Can't have Shit in Kentucky ch. 18 (Patreon)

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The roads roared to life as a convoy of four pierced through the quiet and the smoke. The Commandos and the single M9 Army truck cruised with notable speed. Time was of the essence and the longer they dallied, the longer poison choked Earth's air. That was bad, the Kentuckians were told by their erstwhile sponsors, since it would bring the rotten Knox air the world over and bring the end of civilization with it.

The Buyer liked civilization, they were again told. Civilization meant safety and money could be made from safety. Of course, savvier minds could rule the wasteland should it come to it but why the hell would he abandon things such as burgers on the daily and banging hot playboy models?

And so they went out in force. It was rather overkill to bring heavy anti-infantry weapons and other surprises stored in the M9 plus helicopter surveillance high above the clouds but it was better to be safe than to be sorry after all.

There was not much conversation shared in the convoy, not even in their own private radio channels. The Buyer had been paranoid about unknowns listening in and he'd rather keep up their shield of secrecy. That was their best protection at the moment other than their weapons and armor. If no one knew what they were up to then they wouldn't have to worry and deal about interlopers.

Jacky shifted in her seat. The armor made her feel ridiculous, like she was some sort of knight back in the day. She grasped the necessity of it however. Teeth couldn't bite through metal after all. She took a breath and glanced at her weapon. The Buyer had outfitted them all with baby guns compared to what his men fielded, Roy claimed. It was easy to see why when his men sported guns she had seen the army held and they had shotguns and hunting rifles. A part of her felt insulted at what they were given but then again, they were literal strangers and trusting them with automatic weapons wouldn't have been the best idea.

Then, her radio stirred to life.

"To all units, this is the Buyer," his voice broke through in tight electronic thunder. Around her, people woke up.

"We're nearing Rosewood and around it, the facility. The ride is going to be a tad bumpy. Do not worry about it. Check and re-check your weapons. We'll be dismounting pretty soon."

Great, Jacky mused. As if her anxiety wasn't getting worse.

She glanced down at her weapon that sat on her lap. The barrels had been cut to make it easier for use. She lifted it up and levelled it open, exposing two empty chambers. She hadn't loaded it yet for obvious reasons. She could accidentally trigger it and blow up someone's leg. She glanced at the rifles the others used and admitted some envy. The ones with weapons training got to carry rifles not too out of place in a western or merely carried their own personal weapons they had come in. Those with no firearms training had to contend with basic double-barrelled shotguns.

Then again, she had no idea what the hell she was doing. All she had to do now was aim and shoot.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she rocked slightly in her chair. The Gage rocked too before settling in some more. "What the hell was that?" she asked, confused.

Roy piped up. "The Gage ran over something,"

Understanding welled in Jacky. Grim understanding.

At this point, there was nothing to run over in the roads but the dead.

"Jesus Christ," she swore quietly, slumping back on her seat.

Roy glanced up. Jack noted that he was clutching something in his head. Brightly coloured beads with a crucifix poking out between his palm.

"It's fair to think he ain't here no more with all the rabid monsters around," he muttered. Roy then locked eyes with Jacky.

"But we're going to need all the help we can get knowing where we are going,"

"I didn't know you were religious, Roy," Jacky quipped.

"I wasn't," he replied.

The Gage rocked again.

"I am now."

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The dreaded order came.

''Dismount," the Buyer's single command felt like it came from Zeus himself.

Jackie took a breath as the hatch of their Gage. As the orders stood up and filed out in a crouching manner as the Gage had little space, she peered at what outside was like.

It was a misty orange.

The world shouldn't look like a misty orange.

Eventually, it was her turn. She snaked her way out and was beheld to a world painted entirely in color. The sky looked unnatural and sick as if some deranged painter had dumped it with paint and with no regard for taste. The sun was high in the air but the light couldn't go through properly. It was a vision of hell and the distant howling of the undead made Jacky think of damned souls fruitlessly wailing against their doomed existence. 

So much dust and smoke.

To think that she had been inhaling this stuff for days.

Her eyes adjusted as the Gage's front lights turned on and flashed a bar of light forwards. They were in some woodland road flanked by trees. The Buyer's men attached themselves in a wedge-like formation. The Buyer himself was at the very tip of the spear, a silenced rifle in his hand. 

"Ya'll a hundred meters from the facility, Buyer," the Cowboy's voice spoke up through their comms. Jacky glanced up at the sky, trying to pierce at where their helicopter was. She could hear it in the sky somewhere but the cursed mist as she was going to call it now made trying to find it difficult. 

"Let's get this over with," the Buyer muttered as he turned around and nodded forward, rifle raised. His men followed behind, their own weapons raised. The Gage turrets whined as their gunners constantly rotated, covering every single angle they had. 

"Stay behind me," Roy quickly muttered to Elis and her. The two nodded quickly, taking the veteran's order to account. With a pounding heart, Jacky moved forward, her boots crushing the mud underneath her. 

The group advanced little by little, their nerves frayed constantly with the distance howling. But as they advanced closed and closer, the howling in the distance vanished. Jacky glanced behind at the folk in her rear. Some of the Buyer's men were on the flatbed truck, keeping watch behind them. If some creature thought it could get to them, it would be dead wrong. 

"Halt!" their radio cracked. They stopped quickly, the Buyer's men getting into one knee. Jacky followed suit, heart pounding in her chest, as the air froze with naught but their APC's engines. Then they heard it, the snapping of twigs in the distance.

Far ahead, the Buyer flicked the safety off his rifle as he glanced ahead. A shadow was coming closer, the outline of a man, and his hands were raised in a stiff manner. Immediately, he aimed his rifle a little bit higher and fired. The bullet arced forward and the shadow's head splattered before falling onto the ground.

Then, more shadows crept up. Some a little bit faster than the others.

"Suppressed guns for now. The rest of you, hold your fire," he spoke up into his comms before loosing constant but accurate shots into the crowd ahead. At his flanks, his men joined in. Howls came ahead as the shadows went in closer and closer but they were quickly dropped. 

"Loading," 

"Opening up,"

"Mag up," 

Far behind, Jacky's anxiety reached up as gunshots echoed ahead. It was suppressed by silencers, yes, but it was still loud. She glanced around towards the right, imagining seeing shadows but Roy held a hand against her shoulder. The gesture calmed her down, slightly. 

She forced herself to examine the situation. Despite the constant shooting, the Buyer and his men were calm. No screaming, no yelling for extra ammo like in the movies. They were calm and collected, as if they were in conversation and not fighting undead automatons.

"Fucking Christ," Elis swore for her. "Was this just like Vietnam, Roy?" 

Roy was quiet for a minute then replied. "No," he said simply. 

The shooting continued for what felt like forever until finally, their radios cracked again. "Clear."

Jacky allowed herself to sigh in relief. Finally, it was over. But it meant that they had to walk forward again.

And so they did, over a mound of corpses. 

She shivered as bones snapped and heads popped in place, the Gages not exactly graceful in its driving.

She should have left a week earlier. She would have been sunbathing in Venice Beach by now.

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A/N: Jacky is starting to regret coming along for the ride. Alas, she volunteered.