by SP Durnin
Chapter Eighteen
A few miles later, Jake brought their Hummer to a halt.
Route 41 passed two-hundred yards west of Valley Vista Golf Course on their way back to Rae's cache in New Holland and, strangely enough, was cluttered with pockets of the dead. There was an unobstructed view from the sheer ridge, forty feet above the once immaculately-trimmed, eleventh hole. Since there was no way the creatures could scale the cliff, he'd decided it was time for a little target practice.
Something Foster had stressed, when he'd put their group through a last session of weapons training (was it only a few days ago?) under his safe house, was that marksmanship, just like any other ability, required constant practice. If you went too long between shooting sessions, your skills would deteriorate and when you needed them again, you wouldn't be able to hit that zombie you were aiming at. Then, you'd swiftly go from survivor to lunch.
So, any chance they got—especially since most of their weapons were either silenced or suppressed—the group had to put in some trigger time.
Jake estimated the pod, as they'd come to call large clusters of zombies, numbered in the low seventies. Plenty of targets for their purpose. He pulled over into the break-down lane out of habit, careful not to roll the trailer with their motorcycles too close to the edge, and turned the Hummer's engine off. The creatures had most certainly heard their approach, because they were grouped below the humans on the green in all their disgusting splendor.
"What do you think, Kat?"
She nodded, looking over the cliff side. "Looks alright. Nothing on the road, clear line of sight in both directions, and no way for them to get up to us."
He waved the others from the vehicle. Though their expressions were confused and wary, Gwen and the slowly recovering Donna followed him to the edge of the drop-off. Elle volunteered to keep watch and stood in the Hummer's turret, rifle in hand, scanning the road in both directions through her binoculars.
"Alright. I know the three of us," motioning at Kat and Leo, "know how to shoot. Elle was active duty, so she has a lot of experience with firearms. What about you two?"
"Do we have to do this now?" Donna asked.
Jake shrugged and made sure his M4 had a round in the chamber. "If we run into more creatures on the drive back, I want you girls to know how to handle a weapon. Not just for your safety, either. If any of us get hurt or killed, you might have to take our place. Once you know how to operate a rifle, you can substitute for someone."
Gwen nodded and seemed eager to begin. Donna didn't look convinced.
"Don't worry. We'll take it slow."
He proceeded to give them the rundown Foster provided their group prior to them ever touching one of his precious weapons. The old man actually was one of those people who was absolutely nuts about guns, so they'd all become fairly proficient with firearms under his tutelage. It took nearly fifteen minutes for Jake to review the basics on loading, securing, and firing the weapon, along with essential target acquisition, before handing the rifle to Gwen and telling her to squeeze off a few. He noticed that she insured the fire selection was set on single shot before taking aim at the creatures below. Then the attractive blonde took a shooting stance and began popping off rounds.
Ten shots later, seven of the creatures lay neutralized on the grassy field below.
"Nice!" Kat clapped and gave the woman an encouraging smile.
Gwen made sure her weapon's safety was engaged and passed it back to Jake with a frown. "I missed."
"Hey, I'll take seven out of ten. That's good enough for government work." He grinned, swapped magazines, then held the M4 out to Donna. "Let's see what you can do."
The pale haired woman shook her head, silently.
"Relax," the writer said. "Nobody expects you to…"
"I don't like guns."
Jake blinked. From the corner of his eye, he saw Gwen begin to massage her forehead. "Nobody likes guns... Well, some people do I guess, but regardless…"
"No, I mean I don't agree with them." Donna put her hands behind her back and stepped slightly away. "I don't think they're needed in modern society. All they do is get people killed."
The others were silent as they absorbed that. Kat was wondering what Donna was smoking. It obviously wasn't anything that would've been considered legal a few months prior.
"So, let me see if I understand," Jake began slowly. "You don't feel the need to know how to defend yourself, because... why? Guns are bad?"
"They're not necessary," Donna insisted.
