I think what GryphonX means is that Jon was using a shotgun while trafficking drugs, prior to the meltdown, and that, taken along with him being a drug user and his suggestion of raiding others for supplies hints that Jon has a less than stellar character and will turn on the others if it suits him.

Just my interpretation,
Xyk

Originally Posted By xykk: I think what GryphonX means is that Jon was using a shotgun while trafficking drugs, prior to the meltdown, and that, taken along with him being a drug user and his suggestion of raiding others for supplies hints that Jon has a less than stellar character and will turn on the others if it suits him. Just my interpretation, Xyk

Si!

where is the new chapter? its bedtime and i want my story goddamnit!

i'm starting to get the shakes... either i haven't had storytime in awhile, or i was bitten...

Chapter 17

"So what did that feel like, man?" Jon asked Eric as they were walking back to the trail.  

"I don't want to talk about it" Eric told him hoping that he'd drop it.  

"But you were awesome, dude!" Jon said with a big grin.  "You just walked up and bashed that fucker's head in!"

"I did what I had to do.  Now drop it."  The tone of warning in his voice was enough to silence Jon.

On the way back to the truck they pulled the stakes out of the ground and cleared the brush out of the way.  Nick had pounded the stakes in pretty deep but it only took them a few minutes to uproot them.  When they were finished they returned to the Bronco.  Amy was outside the truck waiting for them.  As soon as she saw them she ran up to them full of questions.  "What happened?  We heard shooting.  Did they shoot at you?"

Eric walked past her, got in the truck and started explaining everything as he started it up.  "We shot at them," he said.  He briefly explained what happened leaving out as many of the gory details as possible.  

Jon wouldn't let it rest, though.  "You should have seen em, man.  That dude was just layin there waitin for us to blow our tires on his trap so he could shoot us and Eric lit him up!  Then when we were crossin the road that bitch almost ran us over!"  He was acting out his side of the story as much as he was telling it.  "Then he walked up and bashed his fuckin head in!  Talk about a fuckin trip."  He finally relaxed as he finished.  Eric just sat there gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Which way are we headed?" Eric asked Greg in an attempt to change the subject.  He looked in the rear view mirror and could see Amy staring at him in shock.

Greg took the que and pulled out the map.  "I think that we're somewhere near here," he said as he drew an imaginary circle on the map.  "This is the town that I think we should check out first.  If we can find a sign then we can figure out exactly where we are."

Eric nodded, put the truck in gear and started driving.  He got on the road and drove for a few minutes until they found an intersection with signs posted.  Once they got their bearings they started towards the town.  The town was about thirty miles away.  After a few miles they spotted an abandoned car.  It was a newer model Honda Civic that was off the road in a ditch.  "Stop the car," Greg ordered.

Eric stopped the truck.  The road had fields on both sides.  He felt very exposed as he could see for what seemed like miles in every direction.  There were several houses dotting the countryside.  The car was deep enough in the ditch, though, that you'd have to drive past it to see it.  "We should check it out," Greg said.  

"OK but let's make it quick," Eric replied as Greg handed him the SKS.  He got out of the Bronco followed by Amy and Jon.  Amy was obviously apprehensive about getting out of the truck.  She gripped her revolver tightly and stayed close to Eric.  When he glanced at her she stared back nervously.  Jon walked around the truck nonchalantly with his 1911 in his hand.  From their vantage point they didn't see anyone in the car but all of the doors were shut and the windows were tinted.

"I think it's empty, dude," Jon said as he walked up to the car door.  He pulled on the handle but it was locked.  Suddenly there was a loud thwack against the window as a woman slammed her face against it.  "Oh shit!" Jon yelled as he jumped back in surprise.

Eric quickly brought his gun to his shoulder.  Before pulling the trigger he yelled out, "Are you ok lady?"  She responded by opening her mouth and pressing her face even harder against the window.  The only thing that stopped him from shooting her was how perfect her face looked.  There were no wounds and she was actually very pretty.  She looked to be in her twenties.  "Is she dead?" he asked them as he lowered his gun.  

