The Burden Of Tomorrow

Chapter 7. A New Work Environment

"According to the map we should be right on the outskirts of the town." Heather said as we were passing a few houses. There were zombies in a few of the yards.
"Lets go up a little farther. I think I see a church about a mile or 2 up the road. Lets go check that out" I said to heather.
I picked up the mic, "Hey guys we see a church about a mile or so up the road, were gonna go there."
Tiffany's voice came through the radio, "We'll meet you there." As they flew past us.
We eventually pulled into the church parking lot, There was a sign out in the grass that read "Kiokee Baptist Church"
"Lets scope the place out first before we get to work." I said while grabbing a rifle from behind my seat
"Already ahead of you." Tiffany said
I looked over to see her and Tyler already carrying guns.
"Are you ready?" I asked Heather.
"Yeah, I know I'll be safe as long as with you." She said.
"Now lets get inside and make sure its safe" I said as I loaded a magazine into the rifle.
We all started walking to the building, and stopped before we reached the door.
"Whats the plan once we open the door?" Tiffany asked.
"How about me and Tiff take the right side, and you and Heather take the left?" Tyler suggested.
"Good idea, lets do that." I replied
We made our way up the steps and I kicked the front door open, gun at the ready with my finger on the trigger. We ran inside in a single file line like a troop of marines, sweeping our guns from side to side. So far no zombies in sight. Tyler and Tiffany brached off and went to search the right side of the building as Heather and I went to the left where we came across a set of stairs leading to the basement.
"Stay behind me honey." I said as I started making my way down the stairs. I got about halfway down the stairs when I stopped and put my hand up in the "HALT" possition
I whispered back to Heather, I hear movement down there, have your gun ready. on the count of 3 I'm going to kick the door down and we'll rush in. It sounds like ther's only 1 of them so we'll have the advantage here. Ready?"
"I'm scared babe." Heather whispered back
"I promise, I will not let anything happen to you." I whispered.
I took a deep breath and whispered "On 3. ready?"
"I think so." Heather whispered back
I took another deep breath and began counting "1...2...3" and kicked the door as hard as I could. The door flew off the hinges and we ran in and I immediatly saw a man and aimed my gun at him
"DON'T SHOOT, DON'T SHOOT I'M NOT ONE OF THEM" He said in a panic filled voice
"IDENTIFY YOURSELF." I shouted, Heather and I still aiming the guns at him.
Tyler and Tiffany came running down the stairs upon hearing the shouting.
"My name is Jason, I live... or rather used to live here in town. Look I don't want any trouble I'm just trying to stay alive"
"Did any of them touch you or bite you?" I asked Jason
"No, I locked myself down here when all this shit started." He replied
We put our guns down and I went to shake Jasons hand.
"Well I'm Dylan, This is my lifelong friend Tyler and his wife Tiffany, and this is my wife Heather." I said, introducing everyone.
"Hey guys, y'all scared the shit out of me, kicking that door down like the police." He laughed
"Sorry about that pal, we don't take chances with whatever the fuck these things are." I said
"So, Jason, do you mind if we set up shop here for a few days while we work on a few things?" Heather asked
"I don't have a issue with it, all I ask is, can you guys teach me to shoot and offer a few survival tips?" He replied
"Yeah man. I can do that for you." I assured him. I turned to talk to Tyler, "Lets go grab what we need from the trucks and bring it down here. Heather, Tiffany, are you staying down here or would you like to come unload with us?"
"I think I want to relax for a few minutes, my heart is pounding." Heather said.
"I'll stay down here and help Heather calm down." Tiffany said
Tyler and I made our way up stairs and back out to the trucks. I opened up the cover on the bed and pulled out the tote of food along with mine and Heather's bags and started making a pile of everything that be brought inside. Tyler also started making a pile of stuff and while doing so he asked, "What the hell are we going to do? I didn't want to say anything in front of the girls and freak them out, but I have absolutely no ideas on how to deal with these things." He continued on. "I mean, they seem to evolve everyday and get more and more powerful. It seems like we ain't gonna be around much longer."
"We will figure something out. We always do, don't we?" I answered, I then continued on, "Plus we have that new guy now, we'll train him how to survive and then we'll have more firepower."
"Yeah, your right" Tyler replied
"And did we or did we not scope out the old abandoned prison and decide it's impenetrable?" I asked.
"We did, we decided that because of the extra thick concrete walls." He responded.
