by Thomas Baker
Through the trees, Alan saw the grey and black clouds rolling closer to them. The clouds had been building, the sky darkening most of the afternoon. The sprinkles were beginning to intensify into a light rain.
"Yep, could be a rough evening boy and girls." Gus said.
Dusty shot Gus a look for his comment. Alan guessed that since everyone was just getting calmed down, Dusty didn't want them getting all riled up again.
"Some of these people won't know how to weather a storm if it gets bad. We need to prepare to ride this out. You got any ideas, Alan?" Dusty asked.
Alan looked at Dusty for a moment. Without a word he went back into his little one-man tent. He came back out with a used roll of slim white rope and a few bungee cords. He simplywent to work tying the three tents to nearby trees and attaching the cords from tent poles to the stakes, holding them in the ground.
"Alan you need some help?" JT asked.
"This needs to be done right. I'll handle it," Alan plainly answered. "It would be a good idea if the four of you grabbed that roll of trash bags we took from the gas station and tried to keep things dry."
"Come on you three," JT scowled, grabbing the trash bags.
Alan continued to work away as the rain began to pick up. The others stuffed anything they didn't want soaked into the trash bags.
"You guys should also put them under your bedrolls, unless you want to sleep on the wet ground," Alan shot at them.
The rain began to intensify. The sky grew a threatening greenish color. The fire began to sizzle and smoke.
"Well, which one of us unlucky bastards gets first watch toni-" Gus started.
"I do," Alan answered, not letting Gus finish his question.
"You sure? I ain't afraid of getting wet," Dusty offered.
Gus let out a bellowing laugh. "That's what she said!"
Dusty and Alan just looked at him and shook their heads. The first rumble of thunder rattled off in the distance and the wind began to pick up.
"I've got a real bad feeling about this," Dusty said, making his way towards the tent he and Gus shared.
"You and your bad feelings," Gus fired back, falling in behind Dusty. "If you don't think we're being watched, then you think were about to be gobbled up by the dead folks. If it's not the zombies, it's something else."
Dusty didn't respond. He ducked into the tent with the trash bags in his hands.
Alan finished up securing the tents as the storm really got underway. Stoically, he reached into his tent and pulled out a cheap little clear rain poncho.
"Alan, if this gets too haywire you jump in your tent, we'll be alright," Gus said, patting him on the back.
Alan paid him little attention as he sat down on an overturned five-gallon bucket.
"Alright then. I tried," Gus muttered going inside himself.
A loud clap of thunder made Alan jump. Christ how long have I been out here? Alan thought to himself as he drifted in and out of the past and the present. Every crack of thunder would make Hannah or Ashley squeal. In his mind the lines between the sounds coming from the tent would blur between his little girls in the past and the current young women of the crew.
The sky lit up, forks streaming across the sky. Again it reminded him of his little girls. How they would bashfully come into their parent's bedroom and say the storm was too scary to stay in their own rooms. Alan found himself smiling at the warm memory of his girls crawling into bed between him and his wife. Back in the days when his life was normal. Back before his life was taken away, before the Outbreak, before all of this.
Alan closed his eyes as the rain poured down around him. He could feel himself wanting to relive that last morning again. The last he saw of his family.
His eyes shot back open at the loud crackle of a nearby lightning strike. It was followed by a booming clap of thunder. He felt like his eardrums were going to blow out. The shower of sparks just a couple hundred feet away drew his attention.
"Alan! You OK, pal?" Gus asked, crawling out from the tent. He was soaked in an instant, without the protection of rain gear.
Alan didn't answer. He looked at Gus, gave him a nod and then pointed towards what he assumed was a flaming tree top in the distance. It was hard to see far in the sheets of rain.
"I need someone to relieve me," he finally said.
"I figured you might have relieved yourself after that," Gus joked.
Alan didn't acknowledge the joke. He went into his tent, grabbing his crowbar and the rifle that Gus had gifted him. He headed off into the trees towards where the glow was emitting from. He wanted to make sure if the lighting did start a fire thatit wasn't in danger of spreading their way. He half suspected it would be out by the time he got to the spot it struck in this torrential downpour.
