Week 14
The smell was becoming horrible in the store. The building had a bathroom, but with the plumbing out the toilets wouldn’t flush and with the power out there were no fans to carry out the stench. They continued using the bathroom for their business for a while, lining the toilet seats with plastic bags and later disposing of the waste out the windows, but eventually they began sneaking in the small space between the bus and front doors where the air was clearer.
They would toss the used bags over the bus into the parking lot when they were done, but the smell still lingered. It didn’t help that the infected would immediately attack and rip open the bags. Sometimes they would devour the contents like dogs. More than one survivor lost their lunch after witnessing the infected eat a bag of poop.
They were actually doing well in the building. There was enough space that they could spread out and walk laps to stay healthy. There were enough batteries to power all of the electronic gadgets the store carried, games, as well as books, CD’s and DVD’s so that they were never overly bored. They also had several weeks worth of food and water.
The bus was repaired and fortified, allowing guard duty to resume again. Periscopes made out of cardboard boxes and shaving mirrors allowed them to see outside without exposing themselves to shooters from Walmart. After one or two broken mirrors, the shooters at Walmart gave-up.
Arnold, the survivor from McDonald’s, was on guard duty when a group of new comers drove up to the Walmart. There was an assortment of about 10 large SUVs, vans and trucks. They were packed with people and supplies. So much so, that both supplies and people had found accommodations on top of nearly every vehicle.
They pulled up to front door of Walmart with their guns blazing. The mass of vehicles, people and firearms effectively kept the infected away from the front of the store. At least 20 people detached themselves from the convoy and made their way to the front of the store.
As Arnold watched, the rest of the survivors at Walgreens packed themselves into the bus, drawn by the gun fire from across the street.
The 20 people that detached themselves from the convoy began working on the barricades set up at the entrance to Walmart. It was obvious by the united efforts they were putting into the barricades that they weren’t being shot at from inside. Eventually they created a hole and moved inside. Then the convoy tightened up to the entrance, creating a barricade and blocking the Walgreen survivors’ view. The convoy continued firing their weapons, effectively keeping a large area of parking lot free from the infected.
The infected kept streaming towards Walmart. The Walgreen survivors seriously wondered if the convoy had enough ammunition to stop such an assault, but they kept firing and firing. Great swaths and mounds of bodies were beginning to pile up in the parking lot, actually creating an obstacle to the advancing hordes. Once slowed in a pile of bodies, the infected made easy targets for the convoy, their bodies adding to the growing obstacle. It was an extremely effective tactic that fed on itself as it slowed the assault of infected.
Arnold was beginning to wonder how long it could continue when he noticed a change in the firing. What had been a controlled chaos of withering fire that had stopped the assault of infected, changed into frantic quick fire blasting that lasted for a short thirty seconds. With this change, the hordes were able to advance past the piles of bodies and begin sprinting towards the convoy that had stopped firing at them. Then seven of the vehicles shot out of their barricade at the front of Walmart and sped back in the direction from which they came. In their place, at the entrance of the store lay piles of bloody bodies and a stream of infected rushing from the store to the remaining three vehicles.
The infected completely engulfed the vehicles. With the quiet that followed the departure of the convoy and the firing of weapons, they could hear everything that followed. The pounding of fists on metal, the crash of glass, five rapid shots, a shout, and then a long scream. The scream seemed to last forever. Then they heard one more shot and the screaming stopped. Then another shot. The infected continued to swarm the vehicles for several more minutes. Eventually they began to disengage from the vehicles, finally abandoning them altogether. The interior of the vehicles was a mass of gore and blood.
Bodies lay everywhere. There were injured infected were everywhere as well. They made a different sound, a mewling sound that seemed to attract the healthier infected. The healthier ones began dragging the mewlers away from the parking lot, into the surrounding neighborhoods from which they came.
…
John called the Walgreen survivors together for a meeting, “Now is probably our best shot to take over Walmart. The hordes of infected have been knocked back and wandered off. The infected survivors in Walmart have turned into whatever creators they become and the barricades have been breached. There’s definitely more food and water there, but more important is the lawn and garden section. We need to start thinking long term. That means crops. It also means space to grow it. We’re too limited here and it’s only a matter of weeks before we run out of food.”
