, was his final thought.
Lisa bolted, nearly breaking free of the ring; it was a bite to the back of her skull
that brought her down. The zombie’s teeth had cracked through the thick plate and
skimmed against her cerebellum. With her motor skills misfiring, she could not get
her left leg to bend properly. Stiff-legged, she still tried. It was a short-lived
attempt as a zombie dove onto her back and drove her into the ground. Her front teeth
shattered as she hit the pavement. She couldn’t think why she thought it, but a bus
ride sounded like the best thing in the world right now…and then her eyes shut.
Chapter 8 – Mike Journal Entry 5
“Mike!” Ron yelled through the heavily crackling radio while BT and I stared at hex-head
screws and wondered how we were going to get them out. The library housed all sorts
of ‘How To’ home improvement books. But in all of them, one needed tools.
“How about we just smash the damn thing against the ground until it opens?” he had
asked at one point. I was inclined to agree.
I ran over to the window, figuring Ron was getting ready to give me tongue-lashing
number two for destroying another truck. I knew something was wrong the moment I looked
out. Zombies were surrounding the truck, and not just milling about, they looked aggressive.
We’d found that, throughout most of the invasion, if the zombies had a choice between
a car and a building, they invariably stayed around the building. I can’t really attest
to why this is. Maybe they felt that the odds of more people being in the building
were higher. As good a theory as any I suppose.
But that was changing right now. Zombies that had been perfectly content to wander
around our stronghold were now peeling off and heading towards Ron’s truck, and what
was more unsettling was that they were trying the door handles.
“Holy shit,” I said aloud.
“Are they trying to get in?” Tracy asked me.
I thought about going with ‘You think?’ Luckily, from time to time, an inspiration
of wisdom hits. “Yup,” was my answer. “Looks like our friends slept at a Holiday Inn.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Talbot?” BT asked, coming up next to me.
“You know, because they’re getting all smart and shit,” I said defensively. “Want
me to shoot some of them?” I yelled down to Ron. I was ignoring BT’s shaking head.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I heard him somewhat through the failing radio and the span
of distance; although that latter voice was muffled from the closed windows.
From his angle, it would look like I was shooting right at him. I mean, I wouldn’t
be, but there was a chance I’d send rounds into his engine…and that wouldn’t be good.
Zombies or not, he’d get out of that truck and come up here and kick my ass for wrecking
another one.
“I was afraid this might happen,” Tommy said from the next window over.
We all stopped to look at him. “Any chance you would like to elaborate?” BT finally
asked.
“Eliza sort of kept the zombies at bay. With her giving them commands, they never
had to think much past what she told them to do. With her influence gone, they are
free to learn, or relearn, or just plain remember, I’m not sure.”
“How much of any of that can they do?” I asked, fearful.
“Well…none of them are ever going to write great novels. But opening doors and figuring
out basic tactics shouldn’t pose too many problems.”
“How do you know all this?” Tracy asked.
“When I was linked to Eliza I could feel what she felt when she reached out to them.
She suppressed them to keep them under her rule.”
“Who would have figured having Eliza around would be a good thing?” BT asked as a
statement.
“This is worse than pissed-off flying monkeys,” I said off-handedly; a thought I probably
should have kept to myself.
Tracy stopped her thoughts to look over at me. “Huh?”
“Heavy medication day?” BT asked her.
“Forget it,” I said, feeling fingers of embarrassment flick up my neck.
“We gotta go!” Ron shouted as the zombies began beating on the hood and glass of his
truck.
“I didn’t think the cavalry was supposed to retreat.” Travis said, beating me to the
punch.
“We’ll be back!” Ron yelled over squealing tires.
“Seems the cavalry is re-grouping. Boys, this changes things a bit. Stay together.
I want you to check out every weak area this place has, no matter how small the chance
you think a zombie can use it. I want you to either fortify it or let me know about
it. Tracy, Tommy, if you two could keep an eye on the zombies, me and BT are going
to get this box open.”
“What about Gary?” BT asked.
“Let him sleep,” I answered. I went over to the librarian’s desk and began to rifle
through it until I found something I thought we could use on the screws. “Hope this
works,” I said, holding up a pair of toenail cutters.
“Damn, did she cut horse hooves with those?” BT exclaimed.
I hadn’t noticed how big they were until he had said something. I was just happy to
have a tool. Then thoughts of what those had been touching began to dominate my mind.
