The Week of the Dead (20 page)

One kept his rifle trained on the water as the other four rummaged around their packs for something. One retrieved a satchel with a wire sticking out of it. “Satchel!” he shouted as he pulled the cord and threw it in the water. The others began throwing fragmentation grenades into the water. They rose back up and ran back to their garrison. The water vibrated loudly as orange and white exploded out of the water. One by one, the explosions threw water out of its resting place. Nothing came to the surface.

The men switched back to their rifles picking off targets. “Swing right!” Reynolds called out. “They’re coming ashore! The current is taking them right!” The ground forces were concentrated on those they could see. Many were staying behind their garrison and not moving. “Repositioning south side!” Reynolds called out as he jumped out the window and slid down an awning. He carried his rifle. He stopped at the bottom of the amphitheater and began rummaging through Pelican cases. “Bingo,” he said as he unlocked a metal weapon case. He made his way up a ladder to the roof top of another building.

Creatures were beginning to come from behind tents and knocking over obstacles creating a commotion. People were there stacking crates to get them on the helicopters. One of the loaders let out a scream as she saw the creatures from behind the tent. “Everyone out of Romeo tent! Now!” Reynolds took the AT4 rocket launcher from his sling. “Firing on Romeo tent!” he screamed in the microphone.

He opened the launcher and primed it. He flipped up the sight. “God forgive me,” he whispered as he pressed the firing mechanism. The rocket zipped out of the launching tube and left a trail of smoke as it flew into the tent and exploded. Shrapnel rained down as he threw the launcher away and brought his scope to his eye. The explosion caught the attention of Josh and a handful of civilians. “Commander! Flanking right!” He heard as his squad began popping off rounds. “Get to the ship!” he shouted to the loaders who were cowering. Josh took aim with his fully automatic submachine gun and cut two in half right in front of him. He placed two rounds in each of their open mouths. One approached him. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger. The hammer clicked empty. He tried again. Nothing happened.

He slung the weapon around to his back and looked around. He found a metal briefcase and connected it with the chest of the creature. It fell to the ground. He stood over it and began smashing it in the face with the case until it stopped twitching. One of the other humans came up beside him. “You got to reload, son.” It was Richard who kept firing.

“Junior, let’s go!” he said as he and the man with the big hat moved forward. Junior clicked his trigger. He never missed a step. Junior held the rifle from the barrel end. It burned his palms, but he didn’t care. He swung the rifle like a bat and connected it across a creature’s skull.

Ashley, Jenna, and Nurse Amy and the doctor had stacked the materials on the airfield. “Look!” Jenna said. Six beams of light appeared from upriver. “The helicopters are here!” Their cheering was stopped by a creature that tackled the doctor. He tried with all of his might to push the creature off him. His arms were forced to the ground by the creature. He turned his head not to look at the burning red eyes of his attacker. “Help!” he pleaded. The creature sank his teeth into the doctor’s neck before anyone could react. Ashley pulled a handgun from the flat of her back. She pulled it into her eyesight, which was focused on the creature. She fired passionately starting at the creature’s pelvis. With every pull of the trigger, the gun raised until she hit the skull. The creature fell limp on top of the doctor who leaked blood from his wound. The pulsating trickle of blood from his neck had stopped. The women all took a deep breath as their attention turned back to the helicopters. As they waved their arms, the dead creature’s body began to shift. It was rolled over onto its back.

The doctor’s reanimated body began to crawl out from under the dead carcass. It latched on to Amy’s ankle. She fell to the ground with a scream. Before Ashley could raise the pistol again, the doctor’s head caved in, and mud flew up from the other side. Reynolds appeared from behind the scope of his rifle. He pulled out his sidearm and walked slowly firing shots as he casually approached the trio. “Everyone OK?” he asked as he placed his weapon in its holster. He touched the radio attached to his throat. “Hello pilot, hello pilot, this is Base Graceland. Come in,” a voice came over the radio.

“Graceland, this is Valkyrie One. Here to assist.”

“Requesting immediate evacuation for military and civilians. This base is compromised. Requesting fire mission. Danger close. I say again, danger close. Attack the bank across the channel. We’ve attracted unwanted attention.”

“Eagle One, understood. Little Birds, rocket salvo requested on city side of channel. Human casualties zero.”

