Almost half the town must have gathered at the eastern gate the next morning. Most of them probably couldn't believe that just one truck would be going to a hospital in Madison, and they wanted to confirm with their own eyes. But there was no mistaking the militia truck with the recently attached cowcatcher parked in front of the gate, the large amount of food and ammunition, and the fourteen people that were saying goodbye to friends and loved ones.
Cameron made out with Becky for a good minute before he said, "Bye."
"Come back," she said softly. Cameron nodded and they kissed one more time before going to the next person.
"Don't do anything stupid out there," Marge told him. "Or at least no more stupid than what you're already doing."
"Honestly, can't you be grateful already?" he asked her.
She paused for a second and then gave him a tight hug. "Thanks, Cameron." Marge then proceeded to officially thank the rest of the people that volunteered.
"Good luck," Jules simply told him with a hug.
"Careful out there, Cam," Dennis said, shaking his hand. "Y'know I'd go with ya, but when I told Marge…let's just say she got scary."
"No problem. Just make sure to take good care of her incase—"
Dennis tightened the grip on his hand immensely, causing Cameron to flinch. "Don't you dare finish that sentence."
Cameron nodded, patted his arm, and moved on to pick up Jack. "See ya, buddy."
"Where are you going?" Jack asked curiously.
"I'm gonna go kill zombies."
"Why?"
"To save the baby."
"Is he in trouble?"
"Sort of, but I'm gonna make sure that changes." Putting Jack down, he turned and yelled, "Okay, mount up!" All the volunteers said their final goodbyes before getting on the truck, which had very limited space in the back. Cameron climbed into the cab of the truck as the driver sat down behind the wheel and turned the truck on.
"If anything the cold is gonna be the real bitch," Tony said, blasting the heater and rubbing his hands together.
"That's why I made sure that everyone bundled up," Cameron informed him, unzipping his jacket, as it got warmer.
With the citizens waving goodbye and good luck behind them, the east gate opened, and Tony drove forward leaving safety behind. Watching the fenced cattle as they drove past them, Cameron wondered if he'd have the chance to have himself a nice, juicy steak one day. In no time Yuba seemed to be a million miles away with an endless amount of zombies before them.
"Everyone okay back there?" Cameron said into his radio to the people in the back.
"Affirmative," was the response.
Exhaling, he looked over at Tony and asked, "So how old are you?"
"Thirty-two next month."
"Does it seem retarded that someone my age is in charge?"
"Well you do have the most at stake," Tony answered with a small shrug.
"That means I shouldn't be qualified to lead."
"But you have the most experience with leading out of those of us here."
"It was five fucking minutes, Tony!"
The man sighed. "Look, I know we've never exactly hung out, but I've know some things about you. You turned up alive after everyone counted you out at Target, the Major died in your arms, and those religious crazies captured you. All of us in town went through some form of shit—but in your case it takes the cake!"
Not to mention the run in with that fucking zombie wannabe, Cameron didn't say. "So what? Are you saying I'm famous or something?"
"Psh! No, some of us in the militia just think it sucks to be you…y'know, other than the fact that you got the opportunity to bang one of the hottest women in town," he chuckled.
Rolling his eyes, Cameron avoided the subject by saying, "Becky was captured, too."
"Yeah, well, she isn't here, is she?" Tony responded. "Hey, can you do me and the rest of us a favor? Focus on the mission! You're in charge here, and we can't have you questioning yourself."
"Okay," Cameron said in defense. "I promise to keep my head in the game."
The next hour and a half passed in silence. As they traversed the back roads towards Madison, the truck picked up quite a few zombies along the way. Some were run over, others weren't able to keep up, but the more in tact ones were able to lock onto the truck and follow for a while. Obviously they weren't much of a concern, though, seeing as the truck was intentionally headed towards a city full of the things.
Cameron had actually played out his plan of attack the previous night, and he decided to go froth with part one when they were nearing the outskirts of the city. Spotting a van on the side of the road, he ordered Tony to stop beside it. Slightly confused, Tony obeyed nonetheless, and then Cameron ordered through the radio for everyone to meet up top.
Unlatching the hatch on the cab's ceiling, Cameron pushed it open and carefully climbed through. After climbing over the fence he waited for everybody else to get to the roof, and then spoke.
