Zombie Rush

by Joseph Hansen

  “If you’re against us and seek to harm the remaining innocents in the world, let me make myself perfectly clear… there ain’t no jails or judges anymore. The only right we are honoring is the right of the righteous to move forward. So at the end of the day, you’ll be nothing more than another rotting corpse in the streets.

  “Here are your instructions if you wish to join. Tractor-trailers are working right now to stabilize and claim a predetermined area. They need more rigs and trailers. If you can help, get your rig—or your body at least—out to Bucky’s yard on Airport Road. Someone will meet you and put you to work. We also need shooters and weapons; if you can help, then also get down to Bucky’s and ask for Sam or Brett. The rest of you looking for asylum or help, find yourself a battery-powered radio because the power grid won’t hold up much longer. If you lose power and can’t hear Tasha for instructions then be at the Hot Springs high school by noon tomorrow and we’ll bring you in to our secure area. If you can’t make it to any of those sites and your only opportunity to go is right now, then head up to the Sam’s Club on Higdon Ferry. There will be someone there to put you to work. We will protect the incapable but we will not tolerate slackers so come ready to work because we have a lot to do together. As one, we will fight for life.”

  After a quick nod, Tasha leaned into her microphone. “There it is folks, in no uncertain terms. The lines between good and evil are no longer blurred. Choose a side because there is no middle ground. Choose your side and face the consequences because either one will be mayhem. Now for a little easier listening, here is the late Marvin Gaye with the strangely fitting Mercy, Mercy Me.

  “Wait, where are you going?” Tasha asked after queuing up the song.

  “Fucking Brett is already starting to set up Sam’s Club and I haven’t even laid it out yet,” Lisa replied.

  “But Buck has your truck; how are you going to get there?”

  “On foot until I can flag down a semi or something.”

  “You’re fucking nuts; you know that, don’t you?”

  “Yep, but if Tonka and me survived the island then we can make it to Sam’s,” she said as she checked her chamber. “I’ll leave you a lever action 30.06. It doesn’t look like much but it will get the job done and has about three hundred rounds. No magazine, so load as you go if you know what I mean. Do you know how to use it?”

  “No, but I am sure that Gary does; he’s a gun junky,” Tasha said, referring to the tech guy. Lisa gave her a quick smile before heading out and down the stairs.

  Lisa popped out into the alley and was headed toward the main street when Tonka suddenly pushed her behind some dumpsters. She knew enough about the dog by then to listen, and she crouched down just as a horde came from around the corner, walking right at them. She tried not to breathe and Tonka stood as still as a stone but it wasn’t enough. She didn’t know if they saw her, could hear her heart pounding behind her rib cage, or could smell them, but as one solid mass they pressed against the dumpster, forcing her hard against the wall.

  Tonka slipped out between some legs, drawing a few away, but that still left way too many for her to handle coming in from both sides. She could hear his barking and knew that he was doing what he could from the outside; the rest was up to her.

  The dumpster seemed a good idea, but she was trapped. The weight of the Zs pressed the top against the building, leaving only a small area for her in the slanted back of the steel bin. She barely managed to get her gun out and could shoot to her right with her Glock while she struggled to get the Rhino out to cover her left. Either way, she was doomed because she wouldn’t be able to reload, her rounds trapped against the wall behind her. She fired at the first face coming into view. The sound echoing off the steel and brick made her eardrums feel like they were going to explode.

  All of a sudden her big plans seemed petty and useless.

  ****

  “There might be a hitch in our collective get along people. Our hero seems to be swarmed behind the station in the alley. If there is anyone who can slide over and lend a hand then now would be the time.”

  ****

  “Holy crap!” she would have heard if her ears weren’t ringing from the rounds she had been putting out at both ends. She was on her knees pointing in one direction having to fire practically blind in the other because there was no room to even turn her head around, let alone her body. The dumpster rocked and shook but never once did it pull away enough for her stand and shoot more of them and maybe grab another magazine. She saw a zombie fall through the opening between the dumpster and the wall and she knew it was too far for her to have shot from her cramped position. Little by little, the weight eased off of the contraption to the point where she could push it out and away a bit. She stood up, hoping that it didn’t get slammed against her and saw that the zombies had turned on two men who whirled and spun using some kind of spear with a weight on one end.

  Boom! The sound of hundreds of pounds of steel hitting the pavement echoed through the alley, stopping everything. The zombies slowly turned their heads and looked in the direction of what made the overwhelming sound. A small Bobcat skid loader sat humbly at the end of the alley, its low diesel rumbles echoing menacingly off the walls.

