It only took her a few seconds to slip out of the bra with all of them watching. It was like a magic trick. One moment she’s wearing it, the next she was sliding it out from the bottom of her shirt and handing it to Gary. All three of the boys looked a little perplexed at what just happened but quickly tied either end of the sturdy bra to the ends of the armrest. “Glad you weren’t wearing some frilly dainty thing,” Gary said, using teeth to pull the knot tight.
“Speak for yourself…” Doug started to quip but it quickly died on his lips at the glare from Sheila He busied himself looking for anything else that might be slung out of their improvised slingshot and make noise as it clattered on the concrete.
Jessie opened another window quietly and removed the stops holding it in place so it could be taken out quickly when they needed it. They moved a student desk under it so it would be easier to climb out and placed the teachers’ big desk under the slingshot window. Jessie helped Gary onto the desk and took his chair and folded it up. It was a lightweight modern wheelchair and collapsed in on itself so it was no bigger than the wheels when he was finished. Last night Gary had told them to just leave him behind, come back and get him later but they wouldn’t hear of it. There was no guarantee any of them would make it and even less of a chance they would be able to sneak back over here with a car.
The school had hundreds of students and they were probably all over the front of the building. If he didn’t go with them now, he would die a slow painful death by thirst locked in the dungeon. It would be like never getting off the first level of Dungeon Crawl. Besides, now he could get those bionic legs from the rehab center, make some modifications and be like Ripley from Aliens.
Become a badass zombie killing machine.
They were ready. Or as ready as they were going to be. They quietly removed the windows and Jessie prepared to slide the chair through the opening as soon as the milling crowd was drawn away by the slingshot distraction. Sheila stood by, ready to help boost Gary through.
Doug stretched the bra back, bracing the armrest against the block wall with his feet. He aimed the best he could, shooting for the metal umbrella that was half visible over the picnic table at the edge of the building. They all held their breath as he let it go, the air filled with flying pens, staplers and the empty glass apple juice jar. Some of the closer zombies started to turn at the twang from the bra being released but their attention was soon diverted by the clatter of breaking glass and the cacophony of metal pelting metal.
There was a roar from the front of the school and an answering one from those few in the back as they started running towards the noise. Jessie had the chair out of the opening and followed in seconds. As he was unfolding it, Doug and Sheila had Gary through the other window.
Jessie ran the few feet over to them and held the chair steady as Gary grabbed it and threw himself in, Doug placing his feet in the stirrups like they had practiced. It only took seconds and then they were running towards the bleachers, hoping their movements wouldn’t be noticed.
But they were.
Halfway across the end zone, a keening howl went up from under the bleachers. Someone had been bitten and crawled in there to escape but only managed to die and come back, trapped by the crisscrossing bars, unable to figure out how to get over or under them. They glanced over at her as they ran past, it was Carly from Jessie’s biology class.
She ran at them, ignoring the bars and supports she kept slamming into. They were smashing her face and body but with the sheer intensity that she was slamming into them, she was bouncing over or under the bars. They ran. They had to get to the lake.
Behind them they could hear her crashing into the steel supports, her howls never ceasing and with them, she brought the rest of the pack. If they came at them through the bleachers, that would slow them down. Hopefully enough so they could make it to the woods, maybe they could lose them in there.
Jessie ran flat out, pushing Gary’s chair with him helping as much as he could, pumping the wheels, his hands flying, urging them faster. Sheila was leading, she was past the bleachers and running in a sprint across the soccer practice field, aiming for the trees. Jessie chanced a look behind and his blood seemed to freeze.
There were hundreds of them streaming around the end of the school and the fastest ones were already at the other side of the end zone, screaming with outstretched arms. There were a lot of them getting tangled up in the maze under the bleachers but not enough. He couldn’t go any faster, he was already at 110%; had it cranked up to 11.
Sheila was at the edge of the woods, disappearing into the gloom with Doug only twenty yards behind her. Jessie was halfway across the soccer field and already scanning the wood line, looking for the best entrance. His breathing was ragged, his thirst nearly unbearable, his lungs aching and the stitch in his side was screaming at him.
He wasn’t used to running flat out and rarely ever did unless he was late for the bus. He hoped the woods weren’t wall to wall kudzu like a lot of places in Georgia were. There was no way he could get a wheelchair through it if it were. Hell, you could barely walk through it. But they couldn’t plan for everything.
Sometimes you had to trust fate. He pumped his burning legs, one of his old man’s stupid sayings popping into his head. “Pain is just weakness leaving the body.” He spotted where Doug and Sheila had gone into the gloom and aimed for the same path, it looked clear from what he could see, not too much undergrowth. He couldn’t see much past the shadows a few feet in and silently cursed them for leaving him behind. He shot a look over his shoulder as he entered the dimness, the mass of keening undead were clearing the end of the bleachers and charging out onto the soccer field.
“Watch out!” Gary yelled, and Jessie turned around just barely in time to stop before he plowed headlong into a fence. Sheila and Doug were there, arms outstretched to pull Gary over.
