Z-Risen (Book 3): Poisoned Earth

by Long, Timothy W.

  It was a great plan. Sadly, we didn’t get very far.

  I held on as Joel hit a fucking wall of zombies. Some were smashed aside, some were crushed underneath, and some exploded. Walking corpses, so I’d learned, tended to do that. Blood, guts, splattered brains, and body parts covered the front of the big truck, and with each impact, the body sustained more and more damage. There had to be a hundred of the things all around us, and instead of getting away from them, we came to a halt.

  The truck died, and with it, the sound of the dead became the only thing I heard, until Anna took out a feisty, freshly-dead fuck who’d decided that he wanted to climb up the hood.

  The engine turned over, caught with a weird noise that sounded like chains cracking together and then died again. Joel cranked a few more times, but the only answer was a grinding noise.

  “Ah, shit!” he said.

  I pushed myself up and shimmied through the little portal. My sides and arms felt like I’d been in a damn boxing ring with all of the scrapes and bruises.

  Anna made room for me, but the roof bowed dangerously as we moved around.

  Joel turned the key again and let it crank for a good ten seconds, but nothing happened, except the truck groaned like it had given up. That’s right, fuck you people who abused the shit out of me. I can only take so much.

  The dead closed in all around us.

  “What do we do now?” Anna looked me in the eye and I saw something that I had rarely seen from her.

  She was just as scared as me.

  #28 - Uncertainty

  05:20 hours approximate

  Location: Just outside of Oceanside

  Gunfire shattered the night.

  The moans of the dead were the only noise that filled my ears. They also filled my soul with dread, because as many scrapes as we’d been in, this was the motherfucker that topped them all. Not for the first time we were completely surrounded, but this time I didn’t have a plan, and judging by the defeated look on Joel’s face, neither did he.

  I’d been staring at the mass as they surrounded us, and my thoughts had turned to how we were all going to off each other. Would one of us shoot the rest? Would we sit around in a circle jerk and watch each other blow their brains out? Maybe we could just have Joel machine gun us into oblivion, and then he could do himself.

  The funny thing was that I worried about my body after we were dead, so I had been looking around for things to set the camper on fire with.

  Then my mind raced as I thought about zombies eating our toasted bodies. Would they bring some Kansas City BBQ sauce to enjoy our ribs?

  Joel managed to get out of the truck’s window without being pulled into the mess of Zs. Anna and I had provided cover while he shimmied up the side and onto the roof, kicking away grasping hands in the process.

  There’d been one real moment where I thought he was being dumb. Joel had grabbed a couple of boxes of ammo and flung them at us, then he’d ducked in for more after batting aside a couple of grabby assholes. What was the use of all that ammo when we were completely stuck? It would take a thousand rounds to get out of this mess.

  The basis of a plan formed in my head. We’d take turns sitting on the camper shooting all of these bastards until we were out of bullets. If that happened, we’d have a chance.

  Or until a couple of shufflers appeared.

  The three of us shimmied into the camper.

  “This ain’t good,” Joel said. “And what the hell is that fucking smell?”

  “Roz got sick after we got her in here. Not like we can open a window and air the place out,” I said. “We’ve been in worse spots than this, Joel.”

  “Nah, man. This is the worst. Thing is, the truck is stuck. I don’t know if I got too much zombie shit in the grill or if we just hit a Z wall. All I know is I couldn’t move forward or back. Engine died and I couldn’t get it to restart.”

  “Wait it out,” Anna said.

  “I saw at least three shufflers out there. Glowing green eyes and everything. I can try to take them out, but hitting moving targets isn’t as easy as it looks, and we got limited ammo,” Joel said.

  “So much for my plan,” I muttered.

  “What was it?” Joel asked.

  “It was stupid. Next plan?”

  “We don’t have a choice. We have to wait it out, and maybe we can keep them out of the camper long enough so that they lose interest and wander away. All we have to do is shoot the shufflers,” Anna said.

