A Safe Place

by Frost, Scott

  Clyde knocked on the door.

  “Okay, it looks safe.”

  The door opened and Mary and Emma, holding hands, walked out. Mary took small steps, looking around and making sure it was safe. Emma was all smiles. She was happy that we were leaving. She wanted to find her mom. She carried a bottle of water in her free hand. She smiled a brave smile, but in her eyes I saw the fear she was trying to hide.

  “Okay, so far it looks safe. First we need to get to my car.”

  “You mean our car!” Mary interrupted and gave a quick laugh.

  Clyde turned around and looked at Mary, smiled, but gave no reply. We walked, Clyde in the lead followed by Mary and Emma, and I took the back. Clyde and I had the most firepower. Clyde slowed as we approached the lakes exit. The parking lot was littered with vehicles. Clyde moved slow, looking in between each set of cars, rifle in his hand. He raised his hand, motioning for us to stop. He dropped to one knee, and the rest of us followed. I looked behind us. It was clear.

  “Alex, come up here for a minute.”

  I walked passed Mary and Emma, and took a knee next to Clyde. We were sitting behind a 2006 Ford Mustang. He motioned for me to look around the side of the car. We switched positions, and I saw what made him stop. We weren’t alone. Not even close. I thought about grabbing Emma and running back to safety, but instead I watched. I counted seven infected. They weren’t moving; just standing looking at a house. They weren’t trying to get in. They were just fucking standing. It’s as though they were standing guard. I watched until Clyde tapped me on the shoulder

  “What the hell do you think they’re doing?”

  “I have no idea. Maybe they think someone is in the house. But even so they would try to break in wouldn’t they? That’s what they do. But they’re just standing there like someone told them to stand guard.”

  “Well what do you think we should do? Did you see how many are out there?”

  “I counted seven. And I have no idea what we should do. It’s not safe to go that way. I mean even if we outrun them, they will follow us, and that will make it hard to check cars for gas. Maybe we should go the long way around the lake and come back north a couple of blocks over.”

  “I don’t know. If there is someone in that house don’t you think we should help them? What if your wife is in there?”

  Before I had the chance to respond, he put his hand on my shoulder, and apologized.

  “Alex, I’m sorry. That was wrong to say. I’m just scared, and if there is someone in that house, I can’t begin to imagine how scared they must be. I think we should help them.”

  I took a breath before I responded, trying to calm myself down. If Natasha was in that house no one would stop me from saving her.

  “Look I agree. If we knew for sure someone was in there we should help them. But we don’t. And I don’t think it’s a good idea to put Mary and Emma in danger just to find out.”

  Mary and Emma leaned against a Saturn Vue about ten feet behind us. Mary kept her eyes on us. She couldn’t hear us talking, but she knew something was wrong.

  “Clyde I’ll stand here and watch. Find out what Mary thinks we should do.”

  “Okay.”

  He crawled back to where Mary and Emma were sitting. He knelt beside Mary. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I watched the expression on Mary’s face. She was afraid. I turned my attention back to the infected. They were standing, motionless, their eyes focused on the house. I looked for any sign of movement in the house, but didn’t see any.

  “Alex, come back here,” Clyde whispered.

  I looked at the house, and the group of infected, and then turned around and crawled back to my new family.

  We debated on our next move, and all agreed that it would not be safe, or wise, to follow our original path. We would have to take the long way. Clyde was not happy with this plan, but he knew it was the safest plan. He wanted to watch the house for a little while before we left, and look for any signs of life. We agreed, and while he kept watch, the rest of us ate breakfast. It consisted of canned potatoes and bottles of water. We each finished a can of potatoes and shared a bottle of water. After we finished eating, I crawled to Clyde, and knelt beside him.

  “Clyde we should get going. We need to get to your car and get the gas can and find gas. We don’t want to be outside at night.”

  Clyde didn’t respond. He sat there motionless, keeping an eye on the windows.

  “Someone is in the house. I saw them. It looked like a girl, maybe a teenager. I saw her face when she pushed the curtains open. I’m sorry but we can’t leave her to die. I know someone is in the house.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I knew he was right, but in the same regard, I didn’t want to help. We were out numbered. All of us, besides Emma, could take care of themselves but Emma wouldn’t stand a chance against an infected. And if something happened to me, what would happen to Emma. I debated the options, and finally decided that we could bring her back to the lake house, and have her stay there. But, what if something happened to us, and we weren’t able to go back for Emma. I couldn’t take that chance. I just couldn’t.

  “Clyde I agree that we should help, but what about Emma. She can’t defend herself against them, and there is no way I’m leaving her alone.”

  Clyde turned toward me. I could tell that he was thinking of a new plan.

  “Okay. How about this, Mary and Emma can go back to the lake house. One of us can try and get the infected away from the house, and the other one can sneak in the house and get whoever is in there out. What do you think?”

  Not half bad. I knew I would be the one trying to get the infected away from the house. After all I was the fastest. I could run past them and slow down until they started to follow. Once the infected were out of sight, Clyde could get into the house.

