Crawlerz | Book 4 | From The Ashes

by Merritt, R. S.

  “Yue and I have grown very close.” Jeff tried again. Seeing the pitying look in Tom’s eyes he knew that probably hadn’t done the trick either. He really hoped someone changed the subject soon.

  “Which one of you guys decided to beat up on my Marines at the train station?” Tom asked in full on major mode. Jeff was happy to see the conversation shift to something besides him trying to come up with the words to describe his apocalyptic ‘age is just a number’ affair with Yue. No one immediately answered as no one was sure how they should answer. In the absence of a good response what they got was Drew.

  “When I came out of the train it looked like the Marines had started it. I tried to explain the situation, but you know how Marines are.” Drew said with his hands held out wide. The expression on his face was a picture of innocence. This was someone who’d spent a lot of time in the principal’s office. Unfortunately they weren’t in high school anymore. Even though they were literally in a high school at the moment. Tom gave Drew the same kind of look many principal’s had given him before he responded.

  “I guess Jeff hasn’t finished explaining all the different ways we’re trying to gather data on the crawlerz here to you guys yet. We’re trying to figure out what they do when they’re not trying to kill us. The more we know about them the better prepared we are to wipe them off the planet. To gather that information we use this amazing new technology called video cameras. We have them hooked up to solar, so they charge and record all day then record most of the night. One of our techs worked with some electricians and they setup a pretty cool little network system to gather the files and everything.” Tom explained.

  “That’s actually some really cool data. I’d love the chance to check some of that out.” LeBron said. Tom held up a finger to indicate they could discuss that later.

  “As a central transportation station the train platform is pretty strategic. It’s also a place that attracts a lot of crawlerz at night for whatever reason. We think they’re following the sounds of the trains pulling in during the day. Regardless, we have the whole platform pretty well covered with video.” Tom paused to let that sink in. “Having shared that information I’m going to give you another chance to answer my question. Now, would you like to tell me what happened on the platform earlier?”

  “It’s personal. This man lost a loved one needlessly and it was at least partly my fault. When he saw me, he reacted the way I hoped he’d react.” Jeff said.

  “You wanted him to attack you?” Tom asked with an arched eyebrow. Jeff shook his head slowly then answered the major’s question.

  “I hoped he’d forgive me. He did. I have no problem vouching for each of these people. They’re some of the finest men and women I’ve ever worked with. That kid trying to grow a mustache is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. If he wants to look at the video data, I say we let him get some sleep then plug him into everything first thing tomorrow. This group is smart and resilient. They’re a huge addition to the force.” Jeff wished he’d left that last bit out about the force when LeBron stated cracking up again. He could see Tom was having a hard time believing LeBron may be the smartest person around when he was currently laughing like an idiot.

  “You’re going to want to give LeBron a little time to sleep it off before showing him your videos.” Yue said affectionately putting her hand on her little brothers back. She made a mental note to never let anyone give LeBron drugs ever again unless absolutely necessary. Although since he’d been attempting to jump off a roof into a sea of the infected, she guessed that’d counted as extremely necessary.

  “Major can you listen to your radio sir! Sounds like we have crawlerz on the roof again.” The guard up top yelled down nervously to Tom. Tom pressed a button on the side of his radio so he could hear the transmission through the ear bud he was wearing. He’d turned it off momentarily to talk to them without being distracted by the constant radio chatter.

  “What’s going on?” Drew asked. He looked like he was going to snatch the earbud out of Jeff’s ear to try and hear for himself what was going on.

  “The infected got up on the roof. The men out there have gone secure. They’ve all locked themselves inside reinforced metal caskets to try and survive the night. We’re getting reports from the snipers in the surrounding towers. They’re working on clearing out the ones crawling around on the roof now.” Jeff continued to give them a play by play of the action on the roof.

  The snipers were reporting that there were at least four of the infected wandering around. They’d taken out one of them already. The things were sniffing around the metal caskets under the scaffolding arrangements. Yue realizing now those big metal boxes she’d seen earlier under each of the shooters wasn’t full of gear. It was their safety net if the enemy made it up on the roof. They weren’t going to be allowed to make a dash for the door to the inside of the building with the infected hot on their heels.

  The second the snipers had noticed the crawlerz on the roof they’d signaled a lockdown. The men on the roof immediately ducked into the assortment of overlarge trunks, tool kits and actual coffins that’d been secured to the roof near each station. The guard at the top of the staircase had verified the door was secure. The guard wouldn’t let anyone in or out until the signal that the roof was clear was provided. That’d happen once the snipers verified that they’d killed all the crawlerz on the roof or the sun came up. If the sun came up first, they’d go out in force in case they had to deal with any surgers.

  The boxes were lined with metal to try and keep the overly sensitive crawlerz from figuring out people were inside them. Once they guessed a person was inside the box, they grouped up around the box and beat the holy hell out of it. Sometimes the box would collapse under the onslaught before the tower snipers could kill all of the monsters trying to break into the box. At that point it was up to the person inside the box to kill the things trying to eat him before the crawlerz cracked open their casket to find the gooey center.

