is best if it is met with Honor and Glory!” He began drawing invisible symbols in everyone’s forehead. “We usually celebrate, but we don’t have the time,” he said as he took a long draw from a leather wine bag. “Now is the time to fight!” Redbeard spoke as he passed the bag around.”Roo-yah!” followed a shield bang. “If you do not make it back, you may take solace in the fact that your body will not move again. Your soul may go to wherever you wish. Fight the darkness!”

  “Roo-yah!”

  “Fight for Goodness!”

  “Roo-yah!”

  “Send these demons back to hell!”

  “Roo-yah!”

  “Rise! Rise again. You are now members of the Viking Elite! Make us proud! Go fight with Honor!” The entire group, except those whose fear masked their motivation, exploded in a joyous “roo-yah!”

  Moving down the road, Jamison and Walker were sitting in the cab of the transport truck. Behind them were Tara, Redbeard, Razor, and Ferret in the armored car, and Devin and the Wesson family were in the SWAT van. As the three attack vehicles were being pushed to their top speed, the behemoth vehicles on massive chassis were making good time down the road. “Here we go!” Walker said over the radio. Erica, Isaac, and the others slowed down to halt while the three vehicles stormed forward.

  Walker picked up the radio. “Reynolds! Reynolds! We’re coming to you! Coming from the South on 65! We have three, repeat three, vehicles! We are armed and ready to assist!” Walker tossed the radio down without giving time for a response. He leaned out door and fired three rounds in the air with his rifle.

  Inside the bus, Ethan and the others were fending off the creatures with whatever they could find. Phil, who held a bandage to his bleeding forehead from the airbag, held his son in the center of the bus. Ethan, Jenna, Reynolds, some of the other humans, and even Mr. Harrison were firing through the back window and doors. Paul picked up the radio and held it to his father’s ear. “Three vehicles! From the south!” Phil called out. He didn’t know where south was, and he didn’t really care at this moment.

  Jamison was the first to see the ambush that had been sprung. They watched the dirty sickly pale-looking faces attempt to scavenge for something to eat. Unfortunately for them, the humans were fighting back, and they were about to get a second wind. “Can of whoop ass incoming!” Walker shouted over the radio. Jamison smashed through the damaged cars that were blocking the road. He cut four of them down with the bumper alone. Walker took this time to fire an entire magazine out the window without aiming. “Easy, fuckface! There are friendlies! Danger close!” Devin shouted after he heard the automatic rifle.

  Jamison turned and rammed the hood of the transport truck into a local shop. He got out with his pistol and began firing at those pale faces with red eyes that held their attention on him. He ran to the back where he met Walker. They unhitched the tailgate of the transport truck and threw it down. By this time, Tara and the armored car flattened a few zombies as they stopped in the middle of the road. The Vikings tore out like barbarians leaving their raiding ships. Redbeard started by smashing things with his mace. Tara got on the roof and started firing her bow.

  Devin forced the van into the battle. He pulled up next to Jamison’s truck. Devin leaped out of the van and threw his ax at the first face he saw covered in blood. They were all firing weapons and while someone was reloading. Rune was standing close to the vehicles. He took his heavy club and used it on anything that didn’t look like a human. Raine moved to the back of Jamison’s truck, while Gavin and Clint were standing back to back. They slowly moved in a circle moving left. Staying back to back, they held a complete 360 degrees of vision. Armed with shotguns, they sprayed shells and smoke moving toward the bus.

  Ethan peered out of the emergency exit to see their back up arriving. “What the actual fuck?” he said as he saw a man in medieval armor and Jamison covering him from the truck top. Reynolds took it all
in stride. “Holy fuck!” He took this time to fire at the smaller zombies coming against the windshield. Phil was holding Paul in his lap and Harrison’s shoulder with his other hand. They didn’t know anything about fire arms, so they weren’t going to attempt to fire any. Reynolds dropped two at the windshield. “Let’s get the fuck out of here!” he shouted, breaking the glass.

  “We’re coming out! Don’t shoot us!” Phil shouted over the radio.

  Reynolds was just about through the broken windshield when a large human hand met his eyesight. Reynolds took the huge hand, which grabbed back. He was hoisted to his feet to see a red beard sticking out of a metal helmet. “Fight or get out of the way!” Redbeard shouted at him as he bashed at a zombie with his shield. Finally Ethan was hoisted to his feet, and he gave Redbeard a look over. “Welcome to the party, pal!” Ethan shouted in excitement. By this point, one of the Alphas saw the new humans eliminating the herd. Faith, standing next to Tara on the roof of the armored car, let an arrow loose connecting it to the shoulder of the Alpha. Devin climbed on top of the damaged bus. Carefully stepping on the window rails, he balanced himself. He held an assault rifle with a drum magazine. He held down a constant wave of lead for the others to exit the bus. After the others had exited the bus, Devin changed magazines and continued to release hot lead into the town of dead beings.

  The Alpha snarled and forced its way toward the bus. “He’s mine!” Redbeard shouted at Devin as he banged his mace handle against his shield. “Go boy! Arm yourself! Kill them all!” Redbeard said over his shoulder.

  “Don’t have to tell me twice!” Ethan said as he grabbed Jenna and sprinted toward the transport truck and the van. Some of the other drivers were running for Redbeard. They had been caught in the jaws of zombies and quickly turned before Devin had a chance to take them out.