Ranger Martin and the Zombie Apocalypse

by Jack Flacco

  Back in Ranger’s vehicle, Wildside had a question for Jon. “So, tell me kid, what do zombies eat in the movies?”

  “They eat people.”

  “Anything else?”

  “That’s pretty much it. If you want to know how they become zombies, then that’s another question.”

  No one asked the question. Jon expected it, but no one asked it. He waited and they stayed quiet. A little Mexican standoff is what it was.

  Finally Wildside ceded, “So kid, how do humans become zombies in the movies?”

  “I’m glad you asked.” Jon said, as Ranger and Wildside rolled their eyes. “The most common of these bone-rippers usually catch a virus that transforms them into the undead. They then can transfer their zombie state to others by a bite. The other way I’ve seen is they drink the water and become zombies that way. Those are bad situations because the government is involved with those events. Not good.”

  Ranger added, “No shock there.”

  “Oh, and then there are the zombies with no explanation of their zombiehood. They still eat people. I hate those movies because those zombies are there to kill and eat and nothing else.”

  Ranger chuckled. “Pretty much how Wildside eats every night.”

  “Hey, I don’t gorge on cans of turkey every chance I get.” Wildside shot back.

  “It’s the only thing I like that gives me enough energy to get through the day.”

  “Okay, are you guys going to argue again?” Jon asked.

  “We’re good, right? We’re good.” They said at the same time. “We’re good.”

  Back in the second vehicle, Randy asked Matty, “What was your first time like?”

  Matty didn’t know what to make of the question. All she could do was stammer. “Er...”

  “I meant the first you killed one of them.”

  “Oh! I thought you meant—”

  “No. No! Hell, No!” He sunk in his seat at eye level with the steering wheel.

  Her face loosened with a smile. Thank God he didn’t have anything else on his mind. “The first time. Jon and I were on our way from Las Vegas. We roamed the outskirts, near one of these farms away from where our grandfather lived. We had already found him dead and that’s where I got my gun. So, when coming out of the city, near a pond, we saw two zombies feeding off a young guy, about your age. We stayed quiet, keeping off the road. We traveled through a bog. Well, it only took a few feet before one of them spotted us. We splashed through the mud and water as fast as we could. They chased us. I gave my backpack to Jon and told him to run as fast as he could. He didn’t want to. I pushed him to. I whipped out the gun and waited until they were close enough. I couldn’t move. I had the shakes. If they got too close, they had a chance to grab me and kill me. I didn’t care. As long as Jon escaped, that’s what mattered to me.”

  He sat mesmerized, wondering what came next.

  “I took them both down. The first one had lunged at me. Nothing could have stopped my bullet from penetrating its skull. The second one dropped without much of a fight. Another clean shot.” She closed her eyes then said, “It felt right. They weren’t human anymore, and what I did didn’t sit on my conscience.”

  * * *

  A few hours later, after having taken a roadside break, Ranger cranked the engine to a roar. “We’ve gotta get a move on if we want to get there by dark.” He shifted into gear and poked his eyes in his rearview mirror to make sure the other truck driven by Wildside followed. Randy rode with Ranger while Matty and Jon with Wildside. The hitch trailed behind.

  “What are we doing when we get there?” asked Randy.

  “There’s a small canyon just off of the 305. We’ll hide the other truck and hitch there. It should be safe. I don’t think anyone’s alive enough to find them. We can then pile into this truck and head for the military area.”

  Randy gazed out his window at the passing rocks and vultures. “Do you think we’ll get there in one piece? Or do you think we’ll…” He left his words trailing on purpose, as if saying them might prove fatal.

  “Don’t worry kid. There’s nothing you can say that can change anything. We’re gonna see this through. And nothing’s gonna happen. Not if I have a say.”

  A smile grew on Randy’s face. “I only asked because of what I’ve seen. What I’ve done. And what I don’t want done to me. I’m hoping our chances are good. Maybe by some miracle we’ll survive to fight another day.”

