He rose to a crouch and started to run towards where Alexis was jumping over a wooden fence into a backyard. Bullets flew through the air around him and he picked up his speed. Something pulled at his pants but he didn’t look down; he just kept running. When he reached the fence, he didn’t even slow as he dove over it. He landed hard, trying to roll to absorb the impact, but it just left him sprawled on the ground, looking into the sky.
“That was graceful,” Alexis said, crouching next to him. “You hurt?”
“No,” James said, getting to his knees while picking up and holstering his empty handgun. There was a bullet hole in his pants leg. It must’ve just missed him.
“Good, then let’s go,” Alexis said. “They’re almost here.”
James glanced through the slots in the white picket fence and saw two dozen zombies only a handful of yards away and closing steadily. He didn’t notice any more muzzle flashes beyond the perimeter fence.
“Let’s go,” James said as they stayed low, running beside the house and out the front gate to the street beyond. “Head north. My place is on the next street.”
“More of them?” Alexis asked in exasperation, looking to the south where more zombies were coming up the street. A group of townspeople, armed with an assortment of makeshift weapons, were trying to take them down.
If we’re not being shot at, maybe I don’t need my rifle, James thought. These people need our help, now.
“Hold on,” James said, running into the backyard.
Going to the shed he’d seen earlier, he opened the door and quickly grabbed an axe and a machete. Returning to Alexis, he handed her the machete and hefted his axe. Together, they ran at the growing horde of zombies the townspeople were trying to fight off.
“Aim for the head,” James yelled as he reached the edge of the horde.
He accentuated his point by slamming the axe into an unsuspecting zombie’s head. The thing dropped and he pulled his weapon out, blood and brain matter coating the axe head. Alexis dropped one next to him. Lifting the axe, he brought it down again on another.
This is surprisingly a lot like splitting wood, he thought, although these pieces of wood move and want to devour my flesh, so maybe not so much.
Now that they knew to aim for the head, the townspeople were more effectively taking them down. He was amazed they hadn’t known that simple fact, which was the problem with living in a safe town since the beginning.
Headlights shone on them from the north, and James pulled his axe out of a shattered skull. He couldn’t look back, however, because another zombie took its place immediately. They were making headway, but it wouldn’t be enough. There were too many.
“Move, bitch, get out the way!”
The voice was instantly recognizable—Tank. James quickly backed away from the zombies and moved off to the side, making sure not to turn his back to them. The rest of the townspeople were already on the sidewalk and Alexis was next to James. Tank revved the engine as the front end of Scourge slammed into the zombies. Multiple sickening crunches could be heard as the LAPV mowed a path through the horde, taking down almost twenty in one pass. Once in the clear, Tank whipped the vehicle in a sharp U-turn, using the e-brake to make it slide across the pavement with his blood-covered tires.
James worked his way along the sidewalk towards the other townspeople with Alexis at his side. Tank took Scourge on another pass, finishing off the rest of the zombies in the middle of the street and leaving the ground littered with bloody body parts. Finishing off the stragglers on the sidewalk, James walked up to the townspeople, noticing Greg was with them.
“Everyone okay here?” James asked.
“Mostly,” Greg said. “She was bitten.” He was pointing at a young girl armed with a kitchen knife.
James knew what needed to be done, but looking at the other dozen men and women gathered around, he faltered. This wasn’t his call to make—not here, not now.
“Anyone who’s wounded needs to go to the infirmary and get patched up,” James said. “Greg, can you escort the girl and anyone else who’s hurt?”
“Sure,” Greg said, sharing a look with him.
James gave a subtle nod. Greg would know what needed to be done if something happened before they made it to the infirmary.
Scourge sped back from the north, sliding to a stop on the gore-covered pavement.
“Catch a ride!” Tank said, opening his door to holler out.
James ran over to the back door and opened it for Alexis as he went around the other side and climbed in. He noticed his gear sitting in the backseat, and he quickly put it on.
“Thanks for the assist,” James said.
“You guys rock,” Alexis said.
“Ain’t nuthin’,” Tank said.
“There’re more zombies in that field to the west of us,” James said, pointing.
“Then let’s go get ‘em,” Connor said from the passenger seat.
37
Rebel Souls
Post-outbreak day 22
James’s eyelids kept drooping and he had to slap himself to stay awake. The sun was beginning to brighten the horizon. They’d been at it all night. He ducked through the open hatch in the roof of Scourge, entering the cab.
“I don’t think there’re any more,” James said, yawning.
“Don’t start that,” Tank said, yawning in turn.
“I think you’re right,” Connor said. “We need to head back and see if they have anything else for us to do.”
“Got it,” Tank said, turning the rig and heading back to HQ.
“What a night,” James mumbled.
After clearing the main three hordes of zombies, they’d gone to HQ to see what they could do to help. Vindex had spent most of the time protecting their helicopters and the infirmary. They learned later that the mercenaries had barely helped in the fight. The military had dealt with the main force of attackers to the east and then had sent patrols outside the fence into Sweet Grass to get rid of the snipers. They’d found two and been able to capture one of them. The other went down fighting. That left the Wolf Pack to drive around town, looking for any more zombies while some of the Vindex men went door to door. They’d found two people who’d been bitten and took them to the infirmary. There were also three houses where zombies had broken in and killed the residents. The military had escorted Greg and some of the other welders to do a temporary fix on the three holes in the perimeter fence.
