Day 331 - Untitled Zombie Story Chapter 3.1 - (1,050 words)

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UNTITLED ZOMBIE STORY

By Wayne Webb

Chapter 3.1

“You’re not just going to kill him are you?” Margaret’s voice cut into his left ear, she was much closer than Ben expected and the sudden volume and expelling of air on this side of his neck, made him cringe.

“Can you please give me some space, Margaret?” She snapped and used her name, trying to put some force into it, where “Mom’ would have undercut any authority he had left.

“Ben Johnson, I am your mother! It is very rude to call me by my name!” But she shuffled back anyway and gave him the space, the bare minimum he needed.

“I am trying to keep things professional and not personal, Margaret, so until the team is safe and sound, and this … situation is resolved please stand … oh fuck!”

“Ben Johnson!”  Margaret started to berate her son for the language but he was not listening to her any more. “Are you paying attention? Ben?”

She cuffed the back of his head and the resulting movement twitched his trigger finger and sent a shot flying wild into the air well above the targets several hundred feet away. 

“Jesus Maragret, get the fuck away from me you’re going to get them killed!” Ben screamed and did not look at her again, instead concentrating down the sights of his rifle.

One of his guys was in a clinch with the nearest of the would be highwaymen, a knife at this throat and the others had backed off and out of the way, pushing the now placid undead out of their way. Two other highwaymen were pointing guns and so far no one had fired at anyone, but the team were at bay while the sole captive had a knife on his throat.

It was Baker, yes it was Baker that was captive and there were two more highwaymen visible, and one more potentially on the barricade or now behind it. Ben was sure that there had been someone else, but they were not in sight.

He could take the shot from here and drill the captor right in the side of his head, destroying his capacity to come back from the dead with a well placed bullet that would kill, permanently. Then there were the other two, but he could take maybe one more and the team would have to take the remainder locally, which he believed they could.

Then there was the fourth man, if he or she existed then there was a wild card and he would have to deal with that one from here too. Unseen though meant unknown, and the unknown was dangerous. There could be any number of people or weapons behind the barricade, though probably not more than the one or maybe two. After all they managed to hide a horde of undead back there, they could not have been able to contain more than that in close quarters, they did not have the pacification technology that they did.

“Ben?” His mother’s voice came tentatively to him, but he ignored her. Feelings however bruised they might be, would be something to deal with later, when things had been settled. Hopefully without bloodshed.

He switched on the red dot laser scope and placed it on the side of the man’s head, where he would not see it but his team would and they would know what that meant.

Far away he could see that one of his team was waving his head in the air, in a loop. Ben moved the red dot to the rear of the other two visible men and placed it on the arm where his guys could see it. The circular sign was raised again and the red dot went back to the man with the knife, they knew what to do with that information and what it meant for the one that was not targeted.

They would take him out if it came to that.

“Ben? I need to …”

“Not now Margaret, I need to keep my guys alive and hopefully….” He breathed deep before repeating the word…” Hopefully not have to kill any one.”

“But there’s a car?” She said and the roar of an engine rapidly approached and zoomed past the field where they had parked behind a rock, out of sight of the road and aimed down through a bend looking directly at the front of the barricade.

“What? Why didn’t you say anything? Oh for fuc… Pete’s sake Mom!” Ben looked down the scope and found the car and saw the two men that they had run into in the town the day before barreling downwards and into the fracas.

“Jesus? Are they in on this?” Ben was shocked, had his desire to reduce the casualties lead them into a trap? Were they allied with the highwaymen? What was going on?

“There’s something going on up ahead.” Derek was not driving; he was looking through a pair of binoculars, which still had a faded price tag swinging from the focus knob.

“You want me to stop?” James asked and strained to see far ahead through the fields but not seeing anymore than the shape of the barricade and some loosely defined figures.

“No, better not, it looks kid of ugly, if we miss it then there could be … violence. Derek licked his lips as he said it and grinned exaggeratedly. He was not looking forward to it, he abhorred having to commit real violence, despite having dished out more than his fair share. This was how he coped with the idea, with the reality of having to take action. He put on a brave face, a character that indulged easily in the harder aspects of life, that wanted and desired a melee every now and then, to feel alive.

“You cocked, locked and ready to…” James started but a hand from Derek on his arm stopped him from completing the sentence.

“Brother, no. Let’s not ever say that again?”

“No, it does sound a bit ridiculous coming out of me, as soon as I said it I regretted it, I admit.” James was blushing, but the adrenalin was pumping in them both as the car arrived at the odd assemblage of pacified zombies, men and weapons all in some kind of stasis stalemate.