Young Writers Society

Word Count: 1973

When the shotgun ran out of shells, he held onto it with both hands and swing it like Babe Ruth going for a home run. “Get the stuff in the truck!” Jerry yelled. The teenagers lugged the bags of food and ammo into the truck white truck with a Doritos logo painted on the side. Beth and Jake had to grab the same duffel bag of ammo to carry it to the van before dropping it into the back, making the axle dip.

Jane rushed in with a pistol and started firing at the stragglers that wandered into the open dock door. “Muere maldito cerdo! Comer plomo que padre bastardo! Su madre era una puta mierda!” Jane screamed, unloading a clip from a silver pistol.

Roy and Vincent rushed in and braced themselves against the door. Keeping those that were demanding entry from entering. “This isn't going to hold forever! We've got to go!” Roy yelled.

“Then go,” Vincent stated. Everyone stopped and stared at him. “I'm the only one strong enough to hold the door. Get out of here before they tear the building down.” The room was silent, save for the muffled screams of hunger beyond the banging door. Roy held out his pistol and Vincent smiled. “I'm Catholic. I'm afraid suicide isn't an option for me.”

“Then take a few of the fuckers with you,” Roy said pushing the pistol to Vincent insistently.

Vincent chuckled with a shake of his head before taking the firearm from Roy. “Semper Fi,” he said with a smile spread over his face. The teens tossed the last two duffel bags into the truck and climbed in. Roy started up the small motor and tore out of the dock. Jerry looked into the rear view mirror at the fading image of Vincent still holding that door closed before he disappeared in the distance.

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“Where are we going?” Beth asked, crouched down between Roy and Jerry.

“Yuma,” Jerry responded.

“What's in Yuma?”

“There's a military base. If it's still manned then it will be a good place to hang tight and get some info. If it's been overrun then we can get more durable supplies and ammunition.”

“You gonna fawn over her the whole drive?” Adam jeered. He let out a snarky laugh as he pointed out Jake's comforting of Julie.

“Just shut up, Adam,” Jake said, giving him an angry look.

“What? You think because you were given that rifle that you are some kind of badass? I can take you any day of the week,” Adam retorted.

“This coming from the guy who pissed himself and cowered under the front counter when the first one of those things hit the window. What would you know about being a fucking badass?” Beth pointed out. Adam looked at Beth in shock before becoming quietly dejected. Roy chuckled as he came to a halt a good distance from the base. Buildings stood out in the fading light of sunset and chain link running the perimeter, topped with spiraling barbwire.

“No lights. That's not a good sign,” Roy said.

“Why?” Beth asked.

“No lights at a military base in the middle of a crisis means that nobody is home. At least, no one sane.”

“Then why are we just sitting here?” Adam asked, agitated.

“One, we need to have a plan before just start running in there, and two...” The rumbling engine suddenly sputtered, coughed, and then fell silent with a shudder that shook the entire vehicle, “we're out of gas.” Jane sat in the back comforting her cooing baby before she threw a small blanket over her shoulder and began to feed it beneath the cloth barrier. “While she's doing that, we can come up with a plan.”

“They seem to react most to noise; so, whatever we do, it should be done quietly,” Jerry said.

“We need to get to that building there,” Roy said pointing to a shorter brick building that stretched along the length of the fence with its own fence around it and vehicles parked to the side of it. “That the supply and armory. It will have weapons, ammo, and food that will last us for months. Maybe even years.”

“But without the truck, we can't haul it,” Adam scoffed.

“We'll get that figured out later,” Jerry said. “Right now we need to get to that building and secure it. If there are any crazies about we need to dispatch them as quietly as possible.”

“Alright. Jerry, in one of those pouches should be a wire cutter. We're all going to go to the fence closest to the building and cut an opening for us. If the inner fence is locked we'll cut through that as well. Everyone else will be watching our back while we cut. Understand?” Everyone gave a nod except for Julie, still locked in her catatonic state. Jane finished feeding her baby and wrapped her back up in the swaddle around Jane's torso.

“What about the ammo and guns?” Jake asked.

“We'll come back for them,” Roy said. Opening the doors the little army quickly ran across the field to the fence and paused to make sure that they weren't noticed. “Get your finger off that trigger, Beth. I don't want you blowing my head off.” Beth quickly moved her trigger finger to the side of the pistol. With hasty clipping, Jerry and Roy cut a large hole into the chain link fence.

“How the hell are we supposed to haul all of this without the truck?” Adam whined as the group filed through the hole. “We are talking about hundreds if not thousands of pounds here.” Jerry knew that Adam was just being pessimistic. There was no way that everything they would need was going to weigh a thousand pounds. But he did have a point.

