'Oh, so others won't hear it. That looks simple.'
'It is, and effective, but not perfect. After about three shots it is even less effective, and you either need to duct tape up the holes in the bottom.' Katie pointed to the bottom of the bottle where the bullets would go through it, 'Or get a new bottle. If you tape over the bottom like this it should prevent the plastic from shattering, but it could tear the bottle off the gun barrel too.'
'Are you really are a sniper?'
'A markswoman, I have the same training, use the same equipment and test against the same targets as snipers.'
'Why aren't you called a sniper?'
'Sexism. It's better than it was, but the army still tends to regulate women to support roles. You can get around anything if you try hard enough. Or have the skills.'
'When did you go to the army?'
'Jess, now isn't the time. You and Bobby, get your guns, set them on the couch, then move the couch back about six inches, that should be enough for me to get this through the crack and cap a few of them. As soon as you put the couch down pick up your guns, but do not fire unless I tell you to or things really get out of hand.'
'Out of hand?' asked Bobby, 'What does that mean?'
'You'll know it when you see it.'
Chapter 15 — Max
'Where the fuck is the old man going?' yelled Stewart as she took cover in the ditch.
'Huh?' grunted Max, landing beside her.
'Ruben, he's running for the truck! Oh gawd damn it, he's going for the nuke!' Stewart raised her voice and yelled out at Ruben, who was taking fire from an upper story of the hotel, 'Leave it old man! We'll get it after we clean up this mess!' She started to rise out of the ditch, but several tuffs of grass flew up in front of her. Max realized it was from bullets striking the turf around them.
'Fire! Get some bullets back at them! Max locate that shooter!' yelled Bill as his friend sunk lower in the ditch. Even Stewart, no coward had fallen back from the barrage.
Max raised his shotgun and fired blindly, hitting nothing but air. He fired again without raising his body above the level of the ditch. Stewart looked at him, and shook her head, 'What is that? Blind firing? You think you will hit anything with that?'
Max shrugged as more bullets threw up debris in the parking lot. Bill cautiously rose up and let off a three bullet burst with his rifle, 'Max! I need you! Javier, c'mon and get up guys, if we don't we are gonna get mobbed!'
'This was a bad idea. We should have moved on to the next exit.' Max muttered, rising above the edge of the ditch.
'Too late now, we gonna save Ruben's wrinkly old ass or not?' Stewart asked.
Max nodded, reloaded his shotgun and rose when Stewart did above the lip of the ditch. Unlike Stewart, he had a good idea where the zombies were, though he didn't know which of them had guns. Max fired at the closest zombie and hit it just above the knee. He watched as the creature rolled into a somersault along the parking lot before coming to a rest up against the back of a dust covered Ford Escape. The 'jenner' quickly scurried around the car and Max had to switch targets as more zombies appeared. Stewart fired and brought down a zombie shooting at them through a hotel window on the second floor.
Ruben was in the back of the truck and lifted the back pack up out of the bed, however he was surrounded by shamblers. Dropping the pack at his feet he brought his shotgun up and gut shot two of the zeds as others grabbed him from behind.
'Ruben!' screamed Javier, who was up on one knee firing as close to the other man as he dared. The old man paused for a second, looking back at them, for a brief, calm moment the world stopped. Then the dead engulfed him in a wave and pulled him through the shattered doors of the hotel.
'Damn it! After him!' Bill yelled climbing out of the ditch. Bill made it up to the top when he jerked backwards, like a dog running full tilt that comes to the end of his leash. He fell onto his back on the grass and slid down to the bottom of the ditch, with his head coming to rest in the murky, standing water left over from the last rainfall.
'Bill!' Max yelled stepping behind Stewart to go to his friend. More bullets splattered the pavement around Stewart and Javier, who were forced to duck behind the few cars in the hotel parking lot. Max could hear them returning fire and yelling his name as he skidded down the grassy bank to Bill's side.
His friend was dead. Max saw a lifetime of events leading up to this moment; the trouble they had gotten into as teenagers, but somehow survived. Images flashed through Max's head in seconds: Bill at Max's wedding; Max at Bill's. Playing football with the kids on the lawn in their tuxedos. Playing 'hot lava' in the park as boys themselves, making their way from one side of the playground to the other while avoiding touching the ground. Teaching the same game to their own children when they were parents. It was all coming to an end, here in some shitty little zombie infested town because Max had let it happen. Tears sprang to his eyes as he reached for his friend.
Meanwhile Stewart looked over at Javier who was pinned behind a red convertible a couple of parking spaces over. She grinned and asked, 'You okay?'
The young man nodded and said, 'They took Ruben, he was still alive. We gotta go get 'em'
'Max! Goddamnit Max!' Stewart pivoted back to Javier, 'I don't know if we can do this alone.'
The gunfire stopped abruptly. Stewart and Javier looked at each other, both had enough experience with the zombies to know what such a coordinated action meant; there was a super zombie close by sending his troops orders.
'Max!' hissed Stewart, 'We need you!'
In the ditch Max grabbed Bill by the shoulders and pulled his body around until his head was higher up on the slope and out of the water. His friend's face was pale and he didn't appear to be breathing. Max concentrated and shifted his vision to see if Bill were still alive. Relief flooded through him as he saw the colorful pattern he associated with living humans settle over Bill's frame.
'Bill! Talk to me buddy!' Max said, looking him over. There was a huge divot out of Bill's army helmet a few inches above the man's left eye. The furrow torn into the kelvar went deep into the helmet and Max released the straps under Bill's chin to check and see if the bullet had penetrated. Bill's skin was already turning a faint bluish color where he was bruised. The helmet had done its job and the bullet had not passed through it.
Bill's eyes fluttered and he looked up at Max, 'What happened?'
'You got shot buddy.'
'How bad? Don't lie to me Max.'
'You got lucky. It hit the top of your helmet at an angle and didn't go through.'
'Then why are you crying?'
'Tears of joy my friend, tears of joy.' Max leaned over and hugged the man awkwardly on the ground where he lay. The gunfire suddenly stopped and both men became aware of the silence as Max pulled himself up. They heard Stewart's sharp hiss as she called Max's name and he responded to her, 'I'm here, what?'
'Get your ass up here, we need to know where the super is, all the zeds stopped firing at once!'
'You okay?' Max asked Bill.
'Go on, let me clear my head a bit.'
'I'm coming Stewart.' said Max crawling up the hill on his hands and knees. No one fired at him as he crested the hill and he saw that Stewart and Javier were taking cover, while they peeped out trying to keep an eye on the receding mass of zombies.
'I thought you said there were only a few?' Stewart asked accusingly.
'I told you there were this many. They were just scattered about, I didn't spot the super…'
