Chapter 12
“Okay everyone, I know I said we were driving to Florida….but I lied.” I said; my smile wide as I looked at each of them. I was standing atop my Humvee, looking down on my group with a cheesy face. I was happy. The plan had changed tremendously but the new one was much better; much safer than a drive.
“Well, how the fuck are we getting there?” Kierstan asked. Fenway barked beside her as if to double that question.
“One word…teleportation.” Kate said giving me a wink.
“YES!!!! You got it. We’re all gonna hold hands and I’ll swan dive into the group while repeating ‘I think I can, I think I can’” only a few of them laughed but I didn’t care. I was euphoric, though the night before was like hell for me.
I’d stayed up after the dreams; I didn’t want to fall back into the trap of REM sleep. Talking to Remmy and Hill, we came up with a plan to get everyone to Florida in the plane we had. It was big enough to hold all of us and all of our supplies and weapons, but we’d have to leave our Vee’s, trucks, and that ugly car. We weren’t going in a C130. It was a stolen American Airlines plane. Before joining the Army Hill received his pilot’s license. His training only enhanced his knowledge. With a few of the other guys with him, he could easily get up here to pick us up. Flying would decrease the stress on my mind and body.
“I have a friend who is able to pick us up in the plane he used to get to Florida. He will be leaving tomorrow after checking to make sure the plane can get here. Fueling up and preflight inspections take time but we will be outta here in about two days. In that time we need to make it to Tappahannock Bridge.” So far everyone seemed to be okay with the idea. I loved that my friends were so complacent. No one feared the unknown and we were able to change direction so easily.
“Well that sounds good but where is the plane supposed to let down?” Victor asked. His skeptical look transferred to most of the younger faces. I looked at Brandon, his eyes were on me, questioning. I swear I’ve never had it happen before, but my eye actually twinkled. His widened.
“Holy-“
“We’re landing on the bridge.” I said before he could get his exclamation out. He palmed his forehead and laughed. It was a good time for me. So much good news and a lot of adventure to be had. I crossed my arms over my chest. The group had become all aflutter. Everyone was buzzing over the idea of having a plane pick us up and the greater idea of having one land on a bridge. I looked toward the sky, the afternoon air was cool and the sun was high, warming the top of the Vee. My smile was wide; I knew Hill could do it. I believed in him. He, Remmy, and Anita would be fine.
I leaned back and heard my spine crack. I felt really loose but my leg still hurt; the muscles still became tight whenever I over exerted. Climbing onto the Vee had been an exercise. I looked over the edge of the Vee, it was only a six foot drop. Lifting my right leg to protect it I hopped down and landed on my left. The impact was absorbed by my bent knee but the shock through my thigh made me tense. I tried to hide the grimace and was successful. Everyone was still too happy to think about my pain at the moment.
I walked back to the house, we were low on food but we still had the essentials. After toasting a pastry I sat down to enjoy it and a tall glass of milk. In the back of my mind I thought about the repercussions of this snack, being horribly lactose intolerant didn’t afford me many dairy products. But I was in the mood for something temporarily delicious. I downed the milk without a second thought and practically absorbed the tart pastry. The warm filling made me moan in simple ecstasy. I closed my eyes just to enjoy the minimalism of my life. It was all too easy to get caught up in the rigors of always being on your toes. A rest went a long way nowadays.
Even in the quiet of the house I felt tense. Every muscle in my body was twitchy. The smallest sound sent a shiver through my body and down my arm initializing a spasm that almost caused me to grab my knife. I was a nervous wreck; PTSD to the max. The tranquility of the house, the security of knowledge, and the emptiness of my mind still didn’t clear away my hardwired reactions. The soft chair, now crushed to nothing by the many people sleeping, jumping, fucking, and all other manner of inappropriate couch etiquette, was not enough to get me to relax. The sweet taste of residual pastry goo wasn’t going to stay the ghosting taste of blood that came when I thought on my other relaxation failures.
I sat on the edge of the couch and tried to think back for what I did before this all happened. What was it that had made me so compliant, so happy, all day? My mind scrambled as I tried to think back to a more complicated time of my life. Having my own apartment and having to foot all the bills myself…I never had the ease of life as now. Most people would say life before the zombies was easier. They’d say it was easy to know want to do. Life was compartmentalized and things were able to flow.
