Zombie Road by Simpson, A. (best ereader manga .TXT) 📗

pseudo religious cult with a chip on their shoulder but right now the half-starved soldiers were his priority.

The Chairman sent Xavier with the train to ensure they carried out their end of the bargain.

“I’ll radio the Admiral at San Clemente.” Gunny said. “Let them know we’re on the way. Meanwhile let’s get that rail back in place.”

They wound down the mountain, hit the desert floor and picked up speed. Xavier was familiar with the tracks; he ran them frequently with his rail rider.

“I’ve never been across the border, though.” He said. “The Mexican side was heavily populated. It still is, except they’re all dead now.”

They passed the few scattered buildings and homes spread out in the barren land as they neared the border wall. It was tall, rusted and there were already crowds of the undead being drawn to it. They ran towards the sound of the locomotive, the clacking of steel wheels on steel rails. Gunny brought the train to a stop a hundred yards from the crossover, a tall metal gate blocked the way.

They had their .22’s and were ready to pick off stragglers chasing them down the mountain but none came.

“Chairman Simon tasked me to patrol.” Xavier said. “I travel far and eliminate the afflicted when I see them. There were a lot in the beginning but not so much anymore until you get close to the cities.”

“They don’t wander out here on their own, they don’t follow the roads or something?” Bridget asked.

“No, they tend to congregate, bunch up together and stay in the towns. We run silent with the Teslas and velocipedes but they’ll chase you if they see you. I still have to be careful but if they don’t have a reason to come out here, they usually don’t.”

A pair of open topped electric cars slid silently out of the side roads and pulled up beside the rumbling train. A group of men and women climbed out and approached the front engine where the crew were on the deck. They were dressed like Xavier with loose flowing sand-colored clothes, exotic headsets and fancy wrist guards. None of them were armed.

“Is it just me or does it feel like we’re on Tatooine?” Hollywood asked under his breath. “I swear, those cars look like land speeders and they all dress like sand people.”

Gunny climbed down to greet them and go over the plan their guide had laid out. It was pretty simple. They would power up the building with generators, hit the switches to open the gates and the train would cross into Mexico, hopefully taking all the undead with them. They’d close the gates behind them and the whole thing would be over in a few minutes.

“What about strays?” Gunny asked. “Thousands are going to pour through, some of them might not chase after us.”

“No worries.” The tallest of the men said. “We’ll take care of them.”

Gunny looked doubtful. He still hadn’t seen any weapons and the Tesla’s didn’t have machine guns mounted on them. He’d let them deal with it themselves if that’s what they wanted; he was pretty sure he’d have his hands full running the train.

“Simon said you didn’t have maps of the Mexican rail lines.” One of the women said and handed him a roll of papers. “We made copies of what we have, I think they’re pretty accurate, they cover the whole Baja peninsula.”

“Thanks.” Gunny said and made a twirling motion with his finger at his crew. “All right, let’s roll. Get buttoned up, make sure the deck gates are locked and your escape routes are clear.”

They knew their positions and hurried to them. Griz was tail gunner. Hollywood operated the track switcher. Bridget was up front with the binoculars watching for rail splits and rooftops. Carl said the Mexican laws were a little different, houses and buildings might be only a few feet from the rails and zombies on rooftop patios might come raining down on them. Scratch and Stabby manned the .50’s to clear a path at intersections.

The Tesla’s disappeared into a garage and a few minutes later they heard generators come to life then the big gates started to open. They saw the hands and arms reaching into the opening first then contorted faces as they tried to squeeze through. They heard the roar as thousands poured through the opening like muddy water. They screamed their dry throated screams and ran for the noisy diesel.

“Pull back inside.” Gunny said over the loudspeaker and the crew didn’t have to be told twice. There were too many, they’d pile up and go right over the reinforced railings. Tommy had angled them outward like a prison fence but when the undead started stacking up a hundred deep they’d flow right over the top.

When the border gates were three quarters open, Gunny blew the horn, released the brakes and got the train moving. The big diesel pushed them aside, too slow to do much damage and they grabbed for handholds. Hundreds slammed into the train, hungry for the fresh blood only a few yards away. Behind them thousands more came. A little slower, a little more damaged but they were running as fast as they could. Behind them a massive group of shamblers were pouring through the gates. Gunny slid the controls and picked up more speed. When he hit the second wave, bodies came tumbling over the railing, landed on the deck and started attacking the doors. Their withered brown faces had been out in the weather for months but some were still fast and vicious. Still hungry. Still deadly.

Gunny blew the horn again as the rear engine passed through the gates and saw them start to close. The horde was following, stumbling over the broken crawlers tossed aside by the train and the locomotive was picking up speed. Bodies started to fly when he slammed them and the runners were falling behind, tripping over the uneven rail bed. More undead came screaming out of the side roads