Running across the flattened terrain, I practically threw my body prone into the snow and remained settled in that awkward pose as light flashed over my vision. If they were looking away from the school, they would easily have seen the man-sized hole in the snow, but luckily for me their vision was focused elsewhere.
I stayed motionless as tense seconds passed, running through various shitty scenarios in my head. If the men inside opened the door and the room exploded, the people outside would likely look around and spot me. Four seconds.
If the second truck wasn’t as drawn in by the building’s structure and saw me, they could easily drive their truck over me and I would be unable to move out of the way. Ten seconds. The engine of the second truck faded around the corner and I knew the coast was clear again.
While I could have run into the snow and headed for the hills, as it were, I knew they would figure out I’d made a run for it and wanted to give myself at least a brief head start as I remembered the keys I still had from the office. One of the vehicles in the parking lot had to still be operational, and I was going to find it. Besides, I wouldn’t make it very far in this cold on foot, so I didn’t have many options.
I hurried back to the tracks left by the trucks and set one of my explosives down, pushing a mound of snow against it to keep it in place. Taking an extra three seconds to make sure it wouldn’t roll away, I ran for the corner of the building. If I was right, I had about fifteen seconds before the trucks rounded the opposite side of the school and I needed to be in position.
With two seconds left on my count, I hugged the wall for cover, drew my weapon, and waited. Headlights appeared and curved as the trucks made their circuit one more time. If I had timed it right, the guys inside would set off my trap any second now. I just hoped it was before I—
For once, my plan went my way. Just as I was beginning to lose hope, an explosion went off and part of the school behind me blew across the snow. Heat and smoke billowed out and I couldn’t help but grin, still keeping my attention on the two trucks in front of me.
Upon seeing the explosion, the driver in front sped up and I had a brief window to seal the deal on success. It wasn’t the easiest shot in the world, hitting a small jar in the snow with a handgun from almost forty feet while you’re freezing your ass off, and I’d love to say I was an exception, but that would be lying.
My first shot went high and the second sent a patch of snow flying to the left, both of which alerted the men in the trucks that I was out there with them. Exhaling, I knew I had maybe two more shots before I’d be dead. It turned out I didn’t need two, as my next bullet flew true and the front end of the nearest truck was propelled into the air in a flash. The men inside weren’t dead, as the chemistry lab didn’t exactly have what I needed for a claymore, but it killed the engine and bought me some time.
The second truck was pulling around the inverted vehicle, the man in the back opening fire, and just like that, it was time to move. I smashed one of my smoke bombs, turned, and ran for the employee parking lot to the left of the main entrance. As I neared the first row of vehicles, I saw lights wash over the snow to my right.
Throwing my body forward, I landed in the snow behind a Sedan and watched the headlights pass over the snow and come to a stop between the rows.
“Shit,” I muttered, preparing my last smoke grenade and the keys. Once that smoke screen ran out, I needed to either have a car or some last words.
“We know you’re out here, so just come into the open with your hands up and we might not kill you yet!” Someone in the truck needed to seriously work on their incentivizing skills. Tossing the jar over my head, it landed in the aisle between cars and began to fill the small area with fog.
With the keys already in my hand, I ran to the first car and tried every key I had before moving to the next. After confirming that the first five vehicles were dead to me, I decided to use them to my advantage and set my last explosive inside the gas tank of the nearest vehicle.
Six cars were left and the smoke was beginning to thin out, so I didn’t think as I went to each vehicle and checked the keys. I could feel the heat of the lights on my back, or maybe that was just from stress, as I finally felt a key turn and heard the door to a suburban unlock. Jumping into the seat and shoving the key inside the ignition, I closed my eyes and turned. The engine rolled over and started and I had a brief moment of celebration before bullets and glass showered the interior of the SUV.
The smoke had cleared enough for the truckers to see me, so I guess they decided it was time to start shooting. I leaned down and hugged the passenger seat with my face, covering the back of my head and neck with my right arm. With my left hand free, I pulled out the Sig and waited.
They stopped shooting for a moment and I knew they were reloading, but that’s not what I was listening for. The engine revved and I heard tires crunch, so I leaned up until I could barely see over the door frame. It was moving slow, but the truck was edging closer to my final trap. Now that the window glass was blown out, I set the barrel of my weapon on the door and took aim. I made sure when I was setting it that the gas tank faced outward, toward where I would be, and I could still make out the top of the jar.
Three, two, exhale…my finger squeezed the trigger and the back end of the car was enveloped in flames as it catapulted forward, sending the trunk door flying off, and smashed into the snow in front of the truck. There wasn’t enough space between the launched heap of flaming metal and the school building, so they would have to go around to chase me, giving me at least a few minutes to get away.
I put the SUV in drive and eased the tires forward, not wanting to stall the engine after who-knew how long it hadn’t been driven. Bullets pinged off the side and back of the suburban, but I kept my head low and continued forward. Once I was out of the parking lot and onto the path left by the trucks, the tires rolled just fine, and before long I was pulling out of the school and taking a left out of the town.
