Living Dead 2.0

by Radovick, Ronda

  He lifted the radio to his mouth, “Jimmy. Pastor. Are you hearing this?” Jimmy responded, “I heard it. I'm on my way. I had to wait for Tony, and Jose to replace me on the back wall. What the hell is happening? Do you guys have enough ammo over there?” Will said, “For now. We don't know how many of them that there are, or if they are headed this way.” Scott replied, “I think that, we may have some military over there.” Aidan skeptically said, “Maybe? Or, someone with a lot of fire-power.”

  He turned to Nina. “Update Renee, and the Pastor in on what is going on. Then, scrounge up some more ammo. If we tell you to get going, get all of the kids to the back of the orchard, and do not come out, until we come and get you.” Nina looked worried. Aidan had a look of real fear on his face. She shook her head up and down, “Okay. Be careful.” Then, she kissed him, and left. Kyle spoke into the radio, “Imogen.” She responded, “Yes. What is happening? Where are you?”

  “Gen...” he continued, “Get Mary, and the baby. Then, get to the school. Wait for further news, there.

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  There are other people battling it out on the other side of the tree line. If they make it there, we don't know how many of them that there are, or what they will do. If things go sour here, one of us will tell you to get out. Do you understand? I will be back soon.” He spoke with a very low tone. Will listened to them speak, and thought to himself, even Kyle is concerned. They watched all of the scattered zombies that, had been mindlessly wandering around the field, turn and stagger towards the trees. They followed the sound of gun fire, and screams. Rose spoke into the radio, “Granny. You need to get the kids to the school.” Granny replied, “ How bad is it?” Rose said, “ We don't know, yet. But, the gunfire sounds like it's getting closer to the wall. This is, just in case.” First, there was a long silence. Then, Granny said, “ Okay, Rose. We'll go to the school.” Rose let out a loud sigh of relief.

  As Kyle and Imogen spoke for a few more minutes, Will spoke openly into the radio, “Stella, Rachel, Scarlett. One of you need to get the children to the school. You girls keep watch, until we know what we are dealing with, here. Keep your heads down. There could just be a few people out there. Or, there could be two large groups. If they see our walls, we don't know how they will react. But, I am sure they'll want inside. If you get the signal to hide, you get going. We''ll get you after the smoke clears.” Stella spoke on her radio, “Dad. I am not leaving the wall. I am not going to let them in. Scarlett has already taken the kids to the school. Rach and I, are here.” Scott responded, “Stella, we may not be able to fend them off if they are too big. We can't see them. But, they have explosives. If they are a large group, we have to be more careful how we deal with them. Just keep us posted, if you see anything. Hopefully, we can wait this out, and get out there to investigate it later. If, they don't come on this side of the trees.” Stella hesitated. Then, she reluctantly agreed, “Alright. Dad. You be careful over there.” He said, “I will. You keep your head down. Both of you.” They waited for hours They listened to more gun fire. Kyle, and Barney were galloping back home. After several hours, a few faint screams followed the disappearance of distant gunfire. Will paced back, and forth. Who ever it was, they had moved further away. Scott asked Charlie, “Charlie. Do you see any movement at all?” Charlie studied the camera's. He said, “No. They are completely out of view.” Gabe came out to the wall. He walked up the steps with a home-made, drone in his hands. He had constructed it from odds and end pieces of plastic, and old parts from unused electronics. As they all turned towards him, they focused on what he was carrying. They realized that it was a make shift drone. It had a camera connected to its front bottom side. He said, “Will. Maybe, this will help. Sorry, I'm so late in the game. But, I had to hurry up and finish it.” He held the device up in the air for them to see. Will asked, “Is that a remote control? Gabe said, “Yes it is. I have been listening to what is happening. When I heard you all talking about not being able to see them, I ran to the work room. I had only started to put together, after the boy was killed. I was thinking that we could fly it over the trees, and try to get some video of what is going on out there.” Scott said, “If this works, it may get us something. But, how loud is it? If any of them are still out there, we don't want to lead them back here.” Gabe said, “It's pretty quiet. The camera is from your inventory. I wired it, to send any signal or video that it picks up back to the receiver.Charlie should get it on one of the screens. Charlie has been helping me.” Scott said, “Let's see if Charlie can get anything.” Will said, “If we can get a look at them, at least, we'll get an idea of how we can fend them off.” Will agreed, “Yes. We need to get this up in the air.” Gabe started the drone, and tested it inside the walls, first.

