Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 01 (19 page)

"Yeah," Pierce said timidly again. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He sank down into his seat in the back of the truck looking to the other two men there with him for support. He did not receive any.

Liam had provided Alex and Shawn with the directions to the gun stores located in Canton. There were two of them plus a Wal-mart that might still have supplies of ammunition. Alex knew full well that the first things to be looted when an nationwide crisis like this would happen would be the gun stores and the food stores. He just hoped that there was something left for them to take home.

"Contact," Shawn called through the open window of the cab. "Two slow movers just ahead." The foraging party had discussed this plan in great detail, making everyone aware that driving a truck into the city was not going to be subtle. They were going to be advertising their presence to everyone and everything in the area, so their guard had to be high and the actions quick and decisive. Alex made a standing order that no one, even if they were believed to be clean and uninfected, was going to be taken back to the colony with them. Each person asking would be given the directions to the New Hope colony, but would have to get themselves there. At that time, their health status and usefulness to the colony would be assessed, but not before.

The directive was not well received by any member of the foraging team, but no one dared to question it. Logically, it was the correct thing to do. But it was no where near humane. In these times of chaos, everyone would have to fend for themselves. Alex stood and moved the the front of the truck bed, placing the rifle and the top of the cab to steady his aim. Liam had been able to fashion some additional sound suppressors for some of the rifles and these would be the first line of defense used this afternoon. Two barely audible pops issued from the small caliber rifle and the zombies fell to the ground.
 

Shawn turned left on Main Street and stepped on the brakes. Cars blocked the road in front of them leading to the gun store two blocks ahead. "What do you want to do?" Shawn asked through the opening.
 

"Kill the engine to begin with," Alex ordered and the truck fell silent. Without the sound of the small block engine affecting their ears, the small foraging party could begin to hear the moans of the walking dead. Alex assessed their situation and surroundings and began to form a plan. "Everyone out of the truck and let's clear that building." He indicated a tall building on the corner at the intersection of the two main roads in Canton. "Clear it, secure it, and we'll move from there."

Alex's team moved with surprising precision and efficiency despite the fact that this was their first trip outside of the stronghold to forage for supplies. With two men on point, two guarding the flanks and one bringing up the rear, the small squad moved quickly away from the truck to approach the front of the building. The doors were locked and Shawn stepped away from the building, reaching for the sawed-off shotgun slung across his back.

"Stand back, everyone," he warned and gave the team just a moment to clear away from the entrance doors. The shotgun boomed and the lock in the door disintegrated as the double-00 buckshot tore a fist sized hole where the lock used to be. "They'll have heard that," he said and hurried to switch the shotgun for the scoped hunting rifle.
 

"Inside," Alex commanded the team, "and keep your eyes open." The three men entering the front of the building, Mark, James, and Pierce, drew the sidearms from their holsters and pushed the door aside.

"Contact," one of them yelled and small arms fire erupted inside the building. Alex and Shawn entered behind the men, their rifles shouldered looking to support the men already inside. They had talked and planned for instances such as this, entering, clearing and securing a building, but this was their first practice. And it had all gone wrong.

Fresh, red blood stained the floor and it spread from the multiple gunshot wounds in the two victims splayed out on the floor. "What the fuck did you do?" Alex yelled at the men, quickly realizing that talking about entering a possible infected building and doing so were two completely different things.

"We...we thought..." Mark stammered, trying to find the words to explain what had just taken place.

"No, you didn't think!" Alex fumed. "God dammit! Use your fucking heads BEFORE you pull the trigger!" Shawn was at the victims sides, checking for a pulse in the bodies lying on the floor.

"Dead," he announced to the group.

"Wake up, people. This isn't a fucking video game. If you shoot something it dies. If something bites you, you die! Screw your heads on or you're going to get me and Shawn killed here." Shawn chuckled at this statement. Alex was pissed, but at least he was trying to keep some humor. Ever since the attack on New Hope a week ago, Alex had been a different person; a better person.
 

