03 Deluge of the Dead (15 page)

“Damn,” said Andy. “I guess I need to evacuate my men, unless you have another plan to stop them?”

Carl shook his head sadly. “Maybe he will though,” Carl gestured towards George who was stepping off the
Expiscator
onto a protected portion of the dock. Moments later he joined the group and looked around.

“Okay then, if I have this straight, Carl thinks these monsters will come right through the sprinklers when it rains?” George said and received nods in return. “And that little fence won’t stop them either?” More nods. “Then let’s build something that will.”

“How?” asked Andy. “The rain could start any time.” He gestured at the dark clouds moving their way.

“The same way we blocked the bridges,” answered George. “I’ve got dozens of trucks moving cargo containers all over the port right now. Why don’t I divert all of them over here? We might not have time to double stack them, but even a single layer of ten foot tall containers should stop them for a while.”

“Outstanding,” said Sergeant Major O’Hara. “I’ll call over a squad of Marines with an APC too. We might not be able to shoot all these nasty buggers, but we should be able hold them back while you construct the barricade and then keep them from climbing over it.”

“Let’s do it,” Carl agreed. “It might be a good idea to get those fire boats back here too. Their water canon should hold back most of the horde for a while, even in the rain. I think it will take a while for them to get agitated enough by the rain to charge the sprinklers anyway, but they will eventually, if it rains enough.”

George nodded and pulled out his hand held radio, quickly issuing orders to have every available truck bring containers to the dock, along with a fire truck and the fire boats. As he lowered the radio from his mouth he said, “I can see that Scott knew what he was doing when he put you on the Council, Carl. None of us thought about the effect rain would have on all these zombies you corralled here.”

“I’ve just had more experience watching how they react to water,” Carl replied. “I really should have thought about it sooner.”

“Just in time is always soon enough,” said George with a smile. “Will you stay and supervise the operation?”

 “I’d like to get back to the team we left at the bus depot,” Carl said. “But I suppose either the Sergeant Major or I should stay here until it’s secure.” He looked expectantly at O’Hara.

“You go on back to your zombie killing SUV, and that sword wielding spitfire, sir,” said O’Hara. “Setting up a perimeter and shooting anything that tries to cross it is my kind of job anyway. However, I’ll keep one of those two Marines and a machine gun from the door of that chopper, if you don’t mind. You shouldn’t need more than one of them after it starts raining, but if you’re right about what to expect here, I have a feeling I’ll need all the firepower I can muster.”

Carl quickly agreed and the decision was made. George and the sergeant major would stay on the docks and contain the horde, one way or another, while Carl returned to lead the team that would escort the buses on their mission to rescue survivors during the storm. As the helicopter restarted its engine and they parted ways the first drops of rain began to fall around them. The clouds that covered the port were not low, but they were dark and brought a fitting sense of doom, gloom and expectant furry to an already ominous afternoon.

*****

Scott returned to the master suite to find Michelle still in tears, being comforted by Mrs. O’Hara on the sitting room couch. He slipped through the door to the balcony unnoticed by Michelle, but exchanged a knowing nod with Mrs. O’Hara. Scott suspected, correctly, that she had a lot of practice consoling the widows of Marines who had fallen in service to their country. He was glad that she would be there for Michelle in the days and weeks ahead. He wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his brief time alive in the arms of his loving wife, but dreaded the pain that it would bring to both of them. He didn’t even dare to kiss her goodbye for fear that he was already contagious.

He would speak to her again in a few minutes, before it was too late, but no words could make either of them feel much better now. She knew how much he loved her. He knew how deeply she would feel his loss. He even felt guilty for a slight sense of relief that he would not be the one left alive to suffer that pain. Scott’s death would be his release from a world gone mad, but would leave his loved ones to face it alone. He pulled out another cigarette from Marty’s pack, looked at it for a moment, and flicked it overboard, unlit.

