The Brother's Creed (Book 1): Outbreak Page 7

  “Okay,” Alexis responded hesitantly.

  “Ana, how are we?” Emmett asked.

  “Good. The road’s clear,” she responded.

  Emmett took the hatchet off the tailgate and approached his ex-wife.

  7

  Choices

  “How long till we switch?” Connor asked, suppressing a yawn.

  “Another hour or so. Can you make it, bro?” James responded.

  “Yeah.”

  “You boys know I could take a shift,” Felicia said from the backseat.

  James looked back at her and smiled. “Nah, we got it. Manly pride and all that, you know.”

  She laughed, and James felt small butterflies flutter in his chest. Oh, stop that, he told himself, you’ve only known her for a day. There was no way he was already starting to like her. He wouldn’t let himself. But when he thought about it, in high school he’d started liking girls just as quickly. That was his downfall, he figured. He was a hopeless romantic at heart and was always looking for someone.

  James laid his head back in the seat and closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep before he was on the graveyard shift. He dozed off to thoughts of the pretty blonde woman sitting in the backseat.

  “Wake up,” a voice said, pulling James from his slumber.

  He sat forward quickly, grabbing for any kind of weapon. They were surrounded! But then he awoke fully and saw that he was safe in his truck, not in a building full of zombies coming for Felicia and him. He shook his head, banishing the dream from his thoughts, and gathered his wits. All the lights on the truck were off and they were stopped on the highway. Connor was looking through the windshield with his 8x42 Vortex binoculars. James glanced toward where his brother was looking and noticed a group of lights in the distance.

  “Where are we?” James asked, grabbing his binoculars off the dash.

  “Just passed into Nebraska,” his brother answered.

  He noticed what looked to be a makeshift barricade in the middle of the highway ahead. There were lights all around the barricade, illuminating the armed people standing watch.

  “Survivors?” James asked.

  “That’s my guess. But are they friendly?” Connor answered.

  “That’s a good question.”

  He was watching the men around the barricade, trying to get a feel for them, when his phone started to vibrate. He picked it up and looked at the screen.

  “Hey,” James said, answering the phone.

  “Son, where are you?” Jack said, sounding tense.

  “Just crossed into Nebraska. Maybe four or five hours away if we can go the speed limit.”

  “Good. At least you’re getting close. Don’t stop unless you have to. There are men here taking and killing people. Your mom and I are out of town, hidden in a barn. They’re hunting survivors.”

  “Damn! We have something up ahead we need to take care of, but we’ll get through and be on our way shortly. Hold tight, dad. We’re coming.”

  “Sounds good, Son. I could take them, but we only have our handguns and an old hunting rifle.”

  “Don’t worry about that. We brought the whole Andderson Family Arsenal, your AR included.”

  “Good, we’ll stay low until then. Here, your mom wants to talk to you.”

  “Okay, love ya, Dad.”

  “Love you both.”

  There was a brief pause, and then he could hear his mom’s voice. “You there, honey?”

  “Yes, Mom. How’re you holding up?” James asked, wanting to know his mom was okay.

  His dad was a tough man and he would do what needed to be done, but his mom was more kind-hearted than all of the Andderson men combined.

  “Oh, we’re fine. Just doing a little camping in an old barn. How’re you two holding up?” Diana asked.

  James hesitated for a second and looked at his brother, who gave a subtle shake of his head.

  “We’re good. Getting used to this ‘killing zombies’ thing. It’s actually kinda fun,” he said, throwing in a little chuckle. She didn’t need to know the full truth yet.

  “You haven’t just been killing zombies, have you?”

  He never could hide anything from his mom.

  “We did what we had to do.”

  “I know, Son. There are a lot of things we’ve been having to do lately that we wouldn’t normally. Just remember who is in control.”

  “Yes, Mom, I know. Where are you exactly?”

  “You know your Great Uncle Tom’s farm?”

  “Connor, you know Uncle Tom’s farm?” he asked his brother, who nodded to him. “Yeah, we know it.”

  “We’re hiding in the old barn in the trees behind the house. You can’t see it from the road. You have to come down the driveway.”

  “Good. Stay there and stay hidden. We’ll be there soon. We have to go now, Mom. Love you and see you soon!”

  “I love you too, Son. Let me talk to your brother real quick.”

  He handed the phone to Connor and went back to looking through the binoculars. They didn’t look like crazy people. No body parts were hanging off them or anything like that. They just looked like simple people trying to survive in a harsh new world, but he couldn’t tell for sure.

  Something thumped on his window and he jumped, seeing a half-missing face peering through the glass. The zombie slapped its hand against the glass again, smearing blood on it as it tried to claw its way in.

  “Come on, I just cleaned that,” James mumbled to himself.

  He rolled down the window enough to stick his hunting knife out and stab the zombie in the eye. The zombie collapsed to the ground, and because of the angle he couldn’t hold onto his knife, which was still embedded in its head. He cursed under his breath.

  “Hey, bro, I need to get my knife. That zombie just took it.”

  Connor looked over, having just hung up the phone.

  “What?” he asked, looking confused. “A zombie took your knife?”