He gave her a level gaze and lowered his arms, allowing the weapon to rest against his torso. "I don't have time for this. Back in the Hummer."
They started towards the vehicle and Jake put a palm out at Gwen's politically correct friend. "Not you."
"What?"
"Guns aren't necessary, so why would you need to come with us? It's not like there's anything dangerous out here, right?" He looked pointedly down at the zombies at the bottom of the drop off. "You should be able to just stroll up the road to the next town and grab a room at the Motel 6."
"Just because…" Donna began.
Jake's patience had come to an end and he bellowed, "Because what? What? What ridiculous excuse is about to fall out of your mouth?"
Kat laid a hand on his arm as Donna stood there, wide-eyed. "I understand why you're mad. Bubble brain here needs a reality check, but…"
He shrugged her off and stepped back to the road's edge. "No. Not just no, Hell no. This one is going to come to grips with our situation, right now."
Jake pointed at the ravenous creatures on the greens. "Look at them."
Donna's arms crossed over her breasts and she kept her gaze at her feet.
"Look at them!"
Her eyes jerked towards the crowd of rotting evil below. Men and women of all ages, children even clamored for the flesh of the humans above. Gore coated hands reached for their party, and piss-yellow eyes stared unblinking from grey faces over snapping, jagged teeth. Falling into that horrid crowd would result in death, not reanimation. The creatures would dismember anyone unlucky enough to come within reach, devouring them in screaming pieces.
"Let's get something straight. The world you knew? It's gone." He pointed at the hungry dead as they continued to moan and jostle each other for position. "They ate it. Chances are everyone you've ever known is one of those fucking things."
He realized it was heartless, but Jake didn't believe there was any other way to impress upon her just how desperate their situation was. "Let me be frank, I don't give a damn about you, your infantile opinions, none of it. I've got people I care about depending on me to get them to safety if that even exists anymore. Now, you can either help us get there, which entails you growing the fuck up, and realizing nobody gives two shits about your beliefs, or you can strut your ass down the road. Oh, just so you know? All your dipshit, anti-gun, protester friends? They're shuffling around right now, looking for living people to eat. You'll want to consider that before you spew any more bullshit."
Gwen's shoulders slumped and she turned her head away from the awful horde below.
"You might think I'm being cruel, but I'm telling you this in the hopes it'll keep you alive," he pressed. "These creatures don't have anything resembling compassion or mercy. They will kill you. They'll eat or turn anyone they can catch, and I'm not going to let that happen to my people. If that means I need to kill a dozen of those things with my bare hands, or a few hundred by running them down in a fucking tank, that's what I'm going to do."
Donna stood there shamefaced as Kat and the others waited next to the Hummer. Jake watched as the frightened blonde absorbed his words, and he waited for her to respond. When she said nothing, he shook his head in disgust. "Just... get in."
Gwen helped her numb friend into the vehicle, and Leo joined them via the opposite door, while Elle continued to watch the road. Jake pulled another American Spirit from the pack in his vest pocket and lit up. He didn't know what more
he could do. After over two months of zombie hell, he couldn't imagine how anyone would still have qualms about blowing the living—or unliving—shit out of one, given half a chance.
"She'll come around." Kat stepped up beside him to look over the edge at the dead below.
He shook his head. "She's a liability. Nothing's going to change her stupid, granola-munching views about firearms. I've seen the type before. Morons that walk into a hail of bullets, holding flowers and singing "Kumbayah." Jesus. That's cold. I didn't used to think that way. I hate this. Why did all of you put me in charge?"
"Because you hate it, of course," Kat replied.
"Mind explaining that one?" He blew smoke into the breeze.
"It's a mistake that a lust for power is the mark of a great mind. Even the weakest have been captivated by it and, for minds of the highest order, it has no charms.'"
Jake gave her a sidelong glance. "Colton?"
Kat shrugged and gave him a vapid look. "I figured, 'with great power, comes great responsibility,' might be a little too obvious."
