Shit, they had damn near won already.
'Want a beer?' BT asked.
Like a finger to a soap bubble my pessimism popped. Guys sometimes know how to get right to the heart of the matter and skirt around all the bullshit.
'Is it cold?'
'Does it matter?' He threw a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon my way. Damn near dropped it.
Normally I wouldn't touch PBR with zombie-encrusted fingers, but this one beer must have been poured from the kegs of the gods. It was a sweet nectar which quenched more than just the dismalness of this existence. Three large gulps later, I was the proud owner of a mild pleasant buzz. I'm a cheap date, so sue me.
'So what's the plan?' BT asked drinking his own beer. I noticed it was a Molson Canadian.
'Fork it over.' I said motioning with my hand.
'What are you talking about?' He replied innocently.
'You get a Molson and I get a PBR? I was the one out there running around like an idiot. I think I deserve something a little better than this.' I said tossing the can lightly at him.
'I just figured that was the beer you drank. I mean you seem so 'low rent.'' He laughed, finishing off his own beer in case I came over to get it. 'Sorry man that was the last one.' He said swishing the bottle around to show me.
'No it's not, BT. You have a whole 6 pack in a cooler behind the couch, did you forget already?' Tommy asked him.
BT gave the meanest look he could muster towards Tommy and then smiled. 'Must have slipped my mind.'
'Must have.' Tommy echoed.
'Yeah must have.' I repeated. 'Now give me one.'
I sat on the couch; this one I was going to savor.
'What now Mike?' Doc asked nervously as he paced the room.
'We wait.' I said as I wrapped my lips around the neck of the bottle.
Much fidgeting ensued. I was curious to see who would W.T.F. me first. Tracy edged out the Doc, BT knew better than to waste the effort.
'Mike?' She said questioningly.
'It's the end game.' I started. 'We're in check. Eliza has us pinned and she has all the powerful pieces left on the board. We can't leave. First off the Marines aren't going to stop shooting until they are out of bullets and once that happens that means that the zombies will be coming.'
'What about the pendants the doctor was talking about?' Tracy asked.
'Don't have enough.' I said taking another drink off a rapidly draining bottle. Doc looked slightly guilty that his entire family possessed this treasure and mine didn't, especially since I was the one who outfitted them all. 'Don't worry Doc, I'm not going to ask for them back.'
Tracy looked pissed that I wasn't going to do just that. 'So we're just waiting here to die. I just can't accept that!' She yelled.
'Want a beer?' Tommy asked her.
She was going to flip out or calm down. We all watched as she teetered on top of that fence. I was thankful that she toppled to the calmer side, no sense in leaving the planet all in a huff.
'We're not dead yet.' As I held up the beer to see if there was anything left in there worth drinking, I commented with 'another dead soldier' and threw the empty away in the trash. One of these days I'd think before I spoke.
The zombies advanced very little over the course of the day as the brave Marines threw everything they had at them. I didn't even want to know what kind of damage a Mach-19 (fully automatic grenade launcher) was doing to the enemy. Bugs and birds would feast here for generations. Their kind would sing songs and create poems about 'The Time of Plenty'. Gettysburg was a mild skirmish compared to what raged outside.
I walked to the window when I could tell that the time of Eliza was fast approaching. 'She must be getting impatient.' I said aloud.
Doc had not sat down since we got here. Now he joined Travis and me as we gazed out the window at a yet unseen enemy. 'How can you tell?' he asked.
'Feel the ground vibrating?'
'Yes I just thought it was Henry and Buddha trading off.'
Even the twin devastations of Henry's and Buddha's flatulence could not compete with what was coming. By the feel of it at least two, maybe three of the Terexes were heading this way.
'Oh Dad.' Justin said lamentedly as he grabbed his head.
Tommy had gone over to rub his back. He was performing the motion but his hand was a good 3 inches away from making contact.
'Shit, have you had your shot today?' I asked him.
'Completely spaced it out.' he said miserably.
Doc went to the pack and gave him the shot. Within seconds Justin's demeanor changed.
'Any chance you have one of those for me?' Tommy asked.
Doc was unaware of the bipolar connection that Eliza and Tommy shared and answered in that manner.
'Afraid not Tommy, I don't think that you would like the side effects if this was administered to someone without the infection.'
Tommy dejectedly sat back down. If the pain and pressure of Eliza's coming was affecting him, he was doing his best not to show it. Within a couple of minutes two of the formidable Terexes came into view. Whoever was driving them was oblivious to the fact that they were crushing zombies by the score. Mind you, I was in no rush to warn them of the harm they were doing but it was still only akin to scraping shit out of a port-a-pottie with a toothpick.
They were sitting about a half mile away and even at this distance they looked huge.
'What are they doing Dad?' Travis asked.
'She's sucking the spirit out of the Marines.' Tommy said in an uncharacteristically sad tone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO - JOURNAL ENTRY 16 - 
It was an hour after dusk when the heavier of the ammunition dried up. There was the chatter of small arms fire and some pistols but anything resembling a stalwart defense had finally given way. Zombies mindlessly poured over their own dead. I'll give them this, not a one of those Marines ran. They stood their ground and fixed bayonets or pulled out their K-Bar knives. I thought just the spirit of those men as they fought to defend us and themselves could stem the tide. For a few minutes it did. But then one by one they fell to overwhelming odds. A knife can only go so far. I turned away as the sergeant below our window was torn limb from limb as hungry zombies devoured every morsel of him.
The screams of the mortals were quickly drowned out by the feasting of the dead. The zombies began to enter the other two housing quarters. The screams began anew. Our housing quarters stayed relatively quiet. None of the zombies were coming in.
'Well I guess she knows where we live. Had I known we were having company I might have cleaned up.' It was said sarcastically and everyone was entirely too wrapped up in their own final thoughts to pay me much attention. The only noise besides me was Nicole's retching as she suffered through another bout of morning sickness. Weird, because it was six at night. I'm still so grateful to all who will listen that I pee standing up. 'Travis, can you get me the 30 aught 6 please?' I asked never taking my eyes off the Terexes as they began their approach.
I heard him get up and then heard him pull the charging lever back to make sure it was loaded. Then he handed me the gun.
'Thanks, is the safety off?'
I heard the click. 'Is now. Need a spotter?'
'Sure.' I told him as I opened the window; frigid air blew in warming my frozen heart.
The trucks came in slowly, I would swear almost sauntering and swaggering in their victory. Unlucky zombies