“Hurry,” they said, as Jessie could do little more than try to get his breath, taking in huge gulping lungs full of air. He got the chair against the fence and Gary was over in a heartbeat, Doug dragging the chair over next and getting him in it. It only took a few seconds and they were off, Jessie still panting, holding onto the fence.
“Come on!” Sheila said, and she was chasing after them.
Jessie didn’t have to be told twice. This fence was a godsend. He took one last deep breath then sprung over, hitting the ground running. He was sure the horde would get through it but it looked fairly sturdy, and should hold them back for a few minutes; maybe long enough for them to get to the lake.
Jessie quickly caught up with them, the chair was difficult to maneuver through the underbrush and around the trees. Gary was helping to steer and still pumping the wheels as hard as he could, but they had slowed a lot. Doug was already breathing in short ragged breaths when they heard the mass of zombies hit the fence. It held the first ones in place, their desiccated brains unable to figure out what was stopping them, their legs continuing to try to propel themselves forward.
They kept piling on, kept slamming into the simple wire fence. Within seconds it seemed they had enough weight pushing against it and it went over easily, the unfortunate ones in the front being trampled underfoot of the rampaging, howling horde.
Jessie and Sheila had taken each side of the chair and were pulling frantically towards the water as Doug still pushed and Gary tirelessly spun the wheels with his hands. The undergrowth was getting thicker, the ground muddier and they could hear the horde crashing through the fence.
“Not much farther!” they panted to each other. “Almost there!” But then they were faced with a massive fallen pine between them and the water. They wasted precious seconds, each trying to go in a different direction to get around it with the sounds of the undead crashing through the trees getting louder.
They saw them coming; screaming, keening, gnashing classmates, arms outstretched and heedless of the branches slapping their faces and whipping across their bodies.
“Leave me!” G
ary cried out to them in despair. “Just go!”
“Not a chance.” Jessie gasped. “Forget the chair, Doug grab his other arm!”
“The water is just ahead!” Sheila panted, “Come on, Come on, Come on!”
They draped Gary’s arms over their shoulders and quickly climbed over the fallen tree, his feet dragging uselessly. They could hear the crashing of the undead behind them, close now, right at the downed pine. A few of the sprinters in front found themselves impaled on the branches but that didn’t slow their raging lust, their number one priority, their need to replicate their numbers, to infect the uninfected, to spread as fast as possible to as many as possible in any way possible.
The water was tantalizingly close, so close they could see startled turtles slipping back into the depths from downed trees they had been sunning themselves on. They could see the ripples of surfacing fish. They could see the ducks flap their wings in an effort to speed their flight away from the shores and into deeper water to get away from the screaming and crashing coming from the woods.
And they could see they would never make it in time. The horde was flowing over the downed pine just a few dozen yards behind them and the safety of the lake was a hundred yards in front of them.
“Climb!” Jessie bellowed, all his tortured lungs could get out but they all caught the meaning and aimed for the nearest trees.
“We throw, you go,” Doug said in jagged breaths and Gary nodded. They barely slowed as they came up to an oak with low hanging branches. They just shifted their position on Gary’s arms and tossed him up as high as they could towards the lower limbs.
There wouldn’t be a second chance if he didn’t manage to grasp it and pull himself up; he would fall and be fell upon. But he didn’t miss, his outstretched arms found the branch and like the ladder bars and climbing wall in the gym that he worked out on, he swung his body this way and that, pulling, reaching every time for a branch a little higher.
Sheila was scrambling up a pine covered in old climbing vines ahead of them and Jessie was springing for a low hanging branch on some tree he didn’t recognize. A maple, probably. It didn’t matter. It only mattered that it was there and he was up it and pulling his feet away from the flailing and grasping arms of his former classmates.
They slammed into the tree as he climbed, screeching and keening, jumping and grabbing but too late. Seconds too late as the winded, scraped, bruised and thirsty quartet climbed farther out of range. The mob howled in fury, their rage-filled faces upturned, seeing their prey so close yet so unattainable.
Jessie found a fork in the tree some thirty feet off of the ground that made for a somewhat decent place to sit and leaned his head back. He spotted the others, they had all found similar wide spots in their trees and were catching their breath. He let his heartbeat and breathing slowly return to normal.
It didn’t take but a few minutes for the rough bark to get uncomfortable and before long, he was squirming, trying to find a position that hurt a little less than the one he was in. Where was an illegal deer stand when you needed one? He was so thirsty, his lips were chapped and starting to crack. The water in the lake only made it worse.
He could see it sparkling in the sunlight less than a football field away. He closed his eyes and pulled some leaves from the tree and put them in his mouth, trying to suck any moisture he could out of them. How long would that mob stay down below? Could they out wait them? He didn’t know. It was up to luck now.
If something didn’t distract them, draw them away, they could mill around down there indefinitely. The zombies sure hadn’t been in any hurry to leave the school once they had everyone infected. Just meandered around in aimless circles, bumping into things. They would wait. Stay quiet and hope.
Maybe pray.
