“We found the clinic when you were gone and started cleaning it up, I have good supplies now.” He said. I felt the exhaustion creep up on me and I looked at David. “Good, I hope there is medicine there you can use.” I said. He nodded and smiled brightly. “I think we will have what we need for a while.” He said. He headed off to the clinic to finish cleaning through the night. I wished Ricky a good night and went to bed.
Chapter Seventeen
We rested for several days and started cleaning the homes in town. We knew the fuel throughout the world would soon be useless and started making plans on finding horses. Maya had told us she grew up on a ranch and her father raised several horses. We took several trips into Maya’s hometown and managed to bring three horses back. We cleaned a barn and provided the horses shelter. Maya ended up teaching us what she had learned about the horses and we all became familiar with them. I still used the truck and would continue to use it as long as the fuel would hold up. We built stronger gates that entered our town and made places for people to guard the town from the outside world. We also managed to have several gardens and eat at the church twice a day. One of the homes we fixed up contained a well and the town used this as the main water supply.
Jasmine adopted the kids and I moved her to a three bedroom home near the church. Dr. David made himself comfortable at the clinic and settled in nicely. Each of the adults had a night of the week that we patrolled the town by horseback. We also used the fenced yard of the church for a playground. We built little club houses and filled a crate with balls and toys for the kids to use.
I continued to hear gunshots and explosions throughout the nights and I became more and more concerned for my town. Dr. David had told me that Claire was having more sickness and we decided to keep her off her feet more. Beth and Claire Jr. made good friends with the other kids and they all started forgetting about the decayed and acted more like kids.
I tossed a few vitamin bottles in my bag and noticed David was grinding herbs in a ceramic bowl. “Claire said she feels a lot better today.” I said. He took off his glasses and smiled. “Good, she is a strong woman.” He said proudly.
I started thinking about Olivia and Carter again. “Who were Carter and Olivia?” I asked curiously. David poured the finely ground herbs into a jar and leaned back in his office chair. “I had worked in that hospital for thirteen years. Olivia and Carter were volunteers that worked with sick kids. They refused any money and spent most of their days there at the hospital.” He got quite for a moment and stared off. “Those kids sure loved them.”
I put my backpack on and smiled. “We need more people like them in this world.” I said kindly. He stood up from his chair and walked over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “We also need more people like you.” He said. I shook my head and felt a little nervous when he said that. “I’m just like anyone else, fighting to survive.” I said. He shook his head in disagreement. “You’re more than that, you’re our leader.”
I left the clinic and wondered down to the south barricades too check on Ted. I noticed he was sitting on top of the shed we built and looking at the horizon. “How’s it looking out there?” I asked. He rested his rifle on his lap. “I noticed a few decayed wondering around but they don’t get any closer than a hundred feet or so.” He explained. I nodded my head and noticed his legs were shaking nervously.
Ricky caught up to me and handed me a bottle of water. I motioned for Ricky too look at Ted’s odd behavior. He looked up and after he noticed Ted’s legs shaking I motioned for him to go to the other end of the barricade. I turned toward the barricade. “Who’s out there?” I yelled. I heard movement on the other side and Ted suddenly pissed his pants. I pulled out my shotgun and looked over at Ricky; he was peeking through the cracks in the walls. He looked over and pointed to his eyes, then held up three of his fingers. I looked back at the barricade. “I know there are three of you out there, just know we have a lot of people and a shit tone of ammo!” I yelled.
I heard a loud gunshot and Ted suddenly fell from his chair. Ricky poked his gun out and fired his shotgun a few times. I found an opening in the barricade and peered out; I noticed one man lying dead on the road and two other men were hiding behind a red car. One of them stood up and fired a couple of shots at the wall. Ricky and I ducked and then returned fire. After a few seconds, the men jumped in the car and started backing up; I shot a few more rounds at the car and hit the driver. The passenger crawled over, pushed him out of the car, and sped off.
