Undead War (Dead Guns Press)

by Thompson, John

  Exhaling sharply, he stood up, mashed the cigarette butt into an ashtray and went for a bottle of water. The MG-42 sat on the table across the room and he cursed softly. It was a waste of ammunition to just blast away so indiscriminately. He had burned through two hundred rounds of the precious ammunition and that was ammo that couldn’t be easily replaced. It was going to be bad enough to have to clean the damned gun also.

  He stood up and walked outside to piss. Once outside he heard the snapping moans of the zombies outside the cinder block walls and was thankful to be here. He plugged off one nose nostril and blew a chunk of snot to the ground. He then banged on the wall and yelled out. “Hey, shut the fuck up over there. Can’t a guy piss in peace? Keep that shit down!” All this did was aggravate the zombies on the other side of the wall. The small throng clawed and hammered on the wall from the other side. While pissing into the far corner he looked up and saw the large antenna mounted to the top of the building waving in the breeze.

  He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. He had seen the radio set in the office where he had found the dead guard and thought on it. He had wanted to get on the radio set for some time but it had always fallen to the back burner of things to do. Most of the time he worked on the armored trucks or the gen-set and the fuel station area making sure everything was in top order. Today though he would lay off the booze, drink some water and maybe sit down and scan through the channels. It was possible that the military might be close by. He finished, went back inside the garage and rummaged through some boxes and found another bottle of water before going to the control room.

  There were rumors some nine months ago about the military regaining cities lost to the zombie hordes when the virus first took hold. If there were any truth to the rumors he had hear then perhaps maybe the forces were close by. It was also possible he might hear from other survivors. Walking into the control room, he reached over and turned on the radio set and listened for a few minutes working the dial as he went. The smell of decay from the old guard had dissipated somewhat and was at least tolerable. He took another pull from the water bottle and continued listening to the sound of static.

  Being unfamiliar with the radio made it frustrating. There were switches for different meters and bands and it took some time to get use to where he was at frequency wise. After an hour of constant twisting, he was about to give up then the sound of distant voice’s suddenly blared from the speaker. He had to turn the dial back to the opposite direction. Voices! My god human voices! He stood up suddenly and stepped back, tilting his head before calming himself. He sat back down and placed a heavy hand across his mouth, leaning forward to fine tune the dial.

  Military. It had to be a military operation of some kind.

  A woman’s voice echoed through the static. “Jake? Is it clear up there?”

  “It‘s clear so far. I ain’t got nothing. Got zombies lined up the ass on the north side though.”

  The woman’s voice came back. “Don’t stay up there wasting ammo. Where‘s Bernie?”

  “Umm, don’t see him or the team Jane.”

  Another man had keyed his mike. The sounds of his voice sounded desperate and out of breathe. “South side’s falling apart. Zombies breaking through! The doors did not close fast enough and some have wedged the door open!” The sound of machine gun fire ripped through the airwaves before the mike keyed off.

  Another woman keyed up. “We’re on our way Tac! Continue to hold!”

  The words were spoken quickly and full automatic gunfire etched the background. “We’ve fallen back to the escalators! Tell Doc to fire up that mini gun!”

  Jackson was assuming that this Doc guy was somewhere close by. The woman Jane was perhaps instructing him on what to do and after a long pause keyed her mike. “Tac! Get to the top of the escalators and head to B wing. Doc will be there but move fast! Yolanda head to B-wing and cover.”

  “Already there and set. Get those damn secondary doors closed! We got like fifty of them bastards inside the perimeter!”

  “Working on it!”

  Another voice erupted through the airwaves. The man sounded like he was running outside and firing his weapon at the same time. “Abort break out! I say again! Abort!”

  Jane came back over the airwaves. “Bernie! Where are you?”

  “Headed back to the front doors! Ran into a wall of zombies like two hundred strong or better! No way through and the mother fuckers are chomping our ass‘ hard!”

  Outside? It sounded like these people were attempting a break out and it was falling apart quickly. Jackson leaned back and lit a smoke. Even if he were to load up an armored truck with firepower and drive to the scene, the mini battle would be long over with. At this point there would be no point in even trying. It would be best to play it safe and stay off the roads.

  “Jake! Can you lay down some suppressing fire with the M203? If we can blow a path free of those bastards we might be able to get the team back here inside!”

  “I can but it’s going to be tough! Bernie! Get to running when I start popping!”

  “Get to it! We’re down to just me and Mac!”

  The airwaves stayed silent for a moment. The man known as Tac came back sounding breathless. “Got the doors closed and beginning cleanup of the zombies.”

  “Yolanda?”

  No answer then Tac came back. “She and Nelson set up a perimeter but it got over ran. They’re gone.”

  The man named Jake came back on the air. “Jane…Bernie didn’t make it either. A fucking wall of zombies got to ‘em just as I was lobbing in the explosives.”

  “So that’s…four of us left?”

  No one answered.

  Jackson took another swallow of water. Should he even say anything? All his life he had played it straight and stayed low to avoid trouble but these were different times. These days even the most solitude of people had to rely on total strangers. He keyed the mike. “…Umm hello?” He winced. Just what the hell was he doing? Why should he bother? There was nothing he could do and to leave the safety of the armored vault was almost unthinkable. He tossed the mike on the table like it had scalded him.