"She looks ok to me, dude," Jon said.  

"She doesn't look dead to me, either," Amy confirmed.  

They all stood there for a moment trying to figure out whether or not they should shoot this woman.  While they were trying to decide what to do she kept pressing her face against the window.  Finally Greg got out of the car and made his way over to Eric.  He saw the woman in the window.  "She doesn't even look dead, does she?" he wore a confused expression as he spoke.  

"Maybe she's not," Eric shrugged.  "She might just be crazy or maybe she bumped her head when she crashed her car."

"She's one of them," Greg told him.  "Break the window and see how she reacts."

Eric understood immediately what Greg wanted to prove.  He walked up to the woman's door and, after a few solid hits, put the butt of his rifle through the window.  Once he felt the glass shatter he stepped back quickly.  The unmistakable scent of death instantly filled his nostrils.  He had to fight to keep from retching.  With no invisible barrier keeping her in she started to pull herself through the broken window, ignoring the shards of glass that were cutting at her arms and snarling like an animal.  Before she had pulled half of her body out, though, Greg put a bullet in her head.  She slumped over the car door and stopped moving.

Eric poked her with his rifle and when she didn't move he lifted his shirt up over his nose to try to control the smell and glanced in the car.  "You could have at least waited until she got all the way out," he told Greg as he looked at the bloody mess that he'd made.  

"I'll keep that in mind next time," he said when he walked over and looked inside.  He cringed at the sight and the smell and walked back up to the road.

Eric walked around to the other side of the car, broke out the passenger window and looked inside.  Besides the gory mess the interior had been immaculate.  There was a purse and a plastic bag in the passenger seat.  Both were covered in blood so Eric was hesitant to check the contents.  The back seat was empty.  Jon opened the driver's side door and let the woman spill out onto the ground.  When she was on the ground they could see the wound in her side that must have killed her.  Then he reached down and popped the trunk and the gas cap.  "Grab her stuff, dude.  I'm gonna check the trunk," Jon said as he walked back to the trunk.  

Eric pulled his leather jacket down over his hands and slipped the handle of the bag over his sleeve.  He did the same with her purse.  Then he walked them over to the road and set them down as if they were hazardous materials.  "Who wants to check these?" he asked disgustedly.  Greg picked up a stick to open the bag with.  It had some trash in it but nothing important.  Amy had taken a pair of leather gloves from the truck and started to dig through the purse.  Inside she found a pack and a half of cigarettes, a lighter and some other typical purse items.  The woman had been wearing a t-shirt and jeans so they decided not to bother searching her.

"There's nothin in the truck except a kickass sub and an amp," Jon said as he finished rummaging through it.  "Let's just get the gas and go."  

Eric pulled the Bronco up to the side of the road and tried to run the siphon between both tanks but it wouldn't reach.  They had to fill up the empty gas can from the Bronco.  The contents of the Civic only filled the five gallon can halfway so they emptied it into the Bronco's tank when they were finished.  After they were sure that they hadn't missed anything they were back on the road.  Their little sidetrack had only cost them about ten minutes.    

Thanks man I needed a retreat from work today.

good stuff
man, you do crank it out though, i'm impressed
I like how you are getting into the feelings and deeper issues.

OH YEAH BABY!!! just the way I like 'em, like screaming wild anmials and...........but that would be bad, wouldn't it? Never mind.

Bookmark so I know where I left off.

Great stuff, man!

Great work...

Let's have them run into another group looking for supplies...  and maybe another car or two for some supplies.

Yeah, and the steaming fresh corpse of the bitch that got away...

John

Fun zombie read.

Keep up the good work!

A couple of observations: Eric comes across as a nerd, and Jon and Greg both seem like they're handling the reality of the situation better than Eric. Both are going to be valuable down the line.

If I was the two hunters that "the group" encountered in the field, I probably would have defended myself at that point and not handed over the rifles so easily. Then again, I wouldn't be shooting innocent people trying to escape.

