Z-Risen (Book 3): Poisoned Earth (17 page)

#29 - Reavers

06:55 hours approximate

Location:
Just outside of Oceanside

The first order of business
was to get Frosty out of the truck. She growled at the military guys, but they were flesh and living blood, so after a little coaxing she began to enjoy the attention. Most of the guys cautiously approached her and took turns patting her head. A few found treats in their pockets and bribed friendship.

Our new friends
put Roz in the back of a military truck. When Joel tried to join her they politely, but firmly, pointed him in the direction of a HMMWV-looking beast of a truck. We piled in and I was reminded of our escape from the military hospital a month or so ago. We’d fled, Joel and I holding on for dear life while a gunner shot the Zs that pursued us.

When there was a break in the action, the warriors took turns inspecting weapons, reloading, and playing grab-ass. A woman with a scar across her face smacked a guy’s hand away and then punched him in the chest, but she smiled and said something that made him laugh.

Joel and I took turns showing off our dog tags to Ramirez so we looked legit. One of the guys shook his head and looked away with a snort. Joel dug out a battered wallet and extracted his military ID. I had mine around here somewhere, but it was probably buried in the bottom of my bag. Ramirez looked Joel's over, looked at him a few times and then shook his hand.

“What’s wrong with that guy who looked like someone pissed in his Cheerios?” I asked Joel after he and Ramirez were done with their little bonding moment.

“Could be we took the tags off a couple of dead bodies. He doesn’t know us and we look like shit. When’s the last time we tried to look like we belong in the military? That’s why I dug out my ID.”

“Who’s got time for that Mickey Mouse bullshit? I’m glad to wake up every day. Shaving would be nice, sure, so would a shower, and a turkey and mashed potato dinner. None of that shit’s gonna happen anytime soon.”

Anna approached Ramirez and took him to the side. They spoke together for several minutes while she dug out a beat-up looking wallet and showed him the contents. Whatever she put in front of his face must have triggered something, because he nodded at her and then they both got very serious.

I drifted toward them, hoping to catch a hint of what the mysterious Anna Sails said, but she shot me a look and I gave up on learning her secrets.

Joel stowed his assault rifle in the back of a rig under the watchful eye of one of the men. I kept my wrench at my side and my gun in its holster. If they decided they needed to take our weapons, I was sure Anna and Joel would have a few choice words for them. Besides, we were outnumbered by a healthy margin, and we had a kid with us. As far as threats went, we were slightly above sad puppies.

Joel shook hands with a couple of men and crawled in the back of their vehicle. I tried to wave at him, to offer a half-assed flag of apology for our words earlier, but I didn’t think he saw me.

Frosty stuck to Christy and followed her to our vehicle, licking every hand in sight as she passed soldiers. The woman with the scar on her face dropped to a crouch and cautiously pulled our dog into an embrace. Frosty looked at me with her big eyes, tongue lolling out as she waited patiently for the woman to let go.

Anna was done with her pep talk and joined us. She didn’t meet my eye, but got into the back of the transport and settled in. She looked cool as she stared out the window. She had a look on her face I hadn’t seen very often over the last few weeks: she was determined.

“I don’t suppose you want to share your conversation with Ramirez?” I leaned over and whispered.

“I don’t suppose you want to mind your own fucking business?” she shot back.

I bit off a retort when Christy crawled over Anna and sat between us. Frosty followed her and took up most of the floor space under Anna. Anna didn’t mind, and told Frosty she was a good girl.

Christy looked very small and afraid. I dropped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into me. She hugged me back.

“Are we going to be safe now?” Christy asked me.

“I hope so. I’m sick and tired of being on the run all the time.”

“What if these guys aren’t good and they want to, you know,
do
stuff to us?” Christy whispered.

“Then they’ll have to go through me,” I whispered back, trying to sound tough.

The rest of the crew piled into vehicles. Then someone gave a signal and we lurched into motion.

“What’s the base like?” I asked our driver.

“Like a brick fucking fortress, brother. We got the Seabees to build the walls and they’re about ten feet high. Got heavy equipment blocking some of the entrances. Talk about zulu-stoppers, this thing is meant to
sustain
. Regular choppers come in and drop supplies during the week. Then we got water coming in on the weekends. Sometimes we got us a surplus and you can even take a shower.”

I didn’t catch the guy’s name, but he was sitting next to Ramirez. Ramirez, for his part, had stopped being Chatty Cathy. If he had anything to interject about us or where we were going, he kept his mouth shut.

