by Tim Moon
Charlotte picked up the M203 off the workbench and passed it over to Ben who handed it up to Keanu.
“Head on a swivel, bro.” Kaholo nodded at Keanu.
“I’ve got this.”
Each of them had their weapons and a proportionate amount of ammunition. So, they went back inside to hear what kind of trouble Ty brought down on them. Anuhea was right. Ty had led whoever was chasing him right back to Kaholo’s house. This wasn’t going to be good.
Ty was at the kitchen sink gulping down water.
“So, what happened?” Ben said as he unslung his rifle and held it at the ready. There was no telling how long until this gang showed up.
“Those guys found me when I was running away from infected that were chasing me. I just ran right out in front of them by accident. Their cars were dark in the middle of the street. How was I to know people were inside?” Ty asked. He put the glass down and leaned against the edge of the counter. “One of them turned a flashlight on me. I almost had to fight off an infected because I was blinded, but they killed the infected.”
“They turned on their headlights. I recognized the man that was dressed as a cop. He realized I recognized him, and then I ran. They shot at me.” Ty was speed talking, trying to get it all out. “One shouted that we’d killed his brother and he was coming for us.”
“Why’d you call them a gang?” Charlotte asked.
“One of them shouted that they broke out of prison and wanted a piece of that ass,” Ty said. He shivered visibly.
“How’d you get away?” Kaholo asked, gesturing at Ty’s leg. “Aren’t you still crippled?”
“I ran and hid for a while. Then I changed directions and ran back in the general direction of the house. It took me a while to find a street I recognized in the dark.” Ty wiped his forehead. “But I heard them driving up and down the streets. Even though they’d turned off their lights, I know they were trying to track me down. And…and…I think some infected saw me run this way.”
“Oh no,” Chadwick muttered.
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Kaholo rubbed his chin.
Ben just shook his head. He was shocked. Just the other day, he’d thought Ty couldn’t surprise him anymore, but he’d done just that.
Anuhea stepped forward. “Do you have a way onto the roof?”
Kaholo eyed her for a moment as a sly grin lit up his face. “Sure do. Out back, you’ll see a shed. Get onto the shed and you’re practically there.”
“I can’t believe you led them back here,” Anuhea said again, scowling at Ty. He didn’t get a chance to respond before she left.
“I’ll go with her,” Charlotte said.
It didn’t make much sense to Ben, but he wasn’t going to tell her what to do. Maybe she just wanted to talk with Anuhea.
“Are we really going to make a last stand here?” Ben asked Kaholo. “Maybe we should just go to the docks now. We’re already packed and ready.”
Ty limped forward a step. “We can’t fight them. We have to leave now.”
Ben was pissed and had to fight the urge to punch Ty again. “Why do you say that?”
“There was more than one vehicle full of people. I think there were, like, two or three cars and an SUV.” Ty raised his eyebrows like it was obvious they would lose.
“We should load up the Humvee and truck. If we can leave before they show up, it’s not a bad plan. If nothing else, we could hide somewhere else until morning,” Kaholo said. “The thing is, once we leave, we lose any chance we have of ambushing them.”
“Even if we make a beeline for the ship?” Ben asked.
“Load up the vehicles. I think I have plan for dealing with these guys,” Kaholo said, with that sly smile returning to his face.
54
Chadwick set the last bottle of water in the bed of the truck.
“Looks like we’re all set,” he said, wiping his forehead. The night was warm despite the breeze.
Ben nodded. They were quick. It took less than five minutes to load everything for their escape. He looked over the supplies and it looked like they had everything. There was enough food and water to last them a week or more.
Sliding the rifle off his shoulder, Chadwick climbed into the truck beside Ty. Kaholo lowered the window down and the Brit pointed his rifle outside toward the street, prepared to shoot at people for the first time in his life.
“This is mental. I’m never telling my mum about this,” Chadwick said.