  The radio cackled and the woman’s voice came over the speakers. Jackson paused mid-step unsure he was doing the right thing. “Hello? Anyone else out there on this frequency…come back?”

  Minutes went by and she called out again.

  He leaned over to the radio set and slowly picked up the mike. Should he even answer the call? If he were smart, he would just shut the thing off right now. He had a standing rule to help no one, not even if they were in trouble. To risk his neck was unthinkable but the time alone had taken a toll on his mental health.

  He keyed the microphone. “Hello?” He answered back through gritted teeth.

  The woman’s voice came back to him sounding as surprised as he was. “Hello? My God a voice..!”

  He didn’t respond then after several minutes her voice came back over the speakers and he wondered what she would look like. “Hello? My name is Jane Masters…” He wondered just what in hell was he going to do. “…we are trapped in the down town area of Albuquerque and we need help.”

  Oh hell no! Downtown? He knew the downtown area was packed with zombies. In the opening days on the viral outbreak the military had tried to regain control of the downtown area and had come up on the losing end of that engagement. He had done his best to avoid the area. There were hundreds, if not thousands of zombies wandering the streets and open buildings. “Where at? I got my own problems here.” He was careful not to mention his exact location. If somehow the people on the other end were to actually do a break out and succeed, they would come to where he was at and possibly kick him out of the vault.

  “At the Lovelace hospital in the downtown area.”

  He knew where they were. The hospital was a fairly large complex some eight stories tall with smaller winged buildings attached. As long as they had taken precautions they might survive but they would have to do
a breakout and then their chances of survival out in the open downtown area were slim at best. “How many of you there? I heard the military was coming in. You guys military?”

  “No, we’re not but have several guys…“ another long pause. “…Well…had. We got a couple left who were. We got nothing here but zombies. We tried a break out but…” The words fell off into silence and for a moment Jackson thought Jane had un-keyed her mike. “…lost six guys in the process and got pushed back here again. We’ve been here for several weeks now. Our water and food from the cafeteria is now being rationed out. Can you help?”

  He remained silent for a long moment. He lit a cigarette to help calm his nerves. To help would be suicide and there was the possibility this was a trap of some kind. “No, I’m stuck where I’m at.” Best to play it safe.

  “You don’t sound to convincing. We are in need of help and need to get out of here. We can hold out for several more days and then that’s it. We are barely holding them off from breaking through the first floor.”

  He took another long drag on the cigarette and leaned over the table. “Sorry to hear that but like I said, I got my own set of problems here.”

  “Your problems? We got thousands of problems.”

  “Look, let me think on it. What the fuck you cracker ass mother fuckers doing down there anyway?”

  “We were looking for weapons. We heard the military had tried to retake this area and left behind tons of equipment.” Another pause then she continued this time with a sense of urgency in her voice. “While you’re thinking, remember there are four people…four living human beings who need your help.”

  “Tomorrow. I’ll have an answer tomorrow. Same time here on the radio dial.” Thinking on it would do no good for them, he thought. Who in their right mind go downtown? What the fuck were they thinking? That this zombie epidemic was some chance for a vacation sightseeing tour?

  “Tomorrow is not good enough. We need the answer now. This is just as hard for us to trust you as it is for you to trust us. You don’t know us from Adam but we are people in need of help like right now. Tomorrow we could all be dead.”

  He was breaking his own rule but she did have a valid point. What if this was the last time he would ever hear from another human being? What if he never spoke to another woman ever again? What if the tables were turned? What if he was the one trapped and needed help? Too many questions and never enough answers. The final thought was it was just the right thing to do or at least that’s what he kept telling himself. “Okay…I can try and punch through somehow.”

  “How do you plan on accomplishing that?”

  “I got an armored truck I’ll be in with some firepower.”

  “Armored? Like a military vehicle?”

  “No armored truck as in ‘delivering the money’ kind of truck.”

  The airwaves were silent for a long moment and Jackson was beginning to doubt he should even try. “It will work but that’s a top heavy vehicle.”

  “Short and low though. I can make it in and out. I’ve been in tighter situations.” But nothing like being downtown. He told himself.

  “Doc says you’re right but you need to come around to the west side of the complex to the loading docks. We can get you in and shut the doors quickly. We will give fire support from there while you get inside.”

  He thought on that. It was bad enough to have to drive directly to the hospital and into the dock area but what other options were there? If he parked at a safe distance and had the four people run to meet him then that was a suicide run for them and also unthinkable. Even if he were laying down suppressing fire that plan would just cost four people’s lives. No it would be better to go to the loading dock, go in and load up the people then shag ass back to the main road. It was the only plan that came to mind. “All right…it sounds like a reasonable plan. Can’t have you mothas running out of the hospital in broad daylight with a horde of zombies munching on your asses. I’ll go to the west end and you guys better be ready. Once this game starts we ain’t playing Forrest Gump with this shit.”

