Part 4

Part 4 of the Outbreak. We find the two brothers in a town salvaging supplies, but it quickly turns into a fight for their lives.

The crosshairs of the scope settled on the zombies head as it stood there staring blankly through the window of Red Rocks sporting goods store. Caleb could have easily killed the zombie but he did not pull the trigger as they were trying to keep a low profile. “They’re everywhere,” Caleb whispered to his brother lying next to him with a pair of 10X32 binoculars in his hands.

“Yes, they are bro and I think it has just recently been overrun. Look at the fires still burning and the still bloody corpses with zombies feeding on them.” Josh said, as he took in all the carnage and destruction. This used to be a peaceful town full of good people, now it was a bloody shell of what it had once been. Josh stood up and walked to the back of the white truck parked in the middle of the overpass outside of town.

“Well, we have a choice to make. Go in and get supplies, ammo, and guns from the Red Rocks. Or move on and take our chances with the next town.” Caleb said as he too stood up and walked over to the truck setting his .308 rifle in the back seat and picking up his AR-15.

“There could be survivors,” Josh said as set down his binoculars and swung the AR-15 from his back to his front. “Someone may need help.”

“Joshua, come on bro. There are going to be survivors, and they probably will need help. But we cannot go into every overrun town we see to save a few people. I want to help too, you know that but we cannot save everyone.” Caleb said as he mentally ran through a gear check: his AR-15 and Kimber .45 loaded and ready. He also wore his tactical vest with his extra mags, knife, small .45 handgun, and small survival and first aid kits.

Josh was about to respond but he stopped himself short and thought about it. In the end he knew his brother was right, they could not save everyone. So Josh checked his gear too, both of them understanding that they were going to try and go in. Josh also had his AR-15 along with his Springfield .40. His tactical vest was already on with his extra mags, small .380 handgun, knife, and small survival and first aid kits. “They could have suppressors for our guns.” Josh said when he had finished throwing a few freeze dried meals, water, and some boxes of ammo into his big 7,500 cubic inch camo hunting backpack.

“That would be ideal. Some more ammo and spare guns would be nice too.” Caleb said as he did the same thing with his identical backpack. “We’ll only grab what we need, let’s hope no one else got to it first. Let’s go in quiet.” Caleb grabbed his machete from the front passenger seat and Josh grabbed an axe from the back of the truck.

“Switching to melee weapons,” Josh said cracking a smile, they both burst into laughter. They quieted almost instantly remembering all the zombies a few hundred yards away. They continued to chuckle as they started down the overpass and into Miles City.

They came to the first gas station and ducked behind it, most of the zombies were clustered around the Wal-Mart three hundred yards behind the Red Rocks, sporting goods store. They were about five hundred yards from the Red Rock with a couple dozen of zombies between them and it. They moved to the back of the gas station.

They came to a stop suddenly right before they rounded the corner as they heard noises coming from around the corner. Josh took point with his axe at the ready and peaked around the corner. There ten feet away crouched over a gutted corpse were two zombies munching away on the remains. He moved back around the corner and held up two fingers. Caleb nodded, as Josh went into a crouch and walked around the corner his brother coming up beside him on the right.

They walked up quietly and quickly to the two zombies, which took no notice of them as they ate on a fresh meal. Josh brought the axe down on the left one as Caleb brought the machete down on the other one. Both of the zombies fell forward as the brothers pulled their weapons from their heads. They flipped the bodies over with their weapons and looked at them.

They were zombies for sure with their grey bloodshot eyes, the gaping wounds that had killed them and the bruising. The brothers looked at each other; these were the first two that had killed and looked at afterwards. The zombies were beyond saving, they believed, but looking at them there was no doubt they had once been human. Josh felt a slight twinge of guilt, but he quickly dismissed it, they were zombies and it was time to do what was necessary to survive. It had come to a point in the world where it was either kill, or be eaten.

They left the zombies and moved on to the next building. They snuck around the backside of the casino, encountering no more zombies as they moved to the far edge of the building. They looked from the corner at the street they now had to cross; there was no cover till the McDonalds on the other side. There were only a dozen zombies shambling along the street, none others were in sight. The brothers looked at each other and silently nodded, they both knew what had to be done.

