“Shit.”
Breanne wasn’t sure which of her companions uttered that word. It might have been her.
Then something surprising happened. The zombies filed through the doorway underneath the trio’s feet and back into the building. Breanne could hear them navigating the metal stairs.
“They’re leaving?”
“Naw. They found themselves something else to chase.” The twang in Bill’s voice had an excited edge to it as he pointed.
A vehicle was heading in their direction. It was still several blocks away.
“That’s got to be John. We’ve got to signal them. Let them know we’re here,” BB said.
Bill immediately started rummaging around in his pockets. “Damn thing is in here somewhere...”
His eyes lit up as his fingers found the item he was after. He proudly pulled it out of his pocket and held it. It was a small cylinder, no more than three inches long.
“Flashlight,” Bill added after seeing the blank stares of his companions.
Bill quickly stepped to the edge of their tiny roof and started shining the light, moving his other hand away from the front and creating a morse-code effect.
The vehicle stopped, still over a block away. A few seconds later, a flashlight lit up inside the Humvee and responded to their signal. Breanne and the two soldiers cheered and gave each other high fives.
They could see the hatch open on top of the Humvee; somebody started shooting at the trickle of shapes shambling towards them.
They lost sight of the Humvee several minutes later. It had pulled into the warehouse parking lot. Bill carefully took aim and shot the last two remaining zombies on the roof. He waited a few seconds to see if any zombies returned from inside the building.
“Time to pop smoke.”
Breanne looked at the soldier with a frown. “We’ve got smoke? Couldn’t we have used that to signal for help?”
Bill guffawed. “Naw, Breanne. That’s just an expression. It means ‘get the hell out of here’.”
Breanne shook her head. “You army people with your expressions.”
Bill wasn’t listening; he had already hopped down. BB covered the man as he stepped around the front and looked inside. He held his flashlight aligned with his pistol, shining into the darkened interior.
“OK, we’re clear. Come on down.”
BB lowered Breanne off the ledge. She cringed as the gaunt-faced man jumped down after her.
My knees would pop right off my legs if I tried that. Nope. Jumping is not my thing.
The next few minutes were hairy, as it was dark inside the building. They got to the landing with the small office, and BB rushed into the room, asking the rest to hold up. He came back a second later, stuffing something into his pocket.
“OK. Good to go.”
He nodded at Bill, and they descended the stairs. They had to step on and over several zombies, so getting down the stairs turned into an exercise in balance control as well as fear. Breanne squealed when a body rolled towards her from several steps above, but it turned out that was just an accident. BB had dislodged the inert body when he nudged it. Breanne had a couple of choice words for BB in thanks.
They could hear shooting from the parking lot and watched as a zombie with badly broken legs crawled out of the building below them. They heard another sharp report and the crawler shuddered halfway through the doorway before it lay still.
Bill raised his hand a few steps below them, and they froze. He slowly scanned the warehouse with his flashlight, listening for movement at the same time. All Breanne could hear was an idling vehicle somewhere outside. After ten seconds, he turned back to the others. “I think we’re clear down here.”
They carefully crept down the last few steps and neared the door.
“We’re coming out, y’all. Don’t shoot!” Bill yelled.
John’s disembodied response floated back to them. “Yeah. Come on out. We’re clear out here.”
The trio made their way out of the warehouse to a joyful reunion with their counterparts. BB literally swept Abi off her feet, twirling the small woman around.
They called in the good news to Emily, then collectively decided not to head straight back but to try and get the second Humvee out of the ditch first. Twenty minutes later, two Humvees were headed home. They were just a few blocks from home when Breanne remembered something.
“Hey BB?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Why did you run back into that little office. You know ... back at the warehouse?”
“Heh! Yeah, that’s right — I almost forgot!” BB started to rummage in his pocket, driving with one hand for a few seconds. The vehicle jerked slightly as he struggled with the object. He was finally able to free it from his pocket.
“Saw this guy, just sitting there.” He brandished the object for his passengers to see. Bill whooped in the back. BB was holding a bottle of alcohol.
“That’s some damn fine Tennessee whiskey you got there, son!” Bill patted BB approvingly on the shoulder. “We gonna have a good time tonight!”
Breanne was not about to disagree.
Chapter 55
Q
November 9, 8:45 P.M., The Ren
They did have a bit of a party that night. Claire and Nancy had somehow been able to put together a real meal, including dessert. They had also reconstituted orange juice, which tasted incredibly sweet.
On top of that, every resident who wanted some whiskey got a shot. Even Q got one, despite the protestations from some adults.
After all, it was a time to celebrate. They had successfully defended the school, secured the breaches, and nobody got killed.
Q didn’t like the taste of that whiskey at all, but he tried not to show it as he sipped at his ounce.
“Is it good?” Steve asked at his elbow. The younger boy had latched on to Q since the end of the battle. Q didn’t mind the hero worship.
“Here.” He passed the last dregs to Steve. “Quick, before anybody sees.” Steve didn’t need a second invitation and downed the last bit of whiskey. Q thought that Steve’s face after drinking the harsh liquor was priceless and told him so.
The mood was