I drove for ten minutes, putting some distance between myself and the school, before I pulled over to check the map. The gas gauge was just over half and I felt pretty good about that, but it didn’t matter if I had no idea where the hell I was going. Opening the map from the gas station, I waved my lighter over it and figured that I was headed out of Indiana and into Ohio.
Turning on the heat, I could feel my body beginning to thaw and took solace in knowing at least I wouldn’t freeze to death right now. Reloading my magazine and pulling out a bag of jerky for driving food, I turned the car back onto the road and drove on with no radio, no companion, and no idea what I was driving toward. All I knew was that I had to be prepared for anything when I got there, and, after two hallucinations, I definitely had some issues to work through.
Chapter 63
Unknown date +9
Zombies of the corn
Driving in darkness, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of danger, but the scenery all looked the same. Crops blurring by for miles, a single home, maybe a truck here and there. Basically, it was really hard to stay focused and awake, especially with so much to think about.
Why did I keep thinking about Samantha and Phillip? I mean, I realize I haven’t had much of a chance to grieve, but is there more to it? For all I know, my nightmares were trying to tell me something important, but I’ve never been good with psychology. “How does that make you feel” wasn’t exactly my favorite question.
I tried to come up with a game to keep my wheels spinning, both figuratively and literally in this case. After a while, though, no amount of jumping every time you spot a car can keep you vertical, so I switched tactics and pulled off to the side of the road.
With the lighter in a cup holder, after the dome light failed to come on, and the map smoothed out on the steering wheel, I checked my location and where I was heading. Based on my speed, I was about to hit Hamilton, Ohio. As for where I was going, there wasn’t much nearby for miles so I could cross that bridge when I reached it. I folded the m
ap back up and placed it, along with the lighter, back in my pack.
That was an hour ago, when I pulled back onto the road, and the sun was starting to rise, which revealed some interesting things as the light stretched over the world around me. First and foremost, I was surrounded by corn and zombies, as I seemed to catch a glimpse of several between rows of the dying crops. While the cold was affecting the corn stalks, they still stood high enough that I couldn’t see anything beyond the first few rows.
The second fact, one that I couldn’t help but frown at, was that my gas gauge was running dangerously low. I don’t know if the dummy light came on and I just missed the sound, or maybe I spaced out on checking that particular piece of information, but either way I was shit out of luck if I didn’t find a fuel source soon.
Lastly, and perhaps the most inconvenient of all, I was being followed. They had stayed a few miles back with their dimmers on, so I didn’t notice them in the dark, but either the last truck was still following me from the school or had called in backup, because I definitely had a tail.
Of course, any one of these problems by itself I could fix, but all three at once proved to be less simple. Knowing the SUV I had borrowed could take a few hits, I turned off the road and plowed into the cornfield to my left.
For a second, I was airborne as the road was a foot higher than the crops, but I touched down and, thankfully, woke myself up. Almost instantaneously, a zombie smacked off the grill and was eaten by the undercarriage. Stalks folded before me as I tried to weave the truck in a disorienting path, hoping to confuse the hell out of the tail, but I also succeeded in getting myself lost.
Proving myself as the worst farmer ever, I tried to scan my surroundings as the truck bounded up a slope and gave me a few seconds of clearance before the next field of crops. Off to my right, I spotted a distant grain silo and turned in that direction. At my current vantage point, I also saw just how much I shouldn’t have joked about the zombies in the cornfield, as there were dozens spread throughout.
If someone got stranded out here, they’d be torn apart and no one would ever find their remains. Keeping that sobering thought in mind, I revved the engine and headed for the silo in a zigzag pattern, crushing the occasional zombie underneath my tires or splattering them across the hood by introducing them to the grill.
After creating a few more crop circles to keep my followers amused, I drove up an embankment and back onto the road, only a few miles from the silo with no gas to spare. Five minutes later, I almost missed the driveway, and my destination. As I pulled up, though, and got a good look at the similarities, I couldn’t help but laugh as one thought went through my mind.
You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.
Chapter 64
Return of the jaded
I know I’m already a little cynical due to previous experiences, but the sheer dumb luck of finding myself outside another farmhouse, and knowing I had to go inside, did cause me to be slightly more irritable than usual as I kicked the truck door open and slipped my pack over my shoulders. While it was stealthier to go in without the extra weight, I wanted to bring it just in case my tail decided to show up and leave me without my wheels.
Things went pretty smoothly at the last farmhouse, all things considered, until the horde attacked. I had Katherine watching my back and, even though it turned out to be empty, we were the definition of careful as we searched the entire property. Of course, one thing was for damn sure: I wouldn’t be going into any cellars this time. The memories of that family still haunted me, and the guilt-themed party in my mind was already crowded.
There were a few differences between then and now, though. I didn’t have Kat with me, I was hallucinating my deceased family, and hostiles were closing in. Honestly, I was a little tired of playing defense, and, let’s be honest, reader, so are you.