“How long has Obstacle, what was it, Echo, been there?”

“Outpost Obstacle Charlie. Been there for over a month now and we’ve repelled the best the goddamn jumpers threw at us, plus the Reavers. The worst assault was a week or so ago. We held our own and left a pile of bodies. Worst part was cleanup,” he said.

“That’s not the first time I've heard about the Reavers. Who are they?”

“Crazies, man. They want to run a cult or something--least, that’s what I hear from up high. They fight the Zs, but they have a hard-on for those green-eyed bastards. I also heard they're working with the jumpers.”

I shook my head. “So how’d the other bases go down?” I asked.

The man looked at Ramirez. The two exchanged a look, but the southerner didn’t answer, and neither did Ramirez.

“Name’s Cook, by the way. Freddy Cook.”

We made our introductions. Sails did her thing where her voice changed as she announced she was a lieutenant commander.

“Well, ma’am. Sure is nice to have you all along for the ride,” he said, and then went silent again.

We poked along roads, avoiding wrecks. Ramirez kept speaking into his microphone and advising which routes to avoid. We came across a mound of bodies, and everyone looked away. We passed a freeway entrance that was blocked by a semi that had crashed into the rail. Another car was wedged under the wreck.

The truck bumped over debris, and slowed when there was a pile-up ahead.

We moved away from the rural area and skirted a couple of shopping centers. Zs littered the roads and sidewalks--some moving, but most lying in heaps on the ground. There were a couple of times when I thought I saw green eyes regarding us, but I couldn’t be sure in the light of day.

The driver found a back road and took to it at speed. We rolled past apartment buildings and gas stations, coffee stands, and convenience stores, all of which lay like wrecks of society. The few Zs we spotted kept to themselves.

We’d gone a few more miles when something in the distance caught my eye.

“What the hell is that?” Anna said, pointing out the disturbance.

Our ride slowed, because the vehicle ahead of us decelerated. Joel kept his eyes on the truck behind us, because Roz was in it. Ramirez said something into his microphone, and we all pulled over.

In the distance, something burned. We’d just left a fucking pile of ash behind us, and now there was a fire ahead.

Ramirez issued orders over his microphone. A couple of guys got out of the head vehicle and went to investigate.

“What’s happening up there?” I asked.

“Might be civvies got stuck. Going to take a look,” Ramirez said.

“What if it’s Reavers?” I asked.

Anna snorted.

“What?” I argued. “Sounds like a bunch of wackos out there. Remember McQuinn?”

“I remember him well enough. I also remember that he got his ass kicked,” Anna said.

“Bad stuff happens when the world goes to hell, man. People forget what it’s like to be civilized. Luckily, part of the military survived and got organized. That’s why we set up these bases and the battle lines. First month, it was all about survival. Now it’s all about reestablishing order,” Ramirez said.

Soldiers got out of trucks and set up a perimeter while a couple of them scouted ahead.

“What happened right after the outbreak? We’ve been on the run for a long time and we were on a ship when it all went down,” I said.

“Not much to tell. World went to shit. Zulus became the enemy, as well as everyone’s neighbor. When the power went out, that was the worst. You’d hear screaming and gunfire all night. Rapes, murders, it was like medi-fucking-eval times, brother. There were a lot more of us, but a lot of uniforms left and went looking for families. Some of us stayed and waited for order to be restored.”

“Glad you all stuck it out. We've been playing hide and seek for weeks, and it sucked,” I said.

“Yeah, man. I feel ya. Once we started establishing bases, there was an initiative put forward to clear the cities. Not easy, trust me on that one. We set up patrols that went out and made a lot of noise. They’d fall back, with a horde of the enemy in pursuit. Once they reached the line, we went to work and put them down. Set up big ditches and did the dirty deed. Thing was, we didn’t have to shoot them all. Big old bulldozers moved in and pushed the bodies into the pits.”

I shuddered.

“What happened to the Zs after that?” Joel said.

“We buried 'em under rocks and ten feet of dirt. Sometimes we demolished buildings and put the rubble in the tombs. Don’t know how many we’ve put in the ground, but it’s a lot.”

Visions of Nazis stuffing graves with Jewish bodies filled my mind.

“That is fucked up,” I said.

“The worst thing is that it’s not even one percent of the dead. We have a long way to go.”

It wasn’t what I meant, but I let it go. No sense in arguing with our would-be rescuers.

