by Derek Slaton
“Let’s get back to the hotel room,” she finally said. “I think we’re gonna need something a bit stronger than those doors if we’re going to hold them off at the escalators.”
CHAPTER TEN
“We have to be getting close now,” Vernon said as yet another trio of corpses crumpled beneath the group’s melee weapons. “Seems like every few hundred feet there’s another cluster of these things.”
Tony led them along the road, staying close this time with the bigger pockets of zombies being a much more difficult threat for just one person.
Mandy peeked through the tall grass along the river. “Guys, check this out,” she said, and her companions bunched around her.
“Good,” Marc replied quietly, surveying the lazier current of the hundred-yard-thick river. “Looks like we’re only half a mile or so away from the turnoff.”
“No, not that.” Mandy shook her head. “Look further up.”
His eyes widened at the sight of a mid-sized boat bobbing in the water, trapped against a fallen tree. “Oh hell yeah! We’re in business!” he hissed excitedly.
“Settle down, we still have to get to it,” Vernon scolded.
Marc turned to him. “I can swim over and get it, then come pick everybody up.”
“No, no, that’s too dangerous,” Vernon replied, putting his hands up to stop the train of thought dead in its tracks. “We don’t know what’s over there.”
“We don’t know what’s up ahead, either,” Marc insisted, crossing his arms. “No matter what we do, it’s going to be dangerous.”
Vernon took a deep breath, eyes steel. “We stick to the plan.” His tone was flat and commanding, leaving no room for argument. His friend begrudgingly backed down, and followed with less of a spring in his step as the group headed after their leader.
At the corner of a building, Mandy and Phil jogged forward to silently take out two corpses staggering around towards them. As they admired their handiwork, Phil caught movement out of his periphery and grabbed Mandy’s arm in an iron grip.
She glanced up and her face went white as a sheet, the two of them retreating quickly to the group, fingers over their lips. Vernon opened his mouth to ask what the problem was, but then closed it again, shimmying up to the corner and peering around for himself.
There were about a hundred zombies congregating around the entrance to the boat park.
He let everyone get a look, and then waved for a retreat back down the road a ways so they could discuss their options.
“Tony, what do you think?” Vernon asked quietly.
He shook his head. “I think that would be a goddamn suicide mission, that’s what I think.”
“Isn’t that what you do, though?” Marc raised an eyebrow.
“No, Marc, it isn’t what I do,” the younger man huffed. “I know the other part of this town like the back of my hand. There are also only a few zombies here and there when you compare it to that kind of a horde. And god only knows how many of those things are further down.”
“So what are our options?” Phil cut in.
Marc stepped back and dropped his gear into the grass with a soft thud, unbuttoning his vest.
“What are you doing?” Mandy hissed.
“Well, Tony doesn’t want to risk it, so if we’re gonna get out of this, then one of us is gonna have to do something,” he replied, dropping the vest and unbuckling his belt. “Which is exactly what I’m going to do.”
“Hey, don’t throw me under the bus like that,” Tony muttered. “If it wasn’t for me we wouldn’t have even made it this far.”
“You’re right,” Marc replied, eyes softening. “That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. You’ve done more than probably anybody in this group over the last week, myself included. All I’m saying is that if you leading them away isn’t an option, then we gotta do something else. So I’m gonna swim over and get that boat.”
“Are you sure about this?” Vernon asked, worrying at his bottom lip. “We don’t know what’s over there.”
Marc forced a grin. “Well, I know one way to find out.”
“All right,” the older man finally agreed. “I wish you luck.”
“Hey, if you can get that boat free, don’t fire it up,” Tony said. “There’s enough of a current if you can get it away from that tree that you should be able to make it down to that dock we were at.”
“Good call,” Marc agreed. “Kinda defeats the purpose of me risking my life if I start that engine up and get you guys swarmed in the process.” He dropped his jeans and stood, nodding to the group as he rolled his shoulders, clad in just a beater and boxers.
Phil slung the gear over his shoulders, and Mandy jammed the extra clothes into what room was left in her bag.
Marc took a deep breath and inched into the cold water. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered to himself, shivering as his body adjusted to the chill. He shook his head and then sank right down into the river, figuring that would be the quickest way to get used to it.
He used a quiet breaststroke for the first half of the stretch, trying not to make any splashing noises, but once he felt he was out of earshot, broke into a quick front crawl for the rest of the way.
The group watched with bated breath as he pulled himself onto the grass on the other side, eyes darting around as he rubbed his arms to try to warm up a bit. Mandy gasped as a zombie tore out of the tree line, and barely stopped herself from crying out as Marc took notice, turning to dive back in the water.
Four more corpses darted out from the brush, and all five descended on him before he could make it all the way back in, tearing at him. Mandy buried her head in Tony’s chest as Marc’s blood colored the water, half of his lifeless body bobbing in the waves as the zombies had their feast.
Phil shook his head in disbelief, Vernon clenching his fists in anger at himself for not stopping this.
Tony kissed Mandy on the top of the head and then gently pushed her away from him.
“So, y’all will pick me up at the dock, then?” he asked.