Kaholo chuckled in the front seat. Oliver poked his head up from the front passenger seat.
“What’s a mum?” he asked.
Everyone laughed at that, although Chadwick didn’t find it quite as humorous.
“Mum means mom,” Charlotte said.
“That’s funny,” Oliver said.
“I love that kid.” Ben chuckled.
“Let’s get serious, shall we?” Chadwick said.
“Good point. I’ll take my position.” Ben stepped away from the truck and walked across the driveway to the breezeway.
The main garage door facing the street was open. Kaholo’s plan was to keep the truck in the garage until he gave the signal for them to make a dash for downtown. It’d been at least ten minutes since Ty returned to the house and still no sign of infected or the fake cop and his crew.
Ben was starting to think no one would show up. Maybe their luck had taken a turn for the better. He knelt on the ground beside the Humvee.
Minutes ground by like a glacier, slow, persistent, and unconcerned with the toils of men, much like the infected. Ben sighed and stood up.
“Do you think they’ll come?” Ben whispered to Keanu.
“They’re here now,” Keanu whispered back. “Focus.”
Ben dropped down and looked across the street. The road was empty and he didn’t see any movement. He looked at the houses, but they were dark with only the moon to provide illumination.
Then he saw something on the roof directly across the street. It was subtle and slow. Someone was on the roof. Ben hoped they hadn’t spotted Anuhea. No one made any noise. Ben opened his mouth slightly and slowed his breath.
A car started somewhere in the distance. With its lights off, the car rolled slowly past the front of the house, off to Ben’s left. Without changing speed, it came around the corner and drove up the street that they were facing. Its windows were down and Ben saw guns poking out. Kaholo was supposed to signal the attack, but nothing happened. The car would be in front of them in just a few seconds.
With a loud whoosh, a flare shot out of the garage and struck a bush at the corner of the driveway. It burst into flame thanks to the gasoline they’d poured on it and a second later there was a massive boom as a large gas can that Kaholo used for his lawn mower exploded. A huge fireball lit up the night and rose into the sky. Ben’s heart raced and he flinched when he felt the blast wave slam into him. It was too weak to injure him, but it was still surprising.
Hell was unleashed on the quiet street.
Guns on both sides began to crack and rattle off rounds. Cracks and pings announced bullets that impacted against the breezeway and Humvee. Keanu fired several bursts into the car and it stopped moving. A second car raced down the street from the opposite direction.
A round cracked past him and he felt a burning sensation on his shoulder. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he kept firing. He saw muzzle flash and fired two rounds at it. Then he focused on the car coming toward them.
Ben aimed at the driver’s door, leading the target, and squeezed his trigger repeatedly. He definitely hit the car, but it was impossible to tell if he hit anyone inside it. A bottle trailing a small flame flew out of the car’s rear window, leaving a faint light trail in its wake. It burst in the driveway, scattering glass and flame in all directions. Luckily, the Molotov cocktail had little effect.
Shots came from between the houses across the street. Ben could see bodies moving.
Two honks from Kaholo’s truck indicated it was
time to roll out.
Ben climbed into the driver ’s seat, pulled forward, and stopped just outside of the breezeway. A thump overhead indicated that Anuhea had jumped down. Ben waited for a moment while she slid off the roof of the Humvee and got inside.
Kaholo’s truck peeled out and rocketed down the driveway. The car that lobbed the Molotov cocktail at them turned right and raced away. Kaholo followed them. Ben followed Kaholo, clipping the car in the road.
“Holy shit! That was wild,” Ben said.
Anuhea whooped in the passenger seat and slapped the roof in excitement.
They raced down the road following Kaholo. Above them in the turret, Keanu fired off several short bursts. Chadwick fired out of the truck’s window at the car they chased. It didn’t look like he was aiming and the shots went wide. Keanu fired a grenade and it burst just in front of the black car.
