As they moved, there was an explosion in the distance. The force of the blast wasn’t much, but it was bright enough to light up a small bit of sky in the distance.
“God damn Herrera,” Dixon said, eyes wide with awe, “guess you aren’t much for subtlety.”
Hurst shook his head. “Please don’t get any ideas,” he begged, looking down at the charred corpses. “You’ve already done a good job of burning shit down.”
“Don’t worry,” Dixon assured him, “I got out with my eyebrows still intact, so I’m calling it a win. Plus, if Herrera asks, we can always say we didn’t see anything.”
“If it keeps you restrained, then I’m all for it,” Ayers quipped.
The three soldiers kept their rifles ready as they headed down towards the docks. They were two blocks away from the water, and could already hear the lapping of waves jostled around from the wind.
At the next intersection, they stopped in the middle, looking both ways. There was a small pack of zombies down a block to the south, and a lone zombie to the north.
“Don’t see much of a threat here,” Dixon said quietly. “Let’s keep moving, the others can handle it if these guys get frisky.”
He led them towards the docks, stopping at the end of the road. The only thing separating them from the water was another row of houses.
“I can only imagine what these cost,” Ayers muttered.
Hurst smirked. “Maybe if we all pool our money together, we can rent it out for a weekend.”
“Nah, I’d rather just take it by force,” Dixon replied, and readied his rifle. He led them across the street, stopping at the front door of the nearest house and peeking in the movement. There was a little movement inside, towards the back. “Two at the back,” he said quietly. “Ayers, you’re with me, Hurst, you clear the first floor.”
They nodded, and he turned the knob, pushing it in quickly. He crept inside with Ayers right on his heels, aiming in tandem and each taking out their targets with a single shot. Hurst swept the first floor, stopping at the stairs.
“Clear!” he declared.
“Hit the second floor,” Dixon instructed, “we’ve got the back.”
Hurst headed up as the other two walked to the back door. They opened it up, revealing a large patio. Dixon stepped out, looking straight out at the water. He couldn’t help but admire the moonlit sand, and then Ayers grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back inside, quietly shutting the door behind them.
“What the hell?” Dixon hissed.
Ayers shushed him, and then motioned to the window. Dixon looked out, and then spotted several zombies to either side of the deck, stretching down several houses. He cursed himself for being so distracted by the water.
“Well, that’s not going to work now, is it?” he muttered.
Another lone shot went off upstairs, startling the duo. They looked out at the zombies that were moaning and looking around for the source of the noise.
A few moments later, Hurst entered the room. “Not much upstairs, just-”
“Shhh!” Ayers hushed him, and Hurst blinked in confusion. His companions motioned to the window, and he peered out, wrinkling his nose. Dixon waved for them to follow, and the trio retreated to the living room.
“How do you want to handle this?” Hurst asked quietly.
Dixon pursed his lips as he reloaded his rifle. “Pop in a full mag,” he said, “we pick off a few from the deck and bring ‘em over to us. If there aren’t too many, we bottleneck them up on the stairs and grab a meat tenderizer from the kitchen and do some work.”
“And if there are too many of them?” Ayers asked, raising an eyebrow.
Dixon shrugged, holding up his rifle. “That’s why we have the full mags.” He led the group into the kitchen, stopping by the drawers and rummaging around until he found a large meat tenderizing hammer.
“How did you know they’d have one?” Hurst wondered.
Dixon smirked. “Place like this with a view like that,” he drawled, “and you know they’re grilling a lot.”
“Remind me to check the liquor cabinet before we head back,” Hurst replied. “Can’t grill without a drink in the hand.”
Dixon chuckled. “Just make sure you stash it well,” he warned. “Don’t want to be sharing any with those boat boys who have been lounging around at sea for the last month.”
“What side do you want?” Ayers asked.
Hurst inclined his head. “I got right, you go left?”
Ayers nodded and slid the door open. The three men stepped outside, getting into position, with Dixon waiting at the stairs in the center.
The duo took aim and fired within a second of each other, quickly popping off several rounds, dropping ghouls on either side of the house. Moans rippled through the air as creatures on both sides emerged from the shadows. What had initially looked like a dozen swelled into three dozen, all of them hungry and coming their way.
“That hammer isn’t gonna do much good,” Ayers warned, and Dixon nodded, dropping it and stepping back.
The duo on the left did a good job of clearing out a dozen or so zombies in a short period of time, bullets ripping through skulls.
When they were down to about eight, Hurst bellowed, “Need a hand over here!” He panic fired, sending three-round bursts into a crowd of zombies.
Dixon dashed over, seeing several zombies had made it to the front of the deck. He hopped up on the banister, aiming straight down and opening fire in three-round bursts. The bullets ripped through the tops of the heads as well as the shoulders, depleting his mag. He reloaded as he surveyed the carnage, seeing most of the ones in the front had dropped.
Ayers approached as Dixon hopped back down from the railing. “My side
