Outbreak (Book 1): Emerald City (24 page)

“Look at it this way,” Rocha said as he grabbed Clark’s belt and secured the rope. “There is a remote chance that you could die repelling down the side of this ship. But if you stay? I guarantee that you will be dead in the next … seventy minutes.”

“You should take up motivational speaking,” Clark said as he held onto the rope, stepped over the rail of the ship, and hung his ass out over the side.

LUKE

“What in the hell was that?” Matt yelled.

The whole world pulsed as a rumble rolled past the tow truck. They had just passed the crashed helicopter when something over on the coast blew up, something big. Luke hit the brakes and stopped in the middle of the road. He leaned out the open driver’s side window and looked over at the Puget Sound. His mouth dropped open as he watched an enormous black mushroom cloud roll its way skyward. “Now what could have caused that?” he asked. The explosion was enormous.
Jesus, that’s going to wake every damn zombie in the state
, he thought.

“We better move,” Matt said, apparently feeling the same way as Luke.

“Yeah,” Luke replied and stomped on the gas pedal. “No shit.”

Luke was driving them back to the junkyard, following the same route they had taken the day before. It was the only place they knew they could find a cable which would be strong enough to pull down the gate where the armored cars were stored. Luke had been in no real hurry to get back to the junkyard. He was worried the mob of zombies which had been gathering around the garage when they drove away would still be there. As they arrived at the compound, he saw he was half right. When they had left the day before, they had broken through the main gate, but some of the zombies were still trapped inside.
Not smart enough to figure the way out
, Luke thought. He frowned and pulled the truck to a stop. A half-dozen zombies rushed the inside of the fence and began hissing and growling. He looked at his shotgun but knew his ammo was limited, plus he wasn’t interested in using it to take on half a dozen zombies who were just standing there. Still, they needed to get in. “Ideas?” he asked Matt.

“Just pull it up closer to the fence,” Matt said and held up his Dirty Harry gun. “I got this.”

“Sure they are worth the ammo?” Luke asked but Matt just glared at him.

“I feel like killing something.”

Luke shrugged and drove the nose of the truck up against the fence. “Rev the engine,” Matt said as he got out of the truck and climbed up on the hood. Luke feathered the gas pedal making the truck engine roar and then quiet back down. After Luke cycled the engine three times, all six zombies were in a frenzy, clambering against the fence and trying to get to the truck. They were so focused on the engine noise, they didn’t pay any attention to Matt as he aimed his hand-cannon at the face of the first zombie and pulled the trigger.

The handgun roared and the first zombie’s head disintegrated. As the headless body fell to the ground, the remaining zombies forgot about the truck and clambered over each other to get to Matt. They reached with their mangled hands to try to get through the fence, working desperately to grab Matt, who calmly lined up on the next zombie and pulled the trigger. Luke lit a cigarette and thought it was a loud and costly way to clear the zombies, but it was definitely effective. After Matt worked his way down the line and killed the last zombie, he jumped off the hood. Luke backed the truck up and drove it around and through the gate. Once inside the yard, he parked the truck beside the garage as Matt walked over, reloading his handgun. Luke jumped out of the cab with his shotgun. “Ready to clear this place?” he asked. Matt nodded, and with their guns at the ready, they walked to the garage and made sure the building was empty of zombies. “Anything?” Matt asked after they had completed a walk through.

“Nope,” Luke replied.

“Good.”

“Yep.”

“Where is that cable?” Matt asked.

Luke pointed at the crane in the center of the complex. “Think we can get something off of that?” he asked.

“Hell if I know,” Matt replied. “Go check it out. I’ll look around and make sure we didn’t leave anything good behind in here.”

“Works for me,” Luke said and walked toward the crane while Matt disappeared into the garage. Luke smoked and contemplated the crane. The machine was a big, industrial hoist. Luke knew next to nothing about heavy equipment and had no idea how to even turn one on. He stood under the crane and looked up at the arm. The cable was attached with huge bolts and Luke realized he had no way to reach them, even if he did have a way to turn them. Also, the cable was longer and thicker than he thought it was going to be. He would have to cut it.
But how the hell am I going to do that?
he asked himself.
A hacksaw might work but it would take forever. Maybe Matt’s got a better idea.
He turned to look for Matt and saw movement near the front garage door. He started walking towards it when he saw a mob of five zombies storm through the door and come running hell bent straight at him.