She shook her head vehemently, tears creating rivulets through the dust on her cheeks. “No. No, you can’t go out there.”
“It’s the only choice we’ve got,” he said.
“We can go south and look for another crossing!” she insisted, gripping his arm tightly.
“There’s no time,” he replied, eyes pleading with her. “Every minute that passes, more of those things are gonna be heading this way. If we don’t get out of here now, we might not get out at all.” He hooked a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t you worry about me, hon. You just be reading to take care of me once we get back home.”
She bit her lip and blinked back her tears, giving him a little smile. “Oh, I’m gonna take care of you good, boy.” She let go of his arm and gave it a light punch, and he laughed and winked at her.
“Where do you want us to pick you up?” Vernon asked hoarsely.
Tony shrugged. “That dock is as good a place as any.”
“All right,” the older man agreed. “We’ll wait for you.”
Tony nodded and then squared his shoulders, jogging off into the woods in an attempt to flank the horde. He waited until they couldn’t see him anymore to let the fear show on his face.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Doug shook his head as he inspected their shields. “I don’t think these things are gonna be much use from here on out,” he admitted, leaning the fourth one against the hotel room wall. “I’m honestly amazed they protected us as long as they did.”
“They built stuff to last back then,” James said.
“Unfortunately I don’t think they had zombie apocalypse on the mind when they were crafting those,” Doug replied, and to prove his point, snapped off a fairly large chunk of the door. “So, any ideas on how we’re going to hold of hundreds of these buggers?”
Victor sighed, sitting up from his flopped position on the discarded mattress. “Why do we have to? Why d
on’t we just move everybody into this hotel? We’d be just fine here.”
“Except if a horde shows up,” Nadia countered, shaking her head and crossing her arms. “There’s a huge open courtyard and two main staircases that lead up to the second floor. We’d be trapped in the rooms to just slowly starve to death. Because once they realize people are in the rooms, they’ll never leave. We have to take the casino.”
Luke opened his bag and started tossing out packs of beef jerky and bottles of water to everyone. “So, how are we gonna stop these things?”
“Can we just get more doors?” Solomon asked as he tore into his food.
“We’d have the same problem we did with these,” Doug replied. “They’d crack under the pressure.”
“We could just double ‘em up!” Gregory suggested. “Doug can nail ‘em together and-”
“Boy, we had trouble moving these one by one, there ain’t no way in hell we’re gonna be able to do double the weight,” Victor cut in.
Solomon clasped Gregory’s shoulder in reassurance. “It wasn’t a bad idea, bro.”
Victor tossed his bottle of water back at Luke and headed over to the fridge with a grunt. The door stuck, and he had to yank hard on it before he could get it open.
“Damn, what kind of shitty hotel is this that they don’t have complimentary sodas for the guests?” He slammed the door and then paused when he realized the thing was on wheels. “Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch.”
“Don’t be talking about your momma like that!” James snapped.
Victor shook his head. “Well, she was a bitch, but that’s another story. Check this out!” He grabbed the fridge and pulled, rolling it around the kitchenette with ease. “Those things can’t climb for shit, right? We slide a couple of these bad boys down each side of the escalator and that’s gonna block ‘em off pretty good.”
“And we keep doors and guards at the top to take out any of them that make it over,” Nadia added, eyes lighting up. “Color me surprised, Victor, but that’s a damn good idea!”
He puffed his chest out. “Hey now, I ain’t as dumb as I look.”
“Man, it it way too early in the day to be makin’ bold statements like that,” Luke drawled, and the room broke into relieved laughter.
“Fuck you, man,” Victor said, but there was no venom in his voice and there was a goofy grin on his face. “I mean, you’re right, but damn, son.” He snatched up a few of the screwdrivers and handed one to his companion. “Come on, boy, let’s go get us some fresh doors.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Vernon peered around the tree the trio were crouched behind for what felt like the thousandth time. “When Tony gets that path cleared, we’re gonna have to move quick,” he said quietly. “We don’t have to kill everything we come across, just knock ‘em to the ground and keep moving. Also, stay as far away from the cars as possible. There could be zombies in them, under them, and everywhere else.”
“What about the ones by the boat?” Phil asked.
Vernon sighed. “Those we will have to kill. Including Marc.” He swallowed hard. “In fact, he needs to be top priority since he’s fresh.”
“Can you show a little goddamn respect?” Mandy bristled.
“I’m sorry to sound crass,” Vernon replied, “but we don’t have time to mourn right now. My only concern is making sure we’re on the same page so we can survive this. That’s what he took the risk for, after all.”
She pursed her lips, crossing her arms in defeat but not replying.
A few shots echoed in the distance, and the horde’s groans grew with excitement, shambling off in the direction of downtown.
“Well, that’s one way to get their attention,” Phil muttered.
Vernon took a deep breath. “Be safe, Tony.”
They waited a few minutes for the zombies to mostly clear out, leaving half a dozen or so in their path but very spread out.
Vernon nodded to the last two members of his present group. “Let’s move,” he instructed, and they darted back out onto the road, moving at a brisk and purposeful pace. It was a few hundred yards to the small driveway that would lead them to the dock, cars back to bag jammed, most with boats on trailers behind them.
