Free The Road to Macon: A Zombie Novel by Micah Gurley

going outside. Even now, he was hearing the sound of rifles from different directions, but he ne needed to check on the lieutenant and see if he was okay. He felt he owed him that. He looked at his watch. There was no way he was going to be able to meet the thirty minute deadline like he told his brother. He only had fifteen minutes left. He pulled his phone out and sent a text telling him that it would be an hour instead. He told him to text a confirmation and asked if he was still okay. The response came quick: “Yes, Mom, see you then.” He smiled and walked over to Yolanda who was just hanging up the phone.
    “I got almost everybody, but I can’t find Jones or Hibbert. I tried to call them on the radio but nobody is answering. They were supposed to be on tours inside the vital zone,” she said. “She looks tired,” he thought. Her hair was starting to pop up out of her neatly-fashioned rows. Her uniform was disheveled and dirty in some places. He wasn’t sure when she got dirty.
    “That’s good, we’ll try to find them,” he reassured her. “We have twelve minutes until then. I’m going to run to the cafeteria really quick. Billy said the lieutenant went in that direction.”
    “I’ll go with you,” she answered quickly and moved to pick up her rifle from the desk.
    “No, stay here and help Patrick gather everything you can. Use those big moving buckets we have. Try to get into the vault, they have the combination hidden somewhere. Guns and ammo first, then radios and that stuff.” He stopped and thought for a moment. “I’ll be in and out and tell him what we’re doing, I don’t think he’ll try to stop us.” He turned to go. “Did you find James?”
    She smiled a little. “Yeah, he’s in XR-2, he hasn’t seen anything much being that far out, so that’s good.”
    James was a one of the nicest, if quietest, guys Kyle knew out here. He was a sharp looking black guy who carried himself well and was built like a truck. He had some good conversations with him about race problems while sitting endlessly at their posts.
    “Glad to hear it, I’m off.” He quickly called the lieutenant on the radio to get his position. He didn’t hear back. He then called the Command Center but didn’t hear back from them either. It seemed everything was going down. He thought he might try the tower.
    “XR-1, this is Kyle.” He figured no one cared about his call sign at the moment. “I’m heading to cafeteria building, can you cover?”
    “Kyle, this is Jasmine. I see people running on the east side of Reactor 2, but it’s clear to the cafeteria.”
    “Copy that Jasmine, coast is clear,” Kyle said. He grabbed his rifle and left the security building. It was only about seventy-five yards to the building the cafeteria was in, but he had to go through three different closed gates to get there. He opened and closed the first delay gate and started to cross an open area that was between two buildings. He didn’t see anyone as he ran, but he couldn’t help feeling anxious. Running with the rifle and belt was a serious annoyance but it wasn’t like he was springing.
    He closed the distance quickly and neared the corner of the building he wanted to enter. He still needed to run another five yards to the door when something ran right into it with a loud bang that caused his heart to jump out of his chest. He stopped and quickly went down on a knee while pulling his rifle out in front of him. He didn’t have much time to think about what it could be when he heard a bang from the door again. He had to keep from taking off in the other direction.
    “Jasmine, Kyle. I’ve got loud banging coming from the inside of the door,” he warned on the radio. His fears were telling him to back out and he was trying to decide if it was wise to approach.
    “Kyle, Charlie 4, I’m with Tim and en route to your location! Command Center, I’m hearing gunshots out here, what is going on? he shouted.
    “Charlie 4,