As they sped through an intersection, Ben saw a blur racing toward Kaholo’s truck. A dark form slammed into the bed of the truck and Kaholo’s truck spun with a small blast of sparks and the squeal of tires. It turned out to be the SUV that Ty had mentioned.
Rather than slowing down, the SUV gunned the engine and pushed past the truck. Ben had to swerve to avoid hitting their friends. He clipped the back of the SUV. Then Ben turned the other way, so that the Humvee shoved the SUV with enough force that it skidded out of control and ran into a parked car.
Ben swerved, pressed the accelerator and t-boned it, pinning the SUV to the parked car. Keanu took the time to fill the SUV with 5.56mm rounds from the SAW. Ben waited for a few seconds, watching the vehicle as Keanu blasted it apart. Blood rushed through Ben’s arteries at breakneck speed. Spent brass battered against the roof of the Humvee like rain in a typhoon, a flood of casings spilling inside. The smell of gunpowder was thick in the air. No one could have survived that. Just as Ben threw the shifter into reverse with what seemed like Herculean effort and sped back toward the intersection, the SUV burst into flames engulfing the bodies inside.
“Whoa!” Ben shouted.
Anuhea was muttering something unintelligible.
Ben continued backing up and stopped beside Kaholo’s truck, to see if everyone was okay. Ben opened his door to get out and was surprised when Chadwick popped out of the window.
“We’re good, mate. Just a wee bit rattled,” Chadwick shouted.
“Good to go?” Ben asked.
Kaholo looked at him and gave him a thumbs up. Ben could see that he’d hit his head against the window. A small trail of blood ran down the side of Kaholo’s face, but he looked fine.
Ben sat down and yanked the door closed.
“Anyone hurt?” Anuhea asked him.
“Nothing major, we’re good.” Ben spun the Humvee around and followed Kaholo. The truck’s tailgate fell off and the bed was seriously crooked. The tire on the side that was hit by the SUV wobbled visibly, but the truck ran and that’s all that mattered at that point.
There was no sign of the car or any other pursuit.
Ben caught his breath and focused on driving. He left the rest to his friends, because anything more than keeping them on the road was too much. Ben’s gut twisted as he realized what had become of his life: car chases, gunfights, and zombies.
55
“We’re almost there,” Keanu shouted to Ben.
Satisfied that no one was following them, Kaholo was finally leading them to the Coast Guard Station. They spent who knows how much time driving a confusing, seemingly circular pattern through the small town. During their circuit of Hilo, they had seen the clusters of infected. For the most part, they avoided them. When they came across a smaller group, Ben plowed through them just to reduce their numbers.
At one point, Kaholo led them to a large parking lot and stopped. After several long minutes, Ben figured out that they weren’t waiting for the people chasing them. It dawned on him that all the driving around stirred up the infected. Anuhea pointed out that Kaholo was probably luring the infected into the parking lot, which was on the other side of town from the docks.
The clusters they passed by had coalesced into a massive crowd. Watching them stumbling toward their vehicles as they sat there waiting was terrifying. Each step they took closer to the vehicles ratcheted up the panic inside Ben.
“Under normal circumstances, I’m terrified of spiders.” Ben gulped. “After seeing this, no spider will ever frighten me again.”
Anuhea nodded and watched.
Harnessing all of his willpower, Ben waited for Kaholo to lead them away. When they finally left, close to a thousand infected had filled the shopping center’s lot marching toward them like a mob of French revolutionaries. Ben sped away without looking back, leaving them far behind.
Kaholo led them through town. Ben noticed that they were on a main road that ran along the coast. Kaholo turned and then began to slow down. Ben followed him through a gate and backed into a parking spot. They climbed out of their ride. Ben stretched and looked around. It was quiet again, eerily so. Darkness enveloped the town. Just like in the neighborhoods, the streetlights were out here.
“This way,” Keanu said as he dropped down from the roof. He groaned as he straightened up. “I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“Sweet parking job,” Anuhea quipped.
Ben shrugged.
