Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place (26 page)

“
What’s left of the fire department is almost here,” Dexter muttered. He had invited himself to travel with Charlie.

“
I see them,” Charlie replied. “Guess we wait and see what they want us to do.”

Dexter grunted in reply. While scanning the area, he ran one hand up and down the butt of his shotgun, making Charlie nervous. He felt like he needed to do something beside stand around jawing with Dexter, so he jumped into the back of his truck to take a good look around. He didn’t really expect to see much, so he was surprised when he saw a very bedraggled group of zombies coming their way. They were still a half block away and moving slowly, but they were definitely headed straight for them. He slipped the rifle off his shoulder.

“
Dexter, zombies are coming,” he forced himself to say in a calm voice.

The other trucks arrived and everyone began to unload their supplies while the lone fire truck hooked up to the hydrant. Although the pumps weren't working at the water plant it was gravity fed which gave them enough pressure needed to fight the fire.

“
There are probably fifty of them," he continued.

“
What?” Dexter asked. He climbed up beside Charlie. “I’ll be damned,” he snarled. Charlie jumped when Dexter let out a loud whistle, even the zombies heard it and they froze in their tracks for a moment before proceeding on.

With all eyes on him, Dexter puffed out his chest. “Listen up! We got zombies headed this way!” He put his free hand up to silence the murmurs that erupted at his announcement. “We need to divide up - half of us need to take out the zombies - the other half goes with the firemen to get that damn fire out. Understand?”

Without waiting for a reply, Dexter began pointing at those who would go take out the zombies, which included Charlie. To his relief, Dexter left Darrell to deal with the fire. He didn’t have much stomach for shooting zombies, but he knew Darrell disliked it even more. There was no surprise in Megan’s joining their group. She was one of the best shots around, bar none. As they formed a loose group and began walking to the corner of the street, she hurried over to Charlie and gave him a quick grin.

“
Where are they?” she asked, falling into step with him.

“
They were about a half block away and moving so slowly that we should have plenty of time to get in position,” he replied.

Upon reaching the corner, the group stopped to study what was before them. Charlie’s eyes widened and Megan gasped.

“
Didn’t you say there were about fifty?” Megan said in a loud whisper. The others were busy finding places to fire from.

“
Yeah, I did,” Charlie whispered back. To his dismay, their numbers seemed to have doubled. While they watched, another group of zombies emerged from an alley behind a row of houses.

“
I’m going back to get Dexter,” Charlie said quickly, already turning around. “Be right back!”

He ran as fast as he could back toward the other group. He had a bad feeling and when he reached Dexter he could hardly speak.

One look at his face and Dexter knew something was wrong. Charlie pointed back toward where he’d come. “Too many,” he panted. “There’s double what we saw and more seem to be coming. We’re going to need everyone but the firemen and right now!”

Dexter’s expression turned grim and he tightened his hold on the shotgun. “Ok, go on back and I’ll grab everyone else.”

Charlie nodded and scurried back. Megan was crouched behind a large green plastic trash bin and he dropped down beside her.

“
They’re coming,” he said while taking a peek. The zombies were close enough to hear now, their eerie moans and groans causing the hair on his arms and the back of his neck to rise.

Megan nodded. “I thought most of these things were taken out already.”

“
I thought so too, but thinking about it now, we probably got rid of half of them,” Charlie said forlornly. “At least that’s what it looks like now.”

“
We’re going to have a fight on our hands,” Megan replied. She checked the clip on her rifle and slammed it home again.

They both looked up when Dexter arrived, followed by six more men and women from their group. Darrell joined Megan and Charlie, giving them a small smile. Only twelve of us against over a hundred walkers, Charlie thought with a tremor of fear. He watched everyone take up their positions. He was beyond thankful that Jenny stayed behind to help Rose get her house in order. The noise emanating from the zombies grew louder, but he no longer wanted to see where they were.

“
When I give the order, everyone open fire,” Dexter called out. “Take your time and make every shot count. Listen for my commands, if things go badly we‘ll need to get the hell outta here and fast.”

Charlie gulped loudly. Megan glanced at him. “We’re scared, too, Charlie,” she said softly, seeming to read his mind. “We’ll take them out, and if we can’t we
will
get out of here, agreed?”

“
Oh yeah, I agree,” Charlie replied shakily.

“
We’ll live to fight another day,” Darrell assured him.

Charlie was about to reply when Dexter stood up. In a booming voice he cried out.

“
Stand and fire!”

The group stood as one and began firing. The noise was deafening, but at least it drowned out the zombies. Charlie aimed and hit one, which had once been a man somewhere in his 20s, but was now a shuffling skeleton with nothing but rags hanging from his discolored and rotting body. Charlie winced when he realized the shot was too low, striking the zombie in the chest. His next shot was clean and right through the head, bringing the walking corpse down immediately.

For the next several minutes, nothing went through Charlie’s mind except to take out as many zombies as he could. He slowly began to realize that they were backing up; the zombies were gaining the advantage.

Hearing a shout from behind them, Charlie and Darrell both looked back. One of the firemen was waving wildly and pointing. What Charlie saw almost made him drop his rifle. Without a word, he ran over to Dexter, frantically tapping him on the shoulder. Soon as Charlie got his attention, he spun Dexter around.

“
There’s more behind us!” Charlie shouted in Dexter’s ear. “We gotta get out of here before they cut us off from the trucks!”

