The Demented Z (Book 2): Desolation (Book 2) (6 page)

Jenny sat up with her rifle and began firing rounds into the
nearest infected. Their reaction was
instantaneous.    The pent up energy was
released in a giant howl of rage. The
unanimous scream was so loud Tom could feel it in his chest.
  With terrifying speed, the entire mass of
infected surged toward the truck, like a tsunami lifted from the ocean depths.

The truck tires squealed again, this time in the opposite
direction, shooting gravel and chunks of pavement at the enraged demented.
  For a time the tires just spun, the truck
sitting in place as the demented rushed at it.  
Jenny continued to rapidly fire into the oncoming mass, her shots coming
quicker and quicker, panic taking over.  
Finally the tires grabbed pavement, shooting the truck forward, away
from the swarm.

“Hold.”   Tom said
while continuing to watch the truck.

Quickly speeding away, the truck slowed a bit, allowing the
demented to catch up. Jenny’s rifle
continued to fire into them, brass shell casings clattering to the metal truck
bed. Her weapon ran dry.
  Dropping the empty magazine out, she quickly
slammed a fresh one into the well and charged the rifle.
  Barely skipping a beat, she began firing
again. The giant horde continued their
pursuit, enticed by the sight of fresh meat.

Seeing that most of the infected had left the building to
chase after the truck, Tom said, “Let’s move.”

Tom and Eddie lifted the ladder and began jogging down the
hill. Smoke held his rifle tight to his
shoulder and ran along beside them.    
All three men felt better to be executing the plan rather than worrying
about the plan.

Before they even made it halfway across the flat that ran to
the school, their worst fears were realized.  
A couple of the trailing infected noticed their movements and spun
toward them. They issued loud huffing
noises before charging toward the trio.  
Their huffs were heard by those near them and a whole section of the
horde peeled off and raced back their way.

The crack of Smoke’s rifle sounded.

One of the nearest demented pitched over backwards.
  The sound of his rifle fire drew even more
infected.

From the top of the water tower Hank watched in horror as
nearly half of the giant horde split off and began their pursuit of the ladder
crew. They’re not going to make it Hank
thought to himself.  
“Make it rain.”   He shouted.
  Both men began rapidly firing on the
infected. Their guns rapidly boomed as
they continually pulled their triggers, chambered another round, and fired
again.

Tom breathed hard as his legs pumped rapidly.
  He looked over and saw a huge wall of
demented sprinting at them. Their angry,
hate filled eyes glared at him. He
watched as several of their heads exploded from gunfire.
  Even on the run, Smoke continued to fire
shots into the group. “Come on kid, we
gotta make it!”   Tom
shouted at Eddie. He could hear Eddie’s
labored breathing behind him.

Several demented were nearly to them, almost within reach
when their lives were snuffed out by gunfire from Hank and Dennis on the tower.

As they neared the edge of the building, Tom shouted,
“Planting!”   The two men flipped the
ladder horizontal and Tom dropped the front until it stuck into the soft
ground. He hunched down holding the base
firmly in place.

Smoke came to a stop and began rapidly firing into the
oncoming horde, trying to keep them at bay.  
For every one he, Hank, and Dennis killed, they were immediately
replaced by two more.

Eddie lifted his end of the ladder over his head and began
rapidly working his way down the ladder rungs, pivoting the ladder up toward
the top of the wall. As it reached the
midway point, standing straight up, he gave it one final push and then began
speed climbing it as it toppled over toward the wall.
  The procedure went perfectly.
  Their late night practice in the dark had
paid off.

As the ladder slammed into the wall, Tom spun around and
began rapidly climbing. He looked up to
see Eddie disappearing over the top of the wall.
  Below him he continued to hear the crack of
Smoke’s rifle. Just as Tom reached the
top of the ladder he saw Eddie leaning over the buttress and yelling down to
Smoke.

Climbing up over the top, Tom immediately unslung his rifle
and spun around to see where Smoke was at.  
Looking down, he saw Smoke had dropped his empty rifle and was just
beginning to climb up the ladder. Several
demented were right behind him. The
nearest ones grabbed at his legs. Tom
began taking shots, trying to knock them loose.  
More demented kept coming.  
Several had a hold of Smoke, trying to pull him from the ladder.
  He began howling in pain as they ripped into
the flesh of his legs.

