Charlie loaded another bolt and took aim. Vikki was staring at the roofline and had just spotted them. She waved her arms and turned around to run.
Had Charlie’s arrow not pierced the tall, dark-haired Mother in the side of the neck, she would have had her arms around Vikki, and her teeth in her flesh.
Vikki screamed, staggered, and tripped over another downed rotter as she stumbled into the street and ran toward Rick’s Hobby Shop. After narrowly dodging around another staggering Hungerer, she charged out of view and Flex saw the tension drain from his wife’s body.
It was only one small victory and Vikki had been lucky. For the moment, anyway.
The groaning of stressed wood and nails joined the cacophony of voices as the people continued to scramble onto the roof behind the four.
Hemp shook his head. “Go back! You’re just as safe on top of Rick’s!” he shouted, turning to see that dozens and dozens of refugees from City Hall had now mounted the roof of the Kings Inn.
Flex realized the mass of people didn’t understand the reason he and the others had climbed up on the roof of the inn. It hadn’t been for their own safety; it had been solely for the tactical position to take out the rotters in front of their refuge. Any other angle would send rounds directly into the front of City Hall, shattering the glass and killing those inside.
“Stay on the edges of the roof, folks!” shouted Flex, as another loud creak sounded behind them. The noise was followed by the snapping of an unseen support beam below them.
“The middle’s soft and –” Before the words were out of Flex’s mouth, a huge splintering sound reverberated over the cries of terror and panic. The shifting crowd that had poured onto the roof of the inn seemed to drop two feet.
They all scrambled up the bowl-shaped incline, trying to move away from the danger beneath them. Men, women and children cried out in fear as the roof gave way another ten inches or so.
“Stay calm, for God’s sake!” shouted Hemp, concern in his expression. “Very slowly, each of you make your way out and lessen the weight in the center. Help one another!”
Nobody heard him. Panic had taken over, and as a woman held her infant son up to be taken by a man kneeling on the edge, his arms outstretched, the roof gave way. The tremendous noise and shuddering beneath Flex’s feet felt like an explosion had occurred below.
The center of the roof collapsed like a sinkhole, and the humanity that had milled about just moments before, dropped out of sight, plummeting into the abyss below amidst a cloud of billowing dust that mushroomed upward. Several others perched precariously along the edges stumbled along the angled roof surface, tumbling backward into the hungry gap along with their other unfortunate neighbors.
“Oh, my God!” shouted Gem, watching in horror as she threw a protective arm around Charlie, who had been closest to the expanding hole’s ledge. By the time the collapse was complete, only twenty or so inches of rooftop remained all around the perimeter of the structure.
She, Flex, Charlie and Hemp stared in disbelief as the screams around them turned to sobs of grief.
Flex took hold of Gem’s arm when she turned to peer down into the gaping hole in the roof. “Babe, be careful!” he shouted. “This ledge may go!”
Flex looked down into the inn through the settling dust, the building now splayed opened like a sardine can. Several bodies lay twisted and broken on the interior stairs below, and rotters who had made their way in through the breached front door were on them immediately.
Cries came from those who had fallen onto the upstairs hallway floor, merely injured. With the stairway mostly burned away from the long-ago fire, the abnormals below could not get to them.
Nobody was focused on the crowd of rotters and dying citizens of Kingman in front of City Hall anymore. The situation behind them was too dire, and their purchase too tentative.
“Everybody, if you’re still safe, do not move!” shouted Hemp. “Remain calm, and stay perfectly still!”
The roof had clearly stabilized. The jagged hole that had formed was easily fifteen feet in diameter, and about three dozen people remained precariously stranded on the rooftop near the edges of the dilapidated wood, tar and gravel surface.
Gem called down into the hotel’s interior. “If you can move, please, get out of there. Move away from the ones who didn’t survive!”
“My … leg’s broken!” shouted one man, pushing himself up on one elbow and staring up through the gap.
“Pull yourself up and get moving!” said Flex. “The ones that died will be comin’ back! You don’t want to be lyin’ there when they turn!”
