Read OUTNUMBERED volume 4: A Zombie Apocalypse Series Online
Authors: Robert Schobernd
OUTNUMBERED volume 4: A Zombie Apocalypse Series (7 page)
Ridder seated both hostages on a bench seat facing us. The blonde stood behind Paige; the pistol was still pressed against her neck. Ridder left the boat and hurried to cast of the bow and stern lines. He jumped aboard and sauntered to the cockpit as the boat drifted free and nudged against the pier.
One outboard engine cranked, sputtered and died. The starter ground several seconds before it started and sputtered as it struggled to come up to speed. The second engine came to life, roared, then settled into a steady hum. I watched Ridder through the scope wanting to pull the trigger. The first outboard ran a little smoother. The blonde had both of my women seated and stood smugly behind them. One hand was twisted in Paige's hair and the pistol still pressed against Paige's neck. The boat would pull away any second.
I gasped as a figure flashed upward on the other side of the slim boat! The blonde behind Paige turned her gun toward the shiny aberration. A wet, black clad, figure rose above the fiberglass. Its gun spat three times. Pellets of shiny water flew through the air then fell downward as the figure reached the peak of its ascent. The blonde pulled the trigger as she fell to the deck dying or dead. By then I knew I was watching Ed at work. His gun swung to the cockpit and shot multiple times as Ridder heard the commotion and turned with a gun in his hand.
The black clad figure disappeared back below the boat into the water as Ridder sank to his knees. His gun swung toward our women. As I pulled the trigger the second time there was movement to the left of my scope. I heard more gunshots in the distance.
My scope lowered and I saw Paige. She was on both knees with her arms outstretched toward Mark Ridder. She had a pistol in her hands and continued firing until Ridder fell forward onto his face. Ed rose again above the side of the boat, paused to see all was okay and disappeared once more.
I yelled, "Take over," to Shane and ran to the pier. Steady gunfire was still rampant behind me as the battle continued.
At the boat I leapt onto the deck and grabbed Paige in a bear hug and squeezed her tightly and held her for several seconds. She held me close and sobbed several times. I focused on Carmen; she looked relieved and smiled.
"Paige," I finally said, "are you okay?"
She looked up at me soberly, "I'm fine Dad. But I was scared. He was so mad he was crazy. He would have killed both of us."
I let Paige go and escorted both of them back to near the cabin where they'd been captured. Their weapons still lay on the ground where they'd been dropped when Ridder's thugs captured them.
Ira answered my call and told Carmen where to meet him. Sadness flowed through the transmission, "James Butler died of his wounds. He was hit too many times in the critical areas of his chest and neck; he lost too much blood and suffered severe shock. Marcie was hit in the left arm below the shoulder, but she's doing well considering I'm not a surgeon."
"Hang in there Ira," I told him. "Carmen will be there in a minute to assist you."
I left Paige with Martin Radcliff and told her to keep her head down. From twenty feet away I saw her crawl around the rock I'd left her behind. She sighted on a target and fired three shots. She was definitely her mother's daughter.
Gunshots had diminished to sporadic blast by the time I crept back to my group of people. I approached Morgan Halcom as three people stood up from behind a ruined fortification with their hands above their heads. One of them had a piece of white cloth tied to the end of a rifle barrel. Morgan and Barlow Jones took aim and dropped all three. We had agreed no quarter would be given. I tried to swallow the big lump lingering in my throat but it didn't go down. It was hard to overcome old teachings and ethics that had stood for a way of life. But those were remnants of a past life that was destroyed and gone forever. We're forced to deal with problems ourselves because there is no higher authority to depend on. Morgan motioned me over. "While you were gone, Tony Osmond was hit in the side. The bullet went through clean above his hip and below his ribs. Doc say's he'll be okay." I nodded, glad Tony's injury wasn't more serious.
