by Thomas Baker
Dinner came and went. It was a quiet affair. Dusty thought after the talks they had a couple of nights ago around the campfire, everyone was pretty muchdone with talking about the past for now. That was fine with him. What was the point, talking about the past? It was over, nothing they did could change it now. They just had to keep on keeping on.
After dinner Harold excused himself, saying it had been too long, he was going out on a perimeter walk. Everyone else drifted off, doing their own thing. The only people unaccounted for were Mike, and Alan of course,but Dusty had stopped trying to track Alan long ago. Dusty thought he would get some fresh air himself, so he went out. Maybe he would come across Mike. He wanted to get more intel on Harold.
Dusty took a deep breath and looked around. He saw a lone figure had gotten the fireside going tonight. He got closer and saw it was Mike sitting out here. This could be his chance to talk to Mike alone, to assess the situation. Maybe through him, he could get to Harold.
Dusty approached Mike as he sat on the ground in front of the fire, poking it with a stick. Dusty sat down next to him. Not one for small talk or to mince words, Dusty came straight out with his questions.
"How long have you been with Harold?" asked Dusty.
Mike looked over, like he was just now noticing someone was there. He then went back to staring into the fire. Dusty was about to ask again when Mike answered.
"I think about a month, maybe a little longer. When he first found me, I was pretty well out of it. Wasted away is what Harold said."
"Really? What happened?"
"It's a long story. You sure you want to hear it?" Mike asked.
"What else we got to do. Watch the newest episode of The Big Bang Theory?"
"Point taken." Mike took a deep breath. " OK. Of course it started back with the Outbreak. Before that day, I was a college history teacher."
"I stood at my chalkboard, looking out at my classroom of students. The period was just beginning and everyone was still settling in. I waited until the sounds of shuffling and scooting ended before I began my lecture."
"I told them, 'As you should remember from last time, today we will start our discussion on the Mongols. A fearsome people, yet they are also more civilized than popular culture gives them credit for.'"
"I had just turned to write on the chalkboard, when several loud popping sounds erupted from outside. Everyone jumped and turned to look in the direction of the sound."
"Oh my god, it's a campus shooting!" a student yelled. I could see the students were quickly panicking as they milled around their desks and a few students headed to the two full-length windows at either end of the outside wall. Then there was a loud boom, what could only have been an explosion."
"A woman screamed, 'What is happening?' The whole class dropped everything and ran to see."
"A large thump against the window at the front of the room by the chalkboard caused everyone at the window to back away several feet. I heard several people making wretched screaming sounds through the glass."
"'Everyone please gather back in the center of the room! Stay away from the windows!' I yelled, trying to make myself heard over not only the hysterical students, but the increasing noise from outside.
"There were a couple more loud thumps on the windows. All the students were screaming and yelling as the entire class ran for the lecture hall doors. They pushed and shoved and I thought to myself no way would Itry to stop them."
"Outside it sounded like they were filming a war movie. The thumping against the windows decreased in volume but increased in frequency."
"I started towards the windows to see what was going on for myself when they shattered inward in a spray of shards. I backed away horrified as the first of them fell in."
"They fell without uttering a sound, even as the jagged glass in the window tore at their flesh. No blood flowed out of their open wounds. The people didn't even seem to notice they were being cut open."
"Except I knew right away, somehow, they were not really people anymore. I saw one, with a clarity that still haunts my dreams. It was nothing, but a charred skeleton, with just enough tissue and tendons left to propel the body forward across the ground."
"The quietness of the undulating horde was just as unsettling as the sight of walking corpses that came stumbling and crawling through the now open windows. As the dead bodies fell through the opening, I could catch glimpses behind them of people in military gear, wildly firing machine guns."
"The dead were soundless as chunks of their bodies were torn or ripped away by the broken glass and the hail of bullets. They just continued pressing through the openings, some even continued crawling on even as they lost limbs and other body parts."
"I stood frozen in horror, even as the undead came closer and closer, hands clawing and teeth gnashing. I only moved after one slipped and fell, impaling its head on a large shard of glass still in the window. Only then was it still, as its brain matter dripped down the jagged instrument of its second death. That broke the spell. I turned, and I ran, locking myself in the classroom closet."
"The heavy wooden door muffled the sounds of gunfire. I sat all the way in the back, knees up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them. I stifled a scream when the thumping started on the door. The sound of gunfire got louder and louder, until it was the only sound in the world. Until it stopped. That's when the screaming started."
"I raised my head off the cold floor, my neck cramping in pain. Sometime during it all, I must have fallen asleep. Passed out from fear was probably more accurate. I got back up into a sitting position, wincing. Then the memory of what was going on all came back and I bolted into a standing position."
"Gingerly I made my way through the dark to the front of the closet. Putting my ear against the door, I strained to hear what was happening on the other side. Minutes crept by and I still couldn't make out any noises. I couldn't decide if I wanted to leave the closet or not. My hand went to the handle, back to my side, then back to the handle."
