by Frost, Scott
We decided that we would wait until the following morning to leave. That evening we packed our supplies into our backpacks and into boxes. We wanted to take everything we could, as we didn’t plan on coming back. We each had a backpack and had a total of 4 boxes. The boxes contained everything we had from food to clothing. We packed cooking tools, salt and pepper, aluminum foil and just about everything we could find. I didn’t want to leave anything behind. But I made sure we left enough room to fit another person into the Jeep, and my hope was that Natasha would be that person.
After we ate dinner, Emma and Katie retired to the office with a candle. They giggled and laughed for hours. I envied their laughter. I sat with Clyde and Mary and we talked about the future or the lack of a future. We all agreed that we needed to do everything in our power to keep Emma and Katie safe. They are the future.
They did most of the talking. Clyde talked about how much gas we needed. Mary talked about how much food and water we needed. I remained silent, my thoughts were else where. We sat there for hours and I only spoke a few words. I nodded and made eye contact, but that was the extent of my communication skills. I envisioned a future, a new world, with Natasha and Emma. It was a beautiful thought. I could see us living in a cabin, somewhere down south, with a lake view. We would live off nature and we would slowly re-build the world. Not that I thought it would be the world we once knew, that world is gone for good. We would live and be happy. We would watch Emma grow into a beautiful lady and get married, and have her own kids. And Natasha and I would become grandparents. I tried to imagine Emma as a women, but couldn’t. She is my baby and that is how she will remain; just my sweet little girl with sun blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She would marry Harry Potter and stay innocent. Yes that was the plan. Of course, as I thought about that, I laughed at myself. That is every father’s hope, well, except for marrying Harry Potter.
Clyde and Mary fell asleep early that night. They fell asleep on their sides, Mary in front with Clyde holding her from behind. They shared a blanket and pillow and quickly fell asleep in each others warmth. It was a beautiful sight. Though, it made me miss Natasha that much more. I wanted to have that feeling again. I sat at the table and watched my family sleep. Emma and Katie had come out of the office and stretched out next to each other. The candle had burned down to nothing. Emma gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek before she crawled next to Katie. Katie gave me a smile and said goodnight. They were asleep in a matter of minutes. And then it was just me, wide awake, missing my wife. I wasn’t tired. I wanted a smoke. I wanted a new life.
Chapter Fifteen
The day we planned to leave I woke before the others and slowly moved around the kitchen, quietly, trying not to wake anyone. It was early, but I didn’t know how early. I looked through the cracks in the wood on the windows and saw that the sun was just starting to rise. Foolishly I looked at my watch, which had stopped keeping time. I couldn’t throw it away. It was a gift from Natasha. She had spent nearly two weeks trying to find the perfect watch for me. She landed on a stainless steel ESQ watch. And it was a perfect watch. Even if you take away the fact that it doesn’t keep time it’s still a perfect watch. Anyway, perfection is in the eye of the beholder.
Time doesn’t matters much anymore. I have no meetings to attend. Emma doesn‘t have ballet practice or any birthday parties. Time is irrelevant in this new world. All that matters is surviving, and each day the sun rises and my eyes open, even though I don’t know the date, or time, I’m happy that we’ve have made it through another night. I stopped keeping track of the date on Emma’s seventh birthday. What’s the point? Time is just a reminder of how long we’ve endured this new world. Which I guess is a good and bad thing. Bad in the fact that the world, that we once knew, ended so long ago.
Today is the day that we begin the next part of our journey. It was still dark inside the building and I stumbled into a table. I was both nervous and excited about leaving. I was excited because I wanted to find Natasha, but nervous because the inherent danger that was ahead of us. I had little belief that we would find Natasha, that Emma would find her mom, but I kept hoping for the best. Hope has kept me alive, I think. Hope for a better life for Emma. Hope that we would find Natasha. Hope that my family would stay together. Hope for a million things. Hope that I would be able to read the next Brian Keene novel, though it will most likely be about zombies, so I might have to take a pass. Hope that I would be able to watch the next season of The Office. It’s amazing what you hope for when hope seems to be lost; when the world seemed to have opened it’s giant mouth and spewed out a new world. A world of death. A world of plague. And so standing in the dark banquet hall I sat down feeling exhausted and remembered my dream from the night before.
