Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 2): Conflict (14 page)

“Over
the fence Jacob! Get over now!”

Lizzy
was correct. The delay of a few seconds was more than enough. I ran the forty
feet separating us, tucking the radio into my shirt. Planting a foot on the
base of the fence, I pressed off, leaping as high as I could. My outstretched
hand just reached those extended from above, and I felt someone clasp my wrist.
More shots were fired, as Tara quickly and efficiently killed those zombies
approaching my position.

“Get him
inside!” screamed Lizzy. “Hurry!”

I was
thinking the same thing, and if it didn’t happen fast, I intended to jerk free
and run away. Fortunately, another fellow caught hold of my free arm, and I was
pulled up. Flipping over the top, I gracefully missed the scaffolding they were
standing on and took a ten foot tumble to the rocky dirt on the opposite side.
That was painful. Come nightfall, I might be limping as badly as Lizzy.

By the
way, Lizzy’s ankle was still on the mend. She could drive without any apparent
difficulty, but on foot she was barely moving. That was the primary reason she
hadn’t joined the twins in shooting. She needed to remain next to the open car
door. She could get in and out readily enough, but the woman was in no
condition to tromp about.

“I’m inside,”
I called, over the radio. “Get out of there, and draw off as many shamblers as
you can.”

I heard
the SUV pull away.

“Damn,
that hurts.”

“Who are
you?”

I looked
up at the man but didn’t recognize him.

“Name’s
Jacob Thornton. I passed through here last year, back in August when it all
started.”

“I
remember. You came in with a girl.”

I
nodded. “That was Briana Mills. She’s still alive and kicking.”

“What
are you doing here?” The fellow seemed confused. “As much as I hate to say it,
you were better off out there.”

“Yeah, I
sort of noticed your situation.” I jingled the radio. “Wanted to get a look so
we could figure out how best to help. But first, if you don’t mind, can I sit
down somewhere, other than on the ground? I’d like to speak with Edwin as
well.”

The
man’s eyes dropped. “He’s dead.”

*
* *

“No more
Edwin.”

“Briana’s
going to be upset about that,” replied Lizzy. “She always said she liked the
guy.”

“Me too.
He did a good job getting this place going. From what I was told, that lasted
until around the end of the year when it started to go terribly wrong.”

Of those
individuals whom Briana and I had met and remembered, only Laura remained. The
woman, who was once significantly fatter than Lizzy, was now stick thin. The
residents of Anadarko were nearing the end of their supplies. Even with
brutally strict rationing, they were down to a couple of months at best,
probably less.

I’ll
take this opportunity to provide a quick summary of events. To start with, the
summer and early fall went well. Additional survivors trickled in, and they
were quick to get established. Unfortunately, and much as I had predicted, the
number of zombies leaving the cities steadily increased. Initially, they would
kill a handful each day, but by late October this grew to nearly a hundred.
Think about that for a moment. In order to keep their town clear, they had to
put down ten times ten shamblers every single day. Unwilling to relocate,
partly out of a stubborn determination to remain in their homes but also
because they didn’t know where else to go, the group decided to construct a
fence. This was completed by the first of December and quickly strengthened by
piling massive amounts of dirt behind it. Fearing the zombies might get through
anyway, they constructed a second one further back.

Aside
from not cutting their losses and going, they made two huge mistakes,
unforgivable ones. First, they did not move all their supplies into the
compound. A large portion was there, that is true, but most was kept in either
the city hall or the grocery store. This made perfect sense way back when, but
once it started to become so very dangerous to leave their little fortress,
they should have reconsidered. It was obvious that they might be driven inside
at any time and kept there by sheer numbers.

Second,
they ran out of bullets. Granted, that wasn’t really their fault, but they knew
there was a limited number available. As their supplies dwindled, it would have
been prudent to make adjustments to their overall strategy. Namely, they should
have finally made a run for it, but that, as we well know, did not happen. When
they finally did decide it was best to leave, sometime in late winter, there
was no chance for success.

A large
group made the attempt anyway, climbing over the fence, trying to reach the
side street where they had left their cars and trucks. Of these, half died
outright. Weakened by hunger, they tripped, stumbled, fell, or were simply
overcome. It wasn’t any better for the others. Most of the vehicles wouldn’t
start. They’d been sitting idle for too long. Two cars did manage to get going,
but one promptly struck a light pole. The other had a smoking, sputtering
engine that seemed incapable of accelerating over twenty miles an hour. The
prevailing belief is that the occupants did not get far.

With
nothing else to do, the remnants fashioned spears and took baseball bats or
whatever other heavy, blunt object they could find and fought back. Yet, it was
proving difficult. They’d killed hundreds, possibly thousands, but that proved
almost as deadly as doing nothing. Every corpse that fell became a stepping
stone for the others. Even a small pile might allow the zombies to get over the
top and inside. Realizing this, they next tried to keep the monsters spread
out, generally by showing themselves in different places. When the opportunity
to slay a lone zombie was presented, it was taken, but that was the limit of
their offensive tactics. And, always, they labored to keep the barricade
intact.

“Some of
those we drew off haven’t gone back,” said Lizzy. “Damn things followed us for
a long time, until we finally pulled ahead. I think they just continued down
the highway. From where we’re watching now, I’d say the area immediately around
you has roughly half of what was there before. No way to tell how long that’ll
last.”

“Better
than I hoped,” I replied. “We’ll try to pull even more before we leave. The
people here are not in good shape. They won’t be able to run all that fast. My
hip’s aching too, from when I fell getting over the wall, but I can still
move.”

