one,” I said, making sure that he couldn’t hear me.
“Uncle Gary, you’re going to have to go to your left. There’s a fire escape and the
doorway is on the second floor,” Justin yelled to him.
Gary looked up. I could see the pained expression on his face.
“How heavy is that thing?” I asked him.
“I had to use two car batteries,” Mad Jack replied. “And the case is three-quarter-inch
plywood which Gary made me paint black. Although the weight added from the paint would
be negligible. The components are heavy-duty because I wanted to make sure they would
hold up in a battle scenario, then there’s the—”
“Mad-Jack! Just pounds, man, that’s all I need,” I said to him.
“Well, I usually use the metric system like all scientists, but I’m sure you wouldn’t
understand kilograms.”
“I’m going to kill him,” I said under my breath.
“Okay, let me do the conversion…carry the five…add in the remainder…divide by pi.”
There was a pause. “Roughly a hundred thirty pounds and six ounces. Give or take an
ounce or two.”
“Shit, we didn’t carry that much in the Marines,” I said to anyone close. “You going
to be alright, brother?”
His thumbs-up was much less enthusiastic, and his smile looked more like he had to
take a shit and there wasn’t a toilet for a mile. Oh don’t go turning your nose up,
we’ve all been there.
“Everyone grab your gear. BT, can you take over for Gary when he gets here?” I was
referring to carrying the zombie repellant. I was going to be busy hefting my own
cumbersome bundle. Henry did not like the indignity of being carried. He was fine
with riding or being pulled along in a wagon, but carrying was somehow beyond his
station.
BT nodded, slowly returning from the world of saliva-worthy meals.
“What’s the plan, Mike?” Tracy asked nervously.
“You must be nervous if you even asked,” I told her. “Here it is in a nutshell. Make
sure you’re always within reach of BT.”
“Sounds easy enough,” she said.
“One would think that.” Although I knew from multiple personal experiences that any
battle plan unraveled at first contact with the enemy.
We could hear Gary’s labored breathing and heavy footfalls coming up the stairs. When
he was about halfway up, I realized we were going to have a problem. The zombies already
on the staircase, although being repelled by the machine, had nowhere to go. They
were pressing up closer to the library wall. They didn’t have the wherewithal to jump
over the side; most likely it was a failsafe in them…or just stupidity.
“Gary, hold up!” I shouted, hoping he could hear me through his groans of protestations.
His rendition of Queen’s
“Uncle Gary, you’re going to have to go to your left. There’s a fire escape and the
doorway is on the second floor,” Justin yelled to him.
Gary looked up. I could see the pained expression on his face.
“How heavy is that thing?” I asked him.
“I had to use two car batteries,” Mad Jack replied. “And the case is three-quarter-inch
plywood which Gary made me paint black. Although the weight added from the paint would
be negligible. The components are heavy-duty because I wanted to make sure they would
hold up in a battle scenario, then there’s the—”
“Mad-Jack! Just pounds, man, that’s all I need,” I said to him.
“Well, I usually use the metric system like all scientists, but I’m sure you wouldn’t
understand kilograms.”
“I’m going to kill him,” I said under my breath.
“Okay, let me do the conversion…carry the five…add in the remainder…divide by pi.”
There was a pause. “Roughly a hundred thirty pounds and six ounces. Give or take an
ounce or two.”
“Shit, we didn’t carry that much in the Marines,” I said to anyone close. “You going
to be alright, brother?”
His thumbs-up was much less enthusiastic, and his smile looked more like he had to
take a shit and there wasn’t a toilet for a mile. Oh don’t go turning your nose up,
we’ve all been there.
“Everyone grab your gear. BT, can you take over for Gary when he gets here?” I was
referring to carrying the zombie repellant. I was going to be busy hefting my own
cumbersome bundle. Henry did not like the indignity of being carried. He was fine
with riding or being pulled along in a wagon, but carrying was somehow beyond his
station.
BT nodded, slowly returning from the world of saliva-worthy meals.
“What’s the plan, Mike?” Tracy asked nervously.
“You must be nervous if you even asked,” I told her. “Here it is in a nutshell. Make
sure you’re always within reach of BT.”
“Sounds easy enough,” she said.
“One would think that.” Although I knew from multiple personal experiences that any
battle plan unraveled at first contact with the enemy.
We could hear Gary’s labored breathing and heavy footfalls coming up the stairs. When
he was about halfway up, I realized we were going to have a problem. The zombies already
on the staircase, although being repelled by the machine, had nowhere to go. They
were pressing up closer to the library wall. They didn’t have the wherewithal to jump
over the side; most likely it was a failsafe in them…or just stupidity.
“Gary, hold up!” I shouted, hoping he could hear me through his groans of protestations.
His rendition of Queen’s
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