I dreamed of Katie. And even though it was just a dream, I felt guilty. The dream started off with the two us locked in the attic. I’m not sure how long we had been stuck in the attic, but it felt like it had been weeks. We were both starving and had given up on surviving. In my dream when I woke up Katie was straddling me. She was on top of me and completely nude, as was I. I was in her and she was howling like she was possessed. For the longest time we stayed like this. Eventually her moans quieted down and her breathing slowed and she looked at me, but her eyes were hollow. She had the same look that the infected have. I didn’t move, partly because I was scared shitless and because I was still in her and her body weight was holding me down. The moaning started again, but it was a different kind of moaning; it was the moaning of the dead. She slowly lowered her face closer and closer, until I felt her stale breath on my face. I still didn’t move. I knew what was coming and I think I had accepted that it was time to close my eyes, for good. As her lips touched my lips, I closed my eyes, and when she pulled away from me, her teeth sank into my bottom lip and slowly ripped it from my face. It happened in slow motion. The sound of my tearing lip echoed in my ears. She quietly moaned, still slowly moving up and down, keeping me in her as she feasted on my lips. And even though I tried to free myself from her grip, I couldn’t move. Dreams don’t bother me as much as they use to. Occasionally I dream of Natasha, but she is becoming a distant memory in my dreams. I dream of Emma and Harry Potter, which always makes me laugh. Few things make me laugh these days so I take what I can get.
I carefully moved the barricade away from the door. Before I unlocked it I put my ear to the door and listened. I was rewarded with the sound of silence. We hadn’t heard knocking in over a week. I unlocked the door and opened it. It was a cool morning and the sun was bright. The sky was cloudless. The fresh air, God, had I missed the fresh air. I stood at the door taking deep breathes. I looked around but no one was to be seen.
“Maybe the infected moved on,” I said to myself.
Not that I believed they had. I knew they were out there, somewhere, waiting for food. They would eventually smell us and find us. But we had a vehicle. Melanie died while standing less than two feet away from the Jeep so maybe having a vehicle didn’t mean much. I packed the Jeep. I loaded the back first and then loaded the backseat, making sure to leave enough room for the ladies. Emma could sit on Katie’s lap. As I finished loading the Jeep, I heard Clyde call me name.
“Alex?” His voice was frantic. I quickly ran into the building and stopped when I saw him pointing his rifle at me. I froze, and immediately put my hands up.
“Hey. It’s just me, if you don’t mind point that someplace else.” I said, as I motioned at his rifle. He quickly lowered the rifle and walked toward me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sorry. I didn’t see you in the kitchen and when I walked out here all I saw was the open door and not you. I thought the worse. Sorry about the rifle thing. What are you doing outside?”
His voice was no longer frantic. He rubbed his eyes and used his thumb to wipe the sleep crust from the corner of his eye. He stretched his arms and took a deep breath.
“I couldn’t sleep so I figured I would load the Jeep. I don’t know abou
t you but I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to. I’m ready to move on. Once everyone wakes up I think we should leave. We need to find supplies and hopefully my wife and find shelter before dark. So the earlier we leave the better.”
He didn’t reply, but nodded his head. We walked outside. No signs of infected. No signs of life. I was happy for both. Clyde took a look in the Jeep.
“You should have got me up, I could have helped. But looks like you have everything packed. I just hope we find gas before we run out. I mean, what happens if we run out of gas. We will be in a world of shit if that happens. I hope we find some in this town. It’s a beautiful day. God, I miss days like this. I can’t wait until we find a house someplace away from everything, maybe by a lake, a house with a front porch that we can sit on and enjoy nature. I just can’t wait until we find a new home and get the hell out of here.”
