Life Among The Dead (Book 3): A Bittersweet Victory (38 page)

“I know you.” He squints at her. “Vida,
right? How’s my M.J.?”

“Tall and leafy,” she assures, and then
whispers, “I need you to help me with something. Can you distract
the guards at the gate so I can open it?”

“A rebellion? You know this is the second
time today I’ve been asked to--”

“It’s gotta be now!”

They slip away from the intensifying clash.
Some folks refuse to move away until all hope is lost.

Gar tells a story to the soldiers at the gate
about some woman he met after leaving Gabe’s and before coming to
Story Book Land. He lights one of his famous joints and offers the
two soldiers manning the admissions booth a toke. The young men are
reluctant since the major is so close. They peer around like
meerkats to make sure the coast is clear before ducking down for a
quick drag.

Vida enters the booth in a flash. Her gaze
dances over the panels and screens until she finds the button to
open the gate. She knows the second everyone sees the steel shutter
rise, all hell will break loose.

“Get that gate closed!” the major commands
his men as the barrier lifts.

Vida is painfully seized by one of the guards
while his partner keeps a steady bead on Gar with his assault
rifle. She counters the hold, only to catch the man’s elbow with
her face. The gate comes down again, sealing the security
breach.

But one man won’t stand for it--not the
closing of the gate or the poor treatment of the girl. Now with his
arm in a sling, after having bullet fragments dug out of his
shoulder without the use of anesthesia, Brock kicks off his floppy
shoes and walks toward the booth where Vida fights to get free.
Shoving past the soldier who has Vida pinned against the control
panel, he hits the button to raise the gate once more. He’s
unarmed, but willing to break one of the vows he made when he
graduated from the New York University of Klowning. He’s going to
use his clown persona for intimidation.

The soldier releases Vida to confront him.
He’s speechless when he sets eyes on the mirthless clown in his
runny makeup. Brock does all the talking, “If you ever touch her
again, or close that gate, I swear by all you hold holy, and on the
grave of Bozo the Great, I will eat your fucking soul!”

“A’right Rubies!” When he sees the gate is
up, Abby orders his people into action. “5,6,7,8!”

The Gunship starts to roll with Rubicon and
actual soldiers on board. More Rubies jump on as Lady Luck crawls
through the gate, just slow enough for Abby to hop down from the
stone ledge.

He lands and slaps his palm on the floor to
let her know it’s time to rock. “’Kay, Double L, I want a
port--”

“A port broadside,” she says. “I know, baby.
It ain’t my first trip to the fair.”

Abby has to hold onto the rail as the Gunship
accelerates with a lurch. All onboard have seconds to get their
bearings and get behind a machine gun. Even the Story Book Land
soldiers take a stance behind the weapons, for they have no choice.
As quick as possible, the two factions work together to move guns
from the right side of the double decker to the left for optimal
carnage.

Back at the park, the gate is left open.
Civilians now bar soldiers from getting near the booth. They won’t
let the barrier close until the bus returns with their friends.
Vida grabs the two soldiers that had come to Rubicon with Oz and
Carla and takes them to the collection of weapons brought in from
the encampment. She opens an army green crate labeled
M20
in
black letters.

“Tell me you can use these things.”

They just nod at her and the rocket
launchers.

“When the bus is clear, we’re gonna light up
Broadway, ‘kay?” she says.

Others follow suit, joining Vida and the pair
in grabbing a bazooka and heading out into the night. They take
positions on either side of the door. Once the bus is out of their
line of fire, they are to strike the horde and dash back in.

Relief rose in Dan and Carla but was doused
when the gates partially open then close. That hope is renewed when
the gate stays open this time, inspiring them to push
themselves.

Now a vehicle curves around the lot on an
indirect course towards them. Lights radiate from around the bus
like a UFO as it blares a rebellious rock anthem the winded duo
can’t name.

“Light ’em up!” Abby tells his gunners as the
bus slides to a halt between the survivors and the enemy. Nearly a
dozen machine guns roar at a rate of over 500 rounds per minute to
hold back the throng of dead so the living can dive in. Before Dan
and Carla even land on the rubberized floor of the bus, it starts
to head back.

“Give me some action in the back section!”
Abby tells the gunners to slide their hardware along the rail to
the rear to thin the horde. Aiming hasn’t been an issue. They just
point in the vicinity of the closest ghouls and tear them
apart.

Streams of fire and smoke whizz past the
windows on this return trip. Dan looks behind them as rockets
explode amidst the mass of bodies. It isn’t enough to take all of
them out, but it’s enough to make him smile.

The gates are lowered. Differences are set
aside. The crowds that stood at odds are happy to see the return of
the two. Many don’t cheer when they notice one is missing from the
roster. Dan and Carla make their way through the sea of faces.

While Dan receives smiles and condolences,
Heather waits. Dan hugs his wife when she greets him.

Carla allows herself to break down. She’s
survived, and now she can officially cry for Oz. She’s comforted by
her friends.

