Deadrise (18 page)

The main western perimeter militia could do little to help the doomed soldiers below except shoot zombies from a distance. They couldn't bring their tanks and mortars to bear for fear of hitting their own men in the convoy. But that did not stop them from blasting deep within the zombie's rear ranks, which stretched far back into the suburbs to the west. Houses were shelled to pieces by mortar fire or outright blown apart by a tank blast.

Grenades launched from both sides exploded randomly in the ranks. Those superzombies that weren't firing grenades charged the defenses at full speed. When the wall of zombies was thirty yards from the NW perimeter trenches the troops triggered the Claymore antipersonnel mines that ran the length of the perimeter. The deadly devices shredded the first three rows of zombies as thousands of razor sharp pieces of shrapnel the size of a tiny pebble were released from each Claymore. But those behind them pressed foreword, oblivious to anything but the live flesh ahead.

Another Apache gunship exploded from missile fire, this time directly over the battlefield, raining flaming debris for one hundred yards in every direction.

The men in the trenches began fleeing for their lives when the wall of zombies was twenty yards away. The charging superzombies cut many of them down with a bullet to the back or the legs. The fallen soldiers tried crawling to safety but the lead zombies in the advancing ranks fell upon them, tearing large chunks of flesh with their teeth. Their screams were smothered by a wave of zombies.

Flamethrower wielding soldiers stepped from behind the tanks now that the zombies were in range, spraying liquid fire along the length of the zombie line. As they burst into flame the ones behind them instantly fell back, afraid of the fire. But there were simply too many zombies to stop them all and with a final surge the NW perimeter line broke and the sea of zombies flooded in.

The tanks were moving now, crushing zombies like fruit beneath their tracks. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand and Soldiers piled on top of tanks and into the vehicles to escape being eaten alive. The transport trucks were moving south, trying to retreat to a secondary rally point at the northern edge of the refugee camp.

Once the superzombies were in the melee they split into pairs and concentrated on the vehicles. One pair blasted the men from the back of the Abrams and clambered up themselves. Soldiers nearby fired their M-16's at them but the Superzombie's paid them no attention. One superzombie poked his rifle into the tanks view port and let fly the bullets. Trapped within, the crew popped the hatch to escape the gunfire. The second superzombie was waiting for them, and blasted the first one to emerge in the head before leaning over the open hatch and letting rip a burst from its M-16. Ignoring the bullets that continued to pepper them the two superzombies climbed down the hatch of the tank and took control. The tank turned and fired near pointblank range at another tank twenty yards away, blowing the top half into flaming wreckage. Two more Abrams were quickly commandeered this way. An Apache unleashing a pair of missiles as it cruised by destroyed one of the Zombie driven tanks. Another of the Z-tanks was targeting fleeing transport trucks full of troops. Mutilated body parts were flung in every direction as the trucks exploded.

Anarchy reigned.

The refugee area was complete chaos. Mass hysteria had overtaken them once they realized the hospital was under attack. One third of them took up arms and ran to join the perimeter defenses. Another third made a mad scramble for the hospital, some in their vehicles, but most on foot. And the final third stood about, numbed with terror like cows waiting for slaughter. And a slaughter was what it turned out to be as the tattered remnants of the Western Perimeter militia came fleeing in from the north followed by the army of zombies led by three Z-tanks and over a dozen superzombies. Reinforcements from the main perimeter were dispatched out to reform the crumbled NW perimeter. They met the army of the dead at the northern edge of the refugee camp where the zombies were already feasting on those poor souls not fortunate enough to escape.

So the battle raged.