I tried to imagine finding a new home and starting a new life. But, sadly, I couldn’t without Natasha. Though, I would have to for Emma’s sake. Clyde talked about our new home for the next couple minutes, and I nodded. He was excited. I wasn’t. My thoughts kept going back to Natasha. Once everyone was up, fed, and ready to go, we piled into the Jeep. We had just a little over an empty tank. As we drove away from the building, I closed my eyes and said goodbye. It wasn’t just a goodbye to the building but to Manteno. I knew that once we left, we would never go back nor did I want to. It was time to move on. The rifles were loaded and ready. We slowly drove around Manteno, stopping at every vehicle. The infected were walking around, always aimless. They came at us several times, but we were much quicker. We watched as they ate flesh from their victims. Some of their victims looked as though they had been dead for months.
After an hour and about ten vehicles, we found an old Cavalier with almost half a tank of gas. It was parked in an alley. Clyde turned off the Jeep and stood guard while I siphoned the tank. It was a slow process. I don’t remember how many times I filled up the gas can and emptied it into the Jeep. But it took a while. About half way through, I started coughing. My coughs were loud and painful. Clyde took over for a few minutes while I finished coughing, but at that point it was too late. I only had enough time to fill another gas can before the infected found us. I didn’t notice them at first. My head was dizzy and I felt nauseous. Clyde hadn’t seen them either. It was Katie who yelled.
“They’re coming. Get in the Jeep. Please get in the Jeep.” She screamed.
They came at us from all directions. The group in front of the Jeep was the larger group with about twenty. The group coming at us from behind us was a smaller group of about five. Clyde fired two shots and took down one infected. The other bullet hit an overweight lady in the chest. Her skin hung around her left breast and blood dripped onto her belly. Her nipple was gone, hidden someplace in her flaccid skin and blood. Her walk didn’t slow. I took aim, but then lowered my rifle. The group was still too far away and there were too many of them to kill. I emptied the last can of gas into the Jeep and put the gas can in the back of the Jeep.
Clyde fired another six shots and four more infected dropped to the ground. We jumped back into the Jeep and reversed down the alley. We made it to the street and he put the Jeep in drive and started to drive but quickly hit the brakes. We came to a dead stop. The infected were coming straight at us. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I didn’t bother trying to count this group. There were too many. Katie held Emma and softly sang to her. I didn’t know the song, but it was beautiful. Mary’s eyes were wide open. She frantically looked out the windows. Her eyes went from the windshield to the side windows to the back window. It was the first time I had seen her afraid. And to be honest seeing fear in her eyes made me uncomfortable.
“Come on we can’t just sit here and wait for them. We can find another way. The group coming behind us is smaller. Let’s just get turned around and head toward the country. We can jump on Route Forty Five and drive south. We have enough gas. Clyde snap the fuck out of it!” I screamed the last part. And it worked.
He quickly hit the gas and made a u-turn, driving in a front yard. He crashed through a white picket fence and smashed a fake plastic duck. We drove north and Clyde slowly drove the Jeep around the infected and the abandoned vehicles. And the bodies.
We made it less than a block when the road became undrivable. The street was blocked from sidewalk to sidewalk with several vehicles, but mainly the main section was blocked by a garbage truck. At each end of the sidewalk was a wall of trees. There was no way to get around the blockage. I kept my eyes in front looking for a way through. I also couldn’t take my eyes off the bodies. There were a dozen or so bodies. They didn’t look infected. They simply looked dead. I couldn’t tell how. I didn’t want to know. And then I caught sight of Jamie Kinson. His daughter and Emma were in the same ballet class. He was a nice guy. A typical guy that cared about sports way too much. And now he was dead, just like most of the world. I didn’t see his daughter. I think her name was Sasha. I could be wrong. I quickly scanned the group of bodies, but I didn’t see any kids. They were all adults. I silently said a prayer, not that it would help. There was no way through. We had to find another way. The group behind us was getting larger and closer. They were still one block away. But they were closing in on the last street we could turn down. Once they crossed that street we were stuck. I didn’t have to explain this to Clyde. He quickly got the Jeep turned around and hit the gas. The infected got closer but we beat them, barely. We took the turn too quickly and nearly flipped. We side striped an old pickup truck and Katie and Emma hit the window. Emma started screaming instantly. Katie was quiet, but kept her grip on Emma.
