said.
“ Then don’t,” Jenny said, pulling a sweatshirt over her head.
“ I want her on your AR, then.”
Pepper picked up her MP5. “You’ve seen me with my shirt off. With my shoulder, I can’t handle the big guns. That’s why I carry these.”
Jenny cocked a brow my way.
“ I’ll explain later,” I muttered, then to Pepper, I said, “All right, take one. Bring every magazine and all your ammo. I want you in my hip pocket.”
For an instant, I wrapped Jenny up in my arms. I took in her scent for what I hoped wouldn’t be the last time. I felt our child between us. She gave me a quick, deep kiss.
“ Take care of each other. Come back safe.” She turned to Pepper and gave the girl a hug and a kiss of her own.
“ You know the plan," I said. "I want you on the roof and in position if we have to fall back into town.”
Pepper followed me out the door. Bill, Heather, and John trotted on our heels. I heard the sirens head out of town. Everyone was awake by now. From across our quadrant, my platoon rolled in. I saw an awful lot of pregnant women in the mix. We’d lose twenty guns on the front line, but they’d be on the roof in position with the kids. As the last body came in, I briefed the crew with what I knew so far. Then we loaded into the trucks and headed for the north creek.
Pepper sat next to me in the cab of my truck as we rolled out.
“ Is that thing select fire?” I asked. She nodded. “Put it on burst and hold your fire until I tell you.”
She reached down and flipped the little switch on the side.
In minutes, I saw the fire trucks in place ahead, side by side on the bridge with their pump hoses dropped into the creek. I said a silent prayer, hoping this would work.
I parked my truck in the ditch, facing out, and everyone else followed suit. Keys left in the ignitions, we fell into position in our shallow trenches. My troops stretched east along the creek, and Dale’s lined up to my right. Kenny, our commander, shuffled his troops to the west. Justin and his platoon took up the far left. That made eighty-five guns and two fire trucks to face down thousands of Zeds.
From the center of the bridge, Ken and I looked down the road through our binoculars. A mass of walking corpses moved our way, stumbling along the canal bridge a mile distant. I couldn’t pick out faces yet, but Tony’s estimate might have been on the conservative side.
Two hundred yards out, Tony had rigged a series of cannons fueled with diesel fuel and fertilizer, stuffed with anything that could do any damage. This would be the first test for those bad boys.
The swarm shambled closer. A last straggler stumbled across the bridge. Tony stood beside me, his switch box connected to a battery on a fire truck. Wires ran out from the box to the twenty tubes that made up his cannons.
Closer. The swarm fanned out. The Zeds filled the road and the ditches. The first deader passed the last cannon. We hadn’t mowed back that part of the cornfield. It forced the Zeds to stay on the road. From the bridge two hundred yards out, though, we’d mowed down the corn for a better field of fire. Where the cannon started, the open ground ended.
At the head of the swarm, Ol' Fred reached the cannon closest to us. Tony looked at me. I nodded. He flipped two switches.
The explosion shattered the still. Flame leapt from the muzzles of the first guns. Fertilizer burned as it shot from the pipe. Zeds dissolved from the concussion, washed with burning materials from the tubes.
Tony fired the last two guns and trapped the deaders between two walls of fire.
“ Guess those five years on the bomb squad paid off, huh?” I remarked, slapping Tony on the back.
He grinned. “Glad to be of assistance, Boss.”
Flames raged on the roadbed as Tony fired the rest of his cannons. Hundreds of deaders died in that first assault, but they didn’t stop. They spread out around their dead and dying. Some caught fire in the process. Still, they
“ Then don’t,” Jenny said, pulling a sweatshirt over her head.
“ I want her on your AR, then.”
Pepper picked up her MP5. “You’ve seen me with my shirt off. With my shoulder, I can’t handle the big guns. That’s why I carry these.”
Jenny cocked a brow my way.
“ I’ll explain later,” I muttered, then to Pepper, I said, “All right, take one. Bring every magazine and all your ammo. I want you in my hip pocket.”
For an instant, I wrapped Jenny up in my arms. I took in her scent for what I hoped wouldn’t be the last time. I felt our child between us. She gave me a quick, deep kiss.
“ Take care of each other. Come back safe.” She turned to Pepper and gave the girl a hug and a kiss of her own.
“ You know the plan," I said. "I want you on the roof and in position if we have to fall back into town.”
Pepper followed me out the door. Bill, Heather, and John trotted on our heels. I heard the sirens head out of town. Everyone was awake by now. From across our quadrant, my platoon rolled in. I saw an awful lot of pregnant women in the mix. We’d lose twenty guns on the front line, but they’d be on the roof in position with the kids. As the last body came in, I briefed the crew with what I knew so far. Then we loaded into the trucks and headed for the north creek.
Pepper sat next to me in the cab of my truck as we rolled out.
“ Is that thing select fire?” I asked. She nodded. “Put it on burst and hold your fire until I tell you.”
She reached down and flipped the little switch on the side.
In minutes, I saw the fire trucks in place ahead, side by side on the bridge with their pump hoses dropped into the creek. I said a silent prayer, hoping this would work.
I parked my truck in the ditch, facing out, and everyone else followed suit. Keys left in the ignitions, we fell into position in our shallow trenches. My troops stretched east along the creek, and Dale’s lined up to my right. Kenny, our commander, shuffled his troops to the west. Justin and his platoon took up the far left. That made eighty-five guns and two fire trucks to face down thousands of Zeds.
From the center of the bridge, Ken and I looked down the road through our binoculars. A mass of walking corpses moved our way, stumbling along the canal bridge a mile distant. I couldn’t pick out faces yet, but Tony’s estimate might have been on the conservative side.
Two hundred yards out, Tony had rigged a series of cannons fueled with diesel fuel and fertilizer, stuffed with anything that could do any damage. This would be the first test for those bad boys.
The swarm shambled closer. A last straggler stumbled across the bridge. Tony stood beside me, his switch box connected to a battery on a fire truck. Wires ran out from the box to the twenty tubes that made up his cannons.
Closer. The swarm fanned out. The Zeds filled the road and the ditches. The first deader passed the last cannon. We hadn’t mowed back that part of the cornfield. It forced the Zeds to stay on the road. From the bridge two hundred yards out, though, we’d mowed down the corn for a better field of fire. Where the cannon started, the open ground ended.
At the head of the swarm, Ol' Fred reached the cannon closest to us. Tony looked at me. I nodded. He flipped two switches.
The explosion shattered the still. Flame leapt from the muzzles of the first guns. Fertilizer burned as it shot from the pipe. Zeds dissolved from the concussion, washed with burning materials from the tubes.
Tony fired the last two guns and trapped the deaders between two walls of fire.
“ Guess those five years on the bomb squad paid off, huh?” I remarked, slapping Tony on the back.
He grinned. “Glad to be of assistance, Boss.”
Flames raged on the roadbed as Tony fired the rest of his cannons. Hundreds of deaders died in that first assault, but they didn’t stop. They spread out around their dead and dying. Some caught fire in the process. Still, they
Similar Books
