The surviving attackers tried to turn and flee from the aggressive counterattack. As best they could as several started jumping from the back of the crashed troop carrier landing on the ground bringing their weapons to bear. Firing three round bursts from the assault rifles.

  The survivors tried to scatter and run for cover. As the ground erupted around them from the impact of the powerful fifty caliber rounds and the bursts from the assault rifles of two hundred and twenty three grain projectiles slammed all around them. Dan and Katrina jerked forward on the bench seat as Taddish slammed on the brakes of the truck to avoid the Humvee’s that was firing the machine gun. The Captain’s M one thousand and thirty-eight stopped on the highway just past the broken guardrail. Pulling an arrow from his quiver as he grabbed his gray daypack letting it hang from one shoulder and notched it to his bow as he and Katrina exited the cab of the Humvee. He figured it was useless placing the arrow back into the quiver. Just as the second motorcycle trying to flee with the rest of the ghouls shattered into fiery fragments as the red line of death from the fifty caliber connected with it. The rhythmic thumbing of the large gun and the waterfall of spent casings falling on to the ground went silent. Followed by the smaller burst of automatic fire from the soldiers around the crashed troop carrier.

  Dan watched impressed this time as the soldiers from the troop carrier spread out securing the area. Doctor McGee was making her way down the embankment as two soldiers ran up the embankment to meet her. One help her the rest of the way down the wet embankment. While the second hurriedly made their way up to the captain taking up a sentry position near her. She stayed with the Humvee with the driver. Dan and Katrina watched as Doctor McGee looked over at them before she reached the crashed troop carrier and started checking out some injured soldiers.

  Dan did not pay much attention as the doctor treated the wounded as he and Katrina walked over to approach the first of the crashed pickup trucks. Dan had put his bow back onto his shoulder and had drawn his Kanata sword as he and Katrina started searching the truck.

  “She doesn’t like you,” Katrina said as her green eyes looked from the wreck up to the Captain as she stood near the Humvee parked above them of the highway.

  “Probably thinks this was all my fault,” he said unconcerned without looking up to where she stood as he sorted through canvas bags of supplies they had removed from the wrecked ghoul’s truck.

  As he and Katrina took what they wanted and needed, he realized he was giving her the first chance at everything. A smile crossed his lips as he remembered what Manny had told him the last time he had done that. Dan told himself that time had been an educational experience. This was different as he took a quick look towards Doctor McGee, she has taking the vital signs of one soldier as a second held a gauze pad stained with blood to his head. Two bodies lay still under a green tarpaulin, he watched as Taddish pulled the M nine- hundred ninety-eight close to the crashed Humvee as some small supplies from the wreck where transferred. Dan saw Katrina look at the bodies under the tarpaulins.

  “Are they going to deal with those,” she asked as she looked at him. All he did was shrug he could only hope they had learned their lesson from the bridge the other day. Looking around at the bodies on the ground he saw the soldiers ignoring them again.

  Dan and Katrina moved on from the pickup truck towards the crashed motorcycle.

  “Damn, that was our bike,” Katrina said as she looked at a destroyed black sports bike.

  “Was is right,” he thought looking over at the mangled remains of the frame before pausing reaching down to pull a lever action rifle from underneath the bike.

  “Larry’s rifle,” Katrina said looking at the rifle in his hands. Holding the rifle up and turned it over in his hands.

  “Seems like it still in good shape,” Dan said handing her the rifle. He had put his Katana on the ground as he used both hands to remove the leather sheath still on the bike when he heard the low moan started. He hand the sheath for the rifle to Katrina before he reached to grab his sword from the ground.

  As he straighten watching Katrina looked almost board as she put the rifle in the sheath. Before she freed the three foot metal pipe she carried as a weapon from where she had it under her arm holding in her right hand. Stepping forward she swung the pipe down hard into the head of the crawling figure of a zombie. Missing his leg the milky white eyes staring at them before a sickening crunch of the skull collapsing around the steel pipe. Both looked around seeing a few of the other bodies starting to move.

  “Let’s go,” Dan and Katrina heard as they looked up from the still from of the zombie to see a female soldier yelling at them and motioning for them to come. Dan looked up the embankment but did not see Captain Jones as he and Katrina got into the cab. Carrying several bags of items they had recovered from the wreck trucks to the M nine- hundred ninety-eight. This surprised him. He would have bet the captain would make him ride in the back of the open bed of the M nine- hundred ninety-eight. Instead of the soldiers from the damaged troop carrier they left behind.

  The forty miles to Batesville went uneventful and quick compared with their departure the previous morning, but it still was slow going do to the heavy rain. This suited Dan fine as he found himself liking Katrina a lot in the short time he had known her. As they approached the fifty-five and two hundred seventy-eight highways, they could see the factory outlet stores with a gas station on the northwest corner converted into Joe’s Truck stop.

