Books of the Dead (Book 3): Dead Man's Land by R.J. Spears

regain his balance as all four legs of the chair slammed back down to the floor. The chair nearly broke in two, but it held.
    Anthony had tapped into the solar powered video system of the house on the hill on the northern edge of town.  He redirected those cameras to fit his purposes. Instead of surveilling the city, as they had originally been set up, the cameras now looked northward, acting as an early warning system. The truck headed south on Route 23 and directly toward the city. A dutiful subject, Norman reported it immediately to Anthony and Rex.
    “It’s too soon,” Anthony said, “and we’re not ready for an all-out attack.”
    There was something in his tone that Rex didn’t like. It sounded like fear. Rex watched the monitor carefully for a few seconds and then said, “It’s only one truck.” 
    “Out of the way,” Anthony said as he shuffled up to the array of monitors in their security rooms, nudging Rex to the side. He had graduated from his crutches to a cane in the past week.  His foot still ached terribly when he walked, but he felt he needed to man-up and show his troops he was back to near full strength.
    “Are you sure this is the only truck?” he asked Norman and then added, “These church people are a crafty lot.”
    “All the other cameras are clear,” Norman said, pointing to the monitors displaying views to east, south, and west. It wasn’t an elaborate surveillance system, but it was a real feat in a world almost devoid of any sophisticated technology. It was a true testimony to Anthony’s genius.
    Anthony felt his blood pressure dropping. While he was confident he could protect his city from small bands of intruders, he didn’t think they could take on a full out assault.  “Okay,” he said, “I do think that’s one of the truck’s used by the church people who left town, but I can’t be sure.  Just to be safe, let’s meet these people. Shall we?”
    They knew they didn’t have a lot of time before the truck would be in town, so they only gathered enough soldiers to fill one school bus. Rex took charge of loading since he knew Felix would only screw it up. It still took longer than he would have liked. 
    Anthony moved as fast as his cane would allow him, limping along a long dark corridor toward the loading dock, pain shooting from his foot with each step, but he just gritted his teeth and kept moving along. The long bag he was carrying didn’t help his balance at all. He was just about to enter the back loading bay when a large silhouette filled the end of the corridor
    “Where do you think you’re going?” the silhouette asked.
    “Rex, get out of the way,” Anthony ordered.
    “You’re in no condition to go anywhere.”
    Anthony came to a stop just a few inches in front of Rex. “Get out of the way.”
    “No,” Rex said, standing his ground. 
    Anthony’s hand started to drift up to his control panel, but he let it fall away when he remembered that Rex didn’t have a collar any more. Old habits die hard.
    Rex hadn’t failed to catch the gesture.
    The team Rex had set in motioned scrambled around in the loading bay. Zombies moaned quietly as Roy herded them along like cattle toward a loading ramp that led up into the back of a school bus. 
    “You and I both know you’re not fit to go out there,” Rex said.
    “You’re failing to remember who’s in charge here,” Anthony replied as he felt heat rush to his face.
    “You’re failing at being smart,” Rex said.  “How foggy are you from your last pain pill?  What happens if you get out there and you can’t see straight because the pain in your foot starts screaming at you?  I’ll tell you what; it’ll be my ass out in the open, and I could get hurt.”  He paused for a moment, then continued after taking in and expelling a large breath.  “You need to be smart and trust me, boss man. I can keep in touch via the walkie-talkie. If things get tight, you can roll with a second team.”
    Anthony