by Ricky Sides
“I’m sure they would, once I proved that they work,” John said.
“That would be easy enough to do, wouldn’t it?” Dana asked.
“Yes, it would, but we can’t settle for just the injections. I promised the men we’d be set with enough supplies to see us through the winter.”
“Do we need them this badly?”
“That depends. Do you want to eat past next week?”
Dana frowned in irritation but didn’t rise to the bait. She had thought they were much better supplied, and learning that this wasn’t the case was unsettling. For the first time, she began to doubt the wisdom of linking up with his people.
“We have a large group. It takes tons of supplies to keep us all well fed and equipped.” He shook his head in agitation. “No, we can’t leave without the supplies these people must have stored here.”
“Okay, I understand,” Dana said, and she did. As soon as he left the RV to join his men or give them instructions, she planned to go through the contents and put together a bag of supplies. If he wouldn’t listen to reason, then she was going to get ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
A loud knocking sounded on the door of the RV. John got up from his chair and opened the door. “Hey, boss, old Crazy Eddie made it here,” one of John’s men reported.
“Great, I need to see him then,” John replied. He turned to Dana and said, “This shouldn’t take long.”
“Take as long as you like,” Dana responded with a smile. “I think I’ll straighten up the RV. It’s getting a little rough around the edges.”
“Good. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that anyway. Since you’re living here, I want you to keep the place looking better. I’ll have one of the men refill the generator with fuel and fire it up. Then you can switch off the battery-powered lanterns. We’re getting low on batteries anyway.”
John left without noticing the flash of anger in Dana’s eyes. “If he thinks I’m going to be his domestic servant, he’s in for a surprise,” she muttered to herself as he closed the door.
Outside, John had a man get to work on the generator set up beside his RV, and then he followed the messenger toward a beat up old nondescript Chevrolet van that was parked near one of the many campfires being maintained by his men to illuminate their area so that they could see zombies if any approached. Most of the windows of the van had been boarded up with plywood, and the owner had welded a piece of chain link fence material to a rebar frame in front of the windshield. He found the owner standing beside the van, wolfing down a plate of food that someone had brought him.
“Hello, Eddie, it’s good to see you. We could use your help,” John said by way of greeting.
“Hey, you know for a share of what you said you’ll get here, I’m interested,” Eddie said, and then he returned to eating as if he hadn’t eaten in days.
John had worked with the man in the past, so he was accustomed to the ways of Crazy Eddie. The man was guilty of working on his passion to the point that he often neglected to stop to eat. Therefore, he had standing orders for their cook to have a meal ready when he was expected to visit them.
Eddie ate in silence for another minute, and then he threw the empty plate over his shoulder, causing one of John’s men to have to jerk his head to the side to avoid being struck by the unorthodox projectile. The man scowled at the visitor, but said nothing.
“Now,” Eddie said, “what can I do to help?”
John pulled the hand drawn map of the refuge from his pocket and showed it to his visitor. He let the man study the map, waiting patiently for him to take in all of the known details.
“Ah, I see the trench would be a problem, but what about the fences? How are they constructed?” Eddie inquired.
“The inner fence is the strongest. It’s heavy gauge welded wire attached all the way to the top of heavy-duty steel Y posts, and topped by concertina wire that fits in the top of the V-shaped top of the Y posts. It is eight feet tall. Eleven, counting the concertina wire top. That was the original fence built by the Army.”
“What about the other fence?” Eddie asked.
“The outer fence was added later by the civilians. It isn’t anywhere near as sturdy as the inner, but it ties up people trying to breach it all the same. It’s simple barbed wire construction. The posts are large wooden poles. It’s eight feet tall, and has strands of barbed wire about every six inches apart. There are wires woven through the strands between the poles to prevent people from trying to push them apart to make enough space to slip through.”
“And the ditch?” Eddie asked.
“The trench is set twenty feet from the outside of the original fence. It’s about seven feet deep and ten feet wide, and it surrounds the compound. Well, most of it. They left the ground intact at the gates. They also drove sharpened stakes into the ground, so crossing it is a problem.”
“Okay. I see you have guard towers on the map. We’ll come back to that in a minute. What are these long lines drawn inside the wire?”
“Those are berms,” John said when he glanced down to see the lines that Eddie was referencing. “They put defenders on top to hold off attackers attempting to cross the trench or breach the fences. They hold the high ground that way. It was a good defensive plan against small arms.”
“Not so good if you have mortars and RPGs though,” Eddie noted.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have either,” John said.
“Then it’s a good thing I made it here. Otherwise, you might lose twenty or more men trying to break through their defenses.”
“We did,” John said, annoyed at the admission. “Now, what can you do to help us?” he asked.
Crazy Eddie laughed and said, “I’ll show you.” He walked to the back of his van and unlocked the door.
When Eddie opened the rear door of the van, John stared in astonishment at the small homemade mortar he saw inside the cargo area of the vehicle. “When you told me what we would be up against, I decided to bring Little Bertha. She looks little and weak, but she can hurl a ten pound high explosive cartridge up to 300 yards.”
