Zombie Dawn Exodus (25 page)

“Yeah, I guess they might,” said Jack.

“That’s the spirit!” Wells said.

“Madison, get all the food, water, fuel and
ammunition onto your vehicles as you can, everything my people
aren’t using. Get Greg’s group to help, they have nothing left to
do. We’ll head out and fight them, give them hell. But make sure
those vehicles are ready to roll east. I promise I’ll fight them,
but I give no promise that we can win,” said Jack.

“Thank you, Jack,” said Wells.

“Alright people, mount up!” shouted Jack.

The vehicles rolled out to cheers from those left in
the town, a small but enthusiastic crowd.

“Right everyone, I want all the supplies we can get,
food, water, ammunition, clothing and bedding too. We have three
buses and three trucks. Load all of the supplies onto the pickups,
bedding into the buses. Those vehicles may become our homes for
some time, so let’s be sure they’re as comfortable as they can be!”
said Madison.

Two hours later the convoy was as prepared as it
could be, with enough supplies as they could take and still have
space for people. The twenty people that were left in Babylon took
to the walls with their weapons, both in preparation to fight, and
to rest from their rushed labour. Wells sat down on top of an
overturned bus alongside his daughter. He took out the chromed .44
Smith and Wesson from his thigh holster and popped open the
chamber, to be certain it was fully loaded. He clicked the cylinder
back into place and rested the gun in his lap, still in hand.

* * *

An hour later the trucks were reaching the walls of
Babylon. They’d killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, but the bodies
were not in sight, the massive horde covering their dead.

“You know we can’t win here,” said Madison.

“Yes, I know. But it was a dream that I had to at
least hold onto for as long as I could,” said Wells.

“Where will we go now?” asked Madison.

“Wherever God leads us,” he replied.

“Then to some place warm and safe I hope,” whispered
Madison.

The Pastor smiled, before standing up and looking
out across the few worried defenders that stood on the walls around
them, watching the endless horde of evil.

“This is it, we did our best, we had a good life
here, and we will create one as good or better somewhere else.
Greg, I want you on the easterly gate to allow the trucks in. Once
they’re through, we’ll have just five minutes to gather what last
supplies we have and then leave. I want everyone else on the walls
with me!” shouted Wells.

The guns below them rang out for the final time. The
horde was just a hundred yards from the improvised walls now.

“Fire when ready!” shouted Wells.

Madison knelt down and shouldered her AK, she had
for months wanted the opportunity to use it, though this now left a
sour taste in her mouth. She flicked the selector switch onto
semi-automatic, and opened fire. Shots rang out across the walls in
a haphazard fashion, barely making any difference to the horde’s
advance. Jack’s trucks arrived in the square just as the zombies
hit the walls.

“Everyone out! Grab everything useful you can, then
onto the buses!” shouted Jack.

Madison felt the vehicle beneath her buckle, as the
sheer pressure of the horde forcing against it was already putting
a huge strain on the defences they’d taken days to build.

“These walls aren’t going to hold much longer!”
shouted Madison.

“I know, there’s nothing more we can do here, get to
the buses!” shouted Wells.

Every survivor left immediately, leaping down from
their positions and heading for the vehicles, none wanting to risk
being left alone to the mercy of the beasts.

“Jack, that wall is gonna go any minute, we have to
leave now!”

Before Jack could answer Wells a section of the wall
broke in two, where a bus and trailer were connected, the horde
forced a gap and the zombies were pouring through.

“Greg, get the gate open! Everyone else, to the
vehicles!” shouted Jack.

Madison, Wells and Jack lifted their weapons and
fired everything they had into the oncoming creatures, before
jumping into the truck bed of Jack’s Dodge.

“Let’s go!” shouted Jack.

The vehicle’s wheels spun as it lurched forward,
storming towards the gate. They could already see the re-enforced
doors being slammed shut on the buses as they raced past them, the
other trucks following suit. Madison looked back to see the
vehicles each in turn passing out through the gate after them.

