Must be one of the locals.
He left his M4 strapped over his shoulder and went for the loaded shotgun, which was held by an improvised holster that he and Ethan had rigged onto the mower. He clutched the steering wheel with his knees, knowing that he would need both hands to fire the powerful M870 shotty. He aimed and waited to get closer.
BLAM. The zombie was lifted off its feet and flung backwards by the force of the 12-gauge slug. Ben saw a fist-sized hole in the creature’s upper chest as he drove by it. The thing still wasn’t destroyed, but he must have severed its spine, as it could do no more than turn its head towards him and open its mouth in a silent scream.
Ben looked behind him to see that his followers were flagging, so he hit the brakes. He carefully put the shotgun back in its holster and pulled the M4 from his shoulder as he stepped out. His first shot was to finish off the downed zombie. Next, he lined up carefully and got three headshots, before jumping back into the saddle. The next intersection was just up ahead. He would turn right there.
If the plan worked, the mass of undead would follow.
BACK ON THE ROOF, EMILY had taken a peek through a bullet-riddled gap in the roof ledge.
The plan seemed to be working. “They’re following him,” she whispered to her companions, who nodded, smiled, and made grateful noises.
She moved slightly so she could look down the street. The flood of zombies had turned into a trickle. She did, however, count about a dozen zombies at various places along the fence. These ones seemed intent upon the Ren.
“Not all of them are gone, yeah?” Emily added. “There are some coming up the street still, and about a dozen or so at the fence.”
Nat crawled over so she could take a look. After a few moments, she turned to Emily. “We should be able to take care of those. We’ve still got Joe and Keith downstairs, too.”
“And Romy,” Tammy said from her position close to Melissa. “She’s a good shot.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter at the moment,” Emily said. “Ben’s got to lead that other lot far enough away first.”
“Ben is moving again.” Nat had gone back to looking out of the hole. “He’s about to turn down a side-street.”
The others waited in anticipation as Nat kept watching. Ern got frustrated enough to start rising but was stopped by Emily. “You stay down! Are you daft?! We’re not going to risk it all to ease your curiosity.”
Ern sank back to his place, properly chastised.
The wait seemed to last forever. Still Nat watched. Emily could tell that Ben had turned a corner and was traveling away as the lawnmower-boombox noise got a lot quieter. She was just about to ask Nat what she was seeing when the young woman spoke.
“He’s led at least a hundred of them away. There are about ten or so milling around the intersection. It almost looks like they can’t decide whether to help the chase or come back to the school...”
“All right. We need to stay quiet for now,” Emily said. “You lot”— she pointed at Shelley and her group —“stay up here. Nat, Ern, you’re with me.” With that, the British soldier started crawling towards the roof hatch.
She was almost at the hatch when she turned. “Tammy,” she whispered. “Can you spy on that lot and also let us know when Ben is out of earshot? That will be our signal to go.”
“OK.” Tammy smiled, happy to contribute. She didn’t waste any time and crawled towards the peephole.
“Q, we need a messenger. Can you go hang out at the ladder? Wait for Tammy to give you a signal and then come relay it to us.” As Q nodded and gave her a thumbs up, Emily added, “There’s a good lad.”
Once back inside the library, Emily could speak normally. “We’re going to collect Joe and the other shooters. When Tammy gives the signal, we can all head outside and go clear the fences,” she explained to Nat and Ern as they walked through the library.
“What’s going on?” Rachel asked when they passed her and her nervous-looking companions.
“Ben’s led loads of them away. We’re going to clear the rest of them from the fences,” Emily replied. To their relief, she said, “I think it’s almost over.”
Emily left the library with Nat and Ern in tow. She hesitated at the stairwell.
“Ethan!” she called out. The teen came running out of the media room several seconds later. “Any word from John or Bill?”
He nodded. “Abi just radioed in. She said they got the hole in the wall plugged and are on their way back here.” Ethan’s face grew more serious. “Still no word from Breanne ...”
“Right.” Emily nodded, processing it all. “I need you to get a message to John for me. I assume they know that Bill’s team is MIA?”
Ethan assented.
“Tell them that Ben has led most of the zombies away,” she instructed, “but there are still about twenty zombies on the street and at the fence. Tell John to hold his approach until you give them the signal. The signal for you will be when we start shooting.”
“Got it.”
Ethan was about to turn away when Emily grabbed his elbow.
“You take Jack’s spot at the radio. Send Jack down to us. We need every shooter we’ve got.”
Ethan hesitated for a moment and a troubled look crossed his face. The moment passed and he pursed his lips, nodding, turned and jogged back towards the media room.
“I think he wanted to join us,” Nat said.
Emily merely shrugged as she led her companions down the stairs and to the landing. Joe, Keith, and Romy had heard the whole thing, and were already clearing a path down the stairs.
They were joined at the front door by Jack a couple of minutes later. The young man had armed himself.
“We should get that signal at any time, so
