by Flacco, Jack
The guards traded glances, but didn’t move from their spot. Instead of following protocol by calling it in, they stood on the dock like idiots waiting for the boat to arrive.
Eventually, a third guard marched toward the two. They saluted him and he grabbed the binoculars from them to inspect the sight. He bit his tongue with the thought that whatever was heading their way wouldn’t be friendly. Although he couldn’t see anyone onboard, he assumed it hostile.
The third guard smacked the binoculars on the second guard’s chest and ran from the dock into a warehouse through a set of doors that led to the middle of the city and into the street where a crowd of people stood playing mini putt with a golf ball and some sticks. The third guard searched the area but couldn’t find him.
He left the crowd and ran the entire way to the east side of the city through a parking lot, a building then an alley that led to the city’s munitions storage. Scanning the place, he still couldn’t find him.
He soon followed the smell of smoke and dashed through a courtyard to the other side where he stopped in front of Josh, heaving, attempting to catch his breath.
“What is it?” Josh asked, while Steadman and the other goons looked on.
“A yacht.” The guard panted through his words while his hands held his knees. “A yacht is drifting toward the dock. No one’s on it but I’m sure the motor’s running.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yeah, hard not to miss a yacht in the middle of the bay.” The guard swallowed air.
Josh turned to Steadman, “Get everyone you can find to head to the dock. If someone’s on that boat, I want to know who it is. If rot brains are on it, kill them all.”
Steadman grabbed half the men and ran through the street heading west toward the dock.
Josh stayed behind and said to the guard who reported the incident, “You did well. Tonight you have extra rations of potatoes landing on your plate.”
* * *
Getting out of the truck, Silver and Abigail ran to the back of the pickup, opened the hatch and dove on the bed. They inspected the gas canisters, the crates with the ammo and the rope holding everything in place. Silver tugged at it making sure it didn’t move. He nodded an okay to Abigail who tugged at it as well giving him her okay to say they were ready. They jumped from the back, closed the hatch and looked at one another a final time.
“Whatever happens,” Silver said, “It’s all for our friends.”
“Right.” Abigail said.
While Silver and Abigail jumped into the pickup’s cab, inside the towers overlooking the valley behind the wall, the guards fanned themselves hoping the heat would subside. They had opened the windows but they knew being at a higher altitude also meant it did nothing to cool them off.
The chewers at the foot of the wall that numbered in the hundreds rocked back and forth searching for human. Their broken flesh and green tone was a testament to how long they had stood in their places since the change. The bulk of the horde leaned against the southeast corner where the bones of their latest victim, the guard who had attacked Matty in the cage, rested. A handful of the undead roamed the entrance where the doors stood solid.
A subtle calm floated in the midst of the horde as the air was still and quiet. Other than the hushed moans from the zombies, the lonely breeze whistling between them provided the only other sound. Their docile state kept them tame in spite of what was going on around them.
At the top of the wall, as one of the guards dried the back of his neck with a cloth he had taken from a shelf nearby, another guard’s eyes grew wider. He ran past the first guard, and over to the rail outside with his hands stopping him from going any further. His mouth widened, and his face became as cotton. He stared beyond the horde below, beyond the valley to a spot in the middle of the road that led straight to the doors of the fortified city.
The pickup truck was careening at full speed. Its wheels burned the road as it tore passed stop signs and landmarks. As it raced to its final destination, the guard quickly pulled his sniper rifle from his back and aimed it at the threat heading their way. A funny thought went through his mind. Didn’t the driver know it was a suicide mission? Did they care they wouldn’t survive barreling into solid steel doors? Hadn’t they thought of it before pressing their foot on the pedal? A silly thought, no less.
He peered through the scope of his rifle and aimed the barrel at the driver’s side. The sun’s glare reflected from the windshield and the guard couldn’t make out the driver. He didn’t recognize the truck and his orders were always the same: shoot anything that moved outside the city walls.
As he held his breath to take his shot, the truck flew passed a rock on the road and had made it halfway. In among the supplies packed on the truck’s bed, between the gas canisters, and the ammo packs, a grenade sat in a box with a wire tied to it. The wire ran from inside the box to the top of the pickup’s cab. It then spun straight to the truck’s radiator, tied in a series of knots.
Back on the wall, the guard leaned forward, edged his finger on the trigger and waited until the crosshairs lined up with the driver. Once ready, he let his breath out slowly and squeezed the trigger.
The first shot hit the windshield square on the driver’s side, but the truck continued to move.
The guard pulled his gaze away from his rifle to stare at the oncoming vehicle with his own eyes. The other guards formed a line next to him, raising their rifles and aiming at the truck.
Silver ought to have died with that first bullet, but the truck kept going without relent.
Next, the guard gave the order for the others to stand down while he took aim once again. After another shot to the driver’s side, the truck kept coming. He pulled his gaze away again and stared at the vehicle screaming toward them. By this time, the guard realized the truck was set on a path to destroy anything in its way. The thought entered his mind that either he had killed the driver or someone was steering the vehicle from the passenger seat.
On both counts, the guard was wrong.
