Chapter 4

The red pick up truck drove through a small working class town. The five men scanned the town for any sign of movement. The last encounter had been way too close for any of them, and they were determined to avoid such a close encounter again.

Bill had peed his pants a little.

The geiger counter on the dash would occasionally click a little, but not enough to cause alarm.

Dale banged on the roof twice, "Hank! There's a safe, I see one!" Dale shouted from the pick up.

Hank slowed the truck to a stop.

"Where? You sure?" Hank asked out the window.

"Sure of it, This place should be a big one!" Dale said. He pointed at a pizza joint named "Al's discount Pizza".

"Seriously? It doesn't look very promising" Hank said.

"No way, this guy always posts pictures online of his stash" Dale said. He climbed out of the pick up. Hank sighed, then looked at Bill and Boomhauer.

They shrugged.

"Alright, everyone out" Hank said. The five men and the dog climbed out of the truck and stood in front of "Al's discount pizza".

"Now, are you sure this is a safe house?" Hank asked.

Dale laughed, "Hank, I know my safe houses, and this is definitely one. Al was obsessed with the idea of fitting in, but I don't think he ever assumed the bombs would fall. He's the kind of guy who wouldn't even lock his safe" Dale laughed, then tossed aside a cigarette butt, and pushed the door open.

"Yo man, be careful" Boomhauer said, scanning the surrounding buildings, but there were no zombies around.

"Relax, Boomhauer, zombies would have come running when they heard the truck. We'll be out of here in no time." Dale went behind the desk and moved a mat, "Looks like I found it!" Bill followed Dale to look at the safe.

"How does he know this is a safe house? What the hell is he talking about?" Lucky asked Hank.

"Dale joined some internet group a few years ago that talked about preparing for the doom day and what not. He memorized all there places or something, I guess" Hank said.

"Didn't memorise, learnt!" Dale shouted back, "Doomsday Preppers, they're a godsend!"

"So why did you join the site?" Lucky asked, taking a look at the safe. He was surprised to see that it was just a hatch on the ground.

"Doesn't hurt to be prepared, my friend. This is the fourth safe I've found in Texas. A lot of the people on the site posted pictures of their homes and how they defended it. I just memorized all of it, never put up anything about my place just to be safe. Looks like I'm getting the last laugh!" Dale let out a laugh, then lit a cigarette and took a quick drag.

"Alright, Bill, get this safe opened up" He ordered.

Bill nodded and bend over, grabbing the handles to the safe. He pulled. To everyone's surprise except Dale, the safe opened up, revealing a ladder into a bomb shelter. Lady Bird growled at the open hole.

"See? Old Bastard didn't really expect the apocalypse" Dale said, sliding down the ladder.

He let out a scream from down below , followed by a gunshot. Lady Bird barked.

"Dale! You alright!?" Hank pushed Lucky out of the way and slid down the ladder.

Dale was standing with his pistol out, pointing it at a dead man in a pizza outfit lying on the ground, a bullet through his head.

"Jesus, did he zombie out in the safe?" Hank asked.

"uh... yeah... he came right at me to bite me!" Dale said unconvincingly, "Holy, look at all the supplies!"

Hank gasped at all the supplies. Stacks of canned and dried foods. Hundreds of sheets of toilet paper. Multiple medicines. First Aid kits. Clothes. Batteries. And best of all, a flat of Alamo Beer!

Bill and Boomhauer slid down behind Hank. They both gasped, looking at all the supplies available. Lucky was the last to slide down.

"Damn, look at all this ... damn" He said, pilfering through the supplies.

"This could take several loads, lets load up with as much as we can. We won't need to search anywhere else for a long time, this place is perfect!" Hank said.

Lucky let out a little cheer. They all looked at him. He showed them a large makeup kit, "Luanne's going to love this!" He said.

Bill opened up a freezer at one end, full of frozen meat. He pulled out a box of ribs, "I'll be making Dauterive styled ribs tonight!" He said.

"Alright!" Dale said happily.

Above them, Lady Bird whined.

