Joseph Talluto - Taking It Back

I reached the stairs and the deputies waved me up. I moved up to where Sarah, Tommy, and Charlie were talking.

“Hey all,” I said. “Everybody okay?”

Charlie spoke up. “Sure enough. They gave us food and drink and asked a ton of questions. How was your walk with the local constabulary?”

I blinked at Charlie’s vocabulary, then shook it off. “Fine. He knows the horde is coming and we’re going to try to do something about it.”

“Do we have a plan?” Sarah asked, taking my hand.

I looked into her beautiful eyes. “Not a clue. But I’ll think of something.” I grinned at her and she squeezed my hand.

The noise in the room increased as the Mayor and the Sheriff tried to quiet everyone down. But everyone was shouting questions and not listening to answers. The Mayor threw up his hands and walked away from the table while Sheriff Tom continued trying to quiet the masses with no success.

I grew impatient and shrugged off the warning look I got from Sarah. I motioned for Charlie and Tommy to follow me. I released the magazine in my rifle and ejected the round in the chamber. I put it back in the magazine, then I moved to the table and tapped the Sheriff on the shoulder. His flushed face stared at me for a second, then he stepped aside. I stood on the table and held my M1A out in front of me. Behind me, Charlie and Tommy were doing the same with their AR’s. I stared at the crowd, which began to quiet down at my appearance, then I deliberately charged the rifle, the bolt sounding unusually loud in the diminishing noise.

“Who wants to die right here, right now?” I boomed across the assembled town. I was greeted with shocked silence. “Who?” I yelled at them, receiving no answer. I stared for a minute. “You’d better be sure. Because if you don’t start listening and don’t start preparing for the shit storm coming your way right at this minute, then you will wish you had spoken up and taken a bullet when you had the chance.”

I stared at the stunned audience. “My name is John Talon. I have led a group of survivors from Leport down here to lend you a hand. What I didn’t know, what no one could have known, was a large horde of living dead is headed your way right now. If I had to guess, they are what is left of State Center Bravo. If I had to guess again, I would say there is about two or three thousand of them headed this way.” There was a collective gasp. “You have made a good stand here and if I had to estimate your chances of survival, I’d say they were better than average. If you don’t work together, your chances are none. Are you ready to listen?” A lot of heads nodded.

I jumped down from the table and rejoined my group. The Mayor looked nervous as he stepped to the table and Sheriff Tom nodded his thanks.

The Mayor spoke to the group and outlined what was expected of the townsfolk while the sheriff, his deputies, and my crew discussed plans and defenses. When the Mayor finished extolling the virtues of the town and its people and the willingness to fight for their homes and lives, he called upon the Sheriff to outline the plan.

Sheriff Tom Harlan adjusted his jacket, hitched his belt a little higher, ran a tired hand through thinning hair, then spoke to the people.

“Most of you know me as Tom since most of you grew up with me here in Coal City. I’ve tried to do the best I could by you and when this mess hit the world, I tried to save my town as best as I knew how.” There was scattered applause. “We worked together to get the fence up and we fought together when we had that breach. We welcomed those who came to us for shelter and we never asked anything from anyone.” Sheriff Tom paused to collect his thoughts. “When we had that breach, I realized we needed some help; someone who could steer us in the right direction. When I got on the ham radio I prayed I would find someone who could help save our town and ensure our survival. What I found was John Talon.” Sheriff Tom motioned me over. “John has been in survival mode since the Upheaval and he has managed to save hundreds of people. I figured if anyone could do it, he could. Trouble is, I called him here just as the worst is about to hit us. I don’t know if we’re going to survive this, but we certainly are going to try. John here will tell you what the plan is. John?”

I didn’t expect to speak, but since I was no stranger to it, I stepped up to the table. “You have a secure fence, but it has its weaknesses. Against the lone zombie or ten, it will do just fine. But against a thousand or two thousand it will eventually fail. What we need to do is engage the enemy much sooner and try to thin the ranks as much as possible. We don’t have enough bullets for all of them, but we have enough to thin the herd a good deal. Me and my men will be setting up firing positions and anyone who has any long range guns and ammo will need to step up. Second, we need to make sure we have enough weapons for everyone to use in hand to hand combat. Check your homes and see what you have. Charlie here will be available to check weapons for suitable purposes. Third, we need to have fallback points in case there is a breach. All cars need to be requisitioned to form choke points and kill zones. Our final fallback position will be here, in this building. The windows are high enough off the ground that they cannot be breached and there are only two doors to block. All the people of the town not engaged in the fighting will stay here until the danger is passed.” I looked around the assembled town. “I will do my best for all of you and I will fight as hard as I can for you. I expect to survive and so should you. I have a son waiting for me in Leport and I promised to come back to him. Anyone who knows me knows I never break my promises.”

I stepped away from the table and Sheriff Tom stepped back up. “Get back home and get prepared. The men who live on Fourth Street, you are in charge of getting the cars to form barricades and kill zones. The men on Third Street, you get your families ready then get to the school to get the tables and such for barricades as well. Second Street, you are in charge of weapons. Everyone bring what they have and they will check them for you. First Street, you all get situated then go with Mr. Carter here. He’ll get you set up along the fence. Miss Greer, Miss Steele, and Miss Maxwell will see to the children and the defenses here in the Town Hall. Let’s move, people.”

The hall emptied quickly and my crew members went to help where they could. I stood outside with Sheriff Tom and we watched the town spread out and get to work.

“What do you think our chances are?” he asked.

I thought about it for a minute. “Probably better than I think, but I’d say ninety percent if the fence holds.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“A lot less.” I was never one to sugar-coat things, especially when it came to survival.

Sheriff Harlan looked at me, then grunted. “Well, nobody lives forever.”

I slapped him on the back. “No, but we’re going to do our best to make sure these people live a bit longer than tomorrow.”

The sheriff smiled, then moved off into the dusk, bellowing at his deputies to get moving and quit slacking. I watched him for a minute, then felt a small hand slide around my waist. I looked down and smiled at Sarah.

“Hey you,” I said, putting my arm around her waist.

“Hey back,” she said. “Where are you going to be? You didn’t say in the speech.”

“Didn’t I? Hmm. That is odd,” I said. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll have Charlie with me.”

Sarah took my face with both her hands and looked me square in the eyes. “You don’t have to tell me, just promise me you’ll live.”

I held her hands. “I promise. Now let me go. I need to get things prepared before tomorrow.” I kissed her gently and she returned it with an almost desperate intensity, wrapping her arms around my neck. I held her for a minute, oblivious to the looks of the lingering townsfolk, then broke away and put her down. “I will come back. I promise.”