Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 02 (11 page)

Continuing south along the country roads, there was little contact with zombies aside from the usual fair that they were now used to seeing. Flailing bodies, half or almost completely decomposed sat trapped in cars that littered the roadway. The random corpse wandering the field in search of something, anything, living. Because of their location when they succumbed to the disease, these deaders had little to feed on and aimlessly walked back and forth. Liam dispatched these as he could, simply by driving through them as they staggered their way towards the only living thing that they could find.

"Sun's setting," Liam said casually to the passengers in his truck. It was the first time anyone had spoken since the attack at Bremond. He looked into the rear view mirror at Alex. "What's the plan?"

"There's a town up ahead. Rosebud. We'll find a place to shelter there." The tension in the humvee rose to an almost unbearable degree. "We'll be fine. Should be there in a couple of minutes."
 

Each man began to nervously check and recheck his carbine, cleaning any speck of dust, both visible and invisible off of their guns. Clips and magazines were checked and filled capacity with ammunition. When nothing else could be cleaned, adjusted or reloaded, silent prayers were offered up to the gods.

In about the time that Alex had predicted, the city limits of Rosebud came into view. Smoke rose from several buildings within the city and a large barricade loomed into view. "Shit," Marshal cursed. "Go around. Go around! God dammit, not again."

"Shut up!" Alex yelled. "Liam stop here."

The humvees pulled to a stop roughly thirty yards from the make shift barricade. The engines remained on and in gear in case a second quick getaway was necessary. Nothing moved anywhere, adding to the unease that the team was already feeling.

"I'm getting out," Alex announced to no one in particular.

"Are you crazy?" Marshal shrieked. "You're going to get killed..."

"One way or another," Alex said. "This road block was put here on purpose, and it looks like it has been taken care of pretty well. I just want to get a closer look to see what it's all about."

"I'll go with you," Liam said and put the humvee in park.
 

"No," Alex cut him off. "If something goes down, I need you to be in this truck, ready to get them out of here."

"You mean get 'us' out of here," he corrected. Liam knew what Alex really meant.

"No, I mean them. If the shit goes down, get everyone out of here and a safe distance away. If something happens, I'm going to get killed right away, so no heroics." This time his reprimand was for the doctor. "Our mission is to get Hill's family out so that ours will be safe. Don't forget that. Their safety depends on the success of our mission, not a man."

"You just have to be the hero, don't you?" This time the hateful voice did not come from Marshal. It was Dr. Cahn. "You are the leader, the one making decisions for everyone, and we are just supposed to fall in line, goose-stepping our way to meet your own ends. Aren't we?"

Alex looked at the doctor with an expression of mild shock on his face. He could have expected this kind of talk from Marshal, but not from Dr. Cahn. "Whatever gets you through the day, doc," Alex replied with more hate in his voice than he had intended. "My goal is to get everyone back to New Hope as quickly and safely as possible, with the colonel's family in tow. If you have any better ideas, please feel free to offer them up. I seem to remember you were all too quick to vote me in as the leader of this rabble. I guess when the tough decisions have to be made, it's easier to play armchair quarterback..."

The doctor lashed out with his fists and caught Alex off guard. Alex's head snapped back as Dr. Cahn's fist slammed into his jaw, sending Alex sprawling against the door of the humvee. Marshal and Liam grabbed at the doctor in an attempt to keep him from continuing his assault, but the doctor had made the point that he had set out to. Alex looked shocked at what had happened and none to angry either.
 

"Your objections are duly noted, Dr. Cahn," Alex said, rubbing his jaw. "Does anyone else have a problem with how things have been handled? Anyone else wish to make the hard choices?" Silence answered Alex's question. "Fine then," he said and opened the door of the humvee. "I'm be back in just a minute. If the shooting starts, get the fuck out of here, keep heading to Austin, and get the colonel's family out." Alex looked hard at Dr. Cahn once more.
 