  Easing into his seat, allowing the breeze from the window to carry his imagination, Ranger changed the subject. “No memory yet?”

  “Nothing.”

  “One day it’ll all come back to you. Then we won’t be able to keep your big mouth shut. You’ll gab away about your folks, the school you went to, the girls you loved. I don’t know what we’re going to do with you once that happens.” Ranger beamed a smirk, enjoying teasing the kid. “You’ll see. You’ll talk more about your past conquests on the dating scene than your conquests against those blood-curdlers.”

  A few more rocks passed before Randy said anything else. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Depends. I’m not a zombie in disguise, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “You never told us what Wildside needed that detonator for. You laid it on the table and we called it a night. Now, I understand we’re carrying something in that hitch back there, I’m hoping it has nothing to do with—”

  “It is.”

  “What?” Randy’s voice dropped to almost a whisper.

  “The hitch. Wildside built a bomb, and the bomb’s in the hitch.” Ranger paused, trading glances with him. “He’s pretty good when it comes to blowing things up. He’d given me the ingredients to collect, bales of fertilizer, gallons of gasoline, the detonator, and he put it all together to make a bomb. He said that it can take out a whole city block.”

  “Is this what you meant when you said you wanted to wipe the home base off the map?”

  He nodded, pressing on the gas, not saying anything else.

  The incredulous look on Randy’s face said it all. “You are insane.”

  No other words passed between them. The plan went further than wrestling control of home base Worship Square. Ranger wanted to blow the damn thing up.

  * * *

  As sunset approached, the two trucks and the hitch pulled into the U-shaped canyon away from the view of Highway 305. The same canyon Ranger had mentioned to Randy earlier. After parking along the edge of the ridge, Ranger popped from his truck and inspected the crags in the rock. Nothing unusual, he liked the spot. He asked everyone to take a break before the next leg of their journey.

  Stretching his arms and yawning, Ranger drifted from the group. He needed some time away to think. During his stroll, he found a crevice protruding high above from an interesting rock formation. Without a qualm, he climbed to the top and sat. It overlooked a gorge. He took in the orange sliver dipping into the west as if he wanted to remember it forever. His thoughts overcame him and peace filled his body seeing the beauty of the Nevada desert. He wondered how everything in the world could have gone so bad. He remembered how as a truck driver, a few months before, he enjoyed riding into service stations. Nothing quite like the cold fluorescent light spilling from the window of a coffee shop to want to make a trucker crave comfort food. He could never forget the aroma of the coffee, the delicious toast and eggs. He had those smells embedded deep into his psyche.

  Once Ranger tore his stare from the gully, he dug his hand into his jeans pocket. His head dropped to the jostling, almost wanting to will the object into existence. When he found it, he drew the item with his closed fist near his chest. His head remained bowed as he closed his eyes. Darla appeared to him again. She had a beautiful white dress on. Her hair covered her shoulders and she carried a bouquet. A full smile appeared on his face. He remembered how she looked that day when he saw her for the very first time wearing that dress. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her so happy.

  The me
mory faded.

  At the same time he opened his eyes, his fist revealed the object he’d pulled from his pocket. His hand held the wedding ring he had received from Darla that day. Ranger shook his head, ground his teeth, and clenched his fist around the ring. He couldn’t help but remember how she looked. How she smelled. How she laughed. But he had to forget. He had to forget her if he wanted to move on with his life. He buried the ring into his pocket and left the crevice.

  When he arrived at the trucks, everyone began piling into the first vehicle. He didn’t climb in right away. Instead he ambled to where the hitch clung to the second truck. A brown canvas covered the instrument of Wildside’s imagination. With a sure hand, Ranger unlatched one of the ropes from the hitch, pulled the cover back and inspected the bomb. Threatening is the only way to describe it. Threatening. Thick wires from gasoline drums led to a control panel. In the center lay packed crates.

