The Horror Squad: An Apocalyptic Tale (10 page)

OUT OF REACH

I PUT
the truck in reverse and pulled out. I could see a worried look on Kris’ face and to be honest, I was a little worried too. I wasn’t a stranger to the law or their cells. Not sure if they would see this as self-defense or plain out murder, but I knew it would depend on how Tina told the story. Plus with me running off on an adventure with Gizmo and fleeing the crime scene, didn’t look good.

I turned on the radio to hear nothing but static. I started flipping through the channels, but all of them were just static. I hit the power button. “What the fuck is going on?”

Ring-ring-ring-ring! My phone sounded.

“Hello?” I answered.

“TJ, Tina can’t reach the police.” Kris stated on the other end.

“So…Keep trying.” I suggested.

“You don’t understand, it says we’ve reached a number that has been changed or disconnected.” She clarified.

“Okay babe, we’ll just stop by the station on the way back.” I stated the solution.

“Okay…I love you.” She responded.

“I love you too, I’ll see you in a bit.” I clarified before hanging up.

We barely made it to the main highway when we started seeing cars crashed all down the ditch. Some were on fire, some had their doors open with people attacking the drivers and some were outside of their cars and running. About the time I caught focus on the road again there was a little girl in a white dress right in front of me. I slammed on the breaks, but it was too late. The truck came to a halt and the little girls shoe fell from the sky and landed on the windshield then rolled onto the hood. Gizmo and I looked at each other with our eyes wide open.

I was about to open the truck door when some son of a bitch belly flopped against my door, his half chewed off cheek pressed firmly against my driver’s side window. He started raking his hands down my window leaving blood trails, as he slid down the window, his jaw opened and closed and opened and closed. I could see the few muscles he had left controlling his jaw before one snapped and made a ping on the window and he dropped to the ground.

WHILE WE’RE AWAY

“GUYS, STAY
here in the courtyard until we get back, unless you are going into the cafeteria. Understood?” Tina told the children.

The four nodded and went back to what they were doing.

Tina and Kris walked toward the front gate to see if Martin needed a break. They rounded the tree line that lined the rocky path that had been made by the ins and outs of the few vehicles that they had accumulated or brought with them. The huge gate came into view and Martin sat on a stool looking out into the road watching for anything coming or going. Every once in a while a rotter would appear and Martin would unlock the chain link gate and take it out with the machete that he kept nearby. There was a small shack that he had built over time to keep him warm or in the shade or dry, depending on the weather. The fence on each side of the chain link double gates was a solid silver metal wall, so far it had kept out any rotters that had hit up against it and seemed that it would hold up nicely to other issues that may arise. The group had talked about building a brick wall around the inside of the metal fence, but had not gotten around to it yet with half the group gone.

“Hey Martin, scaring people today?” Kris asked.

“Not yet, but the day is still young. What are you girls doing out and about?” He asked.

“Figured we would make some rounds, we are feeling kind of useless and need something to do. Need a break?” Tina asked.

“I would love one. There seems to be some movement down the road, I don’t think it is alive, so keep an eye out.” He warned. “But, it has been fairly quiet. I think I’ll go eat something normal besides these sucky energy bar things.” He stated.

Tina and Kris grabbed the machete and the gun that leaned against the shack and began marching back and forth in front of the gate like soldiers. They laughed as they passed each other. Tina dropped the oversized knife to her side and squinted down the asphalt outside the gate.

“Just One?” She said.

Kris backed up her soldier step with her gun and placed it on her shoulder to take a look through the scope.

“Yeah, just one.” She mumbled as she scanned the sides of the road with the gun.

“That is weird.” Tina half questioned.

“It is a little weird, but Martin has stated before that there were times where just one would show up and he would take care of it so it didn’t draw anymore in.” Kris said dropping the gun to her side. “But, the whole damn thing is weird. I mean look at everything we have dealt with from that poor dog, to your in laws. You never know, maybe he is just a stray that got lost. Either way, we need to keep an eye on it.” Kris instructed.

Tina pulled the stool right up to the gate and sat down with machete still in hand and placed her fingers around the chain link and her face up against the fence.

“So you may want to back up just a hair. Just sayin’.” Kris laughed as she placed the gun inside the shack.

“I mean is it going to charge at me?” Tina questioned.

“I guess not, you go ahead and sit right there, I am going to stand back just a bit and I’ll watch it from back here. Kris crossed her arms and stood a bit behind Tina watching it sway from side to side as it walked down the road. The sun was starting to get hot and reflect against the asphalt and down over the whole area making it a bit hard to see the rotten thing. Its pace was off balance and slow, but it was definitely headed their way.

“Be ready with your handy dandy machete right there.” Kris demanded.

“I got this shit!” Tina assured jumping off of her stool holding the machete into the air.

Kris laughed at her acting so tough. Kris acted like she was undoing the locked chain that held the gate secure.

“What the fuck are you doing? Fuck you!” Tina half shouted.

Kris laughed, “I have to do something to keep the humor.”

“You’re too fucking funny!” She sarcastically replied.