As this was heard over the radio, two smaller helicopters flew directly over Ethan and the garrisons. They hovered over them. “Arming. Stand clear.” The two smaller helicopters began firing rockets at the creatures amassing on the side of the street facing Mud Island. Carcasses were broken apart by the explosions. Buildings crumbled as the small rockets connected with the concrete and asphalt. “Salvo complete,” the pilot said. The silence was met with a bellow of cheers from the humans on the other side of the channel. “Get to the chopper!” Ethan shouted. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”

The Mall

Chapter 47

Wednesday 0150 CST

Millington

T
he caravan continued down the road. Devin was the last in the caravan while Jamison led in the transport truck. The caravan consisted of fourteen vehicles of all shapes and conditions. Jamison pulled up to a building. The rest of the vehicles followed. Everyone got out of their vehicles as Devin pulled up. “What’s this?” he asked Jamison.

“Looks like base camp for the rest of the night. What do you think? It’s isolated. Could be some supplies inside.”

“How are we getting in?”

“Wait here. Walker, on me.” Walker and Jamison went to the side of the building. “Give me a boost.” Walker cupped his palms together while Jamison stepped up and rode the ladder down.

“Hey, keep your eyes open,” Devin said to the group gathered around the vehicles. Devin snuck around the front of the building to see a store sign. He stopped and pressed himself against the wall. “Shit,” he whispered. “Keep it down,” he told his group of humans who were behind him.

The building they had parked at was the furthest side of a strip mall. Devin had looked at the parking lot with some creatures lurking around. Erica came beside him and handed him a rifle. “What is it?” she whispered.

“There’re a couple of them around the corner.”

Erica motioned Devin aside and pressed her face against the wall. “We should move!” she said excitingly.

“Sure, but there are probably more lurking around. What if one of the big ones is out there? What then?”

“What do you want to do?”

“We’ll stay alert and quiet, and hopefully they won’t notice us.”

Jamison and Walker made it to the roof. They opened the first hatch they could find. Walker smashed the lock with his rifle and pulled it loose. Jamison knelt with his rifle making sure the coast was clear. Walker opened the sky light. When the sky light was lifted off, the alarm sounded. “Oh shit!” Walker said. Meanwhile outside, the humans also heard the alarm. Some praised that the men were inside, except Devin and Erica who watched as the creatures began shuffling toward the audible sound.

“Turn it off, Walker!” Jamison said as he looked over the railing. “We’re attracting them!” Jamison shouldered his M14, but the creatures had corralled under the awning. “No shot! No shot!” Devin heard from below. Devin took a deep breath. He looked at Erica. “Stay here, don’t let them see you.” He walked to the back of the transport truck.

“What are you going to do?” she asked when he came back to the side of the wall.

“Distraction. Jamison!” Devin called out as he ran around the side of the building. He let out a wild yell as he fired a pistol in each hand. “Come, get me, motherfuckers!” Devin jumped on the hood of the car repeatedly trying to get their attention. He raised his right hand and fired with his dominate hand. “Oh shit!” he heard Jamison say from the roof top. “Fuck you, spawn of satan!” Devin said as he fired again with both hands.

He captured their attention as they attempted to grab their next meal, him. Devin began sprinting from car to car. “Follow me! Are you hungry?” he shouted as he tried to keep the distance close. He wanted to keep the attention on him while Walker worked his way inside. “Turn off that goddamn alarm!” Devin shouted at the building. Some of the other humans had already grabbed weapons and began climbing the ladder. A bullet whizzed by Devin as it slammed into a creature’s head close to him. Devin didn’t flinch. He kept his focus on running. He stopped in his pace. He was out of cars to run across. He turned. The mass of creatures were two cars behind him. He reloaded his pistols and jumped to the ground. He waved his arms and shouted at the creatures coming at him. “Come, get me! Fresh meat, motherfuckers!” He looked to the roof and saw Jamison reloading. “Don’t hit me!” he shouted over the moans of the oncoming feeders.

“There’s got to be fifty of them!” Erica said. More were coming out of the darkness. Devin began to walk backward and fire. He fired some rounds from his right hand and then the same number of rounds from his left. He would turn and run and then turn around and fire. It seemed to be working if he could pick his shots, but he was too scared to worry. “I’m out,” Jamison said. A human handed him another rifle. It was a bolt-action hunting rifle. Jamison took aim down the iron sights and continued firing.

