Fiction – Ruth’s Story Part 12

Standing at the door, I realize that I should not leave my stuff so exposed. While there is a good chance that I am the only living thing skulking around, I do not want to push my luck. I slide my Kelty pack and Scottevest jacket off the counter.

Cramming the jacket in the shelves of the counter does not work. The jacket is just too bulky now with everything I have added to its pockets. My pack I slide into the luggage rack near the spot that I discovered it.

I decide to bury my Scottevest coat underneath several pieces of abandoned luggage. Hopefully someone looking in will miss it. I would be crushed if someone stole my B&T MP9. Thinking of losing weapons I realize that my POF AR15 strapped to the side of my pack looks out of place. Why I did not think to grab my weapons harness!

I shove the pack further into the pile and pull several other boxes and suitcases to cover and obscure it as much as I can. I do not plan to be gone long but I also do not wish to risk someone stealing my stuff. I saw plenty of that the previous five days as looters ran amok in the airport.

Even after the Washington Guardsmen shot a few looters, the sheer number of looters versus the few Guardsmen meant that there was not much the Guard could really do. Preventing looters is a nice idea but the Guard needed a lot more troops and a willingness to shoot panicked, desperate and unarmed people. Both things the Guardsmen lacked in copious quantities.

Peeling the tape from the door window gives me enough of a hole that I can peek out into the baggage claim terminal. The sun is fully up now and it looks like it is going to be a nice clear day. Ok this side looks clear let us check the other side. Will not do any good to sneak out the side door to realize there are a hundred zombies on the other side where I cannot see from this door.

Replacing the tape covering the shattered window, I make sure the door is still locked. Of course it is! But I check just in case.

Leaping the counter, I feel a lot better today. Two decent meals with some protein and sugar have really made a difference after several days of deprivation. Sleep even broken with nightmares helped a lot too.

Peeking through the horizontal blinds I cannot see anything moving around which is good. A corpse blocks the exit doors from closing. The body lays half in and out of the airport terminal. I cannot see much more than that. I wish I could see down the rest of the baggage claim.

Leaping back over the counter in my best imitation of a hood slide I go to the door again. I decide to peel the tape back again to check one more time. Nope no zombies moving around. Ok time to girl-up and get out there!

Sliding the brown plastic door wedge with my foot to the door frame I grasp the door handle and pull the door open enough for me to slip through. Grasping my Cold Steel shovel in both hands I take a quick look around the seats where I left Williams’ body.

Not seeing anything amiss, I slip outside the room and lay the door wedge so that the door does not lock and close behind me. Yeah sure I can get in a lot easier again, but I do not want any hesitation if I return pursued.

Satisfied the door is secure; I pat the Hi-Power slipped through my belt. I flip the safety off so that all I have to do is pull and shoot. I scoot to the edge of the glass windows around the front of the room and look around the baggage claim area.

So far so good; my goal is the rental car counters. I am hoping that they will have keys to several rental cars. The highway to the airport is totally fucked from what the Guard guys were telling me, but the highway from the airport is wide open.

If I can get a rental car and get it out of the airport onto the highway I may be able to get around. I may have to stay off I5, but I am hoping that I can get a rental car with a GPS system so that I can maneuver in this area although I am totally unfamiliar with the greater Seattle and Tacoma areas.

The Guard guys were telling me that even if I got on I5 going north into Seattle it was fairly open. Of course if I tried to take I5 north out of Seattle, I would run right into the zombie train wreck of a traffic jam.

Crouching by a pillar and keeping low I scan the area for zombies or living looters. Seeing neither I make a quick dash across the carpet to the Avis rental car counter and leap over it in a somersaulting spin.

Landing ready on my feet I bring my Cold Steel shovel up ready to smack any zombie. Seeing no immediate threat I pause a minute to let my heart rate drop and take stock of my surroundings.

Dark behind the Avis counter, and I cannot see in the little nooks and crannies. Grabbing my Surefire E2L out of my shirt pocket I turn it on low and shine it around. Nobody is present, and some thoughtful soul left the keys hanging in the lock of one drawer.

Sliding the drawer open I see it is full of contracts. Pulling the useless papers out reveals nothing of use. Next drawer is more like what I was looking for! It has several keys to rental cars. I take all the midsized and economy car keys.

I pass on a Ford six passenger van, a Dodge Ram half-ton pickup and a nearly new Corvette. Seeing the keys to the Corvette makes me miss my Lotus! Damn I loved that car! The Corvette would be fun but totally impractical.

I would consider taking the Dodge truck if it was four wheel drive, but its 6.7 liter Hemi engine will eat too much gas. I bet it would still be fun to drive though!

Next door is Hertz rental car company. I turn off my Surefire flashlight and look over at Hertz. Uh oh looks like one of the Hertz folks got themselves bit. There is a tall male zombie, looks Caucasian, maybe early 40s late 30s, desperately clawing at the locked door of the Hertz counter.

Hertz zombie can see me through the glass and he is desperately trying to get to me. As his arms flail against the locked half wooden and glass topped door, I see he has a big festering wound on his left hand which is missing a few fingers. I bet something latched on to his left hand, taking fingers and infecting him. Poor bastard!

He is not a threat right now. Thankfully, zombies have not figured out how to open doors so he is stuck. However I do not like all the noise he is making flailing around behind the counter. While he cannot make any verbal noise, he is making enough of a ruckus that he might attract attention.

Now, do I shoot Hertz zombie or attempt to club him to death with my shovel? I think one of these 9mm Hydra-Shoks will go through the glass. However, I do not want to risk it and waste ammo. I also do not know if these are the 114, 124 or the 147 grain bullets.

I doubt they are the 147 grain loading because that load is often a sub-sonic round for suppressor use that is OK in my weapons. Most likely these are either the 114 or the 124 grain bullets. I do not know if these bullets have enough mass to punch through the glass. While the shot will be muffled with my excellent AAC suppressor, the sound of the round smacking the glass could be pretty loud.

I ponder what to do as I watch Hertz zombie thrash in the area behind the counter. He is really starting to make some serious hullabaloo, I better decide quickly.