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  At the school, the women were preparing some food for the children. Renee, Nina, and Nicole, brought everyone who was on watch food, water, and coffee. As they made their way back from their rounds, Nina asked about Chloe. “Renee. How is Chloe doing? I have not seen her, since we buried Ben and Mr. Fontana.” Renee said, “She won't leave her room. Jose brought her some dinner last night, but she only picked at it. She just needs a little time.” Nicole said, “Yes. I think that, after some time passes, she'll be okay. But, does she know to go to the school? I didn't see her there. Do you think the Raiders are fighting another group?” Renee said, “I know. I keep trying to get her to go over there. Jose tried to get her there, earlier. He had to leave, to help on watch. I'm going to check on her, in a while. We don't know who is out there. But, there definitely was battle going on. Everyone, should just stay on their radios, until we know what is actually going on.” Kyle was almost back to the Orchard, when he stopped near a bridge. He needed to give Barney a rest, and take a look through his field glasses. He walked off of the roadway, leading Barney behind him. Below, there was a creek under the bridge. He lifted the binoculars to his eyes. He scanned the area. He didn't see anything. He said, “Come on Barney. Let's get you some water.” He continued down a hill, towards the stream. Barney followed. He watched, as Barney headed straight for the water. As the horse drank, he took a plastic bottle from his back pack. He opened it, and chugged half of the bottle of water. He looked for any sign of life, or death. The horse had gotten his drink, and had moved up to the grass. He started to graze. Kyle took a few apples from the bag. He whistled, then asked the large horse, “Want and apple, Barney?” The horse dug his foot into the grass, and looked up at him. Kyle held out an apple, while waiting for the horse to come and take it. Barney walked to where he was. Kyle fed him several apples, while scanning the area. The horse gobbled six apples, then turned back to the water. Kyle took an apple for himself. He watched, as Barney trotted around the grass. He looked at the bridge. There was a tent set up underneath it. The tent was positioned on a bank, near the water. Whoever slept there, was hidden from the roadway above. “Come on, Boy.” He took Barney's reigns, and led him. He started to walk towards the bridge. Barney protested, and backed up. He did not want to proceed in that direction. Kyle let go of the reigns, a few feet away from the tent. He tip-toed towards the tent. As he walked to the opening, the imprint of a face lunged into the fabric-wall of the tent. Kyle jumped backwards, as the tent rolled to the side. The dead one rolled around inside, snarling and attempting to claw his way out from the fabric. The more it clawed, the more tangled it became. Kyle stood there, staring at the zombie man rolling around with the tent. Only, when Barney started to get more nervous, Kyle jumped on the rolling dead, and stabbed him in the temple. He jumped up, and started to comfort the large animal. Then, he heard a vehicle approaching. It sounded like a truck. “Come on, Barney.” He took the horses' reigns, and rushed under the bridge. After the truck drove over the bridge, he ran up the hill to get a look. He dropped into the tall grass, and took out his field glasses. He watched, as the truck drove along the highway. It was a military truck. He could see a few men sitting in the back. Two more vehicles sped by. He put his head down,
and played dead. He waited half a minute, to see if they would return. They kept going. He watched through the field glasses, again. The vehicles turned on a back road, about half a mile away. The last two were civilian vehicles. He watched, as he spoke into the radio, “Scott, Will. Anyone... Are you there?” Will answered with a question, “You alright, Kyle?” He responded, “I should be asking you that. Some vehicles just passed me, by the old bridge. One of them was military. Is everything alright over there?”

