Ragnarok Rising: The Crossing (The Ragnarok Rising Saga) (12 page)

“That ought to discourage them,” said Spec-4, smiling.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the definition of a bad day,” said Southard. “That should shred whatever is out there.”

“After the boom,” I said, nodding, “we’ll swing open the door and finish off whatever is still moving.”

Everyone got into position by the door. Southard and Elliott held onto the handles while I prepared to turn the lever. Spec-4 was ready to shoot anything that tried to poke its head through the door. Becca just backed away slowly with a look of terror on her face. I wasn’t surprised. I knew her nerves wouldn’t let her face the dead, again.

With a metallic
thunk
the lock released and we pushed the door open very slowly. I was waiting for the sudden reaction of the creatures on the other side, but there was nothing. I could see the light in the stairwell, so I knew that anything on the other side would see us. More importantly, we would see it. After what felt like an eternity of nothing, I edged the door open a few more inches.

We waited again, expecting the hideous face of a
Stalker
to appear in the opening at any second. Sweat began to run down my forehead and down my nose as I nervously waited for a reaction from whatever was on the other side. I strained to hear any sound of movement, but all I could hear was the slight hum of the florescent lights.

I nodded to Elliott and he released his grip on the handle and readied his weapon. When he was in position, I nodded at Southard. Reluctantly, he released his grip as well and brought up his weapon. With a heavy sigh, I shoved the door open far enough for us to see into the stairwell beyond. There was no sign of the dead. Not a trace.

“What next?” asked Spec-4.

“Yeah, are we going to leave Becca down here or take her with us?” asked Southard.

“Won’t she just lock us out and not let us back inside?” asked Elliott.

“We can’t leave her behind,” I said, after a moment. “She could have a panic attack and seal this door. Once the bolts are in place, I doubt even the combination would open it from the other side.”

“Can’t we just cuff her to the bed, again?” asked Southard, grinning.

“
No,” I said, shaking my head. “If anything got inside, she’d be a sitting duck. We’ll have to take her with us.”

“I’ll get her,” said Spec-4. “I think she’ll take it better from me than any of you.”

“She’s right,” agreed Southard. “But let’s make it quick. We’re burning daylight.”

“Bring her topside when she’s ready,” I said. “I’m going on up to check out the building and the Humvees.”

“I’m going with you,” said Elliott.

“Right behind you,” added Southard.

I readied my M-4 and headed slowly up the stairs. I kept the weapon trained on the door at the top, just in case. I could see daylight streaming into the building, but nothing was moving. The only sound other than our footfalls were the sound of the wind moving through the building.

When we reached the top of the stairs, it was clear that the
Stalkers
had gone into a frenzy when they got inside. Everything was torn apart. The window coverings had been torn down, the windows had been broken out and the mattresses on the beds had been shredded. The furniture in the little office had all been scattered and knocked over. In several places, there was debris hanging from the ceiling from where they had clawed their way inside from the roof.

Southard pushed a dangling board out of his way and part of the ceiling above him
collapsed. Through the hole emerged a body. It fell out up to the waist and hung there upside down. We all jumped back and brought our weapons to bear, expecting an attack to follow. The creature just hung limply there, swinging slightly back and forth.

“Holy shit!” yelled Southard. “That thing scared the crap out of me!”

Elliott looked like he’d seen a ghost. He was pale and his rifle barrel was shaking, slightly. I reached out and nudged it with the end of my barrel and it didn’t react. I could see that the back if its head had been blown out.

“It’s the one I
shotgunned last night,” I said, giving it a little shove.

It swung back and forth with its arms extended out towards the floor. The glassy eyes continued to stare into oblivion, heedless of our presence.

“Let’s get it the hell down before it freaks Becca out,” I said, grabbing it by the belt.

With a heave, it came free and fell in a heap on the floor. Southard and I each grabbed a foot and dragged it out the door. In their frenzy, the
Stalkers
had torn off the rope and opened the door. Outside the building, the Humvees stood untouched. I had half expected them to have damaged or disabled them. With the doors secured, there was no way they were getting inside, but it looked like they hadn’t touched them.

We dragged the body around to the back of the building and dropped it in the grass. We could find a better place for it later, but for now that was good enough.
By the time we made it back around to the front door, Becca and Spec-4 were emerging from the building.

“Nice of you to join us,” I said, grinning.

“It’s not like I had a choice,” answered Becca, in a sour tone.

“Would you rather we locked you to a bunk, again?” snapped Southard.

“Chuck,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s alright. She’s just scared. Who can blame her?”

Southard didn’t say anything
else; he just shook his head disgustedly and stalked away towards the Humvees. Spec-4 shrugged and followed him. I nodded at Elliott to go with them. He just looked at me quizzically and headed after Spec-4.

“Something you want to talk to me about?” said Becca, in a surly tone.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” I replied. “I think we need to be clear on a few things before we proceed.”

“Like what?” she snapped.

“Like the fact that we all need to be able to depend on each other, out here,” I said, as gently as I could. “This isn’t a summer outing in the park.”