"Taking a deep breath, I finally went for it and pushed open the door. It swung open part way and then hit some resistance. I let out a low moan as I froze half out of the doorway. I moved my eyes down without moving my head. The door hit against what was left of a dead body. The headless corpse looked like something had chewed on it by a pack of wild animals."
"I turned my eyes quickly upwards, my stomach doing long flip flops. My vision got hazy. I closed my eyes, counted silently to ten. When the feelings inside my body calmed down, I opened them again."
"What used to be my classroom was now an open grave. Bodies covered the floor, lying among the shards of broken desks, ceiling tiles, glass from the lighting fixtures, and the windows. All color seemed gone from the room, except for the blood and gore. The remains weren't even whole bodies either. Most of it was pieces, like some kind of human meat grinder had processed all the people in the room."
"I stood for what seemed like hours in what used to be my peaceful classroom. I just couldn't wrap my mind around what I was seeing long enough to make any sort ofplan of what to do next. I noticed the absolute silence around me and of the stench of what smelled like the world's worst barbecue drifted through the window."
"The next thing I remember, I was walking down the middle of a street. I weaved in between all the smashed, broken-down cars. I felt something heavy in my right hand. I raised my hand up to my face. Somewhere along the way I had picked up a pistol. I looked at it as if I was holding a poisonous snake. Shrugging my shoulders, I continued walking down the road."
"I walked and walked through the seemingly never ending carnage. My lungs and eyes burned from the smoke that was literally coming from everywhere. When it got too dark to see, I checked out houses to stay in for the night."
"I went into house after house. Each one was soiledin some way. I checked one block, then another. Full dark was fast approaching when I finally found a house that still had the doors actually intact. That was a good sign. Both the
front door and the back door were locked. That was a fantastic sign. I then tried all the windows I could reach. They were locked too. I was about to give up, then I remembered what kind of world it was now. It wasn't like someone could call the police.
"'Fuck it', I whispered to myself, using a rock to break out a window panel. I reached in, unlocked the window and then hoisted myself inside. I wasn't prone to cursing usually, but things like politeness and manners didn't seem to matter anymore."
"Hello?" I called out as I went from room to room. I checked every room upstairs and downstairs, getting no answer and finding no one at all, I stayed."
"I struggled, moving several pieces of furniture over the window I came in, and both doors. By the time I was done it was fully dark. I flipped a light switch. There was no electricity. Blindly I felt my way along the walls, up the stairs, and into a bedroom. I kicked my shoes off, collapsed on top of the covers, and was instantly out."
"Without electricity, time became a meaningless thing. I woke, ate, slept, and then did it all over again. I saw no one and heard nothing. I never went outside. I never even looked outside. I ate all the food in the fridge first and then moved on to the canned goods. I stored water in every container I could find in case the supply ran dry."
"One day, after the fresh food was all gone, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had grown a shadow of a reddish brown beard. My hair, which I had always kept veryshort, crept down to my neckline in back. My eyes were bloodshot, even though I felt like all I did was sleep. In a fit I grabbed the toilet bowl brush and broke the mirror."
"'Welcome to Mike's Hideaway.'" I singed to myself one day while I worked on gathering supplies into a duffel bag I had found. "'We're glad you came to visit, but it is time for you to go. Come visit again soon. We would like to have you don't you know.'"
"Sweat poured off my body as I worked. I had went shirtless most of the time. It was getting hot inside Mike's Hideaway as the days passed. I never dared open any windows. A rank smell filled the Hideaway day and night. More than my dwindling food supplies, this is whatdrove my desire to leave the Hideaway and move out of the city. I guess by now it must have been close to summer. I sang a new song every day."
"School's out for summer. School's out forever!"
"I laughed, probably sounding like an insane person. School's out forever isn't it Dusty?"
"America's down but I wouldn't count her out yet," Dusty said, "I'd say school's on pause."
Mike's face showed that he didn't believe what Dusty was saying. Dusty wasn't ready yet to believe every military installation in the US or around the world went down like his did. If they would all just keep moving, they would find help. Not wanting to debate that now, Dusty motioned for Mike to continue.
"Before I left, I went down my list. Food, check, water, check, clothes, check. Gun, check."
"I had found another pistol while searching the house. Don't know what happened to the other one I had found earlier. I had no idea how to use it. What I knew about guns I had learned from action movies growing up. I knew it had a safety but if it was off or on I could only guess. I would have to work out how to use the thing. Just in case."
"The day came when I felt I was as ready as I would ever be. It was so long and adios to Mike's Hideaway."
"I shoved the furniture from the front door and stepped out into the sunny day. I had to shield my eyes for quite a long time as they adjusted to the outside. I closed the door behind me, thinking someone else might stumble upon the Hideaway. At least it gave me hope that maybe other normal people were out there. I also couldn't bear to think of the last peaceful place I might ever know, being spoiled. By them. With a heavy sigh, I adjusted my duffel pack, turned, and picked a direction leading out of town."
"I soon learned to walk in the grass next to the shoulder of the highway. It was the clearest path while still keeping the road in sight. Once I figured that out, and stopped fighting the congestion on the road, I could make good time. Where I was in such a hurry to get to, anyway?"
