“Especially if Jarvis has that truck still purring,” Stein added.
Jinx nodded. “We still need to find a way to signal them.”
“I got that under control,” Davila said, and pointed to a small fireworks stand off to the side of the parking lot. “Get their attention, and give us some more firepower.”
The Corporal grinned. “I like it.”
All of a sudden, a gigantic explosion in the distance rattled the windows of the buildings beside them.
“What in the fuck was that?” Stein gaped.
Jinx raised his eyebrows. “Looks like Jarvis is having some fun,” he said.
Davila glanced out and saw the two zombies that had been heading their way had changed their trajectory and were moving towards the explosion. They leaned against the building, watching as they shambled by harmlessly.
Jinx raised a fist. “They’re going to be here soon,” he said. “Let’s get over to the fireworks stand.”
The soldiers looked out, noting several of the zombies in the street turning towards the explosion in the distance. Jinx waited until there was a significant opening, twenty yards between groups, and then broke cover.
He led his team across the street towards the grocery store, running hard. A few of the zombies spotted them and changed course to follow, but only a handful.
“Keep moving,” Jinx instructed, “we’ll worry about them later.”
They reached the parking lot and rushed the fireworks stand. It was a small building, a converted mobile home. The three others stood guard as Jinx worked on the door. A dozen zombies wandered towards them, but none were closer than forty yards.
Jinx jiggled the door handle, finding it locked. Rather than worry about picking it, he drew his knife and shoved it into the mechanism. The cheap material shattered as he gave the handle of the blade a good hard smack.
“We’re in,” he said, and then opened the door cautiously, keeping the knife at the ready. He stepped inside, finding the building abandoned. Sunlight pierced the cheap curtains hanging over the windows, revealing a treasure trove of consumer grade explosives.
Jinx looked around and found some roman candles, grabbing a pack and tossing it to Davila. “Start lighting them up to signal Jarvis,” he suggested.
The private ripped the packaging opened with excitement, brandishing his lighter and sparking up the end of one of the candles. “Man, this shit makes me miss the fourth of July,” he said.
The fuse ignited, quickly vanishing into the handheld device. He aimed it high and towards the road, and soon the first colorful ball of flame shot out. It arced high, landing on the road and burning for several seconds.
“Ten bucks says you can’t hit one of the zombies,” Rollins said.
Davila smirked. “Shit man, make it twenty.”
“Done,” his friend replied.
Davila adjusted his aim, the next ball flying just over the head of one of the zombies coming their way, still twenty yards from them. “Shit, double or nothing,” he said.
“Done,” Rollins repeated with a lopsided grin.
Davila lowered the trajectory as the next colorful ball jetted out. It flew through the air, landing on the shirt collar of a bloody corpse in business attire. The bright blue flame stuck to the clothing, quickly setting it ablaze.
Davila and Stein cheered, while Rollins muttered obscenities under his breath.
Jinx poked his head out the door. “What in the hell are you doing out here?” he asked.
Davila held up the empty candle. “Just won a bet against Rollins,” he declared, and pointed to the flaming zombie, how fully engulfed in fire.
“Nice shot,” the Corporal replied. “But can you guys clear them out? We’re going to have stuff to load in.”
Rollins raised an eyebrow. “Doing some shopping?”
Jinx grinned. “Just seems criminal not to use this stuff.”
Davila inclined his head towards the small pack of zombies still ambling towards them. “Come on, let’s go clear them out,” he said, and lit up another roman candle, aiming it towards the road as they headed towards the pack.
He hung back as Rollins and Stein made quick work of the ghouls, stabbing them in the head and dropping them. As they wrapped up, an engine roared in the distance.
Davila lit up another candle, keeping the flames going to the road. A few moments later, Jarvis rolled into view, making the turn into the parking lot. She skidded to a stop in front of her smiling friend.
“Where the hell did you find a roman candle at?” she asked through the open window.
Davila jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Fireworks stand,” he said. “Jinx is over there and says we need to load up.”
“We’re gonna have to hurry,” Jarvis replied. “Getting a good number of them coming from the bridge.”
Davila nodded as she sped off towards the stand. “Rollins,” he said, “let’s go check it out.”
The duo headed towards the road as Stein jogged back to help load up the fireworks. As they approached the main road, a few more zombies came into view, a new group appearing from the shops across the street. They were more than twenty yards away, so the soldiers didn’t pay them any mind for the time being.
“Yikes,” Rollins said as he looked towards the bridge. “That looks like a shitshow.”
There were a few dozen zombies emerging from it, shambling towards their position.
“Well, it doesn’t look like we need to worry about attracting attention to ourselves anymore,” Davila replied. He pulled out his handgun, took aim at the trio of zombies headed their way from the store, and opened fire. In three quick shots, they lay motionless on the ground. “Come on, let’s get back,” he said.
As the duo approached the stand, Stein was just shutting the tailgate. Davila hopped up to get a look at the bed.
“Holy hell, clearing them out, aren’t you?” he asked with a laugh, and looked closer. “Man, there’s mortars, high end rockets, bricks of firecrackers. We’re going to have a good ole time, aren’t we?”
Jinx nodded. “We have to do whatever we can to keep