The whole thing had been a well-executed assault. They’d started off by attacking from the east, drawing most of the soldiers and Marines there. After that, they’d started sniping to keep them locked behind cover. Then came the three explosions and three holes in the fence where the semi-trailers had let the zombies loose. At some point during the confusion of trying to deal with the zombies, the attackers had just faded into the night. James spent most of that time leery that they’d return, but they never did. The attack had been vicious, but what had been the goal? They’d taken quite a few lives, but they hadn’t taken the town.
It has to be the Reclaimers, James thought. No one else would attack a well-defended town like this.
After stopping to pick up Chloe, Tank pulled Scourge to a stop in the parking lot by HQ and James practically stumbled out. He was bruised and bloody, his side hurt, his ears were still ringing, and he was about to pass out. It’d been a long night. Alexis left her dad’s side—a new bandage on his left shoulder, thanks to one of the snipers—and walked over to James. She wrapped her arms tightly around him. They’d dropped her off with Emmett earlier in the night.
“Ouch,” James said and she loosened her grip.
“Sorry.” Looking up into his eyes, Alexis said, “I’m just glad you’re safe.”
Emmett walked up. “Col. Briggs called an emergency meeting with the leaders of the town.”
“Why aren’t you in there then?” Connor asked, coming around the side of Scourge.
“I wasn’t invited,” Emmett said crossly.
“Well, hell,” Tank said. “That ain’t good.”
“No, it’s not,” Emmett said.
“What do you think they’ll do?” Chloe asked.
“I’m not sure,” Emmett said, “but it doesn’t look good.”
“Did they interrogate the man they captured?” James asked.
“Yeah,” Emmett said. “From what I can gather, it was definitely the Reclaimers, and Jezz made it explicit that they were here for us—mainly you three.”
“Well, hell again,” Tank said.
“So what?” Chloe said. “Will they turn us over to them as a peace offering?”
“I doubt it,” Connor said.
“Easiest thing would be to kick us out,” James said.
“That’d get rid of all their problems,” Tank said.
“Roger,” Emmett said.
Cpt. Sanders and a few other Marines came out of the front door. The captain walked towards them while his men jumped into a couple of Humvees and drove into town.
“What’s going on in there, sir?” Connor asked when he walked up.
Cpt. Sanders looked Emmett straight in the eyes. Then he looked away and answered. “You’ll know soon enough.”
“Those Marines went to gather the rest of our group, didn’t they?” James asked.
Cpt. Sanders didn’t answer. He just looked towards the sunrise.
“Answer us, you bastard!” Tank said.
“Calm down, son,” Emmett said. “He’s not worth your breath.”
“After all we’ve done for you, you’re just going to kick us to the curb?” James asked.
“All you’ve done for us?” Cpt. Sanders said, turning around to face him. “You killed six of my Marines with the bomb and then we lost another thirty men last night, including Cpt. Miller. Vindex lost four men and we count at least two dozen civilians killed or infected. For what? We killed ten of theirs and captured one. No, we don’t need any more of your help.”
Anger rose in James, but it was quickly replaced by resignation. In a way, the captain was right. The fact that they were there had caused those deaths. He wouldn’t take the blame for it, not anymore, but the simple fact was that if they hadn’t been there, those people would still be alive. Everyone remained silent after the captain’s little speech, and he went back to looking at the sunrise. He hadn’t realized Cpt. Miller was dead. James glanced at Emmett standing stoically next to Alexis, who had her hand in James’s and her arm through her father’s.
A few minutes later, the Humvees pulled up, carrying all the survivors from their group except for Helen, Margaret, and the kids. Greg was there along with Beverly, Neil, Lucas, Troy, Abby, and Seth. None of them looked very pleased. They walked over to where the rest of them were gathered.
“What’s goin’ on?” Greg asked.
“We’re about to find out,” Emmett said as the town leaders began to exit the building.
They looked sullen, which wasn’t a good sign. Col. Briggs walked at the front of the group and stopped as the rest of the survivors from Burns walked up to James and his group. The colonel looked at each person in the group, while most of the other leaders tried not to look directly at anyone.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” Col. Briggs said, beginning his little speech. “When you came to us two weeks ago, you were desperate and weary from your travels. We gave you a place to rest your heads, eat, and start a normal life, but unknown to us you brought with you a dark shadow—the Reclaimers. It was them who attacked last night and killed over sixty of our citizens, while we only took down a handful of theirs. The attack was well planned and well-orchestrated. They somehow disabled our perimeter sensors and managed to get three semi-trailer loads of infected into town. They did all this just to get to you, which they failed at, but not before taking a heavy toll on our people.”