They broke from cover and ran towards the nearest two zombies. Their weapons came into contact with the zombies’ heads as they turned to look at them. Both zombies fell to the ground blood pooling around their heads. By that time the rest of the zombies in the rest of the street had noticed the two brothers and started to walk towards them. They stood there back to back waiting for the zombies to get closer, one got close to Caleb first. He took three steps forward and swung at the head, the machete sunk in a few inches and the zombie fell to the ground. He pulled his machete from the zombie’s head as it started to fall then took three steps back to rejoin his brother.

Josh took a few steps forward and swung, watching as the axe sank into the zombie’s head. Josh dislodged his axe and the lifeless body fell to the ground, another undead taking its place. Josh swung quickly again, his axe taking the zombie in the side of the head as Caleb’s machete nearly cut the head off of another zombie at the same time. Now they were surrounded by half a dozen zombies all of them coming at them at once. They swung and slashed at their heads and quickly there lay a dozen dead zombies around the two brothers. They looked at each other and the blood splattered on their cloths and smiled.

“Is it wrong that I enjoy this?” Caleb asked as they ran the rest of the way across the street to the next building.

“Not at all, I do too.” Josh said as he wiped the blood off of his axe. “But then again brother, we are a little different than most.”

“That’s true,” Caleb said chuckling as they both thought about how this “weirdness” was the thing that would help them survive this horror. They moved to the back of the building entering the alleyway. Two blocks down they spied the back door to the Red Rocks. “It looks clear,” Caleb whispered to his brother.

“Let’s go,” Josh whispered back as they took off across the alleyway to the back of the building. They got to the backdoor and looked around they could not see anything around so they checked the door handle, it was unlocked. “Looks like in all the hurry they forgot to lock it.”

“Lucky for us,” Caleb said as he took point, Josh opening the door for him. Caleb entered the backdoor of the Red Rocks with his brother following at his back. They swept left and right, the back storage room was empty of anything alive. “Be alert, they could be anywhere.”

They moved through the storage room ‘on swivel’ making sure nothing moved. They passed through the entire room and arrived at the door leading into the shopping floor. Peeking through the window Caleb saw the two zombies inside the store staggering about. He looked at his brother and held up two fingers. They crept through the double doors and headed towards the zombies their melee weapons at the ready. The zombies took notice of them as the doors shut behind them, but it was too late. Their bodies dropped to the floor and the two brothers looked around at the rest of the store, weapons at the ready.

It looked clear so they headed straight to the right and the gun counter. Arriving there they both let out a moan, “Looks like we were not the only ones that had this idea.” Josh said looking at the looted counter. He hopped over the counter and started to scavenge around behind, looking for any guns they could use. Meanwhile Caleb was taking all the ammo they could use, which was not much, and shoving it in his backpack. “Score!” Josh said as he pulled out a box from under the counter and set it on top. It was a suppressor box for a .223 rifle. “There are more too, we just need to find the right one for our ARs.” After a minute of digging around and looking at the barrels on their ARs they were able to find four suppressors that fit. Caleb first then Josh they unscrewed the muzzle breaks off the end of their barrels and screwed the suppressors on.

“Now that’s more like it,” Caleb said inspecting his newly accessorized AR-15.

“You like your new look,” Josh whispered to his AR, Victoria. He looked up at his brother shaking his head at him, “What, you know she looks sexy.” Caleb chuckled then went back to collecting the few boxes of scattered ammo. Josh moved around the store looking for anything they could use. He came back with two tactical tomahawks, and three sets of two-way radios. “These may come in handy,” Josh said giving his brother a tomahawk.

“But it’s not Christmas yet,” Caleb’s said a gleam in his eyes looking at the fierce looking weapon. They both attached them to their belts using the sheath they had in the package with them. Caleb pulled his tomahawk out of the sheath that was around the head. The metal snaps came undone and the weapon was out and ready in one smooth motion. Caleb smiled and looked at his brother, “Thanks for the new toy brother.”

Josh put the radios in his pack and went over to the wall he has seen the freeze dried meals on. He grabbed a bunch of those along with a few extra small camping stoves and propane fuel for them. Caleb was done collecting the few boxes of ammo and had grabbed them each a yeti suit, like you see the snipers use in all the movies. His brother looked at him the question clear on his face. “What? You never know when we may be in the forest hiding, I don’t think the only thing we will have to worry about his brainless zombies. Don’t forget, even during a disaster like this there are still evil people, and even more desperate people.” Josh had been thinking about that since entering town, before this was all over zombies would not be the only things they would have to kill. That thought did not sit well with him but he let it go for now, they had gotten all they could from here.

