The Week of the Dead (19 page)

“How do you know all of this?” Josh asked.

“My grandfather was a POW in World War II,” she said as she looked at him.

There was a new sound in the air. It was faint at first, but it arose slowly in the cool night air. Jenna opened her eyes and sat up and looked in the direction of downtown Memphis. The noise started out with a booming vocal. The louder vocal was met with mix-matched responses. “What the hell is that?” Someone off in the distance was heard. The noise got louder. “Look!” the stranger said pointing at the direction of the lift and Riverside. There was a single individual standing on top of a vehicle staring at the creatures below. It made the noise that filled the air. With every deep breath, the noise repeated. It sounded like a battle cry.

Ethan got up and ran to the military tent. When he got there, General Bartlett, Richard, and the rest of the military had stopped to witness what was happening. “I need some guns!” Ethan said.

“No way, son. This is still a military situation.”

“Well it’s about to be a really fucked-up situation unless you arm every man, woman, and child in this camp!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Oh no? Have you ever seen anything do that before? Do you know what these motherfuckers are? Because I sure don’t, and I’m assuming this is an ‘Alpha’ and it’s gathering the other motherfuckers to do something bad.”

“You can’t possibly be serious.”

“Sir, I’m asking politely. Give me some weapons. And I will take them out from here, and I’ll give you your guns back.”

“Let’s see what they can do.”

“I don’t believe this!”

“Calm down, they haven’t made it across the channel yet.”

“Have you seen them stand up and make noise in a controlled manner before?”

“No, we’re still learning about them.”

“Defensive measures?” Richard asked.

“A squad of soldiers doing patrols, C4 on the lift, and handheld weapons.” The creatures began to sing in unison. The lead creature on the vehicle jumped down and began to rattle the chain-link fence. The others joined in.

More creatures were coming from every direction. Some were seen falling out of skyscrapers. “They are trying to break in, General!”

“They are still human!” General Bartlett shouted with a finger shoved in Ethan’s face.

“No they aren’t, and you damn well know it!” Ethan wasn’t scared of the bald man in camouflage. The chain link began to break off the support poles.

“What do you expect me to do? Give weapons to these fucking hillbillies? We need soldiers!”

“The Second Amendment states ‘A militia may be needed in the security of a free state.’ Now, c’mon man. We may not be soldiers, but we’re southerners. Fighting is in our blood. The south shall rise again and all that shit! You need us. We need our guns. If nothing happens, so be it, but you only have a handful of troops…” Bartlett released his grip on Ethan’s collar.

“Most of these people have never seen a gun,” Bartlett said.

“Well, there’s a first for everything, man. Now, unlock the gun cage. You can stay here and do whatever it is you people are doing.”

“What are you going to do?”

Ethan turned to face the general again. “I’m going to kill these motherfuckers.”

“Reynolds, give him what he needs.” Ethan nodded his head to the general and made eye contact with Reynolds. “I need everything you got.”

Inbound

Chapter 44

Tuesday 2230 CST

Fort Knox

P
hil had awoken with Paul leaning against him. They were inside the museum part of Fort Knox. The thick walls limited the noise coming from outside. He looked around and found Mia resting against the wall and Harrison standing up and stretching. “Can’t stay still too long. My joints start to ache.” Harrison said as quietly as possible.

“What time is it?” Phil asked.

“Almost 10:30 p.m.” The men stopped talking to listen to combat boots coming down the tile hall. They both looked to see men in flight suits and helmets running down the hall to the makeshift airfield. “Something is happening.” After the pilots had left, the room was filled with white lights and a thunderous noise of rotary blades.

Honor

Chapter 45

Wednesday 0045

Memphis

B
artlett spoke on the radio. “What’s your name, kid?” Bartlett spoke to Ethan. “My name? Ethan Simmons, sir.”

“Come back to the tent for a moment.” Ethan slung his rifle over his shoulder. He walked into the tent to find General Bartlett and Jenna standing there waiting on him. Without saying a word, General Bartlett pressed the button on his microphone. “Let it be known. Ethan Simmons is hereby named ‘Commander of the Southern Militia.’ He is in charge of this defense. The helicopters are on the way for a full evacuation. He will give you further orders.” Bartlett put the microphone down.

