The Dead Rise (Book 1): Zombies and Chainsaws (14 page)

Jude said, "You guys better wake up, shit is still going down. I'm going to fire the shotgun. I didn't want to make the two of you guys piss your pants."

Jude didn’t give it more than a second their teeth while old and yellowed were as sharp as they needed to be to gnaw through the belts on the bar. Jude racked a fresh shell in and started firing without remorse. Heads split into mouths opening to gnaw stayed that way as they toppled to the ground. Jude fired his last shot and reached for a shell which was not there. He looked to Chuck and Pete. He screamed, “You guys I need your shells. I need them like fucking now!”

Pete and Chuck pulled out pockets spilling what little contents they had on them which was only a few lose dollars and change in them, but they had no ammunition.

Jude yelled, "You've got to be shitting me if we are out of ammunition! What the hell are we going to do now? We can't shoot them if we don't have any fresh shells. Son of a bitch!"

Chuck said, “You aren’t quite filling me with confidence here Jude.”

“Chuck I can’t say I have a lot to be optimistic about. If we can’t keep them out then hell it was nice knowing you guys brother,” Jude said.

The dead ate through two of the belts, only the middle one remained. As the last belt began to give away the three men ran to the door putting their boots up against the bars to keep the cell door from opening. The dead pushed against the door slowly their weight was enough to make the men start sliding backward, the three's faces were covered with sweat and the dead's hands slowly started to get in between the doors and they wedged themselves through. A rattle made them jump but when they looked up they realized that it didn't come from in front of them but from behind. A large heavy chain was hanging through the window of the prison.

The three men saw it swinging there and Jude said, “Can you hold the door shut guys.”

They both nodded yes but their expression did not fill him with very much confidence and he slid backward jumping up and pulling himself up on the bars looking out. He saw Roger attaching a chain to the front of a garbage truck.

Jude screamed, "Roger, you're alive!"

Chuck and Pete both craned their necks just barely keeping the dead from getting in. Chuck yelled, “No shit, he’s alive?”

Jude gave him a thumbs-up and said, “What do you need me to do?”

Rogers finished attaching the heavy chain to the front of the truck and yelled back, “Give me a second Jude, let me get this damn thing hooked up on here.”

Jude watched as he connected it and when he came back Roger yelled up to him, “Slide that chain back through so I can connect it.”

Jude did as told and Roger grabbed the long chain bringing it down and sliding a heavy bolt through it. He said, “Give me a second we will get ya’ll out of there.” 

He jumped into the truck and backed it up until the chain got tight. The engine revved louder and the slow crack started to be heard. Jude took a few steps back waiting for the concrete to break watching intently for the chain that was around the bars to give way. He heard a snap and the chain fell to the floor. Jude ran up looking and saw Roger sitting there in the truck hitting the steering wheel as if he hated the thing.

Jude yelled, "What the hell are you going to do now?"

Roger got out looking at the chain and said, “Get back, I got one more idea.”

Jude yelled, “What do you mean watch out? What are you going to do now?”

Roger slammed the door shut and floored the giant truck backward. Jude's eyes opened wide he understood completely what Roger was going to do. He dropped down off of the bars running backward stopping within a foot of the cell doors forgetting about the dead trying to reach through and get them. Roger smiled bringing the truck up to speed and drove it with no regard for the wall straight into it. It crashed into it crushing the bricks; they fell free giving the room the three men desperately needed to escape. The three men covered their head trying to keep the bricks from crushing in their skulls.

Pete screamed, "Back it up Roger there's enough room for us to get out now, we need you to back it up."

Roger stuck his head out the trucks window. He yelled, "I can't back it up, the truck is dead. I messed it up when I slammed into the wall. There ain't any way to back it up, you guys are going to have to squeeze through I'm sorry but I don't know what else to do."

Jude said, “Pete, then Chuck and myself. Pete get your ass moving now!”

Pete pushed up off of the ground he didn't need to be told twice. He leaped for the hole. Roger grabbed his outstretched hands pulling him across the hood and to the freedom outside. Once Roger had pulled Pete through the hole he let go of him letting him fall to the ground.

Roger screamed, "Chuck get your ass up and get moving brother it's time to go!"

Chuck said, “Jude you got this for a second?”

Jude screamed, “Get your ass moving we don't have a choice quit wasting time we can’t spare!”

Jude watched as Chuck disappeared getting the same treatment as Pete had landing on top of him. Jude looked back to see the final belt breaking and the force of the dead pushed him fully back as they flooded the cell. Jude sprinted launching himself through the hole, head first only leaving himself seconds to spare.

Jude rolled off of the top of the hood and gave Roger the biggest hug he ever had. Jude said, “Holy shit Roger, I can't believe you are alive! You just saved our ass brother. What happened to you when we split up?”

Roger shrugged and said, "There ain't nothing to it man. Once I realized I was on my own the only thing I cared about was keeping enough distance between me and them. Once I lost them, I circled back around to the sheriff's office hoping you guys would have waited for me. Which it kind of seems like you did wait for me, although it did not look like it was by your own choice."

Chuck said, “Hell we would have waited for you man, but as you can see that choice was definitely made for us. Where did you get the garbage truck?”

Roger said, “It was already in idle parked back into the alleyway to the diner.”

Jude said, “You do realize that usually garbage trucks have garbage men that accompany them right?”

Roger nodded and looked a little bit green when he said, “Yeah I know that they have garbage men smart ass. But by the time I arrived it looked like the two men that had been with the truck, had been turned into meals of the dead.”

Pete said, “That sounds pretty damn gross man. God bless them though for leaving the truck.”