“Now you’re talking. With that piece of equipment, we can shell their defensive berms, and blow a hole in their fences,” one of John’s men said.
“Hold on now, buddy. I don’t have an unlimited amount of ammunition with me,” Eddie said. “I’ve got six rounds, and it may take a couple to get the thing set up. I have some different charges to clear fences and such, so there’s no need to waste mortar rounds on that.”
“How are we going to get the explosives to the fences without getting shot?” the man asked. “They already stopped one attempt to breach their fences tonight.”
“You got any vehicles you don’t mind losing?” Eddie asked.
“We’ve got a couple. If they can help us get past those fences, it would be worth their loss,” John replied. Then he said, “I take it you plan to strap bombs to one and detonate it when the vehicle gets to the fence.”
“Something like that,” Eddie confirmed.
“How are you going to make the car go where you want it to go without driving it?” asked one of the men.
“Leave that to me. It’ll go where I want it to go.”
***
Shaunna’s army was hungry. For that matter, so was she. They had been traveling for days, and though they had killed often, they were so numerous that most of them had eaten very little. Therefore, when her anizombie stopped and stared into the night along the edge of the road, Shaunna stopped and stared with it. She didn’t see anything, but she could smell the small herd of deer that had bedded down for the night.
The Alpha female zombie placed her hand on the anizombie’s shoulder to control it, but the precaution wasn’t necessary. The animal’s natural inclination to bark had been subverted by the parasites, and by now, it had been conditioned to hunt the way Shaunna hunted. It turned its head in the downwind direction, and then looked up at Shaunna who nodded in approval. She lifted her restrain
ing hand and the undead canine moved off at a slow and steady pace.
Shaunna followed the anizombie as it circled wide on the downwind side of the herd of deer. It was important that the prey not detect their scent until they were in position to close the circle around them. Once that happened, it would be too late for them to escape.
The lesser zombies followed in Shaunna’s wake. Although all zombies benefitted from the parasite-enhanced sense of smell, only the anizombie and Shaunna had detected the deer thus far, thanks to the lack of wind. Therefore, the zombies moved through the night quietly. As they walked along, they formed a circle around the herd of deer.
Shaunna stopped when she came to the remnants of her army. She then turned to face the direction of the deer in the center of the circle. The anizombie stood beside her. It turned its head and stared in her direction, waiting for the signal to attack. Many of the lesser zombies regarded the Alpha female in anticipation. Then, Shaunna opened her mouth and voiced her customary scream that would send her army into battle.
The zombies that had been with her longest associated Shaunna’s scream with the nearness of prey. Those closest to her watched their leader as she stepped in the direction of the deer with her anizombie. To her left and right, her minions followed suit. Like a circle of dominos, they rippled into motion until they were all advancing inward.
Startled by Shaunna’s scream, as well as the scent of the approaching zombies, the deer trapped within their circle sought to escape only to discover that there was no way out. At first, they fled away from the scream, but then a gust of wind from the north blew the scent of the undead to them, which caused them to turn to the south. When they came within sight of the zombies, they turned and tried to flee to the east. Of course, they soon encountered more as Shaunna’s circle of hunters contracted and thickened.
The Alpha female advanced ahead of her minions with the anizombie by her side. Her zombie army was at a bit of a loss. They weren’t certain how to go about attacking the agile herbivores they had surrounded. Members of the herd snorted, stamped their feet, and rolled their eyes in fear as they stopped before the first of the zombies that they encountered, and then they raced away to encounter another. As the encircling maneuver tightened, the deer had less and less open space to use in their attempts to escape.
Then Shaunna spotted a magnificent buck with a wide, ten-point rack. She ran toward the creature. The anizombie German Shepherd ran beside her. The buck tossed its antlered head in defiance, and then it charged Shaunna, lowering its head as it did so The Alpha female responded by cutting to the left as she ran. The anizombie canine moved to the right. Both turned back in and converged on their prey as it sought to gore them with its rack. It managed to impale a slower zombie that was in the wrong place at the wrong time, thus the deer trapped its head momentarily.
Shaunna and the anizombie attacked in concert from opposite sides of the buck. Shaunna struck it a powerful blow in the side of the neck with her fist as the canine savaged its left hind leg, causing the deer to drop to its hindquarters.
By this time, the deer had extricated its antlers from the male zombie. It then turned in Shaunna’s direction so that it could use its natural weapon on her. She grabbed the gore-covered rack with both her hands and twisted the deer’s head at a sharp angle. The anizombie jumped in and locked its jaws like a vise on the buck’s throat.
Shaunna twisted harder as the trapped buck struggled for its life. She forced the hapless animal lower to the ground. It bleated in pain as the anizombie shook its head and sank its fangs deeper into its throat. Soon, the damage to its throat made it impossible for it to vocalize its agony.
Shaunna screamed again, causing the anizombie to release its hold. Then, the unrelenting pressure that she had been applying to its neck overcame the deer’s strength and she snapped its neck, separating vertebra in the process. The animal collapsed and Shaunna knelt down beside it and began to feed. She looked up once to encourage the anizombie to join her, but then she concentrated on her meal, as did her canine companion.