  Ranger placed his hand on one of the drums, bowed his head and closed his eyes. A few moments later, after recomposing himself, he bent and kissed the drum. He had whispered a prayer. He wanted to make sure he did his part.

  Nothing would stand in his way to destroy those that dared cross him and his team. Nothing.

  Chapter 15

  After having traveled north on Highway 305, the black Range Rover carrying the team veered left into the darkness. Sitting in the front passenger seat, Wildside followed their position in the desert with his finger on the map Ranger had found at Matthew Airbase. The vehicle’s lights turned off as it approached the rock archway entrance to the field marked on the map. On either side, the layers of red rock stood as a witness to millions of years of history formed in its craggy shelf.

  “How much longer, Ranger?” Jon asked, sitting in the back next to Matty. The “are we there yet” phrase in his vocabulary had disappeared long ago. Zombies do that to kids. Make them grow up faster than they want to.

  “A few more miles. Just past this set of rocks.”

  The night drew on with the moon giving light to the vehicle passing through the gully. In the backseat, Randy and Matty sat together. Their shoulders pressed against each other in the darkness. Ranger noticed their partial smiles in the rearview, but didn’t say anything. Kids will be kids. At irregular intervals, whenever the rock towers cleared, the moon’s rays would hit Randy’s eyes in a way that made Matty squirm. She had always read about love, but with Randy, nothing of the sort came to mind, even though he did capture her imagination those brief moments. They had more of a wonderful friendship than anything else. And the thoughts she had for him went from killing zombies side by side to tumbling down a grassy knoll in a fit of excitement. What a confused kid.

  In Randy’s case, he thought of Matty as a friend, too. Someone he could share things with, and talk about his day. But he also was male. And with raging hormones, his thoughts about Matty drifted from friendship to something he didn’t remember experiencing. So when the light of the moon hit her eyes in the same way, Randy did something he thought he’d never do—he placed his hand on hers, which she had on her knee. He held it there for a bit, smiled, and squeezed it. He then let it go. No kiss. No hug. Just a simple squeeze of her hand.

  When the vehicle made it through the gully’s rock, shafts of lights hit the vehicle’s windshield from a distance. The brightness stopped the Rover from going further. Ranger covered his eyes. At once, he stepped out of the vehicle, as did everyone else, and when his eyes adjusted he couldn’t believe the sight.

  A silver ship hovered over a military base. The lights emanating from the craft rotated in a smooth, sequenced manner. Gold, yellow and orange flooded the area. The air remained calm. It produced no sound. It floated as if held by invisible pillars, ten stories high. The shape of it resembled a cigar, but it appeared more as a round disk.

  “Holy shit.” Matty said, as her mouth collapsed from under her face.

  “That’s,” Jon pointed, “that’s a flying saucer.”

  “That’s the cause of our problems.” Ranger stared at it.

  “Nothing’s holding that thing up.” Wildside gulped.

  “That’s not ours.” Randy shook his head.

  “Definitely not ours.” Ranger said.

  In the middle of the base, surrounded by another fence, an area ninety by ninety feet wide, a truck moved into place from an open gate. Soldiers wielding guns poured from the front of the vehicle.

  “What the hell, Ranger.” Wildside gasped. “Those are our boys. We’re not the only ones left!”

  The soldiers trotted to the rear of the truck, opened its doors, and barked orders. Everyone out! As people jumped from the back, the soldiers shoved them with their rifles to the center of the cage. One man attempted to keep his arms around his family when a soldier cracked him in the head with his rifle butt. Keep moving!

  “What’s happening?” Matty asked Ranger. The question escaped her lips in a soft whisper. She knew what was happening. She saw it. She just couldn’t believe it. These were real human beings, like her. She was not alone.

  Ranger stood silent.

  When the soldiers finished emptying the truck, they hopped back inside and began to leave. As it went through the gate, another passed it to unload its own human cargo. Same routine. The people hopped out and the soldiers shoved. This time, a man decided he’d rather make a run for it than find out what will happen to him in the center with the others. He didn’t get far. A shot cracked the silence, the bullet ripping into the shoulder of the man who fled. As the soldier who shot the man stared down the barrel of his rifle, two other soldiers marched to him. The man struggled on the ground when one of them whipped out his automatic and shot him in the back of the head. They then dragged and dumped the body into the truck.

