Chapter 3
Sitting on the highway wasn’t getting him any closer to his goal but Gage couldn’t see a ‘safe’ path which would lead him to the apartments. The backs of his legs felt as if they were preparing for the worst charlie horse of his life. He was half focusing on the muscles trying to betray him while looking towards the problem ahead. He knew the cramp had come from the fifteen miles he had just spanned but didn’t have much he could do about it.
The trip hadn’t been as difficult as one would have thought. He knew the country roads from the lake back into town and used most of them just for the visibility. Being able to see for longer distances allowed him to hide if something began to move, unfortunately the biker and red hat plus the major had managed to follow him from the lake. Gage maintained a distance on the three up until the apartments and was pleased to see them stop tracking him once the screams started. Although the shirking had pulled his pursuers way the sound made him feel uneasy. Additionally, it sounded as if it was coming from the area near the apartments and Gage feared finding out what was causing it.
Up until now Gage hadn’t stopped to look for a weapon, he didn’t want anything slowing him down. Part of him knew this was almost a contradiction to what he was trying to accomplish but he forced it from his mind. Slowly he gripped the door handle on the truck and began to pull it open. He could hear the release inside the door panel making an audible pop as the door opened and made a horrid rusty metal on rusty metal sound. He glanced through the cab window to see if anything had noticed the sound, fortunately it seemed nothing had. There wasn’t much inside the truck in way of being useful. The smell from the cabs interior crept out and engulfed him slowly, for a moment he wanted to slam the door shut but his mind went into overdrive. He began looking around the cab of the truck knowing full well what he was looking for. The carpeting was sticky from who knows what but Gage knew the smell wasn’t coming from spills or stains in the truck, no this was something far worse. He had been trained when he took the patrol position to look for signs of people in restricted areas. He had always thought it was something of a joke to run people out of ‘restricted areas’ at the lake but knew it served some purposes. For the most part people would illegally hunt or camp out near the lakes but there was another group he crossed paths with which liked the seclusion as well. Suddenly he found what he was looking for as he carefully and slowly picked up the two liter bottle. He could tell the pressure on the container was nearing a point where the chemicals inside where getting to be too much for it. The find was priceless in a time like this, for years he had been running off meth cooks from the lakes. Finding the ‘one pot’ thrilled him to no end and for a moment he was glad to have gone through the training for something other than running crackheads off.
The bottle was nothing more than a bomb to him, and a possible way into the apartments. He slowly snuck around the truck and started across the grassy area between the highway and the parking lot of the complex. Closing the distance Gage began noticing something in the air flowing around him. His mind was too focused on the group in front of him to truly identify it but his mind began to slow and everything became crystal clear.
The crowd ahead of him was too large to count and it took everything in him to continue his charge. Eventually, his mind went blank while his body remained in motion. He could feel his arm swinging upward as the bottle left his fingers and went skyward. The group was merely feet in front of him when the first took notice to his presence. The chain reaction of what followed literally exploded into chaos.
Gage felt like one of Stephen King’s characters floating around inside their own mind like in Dreamcatchers. His body was still running on auto pilot as he sat back within his mind to watch the show. He could feel some of the movement but for the most part it was like watching a movie.
Ahead of him he took notice of the bottle reentering his field of vision and then disappearing into the crowd which had turned towards him. A moment later a blast erupted, to Gage it seemed much more powerful than he would have suspected the bottle capable of.
Never losing a step his body picked up speed and sprinted towards one of the lower level open doors. The explosion had parted the group down the middle like Moses dividing the sea. He knew what he would find, with the door open the lumbering zombies would fill the space inside nearly to the brim. With the concussive blast behind them the first five or so inside the small apartment toppled over knocking down a few more of their undead mates. Gage watched as his field of vision entered the apartment jumping over the fallen row as the creatures slowly began to stand. A large woman with several chunks of flesh missing from her arms, legs and chest met eyes with him and began to shriek. Suddenly he knew where the scream came from that he had heard on the highway. In an instant he was reminded of the second movie of Tremors.
The zombies left standing outside began moving towards the open door most were moving at an alarming rate. Gage never looked back but heard a squishing cracking sound behind him, he was too focused on the ones in front of him to care at the moment. Unbeknownst to Gage the sound was from the sprinting zombies which had struck the doorframe at nearly the same moment. It was like Larry, Curly and Moe attempting the same stunt and becoming wedged in the doorway. It was comical and at any other point in his life he would have laughed but his body was occupied and he wanted to get back to the action.
Ahead of him the undead who already occupied the room turned to confront him. Gage counted ten or twelve as his view glanced around at the objects closes to him. The zombies didn’t wait to see what he would find for a weapon instead they began to rush towards him mouths agape.
Although his mind had detached itself from his body Gage could feel an object grasped within his hands. He could see as his arm began to swing back and forth gracefully striking each of his attackers across the face with a glint of metal shining just beyond his fist. In what felt like a breath Gage had thinned the horde within the apartment in half. A path to the back of the apartment was opened for a brief moment, long enough for him to take it.
He watched as his body bolted to into the small bathroom, all the while he screamed within his mind NO YOU MORON! In a flash he was in with the door shut behind him. Just as he suspected there was nowhere to go and the thin door was being bombarded by the undead outside. He had had enough auto pilot as he began shaking his head violently. He was trying to regain his focus by force and eventually became successful.
For the first time since he had grabbed it Gage looked at the weapon in his hand and began to smile. The jagged blade was quite familiar to him considering his wife had purchased one for them years before. There had been many time when he had picked up the box which they kept the knife in wondering just how long a ‘forever sharp’ knife was really suppose to last.
Looking around for options to improve his situation Gage realized the door which had been shaking suddenly stopped. Part of him wanted to open the door to find out what had happened the other side of his mind rejected this notion completely. Before he could make up his own mind the door handle began deciding for him as it began to turn. Gage thought he knew about zombies from what he had read, watched and played over the years with his friends but in that moment as he watched the handle turn he realized he didn’t truly know anything about them. Holding the blade firmly in his hand he waited for the chance to strike.
Finally, the moment he dredded arrived as his leg began to cramp. The charlie horse was going to be the death of him he just knew it. He struggled to maintain his stance while the back of his leg seized in pain insisting he rub it.