Not my life. Waking, eating, sleeping, and staying alive. That’s a lot better than what I had. What did I do all day before? What was in my life that kept my wandering thoughts and erratic mental processes at bay? I stood up and made my way to the dining room. The laptops had been packed into the Vee’s but from here I could see that most of everyone was still outside. The breeze was cooler than before and the leaves were starting to fall, not all the colors changed yet though. Brandon was standing with Tee near their small car. His look was purely idiotic; whatever she was whispering to him now must have been a mental gem.
I flipped open my phone and called him. He lifted his to his eyes then looked around. When he noticed me in the window he answered.
“Hey, I need you to keep everyone outside.”
“Why?” he questioned as he moved to the center of the gang of people on the lawn.
“Well….i needs a release. And after about seven months of not one touch….it might get loud and messy. Lol”
“…did you just-“
“Just do it!” I yelled before he could question my vernacular. He laughed as I hung up. I watched him look to Victor who had questioningly observed the conversation. He walked up and whispered something to him and they both shared a smile. I shook my head and began to walk up the stairs to my room.
“EVERYONE LISTEN UP!” I heard Brandon yell. I palmed my forehead before making my way to a window. Brandon was scanning the windows from atop a Vee and saw my face poking through the curtains. He smiled once more. “We need to stay outside because our leader needs to have silence when he faps.”
The reaction was exactly as I expected. An uproarious laugh rang out and everyone looked to where Brandon’s eyes were focused. I shut the curtains and palmed my forehead once more before laying down. Of course; why hadn’t I seen that one coming back to bite me?
Lying on the bed looking up at the ceiling fan I pulled my pants down. The clang of the knives against the floor was louder than I expected in the quiet house. I could still hear the voices outside but the room was quiet otherwise. My hands were cold and my body trembling but I managed to get my mind to quiet down just by the thought of my next action. I rubbed my hands down my hairy legs to warm them up. It had been months since I offered myself some physical release. I took hold of my hardening member before closing my eyes and drifting off into my own very active imagination.
~~~~~~~~
Clean up was as fun as it always was when I hadn’t fapped in a while. My legs were quivering and a smile was plastered on my face. I picked up the towel that was thrown to me halfway through the hour I was in the room. Someone thought it a great idea to burst in and toss one at me right when I moaned my loudest; though giggles and running feet were just a side note after I came. It felt good and I had needed that for a while so I had started back up immediately. I was still in a wired mood, my thoughts were buzzing but now I had a better outlook. As I wiped off my chest and legs I thought about all the times I had a chance to do this before. Maybe it would have proven beneficial to award myself. I could have been more focused on whatever situation came next.
I reached down to get my pants when a thought flashed through my mind. All the times when at my old apartment my roommate and I would just walk around naked, too lazy to get dressed. I thought back to all the times I had given strip teases to my friends. Or how I’d nicely ask everyone to leave because I had an “appointment.” No one cared if I was naked because it was commonplace for a guy like me. The good old days were not over yet. I was determined to keep things the way they were. I folded my pants and left them next to my shirt on the bed. Looking down at myself I smiled and walked out to greet the world in my birthday suit.
It was as if there was some cosmic joke I was unaware of.
“CONTACT!!” I heard a few of the big guys yell. I sprinted back into the room and slid into my clothes as if they were made of oil. I took the stairs four at a time, strapping my knives to my waist and over my chest as I went. Hitting the first floor, it took all of seven seconds to grab my M16 and nagamaki and burst through the door to the front porch. The scene was normal. There was a crescent shape made; all backs facing my direction with Trey being the exception holding up the rear. There were masses of zombies coming from every direction except mine. Most were mud covered and had sticks or leaves poking out of their tattered clothing. Camouflage? I looked around for a leader, but it seemed one was missing. This was just a hoard…a very organized hoard that had waited until we were all relaxing. I began to walk toward Trey; he lifted his rifle and began to shoot toward the roof. I watched as bodies began to roll over the sides and front of the ledge covering the porch. One of the bodies ripped down the rain gutter and for an instant I thought if that was covered in the insurance.
