The road we wanted to take led us right down the middle of the town and at first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything about. The road turned down a small valley and we passed what appeared to be a subdivision entrance that went back up a hill parallel to the one we were on. Some fairly large homes were tucked away back there, but even at this distance, we could see signs of the Upheaval.
We moved slowly up the next hill, learning from our past not to rush too quickly into areas we couldn’t see. The road was lined with old oak trees, flexing their branch tips to the spring sun. On the left side of the road was an old farm, on the right was an old cemetery, full of weeds and tired gravestones.
I still didn’t see much movement, so I just shrugged at Nate and gestured to him to keep moving. We glided into town and I looked carefully around. I didn’t see any serious signs of violence, so it may have been that this town just up and left for more secured living. We passed an old courthouse, with its front door framed in WWI artillery pieces and an auto-body shop with wide open bay doors.
We bumped over a couple of sets of railroad tracks and Nate pulled over to the gas station sitting on the corner.
“We’re not empty, but a couple of our gas cans are, so I’m going to see what I can come up with,” he explained, easing the big rig under the station’s awning.
“Sounds good. I’m going to have a look around, see if I can’t come up with any supplies,” I said, moving to the gear locker.
Tommy and Duncan came up from the back. “What’s up?” Duncan asked, looking out the window at the quiet town.
“Nate’s going to see about some gas for the rig and I’m going to see about some possible supplies. Wanna come along?” I asked, shrugging into my backpack. My SIG was always on me, as was my knife. I picked up my AR and pickaxe.
“Sure,” Tommy said. “I could stand to stretch my legs.” He grabbed his gear and Duncan did the same. We each snared an empty duffle bag to put supplies in and with a quick look out the window, stepped out of the RV.
We quickly fanned out into a triangular pattern, moving eastward on a cross road that ran parallel to the railroad tracks. There were a number of businesses along that front I wanted to take a quick look into, especially the pharmacy midway through the block, since medicines were in constant short supply. We moved past a small ticket station next to the tracks and I looked around to see if there was any more evidence the town had been hit by the virus.
We moved deeper into the town, weapons at the ready, but not seeing anything to cause alarm. I guess that was why I was nervous. I didn’t see anything wrong, yet the whole setup felt wrong for some reason. I had the distinct feeling I was being watched, but I couldn’t be sure. If it was the undead, they would have attacked the moment they had the chance. If it was a hostile local, they had plenty of opportunity to plant a bullet between my eyes. That thought didn’t make me feel any better, but the fact that nothing had happened yet was probably the thing that was bothering me the most.
I broke the silence to the other two: “You guys got a feeling about this place?” We moved further up the street towards the businesses. I could see a subdivision in the distance, rows upon rows of cookie-cutter homes. The entrance was across the tracks again about a quarter mile up the road.
“You mean like something is seriously wrong here and we’re just too stupid to figure out what it is?” Duncan asked.
“Or the proverbial shoe is about to drop and we’re right underneath it?” Tommy added.
“That would be the feeling, yes,” I said, grinning to myself. I looked around as the wind picked up, rustling through the budding trees. Bits of debris flitted here and there and something hit my foot. I looked down and saw that a small white towel had snagged itself on my boot. I kicked it off and it fluttered in the wind, just like a little white flag. Little white flag…
I turned to say something and my mouth dropped. Between us and the RV were probably fifty ghouls, shuffling steadily at us in the increasing winds. The RV itself was surrounded and I had a fleeting hope that Nate had made it safely inside. If he had, he could stay there until his supplies ran out, since they had no way of getting in. If not, rest in peace, old friend.
From the subdivision to the east, zombies were coming out from between every house. Down the street, dozens of zombies were moving out from alleyways. All of them were focused on one thing and one thing only. Us for lunch.
“Ho-lee…” Duncan started.
“Shit,” Tommy finished.
“We need cover,” I said, looking quickly around. I thought briefly about getting on top of the little train station, but the main body of advancing Z’s had already reached it. I looked at the row of houses across the tracks, but zombies were over there as well. Where the hell did these guys come from? It reminded me of something, but I didn’t have time to think about it.
“This way!” I said, bolting for the pharmacy. It was the nearest building and would at the very least afford some cover and reduce being attacked from all sides. Tommy and Duncan didn’t hesitate, they were right on my heels. That was one thing living on the frontier taught you. If a trusted member told you to do something, you did it immediately. Your survival depended on it.
As we ran, I heard the horn of the RV and stealing a glance through the pack of undead, I could see several unmoving zombies stretched out near the RV. Nate was probably okay, safely ensconced in the RV. Hopefully he would be able to pull our butts out of the fire one more time. I was glad to see he wasn’t dead.
Right now, though, I had to save my ass and those of my friends We sprinted to the store and dove through the door. I moved ahead into the darker back area, checking for threats, while Duncan and Tommy threw shelves and counters and everything not nailed down in front of the door to block the way. I made it all the way to the pharmacy counter when the first zombie hit me. I was coming around the condom display and angling back by the stock room when a dark shape reared up out of the vitamins and took a swing at me. I ducked under the outstretched hand and brought the butt of my carbine up to smash the zombie in the face. The blow knocked it back into the zinc supplements, its nose flattened against its face, giving me time to move my carbine to my left hand and draw my SIG with my right. Little brown pills flew everywhere as I exploded the Z’s head into pieces.
“You all right back there?” Tommy yelled from the front of the store.
“Fine,” I yelled back. “Just seems to be only one of them.”
“They’re here!” Duncan yelled and suddenly there was a loud crash, like an ocean wave hitting a coastal barrier.
“Damn! The whole barricade moved! We need cover!” Tommy shouted as he and Duncan frantically threw more debris on the pile. I could see dozens of hands and faces reaching, grabbing, biting, trying to get past the barricade.
“Give me ten seconds to find the route upstairs!” I shouted back as I kicked in the door to the stockroom. Upstairs was our only hope. We needed to control their access, or we were dead meat.
“We can give you five!” Duncan yelled, firing his rifle into the mass of ghouls. He had no chance of stopping them all, he was just making more of a barricade.
I slid past boxes of school supplies and shelves of adult diapers. A lot of stuff was on the floor, but I had no time to see if any of it was useful. I found a door and yanked it open, but it led down into a basement. The stairs just led down into blackness and there was a decaying odor wafting up, telling me exactly what waited for me down there. No thanks.
I heard a loud slamming and a ‘Dammit!’ from Tommy coming from up front. I had to hurry. Cruising down a row of shelves behind the pharmacy counter area, I stopped as my flashlight caught something sticking out of the shelves. Grey flesh reached out and I nearly fired a shot, but a realized that the zombie had to be standing on the other side of the wall to reach like that. Tapping the arm with the barrel of my rifle, I knocked the severed forearm and hand off the shelf and it thudded to the floor.