"Clear the building," Alex ordered, "and for God's sake don't fuck up again." The team of five men proceeded to move throughout the building, checking each room with utmost care. Shawn remained below, securing the door against anything that might try to enter.
 

The building was free of any walking dead and any additional living people. Alex had figured as much, but knew that they had to follow through with the procedure to be sure. Once he was satisfied, Alex and the other four returned to the bottom floor to regroup with Shawn and discuss further plans.
 

"Shawn, head to the roof. You are going to provide cover for us. The rest of us," and Alex looked to each of the other men standing there, "are going across the street to that gun store." Pierce gave a visible shudder and the other two didn't feel much better.
 

"Give me five minutes to get in place. I'll whistle when I'm ready." Shawn dashed up the stairs and was not being too subtle about his approach to the roof. An eternity seemed to click by as Alex and the others waited, when finally a soft whistle issued down the stairwell.

"Okay, gentlemen," Alex said, breaking the silent prayers of his team, "this is where you earn your keep. Don't take any risks with your lives or mine. I plan on seeing my little girl tonight." As the three men stood there dumbfounded, Alex removed the barrier to the store front and pushed open the doors.

-----

A flare rose up through the darkness surrounding the colony of New Hope. Excited talking soon filled the farmhouse and gathering area as word that the foraging party had returned. The red flare signaled a secure entry and guards moved to their positions to let Alex and the others inside the perimeter. Their quiet excitement soon faded as they saw what was returning to them.

The truck was covered in blood, the bed filled with supplies, and only Alex and Shawn were visible within the cab of the truck. Shawn looked exhausted; Alex looked furious.

Sam and Dr. Cahn ran to meet the truck as soon as it had cleared a safe distance inside the perimeter to allow the frontloader to reposition itself and seal them in. "What in God's name happened?" Sam asked, struggling to comprehend exactly what he was seeing. "Where's everyone else?"

"One body is in the bed of the truck," and Alex gestured with his head behind him, "the other two bodies are still in Canton." The door of the truck creaked as Alex forced it open, the deep gash in the front fender and the large dent new fixtures in what was a pristine truck upon leaving. "Don't bother checking, doc," Alex said to Dr. Cahn without looking. "He was dead before we could even get out of the Canton city limits."

Everyone gathered around the truck, but few dared to even approach the grizzly site. Blood trails, almost black in the flickering firelight that lit the gathering area, streaked the sides of the truck. Drops of the gore still dripped from the tailgate and darkened the ground where they landed. Alex did not fare much better. He was covered from head to toe in gore, the blood still wet and making his shirt cling to his body.
 

"What happened?" Sam demanded, his cry now being taken up by other citizens of the colony gathered near the truck.

"We got all the supplies we were looking for and then some. Three men died. We move on." Alex continued walking past Sam and the others towards the farmhouse, not wanting to talk or look at anyone. Sam grabbed his arm and spun Alex around to face him. Alex's fist flew without warning, connecting with Sam's jaw and knocking him to the ground. "I said, we move on!" Sam was helped to his feet while Alex continued on his journey to the farmhouse. No one else dared to stand in his way.

-----

The story of Alex and Shawn's journey into Canton began to circulate throughout the colony over the next couple of days. Shawn had been injured as well, a gunshot wound through the right side of his abdomen had caused him to lose a lot of blood. Alex had not talked to anyone since returning and it was the account of Shawn that everyone heard.
 

It was revealed that taking Pierce into the city had been the catalyst of a disaster awaiting the men. His nervousness and inability to follow simple commands had compromised the team from the beginning. The foraging of the first gun store had proven somewhat successful and they were able to find several cases of ammunition, but no additional weapons. The second gun shop had been a waste of time. The windows were completely smashed and the shop had been looted right down to the light bulbs.