Lisa bolted, nearly breaking free of the ring; it was a bite to the back of her skull
that brought her down. The zombie’s teeth had cracked through the thick plate and
skimmed against her cerebellum. With her motor skills misfiring, she could not get
her left leg to bend properly. Stiff-legged, she still tried. It was a short-lived
attempt as a zombie dove onto her back and drove her into the ground. Her front teeth
shattered as she hit the pavement. She couldn’t think why she thought it, but a bus
ride sounded like the best thing in the world right now…and then her eyes shut.
Chapter 8 – Mike Journal Entry 5
“Mike!” Ron yelled through the heavily crackling radio while BT and I stared at hex-head
screws and wondered how we were going to get them out. The library housed all sorts
of ‘How To’ home improvement books. But in all of them, one needed tools.
“How about we just smash the damn thing against the ground until it opens?” he had
asked at one point. I was inclined to agree.
I ran over to the window, figuring Ron was getting ready to give me tongue-lashing
number two for destroying another truck. I knew something was wrong the moment I looked
out. Zombies were surrounding the truck, and not just milling about, they looked aggressive.
We’d found that, throughout most of the invasion, if the zombies had a choice between
a car and a building, they invariably stayed around the building. I can’t really attest
to why this is. Maybe they felt that the odds of more people being in the building
were higher. As good a theory as any I suppose.
But that was changing right now. Zombies that had been perfectly content to wander
around our stronghold were now peeling off and heading towards Ron’s truck, and what
was more unsettling was that they were trying the door handles.
“Holy shit,” I said aloud.
“Are they trying to get in?” Tracy asked me.
I thought about going with ‘You think?’ Luckily, from time to time, an inspiration
of wisdom hits. “Yup,” was my answer. “Looks like our friends slept at a Holiday Inn.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Talbot?” BT asked, coming up next to me.
“You know, because they’re getting all smart and shit,” I said defensively. “Want
me to shoot some of them?” I yelled down to Ron. I was ignoring BT’s shaking head.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I heard him somewhat through the failing radio and the span
of distance; although that latter voice was muffled from the closed windows.
From his angle, it would look like I was shooting right at him. I mean, I wouldn’t
be, but there was a chance I’d send rounds into his engine…and that wouldn’t be good.
Zombies or not, he’d get out of that truck and come up here and kick my ass for wrecking
another one.
“I was afraid this might happen,” Tommy said from the next window over.
We all stopped to look at him. “Any chance you would like to elaborate?” BT finally
asked.
“Eliza sort of kept the zombies at bay. With her giving them commands, they never
had to think much past what she told them to do. With her influence gone, they are
free to learn, or relearn, or just plain remember, I’m not sure.”
“How much of any of that can they do?” I asked, fearful.
“Well…none of them are ever going to write great novels. But opening doors and figuring
out basic tactics shouldn’t pose too many problems.”
“How do you know all this?” Tracy asked.
“When I was linked to Eliza I could feel what she felt when she reached out to them.
She suppressed them to keep them under her rule.”
“Who would have figured having Eliza around would be a good thing?” BT asked as a
statement.
“This is worse than pissed-off flying monkeys,” I said off-handedly; a thought I probably
should have kept to myself.
Tracy stopped her thoughts to look over at me. “Huh?”
“Heavy medication day?” BT asked her.
“Forget it,” I said, feeling fingers of embarrassment flick up my neck.
“We gotta go!” Ron shouted as the zombies began beating on the hood and glass of his
truck.
“I didn’t think the cavalry was supposed to retreat.” Travis said, beating me to the
punch.
“We’ll be back!” Ron yelled over squealing tires.
“Seems the cavalry is re-grouping. Boys, this changes things a bit. Stay together.
I want you to check out every weak area this place has, no matter how small the chance
you think a zombie can use it. I want you to either fortify it or let me know about
it. Tracy, Tommy, if you two could keep an eye on the zombies, me and BT are going
to get this box open.”
“What about Gary?” BT asked.
“Let him sleep,” I answered. I went over to the librarian’s desk and began to rifle
through it until I found something I thought we could use on the screws. “Hope this
works,” I said, holding up a pair of toenail cutters.
“Damn, did she cut horse hooves with those?” BT exclaimed.
I hadn’t noticed how big they were until he had said something. I was just happy to
have a tool. Then thoughts of what those had been touching began to dominate my mind.
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