Chapter 11 - Forklift

Once again Trent was back in his room, with Sarah and Miss Summers by his side and Hailey and Rachel not to far behind them. They've been keeping an eye on him. A a few hours have gone by. They found a few brain eaters that dodged a bullet in the head in the pile and were eradicated. The remaining guys, James, Rob, Zac and Kyle stood by the nearby dead blocking the entrance/exit, "How are we going to do this?" Zac asked, looking down at what was once Steve. Kyle was standing the furthest behind everyone, unable to look at the dead. His body language proves he does not want to look them. "We have to be careful," James starts, his head tilted with his face covered by shadow. He always predicated an EMP would take out electricity and power, creating chaos in the world. He never thought his Prepping would end up stopping the living dead from attack his family. He was very somber. Upset the world had turned into this. Especially for his children and his grandchildren. All he wanted to do was live out his life watching them all group up, now he's afraid of losing them and the world they grow up in. James didn't want to kill these brain eaters but he had to protect his family. He justified it by thinking the brain eaters human soul was trapped within these creatures and sending them to heaven was to lay them to rest. He struggled with the concept these were brainless zombies. "What can we do Dad?" Rob asked, clicking on a monitor to view the outside. He sees the bodies pooling out the other side of the entrance. James didn't respond, he was lost in thought. Rob looked at Zac, his face full of worry for his father. "How did they get inside?" Zac queried, "Do you think they followed us into the Camp?" he continued. Rob started to feel riddled with guilt about not checking the fence line properly. He recalled seeing those brain eaters walking past nearby the camp. He could see the faces of those brain eaters amongst the dead pile. "Shit.." he said under his breath, walking over to his dad. Zac heard him and looked at him confused. "Hey, you okay?" Zac questioned, concerned for his new romantic partner and grabbed Rob on the shoulder, rubbing it to comfort him. He shrugged him off, quickly glancing at his Dad hoping he didn't see. Zac looked confused but didn't say anything, Kyle saw their exchange but walked over towards the monitors. "I can't see any break in the fence," James snapped out of it, hearing fence, "Did you see anything during your perimeter check Rob?" he questioned, turning towards Rob who was only a few steps from him, "Uhh.. no.." he hesitated, his Dad looked at him not convinced, "Son?" He prodded, looking at him with a stern face, he began to shake a little. Scared of his fathers reaction should he find out his fling with Zac. He couldn't answer, "We cut across the camp…" Zac quickly interjected, appearing from behind Rob. Rob and James looked at him, "I'm really sorry.. I told Rob to cut our search short as I was tired.." he stepped forward, catching Rob's gaze momentarily. "I pushed to return here, I'm so sorry James," Zac apologised, wanting to take the heat off Rob. James furrowed his brows, he went to speak but stopped, taking a moment to think. He thought of his family, and how thankful he was that they were alive. He released the tension in his face and approached Rob, putting his hand on his shoulder, "They got in somehow, regardless if you didn't see it, we have to see where the break in the fence is," James declared. The guys looked at him. "I'll go up to The Lookout," He reached over towards where Steve's body laid and picked up the binoculars from their holster on his belt. "What do we do with this…" Zac pointed to the bodies, "Get the forklift?" Rob suggested, recalling the forklift in the back corner of the warehouse. Used to help move large storage throughout the property and held in the warehouse for security. "Good idea son, this is those long weekends of training paying off," James half-smiled, patting him on the shoulder. Rob turns to Zac and gestures to follow as they walk towards the guest sleeping area. James passes Kyle and walks towards The Lookout as Kyle keeps an eye on the monitors. James wasn't planning on having teenagers be his co-pilots but he had no choice in the matter. Trent wouldn't be able to lift anything, best he can be now is a good shot. James knew he had to take charge of the situation and he hurried up The Lookout ladder, wanting to get an understanding of what was happening on his property.

