by J N Wood
The zombies were all running for us, so the shape of the group had turned into kind of an arrowhead. The point of it was only twenty or so feet from us.
Seconds later, we hit them. I hardly felt the impact but the windscreen was hit by a wave of blood and gore. The wipers were hardly doing anything, just moving the blood from side to side.
‘Just drive straight,’ Shannon yelled.
Wave after wave of dark zombie innards slammed into the windscreen.
‘Turn little right!’ Gee screamed at me, his voice only just audible, like he was outside of the bus.
I turned the steering wheel to the right.
‘More!’ he shouted. ‘Little more!’
‘Little more!’ he repeated.
‘Now straight!’ he screamed. ‘Okay, no more dead.’
Once the barrage had ended the wipers began to work, allowing me to see where we were going again.
‘There are no more. Road is clear,’ Gee said, his voice now coming from close behind me.
I swivelled my head around to look at him. His head and shoulders were a deep maroon colour.
‘What the fuck happened to you?’ I asked, turning back to the road.
‘I need to see,’ he replied.
‘He stuck his head out of a window,’ Jack said.
‘I only have one clean cloth left,’ Gee said, before stomping down to the back of the bus.
‘I think he means he only has one set of clean clothes left,’ Shannon explained.
‘I’ve only got what I’m wearing,’ I said. ‘I could do with getting some new clothes actually.’
Over the next few hours we hit three more similarly sized groups on the road. I only had two curved slithers of clear windscreen to see where I was going, and they were getting smaller and smaller each time we hit a group of zombies. It was also getting quite dark, which was hopefully good for zombie activity, but terrible for visibility.
Especially when your windscreen is covered in dried blood and shit.
As we approached the outskirts of a place called Yakima, I spotted a sign for Costco, and suggested stopping to clean the front of the bus. Everyone agreed. I also thought I could get some clothes.
Shannon suggested parking at the edge of the car park, and walking the rest of the way to the shop’s large building.
‘Why?’ I asked. ‘The car park is huge.’
‘It’s safer,’ she replied.
‘Surely it’s safer to park up in front of the building and not have to walk far?’ Jack suggested.
‘Trust me. It’s safer this way,’ she replied. ‘Our vehicle could be very desirable.’
‘Come on guys,’ Michael said. ‘The boss has spoken.’
Jack and I exchanged looks. He puffed out his cheeks and shrugged his shoulders.
‘Fine,’ I said.
‘Okay,’ Shannon said. ‘Clean the bus first, and then go shopping.’
We parked up between a petrol station and a peculiarly placed little park. Gee offered up his old and dirty clothes to wipe down the front of the bus.
Michael and I very carefully climbed up onto the front of the bus, making sure not to slip on the various zombie parts splattered on, and hanging from it. Gee had given Shannon a lift up to the roof of the bus. She was stood above us, pouring bottles of soda water, because none of us liked soda water, onto the windscreen, while we tried our best to wipe it clean.
I turned to see Jack stood watching us. He was very dramatically holding his ribs and bandaged head.
‘If you’re gonna do fuck all Jack, at least keep a look out,’ I said.
Michael suddenly vomited all over the windscreen next to me.
‘Fuck’s sake Michael,’ I said. ‘We’re trying to clean it, not make it worse.’
‘Sorry. I’m alright now–,’ he started, before very loudly vomiting again.
Half an hour of incredibly disgusting work later, the windscreen was almost clear. Clear enough at least.
Gee had been on fuel salvaging duties, and told us the bus was almost full. What he actually said was, ‘Bus fucking full, almost.’
We managed to scrape the gore from our arms, before using what was left of the soda water to clean our hands.
Shannon pulled us into a huddle. Organised as ever, she passed us all torches. ‘Michael and I are going to the pharmacy,’ she said. ‘You three grab yourselves some clothes, and then get food. And be careful. Any problems and make some noise. Don’t worry about attracting more zombies. If you don’t make noise, nobody will hear you, so nobody will come and help you. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ Jack said. ‘Do we all put our hands into the middle now, and do some kind team chant? Like go…something something? Shit, I couldn’t think of a name for our team.’
