Last Stand of the Dead - 06 (8 page)

As
I
stepped further away from the bridge, I could see more and more o
f
the area underneath it, and I didn’t see anyone hiding there. I signaled to Charlie, who responded by running over to the far side of the bridge.  A single shot later and a small form tumbled to the ground by a cluster of poison ivy vines.

That seemed to be a signal to the other two.  They came running out of the brush, about fifteen feet apart.  They were roughly the same age and same size, gender being the only real difference.  The
kids were
very fast, and would hit me at exactly the same time.

Well, they would have if I let them.  I lined up a shot and took out the girl, then fired at the boy.  That shot would have killed him, but he jumped at the right time and the round hit him in the chest.  Fortunately, it knocked him back several feet, and I used the slight hesitation between the recalibration of senses and the launching of offensives
,
to send a round through his confused face.  The bullet penetrated his brain and dropped him without a fuss.

Charlie came sprinting over the bridge, and we both looked at each other as more firing came from the south.  We ran down the main street, heading towards the truck I had parked there.  At least we didn’t have to run all over like last time.

Or so I thought.  Just as we were crossing the last block to the truck, three zombies came tearing around the corner at us.  I fired from the hip, missing
completely, and Charlie fired from a low ready position, hitting one in the shoulder and the other in the chest, causing no damage at all.  I tried to bring the rifle up, but it was too late, the zombie was on top of me.  The barrel of my gun poked it in the forehead, and I fired again, missing as the zombies got knocked back and down from the impact
of the muzzle.

Charlie was having issues of his own.  His rifle was useless at this range, and more of a handicap than a help
.
He had pulled his ‘hawks and was engaging his enemies with his preferred method of killing.  A back swung right hand tomahawk took out a zombie that had re-engaged in the fight, and a left hand overhead chop wiped out the other one.

I stepped on the chest of the little boy who was struggling to get up and bite me in the leg, and using my own ‘hawk, stuck a spike right between his dark eyes.  I wiped my spike on the shirt of the zombie,
and then
realized that was a bad idea as blood smeared across the dark blade.  I cursed silently and sunk the spike in the dirt, using the
time-honored
tradition of cleaning a blade of gunk and blood.  I’d burn it later.

Charlie and I finished our run to the truck and hopped inside.  Another shot took us south and back towards the Highway Building.  We had no idea where the others were, we just had a vague reference based on the sound of shots.

We decided to circle around the far end of town, and work our way towards the middle.  If we came charging in, we might find ourselves between the rifles of our friends and the zombies they were trying to shoot.

At the southern end of town, we were slowly moving west when a small zombie darted out from between two houses.  Suddenly, a shot from over our shoulders took the zombie in the side, knocking her over into the grass.  A second shot from another source took the zombie in the head, ending it.

I stopped the truck, understanding that we would just be in the way.  Charlie and I got out and climbed into the bed of the truck, rifles at the ready. 
Clearly,
there was some kind of hunt going on, and we were not invited.

After a minute, Duncan appeared, running out into the open, chased by two little
boys
intent on causing some damage.  As he passed the two buildings, two shots took down the two Z’s.  Tommy was next, and he was cutting it close with an older boy and a younger girl.  They were right on his heels, and if he stumbled, they certainly would get him.  Two shots later
,
the danger seemed past.

“That it?”
Charlie called out.

Duncan looked around, and counted swiftly.  “That’s all we have for this end.  What about you guys?”

“Got the ones by the river, so we should be
done,
” I said.  “Anyone take a serious look at one of these?”

Tommy shook his head.
“Nope.
  It’s dead, and they’re better deader.”

I chuckled. “Good one.
No, seriously.”

“What are you seeing
,
John?” Sarah called from her rooftop.

“They’re wet.”

Chapter 14

Everyone
looked
.  Sure enough, each one was soaking wet, like they had taken a dip in the local creek.  I thought about it, and realized these guys just eliminated a barrier we had used for years.  They didn’t stay away from water.

“
Damn,
” Duncan said.  “Well, I’d bet the river by Starved Rock would keep them occupied.”

“Wonder how they cross
ed?
” Tommy asked out loud, something I was wondering myself.

“Right now, doesn’t matter.  We need to get in touch with Freeman and give him an update.  We just took out a force of forty of the enemy, so that should be good news to him
,
” I said.

“Finally, some good…” Charlie said, but he never got to finish.  Right as he was saying that, ten little zombies burst out around the corner of a small house,
its
hedge grown to over five feet.  We were caught out in the open, with nowhere to run, and unable to use our guns for fear of hitting each other.  We had five seconds to do something. 

“Back to back!
Move!  Sarah! Rebecca!  Take whatever shots you get!  Don’t worry about us!” I yelled, dropping my rifle and pulling out my pickaxe.  Charlie put his back facing mine and Duncan did the same with Tommy.  We were protected from rear attacks as long as we kept our f
oo
t
ing.

The first little bastard ran forward and I slammed my pickaxe into him.  I missed him with the metal head, but the handle was seasoned hickory and it landed like a bat on his foul ball.  The impact threw him sideways, and my return swing slammed into the ribs of a taller zombie, sweeping her hands away
just
inches from my face.  I didn’t try to hit them in the head, I was just trying to keep them away from me with the tools I had on hand.  Behind me, Charlie was swinging hard, knocking down zombies and keeping them there. 