The large truck that had been following maneuvered around us and then sped up the street.

I leaned forward and said, “Wait, Roz is in that truck.”

“It’s okay. Road's been cleared all the way back to base, and they need to get her into medical right away. We’ll just take a look and then follow them,” Ramirez answered.

“Will she be okay?” I asked.

He looked at me but didn’t say a word.

“Any of you guys got .357 ammo?” Anna asked.

“I think Park has some, but he’s in the other truck. We got a bunch of 5.56 and some .40. Thing is--and I’m not going to beat around the bush here, friends--we’d prefer if ya’ll keep your weapons holstered. Now, I’m not saying you’re bad people, but this is a bad world, and a bad world makes people do bad things.”

He was right about that.

“We’re not going to do anything stupid,” Anna said.

“Didn’t say you were, just stating that we all want to stay friends.”

I sat back in my seat and stared out the window at the departing truck.

Ramirez got out, but Cook stayed in the running automobile. Anna was close behind Ramirez as he hit the ground. I sat for a few seconds, then decided that I didn’t like the idea of sitting on my ass, so I followed them.

“Jackson?” Christy asked.

“Hang loose, dude. I’ll be right back.”

“What should I do?”

“Don’t shoot anyone unless you have to, and keep an eye on that mongrel dog of ours,” I added with a wink. Thing was, I wasn’t leaving Christy alone in the vehicle with someone I didn’t know. I stood near the door and kept an eye on Christy, but I also unlimbered my wrench.

Another transport came to a halt, and men popped out until there were five surrounding us. They moved crisply, and their gear and clothes, for the most part, were clean. Something I hadn’t seen in a long time was military precision. These guys actually gave me hope.

###

07:10 hours approximate

Location: Just outside of Oceanside

Ramirez gathered his men up into a semi-circle and said a few words to them. He issued orders, checked on the status of his team, and asked questions about the fire. I found a free section of truck and leaned against it.

The respite was welcomed; we’d been running on pure adrenaline for the last few hours, and now my energy was fading. I wanted to sleep, so I took a deep breath, leaned back and closed my eyes for a few seconds.

Voices whispered around me as I drifted. Faces flashed, and memories of our flight from the house flooded my sleep-deprived mind.

Someone screamed in the distance, but I shook my head and fled from the horrors we’d seen over the last few days.

I closed my eyes again, but not for long.

Gunfire rattled me out half-sleep into full fucking alert. My heart hammered in my chest as more guns opened fire around us. Something clattered off the door, and that made me hit the deck.

Joel stood by the second transport, but when shots echoed, he moved into action. He reached into the back of the vehicle and tugged his
assault rifle out of storage. Joel moved quickly toward the front of the car. The driver had already popped out of his seat and was looking for targets, gun at high ready.

A couple of guys took up station along the side of the road and pointed their guns. I stood around with my dick in my hands, wondering what to do. Gunfire? Check. Unknown assailants? Check.

I stayed next to the vehicle and tried to be small.

Rounds clattered across the back of the second vehicle. Joel lifted his rifle and aimed, but I couldn’t tell what he was looking for. I risked a glance over the door, but all I saw were shadowy figures in the distance, moving away from the fire. They were armed, but I wasn’t sure if they were friend or foe.

Ramirez yelled into his headset, looking for his team. He called to them several times.

“What’s the word?” Joel yelled.

I decided that my word was “Get the fuck into the fight,” and took out the XDM. Anna skirted the front of the vehicle until she reached my position.

Frosty growled from within the truck.

Men deployed from one of the other vehicles, dropping to the side of the road. They moved next to a low line of grass and took aim at the figures moving toward us.

A bullet whizzed overhead. I spun and tried to find the source, but I felt very much like a bug under a flyswatter I couldn’t see coming.

Ramirez dropped to his knee, lifted his assault rifle, and fired in the direction of the houses along our side. Someone returned fire, so I hit the deck. Anna was right next to me. She pulled her Smith & Wesson and aimed.

“Who the hell is shooting at us?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Suppressing fire there,” Ramirez yelled and pointed at a house. “I want a line of fire on our six. Collins, and Mertz, don’t shoot until you’re sure, but when you’re sure, make it count. I’m ready to call it but we need to hear back from our patrol.”

“Got it, Sarge,” one of the guys called back.

“Perkins, find me some targets and erase them. Park, set up the big gun.”

I thought about hiding under the vehicle, but with my luck I’d probably get run over as soon as they decided to haul ass.

