“Christ that’s sad,” Davila said with a sigh. “Yo, Jinx, can we pick him up a Gameboy or something at the Super Center before we head out? Hell, it’ll even be my treat.”
Burch barked a laugh. “Nah, don’t need a Gameboy,” he assured his friend. “But if you come across a bottle of scotch…”
“That’s a man with priorities,” Jinx declared, snapping his fingers. “I dig it.”
They went quiet when they reached the end of the bridge, seeing a couple of zombies wandering by, stumbling over the side of the rail. Jinx motioned for the other two to move up to take them out quietly, while he covered them with his rifle.
The duo broke rank, rushing forward with their knives and stabbing into the zombie’s skulls as the creatures tried to get up. Jinx walked to the end of the rail bridge, sweeping the area carefully. There were a couple dozen zombies spread out in the area leading up to the Super Center.
They took a knee in the field across from the parking lot, surveying the situation. Jinx pulled out the binoculars and scanned the lot, honing in on a flame-grilled burger restaurant at the far end near the road, with forty to fifty zombies in their path and a couple hundred more on the road leading to the nearby bridge.
“Gonna be one hell of a run,” the Corporal murmured. He passed the binoculars to the others, who took turns looking at the scene.
“Maybe we can get into the Super Center and find something useful in there,” Davila suggested.
Jinx pursed his lips. “Hold that thought,” he said, and broke rank, running up to the building and hugging the wall.
He crept along it and peeked around the corner, checking out the thirty or so zombies milling about the front entrance. He grimaced and then darted back to his team.
“Well, that idea’s out,” he said quietly.
Burch cocked his head. “How bad?”
“Thirty, maybe a few more,” Jinx replied. “Won’t be any problem to take them out, but if we do, the ones from the road will swamp the restaurant.”
Davila held out the binoculars. “So, straight to the restaurant then, huh?” he asked.
“Only play I see,” Jinx agreed. “We run up, hit ‘em hard, and get inside. In and out in sixty, then run like hell to the front entrance of the Super Center.”
“We should be bringing enough noise that it’ll pull them away from the entrance,” Burch pointed out.
Davila nodded. “You’d hope, at least.”
“Get inside here,” the Corporal said, “blow the windows, and pull the fire alarm.”
Burch’s brow furrowed. “The power has been out for weeks now,” he reminded his superior.
“These Super Centers have to fire backup power supplies for fire systems,” Davila explained. “We just have to hope that the backup battery hasn’t gone dead.”
Burch pursed his lips. “And if it has?”
“I’m not opposed to blowing more shit up,” Jinx replied.
Davila grinned. “One track mind,” he said, “love it.”
“Okay,” the Corporal said as he pulled his rifle from his back, “three-round bursts, don’t stop moving to aim, go right up the center of them. Burch, you’re on burner duty, get that gas flowing. Davila, you sweep the room. I’ll take care of the exit route. We good?”
The trio readied their guns and then Jinx broke cover, his teammates a few yards to either side of him. They moved quickly, almost at a full sprint, running towards the group of zombies near the restaurant. They were about forty yards between the first zombie and the eatery, moderately packed in.
Jinx fired first, clipping two ghouls in the head, and they pushed through. Davila opened fire, aiming slightly to his left to attack a trio that had turned their attention towards them. Burch let rip on his group just to the right, doing his part to keep the alleyway open.
The gunfire was intense, with all three soldiers releasing trios of shots one right after the other. The zombies began to move towards them, arms outstretched and mouths open with excitement, and the gaps began to close.
When they were within twenty yards of the restaurant, the pack started to get closer together, shoulder to shoulder as Jinx approached.
“Everybody forward!” he barked.
On his command, both Davila and Burch aimed forward and the three of them sent a couple dozen rounds towards the front facing group. The bullets ripped through the decrepit flesh, sending a large number of them tumbling to the ground.
Several still remained standing, so the Corporal lowered his shoulder and plowed through, creating an opening for the trio to rush in.
The side of the restaurant was ten yards away, and only a couple of ghouls remained in the way.
“Cover the rear!” Jinx yelled, and his friends turned to fire at the creatures now chasing them.
Jinx stopped, aimed, and fired a burst towards the two zombies in front of him, blowing the backs of their heads clean off. He turned his attention to the large window on the side of the building, sacrificing another three bullets to shatter it to pieces.
“We’re in!” he cried, and tore through the window. The other two soldiers joined him in rushing inside.
Burch immediately rushed to the back, and as soon as he saw it was clear, he made his way to the gas grill burner. He flicked on the switches and quickly blew out the starter flame before taking a quick sniff.
“Oh yeah, we’re hot,” he declared, and darted back out into the main room.
Davila finished his sweep, and Jinx stood at the window opposite the broken one, looking out at the Super Center.
“Gas is flowing,” Burch said, and then jumped as a few zombies smacked into the open window.
“The Super Center crowd is headed our way and looking pretty thinned out,” Jinx reported. “You boys ready for another run?”
Davila nodded. “Lead the way.”
The Corporal fired a single round at the corner of the window, shattering it. The three soldiers hopped down into the parking lot,
