Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 01 Page 10

  Both Alex and Josh pulled the triggers of their rifles as quickly as they could, emptying their rifles of their ammunition. When the rifles clicked empty, Liam jumped up from his position and threw both pots of water on the rising fire. The flames sputtered and Liam again threw himself back against the front door. Taking the wet towels from his shoulders, Liam proceeded to pinpoint the small pockets of flame still clinging to the wall. With pinpoint accuracy he was able to knock out most of the remaining flames.

  The gunfire from outside increased and Liam had to crouch into a corner and cover his head from the flying debris. A bullet struck the wall just above Josh's head. "The fire's out," Liam yelled. "Get me out of here!" Alex and Josh let loose another volley of heavy gunfire as Liam raced back up the hallway, hugging the wall to provide the lowest profile possible. Their guns clicked empty just as Liam was about to cross their one of fire. "The fire's out," Liam repeated over the sound of the guns outside. "Now what do we do?"

  Alex shoved the rifle he had been holding into Liam's hands. "Keep them busy," he said and rounded the corner into the next room. Alex grabbed Liam's Kel-Tec Sub 2000 9mm rifle from the room and as many magazines as he could stick in his pockets. Then Alex headed into the garage.

  A moment later Liam and Josh could hear the attic stairs being lowered followed by footsteps in the attic. The sound of a circular saw buzzed to life above them.

  "What the hell is he doing?" Josh asked between shots of his M4.

  "Beats me," Liam replied, just as confused as Josh was. Thirty seconds later and the sound of something heavy slammed to the rafters in the attic. "Hey Alex," Liam yelled, "I don't think destroying my house is going to make them leave!" Footsteps pounded across the rooftop and the sound of a 9mm rifle rang out from above.

  The attackers outside were thrown into confusion and chaos as Alex rained down pinpoint accurate fire on them. The laser sight on the Kel-Tec Subcompact and his vantage point from the roofline gave Alex an overwhelming advantage against the men in their trucks outside. And in the darkness, hidden below the roofline, the attackers could not locate him. Alex shot five out of the eight remaining men before the wounded and dead were abandoned by the others in their hurry to flee. Alex remained at guard on the rooftop for another four or five minutes before relaxing his attention. The moans of the walking dead could be heard in the near distance, and the sounds were getting closer.

  "You didn't have to try and cut down my house, man" Alex looked back to see Liam with his head poking out through the hole in his roof that Alex had just cut.

  "Needed a better vantage point," Alex smirked. "Seemed to be the best place." Alex looked back over the front of the rooftop at the carnage that had just taken place. "We had better get that front room locked down," Alex said as he turned back to Liam. "We are going to have company soon, of a different variety."

  -----

  Within minutes the front room had been secured with whatever they could find as well as they could get it. The dining room table, desks, couches and chairs had been piled and braced with whatever items could be found and utilized. The problem did not come from the hole in the front of the house, it was the wounded men outside the house.

  "We can't just leave them there, Alex!" Morgan was screaming at her husband, furious at was he had suggested. "They are dying, and those zombies are coming. They will be killed if we don't help them."

  "And just what, exactly, is the problem with that?" Alex had been able to keep his cool all night, but when Morgan started yelling at him that they should go outside and help those wounded men, Alex couldn't keep his temper in check. "Those people out there were trying to kill us, trying to kill Gemma, Morgan! I for one, don't care if they die. They deserve what they get."

  "Who made you their judge, jury and executioner? They are human beings and we had all been talking about the need to stay together or we won't survive..." Morgan was interrupted in the middle of her rant by Liam.

  "He's right, Morgan." Liam's voice was calm and matter of fact. "Those people out there had no problem attacking us for no reason and trying to kill us...ALL of us. If we hadn't moved quickly, we would all be dead." Morgan stood slacked jawed at what Liam had just said. She could not believe what these people, her family and friends were saying. They were going to leave people outside to die intentionally. Morgan didn't think the situation could get worse, until Liam finished explaining just why they could not go out and help the men outside.

