Jack gave him a jovial slap on the back. “Hey, thanks Mr. Collins. We appreciate the help.”
The four of them carried the body out of the room and navigated down the stairs. They passed Maria and Ethan there, as the teens were heading upstairs to pick out good lookout positions.
They noticed a flurry of activity as they moved the body to the gym. Bill had stopped off at the armory first to pick the appropriate rifle and ammunition and was about to head up to the roof. Emily had collected a means for them to communicate. She handed Bill a walkie talkie and kept another one for herself. She had also given Ethan and Maria walkie talkies.
“Stay in touch.” She told him as he headed up the stairs. Bill grinned at Emily. It was the first time anybody had seen Bill come close to a smile.
By the time the body was deposited at the north exit of the gym, Keith and Melissa were walking up with a collection of weapons.
Keith started handing out an assortment of weapons. He handed a garden hoe to Nat, an Axe to Melissa, a long length of metal pipe to Emily, and he had a shorter length of pipe for Ern, who had not shown up yet. Keith pointed at the hammers in his tool belt, when asked if he had any weapons himself. The combatants held their weapons uncertainly.
Melissa tried to pick up their confidence by explaining each person’s task, including the weapons they were holding in the description this time. One look told her what the result of that pep talk was. They looked back at her apprehensively
Well that didn’t help.
“Look.” She pointed at her hip. She was wearing a holster with a sidearm. “We will have protection. Em, this one is yours.” She handed another holster to Emily, who promptly put it on.
Ern showed up a minute later. The old man had found four shovels. The group stood there, looking at each other and at all the stuff they needed to carry. Melissa took charge.
“Listen up.” She said. “We know what to do if a zombie approaches us. We got Bill on the roof, and both Emily and I are armed. If shit really hits the fan, I will give you the signal to get back to the school, while we provide cover.”
She looked at every team member to make sure they got it.
“I’ve picked out a dig site for both the grave and the garbage ditch. We needed to put some distance between the school and this site, so its’ about fifty yards out from the edge of the field. It’s a nice, clear area. There is a small set of bleachers on the field directly in front of us. We avoid those. We circle wide around them to the right. Just follow my lead.”
“We need to take all this stuff out in one go. We go out as a group, and we stay together.” She looked at the assortment of items. “Ok, Keith – you and I carry the corpse. Ern, can you carry those shovels as well as a couple of weapons?” Ern nodded, and Melissa continued. “Nat, can you handle the garbage bags and your weapon?”
“Sure.”
“Ok good. That leaves Emily hands free. Em, check your comms and sidearm.”
“Yes madam!” Emily said with a smile. She recognized authority when she saw it. She quickly performed a radio check with Bill, Maria and Ethan, and ensured that her pistol was ready for action.
“Great. Ok everybody. The first step is to get outside this door and scout out the area. She was met with a few nods and an ‘uh-huh’. Melissa had a long look at her team.
Lots of nerves. Talk them through their tasks. Focus them. Just like old times.
“Once we are moving to the dig site, Emily is our eyes. Focus on your own job. The last thing we need is to trip each other up. Also, if we’re digging and a danger is spotted, drop your stuff, grab your weapon, and back up at least ten feet so that we’re not tripping over our own shit.”
She had another look at her team. Still some nerves, she noted.
Only one way to get over it. She opened the gym door and with a simple ‘Let’s go.’, she stepped outside.
THE TEAM FOLLOWED HER out into the open air. They were standing in the shadow of the school, and it felt chilly. Crisp. The fields were still green, the grass recently cut and well-maintained.
She scanned out beyond the fields. A small portion of the road was visible to their extreme right, but she spotted no movement there. Maria or Ethan would be looking out in that direction as well. Her eyes trailed the fence line from right to left.
To the south-east of the school was an alley way. Beyond that all Melissa could see was the fence surrounding the first property adjacent to the school. This was at least a quarter mile away and again Melissa did not spot any movement.
She followed the fence line, scanning from west to east along the south fence. All she could see was an alley and the fences to back yards of houses. No movement.
She got to the south-east corner of the fence, where the alley turned away. Then started scanning from south to north along the east side of the fence. There was a park of some kind back there. All Melissa could see were trees on the other side of the fence.
The only area that concerned Melissa as she continued to scan the fence, was at the north-east corner. In this area the fence was swallowed by a stand of trees. She knew from looking at a map of the school property that the fence continued through the trees. She could see the fence emerge again on the other side
