White Flag of the Dead (21 page)

I looked over the group and checked my SIG. As I holstered it I asked “Does any one need to be somewhere else? I can get a replacement if you need it.” I always asked, letting people know they had a choice to risk their necks.

No one answered. I said, “I know we lost a few good people today, and no one feels it more than me. I had to put down Steve Tarnette today, and to be honest, I’m not really feeling too good about it. But those of you who knew Steve would know he would be the first to tell us to quit whining and get the damn job done.” There were smiles at this. “I just want to relate a few things before we head out. The rumors you may have heard about some zombies moving fast and seeming to think things out are true.” There was a collective eyebrow raising at that. I needed them to be aware of what transpired. “I don’t know what it means, other than we are going to need to be on our toes that much more. The fast ones aren’t that fast, but if you’re expecting your usual Shuffler, he’s going to be on you faster than Nate on a slacker. Just be careful, and take nothing for granted until we learn more. Any questions?”

Sarah spoke up. “John, why do you keep going on these raids? You don’t ask any family man to go, yet you have Jake and you keep going.”

The group looked at me. The only answer I had was, “I need to do this, because like it or not, this is the world we have right now. I need to be as skilled as possible, so I can teach him to survive. Besides”, I added, “Every Z we put down is one less he has to kill later.” That got a grim collective nod. “Let’s mount up. Kristen, you’re riding the in the truck bed.”

Kristen looked at the bed and its relative discomfort. “Why me?” she asked.

Sarah gave her a slap on the back. “You gotta earn the cushions, little girl. Get moving!” Kristen frowned but jumped into the bed anyway. It was clear she did not like being exposed, but we all rode there at one time or another.

Charlie got into the driver’s seat and I rode shotgun. Sarah and Tommy shared the back seat. The truck was comfortable, but we had added a few things as needed over the months. The mesh on the back of the front seats had extra loaded magazines, and the center console had two extra pistols and spare magazines. There was extra food and water stored in the cab, as well as matches and a first aid kit. There was a flare and a blanket. All the comforts of home. The bed of the truck had two hatchets to repel boarders, and swing up sides to increase the height of the edge of the bed. The added height made it impossible for zombies to reach in, and the boards locked together at the edges for additional strength. Pretty useful if you get swarmed, to buy yourself enough time to regroup and fight back.

I signaled to the teenager by the garage door that we were ready to head out, and he radioed to the roof for the all clear. When the clear signal came back, he grabbed the door and heaved it skyward. Charlie started the engine and rolled out. As soon as we cleared the door, the kid hauled the door back down and locked it tight.

As we rolled out, I looked at the neighborhood. You’d never know today was any different than any other day. The houses looked normal, cars were parked in driveways. If you had just awakened from a five month nap, all would seem normal. If you looked closer, however, you would see different things. Shadowy figures moved slowly past windows, and several homes were burned down. There were some cars run into the sides of the roads, and former occupants were still inside them, unable to figure out how to release themselves from the seatbelts. We dodged a few of these as we went down the road. We were headed to a large shopping center to see what we could salvage. I had my doubts we were going to find anything, but you never knew these days. On the way to our current residence, we had found a gas station that was unlooted. I figured the odds of us finding useful foodstuffs was becoming slim as the days wore on, and we were going to have to range much further to bring home the bacon, as it were.

We headed north, and turned at the first big intersection. There were a lot more cars on the road here, and Charlie had a bit of a time weaving through the abandoned vehicles. I knew why they were there, left like that. After Chicago fell, the resulting wave of zombies spread out to the suburbs, and overwhelmed anything in their path. People caught out in the open were devoured instantly, and people trapped in their cars were eventually dragged out and eaten. More than once I saw cars with smashed in windows and dried blood all over the interior. I tried not to look too closely at the cars with child seats in them, as I really didn’t want to imagine a child stuck in a seat screaming for its mother as dead hands reached to rip it apart.