  “Yeah, its face did, and it didn’t let go.”

  His brother chuckled, “Oh, okay. Let me get my gun and we’ll make sure there’re no more around.”

  Connor pulled out his handgun, which had a suppressor screwed onto the end, and James pulled out his new Remington 1911, also with a suppressor. They’d found it on one of the guys they’d killed in the shootout. It was their best find since the apocalypse started.

  They looked around outside. Seeing nothing, they both grabbed flashlights and clicked them on, holding a flashlight in one hand and a handgun in the other. Getting out of the truck, they scanned their surroundings. After again seeing nothing, James crouched down and retrieved his knife from the zombie’s skull, pulling it out with a sucking sound.

  “Got it,” James told his brother, displaying the knife.

  “Good. It’ll be hard to detour through the fields to get around that barricade.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right. I think I see a creek up there and a tree line.”

  “Guess that just leaves one option,” Connor said, coming around and climbing into the passenger seat.

  “Yeah, we have to go through it,” James responded, going around to the driver’s side. “Best prepare for the worst.”

  “Yep.”

  Connor picked up his brother’s AR and handed it to him as James did the same. Connor reached into the backseat, pulling out his .308 rifle and setting it next to him while he held his AR.

  “Think we should leave Felicia with the truck and go on foot? That way if things go south, we can always run into the night and get back here safely,” James said.

  “Could work, but maybe they’ll be more likely to trust us if we show up in our vehicle with her,” Connor said, pointing at the sleeping woman. “You know, instead of two heavily armed men showing up in the night.”

  “Good point. I’ll be ready to tear through whatever we need to. You keep ‘em in your sights.”

  They drove up, headlights illuminating the barricade in front of them. Felici
a was awake in the backseat and they had filled her in on the situation. People moved around on top of the cars that formed the barricade. James could now see that the barricade was not just on the road but surrounded the entire settlement. It must have been a small town of survivors that had thrown up a makeshift fence to keep the zombies out.

  They pulled to a stop in front of the semi, which was used as the front gate. Three armed men stood on top. They didn’t have any serious firearms, only a couple of cheap hunting rifles and handguns.

  “Stop there!” the man in the middle said.

  All three of them had their guns pointed down at the truck. Connor was using his AR to sight in on the one talking just in case things hit the fan.

  James showed his hands above the steering wheel. “We just need to get through. We don’t want trouble.”

  “Then tell your guard dog to heel,” the same man said, nodding in Connor’s direction.

  “Can’t do that. We don’t know your intentions or whether we can trust you. We just need to get through to our family.”

  “How can we trust you?”

  James paused for a second. “You can’t…”

  The three men on top looked at each other and had a short, whispered conversation.

  “If we let you in, you’ll have to pay for the passage.”

  “What do you have in mind?” James said, setting his hands on his lap within reach of his handgun.

  “You two look well-armed and capable. We’re in need of some… exterminating.”

  The brothers looked at each other. “I think we can help with that, but why would we risk our necks?”

  “As I see it, you have to get through. That leaves you two choices: you can kill us all or go around, which will take you quite awhile.”

  “What kind of ‘exterminating’?” James asked, not sure if he liked the idea, but he didn’t think they had much of a choice.

  “We have a small hospital in town. It’s overrun and we don’t have the firepower to clear it. Won’t take long, but we need to get in there.”

  James and Connor looked at each other and shrugged. They didn’t have much of a choice. Either they helped these people to get through, or they killed them all, and James didn’t like that idea. These people didn’t seem bad, but he didn’t trust them either.

  He looked back at Felicia. “What do you think?”

  “It sounds like it’s our only option,” she said, shrugging.

  “Okay, we’ll take your deal.”

  “Good,” the man in the middle said, lowering his rifle and motioning his comrades to do the same. They hopped down off the semi onto some of the smaller cars and disappeared behind the barricade. The semi started up and pulled forward, leaving a gap that James could drive through.

  Once through the barricade, he could see they did, indeed, have a small town that looked to be in pretty good shape. There was a main street running down the middle, with a total of twelve buildings—two stores and the rest houses. He could see people milling around, looking nervously at the newcomers. Good, James thought, They’ll be hesitant to attack if they’re afraid of us… hopefully. He pulled off the road into the parking lot in front of one of the stores and shut the truck off. Grabbing his AR, James got out to meet the man with whom he’d been talking. The man had left his rifle somewhere and was now only armed with a revolver in a holster on his hip.

  “The name’s Butch,” he said, sticking his hand out.

  James shook it. “James, and this is my brother, Connor.”

  Connor walked over and shook his hand.

  “Where’d you guys get all that?” Butch asked, eyeing their gear.

  “We’ve had it for years,” James replied.

  “You guys definitely know how to use it then. Where’d you come from?”

  “Montana.”

  “How is it up there?” Butch asked, trying but failing to keep the hope out of his voice.

  “It’s just as bad, but it looks like you guys are doing pretty well.”

  “I’m glad it looks that way because we aren’t. The vehicles only work so well against the roamers. We’re in the process of building a more permanent wall, but we only have one side done. That’s why we need your help. The contractor who was heading up the wall project was injured, and we need some of the medical supplies and equipment from the hospital. Not to mention it’ll make everyone feel safer knowing the last building in town is clear.”