“Are you ready?” Josh said hoisting his pack onto his back. He looked at his brother standing there his pack also on, AR-15 at his side on the sling, tomahawk on the other, holding a bloody machete, dressed in his Kryptek Highlander camouflage, and couldn’t help but imagine himself looking the same. They must look like a formidable opponent to anyone wanting to take their gear. Good, Josh thought, they may dissuade anyone from messing with them.

“Let’s do this,” Caleb said moving to the backdoor. “Oh, and by the way, we look badass.” He smiled at he signaled to his brother who opened the door. They exited the Red Rocks back into the alley and started back the way they had come. They arrived at the road they had killed the zombies on and looked to their left and the Walmart all the zombies were clustered around. They both knew right away something was different, the zombies seemed even more eager to get at something in the parking lot. They could hear the engine of a vehicle rev up and saw a car suddenly burst out of the crowd of zombies and come speeding across the parking lot.

Josh and Caleb looked at each other and quickly attached the others melee weapon to the outsides of their backpacks and brought their ARs up to their shoulders. The car sped around an overturned semi only to collide unexpectedly with a zombie. The car swerved as the windshield wipers failed to get the blood off of the glass. Not being able to see the driver ran into a light pole at the edge of the parking lot. Three figures got out of the car and started to limp away from the horde of approaching zombies. One of the figures was clearly a male while the other two looked female. Both brothers assessed the situation and came to the same conclusion.

“We have to try,” Josh said to his brother who nodded his agreement. They both started off at a swift pace towards the three people who after a few seconds also saw them.

“Hey, over here! Help us!” The man said waving his arm as he helped one of the women who had a messed up leg. The two brothers were ten yards from the group which were thirty yards from lead zombies in pursuit of them.

“Head to the overpass, we have our truck parked just outside of town.” Josh said when he made it to the group. The man was Native American and had his long black hair in a ponytail. The woman he was supporting had short cropped multicolored hair and her leg was definitely broken. The other woman was short and had long brown hair in a messy jumble. They all looked to be in their late twenties, and had a desperate look about them. “Go now!” Josh said as they slowed up when they reached the brothers.

Caleb was already passed them and taking a knee when Josh got to the back of the group and took aim at the nearest zombie. Caleb was to the first to open fire; his first shot took the leading zombie in the head dropping it to the ground. Another zombie fell with a hole in its head as Caleb acquired his next target and squeezed the trigger. They were in perfect harmony while one brother shot the other was acquiring his next target. They did not “spray and pray” like in all the movies, they took their time and made quick headshots. At this close of a range they did not have to worry about missing with the optics each had on his AR. After a few seconds there was a small pile of corpses that were slowing down or tripping up some of the other zombies. Josh glanced over his shoulder to see where the group was. They were making good progress down the road and were just turning to the left into the alleys behind the stores where the brothers had come from.

“Let’s move.” Josh said, as his brother fired one last time then got up and sprinted past, tapping him on the shoulder as he did. Josh turned around and followed his brother to the group as they disappeared into the alley. They rounded the corner to see the man trying to fend off a zombie with a trash can. Caleb came to a stop and took a knee, and fired, the zombie crumpled to the ground and the man looked back at the brothers now coming around the corner. Josh ran up to them and past them taking point, “Come on!”

The man helped the woman with the bad leg up from the ground and they started off again, Caleb taking up the rear. They made it through the alley to the gas station at the edge of town before seeing another zombie. Or a horde of zombies as it was, between the gas station and the ramp leading out of town. They stopped before leaving the cover of the alley; Caleb came up to join his brother at the head of the group. “We can’t stop for too long they will catch us.”

“We have a bigger problem,” Josh said nodding to the corner of the building. Caleb peaked his head around and cussed under his breath.

“Talk about a rock and a hard place,” Caleb said pulling his head back. “What are you thinking?” Josh looked at the little group they had, the man was out of breath from supporting the broken leg woman who could not move on her own. The only one that looked able to move quickly was the short woman.

“You and I go out and distract them while they go around to the up ramp under the overpass. Then we will follow and meet them at the truck.” Josh said uncertainly, “That’s all I got.”

