Chapter Two
After the whole Bra incident calmed down again, everyone resumed watching the TV as Stein went back to plotting his ultimate crematorium fire for all those zombies in town. Ebony Angel walked over to check on Stein and noticed something rather odd as she looked at the map. “Hey Richard? What direction does the river flow?” she asked.
“Hmm. It flows north of here to the old mill, and then it forks to head north and east. Why?”
“Well, according to the map Stein has here, there seems to be an underground line from the mill which runs directly under Dartmoor Cemetery, and goes off somewhere.” She traced her finger as Stein watched, having paused again when she heard Tamako’s comment.
Capt Richard’s father looked to Tamako in surprise. “It’s not an underground line. It’s a cavern which the town back in the 30’s decided to build the mill upon. It served until the early 80’s as a dumping ground for not only the industrial waste for the mill, but also as the town’s dump. The practice was stopped however when the EPA tightened its regulations against such dumping.”
Richard thought about what his father had just said whilst everyone else seemed frustrated with the town for having been so lazy and cheap with disposal of such things.
“I guess we should just leave the town to its own demise then. They pretty much had this coming.” Horn said with disappointment in his voice. “After all, they are reaping what they appear to have sowed.”
“Horn, shut up right now, or so help me… I’ll throw you to the zombies as an offering!” Stein was at his limit.
Something his dad had said however was bothering Capt Richard. After all, with that fog they’d seen in the cemetery coupled with the zombies and now the revelation about toxic and regular waste having been dumped under the cemetery for so long, something seemed to be nagging at him.
“EUREKA!” Stein exclaimed as he put the pencil back down. “I think I have it all planned out!” He held out the map for everyone to follow along. “If we can get all the zombies into this field, we can start with a ring of fire that will have to be only partly sealed before we lure the zombies in. Gasoline should work if we soak enough around in a circle with a gap at the southern end where we’ll lead them in. Using a captain’s wheel like design, as the flames hit certain points around the rim, they will flow inward to a second ring which will be made up of slower burning hay doused in lighter fluid. Again, once the fire reaches key points, it will go to the center where we’ll have a partly dug pit filled with accelerants to create a giant fireball. At the same time, we’ll use fireworks strategically placed along the outside to keep them at bay in the ring. To finish off, I’ll make some homemade flame throwers for responsible individuals to operate.”
“Sorry Horn! That excludes you!” Djinni mentioned to a round of chuckles. Horn simply scoffed and stuck his tongue out at her.
“The flamethrowers will act as a secondary back up to help burn the zombies down to just mere bone fragments. The catch is; I’m going to need to get supplies from in town to build each of them, as well as fireworks and a very large supply of gasoline.”
Glancing at the TV again, Ebony Angel said rather calmly “Will a gas delivery truck do?” Everyone watched as the truck pulled up at the station about a quarter mile from the fence camera, and sighed as the driver was attacked as he exited his cab. “May he rest in peace and not turn into one of them!”
“Alright then! One team will go with Stein to collect the supplies, and Horn, you get to be the driver of that gasoline truck.” Richard patted Horn’s shoulder as he said this. “Another team will make their way to the field to ensure the coast there is clear, and begin preparing for the inferno. Decide amongst yourselves as to what each of you will be doing. I have something else to deal with.”
“What about you Richard?” Panda asked.
“I’m going to the old mill to head down into that cavern and see just what is going on down there. If I’m right, we may need to do something with the dumping grounds as well, or else this might end up being just an appetizer of what is to come.”
“YOU CAN’T RICHARD! YOU’D BE KILLED!” Djinii didn’t like the idea of a good friend dying a senseless death.
“Perhaps, but if I die, then it was meant to be. However if any of you were to die, it would be a great injustice to this world.”
“Why would you place your life as having no value compared with the lives of your friends Richard?” Panda was hurt, and willing to punch him if he said anything which would sound like him not wanting to live anymore.
“The reason being that you all are young and have your whole lives ahead of you. Besides, I can’t stop feeling that there’s something only I can do in that cavern. As if something is there which is calling for me.”
Panda, Stein and alphacadet all walked up to Richard, and each slapped him one at a time.
“IDIOT!” alphacadet shouted. “You still have your life ahead of you as well! So what if we’re all a little younger than you?! That doesn’t change the fact that you’re a great friend and an invaluable person in all our lives! Why can’t you just admit the truth for once and ask us to help you, instead of burying your head in the sand and trying to avoid problems when they happen? We all know you are not the best at some things, but that doesn’t mean you’re terrible at everything!”