"See all these zombies?" he asked, gesturing to the twenty or so monsters surrounding the truck. The cold had made them things stiff and slow, but they were still relentless in their quest for flesh. "As all of you know this is only gonna get worse the farther into the city we go. And we are not leaving until we clear out that hospital, or we run out of supplies—whichever comes first. If any of you are having second thoughts just say so, and you can take that van over there home. I'll make sure that anybody that wants out isn't branded a coward."
"Seriously?" Cole asked, looking thoroughly annoyed. "You're just wasting time!" Actually Cameron wasn't, because he noticed three or four of them seemed to be having second thoughts and looked seriously tempted to take that offer.
"Well?" Cameron said to all of them, crossing his arms. "Should we clear out the zombies here or just move on?" For the next minute or so he just stared at them waiting for a response. The ones who looked tempted to go home remained silent, however. In the meanwhile a few more zombies appeared to join the ones already banging on the side of the truck. Sighing, Cameron said, "Okay, I want one machinegun to be mounted towards the front, that way whenever the zombies hold us up they can be mowed down. Volunteers? Thanks, Louie," he said to the owner of the first hand he saw. "Make sure to keep warm."
And so the truck started moving again, this time with no intention of stopping until it reached the designated hospital. Following the directions, they started getting closer and closer to the city. In the outskirts there started to appear more zombies than they could possibly handle, and the farther in they drove the more they encountered.
It was tense for Cameron as Tony plowed through zombie after zombie with the cowcatcher. He bit his thumb anxiously as the monsters they had to run over hindered their momentum. Eventually Cameron gave the order, and Louie began unloading the machinegun on the endless horde before them. The bullets either went through heads, knocked bodies down, or blew off some legs, so a lot of zombies fell to the ground and gave the truck space to move. And every time the zombies slowed them down enough, Louie would begin letting loose the machinegun again.
It was still slow going, though. Despite the street sweeper doing its job above them, there was no changing the fact that more zombies than ever before surrounded them. Cameron tried to keep a calm demeanor on the outside, but inside he was a mess. Like any leader he was constantly wondering what could and would go wrong, but instead of planning for it Cameron was panicking.
Fuck, all he could see were zombies! At the rate they were going they were going to have to kill every goddamn zombie in the city. Cameron realized more than ever that he was most likely leading everybody to get killed. For Tony it must've been worse, Cameron thought. Because not only did he have to deal with the zombies but abandoned cars and other such obstacles that he had to avoid.
It was in the early afternoon that the hospital came into view, and the truck entered the parking lot. Cameron ordered for the truck to be parked parallel to the main building but a ways away from the main entrance. The engine was turned off, and Cameron ordered over the radio to meet him on top of the truck again.
Once everybody was present he told Louie to get back inside and warm up with the heater they brought along. The rest of the people were anxiously standing around with their rifles, shaking from either the cold or fear of the cluster fuck of zombies around them. It seemed now that everybody was having second thoughts, but it was far too late now. All Cameron could do for them was do his best job as a leader.
That's right, I'm the leader, he told himself. I'm the leader, I'm the leader, I'm the fucking leader!
"First off," Cameron said over the howling of the endless amount of zombies, "Everybody put on a pair of these." From his jacket pocket he produced a baggie full of earplugs. "We'll go crazy if all we hear are these fuckers moaning none stop." He took out a pair for himself then passed it around. "Also, I want the machineguns set up on both sides of the truck. This time nobody is to shoot any zombies directly beneath us—I want to avoid moving this truck. And shoot out all the windows facing us," he told them, pointing at the main hospital building. "Hopefully a good amount of the things will take a dive trying to get to us…. Get to work, we'll be here for a while."
He pulled his scarf over his mouth and nose, trained his rifle up, aimed at a window, and shot it out. The zombie that was behind it, no longer obstructed, ran forward and ended up plunging down two stories. Everyone else got to work too, the machineguns were set up to Cameron's specifications, and so began the long and arduous work.
At that point Cameron tried to see it as just another supply run, but in the back of his mind he wondered if they had enough bullets and the resolve—because from the looks of it, they might have ended up attracting every goddamn zombie in the city.