They had grown accustomed to the time it took to reanimate; it was usually within about ten minutes of their deaths.
Flex turned again to see what was happening below. Gunfire sounded, and the windows in the buildings across the street from City Hall were exploding in sparkling fragments. The survivors inside the building had taken up the fight that so many others had abandoned.
Flex grabbed his radio. “Kevin, you there? Reeves!”
There was no answer. A sudden barrage of gunfire sounded again, and this time it was as if a dozen machine guns were engaged.
Directly across the street from City Hall, the brick fronts of the now defunct True Value Hardware store and The Body Shop Tanning & Hair Salon blew away in huge chunks, more glass blasting into particles and spilling out onto the sidewalk.
As quickly as the barrage had begun, it stopped. The bullets had not only ripped through dozens of shambling zombies, but had also taken out several citizens of Kingman, who had been in the line of fire.
Reeves’ voice burst onto Flex’s radio. He was in tears.
“Flex!” he shouted. “Oh, my God, Flex. We didn’t want to do that! We had no choice. We used heavy doses of urushiol on the ones inside and it slowed them enough for us to kill them. We got all the Mothers … they were coming inside and we had … “ his voice trailed off and sobs overtook him.
“Kev, I know, man. It’s okay. The door’s closed now?”
“Yeah,” Reeves breathed.
“I’m sorry,” said Flex. “Are you guys safe in there now?” He eased up on the transmit button, which he realized he had been mashing hard with his thumb.
“I’m sorry,” said Reeves, clearly unable to discard his grief and guilt. “The doors were open and we didn’t have a choice. They were pushing inside, and we still have lots of women and kids in the bunker.”
“Kevin, are you guys safe now?” insisted Flex again.
“Yes, yes,” he said through his sadness. “The horde is crazy out there, though. And you were right – the urushiol isn’t taking them down like before, but it’s still enough to disable them some until we can destroy their brains.”
“I’m thinkin’ it doesn’t have so much to do with the effect of the urushiol, but it’s more the strength of the push by the Mothers. They sense something’s happening to them and they’re giving it everything they’ve got.”
“Let’s hope it’s their last-ditch effort and they run out of steam soon,” said Reeves.
“Hang tight and don’t open those doors for anything,” said Flex. “Can everyone there fit into the main bunker now?”
“The ones that are left, yes. There’s maybe a couple hundred of us. It will be tight, but we can manage.”
“We just had a bad roof collapse here, and some asshole drove that little bulldozer through the front, so we got a mess. I know you guys can get into the Fire Department garage from your building, Kev. If you can find a way to punch through the wall of the FD and get into Kings Inn, we’ve got several injured people on the first and second levels. Be ready, though. The front’s open so the zombies are pourin’ in at will.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” he said. “I know they have a Stinger battering ram in there. That’ll punch through block and brick.”
“Try it,” said Flex. “Take who you need with you and get everyone else in that damned bunker and lock the do
or. We got no more room to maneuver up here, so this plan is shot. We’ll see if we can’t figure something out to help the hurt folks from up here.”
“Flex,” said Reeves. “Did you see Vikki? She ran out. I think she panicked.”
“She ran inside the old hobby shop last we saw. Now go.”
“The only reason I didn’t go into the bunker is because I don’t have radio reception there,” said Reeves. “We’ll keep one person monitoring the front door. I’ll get another couple of volunteers to help me break through the wall to the inn. Buzz me if anything changes I should be aware of, okay?”
“Will do,” said Flex, looking behind him. “And hurry. The dead ones may need head shots. Depends on how much gas they need to reanimate.”
“I heard,” he said, hope in his voice. “The gas is stopping.”
“It’s real slow,” said Flex. “We’ll know in a few minutes if it’s still enough to change ‘em.”
“Roger,” said Reeves. “I’m going. Out.”
Flex clipped the radio on his belt and glanced at the north rim of the roofline. At one point, with a man he didn’t know clinging to the rails, the extension ladder they had used slid sideways. Flex hoped it landed on Rick’s and didn’t fall into the gap between the structures.