EARLIER***
“Get in the fucking car Krysta!” Leroy snapped pushing the red headed girl towards the small cluster of vehicles. He had been making his way around to most of the group and Krysta was the last. Leroy wasn’t the kind of man who liked to wait but in this moment Krysta seemed to be taking every bit of her dear sweet time.
“COME… ON!” He bellowed.
Anyone watching the event would think he was being unreasonable fortunately no one was hanging around long enough to cast judgment. Those that were paying attention on the other hand had something else on their mind entirely, food. Krysta quickly grabbed the remainder of her bags and tossed them in the car.
As the three vehicles pulled out of the Frisco buildings parking lot she pulled a small laptop from one of her bags. A few moments later Leroy was pleased with her once again as radio traffic began filling the air of the cab.
“Too bad Rains can’t hear this, I’m sure he would have something to say about it.” The driver mused. Leroy smiled to himself thinking about the group he had put together suddenly he looked to Krysta.
“He’s right, Krysta find away to pipe it through to the others. We need everyone to know where the military dogs are.” He glanced out the back window towards the other two cars. “Shoulda let Gina drive the second car, White’s gunna kill someone and we will be left short.” Leroy shook his head.
“Ok we should be linked with their Bluetooth in their car. GUYS? Can you hear us?” Krysta had been working with computers and electronics her entire life there was nothing that stood in her way when it came to tech. ‘Yeah we hear ya, Krysta that’s freakin awesome.” Poured through the cars speakers, the sound quality wasn’t the best but it got the job done.
Krysta smiled hearing Lendal’s voice “No problem Lendal, listen Leroy wants you to listen to the radio I have pulled up I will put it over to you.” Krysta made a few quick strokes on the computer then closed it.
“Got it. I will get back to you when I have something.” Lendal said sounding farther from the microphone than he once had.
Leroy wondered for a moment if Lendal Rains was worth the effort to keep aboard if Krysta could handle communications. He began going over his group in his mind starting with Krysta Fenton. She had been an IT worker for as long as he had known her and only being twenty-seven put her right in the age group who could keep up with the technology. Next was Lendal Rains, he was something of a tech genius himself but more driven towards cell phones, ham radios and other communication devices. With everything happening the way it was Leroy suddenly wondered how long their electronic toys would be around.
Walter Rab was next on the list he had been a friend of Leroy’s for years prior to the event they had been involved with the same groups and interest. Compared to Walter there was no person Leroy trusted more.
The main difference between Leroy and Walter was the number of guns they had brought to the fight. Walter had been stock piling firearms for years, it seemed as though every week he would come around with a new gun of some kind. Leroy had no question in his mind who was the master of arms in the group and left the count of munitions to him.
Regina Redfield or ‘Gina’ had been a number of things before the fall, she was the most intelligent person Leroy believed he had ever met. Regina was one of the primary reasons the group had sought out those selected. For years Regina had struggled with certain aspects of society, mainly the social verity. She was a brilliant woman with next to no people skills. Leroy had promptly taken this to his advantage being the silver tongued man he was. He had spent some time sowing seeds of doubt into her mind regarding topics which wooed her over to his points of view. The group he worked with was pleased to have Gina working with them, she had single handedly engineered hierarchy plans which made their efforts nearly flawless.
Before he was able to complete his mental check list an explosion went off just ahead of their position. Their convoy had been steadily weaving around abandoned cars on southbound 65 highway as they drew closer to the Sunshine exit. As they crept across the bridge Leroy was able to see a building completely engulfed in flames as a green van sped away westbound under the bridge. He laughed as he watched the van dart off down Sunshine with ten or so freaks chasing after it as if they were dogs after the mailman. The sight was rather comical. Looking back towards the building he took notice to the red sign high above the parking lot and suddenly realized they were in trouble.
“GET DOWN!” Leroy shouted as the second blast went off.
The gas station on the lower roadway erupted into an inferno. Their cars came to an abrupt stop as smoke billowed into the afternoon sky. Leroy glanced about the cab of his vehicle and determined everyone appeared ok. Looking out the back window he suddenly felt the need to kill his second car’s driver if he wasn’t already dead.
The second car was firmly planted front end against the bridges retaining wall. Leroy jumped from the car and quickly spanned the distant to the crash. Glancing around through the window everyone inside appeared to be ok.
“WHITE! WHAT THE HELL!” He yelled as he yanked the door open. Leroy never gave a break regardless of the circumstances.
Leroy demanded they get out of the car, there was no point in taking the risk with the damaged vehicle. He knew the cost of screwing up this early in the game. Leroy had wondered quite a bit on Derrick White ever since they first met. Derrick was nothing more than street trash and for the most part he still was. He had known the boy for a few months now and to begin with had high hopes for, but as time passed those faded.
Leroy had been repeatedly going over his roster in his mind wondering if they could do without Derrick but always went against the idea for some reason. Times where different now and locating useful people would be a challenge, Derrick’s addition to the team was short notice and Leroy wasn’t happy about it.
With the remaining cars loaded down with equipment there left next to no room for the remaining people. Looking around the area Leroy began to realize things were getting out of hand. Freaks in the area seemed to be responding to the crash and quickly moving in on their position.
“White head towards those buildings and find us some high ground, Walter go with him make sure he doesn’t mess that up too!” Leroy moved towards Regina who was fumbling for her pistol in the front seat of the car. “You need to get in the car now.”
Without a word she took a seat as Hank Dolis shifted the car into gear. “Don’t worry boss Devon and I will get these rigs to the apartments.” Hank was Derrick’s cousin and had been a driver at the Springfield Raceway before all this had occurred and had been on track to win the season until the end of the world happened. It was nearly a no brainer selecting Dolis as the expert driver for the group.
Leroy watched as his grouped split up, as Walter and Derrick moved towards the apartments and Hank and Devon started heading around south. He was left the remainder of the group on foot. Leroy was at least happy to see his small crew moving as a group advancing like they had been shown too. They steadily moved towards the apartments towards where Derrick had disappeared to with Walter. Ahead he could hear the occasional gunshot coming from the room Walter entered.
