Mark Tufo - The End Has Come and Gone

"Okay MJ, put your edge of the box on the step and get in the cab. Can you make another one of these?" Paul asked before MJ could get into the cab.

"Yeah, I've got everything already in my van."

"You mean the one over there?" Paul said, motioning with his head to the van now swathed in zombie kind.

"Yeah, that one," MJ said, bowing his head, "All that beer…" he said resignedly. "You're going to want to hurry," MJ told Paul as he jumped in, passing Alex on the way into the sleeper cab. Brown fingernails were separated from Paul's face by millimeters Paul eased his edge of the box onto the wide step. The box teetered precariously as Paul used the remaining strength in his arms to haul himself in and dive past Alex. Alex fired off two quick rounds at the closest zombies and immediately shut the door. The box fell to the ground as the big rig lurched forward.

MJ watched sadly as the van became a distant memory.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – Tracy, Ron, BT, Meredith, Tony and Henry

Tony turned his rifle in the direction of the oncoming sound of an engine at high rev. Meredith slid behind her dad, fearful of what this new threat might entail. BT walked up to Ron, gun clutched in his hand. BT's heart had just begun to take on a relatively regular rhythm from the preceding events and seemed a little reluctant to begin such a frenetic pace again.

Henry had climbed over the middle console and let himself out from the passenger side of the now nearly useless truck. With his two front legs in front he bowed his back and stretched. His mouth gaped wide as he yawned, his tongue lolling to the side.

"Rough day Henry?" BT asked.

Henry, in traditional form, did not acknowledge the big man. He walked over to Ron's truck and unceremoniously christened the front tire.

"What the hell Henry?" Ron chided the dog.

Henry walked past Ron and placed one paw on the running board, then looked over his shoulder.

"Is he serious?" Ron asked BT.

"Oh, very much so," BT responded.

"You know, if you lay off the gravy maybe you’d be able to get your fat ass into the truck by yourself," Ron huffed as he picked the dog up and placed him back in the cab.

Ron had no sooner put the dog down on the seat when Henry let out some voluminous flatulence. Even with the sound of an approaching car, BT could not keep from laughing.

"That'll show you to tell that dog off," BT said.

"Should've remembered that was Mike's dog," Ron said, ineffectually sweeping a hand past his face to make the disagreeable smell go away quicker. He had the feeling that the smell had somehow stuck to his hand and all he was doing was continually waving it past his face.

"It's Tracy," Tony said, putting his rifle up, the clenching in his jaw subsiding.

"I don’t think she's going to stop in time," BT said as he stepped away from the truck. Tracy 's tires screamed in protest as she took the on ramp at double the legal limit.

"Not another truck," Ron lamented, hoping that Tracy didn’t rear end him.

The front of Tracy's car dipped down as she laid heavily on the brake. She was barely going 2 mph when her front end collided with Ron’s truck, t he thud of impact did little structural damage, but Ron's truck could no longer be considered pristine.

"Dammit," Ron said softly as he looked at the seven inch scrape on his chrome bumper.

"Gives it a little character," his dad told him with a smile on his face.

"I liked it just fine without character," Ron answered him irately.

"Hi mister!" Angel said, getting out to survey the damage. "Sure was a nice truck."

"Sorry," Tracy said, hugging her brother-in-law.

"What's your name little miss?" Tony asked Angel.

Angel looked up at the grizzled man and that was it, love at first sight. She stretched out her arms, and Tony handed his rifle to BT in order to pick the little girl up. She was nearly asleep before her head hit his shoulder.

"That's my sister, Angel," Ryan said.

"You kids alone?" Ron asked the trio.

They all nodded in their various ways.

"You boys did good," Tony told them, "keeping this little one safe."

Ryan puffed his chest out. There was something about the older man. He had a calming effect on those around him. Ryan could sense something deeper but was too young to put words to it. If he had been able, he might have said Tony had an air of resolve about him. If pushed, this man would push back tenfold. There was a calm but it cloaked a tempest. He very much wanted to be on the good side of this man.

"You Mike's dad?" Ryan asked him.

Tony nodded, not wanting to speak and possibly wake the little package in his arms.

"Thought so," Ryan said beaming. Tony reached over and tousled his hair.

"We should go." Tracy said, relating the story of the zombies at the Arby's.

"Alright, let me pull up to Meredith's truck. We'll get the supplies and get the hell out of here," Ron said.

"Tony, you want me to take her?" Tracy asked.

"No, we're good hon," Tony answered. "I think we both could use the company," he said, gingerly getting into the truck. Henry looked over from the rear of the cab. "No farting, you!" Tony laughed as he scolded the dog lovingly. Henry licked Tony’s face, leaving a three inch swath of spit down his cheek. "Thanks." He dragged his free arm across his face to remove the slobbery kiss.

Henry seemed satisfied as he lay back down. Meredith scooted Henry over so she and Ryan could get in. BT walked back over to the other truck and started dragging stuff out to put in the back of Ron's truck bed. Dizz and Sty kept a vigilant look out for the zombies.

"Do you think they stopped following us?" Dizz asked Sty.

"Maybe they never even started," Sty told him, neither one taking his eyes from the on ramp. When monsters were real, it was worth paying attention. This wasn’t algebra, attention deficit disorder wasn’t going to be a problem.

"I think I see one!" Dizz yelled.

Ron came over. "Just the one?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's a shuffler!" Sty said.

"Shuffler, huh? I like that. Alright, one slow one shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Let me know if any of his faster friends try to crash the party."

"Don’t you think that's kind of weird?" Dizz asked his friend.

"What?" Sty asked as he threw a stone at the oncoming zombie, not even coming relatively close.

"I mean just the one zombie and a slow one at that."

"Probably not even from the same bunch," Sty said, humming another rock in the general direction of the zombie.

"Maybe you’re right," Dizz said, turning to see how the rest of the group was doing.

Sty bent over, looking for a suitable rock to throw at their guest. As he stood back up, Dizz and Sty’s looks of astonishment mirrored each other’s almost perfectly.

Sty's 'shuffler' was now in full on sprint mode, while Dizz watched dozens of zombies swarm onto the freeway from the west bound side.

"Zombies!" they screamed in unison.

Tony gently placed Angel in the shotgun seat. Thankfully she was still fast asleep, although that was likely to change in the next few moments. Tony got out with his rifle. "If I didn’t know any better," he said to BT, "I would think they were trying to ambush us."

"I think your 'knowing' is just fine. Ron, it's your call, but I'd really like to rid the world of a few of these maggot breeders," BT said with some vehemence.

Ron did a quick mental count of the assaulters, distance and firearms available. "Let's do it," he said calmly.

"Dizz, tell me when that zombie behind us gets to within a hundred yards," BT said as he shouldered his assault rifle and let loose a volley towards the oncoming horde.