Red Rises (Book 1): Dead Reckoning Dead Reckoning (HZA Vol. 3) Read online

  Dead Reckoning

  Heartland Zombie Apocalypse Vol. 3

  By: Marty Brockschmidt

  &

  Bella

  © 2018 Marty Brockschmidt

  Preface

  Dead Reckoning is the third installment of the Heartland Zombie Apocalypse. In the first two installments the major focus was in exploring the zombies. Survivors of the ZA had to quickly adopt a mental shift to this new reality.

  The majority of Dead Reckoning takes place nearly a year into the ZA. The zombies have reshaped the world. The population of the living is a mere fraction of what it was. Opportunistic individuals are no longer restrained. Anyone still retaining simple human values, not only need to keep an eye out for the dead, but protect themselves from the living.

  Dead Reckoning is a journey in every sense of the word. It is also a story of family and friendship and the lengths an individual will go to protect family. Beaten and broken by the world it takes a ZA for heroes to rise.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 – The Woman

  Chapter 2 - Morrow

  Chapter 3 - US

  Chapter 4 – Them

  Chapter 5 - Princes

  Chapter 6 - Harbinger

  Chapter 7 - Found

  Chapter 8 - Lost

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  The big black SUV pulled up to the gate of the small, lonely house sitting atop the hill and blew the horn. Only a handful of seconds had gone by, when the horn was impatiently sounded again. The garage door flew up and an elderly woman exited, leading a young girl, perhaps ten or eleven, by the hand. An elderly man followed, struggling to pull a garden cart, loaded with boxes.

  As the three got close to the gate, a man, of average height and build, got out from the driver side. From the passenger side, a tall, lean man, wearing a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and carrying a bottle of beer, exited.

  “You got the goods there Gramps?” The driver asked.

  “All five hundred rounds, as promised.” Replied the old man.

  “Well open up Grandma, don't keep us in suspense.” The driver ordered.

  The old woman let go of the girls hand, pushed an errant strand of grey hair behind an ear and opened the gate. When her husband had retired, he had turned his hobby into a business, performing custom gunsmithing and reloads, matched to the gun. The sturdy wrought iron fence, offered some extra security and allowed them to control, who could enter his workshop. When the dead came, the fence offered a haven, for the old couple and their two great-granddaughters.

  Unfortunately, their fence offered no protection, against these men and their cohorts. In the end, the old man was forced to trade his skills and his oldest great-granddaughter, for his life and the life of his wife and remaining great-granddaughter. It was a decision he grew to regret, more and more, every time he had to meet with these men.

  The driver, entered through the opened gate and went directly to inspect, the neatly stacked and organized boxes, of reloads. “Nicely done as always”.

  The old man shrugged. “You boys best improve your aim, I'm running low on primers and powder”.

  The driver chuckled and fished a forty four round from one of the boxes. “Willie, take this cart to the back of the car. We need to get these folks their supplies and show them our surprise. Come along folks, it's a special day.”

  At the rear of the SUV, Willie had the back open and loaded the boxes of bullets inside. As soon as Willie had the cart empty, the driver tossed aside a tarp, to reveal boxes of canned goods. “We had a good score recently and Diabolus wants you to feel appreciated. We got you tuna, chili, salmon, corn, beans, peaches, even some flour and sugar.”

  “Thank you.” The old woman hastily stammered, then rapidly began moving the supplies, into their cart.

  “Willie, show em what else we got.” The driver stated.

 

  Willie smiled broadly. “Got you ten thousand primers, five pounds of powder and ten pounds of lead. Cost us dear though, didn't it Jess?”

  Jess nodded. “You see, Diabolus heard about your complaints, of running out of supplies. He cut a deal, with Abaddon’s clan down south and got you, them supplies. He did have to give up that girl of yours, we was holding for safe keeping. She was a lousy lay, but she was the only snatch we had. The boys are under a lot of stress, keeping folks like you safe. We need to get us some new cooze soon, or no tellin what the boys will do for some relief.”

  The old woman, moved the young girl behind her, in an attempt to keep her out of sight, causing Jess to laugh. “We got some more casings for you to reload Gramps.”

  The old man peered into the crate, Jess had pulled forward. “This isn't the usual military rounds, you bring. This is a mish mash, of about every hunting round, there is. I can do the aught sixes and thirty thirties, no problem, but some of this shit, I don't have the bullet molds for.”

  “Interesting story, on how we came by all of this. You know the warehouse off of 129, the one with big fence? Place was like a roach motel. There was a hole in that fence, the dead got in, but couldn't get back out. It was a prize that nobody could take. Then this group, comes into our territory and damn, if they didn't come up, with a plan to clean house.” Jess said.

  “Good for them.” The old man replied.

