As far as I knew, the detergent had worked. No one had come pounding on the door in the night and I had awakened a couple of times to the sound of many shuffling feet sliding by, but as long as the door held, I was actually quite safe. Of course when I opened the door to get into my firing position I could be given a hearty good morning chomp by a lingering ghoul, but those were chances I was willing to take.
I had a lot of time to think and found my thoughts drifting to those things that I usually thought about in quiet times. I thought about Jake and idly wondered how he was doing, knowing he was safe with Nate. I worried about his future and mentally started his training and how he would deal with the world he was going to inherit. I thought about his mother and felt a pang of guilt that quickly passed. Ellie would not want me to sit around and mope no more than I would want her to if I had been the one to go. These thoughts naturally led to Sarah and the hope I would see her again. I figured she would be okay and I winced in the darkness about what she was going to do when she found out what I was up to this morning. I gave Sheriff Tom that job and I know he was not looking forward to talking to both Sarah and Rebecca.
I thought about where we were going to go to from here, what the overall plan was. In a way I felt like I needed to move quickly, that if I didn’t have something set up soon everything I had worked for and people had died for would unravel. I could just hang it all up and disappear with Jake and take our chances with the dead world, but that would be selfish. Jake didn’t ask to be born into this mess and it was my duty as a father to do what I could to make sure he survived. I made a mental promise to him that I was not going to roam for a long time and just spend my time making the community we lived in as good as it could be. For the moment, it was the best I could do.
The radio on my belt crackled and Charlie’s voice came softly over the airwave.
“Hey, John?”
I fumbled with the radio in the dark, having a hard time getting it off my belt, and bumping my elbow on the side of the container. I cringed at the sound and hoped like hell no zombies heard it. “Hey, Charlie.” I replied just as softly, my words echoing slightly in the dark container. “Good morning.”
“Has the Sheriff called you yet?” Charlie seemed anxious.
“Not yet, why?”
“I think the Z’s know I’m in here.”
“Really? How do you know?” I thought it illogical for Charlie to be talking to me if he thought zombies were within earshot of his hidey-hole.
“Something keeps moving back and forth outside the container and I keep hearing sounds like digging.” Charlie’s voice seemed strained and I could only imagine what he was thinking. Being trapped inside a metal box while the dead waited for you was like already being buried. You had nowhere to go and death was outside the door. Better to put a bullet in your own head than starve to death or be eaten by zombies.
“Hang tight.” I tried to sound reassuring. “I’ll let you know when I get the signal to come out and start the festivities, whether or not you have anything to worry about.”
“Okay. Make it soon, alright? The digging started again and it’s driving me nuts.”
“Done,” I said, replacing the radio on my belt. If my watch was right, we should have some information soon.
Ten minutes later, the radio crackled again. “Talon?” Sheriff Harlan’s voice came through. “You still there, you crazy bastard?”
I brought the radio up, more careful not to make noise this time. “Yep. Ready when you are.” I adjusted my gear in the dark. “How’s it look out there?”
“Well, I guess we have ourselves a regular dust up, no question about it. We got the people laying low like you said and nobody is shooting until I give the signal.”
That was part of the plan. The zombies could smell the living, but if they didn’t see them they would not attack in earnest. If we could keep them from massing at a single point, the fence stood a better chance of holding them off. But we needed to keep them away from the fence. Eventually they were going to try and force their way in, but not right now if I could help it.
I hit the send button. “How’s the area around me?” I was ready to get out and get to work.
“Just fine, the worst has passed and they are now spreading out along the fence,” the sheriff reported.
“Any activity around the blue container?” I asked. “Charlie said he was hearing digging sounds.”
“Nothing on this side. His door is clear.”
“Okay, thanks. I’m heading out.” I wondered what Charlie had heard.
“Hey, John?” the radio started again.
“Yeah, Tom?”
“I was told to give you a message.”
“Was it from a smallish, green-eyed woman with a gun?”
“Yep. Consider it sent. Harlan out.”
I chuckled in the dark. Sarah was pissed and I really couldn’t blame her. I imagine Charlie was going to get an earful as well if we lived through this.
I stepped up to the door and unlocked the chain I had wrapped around the door poles on the inside of the container. Normally these containers had all the locking mechanisms on the outside, but since I was in and wanted to keep things out, it presented a small problem. Fortunately, we were able to secure the doors and I opened one cautiously and looked out. There was no one in front of me and trusting to Harlan’s assessment of the situation, I assumed there was no one where I couldn’t see them.
I stepped out into the open and pulled out the small stepladder I had brought with me to the container. Charlie had one as well and I used it to quickly get up on the container. The ladder was little more than four feet tall, but it got me on top, which was where I needed to be. I hauled up a small duffle bag, which contained my ammunition, and slowly walked to the end of the container.
From my vantage point, I could see the mass of zombies milling about the fence. My original estimate had been around two thousand. Looking at the horde in front of me, I figured I was short by at least a thousand or two. I let out a long breath, then started to set up for my job.
I laid out my rifle, a scoped AR-15, and placed all the magazines I had within easy reach. Thanks to Charlie finding ammo at State Center Bravo, I had five hundred rounds with which to work. I only had six forty-round magazines, so some reloads were going to be necessary, but that didn’t worry me too much.
I placed my backpack on the container, intending to use it as a rest for my sniping. The zombies were effectively three hundred yards away, and I needed every advantage I could get. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and looked over at Charlie’s container. A small dog was sniffing around the base and scratching at whatever it was dogs scratched at when they wanted something. I laughed at the thought of big Charlie being afraid of a rat terrier.
I clicked on the radio and called Charlie into action. When he asked about the noise, I told him just to get in place and not worry about it. Within a few minutes, Charlie was on the top of his container, set up the way I was. Charlie doused the dog with water from his canteen and it ran off. In all honesty, the dog actually astonished me, since I hadn’t seen one since the Upheaval. Most family pets had been devoured when the worst hit and their owners turned and the few in yards had been eaten as well. That little guy must have managed to escape and was living wild. Good luck, buddy.
Our activity had attracted the attention of a few zombies and they started to head back in our direction. They would be first.
I settled down and sighted in my first kill. It was a man in a threadbare business suit, missing one shoe and most of his face. His left eye hung out of its socket and bounced crazily as he took staggering steps across the field. I let out a breath and pulled the trigger. The rifle cracked loudly as the. 223 round punched through the air and penetrated the man’s grey forehead. The back of his head blew outward and he dropped backwards, his eyes finally seeing nothing. The smartass part of me wondered if his left eye was relieved from seeing nothing but feet.