I ran to meet Trey in the center of the now closing circle. Others were turning to meet the demand of side attacks. I dropped to my knees and lifted my rifle to my shoulder. I had only sixty shots; thirty in this clip and thirty in my reserve. Then I’d have to switch to my sword and knives and with a hoard like this it’d be as ineffective as if I had nothing. My ears were used to the sound of many weapons shooting off at a time but this wasn’t the ideal thinking environment. I let my rifle lower into a ready position and closed my eyes. We needed to get to the trucks before they were over taken. The bulk of our ammo was already packed and ready; and a good two hundred rounds were already loaded in each turret…
“LEFT SHIFT!!!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I could hear a slight pause in the shooting while the ones who were on their knees stood. I looked to my right and saw Sam was looking that way also. We began to take a few steps to the right in unison. Everyone would be walking toward the Vee’s. A left shift told them all which way I wanted the whole group to go. I aimed and a zombie who had just rounded the corner of the deck fell to the ground, his knees taken out. The ones running behind him stopped and began to feed on his dirty flesh. One shot to his head and one to each of the females who had fallen to the temptation of his writing vulnerability. The water front was right behind the house; they must have swum across to have so many behind us without our knowing. I methodically shot the remains of my clip into an advancing group; twelve shudders sent up my arm and almost twice that many bodies fell to the ground. Spray and pray only worked if you knew how to do it right. I slung my rifle over my shoulder and pulled out my short sword. At only three feet it was ideal for a more compacted area.
I spun it in my left hand to catch Trey’s attention. With my peripheral I saw him look over, look back, lay out a few rounds and look back to me. I motioned toward the trucks and began to back up into the group. We were still shifting to the right, which was the left to those whose backs were to the house. Within the tight circle I walked freely toward the vehicles that were an arm’s length away from the closest person. I glanced behind and noticed Trey was following like I wanted. I tapped Jake’s shoulder; he faced a gap in the Humvee’s where a few zombies had come through. He looked over to me with a questioning look. I pointed to the gap and he averted his shots to the right. With my sword in hand I surged through the gap to the forested side beyond the Humvee’s.
I went left and Trey took the right. Raising my sword above my head, tickling the bottom of a tree’s lowest branches, I powered downward to sink the tip deep into a zombies eye socket. I felt the blade connect with the back of the inside of its skull. Pulling the sword out quickly with a suction sound I jabbed forward noticing the remains of the last zombie’s eye were still pierced on the blade. It was pushed up to the handle as I buried my sword in the neck of an advancing zombie. Kicking backwards I pushed another away from me, it teetered backwards off balance. It, a small child, stumbled into Trey who was firing off in the opposite direction. He whipped around sharply and noticed the screeching little demon lying on the floor. The bullet went through its head and Trey looked away without a second glance or hesitation.
I yanked at the backdoor handle of the Vee and threw myself in. I checked to make sure there was ammo in it and then scrambled to aim the turret towards the mass of zombies that was starting to grow again now that my group was running out of bullets. Where had this many come from? There were many houses hidden in the woods out here but the sheer numbers confronting us now were intense. They must have come from across the water seeing as there was little more than quarter of a mile separating us from the other side.
I grabbed the butterfly triggers and aimed at the mass directly in front of the group.
“FRONT LINE CEASE FIRE!!” I yelled as I pushed down on the dual triggers. The spray of bullets rained down on the unsuspecting zombies and almost instantly they ceased their attack. I heard the door slam in the Vee in front of mine and I looked over while turning left and right with my turret. Trey’s popped up in the turret next to me and almost immediately began to mow down the advancing zombies from behind. With the front and back taken care of the others only had to climb in and we could be off.
With the five Vee’s and the small car already packed, we didn’t have a need to wait for anything. The others climbed into the trucks and Trey switched places with Nick to end up in my driver’s seat. The engines began to fire up and the last Humvee pulled out. With the turrets still blasting at the few stragglers that thought this a good cause to stick to it was almost impossible to hear the barking inside the house. I slapped my hand down on the top of the roof and Trey halted his reverse. Nick looked back at me; a cigarette in his mouth wafting smoke up his face adding a badass look to his already rough features. I motioned for him to watch my back as I slid out of the turrets position and out the side door of my Vee.
