

BOOKS FROM THE HEAD GEEK

OUTLAST SERIES

GEEKS WILL OVERCOME

This One is in Process, It's a Prequel

GEEKS WILL GATHER

Obviously Done, You're Reading It

GEEKS WILL RISE

I'm On It, Currently

GEEKS WILL FALL

Eventually, One Day

GEEKS WILL WAR

Sure to Be the Last, Whatever Comes Between?

A JOHN PARKS NOVEL

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Done and in Editing, Working on More (In My Mind)

## COPYRIGHT © 2017

## SHANE MICHAEL LASSETTER

## ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

## PUBLISHED BY KAOTIK COW

OUTLAST:

Geeks Will Gather

By Shane Lassetter

PROLOGUE

Zombie Armageddon! Walkers, roamers, lurchers, munchers...whatever you want to call them–they were here, coming after everyone, eating brains like there was no tomorrow...and for plenty of folks, there wasn't to be another morning. The apocalypse–the event we loved to watch throughout our lives in TV shows, movies, and books–it was finally actually happening. "How did it start?", "How many survived?", "What is happening?", "WTF?!" Valid questions with no single, definite answer. I doubt the truth will ever be given to us, even if there is still someone here who knows the truth. The dominant belief amongst gamers across the nation is that a virus was released. It was either an evil experiment meant to control society, a drug company gone rogue for more profits, or a terrorist plot to bring the nation down. This type of wild rumor and speculation is what occurs when you allow the internet to stay up for too long.

Stories about small riots started showing up on the net. It seemed like groups were protesting virtually everything and everyone: cops, Wall Street, politicians, the system in general; some rioted against what they perceived as "unfairness." Hurtful words, self-entitled children escaping justice, peacenik commies bringing down our way of life, and safe spaces. Safe Spaces? What the hell is that supposed to mean? For a while, these episodes were blown off by the government as the usual fluff fit for sensationalist media that no longer reported news but gave inflammatory editorials. It was the new Normal.

The strange thing, we finally realized, was that the riots weren't actually about anything worth protesting. Yet. They became bigger and bigger, then more violent and uncontrollable. People at home started to wonder if this was the next wave in a revolution against an unpopular government. Then rioters started to attack each other, then bystanders, too. More than just the usual few were dying and it was progressing. People who had been chanting and waving signs around were becoming irrational, acting like rabid animals. Then a major city in Canada fell. This was the beginning of civilization's end, only the nation didn't realize it. How could we? Bloggers and news sites started using the "Z-word," scaring us with posts about zombie-like people, but though these stories were taken down as quickly as they showed up, still, they spread. Television news had given up reporting truthful information for fear of losing viewership, and D.C. would never admit anything was wrong; they never had. Little by little, actual news was starting to leak out; federal law enforcement could only take down websites so quick; they could never compete with those who put them up. The apocalypse had arrived; by the time it was confirmed, it was pretty late in the game.

This apparent viral epidemic started popping up in major cities across the globe as planes landed with infected passengers aboard or crashed before anyone could get off, spreading the germs through contact with the dying and infected. No one knew exactly how it started, but it seemed to be transmitted through contact with body fluids. Many people became "brain-fried" merely by being kissed by a significant other or scratched with bloody fingers. Fortunately, a scratch alone wouldn't infect one, but the area would become inflamed, and if not taken care of...well, the virus would take hold. These insane zombiefied were the ones that caused the destruction of the world as we had come to know it. The fever cooked the brain so that the person lost all cognitive awareness and common sense. A few just curled up to die, while others scurried away from people like scared critters, hiding in dark places. Unfortunately, most became wild animals living purely on instinct. These crazed individuals attacked at will, biting, chewing, ripping apart any living thing they could catch and eating their fill.

The military and private contractors were called in to control mayhem in the bigger cities. This only caused more panic and death because there was no oversight of the controllers. Citizens were left in the hands of those that were hired to help but were never prepared for this level of uprising. Many of the "trained" started to panic themselves, causing many more people to die or become infected from their under and overreactions. There really was no way to train troops on how to respond during Zombie Armageddon.

Fortunately for humanity, geeks across the world had been waiting for something like this for many years. Gaming, comics, anime...entertainment in general is a big part of our lives. We may not be the most physically striking examples of people, but knowledge is definitely powerful. I know what you're thinking, but don't stereotype geeks. Many current and former military personnel are geeks. Well, when we had a standing military. Just think about all those first person shooter games; we had already fought every type of monster: terrorists, guerrillas, Nazis, zombies, zombie Nazis, zombie Nazi guerrillas...and creatures unnamed. Geeks are huge fans of hardcore weaponry–guns in every caliber, knives with unbreakable blades, swords taller than our avatars, axes; hell, lightsabers, too. If it will kill or maim, we want it. Go to any comic, anime, or horror convention and watch the warrior imaginations of the many come alive. Costumes range from the sexiest deadly kitty to the most evil despot with a barbed wire bat. Ideas are the currency, whether sold in paperback, hardback, or comic form; or through metal working, leather & lace, and so on. That means the wide world of geeks was prepared and waiting. For the most part. Nerves still fray. Manly men will still pee their pants. Girly girls will take control. Villains sometimes win. Here, we only have one life, and you can't hit pause. But in the end-times, Geekdom will outlast, survive, and prevail.

Chapter 1

Late Sunday Night, October 20th

"Dude. Get your shit together. The damn Horseman is gonna kill us. Get your DPS up. Fucking noob."

"Bite my big, fat, hairy, Lilly-white ass. Learn how to tank. You're supposed to turn a boss away from the group. I can't do damage if I have to keep running away from his cleaving hits. And you call yourself 'L33T'. Dumbass."

"Every week it's the same shit with you fruit loops. Get new material." The healer had to play baby sitter each time they played, but she loved it. Even if she never met any of them, these were her true friends...especially compared to those assholes at work.

"Good gawd. That blew chunks. I don't remember it being that hard last year. Better gear requires more 'suck,' I guess."

This was almost a normal night on World of Warcraft, an online MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). The only difference was that this was the first night of the in-game holiday "Hallow's End." It was a two-week event of collecting candy, changing other people's toons into costumes they didn't ask for, and the daily boss-kill of the Headless Horseman. This daily fight yielded loot higher than normal, so everyone needed it done to every one of their toons on however many servers they played. People just loved to troll each other in game chat–whether it was warranted or not.

Once done, the friends were back in the Orc township of Ogrimmar. The guildies playing that night were made up of names like "Bitealotamus", "Jackylmeoff," "HonorStabr," "DrStranglvr," and "PoppaWoodie." They ran through the scenario several times since only five at a time could get loot from the Horseman, and they all had alternate toons. Once they were finally all finished, PoppaWoodie logged off for the night. He had a shift starting at 6 am as a Chemical Process Operator down in Freeport, Texas, and it was now past midnight.

A couple of the others stayed logged in to Skype for video feeds. They were all using their in-game voices; as one by one they said good night. The few that were left started talking about what they had been seeing on the internet. Zombie-ism was showing up in big cities and apparently, the military was involved. Plenty of people didn't believe any of it; these gamers knew the truth would eventually surface and they were awaiting it. While talking, "Bite" heard some commotion outside his apartment in a rundown part of Chicago. The noise was getting louder and louder; it sounded like a pack of howling dogs. With the video feed still running, a crash came through his apartment and he heard screeching and wailing. He got up, worried his mother had fallen out of her bed or off the couch. He ran into the living room; there was a man, a zombie, munching on his mother. She screamed for help; her blood spraying onto the carpet. Bite was terrified. Too scared to do anything else, the teenager ran back into his room to hide, but not fast enough. Just as he reached the door, another zombie jumped him right in front of the video feed. His guildies could only watch in horror as he was ripped apart. They knew reality from game when they saw it. The truth had just entered their realm and nailed them right between the eyes.

Call of Duty is a first person shooter, or FPS, that was at the top of the gaming world. Civilian and military personnel alike loved it and its different expansions. Most of the nation was home, this being a Sunday night, and the servers were waiting room only. Players like "KilluShortly," "GhostYu," "ChekYurSix," "ImaGhandiKillU," and "Valyum" were competing against players in Britain. In this case, the Americans were all active military or veterans; the Brits were the same on their side of the pond.

There were no video feeds this time, but they were all on the in-game voice chat. They were hollering back and forth as a team while fighting against each other. In the midst of a vicious battle, one of the Brits just stopped in the center of the screen and was killed in-game. Play continued on for a few more seconds until it looked like all the Brits had stopped. Wondering what happened, the American leader "Kill" typed in the chat, which should have brought up a response. There was nothing for about three minutes, then suddenly British players started typing en masse. One of them had been attacked, brutally murdered. Typing stopped. When it resumed, there were only two players responding. They told the Americans that their RAF base was being attacked by "Bloody lunatics!" and that was it. Chat remained live, but the Americans didn't hear from them again.

"Wolfamozart" was flying across the screen while firing his laser blaster. He had been on a roll, disintegrating everyone he could find. Every noob (newcomer) that popped their head up found a burning hole through their body within seconds. This was Wolf's game and he was pwning, or utterly annihilating, anyone available. Destiny could be played as a team, but he had opted for soloing around for the night. He liked mass player-versus-player; one on one slaughter was a way for him to blow off steam after working at his lab all day in Houston. Wolf was single; he had all weekend to kill. He usually had a few friends online, but they were doing other things right now. His guild was still chatting each other up during all the fighting.

While awaiting rebirth, one of the rare times he was killed, he started reading chat. Several of the guild were talking about some zombie apocalypse happening around the world. Wolf shook his head and laughed; grabbed another beer. When he came back, two players, "Itsmifaltudie" and "ImaBeleeber" were discussing an unprecedented riot in Chicago. It was becoming a bigger hell than usual. Lawlessness had taken over; people were killing each other in the streets left and right. "Guess they can't tell the zombies from the hippies," Wolf said, sitting back down. He kept reading; it was gang warfare, but the territories were blurred. It didn't matter if you were zombified or not, black, white, in uniform...; people were killing everyone not in their gang, and some that were. "What a bunch of idiots!" he laughed. "Gun-free zones. What a joke."

But the chat became more intense with new players chiming in constantly. Wolf sat back and watched. He started to wonder about the validity of what he was reading. "Lionstrike" was asking the most questions, it seemed. He was genuinely concerned about the southern Texas region–he lived in Corpus Christi. No one had any answers, but a few had heard that Houston and San Antonio were having their own problems. They weren't as bad as Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago yet, but Houston had already called for and been sent some military and contractor help, apparently because it was such a big economic hub. Oil pipelines and the waterfront factories were a huge asset to the U.S. But "help" was a loose word in the context of Zombie Armageddon. The CDC announced their theory of a pandemic virus; no cure was available and containment was not an option anymore. Things were going to get worse quickly from what everyone was reading and seeing on the internet. The entire world was breaking down and there was no stopping this coming plague of zombie-ism. "Ho lee shit," Wolf said.

Hearing about Houston made Wolf pause. His town, where he sat right now, had gone nuclear. Sure, watching the news the last couple days, he had seen that things were getting bad; but Houston had its history of violence. This time seemed different. He decided right then he'd not go back to the lab until things were under control. He said goodbye to the guild, logged off, and started packing. He stuffed everything he could–clothes, books, laptop, and all the nonperishable food into his little sedan. Then he grabbed every reasonable weapon he could find, including a wooden bat signed by Pete Rose, and every one of his guns. He carefully packed it all with the ammo he had on hand, and placed it by the door. It was well into the wee hours of the morning by the time he was done. He called his brother in Sweeny to check on the family and let them know he'd be driving down in a few hours. He didn't want to alarm his parents at that time of night but made sure his brother knew what was going on and was prepared in case..., well, just in case. With that, he knew he needed sleep for the long day coming.

Chapter 2

Early Monday Morning, October 21st

Michael Lawrence saw the writing on the wall. He liked to peruse the net for more legitimate news and kept seeing stories about these increasing riots. Most of the time, the stories were nothing but lazy jerks and their vainglorious whining instead of getting off their asses and working for what they want. Every day or so, someone would be severely injured, get raped, mugged, or even murdered. Pretty much the status quo–just a sad state of affairs each day, until it became more. It seemed odd to him that such a dramatic story would be gone from a website within a day of showing up. There had always been riots off and on around the world; the news was full of them and there was always a reason and a follow-up, or at least an interview with a cop. But now, Mike thought, there was no clear message anymore, just people acting like rabid animals, intent on destruction. These stories were different; if they were real people needed to know about them. So why were they being shut down? Stories of guerilla-type escalation and death began popping up. These current riots were about nothing and everything all at once, only suddenly the word "zombie" was introduced as if advertising the next blockbuster movie. Panic started in the crowded metropolitan areas first; New York, L.A., Chicago, D.C., these spots also had the most cry-babies and anti-America ideas, Mike knew, so it was no wonder that they lost control first. Most of these cities' citizens didn't keep weapons to defend themselves, and the police were quickly overwhelmed. The panic and loss of control rapidly spread from there.

Now in the lower half of his fourth decade, at forty-two, Michael was a just an older geek with responsibilities. Born a city boy, he never really had a feel for the fishing and hunting way of life. Entertainment had always been his go-to "activity." After failing out of college, another decade and a half of bad choices taught him some valuable lessons and placed some serious responsibility on his shoulders. During those many years, he had always worked physical labor-type jobs. This had made him strong, but age and injuries had taken their toll. Michael married his best friend and they'd produced two boys. Aaron was seventeen; Wayne, sixteen. Life had eventually led him back to college and finally to a much easier lifestyle in the country just outside a small town called Brazoria. None of this was acquired by his own ambition; his loving wife, Ann, with her constant support and encouragement, could take most of the credit. Almost twenty years of marriage had taught him that she and the boys were the only reason he had become the man he was today.

They enjoyed playing World of Warcraft and he and his family would play other games together as well. Michael's tags were "Wookinpanub", "Dabiggoof", and "Tokalodda." Ann used "Tokanadda", and their sons were "DeadlyMouse" and "Idiequickly." Working full time and more with a family, limited his game time, but at least he got to play with his wife every so often, (double entendre intended). Aaron and Wayne had been gaming with their parents for several years and had been home-schooled. Neither had been particularly into watching zombie shows, but knew all about them from gaming and the occasional movie. The boys were taught from an early age how to respect weapons and the proper use of them. They would never touch something as deadly as a gun without permission from mom or dad, unless there was a life-threatening reason, which so far, there had never been. Michael was a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment and had more than his share of weapons around the house. As any good survivalist geek would, he also had swords, axes, and machetes around. Of course, the extensive collection of weaponry in the house was strictly for enjoyment, but would certainly serve as protection if needed. They didn't know then that their arsenal might have to be used for its true purpose after all. Kill or be killed would soon become more than just a phrase used for gaming.

Ann had always been a great mother and wife, but she preferred to stay on the sheltered side when it came to world news. She was easily as intelligent as Michael, maybe more so in common sense, but unless it was close to home, she simply didn't care much. Her family had always kept to watching local news and listening to what their neighbors and church told them regarding world events. Ann had listened to Michael rant and worry about the possibilities and implications of what he had been reading over the last couple weeks. Ann hadn't really believed the internet hype, especially since the television media wasn't reporting it. But she knew something was wrong as soon as Michael got home from his graveyard shift that morning. He was later than usual and concern was written all over his face. He had dropped a box of stuff from his office, run back outside, and started bringing in bags of groceries, boxes of ammunition, and bottled water. It looked like he had spent a few hundred dollars just on the water. Her first thought was that the well had gone down, or possibly the power station, which could isolate them for a period, since they lived so far out in the country. She quickly dismissed the thought; if it was something like that, she would have known before him. As he made his fourth trip in with canned foods, she became truly concerned. She sat in the kitchen and watched him rushing in and out, holding her worry in check, waiting for him to finish.

He didn't say much at first except to tell her to put together whatever cash was available around the house. Michael ran back outside to grab more stuff from his crew cab pickup. She stood there for a second before she followed him outside, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. She had always loved his weirdness and lust for life but this was creeping her out. The next armload he brought in were several dozen thirty-two roll-packs of toilet paper. Now the realization set in that something wasn't right. This hoarding of the sacred rolls was definitely a sign of the end. Ann looked over to the truck and saw that it was still overflowing, front and back, including full gas cans. She ran back inside and told the boys to go help their father. She then went to wake her mother in her room; she told her not to panic, but to gather her valuables, then come out and help her collect any cash, gold, silver, and such that they had hidden around the house. As Ann went about, she instinctively started gathering weapons and ammunition. She knew anything this dire meant protection might be necessary. After that, she went back into the living room, where half the truck was unloaded. Some items had stayed in the truck, as if to be ready to take off on short notice. Michael and the boys came in. He set everyone down to try to calm their nerves and explain the situation he had put them in.

"We are going to be fine," he started, "but it's finally happened. The world is starting to burn."

"What are you talking about? Have we had another terrorist attack?" Ann asked, placing her hand around her mother's shoulders.

Turning to his wide-eyed teenagers, he continued. "Boys, I am going to tell you all something, and I don't want any laughter or giggling. I am deadly serious; I want to make sure that there are no misunderstandings." Michael paused to let this sink in. "Zombies are real. At least, some form of zombie-ism is real, and unfortunately, it's not the undead, slow moving kind."

Wayne made claw hands and came after Aaron, groaning. Michael grabbed him by the arm. "Stop it, Wayne. And stop encouraging your brother. This is no joke." Michael turned to his wife. "Sweetheart, I'm really not kidding or I wouldn't have spent a mint at Wal-Mart."

Ann saw the look of concern and determination on Michael's face. She knew he liked to joke but he would never hurt them financially to take it that far. This prompted her to stop the teenagers from most of the giggling and horseplay. "Shush, you two. Let him explain."

"Thank you, Ann." Michael gathered himself to lay it all out to them. He explained in greater detail about the online news stories that he had been watching pop up and then disappear from websites. He told them about the increasingly violent uprisings, riots, and death toll and the subsequent ongoing reports. Finally he could see that everything was starting to sink in. The more he told his beloved family, the more Michael started to weep for the world in his mind. The one thing he feared most was keeping his family safe.

Michael continued on, "They are currently attacking the major cities and spreading out from there. Planes, buses, and railways are enabling this virus to spread to the smaller cities and across the world even faster. I can already see that staying here on our little piece of land will not be sufficient for long; we need to be prepared to go elsewhere. I have already made plans with a couple guys from work to consolidate our funds and buy everything we might need. Money will mean nothing to anyone after everything collapses, we need to spend it now. Only food, water, clothing, weapons, and security will matter."

Scoffing, Ann's mother, Kay broke in. "What do you think you can do about a bunch of drugged up potheads tearing up cities? You have no fighting skills. All y'all do is play video games and watch TV." Kay got up as if to go back to bed. She was obviously not Michel's biggest fan, even though he took care of her. "What a bunch of nonsense."

"Kay, sit your ass back down and shut up for a few minutes." He never cussed at or around his mother-in-law before, so this shocked her. She sat, but kept a "go to hell" look on her face. "I'm sorry, Kay, but I need your attention. You know I plan well and expect things to work as planned. You're right. I may not be as physically active as I used to be, but I don't have my head in the sand, either. I need you all to wake up to the reality of our new situation. My job is to protect this family and that will be done, and done with everyone's cooperation. That includes yours." Michael continued, "Ann, I suggest you call your brother. I know he and Angelica have to be wondering what's going on. I was talking to them while playing WoW a couple days ago about the internet news. I assume Charles will be able to fortify the RV Park; it's fenced in with a good line of sight all around. I know he has guns, but I don't know if he is prepared for what is heading his way. We may not ever make it anywhere near Alvin, or it may be months. Maybe they can make their way down toward us later."

"I figure I'll hit Academy as soon as it opens and buy whatever I can possibly think of to ensure our future as a family. If our defenses break, we may have to live on the run for a while, and none of us like the woods much. I need everyone to pick out whatever you think you will need." He looked at his sons. "That's need, sons. We only have so much room, and that doesn't mean your fidget spinners and comic posters. Act like you will never come back, because those are pretty good odds, but get your priorities straight. We'll take what will fit, but we might find ourselves sleeping in our vehicles, and I don't need a skateboard in my back. Besides basic necessities, we should have survival manuals, first aid kits, books on planting, carpentry, fishing, camping, anything that will help us build a life without the internet. I know we have a few of those around. This family is going to have to go back to the basics in our way of thinking; I'm talking about before the industrial era." Michael paused for a much needed breath. Worry, then acceptance, then determination appeared on each face as the gravity and challenge of their new situation dawned upon them.

"We need to find a way to transport the animals, honey." Ann's mind was already moving in the right direction. "The chickens will help prolong our food supply and the rabbits will breed like...well...rabbits. They can be eaten later as needed. I know you and the boys couldn't stand to leave the kitties behind, either. The dogs might be useful for guarding, but do you think they might also make problems noise-wise? We'll have to figure something out."

"You beautiful godsend, you. Do whatever you think is right. We'll come up with some way to take them all. Okay. The store will open soon. I don't know how long it will take or how packed it will be. Aaron, you come with me. Wayne, you stay and help the ladies here while we are gone. And Wayne," he said quietly to his youngest, "watch out for them. You're the man of the house now. Be careful."

Everyone sat for a second processing the fact that the world had just fallen out from under them. Then, all but one quickly went into action. Kay was dumbfounded. She reached for the TV remote and put it on the local news, as usual. The difference now was that stations could no longer avoid showing the chaos and many riots happening around the country. This brought massive tears to her eyes. She had no choice but to recognize that Michael was no fool after all. She knew he was intelligent, but...zombies? This was simply inconceivable to her generation. There were no such things as monsters. Once she saw it for herself, she got to her knees and prayed, not just to God, but to her dear husband who had died on the battlefield years before. She had to accept Michael's assessment that things were becoming as dire as he said. She stood up, smoothed her hair down, and went to help Ann get her family ready for Armageddon.

Chapter 3

Corpus Christi, Texas was a beautiful strip of the Gulf Coast to live on. Was. Bodies of wonder lay sunbathing across the beaches and there were many diverting activities for all to partake: fishing, boating, shell collecting, shopping, even a casual drive around the area was enjoyable. It all went bad with just a whisper in the middle of the evening; a salacious few minutes spent with a dirty prostitute near the wrong part of town and then a trip home to his condo on the beach. This naughty little man kissed his wife and young son hello as he came in the door. Dinner was waiting on the table and they sat down for their meal. While discussing his boy's school day, he felt his breathing becoming labored. An hour after arriving home, fever set in on the short, fat day trader. Scared of a heart attack, they called an ambulance. A severe, cold sweat turned into coughing and spitting up blood as the paramedics knocked. While they were checking him out, he started to growl at them and...howl. His wife and son backed up in shock. He spit at the guy monitoring him, catching him right in the eye. The other medic tried to strap him down and was bitten on the hand for his trouble. This startled them both. Their patient came at them with a vengeance, bowling them both over on his way to his family. They never stood a chance. They were frozen in horror and screaming in terror as he jumped on them with a gnashing of teeth. This is the story of how a once happy, prosperous community became the stuff of nightmares. Gone with whimpers and screams heard by condo dwellers all around.

Throughout the night, neighbors were bitten and turned or just maimed to death. The mayhem spread out from the condo park to the surrounding homes and beyond. The police tried to calm the citizenry, but the panic grew exponentially; they were woefully ill-equipped to deal with it. Many of these civil servants went down forever. Many more succumbed to the viral infection to later add to the very problems they were trying to protect their community from. With the larger cities of Houston, San Antonio, and even Victoria being overrun, the military was unable to aid the falling island. A few isolated groups came together to keep each other alive, but trying to save the city was proving to be too gargantuan a job for anyone.

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi had a contingent of twenty-eight hundred plus personnel at any given time. Attached to it was an army depot and a hop away was the U.S. Coast Guard station. Usually, service men and women would pass through from one destination to another. Bertram Bharata just happened to be part of the personnel stationed there temporarily each month. His mother was an American that fell in love with an Indian doctor while serving overseas as a naval medical nurse. They dated for a whole year before becoming engaged and moving back to Texas. Another year went by and Bert was born into loving arms. It was a great life, until both his parents were taken from him by a car accident a few weeks after his high school graduation. He enlisted in the Navy shortly after that to serve his great nation and honor his mother. Bertram also wanted to help people, so he pursued a medical career while serving. Now, at thirty-two years old, like many of his brothers and sisters in arms, he enjoyed first person shooters. He was different though; he spent quite a bit of time playing the card game Magic the Gathering with friends from his college days. Bert was a handsome, successful warrior, and he liked to throw down with the great unwashed of Geekdom. It took a few extra years, but he became a surgeon while serving. Working at the Rammstein hospital during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars helped speed up his education in the medical field, as well as surviving life in general. After achieving his Ph.D, he separated from active duty, though he served as a Navy Reservist. A job at one of the local hospitals opened up for him while he continued to protect our shores. There were many geek and gamer girls that wanted to date this man. Bert never settled on one; he spent far too much time at the hospital or serving to hold a steady relationship. Helping injured service members and trying to save the lives of those who had volunteered to die for their country was Bert's greatest joy. Little did he know how well his two career choices would shape him for this unexpected future.

Bert hadn't been too worried about reports of the spreading virus, until one early morning shift at the Corpus Christi Medical Center. People were pouring in with massive fevers and raw, infected looking marks from being clawed and bitten. Things escalated so quickly there was no chance to maintain control. No one could figure out how to handle the crisis, and the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta wasn't answering. It didn't take long for some to start dying, but many more began fighting each other in the ER. There was only so much that the security officers could do. They were quickly overwhelmed and then infected themselves. Already admitted patients began falling victim and there was no stopping the carnage after that. Doctors, nurses, administrators, and family members dropped like flies in the hallways and waiting areas. Within a few short hours of that first infected patient, the hospital was in utter turmoil and order was irretrievable.

Some of the staff banded together near the back of the hospital at the loading dock. The only one Bert didn't know was a man named John. He had come in to the ER after slicing into his pinky finger with a knife while making breakfast. He was a chef; he'd let himself get distracted. Not a bad cut, but it was the unfortunate thing that got him stuck in this mess. Bert and a few others were trying to figure out if they could save any more of the patients. That thought crumbled quickly when four of the infected started banging against the double doors. They had barricaded themselves, but the onslaught was relentless; there was no helping anyone else in the hospital from that point on.

Bert tried to motivate them all and slow down the panic. "We no longer have a choice, people. We have to get out of here and survive. Maybe we can find more groups and band up–safety in numbers and all that. I think we need to get to our cars and find a safe haven. Somewhere to think things through. Maybe start to fight back. These things will overpower all of us if we don't stick together."

One of the doctors, Donald, started yelling hysterically. "What the hell can we do against them? We can't win. We're trained to help people, not fight them. We can stay right here. We're safe now. They can't get in. The police will come and help us. Who put you in charge anyway, Bert? You're going to get us all killed! We're all going to die because of you!"

A small, Hispanic nurse walked right up to Donald and slapped him with her open hand. "What a pussy! Shut the fuck up, you whiny little bitch. How did you manage to survive the last couple hours? God, I can't believe I ever went out with you. Cabron!" Everyone stood shocked. Making sure Donald was done being a scared asshole, she turned back to Bertram. "Bert, what do you have in mind? What can we do?"

Wow, Bertram thought. What a woman. Rosalita Hernandez had always been a great help at the hospital and knew how to take charge in an emergency. She was very good at running the nurses' schedules and training new help. He thought a moment, his hand on his chin, while the pounding continued at the door. "I think we ought to try and get to the Naval Air Station. There should be plenty of personnel there to help us and we can arm up. Or at least we can fortify temporarily. I have access since I serve there. Does anyone have family nearby? We can try and hook up with them on the way."

Cindy, a pediatric nurse said, "My husband is on his way already. I hope he makes it to the parking garage in time. I can still call Jack and redirect him if I need to."

John, an ER doctor said, "My son, Tim, is fighting his way here, too. He got jumped coming out of his dorm." John spoke up with a look of fear on his face for his son.

Crying, an older volunteer named Judy said, "I just lost my husband in the waiting room. He kept one of them things from attacking me. My poor Joe! My children are in San Antonio and the phones just keep ringing. I'm worried about them. I can't believe this is happening."

"My mother is ten blocks away, Bert. I have to get to her. She is holed up with the door barred and is trying not to make any sound. I've been on the phone with her since we've been on the dock." Jacob was a big man of a nurse. He was a momma's boy, but Bert wouldn't want anyone else at his back right now. Jacob was a kind, dependable man who had garnered respect from all that had worked with him over the years. He'd never wanted to be a leader, but people naturally followed him at the hospital.

"We'll get there, Jacob. I promise you that." Bert turned toward them. "John, have Tim go to the depot. It's closer to the college than here and safer. If anyone is there, give them my name and let them know we're on the way. If not, have him hide well and stay put. Tell him it will be a few hours, but we are on the way. Cindy, have Jack pull into the garage as close to the dock as possible. What's he driving now? I know he sold his old Chevy."

"He bought himself a big 'ole Toyota Tundra. It's a four-door jacked up monstrosity. I hated it; thank God for it now, though. He shouldn't have any problem getting here and snatching us up."

"Awesome. Does anyone have any guns in their cars? I have a couple but not a lot of shells. We're desperately going to need them for defense on the way."

Rosalita piped up, "I have a .38 Special with a box of ammo. My car is on the fourth level."

"I only have a bat in mine," volunteered Jacob.

Another doctor, Sam, said, "I keep an AR-15, a .357 with a couple magazines, a taser, and a Bowie knife in my Escalade. There is a full ammo can for the AR and a box of extra bullets for the pistol. I've got an Escalade on the second floor." Everyone just stared at him for the next few seconds. Sam was a pediatrician with a very quiet demeanor at work. No one knew much about him when he wasn't at the hospital working in the children's ward. "What? Didn't see that coming did y'all? I have a concealed carry license, live in the country, and love to hunt. God bless 'Murica."

Some of the group stared with gaping mouths, others laughed nervously. Cindy's cell phone ringing brought them out of it. "Jack, where are you? Okay." A minute went by while everyone waited. "We'll be watching out for you. Please be careful. Love you." She hung up and blew out a sigh of relief. "He is just a few minutes away. Dodging or rolling over whatever is in his way. The roads are filling up with abandoned cars, infected monsters, and...bodies. Vehicles are crashing into each other, into stores, over everything! People are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. He said law and order have taken a vacation out there."

Bertram formulated a short plan. "Alright, let's try to shore up the doors a little more. We need to buy more time. Jacob, you go with Rosa and grab her gun. Sam, my car is on the third floor. Can you come with me? We'll grab mine then jump in your SUV. It's got more room and more power." They all nodded their heads. "Cool. Hopefully we can all get back just as Jack gets here and take off. Any questions?"

John asked, "Is there anything more we can do while we wait? I'm a little worried about protection later and whatnot."

"That's good thinking, John. I guess you, Cindy, Judy, and Donald can look for a way to wrap our arms, legs, and body in case of attack. I wish we had riot gear. But that would have made it too easy, I guess. Maybe grab any medications and first aid supplies you can find. This is a nice size warehousing area but I have no idea what is in here."

As a precaution, they looked for quick ways to protect themselves in case of attack. The difficulty would be creating protection that wouldn't be too bulky to move around in. Duct tape, bubble wrap and cut-up cardboard were the best they could do on short notice. There were plenty of all these things which made it quick work, and they could still move pretty freely. Unfortunately, their heads, neck, and hands would be exposed, but needs must–they had to be able to see, breath, and use their hands. Once the four of them were all taped up, they double checked each other.

Bertram suddenly noticed for the first time that John's finger was wrapped up in a layer of gauze. "Is your finger going to be a problem for you?"

"Nah. Not like I use it for much of anything, anyway. It just got in the way of a portobello mushroom, is all. Be healed in a day or two. It was just a little too deep without stitches; hence, I'm here with you fine people."

"I like you already, John. Good to have you with us." Bert hesitated at that. "Not really, but...oh, hell. You know what I mean. Let's roll, people. I always wanted to say that."

Chapter 4

Aaron jumped in the truck and waited for his dad. Michael came out a second later and they peeled off to the biggest little city near them. Academy was a mega-outdoor chain store. It carried everything for sports, camping, gunplay, and rugged clothing. After a dozen miles, they arrived in the parking lot to find a crowd of like-minded individuals waiting for the doors to open. Various stories and ideas about the Zombie Armageddon were being batted around. Everyone knew it was merely a matter of a day or two, if not hours, before these infected were in their small rural town of Lake Jackson. Some of the guys from the chemical plant, where Michael worked, were there. A few had plans to try to meet up with other families for protection. Others wanted to know what Michael was planning. They knew that he had actually pondered the possibility of something like this happening one day and wondered how prepared he was. People used to like joking about his conventions, his short wave radio, the number of weapons he kept and his entertainment hobbies. These same people were now probably thinking: "Crap! He knew all along." In any case, there was no joking going on now. Michael had ideas, but he didn't want to involve too many; there is an optimum number for a survival group. At least at the beginning. Too many and you lose control, too few and you can't maintain safety, or they might fall apart. He told them to give him a call if nothing worked out for them, reminding them not to wait too long or cell service would be down.

As soon as the store opened, people flooded in. Michael and Aaron went straight to the rifles and ammunition. Grabbing several guns, a few cleaning kits, and many handfuls of bullets and shells, they proceeded to the camping area. Whatever they thought they might need, they shoved into their two carts; tents, lanterns, heating oil, matches, sleeping bags, and outdoor cooking equipment. They went as quickly as possible, but the store was just jammed with people like it was a Black Friday sale. Heading toward the front, Aaron remembered that it was almost winter time. Both he and Wayne had grown and filled out a lot more in the last year. Wayne was now the same height and musculature as Aaron. Veering off a couple isles, they found jackets and sweats for all the family. Footwear was flooded with people, but they were able to grab an extra pair of running shoes and work boots for each of the family before the mob took over. They grabbed extras of other items as they passed each and a bigger cooler just in case. Both of their carts were piled so high that they were dragging them behind so they would not have to look over them. A fight broke out near the door when some pants dragging dumbass tried to take off with a compressor. Security tased him without blinking an eye. This was something that would never have happened before today but all bets were off now. Fortunately, it reminded Michael that it wouldn't be a bad idea to grab another compressor just in case. He told the clerk that he would buy that one on the way out to make it easier on everyone. She just smiled and shook her head in laughter. It took a while to get through checkout but two hours after arrival, they were out the door, fully stocked for the End of Days. They ran directly into hell on earth in the parking lot.

Two rabid male teenagers had shoved a poor woman down to the ground. They proceeded to rip into her flesh at the arms and shoulder area. Her piercing screams left a man and woman near them just standing in shock at the horror. The couple's brains just could not comprehend what was occurring before their eyes. It took Michael half a minute to get out of his own head and react. He shoved his son towards the pickup, unlocked it, drew out his Beretta 9mm, yelled for them to stop, and then fired at them. Nothing happened. "Damn!" He still had the safety on. He took the safety off, checked for a round in the chamber and fired again. His first shot went wide. Understandable, given the intensity of the situation and the fact that he'd never had to use it anywhere other than target practice. One of the zombies raised its head in response and bared his nasty, blood drenched teeth. Michael aimed and tried to relax. Boom! Shot to center mass. The teenager went down, but still continued to move slightly. He took aim at the other and shot him through the head. Not sure about the woman, he ran to her and realized that there was nothing he could do for her. The poor lady had a gaping wound on the side of her neck and a really large chunk out of her bicep that exposed a still pumping artery. She begged for help, crying she "wanted to live!" All he could do was hold her hand and tell her things she needed to hear. He tried to ease her mind until the light was gone from her eyes. As he got up off his knees, he noticed the first youth he'd shot was no longer moving. So, Michael thought, an infected person can be taken down without a headshot. This contradicted every movie, TV show, and book that any of them had taken pleasure in before. This simple example indicated that these poor people were not dead, or undead, but merely desperately ill, base-instinct feral animals. They were no longer thinking individuals, and obviously had no capacity for compassion or mercy. Valuable information for the future, indeed.

Michael reflected on this unprecedented situation as they loaded their merchandise into the truck. He was glad that he had only missed once, but disappointed in himself at the same time. He knew he should have practiced more at home, and had his sons practicing as well, but he just kept putting it off. He knew his aim was still good, but it had become more important than ever. Directing Aaron where to put what as quickly as he was able, Michael kept his head on a swivel. Now that the immediate crisis was over, he realized he was actually surprised to see the infected this far south so soon. They were just starting to be seriously overrun in Houston and that was over forty-five miles away. Just then he remembered that one of his oldest friends was living in the Houston Medical Center. He promised he would call Alberto ASAP, but he was worried about another attack while still loading. It would have to wait until they were safely back inside. They put as much into the back as possible; the camper shell he'd bought a few years back was coming in pretty handy right now. The entire bed was packed to the top; he would not have to worry about rain or tying anything down. Who would have thought that a survival stockpile would be its end use?

A loud, wind ripping sound pulled him out of his own mind. Those in the parking lot all turned their heads towards the east and watched as a Lear jet came screaming in from the south. It looked like a corporate jet trying to land at the Brazoria County airport. Everyone watching could see that it was nowhere near the right trajectory for landing. In horror, they could do nothing as it took a sudden dive. It slammed right into the local shopping mall. The gigantic explosion shook the earth as a fireball arose from the wreckage. The few people that were at the mall this early ran out into the parking lot. There would be no survivors from that crash. Just one more in a long line of disasters to come. At least the workers got out.

Before they left, he looked over the cab to check on Aaron and noticed tears in his eyes. It took Michael a second to realize the magnitude of what just happened in front of this young adult. He began to drive out of the parking lot but knew that words had to be spoken. His son needed his father to help him understand. Michael tried to comfort him.

"Aaron, I'm sorry you had to see that. I know what happened may have scared the life out of you. It scared me too. No joke." He shook his head. "Between the airplane and the zombies, it's already been a hard day for everyone. If I hadn't stopped them, though, that poor lady would have only been the first of many. This is our new reality. I cannot bear to lose you, so I need you to remember not to hesitate if one of these animals comes at you. You and I have to protect the family now. I never imagined either of us would have to experience something like that. I saw a woman in trouble and had to react. I know you will do the same when, not if, needed. 'Normal' rules are out the window. Someone, somewhere, has destroyed life as we knew it."

"But aren't you worried about the cops, dad? You just killed those...people and left that lady on the ground. We didn't even phone the fire department for the crash, either. You could go to jail and mom would be pissed."

"You're right. If this were a couple days ago, we would have called them and we would have stayed to help. Those times are gone. I hope you see it. We don't have the luxury of burying the dead. The age of the courtroom and jury are extinct; hopefully just for a while. For now, we have to be the judge, jury, and, yes, the executioner if we are to survive. God will look upon us later. Time is fleeting and I am going to need your strength in the coming days, Puddin' Head."

Aaron started to smile. "Dad, stop calling me that. I'm seventeen. It was funny on those gaming videos a couple years ago but I'm almost old enough to vote now."

His smile took a hike after it hit him there would be no more voting. The nation was soon to be gone. Realization set in on the seriousness of what was happening. He had listened to his dad–always commenting on the state of the nation and politics over the years. His father had always believed that weak-kneed politicians would bring America down from greatness. Aaron just couldn't believe that his country would go down like this.

"I get it now, dad. The anvil just fell on me a little too fast. I guess I'm the coyote in this cartoon, huh? Wow. Taking responsibility for others really does suck." He wiped the few tears from his face and grabbed the handgun. "Are you okay with me checking and refilling the gun? I want to make sure we are fully loaded in case it happens again before we get home."

Michael glanced over at Aaron. Now his eyes started flowing as he saw how quickly his oldest child had just grown up. "Go ahead son. You know what you're doing. Make sure the little .22 in the glove box is ready too. Shells for both are in the console. What am I saying? You already know that. The man you are becoming has put a smile in my heart. I really am proud of you." Michael said a silent prayer for the gift of good young men and the great wife that raised them. He knew he only provided half the genes and little else. He laughed quietly and turned out of the parking lot.

Chapter 5

Standing at the exit doors, Bert checked the surrounding area through the window. There didn't seem to be any movement between the dock and garage yet. Making sure the others were ready, he quietly opened the heavy steel door and peeked through. So far, so good. It was a hundred feet from the door over to the garage entrance. Each put out a silent prayer as they prepared themselves for whatever might come. As soon as they were all through the doors, they broke into a quiet run towards their goals.

The easiest way was to run up the circular ramp to the appropriate levels. Proceeding as quickly as possible, they ran at a low lope. Trying to stay below the wall so as not to be seen from anyone below, they made it to the third level. Sam and Bert broke off towards Bert's car. Rosa led Jacob up another level towards hers. Bert was parked only a couple cars down so it was easy to unlock, jump in, and grab his weapons. Sam stood guard, even though none of them had anything to fight with yet. Bertram checked both his guns and handed one to Sam. Sam, being diligent, checked it himself. They were gone within two minutes of arriving. They ran back to the ramp and proceeded back down to the second level.

Jacob and Rosa made it up to the fourth level and looked out upon a sea of vehicles. She had parked almost out to the end of an aisle. Neither of them noticed anything out of place. Walking quickly, they arrived at her little compact car. Jacob kept watch while Rosa grabbed her .38. She popped the trunk. This produced a rather loud clunk, as her car was an older model. A low, guttural growl came from the next line of cars. She handed Jacob her tire iron while she started slowly aiming side to side, looking for the source. They headed to the ramp, walking back to back. Halfway to the ramp, a very large woman jumped between the gaps of two cars and landed on Jacob. He tossed her away with little effort and took a stand before Rosa. With tire iron in hand, he prepared to give the beating of a lifetime. The crazed woman staggered up and lunged after Jacob again. Then she wasn't there anymore. Rosa had pulled the trigger twice; a headless trunk stood for a moment in the infected's place, then collapsed to the blacktop.

"Damn! That was intense! Thank you, Rosie. I wasn't ready for that. Woof. I really didn't want to bash her head in...what would my mom think?" Jacob started to laugh nervously.

Rosalita smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're the only one I let call me that, you big goofball. It sure is good to have you around, though. C'mon. We need to move." Hoping that was "it" for a while, they took off back toward the ground floor.

Sam and Bert got to the second level and almost made it to the SUV. An infected man and woman were fighting each other two cars down from the Cadillac. They skirted around a line of cars to come up near the front side. The infected were really ripping into each other. This was the first time they'd seen this form of zombie-ism, real or on-screen. Sam opened the passenger door for Bert and slid around the front to the driver's side. They got the guns ready as quietly as possible before starting up the vehicle. Screw quiet now. They were moving. Sam hit the gas and backed out quickly. He threw it in drive and smashed straight into the fighting zombies, rolling right over them. The big SUV made it feel like they'd hit a couple of squirrels.

All four of them made it back to the dock door at about the same time. Bert jumped out of the Escalade in a hurry, before they even fully stopped. Sam threw it in park, jumped out, and automatically hit his key fob button to lock it. A really loud 'chirp, chirp' sounded immediately. They all froze. Sam had a look of complete horror at what he had just done.

"I'm sooo sorry. It was automatic. Dammit." He looked towards the street. "There are four of them heading our way. Here they come!" Sam unlocked the vehicle and opened the back doors. He pulled out a hidden drawer that held his AR-15. Slamming home a full magazine, he turned toward the coming onslaught.

"Rosa, get inside. We got this." Bertram made sure Sam and Jacob were ready. There was no point in all of them running inside, they were going to have to leave at some time. Better to deal with these few now. If not, the noise might bring more before they left.

Smiling, Rosalita started refilling her gun. "I'm touched, Bert, but kiss my little ass. This is my fight too. We are a platoon now. Let's take these bastards down."

Sam was prepared to mow them down but a cooler head prevailed just in time. "Hold on, everyone. Maybe we can take them out quietly rather than draw more company we don't need." Bert started looking around. He grabbed a two-by-four board that was sitting on the dock. "Do we have anything handy besides the tire iron and this? Shit. Sam, I guess you and Rosa can be our backup. If I get overwhelmed, please shoot. If Jacob gets overwhelmed..." He paused as if he was actually thinking. "He'll probably just toss them away like the Hulk. 'Smash, ugh.'"

"Ha ha ha. Such a riot, little man. Not smart messing with a big brown bear." He jabbed Bert in the side.

"Sorry. Mercy...mercy." Readying himself, Bert turned back to him. "It's you and me, Jacob. Time to play 'Whack a' Mole'."

A few seconds later, they were swinging for the fences on a couple of feverheads. Jacob kicked the first one away so he could focus on the next. This was a bigger guy wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. There were deep scratches across his chest and a bite mark on his shoulder. This poor soul had been through hell before permanent infection had taken over. Jacob swung hard and hit the guy across the left side of his face with the iron. Down for the count. The first guy rambled forward and was back within arm's reach quickly. Jacob caught his head between his large hands and twisted.

Bert had a little more trouble. The sad part was that his two were small, but very crazed, women. The fact that both of them were wearing almost nothing was a huge distraction. There is something oh-so-wrong about two strippers in G-strings trying to eat you and the word "No" doesn't mean anything. Not that Bert would have said "No" even a day ago. He was only a man, after all. Times, they are a changin'. He was able to hit the first one in the side with the board but then the second one flung herself at him and took him down. Jacob came to his rescue, tossing the little lady off Bert. She recovered and came after them again. Bert flattened her face with the board and watched her go down for good. The first dancer was barely able to get up. Holding her side, she started scrambling away. Her tweaked mind had suddenly changed persona. She had seemingly become scared of dying herself, and was gone in an instant.

"Ok. That sucked. It felt so sick trying to kill an exotic dancer. She was probably just working her way through college or something like that." Bert got up off the ground slowly and brushed himself off. "I'm sorry, Rosa, that was sexist. Not very sensitive to the plight of the working woman, was I?"

"Huh? What? Oh, sorry. I was distracted by the big, swinging breasts. Glad you're not dead, though. What? Don't judge me. I can enjoy the show, too, you know. I like hot women as much as the next person. Shut up, Bert. Stop laughing, you turd. Get your asses inside." Rosalita had always had "a thing" for Bertram, so she really enjoyed seeing him smile.

They got inside and collapsed all over the floor. The others just looked at them in wonder. The "WTH" look was on their faces, but they were afraid to ask. It seemed like they all needed the gigantic laugh that just burst out of the four returnees. While telling their stories, Cindy's phone started ringing.

"I just pulled up outside the dock, babe. Are y'all ready to get the hell out of Dodge?" Jack had already hopped out of the truck and was knocking on the door. Cindy burst through the door and hugged Jack.

John and Cindy had been able to cobble together a small cache of supplies from what they could find in the warehouse. A few different forms of medication, gauze, tape, and other items that could be stored without refrigeration were packed up and ready. The only things they found for protection were more cardboard and a whole lot of plastic wrap to go with the four boxes filled with rolls of duct tape. All would definitely come in handy at some point, though. Sam and Rosalita watched over the vehicles while everyone got to loading. A few zombies could be seen in the distance but stayed away from the group. They packed up everything in Jack's truck and still had plenty of room. Each person was given a weapon, except for Judy. She was still in shock from losing her husband. Just as they finished loading, the inner doors started to crack open. The infected from inside the hospital were about to come through. They only lasted as long as they did because John had found tools and lumber to brace them with while the others were gone. This cook had handyman skills, too. Definitely proving to be a great addition to this merry band of misfits.

Everyone ran for the vehicles. A loud crack marked the first board giving way. A partially torn face poked through the opening and snarled. The second showed shortly after, and the proverbial bough broke from there. Five of the team were loaded into the Cadillac first. Cindy and Jack were already in the Tundra truck as the rest of the boards tore apart and the doors flew open. Bert was helping Judy into the truck as the flood of munchers ran over each other through the pile of boards, boxes, and pallets. John had really done a great job of slowing them down, but Bert was about to be overrun. There was no way he could finish getting Judy into the truck and jump in himself before they got to him. He resigned himself to a horrible death; he was proud to help others get away. Helping Judy with one hand, he half-turned to fire towards the crowd with the other. He watched as his former coworkers and patients came crashing through the warehouse in a frenzied lather. They had murder on their fried minds and blood in their eyes. Just before they hit the outer door, a squealing rang out. Sam was burning tire rubber in reverse. He slammed to a stop right at the dock door, pinning the infected inside. Bert was staring in surprise and elation. He turned to Sam and gave him a salute of thanks. Judy was in the truck now and he ran around the other side and jumped in himself.

"I will not tolerate martyrs on my watch, young man. Get comfy. We gots to move." Sam smiled like a Cheshire cat and put the Caddie in drive.

Jacob was in the Escalade; he directed Sam on how to get to his mom's house. As soon as they were gone, Jack sped away, too. Once the doors were unblocked, the mob of zombies poured out after them. This huge number of infected in such a small hospital did not bode well for everyone's future. They knew the epidemic was going to become a major, global disaster.

