The Gauntlet

‘The rain came and washed away our fears.’ I heard that somewhere. And that’s what it did for us. And for Zak.
When the fires started to fizzle out and only burn the houses that were already engulfed (as anyone who has seen a real fire, it would take days to kill a good fire with rain) our dead head friends decided it was good time to grab a quick snack. They approached from all three streets at once. The milling crowd had become a mob and since they were packed tight we had no idea how many were in buildings, etc, too afraid of the fire. Alfred started to scream over the radio that we needed to get out of here and was almost to the APC when he was done screaming into it. Jake had beat him by a few seconds.
‘What gives? I said and ratcheted back the cocking handle on the 50.
‘I think I know why town was so empty, we just woke them all up. Look!’ Jake jumped up on the top with me and pointed straight ahead. Shit. There must be hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more starting to fill the streets. Thunder boomed overhead and they all stopped for a second or so. Strange that. Kelly and a few guys were stowing the fire truck hoses and getting it ready to move while I opened fire. Let me tell you. Those 50’s are LOUD and SHAKE the living Hell out of you. I fired small bursts so as not to waste ammo, each bullet felling a few zombies each, but more kept coming. I would knock back one wall of them and the other two streets of Zak would get a little closer. Jake fired his rifle on targets of opportunity and kept watching behind us. The siren on the fire truck screamed and it rode up beside us, Kelly and Gary in the cab.
‘What now o fearless leader?’ He smiled at me.
‘What do you mean? We get the Hell outta here!’ I screamed back and fired another burst. Jake tapped me on the shoulder and I looked up. F’ing great. A man on the building a half a block away was pointing a rifle our way. Jake took him out before the guy got into position. A bullet banged hard on the front armor shield of the 50. Just what we need.
‘Leave the truck and get in the APC we got bandits!’ I yelled as I was ducking behind what little cover the armor provided. Kelly nodded an got out of the fire truck as its windshield exploded. Gary was already diving to the ground. Zak on the ground and idiots on the rooftops, just my luck.

We buttoned up, well except for little ‘ol exposed me, and started forward. I swept the roof tops with the 50 as we started going to keep anyone up there occupied. The dead heads started to pile in around us but we kept on grinding forward, the tracks slipping on the wet streets and the gooey Zak parts. That’s how we went for about 2 blocks. The dead heads were reaching up over the sides of the APC, and every once in a while I would have to shoot them off with my rifle. The 50 only turns about 30 degrees either way from center, seems the damn cupola track is jammed, so I kept my rifle on the top with me, the sling wrapped over the pinion holding the 50 to the APC. Bullets were becoming a real concern about then, not mine, but incoming. Since I could only fire the 50 to the front, they were working on the rooftops behind us, showering us with love. Thankfully the hatch cover protected my back, but my head, with my helmet was still a little exposed. No snipers today or this report would have never happened. We started to slow and black smoke was pouring from the stack next to me, making it hard to see.
I pulled myself down the hatch and asked what was up. Michael, the driver, the guy who told me what this thing we were riding in was, looked over at me, covered in diesel smoke and soaked by rain, ‘They’re so many out there that this old girl is not got enough power to push through and we’re slipping on the street.’ He sighed. I hate when he sighs. ‘I’ll clear us a path.’ And I started to stand up a bullet came down the hatch and embedded itself into the floor. Great day, just great.
I got back up, hunched over and let Zak have it full bore in front of us. Michael geared the APC up and kept its speed up as I kept mowing the dead grass in front of us. We pushed through the last few lines of Zak and started to gain speed finally when from a cross street a beat-up pickup stopped in the middle of the road. Several men in the back had guns and they started firing at us, well, me.
‘Keep it floored Michael!’ I yelled and opened fire again. Let me tell you, a .50 caliber has more effect on a LIVE person than a DEAD one. It was payback time assholes. I swept the pickups’ cab first as small arms fire rattled the front gun shield and bounced off of the APC.
With their driver I am sure now dead, I turned my attention on the idiots scrambling over the truck bed sides. Let’s just say Zak would have a fine buffet and there were more holes than metal in that truck when we plowed into it. It looked like an old erector set and came apart just like one. We impacted the bed and it sheared away from the cab but we kept on going. We had just cleared the pickup truck carnage when a Molotov exploded just past us in the street. Michael sent the APC into a left turn/slide and we rounded a building, through a yard.
‘Turn us around Michael, Someone get me a new box of ammo out of the back.’ I was done fooling with this pyromaniac. I was tired of running from these assholes. Face it I was just too tired to care I was putting everyone and myself in danger. We dropped the back door and Jake scrambled up to me and helped me reload the 50. Gary was on the ground beside us watching the roof tops with his rifle. Jake said him and Albert would climb a building and pick off any stragglers. I told him it could be suicide from Zak alone. He was tired of these bandits too he retorted. Damn. I hate being relied upon. They took off into the building we had just used for cover and took all the ammo and supplies that they could carry. We dug our way out of the yard and back onto the street. The rain was still coming down in buckets. Unfortunately the bullets were too. While we were turning in the street, I was completely exposed on my sides so I slid back into the hatch until we completed our maneuver.
‘I don’t know how much longer this aluminum armor will hold up especially if they have something heavier than high powered rifles or AKs. These things were old when we were born, you know?’ Michael said as bullets popped and hissed off the armor.
‘How far is Zak?’ I asked as he looked through the periscope glass,
‘3 blocks maybe. You sure about this? We can’t be sure we will get them all.’
‘Nope but I think we can hurt them enough to make them leave.’

I slid back into the onslaught of rain and bullets. I would see a muzzle flash (by now my hearing was pretty gone, even with ear plugs. I say again 50s are LOUD) and I would pepper that area. I hoped Jake and Albert stayed to my right as planned and took opportunity shots. I saw a few men fall to the street ahead of me, one exploding into flames and I knew they were on the job. Thank God for snipers. We ‘walked’ up the street until we were within spitting distance of the dead head brigade and turned around. Either we got all the bandits or they had had enough for today. Michael was on the radio on the ‘all’ channel calling the bandits out with taunts and insults. Either they weren’t there or they weren’t listening. I even learned a few crude remarks by the time he was done. I finally slid down and closed the hatch us as we literally spun around on the slick street and went to pick up Jake and Albert.


So here we are back at home base. I think I caught a cold, we brought home 3 new people, we can flush our toilets again, the fires seem to be either out or aren’t spreading, we bloodied the nose of the local bandit population, and we know Zak prefers the indoors. Not a bad day all in all. I even get to ride John about taking the ‘gravy train’ to the water treatment plant and not pulling his weight. And I get to listen to 3 people tell me how foolish I was to be out in my condition. I am taking more pain killers. See you all later.

Over.

****
For those of you interested in finding out about the M113, I found this on a YouTube server;
M113 Video

It’s long but shows what this tough little vehicle can do.
If you see one with a large American Flag painted on all sides, it just might be me.
Or it may not, just be careful out there.