'Til Death Do Us Part (63 page)

“
And if we don
’
t come to an agreement?
”
I asked
,
leaving the question hanging.

“
Well then
,
I would consider that
an act of aggression,
”
h
e stated simply.

“
Azile
,
what are the odds you can get out of the cab and grab another box of ammo without being seen?
”

“
I
’
d have to crawl out the window so the cab light doesn
’
t come on.
”

“
Shit,
”
I said as I caught
movement in my rear
view mirror,
“
they
’
r
e trying to come up behind us.
I hope I sound convincing,
”
I told Azile
,
then I yelled to Kirk,
“
My rear observer just told me that you have people
attempting to come up behind us.
If
they don
’
t stop now I will level your building.
”

There was a long pause.
“
Let
’
s be civilized about this.
”

“
I
’
ve been nothing but, you
’
re the one
that sent your pets to kill us
,
then fed them dinner. And now
,
while we are in the midst of negotiations
,
you send men to try and waylay us. I will consider that an act of aggression.
”
I opened up the breech so that I could make as much sound as I could
‘
re-loading
’
my weapon.

“
Okay, hold on,
”
Kirk
’
s voice said with an edge.
“
My men are returning.
”

“
We
’
ll talk more when my
observation post confirms this. H
e says they haven
’
t moved yet. Azile
, you need to move. S
ooner or later he
’
s going to figure my ruse out.
”

Azile rolled her window down and slid effortlessly thr
ough the opening. She peeked up.
“
Once I roll th
e back
door up
,
the cab light will come on.
”

“
Okay, I
’
ll improvise. Make sure you grab the box that says 7.62.
”

“
I know guns,
”
s
he muttered.

“
They
’
re not quite gone yet!
”
I yelled.

“
Patience,
”
Kirk yelled back.

“
Oh I
’
m patient but you see my gun here she isn
’
t.
”

The dome light came on, startl
ing
the hell out of me. I pulled the tri
gger and let a controlled three-
round burst issue forth from my gun. That would get any
‘
lookie lo
o
s
’
diving for cover. The echo of my firing was just dying down as the light clicked off.

“
Sorry...mosquito!
”
  I shouted.

“
I
’
ve got a girl
”
s
omeone said triumphantly behind me. I heard some scuffling.

It seemed that my rear observation post had failed me. I put the weapon down and exited the truck as quickly as I could.
Azile was struggling in a man
’
s arms. Her legs were kicking uselessly in the air as he had lifted her up against him and was pulling her back to the building.

I ran at him, he had been looking back towards the building
. W
hen he finally turned forward and saw me
,
I was within ten feet.

He put Azile up as a human
shield.
“Wait...you don’t even have a gun.”

I kept coming at him.
Azile pulled her head to the left as I brought a punch from somewhere off in right field. Azile
’
s attacker was not able to do much more than watch as my fist made contact with his face. I had st
ruck him so hard, bones cracked. A
t first
,
I was certain the
snapping bones
had been my knuckles. It was difficult to tell in the moonlight
,
but I was cer
tain that his face was indented;
it was a nauseating sight.

His nose had been pushed flat and his right cheek bone was non-existent.
He fell backwards to the ground, the back of his head slamming off the pavement. The cavity in his face was soon filled in with a rush of blood.

“
Jonas,
”
Kirk called out,
“
you still got her?
”

I could hear blood pounding in my ears, fury had taken root.
“
That would be a negative!
”
I yelled
as I grabbed Jonas by his shins.
I screamed in rage as I tossed his body a good fifteen feet, more of his frame splintered as he landed with a crushing blow.

Azile was watching me, possibly thankful, possibly warily.
“
How?
”
w
as her one word question.

I wasn
’
t entirely sure if she meant,
how
did I cave his face in or
how
did I throw a
two hundred-
something pound man fifteen feet. More likely both.
My chest was heaving from the adrenaline, not the effort, no, that had come easy enough.

“
Shit
,
Kirk
,
he just killed Jonas!
”
s
omeone yelled from one of the higher stories.

We were in the open and had nothing to shield us.

“
NO!
”
Kirk screamed just as I heard the doors open back up.

Zombies were streaming towards us.
“
RUN!
”
I yelled to Azile as if she needed any prodding. I mostly meant for her to run away
,
but in the confusion she headed back to o
u
r haven, our not operating haven.

I ran to the back of the truck to retrieve the fallen ammo box. I quickly turned to head back to the passenger side door and realized I wouldn
’
t make it—or maybe I would.
I started swinging th
e box like it was a Louisville S
lugger and my team was down by three, bases loaded, two outs,
and bottom
of the ninth. I figured if I was going for
cliché,
I might as well go all the way. The lead zombie met the full fury of a
twenty-five
pound ammunition box as i
t completely caved its skull in. H
e hadn
’
t hit the ground before I drove it into Kirk
’
s next pet.

Brain matter shot out the tops of heads like
sleeves of Mentos dr
opped in a gallon container of D
iet Pepsi. I was covered in the viscera, and still they came. My arms were beginning to burn from the effort.

“
My pets!
”
Kirk screamed from a doorway. Some saw their
‘
master
’
and turned to express their
gratitude;
most stayed behind thinking
I would eventually let one in. M
ore than once I nearly lost my grip on the box handle as viscous blood coated everything.
“
Get more prisoners!
”
Kirk screamed as he headed back in.

They might be his pets
,
but he knew enough to realize that they bit. More screaming ensued as the damned witnessed their fate bearing down on them. I would have chased the retreating zombies down, but I was e
xhausted and exposed.
It
was only a matter of time before someone shot my ass.

“
He fuc
king killed like twenty zombies with...with his bare hands,
”
t
he man that had informed Kirk of Jonas
’
passing yelled.

To be fair
,
it wasn
’
t my bare hands. Now my chest was heaving from the exertion,
I moved quickly to the truck and
pulled myself up with no small amount of difficulty.

“
Mike?
”

“
Later,
”
I said breathlessly.
“
Help me...lift the gun.
”
My arms were jelly-
filled rope. Azile did her best to help me w
hile also not getting too close;
I was beyond gross. I loaded the new belt in.
“
Keep t
he ammo straight,
”
I told Azile as she got up behind me, reaching to my left
to hold the ammo up.
“
This’ll...be...l
oud,
”
I breathed out heavily, looking back at her.

“
I
’
m fine,
”
s
he returned.

“
Friend!
”
Kirk yelled.

“
Friend this
,
motherfucker!
”
I unleashed hell
’
s fury in multiple 7.62 projectiles. Screams of terror echoed throughout the building as I tried to tear it down. Bullets whined as the
y
struck home, some ricocheting inside and doing more damage as they careened off of poles or beams. I was indiscriminately doling out death. I hoped the prisoners were tucked away safe but even if that wasn
’
t the case, I had to believe I was giving them the escape they had longed for. Kirk didn
’
t seem like a benevolent captor. The building
’
s groans of protestations were the only sounds once I dry fired.

“
Mike?
”
Azile asked again.

“
I
’
m fine,
”
I told her through gritted teeth. At least as fine as a mass murderer can be.

Azile did the only think she could think to do, she tried the truck again. Of course
this time
it started without a hitch.

Eliza and Tomas

Kong
was underneath the hood of yet another truck trying his best to hold up his end of the bargain with Eliza, when one of his men tapped him on the shoulder.