“
The damned things planned this!” Dexter roared in fury. “I never thought they were
this
smart and that’s exactly what they were hopin’ for.” He turned to Charlie. “Get the word out to everyone; I’ll stay behind to slow ‘em up.”

“
Don’t stay long or you’ll be too late,” Charlie warned before hurrying to tell the others.

“
Be right behind ya,” Dexter shouted.

With Darrell and Megan’s help, Charlie managed to get everyone’s attention and get them headed for the trucks. He noticed that when the zombies behind them appeared, the other group seemed to speed up. Now the two groups were almost upon them. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished and the fire truck was already loaded and beginning to head back.

“
Megan, you drive,” he called out as he ran up alongside her. He slapped the keys in her hand and jumped into the truck bed with Darrell. Everyone was running to the trucks, the whole scene was total chaos. Megan spun the tires and fishtailed a bit, throwing Charlie and Darrell forward.

“
Sorry!” they heard her muffled yell from inside.

Charlie held on tightly to the side of the truck and watched the zombies merge together when they met at the corner.

“
Where’s Dexter?” Darrell shouted at Charlie. “He never showed up.”

“
Damn,” Charlie muttered. He turned and tapped the back glass to get Megan’s attention. She reached behind her and opened the sliding rear window. “Go down the block and turn right. Depending on what’s going on and if it looks safe, go down two blocks, ok?”

Megan nodded and jammed on the brakes at her turn, whipping around the corner. Charlie grabbed for the side of the truck again, watching the other trucks continue on toward safety.

“
Stop for a sec, Megan,” he yelled through the window. They were now looking down the same street where they’d been shooting the zombies. There was no sign of Dexter.

“
Go down to the next block and stop again,” he instructed. At her nod, he and Darrell quickly sat down barely in time as she threw the truck into gear and gunned it.

They were almost to the next intersection when Darrell tapped Charlie on the shoulder. “Look behind the houses, see that alley?” At Charlie’s nod he continued. “Someone is running back there, bet you it's Dex.”

Charlie fixed his gaze toward the alley and he could definitely see movement. “I hope you’re right,” he said. “Megan,” he yelled through the window again. “Next street go ahead and turn, but go slow, we see someone running in the alley headed toward the street and it’s probably Dexter.”

“
Gotcha,” Megan shouted back. They reached the end of the block; Megan turned the corner and immediately accelerated. They approached the spot where the alley let out onto the street and sure enough, Dexter shot out right in front of them. Megan slammed on the brakes, squealing the tires, and throwing Charlie and Darrell forward again. Dexter looked up and skidded to a stop, relief flooding his features when he realized what he was looking at. He waved while trotting toward them, Charlie saw he was yelling something but couldn’t make it out.

Dexter wasted no time once he reached the truck. The tailgate was down and he literally dived headfirst into the truck bed. He quickly rolled over and sat up.

“
Am I ever glad to see you guys!” he said while wiping his face. “Those things are right behind me, and I wasn't sure how long I could outrun them. I mean, they can’t run, but they just keep coming, ya know?”

Charlie nodded while Darrell rapped on the window. “Megan, let’s get out of here,” Darrell said.

The truck lurched forward and then to everyone’s dismay, stalled. Charlie could see Megan turning the key and gently pumping the accelerator. He crossed his fingers that she wouldn’t flood the engine. Then he smelled gas. She’d flooded the engine. He closed his eyes for a second, trying to maintain his composure. He should have driven, after all it was his truck and he knew its idiosyncrasies. He shook his head and opened his eyes. He had a good view of the alley Dexter came from and it was full of zombies that were getting way too close.

“
We’ve got to get out of here,” he said in a loud, excited voice. Grabbing his rifle, he jumped over the side of the truck and jerked Megan’s door open. “C’mon, let’s move!”

Without waiting, he headed off at a quick trot toward the alley. He was pretty sure that if they stayed in the alley it would help them not attract any more zombies and should get them out to the main road. Hopefully, someone would see them then and come back to pick them up. If not, they’d face having to jog all the way back. He heard the pounding of feet behind him and for some reason it helped to calm him somewhat. He slowed down and looked over his shoulder. Megan trotted up and gave him a sheepish smile.

“
Sorry.”

Charlie shrugged. “Happens to me all the time,” he said simply, trying to focus on his breathing. “I think we have three more blocks before we get to the main road. Maybe someone will spot us then.”

“
Hope so,” Megan replied. She glanced back over her shoulder, past Darrell and Dexter. “The zombies are still coming.”

“
Yeah, I figure they’ll follow us all the way,” he said with a deep breath. Talking and jogging was getting hard. He slowed down a bit more. No use in getting winded when it wasn’t necessary. Fortunately for him and the others, slowing down probably saved their lives.

****

Mick had never seen so many of the walking nasties since those first few days they’d taken refuge at Dave’s Place. They seemed to be converging from all directions, which didn’t bode well for the survivors on the street. He could hear Matt shooting steadily, Scott’s shots were coming more rapid-fire with small pauses in between. The balcony door was already slid back; he strode right through and joined his son at the railing. He felt unnerved being just a floor closer to what was coming at them. Without a word, Parker handed him the binoculars. He slung his rifle over his shoulder before taking a look. Cindy, Lindsey, and Sarah were huddled against the gun cabinet quietly talking to one another while they watched the scene below with worried expressions on their faces.