moved to the sides of the roads. Tommy and Charlie had managed to do that with the bulldozer and back hoe. We could see movement in between the houses and in some of the windows, and I silently wished Trevor luck in his job.
We had just about reached the trench when three zombies stumbled out into the road ahead of us. They were about fifteen yards ahead and closing in. I stopped the vehicle and got out, pulling my crowbar out and checking my SIG. Charlie got out of the truck and joined me at the Xterra.
The zombies lurched forward and began moaning. Two of them were females and they all looked nasty. Their skin was peeling off, and white bone showed through in places. Their clothing was in tatters and decaying teeth gnashed and clacked in anticipation.
They were bunched together, which made things more difficult. I nodded to Sarah, who stepped out of the Xterra and readied the. 22 I gave her before winter. She was only going to intervene if something went wrong, but I didn’t see that happening. I signaled to the new guys to hold fast. “This won’t take long,” I said.
The zombies started to close in, and Charlie and I bolted into action, I taking the left and Charlie taking the right. We ran right at the zombies, then split at the last second, stopping directly to the left and right of the trio. Our sudden movement had confused the zombies for a split second, and that was all we needed. I slammed the crowbar into the head of the one that faced me, an average looking zombie with long, oily hair hanging in thin strips in front of her face. As she fell back I kicked the second one in the hip, sending him sprawling. Charlie buried a tomahawk in the head of the zombie on his side and swept down with his second one at the zombie on the ground. I reversed the crowbar and jammed the chisel end into my zombie’s head, crushing it and ending her struggles.
Charlie was having a little trouble. He swung his second tomahawk, but the zombie moved, causing the blade to skip on the road and the only damage done was a couple of sparks. I stepped over with the crowbar and using a golf swing, smashed the zombie in the side of the head as he crawled towards me. He spun around and Charlie used the momentum to bury the second ‘hawk in the zombie’s head.
Charlie cleaned off his blades on the dead Z’s clothing, and I looked around for more adversaries. I didn’t see any in the immediate vicinity, so we mounted up and drove down the street. Leport was an old town, so the business and homes on the main streets were near to the roads. I really got a sense of closeness which made for a tense ride. Sarah picked up on it and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. We moved towards a more open section of the town and began to see additional evidence that the virus had hit here as well. Homes with white flags on them were broken open, windows were cracked and shattered. Cars had doors open and dark stains could be seen in many places. We moved around several abandoned cars and had to move a couple out of the way. I got out and had Sarah move the Xterra up to bump the car out of the way. Carl and Bryce got out as well, and helped me move the car. As we finished, there was movement from a house. A small boy came stumbling out. His grey pallor and dead eyes marked him clearly as a zombie. He moved towards us on uncertain feet, yet clear in his purpose. His Spider-Man t-shirt was bloodstained and several wounds could be seen on his thin arms. I guessed him to be about seven years old. Carl moved towards him, but I held up a hand.
“Check the ground.” I said, indicating the tall unkempt grass near the little Z.
Carl looked then whistled. “Man, I never saw that. Thanks.” In the grass was a zombie who had been severely injured as a living person and was minus two legs and an arm. It was dragging itself slowly through the grass and if Carl had moved in, he would have stepped right on it. Another man once had done that and the zombie sat right up and chewed on his nuts. Didn’t get through the clothing, but the man’s hair changed from dark to light overnight.
The child zombie was a lot closer, so Carl moved aside and before I could stop him, fired his pistol, killing the Z instantly.
“Jesus! What the hell is the matter with you?” I hissed at Carl as the sound of the shot echoed down the street.
“What? What’s the problem?” Carl asked, holstering his weapon. “Dead is dead, doesn’t matter how.”
I moved in close so my face was inches from his. “Dead will be us if you don’t exercise some discipline. We’re totally out in the open here, in case you hadn’t realized. If you plan on being breakfast for some Z’s, that’s your business. But don’t get me killed for your stupidity.”
“Christ, lighten up, Trevor says…” Carl’s voice drifted off as he listened. Moans and sounds of movement came from all around us, and we could see a lot of movement in between and in houses that wasn’t there before. Several shapes unfolded themselves from the ground, and began that telltale lurching in our direction. If I had to guess, at least twenty zombies knew where we were and were headed our way.
I glared at Carl and shoved him towards the vehicle. He ran in, apologizing the whole way. I shook my head at Charlie’s vehicle and got back into the Nissan. I threw the vehicle in gear and drove off, with the pickup close behind.
Bryce was fingering his weapon and Sarah reminded him he was in a car. “Just because your partner here is a dumb ass, doesn’t mean you need to be.” Bryce let go of his gun while Carl just looked down.
I said nothing as I moved quickly down the road, trying to get as much distance as I could from the sound of the shot. Zombies will triangulate on sound, God alone knows how, and will come to investigate. If we weren’t there, they would lose interest and return to their wandering. If they saw us, they’d follow until the end of the earth.
We moved past more desolation and I could see many more shapes moving and heading our way. I stuck my hand out the window to signal Charlie I was going to speed up and he flashed his lights. I had an idea and with a shitload of luck we might be able to pull it off.
I moved down the street and pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. Several cars and all of the windows of the store were smashed. I had a hunch this raid was going to be a bust, but I decided to give it a roll anyway. You never knew. Back in the old complex, I once went into a convenience store that had its windows caved in, but apart from some stuff on the floor, the place was nearly untouched.
We parked the vehicles near the front of the store, facing outwards. I did this so much out of habit that if things ever got back to normal I’d be backing into my garage for the rest of my life.
We all got out of our vehicles and Charlie and Sarah immediately swept the front of the store. Sarah nodded to me and I smiled, turning my attention to the five guys we had brought with.
“Well, gents we need to secure a perimeter before we head into this store to look for supplies. Take those cars and move them into a barricade.” I indicated the abandoned cars in the lot. “Leave a space for us to get our cars out, but do it fast.”
I smiled as several glares focused on Carl, but they managed to keep their complaining to themselves. I went over to the shopping carts and started moving them out to the parking lot. I had a string of about sixteen of them and I pushed them around, leaving one here and there and turning them on their sides. I went back twice and left another thirty or so around the lot, then went back to where the guys had arranged the cars. They had made a semi-circle around the front of the building, leaving a space barely wide enough for the trucks. I was actually impressed and said so.
“Thanks,” said Jim. He looked at the shopping cart minefield. “What’s with the carts?” he asked.
I smiled. “If we need to bug out on foot, Z’s will be slowed down trying to get through that,” I said. “They don’t really look where they’re going.”
Jim smiled and said. “I’ll need to remember that one.”
“Let’s go,” I said.
The interior of the grocery store was a mess. There was stuff all over the floor and the shelves were cluttered and disheveled. But a cursory glance indicated there was enough stuff here to make the trip worthwhile. I moved towards the canned section while Charlie headed for the dry goods. Sarah moved towards the drink section and we each had a follower. Jim and Kyle went with Charlie and Sarah and Steve came with me. Carl and Bryce moved towards the gloom of the interior of the building, the morning light not casting enough brightness to see farther.
I moved quickly, gathering what I could and handing it to Steve, who took it out to the trucks. I focused on stuff we could use and stuff that had the highest potential of staying fresh. I could hear other trips being made as other supplies were scrounged and brought out to the trucks. I could hear Carl and Bryce talking as they moved along the back of the store towards the store room. I took an armful of soup cans and headed towards the front. I bumped into Charlie as he came out with an armload of baby supplies and diapers for both Jake and Julia.
