Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 2): Siren Songs (30 page)

Still no sign of Mr. Lee.

As he resumed his position next to Drew on the
steps, Drew gave him a chuck on the shoulder. “Nice work, man.
That was some fast thinking!”

“Thanks.” It was all he could muster
amidst the rising and falling adrenaline bursts.

More zombies were coming into view. Several were
indeed coming up from the open valley below them, but more were
coming along the ridgeline.

“It's like they've been waiting out here for
something to do.”

Liam couldn't disagree. Could they have all been
alerted by the sounds they'd made earlier on the tower? Did they all
get lost in the woods, only to awaken at the sounds of the small
battle? None of it made any sense.

As the forest continued to spit out the dead, Liam
took stock of their situation. The six of them could easily run down
the mountain and be safe within a few minutes. But Grandma was on the
second floor. He wasn't going to leave her. “Guys, things don't
look too good here. If any of you want to escape down the hill I
wouldn't blame you. This may be your last chance.”

The two kids working on spears never looked up.
They reaffirmed they were staying. Liam wondered if they just wanted
to try out their new weapons.

Kids!

The young boy who was pulled over the railing
looked much more hesitant, but he also said he'd stay and fight with
everyone else. The last boy, still with his spear in hand, said he
would fight until the zombies got him.

He decided to give the frightened boy something to
do. “You—what's your name?”

“Bobby.”

“OK Bobby, I want you to sneak up to the
third level and tell me what you see. Look down into the valley on
this side. Also, if you see Mr. Lee, yell like your life depends on
it. Sound like a plan?”

He nodded and started up the steps.

Preston was the other boy with a small spear. Liam
told him he was responsible for the three other sides while he and
Drew took care of the side with the steps. He also advised him to
allow the zombies to come up to the railing and stand there, rather
than kill them. When the boys were done with the long spears, they
could use those to dispatch any that remained.

He didn't want to risk another boy getting pulled
over the sides.

The first of the second wave of zombies was now up
to the steps. The time for running had passed.

Drew and Liam became adept at slaying the zombies
at the stairway. Since they had to crawl over their predecessors, the
zombies became easy prey to pounce on with the little spears. They
realized they didn't have to sink the weapons very far into the
zombie heads, making it easier to pull them back out. They were able
to dispatch another four or five in a row before things started to
get serious again.

The recommendation to allow the zombies to park
themselves outside the railing seemed like a good one, but the
agitation of being so close to their prey drove the zombies mad with
rage. Four of them began thrashing themselves against the railing. A
slat broke inward, making a sound that caused all the boys to look
where it came from.

“Uh oh!”

To Drew he said, “One of us is going to have
to go push those zombies off the railing.”

“I'm on it.” Drew left the steps,
leaving Liam alone in the breach.

“Spear ready!”

One of the kids with the pole from the stretcher
was ready with his crude weapon. He stood up with it and realized how
unwieldy an eight foot spear could be. Instead of heroic slaying, he
was more likely to knock down one of the other boys.

“Two boys to each big spear! Little guy in
back to hold it, bigger guy in front to guide it and lunge it in.
Go!”

He thought about taking the big spear for himself,
but he was finally getting adept at using the smaller spear. No sense
messing with a good thing.

Soon the second big spear was done, Bobby came
back down, and the four younger boys were learning on the job how to
properly execute an attack with the crude weapons.

The stronger kid in the front would call out what
zombie he was aiming for, and then the pair would run a few paces
while the spear was guided home by the person in front. Because the
spears were large and smooth, they seemed to go in and come out with
relative ease. It was also more forgiving on where it impacted, as it
would severely damage the zombie's head wherever it hit.

Back. Forth. Zombie skewered.

Back. Forth. Zombie mushed.

Some cheers.

Back. Forth. Zombie drilled.

Hooting and hollering.

Back. Forth. Zombie hollowed out.

Trash-talking and high-fiving.

The kids were starting to enjoy the task. This did
not make Liam feel good. In all his reading he couldn't remember too
many instances of bloodlust in young kids, but he had to believe it
was better to be overzealous in battle than crying in the corner.
Right?

He wondered if anything was going to be “normal”
again in these turbulent times? Certainly growing up wasn't going to
be the same anymore. Victoria had wondered if killing was going to be
a requirement in the new era of zombies. Before she herself was
killed...

That's irony right there.

He looked around and was pleased to see they'd
done away with all the zombies trying to attack them over the past
ten or fifteen minutes. Most lay dead or incapacitated in the close
semi-circle around the tower. Some had stumbled off to expire deeper
in the woods.

They were taking it all in, celebrating amongst
themselves, when Mr. Lee coughed from a little ways down the hill
behind them. He was trying to get their attention without scaring
them, or getting shot.

He was with six older Boy Scouts and two adult
men, all carrying rifles.

More irony. The battle had just ended.

After arriving at the watch tower, Mr. Lee and his
team set up a perimeter to wait for more zombies. There were still
many lurkers in the next valley, but none were on their way up. For
now, the group had some time to think.

“I'm sorry it took us so long to get up
here. Your friend Hayes caught me while I was in the administration
building getting a couple of extra guns. He wanted to talk to the
whole committee, and since I was in the building...”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“So, this is what I know. Obviously, it was
the guy you thought it was. By coming up the road he showed us he has
the MRAP and at least two Humvees under his command. And that MRAP
has that sophisticated Gatling gun up top. Wow. He seemed positive
you were in the camp, Liam. He didn't come out and say it, but he
might as well. For instance he knew the approximate time you arrived.
He said you were a Boy Scout. He knew, or at least assumed, you'd
find friends here. I think he suspects someone was hiding you, but he
never accused us directly.”

Lee sat down on a step to the second level so
Grandma could hear.

