Zombie Fallout 8: An Old Beginning (9 page)

BT wanted to tell him to put his damn pants back on, but unfortunately it was exactly what he needed. He fashioned a harness for Henry who seemed none too pleased to be donning anything extra. Everyone had quickly figured out where this was going and were doing their best to ensure that the knots would be sufficient to hold Henry’s heft. And, at least for the moment, Henry seemed content with everyone paying him so much attention.

“Let’s try this out,” BT said as Travis and Justin got Henry up onto his back. Stephanie and Tracy were adjusting the makeshift knots. BT was cinching the knots in front as tightly as was humanly possible, which in his case was nearly superhuman.

BT stood slowly, getting used to the added weight on his back. Henry was breathing on his neck and even once or twice let his thick tongue get a taste. “You keep doing that, dog, and I’m going to leave you here.” BT shivered.

Gary had been eyeing the tree. “It’s at least seven feet from the top of the hood to the lowermost branch.” Like everyone else that had survived this far his body had gone through immense changes, but he still couldn’t forget the little kid he’d been who had not been able to climb that rope back in grade school. His friends—and the gym teacher for that matter—had teased him mercilessly. He was now getting the cold sweats just thinking about that climb.

Trip moved past them all, with his ghost-white legs and untied shoes.

“Honey, what are you doing?” Stephanie asked as Trip jumped over the outstretched zombie hands and onto the roof of the cab.

“Looking for coconuts,” he told her as he dropped down onto the hood and within mere inches of zombies scrambling to get at him. “I could really go for a Mounds.” Trip reached up, grabbed the branch, jumped, placing his feet against the tree, and effortlessly pulled
himself up. “I think I see some!” he said, looking up and shielding his eyes. “Come on! I could use some help when I knock them down.”

If not for the sound of more fabric tearing, they may have stayed there and looked at him for a much longer time.

“Go,” BT said to Travis who was next in line.

Trip reached down and helped Travis up, who quickly moved to another part of the tree. The closest call thus far had come when Stephanie and Trip had locked arms. He had swung her around like they were playing on the monkey bars at a playground.

“John, please!” she’d pleaded. It was safe to say that none of them had taken a breath as they waited to see if Trip would venture back from whatever dimension he had traveled to.

“I’m sorry; I was just trying to lighten up the mood. These people are SO serious.”

“I get it, honey, I do, but could you just maybe not do it with my life?”

“Your life? I’d never jeopardize your life,” he said in all seriousness as he hoisted her up.

“Alright, Gary, just you and me. We’ve got to go.” BT and Gary were standing on the cab roof, the canvas tarp now pretty much relegated to salvage as the zombies had torn half of it down.

“You go,” Gary urged.

BT stopped to truly look at Mike’s brother. “You’re scared.”

“Me? Naw. This way I can keep an eye on Henry when you climb.”

“Now normally that sounds like a good idea, but I’m thinking that if I go up that tree you won’t.”

“Pssh…come on,” Gary exclaimed. “You think I want to stay down here with the zombies?”

“I don’t think you
want
to, I just think you don’t want to climb that tree more. What’s going on?”

Gary paused. “I’ve had, umm, issues with climbing before.”

“FUCK!” BT roared, “What is it with Talbots and past events? Get your ass up there or I’m going to put you in the sling with Henry!”

“Something is going on!” Travis shouted.

During BT and Gary’s conversation the zombies had vacated the truck, leaving some room around the perimeter.

“Are they leaving?” Tracy asked.

BT looked around, “I don’t think so, they’re just standing there like they’re expecting something.”

“I think I know what it is.” Justin was pointing. A line of bulkers was forming.

“They’re going to try knocking the truck over. You guys need to get moving!” Travis shouted. He brought the barrel of his gun up to rest on a branch so he could get some stability for his shots. Justin was doing the same. The bulkers were moving forward with as much speed as they could generate in fifteen feet. The truck rocked violently from the impact, Gary steadied BT as his footing slipped.

“Gary, you have to go. If you don’t go, I don’t, and if something happens to Henry, Mike is going to flip the fuck out.”

“Yeah, he’d probably be more pissed about that than anything else.”

“That’s a fair assessment. Come on, I’ll help you out. Fear of heights?” BT asked tenderly.

“Not at all…fear of climbing.”

BT shook his head. “Is that even such a thing?” he asked as he pushed on Gary’s ass to get him into the tree. The zombies had now pulled back even further, giving the bulkers more room to gain momentum. Trip was hanging down like a bat, his head nearly even with BT’s, his legs wrapped around the branch.

“Hello, good sir. Going up?”

“Get out of the way!”

“Second floor, women’s apparel, candles, small household electronics,” Trip announced as BT launched himself into the air.

He grunted heavily as he pulled himself up and past. “Thanks for moving,” he said sarcastically.

“No problem, man,” Trip said as he moved to sit upright.

The truck groaned as the bulkers slammed into it, the tires coming up nearly eight inches before crashing back to earth. They hadn’t succeeded in turning it over, but it was safe to say that they would have dislodged at least a couple of the previous inhabitants from the top with their efforts. The zombies now looked from the truck to the tree, unsure of how their food had moved.

The group could only watch as the bulkers repeatedly hit the truck, caving in the side and finally getting it partially tipped. The truck came to rest against another tree, the passenger’s side wheels off the ground and the truck balanced at a forty-five degree angle. The only perch that would have been afforded to them then would not have been wide enough by half to hold them all. BT shuddered; he wasn’t the only one to do so.

“Well, at least we got rid of the truck,” Gary said. His attempt at lightheartedness was not met with overwhelming results. The day was warm, although thankfully not hot as the sun made its journey across the sky. The tree was safety, but it was safety without comfort. The only one who was not constantly adjusting in order to find a more easy sitting position was Trip. He looked as if he might be performing meditation he was so still. Henry had been good thus far, but at some point he was going to want out of his restrictive harness.