Goddamn Matt and his hand-cannon!
Luke thought and aimed his shotgun at the first zombie. “Matt!” he screamed and pulled the trigger. “Zombies!” The shotgun blast went low and caught the first zombie in the chest. It knocked the monster backward into two of the others and all three tumbled to the ground. Luke fired the automatic again and the head blew off of another zombie. Suddenly Matt’s .44 magnum joined in and another zombie went down.

“Damn,” Matt said as he stepped out of the garage. “Where did they come from?”

“They came through the gate,” Luke said, panting as adrenaline coursed through him. He’d lost his cigarette in the excitement and looked around for it on the ground. He sighed when he saw it had been crushed in the combat.
Damn it,
he thought and pulled another from his quickly diminishing pack.
I’m going to have to ease off a bit
, he thought.
I’m going through these too fast.

“I’m thinking that damn explosion over on the coast must have stirred them all up,” Matt said. Luke nodded as he lit up.

“Probably,” Luke agreed. He noticed two of the zombies were still moving around. They were trapped under the body of the one he had shot first in the chest. Luke wanted the zombies dead, but he didn’t want to use any more ammunition, so he started looking around for something heavy. He found a shovel beside the crane and picked it up before he stepped up to the nearest moving zombie.

“You alright?” Matt asked.

“Yep,” Luke said with his cigarette clenched between his teeth. He brought the shovel down on the head of the zombie like he was splitting wood. The zombie’s head exploded into gore.

“Nasty!” Matt said. “When you’re done here, I think I found something we can use in the garage.”

“Works for me,” Luke said and slammed the shovel into the second zombie. He looked up as Matt disappeared into the garage. Luke went to put the shovel down when the zombie he had shot in the chest started moving and crawled at him.
Goddamn I hate these things.
Luke stepped on the zombie’s arm and stood over the monster. He brought the shovel head back like a golf club. “Fore!” he yelled and swung the shovel head in a loop which caught the zombie straight in the face. The zombie’s head erupted and gore splashed onto the concrete. Luke felt part of the splatter hit his chest and he looked down to see a chunk of something thick and bloody stuck on his shirt. He knocked it away with his hand.
Aww, that is disgusting,
he thought and took a drag on his cigarette. Something did not taste right and he spit it from his mouth. It laid smoking on the garage floor and Luke stared at it. Blood was on the filter. He gagged and spit. He used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his face and saw that he had gotten blood splattered on his face.
That is even more disgusting!

“Luke!” Matt yelled from beside the destroyed door of the garage. “Get over here.”

Luke looked over at Matt and saw him standing with a heavy chain in one hand and a glass bottle of whisky in the other.
Now, that’s what I’m talking about
, Luke thought and dropped the shovel onto the back of one of the corpses. He picked up his shotgun and walked over to Matt.

Matt handed Luke the bottle of alcohol. “Don’t drop that,” he said with a grin.

“Oh, I won’t,” Luke said. He wasn’t much of a drinker but the idea of having a shot about now sounded outstanding. “Want to open it now?”

“In a minute. I want to load up this chain and grab a few more things.”

“That’s a hell of a chain,” Luke said motioning to the thick and heavy links Matt was holding. “What do you figure they used that for?”

“Don’t give a shit,” Matt said. “I just know what we are going to use it for. Take it and that bottle to the truck. I’m going to use the hand cart to get a full barrel of fuel. We’ll need it later and I don’t want to have to keep making runs over here.”

“You got it,” Luke said as he took the chain and went to the tow truck. He set his shotgun in the front seat and lit a fresh cigarette while he waited. Matt arrived and he had the fuel barrel plus a hand pump and hose to move the fuel from the barrel into a vehicle. “Perfect,” Luke said. After they loaded the barrel, Matt went to the driver’s side and Luke got into the passenger seat.

