by Bale, Sarah
“They’re trying to decide who is coming to Lawton.”
He snorted. “Shit. It’s an easy call. Get the guy who knows the most about weapons.”
Noah let out a cheer. “You heard the man. I’m the weapons expert.”
Harper replied, “You’ll be regretting this choice when you’re trying to carry an M2 Browning with the kid over there.”
This made Dave and his men laugh, so I assumed it was something big.
Noah crossed his arms. “Don’t be a sore loser, Harper.”
Dave added, “You’re more than welcome to sit in the back of the truck.”
“Fuck that. It’s freezing out.” He sighed. “Guess I’ll help Rocco out around here.”
I replied, “I’m sure Andrews and Amos won’t turn you down if you want to help them. Maybe if you put your heads together you can come up with some security measures here.”
Jeff poked Harper. “Looks like we have homework.”
Harper sighed. “Let’s go find them.” To Noah, he said, “Don’t fuck this up, kid.”
“I won’t, old man.”
This made everyone laugh.
I said, “Let’s get this show on the road.”
We made our way outside, where our truck waited. There were three cans of fuel in the back, which was more than enough to get to Lawton and back. After one last check of our supplies, we climbed inside. I drove down the back road, to the south gate where Amos was.
When I stopped, he said, “Everything looks good. We haven’t seen them in the area. Looks like most of them followed the decoy car.”
A surge of dread course through my veins. The decoy was Daisy. I was putting her in danger-
Grey touched my arm. “Don’t do that to yourself, Boss.”
Nodding, I said to Amos, “If we’re not back in three days, you know what to do.”
I drove through the gates, pulling onto the main road. Two biters roamed aimlessly around and I had to maneuver around them. It didn’t feel like a good omen for our journey.
Dave said, “Seems like they’re losing steam or something. When the outbreak began, the biters were more aggressive.”
Noah replied, “I don’t know about that. I think we just weren’t used to them.” He made a sound. “I’ll never forget the first one I saw.”
Noah
Elijah smiled. “Did you shit your pants when you saw it?”
“Almost. It was right after Dave brought Nikki to our hotel. She was still wearing a wedding dress, so he sent me out to find clothing for her.”
Closing my eyes, it was like I was right back in that hotel in Boston. Nikki looked so scared, standing in the room with us, her dress taking up damn near half of the room. Dave had told me to go find her some clothes, so I did. It was the first time I’d left the room and didn’t know what to expect. The lights were out, which wasn’t surprising, but the generators kept humming as they tried to kick on.
I made my way to the end of the hallway, where I’d seen a laundry room. Opening the door, I was greeted with the familiar scent of fabric softener and detergent. I opened the dryer, but it was empty.
Something banged on the door, and I jumped. Rocco stood there, grinning at me, like the dick he was.
I said, “Rocco helped me search the rooms on our floor until we found enough clothing for Nikki.”
Dave nodded. “We were getting worried that it was taking you guys so long. Thought we were going to have to come after you.”
They didn’t, though. Instead, Rocco and I searched the rooms until we had a variety of options for Nikki. We’d just met her, so it wasn’t like we knew if she was a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl or more prissy. Rocco would knock once before kicking in doors. Surprisingly, we didn’t run into anyone until the last room.
“Rocco kicked the door in to this one room. An elderly woman was standing in front of the bathroom, crying. When we asked what was wrong, she said her husband was inside, acting weird.”
If I’d known what we were walking in to, I would have turned around and went back to our room. Rocco knocked and the man inside made a sound. The elderly woman said he’d been sick, so we didn’t think anything about it. When we opened the door, the man stumbled out, snapping and snarling at us. Dark ooze dripped from the corner of his mouth and the scent coming from him was so strong that I gagged.
The woman screamed, which got the attention of the man. He lunged toward her, catching her on her arm. She cried out, trying to pull away. Rocco and I exchanged looks. We’d heard what it meant to be bitten by someone who was infected.
Dave asked, “You ended up taking them down, right?”
I nodded. “The husband had already turned by the time we got there. After he bit his wife, we had no choice but to take her down, too.”
Rocco grabbed the receiver on the phone and slammed in into the husband’s head until he went down. The woman sat on her bed, holding her arm and sobbed. She said she wanted to see her kids one last time and that her life wasn’t supposed to end like this. She was right – it wasn’t. Rocco got my attention. He didn’t have a weapon, but I did. I pulled my knife from my belt. She was talking to Rocco now and didn’t see me coming.
There were already dark streaks shooting up her arm and sweat beaded on her skin. I didn’t want to do this, but this poor woman deserved mercy. I used my free arm to hold her and slid the knife into the base of her skull, right above her neck. She jerked for a moment before slumping into my arms. Rocco patted me on the back, saying I’d done the right thing, but it didn’t feel like it.
I said, “I threw up after the woman died. I felt like a monster for taking her life. What if we were wrong and there was a cure?”
Grey grunted. “I think we all had thoughts like that when this all began. I know I did.”
I blinked the moisture from my eyes and asked, “What were you doing when it all began?”