Placing a hand to his forehead he thought that he might already be running a slight fever. His body would do its best to fight off the infection. He’d always had a strong constitution. It wouldn’t be enough. Not this time. Some things just couldn’t be avoided, especially death and taxes. He smiled at the thought, realizing that tomorrow was April 15
^th
and he would not have to pay his taxes. Nobody would. Then he realized that millions of people had also cheated death, in a way, by joining the ranks of the undead. So much for old clichés, but he would embrace death on his own terms. Scott was already carrying a loaded pistol and had told Captain Fisher to shoot him in the head, if he waited too long to do it himself. Scott stood on the deck, watching the dark clouds roll in and felt the first drops of rain on his cheek.  They almost felt like tears.

*****

Nicky Martin was crying. She had hardly stopped crying since the bad men had killed her father and done unspeakable things to her. Her life had become a nightmare and there was no escape from it. The worst part was that she knew she was going to die very soon. Scag, the leader of the bad guys hadn’t thought twice about discussing his plans with his followers while Nickie was tied to the bed behind them. She heard most of what was said and realized that they would kill her before she had a chance to warn the others.

Nicky was only thirteen, but she was no dummy. She had watched many “R” rated movies and even liked zombie flicks. She knew what to expect from bad men and monsters too. Part of her would prefer to be eaten by zombies than be taken again by Scag, or the rest of his gang. Another part of her wanted to live so badly that her wrists and ankles were bleeding from her efforts to escape the restraints. It had almost worked too. The blood on her right wrist was making the rope slick. It still dug into her skin, but it seemed to move a little more freely now. If she could just get it to slide past her thumb, she would be free to untie the rest of her limbs.

Blood didn’t scare her, not anymore. There was plenty of it drying on the sheets between her legs. At first it had come from the loss of her virginity, but that had soon stopped. The rest came from the cruel abuse dealt out by her captors and it flowed from more than one source. Those men were monsters! No better than the zombies outside. Worse, in her opinion, because they knew exactly what they were doing and seemed to enjoy it.  If she were free, she would have a difficult choice between running and hiding or grabbing the nearest weapon to kill them all. But she wasn’t free.  She was tied to a makeshift bed on the upper floor of the Aquarium of the Pacific. Zombies surrounded the building. Sadistic outlaws ruled within it and they planned to kill her and the other unlucky survivors. Her position was hopeless, but it didn’t stop her from twisting her wrist back and forth, ignoring the pain, in a desperate bid at freedom.

*****

The Surf Nazis were getting ready to leave the aquarium. All of their food, ammo, and drugs were packed. Scag came down from the roof, passing the girl tied to his bed without notice, and told everyone that it had started to rain. They would wait another hour for it to build up and have some affect. Then they would put their plans into action.  

Scag picked up the public address microphone from the information desk in the lobby and said, “Okay everybody. Listen up! This is what you’ve all been waiting for. It’s starting to rain out there. We’ll all be leaving soon and I want to apologize for any mistreatment you think you suffered from me or my friends. You won’t have to worry about any of that anymore and I hope you can forgive and forget any grudges. I just need everyone to get your stuff together and meet up in the main lobby. We’ll form groups and discuss our plan to reach the bridge. We won’t be able leave through the front doors because of all the zombies gathered there, but I want everyone up by the doors to attract them until it’s time for us to go out the back. Just do as you’re told and everything will be fine. You have my word on it.”

Scag did his best to make his smirk look like a smile as he ushered the other survivors into the lobby. They gave him furtive, fearful, yet hopeful glances. It stoked his ego to have such power and control over others. “Go on in,” he intoned to the crowd. “Try to attract as many zombies to the windows as you can. Don’t worry. They can’t break that glass. If they could, we’d already be like them. We just need to draw them all over to this side of the building before we run out the back door.” It even sounded like a good plan to Scag, although it was total bullshit, as far as the people he was talking to were concerned. Now he knew how Hitler’s Nazis must have felt as they sent all those Jews into the
showers
that were really gas chambers. The thought gave Scag an erection, which in turn reminded him of the little piece of ass waiting for him upstairs.

