There were a lot of people laying on the ground pieces all over the place. It was a blood bath. Arms, legs, bone fragments, intestines were mixed with parts of motorcycles. “That’ll teach them to try and get in here.” Cowan and Bobbie were staring trying to make out what she was obviously able to see. More explosions followed as whoever they were they were trying to get in desperately. They could barely hear the screams of the dying men. Mines were not meant to kill but to mane. Taking off a leg here or there. They were made to break the morale and deter anyone from entering.
Then more men were coming through the minefield being careful stepping where mines had already went off. Then one by one they piled into the town. They were carrying makeshift weapons, some had rifles, and others appeared to have pistols. One had a shotgun and had two belts in the form of an “X” with red shotgun shells. All of their faces were painted in the form of skulls. She quickly estimated there were fifteen men. They were looking around weapons ready. Then she gasped. There was a second wave coming through. Her eyes bulged and her mouth dropped. The next wave was a mixture of men, women and zombies. The zombies had their arms bounded to their waist and were led by both men and women being pushed by a long pole. Their mouths were gagged to prevent accidental bites from occurring. Just one bit could easily set off a chain reaction that if not controlled in the beginning could easily get out of hand. “What the hell is that?” asked Cowan. They are zombies. Then Nina could tell there was a third wave smaller than the first two. There were five muscular men. They wore no shirt, no face paint, just an old pair of BDU pants. They carried no weapons except a pair of brass knuckles. The last person through had four women. He was a tiny man she estimated he could be around four and a half feet tall. He was wearing a suit and walked with a limp.
“Shit this is not good,” said Nina. “I think there is at least thirty five people if I had to guess. There is a tiny man that must be their leader. “Well I think we should just hang tight and stay out of sight maybe they will pass by,” said Nina. “They must be going from town to town,” said Bobbie. “Yeah and that means if they make it through here they will hit Hobbs and the group. I wish there was some way we can warn them,” commented Cowan. Nina turned to the both of them. “Who cares about warning them we need to make sure we stay alive and nothing happens to us!”
“I wonder why someone would follow such a short person. He is not strong and can easily be taken out with no trouble if he didn’t have all those around him. So what makes him so special?” questioned Bobbie to no one in particular. “It’s because he has charisma. That would be the only answer. He might just be a natural leader of sorts despite his, uh, short stature,” replied Cowan. “It’s just some people have that ability to lead and sway people to do what they want them to do.” “Would you two just shut up let’s get going!”
Nina led them down the ladder. Then they went down into a large freezer. She opened the door and rushed them all inside. The freezer smelled of spoiled and moldy ice cream. The rancid smell reached their nostrils and they began to gag. “I hope *** cough*** we are not staying in here ***cough** that long. I don’t think that I can ***cough*** stand that smell. I would rather go out fighting than stay ***cough*** in here too long,” said Bobbie. Nina pushed the two out of the way and the metallic cylinder containers that were in her way. There was a small metal door on the floor and she opened the latch and climbed down the ladder. The room was a little bit better than the freezer. The smell of mold and mildew was present and the metal stairs were rusted and some of the rungs were missing. They descended fifteen feet into darkness. Bobbie closed the door on his way down which made the room darker.
Nina fumbled her way touching the shelves as she went until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the flashlight and turned it on. The room immediately illuminated as the light pushed out the darkness. The room was small maybe ten feet by teen feet. There were six shelves that lined both walls three on each side. The walls on the north side held canned goods, dry pasta, dry beans, and some civilian versions of MREs. The opposite side had five gallon water jugs half of them full the other half empty and collecting dust. “We will be safe here for a while. Hopefully they will pass by. I don’t know about you guys but I sure as hell do not want to be facing them out there.” From time to time they could hear explosions that came from the surface. Each explosion got louder and closer to their location.
Nina sighed for a moment. “All that hard work and it will be gone in less than a few minutes.” Cowan looked over at her. “How did you learn to do all of that?” “The internet of course. Isn’t that where everyone gets all their information?” Cowan just smiled. “Besides there was plenty left over down in the bunkers. I managed to get to most of the food from three different bunkers so I could hunker down if the time came. The first one had a lot of explosives and a big cache of weapons and ammo. Probably from someone’s stash they were keeping in case an apocalypse happened.” Then another explosion shook the room. “That must have been the big one.” Nina smiled pleased with herself.
They heard footsteps above them. “Someone must be inside,” said Nina with a hushed voice. “The boss said to check everything,” came a male voice. “Yeah he did but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a little bit of time for ourselves.” The voice was rough but definitely a female voice. The sound of metal as the canisters fell to the floor. They heard moans coming from up top accompanied by banging noises in a rhythmic pattern. “Are they?” asked Bobbie. “Yeah I think so,” replied Nina. Nina and Cowan were looking at each other. “How the hell are they able to do that in such a horrible smelling place?” asked Bobbie. He projectile vomited all over spraying the wall, shelves, dried food boxes and the floor. The noise up top stopped. “What was that?” “I don’t know but keep going you bare chested freak I am almost there.” The pounding continued as Bobbie wiped his mouth with his arm. Then a few seconds later he vomited again. “There it is again!” “Fucking hell it is the apocalypse and I can’t even fuck without something lurking around and disturbing us!”