Slowly, all gunfire dwindled away as the morning sun cast rays on the destruction we'd wrought. I led the way on clearing out the remaining enemies. Those found wounded and still alive were given a coup de grâce. No one laughed or joked during the commission of the ruthless acts. Rather, we all accepted the harsh measures as necessary for the future safety of peaceful people. Several of us spun about as a weak voice called out. "Dad, this is Richard. Tell them not to shoot me. I'm behind a short landscape wall below the building that burned. I'm raising my gun so you can see where I'm at. I'm wounded." Richard still had the wet suit on. He'd been shot in the right thigh. To stanch the flow of blood, he'd cut a piece of shirt off a dead woman to hold against both sides of his leg where a bullet had gone in and out. I called the injury into Ira, and in less than a minute Carmen ran past me to reach her husband. Several people had gone to Richard and helped carry him back to Ira's position.
The fires at the charred remains of the training center had burned down except for a couple that still smoldered and flamed from time to time. The smell of cooked meat was strong, and several charred bodies were visible in the blackened debris.
Our next task was clearing the cabins. Before starting, we devised a plan. We split into groups of five and then headed for the lake. At each cabin, two people stayed behind the cover of the outer log walls. They jammed their rifles through windows and fired into the rooms as the front door was breached, and the cabin was entered. The fifth person covered the back entrance of those units having a back door. After we'd cleared the twelfth cabin, a total of four more enemies had been terminated. Two had attempted to surrender. The lump in my throat refused to go away. I'm sure others felt the same way.
We scoured the cabins and two sheds behind the training building. To the victors go the spoils personified our attitude as we scrounged for anything of value to us as a group. As far as I knew, no one took personal items like jewelry or keepsakes. We took what could help our group survive in the future. As anticipated, there was an adequate supply of food stuffs, a large amount of ammunition and some fuel we could use. We'd picked up firearms where dead enemies were found and kept the ones we wanted. The others were tossed in the lake to keep other scoundrels from using them.
We loaded the pickup's beds with all they would hold and used two of Ridder's trailers to carry the rest.
Near dark that evening, we pulled up the drive to Willie's place. The first question Mable asked was, "Did anyone get hurt." She and Barlow's wife, Shandrea cried upon hearing we'd lost two people, and three had been wounded. They both gasped and ran to Richard as he slid from a truck with a bandage on his leg. He smiled like the conquering hero at their attention.
Before supper, I took time to wash up and change clothes. The smoke and smell of death had permeated my clothing and hair and I wanted to be free of those reminders of our hard won battle.
After supper, we sat around a bonfire and heard details of how the attack had gone from individual points of view. We learned how Paige and Carmen had been captured down near the lake when they got separated from Shane's group.
Ed and Richard received special praise for the heroism they'd shown in attacking a much larger force and creating a turning point in the battle by attacking on a new front.
Finally a group prayer was said for James Butler and Irene Margehio. We all turned in for a fitful night of sleep. Early the next morning, we packed what the Jones family chose to take with them before heading for Deliverance.
~*~*~*~
That night, the temperature was cool, but the air was calm. My family sat outside as the sun hovered slightly above the tree tops giving up its last warmth of the day. We'd talked at length covering details of the battle with Ridder's forces. Dominique was wrapped snuggly and held by Kira while I cradled Tom Jr. We sat on a wood bench and leaned against the metal building that was our communal home. Paige sat on the ground in front of us. Kira smiled proudly when Paige and I recounted the personal conflict Paige had been through. Satisfaction beamed through her expression. She'd been rewarded with a daughter who was already capable of meeting unexpected challenges and would do well for herself.
We were soon joined by Mitch. He sat next to Paige. Much too close to Paige for my liking. Kira nudged my ribs with her elbow and gave me a DON'T SAY IT smirky look.
As the sun sank behind the naked tree limbs, we snuggled closer, and I thanked whatever power had brought these marvelous people into my life.
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THE END
- of vol. 4
I hope you've enjoyed the fourth story in the OUTNUMBERED zombie apocalypse series published at Amazon.com. Two more are planned
To access additional works in the Outnumbered series follow the link to my book page at Amazon.
There, you will also find my other horror stories and crime novels.
Thank you,
Robert Schobernd