This is my first attempt at a short novel of any kind.  Please feel free to pick apart the spelling and any other incorrect facts that I use.  I will try to post a chapter or two every week.  Tell me how you like it.  Constructive criticism makes a better product.


WE DESPRATE FEW

Chapter 1
It was November 2016 I mused, as I sat on a busted five gallon bucket and looked out the loft door of an old abandoned barn.  My legs were propped on a milk crate and my back leaned on the 8”x8” roof support.  It was getting colder and in the starlight I could see my breath like a cloud as it billowed from my mouth like smoke from some dragon of old.  I realigned the worn beany that covered my head pulling it down so it covered my ears.  I need to find or make some sort of hat that covers my ears and neck, so I don’t get frost bite I thought.  A mask of some kind that covers my nose would be nice too.  My face feels like it is about to freeze solid and fall off.
I looked out of the barn loft at the countryside.  The hills were covered with evergreens.  There was a river about a mile and half to my south east. I could not see anything moving out there.  It had been 3 weeks since I had been with live humans.  I wondered if I would see Jeff and Amanda or Jake again.  That thought depressed me.
The hand I had broken the previous summer began to ache again.  This damn cold at night always seemed to aggravate it.  In the morning it would be stiff and would need to be worked a lot to stop hurting. As the cold fall wind began to pick up I closed the door to the loft and found a corner in the hay to sleep.  I never slept well anymore, always waking up during a nightmare or at the slightest sound.  I said a prayer thanking God that I lived another day, and that he would direct my path tomorrow.
Thankfully I slept better that night than most nights.  When I woke up, the loft was quiet and dark.  I lay in the hay listening to the silence before I tried to see what time it was. I pulled my right hand out of the worn out cotton glove it almost always resided in lately to help keep it warm so it wouldn’t ache.  That didn’t seem to be working.  I pressed the button to light the face of my watch.  Nothing happened. With stiff fingers I fumbled until I could get it off my left wrist and tried again with the same result. “This Sucks” I said out loud.  It seemed strange to hear a voice in the silence. I put the watch back on my wrist.  It was as good a place as any to store it for later.  Maybe I will find a battery someday, if I live that long.  I need a whole new set of winter clothing; it would be high on my priority list.
I thought back to what started all this mess and the happier times before when things weren’t so psychotic.  My Dad owned a metal fabrication shop and I practically grew up welding and working steel.  I love that word.  Steel, the sweet word gives me a mental picture of cold hard metal, the weight, the strength, the reverberating ring when it is struck with a hammer. I was home schooled, so I spent a lot of time in that shop. I joined the Marine Corps when I turned 19.  That is where I perfected my long range shooting.  Making me a deadly shot.  I always loved guns, they are my passion.  In June 2015 the USA went to war with North Korea when they fired nukes at us.  The missiles were shot down before the hit their intended targets.  We went to war and destroyed the North Korean military in two months and victory was declared.  After the war, key weapons experts were never found.  In January 2016 people all over the US started coming down with a dangerous Virus.


Chapter 2
On December 25th, Christmas day 2015 an Asian man on a flight from Singapore land into Seattle Washington.  He had a secret Mission. Make the United States of America Pay!  No, Crush Them. North Korea would rise again.  He had with him a small bottle of a strong biological weapon that he smuggled on the plane.  The bottle had enough in it to infect 7500 people. And it was going to be easy.  He had sprayed it on sleeping people seated in front of him during the flight.  After he landed he sprayed people as he walked by while they slept waiting for their flight.  Then he went to the many different rest rooms and dripped some on the toilet paper.  He sprayed some on a basket of apples in one of the little cafés when the casher wasn’t looking.  Then he repeated the process as he flew to Los Angeles International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Miami International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, San Diego International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, Raleigh-Durham International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Denver International Airport, Sacramento International Airport, and finally San Francisco International Airport. Finally he infected himself.  He smiled as he dripped the last drop into his eye.  He knew the infected people would travel many different city furthering the destruction.  About 4 days after infection the people began to get high fever of 110 degrees and begin vomiting followed by disorientation, vertigo, pounding headaches, and sometimes blindness.  Then infected person would go into a coma.  About 4 hours later they would wake from their coma and go berserk biting scratching and spitting, transmitting the virus in these ways.  Most of the brain would be killed by the fever, but the parts that run the senses work just fine. Their body functions still operated. After about 4 days, the virus killed the organs in their body.
Many infected people were taken to hospitals, but many more never made it there.  For some strange reason this virus began mutating and become much faster acting. This caused the victim of the virus to go through most of the symptoms in about a half an hour.


Chapter 3
I was serving up the last couple months of my enlistment, when the virus hit.  At first there was news coverage about it.  Then when the government realized how bad things were they stopped all flights in or out of the US and sealed the borders.  The virus was spreading faster than it could be contained, so martial law was proclaimed and all available military forces were put in service.  That is when things went to shit for me.  I was at Camp Pendleton.  The base went on lock down .   I had just gotten off a 24 hour post as Battalion phone watch and it had been ringing off the hook.  I went to my room and lay down on my rack and fell asleep with my cammies on, one booted foot on my rack the other touching the ground.  Suddenly I was awakened by someone kicking my door in.  My roommate who I didn’t know very well because I had just moved in, answered.  I heard someone yelling down the barracks hall.  “Be out back formed up in Flack and Kevlar with your SIF and an extra set of cammies! You have 15 minutes! Make sure you have your gas masks. You must have your gas masks!”  I looked at my watch: it was 07:21.  Of course I thought, I just get off duty and a stupid surprise inspection has to happen.  As I packed my gear,  there were rumors coming down the LCPL grapevine that we were getting moved to help with the camps that were getting set up to house the many people who were going crazy and panicking because of the virus.  This didn’t make sense, because the virus was only, like the bird flu, or SARS I thought.  Something big was going down, because we got put on lockdown this morning.  
It took an hour to get everyone ready, but the inspection never happened.  Then we sat around waiting for 3 hours, just standing by to stand by.  Then about 10:30 we were marched over to the armory where we drew our weapons.  There was a line that seemed to never seem to get smaller.  I stood in line for about 40 minutes to draw my M16A4.  When it was my turn I handed the armorer my yellow rifle card and ID.  He went to one of the shelves and pulled my M16 from its rack. When he handed it to me, I verified the rack#, and serial# then took the rifle and walked to the staging area and installed a 3 point sling.   We then marched back to the barracks and were told to wait for trucks.  Maybe the rumors are true I thought.  We were given orders to sit and wait.  I set my pack next to my fire team leader’s and stood up and relaxed. It was nice to not have the 70 pounds of weight on my back for a while.  That is when I started thinking.  If the rumors were true I might want to get some of my personal gear, because I might not be coming back for a while.  I handed my rifle to one of my team members and ran to my room where I opened a foot locker and grabbed my personal chest rig.  It had my own first aid kit and held 10 personally owned M16 magazines. I also grabbed a compass, a SureFire G2PRO flashlight and my Leatherman Surge.  Then I put them in the pouches on my chest rig.  I ran back outside, rolled up the chest rig and secured it in the top of my LB Pack.  After a while a 7 ton pulled up and MREs were distributed, we each got 4.  Three MREs, for our packs, and one to eat.  We were all complaining about not eating.  When we got MREs most of the guys were pissed off.  They didn’t like eating the MREs and were soon trading what they didn’t like for what they did.  I got some of the left over entrées that some of the other Marines were throwing out and had a nice meal.  I also saved most of the 4th MRE we were issued.  At about 18:00 hours a line of 7 tons pulled up and we started heaving our packs in and climbing aboard.    In about 15 minutes with the exasperating shouts from SNCO’s the cursing of the Marines, we were loaded.   The trucks drove very slowly for about 9 hours until we finally stopped and got out.   There was a make shift FEMA camp on the outskirts of Los Angeles.  The camp had a convenience store and various tents with some emergency vehicles parked outside.  Several Police officers with Remington 870 shotguns and AR15’s guarded the entrance to the camp.  We were told to take positions on the outside perimeter of the camp.  We spent another long night walking back and forth to keep awake.  I turned to a Marine I had never seen before and asked what bullshit this was.  We were guarding a refugee camp without any ammunition.  City trucks brought generators and portable lights which were used to light the camp.  All night a steady trickle of people were flowing in from all over the city.  They told of stories of cannibals eating people, and people who were bitten going crazy like they had rabies or something.
Finally about 06:20 the next morning our squad was given a break.  We climbed on the roof of one of the small shop in the camp and were given some time to rest.  I pulled off my flak and Kevlar and laid on my flak and leaned on my LB Pack.  I was soon asleep.  I was awakened about an hour later when a convoy of supplies was brought in.  My squad was immediately tasked with unloading MREs, concertina wire and ammunition.  Once everything was unloaded we began ringing the camp with concertina wire. This took most of the day.  That evening we were each issued 90 rounds of ammunition and were told to keep our rifles condition 3.  Condition 3 is magazine inserted, bolt closed on an empty chamber.  Weapon on safe, ejection port cover closed.   At least we had ammunition now I thought.


Chapter 4
The next morning I had my first encounter with one of the undead. We had started patrolling, and rescuing people.  My 12 man squad along with a police officer as a guide were sent 9 blocks away to rescue a small group of survivors who’s vehicles couldn’t get any closer because of the stalled cars on the streets.  We hand almost made it to them and were only a block and a half away when we were charged by a half dozen screaming people.  They had horrible injuries and were bleeding from their external orifices.  They had frothy brown foam oozing out of their mouth and noses. The police officer yelled to shoot them as he began firing at them with his shot gun.  I snapped my rifle to my shoulder, clicking off the safety in one smooth motion.  I shot the nearest one with a quick double tap to the chest.  He didn’t stop.  I shot him again and this time I executed a failure to stop drill.  A fast double tap to the chest and because his head was moving all over I shot him in the pelvis.  He dropped to the ground growling and still trying to drag himself toward me.  I shot him in the head. His head snapped back and the rear of his scull disintegrated into a pink mist.  The SAW gunner opened up and mowed the rest down by shooting their legs out.  The pitifully looking creatures were still crawling toward us. The police officer said;
“you got to shoot the fucking damn bitches in the head to kill them.”
He pulled a Glock 22 and began to methodically execute each of the pitiful creatures.  
“These are real fucking Zombies”, I thought.  “We are in a world of fucking shit.”
We could hear gunfire in the distance.  After saving the people, we spent the rest of the day fighting the dead to get back to the FEMA Camp. The next day we stopped patrolling and began defending our perimeter.  We began loosing our men a little at a time when groups of the zombies began mobbing the perimeter fence. We were getting really hard pressed and were running low on ammo, because we were using it as fast as it was flown in by CH-46s.  
That evening I looked at the camp.  There were about 600 men, women, and children squashed in no particular order in 200 by 100 yard area fenced in concertina wire and chain link fencing.  The only building inside the perimeter was our command post which had once been a convenience store. A dozen military tents were clustered in two rows to the right of the store.  Most of the people were sleeping on the ground outside with terrible sanitation.  The place sunk and people were dying of sickness and starvation.  I thought, “this is fucking retartedly stupid, everyone here is going to die.  We have zombies on the outside trying to eat us, and we are starving and dying on the inside.  We are burning the candle on both ends and won’t last long.  The next day we started losing contact with many of the surrounding units.  The choppers weren’t able to get to us very often.    I began to prepare a contingency plan in case we were overrun. I noticed a brown 80s Chevy blazer that had been abandoned next to the store that now served as our CP.  Walking over I found that the doors were unlocked.  I opened the driver’s door and looked inside.  There was nothing inside, but some garbage.  I collected the trash and threw it away. After talking to another two of the other marines, we stowed 5 boxes of MRE’s and 3 full ammo cans of 5.56mm ammo.  We also were gathered 10 gallons of water and 10 gallons of gas for our rig.  I told them about my brother, Jake and how we had decided that if shit ever hit the fan, he and I would try to meet up at his hunting cabin in Oregon.  If one of us made it before the other he would live there if possible.   The cabin was located on 220 acres and had nice hunting and fishing.  Supplies were stored there in case we got snowed in.  That plan back fired that night when thee of the refugees attacked some of the guards, took their weapons and stole the blazer.   The assholes ran over the guards at the main gate.  The zombies flooded threw the unguarded gates and attacked everyone in front of them.  I guess the assholes who stole our truck knew we wouldn’t hold out long, and decided to take their chances with some provisions instead of with nothing.  They killed everyone else in the process, well not everyone.  I made it and hopefully some of the others did too.



