Last Stand of the Dead - 06

  White Flag of the Dead

  Book VI: Last Stand of the Dead

  By

  Joseph Talluto

  Chapter 1

  “Are you kidding me?” I was stunned stupid. There was no other way to describe it. I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “They’re right there! Just get a patrol across and find a way to pin them down!”

  “Can’t be done right now, sorry.” Colonel Freeman seemed sincerely apologetic. “The damn truck is stuck and there’s little we can do until the other truck gets in place.”

  “Unbelievable. They are right damn there, and your stupid soldier goes and blocks everything because he can’t figure out what goddamn gear the goddamn truck is in! Jesus Christ!”

  I was fit to be tied. We had finally managed to catch up to the little zombies that had been tearing across Iowa, and we finally had figured out how they were travelling undetected. But just as they slipped across the river into Illinois, some dumb ass manages to let them get away. I let the trooper know what I felt in no uncertain terms. Charlie was next to me and I could see he was as angry as I was.

  “No offense, sir, but lighten the fuck up. It was a mistake. You’ve probably made the same, too,” The soldier replied. He was shorter than I was, and although he had a layer of fat on him, there was still plenty of muscle underneath.

  That was it. I didn’t wind up, I just uppercut from the waist, taking the smart-ass on the chin and knocking him to the ground. In an instant, several of the troopers friends jumped in, and I had my hands full, blocking punches and dishing out punishment. The numbers actually worked for me, since there were too many of them to attack, all at once. I had my arm wrapped around one soldier’s neck and was pulling on the ear of another, when a third stepped in front of me and pulled his fist back for a serious punch to my head. I couldn’t do anything but watch it come when suddenly, the man’s head snapped sideways and he fell to the ground.

  Charlie had entered the fray. Between the two of us, we beat the crap out of the small platoon that had backed up the corporal who had caused the headaches in the first place. I took out my frustration by distributing busted noses, cracked ribs, and loose teeth.

  When we dropped the last one, we turned back to the bridge and found ourselves staring at the muzzles of five rifles. Apparently, the men had friends who weren’t happy with us.

  “On the ground! Now!” One of the men shouted furiously.

  Neither of us moved. I stared at the man in front of me who held the rifle with unsteady hands.

  “Not likely. Put your weapons down. That’s an order,” I said.

  “You don’t give me orders. My orders come from Colonel Freeman. Get your ass on the ground or I will put you down.” The soldier, whose name badge read Williams, took a small step forward to punctuate his words.

  “Williams? Put that rifle down or I’ll make you wish you had.” I was calculating the odds, and I figured I could take the two on the left before they knew what was happening, and I knew Charlie was focusing on the two on the right. The one in the middle would be a problem, and I might have to take a bullet before I could get him. I didn’t relish that idea, but I was just mad enough.

  “That’s enough!” Colonel Freeman’s voice cut through the air. “Mr. Talon, Mr. James, would you please let us handle this?”

  “Talon?” Williams said to himself, as he lowered his rifle. “No way.”

  I leaned in close as I went by. “Way.” As I walked away towards our trucks, I overheard Colonel Freeman chewing out his men.

  “Damn fools. You looking to get killed?” The colonel helped several of the men to their feet.

  “I had the drop on him, sir,” Williams said defensively.

  “He’d have killed you for it, and if he didn’t, his wife would have. And you’re in serious shit for disobeying orders, soldier.” Colonel Freeman pointed over to our trucks where Sarah was standing in the bed, a rifle at the ready to drop anyone foolish enough to start shooting.

  “Whose orders, sir?” Williams was confused.

  “His, jackass.”

  I lost the rest of the conversation as I reached the truck and helped Sarah down. We were about fifty yards on the bridge leading across the Mississippi from Iowa to Illinois. We had been chasing ghosts across the state for the better part of a week, and just as we thought we had the little zombies caught in a vise, they slipped across thanks to our oversight. With the delay caused by the truck, we were swiftly losing our tactical advantage and would have to start all over again chasing the little zombies.

  When this all started, I had no idea what we were going up against. All we had known was several towns had fallen off the grid and three groups of investigators had disappeared. The mystery turned out to be a large group of zombie children, moving fast, infecting towns, and wiping out large portions of the post-upheaval communities. These zombies were fast, smart, and somehow able to communicate with each other. They were the deadliest things we had ever come across, and so far, had managed to outsmart all of us.

  “You okay?” Sarah asked, taking my hand and looking over my knuckles. They were a little swollen, but not bloodied. Charlie at least had the presence of mind to have his gloves on, so his hands were fine.

  “Our luck continues to hold,” I said darkly, looking over at the soldiers who were getting to their feet and casting evil glares our way. I figured our welcome with this bunch was at an end, and I could honestly say, I was glad to be done with it.

  “What are we going to do now?” asked Tommy. He and Duncan were at the van, both of them holding rifles and matching the soldiers glare for glare. Duncan was smiling and winking at the soldiers, and it was only a matter of time before some hothead tried to make a point.

