Surviving the Dead_Novel_The Hellbreakers by James N. Cook

Author:James N. Cook [Cook, James N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Zombie Apocalypse
Published: 2018-09-30T04:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

A horn cut the air from a platform across the highway. Looking up, I saw it was Father Cortez sounding the call. He blew three short notes on a bugle, then two long ones.

“Haul ‘em up.”

I looked at Lt. Downs. He was securing his spear to the rail with a Velcro lanyard.

“Vic, Hop, since you were late, you two are first on the lever.”

The two men who had arrived at the platform last muttered under their breath and stowed their spears. Lt. Downs unclamped a lever from the back of the platform and attached it to an A-shaped frame near the steering bar. A long drive shaft reached through a hole in the deck down to a gearbox below. Vick and Hop went to either side of the lever and gripped the handles.

“Whenever you’re ready, LT,” one of them said.

I wondered which one was Vick and which was Hop.

“Stand by.”

The remaining fighters tied up their spears and sat down cross-legged on the wooden deck. I found an empty spot and did the same. When everyone was settled, Lt. Downs turned to Vick and Hop.

“Let’s go.”

The two men bent to their work, one pulling and the other pushing. I heard a clank as gears engaged below us.

On the ground, the horde was advancing steadily, the platforms slowly becoming surrounded with walking corpses. A rhythmic beat began to sound from the west and I looked up. Eight riders on strong horses emerged from the dust of the wagon train and galloped onto the highway between the militia’s two lines of wheeled scaffolding. The riders stopped about fifty feet from the horde and began waving their arms and shouting.

“What are they doing?” I asked Morris as he sat down next to me.

“Drawing off the horde. They’ll lead ‘em back east a ways, then double back once we’ve created some distance.”

“Oh.”

Vick and Hop continued to strain at the see-saw lever. The platform shuddered, and then slowly began to creep westward on I-10.

The riders on horseback now had the horde’s undivided attention. As I watched, they allowed the closest ghouls to come within ten feet, then rode a short distance away and resumed the distraction. While they did this, the fighters on the scaffolding stayed as quiet and out of sight as they could. No talking, no laughing, no sudden movement. Everyone went still, eyes fixed on the boards beneath them. I did the same.

The horde gradually retreated eastward, chasing the riders. The platforms ahead of us gained distance. Vick and Hop continued pumping the lever, slowly gaining speed until our momentum increased and they didn’t have to work as hard. After a few minutes, the scaffolds to the west slowed and stopped. This continued down the line until Lt. Downs called for Vick and Hop to take a rest and pulled a brake lever next to the steering bar. There was a screech of metal on metal, and the platform eased to a halt. When we had stopped, Downs locked the brake in place, turned to his troops, and gestured to the tables.

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