"Exactly my point. All we have to do is survive a few more days until we get there." I reasurred him. "Now lets get this stuff inside, we'll set up shot and revise the plan to make sure we'll get there."
We carried everything inside the church and brought it back down to the basement and started unpacking everything. I grabbed the notebook with the plan and set it on one of the tables Jason had set up. Tyler brought the tote of food over to the kitchen that the church used to use when they would host Thanksgiving diners.
I sat down at the table and opened the note book and began scimming through it, until I found a page talking about stopping in Murphy, North Carolina and I began reading from there. "Once we arrive in Murphy NC we stop and pick up Tyler's parents and then continue on until we reach NJ where we stop and pick up Heathers parents. Upon entering PA we get Tiffany's parents, we then continue through PA where we'll pick up Dylan's parents and escort everyone to the old abndoned prison."
I called everyone over, "So we both drive single cab trucks now, this plan was made back when I had my Pontiac." I turned to Tyler, "And you had the Chevy back then. We have to call everyone and find out if they have running vehicles"
We all pulled out our phones to discover there was no service as if all the cell towers had stopped working
"Fuck, FUCK. The power grid is starting to collapse." I said to them "We need to change the plan fast and get out of here and get to them. Or there's the other way."
"What would be the other way?" Heather asked.
"We completely scrap the plan, just forget about it and make it up as we go. It's riskier but its faster." I replied
"I don't think we have a choice at this point, we have to do the fast way. We have the gun power that in the event we get surrounded we can hold them off for a while until we can get to the trucks and run." Tyler chipped in.
"It's a scary idea, but I have to agree with Tyler on this. We don't have much of a choice." Heather added
"Yeah, we have to do the fast way. It's our only option at this point." Tiffany stated.
"That settles it, we're doing it the fast way." I said, "We need to teach Jason to use a gun first, we can't leave him here. We'll need all the fire power we can get."
"Lets do this shit." Tyler said
"Jason, Lets go, You'r learning to shoot now." I said
"Ok." He replied.
We made our way outside where I set up empty bottles about 50 yards away and I then handed Jason a 22 pistol.
I pointed to the sights on the top of the gun, "Look between these 2 white dots and line the 3rd one up in the middle of these 2. Once you'r lined up and have it aimed at a bottle, just pull the trigger."
I moved off to the side and watched him fire 5 shots, managing to land 1.
"You got 1 of 5, that's not a terrible start. I want you to try again, and remember what I said about lining up the dots." I guided him. "Try taking a breath before you fire as well."
I watched him  fire another 4 bullets before the gun clicked signaling it was empty. This time he hit 3 of the 4 shots he fired.
"I'll say that's good enough. Zombies are a much bigger target and easier to hit." I said as I took the pistol from him and handed him the 12 gauge. "this one your going to want to put the back end up against your shoulder, and brace yourself, it's got more kick then the pistol. I wont give you a target since its scatter shot."
He put the gun stock against his shoulder and leaned into it and squeezed the trigger.
"What do I do now?" Jason asked.
"Grab that brown pump at the bottom of the barrel and pull it back towards you and then slide it fowards again." I said.
We all watched him pump it and fire another.
"Good enough. Now try the rifle." This time Tyler taking the shotgun and handing Jason the rifle. "Same concept with this one. Put it against your shoulder, only difference is this is a bolt action so you have to lift this little lever and pull it back" Tyler explained while demonstrating. "After you do that just pull the trigger and repeat those steps for each bullet."
Tyler backed away and we watched him line up the sights and fire off a few rounds.
"I think he gets the point." Tyler said to me.
I walked over to him when he finished shooting and grabbed the gun. "There's your training. Your coming with us now, we need you with us."
I turned to face the rest of the group, " Lets load everything up and get the fuck out of here."
We all went back down to the basement and packed everything up and carried it back out to the trucks.
"Hey babe, can you start the truck for me?" I asked Heather, handing her the keys. "I gotta go take a leak."
"Yeah. I just push the 3rd pedal to the floor and turn the key right?" She asked.
"Yes, but grab the shifter and wiggle it back and forth, if it doesn't move its in gear and will stall once you take your foot off the pedal. If it is in gear just either push or pull it to the center and then start it." I replied as I started walking towards the side of the building.
I heard the truck start from the side of the building, and I felt proud knowing my wife started her first stick shift vehicle.
I finished up and made my way back to the truck.
"Alright lets fuckin rock and roll before any zombie fuckers come from hearing the gun shots." I said, slipping on a pair of sun glasses and putting my leather jacket on.
I hopped in the truck and we drove off.