  Matty covered her mouth with her hand in shock. She did not scream.

  After the second left, a third truck unloaded its shipment of people into the cage. Many of the faces belonged to ordinary folk. Mothers, daughters, sons, fathers, some old, some young. No amount of cash could buy their freedom. When the third truck left, a soldier dressed in camouflage uniform closed and locked the gate, trapping everyone inside. The crowd stayed tight. Lovers hugged. Parents held on to their kids. Although no one said a word, they somehow knew their fate rested in the craft hovering overhead. The breeze from the desert gently caressed the women’s hair.

  Randy slowly drew close to Matty. When their shoulders touched, she reached to hold his hand. Jon climbed Ranger for the security of his arms. Wildside stood and stared without saying a word.

  What came next, no one would have imagined. The hovering ship opened its belly to reveal a saucer-like instrument. It spanned half the length of the ship’s radius and it covered the entire gated square. The crowd cried, pleading for mercy. Some ran to the fences, not knowing what would happen. Once the bottom of the saucer stopped descending, the craft rested for a time. The rotating lights stopped and the white lights turned green. The green illuminated the desert, giving the impression the sand had turned to grass. Then, all at once, the white bottom to the craft changed to purple and beamed its rays into the people below. In an instant, the crowd lost control over their muscles while the effects of the invading light hit their bodies. Raised six inches from the ground, they shook as their heads tilted back and their eyes remained open.

  The screams tore through the valley to hit Ranger and the kids. They had to plug their ears to the anguish of those suffering.

  While the seizures continued, a red vapor began to float from the crowd. It came from their pores. Their screams stopped as their eyes gave up their souls to the saucer. The vapors filled the purple beam, rising and collecting into the dome. The dome that had once illuminated green transformed to a crimson red.

  Matty’s eyes moistened at the thought her family had to endure the same demise at the mercy of a saucer.

  When it was all over, the crowd descended limp to the ground, their breath stolen from their lungs. The purple light disappeared, and the
dome at the bottom of the craft switched to white. What used to be human now rested without movement. Limbs twisted in contorted positions had knotted with one another. Some of the victims’ mouths had frozen with a silent scream. Minutes passed in silence. They had all died.

  Then, the moaning began. They rose. The horde’s eyes lacked life, shining white as they had transformed into zombies, stomping and searching for human meat to devour.

  Ranger and his companions exchanged glances. The same thought flashed through their mind. They discovered how zombies came to exist. They now understood the government and some other type of being had their hands in this mess called the apocalypse.

  As the zombies wandered the cage, a truck squealed its brakes to the gate. The undead attacked the fence wanting to tear at the men who jumped from the truck. Their teeth spread wide, raging in defiance of those who had trapped them in their sorrowful state. But these soldiers appeared different. These soldiers sported machine pistols. Six of them, lined in front of the fence with guns drawn downward.

  Randy squeezed Matty’s hand tighter.

  One of the soldiers had a massive amount of stripes on his shoulder. Mr. Commandant. He blasted an order to the other soldiers and they raised their guns. Then without care, they opened fire into the swarm. Bullets crashed into sinew. Heads exploded. Shrieks and groans filled the base. Green flowed freely. Each and every eater who once was a husband, a wife, a daughter and a son crashed to the ground in pools of ooze and gelatin. Aside from a few arms protruding from the mass, wiggling and churning, the soldiers made sure none survived. After having stopped their barrage, the six retreated into the shadows and another three took their place. These had flame throwers. They formed a line and the first on the left motioned the order. Like the others, they raised their weapons. They spilled flames over the dead bodies, charring them, not missing one.

  “I want to go.” Wildside said with anxiousness in his voice. “I want to go.”