‘No we don’t,’ Shannon replied. ‘Now come on, let’s go.’
We all kept low as we headed towards the shop, using the abandoned cars as cover.
On the corner of the building there were two entrances side by side. Neither of them had doors, so the pitch black shop inside was open to the elements.
As soon as we entered we all froze. The faint sound of talking was coming from inside the shop. It sounded aggressive, like an argument. Over in the far corner, beams of light briefly shot up to ceiling, before lowering again.
Michael turned to us all with his finger to his lips, before beckoning us to go back outside.
Just as I turned to leave, I could have sworn I heard someone say the name Alison, followed by a woman saying Gilberto.
There’s no way they would be over here in Washington State. It’s hundreds of miles out of their way.
The others had left but I waited inside the shop.
From outside, Jack whispered, ‘Chris, come on.’
I quickly shushed him, trying to listen.
‘Don’t do it Richard,’ a woman’s voice said.
That couldn’t have been Ali. Could it? It definitely sounded like her.
‘We need to go and see who it is. What if it’s Beth?’ I heard Jack say.
I crept outside to join the others.
‘Jack, do you remember the family that helped us?’ I asked him. ‘When we first got separated, the Rodriguez’s?’
‘Yeah of course,’ he replied. ‘I remember Ali, your girlfriend.’
I forced a quick smile and pointed back into the shop. ‘Ha ha Jacqueline. I’m pretty sure that’s them in there.’
‘This is a long way from Utah,’ Jack said.
‘We’re here, and we went through Utah,’ I pointed out.
‘There would be no reason for them to–,’ Jack started.
‘It doesn’t matter who it is,’ Michael interrupted. ‘Like you said Jack, Beth might be with them. We have to check.’
‘Thanks Michael,’ Jack said.
Shannon and Gee both nodded their agreement.
These are really fucking nice people Jack has found, or that found him.
‘Stay quiet. Flashlight off. Keep low,’ Gee whispered, before heading back into the darkness of the shop.
We followed the sounds of the argument, weaving our way down the many aisles, using our outstretched hands to stop us from walking into anything.
‘Please Richard,’ someone was saying. ‘Just take a moment to think about this.’ I didn’t recognise the woman’s voice.
Gee stopped at the end of an aisle, torch lights were flickering across the floor in front of us. He turned and held his hand out to us, signalling us to stop.
‘She might be okay. Why not wait, just a little bit longer.’
That was definitely Ali speaking. I turned and looked for Jack, eventually finding his eyes in the darkness. He just held his hands out and shrugged.
‘Shut the fuck up Alison,’ a man’s voice said. ‘Richard is right. We can’t just wait for it to happen.’
I looked back to Jack, mouthing the word, ‘See?’
I can’t wait. If I do, something bad might happen.
‘Hello,’ I called ou
t.
A couple of very audible gasps made their way to us from around the corner, followed by a strained silence. A hand rested on my shoulder, but I stood up straight and walked to the end of the aisle, stopping before I was visible to the other people.
‘Pete?’ Ali called out. ‘Stay back.’
It’s definitely them.
‘It’s Chris, we met…’ I paused because I couldn’t remember how long it had been. ‘We met in Utah about a week ago. Ali found me in a basement.’
‘Chris?’ Ali said.
‘Yep, it’s me. I’m coming out,’ I replied, and stepped around the corner.
In front of me was a kind of stand-off. In the centre stood a woman I didn’t recognise. Her right hand was pressed against her blood soaked left arm, and tears were streaming down her face. There was a pistol very close to the side of her head, being held by a nervous looking man. His eyes were darting between the crying woman, me, and Ali, who stood only a few feet away from him. She was pointing a pistol at his head.