“With one of those,” Roy said, pointing to a large truck. The back covered in a thick canvas and large enough to haul a car. Giant wheels held the heavy frame from the ground and the large cab held the powerful diesel engine. “That can get us and all the gear in the armory out of here with no trouble.”

“Looks like we have company though,” Jake said, pointing at a shuffling shape that disappeared back into the building.

“The gate is open. Let's head inside and take them out,” Roy said, leading the small team to the large open door. Peeking around the corner he counted two of the crazies standing in the center of the room, seeming to wait for something. “You go for the one on the left. I'll take right.”

Jerry nodded as he quietly made his way to the crazy that had his back turned. The flickering lights of the room would show in glimpses that it was filled with racks holding rifles, shotguns, and pistols. Large cabinets lined the walls that would hold thousands of rounds of ammunition. At the back were several large guns that looked to be fifty caliber machine guns. He set his shotgun down, leaning it against a table, and pulled out his hatchet. He glanced to Roy who had picked up a crowbar and the pair nodded to each other as a signal to go and swung their impromptu weapons at the crazies' heads. A splatter of blood arched across the floor as they pulled their weapons back and struck again. When the crazies stopped moving, they stopped swinging. Roy quickly ran through the doors at the end of room and reappeared shortly after.

“Alright,” Roy said, wiping the sweat from his brow, “there aren't anymore and I locked the doors. Jake, Beth, through there is the supply room. I want you to grab MRE's, they're the brown packages about the size of a shoe box, get as many as you can. Adam, Jerry, and I will get ammo and weapons from in here. Keep close together and if anything goes wrong, yell.”

“Won't that attract the crazies?” Beth asked.

“If things go wrong, they'll already be on their way. Jerry help me with this.” Rushing over, the pair lifted one of the large machine guns from the table and slowly carried if over to the truck. The two of them managed to mount the large barreled cannon to the top of the truck. “This should clear a path through any number of those crazies,” Roy chuckled. “Alright Jerry, lets start getting guns and ammo into the back of this thing.” Climbing down, Adam and Jerry started to stack box after box in the back of the truck while Roy put the guns into carrying cases. Jake and Beth set the boxes of high calorie food on the other side nearly filling the truck to the brim.

“You slow pokes gonna take all day with that food?” Adam asked, annoyed.

“Shut the fuck up, Adam!” Jake yelled and shoved him. Adam shoved back before the two of them grabbed a hold of each other and started to wrestle about.

“Hey. Hey! Knock it off!” Roy said, pulling them from one another by their collars. “I don't care what was going on between you two before all of this; but, right now we need to work together. So no more fighting. Am I clear?”

“Yeah,” Jake responded.

“Whatever,” Adam said, with a roll of his eyes. “You can't order me around. It's not like you have any authority.”

Growling, Roy pinned Adam up against the wall. “Listen to me you little shit! I dealt with guys like you for eight years. Do you know what we did to assholes like you? We beat the ever living shit out of them! So if you wanna keep having an attitude, then I'm going to kick your ass so hard that you won't have to worry about the fucking crazies. You'll be on the fucking moon! You got that?!” Adam was so scared, that he was visibly shaking.

Everyone froze hearing something in one of the unopened cabinets rustle about. Everyone held their breath for a moment praying that they were just hearing things until the doors of the cabinet shook with a loud thud. Beth slowly walked to the door of the cabinet. The flickering lights making the demanding thud seem to echo all around them. Beth swallowed slowly, hearing her heart beat pounding in her ears, as she grasped the handle and slowly turned it. The door flew open and several birds flapped up into Beth's face. She let out a scream as she back pedaled and her finger pulled the trigger of her pistol.

The loud shot rang out like a church bell calling for service. The bullet passed through Adam's head taking most of the back of his skull and brain with it. Silence and disbelief filled the room as the echo drifted off into nothing as Adam's limp form dropped to the cement floor. Answering the sharp blast was a wild, animalistic screech that hailed over the air. Roy bolted from the room yelling, “Grab what you can!” He rushed to the gate and pulled it closed as the first of the crazies came barreling toward the building. Roy rushed back to the truck as the group filed into the back of the truck. Jerry pulled himself up to the top of the cab and racked the machine gun, loading the first of many rounds into it. Pressing down on the trigger, he jumped feeling the kick jar him all the way through his shoulders. Roy floored the gas barreling through the fence and crushing several of the stampeding crazies under the massive tires.

To Be Continued...