We spent the remainder of the night in the container inches away from the creeps. Sadly enough, it's been the safest rest stop thus far for my brother and me. Daniel suggested we wait until it's bright to make our move. Counter-intuitive in the stealth point of view if you ask me but it's definitely better than trying to start trouble in pitch black. I'm still fully against the plan. We don't need to go around courting trouble when it's already all around us. The creeps themselves are tough enough to deal with. Daniel is invested in the plan but I suspect he's just interested in the supplies he'll get out of it and I don't blame him. I just don't want to be apart of an all-out war. We peak outside the container door. The brightness is blinding after being stuck inside that dark container all night. There are a few attackers out there but the main crowd has moved elsewhere. Daniel shoves the door open and Martin follows behind like a sidekick. It's an amusing sight to me. I stroll out slowly still weaponless. My brother runs toward a woman crawling and proceeds to stomp her dome like an insect. Daniel uses his rifle like a bat of his own taking on two creeps at a time with ease. It's simple to point out that I don't belong with the dynamic duo but everyone needs a mascot I guess.
The three of us head east on my brother's orders. He's hell bent on tracking these scumbags. I'm angry as well but I'd rather cut my losses where they stand. It takes us around three miles but I know we've tracked them when Martin waves us over donning a sinister smile.
"There they are." he says.
I see nothing but the dying smoke from a fire. We move in slowly and Daniel draws his rifle. This can escalate into a bloodbath so I resort to picking up a large rock near the sidewalk. There's a waist high barricade before the fire and a small structure with its drapes blowing in the breeze. There's still not a soul in sight. It's eerie actually. Daniel instructs me to scout the alleyway to my left. I look at him for a second then grudgingly do as ordered. The buildings to my left are one-story and all the doors are open which makes my heart race. I clench the rock tightly and inch my way to the corner of the building. I peer over for a second then retract my head. I do so several times until I'm positive nobody is there. This time I stare through the alley and see another fire that's finishing off. It's clear that somebody is here, even if it isn't the bastards Martin's been tracking.
Martin yells a profanity and I drop my rock and sprint to the sound. I take a sharp turn into a structure across the street.
"What's going on?" I let out trying to catch my breath.
"Look." Martin says in a low tone.
The walls of the structure are covered in blood with splatter apparent on the ceiling as well. There are single appendages scattered through the room and a head or two lying on the floor. I run back out and let the vomit flow out of my mouth. Daniel runs to my side and pats my back. He takes a look inside then quickly turns in shock. Martin walks back out with something in his hands. It's covered in red but it's instantly recognizable. It's my bag that had been stolen from me in the mugging. I guess the scum did end up getting what they deserved but if we don't get out of here we're going to suffer the same fate.
There's shuffling coming from the structures all around. You'd think we'd have learned by now to remain quite no matter what. Out come the creeps from the small structures on the street. One-by-one, building by building they step out and see their next meal- us. Daniel runs to the barricade and waves us over. I trail behind Martin who seems to vault right over the spiked fence. The creeps begin to pour into the street and form a mob.
"Gather all you can and let's scram!" says Daniel.
"Let's just go, please." I say hoping they'll hear.
Martin kicks open a door and runs right in. Daniel takes the adjacent structure and mimics my brother. He kicks open the door and there's rustling inside. Bullets fly and I watch a plume of red shoot from Daniel's body. He shuffles backward and drops his rifle. I scream out for Daniel and Martin runs out with a box in his arms. Daniel continues moving backward until he trips and plunges his back into the spikes on the fence. I jump to my side and stare into the building Daniel kicked open. Martin screams for me to run and I do so in time. Bullets ricochet off the pavement inches from where I was lying. There's a shooter on one end and a horde of creeps on the other.
"Daniel." Martin screams out. There's no response. Blood oozes from Mr. Thompson's mouth. The creeps beyond the fence begin to moan loudly. They are getting riled and my brother and I are stuck in a dead end. Martin hides behind his door and uses his foot to reach Daniel's rifle. Bullets fly once again toward Martin's leg but they miss completely. He's got a mad look on his face and without any hesitation turns past the door and begins to unload. Martin runs toward the entrance and nothing leaves save for some loud screaming. I run into the room disregarding my fear of everything going on. There's a man at the end of the room struggling to catch his breath. He's on the ground with a bullet hole on his arm. Martin is leaning next to me chest on the ground. I crouch down and take my brother into my arms.
"Stay with me Martin, please."
His eyes begin to roll back and his hand falls to the ground. I notice several bullet holes on his chest.
"No, no, no, Martin stop. You can't die. I can't do this without you." They are my last words to my brother. His pulse ends and he doesn't respond further. The silence is broken by his shooter who is moving his arm trying to reach for his gun. I lay Martin down slowly and rise to my feet. I shuffle toward his bat that lies on the pavement near Daniel's lifeless body being picked clean by the creeps. I throw the bat into the air with my shoe in homage to my brother and return to the room where he died. The killer is still reaching for his weapon struggling to speak. His eyes are wide as I walk toward him. The man stops reaching for the gun and instead presses his palms together slowly. He's begging for mercy. But he killed my brother, and that trumps every fiber of common sense or compassion I had left. I angle the heavy bat over my head and give him one last look before I cave in his crown. The strikes are coming in flurries until I'm smashing a bowl of liquid. It's my only kill.
I drag my feet outside and stare at the grizzly sight before me. There's got to be sixty strong and they're all hungry for Walter Jones. There's nothing but death here and I don't expect to break the mold. The fence falls over and the creeps pour inside.
****
* NOTE
The short story above is a spin-off of a larger tale. If you enjoyed the short then please consider reading more in Guns, Booze & Zombies written by the same author.
Thank you!
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends