Zombies! (Episode 10): State of Emergency by Ivan Turner Page A

moment and Martin thought he was going to explode all over him. But he turned his attention to the storm. " Corporal! "
     
    A harried looking young man ran up. "Sir?"
     
    "How far out are those plows?"
     
    "About fifteen minutes, sir."
     
    He suddenly began barking out orders so fast that Martin could hardly follow. The corporal stood at attention and listened. Others fell into line and also took in the orders. Martin wasn't sure if the lieutenant had summoned them or they had just known to be there. Then he turned back to Henry. "Put Mr. Benjamin in a patrol car where he'll be safe ."
     
    Safe meant out of the way but Martin didn't care as long as he got to go over that bridge. As they turned away, there were more rifle shots. These came from just past the tank and he turned to see. A line of shooters was standing in front of the vehicles and had just taken down what looked to be six or seven zombies. The bodies lay in the snow along with a few others that had been shot before.
     
    "That's the most we've seen at once," Henry said. "The hoard can't be far behind."
     
    "Do you have the firepower to handle them?"
     
    Henry nodded. “Between the tank and the two Hummers…" As he said it, one of the Humvees pulled away from the formation and started back down the bridge toward Brooklyn. Henry and Martin watched it go past. It was being sent as support for the plows. There was also a lot of other activity. The patrol cars were being moved while they could still move. Guardsmen and police alike were taking up strategic positions along the expanse. Now there were eyes and guns in front and behind. Martin wasn't sure he hadn't made a mistake by telling Olden about the stragglers. If there was a group of zombies in Brooklyn, it was probably heading deeper into the borough. Because of him, there was possibly vital firepower pointing in what could very well be the wrong direction.
     
    The next fifteen minutes went by very slowly. Marin sat alone in a patrol car. He desperately wanted to just bask in the warmth, but was too curious about which orders were being given outside. He opened the window. Snow blew in but he ignored it. He once checked the phone to see if Abby's position had changed. It hadn't. He almost wished it had. Then he could at least convince himself that she was alive. If the phone wasn't moving, that could mean… He didn't want to think about what that could mean. He listened to those nearest him. Some of the men were getting skittish. At one point, he heard Olden screaming at the top of his lungs. If those fucking plows don't get here soon, we'll never get across that fucking bridge.
     
    Finally, they did arrive with the rumble of their large engines and the clanking crunch of their chained up tires. They were standard New York City Sanitation trucks outfitted for snow removal. They moved slowly, pushing the snow aside as they went. There was one in front and one behind, the one behind dumping salt onto the roadway as it went. Each plow was driven by a sanitation worker in a green uniform. Sitting next to him in the cab was a fully geared, fully armed policeman. The Hummer followed the two trucks.
     
    "About fucking time!" Olden cried. "Get those two trucks behind the tank! Come on!"
     
    Lieutenant Olden was an aneurysm waiting to happen.
     
    The tank took point with the plows staggered behind it. There was one on the left and one on the right. Though the bridge was three lanes, the trucks did not ride side by side. The lead truck pushed the snow to the left and the other, behind it and shifted, pushed the snow to the right. Together, they made a wide path. Twenty feet back so as to avoid the salt spray, came the Hummers, the van, and the patrol cars. When they ran into the hoard, the trucks would stop and the cars would pull up and spill men out onto the bridge. The tank should be able to hold the zombies off long enough for the men to get into formation.
     
    Martin was tense. Despite the fact that he