Z14 (Zombie Rules) (41 page)

             
“Satisfied?” The driver asked sarcastically. I ignored him.

             
“What are you going to do with our guns and car?” The passenger asked.

             
“We have no interest in your car. Leave it here, in case you don’t find Fort Campbell hospitable, but I’m going to hold the firearms for Captain Steen.” I pointed to his friend. “You two have already tried to kill me once, why should I make it easy for you? Besides,” I said. “There is at least one person over there that will feed you your testicles if you try anything stupid, so I’m doing you a favor.”

I looked at the driver
, who had snorted and spit on the ground in front of me. “I don’t know your name, but I know you. You may have been a good man once, but now, you’re nothing more than a lowlife piece of shit. You put the life of your wife at risk in order to waylay someone whom you believed was helpless and vulnerable. If you guys don’t like Fort Campbell and come back here, take your car and drive away. Don’t hang around here.”

“Fuck you.” He responded
, and spit on the ground again. He was out of the car now, and standing approximately five feet from me. Well within striking range. I stepped toward him and struck him squarely in the nose with a hard left cross. He dropped to the ground.

“No, no, no. Fuck you.” I said without emotion. I walked back to my friends.

“Well, even though I said I would do it, I decided not to kill them.” I said, sat down on the concrete, and displayed the two handguns I took off of them. “They had these on them.” Andie picked one up and began inspecting them as I watched the passenger pick up his friend and helped him walk toward the hangar.

Rowdy chuckled. “Zach, you sure are full of piss and vinegar.” I shrugged.

The Chinook
arrived promptly at noon. The pilot circled the airport once, and then landed. When the engines were shut down, the tail ramp lowered and a squad of soldiers exited. Each soldier seemed to have a specific task to perform. Two soldiers chocked the wheels, while three other soldiers carried equipment out of the helicopter. I recognized Captain Steen and Corporal Alexander as they exited the plane. The Corporal grinned and waved as they walked over to us.

“
Good afternoon ladies, gentlemen.” He said while shaking hands. He glanced over at the three I had ordered to sit off to the side. They looked back with no friendliness. “Any trouble?” Captain Steen asked.

“Nope.
I made my opinion of them known and that was it.” I said.

“One of th
em has a bloody nose.” He observed. “He must have fallen down while you were giving your opinion.” He looked at me expectantly. I shrugged.

“Oh, that reminds me.” I gestured at Andie. She brought the two revolvers over
. “I took these off of them.” Andie handed them over to Captain Steen.

“
I’ll log it down and keep them in the armory for them. So, you guys are here, does this mean you’re going to relocate to Fort Campbell?” Captain Steen asked.

I gestured at Howard and Lashonda. “The Allen family
has decided to join you, yes.”

“But, not the rest of you.”
He said.

             
I shook my head. “We value our freedom too much.” To my surprise, Captain Steen smiled.

             
“Yeah, I figured as much.” He said, and looked around. “Looks like a small group for today’s activities.” He looked at me pointedly and gestured to Corporal Alexander. The corporal grinned and ran over to the group of people setting up tables and chairs. An older looking man, maybe in his sixties was standing with the group. He was no more than 160 pounds and a couple of inches under six feet. He was wearing jeans, a white button down shirt, tie, and a blue blazer. He smiled at the corporal and walked with him back to our group.

             
Captain Steen cleared his throat. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Fort Campbell’s unofficial chaplain, Don Dexter.” He said hello and we took turns introducing ourselves. I introduced myself last.

             
He looked me over and cast a glance at the rest of my group. “Are you the young man who is going to be an expectant father?”

             
“I am sir.” I replied. I motioned to Julie, who was standing beside me. “This is my beautiful girlfriend and the future mother of my child.”

             
“What are your intentions with her, Mister Gunderson?” He asked somberly. Julie frowned and I saw the hint of her anger starting to surface. I squeezed her hand briefly before answering.

             
“That is an excellent question Father Don.” I looked around as if confused and then reached into my pocket before dropping to one knee.

             
“Julie,” I said as I displayed the diamond ring I held in my hand. “I would be honored if you would marry me.”

             
Julie, Andie, and Lashonda all gasped in unison. She looked at me a moment, and smiled as a tear broke free.

“I’ve told you once Zachariah Gunderson, treat me right and I’ll be with you until the end.
I still mean it.”

              Father Don married us in front of everyone. We set up the grill and Howard cooked steaks. Lashonda had already prepared side items of vegetables and her special corn casserole. It was the best we could do under the circumstances, but everyone was enjoying themselves. I even invited the trio to eat with us. They readily agreed, even the driver, though he still glared at me from time to time.

             
“Where is the First Sergeant?” I asked while we ate.

             
“He had duties back at HQ.” Captain Steen said without elaborating.

             
“Are you going to sing for us?” Corporal Alexander asked Rowdy with a wide grin.

             
“Of course I am, Terry.” Rowdy replied. We chitchatted with each other throughout the meal, and of course, Rowdy sang.

             
“I’d like a word with you if you don’t mind.” Captain Steen said to me. “Let’s walk over to the Chinook. I have something to show you.”

             
We walked up the Chinook’s rear ramp and he showed me a pallet of supplies. “The First Sergeant and I discussed it, and we’d like you to begin the process of creating an outpost. You’ll find various items which you may need, including ten thousand rounds of ammunition.”