"Well alrighty then Al, be safe out there," Gus called out.
"I'll take watch," said JT, who at some point had also come out from his tent. He had taken a garbage bag and made it into a makeshift poncho.
"Where is he going?" JT asked, watching Alan stalk off.
"Maybe he is reallySmokey The Bear, and he is off to prevent a forest fire," Gus snickered.
"You're one funny son of a bitch Gus," JT laughed, grabbing Alan's bucket seat.
No sooner than he had left camp, Alan decided to go back. The wind reallypicked up, pushing his hood back. That worried him more than the threat of fire. The tents were flapping in protest and the sudden sound of corn being popped was all around him.
"We've got hail!" Alan shouted.
At first it was a steady stream of pea size hail, then came the half mixture of marble sized and by the time it had turned to quarter size Alan watched JT dash back the few feet into his tent. Alan strode to his tent, even though he didn't think it was going to offer much protection if what he thought might be coming did arrive.
The wind howled, sounding like the shriek of a dying woman. It swirled around the campsite as the onslaught of hail continued. The rain had almost been completely replaced with hail. Alan didn't think the tents were going to take much more of this.
"Are we safe in here?" He could hear Ashley frantically asking. She had to raise her voice just to be heard over the storm.
"Safer than outside." JT offered her as an answer.
Yes but for how long.
Two loud, quick cracks came from outside.
"Was that thunder or gunfire?" shouted Dusty from another tent.
Alan came back out as Dusty unzipped the door of his tent and crawled out, joining him. The hail stung everywhere it struck him. Alan was just about to go back inside. Without warning the hail turned back into a heavy downpour. The heavy thunder and lightning returned. Alan closed his eyes and listened for the out-of-place cracks he had heard. Maybe it really was thunder. It would be almost impossible to tell now. The wind was gusting even more now. It felt like at any moment the tents were going to be blown away. Through the lightning flashes, Alan thought he saw something.
"What is that?" Alan asked Dusty. He was prettysure what it was he saw. He could feel the manic anger rising in him. Already his breathing increased.
"I thought I saw something too. A deer maybe?" Dusty replied.
The next round of flashes revealed it wasn't a deer, or any other kind ofanimal.
"Fuck! We've got dead!" Dusty yelled, pulling his knife out. The zombie was coming into the clearing. Dusty charged it. The zombie didn't make a sound as he drove his knife into its skull.
To Alan that was one of their more disturbing traits. He would rather they moaned or made some kind of noise like in those terrible B movies from his childhood. That would be preferable to the dead silence.
"Big boy, you can come clean this up. This was on your watch," Dusty said as he turned back towards the tents and gasped.
Zombies were coming in from the other sideas well. One was practically right on top of Gus's tent. Five or six more were closely behind it.
"Everybody out!!" Dusty ordered. "We've got company!!"
&
nbsp; Everyone clamored out of their tents as quickly as they could. People scrambled in the mud. Alan pulled his flashlight, turning it on and waving it around. Trying to get some light so they could see to fight. The rain began to taper off a little.
The closest zombie fell over Gus's tent, collapsing it down on top of Gus as he exited, pinning him to the mud. JT was quick to react, coming to Gus's rescue. He kicked the zombie in the side of the head. Its face sunk in from the force. JT pulled Gus up and away from the wreckage.
Alan spotted a blur of movement through the trees. He followed it with his flashlight. His eye's widened when they fell in his beam.
"Run! Fast movers! Go!" Alan yelled, as the lightning continued. It lit up the horde of dead faces now pouring out of the trees, like the rain from the sky. Alan was horrified. Hailstones were stuck in some zombie's rotted skin, like engorged whiteheads. Others looked like the hail had smashed away what was left of their features. Their faces sagged this way and that, sinew and bone hung out of the open gashes.
"We have to go now, before we are completely surrounded!" Alan shouted. He swung his crowbar at a zombie dressed in business casual attire, ripping a gaping hole in the side of its head. It felt good, smashing the zombie. It always did. The zombie dropped, creating an opening.
