Day 365 - Untitled Zombie Story Chapter 10.6 - (1,088 words)

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UNTITLED ZOMBIE STORY

By Wayne Webb

Chapter 10.6

Derek had one of Ben’s stick devices in his hand; he had retrieved it from where Ben had stashed some things from the wreckage of their car. He had been given precise instructions on where to find it, and it was harder than he expected. Ben was obviously adept at deceit and subterfuge, he had hidden the objects quickly but so completely in an unfamiliar environment.

Dawn was underway and the half-light afforded Derek the opportunity to move to the site pretty quickly, but then he had to take a long way around on the return journey to be able to see the gaps in the views that the guard towers would have. He would have to climb the hill, the one with the wood where he had first approached the town, but scouting further along away from the gate as the curve of the town took a dogleg between two of the guard towers.

It was not heavily watched but it was not a place where the breaching was easy either, the wall being treacherously vertical with zero hand or footholds. Though that was perfect for their purposes, a section of wall thought to be safe and perfect to target the undead for their fiery mission. The day was underway but as this was on the west side of the town the walls covered most of the approach in shadows.

Derek set up two of the sonic devices and measured about fifty feet between the two of the spots, both just inside the dogleg of the wall, concave enough to prevent anyone from seeing what was happening there unless they right above it or already around the corner in the gap. ‘

The devices were in place but not yet activated and he walked back along his tracks and paced out the spacing between the two sticks one more time. Then he walked along the wall hugging it as he went, checking around both corners for any patrolling guards, seeing none but also looking to see which of the devices would attract the undead first.

He had to take action, it had already taken longer than planned to go and deploy the devices and now he had to do it, to make the diversion as effective as it needed to be. The plan was all about timing at least from Derek’s perspective.

He walked the distance from the furthest to the gate to the nearest and paced it out for one last time before slowly walking back with the can of petrol in his right hand. Derek spread a third of the gas in a circle around the device, about ten feet in diameter and then switched on the beacon. He could not see or hear the undead but anything in range would start to come towards it now.

He ran the gap to the other device and switched it on too, spreading maybe half of the petrol on and around that  device, trailing backwards and connecting the two circles of petrol soaked ground with an unbroken line before sloshing the last of it in a line backwards from the midpoint, marking the length of the fuse he planned to use.

His shoes were soaking in fuel and so he took them off and threw them up the hill a little way and then hunkered down on the ground close enough to his fuse point to smell it but not so close to be at risk of being burned with it. He wrapped his hands in a rag he took from the car and wiped as much of the surface fuel from his hands as he could and then slowly the undead turned the corner and came to the first device.

There were thirty or forty of them crowded around it now and more pouring in from the front of the town. As he heard shouts from the guards zombies came around the south corner as well, moving in on the second beacon and making a placid bee line for the device and the circle of petrol soaked ground.

“Over there!” came a shout and he knew that it was time to light the fuse, as much as he had no love for the town and for whatever plan they had, they were still human beings and live ones. He had no intention of murdering real people with his diversion, there were so few people left in the world already why would anyone want to lessen humanity’s chance of survival even if they were suspect?

His hands were shaking and he prayed rapidly that the fumes and liquid that may have soaked into his skin were gone or not enough to risk his being burned. The shaking made flicking the lighter on impossible and he had to stop, take a breath and try again.

With a burst of flame and a sparking clack it came to life, burning a small cloud of fumes in the air but puffing out and leaving just the flame, he had his starter fire. Derek leaned up on his hands and knees and with his outstretched hand he threw the lighter slowly in a low arc towards the fuse.

There was a puff of smoke and a small whomping noise as the flames caught the petrol and the line raced through the grass, splitting and the line and creating the dumbbell shape on the ground in flames.

The undead just stood there and bumped into each other, not trying to escape the fire but drawn like moths to the beacon and catching fire and beginning to burn as well.

There were more than the space allowed and they were lined up against the wall of the Town as planned.

“Holy shit!” came an anguished cry and two guards came around the corner to see flames beginning to take hold and lick up the walls of the town as nearly a hundred burning undead all stuck together in a burning assembly, flames spouting from limbs and lighting up the shadows in an orange hue.

The smell of burning, rotten  flesh was strong and Derek hated himself for the rumbling of his stomach as he thought about Frank’s famous BBQ, the one he and his brother had grown up on, survived on after the GZA.

The flame was lit and by the panicked shouts the guards made into their radios, the trap had been sprung well.

Now he had to find a new way into the Town and meet up with the others again.