Walker had made his way into the store. He held his flashlight in one hand and his pistol in the other. He was looking for the breaker box to turn off the alarm. There were a couple of bodies shuffling around in the aisles, but he didn’t stop to take care of them. The store was dark except his flashlight, and he didn’t want to be in the dark alone.

“The head! Aim for the goddamn head!” Devin shouted as he circled in front of the store again. He saw Erica standing there pressed against the wall. He shouted to keep the attention on him as the herd followed him in a circle around the cars. Jamison emptied the hunting rifle. “Out,” he said as he handed it to another human. He held his hand open for the next weapon. There wasn’t one to grab. Everyone on the roof watched at Devin ran around. “Someone give me a weapon!” Jamison shouted. Most of them had climbed the ladder for safety. Those who had weapons had gone in the store trying to turn the alarm off. Jamison stared as he held his open hand out. His hand felt heavy, and he groped the round device in his hand. He took his attention off Devin to identify the object. The person who had handed it to him was a small child with blond hair. He stared that little face until the object came within his view. “Where did you get this?” he said to the child. The question was met by a silent shrugging of the shoulders and a blank stare.

Walker was rummaging through what looked like a manager’s office inside the store. He watched his corners. He knew he wasn’t alone in the store. “It’s got to be here!” he exclaimed. He kicked open a door and waved his flashlight inside. He was met by two sickly looking creatures with blood-red eyes and bloodstained mouths. “Die!” he said as he opened fire on them. The lights above his head had turned on. They both dropped. He put one more in their skulls. His eyesight was adjusting to the florescent lights, but they captured the gray box on the side of the wall. “Oorah!” he said.

He jerked the metal door open and began flipping switches. The alarm stopped ringing, but the store lights illuminated outside, including the parking lot. He came back around and saw humans were eliminating the creatures rummaging inside the store. “Make it safe!” he commanded. He made his way back to the roof with Jamison. “Everyone, the store is being cleared. Stay here.” He walked over to Jamison as they watched Devin run around shooting. “We have to help him,” Jamison said as he eyed the grenade in his hand. “That won’t be enough,” Walker said as he handed Jamison his sidearm. “Wait here.” And he disappeared down the sky light again.

Devin made his way around the front of the store again. He saw humans inside the store locking the doors and making a barricade. “Why aren’t you fuckin’ shooting?” he shouted at Jamison as he fired blindly at the group a few yards behind him. Some had stopped running in circles to reload and backtracked to face him again. “Running out of steam here!” he said.

“Get away from the cars!” Jamison shouted.

“What?” Devin said to himself.

“Boom!” Jamison retorted. Devin continued to fire. He saw bodies motion on the rooftop for him to move to the left away from the vehicles. He didn’t hear them.

Walker appeared on the roof again carrying something heavy. He exhaled as he brought it to the roof level. “You’re fucking stupid,” Jamison said.

“Make sure he isn’t close,” Walker said as he pulled out a roll of duct tape. “Hand me the grenade.” Walker duct taped the grenade to the side of his object.

“This is a bad idea,” Jamison said as he watched Walker made another round of the duct tape.

“Ready!” Walker said as he hoisted the propane tank over his head. “Devin! Get clear!” Devin heard as he turned to fire once more only to see Walker holding a propane tank over his head and Jamison doing something next to it. “Oh fuck!” Devin said as he bolted back toward the end of the parking lot.

Jamison pulled the pin of the grenade. The spring threw the handle off the side of the building and landed near Erica. Walker heaved with all of his might. He threw the tank over the railing like a body builder throwing a keg. The tank flew in the air as it collided with the corner of a vehicle. The propane tank sprung a leak with the hit and began to sputter around in an elongated circle. “Get the hell down!” Everyone hit the gravel rooftop. Erica pressed herself against the side of the building. Devin ran to make his way to the back of the parking lot. It was a lot further than Walker could throw. Devin ran away from the illuminated parking lot toward the darkness. He felt the sweat evaporate on the back on his neck. He blinked and saw his shadow rise from behind him.
Kaboom!
He felt the intense heat across his back. Suddenly, his feet weren’t on the pavement anymore. He was midair; he tried flailing his arms, but they had no effect on his movement. He tucked his head in his arms as he felt his body descend back to earth.