The couple they ran across with the Toyota truck (who eventually tried to kill them), should never have taken them to their hide out spot without some sort of food exchange agreement. If they were starving, they should have asked right from the get go. Starvation will make you do crazy stuff.

Why so many crappy guns? A Taurus, Saiga, SKS, and a .38 snubby? Throw them a bone man. Let them run across an abandoned farmhouse where a hunter lived. Maybe they'll find a Browning or Sako or two.

So, when next chapter coming out?

Great job so far!  You got me hooked like a crackhead, I can read this all day long.  Thank you for taking the time and effort to write and post this.

Originally Posted By konger: Fun zombie read. Keep up the good work! A couple of observations: Eric comes across as a nerd, and Jon and Greg both seem like they're handling the reality of the situation better than Eric. Both are going to be valuable down the line. If I was the two hunters that "the group" encountered in the field, I probably would have defended myself at that point and not handed over the rifles so easily. Then again, I wouldn't be shooting innocent people trying to escape. The couple they ran across with the Toyota truck (who eventually tried to kill them), should never have taken them to their hide out spot without some sort of food exchange agreement. If they were starving, they should have asked right from the get go. Starvation will make you do crazy stuff. Why so many crappy guns? A Taurus, Saiga, SKS, and a .38 snubby? Throw them a bone man. Let them run across an abandoned farmhouse where a hunter lived. Maybe they'll find a Browning or Sako or two.

Sks and saiga crappy guns? Those would be perfect for the situation, not many cleaning supplies, zombies, short range, etc.

 really well done, i like the approach you take, no wonder weapons or supersoldier stuff.  just real sounding folks with a good mix of what you might realistically find in a group of randomly selected folks.  thanks for sharing.
 mpi

Appreciation bump

atleast gas has become affordable again.

Thanks for all of the feedback guys.  I appreciate it.  Konger, just because a bunch of other people are probably thinking the same things you are I want to try to explain myself and my line of thinking on some of your points.  Hell, I thought the same things when I was writing the story.

Originally Posted By konger: Fun zombie read. Keep up the good work! A couple of observations: Eric comes across as a nerd, and Jon and Greg both seem like they're handling the reality of the situation better than Eric. Both are going to be valuable down the line.

Actually I'd say that Eric is handling himself pretty well.  Obviously the group doesn't have a real leader.  I just chose to write the story from Eric's perspective (an average Joe who gets stuck in a bad situation).  The guy sold cleaning supplies for a living.  He probably took his gun to the range every couple of months (if that) and the only combat training he's had is laser tag and paintball when he was in high school.  He probably shot his dad's rifle when he was a kid and knows how to line up a shot properly but he won't be taking a zombie's head off from 300 meters.  I wouldn't call him a nerd.  He just wasn't a man's man before TSHTF.  Greg is older and didn't live in the big city.  He watched his wife turn into a zombie and then helped rekill her.  He's also been shot.  If he didn't become a hardass sooner he probably would have gone crazy by now.  Jon is just an old hippy burnout who's seen his share of shit.  I meant to develop Amy's character a lot more by now but there's just so much other shit going on that it's been kind of hard :).

If I was the two hunters that "the group" encountered in the field, I probably would have defended myself at that point and not handed over the rifles so easily. Then again, I wouldn't be shooting innocent people trying to escape.

"The group" got the jump on them.  These weren't ex specops, commando types.  They were just a couple of hunters who were holing up with some buddies in a storage shed.  They had planned for the situation that they got themselves in and didn't really think that some everyday people would react the way that they did.  When I was writing that whole sequence I thought it was kinda cheesy but I figured that it was packed with enough action that people would forgive that and still enjoy it.

The couple they ran across with the Toyota truck (who eventually tried to kill them), should never have taken them to their hide out spot without some sort of food exchange agreement. If they were starving, they should have asked right from the get go. Starvation will make you do crazy stuff.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda.  Once again these guys were unprepared enough to have little in their truck and no way to get more supplies without going home.  I tried to write them as not being too bright so I'm sure that they assumed that the group would help them.  Keep in mind that the zombies followed them to the group's original hiding spot in the first place.  The group saw it as their fault that they had to move and, while they appreciated the gesture, they didn't feel obligated to repay them.  In fact they probably felt like Nick and Jackie were obligated to help them find a new spot if anything.  By the way they weren't exactly starving.  They were just getting hungry because they hadn't eaten at all that day.