             
“I have a plan.” I said to everyone. We had stopped working for a noon time lunch.

             
They looked at me quizzically. “Well, Hoss, is this the part where we ask what your plan is?” Rowdy asked with a grin.

             
“Yep.” I answered.

             
“Zach?”

             
“Yes Rowdy?” I responded.

             
“What’s your plan?” He asked.

             
“I am so glad you asked! It concerns the outpost we’re going to create.”

             
“Do tell.” Rowdy said.

             
I washed down the remainder of my lunch with a glass of water. “Yep, we’re going to scrub the idea of the truck stop for now, and instead use the radio station located on Concord Road.”

             
“Why the change?” Julie asked.

             
“The radio is the biggest factor. We’ll be able to communicate to anyone out there listening. Plus, there is a large generator on site. We’ll need to get fuel to the location, so I’m thinking we need to find a fuel truck and fill it up at the reservoir. Then, we get that generator running, and start broadcasting radio messages.”

             
“If only we had a list to show us what to do.” Julie lamented sarcastically. There was much laughter at my expense, but I didn’t mind.

             
After the laughter died down, I held up a finger. “That reminds me. I found all of my notepads spread out all over the basement floor. What gives?” I asked.

             
Everyone looked at me questioningly. Except Andie, she was looking at her plate.

             
“What’s up Andie?” I asked. “I mean, I don’t mind you reading my notes, but is there something in particular you wanted to know?”

             
She looked up at me uncertainly. “Um, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m writing a journal. Well, no, that’s not the proper word. Maybe more like a biography of our lives, what troubles we’ve encountered, how we’ve survived, people we’ve encountered. I thought it might be important.” I thought about it, and she was right. It could be important.

             
“That sounds pretty cool.” Julie said. I nodded in agreement.

              The four of us loaded up and made our way, but we were stymied as we approached the intersection of Nolensville Pike and Concord Road. Julie was driving and stopped suddenly.

             
“I hear gunfire.” She said. I heard it too. We all readied our weapons as Julie slowly started driving toward the intersection.

Andie suddenly pointed toward the Publix store. “There!”
She said. Julie moved toward the Publix store and stopped on Concord, about thirty yards west of Nolensville Pike. There was a miniature RV, surrounded by at least fifty zombies. There were at least a dozen more lying dead, scattered around the RV, and there were more than a few stuck under the vehicle, rendering it unmovable. I watched as a rifle barrel poked out of the window vent, shoot another one, and then disappear quickly. And then, I watched in consternation as one of the zombies started trying to open the door handle of the RV’s passenger door. They weren’t supposed to be able to do that! I opened the door and placed my M4 in the usual spot. The others quickly exited and took up their own firing positions.

I led off
the first volley, which resulted in four zombies dropping to the asphalt with an almost simultaneous thud. The remaining zombies turned toward us in tandem, as if they were operated by remote control. Rule 13: They’re easily distracted. They forgot all about the RV. Our disciplined shooting made short work of them. Well, I suppose there was a minor lack of discipline. It seemed Rowdy, even though now he stayed with the team, had developed a proclivity to yell out, ‘Boom, head shot!’ each time he fired. I watched with satisfaction the repeated explosions of the back of each zombie’s heads as each 5.56 full metal jacket bullet exited the skull.

“Green!”
Each one of them yelled after reloading their weapons. I looked at them and smiled in satisfaction. Julie returned with a knowing smile. The four of us were working well together, like a well-trained team of soldiers.

“Alright guys. This is weird. I saw one of them actually trying to open the door to the RV.” I said. “Let’s see who the survivor is and
then I want to check out those damned things.”

We drove up, and after circling the swath of bodies, parked in front of the RV. I got out while the rest covered me.
There was a person crouched down in between the driver and passenger seat. I waved. After a moment, they waved back. I set my M4 on the hood of the truck and began walking slowly toward the RV. The driver’s door opened as I was maneuvering through the corpses, and a person stepped out.

She was over s
ix feet tall and most assuredly weighed over the two hundred pound mark. She was wearing a green flannel shirt with a leather vest, jeans, and boots. To top it off, she had long, flowing, grayish-white hair.

“I appreciate the help.” She said. “I was out of bullets
and I’m running low on gas.” I assumed she was talking at a normal level, nevertheless, she could probably be heard for three blocks.

“I’m Zach.” I said as I extended my hand. She
shook my hand with a grip every bit as strong as the late Captain’s.

“The name’s
Mackenzie, but everyone’s called me Big Mac ever since I was a little girl, only I wasn’t very little.” I smiled as I introduced everyone else.

“
What brings you to this area?” Julie asked.

“I was making my way back to my
Grandpappy’s farm. When God unleashed his wrath, I was stuck down in Birmingham. I lived down there a while with some folks, but they got more and more fixated on religion. The last straw was when the menfolk insisted I start wearing a dress.” She slapped her thigh and laughed, which sounded like a dying bull.

“I
ain’t worn a dress since I was in kindergarten. Anyway, I figured it was time to leave. It was a straight shot up I-65. It took some doing, but I got this little RV through all of them stalled cars. The 840 turn off was completely blocked off, so I got off at Concord road and was making my way back to the farm when I ran out of gas. So here I was, sitting here figuring out where to find some gas when I was surrounding by these things. What about you folks?”