Mark Tufo - 'Til Death Do Us Part

***

“Fuck!” I shouted as the windshield blasted out away from me. I had caught the muzzle flash from my peripheral vision and swung the M240 in the general direction. Bullets slammed into and through the thin aluminum shell of the building.

***

Bullets danced over the heads of Dave and Kirk as they dropped for cover.

“That might have been a bad idea.” Kirk was smiling again. Broken glass, debris and dust were still raining down on them long after the bullets had ceased their attempt at ending their lives. Kirk didn’t get back up to look out the windows until the gun started up again and thankfully not in their direction.

***

I was not egotistical enough to think that I had killed the threat from the third story window, but I imagine I had put the fear of whatever deity he believed in into his heart, and as long as he embraced that fear, I’d be fine. “How’s it going, Azile? I’m running a little low on ammo.”

“I’m trying, stop yelling at me!” she screamed back.

***

“Recall the zombies!” Kirk yelled as he raced down to the first floor.

Dave stayed where he was. Recalling the zombies meant putting out some of their prisoners as bait and he didn’t want to be part of it. “I should have left with Bill,” he said softly.

“You say something?” Greg asked.

“What’d you hear?” Dave asked.

“Something about you wishing you’d left. I’m going to have to tell Kirk.”

“Tell him this for me,” Dave said as he put a round in Greg’s chest. Dave ran to the opposite end of the building and down the two flights.

“What the fuck is going on out there?” Len asked as Dave nearly plowed into him.

Len had the unenviable task of guarding the door that was located the furthest from the action.

“Armageddon, Len, I’m getting out of here.”

“You know the rules, Dave, nobody in…and especially nobody out.”

“Len, just let me go. Or, better yet, come with me.”

Len actually did think about it for a moment. “Shit, Dave, I’d like to, but you saw what he did to Bill. I can’t go through that.”

“Just let me go, Len.”

“I can’t. There’s one way out from the back of this building, who do you think he’s going to blame?”

“Just say you didn’t see anything.”

“But I did and I’m a horrible liar.”

“Fuck, Len, I’m sorry” Dave said as he shot Len in the midsection.

Len fell back into the door as he placed his hands over the wound. “That fucking hurts, Dave,” Len said as he slid down the door.

“I’m sorry, man.” Dave grabbed Len’s legs to move him out of the way.

“Not as sorry as you’re going to be,” Len said as he pulled his .38 Special from his holster. He drilled a hole in the top of Dave’s head. The smell of expended rounds and burnt brains dominated the small enclave. Dave was dead before he could form the thought.

“Asshole. Who does that to their friend?” Len said, referring to Dave’s whipping of Bill. He lifted his shirt and his bulletproof vest; a fist-sized bruise was already forming on his stomach. “That’s gonna hurt,” Len said as he slowly worked himself back up into a standing position. He opened the door quickly, making sure nothing was out there. His plan was to drag Dave out so that he wouldn’t bleed all over his guard station and then a new thought formed in his mind.

“Fuck it.” He ran for the tree line.

***

I had maybe fifteen rounds left when the zombies stopped coming. Fifteen rounds to a machinegun is like eating one potato chip; it’s not enough.

“You stopped shooting, Mike, are you out of ammo,” Azile said, checking under the dash for potential truck starting problems.

“The zombies are heading back in,” I said, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Why?” Azile asked, and that was immediately followed by the screams of the reasons ‘why.’

“They’re using people to bring them back.” I put my head down on the butt stock of my gun.

“What?” Azile asked in surprise, then she figured it out. “Shoot the zombies!”

“I would,” I told her sadly, “but I don’t have enough rounds, and I don’t know exactly where the people are. I’d just as likely kill them as save them.”

“This can’t be happening.” Azile frantically pumped the gas pedal and turned the ignition.

Oh, it most assuredly is , I thought as I heard the screams of the eaten.

A few moments later, when the hordes had been retrieved and the cries of the lures had died down, we could hear the doors that housed the zombies being lowered.

“What is this newest nightmare?” I asked in preparation for round two.

“Hello, travelers!” a voice shouted from the shadows. “My name is Kirk and I am the captain of this facility.”

“Like Captain Kirk?” I asked Azile.

“Who’s Captain Kirk?” she asked as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Where’s Spock! I want to talk to Spock!” I yelled.

There was some muttering, then Kirk spoke back up. “There is no Spock here. Perhaps we can come to an agreement.”

“You mean since your first attack was unsuccessful in killing us, you want to go to a diplomatic approach?” I asked dripping in sarcasm.

“The release of my pets was unfortunate.”

“Pets?” Azile and I asked each other.

“Someone here misunderstood my orders,” Kirk added.

“Was he one of the ones you fed to your pets?” I asked.

“No, no, they were prisoners of war.”

I wanted to tell him that the war was against the zombies, killing each other off wasn’t doing anybody any good; he didn’t seem like the reasoning type. Spock would have been a much better negotiator.

“And if we don’t come to an agreement?” I asked, leaving the question hanging.

“Well then, I would consider that an act of aggression,” he stated simply.

“Azile, what are the odds you can get out of the cab and grab another box of ammo without being seen?”

“I’d have to crawl out the window so the cab light doesn’t come on.”

“Shit,” I said as I caught movement in my rearview mirror, “they’re trying to come up behind us. I hope I sound convincing,” I told Azile, then I yelled to Kirk, “My rear observer just told me that you have people attempting to come up behind us. If they don’t stop now I will level your building.”

There was a long pause. “Let’s be civilized about this.”

“I’ve been nothing but, you’re the one that sent your pets to kill us, then fed them dinner. And now, while we are in the midst of negotiations, you send men to try and waylay us. I will consider that an act of aggression.” I opened up the breech so that I could make as much sound as I could ‘re-loading’ my weapon.

“Okay, hold on,” Kirk’s voice said with an edge. “My men are returning.”

“We’ll talk more when my observation post confirms this. He says they haven’t moved yet. Azile, you need to move. Sooner or later he’s going to figure my ruse out.”

Azile rolled her window down and slid effortlessly through the opening. She peeked up. “Once I roll the back door up, the cab light will come on.”

“Okay, I’ll improvise. Make sure you grab the box that says 7.62.”

“I know guns,” she muttered.

“They’re not quite gone yet!” I yelled.

“Patience,” Kirk yelled back.

“Oh I’m patient but you see my gun here she isn’t.”

The dome light came on, startling the hell out of me. I pulled the trigger and let a controlled three-round burst issue forth from my gun. That would get any ‘lookie loos’ diving for cover. The echo of my firing was just dying down as the light clicked off.

“Sorry...mosquito!” I shouted.