Ragnarok Rising: The Awakening (Book One of The Ragnarok Rising Saga) (11 page)

EMT was right behind him carrying an identical bag, but with somewhat less ease than Southard.
They dove back inside and shut their doors. Once they were safely inside, I climbed in and shut my door. Spec-4 climbed in last and secured the hatch. Immediately, I pulled back onto the road and headed south, again. I had to swing wide around a City Utilities truck that was on its side. Behind it, two zombies were busily eating what I’m pretty sure was a cat. I don’t think I want to know for sure.

“You’ll need to turn left at the stoplight,” said Spec-4.

“Yeah, it should be just down there a few blocks,” said Southard.

“Yeah, I know where it’s at,” I replied.
“How long have I lived here?”

“I know,” replied Southard, “but you’re old. We’re worried your mind might be going.”

“I’ll remember that, Chuck,” I said, grinning wickedly.

“No you won’t, you senile old fart,” he said, punching me in the arm.

“Boys,” said Spec-4. “Eyes on the prize.”

“Now we’re in trouble,” muttered Southard.

A group of about twenty zombies came charging out at us as we approached another Stop ‘n’ Rob. One of them was an SPD officer, probably from the car we’d ransacked. The rest were a motley collection of humanity. A nurse, a man in coveralls I took to be the Utilities truck driver, a couple of teenagers, and some lady in a business skirt. They all had bloody wounds. I didn’t pay attention to any more of them. I was too busy taking the corner and avoiding a multi-car pile-up in the middle of the road.

I out-distanced the zombies easily, once we were clear and heading east.
There wasn’t much in the way of obstacles. The zombie crowd lost interest in me when a dog ran across the road between them and us. I felt bad for the dog, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have much trouble outrunning them. It ran right in front of a barbeque joint that was a local landmark. I’d eaten there many times. Suddenly, I wanted a brisket sandwich so bad could almost taste it.

“Take the next right,” said Spec-4.

“Got it,” I said as I decelerated for the turn.

As soon as we made the corner, the National Guard Armory and
Reserve Center came into view. It looked pretty much deserted. There were still a few vehicles in the lot, but not very many. Enough that it gave me an idea, should we decide we need more vehicles later on. Some of them were larger transport vehicles like Hemmits, LMTV’s and Deuce and a Half’s
[5]
.

A pair of zombies in red track suits stumbled out into the road in front of me.
I didn’t bother to slow down. In a flash, they vanished beneath the vehicle as I plowed into them with bone-crunching force. They made a satisfying crunch as we bounced over them. I slowed down at the top of the hill and turned into the parking lot of the Armory.

“Pull over to those trailers,” said Spec-4, pointing.
“We can fill it and the back of the Humvee with ammo, weapons and MRE’s. That should hold plenty to get us through for a while.”

I pulled over to the trailers and backed up to one that I knew we could hook onto.
Southard hopped out and expertly connected the trailer in under a minute. He jumped back inside, grinning. We bumped knuckles as he locked his door, again.

“How’d you do that so fast?” asked Spec-4.

“Easy,” replied Southard. “I spent six years in the Army. Two of those years were in Iraq pulling convoy duty.”

Spec-4 nodded in approval at Southard and told me which door was closest to the armory.
Then I drove over to that side of the building and parked. There weren’t any zombies inside the fenced perimeter, at least none that I could see. From where we parked, I knew that anyone passing by on the street would not be able to see us.

“Ok,” I said.
“Let’s do this by the numbers, people. We stick together and watch each other’s backs.”

“What do I do?” asked EMT.

“I need you to stay in here and keep watch for zombies,” I replied.

“Why me?”

“Because you don’t have any weapons training and you’re just as likely to shoot one of us in the back as you are to hit a zombie,” said Southard.

I shot Southard a sour look and turned back to EMT.

“Actually, he’s right,” I said. “You said yourself that you’re only experience with guns was on the X-box. You’re more valuable to us keeping watch and being ready to patch one of us up if we get hurt.”

“I guess you’re right,” he said.
“How do I let you know if I see one?”

“Well, you could hit the horn,” I said. “No wait, scratch that.
We don’t want to make too much noise. Southard, give me that SPD radio.”

Southard tossed it to me and I set both it and my radio to the same frequency.
Then I handed it to EMT and did a quick radio check. Satisfied, I looked at him and smiled. So long as the batteries didn’t die, we would be able to stay in contact.

“Alright, now,” I said. “That radio has a good battery and we’re on the same frequency.
Stay low in the vehicle and call me if you see anything coming at you. If zombies show up, lock the doors and don’t open them for anything.”

“Except us,” said Spec-4.

“Yeah,” I said. “Definitely for us.”

“I won’t let you guys down,” said EMT.

“I know you won’t,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. “Here’s a shotgun. It’s loaded and ready to go. But don’t use it unless you absolutely have to, understand?”

I didn’t really have muc
h confidence in EMT, but I also didn’t have much choice. If we were going to pull this off, it would take all of us. Besides, he seemed like he might be trying to come around. I really hoped that he would. Despite his lack of weapons training, his medical skills would prove invaluable. We’d need more than just shooters and looters if we were going to have a shot at getting through this and living to tell the tale.

“Got it, sir,” he said.

“Good man,” I replied.

Spec-4 and Southard moved over to the door to the Armory and stood by waiting for me.
Once EMT was back inside the vehicle, I took a quick glance around. It was clear for now, so I joined them at the door. Once again, I noticed the eerie silence. Without the hustle and bustle of daily life, traffic and people moving around, the city was a very creepy place. With the amount of dead walking around, you didn’t even see any animals. I had to force myself to think about something else.

“Once we’re inside b
e as quiet as you can,” I said. “No need alerting anyone to the fact that we’re there unless we have to. What I wouldn’t give for a silencer.”