"A few days later, I stumbled across a teddy bear. It was just lying in the road. I had to stop walking minutes later. My vision became too blurred to see where I was going. I cried. I knew why. It was that goddamn teddy bear I passed. A teddy bear made me unhinged. It was blue and lying on the shoulder, somehow clean without a speck of dirt or blood on it. Somehow seeing that damn bear made everything more terrible than anything I had seen so far. I had to sit down, I was bawling now. I found it difficult to catch my breath. Maybe I was hyperventilating. I don't know how long I might have sat there, if it wasn't for the banging sound just ahead of me."
"I looked up to see one of the dead things, bouncing back and forth between two cars jammed together, like a fly trapped in a window. I wiped my face and my eyes."
"At the sound of my crying, it seemed to turn in my direction. Bong off the car. It tried to get through again. Bong off the car. I felt like I was watching a live action Looney Tunes cartoon."
"I raised my pistol. Bong. I looked down the sight. Bong. I dropped the pistol back to my side. Bong. I gave the vehicles a wide berth and continued on. Bong."
"I went on day after miserable day, further and further out into the countryside. Sometimes I lucked out and found safe shelter inside but more often than not, I slept outside. Wishing I had found a tent. I had a harder time finding food and more importantly,water. Sometimes I went a day or two with nothing to eat or drink. Not once did I come across any other people. I startedcoming across some signs of life. A message spray painted on the sides of buildings, houses, and once even across the road. 'Safe Haven' with an arrow pointing the way."
"I followed these signs. I had no other plan for so long, it felt wonderful to have a glimmer of hope to latch on to. That uplifting feeling of hope didn't last long."
"In a few days it seemed I had left even the small towns I had been coming across behind. I was in a no-man's-land now. I staggered down the middle of some two-lane country highway. I hadn't had a thing to eat or drink in what felt like forever. Late spring was turning into early summer. Unwavering heat beat down on me from sunup to sundown."
"'Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.' I sang softly under my breath. It hurt my chapped lips, but I did it anyway. I remember staggering down the white line like a drunk. 'Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.'"
"'And this house just ain't no home, anytime she goes away.'"
"For the hundredth time I thought and wonder what had happened to my friend Brian. Brian's Momas well, who had just gone into the hospital for hip replacement surgery when the Outbreak happened. I had no family to worry about. I was an only child, and my parents were both dead. For the hundredth time another part of my brain shooed those thoughts away. I just concentrated on putting one foot in front of another."
"Why is the ground so much closer? That was one of the last coherent thoughts I remember having. At some point I had begun crawling on the smoldering concrete."
"'Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.'"
"My last thought, at least I can bring up, was thinking 'It's time for a commercial break.' I remember giggling. I stopped and just rolled over on my back in the middle of the road. My eyes must have closed, I know a rest didn't sound like a bad idea."
"Then I woke up here. Thomas told me how he and Harold found me. A man wasting away on the road. On the way back here Thomas said I just kept shouting, 'I want to be left alone to die. Die and not come back.' Harold's the reason I'm still alive. He helped me get my strength back. He gave me food, water, and shelter. A rifle and some training on how to use it."
"What does he expect to get out of helping you?" Dusty asked.
"He has never asked me for anything in return."
"So you think he's a good guy then? Nothing weird or off about him? Done nothing strange while you've been here?"
"He's okay, in his own way," Mike said, getting huffy. "I think I'm done talking to you now. Thanks for listening to me
ramble. Good night."
Mike walked away, leaving Dusty to stare into the flames of the campfire. Dusty thought about what his next step should be. After that story he didn't trust Harold any more than before.
Harold pounded the last stake into the ground. He had helped set up every extra tent he had salvaged from town. Everyone staying in the cabin wasn't working for him. It was just too much noise and commotion. Besides, all his guest complained about for the last week was how crowded it was in the cabin. As he swiped his brow Harold wondered, not for the first time either, why he had even saved them all. Then he would look at Hannah or Ashleyand those thoughts would evaporate.
Earlier that morning, Harold decided he would fix the problem. He made a run out to the Wal-Mart and gathered up all the camping equipment he could find. He noticed while he was there that the store was looking barer. Some other scavengers must have come through lately. Soon the Wal-Mart would be empty of anything useful. He would have to find a new resource to draw from.
Harold had also brought back a pot of fake flowers and some music CD's for Ashley. That didn't go over so well. What did she call him? Oh yeah, a lame brain. Was she teasing him? He knew sometimes women liked to play hard to get. He had read that in several books.
Gus, Dusty, Tyrone, and Alan had helped him get the tents up. It was Gus who interrupted his thoughts.
"Well, look at that. It's our very own tent city," Gus said, hands on his hips. "Forget deluxe apartments in the sky. This is the new moving on up."
There was a tent for each of the men. Harold planned on leaving the women in the room across from his.
"This reminds me of one of my tours overseas," Dusty said. "At least I won't be sleeping on a pile of rocks."
"I've never liked camping out much, now I have to live out here?" Tyrone said, a whiny edge to his voice. "It will be rough going back to this, if you know what I mean."