“That’s it, that’s all of them, we made it!” cried
Madison.

“Yeah, we did, for today,” said Wells.

“Where to, boss?” asked Jack.

“I was the natural leader with a community that used
its church as a centre. But we have again embarked on a new life,
one where you are that leader. Will you step up to the task?” said
Wells.

“I’ll do my best,” said Jack.

“That’s all God ever asks of anyone,” said
Wells.

“Oorah!” shouted Jack.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

HONOLULU, HAWAII

Decker examined his maps as the Mercedes Unimog made
its way along the debris filled road. Since the outbreak many of
these parts of the city had been abandoned and without maintenance
and clearing operations many of the roads were blocked and filled
with vegetation, waste and other junk that impeded their progress.
The radio crackled.

“Sir, we’re in position. We can see the warehouse
burning, we can’t see any people on the ground,” came the
voice.

“Any sign of vehicles? They must have got there
somehow,” asked Decker.

“Negative, we can hear gunfire though. Do you want
us to move in?”

“Stay where you are. We need eyes on the warehouse,
keep in contact.”

“Wait, I’ve got movement one block away. There’s a
column of vehicles in the street, but they aren’t moving. Hey, I
can..” the radio whistled and then cut out.

“Fuck!” shouted Decker as he tried to regain
contact. It was no good though, either their gear was down or they
had been eliminated.

He turned to his unit, each of the men was sitting
on the uncomfortable bench seating. The Unimog was a cross between
an agricultural off-road vehicle and a military truck. It was tall,
heavy and unstoppable but lacked all the niceties of a civilian
vehicle.

“We’ve got a problem,” said Decker.

“No shit,” answered Terry with a grin.

Decker lay the map out in front of him so the others
could see.

“What we know is that all contact has been lost with
the 3A facility. The guard unit is not responding. We have no data
or power connections and our recon element providing overwatch
reports the facility is burning and a column of vehicles is
nearby.”

“Sounds like a major operation. They must have come
in by vehicle as no aircraft were detected right?” asked Tony.

“Exactly. We have a chance to catch them if we’re
quick. The main route from the facility passes under this rail
bridge here before hitting the intersection and four different
routes. If we hurry we could establish an ambush there before they
can escape and finish whatever it is they’re doing.”

“Yeah, I like it. How long since we lost contact?”
asked Terry.

“Twelve minutes but there’s another problem. They
may have taken out our recon unit, if that’s the case then they may
have more people out there than we thought. If we’re fast we have a
good chance of cutting them off,” answered Decker, “any
questions?”

He looked around the group. Tony raised his
hand.

“Yeah, what are they doing? Why are they hitting the
compound?” he asked.

“Good point. Right now we don’t know. My guess is
either they want to cause damage, but more likely they want to take
samples.”

“Samples?” asked Terry.

“Yeah, this is an offsite medical facility for the
company. Our orders are to contain or destroy. Under no
circumstances can anything get out of the area,” he added.

“Understood?” he asked.

The rest of the unit nodded in agreement.

“Okay then, make sure your gear is ready. We’ll be
there in four minutes.”

He climbed forward so he could speak to the driver
in the crew section whilst the rest of the group double-checked
their weapons for the impending confrontation.

* * *

Jackson, Greg and Jonathan were still tied up
securely in the back of the truck when they spotted the first
zombie. Jackson thought it was one of the soldiers at first before
he realised it had stumbled out of the warehouse. He nudged
Greg.

“Looks like they missed one.”

“Hey, didn’t we see that guy inside before they
kicked us out?”

Jackson nodded and then twisted his head to the
right, trying to point out something else.

“Can you see that? Look!”

Greg strained to see where he was looking. On the
side of the warehouse was a storage bunker about the size of a
small truck and from it a cloud of vapour was leaking out. Near the
ground were the bodies of four of the soldiers who had been
detailed to protect the site. The vapour must have been heavier
than air as it clung to the ground like a mist and washed over the
bodies.