Closing the distance to the apartments was easy enough but Leroy began to take notice of the additional zombies their gunfire was bringing in. He knew they couldn’t stop shooting but at the same time knew this was only making the situation worse overall. Finally, out of the corner of his eye he could make out the staircase. This would work to their advantage allowing them to bottle neck the undead and get them to higher ground. To his surprise Derrick had already put a barricade in place to slow the advancement of the freaks.
Unbeknownst to Hank and Regina the crowd of freaks had swelled to nearly a hundred as they pulled in on the backside of the apartments. On the second floor Jorge Alexander and Christian Hale, the groups ‘Mr. Fix-it’s’ quickly lowered a makeshift ladder. Slowly they began moving their gear up to the second floor. With the group reunited they decided it was time to do an inventory of what they had salvaged. The entire upper level was cleared out and with the Fix-its working on the stairways the upper floor was theirs.
Leroy wasn’t pleased with the delay but felt the apartments would suit them for the remainder of the night. Jorge, Christian and Hank had taken to work on the fortifications of the upper level while Regina, Lendal and Krysta worked on the computers. Leroy wanted to know more about what was happening out there and knew that the tech answer was going to be short lived if this went on much longer.
Outside on the walkway Jorge had mounted the ‘ladder’ to the supports for the walkway, this allowed access to the roof. Leroy knew Devon would be hiding out on the roof somewhere as he took hold of the ladder. Below the shrieks from one of the freaks filled the air and in that moment Leroy knew the crowd would be much larger by morning.
Atop the roof Devon Archer sat with Derrick looking out towards 65 highway. Derrick was holding binoculars to his face.
“OK…umm red truck the in the bed. See the one in the back?” Derrick pointed as he looked towards Devon trying to specify what he was talking about. Without a word Devon slowly released his breath and gently began squeezing the trigger. He had learned to shoot when he was a kid from his step father and felt confident in his skill. Devon had won numerous awards over the years for being something of a marksmen but recently hadn’t been as involved as he once was. With the last bit of air out of his lungs the trigger pull was complete and the rifle went off. The blast from the rifle was next to unheard thanks to the suppressor attachment Walter had put together. Devon didn’t even bother looking to see what had happened. He knew full well the scruffy man in the paint covered jeans was now lying completely dead in the bed of the S10. He had struck the man in the lower left side of the back of his head sending a shower of red all over the pavement on the far side of the truck.
“DUDE! That was sick! How did you do that? Can you teach me to do that?” Derrick was giddy and giggling.
Before even having the chance to respond Leroy interjected “Derrick! I need you to get a move on checking out the remaining apartments. We have to know what is here before nightfall.” The tone in his voice was becoming more defined every time he spoke to Derrick. Most of the group was beginning to pick up on the frustration and it had only been a few hours in to the mess.
Without a word Derrick stood and moved towards the ladder. Over the next few hours he moved around the upper tier of the apartments looking inside each. For the most part there wasn’t any real surprises, Derrick had found a decent stock of canned goods but not much else seemed useful. Looking outside towards the parking lot between buildings Derrick noticed the large pile of burned corpses surrounding a large metal dumpster. He wondered what had happened but felt it wasn’t worth pursuing, plus with the sun starting to touch the tree line he knew he should be getting back with the supplies he had found.
With everyone back at the commandeered apartments Leroy began his evening ritual of counting down supplies while Lendal and Krysta worked on reaching head command. All was quite even the screaming bitch outside had stopped. Most of the freaks in the parking lot had begun mulling about as if they had forgotten the group was there. Suddenly Devon called out over the walkie talkie.
“We have movement from the highway.” His voice was soft but clear.
Leroy and the others quickly grabbed their weapons and moved to the closest window. As they watched a single man could be seen jogging towards the apartments. Devon asked if he should take the shot. Leroy thought for a moment while listening to Derrick giggle while suggesting yes.
Finally, he responded “There’s no need. The freaks below will suffice in dealing with him.” Devon didn’t respond and Derrick seemed upset by the idea but kept it to himself.
They watched as the man began picking up speed towards the crowd, suddenly he tossed what looked like a bottle high into the air. The freaks seemed to be taking notice to him at the same moment the explosion erupted from the center of the group sending body part sailing in all directions. Leroy and the others were shocked having barely enough time to duck. The shockwave was intense and could be felt deep within their chest. Looking back outside the man had darted into an open door on the lower section of the building as several others chased in behind him becoming wedged in the doorway.
With his interest peaked Leroy got to his feet. “Change in plans! Let’s move!” Everyone scrambled and stood up. Leroy exited the apartment and called over the radio for Devon to put down anything that moved once they were on the ground. As if to confirm his understanding one of the freaks jammed in the doorway suddenly went limp as his head popped into a fountain of red. Derrick quickly sprinted down the stairs and jumped their barricade. He took his first shot at an elderly looking man whose shoulder was soaked in blood. The bullet hit the man in the face knocking him to the ground, for a moment Leroy was as pleased at Derrick but the old man began to stand again. Derricks shot had managed to glance the right side of his face tearing open the flesh and even exposing teeth. Before Derrick could respond a second shot was fire and the old man fell hard this time staying down. Looking over his shoulder Derrick caught eyes with Leroy and knew who had saved his ass.
With Devon on the roof Leroy, Walter, Derrick and Hank began moving towards the apartment where the stranger had ran. Derrick wanted to prove himself but decided to hold back for a moment. To his right Walter took a shot knocking a woman to the ground, he ran forward planted his foot on her chest and fired a second round into her head. Derrick watched and felt fear deep inside as he studied the look of apathy on Walter’s face as he knelt down foot still planted on the dead woman’s chest and took a third shot taking out a second target which was sprinting towards Hank.
For Hank this was easy work, he was wielding the shotgun amongst them all. He felt this was the best approach because he didn’t have to be as precise. His first two rounds proved this point as two more from the crowd fell. Between the explosion and the gunfire more freaks began running towards the open conflict, one was a man in a business suit the other a Hispanic woman dressed in an Incredible Pizza uniform both bleeding with looks of rage. The Incredible Pizza woman began screaming as she drew closer to apartments.
