by Jack Hunt
I stared back at him.
He shook his head. “Nah, man, they took guys as well.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Right then a jeep came around a corner and parked out front. Two military guys got out and hurried inside. The property itself was split up into one huge lodge, which was used for a café, restaurant, and gift shop, and another that was for renting ski equipment. There were windows that went all the way down the sides. There were only a few ways you could get into the place unnoticed; one from the south end where the slope was and the other from the east side which led up to the rental area.
“How do you want to do this?” I asked.
“We need to get a better look. There’s no point trying anything right now. Let’s wait until it’s dark,” Dax replied.
We slipped back beneath the canopy of the forest, away from the tree line. We spent the next six hours observing until it started to turn dark. Under the cover of night, we kept low and moved around the back side of the lodge, keeping a close eye on those who were patrolling.
Elijah led us up to a rocky ledge that gave us a good view of the lodge. From our position we could see directly through the windows. They had illuminated the inside with candles. The place was lit up like a bloody Christmas tree. Whoever these freaks were, they weren’t very smart.
“I say we split up. Five of us go down to the lodge from the north side, and six from the east. They have got to be holding them inside the rental property.”
“They have four men standing outside,” Elijah said, pointing to the rental area.
“Did you figure that out all on your own?” Benjamin replied sarcastically before shaking his head.
As we were about to move in, two military guys tugged someone out of the rental area.
“Hold on. Who’s that?”
Theo’s eyes widened. “Danielle.”
We watched as they took her into the largest building, behind her was Liam. However, Liam wasn’t tied up like she was. Neither was he being manhandled. In fact, he looked as if he was joking with one of the guards.
“That little bastard.”
“Seems you’ve got one of your own deserters,” I said.
BLOW SHIT UP
Theo pulled his arms out of his rucksack straps and unzipped it. We weren’t paying close attention. I caught him out of the corner of my eye preparing something. That’s when I realized what he had; Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, and three other indistinguishable items.
“What the hell are you going to do with that?”
“Get my daughter back.”
Dax immediately jumped up from his lying down position.
“What have you got there?”
“Diversion smoke bombs, mercury fulminate, acetone peroxide explosives, and pipe bombs. Oh and just for good measure some Molotov cocktails. Catch.” He tossed one up to Dax. The look on his face was something akin to what I’d seen when Dax saw a rattlesnake for the first time.
“Alright, it can come in handy but you can’t just start tossing that around.”
“Watch.”
Benjamin grabbed hold of Theo. “No, wait. If we are going to do this, we need to do it right.”
“We don’t have time. You saw them. Who knows what they are going to do to my daughter.”
“He’s right,” I said.
“Right or not, the surest way to get your daughter killed is to let your emotions control your actions.”
“Oh and you’re an expert in that,” Elijah said to Benjamin.
I didn’t know what their deal was but there was some serious animosity between them. Benjamin cut him a look, one that spoke more than words could.
“What I’m saying is we need to plan and coordinate this or you might find yourself chewing on a bullet. Right now all we know is there are around twenty-five of them down there, maybe more. Charging in there tossing Molotov cocktails would be like storming the beaches of Normandy. You are going to be dead before you even get in. I’m not saying don’t use them. I’m saying let’s figure this out first.”
“Let me guess, you want to go in there using a linear style formation like your good old SWAT buddies. How did that work for you, Benny boy?”
Benjamin turned and grabbed a hold of Elijah.
“Whoa dude, chill,” Baja said, trying to get between them.
Elijah tossed his hands up. “Yeah, you don’t want to lose your cool.” Elijah smirked.
He was clearly antagonizing him but why? Sure they had been at odds with each other since Salt Lake but they had gone days without arguing.
Ben released his grip and backed away. “No, I’m not saying we go in linear. That’s liable to get us killed. When there are so many and a large amount of ground to cover, the best approach is to attack from the outside from all directions and overwhelm defenses just the way bees or lions do. We will work in groups of three. There are fifteen of us. Three from the north, east, and west to force them out south. Then six will be in the tree line to pick them off.”
“Force them out?”
“You think they are going to come out?”
“Oh they will,” Theo said, holding up a homemade Molotov cocktail.
Ben stooped to the ground. He took a stick and used the end to mark out our positioning. He circled the positions we would hold. Those on the north side would take out the back window and toss the Molotov cocktails through. From what we could tell those that had been captured were being held inside the rental area off to the east. Diversion smoke bombs would be used in between the north and east side, as well as the south to give them more cover. It wasn’t going to be easy but the goal was to use pinching movements and surround them on all sides.
“And if they don’t come out?”
“We go in.”
Elijah shook his head. “You might have done that for a living but none of us have. These are military, not suburban dads pretending.”
“Do you have a better idea?” Benjamin rose to his feet. We could see that this conversation wasn’t getting us anywhere. But Elijah had a point. None of us except maybe Dax, and Benjamin had been trained in tactical operations. This time I observed and said very little. Between Dax, Theo, and Benjamin they came up with a tactical battle plan. There was a strong chance if any of us were going to die, this would be it.