Rob behind the wheel of the forklift began using the two spikes to push the bodies towards the exit, forcing them out of the warehouse. Zac beside him had a shovel, helping push the bodies into position, trying not to gag on the smell of blood and rotting flesh of the undead. James opened the hatch and climbed into The Lookout's crows nest, being middle of the day, the sun shining provided the much needed light. He could see a few brain eaters walking throughout the grounds, close to his veggie garden. "Damn," he sighed, knowing those vegetables couldn't be eaten being so exposed to their infected enemy. He looked around the property and could see more brain eaters down by the main street. A large group had gather together again and were heading towards the warehouse, following the fence line. Pulling away from the binoculars, he was able to hear the loud engine of the forklift and beeping as Zac moved the bodies out of the way. "Shit…" James panicked, knowing the sound of the forklift would bring their attention to the warehouse entry. Although there was a fence between the entry, James knew that he couldn't hold off all of those brain eaters if they were to push against it by himself. He quickly travelled down the ladder yelling, "Stop! Stop!" Kyle, hearing James' cry runs towards Zac who is standing by the door watching Rob. "ZAC!" Kyle yells, he turns, and points at James, "He's yelling stop!?" Zac looks back at Rob, who has managed to pile over half of the brain eaters on the fork lift two spikes. With a smile on his face, impressed by his skill to do so, Rob ushers forward with the forklift to move the brain eaters away from the warehouse. "Rob!" Zac calls out, chasing after him with a shovel. Although, the sound of the forklift engine was far too loud for Rob to hear Zac. As he made it to the warehouse far corner, a brain eater appeared, attracted to the sound. "Ahh!" Rob screamed, swerving away from the brain eater into the fence, forcing it to bend around the forklift as it forces its way forward, going over uneven ground and jerking Rob off his seat and pushing the bodies into the fence and bending it. Rob's head hits the glass and he falls back unconscious in the seat. Zac sees the forklift crash and the brain eater moving with haste towards Rob. "Rob!" Zac can hear James' loud voice booming behind him, he turns quickly to see both Kyle and James running towards him. He grabs the shovel and sees the brain eater a few steps aware from the forklift. The drivers seat is open and Rob is hanging forward, held in the forklift by the seatbelt. Zac approaches the brain eater and yells, "Hey!" to catch its attention, it turns to Zac and he stops, grabbing the shovel to protect him. The brain eater stumbles over the uneven ground towards Zac and trips, falling to his feet. Zac raises his shovel as James and Kyle approach beside him. The brain eater reaches for Zac and he jumps back, Kyle hesitates and pulls out James' pistol and shoots him in the head. James pushes Kyle back, grabbing the pistol from him, "Don't take my gun," he says angrily, Zac runs past the brain eater and goes to the right side of the forklift, helping Rob out of the forklift. Kyle stands still, "Theres brain eaters coming this way," James points forward, Kyle looks up. "I need help!" Zac calls out, James rushes over but Kyle is frozen still. As they both have Rob's arm over their shoulder, they carry him towards the warehouse entry. James looks up and sees a few of the brain eaters he saw entering the camp earlier through the veggie patch enter into the warehouse, drawn by the smell of the remaining blood. "Fucken hell!" He screams, Kyle looks at James, he gets tears in his eyes. Thinking James is pissed off at him, he is already a mess from the Steve situation. "I'm sorry!" Kyle cries out, burying his face in his hands, "No man!" Zac says, struggling to pull up Rob's weight. "You need to take Rob," James says, slipping out of Rob's arm and gestering to Kyle. He is too busy crying in his hands and Zac puts is arm around Rob's waist to support him. He holds his rifle and shoots over Kyle's head as he lifts his head up, barely missing him and taking out one of the last brain eaters walking into the warehouse. "I have to go…" James said, running towards the warehouse. "Go!" Zac ushered, he managed to drag Rob towards Kyle and grabbed Kyle's arm, "Snap out of it man," he said, shaking him. He helped Zac with Rob, putting his arm around his neck. They saw James disappear into the warehouse and started to move slowly towards the entry. Zac stopped, hearing a few branches snapping a groaning. "What is that?" Kyle looked at him, he saw Zac turn his head around. "Holy shit!" He squealed, Kyle turned back to see where Zac was looking to see a group of brain eaters at the forklift, some attempting to climb over the bent fence. "We have to hurry…" Zac says, just as another two brain eaters turn the warehouse corner. "Fuck!" he says, Kyle looks at the two brain eaters and back at Zac, they both attempt to lift Rob and move quickly back towards the warehouse.

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