The perimeter of Fort Douglas was also under attack. Hundreds of zombies had swept out of the commercial area below the base as well as the suburbs between the hospital and the base. The men in the trenches along that stretch of road fled, where they ran into the wave sweeping in from the commercial district and were eaten alive, or they stayed in the trenches and fought while the army of zombies overwhelmed them and they were eaten alive. But the defenses of the main base held solid, and the tanks and artillery and flamethrowers kept the zombies one hundred yards distant…

Chapter 14

Saturday June 23 2001

Fort Douglas

Salt Lake City, UT

2:10 PM

David used the barrel of his rifle to push the blinds aside and peer out the window once again. The base was quiet now, almost empty; a few soldiers here and there…A Humvee speeding by now and then…nothing more. But the sounds of battle were not too distant and an oily slick ball of anxiety was swirling in his stomach. He looked back at his mother. She on a cot with her eyes closed. The sound of machinegun fire close by snapped David's attention back to the window. The street was clear. A Humvee suddenly streaked by, heading for the south end of the base…More machinegun fire…Seconds later the explosion of a grenade no more than a few hundred feet away! A few moments later several soldiers went running in the same direction as the Humvee, shouting incoherently at one another.

He left the window.

"Mom! Get up!" he said. "Mom! Get up!"

"What?" she asked as she slowly sat up on the bed.

"Get up. Something's happening." David opened the barracks door and peered into the hall. The guard was not behind his desk. But someone was approaching from the far end of the barracks; a short, stout woman with long black hair, wearing Levis, a red blouse and sneakers with an M-16 cradled in her arms. He recognized her as Jennifer Black, Rick’s wife. He and his sister had met her as well as Rick’s two young daughters, Jennifer’s sister Samantha and her infant son last night at dinner and again this morning at breakfast. David hurried down the hall to meet her in front of the main entrance.

"What’s going on?" he asked her. He tried not to sound afraid.

"The university and base are under attack." she said.

More gunfire sounded from nearby.

"That’s just outside!" David exclaimed. "I think they might have entered the base!"

"How could they get in without being spotted?" she said.

"I've got to get to my mom." he turned to leave then stopped. "Is it all right if I bring my mom over there with you?"

"That's why I was coming over. I think it's best we all stick together." They hurried back to his barracks room. His mother sat at the edge of the cot.

"Get up mom." David said. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and stood his mother up. Another grenade explosion made with windows rattle in the panes. It was closer than the last.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"I'm taking you over to Mrs. Black’s quarters," he said. "It's much safer there." Jennifer took his mothers arm and was leading her out of the room.

"Why is that alarm going off?" Sharon asked. "I hear gunfire." she sounded as if she just now became aware of it.

"Some zombies are attacking the base." Jennifer said. "But the soldiers will protect us." As they passed the main entrance David could see more soldiers heading towards the south end of the base.

"But we can't leave." Sharon said, feebly trying to resist. "We have to wait for Susan and Matt."

"We’re not leaving." Jennifer said, keeping hold of Sharon’s arm and leading her down the hall. "We’re just moving you to a safer area."

They reached the door to her barracks room and her sister Samantha opened it for them. A cute, waifish girl his sisters age with the same dark hair as Jennifer only cropped shorter. They hurried in and Jennifer closed the door behind them. Two young toddlers dressed in child-sized fatigues sat at a table, bowls of soup in front of them. Mary was a curly haired, blue eyed three year old barely out of diapers and Tiffany, a chubby, round-faced doll half her sisters age and still in them.

"Did they tell you what time they were coming back?" Jennifer asked David.

"No." he said. He and his sister hadn't really been on speaking terms when they had left. "Matt told me some army guys were going with them. I bet they have a radio."

"Jenkins is with them." Jennifer said. David had met him only briefly, but that was all it took for him to realize the guy was an asshole. "But we have no way of contacting them. But I'm sure the base would recall him. He's a platoon sergeant."

Another grenade exploded somewhere outside. The noise wakened Samantha’s six-month-old baby boy who had been sleeping peacefully in a small bassinet one corner. His small screams quickly attracting his mother's attention.

"I'm going to see what is going on outside." Jennifer said.

"I'm going with you." David said."