  Jane answered. The tones of her voice sounding like there was finally hope. “We’ll be ready just you be there. I’m thinking noon as most of the zombies seem to retreat further into downtown for some reason but once the commotion starts it’ll be like a tsunami wave of zombies hitting us.”

  That was reassuring. The very idea that he might not make it began to cloud over in his mind. “Okay…noon…high noon then.”

  “Another thing Jackson…” her voice dropped off again. “…You’re a saint and I mean that.”

  He just hoped and prayed that this was not going to end with him losing everything including his life. He would take the armored truck he called ’Beast’ into the fray and take along the MG-42 and the Sterling as a just in case. “I’ll contact you around noon…be ready.” He leaned over, switched the radio set off then lit another cigarette lost in his thoughts wondering what he had gotten himself into and what the next day would bring. He looked over and eyed the ‘Beast’ that was parked in the adjoining garage.

  ***

  Jackson stood on the freeway overpass, looking through his binoculars at the scene surrounding the old hospital. There were hundreds of zombies milling around the vast parking lot and a thicker crowd had gathered at the base of the building. Going in was going to be rough but there was another entrance Jane had pointed out on the west end of the complex, which he couldn’t see from this angle. He took the walkie-talkie from his belt and called out for Jane several times.

  After a few minutes her voice drifted across the airways. “Jane here.”

  “About damn time, I was contemplating leaving.”

  “Making preparations and getting the stuff lined up to take with us. Also we’re in position but I warn you once the fireworks start it’ll be a bloody mess.”

  “Yeah no shit. You ready then?” His heart was pounding.

  “As much as we’ll ever be.”

  “I’m on my way.” He hooked the mike back on the duty belt, readjusted the bulletproof vest to feel somewhat more comfortable then slid behind the wheel of the armored truck. He saw his MP3 player sitting in the cup holder and grabbed it then tucked it in one of the vest pockets. There was no point in leaving it behind if he had to bail out.

  Jackson placed the truck in gear and rolled forward down the off ramp. The bottom of the ramp was a clutter of cars, long abandoned from since the first outbreak. He placed the truck in low gear and pushed through the mass of a dozen cars before making a right turn onto the main street that was void of cars but plentiful with an ocean of zombies.

  Jackson inhaled sharply when the horde of zombies saw him. He quickly floored the accelerator pedal and rammed into the throng of zombies. Soft bodies flew back or were caught under the wheels. The snarling zombies clawed the truck on the driver’s door and he jammed the barrel of the Sterling through the gun port and let loose a long burst. Heads exploded in a mist and bullets ripped into their rotted torsos. He kept his foot on the pedal and saw the truck was having trouble trying to push its way through the massive horde of zombies that had gathered in front of him.

  He slammed it into reverse and drove backwards for several hundred yards. Fuck this shit! He had to clear something of a path and quickly. He unbuckled from the seat and moved to the rear of the truck, reached up and opened the upper turret hatch. The stench of fresh rot assailed his nostrils as he stood up outside the hatch and took hold of the grips for the M2. He cranked back the loading handle and took a deep breath.

  The horde was almost upon him, the moaning mass of rotten flesh reminded him of a low level wave of sewage spilling over from an open septic tank, and they were coming for fresh meat.

  He pulled the trigger and a loud burst of thunder echoed off empty, dead buildings with a flash of bright orange erupting from the muzzle end.

  The first rounds slammed into the advancing horde. Bodies flew up and burst apart in thick geysers of black blood and torn g
ray flesh. The heavy 500 grain ball ammo, blew through the ranks of the undead. The black asphalt splattered in thick sheens of dark blood, torn bodies and tattered clothing. The advancing hordes lines rippled under the hammer effects of the fifty caliber rounds. The gun bucked over and over, the support carriage groaned under the punishing recoil but Jackson held on as if his life depended on it. He screamed through gritted teeth, his muscles bulged under the intense recoil, sweat began rolling into his eyes, fear crept up into his throat and he felt the sudden urge to run or urinate but he kept on pouring the thick rounds into the zombie mass.

  The gun clicked. His eyes went wide with fear. He looked up once and the horde had moved up, filling the ranks of the dead corpses, some of which shivered in nervous ticks as life left them. He couldn’t tell how many he had killed, fifty? A hundred? Maybe several hundred? There was no time to reload and he fell back through the hatch just as the hordes hit the truck. He scrambled to his feet and jumped up and grabbed the hatch cover just as the hordes began swarming over the edges of the roof top. He slammed it shut and turned the two locks quickly.

  He was breathing hard, his heart thumping in its cage and fear drove him onwards. There would be no turning back. He slipped back into the driver seat. The zombies were beginning to crawl over the armored truck, it swayed under the sheer weight of moaning bodies. Jackson wasted no more time.

  He flipped the differential lock switch for the axles then slammed back into first gear and floored the pedal. He had gained enough speed and momentum to blast through the zombies. He looked in his side view mirror just as the rear of the truck lifted up and saw the rear tandems roll over the head of a zombie. Its head exploded outward like a mini volcano and the rear bounced back to the asphalt. Up ahead to his right was the driveway to the west end of the complex and he grabbed a gear and shot down it with zombies running after him. Up ahead a chain link gate appeared around the short bend.