Vernon lowered his shoulder and crashed into the first zombie like a linebacker, catching it off-balance and sending the thin creature flying into the side of a car. The rest of the zombies turned at the noise, but had trouble navigating the bumper-to-bumper traffic as the trio blew past it.
They headed down the driveway, turning the corner to the dock, slowing down at the sight of an overturned vehicle in the middle of the road. That had apparently caused the initial jam, and Vernon put up a hand to slow them down.
“Let’s go through the woods,” he said. “Be ready.” They spread out and approached the tree line, footfalls as quiet as could be as they readied their melee weapons. It would only be twenty-five or so yards to the river, but with the dense wood it was difficult to see where the enemies were.
As soon as they hit the brush, Phil stepped on a branch and a loud snap caused an uproar of moans from all around them.
Mandy muttered a few choice curses under her breath, and the trio moved into a more triangular formation, covering each other’s backs.
“Got one,” she declared, and stepped forward, crushing the skull of a hungry corpse to her left. As soon as it fell, she froze in horror at the sight of Marc tearing full speed towards her. She dropped her crowbar, putting her hands out to grasp his bloodied shirt, her fingers intertwining with still-warm organs half torn from his belly.
The momentum of his movement toppled them over, and she stared up at her dead friend’s teeth chomping putrid puffs of air into her face.
Then he went limp, and she shoved him off of her, adrenaline spiking through her shock. Phil held out his free hand to help her up, and she gave him a grateful glance before retrieving her own crowbar and turning to back up Vernon.
The older man lined up two shots in succession, taking out two zombies on either side of a gnarled tree. “Come on,” he hissed as the corpses slumped into the branches, “let’s get to the boat before reinforcements arrive.”
The duo tore after him through the trees, this time more concerned with speed than quiet, rushing right down to the waterfront. The boat bobbed against the fallen tree, and Vernon motioned to the back step.
“Get on, and I’ll push it out,” he instructed. “Find something to maneuver with.”
They clambered onto the boat and Mandy found the emergency oars, tossing one to Phil. Vernon jumped down into the water, giving a mighty heave to loosen the boat from the fallen tree’s clutches. Phil reached down and grasped his wrist, pulling him up into safety.
The older man hit the deck hard, out of breath, soaked from the chest down, feeling utterly spent. Phil and Mandy went to work immediately, paddling into the center of the river.
“Holy shit,” Phil breathed as the straggler zombies emerged from the tree line, screaming from the shore. “We timed that right, didn’t we?”
“Hell yeah we did,” Mandy agreed.
Phil looked down at the tired man on the floor. “Should we start up the motor?”
“No,” Vernon huffed, pulling himself up to a sitting position. “We need to keep it silent until we don’t have a choice. Last thing we want to do is draw zombies to the dock and make it more difficult for Tony.”
As if on cue, a few gunshots cracked in the distance.
“At least we know he’s still kicking,” Phil said somberly.
Mandy paddled faster.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Tony took a knee in an abandoned storefront, holding his breath as a small horde of zombies wandered down the street past him. He let out a ragged breath as they disappeared around a corner, and pulled the clip from his handgun.
Four bullets left.
“I hope y’all have had enough time to get that boat,” he muttered under his breath. “Because I don’t know how much longe
r I can keep this up.” He cocked his head and a zombie from the street caught a glimpse of him, turning to bang on the window.
Immediately a throng gathered around the storefront.
“Back on the clock,” Tony sighed, and leapt to his feet, giving the group a salute through the glass.
He turned and spotted a busted roof beam leading up to a patch of sunlight above. He grasped the beam, giving it a shake to make sure it was sturdy, and then jumped up onto it, climbing it with relative ease to the roof. He wandered to the front of the store, peering down into the sea of rotting flesh below.
“Yeah, cry all y’all want,” he declared. “You ain’t gettin’ this.” He smacked himself on the chest and jutted out his chin, and then turned on his heel. He had to get his jollies somewhere in this hellhole.
He headed to the back of the building, noting that the path directly south was clogged with zombies, only a few feet between each one. The other corner was pretty open, with sparse corpses for a few blocks and then that looked like—he hoped—open space.
“Well.” He sighed to himself. “Looks like I’m going that way.” He peered down into the alleyway to make sure it was clear before hopping over the edge onto a drainage pipe. All he could do at this point was hope he could get behind the horde, and that he actually had a ride waiting for him.
He hit the asphalt noiselessly and then peered around the corner, spotting a few dozen zombies in the street heading towards the banging at the front of the store. He took a deep breath, and then took off running in the other direction.
Tony fled like the wind, though with speed came noise, and despite being quick as a bullet, some of the zombies turned and reached for him as he passed. He managed to dodge them, but there were several clustering ahead, closing the gaps between them to try to swarm him.
He sprinted as hard as he could, put his shoulder down and slammed into what looked like the thinnest spot in their line. He made it through the other side, but lost his footing. He dove forward as he stumbled, tucking his head into a combat roll to pop back up and spring forward, continuing his run.