 I sat up and took a deep breath.  It was cold and dark in the barn.  I picked up my gear, slung it over my shoulder and trudged down the stairs.   The air was crisp and clean, but it had a bite to it.  Winter must be coming, I thought as I looked at my supplies before I started for the day.  There was 3 granola bars 2 canteens of water, 3 cans of chili, 2 cans of refried beans, a small plastic container of that I had made into a survival/first aid kit, my spare cloths, some duct tape, a road atlas that showed the north western US, and about 70 rounds of 5.56.  I sighed as I thought of losing most of my issue gear, including my sleeping system at the safe zone.  Since then I had headed north for the hills until I hit came across the town of Pearblossom about 30 miles away.  That was the roughest hike I had ever done.  It took me 78 hours.  
Pearblossom is located on a stretch of highway 138.  It was desert out there and I was dying.  The people in Pearblossom weren’t having as many problems with the zombies yet, but the whole infrastructure of the US had collapsed and it was becoming the wild west.  I needed to find a way to get Jakes cabin, but walking up there, was next to impossible.  There were zombies, bandits, vigilantes, and ranchers who would shoot anyone they didn’t know on sight.  I decided to get the word out that I had a rifle and was willing to work pulling security in trade for a ride up north.  In the mean time I needed some cloths and food.  Walking along the street I found a pawn shop.  Opening the glass doors I saw fat man with a beard that went almost down to his waist.  Good Morning I said as I walked in.  He eyed me carefully sizing me up.  I began walking around the small shop looking for what I wanted.  I found a couple pairs of used jeans and draped them over my arm.  Browsing a shelf with hats on it I picked out a brown felt cowboy hat.  I found a strong wide black leather belt that had eagles carved on it and a couple of brown tee-shirts.  As I was walking back to the counter a pair of brown leather gloves caught my attention. I added them to my stack and walked up to the fat man.  He looked at the pile of cloths, then at me. Turning his head he spat a large ball of tobacco juice into a trash can next to the counter and looked back at me.  He looked at my items and then said
“those will be $400, how you gona pay for that soldier boy?”  
The thought of two sets of cloths costing me $400 pissed me off, then, he called me a “Soldier” while I was wearing a blouse that had MARINES above the left breast pocket infuriated me.  He was deliberately trying to start something.  Lots of people hate the Marines for one reason or another, and now was not the time to get shot or thrown in jail.  I needed to make my purchases or get out.  This man had the best prices from what I had heard, but loved to jip people if he could.  I looked calmly into his eyes and said, That price is robbery, I know I can get the same items down around the corner at Ted’s for $40.  His eyes narrowed.  I had insulted him.  Ted’s was one of the worst pawn shops.  He looked at me and said;
“I don’t want none of your money Soldier Boy”.
“That is fine”,  I said “I don’t have any anyways”.  He glared at me.  I looked back at him.
“I will trade you a military helmet for this stuff.  I pulled my flack vest off my assault pack and zipped it open and pulled the Kevlar helmet out laid it on the counter. He squinted at me and picked it up looking at the condition. After a moment he said;
“I’ll take it soldier.”
“Good” I said and shoved my new cloths into the pack, and wrapped the flack back around it. Then I swung it on my back, slung my M16 over my shoulder and placed the cowboy hat on my head and walked out without another word.  I didn’t need the kevlar because it was heavy and for the distance I was traveling it would be not worth its weight in protection to carry the whole way.  Walking behind a building I changed into my new getup. Then I put my blouse on over the brown shirt and put my pack back on.  I thought, the Corps would have a field day if they saw how I’m dressed right now, I imagined a tall Staff Sergeant with muscled arms bulging under his rolled sleeves.  Smokey bear pulled down low over his bulging eyes, veins popping out of his beet red face and neck as he knife handed me repeatedly screaming insanities as spittle flew from his mouth.  The though made me smile a little.  It won’t make a difference now.  There isn’t even a United States anymore.  I felt sad at that. Now the worst or best will come out in people. This reminded me.  I need to get out of town before I got jumped by cali cops.  Cops don’t take like military types walking around their streets with guns.


Chapter 5
I walked past a closed gas station. On a sheet of plywood was spray painted the words NO GAS.  Parked in the parking lot was a gray Ford Explorer.  A man in his mid-twenties and woman about the same age were looking over a map that was spread on the hood. The man was wearing shorts, a green tee shirt advertising a fishing company and white baseball cap.  The woman was wearing a pair of short jean shorts and a sleeveless top and a baseball cap.  Suddenly, a grubby man stepped out from behind the gas station garage. Pulling a Glock from his waist band and pointed it at the couple.
“Give me your fucking keys, and your wallet” he said in a loud demanding tone.
“Do it right the fuck now,” he said as he walked closer to the couple.  I unslung my M16, racked the charging handle, and clicked off the safety. He whirled around and pointing the Glock at me and got mad.
“Put the gun on the ground”, I shouted.  Suddenly, the grubby man grabbed the woman in a choke hold and put the pistol to her head.  “I will blow the bitch’s fucking head off”, he screamed.  I put my ACOGs red tipped stadia line between the man’s eyes and squeezed the trigger.  The M16 jumped lightly in my hand and the perp’s head exploded as he fell to the ground.  I woman ran to the man, and he hugged her tightly.  I picked up the Glock and slid it my waistband and felt the dead man’s pockets, pulling out another magazine for the handgun.  
“We need to leave now I said.”  
“Ok” the man said. The couple jumped in the SUV and I got in the back seat. The Man started the Explorer and burned rubber out of the gas station and sped down the street. The woman looked back at me and said “Thank you for saving my life”.  
“I don’t know how we can repay you for what you did back there.”  The man said “We are really grateful for what you did”.    
“My names Josh Colter,” I said introducing myself.  I need to get up north and am willing to provide a security for a seat.”
“We are headed for Idaho” the woman smiled.  
“I’m Amana and this is my husband Jeff”.
“I’m pleased to meet both of you” I said.
“I’ll ride as far as the Idaho state line” I said.
A couple hours later it began to get dark and we decided to stop for the night.  Slowing down Jeff pulled onto a dirt road and drove about 200 yards off the highway.  There was brush on both sides of us so no one could see us from the highway.
Jeff turned around so we could head for the highway if things went south.  After turning around he turned off the head lights.  The sun was just slipping behind the purple hills to the west.  A star started to glimmer, everything was still except the small popping noises made by the hot engine.  I unbuckled my seatbelt, opened the door and stepped out.  
“ Stay here, I am going to walk to that ridge and see what is out there.”  I said as I slid on my chest rig, and checked to make sure a round was chambered in my M16.  I slipped on my cowboy hat and adjusted its angle on my head until it felt right.  I stepped into the dusk making a circle about 30 yards out from our camp there was nothing making noise out there.  Usually something was out there.  I got a prickly feeling on my neck as I walked.  Slowly I climbed up the ridge.  It was rocky with boulders jutting out that had been there for centuries.  As I got to the crest of the ridge I crawled to the top, so I wouldn’t silhouette myself for anyone to see.  I laid on the crest and took a 360 scan of the country side.  I wondered how long it would take for the zombies to start leaving the cities in search for new victims.  I pondered how the virus was spread.  Obviously it was spread by fluid to fluid contact, via bites, scratches, and blood.  It didn’t seem to be airborne.  I hope it’s not water born I thought, we’re fucked if it is.  No doubt some bodies of water already have corpses of the undead in them.  I looked down at our campsite for the night.  It was sheltered in the brush that scattered the landscape. I started back down the hill when I heard a woman scream.  It was a scream of pain and fear. I broke into a run and heard Jeff shouting my name franticly.  I raced into camp just as it got dark.  Jeff was there with Amanda, she was breathing heavily and shivering.  Jeff looked at me, “Oh god, I am glad you are back.”
“What happened ,” I asked.
“A snake came out of the brush and bit her leg.   It all happened real fast.”
“Amanda, you need to sit down so we can have a look.  The back seat will be best so you can have the most room.”
I opened the back passenger door to the explorer while Jeff helped Amanda in.  The dome light automatically produced a yellow glow of light.
“Get her a coat, long sleeve shirt, a blanket or something I said.”
Jeff immediately ran and opened the back of the suv, I could hear him rummaging through stuff.  It was obvious by Amanda’s already swollen left calf and foot, that was the leg that had been bitten. Pulling out my Surefire flashlight I began to inspect the leg.
“where exactly did you get bitten?” I asked Amanda, She pointed to a discolored spot about 4 inches above her left ankle.”  
“It burns right here,” she said.  
I shined my light on the spot of skin, sure enough there was a small puncture hole.
“I see it, slow your breathing, take deep breaths.  Fatal snake bites are rare; you are going to be ok.”
I gently slipped off her left running shoe, and took her sock off.  Jeff came back with a blanket and a sweatshirt.
“Amanda, wrap yourself in the blanket, you are going into shock, so you need to keep warm.”  I directed.
She wrapped herself in the blanket and touched the side of her head.  “My head is throbbing and my stomach is hurts and I feel disy and tingly all over.”
“That is normal, just take it easy and keep the bite below your heart.” I said reassuringly.
“I need to talk to Jeff will you be ok for a couple of minutes.” Amanda nodded her head.


Chapter 6
“Jeff your wife has been bitten by a rattle snake”
“But it didn’t rattle,” he said in an upset tone.
“Rattle snakes don’t always, rattle, trust me I have seen plenty of them, Amanda will be in bad shape.  There aren’t any hospitals working anymore, so won’t be able to get her anti venom. There is nothing we will be able to do, except keep her calm, make sure she stays hydrated, and keep that foot below her heart.”
Jeff looked at me. I could see the in fear in his eyes.
“Isn’t there something we could do, somewhere we could get anti venom from?  What if there is a hospital open.”
“There are no hospitals open.  That virus is making everyone sick, and they are getting carted off to the hospitals.  The infected people turn into zombies.”  His head snapped up and he looked at me.  
“I’m not shitting you, the infected people that get bitt or scratched go to the hospital and die, then they come back and attack, I killed a ton of them.  The only way you can kill them is to shoot them in the head or some other brain injury.  You can shoot them in the heart, or lungs and they still come after you.  The hospitals are full of the walking dead, and there is no way we would survive to going in one to get her anti venom.  If by some miracle we were able to get it, it would not be in time to counteract the venom.”
He stared at me with a numb bewildered look on his face as if I had cold cocked him and he was just waking up.
“So the power is out, robbers are robbing whomever they want, Amanda is going to die from a fucking snakebite” I cut him short.  
“She will live, she only got hit with one fang.  It will take a while for her to recover.  She might experience pain, bleeding, severe swelling, bruising, blistering, headaches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dizziness, and convulsions.  It will take a few weeks to recover though.”
“Oh god,” he said.  “All this, and there are zombies eating people, this is the end of the fucking world.”  
“Man the Fuck Up,” I said.  “This is not the end of the world, you need to be strong for Amanda.  If you give up, she will too.  You need to stand up and keep her fighting, because You are ALL she has left. Do  You Fucking Understand Me!” I yelled as I grabbed his shoulder and shook him.  He looked into my eyes, I could see anger welling up in them.
“I fucking understand,” he said in a low tone.
“Good” I said, “Amanda needs you right now.” I paused, “get some sleep too, I will take first watch.  We leave in the morning,” I said. “We can’t stay here and we need more water and gas to head north. “ Jeff nodded his head and walked back to the explorer.


Chapter 7
I starred up at the stars that were fully visible now.  I wondered how many people died from rattlesnake bites before modern medicine.  If she doesn’t die in the next week she will make it I decided.  I began to slowly walk in a circle around the suv.  In the distance a coyote howled and barked at the rising moon.  Its cold out here I thought.  It must be about 40 degrees.  I continued my visual.  I wondered about the first man to ever see this landscape.  What was it like for him?  That ancient rugged man who traveled the continent thousands of years before any people groups emigrated and built their empires.  It must have been lonely for him in the night silence too, or maybe he had a small group with him, and I wondered if one of his band was wounded or dying.  About a half hour later I heard vomiting, it went on for about 20 minutes.  I felt sorry for Amanda because must be dry heaving for a while now.  Jeff must be going through hell right now with his emotions.
At about 4AM I walked up to the suv.  Jeff got out, and I asked him how Amanda was doing.   “She is delirious and can’t keep water down, I am so worried I can’t sleep.”  
“She will be like that for a while.”
“Have you ever shot a gun I asked,” trying to keep his mind occupied.
“No”
I pulled the Glock 19 out of my waist band, removed the magazine locked the slide to the rear and handed it to him.  I emptied the 9mm rounds out of the magazine and put them into my pocket. Handing him the magazine I showed him how to work the gun.  After about 20 minutes we took a brake.  Jeff got a little water into Amanda, and she didn’t throw it back up immediately.  Jeff began practicing how to work the pistol to keep his mind busy.  I had him load the ammo back into the magazine, and gave him the spare mag.
“Keep this pistol on you at all times, when you sleep, when you eat. From now on you should never be without it.  If anyone is going to harm you, Shoot them.  If you see a zombie, don’t shoot it unless it’s a last rezorte.  Bash there head in with a baseball bat or ax.  Kill them some other way than with a gun."  Ammunition is scarce and shooting makes a lot of noise.” I told him.  
Amanda started choking and Jeff jumped to her side.  She was doubled in half. Taking a deep breath she coughed twice, then started breathing normally.  She groaned weakly as Jeff helped her back into the sitting position and carefully poured water between her lips.
“She is getting worse” he said.  “Her leg is swollen huge and its turning purple.”
Shure enough her normally slim leg was huge and discolored around the bite.  A blister about the size of a silver dollar had formed over the puncture.
“She still can’t keep water down.” Jeff said as he looked at me.  He looked exhausted, his hair was a mess. He hadn’t shaved and there were huge circles under his eyes.  
“Do you have any first aid items?” I asked Jeff.
“Not really, just a couple band aids.”  He said.
“Get them for me, and any tissue paper if you have it”.  
He returned with a small first aid kit, it contained some band aids, and antiseptic wipes.  Carefully I took out my sewing kit and pulled out a needle, sterilizing it with my zippo.  Then whiped the area around the blister with an antiseptic wipe.  
This Is going to hurt a lot” I told Amanda.  “I am going to pop the blister so it can drain and heal faster. Taking the needle I popped the blister and squeezed the fluid out.   She cried out in pain.  I whiped the deflated blister again and carefully covered the needle hole with a band aid.  Jeff coaxed some more water into Amanda.  Then we hit the road.