  “Two Problems. What if the infected don’t follow me and what if you’re not able to get into the house. I mean if someone is in there, they might be too scarred to leave, or let you in. And if the infected don’t follow me what are we going to do?”

  “I’d bet anything that they’ll follow you. They see you as food, and they need to eat to survive. I bet they are standing out there because they know there is food in the house, but they don’t know how to get in. And once they are gone, I will find a way into the house. Look, I don’t like this anymore than you do, but I think this is the only option we have. I can’t just leave without trying to help.”

  “Okay. Let’s get this done. I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to. Why don’t you go back and tell Mary and Emma, and I will keep watch.”

  With Clyde by my side, after getting Mary and Emma back into the lake house, I checked my rifle, and crawled to the first set of trees. My goal was to stay hidden as long as possible. If I could sneak to the other side of the road, and jump out at the last moment they would have no idea which direction I came from.

  As I knelt behind a tall weeping willow, hidden behind the tree branches, I could see the infected. Most of them were covered in dried blood, and missing chunks of skin. One of them, a younger girl, in her early teens, was missing her hand, and stood there naked, her skin bleached red. I closed my eyes and tried to shake the image. They hadn’t spotted me yet though I didn’t know how much longer it would take until they did. I waited for them to smell me.

  I crawled to a parked car on the road directly in front of the house and slowly crawled to a set of bushes behind the corner house across the street from where the infect stood. Luckily there was a fence lined with bushes that made it nearly impossible for the infected to see me. The house had a curved front porch. They would see me as soon as I walked into the yard. I crawled, keeping my body close to the ground, from bush to bush. I stopped at the last bush.

  I couldn’t be seen. It was clear. The smell of death filled my nose. I covered my nose with my hand, but it didn’t help. I went on my stomach and inched forward until I could see the group of infected. They were standi
ng there, same as before, watching the house. They hadn’t seen me or smelled me. I knew what I had to do.

  I counted eight in the group, my initial count was wrong. I hadn’t seen the kid that was in between two adults. The kid was young, around the same age as Emma. The plan was to jump out of the bush yelling to get their attention and run around them. If they followed I would keep running until I hit the next street. At that point I would turn right, and run in between houses until they couldn’t see me. The trick was getting in between two houses before they even made to the next street. That was the plan.

  I quietly got to my knees, and looked for the safest route. I took a deep breath and jumped out of the bushes, running as fast as I could. The group turned toward me, hungry.

  As I ran through the yard, I tripped on something that was hiding in the tall grass. I landed on my face. I quickly got up, and tried to run but my ankle started to hurt. I was moving slower than I wanted to. The infected moaned with an animal desire and closed the gap between us. They seemed to be moving faster. I got onto the street with no more problems.

  “Come on you mother fuckers. Come and get it.” I yelled, and flailed my arms up and down. They came after me. Every couple of feet, I turned around and watched as they got closer. I knew I wouldn’t have any problems losing them even with my ankle hurting. As I neared the corner, I quickly stopped. I stood there and saw a group of infected, a much larger group of about twenty or thirty moving toward me, coming toward me on the same street I was going to use as an escape route. I decided that I would have to take the alley to avoid the larger group. As I stood there, I turned around and saw that the group of infected that was standing in front of the house was quickly closing in on me. I watched as both groups got closer, and noticed that a majority of this new group were older people. It looked like I was being attacked by an entire retirement home. They were slow and clumsy in their walk. I jumped when I heard a gun shot. I turned back around and saw Clyde in front of the house, shooting the infected that were now walking toward him. He was yelling something, but I couldn’t make it out.

  “What the fuck is he doing?” I said.

  That was not part of the plan. I didn’t know what to do. No sense on trying to lose them now. They had already spotted fresh meat. The infected were closing in on me, and all I could do was stand there and watch Clyde. He moved quickly for his age. He shot the infected in their heads. He was a good shot. He took down three infected with three quick shots, their heads exploded and brains and blood splattered the other infected. They weren’t afraid. They kept walking. Clyde was out numbered, but putting up a good fight. He still had another four infected to kill. I raised my rifle and took aim at the infected closest to me. My first shot hit her in the shoulder; she slowed, but didn’t stop. I fired again, and this bullet hit her in the head. She bobbled, and fell down. I started to jog toward Clyde, using my rifle as a bat. We still two infected in between us. I was still about half a block away from Clyde. He took down another infected, but then his rifle jammed. He was running out of time, and wasn’t paying attention to the little boy that was closing in on him. Before I could warn him, Mary, carrying Emma, ran toward Clyde. She was yelling for him to watch out. He turned around and saw Mary yelling. He quickly looked around and saw a young boy, covered in blood, less than five feet away from him. He quickly swung his rifle at his head. He made contact, and his head cracked open. He slowly fell and hit the pavement with a loud thud. The second group of infected were getting closer. Mary took aim, and nailed one in the stomach, but it didn’t even slow him down. He kept walking toward us. Mary set Emma down and took aim. This time she nailed him in the head. I was furious that Mary had left the lake house. The plan was for them to stay there until we made it back. Mary knew I was pissed so she avoided eye contact with me.