"Samantha, lock the door behind us." Jennifer said. "Don't open it until we get back. And keep your gun with you." Samantha nodded and picked up her own M-16.

Jennifer opened the door and peered down. Empty.

"Come on." she said to David and they sprinted down the hall.

Gunfire roared just outside as they reached the open door. David peered out just in time to see a retreating soldier crumple to the ground as bullets raked his back.

"Get down!" Jennifer hissed, pulling him out of the doorway and to the ground against the wall. "Silent." she said into his ear. David tried not to breathe lest it give away their position. He heard the heavy booted footsteps just before he saw the shadow of someone or something pass the wide-open barracks door.

This is it! You’re dead! You are fucking dead!

He tightened his grip on his rifle, preparing to fire the second anything stepped through the door. But whomever it was passed by and the sound of footsteps faded. Jennifer held them down another full minute before nodding for them to rise.

David took a quick peek out the door, glancing all around. The soldier's body was lying in the road a few yards to the left, clear streets ahead and to the right. With the coast clear they both stepped out onto the sidewalk. More dead bodies were scattered behind the first in a ragged line stretching perhaps fifty feet. Screams, less than one hundred feet away echoed through the rows of barracks followed by the chatter of several M-16's…Another grenade explosion.

"There are some of those superzombies loose in the base." David said. "There’s no other explanation."

"But how did they get in?" Jennifer asked. "Every inch of perimeter on this base is covered."

"Obviously not." David said.

Superzombies in the base! Where the hell are Matt and my sister?

"We have to find a way of contacting the others."

"I told you Jenkins is a platoon Sergeant. I'm sure they have radioed him back by now." Jennifer wished she felt as confident as she sounded.

"I have to go get Zack from the hospital." David said.

"What are you talking about?" Jennifer asked.

"As soon as they get back we are going to get the hell out of here. If the base really is getting overrun with zombies we won't have another chance to get him out of there."

"Are you crazy? What if we run into one of those things? Bullets can't stop it!" she was aghast at the prospect of running into a superzombie. "And your friend is hurt. How are you going to move him?"

"Zack can walk if he has to. If he’s too weak I'll get him a wheel chair. But I'm going to get him out of that hospital." The look in her eye told him she was not leaving the barracks. And he couldn't blame her. She had family here to protect. And so did he. But Zack had taken those bullets trying to save David and his family. Another pang of loss stabbed at his heart as he thought of his father. No, he could not leave Zack there.

"If they show up while I'm gone tell them where I went. And watch out for my mom."

"Be careful." Jennifer said, squeezing his hand.

"You too." he said. He cast another quick look around before bolting west, across the street and down the sidewalk towards the hospital. He made the two blocks to the hospital in record time seeing no one the entire way. The battle sounded fierce as ever from the perimeter with the tank blasts coming every couple seconds now. Behind him he could still hear gunfire and the occasional grenade explosion as soldiers encountered the superzombies.

As he ran up to the main entrance of the hospital he saw four dead soldiers lying out front. The brick wall behind them was scarred from gunfire, and the main glass doors were shattered. He glanced down at the soldiers as he passed between them. Their bodies were riddled with bullet holes and fresh blood was splattered about in pools everywhere. But not a single one of them had been shot in the head, which meant these soldiers would be rising as zombies very soon. David took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he had to do, and very quickly put a bullet through each corpses brain. The main lobby was a mess. Another half dozen dead soldiers were strewn about as well as several white clad nurses and other hospital staff. All appeared to have been killed by gunfire. Papers were scattered across the lobby, and bullet holes pockmarked the main desk. He caught movement behind the desk and he watched silently as the snooty ass receptionist from earlier pulled herself to her feet. Only now she was one of the walking dead. Bullet holes dotted her body and her once white uniform was now covered with still wet blood. David put a bullet through her skull. Other corpses in the lobby began stirring to life. David ran across the lobby to the main elevators as two of the zombies, a soldier and a nurse, climbed to their feet.