From the rooftop Devon knew she was going to be an issue, he knew the gunfire alone was enough to draw attention but the screams would only increase the problem. His first shot took out the businessman in mid step. He cussed himself as his second round missed the Pizza woman. He watched in horror as she tackled Derrick to the ground, in a moment of panic he struggled for a shot. The sound of a shot rang out, Derrick had shot the screamer in the face and pushed her off of himself. As he began to regroup Leroy turned and faced him holding his gun forward. Derrick ducked thinking his friend was going to shot him, in fact Leroy did shot but not Derrick. Derrick White looked behind him and saw that he had again missed his mark and once again Leroy had covered from him.
Without time to kick himself over the ordeal Derrick moved forward with the rest of the group. Walter was near the front and had again knocked down another target quickly following it with a second shot to the head. Derrick was in awe of the others and how fluid they moved in the situation, to his left took two more shotgun blast taking out two more. For an instant he thought he would do better if there were some obstacles between him and his targets. He really thought this would improve his chances of proving himself. Looking around he saw the chance and took it, breathing hard he had spanned the remaining distance and had emerged in the apartment. His eye took a moment to adjust behind him he could hear another screaming person followed by two shots. Derrick wondered if Walter had taken those shots or if it was Devon.
Leroy entered the apartment just behind Derrick as did Walter and Hank who had both taken two final shots before crossing the threshold of the room. Devon called off over the radio claiming everything was clear on the outside currently. Leroy smiled as he brought his rifle down and drew his pistol. Outside two more shots rang out, followed by Devon again advising outside was clear.
The small apartment only had one hallway off to the left just like the rooms on the upper walkway. From around the corner emerged a young man dressed in blue jeans. His bare chest was completely torn open and most of his intestine was falling out. Derrick fired two rounds as did Leroy. Derrick felt confidence coming back again as the shirtless man fell. Suddenly, the feeling diminished when he saw Leroy had not only taken the shot that killed the young man but had also taken out the other freak behind him as well. In the hallway lay what seemed to be the last of the original crowd, most of its legs were missing and charred around the bottoms of the stumps. Derrick thought it was from the blast earlier. Looking around he noticed several bodies bleeding from the head which he knew they hadn’t put down.
The legless man lay propped up against the wall and was pawing at a door to its right. Hank pulled his pistol and took the shot. Leroy moved closer to the door and kicked the legless man’s body out of the way. With the door unblocked he took hold of the handle and began to turn the knob. Leroy considered announcing their presence but laughed at the idea knowing the gun shots had done that for them. As Leroy pushed the door open he made eye contact with the man inside who stood armed with a knife. Leroy shouted for everyone to stop. Fortunately, everyone seemed to listen as they stood pointing their guns at the stranger with the knife.
***EARLIER
Gage struggled to maintain his stance while the back of his leg seized in pain insisting he rub it. He pushed the thought from his mind and readied himself. He was stunned to see four men with guns standing before him. Every bit of his body tensed up and he simply stood there. The man nearest to the door was talking but Gage couldn’t make out the words, the humming in his mind was starting to fade, and for a moment he felt as if he was going to pass out. Gage could feel his ears tingling as his head wobbled forward, his vision began to tunnel and in that moment he knew he was going to pass out. The last thing he saw was the man nearest to him reaching out to catch him.
Leroy managed to scoop the young man up before he fell to the ground. “GUYS YOU NEED TO BE LEAVING NOW!” Leroy had never heard Devon lose control of his emotions like that and suddenly knew their time here was running very short. “Gentlemen it is time for us to be leaving.” Leroy declared as he tossed Gage over his should in a firemen carry.
The trip across the parking lot was in some ways shorter and in others much much further than the first trip. Leroy was the first back to the barricade, even with the extra weight he managed to out run the others. He had noticed Devon standing on the rooftop taking shot after shot. Once the young stranger was behind the barricade he turned to see what he had been running from. A new crowd was closing in on them and was at least three times if not four times as large as the one they had just dealt with.
Facing at least four hundred Leroy began shooting into the crowd trying to give Hank, Walter and Derrick enough time to get back. Walter was the next back, Leroy ordered him over the barricade and told him to get the young man upstairs. Leroy moved over the barricade as well, moving to the lower platform for better stability as he braced himself on the railing.
Hank cleared the barricade in a smooth movement and knelt down to reload his shotgun. He knew to post up here to ensure nothing else got over. Behind him Hank heard Leroy yell, and looked in time to see if Leroy preparing to jump the rails back into the lot. Hank quickly scaled the steps and took hold of Leroy.
Out in the parking lot Hank saw his cousin lying on his stomach with one of the freaks on his back. Hank suddenly understood and wanted to jump into the fight too but knew they could never make it in time. Instead he grabbed the radio from Leroy’s shoulder and shouted for Devon to do something. The response came instantly and the bloodied man on Derrick’s was thrown off striking the ground like a ragdoll tossed aside by a child. Derrick struggled to get to his feet and looked as if he was going to fall again but managed not to. Finally, Derrick made the stair case and fought his way over the barricade. Leroy and Hank helped him to the upper walk way were they pushed furniture down the upper stairs to block off the upper level.
With everyone back Leroy put Jorge on the task of blocking off the remainder of the stairs and upper walkway. Inside he found Bradley Maples mulling around checking over the stranger. Maples was the medic for the group and his skill was just what Leroy and Gina had wanted. After a moment he moved back to his bags and called for Derrick to sit down.
Leroy was fed up and wanted to be ahead of the curve again. On one hand he was thankful to see the training he had put his group through had paid off. But on the other he hated being in the dark and not understanding a situation. For him it was like torture, he was the string puller and he demanded answers. “What do we know?”
Regina was the first to answer “From what we found on him, his name is Cartes. Gage Cartes He’s a security guard, local. Married, twenty-six, no other family other than the wife, no record other than that. As for everything else we haven’t got a clue so far. Military frequencies aren’t providing much. And other sources aren’t offering solid leads, it’s like no one knows anything.” Leroy looked at Gage thinking to himself young man you will make a fine addition to their team given the right pushes. Behind him Gina turned back to the computers. “I need you all to start working on military evac locations and other staging areas. Forward Mr. Cartes’ information as well as those locations back to head command.” Leroy walked towards one of the windows in the apartment.
