Operation Z by Szepanski, G.D. (well read books .txt) 📗

garage to dig trenches on the sides of each road to prevent anyone from driving around the buses. He’d have to work out a way to limit the incursion of the dead, but that would be a bigger project for a different day.

Big Jim worked from the farthest road from the bus depot lot to the closest. His first stop would be Greenway Road. Greenway had two lanes in each direction, lined with commercial buildings on both sides of the road. He located a choke point where the trees encroached on the verge on both sides of the road. Bus number one blocked the northbound lanes which led into the town. Jim would need three more buses to finish the makeshift blockade.

Dark clouds continued to form throughout the morning, but they had little effect on the increasing heat and humidity. Jim was thankful he thought ahead to bring the electric bike along with him today. With the bike, he made good time returning to the bus depot and depositing more school buses on Greenway Road. Four buses made an effective wall blocking all four lanes, the median and the road’s shoulders to the tree line.

The morning flew by, but Jim repeated his efforts on both Oakwood Road, and Chestnut Avenue. This left only two remaining approach roads, and Jim hoped to finish blocking them both before the end of the day. He drove the dump truck to the grocery store to pick up something for lunch. Along the way, he crushed a half dozen zombies under the tires of the heavy vehicle. Where were they coming from now?

While enjoying his lunch back at the house, the skies opened up and the pouring rain started. Thunder and lightning accompanied the summer deluge. The heavy rain cleansed the streets of the left-over zombie guts, so Jim took the rest of the day off. He’d blockade the last two streets tomorrow after the rain stopped. No need to get soaking wet this afternoon since he had seen no other threats to his safety.

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At the midpoint of the afternoon, Jim heard the roar of a diesel engine racing through the downtown area. It was a full-size pickup truck with four full sized doors on the cab and dual wheels on the back. While he watched their progress, they stopped in front of the town’s only downtown hotel. The hotel stood ten stories tall and had a famous brand name on the sign out front of the building.

Five men stepped from the truck and Jim could tell they were trouble as soon as he saw them climb down onto the pavement. They spoke loud enough for him to hear their voices, but he couldn’t decipher their words over the distance separating them. Three zombies wandered the streets and one of the crew pulled a pistol from his waistband and gunned them down. This crew had no concern about announcing their arrival to everyone within earshot.

While Jim watched, the five men entered the lobby of the hotel. They took no precautions before entering the structure. This group was both brazen and foolish, showing a total lack of discipline and training. With the right equipment, they would be no match for Big Jim. Problem was, Jim hadn’t been concerned with arming himself, so he had only the billhook saw and the Mossberg Tactical Shotgun. The billhook saw worked well for zombies and the shotgun was an effective short-range weapon, but neither would do when confronting a larger armed force. “Shit!”

Within a few minutes of the thugs entering the hotel, the side door opened, and three compact figures ran out. Jim recognized the three teenagers from the grocery store encounter. He wanted to help them out once they met, and now he had his chance. All he needed was a plan using the resources he had on hand. If he only had the three other team members from his Problem Solver days, this wouldn’t be an issue. No sense wishing for resources from a past life he couldn’t have anymore.

He watched the three figures run down the block and around the corner onto the next street. They made a beeline for a large stone building with a sign out front which read, “Wheresville Valley Public Library.”

“Good move. These morons won’t be looking for books.” These kids weren’t as dumb as Jim had originally thought. They displayed a level of street smarts.

The question now was what action to take. If it were Jim, he’d barricade himself on one of the upper floors of the hotel. It would make a sneak attack virtually impossible and provide an excellent field of view over the town. With ten floors to search by himself and only a shotgun, a frontal attack would be foolish on his part. Best to stay put and gather intelligences. Big Jim would know the right opportunity to defeat these five losers when it came. He possessed the element of surprise, along with training and combat experience. When the time was right for him to attack, they wouldn’t know what hit them.

Besides, the teenagers had escaped to the town’s library, so these clowns weren’t a threat to anyone. At least not yet. He hoped the status of not being a hazard would remain. Maybe the group would just move on in the morning?

Jim kept vigil behind the open doors in front of the master bedroom’s balcony. After an hour, he could see lights on the sixth floor of the hotel. They may not have displayed any formal training, but they weren’t total fools. A figure would cross in front of the windows at irregular intervals. From this distance, Jim didn’t know if they were observing their surroundings or just wandering around inside the hotel’s rooms. He wished for a sniper rifle or even a decent set of binoculars. Unfortunately, Big Jim had neither and no prospects of picking either item up. If Jim hadn’t gotten sloppy, he would have visited the police station and equipped himself for the inevitable