“I got movement at ten o’clock. I’m going to drop them unless it’s our patrol,” Joel said.

“We don’t know yet,” Ramirez said.

I hustled to the rear of the vehicle and put Joel between me and them. I’d taken out my 9mm, but no one had told me which direction to shoot in.

I held the 9mm next to my chest, hoping a target would present itself. Ramirez squatted next to me and screamed orders into his headset. It was all "Move here, bring in guys there, cover this, and cover that." He called for support and got a positive response, based on his tone. This was all very reassuring, because I didn’t think I could clench my butt cheeks any tighter if I tried.

“Suppressive fire!” yelled Park and turned his gun on a house at our ten o’clock.

Joel Kelly joined in and ripped a few shots at windows. Glass shattered and holes appeared. I’d never in my entire life wanted to be hidden inside a tank until this moment.

One of the guys in the lead vehicle hit the ground and ran to an outcropping of rock. He slid behind cover and quickly popped up and fired. Another man was hot on his heels and slid next to him.

“Movement at three o’clock,” someone yelled.

“Let 'em pass. That’s Eakins and Ellis back from scouting the fire. When they get here we are going to evac. Cooper, lay down some smoke.”

“You got it, boss,” Cooper said.

“More movement on our twelve,” one of the men called.

Ramirez did a quick scan of the area.

“Alright, gents, we have no more than ten hostiles. I want them put down. Ellis and Eakins, flank that low hill. You see anyone in black, you put 'em down. Park, I want you taking down targets in those houses. Cook, you and me are going to lead the assault.”

“Assault?” I swallowed.

“Just stay here and try not to get shot,” Ramirez said.

Joel tagged along with Ramirez and Cook as they moved out. The three moved quickly, assault rifles on shoulders as they ran.

A Reaver got brave, popped up and fired on the men, but he shot wildly. He didn’t get a chance to fire another volley; he was blown off his feet when Joel Kelly put a pair of bullets through his chest.

A couple of figures fled the house and ran across the street. Park opened fire on their location and tagged one. He fell to the ground, his buddy dropping next to him, then fired a few rounds in our direction.

Park hit the ground, and before he could return fire, the pair had hobbled around the side of another house. Park didn’t give up, and shot at the location for a few seconds. The men did not reappear.

The helicopter thumped overhead as it took up station. The Reavers must have decided they’d had enough, because they turned and ran. More gunfire was exchanged.

Cooper pulled a pair of grenades from his pack and handed one to Joel. They nodded at each other and almost in unison pulled pins and tossed. A pair of pops echoed and then smoke rolled out and began to cover us from the houses.

“Second floor window, more movement,” one of the men behind the rock called.

His partner, Park, turned his big-ass machine gun on the area and opened up. Whatever he was using to shoot with required the gun to have a bipod deployed from near the barrel of the gun. He grabbed it, and it looked like he was holding on for dear life as it rattled. His partner dropped to the side with his hands pressed to his ears
as guns boomed.

The window and surrounding wall became shattered glass and shards of wood as rounds punched into the home. Someone screamed, but not for very long.

The gunner shifted his aim and lit up another section of the house.

“Fall back, Ellis and Eakins are here. We’re moving out,” Ramirez yelled.

His men moved fast, grabbing gear, slinging guns, keeping low, and moving to the vehicles. All told, it couldn’t have taken more than ten seconds for them to get back into the trucks and prepare to drive us anywhere but here.

Anna stormed around the side of our truck, then paused to stare hard at something in the low outcropping of shrub near us. She lifted her revolver, and a pair of rounds snapped smartly.

“More shufflers, but they are so damn fast,” she said as she got back in the truck.

“Shufflers?” I huffed as I got back in the truck and slid next to Christy.

Frosty kept her head down, ears down, and tail tucked. I didn’t blame her one bit.

As we piled in, she shrunk into the seat and huddled next to me. The lead vehicle moved out with ours close behind before doors had been shut.

A helicopter buzzed overhead, passed us, and then came back. I half-expected that it would fire on us, but instead it swung to the side and a rattling filled the air. We were a good twenty-five feet away, and expended rounds clattered across the pavement as a machine gun opened up. The front of a house blew inward. The shooter paused and shot again, blowing part of the second house to smithereens.

We were already on the move, but figures in black garb popped up on one side of the road. They were armed with machine guns and rocket launchers. I thought it was amazing that a full task force had arrived to help us--until they started shooting.

###