Rolling Thunder - 03 by Dirk Patton

the pounding rain. 
The other leapt again, directly at me, but I had already back pedaled and drawn
my pistol.  She hit the ground three feet in front of me and started to gather
herself for another leap but was tackled to the ground by Dog.
    Knowing he would finish her off I looked for the other
female and saw Rachel struggling with her at the side of the truck.  Rachel
hadn’t moved back as quickly as I had, and even with a broken leg the female
had managed to lunge forward and get a grip on Rachel’s rifle.  The infected
was trying to pull it out of the way as Rachel used it to fend her off. 
Stepping up next to Rachel I shot the female in the head with my pistol then
spun around to check on Dog.  He stood in the rain, looking drenched and unhappy,
but the female he had tackled lay dead on the ground a few feet away with most
of her throat missing.
    Holstering the pistol, I brought the rifle up and scanned in
the direction the two smart females had run.  Nothing.  Turning a full three
sixty I still couldn’t find them, but there were plenty of buildings they could
be hiding in or behind.  Keeping the rifle up and continuing my scan I paused
when I thought I detected movement at the edge of a burger place, but it was
only trash blowing in the wind.  Rachel moved a few feet away from me and also
started scanning with her rifle, careful to lower the muzzle as she rotated
through the direction I was standing.  Dog moved between us, nose slightly
raised.
    We stood there watching for a couple of minutes, but neither
of us spotted anything.  Knowing we were burning time we didn’t have I told
Rachel and Dog to keep watch, lowered my rifle and looked at the situation the
truck was in.  The median sloped slightly away from the pavement on each side,
the center being maybe two feet lower than the edge of the road.  This was done
to help drain water.  The grass the truck was sitting on was dense and rain
slick.  Slick even under the soles of my boots.  The truck was perpendicular to
the pavement with the rear tires sitting in the lowest part of the median.
    I thought about trying to get it moving again, but quickly
dismissed the impulse.  All that would be accomplished would be to dig through
the grass into the mud and then we’d really be stuck with no way to get it out
other than a tow truck.  I didn’t think AAA was going to answer their phone. 
Checking on Rachel, who was still scanning for threats, I started looking at
the businesses up and down the highway.  Through the limited visibility I saw
what looked like a local hardware store about half a mile down the road. 
Hoping they’d have what I needed I closed up the cab of the truck, hit the lock
button on the key and dropped it in my pocket. 
    Calling Rachel and Dog up onto the pavement I pointed out
our destination and told Rachel to lead the way.  I would normally take point,
or be the one in front, but with two females running around in the quickly
darkening evening I was more worried about our rear and flanks.  Rachel was
learning the skills she needed, but I knew I was the one to keep an eye on
three directions at once as we moved.  Setting off through the rain, Dog
trailed Rachel and I stepped off behind him, maintaining about twenty feet of
separation.  We moved as fast as we could, but when you’re trying to watch
every direction at once you don’t move too fast.
    Ten minutes later we reached the business I’d seen.  It was
as I suspected, a local hardware store called Mick’s.  The front of the
business was all glass and either the power was off or the proprietor had
turned off all the lights when he left.  Either way, the interior was dark as a
tomb.  Having Rachel watch our backs I tried the door and wasn’t surprised to
find it locked.  Using the muzzle of my rifle I tapped hard on the glass a few
times, hoping if there were any infected inside they would come to investigate
so I could shoot them.  Giving it a long minute