I climbed up the ladder and looked at Ted; he had a gunshot too the head. Ricky and I ran back to the church and rang the bell. A few minutes later, our small town gathered in the church. I stood at the podium and looked at their worried faces. “We just got attacked, I need all adults to grab guns from the supply room and split up at the two barricades. One of them survived and escaped, he may tell people about our town. We must stand our ground.” Claire stayed with the kids and we all ran out to the barricades.
We buried Ted in the small cemetery and observed the horizons for a few days. I looked over at Ricky. “We need those weapons.” I said. He nodded his head and knew what I meant. We filled the truck with gas and gave everyone weapons and ammo. We didn’t want to leave them but had no choice, who knows what kind of weapons these people had? We made better lookout points and gave everyone a good hunting rifle with scopes. I also set-up a few grenades at the barricades that would go off when breached. Ricky and I filled the truck with fuel and supplies and would leave first thing in the morning.
I spent the day playing outside with the kids and they had me pretend I was a Roman soldier trying to defend their castle. I ran around with a stick and pretended to battle imaginary enemies. They cheered loudly and told me that I have saved their kingdom.
The sun was nearly set and I went inside the church and sat with Claire on one of the pews. I held her hand tightly and told her that Ricky and I had reinforced the church. I also explained that if they needed to leave; there was a van parked in the back of the church. She just smiled and told me I would be back before anything happened.
I took her hand and placed a ring onto her finger. “Oh my god.” She cried. I had found the ring in one of the houses and was glad it fit; a little loose but good enough. “I love you.” I whispered in her ear. She started crying and we held each other for a while. We eventually went to bed and fell asleep during a conversation.
Ricky woke me the next morning and we jumped in the truck. I did not wake Claire or the girls; I hated goodbyes and so did she. David opened the gate for us and we hit the road.
Chapter Eighteen
Ricky loaded all our guns ammo and put them in our backpacks. I kept my eyes on the road and off and on Ricky would read the map. We only stopped once at a small gas station and topped off the truck. We did not grab any food because everything now had started to mold and form into disease-ridden poison. I shot a decayed in the head and got back on the road.
After a couple of hours, we found Fort Carson and parked a few feet away. The evening sun shined down on the large building in the distance and only a few small clouds floated over the town. We locked up the truck and put on our supply-filled backpacks, guns, ammo, two grenades, food and water.
“Alright Ricky, we need to keep it together. Do this for our people.” I said bravely. Ricky pumped his shotgun and we slowly made our way to the open gate. We noticed a military truck wrecked against the small building that operated the gates and peered in, nothing but a decomposing soldier behind a broken desk. We walked up to the vehicle and looked in; empty. I motioned for Ricky and we ran up to the broken front entrance and stopped. I stood there silently and listened for signs of movement; I could not hear anything.
We walked in, ran up to a large desk, and started searching for any information we could use. I turned around, noticed a large map of the wall, and started reading it. I pointed to our destination; weapon supply room A and supply room B. We took it all in and figured out
our best route.
We walked down a large hallway and stopped at a set of large double doors. We peered in the windows and noticed over two dozen decayed soldiers walking around; some were holding their m16 rifles. We pulled back and I took out my grenade. “Ricky, I’m going to open the door and throw this in the most crowded part of the room. Then we got to duck on the sides.” I said. He nodded and opened the door, I pulled the pin and threw the grenade in the crowd. We hid on the sides of the door as they swung back shut. We covered our ears and the walls rumbled with the heavy explosion.
Ricky and I stood up and ran in shotting down the remaining decayed. One of them shot its gun at the ground as I put a bullet between its eyes. I waved the smoke away from my face and looked around. We both put our guns in our bags and took two of the decay’s m16 rifles and clips. I remembered the course we needed to take from the wall map and ran through another set of doors. We past a few office doors and found the location with the two storage rooms; three decayed soldiers were near the one of the doors. I knelt down and took out my hunting rifle. I aimed at the furthest ones head and fired; he dropped to the ground. Ricky open fired with his m16 and shot the other two down. I knew the loud gunshots had to of attracted other decayed, so we worked fast. I took off my backpack and entered the room. Hundreds of guns lined up the walls and several footlockers were on the floor. At the end of the room, another door had been cracked open and Ricky ran in. I picked up a few Uzi machine guns and put them in my backpack with several clips. I noticed a large gym styled bag and started filling it with ammo and fully automatic guns.
