TYBEE ISLAN
ISLAND
Continued from the March 2020 Beachcomber.
Catch up @ http://tybeebeachcomber.com/magazine
CHAPTER 34
APOCALYPSE ARREST
DAY 10.5
“What in the hell was that?” Eric exclaims.
“The damn tank!” Brian replies, frustrated. “They’re shooting a tank at
the Poo Crew! I told you they were evil! Nobody ever listens to me.”
They hear the machine gun go off again.
“Oh, hell no!” Eric shouts over the sound and runs out of the Five Dollar
Warehouse toward Huc-a-Poos.
Brian stands there a minute and watches Eric go. A few minutes ago,
he was sure Eric was going to kill him for what happened to Bunger. This
is his chance to put some distance between him and them. He saunters
to the door, grabs the key, and turns to lock the door behind him.
“Freeze asshole!” Richie shouts. He had always wanted to say that for
real.
“What the hell?” Brian says as he turns away from the door to face
Richie.
Richie spins Brian back around towards the warehouse and slams
Brian into the wall next to the door. He grabs his right wrist and slaps a
handcuff on him. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but I know
you’ve got something to do with it, Crabber.”
“We need to get out of here before they get us Richie!”
“Who?”
“The undead assholes or the assholes in the tank. Either way, we need to
get out of here.”
“Oh, don’t worry, we’re getting out of here.” Richie grabs Brian’s other
hand and finishes cuffing it behind his back.
“Seriously dude?” Brian says. “I can’t believe I’m getting arrested
smack in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.”
“Yeah, seriously,” Richie replies. “You’re going into the back of the car
until I figure out just what is going on here.” He walks Brian to the police
cruiser and throws Brian into the back, slamming the door. He jumps into
the driver’s seat and turns to Brian. “Where’s this tank you speak of?”
“In the Huc-a-Poos parking lot, you idiot. See all the smoke?”
“Seriously? A freaking tank? The National Guard got overrun six days
ago. Who the hell is in the tank?”
“It’s Tony and his friends. They’re going around killing everyone. Dead or
30 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | JUNE 2020
By By Paul Paul Cales Cales & Becca
alive, they’re killing anything that moves. We’ve got to stay away from them
at all costs.”
“Tony, huh?” Richie muses as he starts to move the car down to
Solomon Dr. “How the hell does he know how to drive a tank?” As the car
creeps down the road, the tank becomes visible. “Holy crap! You were right,
there’s a freaking tank!”
“I told you, jerk! We need to get out of here. If they see us, we’re dead.
I’m sure those undead sick-o’s are on their way too. That tank is loud and
the undead can hear very well.”
“Why are you calling them undead, Brian? They’re just sick.”
“Oh my god! Are you kidding me right now, Richie? Whatever they are,
they’ll kill and eat you if they get a chance. And I really don’t want to give
them a chance.”
“Don’t worry, Brian. They’re not going to get you while you’re in my care.
I can promise you that.”
“Look man,” Brian begins. “We can work together. We need a safe place
to hide out away from the zombies and the tank, then we’ll come up with a
plan.”
“We’ve got a safe place and you’re more than welcome to join us,”
Richie says.
“Us? Who’s us? There are more cops still around?”
“Joe-T and I are holed up at the American Legion.”
“Why not the jail? Wouldn’t it be a more secure place to stay?”
“Joe-T likes being at the Legion. There’s food and drinks, he can smoke
there if he wants. No smoking inside the police station.”
“Dude, seriously? You can smoke anywhere you want. It’s the end of the
world. I’m sure the Chief wouldn’t mind.”
Richie stops the car and turns around to look at Brian. “I am the damn
Chief!” Then he turns the car around and starts cruising toward the
American Legion. “Joe-T is gonna be happy to see you, Brian.”
Eric runs up the ramp to Tybean Coffee’s deck. He stops when he can
see the carnage created by the tank. Smoldering undead are strewn
about the parking lot. Eric drops to his knees and puts his hands over his
face.
Inside the tank, the crew is happy there is a survivor.
“Holy crap!” Rudy says. “Look man, it’s Eric. He made it!”
Tony pops his head out of the tank and shouts. “Over here Eric!”
Eric pops up and shouts back. “What the hell did you do?”
“One of the things must have gotten into the van with the rest of them.
We had no choice.” Tony answers.
“You always have a choice, damn it!” Eric shouts.
“Nah man, seriously,” Rudy says, and shakes his head. “It was a blood
bath inside that van. There was no escape for them. There was a crowd of
zombies surrounding the van and they couldn’t get out.”
“Or Crabber Brian was telling the truth about you guys,” says Eric.
“Brian has a skewed perspective on reality. Jump up here and we’ll get
out of here before more of those things show up,” says Tony.
Eric, still angry, climbs onto the tank and sits behind the tank
commander’s hatch.
“I’m sure whatever Brian told you had about two percent truth to it and
the rest he made up to make himself look like a victim or a hero,” Tony
says.
“I should have never let him in here. Not thirty minutes ago he shot
Bunger and said it was her fault. He broke down our barricade, let the dead
in, and now everyone is gone,” says Eric.
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