He snorted, shook his head and flicked the butt of his cigarette at the grey faces below. It hit one of them above its nose, the ember leaving an unnoticed blister between the zombie's eyes.
How long until they decompose, he thought ruefully, a year? Two? Ten? They don't seem to decay like normal corpses do.
The pair watched as the infected below continued their mindless dance, wondering now if there was any hope of humanity surviving long enough to reclaim its world. Everywhere their group had been, they'd encountered nothing but the dead. Well, the dead and people who had seemingly lost their minds. Jake felt the sudden and distinct need to hold Laurel.
"Let's get back on the road." Kat took Jake's arm, pulling him gently towards their Hummer. "I think we've done our good deed for the day, and we need to get back before dark."
* * *
Some days, things wouldn't go right if you put a gun to their head, Jake thought.
Halfway back to Rae's cache one of the tires on the trailer holding their new motorcycles ran flat on Route 138. After inspection, Elle insisted it was repairable, but she needed more time than they had daylight. Jake considered leaving the trailer by the side of the road and returning for it the following day with tools and supplies, but the pretty Marine convinced him what they had in the Hummer would suffice. If they could just locate a reasonably secure location, she could fix it in a few hours and they could roll on in the morning.
Luckily, they found an agricultural supply store five-hundred yards up the road. While the others watched the front, Jake and Kat scaled a drainpipe at the corner of the building. After breaking out a skylight, the pair carefully dropped into the stockroom via a length of fire-hose. There weren't any zombies inside and it was a simple matter to unlock the delivery bay door, allowing Elle to back both trailer and Humvee inside. After securing the bay again, Jake found a pallet-jack and moved a quartet of fully-loaded, topsoil skids to block the front door. Seeing that it opened inward, he was fairly certain, with almost four-thousand pounds of dirt blocking a solid steel door, that they could sleep in safety.
As Elle began repairs on the trailer's tire with Leo, Jake used their secure radio to check in with the safe house. It was no surprise the voice he heard on the other end was Laurel's. The redhead had been sitting beside her own radio waiting for their call, just in case. He relayed their situation to her, and she promised to let the others know they were safe. After a little chastising, she told him they'd better get their butts back by noon the following day because she had designs on his. He promised her it was a date, signed off, and shut down the radio to conserve its battery.
Kat then put together a surprisingly good meal with five beef brisket MREs and some dehydrated potato mix. Jake told her flat out he was impressed, as he shoveled plastic sporkfulls of bovine goodness into his mouth. She beamed at him. Afterwards, the women took turns using the employee bathroom while he searched the store for useful items. There wasn't much. At least nothing portable. Jake did manage to find three, full, five-gallon, propane tanks, which he secured in the rear of the Hummer as daylight faded.
Though safe temporarily, he still felt it best that someone stand watch. Elle and Kat both volunteered to spell him in three-hour shifts, but Jake declined. With his weapons and their Starlight scope, he headed for the roof. It had been some time since he'd had a moment to himself, and needed to reorder his thoughts.
After scanning the road in both directions, Jake proceeded to search the surrounding area. While there were a few zombies moving north along Highway 35, there was no evidence that the creatures knew of his group's existence. That suited him just fine. He didn't have the desire to play hide-and-seek with zombies in the dark. So long as no one made excessive noise, chances were good that their little group would remain unnoticed.
He placed the scope and his carbine on the roof's pebbled surface, sat Indian-style, closed his eyes, then began to slow his breathing. The lack of sounds normally associated with humanity helped. It was strangely peaceful, as long as Jake didn't think about how the all-encompassing silence had been achieved. His heartbeat slowed and he moved into a shallow meditative state. He'd learned the technique from a girlfriend in college and found it extremely useful over the years. An hour spent that way usually provided him with the equivalent of sleep.
Around eleven, after half a dozen checks of the surrounding area, he felt relatively fresh. Leo had relieved him for about fifteen minutes just before nine, allowing Jake to take a leak and wash the stink of smoke and cordite off in the bathroom sink. After changing into his only spare clothes, he was ready for a quiet night of utter boredom.
