Think Ben. You’ve trained for these situations. So, the distraction didn’t work. What now? The distraction ... The idea came to him so suddenly that he stood rigid, shocking those around him. Ben stepped up to Joe, making the big man take an involuntary step back.
“Joe, I’ve got an idea. I’m going to need you to trust me.”
Joe raised an eyebrow speculatively. Ben explained his idea. There was a moment of disbelief. Of distrust. But desperation breeds innovation, as the saying goes. They called Ethan and Q to come help, and within a couple of minutes they were all moving.
BACK ON THE ROOF, BOTH Nat and Ern had started taking shots at the approaching horde. Their shots hit every time now. But not always in the head. And anything other than a headshot was ignored by their undead stalkers. It felt like trying to bail a river.
Then the third claymore exploded. They could see the carnage inflicted by the mine. Body parts flew through the air like confetti. It looked sickening, even at this distance. But the swarm just kept coming. Single minded in its intent.
“Don’t rush your shots, mate!” Emily called from her position. The horde was still too far to be in effective range for her weapon.
“Right,” Nat said, and brought her eye to the scope once more.
Ern had taken a shot as well. He missed.
Some fucking army we are, Nat thought bitterly. At least a hundred targets, and we can’t hit one of them.
There. That guy. Moving steady, hardly a limp. Big head ... That helps. Nat squeezed the trigger, leading the target by a couple of feet. The shot hit. Thankfully, without an exploding skull. The guy went down, taking another zombie — an elderly lady — with it, as it crashed to the pavement.
OK, Nat. Next target. She raised the sight slightly, then gasped as she came eye-to-eye with another zombie. It stood at the fence, seemingly looking right at her. It chilled her to the bone.
“Fuck!” she exclaimed before getting back into position to shoot. She heard Ern mumble something in the background. The old guy had something against swearing.
Well, too bad, old-timer. Fuck that shit. Nat got her sights on the peeping Tom. More like creeping Tom. Ah, damn it, Nat!
She congratulated herself on her second hit two seconds later, though. Less than a minute after that, the whole exercise started to feel routine to her. Feed the cartridge into the chamber with the breech bolt, lock the bolt, aim, breathe, fire, unlock the bolt, eject the cartridge.
They fired like that for a full minute until another explosion scattered the front ranks of the undead. This time it was close enough for her to actually make out some of those body parts.
“That was the third claymore, lads,” Emily called out.
Nat considered letting her know that she wasn’t a “lad,” but the British woman had already continued shouting.
“Put in your ear protection. I’m about to get a kicking in on this lot!”
Nat complied. Ern fumbled with his but got them in too. Nat felt sorry for Shelley and the other women for a moment. Their ears were going to be ringing soon.
She braced for the noise. But it was another sound altogether that she heard, seconds later.
An engine?
“YOU’RE NUTS.”
That was Joe’s first response to his plan. But, after some convincing, he let Ben go ahead and carry it out. He even roped Q and Ethan into helping Ben out.
That was five or so minutes ago, and Ben and the two youngsters had been frantically working away at the plan since. Now it was as ready as it was going to get.
“This is going to be fucking awesome,” Q said to Ben as they pushed the machine out of the shed and onto the pavement at the back of the school. The sound of gunshots was much clearer from out there, and all three felt the urgency.
“Fuck, man, what if they’re at the gate already?” Q asked, casting a worried glance around the far side of the school.
“I don’t think so. Only two claymores have gone off. That means there are still three on the road. And that means that the zombies are still a couple hundred feet out at least,” Ben replied.
“Let’s just hope it starts,” Ethan said, slapping the machine with the flat of his hand.
“I know that my part is going to work,” Q said with a smirk.
Ben looked at the Latino boy’s handiwork. A ghetto blaster was taped to the back end of the machine. Power was on, and the volume was set to max. All Ben had to do was hit play.
“OK. Thanks, guys. Moment of truth,” Ben said as he sat down on the machine. He inserted the key into the ignition and pushed the clutch down with his foot. Ben looked up at the two youngsters. “Get back inside and close the door as soon as I get her started.”
He turned the ignition.
Ethan wished him luck, but his voice was drowned out by the engine. Ben turned the vehicle and drove off without any further hesitation. Q and Ethan ran through the school and up the stairs as fast as they could, carefully navigating up the mats on the steps.
“Sounds like he got it running?” Joe asked his son as the youngster sped by.
“Yep!”
Ethan was out of sight already, leaving Joe, Keith and Romy looking at each other.
“So, what do we do?” Romy asked an equally curious Joe.
“Let’s go get a better look. Keith, can you hold down the fort?”
Joe and Romy hurried up the stairs without waiting for an answer. Keith stood opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.
Q had reached the roof in record time. “It’s Ben!” he exclaimed loudly. All eyes turned to him as he climbed onto the roof, followed by Ethan. They quickly walked
