I went back to the gate. I saw that the dust being kicked up by the Zeds was almost to us. The dust was preceding the Zombie army as a screen. They were about a mile away. Even with their shuffling gaits, the Zeds would be with us within an hour. Then it was time to party.
I saw that our people were still processing newcomers. Our people seemed very nervous which was good and bad. They were staying alert and ready. On the other hand, I didn’t want them wound too tight or somebody was going to get shot. I would leave them alone for now.
I looked up and saw three deer stands going up overlooking the entire property. Rifles went into them along with lots of ammo. They would shoot over the gates and hopefully into Zombie heads. It was a good idea. I would repeat it on the balconies back inside the house. Hopefully we wouldn’t need to barricade ourselves in and have to defend ourselves from inside our home. I had no doubt that the house was pretty much impregnable. We could last a long time inside of it. However, that didn’t mean that it would be comfortable with all our people trapped inside. And with the fans and a/c off, it would become pretty gamy, pretty quick. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
I walked inside and gave my wife a more than friendly smooch. I heard the kids give a collective ‘eeewww!’ It made me do it again. I laughed at them and stuck out my tongue.
“I think our people outside are getting hungry. Anyway you can get some food out to us? We need to do it quickly though. The Zeds will be here within the hour.” I saw her eyes bug out of her head briefly. She got herself under control fairly fast before the kids could see.
“Kids, we need to get food to our parents and friends. Who wants to help me make food for them?” She said it as upbeat as possible. It made all the kids excited. They all ran to the kitchen. I got my butt out of there and into the basement.
I ran to the room with all my spare clothing. I pulled out my work coveralls, the long-sleeved ones and my steel-toed Timberlands. I put them on and carried out a good two dozen of these uniforms. They were Kevlar lined. Unfortunately, they were hot. But after doing much research, I hoped they were the best clothing to keep away bites. I brought out dozens to the garage. When I was finished, I made sure anyone who was outside was wearing the ‘uniform.’ We all looked like electrical workers.
I walked around and checked each and every weapon. I made sure that every one had enough ammo along with backup boxes filled with loose rounds ready for reload. I also made sure they all had their clubs handy in case things became up close and personal. I saw several of the newbies turn gray and ashen at the thought of clubbing Zeds like baby seals. They would just have to get used to it. It was kill or be eaten time.
When I was done, the kids brought out ham and bologna sandwiches. They had them on trays along with cans of soda. They were very pleased at how happy we all were. We gave them all hugs and thanks. They seemed just happy to be doing something. Everybody contributed, which I loved.
I saw my boy Matthew walk toward the gate. My dogs growled at him and told him to keep away. He was very surprised that they would raise their voices at him and stepped back. I saw fear in his eyes.
I bent down and hugged him. “I love these dogs because of what they just did. They’re shepherds. They protect people. They saw you walking toward the gate and stopped you from going out and getting hurt. They were protecting the flock.”
I called them over and had them snuggle up against my Matthew. They licked him all over, making him laugh. He understood.
He looked down hill and saw over a thousand non-beings heading toward us. They were just over a block away. He looked scared out of his mind- rightly so.
I smiled at him. “See all these adults here? We’re here to stop them. There’s nothing going to stop us from taking these Zombies down. They are not getting past us.” I felt very confident all of a sudden. Looking down into his face I saw myself as a boy. There was no fucking way I was letting anything happen to him. I would die and kill to protect him and everyone else in my family. We would succeed.
I gave him a hug, told him that I loved him, and sent him back inside. I moved quickly and did the same to all my family members. Then I hugged everybody else. I guess I was in a warm and fuzzy mood. I saw my people doing the same. Tears flowed freely in the people going into the house. Surprisingly, all I saw from the first line of defense was just steely determination. We were going to cream all those monsters.
We all went quickly to the bathroom and then readied ourselves. I was starting to get a little nervous. I looked down at the mass of flesh coming up our driveway. I heard moans shrieking up at us. Every so often I saw one of them fall to the ground. They would be trampled until they managed to stand. They didn’t seem to mind. They pressed forward lumbering slowly toward us, step by step. The trail of these things had to be over a block long. That was a whole Hell of a lot of Zeds coming to hunt.
I spoke very loudly to be heard above the din of moans. “Remember to stay very calm. Stay at least four feet beyond the gate. Remember, they cannot reach you unless you let them. Stay back. Breathe slowly and take careful aim at their heads. Squeeze the trigger gently and without fear. We don’t want you to feel alone. We’re all here to act as your backups. We will back you up, and you will back us up. We’re a family now, and we will protect each other.” I saw several smiles at that. Unfortunately, there were a lot of new faces that I didn’t have time to get to know. I would have to fix that. It was too late for that now.
The Zeds made it to the cars right at the fire pits. I pulled out two flares. I lit them with a whoosh and threw them into the cars. The cars exploded outward throwing gasoline outward in every direction. I’d forgotten how explosive gasoline was. I felt the intense heat push me back for a second before I recovered. I heard the roar of the flames before me moving outward like a freight train. It seemed to have no effect on the approaching mob except that it set a good dozen of them on fire. There were no screams, no thrashing in pain, and no change in them other than the fact that they were now flaming white. They continued their approach as if nothing changed.