  “Works for me,” I nodded. “Put Joel and his assault rifle up there and he can pick off the fast ones.”

  “Good plan, but I’m almost out of rounds.”

  Joel moved to Roz’s side and brushed the hair out of her face. His fist clenched when he saw the damage.

  “She needs help,” I muttered.

  Hands pounded at the back door.

  “I tried to clean up the wound, but there’s a lot of blood and I didn’t want to hurt her,” Christy said.

  “How could you let this happen?” Joel said.

  I shook my head. What the hell? We didn’t let anything happen; a shuffler had dropped on us and taken us by surprise. Anna had been the one to get the bastard off Roz while I fought my way back to them.

  “It was so fast, Joel, you were there. Oh, wait, you went upstairs to kill stuff, remember, that’s what you do.”

  “Fuck you, man. I saved your ass and you let her get attacked.”

  “Don’t blame me. Coulda happened to any of us,” I tried to reason.

  “But it didn’t, it happened to her.”

  Christy sat on the floor next to Roz and held a bloodied towel. Tears left a clean line through grime as they trickled down her face.

  “Stop arguing,” she said.

  “We aren’t arguing, because I’m right,” Joel said.

  He looked around the tiny cabin and I saw something in his eyes I’d never seen before: despair. He was at the end of his rope, and I wasn’t going to be much help, because I felt the same way.

  More hands beat at the trailer. The truck actually tilted as too many of them pushed.

  “Joel, we can’t argue about this right now. We need to deal with that,” I nodded at the door.

  Joel pointed at Roz. “That is a real problem. That is what we need to fix. Tired of watching your ass all the time.”

  The side of the cabin bowed in and the trailer lifted a half foot off the ground. I reached for the sink and caught myself.

  “Calm down, man. You’re just upset.”

  “I’m not going to be calm until we’re out of this. We gotta get some help for Roz. Get back to the city and see if that crazy bitch with the meds has something that can fix her up.”

  “Dude, you sound like a crazy person,” I said.

  “Fuck you, Creed. The only thing crazy is that we’re stuck in this shitty mess,” Joel fumed. “I’m going to thin the herd. Better than sitting here waiting to die.”

  “So you’re going to go sit up there and shoot until you’re empty and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to get to safety. Sounds like we’re going to have to run. Did you plan to leave Roz here? Because it’s going to take more than one of us to carry her.”

  “No one’s getting left behind. Hand me some ammo,” Joel said.

  Christy was quick, gathering up a couple of magazines and handing them to Joel. He shoved a few in his pockets and handed over his empties.

  “I don’t think we have enough to fill them,” Christy said.

  “Do your best,” Joel nodded.

  “What about us? What do we do while you’re up there saving us?” I asked.

  “What can we do, man? What the fuck can we do? Roz’s hurt, we’re completely surrounded, and we can’t just sit around with our thumbs up our asses. We don’t even know if she’s going to turn into one of those fucking things. Give me a better plan or get the hell out of the way.”

  Joel shouldered me aside and stepped on the chair. He pushed his assault rifle out of the porta
l and then wedged himself in.

  “We need something better than shooting them, come on Joel. Let’s think this through.”

  “Like I said,” Joel yelled back. “Come up with a plan or sit down and shut the fuck up.”

  “Don’t be an asshole, Joel. Roz needs you now, and so do Anna and Christy,” I said, because I couldn’t think of anything better to say.

  Joel was pissed, yeah, but he wasn’t thinking straight. Even if he had unlimited ammo, could he really clear this entire area, kill the shufflers, and then get us out of here? The chances were nil. Fucking nil, and he knew it.

  Joel dropped back into the cabin and got in my face.

  “What do you have in mind, smartass?” Joel waited.

  “Not having a fucking pity party, that’s one plan. You want to go up there and waste all of our ammo, be my guest, but then what?”

  The camper bowed in on both sides.

  “Then we get the truck unstuck and get the hell out of here. Thin the herd, because it’s worked before, so man up or sit down here and cry like a bitch,” Joel said.