“alphacadet’s right, Richard!” Stein added. “You always stand by us and support us, so there is no way we are going to sit back and watch you commit suicide like this. If you are going in there, we’re ALL going in there!”
“Yeah, that’s right” Stein said, before pausing. “Wait! What?! I don’t want to go down there! Who knows what is in that cavern!”
“One way to find out” Ebony Angel replied, agreeing with the others.
Richard simply stood there dumbfounded for a moment as to why his friends would want to do this for him. Panda however settled the issue by going into the kitchen and grabbing a frying pan, to which she then walked over to Richard and whacked him upside the head with it. “Wake up!” she said.
“I suppose we have no choice” Tamako added. Djinni nodded and looked over at the map again.
“I suggest we all head over to the cavern first and then once we’ve seen what is there, split up into two teams to initiate the plan. So let’s decide who is going to with Stein and Horn afterwards to get supplies, and who will be going to the field.” Djinni paused. “It’s all risky no matter which path is taken at this point. One the one hand, you can be attacked by zombies which getting supplies, but you could also be attacked by zombies whilst setting up in the field. It won’t be easy, but everyone is going to have a part to play.”
Taking a sideways glace at the screen once more, Horn’s eyes widened in fear. “OH s**t!” When everyone looked, they realized that it was now, or never. For there on the screen, they watched as a group of zombies had managed to drain the battery down enough to start climbing up the fence and try and get the fence open.
“We’ve got to hurry and not dawdle! We’ll decide the teams when we’re at the cavern! For now, let’s take only 5 SUVs and alphacadet’s Mini Cooper, which has great speed and cornering ability. Make sure your windows are all shut tight and doors locked! Leave the other vehicles behind! I’ll lead the pack as we reach the drawbridge. I’m going to cut the cord, get back in, and then we all start peeling rubber. Remember that they are all dead, so though you may see family or friends in the pack, don’t let your heart be swayed for now. There will be time for mourning later on. For now, our focus is getting to the cavern and then afterwards initiating the plan!” Richard’s father explained the initial plan before taking a deep breath. “And thank you everyone for being such good friends to our son!”
With a nod of understanding in unison, everyone rushed out with Stein bringing the map and such, before heading outside. Richard however paused and flagged everyone down.
“Wait! I have an idea!” Grabbing one of the large garden stones, he put it in the passenger seat of his truck. “I’ll lead in my truck, and let my truck act as the initial battering ram to break through the fence. Then we rush out behind it when the zombies are scrambling. And I’ll use this rag as a little bonus to ensure they don’t try to drive the truck to follow us.”
Unsure of what he was going to use the rag for, everyone nodded and got into the vehicles and followed Richard onto the bridge. After starting his truck, Richard pushed in the cigarette lighter in the truck, and slowly drove with the high beams on, until he reached the drawbridge. The zombies at this point had decided to just climb over the fence and were now slowly making their way towards the raised drawbridge from the other side. When the lighter coil popped out from the dash, Richard opened the gas cap and stuffed the rag in, before taking the lighter and setting it against the rag to set it alight. “Goodbye my friend.” After giving one final honk of his horn, he proceeded to cut the cord on the drawbridge.
The drawbridge cable, now cut, caused the bridge to come crashing down with a huge bang, to where he could see the zombies now headed straight for them. Taking the stone, he tossed it onto the accelerator pedal and watched his truck begin to accelerate forward, slowly picking up speed whilst he ran to alphacadet’s Mini which was next in line and hurriedly got into the passenger seat, locking the door and applying his seat belt whilst alphacadet gunned it. The pack then all moved forward, trying to ensure the zombies would not be able to regain their footing after being run over by the truck.
Moments later, the burning rag met the fumes from the gas tank and the truck became a huge exploding fireball as it crashed through the gate, and kept with momentum until it crashed into the pharmacy down the street. The troupe all sped out and turned sharply, making their way off into the darkness whilst the zombies attempted to regroup, before heading over and overthrowing Richard’s house, albeit an empty house now at that.
The six vehicles sped along, each using the walkie talkies from earlier to communicate, to which Stein could be heard complaining about how Richard had had fun already with that fire which he hadn’t been able to do. Within an hour, they had reached the entrance to the old mill, its outside façade somewhat ominous and foreboding in the dark.
Capt Richard took his walkie talkie and summed it up for everyone present. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached our
final destination!
HELL!” He wasn’t far off with that description either. It looked like something a demon would use as its lair when attacking humans.