Why so many crappy guns? A Taurus, Saiga, SKS, and a .38 snubby? Throw them a bone man. Let them run across an abandoned farmhouse where a hunter lived. Maybe they'll find a Browning or Sako or two.

They've got a Remington 30-06 .  Seriously, though, I'm just going by what I see day to day.  There aren't that many people who own "quality" guns and the ones that do usually don't carry them in their car.  Whenever I go into a gun store and an "average joe" walks in he asks for something that doesn't cost too much but is still reliable 90% of the time.  When I see kids that are after a "fun" cheap gun they usually see the price on the SKS and reach for that.  There really aren't that many gun nuts out there irl and I figure that they're all holed up in their houses locked, cocked and ready to rock at this point in the story.    

I tried to keep the situation as realistic as possible.  95% of the people on the interstate don't even have guns in their cars.  In CO that number is probably a little higher just because we can have a gun in our car without any type of license (it would be a lot lower in states with strict gun control laws).  Most of the people with no way to defend themselves in that situation would just mob up and die in huge groups.  The gun owners would be more likely to have the balls to go against the grain and do something differant from the pack.  They might attract some gunless sheeple as they're fighting their way out of the mob but the gun toting sheeple would be more likely to group up and do their own thing.  That's not to say that just because someone has a gun that they're going to man up and become a hero.  Most of the people with guns would probably go right along with the rest of the group and never even bring it to bear.  What's funny is that one of the first comments that I had on my story after I posted it on the other site was from someone who thought it was strange that almost everyone in the group "happened" to have a gun

I hope you enjoyed the insight.  I hope it didn't ruin anything for anyone.  I don't think I gave anything away....

artyboy,

It's your story, write it when and how you want.

And I thank-you for your time and effort for your gift.

I for one like it! Keep up with what you're doing!

I like the fact this hasn't turned into the "typical" survival story of "TomDickHarry got lucky and won the lottery/ inherited mucho dinero/ sold his family farm/ etc and now has 5 years of preps and enough AR's and Aimpoints for a small army and an impenetrable bunker." From a reader's standpoint, that gets real old real quick.

I think this is more realistic than most survival stories. Well... as realistic as anything involving zombies

I wasn't really trying to justify what I write.  I was just trying to give you guys insight into my line of thinking when I wrote the story.  I'm going for the "wow that could be how it goes down" effect.  I just want to keep it as real as a zombie story could be.

Originally Posted By stimpy117: artyboy, It's your story, write it when and how you want. And I thank-you for your time and effort for your gift.

Yep.

It's a fun story artyboy. You didn't have to explain your line of thought to me or anybody.

Btw, I wasn't trying to be overly critical. and if it came off that way, I apologize. That was just my casual observations. I'm good for sticking my foot in my mouth. Stay  around long enough and you'll figure that out.

P.S.- I'm the poor one in my group of friends with my Browning rifles. Many of my buddies sport Weatherbys and Sakos....LOL

Damn, I knew those Jap cars would be a problem down the road! Try and siphon the tanks for a bronco and all you get from the little thing is a few measly gallons!

artyboy

I really enjoy your story.  Zombies and the average Joe I hope you keep it coming.
Thanks for sharing

Great read.  Please keep it coming.

I think your story is great, more please.

I just found it this morning...excellent read.
Please keep them coming.

Isnt it time for more!

Chapter 18

As Eric drove Greg continued to navigate.  Amy and Jon were quiet in the back seat as they searched for more abandoned or wrecked vehicles.  After about five miles they finally saw a truck on the side of the road.  They stopped and looked it over but there was nothing of any use inside.  The gas tank was also empty.  They got back in the Bronco and left the truck behind.  