“It’ll have to work,” the man said looking back the way they had come and the approaching horde. “Here they come.”

“We’ll go out first, wait for us to start shooting then take off as fast as you can. Stay to cover and try to not attract attention; you will have to be fast.” Josh said as the brothers switched out their mags replacing the partials with full 30 round magazines. Josh looked to his brother took a deep breath then nodded.

The two brothers burst around the corner, they made it too the pumps before the first zombie saw them. The horde started towards and the brothers opened fire as they moved in a crouch. They got out into the road only a handful of yards from the closest of the zombies. After a few seconds and a dozen zombies on the ground the group behind them started to move off towards the underpass. Most of the zombies were intent on the two brothers making all the noise and so the group passed by the bulk of the horde without any trouble. Josh and Caleb were now making their way slowly towards the overpass firing as they went.

That is when they heard it, a bone chilling scream. They both glanced over to the direction of the noise and saw the man being taken down by a zombie and the broken leg woman screaming and trying to crawl away. The short woman was picking up a piece of metal off a car to use as a weapon as the small group was surrounded by zombies. Josh didn’t need to confer with his brother, he was confident he knew what he was going to do and the best way to compliment that. He did, as Josh took off with all speed to the group Caleb took a knee and took aim on the zombie on top of the man 60 yards away.

As Josh ran to help he heard a shot behind him and the zombie on top of the man jerked his head as blood sprayed all over the woman trying to crawl away. Caleb was firing as fast as he could but the zombies were still closing in on the broken legged woman. Josh was still too far away to help and knew if he stopped and opened fire he would not be able to make a difference in time to save her. So he sped up as the first zombie fell over the crawling woman. He could hear her screams change pitch to the most bone chilling sound he had ever heard as three more zombies fell over her. Her screams were cut short by a shot from behind him, was that a coincidence or did Caleb just…

The thought was pushed from his mind as he remembered the last survivor. She was fending off a zombie blocking her way to the ramp, as the ones behind her were temporarily preoccupied with the fresh meal. Josh went around the feeding horde as they looked up and started towards him. He arrived at the woman just in time to see her bash the zombie in the head and it fell to the group. “Stay with me, and cover my back,” Josh said as he turned around and started to take out the small horde coming towards him, fresh blood on their faces.

Josh took aim and the zombies started to drop like flies with holes in their heads. He could see his brother in the distance as he was running towards them zombie close on his heels. Josh switched targets and the closest zombie to Caleb jerked and fell to the ground. Josh was already on the next one and had a good distance established between the zombies and his brother as he went back to shooting the ones that were closing on him and the woman. He took out the last three and cussed under his breath. The big horde was now closing in on them, Caleb was only a ten yards away but so was the horde. Josh opened fire on the horde and was relieved a few seconds later when his brother rejoined him.

“Get her out of here, I’ll cover!” Caleb said as he ran up and turned around taking aim on the oncoming horde. Josh turned around and grabbed the woman by the arm and started off towards ramp leading to the overpass and the truck. Caleb squeezed the trigger and a zombie fell dead, he squeezed it again and click, nothing happened. He had not been counting his shots like he should have been; he quickly dropped his AR which swung to his side. He quickly withdrew his Kimber .45 handgun and took aim at the zombies now only a few yards away and closing.

Josh arrived at the ramp and saw it was clear of any zombies. He quickly turned around and saw his brother almost over come with zombies. “Come on brother!” Caleb shot once more and the slide stayed open on his handgun indicating it was empty. He turned around and started to sprint towards his brother quickly ejecting the spent magazine and slapping in a new one. Josh stopped just long enough to kill the two closest zombies to his brother then he continued on his way the woman in tow.

He arrived at the top of the overpass and saw his white Ram sitting there; it had to be the best sight he had ever seen. He arrived at the truck and told the woman to get into the back seat. By the time he was in the truck, had it started and in gear his brother jumped in. “Let’s roll!” He said as he grabbed the shotgun from the passenger seat and stuck the barrel out the window. Josh punched on the gas and took off pushing the three into the backs of their seats. They sped past as the horde just made it onto the overpass, “That was close,” Caleb said as he pulled the shotgun back in and rolled up his window.

Author's Note

This is the first version and I have not gone through and corrected the grammar or spelling yet. I just want to get it up here, I will go through and correct it shortly. This is still a rough version and subject to change.