  They exited on the cloverleaf from the highway heading for the main entrance. They passed several zombies that were wondering mindlessly around in the rain soaked street. The truck stop had a chain-link fence around it and had created a double gate from the chain link fencing. That would allow an eighteen wheeler room to enter, before the inner gate would open allowing access to the truck stop. Closing the outer gate any zombies that wondered in with the truck. Workers eliminated with long pointed metal poles shoved through the fencing into their heads. The gate guards seemed interested in the military Humvees but not the occupants as they told them of the rules of the truck stop.

  “Number one. No fighting banishment for a month and paying for damages is punishment. Number two. No stealing we throw thieves to the zombies. Number three. If you stay for more than one night you must pay a parking fee. Otherwise have a good stay.

  The military Humvees looked out of place as they were making their way across the mostly full parking lot, passing a verity of cars, trucks and big rigs. Some looking normal, but most showing signs of modification with metal plates, bumpers made for ramming, spikes, turrets and other forms of weapons. They had just turned down one row of big rigs in the parking lot when Katrina said excitingly.

  “There’s our truck.”

  Dan looked in the direction she was pointing and saw a group of eight tractor-trailer trucks; three had flatbed trailers while the others had the standard truck trailer. But the one she had pointed out was a large baby blue model three eighty- nine Peterbilt looking like it just had come off the showroom floor. Not changed like other trucks he had seen. Looking at the block like truck and starting with the chrome radiator grill and bumper that lead into a hood that was a long rectangle. Ending in a block style cab with attached sleeper shell with a chrome exhaust pipes running up each side of the cab. Two large rounded chrome fuel tanks with a built in step hung below each door of the cab. As they pulled up to it they could see a short black woman with graying hair in blue jeans and a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Watching them with her hands on her hips.

  The bulky military Humvees stopped near the big rigs there engines still rumbling and looking small next to the big rigs. Katrina flung the door open of the M nine hundred and ninety-eight to run over and hug the woman. Doctor McGee was helping Larry out of the Humvee, as Dan approached carrying the few bags of recovered items from the ghouls and Larry’s rifle in the leather case under his arm. Watching as several other truckers came over to help Doctor McGee with Larry. No soldiers had bothered to help her.

  “Jerks,” Dan thought not bothering to look at the captain’s icy stare as he passed her. He stopped standing by Doctor McGee and handed the rifle and bags off to one of the truckers. Letting Larry and Katrina recount their adventure to the group that had gathered around them. Katrina motioned for him and Doctor McGee to come over.

  “Dan, I want you to meet my mother,” she said as the woman with the graying hair stepped forward.

  “Mabel,” she said with a southern drawl shaking his hand, even though she was thin Dan could feel a strong grip from her.

  She then turned to Doctor McGee with a warm smile to thank her for all she had done. The sharp blast of a horn sounded from the Humvee.

  “It seems that it is time for us to leave,” Doctor McGee said to them.

  “I will not forget what you have done for my kids,” Mabel said, her voice rich and smooth sounding with her slow southern drawl to Doctor McGee while shaking her hand one last time. She then turned to look at Dan as he tried to read her face as a sinking feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. He had not felt this way since he forgot an assignment in school trying to explain why to the teacher.

  “It was good to meet you, hope to see you again,” Dan said politely not sure what to say.

  “You will near the river,” Maple said quietly. Dan strained to her hear her and notice she had a far-off look in her eyes, as if she was looking at something behind him.

  A longer blast from the horn sounded again breaking the strange feeling Dan had from the look Mabel had given him.

  “Jerks,” this time Dan had said it out loud as he shook his head slightly, bringing a laugh from those around him. Doctor McGee had already made it to the M one thousand and thirty-eight and was getting into it as he passed her on the way to the M nine- hundred ninety-eight. Captain Jones calling out to him as he passed.

  “You in here,” Dan did not find her tone unfriendly anymore he just assumed that was how she always was.

  “All right,” he said unconcerned walking past the door.

  “Fine I will grab my stuff,” he called back without looking at her. He did not hurry as he brought back his stuff from the other Humvee earning another blast of the horn. The large Humvees were pulling out of the parking lot. When he had a strange feeling someone was watching him. Looking out the plastic window he could have sworn Katrina and her mother were watching them leave. Turning around in the seat he tried shaking the feeling as they cleared the outer gate of the truck stop to head back onto the highway.

  They were just getting back on the highway when Captain Jones spoke to him without turning around.

  “I am assuming you had the intelligence not to say where we were going.” Dan turned to Doctor McGee in the backseat next to him with a serious face and mimicked the captains tone.

  “Yes Doctor McGee, you did not spill our secrets did you?”

  She broke into laughter finding this funny, but he could see Captain Jones’s cold eyes staring at him threw the rearview mirror and could see the muscles in her back and neck tense. Before he quickly added.

  “No, I didn’t I am no armature on their first salvage job,” he said rolling his blue eyes. Captain Jones continued talking without turning to look at him.

  “We are about fifty miles from Memphis,” she said as the rain started to come down again. Dan could see the windshield wipers struggling to clear the pounding water off the windshield.

