Total Apoc Trilogy (Book 2): Fighting the Hordes by TW Gallier Page B

take that look at him.
                "Hush, here comes Jake," I said.  Really, I didn't want to think about Olivia being commando.  I was wearing the same shorts I'd awakened in on day one of the zombie apocalypse.  That wasn't something I wanted to think about, either.  "How much fuel do we have?"
                "Half a tank," she said.
                That was more than enough to reach the armory, but not enough for a return trip to Emory.  My mind was already going beyond that, to how we were going to part company with Jake and company.  I'd like to have a full tank when that happened.  I glanced at the dark, smoky city.  There were possibilities of escape down there, too.  Heck, maybe we could even return to our apartments and grab some extra clothes and underwear.
                "Hey, man," I said before Jake could speak.  "We need to think about refueling before heading back.  On top of that our jerry can was shot full of holes."
                "I know," he said.  "I want to stop at the first gas station we find anyway and get some city maps."
                Military guys and their maps.  I knew the streets well enough to get us there.  Olivia and Ralph knew them just as well.  We all worked about a mile for the armory, though I rarely drove past it.  The Army Reserve armory was on a large street between downtown and Uptown.  Of course, if they had maps they might not need us.
                "Sure thing," I said, and forgot all about it when I looked past him and southward down the highway.  "Shit.  Are those the Deathdealers?"
                Jake followed my eyes and grunted.  Olivia jumped out of the jeep to see, and Ralph started cussing.  My heart raced as I looked upon two columns of motorcycles and RTVs topping the next hill back.  They had their headlights on, while we were driving without lights.  Again, some sort of military thing.  It really slowed us down.
                "Probably," Jake said.  "Hard to tell from this distance, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't them."
                "We've kicked their asses twice," Ralph said.  "What the hell do they want?"
                I wasn't so sure our second battle with them resulted in their asses getting kicked.  I was still battered and bruised, and ached all over, from that fight.  My ass was definitely kicked.  Yet, we did escape and killed a lot more of them than they killed of us.
                Jake headed back to his truck, telling us to mount up.  A moment later he ordered us to head out over the walkie-talkie.
                "I hate the Deathdealers," Olivia said, putting it in gear and starting forward.  "I think they broke my nose."
                Her nose didn't look broken to me.  Maybe it was a little swollen, but what did I know?  Ralph's nose kind of looked flattened it was swollen so much.  She did have a busted lip and a black eye.  I could only imagine what I looked like.  My face ached, but not as much as my left shoulder and right ribs.
                Ralph changed the ammo in the M60, mounting a full ammo can and racking the charging hand.  "Let's party like Green Berets!"
                The road was remarkable easy to see without lights.  Of course, we didn't have headlights glaring in our eyes.  Clouds blocked the moon, but Olivia didn't have any trouble staying on the road.  I found it a little amusing that she remained within her lane, despite no other traffic or police to give her a ticket.
                Old habits.
                The highway we were driving down went above the Loop.  So we slowed, allowing the convoy to close up ranks, before taking the off ramp to the eight-lane Loop around Carson.  Ralph and I were on alert, since it was a place we were forced to slow down and there were lots of places for ambushers to