Dead Life (Book 3) (4 page)

              I called my father and gave him the short version of what I knew. He was skeptical at first but had gone on the internet, like I'd asked him, and had found enough to make him believe something was definitely going on. By the time I got off the phone with Dad, I was confident that at the very least he was making preparations to leave the city. We said our goodbyes and I told Dad that I would try to call him the next night. After we talked, I went back to my room. I was sure by this time that no one was following me. I must not have been that confident. That night I dreamed of being shot in front of a firing squad.  

Chapter 5

              The road was clear for the next few miles and the going was easy.  Gina and I spent the time getting to know Rick better.  In his previous life, he'd worked for a collection agency.  He was a system analyst in their IT department.  When this drew a confused look from me, he clarified his old position for me.  Rick was a 'computer geek'.  Like myself, Rick was another survivor.  He was lucky to still be alive.  Ill-equipped to live in this new world, his wife had been a stay-at-home mom.  They'd been married seven years and had two daughters.  Jennifer would have been six and Leslie would have been four.  I could tell it was hard for him to talk about his family.  They had all been turned the first day of the outbreak and he'd left them locked in their home.  The conversation died with the mention of Rick's family.  We drove on in silence for a while.  I could see the tears streaming down Rick's face from the rear view mirror.

              “Did you know Gina and I worked together at Meyer's?”  I asked Rick.

              “I knew you worked there.  We shopped at that store and sometimes we went for a late run.  I'd seen you a few times.  What did you do there, Gina?  I don't remember ever seeing you.”

              “I worked in the bakery.  I was always in the back of the bakery though.  You most likely never saw me.”

              “I doubt I did.  When I went to the store late at night like that, I was in and out pretty quick.”

              “You know, Steve was my boss at Meyers.”

              “Really?”  Rick asked.

              “No, I had very little to do with the bakery.”

              “You'd have thought you did with as much as you used to come back there.”  Gina said.

              “I was just doing my job.  Somebody had to keep an eye on you.”

              “Oh your ass.  Paul, who worked my nights off, said you never came back in the bakery.”

              “Paul worked hard.  He didn't need watching.”  I said with a smile on my face.

              “You're nothing but one of those dirty stalkers.  That's what I think.”  Gina said.

              “I'd have to agree with that.”  Cindy's voice came over the walkie talkie.

              “That's right buddy.  You are what we call a creeper.”  Al chimed in.

                            Gina was laughing her ass off.  “I was holding the transmit button on the radio.  Hey Cindy, Al, tell me why you think my Steve is a creeper.”

              “Give me that goddamn thing.”  I said making a grab for the walkie talkie.

              “Just let me say.  Steve is a watcher.”  Cindy said.

              My face was bright red by now.  I really didn't want to rehash this old shit.  “Turn it off.”

              “Look at you.  You're all embarrassed.  I know you used to watch Cindy cut her grass.  She told me all about you.  You're a dirty man.  I guess it was a dream come true for you the other day with Cindy all naked like that.”

              “Hey, that was a bad situation.  I derived no joy from that day.”

              “Steve, I didn't think it possible.  Your face just got redder.”  Gina said.

              “Gina, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you.”  Al said.

              “For what Al?”  Gina said into the walkie talkie.

              “For rushing to my rescue with your shirt unbuttoned like that.”

              Gina turned the walkie talkie off and set it on the dashboard. 

              “Whose face is red now?”  I asked.  “You don't have to talk to Al but we need to leave that on, honey.”

              Gina reached out, grabbed the walkie talkie, turned it on, and threw it back on the dash of the Hummer.  We drove the next few miles in silence.

              “There's something in the road ahead.”  Al said over the walkie talkie.  “Looks like a plane surrounded by zombies.”

              Al slowed the truck and stopped.  We were far enough away from the plane that the zombies hadn't noticed us.  Every one got out and gathered in front of the truck. 

              “There must be someone inside the plane that's still alive.”  Cindy said.

              “I guess we need to draw them away from there.  Then we can kill them.”  Rick said.

              Al had some binoculars and was looking at the plane.  “There's thirty-two zombies up there.  I can't tell if anyone's in the plane.  But Cindy's right.  Somebody must be in that plane and they're probably still alive.”

              “Do we drive up there or walk?  I don't want to shoot in the direction of the plane.  If we miss, there's a chance we could hit someone in the plane.  Plus, I don't want to damage the plane.”  I said. 

              “You're right.  Let's drive a little closer.  Then we can get out and come at them from the side.  We'll make some noise and try to draw the zombies to us.”  Al said. 

              “Alright, let's do it.”  Gina said.

              We got in the vehicles and drove within a few hundred yards of the plane.  The zombies still hadn't seen us so we got out and started off at an angle from the plane.  The plan was that Rick was to stay with the vehicles.  When we got in position, Al would signal Rick.  At that point, Rick would start honking the horn on the truck to draw the zombies towards him.  When they were far enough away from the plane, we'd open fire on them.  We were in position.  Al signaled Rick and he started honking the horn.  The zombies all looked to the truck.  Five of them started to the truck.  The problem was they weren't stumbling and shuffling along like normal.  They were running.  Al opened fire dropping two.  Then his gun jammed.