Chapter 6

Michael and Aaron took off soon after and went straight to a gas station. "Always stay topped off," he said, remembering the line from some television show about a serial killer, though so much was flying around in his head that he failed to place which one. And, that was unusual for him. Everyone knew that ninety-nine percent of the time, Michael could peg whatever entertainment trivia people hit him with. At work, they would talk on the other side of the control room and get stuck on what actor played in that movie back in the '80s. They always turned to Michael. All he needed was the premise of the movie and what the character looked like and boom, he had it. He would blurt out, "Dolph Lundgren. He was the cop in I Come in Peace, which was made in Houston. It actually came out in 1990." The guys would just smile and shake their head at the massive store of useless knowledge he had. They hit the old Valero gas station to grab gas, snacks, soda, more water, and some beer. Michael had a bad feeling he was going to need a drink soon, and had only a couple of bottles of rum at home. They were able to pay and leave without seeing any more trouble coming their way.

He suddenly remembered Alberto again. He had Aaron call him and put it on speaker phone. It started ringing and they were both relieved that cell service was still up. They hadn't noticed any utilities down yet, but knew it was just a matter of time. Michael was hoping they could get on the road to meet up with the others from work before then.

Alberto answered after three rings. "Michael! I'm halfway down already. I saw shit hitting the fan and just decided, 'Screw work!' It won't be there tomorrow anyway."

Michael blew out a loud sigh of relief. "I was worried you were stuck at the lab already. I know you ride the bus to the medical center. Thank God you're smarter than the average T-Sip graduate."

"Bite my Nicaraguan ass, you Aggie." This was common banter among a couple of the Texas colleges. Always at war on the football field, though many were the best of friends off. "I have to get to my parents. Do you have a plan yet?"

"I have a pseudo-plan," Michael continued, "I'm hoping to get all of us to a piece of fortifiable land farther out. William, from work, has a cabin on a hundred acres. It's family land used mainly during hunting season. There are woods all around the outside edge and plenty of deer. He likes the plan of getting people he can trust all together, working to survive, and that includes you, man. Tell your parents to grab what they need and head our direction. Is your brother still living with them? If he wants to stay alive, he better help them get out before they have unwanted visitors. These are the kind of guests that will want to eat, not leave a tip, and not clean up after."

"Good lord! Thanks for that nasty visual you just gave me! Yeah. I called him early this morning. Raul better have his shit together by the time I get there." Alberto answered. "Good to hear you have others onboard. This is going to get real ugly real fast; and the more hands the better. Everyone up in Houston has their head up their ass. Even my friends at work wouldn't listen to me. They are under the impression that the government will swoop in and take care of them all. Like that shit has worked so far."

"I know what you mean," Michael answered. "We haven't heard a single siren since this went down. What are they doing? Eating donuts?"

Alberto laughed. "Man, I saw a tank just sitting in the middle of the old Astrodome parking lot with the hatch left up. How bad is it when you abandon a tank? If I had a choice, that's what I would drive. Roll right over any stupid-ass zombie like they were a speed bump."

"Yeah, we took out a few on our way back from Academy. At least they're easy to kill, since it looks like we're on our own."

"I swear. Some of these so-called peacekeepers are dumber than hipsters. I watched a group of those Ravenhearst contractors walk right into an army camp near the beltway; they just started barking orders. Those that didn't listen got their ass kicked."

"Fucked up hierarchy for sure," Michael answered. "Those guys already know that the world order is up for grabs. I'll never understand the unmitigated loyalty to people in power."

"There's 'Right in Might," Alberto said. "They'll either own this city later or die like the rest. I just hope those assholes don't come down our way to take over. My parents told me about the crap they endured in Nicaragua before they fled. Bureaucrats don't give a shit about anything but their own well-being, fucking mercenaries only care about their own pockets." There was a pause on the line. "Michael, you were always good at planning and following through."

"Well," Michael said, "I don't like to fly by the seat of my pants."

"But seriously, man. That's why you always booked the hotel rooms and made the plans for comic cons. Always thinking. It really sucks that we had to skip this weekend's con in Houston though. Just wasn't worth it with all the military and police everywhere. Looks like our investment in all those signed comics might be shot to hell." Alberto laughed and Michael joined him.

"I hate you right now for that. I put a lot of money into my collection! I'm bringing some anyway. I'm not letting the damn Zombie Apocalypse fuck up everything. To paraphrase history, 'To the Geek go the spoils!' And it was one hell of a decision to not go. I saw some stuff online over the last two days about it. The convention center got fucked up with zombies yesterday. Really bad from what I could see. Anyway. Get your ass moving." Even Aaron was grinning at that one.

"I'll call my parents right now and get Raul's butt off the couch. I called and told them earlier that I was on my way, but they didn't quite get why I wasn't going to work. Trying to navigate traffic up here and explain everything over the phone just wasn't happening. Hopefully I can make it clear now that there's a plan. If Raul gives me shit, I'll just have mom turn on the TV. I'm driving straight to Sweeny; I'm only about twenty miles away from them, and if nothing else, I'll meet you in Lake Jackson. I brought my AR-15 and the .22 rifle with me. I actually think I've got everything I need this time. You know how I always forget things when I come down there."

Michael smiled at that truth. "Alright. Keep your eyes roaming and your guns loaded. We've seen some really messed up shit already. I'll fill you in later. Suffice to say, the infected are showing up near us already and they're aggressive as hell. I'm guessing that someone drove down here after being bitten and "turned" soon thereafter. Just so you know, you can kill them without a head shot but try to hit something vital. They are still human, more or less. Roasted viral brains without logic or any control."

Alberto laughed nervously. "Sounds like some frat parties I've been to."

"Yeah," Michael said, "but none of those dudes tried to eat us. Well, at least me. I saw a couple of them eyeball you when they got drunk enough. They saw the chubby and started chasing. Be careful and get to my house if possible. If you can't make it all the way in time, we'll meet up at the old closed lumber store on the highway near us, not at Lake Jackson."

"Oh, you funny white man now," he said with an Asian accent. "Wouldn't it be better to just get everyone together as soon as possible?" Alberto asked, now a bit worried.

"You may not be able to get all the way out to our house by then, but we will see you at the lumber yard on the way out there. Who knows what you might run into? Lake Jackson may be a mad house by the time we get that far, and we don't know how long we can still use our cell phones. I don't want to wonder what happened to you. I sure don't want to see you at the other end of my scope one day as a zombie."

"Oh, hey man...thanks. Another visual to scrub from my head! You're on a roll today. All right, I'll light a fire under them. Good luck, Michael." Alberto clicked off.

Aaron put the phone on the charger. They were both relieved that Alberto was okay and on his way down already. Both Michael's boys liked him and knew he was their dad's closest friend. Aaron liked to talk anime and Wayne just liked to poke fun at him. Occasionally Alberto would play World of Warcraft with them. Michael liked to joke that a family that gamed together, stayed together. And Michael considered him part of his family. Ann would play, but didn't share Michael's love of comics or geek-oriented movies and shows, so being able to pal with someone who was liked by his family and enjoyed the conventions was a stress reliever. It always amazed Michael how he and Ann were so different. Part of love was knowing when to be deferential to the other, and appreciating that the other has separate pursuits kept them happy as individuals and had kept their marriage strong.

Knowing Alberto was on his way prompted Michael to step on the gas pedal. He wanted all the more to get home to his family and get everyone to safety. Petty speed limit laws were ridiculous in this new grand scheme of things. Seriously, he had just killed two ex-people and sped off. Right then, he thought about 911. He had Aaron dial it just in case. After the first ring, it went to a recording. "We're sorry. All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later." Awesome, Michael thought. An emergency line that is too busy. That was not a good sign for anyone. He saw people here and there packing cars to leave. Some were nailing boards over their windows and getting ready to hunker down like it was just a hurricane. This disaster was definitely not something anyone had experienced before and was going to get so much worse as time went by.

Chapter 7

Jacob's mom, Myrtle, wasn't that far away. The biggest obstacle was maneuvering through the traffic. Traffic, that in this case, meant cars left behind with their doors hanging open, crazy people in a huge hurry. Day one had already left the highways in shambles. It sure didn't take long at all for society to crumble and common sense to fly out the window. They watched as a sports car went slamming through the front of a real estate office and partially through the back wall.

"Holy Hell!" Cindy yelled from the passenger seat. The sounds of crunching scraping and screaming were all around them, including the bumper-car sized crash of a driverless Smart Car slamming into the front of their truck.

With a crunching of metal and a big speed bump rollover, Jack yelled out, "Yeehaw!" Righting the ship, everyone started calming back down. Once they all realized no one had been injured, laughter broke out. Even Judy giggled a little. "Damn, I've been wanting to do some four-wheeling since I got this beast. That was awesome. That little hot wheels car had no chance in hell."

"You're insane. How did I fall in love with such a redneck lunatic? Thank God you can drive, at least." Cindy was still smiling. "I love you, you idiot."

"Love you too, babe. I'm not a redneck though, merely a good ole country boy that likes to roll over shit."

A few infected were in the road and alongside; most were busy munching on people that hadn't been able to get away. Some were just standing around with blank expressions. A few stood in the street like they were waiting to get hit. These poor souls almost seemed like they were committing suicide. Some primal part of them didn't want to live as they had become.

The short caravan weaved its way to the quaint little home. Even though it was only ten blocks, the trip still took fifteen minutes of painful weaving all over the road and sidewalks. A fruit stand smashed here, a newspaper box bowled over there, and a couple normal people throwing themselves out of the way signified where the truck and SUV had been. It was no time to worry what everyone else thought. "Screw them if they can't take a joke." It sounded like something they had read or seen somewhere.

They finally made it close to the house and slowly came around the last corner. They stopped about five houses short; several of the infected were mulling around the neighborhood. Two of the more rabid ones were trying to claw their way into Myrtle's next door neighbors through a barred window. Another was across the street chewing on a pit bull that had been chained in the yard. Guess that dog lost a fight. A more timid infected woman was cowering near the front of the house watching the dog being torn to shreds. Still two more could be seen a few doors down from there; it was unclear if they were women or men, or even if they were fighting or having sex. Just two weird-looking blobs rolling on a lawn in the distance.

Bert slipped out of the passenger door, telling Jack and Cindy to keep watch behind them. Sliding along close to the cars, he moved up to the Escalade while Sam rolled down the window. They started to whisper up a plan.

A scared, shrill voice rang out from the back, "Why are we risking our lives for an old woman? How does that make sense?"

Jacob turned from the front seat with an expression that said: "I'm going to turn your face to pulp" in his eyes. Bert immediately tried to settle him down, knowing Donald was a few short minutes from dying. Even Rosalita tried to soothe Jacob with quiet words. He was such a kind and gentle man but everyone was suddenly very scared of him.

"You slimy little prick. That's my mother. She's in there by herself and scared shitless. I'm going to pretend you never said a word, but I suggest you close your mouth for the foreseeable future or I will gladly help you shut it permanently." Jacob's huge hands were turning red from the rage filled fists he had created. He relaxed them and gripped the back of his seat. "You may need my help one day."

Donald stammered, "Sorry Jacob...you're...you're right. It was a stupid thing to say. I'm just...I'm so scared and I'm worried about dying. I don't think I can fight these things. I...pissed my pants when we were getting to the dock. I'm a coward, Jacob. I'm so sorry."

Turning back around and facing forward, Jacob told him, "Just be quiet for a while. Help when needed with the skills you do have. We'll protect you and do the fighting. Just...don't talk."

Sam, Bert, and Rosalita all blew out a sigh of relief. Facing them again, Bert started trying to riff on how they might get to Jacob's mother. They tossed around how to take them down without noise, but they all agreed the several houses between were just too far for stealth. It was decided that just shooting them would be easier and faster. If more showed up, they would deal with that later. Bert, John, and Rosa made their way back to the Toyota. They had Cindy help Judy to the SUV and come back. Sam would stay with his Caddy and the rest of the group. Jack caught on pretty quickly to the fact they were separating into an assault team. Jack would speed up to the front of Myrtle's house, shooting each zombie as needed. John, Rosa, and Bertram would jump into the back of the truck while Cindy kept a watchful eye out for them. Sam had given his AR-15 to John, Bert had his Beretta 9mm, and Rosa wielded a shotgun Jack had brought with him to the hospital. Rosa gave Cindy her .38 Special to cover them in case any got to close.

Jumping in the back, Bert checked with Rosa and John to see if they were ready to go. Steeling themselves for this next bout of unpleasantness, Bert patted the roof of the truck and Jack hit the gas. He peeled around the Cadillac; the houses flew by and the passengers held on for dear life. Screeching to a halt, Bert and John took aim at the two battering the neighbor's house. They both fired. Bert hit the first guy in the shoulder sending him slamming into the wall. He screeched in pain from the now perforated piece of flesh. John's shots went wide; his target turned towards the shooters and then both came howling toward the truck at a quick lope. Bert fired again and nailed his muncher in the chest; he flew backwards and hit the ground. John shot the other one in the stomach, extremely slowing it; one more shot in that direction put it down for good.

No sooner were they both dead than Rosalita screamed that the other two from up the row of houses were running their way. Judging by the disarray and lack of clothing, John thought they must have been having rough sex. Maybe. It was slightly distracting that they were both women, and he had to clear plenty of images from his mind before he could take aim. For men, it doesn't really matter if a woman is pretty or not, old, young, thin, fat...zombie, whatever. Flopping boobage is always going to distract even the most disciplined. John hopped out of the truck and let the submachine gun rip. Pieces of flesh and hair flew in all directions as the .223 bullets tore through torsos and heads, effectively dismissing any diverting thoughts. They were just a couple of ruined lower bodies flopping to the ground in a mist of blood after the fusillade.

"Sorry for the mess," John shrugged. "I can't aim for shit but no one has to be a sharpshooter with this puppy. I'd never fired that much that fast from something as fine as this...what did Sam call it? AK-15? No, AR-15." He patted the stock and gazed lovingly at his weapon. "I have GOT to get me one of these!' Dude. I just channeled my inner Fresh Prince from that alien movie, Independence Day." John was grinning ear to ear.

Bert shook his head and laughed. "I was thinking of the same movie. That was a great flick, especially when he hit that alien in the mouth and said 'Welcome to Ear–'"

BLAM!! All faces turned toward a deafening roar. Rosalita had just obliterated the dog-eater from across the street. While they had been dealing with the others, this one had almost reached the truck, pit bull bits hanging from its lips. Bert and John were frozen in place; their jaws hung open, surprise stayed emblazoned across their faces. She had let loose with both barrels and already had it broken open to reload.

"Rosa's 'Got your back'..." Rosalita smiled at them expectantly. "What? You two can fight and quote movies at the same time, but I can't? C'mon, guys. It's from Franklin & Bash. And you call yourself a geek, Bert." Rosa held slammed her barrel closed. "Yeah, that's right. I know you love playing on the computer, card games...anything geeky. I've heard you on the phone with some of your college buddies. I think it's cute how you still play kiddie games." She snickered at her little jibe at his masculinity.

Sticking his tongue out at her, Bert smirked. "Pfft. Man games, woman. How dare you insult my boy...er, manhood?"

While they were laughing, they heard screams and cries for help. They all turned around towards Myrtle's house; the sound was coming from that general direction. Everyone got out of their vehicles and came together. Jacob finally heard what the others were listening for. His eyes immediately grew huge with terror.

"Oh my God! There's a middle school on the next street over. Those screams are children. We have to help." Jacob started to choke up in panic at the thought of children being hurt.

Sam spoke up first. "I'll go. Let me get more guns." He opened up the back of the Escalade and started loading and reloading everything there. "Give me your guns. I'll reload them while I'm at it."

"Hey guys. What about the woman across the street? She hasn't moved yet, but we don't know what these things will do at any time." Jack stated a hard truth.

Bert thought quickly; he knew they had to help the kids as soon as possible. "Judy, Cindy, and Jacob go inside. Help Myrtle get anything she needs and get her in the car. I know you want to help, Jacob, but don't argue. Your mom needs you right now. There are enough of us and your group might need you before we can get back here. I don't know what we're gonna find or how long it will take to help. Please, just go with them." Jacob nodded, giving in. "Thank you. While here, keep a watch on that one over there. We'll keep track of her and the rest of the street till we are out of sight. The rest of us will get to the kids."

"I can't. I...I need to st-stay here. I'm sorry. I can't handle this. I want to be brave. I want to be that guy, but...I'm not. I'm so sorry." Donald started crying profusely. They were all ashamed of his behavior, but they could understand how someone could become what he had.

"That's fine, Donald. It's alright. Just try to help Jacob and Cindy." Bert gave Donald's shoulder a squeeze to try and calm him.

"Ohhhh yeah...yet another movie reference there, canonized by Rocket Raccoon." Everyone turned toward Sam. He had decked himself out like a smaller version of Rambo. He had on a flak jacket and packed his Bowie knife, taser, .357, his AR-15 taken back from John, and wore a bandolier of ammo for both guns. The one thing they didn't expect was the gigantic .44 Magnum strapped to his hip. He had forgotten it had been hidden in a hidey hole in the back. "Let's rock and roll!"

"With this strangely vivid picture of violence that Sam has bestowed upon us, everyone gear up and let's go be makeshift heroes. I feel the need to save as many children as possible, and I know y'all want the same. This world is going to need their creative, intelligent, and healthy minds. Let's get a move on." When they were ready, they all jumped in the Cadillac and took off around the block leaving the truck for the others to load Myrtle and her things.

Chapter 8

Streets were becoming packed and it wasn't even lunch yet. After arriving in Brazoria, Michael swung by the gun store that had recently opened in their small town to see what might still be available. They were pretty much wiped out already, but the owner still had a shotgun and a couple .22s with ammunition. He wasn't worried about keeping any because he had his own separate stock pile at home and was anxious to sell out and get back quickly. He had seen and heard what was happening and had just come in to take everything he might want from the shop home with him. The idea to stock up had come to a few of the locals the day before, then a few more came through first thing that morning. Today, he didn't much care for cash, since the nation was falling and paper money would be useless. He was nice enough to just give Michael and Aaron what he still had, but Michael made sure to at least give him a six pack and covered his back till he left.

They were still four miles from home. As they neared the end of town and were about to take their turn off, a car coming from the opposite direction veered into their lane. Michael swerved right to avoid the sedan and it suddenly yanked back away. He heard a violent crash and pulled over. He told Aaron to try the police again on his cell, hoping the service was back up. As Michael approached the car, he noticed the driver was an older man; he had gone partially through the windshield after slamming into the culvert of a driveway. The man was still moving, but something wasn't quite right. His side was bleeding profusely–but not from the crash. It looked like a gigantic bite like you might see from a bear. Michael knew this had to be another attack; the man must have briefly lost consciousness. Fear was in his eyes, but it wasn't rational fear. He didn't seem to feel the pain his twisted body had just endured, either. Michael reached in to help the man; he noticed that he was extremely hot to the touch. Must be from the virus, he thought. This was the first of the infected he had come across that showed any sign of emotion, fright or otherwise. Once again, Michael could only feel helpless as the man slowly died from his wounds. This was really starting to get to him now; this feeling of uselessness was eating him up inside.

He walked back to the truck slowly with his head down. Aaron said the 911 recording was the same as earlier. As they jumped back in the cab, an explosion went off towards the north end of town. The only thing Michael could think of in that direction was the propane place. "Damn," he said. "I was hoping to fill our tanks up before we left. Maybe Wally's or a gas station still has some full bottles." There went one part of his plans into the wind. No good plan goes unpunished, he thought, or something like that.

Worried about how long it was taking to get back home, he made a call to Ann. "Hey, baby. How are things coming along?" He listened for a moment, then brushed his forehead. "Thank God. It's good to hear you haven't had any problems yet. We're driving through town now and things are getting scary. I think Harrison's just blew up, and we almost got run off the road. Poor guy had been bitten and crashed into a culvert. Is there anything you need me to grab while we can? May not be time later."

Ann answered, "If you can safely grab ice for the cold stuff, do it. Do not put my son in danger though. I need you both alive. Finding another good man during the apocalypse might be a little hard."

Michael smiled at that one. He knew how much she loved him, even with all his flaws. "You know that Aaron is protecting me and not the other way around, right? I'll hit Buccee's if I can and grab a few bags. Make sure you and Wayne both have a gun that's fully loaded on you at all times. I've already had to use mine." Aaron could hear his mother yell from the other end of the phone. "Shush, honey. We're both fine and your son handled himself well. I'll tell you all about it when we get home."

"You certainly will! If there is one scratch on either of you I will kill you myself."

Michael decided to change the subject. "How is Wayne doing? I know there hasn't been time to talk to him. I hope he's handling things as well as can be expected. Watch him just in case. We don't know how the boys will handle this once we really get going, and you know I'm not good with emotions and shit." Ann assured him that Wayne was holding up so far. "Honey, one more thing...listen to me, please. If the dogs start barking, be on the lookout. If these things come near y'all, remember, they are no longer normal human beings. There is no reasoning with them. Their higher brain functions are gone. Shoot to kill, don't hesitate and don't bother with remorse. I love you both and I need you to stay alert. Be back in a jiffy."

"All right, love. Hurry."

Michael realized that while they were talking he had already veered towards home. He pulled over on the grass and waited for an opening to turn around. Traffic really was starting to get heavier. Not as heavy as to and from work but enough that it took two full minutes to turn back around the other way. Heading back to town he was amazed that so many people were just fortifying themselves in their homes. It was as if they actually thought this would all blow over and life would go on as normal. He pitied them their naiveté. There was something to be said for accepting reality when you knew in your heart that the proverbial shit had hit the fan and been slung across the room to splatter you in the face with your mouth wide open. There's a visual. Soak it in, Michael, he thought to himself.

Aaron saw his dad suddenly smile and with a concerned look said, "Are you okay? Please don't freak out on me now, Dad."

Trying to bring levity into a messed up world, Michael explained what he was just thinking. Aaron just stared at him for a second before he burst out laughing. Not at the people, but at the graphic image just given to him. It was just so abnormal that his dad would talk like this to him. He knew his dad spoke differently at work but always tried to curb the language around the house. The rules still applied to his use of cursing but that was just too off the wall to not laugh. He knew other kids his age cussed at each other in school. Aaron had been raised to respect others while understanding he was by no means perfect. He and his brother argued a lot over some of the dumbest things. Complaining about leaving a light on or making too much noise while playing a video game seemed so insignificant now. Laughter was needed as much as possible with what they would have to face later on.

He finally got near Buccee's and saw a broken glass door. There was no reason for this since they were automatic sliding doors. Michael was worried they were being robbed. He pulled up to the side of the building, slid his gun out of his concealed holster, and told Aaron to lock the doors but keep the .22 ready. He sidled up to the front door and peeked in. There was a clerk on the floor bleeding and he could see another was in the cooler behind a closed door. A short woman was banging and growling at the steel door trying to get to the scared lady inside. The cooler was in the back and he hoped he could approach the man on the floor without being seen. There was a little girl, maybe five years old, in the candy aisle just munching down one bar after another. She glanced up and noticed him but just bared her teeth at him and kept eating. Here was another aspect of these infected that he hadn't seen before. It looked like if he left her alone, she would leave him alone. He assumed the infected woman was the child's mother. No matter what, he had to do something for these helpless workers. Inching towards the man, he could hear a sucking sound; his chest barely moving. Michael finally got close enough to notice the clerk's stomach had been savagely torn open. The poor guy was barely breathing and was mouthing words no one could hear. His intestines were pulled out and partially eaten. Michael was getting real tired of finding people he could no longer help. More determined than ever, he aimed at the chest of the short woman and fired. Better shooting this time; he required only the one shot. The bullet tore right through her chest and she dropped next to the cooler door. The child just looked up at the sound and then tore into the next candy bar. At least he didn't have to kill a child. Yet. That was one thing that he knew might come. This thought ripped at his heart. He opened one of the soda doors to talk to the lady.

Trying to soothe her, he said, "You can come out now. I put her down and so far the kid hasn't moved. I won't hurt you and will protect you until you can get to your car. You can't stay here. The world is burning."

"Are you sure there isn't another? I thought there were three of them."

As if called by her words, a horrible roaring sound came from the end of the aisle where the beer was sold in 24 packs. He guessed even the infected country boys wanted their beer. The thought never occurred to him that there might be others. He could be the dad for all Michael knew, but he hadn't started towards Michael yet and couldn't be seen. He turned toward the lady and motioned for her to hurry out. She came out and immediately ran for the door. The sound and motion drew the unseen infected's attention; he came around the corner and started running towards her. Michael yelled at him as a distraction and this allowed the woman to make it outside. This also directed the thing's attention onto Michael. This guy was tall and large. He had to be 6'5" and at least 350. Michael was under no delusion of being able to fight this guy off and subdue him. With resignation, he aimed and fired. Center mass again, but this bull was still stampeding like a defensive lineman on PCP. Being amazed and scared, he aimed at the man's head and blew the top of his skull off. The guy was dead without knowing it; he took two more steps from momentum. Before Michael could move, the guy fell into him and slammed them both over the front counter. A little hazy from slamming his head into the floor, Michael picked his gun up again. He saw that the large man had a couple of oozing bite marks on his arm. That had to be how the big guy had turned but wasn't quite finished wreaking havoc yet. He staggered around to the clerk on the floor.

Even though it was only a few minutes of nightmare in this current infinite hell, the poor man finally took his last breath. Michael walked out the door and around to the side of the store. Aaron was outside the truck holding a shotgun he had gotten from the back seat. The handgun was in his waistband as a backup. His boy was prepared and ready to rock.

Aaron saw his dad, with his mouth wide open and asked, "What happened? You look like you just got your ass kicked. Sorry, Dad. Got your butt kicked. Whoa. Is that your blood on your shirt!? Are you okay? Who was that woman that ran out?" The questions just rolled out of his mouth in utter horror and amazement. Taking a second to size up the situation, he then asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"I'm fine, son. I did just get barreled over by a linebacker and bounced my head off the floor. I had to shoot him and someone who may have been his wife. It's his blood on me and maybe some of mine from the head knocker." He drew breath and touched the tender spots on his head. "The lady that ran out was a worker that was trapped. She'd locked herself in the cooler to get away from them. Another guy didn't make it; he was pretty much gone before we arrived. This is really draining me, not being able to rescue more folks." He opened his door. "We have to go now, Aaron. There's a little girl in there and she's already infected. So far, she's just interested in devastating the candy aisle. I sure don't want to be her next meal, and we definitely don't want to have to kill a child. Jump in. We gotta get home."

"Dad. The ice."

"Damn, I forgot. C'mon. Grab as much as you can and throw it in the back. I hate leaving all that useful stuff inside the store, but I'd rather put off the little girl shooting for as long as possible. Let's go."

They were able to dump two bags in the cooler they'd bought and shove four more into what little space they had left in the truck. Michael was a little concerned that he may have sustained a concussion. He told his son to drive and he would be the lookout. Aaron backed out of the parking space. Before he could take off, they noticed another poor soul running down the road directly at them. They were hoping that it was just someone needing help, but that hope was dashed pretty quickly. The man was half dressed and covered in blood. He just kept running towards them and when he was close enough he leaped up onto the hood, snarling and snapping like the windshield wasn't there. Aaron threw the gear in reverse and stomped the pedal. The zombie fell off and rolled on the ground. Aaron shoved the truck in drive and stomped the pedal again. They thumped over the guy and kept going.

Stunned at what just happened, Michael turned to his son. "Wow. I'm glad we bought the 4X4. If we were in your mother's van, that guy would still be stuck to the bottom. Good job and quick thinking, Aaron. Let's head home. Hopefully, that was our last great event." At that, he leaned back and exhaled.

"At least we got the ice," Aaron smiled. Michael just shook his head. What else could he do? That was delivered in the best deadpan way.

Chapter 9

Bert and crew worked their way around to the other side of the block and slowed to a stop just a little bit from the first school bus in the lot. Unfortunately, all they could view was a busload of zombified children and a few adults. Someone had locked them in and barricaded the two doors by shoving push brooms through the handles. Each member of the team looked at the scene with utter despair; tears were pooling in more than a few eyes. Such a loss could not be justified. Rosalita said a prayer and crossed herself.

They moved on past the first bus to another just beyond. The first thing they saw was an extremely agitated and vicious woman tearing her hands apart trying to get in the front door. Her hands were bleeding and nails torn out from ripping at the bus's metal and glass panels. She would tear at one door for a couple minutes and then run to the back and bang on it. No other infected could be seen anywhere. Kids inside were crying and ducking from the windows then popping up again to check. The few adults were screaming for help out of partially opened windows. The gunshots must have brought them new hope.

Sam didn't even wait for a plan of action. He jumped out of the vehicle, walked right up to the woman before she could even turn around, and blew her head off without missing a beat. He walked all the way around, looking under the bus to make sure no more infected were present. Sam then walked back to the front door and knocked. One of the adults ran to the front and opened it. He holstered the Magnum and walked up the steps.

"Hey kids. You're all safe now. There are no more crazy people around. Let's get y'all to safety." The three adults and many children were so thankful. They all got off the bus to stretch their legs. They had been stuck there for hours; it was almost noon by then. The woman that was killed was one of the teachers that had been on the bus. They had been about to leave for a field trip, but never got away from the school before hell invaded their happy lives. Unfortunately, the bus driver never made out it either; he died with the keys in his pocket.

The story they were able to get was that the teacher was married. Her husband was an officer and had been sent to a local medical center first thing this morning from an attack by a suspect. The guy had bitten him on the arm, infecting him. He was running a fever but insisted his wife go on the field trip with the kids. This part of the story, the teacher had told to another who had boarded the bus. It was assumed that she had kissed her husband good bye this morning before leaving for work. While getting the children on the bus, she started to get sick. Just as everyone was loaded, she got on and started to act crazy. One of the parents, quick of mind, pushed her off the bus and told her to get herself together. When she lunged at him, he had quickly slammed the bus door in her face and locked it from inside. His fast thinking saved everyone from a nasty future, or rather, lack of one. She had moved on to the first bus which was still open and attacked the passengers, killing some, merely biting and clawing others. Someone had been able to get her off their bus, but the damage had been done. None were able to escape this horrible fate once the changes started. Too many had been afraid to go outside because she was still there lurking around. This just made things worse. So many poor children lost the rest of their lives in that metal tube with wheels. But this was just a single tragedy that would be repeated countless times in cities all over the world; the innocent suffering from a few senseless acts of violence and a slow, ignorant response from those in charge.

"Thank God for caring Samaritans. I was worried we would start eating each other in a couple days. Ha. I just wish I could have done something to help Mrs. Tamby. She was a good teacher and a nice lady. The kids really liked her. I didn't believe everything we've been hearing, but when she started acting like a maniac, man, I just knew she was turning. I mean, sure, I've been following the internet and reading a lot of what's been happening, just, seeing here in our town..." Randall Campbell trailed off into his own thoughts. He was there with his two little girls as a chaperone. He had taken the day off to help the school. The trip was to explore the U.S.S. Lexington that was positioned off the coast of Corpus Christi. Today had become a major disappointment for the children to not have a chance to see the legendary vessel of the U.S. Navy. If only that had been their worst problem that day.

Bert spoke up for his group, taking charge of the situation. "We need to get in the school and see if we can stash the children somewhere secure till we figure out the next step. Sam, since you are a walking army, come with me and we'll see what we can see. Can the rest of you watch over the children while we recon? Just get everyone back on the bus and lock her up tight. Thanks." All were in the affirmative, so they took off.

It was a small school and the buses had been full of fifth and sixth graders. As far as the bus goers knew, there were still children inside the school itself. They'd seen a few cars take off when shit hit the fan, but believed the majority of the students should still be inside. Sam and Bert ran up to the front doors of the school, and pulled them open. They made their way through the halls with guns at the ready. As they went, they peeked behind each closed door. Surprisingly, they weren't finding anyone, no children, no adults, and, thankfully, no infected. They were almost to the cafeteria when they heard whispered voices and a little crying. The doors were barricaded so they couldn't look inside, so they knocked. It took a couple times to get someone to answer.

A tiny voice answered, "Hello? Who are you? Are you infected?"

"No ma'am. My name is Bertram Bharata. I am a surgeon and a Navy Reservist. The man with me is Sam Howell. He is a pediatrician from the same hospital I worked at. We are here to help."

She opened the door for them and immediately hugged Bert. "Oh blessed day after all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I didn't know what to do. I saw what was happening at the buses and shooed everyone into here. I couldn't get through to the police and very few of the parents answered their phones. A couple came and went but others never made it. These poor children may not have parents anymore. I'm sorry–I'm rambling. I've just been so worried about them! My name is Karen Sharpe. I'm the principal here."

"Judging by your words and deeds, you must be a great principal. You made some quick decisions that more than likely saved these kids. We heard screams and cries for help from the next block over and came upon the buses. We rescued the kids, parents and teachers," Bert stopped and looked at his feet. "From one of the busses, anyway. A few more of our group is watching over them till we can clear the school. Keep them in here a while longer, please. We want to make sure there are no munchers hanging around."

"Munchers?" Mrs. Share asked.

"You know, ma'am, we're just tired of hearing the word 'zombie.'" He explained that they had tried to come up with more descriptive terms to keep it fresh. This was said with a smile, but she was too scared to get the subtle joke. They let it slide and made sure she re-barricaded the door. They waited till it was secure then moved on down the halls.

Sam took one side of the hall and Bert took the other. They continued on from hall to hall, making sure no one was hiding in fear or lurking to attack. Half the school appeared empty, so far. Bert opened up one more room before they moved on to the next area and stopped short of closing it again. He tapped Sam to come look. There was a small boy just sitting at a desk, quiet and alone. They were afraid that they had just stumbled onto another of the more stoic of the zombies and were about to bar the door and move on. Just before they left, the boy looked up with tears in his eyes. They came slowly farther into the room and spoke to him. He responded but it was too quiet to hear what he said. Still unsure of the child's orientation towards human or inhuman, they approached with caution.

"Help me, I'm scared. Ple...please." The child stood up, ran to Sam, and clung to him in a hug of pure desperation. Sam picked the little man up and held him close, whispering that he was safe now and they would protect him. Bert nodded and said he would take point for the last two halls.

"We have to clear your school then we'll get you back with the rest of your school mates, okay? I need to put you down but you can hold my hand. I need the other one free in case any of the bad guys are around. Okay? Can you handle that?" The boy nodded and smiled slightly. "All right. We need to move." Sam handed the AR-15 to Bert since he had both hands free and palmed his .44 Magnum. Bert took point and they cleared the last of the halls with no more issues.

Karen opened the door for them and smiled wide upon seeing the little boy. "Kevin Greene, as I live and breathe! Thank you, God! I was so worried when I couldn't find you earlier. Get in here with your friends." Kevin turned to Sam and gave him a gigantic hug of thanks, turned to Bert and offered his hand as a gentleman and then hugged him too.

"Always nice to meet a young man with manners," Bert said as they shook hands.

Bert then asked Karen where some chains and locks might be, as they planned on going to every exterior door to the building and securing them for now. She directed them towards the maintenance area at the back of the school. Giving them the key to that door, she wished them good luck and closed the cafeteria up again. The storage room was in the same area where they'd found Kevin, but had missed checking that particular door, distracted by finding the child.

"Weird that we missed these huge double doors," Sam said, approaching them.

"Yeah, I guess finding a child alive and alone just threw us off our game," Bert said. "Well, no time like the present, right?"

They walked to the doors and unlocked them. Bert felt the smallest inkling something wasn't quite right. He inched the doors open slowly. The first thing they realized was how bright the shop was. Besides the normal lights, the rear roll up doors were wide open and sunlight was shining through, illuminating the entire workplace. This put them a little more on edge. No telling what or who might be skulking around or waiting outside. Just in case, they secured the doors behind them before checking the area. It wasn't a large garage, but there was enough room for three buses across if needed. There was a bus in one bay and someone's old 70s era Ford Bronco 4X4 in another of the bays. It looked like they had begun performing an oil change on it but were interrupted by the apocalypse. It was basically a classic for good 'ole country boys and had been kept in pristine condition.

Deciding to stick together, they checked the work bays, moving in an up and down pattern around the bus while checking underneath; they repeated their movements around the Bronco. The open areas looked clear, but they knew they still had to check inside the bus and in the lower work bays. First they peeked into the bus from the back but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The plan was, as they neared the front, Bert would open the door while Sam stormed onto the bus. They were hoping to surprise any infected that might have hidden in a seat. They made a heroic entrance, but fortunately, nothing happened; the seats were all clear. They closed up the bus and discussed a plan to search the lower bays, which had storage areas and other closed in spaces.

Sam whispered: "Let's throw a wrench down each bay. If anything is holed up in there it'll come barreling out after us and you can shoot it."

"Hmm," Bert said. "Good as any idea, I suppose." They approached the first bay since there was no vehicle there and threw the wrench. When nothing stirred, Sam stepped slowly down into the bay and gave the "all clear." It was Bert's turn on the next one. As the wrench fell clanking into the bay on this one, something moved. They couldn't see anything and no other sound was made. Sam covered the entrance while Bert started to approach the steps down. Before he even got to the first one, a zombified worker in coveralls came barreling towards the steps. Startled at his speed, Bert fell backwards and pedaled with his feet, trying to get away. The zombie grabbed his right foot and tried to drag him down. Sam put a large caliber slug right between his eyes with an extremely loud Boom! The force of the bullet blew right through the mechanic's brain and ricocheted off the floor and a wall before stopping in a pile of oily rags at the back of the bay.

"Holy crap! Thank you. I think I just fell in love with you." Sam helped Bert up from the ground and reloaded the one round he'd used. "I'm thinking we need to remember how powerful that gun is. Could be useful in the future if we could get them to line up just so. One bullet per two or three zombies. You know. Like that comic movie that came out recently...the one where the guy has one bullet left and it goes through the three bad guys while he jumps over that truck. Deadpool! That one."

"Ha-ha," Sam smiled at that one. "Greatest R-rated movie of all time in my humble opinion. Definitely in the top five comic movies ever made. Too bad we'll never see the second one now. I was looking forward to seeing Cable and Domino in that one."

Gathering themselves, they moved to the last bay under the Bronco. Sam threw a different wrench this time since neither of them wanted to retrieve the other one. Once again, movement was heard but this time, they stayed at the ready for a couple minutes to watch for what might come after them. Nothing. Being Sam's turn, he slowly went down the steps. He got down to the bottom and stepped out of sight. A full minute later, Sam started screaming and hollering for help. Bert went running down at the ready and stopped short.

Sam stood at the back of the bay smiling hugely and holding a young Siamese kitten. "What the hell, Sam?" Bert yelled. "You scared the living shit out of me. I thought you were dying and instead you're just down here playing with some strange pussy. Maybe we should head back to the hospital and find that zombie stripper. She'll love you long time. Let's get out of here, you nut."

Sam tucked his little baby in one of his larger flak jacket pockets and went back up. Now that the shop was clear they went to shut down the back doors to keep the school secure. While in the process, they heard some wailing from not too far away. Looking up, they saw four of the infected running their way. The gunshot must have gotten their attention from wherever they were holed up. Sam stood watch, while Bert finished dragging down the door. They were double locking it as the first one started banging away. No worries now. Metal is the great equalizer between zombie and human–whether it be a bullet, sword, car, or roll up door. Works every the time.

Without worry now but with a lot of noise in the background, they started searching and gathering. Sam found a big enough box for the kitten and got it some water. He had to remember to find the poor thing something to eat. They found chains all over the shop, having to cut some to their needs. Locks were in the shop manager's office, complete with keys, still in packages. There was a wheelbarrow near the back door making carting the chains so much easier for them. The idea occurred to use one or two of the buses for transport of the children when ready. They wondered if the shop bus would run or if they could cobble it together with their limited knowledge.

Sam put the kitten box on the pile in the wheelbarrow and headed toward the inside doors. Bert held them open for him and they moved on to secure the three vulnerable doors, plus the front entrance. Each of them was chained tight as quickly as able then they returned to the cafeteria. Once again, Karen opened the doors up and smiled at the little ball of fur that Sam held in his hands. She knew this was just the thing the children needed at this time. All these kids had been cooped up for a few hours now and this little cutie was ready to play with someone. They let her know that the school was secure and only the front doors were to be watched once they got everyone inside. She was grateful and took the kitten in to the children

Sam and Bert went back to the front to get the others. Stepping into the sun, a nice wave of air blew through. Nothing like a nice, cool breeze on a shitty day, Bert thought. Reaching the bus group, Bert gave a quick rundown of what they'd found in the school. Everyone was grateful that so many were alive and well inside. Sam, Bert, and Randall started herding everyone back into the school after Jack led them off the bus. Some of the kids and parents had gotten back on the bus to sit. Halfway back, more howling and screeching started up from one side of the school. It looked like the ones from outside the shop had caught the sound of their voices like a dinner bell. Now everyone started running for the doors rather fast. Most were inside before the first of the frenzied came around the corner, but not all were safe yet.

Rosalita fired first and put a rabid young man down as a twenty-something girl jumped over him. John was helping the children through the doors as well as he could. Jack trained his shotgun on the girl and pulped her stomach area into the wind. They were able to get everyone inside just as the other two feverheads came around the edge of the building. Jack, Bert and Sam stayed outside to deal with them. The front doors were mostly glass and no one wanted to leave it to chance that they would break through. The last two came straight for them upon seeing the fresh meat. Bert shot one and Sam took out the other. Glad the immediate threat was over, they headed in themselves. Just as Sam was through the door, a fifth came from nowhere and jumped on Bert.

Jack was on it immediately, slinging the infected man to the ground by his filthy shirt. "Get the fuck off of him, you sick shit." He grabbed the man's head and smashed it into the dirt, repeatedly. "Bert is off limits to all of you nasty fucktards." Jack stood with blood on his hands from the frenzy of emotion. Looking down at himself, he realized how fast his anger had risen. Several children and a parent had witnessed the attack. One child couldn't stop screaming. "I'm sorry guys. This whole thing is messing with me. I just saw red when it came at you. It felt like it was attacking my family; my mind just snapped."

"All good, Jack. Thank you. I understand how you feel. There is no room for hesitation here. And, I'm really starting to get the idea now that we are all family in a way; all we have is each other. No judgment for what you did; hell, you just saved my life. Again. Thank you. And I guess...welcome to the family." Bert shook his hand and grabbed his elbow like the politicians used to do. "Let's get inside and see the newest members of this ragtag family in the cafeteria; maybe there's some sloppy joes we can heat up."

Chapter 10

As Michael and Aaron turned down the road across from the old lumber store, they were amazed how quiet it seemed only a few miles from town. On the way to their house, they pulled up to check in on their nearest neighbor. Old man Chugg and his wife lived at the end of their private road. He was a Vietnam veteran, an old biker, and avid gun collector. They called out from the yard before they approached, making sure Chugg knew who was coming up his drive.

"Chugg!" Michael called out. "Me and my boy are here to check up on y'all!"

"That you, Mike?" came a voice through one of the upstairs windows. "Come on up to the door; I'll be down presently.

Michael and Aaron shouldered their weapons and walked up the old man's stone path. They were greeted at the door.

"Crazy shit going down out there," Chugg said as they approached. "What's your plan?"

"A group of us are headed farther into the country to secure a place; you and Margaret fixed alright?"

"Oh yeah." Chugg said, looking over at the packed pickup Michael was driving. "We've got an arsenal that would stop an invasion and Maggie's been baking all day. We're just about to head out to our eldest; he and his family are sitting on a couple of acres a few miles south of here. Don't you worry about us. We've got enough bullets and brownies to last through the apocalypse." He smiled and took Michael's hand. "Y'all be safe now, neighbor."

"You too, Chugg. Give Margaret a hug for me." Shaking his hand in what was likely their last goodbye, Michael felt better and they went on to their house.

A madhouse had ensued after they'd left a little over three hours ago. Ann had everything organized, as much as possible, in the living room. Her mother had even chipped in; at seventy-five she had more trouble moving around each year, but she had boxed up the paper products. Michael kissed and hugged his wife and asked how things were going. Wayne had helped his mother clear the cabinets of canned food and anything that would keep for a while and Ann was in the process of putting as much food in the coolers as she could. Cans were packed up in boxes and a few plates and silverware were in another box. Just about everything was ready. All the pet food available was outside and ready for loading; the cages they had were ready for the many animals. Their dogs, two rat terriers and the hound dog, would have to ride with them freely. Both cats were loaded into one small cage; they didn't appreciate it, but everything else was going to be needed for the rabbits and chickens. In order to take them all, they would have to be packed like sardines.

What food couldn't be brought, Kay had already set for everyone to eat. Ann had asked her to start putting food on the table as soon as she knew how close Michael was from home. No one knew how long it might be before they were able to sit down and eat again, but they all figured it would be a while. They took a short break and sat down together. While they were sat, Michael tried to explain everything that he and Aaron had gone through. Wayne stared in awe while Ann started to tear up. Hearing that Michael had to kill four ex-people was unbelievable to hear. Aaron's performance in the face of imminent danger made her proud, though.

Michael told them that they would meet up with Steve, Davis, and William after they were packed and ready. The crew had talked throughout last night's shift and had come up with an interim plan. William Pendale's family owned some land in local hill country; plenty of space and a guest lodge. No one in their right mind believed traveling long distance was logical right now; it was better to stay near familiar territory until the extent of this disaster was known. William's lodge was the best idea they had come up with.

They'd had the news on the whole time they were hurrying around the house and even now, while eating. It was getting worse in Houston by the minute. The anchor suddenly got louder and then began yelling. Everyone got up to watch. It was pandemonium at the news station and the talent and technicians were panicking. Their nice, safe little world was being upended. Suddenly, someone jumped across the news desk and tackled the male anchor. Locally famous Debra Weeks, next to him, screamed and yelled, "Get off him! Help! Someone do something!" From off camera, someone screamed: "Who is that? He's trying to eat Jack!" Then, boom! Debra was dragged down from behind by another infected. Chaotic yelling and crying, furniture being thrown and equipment crashing could be heard for another couple of minutes, then the station went off the air. That was it for the Lawrence family. They threw their forks and knives down and jumped into motion; everyone had lost their appetite.

The boys ran back and forth taking stuff outside to the vehicles for Michael and Ann to do the stacking. Aaron and Wayne were quicker at moving the stuff and everything had to be packed just right or it wouldn't fit. After bringing the coolers full of food outside, Michael started filling them with the ice. Those items not of immediate need went in first, near the front; food and water were near the tailgate. They kept guns and ammo in the cab and front seats of the other vehicles along with some water and toilet paper. Everyone had to leave things behind; they could only hope this wouldn't be the last time they saw their home. They were able to load all the essentials and still had a little space in the van, so they decided to take a couple of computers, hard drives, a laptop, the best game system, and a handful of games each. Michael was hoping to pick up more generators and any diesel they could come across, and they reasoned that one never knew what they might be able to do later. They had a little space; why not take some entertainment?

The animals were the last to be packed. Finally they were ready to load up. As everyone took their last minute bathroom breaks, they heard shots from down the road. Michael, Aaron, and Wayne grabbed arms and ran down the road to find Chugg firing his old, army M-16 at full auto at five different zombies. Three others were already down for good. Margaret lay on the ground but she was still alive. He was hitting them with most of the rounds but they kept coming at him. Michael and the boys ran and fired, trying to save him, but it was too little, too late. Their rounds dropped three munchers and Chugg managed to kill the fourth. But it was the fifth that took him down. It bit into his neck and didn't stop. Wayne ran up and shot the man-beast through the head. Chugg knew it was over. He crawled across to his wife. "Maggie," he whispered, and held her hand as they both lay dying. He looked at Wayne and asked that they try to call his son and tell him what happened. Wayne knelt beside his neighbor and put his hand on his shoulder, promising that he would. He watched as Margaret died.

"Mr. Chugg, sir," Wayne said, "It's been an honor knowing you." Then, as he had many times before, he added, "Thank you for your service to our country, Sir."

Chugg managed a small, bloodied smile at the boy. "Too bad someone had to screw it all up," he said before he closed his eyes and went home forever.

Michael held back tears; he wanted to bury them but knew there was not time. Instead, he and his sons picked up the old couple and put them side by side on their porch holding each other's hands. He said a prayer for the two of them.

Wayne looked like he wanted to go to war. This was not an expression Michael expected to see from his youngest. Wayne then spoke with an anger he'd never known before. "I want to string up whoever came up with this disease and shoot them repeatedly."

Michael was worried about how Wayne was reacting. Suddenly, to his father's relief and amazement, his outburst ended. Wayne's expression changed and he immediately voiced a great idea. "We ought to collect the rest of his weapons, ammunition, and anything else we need. He told us earlier that he was going to his son's place; it would be a waste if we didn't use his stuff. We can call his son once we're on the road and let him know what happened. And Dad, let's grab his medals; I know his son would want them."

