Zombie - Uncle Sam's Nephew

A continuation from the last entry. Watch for this as a recurring theme to be compiled into an ebook in the future. For now, enjoy the snippet.

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I stopped the car and got out as the woman followed my lead. The street in front of us was blocked by a massive hulk of a tank and a similar beast cut off any exit in the reverse. Canvas-draped trucks flanked us on both sides, creating a nice little cocoon of military green. One of the vehicles, a Hummer, caught my attention and I strode toward it, cradling my shotgun in both hands. I didn't want to look scared. Not when it looked like we could just as easily be gunned down as eaten alive.

Apparently, I chose the right vehicle. As I drew closer, a sunglassed George Clooney lookalike emerged. Well, his face looked a bit like Clooney's; the guy was ripped, though. I quit walking and waited for him to come to me. He didn't.

"General Eddie Howard, God's Talon Private Military Corporation," he barked in greeting.

Ugh, mercenaries. Great... "Hi."

He seemed a little taken aback but pressed forward anyway. "Who the fuck're you?"

He had such a way with words. "Jim," I said. Then, gesturing behind me, "and this is my car. And..." I twisted. "Sorry, didn't get your name."

"Lynette," replied the woman from back where she reclined against my car.

"...Lynette," I beamed at the general. "Can we help you?" Maybe if I made it look like we were graciously accepting his inconveniencing us, the military-whore would let us go.

I watched as he tapped a cigarette into his palm, retrieved a Zippo from somewhere, lit the cigarette while lifting it to his lips and repocketed the lighter. Then, after a couple of pulls on his vice that lit the end a bright orange, he withdrew it and spoke again. "This area is now under my jurisdiction." He indicated "area" with a wave of the cigarette. "And you just happen to be the only intelligent thing we've come across so far, which means you are either going to cease being intelligent soon--once one of those things catches you--or you will join us and stay intelligent until we're far away from here." He reclamped the cigarette between his lips and looked at me.

Uh oh. A military man--worse, a merc--who thought he was clever. Shit just keeps piling higher and higher. I shifted the shotgun in my hands a little before replying. "Uh, nah, thanks but I think we'll be fine. I'm more of a freelance type anyway, y'know?"

His laugh came out in a wheeze. "Listen, Jim." He hacked out a bit of a cough, then took off his mirrored shades and met my gaze with the kind of leniency you find in steel cable. "I'm not asking. You will die without my help and we could always use an extra hand." Another haul on the cig.

I caught the veiled threat and it pissed me off. This bastard was used to pushing and shoving until he got his way. Well he wouldn't get it this time. I opened my mouth to retort when an elbow rammed me in the ribs and Lynette appeared beside me. She spoke, quietly and calmly but not without her own brand of fury.

"We'll go as long as we get a vehicle to ourselves, with weapons."

General Eddie looked surprised. He looked at me for confirmation and I nodded with a sideways glance at Lynette. I still wasn't sure about her trustworthiness. I'd go along with it for now, though, I decided. No use getting all shot up over forced employment.

Fifteen minutes later, Lynette and I had our very own Hummer, complete with mounted chain gun and a hatch full of ordnance. The only requirement was that we stay in line with the rest of the vehicles. Eddie had made it very clear that he did not consider the loss of one vehicle as much compared to troops that deserted him. He'd made his point with a nod at one of the tanks, so I'm pretty sure he meant it. Some people are very good at meaningful nods.

We'd sunk my car in the river. Apparently, they had come across some zombies that could drive and Eddie was still a little shaken up by it. Not that he admitted anything remotely of the sort; I just saw it in his eyes. Interesting fella.

As I drove, and Lynette rummaged around for a gun she liked, I let myself reminisce a little. The day had started out alright, for a Saturday. The late October air and bright orange leaves everywhere had begged me to go for a walk, so I had. I'd taken a little jaunt through the river valley, where you hardly notice the city's presence around you. Nobody else had been out that early, although now that I thought about it, not being out and about by ten in the morning seemed a little odd. In fact, the only sign of life along the trail had been that of a dog, chained to a pole on its lonesome, that growled and barked at me until I was long gone. Most dogs like me...

The radio crackled and Eddie's voice burst forth. "We're headed downtown to clear out the government buildings. You'll be part of the group that does the Legislature Building, alright?"

I brought the mouthpiece to my lips. "Yeah, okay."

"Hit the button," Lynette muttered.

"Yeah, okay."

"Good. After that, we're hightailing it out of here. Might come back in a couple days to check for survivors. Health people are going nuts in search of a cure and it might be our job to find out if anyone's immune so keep an eye out."

"Okay."

"General Howard, out."

"Uh. Yeah, out."

"It won't bite you, Jim," Lynette smirked.

"Actually, my name's not Jim. Nobody calls me that," I confessed, eyes still locked on the road and the back of the drab green truck in front.

"Oh?" she sounded politely interested at best.

"It's Jimmy," I said, and when she snorted, "I mean, Jim's technically my name, but my friends haven't called me that since before I started school. Do you know how much power someone has over you when they know your name?"

I saw her shake her head in my peripheral, clearly writing me off as a nutjob. Fine, let her be that way, I thought. She didn't have to believe me for it to be true.

The radio chirped again. "General, we've got contact up ahead. I think you'll want to have a look at this."

"Be there in a sec, Murph." Ahead, a Hummer broke free of the line and sped past the other vehicles as the caravan slowly crawled to a halt.

"We've got multiple contacts," the voice tensed from calm to worried as it spoke. "Oh shit! Contact! Contact! Get everyone up here! Oh God, General!"

I glanced at Lynette. She looked worried. This had just gotten bad.