by Olah, Jeff
“Mason, we gotta get going. We’re gonna get you somewhere safe and take care of that shoulder.”
“Thanks Randy… thanks.”
As the enormity of the situation began to sink in, Randy left the group and walked over to his badly injured cousins. He stood over them and fired off two quick rounds, one into the lower leg of each man. Neither of them would be able to walk again anytime soon. They would have to crawl out of this park. That is exactly what Randy had intended.
He leaned in between the two and said, “That’s for Savannah… I’ll see you both in hell!”
The two brothers wailed in pain as Randy walked back to the truck and withdrew a double barreled sawed-off shotgun from his bag. He fired once at the gate; knocking it off its track and creating a large enough gap that the growing crowd of Feeders started to push through.
Randy placed the gun back in the bag and slid into the passenger seat next to Karen and didn’t say a word. He stared out the front window as she shifted the truck into drive and followed April out of the park.
William traded seats with Justin and sat holding the makeshift bandage against his friend’s shoulder. He was concerned as Mason’s condition rapidly declined and the color began to drain from his face. He knew they didn’t have much time and needed to move quickly.
As they turned out of the park and onto the street leading to their destination, William leaned forward and whispered into April’s ear. “I need you to get us there in the next few minutes. Mason has lost a lot of blood. It has slowed, but not completely and I need it to. Please don’t stop for anything, just drive!”
April didn’t say a word; she just pushed the pedal to the floor. She didn’t look back. She didn’t even check her mirrors, fearing the anxiety would consume her. She just drove, all the while praying for Mason to survive.
William continued to hold Mason’s free hand. He gripped it tight, trying to keep him awake. He spoke quietly to him, leaned in and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He could feel Mason’s pulse had begun to slow and feared their time was running out.
Mason slowly closed his eyes and his grip began to loosen around William’s hand.
End of Book One
The Dead Years
Book Two
TURBULENCE
38
As they rolled to a stop William looked out over the parking lot from the backseat, shook his head and cursed under his breath. The short distance from their vehicle to the rear entrance of the store would usually be just a short uneventful walk, although the growing horde of Feeders that stood in their way changed all this. With two members of the group having sustained serious injuries only minutes earlier, this was slightly more than they were ready to handle… mentally or physically.
If they even made it to the door, it would take a considerable amount of time to break in. They didn’t have the tools necessary to do this and would have to attempt to shoot at the door and hope to blow the lock apart. Making a run at this while trying to fight off the growing horde wasn’t going to work. There were too many things that could go wrong and William knew it. He looked down at Mason and cursed again. They needed to get him stabilized and the bleeding stopped within the next few minutes.
As Karen pulled the truck alongside, William looked at Randy sitting in the passenger seat, hoping he may have thought of some way out of this. Randy pounded his fist against the dash and it was obvious from the look on his face that he was just as frustrated. They were both thinking the same thing. There was no way to win this one.
Randy held both hands up looking back at William in a show of confusion. He also mouthed the words “What now.” William thought for a short moment and asked April to go around to the front of the building before motioning for Karen to follow.
As they drove forward, the growing crowd of Feeders began to move away from the rear entrance of the building in unison and toward their two vehicles. It looked less like they were hunting and more like they were being hunted. The Feeders appeared to be confused as they moved away from the building and scattered in all different directions.
Looking out toward the horde, Justin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“WAIT… STOP…”
“What’s wrong?” April said.
“Mom, look what that guy is doing.”
The rear doors to the sporting goods store were now wide open and there stood a young man holding a fire hose, aiming the high powered nozzle at the confused group of Feeders, motioning April toward him. She smirked at how odd this looked and even though they weren’t presently being attacked, she sensed that she needed to quickly head back toward the store.
Karen also turned the truck to the right and headed for the rear entrance following April, now navigating her way through the Feeders.
Heading in the direction of the young man who was still shooting water out into the crowd and over the two vehicles, they pulled as close to the building as possible.
With just enough room to open their doors, Karen and April stopped and looked for their next directive from the young man, who was obviously more focused on what the Feeders were doing than anything else. He looked back and forth out over the crowd, turned the water off and set the hose down. He then ran to the passenger door of the car carrying Mason.
Swinging the car door open, their new friend looked around the car at everyone with his attention coming to rest on Mason. His eyes grew wide and his face instantly began to turn red. He sat in silence for a moment before swallowing hard and remembering the direness of their current situation.
Shaking it off, he looked around the car again and said, “Let’s go, grab what you can, they’ll be right back on us any minute now.”
William opened his door, immediately followed by April, as everyone else jumped out and started to grab what they could. Randy headed to the back of the truck as Karen began stuffing what supplies she could into the bags that had fallen over.
“Hey kid,” William shouted.
“Adam… Adam’s the name.”
“Adam, can you give me a hand over here?”
