Free Thrust & Parry: Z Day by Luke Ashton Page B

mess. He moved right slightly to see around the smoke. Dan had turned and was straining against his seatbelt to get at Paula who was unconscious with her head between the steering wheel and the window. There was a big chunk missing from her shoulder, he guessed that was Dan’s work. Both of them were half covered in tins and bottles that had shot forward as they hit the tree.
    “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Jim shouted as he raised his weapon and added a neat hole to both Dan and Paula’s head. He checked the surrounding area to ensure no undead freaks had heard the ruckus and decided to investigate. And there he was , the zombie he had drove past on the way to Tesco. Still by the automatic doors but this time his focus was on Jim. That cold dead stare, which they had all acquired from being turned, sent shudders down his spine.
    “Right come on Jim. Pop him” Jim said aloud. Squeezing the bottom of the foregrip the bipod was released, he rested it on what was left of Paula’s bonnet and aimed right between the zombie’s eyes, with one clean shot he was down hitting the concrete with an almighty thud.
    Jim checked his magazine. Before he had to take the mag off to see how many rounds were left but the new mags had a clear plastic strip down one side so you could see. Jim had always been taught to count his rounds but in the heat of battle he found he had enough to think about. 20 left in this mag. He didn’t need to reload yet.
    Jim jogged back to the Mini and reversed it up so the boot was as close to the Punto’s as possible. Picking through the supplies he grabbed a few of the bits that would help him most. Water and tinned food mainly. He didn’t take too much. He wanted room for any ammo he could scrounge. He opened Paula’s bag, checking for weapons and pulled out the dildo. The towel rail wasn’t there though but several other sex toys were.
    Finally, he moved to the driver’s side door and pulled it open. The air rifle, dildo and towel rail was tucked between the seat and the door. Jim picked them up, slung the rifle and tucked the others under his arm. He moved round the other side carefully opened the door. He gave Dan a jab with the barrel of his rifle and his body swayed slightly but he didn’t react. He leant down and unclipped the leg holster. The tyre-iron was tucked into Dan’s belt and Jim had to persuade it out. He staggered back to the Mini with all the weapons and sorted his shit out. Placing the towel rail, dildo and air rifle on the passenger seat and clipping the Sig back onto his leg. He took it out and pulled the top slide back slightly to check it had a round in the chamber. The shiny brass glinted in the midday sun. He let it go and dropped it back in.
    Clambering back into the Mini he drove to the police station. Waving goodbye to his boss and his next door neighbour as he went. He parked it next to the entrance and opened his daysack, pulling out a ball of chord with several spoons attached as he went. He tied the chord around the railing of the police station and then walked it round the Mini at ankle height he tied off the other end to a tree close to the police station wall. The spoons were in sets of 3 and dangled from the chord. They were spread out every 10 metres or so and acted as an early warning device. When the chord was moved the spoons made a racket, letting him know something was there. He had used this device before on a training weekend and one of the training staff set it off. They didn’t seem too pleased to have 8 hairy arsed squaddies jumping all over him for it. The thought made him chuckle, checking the chamber to make sure he didn’t need to reload. It was force of habit. He popped the boot once more and reached in and grabbed the riot shield which he hung off the back of his webbing with the arm hooks.
    Jim stepped up to the automatic doors. He saw now why the zombie hadn’t been able to get in. They were off. He pushed the gap and it moved a little. Looking in the