  "There is a large number of walking dead heading this direction, right now. They know there is something here alive, and are going to be looking for the source. If we bring those men in here, those zombies are going to come knocking at our door, and I'm not sure our makeshift window repair would hold against such an onslaught. We've got to give them some bait to keep them off of us." It wasn't just Morgan who recoiled in horror. Everyone in the room seemed just as sick at the thought of what Liam had just suggested. Everyone except Alex.

  "You're a monster," Morgan gasped. She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide in horror. "You're...you're being..."

  "Practical," Alex interjected. "Liam is just being practical. Not only did those men try to kill us all, but they have caused us to compromise our position, endangering everyone here including our daughter. They have chosen their punishment, we've just decided on the method. They will earn their redemption by keeping us safe when those zombies show up." The sounds of moaning had grown close and the men outside began to scream for help. "It doesn't matter now, they -- and we -- are out of time." Looking around the room at everyone gathered, Alex began giving commands. "Everyone kill all the lights and get in the attic. This is going to be a long night and we have to make sure that we are careful. No one talks, no lights, nothing at all that could alert the zombies to the fact that we are just inside. We pull up the stairs and wait until they've finished and left." Alex looked around one last time. "Any questions?" Heads nodded slowly, realizing that there was nothing left to be done but wait out the night. Then they would get out of this place.

  -----

  The screams from the men lasted only a few minutes, but could be heard clearly by everyone in the attic, but the glares and accusations continued the rest of the night. By the grace of god, the zombies had finished feeding and continued on their way to look for other victims. Only a few of them had stayed around the house for any length of time, but they too finally moved on to continue looking for prey. One by one, everyone in the attic began to nod off to sleep, leaving only Alex and Morgan awake.

  "I don't know who you are, Alex. What have you turned into?" There was accusation as well as sympathy mixed in Morgan's voice.

  "I haven't become anything that I wasn't already. I'm a husband, a father and a friend who is doing what it takes to keep the ones he loves safe. I'll do whatever it takes within reason to do that."

  "Do you call what you did tonight 'within reason?' You condemned those men, those living people out there do die. And not just to die, but to be torn apart by something so evil no one could ever think they were real. Those men suffered..."

  "They tried to kill us, Morgan." Alex was trying very hard to keep his voice in check. For all of the anger and frustrations that Alex was feeling right now, he knew that everyone in the room needed the much deserved sleep that they were getting right now. "Morgan, you have to understand that I'm not a monster. I'm not out to save just myself and those that are around me. But we can't save everyone. And if those people are going to attack us and try to take away from me everything that I hold dear, well, I'm going to protect that with everything that I have at my disposal." Alex shrugged his shoulders, resigning himself to what he had done. "If that means that I do nothing, then I will do nothing."

  Morgan shook her head and tears welled in her eyes. "I don't know if I can live with that, Alex. I don't know if I want to live like that."

  Alex held Morgan's gaze for a long time. "So just what are you saying, Morgan? And I'm not going to guess
what it might be, so you need to just let me know now. What did you mean by 'I don't want to live like that.'"

  Morgan shook her head again and shrugged her shoulders, the tears that had been gathering in her eyes now running freely down her cheeks. "I don't know, Alex. I just don't know." Morgan leaned towards Alex and buried her head in his chest. Her shoulders began to shake and she began to cry uncontrollably. "I don't know if I can do this!" Morgan said. Alex put his arms around his upset wife and hugged her tightly to his chest.

  "You can do this, sweetheart. You just have to let me help. I'll get us through this, just let me help us all get through this." Alex rocked Morgan back and forth and stroked her hair, content to let her cry until she had released all of her pent up fears and frustrations. "Just trust me, please. I'll get us through this. I won't let anything happen to you or Gemma, I promise." Alex held his wife until she had cried herself to sleep. He gently laid her down and climbed onto the roof to keep watch over everyone.

