Don't Dare Call Them Zombies : Books 1-4 (20 page)

“I'll stay out here and keep watch,” Sam said. “Just get in, get what you need, and get back here.”

Robert, Jennifer, and I entered the garage. We followed our host towards a desk with notebooks and folders.

“I need to check my inventory,” he said. “Just give me a moment.”

I heard him muttering a series of letters and numbers as he looked through one of the notebooks.

“Found it. You’re in luck. I have two. And I have an extra rim,” he said.

“Great!” Jennifer exclaimed.

“Come with me,” he told us.

We followed him to one of the stacks of tires. A piece of tape on the wall labeled the stack “A-4”. He began to dig through them, tossing tires to either side until he reached the two we needed.

“Here they are,” he stated, showing us two almost brand new looking tires. “Now, I want to find you that rim. I know exactly where it is.”

With each of us taking a tire, Jennifer and I followed him to the other side of the garage. Rims of various sizes were piled up against the wall. Although the place seemed rather chaotic, there seemed to be a method to his madness. He obviously knew his garage and its inventory well.

As Sam picked through the rims we heard a shout from outside the door. It was Sam.

“Hurry up, y'all,” he warned. “There are more of them coming.”

Robert kept on searching as we waited anxiously. Only a moment or two passed and he pulled out a rim from one of the stacks.

“Here it is,” he stated. “An exact match.”

“Let’s go,” I urged.

“Wait,” he said. “I need to get something.”

“Well, hurry. We may not have much time,” I said.

As he quickly walked to another corner of the shop I thought about going out and helping Sam, but the truth was I didn't want to leave Jennifer. Although Robert seemed trustworthy and was risking his life to help us, I had only known him for a day. Maybe I was being paranoid, but perhaps I was just trying to look out for a woman I cared about.

“Now we can go,” Robert said.

In his arms was a large, old fashioned sickle – like the kind you see death holding in horror movies. The large weapon, originally made for harvesting wheat or grain crops, looked ideal for the task at hand. Apparently, it also made him feel safer, as he no longer looked uneasy.

With a large tire in one arm and my butcher knife in the other I led the way to the door. Looking in both directions, I stepped outside. Sam was firing arrows, slowly but steadily, at freaks as they approached.

“We’re ready to go,” I shouted at Sam.

“Good,” he said, as he fired one more arrow at a freak between him and his truck.

“Follow me,” he called out.

We hustled as fast as we could to the truck, but freaks were approaching from both sides. As one approached me, I swung the tire in my left arm at its head. The tire smacked its face, and the freak fell backwards.

I heard a “swishing” sound as Robert's sickle decapitated a tall Asian-looking freak, slicing through its neck like it hadn’t even been there.

“Behind you!” I called out to Robert as another approached from his rear. Before he could even turn around, Jennifer had taken her blade and slashed off a portion of the freak's skull.

Turning around towards the truck, I saw Sam throw down his bow and pull out his pistol. He began firing at the freaks. He was right about being a good marksman, as every shot he fired seemed to be on target. Out of seven shots he fired, seven freaks collapsed to the ground, motionless

Sam’s using gunfire meant we had to get out of there immediately. If there were additional freaks in the woods surrounding his home they would be drawn to the noise. Reaching the truck, we threw the tires and rim in the back along with Robert’s sickle. As I climbed into the vehicle, I saw that the driveway was blocked by more freaks; unfortunately, several trees and bushes would block us from driving directly from Robert's front yard onto the road.

“Lock your doors,” I called out to the group.

“Let me get a shot at them,” I said to Sam as I checked the cylinder of my revolver.

Sam stopped the truck so I would have a good angle to shoot from. I opened my door, stepped outside, and carefully aimed at the first freak. My shot was true; the bullet hit the monster exactly where I had aimed – between the eyes. I felt more confident with the revolver than I had in the past as I continued to fire at the freaks. Although I had far less experience with a handgun than Sam, I seemed to be just as proficient with one right now.

After firing five rounds I had cleared the driveway. I jumped back in the truck and we slowly drove over the dispatched freaks as we headed towards the main road. Looking in the direction of the church, I could see a few more of them walking in the road.

“We can probably swerve around them,” I suggested.

“We shouldn't stop and try to take them out,” Jennifer added. “Let’s just get back to the church.”

“I'll try,” Sam stated as we proceeded down the road to the church. As we slowed down to go around the first freak, it managed to slap its bloody hands against the passenger side window. The gruesome handprint on the glass looked sinister, but did no damage to the truck. Sam was a little more careful driving around the next set of freaks, and the vehicle didn’t get touched.

Moments later, we neared the drive way of the church. As when Jennifer and I first saw the building, it was surrounded by vehicles. Everything seemed normal from the outside, so we drove up to the church and parked close to my van.