Chapter 8
I got in the driver’s seat and started up the suv.  Shifting into drive I headed down the trail onto the highway and headed north on 395.  I loved driving in the predawn when there was a gray light, when the sun hadn’t peed over the horizon yet.  Getting up to about 60mph I clicked on the cruise control and checked the fuel tank.  We had about a half a tank of gas.  
The sun was climbing over the eastern horizon as we got near the outskirts Inyokern.  Someone started taking potshots at us.  A bullet shattered the driver’s window and hit the passenger side door, another hit the wind shield and third hit the driver’s side rear fender.   The rest of the shots missed.  I accelerated to 70mph.  Suddenly someone threw a spike strip in the road in front of me.  I braked and swerved off the road and around the spike strip, almost rolling the small SUV.  Then I got back on the road and put the pedal to the metal.   We sped through Inyokern and kept going north on 395.  I looked at Jeff, his face was white and he had a death grip on his seat.  He was silent and just looked at me.  A couple miles further we came I saw a gas station ahead.  Pulling in I saw that someone had painted NO GAS on the front of the building.  Driving around the back of the station I parked near a Ford ranger.  
“Jeff, you check on Amanda, then see what those bullets hit.  I will check this place out.  We are just south of death valley and I don’t want to die in the desert.”
“Ok Josh” he said.
I grabbed my M16 and checked the chamber, then got out.  I walked toward the back of the suv and heard a hissing sound coming from the rear tire.  Great, I thought now what else will go wrong.   Well we can use a tire from the ranger.  I walked up to the small truck.  There was a couple bullet holes in the door.  Dried blood was on the seat, and floor board. On the ground in front of the door was a trail of blood.   I followed the blood to one of the doors.  The door was bloody.  Great I thought.  I opened the door and clicked the safety on my M16 to Fire.  When I stepped inside, I couldn’t see anyone.   I slowly checked the station and found no one except the dead body of a woman.  She looked really old.  I walked into the back, probing the darkness with the light mounted on my M16. No one was in there.  I did find a couple cases of bottled water that I picked up and carried back to the suv.   Jeff was glad to see me.  
“It seems like no one is here, why don’t we syphon the gas out of the truck.” He pointed to the ranger.  
“That is a good idea.  I’ll see if I can find a hose and gas can inside.  We have a flat, so we’ll pull a couple of the tires off too.”  I headed back inside and found a couple of blue 5 gallon gas cans.  I walked out to the back, and set the gas cans next to the ranger.  Jeff had a jack under the axle of the truck and was pulling off one of the tires. Suddenly we heard a truck pull up and stop in front of the gas station. We heard voices shouting something about “Kill anyone you find”.   There seemed to be three or four.   I told Jeff to hide behind the ranger and shoot under it.
“Shoot them in the feet.  This seems like an unfriendly place.”
I slung my M16 so it would hang at the low ready and unsnapped my knife, so it would be ready to use.   Then we waited.  Fortunately only one guy came around back.  He was holding a Remington 700 BDL.  This was my chance!  I grabbed him in a blood choke and squeezed and lifted backwards, causing his own weight to help me cut the circulation to his bran.  He passed out quickly and I tied his hands behind his back with a piece of 550 cord.  Then I frisked him and found a large CRKT knife in one of his pockets and a couple dozen 30-06 rounds in his other.  Satisfied that he was not armed anymore I left him on the ground and performed a chamber check on the hunting rifle he had been carrying.  It was loaded, so I leaned it against the edge of the building.  
I was done waiting for these guys.  I motioned for Jeff to stay where he was, as I crept around the other end of the gas station.  As I peeked around the corner I saw two guys out front smoking.  Good I thought, at least these two had a last smoke.  Both men were armed, One guy had a Glock on his hip and the other had hunting rifle on the hood of the truck next to him.  Just then two more men walked out of the station building.
“No one in there but the lady we got last week,” said one of them.  Looking around the other man that came out said;
“Where the hell is Paul?”
The man with the Glock answered;   “He went around the back to check things out.”  
The man asking about Paul got mad; “That damn fool should know better than that.”
The man smoking with the deer rifle next to him took a last drag on his cigarette, exhaled and dropped the butt on the ground and ground it out with the toe of his boot.  He looked up and said; “I told him that, but he said he could handle himself.”
All four men were close together.  I shouldered M16 left handed and peered around the corner.  I put the glowing red stadia line on the closest man’s head and squeezed the trigger.  The gun bucked. I went to the next man and fired two quick shots.  The third man was pulling his Glock.  I shot him in the throat. The fourth man was getting in the driver’s seat and I fired as fast as I could pull the trigger.  He slumped and fell out of the truck.  Changing my mag, I inserted a new 30 rounder into my M16 before walking up to ensure that each man was dead.  The first man, had the side of his head blown out, blood and brain matter covered the sidewalk.  The second man had been shot through the body twice.  The man with the Gock had a hole in his throat and was making gargling sounds as he clutched at it.  A large pool of his blood was staining the parking lot bright red.  I picked up his Gock and put it in my waist band.  The guy who tried to get away was laying on the ground.  I hit him twice in the shoulder, once in the jaw, and twice in the chest.  Blood and bone mater was sprayed all over the inside of the cab.  I walked back to the man with the hole in his throat.  He wasn’t dead yet.  I knelt in front of him and looked him in the eye.  I saw fear, the kind of fear an animal gets when it is wounded and it knows it is going to die.  
“So, you go around killing old ladies.  I’m just going to let you bleed out, your blood be on your own head.”  I said scornfully.  Standing up I thought, so this is what depths mankind has fallen to.  I turned and walked around the back and yelled; “Jeff it Josh, don’t shoot me. “
I walked over to the Remington 700 and picked it up and handed it to Jeff.
“Here keep this, it is powerful enough to take down anything in North America.”  I paused for a moment.  “I killed four of these pieces of shit out front, they killed an old woman.  I let one of them bleed out, he didn’t deserve a quick death.”   I walked up to the man I assumed was Paul.  I flipped him on his back with my boot, and stared at him.  I knelt down and looked him in the eyes.  He began to plead for his life.  I pulled my knife and put it to his throat.
“Shut up and answer my questions Paul.  What do you know about killing the old lady last week.”  I said in a firm tone.
His face turned white and fear filled his eyes.  I repeated my question.
“What do you know about killing the old lady last week Paul.”
He began to stammer; “I,I, I had nothing to do with that,  it was the other guys idea.”
I pressed the knife tighter against his throat, and sliced the skin just enough to make him bleed.  The blood trickled down the side of his neck.
“Quit lying Paul, your aren’t telling me the truth.”  
He was beside himself, “I swear to the virgin Mary I didn’t kill that old woman.  I’m sorry we ever did that, the others would have killed me if I had tried to stop them.”
“How many others are there.” I asked the frightened man.  
“Just the five of us,” he said.  He is telling the truth, I thought.
“Shut up,” I commanded “I am tired of your bullshit lies.”
I stood and grabbed him by the collar then drug him to the wall and threw him on the ground face first.
“Put our face on the ground and lay on it.” I commanded.  Turning around I saw Jeff, sanding there staring at me.
“We’ll let this one go once we finish changing the tire and loading our gear.  I am going back to their truck to see what I can find.”  Jeff managed a quiet “roger that.” Then went back to work, pulling the tire off the ranger.   I went around the front, walking around the puddles of blood.   Looking in the back of the bandits truck I found three 5 gallon gas cans full of gas, 35 cans of miscellaneous chili, and stews.  Opening a duffle bag, I found that it contained a 12gauge Mossberg 500 with an over folding stock, a S&W 66 in .357, a half dozen gock 19 mags and a bunch of assorted ammunition.  I grabbed the duffle bag and a gas can and walked around the back of the building and put the gun bag in the back of the suv.  Jeff stood up whipping the sweat off his brow, then drying his hands on his pants.  
“There is a bunch of canned food and some gas in the truck I need help carrying back,” I said.  
“That sounds good,” Jeff replied.
He followed me to the raider’s truck and stopped for a second staring in disbelief at the amount of blood, brains and bone on the ground.
“Don’t look at it,” I said as I pushed him. “The first time you kill a man you will never forget it. You will have nightmares.  Their face and eyes, you will never forget.”  
“You sure know a lot about killing;” he stated then looking at me.
“I’m not usually proud of killing, but these fuckers deserved it.”
We loaded up the rest of the supplies and I went back to check the bodies of the dead bandits.  Jeff siphoned the rest of the gas from the ranger.  I collected a total of $9,700 off the 4 bandits as well as a couple good knives, a holster and 2 more glock19 mags.  Searching the pockets of the man who had tried to drive away I liberated 30 rounds of 30-06.  I then picked up the rifle off the hood of the truck.  It was an old Savage in 30-06 that had seen considerable use, but was in good condition.  I slung it on my back and walked back to the explorer.  Opening a water bottle, I took a long gulp of warm water.  I started choking, then coughing.
“You ok?” Jeff asked.
Coughing and clearing my throat, I answered; “yea, I just wasn’t expecting the water to be hot.”
“Amanda has been able to drink more in the last hour that she did yesterday.”  He said with a little elation in his voice.
“I told you she will make it.” I said.
“Why don’t you help me inventory this ammo,” I said setting the bag on the ground.  We counted the ammo and found that we had about 370 rounds of 9mm, 230 rounds of 30-06. 210 rounds of 12 gauge, 160 of those were buckshot, and the other 50 rounds were rabbit shot.  Lastly we counted about 140 rounds of .357 ammo.  Then I showed Jeff how to operate the revolver and the shotgun.
“Well that should last the three of us a little while as long as we don’t end up in a large gunfight.” I remarked placing the bag between the front seats.
“That is the most ammo I have ever seen.” Jeff said.
I smiled, “I have thousands of rounds for my guns at Jake’s cabin.”
Jeff shook his head, “that’s enough for a war.”
“Almost” I said while slipping the holster for my new glock19 onto my belt.  
“We need to get going, but first I’m gona teach this fool a lesson.”
Picking up a bottle of water I walked to where Paul was cowering against the wall.  I set it on the ground in front of him. I grabbed him and cut his hands lose.
“Take off your shoes and socks” I ordered.
“What?” he said looking at me with a confused look.
“Do it.”
He took his shoes and socks off.
“Now walk to the explorer and get on the hood” I directed pointing at the suv.  
“This ground is fucking hot!” He exclaimed as he walked where I directed.
“It’s the life of an outlaw, tough ain’t it.” I said.  He climbed on to the hood.
“If you try get off before I tell you, I will kill.”  I said coldly. Getting in I told Jeff, “Let’s go.”
He put the suv in gear and turned onto the highway heading north.  
“What are you doing?”  He asked.  
“I’m going to make him walk back to his boots, it’s hot enough to fry an egg on this asphalt. By the time he gets back to them,  his feet will be a blistered mess.”
After about 4 miles I told Jeff to stop, I got out and told Paul to get off.
“Walk back to you boots I said, there’s a bottle of water waiting for you.  If you hurry you might be able to get the truck before someone takes it. Now get going.  Maybe you will choose better company next time.”  I yelled as I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up.
“Lets Rock and Roll.” I said.




Ok shoot away at it!

removed and edited into first post ^

removed and edited into first post ^

That's pretty good man

Thanks for your encouragement.  I am working on editing more, and will post it in two or three days.

Nice start.

A few words got mixed up in a couple of sentences but I can’t blame you too much my spelling sucks.

Just dont keep us waiting to long for the next chapter.

Ch1:
it warm so it wouldn’t ach  ache
Ch3:
sealed the boarders  borders
your SIF and an exter  extra
squad was given a brake  break
I pulled off my flack   flak
Ch4:
of their mouth and nose  noses
Ch5:
my M16 and racked the slide  how about loaded the chamber...m16’s don’t have slides to rack
Ch7:
serializing it with my zippo. Then whipped the  sterilizing....wiped
d out in pain. I whipped  wiped
Ch8:
ing for these guys. I motion  motioned
to the Remington 700 and pick  picked
in .357, a half dozen gock  glock


a few quick corrections...........otherwise a great story

Thanks for noticing the racking of the “slide”, that was a huge mistake. I will edit the story and repost it in my first post.  I am working on editing more, and might be able to post it tonight.

Chapter 9
I sat back, in my seat and calculated how much ammo I had left for my M16.  I had 8 full 30 rounders and a partial with 21 rounds in it.  That’s about 261 rounds I thought.  A full combat load, but not enough to make me comfortable.  I wished that the other 8 empty mags taking up space in my pack were loaded as well.  
Jeff had driven about 35 miles after we dropped Paul off.  In the distance we saw several cars in the sideways in the road.  Slowing down I noticed a sheriffs truck parked on the side of the road.  As we came closer 6 men with rifles walked from behind the cars.  I put my M16 under the back seat and kept my hands out in the open, but close to my Glock19.

“Drive up slowly keep your hands visible and do as they say, unless I tell you to punch it, and don’t say anything about our gunfight.”

“Ok Josh” Jeff nodded.

Then he slowed and stopped when the sheriff’s deputies directed him to.
Four of the deputies had hunting rifles, The other two had Mil Surplus M16A1 rifles.”   An older Man with one of the M16s walked around us and stopped at the driver’s door and said;

“It looks like you boys had a fight with someone.”

“Well Sir, we were shot at.”  Then Jeff Told the Sheriff how we had been ambushed that morning while entering the outskirts of Inyokern.”

“You boy’s are lucky he said, “we’ve been having a bit of trouble with bandits lately.”

“Not entirely.” Jeff said, “my wife was bitten by a rattle snake last night.   Is there any ware we can get medical treatment for her.”  

“Not that I know of around here,” the the Sheriff said looking in the back seat where Amanda was laying.

One of the other deputies said something to him and the Sheriff and he turned.  

“Matt knows a guy in Lone Pine who works with rattle snakes and he keeps some anti-venom.” The Sheriff said.

“How do I get my wife there?” Jeff asked with a pleading tone.

The deputy stepped up and described where the man lived and how to find the place. Once the deputy had finished, the older Sheriff said;

“The Army has a road block set up about 10 miles north of here.  It’s bogus as hell.  They should have put it here if they wanted it to be effective.  You can bypass it by taking the turnoff for 190 once you get to Olancha.  Keep going on 190 till you get to 136. Go north on 136 and it’ll take you right to Lone Pine.  It’s a long detour, but you will skip the army.  They are just taking advantage of people and confiscating anything they want.”

We thanked the Sheriff, and he motioned to let us through.  Jeff was elated.  He was quick to take the officer’s advice.  We sped away, and were quickly following the rout to avoid the army roadblock.

“You did real well back there,” I said.

“Thanks” Jeff answered.

We had gotten lucky with that road block.  California had some of the worst gun laws in the nation before things went to hell.  They also had some of the biggest Communist Ass Holes to enforce those laws.  If we had been searched they could have gone nuts about the about the number of guns, ammunition, concealed weapons and “Full Auto M16 Machine gun” with 30 round magazines I had.  Thank God for law enforcement who were civil and had brains.  I hoped they would live long enough to see the rewards of their efforts.  
We drove for 33 miles to get to lone pine.  Following the directions that the deputy hand given, was a head ache.  It took a half hour to find the snake handler’s house.  We parking out front at about 3:00PM.  By the looks of it someone was home.  A black Dodge ram sat in the driveway.  In the back of the truck was a bunch of buckets and metal poles.  This must be the right place.  

“Wait a minute,” I said to Jeff, “we should take Amanda with us to the door.  Otherwise this guy might not answer if he sees two grungy guys like us standing at his door.”  

Jeff agreed and opened the back  passenger door.

“Honey, we are going to get you some help.”  

Jeff said gently as he picked up Amanda and followed me to the door.  The power was out so I knocked on the door instead of using the doorbell.  I a moment, an older gentlemen in his 50s opened the door.  Jeff was short and to the point.  My wife was bit by a rattlesnake about 18 hours ago.  The Sheriff down in Olancha said you might be able to help her.  The man asked Jeff how he was going to pay for the ASV.

“I’ve got a couple hundred dollars,” Jeff said.

The man that was hilarious.