“We have to keep moving,” BT said. The massive horde had finally passed them by leaving only their dinner guests, which numbered in the hundreds.

“You’re serious?” Tracy asked. “What are we going to do? Pretend we’re Tarzan? No
, Really!?” she asked as she looked to the trees next to them. Some were within reach while others tantalizingly close.

“We can’t wait them out, Mom. They’ll never leave,” Travis told her.

She knew he was right, there was no question he was right, but she hadn’t liked climbing trees when she was young, and doing it now to save her and the lives of those around her wasn’t making it much better…if at all.

“This is insane,” Stephanie chimed in.

BT had wanted to tell her the only thing that was insane around here was her husband. He used an extraordinary amount of restraint to refrain from issuing those words, though.

Again Trip took the lead, appearing as if he wasn’t even cognizant of the conversation that had been going on around him. He leaped as if he were the Sugar Plum Fairy in a classic remake of
The Nutcracker
, his legs already a shimmering white as if he’d been wearing tights. As he was in mid-air, his left shoe spiraled off and hit a zombie square in the nose. If the zombie minded, he said nothing in protest.

It was a long second that Trip floated in that air before his body came down onto a branch, a loud crack heralding his arrival. The group held a collective breath as they waited to see if Trip would go plummeting to the ground. The branch held, although it was clear to those looking at it that the limb was suffering a catastrophic failure.

“Honey, you should move to another branch,” Stephanie urged.

“Why? Will this bank not let me withdraw money?” he asked, clearly confused.

“What is he saying?” Dennis questioned.

“Allow me,” BT said. “I’m starting to understand Tripanese. See, he thinks when his wife said ‘branch’ that she was referring to a bank.”

“Well, why not? Makes perfect sense.” Dennis was looking down at the zombies that, for the time being, were mostly silent, though the way in which they gazed upon the tree-dwellers was unsettling. He had the feeling they were like crocodiles in a marsh waiting for the hatching birds to fall so they could get a quick meal. Trip, in the meantime, had moved higher up the tree he’d jumped to.

BT looked around desperately; with Henry on his back he knew he was well over three hundred pounds of combined weight. He’d need a branch somewhere close to the thickness of his arm before he’d feel safe enough to make a leap of faith.

“You guys coming? If you don’t hurry, we’ll never beat the Nottingham Sheriff to Robin’s lair,” Trip called out.

“Guys, there’s another tree over here that looks sturdy enough.” Gary was gauging the distance. “I think I can make it.” He was pushing against the tree he was on, looking for some extra propulsion.

“You go from scared of climbing trees to Batman?” BT asked him.

“I said I was afraid of climbing, not afraid of heights,” Gary replied. He leaped and missed.

“Oh shit.” Travis reached out to grab the shoulder of his uncle. He came up empty.

Gary’s arms were flailing as he tried to grab onto the bark. He came down hard on the tree’s lowest branch, crotch first. The only thing saving him from jewel-crushing defeat was that his feet came down on the tops of the zombies’ heads. Even with the cushioning, he turned pale as the pain erupted from his privates and cramped his stomach. Breakfast, part of last night’s dinner, and some unidentifiable thick, brown liquid spilled from his mouth in a torrent.

Travis quickly made the jump, landing softly on the branch above that his uncle had been originally shooting for. He reached down and steadied Gary’s swaying form. Gary had both of his hands in front of him on the branch trying to keep from rolling off.

“Don’t feel so good,” he looked up.

“I get it, Uncle Gary, I do, but you need to stand up,” Travis said sympathetically.

A half gurgle half grunt came out of Gary as he flexed his arms and pulled his legs up from the zombies that were now reaching for them. “Might puke again.”

“I would expect nothing less, but how about you come up here and do it.” Travis’ grip was tenuous at best, and if Gary fell over, he would either fall over with him or have his hand wrenched free. Gary moved with slow and deliberate movements, his legs shaking as they finally got on the loin-crunching wood. Travis was concerned the outcropping might not support his weight. His uncle hugged the tree as he stood taking in deep breaths.

“You alright?” Travis asked as he gently clapped his uncle’s shoulder.

“Maybe never,” Gary replied, his forehead resting against the tree.

Travis gave his mother the thumbs-up.

Some of the zombies had moved so that now all three trees they were perched in were completely surrounded.

“We can’t keep doing this,” BT said
aloud what they were all thinking. “We can’t move fast enough to get by them, and someone is going to eventually fall.” BT’s tree shook minutely as a bulker crashed into it. None of them were in any danger of being shaken loose, but it was still disconcerting.

“Hope he crushes his skull doing that,” Justin said.

“Can we fight our way out?” Tracy was looking to BT.

He shook his head. “Not enough rounds.”

“What if I jumped ahead by myself and got in front of them? I could either lead them off or maybe find some help,” Dennis said.

“And just who do you think you could find that will be willing to help a group of strangers stranded in trees surrounded by a shitload of zombies?” BT was uncharacteristically
cross. Part of it was the dire situation they found themselves in, the other was that the doctors had told him he would be extremely tired for a few weeks while the concoction of medication they had administered to him took hold within his system.

“I’m listening for your better ideas!” Dennis pushed back. “Oh, that’s right, I haven’t heard any.”

“Don’t mess with me, little man! I’ll squeeze you like a zit, Mike’s friend or not!”

“Don’t let the fact that I’m Mike’s
friend stop you from trying. I’ve never beaten up a half-giant.”

“Giant? Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?” BT was looking up at the next branch, obviously wanting to climb up to get closer to Dennis.