“I know damned good and well what’s out here!”

“Then you should know how close you came to getting us killed!” I snapped back, my anger rising.

That had the desired effect and she seemed to shrink into herself.
              “Look, Becca,” I said, relaxing a bit. “I know you went through hell. We all have.”

“Did you spend a month locked in a cellar?” she demanded, the fire returning to her eyes.

“No, but I did blow up a marina to save my family, nearly killing myself in the process,” I replied. “I woke up alone and made my way back to the jail from Table Rock Lake, mostly on foot.”

She looked surprised and just stared open-mouthed at me.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Just me and my dog, Odin. We fought our way back through almost fifty miles
of zombies and crazy survivors.”

She shook her head in disbelief.

“It’s true,” said Spec-4, walking towards us. “He made it back to the jail and wound up rescuing us from a traitor in our own midst.”

“I….I had no idea,” she stammered.

“It’s ok to be scared,” I said, trying to sound comforting. “We’re all scared. It’s how you deal with that fear. That’s what defines you. We need each other if we’re going to survive in this world. There’s no way around that. Even if you can’t fight, we’re still going to need your help rebuilding.”

“You really think we can rebuild?” she asked, surprised.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I’m going to try. I refuse to give up and let the dead win.”

“Ok,” she said, after a moment. “I’ll do my best. I can’t promise how much help I’ll be, but I’ll try.”

“That’s all anyone can ask,” I said. “Just stick close to us and don’t run off. We’ll handle the fighting.”

Heading over to the Humvees, we all climbed inside. Spec-4 and Becca climbed in with me while Southard and Elliott took the other one. Elliott slid into the driver’s seat, eager to drive again. Firing up the engine, I backed out onto the road and headed for the
Nature Center. I wanted to get a good look at the map and try to figure out where the
Stalkers
were hiding.

If we could locate and eliminate them with explosives, we could secure the park. This was the only place I’d ever seen anything like the
Stalkers
. I was hoping there wouldn’t be very many of them. I’d much rather face any of the other undead instead of them. They were far more dangerous than all of the others, combined.

"When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."

-
                    
Chief Aupumut

-
                   
Mohican, 1725

We drove back across the bridge and to the Nature Center. Climbing out of the Humvee, I readied my weapon. Spec-4 started to get out following me, but I motioned for her to stay put. She gave me a questioning look, but I just shook my head. I didn’t want to have to say that I wanted her to baby-sit. I just flicked my eyes in the direction of the back seat and hoped she got the drift. She gave me a quick nod, but still didn’t look happy about it.

Elliott and Southard got out of their Humvee and readied their weapons. I couldn’t help but smile at the way Elliott was performing since all this started. Even though he’d never been in the military, he was a good student. He listened to our instructions and picked things up quickly. He stayed alert and watched his surroundings, following our lead and
doing his job. He would have made a great soldier.

We fanned out and headed towards the back of the
Nature Center. The front had looked to be intact, but the back was a different story. The glass doors were shattered and hanging off of their hinges. There was dried blood covering the ground in front of the doors and I could see where something had been dragged off towards the trees behind the building. The building was fairly well lit, but pools of shadow covered the corners and side rooms.

Activating my tactical light, I swept the interior of the building
, quickly searching for any sign of the undead. I didn’t see any signs of danger, so I advanced into the building. My boots crunched loudly on the shattered glass, but the only other sound was the wind whispering through the building. On a table in the corner sat the display I was looking for. It was a to-scale model of the entire park.

While Southard and Elliott covered me, I began intently studying the map.
I could see the familiar shapes of buildings I recognized and the general layout of the park. The Nature Trails were also mapped out in exacting detail. Near one of the trails, there was an indication of a large cave. I checked the map carefully, looking for any other caves, but I only found the one. That seemed like a good place to start looking for the
Stalkers.

It would give them total darkness, even in the brightest part of the day. It would also be big enough to keep a large number of them sheltered without windows or doors to contend with. Since nothing else in the park looked capable of protecting them from the light of day, it seemed the best choice for a lair.

“Wylie!” I heard Southard call behind me. “You might want to get out here!”

I turned and headed out the door as fast as I could go. I could see Southard and Elliott looking off towards
the west, weapons at the ready. I cleared the door and snapped my M-4 to my shoulder, then swung around to face the new threat. I wasn’t prepared for the sight that was waiting for me.

Heading towards us were four people.
Although they were still some distance away, I could make out that they were still living. They were dressed well and didn’t move like the typical undead. They appeared unhurt and healthy, which was the only sign of life we’d seen since we got here. It was a good sign that there might be other survivors in the area.

One was an elderly man with a cane. He looked to be in his mid to late seventies, wearing khaki pants and a button-up shirt. On his hip was an old military pistol belt and what looked to be an M-1911 .45 Colt. His ball cap was emblazoned with a logo that read, “US Army Veteran. World War Two.” It was also bearing numerous campaign ribbons for service. I didn’t immediately recognize all of them, but a few leapt out at me.