  “I want to be there, this afternoon,” she said coldly.

  “Memphis or the lab,” Dan asked trying to sound polite but doubted he was succeeding.

  “The lab,” the Captain responded.

  “I don’t think we will make it their today,” he told her, he could see her tense again as she slowly turned towards him.

  “Getting through Memphis is not that easy,” he said trying to intercept the angry verbal assault the he knew was coming.

  “Explain,” was all Captain Jones would say through clenched teeth fixing him with an icy stare.

  By the way, Doctor McGee shifted her seat he could tell she wanted to hear what he had to say.

  “First there are several groups in Memphis fighting for control of the city. Two former preachers with their congregations who say that they are the only ones who can save you from the damnation that has befallen us,” he said in a mocking tone,.

  “That is of course as long as you do everything they say. The three other major powers are former street gangs. Most fighting is usually near the Mississippi bridge. Second the ghouls and other crazies roaming around the city and of course let’s not forget the zombies. Third are the streets,” Dan said as he ticked off the points with his fingers.

  “While the roads were passable last time I went there we were on bikes. I don’t know if Humvees of this size will be able to go the same way we did. If they can’t that means searching for a way that they can.” Dan started to say something else before he stopped putting his hand down; the Captain seeing this asked.

  “What else,” she demanded. He looked at her and took a deep breath.

  “I’m not sure, the last time we went through there ghouls were chasing us. We had gotten halfway down this street before we realized they had stopped chasing us. They stood at the end of the street afraid to go any further. We figured we crossed into their rival’s territory,” Dan said as he paused to take another breath.

  “We were going cautiously, just as the sun was starting to go down when we saw the lab. As we were approaching it Manny noticed some strange tracks in the dirt near the street.”

  “What kinds of tracks,” Captain Jones interrupted him. Dan shook his head slightly at her interruption.

  “Don’t know Manny nor I had ever seen anything like them and Manny used to hunt a lot.”

  Dan finished and he could tell Captain Jones was not happy with this information.

  “Does Memphis have a zoo,” Doctor McGee asked from where she sat in the backseat. Dan shook his head suggesting he did not know and the Captain just shrugged.

  “Well, I heard that during the plague several animal rights groups were setting animals free from the zoos,” Doctor McGee told them. “Maybe, the tracks were from one of the zoo animals,” she finished. Dan thought about it before he continued speaking after all what she said was possible.

  “When we found the lab it had lights on,” he knew he caught Captain Jones attention with this one. “We thought someone occupied it, but we found the front doors unlocked. The lights were on but nobody was home,” he half joked getting interrupted.

  “How long to get there,” Captain Jones continued to question him.

  “If all goes well, today late if not early to late tomorrow morning,” Dan said as Captain Jones turn to face the road again her hard and cold face reflecting from the rearview mirror.

  The convoy of three Humvees traveled past the ruins of Senatobia the rain had turned to a fine mist and the black clouds were turning gray. The convoy driving in silence. As they traveled up the highway and over a slow moving river. Cutting through a thick area of forest. They passed four battered pickup trucks neither of them recognizing the other as they headed south as they neared the town of Coldwater.

  Dan thought they were driving over a lake. He could see a large body of water between the trees on either side of the highway divided by a grassy media. They could see more buildings as they approached Herando. The mist stopping as the sun starting to peak through the gray haze. They passed several trucks parked with a few groups of people attending a field for farming stopping to watch the camouflage military Humvees pass as they entered Southaven.

  Captain Jones decided to stop just past the Stateline road for a break. Stopping in the middle of the highway as they tried to enjoy a brief lunch and stretch their legs before continuing their journey. As Dan was getting out of the Humvees, he saw Doctor McGee looking up at a billboard smiling. He looked up to see an old fading dirty billboard with spots torn off it with a naked woman posing for them. He saw the caption.

  “I would rather be naked than wear,” he could not read the rest of the slogan. The paper piece holding the rest of the slogan missing where the last words should be.

  Underneath were large letters, P.E.T with a large Z pray-painted over the last letter in red spray paint. Below this, someone changed the caption to read.

  “People for the ethical treatment of, with the last word changed to Zombies,” by the red spray paint. He could see Doctor McGee shaking her head in amusement.

  “Can you believe what some people find funny,” she said smiling as she looked from the billboard to him. Dan had no clue to what she found so funny.

  “I’m surprised they have made it this far,” Dan said. Turning and started walking for a large blue plastic tarpaulin that sat stuck to the metal guardrail on the grassy medium of the highway.

  “They,” Doctor McGee said puzzled as she watched Dan pull the blue tarpaulin from the guardrail and started shaking the water that was on it off.

  “Yes,” Dan said as he started spreading out the tarpaulin over the wet grass separating the lanes of highway. “Me and Manny met a group of them awhile back in Louisiana,” Dan said as he looked up at her from straitening the tarpaulin out.

 

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