Siege (As the World Dies #3)(67)

Moving swiftly, Katarina dropped the spear, raised her rifle and dropped the three zombies staring up at the lights. She then hit the spotlight and it lit up the mist like a beacon. All around the fort, the spotlights switched on. Katarina cursed as nothing became visible except mist. Hopefully whoever was out there would clearly see them now.



The sun broke the horizon, the sky cracked by rays of yellow and pink. The world began to slide from shades of black to gray. Katarina strained to see into the fog, but could see only a few tree limbs beginning to poke through the thick soup.

In the distance, Katarina could hear the rumble of what sounded like an engine. Linda began to swing the spotlight back and forth. “See anything, Kat?”



“Not yet, but I hear it.” The yapping and barking of what sounded like a pack of dogs began. The moans of the zombies seemed to echo hungrily up from the street below.



“Hello!” Katarina called out. The dogs began to growl down below.

Travis and Katie appeared out of the fog. “What’s going on?”



“Zombies were attacking the wall, but then took off,” Linda answered. “We think someone alive has to be down there,” Katarina added

“What’s that noise?” Katie asked.

A huge chunk of the mist broke off and floated down the street as the sun’s rays began to slowly penetrate the fog. The area they had cleared of buildings was now visible, as was Bowie street that intersected with Morris.



“I’ll be damned,” Linda whispered. A huge tractor was slowly coming down Bowie. A strange, cage-like contraption had been welded around the driver’s seat. The tractor was towing a flatbed piled high with chicken coops and pet carriers. Attached to that flatbed was another one piled with several bales of hay. Following the bales of hay at an even, slow walk was a small herd of black and white cows. Weaving in and out of the parade was a large pack of dogs of every size and zombies.



It was almost comical to see the zombies trying to get to the tractor through the herd of cows. The undead seemed utterly oblivious to what these moving obstacles were and would bounce back and forth off of them as they struggled to get to the person driving the tractor.

The dogs, even the little Chihuahuas, seemed almost rabid in their hatred of the zombies. They would grab hold of the dead, tearing at them viciously. As the stunned onlookers on the walls of the fort watched, the pack of dogs took down a zombie with primal savagery. When a little terrier walked out of the fray with the thing’s head, Katarina began to laugh. “Calhoun,” Travis decided.

“And we thought he was dead!” Katie covered her mouth with her hands, giggling.

“Are you sure?” Linda asked, squinting, trying to see the driver.



“That cage thing’s top is covered in foil,” Travis pointed out. “Oh, yeah, it’s Calhoun.” Linda shook her head. “Old Crazy Calhoun.”



A zombie scrambled up onto the side of the tractor and began to shake the cage. It suddenly stiffened, then tumbled over dead. Another zombie, an elderly woman, tripped and fell over a dog and immediately was trampled by the cows.

“I’m going to start picking off the zombies on the outer edge,” Katarina decided. There were at least a dozen struggling to get past the dogs and cows to Calhoun. The sun was higher now, the mist rolling back as the grayish light of dawn filled the streets. The old man seated in the cage erected on the trailer was now visible as Calhoun, complete with a foil jumpsuit and cowboy hat.

Katarina and Linda began to steadily pick off the zombies as the tractor drew near. Calhoun began to slowly turn in front of the wall before the hotel. He noticed the people up on the wall and slowed down to shout up at them.



“Thems here dairy cows for milk and chickens for eggs. Nobody eats ’em or I keep driving,” he called out. Katarina could now see the pet carriers tied to the flatbed trailer were filled with cats. They were snarling and hissing and not too happy.



Meanwhile, the little dog was still dragging around the zombie head while a bigger dog made attempts to steal it away.

“Okay, Calhoun, just get inside,” Travis shouted back. With a salute, Calhoun shifted gears and the parade continued. “Leave that nasty ol’ head alone, Pee Wee, and get along little doggie,” Calhoun shouted.

The little black dog heard his master, hesitated, then lifted its leg, peed on the zombie head, then trotted after the rest of the dogs.



Katarina thought she would die laughing.





*

Travis met Calhoun in the courtyard after the old coot successfully managed to get in the gate. The snipers on the walls had picked off the zombies mingling with his herd and all the dogs, cows, chickens, and cats were accounted for to the old man’s satisfaction.

“So you went for your animals,” Travis decided with a wry smile.

“Yep. Realized feeders were about empty,” Calhoun answered. “I see.”

“Figured we need fresh milk and eggs anyway,” Calhoun decided. “Keeps your brain sharp against the aliens.”

“Yeah, right,” Travis said dubiously, staring at the grizzled old man in the foil jumpsuit.

“’sides, army has been circling my farm. Don’t need them taking my stuff,” Calhoun said in a dire voice. “I don’t take kindly to martial law. I didn’t vote for that yokel in the White House.”