We moved closer to the town and I started to see people standing on the containers, watching us approach. There were three of them, all armed with what looked like to be scoped rifles. If it came to a shooting, we were going to catch the short end of it. I hoped it wouldn’t but I had learned a while ago that things weren’t always as they seemed.
We picked up our pace and headed towards the group. The cargo containers paralleled the tracks, so we didn’t have to go far. When we were about fifty yards out one of the men raised a hand and we stopped.
“That’s far enough. Who are you and what do you want?” The speaker was a graying man, about fifty years old and carrying a decent paunch. He had a badge pinned to his jacket and was keeping a hand on his sidearm.
“I’m John Talon,” I called out, “and these are my friends. I believe one of you has been talking to my friend Nate Coles?”
“I’m Sheriff Tom Harlan and these two are my deputies. Come on up. We’ve been expecting you.” The sheriff motioned to one of his deputies and the man lowered a ladder for us We quickly climbed up and introductions were made.
From our vantage point, I could see the town was well cared for and I could see several people moving around and just going about their daily lives. It was a picture of the community I was trying to build in Leport. The line of cargo cars stretched out and I could see they had encircled a water supply as well as large swaths of farmland that looked like it had been recently tilled and planted. If any town was going to succeed, it was this one. That is, if the zombies let it.
The sheriff told his deputies to see to our group and the rest of the crew headed down a ramp that went down the side of the container. I could see many of these ramps and realized they were better than ladders because there was less chance of tripping either up or down.
Sheriff Tom and I started walking along the top of the containers and I could see several spots where zombies had been killed and disposed of along the perimeter. “Looks like you managed to weather the storm better than most, Sheriff,” I said.
The Sheriff grunted. “We got damn lucky. Our high school kids were the first ones to let us know something was happening and for once us adults actually listened to them. We had meetings about what to do and how to save our town. Several of our ‘ol boys were survival nuts of a sort and they had some pretty good notions. We figured we needed a quick fence, something we could put up and take down if it turned out the plague was not as bad as everyone expected.”
“Where’d you get all the containers?” I asked as we walked close to the reservoir.
“One of our guys is a train driver for the depot north of here and he told us about all the containers that were sitting there, doing nothing. I guess the companies that made them found it cheaper to make new ones than pay to have the old ones shipped back. Anyway, he started bringing them down and here we are.”
“Are they attached?” I asked, remembering that we had a group of zombies that nearly managed to get past our fence early on until we welded them together.
“Most of them are,” said the sheriff, “but I can’t remember which ones aren’t. We had a breach a little while back with a group of fifty zombies who pushed one out of the way and got inside.” The sheriff stepped over a rise in the containers and stopped at the corner of the fence. “We lost several people before we got the better of them. That’s when we got in contact with your pal, Nate. He told me if there was anyone who might be able to get us situated to where we don’t have to worry about that again, it was you.”
I shrugged off the compliment. “I just try to do what makes sense and try to stay alive while I do it.”
“Well, I would appreciate the help,” said Sheriff Tom. “Although I kinda figured you would have brought more people.”
I nodded. “I wish I had too,” I said, looking at the horizon.
Sheriff Harlan looked puzzled. “Why’s that?”
I pointed at the advancing grey line. “Because that swarm of dead people will be here by tomorrow.”
Sheriff Tom looked to where I was pointing, then said something both religious and sacrilegious at the same time. I have to admit, even for a reluctant Catholic such as myself, I was impressed.
We stepped down the first ramp we came to and hurried to the town hall. We had planning to do and lots of it. As we walked towards the center of town, Sheriff Tom grabbed his radio and called his deputies to the hall, instructing them to get the Mayor and as many of the people as they could to the hall immediately. The sun was setting, casting long shadows and as I walked through the little town, I hoped it wouldn’t be the last one these people got to see.
A deputy came zooming up in a golf cart and the Sheriff motioned me to get in. We made much better time and as we drove on I could see people starting to stream out of their homes and head towards the town hall. If I had to guess, there was a lot more than one thousand people here. I figured closer to two thousand. Too many to evacuate. We had to stand and fight.
Joseph Talluto
Taking It Back
10
The Sheriff pulled up to the town hall and jumped out, surprising me with his agility. I imagined in his youth Tom Harlan was a man to step around. I walked up behind him, working my way through the people who were standing in the hallways and outside. More than one of them gave me strange looks, likely in response to my being a stranger to the town and the fact that I was armed to the hilt. Zombie Killer. That’s me. Certified.
I moved into a large atrium that was doing double duty as a meeting room and the area was packed. I spotted my crew up on a landing of one of the four stairwells that led to the second floor. The mayor was talking animatedly to the Sheriff and the Sheriff was gesturing wildly. The two deputies squeezed themselves through the throng and positioned themselves on the stairs, blocking anyone from approaching the mayor.
I reached the stairs and the deputies waved me up. I moved up to where Sarah, Tommy, and Charlie were talking.
“Hey all,” I said. “Everybody okay?”
Charlie spoke up. “Sure enough. They gave us food and drink and asked a ton of questions. How was your walk with the local constabulary?”
I blinked at Charlie’s vocabulary, then shook it off. “Fine. He knows the horde is coming and we’re going to try to do something about it.”
“Do we have a plan?” Sarah asked, taking my hand.
I looked into her beautiful eyes. “Not a clue. But I’ll think of something.” I grinned at her and she squeezed my hand.
The noise in the room increased as the Mayor and the Sheriff tried to quiet everyone down. But everyone was shouting questions and not listening to answers. The Mayor threw up his hands and walked away from the table while Sheriff Tom continued trying to quiet the masses with no success.
I grew impatient and shrugged off the warning look I got from Sarah. I motioned for Charlie and Tommy to follow me. I released the magazine in my rifle and ejected the round in the chamber. I put it back in the magazine, then I moved to the table and tapped the Sheriff on the shoulder. His flushed face stared at me for a second, then he stepped aside. I stood on the table and held my M1A out in front of me. Behind me, Charlie and Tommy were doing the same with their AR’s. I stared at the crowd, which began to quiet down at my appearance, then I deliberately charged the rifle, the bolt sounding unusually loud in the diminishing noise.
“Who wants to die right here, right now?” I boomed across the assembled town. I was greeted with shocked silence. “Who?” I yelled at them, receiving no answer. I stared for a minute. “You’d better be sure. Because if you don’t start listening and don’t start preparing for the shit storm coming your way right at this minute, then you will wish you had spoken up and taken a bullet when you had the chance.”
I stared at the stunned audience. “My name is John Talon. I have led a group of survivors from Leport down here to lend you a hand. What I didn’t know, what no one could have known, was a large horde of living dead is headed your way right now. If I had to guess, they are what is left of State Center Bravo. If I had to guess again, I would say there is about two or three thousand of them headed this way.” There was a collective gasp. “You have made a good stand here and if I had to estimate your chances of survival, I’d say they were better than average. If you don’t work together, your chances are none. Are you ready to listen?” A lot of heads nodded.