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  Scott answered, “Kyle. Be careful out there. You should come in through the the back. Let us know when you get here.” Kyle asked, “Did anything else happen?” Aidan chimed in, “No. Gabe made a mini drone, and Charlie linked the camera to our system. They are flying it out right now, They are trying to get a look at where they were, and who they are.” Kyle said, “The guys in the military truck won. I have not seen anyone else. And, guys... I don't think that these people are the Raiders.” Scott said, “Keep your head down. We'll be waiting for you at the back gate. I'll get back to you. Gabe, and Charlie are coming back. Stay tuned.” Kyle said, “I will. I should be there in a while.” Will said, “Kyle, be careful. We don't know how many of them there are out there. And, they have some kind of explosives. We don't know if they are like the Raiders.” Kyle replied, “Alright. I will be coming into the back.” Scott followed Charlie and Gabe to the camera control room. Gabe sent the drone outside of the walls. At first, he flew it high up, and over the trees. On the camera, they could see a few clumps of bodies that lay dead on the ground. After they saw that all of the living had left, Gabe brought the drone down to hover over the scene. They saw some of the Raiders, and some others, too. They counted sixty three zombies. Most, had just turned. Some of those injured, or attacked, were still being eaten on the ground. Some were in military garb. Will looked over at Scott. Scott looked worried. He spoke into the radio, “Jimmy. You need to come look at this.” Then, still staring at the monitors, he said, “Kyle. Keep your head down out there. Try to get back soon. If you see anyone out there, do not engage. Hide, until you can get back here.” Kyle said, “Almost back, now. Have not seen anyone else.” Scott studied the view on the cameras. He stayed very quiet. Will asked, “What is it, Scott?”Just then, Jimmy came into the room. They all watched the exchange, between Scott and Jimmy. Scott said, “Jimmy, take a look at the video we got.” Charlie replayed what they already had for Jimmy. At one point, Jimmy threw his palm up into the air, and blurted out, “Whoa! Wait. Go back. Replay that.” He pointed to the screen. Charlie replayed the video. Jimmy said, “Okay, stop. Play that part back.” Charlie obliged. An expression of extreme concern came over Jimmy's face. They all noticed it. He turned to Scott, and the two men stared at each other, for a long moment. Jimmy asked, “How many left alive?” Scott said, “We don't know. Kyle saw a some vehicles on the road. We're waiting for him to get back, now.” Will now, had his arms crossed, while leaning on the wall. “So. Are you two going to tell us what this is all about?” Scott took in a deep breath of air. He said, “Some of those men were with the unit that we left behind.” Jimmy added, “Yes. I didn't see the Commander there. So, until we know more, we have to assume that they went out on their own, as well. Or, he is not here anymore. Or, he was with the vehicles returning to where ever they came from.” The expression on Jimmy's face was one of concern. Will said, “Well, if it's your Commander, we'll straighten this all out. If, they come back.” Scott was hesitant, but spoke. “If the last Commander is still in charge, then we are more unsafe allowing them to know we're here, or what we have here, than we are with the Raiders loose out there.” Jimmy cut in, “We took off. The armed forces were sent in to hold back the hordes in the cities. We were sent out to do the search, and rescue of civilians. At first. Then, before we knew it, they were giving us orders to shoot to kill, everyone. Some of the guys were acting on their own. They would just open fire on civilians. Even kids. They started to raid homes, and schools. We tried to talk to some of the guys, but those that would listen, were too afraid to take a stand. All communication from the top went dead. Most units were down to almost no men. Those who were not killed out in the field, started to get sick.