“I’d
yell at you for being so fucking clumsy, but I don’t feel like taking the time.
This has been one sucky trip so far. Stop jumping up and down Mary! Fine. The
brat wants to know if everyone there is coming.”

“Yes and
yes,” said Laura. Being the only person I knew from before, she was sticking
close, helping to coordinate. The people of Anadarko didn’t have any sort of
formal leadership, not anymore. “We all want out.”

“Be
fucking crazy not to. How are you getting over the fence?” asked Lizzy.

I
paused, thinking. “We’ll get ready in advance and drop some mattresses on the
outside to land on. It would be impossible to knock a hole in the fence, at
least quickly. The dirt behind it is ten feet thick in places. Getting up high
is easy enough. There’s platforms and scaffolding and ladders spread about all
over.”

“Wonderful,
and we can have even more people banged up like you and me. Maybe some compound
fractures. Mattresses are not going to cut it.”

“We can
drop a ladder on the opposite side and just climb down,” offered Laura.

“You
hear that?” I asked.

I could
picture Lizzy’s smug expression.

“Damn
right. That girl is way smarter than you, but then so are most snails.”

“Snails?”

She
snorted. “It’s what popped into my head. I’m every bit as exhausted as you.
Fuck! Forget it.”

*
* *

We spent
the rest of that day and the following night resting. At my urging, the
survivors ate a decent meal, their first in a long time. I was forced to issue
several reassurances that, yes, we really did have plenty of food and they
weren’t speeding their deaths by consuming the little that remained. Not that
this was much of a concern, after the fact. Most couldn’t eat much, having restricted
themselves for too long. Still, any extra energy I could squeeze out of them
would be a benefit.

“Do you
think this will work?” asked Laura.

“It
should, but if you have something better, I’m open to changes.”

“I have
nothing.”

“Your
guys ready?”

“Yeah,
Bill and Tony are good. Whenever you want.”

I lifted
my radio. Tony had the spare I’d been carrying. “You can start diversion one.”

“Got
it,” he said.

I could
hear the two of them, on the opposite side of the settlement, jumping up and
down, yelling for the zombies to come and get them. Everyone else was quietly
waiting near the spot we’d be exiting from.

“Is it
working?”

“Sure is
Jacob.” That was Mary. “The area by you is pretty full, but those in the back
and sides are going for those guys.”

“Okay. You
can start diversion two as soon as you’re ready.”

I
watched Lizzy and Sofie drive up a few minutes later. You know, there is
something seriously wrong about others driving my Jeep. Ignore that random
thought. So, with Lizzy in my Wrangler and Sofie in the SUV, the pair came
straight down the road toward our exit spot. There they separated, heading in
opposite directions, taking side streets and roughly following the fence. This
had the effect of drawing more zombies away.

Once
they were in sight of the group that Bill and Tony had distracted, they shifted
direction, moving as slowly as possible with literally hundreds of the
shambling menace following. God, please don’t let either one blow a tire or get
stuck.

“Mary,
what’s our status?”

“Marcus
and me are coming in. We have a pretty open route. A few more seconds.”

“We’re
here,” announced Bill, breathless.

“We’re
almost in position,” continued Mary. “You can move… Now!”

I jumped
up and took a quick look around. The semi slowed, and Tara and Dale leapt off.
Both had been hanging on to the doors outside the cab. It wasn’t the safest way
to travel, but secure enough while moving slowly. Once on the ground, the twins
darted forward as Marcus began to turn the lumbering truck. He was limited by
the space available but had it reversed and facing outward easily enough. Only,
it was over a hundred yards away. That was further than we expected and far
more than I’d hoped, but the pavement nearest me was cracked and broken, as
well as littered with bodies and debris. It was likely for the best, if not
outright necessary.

“Pass me
the ladder,” I ordered.

Being
far stronger than any in this malnourished group, I’d volunteered to go first.
Several others pushed the extension ladder toward me, and I dragged it up,
allowing it to flip over the top of the fence. The moment it clattered against
the ground outside, I swung myself over and scooted down. Holding it in place,
I waited until two men joined me. These would ensure it didn’t slip while the
others descended.

Tara and
Dale were sprinting for us, largely ignoring those zombies still in the area.
That was not at all like them, but they knew their business. The twins stopped
a good thirty feet from me, unslung the M-16’s from their backs, and began to
target the walking corpses.

“You get
the close ones,” said Dale.

Both
were dropping zombies at several hundred feet or more, without the benefit of a
scope. Compared to them, I was anything but a marksman. Of course, I wasn’t a
quasi-catatonic human who lacked the ability to communicate in a socially
acceptable manner. Go me!

As shaky
as Laura and the others had been, I refrained from sharing my extra pistol.
Probably not the best tactic, but I wanted to have a spare ready in case of a
jam.

“Jacob,
to your left. No!” screamed Mary. “Your other left!”

I got
repositioned and saw the large group that had her so concerned. I wasn’t sure
if they’d been among those following Lizzy or if it was another band entirely.
They came from behind some buildings, a grouping that had not burned down, and
remained out of sight until they were very, very close.

“Tara!
Dale! Get those now!”

The
twins, catching sight of the new threat, did as they were told. Standing side
by side, they began to systematically drop the zombies, one after another. It
was impressive, but it wasn’t enough.

“Laura,
how many are left inside?”

“Just a
few.”

“Most of
you, get going now. Right to the truck. Get in the back.”

Our plan
had been to move as a group with our guns and their clubs enabling us to force
our way through. Being spread out would make it that much harder to protect one
another. However, I wasn’t inclined to delay further. There was a clear run to
the semi, but that wouldn’t last. Marcus saw the problem as well, and he was
urgently waving everyone over.