“Son it will cost you 40K.  Only licensed doctors can administer ASV, but where the hell are you going to find one of them. She is running out of time, want to get her help, you pay my price.”

“Here is a down payment,”

I said thrusting a large roll of cash toward him.  

"There’s $9,700 in there."

The man took it and stepped away from the door and told us to bring Amanda inside.  He indicated a side bedroom while he counted the greenbacks.  Jeff walked in and set Amanda on the bed.  The man returned with a small IV.  He sterilized a spot on Amanda’s arm and, hooked her up to it.  Over the next 2 days Amanda received 12 vials of CroFab, an ASV that breaks down the protean in snake venom.  
Jeremy, the man who was providing the black market ASV let Jeff and I use some of his water he had in a big plastic tank outside to clean up.  I shaved my head, and face because I knew I wouldn’t be getting a haircut any time soon.  It felt great to change into clean cloths again.  A treat I knew I wouldn’t be getting for a while.
On the third day, Amanda started eating again.  I walked into the room she was recovering in.  Jeff was sitting in a chair next to the head of the bed.  I asked her how she was feeling,
commenting   that she looked very tired.

“I am very tired, and my leg still hurts, but the swelling is starting to go down.  Thank you and Jeff for getting me help.”

“It was Jeff more than me,” I said looking at him with a smile.  You have a good man.”

A tired smile crossed her face.  She liked it when other men talked good about her man.

“I know,” she said, “that is why I married him.”

They leaned close and kissed.  I smiled and walked out to get some rest.  Seeing Jeremy in the other room, I began to watching him closely.  He was getting irritable and I was sure he would demand the rest of his money soon.


Chapter 10
That evening Jeremy needed to think.  He was getting frustrated at the two guys who brought a woman to him to treat her snake bite.  She was slim and pretty, he didn’t mind having her around.  It was just the two guys.  They hadn’t paid him the rest of the money they owed him either.   Jeremy got up while slipping a sweatshirt on.  He needed some fresh air.  Walking across the living room to the front door, he couldn’t help but notice the man named Josh watching him like a hawk.  Opening the door and walking outside Jeremy thought about Josh.  He was about 5’ 9” and looked to be 180 pounds, of mostly muscle.  Not the type of muscle of a gym rat, but a sleeker strength.  He had cold grey eyes that pierced what he looked at, as if he could see right through it.  Josh dressed like a redneck, and carried a gun under his shirt.  Jeremy knew that at some point he was in the Marine Corps.  It was easy to see when he rocked that cammo jacket with his last name over the right pocket and a large eagle globe and anchor on the left side under the embroider words MARINES.  Even when he took the Jacket off, his demeanor betrayed that he was former military.  
Jeremy turned right on a side street and continued walking.  He thought of the other man, Jeff.  Jeff was easy going, he seemed like the type of guy to go with to the lake on the weekend and drink too many beers with.  He too carried a gun under his shirt too, but unlike Josh, Jeremy doubted that Jeff had been carrying it long.
He remembered Josh watching him as he left.  He hated those eyes, they seemed to see into him and through him. Jeremy’s blood began to boil.
Suddenly Jeremy heard the screeching of brakes and turned in time to see a car nail a teenage kid.   The kid’s legs were knocked out from under him and his head was slammed against the car’s windshield creating a large spider web crack on the safety glass.  The car skidded to a stop and the teenager flew off the hood and landed the street in front of Jeremy.  He was flabbergasted to see the kid get up.  His face was a bloody mess and one of his arms was bent the wrong way.  The kid must be in shock he thought.  Then the kid lunged at him growling and biting.  Jeremy was knocked to the ground by the assault and instinctively shielded himself from the attack with his arm.  The kid grabbed his arm and bit a chunk out of it.  

“Fuck you, you son of a bitch.”

Jeremy screamed as he kicked his attacker.  Getting on his feet he sprinted for his house.  He began to feel dizzy and was sweating profusely.  He tripped almost landing on his face.  This was a similar but very different feeling from when a rattler had got him 4 years ago.  Jeremy rounded the corner, and headed up the block toward his house.  He began to get a massive head ache, and he felt range come over him when he remembered that those men were still at his house.  Staggering up too his door he fumbled for a minute trying to work the door knob. It finally open and he took a half dozen step before everything went black.
I was relaxing on the couch, when Jeff walked out of the bedroom. He quietly shut the door and walked over to a reclining chair next to to the couch and sat down.  

“Amanda’s sleeping again,” he said.

“She will need the strength,” I answered.

“We are probably going to have to leave soon.”  Jeff said while shaking his head.  

“I don’t trust Jeremy at all.  I don’t think he will try anything crazy, but we can’t come up with the money he wants.” Jeff sighed and leaned back.

Suddenly there was fumbling at the front door, and Jeremy staggered in, with blood all over him.  His eyes were glazed over, and one of the sleeves of his sweatshirt had been shredded.  Then I saw he had a chunk missing from his arm.  He began to go into a seizure and fell on the hard wood floor writhing about and smearing the blood.  Jeff and I jumped up.

“Get Amanda in the car now I shouted.“  

I drew my gun and checked the chamber.  Then I walked closer to the seizing man.  I had never actually watched someone “turn,” but from what I heard.  I seemed to be witnessing it right now.  Jeremy stopped writhing and lay still.  Looking over my shoulder I saw Jeff caring Amanda, “Hurry!” I yelled.  Just then the motionless form on the floor made a sound that was a mixture of a growl and a grown of pain.  The body twitched briefly and started moving.   Suddenly the Glock19 snapped in my hands.  The report of the pistol in the small room almost deafened me.  I watched abstractly as the man’s head was slammed to the floor, and a spray of blood shot out of his neck as the bullet exited.   Tuning I ran out the door and sprinted to the explorer.  Jeff was already in the driver’s seat.  As soon as I jumped in he burned rubber.

“What happened?”  Amanda asked.  “Why did you shoot him?”

“He was turning,” Jeff answered before she had finished.

“What do you mean,” she said, in a puzzled voice.  

“Amanda, he was turning into a zombie.  I don’t know how it works other that a person usually gets bit by someone with that new virus, a little while later they go into seizures; then they get up trying to eat everyone.  The only way to stop them is to shoot them in the head, or bash their brains in with something.”

Amanda was silent as she pondered what I told her.  I reached in the back and pulled my M16 out from under the back seat and checked the chamber.  As we drove out of town there were several people covered in blood who were wandering aimlessly down the middle of the street.  We could see a bunch of houses and businesses on fire.  The orange flames licked high into the evening sky as we sped past a dozen different accidents.


 

A decent story,  I've only posted one story here but I started it on a writers site and this is the advice I was given.  You have a wall of text and its difficult to read.  Paragraphs are your friend.  A blank line should follow what each person says when speaking.  I find it easier to edit after each couple lines rather than an entire chapter.  Good luck and please finish the tale.

Thanks for the corections and tricks.  I hope this makes the story a little easier to read.

Chapter 11

As we left the town of Lone Pine the fires were spreading.  An eerie glow illuminated the town.  Amanda screamed as a huge mushroom fireball jumped several hundred feet in the air.  A half second later her screams were drowned out by the massive blast.  The huge explosion rocked explorer, deafening us.  

Suddenly we were spinning across the road and my door slammed into a power pole.  I watched the wooden pole getting larger as I traveled closer in slow motion. Then all I saw were bright, blindingly white stars…
My head was pounding, and my ears were ringing.  Struggling I opened my eyes.  Everything seemed to be in slow motion. The motor was screaming at full rpm and we were slowly rolling.  A “Z” was staring at us, his bloodshot eyes gawking.  Growling, he began to shuffle our direction.  Suddenly everything changed and we seem to be in fast forward.  Jeff shifted and the suv hesitated before the rear wheels finally gained traction.  Those bright stars appeared again, then faded into black emptiness.  

A dozen cars and trucks sped past Jeff out of town.  Fighting to put the explorer in gear he felt the small suv gain traction.  He whipped a U turn and headed north.  Zombies were starting to come out of the woodwork.  He weaved around them clipping a couple by accident, caving in the fronts of the fenders.  He glanced over at Josh who was sprawled in the passenger seat.  His face was covered in blood that gushed out of gashes on his forehead and chin.  His nose was at a crooked angle, and shards of glass were embedded in his face.  Hearing a groan in the back seat, he yelled to Amanda, while glancing up at the rearview mirror.  It wasn’t there and he realized he could barely see out of the smashed windshield.

“I’m ok”

Amanda groaned as she loosened her seat belt.  It was cutting into her neck and felt like it was trying to cut her head off.  She looked at the shattered windshield and gasped.  Josh was slumped over, covered in blood as it trickled off his nose from his serrated face.  

“Baby, is Josh dead?” She stammered.  

“I don’t know.” Jeff said with fear in his voice as he swerved around a cluster of Zs.  

Amanda looked at them.  Their blood soaked figures were silhouetted against a burning house.  One was missing an arm she realized.  A middle age woman carrying a toddler came screaming out of the burning inferno.  Her hair and cloths were on fire.  The cluster of ravenous beast sprang on the woman, knocking her down and ripping her apart while she was still alive.  Amanda was riveted. This was the most horrific thing she had ever seen.  Her eyes welled with tears, and she began to vomit out the window.  This is hell on earth she thought as she wept.
Jeff was fighting the small suv to keep it pointed in a straight line. The engine temperature was red lined and steam was coming out from under the hood.   They had seen a dozen people ripped apart by the Zs as they sped out of town a half hour ago.  Now that it was dark and the headlights were busted from running into zombies.  Jeff had to stick his head out the window to see in front of him.  This slowed their speed dramatically.  They were only traveling at about 15 miles an hour.  Suddenly there was a loud bang and the explorer shuttered to a halt.  All was quiet, except Amanda’s soft weeping in the back.

Jeff looked over at Josh, he was still slumped over in the passenger seat.   He didn’t know what to do and felt his stomach climbing into his throat. He vomited all over the side of the door.  Then he began to shake violently.  The fear and adrenalin were starting to drain from his system.  

“Fuck, Damn It, Get Ahold Of Yourself Jeff.”  He screamed inside.

“Think, think, Damn It think.” His insides churned and he vomited again.  Slowly he forced himself to think.  

They needed new means of transportation.  Shakily he opened the door and stepped out.  He turned to Amanda.

“Babe, I am going up the road a little to see if I can find another car, you stay here.”

“No, your all I have left , you’re not going anywhere by yourself.”  

She sobbed getting out of the explorer, and grabbing him tightly.  Jeff felt so useless and incapable.  Amanda deserved a MAN.  Then and there Jeff vowed to himself that he would, buck the Fuck Up, and Be the MAN she deserved.

“Ok, baby.”  

He said hugging her for a long moment and kissing her on the forehead.  Then he gently pried himself from her and saying;

“Get a bag and packed with some clothes, food and bottled water.”  

Amanda nodded and slowly let go of him.  He opened the back of the suv, and they silently began packing.  Once they were done, Jeff opened the gun bag and took 100 rounds of 9mm and 75 rounds of buckshot put them in his duffle bag.  He pulled out the shotgun and checked the chamber in the darkness with his finger.  

“What about Josh?”  Amanda asked.

“We will have to wait till daylight, when we come back for the rest of our gear.”  
 
Amanda grasped Jeff’s left hand and they started walking down the dark road.  She felt his strong grip and his determination.  It calmed her.  Looking out across the high desert, she saw the bright sliver of the moon and the milky way.  It had been Hell one minute, and the next, she was walking with her man down a silent road.  Only the crunch of small pebbles against the asphalt road could be heard.  

Jeff held Amanda’s hand while they walked.  There was a sinking feeling in the bottom of his gut.  He was afraid he would let her down. He took a deep breath of the crisp desert air and tried to bury his fear.  The couple walked for almost 7 miles under the desert moon before they saw a pickup stopped in the middle of the road.  As they got closer Jeff saw that one of the doors were open.  Jeff stopped, cautioning Amanda to stay behind him.  They were a hundred yards from the truck and when he called out.

“Can, anyone hear me, don’t shoot.  We aren’t going to hurt anyone.”

Everything was silent, so he called out again.  Then he heard some rustling in the brush on the side of the road.  A low growl, ushered a form into the moonlight. Then a second form crashed out of the brush behind it.  The growling carcasses stumbled toward him, covering the distance quickly.  

“Stay back.” He yelled to Amanda while lifting the shotgun to fire. He pointed the gun at the first Zs head and pulled the trigger, nothing happened.  He panicked and ran at the zombie swinging the gun by the barrel like a baseball bat. He hit the first one in the head and it was knocked flat on its back.  At the same time, the gun was knocked from his grip and it clattered to the pavement.  Jeff was now scared to death, but he couldn’t let Amanda see him run in fear.  Sprinting he Spartan kicked the other Z, knocking it 6 feet onto it’s back.  He remembered what Josh had said about shooting Zs only if it was a last resort, and began to stomp repeatedly on it’s head.   Suddenly Amanda screamed.  Jeff turned just in time to see a bright muzzle flash illuminate the first Z standing right behind him. The body crumpled to the ground missing the top of it’s cranium.  Jeff pulled his Glock and shot the Z he had been stomping on twice.
Amanda walked up Jeff, the shotgun in her hands.  Looking down at the Z she had killed, she felt anger build up inside her.  She hated the creatures, every last one of their stinking corpses!  She began to cry.  Jeff stepped over to her and put his arm around her.  

“Thanks Love.” Was all he could say.

“I hate them!” Amanda sobbed.  

Great story so far!

I like where you are going with this.

The guys have offered up some good advice too.

If I may add someting I would suggest a program called Whitesmoke. It is pricy, but if you are serious about writing, this proggie is awesome. It is able to correct things like: We were going their two. ( We were going there too!)

Spelling, grammar (contextual) as well as sentence structure. It operates in the background and can even work in forums and such. There are versions starting at 90 bucks but the all inclusive premium is around 300.

Can't wait for the next chapter!

"Grown of paint"? Seriously?

You can get rid of a lot of the grammatical errors by running it through a writing software first. Then you can simply copy and paste it. Unless you're doing it from a mobile device like me.

I like it! Things like the scorching hot pavement and rattlesnake bite are realistic elements you never see in most zombie stories.

Tag for later

Thanks for the encouragement.  I am trying to do a better job at the editing.


