Charlie and I just stood there, both of us immensely grateful for the respite. My arms were nearly numb and I felt like I had been battling for hours. My clothing was soaked in sweat, and my eyes burned. I could barely see out of my goggles from all the flying zombie fluids, so in the breather we had gained for ourselves, I pulled out a small package of wipes from my pack and cleaned off my hands and my goggles. Charlie did the same, wiping off his face and hands. It was a weirdly normal moment, given the fact we were suspended ten feet over the floor of the park gazebo that at the moment was covered in living dead and very dead.
I moved across the beam and went over to the opposite side. I sat down and stretched my legs out onto the beam. I would have dangled them over the side, but there were a couple of tall zombies that might be able to grab my legs, so I left them up. Charlie followed my example and we sat across from each other, just resting for a minute.
Charlie broke the relative silence. “So what do we do now? We can’t access the roof, we can’t get down, and we have no ammo to kill ourselves if we have to.”
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie,” I said. “Have a little faith. When have I not had a plan?”
Charlie began to tick off on his fingers. “There was that house in Turley that had twelve ghouls in the basement. There was that store in Oakland that had so many ghouls in it we were on the roof for two days. There was that time in the condos that…”
I interrupted him. “You know, if you’re just going to be negative…” My response was broken by a fusillade of shots coming from outside the gazebo. I plugged my ears from the echoes reverberating in the roof area, and saw Charlie do the same.
Below us, Z’s dropped continuously, carpeting the platform in a pile of grayish flesh. The ones out on the lawn were cut down, and the ones on the stairs tumbled back as their brains were obliterated.
After a little while, the shots faded away. I leaned over as far as I could, but couldn’t see anything due to the overhang of the roof. Shrugging my shoulders at Charlie, I swung down to the railing and looked around. Surrounding the gazebo were about twenty of the townspeople, all holding rifles. When I waved to them, they set up a resounding cheer, which was echoed over at the town hall. Tommy came forward and smiled at me and Charlie, who had swung down beside me.
“You unbelievable sons-of-bitches!” Tommy yelled above the din. I grinned in acknowledgment and thumped Charlie on the back.
“All part of the plan,” I said smugly before Charlie had a chance to reply and worked my way out of the carnage. Looking back at the gazebo, I was stunned at the body count Charlie and I were able to rack up. Piles of bodies marked our retreat and dead zombies littered the once manicured lawn.
I stepped up to Tommy and nodded my thanks. “What took you so long?” I asked.
Tommy shook his head. “You two were so busy playing ‘Kill the Zombie’ that you wouldn’t get out of the way. When you finally jumped up into the rafters we were able to open up.”
“How long were we fighting?” I wondered, looking at my watch.
“About an hour and a half,” said Sheriff Harlan, stepping up to us. “You all managed to draw away the worst of the horde and it took that long to clean up the ones that were left. We’d have been cashed if it weren’t for you two.” Harlan held out his hand. “I’m obliged to you for saving my town.”
I shook his hand, then Charlie did the same. “You’re very welcome Sheriff,” Charlie said.
Sheriff Harlan turned around and belted out orders to the townsfolk. “We got cleanup to do! Get your shovels and your gear! We’re burning tonight!” Harlan moved off to get people moving, leaving us alone.
I turned to Tommy. “What about the rest outside the fence?”
Tommy shook his head. “There’s a bunch, but these folks can handle it. They got baptized by fire today and they’ll be a whole lot stronger for it.”
“We lose anybody?” I asked.
Tommy nodded. “There’s eight that got bit, one that got overwhelmed. Overall, it could have been worse.”
I agreed. “It is worse. Martin and Casey are dead. Casey got dragged off the fence and Martin went after her. I had to shoot Martin myself.”
Tommy’s eyes got wide, then he turned his head down. This was a cost we hadn’t been expecting to bear. I told him what had happened and his response was similar to the anger Charlie and I had expressed. “What the hell was he thinking?” Tommy asked to no one in particular.
I changed the subject. “You got any pistol ammo? I’m out and I don’t like being empty.”
Tommy checked his pack and handed me a handful of cartridges. I reloaded the SIG and had enough for half of a spare magazine. I would load up if we ever got back to the cars we left behind. But for now it would do.
“How come you’re loading up?” Charlie asked.
“I’m going to see Sarah now. You might want to do the same.”
Tommy nodded. “They both saw you draw away that horde and watched the whole fight from the upstairs windows. But they couldn’t see you two climb up, so when the zombies swarmed the platform, it probably looked like you had been overwhelmed.” Tommy pointed to the second story windows.
Charlie looked up for a second, then walked over to Jason to see if he had any ammo for his Glock.