“I’d love to sit around and exchange stories, man, but we got some big-ass problems. About a million Zs are advancing on this location. That means the next strike will be here,” Joel said in a rush. “You saw the damn nuke, right? Well, this area is gonna be ground zero soon.”
I stared at Joel Kelly for a few seconds, unsure what to say.
The jeep's back door opened, and out slid Anna Sails. Wherever they’d been over the last few days, they’d managed to clean up. Anna’s blonde bob hung around her face and wind caught wisps and curled blonde strands around her lips. She gave me a half-smile.
I didn’t waste time; I moved in for a hug. She surprised me by opening her arms and not only returning my embrace, but planting a full kiss on my lips.
“I’ve missed you,” she breathed next to my ear.
I didn’t know what to say. Anna and I had always been on… not exactly rocky ground. More like an earthquake zone. We both ran hot-headed, and frequently said things we didn’t really mean.
Maybe I’m just speaking for myself. It was only a few weeks ago we’d had our moment in an apartment building, but since then she’d turned cold and staved off all of my half-assed advances.
“I missed you too, Anna,” I stuttered.
She pulled away and looked me in the eyes. There was something there that was hard to read. Anna and I didn’t exactly have a passionate relationship.
She looked good, considering that like all of us, she'd been stuck in the zombie fucking apocalypse for a few months. Somewhere along the way she’d picked up a more or less fresh set of military styled-pants and shirt. She had several magazines stuffed into various straps and pockets in what appeared to be an adjusted field vest. At her side in a drop holster sat her Smith and Wesson R8 .357 revolver.
“I’m dead, right?" I looked between my friends.
“No, Creed, you’re very much alive, but if we stand around here while you two make out we’re going to be dead very soon,” Joel said.
“How in the hell did you find me?”
“Long story, man. Long story.”
“So yeah, I’m Mateo,” my new friend said.
I’d been so focused on the rush of emotions at seeing friends I thought had abandoned me that I’d forgotten about Mateo. We did quick intros, and I informed Joel and Anna that Mateo could be trusted.
Of course, I didn’t mention that we’d met the day before and been tossed out on a mission at about the same time we’d shaken hands and decided to play it cool with each other. For all I knew, Mateo was a dickhead hiding behind a smile. But my intuition was usually pretty good, and I felt like I could trust him.
I couldn’t say the same for Douglas and his band of paramilitaries.
“You guys fucking left me and Christy behind,” I said, trying to contain my anger.
I’d been holding this in, but the emotions that had been swirling around my head for the last few days came out in a rush.
“Brother, I know how it looks, but we didn’t intentionally abandon you. Shit got heavy and we were whisked off. We were under fire and the chopper got hit. Then it got real crazy as we rushed into a truck and cleared the zone of operation. It wasn’t until we arrived at the Bright Star base we realized you weren’t with us. You and Christy.” Joel paused and his eyebrows drew together. “Is she okay?”
“She is. We met up with a group that have a base not far from here. They got us out of a jam and gave us a home for the time being,” I said, and purposefully left out any mention of Reavers. “Christy met some family there, an aunt and uncle. Her and Frosty are chilling behind big locked doors and big concrete walls.”
“The Costco. I know,” Joel said.
Then I smiled as everything fell into place. When we’d arrived at the warehouse, we’d been hit by a small horde of slow Zs and a couple of shufflers. I’d fallen and was about to be killed when a shot came out of nowhere. The red Jeep. It made sense now.
“How long have you been looking for me?” I asked Joel.
“Since we got separated. We made it to the Bright Star camp, wasn’t much really. Those guys that saved us from the camper were right about it being a base. They were wrong about how fortified it was. We were there for a day before I talked them into letting me and Anna here go look for you. Got a sniff when we saw a nice-looking white SUV leaving a strip mall. Thought I saw your lanky ass getting inside.”
“So you followed and waited,” I said.