“My head hurts,” a little voice said. Ben realized it was Oliver, so he went to go check on the boy even though he was already with the only person qualified to help him.
“You okay, buddy?” Ben asked softly. He knelt beside the boy.
Oliver looked at him and Ben could see the tears in his eyes. He shook his head slowly, wincing at the pain.
Ben put an arm around his little shoulders, giving him a quick hug. “Lucky for you, Charlotte can help. Did you know that she’s a nurse?”
He shook his head. “I saw her help Ty. I just thought she was nice.”
“Well, she is nice,” Ben said with a laugh. “But she also knows a lot about medical stuff. So listen to what she says and I know you’ll be all right.”
Oliver nodded.
“Get to the front door,” Kaholo said, striding toward the building. He looked back and waved at them to follow him.
“Come on, Oliver,” Ben said.
They lined up near the front door. Kaholo turned to look at them.
“It should be clear inside. I dealt with the infected last time I was here,” he said. He frowned at the memory. “Still, keep your eyes open.”
With that, he unlocked the front door and held it open.
“Inside now,” Kaholo said. He held his shotgun, resting it against his shoulder. Kaholo’s pose made Ben think of Frank Castle, The Punisher. It made him grin as he passed by his new friend and entered the building.
A powerful odor struck him in the face and he fought the urge to vomit. Oliver groaned.
“It smells yucky. I don’t like it here.” Oliver covered his face.
“Give me a few minutes to get what I need.” Kaholo walked through another door, moving into a back hallway separate from the waiting room they stood in.
Keanu followed his brother. “Be right back.”
“You guys come over there,” Ben said, gesturing to the others to move out of view of the doors. He knelt down and peered around the corner to keep an eye out.
Outside, the streets were empty, and other than the people chasing them, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw someone that didn’t end up joining their group. Ben pressed his lips into a frown, clenching his teeth. The idea that they were the last ones alive on the island was just too much to bear.
Of all the people on the island, he found it hard to reconcile the fact that he’d lived while others like 1LT Franco had died. What right did he have to keep breathing when other, more capable, people had fallen? He felt unworthy. The devil on his shoulder asked him what he expected. He was unworthy. It was why his father left him and mom all those years ago. His fiancée broke up with him because he wa
s unworthy; it was why he lost his job at Black Tide, and why he’d never have a family of his own.
So, how had he survived?
Ben looked at his friends sitting in the sparsely cushioned chairs that lined the walls of the waiting room. They were the only reason he’d made it this far. He didn’t want to let them down. Ben gritted his teeth again and adjusted his grip on the rifle. He wouldn’t let his friends down. He wouldn’t abandon Oliver. He wouldn’t fail his mom, even if it was the death of him.
Ben stared out at the barren roads and let out a breath. Suddenly, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest.
56
Altoona, PA
Vanessa Koehler ran like she never had before. She cut across the backyard, climbed over a short fence and came out on the next block, leaving the dead infected and the short man in her dust.
She was near an intersection. It looked so far to cross, but she didn’t slow down. Rather, she poured on all the speed she could muster and ran behind the first house on the corner.
Passing between the houses, she leapt over a white picket fence and crossed the next yard. Where was everyone? She couldn’t see anyone to ask for help.
She cursed, but continued running through the neighborhood. Vanessa kept up the pace much longer than she believed was possible. She wasn’t invincible though, the lactic acid began to build up in her calves and thighs and her breaths were coming in gasps. If she was caught and she was too winded to defend herself, her chances of survival would be nil.
As Vanessa entered another backyard, she saw a large shed. It didn’t look locked so she chanced opening the door to see if she could hide inside. It was a large plastic shed, one of the cheap from a home improvement store. At this point, anything would work as long as there was enough room for her. She had to rest to catch her breath.
Inside the shed it smelled like dried grass clippings and gasoline. It was musty and smelled slightly moldy. Nevertheless, there was room for her and that is all that mattered.