As they got closer to the interstate they started spotting more and more abandoned vehicles.  There were also corpses in the ditches, along the roads and in the fields.  They saw a few that were stumbling around but they decided not to waste ammunition on them.  Some of the vehicles they saw had blown tires.  Some were riddled with bullet holes.  A lot of the interiors were bloody and some of them still had the bodies of their previous owners on the ground outside of them.  It was obvious after the first few empty gas tanks and searched interiors that stopping to check every car was a waste of time.  At one point they saw another truck driving by on a road about half a mile away.  They both continued past each other without incident.    

A few more miles up the road they heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.  The fields had become woods again so they couldn't see where it was coming from.  At the sound of the report Eric slammed on the brakes and everyone's hands were on their guns instantly.  Once the truck had stopped they continued to hear gunshot after gunshot.  It was obvious that someone nearby was shooting but either they were a terrible shot or they weren't shooting at them.  Eric and Greg were both scanning the area to their front while Jon and Amy were checking the rear and each side.  Up ahead about a mile away Eric caught movement in the road.  At this distance he couldn't tell if it was a person or a zombie but he could see it pull itself out of a ditch and then it stood up.  It dropped to the ground almost immediately.  A second later they heard the crack of a rifle again.  "I think someone's in trouble up there," Eric said.  

"Maybe they don't want help," Greg warned.  "We'd better just mind our own business."

"We should at least check it out," Amy said.  

"No.  Turn around Eric," Greg demanded.  "Go to the intersection that we just passed and make a right.  We can go around them."

Eric immediately complied and turned the truck around.  Then he quickly took off.  He wanted to get some distance between them and whoever it was up there with the guns.  Amy just sat in the back seat sulking.  "We can't save everyone," Eric told her.  She just gave him a dirty look through the rear view mirror and then went back to keeping an eye on her side of the truck.  As they got farther away the sound of the gunfire became more quiet.    

They made it to the intersection and Eric followed Greg's directions.  Soon they were back on track.  At the next intersection the woods opened up to a field.  Eric turned to continue in the direction that they'd been heading before.  They continued on down the road but what Eric saw up ahead made him bring the truck to a stop once again.  About a mile up the road, crossing the field and entering the woods headed towards the gunshots were more zombies than he'd seen in once place since they had left the interstate.  They were dotting the country side to the edge of his vision.  There were more than a hundred of them.  "Oh...my...god..." Eric croaked.  He had trouble getting the words out.  Everyone else in the truck was staring ahead at the mob in terror.  

"What do we do?" Amy whispered.  
   
They were all at a loss for words.  No one knew what to do.  They just stared in macabre facination at the procession of shamblers that, so far, were completely ignoring them.  All the while they could still hear the sound of far off gunfire from where they had just come from.  It was obvious that the noise was attracting them.  "If we keep running we're just gonna waste gas, man," Jon finally spoke up.  "Maybe we should go back and help those other dudes."  

Eric looked at the fuel gauge.  He still had almost three quarters of a tank but they might not be able to get more gas anytime soon.  They hadn't driven that far and he wasn't going too fast.  "Is there another way around this mess?" he asked Greg.  

Greg was already studying the map.  "Go back to the intersection and go this way," he said tracing the route with his finger.  "Turn up here then head down this road.  The only problem is we don't know how spread out they are.  We're only about ten miles from town so they could be all over the countryside around here."

"We could always try to make some new friends," Eric suggested.  "We'll have to get in touch with real people at some point."

Greg was quiet for a moment while he thought things through.  "OK, we'll go back and see if we can help those people out," Greg said.  "Hopefully it's not that group from Genoa.  We're not far away from them, either."

Eric turned the truck around again and headed back the way that they'd come from.  It only took them a few minutes to get back to their original turn around point.  He continued past it towards the monsters that were crossing the road up ahead.  There seemed to be more of them than there were before.  A few were dropping in the road but most of them were making it to the opposite woodline.  The gunfire never stopped but the frequency of it was increasing.  