  Jess wagged a finger. “Now let me finish. We saw them eyeballin the honey pot and instead of taking them out direct, Diabolus tells us to watch em. We let them bring up dozers and loaders and dig some massive pits. Then they brings in more of their peeps, open up the gates and lead all those dead heads, right into those pits. Cleaned that place out, slick as a whistle, then drove in and loaded up. While they was celebrating their good fortune, Diabolus has us drop ramps, into those pits. We loaded all them dead fucks into trailers and drove up close, as we dared, to their camp. When it got dark, we took out a couple of guards and led those dead shits, right on top of them. Oh, they popped off rounds, like it was the fourth of July, but the dead took em out, each and every one. We just waited a couple of days, for the dead to wander off and loaded up. Diabolus, he's got himself set up, in that warehouse and we is living the life.”

  The old man scoffed. “Good for you then”.

  “Could be good for you. Reload these bullets and Diabolus can make a trade, with Abaddon, to get your granddaughter back.” Jess offered.

  The old woman perked up. “Are you saying, you'll give us Sally back, if Lucas builds them bullets?”

  Jess pulled the bullet he had selected, from his pocket and loaded it into his revolver. “Willie, set me a target.”

  Willie finished his beer, belched and knelt down, in front of the little girl. Gently, he ran his fingers, through her hair. “Do you think, you could run over, quick as you can and place this bottle, on that rock over there, honey?”

  The little girl, grabbed the bottle and ran to a large rock, about thirty feet away. She placed the bottle, on top and took a second to steady it ,so it didn't fall off. When she was sure it was still, she ran back, behind the old woman's skirt, managing to stay, as far from Willie, as she could.

  Jess held the revolver out to Lucas. “Pick your target carefully, you got only one shot at this.”

  Lucas took hold of the revolver, pulled a pair of wire rimmed glasses, from his pocket and put them on. Lucas glared at Jess, as he raised the revolver, in the direction of the bottle. Lucas broke his gaze from Jess, for just a second. He squeezed the trigger, causing the bottle to shatter

  Jess smiled broadly.
“Damn, I must admit, you are one hell of a shot, for an old geezer.”

  Jess turned to the old woman. “No, you don't get Sally back, we do. You see, in the Inferno, it is all about trading up. So if you was to know, about some folks, maybe someone, you’re sharing these fine gifts with. Information like that, if it pays off, might get you something.”

  Lucas looked at his wife and cautioned. “Mother.”

  The old woman quieted him, with a stern look. “A couple of days back, we were scavenging for lead, so that Lucas, could finish the job for you. We saw this group, pull through town, to see what they could find. They weren't a large group, but they did have a whole trailer, full of stuff. Most of their group, was women and children, only about, four, or five men.”

  Jess nodded. “I see and did you catch which direction, this group was headed?”

  “West. They left town, headed west.” The woman proclaimed.

  “That takes them, into Sammael's territory.” Willie commented.

  Jess considered this a moment. “Sammael, he is always trying, to get the clans together, he might go for a joint project. We'll see if Diabolus, wants to act on this.”

  Jess turned back to the old woman. “If this pans out, I'll put in a good word for you. If this turns into a load of bull, let me put it this way, some of the boys call Willie here, Fat Willie. That is obviously, not because of his waistline. Willie, he has taken a shine, to that little girl there. If I were to let him loose, he is likely to split her in two.”

  The old woman, reached protectively behind her and stammered. “No, no it is all true. Lots of women and supplies, headed west.”

  Jess waved to Willie. “Lets go, things are getting interesting. Two days, we'll be back, for those reloads.”

  As they pulled away, Lucas pulled their cart, loaded with supplies, back through the gate. The old woman and little girl, picked up the box, of empty shells.

  Once they were inside, Lucas closed the gate and opened the garage. Lucas pulled out his pride and joy, a fully restored F100 pickup, painted in the original red. “Start packin Mother, we are out of here, first thing in the morning. Put the last of the coffee on, I'll be working all night, to finish these bullets, maybe that will keep them, from hunting us down too.”

  Chapter 1 – The Woman

  “Ria. Where are you?” He said quietly, fearing any louder and he would draw the others out.

  He looked up and down the empty hallway and made his way, to the next wing. This wing, was as empty, as the last one. Unlike the previous wing, which was made up of individual residents rooms. This wing was a mixed bag, of conventional therapies, new age therapies and activities. None of the rooms, showed any disarray from being evacuated in a hurry. However, each room was eerily quiet and empty.

  Finally, in the last room he entered, he saw her sitting behind an empty pottery wheel. Even though, her back was to him, there was no mistaking it was her. She sat almost as if posing, with her hands folded patiently, in her lap. The most identifying thing,was her long lustrous hair, the same reddish color, as his close, cropped hair.

  “Ria, thank God I found you.” He said.

  She gave no sign, that she had heard him, causing him to speak louder, “Ria, it's Andy. Honey, I've come to take you away from here.”