We didn’t see many zombies, just a few stuck in cars and the occasional drifter. I could see Sarah mentally calculating how tough of a shot it would be, and more than once I saw her hand drift to the window button to open it and try a shot. But she always stopped, maintaining her inner discipline. More than once I was thankful I never had to put Ellie down, and that I got the chance to tell her how much she meant to me before she died. Not many people in the Upheaval got the same opportunity.

Charlie dodged a big truck in the road and had to go for a ways on the shoulder. I could hear Kristen bouncing in the back and cursing the whole time. I grinned and remembered my first time in the truck bed. I had bounced so high at one point the driver thought I had fallen out.

Charlie turned at the sign for the Big Circle store and headed to the back of the large building. We figured out a while ago that the front of the store was nice for picking, the backs of stores is where they had everything neatly boxed for you, and in greater quantity. Who needed three cans of beans when a crate was available?

Charlie backed the truck up to the door, and Kristen jumped out of the bed. She waited for Sarah to get out and followed her to the front of the pickup. She and Sarah were on lookout duty. I could see Sarah motioning to Kristen to keep her eyes open and to check the area constantly. Tommy, Charlie and I got out and immediately scanned the area. No Z’s were in sight, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. There was a retention pond over to the northwest, with a lot of water and high grass. A hundred could be hiding there and we’d never see one before it was too late. Charlie drew his tomahawks and stood back about ten feet from the door. I stood off to the side and flicked the safety off my carbine. Tommy went to work on the door, first checking to see if it was open and then using his crowbar to pop the handle. He didn’t open the door right away, and placed his ear to the door to see if there was anyone on the other side. Since noise attracted them, we wanted to make sure we were ready when they came calling.

Sarah and Kristen were staying back, Sarah watching the grass and sides of the building. Kristen stuck close to Sarah, but seemed eager to prove her worth.

Tommy raised his hand and signaled that he had heard something. He tapped on the door and was rewarded with a loud thump that nearly opened the door. Tommy jerked back and yanked the door open, keeping it between him and the opening.

Two zombies came spilling out, and one went to his knees as he fell. The other one, a female, stepped around the fallen one in a slow gait, seeing Charlie and stepping towards him with arms coming up and a slow groan emerging from her torn lips. Charlie stepped back and waited for the zombie to come to him, his eyes impassive under his hood. When the zombie girl came within reach, Charlie whipped his hand around and planted a tomahawk on the top of the girls head. She dropped instantly, taking the weapon with her. Charlie was experienced enough to know to leave the weapon until the Z was dead. People had been lost who held on to weapons thinking they had killed a zombie, only to realize the critters weren’t dead yet.

Tommy wasn’t idle. As soon the first zombie who had fallen through the door started to get up, he stepped up behind it and slammed it in the head with his crowbar. The zombie went down, but wasn’t out. As it struggled to re-orient itself, Tommy smashed it again with the crowbar, this time cracking the skull. One more hit put it down for good.

Charlie retrieved his ‘hawk from the fully dead girl and wiped it off on the Z’s shirt. He dragged the body over to the side of the lot and left it there. Tommy was a bit more creative, hooking his kill with his crowbar under the collar and dragging it out as well. Sarah didn’t even look at the bodies as they were dragged past her. Kristen looked at the bodies and narrowed her eyes, but she held up well.

I waited at the door, listening for any more sounds, but I couldn’t hear anything distinct. I thought I heard footsteps, but they stopped and didn’t resume.

Charlie was about twenty feet from the door when a zombie burst out of the doorway headed right at him and headed fast, like a speed walker. I had but a glimpse of his face as he strode past me, and that was enough. His lips were torn from his face, exposing his yellowed teeth. If that was how he got it, it was a nasty wound to die from. His neck and shirt front were completely covered in blood, and his hands were vicious claws he was extending to reach Charlie with.

