Chapter 10 – Hack Attack
Team Hacker charged into the fray first. They parked a few blocks outside of the established perimeter and set out on foot, weapons in hand.
YT couldn’t relax. Not just because of his role as squad leader, but because the whole thing reeked of a setup. Even if the feds were playing it straight with him, there was no similar guarantee from local law enforcement.
Nursie let loose with a burst of automatic gunfire almost as soon as she had stepped out of the vehicle.
“Woot!” she said. “I feel like fucking Tony the Tiger!”
“Crazy bitch!” YT said. “You’re gonna get us busted or killed!”
The neighborhood was again deathly quiet.
“License to kill,” she said. “Stop being such an old woman.”
“Don’t do it again,” YT said with authority. “Besides, do you have to make your love of animal sex public knowledge?”
Danielle looked momentarily confused, and then laughed.
“I get it,” she said. “Pun Tuesday like a motherfucker.”
“Hella, it’s Thursday,” YT said.
“So?”
A block out, they encountered a cholo and a red plaid-clad black dude, who said nothing but nodded them through.
“That guy was a for-really blood,” Nursie said to Chozo. “How exciting!”
“Ok, that’s basic,” Chozo said. “What about the other one?”
“Um, a Mexican?”
“Latin King. Didn’t you see the crown on his ball cap?”
“Oh,” Nursie said.
The next block was blacked out. Even the street lights were off.
“Creepy,” Nursie said to Sir-Up.
They walked past two corpses in silence. YT had his phone out, watching their progress on the map.
“The next block is Router’s. Expect trouble,” he said.
Halfway down the block, they spied their first zombie standing near some bushes, away from the moonlight. At least they hoped it was a zombie. They were going to kill it either way.
Nursie raised her machine gun, and YT put his hand on the muzzle and pushed it back down.
“Let Sir-Up get him. There’s no way you’d hit him from here.”
“Aww, dad,” she said.
To their surprise, he knelt down on one knee, gaining a steady aim and trying to take slight breeze into account.
“This ain’t the Olympics,” Nursie hissed. “Shoot the motherfucker!”
He ignored her and continued to fix his sights. Finally, he squeezed, and the zombie’s head exploded in a cloud of cranapple red mist. It fell to the ground backwards.
“Oh, fuck! Fuck yes! Sir-Up for the win!” Nursie said.
“Ten points,” he said, and YT logged it.
“Man, I wish I had designed this app,” he lamented. He was already making improvements in his head.
They held back to see if the gunfire would bring more zombies, but the coast was clear, so they pushed ahead.
Team Gangsta followed essentially the same pattern, but approached from the opposite corner, Thankfully, their arrival was less conspicuous. Zealous made sure everyone was locked and loaded, and then went over the basic game plan.
“Keep quiet and stay together. Don’t hesitate to shoot once we’re inside the perimeter, but be damn sure you have a clear shot, and you know what you’re shooting at. We don’t need friendly fire. If you have any questions, ask them now. It’s gonna be heated.”
“Not really a question,” Beefy said. “But I never shot a real gun before.”
“You’re kidding,” Zealous said. “You played Call of Duty, right?”
“Actually, no,” Beefy said. “I’m more into platformers and stuff. If we face zombies on a Dance Dance Revolution game, I’ll kick their asses in.”
“Damn,” Zealous said. “Take my shotty. It’s point and click, okay? If you’re within ten feet, you can’t miss. Anyone else?”
“I’m sick to stick like a John Woo flick,” Betty said. “Let’s kill somethin’.”
MC Wreckshin said, “I think all zombies have a right to life.”
Everyone stared at him, astonished.
“Just kidding,” he said.
As they approached the outskirts of the first zone, Zealous saw two figures and froze. But they weren’t zombies, they were crips.
“Zel?” Betty asked.
“It’s cool,” he said. “I still got that west coast mentality.”
As they passed by, Zealous said, “What up, cuz?”
“Peace, blood,” one of the two said in response.
Like Team Hacker, they found corpses at the borderline.
“These are humans,” Betty whispered to Zealous as they walked around them.
“They change back when you kill ‘em, remember?” Beau said.
“Oh, yeah.”
They heard the crack of a gunshot, and a bullet whizzed close overhead. The entire crew scrambled for cover, running in different directions. It came from a rooftop, and when they tried to get into position to shoot back, they received more fire, pinning them down.
The HT pulled out some binoculars just in time to watch Benjamin Bear sneak up behind the zombie on the roof and cut his throat, mercenary-style. He gave them a thumbs-up, and they pushed on.
Krondor Krew and Captain Dan’s raiding party approached from the other two corners. Team Krondor approached with ninja stealth, being so quiet they even made it past the gangbangers without being noticed. Shinobi made their first kill, decapitating a zombie with a bushido blade.
They slipped into a utility closet to contact Doc Pop and company to check the position of the other crews, since they were moving faster than everyone else.
“DP, go,” Doc said, not mincing words.
Shinobi said, “We’re on the outside of the apartments. Do you have a fix on anyone else?”
“You’re the first to contact us,” Doc said. “I’d hold your position for a few minutes, and I’ll hit you back when I hear more.”
The phones were set to vibrate, but everyone agreed not to communicate directly and run the risk of distracting someone who was in the middle of a battle.
Predictably, Captain Dan and the Scurvy Crew entered the skirmish like a bevy of drunken sailors. They sang pirate songs loudly, walking up the middle of the street, and drawing the attention of a pair of Salvadoran MS-13 who were posted on the west side.
“Keep it down, Holmes,” one of them said. “You gonna get shot.”
“That’ll not be happenin’,” Captain Dan said, and they staggered off down the street, looking for a fight.