  I thought about it for a minute. “We’re done. We found what the problem was; we got the army where they were supposed to be, so we just need to get the hell home and away from all of this. It’s not our problem. We fulfilled our obligation.”

  Charlie spoke up. “Maybe so, but we can’t just walk away and let this group of knuckleheads try and save the world. We’d be going back into a dead state.”

  Duncan and Tommy nodded, and I knew what they were saying was true.

  “All right. All right. You’re right, we can’t just let it fly. If for no other reason than we need their firepower. I feel better for saying it though,” I said.

  That got a chuckle and we settled in to wait. I figured the truck would be cleared in a few minutes and we’d be on our way after the zombies within the next half hour.

  It was a good plan, and I felt better for it.

  Chapter 2

  An hour and a half later, I was beyond fuming. I had left Madville a few miles down the road and was pulling up to Ragetown, with Insanityburg just over the hill. The soldiers had managed to fail in the removal of the stuck truck, but the other one, which was supposed to pull the stuck one out, had also become stuck in the roadbed. Apparently, the driver, a kid about seventeen, thought to take a shortcut around a car, and misread the embankment. Twelve soldiers were trying to push out a four-ton truck from a ditch and up a thirty-degree incline.

  We weren’t going anywhere from here. I was done, and the crew was too.

  “Okay, we’re leaving,” I announced. Everyone agreed with me, and I went over to where the Colonel was berating his men for the delay.

  “This is unacceptable! I can’t believe we have the enemy within reach and we are stuck here on this goddamn bridge! Get men over to the other side right now! If nothing else, see if they can pick up some sign as to the enemy’s direction, and we can get them later. You five, go!” Colonel Freeman was about as angry as I was, but I had to agree his suggestion made sense
.

  “Colonel Freeman?” I stepped up beside the man, ignoring the glares of the men with bruised and bloodied faces.

  Freeman spun around, ready to unleash another tirade, but he saw it was me. His demeanor softened somewhat, but not by much.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Talon? We’re trying as best we can.” Freeman wiped his forehead with a small bandanna.

  “We’re going to take our trucks and head south, cross the river, and see if we can pick up the trail of the zombies. We’ll move faster than the men you’ve placed over there, and we’ll report to you their movements. Sound good?” I said.

  Colonel Freeman thought about it as he watched his five men disappear over the bridge and head towards the railroad bridge that the little zombie kids had used.

  “Sounds good. We’re using channel three for routine communication, so you can reach us that way,” he said.

  “Thanks, I remember. We’ll be seeing you.” I shook his hand and went back to the truck and van, feeling a lot better that we were heading out and away from this mess. If they couldn’t cross a bridge without trouble, I didn’t want to be anywhere near them when the bullets started flying.

  I told the crew what we were going to do and they all agreed. Duncan had a question, though.

  “What the hell happened to the army?” He asked. “A few years ago, we kicked the crap out of the zombies, knocked them back to the mountains and sealed them away for good. This group would have been lunch in ten minutes.”

  Charlie fielded this one. “These aren’t the same men who came with us to fight. The army we had was all veterans of the upheaval and had been surviving since day one. They had faced their zombie and killed it, before the war to take it all back began. When the call came to finish the job, every single one of them knew the enemy, knew what the Z’s could do, and were ready for it. The ones who made mistakes were already dead. We could drop any of our group into zombie-infested areas and unless something went seriously wrong, they would be able to survive and get out, killing a hell of a lot of zombies along the way.

  “These guys are the ones we left behind, because they weren’t old enough to fight yet, and their fathers had been the ones to protect them from the zombies in the first place. They can shoot, but can they fight? Don’t know for sure. The guys we fought with are scattered all over, taking their due from the peace they earned. We could get them back, but it would take weeks for the word to get out, and by the time we had enough together with the right supplies, the little zombies would have made their own army invincible.”

  I looked at Charlie in surprise, along with Tommy and Duncan. That was probably the longest speech I had ever heard Charlie make.

  Shaking it off, I said, “Let’s get going. Those zombies are getting further into Illinois with every minute, and we need to figure out where they’re travelling.”

  We got back in the vehicles and slowly wound our way through the rest of the army, as they waited for the road to clear. Many of the men were lounging about, lying in the sun and just taking it easy. A couple was using the time to clean their rifles, and those were the ones I figured would do better than the others. They at least had their priorities straight, and could be certain of their guns’ functionality in case of need.

  We cleared the southern end of Burlington and made our way south. We had to detour several times, since the airport was in that area and was choked with cars that had never been removed. There was no place to put them, so they just stayed and rusted. I noticed none of them had any occupants, ghouls or otherwise, so this may have been one of those rare, orderly evacuations.

  We took Madison Avenue out of the city proper and followed the river south. Sarah was looking nervous, but I didn’t need to ask what was wrong. She was thinking about our children, and hoping to get there as quickly as possible. I didn’t admit it out loud, but I was thinking the same thing. I had a bad feeling our screw-up at the bridge was going to cost us dearly.