  “Shut up,” I said.

  “Don’t tell me the fuck to…”

  “They’re listening to us argue. Just shut up,” I whispered.

  Joel stared daggers but nodded. We stood in silence as the moans rose around us.

  ###

  05:35 hours approximate

  Location: Just outside of Oceanside

  We gave it a few minutes and sure enough, the pounding at the camper died down a little bit. Joel and I sat on opposite sides, him with one arm crossed around his AR-15 and the other on Roz’s shoulder, me holding my wrench and wishing I was out there swinging it, because I was fucking mad as hell.

  Joel had every right to be a pain in the ass and he had every right to be angry at our situation, but taking it out on me was the wrong move. We’d seen a lot of shit, but I’d never seen him this close to losing it.

  If we lost Joel, where would we all be? I’d like to say that the girls and I would be fine and dandy and live to fight another day. After all, Anna Sails was badass enough for both of us. The fact that she was a woman and smaller than me meant that I’d initially discounted her as needing to be protected. Turned out she was more than up for the challenge, and had been the one to protect me on many occasions.

  Christy had latched onto us, me in particular, and I’d done my best to teach her everything I knew about surviving the zombie fucking apocalypse. She was good with a gun, but sometimes rattled easily. That was understandable, because she was a kid, but I’d seen her step up on more than one occasion.

  Then there was Roz. She was always steady. When we’d met her she’d been outside of her house and intent on shooting her dad, who had already become a Z. Since then she and Joel had bonded. Now there was something wrong with her. The shuffler had done some damage, and unlike a zombie’s bite, it wasn’t turning her. But what did that mean?

  After Roz had finished puking her guts out, Christy had been nice enough to slop the mess into a corner and out of the way, but the smell wasn’t any better.

  Frosty barked from the front of the truck, then quieted down.

  Some of the Zs continued to pound on the walls, but some had given up and wandered off--or so I hoped. In an ideal world they'd all be gone, coast clear. As far as I was concerned, we needed to just stay put and hope the bastards found another bunch of people to terrorize.

  It was another ten minutes before Joel decided he’d had enough. He rose to his feet and moved to the center of the camper, but didn’t meet my eye. He looked back at Roz and then climbed onto the chair.

  “Wait, Joel,” I whispered.

  He ignored me and pushed his head out of the portal.

  “Shit,” he said when he dropped back down.

  “Told you to wait,” I said.

  “Wouldn’t matter. Damn Zs are just hanging around out there like they know we’re still here. I’m gonna go see if the engine will turn over. Maybe it’s cooled…” He didn’t finish his sentence, because something hit the camper hard enough to make it shake.

  Green eyes peered in from the entryway, and another pair appeared at the back door. I drew and shot before I’d thought it through. The sound of the 9mm in the tiny space was deafening, like I’d shoved cotton in my ears because a giant monkey playing cymbals had pounded my head.

  Something hit the roof and Joel swung his assault rifle up. He dropped to one knee and aimed at the portal. When part of the ceiling buckled, he fired two rounds. There was a screech of pain, and then the roof buckled in another place.

  I met the eyes of my companions and saw nothing but fear.

  ###

  05:50 hours approximate

  Location: Just outside of Oceanside

  The pounding began in earnest. Fists hammered the truck and hands clawed at the windows.

  The back of the camper flexed under the pressure. Joel pushed back.

  A side window shattered and Zs reached inside. Anna pulled her knife and slashed at the hands that hunted for our flesh. A finger hit the ground and one of the Zs withdrew, but more hands appeared in its place.

  I stood up and lifted my wrench. When they came through, I was going to be a wall capable of swinging heavy steel. I’d bash in every head I could reach before they took me down.

  A blast from outside the camper scared the shit out of me.

  Another blast and one of the creatures on top of the vehicle fell off with a thump. Several more gunshots, and the things above us departed. Joel and I looked at each other but he was the first one to say it. “Hit the deck!”