Eddie had unslung his rifle and joined Tom in firing down at
Smoke’s attackers.

Blood was beginning to spill to the ground as they tore into
Smoke. Tom’s eyes met his.
  Terrified, anguished eyes stared back at
him. It was a look that could never be
forgotten. His fingers slipped off the
ladder rungs and he was pulled down into a churning mass of infected.

“No!”   Tom
shouted. Unable to do anything else, he
fired several rapid shots into the place he last saw Smoke, finally ending his
agonizing screams. He slung his rifle
and shouted to Eddie, “Help me!”

The two men grabbed the top of the ladder and pulled it up
onto the roof while the demented were busy down below.
  They both flopped down onto their backs,
gasping for air. Over the shrieks and
growls of the demented, they could hear the gut wrenching sounds of Smoke being
torn apart and devoured. It was the
worst sound either of them had ever heard.

Eddie rolled over onto his side, heaved, and threw up his
breakfast.

It had been days since Lincoln and his men returned to their
school turned fortress, only to find that it had been overrun by infected.
  They spent an entire day and countless
bullets clearing the entire compound room by room.
  With every shot fired his hatred of Thomas
Pike increased tenfold. He had returned
to find his new play thing gone...freed by the self-righteous dirtbag.
  His only solace was the idiots that allowed Tom
to escape had met their demise...and a couple of them in the worst of ways, eaten
alive.

After getting the school back they gathered weapons and went
out hunting for Tom and his companions.  
Starting with his home, they only found an empty house and bodies
dotting the yard, none of which were Tom or those that followed him.
  Mike ordered his men to track them, track
them to the end of the world if they had to.  
“Find them...don’t kill him or his family...I want them.”
  Were the last words he gave
them.

Two days later, Lincoln sat in his office chair staring out
the window. He watched as the old orange
truck Tom had used in his escape pulled in through the gate.
  Peering carefully into the windows, he made
sure it was his men that returned.  
Satisfied he spun in his chair and waited.

Boots echoed down the hall that led to his office.
  Moments later Big Mike and his youngest son rushed
into his office. Both were breathing
hard and had excited looks on their faces.

“What have you got for me?”  
Lincoln growled.

“We found them.”   Mike
said. Stepping closer to the desk, he
went on, “Tracked them to the north.  
They made it to the old Cranley place.”

Angered excitement filled Lincoln’s face as he stood.
  “Still there?”

Mike shook his head.  
“No. Grabbed a truck and took
off.”

“Then why do you have that stupid grin on your face?
  You piece of crap, I told you...”

“Relax...I know where they went.”
  With a smirk he added, “Where all of them
went, including his wife and kid.”

“Now I like the sound of that, go on.”

“One of them, the blonde, was hurt.
  They had to pack her out.
  Took off north on highway
2, headed for Newport.   I am sure
they are looking for medical supplies at the hospital there.”

Lincoln rubbed his shaved head, looking down at the
desk. Turning back to the window, he
said, “Brad and his men still there.”

“Last I heard.”

Lincoln nodded his head thinking.

Little Mikey stepped toward the desk.
  “They’re weak...we’ve thought about taking
everything they had weeks ago. I’ve been
up there. All the infected surrounded
the school...it’s the only reason they’ve survived this long.”

  Lincoln thought for a
bit. “Brad is smart, but you’re right,
they don’t have fighters. Trips and all
the others are out gathering. Let’s pull
together weapons and ammo. When they
return, we all head north.”

******

“Should we move?”  
Eddie said.

“I don’t want to.”  
Tom replied. Groaning, he sat
up. “But I guess we should.
  You did good Eddie.”

Looking back toward the wall surrounding the roof, Eddie
shook his head.

“There is nothing we could do for him.
  He knew as well as us what the risks were.”

“It’s just...it’s just seeing it...hearing it.”
  Eddie said with a shaking voice.

Tom patted Eddie’s shoulder.  
“Let’s just make it worth it.”

Eddie gave a nod of his head.

The two of them grabbed their rifles and stood.
  Tom gave an overhead wave to Hank and Dennis,
letting them know they were okay.
  From this distance it was tough to make out,
but he thought one of them waved back.  
The growls and moans of the surrounding infected made Tom want to get
inside the school as soon as possible.

“Let’s do this...rock and roll.”
  Eddie said, trying to sound tougher than he
felt.