I ran knowing I wouldn’t have to worry as long as Nick shot down anything coming at me. When I heard the second door slam I looked back for a second and noticed my blonde wonder running to catch up with me. Victor’s determined face was offset by the way his long hair swayed lazily as he ran. When at the stairs I kicked the door in and let out a loud whistle. Victor keeping look out I peeked into the house and noticed all was clear. Fenway’s barks could be heard clearly at this distance. She must have been left in a room somewhere downstairs while I called the meeting outside earlier. I stepped inside gingerly; the scent of death wafting on the breeze masked anything that could be hiding in the house. Holding my M16 steady in front of me I walked to where her barks rang out.
~~~~~~~~
I sat in the backseat, Fenway on my lap looking out the window. We had called ahead to the group to let them know we’d catch up. As Trey navigated the curves of the main road I drifted off to a memory we shared a few weeks ago. A memory that, when added to the other stories I’ve heard over the last half a year, wouldn’t be easily forgotten. It was burned into my brain the moment he finished the tale. It was as if I had lived the whole thing with him. My eyes began to burn and I looked away to wipe the tears that were sure to roll as we neared out temporary destination.
Trey had told me that he was already on his way to his parents’ house when I had texted him about the infection. He stayed with them for a few weeks but eventually had to go to get his own stuff from home. He was gone for two days and returning he saw two things was wrong. One was that the front door was wide open. He’d told them that for safety reasons they should keep it closed and locked. He’d taken care of getting food and other supplies while his father watched his sister and mother. The second problem was that his mother was walking around the back yard making her way toward their pool….and she was naked. I could almost picture how he must have looked when he noticed the rich brownish red color of dried blood around her mouth and covering her upper body. I could feel through association the pain in his heart as he wondered what had happened to his dad and little sister.
He told me of how he instantly pulled his rifle. I knew my friend and I knew he would never let his mother live such a horrible existence. The emotion emanating from him was almost palpable. His eyes had begun to shimmer with the threat of tears and it took all he had to make his words come out even. He had put one clean hole in her head and then made his way to the front door. Inside, right in the living room, he found his fathers shredded body. He was also naked, though with the loss of most of his shin and muscle tissue it didn’t matter. It looked as if his mother had been feeding on him interminably in the short time he was gone.
He moved around the body and swiftly made his way to his sister’s room. The door was locked from his side so he softly knocked. When no one answered he kicked in the door and lifted his rifle ready to shoot whatever may have been in there. But the room was empty. The stench of blood and the stains of it were thick in the room. Looking around he noticed a lot of scratches on the door and walls; blood tainted the blue paint on the walls where the scratches were deepest. It seemed she had been locked in there and was infected by the looks of the room. The far window was broken and he figured she’d escaped. Somehow they became infected and now all of his family was gone.
My eyes had begun tear up at the thoughts as we pulled up to his house. A blanket weighted down with large rocks rippled softly in the breeze. The lumps beneath the blanket had stopped bleeding long ago but the stains remained; rain and weather not able to rinse them from memory or sight. Trey ran up to the house as I climbed into the turret for a quick lookout. Jamie pulled up behind us and Nick’s expression was questioning. I shrugged as Trey slid into the dark house. With a whistle and a few clearly audible bumps he was back outside, a pit bull following him and a big bag of dog food in his large arms.
“I couldn’t leave my baby. Gotta take him wherever we go.” Trey said as he lifted the dog into the Vee. I heard a few deep barks and some growling from Fenway but that lasted a matter of seconds before they were rolling around near my feet. I slapped the top of the Humvee and we were off. Jamie, Nick, and Victor behind us we sped off as fast as the Vee’s could go. Some things were better left behind you.
Chapter 13
After a long drive and a fuel stop we caught up to the others on the way to the bridge that would serve as our landing and takeoff strip. The bridge was about a mile long but had a hill like curve to it. Our pilot, Anthony Hill, would have to land down one side, turn around, and take off up the same side. The takeoff and landing wasn’t a problem. It was the turning around. Past the end of the bridge there was a lack of wing room. Trees were on either side and down the center of the road after the bridge. To turn, we’d have to cut down all the trees in a large circle so he’d have a way to maneuver without damaging the small plane.