Another zombie launched himself towards me, but a shot from the roof slammed him to the ground.  The sound halted the rest for a brief second and I took the opportunity to bury the point end of my pick in a downed zombie’s head. 

Duncan was cutting a small zombie in half while Tommy was batting them out of the park
as
I was.  He actually knocked one close enough to me to allow me to finish it off.  We didn’t often get assists, but it helped.

The last zombie kid squared off with Charlie, and it was interesting to see it work.  It moved forward slowly, keeping an eye on Charlie’s left hand tomahawk.  Charlie flicked the blade forward, and the kid’s eyes actually followed it.  His mistake, since the other ‘hawk was already moving and cracked his skull about three inches behind his eye.  He never knew what killed him as he s
a
nk to the ground.

We straightened up and finished off our leftovers, keeping a wary eye on the surrounding houses and trees.  Sarah and Rebecca scanned the area carefully and declared it safe.  We pulled them down from the houses and spent a good amount of time cleaning our weapons.

“Close enough, that one
,
” I
said.

“Yeah, but I wish we could figure out how they were
communicating,
”
Charlie said.  “That last group clearly was waiting for us to be off guard, and had we been closer to them
,
they would have gotten one of us.”

“
Zoosemiotics
,
” Duncan
said.

“Fly that one again?” Charlie said.

Duncan smiled.
“
Zoosemiotics
.
  The signs animals give each other to communicate.  Like ‘play face’ and tail wagging
,
when two dogs look like they’re about to kill each other, but they’re just playing.”

Tommy shrugged.  “I really just met him during the Upheaval.”

I was intrigued. “Talk to me.  How are they communicating?”

“If I had to guess, I would say they are using a combination of signals and sounds. Something more complex than the communication that goes on between higher order animals, but nothing
as
complex as an actual
language,
” Duncan said.

Rebecca asked the obvious.  “How do you know?”

Duncan smiled again.  “Do you guys know that none of you ever asked me what I did before the Upheaval?”

I had to admit I was shocked.  I thought I knew my friends
,
but this was actually a surprise and a little embarrassing.  “I always figured you just did regular work like regular folks.  You never talked about it.”

“I worked for Brookfield Zoo as a researcher in animal behavior and analysis.  I was an intern there, working on field research for my eventual thesis.”

I didn’t take a step back, but I think everyone else did.  We always thought of Duncan as a screwball
,
but a good man and fighter.  Never did we associate him with higher learning. 

“Okay then.  Well, you were saying?”  I asked, wiping off my pick.

“These guys are communicating using crude gestures and sounds to convey meaning.  I wouldn’t doubt there is some kind of crude training that goes on for the new recruits.  They have an overall objective, which is communicated
, 
as
in
what commands to obey and when they should obey them.  It’s not a perfect system, thankfully, but it is what they
have,
” Duncan
said.

“So how smart would you say they are?”  Sarah asked, clearly intrigued.

Duncan shrugged. “I’d say Rebecca was right on in her estimate that they are probably as smart as cats, with the leader being as smart as a good dog.  They may have more subtle communication among themselves, but we can see that the general overall plan is to keep moving east.  The leader, whoever she is, will likely be the smartest zombie
we have
ever come across.  I would not be surprised if she could actually speak.”

I nearly sat down at that one. 
Holy cow.
The more I thought about it
,
the more I started to think I wanted to take her alive.  But when I looked down at the bloodied and dead bodies of the small ones ripped from their homes and mothers, taken away by monsters?  How much horror
were
the last few moments of their lives?  No, I’ll kill any of these I find. 
Period.

“All right, well, we’re not getting any further ahead, and we’ve scored a major victory here.  Let’s see if we can catch the zombies between here and the army
,
and finish them off for
good,
” I said.

Everyone agreed, and it was going to be a fantastic thing if we could finally finish this and go home.

Aboard the truck, Sarah asked me a simple question.  “Feeling better about our chances?”

“I think we got this one, finally.” I said.
“
I really do.”

Sarah smiled. 
“Me, too.
  Thank God.”

“Let’s get moving.”

Chapter 15

It took us a while to find a survivor.  I really wasn’t expecting anyone, but in the cab of a truck, huddled in a ball on the floor, was a live soldier.  Tommy found him as we searched the remains of the battlefield for anything that might give us a clue as to what had happened.

Earlier in the
day,
we had taken on fifty of the little kids, a significant chunk of their forces, or so I had hoped.  The rest seemed to be on a collision course with Freeman’s line. 

As the sun began
its
long descent, we had come up from route 34 and were south of Kirkwood when we found the line.  There were bodies everywhere, some twitching with the virus,
and some
dead from self-inflicted wounds.  Brass casings were all over the road, and I seriously didn’t think we were going to find any extra ammo anywhere.  Weapons were scattered and tossed.  I could see from my vantage point that there were many soldiers out in the grass, run down by the zombies that never tired
,
and ran as fast as they did.

Sarah just shook her head, although I thought I caught a glisten of
a
tear in her eye.  I didn’t blame her.  This was a damn mess.