"Alright, start loading up. We'l come back here tomorrow and stock up again. But we got to conserve. These supplies could last us a lifetime!" Hank said happily. They began taking essentials and carrying them up to the truck, loading it to maximum capacity.

Half an hour later they were driving down the freeway, singing a country song together. Normally Hank wouldn't sing Capella, but this was a special time, and life was good. Not even the burnt shadows and ruins of homes could dampen their spirits.

Then they heard gun fire and shouting.

"What's that?" Bill asked.

Hank shook his head, "No idea."

The source of the noise revealed itself. Down the street, at a small two story building with boarded up windows, the front door burst open and a man in a bloody shirt ran out, screaming for help. Three zombies charged out after him.

"HELP ME!" He screamed towards the oncoming truck.

"Jesus!" Hank hit the brakes, grabbed his gun, pushed open the front door and jumped out. He took aim and shot, but missed. The zombie closest to the man grab his shoulder and pulled him to the ground. He tried to get up but the other two jumped down on him. He screamed. Bullets shot through the air as the zombies on top of him bit into his flesh, ignoring the guns. Lady Bird jumped from the back of the truck and charged forward ("LADYBIRD! NO!") and jumped into the three zombies. She bit into on of them and pulled it off the man. The other two changed there attention to the dog. They jumped at her, but she retreated back. They tried to chase after her, but a quick burst from the machine gun removed both their heads and upper torsos.

"LADY BIRD! HERE, NOW!" Hank ordered. Lady Bird ran over to him. The zombie she had pulled to the ground got to its feet, but was quickly gunned down.

"INTO THE BACK, NOW!" Hank ordered, pointing at the pick up. Lady Bird whined for a second, but Hank's glare made her stop, and she ran back into the back of the truck. Several more zombies charged through the open door, but were reduced to mince meat by Dale's machine gun. Bill and Boomhauer began towards the man, who was getting to his feet.

"Bill! Boomhauer! Get back, he's bitten!" Hank ordered. They stopped dead i their tracks, then aimed their rifles at the man.

"Please! Don't shoot! Oh God, please!" He cried out pleading them. The zombies had bit into shoulders, arms, and ribs. They infected through biting, and this man was infected for sure.

"Step back, don't come towards!" Hank said.

"I'll take him down" Dale said, aiming the machine gun.

"No, just wait" Hank said, "Who are you?" He asked.

"My names Pat... Pat Alphonso! Please... my friends... and family! They're being ripped apart, you have to help me!" He said pointing to the boarded up building.

Hank shook his head, "We can't, its' too dangerous" Hank looked at the others. Dale was expressionless with his sunglasses on. Lucky looked like he agreed with Hank. Dale was looking at the man with fear, but Bill looked like he wanted to help.

"Please... you got to believe me! They'll still alive... they have to be! They were right behind me!" Pat looked back.

"Oh shit..." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry" Hank said.

Pat looked back at them "Oh God... no... not like this..."

Hank heard hissing from inside the building. More zombies would be coming out any minute.

"Please... get out of here. I'm... i'm infected... but it's fine, everything I live for was inside that home." Pat looked back inside the building. He picked up a metal pipe that was lying on the ground, "I'm going to kill them" he said.

"This guy's nuts" Dale whispered to Lucky. Lucky nodded.

"Wait, before you go. You have to be careful, there's a group out there, they're brutal. They've got some sort of device that attracts zombies! They send out scouts who pretend to be lonely wanderers ... and they draw the hordes out, then come in later to clean up and take people's stuff! Please, don't let it happen to you" Pat said, before taking a deep breathe, and charging towards the boarded up building. A second later, several zombies charged out. Hank and his friends watched in horror as Pat lifted the pipe to smash the first zombie, but was instantly tackled to the ground and ripped apart.

Dale opened fire with the machine gun. The thunder of the gun brought Hank back to reality. Dale did not stop shooting, even after the zombies and Pat's remains were reduced to a splatter of guts, until the truck sped off in the opposite direction, returning to New Arlen.