We moved into position. Baja and a few others focused on the east. The Zombie Squad went on the west side; Benjamin, Elijah and another one of Theo’s men took the south, while Dax, myself and another man took the north. Our job was too simple. We were to assess where people were through the windows, then toss the Molotov cocktails inside. Hopefully the smoke would force them outside the south end where Benjamin and the others would pick them off. Though we had no way of knowing if that’s how they would come out or if they would at all. There were doors all down the sides. In reality they could come from out from any direction. The signal to move would be the smoke bombs.
Crouched down among the tall reeds we waited for the others to get into position. It was pure madness but we had to go with it.
What ensued next may have seemed like chaos to anyone else looking on but it was clear to us. The first ones to notice the smoke were the guards outside both the rental area and the south side. The thick white smoke created a dense cloud that swept across the ground like lake mist. As the first one came into view I took a shot. As soon as he dropped, the others started firing at the tree line, however before they could go for cover Elijah and the others started picking them off.
More military guys rushed out. It soon became clear to them as fire started rising on the north end, and gunfire filled the night, that they were under attack from multiple sides.
As I was firing at one guy, I saw Theo and another one of his men scrambling up under the smoke towards their vehicles. There he pulled out some of the homemade bombs, attached them underneath, and then made a dash. The ground shook as a helicopter and jeep exploded in a fiery furnace. I shielded my eyes. I couldn’t believe he
had done that. We could have used one of those. I continued unloading round after round as they returned fire on us. It must have felt like complete disarray to them. No matter where they focused their attention they were torn as we were hitting them from every side.
They started retreating into the main building.
We began moving in on them. A solider would rush out and drop dead as one of us took them down. Each attack was fast, brutal, and focused. Baja tossed a Molotov cocktail through the front entrance. We heard the glass smash and flames licked the inside of the door. There was no mercy shown, just as they had shown none to the community they had slaughtered in cold blood. Dirt, and ash rained down on our heads as darkness, smoke, and fire consumed the air.
Now for a moment we thought we were winning, that perhaps we had got lucky. But it was the complete opposite. We had fallen right into their trap. Suddenly from out of the tree line around us more of them came into view. Theo must have seen them first as when he unloaded on them he was shot. Dax rushed over to him.
“Drop your weapons.”
My stomach sank. Just when I thought we had them licked they were two steps ahead of us. I slowly lowered my assault rifle to the floor, a soldier came close and smashed me in the face with the butt of his gun.
“Hey!” Dax shouted trying to get close. He turned his gun on him. On the floor, gripping my bloodied nose, I looked to my left to see Alec and the other two coming out with their hands behind their heads. We had underestimated them. Clearly there had been far more than we anticipated.
Where the hell were they hiding? I muttered to Dax who was beside me. They dragged us one by one and lined us up in a row, then threw us to the ground. It didn’t take them long to zip-tie us. I raised my head in time to see them sucker punch Dax.
“Is that necessary?” I yelled.
Right then between the crowd of military guys, Bennett squeezed through. As he approached he gave another one of his smug grins.
“Well, isn’t this a turn of events. I was wondering where you had disappeared. Anyway it doesn’t matter now. You fucked up this time.”
“Really? I’m pretty sure that’s your men lying dead over there.”
He dropped down to one knee and took the back of my hair and lifted my head.
“You stupid kid. You think this is a game?”
“If it is, I think we might be winning.”
He brought his fist down hard on the side of my face then stepped away.
“There are consequences for everything you do. I’m going to execute every one of you so that you understand this is not a game, starting with you. Get him up.”
Two military guys yanked me to my feet. I cast a glance at the others lying on their stomachs. They dragged me over to where Bennett was now standing. He took out his handgun and placed it against the side of my temple. I looked at Dax. There was a look in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before. This was it. They were going to execute me in front of them. My hands were locked behind my back.
He cocked the gun. I squeezed my eyes shut in preparation.
“No,” Dax yelled. “Please.”
Bennett looked at him.
“If you’re gonna kill someone, kill me,” Theo said. “But leave him alone.”
“Dad?” Danielle said, coming out of the building behind us. She rushed forward but was yanked back.
“You would give your life for this kid?”
Theo looked at me. He’d already been hit with a bullet, did he know it was fatal? There was a pause as Bennett contemplated.
“Fair enough.”
“No!” Danielle yelled.
“Just shoot me, you coward,” I yelled.
“Don’t worry, you’ll die soon enough,” he replied.
They pushed me forward. As I passed Theo he muttered the words, “Look after my daughter.”
They tossed me back with the others. I hit the floor and spat dirt. Turning on my back I looked up. We watched helplessly as they dragged Theo to his feet and brought him up beside Bennett.
He turned slightly to mouth the words “I love you” to Danielle.
“No, don’t you do it,” I shouted.
A solider had his hand over Danielle’s mouth. Her muffled cries could be heard.
“Don’t do it. You bastard.”