The sun was almost setting when we stopped off at the Tractor and Supply store in Tappahannock. It seemed like a good idea to get right to work while we still had a good head start. Hill had only two hours to fly but we had a whole night to cut down almost forty trees with ranging thickness and heights. I looked at a chain saw that was on sale; it was blue which was my favorite color. I picked it up and checked for what kind of fuel I’d need. Kierstan, Sam, Brandon, Trey, Chris, Jake and Tee were also picking out their own saws. It was fun knowing that we could just get whatever we wanted. With my saw, some fuel, and a pair of badass goggles I walked out of the store.
The night was going to be long and tedious. Eight of us would be up at a time, four on watch while four cut. Doug, Chris, Jake and I took the first shift as temporary lumberjacks. With my saw fueled and primed I yanked at the pull string. It started on the first try, sending fragmented roars through the night. My arm vibrated violently and I loved every second of it. I placed the rotating blade against the first tree in my way and reveled in the feeling of the resistance that intensified the tremors through my body. It was almost as if it were shaking me out of a deep sleep. I felt more alive the more I killed that poor tree.
As tree after tree fell to the ground I could sense the presence of something watching us. With the noise of the chainsaws and the flood lights of the Humvee’s striking us like spotlights we were very noticeable targets. We’d been at it for two hours and I had chopped at six trees, dividing them into moveable pieces and tossing them into the river to float off. I stopped advancing to my next victim and flipped out my phone. Over the noise of the saws Sawyer wouldn’t have been able to hear me call for him. He was facing my direction, illuminating my work and watching for any problems. I text him a quick command and watched as he pulled his phone from his chest pocket and read. Looking up at me he nodded and began flipping the switches to the other lights set up around the turret.
The blast of extra light made it so nothing could hide in the darkness beyond us. We had a good four hundred feet radius in my direction. The other turrets began to turn on their own auxiliary lights and before long our work grounds was like a stadium during prom night. I waved over at Chris and he happily waved back. Our work had been separated into four parts each with our backs to the river. My 45 degrees went from the edge of the river to the beginning of Chris’ 45 that ended at the road. On the other side of the road Jake and Doug had split up the cutting the same way. We worked outwards, making enough room for the 58ft wingspan of the plane to navigate around with plenty of space to spare.
I looked around into the trees beyond my cleared area. Though I couldn’t see anything I still felt I was being watched. I lifted my saw and pulled the string to restart it. I took a look at the work I had done so far. There wasn’t much to look at but I had cleared a small section of the area away. Looking at Chris I noticed he was more concerned with just cutting the trees down and went back to chop them up after he had a good stack. His cleared area was larger than mine. I wasn’t living up to my last name. I looked at the next section of trees. They were well spaced and provided an excellent view into the forest beyond.
Cutting down ten trees at a time and then chopping them to bits, I swiftly cleared a patch of ground twenty feet in every direction. My area was beginning to grow but I needed it wider to connect with Chris’ area. Leaned my back against the Vee Sawyer was watching over. Pulling a cigarette from the pack i stuck it in my mouth and lit it. I needed to take a rest. I was too sore and shaken up to cut anymore. The others had an equal feeling, eventually sitting down next to me over time. We sat and smoked while our turrets watch over us. Sawyer, Victor, Dillon, and Kate had all taken shift with us. Conversations were minimal but we did have music.
After a few hours we switched with the group that had been sleeping safely in the center of our vehicles. The asphalt was covered with sleeping mats and thick blankets. It wasn’t cold enough to need a blanket but out of the semblance of security everyone was under one. I walked over to Brandon I softly kicked his side. He rolled over and groggily sat up. Tee was roused by his movements and sat up revealing for a split second a well worked over left nipple. Someone had been playing around last night. She quickly pulled the cover up over herself when she noticed my sly smirk. I could see even in the dim light that she was blushing.
I walked off and let them get their composure. Victor and Sawyer were beginning to lay down on a tangle of blankets and mats. I watched over as everyone settled down, letting the paternal instincts take over. When the groups were split up and the work to be done was assessed the chink chink of the chains being pulled and the engines starting filled the night with an echoing uproar. It was easy to tell how no one could hear if people were playing around back here. No matter how loud they could get. But it was impossible to see how any of them had fallen asleep. I walked over to where Victor and Sawyer lay cuddled together and sidled up behind Victor’s warmth.