“Holy shit! John check this out.” Ricky called out. I set the bag down and joined Ricky in the other room. He had a large wheeled case opened and a large weapon was sitting in black padding. I looked at the twenty large bullets on either side of the gun and knew what it was; rocket launcher. “Shit!” I laughed excitedly. He closed the lid, grabbed the handle on one side, and rolled it out of the room. I looked around and noticed bulletproof vests stacked along a few shelves. I took my supplies out of my vest and put one of them on. I grabbed a few more and carried them to the next room. “Change into this.” I said to Ricky and tossed him a vest. He started changing into the vest and I opened one of the footlockers; clips. I tossed a few in my backpack and went over to the next locker; combat boots. I found my size and put them on. “Ricky, find your size boot and put them on.” I said.
I opened the next case and noticed the random gun parts. I went to the next case and opened it, grenades. “Bingo!” I cheered. I reached over, slid my bag over, and stuffed it with several grenades. “It’s like Christmas.” Ricky laughed as he put on the combat boots. I smiled and slid over too another case and opened it; swat styled fumigators. I stuffed a few in my backpack and went over to a large silver case with large yellow letters on it. The words did not make any sense to me and I opened it up; varies sized gun magazines and clips. I tossed a few in the large bag and zipped it up. Ricky stuffed a few boxes of ammo in his backpack and zipped it shut. I put my backpack on and felt the weight on my shoulders. “Are you ready for the other supply room?” I asked. Ricky nodded and grabbed the rocket launcher case.
We ran out of the room and found the other supply room. We looked around and noticed all of the food rations. We started laughing excitedly, found a cart, and filled it full of food. Ricky opened a bottle of water and took a few drinks. “You better not get dehydrated.” Ricky said to me. I agreed and opened one of the bottles on the wall and took a few drinks. I threw a couple of the water cases on top of the cart and nodded. “Let’s go.” I said.
We peeked out of the room and walked out into the office area. I noticed a few decayed walking past the window outside. “When we get to the exit; run as fast as you can to our truck. We gotta cover each other.” I said. I handed Ricky a loaded Uzi and we continued past several of the office doors. We made it back into the room where I set off the grenade and noticed a couple of decayed had gathered in there. I took out an Uzi and looked at Ricky. “Let’s do this.” I whispered. We jumped out and shot them down with the blinding speed of the guns. I felt the kick the gun had had and found it hard to keep an aim; I needed practice with these guns.
Ricky rolled the case through the room and we ended up in the hallway. We shot down a couple more decayed at the end of the hall and found the front office again. I looked through the heavy glass doors and noticed several decayed walking towards us. “Grenades!” Ricky yelled. I opened my bag and took out two grenades. We had the routine down pat now and Ricky quickly opened the door; I pulled the pins and tossed them in the crowd. We ran in and hid under a desk. The grenades went off and the decayed’s dark colored blood covered the glass door and windows.
We waited a few seconds and looked through the door; the smoke slowly faded and several more decayed started walking over the dead bodies and making their way to us. “Shit, there are more of them!” Ricky yelled. I was not sure how many would be here but it was a big military base. I heard gunshots and noticed one of the decayed was shooting his handgun aimlessly. The gun ran out of bullets and he kept pulling the trigger; it was as if he remembered the gun training and would not stop trying to fire the empty gun.
I ran over to the map and looked for other exits. I noticed one east of this room and it would not be too far from our truck. I thought about grabbing a military vehicle but knew the gas and batteries had to of been getting bad. I looked at Ricky. “I found an exit.” I pushed the cart down another hallway and went through a couple of turns. We found the exit and there was not any decayed around. Ricky opened the door and I pushed my cart through; I was weighed down with two overstuffed bags and a heavy cart. I held the door open with my foot, Ricky pulled the rocket launcher case out, and I let the door shut.
