Willet Chapter 8, Part III
If you are new to this series here is the link to Chapter 1 Part I.
Chapter 8, Part III
Mack looks up. “Yeah, here.” In his a canteen pouch on his hip he has about 10 v40 mini-frag grenades packed in there. Pulling one out and grabbing my med kit I make my way back to the U Haul. While finding a good line of sight from the Bug to the fuel tank I unzip my med kit pouch. Rummaging through I found the spool of dental floss. Carefully jamming the grenade under the grating between the side step and fuel tank I align it so the pin will pull out in the direction of the Bug making sure the spoon will fly off the grenade when the Zombies trip the line. I tie the knot on the round pin and leave the dental floss pack next to the grenade.
At the Bug, Mack is trying to start it. Tinker Bell is still acquiring targets and burning through ammo, there are shell casings littered all over the hood of the car and on the ground around her with four empty magazines. The Bug can be heard straining to crank over. Because it ran out of gas the fuel lines are probably empty and need to be primed.
“You going to get that thing running?!?” I yell. I could see him nodding through the windshield. Picking up targets Tyler is moving closer to Tinker Bell. Her suppressor is smoking and you can see the heat coming off the upper receiver.
Just then the Bug fires up coming to life. Mack gave a loud long blow of the horn. Tinker Bell rolling off the hood and gathers her empty mags in one motion. Not something you had to worry about in years past but it’s not a bad idea now to conserve assets like that nowadays.
“Get the Bug past the sedan and I’ll run this trip wire.” The Bug crept gingerly along the the shoulder past the abandoned vehicles. Turning back towards the U-Haul I step off some uneven pavement and my back gives out. Collapsing to my right knee and in intense pain I gasp for breath. The moans are louder than the sound of the Bugs engine, they’re getting closer. Using one of the bumpers I manage to get to my feet and stumble to the U-Haul. Grabbing the floss I make my way back over to the first car in the pile up. I see the tops of the heads of the Zombies coming up the road. Tying it off I make sure the floss is tight, but not piano wire tight. Carefully stepping over the wire I go back once again to the fuel tank.
This is the trickiest part. With my knife I carefully pry the ends of the safety to make the cotter pin a straight piece of wire with only the slightest of bends on one side giving it just enough tension to hold but allowing it to pull through when the zombies get there. If there’s too much of a bend in the pin the floss will just break and not trip the grenade. Making sure the whole thing is precariously balanced I peel off and try to make my way to the Bug. On the way my hip make solid contact with a quarter panel sending an explosion of pain up my spine and I drop again. This time I go all the way down landing flat on my back. I can’t move. My spine is in spasm and immobilizing me. Laying there I wonder if the blast radius will get me or will there just be a loud bang then I’ll burn to death from the cars catching on fire. As I pondered this, the sound of suppressed shots coming from the direction the Bug began to get louder.
“Are you on vacation or did you want to get back to work? Do you need a minute to take a nap? Cause I’m not sure we have that kind of time.” Opening my eyes Tinker Bell is standing over me with her hand extended.
“No, I said. I can’t get up that way. Help me roll over.” Pulling on my belt and shoulder she rolls me on to my stomach. Slowly pulling my knees under my chest and using a car as a crutch I begin to rise.
“A little quicker please.” Looking back to the horde she begins firing off some rounds. “They’re about ten meters from your trip line.”
I take a deep breath while rising, I can see the Bug just ahead. “Fuck it, let’s go.” I say wincing with pain.
“Tyler! Let’s move!” Tinker Bell yells to Tyler as he zips past us getting into the Bug. Falling into the back seat I let Tinker Bell take shotgun.
Flooring the little Bug it responds with an aggressive acceleration faster than any Bug, ever. Mack is working through the gears bouncing from second to third and back down again. The engine screams in that German sputtering as we are making our way up Decker Canyon towards the peak of the Santa Monica mountains. Thirty seconds later we hear the explosion from the mini frag go off. Looking back I can see the U-Haul explode. The truck rises into the air and lands with a crash. The fireball grows and in a chain reaction other cars in the pileup begins to catch on fire and their fuel tanks begin exploding, taking the horde of Zombies with them. Turning forward I slump down in the seat. The glow from the fire illuminates the white interior of the bug from a half mile away.
72 Hour Bag • • • - - - • • • 