That was what he'd expected anyway.
Jake heard the hose leading down to the storeroom creaking, then Kat's head poked over the edge.
"Hey. You might want some company?"
"Sure. What are the others doing?" He watched as she flipped gracefully up to the roof.
"Oh, Leo and both the Barbies are crashed out, but Elle's still awake. Cleaning her weapons, as usual." Kat plunked down beside him. "That girl needs a hobby."
"I think that is her hobby." Jake rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.
"Mmm."
They sat in companionable silence, lost in their own thoughts. Jake rose to check the area by Starlight once more. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Hit me, gaijin." She leaned her head back against the three-foot wall circling the roof's edge.
"What do you think I should be doing differently?"
She frowned prettily. "In regards to?"
"Everything, I guess." He pulled out a smoke and, shielding his Zippo from the breeze, lit up. Jake made sure to keep the flame and coal-red tip of his cigarette below the level of the wall. No sense in advertising their presence.
Her face grew thoughtful as she considered it. "I think you need to stop worrying about every, single, questionable thing we have to do."
"Can you be a little more specific?"
"Killing those jerks today in Bainbridge, kicking Mike and Nichole out of the safe house for being a pair of drug-wasted deviants, not helping that poor guy who'd been bitten when we rescued Maggie and the girls. I know that was bad for you, but he was a goner," she told him gently. "No one expects you to handle every problem on your own, Jake. If you try, you'll just burn yourself out. Or go crazy. Everybody knows you're doing your best."
He grunted and took a deep drag from his smoke. "The problem is I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm a writer, Kat. What the hell do I know about leading people? And in the middle of the damn apocalypse? George would've been a better choice. I'm afraid I'm going to get someone killed."
"That's a risk we've all accepted. Nobody expects perfection from you. That's my job." Kat sniffed and Jake caught her bright smile even in the murky darkness, and it made him feel better. With man-made illumination now nonexistent, the nights were very dark. He had to admit, Kat's smile was the perfect ward
against the gloom.
"What's the first thing you're going to do when we get over the Rockies?"
She seemed a little taken back by his question. "I... hadn't really thought that far ahead."
"Come on. There's gotta be something."
He watched as she considered it for a minute. Kat's face broke into a wry grin. "Well, I suppose getting a job as a pharmacy tech is out of the question."
He chuckled. "Maybe you could open a dojo, you know? Kat-San's Kick-Ass Kung-Fu and Center for Zombie Self Defense."
That caused her to choke as she stifled a laugh and slapped at his shoulder. He dodged away, and she scooted after him.
"Hey! Stop, will you? We don't wanna make any noise!" He tried not to laugh as Kat landed a couple of joking blows.
She ignored the comment and began poking him in the ribs with surprisingly quick fingers. "Kat-San no takey orders from smart-mouthed gaijin. Me smacky."
They spent the next minute grappling. Jake, attempting to keep from laughing aloud, Kat, attempting to make him suffer. More often than not, she managed to get a stiff finger past his defenses, but he kept from breaking down into a full-blown giggle fit. Finally catching her outside wrist, he pulled firmly and rolled Kat lightly across his hip and onto her back. She kept poking him with her free hand, until Jake got a hold on that one as well and pushed her arms flat to the roof's surface. Kat wasn't able to muscle free when he wrapped her right leg with his own, so she settled for smiling unrepentantly.
"That's better. You don't laugh enough, Jake," she said, slightly out of breath.
He grinned ruefully down at her. "Reasons to laugh have been a little scarce on the ground lately."
"Well. That's kind of insulting," she pouted. "You're alive and, mostly, thanks to me, well fed today…"
"I'll give you that one," he admitted.
"Don't interrupt," she continued. "You drive around in the baddest ride on the road, during which you get to spend lots of time with me. Again, a plus. You've got a pair of women lusting after your body like…"