We made sure it was clear and started running to the front of the building. We noticed the decayed still at the front doors and we kept running for the truck. They heard the wheels of my cart scrapping on the concrete and turned around. I pushed as hard as I could and noticed my truck in the distance. We ran up to the entrance gate and we maneuvered the carts over the yellow speed bumps.
The decayed were catching up to us and I looked back at Ricky. “Go, go, go!” I yelled. We pushed our way to the truck and I quickly unlocked our doors. We helped each other get the cases in and I noticed the decayed were right behind us. “Get our bags in the truck, I’ll hold them off!” I yelled. I pointed my Uzi and opened fired on the crowd of rotting flesh. I focused and tried making my aim steady; I was getting a feel of the gun.
“Get in!” Ricky called from inside the truck. He started shooting at the decayed and I quickly climbed into the truck. The decayed scratched at the truck as I backed it up and and got back out on the main road. Ricky shot down a couple more of the decayed and we were soon back on our road.
“Hell yes buddy!” I yelled in excitement. I could not believe the new weapons and armor we had. Wait until Claire and the others see us. Ricky looked down at his Uzi. “This is one serious gun man, tore then assholes to shreds.” He said. We laughed as I turned off onto our exit and turned on cruse control.
Chapter Nineteen
The late evening sun was setting and I lit a cigarette for both Ricky and me. “Can you believe these bullet proof vests, I feel like a king in this shit.” I said. Ricky nodded and posed proudly. “We proclaim ourselves as king of the decayed.” I started laughing and looked at my side mirror; bright headlights were on our tail. “Someone is following us.” I said in a panic. Ricky picked up his Uzi and rolled down the window. “Wait! They may not be enemies.” I warned. Ricky nodded his head and I kept my eye on the headlights; they started to get closer. They got right on my bumper and then suddenly drove to the right side of me. Ricky grabbed his flashlight and shined it down at the sports car; we looked and noticed a man pointing a shotgun at us. “Shit!” I yelled loudly and hit the breaks. We slowed down to a crawl and the car drove ahead of us a few feet and then slowed down to a stop.
> I hit the gas again and drove towards them; they took off and stayed ahead of us. “Hit um!” I said to Ricky. He stuck his head out of his window and fired a few shots at the car; the bullets tore into the bumper and truck causing sparks. I turned on the high beams to try and blind the driver and I noticed the passenger climb to the back seat. He fired a shot and the back windshield of the car shattered. Ricky returned fire and shot the man in the chest; he fell onto the seat and Ricky put his body back in the truck.
I noticed another set of headlights from behind us and I started to panic; what if I never see my child again…even worse; what if these thugs are attacking my town. The car from behind sped up and got right up behind me. “Put on your seatbelt!” I called out to Ricky. We put our seatbelts on and I hit the breaks, causing the car behind me to smack into the back of my truck. I sped back up and caught up to the other car. I floored the truck and smacked into the rear end of the car in front of me. He nearly lost control and sped up too try to avoid me. The car from behind me was now missing a headlight and caught back up to us.
Ricky took his seat belt off and stuck his upper body back out the window. He open fired on the car in front of us and it ended up loosing control and landed in a ditch. “Take that bitch!” Ricky yelled at the car as we passed. The car behind us suddenly started shooting and I heard the bullets strike the cab. I hit the breaks again and the car maneuvered too the side of me and I sped back up. “Take the wheel!” I yelled. Ricky took the wheel and I shot my Uzi at their car and ended up shattering the side windows. I Noticed a man in the backseat of the car grab his leg; I must have shot that bastard. I kept my foot on the gas and took the wheel. “Get me a grenade.” I demanded. Ricky opened the large bag and handed me a grenade. He took the wheel again and I pulled the pin. I tossed it through the passenger window and hit my breaks. The car continued to drive down the road for a few seconds and then the grenade exploded; pieces of metal and glass flew everywhere as the car rolled off the side of the road. I rolled up my window and took the wheel back.
The Birth Of Decay Page 10