Chapter 12

There was blackness.  Then I thought I could hear something in the distance it almost sounded like quail.  Another closer noise distracted me.  A droning sound, it got louder and louder.  My head instantly began to pound.  It felt as if my head was being crushed in a vice that some evil creature was cranking shut.  I saw the wooden phone pole come at me again.  I could see its rugged gray exterior getting larger and closer.  Brace for impact! BLAM, everything went black.

Jeff and Amanda pulled up to the broken down explorer and shut off the 99 Dodge pickup.  Climbing out Jeff ran and drug Josh out of the suv and laid him in the pickups bed.

“Look,” Amanda pointed down the road.  

Jeff looked the way she directed.  A quarter mile away, stumbling their direction were a dozen Zs.

“Quick, we need to get the rest of our stuff loaded,” Jeff said.

The couple threw the rest of the gear in the bed, except the gun bag and Jeff’s 30-06 rifle, and some bottled water which were placed on the front seat.  Amanda climbed in the bed and looked at the dried blood on Josh’s face and cloths.  

“Letts go.” She yelled, banging on the truck cab.  Jeff started the truck and they traveled north.

The blackness started to fade and the dreaded droning began to assault my senses once again.  I opened my eyes, and was blinded by bright daylight.  My temples began to pound and a severe pain stabbed through my head.   I opened my mouth as if to scream in pain, but nothing came out.  A woman looked at me.  She seemed to be spinning around me. I glanced at the wispy white clouds as they contrasted against the bright blue sky.  They seemed to spin faster and faster.  The darkness began to creep back, and I heard voices that echoed like someone was speaking through a long pipe.   I was fading into the blackness again.  

Suddenly I was standing in a meadow full of the greenest grass I had ever seen.  It was cool and I breathed the crisp clean air.  Hundreds of red and violet wild flower grew everywhere.  I looked up from the flowers an there was a huge Non Typical Mule Deer standing, not 20 feet away.  The huge buck flicked its tail leisurely and walked into the tree line.  I followed him slowly.  As I entered the trees, it was like entering a new universe.  Monster redwoods stood around me.  They were 10 to 15 feet in diameter.  I stopped and slowly turning 365 degrees taking in the beauty. The buck was waiting for me, and I followed it.  We came to a rushing stream of the most crystal clear water I had ever seen.  Cupping my hands I knelt down and scooped up a handful and drank.  It was ice cold, and sweet.  Standing I watched the buck hop from rock to rock, crossing the steam.  Carefully I followed.   When I reached the other bank the scenery had changed again.   I was standing on a rugged snow covered ridge.  Stunted pines grew all around me.  A biting cold wind ripped at my face.   Suddenly behind me came the sounds of gunfire and agonizing screaming.

I wheeled around to see a North Korean soldier running at me, screaming.  He had an AK47 with a bayonet mounted.  I lifted an M249 SAW to my shoulder and pulled the trigger. The SAW vibrated like a miniature jackhammer, and I watched absently as red dots began began to appear on the front of the soldier’s green uniform.  He I looked into my eyes as the AK slipped from his fingers and he crumpled to his knees.  His eyes held fear, as if he knew this was the end.  

An explosion rocked my world and I was slammed on my back, knocking the wind out of me.  I fumbled, looking for my SAW. Grasping it I stood up and ran along the ridge. Two more Soldiers fired at me from behind one of the stunted pines.  I cut them down in a hail of bullets.

Charging forward I felt something slam into me knocking me to the ground.  As I hit the ground I heard the shot as it echoed in the silence.   Then I saw another soldier charging me with a bayonet turning my head I felt the cold steel of the blade slice the flesh next to my ear.  I grasped the North Korean and rolled on top of him. My hand reached and grasped my K-Bar and I stabbed him.  

Someone once said that the eyes are the windows into the soul, and I truly believe that.  As I looked into the eyes of the soldier his form changed into a young girl.  I was paralyzed by those soft brown eyes showing sheer terror, and agony.  I was holding her hand and couldn’t look away.  I felt her soul, agony, terror, pain and desperation swept over me in a flood of emotions.  Suddenly everything went white and my eyes opened.  I was staring at those wispy white clouds again.  Amanda bent over me and began to wipe my face with a wet rag.

“We were really worried you wouldn’t make it for a while there.” She said kindly.
Opening a bottle of water she tilted my head forward so I could drink.  The water was warm and tasted like plastic.  I tried to sit up, and Amanda held me down.
“No, you need to lay here and rest.  You hit you head when the explosion blew us into a telephone pole.”

I nodded and lifted my hand to my face and winced.  There was a gash that went from the middle of my forehead through the center of my right eyebrow.  Another smaller gash was on the right side of my chin.  Sliding my hand up the other side of my face, I bumped my nose and felt a smart stab of pain that seemed to go all the way through my sinuses.

Jeff walked over and leaned on the side of the truck.  Shaking his head he said.
“You’re one tough Jarhead.  I was certain that you would never come out of it.”

I grinned and immediately grimaced when that sharp pain stabbed me again.  Jeff told me about killing the 2 Z and getting the truck.   Then he related to me how he had tried to continue north only to see an army convoy shooting everything that moved in the next town.
“They were shooting living people and the Zs.  It was terrible to see survivors running to them for help only to get gunned down with machineguns.”

Evading the army took most of the day.  Jeff had to drive around on back roads to find another route.   Eventually he found his way to highway 168 and got the hell out of dodge.   After driving for a couple hours he had stopped next to a semi on the side of the road and had siphoned diesel into the tank on the dodge.  

“We spent the night there taking turns on guard until the next morning.”  

“That is when you started talking.” Amanda joined in.

“It was mostly gibberish.  Something, about brown eyes.”

My insides winced when she mentioned the brown eyes.   I could vividly remember them in the dream, or vision, or whatever it was.   I tried to change the subject.  

“When are we moving on?”

The words spoken through my broken face immediately made me grimace.  Jeff told me;

“There is a small barn and some corrals about a half mile away.  We are going to stay there for a couple days until we need more food and water.  It will give you time to heal before we keep going.”
 

I love the way you brought him out of unconsciousness. Dream to reality and the stupor that goes with it. Very nice!

I'm definitely into it now!! You gotta keep posting more parts I'm hooked now!

I like it

Warning for chapter 13!  Don't give me a bad time about bobwire being Barbed wire.  Bobwire is what i grew up calling it, and I don't want to get into an argument over what I call it!  

Thanks for all the encouragement, I appreciate it.


Chapter 13

Jeff made a good decision to take some time to let me recover.  The short half mile ride off road to the barn was a little longer than he anticipated.  As soon as he turned off the pavement onto the dirt road my head began to throb.  Amanda tried to keep me down, but I insisted on sitting up so I wouldn’t bang my head.  I have ridden in seven tons and been on some rough roads, but this one toped them all.  Maybe it was just my injuries.

There were a half dozen cattle gates to get to the barn.  Amanda jumped out and opened them so Jeff could drive through.  As we drove up to the barn doors, Amanda climbed out and opened them for Jeff, and he drove the truck inside.  From the inside, I saw that it was a pole barn that measured about 20X30 feet.  It had rough wooden boards for walls and a tin roof.  There were bobwire fences surrounding the barn and corrals.  In one of the nearby pipe corrals there was a cattle chute, and on the other side of the barn was an old water tank connected to a rusty water trough.  It was an excellent place to hole up for a few days.  Any Zs coming our direction would be seen a mile away.  If any did end up getting closer than that, they would get hung up in the bobwire fences.

“Watch out for rattle snakes.”  I warned them.  “We got lucky the first time finding Amanda help.  We don’t need any repeated incidents.”  

“Agreed,” Jeff said while he sorted through our canned food.  Amanda began to insist that I sleep in the cab of the truck.  

“I won’t take no for an answer.”

I couldn’t argue, so I slowly climbed out of the truck.  I ached all over.  As soon as I took my first step, I felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me.  I stood hanging on to the tailgate for a few minutes before taking one step at a time until I got to the cab.  Climbing inside I laid down on the seat, exhausted.  I closed my eyes and let myself slip into relaxing slumber.

Jeff watched Josh climb into the cab of the truck, and fell asleep in a matter of seconds.  Selecting two cans of beef stew, he popped the tops and handed one to Amanda.

“Thanks babe,” she said handing him a plastic spoon.  Together the couple walked out of the barn and ate as they watched the sun set.  It gave of an orange glow in the crisp evening air.  A quail called in the brush.  

“This is such a peaceful place.”  Amanda stated.

She sipped on some water, and Jeff put his arms around her as they watched the sun dip behind the horizon.  As soon as the sun disappeared the temperature began to drop.

“What are we going to do when we get to your step parents’ apartment in Boise.”  Amanda asked.

Jeff looked down at his shoes, he didn’t have a plan. He swallowed hard.  

“I don’t know, maybe ask for help”.

“They disowned you when we got married.”  Amanda said quietly.

He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly beginning to hurt inside.  He had just grabbed at straws, and had drug the love of his life through hell.  His only plan had been to plead to people who had disowned him when he decided to make his own decisions.  He knew deep down that Amanda was right. They wouldn’t help him.  He decided he wasn’t going to go plead any more.  He would make a fresh start for Amanda and himself in this new world.

“Your right.  They won’t even speak to me.” Jeff said quietly.    

He paused for a moment, studying the first glimmering stars to appear.

“We are going to have to make a new start for ourselves.  Find somewhere peaceful and safe and start from scratch.”

Amanda leaned her head against his shoulder.

“I’d like that very much”

“I’m going to take first watch.”  Jeff said matter of factually.

Amanda followed him into the barn as he retrieved the shotgun and his Remington 30-06.  Her energy was drained because she was still recovering from the snake bite, and the long walk to find the truck hadn’t helped at all.  She just wanted to be with her husband and rest.

“I will sit up with you until I fall asleep.” She offered.

“I love you.” Jeff said while putting his arm around her.

“I love you too.” She replied.  

They leaned close and kissed for a long moment before walking out to the water tank and climbing on top.  Getting comfortable they sat listening to the crickets, and counted the shooting stars.  An occasional coyote howled at the rising moon.  It didn’t take long for Amanda to fall asleep, her head resting in Jeff’s lap.  He stroked the side of her face.  Then he brushed her long silky brown hair behind her ear, while she slept restfully.

As the night turned to the grey of early morning, Jeff saw the movement of a two small Jackrabbits as they foraged for food.  Gently Jeff rubbed Amanda’s arm to wake her.  She opened her eyes and smiled at him.  In a quiet voice he directed her attention to the rabbits.  She propped herself up on one elbow and together, they watched the desert creatures hop about as the sun peeked over the mountains to the east.

When I woke in the morning long shafts of sunlight shone between the board walls.  My first order of business was to take a dump.  I opened the door to the pickup and glanced at the ground for snakes.  Not seeing any, I stepped out and stretched.  I took a few unsteady steps and slowly walked to the tailgate of the truck, where I opened my assault pack and found my roll of toilet paper.  In my early days in the Corps I learned quickly that although there were portashiters at many of the training sites, they almost never had shitpaper.  Since then I carried at least 1 roll with me in the field.  It had been worth more than its weight in gold many times.  I slowly walked out the barn door and made my way to the cattle shute to have a little privacy.  Using a stick I scraped a small hole in the ground and took care of my business.  When I was finished, I kicked rocks and chunks of dried cow pies into the hole to fill it.  
I headed back to the barn to get some breakfast.  As I rounded the corner Jeff and Amanda were climbing off of the water tank.  

“You look like you got hit with a Mack truck!” Jeff laughed.

“I feel like it.” I replied sluggishly.

I didn’t think it was very funny.  The three of us walked into the barn and I opened the homemade IFAK on my chest rig.  I pulled out a tube of Neosporin and a small bottle of hand sanitizer.  I sanitized my hands and began to apply the Neosporin.  I winced as my finger began to trace the gashes on my face.  I must have been doing a terrible job because Amanda said;

“Let me do that.”

She began sanitizing her hands.

“I can do it.” I assured her.

She snatched the Neosporin out of my hand and gently began packing it into the lacerations on my face.

“Quit being stubborn, just because you’re a Marine doesn’t give you the right to be and idiot.” She said in an annoyed tone.

I sat there looking dumb.  Jeff chuckled at me as he opened a bottle of water.

“Josh, once Amanda gets a mind to do something, it is pretty near impossible to stop her.”

When she was done, Jeff said, “we have to talk to you about something Josh.  Amanda, and I have decided that we aren’t going to Idaho anymore.”

KEEP IT GOING

I'm liking it, you've really cleaned up the typos and grammar errors as you've gone along.  

Keep it up!

I am working on the next chapter and will post in a couple days.

Its been a few days

You corect, it has been a few days.

Chapter 14

I was surprised to hear that Jeff and Amanda had decided not to go to Idaho.  I was unsure of what to say.  A hundred questions for Jeff began buzzing through my mind.  Carefully, I chose my words.

“What changed your mind.”

“We realized there was nothing for us where we were headed and decided that we are going to find a safe place and settle down.”

“Do you have a particular place you are thinking of to settle down.”

“Not yet.  We wanted a place somewhat isolated, where there aren’t a lot of Zs.”

“Do you have plans for next winter?”

“I guess we will have to scavenge a lot of canned food.”

I thought for a moment.  Jeff and Amanda had the right idea, but being city folks they needed some help.  A plan began to formulate I my head.

“Would you be interested in coming with me to Jake’s cabin?  It is up in the hills and there is plenty of room.  We have enough food for several people to last through next winter.”

“I don’t know.” Jeff said looking at Amanda.

“There is strength in numbers.  The longer we stick together, the longer we will survive. ” I stated.

“Give us some time to think about it.”  Amanda said.  

I ate a can of corn, for breakfast.  Jeff and Amanda walked outside and talked to each other in low tones.  After breakfast I looked to my gear.  If we parted ways I only wanted to carry what I absolutely needed.   I laid my chest rig and my flack side by side.  One was light, the other was hot, and weighed over 20 pounds, but would stop handgun and shotgun rounds.  Either one could hold an ESAPI plate, which only gave protection from a couple rifle rounds.  I decided to split my ESAPIs one in the front of each rig.  Then I weaved my issue IFAK on my assault pack.  I decided to wear my chest rig.  It was lighter and cooler than my flak which would both be benefits if I was running from Zs.  Slipping it on, I rearranged the contents of the four pistol mag pouches on my chest.  The left two would hold spare mags for my Glock19 and the right two would hold my flashlight and my Leatherman.  Satisfied with the placement of my pouches, I slipped chest rig off and laid it in the back of the pickup next to my other gear.  My began to get a headache with a slow drumming.
Picking up my M16, I broke it down and cleaned the internals.  I lovingly lubricated the bolt and carrier and reassembled my rifle.  Some Marines became attached to their rifles, even naming them.  I was one such Marine, and was glad that I had been able to keep mine when things went crazy.  I loved carrying a gun.  It felt so natural, comforting.
My headache started to intensify, so I climbed into the bed of the pickup to sleep.  The last thing I remembered were Jeff and Amanda’s voices rising.  Evidentially they too had their clashes, despite being very much in love.

