Dead Surge (17 page)

I put the map away and got out of the truck. The morning was giving way to noon, and the sun felt good on my face. The grasses around me whispered gently, and the breeze stirred leaves ready to start turning and falling.

I went over to the truck to see how Charlie was doing and ran into Rebecca.

“Whoop! Excuse me. Good morning. How’s Charlie doing this fine day?”

Rebecca smiled. “I worry like hell, and the big doofus pulls through. His arm is infected from the bite, so we’ll have to keep an eye on it, but I think he’ll live.”

I smiled. “Figures, even zombies can’t kill that goof. Sarah’s up, just so you know.”

“Thanks.”

I looked inside the van and Duncan was still sprawled across the floor on the other side. Tommy was up and stretching, and Charlie was sitting in a chair, flexing his hand and looking at his bandaged arm.

“How’s the wing?” I said as a hello.

Charlie’s face smiled a little. “Hurts, but I’ll be fine. The headache is the thing, though. That sucker will knock you out. How’s Sarah?”

“She’s fine. We were going over the map today, trying to find the link between the towns, hoping to be able to get a line on where our little friends might strike next, but damned if I can figure it out,” I said.

“What kind of link?” Tommy asked, thumping Duncan on the side to wake him. Duncan responded by turning over onto his other side and snoring into the base of the sidewall.

“I don’t get how these things are making their attacks. They are not staying in one place, but they’re not following any roads. They’re crossing rivers and streams with ease, and nothing seems to slow them down. I’m actually afraid of where they might be today.” I was concerned, since we were deep in Iowa, and I didn’t want to chase my tail for another day.

Tommy looked thoughtful while Charlie answered. “Do we have a plan for today, anyway?”

I nodded. “I figure we’ll just try to get ahead of them, make sure people are defended, and have some communication, and triangulate their position by their attacks. If people know what they’re up against, they can prepare for it. “

“When are we moving?” Charlie asked, getting out of the chair and grabbing Duncan by the belt. Duncan let out a sleepy squawk as Charlie hauled him out of the van and dumped him out on the ground.

Duncan opened his eyes and looked up at me. “When’s breakfast?”

“Lunch is on the road. Get ready, we’re moving fast. You’re on communication. I need you to get in touch with anyone out there. We need a starting point and I’m sick of being down ten points after the first quarter.” I headed back to the truck and passed Rebecca on the way. She was smiling and I figured she had a right to be.

We moved out of our camp about twenty minutes later, munching on supplies as we followed Brooks road on its winding path towards 34. Once we reached 34, I headed east, and in a short amount of time, we reached the outskirts of Corning. Corning was the county seat, so it was a little bigger than the other small towns. That was either a good thing or a bad thing. More people usually meant increased chances of infection, while at the same time, having more defenders was always a good thing.

Unfortunately, Corning had gone down in the Upheaval, and it didn’t look like anyone had tried to make any attempt to relocate there. We slowed long enough to see that the place was abandoned and empty, and then we moved on. There might have been people on the other side, but I had to keep moving. I had a feeling the answer to my dilemma was right in front of my nose, but all I could see was brick walls.

Trying to make up for the rest that we took, I moved along 34 as best I could, and waited for any contact from Duncan from any towns. Prescott was quiet, as far as I could tell, so we moved towards Creston. Creston once boasted a population of over seven thousand, but it was limited to a little over five hundred these days. In the upheaval, the northern portion of the town was gone, but the southern section held their ground and managed to fight off the mess from the north. The southern Crestons were tough people, used to fighting and unafraid of zombies. We were lucky to have two hundred of them join us in our fight across the country.

“Nonsense. Charlie was bitten and we were exhausted.” Sarah tried to make me feel better, but I still felt like it was my fault. Seemed like every decision I was making this trip was leading to disaster.

“All right.” I grabbed the radio. “Duncan, everyone. Gear up, we’re going in fast and heavy.” I pushed the truck a little faster, hoping we could make it in time.

Chapter 38

We rolled into the south end of Creston and raced along Taylor Street. Duncan radioed in that the fight was on the north end, so I took the first road that turned in that direction. We flew up division, passing a few people who were moving south. I saw three women herding a group of small children, and they gave hopeful glances our way as we passed. I began to feel the old rage start to rise again and I gripped the wheel tighter.

At Lucas Street, I stopped and jumped out of the vehicle, grabbing my weapons as I went. I heard firing to the east, so I headed that way. In our world, shots meant someone was still alive, so rescues started in the general vicinity of flying bullets. Running in was risky, because in the heat of battle people didn’t necessarily ask your pardon before they took a shot at you.

Charlie was right behind me, and Tommy and Duncan, close behind. Sarah and Rebecca were bringing up the truck and van, using them as high points to fire from should we need cover.

A short, younger looking man saw us coming over and he sprinted towards us.

“Who are you?” he panted. He was carrying a lever action rifle and had a small bag slung over his shoulder. As he sized us up, he took a moment to reach into the bag, extract a handful of bullets, and start loading them into the magazine of his gun.

“John Talon. Need help?” I kept it short.

“Hell, yes! Had an outbreak last night. No idea how the hell it got started. Suddenly, people woke up to zombies in their houses. We lost twenty three in the first attack, then forty more for sure when they left their homes and started hunting.” He finished reloading and pointed the rifle to the east. “We’ve got people stuck in the post office, and we’re not set up for this!” He started running back in the direction of the post office and we jogged to keep up. “I’m trying to get reinforcements, but we sent most people south to save kids!”

“How many are trapped?” I asked.