Tina decided to back the stool up and stood next to Kris as they watched it stumble a bit and fall to its knees and make its way back up to stand. Both of them moved back against the metal part of the fence so that they could not be seen and peeked around every so often watching it wander closer and closer.

“It’s holding something!” Tina stated pulling her head back out of sight.

Kris peered around the wall and into the street. “It’s a woman and it is holding something. That is strange, I have never seen one holding anything.”

Kris and Tina stepped into sight of the thought to be rotter walking towards them as it fell to the ground again and crawled a bit of the way and caught its feet again.

“I don’t think that is dead.” Tina stated.

Kris grabbed the gun and placed it up on her shoulder. She peered through the scope and dropped it from her eye and put it back up again.

“Undo the fucking chain!” Kris demanded.

Tina stood at attention not moving a muscle as she watched it coming closer.

“Tina, undo the god damn chain. It is alive. It’s Shianne!” Kris exclaimed.

Tina began unraveling the chain from around the gate and dropped it to the ground. Kris walked out with the gun still up on her shoulder, turning circles to ensure that nothing was around her. She kept the gun up to ensure that she was right about it being Shianne and that she was still alive and not a rotter.

“Mom!” Shianne cried as she fell again.

Tina stayed at the fence and held the gate closed behind Kris watching her walk down the road with the gun aimed.

“Shianne, talk to me!” Kris hollered to her eldest daughter that had been in Colorado.

“Mom it’s me!” She hollered back.

Kris dropped the gun and ran to her, throwing the gun behind her as the strap choked her a bit. She held her arm and hurried her back to towards Tina. Kris saw Martin walk behind Tina.

“What the fuck are y’all doing? Put that chain back on and lock this shit up.” He began rounding the chain around the poles.

Tina pointed towards Kris and pulled the chain back from the gate again.

“It is her other daughter!” Tina whispered.

“What the hell!” Martin whispered back sliding out of the gates entryway.

Martin ran to both Kris and grabbed the other arm of Shianne helping carry her back to the unsecured fence. As they entered the gate, Shianne fell to the ground and Martin began wrapping the chain around the two poles to hold it closed.

“If fucking TJ knew that I just let your ass go out there, he would have my fucking head. What the fuck were you thinking?” Martin expressed his fear.

Kris and Tina tended to Shianne as they gave her small drinks from a bottle of water that laid in the shack. Martin had just gotten the lock on the chain to secure it and BANG!

Kris and Tina jumped and Shianne scooted backwards on her ass across the path to the other side of the shack.

“They heard you yelling as I did.” Martin looked at Kris.

Kris approached the chain link and looked down the wall to see three of them making their way down the wall banging with their hands. BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Get back Kris!” Martin told her.

“It’s my fault, I will help, I’ve been out there, I know how it is.” Kris stated.

The rotters made their way to the gate and stood eye to eye with Kris and Martin. Martin took the machete that Tina had dropped and glided it slowly through one of the holes and into the skull of the first one that made his way into sight. The second stumbled over the one that had dropped to the ground. Kris reached for the knife that TJ had left her that she kept in a holster in her boot.

“Take that second one out, I got this one coming up.” Kris told him.

Martin stepped back and let the next one try to make his way back to his feet. The rotter grabbed the chain that locked them in and began to rattle it as he tried to stand and fell again. He pulled on the chain again and stood to be about three inches taller than Kris. She stuck her small hand through the fence to direct the knife into the bottom of his chin. The dead grabbed her and held her wrist tight. Kris tried to push her hand upward and free from his grasp and stab the knife into his chin. But the grasp would not loosen. She stuck her other hand through and stepped up on the fence and grabbed the knife. She stabbed it through his temple and he fell still holding onto her hand. Her face implanted into the fence as Martin slice the arm of the bone faced man and Kris dropped to the ground. The dismembered arm sliced through the gate with severed nerves and tendons till attached to it. Blood spattered through and hit Martin in the face as he quietly slid his knife through the others empty eye socket of the third one, the skin peeled off of the arm that still held onto her and fell into Kris’s lap as she and the arm hit the ground hard. Martin ran to her and pulled on the now bony arm that held onto Kris and had to pry the fingers away from Kris.

“Your husband is going to kill me!” Martin stated throwing the arm far over the fence.

“I’m fine.” Kris stated.

She rose and dusted herself off and made her way to her daughter.

“What the hell are you doing Shianne?” Kris asked her child.

“I knew that dad would not let y’all die, I knew that I just had to make it to wherever you all were. I went to the house and everyone was gone. I saw the smoke and knew that this is where he would have taken everyone. I came this way and ran into a herd of these things and outran them. I ran out of gas a few days ago and had only brought a few bottles of water. I have been out since yesterday. But, I knew Dad would have done something smart like this.

“I could not get a hold of you! I tried and the phones were out once we figured out what was actually going on. I can’t believe you got here.” Kris said hugging her daughter.

“Tasha came with me. She didn’t make it.” Shianne admitted. “I can’t believe I let my best friend get eaten by these assholes.” Shianne cried.