Outside the screams of the freaks below grew more frequent as they fumbled about in the parking lot below. After a brief pause Leroy continued “It’s like getting a glimpse into hell isn’t it?”
The trip hadn’t been as difficult as one would have thought. He knew the country roads from the lake back into town and used most of them just for the visibility. Being able to see for longer distances allowed him to hide if something began to move, unfortunately the biker and red hat plus the major had managed to follow him from the lake. Gage maintained a distance on the three up until the apartments and was pleased to see them stop tracking him once the screams started. Although the shirking had pulled his pursuers way the sound made him feel uneasy. Additionally, it sounded as if it was coming from the area near the apartments and Gage feared finding out what was causing it.
Up until now Gage hadn’t stopped to look for a weapon, he didn’t want anything slowing him down. Part of him knew this was almost a contradiction to what he was trying to accomplish but he forced it from his mind. Slowly he gripped the door handle on the truck and began to pull it open. He could hear the release inside the door panel making an audible pop as the door opened and made a horrid rusty metal on rusty metal sound. He glanced through the cab window to see if anything had noticed the sound, fortunately it seemed nothing had. There wasn’t much inside the truck in way of being useful. The smell from the cabs interior crept out and engulfed him slowly, for a moment he wanted to slam the door shut but his mind went into overdrive. He began looking around the cab of the truck knowing full well what he was looking for. The carpeting was sticky from who knows what but Gage knew the smell wasn’t coming from spills or stains in the truck, no this was something far worse. He had been trained when he took the patrol position to look for signs of people in restricted areas. He had always thought it was something of a joke to run people out of ‘restricted areas’ at the lake but knew it served some purposes. For the most part people would illegally hunt or camp out near the lakes but there was another group he crossed paths with which liked the seclusion as well. Suddenly he found what he was looking for as he carefully and slowly picked up the two liter bottle. He could tell the pressure on the container was nearing a point where the chemicals inside where getting to be too much for it. The find was priceless in a time like this, for years he had been running off meth cooks from the lakes. Finding the ‘one pot’ thrilled him to no end and for a moment he was glad to have gone through the training for something other than running crackheads off.
The bottle was nothing more than a bomb to him, and a possible way into the apartments. He slowly snuck around the truck and started across the grassy area between the highway and the parking lot of the complex. Closing the distance Gage began noticing something in the air flowing around him. His mind was too focused on the group in front of him to truly identify it but his mind began to slow and everything became crystal clear.
The crowd ahead of him was too large to count and it took everything in him to continue his charge. Eventually, his mind went blank while his body remained in motion. He could feel his arm swinging upward as the bottle left his fingers and went skyward. The group was merely feet in front of him when the first took notice to his presence. The chain reaction of what followed literally exploded into chaos.
Gage felt like one of Stephen King’s characters floating around inside their own mind like in Dreamcatchers. His body was still running on auto pilot as he sat back within his mind to watch the show. He could feel some of the movement but for the most part it was like watching a movie.
Ahead of him he took notice of the bottle reentering his field of vision and then disappearing into the crowd which had turned towards him. A moment later a blast erupted, to Gage it seemed much more powerful than he would have suspected the bottle capable of.
Never losing a step his body picked up speed and sprinted towards one of the lower level open doors. The explosion had parted the group down the middle like Moses dividing the sea. He knew what he would find, with the door open the lumbering zombies would fill the space inside nearly to the brim. With the concussive blast behind them the first five or so inside the small apartment toppled over knocking down a few more of their undead mates. Gage watched as his field of vision entered the apartment jumping over the fallen row as the creatures slowly began to stand. A large woman with several chunks of flesh missing from her arms, legs and chest met eyes with him and began to shriek. Suddenly he knew where the scream came from that he had heard on the highway. In an instant he was reminded of the second movie of Tremors.
The zombies left standing outside began moving towards the open door most were moving at an alarming rate. Gage never looked back but heard a squishing cracking sound behind him, he was too focused on the ones in front of him to care at the moment. Unbeknownst to Gage the sound was from the sprinting zombies which had struck the doorframe at nearly the same moment. It was like Larry, Curly and Moe attempting the same stunt and becoming wedged in the doorway. It was comical and at any other point in his life he would have laughed but his body was occupied and he wanted to get back to the action.
Ahead of him the undead who already occupied the room turned to confront him. Gage counted ten or twelve as his view glanced around at the objects closes to him. The zombies didn’t wait to see what he would find for a weapon instead they began to rush towards him mouths agape.
Although his mind had detached itself from his body Gage could feel an object grasped within his hands. He could see as his arm began to swing back and forth gracefully striking each of his attackers across the face with a glint of metal shining just beyond his fist. In what felt like a breath Gage had thinned the horde within the apartment in half. A path to the back of the apartment was opened for a brief moment, long enough for him to take it.
He watched as his body bolted to into the small bathroom, all the while he screamed within his mind NO YOU MORON! In a flash he was in with the door shut behind him. Just as he suspected there was nowhere to go and the thin door was being bombarded by the undead outside. He had had enough auto pilot as he began shaking his head violently. He was trying to regain his focus by force and eventually became successful.
For the first time since he had grabbed it Gage looked at the weapon in his hand and began to smile. The jagged blade was quite familiar to him considering his wife had purchased one for them years before. There had been many time when he had picked up the box which they kept the knife in wondering just how long a ‘forever sharp’ knife was really suppose to last.
Looking around for options to improve his situation Gage realized the door which had been shaking suddenly stopped. Part of him wanted to open the door to find out what had happened the other side of his mind rejected this notion completely. Before he could make up his own mind the door handle began deciding for him as it began to turn. Gage thought he knew about zombies from what he had read, watched and played over the years with his friends but in that moment as he watched the handle turn he realized he didn’t truly know anything about them. Holding the blade firmly in his hand he waited for the chance to strike.
Finally, the moment he dredded arrived as his leg began to cramp. The charlie horse was going to be the death of him he just knew it. He struggled to maintain his stance while the back of his leg seized in pain insisting he rub it.