All around them, the other zombies were fighting the trapped deer. Several terrified members of the herd made incredible leaps that carried them over zombies that were blocking them, only to be met by others when they landed. When two or more zombies got their hands on the herbivores, they were brought down bleating in pain and fear.
The zombies fed on the deer until nothing edible remained. When the last of the meat had been eaten, Shaunna moved back toward the highway. The anizombie trotted past her and took the lead once more. Behind her, the lesser zombies followed. Soon they were all back out on the asphalt and moving at their best speed toward the refuge.
***
Herb awoke when he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. He had gone to sleep earlier, taking his turn in the rotation of men resting on the berms. Randy was beside him. He said, “I’m sorry to wake you, but there’s something going on out there.”
Herb got to one knee and stared out into the darkness. He saw the headlights of a vehicle that appeared to be driving in circles out in the field to his right. “This looks like a diversion to me,” he said quietly.
“I think so too. I told the tower guards to ignore the vehicle, as long as it’s just circling out there, and concentrate on watching for the real threat. The headlights are a problem though. They are interfering with the guards’ night vision equipment.”
“Yeah, they would do that,” Herb acknowledged with a frown. Then he asked, “How long have they been doing this?”
“Ten minutes or so,” Randy replied.
The vehicle stopped out in the field. It was facing the southwest guard tower. Herb could hear the engine revving up several times, and then the car shot toward the compound.
“What are they doing?” Herb said incredulously when it became apparent that there was no way the vehicle would be able to stop before running over the edge and down into the trench that protected the refuge.
Crazy Eddie’s plan was simple. He had one of Big John’s men drive the car out into the field to distract the defenders while he sent in the real attack, which was a large remote controlled model truck that had been packed full of explosives. He would operate the model truck from his position beside his mortar that John’s men had helped him carry into the woods. Once everything was ready for the next step, he gave the signal over the radio.
The driver of the decoy car stopped and aligned the vehicle with the compound target. In order to make it look good, Eddie instructed the man to target the southwest guard tower, which would be a legitimate target. The driver had tied the steering wheel in order to keep the car running straight. He wedged a piece of wood against the accelerator, opened the door, and rolled out of the moving vehicle. He had removed the dome light bulbs so that no light would betray him when he opened the door. Therefore, the men inside the refuge had no idea they were being attacked by an unmanned vehicle. The driver raced back toward the road in order to escape the danger zone.
At the same time the driver was bailing out of the decoy vehicle, Eddie had the RC truck rolling toward the outer gate of the refuge. He hoped to time the arrival of his bomb at the gate so that it occurred seconds after the initial attack.
The guard in the southwest tower opened fire on the approaching vehicle that had almost reached the trench. When the car reached the edge of the ditch, it went airborne briefly, but lacked the speed and a ramp necessary to make a successful jump across it. The front end of the vehicle struck the wall of the trench four feet below the rim. An explosion blew fire high into the night sky, ruining the night vision of most of the guards, which was one of Eddie’s goals.
The RC truck was responding well to Eddie’s controls. Unfortunately, he misjudged the timing needed to swerve around the pit that had been created by the twin explosions when John’s man attempted to breach the gates. His truck slid down into that pit and there was no way for him to get it out. That left him with only one option. He would have to use
the other truck he had planned to use to destroy the second gate. He would only be able to blow one of the gates, but when he cleared the berms, John’s men should have little trouble taking out the other.
The fire in the trench was still raging when Eddie set the second truck in motion.
Inside the compound, Herb raced up the steps of the southwest tower in order to get a bird’s eye view of the damage in that area. He was almost certain that the bomb had failed to harm anything other than the trench, but he needed to know if that assumption was correct. He had just arrived when the second RC truck blew up at the outer gate. The explosion sent bits of metal and dirt hurling through the night sky.
When the dust settled, Herb saw that they had lost the protection of the outer gate.
Jason was in the southeast tower that Trevor had manned earlier. He heard the sound of a mortar discharging. It was a sound he hadn’t heard since his days in the war, but he recognized it. He yelled a warning into the radio, and then he dropped it and grabbed his rifle.
He was searching for the enemy when the first round exploded between the inner fence and one of the berms. Jason knew he had to find the mortar crew and stop them. Otherwise, the enemy would be able to blow apart their defenses with ease. Yet, try as he might, he couldn’t see a sign of movement, nor even a muzzle flash when the second round discharged.
Out in the woods, Hernando and Bernie were trying to get into position to shoot the mortar man who was attacking the refuge. They had seen the team enter the woods earlier and moved to follow them, but had to move slowly and with great care because of the number of the enemy personnel in the woods. “They are using explosives,” Hernando hissed at Bernie. “We have to stop them.”
“I know,” Bernie whispered.
They moved through the trees, taking greater risks of discovery because of the desperate need to terminate the attack team. Their task was made even more difficult because of the return fire from the refuge. If they weren’t careful, there was a very real danger that they could be killed by their own people. Yet, this was a danger both men understood and were prepared to accept.