was long moments before I could see anything other than giant blobs of gray in my field of vision.
BT beat me to the punch, having shielded his vision from the light assault. 'Talbot, you seeing this?'
'Not so much.' I told him honestly. I was rapidly blinking my eyes in the hopes that I could push force the blinding blue spots away.
'They've got people and soldiers tied all over that truck.'
'What? Like a shield?'
'That's exactly it.' He said putting his rifle down.
The truck idled menacingly 50 or so yards away. I could shoot a beer out of someone's hand at this distance. I mean I wouldn't, that's a waste of a good beer, but I could. My field of vision was returning. I almost wished it hadn't. Men, women and children were strategically placed all over that truck. An errant shot would easily take out an innocent. Some of the unlucky individuals were tied at odd angles or even upside down, I knew this was intentional; it was to cause us as much angst and trepidation as possible. Some of those poor souls looked like they would welcome a bullet from us.
'Hi Mike!' A familiar voice shouted.
'Durgan.' BT said flatly.
'Anyone see him?' I asked raising my rifle up looking for a target.
'You should put that gun down, Mike!' His voice boomed.
I hadn't even thought of it, of course, we were lit up like Christmas trees. 'Everyone down!' I shouted pulling Travis down with me.
We could hear Durgan's laugh. 'If I'd wanted you dead,' he elaborated, 'you would be dead. My master would like to have all of you come out.'
Without poking my head up I shouted, 'We're pretty tired right now. Any chance she could come back next week?'
'What is wrong with you Mike?' Tracy asked.
'Worth a shot.' I said
Durgan wasn't expecting that, it took him a bit before he was able to recover.
'Fucking Talbot, that isn't a request, it's a demand. And to prove she's serious... Saunders!' Durgan said.
I had a feeling what 'Saunders' was doing long before I heard someone screaming for mercy.
'What is going on?' BT asked.
I looked down at the floor. 'They're killing hostages.'
'We gotta go man, we gotta go help them.' BT said, shaking.
'BT, they're already dead.' Not literally but that was just a matter of degrees in time.
'Then what? We stay here and listen to them slaughter those people?' BT asked.
'No, we're going out, I can't stand it anymore than you BT, I just wish that it hadn't come to this.'
'You can't be serious?' Tracy asked, her voice full of concern.
'They'll kill us too.' Doc said.
'Doc. stay here, they don't know you're even here, you have the pendants. When Eliza is done they'll move on in search of more fertile grounds to eat.'
Doc was stuck in a quandary, the safety of his family versus solidarity.
'Doc', I said, scooting away from the window first and then standing up by him.'Listen Doc, you've been a good friend and I've come to love you and your family. You have a real chance to get away from all this. I won't begrudge you that. She knows everyone else in this room and won't stop until she gets us.' I didn't say it, how could I tell my family that we were dead men walking.
Doc hugged me. We all made our tearful goodbyes. It sucked being on our side for obvious reasons. Our goodbyes were of the permanent kind. 'Doc, just stay low, do not poke your heads up at that window no matter what you hear. Understand?' I asked. He nodded, tears threatening. I was going to miss the Doc he was one of the good guys.
Justin awkwardly picked up his backpack, spilling the contents on the floor. I was going to tell him to leave it, he wasn't going to need it where we were going, but the finality of the thought was entirely too final. Instead I got on the ground with him and started putting the contents back in.
'Talbot, NOW!' Durgan shouted.
The shout had caught me off guard and I had nearly dropped what I had in my hands. Justin stood bolt upright and put the pack on. I didn't want to give Durgan any more reason to come crashing into this apartment. I placed what I had in my hands into the pockets of my jacket and started to head to the door.
'What about the zombies?' Tracy asked.
'Durgan, what about the zombies?' I shouted out through the window.
'Oh, they're harmless for now,' he laughed. 'Oh and one more thing Mike, no guns.'
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - JOURNAL ENTRY 17 - 
Possibly the ugliest zombie I had seen since the start greeted me at the doorway. He was a little taller than me but didn't possess the healthy vigor that I did. Half of his forehead from the top of his scalp was exposed, and one cheek had been neatly removed. His top lip was gone along with a fair portion of his nose. Slimy gray cartilage had almost eroded away due to predators and the elements. His breath was going to make halitosis a term of the past. His clothes were in tatters, but I guess the thing that struck me the most for some strange reason was that 'Bob' (as I was going to come to call him) only had one shoe. Why this was the point I fixated on was beyond me. It just seemed to be the crux upon which this jacked-up world now spun. Rational thought was quickly taking a back seat. This wasn't a matter of just going to meet my fate. I was taking the whole family, even Henry, and that saddened me the most, for he didn't even know it. Maybe that was for the best.
Bob moved aside as did his brethren as we entered into the hallway. BT shut the door behind him. I hoped the Bakers would make it out, I really did, but my first concerns lay elsewhere as we descended the stairs. Zombies moved away from us like WE were the plague carriers as we entered into the courtyard. Men, of the living variety, began to fill in the vacated spots.
'You pieces of shit!' I yelled trying my best to shield my family from the predatory gazes of the vermin around me. At least a hundred rifles and pistols were pointed at us. I was maybe a bit flattered that they thought us that dangerous but to say 'overkill' would be an understatement. Henry summed everything up perfectly when he walked up into the open middle ground and took a world class shit. I hoped it was on purpose.
Durgan broke through the ranks with the widest shit-eating grin he could display. So intent was he on making a show to the assemblage he narrowly missed stepping in Henry's excrement. As it was I laughed when he stumbled to avoid it. The insanity within him flared as he turned on me.
'You did this!' he screamed.
'Yeah that's it,' I thought to myself. 'I dropped my trousers in front of God and everyone and took a steaming shit. You dumbass.' I wanted to say it out loud but I was afraid he would take it out on Henry so I kept quiet, letting him think it was mine.
He was huge as he purposefully strode over to me. In a previous life I would have paid big bucks to watch a cage match between BT and Durgan. When he sucker punched me in the stomach it wasn't by complete surprise, but there was no way I could have prepared for the devastating blow. I absorbed the impact and went instantly to my knees. I didn't think I would ever be able to catch a breath again as I rolled to my side. I heard a bunch of gun safeties clicking off in what I could only imagine was some of my family members making a move to come to my aid.
'Who's the piece of shit now, Talbot!' He screamed into my face, spittle coating my pained grimace. I still don't know how getting slugged in the stomach made
'YOU'RE the piece of shit Durgan,' BT thundered. 'Why don't you try that weak ass shit on me. I'll kick your spindly ass.'
'Spindly?' Durgan was a lot of things. Spindly wasn't on that list. I hoped that one day I'd have the opportunity to ask BT about his word choice. I was finally able to take in my first quarter-breath of air since I had gone down, now it only hurt because I was still alive.