There was movement again and they heard metal clanging against metal. “Shit they must be looking for something,” Nina said in a whisper. “Bobbie you need to try and hold it in.” The light from up top penetrated some of the darkness below. The male peered inside the cellar. “Hello are there any decaying flesh walking fucks down there?” “Just go down and check,” came the female voice. “It is dark in there and I am scared of the dark!” “Ouch! You didn’t have to hit me.” “Of all the men I ended up shacking with is scared of the dark. Just take your ass down there and see if there is anything. I’ll keep the door open so you can see.” “Do I have to?” The voice whined in protest. “If you want a piece of this sweet morsel later then yeah you better get down there or I will just have to find myself a new play toy.” The man banged on the stairs to see if the noise would illicit a moan. The room was silent. Nina, Cowan and Bobbie held their breath as they heard the man as he started heading down the stairs. Cowan drew his knife out ready to strike. As the man reached the bottom Cowan grabbed the man from behind. He reached around covering the man’s mouth as he twisted the head and plunged the knife into the back of the skull. He dragged the body out of sight. The woman on the top waited for a few moments. “Derrick are you ok?” There was no response. “Derrick you better fucking answer me or else! If I come down there and you try to scare me then you will be sorry! Derrick? Stop messing around!” The woman peered down and only saw a streak of blood that lined the floor. She screamed and closed the door. The woman desperately moved the canisters over the door which was followed by rapid footsteps as the woman hurried out of the store.
“Shit this is not good!” Nina paced the floor trying to think. Cowan climbed the stairs and tried to open the door but no luck the canisters were too heavy. He tried again a second time. He felt like a rat in a cage. He tried yet again and he felt the door slowly give way. The canister was moving slightly with each push. Then the
canister fell on the final push rolling away. He turned to the other two, “Hurry up and come on!” Cowan grabbed the first rung and it snapped off from the rust. “Shit!” He tried the next one and it broke off as well. The third rung he tried held as he made his way up the ladder. The others followed Nina first then Bobbie.
They made their way up to the roof. “They know we are here now,” stated Nina. She peered into the scope and watched the activity down below. She saw a woman running towards the little man. The woman was frantic waving her arms and then pointed towards the building they were at.
“Well no use in keeping things quiet now,” said Cowan, as he raised his rifle trying to get a shot at the man. He lined up the front post and placed it center mass and fired. He saw dust kick up behind the man. “Damn it!” The people down below ran for cover. Cowan followed the man with his rifle. He kept the rifle slightly ahead of the man to account for his movement. The shot was wild but he could not tell where the shot landed. Bobbie shoved Cowan aside. “Let me do it!” The man was not in sight. Then bullets started coming their way and they got down as fast as they could. “Woo don’t you just love that feeling the adrenaline pumping the enemy attacking!” The two looked at Cowan as if he was out of his mind.” “No I don’t love that I shit my pants every time we go outside!” Cowan looked at Bobbie and winked.
Cowan raised his body upward until he was able to see above the ledge. One man poked his head out from behind his cover. His head disappeared as brain and blood splattered against the building behind him. Cowan scanned the area looking for another victim. They returned fire one of the rounds pinged against the metal flashing. Cowan bit his cheek. More return fire and he didn’t move or flinch. Then Cowan returned fire and it went wild again. He was letting his nerves take over he knew better. Fast is slow, slow is smooth, smooth is fast Cowan thought to himself trying to revert back to his training. Then another round came close and almost hit him as brick flew up around him. “I think I got him!” someone shouted from down below. “You audacious ideologically unsound presumptuous mother fucker!” Cowan squeezed the trigger and the man fell to the ground clutching his chest as it rose and fell and finally stopped. “Are you two going to join in or what? Do I have to do it all by myself?” Bobbie slowly raised his head. He could hear the round as it whizzed past his ear. He quickly ducked behind the wall of temporary safety. Nina didn’t move she just laid there down on the ground and covering her head with her arms. Nina kept silent just watching in amazement at the courage and stupidity Cowan displayed. Nina was obviously intelligent but she never had to face another human trying to kill her before. Her nerves were shot and she fought the idea of standing up and fleeing the area. She was not a trained soldier. Her palms were cold and clammy. Sweat drenched her shirt. Dark circles formed under her arm pits, between her breasts and her stomach. Bobbie thought he could smell his own fear if that was even possible. This was definitely not Hollywood.
“Well here comes trouble,” said Cowan. There was a group of about four that were running towards the ice cream shop. Cowan put one down but the other three made their way hugging against the store wall. “There are about three that are coming our way so you two better do something about that. Nina crawled towards the door that led downstairs into the shop. She angled herself in such a way that when they opened the door she would be able to shoot them but not get shot in the process.
