Free Deadrise 2: Deadwar by Steven R. Gardner

thirty people huddled in one of the larger houses at the far end of town, eating dried dog food. They had been relocated back to Rainbow Lake, and now The General and his troops were systematically stripping the town of anything that wasn’t secured to the ground, and transporting it back to Kittewa.
    Smitty and his crew were done with Evanston. It was time to move on.
    Two days ago Jenkins had taken Smitty on an aerial reconnaissance to see what lie ahead. The first thirty-five miles or so had been open highway, surrounded by forest on all sides. Along that stretch there had been a few hundred zombies strung along, rarely in groups larger than three or four. They would be easy to deal with. Besides, Smitty and his crew liked taking chances.
    Smitty was behind the wheel of his truck, clad in his black leather. Beside him, Chico rode shotgun as usual, and Bear was up in the topside gun port that Chico had reinforced with armor. Augie, Angel and Wild Billy had insisted on taking their bikes this time.
    Angel’s bike came up along the drivers side; a big, long forked chopper with an attached sidecar, in which Wild Billy rode. Angel wore his black combat leathers, his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, and mirrored shades covered his eyes. Wild Billy also wore black leather, but atop his head he wore a WW2 fighter pilots cap, with a large pair of aviator goggles over his eyes. An unlit cigar was clamped in his teeth, and an AK-47 assault rifle was in his hands. He saluted Smitty with his free hand as the bike drew parallel with and passed the truck.
    Augie’s chopper came roaring up on the right hand side. Like all the rest, Augie wore his black combat leather, but he had made some additions. He had sewn a row of heavy nails along the outer edge of each forearm, as well as spiked the knuckles of his gloves. His shaved head was covered with a black bandanna, and his eyes with mirrored sunglasses.
    On the road ahead, Smitty could see a small band of zombies, maybe ten in all, strung out across the highway. Wild Billy seemed to bristle with glee in the sidecar, setting aside his sub-machinegun and pulling a large machete from a sheath on his back. Augie did the same, steering his bike with his left hand.
    “Those crazy motherfucker’s…” Chico laughed.
    “If we were out there we’d be doing the same.” Smitty retorted with a smile. Chico just shrugged and leaned back in his seat.
    Angel and Augie both gunned their bikes, surging ahead toward the picket line of zombies. Angel swerved in close enough for Wild Billy to swing his machete, letting out a scream of victory as he decapitated a female with its arms outstretched. Its body took another step before collapsing to the ground.
    Not to be outdone, Augie wove his bike near a trio of them, decapitating one and severing another's arm at the elbow before breaking into open highway.
    Smitty simply chose the path of least resistance, smashing a pair of zombies beneath the wheels of the truck…
     
    They came upon the burnt out ruins of Fort Bridger a little after 10:00 AM. As to what had destroyed the national monument and the small community around they had no clue, but it had done a thorough job. Not a single building stood. Large impact craters were scattered about, a few even scarred the road. At the far end of the destruction zone they came upon the blasted, mangled remains of a pair of Abrams tanks.
    “Do you think Commander King can salvage anything for the Tincan?” Chico asked.
    “Possibly… Radio home. Give a report.” Smitty replied.
     
    As they left Ft. Bridger, they came upon a trio of small communities: Mountain View, Urie and Lyman. While Green River was the target, Smitty didn’t want to pass up easy salvage. There were bound to be drugs, candy, cigarettes, alcohol and other valuable commodities there.
    Almost reading his mind, Angel and Augie looked to Smitty, and he gave them the signal to lead the way…
     
    The first township they came