  She straightened her back and shook her head, “No, I'm not falling for this. I know your just a voice, in my head.”

  Andy walked into the room, knelt down next to her, placed one hand over hers and the other to the side of head. “Big Sis, I'm really here. I've been looking for you, a very long time.”

  Tears started to stream, from her green eyes, as she tilted her head, into the palm of his hand. Andy pulled her into a hug and stroked the back of her head, while he waited, for her sobs to stop. Eventually, the tears stopped and Andy handed her, one of the ever ready, boxes of tissues.

  She wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then graced Andy with a smile, “My therapist, would call this a breakthrough.”

  Andy weakly returned her smile, as he tried to hide his regret, at not protecting her.

  Sensing an opening, she asked. “Andy why am I here?”

  Andy grimaced. “Because our Father, is a selfish and cruel, son of a bitch. He lost something, that he blamed you for. He used your heartbreak, to punish you. The Walsh family, has always been good, at profiting off the pain, of others.”

  “He hid me from you?” She asked.

  Andy nodded, “He knew I'd come for you. The rotten, old bastard died three months ago and I finally got access to his books. I spent every hour of every day, following the money, until it led me here.”

  She took his hands in hers. “Andy, I knew you would come. That got me through every day. It was getting real hard, these last days. People kept coming, taking their family away. The staff started to not show up. Last night, when I went down to dinner, I was alone. I heated a can of soup. Had the rest for breakfast and came here. Pottery therapy, your supposed to pour your feelings into the bowl. Its a load of crap, but it was a routine.”

  Andy tried to smile, but her sadness poured into him. Being twins, they always had a tight bond, at times like these, it was almost a physical connection. That always got them through the tough times, having someone else to carry part of the load. Having someone, who always knew what you needed.

  Andy breathed in deep. “Sis, we gotta get you out of here. The world is … the world has become shit, I can't find the words to explain. I got some travelling clothes for you. Take me to your room, you can change and we'll pack up, some of your things. When we leave these doors, you are going into a world, totally different, than the one you came from.”

  “It doesn't matter Andy, you and I will take it on together. Come on.” She stated confidently.

  Her smile and the way she rose immediately, reminded Andy, of their Mother. Looking at their faces, he and his sister shared a family resemblance and they both had the Walsh family, red hair. However, she was tall and lithe and had a natural beauty, that always turned heads. Andy had their Father's linebacker build and shorter stature, so that his sister and he, were nearly the same height.

  In her room, Andy laid out the clothes, he had for her. A pair of motorcycle boots, jeans, t-shirt, woolen plaid shirt, leather jacket and leather motorcycle gloves.

  She took one look at the clothes and burst out laughing. “Seriously, Andrew, this isn't exactly my style.”

  Andy chuckled at her merriment. “I told you the world is different, you need a new style. We may be spending more time, out of doors. Trust me, this is best.”

  She looked at him sternly. “Andy, I trust you and I trust in you. Now scoot, you wait outside, while I change.”

  Andy left her small room, closed the door and leaned against the wall, on the far side, of the hall. His mind was whirring, on a myriad of things. Not the least of which, was how to explain to his sister, what she was going to find, in the world outside. He could barely believe it himself and he had seen things. Hell, he had done things.

  His reverie was disturbed, by a collection of sounds, that were becoming all too common. Footsteps, that were a slide and shuffle, instead of even paced footfalls. A shoulder, scraping against the wall. Then, there was that breathless snarl, that somehow carried way farther, than it should.

  Andy turned to face the creature, coming towards him. As it closed in on him, Andy could see the slits on its wrists, indicating its death, was self-inflicted. Giving Andy hope, their luck would hold and he could keep the truth, from his sister, a bit longer.

  Andy moved to meet the creature, at an open doorway. As the creature reached out, Andy grabbed the arm and bent it back, behind the creature. Andy forced its head, into the open doorway, grabbed the door, with his other hand and slammed it hard, on the creature's skull. Andy opened the door and swung it again and this time, he was rewarded, with the sound of cracking bone. Two more slams of the door and the creature quit moving.

  Andy pitched the body into the room and close
d the door. Walking into the adjacent room, he grabbed a towel and wiped up the mess, of blood and brains. He opened the door and tossed the towel on top of the body, just as his sister, opened her door.

  “Andy what's with all the racket?”, She called out.

  “Sorry, just checking some of the other rooms, while I waited.” He answered.

  She had put on all the clothes, he had brought her and even pulled her hair back, into a ponytail. “So am I ready to go?” She asked, spreading her arms out.

  Andy smiled. “Almost. What do want to take with you?”

  “I laid out some things, come and see.” She replied.

  On the bed, was a hodgepodge collection. A couple of hair brushes, a toothbrush, some undergarments, a couple of nightgowns and a few blouses. None of which, would take up much space. Andy nodded and handed her a backpack, to stow her belongings in.