Michael placed his hand on Wayne's shoulder and nodded. He couldn't speak, he was so proud of his boy at that moment. They wasted no time. The boys went through the small house while Michael ran into Chugg's garage. Whatever the boys found, they put in the drive to pack up on the way out. Michael found some tools and came out with a grin on his face. Aaron and Wayne just stared at him as he told them what he found and what he had in mind. The three of them got together and dragged the trailer out of the garage to the end of the drive. They then brought out Harley-Davidsons and a third with a sidecar. Michael thought they might come in handy later for scavenging or scouting ahead, but Aaron and Wayne were literally drooling over the powerful machines. It seemed like either pure dumb luck or a blessing from God they were in his garage for repair. He knew that Steve Hull would be able to fix them, provided they could find whatever parts were needed. They loaded them onto the trailer with the tools and the parts Chugg had sitting near them. Once they were done, they all took off running back the two blocks to home.

Chapter 11

The cafeteria was brimming with happy children. So many of them were enjoying the addition of the little kitten. They finally had a chance to meet all the adults who were still at the school. There was the principal, Karen Sharp, several parents, a few workers, and five teachers, all corralling the multitude of children. Messages were left for all the parents; no one said it out loud, but it was becoming clear that they may never come for their children. So many would grow up in this world without parents now.

Bert made a phone call to Jacob. His mom was ready to go, although reluctantly. She was real sore at the zombies for having to leave her beautiful home, and she was pretty pissed at Jacob too, for not giving her more notice. The idea was for them to jump in the truck and have Cindy bring them over to the school. Everyone could get something to eat, pack up whatever they might use for later, and then figure out their next move towards the depot.

At the school, they batted around the idea of how to transport everyone. There were too many for just the one bus outside and no one had the heart to go try to clear the other bus. The concept of having to kill or beat down the children stuck in it was too much to bear. One of the teachers spoke up. "I like to work on cars when I have the time. I have a 1963 Corvette Stingray that I restored a while back. After watching that TV show in the 80's, I just had to have one. Took forever and a two income family but...I am sure going to miss that beauty now. Don't think I can make it home now to retrieve her. Possibly never. Anyhow, I might could get the bus in the garage going with some help. Oh, by the way, my name is Jeffrey Hall. Just call me Jeff. My wife is over there," Jeff pointed to a tall brunette, "with our sixth grader, Georgia. That little hellion with her is Sammy. Great kid but completely crazy." He smiled at Bert who was listening politely. "So. Is there anyone else around here with an inner mechanic dying to get out?"

John spoke up. "I dabble on my own car to keep costs down. College is expensive and so are mechanics. I'll be your unpaid intern. Maybe some of the bigger kids could be our gophers. Get their minds off things."

"That's an awesome idea, John. Let's see what kind of volunteers we can wrangle. Maybe some of the others can help get lunch ready while the rest start gathering stuff we can take with us. Can or does anyone want to drive the bus around to the back?" Bert asked of everyone.

"Oh dude. I would love to try. The biggest thing I've ever driven was my wife's minivan..." Randall Campbell started to choke up at the mention of his wife. "I'm sorry everyone. It's only been six months since I lost her. All right. Enough of that. The children don't need to see an adult crying right now. We have to show them a strong front. So, yeah. I'll be the limo driver, unless I can't handle it. Oh, and everyone call me Randy. Randall is too formal and I don't see anyone in a tux."

"Cool, Randy, thank you. Sam, you're the arsenal; you're our official Sergeant at Arms. Can you go with Randy and ride shotgun?" Bert was about to assign more duties when he stopped himself. "Guys. I just thought about this. I'm sorry but I didn't realize that I have been giving everyone orders through this whole fiasco. I guess I made myself the leader and didn't even bother to ask if anyone objected."

"Dude, as your self-proclaimed right hand man, I say shut up and keep bossing. It's kept us alive so far, and I don't hear anyone complaining. Well, except for that one spot with Donald. I think Rosa put the kibosh on that little uprising, though. Didn't you, you little firecracker, you?" Sam was beaming with a big 'ole smile as he wrapped his arm around Rosalita's shoulders. Clearly, he had been waiting for the chance to protect a group of survivors at the end of the world for as long as he could remember.

"Hands off, you gun nut. I got my sights set on our fearless leader. I love a take charge guy. Oh, shit. I didn't mean to say that out loud. I'm sorry, Bert. I was waiting for later." She coyly winked at him.

"No issues here. I was thinking the same thing about you when you slapped Donald and then again when you stayed in the gunfight earlier. I would love to take you out on the town but I believe all the restaurants are full. Zombies are always hungry. Will you settle for some cafeteria mystery meat instead?"

"Why yes, darling. That would be lovely."

Those from the hospital just gave a loud sigh of exasperation; they were used to these three clowning around. But the newcomers just stared at the banter wondering if romance was blooming. "Enough with the Love Boat shit, people. We got work to do," John said, provoking a round of relieved laughter from all the adults.

The logistics were worked out for the buses and everyone went to their stations. Jeff and John headed to the shop to be ready at the roll up door for Sam and Randy to bring in the first bus. Once the doors were down, volunteers for the maintenance work would be rounded up. There were three cafeteria workers; they would prepare for the mass lunch with the help of a few of the other adults. The maintenance crews could eat in the shop to save daylight; they knew that getting to the depot was the safest bet for the night.

Once the plan was set, the four involved with the bus work moved out. Sam and Randy opened the front doors and checked the surrounding area. Rosalita relocked the doors behind them. Sam stood at the bus door while Randy got it started up. On the second crank, the bus roared to life. Sam jumped in and they took off. As they rounded the backside of the school, they spotted two infected headed for the school. The sound of the bus engine had attracted their attention; they were screeching and running. Telling Randy to stay put with the motor running, Sam stepped off the bus. John and Jeff had started to raise the back door, but Sam yelled for them to stop. They put it back down and looked through the little windows at him. He pointed at the infected and they stood by. Sam waited till the lopers were a little closer and then took aim. He put two shots each into their chests. Reacquainted with the immediate danger of being outside, he took a walk around the bus and looked down both sides of the school for any more. Good to go with nothing in sight, he told them to raise the door and Randy pulled the bus in. Once safely inside, they lowered the door and relocked it.

Looking toward the "work-to-be-done" wall, they found the keys and paperwork for the broken bus. Jeffrey threw on a work shirt he found in the shop and started to go down into the bay. "Let's see what we've got here," he said, taking the first steps down. At the bottom step he stopped suddenly and threw up. The brains of the previous occupant were splattered everywhere. Alerted by the loud vomiting sounds, the others ran to the opening to see what happened. Jeffrey couldn't speak but pointed toward the bay. Randy and John grimaced at the display. Then Sam walked over.

"Oo, sorry about that. I forgot to mention the poor bastard we had to put down was still here. That's gonna suck. Oh, well. I shot him, I guess I oughta clean him up."

Sam grabbed the headless corpse by the boots, dragged him over to a corner of the bay, and covered him up with a shop blanket. As he did that, the others brought some brooms and mop bucket. It didn't take long for them to make it good enough to get to work. John and Jeffrey got to looking under the hood immediately. Sam and Randy went back to the cafeteria to round up volunteers. They were amazed at the scene before them. Kids were hustling back and forth between the tables and the smell of food was delectable. The children were setting tables as if it were a dinner party. They strolled up to the other adults with smiles on their faces. A couple of children brought some plates to them steaming with mashed potatoes slathered in gravy, fried chicken, and soft white rolls. A few more came up a couple seconds later with plates for Jeff and John; they were headed down to be shop helpers. They all set off to do some bus work. Happy that they could keep busy and contribute to the effort to get everyone to safety.

When they got back to the shop, the four adults sat down to eat while the children listened to them talk about the bus. It looked like besides needing a tune up, it was in for a transmission replacement. Fortunately, the old one had already been pulled and the new one was sitting in a box. Jeff was thinking that with all the help, he should be able to get everything done in three or four hours. Maybe quicker if John could do the tune up at the same time he worked on the transmission. As soon as everyone was finished eating, a couple of the kids took the plates back to the cafeteria and then returned to help.

Jeff went back down into the bay to set up for the transmission job. The use of a couple of jacks and having Sam there made the going easier. Randy helped John with the tune up. Jeff and John were a little more confused than they let on to Randy and Sam. It was everyone's first time working on an engine of this size and it being a diesel, there was a steep learning curve. Climbing up to do most of the work didn't help either. The tune up took almost twice as long as it would have, but the timing worked out well with the transmission work. It took a little over three hours, but when that bus roared to life everyone cheered like the Texans just won the Super Bowl. The children had been a great help running all over the shop, grabbing tools and parts, getting water when needed, and being a general encouragement in the face of dire circumstances; each one got a high-five from their adult counterparts.

The next step was to take the bus out and test the transmission. Once again, Sam stood at the ready near the door. The coast looked clear, so John raised the door while Randy backed out. He drove around the back of the school for a couple minutes to test out forward and reverse, then he came back in. They re-secured the door and made sure that both buses were ready to go. Then Jeff turned to look for the keys to the Bronco. They searched the cab, the office, and work-to-be-done wall, but with no luck.

One of the children came up with a thought. Maybe the keys were with the owner still. The question was, who was the owner? No one in the cafeteria had mentioned anything. The men looked at each other, then down into the bay.

"Aw, jeez, Sam," John said. "Ya couldn't have asked him for the car keys before you blew his head off?

They had the children move toward the front of the shop while Jeff went back down the bay. Lifting the blanket, he choked back a second regurgitation. A nasty piece of business to go through a dead man's pockets, but it had to be done. He found the key chain in the man's back pocket and smirked at the tag on it. It had an NOS symbol. "Hmmm...nitrous?" he said to himself. "Interesting."

He walked over to the Bronco, lifted the hood, stood back, and whistled in appreciation. The engine and area under the hood was in spotless condition. There was a turbo charger with nitrous oxide bottles hooked up to the intake. This truck might be old, but the owner had loved his power. Jeff immediately claimed "this 'ole girl" for himself and said he would "fight a horde" for the claim with a smile. It didn't take them long to finish the oil change and fire up the Bronco. The interior was as pretty as the engine compartment. New or restored dials gleamed, leather seat covers, Bose stereo with CD/DVD player with a USB input, RPM meter, and the NOS button with meters installed right above the radio. The absolute look of ecstasy on Jeff's face once it rumbled to life had everyone ready to giggle like it was Christmas. It was loud and ready to roll with an unbridled passion to rip up the open road. He quickly turned it off so it wouldn't attract too much unwanted attention. Jumping out happy, Jeff declared that all was right with the world.

As they were leaving, one child stopped to listen to a quiet little noise coming from somewhere in the garage. Sam shushed everyone to listen. It happened again and the children scrambled to find the sound. Obviously they knew exactly what was making the sound, but the adults couldn't quite place it yet. One of the little girls yelled out, "Over Here!" All the kids suddenly squealed or cried out in pleasure. Three more kittens and the momma were huddled together in a small box. One of them had gotten on the wrong side of momma cat somehow and was trying to figure out how to get to the milk. That was where the sound had come from. A hungry, mewling kitten. The adults were as pleased as the kids; it was nice to find happy things for the children. Seeing their smiles made life worth living; they knew the road ahead wouldn't hold many pleasant surprises. They all went back to join the rest of the group, everyone cuddled around a box of joy.

Chapter 12

Ann loaded her mother into the minivan and looked up at Michael with a worried expression. Michael gave her a slight nod "No" and she understood. Michael laid out the travel plan. This included hooking the truck up to the trailer on the way out. Aaron grabbed a couple tarps and some rope to help tie down the trailer supplies. They had opened up some portable hand radios he had bought at Wal-Mart and were ready for use; they tested the channel they would use and the back-up. He had bought several and plenty of batteries. Michael would be in the lead with the truck, Ann and her mom would be in the middle with the van, and Aaron would bring up the rear in the SUV with Wayne riding shotgun. Each vehicle was fully armed, had tents, blankets, and emergency rations in the unlikely event they were separated, or worse. Even grandma had her own seven shot 9mm next to her yarn basket. She grew up in the country where shooting snakes and raccoons became second nature and everyone loved the smell of rabbit stew. Whether she would fire at an infected person or not would be the question...that's why they were in the middle.

Michael called Alberto again to see how things were going before they left. He had made it home, got his family together, and were already waiting at the store. They had two vehicles of their own, a small sedan and an older passenger van. Alberto said it was getting ugly; they'd already had to shoot one poor soul and his mom was a mess over it. A thought came to Ann while he was talking.

"Hey, honey. Have him meet us next door. We need to grab feed for the animals. Reifel's is still open, I hope."

"Smart thinking again, my love. Hey Pikachewy. Go next door. We need feed..." He listened and smiled. "No, not for the boys. Although they are growing like cattle. All right, give us a few extra minutes and keep watch. We're picking up another vehicle." Michael rolled his eyes at the phone. "Shut up or I'll make you eat the chicken feed. You'll see. I think we're gonna need it."

While they were hooking up the trailer, Michael went to find the keys to Chugg's big Dodge, which was easy, considering they were in the ignition since they had been fixing to leave when they were attacked. A few more minutes and the poor couple could have been on their way to their son's instead of dead. Michael silently reminded himself to make that call. Chugg's big Dodge dually would come in handy for the feed and animals. Right now, the poor rabbits, dogs, chickens and two kitties were kind of squeezed in wherever space could be found. He had Aaron drive his truck and Wayne got the SUV to himself. Michael would drive the dually since it was so large and had the bike trailer right there and ready for attachment.

They hurried out, staying alert for anything and everything. It didn't take but a couple minutes to get to Alberto's group at Reifel's Feed & Ranch Supply. The gates were open so they all parked and dropped the Dodge's tailgate for loading. They walked inside and stopped. Facing them was John Reifel himself holding a double barrel shotgun.

Michael's hand shot out and stopped Wayne from continuing forward. "Jesus John!" he said to Mr. Reifel. "You gotta be careful with that thing!"

"That you, Michael Lawrence?" Once he saw it was Michael and Ann he lowered the gun. He had been heading out to shut the gate when they pulled up. Mr. Reifel was going home to prepare for the worst with his wife but was glad to see friendly faces.

"Careful is all very well," Mr. Reifel said, "but the world's burning, folks. Soon it'll be every man for himself. No offense, ma'am," he said to Ann.

"We're on our way out, John," Michael said. "Just stopped by for some supplies for the critters."

"Well, money ain't worth anything, but if you've got something to trade, I was just about to shut this place up...probably be looted anyway."

"How are you fixed for weapons?" Michael said, knowing Mr. Reifel wasn't a gun nut. His son had been fatally wounded in Afghanistan and Mrs. Reifel couldn't stand the sight of them.

"I reckon I could use a few, and some ammo, too. Only got a couple of hunting rifles at home and this here Mossberg. Shame to leave all these animals in cages; I've a mind to set 'em loose.

"Yes sir, Mr. Reifel. We'll take 'em. You go on out with Aaron here and take whatever suits you. We'll load up on feed and supplies."

Mr. Reifel grabbed a couple handguns, rifles, and ammunition; no problem there, considering the virtual armory Michael had procured on the way home and over the years. While Mr. Reifel looked through what they had to offer, Michael and Ann started going over what he had available in the store. They took all the animals that would help them later; rabbits, all the little chicks, the few ducks they had, four goats, cases of honey, whatever seeds he happened to have, and as much feed as they could load into every vehicle. It took them almost an hour after arrival to get everything moved and loaded.

"Michael," Mr. Reifel said, "I don't know what's waiting for us out there, but it's a comforting thought that good folks such as yourselves are making a go of surviving. Thank you for your patronage all these years."

"Thank you, Mr. Reifel, sir," Michael said, taking his hand firmly. "And thank you for your many years of honest service to your community and your sacrifice to the country." They nodded their heads in understanding and Ann gave John Reifel a quick hug. Before they left, Michael made sure that Mr. Reifel knew what their overall plan was and they exchanged phone numbers and noted what channel their radios would be on in case he needed to reach them later.

Michael gave Alberto and his brother a couple of radios to keep in touch later. They would use the phones as much as possible. They could charge these in the vehicles and preserve radio batteries. Those little gems would likely become an important commodity later. He quickly told Alberto the plan to meet with the others at William's place in Lake Jackson first. They put Alberto's sedan in the second position and the van fourth, after Ann. Aaron went last with the animals and feed. From there, the six car convoy got moving.

They traveled at a decent speed toward town. After the main traffic signal, Ann called and told him to swing into town and go to the library if it didn't look too dangerous yet. Michael complied. He had a feeling that his wife had just come up with yet another brilliant idea. They made it into town, went the extra mile, and were able to park in the lot, positioned to move out quickly. He was right about her idea. Michael decided that a few should stay outside with the vehicles and Alberto's parents. He, Raul and Wayne manned the perimeter with guns, ready for action. Hector and Consuela, Alberto's parents, didn't speak English well, but Alberto made sure they knew what was going on. They all stayed alert in the vehicles. Ann, Aaron, Kay, and Alberto all went inside to find any books that might be helpful for them in the future. Kay was skilled when it came to planting, Alberto was one-hundred percent lab-tech / science geek, and most knew their way around a tool box...but they were planning a community. Books on medicinal herbs, comprehensive first aid, home construction and repair, animal husbandry...building a life meant everyone becoming an expert on some practical skill.

The doors to the Brazoria library were locked but a gun butt to the glass granted access. The thrill of breaking the law so easily was overshadowed by the tragedy of the day. Laws about breaking and entering just didn't warrant a second concern anymore. They walked in cautiously, but didn't expect to find any resistance. They each had a handgun in a holster or waistband and took off in different directions. It wasn't a big library but without access to the computers, it was up to old fashioned shelf surfing.

Outside, the group remained vigilant. There weren't many cars running around town, and those that passed them were traveling quickly. A few cars and trucks were scattered around, abandoned. This did not bode well; Michael could think of only three reasons to leave a car behind. First, would be a breakdown, it happens, but there was no way so many had broken down today. Second, was running out of gas; again, it wouldn't happen that quickly. No, the third and most likely reason for so many unoccupied vehicles in the road was the scariest. Something made the occupants stop their cars and just leave.

Michael walked away from the group to study the line of empty vehicles. He could see blood on a few doors of the closest cars. Scanning farther out, he could see a local police SUV a couple blocks away, off the main drag. It looked as if the officer had pulled someone over; red and blue lights were still flashing on it. They had not seen or heard anything alarming yet, so Michael had an idea. He told Raul and Wayne his plan to take a closer look, making sure they had his back and could maintain their watch on the library.

Michael took off at a jog until he got closer to the scene. Stopping at the police vehicle, he cautiously strolled towards the driver's side. He could see one of those new, hot sports cars in the ditch in front of the police truck. He didn't know or care what type; he had always thought they were impractical. Then he saw a body on the ground between the cars. It looked like a teenager with a massive blood stain across his chest. It appeared to be from a couple of bullets. Before he went any farther, a sound from the other side of the car drew his attention. He saw the officer hiding, as if he was scared out of his mind. Michael tried to calm him with quiet words and hand gestures, but noticed his uniform was all torn up and bloody. The poor civil servant had been infected and he was no longer mentally cognizant. The officer had more than likely stayed on scene until someone could come to clear the shooting while waiting for an ambulance that would never come. He had become one of the confused, paranoid versions that would stay away from people. At least, that was what Michael hoped. He made a 360 view of his surroundings then went back to the cab of the SUV. The motor was still running and he knew the officer wouldn't need it, My taxes paid for this, he thought, and there's no more police department anyway...besides, a powerful, armored vehicle with space is always handy. Satisfied with his rationalization, Michael jumped in and drove it back to the library.

He parked so it was now last in line of the seven cars. They barely had enough drivers now, but Michael really wanted the special SUV. Ann and the rest of the group started coming out with armloads of books and gawked at the new ride. Michael just smiled and told Aaron and Wayne, "Look what daddy got y'all. A BRAND NEW CAR!" They just laughed because he sounded just like Bob Barker on The Price is Right. Everyone started loading their new booty of books in the trunk of Michael's prize. They were even able to go back in for more that they had set aside.

As they finished loading, Raul cried out a warning. There was a small pack of eight bearing down on them from the neighborhood behind. Michael could tell they weren't going to be able to leave in time. He directed the older folks to settle in the cars and got the rest ready for war. He had Alberto watch their backsides while each of the others prepared. "Aim carefully and shoot for center mass. Try not to waste rounds but if you have a shot, go for it." Ann was the first to fire. She had grabbed a 30-06 and set up on the hood of the truck. They were a block away, but moving at speed. The first went down in a tumble of limbs. Boom, boom, boom! She took down three more before they got much closer.

"Damn! I love you, woman!" Michael yelled before the rest of them opened up with whatever they were carrying. The pack lay all over the road in an unholy mess. Elation at the end mixed with horror at what they'd been forced to do swept over them as the adrenaline subsided.

Suddenly, Alberto screeched like he'd been lit on fire. Everyone turned and saw a naked feverhead on top of him; the thing had snuck up behind in the chaos of shooting the pack down. But it didn't look like the infected man was trying to eat him; Michael started laughing like a madman. The guy was trying to have sex with Alberto. More like rape since Alberto didn't actually want something to enter him.

"Get it off me!" Alberto yelled.

"Oh gross!" Aaron and Wayne said together. "Disgusting!" The others were laughing but were actually scared; they were looking around nervously for more assailants when Raul hit the guy over the head with a baseball bat and knocked him off his brother. The creature was sprawled out with his manhood exposed to the world. Alberto got up, shaking, and looked at the guy. "What the holy hell was that shit? Now they think they're rabbits? That damn guy came over the hood of my car from nowhere." He started to kick at the guy, screaming, "My ass says 'Exit Only,' you dick!" Raul dragged him away, while everyone laughed at his outburst except his parents. They just stared from the van in horror at what they witnessed.

"Dude, be glad Raul got to you in time," Michael said. "That thing would have torn you up! Did you see the size of that monster?" Alberto was trying to ignore him, walking back to his vehicle but Michael couldn't help but rub it in. "I salute that poor guy. You would never have walked the same again, Al." Levity in the face of atrocity might help keep them sane. "If I'd been hung like that, I would have had a whole different career."

Ann smacked him in the arm for that one. "Leave him alone and let's get moving. You're such a dork sometimes." She let out a low whistle, though, and said softly to Michael, "Thank God you weren't. That thing would kill me." She shook her head. "Hell no, I say. Size definitely matters and bigger is not ALWAYS better, especially if it's gigantic." They both laughed again and shared a quick kiss.

Turning to Aaron and Wayne, he said, "I want you two leading this wagon train now. You know where William's house is. Just keep trucking at a safe speed and make sure you keep your phone open to us. Raul, are you okay with driving Alberto's car after my boys?" He nodded yes. "Ann, you and grandma in third again, please. Alberto, I want to put your parents after Ann in their van and you driving my blazer. I will bring up the rear with the truck and trailer. Watch your mirrors, though. If I get into a bind somehow, I'll need you for backup since I won't have any gun help. Is everyone good with the plan?" Everyone nodded. Alberto would have a lot to explain to his parents later. That naked zombie incident may have scarred them both for life.

"Good. Load up. I think we need to go by Buccee's again on the way out of town. All these vehicles need to be gassed up before we hit the road." The convoy moved out to the south part of Brazoria, half a mile away.

With four sets of pumps, they were all able to park at their own bay. The idea was to gas up the cars first, and then try to fill the cans. The Dodge was a diesel engine so it got to hold onto the cans to be filled with diesel only. Diesel would come in handy for the generators later, so they grabbed plenty. They all used credit cards, though they'd never receive a bill...Love to see them get paid now, Ann thought. Why didn't I think of this last week? The next item on the agenda was propane tanks. The cage outside the store was locked but a couple bashes with a sledge hammer solved that problem. They were able to grab almost fifteen full tanks and a few of the empties in case they found a refill station.

Knowing there were a lot of useful items inside the store, Michael, Alberto, and Aaron each started towards the front doors. If the little girl was still there, they would try to avoid her altogether. Stepping inside, they swept their guns back and forth and quietly moved through the store. The candy aisle was devastated but the little girl was nowhere to be seen. Aaron tried not to look at the bodies lying around, two of which his father had taken out. They proceeded to ransack the place of everything. Water, milk, medicine, sodas, sports drinks, snacks, and every six pack of beer was packed up. Every vehicle was packed to the limit. They smiled like fat cats at the booty they had acquired.

They all jumped in their various rides and drove out. Cars were maneuvered onto the road in a slow fashion until everyone was in place. Turning up the main road, the highway stretched ahead with a sense of apprehension. It was only six miles to William's house, so Michael figured he better make some calls. The first and most dreaded was to Chugg's son. He hated to give the news, but his son took it well; he was glad to know he had someone with him as he died. He also appreciated them grabbing the medals. They were all hoping to see each other again one day. Then he could retrieve them.

Michael phoned around to check on the rest of the group's progress. Davis Masters had packed up and was already on his way to William's home with his wife. Steve was just leaving with all his things; he was traveling alone. Michael called William to inform him of their growing numbers and of everyone's place in the plan so far. William's place was just outside of Lake Jackson and right on the highway. He should be easy to get to. Looks like everyone is on their way, he thought. So far, so good. But it was too early to have had positive thoughts floating through his mind. He'd seen plenty of movies; he should have known that thinking like that was always an omen of worse things to come, especially when it came to zombies.

Chapter 13

When they returned to the cafeteria, everyone was sitting down and waiting for them, coloring, chatting, playing board games. Cindy and the others had made it to the school without incident while the buses were being worked on. Bert had been in contact with Jacob and opened the doors for them when they arrived. The Toyota and Cadillac were backed up in the front of the school, all set to go. The group in the cafeteria had things packed up and ready to be loaded. Food and drinks were packed in chests with plenty of ice. They had gone through the class rooms and packed school books, supplies, and any other thing they could find that could be used later. The children's education wouldn't end just because the world seemed to be. Hopefully they would find a high school and even a college later to pick through, to help enhance the learning experience as they grew. It comes naturally to children, but teachers, too, remain optimistic about the future. When the children from the shop appeared with the box they had so carefully carried, the squeals could be heard throughout the school. Nothing like a few kittens to help bring smiles to children of all ages.

With that thought in mind, Principal Sharpe spoke up. "Please pardon my interruption into the planning, but I need to ask a favor."

"What can we do for you, Karen?" Bert asked.

"I hope you are okay with this...I phoned over to our sister school to check on them. The junior high is about a mile from here and it's on the way to the Naval Air Station. They have another seventy-five children stuck there along with a dozen teachers, a few workers, and several parents, also. Can we somehow rescue them? They have more buses and have seen several of the infected around the school."

"Damn. That's a no brainer!" Bert answered. "Of course we have to help them. What kind of person wouldn't? I don't know this area very well, so I will need you, Karen, to ride with Sam and lead the way, at least till we get over there." He looked at Sam, who was beaming at Bert's trust in him. Bert smiled at the older man. "Thank you, Sam, for taking point. All right, everyone," he addressed the room. "New and very important stop on the way. Everyone stay together on the road. Let's get loaded up; we need to get moving. Make sure everyone is as armed as can be." He turned to the small group of adults who were brainstorming about what was next. "Make sure everyone pees before we leave," he instructed them.

It was decided to bring the truck and SUV around to the back and load everyone and everything from there. All the new stuff would be loaded into the buses. When they started to load the children, the biggest issue was which bus would get the cats. It was decided that the box could be switched at some point on the journey. That solved most of the problem. They put all the children they could on the cat bus. This helped with the supply problem at the same time. They could load everything possible starting at the back of that bus with fewer kids on it. Randy drove that bus since his two girls begged to be with the kitties. Another teacher drove the second bus, so Bert's group was free to protect the convoy as necessary. Donald jumped onto the second bus instead of joining his group. He didn't want to be in the middle of another gunfight and felt this was best for everyone.

Cindy, Jack, Jacob, and his mom, Myrtle, rode in Jack's truck. Sam jumped into his SUV with Karen, Judy, Bert, and John. Sam and Jack pulled around to the back and waited for the door to be open. Jeffrey opened the roll-up door before he got in the Bronco along with his wife and children. Rosalita decided to go with them as their shooter. They would bring up the rear; the old Ford could outrun anything they ran into and Rosalita was a really good shot. The buses came out and stood by for Jeff and the others to get into position. When ready, Sam took the lead and the long group finally hit the road.

Jacob made a phone call to his son Tim to see how he was doing. Tim was almost to the depot but it was slow going on foot. He had a couple of his friends from the college with him. They had no family in Texas and decided to stick together. Tim figured it might take him another couple hours to get to the Navy depot, but he would try to stay in touch with his father along the way. One thing he told his father was cause for concern to everyone. Tim and his buddies were having to avoid crazed, healthy people along with the infected. Too many regular people were turning on each other, becoming positively murderous. One thing the entire group had noticed was the lack of law enforcement of any kind. They'd not even seen an ambulance since they'd left the hospital.

The caravan moved on down the road towards the junior high. It didn't take them long to make the mile plus and pull over near the school parking lot, but it looked like trouble from there. There were more than just several infected. At least a couple dozen had taken to staking out the school buildings. Sam, John, and Bert hashed out the logistics quickly, deciding it would be best to limit who was involved with this situation. They sent Karen and Judy back to a bus for their safety. Sam got a couple magazines full of ammunition and gave them and the AR-15 to John. Bertram had a pair of hand guns and more ammo at the ready. The plan was to drive through the parking lot and round up all the infected like sheep.

Sam hit the gas and they drove through the parking lot, not too fast, but not slow enough for them to get near the vehicle. They circled the lot twice, making sure all of the munchers were following along before moving on. Once near the back end of the parking area, Sam stomped on the accelerator barreling out into the sports field. The zombies followed. He slid to a sideways stop on the other side of the track. Sam stayed behind the wheel in case they had to bug out quickly. John and Bert jumped out and waited till the hungered many came close enough. As the first of them got near, John opened up with his first round of bullets; seven down and many more coming. He took out a few more before the clip went dry. Two were getting too close for comfort, so Bert discouraged them from proceeding. Permanently. John was able to reload before the rest of the horde got to them. With the second magazine and well placed shots, he was able to dispatch the last of the lost souls.

Making sure that none were able to rise again, they were able to proceed back to the SUV. John got in the back while Bert went around to the passenger side. He opened the door and had one leg in before it happened. Bert was grabbed and pulled down to the ground by a quiet and stealthy teenage boy. A very large and muscular middle school aged one at that. Larger, in fact, than Bert and strong as a grown man. This man-child body slammed Bert to the ground, landing on him like Plymouth Rock. This kid could compete in college football if not for his age. Bert's eyes went wide in fear for a second before instinct and his basic training from the Navy took over from there. He popped the kid in the throat with the web of his hand, kneed him in the crotch, and pushed the kid off of him. Scrambling to his feet, he threw a roundhouse kick at the kid's head while he was still kneeling and knocked him out. Panting, Bert stood up and just stared at the poor, infected child. He didn't have the heart to kill him. He decided to tie him to the goalpost by his belt instead. Bert knew the kid would either somehow get free or die of starvation, but he wasn't at the point where he could put a bullet in a boy's head. Even after having to just mow down a bunch of adults and possibly a few teenagers.

He jumped back in the vehicle where the other two were laughing at him. Jokes about a Navy vet getting beat up by a junior high kid were now the order of the day. It was just too much to hold back for John and Sam. They drove back and directed the rest of crew to the front of the school. Once parked, Karen called the other principal to inform her that they had arrived and had cleared the parking lot. She was told that there were a few roamers running through the halls and they were barricaded in the auditorium. Everyone stayed on the buses or in their respective cars while the original group came together to talk out how to work through the school. They figured that two groups of two should be able clear the halls by moving from the front of the school to the back. The school was built in a basic cross pattern with the auditorium in the back as the top. Jacob and Sam went down the left while Bert and John went to the right of the entrance and office area.

It didn't take long for the first fight to ensue. Jacob and Sam had no sooner walked through the double doors than an infected teacher came at them from two doors down. It was upon them before they could fire a shot. Jacob body checked the man into the wall and Sam clubbed him over the head. They took him back into the same room and barricaded the door. From there, they were able to make their way to the T-intersection and turned left. Near the end of the hall, there were three more munchers kneeling over a corpse. The view nearly made them both puke. These three were ripping into whatever individual had died like it was a Bar-B-Q and they got there too late for the main course.

There were several doors between them and the feasters and they definitely didn't need to be jumped while approaching. Checking each door separately, they moved slowly down the hall. They were within two doors from the munchers, when one of them raised its head and growled. This got the others' attention and it was on like Donkey Kong. Popping up in unison, they howled and loped after Jacob and Sam. Sam just smiled and let the gun in his hand rip a few rounds off. Down. Out. Done. Checking the last few doors in case any more were hiding or someone still human was trapped, they then headed toward the auditorium.

Bert and John progressed down their side of the school checking every room along the way. They seemed to have an easier going. As they rounded the corner to their right, things changed. They stopped at the sound of pounding sneakers. Immediately they backpedaled and ran back through the front door. Ten infected were barreling down the hall after them. They barely got on the other side of the door, shut and locked it, before the door shook under the onslaught of ravenous teenagers. While backed up to the door for more leverage, Bert broke out the cell phone and called Sam.

"Help! Sam, are y'all clear yet?"

"Bert! Is that you? What's happening?"

Thank you God. "We got nowhere. Too many of them...we're holding a door closed with our bodies. They are looking at us like we are grilled cheese. Is there a way from your side to ours?"

"Holy crap! Yeah," Sam said, "There's a hallway between us that leads over and behind them. We'll try to sneak up behind them."

"Right. As soon as you start distracting them with bullets, we'll pop the door open and help you take care of any stragglers." He heard Sam's first shots. "Sam! Nice going! Spray the whole bunch down." He had no sooner ended the call when a bullet came through the glass window. He and John hit the floor, diving in opposite directions. The door broke apart, bullets went ripping through them all and the slaughter ended. Blood and body pieces had flown everywhere. Bert and John got up and picked bits off each other.

"You're a mess," John said.

Sam and Jacob came up and put a couple more bullets in the brains of those still moving. Sam, always smiling, tried to look away from Bert, once again, stifling laughter. Bert punched him in the shoulder and started to laugh himself. The situation had been dire at the time, but the sight of the two of them dripping in zombie yuck was comical despite the horror of it. Getting themselves together again, they moved toward the auditorium. Calmer heads prevailed; Jacob suggested they find a bathroom first to clean up. It would be poor etiquette to appear before the children dripping in blood and bits of brain matter. Sam and Jacob cleared the rest of the on the hallway while the others were cleaning up. It seemed that pack of munchers had been eating another teacher when Bert and John pissed them off with their uninvited meandering.

Jacob went back outside to let everyone know the building was secure and they would be bringing out the new part of their group soon. Those that needed to got off the bus to stretch their legs or come inside for the bathrooms. After cleaning up, the four went to the auditorium doors and called for someone inside. The principal came to the doors and threw them open with a big smile. Everyone was grateful to see help. Introductions went around while Bert laid out their plan to get to the Navy Air Station by nightfall for safety. A few of the adults wanted to get back to their homes. Bert tried to discourage them, but it was no use. They would be protected till they got into their vehicles, then they were on their own. Once the kids were ready, they all gathered outside. They watched as those few that wanted to go home left safely. One maintenance worker and a teacher went to grab two buses with John along as security. Twenty minutes later the kids were loaded up and they were under way to the depot.

Chapter 14

It was still early afternoon, but the devastation was starting to show all around. A couple of cars were left along the old two lane highway; many more were scattered unwillingly in the ditch. Michael noted that one truck had run straight into a house after jumping across the road. Michael's caravan could see one of the infected standing just off the road. The dead eyes and ripped clothing gave away her situation. She gave no other acknowledgement, just stood and stared at the line of vehicles with a blank expression until they were through a curve and out of sight. That was profoundly creepy on so many levels to them all.

"Mom," Wayne said, "did you see that lady? She totally looked dead."

"Nightmarish," Kay answered between a knit and a pearl.

"Just keep moving, guys," came Michael's voice. They were keeping one phone in each car on "party chat" in case of emergency.

The caravan finally reached William's spacious, circular drive. There was room for everyone to turn in and park. Michael noticed that Steve's Jeep was already here with his Harley. William was in the process of loading up his truck. His wife, Michelle was changing their newborn, James, in anticipation of it being a while before stopping again. Their daughters, Haley, (who was fifteen), and her sister, Holley, (who was thirteen), were bringing stuff out and throwing it in their mom's gigantic Excursion. William had kept it in great condition and it was tough and useful.

They heard squealing coming from down the road and all turned toward the sound. Barreling toward them, slamming to a stop was Davis and his wife. They both jumped out and started pulling out shotguns and rifles. Some stared with an open mouth, but a few took a cue, grabbing guns.

"What the hell, Davis?" Steve yelled. He grabbed his H&K MP5.

Davis looked back at them and said, "Some dumbass was shooting at us as we came through town. It wasn't far and I think he followed us. He must have seen how packed up we were and thought we were easy pickings. There are so many fucking pirates already. I saw another couple of them tearing up a burger joint like they were high. Day one of the apocalypse is already sucking hard." Aaron and Wayne starting giggling; Davis smiled and quickly turned back to the highway. Being a retired Army Ranger, cussing was just part of Davis's vocabulary. He had so many funny stories from his years all over the world. They were a great way to get through the nights at the plant, but he always forgot to employ a filter when younger folk were around.

They heard loud hillbilly music coming from somewhere and prepared themselves. After what Davis had just told them, they already knew what would follow that obnoxious noise was going to be a huge problem. Steve started hollering for everyone to get ready for war. Retired from the military also, Steve's background was Marine Force Recon. He was what people "in the know" would call an Operator: special training in the ways of death. Steve was a certified badass in every sense of the word. His was very similar to Davis's training, but with different specialties. Davis and Steve were always messing with each other over whose background was the boss. They were about to find out.

A huge, jacked-up, red pickup came down the highway and passed right by them. The truck cranked around in a U-turn, leaving a line of rubber on the asphalt. They saw a little of what they might be up against as it turned. The makeshift tank had gigantic bull horns and a cattle grill on the front with Southern battle flags flying from the bed. Flags are great when portraying actual reverence for the country and history, but somehow this didn't feel right. It was like they were flying them in a racist bastardization of the actual truth behind them. The truck stopped at the end of the drive and four country boys got out. They all brandished shotguns and handguns while chewing and spitting tobacco. They epitomized the unfortunate, bigoted stereotype of country people that the so-called "civilized" world actual believes. This included sleeveless white undershirts, called wife beaters, and caps with fishing emblems or beer ads on them. The driver smiled like a cat that just ate a canary.

"Well, well, well. Look what y'all done gathered for us poor needy folks to get. Whew! I surely am impressed by your ability to organize; ain't they neat, Earl?"

"They certainly is, TJ."

"We do appreciate it," TJ finished. This degenerate acted like he was king and actually believed that things were gathered for his purview.

"You fellas just keep moving. No one wants anyone to get hurt." William tried to defuse the situation, since this was all happening at his house. "Just leave us alone. You can have the house after we're gone; that'll be tomorrow. Don't start anything that we might all regret. This is just a matter of all of us trying to survive this terrible day. Now get back in that fine pickup of yours and head off."

"Shut up, jackass! You're not in charge here. You never were–you just hadn't met me yet. I'm the king swinging dick around here. Lay down your weapons before I put you all six feet in the dirt. Now!"

"Seriously. Look around you, friend. You're outnumbered both people and weapon wise. We don't want to hurt you. Please just go. I'm begging you not to do this." William moved his family back around to the other side of the cars for protection.

"What part of shut the fuck up did you not understand? I'm in charge, dumbass. It doesn't matter how many guns you have. You don't have the balls to shoot me. You people are just normals. I'm the killer here. This is my world now. All your shit is mine and you will get what I allow you to have. Fuckin' people, right, Earl? They just haven't gotten this new reality yet. Just hand over you weapons, ammo, food, and... I'll take that sweet po-leece car. Always wanted to ride in the front of one of those."

"It's awful stuck in the back," Earl chimed in.

"Damned straight. So do it. Or I just kill you all and take everything. Including your ladies. Oo. Those little girls look pretty tasty. And is that there the momma? Damn! You got it good, boy. That is one serious MILF." TJ licked his lips. Two of his crew just were smiling and whistling like perverted construction workers. "They gonna make me some good baby mommas. Hehe."

"Watch your mouth, prick, or I'm gonna shut it permanently. I tried being nice about this but now you're just being rude and stupid. That's my family and I will put you down like the mangey, rabid dog you are. Just go away. Now. Last chance." William tightened his grip on his Colt 1911.

"You just don't get it, do you? Y'all are the sheep. I'm the fuckin' wolf. This is my fuckin' pasture. I will eat you and pick your bones clean, you sorry shits." TJ immediately brought up his shotgun and fired toward William. His shot went wide, but a few of the pellets grazed his arm.

Steve took his shot the moment he saw the trigger pull. A bright red spot showed up between TJ's eyes. Smack at the bridge of his nose appeared the death shot. The would-be king fell backward and hit the ground with a loud smack as his head bounced off the concrete. It took a couple seconds but two of the three left raised their guns with sneers of hatred and tried to fire. One got off a shot that smacked right into Steve's chest while the other's shot went over the head of Davis. Of all the people to fire at and not take out, Davis was a really, really, really bad choice. In an enraged spout of pure madness, Davis fired a modified Uzi on full auto. He sprayed across the front of the truck where the other two were in completely open. They both danced like marionettes while a full magazine of 9mm ammunition entered various parts of their bodies. The one crew member left dove down behind the truck in fear.

"Do you wanna live? Throw your guns out in front of the truck. Do it." The last one alive threw his revolver out. "Now get your ass out here." The guy crept forward with his hands in the air. He had pissed himself. "Lay down on your stomach," Davis commanded. "Put your hands on your head." Davis walked up to him and frisked his body. He had a couple knives and some meth on him.

Keeping a knee on the truck idiot's back, he stared at William. "How's Steve? Is he gonna live?"

"Son of a bitch! That really fucking hurts. Goddamn. I forgot how much that hurts. Too many years away from that life, I guess. I used to take a shot like that and beat the hell out of the guy that did it. Ow." Steve took an offered hand to stand up. He brushed himself off and unbuttoned his shirt. He picked the bullet out of the Kevlar and held it up. "Gotta love American made armor. Hell yeah."

"You stupid Jarhead. I thought we lost you. You better pass out that body armor. How dare you horde that shit." Davis backed off the prisoner. "Get up. Why didn't you shoot, too? You don't even look old enough to drive." Taking the cap off the young man's head, it was obvious he was no more than a teenager. "Damn, kid. How the hell did you get involved with them?"

"I...uh. The guy you shot in the head was my uncle. My momma died last night from her boyfriend. He came home drunk and bit her right in the throat. We thought he was drunk, anyway. He was always drunk. You know. We didn't notice the difference. TJ killed them both and I had nowhere else to go. I was so scared I would die. I just went along cuz he told me. I'm so sorry."

"What's your name kid?"

"It's Billy...please don't kill me, mister."

"Kid. It's your lucky day. Well, unlucky in general, but I'm letting you go. Get in the truck and leave. Don't come back and learn how to live better. Now go. Go!" Billy took off running. They all watched him for the half mile they could see. Funny thing is, he forgot the truck. But it looked like it wasn't going anywhere anyway. Bullets had ripped up the front. Those that didn't find their way into a body.

"Okay," Michael said. "William, how's your arm?"

"Just a ruined shirt, I think," he answered. "Maybe a couple scratches."

Michael looked toward the vehicle, realizing the big red monstrosity was directly in their way. It had to be moved before they could leave. Especially if it was in a hurry.

"Guys. We have to get that thing out of the way. Before we go inside. I don't want to be stuck trying to turn all these cars around the other way or drive through the ditch."

"I got it dad. I'll use Chugg's truck. It's got the power to push it. Even with flat tires." Aaron moved toward the cab and jumped in. Firing it up, he got up behind it. Wayne jumped in the dead truck and put it in neutral, turning the wheel toward the street.

"Ready, Aaron."

Once the bumpers were touching, Aaron pushed down on the accelerator and knew it would take more. The engine revved and slowly pushed the red devil back around. It took a few minutes but he was able to eventually get it across the street and into the opposite ditch. Wayne jumped out and walked back to the house. Aaron brought the Dodge back and jumped out.

"Good job boys. Way to take control. All right. I think we need to regroup. Can we all fit inside?" Michael hugged them both.

"Sure, if you don't mind sitting on the floor." William said.

"Good," Michael continued. "Aaron and Wayne, can you two keep watch while we talk out our next steps, please? I know you want in but we need someone to look out for any more trouble and keep an eye on the stuff. Thanks, boys."

"Sure, Dad," Wayne said, "but let us know if anything exciting comes up, ok?"

"Right. Can someone get some ice for Steve, and does anyone know how to clean up William's arm? Oh–sorry, Michelle. Big brain fart on my part. I forgot you were a nurse. You are definitely going to come in handy. Too much happening too quickly for my addled brain. Ha-ha." Michael was once again moving things along.

Michelle spoke up, "Why don't we see what there is left to eat? I know we can't take everything. I see some hungry-eyed kids around here. Don't worry, boys. You won't die of starvation. I'll have my girls bring you some stuff. Keep your eyes peeled and call out for anything, please."

Everyone headed inside but Ann. She gave both her boys a hug and kiss. She looked at her big guys in reverence. "Please don't be heroes. I need you both. Daddy needs you, too. Do what you need to, but stay alive and call out. I'm going to leave the front door open in case."

After everyone had some snacks and a few beers, they sat around the living room to figure out where to go next with their lives. It would be dark soon and everyone was pretty sure this would be the rest stop for the night. With a caravan this size and no way to know what the roads would be like yet, safety in a decently securable spot would be best. Ideas were batted around about the next couple days, but nothing was set in stone. A couple excursions toward some of the store fronts seemed a logical choice. A couple groups of two to three moving along the main road and branching out as able should cover the majority.

While hashing out details, Michael's cell phone rang. It was the control room from the plant. "Hello. Hey Warren. What the hell are y'all still doing there?"

"We are in the last stages of the fastest shut down in the history of the plant. Not worried if any of it leaks at this point. Security is trying to keep the zombies out, but a couple have made it to the block. A few of us brought our guns to work despite the rules. What were they gonna do, fire us? We've had to take a few down that made it this far inside the gates. We've been working in threes so everyone's back was covered. We barely have any safety crap on either."

"Well you can't stay all night. It's getting ugly out here."

"We've got one person inside while the rest are closing or opening everything we can. The way things were going, there was no telling what might happen to, from, or during work. Good thing we had the guns though. I don't know about the other blocks, but we're getting our shit together to bug out. It's just me, Danny, Jose, and Kylar here. I told my wife to try and get to the police station and I would meet her. Kylar and Jose told their girlfriends the same, but Danny couldn't reach his. We should be out of here in an hour. What's y'alls plan?"

"We're staying at William's for the night at least. Discussions are under way for afterwards. The police station is a great idea, though. Good place to hole up. If I don't hear from you by morning, I'll give you a call and let you know what we're thinking. Good luck."

Once Michael was finished with the call, William turned to the group with a good idea. "Why don't we figure out how to keep secure for the night? Might I suggest three people out front roaming the grounds? Keeping an eye on all the vehicles? Could be a tall task for just one person if they need to watch the road, too. Three gives a better rotation. The back yard is fenced in, but someone could just check around the sides of the house every so often. Maybe rotate one person every two hours so everyone can get some rest and still be fresh for guard duty."

"Damn good idea, William. All right, who's had the least sleep? They can take the latest shifts. Oh, yeah, that would be me, Steve, Davis, and William. This should be easy now." It took Michael and the others about fifteen minutes to hash the schedule out while everyone relaxed. "Raul, can you go be the third with my boys. We'll relieve them after two and four hours. You got the first six hour shift. That okay?"

"Sure," Raul said. "No problem."

"Thanks. If you see anything, send one of them in, if possible. If not, I guess we'll hear the first shot. Sorry, bad joke. But still funny, right? Okay. If everyone is good with the plan, it's time to drink some more and sleep deeply. William, do you have enough blankets and pillows?"

"Not even close, man. We've maybe got three more sets upstairs. Not counting those on the beds already."

"Ann, you and Rosa see if you can grab some from the cars, then. I'm gonna sleep near the front door...just in case." Once they were settled on sleeping arrangements, Michael grabbed one more beer and kissed his wife good night. He knew she would stay up till the boys were back safely inside. "Well, good night to you all. See some of you in a couple hours."

