Free Dawn of the Apocalypse: A Zombie Apocalypse Novel by TW Gallier

fortifying our position.
                Sean made a good choice for our first defensive line.  The road hugged the side of the mountain at that location.  It was almost sheer, rocky cliff above and below that stretch of road.  He wanted to position the fence so that as much road in front of the barrier was exposed to our fire from above as possible.  He wanted to kill them before they climbed over to the other side.
                I tried not to think about it too much.
                There was a home under construction.  The general contractor had fenced off a section of land to store his equipment when not in use.  Apparently, someone stole a forklift off the site one weekend.  His paranoia was our boon.  Sean had a team of men tearing the ten foot tall chain link fence down, with plans to use it as several layers of barriers along the access road.
                "What if we have to get out?" Bill asked.
                "We'll cut it down," Sean said.
                "What'll keep the zombies from cutting…" Bill started, and then stopped.  "Never mind.  I'm still a little rattled by all this shit."
                While the men discussed what tools they'd need and how best to tackle the project, I walked over to the edge of the road and looked downhill.  It was a breathtaking view.  I could see sections of the access road, and other roads through breaks in the trees.
                And then I saw them.  People coming up the road.  They were too far away to tell if they were survivors or zombies.
                I immediately chambered a round with the lever.  That got everyone's attention.
                "We have company coming," I said.  As I turned back towards them, I spotted more down the road maybe a hundred feet away.  "They're almost on top of us!"
                Sean came up next to me with his AR15.  Bill stood on the other side of him with a 12-gauge shotgun.  Paul Sutton and Greg Hanes carried semi-automatic pistols.  We stood in line and studied the approaching people.  They didn't look like zombies to me.
                When they were within shouting distance, Sean fired off a shot into the air.
                "That's close enough!"
                They stopped, looking uncertain and worried.  My heart went out to them.  I wanted to help, but there were so many.  Just that first group must've had fifty or more men, women, and children.  There were some empty cabins they could stay in.
                "What are we going to do?" Bill whispered.  "I know we said we wouldn't take in any others, but look at them?"
                "They are a mob.  See the look in their eyes?" Paul said.  "They are as much a threat to us as the zombies."
                "More so," Sean said.  "They can think and fight more effectively."
                "You're not going to just chase them away, are you?" I asked.  "They have children, for Christ's sake."
                "Are you going to give them your food?" Sean asked.  "Are you willing to take food out of your children's mouths to feed them?"
                I didn't know what to say.  My first responsibility was my children.  Yet to just chase innocent men, women, and children away was too cruel to contemplate.  I didn't care what the group decided.  Faced with reality, I knew something had to be done for them.
                "Please, we need help," a man called.  "We're starving.  We need food and shelter."
                "We don't have any to spare," Sean called.  "This is a dead end.  You'll have to turn back."
                My stomach churned.  Too much.  The world was losing its humanity.  All any of us wanted to do was survive.  I struggled to think of something, anything, we could do for them.
                "You have to help