The team then attempted to find the clinics which Liam had given Alex some information about. This is where Pierce's incompetence began to cause problems. The first clinic was infested with zombies, but zombies who were easily encased behind sliding glass doors. The team of five men approached the building to reconnoiter the situation, coming dangerously close to the glass door entrance. As Alex turned away from the building, determining that it was too dangerous to enter, a zombie stumbled past the solid glass door. Pierce fired.

The glass in the door exploded into tiny fragments of broken glass, giving the trapped creatures a means of escape. Their moans filled the air as they jostled one another trying to get out the door. Flying glass covered the team, gouging deep wounds in some of the men. One of the creatures grabbed Mark and sank its teeth into his shoulder, tearing a large portion of flesh away as the man screamed and fought free. The team retreated to the truck and were able to easily outpace their pursuers. Mark begged to finish the mission, swearing he knew he was a dead man, but wanting to help the colony before he succumbed. Alex relented only after Mark agreed that he could be put down at any moment the team felt he was a danger.

The second clinic proved more helpful, giving up some much needed medical supplies, while the third held some more. On their way out of Canton, the team stopped at the food store for what they hoped was the last delay before returning to New Hope. Mark could not get out of the truck.

As Mark's legs gave out from the blood loss, Alex ordered Pierce to drag him from the beg of the truck. Pierce had refused, but finally did as ordered when Alex placed a gun to his head. Mark's eyes rolled back in his head as his body hit the ground and Alex quickly put a bullet in the Mark's head. Against the protests of Pierce, and with the gun at his head again, the remaining four men entered the grocery in search of food. Mostly empty shelves greeted the men, but there were some items that were still there and would be welcomed back at the colony.
 

As Alex, Shawn, and James were loading a cart full of the food stuffs when shots rang out. One of the first bullets caught James in the temple, his brains and skull plastering the shelves behind him. Shawn cried out with the next couple of shots, grabbing at his side and yelling that he had been hit. He collapsed to the ground as Alex drew his pistol and began firing blindly in the general direction of the gunfire. Someone else cried out in pain and silence descended. Pierce lay on the floor at the end of the aisle, clutching his chest where the bullet had struck him.
 

No one would ever know for sure if Pierce's intension were murderous or if he had generally made a mistake, too jumpy at being in the city and frightened at having wandered away from the group. His pleas were of such a mistake, but he would never be given the chance to have those pleas heard by any other members of the New Hope colony. Taking sets of bungee cords that had been found still on the shelves, Alex drug the man out of the store and tied him to the concrete pillars outside. Alex then helped Shawn into the truck who drove through the plate glass windows in order to load the supplies with greater speed. Alex also insisted on taking James' body back with them.

As the two surviving members of the colonies' first foraging party drove out of the city, their escape was covered by the screams of Pierce being eaten alive.

-----

After the disastrous first trip away from the colony, the governing council chose not to send any additional parties out unless absolutely necessary. The food stores were well stocked and the ammunition sufficient to allow the colony to sustain itself for quite a while in their current state. Alex was relieved of his duties as strategic commander for the time he needed to recover from the foray, as well as Shawn who needed a lot of time to heal from the gun shot wounds he sustained. With two of the senior defensive members out of action, many of the other colonists had to work double shifts.

Liam continued to consult with Alex every day, while Sam and Charles chose not to. After learning the details of their semisuccessful mission, no one blamed Alex for his unwillingness to talk about what happened. Nor did anyone really wish to speak to Alex about what he had done to Pierce. Some agreed, but many others began viewing Alex as a loose cannon which no one was safe from. When he did venture out into the open areas around the farmhouse, he was given a wide berth from everyone he met.

The fallout from the Canton expedition soon began to fade. Shawn slowly fell back into his normal rotation, and Alex started back as strategic advisor. Although Alex returned, he still remained distant, talking to no one but his family, governing council and closest friends. Three weeks passed with relatively little excitement other than the occasional zombie or new colonist. New colonists started to out number the zombie sightings and the people of New Hope started to feel as if the worst of the crisis was past.