He paused and James could practically feel the hammer about to strike the anvil.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I and my fellow leaders have made this decision. For the safety of our own people, we must eject you from our community. We do this not just for ourselves but for the greater good of this safe harbor and of the country. This base must stand as a beacon of hope to others, but that isn’t possible when we’re harried by an enemy that wants only you. We’ll give you as much aid as we can and send you on your way, well-armed. You’ll need to leave by noon, today.”
James smiled. He walked right up to Col. Briggs and held out his hand. The colonel looked confused for a brief moment, but then he took his hand and James shook it firmly.
“On behalf of our group, I’d like to thank you for the hospitality you’ve shown us. You did indeed bring us in and help us rest up and get ready for the journey ahead. It was a pleasure to stay in your town and meet your people, but we’ll be glad to get on the road again.”
Col. Briggs nodded, and James turned and walked past his group, heading across town to the building that had been their place. It’d never been a home to him. He hadn’t even thought of it that way. Deep down he knew this wasn’t where they were meant to be. It was just a short stop on their journey to Alaska, and now it was time to get back on the road. Even though the trip would be dangerous—more so since they were being hunted—he’d be glad to see the open road ahead of them. They still had a long way to go.
38
As
the Dust Settles
Emmett was beyond shocked by James’s words. The kid had acted like a true leader, and whether he’d meant to or not, he’d set the tone for how the others would respond.
“Thank you, sir,” Connor said to Col. Briggs before he turned and walked off, following his brother.
Tank cursed under his breath and looked at the colonel. “Peace,” he said.
He walked over to Chloe and put his arm around her. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and they climbed into Scourge, turning it around. Tank drove up beside Connor and slowed down so Connor could jump onto the running boards. Then he took off down the street towards James. The survivors from Burns looked around with a multitude of expressions on their faces—shock, anger, resignation.
“You can’t kick us all out!” Seth said, speaking up first. “The Reclaimers are after them, not us!”
“I concur,” Col. Briggs said. “We’re allowing all the children and women to stay. That means the majority of the group will leave, including the ones they want.”
“That’s very generous of you, Colonel,” Emmett said, a little surprised. The man did have tact and maybe some semblance of a heart.
“But I have two daughters. I can’t just leave them,” Seth said, begging.
“I’ll trade spots with him,” Beverly said, stepping up.
“No,” Neil said, looking at her.
“I won’t stay here knowing you’re all out there,” Beverly said firmly.
“If that’s your choice,” Col. Briggs said, “I think that could work.”
“Thank you,” Seth said with tears in his eyes.
“Thanks,” Beverly said and turned to Neil. “We need to go pack.”
Talking animatedly, the two of them walked off, closely followed by Lucas, Troy, and Greg. Seth hesitated, then turned and walked away quickly, probably hoping the colonel wouldn’t change his mind.
“Will you let us take some supplies? Or can we at least have what we came in with?” Alexis asked.
“We’ll return enough firearms from the ones you brought in to outfit your group with a rifle and sidearm each. We’ll also return all the tools you had, and supplies, as well as send more food and medical supplies with you. Sadly, we can’t give back everything that belonged to the Vindex Corp. but we’ll make sure you’re well supplied and ready to make the trip north.”
“Thanks,” Alexis said, turning and walking back towards their home—at least, what had been their home for a short time.
The rest of the town
leaders dissipated.
Clover walked over to Emmett. Both men had bandaged shoulders, but Clover’s arm was also in a sling. His wound was a lot worse than Emmett’s. “Thanks for last night,” he said. “I wish it could be different.”
Emmett shook his outstretched hand. “Me too,” he said.
Clover walked off, leaving Emmett standing there with Col. Briggs.
“Well, Colonel,” Emmett said, walking up to him, “it wasn’t unexpected, but it was disappointing. You and I both know you have the means to find the Reclaimers and finish them off rather easily.”
“Indeed,” Col. Briggs said, “but at what cost? It’s not worth the lives of my men. Most of your people seem like they want to be back on the road anyway.”
“That’s a bunch of bull, and you know it.”
“Maybe, but our mission is not to hunt down groups of hostiles.”
“And what is your mission? To test the virus on unsuspecting drug addicts in hopes of finding a cure?” Emmett had the satisfaction of watching the colonel’s face reveal his shock for a brief moment before his stern mask was back in place. “How many lives is it going to cost for you to save humanity?”
“As many as it takes,” Col. Briggs said, back in control.
Emmett stared into his eyes. “So be it. I’d ask if you could spare one of your birds to watch over us for the first day, but I know your answer.”
“Indeed, you do.”
“Colonel, I can’t say it’s been a pleasure getting to know you since that would be a lie. Make sure Saul gets a proper memorial.”
“He will,” Col. Briggs said, offering his hand.
Emmett looked at it for a few seconds but then shook it and turned to walked off, adjusting the bandage on his shoulder. Never had he thought he’d give up this place so easily. Just a week ago, he’d been willing to fight tooth and claw to keep it for his daughter—somewhere she could be safe and have a life—but the events of the last twenty-four hours had changed all that. He knew now that his daughter had a life whether they were safely behind these fences or out on the road. Her life involved him, James, and the rest of her friends. It wasn’t so much about where they were or whether they were safe. It was who they were with and how they spent the time they were given. That was what it meant to truly live.
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