Dead Ones

Chapter 13: Danger

"Do you truly believe we are in danger?" I asked the wanderer Cole. "Yes. All of you," he said hazily. "Why have you come all this way just to tell us this?" I asked him. "We are nothing to you but strange people in a strange place," I said. He stared blankly through his curtain of dirty blonde hair. "I had a feeling you were going to attempt to do something stupid," he said simply. "Well, since you are here, you might as well come within the walls," I said to him. "We've got running water, power, and food," I added. "I am going to have to refuse," he said. "I am a wanderer. I watch from a distance. I do not meddle with what is not my business," he said. "The offer still stands. I appreciate this warning you bring," I told him. "You aren't going to listen to my warning?" he asked, in a mild concerned tone. "You can tell me the world would end sunrise tomorrow and I'd still live life normal until then. We may be in danger, but I promise you, the danger we are in does not compare to the fraction of danger those bucket heads are in," I said to him chuckling. He shook his head slightly. "Ones you care about will die and you could have prevented this," he said grimly. He placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer. He brought his lips close to my ear. "If you do not turn back now and leave things how they must be, you will never be the same man you are now," he whispered. He broke away from me and walked away from the community. The gate closed slowly and I stood for a moment, staring in the very place the man once stood. Everyone changes with time, I was aware of that, but he makes it sound like waging war against our scum of the earth neighbors that we have, will change me for good. I walked back to the group of people awaiting my return. "Grab ammo bags, grab food, grab medical, we're leaving in ten," I said to them. I walked to the vehicle lot and picked out my car I was going to use to lead the caravan. A sleek black 1969 corvette. Not the most practical vehicle when the world ends, but hey, more practical than the diesel engines the enemy was using, plus I'd be riding in style. Quite a statement to the enemy that instead of riding decked out armored vehicles, my crew and I had the balls to travel in civilian vehicles. Now, our options were limited, but that was besides the point. Before stepping inside of it, the Father approached me. "I want to leave you with something," he said. People gathered around. "Psalm 23:4 - 'Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me'," he spoke to the group. "Let these words guide you along your journeys," he said. People hugged their families good bye and loaded into vehicles. I sat alone in my two seater car. I fired up the engine and revved it a couple of times. I backed out of the lot and pulled onto the main path that led to the gate. I rolled down the windows and hung an arm out of it. I drove slowly down the path. My passenger door opened and Maria slid into the seat next to me. "Figured you could use some company. Besides, the boys car is a little too rowdy for me," she said with a smile. I smiled back with a chuckle. We drove down the path until at the gate. The caravan behind me. Sophie approached my open window. She leaned in and I gave her a half-hug from inside the car. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the key to the armory vault. "Take care of it while I'm gone, yeah?" I said. "Of course," she said, taking it. I pulled the necklace containing my wife's ring from being tucked under my shirt. I kissed it gently as the gate opened. I let it fall onto the outer side of my shirt, presenting itself to the world. If she was watching over me, I needed her now more than ever. I raised my hand up out of the window, signaling for the vehicles behind mine to go. I stepped on the gas pedal. The tires screeched for traction for a moment, then caught onto the road. We were cruising down the road at a high rate of speed. I picked up my mask which sat on the console next to me. I slid it onto my face as I drove. The Hive and its people were in for a rude awakening...

We passed the signs which housed the handing dead ones. I slowed down slightly. I wanted to survey the area of the tree line from which the armored vehicle had sprang from. I gave a hand signal out the window for the following vehicles to slow and follow at a slight distance. I took my eyes fully off of the road and focused on the trees. The grill guard of a black armored vehicle became present. I put up my hand for the caravan to stop. I proceeded a little further so that the vehicle would spot me and spring from its resting place to attack. That was exactly what I wanted it to do. It drove out from the trees and blocked the road. The driver, passenger, and two others, jumped from the vehicle, all carrying automatic rifles. "Out of the vehicle," the one shouted. He unfortunately wasn't the man that had killed out people. Shame, I had a surprise for that one. I stepped from the vehicle. Maria did as well. Her weapon was visible. They ordered her to toss it aside. My rifle was below the level of the window, pointed directly at them. "So what's with the party you have behind ya?" the man asked. "Company for the road trip," I said sarcastically. "Very funny wise guy. I thought we already made it clear to you folks that we're not the kind of people you wanna screw with," he said laughing. "It's your lucky day. You and all of your people just won the 'fuck around and find out' award," I said in a serious tone. I rammed the muzzle of my rifle against the door and laid on the trigger. A flurry of bullets punched through the metal of the door. The driver and passenger ate most of the rounds. The two men in the back were peppered by a hailstorm of bullets. Support fire from the precision shooters in the caravan were aiding in the skirmish. One of the men was struck in the leg and he drug himself behind the vehicle. The other ducked for cover behind the other side. I left my position from behind the car door and approached the armored vehicle, reloading my rifle as I walked. I chambered a fresh round and circled around the vehicle. "No! Please," the man shouted at me, holding out a hand in surrender. I squeezed the trigger for a quick moment, letting a couple of rounds discharge into his torso. I wanted every one of these scum bags to turn to the living-dead. I pushed my rifle aside. The man bleeding profusely from his leg was sitting idly. He looked up at me with a look of knowing. He knew he was going to die, and he had made peace with it. I drew my machete and directed it to him. "Live or die?" I asked him. "Just kill me man," he said. I lifted the machete. I brought it down hard, connecting with his opposite thigh to the already injured leg. "Drag yourself as far as you can until you bleed out," I told him, pointing towards the woods. He listened, groaning in pain. I signaled for the caravan to approach. We circled around the vehicle and observed the bodies of the fallen. "Go through the truck and the corpses. Take anything we can use. Guns, ammo, explosives. Especially explosives," I told my people. They began to ransack the vehicle. One of my people who went around the vehicle returned to my side, presenting me with a box labeled 'rockets'. "You think there's a weapon in this vehicle that takes these?" he asked me. "Find it," I ordered. He returned shortly with a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher. RPG, for short. This wasn't enough to win a war, but it was a small victory to kick off this conflict...