This is your team, soldier. For better or worse. He sat back and checked his sidearm for the second time.
The Humvee continued along the road for another minute, until Mike said, “We’ve got movement up ahead, chief.”
John looked through the windshield and saw several shapes lumbering towards them from a couple of blocks away.
“Faster ones,” John stated, watching the fast-moving zombies home in on the sound of their approaching vehicle.
They weren’t necessarily running but moving at a jogger’s pace. Any resemblance to an actual jogger ended there, as their loping movement looked anything but normal.
“Can you drive around them? I’d like to get a little closer before we start shooting,” John suggested.
Mike sucked in his cheeks. “Yeah, I think so.” He glanced over at Abi. “Seatbelts on. Looks like we’re going sidewalk surfing.”
He stayed on the road until the very last second, keeping the approaching zombies straight in front of him. He narrowly missed the first one as he started to drift towards the side of the road. Thankfully, there were no vehicles parked there, giving him extra room to maneuver. He cut around the second zombie a bit too close, and the female shape lashed out and hit the back corner of the Humvee. John watched it overbalance and hit the pavement.
Half a block later and they were on the sidewalk. Five zombies chased them at a jog.
“We’ve got more up ahead, John.” Mike sounded less confident this time. One look over the soldier’s shoulder and John could see why. There were only a few more zombies on the road for the next block, but beyond that John could spot at least a dozen.
“Give me one more block, Mike,” John instructed. The Humvee lurched forward as Mike sped up. He clipped one of the zombies as he drove by, the large bang eliciting an involuntary yelp from Abi.
“Stay frosty now, guys.” John spoke with infinite calmness. “Abi, radio in. We are about three blocks from the breach and are engaging.”
Operating a radio was something Abi was comfortable with and good at, so she took on her task with vigor — any hints of her being flustered had disappeared as she transformed from the scared girl into the professional radio operator.
John prepared himself for action as Mike maneuvered the vehicle into position and Abi radioed in the report. He put on his ear protection and popped the hatch as soon as the Humvee came to a stop.
The belt was already fed into the automatic weapon from a drum, which was slotted right into the gun. He had a thousand rounds, ready to send downrange towards a target-rich environment.
Damn. I love this weapon! John released the safety.
He sighted and shot a burst of twenty or so bullets.
Come get some! He tried to suppress the thought, but the aspect of bullets flying, and the crackling sound of the weapon’s fire took over his every instinct.
After a second slightly longer burst, the road ahead was cleared. Well, sort of. John realized as he watched torn up bodies crawling along the ground. He felt a tug at his leg and looked down. Abi had somehow managed to wiggle through the gap in the front seats and was trying to get his attention. John lifted the earmuff off one ear and nodded at Abi.
“Don’t forget your six!” she called up to him.
John released the SAW and reached down for his M4, turning to face the rear as he did so.
The first zombie ran into the back of the vehicle with a smack. John left that one for the moment and looked up at the other half dozen jogging their way. John was methodical and precise as he picked off first one then another zombie with well-placed headshots.
Mike started rolling the vehicle forward to create some space between them and the remaining zombies. He came to a stop again half a block later, and John was able to take out several more zombies before he felt a familiar tug on his leg. He handed his M4 down to Abi and turned around, ready to deal destruction once more.
WHILE JOHN WAS ENGAGING zombies, BB had pulled up to a nasty surprise.
“What the fuck!” He looked at the horde of zombies heading their way. Breanne’s first reaction was to look at BB. His mouth was half open in disbelief, his eyes half closed as his entire pockmarked face grimaced in a look of extreme discomfort.
Breanne’s next reaction was to look out of the windshield.
This was extreme, all right.
A solid mass of zombies rushed towards them as they turned the last corner towards the gate. Looking beyond the crowd, they could see many more zombies traveling through the wide-open gate and towards their location.
At least a hundred, if not more, were already inside the community.
Several things happened at once then. Breanne reached for the radio receiver to report in as Bill pounded on Mike’s shoulder.
“Get me some space to shoot!” he yelled.
BB threw the vehicle into reverse and Breanne radioed in; her eyes glued on the approaching horde.
BACK AT THE REN ALL was quiet. Well, almost quiet. The people inside could just make out the staccato sounds of machine guns in the distance. Jack imagined that the people on the roof could hear the sounds of violence more clearly.
He kind of wished he were up there now. Partially to see what was going on. Partially to be near Nat.
She confuses me, he realized.
The radio squawked. Jack quickly picked up the handset.
“Ren, this is Car One, over.”
“Car One, this is Ren, I read you loud and clear. Go ahead, over.
“We should be coming up to the gate in the next minute or so. Over.”
“Understood. Keep us updated on your progress. Over.”
He waited in silence for several moments. Then the radio crackled again.
“There’s too many! Fuckin’ back up the tru—” The signal turned to static mid-sentence.
“Breanne? Breanne, come in, over.”
Jack
