As Herrera approached the zombie, it let out an excited moan, which gained the attention of several more ten yards behind it. In turn, they began to moan and shamble towards the truck, setting off a chain reaction.
The Corporal gulped, adrenaline spiking. “Start shooting, start shooting!” he cried, and raised his weapon. He hit the closest ghoul in the face at point blank range, dropping it. He and Eason began firing single shots, hitting the creatures one by one, but barely putting a dent in the horde.
Gilbert and Greer stood fast, keeping a close eye on the zombies in the distance as they, too, began working their way towards the truck. As the fire intensified behind them, Gilbert clenched his jaw.
“How’s it going, Choi?” he barked.
“A lot better if you’d stop bothering me,” his teammate yelled from below the dashboard. His speech was muffled by the flashlight between his teeth as he stared intently at the wiring. He picked and chose the wires carefully, finally shaking his head and thinking, fuck it. He stripped two of them and sparked them together, relieved as the engine came to life. He tied them together, the engine purring.
He dropped the flashlight and yelled, “Everybody in!”
The firing continued as the four soldiers backed up to the truck, and then clambered into the bed. Greer smacked the roof of the cab once they were clear.
“We’re in, let’s move!” he bellowed.
Choi popped the truck into gear and raced away, just as the horde reached them. A few zombies made a mad grab, but missed as the vehicle sped away from their outstretched hands.
They drove around the back of the stores, racing down the street in search of trucks. It wasn’t long before they encountered six of them sitting at the giant loading dock for the Super Center. Choi put the truck in park and hopped out.
“Greer, you’re up,” he said.
“Gilbert, on me,” Herrera said as he hit the pavement. “You two, start getting those trucks opened up and keep watch. We might have company soon.”
Everyone got in position as the Corporal ran up to the back door. They got ready and threw it open before rushing inside, flashlights and guns pointed forward.
Herrera caught a glimpse of a couple zombies wandering about. He quickly aimed and fired, knocking them out. The soldiers stood quietly for a moment, waiting to hear moans, but nothing came. They scanned the loading dock for the office.
“Got it,” Gilbert said, and rushed over to the small room. He burst in as Herrera stayed at the door, keeping watch. He heard the doors to the store opening up slowly, putting him on high alert.
“Hold up, I hear something,” he hissed into the room, and Gilbert froze in his rummaging.
The Corporal stepped away from the office to get a better view of the doors. He shone the flashlight in that direction and saw half a dozen zombies pouring through. He immediately raised his weapon and fired.
“Find those keys, Gilbert!” he barked, shooting more ghouls, striking them with great accuracy, adrenaline pounding in his ears.
“Got ‘em!” Gilbert yelled, emerging from the office with the ring in his hand.
Herrera fired off a few more rounds, and they raced to the back door, slamming it shut and securing it. “Find the trucks that match these, and let’s hit the road,” he said as Gilbert distributed the keys.
The soldiers all went to work, taking more time than Herrera was comfortable with locating the correct trucks. Finally, all four were inside cabs, starting them up and switching to channel eight on the CB.
“Okay, listen up,” Herrera said into the radio. “I’m out first, Eason you’re with me, and we’re taking the inner loop. Gilbert, you and Choi are on the outer. Head west onto the bridge. We’re going to go for at least a thousand yards. The further we can get the better, because it’ll give us room to expand this blockade later. Now let’s roll out.”
He jammed the truck into gear and it lurched forward, taking a moment to get it moving smoothly. The rest of the trucks followed him out in a rumbling convoy.
As they made the turn onto the road to head north, several of the zombies from the shopping center parking lot poured onto the road. Herrera moved a little to the side to avoid the bulk of them, but still managed to crush a handful under his tires, bringing a smile to his face.
There was little resistance to the interstate, with the trucker tandems making their respective turns onto the proper interstate loops, smashing into a few straggler creatures as they went.
The interstate was mostly empty, with a few broken-down cars. The Corporal was amazed at the lack of debris everywhere.
“Is it just me, or is this interstate eerily creepy?” he asked into the radio.
Choi crackled through, “The airport here is a major hub, so if anybody coming out of Austin was flying international, it would have spread here quickly,” he replied. “Doesn’t look like a lot of people had time to react.”
“Maybe,” Gilbert cut in, “or maybe it could have been aliens!”
There was some light laughter across the radio.
“Aliens?” Choi scoffed. “Really, man? Don’t tell me you believe in that nonsense.”
“Dude, we’re driving trucks so we can block off a bridge to prevent the living dead from getting through,” Gilbert replied. “All bets are off at this point.”
Eason chuckled and added, “Man’s got a point.”
The playful banter cut short as Herrera caught a frightening glimpse, forcing everyone to slam on the brakes.
There were thousands of zombies on either side of the bridge, all slowly making their way across.
“Holy mother of god,” Choi breathed.
“How far out are we, Corporal?” Eason asked.
Herrera swallowed hard, mouth dry. “Far enough,” he replied. “Let’s block it off.”
The four trucks did their best to stretch across the entire four lanes on either side of the bridge, with one truck resting against the barrier and the other doing the