Grey grinned. “Me? I was on my bike, doing a little canyon carving.”
Nine
Grey
I could tell by the blank-ass expressions on their faces that they had no idea what I meant.
“Canyon carving is hard, fast riding on twisty roads. Each turn might be your last. It’s damn fun, too.”
Boss asked, “Where were you riding?”
“My crew and I were up near the Ouachita National Forest, around the same area where people would go for the Talimena scenic drive.”
“Damn. That’s nearly four hours from here.”
And it was mostly backroads. I loved every minute of that drive. I was never a city boy, more at home with people who wore overalls and shoes were optional.
I shrugged. “There’s nothing like being on the open road with nothing but your thoughts. Course, when we got back to town all hell had broken loose.”
We’d camped in the national forest, spending our nights around a fire smoking some good weed and talking club business. Our motorcycle club was on the verge of taking on new members and we wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. It was also the same meeting where everyone would vote for the next club president, since our last one had gone to jail. Everyone assured me the spot would go to me and I was more than ready to take charge.
I said, “We were in that area for about a week. No cell phones, either. One of the guys wanted to go into town for a beer run, so I said I’d go, too, since my bike had saddle bags.”
When we got to the small town, it was empty. I’m talking not a soul in sight. We didn’t think much about it, until we got to the convenience store. There was a sign that said to take whatever we wanted, and may god bless our souls. Looking back, I wondered why we didn’t try the phone or even look at the newspapers on the counter. Instead, we took as much beer as we could carry and went back to the campsite and got shitfaced.
We probably would have stayed out there longer, but we ran out of weed. So, reluctantly, we packed our shit and began the journey back to Oklahoma City. The roads out in that area go between state highways
and roads through small towns, so it wasn’t unusual not to see anyone. When we reached the main highway and saw all the parked semis we wondered what was up. My buddy was convinced a tornado had come through the area. It was the only explanation for all the stalled vehicles and semis and, since Oklahoma was known for bad weather, we blindly accepted the theory.
“We fueled up and headed toward the city, not seeing a single soul. We did see a biter, but we didn’t know that’s what it was at the time. We figured it was just some drunk, walking in a field.”
Dave let out a laugh. “Bet that was a sight to see.”
“It was. We made good time getting back. When we got to Del City, we stopped for more fuel. This is when we found out what was happening. A lady was hiding in the gas station and called us inside in a frantic voice.”
She was crouched low to the ground and got our attention by waving her hands in the air. We thought we was on something, but we followed her inside nonetheless. She asked if we were crazy, being outside and making racket. One of the guys asked if she was the noise police and we all laughed.
“She grabbed my friend by the ear and drug him to the back door. When she opened the door, he screamed.” I shook my head. “She somehow had wrangled several biters into the back of her horse trailer.”
I never thought to ask, but I assumed the biters ate her horse. There was blood everywhere and not a soul or animal in sight. The biters snapped at us and we jumped back, making sure we were a safe distance away from them.
“We had no idea what the biters were and the woman explained everything to us. It didn’t seem real, but the proof was just on the other side of the door.”
We thought she was high at first. When she showed us the last printed newspaper, we couldn’t deny what was right there in black and white. The virus that had been spreading across the country had now turned into the beginnings of the zombie apocalypse. It was mind-blowing, but also made sense.
“One of the guys in my club wanted to go check on his mom. The woman at the gas station asked to come with us, saying she’d been alone for five days and we said she could. By the time we got to the city, we’d seen more biters. Hell, we almost ran into a horde near Moore.” I rubbed my beard. “Sadly, by the time we got to my friend’s mom’s house we were too late.”
He’d barged in without even knocking. The woman with us tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen. There, in the kitchen was his mom, or so we thought. When she turned, he let out a wail. His sweet mother had turned into a monster.
Noah asked, “What did you do?”
“We didn’t do anything. The woman from the gas station grabbed a knife and pushed it through the temple of the biter’s head, not caring that it was my friend’s mom.” I snorted. “That old gal was one tough lady. She stayed with us for a few months. Eventually, she took off with one of the guys. Guess she liked being his back warmer.”
I’d seen them cozying up to each other at night. When our food supply began to run low, several of the guys left. One day when I woke up, they were gone, too.
I went on, “We moved around, living place to place until we ran out of supplies, which happened faster than you might think, since we weren’t being smart about rationing.”
Boss grinned. “And then you met me.”
“That’s right. Ran into your group when you were on a supply run.”
Boss had been out with a small group of ten men. They looked uneasy when we pulled up on our bikes. Boss had asked what we were doing in the area and I popped off something smart. His men had looked ready to pounce on me, but he just laughed. Said he liked my spirit and asked if we were looking for a place to live.
“I’m still grateful you asked me and my crew to stay.”
Boss replied, “Thought it’d be better to have you living with us where I could keep an eye on you than letting you roam wild and free.”
Dave asked, “Why did you let him stay then?”
