“Fire in the hole, boys!” Jinx yelled, and pulled the pin from the grenade, chucking it back through the window towards the kitchen.
The trio immediately sprinted for the Super Center, firing as they tore through the lumbering mass. Jinx fired two bursts, with the third pull of the trigger resulting in a click. He lowered his shoulder, driving himself into the closest zombie and driving him back.
As he did this, the grenade detonated, igniting the gas. The entire building went up in a spectacular display, sending plumes of smoke and fire into the air. As it happened, Davila moved up to cover for the Corporal, firing several bursts into the zombies ahead, clearing up room for them to move.
The three men did more ducking and diving, narrowly avoiding outstretched rotted hands as they approached the front of the building. The soldiers quickly reloaded, and Jinx grabbed the door handle, finding it open.
“Open twenty-four seven,” he said with a grin, and then slipped inside cautiously.
Davila flicked the lock closed behind them, and the trio crept forward into the front of the store. It was well lit, thanks to the large windows at the front. Jinx moved for the register row, checking every aisle for zombies. He had to fire a few shots here and there, switching to single burst mode, picking off the occasional stray that broke away from the pack. When he reached the end, he saw no other zombies nearby, and headed back for his team.
Burch and Davila looked out the front window, watching the raging fire that had once been a restaurant, and a couple hundred zombies coming from the road towards the inferno.
“How’s it looking out there?” Jinx asked.
Burch shook his head. “Seeing that restaurant burn like that is really making me miss grilling,” he said.
“One day chief, one day,” Davila said wistfully.
“Come on let’s clear out our path to the back, we’re not out of this yet,” Jinx said, raising his rifle.
The three men broke away from the window and began moving swiftly through the dark in the store. They had their flashlights out, aiming them down every aisle they came across, luckily finding nothing. After a quick trip, they get to the loading dock doors.
Jinx gave a silent countdown from three, bursting through the door on one. They quickly swept the back area, seeing nothing but bare concrete flooring with several boxes stacked up.
“Burch,” Jinx said, “check the door and make sure we’re good to go. Davila, find us a fire alarm.”
The two soldiers rushed off to do their assigned tasks, while Jinx looked out the double doors leading to the store. He shone his flashlight around, making sure no ghouls were headed in his direction.
Burch opened the back door, looking out to see only a few zombies wandering around the back of the store. He gently shut it and came back over to the Corporal.
“Coast is pretty clear,” Burch said, “we can get back to the rail bridge.”
“What about the water?“ Jinx asked.
Burch shook his head. “We can go that route if we need to as well.“
“Just worried about that southern bridge,” Jinx admitted, furrowing his brow. “With all this noise, we’re going to be pulling zombies up from the south.”
Davila approached from the back. “Got us a fire alarm switch.”
“Good, so here’s the plan,” Jinx said, waving them towards him. “I’m going to take a position by the front windows, you’re going to pull the alarm, then I’m gonna open them up. That will draw those things in and make it more difficult for them to wander back out. We get out the back, swim across, then wait for the other troops to do their jobs.”
Davila nodded. “I’m ready when you are.”
Jinx readied his gun. “Let’s give it a few more minutes,” he said, “give Jarvis time to locate some vehicles. We move in five.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jarvis drove Rollins and Stein around to some of the businesses a few blocks away from the main road. The zombie resistance was minimal back there, as most of the ghouls had opted to stay on the main road.
“Got one over there,” Rollins said.
Jarvis slowed to a stop as Rollins pointed to an SUV sitting in front of a shop.
“This will make what, three?” Jarvis asked.
He nodded. “Yeah, that should be enough to fill in the gaps on the first bridge,” he mused. “A few may be able to wander out, but not enough to make a difference.”
“Stein, cover him,” she instructed.
The two men hopped out of the truck and raced over to the SUV. Rollins immediately began patting his hand underneath the back wheel well.
“Come on, come on, no whammy,” he muttered, and then let out an excited whoop when he felt a small metal box connected to a magnet. He pulled it out and slid it open, revealing the key. “Oh, how I love trusting, naïve people.” He clicked the unlock button, and the SUV beeped. “Come on Stein, let’s roll.”
His partner headed over to the passenger side and opened the door, immediately jumping back. There was a badly decomposed corpse inside, belted into the seat. The flesh had started to melt away from the body due to the extreme heat in the car over the previous month.
The zombie slowly shifted, letting out a low gurgling moan, struggling to even move without most of its body mass.
“Yeah, this one is all you, buddy,” Stein said, wrinkling his nose.
Rollins looked in through the driver’s side and sighed, shaking his head. “Can you at least stab it in the head for me?” he asked.
“Don’t say I never do anything for you,” Stein retorted. He pulled out his knife and jammed it into the zombie’s temple, ending its miserable existence.
“All right, watch out,” Rollins said, and reached in to unbuckle the corpse. He gave it a shove and the mass of gunk flopped out onto the road. Melted goo slapped