I watched them wordlessly coming at us on fire. Our enemies were completely inhuman. I couldn’t take my eyes off these monsters as they threw flames upward toward the sky. The gasoline melted their flesh as they moved and made the liquid run down their evil faces.
Finally, after a few more steps, these Zeds collapsed down onto the ground. They continued to move as they burned toward us. A second later, all they did was burn. The movement stopped as well as the sounds that came from them. I guess fire did take them out after all. They were still dangerous while the flames did their work, though.
The Zeds behind them moved forward at us. I saw several of them try to climb over the burning cars blocking their way. They set themselves on fire in the process as they climbed over toward us. I also saw several of them fall into the burning pits. They in effect committed suicide saving us the trouble of killing them ourselves. I was amazed at that. Even the dumbest animal avoided fire. These things had no self preservation impulses whatsoever. Because of that, we had already killed a good two dozen of them without doing anything. If only the rest of them would do that I would be so happy. Fat chance of that. There were well over a thousand left to go.
They waddled forward quickly and hit the fence all at once. I winced at the sight and hoped the fence held. The ones behind pushed forward as hard as they could pinning the front line to the iron poles of the fence. There was no way the front Zeds were getting loose on their own. They looked smooshed.
I looked down at the concrete holding the iron. It held fast without any movement. Thank God for that. I was so afraid that the fence was going to fall into the courtyard and let them all in. We would be spared that at least.
I looked sideways at all our people and actually laughed at the faces pinned between the iron bars. I couldn’t help myself. I saw hair, ears, foreheads, and arms stuck between the iron bars reaching for me, and I actually laughed. This was not even remotely
funny. Then I heard the others laughing along with me, and I actually started laughing harder. Tears streamed down my face.
I looked at my people with affection after I got myself under control and wiped away the tears. I pulled out my 9mm and moved forward. There was no way I could miss. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the others doing the same thing.
I front sighted a lovely woman with one eye, a ripped lip, and stringy bloodied hair and pulled the trigger. Blood and tissue exploded out of the back of her head onto my next target. The drooling Zed didn’t even flinch as I pulled the trigger. Two down, a thousand left to go.
The mass of flesh pushed harder toward us. The dead Zeds were so stuck against the fence that they couldn’t fall. They remained pinned before us. I shook my head at the sight.
I heard round after round being expended from both sides of me as I fired. From a distance of four feet, it was literally impossible to miss.
I changed magazines and took aim again and again. I took out over fifty myself without any effort. I was sure that my people did the same. This was sheer carnage and didn’t even count as target practice. I couldn’t believe it.
After about ten minutes I took my mandated rest while the lady that was reloading expended magazines took over for me. I saw her take her first shot as I walked back.
I went on top of one of the ladders and looked up and over the gate. It didn’t look like we made a dent in the invading horde. It looked like a medieval siege of a castle. I only wish we were higher and that we had boiling oil to pour down on them. Thank God they weren’t capable of building battering rams or siege towers. We would have been screwed for sure.
After a few minutes I got back on the line and started to fire my weapon again. The growling and snarling of hideously deformed beasts continued unabated until the rounds entered their skulls. They were then promptly replaced by the next Zombie in line.
My ears started to feel numb from the screams and the gun shots. It sounded like a loud rock concert with all the screaming fans looking to rush the stage. I shot a few more rounds and then took a break to check on the others.
I walked around to my people and told them to relax. “You’re safe. They’re not getting in. Take your time.” I said it a dozen times to everyone. I saw they were all on edge, and I had to do something to calm them down. Some relaxed, some didn’t. Those that didn’t, wound up with a ten minute break. We had to make them rest otherwise they would miss their shots, and we couldn’t have that. We had a limited supply of ammo, and there was a limitless supply of Zeds up and about.
I went and climbed one of the deer blinds to look up and over the compound gate. I saw hundreds more making their way up here up the driveway. My heart sank at the sight. We really were fucked. I breathed to control my anxiety, and then I smiled at Sam. He looked at me funny in response. I flipped up both my middle fingers in response which finally made him snort. I saw a couple of the others laugh at that as well. There was nothing like a little gallows humor to brighten up a fucking horrible day and it couldn’t get any worse.
I hopped down to check in on the house while the endless gunshots behind me continued. It was like being at a shooting range. I always used to find those fun. This time however, it was just giving me a headache.
I took off my ear plugs and looked up at the balcony. My wife and two friends were standing out looking down on everybody.
“Hi honey, how are you guys?” I smiled at her. She tore her eyes away from the carnage and looked down. I saw frank fear in her eyes. We were definitely under siege, and she finally figured it out.
I saw my son Matthew walk out onto the balcony along with one of the other boys. His eyes bugged out at the sight. He promptly clamped his hands over his ears at the noise. He never liked loud noise.