Bobbie finally got the courage and raised his body just enough for him to fire his weapon. Bobbie shot randomly not hitting anything in particular just hoping the shots made their way into the marauders body. He quickly spent his first magazine. He ducked back down and clumsily found the eject button on the rifle to drop the spent magazine. He fished into his pocket for another one. His hands were shaky making it difficult for him to place the magazine into the well of the rifle. Off in the distance there was a small explosion and they could hear screams. Cowan saw pools of blood that ran into the streets.
Cowan ducked down to reload his magazine and noticed a rip in his vest. He had been shot right in the middle of his body armor. “Damn it! Those fuckers shot me!” “Well what the hell do you expect being stupid,” said Bobbie. “Hey at least I am trying to do something! Unlike you cowering down like a little piece of shit!” “For your fucking information I am trying to help here!” “Fucking help it took you long enough to return fire and all you are doing is wasting rounds like a little bitch. Man the fuck up and actually do something!” “I am trying.” “Well fucking try harder!”
The door to the roof opened and a small head poked out. Nina didn’t waste time she shot him. Blood splattered all over as she heard the body drop to the floor with a loud thump. Nina crawled on behind the door just in case one of them were not that stupid and led with their weapon. The next person shoved open the door flinging it. Nina squeezed the trigger but nothing came out. She tapped the bottom of the magazine pointing the weapon upward and pulled back the slide and let it move forward once again. Nine took her rifle and butted the man in the head. The butt stroke did not seem to faze him as he tried to get out of the small opening. Cowan turned pulled the trigger and what was left of the body fell to the floor. “One more to go,” said Cowan, as he continued to point towards the opening. Shots continued ricocheting adding chaos to the already chaotic situation.
Then there was another explosion down below this time they could feel the shockwave. Then all of a sudden the bullets stopped firing and they could hear shouts but could not make out the words. They patiently waited for the third man but he never came. Nine checked the opening to see if there was anyone but it was clear. “Someone needs to go down there and check it out,” said Nina, suggesting for one of the other two to go. “Now why in the hell would one of us do that? I would have expected that stupid shit from Bobbie.” “Well I mean how the hell are we going to figure out if they are still coming? We don’t have any food no water we can’t just stay up here forever!” “Well if you want to go and be stupid and get yourself killed then by all means go down there.” “Stupid you’re the dumbass that was trying to get themself killed!” “Honey there is a difference in being crazy and stupid,” said Cowan, as he gave her the middle finger.
Shots were being fired again but it seemed they were not directed towards them. The sound of explosions were going off in all directions. They rushed to the ledge of the roof to see what was going on. Cowan tapped on Nina’s shoulder and pointed towards the third man that never came up indicating for her to stand guard just in case the enemy wanted to make another attempt. Nina obeyed and laid by the door.
Zombies were coming from all directions. They started to flood the town as the men below tried to keep them at bay. War was chaos and chaos was war. The men were shooting in all directions. They even shot some of their own men by accident in their stage of panic. The zombies were too numerous and started to overtake them. Some were running for their lives in the direction they had come from. Others were surrounded and screams could be heard that turned to gurgling and finally were silenced. “There are hundreds of zombies. They must have heard all the commotion,” said Bobbie. “No shit Sherlock,” responded Cowan. Bobbie moved to raise his rifle but Cowan stopped him. “Better to save your bullets. Let those zombies take care of them for us and if there is any left then we will pick them off.” “Guys they are starting to come!” came the voice from one of the men. All of a sudden Cowan heard a thump on the roof. “GRENADE!” In one fluid motion Cowan pushed the grenade towards the opening and covered his head with his hands. The grenade went off as it was descending.
The moans of the dead were starting to dissipate as the men below were starting to gain control over the situation. Day turned to night and the sound of gun fire was silenced. The fight took its toll on the three and they were more tired than what they thought. “You two get some sleep I will take the first watch. I am sure you guys are just as tired as I am but I am used to this,” said Cowan, as if gloating his superiority. It did not take long bef
ore the two were fast asleep. Cowan sat against one of the metal vents facing the door with his rifle straddling his legs. Cowan just looked at the two who seemed so peaceful laying on ground.
Cowan looked at the stars noticing how clear the sky was. Man was not polluting the air anymore which allowed the sky to clear showing the stars once again. He was able to pick out Orion very easily and traced the stars with his right hand. It made him think of home and how things were before the end of the world. His mind wandered to the woman that he used to love who broke his heart. Then his mind changed to Becky. The woman who looked so much like her. The way she wore her hair and how her eyes seemed to sparkle. Those beautiful eyes. Even though she was not his she was still very real she was something tangible.
Cowan jerked waking himself up. He looked around and realized he dozed off. The sky was still dark and the moon did not show its face that night. He got up and looked over the edge of the roof trying not to make too much noise in the process. There was no sign of the marauders. He assumed they were hiding in either the buildings or around them staying out of sight. He gently pushed Bobbie. “Uh? What? Oh it must be my turn now I guess.” “Well the marauders are not in sight and there has not been any movement.” “Ok get some sleep.” It did not take more than a moment before Cowan was out. Bobbie’s watch was uneventful and morning had come. The light woke the other two as they got up from their slumber.
Alpha of the Omega Page 24