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  The Commander, the last one that they sent, ordered executions for any our guys who became sick. A couple of the units were combined. No one was allowed to go check on family. Our unit, or what was left of it, was being run like a portable prison camp. Instead of moving into different areas to do search and rescue, we started to get orders to search for survivors, then confiscate weapons and food. It didn't matter to the Commander if people were being left with no help, or protection. One guy got news that his family was in a camp nearby, and needed help. He asked for a furlough to go check on them, he was put in shackles for a week. If the last guy we had is alive, no one here is safe.” Will, and the others, grew concerned. Charlie said, “This just keeps getting better and better.” Scott said, “We have to get Kyle back here, A.S.A.P.!” They heard a voice from behind them. “I'm here.” They all turned, to see Kyle standing near the door, arms crossed. No one knew exactly how long he had been listening, but they could tell that he had heard enough. Kyle said, “There were three vehicles. One was definitely military.” Scott asked, “Did you have a chance to get a look at the men? Any idea of how many there were?” Kyle said, “It looked like, fifteen or twenty men. It was hard to tell. It looked like they were armed to the teeth, though. They turned east, about half a mile from the old bridge. ” Will said, “White Pine Road? They went towards Lafayette. Either that, or they are staying on an old farm, in between. That's all you'll find, if you travel that way.” There was a deafening silence. Kyle continued, “Which is why, I made a bee line for you all.” Jimmy said, “I don't think that their intentions are any good. We need bigger guns.” He shot Aidan a long, look. Will said, “Well. You, Rose, and Aidan brought us back some real good stuff. That tank should give us the fire power that we need to fend off more attacks.” Kyle asked, “What if they have tanks, too?” Jimmy cut in, “That is one thing that I am worried about. The Commander had a boat load of weaponry, when we left. Hopefully, they are all out. But, if they still have the big guns, they know how to use them, the way that they were intended.” Kyle added, “We keep watch then. They were going east. We have to find their camp.” Scott said, “They will have look outs all over the place.” Jimmy said, “ If we have to, we go back and get the herd.” They all looked at him, in surprise. Will said, “That is crazy. Where did you lead them to?” Jimmy said, “Up by a place with a big storage facility. I know the way.” Will asked, “ Wolcott?” Scott said, “We still need to know where they are camped at.” Jimmy said, “I'll go out, and try to figure it out. Will, I need you to draw me a map of where you think they went, based on what Kyle tells us. Can you do that?” Will said, “Sure....” Before he could say anything else, Kyle cut in, “I'll take you there. You should not go alone. We'll track them, and find their camp. Then, we watch.” Will said, “I'll go with, then. It's easy to get lost in the woods. I know some of those spots, like the back of my hand. We get in, and see what is what. We report back, as we go along.” Scott said, “It's dangerous.” Will said, “You keep everything in order, here.” They readied themselves for what may happen, after they went outside the walls. The men left on their secret mission. As they made it to the bridge before the turn off. Will said, “Okay, I know a place where we can hide the truck.” He turned around, and went back the way they had come. Just on the other side of the bridge, was a dip on the side of the highway. It led to the creek. Will turned off onto the grass, drove down a hill onto the creek. He made a sharp U-turn. Now, they were driving up the dry creek, back the way they were originally driving. About one hundred feet, behind a thick patch of trees, Will drove onto some grass above the creek. Jimmy, and Kyle looked around. They could see an open area. To the side, they could see where the creek turned, and ran along side the area where they had parked behind some trees.
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  They exited the vehicle. Kyle said to Will, “Lead the way, Boss-man.” Will said, “We need to follow the creek. It will bring us up under the bridge. If we get separated, you guys follow the creek. It will bring you back here.” They followed Will up the creek. It wound around some more trees. They walked up onto land. As they walked along the rocks, they were ambushed by a swarm of zombies. Kyle blurted out, “Don't shoot!” He grabbed one, and stabbed it in the temple. Two more were on him. He kicked one down. While he struggled with the other, Jimmy stabbed one in the throat, in an upwards direction. Two more were on Will, he stabbed one in the temple. Then, Jimmy threw another to the ground. Kyle, now had another snapping it's teeth at him. He stabbed the large zombie in the temple. Will struggled with another, who had grabbed him, while he stabbed the other one. He stumbled backwards, dropping his knife. He kept backing up, then he was blocked by a tree. Now, he was stuck. He pushed back on the big zombie man. It snapped it's big yellow teeth at his face. He grabbed for a branch, positioning the branch in a horizontal direction, between him and the dead one. He waited for the big zombie-man to open it's mouth to snap at him, again. In the back ground, he could see Kyle stabbing a zombie into the temple. Jimmy fought two more off. As the zombie opened his mouth to bite Will, he shoved the branch between it's teeth. Now, he pushed back as hard as he could. The zombie-man lost it's footing, and fell backwards. Now, Will lunged forward, bent down, and grabbed his knife. He turned to meet the zombie lunging back at him. He stabbed the dead one in the eye. Now, zombies lay all over the place. They stood there, for a moment, and caught their breath. They started moving. Again. They made their way to the bridge. Will led the men under the bridge through the trees. Kyle asked, “ Don't you want to know where I saw them turn off?” Will said, “You said, the first road after the bridge. Right?” Kyle said, “Yes.” Will said, “That's White Pine Road. I have to tell you two that, they could be on any farm, from here, to the next town. So, we need to be quiet.” They shrugged it off, an agreed. They walked a a mile and a half. Then, they heard them. They peeked through some trees, and there they were. Several vehicles were parked around a large farm house. They hid behind the tree line. Will whispered, “This is the Rodriguez place. I went to school with Ernie.” They crouched behind the trees. They watched for a long time. They saw several men coming, and going. Then, they saw the Commander. Jimmy stared through his field glasses. “It's him.” he said. The Commander looked a little more haggard, than he did in the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. But, it was him. Just then, they watched, as the back door to the home flew open. A middle aged man fell out, onto the stairs. Then, they pushed him to the ground. Will's grew big with concern. “Ernie! Ernie is alive?” Will blurted out. Kyle said, “Sh!” They all watched, as a young woman came running out after him, She cried, “Dad!” Now, Will looked terrified. “Nora!” Ernie said, “It's okay, Nora.” She tried to get to her father. One man grabbed her. She struggled, and tried to wiggle away from him. Ernie yelled, “Let us go. You can have the house. Leave her alone!” One of the men scoffed at Ernie. He said something that they could not understand. They watched one of the men kick Ernie down to the ground. Then, he aimed his gun at the man, and shot him. Nora started to scream. Will tried to stand up, and jump through the trees. Jimmy and Kyle both grabbed at him the same time. Kyle whispered, “Will! Stay quiet, or we won't get the girl out of there.” Will froze. He thought about what Kyle said, “He whispered, “Okay. Okay. Let's get her out.” He sat up.He had a blank expression on his face. Jimmy stared at Will. Unsure that he would be able to hold it together, he watched him.