”How soon?” asked one of the doctors.
John, ”Start loading the bus with everything that will fit. If it gets ugly, we might have to stay in the bus a while. Once all the ammo, food and other supplies are loaded, we’ll head out.”
It took about two hours to load the bus. The fortifications inside the bus made it necessary to store supplies in the aisle of the bus, which meant the group had to clamber over the seats to take up their respective positions. With the extra weapons and ammunition that Sam and Morales had brought, every member of the group was well armed and well positioned to defend the bus. Arnold’s kids would help ferry ammunition where it was needed.
When they were ready, they sealed off Walgreens as best they could. John sat behind his wife, who was in the drivers seat. He was still too hurt physically to do more than stand and help guide. Kevin, Sam and Morales were seated next to him at the front of the bus. Ready to clear the entrance of Walmart when they got there.
Kate turned the key and the bus engine whirred as the starter spun the engine, but it didn’t start. She stopped after several seconds and waited a moment before trying again. This time she cycled the diesel glow plugs three times before tapping the fuel once and engaging the start. The engine whirred once, then twice, then started with a large plume of black smoke from the tail pipe. Kate let it idle for another twenty seconds before putting it into gear.
As soon as the engine started, the infected began charging the bus. They were quickly stopped by the survivors firing from the bus. The infected from the surrounding areas seem slower to attack this time, probably a result of all the dead and wounded from the convoy assault.
For Kevin, it seemed impossible that they would be able to drive the bus all the way to the Walmart entrance. All of the bodies in the parking lot seemed an insurmountable obstacle, even for the high clearance and large tires of the bus. Kate however found a clear path and artfully swung the bus through the mounds of infected human debris. She popped the bus up over the curb, causing a groan from John, and eased the bus up to the entrance. Incredibly, she got the bus so close to the wall that the bus and wall scraped without doing more damage than scraping paint.
Kevin, Sam and Morales anxiously watched the entrance of Walmart, waiting for the infected to come out of the breached barricades. Behind them, the other survivors will still firing.
Then John said, “Kate, turn off the engine. Kevin, have everyone cease fire, shut up and lay down.”
Quickly the firing stopped and all of the survivors lay down on their seats. Once again, they listened. They could hear the screech and pounding feet of the running infected, but it quickly died down to an occasional scuffle as the infected lost interest. Kevin continued to watch the entrance to Walmart, but nothing came out.
They waited another five minutes before John spoke again, “Kevin we’re gonna park the bus right here. I want you to head out this door…we’ll cover you don’t worry…and then shoot out all 4 tires with a rifle. Do it quick, cause you’re gonna jump back on the bus and we’re gonna go quiet and hide again. You ready.”
Kevin nodded his head and said, “Yeah, let’s go.”
Kate open the doors to the bus and Kevin quickly climbed down with a Mini-14 rifle. The ground was slippery with blood and gore but he managed to keep his feet. Not wanting to lay down, he squatted low at the middle of the bus, taking quick aim and fired one round at the outer rear tire. Not waiting for the results, he pivoted and shot the outer front wheel. He stood up, stepped to the left and shot the nearest rear tire. Then he strode to the front and shot the nearest front tire. Then he stepped back on the bus and they closed the door.
This time the infected were closer and began pounding on the bus, screeching loudly. Cautiously glancing up, John could see it was drawing more infected. “Take them out,” shouted John. The survivors sat up and began laying fire into the infected. First, they decimated the small group at the bus and then began taking out the rest that were making their way to the bus. When the had cleared a 200 meter zone around the bus John shouted again, “Cease fire and hide.”
In the silence, the infected screeching soon halted. As they waited they could hear the hiss from the bus tires and the slow scrape as the bus settled down along the side of the building.
After another five minutes John said, “all right, I want one third to stay in the bus silent and hiding. If they attack from outside, take ‘em out to two hundred meters and then go silent again. I want another third to guard the store entrance, part from the bus and part from inside. I want the last third to clear the store. I’ll be waiting here.”
…