If it was gone, they were screwed. In her current condition, Gem wouldn’t be able to jump from the roof of Kings Inn onto the roof of Rick’s. He knew that. It would be a tough leap even if she had been perfectly healthy.
Flex turned to Hemp, an idea forming. “Hemp, were there other extension ladders in the hobby shop?”
Hemp shook his head. “No. The tallest is a folding ladder, perhaps twelve feet.”
“Shit!” said Flex.
The survivors on the roof continued to shift from place to place, apparently trying to find larger, more stable spots to sit or stand. Flex recognized many of them, but none of his close friends were among them.
These lesser-known citizens of Kingman were unpredictable in a dire situation; judging by the way they had ignored his orders not to climb the ladder to the Kings Inn roof, Flex knew they were running on adrenaline and panic rather than logic. What’s more, they were operating in self-preservation mode.
Flex decided that many of them had been protected too long, and had perhaps forgotten that order and discipline saved lives – everyone’s lives.
After watching them nudge one another aside a few seconds longer, Flex had had enough. He stood up and immediately felt Gem’s hand on his waist, steadying him as he stood on the edge, his back to the street.
“Quiet the hell down!” he shouted. “Look! We need to get as many of you off this roof as possible, and we need to try to get down there and help those hurt people. If you can’t assist us with that, I want you the hell off here.”
The crowd barked arguments, many of them angry.
Flex felt his blood pressure climb. “Listen! Either figure out how to help or get back down to the hobby shop roof if you want. If anyone has any ideas how to get down in that hole there and help those injured folks, I want to know now. Meanwhile, everyone stay the hell back from that hole. Come see Hemp if you have any suggestions.”
Flex turned to Gem and the others. “I’m gonna move around to the north side and assess the situation. See if I can spot the ladder.”
“Yes,” said Hemp. “If it’s gone, we’ll have to see about dropping down into the inn some way. I can see that upper landing is twelve feet down or so.”
“Without a ladder or rope, it may as well be forty feet, Hemp,” said Flex.
Flex side-stepped along the west side of the building until he reached the northwest corner. As he moved, he saw Gem watching him, her lips constantly moving, perhaps in a silent prayer. He took a large step at the corner, traversing a jutting void from the center collapse.
When he reached the north side, he heard, “Flex!”
When he looked down he saw Nelson and Rachel Moore on the roof of the hobby shop. Vikki was with them.
Seeing them, a thought triggered in Flex and he pulled his radio again. “Kevin, you read?”
He held up one finger to his friends below.
“Yeah, Flex. We found the battering ram. They’re about to start on that wall.”
“That’s not why I’m calling, Kev. Are Colton, Ben and Lita there?”
“Yeah, all three of them are here. Ben was working the fence perimeter but he ran out of ammo, so he came back and I didn’t let him go out again. I haven’t seen Trina and Taylor, though. Are they with you?”
Flex bristled. “No, they’re not. When did you last see them?”
“They left just before the horde got too large outside. Taylor said something to Trina, and they both ran outside, killed a bunch of rotters and a Mother, and headed north.”
“How long ago?”
“At least an hour.”
“Shit. Okay. Thanks, Kev.”
A sound echoed from below them, sounding like a sledgehammer hitting solid concrete. The sharp vibration jolted Flex’s feet.
“I just heard the ram. Is Scofield there, Kev?”
“I thought he was here,” said Kevin. “Hold on. I could be wrong.”
A few seconds later he came back on. “I don’t see him now,” he said. “Punch dropped him off a bit ago and took off with Lola. Serena’s still here and so is Dave Gammon. He’s a mess about his uncle and he needs her right now.”
“Roger that,” said Flex. “No Scofield? You sure?”
“I didn’t see him leave, but no, Flex. He’s not here.”
“Okay. Shit. Alright, Kev. I’m out, man.”