Amanda sighed.  She didn’t want to argue with Jeff but she disagreed with him.  Jeff wanted to go John Wane, plowing into any problems as they presented themselves.  Find a house and live there.  Amanda was afraid of plowing into the situations, and wanted to plan and prevent anything bad from happening.

“Amanda, can’t you see just the two, of us means less food to collect, and less noise, a smaller footprint.  We will be harder to find.  We will be more mobile, and not tied down to anyone.”

“Jeff we can survive on our own, but It will take a toll on us.  Eventually some of those Zs will sneak up on us, or we will get in a sticky situation with bandits.  It will be really hard for the two of us.”

The argument began to intensify, but finally they both made a compromise.  They would travel to Oregon and try it on their own for the summer and scout for a place to settle down.  Then, if Josh would allow it, they would stay the winter at his brother’s cabin.  They could bring the supplies they gathered, helping both Josh and themselves through the winter.

That afternoon I woke up from a long nap and was just in time for dinner.  Or should I say, a cold can of chili. When I was finished I walked outside into the late afternoon sun.  My vision went white for a few seconds, while my pupils adjusted to the brightness.  Jeff and Amanda approached me.  

“Josh, we would like to take you up on your offer of staying at Jake’s place during the winter, but we want spend the summer on our own, scouting for a place.  We will bring as much food as we can find with us and we won’t be taxing your food supply all summer.”

“Honestly I think we should stay together, it would be safer.”  I replied.

They seemed determined to find a place, so I didn’t argue any further.  We decided that If circumstances permitted they would come to Jake’s cabin in November.  Amanda got a Rand McNally Road Atlas out of the truck and we went over the location of Jakes cabin and how to get there.  

“Tomorrow we will start out again,” I said.  

“Sounds good, “ Jeff said.

“I will take watch tonight,” I stated.  “You two need some sleep.”  

“Thanks.” Amanda said.  I walked back into the barn and grabbed the Savage 30-06, and a water bottle.  Then I headed for the water tank and climbed on top.  Assuming the a prone position I scanned the countryside through the rifles scope.

Amanda grasped Jeff’s hand.  Winking, she led him inside the barn.

That evening I was treated to one of the greatest sunsets I have ever seen.  The blazing sun shone a bright orange as it descended behind the western horizon. It seemed to hover for one last dazzling moment before it finally disappeared.  Just at that moment the first stars began to take their stage over the desert.  One by one the starry host began to reveal their beauty.  A grey glow heralded the arrival of the Moon.  As It slowly rose from behind the mountains.  A family of young coyotes began to bark and yip in approval.  

Chapter 15

The crickets were still serenading when the gray of early light began to creep over the desert.  It is always coldest just before the sun rises.   I took a deep breath of the crisp morning air and prepared my mind for the journey ahead.  In my head I focused on what we might encounter.  There would be Zs, and probably other survivors and bandits.  Food and clean water would be a constant necessity.  It would be a rough and dangerous journey, but I would make it.

I stood and stretched.  Then performed a dozen Spiderman stretches, limbering up my tight muscles.  I slung the 30-06 on my shoulder and climbed down from the water tank.  Then I walked slowly back to the barn and slid the door open.  As I walked past the cab I could see the forms of my traveling companions wrapped in a blanket inside.  Continuing to the truck bed I began to sort the few cans of food we had left.  I decided to not eat this morning, saving the food for later, however I did drink a bottle of water.  

Jeff and Amanda were not equipped or prepared to survive the summer on their own.  I began to create a list of the supplies they needed to scavenge.  I pulled a small green write in the rain notepad out of my pocket and began to scribble down a list.

Medicine
Antibiotics
Bandages
Moleskin
Boots
Jackets
Heavy working clothing
Canned food
Ammunition
Sleeping bags
Heavy socks
Cooking ware
Propane camping stove
Propane
Diesel
Backpacks
Tools
Rope
Radios
Batteries
Flashlights
Tarps
Knives
Duct tape
Electrical tape
Toilet paper

That would be a good start, but they would need a lot more.  Walking to the cab I knocked on the window.  Amanda opened her eyes and looked up.  When she saw me she nudged Jeff.  

“Give us a minute to get dressed.”  She said sleepily.

“I will be outside.”

I turned and walked out giving them a chance to get dressed.  The grey was now giving way to early morning and the sun would appear in a half hour. I went to the cattle shute and took a leak.  Then walked back to the barn and leaned against the wall.   A cricket chirped the last notes to his song and fell silent.  A large almost black, blue belly lizard began to crawl up a grey fencepost.  I smiled, remembering catching those lizards when I was growing up.

Amanda waited until Josh walked out before nudging Jeff into consciousness.  He didn’t snore, but was always difficult to wake.   Jeff opened his eyes and breathed deeply.  Amanda kissed him and said;

“Babe it’s time to get up.  I think Josh wants to talk to us.”

“Ok”

I heard Jeff’s voice call me from inside the Barn.

“Josh, were up.”

I walked back inside.

“Is there something you wanted to talk to us about?”   Jeff said while slipping his running shoes on.

“Yea, we will get something to eat, then I will go over a list of stuff you will need this summer before we head out.”

“Sounds good.”  Jeff said as he helped Amanda out of the truck and headed for our dwindling supply of food.

I slipped the 30-06 off my shoulder and strapped on my chestrig.  Jeff and Amanda  began to chat quietly while they ate.  Slinging my M16, I began to inspect the truck for our journey.  I kicked the tires and popped the hood.  Next I checked the water in the radiator, It was full.  Then I started the truck, and let it run for a few minutes before I shut it off, and checked the oil.  It was about a quart low.  I pulled out my notebook and added motor oil to my list.

Once Jeff and Amanda were finished eating.  I began to go over the list of supplies with them.  

“We’re going to need to get real close to some of the Zs to get those Supplies, and it would make sense to kill them quietly without guns.  However we still don’t know what infects people and we will have to be really careful not to get their blood and other fluid on us.”

“We could use baseball bats.” Jeff observed.

“Yes, but I was thinking of something with more range, like a crossbow.”  

A devilish smile crossed Jeff’s face when I mentioned the crossbow.

We are going to keep an eye out for food warehouses, hardware stores, outdoor stores, western ware places, gunshops, and small medical practice places like dentist’s offices and specialist’s offices.  However most of these places will either be picked through, have Zs in them or be guarded by other survivors.  We must be extremely careful with other survivors we meet.  They may be bait for a trap, or they may be setting us up.  We must be ready to kill anyone at anytime.

“Can’t we help other survivors?”  Amanda asked.

“Most certainly, but only it they need it. Otherwise we don’t need to take the chance of hurting each other in the long run because we tried to help somebody else.”

With that said, we hit the road.  Jeff drove, and Amanda rode shotgun.   I stood in the bed as the gunner.  The cool morning air was refreshing against my face.  It was nice to have long stretches of open road.  Jeff put the petal to the metal and and we covered over 200 miles before we sopped near a small town that afternoon.

Before we entered the town, we pulled behind a hill about a quarter mile away.  Getting out, Jeff grabbed both 30-06s and we headed up the side of the hill to get a good view before deciding to drive though the town, or bypass it. As we got to the crest of the hill, we got on our hands and knees until we could see the town.  Looking through the rifle scopes, we studied the town for a half hour.

There was one main street running though the town.  A dozen of the houses were burned out.  Most of the streets that we could see were passable by cars.  A few Z’s were milling about here and there.  A little ways to the west of town was an old quonset hut with about 30 or 40 cars in a fenced in area.  I pointed it out to Jeff.

“That looks like a small junkyard.  We might be able to find some tools and other stuff down there.  It is Isolated, and looks like it’s deserted.  But there might me people holed up in there.”

We came up with a plan.   We would walk the ¾ of a mile and check it out.
If there were less than 10 Zs we would kill them.  
If there were survivors, we would leave and go back to the truck.  
If the place was deserted, Jeff and Amanda would get the truck and drive it near the gate to the junkyard while I looked around.  
If I got in trouble.  I would start shooting and meet them where the truck was parked now.  
If I didn’t show up the next morning, Jeff and Amanda would head out without me.

The sun was broiling us as we climbed down the hill and started walking to the Junkyard.

“I am going to teach you some basic patrolling and hand signals.  I demonstrated the hand signals for “Halt” “Get Down” and “Rally on me.”  

“When a signal is given, the next people in line should echo it down the line, so the person in the rear can get the command, because they might not be able to see the person in the front.”

Then I told them what a ranger file was.  

“A ranger file will keep you wide enough apart apart, so that it will be hard for a single person, or machinegun to engage all of us at once, unless they are directly in front of us.  You do this by keeping about 20 to 30 feet between you and the next person in the column.  I will take the point.  Jeff you will be in the rear, and Amanda will be in the middle.  Keep scanning your surroundings.  Turn around and look behind you every 5 steps, so that nothing comes up behind you, or no one gets left behind.”

Jeff and Amanda took their intervals and we began to practice walking a few steps and turning to see what was behind us.  It was comical to watch Jeff and Amanda patrolling for the first time.  I had to remind them to keep their spacing.  By the time we got about 200 yards from the junkyard they were getting the hang of It.  Placing my fist in the air next to my head I turned and signaling for them to stop.  I then gave the signal to rally.  When they got to me we began watching the junkyard for movement. Slowly we spread into a wedge with Jeff on my left and Amanda on my right.  We silently closed in on the quonset hut and took positions near the windows.  I raised my head and peered through the dirty glass.

“I didn’t see anyone inside.”  I reported.  

“Lets check out the lot.” Jeff said in a whisper.

We walked around the outside of the chain-link fence that the cars and trucks were in.

Amanda spoke, “there’s no one here.”

“That is a good thing.” I said.

Jeff spoke up,  “we will get the truck.”

They hurried off at a jog to get the truck, while I tried to figure out how to get inside the quonset hut.  Picking up a rock I hurled it smashing one of the windows.  The room was dark so I clicked on the light on my M16 quickly scanning the inside for movement.  Seeing none, I squeezed through the window. It was just large enough for me to climb inside.  There were car and truck parts strewn about.   On a greasy table next to the wall were a couple dozen empty Corona bottles amid some tools. A bunch of toolboxes of differ sorts were scattered near the table.  Spots of light flickered on the oil stained concrete as it shone through the spinning roof vent.  One corner of the building was walled off and I stood to the side of the door as I tried the knob.  It opened.  Taking a step back I shone my light inside and carefully cut the pie.  It was a bathroom.  Above the greasy sink was a large orange jug of hand soap.

After I had cleared the building, I dragged the vehicle parts into a pile near the restroom.  This would give us a place to spend the night.  

Great story, please continue and thanks!!

Definately has my interest, more, please ?

OST

So far, so good!   Please give us more when you can!

TriumphRider

I am really digging this story

I am really glad that all of you are liking my story, I am trying to keep it as realistic as possible.  I currently am working on the next chapter.  I write the story in between my other commitments, so sometimes it takes a couple days to get the next chapter up.  I am not going to quit anytime anytime soon, because I hate half-finished stories.


Chapter 16

It took a half an hour for Jeff and Amanda to return with the truck.  I rolled up the door and had them pull in. This would allow us to hide if someone investigated the sound of the truck.  I closed the roll up door and locked the latches at the bottom.  I posted Amanda at the window I had broken to keep an eye out incase Zs or anyone else investigated.  Jeff and I began to look through the tools to find what we wanted to keep.  It didn’t take Jeff long to find an old 2 foot Maglite. He began to use it in his search.  We came up with 2 crowbars, a come along, a high lift jack, a sledge hammer, several screwdrivers, a pipe wrench, a large bolt cutter, a hacksaw, 2 claw hammers, a crescent wrench, a half dozen pairs of pliers, a large ballpeen hammer, and a toolbox with wrenches and sockets.  Once we found everything we wanted we put all the small tools in a 5gallon bucket and loaded it all in the truck.  We still had a couple hours till dark so I cut the lock off the gate of the lot with all the wrecked vehicles in it.  I began to search for anything useful.  I searched about eight cars and trucks before hearing screaming and swearing.  Turning, I ran to the other side of the lot. Jeff was sprinting way from a white van, he had a swarm of wasps buzzing angrily about him. A few minutes later he succeeded in outrunning the angry swarm.  His face was swollen with a bunch of red welts dotting it.  I took him inside the quonset hut where Amanda was anxious to find out what happened.

“I was searching the vehicles and opened a white van. There wasn’t much inside, so I opened the glove compartment.  There was a huge wasps nest in there, and they attacked me.”  He mumbled through his swollen lips.

I was surprised at how large his face was.  Amanda immediately sat him down and covered his face with a wet rag.  It was the best she could do without ice.  

“Are you allergic to stings?” I asked

Jeff shook his head.  I felt sorry for him.  He had gotten stung a lot.  I was still concerned that he might go into anaphylactic shock, and that his throat would swell so much that he wouldn’t be able to breathe.  Amanda stayed by his side for the the rest of the day.  

I began watch again. It was boring, and I counted the birds as they quietly flitted about.  I thought of how stupid the world had gotten.  It was as if we didn’t have enough just dealing with bandits, rattlesnakes and Zs.  Now there were wasps. My mind began to run wild thinking of all the kinds of venomous creatures that could bite or sting.  There were spiders, ants, bees, wasps, scorpions, and of course hornets.  I hate hornets, with a passion.  Those huge aggressive biting and stinging insects give me the creeps.


Amanda propped Jeff’s head on her lap and l laid the moist rag on his face again. It didn’t provide him much comfort, but it was better than nothing. She stroked his hair softly.  

“I love you,” she whispered.  

