as he came around to the back of the truck.
Max was scared shitless by the crowd and clung to the bench. Across from him, Will Pierce had a lip curled in disgust at seeing the mob. He shook his head at the lieutenant. “We’ll get the next one. I didn’t sign up to play traffic cop.”
Warren’s eyes blazed. “Since when do you say ‘no’ to an officer? This is a direct fucking order: get your fucking ass off this truck right now or so…”
Just then a Specialist named Starling stepped over the crates of ammo stacked on the floor of the bed and climbed out of the truck. “I’ll do it. Shit, I’ll take normal people over the diseased ones any day.” Two more soldiers followed right after.
The lieutenant promptly forgot all about Will’s insubordination. He started rattling off instructions, talking like an auctioneer, spitting words out one over another. The drivers of the three trucks didn’t wait for him to finish; they ground the vehicles into gear and in a belch of smoke took a turn veering east. Warren was forced to run to catch up.
They drove for a half mile, skirting The Zone, going up and down the idyllic, rolling hills the area was known for. It was green and lovely and, seemingly, peaceful. The trucks were an ugly blot, passing through. Along a ridgeline they slowed to a crawl.
The man next to Max was his friend Johnny Osgood. He tried to stretch his skinny neck to see why they had stopped. “What is it?” he asked. “Is it another barricade?”
Max stood on the tailgate and stared over the top of the truck. There was nothing in the road, however off to the north he saw two SUVs pushing their way through the thin forest, making a trail where none existed. “No. It’s some civilians trying to break the quarantine. Fuck, they act like they don’t even see us.”
“Maybe they think we’re here to rescue them,” Will said. “Poor saps.”
There was some shouting from the lead five-ton and a good deal of waving of arms, however the SUVs continued to trundle along. Finally, Lt Warren climbed out of the cab and broke a cardinal rule: he fired three warning shots, kicking up dirt directly in front of the lead vehicle. The drivers of the SUVs panicked and both tore the bark off trees and ripped up the sides of their vehicles as they maneuvered desperately to turn around.
“This is going to be impossible,” someone muttered.
“I don’t know about that,” Will said, giving the men in the truck a cheery smile. “That looked simple enough.”
“It looked to me like the L.T. broke the rules of engagement,” Max whispered to his friend. He too had been encouraged by the minor event. The civilians had turned tail at the first sign of resistance.
“That’s what I would call leading by example,” Will replied. “If someone gives us any shit we’ll put a couple of rounds across his bow and if anyone complains we’ll just say that’s what LT Warren did.”
The two were still grinning when the convoy entered the town of Myer’s Corner which was nestled, practically out of sight of all civilization, among the green hills. It was quaint and picturesque, but its main street was hardly more than a wide spot in the road and it was hard to tell what on earth supported the town.
It was eerily deserted. No one was on the street and the buildings were cold and silent. Most doors hung with “Closed Until Further Notice” signs. After the unimpressive business district they passed a number of homes and the few remaining inhabitants gawked, timidly at the trucks from behind window curtains or doors cracked a bare few inches. Max waved once and received only a glare in reply.
At the far end of the town, where the hills and forest recommenced were two police cruisers parked nose-to-nose with two state troopers holding shotguns in their sweaty hands, squatting behind them. The trucks rumbled right up, stopping only a few feet away.
“Pierce! Fowler! Osgood! Get your asses down here right this
Max was scared shitless by the crowd and clung to the bench. Across from him, Will Pierce had a lip curled in disgust at seeing the mob. He shook his head at the lieutenant. “We’ll get the next one. I didn’t sign up to play traffic cop.”
Warren’s eyes blazed. “Since when do you say ‘no’ to an officer? This is a direct fucking order: get your fucking ass off this truck right now or so…”
Just then a Specialist named Starling stepped over the crates of ammo stacked on the floor of the bed and climbed out of the truck. “I’ll do it. Shit, I’ll take normal people over the diseased ones any day.” Two more soldiers followed right after.
The lieutenant promptly forgot all about Will’s insubordination. He started rattling off instructions, talking like an auctioneer, spitting words out one over another. The drivers of the three trucks didn’t wait for him to finish; they ground the vehicles into gear and in a belch of smoke took a turn veering east. Warren was forced to run to catch up.
They drove for a half mile, skirting The Zone, going up and down the idyllic, rolling hills the area was known for. It was green and lovely and, seemingly, peaceful. The trucks were an ugly blot, passing through. Along a ridgeline they slowed to a crawl.
The man next to Max was his friend Johnny Osgood. He tried to stretch his skinny neck to see why they had stopped. “What is it?” he asked. “Is it another barricade?”
Max stood on the tailgate and stared over the top of the truck. There was nothing in the road, however off to the north he saw two SUVs pushing their way through the thin forest, making a trail where none existed. “No. It’s some civilians trying to break the quarantine. Fuck, they act like they don’t even see us.”
“Maybe they think we’re here to rescue them,” Will said. “Poor saps.”
There was some shouting from the lead five-ton and a good deal of waving of arms, however the SUVs continued to trundle along. Finally, Lt Warren climbed out of the cab and broke a cardinal rule: he fired three warning shots, kicking up dirt directly in front of the lead vehicle. The drivers of the SUVs panicked and both tore the bark off trees and ripped up the sides of their vehicles as they maneuvered desperately to turn around.
“This is going to be impossible,” someone muttered.
“I don’t know about that,” Will said, giving the men in the truck a cheery smile. “That looked simple enough.”
“It looked to me like the L.T. broke the rules of engagement,” Max whispered to his friend. He too had been encouraged by the minor event. The civilians had turned tail at the first sign of resistance.
“That’s what I would call leading by example,” Will replied. “If someone gives us any shit we’ll put a couple of rounds across his bow and if anyone complains we’ll just say that’s what LT Warren did.”
The two were still grinning when the convoy entered the town of Myer’s Corner which was nestled, practically out of sight of all civilization, among the green hills. It was quaint and picturesque, but its main street was hardly more than a wide spot in the road and it was hard to tell what on earth supported the town.
It was eerily deserted. No one was on the street and the buildings were cold and silent. Most doors hung with “Closed Until Further Notice” signs. After the unimpressive business district they passed a number of homes and the few remaining inhabitants gawked, timidly at the trucks from behind window curtains or doors cracked a bare few inches. Max waved once and received only a glare in reply.
At the far end of the town, where the hills and forest recommenced were two police cruisers parked nose-to-nose with two state troopers holding shotguns in their sweaty hands, squatting behind them. The trucks rumbled right up, stopping only a few feet away.
“Pierce! Fowler! Osgood! Get your asses down here right this
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