“Are you guys okay?” I yelled. Clyde hit the gas and kept driving.
Mary was the first to answer.
“Yes, I think we’re okay. Emma is a little shook up but she will be okay. Katie, how are you?”
“My head hurts, but I’ll be okay. I just want to get out of here.”
“Sweetie, are you okay?” I asked Emma.
In between her tears she said yes.
We drove east until we hit Route fifty. Once we hit Route fifty we turned right, southbound. Ten miles to Bradley. Ten miles until Natasha. We didn’t speak as we drove. I looked out the windows and tried to imagine what happened to the owners of all the abandoned vehicles. Route Fifty looked like something you’d see on a CNN special: Iraq War Footage. Only this was in Illinois. And the vehicles had no bullet holes. Some of them had been burnt. The thing that worried me that I didn’t see any bodies. No infected. No dead bodies. Nothing. We passed a motor home. It was a Winnebago, a stainless steel beauty. Not that I know much about motor homes, but I know the name Winnebago. It was parked on the shoulder, in the grass. I motioned for Clyde to pull over.
“Why on Earth do you want to pull over? We have no idea if it’s safe. I mean the infected could be hiding, waiting for us, or even worse, a group of crazies could attack us.”
“There might be supplies in there. We need food and water and anything else we might find. Just pull over and I will check it out.”
He gave me a look of worry as he pulled to the side of the road. I expected Mary to give me a few words of disapproval, but she kept quiet.
“Emma, I’ll be right back.”
If she heard me she didn’t show it. Her head stayed on Katie’s chest. I didn’t get out of the vehicle right away. I stared at Katie and Emma. Katie blushed.
“I think she is sleeping.” Katie said
“ Don’t worry if she wakes up before you get back, I’ll keep her calm.”
“Thanks. I appreciate all your help with her.”
“You don’t have to thank me. After all you saved my life, so it’s the least I can do. Plus, I love being with her. She is such a sweet girl.”
We smiled at each other and as I started to turn around, she blushed even more. I’m not sure but I think I blushed too.
“I’ll be right back.” I said to Clyde, with a grin. He understoo
d my grin.
“Don’t worry I’m not going anywhere. But if you hear the horn get your ass back here.”
“Deal.”
I opened the door and walked toward the motor home. My rifle was loaded. I listened for movement, but didn’t hear anything. I looked around the corner on the Winnebago, toward the door, but no one was there. In my mind I had envisioned a group of infected waiting for me. But there were no infected. I walked around the motor home and stood in front of the door. I took one last look behind me and once I was sure I was alone, I opened the door. It was unlocked. I opened the door quickly, and raised my gun, getting ready to fire. But no one jumped out at me. The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was the smell of death. A smell that I had gotten use to. I put my free hand over my mouth and nose. I walked up the three steps and looked into the Winnebago. Three bodies were on the floor, a man and woman who looked to be in the sixties, and a young child of about ten. They were motionless. The lady and kid had been shot in the head. I couldn’t see what had killed the man, but I saw a handgun lying next to his body. I didn’t need to see his wound. I knew what had happened. He shot his wife and grandchild and then took his own life. You can only survive so long before you give up. The old man might have been infected, and knew that if he turned into one of them, his wife and grand kid wouldn’t be able to survive. So his choices had been to take his own life, and let them suffer this world alone, and eventually be killed, a painful, slow death or die as a family. He had chosen the latter. I would’ve chosen the latter also.
