Deadrise 2: Deadwar (26 page)

“Did you hear that?” she asked.

“Loud and clear.” Matt said. He went over to the gun rack on the wall and took down his AK-47. He, like most everyone else in the community, already wore a sidearm at his hip.

“What are we going to do?” Susan asked. Matt glanced down at her belly, now swollen with child. His child…

“Let Jenkins handle it. He has contingency plans drawn up for such things.”

“Do you think the mortar fire can reach us?” Susan asked.

“Nothing has hit this side of the lake so far. But that might be deliberate.”

There was an urgent knock on their bedroom door.

“Come in!” Matt called aloud. Captain Jimenez poked his head inside, his expression a mixture of excitement, fear and shame.

“Sorry to bother you. The General wants all Council members down in the conference room.”

“Tell him we’ll be right there.” Matt said. The Captain nodded then disappeared, closing the door behind him.

“Time to put on our game faces.” Susan said. Matt looked at her and she smiled, but it was a forced smile. Matt could see the fear etched into her face…her eyes.

“Can you handle this?” Matt asked. Again he glanced don at her swollen belly.

“I’m ok.” She said, hugging him tight. He hugged her back, silently praying for the safety of his wife and unborn child.

When they entered the conference room they saw that they were the last two Council members to arrive. Doctor Reilly was at the Hospital and Lucas Casey was holed up in his ranch on the south side of the lake.

Now that everyone was assembled Jenkins filled them in on what was happening; the superzombies on the loose around the perimeter, the hellhound in Kittewa.

“We’ve taken some hits, for sure, but it will be over soon. Once Major Farrell locates that mortar position the Tincan can take it out with one shot.”

“What about the runners inside the perimeter?” Patty asked.

“They will be stopped. What I need from the Council is leadership when it’s over. Everybody is going to be freaked out and will need to be calmed down. They are going to turn to the Council for answers and direction. Keep them calm. Assure them everything is going to be ok.”

“Is it?” asked Sheriff Busley skeptically.

“Yes.” Jenkins said, staring hard until the old man turned his gaze away.

“We know you will protect us Jenkins. The whole community has faith in you.” Matt interjected himself before it turned ugly between the two.

“I wasn’t implying otherwise.” The Sheriff stammered.

“Of course you weren’t Sheriff.” Matt said. He turned to Jenkins. “We’ll hold up our end of the bargain Jenkins.” The General nodded, taking Matt at his word that the Council would stand firm behind him. Matt also realized that he had just taken it upon himself to make sure that the Council stood firm. Anxiety tightened his stomach, his chest. He took a deep breath to get it under control. Politics. He fucking hated politics.

Outside, gunfire erupted…

CHAPTER 34

Monday, March 18, 2002

Rainbow Lake, UT

4:47 AM

The first Sentinel emerged from the tree line of the driveway and charged right up the center of the lane towards the Main House. At once several soldiers targeted it and its body riddled with bullets.

Then it exploded.

The superzombie was obliterated, as was the forest in a twenty-foot radius; a pair of unfortunate soldiers nearby were killed as well. The remaining guards taking aim were frozen with shock.

That was when the second Sentinel burst out of the trees at the edge of the front yard. It made it halfway across they yard before the concentrated gunfire from the house brought it down fifty feet from the front steps. Seconds later it also exploded. Nobody was killed in the explosion, but most of the windows in the Main House were shattered by the concussion.

The two remaining Suicide Sentinels converged on the Hospital. They burst from the tree line onto the large circular drive at the same time, fifty feet apart. They were spotted immediately and fired upon. One went down quickly but didn’t explode. The other dodged behind an ambulance and crouched low as it ran. When it emerged from behind the vehicle it was only thirty feet from the front entrance. Two militiamen stood in front of the main entrance, both aiming their weapons at the superzombie. The creature charged them, exchanging gunfire with them as it did. A dozen bullets tore into and through its body armor, blasting its chest apart, but it barely threw the superzombie off balance. However, its gunfire had cut one guard down and sent the other diving for cover. Gunfire from above and behind peppered the superzombie but it paid no heed. It ran the last ten feet to the main entrance and then was through the large double doors.