“You can’t be serious, sir,”Ethan said.

“Oh, I am. I’m giving authorization to you.”

“Why me?” Ethan asked.

“Well, son, you’re either really brave or really fucking stupid. You are a natural leader. Your companions look to you. You’ve got the balls to carry a loaded weapon into a military installation. You’re obviously smart since you knew my name before I met you,” Bartlett said.

“I eavesdropped that one.”

“Like I said, crazy or stupid. This takes a lot of weight off me too.”

“You’re just pushing the responsibility on me, aren’t you?” Ethan’s face went slump.

“That is correct. I have to save the rest of the world, remember?” The general pinned a ribbon on Ethan’s shirt. “Protect these people. That is your duty now.” The general saluted Ethan, who returned the gesture as best as he could. “We’ll work on the saluting,” the general said as he let out a smile.

Jenna took Ethan’s hand and led him out of the tent. “Congratulations,” she said as she looked up at him.

“This isn’t how I expected it to turn out,” he said. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees and began to hyperventilate. “Holy shit, holy shit,” he kept repeating as his breathing increased. Jenna placed a hand on his back, trying not to touch his sore shoulder.

“You’re going to do fine. You got us this far.”

He stood up, closed his eyes, and stood listening. The sound of the new world filled his ears. “OK…OK…I’m OK. We’re OK. We’re going to get through this,” he said. “I’m the man. I’m the man,” he kept repeating.

Reynolds, Josh, and a handful of others began gathering supplies. Ethan stood at a table with crudely drawn figures of their location and was pointing out things to a group of soldiers. “We need to get all the kids and old people toward the back. Hopefully the helicopters will be back to get us the hell out of here. I want barriers build against the east wall facing the city. Ethan looked up to the creatures who were still trying to break down the fences on Riverside. “Pop another flare!” he said to a man with a nautical flare gun. “They are drawn to the flare. Hopefully that can buy us some time. More of the Alphas are showing up. Jenna, I want you to get the others and help pack. Will you help the nurse pack her stuff? We need to get everyone out of here. We’re getting out of here.” He kissed her before she jogged toward the medical tent.

“How do you think, man?” Josh asked. Ethan looked around at the human faces. Most were busy building barriers and checking out their weapons.

Reynolds appeared next to Ethan. “How did you know how to do this?”

Ethan turned his face. “The Alamo and videogames,” he said with a serious face.

“You’ve got to be shitting me!” Reynolds responded.

“Nope, a bunch of dudes in a fort, surrounded by a bunch of other dudes who want to kill them and take their stuff, same concept.”

“Didn’t everyone die in the Alamo?”

“Yeah, but they didn’t have automatic rifles,” Ethan responded with a smile.

“Video games?” Reynolds asked over the microphone.

“They improved my aim,” Ethan said as he racked his weapon.

“Ethan!” Josh said excitingly. Ethan walked over to Josh standing with Ashley and Jenna. “We want a picture.” Ethan looked down to see Parker’s cell phone in Josh’s hand.

“Serious or goofy?”

“Both!” Jenna said with flair. They posed for the serious one first. Ethan and Josh both held their guns while the girls smiled. “Next.” Ashley jumped in Josh’s arms while Ethan and Jenna faced forward. Ashley began counting down from three. When she said “one,” Ethan turned his face and kissed Jenna on the cheek causing her face to light up even more. They stopped and embraced each other. They were both afraid. Ethan was afraid he was going to fail. Jenna was afraid of being alone.

Josh brought out a cigarette and lit it up. “Fucking right, man,” he said as he took a puff.