  Mary, Clyde and Emma were standing together. The first group of infected were gone. Emma screamed and pointed. She saw the second group of infected slowly closing in on us.

  “Okay, we need to check this house and get the hell out of here. We don’t have much time…” Before I could finish, Clyde ran toward the house and kicked the door. It didn’t open. He kicked it again, but still nothing. I ran behind him, and pushed him to the side. I lowered my gun and shot the lock. I leaned against the door, but it was blocked by something. We both started yelling.

  “If you’re in there you need to come with us. There is another group of infected coming. We have someplace safe with food and water.”

  Clyde kept yelling, “Come on, I know you’re in there. I fucking saw you. We don’t want to hurt you, we are trying to help.”

  I looked up at the windows, and saw a girl looking back at me. I tried to smile, but couldn’t bring myself to produce even a small smile.

  “It’s ok. You can’t stay here. It’s not safe. We don’t have much time and unless you come with right now, we are going to leave you here.” I waited for a reply. Mary watched the infected get closer. I looked over at Clyde, and was about to tell him it was too late, and that we needed to leave when I heard movement behind the door.

  “Ok, I’m coming out. You’re not going to hurt me, right?”

  Clyde quickly answered.

  “No, we want to help. I saw you through the window, and knew that you needed help. But you need to hurry they are getting closer.”

  We listened as she moved whatever was blocking the door. She opened the door, but left the chain lock on. She looked at us through the small opening. She looked scared and uncertain.

  “It’s okay. We aren’t going to hurt you. We want to help. I’m Alex, and this is Clyde. Over there is my daughter, Emma and Clyde’s wife, Mary. If you want to come with us, you need to come right now.”

  “Okay.”

  She opened the door, and walked out. I guessed her age to be around sixteen. She was short and thin. Her blond hair was tied in a ponytail.

  “Hi, I’m Melanie…”

  I didn’t let her finish.

  “We can do the introductions later. We have company coming our way. We need to get out of here.”

  The three of us walked toward Mary and Emma.

  “Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but I think we should get back to the lake house. We have plenty of food and water and I don’t think they can get in. The doors look pretty secure. We can make a new plan to find gas another day. What do you think?”

  Clyde looked at Mary, and she nodded her approval.

  “Ok, let’s get the hell out of here.” I said.

  We ran behind the trees and crawled behind the car in the parking lot hoping to lose the infected. We reached the main gate, as the infected reached the road leading into the lake.

  “Was anyone else in that house with you?”

  “No, it was just me.”

  We reached the door to the building. Clyde went in first and checked the inside to make sure it was still safe. Before he came out, I saw the first sign of the infected. They had seen us and were coming straight at us. It was a large group.

  “Clyde, we need to get in. They’re coming straight at us.” I yelled.

  Clyde ran back toward the door and waved us in. Mary and Emma walked in first, followed by Melanie and myself. I quickly closed the door, and locked it. Clyde and I used all the tables we could find to barricade the door. We stacked several tables on top of each other and used as many boxes as we could find from the kitchen to add weight to the tables. While we checked all the doors, Mary took Emma and Melanie into the kitchen. Once we were positive that the building was secure we walked into the kitchen.

  The three of them were sitting at table sharing a bottle of water. As I walked into the kitchen, Emma turned around and ran to me. I lifted her and pulled her into my arms. We stayed like that for a while.

  “Don’t leave me again.” She said in her best adult voice.

  “I promise!”

  “Melanie, isn’t it?” I asked our new companion. She nodded her head, but didn’t speak.

  “W
ell, like I said I’m Alex, and this is my daughter, Emma.”

  Emma offered a smile and said hi. Melanie smiled, and said hi.

  “Hi, I’m Clyde and this is my wife, Mary. I’m glad to see that you’re okay. What happened to you? How did you end up in that house? How long have you been by yourself?”

  She looked around the table, and as she started to reply she started crying, her tears were uncontrollable, and her body shook as she cried.

  “It’s okay dear. You don’t need to answer. When you want to talk, you will talk.” Mary said, as she walked around the table and sat next to her. She put her arms around her. Melanie gave in, and wrapped her arms around Mary. She cried for a longtime, keeping her face on Mary’s shoulder. The rest of us looked away, and kept quiet.

  “Daddy, is she okay?” Emma whispered into my ear.

  “Yes, I think so. She’s just scared. Maybe later you can read to her.”

  “Okay.” She had excitement in her voice.

  Eventually Melanie stopped crying and thanked Mary. I opened a bottle of potatoes and fruit cocktail and grabbed a bottle of water and placed them in front of Melanie.

  “Here you go, you must be starving. Eat up.”

  She looked at me, and smiled.

  “Thanks.”

  She ate in silence. Clyde and I took turns standing guard in the open area. We could hear them outside pounding on the door. The door didn’t budge. Emma unzipped her bag and took out of her book.