I looked at Matthew and smiled at him waiting for him to look away from the war in front of him. After a minute or so, he looked down at me. I flipped him the thumbs up sign. He didn’t manage a smile in response. He was way too scared right now.
I yelled up at him, “We’re going to be just fine. We’ll take care of these things, and you guys will be out here playing basketball in no time.” I nodded happily.
He just looked at me in disbelief. He watched as bullet after bullet penetrated the heads of the most frightening boogiemen he had ever seen. It was the stuff of nightmares to every man, woman, and child on the planet, and it had come to our door.
“Don’t worry bud, it’s my job to make sure they don’t get in here, and I’m doing a damn fine job too.”
I heard my wife gasp at my swearing in front of my child. She hated that. I saw that she was about to start yelling at me. I winked at my son first which caused him to laugh. He actually liked it when I treated him like a ‘guy’. It was one of the things the two of us had.
My wife wagged her finger at me. I put up my hands in surrender which caused Matthew to laugh even harder. She looked at him and shooed him inside. I flashed him the thumbs up as he went back inside. He smiled back happily at his Dad, momentarily forgetting the threat right outside our door.
I smiled at my wife who was not amused. I heard a shout of my name from behind me and turned to a sight that absolutely horrified me.
I ran forward as I heard the men on the deer blinds begin to fire their weapons. I heard shotgun double ought and 5.56 fire out at the encroaching Zeds.
We had shot so many of them that the unthinkable happened. A ramp of dead flesh had started to form before us in front of the gate. The Zombies in the rear were using the dead bodies right in front of the gate as a make-shift ramp to climb up and over toward us. So far only their heads were able to stick over the gate. I saw several reach up and grab the top. They attempted to pull themselves up and over. The ones that did, wound up getting bullets to the head, which made them explode backward.
I thought and thought without any solution. There was absolutely nothing we could do to prevent them from coming up and over other than shoot them in the head. Then the next one would use the last one to climb up. Every second, the ramp in front of the gate would get higher and higher, until we would have them come into our home. Holy shit.
I ran and grabbed my shotgun. I loaded it with double ought and waited for any and all Zeds to poke their heads over the fence. I didn’t have to wait long. I took careful aim and blew the back of its disgusting head completely out. The thing exploded backward knocking over a good dozen of its friends.
Then I did it again, and then again. It started happening more frequently. I reloaded and reloaded until my gun barrel started getting hot. I needed to calm down otherwise I was going to start to miss even at this range. I breathed regularly to stop my hyperventilation.
I didn’t like this one bit. I looked out and still saw over a thousand of them, and more were streaming toward us. We were emptying out the entire city. Despite their absent higher thought processes, they all knew that there was food inside this gate. It seemed to me that they were getting more and more worked up at our situation. The screams intensified, and they started to grab harder and faster through the gate. I was getting terrified myself.
I took a brief break to look at our ammo situation. I saw only a couple of thousand rounds left. I ran back to my wife on the balcony.
“We need shotgun shells, pistol ammo, and rifle ammo. Bring everything you can carry. We could use about three thousand more rounds.” I ran back to the front gate before she could answer. I would have to trust that she could find it and bring it out to us without instruction.
I ran forward and put the muzzle on the next target. Its head exploded before I could fire. One of my people behind me on the deer blind took it out. I didn’t have time to thank him. I moved on to the next target.
I fired again and again. My shoulder started to ache from the kick. Firing a 9 mm pistol was a whole lot easier. Unfortunately, my aim would be better with the scatter of a shotgun. I had no choice. I couldn’t afford to miss.
I turned and saw my wife and friend
s delivering a load of shotgun shells. She brought the heavy stuff out in my kids’ toy wagon. It was far easier than actually carrying the weighty stuff.
“Open the boxes out and dump the shells out on the stand!” I yelled it out as I continued to fire. As I emptied out the gun, I found myself reloading without a thought. It had become second nature.
“Fuck me!” I screamed it out as my thumb caught in the magazine tube. It had probably been the tenth time that happened. The damn gun was sweet but had a nasty habit of trying to eat my fingers if I moved too quickly and carelessly.
I ignored the throbbing and continued to move at the same pace. I couldn’t slow down.
I aimed the ghost ring sights at the Zed pulling himself up and over my fence. As the gun jerked back, I saw the girl I just shot in front of me lose her neck. Her head toppled off and back. I would have thrown up had I time to think about it. I moved on to the next target, an elderly gentleman missing his nose. I took off the rest of his face to match.
Again I shot. I must have taken out a good hundred of them, without making so much as a dent in their population. Everyone I killed was replaced by another walking undead. I was getting more and more frightened. I knew that they would soon break into the compound. We couldn’t possibly stop them.
I looked around at the others who seemed to be concentrating their fire at the most threatening. They were doing their job appropriately. My thoughts on the other hand were on our complete annihilation.
I did what I could. I kept firing. This sucked. As I shot, I kept thinking about the kids inside the compound. How the Hell were they going to survive this? Would they be trapped inside the Keep forever while these foul beasts searched for a way inside my fortress? I had no answer. All I knew was that we would have to move back soon.
My Last Testament Page 18