Zombie Rush 4

by Joseph Hansen

  “So the rest of you know; I would never kill Krupp. It was Lu and it was an accident.”

  “You lie!” Lu stood and shouted at Lisa. Her last words a lie.

  The crowd around Lu jumped back as her head disappeared in a mist of blood and bone. Chunks of skull and brains sprayed those behind her and one fell dead as the fifty-caliber bullet exploded Lu’s head, passed through, and went into the chest of a man behind, blowing a basketball-sized hole out of his back.

  Lisa looked up and saw Cat breaking down her rifle; all the while, the sounds of screaming and the rumble of thousands of running feet kept getting louder. There must be thousands of them and nobody on the walls.

  “The shit’s about to hit the fan, people.” Lisa spoke loudly enough for her voice to carry. “If you can find a place to hide, do it! The rest of you come with me! Pull the guards in and send them to the hospital,” Lisa shouted to the crowd. So many of these building simply needed the doors shut in order to be secure but the hospital wasn’t one of them and last she heard, it was operating at capacity.

  President Berry turned to the general at her side. “What’s going on?”

  “New infected are attacking the compound,” he said after pulling his hand down from his coms.

  “New infected? You mean Ragers?” the president asked in surprise. Her intel said there weren’t any around for fifty miles.

  “A large group out of the north came in under our radar,” the general replied.

  “Oh, what are we going to do?” she asked, trusting that her newly appointed general would have the answer.

  “We’re going to join with the army, which is already mobilizing with a plan,” General Kyle said before he turned. “Jeffers, Thomas … back her up.”

  “Who’s in charge?” Jeffers asked.

  “She is, fool! President Berry, Justice Aldim … please, let’s move you somewhere safe. Private! You and your squad on me.” The general moved the two women toward the Sam’s Club, ignoring all questions. Decorum is important, but there are times when action takes precedence. The mostly block building would offer great protection, but there was still a pretty big entrance that could be breached. They would make their stand there.

  It was the worst time to face an invasion, with the majority of the community out in the open like sitting ducks. An unspoken pecking order took place as those who were young, injured, or incapable started to move into the Sam’s Club, as well as some of the other secured buildings. Lisa moved toward the hospital and most of the crowd followed her as she shouted, “Somebody get an ammunition trailer over to the hospital—two, if we can get them. Officer Arnst will be center point in the front of the hospital and I will be center point on the back.”

  Ernie smiled to once again be trusted by the magnanimous lieutenant.

  “We’ll line up in a V, push their mass out to the sides of us. The barriers that surround us will not hold back this swarm; we have to do it ourselves. I haven’t seen these creatures stand and fight, but I have never seen this many together either. Usually they pass over you like a wave, so deflect if you can’t kill!”

  Lisa shouted instructions as she watched the first of the Ragers jump over the wheel-less semi-trailers that had kept them safe up until then. A shoulder next her showed Captain Thomas’s strong chin as he listened to her commands. It encouraged her, knowing that the military was with her again. She never would have survived if that sergeant hadn’t stepped up and fought with her in the park in Little Rock.

  “They’re here! See how they move? Watch them and get a feel for their loping gait!” Lisa kept shouting, hoping that one thing she said would help save a life. “Remember that they don’t die with just one shot.”

  Her own weapons suddenly appeared in front of her, barely giving her the time to get them strapped on and loaded. Her eyes wandered toward the wall where she had shot Buck on that first night, and she knew that she was not crazy. That was real, she knew it. Some things can’t be imagined so vividly and that pain was real.

  The beasts attacked as a swarm of locust would attack a field of wheat. First a few stragglers hit their lines, alerting the others with delighted shrieks of joy. Soon it was a sea of bodies flowing over the walls like water.

  Soldiers took up the front line on either side of Lisa. This time their guns were not pointed at her as they stared at the horror that rushed toward them. Men and women of all shapes and sizes running on all fours like beasts quickly ate up the ground between them, salivating in anticipation. They couldn’t leave the hospital unguarded; too much would be ruined if that were allowed. This building had to be protected at all costs.

  The soldiers started firing immediately as Lisa waited, knowing that impact with these creatures counted more than bullets. She wished for the first time that she would have switched out for a SCAR-H or AK47 that shot a 7.62 like the soldiers were using, but she was stuck with her police-issue M4. The soldiers, however, were prepared with the heavier guns. They off-loaded several rounds, reloading with practiced efficiency across the front lines of the approaching mass, stopping individuals but not slowing the horde.

  Soon all three were shooting, and the distance did nothing but lessen between them; the screaming becoming more intense with every inch they gained. The soldier on her right was the first to hit them with his stock because they were too close for a shot. Lisa had her Glock out and cleared the way for both to grab their sidearms. The soldier on the left disappeared into the mass with barely so much as a scream.

  The tide rushed by as a raging flood, consuming everything in its path. They weren’t killing individuals; they were killing bits and pieces of something much larger than one individual. An abomination, a scourge meant to destroy mankind. Lisa fell backward into a mass of sane and insane people as she drew her baton, swinging at anything that wanted to bite her. Tonka appeared from nowhere and was suddenly standing over her until he was swept up into the crowd with a yelp, and she screamed.