              Gina, Cindy, and I started shooting at the remaining three running to the truck.  Somebody hit one of them and it fell to the ground, got back up, and resumed it's run to the truck.  Al tried to get his rifle unjammed but couldn't get the damn rifle to fire again.  By this time, the three zombies running to the truck had gotten there and were trying to get in to Rick.

              Al dropped his rifle and pulled his pistol from the holster.  He started running towards the truck.  As he ran he yelled back at us.  “You'd better take care of those others.”

              I looked back at the plane and the rest of the zombies were coming for the girls and me.  “We need to move so we're not shooting towards the plane.”  Gina and Cindy moved off to the right and I started jumping up and down and shouting.  I was trying to keep them headed my direction.  The zombies headed towards me were your normal stumbler-bumblers.  They made easier targets and Gina and Cindy would be able to take care of them in short order.  While that was going on, Al made his way to the truck.

              There was a zombie standing on each running board trying to break out the windows on each side.  One had climbed onto the hood of the truck and was trying to smash the windshield with his head.  Al hollered at the one on the hood of the truck.  It looked back at Al, turned, and lept off the hood of the truck.  Al shot him in the head mid-leap then shot the zombie that had been trying to get in through the passenger door.  It had jumped down off the truck and was running at Al when he shot it.  Al went around to the driver's side of the truck and was over there for a minute before I heard the gunshot signaling the demise of the third super zombie.  The gunshots coming from the girls had stopped by now.  In less than three minutes, they were able to kill twenty-seven zombies.  I had to admit, our little group had become a zombie killing machine.

              They were walking towards the plane so I went to check on Rick and Al.  When I got to them, Rick was out of the truck and Al was showing him something on the pistol Rick was holding.

              “What's up?”  I asked.

              “Rick was trying to shoot the zombie on his side of the truck with this pistol.”  Al said.  “I was showing him how to take the safety off.”

              “Yeah, I don't know much about guns.  The zombie trying to get at me from the driver's door started for Al when he was shooting the other two.  When it was distracted, I rolled down the window and was going to shoot it.  That's when it saw me and dove in through the window to get me.”  Rick explained.

              “The safety was on so Rick was kicking it in the head to keep it from getting all the way into the truck.  I just grabbed it by the feet, drug it out, and shot the damn thing in the head.”  Al said.  “We'll work on your gun handling later, Rick.”

              Rick and Al drove the truck up to the plane and I followed them in the Hummer.  Cindy and Gina were waiting for us at the plane.  There were two people with them and everyone seemed to be okay.  As we got closer, I could see the two from the plane were a middle-aged man and a teenaged girl.  I parked the Hummer behind the truck and got out.  Rick, Al, and I joined the girls with the two from the plane.

              “That was some fine shooting.” Al said.

              “Once Steve got them out of line with the plane, it was easy.”  Cindy replied.

              “This is Les and Connie.”  Gina introduced.  “They were on their way home when their plane ran out of gas.”

              “I thought we would make it back home but we ran out of gas about three miles short.”  Les said.  “Luckily, this stretch of highway was clear.  Otherwise, I'd have had to set down in a field and as you can see, there's a hell of a lot of trees around here.”

              “Looks like you weren't that lucky.  You kind of landed in a shitload of zombies.”  I said.  “Sorry young lady.”  I'd forgotten my language around Les' daughter.

              “That's okay mister.  My father says a lot worse than that.”  Connie chuckled.

              “You can call me Steve.  This here is Rick and Al.”

              “Steve, Les and Connie need to get home.  They were wondering if we'd give them a ride.”  Gina interjected.

              “Sure, that's not a problem.”  I replied.

              “Well Steve, it kind of is a problem.”  Les said.

              “How's that?”

              “I've been on the radio with my wife.  Our house is surrounded by zombies.”

              “Well, what the hell are we doing standing here?  Let's get going.”  Al said.

              “Les, you and Connie can ride in the truck with Al and Cindy.  We'll follow in the Hummer.”  I said.

Chapter 6

Day 2

              The next day all military personnel were instructed to bring all our gear with us to the office. We were bugging out. Civilian personnel were being left behind to monitor the internet. Even though technically I was with the NSA, I was still in the Army. Most of the people in my sector were civilians so we said our goodbyes and my unit headed out. Our destination was Fort A.P. Hill which was a two hour bus ride from our current location. I spent the time catching up on the sleep I'd missed the night before.

              When we got to A.P. Hill, General Simmons was there waiting for us. He took me aside and introduced me to the base commander Colonel Dan Bradley. I was informed I was to be General Simmons' liaison officer working with the Colonel. The General released me to Colonel Bradley and left. Colonel Bradley informed me my men would be working with his men securing the airfield. The next day they were moving operations from the Pentagon to the Fort.

              Even though the airfield was already surrounded by a ten foot high fence topped with razor wire for extra security measures, we were to build another fence outside the existing one. The outer fence was to be electrified. Other units were working to secure living quarters for the soon to be arriving Pentagon personnel. They were to be stationed as close to the airfield as possible. The half mile stretch of road leading from their barracks to the airfield was to be fenced in also.

              I had gone from office supervisor to construction foreman. I wondered what my new pay grade would be. Later that day we got word that all international flights were being grounded. I heard later that several flights returning State Department officials from western Europe to the U.S. would be allowed in. With all the rumors flying around, the men working around me were wondering what was going on. The prevailing story was that we were going to war with China. If it was only that simple.