“Damn right. In case you forgot, I’m a Marine, and Marines leave no man behind,” Joel said with a sniff.
“But I’m no Marine,” I said.
“Man, I’ve been saying that since I met you,” Joel said and punched me in the arm.
I stiffened, then laughed and resisted the urge to rub my arm where he’d hit me.
“Roz?” I asked.
Joel didn’t say a word. He just stared into space for a few seconds.
“So you guys all know each other, cool. I need to finish this mission, not to mention checking in pretty soon. So, Jackson, we parting ways now?” Mateo looked up at me.
“We need time to sort this out. I say we find a place to cool our heels for a few minutes, do an abbreviated version of what the fuck everyone’s been up to, and then figure out what the fuck to do next,” I said.
“Thought we just did that,” Anna said.
“We got problems, Jackson,” Joel said.
“Problems, why am I not surprised?” I asked.
“Because we’ve been around each other for too long. This one’s a big one. See, there’s a horde of thousands and thousands of Zs advancing on this area.”
“Been there, done that, didn’t get a cool t-shirt,” I quipped.
“Not like this, Jackson. I’ve never seen this many. Word is that this is unlike anything that’s happened up until now, at least, around southern California,” Joel said.
“So like the L.A. nuke, they’re going to hit this place next?” I asked.
“Just a small part of L.A. went up, from what I hear. They set up some kind of system to draw in the Zs. They announced that people needed to leave. How they did that, I have no damn clue. So then the Zs moved in, but you know how those green-eyed assholes are. They didn’t accompany, got smart or some shit. Anyway, Bright Star got a few thousand into one area and hit it with a small bomb. Guess it was a test."
“A small bomb? That mushroom cloud had a lot of authority,” I said.
Some test.
“Tactical, Creed,” Anna said. “It got the job done.. That’s a lot fewer Zs to contend with,” Anna said.
“Only 300 million to go, give or take,” Mateo said with a smirk.
He was right. Taking out that many was a brilliant stroke, but it was nothing compared to how many the rest of the US of A likely contained. If the virus had spread that far, then it was a fraction of what was needed.
But what could we do to free the rest of the country? They’d be cleaning up this shitty situation for years to come, and there would always be a fresh undead fuck hiding behind a door, lurking in an alleyway, stuck in a closet, filling a store or home. They’d never get them all.
And what if they could figure out a way to move all of the Zs somewhere? Then what, make it a giant petting zoo?
“Blowing away half a city seems extreme,” I muttered.
“It does,” Joel nodded. “It is.”
“Let’s get our truck and finish this mission, Jackson. If you’re taking off with your comrades I guess we’ll part as friends here,” Mateo said, and extended his hand toward me.
“No way, man. I agreed to help, and that’s what I’m going to do. Besides, we need to get Christy out of there if we’re all heading somewhere else. What’s the plan, Joel?”
“The only plan was to find you and Christy, then get the hell out of SoCal. Head north, I guess. Nothing left around here, no Marine base to hook up with. Everything we’ve tried has been a big fucking waste of time. I guess maybe relocation is my priority,” Joel said.
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I leaned over and whispered to Sails. “No mention of Bright Star. Mateo thinks they’re the goddamn devil.”
“They are,” she whispered back in my ear.
“You two done playing kissy face? Let’s get off the street. Jesus. We just shot the shit out of a bunch of bad guys, and that means the creepers will be creeping around before too much longer.”
“Get the truck, finish the mission, figure out the next move,” I nodded.
“Sounds good to me,” Mateo said.
“We’ll follow. If we see anything I’ll flash twice,” Joel said.
“You’re going with us?”
“Of course, man. We gotta get Christy, like you said.”
“What about you?” I asked Anna.
“I’m just along for the ride until something catches my fancy,” Anna said cryptically.
Did that mean she was going to be along with us until she had a chance to rejoin Bright Star, or was she done with them?
I guess I’d find out soon enough.