Partway across the roof they found the door they looked
for. Tom listened intently for any signs
of infected on the other side. Not
hearing anything, he opened the door, rifle raised,
and peered into the dark stairwell.

Hank watched through his rifle scope as the two men entered
the stairway door. “Now we wait.”

Dennis let out a soft reply.  
“That didn’t go as planned.”

Standing at the top of the stairwell, Tom thought back to
Kelly and Sam. He had finally found
them...had her back in his arms, and now he risked it all.
  She had been angry when he told her.
  Unable to blame her for being upset, he could
only offer apologies that she did not want to hear.
  Understanding his reasons, she agreed with
the need, but did not okay him being on the mission.
  He just had to make sure the trip was worth
it, and that he returned to her.

Eddie whispered, “What’s up...you okay?”

“Yeah...yeah, I’m fine.”  
Tom stood thinking for a bit and then said, “This is a high school...there
will be kids.”   In the near darkness he
grabbed Eddie’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes.
  “You can’t hesitate.
  They’re not human anymore, remember that.”

Eddie nodded his head in acknowledgement.
  Even while he nodded his head, he wondered if
he would hesitate. He hoped not.

At the bottom of the stairs stood a door
with a sliver of light shining underneath.
  Using the thin light as a guide, the two men
slowly worked their way down the stairs.  
The cold cement walls offered no clues to the horrors that lay beyond.

Reaching the door, Tom held his ear to it, listening.
  From the other side of the thick steel he
could not make out anything. He wondered
if there were infected inside the building, but then quickly realized that the
trapped survivors would have at least made their way to the roof rather than
shove a makeshift flag up an exhaust tube.

“Grab the door.”   Tom
said while stepping back with his rifle raised.
  Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and the
beating of his heart thumped in his chest.  
It was go time and his body knew it.

Eddie’s hand trembled as he reached for the handle.
  He had never felt such fear in his life.
  With a quick twist he opened the door and
side stepped out of the way. Dim light
spilled in from the open doorway.

Tom looked out at the empty hallway, stacked lockers staring
back at him. He knew from the hand drawn
maps that to the right was the direction they needed
to go. “Stay tight.”
  He whispered as he stepped through the open
door.

The sound made the hairs on his arms stand on edge.
  It happened before he even made it all the
way into the hallway. Multiple
terrifying shrieks, sharp and hungry echoed down the hallway.

Turning toward the noise, Tom saw nearly a dozen infected.
  As he expected they were students, dressed in
leatherman jackets and skinny jeans.
  Tom sidestepped further into the hallway to
make room for Eddie to get out and then he began firing.
  The shots were loud in the narrow hallway,
echoing off the cement walls. The clang
of brass shell casings hitting the hard floor was drowned out by the howls of
the demented. Unable to acquire targets
and pull the trigger fast enough, the demented continued to charge.

Eddie stepped out next to him.
  Rifle raised, he immediately began firing
into the oncoming horde.

Only the sounds of rapid gunfire could be heard.
  The screaming mouths of the demented hung
open, but their shrieks were no match for the combined rifle booms.
  Blood and gore flew through the air as the
bullets ripped into them. Within seconds
all that remained was a pile of bloody bodies and the thick stench of cordite.

With the rifles quiet, they were surrounded by howls,
banging, and the thumps of pounding footsteps.  
The hornet’s nest was stirred up and they had just dug right into the
middle of it. Panic welled up inside
both of them.

Tom looked to the stairwell door and debated
retreating. From behind him came the
sound of footfalls on the tile floor.  
Spinning around, he saw a tall, lanky kid in shorts rushing toward
them. Directly behind him was another
boy, nearly naked, dried blood caking his chest and legs.
  With a boom his first shot slammed into the
tall kid’s shoulder, spinning him sideways.  
He slowed, stumbled, and fell to the floor, his face skidding on the
tile. The next demented nearly tripped
over his fallen companion.

Eddie’s rifle boomed several times, hitting the demented in
the neck and face. It crumpled to the
floor.

Tom fired another round into Tall Kid before he could regain
his feet.

Rounding the far corner were several staggering undead, moaning
and reaching with outstretched arms.  
Between them raced a couple more demented.
  They growled and shoved the slow moving
undead out of the way.

  “We have to
move.”   Tom shouted.