Eric grabbed the SKS and got out of the truck when he was about a hundred yards away.  Then he lined up his sights on one of the monsters in the road and squeezed the trigger.  All that he accomplished was to get the attention of some of them.  Five of them turned towards the Bronco and started approaching them.  His next shot hit one in the shoulder.  It forced it to turn.  When it recovered it's balance it was heading towards the other gunfire again.  Once again he squeezed the trigger and this time the closest one dropped and stopped moving.  With every shot he seemed to attract more of them.  

By the time he'd emptied the magazine he had only dropped three of them but a dozen were headed their way.  He reached into his ammo pouch and grabbed a stripper clip.  Then he looked over the gun and suddenly realized that he wasn't even sure how to reload it.  The chamber was open and there was a slot where it looked like the stripper clip would fit. He slid the clip in but he couldn't get it to slide in completely.  He continued to fumble with it and tried pushing the rounds down but they seemed to be jammed on the clip.  The creatures were getting closer and he was starting to panic.  Finally he pushed as hard as he could and half of the rounds slid off of the clip and into the magazine.  The other half jammed at the bottom of the clip.  He finally just pulled it out with only five rounds in the magazine and chambered a round.  

By now the closest of the monsters had already gained twenty yards on them.  All four of them had gotten out of the car.  "What are you doing, dude?" Jon yelled as he lined up a shot with the 30-06.  "These fuckers are coming fast."

"This thing is a pain in the ass to load," Eric spat back.  "I couldn't even get the whole fucking clip to go in."

"Maybe you should have practiced with it a little more," Amy pointed out.  

"Now is not the time," Eric said as he raised the gun towards the nearest zombie.  He squeezed off a round and it dropped.  Then he sighted in the next one and fired at it.  The thing's jaw dissapeared but it kept coming.  He took aim at it again and missed completely.  He heard the crack of Jon's rifle on the other side of the truck and it dropped.

Jon was taking aim and Amy had pulled her .38 out and was preparing to shoot but Greg stopped them.  "Wait until they get closer before you guys shoot anymore," he told them.  "We can't afford to waste ammo."  

Eric fired his last two rounds and missed with both of them.  "At this rate it won't take long," Amy commented.  Eric just ignored her and concentrated on loading the rifle.  This time he slowed down and tried to calm himself.  He still had to fight with it but this time the rounds slid in more easily.  Once again he brought the gun to bare and started shooting.  They were getting closer but the head was still a small target and they were jerking around a lot as they moved.  He took a few steps forward and steadied himself on the hood of the Bronco as he continued shooting.  

Now that they were closer and he was steadying himself on something he found that it was easier.  He still only dropped four of them before his magazine was empty but at least now he was hitting them.  Before he was missing completely.  He pulled out another clip and reloaded his rifle again.  He was still having trouble with it and once again he didn't get all of the rounds off of the clip.  By now they had at least twenty of them coming up the road towards them.  "Hurry up," Amy whined.

"There's too many of them," Greg yelled.  "Get in the car and let's get out of here."  

Eric ignored them and emptied his magazine again.  After he'd dropped three more he finally decided to listen and got back in the truck.  In all of the commotion none of them noticed how close some of the gunfire had gotten to them.  Before Eric had turned the truck around he saw a figure in the woodline dressed head to toe in camouflage just ahead of them who was shooting an AK-47 at the group that was closing in on them.  At first he was too surprised to act but he pointed the person out to Eric, Jon and Amy and then got back out of the truck with his SKS in hand.  He fumbled with the clips again and eventually got it loaded.  By the time he was ready to shoot the person had cleared out all of the zombies that were heading towards them.  The level of gunfire had increased up the road so the rest of the creatures had turned their attention back towards that.

"Who in the hell are you people?" it was a females voice.  She trotted over to the truck while changing her magazine.  "Oooh city folk," she said as she looked in the truck.  "Get in son," she told Eric.  There was something about her demeanor and the way she carried herself that made him follow her order without question.  He got back in the truck and started it up.  "You mind giving me a lift?" she asked as she looked in Greg's window.  