After a spell, Dan is compelled to leave the
ladies to search out a far less pleasant face. He spots her along
the far edge of the gathering. She wears what may be a smile as he
limps towards her. “All right, out with it, Mrs. McCleary.
Why?”

“Mister Williamson.” She stiffens, and the
distant relation to a smile vanishes. “From the first time I met
that uncle of yours… I wanted him. He, of course, did not
reciprocate. His tastes leaned to the younger ladies. The cheaper,
more tawdry selection there was to offer. So I went on to meet my
husband, and he was adequate. But, I never stopped pining for Bruce
Williamson. Welcome home.”

Dan utters a thank you instead of what pops
into his head,
That
is
so
gross
.

The civilians begin to disperse, leaving
behind Ruby soldiers in camouflage and homemade armor. One of the
Rubicon men issues orders from the roof of the double decker, and
Dan wants to meet the people responsible for his rescue.

Fueled by the recent events, Abby takes
Brass’s words to heart.
These
are
our
people
,
our
food
,
our
guns
,
and
our
vehicles
, he thinks as he orchestrates
the assimilation. “Let’s get the reload stations set up in our new
armory. I want archers and snipers on the wall. Refuel and reload
the vehicles, and don’t forget to collect the brass.”

The major watches the command the man has
over his people, and he doesn’t miss the fact that his own men fall
into line as well. These Ruby people aren’t the overzealous thugs
he had thought they were, but a strategic band of rebels. He’d be
foolish to stand in their way. From this moment, he decides to let
the Rubies join his soldiers, work with one another and become a
stronger force against the dead. Such a collaboration can only
strengthen them and work to their advantage. They will be heading
out in force in the coming months, taking back the Florida
peninsula. A line will be drawn in the sand as they push northward
to reclaim their country, town by town, state by state. With the
tactics shown today, reclamation of everything from the Charles
River to the eastern shore can be theirs. Perhaps complete manifest
destiny isn’t out of the question.

A spotter on the wall reports that the
irradiated dead have stopped and are just looking at the place. The
old variety of zombie would be beating against the steel and stone
trying to get in. However, the new breed understands that there is
no hope of attaining food since the gate has closed and they have
no way of breaching it. Before the order to begin culling them can
be issued from either Abby or the major, the dead run off. Just a
few at first, and then the rest of the massive herd follows
suit.

“It looks like the start of a marathon,” Abby
says.

He doesn’t know what to make of it. Maybe
they are looking for another route in, but that doesn’t exist.
Perhaps they really have given up on entering the magical kingdom
and leave to pursue food elsewhere.

“Tomorrow, in the light of day, I want to go
out there and clear those bodies. They’re just going to rot in the
sun and stink up our home,” Abby tells his people.

“If I may interject,” Dan says, “the local
wildlife has proven to be quite an ally to us. The gators will come
and eat the dead. Probably even thin the ones still moving.”

Abby nods, liking the fact his people won’t
need to risk their lives so soon. “Just let Mother Nature take care
of it.”

“For reasons I won’t go into, that phrases
pisses me off to no end,” Dan says. “But, yeah, that’s the general
idea. Thanks for the ride out there.”

“It’s what we do. Thanks for going out. It
was crazy to do it alone.”

“That’s kinda what I do.” Dan shrugs as he
heads away to join his wife and Carla. He wants to get his former
sheriff home so he and Heather can help her through her loss, and
help her raise her family.

Life goes on within the park. The living are
left to contemplate their survival, their life among the dead. It’s
at a time like this that they dwell on the fact they still draw
breath when so many less fortunate have been reduced to mere
memories. Such memories are held sacred and revered. People fight
to continue, if only out of respect for their lost loved ones, to
keep the memories alive. Remembering all the fallen ones had taught
them helps them soldier on. They know that they must greet each new
day as a fresh challenge, and celebrate every sunset as a
bittersweet victory.

Bill Thompson

Becka Connelly

Hector Alvarez

Sergeants Ezekiel Lynton and Rashida Steele

Nancy and Wallace Williamson

Bruce Williamson

Oswald “Oz” Johnson

And so, so many more.

Thank you once again for coming back. We’ve
been through so much. And there may be another installment to the
New Castle saga. Life Among the Dead 4: The End will bring the
series to completion.

Don’t forget to leave reviews wherever you
can (be nice!) and contact me on Twitter, Facebook, or through my
site:
http://danielcotton.weebly.com/

Wanna have your own fun with Magic Mud? Add
one part water (colored to your liking) to two parts powdered
cornstarch. Mix and enjoy!

Thanks again!

-Daniel Cotton

Daniel Cotton is a New Hampshire native
currently residing in Iowa with his lovely wife and two sons. He
derives inspiration from his own life and over-active imagination,
tapping into pains from his past as well as the current joys in his
life, blending them into tales that are both dark and touching.
Daniel delves into his own life experiences; his factory jobs, his
time working on a psychiatric ward, his time as a Naval Hospital
Corpsman, all of the places he has lived and people he’s known to
make the worlds he creates seem more real. When you read one of his
works, you are actually reading a piece of him.