I didn’t want to shoot for fear of attracting more of them, but Charlie looked like he was not going to be able to defend himself. I swung the carbine and was about to squeeze off a shot when Charlie moved. It happened so fast the zombie never knew what hit it. Charlie waited until the zombie’s hands were nearly on him, then he ducked and pivoted out of the way, sweeping the zombie’s legs from underneath him with one of his tomahawks. As the zombie landed flat on his back, Charlie jumped over its flailing arms and swung at the zombie’s head, intending to nail it from the top. The zombie had other ideas, rolling away and letting the tomahawk slam into its shoulder. Charlie left it there and the zombie stood up with the ‘hawk sticking out of it like a big toothpick on a rotten hors devours. It started for him again and Charlie sidestepped the lunging arms and swung at the back of its head. The axe blade bit deep with a sound like a watermelon being dropped, and the zombie stumbled forward, falling on its face, dead for good.

Charlie approached the zombie with his gun out in case the damn thing didn’t know it was dead. But it was and Charlie retrieved his weapons. Tommy and I exchanged looks, and Tommy said “Looks like that was a fast one.”

“Yeah.” I said. “I hope they all don’t get like that or we are going to have serious trouble.”

Charlie joined us. “Thanks for the warning on the fast ones. That little bastard nearly threw my timing off.”

“Dead is dead. You did fine.” I said. I looked at the zombie he killed. Something was wrong about it. “Hey, guys. Look at that Z over there. What’s wrong with him?

Charlie looked at him and shrugged. “He’s a born-again corpse. What’s
right
about him?”

Tommy looked. “You’re right, why doesn’t he look like the others.?”

It took me a minute to figure it out. “The blood. The blood on his shirt is fresh. He just killed something recently.” I said.

Charlie looked at Tommy and they both looked at me. “So?” they said.

I sighed.
You gave them eyes, Lord, but they refuse to see
, I thought. “Fresh blood means fresh kill. Fresh kill means there might be more survivors.”

That changed their expressions. Charlie looked at the dark opening and hefted his tomahawks. Tommy followed suit and gripped his crowbar tighter. I signaled to Sarah to watch the vehicle as we closed on the door and stepped inside.

The interior was dark, but the light spilling in the doorway provided a decent amount of light. The storeroom was filled with boxes, pallets, and assorted crates. I signaled Tommy to head to the left while Charlie broke off to the right. I went straight ahead staying in the light. I could see the wall of the storeroom in front of me, and I edged my way towards it, checking the aisles as I went by. Every ten steps I stopped and listened, and I could see Tommy and Charlie doing the same. I could see a body in the shadows on the left side, but it wasn’t moving. Tommy bent down to check it, and shook his head at me. Dead for sure.

Passing the third aisle, a small hand shot out and grabbed my foot. “Whoa!” I whispered loudly, causing Charlie to pause and Tommy to straighten up. I looked down and it was a small child, about three years old. It was a girl, judging by its clothes, but that was where the resemblance ended. Her hair was mostly torn off, like it had been trying to escape something that had grabbed it, and its legs were mostly gone, save for some bones sticking out in awkward positions. That’s why it hadn’t come to greet us, it couldn’t move.

I shook off the grasping hand and stepped back before she had a chance to get close for a bite. The pathetic creature let out a groan and dragged itself closer. I drew my knife and finished it off, closing its eyes forever. Part of me was sad at the necessity, but all it takes is a moment of pity and these things will rip your throat out.

We finished checking the storeroom without further incident, and regrouped back at the door with Sarah and Kristen.

“We still need to check the rest of the store, but I want to send supplies back now.” I told the group.

Charlie looked skeptical. “Don’t know if we want to split our forces, chief. Could be a hundred of those things in there.”

Tommy concurred. “He’s right. Could be a death trap, with no way to retreat.”

I nodded. “You’re right, it could be all that, but I don’t plan on going in just yet. We’ve got a lot of food here, and the truck will take too many trips. I’m sending Sarah back with a loaded truck, and she’s coming back with the bus for the rest. Besides, if there are survivors, we’ll need the extra room.”

Charlie and Tommy agreed with me on that point, so for the next fifteen minutes we spent loading up the truck with as much as we could without running the risk of spilling anything. Sarah got in the truck and I handed her the radio. “Let Duncan know what’s up when you’re on the road, so he can get the bus ready for a quick departure.”