Alex slammed the door to the truck and pulled his carbine up to his shoulder. Carefully he made his way towards the barricade in the road, looking from left to right for any kind of movement in the area. Upon reaching the make shift road block, Alex proceeded to inspect the structure. He reached out to touch it when a voice spoke from the shadows.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," the voice said. It sounded distant and almost jovial. The voice seemed to come from all directions at once and Alex spun around, trying to find the source. "That roadblock is booby trapped, set to go off if anything touches it. It's meant for those fucking corpses walking around, but it'll work just as good on you, I figure."

The doors of the two humvees started to open, but Alex waived them off. Not really sure what was going on, everyone closed the doors of the trucks and kept a watch on the scene in front of them.
 

"Where are you?" Alex asked. "Who are you?"

"Who are you, is the real question? And just what are you doing here?" the voice asked again from the shadows. "I can blow your head off at any time, so you had better start talking, boy."

Alex sighed and realized that the mysterious voice was right. He was out in the open, with no idea who was out there or how many. Alex was screwed.

"Okay, fine. You win," Alex said and lowered his carbine to hang from his side. He raised his hands and placed them on top of his head. The doors of the humvee opened once more, and Alex again shook his head to keep the others in their trucks. The doors closed and the engines remained running.
 

"My name is Alex Kemp," he shouted to the shadows. "Me and my team are trying to get to Austin on a rescue mission. We are looking to shelter in Rosebud for the evening." Alex chuckled more to himself than to anyone else. "We really just need to place to sit, sleep and possibly get drunk off our asses. Know of a good place?"

The shadows chuckled back at Alex. "Yeah, I think I know a place. I'm Jimmy Wayne. Glad to meet you." The shadows to the west of the barricade moved and the silhouettes of five men appeared in the tree line just under the spreading canopy of leaves. Each man sat on a deer stand, hunting rifles and high powered scopes adorning the shoulders of each. "Let's get you boys inside before it gets dark. No need to waste our 'how-dos' out here."
 

The man in the center deer stand moved to climb down from the tree tops. He was a larger man and somewhat older, and it surprised Alex some when he leapt over the ditch and fence line to the side of the road to meet Alex. "Put your hands down, boy, we ain't gonna shoot you." The man laughed again, this time at Alex's expense. Collecting himself, the man pushed his hand out to shake Alex's. "Jimmy Wayne. Nice to meet you Alex Kemp. Now, let's get you boys a drink."

-----

A beer slid across the table towards Alex and he caught the glass just before it fell of the edge of the table onto the floor. Beer spilled from the mug onto Alex's lap and a raucous laugh filled the air.

"I thought you'd have better reflexes than that," Jimmy Wayne bellowed. Jimmy was an older man, most likely in his late sixties or early seventies with a sizable belly and big scraggly beard that looked as if it had not been trimmed in quite some time. The perpetual grin on his face grave him the look of Santa Claus. Santa, who had been on an all night bender, Alex thought.

"So what are you boys really doing out here?" Jimmy Wayne asked, taking a seat across from the younger man who was furiously mopping at the wet beer in his lap.

"Just heading to Austin. We're trying to get some family out of there." Alex did not look at the man until he had finished explaining. When he looked up, he could tell that the man did not believe him.

Jimmy Wayne chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Now, boy. I've been working the farms and ranches in these parts for a long time, and there's always one thing that I keep a look out for." He paused for a moment, waiting for Alex to ask the obvious question.

"And what is that," Alex humored the older man.

"Bullshit!" Jimmy Wayne proclaimed and slapped the table. "I've gotten pretty good at it. And do you know what I see sitting across the table from me?" The man paused again, but Alex simply raised an eyebrow at him, not wishing to give him the satisfaction he was looking for. "I see bullshit," Jimmy Wayne continued. "You boys may be heading to Austin, but that's not the only reason you are going there."

Jimmy Wayne took a long pull from his beer and set the mug down with a satisfying sigh. "Everything's gone to hell in this world, boy. Especially in Austin. We get people coming through here all the time as they try to get away from the mess that's there. Why are you so hell bent on getting in?"

Alex paused before answering. "Just trying to get family out..."

"Bullshit," Jimmy Wayne muttered and took another slug of his beer. This time, there was no smile hiding behind the whiskers of his beard. "There's something seriously wrong if you are going there. And why all the military hardware? You boys with the government?" Jimmy Wayne looked hard at Alex and the man's suspicions were starting to make Alex uncomfortable. His unease was lifted slightly when Liam, beer in tow, pulled up a chair next to Alex. Liam extended a hand to the older man which he shook firmly.