  Somehow, she managed to get to her feet and jumped on the back of the one trying to drag a squirming Tonka away. Tonka spun and lashed out as she pounded on the creature’s head. She was tackled from the side and Tonka latched on to that one as Lisa swung with a fervor born of need and trust. She loved Tonka with all of her heart, and if he was going down then she was too. Together they fought, continuously getting tackled and rolled over, getting bitten and kicked until suddenly it was over and she lay five feet from her partner who lay panting as he watched the disappearing horde.

  Lisa looked around, happily seeing more had survived than her initial encounter with them, yet many had been sucked into the mass. Many of those found a way to survive with only minor bites as others were bleeding out. The soldiers amazed her and showed what a trained force they were as they instantly switched from warrior to emergency medical technician. They were already applying compresses and carting some of the serious cases to the hospital.

  If only they could have been here on the day it all started, we might have saved more.

  No one had turned from the bites of these new creatures, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen.

  Dean stood in the crowd, leaning on Shaaka as if he had never even moved, but the blood covering him and his weapon said otherwise. His son was with Kodiak, standing to either side of him as soldiers behind a bulwark. He would break the tide as they watched his back. She limped over toward him and they clasped hands, Lisa using his strength to help her stay on her feet.

  She didn’t know why she said it and didn’t even realize she felt this way until this very moment. “I gotta get the fuck out of here,” she gasped, and Kodiak smiled excitedly.

  “Get your business squared away; we’ll wait. Oh, and you can bring your little dog too.”

  Lisa smiled. “I don’t go anywhere without him.”

  She turned and limped toward the Sam’s Club to get her business taken care of.

  Epilogue

  “It seems we are at an impasse, Lieutenant Reynolds.”r />
  “How would that be, General Kyle?” Lisa replied.

  “Well … for one, you are the authority in Hot Springs whether we like it or not. This area has become vital toward the rebuilding of the United States of America. We need you to turn over your authority to us before we can continue with the trial.”

  “It’s already done, General. I have relinquished any authority that I may have had before the first trial.”

  “It is still the same trial, Lieutenant; it is important that we are clear on that fact.”

  “Whatever, whatever. Either way, it was a farce … but I suppose that point doesn’t really matter to you, does it?”

  “Never did,” the general said in a harsh second of honesty. He paused and thought through their short conversation up to this point.

  “So I get the impression that you might already have a plan.”

  “I do,” Lisa replied.

  “Does this plan behoove the community as a whole.”

  “It does. Or at least I believe it does.” Lisa paused to see if he wanted to say something but he just nodded his head for her to continue.

  “I was a cop. That is all I ever wanted to be and I was good at it. Then I became a zombie killer and I was exceptionally good at that … even better than being a cop. Now the zombies are dying out. To leave me locked within a community of people is going to be a time bomb just waiting to blow, especially if I’m not in charge.”

  Lisa stopped to think about the words she had just spoke. She started with the intent of creating a con act so that they would let her go. Now she realized that this was no game. She meant what she said, and she could feel the truth of her words. Too much had happened here. Too much blood was spilled by her hands, blood of the dead and blood from those who were alive and she felt no remorse.

  She wasn’t fit to live with people. She wasn’t fit to be a part of this community.

  “Funny how much can happen in a week that can change a person so much. I was going to try and convince you to let me go and I would just ride away into the sunset,” she finished with a chuckle. She hoped the general would jump in and save her from her next statement but she knew he wouldn’t. He dealt with soldiers who suffered from mental trauma all of the time; he recognized her symptoms and was content to let her say what she had to say, no matter what it was.

  “Truth is, I don’t care what you do. Throw me in a cell for life, hang me from a tree, or just put a bullet in my head. Any will be a resolution of some sort and it just doesn’t matter to me anymore.”

  “What matters to you, little lady, was never my concern,” said General Kyle. “Executing is not going to be an option, I am afraid. You are the darling of Hot Springs, so locking you up for an eternity is a better option but only for a short time. There are those who would not allow you to be forgotten and that eventually would create some strife.”

  “Now it sounds like you have a plan … so what do you propose?” Lisa asked.

  “We still have some things going on up north that I need to be kept abreast of. I am going to commission you to look into them.”

  “You mean you are going to ask me to help you?”

  “No Lisa, I am commissioning you to do some recon work. As you have said so many times in the past, welcome to the army.”

  “I’m sorry, General, but I need more than that,” Lisa said.

  The general sighed. “You do realize that you are not in a position to negotiate.”

  “I beg to differ, General Kyle. You could send pretty much anyone out there … hell, you could send a whole army out there and never find out if the job got done or what they have found out. I, on the other hand, will get it done and you know it or you wouldn’t be making this offer. As far as I am concerned, I don’t care.”

  “Excuse me? You don’t care?”

  “Yep, it just doesn’t fucking matter to me anymore. So you need to give me something more in addition to basic supplies.”

  “What might that be, Ms. Reynolds?”