Just inside another trio of armed guards were awaiting and they unleashed on it everything they had. It was enough to bring the monster to the ground, but not enough to prevent it from detonating its explosive backpack…

The explosion took out the back quarter of the Hospital, blowing out the lower floor and causing the upper floors to collapse inward. Over a dozen were killed. The shockwave rippled through the remainder of the building, shattering every window and knocking every inhabitant off of his or her feet…

CHAPTER 35

Monday, March 18, 2002

Rainbow Lake, UT

4:53 AM

Major Farrell raised his head just enough to see over the fallen log, spotting the two superzombies manning the mortar eighty feet away. They were setup on a small ridge that looked down upon the lake while remaining relatively hidden by the surrounding forest. As he watched, one of them looked down on the lake while the other made adjustments to the mortars aim then grabbed a shell from a nearby bag and dropped in butt first down the tube.

Whuump!

A few seconds later an explosion. Had anybody been killed in that explosion?

Gritting his teeth with anger and hatred for the deadfuck monsters he pulled a HE grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, raised up and threw it in a perfect arc and ducked back down behind the log all in one smooth, fluid motion. The grenade landed right beside the bag of mortar shells and the superzombies barely had time to register its appearance before it exploded. The HE grenade ripped their bodies apart and when the mortar shells went the ensuing fireball incinerated them.

Major Farrell sprang to his feet and ran as fast as he could back the way he had come. He knew that the Tincan was standing by down below, waiting for his signal grenade to zero in on and pound the hillside. He had a twenty-second window to get as far away as possible before they opened up and he meant to use it…

CHAPTER 36

Monday, March 18, 2002

Checkpoint One, Kittewa, UT

4:55 AM

Lt. Stan Larsen pulled the machete from its sheath and squared up with the superzombie approaching him like a torpedo. It had no eyeballs in its dry sockets, but Larsen could feel the monsters
gaze
none-the-less. It bored into him, like a cold, black cloud of fear. But Lt. Larsen had seen far too much in the past hour to fear something so trivial as a lone, unarmed superzombie, and the black cloud dissipated as instantly as it had appeared.

The superzombie dove at him, going for a tackle but Larsen gave a quick sidestep, something he had learned playing football, pivoted as the superzombie shot past and swung the machete down with all the strength his large frame could muster. The blade chopped into the back of the creature’s head, lodging into the skull and driving the creature face first into the ground. It twisted about wildly, pulling the handle from his hands. Larsen staggered back as the superzombie rose to its feet. It reached behind it and grabbed the handle of the machete and wrenched it free from its skull and gave it a test swing before advancing towards him.

Well, this is it!
He knew he would be implanted with a slug and turned into a superzombie. They said when someone was about to die, their life flashed before their eyes, but for Lt. Stan Larsen, it was only the past half-hour, since he had fled checkpoint one…

He and Pvt. Maier as well as Pvt.’s Callahan and Sanchez in a separate Hummer had barely made it out of the overrun Checkpoint Two and sped as fast as they could up the canyon to Checkpoint One. It was assembled much like Number Two; A wall blocking the highway with a narrow gate at the center, machine gun emplacements on either end of the wall. On the backside would be a command tent/barracks, a supply tent, and Bravo Three, under the command of Sgt. George Henry. The short, stocky man seemed only too happy to relinquish command to Lt. Larsen. Literally physically relieved. The burden had been too much to bear.

Can I bear it? He asked himself. Nine men under his command had died today…horrible deaths. Now he had just taken responsibility for four more, with Maier, Sanchez and Callahan that made it seven. And if they all were to die could his conscience continue to bear the burden?