Chapter 15

They moved at a slower pace with four buses in the mix. It was about ten miles to the Naval Station and the streets were ugly. It may have been just the first real day of Zombie World, but it looked like a ghost town full of vehicles and bodies. The adults tried to keep the children's attention from outside but it was a moot point. Too much new nastiness for the girls and the boys were in awe of the devastation. So many things that young children shouldn't see, but these kids had no choice but to live through it. They'd made it about halfway to the station when Sam suddenly decided to turn into a strip mall. He had found a Taco Cabana just sitting pretty and awaiting there patronage.

It didn't seem like it, but for some it had been most of the day since they'd had breakfast. The junior high kids had been stuck for hours without eating. Bert jumped out and directed the buses around the left side of the building. They put all the vehicles in a way that completely obstructed anything that might try to get into the building. They basically circled the wagons so there was no opening between the various buses and trucks for anyone to slide through. Sam, Jack, Rosalita, and John all posted up on top of a separate bus. This way they could cover each side in case of attack. By going around the left side, that made the bus doors all face inwards, toward the building. Everyone was unloaded into the store front to relax for a while. The cafeteria workers went into the kitchen to see what they could find. A smorgasbord of Mexican food was available. Tacos, chalupas, burritos, and chimichangas were the order of the day and it was free food Monday. It took a while to cook enough for everyone and the kids gorged themselves on soft drinks. Sugar rushes were the last thing anyone was worried about.

Everyone was laughing and playing with the kittens after eating. Some of the group had to stand and rotate out. They were way beyond the maximum capacity of the restaurant. Bert came out and gave the others some food since they were stuck above them all doing guard duty. He had already been by Jack and John and was proceeding to Sam when Rosalita called out. They had trouble. A pack of six were heading their way. They didn't seem to be in a hurry but were definitely heading towards the Cabana Bay. Bert told the others to stay in their spots but went inside to let everyone know what was fixing to happen. Afterwards, he grabbed a gun and got up top with Rosalita. He lay down next to her and waited till they were closer. It seemed the pack was just loping along through the Field Store parking lot next door without any real sense of urgency.

They continued to watch them until something surprising happened. A couple pickup trucks came screaming through the parking lot and hit two of them, sending them somersaulting into the air. The riders were hollering "Yahoo!" and coming around again. The infected just kind of screeched and growled without any real purpose. The two trucks revved their engines and ran over two more with a lot of yelling. Two were left. One became scared and took off. The other turned to chase the trucks in rage. One of the trucks threw it into reverse, hit the last infected and stopped. The thing was still clinging to the tailgate, broken, with no lower body ability anymore. Someone got out with a bat and swung for the fences. The zombie's head exploded and they all cheered, getting out, whooping and hollering in success. They picked at the bodies for anything useful and then jumped back into the trucks. It seemed they never noticed the group at the Cabana Bay. Bert and crew considered it a stroke of good luck finally coming into play for them. They didn't want a firefight so close to the children. They had been through enough already.

With Rosalita and the others still on the lookout, Bert got down and got everyone ready to go. They grabbed as much portable food as they could, and the kids loaded up on drinks for the trip. Packing up the extra items took a little while, but the kids were happy to have something to do. Judy decided to board one of the buses. She felt that it would be better for her physically, in case the cars and trucks had to do something extraordinary. This would also give them more flexibility and she could help with the children. They had made a couple extra jugs of tea for each vehicle and took all the water available. The guards all came down to get more food and drinks for themselves.

Jack just about had a heart attack when he looked at the front counter. There was an ice bar with lots of drinks of the alcoholic nature. "Oh hell yeah! Cervezas aplenty! We just have to get all this beer. There's margarita mix, Coronas, Budweiser, Lite, wow! Negra Modelo! Haven't had one of these in years. Beers all over. No way am I leaving this all behind. Sam, grab a couple coolers; we can stack the cases on top of the Escalade and the back of the Bronco. Definitely taking some with me in the truck. Sippin' N' Swervin'. I'm in hillbilly heaven. Woot!"

Cindy just shook her head and hid a smile. Jack loved his beer but never let himself get so far inebriated that it was an issue. Driving drunk had never been an issue either. He chose when to stop and knew his limits, so Cindy always just let him be the country boy he was meant to be. What was the quote? "A hard man is good to find?" No, that's not it. "A good man is hard to find." Well, either way in this case, she thought. She helped get the children on the buses and then came back to help with the beer. Rosalita, Bert, Jack, Cindy, John, and Sam all had a beer together in a toast to survival. They loaded everything they could find with room to spare in the Bronco. Sam and Jack had a couple bags full of beer bottles; there were no more coolers to be had. Alcohol was absolutely necessary for their first night of the Apocalypse.

Everyone was loaded up and ready for transport. They proceeded on with Sam in the lead again. Sam and his Escalade ran first again. They had all of the buses in the middle with the Toyota Tundra and then the Bronco bringing up the rear. They were able to jump onto a freeway ramp that brought them within a mile of the depot. Coming down, they could see a couple of cars parked in a V formation at the bottom. Sam was slowing down to go around it, but Bert noticed a pair of gun barrels poking over and around the cars. There was a space about four feet wide between the cars, so Bert made a decision. He quickly told Sam his idea with seconds to spare before hitting them or stopping on the highway. Decision made, Sam stomped on the gas pedal while all three of them hung on to whatever was available. They plowed right through the middle. Three bodies went flying from the impact. The front end shook from the crushing smash while Sam brought it around for a stop as soon as he could and pulled off into the grass. The buses were almost to the crash site and began to slow. They made sure to stop well before because they didn't quite know what had happened yet.

Sam, Bert and John all jumped out of the Cadillac a little worse for wear from the impact. Each armed and pissed, they took up separate targets and just let loose. There was no mercy to be shown in this confrontation. They were not taking any chances with the lives of so many children in the balance. No one knew who the land pirates were, but they were about to all die because of their own inane stupidity. Three were down from the crash but five more were trying to remount an offensive. It didn't take long for them to be mowed down from the fusillade of bullets let loose by the good guys.

They had started to walk back to the Caddy when they heard someone move behind them. One of those hit by the cars had gotten back up and felt like he could sow some final wild oats by trying to take them down. Guess he didn't look around him at his friends in pieces already. He ran at them like a wild dog, straight towards the smallest of them, Sam. John didn't bother with a bullet, he just ran forward and speared the guy right in the gut. John's shoulder nailed him right in the solar plexus. The moron went down like a sack of potatoes, but he just wouldn't stay down. He still tried to attack them in a really awkward way. No breath but with a great sense of want to, he made it to his knees but John was back on his feet and just laid the guy out with a right haymaker. This time, the idjit was down for the count.

"What the hell was that, John? A spear. Seriously. You must be a Goldberg fan." Sam was clapping him on the shoulder.

"Who?"

"Really? The Atlanta Falcon turned wrestler. Bill Goldberg. That was his signature move." Sam couldn't believe John didn't know who that was.

"Never heard of him." John smiled at Bert. He knew who it was. It was just more fun messing with Sam.

"Huh. Amazing." Sam just walked on, not knowing it was a joke.

Sam and John went back to the SUV while Bert checked each of the bodies to make sure they were dead or out for a while. He then directed the buses to proceed their way and he jumped back into his vehicle. They made the last little bit toward the depot without any more problems. Unfortunately, the poor Cadillac Escalade was on its last legs after the crash. Steam was rising from the radiator and the front was crushed. The tires barely lasted the rest of the trip since they were rubbing against the frame now. Somehow they made it to the gate and pulled up to the side and out of the way. It would probably never move again. "Bye, my beautiful girl. You served me well over the last few years, and you have died a heroine." Sam patted her hood and walked away.

"Stop and identify yourself!" A voice rose from inside the gatehouse.

"It's me, Bert. I come bearing civilians galore."

"I am the gatekeeper. Are you the keymaster?"

"I'll go all Stay Puft on your ass if you don't open the damn gate, Craig. Only you would spout Ghostbusters at a time like this."

The gate rose up while Bert got out of the car. He told Sam where to have everyone park. He went to the guard shack and gave Craig a big 'ole hug and shook the hand of the other guard, Thomas. "Good to see you alive, my friend. How are things here?"

"Pretty quiet so far. We haven't had any action, except for one guy. He was like an addict. Took a couple shots to bring down...but no other issues. Obviously infected or possibly just stupid. Can't ask him now."

"Good to hear. We were able to rescue over a hundred children from two different schools. No way could we let them fend for themselves. This was the best and most secure place I could think of. I knew at least half of the personnel would still be here. Hoping that we have many that will help kick this world back into shape. Otherwise it will be a tough apocalypse."

Walking up to them, overhearing this last part, Captain Tonia Parnell entered the conversation. "You don't even know what kind of squids and jarheads we have obtained for this glorious venture into hell. Let me inform your surgical highness of what we have in store for the children's safety. Some Lieutenant, Captain, and Major-like pilots that are ready and willing to do whatever is needed are just hanging around soaking up the sun. We have many more here for training at various stages. Jarheads ready to chew nails abound and await some destruction. The crème-de-la-crème is next. For your viewing pleasure, we have three water breathing kings of the black ops world sleeping off the nightmare in the squad room.

"Well well well. As I live and breathe. If it ain't the good old Cap-i-tan. Good to see you, Parnell. You say you got some special ops?"

"That's right, my son. Real live Navy Seals for your delight. These poor guys just showed up a couple days ago for some leave. Something about wanting to visit the beach bunnies. Seeing what was happening, they stayed up all night to help with security in case things escalated quicker. They decided to take some down time while able. We also have a couple thousand ensigns, petty officers and various contractors available, both active duty and reserves. About thirty good 'ole Army foot soldiers from their depot next door are standing by, along with their civilian workers that stayed behind. We haven't heard anything from the Coasties on the other side yet. I think they have been up and down the shoreline trying to do some good.

"And who died and made you God? I'm assuming you are now the ranking officer around here?"

"Well...there have been no orders all day from anywhere and our fearless Colonel is gone. You remember what an asshole he was? One of the ensigns shot his dumb ass and took off. That left me in charge of the whole enchilada. By the way, it's good to see you alive, too, Bertram."

"It's good to be alive, Captain."

"Well, it was good while it lasted...now that you're here, Mr. Major Pain, sir. You have seniority so that makes you the rankest. The rest of the brass all took off first thing this morning and I've been left here to hold down the fort. I don't think they're coming back."

"Ha ha. First, I'm not active, and second, I don't want to take charge of the Navy personnel unless you absolutely need me to at some point. Right now, our big group of civvies is hard enough to wrangle without trying to run military people too. I think we all need to sit down for a major pow-wow, military and civilian. We are all going to need each other to operate in the most effective capacity in order to survive."

John walked up and asked about his son. No one had heard from him yet. John pulled out his phone and tried him. Nothing on the first try. He waited a minute and tried again.

"Dad! Dad! We're stuck in a gas station. There are infected crawling everywhere. I think there may even be a couple regular people out there with guns. There has been sporadic gunfire aimed at who knows where..."

"Calm down, Tim. Tell me where you are."

"We are two miles down the road on the other side of Ocean Drive. Right over the bridge; we can see it from here! Even if we could get out of here, they would run us down before we got halfway over. Can you get here? We need help."

"I'm here at the Naval Air Station. We'll get to you one way or another. Just stay put, son. I'm coming." He hung up and turned to Bert. "I have to go. My son is trapped and I need help."

"I'm with you all the way. Tonia, do you have a problem with me taking the Seals? And munitions? And a Humvee?" Bert said with a puppy dog face.

"Do what you have to do, Bert. There is no more standing on military etiquette. Survival is all we have now. Technically you're in charge if we did; do whatever you need to to save civilians. You know the combinations to everything here. Go. Keep in touch via radio and call if you need reinforcements. I'll gather more squids and force the Marines boys to help if needed."

Bert and John took off to the squad room. Waking the Seals up wasn't hard. As soon as the door opened, they popped up and reached for weapons, keenly honed instincts kicking in. "We come in peace, guys. Urgent business. You want some action? Gear up, my water monsters, and meet outside in five. We're making our own movie, World War Zombie, a sequel to Act of Valor with even more dangerous bad guys, and I intend on raining down the hellfire. Introductions in the Hummer."

Leaving the Seals in a controlled frenzy of readiness, they took off for a Humvee and backed it up to the ammo depot. They grabbed M-4s, grenades, Mossberg combat shotguns, several .45s and ammo boxes of all calibers. Once everything was loaded, they drove back to the front of the base. Out walked the scariest sight someone not fixing to die would ever see. Three elite Navy Seals, fully geared up and ready for even the deadliest of wars. With grease paint, combat armor, giant knives, and multiple loaded magazines scattered in strategic places across their bodies, they had so much equipment strapped to them that the eye couldn't define their entire arsenal. One of them had a horrific, but beautiful, sniper rifle decked out in forest camo with a scope that could see Mars. American military specialists ready to bring hellfire and brimstone to the enemy were a sight to behold. John and Bert silently thanked God they were on their side. They loaded up locked, cocked, and ready to rock.

Chapter 16

Warren and the others finally got out of the plant about an hour before sundown. They jumped into their respective vehicles and left. When they got to the gate, a firefight was under way. There were a few people trying to break into the plant for some reason. They had the security guards pinned down. The little old gate lady that usually worked nights was down and gone, half her skull missing. She had been affectionately known as the gate granny and it was a sad sight for them to behold. They had no experience or training for this kind of thing. There was a building near the guard shack where the walk in contractors would come through. They parked in the lot inside the fence behind the building. Grabbing the weapons available, the four of them decided to flank the idiots trying to take advantage of the apocalypse. They were able to grab the sightline of one of the guards and made hand signals explaining what they were about to do. He seemed to catch on pretty quick and would lay down cover fire if they needed it.

Making their way through the building without being seen was easy. Once on the other side, they weaved around a couple of the parked cars so they were slightly behind but not directly in the fire sight of the guards. It looked like four individuals trying to break in, but only three were in a clear line of sight. Unfortunately, only two of them were armed, so they needed to take down two first then quickly go for the third. The only option for the fourth was to hope he poked his head up with enough time to put him down too. Aiming as well as expected, they each shot their guy through the back and went to aim for the third. The bad guy was swinging his rifle just as Kylar put a bullet through his chest. Their win was short lived as they saw the fourth was already aiming towards them. They both threw themselves at the back of a car out of sight just as they heard a gunshot go off. Looking each other over, they realized neither of them were hit. Peeking over the car, they saw the last guy down with a shattered head. One of the guards had been given a good enough opportunity from their attack that he was able to get an accurate shot off before they could be gunned down.

Once it was clear that was all of them, they were able to come back through the gate. They shook the hands of the guards while all thanking each other for what had to be done. Making it back to their vehicles, they took off down the road again. It seemed to be easy going once they got on Highway 332 north toward the police station. It was only a couple miles away, thankfully. Once they got off the ramp and neared the traffic signal the shit hit the fan. There was a five car pileup right in the middle of the intersection and the figures moving were not of their original nature.

The police station was on the right, across the intersection and there was no clear way to it via the road. Performing some off-roading was the only way to get there. On their side of the light was the fire station with a helicopter sitting on the pad. Far enough away, they took a turn up onto the sidewalk and came around the backside of the fire station. They were able to come around the other side of the police department a block later. The situation there was almost as bad. A few infected were loitering near the front door, periodically banging on it or a window. It made one wonder if someone not turned was still alive inside. Everyone sure hoped so. Parking on the side, they grabbed a couple tire irons along with their guns. The hope was to take them out quietly so not to bring those to them from the scene of the wreck. They were able to get within a couple feet of the roamers by skulking through the bushes and around the pillars. Kylar and Jose were the youngest and strongest, so they attacked with the tire irons as soon as the infected turned their way. The cracking of skulls and squashing of meat was loud in their tiny space but unnoticed by the others. It was over that fast.

Knowing the front doors were barred, they knocked quietly at first and whispered that they were friendlies. No answer. They got a little louder with both the second time. A timid female voice came through afterwards. "Friendlies? Are you bitten or infected? Are there any more out there?" They tried to assure her that it was safe, temporarily, and no one was infected. The small, uniformed woman attached to the tiny voice unlocked the door and stood back. As they opened the double doors, they were greeted by the barrel of a really big hand gun. She was understandably wary of newcomers. "Come inside, re-lock and re-bar the doors. Do me a favor and put down your guns. I understand needing the weapons out there, but I don't know you yet."

"No problem, officer, ma'am. We have no issue with that. Completely understandable." They each put down their guns and tire irons. "I'm Warren, this is Kylar, Jose, and Danny. We just finished up shutting down our block at the plant. Some ladies were supposed to me us here. Did they make it?"

She relaxed noticeably, but kept her gun trained their way. "What were their names?"

"My wife is Sandy; their girlfriends are Melinda and Jessie. Maybe you should try yours again, Danny."

She put her gun back in the holster after the names were mentioned. "Sandy and Melinda made it. I haven't seen a Jessie yet. My name is Officer Polumolu. Yeah, I know, hard to say. I'm Hawaiian. Just call me Sherrie. I'm the dispatcher on duty...not that it matters anymore. The ladies are in the squad room having some coffee with a little extra in each cup. So glad to see more friendly faces. I'm the only officer left, I think. I can't raise anyone else on the radio. I had one make it back, but he was bitten. I had to lock him up when he started acting psycho an hour later. Hardest thing I've ever done on this job was jailing Rob." She smiled and took a breath, but you could hear the sadness in her voice. "Come on this way, I'll take you to the ladies."

Jose and Danny both immediately started trying to reach their ladies. Rachel answered Jessie's phone. The going was rough and Jessie had to concentrate; she was a country girl and was driving a full size truck.

"Danny!" Rachel yelled into the phone. "I'm so sorry...with everything going on, I just forgot to charge up. Jessie showed up and we're on our way."

"It's so good to hear your voice, baby," Danny said. "Where are you guys?"

"We are almost to the station but its nuts out here! We are constantly running from or running over infected."

"Do you need us to come and get you?"

"No, sweetie...Jessie's doing an awesome job dodging most of them. We'll be there soon!" She hung up. Danny told Sherrie that the other ladies were about a mile away. Warren and Kylar found their women and gave them joyful hugs and kisses till they laughed out loud.

"It would be better if they came around to the back. They can drive right in. We need to secure the outside, though. I don't know if any of the infected are back there lurking. I have keys to everything here, so that's no problem. Let me get y'all more weapons, though."

All of them went to the armory. They grabbed some shotguns while Jose told Rachel where to come in. Reaching the back, Sherrie got the reinforced back door open while they stood watch. So far, nothing was waiting. Two minutes later, the pickup came screeching around the corner. They slammed to a stop inside and jumped out. "Close it quick! A pack is right on our ass!" As the door closed, a couple came charging their way. Two shotgun blasts later, they were lying on the ground. Before the door could roll all the way down, an arm reached under and was pinned by it. Warren kicked and stomped on it till it pulled back to howling protests. The door slammed down the rest of the way and they secured it. Multiple bodies slammed into the steel door moments afterwards and wild animal sounds and pounding came from the other side. They all made it back to the squad room to catch their breath.

While walking back, they heard a loud moan from the jailing area. "I think Gerald is awake." Sherri said, shaking her head.

"Who's that?" Warren asked.

"Local guy–my drunk from last night" She walked back and unlocked Gerald's jail cell. There was really no need to stand on ceremony of the law anymore. The cell next to him held Rob and as Sherri passed by, he started howling and thrashing about trying to get through the bars at her. Gerald nearly shit his pants at this. "Good god, man, get a grip. What the fuck's wrong with you?" Sherrie didn't say anything yet, since she didn't think the timing was right. Instead, she led Gerald back to the open area where everyone else was and handed him some coffee. Blinking himself alive and grabbing his throbbing head, he realized that these were not the droids, er, officers he was used to seeing after a binge night out.

"What the Hell? Sorry, ladies. Hello. Now, what the heck is going on?" He thought about what he'd heard on the news the previous days, some disease in the bigger cities? Putting that together with what he saw in the jailing area, it dawned on him now. "Oh, yeah, I'm guessing shit got worse today. I knew this was coming. Damn media kept trying to cover it up. That's part of the reason I went on a bender."

They explained what they had been through so far and Sherrie let him in on the fact that she might be the only officer left alive down here. She hadn't been able to reach the Sheriff's department, Fire, or the Department of Public Safety either. Just that incessant message to call back later. Warren informed them about their other group. Plans hadn't been made yet, but he intended to call Michael in a few minutes. They each talked about themselves by way of introduction, and they found out Gerald Tannert was a retired Navy pilot. He used to fly helicopters to and from the ships. Mechanics was a side hobby for him. He liked to be able to check out what he was flying himself. Made one feel somewhat safer.

After a few more sips of coffee, Gerald went on to tell them the other reason for his bender. His son was on a ship in the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Iraq. With things deteriorating quickly, he was able to get a call to his son and say goodbye last night. They both knew they had seen the last of each other a month ago when he deployed. It was a tearful but meaningful farewell for them both with a promise to try to reach each other again. They knew this would never happen, but it gave them both some small solace to say anyway. Gerald started to tear-up and retreated to the restroom to cry. Everyone gave him his space with sympathy. It seemed there would be a lot of crying over lost loved ones in the coming days.

Warren decided to make that phone call then. "Michael. Yeah, we made it here. We're secure but not much food, just a lot of snacks and whatever was in the fridge and pantries. Got plenty of weapons though. It seems the cops won't be needing them since there's only one officer left. All right. Get with me in the morning when y'all figure out our next steps, or I'll call you–whichever comes first. Have a good night, and be safe, bro."

Warren told the others how Michael said things were at William's house. Once all together, they would have a decent size group and be pretty well armed. Everyone just kind of lounged around and did whatever to kill time. They turned on the television but the few stations broadcasting had the same dire news. Sherri pulled out a stack of DVDs the night crew had lying around. Looking through them, Kylar just started cracking up. "Oh my God, y'all gotta see this. I can't believe of all the movies and television programs on disc, this is what I find." A couple of them came over and just had a "You've got to be kidding me" laugh.

Holding it up for the others, Kylar asked, "Anyone up for Season one of The Walking Dead?" A loud moan came from some of the group. "Fine. I could use some laughs. Melinda, you up for it? Cool. I always got such a kick out of the absurdity of undead things being able to walk around. No blood to tissue, no ability to move muscles, and no synapses firing in the brain, right? Yet they could still see, smell, and bite others to turn them undead too. Such a stupid concept, but always made for great viewing."

Grabbing a couple cokes from the vending machine, he picked up one of the many bottles of liquor they had found and went to the conference room to set up. It was a wonder how many bottles they had found scattered amongst the many desks. Police officers had hard lives; he guessed they needed the nip of the burning liquid on long nights–or more especially, bad ones. Even though it was odd, most of the group trickled into the conference room to watch a few episodes before wandering off for some sleep. The station had blankets and pillows, so everyone was taken care of. They shut up the doors leading to the holding area, so Rob's howls were almost non-existent for the night.

Before Warren went to sleep, he went around double-checking the doors and windows. The windows wouldn't be a problem since they were all barred and covered. There were safe for the night.

Chapter 17

The harbingers of death took off through the gate with tires squealing. John drove while Bert informed the Seals of the situation and made the many introductions. "John's son and a few friends are on foot trying to make it to us. They are trapped amongst too many zombies and possibly some psychotic normals. We don't know what we're running into, but there is no way we leave people to fend for themselves if we have an opportunity to help. We squids are made of stronger stuff than that or we wouldn't have volunteered in the first place for this great nation." He started to turn back around and paused, "Names. That might be appropriate. I'm Bertram Bharata, Major, Navy Reserve; was a surgeon at a local hospital. This is John Stockton, chef. You three are?"

"I'm Warrant Officer Vincent Dupree, sir, call me Vinnie. My specialties are in strategy and technology. Basically, I'm a lethally trained geek. That's Jeremy 'Germ' Turnball, E-4, our god-eye in the sky when needed." Vinnie paused for dramatic effect and held his hand out. "That gigantic, black, bald motherfucker is Terrell 'Terry' Jackson, E-5. He is the baddest hand job specialist on the planet." Terry glared at him. "Er, I mean hand to hand combat specialist. Yeah. That's what I meant. Hey, just kidding, Terry. Don't hurt your superior officer."

"Superior, my ass. Merely higher ranking. Good to meet you sir, and you, John. Glad to be of service." Terry held a scowl of mischief turning to a raised half smile toward Vinnie as he spoke.

Jeremy shook Bert's hand and gave his two cents. "Been wondering when we might get to save the world again. It's been about a week since the last time. I'm starting to get that itch to make some long distance 'reach out and touch' someone introductions with Betty Lou over here." He had a Texas accent which he laid on extra thick. Good 'ole boy with a sniper rifle. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

"Well," Bert said, "I'm not one to stand on military hierarchy. Don't look to me for orders. We are all equals as far as I'm concerned now. So far, I have made most of the decisions for the group I brought in, but they are all civvies. I don't have the knowledge to tell you boys how to do your job. If someone has better skills or strategies, please speak up." He looked around at the ready group. "I'm talking to you in particular, Vinnie. Most of what we run into, you three will be the most qualified to deal with anyway. I can take orders, too." Bert knew that the best leaders listened to their team and were prepared to take suggestions from others to heart.

Pulling up to the curb a block away from the gas station, they surveyed the area. An uncountable number of infected were milling in the area. A refrigerated truck painted with the logo of a meat provider was at the gas pumps and the back doors were wide open. That explained why so many munchers were around. Free food was free food. Not having to work to eat had become the new normal in most of society even before the collapse. Food stamps for life anyone? Why should it change now?

Gunshots could be heard from a couple blocks away. No way of knowing if they were friendly or not. The group tried to form a strategy while double checking all their weapons. John called Tim to inform him to stay put. He would hear a lot of noise, but when it was clear, John would call him out. Vinnie thought it best for Germ to try and take out some with the sniper rifle first, then maybe use some grenades before shooting. Ready to rock, they all got out of the Humvee except John. Terry showed him how to use the .50 Caliber M-2 on the top of the vehicle. In this situation, Terry was needed most on the ground in case of close-quarters fighting. After completing the reload training for John, he jumped back down and pulled up his M4A1 with M-203 grenade launcher attached. Vinnie made sure everyone had ear plugs in, because this was going to be extremely loud. As soon as Jeremy was set up with Betty Lou, his .300 Win Mag with suppressor on, Vinnie gave him the "go" signal.

There was no way to describe the sound from the first shot. It wasn't quiet but it was definitely not the boom Bert and John expected. Five of the zombies were down from the bolt action rifle before they took notice their "friends" were dropping. Five more were down before they figured out where the weird little sound was coming from. After two more went down, they turned en masse to attack the little group. The "Bloop!" of Terry's M-203 was the first grenade to fall amidst the horde. Several went down in a mess of severed arms, legs, and heads. Vinnie threw another as Bert pulled the pin on his. Bert hadn't tossed a grenade since boot camp, so his aim was a little off. He hit the left most side of the pack, smacking an old man zombie right in the face. It bounced off him and rolled a little away from the bulk of the herd, taking out only the old man and one other. Bert decided that was it for his throwing days, unless needed. He just kept his borrowed M4 at the ready after that. A couple more "Bloops" later and there were less than a dozen left barreling down at them.

John let loose with the "Ma Deuce" from atop the Humvee. A rapid firing ThunkThunkThunk ripped apart all of the remaining zombies and parts of the truck. John had a hard time stopping while he was yelling "Oh Yeah! Hell Yes!" and "Oh My God, I Love This Fucking Thing!" and "Get Some! You godless pricks." When he was done, he jumped back off the Hummer. "I feel like I just had a threesome without having to pay for it." That brought some big laughs from them all. They all jumped back into the cab of truck and drove the block over to the gas station.

John called his son, "Tim. It's clear. Y'all can come out now."

Tim came through the door and hugged his father. "I really thought we had seen each other for the last time this morning. So happy to be alive right now." Turning to the others, he shook each of their hands. "Thank you all. You risked your lives for us. I'm eternally grateful. I'm Tim, by the way. Howdy." He turned and introduced the girl hiding behind him. "This is my girlfriend, Tracee. The other two are Carol and Ricky." John introduced Bert and the Seals to each of them. John told Tracee how good it was to see her again and that he was glad she was able to get out with Tim. She had been a part of his life for almost a year now. Before they left, Bert had the idea of raiding the station while they were there. They grabbed whatever water, snack food, and even cigarettes they could carry. There wasn't enough room for them all in the Humvee, so the Seals all sat on the roof or behind the M-2. The purloined goods went into the back and they were off.

It didn't take them long to get back. Once back inside the gate, they pulled up to the mess hall. Just as they stopped, an explosion could be heard in the distance, perhaps a few miles away. It was not disturbing yet, but was something they would have to keep watch for over the night, just another unexplained something happening somewhere. They unloaded what they had. Looking at the snack food, they thought it might be a good idea for someone to roll back out; take a bigger truck to find more stuff while there was still daylight. It seemed that the Seals were up for more action. Jacob and Rosalita decided to go with them this time. They took the 2.5 ton supply truck out with the Humvee for support. Jacob and Rosalita rode in the Humvee with Germ while Vinnie and Terry took up the rear in the truck.

Time was still on their side when they got back to the gas station but there were already more zombies gathering, more even than before the earlier annihilation. The refrigerated truck had been blown to pieces and the station was now up in flames. That explained the mysterious explosion earlier. They guessed the M-2 and grenades did a little more accidental damage than they'd thought. Lucky they were gone. Or they would be "gone". The truck had set off the gas pumps, basically resulting in no more station to plunder. They rolled on to the next line of buildings and strip malls to see what was available. They found a dollar store, Chinese restaurant, hair care center, and then two spots they couldn't pass up. First they invaded a Gamestop and took everything they could carry. One never knows what might be wanted. There were a lot of children to keep happy...and big kids too. They were able to abscond with some laptops, several game systems of each variety, boxes and boxes of games for each system, some geek t-shirts, toys, and even some comic books. Gamestop had been known to have their own variant covers produced of some of the bigger issues from each of the big three comic creators; gotta find a way to keep all geeks happy. Next door was a Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor. If there was ever a time for Seals to act like children themselves, this was it. It had been a long while since they'd been able to totally let loose. They each had a waffle cone loaded with three scoops. Afterwards, they would load everything they could and take it back to the depot.

Jeremy stepped outside with his cone to look upon the quickly descending sunset. A shot rang out and a bullet slammed into the doorframe next to him. His cone dropped from his hand in surprise and he pulled his Sig Sauer P226. Diving to the left behind the Deuce-and-a-half truck, he looked from underneath for the enemy. Another few shots went flying into the store front as Vinnie and Terry came out hunched over with their guns at the ready. Rosalita and Jacob were down behind the counter in the parlor awaiting their instructions.

"Where the fuck did that come from?" Vinnie's eyes were roaming for any sign of a sniper.

"I don't know yet, but the motherfuckers made me drop my ice cream cone. Someone is gonna die for that. I was enjoying the shit out of that Rocky Road with sprinkles."

"It's okay, little man. We'll get you more when they're dead. I don't cater to people shooting at me and living." Terry checked for a round in his M4 and moved to the other end of the truck to peak around the corner.

A megaphoned voice come out of nowhere. "Lay down your weapons and come out for judgment! God has given us this land. It is ours and He does not approve of your thievery. The light will strike you down."

Vinnie decided to piss them off in hopes of drawing them out. "Who the hell died and made you king of all things? We don't answer to you and sure as hell won't give you our guns."

"Or our ice cream," Jeremy yelled.

Vinnie smiled back at him then addressed the shooter again. "You dared to shoot at us and think we'll let you live? My God of Vengeance and War says you're dead and don't even know it yet. Dumbass!"

A couple heads poked out from behind a parked car across the parking lot. Terry looked back at Vinnie and signaled with two fingers in front of his eyes then pointed outward telling his team that he had line of sight on two shooters. Vinnie nodded affirmative. Jeremy didn't have his rifle, but he was a crack shot with an M4 also. Looking out from under the truck, he could see another head through the windows of a second car. No sign of the leader yet.

"You sons a bitches don't know when you're on the losing end, do you? I've got you surrounded and I will take your trucks after I stomp over your dead bodies. No more negotiation. Die you fucking Satan lovers!" They started firing from behind the cars.

Terry popped a round into his launcher and let it fly. The car with two heads was obliterated. One problem solved. Jeremy took out the third guy with a shot right to the middle of his forehead. The leader stood up in shock, his megaphone hung limply at his side. His crew was gone in an instant. Angered, insane, or both, he started running, screaming, and firing a hand gun indiscriminately.

"God has judged you and found you wanting. You shall be executed before His eyes. Dieeeeee!" Reality had left the building for this idjit.

Vinnie shot him in the chest. He then walked over to check. The guy was sputtering about how he can't die because he was protecting this area for God. Vinnie looked down on him, told him to shut the fuck up, and shot him between the eyes. Without another thought his way, Vinnie turned back to the store front. He walked right back inside, grabbed a cone, scooped up some Rocky Road, slapped on some sprinkles, and handed it to Jeremy with a pat on the back.

"There you go, Germ. I believe you dropped yours. Enjoy." And that was that. There were no more words to be spoken about those four pieces of shit. Vinnie had always hated bullies and never suffered one. Once they were all done, they loaded all they could take and jumped in. It was almost dark and they needed to get back to base.

On the way back, Rosalita asked them to veer off the right. She had spotted a mattress store and thought about the many people back at camp. More than half the truck was still empty, so they loaded as many mattresses as possible. Whatever other sleeping accoutrements they could find were loaded into the truck and Hummer also. They were able to get almost all the mattresses in the back and put the last few on top, where they tied them down. They only things they left behind were the box springs.

They made it back and started to unload everything. The children were so excited that they all came out to help. The games made them happy but the ice cream made the day melt away as if it hadn't happened. Once the children were settled with their treats, a few of the teachers stayed to watch over them while the rest of the adults went over to the recreation hall to talk; the mess hall was left bustling with happiness. Discussion needed to happen about the immediate future of the group. It was a general consensus that they would stay on base for the night or possibly longer. Further than that would have to be figured out tomorrow. Of course, more excursions would have to be made to find supplies; the current food and water stores would only last so long with this many people.

With a short term plan laid out after an hour of discussion, they went back to the happy place of children, games and ice cream. Tents were set up since there were only so many bivouacs available on the little base. There were enough beds for all the adults and a few of the bigger children. This base was big enough to store a couple dozen everyday enlisted and a couple squads that might pass through at any one time. From the store houses, they grabbed blankets and pillows for the children. Even with everything they could find, some of the children doubled up for sleep on the mattresses they'd procured. It took a little while, but the children were finally put down for the night. Many cried themselves to sleep, knowing they would never see their families again.

Chapter 18

Tuesday, October 22nd

After a pretty uneventful night, Michael woke up about 4:30 am for his turn at guard duty. This was a little early but years of shift work had cemented a timeframe into his essence of when he was getting up; whether he wanted to or not. His wife stirred and he kissed her good morning. They both got up from their makeshift bed. Coming into the kitchen, the smell of fresh roasted coffee was greeted with gratitude. He grabbed some coffee for himself, a couple extra for the guys outside, and some eggs before heading for his turn at guard duty. Most of the ladies of the group had gotten up really early to provide for some of the earlier rotations. Ann started to help with some of the cleanup while more cooking was done for the next group that would wake up. It was just a little while before sun-up. Stepping outside, he breathed in a big lungful of still wispy air. It was a little foggy; visibility was only a about half a mile. He took over from William and said good morning to Steve and Davis. They had been able to get a few really good hours of sleep after having some extra help from the bourbon in William's liquor cabinet. Being former military, they somehow survived on four to six hours of sleep all the time. Engrained training they supposed.

Michael handed a cup of coffee to each of the gentlemen. This was almost a daily ritual for these three at work. On day shifts, the first thing they would do is make a new pot of coffee for brewing during shift relief with the outgoing guys. After the plant was looked over and rounds were made to check for leaks, it was time for a short relaxation, more coffee, and discussion of just about anything. Usually politics was the order of the day. There was always something in the "fake" news that would piss one of them off. Michael may not have served, but their friendship ran pretty deep nonetheless. Not serving had always been a great regret for him. He had been too liberal minded in his youth, and then his injuries killed any chance of enlisting later. He understood that everyone has some sort of regret, so he lived with it.

While they were sippin' and yappin', the sun lighted the world a little more each minute. Maybe the lackadaisical mood should have clued them in to the day to come. It was never as easy as you would like it to be. After about an hour of his shift, movement down the road proved this true once again. Whatever they were glimpsing was just out of eyesight, but Davis ran back inside to inform the rest. A peaceful night had run right upon a disturbing day already. Walking bodies could be seen now, but it was unknown if they were friendly, unfriendly, or merely sleep deprived. Caution would be the better part of valor in this instance, so they made sure their weapons were ready and safeties off.

William, Alberto, and Davis came back out with their weapons in hand. William had brought a pair of binoculars with him. Focusing in, he suddenly let out a long, "Shiiiiit!" They looked at him with questions in their eyes. "We have a pack of Zs coming our way. They are walking slowly, so we have time, but they will be coming right through here. Looks like they are following the road without a real purpose. I can't believe they are this organized, though. It must be like pack mentality, as if they were lions or jackals. What will come next with these beasts? Are they even sleeping at night? It's only day two. It is waaay too early for this shit. What do you think guys?"

"Before they get too close, grab all the ammunition and extra guns we can from the cars. If they come this way, like you said, Mike, it will be all out war. It looks like a good twenty to thirty of them."

"I can't believe how many are in one herd!" Mike said.

"Yeah, I know. I can't believe it either. Kind of a swarm of infected somehow banding together." William put the glasses down and proceeded to his vehicles.

"I think the food out here is packed away well and we should be parked far enough away from the road. There should be no reason for them to veer toward the house. I think we should all get back inside and just watch from the windows. Damn. It could be the animals. They might draw them towards us. We need to move the truck and trailer to the back yard, quickly and quietly. William, grab as many blankets and comforters as you can. We have to cover them all so maybe the chickens will think it's still night; maybe we'll get lucky and they'll stay shut up. We have to keep them from making any sound."

William took off inside while Michael moved the truck and Steve opened the back gate. They worked as quickly as possible once William and the kids brought out everything they could find. The boys got under the blankets with the dogs to keep them calm. Not an ideal situation with the smells but whatever needs must. Steve watched on one side of the house while Davis took the other and they all lay in waiting.

"This better blow over or we will have a mini war on your front lawn. I was hoping we could stay a little longer if needed." Michael just put his hand to head in wonder. This was certainly the one thing not expected this morning.

Everyone was awake and alert with the news of something not being right. Once they were informed, food and coffee was shut off immediately and they tried to get rid of as much of the smell as they could. Making sure there was no reason for one of the approaching monsters to take notice was priority number one. Watching from various windows, they all got really quiet. Luckily, the infant was fast asleep as he had kept momma awake a portion of the night. It took almost thirty minutes for the horde to walk by. Packed together, they were unable to tell exactly how many there were. From what could actually be seen, the rough estimate was closer to thirty. Continuing to watch, the last of the group was finally past the driveway and the beginning of the line was three houses down.

The most unfortunate thing happened just as the pack of zombies got to the third house. The owner came out with a couple boxes and walked toward his little mini-Cooper. It looked as if he was planning on leaving his house today. Michael and his group could just look on in complete horror as the munchers stopped and watched the man. He proceeded to chirp his car alarm off and unlock the doors without a clue what was near his mailbox. He loaded up the boxes and stood back up. His eyes locked with the first few staring at him. That was all it took–looking the beast in the eyes. This demonic pack just took off, running in his direction. They screeched and howled the whole way with nothing to stop them. The poor man stood frozen for just a moment too long. Leading the pack was a very fast teenager and he was only two car lengths from eating at the buffet. The poor guy turned and ran towards his front door. He made it inside but never got the door closed all the way before the teenage ghoul slammed into it. It was then nothing but a flood of bodies barreling through for the free food.

As much as it was painful to watch, watch they did. The crowd was still a threat until they were gone. The only consolation for them was William said the poor man had lived alone. There were no children to have to go through that. It was a gruesome thing to behold, even from a distance. It wasn't long before the infected piled back out of the house and regrouped. Amazingly, they continued on the same way they had been going. Everyone breathed a large sigh of relief as the last of them were out of sight around the curve in the highway.

Avoiding that potential conflict brought on prayers of thankfulness and a few tears of happiness. Things went back to some semblance of normalcy. The boys crawled back out from under the blankets. The dogs yipped a couple times when they left. They decided to leave the blankets in place till they figured out what to do. The dogs whined a few more times from being left alone. Michael went to William to discuss what to do with them. It was his house, but the dogs were becoming a bigger issue by not being let out to run and do their business. After talking it over, it was decided to put them in the back yard to run and then bring them inside after. The chickens and rabbits were good since they were used to being in cages most of the time. The cats were another issue though. Setting up a litter box, food, and water in the garage, the cats were let out to roam.

They went about figuring out the grouping for the excursions. It was thought best to put Davis and Steve in two separate groups since they had combat experience. Michael figured he would head toward the police station with his sons after talking to Warren. Davis would go with Alberto to Academy and possibly the local pharmacies. Between them, they knew what would be useful to salvage from each. Steve would go with William to Wal-Mart and wherever else they could think afterwards.

Once that was settled, they all went about getting ready. While they were packing weapons and ammunition, Michael phoned Warren. "How are y'all doing on this gloriously hellacious day?"

Looking about the station at the scattered people, most still waking up, Warren piped up with a hardy, "Whoopi-de-do! We stayed up kind of late watching The Walking Dead, of all things. Can you believe that? Just a little twisted expedition into unreality seemed to be what we all needed. Everyone is slow this morning but in good spirits. What are our plans today?"

"We have a couple of groups going to a few needed stores but I plan on coming over to y'all with my boys. Do you have enough vehicles that can pile through a crowd of Zs? Compact cars aren't going to cut it nowadays. Trucks and SUVs are best."

"We have a couple pickups, but I'm hoping the good stuff is in the police garage. They are of no use to them now. We came in that way yesterday but didn't bother to take an inventory of anything. I can't wait to find out what else is in one of these stations. Should be fun. Let me know when you leave. Come around the back and you can drive in safely. There's plenty of room."

"Give me about half an hour and I'll give you a call. Bye."

Michael decided to take the police cruiser he'd found while Davis and Steve each took their trucks. There wasn't a lot of room in their vehicles, so they unloaded most of the items but kept the water and weaponry within reach. He and the boys gave Ann hugs while Davis and William said goodbye to their wives. There were plenty of guns to hold down the fort while most of the men were gone and Michael knew how well his wife could shoot. They all hopped aboard their respective vehicles and took off. Michael called Warren and let him know he was coming. Only a couple minutes away from another safe spot.

Davis and Steve only had a little less than two miles to go, but Michael had another mile farther. It was a fairly uneventful trip...most of the way. Davis veered off to the left into Academy's parking lot while Steve went another block down and to the right to Wal-Mart. Michael loved blowing right through the blinking red lights. No one was out driving around on day two, so far. Coming down Oyster Creek Drive, he took the right curve down the feeder road. Smack in the middle of the right two lanes was a stopped car so he swerved to the left around it. Hunched over near the driver's door was a muncher chewing on a little dog. Michael punched the gas and made that zombie fly a good couple car lengths. He had gotten to the point where "Be Merciful" was no longer an item on his to do list.

The next signal light was the road the station was on. It was directly on the other side of the freeway from them. While rolling through the U-turn, an accident was clearly visible, but no Zs this time. Driving down the other side of the feeder, they pulled into the next driveway to come up the back of the department. Warren was waiting with Kylar and Danny as backup outside the rollup door. Jose was beating down an infected that had tried to sneak up on his side of the building. There were more coming behind that one but Michael was able to screech to a stop inside the garage. They had the door down almost immediately. Bodies once again slammed into it but it was not going to bend or break. They guessed those had been the ones in the accident. Time to sit a spell and shoot the shit. A meet and greet session was now in order for everyone.

Chapter 19

Davis and Alberto had an easy excursion to begin with. They drove up to Academy and there were almost no cars and no people of any kind in the parking lot. The glass doors were shattered and a few pools of blood collected here and there. The two dead teenagers Michael had killed yesterday were still next to the lady they had maimed. A few other bodies were scattered around the large parking lot. Davis pulled right up to the front and parked. They got out and made their way through the open doors cautiously. The store had been picked pretty clean from the day's previous sales or plundering. Still with guns at the ready, they went about the whole store to ensure they were alone. Once that was found to be true, they separately rummaged around, each while pushing a cart in front of them.

Alberto went toward what was left of the camping gear first. He only found a few items worth taking. Grabbing some lighter fluid, rope, one fire starting kit, and a couple of tarps, he moved on to the clothing and footwear area. Some winter clothing was left behind, including coats, sweats, and hoodies. Amazing that people had not thought about the coming winter since it was so close. He found several pairs of boots in various sizes. At this time, he had half a cart full, so he moved on to the sport section. Hoping to find something useful, he walked up and down each aisle. A few water bottles had rolled under the shelves, but that was all for left they could use. He saw several cases of sports drinks in the upper shelving. It looked like scavengers had been unable to get to them; probably in too much of a hurry. He went to find some way to get up there, since they would be needed later. In the back room he found a rolling stair case; he wheeled it out to the front. It took him a while to get all the cases down. He was going to need Davis's help to get them all out to the trucks later. He pushed his cart up to the front and went looking for Davis.

Davis went straight to the guns and ammunition area though he wasn't expecting much. Boy, was he right. The vast emptiness of the shelving stared back at him. There were a couple shells scattered around. They seemed to have been dropped from too many boxes being grabbed too quickly. He took everything he could find, even looking under each of the shelf bottoms. He just about laughed himself silly when he saw a whole aisle that was still full of stuff. Gun safes, trigger locks, slide blocks, starter pistols, and pellet guns just asking to be taken with no one ever going to need them in an apocalypse. After recomposing himself, he decided to look behind the counter. Everything was gone from there too, but there were several under counter doors that were locked tight; the kind someone could not just break open. Unless he could find a way in, those doors were staying closed.

He proceeded to the next area, which was hunting. His Ranger state of mind was already in motion as to finding food later. Once again, just about all the good stuff was picked clean. A couple simple bows and arrows were still there, so he piled them into his cart. Hanging overhead were some of the more serious, compound bows that were worth a few hundred dollars plus. Davis was thinking that they had to find a way to retrieve those. Silent killing would come in useful later. He then moved to the fishing and boating lanes. As he was getting there, he heard Alberto calling for him. He yelled out for Alberto to meet him there. Davis told Alberto about the bows and was informed of the stair case. Al took off to bring it over and work on getting the bows down.

Davis started up and down the fishing aisle. Most of this equipment had been left behind by nearsighted individuals. People tended to think of immediate use and not the prolonged lifestyle that they were being forced into. He took all the fishing rods, reels, bait, tackle, and storage containers he could get into the buggy. It was a treasure trove of sustainability that so many had overlooked. There were rivers all around the area and maybe one day they might make it to a lake or even The Gulf. With his buggy already full, he went on to look in the boating area. Once again, people had left behind some valuable items. Marine batteries and chargers were stacked on the shelves. A few had been taken by smarter shoppers but not many. He needed another buggy. By the time he was done loading, Al had made it back to him with all the bows and high priced arrows. They told each other of the stuff still left and went up front to grab open platform push carts. They wheeled the first over to the cases of sports drink Alberto had ready. They were able to load it up and returned to the front of the store. Taking another back to the batteries, they loaded it up and went to unload it near the drinks.

While on the way back to the front, Davis spotted some legs sticking out from behind the customer service center. Thinking it might be a good idea, he went to see what might also be behind the counter. It was a gruesome sight to behold. Someone had ripped into the poor man on the floor. The thing that caught his eye was the uniform. It wasn't the normal blue color of a salesperson, it was red. Davis's eyes lit up at the prospect that this might have been the manager. He had seen sights bloodier than this in combat, but it didn't make it any easier to search the poor soul. There was nothing in his pockets so he rolled him over; there he found the store keys on a front belt loop. Just as he was standing up, Alberto came around to see what was going on. He immediately turned away and vomited repeatedly. Making sure he was all right, Davis told him to grab a sports drink to help him replenish.

Davis headed back to the gun counter with another buggy and went key by key till he found the right one to open the secured doors behind the counter. His eyes lit up from the beautiful sight he beheld. There had to be a hundred guns of various types with boxes upon boxes of special ammunition; this secret armory was six locked doors long. Davis felt like the Pig King in Hog Heaven right now. Some of these models he had been wanting for many years but just couldn't afford to collect. He went about gleefully adding each item to the cart until it was full. Wheeling it to the front, he checked on Al and then had him bring a cart along with the new one he was taking back. They proceeded to load the rest of the found booty and just barely had room for everything. It was a very special find, indeed. They then pushed all the carts outside and started loading up the truck. About three quarters of the bed was full when they were done. After stringing across a tarp for protection and to keep it all in, they jumped into the truck and said goodbye to Academy for good. They had thoroughly cleaned the store out of all needed items left there.