“Sure thing!”
Adam rounded the rear of the car with Justin only steps behind. Randy and Karen continued to gather supplies from the rear of the truck as April helped Savannah out of the passenger side and into the store.
The Feeders had turned back toward them and were now only moments away as William slowly began to pull Mason’s motionless body from the car. The others made it inside with what they could carry as the Feeders reached the truck.
Adam swung in to help carry Mason. He grabbed both pant legs and moved forward as William walked backward, hands firmly locked around Mason’s torso. Adam looked as frightened as anyone William had ever seen and he wasn’t sure if it was due to the Feeders that were rapidly approaching or the fact that he was staring straight down at Mason.
“Sir, is he dead?”
“No, but we don’t have a lot of time,” William said.
As they neared the door, William called out. “Randy, did you get the guns, we need some help?”
“Guns… You guys have guns?” Adam asked.
Randy passed the two men carrying Mason as they reached the doorway and said “Way ahead of ya!” He pulled out the shotgun and reloaded it as he moved around Adam and took cover between the two cars.
Feeders were quickly approaching from behind the cars and Randy made short work of them as he fired off two blasts and then reloaded multiple times. Looking back to insure everyone made it inside safely, Randy noticed one of the remaining Feeders had broken off from the pack, making its way around the other side of the car and was nearing the store. He calmly walked over and met it halfway, raised the barrel to the side of its head and squeezed the trigger, spraying flesh and bone fragments against the side of the building.
William guided Adam around the empty racks and boxes that covered the floor until they found a spot to lay Mason on the ground. They found an area of the stockroom where the sky
lights from the roof were directing their rays right over them. If he was going to get the bleeding stopped, he needed to be able to see what he was doing.
Adam made his way back to the doors and pulled the hose hand over hand until the entire length was back inside. Randy rushed in after him, and closed and secured the doors before the next group of Feeders had a chance to bear down on them.
April was only steps behind, all the while shouting for them to hurry. The tears continued to roll down her face as William began to bark orders.
“April, go with Randy and get as many towels as you can find. Kid… uh, I mean Adam; I need a camping stove and the thinnest hunting knife you can find. Bring it here and fire up the stove.”
“Will do!” Adam said.
April and Randy ran off toward the beach supplies and Adam left for the camping gear. William knew he really didn’t need the towels as he was able to find the source of the bleeding and had his thumb pressed into it. He just needed to cauterize the source and sterilize the wound.
Mason’s pulse began to strengthen as he blinked his eyes. He screamed out in pain, arching his back as William pushed him back down to the floor. He whispered into his ear. “Stay calm buddy, we’ll have you fixed up in no time.”
Karen stood behind watching as William looked around in a panic. She said, “I didn’t forget,” as she handed him the large bag of medical supplies he packed into the truck earlier that morning.
“That’s not it,” he said. “Where’s Joe?”
39
Randy hurried behind April as they began to search row after row for towels. They were in the wrong section and she could see that they needed to get to the other side of the store. Randy had already noticed this and decided to take a shortcut through the racks of clothes that were still upright in the middle of the store. April hurried to catch him.
As they reached the area that used to contain the water sports equipment, it looked like a bomb had gone off in that corner of the store. Beach chairs, water toys and surfboards littered the area. Randy dug through a pile of wetsuits and life jackets with no sign of any towels. April, now down on all fours, sifted through the giant mess of beach and lake gear directly in front of her. Her face began to turn red and her pulse quickened as beads of sweat rolled down her face. Mason needed her and time was slipping away.
“I can’t find a damn thing, not one towel. You having any luck?” April asked.
“Nope, not one towel or blanket or even a tissue.”
Panic started to set in as they both got to their feet and looked around the store for another area that may have what they needed.
“Where else can we look?” she asked.
“April, follow me.”
Randy took off running and she had a hard time keeping up; luckily it was only a short distance before he slowed again. They almost ran down Adam exiting the camping and hiking area. He grabbed the kid by the arm as he was getting the last of what he needed for William.
“Hey kid.”
“Adam!”
“Yeah Adam, where are the blankets?”
“Just behind the backpacks over there,” he replied, pointing to the back wall of the store.
“Thanks,” Randy said, as he and April moved around the section that housed the kayaks and canoes.
. . .
Pointing in the direction of the exit doors they just came through, Karen assured William that Joe had made it in safely.
“He’s over there with Mason’s boy helping that young woman who was shot in the leg. Everyone made it inside. I took a head count before we closed the doors.”
“Is she bad? I can help, although not until I get Mason taken care of.”
“She will be fine. I took a look and the wound is superficial. It looked much worse before we cleaned her up. She just needs it sterilized and wrapped. Joe is taking care of her. You just worry about your buddy here.”