“What is the matter?” Jennifer asked me. “You have a look on your face.”

“I don't know,” I said. “Have you ever heard of Deja vu?”

“Yes,” she answered. “It’s when you get the feeling you have been somewhere before or have already done something.”

 “Right. I'm feeling something like that now.”

“Stop with the mystical mumbo jumbo and let’s get out,” Sam told us. “We need to get your new tire on.”

We got out of the truck and scanned the surroundings. There were no freaks in sight. The patrols were very good at keeping out the stray freaks that wandered onto the church property, and made me feel like it was safe enough to get on with work on the van.

As we took the tires and rim to my van, Robert went to get a small air compressor and a few other tools out of his trunk. While he gathered what he needed to install and inflate the new tire, Sam and myself got the jack out of the van. We positioned it carefully into position under the frame of the van. However, before we could even begin to get the wheel jacked up and off the ground, we heard a loud sound.

Looking up at the steeple of the building we realized where the noise was coming from.

The church bells were ringing.

 
Chapter Six

Looking upwards at the steeple of the church, I could see inside the belfry a large, bronze colored bell swinging back and forth rapidly. Normally, the sound would be a
reassuring, and even celebratory to the residents of this remote, country town. With no freaks in sight, the pretty white church with the swaying bell looked almost idyllic. However, it only took my mind a brief moment to realize the resonating echoes of the bell would attract every freak for miles around.

“What blame fool is ringing that bell!” Sam exclaimed.

“I don't know,” I said. “We have to get inside and put a stop to it. The freaks are going to be heading here from all over the countryside.”

“Do we need to stay out here and fight?” Jennifer asked nervously.

I scanned our surroundings. A few patrols were running towards the church while others stood looking upwards towards the bell. Probably, all of them were just as confused as we were. Looking at the wooded areas around us I couldn’t yet see any freaks emerging, but I knew they would be arriving soon – with an appetite.

“We need to go inside for now,” I said. “We have to find out what's going on.”

We had just started towards the church when Robert ran up to us carrying his sickle.

“Let’s move,” I said.

By the time we had reached the gate to the fenced off perimeter behind the social hall, the church bell had stopped ringing. Meredith and two other guards were standing at the gate. A man from inside had come out and was speaking to them.

When Jennifer, Robert, Sam and I approached the gate Meredith opened it without saying a word and allowed us to enter. Once inside the fence, we stood and listened to the conversation that was going on.

“Where is the tramp now?” Meredith asked the concerned looking man.

“They got her tied up with the other girl,” he said. “She’s still ranting and raving about Tom and how we’re all going to pay for what happened.”

“Does she realize if this place gets overrun she could die with the rest of us?” Meredith asked, exasperated.

“Apparently not,” he said. “She wants revenge. It's all that’s on her mind.”

Sam and Robert continued towards the social hall, but I needed to find out what was going on.

“Meredith, what's going on? What happened?” I asked.

“Remember those two shots that were fired?” she asked, her expression grim. “Just before you left.”

“Yes,” I responded.

“Well, that was Oscar. Nobody noticed, but he had a gun while he was in the storage room with his grandson, Tom. Once everyone had left the room, he shot Tom and then turned the gun on himself,” she said.

“Oh dear God,” Jennifer exclaimed.

“That’s not the worst of it,” Meredith uttered. “Once his girlfriend learned what happened she went into a rage. She apparently pulled herself together enough to plot her revenge. We should’ve had her tied up like the others, because she managed to break into the tower room and start ringing the church bell. Now we’re all screwed.”

“So what's the plan?” I asked. “Are we going to try and fight the freaks when they get here?”

“I don't know,” Meredith asked. “If there are too many of them we could get overwhelmed.”

“I wonder how many there could be,” Jennifer said.

“Probably a lot,” Meredith stated. “I think the sound of the bell can travel further than our gunfire.”

Looking at Meredith I noticed her face looked a bit pale. The bandage covering the scratch was still on her arm.

“How is your arm holding up,” I asked her.

“I'm still here,” she stated curtly. “Now, go inside and find out what they want us to do.”

“Alright,” I said.

Jennifer and I walked into the crowded social hall. The scene was one of barely controlled chaos. Men were having heated conversations while women were trying to console their children. Towards the kitchen, I saw two women arguing. One of them had her finger in the other woman's face. In the direction of the corner in which we had slept the night before, I saw a man in a chair hurriedly loading a rifle.

We waded through the swarm of activity as we tried to find someone in authority. In the far corner of the room, I saw Reverend McMann and a few other men in dress shirts and ties. They were standing around a small, circular table. As we approached, one brought his fist down on table violently and then stormed out of the room through the doors to the hallway.

“What's the plan?” I asked as we reached the table.