  Lisa was grateful for the distraction yet a little bewildered by the blood and gore that already encompassed the small machine. The sound had come from a dumpster that had been dropped in front of it. It sat there unmoving with its bucket held high. She didn’t know what a piece of construction equipment could do in this situation, but it had created enough space for her to get out from behind the dumpster and slip another mag into her Glock. She placed a round into the head of the one closest to her while giving a nod to one of the boys who had displayed some remarkable martial arts with their weighted javelins.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw the bucket on the Bobcat drop hard down on top of the dumpster, creating a hollow boom that only emphasized the first. Somehow Lisa sensed that this was a game changer but she didn’t know exactly how. It was as if the machine itself was saying, “Hey zombies, you have to pay attention to me.”

  The zombies turned again toward the small machine that began to advance on the crowd of dead, pushing the smashed dumpster in front of it. Though smashed, the top lip of the steel box hit the walkers waist high, effectively pushing many of the Zs inside of the makeshift trap. The machine stopped at the opposite end of the alley and began to smash the box with its bucket, permanently entrapping the zombies that were inside it. Lisa smiled; things were starting to get interesting.

  The three humans came together, pretty much ignored by what must have been a hundred zombies that filled the alley, and stepped back from flying bodies as the Bobcat began spinning like a top. Bodies began flying indiscriminately through the air as the heavy bucket, held four feet off the ground, concentrated its force on smashing and decapitating the Zs as it cleared them out.

  Zombies attacked the little machine from all sides, but the man inside the steel mesh cab, encased in Plexiglas and a hardened domed door, sent bones, blood, and flesh out into the alley as the zombies collapsed in heaps. He began pushing the dumpster again, using it as a ram where he could to push the whole crowd away from Lisa’s location.

  One of the guys with the spears indicated the alley mouth where they could stay out of the lone skid loader’s way. The guys easily dispatched any of the Zs that were more interested in them than the Bobcat. Lisa marveled at the unique capabilities of the small, heavy chunk of mobile steel. It could turn on a dime with such force as to destroy any head that happened to be in range of the bucket with its sharpened scraping edge.

  Tonka joined her side again but she continued to watch as the man inside the protective steel-and-glass cage worked a series of pedals and levers to get the machine to move. It spun as if on a centered axis and what didn’t get destroyed by the bucket got run over by solid, unforgiving wheels. Lisa looked at Tonka, knowing he had saved her life originally when he pushed her beh
ind the dumpster and her debt to the canine continued to grow.

  The skid loader started a performance dance that only an experienced handler could perform as it rocked back and forth, swinging and grinding in the blood and viscera. The lack of traction from the body fluids spilled did nothing but enhance its speed by reducing friction under the tires as the bucket swung down to manage an aimed blow that decimated the heads of three more zombies.

  It spun in place continually, with the bucket altering height. The unique steering system and close-set wheels combined with hydrostatic drive allowed the machine to move in a manner that nothing else could duplicate and coincidentally turned out to be the perfect remedy for a horde of ravenous Zs. The two left wheels going forward as the right went backwards, it literally spun in place as the bucket smashed and slammed bodies and skulls. When one area cleaned out, he pulled a few feet forward and did it again. Five shooters couldn’t have cleaned house as quickly but one man and a machine had mopped up the horde in the alley in a matter of minutes.

  “Ha, I guess Larry was right. That is some little machine, isn’t it?” Leon said to his partner. He then turned to Lisa. “Oh, I am Leon and this is Bryan. We heard you on the radio.”

  “Hi, thanks for showing up when you did. I’m Lisa Reynolds; you boys got here just in the nick of time.”

  “Tasha said that you were pinned down back here, and we were just a couple of blocks away so we high-tailed it,” Bryan said.

  Just then, another young couple arrived, panting. One held a large construction hammer and the other had a steel-handled axe, both weapons showing stains from prior use. More people arrived with tools or adapted weapons; some even had rifles or handguns. They all watched as the skid loader emaciated the small horde trapped within the alley without allowing a single one to escape.

  The skid loader had decimated the zombies to a writhing mass of carnage and was now piling the bodies along one of the building walls that lined the alley, leaving a clear but bloody pathway.

  “One thing you have to say about Larry is that he always leaves a clean work site,” Leon said as he watched the driver making a safe passageway down the alleyway.

  A crowd of living was starting to form around Lisa. She smiled as she realized just how many people were waiting for an opportunity to do something to stop the scourge. She couldn’t help but wonder how many would have been dead by tomorrow just waiting in their apartments or houses for someone to put something together. She smiled and waved as she tried to brush some of the detritus off of her. Tonka was busy as always, checking the street and other areas where some of the dead may be lurking.

  “Well then, thank you again. I’m heading up to Sam’s Club now if you care to join me,” she said to the crowd, not really knowing how they were going to receive her. She was really nothing but a stranger who was a newly arrived cop in their city. With the downfall, she really didn’t feel as if she had any authority over them unless they gave it to her.

  “You’re the one with the plan, Officer Reynolds. I can’t speak for everyone, but for my sake, lead on, Lieutenant,” Bryan said just as Larry pulled up and opened the front of his skid loader.

