blocking the doors, the zeds really poured inside. This was nuts. They fell in piles, but kept coming. We were halfway up the stairs with nothing but a wall of zeds below us.
“Cody,” I shouted as I changed magazines. Damned pistol was too hot. I holstered it, switched guns. “Throw some Willy Peter down there against the doorframe in front.”
“Are you nuts? We’re in the kill zone.”
“Damnit, Corporal, so are they. Do what I tell you.”
“Yes sir, Captain.”
I heard the action of his gun open and close. I knew he was switching out rounds.
“Fire in the hole,” Cody shouted.
We all ducked as he launched the forty millimeter grenade of white phosphorus. The things were normally used for signals flares, but they did a hell of a job cooking zeds. The round streaked across the room and splattered against the doorframe. White fire filled the room. It burned anything it touched; set fire to everything else. Suddenly, the zeds had something else to worry about. They actually screamed, turned their attention from us and tried to find a way out.
I felt a wicked grin pull the corners of my mouth up. I turned from them and we rushed up the stairs. The door at the top was locked. A few shots from an AK destroyed the lock. We were in a storage area, full of boxes and inventory. We added more medicine to our take as we ran in. Smoke was already pouring up the steps. We didn’t have long. Worse than the smoke, the zeds started to follow our lead. First one, then three, then six stumbled in with us.
A door marked “Emergency Exit” caught my eye. I ran across the room, shoved the door open. It was a small staircase that went up maybe ten feet. My troops were right behind me. The door opened at the top and we were out on the roof. Smoke followed us. With no sprinkler systems working, hundred year old buildings go up pretty fast. Bill shoved a board through the door handle. For now, the zeds were trapped inside. I took time to wrap a bandanna around my wrist to stop the blood.
“Well, Captain, we did it, but I don’t think we’ve got long,” Wally said.
I looked around us. Smoke already poured into the air from the front of the building. It left a long black, greasy exclamation point in a clear, blue sky. We started to walk across the roofs, headed south. I could hear the zombies slam their bodies against the door. The board wouldn’t hold them long.
We got to the edge of the southernmost building, when I heard the wood snap. The door flung open, slammed against the frame. Several zeds tumbled out. Those last through on fire. They made it a few steps before they fell. Fingers twitched as the fire boiled their brains.
I heard Cody reload his 203. With a sharp crack, the grenade streaked across the rooftop. The explosion flattened the doorway. Flames shot up from the open hole, what few zeds made it to the roof with us were taken out by Wally and his AK. Fire spread to the buildings that flanked the pharmacy. The roofs sprouted black spots that soon sent fingers of flame into the sky.
Below us, the street was clear. I found the escape ladder bolted to the wall of the building and hoped that it was solid. Last thing I wanted to do was to fall and go splat when I just got away from a goodly sized swarm of zeds. On the ground, I peeked around the building. Heatwaves washed across the street, blistering the paint of the buildings on the other side. A half-dozen zombies stumbled away from the heat, what rags they wore smoldered on their bodies.
We turned and walked down the street. By my watch, we’d been gone an hour and a half. We had time to gather up the horses and make it back to where we left the girls before dark. If we didn’t run into anything else.
Chapter 6
They rode back out of town. Weary, spent, but they had to meet the girls before Jinks called Tom and asked for air support. They didn’t want to waste fuel if they could avoid it. Aviation fuel especially was valuable these days. Ella and Jinks
“Cody,” I shouted as I changed magazines. Damned pistol was too hot. I holstered it, switched guns. “Throw some Willy Peter down there against the doorframe in front.”
“Are you nuts? We’re in the kill zone.”
“Damnit, Corporal, so are they. Do what I tell you.”
“Yes sir, Captain.”
I heard the action of his gun open and close. I knew he was switching out rounds.
“Fire in the hole,” Cody shouted.
We all ducked as he launched the forty millimeter grenade of white phosphorus. The things were normally used for signals flares, but they did a hell of a job cooking zeds. The round streaked across the room and splattered against the doorframe. White fire filled the room. It burned anything it touched; set fire to everything else. Suddenly, the zeds had something else to worry about. They actually screamed, turned their attention from us and tried to find a way out.
I felt a wicked grin pull the corners of my mouth up. I turned from them and we rushed up the stairs. The door at the top was locked. A few shots from an AK destroyed the lock. We were in a storage area, full of boxes and inventory. We added more medicine to our take as we ran in. Smoke was already pouring up the steps. We didn’t have long. Worse than the smoke, the zeds started to follow our lead. First one, then three, then six stumbled in with us.
A door marked “Emergency Exit” caught my eye. I ran across the room, shoved the door open. It was a small staircase that went up maybe ten feet. My troops were right behind me. The door opened at the top and we were out on the roof. Smoke followed us. With no sprinkler systems working, hundred year old buildings go up pretty fast. Bill shoved a board through the door handle. For now, the zeds were trapped inside. I took time to wrap a bandanna around my wrist to stop the blood.
“Well, Captain, we did it, but I don’t think we’ve got long,” Wally said.
I looked around us. Smoke already poured into the air from the front of the building. It left a long black, greasy exclamation point in a clear, blue sky. We started to walk across the roofs, headed south. I could hear the zombies slam their bodies against the door. The board wouldn’t hold them long.
We got to the edge of the southernmost building, when I heard the wood snap. The door flung open, slammed against the frame. Several zeds tumbled out. Those last through on fire. They made it a few steps before they fell. Fingers twitched as the fire boiled their brains.
I heard Cody reload his 203. With a sharp crack, the grenade streaked across the rooftop. The explosion flattened the doorway. Flames shot up from the open hole, what few zeds made it to the roof with us were taken out by Wally and his AK. Fire spread to the buildings that flanked the pharmacy. The roofs sprouted black spots that soon sent fingers of flame into the sky.
Below us, the street was clear. I found the escape ladder bolted to the wall of the building and hoped that it was solid. Last thing I wanted to do was to fall and go splat when I just got away from a goodly sized swarm of zeds. On the ground, I peeked around the building. Heatwaves washed across the street, blistering the paint of the buildings on the other side. A half-dozen zombies stumbled away from the heat, what rags they wore smoldered on their bodies.
We turned and walked down the street. By my watch, we’d been gone an hour and a half. We had time to gather up the horses and make it back to where we left the girls before dark. If we didn’t run into anything else.
Chapter 6
They rode back out of town. Weary, spent, but they had to meet the girls before Jinks called Tom and asked for air support. They didn’t want to waste fuel if they could avoid it. Aviation fuel especially was valuable these days. Ella and Jinks
Similar Books