It hurt to see her husband in such a predicament.  But he must have felt a lot worse when she had been bitten by that rattlesnake.  That was a little over a week ago. She was still felt weak and her strength was not all back yet. She was getting tired and let her eyes close.  She drifted into another world. She was in a kitchen cutting fresh lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers for a salad.  She looked out the large sliding glass door as Jeff barbequed chick breasts and steak.  Finishing the salad she opened the fridge and pulled out a cold beer for Jeff.  She popped the lid on the bottle and filled a glass with ice tea for herself. Walking out onto the deck, she handed the beer to Jeff. They look into each other’s eyes for a minute then kissed and held each other close.  Jeff’s eye’s were kind and loving. There was shouting and the laughter of children and the barking of a dog in the back ground. She looked at the freshly mowed yard where their three children played with the dog.  She looked back at Jeff smiling.

“This is what I always wanted.”

“Me too.” He said, and they kissed again.

The dream started to fade and she fought to keep it from going.  Her eyes opened and she found that she was now lying in Jeff’s lap.  She smiled while looking up into his face.  He stoked the side of her face, and she put her hand on his holding it to her cheek.

“I had the greatest dream.” She said, then described it to him.

“That is a great dream,” he beamed.  Then he added “I’m feeling much better this morning thanks to you.”

Jeff had a dull headache, but he didn’t want to bother her.

“I’ve got a plan to keep the Zs distracted so we can check out the town.” He said.  

“How,” Amanda asked interestedly.

“We sneak into town and hook up a car horn to a battery inside one of the buildings.  The Zs will follow the sound and go inside, then we lock them in and they will not be able to get out.”  


When Jeff told me about his plan, I was impressed.

“It should work very well,” I told him.

“We will try it this afternoon, but first I need some sleep.  I’ve been awake for nearly 36 hours.”

“We will find the batteries and car horns and get them ready while you sleep.”  Amanda offered excitedly.

“That’s a deal.” I said, already headed for the pickup to get some much needed sleep.

I spread my flack out in the bed of the truck laid down.  The second I closed my eyes I was out.   Slowly I became aware of standing in the middle of a street.  There were bombed out 2 and 3 story buildings on each side of me.  The smell of smoke and gunpowder permeated the air.  Ash covered the ground in a thin layer of dust, it floated through the air like dirty snowflakes.  I watched as each step that I took caused a small cloud of dust and left an almost perfect boot print.  Fires raged here and there in the ruins of the destroyed buildings.  Cars parked on the sidewalks were hulks of destroyed metal, covered in ash.  The sky was gray and the atmosphere was dark and gloomy.  As I walked down the street I was surprised that I hadn’t come across any dead bodies.  The city seemed totally deserted.  There was no one shooting at each other, there were no inhabitance, it was as if I had walked into a post-Apocalyptic world and was the only person on earth.  Suddenly the earth began to shake and I watched the ground begin to roll in waves.  A huge ash cloud enveloped everything causing almost zero visibility. I could hear buildings collapsing and the creek of steel beams.  The ground felt like the rolling sea waves.  I began to choke on the talcum powder like ash. I covered my mouth with my arm trying to breathe through the fabric of my shirt sleeve.  Just as suddenly as the earthquake had come, it it stopped.  I stayed put for a couple of minutes, until the dust started to settle and I could see.  2 inches from my left foot the road had dropped 3 feet.  Half the buildings were piles of concrete and rubble.  It reminded me of pictures of the World Trade Center after it had collapsed. Fires were still raging in some areas giving off an eerie glow in the dust.  I jumped down to the lower part of the street and walked down a side street.  I thought I heard a scream for help, I stopped.  There I was again. I worked my way down the street until I seemed to be in the exact spot where the cry for help had originated. A muffled sound below me started me digging through the rubble.  I threw chunks of concrete and brick to the side.   As I dug through the rubble I uncovered the body of a girl.  I dragged her out of the rubble and her eyes opened and she began to cough.  She looked into my face and I recognized her eyes.  Those were the same brown eyes that I had seen in my last dream, and like before I was paralyzed.  This time there wasn’t the anguish and terror, just fear and gratitude.

Suddenly a viselike grip clamped onto my arm, and began to shake me violently.  The girls eyes faded and I grabbed for my glock.  Turning I was looking at Amanda, she had a shaken look on her face and I looked down to see my glock pointed at her.

“I’m sorry, I think I have a little PTSD.” I said, as I holstered the weapon.

“Please don’t try to wake me if I start jerking about in my sleep, unless I start screaming.”

“You were screaming and trashing about.”  She said.  “You also talked about those brown eyes again.  You talk about them almost every time you sleep.  Who is she?”

My blood ran cold.  Had I ever seen the girl in my dreams before? Who was she? Why did I keep dreaming about her.  Obviously I was talking about her in my sleep more then I realized.

“I don’t know,” I replied.  “This is the second time I remember dreaming about her, but if I talk in my sleep about her then I must not be remembering all my dreams.”


Jeff came running in at that moment, he had heard Josh scream something and then Amanda scream.  He was out of breath.  Josh had a scared and embarrassed look on his face, and Amanda looked frightened and puzzled.

“What happened?” He asked.

“I have PTSD and was having a vivid dream.  Amanda woke me up and I pulled my gun on her in my sleep.”

“Are you ok Amanda?” Jeff asked.

“I’m ok.  It just scared me, when he pulled his gun when I tried to wake him up.  He was trashing about and screaming.” She replied.

Jeff could see that Josh felt bad for what happened.  

“I’ve had it since I got back from North Korea.  I don’t always have dreams about war, sometimes I relive firefights or really fucked up shit, but usually I have vivid dreams, and most of the time I only talk and twitch a little in my sleep.  My Grandpa was in ww2 and he had it as well.  We always left him alone when he twitched and mumbled in his sleep. He had vivid dreams and didn’t like to talk about the few he remembered.  Once he jumped out of bed and grabbed a lamp when he was dreaming that he jumped into the bed of a moving truck.”

Good story, please keep it up.  I had to laugh about the bob ware.  I think I was 12 years old before my father told me it was really barbed wire but nobody called it that.

Good story so far, keep it up.

Good read so far, keep it up.

Chapter 17
     
That afternoon we put Jeff’s idea to the test.  We snuck into town and found an unlocked two car garage.  Standing clear of the door, I swung it open.  Carefully I cleared the structure with the light on my M16.  There was an old Toyota corolla sitting inside. When it was safe we set up the battery and car horn in the rafters and hooked it up.  The horn began to sound a long continuous blaring.  We ran out the door and hid behind the corner of a house.  A couple minutes later the first Z stumbled around the corner of the garage trying to find a way inside.  He bumped against the wall until he found the open door and staggered inside.  For the next 20 minutes the Zs arrived in twos and threes. Finally they started only coming one at a time. When a Z hadn’t entered the garage in five minutes, I ran up and shut the door.  Jeff helped me nail it closed.

“There are 87 Zs in there.  We should kill them.” Amanda exclaimed.

I knew her hatred for the foul creatures and thought that would be an excellent idea.  After talking over how to kill them, we decided to douse them with gas and light them on fire.  We spent the next half hour draining gas tanks into gas cans that we discovered.  While Jeff bashed a hole in the garage roof, I fashioned a couple of Molotov cocktails from some beer bottles.  We dumped about 30 gallons of gas on the Zs before lighting the Molotov cocktails and throwing them at the hole in the roof.  On the second try I hurled one directly into the hole.  There was a muffled explosion as a 15 foot flame shot out the small hole.  A curious of guttural growls and moans erupted from the beasts burning inside.   A tall black column of smoke rose into the air. In five minutes there was another explosion, probably from the gas in the car. It only took 15 minutes for the garage to burn down, but the flames licked at the charred corpses for another half hour.

I reminded Jeff and Amanda to watch out for Zs that hadn’t been lured into our trap.  We hurried back to the junkyard to get the truck and drove through the small town.  Our first stop was a small grocery store.  I took the lead with my M16, Amanda followed carrying two shopping baskets and Jeff took the rear with the shotgun.  Most of the shelves were empty, but I we did find some canned food, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, batteries, 2 cases of bottled water, and some sunflower seeds and peanuts.  The next place we stopped at was a small hardware store.  There was a blood trail leading inside, so I was very cautious about entering.  After a careful sweep of the shelved room I discovered an old wooden staircase in the back.  I called up to see if anyone was hiding at the top.  After hearing no response I walked up the creaking stairs and cut the pie as I peered around the door frame at the top. There was a mattress in one end of the small room and a small wooden table with a couple of chairs in the other and the smell of death was in the stale air.  In the middle of the room was sprawled the bodies of an old man and woman.  The bodies lay in a large pool of dried blood.  I slowly advanced to make sure they were dead.   They were holding hands and each had five slices across both wrists.  On the table was a small note.  It read.

“We have seen the terrible things those creatures do, and aren’t going to become one either.  We don’t want to live in this world any longer, and pity those who survive.  We are old and tired.  It is time to go home, we will die together.
Bernie & Val Harrison”

I looked in pity at Bernie and Val.  I didn’t agree in their decision, but I understood what they meant when they said they were tired and didn’t want to live in this world any longer.  I heard foot step on the stairs behind me, turning I shoulder my rifle.  The surfire mounted on the hand guard illuminating the doorway.  I walked over to the doorway and shined my light down the stars.  It was Jeff and Amanda. They were blinded by the bright beam of light, and shielded their eyes.  

“Don’t come up here .” I said quietly, lowering my light.  “Let’s get what we need and get out.”

“What’s up there?” Jeff asked.

“I’ll tell you later, just don’t go up there.”
 
We began to search the shelves for anything useful.  I picked up a five gallon bucket and began selecting items.  I gathered 4 brown 8’x10’ tarps, some nylon rope, black spray paint, and a dozen rolls of duct tape, electric tape, and some masking tape..  Then I came across the hand tool section.  There were hammers and hatchets in neat rows.  I selected 3 east wing 16” camper’s axes that I thought should prove very effective weapons against Zs.  About this time Amanda and Jeff had collected the supplies they wanted.  We loaded our new possessions into the truck and headed back on the road.  We still had a couple hours till dark, and we didn’t want to spend another night hear a town.

That evening we turned onto a gravel road and followed it for about a mile until we came up to an old house.  There weren’t any vehicles around, and the place seemed deserted.  We got out and I had Jeff watch the front door and Amanda watch the back while I went inside.  I stood clear of the door and tried the knob.  It was unlocked, and squeaked on rusty hinges as it opened.  I clicked on my light and carefully cleared the rooms.  It was as if the inhabitance had just up and left.  I could tell that several men had been here last. There were coffee cups left out on the table and dirty dishes stacked in the sink.  Everything had a light coat of dust on it. I looked down at the floor and saw that I had left a trail of boot prints.  Looking around I only saw mine, so no one had been here for a while.

“It’s clear.” I yelled

Jeff and Amanda were inside in and instant.  The house was a two bedroom affair with stone walls and a living room that connected to the kitchen.  

It had been over two weeks since I had slept in a bed.  I laid on one of them.  It felt good, but was a little too firm.  I got up and walked into the living room and plopped unto the couch.  This was much better.  I walked out to the truck and grabbed my assault pack then paused to breath the evening air before headed for the couch again.  The dusk had set in as soon as the sun dipped behind the western horizon. I slung my M16 across my back and headed inside.  I set my pack next to the couch then unslung my M16 and unstrapped my chestrig.  It felt good to take the chestrig off, but at the same time, it felt like I was missing something.  I pulled out my Surefire G2PRO and clicked it to the low setting, and began to check the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen and bathroom.  I didn’t find much.  Just some old matches and some miscellaneous kitchen ware.  

Jeff and Amanda had taken up residence in one of the bedrooms.  We took 4 hour watches through the night, providing each one of us with some needed sleep.

The next morning we sat at the kitchen table and ate.  

“What was in that room last night,” Jeff asked.

Slowly I reached into my pocket and pulled out the suicide note and handed it to Jeff.

He read it out loud for Amanda,

“We have seen the terrible things those creatures do, and aren’t going to become one either.  We don’t want to live in this world any longer, and pity those who survive.  We are old and tired.  It is time to go home, we will die together.
Bernie & Val Harrison”

“They slit their wrists and then held hands as they died.” I said quietly, then as an afterthought I stated, “I hope when I die, they will find my body in a mountain of empty brass amid the bodies of my enemies with my K-Bar in my hand.“

2 thumbs up

this

That

Awesomness, this story has it.

Keep it coming, please!

how coincidental.
Love the story so far.

Things have been crazy the last few days, so I haven't been able to write much.  I will try to get a couple chapters up this weekend.

Looking forward to the next chapter

Chapter 18

After breakfast we began to discuss our next move.  We were going to start angling west and cut back into California around the Reno area.  There would be a lot of Zs and probably many unsavory survivors in this area.  We decide to go straight through, not stopping until we made it to the other side of Reno.
Before we took off on the next leg of our journey the truck need to be fixed up a little.  I took one of the short axes and smashed all the lights except the headlights. Then I took and piece of 1” wide masking tape and stuck it to the center of the headlights.  I painted the rest of the headlight black.  This would give us enough light to see by without warning everybody in within sight that we were coming.  I wished we could armor the trucks widows with expanded metal, but we didn’t have the time and material to do that.

We began to hammer out the fine details of how we would operate during our run through the populated areas.  As before Jeff would drive while Amanda rode shotgun and I would be the gunner in the truck bed.  If we had to get out for any reason Amanda would stand watch at the truck while Jeff and I would do what need to be done.  If the truck was disabled, we would have to move out on foot, so I had Jeff and Amanda load their duffle bags with a few survival items and provisions.  One of the things that worried me was the lack of proper clothing they had for survival.  Jeff mostly had shorts and tee shirts while Amanda had mostly short shorts and halter tops.  While these cloths were good for casual dress in southern Cali, they were horrible to wear for survival, and I had noticed that the weather was getting colder as we headed out of the desert and closer to the higher elevations of the mountains.  They would need warmer clothing soon.

We set out at about 07:30 and headed for what we knew would be one of the most dangerous stretches on our journey.  I really wished that I had a suppressor for my rifle.  It would have cut down the noise signature of my M16 significantly, making shooting safer.  Then, when had things ever been safe on our trip.  I watched the scrub brush that grew on the sides of the road fly past me as we made good time.  
I liked how quiet things were, while I rode in the back of the truck.  The cool wind played in my hair and soothed my thoughts.  I scratched the stubble on my chin.  It felt like wire.  I began to stare at nothing in particular.  My thoughts drifted.  I remembered the looks in the eyes of the men I killed.  I had actually enjoyed killing them.  I remembered Paul’s face when I began to slice in his throat to get him to talk.  What the hell had I become?  I knew I was searching for a justification.  Maybe to stop the really bad people you just had to be a bad person.  No, I decided, you had to want something greater and better.  You had to stand for something good. Things were all screwed up and there were no black and white lines anymore.  Everything seemed to be a shade of dark gray.