Chapter 19
The Three Flags Truck Stop
Day 2
By nine a.m., everyone that wasn’t patrolling the perimeter fence or on the roof was in the diner, settling in to eat. Martha and Cookie had whipped up another buffet style breakfast and as everyone found their seats, Cobb started talking. He filled them in on everything the General had said, that their worst fears were true and the outbreak was global except for the Middle East.
He reiterated that they were in a safe place, they could last here for months with what they had on hand and that there are a few trucks that were loaded with food still out in the parking lot. They may get tired of Winter Squash, but Scratch had twenty thousand pounds of it. There were a few other trucks loaded with food but no restaurant deliveries, unfortunately. That would have given them a diverse menu but the drivers that had volunteered their loads all had bulk items.
Anyone that still wanted to leave was welcome to do so but the diner customers that remained were afraid to try. If a semi-truck got overwhelmed by the hordes, what chance did they have in their cars? They hadn’t heard from the rigs that left yesterday heading up into the mountains. It was anybody’s guess if they made it or not.
Gunny and a half dozen other drivers were leaving, all of them wanting Tommy to reinforce their trucks first. There was talk of a supply run, especially more ammunition and of course more guns. Everyone needed to be armed, they all agreed to that. Even the hesitant ones who just a week ago would have said guns should be outlawed and had no clue how to operate one.
Now they saw the need, and Griz, Packrat and a few others said they could set up a target and training range at the back of the junkyard to teach them. Shakey wasn’t looking too good this morning, was adamant about getting to his truck to get some medicine but that wouldn’t be a problem. He could go with the guys heading out to the parking lot later on.
Cobb drummed up some volunteers who were planning on staying to get busy repairing the old well, see if it could be made operational again. He organized a cleaning crew to empty out a few of the stores and set up sleeping areas. It was easiest to just have separate quarters, Male and Female, with the kids staying with their moms for now.
They would fix up something like small apartments later when they had time. Gunny had volunteered any of the lumber he was carrying for the task. They made plans to get Hot Rod’s truck in one of the mechanics bays so they could unload it of all the moving blankets to make field expedient mattresses.
They’d bring in the rest of the trucks, one at a time, to be unloaded of any food stores they had. After that, the rigs of the few drivers that were planning on staying, because they either lived in a big city or had nowhere to go. They all wanted to drop their trailers and move the tractors in behind the fence so they could sleep in them. Everyone had given the General their addresses so he could look at the latest satellite passes in those areas to let them know how it looked, but most held no illusions of hope.
All of the people in cars had come from the cities. They were either just passing through or had been out on a day trip to the mountains. They were trying to accept that they no longer had a home to go to, that this was the new reality of things. Peanut Butter said she’d let all the cattle she had in her bull hauler run loose in the junkyard then volunteered it to be cut up to make the blades for the trucks that were leaving.
Aluminum was the perfect material. It was lightweight, strong and already with plenty of holes for airflow. After some discussion, they decided to take Gunny’s truck on a supply run after Tommy had welded everything in place. Use it as a test truck, try out the improvements in the real world. They would try to get more guns and as much ammunition as possible with their first stop at the police station.
They hoped some of Billy Travaho’s deputies were still safely in the cells they had locked themselves into yesterday.
Gunny had noticed the different clicks starting to form as he and Scratch ate in silence from the corner booth. The Ferrari guy had a small group around him, the Prius couple and some of the guys from Jimmy Winchell’s band. Even though he was a lot less caustic now that reality had finally set in, he just seemed like a pain in the ass. Cobb would have to watch him, he
seemed like the kind of man who would just naturally try to undermine him. A ‘glass half empty’ kind of guy.
His pretty little blond girlfriend was smarter than she looked, he mused. She hadn’t gone back to him after that little incident where he tried to sacrifice her just to save himself. She sat by herself in one of the corners. He really needed to go apologize to her for frightening her so badly.
He tried to remember her name, he was sure he’d heard it in passing. Cassandra? Tiffany maybe? Some starlet name. One of the drivers would be hitting on her soon, she was easily the prettiest girl in the room, even without her makeup. She wouldn’t have a problem finding a protector and she might need one in this brave new world.
She seemed more of a shopping and nail salon type of girl than one who could handle things on her own. Hot Rod had sat with the gal with the children and he actually had them giggling at some joke he was telling. That was good, Gunny thought. He was a standup guy and he didn’t know that woman’s story but she would need someone to watch out for her and the kids.
Lars had volunteered to help with the well, said he’d had a little experience with them in South America. He was sitting with Pack Rat and Cadillac Jack, listening intently to whatever Jack was saying. The old man had been in military intelligence in the 70s and 80s. A lot of his knowledge base was pretty outdated but he always had a good tale to tell about the cold war and the Russians and the antics they got up to.
Cobb had a good setup here. About the best you could ask for if they got the water flowing. The ground wasn’t any good for crops, but with raised bed gardens and hydroponics, they would flourish. Too bad it was so far away.
Zombie Road (Book 1): Convoy of Carnage Page 18