  The boxes were each secured to the roof with chains that were anchored deeply into the concrete. The rooftop defenders had learned the hard way that otherwise the crawlerz tended to pick up the boxes and start tossing them around. A few men had died when their boxes were hurled off the roof with them in it. They died without any warning. The metal they wrapped their boxes in to try and keep the crawlerz from sensing them also kept them from using their radios.

  “If a crawler had gotten on the roof while we were up there what would we have done?” Yue asked. It’d just occurred to her Jeff may have risked all their lives by giving them that tour. If a lockdown event had occurred, the door to the stairs would’ve been secured. and They’d have been stuck on the roof fighting for their lives. Not the first time but it still seemed like he may have put them in needless danger. Not cool.

  “There’s two concrete sheds up there. We’d have all had to cram into whichever one we were closest to and lock ourselves in. Or we’d have just had to fight our way out. The shooters are spread out, so we just have them shelter in place. All of us in one place we could’ve handled a few of the infected ourselves.” Jeff answered immediately. The quickness of the response was reassuring. It indicated Jeff had considered how exposed they were on the roof and had a contingency plan in mind in case they’d needed it.

  “How’d they get up there?” Drew asked.

  “The last ones got their hands on the bottom of the chain link covering the third floor windows and yanked themselves up. If you watch the video it’s pretty unbelievable how powerful they are. Luckily just a few of them seem strong enough to do it.” Jeff answered. He held up his hand to let them know he was listening to the radio before anyone else could ask any questions.

  “Tower snipers think it’s clear. They’re requesting a team to check it out before everyone pops up out of their coffins. I just volunteered us. You ready?” Jeff asked. He could feel Tom’s eyes boring into him.

  “Yeah. We’re going to leave LeBron in here for no
w though.” Yue said helping LeBron sit down. She looked over at Lisa who nodded that she was good to go. Hopefully she didn’t start puking again as soon as they went out the door this time. Leaving a giggling LeBron behind they turned to walk up the stairs.

  “You know we do have a building filled with actual military units that are trained to carry out this kind of clearing task.” Major Tom announced loudly from behind them.

  “Yeah, but they’re all pretty beat up right now. A lot of them are scared to death of going out on this roof. Even if they do still force themselves to do it. We can give them a break. Come with us. See for yourself that these guys are the real deal and not just a tour group.” Jeff responded.

  “You think I’m going out on the roof for amateur hour when the snipers aren’t sure if any more infected are wandering around?” Tom asked with a disbelieving look on his face. Jeff shrugged and continued up the stairs followed by the rest of them. LeBron was left to rock back and forth on a stair while he tried to rush the medicine out of his system. He was starting to wonder if Harley had given him something a little more appropriate for a rave than for trying to remain functional around mobs of insane cannibals.

  At the top of the stairs the guard looked at Jeff then looked down the stairs at the major. The major must’ve approved because the guard reached over to unlatch the door. Jeff and the guard were both on the radio advising the tower snipers to hold their fire. Jeff took point and the rest of them stacked up behind him. They’d all been trained how to carry out this kind of operation by the Marines they’d been traveling with before. Friends who’d fallen along the way.

  Drew was last in the line to go out. He was surprised when he felt a hand grip his shoulder and squeeze. Looking back he saw Major Tom and LeBron lined up behind him with weapons in hand. LeBron gave Drew a tight little smile to indicate he’d regained control of himself. Drew stared at LeBron for a second then decided he was happy to have even a stoned LeBron guarding his back. He turned around and got ready to pile out of the narrow access door.

  “Remember there are men in the caskets. Random shots could hit one of them so take only aimed shots. There will not be any spray and pray. Those things like to hide sometimes so be careful.” Tom called out. Jeff gave the major a thumbs up and the guard swung the door open. Knowing the major it didn’t surprise Jeff at all that he’d opted to go out with them after all. The major absolutely belonged out in the field with the men. He wasn’t the type to ever be happy sitting behind a desk. He was the kind of leader people write books about and give medals too.

  That same wave of fear hit them the second they left the confines of the stairwell for the open air of the rooftop. The big difference this time was that they were expecting it. It still hit them hard enough to cripple them right out of the gate. They just recovered a lot faster. Luckily there wasn’t a crawler outside the door, or they’d have been thrown right back into the stairwell. Not a good thing since the guard in charge of the door was standing by to shoot anyone who tried to get back in. That was part of the protocol they’d worked out for keeping the people in the building safe from the infected.

  Ignoring the irrational fear he’d been filled with from his first step out on the rooftop Jeff drove forwards. He couldn’t say he was used to it. He’d just gotten used to functioning in spite of it. The people who couldn’t do that were either stuck in the building, provided with a one way train trip to somewhere else or burnt alongside the piles of the infected they killed every night. This brave new world wasn’t very hospitable for those who couldn’t containerize their fear.