“Where’d you put that bottle of whiskey?” Matt asked. Luke pulled it from behind the seat and held it up with a grin. “Fire it up!” Matt said and Luke tore away the seal on the bottle cap. He twisted off the top and took a swig. It burned fiercely, so he chased it with another quick drink.

“Hot damn!” he yelled as Matt turned on the truck and drove them out of the junkyard for the second time in as many days. As soon as they were back on the road, Matt took the bottle from Luke and took a long drink. He grimaced, cursed, and took another swig before he handed the bottle back to Luke. Luke could already feel the warmth of the whiskey spreading through his body.
That feels fantastic,
he thought and took another drink. He felt his body relax for the first time in three months as the alcohol did its magic.
I could really get used to this,
Luke thought as he tilted the bottle back to take yet another drink. Matt hit a pothole just as Luke was about to swallow and he choked. Matt started to laugh as Luke coughed and spit whiskey all over the dashboard of the truck.

“Aww, you wimp!” he laughed. “Give me that.” He grabbed the bottle from Luke and took another long drink. “Damn, that’s good!” Matt said and passed it back. It was going fast, so Luke put the bottle to his lips and chugged.

“Save me some,” Matt laughed and reached for the bottle while he swerved to miss an abandoned car stalled in the street. Luke reluctantly handed him the bottle.
He’s drinking and driving,
Luke thought and started to laugh.
No such thing as driving under the influence now
.
All the cops are zombies.
He laughed harder, drunk and happy.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” Matt asked, but Luke was laughing too hard to speak. Matt shook his head. “You’re drunk.”

“Ya think?” Luke sputtered out with a chuckle.

“Okay, enough of the booze then. I need you upright enough to help me get this gate down,” Matt said taking another hit from the bottle before putting it on the floor between the seats. He stopped in front of the building with the garage full of armored trucks underneath. Luke looked around amazed.
Here already?
he thought.
Kind of crazy we found it at all actually.
He started to chuckle again.

“Put a sock in it and let’s get this done,” Matt said and turned the truck around so he could back down the ramp. When they were stopped, Luke jumped out of the truck and felt his head spin from the alcohol. He stumbled and had to grab hold of the door to keep from falling.

“You got it, Boss,” Luke slurred in his best Ted impression. Matt gave him a dirty look but went to work connecting the chain from the back of the tow truck to the gate. Matt got back in behind the wheel of the tow truck and rolled it forward to pull the chain tight. “Do it, man!” Luke cheered, feeling fantastic. Matt floored the gas pedal of the truck and the rear wheels started to smoke as the truck did a long burnout. Luke watched the gate and it slowly began to bend in the center. A moment later the tow truck lurched forward and the entire door ripped off of the garage. Matt drove the truck up the ramp and Luke chased after him. Once Matt stopped in the street, Luke disconnected the chain from the gate just as Matt jumped out from behind the wheel. They loaded the chain into the back of the tow truck again and Matt backed the truck down the ramp to park it in front of the first armored truck. Luke’s head was swimming from the alcohol as he staggered a zigzag down the ramp after the truck. He lit a cigarette to help him focus and concentrated on getting the job done. He was pretty sure he had never drunk so much so fast in his life and he was feeling it now.
And, it feels great,
he thought as he reached the bottom of the ramp and stumbled around the tow truck. It was all he could do to keep his balance as he walked into the garage.

The space was bigger than it had appeared when he had first looked through the gate, but he was having trouble seeing anything now and had to work hard just keep his eyes focused.
Okay, get it together,
he thought. He was drunk and he knew it, but he also knew that if he passed out on the concrete, some damn zombie would come along and eat him alive. The thought sobered him up quick so he put both hands on the back of the truck and focused on Matt as he worked the tow truck’s controls to lower the tow arm. Once Matt had the arm in place, he ducked under the front of the armored truck and connected the rig into place. It looked to Luke like Matt knew what he was doing and quite frankly, Luke just wanted to sit down, so he stumbled back to the passenger side of the tow truck. He poured himself into the seat, too relaxed now to even sit up. He leaned against the inside of the door and felt the tow truck tilt to the rear as Matt raised the tow arm to lift the front of the armored truck. A moment later Matt was climbing in behind the steering wheel. He looked at Luke. “Man, you are wasted,” he said.