"JT, Dusty! Get everyone going this way!" Alan shouted, waving his unarmed hand wildly in the air.
JT grabbed Hannah by the hand and started to run. She in turngrabbed at Ashley, who wasn't next to her anymore. She saw Ashley was clinging to Tyrone as he took off towards Alan.
"Well this don't look too good for me," Gus said, feet sliding around. Covered in mud, it was hard for him to gain traction.
Gus quickly got left behind by the younger group. Alan stood his ground. He was not going until everyone else was out of the clearing. He kept waving each person past as they scattered into the woods.
Alan grabbed Gus by the arm and pushed him down. A runner met a face full of Alan's crowbar as it tried to get Gus. It landed with a thud into the mud, crowbar stuck in its head. Alan snarled. He pulled his crowbar out of its face. He pushed Gus along ahead of him, trying to look everywhere at once, light diminished in the dimness. Ahead he heard Hannah.
"Please! We have to wait for everyone."
"We have to live," JT answered.
"We won't if we don't get going!" Dusty said.
"We're here," Alan announced, letting go of Gus. "Where are Tyrone and Ashley?"
"I heard Tyrone yell at Ashley to head to the road," Hannah said.
"Let's go!" Dusty charged off.
They crashed through the trees and came out into the grass beside the road. Alan raised his flashlight high.
"There," he said, stabbing his light to the left.
Tyrone and Ashley veered on and off the road, racing towards Alan. Ashley was struggling to keep up. She was gripping Tyrone's shirt, pulling and stretching it out. A zombie raced out into their path. Tyrone changed course so quickly, Ashley lost her balance. She fell hard half on and half off the road. Alan flew to them, oblivious to anything but the need to kill the zombie. As he got closer Alan could hear her sobs of pain.
The zombie was on top of her, dropping in a gangly manner. She tried to squirm away, but it grabbed her by the ankle. She cried out in pain. Alan's teeth were bared as he closed the gap. Tyrone was trying his best to pull the dead thing away from her. Alan could see its rotted teeth working, just aching to bite into her leg.
The zombie thrashed as Tyrone tried to stomp on its head. In the chaos of the night, Tyrone had brought no weapon. He did his best trying to keep the zombie from getting Ashley. Tyrone was so focused he wasn't aware of another zombie closing in on him.
"Tyrone look out!!" Ashley shrieked.
Tyrone turned. A zombie, naked except for a blood soaked neon yellow safety vest, lunged for him.
"I got it! Keep the other one off Ashley!" Alan yelled. He was nearly to them, his side burning and heart pounding. Tyrone kicked at the one on the ground while also dancing out of the other zombie's reach. The sound of a gun report filled the air. Dusty had shot safety vest zombie right in the forehead, dropping it. Alan shifted, homing in on the zombie attacking Ashley. With a vicious downward swing, he decapitated Ashley's attacker.
"That's what I'm talking about! Yeah boy!" Tyrone cheered, pumping a fist in the air.
The rain slowed to a pitter patter on the wet concrete. Alan was just about to declare it was all over when the dead started streaming out of the woods. Drawn by the gunfire? Alan wondered.
The dead were now forty to fifty deep. Where the zombies emerged from the forest, they had cut off JT and Hannah from the rest of the group.
"Shit, here we go again," Gus whispered, sounding defeated.
JT and Hannah slowed to catch their breath. JT looked back, he couldn't see any zombies or anyone else from the gang. Again the storm which had turned to a light rain, began to ramp up around them.
"We need to find some type ofshelter. A place to hide until the storm passes. We're too vulnerable at night as it is. Now we have no light, no weapons, and who knows how many dead fuckers are out here now." JT felt totallyscrewed. All he could think about was that line from Aliens, 'Game over man, game over'. He wasn't going to give up that easily though. It wasn't in his nature.
"What about everyone else? What about Ashley? We have to find her!" Hannah said, her voice high pitched.
JT couldn't tell if Hannah was crying or if it was rain running down her cheeks.