It took all of three seconds for me to go to sleep after such a tiring day.
~~~~~~~~
It was more the buzzing in my pocket than the shots fired that woke me. I looked up blinking from the morning sun and saw Tee in the small car facing out to the bridge. She let loose three shots and I instantly shot to my feet. I ran to the front of the car and slapped my hand down onto the hood. She got out of the car, face red.
“What do you think you’re doing? One, you don’t slap my car like that! Two, there are zombies coming over the side of the bridge. We have to kill them while they’re far off or they’ll over run us in this small area.”
I threw back my head and laughed in her face. “We’ve been in tighter positions than this. If you shoot these .50cal rounds at the bridge you’ll take chunks out…we have to land on here. So how about you and your car back the fuck up so I can drive out and take care of this?” I could tell by how she jerked back in surprise that my words had hit home. If we were to shoot out pieces of the bridge with this high a caliber we’d only seal our own fate. I disregarded the hurt in her eyes and pushed by to get into the closest Vee.
Kierstan ran over to the passenger seat with a saw in her hands. Sam and Dillon also pilled in. With Victor on the turret, just for more room, we were off. I slid by her car and gunned it up the slightly rising road. The closest zombie was right on the crest of the hill, an easy road kill hit. I aimed at him and slowed to thirty miles an hour. I was only ten feet away when he decided to jump to the right, completely avoiding my bumper.
“Got him.” Victor yelled down just as I pushed down on the brakes. Hadn’t he heard me say not to shoot the .50cal? I veered into a sideways stop in the center of the road. Once parked I hopped out of the door to take care of the zombie. He looked at me for a second but then fell to the ground. The back of his head sporting a tiny dart, red feathered marking the lethality. I smiled and looked up to Victor.
“Boy, you aint the only one who can throw shit.” He said in his joking voice. Everyone got out of the Vee and looked around. Over the edge of the bridge we were more than a hundred feet up. It would hurt to fall from here. Walking back to the Vee I pulled my longest sword, the nagamaki. It wasn’t as heavy as when I first wielded it. My arm had grown used to almost using it with one hand. The muscles worked to perfection in my daily training, I could swing it back and forth with powerful strokes in each singular hand. I looked at the blade; it shone in the sun sending glints of light dancing across the paved ground.
A screech rose from the other side of the hill and we ran to see what it was. Though I had heard such before and I knew what it meant. We rounded the Vee and there almost at the start of the bridge was a hoard. A large one. It seems our noise throughout the night and the spotlights that illuminated our position had attracted quite the outpour. With the city more than silenced it was easy to hear the sound of four saws going all throughout the night. And with no electricity in this area our lightshow was all too tempting.
In the front of the hoard, like the pawns in chess, were a mass of small twitchy zombies. Their bodies were almost all identical; intensely skinny and covered in old dried blood. They were bent over on their hands like dogs. Their restless movements and small bodies made them look like tiny forest dwelling animals. It was only their inhumanly long fingers that gave them their names, Scratchers. These were the kind of zombies that would stay outside your house and carve the doors with their nails until they were able to get in. They were the lowest on the food chain, only picking at the remains of other zombies because they were too small to be a threat unless in large numbers. Here in front of us were a couple hundred.
I looked to my phone at whatever message was used to wake me. It was from Hill! I flipped the phone open and began to text just as another screech rang out and the first wave of Scratchers ran to us. I had just finished my text when one sliced at my hand with his long fingers. Pulled back but didn’t have time to swing my sword. Instead I lifted my leg, cringing from the pain of having all my weight on my bad one, and let loose a powerful front kick. The Scratcher flew back into the ones behind him letting loose a dissonance of screeches and shrieks. I lifted my sword and swung it in a low arch hitting the various levels of crouched scratchers. Heads, raised arms, and torsos were sliced in half falling to the ground to be feasted upon by the other equally starved zombies.