“Let’s survive for another day.” Ethan took a draw and handed it back to Josh. He ran and stood on top of a table. “Hand me that bullhorn.” He clicked the bullhorn on and pressed the button on his radio so everyone could hear him. “Ladies and Gentleman, stop what you’re doing, and listen. My name is Ethan. I have been sworn in as your commander. I know you don’t know me. I don’t even know me, but what I do know…is there are evil things coming to get us. I don’t know what they are. The thing I know is that they can be killed. This is a ‘kill or be killed’ situation, people. I know this isn’t how any of you thought it was going to turn out. I know I didn’t. There are a lot of things I don’t know. But I do know this. We will survive the night! We will still be standing when the smoke clears! We will not give up! The monsters are coming out of the darkness! Do we let the darkness take us? Do we? Call them what you will! They are demons! They are not your friends and family! They are not us! We will put away our trivial differences. This is not about color of skin, religion, or nationality. This is about staying alive! This is about the survival of the species! Now, those of you who have taken up arms, I thank you. I want one military per a handful of us good ole boys ‘n’ girls. Those of you who don’t want to fight, I want you packing up all the supplies. If we get overrun, we will regroup on the barge to the west. If we move the barge, you will swim or die trying. Do not let these things get close to you. Aim for their heads, and I will see you tomorrow! Stay safe, and keep an eye on each other!” he said as he jumped off the table to a loud applause. He picked out a familiar face in the group. The dentist was armed with an assault rifle. Ethan met eyes with him and nodded.

The Attack

Chapter 46

Wednesday 0100 CST

Memphis

T
he creatures on the other side of the channel began to chant wildly. The Alpha began pointing and moaning toward the direction of the island. The smaller ones had almost pulled the chainlink fence down. “Aim for the head!” Ethan shouted over his radio. Ethan looked at Josh. “Ready to kick some ass?”

“I gotta pee,” Josh said.

“Better now than never.” He clicked over the radio. “Reynolds, do you still have the clacker for the C-4?”

“Confirmed.”

He heard over the radio. “Wait until I give the command. Where are you stationed?”

“Amphitheater box.”

“Rifle?”

“Loaded and ready.”

“Reynolds, if shit hits the fan, I want you back on the boat.”

“No doubt. The general is awaiting the helicopters. Let’s kick some fucking ass,” Reynolds responded.

Ethan took a deep breath. He listened to the moans, groans, and primitive vocals coming from the other side of the channel. “Anybody have a head count?” he said over the radio.

“You don’t want to know,” a voice clicked over.

“Lie to me,” Ethan said.

“One hundred. More or less?”

“Which is it?” Ethan asked.

“More. A lot more.”

“Great,” Ethan said sarcastically. “Range?”

“Fifty meters!” the voice called out.

“Feet. I need feet! I’m not up to date on my metric system.”

“One hundred sixty-five.”

“Aim for the big ones. They seem to be controlling the smaller ones,” a voice called out. The chain-link fence fell with a metal clanking.

“Fence one is down,” a military tone said. The Alpha creatures roared with excitement. The lead creature, which stood a foot taller than the rest, pointed at the human garrison and roared its battle cry. The creatures tried to move in uniform as they walked to the shoreline. “They’re going under water! Open fire!” Ethan shouted as he stood up and began firing wildly into the crowd. Some of the creatures had fallen when the initial shots rang out. The lead creature took rounds to the chest and roared. He pointed to the lift track. Three of the other behemoth Alphas leaped on to the lift track and began monkey crawling across the beam making it whine under their weight. “Reynolds, attention!” Ethan shouted into the radio.

“Yeah!” he said in between firing his sniper rifle.

“The lift!”

Reynolds shifted his rifle to scope the Alpha creatures running across the beam with agility. “No damage,” Reynolds said after he released gunfire.

“Blow it!” Ethan shouted. Reynolds emptied his magazine. “Blow it! Now!” Ethan commanded.

“Wait for it!” Reynolds said over the microphone. Ethan continued to fire wildly with his rifle. He finished his magazine. As he reached into his tactical vest to retrieve a new one, his earpiece made a crackling sound followed by Reynolds’ voice. “Take cover!”

Ethan and the first barrier of humans were blown back as the C-4 was ignited on the sky lift. The first explosion removed the horizontal beams from their vertical supports. The second explosion broke the beam in half as the first of the Alpha moved directly over the threshold of the explosive. The Alphas’ body parts were flung across the modern battlefield.

“Keep firing!” Ethan commanded as he attempted to get back up. “Shoot! Kill!” he said as he grabbed his rifle and began walking forward. He slammed a new magazine into his rifle and racked the action. He placed the rifle against his shoulder. He took a knee, switched his rifle to semiautomatic, and fired at the first face that appeared in his sights. The rifle bucked against his aching shoulder. It didn’t faze him. He had a job to do. He had a mission to complete.

“Waterfront!” someone called out. Five soldiers lay against the ground to avoid being shot by their companions.