Hannah screamed at the snapping of a nearby tree limb. It crashed to the ground. The wind was blowing in vicious waves. The trees swayed under the punishing burden. JT knew they had to move.
"We will find her. I promise. She is with Gus, Dusty, and Alan. She will be fine. They will take care of her. We have to worry about us staying alive to find them. OK?" JT said, reassuring her.
Hannah nodded as she wiped her face and JT pulled her in close. The rain died down again, and the wind dropped to a modest level. The storm seemed to have finally blown itself out.
"Trust me Hannah, we have to move," JT said.
Hannah put her hand in JT's. They stumbled in the near total darkness, following the road. At an underpass, they came upon an old rusted out van. It had no windows and was missing both front doors.
"This will have to do," JT said. "At sun up we will look for the others, but for now let's get out of the rain."
Opening the back doors, JT helped Hannah climb into the back of the van. Inside, they both leaned up against one wall. Hannah didn't hesitate to cuddle up right next to JT. Her head laid on his chest moving up and down with each breath.
"Promise you won't ever leave me behind," Hannah said. She pulled JT's hand up under her chin and held it tight.
JT did not reply. He held her tight as he relaxed his head against the van. Hoping that they would see the next morning. Exhausted, he closed his eyes.
JT woke up. He didn't even remember falling asleep. Where am I? It took a minute for his fuzzy brain to wake up. Hannah was still sleeping, clutching him tightly. Oh yeah, we're in the van. JT blinked, sunlight hitting his face through the cracks of the van. He slowly and carefully moved his cramped muscles, trying not to wake Hannah. He exited out one of the missing front doors. He stretched, feeling sorer than he had after those two a day summer practices in Texas.
It was still. You could hear the dripping dampness. Tree limbs hung like broken limbs. Debris both natural and man-made were scattered all over. It was like the forest had been put in a washing machine on high. If it weren't for the van and the way it was pointing, he didn't think he could recognize the direction they came from.
"O.M.G." he heard behind him. He guessed Hannah had come out of the van.
"It's something, huh? You could almost think a tornado came through here. Lucky that we found this van."
"Where do you think everyone else is?" Hannah asked, as she came up alongside him and leaned her head against his shoulder.
> "Good question," He said putting his hand up to his eyes, looking in the distance. "I'm hoping they found a place to hunker down for the night. Then, if I were Dusty, I would double back to camp now thatit's daylight. See if there's anything I could salvage."
"We should go back and check then. I am worried about Ashley. I don't like the thought of possibly being left alone out here because they couldn't find us." Hannah was starting to sound a little hysterical.
"Okay, okay. Stay closeto me. Who knows if there's anymore dead ass hats lingering around."
JT checked the van, not reallythinking he would find anything. He couldn't believe his luck when he found a tire iron underneath it. The weight of it felt good in his hands. Better than nothing.
The two of them maneuvered around several fallen tree limbs and a few of the dead. Hannah clinched JT's hand tighter as they passed the bodies. They came across a zombie, still squirming, on a large tree branch that had impaled it. It struggled in silence. With three blows, JT put it out of its misery.
JT had always had a prettygood sense of direction. He led Hannah along, back down the road and into the woods. Just as JT was beginning to think maybe his sense of directions wasn't that goodafter all, they came to the camp clearing. JT couldn't believe how far they had ran in the night.
"It doesn't look like anyone came back here yet," Hannah said, worried.
"I'm prettysure they will Hannah. What else can we do, anyway? I say, let's get a head start on cleaning up this mess."
JT and Hannah worked on picking through what was left of the camp. He didn't like the way Alan had snapped at him, but he was glad he had put stuff in the trash bags. If he hadn't, there would have been even less to salvage. JT inspected the tents. Though weathered and rough looking, they still stood and appeared to have survived the storm. Once again JT had to admit he had Alan to thank.
"You know JT, we are blessed to have survived," Hannah said, picking through her scattered belongings.
JT grunted.
"Look what I found! Let's take a break," Hannah said, ripping open a package of pop tarts and handing one to JT.
"Hannah!" Ashley squealed.