Not needing further encouragement, Eddie turned and ran down
the hallway. They both knew this was the
wrong direction, but they needed plan B.

Tom fired a couple quick shots into the mass of infected,
and then turned to follow him. Eddie was
nearing the end of the hall where it split to the left and right.
  Tom watched him skid to a stop, raise his
rifle, and begin sending rounds down the side hall out of sight.
  Everything seemed to be happening in slow
motion. With each boom of Eddie’s rifle,
Tom watched as his muzzle flashed with a puff of fire and smoke, a shell casing
flew into the air, flipping through space, and then clanged to the floor.
  The brass bounced and rolled across the tile,
slowly coming to rest in the groves that separated the large tiles.
  Shrieks and growls echoed down the long hall
from behind him.

Eddie was focused on firing at targets in front of him when
a gray haired woman wearing a torn dress sprinted out of the dark hall behind
him. Tom raised his rifle, firing
several rapid shots. The woman pitched
over, landing in a heap next to the growing mound of shell casings.
  Blood oozed from a wound in her head, forming
an ever growing crimson pool, dotted with shiny brass islands.

Spinning back around and dropping to one knee, Tom began
firing at the oncoming horde. Panic
welled up inside him when he saw dozens of undead staggering around the far
corner. Focusing only on the demented,
he continued to fire at them until only their slow moving brethren
remained. From behind him he heard an
empty magazine clatter to the ground.

“Loading!”
  Eddie shouted.

“I’m coming. “   Tom
shouted as he stood. Running the
remaining distance over to Eddie, Tom watched as he struggled to slam a fresh
magazine into his rifle. Nerves and
panic were taking over. He continued to
fumble with the magazine. “Stay calm.
  Focus.”
  Tom shouted.

Glancing each way, Tom could see the reason for Eddie’s
panic and sense of urgency. Several demented
sprinted at them from each direction.  
Staggering between lifeless forms on the floor were dozens of undead.
  Using his metal sights, Tom began firing into
the nearest attackers.

Two shots later his rifle ran dry.

He knew the AR was running low, but his heart still sank
when there was no reaction to his trigger pull.  
Angry growls and the sounds of pounding feet echoed toward them from all
directions. Tom could hear Eddie
fumbling with his rifle.

Panic swelled in Tom’s chest.
   His stomach knotted up.
 
Slow is
smooth, smooth is fast
he repeated to himself.

“We have to move.
This way.”   Tom
shouted while turning to make a break down the long hall to his right.
  He let his empty rifle dangle from its sling
and instead reached for his sidearm. Next
to him, Eddie stood cussing, unable to get his rifle to cooperate.

Eddie did not understand what was going on.
  He had now tried several times to get the
magazine to seat into his AR’s mag well and it would not click into place.
  The screams, growls, and thud of boots were
piercing into his brain, making it impossible to focus.
  He glanced up to see Tom beginning his dash
down the long hall. The thought of
remaining behind and swallowed up by the rushing hordes was too much for
him. A quick glance down the other halls
and the sight of what rushed at him caused Eddie to drop his rifle and chase
after Tom.

The horde that raced directly toward them was led by three
demented. One had got caught up in the
bodies that were splayed out on the floor, and was crashing face first to the
hard tile. A monstrous kid, with his
huge belly swaying from side to side as he ran, raced past his fallen
companion. It seemed impossible for such
a large body to move so swiftly.  
Trailing both of them was an older man, dressed nicely, wearing a set of
dark framed glasses.    
Nearly a dozen slow moving undead staggered in their wake.

Tom knew their only hope was to get out of the hall.
  There were far too many to gun them all
down. Not only was there those directly
in front of them, but the angered sounds of dozens more reverberated from
behind them.

Pistol raised, Tom fired several rapid shots into the
lumbering fat kid. Red splotches dotted
his tight shirt. Not waiting to see the
kid fall to the floor, Tom adjusted to the right, and squeezed off a couple
rounds at The Professor. The first shot
shattered his glasses, ripped a ragged hole right through his eye socket, and
blew red and white chunks out the back of his head.
  The third demented was using the handrail
along the wall to pull himself back to his feet.
  Next to him was a partially open doorway.

Tom continued to race down the hall, holding his pistol out
in front of him with one hand. He fired
off several shots, catching the demented in the head and again in the neck.
  Blood spilled down his chest as he slid down
the wall, leaving a large red streak behind.