Flex clipped his radio back on his belt. “Lita’s safe,” he called down to Nel and Rachel, staring down at the extension ladder. It was intact, but well out of reach. Shaking his head, he continued: “She’s in the bunker and the door’s closed. No breaches yet.”
Nelson looked relieved. “Thanks. What can we do, bro? What were you looking at just now?”
“In a sec, Nel. Do you know where Trina and Tay went? Did they say anything to you?”
Nelson’s face lit up. “Yeah, man! They were with us at City Hall. Before all that shit went down they had an idea about using pure urushiol instead of the blended stuff. They went to the distillery to load up a full drum of oil. They took Scofield’s cart.”
“That’s a damned good idea,” said Flex. “We’ve only tried the watered-down stuff on these rotters. Maybe at this stage, the pure oil would work better.”
“We might have to dilute it a little to get it to shoot out of a water pistol,” said Nelson.
“Or we can fling it from paint brushes like we did when we coated the fence wires in Whitmire,” came a voice behind Flex.
It was Gem. “Will you guys please go find our girls? They might need help, too.”
“Sure, Gem,” said Nelson. “I’m sure they’re okay.”
“Thank you” said Gem. “When you find them, please give them a radio and tell them to call me right away. I have to know they’re safe.”
“We’ll go right now,” said Rachel. “What happened up there?”
Flex pointed between the buildings. “Just a shitload of bad stuff, Rach. The only ladder tall enough to span this gap fell down there, and the roof collapsed from too much weight. Lots of folks injured, some dead. We’re tryin’ to figure out how to get to the injured folks and how to get the hell off this building.”
Nel walked to the edge and peered over, spotting the ladder. It had fallen down between the Kings Inn and the hobby shop. It was still upright, but it angled toward the street.
“Hold on,” said Nel. He tossed his backpack down and knelt beside it. He unzipped a compartment and withdrew a coil of narrow, nylon rope. From his shirt pocket, he slid out a brass star; one of the large, three-inch diameter ones.
“What are you thinkin’?” asked Flex.
“Dude, not thinkin’,” said Nel. “I’ve already visualized this bad boy workin’ right up here.” He tapped h
is head with a finger. Nelson quickly uncoiled about five feet of the narrow cord and tied it around the solid, brass throwing star.
About thirty inches above that star, he tied another one, securing it around at least three of the sharpened points. He looked up at Flex. “Dude, watch this.”
Rachel looked up at Flex and Gem and shrugged, smiling. She held her hands out toward Nel as if to say, “He’s nuts, but he’s mine.”
Nel uncoiled more rope. He dangled the stars down until they were about even with the top two rungs of the lower section of the aluminum ladder.
Swinging the rope away from the ladder, toward the street, he let it pendulum back toward it. As it almost reached the rungs, he pulled it back again, this time, even farther.
When it arced back on its return trip, Nelson eyed it very carefully and dropped the rope two inches, allowing the highest brass star to slam into one of the aluminum rungs.
The other star continued forward, reached the end of its free rope, and swung around the rung twice, three times.
Nelson cinched it and began lifting. The ladder came with it.
Flex almost cheered. “Damn, Nel! That was great!”
Nel unwrapped the rope and dropped it onto the roof. Carrying the ladder to the edge again, he leaned it into position, this time using the rope to lash one of the legs to a roof vent pipe.
“Get everyone down you need, then you can pull the ladder up and use it to get to those injured peeps,” said Nel.
“Thanks, Nel. We got it from here. Go find Trini and Tay, would you?”
Nel gave Flex a mock salute. “You got it, captain.” He took Rachel’s hand and they moved to the back edge of Rick’s roof, where they jumped onto the lower building before disappearing completely from Flex’s view.
Flex turned toward Hemp. “You’re up, professor,” he said. “Let’s direct these folks off the roof.”
“Okay, orderly fashion!” shouted Hemp. “All of you make your way toward the ladder. You may stay on top of Rick’s if you wish, but that roof is in similar repair to this one, I’m sure. Whomever is closest to the ladder, you go first. Do not stop until you are at the bottom because we must keep this line moving. Do you understand?”
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