  -----

  Alex and the others moved down the street as silent as ghosts. Liam was on point, Sam and Josh guarding their flanks, and Alex running vanguard. The wives were in the center with Gemma in the middle of everyone. Each person was armed and the double ring of protection was in place to provide the youngest member of their party with two separate walls of defense. Alex hoped it would be enough if things went bad.

  The group had taken almost two hours to make their way from Liam and Trinity's house through the neighborhood and out to Brushy Creek road. They had met very little resistance and what few zombies they had come across Liam was able to dispatch with the only silenced weapon they had available to them, a Walther P22. Liam had built the silencer himself and fitted it to the small caliber weapon for the simple reason of seeing if he could do it. Lucky enough for the group, the silencer worked absolutely perfectly with only the click of the slide giving any indication that the gun had fired. That and the zombies who were felled by it.

  Brushy Creek Road was rather isolated, an artery between two bigger highways leading from Cedar Park to Austin. Its isolation was a blessing and a curse at this time. Being off the main road, the numbers of walking dead were somewhat limited, the natural terrain offering some barriers to keep additional zombies out. But the isolation also made it extremely difficult for Alex and his group to get out of the area on foot and forced them to walk in the open, forsaking most of the cover to facilitate a faster exit.

  The group continued down Brushy Creek, eyes open for the next threat to come their way. The plan that had been decided upon was a little more complicated than Alex had wished. The group would make their way toward the nearer main road, US183, in hopes of finding a semi truck and trailer that they could commandeer. Once this had been found, the group would then scour the area looking for supplies, ammunition and food that would be necessary for their trip north. Everyone agreed that a large 4x4 pickup truck would be rather easy to find and their lowest priority. Once the scavenging had been completed, they would find suitable accommodations for the night to wait out the dark hours between sunset and sunrise. In the morning they would set out again in hopes of finding additional men and women to come with and help them in the long trip to Eustace.

  Everything had gone to plan so far, but there was still a long way to go before they were at a point where they would be ready to leave. The group approached the raised overpass of US183A, the toll road that bypassed Cedar Park. Cars lined the thoroughfare, some smoking, most abandoned or wrecked.

  "We're never going to get through that," Josh announced to the group. "Now what do we do?" he said looking back toward Alex.

  "We don't talk unless absolutely necessary and stick to the plan. We'll find a way through, and if we can't, then we will discuss our options." Alex never met Josh's eyes, instead keeping his eyes moving back and forth, looking for any movement that would alert him to danger. "Just keep an eye out for anything out there," and Alex stole a quick glance at Josh. Alex was still not sure that Josh was committed to the plan that had been agreed upon. However, considering how few people they had and how many they needed to pull this off, they were going to have to put up with him until he proved that he was a problem.

  Movement from on top of the fly-over caught their attention. The shambling movements told them that not every car had been abandoned. The pale skin of a zombie could be seen making its way through the mass of cars and everyone stopped where they were, hoping that they could avoid being seen. Josh raised his rifle to take aim, but Alex appeared at his side anticipating this response.

  "Leave it be," he whispered. "If you pull that trigger you may hit it, but you will let every other damned creature know we are he. Put the gun down!" these last words were not a request, but a command and Josh took their full meaning. He glared at Alex as he lowered the rifle.

  Everyone held their breath as the zombie continued on its way, and as soon as it was out of sight behind a car Alex motioned for everyone to move forward slowly. Each person in their group crept along, desperately trying to keep as quiet as possible. In a few moments they had made it to the cover of the overpass and crowded around the base of the column to rest for a few minutes.

  Josh took the opportunity to seek out Alex, determined to settle the issue of who was in charge once and for all. "Now you listen to me, Alex," Josh said a little too loudly." Alex raised his hands and motioned for him to keep quiet. "No, Alex, you don't get to give me orders..."