Boss answered, “He was scary as hell, but there was also something about him that I liked. I knew he would be loyal. Having him as a friend was just a bonus.”
I dabbed my eyes. “Gonna make me cry.”
Everyone laughed.
Boss said, “I’ve always wondered something. What you did before the outbreak?”
He would shit his pants if he knew that I ran a lucrative drug business. I didn’t like to advertise that part of my old life because people were still judgmental, even in the apocalypse. We ran drugs up and down the south, even dabbling in moonshine.
I grinned. “I was a one-percenter, so I never worked a nine to five job. But, I enjoyed the hell out of each day.”
“One-percenter?” Noah asked.
“Means I was in jail for a bit. Did some stupid shit, got caught, and had to pay the price.”
Boss grinned. “Still didn’t answer my question.”
“I did a lot of under the table shit, mostly.” I shrugged. “But it paid the bills.”
Boss replied, “I just pictured you as a bouncer or something physical.”
I laughed. “Thanks. I think.”
I glanced at the clock on the dash. Hilly would be going down for her nap about now. If I’d had that sweet baby girl before the outbreak, I would have tried to make something of myself. Something that would make her proud. God knows, Kat would have wanted to put Hilly in ballet lessons or some shit like that.
Boss must have noticed the look on my face because he said, “I’m sure they’re all fine and we’ll be home before you know it.”
“That lady of mine is tougher than nails, so I know she’s okay. It’s the little one that worries me. All the time.”
Kat would laugh at me, but I’d even wake up at night to make sure Hilly was breathing.
Dave said, “I think that’s part of being a father. Our dad used to worry about us, too.”
Boss replied, “You more than me. You were always his favorite.”
In all my time of knowing him, he’d never mentioned having siblings.
I asked, “So how come you never told anyone you had a brother, Boss?”
“Thought he was dead.”
That made sense. Seemed like everyone had lost someone these days. The thought made me frown.
“It’s times like this I wish I could just call and check on my baby girl.”
Noah let out a wistful sigh. “Cell phones. That’s a good one. I also miss watching movies in a theater.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Making a list or something?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s kind of depressing, but sometimes I like to say the things I miss.” He paused. “Popcorn from a movie theater with extra butter.”
My stomach rumbled at his words. Damn. Hadn’t thought about popcorn or movies in a long time.
Dave added, “Pizza and beer.”
“The evening news,” Boss said.
Dave groaned. “Now you do sound like dad.”
I thought. “I also miss being able to get a good bag of weed whenever I want.”
“I told you you’re more than welcome to try to grow some at the hospital, in one of the old buildings,” Boss said. “Might improve morale more than we realize.”
“I know. I might take you up on it.”
Dave let out a whistle. “Let me know if you do. I haven’t had a good smoke in a long time.”
Noah looked back and forth between everyone, looking a little uneasy.
I laughed. “Guessing the kid never smoked?”
Noah replied, “I’ve smoked. Just not weed.”
This got a laugh out of everyone.
I winked. “Don’t worry, kid. We’ll make sure your first time is real special.”
Noah’s face turned bright red. Poor kid was virginal in so many ways. Must be hard facing a world like the one we lived in not having much life experience.
Boss asked, “Anyone need to take a leak? I’m about to floor it to get us to the base.”
When no one objected, he sped down the old highway. It was st
ill strange not seeing other people out and about.
I asked, “Ever wonder how many people are left in the world? Did other countries fare as badly as us?”
Dave said, “Not sure about the rest of the world, but when we came back to the states, we made a pit stop in Canada. They were facing similar struggles.”
Noah let out a soft sigh. “Sometimes I have this dream where we find a place that wasn’t touched by the outbreak. The top of a mountain. An island. Anywhere safe.”
Boss replied, “Sadly, I don’t think such a place exists anymore.”
“Not even an island?” Noah asked.
Boss gave me a wink before replying, “Maybe an island.”
Maybe the kid was on to something. It’d been a long time since I let my mind wander. Felt strange and maybe even a little dangerous.
I said, “If we were on an island, the first thing I’d do is go skinny dipping in the ocean.”
Everyone laughed, but I shook my head.
“Think about it. When was the last time you took a dip outside, much less naked, without worrying about biters?”
Boss replied, “Daisy and I managed to skinny dip when we left Oklahoma. It was nice, but you’re right. We kept looking around, making sure nothing was coming.”
Noah shuddered. “If I can’t see the bottom of the water, I’m not getting in.”
“That’s smart of you, kid,” Dave replied. “If I were on an island, I would look for wood to make a fire.”
Boss asked, “Does this island have a building?”
Noah nodded. “Sure.”
Boss replied, “I’d make sure it was clear and then find the biggest bedroom.”
“Always thinking about sex,” Dave said with a shake of his head.
I didn’t blame Boss. I think we’d all do the same thing if we had the chance.
I said, “I’d find a spot on the sand to watch the sunrise and sunset with Kat. Every day.”
Noah smiled. “I like that. I’d look for shells to make Nikki a necklace or bracelet.”
Dave replied, “Always got to one-up us.”