EARLIER***
“Get in the fucking car Krysta!” Leroy snapped pushing the red headed girl towards the small cluster of vehicles. He had been making his way around to most of the group and Krysta was the last. Leroy wasn’t the kind of man who liked to wait but in this moment Krysta seemed to be taking every bit of her dear sweet time.
“COME… ON!” He bellowed.
Anyone watching the event would think he was being unreasonable fortunately no one was hanging around long enough to cast judgment. Those that were paying attention on the other hand had something else on their mind entirely, food. Krysta quickly grabbed the remainder of her bags and tossed them in the car.
As the three vehicles pulled out of the Frisco buildings parking lot she pulled a small laptop from one of her bags. A few moments later Leroy was pleased with her once again as radio traffic began filling the air of the cab.
“Too bad Rains can’t hear this, I’m sure he would have something to say about it.” The driver mused. Leroy smiled to himself thinking about the group he had put together suddenly he looked to Krysta.
“He’s right, Krysta find away to pipe it through to the others. We need everyone to know where the military dogs are.” He glanced out the back window towards the other two cars. “Shoulda let Gina drive the second car, White’s gunna kill someone and we will be left short.” Leroy shook his head.
“Ok we should be linked with their Bluetooth in their car. GUYS? Can you hear us?” Krysta had been working with computers and electronics her entire life there was nothing that stood in her way when it came to tech. ‘Yeah we hear ya, Krysta that’s freakin awesome.” Poured through the cars speakers, the sound quality wasn’t the best but it got the job done.
Krysta smiled hearing Lendal’s voice “No problem Lendal, listen Leroy wants you to listen to the radio I have pulled up I will put it over to you.” Krysta made a few quick strokes on the computer then closed it.
“Got it. I will get back to you when I have something.” Lendal said sounding farther from the microphone than he once had.
Leroy wondered for a moment if Lendal Rains was worth the effort to keep aboard if Krysta could handle communications. He began going over his group in his mind starting with Krysta Fenton. She had been an IT worker for as long as he had known her and only being twenty-seven put her right in the age group who could keep up with the technology. Next was Lendal Rains, he was something of a tech genius himself but more driven towards cell phones, ham radios and other communication devices. With everything happening the way it was Leroy suddenly wondered how long their electronic toys would be around.
Walter Rab was next on the list he had been a friend of Leroy’s for years prior to the event they had been involved with the same groups and interest. Compared to Walter there was no person Leroy trusted more.
The main difference between Leroy and Walter was the number of guns they had brought to the fight. Walter had been stock piling firearms for years, it seemed as though every week he would come around with a new gun of some kind. Leroy had no question in his mind who was the master of arms in the group and left the count of munitions to him.
Regina Redfield or ‘Gina’ had been a number of things before the fall, she was the most intelligent person Leroy believed he had ever met. Regina was one of the primary reasons the group had sought out those selected. For years Regina had struggled with certain aspects of society, mainly the social verity. She was a brilliant woman with next to no people skills. Leroy had promptly taken this to his advantage being the silver tongued man he was. He had spent some time sowing seeds of doubt into her mind regarding topics which wooed her over to his points of view. The group he worked with was pleased to have Gina working with them, she had single handedly engineered hierarchy plans which made their efforts nearly flawless.
Before he was able to complete his mental check list an explosion went off just ahead of their position. Their convoy had been steadily weaving around abandoned cars on southbound 65 highway as they drew closer to the Sunshine exit. As they crept across the bridge Leroy was able to see a building completely engulfed in flames as a green van sped away westbound under the bridge. He laughed as he watched the van dart off down Sunshine with ten or so freaks chasing after it as if they were dogs after the mailman. The sight was rather comical. Looking back towards the building he took notice to the red sign high above the parking lot and suddenly realized they were in trouble.
“GET DOWN!” Leroy shouted as the second blast went off.
The gas station on the lower roadway erupted into an inferno. Their cars came to an abrupt stop as smoke billowed into the afternoon sky. Leroy glanced about the cab of his vehicle and determined everyone appeared ok. Looking out the back window he suddenly felt the need to kill his second car’s driver if he wasn’t already dead.
The second car was firmly planted front end against the bridges retaining wall. Leroy jumped from the car and quickly spanned the distant to the crash. Glancing around through the window everyone inside appeared to be ok.
“WHITE! WHAT THE HELL!” He yelled as he yanked the door open. Leroy never gave a break regardless of the circumstances.
Leroy demanded they get out of the car, there was no point in taking the risk with the damaged vehicle. He knew the cost of screwing up this early in the game. Leroy had wondered quite a bit on Derrick White ever since they first met. Derrick was nothing more than street trash and for the most part he still was. He had known the boy for a few months now and to begin with had high hopes for, but as time passed those faded.
Leroy had been repeatedly going over his roster in his mind wondering if they could do without Derrick but always went against the idea for some reason. Times where different now and locating useful people would be a challenge, Derrick’s addition to the team was short notice and Leroy wasn’t happy about it.
With the remaining cars loaded down with equipment there left next to no room for the remaining people. Looking around the area Leroy began to realize things were getting out of hand. Freaks in the area seemed to be responding to the crash and quickly moving in on their position.
“White head towards those buildings and find us some high ground, Walter go with him make sure he doesn’t mess that up too!” Leroy moved towards Regina who was fumbling for her pistol in the front seat of the car. “You need to get in the car now.”
Without a word she took a seat as Hank Dolis shifted the car into gear. “Don’t worry boss Devon and I will get these rigs to the apartments.” Hank was Derrick’s cousin and had been a driver at the Springfield Raceway before all this had occurred and had been on track to win the season until the end of the world happened. It was nearly a no brainer selecting Dolis as the expert driver for the group.
Leroy watched as his grouped split up, as Walter and Derrick moved towards the apartments and Hank and Devon started heading around south. He was left the remainder of the group on foot. Leroy was at least happy to see his small crew moving as a group advancing like they had been shown too. They steadily moved towards the apartments towards where Derrick had disappeared to with Walter. Ahead he could hear the occasional gunshot coming from the room Walter entered.
Closing the distance to the apartments was easy enough but Leroy began to take notice of the additional zombies their gunfire was bringing in. He knew they couldn’t stop shooting but at the same time knew this was only making the situation worse overall. Finally, out of the corner of his eye he could make out the staircase. This would work to their advantage allowing them to bottle neck the undead and get them to higher ground. To his surprise Derrick had already put a barricade in place to slow the advancement of the freaks.
