“We’ll keep watch at the monitors,” Dante said. “Good luck.”
The three men set out down the hallway, weaving through the maze-like halls towards the office near the back. They stayed silent, not wanting to attract attention to themselves, even the wheels squeaking along the floor, feeling too loud.
When they reached the corner that led to the office, Tate peeked around it, seeing eight zombies by the door. The hallway was fairly wide, about ten feet across. He ducked back behind cover, leaning in to speak quietly.
“Okay, I’m going to blast them with this thing, then get back behind cover,” he whispered. “Whatever doesn’t drop is going to be hauling ass after me. Maddox, I want you to use this cart to knock ‘em on their ass. Ace, we aren’t going to fuck around with ‘em either, pick your shot and pop it in the head. Hopefully letting these asshole cops know we have guns will keep ‘em calm.”
The other two nodded in agreement as Tate picked up the potato cannon. He checked to make sure the nuts and bolts were packed in tightly and then took a deep breath. He stepped back several yards away from the corner, and used the compressed lubricant to fill the firing chamber, hoping the sound was muffled enough not to alert the ghouls.
Ready to strike, he walked back to the corner, peeking around to make sure they were still occupied with the door. He stepped around, walking halfway down the hall as noiselessly and slowly as he could, stopping about ten yards away before lighting it up.
The boom was deafening, the sound bouncing off of the walls, but the impact was excellent. The metal shrapnel ripped through the horde, shredding several of them. Four of them dropped to the ground with significant head wounds.
Those corpses fell into the others, knocking over two more. The final two let out loud moans and sprinted towards him.
Tate immediately backtracked, tearing around the corner, and Maddox appeared with the cart, holding it tightly as the zombies got close. He rushed up and rammed into one creature, sending it tumbling down to the concrete. The other was several steps behind, but Ace aimed and fired, hitting it in the head.
As the one on the floor tried to get back up, Tate circled around Maddox and shot it in the face. The other two knocked down ghouls by the door found their footing and rushed the trio. Both Ace and Tate had time to line up their shots, firing a couple of times each to drop them.
In the aftermath, the three men stood stock still, listening hard to wait for more zombies to appear. Much to their surprise, nothing else emerged in any direction.
“Come on, let’s get these assholes out,” Tate muttered.
Maddox approached the door, kicking a couple of the downed ghouls to make sure they were dead for good, and there was no movement. He smacked the door a few times with his open palm.
“All right Brandt, you’re good to go,” he bellowed. “Time to honor your half of the deal!”
A moment passed, and then the deadbolt clicked. The door opened, and the Sheriff stood there, looking smug. His two officers sat on a desk in the back of the room.
“Well well, you actually did it,” he drawled.
Maddox nodded sharply. “Yeah we did it,” he replied, “now give me the key and get the hell outta here.”
“They’re on the desk over there,” Brandt jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Let me go grab ‘em.”
Maddox followed him inside, and as soon as he crossed the threshold, there was the sharp click of a shotgun cocking.
“Fuck my life,” he muttered, glancing over at the corner. There was another officer standing right under the camera, wielding a shotgun.
The Sheriff casually walked over to the desk, picking up the keys and clipping them to his belt. “You didn’t actually think I would be stupid enough to tip my hand, now did you?” he drawled, hooking a thumb into the top of his pants.
“Apparently we did,” Maddox growled.
Brandt waved a hand. “Okay boys, you have until the count of three to get in here, or ole Maddox here is going to be missing a head,” he drawled. “One…”
“Calm your tits, Sheriff,” Tate said, and he walked in with Ace, both men’s hands high in the air.
“Oh, it’s you two, why does this not surprise me?” Brandt shook his head. “Well, I stand corrected, it does surprise me a bit that you three have managed to survive whatever this is as long as you have. Y’all saw the world ending, and you just had to pay me another visit, is that it?” He sneered. “Or did you just miss this place?”
Ace raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never been in here,” he pointed out.
“Not for lack of trying,” the Sheriff said. “I know you’ve started shit in my county, yet somehow always slipped away. That isn’t happening this time.” He motioned to the officers behind him. “Boys, get their guns if you don’t mind.”
One of them grinned as they stood up. “With pleasure,” he said. Once they’d collected the weapons, he asked, “So, what do you want to do with them now?”
“Well, they came in here to be with their giant-ass cousin,” Brandt said with a smirk. “I say we take ‘em there. Plenty of cages they can get comfortable in.”
CHAPTER NINE
Dante and Lily watched on the monitor as the Sheriff and his three men captured their companions.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry, we’ll get them out,” he assured her.
“Oh, I know,” Lily replied. “I’m just upset that I have to save his dumb ass.”
Dante smirked as he picked up the potato gun, holding it out to her. “Come on, let’s go get ‘em.”
They headed out of the office, walking down the hallway. Rather than go for a straight