  “What are we waiting for? Sam’s Club, right?” he asked and they all nodded.

  Lisa reached in and shook his hand mouthing thank you over the din of the rumbling diesel engine. He nodded and said, “Just stay behind me and we’ll get there within the hour.”

  She smiled and nodded her reply. When she turned around, she noticed that several more living had heard Tasha’s call and joined with them. Their faces were a mixture of pain from the losses they had suffered through that day, fear over what might be coming, and a type of relief or hope that they would no longer be facing it alone. Underlying all of that was the set jaws and fierce fire of rage. Rage at what they had seen, rage at what they had lost, and rage that the world that had been so unfair to them was no longer here. These were the fighters, the thinkers who never dropped their guard and managed to survive the initial onslaught of undead.

  It was those faces and the looks of hope when her eyes met theirs that made Lisa realize the grave injustice she would have done—not only to them, but to herself—if she had run away to hide on an island. This was the right call. This was how it had to happen; they were going to make it happen together or they would die… together.

  Benson is going to be so surprised when he gets to Sam’s.

  ****

  “Lordy, lordy, lord…y! The boys from Dojo Springs have arrived to rescue our fearless leader,” Tasha broadcasted. She was giving as close to a play by play as she could simply because she didn’t want to leave dead air time. From her vantage point in the station, she could see everything happening in the alley below.

  “Oh heavens, those boys can move! It’s like a dance down there and zombies are falling left and right. But can they hold up long enough and can they get to her in time? There are still several surrounding the dumpster, looking for the easy meal trapped behind it. That may sound crass and insensitive but it is reality. Our new reality…” she paused with an internal debate. How honest should she be and should she reveal what she thought was the truth? She no longer had any boss and the FCC didn’t seem to be a factor. “This is the new world that we live in, people. Every single day from now until the end of all of our lives, we will see death. It is the cleansing promised to us and the world has changed overnight.” Cleansing? Where did that come from? “You have to get your head in the game or accept that or you’re not going to make it. Sometimes love comes from a bullet to the brain. I don’t care how much you love that person, if they are bitten the kindest thing you can do is put a bullet in their head when it’s time. It has become your duty to life itself. We can’t succumb to a plague that comes in the form of death.

  “Well what have we here? It looks like the gardener showed up and brought his own rake.” Tasha said metaphorically. “A bloodied Bobcat skid steer has just shown up on the scene, and if you thought the dojo boys were something then you ain’t seen anyone dance like the Bobcat can dance. I never knew they could do that. He is literally cleaning house as the dojo boys are cleaning up the loose ends. She is out, and she is pissed! Hopefully she ain’t bit. They’re checking her over and… she looks good! Girlfriend is good to go. More people are starting to show up, kudos to you all for stepping out of your comfort zones and jumping in; we have some brave people here in Hot Springs. We all may just have a chance at survival if things keep going this way. Hmmm, isn’t that nice? Hate to disappoint you, Joan Baez, but maybe this won’t be The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” Tasha finished as she cued up the old tune that was a favorite for all genres south of the Mason Dixon.

  ****

  Ernie headed over to the radio station after having taken the luxury of stopping at his own apartment for a cleanup. He was happy that at least one of his fellow officers was still around yet panicked that they may only survive for a few more minutes. He had cleaned and showered and other than being in uniform, looked more ready for a date than work. What he found when he got there was a surprise that almost sent him into a state of shock. Lieutenant Reynolds was walking casually behind a skid loader with a following of at least twenty people, young and old alike, all carrying various weapons and followed by strays that preferred the company of humans and had lost theirs.

  He had just driven these very roads not an hour and a half before and they were empty of the living. She not only looked safe, but she seemed to be smiling. Ernie had never seen her smile before and much to his surprise he found her to be actually very pretty.

  When she saw his truck, the smile dropped and her face became all business. She waved him over and he complied right away; she was his boss and what she said goes—especially since Tanner was no longer there.

  “Hi Lisa!” Ernie said, trying to be as casual as he could.

  “Don’t forget yourself, Patrolman; it’s Lieutenant Reynolds to you,” she said. She looked into the back of his truck and sa
w all the weapons from the police armory still there.

  “Where are the others, Patrolman Arnst?” Lisa’s tone was hard, not because she didn’t like Ernie but because she had to set and maintain a precedent with the young recruit.

  “Ahhh, we tried to make it across the bridge and, well… we didn’t make it,” he replied regretfully.

  She scanned his truck. Seeing it covered with bloody scree, she asked, “Why were you crossing the bridge, wasn’t there enough to do here?”

  Ernie began to stutter nervously, spewing information that he hoped would make him look good—or at least halfway decent.

  “Just following Captain Tanner’s orders. After he was killed with the others, I fought my way back here,” he said while holding her gaze.