Chapter 56

"Where'd you serve?" I asked as I reloaded a couple of my M4 magazines trying to make conversation and get to know the two people that would be going into a potential BOW nest.

"I served in Vietnam," Ed replied with a shrug, the old man holding onto his SKS like it was his lifeline. "Didn't expect nothing like this to go down but I did have this old girl as a trophy from the war, and she still works just fine."

"I was Navy," Louis chuckled a bit. "Did my four years and got out after Desert Storm. I just picked up on a few things while I was an MP," the stocky middle-aged man gestured with his handgun. "You got a plan to get into that facility? Because there's a bunch of good reasons we didn't go over there."

"Yep," I reached into my back and pulled out a suppressor that the Kendo Brothers had made on request and in secret. "We're going in quiet," I took a small armorer wrench out and unscrewed the flash suppressor, and began screwing on the new one that also reduced sound. "I only have the one for my rifle and for my handgun, so I'll take point. Try to avoid going loud if at all possible. I don't want to bring down the entire neighborhood on us."

"Lead the way then," Ed said as he shouldered his rifle, the bayonet swung outward so he could stab a zombie if it came too close. "I'm ready to go if you are."

Standing up and slinging my resealed pack back up and onto my back, I slung my rifle and made sure that I had rounds chambered before heading back to the way I had come into the apartment complex.

"Remember to stay quiet," I told the man who seemed to have taken charge of the building. "If you see a SWAT van drive by then you'll know that we made it out, and you can start getting ready to leave."

"And if you don't come back?" He asked.

"Then you leave in four hours," I replied. "I'm pretty certain that the HQ across the river is still in a defensible position, and you should be able to evacuate from there. But make sure that you take things slow and steady, and try and find routes off of the main path that is clear, the last thing anyone wants to do is draw a horde of these things to the areas that we're depending on to stay clear."

"Okay," the man nodded. "Let's hope you come back with the armored van."

"Agreed," I said as I opened the door and moved outside, the other two men following close behind me.

–

–

"The gates are still closed," I whispered to the other two men. "And the power is still on, but it'll make noise if we try to get in through here."

"Are there any side entrances?" Ed asked; his own voice a gentle whisper.

"Yes, follow me," I shifted to the left and began making my way down the side of the precinct. Eventually finding a small door in the fence. "Let me see if my keys work for this building, if not, we'll have to go over the fence or see if there are any bolt cutters around."

"You don't have any bolt cutters?" Louis asked.

"SWAT Medic," I replied as I pulled out the keys that had been taped to the inside of my vest in a way that they wouldn't jingle. "I'm not the breacher, or I would have already gotten this door open."

I tried several keys until one finally slid into the lock, then giving it a sharp twist, the lock snapped open and I pushed the door open with a small squeak.

"Now, let's see what monsters lie inside," I muttered as I brought my rifle up and entered the compound.

The group of six walked outside of the elementary school, Alice and Kevy bringing up the rear while Jill took point, there was some noise coming from the school, and it sounded like someone was throwing a big party or something, music and shouting could be heard clearly even through the concrete walls.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Kevin asked.

"It's probably one of the gangs," Jill said from her spot up front. "We had to turn away some of their people on account of them refusing to let us check if they were infected or not and they got pissed off and left."

"We going to do anything about them?" Alice asked.

"No," Jill shook her head. "We can't afford to lose any of the people we have now, much less have them get into a firefight that might drag more zombies out."

"And, to point out the numbers game, every zombie that's attracted to the school is one less that's impeding us at the police station," Alice said with a sigh. "We can't save everyone, and they chose to come back here rather than leave without their infected."

The group rounded the corner, nearing the bus ramps as they saw a small group of gang members smoking cigarettes and talking.

"We're going to have to sneak past them," Jill said as she pointed toward the buses that were on the other side of them. "How loud are the fuel pumps?"

"Not any louder than someone pumping gas," one of the drivers offered. "But once we crank the buses up they'll know we're here."

"Kevin, Alice, you two take the drivers and head on that way," Jill pointed in a direction that led to the buses but was just out of sight. "I'll keep an eye on the gang members and take them out if it seems like they're going to notice you."

Kevin and Alice nodded as they took the drivers and began moving in the direction that Jill had indicated, sticking close to walls and other obstacles that blocked the gang member's line of sight.

When they reached the bus ramp, the drivers immediately climbed into the buses that were parked there, trying to gauge the fuel levels to see if they needed to be fuelled up before moving to the HQ or if they could just be filled up via the pumps at the HQ.

"Fuel levels look good," the head driver reported. "If one of you wants to go get Valentine we can go ahead and get out of here."

"On it," Alice said as she ducked out of the bus and took the route they had used to come to the buses, coming to a stop when a gang member got really close and began taking a piss on the tree she was hiding behind.

"Hey Luke!" another gang member's voice called out. "How long does it take to piss? We want to go get some joints and join the party, we've been out here for long enough!"

"I'm finishing up now!" the man yelled back as he zipped up and turned to head back to the school. "Don't start without me," the man tucked his handgun into his waistband but wasn't paying enough attention to where his finger was as he pulled the trigger while trying to set it in place, shooting himself in the ass as he did so with a scream.

"Fuck," Alice muttered as she backed off, spotting Jill making her way around as Alice had before.

"We need to move," Jill barked as she began running. "Now."

"On it," Alice replied as they both broke into sprints for the buses, using hand gestures to get the drivers to begin starting them up.

"Everyone grab a bus," Jill commanded. "We're getting out of here now."

The trio of school buses roared to life and the drivers closed the doors as they began moving out of the bus ramp, trying to get out of the school before the gang realized what had happened.

"Gate is closed," the lead driver reported.

"You're in a bus," Alice said with a scoff. "Go through it."

The bus plowed through the gate, sending it flying off as the bus turned the corner and began heading for the Police HQ as fast as it could safely do so.

"Get HQ on the radio and let them know we're incoming," Jill ordered. "We need those gates closed behind us ASAP if we alerted any serious crowds of zombies."

"Copy that ma'am, letting HQ know now."