“Hey, Butch!” Scag called out. “Take over here for a few minutes. I forgot something upstairs.” He hoped that the gleam in his eye and the bulge in his pants didn’t give away his motives as he left the lobby. He was looking forward to his last encounter with little Nicky. He might even be gentle with her at first, since he would have to kill her when he was done.

His anticipation turned to anger when he got upstairs and saw the empty bed. She was gone. Either she had freed herself from the ropes and electrical cords, or someone had snuck in and taken her. A trail of little bloody footprints led out the other door, but they faded the further he followed them. She was loose in the building and he didn’t have much time left to search for her. “Damn it!” he yelled. “Get your skinny ass back here, you little bitch!” He ran down the halls in a haphazard search, failing to notice a small smear of blood on the handle of the door to the women’s restroom.

Chapter 5

To: Sovereign Spirit

Anyone out there? I am trapped in a house I was showing on Knox Cove Dr. in McKinleyville, CA. After noticing people getting attacked I secured the house and am hiding in the attic. I just stocked up the fridge for showings so I have water and food for a bit. I also filled up the tub and all other containers with water.
The back of the house is clear and after reading how the zombies are afraid of water I know why. There is a small strait outside the back patio between a stream and the ocean but I have no boat. If they break in I have an emergency pack set up and will go there. If anyone can get to me please help. Laptop battery is running low so I will check each evening. Please can someone help me???!!!!! ---- Wanda

It was raining by the time the FBI helicopter made the short flight to GNN. Ralph Corrigan instructed the pilot to circle the building before landing. He looked down at the streets intently. Due to frequent flights of the news helicopter, the GNN building had become a magnet for the undead. For the last two weeks it had attracted a growing horde of zombies that surrounded it. That mob of thousands had been thinned earlier in the day when the FBI convoy led many of them away to the freeway, but a large number had remained, filling the streets around the building.

It had become normal to see the undead swarm in the street. Now, however, Ralph watched as the zombies went into frenzied flight. It was like pouring water onto a colony of ants. The rain sent them into panicked motion. Ralph watched as most of them vanished from the streets. He saw many rushing into underground parking garage entrances. Others fought for shelter under storefront canopies, marquees, and recessed entries. Even the sound and sight of the circling helicopter didn’t distract them. They seemed totally focused on escaping the water falling from the sky.

“Thank God,” Corrigan said over the intercom. “It’s working. Take us down.” Turning to the two armed HRT agents, he continued, “Find Fox Rusher. Tell him the evacuation plans are working, but the commodore has been bitten. Then make sure he understands that he can’t report the commodore’s condition until after the rescue operation is completed. Your job is to enforce a news blackout. Make sure Mr. Rusher knows that you will use force to stop him and arrest him, or shoot him, if he fails to follow those instructions.” 

“Yes, sir,” one of the agents replied. “We know what to do.”  

*****

Carl stared intently out the open door of the helicopter as Mick flew back up the Harbor Freeway. The rain was picking up, a constant patter against the windshield, and Carl was anxious to see the reaction of the zombies below. There didn’t seem to be as many on the streets now and those that were out in the rain were behaving erratically. Some of the zombies were running in circles, others flopped on the ground. Carl saw one crawling under an abandoned truck and made a mental note to warn everyone about the possibility of zombies hiding under vehicles. He also spotted groups of zombies gathering below overpasses on the freeway, as expected.

“It looks like you were right, Carl,” said Mick. “They’re clearing off the streets, seeking shelter from the rain. Hell, they aren’t even turning to reach towards the helicopter the way they usually do.”

“I think you’re right,” Carl agreed. “This plan just might work.”  His confidence grew as they approached the bus depot. A convoy from the city was approaching from the north and Carl had expected it to be followed by a horde of the undead, but it wasn’t. “Mick, can you fly a bit further? I want to see what happened to the mob that should be tailing that convoy.”