There was a few inches of snow on the ground as we began to get get to the higher elevations.   When we got within 50 miles of Reno we stared to see a lot of cars on the sides of the road.  Half had blood smeared on them and the doors were open.  We came upon a wrecked school bus was laying on its side with the bodies of about 30 children littering the pavement.  The road seemed to have been covered in a flood of dried blood.  The bodies of the children were turning black and disfigured from exposure.  Some had been brutally torn apart.  The smell was unbearable and made even me gag.  Jeff drove off the road so he wouldn’t hit them and get the putrid smell on the truck.  Amanda started heaving out the window.  

A few miles down the road we found some much fresher corpses laying in the snow on the side of the highway.  There were 3 men, 2 women, and 2 children.  The adults had their hands tied behind their backs their blood was still wet.  I couldn’t tell how they had been killed as we drove by, but it had been bloody and not by Zs.

In another couple miles both lanes of the highway were blocked.  It looked like a Semi tanker had overturned and spilled fuel on both lanes and had been ignited somehow causing a lake of fire and burning all the cars in gridlock around it.  There were charred remains in the cars that didn’t even resemble the people they had once been.  There were barriers on the side of the road so we couldn’t drive around the traffic jam.  Jeff turned around and we began to search for another route.

Amanda rode shotgun, with the 12ga pump across her lap.  Her eyes were glazed over from tears she was trying to hold back.  She had seen some terrible sights, but the children at the school bus had hit a soft point in her heart, and it hurt.  Then she saw the bodies of the people who had been executed.  She could see one of the faces as they drove by.  That person had a look of loss and fear like they had been cheated out of their life unfairly.  She wiped her eyes with the back if her hand.  She felt the life growing inside her and they welled up again, and tears began to run down her cheeks.  Jeff reached over and put his hand on her shoulder and massaged it gently.  She scooted to the middle seat, and he put his arm around her as he drove.  They were silent for a long moment.  Then Jeff spoke, he had determination in his voice.

“I will find us a safe place to live, one where we can raise a family.”

She began to sob silently.

Jeff felt terrible seeing his wife like this.  It hurt him, she was the most important person in his life, and the only family he had left.  She began to sob into his shoulder, and he felt so powerless.  Josh began to bang on the roof of the cab.  

“Over there on the left.  The gate with the chain on it.” he yelled.  Jeff coasted to the gate before stopping.  Josh jumped out and cut the padlock on the chain.  Then he swung the gate open walked back to Jeff’s window.

“This road seems to follow the highway for a mile and half before heading north.  Hopefully it is tied to other tails allowing us to circumvent the city.  It’s rough and covered in snow, so take it slow so we don’t brake anything.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy.” Jeff replied.

He waited for Josh to jump in the bed before he shifted into 4wd low and started driving slowly down the road.  Hidden in the snow were occasional pot holes, rocks and ditches that rain water had created.  

“I need two hands love.”

He pulled his arm out from around Amanda and began to maneuver around the obstacles.  He glanced at the speedometer, it read about 2 mph.  In about 20 minutes of bouncing and jostling they reached the point where the track veered north up a hill.  Slowly Jeff headed up. The trail had 3 switchbacks before it finally reached the top of the hill.  The trail narrowed considerably, and the Dodge’s wide wheelbase was almost too big for it.  He had to be very careful as there were large rocks in the trail and he was having trouble driving over them.  Josh jumped out and walked in front of the truck to guide him. They almost became high centered twice.  When they reach the top of the hill they could see for miles.  There were snow covered mountains on the west and east of the hilltop but they were hidden by dark grey storm clouds.  

I began to take stock of of our situation as I guided Jeff.  It was mid-February as far I could remember.  The days had blended into one long jumbled memory.  I looked at my watch.  Damn, February 13th the day before mother’s day.  Three years ago today I was standing on the yellow foot prints at Parris Island.  That Island sucked.

“Right, right, now left, ok go right, now straight.”  I yelled, motioning with my arms as I directed Jeff around a large rock.  I felt a cold breeze bite my face and it reminded me of Korea.  Then something hit me.  It felt like snow!  Looking at the clouds I realized that we needed to get off the hill and find some shelter ASAP.

Excellent !! Thanks for taking the time to write and post.

I am working on the next chapter, it will be a longer one.

i ended up staying up way later than i anticipated last night because i couldnt stop reading it... gj keep it coming

Chapter 19

Amanda was getting really cold as they started down the hill.  Josh was walking in the snow guiding them down the snow covered trail.  She pulled their only blanket out of her bag and wrapped herself in it.  She turned on the heater but it just blew cold air at first.  She began to shiver.  Jeff looked at her with a concerned expression.

“Are you ok?”

“I will be ok, but I need to get warm.” She replied in-between shivers.  

She began to realize that she needed some warmer clothing.  Growing up in southern Cali she never thought that she would need cold weather clothing and bought what was comfortable to wear in the summer.  Only now did she begin to understand why Josh was worried about next winter.  They were going to have a very rough time making it to spring, let alone next winter.  The vent began to blow some room temperature air and she took of her shoes and set her feet on the vent.  It helped a little, but not as much as she hoped.

I walked down the hill in front of Jeff as he drove the pickup.  Pointing out a few rocks to steer clear of on my left, I stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle.  An instant pain shot all the way up my calf.  Staggering I almost fell on my face.  I landed on all fours, with a grunt of pain I stood back up and continued on.  Every time I took a step the pain would shoot into my ankle and I would limp.  The snow was a blessing and a curse.  My feet were wet and almost numb from walking in the snow for the last couple hours, but it helped keep the swelling down.  None of us were dressed for extended periods in the snow.  It had soaked my jeans up to my knees and the wind-chill was making life really suck, but it wasn’t worse than anything I had done before.  Once when I was growing up I had gone out and played in the snow with my siblings and it had soaked our clothing.  The wind picked up and chilled us pretty bad, so we made a fire.  It took forever to get the warm flames burning. Once we did, we had a fun time around that fire.  Finally we put the fire out and headed home.  The walk back had frozen my cloths solid.

Eventually the road smoothed out at the bottom of the hill.  I could feel my foot swelling inside my boot now. A chill ran down my spine and I felt myself shivering.  About a half mile to our north west we could see a housing development.  There were certain to be dozens of Zs hidden inside those houses.  Directly to our west were a row of large buildings.  I surmised that they were part of the industrial facilities.  I pointed to them and hobbled back to Jeff’s window.

“We will see if we can find shelter in one of those buildings for the night.”

“Alright, Amanda is getting really cold, so we need to get her warm soon.” He replied.

I flopped over the side of the bed being careful not to bang my left foot.  It throbbed in a dull drumming  beat.  Jeff dove straight for the industrial buildings.  Snow began to fall in large tumbling flakes.  It was as if the whole world had become one large fucked up snow globe intent on killing us brutally in a peaceful picturesque setting.   About half way to the buildings we came to a bobwire fence.  I slid over the truck bed and cut the wire with my Leatherman.  The taunt wires snapped with considerable force.  Jeff drove through the hole in the fence and I climbed back in.  The temperature was dropping fast and the wind had picked up to about 20mph. It gusted blowing snow in our faces and reducing our visibility to about 100 feet.   We couldn’t see the buildings anymore but we kept driving until their gaunt gray silhouettes loomed out of the gusting snow.  We circled 6 of the large buildings until we found one that we could easily break into.  The back door had a padlock which I easily cut off.  Turning on the flashlight on my M16 I cleared the structure.  Jeff was right behind me with the shotgun.  We stepped into the dark bay of a warehouse.  Above me was the bottom of a metal staircase that led to the second story. To my left was a wall that ran all the way across the bay. At the far end of the wall were two large doors. The building had a paint smell. To my right where several tables with paint supplies on them. I limped till I could see the top of the stars.  They lead to what looked like a large office.  I motioned for Jeff to stay where he was while I checked the office.  Painfully I climbed the stairs and carefully opened the door.  Inside the office were 2 tables a half dozen folding chairs a water dispenser with a new 5 gallon container of water and a couple vending machines.  The windows in the walls gave a view of both sides of the building.  A single large plate-glass window allowed occupants to see into the bay below.  I slowly hobbled down the stairs and motioned for Jeff to open one of the large doors for the room downstairs. He swung it open, and it protested with a prolonged high pitch squeak.  I cautiously cleared the dark corners of the room.  I realized it was a paint booth. It was insulated and was a few degrees warmer that the rest of the building, which felt like an icebox.

“It’s clear.” My voice echoed inside the empty room, mocking me.  “We need to get Amanda in here fast.”

There was no reply, but I heard Jeff’s running footsteps as he exited.  I let the M16 hang by its sling and pulled a green chemlight out of the pocket on my chest rig.  My fingers were stiff and didn’t want to cooperate. Cracking the chemlight I hung it on hook in the center of the paint booth.  It gave off a soft green glow on the multi colored walls. Moments later Jeff came back carrying Amanda.  She had stopped shivering and her lips were turning blue.  He gently laid her on the floor.  She was still wrapped in the blanket, but it’s thin fabric was not a very efficient at keeping out the cold.  Amanda was clearly showing signs of hypothermia.  I limped out to the truck and grabbed my gear then returned to the insulated room.  Tearing my assault pack open I pulled out my last MRE and ripped the plastic open.  I dumped the contents on the floor, then I pulled out the heater and and activated it with water.  One of the entree’s was the one with the chunky applesauce.  Ripping the packet out of the cardboard box, I put it in the heater which I wrapped in a tee-shirt and had Amanda hold to her stomach. Vapor from the chemical reaction curled into the cool room.  Jeff sat with Amanda’s head cradled in his lap.  He was shivering, and his teeth chattered now and then.  His body was fighting the cold for now.  In about 5 minutes I switched the applesauce for a small bag of water.  Jeff spoon fed Amanda the applesauce and I dug in my pack for my last pair of dry socks, which I put on her feet. The large brown boot socks went all the way to her knees.  I felt like an idiot leading this unprepared couple into such harsh conditions when I knew that they didn’t have the right clothing. In the middle of beating myself up, I got an idea.  I had once heard of taking an empty quart paint can and forcing a roll of toilet paper inside and filling it with rubbing alcohol.  It was supposed to make a really good portable heat source.  I limped out into the bay and began to look through the paint supplies on the tables.  I came up with a glass measuring cup, some dry rags and denatured alcohol. I stuffed the rags into the cup and soaked them with alcohol.  When I lit the contraption on with my zippo it burned with a blue tinted flame that was almost invisible.  Carefully I carried the cup of fire to Jeff and Amanda.  I hoped it would warm the room.  The three of us clustered around the invisible flame for the next few hours while it warmed out bodies and slowly began to bring the room temperature up.  Jeff and I began to rub Amanda’s extremities to keep the blood flowing.  It took all night to get her core temperature up.

The temperature inside the paint booth was probably about 60 degrees, much better than outside in the bay where it was probably about freezing.  That is something people don’t account for when they take shelter.  Often buildings can have a colder temperature inside than the weather outside.  They are just a freezer unless you can warm a small room, but you have to be careful that your heat source doesn’t kill you with carbon monoxide poisoning.  It is easy to die from, if you don’t have ventilation.  I had propped the paint booth door open a couple inches to eliminate this.  We were all tired, and I needed to take care of my ankle.  I took the MRE bag and hobbled to the door.  When I opened It I was greeted by a chilling gust of wind that almost blew me over.  There was about 2 ½ feet of snow and it was still falling.  I scooped a couple hand full into the bag, filling it.  I fought the wind to close the door and hobbled back to the paint booth.  Once inside I carefully removed my boots and drenched socks.  Then I began the process of icing my ankle.

Jeff still felt cold, but he wasn’t cold enough to shiver anymore.  The fire that Josh had made had warmed all of them up.  He looked at Amanda’s head cradled in his lap.  The color had returned to her face and she now slept with her head cradled in his lap.  His feet were numb and he could barely feel his legs. Jeff hated to wake Amanda, but he needed to get up and walk around.  Carefully he lifted her head and shoulders and crouched before laying her still slumbering form on the floor.  He stood for a moment before trying to take a step.  At first he couldn’t feel his feet, then he began to experience the pins and needles sensation as the blood began to flow again. He took a few more steps to the door.

“Where are you going?” Josh asked while he iced his injured ankle.

“I was just going to walk around a little and get the blood flowing again.”

He stepped out into the bay and felt instant goose bumps from the chill in the air.  He decided to bring the bags with his and Amanda’s personal things inside.  He opened the door and the icy wind felt like a bitch slap to the face.  He held his breath for the freezing burn that he knew was coming and stepped out into the snow.  I the couple seconds before he felt the hated sensation, he had reached the truck.  Opening the cab and grabbed the duffle bags.  He slammed the truck closed and trudged back inside, and closed the door behind him.  His legs hurt from the cold and he went back inside the paint booth.  Jeff set the bags down next to his wife and searched inside his until he found his long Maglite.  It cast a dull yellow beam as he walked into the bay.  He began to investigate the stuff pilled in unorganized piles on the tables.  On the second table he found some paint tarps most had holes in them and should have been thrown away, but he found three that were almost new.  Jeff thought he could use them as blankets, grabbing all the tarps, he carried them inside the paint booth.  He folded the torn ones into a 4x8 foot rectangle on the floor, then laid the new tarp on the top.  It would make a much warmer place for Amanda he thought as he gingerly picked her up and laid her on the tarp.  She didn’t even awaken.  He folded the other half of the tarp over her.   Jeff picked up the next tarp, folded it over his wife, and handed the last one to Josh before crawling under the makeshift covers.  Josh took the tarp, folded it in half and wrapped it around himself like an Indian blanket.  He looked a little odd with the muzzle of his M16 sticking out next to his face.  

The sandman worked his spell, and soon all three were slumbering deeply.  Outside a group of a half dozen ragged and freezing survivors struggled through the snow.  They saw the outline of a truck buried in snow, and entered the unlocked building it was parked next to.

keep it up man your book is awesome

More please.....