Steve and William rolled into the parking lot of Wal-Mart and immediately stopped. Infected were gathered all along the right front entrance area of the store. This was a Wally's superstore so there were two entrances of glass and a third gated one for the garden center. Steve decided to drive around the left side and try and avoid the mass. He came around the back first toward the auto parts department of the store. The garage doors were still open, but there were no infected in sight. Parking in the bay as close to the door as they could, they moved up to the inside door with their guns at the ready. This was the second bay, since a pile of tires occupied the bay nearest. Peeking through the windows, they didn't see anyone inside. The door was unlocked, so they crept in with stealth on their minds.

Walking in, the batteries and their storage area were on the left while the tire storage area was on their right. They each checked a side. William took the tires and slowly went into the room. There were a couple stacks of tires here and there but otherwise the room was completely empty so he came back out. Steve walked into the battery storage but once again it was empty. There was a door at the back marked "Office." Since it was closed, he decided to knock. He heard a noise behind the door, someone trying to be quiet.

"Hello? Is somebody in there?"

"Wh...What? Who's there? Are you gonna kill me?" A tiny, scared voice answered.

"I'm friendly. My name is Steve. I'm not infected. I have a friend with me. His name is William. We just came here to find supplies."

Knowing she couldn't stay in the little office forever, the woman unlocked and opened the door. She was a pretty little lady with cream colored skin. She was somewhere in her late thirties, early forties. She came out and looked around as if a feverhead was going to jump out at here. Once she felt safe, she stuck out her hand in introduction.

"Thank you, Steve. I think you may have saved me from a short life in a small room. My name is Nina Boldin. I was the auto manager back here. Guess I'm just another survivor now."

"Well, little lady, you are welcome to come along with us, if you would like. There are over a dozen of us back at a friend's house waiting. We've got a couple small groups out scavenging for anything useful, then we'll be heading back to our group. I know it is technically only day two for most of us, but if we don't look now, everything could be destroyed or looted and lost. We have a couple geeks that have been thinking, heck planning for this kind of thing happening for years. Their brains started turning towards survival days and weeks ago. These gamers today have been fighting zombies in their minds for a long time."

"I hear you. My daughter loved to watch zombie movies, too. She's in the Army now. Deployed in Germany. I just know she will survive; she's a tough little nut to crack. I'm just glad I got to have a good conversation with her last week. I hope one day to see her again; I have to believe she will continue on." Tears welled up in her eyes. "Okay. Enough of that."

"Steve! Are you okay? I heard voices." William came through the storage door and stopped. "Oh. Hi. My name is William."

"Hello. I'm Nina."

After a very short conversation about their plans, they gave her a gun. Nina had the key to the bay door so she brought them down while they kept watch. Now that the garage and their truck were secure, it was one less thing on their minds. Wouldn't want someone sneaking up on them from behind, Zombie or human. They moved out of the auto area. Nina pushed a cart behind them. Knowing any roaming zombies were more than likely inside already, they quietly moved through the aisles. There were a few auto items that could be useful so they grabbed them along the way. This included antifreeze, wiper fluid, oil for leakers, an extra truck jack, and whatever tire irons they could find. Moving on to the hunting and fishing departments a plethora of items was found. It seemed that Wally's had closed up too early for everyone to ransack everything. Someone had at least had some sense. Looking around, they came to a consensus that there were waaaay too many things in this department alone to load into their vehicles.

Thoughts went back and forth about what to do. One idea was to get some of the others to bring more vehicles, but where to put everything until then? The best idea was to set up base in Wally's, until they could get what they needed back to their own base. First order of business was to secure the store, if they even could. Nina didn't know exactly what had happened near the end, but she knew that everyone that was here got pushed out the back of the store. They decided to start at the front to see if it was secure or could be secured. Before they left this department, they grabbed a few extra weapons, including a few bats they found along the way, and pushed the cart back to automotive. Coming up the right most wall from back to front, they went past each of these closer aisles and then took a right into the garden center. The outer most gates were locked from the inside so that was one thing they no longer had to look out for. It looked like Wally's had closed even before the garden center could open up. Some of the plants could be used later.

From here they worked back around the front towards the first set of glass doors. Elated at not running afoul of munchers, they continued to be cautious. As they arrived near the doors, it became obvious why the zombies were not all over the store. Someone had the forethought to put bales of cardboard in front of each set of doors. They were stacked two high all the way across so no one could get through. Knowing this set was secure, they moved on across the front toward the second set. This was the one they had worried about the most since they'd seen zombies gathered there when they pulled in.

They walked past the eyewear center, bank, haircutting shop, and customer service on their way to the last set of doors. Bathrooms in front were checked as they went. William kind of laughed because it was his first time in a women's restroom. They didn't want Nina to do it in case an infected jumped out of a stall. They could see the same setup here, but noticed the fork lift was still in place with the final bale. There was blood on the seat but the doors were secure. They could hear the feverheads caught between the outermost doors and the inner set. That's why they were gathered at this entrance. They had gotten farther here. With blood on the seat, the only conclusion was that there was at least one zombie inside the store. As they walked closer, they could see what was left of one of the workers on the other side of the fork lift. It seemed he had given his life to secure others' safety as much as he could. He died a brave man.

The store was huge and there was a lot of ground to cover. If they had all been combat veterans, they could have split up and conquered faster. This being a group of only one soldier and two civilians, they would have to stick together. There was one large aisle between the rest of the store, so they proceeded down it while checking each side aisle as they went. Looking back and forth, something suddenly struck Steve as funny.

"Sum'bitch. I forgot it was almost Halloween. Damn if we don't already have a bunch of scary freaks running around like idiots. Too bad they ain't just costumes, huh?" They all got a solemn chuckle from that. Such a fun holiday to be ruined by such real horrors.

They finished their sweep of the front half and had the back left when they heard some shuffling coming from the frozen food area. Once they got to the back of the store, they started up the cold and frozen section. Nothing was seen, but they still heard the shuffling. Now some weirder sounds were coming, too–from behind the double doors leading to the food storage department. Pushing through the doors slowly, they could make out two munchers eating a bag of raw meat. That was the weird, sucking sound; slobbering and gnawing at bones to get all the meat off. Wanting to do this as quietly as possible, the two men took a bat each and snuck up on the diners. These two were so involved in eating their pork ribs that they never heard death coming for them. Steve and William were able to bash in their heads without any blowback. It took a couple swings to keep them down, but it was over in less than a minute. They double checked the whole storage area since they hadn't even realized it was there earlier. Nina had understandably forgotten about it, since she didn't work that area.

In just a couple of minutes, they were back at the electronics section, which was just past the cold aisles. There were two sets of doors in the back there that also led to the warehousing area. They poked into the first set and walked down the little hallway. Once at the end, there was just a short area to the right and it was clear so they moved left. There were a lot of storage aisles along the way and they were full, so there was no seeing around or through them. They weaved their way around each pallet and stack in turn. Once near the second set of doors, they checked the bathrooms. This time is was Steve's turn for the women's survey. Funny thing is, he said it wasn't his first time in one. Something about a nightclub, two girls and a whole lot of liquor. William would have to hear that story later. Definitely.

Two thirds of the warehouse was cleared. They could see another office near the end of the storage area. There were two more shelving sections left. William had just rounded the second to last when a little girl jumped from the second level onto his back. He went down flat on his face. Steve yanked her off and threw her across the aisle. Not standing on ceremony, Nina shot her in the chest as she started to get back up. William pushed himself off the ground and looked over to the girl. Shaking his head, he put the sight out of his mind. It looked like the girl had been eating out of a bag of feed of some sort. It was stored too high to see if it was cat or dog. Surprising though that no one had heard her. They checked the last aisle and it was clear too; no one said a word as they left moved on.

Final item on the check list was the office door. Once again, Steve knocked and announced himself. There was an answer immediately and the door opened. A man named Mark had been hiding for the last day. He was one of the warehouse workers and had stayed behind to allow everyone else to get out. The store manager had left first thing in the morning before; when everything had gone to hell. When everyone else left, the managers on duty gave him the keys since he was determined to ensure everyone else's safety. They being the cowardly type. He locked down the back doors and hid, knowing infected had gotten inside. Neither he nor Nina had anyone to worry about at home, so their initial group of two had now become four. Next on the agenda was to call Michael and figure out what to do.

"Wally's is now property of Steve Inc. IPO to be released on the stock market next week. Yeah, yeah. Bad joke."

Chapter 20

The next morning arrived to a swirling of happily crazed children. Thoughts of the apocalypse were temporarily gone. Some were outside playing basketball and soccer with balls provided by the Navy. People with downtime needed something to do, too. Many more were playing various games on everything that had been taken from Gamer's Paradise the day before. The children having plenty of entertainment was a huge weight off of the adults' shoulders. The first order of business today was to figure out their next move.

During breakfast, Germ had a pretty decent idea. "We oughta try contacting our friends from online," he said. "And maybe the captain here could try some of the other Texas bases."

Germ and some of the others jumped onto the laptops but then they realized that only a few games had been installed the night before. Only one of the games they played frequently was already loaded, so they threw up a guild message giving the radio frequencies they were using and some of the cell phone numbers. Most people wouldn't have radios, so they were hoping people would check their games and call. No one knew how long cell service, the internet, or game servers would stay up, but for right now it was the only way to communicate outside of CBs. They gave a few of the older children the task of installing all the games on at least two laptops while they were gone for more scouting today. If any of them had gaming guilds, they were to leave similar messages wherever possible.

The next idea came from some of the junior high children. "We could jump on some of the chat apps like Ventrilo, Teamspeak, and Discord," the kids said. "We could leave windows open on each laptop in case someone we know logs on." "Yeah," said another. "And we should leave written messages, too." The scouting party looked at the eager teens. The adults understood that although most people love to laugh at kids and adults that like to play games instead of hunting, fishing, or exercising, actually most of the intelligence in society comes from gamers and comic book geeks. Captain Parnell, Marines, the army guys, and the pilots would work on trying to contact other military bases, personnel, and CB friends on different channels throughout the day while the kids focused on finding people online.

More supplies would be needed over the next few days and a long term plan had to be hashed out for acquiring them. The number of people they were collecting drove that point home. There was plenty of food on the base for more than a month, even with all the children, but longer term plans would have to be explored soon. First was to try and gather everything available outside the gate. With electricity still up for who knows how long, fast food restaurants and grocery stores were priority. Why let fresh food go to waste?

Expeditions out were to be coordinated so everyone had shooters to cover them. They had collected a dozen cargo carriers and even more Humvees. Two Hummers with personnel per each large truck would suffice. They could send out multiple teams each day until the area was picked clean. The idea was to raid all food stores, any pharmacies, and whatever else they could purloin. Bert thought that maybe he, the captain, and Colonel Victor Garber of the Army could head over to the U.S. Coast Guard station to see what was going on there. Victor was the ranking member at their depot. Someone else could take Tonia's place on the radios. They had enough personnel to go out on several excursions and the Seals would take Sam, Jacob, John, Jack, and Rosalita out to the same area as before. Each day they hoped to move farther out.

While talking things over, one of the middle school children came in with drinks for the adults. They had been in there for almost an hour so one of the teachers figured they might get thirsty. The boy that brought the drinks was Kevin Green, the same one Sam had found by himself. While listening to them discuss the plans for the future, he had an idea that even an adult wouldn't have come up with.

"What about the carrier? The U.S.S. Lexington. It has its own power, a cafeteria, and lots of room." Kevin was obviously a genius. That was a great idea. Sam gave the kid a hug of thanks and Kevin left with a big smile on his face. They talked it over more and decided that was their current end-goal. The museum and exhibition aircraft carrier would be an ideal base of operations. It would be comfortable and easily defendable. Getting there might be interesting, though. They had too many children to take by boat unless they could get several of them. The problem would be moving supplies. Vehicles would have to drive out to it. Some of them could work out those logistics while the others went searching for stuff. Bert hoped they could enlist the Coast Guard for some of this. They would start in a five mile radius and work out from there if there was time before sundown. Three teams each could work left, middle and right from the depot. The right teams would have to start out a little farther since they had to get over the mile plus long bridge. This would be the Seal team starting point. The other two could start out even farther. Those with the Seals naturally felt the safest whenever and wherever they went since they were accompanied by men of deadly skill training. Not to take any credit away from the Marines, they had with them, but the Seals were much more heavily trained in combat of all types, urban included.

They geared up with all sorts of munitions, hopefully ready for anything. While the other two teams took off, Vinnie and the rest started off in the same direction as they had the night before. The meat truck and station was still smoldering because of the burning gasoline pumps. Moving past the mattress outlet, they slowed as they got to the same strip center as the gamer store. There was a Ron's Rental Center the next block over. They didn't have a clue what might be useful, but Rosalita had the idea that they may have a moving van that would help procure their salvage. While they stopped off here, the other crews kept going. Walking through the storefront, they took note of the nice furniture and beds for the future. If they could set down roots, those items would be handy. Televisions, computers, appliances–as long as they could get and keep electricity going, they would have a semblance of normalcy for the children.

Rifling through the office, they found a set of keys but they didn't have any markings on them. Slowly opening the back door, they found two different box trucks sitting outside. One set of keys, two trucks. Trying the keys, one by one, they were able to fire up the second truck. Everyone cheered; Sam jumped in and drove it around to the front. Searching the first truck for the keys yielded nothing. The rest went back in and started looking for the second set. Unfortunately, there were no more keys on the premises. They assumed an employee had taken them home. One of the things that the Seals had in their skillsets was hot-wiring vehicles. Sometimes you had to bugout during a mission and acquire whatever transportation was available. They had even "borrowed" a limo one time. Germ got the other truck running and pulled it around too.

Vowing to come back when able, Vinnie jumped into the Humvee with Terry at the .50 Cal. Germ drove the supply truck. Sam was in one box truck with Rosalita while Jacob and Jack drove the other. Two of the army privates were driving the second Hummer. They moved on down the road a piece, but were unable to find anything useful so they vectored toward the next major intersection. A CVS pharmacy and Subway sandwich shop were across from each other. Yum. Drugs and food for all. The problem they foresaw was that the doors to CVS were open, and one of them was half off the hinges. It looked like a human being had broken in, not a zombie.

They pulled into the Subway parking lot and cut the engines to eliminate extra noise and got ready to move out. Everyone stayed back but the Seals. Screwing on silencers for each primary weapon, they were now the silent deadly force the world had come to know. Just one of them by himself was scary, but three was lights out for any enemy before them. They knew how to operate together, so they proceeded to the CVS by themselves. They quickly made their way to the front doors with no sign of opposition. Once there, they could hear voices inside. They were gruff and angry like they were unable to find what they wanted. Sliding inside the doors, they moved down the left hand side of the store in a three point pincer style, all at the ready in a free fire stance.

Making their way to the back of the store, they could distinctly hear four voices, all men. It sounded like they were looking for Hydrocodone, Oxy, and the like for recreational use. They were throwing other medicines around and didn't care what they destroyed. These men were drug-using trash. No issue about putting them down for good. It sure wouldn't be a loss to what was left of society. The team made their way closer till they could see three of the four plainly. Vinnie used signs to have Terry move to another aisle to flank these idiots. Signing to his guys, they would each take out a thief at once and deal with the fourth as they could. When ready, Vinnie used his fingers to count down. On one, all three were dead with head shots. They moved up all together and were looking for the fourth. No sign yet. Terry was about to open the counter door that led to the medication when the bathroom behind him opened.

"Hey Hal. Did y'all find... What the fuck!?" He tried to pull his gun from its holster but Terry grabbed his wrist to hold it in place. He made the guy fire right into his own foot, and he started hopping. Terry got behind him and held the guy in a choke hold. With one swift move, he broke the man's neck. Dropping the guy like trash, he took his gun and checked his pockets for extra ammunition. Finding another clip and a switchblade, Terry put them all in extra stash areas on his combat vest. You can never have too many weapons.

It always marveled his teammates at the fluidic movements that such a big man could accomplish. They grabbed a few sodas and went outside to wave the others over. The four of them drove the five vehicles over and backed them up to the front door. They wouldn't need that much space yet, but it would make it easier to move out quickly if they had to. Sam, Jacob, and Rosalita all knew what they would need, but it didn't really matter. They could take everything with as much space as they had available. They were able to pack all the medication there and raided all the shelves inside, too. They grabbed drinks, bread, milk, water, bandages, and whatever else they could scavenge. The last thing they loaded was a few more coolers and ice. CVS turned out to be a goldmine of useful goods. They even got toy cars, games, and some clothing for the children. It took a good hour plus for them to load everything after finding boxes in the storage area.

Rolling back across the block, they raided the Subway of all they had to offer. They put all the cold things on ice and loaded the bread and twenty ounce sodas alongside the coolers. Taking a few quickly made subs to go, they reloaded themselves. Moving up and down each road took a lot of time. They couldn't go too fast while trying to spot handy stores up and down each street. Half the day was gone by the time they'd had their lunch. Knowing they had about six hours of daylight left, they tried to pick up the pace.

When they were halfway through their radius for the day, two major home improvement stores were within half a mile from each other. Knowing there wasn't time to raid them today, they moved on. Their list of come-back-tos was growing. To raid these stores, they would all have to come back in order to stock pile all the supplies. It would have been so much easier to just leave the stuff there, but they had no way to secure these megastores for any length of time, so they moved on.

Next stop they found was a Fry's Electronics. This was a motherlode for geeks across the nation. Besides being big kids themselves, the operators of destruction loved playing games on their downtime. This was a large find when they thought about how to occupy the children's time for the future. Modern children hated planting, fencing, and anything else that adults have to work at, so they all backed up their various vehicles to the front door. This place was huge. They didn't just carry video games. This particular chain of stores carried computer parts, laptops, desktops, monitors, televisions, CDs, DVDs, flash drives, gaming furniture, and even appliances. Motherlode was an understatement. They knew that this was another store that would take a lot more help to clean out. The likelihood of someone coming here for anything during the apocalypse was pretty slim, too. This gave them more time to come back. Instead of taking too much of their day, they grabbed all the complete computers and laptops they could handle. Boxes of games and DVDs were loaded along with some of the televisions. All of this was done in a little over an hour while the two army guys stood guard outside. Once again, a "must return to" store for their growing list.

Moving out, there was a little over four hours of daylight left. Rosalita kept track of each of the return-to stores on a map in case someone else had to do it. Near the end of their five mile radius they could here gunshots ringing out at a local family owned grocery store. They could see the brick building on the next block over. Vinnie had everyone stand by while his boys went to check out the situation. The rest of them set up a four point guard of protection and waited. Vinnie, Terry, and Germ headed out at a quick gallop.

Coming down the edge of the last building they held up. Assessing the situation, it looked like a few armed Hispanics were firing into the store. They must have had a lot more ammunition than those inside. The fire going in far exceeded that which was coming out. The men outside looked like part of a local gang. They were all tattooed up, had bandanas on their heads, and AK-47s firing like crazy. The shots coming from inside suddenly dried up. The gang leader noticed and started whooping and hollering at those inside.

"Hey! You got no more bullets. Why don't you come out now? This store is ours. We won't hurt you. I promise." He just snickered with his homeboys like the sick demented pricks they were. Once again, Vinnie's blood started boiling. Bullies. Again. The door on the side of the entrance slid open and a man in his sixties came out with his hands in the air.

"I'm surrendering. You can have the store. Just don't hurt my family. Please let them go. We were just trying to protect what little we have. They will leave and it's all yours. Please." The man was in tears and got on his knees.

"Aww. Now you wanna give up. You could have just gave it to us earlier but noooo. You thought you could fight it out with the Diablos de la Muerta. Dumb motherfucker. We're gonna do whatever the hell we want now. Who you got in there? I know I saw a little mamacita earlier. Maybe I make her my bitch now." Sick laughter rang amongst them.

While the man continued to plead, Vinnie and the boys got in better position. This was ending now. There were only six of them. Two were hidden behind a car from their point of view. Hitting them would be tricky. Terry took his cue from Vinnie and snuck around to that side of the building with the idea they would all hit on the one minute count from then. Terry was silently counting the whole time and had ten seconds left once he was in position. At that one minute mark, Vinnie and Germ laid down enough fire to obliterate the four in the open, including the leader. The other two looked up from their side just as Terry flew at the closest with a kick to the jaw. He had come around the back of the car they were behind and vaulted over the trunk with a superkick. The guy flew about ten feet back leaving his weapon where he'd been standing. Pivoting around to the second vato, Terry's fist nailed him with a powerful backhand to the back of the guy's head. His skull bounced through the car window, shattering it. The first guy was up but a little groggy. Terry had his K-Bar knife out and proceeded to cut the guy up in several places before burying the blade in his heart. Pulling it back out, he swung around. The window felon was up and actually tried to knock out Terry with a punch. Even if the guy was at full capacity, Terry would have shrugged it off. Smiling, he just grabbed the guy by the back of his neck and drove his blade straight up through the gangbanger's skull. Coming up under his chin, the knife point stuck out the top of the idiot's brainpan. The group smiled at each other and nodded. Truly viscous and lethal. Thank God they were on the side of good. Bad guys dead and done with.

The older man started to get up slowly, but was still very scared. He wasn't sure who had just killed the gang members. The three of them came toward him slowly and helped him to his feet. They introduced themselves and a big smile began on his face. He called out his family to meet their saviors. His wife and two daughters came out. One of them had a little boy around kindergarten age. The boy's father had been killed with the initial shots from the gang. He had tried to stop them from stealing from the store. His body was just inside the storefront. The guys picked him up and took him to the back of the store. Wrapping him up with what could be found in the back, they stood over him and let the family say a few words in remembrance. It was unlikely he would ever get a proper burial. The Seals told the family what they had going on at the air station and offered them a place to go. The family relayed that their store had been the only place they had left. They'd tried to go home the day before, but the area was overrun with infected. They'd spent the night in the store and were now out of ammo. Out of options, they decided to go with them back to the base.

Germ ran back to the rest of the group and the convoy drove over. Once everyone was there, complete introductions and explanations were given all around. The family name was Kimball. This would have been obvious if they had looked at the store front though. The father was Jeremiah, his wife was Annabeth, and their daughters were Clara, who was twenty-nine, and her sister, Clarice, was thirty-five. Her son, Peter, was just six. They had owned this store for thirty-three years and were sad to see their lifetime investment abandoned, but they knew staying was stupid. They told their group to load everything possible. The number of people and children that were being supported put them in high regard in the Kimball's hearts. These people really were trying to save humanity a few at a time. It took a couple more hours to get everything packed up onto the trucks. Once again they were heading back with almost full loads of many various items. They even had vegetable seeds at this store. Those would be appreciated if they could ever get some land ready. With only so much time left, the last item was to put little Peter's father in the back of a truck. They would bury him properly back at the base.

Chapter 21

Before heading back, Rosalita had another bright idea. She was worried about not being able to grab the stuff from the home improvement stores before someone else ransacked or even burned them down. She thought maybe they ought to go back tonight and leave two people behind in each of them for the night to barricade them and keep them secure till they could start moving merchandise over the next couple days. That was met with acceptance. Vinnie volunteered himself and his guys. Rosalita would be the fourth since she didn't have any family member back at base. They decided that each of the Humvees would be left also, in case things went bad. They would all have radios, but anything might happen. Once the decision was made, they all piled in and left to head back that way. It was almost dark.

They made it to the first one, The Home Depot, and the Seals all jumped out to scope the store. It took about fifteen minutes to fast walk the whole building. Everything was clear. Rosalita and Terry were staying here for the night. They backed the Hummer through the back gate and re-secured it. Before the others left, they grabbed a laptop and a few DVDs. Terry made sure he grabbed a copy of a couple of his favorite games just in case he had to stay there a few extra days. It would be a long night and he wanted something to do after the store was barred up and secured. After grabbing some food for the night, everyone said goodbye. There was plenty of water and soft drinks inside, so they were good on that front.

The caravan moved across the street to the next store, Lowes. It was dubbed a home improvement and lumber store. Once again, they ran through the store and yard. This time it was just Germ and Vinnie doing the quick sweep. Coming around the back of the store, they came out the back door slowly. Everything was quiet, but the back gate to the street had been left wide open. There were three rows of lumber and they went up and down each row, sweeping both sides of each aisle with their weapons at the ready. Once halfway down the second aisle, they noticed big holes where fencing and lumber had been. It looked like someone broke in and took what they needed. Good for them. At least someone else was thinking ahead. They rounded the last aisle and headed toward the open gate. So far all was clear. Near the end of the lane of lumber a little girl came running at them from under a rack. She had blood covering the front of her little dress and was definitely infected. Vinnie grimaced. They stood there for a second while she rambled their way, growling. Vinnie squeezed the trigger and sent one round into the chest of the poor little thing. A mercy kill, but one that would haunt Vinnie for a long time. Once she was down, he turned to Germ.

"Let's never talk about this. Ever. Please." Germ nodded in understanding. His team leader had done what was necessary, but it was not a kill that anyone would like to discuss. They radioed to everyone that all was clear. Just one infected that had to be put down. They were going to secure the back fence and come back up front. Once they got back up front, they also took a laptop and some movies to watch. Taking a page from Terry, they quickly grabbed a second laptop and a few games. They planned on gaming the night away. Hopefully they could link up with gamer friends and find out how others were doing. Hope was really all they had nowadays. Driving their Humvee through the front of the lumber yard, they secured that fence also. Vinnie and Germ also had plenty of drinks in the store and grabbed some dinner food from the stash. Saying good night to everyone, the group left. Both sets of home improvement guards barred and secured their compounds for the night and settled in.

Once their friends were gone, Vinnie and Germ went back to the body of the little girl. Vinnie picked her up and carried the small person to the dirt lined fence. They took turns digging a grave and laid her broken body to rest. They each gave up a silent prayer after they covered her up. Vinnie shed a few tears as they moved back inside the building. Nothing was said between them about any of it.

Rosalita and Terry basically watched movies for half of the night with regular intervals at checking each door and back gate. They had a pretty uneventful night. Terry took first watch and after it was installed, he jumped on Call of Duty. It was the closest thing to combat that a civilian could play. It was a good let down from actual warfare, an opportunity to be a civilian, even temporarily. He popped on and fired up his gamer ID, "ChekYurSix." Before he even got fully logged on, some of his pals were messaging him through the load screen lobby. It was going to be a long night of answering and asking questions instead of actual playtime. He made sure everyone knew straight up that he would have to leave chat every so often, and from there the yapping ensued. Terry settled in for the long haul.

Germ and Vinnie would have a similar night, but they would both stay up for most of it. They once again took a page from Terry without even knowing it. They both loaded up a copy of Call of Duty and jumped on their tags. Germ was "GhostYu" and Vinnie cranked up his called "Kilushortly." The list of friends was almost identical between the three of them with only a few exceptions. Being they were all part of a team, Seals played together unless they were on leave. Even then, they usually took leave together. When they were logged in, they could see that Terry was already involved in several conversations. It was definitely going to be a long night; no one really believed that much gaming was going to happen.

Most of the night went the way they all expected. A little guard duty, a little sleeping, and a lot of mass chatting. Plans were made to keep in touch and cell phone numbers were passed out. The radio channels were given so they could connect with the base. They were able to find out that a couple more members of their Seal team were over a hundred miles away, but they were together and making their way back to Corpus. Unfortunately, they never made it into Houston that Friday morning. The police, military, and contractors had started barring people from entering in the early hours. Zombie-ism was growing and they thought they would be able to get ahead of it. Disappointed, they had to turn back around and things just got worse because of the traffic out of the city. E-4s Giovanni "Papa" Papadopolis and Jim Lee Hooker's plans had been to attend ComiCon Haven that weekend. It was the largest in Texas every year and was to be at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown. They had a week-long leave time and hoped to spend the first couple days laying as many women as possible. The coming weekend was supposed to be rocking, and con women were predominantly hot, contrary to world opinion. Of course, those opinions were from people that still looked down upon the geek world with elitist covered eyes. Guess these same morons didn't realize that they worked for a lot of geeks themselves. Dumbasses.

Papa and Jim had several boxes of comics with them, so at least some art was being preserved for later. There was supposed to be a great many comic artists and creators there and the guys had composed lists of which comic was getting which signatures and where the person was on the map of the con. This wouldn't have been their first rodeo. These boys tried to get to at least three cons a year. The really sad part was that the greatest creator of all time was going to be there this year and it had been a lifelong dream to meet him. His name was Stanley Lowe and created the likes of Captain Amazing, the Futuristic Five, Arachnid-Boy, and the Y-Team of enhanced humans. Unfortunately, the man was in his early nineties and the odds of his living through this nightmare were infinitely slim. Their job now was to help preserve comic art and they were up to the task. They were dubbed the super geeks of the team, but only fun grief was ever given to them. To each their own, and those boys could fight. Seal teams were brotherhoods and no one could break that bond. Their job now was to make it back to the team and give a holler when they were close.

Once the convoy was back, unloading proceeded again. All the food had to be stored as best able for freshness' sake. It was after dark by the time that was done. Some of the kids had been talking to friends from their online games. There were quite a few people checking out their games and talking in the chat apps. Survivors were scattered across the world and all talking while they were able. The kids and adults were trying to make sure everyone knew about CBs and radios. That would be the only way to communicate soon. The word had gotten out already and people were listening. Since the children had plenty to keep them occupied, the rest of the truck supplies would be offloaded tomorrow morning. Those that had been gone all day started to jump online also. Most of the military personnel had a great many friends everywhere and most of them should be alive. They left messages in all of their games to reconnect to any survivors. The children had done a great job of getting every game they'd acquired onto a laptop for this very purpose. They found out that people were gathering at various military bases through the radio. Navy personnel had even gotten ahold of a couple of vessels out at sea. Not much information was given back and forth yet, but those on ships knew they had somewhere to dock and that America was still surviving.

Everyone relayed all the new information achieved for the day and then they took some downtime with a few beverages of the alcoholic type. The Seals and everyone that had been out and about took part. It had been a long day for them. The other two groups had come back with a great many items for use, but they each had to fight. Both zombies and humans would be continuing problems. Becoming a nightly ritual with what was left, they dug into the ice cream after dinner. After a little more play time, everyone shuffled off to bed. Bert and the others were still at the U.S. Coast Guard Station. They had a lot of news, but it was late. Bert planned to come back the next day and inform everyone of what they had encountered. The ensigns and men of the original group all took turns at guard duty throughout the night. They had a lot of grounds to cover, but the Humvees and the massive fuel storage tanks on the station helped.

Around 3am on Thursday, Vinnie heard something. He had been walking toward the door leading to the lumber yard. It sounded like a vehicle was pulling up outside. He quickly woke up Germ and told him to gear up–something was happening outside. When ready, they moved through the back door and slowly made their way around the yard. They saw a couple sets of headlights near the back gate. With maximum stealth, they made their way down the fence to within a few feet of the gate. Being good little Seals, they were completely concealed in the shadows of some stacks of wood while they assessed the situation. They could hear voices once the intruders stepped out of the vehicle.

"I don't know, dad. I know I left it open yesterday. I had to cut the lock, remember? This is new. Maybe someone is inside." A young voice was the first to talk.

"Well shit. Grab your guns. We still need stuff and there's no telling if they're friendly or even here. Dammit, we should have come during the day." A gravelly voice rang out. "Get your brother and sister and tell 'em to arm up. We have to have more fencing. The next stop will be the Home Improvement Center if we can't get anything here." The man looked like he had a slight limp when he came toward the gate. When his children got to him, he said, "Give me a minute to open this. Cover me boy."

Just before he could cut, Vinnie sang out. "Excuse me sir." The man nearly keeled over from fright. "My name is Warrant Officer Vincent Dupree. I and my partner are Navy Seals. We mean you no harm. Can I come out of the shadows and not get shot?"

"By God, yes, son. Patrick will still cover me till I verify your identity but I sure as God hope you are who you say you are." He took a step back in case.

Having Germ cover him too, Vinnie stepped out with his arms up and rifle slung over his shoulder. He approached the fence and unlocked it. He wanted this man to feel completely safe. It didn't take much time to establish his validity so Germ and the man's family came out to talk further. The father was Paul Timmons, his sons were Paul Jr., Patrick, and his daughter was Paulene. Her nickname was Peaches. His wife was no longer with them, having died a few years back from being trampled by a horse. The family had about fifty acres and too many horses and cows. They were holding extra cattle for a processing plant when everything fell. They had plenty of feed from raiding the feed stores near them and what had been provided by the company, but they needed to reinforce and raise the fencing all the way around the ranch. Only a few of their ranch hands had stuck around, and they had already lost a couple cows to the few infected that had ventured that far out of Corpus Christi.

Vinnie told them to bring their trucks in and they would help them load up everything they could carry. He felt that he had no right to keep everything if other well-meaning people were truly in need. Once inside, they locked the gate again so they wouldn't have to worry about zombification. A few hours later, they had both trucks loaded with whatever they could hold. Vinnie gave them cell numbers and radio stations to keep in touch. The idea was to let them know when they were coming back to make it easier to help. Once they could talk with the others, they could get the Timmons some help. Mr. Timmons saw that they could all work together in the long run, even though their ranch was about ten miles outside the edge of town. Being that far away, they all hoped to be able to get the ranch more fortified before bigger groups of munchers came along. It was going to be a long apocalypse and their livestock had to be gathered tight and corralled. They said their "c'ya laters" and left happier than they'd arrived. Vinnie and Germ went back inside and fell fast asleep, but this time they stayed near the back door in case anyone else showed up in the night.

Chapter 22

The next item on Davis and Alberto's agenda was pharmacies. The group had thought that the best idea was to hit all the local stores as quickly as possible. Looters and any drug addicts alive might come to their senses pretty quickly and hit them first; then any needed medication would be lost. This was perhaps the best benefit of having so many sharp minds. The ever growing hive mind tended to start thinking of abstract needs. Individuals or just a few together might not ever consider long term living. Things like toilet paper, medicine, blankets, or even more clothing might be easily overlooked when you were running for your life. Food and water would be the obvious greatest need, but without other items you could still die or suffer greatly for a long time.

The closest pharmacy was only a little under a mile away down Oyster Creek Drive. It was called the Medicine Shoppe. It was a smaller operation but catered to specialty medicine and health supplies more than the bigger megastores. Just another couple blocks down was a Med-Aide, so that would be later. It was a relatively easy drive to the Shoppe. Nothing seemed to happening in the immediate vicinity, but they could see a crash near the police station down the freeway. They had to travel under Highway 288/332, the exit Michael had used earlier to get there.

Pulling into the parking area of the drug store it all looked so surreal for a Thursday. It was just before lunch; already people should be bustling back and forth all over. Cleaning out Academy had taken quite some time. They were able to back right up to the door with just enough room for them to get around the back of the pickup. Before entering, they pulled the tarp off the back of the truck to where it was up and over the rest of their booty. When they broke the doors open, the alarm sounded which they hadn't anticipated. Davis ran through the store looking for the alarm box. Not finding it, he kicked open the back office door. It sat right on the inside wall, blinking pretty little green and red lights. He took the back of his rifle and pummeled it to bits and pieces shutting the noise down. He immediately ran back to the front. He and Alberto stayed there for a good fifteen minutes to make sure they hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. Once they were satisfied no one was coming, they both made sure the store was clear of anything or anyone...unpleasant.

"You know, Al, I don't know why we worried about anything being inside. I just ran through the damn store, made a shitload of noise, and then we stood up front for a while facing outward. Whatever could have been here would have jumped us pretty quickly. Hehe. Oh well. You start running through everything important and I'll start boxing and loading. You have the most brainpower...of the medical variety, anyway." Al moved on through the store prioritizing things.

It wasn't a real big place, but it took a couple hours to load the rest of the truck up since there were just two of them. The obvious priorities were antibiotics, antivirals, bandages, anything that ended with–cillin, and whatever else he could understand. Being a lab geek for the last eleven years, he knew a lot about some of the more important drugs that might be of immediate use, but his knowledge of drugs for specific illnesses was limited. They were only able to load up a small portion of the store because of how much they'd garnered from the outdoor store. Once they were done, they checked outside again, finding it still clear. There was no use trying to bar or lock the doors since they were glass, so they just pulled them to and re-secured the tarp. Once they were back in the truck, Alberto called back to the house. He let them know they were on their way back with a full load, but needed to come back for a second trip. They took off without incident.

Once back to the house, they unloaded everything and grabbed some quick lunch. They talked over the next step. There was no way for them to get everything else at the Medicine Shoppe and still go through the Med-Aide without help. They needed someone with more medical knowledge and more physical help for lifting and getting supplies from high shelves. Michelle spoke up and volunteered. Everyone kept forgetting she was a nurse before she had little James. There were running out of people, so they called up William and Steve to see where they stood. They had just finished securing Wal-Mart so they were now free, but didn't want to leave the store alone. Steve decided to stay behind and let William take his truck. Steve would make sure that Nina and Mark stayed safe. Someone would eventually want to get into the Wally's and it would probably be soon. Whether they would be good or bad people was yet to be seen.

After the three of them were fed and watered up, they moved out with Davis's truck and Alberto riding with Michelle in her Excursion. This gave them two extra vehicles for loading. They kept in touch with William on the way so they could coordinate their movements. Knowing there were still a bunch of infected at the front of the store, William drove around the side again and met up with Davis, Alberto, and his wife near the entrance of the parking lot next to the now defunct Ryan's Buffet. Without running into any infected or psycho issues, the drive was easy. They pulled into the parking lot of the Medicine Shoppe but something had changed. The doors stood open; they stopped immediately. Davis and William got out with weapons at the ready. They approached the store front from either side and listened at the entrance. Not hearing anything yet, they slid inside, posted up on both sides, and bent down so as not to be seen. They began to hear voices; they just waited. They had to listen for a few minutes first.

"Can you find any? Someone's been here, but there has to some somewhere, right? It isn't something a looter would go for."

"I don't know, baby. I don't know how they stored the stuff. I just don't understand how things were stocked. Don't worry. We will find an inhaler; I will not lose my little boy."

"Mom," Cough. Wheeze. "I'm fifteen. I'll be okay." Wheeze.

"Shush. There has to be some around here. What's in that box, Fred? No, the other one. Yeah, that one."

Ripping the new box up, Fred exclaimed, "Eureka! Got 'em. Here you go Jimmy. Suck it in, son."

"Oh, thank God." The lady blurted out. "Make sure we get every box they have." They sat down for a few minutes after searching so frantically to let Jimmy catch his breath. Davis and William gave them another minute before they presented themselves and startled them some more.

"Hello. We are just inside the door. We mean you no harm." William tried to sound as friendly as possible.

"Who's there? Stay where you are. I've got a gun. I'll shoot." Fred shouted.

"I'm going to rise up without a weapon in my hand. Please don't shoot. I will tell you that I have a friend next to me with a gun also. We have no plans to shoot anyone. We have a few more outside in the cars waiting to see what we found in here. No one wants to hurt you. Can I stand up?" William put his gun down in anticipation.

"Go ahead. Do it slowly."

William stood up and showed himself. Fred was middle aged and a little frumpy, like a middle manager or accountant. The lady was short and pleasantly plump but attractive in her own right. The son was a good looking kid. Not athletically built, but slender. William figured with his asthma, it was likely the kid was probably smart and liked to stay indoors. They talked for a couple minutes until they were more comfortable with each other. Once the tension was defused, Davis stood up with his rifle strung on his back so they could see he wasn't ready to shoot. He went outside to drive his truck and direct the others to bring up the vehicles. Once parked, everyone came inside to meet the new people.

They all introduced themselves. "Hey there," Fred said, extending his hand. "I'm Fred Simpson, and this is my wife, Melissa and our son, Jim."

"Nice to meet you all. Sounds like you found what you were after?" William said.

"Yes, sir. Just looking for inhalers for my son. We had to run and hide all day. We slept in a vacant house last night."

"Herds are popping up everywhere," Davis said. The Simpsons had been walking around the local downtown yesterday morning when everything started deteriorating. The boy was home schooled so they made it a habit to get out every couple days when Fred was off. Yesterday was just bad timing for the poor family.

"I haven't...needed my..." wheeze "inhaler for a year," Jimmy said. "But all this running...and...I guess the stress..."

"Take it easy, sweetheart," Melissa said. "We couldn't even make it back to our car this morning. We've been taking alleyways and side streets, checking pharmacies."

"We've actually had to flee several times from approaching groups of those...whatever they are."

"They're zombies, dad, I told you. I know all about them." Jim said, breathing better now. But the family would never go home again. Even five miles was a lifetime away when you had to run, hide, duck, dodge, and even fight to live.

William offered them safety with their group but couldn't promise they might ever get back to their own home. He did promise they would try one day, if able. They were eternally grateful and gladly accepted the offer. Jimmy was much better and offered to help start loading. Michelle checked him over real quick and gave him the thumbs up. She made sure he kept the inhaler in his pocket and helped Melissa find the rest of the pharmacy's stock. Fred and Alberto started getting to work. They packed things up and marked the boxes with what was in them and the types for quicker finding later. Everyone else got to work loading while they all looked out each time they were near the doors. With Michelle's expertise, they were able to finish with the Shoppe in an hour. The useful stock of the store only took up half a truck, so it left plenty of room for the larger Med-Aide. They loaded up and got moving again.

Once they got into the parking lot, déjà vu came into play. The doors were wide open again, but no signs of anyone around. Davis, William, and Alberto got out and approached the doors. They made their way around the inside and all around the store. No one and no sign of struggle was to be found. Whoever had been there was long gone. They noticed things were ransacked behind the drug counter. The assumption was drug-addled looters or gang bangers looking for something to trade. Davis went through the manager's office and then peeked through the back door. What he saw surprised him. An 18-wheeler was pulled up next to the rear doors for unloading. The store didn't have a dock. The truck was parked with room for things to be offloaded physically. It was a contract company that shipped supplies to the area Med-Aides each week. He went back inside to grab someone to watch his back. William came to the back while Alberto helped the others back up the vehicles to the door.

William set up near the back door of the store so he could see in all directions. Not knowing what might be inside the truck, William trained his gun towards the roll up door while Davis unlatched it and pushed it up. Nothing alive jumped out or made a noise, good sign so far. There was plenty of light, but Davis pulled out his Mag-light and looked inside. He whistled almost immediately. The truck was still half full. It must have been in the middle of its route when shit hit the fan. Davis got up in the back and went looking through it. They were very lucky. Their group would be well stocked with medicines and the like for a very long time. While he was starting to head back out, the truck shook.

"What the hell are you doing, William?"

"What?"

"Why did you shake the truck?"

"Wasn't me." William immediately looked up and down both sides of the rig. Nothing was there. Davis jumped out and they spoke softly about it. The only conclusion was that something was in the cab. They came up both sides slowly, but couldn't see anything in the mirrors yet. They met up front again and Davis told him he would climb up and look. William backed him up. Davis jumped up on the runners and trained his gun inside. An infected hopped over and curled up in a ball on the passenger side of the cab as soon as Davis' face popped up in the window. The poor soul had an extremely frightened look on his face. From what he could see, it was the driver; his left arm had been clawed and torn to shreds. It looked as if he had a small bite mark on his hand but it wasn't clear. He had William go around to the other side and swing open the door quickly from the front side. The plan was for them to try and frighten the man out of the truck and let him take off. Once William was in place, Davis told him to go ahead. The man fell out the passenger side and rolled away. Once he got his bearings, he just stared at William who had his gun at the ready.

William just smiled and said, "Boo!" The guy took off as quick as he could. They watched until he had run a couple blocks away.

"Well, that was new. Finally an infected we could live with," William joked.

Davis suddenly got a really bad feeling. "Shit. What if he had the keys?" He jumped into the cab and went looking. Nothing. They weren't in the ignition, the glove compartment, or the up on top of the visor. "Gawd-dammit! I knew it was too easy. I haven't hot-wired anything in years. Oh well, here we go." It took him about fifteen minutes to remember and get the beast going, but they were finally in business. Davis had gotten experience driving big standard transmission vehicles in the military, so it would be no problem for him. He shut it off again and went back inside. William had gone through the store to give the okay for everyone to start stripping the shelves and to let them know what happened. The truck would be a godsend for moving things. It was half full but there was a lot of room above the pallets so they could pack lighter stuff on top. This would release room in all the other vehicles till they figured out where they were going.

It would take the rest of the day for them to pack up the store and load it all onto the big truck. Non-essentials were left behind, but there really wasn't much in the store when they left. As far as medicines and accessories were concerned, they were probably the most well stocked group anywhere outside of a hospital. It wouldn't stop them from still trying to restock along the way. None of them had the slightest idea what their future held. They called around to let others know they were heading back with an 18-wheeler full of pharmaceuticals and supplies. Steve had the great idea of taking it to Wally's and setting up a new compound. After relaying his idea, William said he would take the thought back to the rest at his house and get a quick consensus. Fred and his family didn't have anything, so they decided to go with Davis to Wally's for the night. Everyone else went back to the house while Davis drove over to the megastore. It was an hour before sundown and everyone was anxious to hunker down. It took Davis a lot of grinding the gears to get reacquainted with big sticks, but they soon got underway.

Davis and Fred's family finally pulled around the back of Wally's. He phoned Steve to let him know he was there and Steve told him to pull into bay two since bay one was stuffed with items he assumed were supposed to go back to the warehouse. That had added protection to that door and they had wheeled away some other pallets that were being used to block the second of the two roll-up doors for deliveries. Davis got the big boy backed up to the door after a few tries. He was a little off kilter to the door but it was good enough for the night and no one was going to fire him over it. They all jumped out of the cab as Steve was opening up the back door. They were in the middle of introductions when a howling and screeching overcame their words. At the far end from where they'd just come from, a small pack of four infected where running at them, hell-bent for dinner. Not wanting to attract more, they decided not to fire at them. Everyone got inside quickly and barricaded the door. They could deal with them tomorrow. Steve and Mark moved a really large and heavy pallet over in front of the door and dropped it to the floor with the pallet jack. This also secured the door from any human being able to just break down the door. No way the infected would be able to get through that; the roll-up doors were sealed.

While the others had been off playing in the pharmacies today, Steve, Nina, and Mark had been hard at work. They had spent the day ensuring the complete safety and security of Wally's. They had piled more bales of cardboard with some of the empty boxes they found and created more empties to flatten by un-boxing items for later use. They had stacked bales so high that the front doors were completely sealed from any unwelcome visitors, and made another, shorter stack behind them to help hold them up. The front doors were as secure as possible. They wanted to keep the garden center as an outlet for everyone to pass through later. They made sure it was double chained, locked and good to go. The only thing about a Wally's garden center was that the top of the twelve foot steel fencing was open to the world. At this time, that was not securable, even though it would be difficult to climb. With this in mind, Steve set up a sleeping and guard station right inside the glass doors that wasn't directly visible to any passing infected. This would also allow for protection from those unsavory elements that would eventually try to take over their store. Weapons and ammunition were piled up behind the checkout counter. Steve and the others had also put a couple of the cardboard bales in front of the counter as extra protection. If there was ever a firefight, all the bales would take the fire and they could just shoot back without worry.

In and around all the security placements, they had fired up the back deli where they also made hot food for lunch and dinner. They had enough made for everyone to eat and plenty leftover in case more decided to come over that night. Since someone had to be in the garden center area at all times, that's where the small group decided to set up sleeping arrangements. Being the megastore it was, they found blow-up mattresses, sheets, blankets, and pillows of all sizes. Jimmy had grabbed a couple of the televisions with Mark's help and set them up well away from the glass doors. A game system was on one in case anyone wanted to get away from reality and they watched movies on the other. Davis, Steve, Mark, and Fred would all take turns on guard duty for the night. They decided to rotate in two hour shifts so no one got too bored by themselves.

Chapter 23

Once Michael and the boys got situated inside the garage, they all congregated in the squad room for their own set of introductions. Coffee was the drink of the day, some with a little extra input. The first important item on the agenda was to see if anyone was out there listening. Sherrie would spend some of the day on the radio working through the channels. There were still a lot of CB users out there and hopefully some officers, paramedics, and fire fighters were alive. With that in mind, they called over to the fire station across the street. As with the police, there was only an answering system on loop that didn't take messages. "All circuits are busy. Please try again later." Michael was sooo tired of that recording.

Michael, his sons, Danny, Gerald, and Jose all volunteered to make the trip across the street and check things out first hand. Gerald wanted to see in what shape the helicopter was. While they were gone, Kylar, Warren, and the ladies would take an inventory of the station and have some lunch prepared from what they could find. Sherrie helped them load up with weapons and multiple magazines of ammunition and decked them out in body armor and some riot gear. Unless they got into a mini war, they were packed and stacked for anything. Police equipment was frakkin' awesome.