Unbeknownst to Hank and Regina the crowd of freaks had swelled to nearly a hundred as they pulled in on the backside of the apartments. On the second floor Jorge Alexander and Christian Hale, the groups ‘Mr. Fix-it’s’ quickly lowered a makeshift ladder. Slowly they began moving their gear up to the second floor. With the group reunited they decided it was time to do an inventory of what they had salvaged. The entire upper level was cleared out and with the Fix-its working on the stairways the upper floor was theirs.
Leroy wasn’t pleased with the delay but felt the apartments would suit them for the remainder of the night. Jorge, Christian and Hank had taken to work on the fortifications of the upper level while Regina, Lendal and Krysta worked on the computers. Leroy wanted to know more about what was happening out there and knew that the tech answer was going to be short lived if this went on much longer.
Outside on the walkway Jorge had mounted the ‘ladder’ to the supports for the walkway, this allowed access to the roof. Leroy knew Devon would be hiding out on the roof somewhere as he took hold of the ladder. Below the shrieks from one of the freaks filled the air and in that moment Leroy knew the crowd would be much larger by morning.
Atop the roof Devon Archer sat with Derrick looking out towards 65 highway. Derrick was holding binoculars to his face.
“OK…umm red truck the in the bed. See the one in the back?” Derrick pointed as he looked towards Devon trying to specify what he was talking about. Without a word Devon slowly released his breath and gently began squeezing the trigger. He had learned to shoot when he was a kid from his step father and felt confident in his skill. Devon had won numerous awards over the years for being something of a marksmen but recently hadn’t been as involved as he once was. With the last bit of air out of his lungs the trigger pull was complete and the rifle went off. The blast from the rifle was next to unheard thanks to the suppressor attachment Walter had put together. Devon didn’t even bother looking to see what had happened. He knew full well the scruffy man in the paint covered jeans was now lying completely dead in the bed of the S10. He had struck the man in the lower left side of the back of his head sending a shower of red all over the pavement on the far side of the truck.
“DUDE! That was sick! How did you do that? Can you teach me to do that?” Derrick was giddy and giggling.
Before even having the chance to respond Leroy interjected “Derrick! I need you to get a move on checking out the remaining apartments. We have to know what is here before nightfall.” The tone in his voice was becoming more defined every time he spoke to Derrick. Most of the group was beginning to pick up on the frustration and it had only been a few hours in to the mess.
Without a word Derrick stood and moved towards the ladder. Over the next few hours he moved around the upper tier of the apartments looking inside each. For the most part there wasn’t any real surprises, Derrick had found a decent stock of canned goods but not much else seemed useful. Looking outside towards the parking lot between buildings Derrick noticed the large pile of burned corpses surrounding a large metal dumpster. He wondered what had happened but felt it wasn’t worth pursuing, plus with the sun starting to touch the tree line he knew he should be getting back with the supplies he had found.
With everyone back at the commandeered apartments Leroy began his evening ritual of counting down supplies while Lendal and Krysta worked on reaching head command. All was quite even the screaming bitch outside had stopped. Most of the freaks in the parking lot had begun mulling about as if they had forgotten the group was there. Suddenly Devon called out over the walkie talkie.
“We have movement from the highway.” His voice was soft but clear.
Leroy and the others quickly grabbed their weapons and moved to the closest window. As they watched a single man could be seen jogging towards the apartments. Devon asked if he should take the shot. Leroy thought for a moment while listening to Derrick giggle while suggesting yes.
Finally, he responded “There’s no need. The freaks below will suffice in dealing with him.” Devon didn’t respond and Derrick seemed upset by the idea but kept it to himself.
They watched as the man began picking up speed towards the crowd, suddenly he tossed what looked like a bottle high into the air. The freaks seemed to be taking notice to him at the same moment the explosion erupted from the center of the group sending body part sailing in all directions. Leroy and the others were shocked having barely enough time to duck. The shockwave was intense and could be felt deep within their chest. Looking back outside the man had darted into an open door on the lower section of the building as several others chased in behind him becoming wedged in the doorway.
With his interest peaked Leroy got to his feet. “Change in plans! Let’s move!” Everyone scrambled and stood up. Leroy exited the apartment and called over the radio for Devon to put down anything that moved once they were on the ground. As if to confirm his understanding one of the freaks jammed in the doorway suddenly went limp as his head popped into a fountain of red. Derrick quickly sprinted down the stairs and jumped their barricade. He took his first shot at an elderly looking man whose shoulder was soaked in blood. The bullet hit the man in the face knocking him to the ground, for a moment Leroy was as pleased at Derrick but the old man began to stand again. Derricks shot had managed to glance the right side of his face tearing open the flesh and even exposing teeth. Before Derrick could respond a second shot was fire and the old man fell hard this time staying down. Looking over his shoulder Derrick caught eyes with Leroy and knew who had saved his ass.
With Devon on the roof Leroy, Walter, Derrick and Hank began moving towards the apartment where the stranger had ran. Derrick wanted to prove himself but decided to hold back for a moment. To his right Walter took a shot knocking a woman to the ground, he ran forward planted his foot on her chest and fired a second round into her head. Derrick watched and felt fear deep inside as he studied the look of apathy on Walter’s face as he knelt down foot still planted on the dead woman’s chest and took a third shot taking out a second target which was sprinting towards Hank.
For Hank this was easy work, he was wielding the shotgun amongst them all. He felt this was the best approach because he didn’t have to be as precise. His first two rounds proved this point as two more from the crowd fell. Between the explosion and the gunfire more freaks began running towards the open conflict, one was a man in a business suit the other a Hispanic woman dressed in an Incredible Pizza uniform both bleeding with looks of rage. The Incredible Pizza woman began screaming as she drew closer to apartments.