###
14:00 hours approximate
Location: Somewhere near Vista, CA
We made short work of the truck that the heavies had pursued us in. I tugged the big guy out of the driver’s side and let him flop onto the ground. He had a hunting rifle with a small scope, but it was almost out of rounds.
The rest of his truck was a shithole. Old protein bar wrappers, empty water bottles, and a collection of tiny fingers that made the hairs on my arm stand up. In the glovebox, we found a little Ruger LC380, but it was empty and there was no ammo to be found, so we left it.
Joel had dispatched the guy I’d wounded. Part of his head had been blown out, and his ear hung by nothing but sinew. Somehow he still twitched, so Joel drove a knife in the back of his neck.
Blood splattered the interior of the truck, making it unsuitable for driving unless I got a plastic shower curtain to drape over the seats. Not that I’m all that squeamish anymore; it’s the feel of fresh blood as it soaks into your clothing. Stuff dries, and gets crunchy.
Joel dug out a box of 7.62 and handed it to me.
“Gave up on the wrench for that thing?” Joel asked, nodding at my acquired AK.
“I’ll never give up my wrench, man. We’re welded together. Grabbed the gun off one of these assholes,” I said, looking at the bodies.
The guy who had come for me wasn’t much older than I was. He had a tattoo on his face and one on his neck. They were old, and looked anything but professional. He wore a heavy jacket over a shirt that had maybe seen better days a month ago. We rolled him over and looked through his pockets but came up nothing usable.
I walked the battlefield all the way back to the house, collecting a couple of magazines as I went. They’d sent us out on a “scouting mission” with only handguns, and it suddenly seemed like the dumbest thing in the world. They'd said they were short on long rifles, but it seemed like bullshit considering they had a whole paramilitary unit hiding in the back.
I studied Joel. When I’d first seen him for the first time in days, I was surprised at how sallow his eyes appeared. Without access to shaving supplies, he’d grown patchy sections of beard over most of his cheeks and neck. This must have irritated Joel the Super Marine to no end.
I spotted a pair of Zs advancing on our location. They were across the street and heading for the crosswalk like they were out on a family stroll. A man and a kid, old by Z standards. They’d rotted to the state of near desiccation, and the man dragged his foot in a shuffle-step motion. He wasn’t going to be running far.
“Pair of crawlers, but they don’t look like much of a threat,” I said.
We’d gathered in the living room. I for one tried to ignore the corpses.
Joel lifted his gun to high ready and approached the door.
“Yeah,” he said. “Not not to dangerous, but what if there are twenty more coming this way?”
“There’s always twenty more, bro,” Mateo said. “Then twenty more after that.”
“True,” Joel agreed. “Best we don’t stick around to see how many are interested in taking a bite of us.”
“Joel, these guys have a good setup at the Costco. You and Anna should come back with us. I’ll put in a good word.”
“Can’t do it. They’d never let us in,” Anna said, moving into the room. She must have slipped out the side of the building and found a place to use the bathroom.
Thing about the zombocalypse is that you can’t use most of the bathrooms in abandoned houses. Most of them contain waste that could easily lead to an infection. That’s why we took care of business discreetly. When Joel and I had been stuck in our first fortress back in San Diego, we’d made do with buckets.
Don’t worry, I won’t be writing a chapter on bathroom habits.
“We shouldn’t stay here long anyway. Queasy might have had more of his assholes on the way.”
“Queasy?” Joel asked.
“That big dude you erased a little bit ago. That’s what his comrades called him,” I said.
“Queasy? Damn, that’s a horrible nickname,” Anna chuckled.
“So what’s the big deal with going to the Costco? They have food, water, and a place to sleep.”
“Big things are happening, brother. We spent a day with the folks behind walls,” Joel said.
“Bright Star?” Mateo interrupted.
Joel and I exchanged a look.
“We were just visiting,” Anna said casually.
“I don’t care. Douglas and his crew say they’re a bunch of fanatics who want to burn the world. They fucking nuked L.A., bro. But they have some kind of command and control. They have big guns. They have vehicles. If they really thought we were a threat, they would have taken us out by now.”