  I got on my belly and hoped whoever was out there didn’t spray our vehicle with lead. Joel was right next to me, and there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He rolled onto his back and pointed his gun at the ceiling.

  More pops in the near distance. After a few seconds of silence, the blasts opened up with authority. Bullets whizzed through the air. The sound of rounds striking flesh and leaving mortal wounds answered.

  After a thirty second barrage, it grew silent again.

  “Anyone fucking alive in there?”

  “Yeah we’re fucking alive!” I yelled back.

  “Stay put!” The man’s voice was just about the best thing I’d ever heard in my life.

  I hoped we were being rescued and not truck-jacked. Even if our would-be heroes wanted all of our shit, maybe they’d leave us alive. A brief moment of horror reminded me of McQuinn’s army of jackholes. If they were outside, we were all going to die.

  Christy crawled across the floor until she was right next to me. She grasped my hand and held on tightly.

  Anna partially covered Roz’s body with her own, because Roz kicked her legs up and down, striking the floor in pain. She gurgled something, and then coughed until it sounded like she was going to toss a lung. Anna held Roz’s hands to her sides, and didn’t let the other woman up.

  There were a few more pops of small arms fire, and then someone knocked on the door.

  “Don’t fucking shoot. We’re here to help.”

  “Yeah okay,” I said.

  “Don’t get too excited, friend.”

  I smiled. “Sorry, man. We thought we were about to be lunch.”

  “More like breakfast, but why don’t you come out nice and slow and do us a favor--don’t show us any guns, if you know what I’m saying. You stay cool and we’ll stay cool.”

  “We’re cucumbers,” Joel answered.

  I looked at him and shook my head. Who says some shit like that?

  I rose to my knees and shuffled forward, then stood and peered out, cautiously, at what awaited.

  ###

  06:05 hours approximate

  Location: Just outside of Oceanside

  The man was probably in his mid-forties, and dressed in battle fatigues. He had dusky skin, and brown eyes that were tight around the corners. He didn’t wear any insignia that I could see, but he had a symbol on his collar that looked like a skull wit
h a rifle behind it, and on either side were wings. His face was covered in streaks of dark camouflage. He nodded and I nodded back.

  “You folks okay in there?” he asked.

  “Mostly,” I said.

  “We were on patrol and saw the house on fire so we moved in to investigate. Sarge thought a bunch of jumpers on top of a camper meant they were up to nothing good. Not that jumpers need any excuse to be assholes.”

  I cracked the door open and took in our saviors.

  “Thanks for coming along. I thought we were about to join the Zs,” I said.

  Although I was keeping it cool I was tense, and ready to jump if they made a wrong move.

  It was like Kelly and I had a mental connection. I knew without looking that he was lying on the deck and had his AR trained on the door. I knew enough to hit the deck if he yelled “Down!” Not that it would do a lot of good; these guys had enough firepower to wipe us off the face of the earth.

  “Name's Ramirez, and we’re part of a delta patrol outta Fort Obstacle the third, on account a Fort Obstacle two being overrun a few nights ago,” he continued.

  I just stared, because a minute ago I'd thought we were all about to join the horde of undead, and now this guy was talking about having multiple fortresses.

  “Ramirez, I could just about kiss you,” I said.

  “You’re not my type, but I appreciate the sentiment, sir.”

  One of the men near him chuckled as he stood around looking like he was about to fall asleep. His weapon was a subcompact; probably an MP5, from the profile. I needed to smack Joel Kelly one of these days, for teaching me to recognize guns on sight.

  Five other men who were dressed like our rescuer stood around in a semicircle. One of the guys hanging out to the side had a gun that made Joel’s AR look like a toy.

  He was on one knee and swinging the barrel around in a short sweep. His eye was pressed to a big scope. He lifted his right hand in the air and raised a digit. The others pointed guns in the direction of his barrel. He lowered his hand, got a finger on the trigger, and then fired. The boom sounded like the sniper rifle that Joel had used when the mercenaries had had us holed up in a hotel a few weeks back.