“Do you think that stuff is dangerous?” asked
Greg.

“Look,” said Jonathan.

On the ground the mist had moved on past the third
man and was slowly drifting into the centre of the facility.
Something stirred close to the building, it was the first soldier.
It looked like his foot was shaking, but then his entire body
convulsed and he shuddered and stood up.

Greg stumbled backwards into the bed of the
truck.

“Fuck me!” he shouted involuntarily.

The two men that were guarding the truck noticed him
speaking and turned and one moved towards him.

“Shut the fuck up!” he shouted.

“Hey!” called the other guard as he tapped on his
comrade’s shoulder.

Turning around they faced the recently risen soldier
who was staggering towards them. The first man lifted his M4
carbine and fired three rounds into the soldier’s chest. The man
spun and collapsed down, blood spurting from the chest wound. The
guard turned and grinned to his comrade only to find another of the
soldiers had his arm around his throat and was dragging him to the
floor. The guard shouted for help and tumbled backwards, away from
the fallen guard and his attacker.

More gunshots rang out as the bodies of the fallen
men on both sides started to get up and stagger towards the living.
Jackson wasted no time and moved to the side of the pick-up bed to
try and cut the ropes on the exposed metalwork. It was slow work
but with both guards and zombies running amok he had no choice.
Ford and his group of guards emerged from the warehouse with the
last of the patients. As they moved to the vehicles yet more of the
recently risen zombies followed to attack them. Controlled and
accurate fire from the men kept them out of danger, but the longer
they stayed the greater the number of zombies.

“Sir!” shouted one of the men as the patient on the
trolley started to convulse violently.

Ford stepped back just in time to see the person
throw off his blanket and start shouting.

“What the hell is going on? Where am I?” he
screamed.

One of the guards stepped forward to try and
restrain him yet the man simply smashed his face with his fist. The
force of the blow shocked Ford as he watched his guard fall to the
ground with blood streaming from his face. The patient started to
shake as though he was experiencing muscle spasms.

“What...have..you done to me?” he screamed before
falling to the ground.

“Leave him!” shouted Ford as he ran on to the
vehicles.

The front of the warehouse vanished in a bright
blast that demolished its outer wall and anybody within twenty
feet. Dust, debris and smoke blasted in all directions, including
directly at the pickup truck that was smashed onto its side by the
blast. Jackson was thrown violently against the body work, his head
smashing into the bed before he passed out.

* * *

Decker and his unit rounded the corner of the street
and approached the railway bridge with caution. In the distance
they could all see the red glow of the warehouse. To make matters
worse they could also hear the sound of a battle. A Toyota Corolla
sped from a side street and narrowly avoided them before ploughing
directly into one of the abandoned homes.

“What the hell’s going on?” said Jason.

Along the street were small groups of people making
their way away from the suburbs towards the seafront. It was hard
to tell in the night light if they were running, walking or
fleeing. Decker leaned over the side of the slow moving Unimog.

“What’s going on?” he shouted.

The first person ignored him but the second, a woman
in her thirties, called up to him.

“The creatures, they’re here. They’re all over the
docks!” she shouted as she moved past.

“Creatures,” shouted Tony, “she means the undead?
They’re here?”

A pickup truck came rushing down the road in their
direction. As it drove past them they spotted a man firing a rifle
back towards the docks.

“This doesn’t look good does it!” observed
Jason.

Decker banged on the crew cab to get the attention
of the driver.

“Get us there fast!” he shouted before pulling out
his radio.

“Decker here, we’ve got a serious problem. The dock
area is compromised, we have a breach. I repeat, we have a breach,”
he said.

“Are you sure, Decker? If the facility is breached
we will have to evacuate the entire island. I need you to confirm.
We have a helicopter on its way to collect you. Get me intel and
fast!” came back the reply from Dr Murphy back at the research
station.