“I don’t know their motives. All I know is we stayed for about eight hours, then left to find tall and squidly here.” Joel jerked a thumb in my direction.
“Thought you guys deserted us,” I muttered again.
“I’ll tell you more later. Right now we need to move. With the reports of a massive horde a few miles from here, we need to clear out. When this many Zs gather, it’s up to the guys in charge to clear the area.”
“Clear it? Like come in with gunships?”
“You know what I mean,” Joel said.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mateo blurted.
“That’s the other reason we’re here. Let’s just say we don’t exactly approve of the methods that have been employed. No one knows the long term effects of nuking parts of cities. Shit’s going to be uninhabitable for years.”
“Plus there’s the threat of glowing green zombies,” I said.
“What?” Anna asked.
“Like Toxic Avenger or something. Dude’s glowing green. Wouldn’t matter with those shuffler things, green eyes and all. Christy told me all about it.”
Joel blew out a breath and Anna stifled a giggle behind her hand. Damn, but Anna looked good. I’d missed her.
“Nuclear zombies aside,” Joel frowned, as if he were actually considering it. “We have another problem.”
Anna grew stiff and moved a few feet away. She kept her eyes on the red Jeep.
“Of course we do. Nothing’s ever easy.”
“We can talk about it later. Right now we need to pick up Christy and get out the area.”
“Christy’s with her family now,” I said.
“We can’t leave her. What if this whole place goes up?”
I chewed on that for a minute. We couldn’t leave her and Frosty behind. But would that mean we’d need to evacuate all of the Costco? Would Douglas even believe us? Chances were he’d kick me out of the building, or worse. But what alternative did we have? I would never sleep again if I thought I’d had some part in letting a whole group of people die.
“We should assess the threat, see just how many of those fuckers are headed this way, and bring word back. At least we’d have a general idea of what we’re up against. Maybe that will hel
p convince Douglas that the store needs to be evacuated. There’s a bunch of trucks around the back of the store, and they are ready to be loaded and moved if we have to,” Mateo said.
I poked my head out the doorframe and did a quick scan of the street. A lone Z wandered past the house, but he didn’t seem to be interested in us.
Damn things were getting skinnier and more rotten by the day. Maybe they’d all drop dead after they'd been infected for a few months. That would be great for every one of us, except when it came time for cleanup duty.
“I don’t like any of this,” I said.
“Well, man up, Creed. We got a mission now,” Joel said.
“Just about the happiest day of a Marine’s life is when he’s got a mission. The other happiest day is when they put a gun in his hand,” I said.
“I’m glad you’re alive, Creed. I was bored to death without your smart ass popping off every few minutes,” Joel said.
“I thought Marines always popped off after a few seconds,” I said.
Joel chuckled.
“You guys should get a room,” Anna said, smirking.
“So this is what I understand,” I said. “We’re going to assess the level of Zs, go back to the warehouse, convince Douglas to let us all in, get Christy, warn them we’re about to be nuked, and then waltz out of the Costco and head the fuck away from this place.”
“Works for me,” Joel said.
I laughed at how absurd it sounded.
“How long do we have?” I asked.
“No clue,” Anna chimed in. “But not long. Maybe a day, maybe a half day, maybe just a few hours.”
I latched a freshly-loaded magazine against the Kalashnikov’s receiver and snapped it shut.
“One other thing. The guys in the Costco have captured a shuffler,” I said.
“The fuck?” Joel looked at me like I’d slapped him.
“They keep him sedated. Said they want to do research. Douglas--that’s the guy in charge, I guess--he said they have the thing under control, but he doesn’t understand what he’s got.”
“No shit. Damn things are weirdly connected to the hordes. But Douglas is smart. They know how to keep the green-eyed asshole under control,” Mateo chimed in.
Reavers (Z-Risen Series Book 4) Page 13