Roger said, "Bet your sweet ass you ought to be thanking them. If it hadn't been for this truck you guys would probably still be in there. Considering the fact we don't know shit about this town or who to talk to for if I didn't get you out of there, you would have probably turned into one of them if they left enough meat on the bone for that to happen."

Pete said, “So what do we want to do now boys?”

Jude said, “I think that we should probably get to our van, and get the hell out of here. There isn't anything in this town worth sticking around for.”

Chuck said, “You know this whole thing has been just a little bit stressful. I think I could use a little break before we start our next round of craziness.”

Moaning came and it echoed down the alleyway. The four men looked around the side of the truck staring at the end of the alleyway where it opened to the street. The dead came from around the corner moaning and swaying in motion as they walked towards the men.

Jude said, "It doesn't look like we are going to have time to rest. I think you're going to have to suck it up, so we can get back to the van. You'll have a good four hours to sit on your ass on the ride home and back to the land of normalcy."

Chuck gave a thumbs-up. He said, “I think that is a deal that I can handle.”

The four men ran to the edge of the alleyway heading out the back realizing they were not much better off than they had been if they would have ran straight toward the dead. They were flooding the streets and making travel difficult for the men. They walked by one of the landmark sites in the town square and for no particular reason something caught Jude's eye. The sign said ‘Welcome to the Home of One of America's largest Cemeteries. Ten acres of Resting Grounds.
’

The sign made Jude’s stomach turn. Chuck looked back at him reading the sign and said, “What the hell are you doing man? We need to get the fuck out of here. Come on let's go now, come on Jude we got to go.”

Jude acted as if he was in a trance until Chuck came over and pulled him by the sleeve snapping him out of it, and making him jump as he thought that one of the dead had finally gotten him. He mumbled barely able to be understood.

Jude said, "Guys look at this plaque. It says that we are in the nation's biggest cemetery. Why in the hell would a place like this have the biggest cemetery?"

Chuck said, “Well with the way our luck is going today, I really can't say too much about how it surprises me. I think we are past the point where it matters, because what is done is done. I think we need to get the hell out of here now and not waste any more damn time. This place is just going to get worse.”

The four ran through town just barely making it to the van. When they made it to the van Jude reached into empty pockets. He remembered he had given Pete and Roger the keys to the van and said, “Hey guys, where are the keys to the van?”

Pete's face looked like he was going to puke. Pete said, “Oh shit. Oh no! Do you remember when you asked us for shotgun shells?”

Jude said, "Don't fucking tell me this Pete. I'm serious don't give me any more bad news man." 

Pete shrugged and said, "Sorry Jude but all I got is bad news. It isn't like I did it on purpose. In all honesty, I do believe at that exact moment I did not think we would be getting out of that jail cell again. It isn't like I left them there on purpose. I didn't think they would ever serve a function to you and what little time I thought we had left on this sweet Earth."

Jude stared for a moment not taking very long to come to the realization if the van was not going to run, the condition of the van was even less important to him. He brought back an elbow and sent it into the driver’s side window. Jude shattered the glass and then screamed in pain from the hit. He said, “Goddamn it that hurt. They sure as hell don't make it look like that in the movies do they?”

Chuck pointed at the window and said, “That was bad ass man; that was like some Chuck Norris shit you're the man. Hotwire that damn thing and let's get out of here.”

Jude said, "Why in God's name would I know how to hotwire something? I've owned all my cars. I don't have the slightest clue how you would steal a car. Do you know how to hotwire a car, Chuck?"

Chuck said, “Well hell no I don't, I'm an honest law abiding individual. As long as you don't of course, count drinking and driving as a crime. So what are we going to do now that we can open the doors on this thing? What’d you break the window for then?”

Jude said, “It doesn't take a genius to realize this van is quite possibly our only way to freedom.”

Chuck went to speak, but Pete cut him off. Pete jumped a little at the prospect in front of them thinking about their salvation as a real possibility and said, "Jude this entire thing is full of chainsaws, axes, machetes, and all kinds of shit you can crush their heads in with. Think about it man we can make short work of those things we're practically home free."

Not speaking, Jude climbed into the van carefully avoiding the broken glass on his seat. Jude jumped into the rear and opened the back two doors. He held on to one chainsaw for himself and started to distribute the rest just like it was another day on the job. The men took a few minutes preparing themselves placing forearm and lower leg guards in place which typically would protect them from the worst of accidents happening from the saws, but in today's case they were only worried about trying to stop bites from the dead and protecting their skin.

They lined up the saws and filled each with as much gasoline as it could possibly hold and putting the rest in two containers. Each of the men also took a machete and an axe, clipping the machetes to their pants and wearing the axe across their back as a last ditch resort. It was a weapon which they hoped they would not have to resort to.

The men started to walk out of town the visibility was difficult because of a light rain that started to fall as far as they could see. Had they known what they were in for they would have tried to stick it out in town for a little while longer until the rain had passed. Jude didn't feel like he had much time to waste, as he was not confident the dead would all stay resting across America. The main place in America he was worried about of course was his home sweet home of Adel. Roger said, “Hey you do realize how long it's going to take to walk where we drove in four hours right?”

Pete said, “We aren’t going to walk that far. We're going to steal a car the first chance we get. I think Jude had the right idea getting out of town while we still can. God knows how many more of those things there are in town and they sure as hell didn't look like they're letting up when they were coming after us did they?”

Chuck said, “Well it isn't like I wanted to stay in town either, it just seems like it's a hell of a long way to walk and no offense but the way the four of us look after a hard night of drinking and getting chased by zombies all morning doesn't quite scream friendly when it comes to hitchhiking. If somebody was dumb enough to pick us up they might not be the one I actually want to catch a ride with if you know what I mean.”