  Jeff went out the door and immediately cut to the right to circle around the generator that was sitting there. He had no doubt that Yue and the others would hit their marks behind him. The fear would hit them again, but they’d beat their way through it. The night was silent as they explored the roof. The tower snipers had stopped shooting at the targets below. They were now focusing their energies on scanning the rooftop to try and give the clearing party advanced warning if they saw anything.

  They cleared the entire roof. They stopped at each casket to gather the rooftop snipers as they went. As a group they went for one final sweep to make sure none of the infected had managed to squeeze into a hiding spot they hadn’t noticed at first. The men on the rooftop called the infected that hid to jump out at you later ‘stalkers’. Once they finished the final sweep the major ordered the snipers back to their positions to resume normal nighttime operations.

  “Incoming. South wall center. Hanging on the fence on the third floor window.” Those words hit the receivers of all the men on the roof with radios. They immediately relayed it to the others. The tower hadn’t called for a lockdown which meant they weren’t in any immediate danger of being overrun. They formed up and headed for the south wall to check it out. The snipers all remained at their posts. None of them had any desire to lock themselves back inside those boxes if they could help it. It was horrifying lying in that claustrophobic metal box wondering if you were going to be tossed to your death at any second.

  Drew walked between Tom and Lisa. None of the newcomers knew what to expect. Were they supposed to look over the side to kill it or would the crawler hop on up to join them? They were almost to the edge of the roof when Jeff held up his hand and hissed for them to halt. He took one step in the direction of the wall after ordering them to cover him. He wished he could just order the tower sniper to take out whatever he’d seen. They tried to avoid sending rounds through the third floor though. That was a rule they probably needed to readdress.

  A flurry of motion and the crawler was in the air rocketing towards them. Taken aback by the insane speed the thing was moving at they all put wild rounds in the air. Lisa and Drew both sprayed the fast moving shadow with their weapons on full auto. LeBron went over backwards with the blood covered crawler trying to bite his chest through the thick jacket he was wearing. Yue jumped down to help him. She grabbed the crawler by its greasy hair and held its face away from LeBron as well as she could. Harley showed up next plunging a gigantic knife into the side of the crawler over and over again.

  Already having caught a few of the bullets shot at it the crawler finally did the sensible thing and died. Harley picked up the body and tossed it off the roof. A thoroughly freaked out LeBron scrambled backwards away from the side of the roof. Tom and Jeff suddenly stopped and pressed their hands to their ear as they received a radio broadcast.

  “Lockdown! Follow me!” Tom shouted before Jeff had the chance to relay the news. Tom turned and jogged towards a metal shed made of rebar and bolted on car parts. The walls were primarily made out of the hoods of cars. A thin piece of sheet metal was screwed into the front door that’d been mounted on the front of the structure. It looked like it was built to hold a max of four people if they were willing to get a little snuggly.

  Drew let the rest of the team run past him until Jeff arrived. The two of them walked backwards to provide cover. A shadowy figure darted towards them from in between the stacks of assorted gear and equipment. They gave the shadowy figure the welcome it deserved. The tower snipers were also helping as much as they could. The shadowy figure tumbled to a stop. Drew continued moving methodically towards the shelter along with Jeff.

  Drew spun on his heel with his M-16 at the ready at the sound of gunfire behind him. He saw Yue, Lisa, LeBron, Tom and Harley standing around the front of the bolted together shed. They were all facing a different direction sending shots into the areas they were covering. Considering how frequently they were shooting there must be a lot more crawlerz on the roof than Drew had thought could get on the roof at one time. He wondered whose brilliant idea it’d been to string up the chain link on the third floor. That barrier was basically a stepladder the crawlerz were leveraging to get up on the roof.

  “Get in! We’ll go to the other shed!” Jeff yelled over the sound of everyone firing at the demons descending on them. Drew watched as Tom ushered everyone into the shed. He noted Lisa looked lik
e she was going to rebel and come with the two of them.

  “You don’t think we’d fit?” Drew asked.

  “No time to find out. Follow me. Fast!” Jeff shouted the command before taking off towards the other side of the rooftop.

  Chapter 5: Fortress of the Forlorn

  Spending the night standing up in a small shed wasn’t great. Yue, Lisa and Lebron were all on the smaller side which should’ve helped but Harley basically counted as two people. Two and a half with that massive coat on he wore everywhere. With weapons dangling off each of them the available square footage inside the small structure had been reduced to next to nothing. There’d been a terrifying few moments when they’d struggled to even get the door to shut.

  They spent the night subjected to the psychic abuse from the crawlerz. On top of the mental abuse there was the added fear that the walls were going to collapse under the unceasing assault. To add to the fun the snipers were taking shots from atop their utility pole perches at the milling crowd of overexcited infected infesting the roof. That should’ve been a good thing. The problem was that occasional rounds were slamming into the outside of the shed they were in. After one very near miss they went from standing to indiscriminately popping each other’s personal bubbles by getting as low to the ground as possible.