Mason cut through, “Bretz, down the road.”
The Corporal looked up the highway and saw the horde of zombies a few hundred yards away had started moving in their direction, shambling towards all the noise.
“Hess, grab your gear and get in the next truck,” Bretz commanded. “We can’t stay here.”
“On the move,” the Private replied.
Bretz stared down the highway, chewing over what their next move should be. There was an off ramp nearby, with another shopping center shortly past that. He stared at it, contemplating, and then finally raised the CB to his lips again.
“Okay, here’s what we’re doing,” he said. “We’re taking the off ramp and we’re making an unscheduled pit stop at that shopping center.”
“Bretz, you know I’ll follow you anywhere,” Baker said slowly, “but do you think that’s wise? We still have five trucks.”
The Corporal furrowed his brow. “And we need six,” he replied firmly. “If we don’t pull this off, our troops to the north are going to have way more to deal with than they can potentially handle.”
“Yeah…” Baker trailed off, sounding nervous but knowing Bretz was right. “I’m with you. Let’s do it.”
“Got Hess aboard and ready to go,” Mason cut in. “How are we doing this?”
Bretz took a deep breath. “We’re just going straight for the back door,” he replied. “Mason, can you and Hess handle it? Or do you need backup?”
“Should be a quick hit and run,” Mason replied easily, “won’t be any big deal.”
The Corporal nodded. “Okay, the rest of you, follow me,” he instructed. “We’re going to spread out over the parking lot and hopefully keep the crowds around us down. Let’s go.”
He popped the truck back into gear and headed out, with the rest of the trucks behind him. They took the off ramp, rolling into a small neighborhood. The side streets were dirty and deserted, with some stragglers and cars dotting the road.
Bretz pulled the truck into the shopping center lot, a smaller center with a single anchor and some side stores. There were about a hundred zombies in the lot, all of which started moving towards him.
“Okay, pick your corner and go,” he instructed through the radio. “And Mason, don’t take too much time. That horde on the interstate is pretty thick. If they get down here, we’re in trouble.”
“In and out, Corporal,” Mason replied firmly. “No problem.”
Bretz watched the trucks move to the opposite ends of the lot, drawing the creatures in all directions.
“Come on Mason,” Bretz muttered to himself, “let’s make this quick.”
The Private pulled his truck down the back alley, rolling over a couple of zombies as he went. There was a satisfying pop as the tire crushed a rotted head.
“Ah, that sound never gets old,” he declared, shooting Hess a grin.
His passenger shrugged. “I suppose we have to enjoy the little things in life.”
“These days it’s about as good as it gets,” Mason replied.
He stopped at the back loading dock of the store, where there were two trucks backed up. There were four zombies wandering around near the back door.
“Just leave the truck running,” Hess suggested, “we’re not going to be long.”
Mason checked the gas gauge, seeing there was still three-quarters of a tank. He nodded in agreement and hopped out.
The soldiers hit the ground, assault rifles at the ready, and opened fire on the zombies by the door, quickly taking them out with precise headshots. They rushed to the back door, and Mason yanked on it, finding it locked.
“Shit, no good,” he growled.
Hess looked down the loading dock and saw that one of the bay doors was open about two feet, enough to provide the workers with some airflow.
“Come on, we got a way in,” he said, and waved for his partner to follow him.
The two men hopped to the ground and rushed over to the opening, Hess taking out a flashlight and shining it inside. There were several sets of feet in his line of vision, the closest being five yards away.
Hess went silent, pointing it out to Mason before motioning for him to boost him up. Mason laced his fingers together, giving his companion a heave up onto the dock.
Hess drew his knife and slammed it into the back of the closest ghoul, catching its body as it fell and gently setting it on the concrete to avoid making noise. He looked around, seeing the other zombies were easily fifteen to twenty yards away and hadn’t noticed them yet. He quickly went back over to the loading dock and laid down to pull Mason up after him.
The duo readied their knives, wanting to remain stealthy, and headed towards the back office. There were a trio of creatures by the office door that would need to be dealt with, so Hess slid forward and stabbed one in the back of the head, catching the body as he jammed the blade into the temple of the second one.
In the darkness, he missed, glancing off of the creature’s forehead and enraging it. It let out a furious moan and reached for him, and Hess dropped his charge, stabbing the hungry zombie in the eye socket.
Mason finished off the third ghoul, but unfortunately the noise was enough to alert the rest of the zombies in the room. They turned in unison, moaning and shambling for the soldiers.
“Find the keys!” Hess barked.
Mason rushed into the office, pulling out his flashlight. Hess raised his rifle and flashlight, finding targets and shooting them one by one between the eyes. After he squeezed off half a dozen rounds, dropping that many ghouls, the swinging doors to the store flew open under a fresh swarm.
He froze in terror at the sight of dozens of monsters pouring into the back room. “Hurry up!” he yelled. “We’re about to get overrun!”
Mason frantically looked for the keys, throwing stuff in every direction, hoping to uncover them. Meanwhile, Hess opened fire, carefully placing shots, spreading out the carnage in hopes that the ones behind the fallen corpses would trip.
His fire intensified as more