From the rooftop Devon knew she was going to be an issue, he knew the gunfire alone was enough to draw attention but the screams would only increase the problem. His first shot took out the businessman in mid step. He cussed himself as his second round missed the Pizza woman. He watched in horror as she tackled Derrick to the ground, in a moment of panic he struggled for a shot. The sound of a shot rang out, Derrick had shot the screamer in the face and pushed her off of himself. As he began to regroup Leroy turned and faced him holding his gun forward. Derrick ducked thinking his friend was going to shot him, in fact Leroy did shot but not Derrick. Derrick White looked behind him and saw that he had again missed his mark and once again Leroy had covered from him.
Without time to kick himself over the ordeal Derrick moved forward with the rest of the group. Walter was near the front and had again knocked down another target quickly following it with a second shot to the head. Derrick was in awe of the others and how fluid they moved in the situation, to his left took two more shotgun blast taking out two more. For an instant he thought he would do better if there were some obstacles between him and his targets. He really thought this would improve his chances of proving himself. Looking around he saw the chance and took it, breathing hard he had spanned the remaining distance and had emerged in the apartment. His eye took a moment to adjust behind him he could hear another screaming person followed by two shots. Derrick wondered if Walter had taken those shots or if it was Devon.
Leroy entered the apartment just behind Derrick as did Walter and Hank who had both taken two final shots before crossing the threshold of the room. Devon called off over the radio claiming everything was clear on the outside currently. Leroy smiled as he brought his rifle down and drew his pistol. Outside two more shots rang out, followed by Devon again advising outside was clear.
The small apartment only had one hallway off to the left just like the rooms on the upper walkway. From around the corner emerged a young man dressed in blue jeans. His bare chest was completely torn open and most of his intestine was falling out. Derrick fired two rounds as did Leroy. Derrick felt confidence coming back again as the shirtless man fell. Suddenly, the feeling diminished when he saw Leroy had not only taken the shot that killed the young man but had also taken out the other freak behind him as well. In the hallway lay what seemed to be the last of the original crowd, most of its legs were missing and charred around the bottoms of the stumps. Derrick thought it was from the blast earlier. Looking around he noticed several bodies bleeding from the head which he knew they hadn’t put down.
The legless man lay propped up against the wall and was pawing at a door to its right. Hank pulled his pistol and took the shot. Leroy moved closer to the door and kicked the legless man’s body out of the way. With the door unblocked he took hold of the handle and began to turn the knob. Leroy considered announcing their presence but laughed at the idea knowing the gun shots had done that for them. As Leroy pushed the door open he made eye contact with the man inside who stood armed with a knife. Leroy shouted for everyone to stop. Fortunately, everyone seemed to listen as they stood pointing their guns at the stranger with the knife.
***EARLIER
Gage struggled to maintain his stance while the back of his leg seized in pain insisting he rub it. He pushed the thought from his mind and readied himself. He was stunned to see four men with guns standing before him. Every bit of his body tensed up and he simply stood there. The man nearest to the door was talking but Gage couldn’t make out the words, the humming in his mind was starting to fade, and for a moment he felt as if he was going to pass out. Gage could feel his ears tingling as his head wobbled forward, his vision began to tunnel and in that moment he knew he was going to pass out. The last thing he saw was the man nearest to him reaching out to catch him.
Leroy managed to scoop the young man up before he fell to the ground. “GUYS YOU NEED TO BE LEAVING NOW!” Leroy had never heard Devon lose control of his emotions like that and suddenly knew their time here was running very short. “Gentlemen it is time for us to be leaving.” Leroy declared as he tossed Gage over his should in a firemen carry.
The trip across the parking lot was in some ways shorter and in others much much further than the first trip. Leroy was the first back to the barricade, even with the extra weight he managed to out run the others. He had noticed Devon standing on the rooftop taking shot after shot. Once the young stranger was behind the barricade he turned to see what he had been running from. A new crowd was closing in on them and was at least three times if not four times as large as the one they had just dealt with.
Facing at least four hundred Leroy began shooting into the crowd trying to give Hank, Walter and Derrick enough time to get back. Walter was the next back, Leroy ordered him over the barricade and told him to get the young man upstairs. Leroy moved over the barricade as well, moving to the lower platform for better stability as he braced himself on the railing.
Hank cleared the barricade in a smooth movement and knelt down to reload his shotgun. He knew to post up here to ensure nothing else got over. Behind him Hank heard Leroy yell, and looked in time to see if Leroy preparing to jump the rails back into the lot. Hank quickly scaled the steps and took hold of Leroy.
Out in the parking lot Hank saw his cousin lying on his stomach with one of the freaks on his back. Hank suddenly understood and wanted to jump into the fight too but knew they could never make it in time. Instead he grabbed the radio from Leroy’s shoulder and shouted for Devon to do something. The response came instantly and the bloodied man on Derrick’s was thrown off striking the ground like a ragdoll tossed aside by a child. Derrick struggled to get to his feet and looked as if he was going to fall again but managed not to. Finally, Derrick made the stair case and fought his way over the barricade. Leroy and Hank helped him to the upper walk way were they pushed furniture down the upper stairs to block off the upper level.
With everyone back Leroy put Jorge on the task of blocking off the remainder of the stairs and upper walkway. Inside he found Bradley Maples mulling around checking over the stranger. Maples was the medic for the group and his skill was just what Leroy and Gina had wanted. After a moment he moved back to his bags and called for Derrick to sit down.
Leroy was fed up and wanted to be ahead of the curve again. On one hand he was thankful to see the training he had put his group through had paid off. But on the other he hated being in the dark and not understanding a situation. For him it was like torture, he was the string puller and he demanded answers. “What do we know?”
Regina was the first to answer “From what we found on him, his name is Cartes. Gage Cartes He’s a security guard, local. Married, twenty-six, no other family other than the wife, no record other than that. As for everything else we haven’t got a clue so far. Military frequencies aren’t providing much. And other sources aren’t offering solid leads, it’s like no one knows anything.” Leroy looked at Gage thinking to himself young man you will make a fine addition to their team given the right pushes. Behind him Gina turned back to the computers. “I need you all to start working on military evac locations and other staging areas. Forward Mr. Cartes’ information as well as those locations back to head command.” Leroy walked towards one of the windows in the apartment.
Outside the screams of the freaks below grew more frequent as they fumbled about in the parking lot below. After a brief pause Leroy continued “It’s like getting a glimpse into hell isn’t it?”