  “Honestly, we’re glad to help. You have a good thing here and I hope it lasts.”

  “Thanks,” Butch said, smiling a little, “I knew you two weren’t all bad.”

  “Not always,” Connor said with a smirk.

  “Only when we have to be,” James said, looking Butch in the eyes.

  “Yeah… we’ve had to do the same. Always thought the end of the world would bring people together, not tear them apart.”

  “It gives evil men the excuse to be more evil,” Connor said. “Shall we get on with it? We need to be on the move as soon as possible.”

  “Sure,” Butch said, “It’s on the other side of town. You can drive there and I’ll meet you. Be ready for a fight. There’re at least a dozen roamers in there, maybe even two.”

  “Oh, we’ll be ready,” Connor said, walking back to the truck, a smile growing on his face. He could get used to this kind of thing.

  They got back in the truck and James slowly drove down the street, not wanting to make it seem like they’d try anything. The hospital was a relatively small building but still one of the biggest in town. They pulled to a stop outside, noticing they had guards posted around it—probably to make sure that if any zombies got out, they could take care of them quickly. Connor got out, opening the door for Felicia so he could get to their other guns.

  “You guys sure about this?” Felicia asked when they had gotten all their gear together.

  “What? You don’t think we can take ‘em?” James asked, smiling.

  Connor knew what they must look like, all decked out in their gear. They wore full Kryptek camouflage like they always did, with their tactical vests full of ammo, their handguns, large knives, and tactical tomahawks. They both had their ARs in their hands and shotguns slung over their backs.

  “No, I just don’t want you getting hurt,” she said.

  “We’ll be good,” James said, “We know how to handle ourselves pretty well.”

  Connor could tell his brother had feelings for Felicia and he couldn’t believe how easily James “crushed” on girls. Granted, it was the end of the world and eligible women would be in short supply, so he couldn’t fault his brother for it. He just hoped it wouldn’t be a weakness that got them killed.

  James leaned in close to Felicia, whispering something in her ear, and Connor spoke up to cover the exchange.

  “How many exits? You sure there’re only two dozen zombies?” Connor asked as Butch walked up.

  “There are two exits—this main one and the back door. We have them all locked up from the outside. There should be no more than two dozen. Between the staff and patients, we’re only missing fourteen people, and I don’t see how more roamers could’ve gotten in.”

  “Make sure we can get out those doors if need be. Just keep someone on them in case it’s not us coming out. Could there be survivors?”

  “I don’t think so…”

  “What do you mean ‘you don’t think so?’ Yes or no? Could there be survivors?”

  “Well…” Butch hesitated. “I guess there could be. We haven’t been able to get in since it happened. But they would’ve had a hard time surviving in there. Plus, they never tried to get out.”

  Connor nodded. “So, highly unlikely. Good. That’ll make things easier.”

  “But,” James said, cutting in, “we would help them if we found anyone. Butch, I trust that everything will be in our truck and Felicia will be safe when we get back. Otherwise…” James let the statement hang in the air as he stared at Butch.

  “You hold up yo
ur part and we will ours. That hospital is more important to us than a truck and a few guns.”

  “Good, then let’s get those doors open. We have some exterminating to do,” James said. He walked to the boarded double doors as two guys took crowbars and began to pry the wood off.

  “We’ll draw as many as we can to the doors, then head in. Tell your men to hold off and only shoot if they get past us,” Connor said.

  Butch nodded and relayed the order. Once the two men were done, Connor nodded to one of them and the man opened the doors. Prying the wood off had made quite a racket and he was hoping most of the zombies would be in the waiting room. He wasn’t disappointed. As soon as the door opened groaning and scraping could be heard in the room and a stream of zombies began to pour from the door. The men from town began to scrabble away, but the brothers didn’t move. They didn’t even flinch.

  As soon as the first zombie stumbled out from the doorway, Connor sighted on its head and pulled the trigger. The AR jumped a little, but with the minimal recoil and the low power ACOG, he could see the back of the zombie’s head explode as it fell to the ground, quickly replaced by another one. Before he could shoot again, that zombie was dropped by James. Now there were two zombies coming through at once, and he quickly found his target and pulled the trigger. A zombie dropped, and then another dropped, and he was on to his next target. When the brothers were done, there were ten zombies lying in the entryway, none having made it more than four steps out the door.

  “Wow, I’m really glad we could work something out,” Butch said from behind them where the rest of the men stood looking at them.

  “Like I said, we’ve been shooting a long time,” James said.

  James nodded to his brother and they started toward the doors.

  Connor was taking point, so he was the first one through, having checked all the corpses to make sure they were dead. He came into the room, flicking on the flashlight that was attached to the rails of his AR. He took a quick scan and walked farther in. His brother followed him in a second later. Their lights cut the darkness as they slowly moved through the large waiting room. It smelled like pure death with a hint of rotting flesh. There was blood covering everything—the floor, walls, couches—and everything was torn up. There had been survivors in here at one point. Someone had been fighting back.