Kierstan, I noticed, was just swinging her saw back and forth. The blood and shredded body pieces flew every which way covering both her and Doug who had decided to use a shotgun. Each time he cocked and fired between three and six Scratcher’s fell to the ground writhing in the pain of having the pellets rip through their thin bodies at point blank range. I looked to my right and saw Victor step back from the fight and reload his rifle. He locked his bolt back, released the mag, shoved it into his side pouch, pulled another and slapped it into place releasing the locked bolt with such speed it was almost as if he’d practiced it every minute of his downtime. He lifted his rifle and systematically fired again and again, each bullet tearing a hole in a different head.
I swung again in a wide arch. My blade met very little resistance in the bodies of these nutrient deprived Scratchers. With each swipe of the sword more and more bodies fell before me. It was amazing to see how little these zombies understood their own demise. As each wave clashed with our sturdy defense we grew more invigorated. We needn’t break a sweat with such easy prey. The only thing I feared was the inevitable second attack. What mutation would come for us when there weren’t any more Scratchers to kill?
My arm was getting tired. After a night of sawing trees and sleeping on the ground, I was not at my physical peak. The others must have seen how my swings became slower. My face went from war rage to barely concealed fatigue. Unlike the others, Kierstan excluded, I had to actually put my own strength into my attacks. I looked over to her and saw that she was sweating a lot. Her arms were covered in the blood and entrails of her targets. Her mouth was pursed close and her eyes closed with ever splattered body. She was keeping the blood and other fluids out of her bodily entryways. Good girl.
Another screech rose from the end of the bridge and reluctantly but swiftly the Scratchers pulled back. This time I had noticed who had screeched. He was a large Bull; the kind of zombie that had caused my wreck a few weeks ago. My heart was racing and my arms were nearly limp; my breathing was elevated but I still tried to stand tall. I looked over at the others. We were all equally covered in blood and guts. Sam, who had been using an M4 was the least sullied. His curly blonde hair was matted with sweat and thoroughly covered in wood chippings. Victor’s long blonde hair now had red streaks in it as if blood was the new thing. He was breathing heavy also. I noticed his pouch was smaller than before, no doubt having less darts than he’d started with. Doug, who had the least experience in hoard attacks, was now a walking blood canvas. His weapon had ensured he wouldn’t walk away with a clean spot on him. His eyes were wide and his breathing erratic from panic not fatigue.
I backed up to the Vee, wary of the next attack. Lifting the cushion of the back seat I pulled a string of metal ball like objects. I hadn’t told any of the others they were there. They were a final insurance policy. If we were ever to be fully overrun I’d give them to choice to use them. It was better than having to succumb to the infection we were fighting all this time. I knew none of us would want to go through the changes and wander as a mindless cannibal. I pulled one of the grenades from the string and held it securely in my hand.
“Hey guys, I need you all to come back this way.” I said, just as the second wave of zombies stepped forth. These were the normal, stand up and run kind. The ones with the potential to set traps and had the patience to watch them unfurl. These were the ones that bit to add to their ranks, they bit to change you…unless they were hungry. The group quickly shuffled back to me as a walked forward holding the grenade out to my right. Recovering the training I had with these, I lifted it to my chest pulled the pin and aimed where I wanted it to go with my left arm. But unlike training I didn’t lob it. I cocked back and looked directly at the zombie I noticed had screeched and hurled it like a baseball.
It flew, the handle spiraling off to clang to the ground. Some of the zombies watched it pass by, some reached for it. It slapped right into the chest of the leading Bull. A smile crept onto my face.
BWOGH!!! The explosion rocked the bridge. Guts and burned clothes fell from the sky and caused the remaining Scratchers to go into frenzy. The normal zombies (is there such a thing?) followed suit. Whatever it was that had caused them to follow him, be it fear or some unspoken communication promising them food and security, was now blown to pieces. The warmth, easy, and abundance of such was better than having to fight us for it. Temporarily appeased I looked at my phone. It was ten minutes since hill had sent his last message. I moved toward the Vee and grabbed another grenade.
Everyone moved to the other side of the Humvee as I tossed the next grenade closer to the base of the bridge. The explosion rocked it more and I feared a collapse. After the chunks of cement and metal ceased falling all around us I looked at what I had done. We now had a twenty foot hole leading to the river between us and the zombies.