  Liam and Sam rushed towards the two men, determined to stop the confrontation that was about to take place and most likely draw attention to them. "This is bullshit. I've gone along with your screwball ideas because I've given you the benefit of the doubt, but this is it. You want us to let those things go? I could have taken that damn thing out with one shot and boom, it's over." Josh gestured wildly with his hands, the rifle he was holding waving frantically back and forth. "Done, and we go on with this plan of yours with one less fucking zombie to worry about."

  "And a shitload more that are going to come looking for that rifle crack," Alex countered. "You just don't get it, do you? This isn't time for any Rambo 'I'm going to blow the fuck out of everyone' antics. We have to be realistic and we have to use our heads. You stop doing either one of those and you can kiss your ass, and most likely ours too, goodbye." Alex stared back hard at Josh, refusing to back down or give in to this bully. Josh wanted to meet every obstacle head on with guns blazing, but Alex -- and hopefully the others -- knew too well that this kind of tactic just wouldn't work. One was going to have to be smart to survive all of this, and pulling the trigger at everything that moved simply would help make them any safer.

  "You are not the leader of this rabble," Josh spat indicating the other seven people who were with them. "You don't get to make all of the decisions."

  "Actually, it's you that don't get to make any decisions," Alex corrected. "Everyone else here knows that I'm right in that we can't go out, guns blazing and hope to survive. So until you realize that, it's going to be the course that we've decided upon."

  Josh bristled with anger and his hands tightened on his rifle. Liam stepped between the two men and Sam placed a firm hand on Josh's shoulder. "You're not going to do anything you are going to regret," Liam told Josh calmly. "If you truly want to settle this for good, then I have a suggestion."

  Josh stared at Liam with barely controlled rage. "Will you agree to listen?" Liam asked. Josh nodded his head once and returned his hate filled gaze back onto Alex. "We take a vote. Everyone gets one vote and we all agree to stick to the results. Would you agree to that?" Liam's question was directed right to Josh who remained silent for a minute, weighing the options before him.

  Josh turned to look at Liam and replied slowly, "Fine."

  "Does everyone else agree to this?" Liam asked turning to see everyone around him. Wary and unsure glances passed between Morgan and the other ladies, but slowly each one agreed in turn. "Okay, lets settle this once and for all. Whose going
to lead the rabble," Liam asked rubbing his hands together. "All for Josh, raise their hand." Josh turned to face everyone and glared. There was not a hand raised in vote of him.

  "Okay," Liam said, feigning embarrassment. "Um, everyone for Alex?" Slowly hands began to raise. Josh's face began to turn red, but his anger boiled over when he saw his wife, Stacey's, hand raised.

  "What the fuck are you doing?" Josh growled at Stacey.

  "I'm sorry, Josh, but Alex is right. We can't afford to run around without a plan, shooting everything up..."

  "I have a plan!" Josh yelled. "I can't believe you would do this to me. You're supposed to support me, I'm your husband!" Josh's voice was getting louder and louder, increasing the chances of something hearing them.

  "Stop it Josh! I do support you, but Alex is right. His plans seem like they are what we need to do, and I think we should listen..."

  "Fuck you!" Josh screamed at her and came at Stacey with murder in his eyes. "You'll regret this," he said and swung a fist at her catching her on her right eye. Stacey screamed and fell and Josh wasted no time crouching over her to continue the assault. "I'll kill you," he growled and hit his wife three more times before anyone was able to react.

  Sam and Alex pulled Josh from on top of Stacey and wrestled him away from his battered wife. Josh was kicking and screaming, fighting with his captors trying desperately to get free. Josh connected an elbow with Sam's chest and the man fell back, grabbing at his chest and crying out in pain. With the second man's grip lost, Alex could not keep a hold on Josh and he tore his arm away. Josh's eyes fell on Alex and the anger at his wife instantly changed its point of aggression. "This is all your fault, faggot! I'm going to make you suffer for this," and Josh began raging against Alex. Josh's fists were flying too quickly for Alex to do anything but protect his face and head, and Alex struggled to keep on his feet.