“So where we at?” he asked as he surveyed it.
Jarvis pointed to the locations as she spoke. “About six blocks due west of the bridge,” she explained. “I think we need to put some significant distance between us and the bridge this time.”
“Agreed,” the Corporal said. “If there are any on the other side of the bridge, they aren’t going to care about the noise we’re making this far out. We need to focus on keeping the ones here occupied.”
Several gunshots erupted from the other soldiers as they cleared out nearby ghouls coming from alleys and stores. Neither Jinx nor Jarvis even flinched at the noise.
“If we can find someplace we can rig to blow like that gas station, that would be ideal,” the Corporal mused.
Jarvis shrugged. “I haven’t seen any yet,” she admitted, “and from the looks of it, we’re about to get into some residential areas for a bit.”
“Couple of house fires, maybe?” he asked. “Might get lucky with them having gas instead of electric.”
She shook her head, smiling. “You were totally a little arsonist as a kid, weren’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah, pleading the fifth on that one,” he replied.
A few more gunshots went off, and then the rest of the team clambered hop into the truck. Jinx used the back tire as a foothold and hopped into the bed with Davila and Rollins.
“So, what we doing next?” Davila asked.
Jinx jerked a thumb over his shoulder as he sat down. “Start a few house fires,” he replied, “see if we can’t get a gas explosion.”
“Hell yeah,” his friend replied with a grin, “I’m in.”
Jarvis drove the group a few blocks up, smacking into several clusters of undead on the road while the fireworks in the background attracted more ghouls from every nook and cranny on the roadside.
The neighborhood was middle-class, with nice brick homes stretching along the tree-lined streets. Jarvis drove up to an intersection, with houses stretching in every direction, and slowed to a stop. As the boys hopped out, she hung out of the window.
“Hey Jinx, I got an idea,” she said.
He approached her. “Let’s hear it,” he said.
“We got plenty of those fireworks, right?” she asked, motioning to the back of the truck. “We should set some of them up by the windows and doors of the houses you’re setting on fire. It’ll be like an extended fuse on ‘em, so we can get a little more bang for our buck.”
Jinx nodded and whirled his hand in the air. “You heard the lady,” he declared, “let’s set us up some extra party favors!”
Davila and Rollins grabbed large handfuls of fireworks out of the back and followed the other three up to the nearest house. As they set them up along the windows, the Corporal led the way inside.
He smashed open the front door, assault rifle raised. There were two zombies in the kitchen, staggering towards them, and he quickly put them down.
“Burch, check the stove, see if it’s gas,” Jinx said. “Stein, keep watch.”
The men leapt into action as the Corporal pulled a blanket off of a shelf and stretched it over the couch. He pulled out his lighter, but then Jarvis’ horn sounded.
“Everything okay?” Rollins called.
Jinx furrowed his brow. “Not sure,” he replied, and then looked out the window.
Jarvis stood in the driver’s side door, frantically waving her arms to get him to come over.
“You boys finish this up and get the fire going,” he instructed. “I’m going to go see what the problem is.”
He headed out the front door and walked casually towards the truck. Jarvis hopped out and ran over to him, unable to wait for him to reach her at his slow pace.
“Christ, what’s up?” he demanded.
She held out the walkie-talkie, thrusting it at him. “It’s Dickerson,” she said.
Jinx immediately raised the device to his lips. “Sergeant, it’s Jinx, what’s going on?”
“Thank Christ,” Dickerson gushed. “We’re pinned down and in need of immediate backup.”
The Corporal’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean, you’re pinned down?”
“We ran into a shitload of these motherfuckers and got driven into a house,” the Sergeant explained. “We’re completely surrounded and there’s hundreds of these things. Don’t know how much longer we can hold out.” There was deafening gunfire before he let go of the button.
“We’re on the way,” Jinx replied immediately. “Where are you?”
“North side of town, three, maybe four blocks due east of the hospital,” Dickerson replied. “Don’t have an address, but when you see the shitstorm, we’ll be in the middle of it.”
Jinx nodded firmly. “Hang tight Dickerson, we’re on the way.” He lowered the radio, jaw clenched.
“I know we need to help them,” Jarvis said slowly, “but what about our mission?”
The Corporal shoved two fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle, his team immediately rushing out of the house.
“What’s up?” Davila asked as they approached.
Jinx took a deep breath. “Sergeant Dickerson and his team are in a heap of trouble,” he replied. “We’re going to go bail them out. Davila, Rollins, can you two handle the house fires?”
“Absolutely,” Davila replied immediately.
Jinx held out his hand. “Map.”
Jarvis reached into her pocket and grabbed the paper, slapping it into his hand. He unfolded it and quickly studied it, seeing a large white-roofed building in the middle of the green residential area.
“Okay, I want fires every half-block, alternate sides of the street,” he began. “Pull out the fireworks that you can and use them.” He pointed to the white-roofed building. “Rendezvous at whatever this building is ten blocks to the west. Given the location, it’s probably a school or community center. If it’s too dangerous, meet one block to the west in the corner house. Now let’s move.”
Davila nodded and pointed at his teammates. “Burch, Stein, help us unload the fireworks,” he said. “Just dump them in the street and we’ll find a wheelbarrow or something
