Stopping the Dead Read Free Page A

climbed into the cab, Jack and Diane staying in their place.  Within a moment he was back on the road and he noticed more lights on in houses as he back-tracked towards Ernst’s house.
    The armory was already empty.
    Adam keyed the handheld.  “Ernst.”
    “Copy.”
    “Headed back now.  Armory’s cleaned out of vehicles.”
    “Figured it would be.  What’s your twenty?”
    “Probably about fifteen, so long as I don’t run into anything dead.”
    Ernst laughed.  “Be safe.”
    “I copy.”
    Adam shook his head, a surreal, almost drunk feeling surrounding him.  The situation felt unreal, but he knew that it was n’t .
    The closer that he drew to the city, the brighter it became.  Homes had all of their lights on, and a few times he spotted humvees working down side streets.  The occasional pop of an M16-A4 sounded out while spotlights could be seen flicking through the shadows.  More helicopters had joined the first two that he had spotted, and Adam noticed that a lot of houses had driveways that were empty of vehicles.
    Adam found himself shutting off the lights and pulling over a few times to avoid humvees that went racing past.  Picking up the handheld he called Ernst.
    “What’s up?” Ernst asked.
    “Looks like they’re evacuating the neighborhoods around downtown.  Check the site, let me know if there’s any way in.”
    “Hold on.”
    Ernst came back a minute later.
    “Looks like an access road through the train yard is still open.  It runs right along the river, but the river seems to be where most of the reports have started from, too.”
    “Got it.  I’ll give you another call when I get through the yard.”
    “Sounds good.”
    Adam pulled away slowly, taking a few more side streets to make his way to the old Amtrak train yard.  Ernst had been right.  Adam couldn’t see any sort of humvee or foot patrol, and no cops.
    But there were definitely some things down there, too.   Off to one side near a flatbed Adam could make out a pair of security guards shambling along.  Further down was a homeless woman he had seen begging at the bridge every once and a while.
    Adam took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  He drove the truck cautiously, but as soon as the wheels hit the gravel of the unpaved road, all three of the zombies’ heads turned to face him.  Within a matter of moments their arms were up, hands reaching out, their gait quickening slightly as they moved towards the truck.
    The dogs growled, faces pressed up against the passenger-side window, their hackles up, tails stiff.
    Adam fought the urge to roll down his window and shoot the fucking things.
    But if they react just to gravel being crunched, he thought, what the hell will others do if they hear a gunshot?
    Leaving his pistol in its place, Adam focused on getting through the yard.
    He quickly left those three behind him, and in a matter of minutes he had passed half a dozen more, but he made it through the yard.
    “I’m clear.  Be there in five,” Adam said into the handheld.
    “Good,” Ernst said.  “Dogs okay?”
    “Yup.”
    “Excellent.”
    Adam put the radio down and focused on following the street to the intersection that would take him once more to Ernst’s house, and the safety of the man’s madness.
     

Brian
     
    Brian rounded the corner of the warehouse and saw Ernst standing a few feet away, rifle slung over his shoulder and lighting a pipe.  Ernst looked up at him, shook out the match and grinned around the pipe-stem.  Dropping the burnt match to the ground Ernst asked, “How are you holding up, Corporal?”
    Brian shook his head.  “I’m still trying to figure out if this is real.”
    “It is, I’m afraid.”
    “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of, too.”  Brian kept his steady pace, Ernst falling in beside him.  Brian smiled.  “You were in the service, right?”
    “Briefly,” Ernst answered.
    Brian looked at him.  “Dishonorable?”
    “No.  Nothing so interesting as