344
Kyle whispered, “Are you sure that you're alright?” In the distance, Nora had broken free of the man's grip, rushing to her father's side. He lay, lifeless on the ground. She knelt next his body, and slouched over him. She shook his body, and tried to revive him.There was no response. As the men stood jeering, one man walked over to where she was, and pulled her up by the arm. She screamed, “Don't touch me! You son of pig!” She struggled, and screamed. He pulled her, with flailing arms, all the way up the steps. They watched, as sight of her disappeared inside the door way. Jimmy studied Will. He was afraid that the man would lose it, and give them away. He knew that they had to help that young woman, but they had to be careful. Kyle said, “I think that we need to disable some of the vehicles, if possible. Create a diversion. Then, they will be immobile.” Jimmy added,” Some of them will be. But, that sounds like a plan.” Kyle said, “I'll go in, first. You guys have a dago on?” Both, Will and Jimmy, turned to Kyle in surprise. Jimmy asked, “Uh...Why?” Kyle asked, again. “Do you guys wear any undershirts?” Will said, “Yes.” Jimmy whispered, “Kyle, this is no time for riddles.... make your point.” Kyle already had his T-shirt off. He pulled his Dago-T up over his shoulders. He said, “Good. Mask up.” He pulled the T-shirt over his head, leaving the open neck line over his eyes. He tied the longer edges of the shirt behind his head. He said, “Come on, now. There is not much time. Will. Stay here, and be my eyes.” He turned to Jimmy, “Listen for my signal. Then, I'll be waiting for you.” Jimmy said, “Keep your head down.” Kyle replied, “ I'm going around to the front. I'm going to see what our options are from that direction. Give me a few minutes.” Kyle made it to the other side of the farm house. From that side, he could see some people moving around in the living room area, through the picture window. It looked like there were four people inside. He saw one of them dragging Nora across the room. She fought him all the way. He knew that, there had to be more people. He just didn't know where they were at. About one hundred feet from the house, he saw a propane truck, and a tank that brought fuel into the house. He was hoping one of the two had fuel left. He circled the property, moving towards the truck from behind the trees. He made sure the coast was clear, before sneaking to the truck. He moved over to the truck. He looked at the valve, it was almost full. He slowly opened the door to the truck. He rummaged through the things inside. He found a flare gun and some flares, a few small tools, and an old jacket. He took out the jacket and crouched down against the side of the truck. He took his knife, then cut up the jacket. He took strips of the jacket and tied them together. He took the gas cap off of the gas tank belonging to the truck. He shoved the skinny end of the rag into the tank. It took some doing. He had to use a stick from the ground force the cloth far enough down the narrow line, so that it would soak up some of the gas. He took the other end of the rag and let it down the side of the truck. Now, it hung from the opening of the gas tank. It only draped a few feet down the side of the truck. He went to each vehicle, and repeated this. Then, lit the jacket strips in each vehicle. He ran towards the trees. Once behind them, he ran back around to the rear of the house. Before he made it half way around, he heard one, then two, then three explosions. The second, louder than the first one. . He had to act fast. Now, the dead would come from all over the place. The men ran outside from the front and back doors. They all hovered around the burning vehicles. This was Kyle's chance to get inside. As soon as it looked like there were no more men, Kyle made a run for the back door.
Will, and Jimmy watched the men standing around the vehicles. They could hear the men yelling at each other, from the side of the house.
