“This can’t be happening.” Azile frantically pumped the gas pedal and turned the ignition.
Oh, it most assuredly is, I thought as I heard the screams of the eaten.
A few moments later, when the hordes had been retrieved and the cries of the lures had died down, we could hear the doors that housed the zombies being lowered.
“What is this newest nightmare?” I asked in preparation for round two.
“Hello, travelers!” a voice shouted from the shadows. “My name is Kirk and I am the captain of this facility.”
“Like Captain Kirk?” I asked Azile.
“Who’s Captain Kirk?” she asked as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Where’s Spock! I want to talk to Spock!” I yelled.
There was some muttering, then Kirk spoke back up. “There is no Spock here. Perhaps we can come to an agreement.”
“You mean since your first attack was unsuccessful in killing us, you want to go to a diplomatic approach?” I asked dripping in sarcasm.
“The release of my pets was unfortunate.”
“Pets?” Azile and I asked each other.
“Someone here misunderstood my orders,” Kirk added.
“Was he one of the ones you fed to your pets?” I asked.
“No, no, they were prisoners of war.”
I wanted to tell him that the war was against the zombies, killing each other off wasn’t doing anybody any good; he didn’t seem like the reasoning type. Spock would have been a much better negotiator.
“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,” he 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 rearview mirror, “they’re 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. He says they haven’t moved yet. Azile, you need to move. Sooner or later he’s going to figure my ruse out.”
Azile rolled her window down and slid effortlessly through the opening. She peeked up. “Once I roll the 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,” she 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, startling the hell out of me. I pulled the trigger and let a controlled three-round burst issue forth from my gun. That would get any ‘lookie loos’ 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” someone 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. When 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 struck him so hard, bones cracked. At first, I was certain the snapping bones had been my knuckles. It was difficult to tell in the moonlight, but I was certain 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?” was 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!” someone 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 our 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 the box like it was a Louisville Slugger 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 it completely caved its skull in. He 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 dropped in a gallon container of Diet 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. More 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 exhausted and exposed. It was only a matter of time before someone shot my ass.
“He fucking killed like twenty zombies with...with his bare hands,” the 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 while also not getting too close; I was beyond gross. I loaded the new belt in. “Keep the ammo straight,” I told Azile as she got up behind me, reaching to my left to hold the ammo up. “This’ll...be...loud,” I breathed out heavily, looking back at her.