Bennett flashed me one final grin then turned his gun and fired a round into Theo’s head. Theo dropped like a sack of potatoes. In that moment Danielle must have bitten the soldier’s hand as he yelled and released her. Her screams cut into my very being as she raced forward towards her father. She never made it. A soldier smacked her in the side of the face with the butt of his gun, then dragged her back kicking and screaming. Eyes swollen. Tears streaked her skin. Behind her was Liam. He looked on in horror. What had he done? What had he told them?
Bennett gestured to a few of the soldiers. “Throw them in the hut.”
One by one we were dragged to our feet. Yelling ensued as each of us voiced our hate for this man who had just executed Theo without even blinking. We watched as flames licked into the night sky. They pushed us forward into the rental area. Inside the place smelled of wood, and ski boots sweat.
They guided us out back to what resembled a cage that would have once held snowboarding and skiing equipment. When the door clanged behind me I kicked the door.
“Let us out.”
As I looked around I saw Danielle in the corner in tears. I moved over to her. I couldn’t get a word of out her. She was in shock. I looked around at those who were already in there. They had grabbed mostly the younger ones. Those in their late teens, early twenties. Why? I had no clue. Maybe it was all part of their sick games.
We’d soon know.
The room was barely lit up by a few candles they had left in various spots outside of the cage.
“Well, that went well,” Baja said before searching for a place to squat down.
“You think Liam tipped them off to us?”
“I know he did,” a voice in the corner said. We turned around to see the young guy from camp who went by the name Ray. “He threw us all under the bus.”
“Why’s he helping them?”
“He’s told them about the underground bunker. They didn’t know about it when they rolled out of there but he thought he could wriggle his way out of this by telling them about all the supplies down there as well as the communications unit.”
“What an asshole.”
“Not really. It’s every man for himself now.”
We settled in for the rest of the night. Outside, commands were being yelled as they tried to put out fires and make sure the undead stayed dead. If they didn’t get that fire out soon more of the undead would be drawn to it. No doubt the gunfire would have attracted them. If they weren’t already here now, they would be soon.
“Why did they take you?” I asked Ray.
“They want to use us as bait. What better way to draw Z’s away from them than to use human bait?
“Nah, they wouldn’t do that,” Baja said.
“No?” Ray replied. “Then why did they take out two people from here earlier today and they never returned?”
“Maybe they are over in the other building.”
“They’re not,” Danielle spoke up. “I was over there.”
She lifted her face. “There is a town not far from here, apparently it’s stocked with food but the place is overrun by Z’s. They took Jillian and Paul with them. When they returned they weren’t with them but they had plenty of food.”
I leaned back against the cold cage, pressing the side of my face against it. We had to get out of here before we ended up as zombie chow. As I looked around the cage that’s when I noticed something was amiss. Did I miss something?
I walked around the cage looking at everyone faces. It was dark inside. Maybe I had overlooked them.
“Where’s Elijah and Benjamin?”
ODD COUPLE
Zombies.
It was the last thing Elijah or I wanted
to see.
We were lost in the forest. Somewhere close to the highway. In the dark. Thomas was limping with pain. A bullet had gone right into his thigh. I’d tied it off using a strip from his shirt. Covered in dirt, our faces blackened by the smoke from the fires, we had bolted at the first sight of military moving in. It wasn’t that we couldn’t have continued fighting but we were outnumbered dramatically. The odds were stacked in their favor. The best we could do was make a run for it. For a clear twenty minutes we had done nothing but run.
As we caught a glimpse of the highway in between the trees and Z’s everywhere we did the only thing that would save us. We climbed a thick oak tree. Elijah got on the ground on all fours, Thomas stood on top, and then I boosted him up. He then reached down and pulled me up. Elijah followed after. At least we were off the ground. Out of sight of anyone, especially Z’s.
Lodged between thick-knotted branches, I started thinking of Dax and Johnny. They were probably dead or being held captive with the others. And us? We were lost and probably being hunted down by the military.
It was so dark— Salt Lake City was never like this. There was always some neon light illuminating the night. Even the smallest unlit alleyways.
That night we were planning on staying in that tree. A mixture of pain, cold, and fear made it hard to sleep. Then when the rain fell that only added to our grief. We really needed to put as much distance between the military and us before daylight as there was no way of knowing if they would pursue us. Surely it would have been easy for them to track us. Thomas would have dripped blood for miles.
We looked down as Z’s came into the tree line. I pulled some rope that I had in my bag out. I gave it to Elijah and told him to wrap it around the tree then around Thomas. We had to create a human spider web, something to prevent us from falling if and when we fell asleep. I watched Elijah balance on a branch, tie one end off, and then weave it around us.
“How’s the leg?”
Thomas groaned a little as he tried to find a comfortable position. It was bleeding but not as bad as it was earlier. His hands were covered in dry blood. We knew that if the military picked up on the trail of blood we were screwed. With that leg bleeding we wouldn’t be able to stay ahead of them for long if they were even following.