  Madison Avenue turned into County Road X62 for no apparent reason, and then it became Summer Street, since it turned a corner. We took Highway 61 south, which became 354 Ave just for the hell of it. Tommy called from the van and asked when we had returned to Ohio. I guess he had been paying attention to the street signs as well, as he was equally confused as to why the roads just couldn’t be one name from beginning to end.

  We passed by Hillcrest Memorial Park, a vast forested area with a little go-cart track on the east end. South of that, we reached the Great River Road and prepared to cross the bridge into Illinois. I stopped the truck and got out, with Sarah tossing me curious looks. I held up a finger to Charlie, who gave me a quizzical look as well.

  The bridge was an interesting affair, combining a car bridge with a railroad bridge. The car part was on top as it crossed the river, and on the other side, the two separated and were next to each other before splitting completely. I hadn’t seen one like it before and it caught my attention. The road rose sharply up and I couldn’t see anything after twenty yards.

  What also caught my attention was the three army trucks parked on the bridge, angled and arranged in such a way as to funnel attackers into a narrow choke point along the far north side, allowing for easier kills and greater control. Whoever had been in charge of this group knew what they were doing. That same person was currently missing, which had me curious as hell.

  I pulled my rifle out of the back of the truck, and handed Sarah hers as well.

  “What’s the story?” Tommy asked, looking over the trucks on the bridge.

  “Don’t know yet,” I said. “The trucks are here, they had to have gotten the message to rejoin the army by now. Where could they all have gone?”

  Duncan moved cautiously over to the trucks and using the tip of his sword, eased the canvas back on the rear of the trucks. Sarah joined him and aiming her rifle as he opened the door, the two of them checked the cab of each vehicle.

  Both of them returned quickly with more confusing news.

  “No blood or any sign of trouble on any of the vehicles,” Duncan said.

  “The keys are even in the ignitions,” added Sarah.

  Stranger and stranger. “Okay, well, it really isn’t our problem; they probably spent the night in some house and aren’t back yet. Duncan and Tommy, get the two far vehicles backed up and out of the way, we’ll be able to get around them. Charlie, you and Rebecca are with Sarah and I, we’ll check the nearby houses and see if we can find them.”

  Heads nodded and we were about to move when Tommy shouted from the bridge.

  “We’ve got company!”

  Chapter 3

  We all looked in Tommy’s direction, and sure enough, there were five men moving slowly along the bridge. Even from this distance, we could tell who they were, and more importantly, what they were.

  “Looks like they got caught out in the open,” Charlie said, as he looked them over through his rifle scope.

  “How bad?” I asked.

  “Lot a bites, lot of blood,” Charlie reported. “Looks like they died hard.”

  “No doubt,” Sarah said, looking through her own scope. “Wonder if the rest are on the other side of the river.”

  “We’ll see, I’m sure. Duncan! Watch yourself!” I yelled.

  Duncan stood up on the running board of one of the trucks and looked towards the oncoming soldiers. He waved to us, and then took a minute to back the truck up. Parking it, he looked again at the oncoming zombies and I could see him calculating the timing. He must have figured he could get it done, so he ran to the next truck, and moved it back alongside the others. He got out just as the ghouls were stumbling into fighting range.

  Duncan pulled out his pistol and fired three shots at the nearest ones, striking them in the head and knocking them to the ground.

  I wish I could have seen Duncan’s face when the Z’s he had shot didn’t stay down, they got back up and started moving for him again. But I did get to see his face as he raced back to our position. If ever the
re was a poster for “WTF,” Duncan’s face was it.

  Charlie was the first to get the point across and clarify things for Duncan.

  “Ever wonder why they’re called ‘bullet-proof helmets?’” He asked.

  Duncan stared at Charlie for a moment. “Oh, geez.” He wasn’t as much embarrassed, as he was dreading the inevitable teasing that was going to follow once we finished up this business.

  We all chuckled a bit, I watched as Sarah and Rebecca stabilized their rifles on the hood of the truck. Sarah fired first, sending a round through the eye of the closest zombie, dropping him to the ground.

  Rebecca killed the next, shooting him dead before the first even hit the dust. Sarah followed suit and the next four were eliminated quickly.

  I went over to the corpses to make sure they were dead, but it was clear they weren’t coming back. The bullets had entered their heads, bounced off the Kevlar helmets, and reentered the skulls, seriously scrambling their signals. The clothing on several had been torn around the legs and arms, telling me there had been several attackers. A couple of the soldiers had huge tears in their throats, which told me that they had been attacked while they were sleepin, or had been finished off when they had been taken to the ground. Either way, it wasn’t a good way to go.

  Tommy joined me at the corpses, while the rest of the crew waited by the trucks.

  “Something about this is sitting wrong, John,” he said.

  I looked around for any movement stirred up by the shots before answering. “Talk to me. What’s on your mind?”

  “If these guys had bunked in the trucks, they’d have been pretty safe from attack. So they had to be coaxed out.” Tommy looked down at the soldiers. “How could they have been lured out?”

  I shook my head. “We aren’t going to find answers here, and the only place to get them is where they came from.” I pointed to the other side of the river. “We have to get over there anyway.”