Mike paused for a brief moment. “The undead are fast and strong, but we are faster and stronger. Smarter too. So, what do you say? Do we wait for them to come here, or do we take the fight to their doorstep?”
The assembled men and women roared their assent, and Mike echoed their cries. They pumped their fists in the air and screamed until their throats were raw. Amped up, they jumped into their vehicles and numerous engines roared to life.
Mike turned to Saul and Nick. “Well, this is it. We’re leaving.”
“Thank you, Mike. I appreciate your help. Be sure to come back in one piece,” Nick said.
“Will do,” Mike said, tipping his hat at them. “Goodbye, gentlemen.”
“Here. Take this,” Saul said, handing him a map. “This is where the scouting parties last saw the second horde. Be careful.”
“We know what we’re doing, thanks,” Mike said, taking the map. “We haven’t survived this long on luck alone.”
“I know. You’re a tough bunch,” Saul agreed.
Mike jumped into the passenger side of the truck with the snowplow attached and waved his hand. “Let’s move out.”
The convoy pulled out of the gates and rumbled down the road while Mike whistled a jaunty tune. He was in a good mood. As the leader of his community, he was respected and had many people under his wing. It got tedious at times, though, and he secretly longed for action. Well, I’m sure as hell going to get it today.
He unfolded the map Saul had given him and studied the route. They didn’t have far to go. According to the scouts, the horde was last spotted somewhere around Fredericksburg but was veering to the north-west. Their best guess was that it would hit Culpeper before continuing north. Once they hit the Potomac river, they’d keep going until they found the bridge at Point of Rocks. That was only about fourteen miles away from the fort.
“Where are we going, boss?” his driver Peterson asked.
“Culpeper. That’s the first place I want to hit them. As we retreat, I want to veer the zombies off to the north-east,” Mike replied.
“Why?” Peterson asked.
“If we can lead them far enough in that direction, they might push on into Washington and bypass us altogether. Or get lost in its maze of streets,” Mike said. “Either way, we need to trim their numbers before they hit the bridge at Point of Rocks.”
Peterson nodded. “Good plan, Boss.”
“Let’s hope it works,” Mike said, leaning back in his seat. As they drove, he idly noted that the roads were deathly quiet once more. The steady trickle of survivors had thinned to the odd car rushing by with panicked fear—the Johnny-come-latelies.
It wasn’t long before they reached the outskirts of Culpeper, and Mike perked up. “Right. Let’s see what we’ve got here.”
He gazed around, noticing the thick stands of trees that hemmed in the road on either side. Culpeper was about three miles ahead, and Mike decided to call a halt. “Let’s stop right here and regroup.”
Peterson nodded and pulled onto the shoulder of the road. The rest of the convoy followed suit, and people got out to stretch their legs.
“Come on, folks. Let’s pull it in,” Mike called. As his team grouped around him, he said, “I need two volunteers to scout ahead and determine the horde’s exact location. There’s no need for us to rush into a trap.”
“I’ll go,” a man said, stepping forward. “I can get in and out fast on my bike.”
“Me too,” another said, this one a youngster barely out of his teens.
“Liam and Neil, right? Be careful. I want you back here alive, you hear me?” The two nodded, and seconds later, they pulled out. Mike watched until they faded into the distance before he continued. “As for the rest of you: Take a bathroom break, have something to eat or drink, and check your gear. But, keep an eye out for danger, and don’t wander off.”
Murmurs of assent followed his commands, and people dispersed to do their thing. Mike spent the next twenty minutes checking the loads on his gun and testing his knife’s edge. Not that he needed to do either. His gear was always in topnotch condition.
He was about to go for a leak in the woods when he heard an engine’s high-pitched whine. On high-alert, he squinted into the distance. Soon enough, a spot of red came into view. It was the youngster, Liam, but something wasn’t right. He was coming in too fast, and he was coming in alone. “What the hell?”
The bike roared to a stop mere inches from the tip of Mike’s boots, and the smell of burning rubber burned his nostrils. “What’s going on, Liam?”
Liam yanked off his helmet, his eyes wild. “They got Neil, Sir. They killed him. Pulled him right off his bike and tore him apart.”
“How in hell’s name? I told you not to get too close,” Mike said with a frustrated growl.
“We couldn’t help it, Sir. One minute the road was empty, and the next, they were everywhere,” Liam sputtered. “I only got away because they were busy with…with…”
“What do you mean everywhere?” Mike asked, a shudder running down his spine. Something’s not right.
“I mean everywhere. There are so many of them. They’re spread out all around. Thousands and thousands.”
A shrill scream caused Mike to whirl around. He was in time to see a trio of zombies pounce on a young woman. She stood close to the trees, her back to the depths of the forest. As they pulled her to the ground in a spray of arterial blood, more infected emerged from between the trunks. Grey and silent. Deadly.
“They’re over here!”
“And here!”
Screams.
Gunshots rang out, and Mike spun in a slow circle. Liam was right. The horde was everywhere; their vast numbers stretched over miles and miles. “We’re surrounded.”
“Sir? What do we do?” Liam pleaded with