“The odd thing is he said he didn't have
enough manpower to sweep the camp, but he would be back tomorrow with
the force he needed. He was very friendly about it, but there was a
threat there too. The rest of the committee was thankfully
tight-lipped, but I'm not sure how long they'll mind their tongues if
a serious military force arrives and starts ripping up tents looking
for you. He didn't stay long, and he seemed unnaturally happy. He
bade his farewell for the day, and then got back in his Humvee and
took off. Once he left I was able to collect my guns, grab a few
boys, and head into the woods.”

Liam knew Hayes had a plan. Could he know for sure
they were in the camp? Was he using a drone? A tracking device of
some sort? He had visions of tiny homing beacons being placed on
their clothing, or in a pocket, but when could they have done it? It
seemed very unlikely. Unless...

Liam ran upstairs to find Grandma lying prone on
the hard wooden planks, in tears.

“Grandma, what happened, are you OK?”

He had to be quiet as he didn't want to alert the
zombies.

“I'm fine, Liam. My back was in such pain
while I was sitting. I just had to roll over and take the weight off.
I didn't want to call down for fear of bringing more of those things
here. I could hear what you did down there though. Good work getting
your friends through the worst of it. I'm very proud of you.”

Here she was lying in pain, and she was thinking
of him. He was humbled by her perseverance. He helped her sit up
again while he continued. “Thanks, Grandma. I have to ask you a
question. Back at the camp when they took your blood. Did they give
you anything? Something to hold maybe. Or put in your pocket?”

Liam saw it. How did he miss it before? A thin
clear elastic band was around her ankle, and on that band was
something that appeared as a flattish-round metallic object. About
the size of a dime, but a little thicker.

The oldest trick in the book. The Trojan Horse.

“I don't remember them giving me anything,
Liam. I was already lying down and they drew my blood right there on
the spot.”

Liam got out his pocket knife, quickly cut the
band and pocketed the beacon. She didn't seem to notice. “Will
you be OK for a couple minutes? We're going to leave soon. I'm going
to get you somewhere more comfortable.”

“I'll survive.”

Liam ran downstairs and showed the tiny object to
Mr. Lee. “We have to get rid of this thing, but where do we put
it? They could be using this right now to surround us.”

How long had it been since Hayes left the camp?
Half an hour? Plenty of time to get men up on this hill.

“We could do like the cartoons and put the
homing device on a rabbit or something.”

“Or on a zombie.”

“We could put it on a snake so he'll take it
underground.”

“What about a bird?”

All the kids seemed to want to offer better and
better suggestions.

Mr. Lee considered, and came up with the only
rock-solid course of action.

“We'll break into two groups. Liam, you and
Drew and your brave team can take Grandma back down the hill to your
campsite. It's getting late in the day and you two need to get some
rest. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to bring some hard
challenges for us all.

“As for the second group, I'll carry this
thing with my team to a point bordering our forest and try to put it
on a zombie or something so it continues to move. That will keep
Hayes busy tonight.”

“Tomorrow we have to get you two out of this
area—at least for a while—so Hayes no longer can claim
this camp is harboring a fugitive. Even if he tears the place up
looking for you we'll be safe. If the committee spills the beans they
won't be able to give you away, either.”

Liam looked around at Mr. Lee and the dozen or so
boys trying to help him. He was suddenly caught up in an emotional
moment. He had to look down when he said it. “Why are you guys
helping us like this? We're just a couple of nobodies passing through
your turf.”

Mr. Lee didn't miss a beat, “Everybody is
somebody when the big D—Death—is chomping at all our
heels. I'd help anyone who stumbled out of this forest like you did,
although it helps that you're a Scout yourself and that your
grandmother is such a sweet lady.”

The other boys piled on, explaining in a dozen
different ways why they found helping people to be its own reward.
But one of the new, older, boys had a response which stuck with Liam
for a long time.

“Because doing good things for living people
beats killing the dead again and again.”

Liam was overcome. He refused to tear up, but he
nearly drew his own blood biting his tongue to keep from doing so.
After accepting he and Grandma had to leave, he knew this was exactly
the type of place he wanted to end up.

If anything good and decent could survive the new
type of world skulking around its borders.

That was very much up in the air.

2

Grandma perked up after was off the floor and they
started back down the hill.

Two boys led the procession, toting their little
spears. Liam was carrying Grandma with Drew; He was on the high side,
closest to her head. Two more boys were behind him, protecting the
back.

“Liam, you can leave me here with these good
people and you can go back home to find your mom and dad. I hate
slowing you down so much. Promise me you'll think about it.”

“I told you, it's you and me the whole way.”
As it came out of his mouth he knew the time was coming when that
couldn't hold true. He couldn't take her everywhere with him.
Eventually she'd need a home. A place where she could be comfortable.
Reasonably safe.

“Now Liam, you know Hayes is going to find
us. There are fewer people and more zombies every day. It won't take
him long since we can't get very far on foot.”

She was right. But he wasn't ready to leave her.
If Hayes did come back she'd be a sitting duck. No, he needed a way
to get her home where Mom and Dad could help him make the right
decisions for her. His mind was searching for the elusive the
solution as they descended the hill.

As they rounded a corner of the trail the two boys
in the lead practically skidded to a halt. One of them had enough
time to raise his spear, but the other did not. That boy was knocked
over by a zombie who had been standing in a particularly dense
section of trees. Two more zombies poured out after their leader.

Fight or flight? His Biology teacher would be
proud he remembered that.

“Grandma, Drew and I are going to set you
down here on the path. We need the poles again to use as spears.”

They didn't wait for an answer. Grandma was on the
ground and they were sliding out the poles.

Their task completed, they looked ahead again.
Both boys were dead. Just like that.