The guys headed toward the front door since it was the closest thing toward the fire station. They peeked out the blinds but they could see nothing threatening; no infected, no cars moving, and no humans running in fear. Good signs. They unbarred and unlocked the door, preparing for the outside world. Stepping out, Michael and Jose took up posts on either side of the door. They strafed back and forth and stepped away from the door to get a better look around. Still nothing. The group all got out of the doorway and Sherrie re-secured it. As a circular group, they moved out into the parking lot and started across the street. They came upon no opposition all the way to the fire station.

Stepping up to the door, they peaked through the front windows. Working their way down past each of the fire truck bay doors, they could detect no movement inside. After the four bays, they reached the front door. Slowly opening it, the door chimed to let the workers know when someone arrived. They waited for a second but there was no sound. They worked their way through each room and still found nothing. The bottom floor was cleared except for the bays. Two fire trucks and the chief's truck were there. They split up to cover the bays and upstairs where the guys would sleep on nights.

Michael, Aaron, and Wayne worked through the bays. Sticking together, they moved around each truck. It didn't take them long to clear the whole vehicle bay area. Within just a few minutes they had checked inside, under, and around each vehicle. Even the cabinets were empty. They started back towards the rest of the group. Danny, Gerald, and Jose headed up the stairs. Reaching the top, they were in the main sleeping area. The pole down for quick exit was near one wall and all the beds were along the other side. They moved through the room but found nothing. Jose went through the bathroom and shower area but found nothing either. He came back out to inform the others. Just as he started to say something, someone put a gun to the back of his head.

"Who the fuck are you and what do you want?"

"Hold on. Hold on. We don't want to hurt you. We just came to see if anyone was still alive. We are camped across the street at the police station." Jose was trying to diffuse the situation. In reality, he was terrified.

"Who's over there right now? I know those officers. Prove it to me. Now."

"Sherrie Pollen. Polumotion. Something like that. She said she was Hawaiian. It was a hard name, man. And Rob. He's infected and in the cell. I don't know his last name."

The man took his gun off him and holstered it. "Okay. I know Rob and have heard of Sherrie. We're good. I'm sorry but I didn't know you. My name is Chief Percy Evans. I was holding down the fort till the next crew could come in but that isn't gonna happen. Everyone else is gone. The crew on duty yesterday morning took out a truck and never came back. I couldn't get anyone on the radio. I'm truly sorry for holding you at gunpoint. I've been stuck here for too long by myself. I've got no one at home and didn't even wanna try to get there yet."

"Where the hell were you hiding? If you had been a walker, I'd be dead." Jose was still trying to get a grip at him almost being eaten. Or possibly shot.

"I had my feet up on a toilet so you wouldn't see me. Again, I'm sorry for that."

About this time, Michael and his boys made it upstairs and met Percy. He gave them the ten cent tour of the facility. Gerald asked him about the helicopter but Percy didn't know much. He didn't have anything to do with that piece of equipment. The pilot and crew came down to pick up someone that was being brought back from the same accident the fire truck went out to. The victim was supposed to be life-flighted to Hermann Hospital in Houston. He never heard from the ambulance that was dispatched or the flight crew once they landed. Their guess was as good as his. The blades were still turning yesterday morning for a while but he never saw the crew after they radioed they were here. That did not bode well.

Not really knowing what to do, Michael spoke up and thought maybe they ought to check out the helicopter. It would come in mighty handy one day and Gerald was itching to get a look at it. Gerald, Michael, Aaron, and Wayne headed outside with guns outward and ready for action. The helicopter was only about fifty yards from the entrance but it seemed like forever at a semi-slow pace. When they got close, they could see a body near the open side door. It looked like the pilot. That was weird. Why would he get out? They found some blood inside on the floor but no other bodies. They surmised that the crew got attacked and the pilot tried to help. They could only assume everyone was dead.

While Gerald checked out the overall functions of the chopper, they three of them kept watch. Everything seemed to be intact but he couldn't ascertain the functionality of it unless he could get it running. There was juice enough to do a pre-flight check, but not enough to fly her. When the crew was attacked, the helicopter had just kept turning till it was dry. That should be an easy fix though. The fire station was obligated to keep a gigantic fuel tank at the ready. With Gerald directing, they shouldn't have any problem filling it back up. And conveniently, the keys were still in it. They went back inside the station to let everyone else in on their plans.

Just in case their activity brought any unfriendlies, they all went outside armed while Gerald directed Aaron and Wayne on what to do. It took a little while to get the hoses strung out and hooked up but thirty minutes later, fuel was flowing. It only took ten minutes to refuel it and they were putting up the hoses again. Once everyone was backed away from the chopper, Gerald jumped in to get it rolling. They kept someone stationed on all four sides of the vehicle. It took him several tries to get the blades to turn since it had run out of gas. Everything worked like a clock after that and he ran through a checklist. The helicopter was in pristine condition but that was expected, being what it was used for. He powered everything back down and extracted the keys. They didn't need anyone trying to steal it now, did they?

As he was getting out, Danny hollered out. They had incoming. The noise from the copter had brought friends. They were halfway to the front door when four roamers came around the corner from the other side of the landing pad. As quick as they were, some of them wouldn't make it in time. Michael stood near the door and started firing the police issue Colt M4 Carbine. It fired in three round bursts. He was able to take the legs out from under the first one before he got the range right. He took down the next one with no trouble. Aaron had stopped on the other side of the door and also proceeded to fire. He took down another himself. The fourth was almost on them when the Gerald produced the Remington Shotgun he had procured from the armory. One big boom took out the fourth infected. The first one with no legs was still trying to come after them, so Michael got closer and put a bullet in its head. They all got inside, locked the door and sat down in the kitchen area for a few minutes' needed rest. Not much running was involved but the rush of adrenaline could take it out of you when you're not used to it.

After a little down time, Michael called over to Warren to let him know what had happened. Warren said he had some good news when they got back but there was too much to be spouting over the phone. They hung up after Michael told him he would be back shortly and would call when they got to the front door. Talking things over with Percy, the only thing they could think of right now was to take all the keys to all the vehicles with them. No one knew what to do with any of it yet but at least they would have the access when needed. One item brought up was to take the radio and the portable antenna with them. It was of no use here but would be useful on the road. Once that was done, they checked outside and took off.

Again, there was no other opposition crossing the street. Michael called once they were at the door. When Sherrie opened it up, he asked if there was still room in the garage for the other two trucks. She said they could make the room. Kylar came out with Jose to grab the pickups. Michael and his boys played security. Once they got to them, they all jumped in and drove around. The bay door was up and they were moving one of the other cars. While they waited, a loper tried to sneak up from behind. Kylar stomped the gas pedal and rolled over the older lady. Once the room was made for them, he hit the gas again and made sure the lady was dead. They docked their cars and the door went down.

When inside, the excitement on Warren's face was palpable. He explained that Sherrie had gotten hold of a couple more police departments and some of them were standing strong still. The only one close and alive was the Angleton City Police. They had four officers and about ten civilians holding up there. They were trying to mount an offensive to the schools to see if any children were stranded. They would get back to them tomorrow. The second part of his good news was what was in the station. There were a few hundred weapons of various types with enough ammunition to keep them killing zombies for a year or more if necessary. The best part of his happiness was still to come. He insisted they come with him because he wouldn't say anything. They followed him into a separate part of the garage from the arrested unloading area. Standing there in all its glory was an Armored Personnel Carrier with a battering ram. The APC was really just for showing around the area schools more than anything. There had only been one instance of it in actual use the year before when they had used it to raid a meth lab. This was the only one in southern Brazoria County. It was a glorious site indeed and it quite understandably brought whoops and hollers of joy. This would be great for going into unknown areas or just to roll through a pack of zombies.

With all the vehicles, they would be able to load everything they'd found in the station and move away from it. Sherrie was more than happy to get out of there. She said that it had started to feel like a tomb until they had shown up. And that was only half a day. It took the better part of what was left of the day to get all of this accomplished. Since it was almost noon by the time they got back from the fire station, the sun was looking down on them from a distance. They had maybe an hour or so to get back to William's house. Once everything was loaded, Sherrie looked back with fondness at her place of work for the last ten years.

Contemplating what had occurred over the last couple days; she turned to everyone and asked for a few more minutes. She walked back through the intake area and back to the cells. Rob was still snarling and clawing at the bars trying to get to her. She stood against the opposite wall and looked at him with tears in her eyes. She wanted to reach out and hold him.

"I'm sorry Rob. I wish I could help you. You were the one person I looked forward to seeing every day. I liked all my coworkers but I loved you. You never knew it because I just couldn't bring myself to ask you out. You were always such a gentleman and treated me so nice. I have been in love with you for two years. I can't help you but I can't leave you here to die of starvation, either." She pulled out her service weapon and checked it was loaded with a bullet in the chamber. "Goodbye, my love. I wish I'd had the courage to tell you before all this happened. That will forever haunt me. I love you and will always remember you." She pulled the trigger and put the bullet between Rob's eyes. She stood there another minute, wiped her eyes clear, and walked away. The others had heard the gunshot and figured out what had occurred when she came back out with tears still crowding her eyes.

They were climbing into different vehicles when it struck Percy. They'd almost forgotten to take the radio from here. Slapping their heads, they got back out and gathered up all the cable, antenna workings, and the radio itself. This was a vital piece of equipment. They jockeyed around who would drive the APC. The majority voted for Michael with Gerald to copilot for fun. His boys took his truck while Kylar and Jose opened the roll-up and played gunhands. When they were all out of the garage, they pulled down the door and went out the walkthrough door. Once it was locked up again, they gave the keys to Sherrie for later use if needed and then jumped in their respective trucks to move out.

While on the way, Michael phoned his wife and let her in on their new convoy. She said vehicles were already moved around for extra room when they thought Davis' 18-wheeler was coming in. Michael snickered at that since he didn't know Davis had found a new toy. They rolled on the couple miles without trouble. Parking everything was no problem but Michael put the APC in front in case it was needed and he didn't want it buried– as if it could possibly have gotten stuck in the dirt anyway. There was nothing vital to have with them for the night, so they only grabbed some of the guns to take inside. They all plopped down in various places once inside. It was no longer amazing to them how exhausting these new days were becoming. The ladies informed the group of what Steve had accomplished and what he had in mind. No one seemed to disagree with setting up shop in Wally's. There was an abundance of room for their growing band of merry misfits and oh-so-many useful things already there. It seemed a perfect plan for the foreseeable future. They would just have to figure out what to do about the animals. Several of the adults settled in with some alcoholic beverages and vowed to start moving out tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately, the night was not over for them. While Michael was on the phone with Steve informing him of their plans to move in the morning, a shot rang out. Then someone fired more towards the house. The back windows shattered and everyone dove to ground. Everyone grabbed weapons and waited for the fire to die down. The shooter or shooters had to reload sometime. Gerald and Michael shrugged themselves across the carpet to the back doors. Since they were shattered and the curtains in tatters, it wasn't hard to see outside. The shots were coming from behind a tree in the neighbor's yard. They couldn't see whom, but there was only one gunman firing their way.

"You sorry motherfuckers. Kill my uncle and friends and think I'm going to lay down like a dog and let you live. Stupid fuckers." He fired more shots.

"It's that damn kid, Billy. The one we let go yesterday. That piece of shit is mine. Firing into my house and scaring everyone. I've got this." William was pissed. He hardly ever got mad at work and even Michael hadn't seen this level of anger from him.

William went out the front door and snuck around his neighbor's house. He was able to get all the way around and was working through the back yard. They had no fence and the neighbors had already left, so it was easy moving. Billy had burned through a couple more magazines ripping up his home by the time William was in position. As soon as he started firing again, William was able to come right up behind him in the noise. He put his pistol against the back of Billy's head.

"Drop it. Do it, now. You stupid shithead. We let you live after you came to my home and threatened us. Y'all even shot me and Steve and we still let you go. What the fuck is wrong with you? Move. Now! C'mon." After Billy dropped the AK-47, William pushed him over back behind his neighbor's house.

"This ain't the end–I'm gonna kill you, fucker. You're gonna die for murdering my kin." Billy was still adamant about him being in control. Guess stupidity really did run in that family.

Once they were out of sight of his house, William asked him, "Do you want to say a prayer for yourself?"

"Fuck you, you dickless wonder. Ain't no way you gonna pull that trigger. You ain't got the balls. You had someone else do the others yesterday cuz you can't. Go ahead. Let me go. You're spineless. I'll come back and get you next time."

"The only reason I didn't kill any of you last time is because I was trying to be the peacemaker. I won't make that mistake again. I hoped to reason with y'all then but it looks like there's something wrong with your whole family. Stupid breeds more stupid." William cocked back the hammer on the gun.

"Shut up already and let me go. Fuckin' sheeple. You can't survive out..." Blam! William blew Billy's head off from the nose up. He looked down for a second to see what he had been made to do and then walked away. Something he would have to live with, but the punk had fired at his friends and family. No going back from that. He walked into the house and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from his cabinet. He then went back to his bedroom without saying another word to anyone for the rest of the night. Everyone understood what had happened and said their own silent prayers for William's soul.

"Is everyone all right? Did anyone get shot? Thank God. Only some glass cuts from being close to the windows. That's good news." Ann started to go get some ice and towels. "Wait. Where's my momma?" Ann looked through the rooms and restroom but couldn't find Kay. "Has anyone seen her?"

"Last I knew she was going to check on and feed the animals out back. Oh God. That was only about fifteen minutes before the shooting." Michelle and Ann ran outside calling Kay's name.

They found her on the ground on the other side of the trailer. A red pattern was spreading across her chest rapidly. The coward had shot her from behind. She would be gone soon. Michael came up and put his arm on Ann's shoulders. Comforting his wife was his primary job for now. Michelle could do nothing to stop the bleeding and there wasn't time to remove the bullet.

Ann held her hand. "Mama, everything's gonna be all right," she said.

"I'm goin' to see your daddy, Ann."

"I know, Mama. I love you." Ann's tears fell on Kay's hand.

"I'm real proud of you, baby girl. And whatever I might said over the years, you married a good man. He'll take care of y'all." It was her way of apologizing for the way she'd complain sometimes. Ann kissed and held on to her hand while the light went out. Michael stood her up and took her back inside. It would be a long night for Ann.

Jose, Kylar, Aaron, and Wayne found shovels and started to dig a grave in a remote part of the back yard. After a little more than an hour with them rotating between digging and keeping watch, the hole was deep enough. They wrapped Kay in a colorful blanket and worked together to put her in the bottom. Afterwards, they went back inside to clean up. It was already after 9 pm when they gathered to say a few words. Michael held Ann while her boys stood near. They had loved their grandmother. She had lived with them for most of their lives but she had closed in on herself over the years, putting distance between them. They shed many tears, mostly for their mother's loss and a lessening to their living family.

They stood there for a while in silence. Ann couldn't speak and sobbed openly. Michael stepped up and spoke for a few minutes. When he was done, he helped Ann over closer to the burial. She grabbed a handful of dirt and said goodbye for the final time. Michael and the boys did the same. A few more minutes went by before Michael led Ann back inside. Everyone else trickled in after. Aaron and Wayne decided that they would be the ones to bury their grandmother. Jose stood near them with an M4 while the boys did their solemn duty. When done, they put up a makeshift headstone made of a couple pieces of William's fence. They put Kay's full name, date of birth and death, and then took a couple minutes to think. They decided on "Loving Wife, Mother, and Grandmother," and then "Helpful Till the End." There was room for more if their mother decided to add something later, but the night was now done for them all. It was a very quiet evening from then on. Michelle went into the bedroom to comfort and inform her husband. She knew he would be in pain and she tried to always be there for him. Changes were automatically made to the guard shifts to compensate for those at Wally's and for Michael and William.

Chapter 24

Wednesday, October 23rd

Bert woke up with a start. Being somewhere new was bound to startle. He, Victor and Tonia were bunked with the Coasties for the night. They had come over yesterday intending to talk to whomever might still be here. At first they believed there was no one: Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Everyone was gone. All the civilians had fled to their families when everything crashed. Later that afternoon, they found several guys that had been out working on a few of the boats. They used the radio to try to find more staff. They were able to get hold of one of the other Cutters that had been patrolling the inside coast of Corpus Christi. It would take them a few hours to get back, but at least contact had been made. Many smaller boats were out doing what they could.

Commander Nolan Brink had a six man crew with him and a second Cutter followed behind. Once they had docked the other had been guided in. The second Cutter was captained by Keith Grace with another six man crew. They had a third crew out somewhere, but no contact was made at all the previous day. Several other boat crews were also unaccounted for. They were all presumed dead, and unless they stumbled across the boats somewhere, there was no recovering them. The U.S. Coast Guard station had four 65' Cutters, five small response boats, three medium boats, three fixed wing HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplanes, and four MH-65 Dolphin short range recovery helicopter. Personnel ranged above two hundred at any given time, until Zombie Armageddon hit. Only a few men and women disappeared during the initial outbreak and many more lost with the missing boats. They had some down, obviously, but the boys were already hard at work. These guys knew when they were needed and wasted no time. Bert and the others acted like gophers for them till the Cutters returned.

Introductions were a little easier since they had been talking on the radio already. When the crews arrived, Bert gave each of their names and let them in on what was happening at the Naval Air Station. Since so few were at their station when they arrived and after seeing all the destruction, it really didn't take a brain surgeon to realize "shit was off the chart in crazy". Commander Brink was on board with the new non-military command structure, but Command Chief Grace was still intent on following protocol. He was unwilling to relinquish the chain of command and didn't want to do anything other than follow his orders from two days ago. He would be a problem if their Cutter was needed and his crew might have issues trying to help. Since everyone was included on the current conversations, loyalties were tested. They all still wanted to serve what was left of this great nation, however, everyone but Chief Grace knew that there were no more orders that applied here. There was no more government or military hierarchy. His crew would just stand down unless or until there was a reason to act. As late as it was after all the discussion, they had decided to bed down for the night and talk more in the morning.

This morning was a completely new day and the aroma of coffee drifted through their craft. Commander Brink popped in with a howdy-do and a cup holder full of java. After good mornings to all, they sat down for a private chat together. The Commander wanted to talk to Bert, Tonia, and Victor separately. He was worried that Chief Grace would be a bigger problem than was put forth to them the night before. Grace had always been a stickler for rules and regulations and had an anal retentive personality. His crew trusted him, but did not like the man himself. If he didn't react when needed because of protocols, there might be mutiny. He didn't have an answer, but he also didn't want the man to be hurt because of his loyalties to the military. Brink was just as loyal, but circumstances dictated that everything change to suit the current conditions. There was no hierarchy left above what was on base. The main thing he wanted to get across was that everyone needed to watch the man in case he decided to do something foolish. With that, they all went over to be with the rest of the group.

A couple of the crew members thought they might be able to get the third Cutter going again, but they had a lot of work to do. It could be slow going. They wanted to see if anyone across the way might be able to help. The other boats would be fixed first since they seemed like simpler jobs. Those should be done by the next evening. Jackie went over to the radio to contact her people. After a bunch of chit-chatting back and forth, four of the Navy guys, an Army corporal and two privates were coming over in a Humvee to help out. About thirty ticks later they arrived. Four of them got to work assessing the damage on the Cutter. They knew that it had an oil leak that was too bad to run during normal operations. It might take a couple days, but they figured it could be fixed without a problem. With the men starting work and the others keeping watch, the two Coast Guard command leaders, Bert, Victor, and Tonia all headed back to the air station.

The whole station came to life with the hustle and bustle of so many happy children. Most of them enjoyed having activity to fill their days, so making breakfast in the morning for the troops was like Disney World to them. Talking with the troops was Christmas two months early. Their stories were cool, but the men sometimes had trouble making sure they kept their stories PG. Their dealings with children had been extremely limited since none of them had kids of their own. This was new to most of them and they were enjoying being big brothers to so many. A few had family but they were scattered across the states and no one was answering. Those that had family that answered had left the area by Monday morning. To see children running around and playing games of all sorts really put smiles on so many faces.

They sent out the same two groups of personnel as yesterday to gather more of anything they find. Priorities today would be food. They still had to come up with a long term solution, but there were still a lot of mouths to feed right now. And the number of restaurants with ready-made food were bountiful. Get it all while you could before the power went out and spoiled it. Groups today were to hit every fast food stop and restaurant in the area. Grab everything. Even if they personally didn't like a particular type, someone would eat it and this was not a time for waste. Leaving very early, they grabbed breakfast and coffee and were out the door. The third group made up of the Seals would stay behind once they were retrieved.

They also sent out four of the five Army groups with two Humvees to replace the crews at the home stores. Jackie felt that the Seals needed to be back at the base when Bert and the others arrived. If they had known Rosalita's plan the night before, others would have been stationed there instead. It took only an hour for the change out. Vinnie hadn't heard from his boys, Papa and Jim, yet, so he phoned them on the way back to base.

"Howdy-do boss. Can I grab you some Mickey D's on the way?" Jim Lee answered jovially.

"Hey dipshit. Where the hell are y'all?" Vinnie began almost immediately.

"Well boss. Shit didn't go well last night. We had some big problems coming through Victoria. Someone had blocked off the freeway so we got down onto the feeder around it. It was a trap. For them, ha-ha. It took us some time and we lost a good vehicle but those bastards died stupidly. We found a great Suburban though. That took us time and then we had to go back for our stuff. There was no way in hell we were gonna leave our comics. Even you couldn't have made us do that. Those are practically museum pieces now. Anyway. We are coming down Highway 35 along the water. Crossing into Corpus now. Not sure how long it will take us to get there."

"All right. When you get near, call me. We won't be here; we got things to do. Be safe and watch out. The Zs are multiplying fast."

"Aye aye, sir. We're locked and loaded. Talk later." Jim signed off and informed Papa of the conversation. By the time the conversation was over, Vinnie and the others were back at base.

It didn't take long before the five of them came over from Coastie central. Most of the adults sat down anywhere available, giving the floor to Commander Brink. He gave them all a lowdown on their last two days and the missing Cutter and crew. Informed of the fact that they had two working ones and another for use in a few days was a relief to many. People had brought up fishing, and this was a first step toward at least one unlimited food source. When he was done, Bert and some of the others gave them more information as to their movements and future plans. At this point, Chief Grace spoke up.

"You can't keep taking munitions for your personal use. Everything here is United States property. Captain Parnell, you must stop this pillaging. I can't believe you would misuse Navy property. That is in direct violation of military law and you should be arrested for allowing it. What is wrong with you soldiers?" Grace was vehemently adamant in his outrage.

"First of all, SIR." Captain Tonia Parnell emphasized the final word pretty hard. "What world are you currently living in? With all due respect, there is NO United States anymore. There is NO military law to uphold. We are all civilians with no government or conceivable hierarchy. Unless you wanna call this the new land of Zombieville and set up its brain-addled government for them. Those of us that find each other is all there is now. We have to survive, and I believe we all have an obligation to help as many other survivors as possible. When was the last order you received? When was the last time you heard from anyone above you? When did you even talk to anyone...anyone...from any other base, boat, or even ship in the ocean? We have. We have found others out there. Other military bases and depots have been doing the same thing as us. They all realize what this new reality is. Can you, SIR?" With that, Terry and Jeremy popped up and started clapping. Vinnie gave them a minute and then motioned for them to have a seat. It was his turn.

Warrant Officer Vincent Dupree then started in. "Chief, we three had vowed our lives to serving the people of this great country like no other here. We stand behind Bert, Tonia, and any of these others whom we have met and fought beside, these are the type of people we pledged our lives for. If there was still a nation, we would still serve it. There's not. It's gone. This mighty nation has been brought down low. The only way it will ever be restored is by people like them being served by people like us. Now, unless you have something better to input into this conversation, PLEASE SIT DOWN!" With that, Chief Grace decided it was time to pay attention to them. He still had his own point of view, but he recognized that now was not the time.

Once that was solved, Vinnie told everyone about their new friends and told them about the other two members of his team. The Timmons family could use help and volunteers were welcome. Their meat, butter and milk would be needed and the horses would become the only form of transportation once the fuel ran dry. Keeping them alive and the ranch safe was of utmost importance to the Timmons and to the entire group. They could figure out the logistics after the meeting. When he made relief with the Army guys, he made sure they knew that the Timmons would be back and to let them have whatever they needed. Vinnie described them and gave them names to verify also. It seemed that the Navy Seals had cemented themselves as the head guys to answer to when it came to safety and security. There was no one better.

The next item on this meeting's agenda was the U.S.S. Lexington. Bert took over the meeting at this point. Now that there was access to a boat, someone could scout out the giant ship instead of having to drive over. Commander Brink had no problem with his crew checking it out. That might take all day since there were so many unknowns. A few extra people would go with them to help. As far as the Timmons were concerned, Bert would contact him when they were done. Those with personal trucks volunteered them and one of the Deuce-and-a-Half carriers would all go meet up with them on their next run to the lumber yard. Several people would go and help get the ranch secured. It might be a week to fence in the area well enough, so Tonia would make sure that they took plenty of weapons and ammunition with them.

The final item to bring forth was...who was really in charge. None of the military personnel wanted the job. They were used to taking orders and soldiers always had ultimately followed civilian government. The same point of view went with Colonel Victor Garber, Commander Brink, and all of the Navy personnel and Marines. Grace thought about standing but could quickly read the room and knew it would be a terrible mistake. Captain Tonia Parnell would stay with the base for as long as it stood, until it was overrun or she fell for the last time. The Seals were the de facto right arm of whoever led. They had become a team of Secretary of Defense Men. The obvious choice for all the civilians was Bert. He had led them all to safety here at the Naval Air Station and seemed to be making all the right decisions. He vehemently declined but he really had no choice. Leadership had already been taken by him without trying, and to them all, he was perfect. Knowing he was outnumbered, he reluctantly accepted, but with a couple of major caveats. Jack, John, Tonia, Rosalita, Jacob, Brink, Garber, and Sam were to be his Cabinet. Vinnie would be in charge of all military personnel except as it pertained to the stations themselves. Each of the original people in charge of those would continue. He also wanted Karen Sharp in charge of the continuing education of the children. This was a no brainer. On that note, he made sure everyone kept in mind to watch out for more schools and even libraries. There was a lot of knowledge contained in those places that they would need in the future. With this settled and everyone in agreement except Chief Grace, the meeting was adjourned.

Everything broke up into smaller groups after that. People hung around and talked about various things but most had missions and intended on carrying them out post haste. Jack, Cindy, and their truck would stay at the Timmons as long as they were welcome. Jack was a big man with some fencing experience in his background. They could be a big help on the ranch. Jeffrey and his family would take the Bronco. His son had never gotten to be around horses and was dying to help with them. Some of the children wanted to go too. The idea of being around a farm for a while appealed to the kids. Most had been city brats for their whole lives. That idea was superb for the children and Karen would make sure they had some electronics to go with them. Kids would still need something to do during the down time at night. Randall's girls wanted to go also, so he volunteered to take all of the children on a bus. Jeffrey being a teacher, he drove the other busload and would help keep them all corralled. John, his son, and Tim's friends also wanted to help at the ranch, so they would drive the cargo carrier over.

Bert and Rosa wanted to meet the Timmons family, so they would grab a Humvee for themselves. They wouldn't be able to stay in one place long, so they had to have reliable wheels with a big gun. Going back and forth might become dangerous; they wouldn't want to lead any raiders to their land. Vinnie thought that having someone manning the gun on the road was essential, so he got a navy volunteer to run around with them. Vinnie was already "Defensing" in his new role. Once that was all figured out, Bert called Mr. Timmons. After introducing himself over the phone, he found out that they would be heading toward the lumber store within the hour. Bert promised to meet him there and told him he was bringing help. Paul Sr. was extremely grateful to hear that. When he was off the phone, he turned to them all and smiled.

"All right. Grab some drinks and grub for the road. We leave in thirty minutes. Karen. Will you let the kids know we will move out and to grab everything they need or want for at least a week? Tonia, can you help us round up enough bedding and tents for everyone? I'm pretty sure Mr. Timmons won't have accommodations for this many. Thank you all! Let's roll." Bert had been a fan of President Bush and would always appreciate his use of some of his county boy-like sayings whenever he could.

Chapter 25

Michael and Ann awoke the next morning with a heavy weight on their shoulders. Ann didn't want to get out of bed but she knew that life must go on. Reluctantly they moved into the living room. Most of the group was up and moving around, kind of. Losing the first of their little band shook them pretty hard. Besides having to deal with a couple humans and a few zombies, the reality of the end of the world had not thoroughly set in. Kay had died and it wasn't even from an infected. The thought that survivors could still die from accidents, normal human disease, or even suicide was shocking. They had been so caught up with killing monsters that this death was just tragic and previously inconceivable to them. Each of them needed to work through their feelings but they really didn't have time for it.

William came out a few minutes later. When he'd gone back to his room last night, he had drunk until he passed out. Michelle had told him this morning what had happened. He apologized to Ann for his behavior and gave her a hug in condolence for her loss. She told him that she understood because they all knew what he had to do last night. They left it from there and each dealt with their grief in their own way.

The group knew it was time to find a better place to fortify. They all agreed that they needed to move over to Wally's. Half the day was gone before the animals were fed, watered, dogs out for a walk, and the cats reloaded. Everyone was still unsure what to do with them once there. Michael called Steve to inform them of the new plans. It would take two trips for all their stuff but only a couple trucks would have to come back on the second round. The big caravan moved out with Michael and his boys in the APC leading the way. They were having a blast running around in their mini tank. As they approached the Valero near Wally's, Michael had them veer into its parking lot. Now was the best time to refuel everything since there was no infected around to bother them. With electricity still running, they just had to go inside and figure out how to enable the pumps. Luckily, it was easy. The pumps had been left on from two days ago. They all loaded up and filled any cans they had still empty. Now that it was abandoned, everything was free for the taking. They grabbed all the propane tanks from the storage cage, full or empty. Drinks, snacks, and any food that used to be for sale were taken. Otherwise, it would just spoil on the shelves. Once they wiped out the store, they left.

It didn't take them long to get around to the back of Wally's. Steve and Davis had rolled up the second big door after moving the pallets out of the way. They laid down a few empty pallets for the stuff coming in. Davis' wife, Danielle, ran up and gave him some PG-13 loving. She'd missed her man last night. One by one a vehicle was unloaded and moved aside. After the first three were empty, volunteers rode back to William's house for the rest. Michael, Ann, and their boys drove back with William and his wife. Two per truck, in case they had to shoot. It only took a couple more hours to load everything else. They even grabbed whatever furniture they thought might come in handy later. People would need places to sit, and they didn't know how many more survivors would eventually join them. Except for a few zombies that couldn't keep up with them, there was no opposition as they parked in the back of Wally's. By the time they got back, the other vehicles were parked to the side and they were able to back up and unload.

All their cargo was moved into the main part of the store for dissemination. Once the back was locked back up nice and tight, Michael got with the others for the next steps. Because of how long everything took, they didn't have a lot of daylight left. Davis, Steve, Kylar, Jose, Alberto, William, Michael and his boys all needed to make the most of the daylight. The idea was again to go out in different directions, but this time food would be a priority. They would also take every gas can in the auto department and fill up. If they didn't find a station the direction they went, Valero would be their last stop of the day.

Michael, Aaron, and Wayne went straight to what was left of the mall. The Lear had hit smack into the middle of the old Sears. Since it had already been shut down, they didn't expect anybody to have been injured; not counting the people on the plane itself, of course. Pieces of the plane lay scattered all around the old store; shattered wing debris and such strewn through the parking lot. The food court was on the other side of the wreckage, far enough that there was no damage to that entrance. Michael pulled right up near the doors and stopped. They grabbed weapons and unloaded while on lookout the whole time. The mall had already opened for the morning the day shit hit the fan, so the doors were unlocked. The theater near the entrance was still on lockdown. It was inside the mall and just inside the doors. It didn't open for a few hours after the mall itself did. They would raid that before they left.

Their priority was to collect all the munchies in the food court area. Sandwiches, Chinese food, pizza, and ice cream was waiting to be taken. Each of them raided a stand and they would converge on the ice cream last. They had a lot of food at Wally's already, but they had no way of knowing how long they would have to survive with what they had. They were determined to procure every usable item in their town before they could rest or even plan the next weeks ahead. It would soon be a figment of their past unless they were able to grow their own, and homesteading takes a while to establish. They gathered everything up near the doors. Aaron finished the sandwich shop first and helped Wayne with the pizza. Each of them had a favorite and it just happened to work out that Aaron got sandwiches, Wayne got pizza, and Michael got his Chinese food. The boys were both done about the time Michael finished up. They decided to load this stuff up before they got out the ice cream. This would preserve the freezing until they left. By the time they were done, (after having a few cones for themselves), the sun was starting to set. The theater would have to wait. No one wanted to be outside at night unless absolutely necessary. Not having gone very far, they went back by the Valero and refilled. They were back at the megastore by sundown and unloaded once again.

Davis, Kylar, and Jose took a truck the same direction as Michael but made it a few blocks farther. Their goal was the big hamburger joint that had set up a couple years back, called Fuddruckers. They turned into the parking lot and stopped quickly. A couple zombies were milling around the outside but several could be seen inside. It looked like the store had been open for business and had some non-paying customers. Nope. They wouldn't be getting in there today. The zombies outside noticed them and started running their way. Jose hit the gas and drove right out the other side of the parking lot.

Instead of trying to go back, he blew right through the rest of the big parking area towards the Hastings Entertainment store. It didn't take long before the hungry munchers gave up and went back to the burger joint. By this time, Jose had driven around the back side of Hastings and come up around the far side. They could see that the way was clear now. Their main goal was now shot to hell. Jose had the idea of popping in Hastings and checking out the scene. Being a gamer geek, it was heaven for him. Since there was no other food spot near them, Davis agreed to look through Hastings. Being that the front was mainly glass, they backed up and drove to the rear door. It had been left unlocked also, saving them from breaking in. They had opened up at the same time as Academy a couple days ago, and it looked like people had just taken off from work and didn't look back. Understandable. Davis took the lead through the door. Nothing. They proceeded quietly, peaking around each corner in the back storage area. Still nothing. Moving on to the store front, Davis slowly opened the door.

To be safe, they all moved as one around the whole store. Starting at the back right, they scanned aisle by aisle, then went around the front near the doors and cashier stands. Since the bathrooms were at the front, they were next on the list. One by one, they were checked along with the manager's office. The comics, books, and accessory areas were walked through and still no one was in sight. The only thing left was the coffee bar area that had opened at 6am that day. It was part of the main store, but could be blocked off for those early morning coffee drinkers. It was small and didn't take long to clear.

A shuffling sound was heard just as they got to the front of the bar area. The whole store had been checked and they'd seen nothing. "Where the hell did that come from?" Davis said quietly. Another faint sound rang out. Believing the store was clear, Davis decided to call out.

"Whoever you are, come out. We have guns but don't want to hurt you." The others came up behind him and listened. They waited a second. Davis could hear a slight sobbing sound. It was coming from behind the barista counter. "Hey...it's alright," he said as he went towards the counter. "We have no intention of hurting you. We just came to check out the store." He motioned to his team to move to the other end of the counter. "Please come out. We don't want to be hurt either, if you have a weapon." He laughed lightly to put the hider at ease.

A hand popped up and then the second. "We're coming out. Don't shoot." A lady stood up and walked around the counter. She had a little girl clinging to her leg. The little girl had chocolate ringing her mouth. Nutritious food was not a mainstay at Hastings, but candy bars were bountiful. Davis and the others lowered their guns and tried to look less intimidating.

"Hello there, my name is Davis. This is Jose and that is Kylar. What are your names?"

"I'm...I'm Zoey and this is my daughter, Priya. Please don't hurt us. We had nowhere to go. We walked here two days ago from our apartment and haven't been able to leave. You can have whatever you want. All the workers just left us here."

"You're going to be okay. We can help. We were just out collecting food but there are zombies at the Fuddruckers so we decided to come here. Are y'all hungry? We have food in the truck." The little girl nodded her head like a bobblehead doll. "Okay. We'll get some." He turned to Kylar. "Can you grab our sandwiches? We can do without for a few hours." Kylar nodded and went to retrieve the food. Davis called after him: "Thanks, Kylar, but watch your six outside."

Finally getting them calmed, they all sat down till Kylar got back. The little girl tore through the first sandwich pretty quick. More like inhaled it. She only ate a little more after that. Smiling, she had bits of turkey and lettuce stuck in her teeth. It warmed Davis' heart. They told Zoey about their group at the Wally's and asked if she wanted to join it. She was elated that she could be safe with her little girl. The father was not in the scene and their apartment was a little over a block away. Davis decided they could drive by it on the way back and pick up things the ladies might want. Since the original plan was a bust for the day, he figured to go ahead and get moving. Kylar and Jose thought that maybe they would stay back for the night; they wanted to secure Hastings for future use.

"Sounds like a good idea," Davis said. "Make sure you keep ammo and whatever food you'll need for the night." Their girlfriends could run over later with more food and ammo just in case.

With that, Davis and the ladies took off. When they got closer to the complex though, any thought of going inside was out the window. It was crawling with zombies up and down the stairways and parking area. It was a gated complex, and they were trapped inside, which meant the whole complex was likely full of infected. One day they would have to clear it, out but not now. Resigned, Zoey agreed and they went back to Wally's. Once back, Davis told Melinda and Jesse about their boyfriends. Gathering up supplies, they were gone within thirty minutes after saying good night to the rest.

Steve, Alberto, and William set off to the south. They had farther to go. The goal was to hit up the barbecue places near the entrance to the chemical plants. There were three within a mile and they sure didn't want good barbecue to go to waste. The picked the farthest out to go to first. JD's was what most people considered to be the best for just a straight two meat plate. Brisket and sausage was what dominated the back room. They loaded it all. Pots and pans were left behind though since they had plenty at Wally's. It would probably be a couple years before they needed more. It took a little over an hour to finish up and then they did the same at the next stop half a mile away. It took them less time at Harry's and they moved on.

Hoghenheiferz was the big find. Since they were coming up from behind the store, they could see the big old pit outside. William pulled up to the back to take a look. This pit was custom built and set up to be pulled as a trailer. No way in hell were they going to leave it behind. Uses would be found. So far, they had to break into the other two meat stores and this was no different. They popped open the back door and proceeded inside. What they found surprised them. The two owners of Hoghenheiferz were seated for some of their homemade pit meat with Dave's son. Startled, they reached for weapons on the table next to them.

"Whoa! We mean no harm. We were just collecting food–sorry about barging in." Steve tried to diffuse the situation quickly.

The older brother recognized William and told the others to relax. After a hairy minute, they all sat down to discuss matters. Dave, his son, Jr., and cousin, Tad had been caught at the store that fateful Monday morning preparing the day's feast for customers. Reality hit them while out back and they had to beat down a few munchers brought to them from the smell of cooking meat. Being good Texans, they all had guns in their cars and inside the store. 2nd Amendment, Ho! The first Z was beat down with what Tad had available, a cast iron meat stake. After that, they turned on the television and found out the world was dying. Not wanting to lose good meat, they spent the next several hours cooking up what they had in the freezer. Once done, with several dead zombies around the back door, they had brought the meat inside and refrigerated it.

The plan was to venture to their homes, but by late afternoon, there were too many roamers outside and not enough bullets inside. Not having anyone at home to worry about, camping out in the store was not a bad option. Stuck they were, but they had computers, television, DVDs, and plenty to eat and drink. Now that Steve and company were there, Wal-Mart sounded good to them. Since William was parked out back, he would haul the pit. Steve would help and keep watch. Alberto grabbed more ammunition and weapons for the newbies. They went out front and proceeded to kill the eight zombies that were still hanging around the parking area. Better to get rid of them now, even if not a direct threat, than try to fight them off while loading. After that, Dave backed their big dually up to the door right next to the trailer they kept for catering. Everything they had was put into the trailer and then into the back of the truck. Since they had a sitting room for dine-in, they also loaded a bunch of silverware. Fortunately, everything was cooked, so they had a few meals prepared for the many that awaited their return. It truly would be a feast tonight. Once done with the pit, William and Steve pulled around and started off the convoy.

Steve and crew were the last to get back for the night. It was almost dark by this time. They came up the back near the Home Depot and past the Best Buy to the loading area. While they were backing up the trailer, several zombies came around the opposite corner of the megastore. William stopped the truck and Steve jumped out, already aiming. He popped off a couple rounds to vector in the distance. The first shots landed at their feet and skipped off. One shot ricocheted into a leg but it was only a glancing hit. They just proceeded to holler and screech toward them. By this time, William was beside him and they let loose with a short fusillade. Most went down but two were upon them before they could reload. William swung his rifle at his attacker, knocking him away but not down for the count. While the creature was getting up, William pummeled him back down with the rifle butt until his head was a bloody mess. Steve just sidestepped his assailant and put his elbow into the back of the thing's head as he went by. The guy bounced off the hood of the truck. Steve had already taken his giant knife out and shoved it into the base of the attacker's head and up into its brain. Done. Neither would come back.

Huffing and puffing, William just looked at Steve's quick work. "You and Davis are going to have to teach us some of what y'all know. I'm out of breath from taking my guy down. You didn't even break a sweat." Laughing, they and some from the store unloaded all the new food. Once that was done, they moved the vehicles away from the loading bay but left them close to the back door in case they needed to move fast. The pit was parked to the side and unhooked. Once inside, they all sat down near the garden center for some serious chowing down on delicious barbecue. It ended up being a good night with more new friends.

Chapter 26

Once the Coasties got back to base, they started arranging a crew to scout the U.S.S. Lexington. Even with all the men working as mechanics, there were plenty left to form search parties and still enough to make a run to the U.S.S. Lexington. They were sending all their boats out to run up and down the coast to search for survivors. A few were running up as far as Galveston to check on the Coast Guard station there. Brink was able to talk to some of the guys there yesterday but their base and crew had been devastated by the zombie aftermath. Commander Brink cobbled together a group for his Cutter and with several added Navy and Marines they gathered up supplies. Extra ammunition and weapons were brought onto the boat. Once done, they jumped on board. Brink gave command to Grace and then they left.

It took them some time to get around the bay. Once they got close, everything looked peaceful. There was no sign of zombies or of any humans at all. Making their way around the large ship didn't take but about fifteen minutes and all was quiet. The next step was to get on board. They docked the cutter near the gangplank and unloaded. Commander Brink and his helmsman stayed behind while his second in command started off with the rest of the crew–all armed and ready.

Still not seeing any opposition, they proceeded up the walkway to the ship. Once at the top, they noticed the gate across the front was locked from the inside. Crew Chief Mason Paul yelled out if anyone was home but received no answer. After the second yell, he heard a voice coming from somewhere, but it was faint. The third yell yielded a grizzled looking man in his late sixties. He came shambling over with an AR-15 in his hands at the ready.

"What do you want?" he called, still too far away to see the uniforms.

"U.S. Coast Guard, sir. Chief Mason Paul at your service. Here to check on the status of this vessel and see if anyone was here." He stood and waited till the man was closer.

Once he was near them, the man lightened up and lowered his weapon. He opened the gate and they all introduced themselves. Once through, he relocked the gate for security. Chief Paul radioed back to the Commander that all was well and they were going into the ship. The grizzled man's name was Chief Petty Officer Waylon Pendleton, retired Navy. He explained that there were about twelve retired Navy veterans on the ship. They were all workers for the museum and tour groups. Who better to explain the massive vessel than those that had served on similar ships? There were about twenty more that worked for the museum. Most of them were real young, ranging from sixteen to twenty-five years old, volunteers and interns. They were all high school and college students that no longer had a home to go back to. Two older ladies manned the booths that used to take entrance fees and parking token purchases. They were all a pretty close knit family that loved the old ship.

When they got inside the hangar bay, the Coasties beheld a mass of children, teachers, and parents. Schools from all over Corpus Christi had brought their children here for tour day on Monday. Only three schools had not shown up, and the children from two of them were at the Navy Air Station now. The third school was near the north side of Corpus and no one had been able to get hold of anyone there. The worst was assumed. The Coast Guard was able to relay information about the school children they had acquired, but not specifics, since they weren't there. Teachers from the other schools were happy to hear about the two schools that were saved.

The veterans had been able to supply everyone quite easily, but they really didn't have much for them to do. Some of them helped around the carrier when needed, but there weren't any computers or games for them. They had all been stuck on the ship for the last three days and some of the kids were going stir crazy. There had to be a thousand or more children and about a half as many parents and teachers. It seemed that children from six different schools had attended, ranging from elementary to high school age. They were excited to see new faces and talk to new people. The Coasties were appreciating the attention, too.

The Chief got an overall assessment of the U.S.S. Lexington from the veterans there while the rest got acquainted with the children. There was built in power from the nuclear improved engines from the 1980s. Food was plentiful from the cafeteria that had served visitors. The only thing that wasn't in abundance was weapons and ammunition. Only guns that were routinely carried by the veterans were available.

After talking with the Commander for guidance, a plan was concocted. Four of the Coasties volunteered to stay on board with their weapons. They would take up guard duty and rotate with the veterans on the ship. The Chief and the rest would go back and relay the situation to Bert and the others for further decisions. Those staying on the ship were to fortify the gangplank in case of a zombie attack. Not having to use all your bullets is always ideal. If it was all the same, it was better to just keep them out. With plans in place, the Commander, Chief and the rest of the crew took off back to base. Most of the day was now gone for them.

Bert led their now massive group back to Lowes. It didn't take long for them to get there and they beat the Timmons by about fifteen minutes or more. They parked all the vehicles in front until they knew what they were loading. Once Mr. Timmons got there, more introductions were made. It took a few hours to get all the vehicles loaded with everything possible. They didn't leave much behind, so they took the Army personnel with them to the ranch. Mr. Timmons went in the Humvee with Bert in the lead. They wanted the M-2 in front and needed a guide, so there you have it.

On the road, they ended up running over a couple weaker zombies, but it was pretty clear sailing. The ranch was far enough out so they weren't seeing much zombie activity yet. They had lost two cows so far, but had quickly dispatched the invaders and hadn't seen any more since. Once they arrived, those still at the ranch all gathered to gawk at the mass of new helpers. They had heard this morning that help was coming but...no one expected such a crowd.

Once they parked, everyone piled out to learn about each other. Having a little over half a day of light left, they got to work. They unloaded what was needed to finish out the day as they went. Not having anywhere to store supplies of this magnitude, they just left it all on the trucks. Mr. Timmons directed them on what needed to be done and how best to do it. Everyone listened, since he had the experience. Men jumped into motion and kids helped everywhere.

They started where the Timmons had left off. They only had about a tenth of the fencing done with the small number of workers available. One crew got together and went about driving posts into the ground periodically. A second crew brought boards and set them on the ground along the guidelines. The third crew set up the boards and a fourth would come along and nail them in as they were being held. The crew was starting to work like a well-oiled machine by night time.

Once it was dark, they set up a rotating guard shift on horseback. This way they stayed quiet but mobile. As big as the ranch was, four people had to be on guard. Not many of them had ridden horses before, so some of the guards just walked a beat. Large tents had been set up for everyone to gather under. This is where the evening meal was given. Children were running around and playing happily. It was nice to see smiles since so many had lost their parents just a few days ago. After dinner, they settled down for a good night's sleep. Bert and Rosa stayed the night and would leave sometime the next day.

The Seals left that morning with Sam, Jacob, and a few Navy ensigns. Their goal for the day was fast food outlets and restaurants. They had exhausted their small area from before so they set out even farther. They were collecting from a Monterrey's Texican restaurant when Vinnie's boys finally called.

"Have no fear, we are here. Somewhere. Where the fuck are we anyway, Jim? Oh, yeah. We just passed the Texas State Aquarium off Highway 181."

"Cool. You're about five miles from us. We are a couple blocks from the Del Mar College at a Tex-Mex restaurant. I figure you can find us since GPS is still up. Get here ASAP."

"Gotcha boss. We're hauling ass like there's no tomorrow. See you in five." Once Papa signed off, Vinnie went back to the burrito he was munching down.

They had almost all the food loaded before Papa and Jim Lee got to the restaurant. They pulled up whooping and hollering like yahoos. They were actually enjoying this Armageddon. Grinning like idiots, they shook hands with everyone. Since they had been on the road for a while, they were hungry. Lucky for them, there was plenty of food. It didn't take long to fix up some Chimichangas and rice.

While eating, Vinnie filled them in on what had been happening on their end of things. It had been a hell of a few days for them all. Papa and Jim Lee told them about what had been going on in World of Warcraft game chat. The word was out amongst Geekdom. They had witnessed the loss of one of their own in the middle of a video chat on their raid run. Vinnie had forgotten about that Sunday night gaming session. Vinnie, Terry, and Germ had been on Call of Duty when their British counterparts had been attacked. It had completely slipped their minds. They then remembered that one of their own guildies was in the Lake Jackson, Texas area. They needed to try to touch base with him and some others. They also had one here in Corpus but didn't know who he was. Just that his gamer tag was "ImaGhandiKillU". They would have to try to log on tonight and see who could be contacted.