Memories of Tom, Frank, Nick and Jackie all popped up in each of their heads but something about this woman was differant.  Greg looked at everyone else in the truck and they all just shrugged at him.  "Hop in," he said.  "Where are we taking you?"  

"I'll explain on the way," she said as she slid in the back pushing Jon to the middle of the seat.

first post after new chapter

new one tonight?

damn, you guys are cold
it takes time to write this stuff and proof it and make sure it makes sense.
one a day is a lot
be nice, give him some room.
he's got his creativity genes going.

Good stuff!

I enjoyed your story too, BozemanMT!

Now thats gotta be a girl from this site.... But which one?

Originally Posted By kalikraven: Now thats gotta be a girl from this site.... But which one?

I got two candidates in mind.  However I won't point fingers at this time.

Great story, i want need more.  Is the girl they picked up hot? I think she should be.

keep em coming.

originally posted by shooter-mike: Great story, i want need more. Is the girl they picked up hot? I think she should be.

erm.. she referred to one of them as 'son'


Im guessing shes on the erm... mature side

I knew there had to be an AK in here somewhere!  Good stuff, I rushed home today to read it. Maybe this is just the help the group needed... or maybe not!

Going good!!!

Man the SF Forum has some talented authors...

Great story developing here.  

Originally Posted By VaultDweller: originally posted by shooter-mike: Great story, i want need more. Is the girl they picked up hot? I think she should be. erm.. she referred to one of them as 'son' Im guessing shes on the erm... mature side

maybe she's one of those really hot older women?

Wellll...We're waiting........
Just kidding...I'll let you get a cup or two of coffee in you first. Then I expect a cahpter

Chapter 19

The woman had some kind of mask over her mouth, a pair of shooting glasses and a hood pulled over her head so they couldn't make out any of her features. She pulled them off as soon as she was situated. "Man this getup is hot," she said with a gravelly voice. The woman under the mask appeared to be in her late forties to early fifties. She looked to be in extremely good shape but she had the weathered face of someone who spent most of her life outside. Her shoulder length blonde hair was messy but clean. She pulled out a radio and spoke into it. "OK boys you can slow down now." They immediately heard the pace of the gunfire slow down from up ahead. "I was just tellin my boys that they can stop tryin to get their attention," she said. "You need to turn around and hang a left up there. My ranch is a couple miles away but we need to hurry up. My boys are still stuck in the woods and they're runnin low on ammo."

Eric was already turning the truck around when she started talking. He could hear the urgency in the woman's voice so he drove as fast as he could. "My name's Liz," the woman introduced herself. Each person in the truck introduced themselves in turn. "Me and my two boys were checkin some cars when a bunch of those things came from out of nowhere. We took em out but there must have been a lot of them around because they just kept coming. We tried to get back in the truck but it wouldn't start. The CB wasn't working either. The damn battery must've died. We didn't have time to grab one from one of the cars on the road and swap it so we ducked in the woods."

"When we heard your gunshots we tried to go around you but they're spread out all over the countryside out there," Greg told her. We saw at least a hundred of them when we tried to go down the next road over."

"Did you say a hundred?" her mouth hung open after she asked the question. "Do you have a CB in this rig?" she asked as she started searching for it.

"Sorry lady," Jon said. "All we got is the stereo."

She cursed under her breath. "Step on it junior," she told Eric. "We need to get back ASAP." Eric was already going as fast as he felt comfortable going on the back country road but he pressed on the gas just a little more to satisfy her. She pulled out her radio and spoke into it. "Cecil, do you copy?" There was no reply. She tried a few times before giving up. "I knew we shouldn't have wasted our money on these pieces of junk," she cursed at the radio. "Eight mile range my ass."

From there she concentrated on giving Eric directions until they were within site of the ranch. They pulled up to the gate and she opened it up. Then she pulled out a yellow hankerchief and tied it to the antenna. She got back in the truck and told Eric to drive up to the house. When they pulled up next to it a girl opened the front door and stood staring at them with a concerned look on her face. Liz got out of the car as soon as it stopped and started barking orders at her. "Jess, go inside and grab those magazines that you were fillin up last night." The girl immediately turned around and ran back inside. Suddenly they heard several gun shots in rapid succession off in the distance. "I think that's them," Liz said. "They must be on their way back." She tried the radio again but still got no response.