They both nodded agreement.

“Do you think he’ll lock us out?” asked Spec-4.

“Probably,” I replied.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Think he even knows how to use that shotgun?” she asked, smiling.

“I’d bet money that he can’t even find the safety,” said Southard.

“Ok, folks,” I said.
“It’s game time.”

We fell silent as I opened the door to the Armory.
The hallway inside was still lit, but empty. Once we shut the door, we noticed that it was extremely quiet. It was really unnerving. I looked at both of them and put my finger to my lips, indicating no talking. We walked slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Our footfalls seemed as loud as thunder to me and my heart-beating in my ears was like a base drum. I was sure that any zombies in here would hear us coming a mile away.

As we reached the door to the training area, I peeked inside the large gym.
There was workout gear, weights, a heavy bag, a basketball court and other gear inside. There were also two zombies in the middle of the room. One was wearing National Guard ACU’s and the other was in civilian clothes. It had to be another soldier, though. The hair was regulation short and even the civilian clothes were worn precisely. The zombie in ACU’s had a bloody stump where his right arm should be. The zombie in civvies had numerous bites out of his back and the back of his neck.

I knew we had to take them out quietly, or we’d alert everyone in the building.
Plus we couldn’t leave them in there because we’d be coming this way carrying weapons. There’s no way to do that quietly. So, I slung the strap of the MP-5 around my neck and let it hang loosely. I motioned for Southard to do the same with his M-16. Then I motioned to Spec-4 to cover us. She nodded and Southard looked at me like I’d grown a third arm out the side of my neck.

Slowly, I walked over to the weight pile and selected a twenty pound weight.
I lifted it carefully, to not make noise. Then I hefted it, to feel the weight. I felt like it just might do the trick. Southard got the hint and grabbed a twenty-five pound dumbbell. We gave each other a quick glance and started quietly sneaking up behind the two zombies. I took the one in ACU’s and Southard got the one in civvies.

We silently crept within five feet of the zombies and I was getting ready to strike when the one I was targeting turned towards me.
Before I could react, it let out a moaning shriek that seemed to echo from all around the room. It was unbelievably loud, too. Before it could do anything else, I attacked. It seemed to affect some primitive part of my brain and made me want to run away, as fast as I could go. It was only through force of will that I didn’t do just that.

Southard swung first, and struck his in the side of the head as it was turning towards him.
Dumbbell met skull with a sickening crunch, and the zombie fell to the floor in a twitching heap. I struck mine a split-second later. I swung the weight with all the force I could muster and struck it right in the forehead. It went over backwards and slid about six feet before coming to a stop.

This effectively ended the shriek.
The front of its skull was completely caved in. I mentally named that kind
Shriekers
. I wasn’t giving it the benefit of the doubt. I raised the weight again, and threw it at the head. It connected with a crunch and stuck in the remains of its face. Southard followed suit and struck his twice more, for good measure. Why take any chances?

“What the hell was that?!” hissed Southard.

“Some kind of shriek,” I said. “I hope they didn’t alert every zombie in the building.”

Spec-4 came running up to us and said, “Yeah, too late.
There’re four Z’s coming down the hallway.”

“So much for the silent method,” I said, running to the door.

I peeked around the corner and saw four
Shamblers
making their way towards us. Thankfully they weren’t
Sprinters
. We had time to get ready. All four were dressed in ACU’s and had bloody wounds on their bodies.

“I’ll take them,” I said, raising the MP-5.

Southard and Spec-4 raised their weapons just in case, but nodded at me. The excellent diopter sights on the MP-5 are easy to use. I snapped four quick shots and dropped them all. The gunshots sounded like thunder in the enclosed space. It echoed around the gym and seemed to go on and on. We watched as the four bodies twitched as the life left them, once again.

“Let’s drag them into the gym,” I said.

“Why?” asked Southard.

“So we don’t have to step over them when we bring the weapons back this way,” I replied.
“Wilder, cover us while we move them.”

“On it,” she said, checking her weapon before raising it back to her shoulder.

“Hey you guys,” came EMT’s voice from the radio. “Was that gunfire?”

“Yeah,” I replied.
“We handled it. No problems.”

“Just making sure it was you,” said EMT.

“Who the fuck else would it be?” mumbled Southard, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Looters?” said Spec-4. “Or someone thinking that
we’re
looters. Which we kind of are.”

I smiled at Southard and said, “Anything out there to report?

“Nope,” he replied. “Just one zombie at the chain-link fence, but he can’t get through. He’s just standing there. Besides, I could barely hear the shots. Just sounded like pops.”

“Good,” I said. “Maybe we won’t attract any more.
Keep your eyes open and let us know if anything changes.”

“Got it, boss.
I mean, Copy,” he said.

“829, out,” I said.

Southard and I each grabbed the legs of a zombie and dragged them into the gym. It took two trips, but we got them all out of the hallway.

“Damn it, Wylie,” grumbled Southard.
“Next time shoot them closer to the damned door.”

“Sorry, Chuck,” I said, grinning.
“Next time, I’ll use you as bait to lure them in close.”

“Why not use Larry the Cowardly EMT?” he said, grinning.

“You’re a riot,” said Spec-4. “Did you think that up all by yourself?”

“Yeah,” said Southard. “I’ve been working on it for a while, now.”

“Keep working on it,” I said, smiling.

Once we had the hallway clear, we continued on towards the weapons vault.
I took point and had Southard take the rear. Spec-4 covered side passages and doors as we passed them. Even though we had blown any chance of getting in and out quietly, I still tried not to make any noise. My heart felt like it would beat its way out of my chest. I grew more and more nervous with each passing step. The hallways seemed to stretch into forever. I’d forgotten just how big this building was.