When Papa and Jim were full, everyone loaded back up. They found a few more restaurants through the day and even another ice cream shop for the kids. Since they still had daylight left, they skipped over it for the time being. They moved on and stumbled upon a huge night club near the beach front. This called for some R & R; that is: Ransacking & Refilling, in their case. Noticing a few bodies near the door, caution was thought to be the better part of valor in their exploration of the club.

Terry, Papa, and Jim Lee geared up like they were taking down the Taliban and approached the front door. Jim and Terry stationed up at the ready while Papa pulled open the door. Weirdly, the lights were still circling but no music was playing. It had been a few days and it was like a silent rave inside. They made their way through the club a short piece at a time. They moved at a slow, but very deliberate pace. Everything in the club was peaceful and clear so they moved on to the back. Just as they reached the back doors they heard some movement. Using hand signals they maneuvered their way through the double doors. Still not seeing anyone or anything, they proceeded all the way in.

"The kitchen and storage areas are all clear," Terry said quietly.

"So where the hell did that noise come from?" Jim hissed. They were almost at the rear entrance when they heard another noise behind them.

"The cooler," Papa said. "That's not creepy or anything." It hadn't even dawned on them to check it yet. Moving up to the door, Papa got himself prepared. Quickly, he swung it open and the other two brought their weapons up and at the ready.

"Please don't shoot! Wait! Please!" Three people were cowering inside, shivering and huddled together.

Terry lowered his weapon and spoke to them with a gentle voice. "We come in peace."

"Seriously, man." Papa said. "We mean you no harm. You're safe. We are Navy Seals, just searching for supplies and rescuing the occasional civilian. Y'all can come out now." They all lowered their weapons and the near frozen people gladly vacated the fridge.

Two were very pretty young women; they hugged the guys in thanks while a small man in a black apron popped up and shook their hands. They had been staying in the club since everything happened.

"I'm the bartender here," the man said, "and these ladies are two of our waitresses." The women smiled at the Seals. It had been a long couple days for them. They hadn't even ventured to turn off the party lights.

"The place was super packed last Sunday," he went on, "so we and a few others stayed open a little later than we usually do. People just want to party when the world is falling on its ass." Some of their friends had been attacked while going home near the wee hours of the morning, but a few more got away. These three just didn't want to chance not living just to get to empty apartments. Why try and die for stuff that didn't really matter? "We figured there was not reason enough to leave, what with plenty of free food and drink here," he finished.

"Heavy on the drink part," one of the girls laughed.

Jim Lee took some liquor outside and had most of the crew come inside. Two of the navy guys stayed to keep watch with a bottle of their own. While everyone talked inside, they had a few drinks. The workers were itching to get out of there and meet some new people. Once that was hashed out, they started to load up all the food and liquor and take it outside. Once everything was piled up, it was time to go. They had just enough time to head back to the ice cream parlor.

They'd spent a perfectly peaceful day, then quickly it just went to hell. They were able to get within a block of the place before they saw a large pack of munchers blocking the way. Within just a couple hours, this pack had come from out of nowhere and built up to a gigantic crowd that was swarming the area. Vinnie conferred with his boys real quick. Their consensus was that no one wanted to go back to the children without the ice cream now that they had found it. Vinnie more believed that his water walkers just wanted some Z action.

Locked and loaded for bear, they got a Humvee ready and Jim Lee got on the Ma Deuce. Driving a little closer, so they didn't fire into the store itself, they were about to unleash hell. Just as they stopped, the stampede began. Shrieking and howling began a few seconds before a Thump Thump Thump ripped up the air. Everyone but Jim was there for backup. The entire swarm was down in a matter of seconds. The Seals just had cleanup duty afterwards. A bullet here and a bullet there put the few left alive down for good. The trucks pulled up and all but two went back inside. Always keep a watch.

They each had a cone and the ladies brought a couple out to the guards. After making short work of their treats, they started to collect up the goodies. It didn't take long for all of them to procure the big tubs of deliciousness into the trucks. They were on their way back to the station within an hour. On arrival, the children surrounded the trucks and helped unload. The squeals of delight were always welcome to the ears of the adults who had seen so much horror in their days.

The Coast Guard left a few behind for watch while Commander Brink and the rest came over for chow and friendship. They all discussed the day's events while eating. Bert was on speakerphone and informed them he would be back the next day. With everything settled down for the night, several of them jumped online to do some gaming. Might as well enjoy what you can with servers and internet still up. They were able to talk again with some of their guildies and many others in general chat. Once again, cell phone numbers and radio channels were given out for all to use as needed. Also again, they still didn't know who ImaGhandiKillU was, since he didn't log in. It had turned out to be the best day of the apocalypse yet, and the many were grateful. Just another day in Zombieville gone.

Chapter 27

Thursday, October 24th

Awaking to an informative, but worrisome, phone call started off Michael's day. It was Mr. Reifel needing help. They were having a few too many zombie incursions for them to keep up with. About a dozen of the local farmers and ranchers had gotten together over the last couple days but it was getting harder to keep the animals alive. Along with themselves. They had lost a whole family already to the heathens. The poor people had been trying to protect their horses but were overrun. The farms weren't as big of a deal right now with it getting colder pretty quickly, but the animals still needed care and protection.

Michael wasn't sure what they could do, but he would make some calls and would get back to Mr. Reifel ASAP. This would require possibly everyone's help. Coffee. Must have coffee. It was only 5am and he wasn't prepared for this. Snap, crackle, and pop were the sounds of the day for his aging body and not just a breakfast cereal. Taking a couple extra seconds to get off the air mattress, he rambled over to the restrooms. Surprised, though he shouldn't have been, he encountered Steve and Davis on the way. They had gotten up an hour earlier, once again because of their built in time clocks from their military days. Saying good morning, they passed each other and made plans to talk in a few minutes.

Slowly waking up, he made his way over to the area they had designated as the "kitchen" part of Wally's. Steve handed him some black coffee and they sat down. Others were starting to stir and a couple of the ladies were already cooking breakfast. Michael told Steve and Davis about Mr. Reifel and they began to brainstorm some ideas. All that cattle and the horses would be needed for their survival later. Everyone knew that gasoline was going to be limited within a matter of months, or a year at the most if they were lucky.

The only ideas they could come up with were to fortify the fencing, but the ranchers were about thirty miles away. This made it extremely difficult to keep helping with the limited number of people they had. Everyone was somewhat awake by the time they finished their food and deliberation. Aaron and Wayne were up and wide awake. It seemed the early mornings actually agreed with them. What was wrong with these teenagers?

They sat down with their food. They had coffee with them, which surprised Michael. They hadn't had any since they'd tried it back in their early teens. Taking sips from their cups, they grimaced as if in pain. The others just started laughing. Even though they obviously hated it, they powered through to be "one of the adults." Shortly, they started to talk. They both wanted to take some food over to Kylar, Jose, and the ladies. Michael knew the real reason was all the goodies they expected to play with at Hastings. He gave them the go ahead when they were ready.

Zoey brought over some more bacon and sat down at their table. She had been listening to them discuss the ranches. Fidgeting, she was nervous to say anything but she had an idea. William noticed this and asked her if something was wrong. Being addressed directly, she decided to go ahead and speak her mind. She had already realized that these were all good people and she fit right in.

"What about the Clemens Unit? It was a minimum security prison. That's where Priya's father went...until they discovered some of his other criminal activities and he was put away for life in the maximum security one in Huntsville." She looked down at her hands, then continued. "Clemens is a farming and ranching unit with over eight thousand acres, according to the internet. I don't know if anyone is there or what their status is, but I think it could be what your Mr. Reifel needs." Once done, she felt really good that she could help, if even just a little.

"That is an excellent idea. I was just wondering what the situation there is. I know that they only keep those that were incarcerated before they were twenty-five years old", Michael said. "I guess some grow old there, but they don't keep a lot of the tougher cases. Maybe we can use anyone still there. I think that should be our goal for the day. I'll need volunteers," he looked around the table, "and I'll give Mr. Reifel a call. I think he should be there also, since he is the best source of knowledge about ranching. All right. Anyone that isn't needed here, or going with me to the unit, should keep hunting for supplies. Enjoy y'alls breakfast. I've got a phone call to make." Michael got up and walked a little ways away to call.

He talked to Mr. Reifel for a few minutes about their idea. He would meet them at the corner of FM 2004 and Highway 336. There was a gravel area right there for them to meet at and he would have a few others come along to help figure things out. He was excited to see what they might behold. They would meet in an hour. Signing off, Michael came back to the group to inform them of the plan.

Aaron and Wayne took off out the back door a short few minutes after Michael told the plan to the others. It didn't take them long to get over to the Hastings. Calling as they got there, Kylar was waiting at the back door. He welcomed them and helped them bring in the food. Once inside the main area, Aaron and Wayne could see what they'd done last night. They had made many bales of cardboard themselves and, using the pallet jacks from the back of the store, they had moved them into place in front. Most of the front area was made of glass, including the in and out doors. It took all four of them to stack them on top of each other, though. They had been worn out for the night and didn't play much like they had wanted to.

Kylar, Jose, Jessie, and Melinda all sat down to eat the meal brought over. They were using the coffee lounge area on the side of Hastings. They had no shortage of caffeine and were happily sipping it down. They really had no plans for the day except to finish fortifying the store. They wanted to finish boarding up the front, to make double sure it was secure. Needing hammers, nails, and other tools and hardware, they looked toward trying to get to the Field Supply store across the way from them. Kylar and Jose knew what was needed, so they would venture out while Aaron and Wayne stayed with the ladies.

After a little more time for coffee and talking, they got ready to leave. Once they were safely in their truck, the door was relocked. Taking only a couple minutes to get across the large road, they were parked pretty quickly. There was no sign of any infected and the doors were open, so they went in cautiously. They heard moaning from the back but saw no sign of anyone or anything in the front. The back was separated by a roll up door that had been locked in place by a simple bar. Removing it, they stepped into the rear area at the ready with their handguns. What they saw was a couple of young infected on the ground near several open bags of horse and chicken feed. Hunger must have gotten the better of them and they'd started eating whatever they could find. This had made them so sick, they didn't move much; they just lay there and moaned in pain. Being that they were mere teenagers and not wanting to waste ammunition or make too much noise, they left them there and went back to the front.

Gathering everything they might need, one would keep watch while the other boxed up stuff. It took them a while because they kept seeing something else they wanted or needed. They went back and forth loading the truck a few times. They grabbed a compressor, hatchets, axes, machetes, extra tools of various sorts, some wood, a hibachi, and a wheel barrow. Never know when you might need to move stuff easier, right? With the truck fully loaded, they left.

On the way back, they noticed that Fuddruckers was now vacant. No more zombies were hanging around. They stopped by to see what was left. They had the whole back part of the cab to fill if needed. Parking right beside the front door, they proceeded inside. It was a giant mess. The entire store was torn up. This was the type of place that would take your burger order and then you could top it yourself from the bar and veggies were thrown everywhere. They moved on to the kitchen area. The doors were blocked from the inside so they had to climb over the service counter where you would pick up your order. Once in the kitchen, they could see that some of the munchers had invaded here, too. There were pots, pans, raw meat, and buns everywhere. Well, no one wanted to eat or even touch anything they'd they left behind.

All that was left to check was the cooler. They opened it up slowly in case there were any surprises. Nothing. Always nice to find nothing when you expect the worst. Loads of meat and vegetables were waiting to be eaten, though, apparently the infected couldn't get in to the industrial refrigerator. Kylar and Jose figured their job was to oblige and have good meals. There wasn't enough room in the truck for it all so they took enough for lunch and loaded it in the back seat. As soon as they were in the truck, they called Jessie to tell her they were driving around back. The doors were open and Aaron was on watch when they got there. They unloaded everything into the store and relocked up the back.

The rest of the morning was spent boarding up the front and securing it all. The ladies were grilling up burgers for them around noon and they took a break for lunch. All that was left was the coffee shop front doors. They only had one bale in front of that entrance, so it took a little longer to fix up with the items they got from the store. It was still early afternoon when they finished. They decided to go back out and gather the rest of the food stuff at Fuddruckers. Afterwards, they were going to pick up some nuggets and more from the McDonalds that was a couple blocks over. With plans in place, they got prepared to move out. Aaron phoned his dad and let him in on what they were doing. Once that was all done, the guys set out.

Kylar and Jose finished cleaning out the burger joint in an hour then went to meet Aaron and Wayne at Mickey D's. On the way, the boys drove by a pizza place that they had forgotten about. They pulled in there first and looked around for any bad guys. Finding none, they went inside. Unexpectedly, they found it was already occupied. They could see a couple of uniformed personnel behind the counter, standing close to the oven.

Aaron said, "Howdy folks." The couple looked up and Aaron saw that he had made a gigantic mistake. They were infected workers and they didn't like their lunch being interrupted. Shrieking and wailing followed them as Wayne shoved his brother out the door. They jumped into the truck and took off. They didn't need pizza that bad. Making sure they didn't lead them towards Mickey D's, the boys drove all the way around Academy and came up the backside of their primary target. Losing the zombies was easy; they couldn't outrun a truck. Yet.

Parking near the front was wide open so they just pulled alongside the doors. Cautiously they entered and checked the place out. Nothing was inside, not even the kitchen. They found a bunch of breakfast food sitting out from the initial morning run. Flies were starting to collect annoyingly. The coolers were full and bountiful so they started loading up. They had only made a couple trips when the others got there to help. While finishing the packing up, Aaron had a quirky thought come to mind.

"I was just thinking. You see how all of us have come together and immediately started looking for food and supplies? Why the hell don't they ever do that in the movies or books during those undead zombie stories? I mean, it's not like they don't have all the time in the world to gather. Their apocalypses take longer, also. They have plenty of time to prepare. Not like what we are going through. Right?"

Kylar had a surprised look on his face. He hadn't considered it before. "Yeah. And their zombies are so slow, too. They act like they couldn't just run around them and beat them over the head on the way. The only time they should have any problems would be running into a mass of them."

Wayne piped in. "You're right. They just run around most of the time and it takes them like, half a book or season to start thinking about their future. Great television and stuff, but just plain stupid in reality. Weapons and food should always be a priority. And helping save people, obviously."

Finishing up, they all got some good, much needed laughter. Once they were loaded up, they took one last look around and then they were off. They had to pass by the pizza place on the way back. On the other side of the parking lot, they could see the workers still wandering around, looking for them. Wayne patted Aaron on the shoulder and pointed at them since Aaron was driving. They smiled at them and Wayne waved, but they didn't bother trying to go back for pizza. It would all be gone or contaminated by now. They got back to Hastings and unloaded it all. They tried to cool as much as possible in the few cola coolers the place had. They ate the rest for the evening meal. Then it was gaming time for them all, since they were safe and secure.

Chapter 28

Mr. Reifel and friends were waiting for them when Michael and the others arrived. Talking quickly, they drove away the two blocks to the entrance of the prison. As they pulled up, a man in an orange jumpsuit came out of the guardhouse. He brandished an assault rifle with authority.

"What do you want?" The "guard" couldn't have been more than twenty years old.

"We came to see what the situation here is. Can we talk to whoever is in charge? Maybe the warden?" Michael stepped out of the truck with his hands in the air.

"Gimme a minute." Speaking into the radio, the boy kept a wary eye on the strangers. "Yeah, boss. Got some people out here wanting to talk. Nah, they don't look like trouble. Like regular people, you know. Yeah. Okay, boss. I'll tell 'em." He put the radio down. "Boss is coming. Be about ten minutes."

"Thanks." Michael walked to each vehicle and let them know what was happening. By the time he got back to his vehicle, a man in a sports jacket came walking up to the gate.

"I'm Warden Perryman. What can I help you gentlemen with?"

"Well sir. We were wondering what your situation here might be now. We weren't even sure anyone would still be here, if there would just be bodies, or a shitload of zombies, sir. I see you have inmates helping run the place now. Is everything okay here? You're not under prisoner control in some way, are you?"

"No. No. No. Everything is good here. We had problems at the very beginning. A few guards killed most of the prisoners and then left. I guess they felt they were the worst of them or just didn't want to leave them to die. We don't know. They must have taken out almost ninety percent of my population before I even arrived that morning. Only ones left are the lower level offenders. In a way, they did us all a favor. Food stores will last much longer than ever and I've got no one too nasty to worry about. I even offered to let them all go the next day, but only a few decided to leave. Most don't have any family left or already realized they'd probably be gone by now."

"What about your staff?"

"Almost every one of my guards either didn't show up for work that morning or took off when the 'fit hit the shan'. And only my secretary came in. But that's because she is my wife. Not much of a choice, right? I have five guards now, and the former inmates are helping me keep this place running. They respect me as their warden because I always give everyone a fair shake. Most of these guys just screwed up in life and have regretted their decisions since. I have a couple still in lockup that can't be controlled but everyone else here are pretty good kids. They all just needed help and guidance from their previous bad mistakes."

"Well sir. We have a bunch of cattle and horses and such in need of a home that can be better protected than where they are. We also have some farmers that can help with the fields at the beginning of the year to help us all survive. We were hoping we could come to some arrangement for the betterment of all. Now that I know your guards are gone, I figure you may need the farmers and ranchers more than I thought. What do you think?" It seemed to Michael that this man was good at heart and this could be a great partnership.

"Very astute of you. Well. I like your ideas. If your people are alright working with former inmates, I think we can do this. I definitely need help. I hadn't worried about the farms yet, but the cattle are already a problem. I have about one hundred guys here, but only a quarter of them have even worked minutely with the cattle, although about half have been farmhands. If you're people can handle all the cattle and give guidance to the farmhands, we'll be good. I will say that any of the younger women should stay away, at least for a while. Most of these guys haven't seen a girl in months. Other than that, it sounds like this could work out well."

"Hot damn. Well sir, I have the right people behind me. Let me get them so they can introduce themselves. If you want to gather some of your guys to meet, they can start talking." Michael was very enthusiastic about the future for them all, now.

After about an hour sitting down together, they all seemed to get along pretty well. The warden sent some of his most trusted guys back to the ranches with four large cattle carriers to help bring them in. This would be an all-day affair of going back and forth with all the cattle and farming implements they had. The housing units that were set up on the prison land were cleared of former tenants, also. The families hated it, but they all knew that they had to move into them. Protection couldn't be maintained in their current homes. They would pack up their things over the next couple days and move over.

The caravan of trucks and trailers moved up Highway 36 and past the Gopher's with the broken front doors. Taking a left onto County Road 521, Mr. Reifel ran right over a zombie, smack dab in the middle of the street. The stupid thing just walked right in front of the truck. Without a choice, every vehicle proceeded to flatten it even more along the way. Suicidal zombies. Michael shook his head. He just still could not get used to the new reality.

They turned onto County Road 510 and took it another two miles down to the closest of the horses. Mr. Reifel directed the trailer guys on backing up to the back gate. By adding the animal trailers from the prison to the Reifel's, they were able to get most of the horses on the first run back. On the next trip, they grabbed the rest and some cattle. Upon coming back the third time, hell had come to visit.

A dozen zombies were plowing their way through the fields next door and nothing was slowing them down from their perceived food source. Everyone grabbed weapons and got ready. One person had a nice hunting rifle and tried to pick a couple off at distance. He was able to hit a few, but only one went down for good before they were close enough for other weapons. Everyone unloaded except Steve and Davis. They held back for a few seconds. Everyone went dry in just a few moments and that was when Steve and Davis took out the rest with well-placed shots to the chest of the last four coming at them.

"All right folks. Let's take this as a learning opportunity. Don't blow your wad at the first opportunity like this is your first time and she just let you feel a boobie. We all have to act like we've been there before. A few should shoot. As they reload, a few more can fire and so on. Unless there is no alternative, try to conserve ammunition. I'm not saying to let yourself get chewed on, but try to think before you fire, and for God's sake, take aim. No disrespect to anyone, just information for the future. Everyone okay? Cool." Steve turned around and smiled at Davis. They knew this would happen, that's why they hung back on their own guns.

With the excitement over for the time being, they re-rounded up the cattle that had scattered a little ways from the loud noises. They almost got them all on the third round but not quite. It really helped that the prison had such huge cattle haulers. Otherwise, this would have taken them into tomorrow. Four of them would have to come back one more time.

Thinking ahead, Michael said, "Make sure you stop at Buccee's and gas up for those that aren't coming back. For the others, we can do it after this last haul." With all nodding affirmative, they took off again.

Once the four got back, it only took another hour to get the rest of the animals loaded. They left again, one by one. Some of the families had decided that it didn't take them long to pack after all. They stayed behind just long enough to grab what they needed. These several were the couples with children mostly, and they just wanted away from there and to get somewhere safer. They saw the writing on the wall when that last dozen came through and just didn't feel that most of their personal items were worth the risk any more. Maybe they could come back one day and grab more. But today...adios.

On the way back, they stopped at Buccee's again. It was amazing how much gas was stored in those tanks. They loaded up on drinks and snacks while there. Besides the cattle carriers, there were five trucks, so it took a small while to gas up since this Buccee's was a smaller station. While standing around gassing up and talking, several feverheads came running up the side street. Michael and William took a stance and waited till they were close enough. No sense in wasting bullets. Once they were within range, they picked them off one at a time.

While they were firing, shots rang out from the other side. Some opportunistic psychos decided this was the perfect time to ambush their group. Guess they wanted the trucks and cattle for themselves. Scattered shots hit all over the truck and trailer facing that side. Steve came around and started sniping each of them as quickly as possible. Davis kneeled down beside him and took his own well placed shots. There were five of the bad guys all firing from behind the dumpsters at the back of the store. Two went down immediately while a third took a shot to the shoulder and disappeared. Steve had Michael and William take his place on the line. He reloaded and took off to the other side of the store. Baffled, they just kept taking pot shots at the guys. A couple minutes later, they heard more gunfire coming from the other side of the dumpster.

"All clear. Got one live one." Steve called out. He had snuck up on their flank and taken out the rest. The shoulder-shot man was just lying there, crying.

"What the fuck were you thinking? Y'all didn't need to die." Michael asked as he came around.

"We had watched y'all all day coming and going. We wanted the cattle for food. When we saw only four trailers, we thought you would be easy pickings," the man sobbed out.

"Yeah. That worked out for you pretty well, didn't it? If y'all had just talked to us, maybe we could have helped each other out. But noooo. You just decided it was the Wild West and you were outlaws. Just fucking stupid. Now your friends are dead and you're left to bleed. Good luck with that. Oh, and we're taking your guns too. Bye now." With that, they walked away from him and didn't look back.

It was hard for them to kill humans, no matter the wrong choices they'd made, but all knew it had to be done. The real horror hit them when they got back to their vehicles. A cow was down in the trailer, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. The truck that had been hit was Mr. Reifel's. His wife had been in the front seat and taken a bullet to the temple in the initial shots. He had just found her and was completely distraught. Some of the other ranchers comforted him since they knew him best. Not wanting to leave her just sitting there, they bundled her up in a blanket and put her down gently in the back of another truck. He got in the back with her and just held her hand in sorrow.

Married thirty plus years, it was a complete heartbreak to see. Davis would drive his truck back and allow Mr. Reifel to mourn. Mr. Reifel asked if some of them could drive back to their home for her final resting place. Several of his friends volunteered and Steve decided to go back with them as protection during the burial. A couple trucks left with them to later return to the prison that night. The rest went on to unload and set up sleeping quarters for the night.

Michael went along to pay respects also. Mr. Reifel and most of the others headed towards the prison for the night. Steve stuck with Michael for a little longer. Michael wanted to run back to his home which was just a little ways away. With the time to grab more, he picked up his computers, monitors, televisions, game systems and anything else they might use in the future. He was also able to grab his comic collection. Eight long boxes of the stuff he used to buy and sell on eBay. Over half of them had at least one signature of someone involved in the comic. Michael was loaded down, but he thought: Thar's paper gold in these hyar boxes, and laughed at the thought that his collection very well might be worth more than money. After they were all together again, the original group went back to Wally's for the night.

Chapter 29

The morning dew lay thick this dreary, Thursday morning. The promise of rain was setting in with a cold front to follow. Bert and a few others sat out on the porch having some coffee while discussing how their day would go. So much progress on the fence was overshadowed with how much more was still to be done. It would take them a week and more, even with all the new help. Traveling back and forth for supplies was part of their hindrance but needs must and all that.

Some of the children were stirring and looking forward to breakfast. With this many people, shifts had to be utilized in order for everyone to have somewhere to sit and give the cooks time to make enough. Most of the adults waited for the later shifts so the kids could partake early. No one pushed them to get out of bed at a certain time, and many of them liked to take advantage of it.

Starting around eight in the morning, work was beginning to ramp up again. They knew that time was limited for the day with the rain coming. It would become too sloshy to get much done once it came down. The children were scrambling to help out in any way they could. The horses and cattle were fed and taken care of with some of the ladies' supervision. Everyone else was working hard and quickly putting up fencing. Unfortunately, it only took two hours for the rain to start, and it didn't take long to come down in buckets. Everyone ran to the porch or under tents while the children just enjoyed the hell out of the rain and mud developing.

Bert knew he could only stay half a day but he was appreciating the country life while he could. All he had ever known was the military and city life. Being amongst nature, even for a little while, was something to behold. The animals just stood in the rain as if it didn't exist, eating away at the grass. Some of the children had started up some mud football. Bert was old enough to remember when professional football was played outdoors more often than not. He missed those days. Now it was all inside on fake fields. It became a rarity to see a mud bowl, rain bowl, or even just a fog bowl. Well, no football was being played now in any weather, and suddenly Bert's pleasant thoughts turned gray as the sky.at the thought of loss.

While reminiscing, he noticed the horses becoming agitated. At the same time, one of the kids kicked the ball and it went past them all and behind the barn. Two of the children went running after it, slipping and sliding in the mud. In their version of the game, boundary lines didn't exist, as long as you got it into the marked end zone on the other side of the field. It was almost like watching an old X-treme football game where they scrambled for the ball in the middle of the field to determine who got it first instead of using a coin toss. Just as the children went out of the line of sight, the horses took off in the opposite direction and the cattle started to move the same way.

Bert knew something was wrong and yelled for everyone to get inside. It was too late, though. He heard a loud yelp from one of the kids and then the howling and growling came through. The second child came running back out but didn't get very far. An infected came immediately after him and tackled him to the ground. Bert was almost there by that time with his gun out in front of him. By this time, most of the adults had taken to wearing a gun whenever they were outside. Bert fired off a few shots and knocked the zombie off of the child. The poor boy was writhing on the ground and holding his left arm. The zombie was still moving and Bert put a bullet in its head when he was close enough. While he was checking on the child, he could see the other boy behind the barn with two other munchers still chewing on him. A rage came over Bert. He got up and slowly walked toward them, knowing the boy was already gone. When close enough, he calmly put a bullet through the bloodstained faces of each of the two infected and just stood there.

Rosalita reached him just a half a minute later. She saw the devastation and checked on the first child. He was crying and holding his arm. She knew that the child was going to turn from the bleeding bite marks, but would comfort him the rest of the way until then. Others came running up to the scene; they picked up the child and carried him to the house. Bert was still standing with his gun out when Rosa approached him. He was subtlety shaking, barely controlling his rage, just staring at the dead beasts. She put her hand on his shoulder and startled him. He looked at her; tears were flowing down his face, red in anger and sadness. She brushed away his tears and hugged him. She could feel all of his hopelessness and anger begin to mingle into shared grief. After another minute, she looked up into his eyes. Putting both her hands on either cheek, she kissed him. It took him a second, but then he kissed her back with vigor. Life had to move on, and this was a start.

They walked back to the house were everyone was watching over the boy. His arm had already been cleaned and bandaged. They had disinfected it and given him a shot of antibiotics and whatever else they could find. Everyone knew this was a waste of time and resources, but they wanted to assure the boy that he would be okay. No one wanted him to live his last bit of life in fear. From what they had experienced and heard so far, a person would turn between thirty minutes and two hours after being infected. It was a semi-silent vigil being held with hidden tears and false bravery.

Two hours later, everyone was still awaiting his final, sane breath. Still, his fever had hovered just above normal, and his personality hadn't changed. Another hour later and the boy was still himself. Soon, it was late afternoon and the boy had not yet exhibited any changes, other than his temperature stayed slightly elevated. This was a phenomenon to them all. They hadn't heard of anyone surviving a bite before. This child was a miracle and he would be celebrated and also studied for a long time. They were happy to take small victories whenever possible, but this gave them true hope that a cure could be found some day. Bert's smile was returning to his face; one boy would live...and there was the kiss, of course. They had suffered a terrible loss of one child today, but the other's ability to defeat the virus almost made up for it.

Military members are used to waking early. It is beaten into them over their time in boot camp. The Seals were all up by 5:30am and were out on a run by 6. Many of the Navy, Marine, and even Army personnel joined in along the way. Every one of them ran armed, though. A new world required new rules of engagement. Just watching the prepared, vigilant group thunder through their camp was a beautiful sight for any freedom loving American. The U.S. Military volunteers were a sight to behold.

Their running drew the attention of some uninvited guests who decided to crash their exercise. The fence line went all the way around the air station from one part of the ocean to another, three quarters of the compound and airstrips leaving the ocean side open. No one had ever foreseen needing to barricade the waterside. But the infected were swimming out into the sea, around the extended fence and working their way up the beach. Fixing that problem would be a priority soon. For now, the beasts needed to die and they were fairly easy to pick off as they struggled out of the surf and up onto the sand.

There were two thousand military personnel and a good many civilians running around with guns at various sections of the large station. They made a pretty good firing line. Some of the monsters had made it past the waves and were already running toward them, hell bent for munching. Vinnie directed a couple of the personnel to take out those closest to them. He figured it would be a smart idea to conserve ammunition, so he asked the growing shooters to hold fire until they had clear shots. While they did that, he called Tonia to get personnel to guard the fence line for the foreseeable future. Four shots rang out and four zombies went down. A few more came out of the water and went down before they were all the way out. They could see at least twenty more trying to make their way around the fence. Somehow they knew if they could get in, they would have a smorgasbord available. If they just had the smallest inkling what else awaited them there, maybe they wouldn't try.

Two more made their way out of the water and were blown back into the sea. That was when a Humvee showed up with the big bad machine gun. With the vehicle in place, most of them continued their run. Once Vinnie and the others got back to the main control area, they sat down with Jackie and as many of the adults as were available. They had to do something about the ocean fence line; incursions would only continue in that vulnerable spot. Excursions were still needed to look for food and water, but they had to come up with something that would keep an opening maintained for boats and the like while preventing entry from the beach. The idea of a sort of garage door-type fencing system was decided upon. One of the Army guys was an engineer during his old day job. He would work on the best operation for the system while some went out for supplies to construct it.

Of course, Vinnie volunteered his boys for the supply run. They and as many people as could be spared would go out and take several vehicles. Once everyone was able to grab some grub, they packed up as much ammunition as they could hold. Peter, the engineer, gave them a really long list of needed items and let them know he would have the design done by the time they got back. With that, a scavenging team took off with a mission in place.

They stopped off at the same store the Timmons were using and loaded up what they could. They rotated out the two guards before they left. After an hour, they moved on to the second lumber store they had staked their claim on. Once there, the Navy guys that were keeping watch came out to greet them. After having the knowledge of the plan, they spoke up with some great information. An eighteen wheel flatbed was parked out back from before the fall of society. It was full of lumber but it wouldn't take long to unload what was left. While a few of them did that, the others ran around and took note of what was available. They moved what they could to the truck and after they were done with the forklift, the rest of the items were loaded onto the truck. They said goodbye to the two new guys they were leaving behind and left.

The convoy moved on to a fencing company that one of the previous outings had noted. Once there it would take a couple of hours to load the needed items onto the truck and into the other vehicles. Vinnie had set up a two point security system with a couple of his men. The other two were doing a roving patrol around the inside fencing and store itself.

While moving through the store, Jim Lee heard glass break at the far end near the garden area. The gate was locked so it wasn't just random. He took out his cell phone and texted Vinnie about the noise, thinking: better safe than sorry. He waited till backup arrived before moving on. He could hear more noise and some voices rummaging through that section of the store. Terry and Vinnie both came up behind him. Using hand signals they proceeded in a three prong attack. Vinnie moved up the middle with Terry on the left and Jim up the right. Once they were closer, they could see three guys holding weapons on seven men and women. They were being forced to gather whatever plants and gardening items they needed. Holding hostages and keeping slaves was definitely a reason to die.

Using hand signals again, Vinnie directed each of them to take out their respective bad guy. Each stood at the same time and with three shots it was done. The people got down on the ground immediately and tried to protect themselves from the shots they thought they would feel tear through their bodies. The Seals checked each of their victims and then helped the people up. They were frightened but in just a few minutes of assurance they were shaking hands and hugging each of them in thanks. Unfortunately, this wasn't the end of it for them. They were just a few of many that were being held captive and being used. Only day four of Zombieville and the despots were already rising. After re-securing the front gate of the garden center, a little stronger this time, they brought the new members to the back to meet the rest of the crew.

This was the last stop for the day's supply gathering. Vinnie had been speaking to his men and they had decided that they needed to check out the slave pens these poor people were being kept. One of the released victims would go with them and show them where this prison was. Everyone else was to head straight back to the station and begin working on the fence while they could. Once everything was loaded it was close to noon. The military personnel would man the multiple guns in the convoy and get everyone back safely. Once they were gone, the Seals took off in their Humvee.

The makeshift prison was only a couple miles away. The ex-prisoner, Pat, had them stop a mile back and walk the rest of the way. They approached slowly and carefully. To their amazement, it turned out to be a cattle pen and auction house. They were holding the people in the pens and the few cattle left were roaming around outside. They could see carcasses of a couple cows laying around. Much of the meat was wasted because of the dumbasses in charge. They could only see about a dozen men, but waited a while to confirm. Pat had only seen as many as ten at any one time and couldn't identify if they had all been the same sick pricks.

After two hours of watching, Vinnie decided that they needed to bring a few more men and guns so they wouldn't lose anyone. This included the poor prisoners being held there. Of course, a couple of his guys wanted to just go in and take care of business, but they all knew better. When you see evil on this scale, you just want to kill it; sometimes this leads to more casualties than necessary. Making their way back to the Humvee, Vinnie called the air station to get more help.

Speaking to Captain Parnell, Vinnie found that Bert was still out at the Timmons' place. That would be his next call. Jackie was going to round up some volunteers and meet up at a strip mall nearby with them. She would make sure they brought an arsenal and God's wrath. He then contacted Bert and was told about their sad day that turned out with a silver lining. After informing him of their hostage situation, Bert started to brainstorm with Vinnie. Being within just a couple hours of sundown, they both conceded that they should wait. Vinnie came up with a good plan. Use the wonderful gear the great U. S. of A. had bestowed upon them and go in at night. They would take the compound by surprise and put the fear of modern warfare into every piece of crap in charge there; that was the order of the evening. They were all hoping that none of them would surrender. With the new plan in place, Vinnie called Tonia back while Bert and Rosalita headed their way. The 'Harbingers of Death' were ready to perform.

Chapter 30

Vinnie had left Pat behind with two of his operators while he met up with Bert and the others. Since Tonia wasn't really qualified for modern combat, trained well, but not for this, Sam and other volunteers had shown up with lots of warfare goodies. They were led over to the current watch area to formulate a plan. Papa and Jim Lee were spread out about twenty-five feet from each other with Pat in the middle, lying low. They came back together when the others came up behind them. These new faces were Sam, Bert, Rosalita, a few Navy guys, a couple Army personnel, and Sergeant Victor Garber.

The mission would entail a three prong pincer movement. Papa and Jim Lee would take the left side of the cattle business with half of the military men. Terry and Germ would take the right with the other half of the men. Vinnie would take everyone else up the middle. There were two entrances to the front of the business. One was through the front door and the other was the cattle opening leading to the back. Bert and Rosalita would go through the opening and meet up with Vinnie and Sam at the side door. They would all proceed at a given time together and take out all opposition.

They moved out and took up their various positions and awaited the given time. At exactly 9 pm, they moved in. The first one down was eliminated by Jim Lee. The guy was being a lazy sentry and had his gun set aside while he smoked a little Mary Jane. Jim slid right up behind him, covered his mouth, and slit his throat. The guy was laid down on the ground gently within ten seconds of being killed. The next one around the side was a little more alert and actually carrying his weapon. Unfortunately for him, he was looking the wrong direction. Being dependent on a colleague to be as alert was his downfall. Papa decided it was his turn and showed himself just long enough to put a silenced slug through the man's forehead. Once they were to the end of their corner, they stopped for the major fireworks to start. That would be their signal to proceed with open warfare.

Germ and Terry came around their corner and immediately ran into resistance. Their two were much more alert and ready for anything. Germ was the first around the corner and was face to face with a very surprised piece of crap. A small yelp escaped the man before Germ was able to put the barrel of his gun under the man's chin to shut him up. That little yelp drew a response from the second guy.

"Yo dude. Did you kick something again?" The second guard started toward them. He could only see his buddy's back and didn't see Germ directly behind the first guard. Terry stepped out and threw his big knife, striking the second man right through his nose. The amount of force needed to drive a blade through a man's brain is intense, but it was a specialty move of Terry's. He calmly walked up and retrieved his beautiful friend of blade perfection. The knife had buried itself halfway up its six inches of steel. He wiped the blade on the bad guy's clothes and put it away. The first guard saw what had transpired and pissed himself. Germ stood back as soon as he heard the urine fall down the man's leg.

"What the fuck?! That's sick, man. Turn around and face the wall." Remembering to stay quiet he zip tied the man's hands and duct taped his mouth. Afterward, he hit the guy in the head with the butt of his rifle. They didn't need to drag anyone around and definitely didn't want him to alert his buddies. With the trouble averted, they moved up to the end of their zone and awaited.

At the front doors, there were two more guards. Vinnie and Bert both had silenced rifles and night vision goggles. Using them really wasn't a problem. It seemed that many of them were getting used to killing those they needed to when called upon. With the two men down, they proceeded to the doors. In unison, they went into their respective openings. Bert and Rosa were able to move through the cattle opening slowly. A couple of the hostages noticed them but were encouraged to stay silent. Bert gave one of them an extra gun in case a terrorist came running through. They instructed the hostages to stay silent and wait. After that, he went through the side door slowly.

Vinnie and Sam slid into the front entrance. The only thing they saw were a reception desk and chairs from the old business. With Sam covering his six, Vinnie pushed open the next door into the office area. They could both hear muffled sounds coming from the other end of the cubicles. It wasn't a big office so they split up and moved down either side of the six people-boxes. The sounds became cries and sobbing that came with a man's grunting. Finding nothing in each cubicle they signaled each other to move around the back side. What they found sickened them and knew they had no choice. Two men were defiling a beautiful young woman and her hands and feet were tied. They each took one shot and obliterated the two wastes of flesh.

Sam cut the bands off of the girl and helped her up. Vinnie found some blankets to put around her. With Sam being a doctor, they decided he should stay with her till this was finished. He could help her physically, and definitely emotionally. Vinnie made sure Sam was good and then proceeded to the room with the side door. Just as he opened the door, another man came out of bathroom near the entrance. They hadn't thought about it since the noises had been heard. The guy noticed Vinnie and drew his gun, firing. Vinnie took two shots to the back in rapid succession. Sam turned around and immediately put two in the bad guy's chest. Vinnie stirred, got up, and groaned. His flak jacket and combat vest had taken the slugs. Painful, bruised, but he would continue on. They both responded quickly though, when they heard shouting from outside. There were still at least five more bastards running around. The fireworks were everyone's sign to complete the mission though, so from there the bullets started flying.

Sam helped the lady into one of the cubicles to hide while he watched over her. Vinnie met Bert and Rosa in the next room and prepared to move outside. The two sides of the pincer movement opened fire on those vermin running towards the offices and cattle pens. What they hadn't thought of was what the noise would bring. They could see several munchers loping along from behind the vermin. Being distracted by their attackers, they never stood a chance. Being well trained, the now veteran military personnel had taken four of them down before the first zombie hit. Seven zombies on three shitheads was no contest. On the ground and being chewed to chunks, they were out of the picture for good, and had a fitting ending.

All forces met up at the cattle pens to round up the hostages. They helped them get unlocked from their chains and escorted them outside. Vinnie went back inside and gathered the lady and Sam. Making a call to their vehicles, he helped them outside to the front of the store. Terry and Germ kept watch while they waited the couple minutes for the Humvee and big truck to arrive. While loading the people, one of the zombies broke away and headed toward them. Germ used his expert marksmanship to take it out while it was still fifty yards away. Sam helped the lady into the Humvee while she clung to him. Once everyone was loaded, they moved out.

When they got back to base, Sam took the woman to the closest restroom to help her clean up. Vinnie went to grab some clothes, medical supplies, food, and water for her. Bert went back to see if Sam needed help also. The lady told Sam her name was Penelope Faucet; she was twenty-eight, and she spoke with a little bit of a Creole accent. She was extremely weak, shivering, and torn up inside and out. These cruel men had not gone easy in any way. She had been beaten as well as raped in excess. It would be a long time before she was a complete person again. Sam was drawn to her and would be there for her every step of the way, for as long as she needed him. Karen Sharpe, who had a Masters in Psychology, offered to help her mend her state of mind when she was ready to talk. Penelope, as well as any of the others who had been abused, would have everything they might need when they were ready.

Penelope insisted Sam stay with her and help her bathe since she was too weak to do it herself. She didn't want a woman to help. Only Sam. She had attached herself to him as much as he was drawn to her. Sam spent the rest of the night taking care of Penelope and watched over her as she slept; he in a chair.

Bert helped get the new members situated for the night. Introductions would go around in the morning. Food and drink were produced for all and good conversation was had. Afterwards, Bert announced that he wanted to relax. It had been a really hard day for him and Rosalita between the physical work and then the mental exhaustion of the zombie attack.

Chapter 31

The order of the day for the Coast Guard was looking for more survivors, working on the several boats needing help, and bringing needed items to the massive amount of children on the Lexington. Most of the kids left at the station wanted to go to be with the rest of the children awaiting them aboard the museum. This was going to be a logistical nightmare if they used boats. The trucks could carry more, and children wouldn't be getting sick all over the planking.

Command Chief Keith Grace would go up the opposite side of the Corpus Christi coast with half of the boats available. They would move slowly and use their bullhorn to try and help others. Commander Brink tried to make sure that Grace knew that people and safety of American lives came before any sense of loyalty he still had to military traditions and law. This was to be all about helping the helpless. The other half of the boats would run north toward Galveston, past the Lexington. Once everyone was loaded up with food, water, and ammunition they were off.

Brink and his crew spent a couple hours helping the others get three of the big trucks loaded. They were grabbing whatever they could for those at the ship. Games, systems, computers, blankets, every extra mattresses and bedding, and all the children were loaded up. About thirty of the children, and those with base families, stayed behind because they had taken a liking to the military way of life and enjoyed being around the adults and helping. When ready, they moved the trucks up to the gate out that faced the road northwest along the water. This road would take them towards the bridge to the east and on to the ship. Brink and his men went back to their Cutter and came up near them offshore. They would be protection along with a couple Humvees full of Marines. Their job was escort duty for the day.

The convoy moved out with the Humvees on either end and proceeded past the burned out gas station Tim had been rescued from. Along the way, munchers could be seen here and there in various stages of unwell zombie-tude. They faced no real threats until they were almost to the major bridge crossing towards the Lexington. Someone had strung a line of munchers across the road. They were all chained and handcuffed to one long cable. The line of vehicles stopped back two blocks from the line. The Marine in charge of the move jumped on the horn with Captain Brink. The Captain had one of his fast boats reconnoiter around the area as much as possible. They ran up the sea side and under the bridge, but they found nothing. As soon as they got around to the land side of the bridge, they were fired upon. Multiple guns opened up on, them but only a few rounds found their mark. One of the men took a hit across his left shoulder. Luckily it was only a graze, but it definitely pissed him off. He jumped on the .50 Cal and peppered the shore. They couldn't tell where the fire was coming from specifically, but they did see a couple men run away from behind a cargo container on the dock. By then they'd figured out they picked the wrong fight with the wrong group.

They moved farther out and away from the line of fire while they looked at the ensign's shoulder. Making contact with the group, Brink sent a couple larger boats to join them. Only the medium size ones could traverse the area under the bridge and the inlet with ease, so they now had a total of three with even bigger guns available. The Marines got a group of six together to work their way that direction also. The Army had their own group that would work their way around the sea side just in case there were more unfriendlies that the Coast Guard couldn't see. The many left behind for security had the children duck down in the back of the trucks. They would be safer down below the steel line of the truck bed in case bullets started flying. All the protectors then set up a perimeter around them while the M-2s were manned on each Humvee.

The Army personnel didn't encounter any opposition along the waterfront, so they started moving up along the shore, under the bridge toward the container area while the boats kept constant watch. The Marines took a wider path around and through the fencing on the back side of the massive storage area. Once they were through and came around the edge of the first building, they knew they would need assistance. There was too much area with too many places to hide in ambush for their little force to try to clear. Even with the addition of the army men. Backup was required.

Captain Brink called up his army counterparts at the base for the help needed. About fifteen minutes later a fully armed Cobra attack helicopter came flying over the area. With ground direction and constant communication Major Jackson Scully circled the shipyard for targets. He started taking fire that would come nowhere near hitting him and got ready for the retaliatory strike. While he had distracted the bad guys, the Marines and Army personnel had both moved up as close to the combat zone as they were able without drawing attention themselves.

Scully listened as everyone took up their positions. He took note of at least twenty hostiles amongst the various containers. When the force was ready, he laid into them with rockets and machine gun fire. Within just about a minute, almost all of the hostiles were in pieces or severely injured. A couple just threw their guns down and dropped to the ground from the sheer terror dropping in on them. Two more had run away down the shoreline even farther and disappeared again. Keeping overwatch from there, Scully just slowly circled the area while the small force came in and mopped up. The few that were still alive took bullets to the head while the two that had surrendered were zip tied and kept to the side. The entire area was then swept for any more hostiles. Once done, they marched the two guys back to the convoy.

When everyone was back together, they discussed the chain of munchers and how to move them. Figuring it was easier while they were still alive to move, they hooked up one end of the steel cable to a Humvee. Slowly moving it to the side in an arc, they were able to get the whole line along the side of the road. Once done and still held in place by the truck, a single bullet was put into each of the lopers brainpans. The cable was unhooked from the Humvee and it took its position back at the head of the convoy. Once everyone was ready and the new prisoners were secure, they moved out.

It only took another five to ten minutes to get over to the ship with no more problems along the way. With lookouts staged along the street, the children unloaded and ran up the ramp to the gigantic museum ship. With everyone safely aboard, Major Scully signed off and went back to base. The Coasties moved on along the coast to look for survivors and anything useful while Captain Brink stayed behind with his Cutter to patrol the area as their own kind of watchdog. A few of the Army and Marine personnel took supplies up the ramp and helped get everyone settled. There was a four wheeler at the top of the ramp with a thirty person carriage attached. This used to be for taking people up and down the ramp to the museum as a courtesy shuttle. It was not deemed a cargo carrier for all the items that they had brought over. This made things a helluva lot easier for them. Once done, there was still a few hours of daylight left.

Captain Brink happened to notice something from the bay. The Aquarium was only a block away. Thinking the children might enjoy the short jaunt for a day, he radioed the Marines. They agreed that it might be a good outing for the kids, they put together a small team and started off toward the fishery. It only took a couple minutes to arrive at the front door but it was locked up with no visible entry from the front. The doors were made to open from the inside only. Leaving two at the door, the rest broke up into two even smaller groups to skirt either edge for another way in.

The both found a set of doors, one on the right and the other at the back docks. The right side door seemed to be for the worker entry and required a little physical finesse to open. The back docks were locked up tight too, but again, it wasn't really an issue to get in. Both groups were able to pick the locks without damaging them too much. Once inside, they moved with a purpose throughout the entire Aquarium remaining completely aware of their surroundings, just in case. The employee door group moved around the front of the giant building and then circled their way back around towards the back. The dock group came up through the warehouse and intake area, finding themselves inside a very large room full of tanks. These tanks held everything from a large number of very small and exotic fish to some bigger man-eating sharks. They knew that there was another, farther in which held a whale, but that would be later.

For now, they had to calm the five people that they had just scared the living shit out of when they came in fully strapped for warfare. The poor people stood frozen in horror at various stages of feeding and caring for the sea creatures. It took a couple minutes to ensure they were safe from harm. Just as the smiles returned to their faces at their good fortune, the other group of men burst in from the front side of the room. A little mouse of a man actually fainted at being so completely scared out of his gourd so quickly. The poor guy wasn't prepared for this new world. It didn't take him long to come back though, and introductions were given by all. The Marines explained what they were doing and their plans for the place at the same time. The workers were so happy to have been found by caring individuals and could not wait to entertain the ship full of children.