"I'm Liam Beard," he said, introducing himself.
 

"Jimmy Wayne," the older man bellowed, his jovial nature back in his face.
 

"Well, Jimmy, thanks for the beer..."

"Jimmy Wayne," the man corrected. "Hated being called Jimmy when I was younger."

"Okay, Jimmy Wayne it is," Liam said with a smile as he took a deep drink of his beer.
 

"Well, sir," Jimmy Wayne said to Liam. "I can't seem to get a straight answer out of your friend here, so maybe you can be of more help."

Liam looked to Alex with a confused look that soon turned into frustration. Turning back to Jimmy Wayne he smiled and said, "What can I help you with?"

Alex shook his head and in a low voice said, "Liam, no."

Liam turned his gaze back on Alex, his smile now gone. "We are in the shit, man. What harm is it going to do us, huh? We've had three people killed..."

"Liam!" Alex snapped, but his friend just continued.

"There's no harm, Alex He's not a government spy." This statement elicited a chuckle from across the table.

"You sure about that?" Jimmy Wayne asked. "You boys remember to bring your tin-foil hats?"

Alex was not amused by the comment, but Liam was. He laughed hard and slapped Alex across the shoulder. "Damn, man" That's what we forgot!" Both Liam and Jimmy Wayne laughed at their own jokes, releasing some of the pent up tension they were feeling. When the tears stopped, Liam spoke again.

"What do you need to know, or want to know for that matter?" Alex started to get up from the table, but Liam pushed him back into his chair. "You can fill in the details," he winked. "In case I forget any."

"He doesn't seem too terribly talkative tonight, or friendly," Jimmy Wayne said to Liam while eyeing Alex cautiously. "You want to keep him around?"

Liam kept facing Alex as he answered, "Yeah, he needs to be here for this. Ask away."

Jimmy Wayne asked his questions to Liam and Alex, and both men answered honestly, if not cheerfully in Liam's case. The story of their initial flight out of Austin, forming the Hew Hope colony, and the arrival of Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Hill. Jimmy Wayne listened carefully, asking more questions as he thought of them and nodding in the appropriate places. The beer flowed freely and as it did, so to did Alex and Liam's tongues. Before long it became somewhat difficult to keep the men on the track of the particular question that had been asked.

"That's some story," Jimmy Wayne said when their tales finally reached their arrival at Rosebud. "I was afraid that Bremond was doing what you said they were. We've heard stories from survivors coming out of there, some just barely alive." The man just shrugged his shoulders and looked at Alex and Liam. "It's hard to believe stories like that, you know? Things like that just shouldn't happen in times like these. People should be pulling together, not killing one another." Jimmy Wayne paused for a time, lost in his own thoughts. "Shouldn't happen."

Once it was obvious that Jimmy Wayne was done with his questioning, Liam slapped his friend on the back. "Well, Mr. Jimmy Wayne, the conversation was stimulating, the beer much needed. Now, we need to get some sleep tonight. We'll gladly take some of the night shifts..."

Jimmy Wayne shook his head and waved away the offer. "Not necessary, son. We're doing pretty good here on our own, and you boys look like you could use some down time. We'll put you up in some of our bunks for the night. You'll be safe there, even if the beds aren't the most comfortable that you've ever seen."

Alex spoke up now. "We don't want to take any bunks away from your men. We can camp by our hummers..."

"Not in this town you won't," Jimmy Wayne objected. "You're here in Rosebud. We take care of family." He extended a hand to Alex and then Liam. "And you boys, well, you're family. Now come on. I'll get you guys squared away."

-----

The Corsairs slept well that night. Safe in their bunks, showered and fed well, every man slept the sleep of the innocent. And overslept.

It was well into the afternoon before the first of the men woke and around two when the team was ready to leave. Alex was packing the last of their equipment back into the hummers when Jimmy Wayne walked up.

"I wish I could talk you boys out of going in there," he said nodding his head in the direction of Austin. "It ain't going to be pretty. Not pretty at all."