Free Voodoo Plague - 01 by Dirk Patton Page B

transmission into drive so
the truck was ready to go the instant I raised the garage door.
    The roll up door
had a row of grimy windows set into it at head height so I was able to look out
to the parking lot and surrounding area for any threats.  Several infected
males were slowly lumbering down the street, apparently aimless in their
travels, but they were far enough away to not be an immediate concern.
    I was more
worried about the females.  The one that had attacked me the night before had
been so damn fast and strong it was scary.  My only advantage had been that I
outweighed her by a good 100 pounds, and not for the first time I was thankful
that as I settled into corporate life I had kept myself in shape.  Two hours a
day in the gym had been a pain, but I was still one strong son of a bitch.  All
that said, I didn’t want to get in a foot race with one of the females.
    I scanned the
area again, moving to change my viewing angle, but still saw nothing other than
the males.  No vehicles moving, no other uninfected people moving, no animals,
and thankfully no infected females.
    Glancing back at
Rachel we made eye contact and I nodded that the area was clear.  She nodded
back to indicate she was ready.  Glock in my right hand I released the door’s
locking pin with my left and pulled up on the door, shoving it all the way
open.
    I stepped out of
the open bay door and into a two handed shooting stance with the Glock at low
ready which means the weapon was at a forty five degree down angle from my body
with both arms straight out in front of me.  It would take a fraction of a
second for me to raise the pistol and engage a target if we were threatened.
    The note of the
diesel engine rose as Rachel fed it some fuel and the truck rolled out of the
garage and stopped when it was completely clear.  I started moving quickly for
the cab but spun around when I heard running feet behind me.  The pistol
swiveled with me and raised as I spun, eyes searching for a target, but I was
caught off guard by what I saw.
    Running towards
me with a guttural snarl was a little girl that couldn’t have been more than
ten years old.  The front of her shirt was covered with blood and her eyes
fairly glowed blood red.  I hesitated pulling the trigger.  Any adult attacking
me would have already been shot, but I wasn’t prepared for a child.
    Recovering from
my hesitation I realized it was too late to shoot.  Stepping to the side as she
launched herself into the air I clubbed the back of her head with the pistol
butt as she flashed past me, landing in a heap of flailing limbs by the rear
tire of the truck.
    Now I’m a big,
strong, solid guy and I hit her hard.  Not a tap.  Hard.  Hard enough to have
brought down a grown man.  She couldn’t have weighed more than sixty pounds,
but she sprang back to her feet like all I had done was slap her. 
    “Fuck this,” I
muttered to myself and side stepped so the truck was no longer behind her in my
line of fire. 
    She snarled and
raised her arms, hands held like claws, but I fired before she could charge. 
The body dropped to the pavement and lay still.
    Spinning I
sighted in on the males that had been in the street, but they were still more
than 20 yards away and moving just slightly faster than a slow lumber. 
Grabbing the handle I yanked the door open and slid behind the wheel of the
truck as Rachel moved out of my way.
    Dropping the
truck into drive I accelerated straight for the approaching infected males and
ran down two of them.  The massive push bar on the front knocked them to the
ground then they felt like minor speed bumps as the big off road tires bounced
over the bodies.
    At the street I
turned right and continued our westerly direction of travel.  After a bit I
realized that Rachel was watching me and I turned to meet her gaze.
    “Are you OK?”
She asked.
    “Just fine,” I
answered after a bit. “I always wanted to shoot a little girl in the head.”
    After a