Can I continue to bear it now?

He deployed the men to their assigned positions, informing them all of what was coming up the canyon. His position was the center of the firing platform that ran along the backside of the wall. Like the other checkpoint, the gate for checkpoint One was a bus, heavily armor plated on the outer side.

“
We must hold the wall! Reinforcements are on the way. Five minutes tops!” He called aloud.

And then the battle began. The attack came from the south side of the highway as the superzombie’s opened fire. Private Evans manned the south machine gun nest. Bullets chewed up the sandbagged emplacement, but remarkably Evans went unscathed. He immediately opened up with the .60 caliber box fed machine gun.

Privates Sanchez and Callahan took aim and fired their rifle mounted M-203 grenade launchers into the forest on the south side. Both were loaded with HE rounds and a fifty-foot in diameter area of the forest was blasted to the ground.

Incoming gunfire ceased.

As the ringing from the gunfire and explosions faded from Larsen’s ears a new sound took its place. Engines. He looked back over the wall and in the glare of the spotlights he saw a pair of bulldozer’s side by side, plows raised straight ahead, coming up the canyon. Behind them he could see at least one more vehicle.

Those wily dead motherfuckers!

Private Evans opened fire again, and Larsen turned to see that the hellhound had pounced from the forest and was charging Evans’ position along the top of the wall. His bullets traced across the creatures chest and the impact sent it tumbling off the wall, into the perimeter. Larsen pointed his rifle at the creature as it climbed to its feet and fired his M-203. His round was also HE and it skipped off the ground two feet in front of the hellhound and exploded. The beast’s body was blown into three pieces, flaming hunks of hybrid flesh that writhed and pulsed at it melted under the flame.

Larsen looked up to Private Evans, who stared back at the flaming remains, eyes full of fear. Bullets riddled the machine gun nest, one catching Evans in the back of the head and blowing his face off in a spray of blood and bone and brains. As Larsen watched the Privates body fall, a trio of superzombies leapt out of the south forest and charged into the perimeter…

I wish I’d saved a bullet for myself.
He thought as his mind returned the present. Larsen wasn’t afraid to die. But he was afraid of becoming one of the walking dead. Not only would he never see Tina and Stan Jr. again, he would most likely assist in killing them.

But it was not meant to be. For even as the superzombie stepped closer, raising the machete to hack him, the deep rumble of a large vehicle approaching filled the air. From up the canyon, one of the
Rhinos
came into view.

The
Rhinos
had once been oversized quarry dump trucks but were now converted into heavily armed war machines. The top of the bed had been covered over and the inside turned into seating and storage for up to a dozen armed soldiers. The windows had been covered with armor plating with viewports and firing slits had been cut into them while armor plating and heavy chain mesh protected the ten-foot tall tires. The front end of the
Rhinos
had been fitted with a giant wedge, similar to a cow-plow on the front of a train, only three times as large. Gunners aboard the
Rhino
opened fire with heavy machine guns, and the superzombie approaching Larsen was cut to pieces.

Filled with renewed vigor, Lt. Larsen let loose a whooping battle cry as the reinforcements saved the day…

CHAPTER 37

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Rainbow Lake, UT

7:47 PM

It had been thirty-six hours since Matt had last slept and his mind was still reeling from the attack. How had they been caught so unaware? So unprepared? The attack had shattered the sense of safety and security that the citizens of Rainbow Lake had foolishly come to feel the past year. Up until the attack yesterday Jenkins had done a superb job of protecting the community; so superb that it had induced that false sense of security. After he’d proven himself time and again in battle after battle, plunder after plunder that filled the coffers of Rainbow Lake to overflowing, everyone on the Council quit questioning his tactics and motives. But now, in the aftermath of the attack, Matt could see that Jenkins had spread his forces too thin. There had been a couple hundred men in the militia, but they were spread across a border fifty miles long. There were gaps of several miles in between security checkpoints.