No one sat in the cab. Silver had wedged a stick between the seat and the accelerator and had tied a rope to the steering wheel and the dash to keep the vehicle steady.
Silver and Abigail lay on their tummies at the top of the hill as they watched their handiwork head straight for the city gate.
* * *
The yacht gently crashed on the pier on the west side of the city. Its motor had stopped and it stood there in the water waiting for a welcome party.
Half-a-dozen men and Steadman stood with their assault rifles ready for anything. When they saw no one had docked the ship, the grip on their weapons eased. Relief settled on their faces as they drew closer to the boat. Steadman motioned at two men to board the ship. He wasn’t one to take a chance and announce that everything was fine until he had the craft searched from bow to stern.
The men hopped aboard with their rifles leading ahead of them. While Steadman and the others waited, the two men tossed the top portion of the ship, going from cabin to cabin not finding anything. They dashed from the top of the stairs to below deck and ran through each compartment, always with their guns at the ready in case anyone jumped from a hiding place. So far, they didn’t find anyone. In the galley, they scooted to inspect the last of the corners. The engine room had plenty of hiding spots, yet they didn’t find a thing.
They appeared at the top of the yacht and declared the boat clean. No one was on it.
They were wrong.
In one of the cabins at the top under the seats, both Ranger and Lenny stared at the guards that had their backs turned toward them. They sat waiting for the signal from Silver that they could pop from their hiding place and rush into the city to find Matty and Randy.
* * *
The old man Toby led the kids through a series of passageways underneath the city. The smell of the fire had long gone, replaced by the stench of sewage seeping into their nostrils. Matty hated it so much that she had covered her nose with t
he collar of her shirt. Although his hands trembled, Randy followed Jon and Toby while Matty held the rear. Randy focused his eyes on Toby and didn’t deviate from looking anywhere else other than their guide. He didn’t need a reminder that where he had come from was as disgusting a place as where they were. His head swam in fear, but he kept it hidden from the rest of the others.
Once Toby saw the light, he stopped and turned to the others while placing a finger over his mouth to shush them. From that point forward, they were in hostile territory and needed to remain perfectly quiet. Nothing should penetrate their lips.
Not a word. Not a cough.
But Matty couldn’t help a sneeze from brewing. She jammed both her hands on her face and tightened her eyes. It evaporated in a quick silent explosion inside her head. She wondered if she had killed a few million brain cells by holding it in.
Beyond the darkness, Toby eased his head at the sewer opening and scanned the crowd at the docks. He saw four guards standing at the pier with Steadman, while two others stood on the bow of the ship. If there ever was a time he wanted to retreat, it was then. He couldn’t see an escape other than the yacht and two small boats laced to the edge of the dock. He thought the only thing left for him was to show the kids the way out and hope they make it out in time.
They had to wait until the guards left though. They couldn’t do anything with the guards who were ready to take on anyone who approached the boats.
* * *
As the truck continued on its path to destruction, the zombies at the foot of the wall wailed and screamed. They flung their arms against the wall and gnashed their teeth at the structure. The shots that blasted from the guard’s rifles at the top of the wall awakened the mass, and they screeched their hunger at the humans. They glared at the wall with their white eyes and tore at it with their fingers as if they had wanted to climb. They couldn’t, as the wall was tall and the way was secure. The roar of the truck ripped the silence tearing their attention from the structure to the vehicle. If they saw it move, they’d also move to find out what the ruckus was.
The guard at the top of the wall, who had taken the first shot at the truck, screamed at the other guards to let loose their volleys. They didn’t know what the pickup contained and they didn’t want to find out after it crashed into the doors of the fortress. The guard whipped out his whistle and blasted the alert over the other side of the wall. The instructions were to use the whistle only in an emergency.
A truck rocketing toward them seemed a big enough emergency to him.
While he blew the whistle, back at the docks, Steadman heard the blaring alert and ordered his guards to follow him to the other side of the fortress. Given he hadn’t found anything on the yacht, the look of defeat floated all over his face. The two guards on the boat raced from the deck and joined the others in a staggered line from the pier through the city and to the entrance of the fortress. Steadman didn’t know why someone had blown the whistle, but the instructions were clear. All hands to the source of the alert.
At the same time, Josh, who had remained with six other guards in the park, also heard the whistle and ordered his men to follow him to the source.
Between Steadman who took his guards to the fortress gate and Josh leading his men with the same intention, no one stood guard over the pier.
If Ranger’s plan was to use the truck as a diversion, forcing the fortress’ guards to head to the origin of the chaos so that he could get to the kids and haul them from the fortress, then the plan was working. He didn’t have a worry in the world.
When Lenny saw everyone had left the pier, contrary to Ranger’s specific instructions to wait for the signal, he rose from his hiding place under the seat. Ranger pulled at Lenny’s shirt, but Lenny didn’t care. He had made up his mind, and carried his weapon with him out into the open. Ranger wasn’t about to jeopardize the mission because of impatience. He stayed behind waiting—just in case.
