“Did I say male strippers?” she asked.
He gaped at her, and she smirked back at him.
“Oh yeah,” Zion said, shaking his head, “my boy Calvin has a live one.”
She winked at him. “Yeah, he does.”
The two of them made their way to the truck, heading slowly down the street. As they went, they passed several downed zombies, dotting the road like it’s a trail so Calvin and Mateo could find their way back to the complex.
“Looks like we aren’t going to have that many to clear out,” Tori said. “Calvin is doing some work.”
“He’s also got our friend Mateo with him,” Zion said. “We picked him up at Wendy’s camp, and he’s a madman.”
She cocked her head. “Hope you mean that in a good way.”
“In these times,” he replied, “absolutely.”
As they worked their way down the road, they finally caught up with the horde that had dwindled to about forty or so. Zion reached over to honk the horn, but she stopped him.
“No, keep them bunched up,” Tori said, lifting a bottle. “Fire will work better.”
He held out his hand, motioning to the monsters. “Have at it, then.”
She lit up a cocktail and gave it a good heave, sending it right into the center of the horde, fire spreading quickly. Some of the flaming creatures turned and shambled towards her, but Zion stepped up and smacked them down with his wooden bludgeon.
As he lifted the bits of flaming flesh sticking to the end of his weapon, a grin spread on his face. “This gives me an idea,” he said, and turned to her. “Think you can whip me up a flaming sword?” he asked as he smashed another creature.
“I don’t think it would be the most practical weapon,” she admitted, “but it’ll look cool as hell.”
Zion winked at her. “In that case, I’ll only pull it out for special occasions.”
“Consider it officially on the list,” she replied.
He smacked down the last few zombies, and then sat Mateo and Calvin finishing the last few of their group, finally ending the threat.
As the two duos approached each other, Tori set down her box and ran to the sniper, throwing her arms around his neck. Mateo shot Zion a playful look, as if offering him a hug too.
“I don’t care how good your grandmother’s tamales are,” Zion said, holding up a hand, “that ain’t happening.”
The quartet broke into a fit of giggles, exhausted and relieved that they’d managed to survive the chaos of the day.
“How we looking at the apartments?” Calvin asked as Tori stepped back from him.
“Building is a little singed,” she admitted, “but other than that it’s secure.”
He inclined his head to Zion. “Think we should radio Wendy and tell them to come back?”
His companion shook his head. “Nah, let them go hang out down there for a bit while we get this place cleaned up,” he replied. “A sea of burnt corpses isn’t exactly the first impression I want to make.”
“Good call,” Mateo agreed.
As they headed to the truck, they stopped at the sight of two people running towards them.
“Oh hell, what now?” Calvin groaned.
It was Cheryl and Jack, both carrying guns, and out of breath as if they’d sprinted the entire way.
“Zion-” she gasped, skidding to a stop and trying to speak through her gasps.
He put out a hand. “Slow down girl, slow down,” he said. “Now what’s going on?”
“The…” She took a deep, ragged breath. “The horde on the interstate.”
His brow furrowed. “What about it?”
“It’s…” she huffed, “turned around.”
He straightened up. “Calvin, Tori, with me,” he snapped. “Rest of you get back to the complex and start fortifying that door with anything you can find.”
“What are you going to do?” Cheryl asked breathlessly.
“Figure out how much time we have,” Zion replied.
She motioned vaguely towards the interstate. “Jermaine is still down there keeping an eye on them,” she said, finally catching her breath. “Said he was just short of the tunnel. He sent the rest of the crew back.”
Zion nodded, and the trio got into the truck. He popped the vehicle into gear and peeled out, speeding towards the highway.
“How many zombies are we talking about?” Tori asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.
Calvin shook his head. “They took past ten thousand this morning, but there’s fifty or sixty thousand more behind them,” he replied.
Her face paled, and she looked down at her hands.
“Man, but what if we just say quiet?” Calvin asked hopefully. “Won’t they just keep walking on the interstate?”
Zion gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles. “They might see the plume of smoke,” he explained, “or hear the fire burning and come our way.”
“And even if they don’t,” Tori added, “having that many zombies in this area would effectively mean we’d be prisoners in the complex. And we don’t have the resources to sit there indefinitely.”
There was a long silence in the cab.
Calvin finally groaned. “So, what do we do?” he asked.
“Don’t know until we know how much time we have,” Zion replied.
They raced down the interstate, going several miles before they spotted Jermaine waving them down on the side of the road.
“Hey,” he greeted.
Zion jumped out. “How’s it looking?”
He shook his head. “It’s bad, man,” he admitted. “The tail end of them, or hell, how I guess the front end of them, is about two miles up the road. I don’t know what the hell went off, but it hooked every single one of those fuckers.”
“They moving quick?” Zion asked.
“They ain’t runners, if that’s what you’re asking,” Jermaine replied, “but they’re moving at a solid clip.”
Calvin took a deep breath. “How long did it take you to get them from the exit up there?”
“I don’t know man, five, maybe six hours?” came the reply.
The sniper groaned. “With where they are now, they could be at the crossroads in four hours,” he said.
“Unless we find a way to slow them down,” Zion replied.
“We have the bulk of the components made for the loppers,” Tori piped up, “we just