The majority of the Marines used the little daylight left to head back to the ship and retrieve any needed supplies the Aquarium workers might need. This included things to do. They had been somewhat bored the last couple days with nothing to do but rewatch the same videos that were there and take care of the animals. They had plenty of provisions for sustenance since there was a snack bar, but they were definitely glad to see other people. When the Marines returned, some of the children came with them and brought sleeping arrangements for themselves and some for the employees also. Four of the Marines decided to stay the night along with the children to help out. Excursions to the Aquarium could begin the next day and rotate for however long needed. There were a lot of children of all ages, and the adults wanted to visit as well.

Once they were all settled for the evening, everyone not staying on the ship or at the Aquarium jumped back into the vehicles. They wanted to get back fairly quickly, as there was less than an hour of sunlight left. On the other side of the bridge again, they made a fast stop at the Scooby-Doo Pizza Parlor to grab as much as possible in as little time as needed. With everyone working together, they made quick work of the place and were loaded a little after the sun went down. Just as they were moving out, a group of five munchers came running at them from around the corner and right in their way. The M-2 opened up and they were mowed down and out.

Proceeding on, they were glad to be going in for the night. Two blocks away, a much larger group of zombies could be seen. They were now heading their way because of the noise. The trucks couldn't move very fast, but the lopers were no match anyway. The Army men pulling up the rear decided that it would not be good to leave that large of a group running around. Since they were now pretty close to the last of them in line, they opened up with their own M-2 to thin them out. By the time the herd had gone too far to waste more ammunition on, there were only a few still running after them. A couple even took off the other way after seeing so many of their comrades mowed down. It seemed there was still the instinct to survive in their fevered minds.

Chapter 32

Before the night was over, more tragedy and happiness was to abound. While Captain Grace was out, he found a few of their lost crews and boats. Down near South Padre Island, two burned out husks were partially under water. They had been blown up and the crews gone. With caution, his small armada gathered and prepared for battle. The type of fire power required to do something like that with the amount of speed to get more than one boat down was astounding. And he made sure they were ready for what was coming.

While setting up a half moon formation around the wrecks, each of the many guns manned and ready, a rocket went flying by his stern. He didn't need to say anything to anyone. His men and the other boats all focused on the tasks at hand and retaliated in kind. They had seen too much action against pirates and drug runners to be caught unaware when they had time to prepare. They ripped up the shoreline where the first rocket had been fired and raked it up and down. A second rocket came flying toward them and one of the mini-guns blew it out of the sky before it reached them. They could see now that their attackers were nothing more than common cartel scum. They thought they could take advantage of the worldwide tragedy to rape and pillage Corpus Christi. Grace intended on making it the last thought to cross through their minds forever, well, minus the thought of "Fuck! I'm dead!"

Every boat knew how to take care of business and it didn't take long before the fight was over. Three smoldering hulks of former vehicles were lying between the beach and roadside. Multiple bodies of former "badasses" lay strewn everywhere around them. Cautiously, two of the fast boats moved toward shore to ensure they were done and pick through for anything useful. As they landed, a shot went zipping by them. They kept low and moved quickly to the nearest burned out hulk of a truck for cover. A second shot went zinging by. Pinpointing where it was coming from, both fast boats ripped up the would-be sniper. The stupid man danced like a marionette and went down forever.

The men moved farther inland with their boats at their back. They moved through the building the sniper had been stationed in at a snail's pace. They found a couple scared and tied up teenage girls on the second floor. After freeing them, they helped them back to the fast boats. Worried there would be more, they scoured the surrounding buildings and found a several more girls in their late teens and early twenties. They even found a few men that immediately surrendered with their guns already on the ground. Supposedly, they had not wanted to be involved but were forced into servitude to survive. Taking their weapons, they led them all back to the boats and got ready to move out. Before they could leave, a small group of survivors came down to the shoreline. They had been barely surviving and had seen the many Coast Guard boats floating nearby. A few other boats came to the beach to pick them up while the first two moved farther out to sea.

The boats carrying the new people proceeded back to base to care for them. The rest of the boats had more shoreline to cover so they kept going. They made it all the way down to Brownsville and picked up many more survivors and a few more personal boats along the way. Some were fishing boats, some were sail boats with motors, a big party boat used for fishing expeditions, and they even added a fifty foot yacht with only a captain and single crew member. Not having anywhere to go, they had stayed on the boat for safety. The yacht had been waiting just offshore for the last few days for its owner but they never showed up. It was now theirs by default. To help out the Coasties, the yacht took on all the civilians with plenty of room left over. The yacht then pulled away from the dock and far enough out to avoid any potential gunfire that might come from shore.

They all moved back up the shoreline towards base again. The civilians were becoming more at ease with their newfound friends and better chances to stay alive. Everyone took advantage of the libations there were stored aboard and were feeling quite well by the time they reached the Coast Guard Station. Still able to walk, they unloaded after arrival and were introduced to all the rest of the wonderful men and women serving the great multitude. Jackie sent over a couple trucks so they could be brought to the Naval Air Station to bivouac.

Everyone not at the U.S.S. Lexington, at the Timmons's, or pulling guard duty got together in the mess tent of the Air Station. Bert, Rosalita, Vinnie and the others were introduced to the newest family members and the "prisoners". The whole story and their intentions for the future were relayed to all at this time. Once everything was laid out, they were all given the opportunity to decide if they wanted to partake in these long-range plans or head out on their own with some supplies. Even the prisoners were asked. Every last one of them chose to be part of the group and wanted to do everything they could to ensure every person's future be free of the zombie menace. The "prisoners" would be watched for a while, but Bert felt that they would be very useful for their future endeavors.

Those that volunteered for kitchen duty had produced pizza after pizza till they ran out of dough. They brought them in as they were produced for them all to chow down on. Once done with dinner, Bert got with his cabinet of experts to see how things were progressing around Corpus. He had a quick conversation with Jeffrey over at the Timmons' just to touch base again. The fencing on the ocean side was going well, but it would take at least another day to finish. They had plenty of help, but too many hands in one area was becoming a hindrance. Only so much could get done at a time.

Tonia had posted two more gun crews near the edge just in case they got overrun. She had also doubled up roving patrols of walking individuals to watch over the gigantic fence line to ensure no breaches were made. They had a lot of people to protect and they would all be needed eventually, if society was to be rebuilt. Except for a few pop up zombies, a five mile radius around the bases was pretty clear. Vinnie and the many others that go out were going to extend this area as time went on. When all the information was dispersed to Bert, from the Lexington to the Aquarium to the Timmons', he stood up with a flourish and thanked everyone for the hard work. He knew that even the happiest workers liked to be appreciated and definitely wanted to keep people as happy as he could in this impromptu Armageddon.

After a gigantic stretch, as if he were running for President, in a loud booming voice he announced: "I need to kill something fake for once. I must get my game on. Anyone else?" Getting up from a good dinner, he grabbed a nice fat glass of Captain Morgan and coke, and moved to the common room where all the computers had been set up.

"Which one are you going for? We haven't seen you play anything since we met. Too much going on for El Presidente?" Vincent was kidding him but it was an appropriate joke.

"Gimme some Call of Duty. I wanna do some sniping." Logging in, Vinnie saw his gamer tag and nearly had a heart attack.

"Dude! You're ImaGhandiKillU? We've been wondering if you were even alive, much less working together with us. I can't believe this shit. We've been playing together for over a year now, man. Well, mostly against each other, but we did kick a lot of ass together too. I'm KillUShortly, Germ is GhostYu, Terry is ChekYurSix, Papa is RoccoUrWrld, and Jim Lee is RedNekSpecOp. Shit, this is cool. We gonna have us some fun tonight. Boys! Load up! Maybe we can get some more suckers to play." For the first time this week, Warrant Officer Vincent DuPree was excited for a long evening.

They were able to grab a couple more adults that wanted in on the action, but they didn't last much longer into the evening. Much drink was flowing throughout the night and before they knew it, the morning sun was starting to peek around. It was bringing with it more rain and an even colder than expected day.

Vinnie said, "Maybe we could all use a day off." Those that were waking up and heading for the kitchen and bathrooms saw them still at it. They weren't giving up any time soon, either. With all the stress lately, no one had anything against their "ME" day.

Chapter 33

Friday, October 25th

"Dad! Oh my God! You won't believe it." Aaron exclaimed into the cell phone, way too early in the morning.

"Whoa, boy. Slow down. I need coffee first. Do you realize its 6 am? Why couldn't you and your brother ever sleep in? Weird kids. It must be from your mother's side." Michael was slowly getting up and whipping the sleep from his eyes.

"Seriously. You're going to love this. We were gaming all night."

"Wow. Who couldn't see that coming? You, Wayne, Kylar, and Jose all in a store built for just that all night. Give me a minute to wake up. Sheesh. Too damn much energy this early in the morning." He began staggering towards the makeshift kitchen for some java juice.

"You will absolutely love this, dad. We got hold of some gamer friends down in Corpus. They have a huge group down there already. Military and veterans, all kinds of folks! They've even got a ranch of cattle and horses and are trying to fence it in. They have a gazillion kids, too...Dad, some of them are living onboard the Lexington! And I haven't even gotten to the best part yet." Aaron could hardly stop long enough to breathe.

"That's great son. But how does that help us right now?"

Aaron was so excited to tell him the rest. "They've got Seals!"

Michael was a little confused by this. "O....Kay. They found the Aquarium?"

"No Dad! But, yeah, they found the Aquarium, too. Another story for later. They've got terror fighting, underwater demon spawn, uphold the American dream, real-life Navy Seals! And Marines, and Army guys, and even U.S. Coast Guardies. They are ready for zombie war already."

"Holy shit! Sorry son–but Holy Shit! What the hell? Do you have any contact information besides on the game?"

"Yeah! I got everything! I was talking to the head people down there. The guy in charge is a surgeon and the Seals are his right hands. This is gonna be awesome. I told them you would call them first thing. I was thinking that maybe you could take the helicopter down there and maybe we could work together."

"That's a great idea if Gerry is up for it. He is the only pilot we got. Text me all the information and I'll get right on that as soon as I get some coffee in me. Damn fine work son. Maybe I can get Davis and Steve to go with me. I'll give you a call back and let you know for sure what we decided. Thank you, Aaron." As soon as he hung up, he saw Steve and Davis sitting down for breakfast.

"Guys. You won't believe what Aaron hooked us up with." As soon as he started up, everyone anywhere nearby came over to listen in.

Bert hadn't been quite prepared for learning about the Lake Jackson group. Playing last night was a much needed change of pace and he found out about several groups scattered around the country just from that. The closest was Aaron and the others. He waited till everyone else was up and had a quick powwow with them. His intention was to get with Michael and the others today and see how they could all help each other out. He had everyone hang out for a while instead of running on their appointed scouting rounds. He waited for Aaron's dad, Michael, to call so everyone knew how the day would play out. Just as he was finishing up, Michael called and introduced himself.

"Good morning and welcome to the Apocalypse." Bert greeted him with cheer in his voice.

"Good to see someone else still has a sense of humor! Good morning to you, too. I am sure impressed with what my son said about you so far. Do you really have Navy Seals?"

"Yes sir, I do. Five of them, along with a couple thousand active Navy and Marines, a few hundred Army, and I don't know how many Coasties. Oh. And a lot of pilots with nothing to do. Is there anything y'all might need from us right now?"

"Well sir. We could always use more ammunition. I think our biggest problem is manpower for now. We need to set up fencing for some animals and create a garden somehow. We haven't figured all that out yet. Oh, I almost forgot that there is a local prison farm that is in our group also. Some local ranchers had some problems with unwelcome feverheads trying to munch their cattle."

"Hold on. Feverheads? I like that. Sorry, go on." Bert thought that was a good term.

"The warden and some of his charges were still there and we are now one much bigger group. Nothing on your scale though. We are currently residing in a Super Wal-Mart and have taken over a Hastings store that was abandoned. That's where my sons were last night while playing with y'all. We have plenty of medicine from local stores and food supplies from all the eateries. Is there anything we might be able to help you with?" Michael was ready with pen and paper.

"Ammunition is plentiful right now. I hadn't thought about it yet but I need to get some guys on making more for the future. I can get you manpower also. Got plenty of it. We've got the same issue here with the cattle thing. We have a family that was stumbled upon that needed help for the same reasons. A lot of children and some families went to stay there and help put up fencing. We have to breed the horses and cattle for the coming months and years. I can send a couple Humvees and a few troop carriers full of guys your way."

"I think some help at the prison would be good. There's a lot of open field to protect with all those cattle." Michael was praying for whatever he could get.

"That's a good idea. I and a few others will fly down earlier than that though. Right now, I don't know of anything we need. We are working on the same things as far as food and farming ideas. We even have a fencing problem here at the station we are working on. I'll tell you about that later. Let me get working on the troops. I'll call you when we leave. Great to have more good people running around, though." Bert was getting more excited at the prospect of branching out so quickly.

"Alright. Can't wait to meet up and we'll get you somewhere cleared to land here at Wally's. Saves us from having to take our one helicopter down your way. Thank you in advance for the help. Talk to you later." Michael hung up and informed them all of the current plans.

Chapter 34

Bert got everyone immediately moving from the time he got off the phone. Consulting with Vinnie, they came up with a list of representatives to meet the Lake Jackson contingent. He wanted to ask each of them first. This wasn't a dictatorship and some of them may not want to go. Vinnie used the intercom to get everyone assembled in within thirty minutes. Bert called over to the Army Depot and Coast Guard station at the same time.

When everyone was there that could be, information was disseminated about the new plans. Captain Brink, Terry, Rosalita, Colonel Garber, Vinnie, the rest of his Seals, and a great many Marine, Army, and Navy people volunteered to visit and/or move to the Lake Jackson group. The Coast Guard boats would continue to move up and down the coast in hopes of finding more survivors and keep in contact with the Galveston Coasties. They had more volunteers than needed but some would come back over time. He set up a round of scouting shifts to occur over the next several days and people could rotate in and out of them. Vinnie made sure that the guys at the lumber stores were changed out also until each store was picked as clean as could be. They also decided that the children would be left out of the option to move for now. That way everyone could get more settled first, used to their new life, and Michael's crew was still trying to make a home.

After everyone had a nice breakfast, they proceeded to get things ready. Vinnie and his crew helped gather guns and ammunition for themselves and extra for the other group. He picked the best qualified of all the men and women that volunteered to go. They were limited on space so he had to be choosy. Those with actual combat experience were chosen first. Then he picked those that could help out the other group the most. Anyone with background in engineering aspects, fencing ability not needed currently, and then any enthusiastic helper he could get loaded into the trucks went about getting all their stuff together. They were like kids going on a campout and extremely excited to be meeting and helping more new people.

After a little deliberation, Vinnie thought it might be best to take some extra armed helicopters as an escort for the long trip. They put together a convoy of two Humvees and three Deuce and a Half trucks full of volunteers. Vinnie, acting as the Secretary of Defense, decided it was best if his top brass went in one of the troop carrier helicopters and flew higher than the escorts. There was much less chance of being shot out of the sky than being attacked on the ground. For this, they were taking a Boeing CH-47 Chinook to be escorted by two Bell AH-1 Cobra attack choppers. Everyone hoped it would be an easy trip, but no one actually expected it. Zombies were still multiplying and they were out looking for some munchies. Once they were loaded and the helicopters were warmed up, they were off.

"All right, my ragamuffins. We've got to get a landing pad cleared for some incoming dignitaries." Michael exclaimed with excitement.

After some small deliberation, the front parking lot was deemed best for the helicopters to land. This would require a harvesting of any lurchers that might be anywhere around and then a constant surveillance thereafter. An area for the animals had to be set up also, and that meant today. Not later. Now. The stench from trying to keep them all inside was starting to run clear across the Wally's. That would require another small group of constant security. Animals don't really know that they have to be quiet all the time, no sense of self-preservation even during the fall of society. Just a cluck, cluck here, and a bark, bark there and so on. The plan was to try to get at least a little fencing up around the back area of the store for the animals. They had plenty of animal feed for now, but it would be nice to preserve as much as possible and get the grass eaters outside soon. Hopefully with the help coming they could at least get a big enough partition to throw them all out starting tonight. Always be optimistic.

Michael called over to his sons to get some help on the fencing front. They were closest to a store that had supplies and they had trucks. William, Steve, Davis and a few others picked up several guns and plenty of ammo to try and take the front of Wally's back from the brainfried. A few of the others would go out the back and try to position the rig and other vehicles to make a sort of fenced in area to start with. It would be much easier to bring in the fencing supplies and start if the munchers could be kept off of them while working.

"Hey, Wayne. What's your brother up to? Oh. Duh. That was a stupid question. Of course y'all are playing games. Well, your fun time is up. Time to work. I need all of you to get us all the fencing supplies you can. Probably over and over on the trips. We have to get a stable pen up that can keep the animals in and the inhumanity out at the same time."

"I think we can get what we want but we'll have to get a list after the first trip." Wayne looked over to the others and listened for a second. "We might be good dad. The guys think they know."

"Okay, if you are in doubt of what we need, just call me. All right. Get moving as soon as you can. And let the others know that we will have visitors in a few hours. Yep. We got some military types coming our way from Corpus Christi. A few helicopters and vehicles. We're getting some help. Yep again. We could use it to set up our new home. Okay. Go. Do good." Michael hung up and went to help out back.

The guys lined up inside the gated area of the garden center ready for action. They could see several munchers just outside so they went ahead and took them out posthaste. This drew a few more their way, so someone else unlocked the gate for them. There were six of them and they just moved out determinedly and took single shots like pros at each of the infected. Every once in a while it would take a second shot to put one down for good, but most were very obliging and stayed on the ground. They moved out in groups of two once the initial beasts were out of the way. Steve and Davis moved off to the left toward the other two entrances since they had the most to take down. Two moved straight out into the parking lot and the other two would cover the rest of the right side of the store and around the corner towards the back.

Thank God for extra magazines, because there had to be about three dozen just in front of the entrances. The noise coming from inside the store the last couple days had kept the old ones and drawn more zombies to them. This required more than just a couple handguns. They both brought up their AR-15s and began popping off rounds as quick as possible. It took a good ten minutes to get through them all. Many just stayed in front of each door and waited to be sent to the great beyond, almost as if asking for it. All their instincts were bent on trying to get to the food. They never even saw their executors coming. It was still a swarm at each door that came after them but it actually went easier than they thought it would. They just took turns shooting as one of them would reload. Once they were done with the second entrance, they moved around the right corner of the store cautiously. That didn't take them long either and they met up with those trying to move the vehicles around. From there, they just acted as security. The second pair stayed outside the front of the store to keep watch for any new feverheads. The hope was that it would be an easier time to keep the parking lot clear for the helicopters. They would rotate the guards every hour so no one had to stand outside too long. The third were already securing their side of the truck movers.

It took some time to maneuver the rig in place and then the rest was easy, only a few more zombies came lurking around. They finished setting up as wide a perimeter as possible with the vehicles, left two more people outside the back door as a guard, and went back inside. With both the back and front of the store secure, they talked out the rest of the day. Michael and the others decided most needed to stay to relieve each other on guard duty and to set up the fencing but they still needed to go out for supplies. Food at most of these places would only be good for so long, especially once the electricity went out. The best idea was for Steve and Davis to go out as they were the best shooters and would work well together. Once they were reloaded, they were off.

Chapter 35

Jose, Kylar, Aaron, and Wayne all loaded into the two pickups and headed over to the Field Supply Store since it was closest. They pulled up to the front and backed to the door. No opposition was anywhere in sight and they all blew a sigh of relief from that. Still being cautious, Aaron and Wayne stayed outside while Jose and Kylar moved in slowly with guns drawn. They knew the infected teenagers were still in the back but they didn't know if they were up and moving or not. Nobody was up front again, so they moved on to the back doors. The two teenagers had moved but not very far. They had tried to leave, but their sickness took their lives within just a few feet from where they were found before.

With the store being completely clear, they started grabbing anything and everything they could load. Between the four of them, it only took about forty-five minutes for their first load. They moved out and got to Wally's within eight more. Warren moved aside a truck so they could bring the stuff in and unload. Once that was done, they were off again to clean out the Field Store. It took another three trips and the rest of the group were able to get up a quarter of the fencing while the back and forth was going on. They would top it all off with barb wire when done but getting it up was extremely important.

When they were done with that store, they moved on to the Home and Lumber Outlet. This store was huge so it would be harder to cover. Because of this, they added two more helpers to go along. As they came up to the storefront, once again there was no seen lurkers around. With two entrances, they split the vehicles up and had three shooters on each as they went inside. Aaron, Wayne and Alberto went through the outside gate to the plant section. It was a pretty open section so they were able to deem it clear and moved toward the inside doors.

Jose, Danny, and Kylar went in through the right most entrance and found themselves face to face with a couple of the workers–not exactly the most friendly of workers, though. And they were completely out of uniform, what with the blood dripping down from their faces and all. Two workers took six bullets to the face and chest rather quickly. Brought on by the noise, a few more came running from different isles towards them. These looked as though they had been customers when it all fell apart. Kylar stepped up and put double shots into each of them. After checking his ammo status, they started up and down each aisle. They met up with the others almost in the middle of the store near the lawnmowers. Dubbing the store now clear, they moved towards the back right of the store, which led to the lumber yard.

Splitting up, they moved off in three groups of two to cover the entire area quickly. It was midday and they needed a bunch more fencing equipment just to be secure for the night. It didn't take long to clear the yard and the gates were still locked up nice and tight. Aaron and Kylar went back up front to grab the trucks while the rest started to gather up supplies. They spent the rest of the evening going back and forth, even after the special guests arrived. At least they got more help once they got there. The extra big trucks made things a lot easier for the last couple rides.

Steve and Davis had an even more exciting day than ever. For them anyway. They decided to try and head up to the local Stafford's Grocery store and grab what they could. Along the way they passed by a local high school and saw about a dozen zombies trying to get through the front doors. Curiosity got the better of them; they pulled into the parking lot and got out, ready for action.

Davis, can you think of any reason to leave these poor bastards alive?" Steve asked.

"What? You getting tired of shooting? I can take care of it if you're tired." Davis taunted him.

"Very funny. It's just that, these things ain't bothering us, right?"

"Look, man. They'll never stop. These very hotheads might come back to bite us in the ass later. Or quite possibly kill other survivors.

"You got that right, brother," Steve said.

They walked right towards them and put all of them on the ground permanently. After that was done, they could see the doors were barred from the inside with chairs and desks piled up in front of them.

"Is anyone inside? We can help." Davis kept trying till he heard a man's voice coming back.

"Hello? Are they gone?"

"Yes, they are all down. You can open up now."

Steve and Davis heard them breaking apart their barricade. When the doors opened they were faced with a tall, balding principal, a slightly plump, but good looking secretary, and twenty-five high school students.

"Thank god!" The secretary said. "We have been surviving on cafeteria food for almost a week!"

"Let us out of here now!" one of the juniors said. "I can't take being in school one more minute!"

"You're lucky you found us," said a freshman geek with glasses that kept slipping down his nose. "We almost died just from eating the 'the mystery meat' casserole."

Everyone had a good laugh and grabbed their backpacks, ready for school to finally be "out." They had more than a dozen vehicles between them all, so they loaded up. They were more than happy to help gather supplies, especially when they heard that pizza and games awaited them at the compound. They all proceeded on to the store for grocery shopping.

Once they were there, disappointment was paramount. The doors had been shattered and glass was everywhere. A couple handguns were handed out to the adults so they could watch over everyone while Steve and Davis worked their way inside. The place was a certifiable mess. The entire store had been torn up like a raging tornado through Oklahoma. Instead of trying to go through the mess and look for zombies, they just started yelling for them to come out. Waiting at the front of the store, they heard movement but hadn't seen anything so they yelled more. Slowly, one came around the frozen aisle, then another from the meat area, and then several more from the fresh produce side. One by one, they put them down as quickly as they got within shooting distance. After several minutes, they were done.

The group then came inside and they started picking through the gigantic mess for what was still useful. Amazingly, most of the frozen items were still safe.

"Guess zombies haven't figured out how to open doors yet," Davis said.

"Good thing, too," Steve answered, "or we would have had a mess like this all over town."

The meat was in open freezer containers, and zombies had tried to bite into frozen turkeys and hamburger patties. Several teeth had been broken off and left behind, and all that had been touched they didn't dare scavenge since no one was sure how the virus was being transmitted. Most of the fresh vegetables were useless and mangled so that was a big loss. It took a few hours to get everything salvageable loaded once they were able to differentiate what was still good, and they could pull the students away from the beer aisle. Some laws still need to be upheld. At least when out on the town and not safely back at Wal-Mart. They still had a few vehicles with space, so they headed over to the Wendy's.

It didn't take much for them to take everything Wendy had to offer since there were so many of them to help. While they were there one of the girls started hollering for them to come to her. She pointed and was screaming at something across the street. She had been looking around and spotted several people waving their arms from the roof of a building. When Steve looked over, he realized that they were looking at another elementary school; there were at least a couple dozen children and adults calling and waving to their group for help.

They had most of their crew return back to Wally's and a couple stayed behind to begin the rescue. Davis called back and let Michael know he had more people coming in. He also relayed his current situation so he knew they wouldn't be back for even longer. With that, they had five vehicles head over to the school. They saw no feverheads anywhere around so they weren't sure why the people were still on the roof. Just in case, they had their guns at the ready as they went in the front doors.

Once inside, they moved through the halls a quick pace. They could hear some commotion up ahead but were not able to pinpoint where it was coming from. As they rounded the first corner, they figured it out. Several little zombies were walking back and forth in a sort of rage from not finding any food. They knew dinner had fled to the roof, but the doors had been locked behind the escapees. They were just children. It was something Steve and Davis couldn't process too quickly.

"What the...children zombies. I am at a loss for words, dude." Steve said.

"Right?" Davis whispered to him. "I mean, in the back of your mind, you know it had to be possible, but, like, what do we do with them?"

Steve knew what had to be done. Tears formed in his eyes. He stepped around the corner and shot each child. Afterward, he just walked away to the closest bathroom without saying a word to anyone. He vomited, then the group could hear soft sobs. One of the girls wanted to go in and console him, but Davis held her back. He knew how this felt. He had seen and done things similar to this tragedy while on duty. He gave his buddy a moment alone, then went in to sit with Steve. Several minutes later, they came out. Steve's eyes were still red, as were Davis's but they were ready to move on. The last fifteen minutes would be with him forever, but he knew he had to keep living.

They checked through the rest of the school until it had been cleared of any other munchers. Once done, they found the rooftop entrance, ran up the stairs, and popped out of it. When Davis came out of the door, he saw another thirty children near the edge, scared out of their minds. They only had one adult with them, and she came up to say thank you. With everyone downstairs keeping watch, they got all the children back down from the roof and out to the cars.

With much of the room taken up by food, they had to shove things around to make space for the children. They moved things up to the roofs of every car and truck but didn't have anything to tie it all down with. They were going to have to drive real slow to keep from losing stuff, but they were able to pack everyone inside one vehicle or another. Five people in a front cab of a pickup was a new norm and they were slowly off. It took them another thirty minutes to get the three miles back to Wally's but they only lost a few items from each vehicle. Couldn't be helped, though. They made it back before their guests had arrived. Upon returning, the entire group was wholeheartedly happy to see more children. It was an unexpected pleasure to help raise them.

While waiting for their guests, Gerry had a thought about the helicopter. "I think we need to bring the whirly bird over here where we can watch it. I'm concerned someone might try to sabotage it or even try to take off with it. I have a bigger concern about the fuel but you can't really move that so I am at a loss about what to do there."

"Good call, Gerry. How about William and Warren run you over there and you can land it in the parking lot for safe keeping? I know the Field Supply store had some gasoline storage tanks for sale. We should run over there and grab a few of them to fill while at the fire department. At least we would have some saved up in case something happens to the fuel tank there." Michael went from there to inform William. He also thought that maybe they should grab another truck to carry more tanks. The more the merrier and the less back and forth in the future for fuel. He thought they may need the helicopter for some foreseen scouting. Even if it wasn't armed.

Chapter 36

Bert and the others took off just a few minutes after they knew the convoy was ready. The three helicopters headed out to Lake Jackson straight as the crow flies. They planned on being there way before the convoy, unless they had to double back for any reason. While on the way, they made contact with a few other Texas military bases and depots. Bert only spent a few minutes with each of them but got a good sit-rep and made their own plans known. It was good to hear that some others were succeeding in grouping together. He tried to let Captain Tonia Parnell do the majority of the talking amongst all of them since she'd stayed on base to maintain security and some semblance of normalcy for all those living there.

Flying over the water was a magnificent sight. It brought into focus how peaceful the world could be at times. Unfortunately, the reality of it was this was not a time of peace and wouldn't be for maybe years to come. During the times they were near or over land, the number of munchers they could see was staggering; so many more than they had estimated. During normal living, it's not possible to ever actually see how many people live in any given area. The way zombies moved freely everywhere brought the numbers more to life and scared the shit out of Bert. Port Lavaca was overrun throughout the city so he called down to the convoy to warn them. It was at that time, he decided they needed an escort of their own. After the warning and informing, he had Tonia roll out two Apaches to cover the vehicles.

The trip only took an hour, which surprised everyone but Vinnie and Terry. The rest had never taken a helicopter ride, or it had been years since the last time. When they saw the Wal-Mart looming ahead, Bert called Michael to find out where to land. Within three minutes, several people came out the front of the store and secured the majority of the parking lot. Bert's came down first and the noise brought way too many hungry looky-loos of the munching variety.

"Sir, we can chew them up within seconds if you want." Cobra 1's pilot, Captain Thomas 'Tommy Gun' Blain, was ready to rock.

"Hold that thought. We might tear up the concrete with your ordinance, not to mention damage to your landing area. Let Vinnie and Terry work them over first."

"You got it, Major," Tommy Gun radioed back.

"Keep overwatch in case too many more show up. Good looking out though Tommy."

Bert grabbed a gun and turned to Vinnie. "Got some uninvited guests arriving. We need to tell them that they aren't on the guest list and need to leave. Permanently."

With that, the four of them with Rosalita, turned toward the zombies and proceeded to take them all down. A few of the Wally's crew lined up with them and five minutes later, they had no more problems. Just as the Cobras were landing, Gerry radioed that he was coming in too. William and Warren had decided to move on to a smaller hardware store to pick up whatever tools and equipment they could muster up. Gerry pulled the helicopter up to the front of the right most door and wound down the rotors and engine. The pilots and some of the guys stayed outside to keep any munchers from moving amongst the choppers and becoming a problem later. Once everyone was back inside they sat down for a cup of coffee and some great discussion about the future.

Germ, Papa, and Jim Lee led the convoy down the way out of Corpus and through the smaller towns. Aransas Pass took some firepower to get through, but it wasn't challenging enough to involve the flyboys. Rockport was the same, and on into Tivoli. Small towns had fewer people, and it looked like the feverheads hadn't quite taken over them yet. Hopefully people could take their cities back and hold on until the crisis passed, if it did. Texas was full of guns and ammo. The world might have fallen, but this great state might turn out to be the last bastion of true freedom. Right now, they felt bad that they couldn't help everyone they passed, but in truth, they hadn't even seen a non-infected soul so far. Hopefully any still living in the areas were well hidden and protecting their own.

That changed near Port Lavaca. As they came up to the outskirts of the city, the roadway was barricaded off and some police vehicles were parked near each edge. Germ was in the lead Humvee and approached the cars slowly with guns at the ready. This wasn't last week when it was certain the police were on the side of freedom and were with you just because you were military. This was a new world. The "police" may not be actual police, and it was better to be prepared. A few "officers" came out of hiding while a few more kept watch the other direction towards the town. Germ had the truck stop a good fifty feet away.

"Howdy. How are things going? Is there a reason the road is blocked off?"

"Yeah. The town is pretty packed with those things and we can't take it back. We have a bunch of civilians safely holed up in the nearby homes, and we're still trying to do our jobs. We don't even know what the hell is going on with the rest of the world. I'm Deputy Shane Carlson. The Sheriff is gone. Bought it helping a family that made it only because of him. Are you real military? We are actually real cops, for whatever that may mean nowadays." Deputy Carlson, a man in his forties, seemed to be in charge. Two of them looked like they were in their thirties and the youngest couldn't be more than twenty-five years old.

"Yes sir. I'm Navy Seal. Jeremy 'Germ' Turnball. I have two more Seals with me and a wide mixture of military personnel. We are on our way to meet up with a large group in Lake Jackson. Can we help you out while we're here? Those two helicopters above us are with us waiting for some action." Just as he said that, the helos did a low run past them towards the city.

They talked back and forth more and got to know each other a little better. Germ had the gunships take some runs through town while they were gabbing. A few Zs came toward them here and there while they yapped and were dispatched swiftly. Some of the locals came out to say "Hi." Papa called over to Bert and let him in on their delay.

"That's wonderful," Bert radioed back. "Take your time helping where you can, but get back to us ASAP."

The Apaches went ahead and tried to clear out the big groups gathering in the roadway. They used minigun rounds to take out any on the road and a few rockets for the side areas. No need to break up the concrete with the heavy rounds unless absolutely necessary. They chewed up a good amount of the crazies so the townies would have a much easier time trying to clean up their city. They were down to half of their ammunition when they called it quits and hovered back over the roadblock. Port Lavaca had been completely overrun with the current form of zombie-ism and they left a great many of them lying around to run towards the white light. Major Pete "Dragon Rider" Hammond called back down to the group and told them most of the way was clear.

The officers said they had plenty of ammunition and if they could make it back to the station, they would be even better off. The convoy realized the best way they could help now was as an escort for one of the cop cars to the station. They could kill anything on the way so they would be better equipped and maybe set up shop for the duration. Deputy Carlson and one of the thirty year olds got in a car and fell in line. The other two moved a barrier out of the way and they were off.

The .50 caliber M-2 had to open up a few times along the way. A couple miles later they had to stop to take care of another group that had gathered to feast on some of the corpses the Apaches had left behind. Right in the middle of the street was kind of a problem if you wanted to keep driving. Once they were mopped up, the convoy ran right over the remains, although the cop car struggled to go around the bigger chunks of man meat. It took a few more miles and they were at the station. Some of the operators jumped out and set up a perimeter.

Unsure of what they might find, the Seals went in first and started to clear the police station. Right after they were past the intake area, they ran into three police zombies and two civilians. A sixth person was handcuffed to the bench chewing up another detainee. Quick work was made of them all with double taps and they moved through the rooms. There were two wings to the station yet to clear. The right area had access to the armory and the jail cells. No one was in the jails so they moved on to the left area. Raiding the armory was gonna have to wait just a little longer. There was a kitchen and a few sleeping/rest areas set up here. The door back was locked up tight.

"Knock. Knock. Anyone home?" Germ thought he was being funny, but no one laughed.

"Oh shit. Thank God. Oh holy hell, I hope you are good guys." A very shaky woman's voice said through the door.

"Navy Seals, ma'am. And a few other branches. You're safe." Germ was suddenly more serious.

The door opened and they could see over a dozen people huddled near one another in fear. The lead woman had a local uniform on and another lady officer was trying to stop the bleeding on one of the civilians. It only took a few seconds to calm down the survivors while one of the Navy corpsmen took a look at the bleeding girl on the ground. The man stopped the flow of blood from the young lady's leg and got back up. He moved over to Germ and informed him of her condition.

"Sir, we probably have a very big problem. That poor girl's leg wound looks like she was scratched by a zombie. We've had intel that a scratch does not always cause victims to turn. No one knows an exact time frame when it comes to the infection, but of course we'll have to quarantine her for now. God damn, I want to put a bullet in whoever did this's head."

Germ thought for a second. "All right. We'll keep a good couple sets of eyes on her then, once her wounds are treated, consider putting her in a cell for everyone's safety. Is there anything else we can do now?"

"No sir. She's good to go. No arteries hit. They were just some really deep scratches that they didn't have a way to take care of. I can make up a crutch if she needs it but we can move out as soon as you're ready."

"Good. All right people! Help the officers however they need it! Ladies and Gentlemen! If you want to stay, that's fine by us. If any of you want to come with us, you're welcome to. We are based out of Corpus but are currently on the way to Lake Jackson to meet up with another group of survivors. Whatever you would like to do is all good with us. Deputy. How can we help you for now?"

The officers gathered up weapons and ammunition to take back to the checkpoint. Now that the station was clear of zombies, they went about setting it up as their operations center. Most of the survivors were planning on staying in their home town but a few wanted to explore what was left of the world. They had had enough of Port Lavaca. This included the injured girl. She wanted to stay with corpsman and get away from the city also. She had lost everyone she loved to this massive massacre. Isabella wanted to move on. Once everyone figured out what they wanted for their immediate future, they went about arming everyone that was staying. Deputy Carlson thought with the extra firepower, they would be good on their own way back to the others. Germ decided to have the gunships escort them and catch up later. Once the second officer and the others were set up in the station, those going with them were loaded up, and the Deputy and a few more were on the move, the convoy got back underway towards Lake Jackson.

Chapter 37

William and Warren drove the five miles to the local Riverpoint Hardware store. They didn't quite make it. Half a mile from the store, they came down off the freeway and stopped at the light. Don't know why they did; just habit. Who cared anymore if you stopped at a light? They looked left and right just like they were used to, and were amazed at what they saw both ways. A gigantic boom! went off to their right while they sat there. A fireball roared into the sky from the chemical plant; fencing starting just a mile off the road. This caused a couple more explosions to snowball from there.

Warren looked over to William in the driver's seat and saw something even scarier. A huge group of zombies was just on the other side of the bridge they were next to, and the explosions had just given them something to look toward. This also gave them a view of a lonely pickup truck with two fresh pieces of meat just waiting to be lunch.

"Fuuuuuck! Get us moving! Now!" Warren exclaimed. William's head whipped around and his eyes got as wide as saucers.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! We are definitely not geared for this!"

William threw the truck in reverse and peeled out backwards. He flipped a bitch and took off back up the off ramp. He didn't give a damn that they were going the wrong way on the freeway. Who was going to give them a ticket? By the time they were atop the next hill they could see a few lopers already on their ass trying to catch up. This prompted William to go even faster. While heading back, they radioed ahead of what they found just a few miles away. They needed to get prepared for what was coming their way.

The vehicles were already pulled aside by the time Warren and William made it back. And they came screaming around the corner like they were on fire. The trucks laid rubber to a stop and were put back in place immediately. Both of them jumped out and went running inside to Michael and the others.

"Holy shit, we got trouble on the way. They were everywhere. I don't know how long we have or if they will move this direction but...fuck a duck! If this is how bad it might get in a small town, the big cities have to be hell on earth. These fuckers have to be stopped. I mean NOW!" William was almost apoplectic and animated with his body movements.

"O...kay." Michael said. "Will, sit yourself down and get it together now. Everyone else load up all your guns and get ready. We knew this might come, maybe we just didn't expect it so soon. We have to survive. To survive, we have to fight." Michael spoke to them all. Women, teenagers, and men all grabbed guns. Those not used to them or had never fired one would keep the safeties on and be background fighters only, but everyone had to be armed, for they knew not exactly what was coming.

"Might I suggest you get some people on the roof with scopes and binoculars to keep watch out? Maybe in all directions in case they aren't the only ones coming." Bert chipped in.

"Good call. Might I volunteer you, Davis and Steve? I need four or five others that can shoot to go along." Several people stepped up. "Thank you. All right. Up and at 'em. What was that commie saying our two term Dictator-in-Chief phrased? 'If you see something, say something'. Keep in touch, people." Michael saddled up for war after that.

It wasn't but ten minutes after they got onto the roof before one of the volunteers spotted the first of the lurchers coming their way. Then a few more from the same direction but spaced a little ways from the leaders. They relayed the information down to Michael. While on the radio, a much larger group were coming up the ramp of the freeway, the same way William had driven. More and more were being spotted every minute. Pretty soon they were looking at over a hundred just within their sights and only about half an hour away.

Bert alerted his gunship pilots to the impending battle while he got ready for all out combat. All those not quite ready for a war would stay inside to guard the entrances and outside with the trucks. Everyone else moved outside and covered the east side of the Wally's where the zombies would hit first. They formed a serious line of lethal protectors with Vinnie leading the crew. Unfortunately, before the group they were expecting got there, other party crashers came loping up from the other side of the parking lot.

The pilots jumped in the Cobras before any feverheads got to them and started up the engines. Just as the first ones hit the side of the copters, they were lifting off. They had already called Vinnie, so he and Terry were standing by to put holes in some targets. Wally's really did attract all kinds to shop there; well, time to lose some customers. Two magazines later each; two dozen munchers were down for the count.

That is about when life became un-fun. That is unless you're a gun loving, bullet throwing, zombie killing nut with a smile on your face. Suddenly an enormous multitude of half-clothed zombies came rushing their way, some limping, others running at full tilt. They had started speeding up their movements as soon as the helicopters whirled up and the firing began. A giant mass started rushing around the corner of the nearby electronics store hell bent for some prime eatin'. The Cobras went roaring overhead to try to stem the overbearing tide of flesh heading their way. The phrase "Rockets' red glare" was given life as heavy artillery went tearing into the bodies while avoiding damaging the nearby buildings. Body parts went flying in every different direction. A few dozen stopped to eat freely from their ex-compatriots while the great many kept going with no care about those lost. They weren't quite within range of Wally's but it wouldn't be but a few minutes. The choppers strafed several times and sent a huge number to hell, but eventually it wasn't worth their time or ammunition. The lucky ones had gotten too close to Wally's by then and they were sparse at the back end of the mass.

Steve and Davis and their volunteers were up top. They could now begin picking them off with their sniper rifles. After a few misses and partial hits, they had zeroed in and were putting them down in handfuls. Once they got within range, the front line opened up and proceeded to mow down everything in its path. Half of the group would fire while the other half would reload. Terry had made sure everyone had been ready and were each stocked with magazines aplenty. The pile of bodies started stacking up and the next row of zombies had to climb over them to get to the fresh food, slowing them considerably and making them easy targets. After ten minutes of Cobra fire and fifteen minutes of almost non-stop shooting by those on the ground, Steve put the last one was down by a bullet to the head.

Before Davis got down, he could see an equally big group that had turned and was heading toward the explosions from the chemical plant. He watched them for a couple minutes more to ensure they were safe for now. They left a few people up on the roof afterward to take out any new uninvited and Davis made sure they kept an eye down towards the plants. That was gonna be another gigantic fight if they all came their way. Everyone went inside for some cold beer as the helicopters landed again and wound down.

The boys came back with another load right after the battle, thankfully missing it all and not being caught in the middle of it all. As soon as they could get out of the trucks, they ran inside to find out what happened. They could see and hear the Cobras letting it rip earlier but they had no clue that there were that many zombies that close to them. When they got inside, all they saw was a bunch of people living it up and drinking beer. So they joined them and learned things. Aaron and Wayne had to settle for some sodas but went with it. Michael walked over with a couple beers and handed them to his boys.

"I think you deserve these today. Don't act like you haven't snuck one or two from me. I was a young man once. I know you can suck them down without coughing up. Enjoy." Michael smiled at his sons.

About thirty minutes later, the convoy pulled up to the front and unloaded. Being as many as there were, they had to think about where they were going to stay. They still had several hours of daylight left, so Bert and Michael got them all working on the fencing while some of the ladies worried about shelter. The closest apartment building was definitely out, unless they wanted to go through the trauma and danger of clearing it tonight. That was a no-go since they had other priorities. There were a great many houses within a mile, so Davis, Steve, Terry, and Vinnie all volunteered to go with the ladies to that neighborhood. They wanted to ensure as well as possible that it would be safe and cleared of any corpses, alive or dead.

With so many people helping and getting supplies, they were able to put up a makeshift fence tall enough to keep all the animals in and protected around the back lot of Wally's. There was a huge grass area back there, and they fenced in the ditch/river that went along behind it to allow for renewable water for the many dogs, chickens, and other large animals. The rabbits had their own, smaller fenced in spot since they could easily slip through the regular fencing. They would eventually need another, even bigger corral spot, but that was a problem for tomorrow.

With only an hour and change left of daylight, they decided to try and temporarily fence in as much of the neighborhood as possible. They utilized the back yard fences on either side of the houses along one block and set up more fencing and a gate at the end of each along the intersection. This made it much easier to secure and they placed guards near the gates. There were now enough houses empty and readied by the ladies for all their guests.

With the newly secured and guarded area, they had a quiet block party that night set up and cooked by the good people of Hoghenheiferz. Jose and Kylar went back and retrieved their girlfriends for dinner and to meet all the new faces. There was plenty of already cooked meat to feed those going on guard duty and everyone else waited till the rest was ready. Of course, Vinnie's boys all volunteered to be guards while the majority were eating.

Vinnie made Terry eat with the leaders along with him though. With Vinnie being the Secretary of Defense, he had promoted Terry to the Command General over their large contingent of armed forces. With as many people as they were all amassing, delegations had to be made, and no one had objected to the choices so far. Terry had planned on staying behind when Bert and the others went back to Corpus so he could help Davis and Steve train the non-combat veterans. They all needed to be up to speed as quickly as possible because it would be a long time before they could relax.

By the time the others got back it was time to sit down and eat. They had set up all the tables and chairs they could find along the barricaded roadway so everyone could enjoy the first real peaceful night they'd had since the end of the world. After some of the military guys were done and had gotten their fill, they took off to relieve those guarding Wally's, the helicopters, and the animals. They would then come over and do their part of the meet and greet and so on throughout the night.

While eating, Bert got a phone call from Mr. Timmons. Everything was going swimmingly over there and progressing at a decent pace. The little boy that was bitten was doing great. He was even running around throwing the football again with joy. This was the best news anyone had heard since the beginning because it meant there was hope for humanity after all. The news brought a smile to his face. After that, Michael remembered to phone over to the Warden and got a good update there also. All was going according to plan, and there had been absolutely no issues with any of the inmates. They had resigned themselves to the new reality and they were all, it seemed, glad to have a second chance to be a helpful part of society. Mr. Reifel was moving on with things, it was helping to keep his mind off his personal tragedy. Working with the cattle was necessary and time consuming, but you could still see his wife's death was going to cling to him for quite some time. Michael thanked him and hung up.

Bert, Michael and all the others talked almost till midnight about everything and anything they could come up with. They brainstormed ideas and everyone came up with new and better ways to achieve their goals. It truly was a glorious night for them all. Through it all, of course, the occasional soft gunshots could be heard for the gate guards at either end. They had been given silencers, but the shots still echoed in the streets past the immediate area.

These first several days were merely an introduction to a much bigger war to come, they all recognized that truth. After a couple of weeks, people would start running out of food and supplies, and worse aspects of human nature would start to emerge. This would cause more to venture out, allowing the inhumans to multiply as time went by. Michael figured that by the sixth month of Armageddon, zombies would overrun all the smaller towns in the rural areas. By the end of the first year, the entire nation would be Zombieville, USA. It would take years to rebuild civilization even to the size of one major city like Houston again, if ever.

Michael stood with the last of his beer and looked out at the final rays of the sun. Combining forces with those many down in Corpus Christi would be a godsend that would greatly benefit them all. Knowing there were others out in this beautiful God-given land with the same goals made him smile with a joy he hadn't felt since all hell had opened up. Without honorable, courageous people to stand together, like the founding fathers of America, the United States would never be great again. People of like mind must stand as one. Ideas and intelligence must be utilized. Training to fight for the side of good and peace must be continued. Geeks must rise.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Zombies. I know, right. How many different books or movies are out there? I wanted something different. I enjoy the hell out of the others. Don't get me wrong. I'm a Z-head all the way. I've especially enjoyed the drama of the Walking Dead and the contrast of humor in Z-Nation. Then there's the big screen drama of World War Z and even Schwarzenegger in Maggie. Great additions to the genre in my opinion. First and foremost, thank you to my lovely bride of many years, Cindy. I know you think I'm nuts most of the time but you kept encouraging me. Forever my love. My two boys, Lucas and Zachery, are more reasons to write. It keeps me from being insane all the time and embarrassing them on a daily basis. Preston Asevedo is the great artist/painter/air brusher/comic creator, etc. that did the cover art. And now the co-creator of the new 'Devil Driver' hotrod from his comics. Look it up. It's cool. He has become a good friend and helpful confidant when it came to getting this whole enchilada off the ground. I would also like to thank Mark Tufo, a great writer, for his help in prepping me for this creation and introducing me to his editor, Sheila Shedd. Multiple conversations with several friends helped me stay on track. The most helpful was Warren Stapleton. A good friend that took what I wrote, with entertainment in mind, but picked it apart along the way to make it a better read. I would lastly like to thank those at the Olin/Dow B-68 plant that supported my endeavor. They know who they are. Thank you all. I have many more ideas. Let's hope they all turn out great. Or at least good enough to stop working for other people. As we all know, that can be soooo soul-sucking. See you on the Con circuit.