“About two dozen, and they’re unarmed!” The man ran further and as we cleared Oak Street, I could see the Post Office. I could also see the horde of zombies that had it surrounded. They were a nasty looking bunch, covered in bright blood and gore. They hadn’t seen us, yet, and we could use that to our advantage if we kept our heads.

“Kill them!” Our guide opened up on the zombies and dropped one with five shots. At the firing, most of the zombies turned our way, a few turning and starting to stumble in our direction.

So much for keeping our heads. “Duncan, Tommy, let’s split them up. Nothing fancy, let’s just shoot them.”

Tommy checked the safety on his rifle and nodded. “Got it.” He and Duncan ran up the street a ways, drawing the attention of a number of zombies. About twenty started moving in their direction.

Charlie and I stepped away from the man with the lever gun and waited patiently. The zombies that had seen us were advancing, slightly faster than normal, which was to be guessed, seeing as how fresh they were. Our guide emptied his gun and grabbed another handful of cartridges from his bag. As he was reloading, the horde got closer and closer. A little bit of mental calculation figured the man would be dead before he managed to get his gun firing again.

“Close enough. Outside in?” Charlie asked.

“Works for me. I’ll start with Fatty over there.” I pointed with my rifle barrel a fat zombie making his way over. His entire shirtfront was covered in blood, and his jowls wobbled as he took each laborious step.

“Got it.”

Charlie started firing on the right side of the horde and I started on the left. We worked our way deliberately from the edges, knocking down Z after Z. The ones we knocked down tripped the ones still coming, so our next line of firing was a bit more erratic as the zombies we were drawing a bead on suddenly fell from sight.

After putting down ten zombies, I checked on Duncan and Tommy’s progress. They had put down as many as we had, and it looked like things were not going to be all that bad, here at least. Charlie had put down nearly the same amount, so we were in pretty good shape.

Fifteen minutes after we had arrived at the scene, Duncan put the last zombie away. I did a quick look around of the Post Office, and made sure we hadn’t missed any, or there weren’t any that might have been hiding in the tall grass.

I went back to my comrades. “That ought to do it. Tommy, you take the van and scout around the area, make sure there aren’t any surprises waiting for these people when they go back to their homes. Duncan, you go with Sarah and check on the people to the south. Make sure they don’t have any problems they need taking care of.”

Tommy and Duncan nodded and were about to head back to the vehicles when Charlie stopped them. “Here,” he said, handing them his rifle. “We should be done with the heavy stuff around here.”

I thought that was a good idea, so I handed Tommy my rifle as well. No point in lugging the thing around when the threat was finished. When they had gone, I looked around and didn’t see our guide. “Where’d he go?” I queried.

I looked over and saw the man was pulling at a door, trying to open it. He seemed kind of frantic, which I could understand, given the circumstances. He shouted something, listened at the door, and then started pounding on it. He listened again and then the door burst open, knocking him backwards and away from the building. Two dozen zombies spilled out, falling on the man and tearing at him with teeth and nails. He screamed once, and then went down in a heap of torn and bloody flesh. He was dead in seconds and several zombies knelt to feast while others clawed at the body, trying to tear off pieces, which they stuffed in bloody mouths.

“Jesus!” Charlie exclaimed, grabbing for his tomahawks.

I just stared, too stunned to speak. I pulled out my own ‘hawk and my trusty pickaxe, too.

We stood still, unnoticed by the crowd that was surrounding and slobbering over the fallen man. Someone must have been bitten, and then they turned in the confines of the Post Office. Tough choice to make. Stay and be eaten, or go outside and be eaten.

Chapter 39

“Gonna get some exercise. Outside in, keep moving. With luck, the others will get back and give us a hand.” I hoped they would be back soon.

The crowd finally noticed us and started in our direction. The man they had eaten was little more than bits of flesh on bones. His face had been eaten off, and his organs had been ripped out and devoured. I hadn’t seen that much destruction in a while. His arms and legs were eaten to the bone, and his head had been cracked on the sidewalk, preventing him from even attempting to come back.

“Well, here they come. Good luck.” Charlie ducked away to the east, jogging around the edge of the horde. One zombie was slightly faster than the others were and managed to get in the way. Charlie backhanded his right tomahawk into the ghoul’s temple, cracking its skull and causing its right eye to bulge out. Charlie didn’t wait for it to fall, he just kept moving. As he passed the Zs, they turned to follow, bumping into each other in their eagerness to feed.

I took off to the west, working the edge of the crowd myself. I didn’t have any quicker ones come out and say hello, so I was going to have to do it the hard way. I stepped in quickly, using the longer reach of my pickaxe to smack a large zombie above the ear, killing it and knocking it into its neighbor, who fell to the ground with the dead one.

I knew there were other ones coming up behind me, so I kept moving, and angling away from the crowd. Around the north end, I spiked another Z in the head, just as Charlie came into view. He stepped into the crowd, swinging with both hands and killing two at once. I waved at him and then reversed course, heading back the way I came. The horde had spread out a bit, giving me a few more solitary targets I could kill without serious risk to myself.

I cut down a woman with wild hair and a huge tear in her throat. Speeding up a little, I used the pointed end of my ‘hawk to finish off a small man reaching for my arms.

I stayed on the outskirts of the horde, killing as they came out, and my movement kept the zombies off focus and continuously bumping into each other.

On the south end of the zombies, Charlie had to make a stand and take on three at once. He kicked the middle one in the hip, and slammed his right hand ‘hawk into the forehead of the one on the left, letting it go as the Z fell. The right one died as Charlie buried the second blade in its neck, severing its spine. Charlie jerked it free, as the ghoul fell, bringing it back for a two handed swing into the skull of the one trying to get up. Charlie grabbed his weapons and backed away, working his way towards the North again.