BLAM. Her first shot blasted the climber in the head just as it was getting up.
The words played through her mind. So much so, that she could barely hear her own weapon discharge.
BLAM. Another zombie at the fence folded in on itself.
Nat wasn’t even sure if she remembered the words correctly, but that didn’t matter. It was about the calmness in the mind. The focus. So, she played the song back, and shot the targets.
She didn’t catch the glance Ern threw in her direction. Concern and worry marred the old man’s face.
Nat didn’t realize that she was humming.
THE ZOMBIE STARED THROUGH the gaps in the chain link fence. Suddenly, it lunged. Its mouth opened wide as it sought to bite down onto its prey. It slammed into the fence, making several gashes in its cheek and nose. A piece of cartilage became exposed in its nose as it stepped back.
“Damn!” Joe exclaimed. The sound triggered the zombie to lunge again. Joe stepped back involuntarily as a spray of fluid shot towards him.
“Gross,” Keith said at Joe’s side. He raised his M4 and shot the zombie through the eye.
There were only a few zombies along the fence here. Keith counted no more than four.
Well, three now.
Make that two. He corrected as Joe shot a zombie at point-blank range, then cussed and spat as human detritus splattered everywhere.
“Just a couple more, Keith!” Joe said happily, then frowned.
Keith followed his gaze.
“A lot more than a couple, Joe,” Keith said in dismay. A handful of zombies were returning from the direction Ben had taken. Keith guessed they had been milling around close by but out of sight, returning once the first sounds of gunshot got their attention.
“They’re heeeere,” Keith added in homage to an old classic as he caught movement at street level. Several more shapes were dragging themselves towards the companions.
“Dude. That’s just creepy.” Joe frowned at Keith, who shrugged and grinned.
He was right, though. It was creepy. Keith’s grin faded as he got a closer look at what was coming towards them. Torn-up bodies. Some were missing limbs, like a foot or a leg. He saw nails and other pieces of metal sticking out of faces and chests. He saw innards being dragged along the pavement, several feet behind the bodies inside which they belonged. He saw the hands all torn up as they dragged themselves without regard to personal injury. One was missing its hand completely yet somehow was able to drag itself along the ground on the stump of its forearm.
The worst one was the fat kid. Or rather, it used to be a fat kid. Now its skin hung loose in folds around its frame, nearly dangling to the ground as it scuttled on its hands and knees. Keith couldn’t tell why it wasn’t walking. He didn’t really want to think about it. He raised his rifle and sighted down the barrel.
“Sorry, kid,” he said as he pulled the trigger.
Joe and Keith shot several zombies — Keith took out the crawlers while Joe tried to execute the ones still on their feet. He tried to, anyway. He missed the head with just about every shot, which was getting to him.
BLAM.
“Fuck.”
BLAM.
Ah! Damn!”
BLAM.
“For God’s sake!”
BLAM.
“Finally!” he cried as one zombie slumped to the ground.
A couple of minutes into the shooting, they were joined by Emily. The gate had already been cleared.
They were down to the last couple of zombies, which were ambling around the corner of the side street, when they heard another noise. The sound of an engine approaching.
“It’s about bloody time!” Emily said, although the smile on her face told another story. “OK, you blokes had better stand down. We don’t want to be shooting at our mates.”
Joe and Keith lowered their weapons as they heard the vehicle getting closer. Close enough to distract the last two zombies, which veered off to meet the newcomers. Emily, Joe, and Keith could not see the Humvee, but they knew it was there.
They could, however, see first one then the other zombie fall backwards, accompanied by the sound of two shots.
Joe pursed his lips slightly and frowned. Keith read his thoughts. “It’s all right, Joe. I don’t think any one of us can shoot like John.”
Joe nodded. The frown didn’t go away, though. “I think that I’ve got to get serious about practicing,” he said to himself as the Humvee drove into view.
They jogged towards the gate, nearly matching the speed of the Humvee as it navigated the street. The vehicle had no option but to run over a limb here and there. Emily shuddered at the sounds of cracking bones and tried to keep her eyes on the gate.
“Open her up, lass,” Emily asked Romy when she got close enough. Romy raised an eyebrow, decided that it was not a slight, and proceeded to unwrap the chain.
“Aw. Gross,” she commented as she grabbed a section of chain covered in human goo. To her credit she kept working the chain, eventually getting the full length disentangled and tossing it to the side before opening the gate.
The Humvee drove in, just far enough for the gate to be closed behind it. John jumped out as soon as it came to a halt and asked Emily if the claymore was still armed.
“Aye, mate. We went wide ’round the thing.”
John approached the explosive. He carefully got into position and detached several components from the mine with incredibly slow but deliberate movements.
Emily pursed her lips in appreciation as she watched John at work. It was not the first time that she felt an intense curiosity about John’s past.
Surely, he was no regular soldier. That man is the dog’s bollocks. On top of that, he is a right dish. That body would put a bodybuilder to shame. Rowr! ... Easy, Em.
Just then John looked up at Emily, almost as if sensing her thoughts. Emily felt her temperature rise and a flush creep onto her cheeks.
Fuck. Busted.
“Well done with that explosive, mate.”
