Free Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 2): Substation (The Last Stand of Gary Sykes) by Philip A. McClimon

maybe you ought to let me cut the locks… you know…
    Gary chagrined and Beverly felt the sting of offending Gary’s manhood.  She quickly attempted a salvage.
    “I mean, you already took care of Johnson, right, so you already have the bodyguard experience…”
    Gary smiled and nodded.  “Right.  Okay.  Once you cut the locks off, I will flip the breakers.  We do this all down the line, you cut, I flip and then we get out and on to the next Interconnection.  We do this three times then we’re done.  Easy Peasy,” Gary said.
    Beverly nodded and the two headed for the door.  Half way there, Beverly stopped.
    “Hey Gary.  How do you know all this stuff?  About the grid and… the zombies?”
    Gary shrugged.  “I’m a Nerd.  I read stuff.”
    Gary turned and with Beverly in tow, they headed for the door.
     
    Gary and Beverly had agreed that they would come out swinging.  The exit door leading to the yard had no windows, so they were not able to see what might be facing them once they got outside. 
    Beverly pulled the door open and they both ran out. Gary yelled and started swinging the crowbar like he was hacking through a wall.  Beverly immediately darted for the truck’s driver side door.  She stopped and went back to Gary, who began to realize his attacks were unnecessary. 
    “You okay there, killer?” she asked. 
    Gary smirked.  “Just got a little excited,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
    “No worries,” Beverly said then went back to the driver’s side. 
    Gary slumped and made his way down the length of the truck to the passenger side.  He reached up for the door and was just about to open it, when from around the front of the truck, a Shuffler in a security guard’s uniform appeared.  Gary screamed and swung the crowbar at Carl’s head.  The curved end hooked Zombie Carl’s wrinkled gray neck, digging into its flesh and holding fast.  Gary tried to get the crowbar loose to no avail.  What was once Carl reached out for Gary, his fingers only able to brush at Gary’s face.  Gary kept his arms out in front of him, preventing the Zombie from advancing to within lethal range.  The two were locked in a stalemate and in their struggle they wandered away from the truck.  Gary could not get the crowbar loose to finish the Shuffler off and dared not let go of it for fear of getting chomped.  He did the only thing he could do, he screamed.
    “Beverly!  Help!  Bev-!”
    Gary kept his eyes locked on the eyes of the Zombie, when he felt the crowbar jerk free from his hands.  Instead of the ruined face of Carl, Gary stared into the tense face of Beverly, who stood holding the gore covered bolt-cutters poised above her head, ready for another blow.  At their feet, Carl lay unmoving.  Beverly reached down and pulled the crowbar loose from Carl’s shredded neck.  It came free with a wet ripping sound.  She handed the crowbar back to Gary.  Gary took the crowbar from her.  She was about to say something, when she noticed Gary’s eyes go wide.  She turned and saw that all their commotion had attracted the attention of a medium sized horde of the Undead.  They advanced upon them.  Beverly turned and ran around the front of the truck and climbed into the driver’s side.  Gary flung himself into the passenger side and slammed the door.
    “Man, that was a close one!” Gary shouted.  His face was flush with excitement.  Beverly gripped the wheel and tried to catch her breath.  As their heart rates settled to just north of 120, they both gazed out the front windshield and their faces sunk.
    “I don’t know how close we are going to be able to get to the front doors of the Interconnections so we may need a repeat performance with the bolt-cutters,” Gary said. 
    “Yeah, but not with the crowbar, okay?  Curved end faces away from the zombie.  No more “hooking up”, right?” Beverly said.
    “Definitely,” Gary said. 
    As Beverly revved the big engine, a thought