345
Black smoke billowed above the vehicles. Kyle whispered into the radio, “Cover me!” Will and Jimmy watched, as Kyle ran out from behind the trees on the side of the house. He made his way into the back door. “Jimmy asked, “Kyle? What are you doing?” Kyle said, “I'll be out in a minute. Give us cover.”As Kyle ran into the kitchen, he and Nora slammed into each other. She bounced off of his chest, and partially fell back into the wall. He grabbed her arm and said, “Come on! There is not much time.” After she shook off the shock of hitting Kyles chest, then the wall, she thought Kyle was one more of the men, who had taken over her home and killed her father. When the men ran from the house, she knew that it was her chance to run. She focused on Kyle for a few seconds. She went into a panic. She grabbed a frying pan from the stove, and swung at him. He grabbed her arms. She tried to fight him off. He said, “Nora. Will Neely sent me.” She froze. “What? Mr. Neely? How do you know the Neely's?” He said, “Come on! There is no time. He is out back.” He took her by the arm, and led her outside. He stopped at the door, and made sure that the coast was clear. “Will, Jimmy. Cover us. We are coming out.” He turned to Nora. He realized that she had a bruised cheek. He said, “Come on. If I tell you to get down, you get your head down. But, keep moving. If they catch up to us, you run and don't stop.” Still in shock, she shook her head up and down. He led her outside. As they made it to the bottom of the steps, they made a run for it. They made it to where her father lay dead on the ground. She looked at his body, and started to slow down. Kyle pulled her in the direction of the trees, as she started to cry. They made it to the trees, as the men were trying to battle the living dead that swarmed them, from every direction. Kyle took his shirt off of his head, and stuffed part of it in his waist. He rushed to Will, and Jimmy. He said, “Come on. They will be looking for her in a few minutes. Will and Nora hugged. Will said, “We can take them! They are out in the open, no way out.” Kyle, and Jimmy looked at Will, then each other. They turned, and started shooting. They hit seven of them, right off the bat. Some of the others took cover behind a shed. The dead already had those left in their grips.“Nora, get down!” said Will. He handed her a gun. She crouched down in the bushes. Kyle said, “ We have them pinned down. They have no ride out of here. We need to flank them. Jimmy asked, “ Which side do you want?” Kyle said, “ I'll go to the left. You take the right. Will, you should stay with the girl. Cover us.” Will agreed, “ Okay. Let's get this thing going.” Will and Nora watched, as the two men crept along both sides of the hiding men. As they approached them they started shooting at them. They killed all, but two. The remaining two men, ran off in opposite directions. Will shot im, he went down. Then, they heard a shot from another area of the treeline. The last men went down. Will knew that it was not Kyle or Jimmy. He saw them starting to chase the man. Jimmy and Kyle held thir guns drawn at the treeline. Jimmy ordered, “ Come out, and keep your hands where we can see them!” Will and Nora, had stepped out from behind the bushes. Will scanned the treeline, and could not believe his eyes. Will yelled, “WAIT! Kyle! Jimmy! Don't shoot!” The two men, one older, one younger, just stood there. Jimmy, and Kyle looked at Will, as he rushed towards them. Kyle and Jimmy exchanged a confused glance. The older of the two men spoke. “Hey Will!” Will rushed to the man, and gave him a man hug. Now, Jimmy and Kyle were more at ease, and lowered their aim. Will turned to them, “Fella's. This is Rob Ogden. This is his grandson, Josh.” Josh awkwardy waved. Jimmy said, “Hello.” Kyle asked, “ Did you guys know them?” He pointd back to the dead men. Josh said, “Nope. We went collecting supplies, and they ambushed us. We barely got away. Then, we followed them here. You guys were here, when we showed.”
346
Jimmy looked at the dead bodies of those they killed. He wanted to make sure that the Commander was in the group. He saw him, and Biggs, too. The Commander had been shot through the heart. Biggs had a shot to the throat. He never did like Biggs. He was relieved to know that, his group was safe from those lunatics. He spoke into the radio to Scott, “ We did it, Major. We killed him and his men.” Scott came back, “ Are you sure?” Jimmy answered, “I am looking at their dead bodies, right now. It's over.” Scott said, “It looks like they killed the crazy Captain, and his ilk.” Jimmy said, “ What comes around, goes around.” Scott said, “I'll inform the group.
They will sleep better, tonight.” Jimmy said, “ So will I, Major. We got a little help from someone that Will knows. We'll explain when we get back.” Scott said, “ Okay. We'll see you all later.” Will called out to Stella. “Stella.” She answered, “Yes, Dad. What is happening? Dad. We found the Captain, and his men in the field. They're all dead.” Will responded, “We got the men they fought with. We killed them. We had some help, too.” Stella came back, “From who?” Will answered, “ Rob Ogden. I'll explain, when we get back. Just, let everyone know.” Rob, invited the men to join himself, and his family for dinner. They first, had the sad task of burying their friend, and getting Nora to safety. Then, the men joined Rob and his family for dinner. They ate and got to know each other. Will visited with his friends. At the end of the day, Will, Jimmy, and Kyle went back to the Orchard, knowing they'd sleep easy........ for now.
© RONDA RADOVICK © COPYRIGHT 2017-2018
Living Dead 2.0 Page 74