As Mason’s breathing began to normalize, he opened his eyes and was surprised to see William kneeling over him. He furrowed his brow in confusion and wasn’t sure what happened or where he was.
“William… what…”
“Save it. You’ve been shot. The bullet went straight through and didn’t hit anything major. So, we won’t need to go digging around for it.”
“Ok…” Mason said.
He tried to raise his head enough to look around the room for April and Justin. The pain was just too intense and caused him to lower it back to the floor. William calmly explained that his family had made it there safely as well.
“They’re both fine. I need you to do me a favor. What’s the pain in your shoulder like right now… on a scale of one to ten?”
“Not too bad, it’s kinda numb. Like maybe a five.”
“Alright, that’s good. You have a pretty high tolerance for pain.”
“Why is that good?”
“You’ll need it for what comes next.”
. . .
April made it to the shelves first and grabbed as many of the fleece blankets as she could carry. Randy gathered all that remained.
“Let’s go,” April said.
“Right behind ya…”
As they began to run, April couldn’t shake the feeling that she should have insisted that Mason not leave them last night. She ran through the scene in her mind over and over, each time cursing herself for not being more firm. She told herself that if she got him back, she wouldn’t let him leave her ever again.
She stopped running, turned and stared directly into Randy’s eyes. There were no words that could match what she was feeling at the moment. She wanted to speak but couldn’t.
“April… I’m sorry for what happened to Mason. I know that you have never liked me and I don’t blame you. Mason is here because of me and I will do anything I can to make this right.”
“Make it RIGHT? You wanna make this right. Go fix him… Go fix him right now. I want my husband back. I don’t care about anything else. Just FIX him!”
Randy didn’t speak again. He put his head down and started toward the stockroom again where William was tending to Mason.
Coming through the door first, Randy laid the blankets next to William. April followed and moved to the other side of Mason. She knelt down and whispered into his ear. She squeezed his hand and told him that she loved him. She said she was sorry for everything that happened in the past and would never again let anything tear them apart.
William desperately needed to get started. “Randy, please take everyone out into the store and look for supplies we can use out on the road. Karen is going to help me stop Mason’s bleeding and I don’t want anyone here to distract us.”
“Sounds good… Let’s go,” Randy said.
Justin stopped long enough to give his father a kiss on the head, grabbed his mother’s hand as she stood and walked out of the stockroom.
Joe took Savannah’s hand and the pair followed the group, limping out into the store. Savannah wasn’t sure if she was the one being helped or if she was the helper as Joe seemed to struggle to even keep up the slow pace at which they moved.
William looked over at Adam as he held the blade of the ten-inch hunting knife over the open flame of the camping stove.
“Did you remember to wipe it down with the rubbing alcohol first?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good, is it ready?”
Adam held up the knife, pointing out the tip. “I think so?”
“Great… I’ll take it from here. You can head out there with the others.”
“Ok.”
Adam handed the knife to William and made his way to the doors.
“Adam.”
“Yes?”
“You did great kid,” William said.
“Thanks.”
Karen took the spot earlier occupied by April and sat on the ground. She took Mason’s hand, looking into his eyes. “Sweetie… my name is Karen and I’m going to help William fix you up. You’re in good hands.”
Maso
n tried to focus on what she was saying as the pain came rushing back. “Thank you.”
William held the knife over the flame a few seconds longer as he looked back at the wound for his target. Once he found it, he moved his left hand away replacing it with the red-hot tip of the blade. Mason screamed out in pain and closed his eyes once again.
Karen looked up and shook her head. “He passed out.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s good.”
“Why is that good?”
“Because I lied to him. There is still a fragment of the bullet in him that I need to dig out.”
40
The doors swung open as Mason’s scream bounced off the interior walls of the store, causing everyone to turn. Their attention now on the stockroom, the group watched as Adam came through the opening alone. April was afraid to ask what was happening since she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer. She had only left his side moments ago and was trying to ease Justin’s worries about his father, even though his concerns echoed her own.
Randy sat on the floor, checking on Savannah as he talked with Joe, making introductions and small talk. He asked about William and Karen and the initial hours of the outbreak. He loved the way Joe told the stories and felt an instant bond with him. Randy never seemed to care very much for the older men in his life, starting with his own father all the way up to his superiors in the military. He hated being talked down to, but Joe appeared genuinely interested in what he had to say.
“Randy, those were your cousins that caused all that mess back at the park?”
“Yeah and her brothers,” Randy said, motioning toward Savannah.
“Stepbrothers… and they were terrible human beings before all this madness. What happened yesterday just turned them into monsters, they had no remorse.” Savannah said.
“So, you two are actually blood related?”
Savannah smiled. “Yes, and if it weren’t for him I’d probably be dead right now.”
Randy raised an eyebrow and also smiled. “I’m glad you’re ok, but I know you can take care of yourself when you need to.”