Eric finally got out of the truck. "What the hell is going on?" Eric asked her.

"What's goin on is those damn zombies are gettin farther and farther away from town every day and if a bunch of em make it out here then we could be in trouble," she told him. "We've had plenty of stragglers but this is the first time I've seen more than a dozen of em this far away from the interstate." As she talked everyone else got out of the car.

"So what do we do?" Amy asked everyone.

"What kind of firepower do you got in there?" Liz asked them.

"Not much," Greg said. "We're almost out of ammo."

"Don't worry about ammo. Do you have anything besides that SKS and the Remington that stoner boy was shootin?" she said pointing her thumb at Jon. Jon gave her a hurt look.

Eric walked around to the back of the truck and opened it up pulling out the Saiga and Jon's shotgun. "We have these," he told her as he held them up for her to inspect.

She nodded her approval. "Is that little pea shooter the only handgun you have?" she asked pointing at the revolver that he had in his belt. Eric quickly told her what everyone was packing. Then he remembered the Glock that he still had stashed. He pulled it out and showed that to her as well. "I never was a fan of tupperware," she snorted. "My boys love em, though. We've got a stack of mags for it." Just then the girl came through the front door again pulling a plastic bin behind her.

"Momma, I got them magazines for you like you asked," she said sweetly. She couldn't have been older than sixteen.

"Thanks sweetheart," she said. Then she ran up to help her with the container. Eric and Jon were both right behind her. Their eyes lit up when they looked inside the box. There were dozens of assorted magazines inside of it. They recognized some of them as Glock and 1911 mags and some of the others were obviously for the AK that Liz still had strapped to her shoulder. Eric thought that the other ones looked like they were for M-16s. He'd never seen one in person but he recognized them from the movies. "OK boys grab this tub and put it in the back of the truck," Liz ordered. "Now go grab a case of 12 gauge buck shot and a .308 battlepack off the shelf, Jess."

The girl ran back into the house. By the time Eric and Jon had loaded the tub into the back of the Bronco she returned with a plastic bag that looked a little like an MRE in one hand and a box of 12 gauge shells in the other. "How many mags you got for that Saiga?" Liz asked them.

"Two, I think," Eric replied.

Liz just rolled her eyes at that. "Well don't count on that for long then," she said. "Do you know how to shoot a rifle?" she asked Amy.

"No," she looked at Liz nervously. "I've never shot one before."

"Then you get to help reload mags," Liz grinned. "How bad is your arm, Greg?"

"I can't even move it," he responded.

"Well then you won't be much good to us out there," she said. "I want you to stay here with Jess and Kevin. Kevin's probably still downstairs doing some reloading." With that she opened the front door and yelled his name. A moment later a boy that was probably not much older than Jess stepped out. He was a lot bigger, though. When he realized that there were strangers there he waved to everyone.

Suddenly a voice crackled over Liz's radio. "Mom, this is Cecil are you out there?"

She quickly grabbed her radio and replied. "I'm right here Cecil. Where are you two at?"

"We just crossed the property line. We're probably about two miles out," the voice crackled. "There were too many of em and we didn't want to get stuck up in them trees that we climbed."

"The people that picked me up brought me home. We're gettin more ammo and then we'll be out there," she reassured them. She walked over and got in the car. Eric, Jon and Amy followed her lead. When she got in the car she looked over and Greg and her children. "I'm trusting you with my kids sir," she told Greg. Don't try anything funny while we're gone."

Greg solemnly nodded his head. With that she pointed in the direction that she wanted Eric to go and started leading them to her boys. The occasional gun shot made it easier to pinpoint their location.

Thank you.

Great story, keep it up!

Good chapter, maybe a new one tonight?

Well done. I think you are getting better with each chapter.

DING DING DING

We have a winner!!!

Is Liz's last name Gomer?