I shot him a quick glance, grabbed my pistol and crawled up the hill, and stopped next to Clutch while he scanned the area. The truck sat less than a hundred yards off. Easy shot with a rifle any day of the week, except I no longer had my rifle. The driver’s side window was open, and he was taking a bite out of an MRE. The gunner in the back of the truck was leaning on the cab, still intently watching the bridge.
Clutch took off at a run toward the trees, and I dragged myself behind him. No shots fired from the truck. Clutch slid behind a wide tree, and I slammed into him, unable to stop my forward momentum. He caught me before I knocked us both down. Tack grabbed the tree next to us. A shadow moved several feet away, and Clutch took off, weaving around trees for the truck. A skinny zed emerged from a tree to our right, and Tack shoved a blade through its head.
When we reached the trees closest to the truck, we were no more than ten feet away from the zeds making their way to the truck.
“Ready?” Clutch asked.
“Ready,” I whispered.
He motioned. “Now.”
We ran out and started firing. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the gunner spin the .30 cal toward us. Machine gun fire drowned out the pops of our pistols. My first shot planted harmlessly into the truck door, but as I closed the distance, my aim improved. The driver snapped back, and red splattered the passenger window. The .30 cal died soon after, leaving behind silence.
“Clear,” I said.
“Clear,” Clutch echoed before turning around. “How many zeds now?”
“Five,” Tack replied, coming up from behind.
I sighed, and Clutch rubbed my shoulder. “Just a bit longer,” he murmured.
The five zeds had broken from their way to the truck and reached out toward us. That zeds always seemed to prefer their prey living over the freshly deceased had never made any sense to me. I would’ve thought they’d go for the easy meal, but it seemed like they were predators at heart.
Tack took down the nearest zed. I fired a single shot at the zed on the left, and Clutch fired several shots to take out the cluster of three. No one bothered to make sure they were down for good. Seemed like we all had the same idea: get away from Chow Town as quickly as possible.
Tack jumped in the back of the four-by-four and threw the dead gunner off. I opened the door and found the driver still sputtering blood. Air hissed through the hole in his cheek. He wasn’t moving, just in the final death throes. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him out the truck, let him collapse onto the ground at Clutch’s feet.
Clutch rifled through the man’s pockets. Movement caught the corner of my eye, and I noticed another zed emerging from the tree line. “There are more headed our way,” I said.
Clutch climbed behind the wheel, and pressed his headset. “Bravo is Oscar Mike in a Dog truck. Repeat, Bravo is Oscar Mike. ETA is one hour, over and out.”
I sat down on the leather seat and sighed. Every muscle in my body was exhausted. After two long breaths with my eyes closed, I grabbed bottles of water and protein bars off the floor and tossed them to the guys. Between bites, I sifted through the glove box, finding a box of condoms, a flashlight, and a six-shooter. I grabbed everything.
I checked out the handheld radio on the seat. “I wonder when these guys were supposed to check in.”
“Fingers crossed, they just did,” Clutch said. “We could use extra time to put some distance between their last location and us.”
If Clutch had said anything else, I missed it. I fell asleep somewhere between ten and twenty seconds into the drive.
I awoke with Clutch nudging me, and I grumbled. “Lemme sleep.”
“We’re at Camp Fox.”
I may have snarled at him, but I opened the door, climbed out, and grunted at my quickly stiffening muscles. I wasn’t going to be able to move tomorrow.
“Damn, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Tyler said walking toward us with a wide smile.
Jase ran out from behind his captain and pulled me into a hug. Mutt hopped around us. Jase stepped back and wrinkled his nose. “Jesus. You guys need showers.”
“Happy to see you, too,” I mumbled, and I really was. Seeing the kid alive and well made me feel like everything we’d gone through had been worth it.