Weapon at the ready, I kicked in the door and stepped inside. The room immediately to my right was clear, so I moved through an archway and entered the dining room. Wax candles sat preserved in dusty holders, cobwebs stretched between chairs, and the whole thing looked like a Vincent Price movie waiting to happen.
I really need to stop dating myself.
Rolling my eyes at the thought, I heard shuffling in the next room and headed out of the dining room. Before me was an open room, with the hallway to my left letting in light from the front entrance, and rising stairs across from me that were blocked off with a couch and various furniture. No argument from me, since I had no plans to check the attic. Again, I had learned my lesson.
The shuffling had come from the two zombies that were in the room with me, having been alerted by the front door and making it halfway to the hallway before I came in from the dining area. I skipped the pleasantries and put a round into each of their skulls, taking only the time to check the sizes of their boots. There was no telling how many truckers were on their way, so time was not on my side, but I did still need some shoes for the cold weather.
I’ll save us both some time, especially since my hand is cramping as I write this, and just say that the rest of the house was empty. Rather than spend precious time pulling things out of my way to check the upstairs, I walked back to the front door and stood on the porch, observing the farmstead. There was a grain silo, which probably wouldn’t have anything I was looking for, and a little further down was the barn.
Shaking my head, I stepped off the porch and felt snow crunch under my shoes once again as I jogged toward the barn. Between that season everyone seemed to hate of the Walking Dead and the hair on the back of my neck standing up, I had a really bad feeling as I reached for the bar across the doors and lifted.
Tossing the piece of metal aside, I cleared some of the snow out of the way with my feet. Pulling on the door handles, I let them swing open to reveal…nothing. Despite my gut feeling, there was no rush of zombies, no swarm of evil cockroaches, not even howling wind. I had the barn to myself and I didn’t look this gift horse in the mouth, walking inside and pulling one door closed behind me so that some light still came in.
The cold air was stale inside the barn, keeping my hands frozen as I sifted through a shop area in the back of the barn. Behind me was a ladder to the loft, but I didn’t want to risk the wooden rungs breaking under my weight. It was cold and I was alone, so any injury could prove fatal. I had just come back from the dead, after all, and I wasn’t in any rush to rejoin the ranks.
In a cabinet behind the workbench, I hit the jackpot when I pulled out a pair of thermal gloves and slipped them on, gaining some warmth back in my fingers almost immediately. I checked around for footwear, hoping to get lucky, but no dice. The real winner, though, came when I noticed a steel cabinet in the corner of the barn. A padlock on the door told me it hadn’t been broken into lately, so something useful was probably still in there.
Picking up a hammer from the tool rack on my way over, I smashed the lock in three swings and set the hammer to the side, sliding the broken lock off and opening the cabinet. I felt like a kid with twenty dollars when I looked inside, but the feeling was cut short when I heard the sound of multiple engines pulling up to the house.
I ran to the closed door of the barn and found a gap in the wood to peer through, quickly locating three jeeps and two trucks parked nearby. Just outside the house and standing on the porch, I could see five men and three women, all armed, looking around. Two more men were going through my truck, probably looking for supplies and finding none. Most of the group were clearly untrained, but it would only take one lucky shot and I’d be punching my card for the last time.
It wouldn’t be long before they were done searching the house and moved on to the barn, so I closed my eyes and rushed to form a plan. Ten seconds later, I opened my eyes and felt a cool burn in my chest, the same feeling I had always gotten before a mission.
Calmly going back to the cabinet, I reached in and mentally ran through my plan again, tracing each movement. It wouldn’t be easy, and I certainly didn’t plan to take all
of them on, but I couldn’t wait to try out my new toys.
Unfortunately, my gut was right about the bad feeling.
Chapter 65
There Was a Firefight
Whoever owned this land had clearly had good tastes, because I was strapping a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun to my right leg, complete with a bandolier of shells across my chest. Also in the case of loot was a Henry .45-70 lever-action repeating rifle, so either our guy was a gun collector or he really loved his westerns, or both. The only drawback was the ammo for that particular rifle, as I had maybe fifteen shots. With my right hand practically fondling the grip of the shotgun, I was about to get my Mad Max on, minus the Australian accent, of course.
With high hopes that the ladder would bear my weight, I climbed up to the barn’s loft and looked around, breaking a nearby table and gathering the wood pieces into a pile at the edge of the loft. Stepping further toward the apex of the roof, I used the prying side of my hammer and removed a few of the planks. It brought in a draft and some snow fell through, but I needed an emergency exit and that would have to work. Given, it meant jumping off the second story, but choices weren’t exactly lining up at the door.
In fact, the only thing lining up at the door was a pretty large group of hostiles as I settled into my pile of wood and took aim with the Henry propped on a broken chair leg. I waited patiently as the door swung open, and apparently so did the men since no one immediately came in.
“We know you’re in there! You killed a few of my men, and you’ll have to face justice for that, but if you just put down your weapons and come out, I promise you no harm!” I could hear protests among the group outside, which told me everything I needed to know.
A Broken World (Book 2): Shattered Paradise Page 6