all the noise Rick had made with his antics hadn't done a thing to trim down the crowd of zombies surrounding the motel. Al scanned the area with binoculars. When he was satisfied he had found a good shooting spot for Rick he took them away from his face and pointed to a building about a quarter of a mile from the tanker truck.
“Drive down there to that car dealership. There's plenty of room to turn around down there so get your car facing back this way before you start shooting. When that truck blows, if it's full, there's going to be one hell of an explosion. Even if it's not full it should still blow pretty good. Get your ass back here as fast as you can.”
“That's a long ways off. You think I can hit the tuck from there?”
“Jesus Christ Rick you'll have Steve's 30-06. Can you do this or should we send one of the girls?”
“I can. It's just a long shot, sorry.”
“No, I'm sorry. Just keep shooting till you hit it. After you rupture the tanker you'll most likely need to shoot again to spark an explosion. Cindy and I will be on the other side of the motel blowing those cars. Wait until you hear three explosions before you start shooting.”
“Al sometimes cars don't explode when you set them on fire. They just burn. Don't they?” I said.
“That's why I'll be taking some grenades with me,” Al said with a smile.
How could I have been so stupid. Of course Al would take this opportunity to throw some of his beloved grenades.
“Steve you two stay up here and watch us with the binoculars. Radio silence unless you see something sneaking up on us. One of you watch Rick. The other keep a look-out for Cindy and me.”
“What if this location is compromised?” Gina asked.
“Well aren't you the little special forces operative,” Al smirked at Gina when he said this.
Gina gave Al a dirty look and I could see she was getting ready for a lengthy retort when Al held up both hands. He was learning. Sometimes surrender was the best course of action.
“That's a good point. If this location is compromised,” he said in a slightly mocking tone. “Rally point the park. Omega, delta, one niner.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
“Whatever you want it to,” Al said and walked away. “Sounded good.”
“Rick, that was my dad's rifle. Make sure I get it back,” I said.
“I'll be really careful with it.”
Cindy and Al took the hummer and Rick pulled away slowly in his new Challenger. The damn thing was still loud as hell and Gina and I would have to keep an eye out for zombies because of all the noise the exhaust system made. I could never understand the thrill people got from a loud car. Before all this happened I drove a Ford Mustang convertible it had a five liter engine and was fast as hell. But it was quiet. No glass pack muffler or anything like that. I didn't need people to hear me coming, just watch me fly on by.
Cindy and Al were arguing about something when they got in the Hummer. We could see her giving him hell about something and Gina had to find out what was going on.
“What's the problem Cindy,” Gina said into the radio.
“Nothing, everything's fine,” Cindy answered.
“If something's wrong we should be aware.”
“You really want to know I'll tell you,” Cindy said. “This asshole won't let me throw any of the
Learning to Kill: Stories