While Lenny hopped on deck, Toby, who stood staring from the sewer grill underneath the street, placed his hands around Randy, who shook with fear wanting to get out of the darkness. The boy couldn’t stand it and wanted out of the tunnels. A little while longer. Toby held him. A little while longer.
Relief filled Lenny’s face. Ranger was missing out. The guards had gone, he thought, and they were the only ones on the dock. It was safe.
He thought.
The bullet cracked through the air and hit Lenny in the chest. He fell to his knees. As he slapped his hands on the wound and gazed down while gasping for breath, another bullet pierced him in the throat. His face turned white and his mouth opened, but no words came.
Josh had turned back with the thought that everything seemed too neat of a package—the whistle going off at the same time a yacht appeared on the dock. A greater plan was at work and he was in the middle of it.
Lenny tumbled from the deck face first crashing on the dock below with his hands spread on both sides of him. He died senselessly without a goodbye.
Chapter 26
Hundreds of the undead that had stood vigil awoke to the sound of the shots pounding from the top of the wall. As the cadavers dragged and limped, the pickup Silver and Abigail had packed with gas canisters and crates of ammo raced from the top of the hill into the valley, hitting and splattering anything that moved.
While the whistle screamed its warning of impending disaster, the guards standing at the top of the wall opened fire. Bullets hit the truck but didn’t stop it. The men aimed their shots at the driver’s seat, yet no driver sat steering the vehicle. The truck had made up its mind that nothing would prevent it from crashing into the steel doors below.
Through his scope he had mounted on his gun, one of the guards held his sight to the back of the pickup. He spotted the gas canisters. He saw the crates tied next to them. He ordered everyone to evacuate the wall.
By that time, it was too late.
The pickup ran over zombies, crushing skulls, snapping sinew from their bodies and ripping apart innards from place of origin to the entrance. The vehicle slammed at full speed into the doors, tripping the wire tied from the truck’s front end that led to the grenade hidden inside the crate of ammo.
When the explosion they were expecting didn’t go off, two guards broke from the group that was racing the stairs to the bottom of the wall, leaned against the railing, and peered at the smoldering vehicle while chewers surrounded it.
Ten seconds was all it took.
The grenade blew. The gas canisters were the first to light into a massive fireball that spilled its destruction all over the front of the doors. The fire burst from the gate and seared the two guards in place, leaving behind blackened bodies.
The crates filled with bullets, and grenades went off in a second explosion that shook the steel doors from its hinges and blasted them inward toward the road ahead.
The breach to Paradise was on and no one could do anything to stop it.
Steadman and his men stood watching not knowing what to do. The entrance burned as the crates with ammo exploded again. Bullets, that seemed to come from a thousand guns, pierced walls, doors, and buildings during the assault. Ranger had thought of everything. The ammo from the crates also burned through the horde outside, slamming into their delicate frames to reduce them into bags of walking goo. A hundred of the undead had taken shells to their skulls. Screams of agony penetrated the fortress and Steadman pulled his troop back into the alleys, away from the bulk of the firepower delivered from the crash.
Fifty more guards appeared marching from the west.
“Get out of the way!” Steadman waved to the troop. “Get down!”
Bullets tore through the fire landing in the armor of the frontline guards. They fell instantly as others behind them ran into the shadows of the buildings.
Meanwhile, back at the dock, upon hearing Silver’s signal, Ranger popped from his hiding place under the seat of the deck’s chair and fired his shotgun in Josh’s direction.
Josh ducked behind crates of cargo as a volley of pellets whizzed by. He thought whoever had planned the assault knew what they were doing. Distracting the entire city from the east in order to invade from the west was the work of a genius. He smiled thinking he had met a man who matched him in intelligence and courage. Right there, he knew he had a long fight against Ranger. Without fear, he rose from behind the crates and fired a couple of shots at the zombie slayer.
The shots either missed or blasted past Ranger without a nick. Luck was on Ranger’s side.
As the shots flew over Ranger’s head, Matty watched the firefight through the sewer grill from under the street.
“It’s Ranger.” Matty said as the commotion swelled above her head.
“Ranger?” Jon said. “He came back for us. He came back for us!”
“We have to get to that boat.” Matty turned to Toby. “Where do we go?”
Toby glanced from the grill at Josh cowering behind the crates then said. “This is where I have to leave you. If Josh finds out I helped you, he will kill my whole family and me. I have to protect my family.”
“Fine, but how do we get out of here?”
“Take this path straight ahead, make the first right, then you’ll see a manhole cover above you. Go through it. It will lead you to the dock.”
Without waiting for anyone to say anything at all, Randy left Matty and Jon with Toby to forge the way ahead. His fear of the dark and close-confined quarters had taken a toll on the teen. When Toby was giving everyone directions, Randy kept shaking and bouncing on his heels, wanting to leave. It was easy for him to run the length of the path Toby instructed. He had nothing that held him back. His fear pushed him forward to lead.
“Randy, wait.” Jon ran after him a few feet but stopped when Randy disappeared into the darkness.
Once Jon returned, Matty took a moment with Toby. “Thanks for all the help you’ve provided. For the food. The shelter. And the escape. You’ve been more than helpful to my family and friends. I owe you.”