  “I want 200 morphine, a thousand penicillin and …”

  “That’s a lot of drugs.”

  “No, General, that’s a lot of cash in this day and age. And I need the pills to be military grade.”

  “Very well, I can actually do you one better and give you codes to get into certain FEMA bunkers you will come across. There you will find food, clothing, bedding, and many other things—including hot running water. There was an ‘and’ on the end of your sentence. What is the last thing you require? And I do mean last thing.”

  “Cat.”

  “Cat? I’m sorry, but Ms. Krupp is facing murder charges.”

  “I am well aware of what she is facing, and let me save you the cost of a trial. She’s guilty. I know for a fact because I saw it … everyone saw it. She is the best shooter alive that I know of. I want her or I don’t go,” Lisa said firmly, causing the general to rest his balled up fists on the desk.

  “I don’t think you understand, Lieutenant. She used a weapon that has been banned as an anti-personnel weapon by the Geneva Convention. The heinousness of her crime is recognized worldwide,” the general said vehemently.

  “Why don’t you call Geneva and see if they’ll give us a pass this time?” Lisa said. The general stared back at her, knowing how absurd it seemed to be referencing organizations that were now dead and gone.

  “Are you sure that you can take care of this situation for us, Ms. Reynolds?” A new but unsurprising female’s voice came over a speaker.

  “Of course.”

  “But you don’t know what the job is,” President Berry said.

  “It doesn’t matter. I will get it done; that is what I do.”

  “I like your spirit. I wish we would have met under different circumstances.”

  “Like a traffic citation or a littering charge?” Lisa said in jest.

  “I did like to drive fast … give her what she wants, General. We’ll iron out the details later.”

  Cat was in the same boat as Lisa. She sat in a fabricated jail cell, staring at a blank wall, not caring what the future brought. In the last week she had lost so much. She had lost her college education as well as all of her friends, her boyfriend, her brother, and mother. Now the last person who meant anything to her was dead at the hands of a lunatic. She loved her dad most of all. Even in the worst of times, he had managed to make her life right and now he was gone too. Her friend Ally was murdered before her eyes, and the only other person she felt any connection with was locked up just like she was, waiting for this sham of a court to decide their fates.

  Where were they when everybody was getting killed and eaten by the undead? Safe in a bunker with all the comforts of home, that’s where they were. The sons of bitches waited for us to waste our lives getting things straightened around so that they can come out and judge us and tell us how bad we have behaved. Cat knew it was wrong to kill in the manner she had—or at all, for that matter. The civilized thing would have been to take Lu to trial and prosecute her for the death of her father and framing Lisa.

  She was wrong and she knew it, but that didn’t stop her from working herself into a frenzy. There was no way a sane person could follow her impassioned rant as everything came to the surface and flowed from her in one long, unreasonable burst. So when the guards arrived at the cell, she literally attacked them with a verbal barrage.

  The soldiers’ resolve to not engage her frustrated her, so with having nothing to lose, she started raining blows upon their heads. She had nothing against these soldiers; she was pissed and they were there, and after all she had been through, that was all it took.

  Cat found herself thrust face down on her cot and her hands zip-tied behind her back. A gag was then stuffed in her mouth and a full-length body bag slipped over her. She was then shoved into a linen cart and pushed out of the room. She stifled herself when she heard one of her guards finally speak.

  “Yes ma’am, exactly as you said. No, no one will see or hear her … yes ma’am.
I will.” The voice stopped, leaving Cat in a quandary. Who would have ordered this? Were they going to skip the trial altogether and just get rid of her? A moment of panic slipped in before reality came back and she breathed a sigh around her gag.

  It’s probably for the best.

  She knew that they were outside, walking for quite some time before she was pulled out of the cart like yesterday’s laundry. Her captors stood her upright and unzipped the bag then freed her hands and removed her gag, Cat glaring at them the entire time.

  She was free and all she could do was look at the men in front of her as she fantasied about what she would do to them as their executioner. She was as good as dead already and she knew it. One of the men put his hands on her shoulders to turn her around and she shrugged him off. He grabbed her more firmly and forced her to face the other way.

  “Lisa, what are you doing here?” Cat asked as she recognized her friend standing all geared up with her SWAT cap on and sunglasses reflecting Cat’s face.

  “Get in the truck, Cat.”

  “But … I.”

  “Get in the truck, Cat; that’s an order.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Cat said and walked around the truck and climbed past the passenger door. She watched Lisa collect some electronic devices as well as some papers before she turned and climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck. Lisa turned the ignition and Cat heard the low rumble of the diesel engine fire up as the two soldiers who brought Cat from her cell crawled into the back seat, forcing Tonka to jump into the front. Cat looked around confusedly, not having any answers.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know, we just are,” Lisa responded.

  “Oh.” Cat knew better than to continue with that line of questioning. Instead, she gave Lisa a curious glance. “What’s that?”

  “Something your dad gave me.” Lisa looked down at the smoothed rib bone that seemed to always be in her hand these days—a reminder of how bad it can be, as well as how good it could have been.