I quickly raised my hands above my head, and started walking towards them. I made it two paces before another man further to my right came into view. He was pointing a rifle at me. That was also when I saw Sandra, Ali’s sister, pointing a pistol at the rifle man.
Fuck’s sake. It wasn’t like a stand-off, it was one.
‘Hi,’ I said, trying to sound casual. ‘What’s up?’
Ali rolled her eyes.
‘Who the fuck are you?’ the nervous looking man screamed.
‘This is Chris,’ Ali said, very slowly and calmly. ‘We met him nine days ago. Chris, this is Richard,’ she said, nodding to the guy she was threatening to shoot in the head.
‘Hi Richard,’ I said, waving with my hand holding the torch.
Fuck. Why didn’t I wave with my free hand? Now he’ll wonder why I was waving my torch at him. Why did I even wave at all?
Richard just stared at me. With his free hand, he wiped at the sweat pouring down his face.
‘Richard, just look at Maya,’ Ali said, in a soothing tone. ‘She’s frightened, and she’s your friend. You don’t want to do anything to hurt her.’
‘She’s been bitten,’ Richard said, his voice cracking. He looked like he was trying to hold back his own tears. ‘We have to kill her, before she turns and kills us.’
‘Richard,’ Maya cried. ‘Just let me go. I’ll walk away and you’ll never see me again.’
‘You said you didn’t want to be like them,’ Richard cried. ‘I don’t want you to be like that.’ He wiped at his eyes.
Without thinking, I stepped forward two paces. The guy aiming the rifle at me shouted, ‘Stop! Don’t move!’
‘It’s okay,’ I said, immediately regretting my decision to get so close. I was probably only a couple of feet from this Maya woman, and Richard’s gun. ‘I have a friend who was bitten, only a few days ago, and she’s fine. The zombie thing can’t be passed on.’
‘Bullshit!’ Richard spat.
‘Please Richard,’ Maya loudly sobbed.
‘I’m being serious,’ I said. ‘Honestly, I’m telling the truth.’
Richard sniffed, and said, ‘Sorry Maya.’
A loud explosion of noise filled the aisles. Almost immediately, something incredibly hot seemed to splatter across my face, like someone had thrown acid at me. I turned away, holding my face. The sudden sharp pain was unbelievable. For a very brief moment, I caught sight of Maya, lying face down on the floor. A pool of dark liquid quickly spreading out on the tiles under her head.
I could hear people screaming and shouting at each other. I turned back around, fully expecting the rifle guy to finish me off.
Had I been shot in the face? Why is it my fucking face all the time? Fuck. It can’t be good to get shot in the face.
I could at least see. I still had my sight.
Richard was now aiming his gun at me, shouting something unintelligible and crying. Ali was closer to him now, screaming for him to put the gun down.
‘He has it now!’ Richard shouted, after regaining his composure slightly. ‘The bullet went through Maya and into him. He has it now!’ The gun in his hand looked like it was shaking uncontrollably.
What? Have I been shot in the face?
One moment, Richard was shouting and pointing his gun at me. Then, in a blink of an eye, he’d released his grip on the gun, and his arm hung limply by his side. At the same time, the gun seemed to fall to the floor in slow motion, loudly clattering when it hit the tiles. Richard however, was completely silent. Once the gun was still, everything became eerily quiet. Richard’s mouth became slack and gaped open. Blood started to drip from his chin. I followed the trail of blood back up his face, to see an arrowhead protruding out of his now empty right eye socket.
Where the fuck had his eye ball gone?
He collapsed forward onto Maya’s prone body.
A crunching noise drew my attention to the right. Big Gee was holding a rifle in his left hand, and seemed to be lifting the former owner of the rifle into the air. He was stood behind him, with his closed fist under the squirming man’s chin. I was very confused as to how he was managing this bizarre balancing act. The man was now twitching uncontrollably, his eyes almost popping out of his head.
Behind them, Sandra’s mouth was covered with her hands. Her uncle Gilberto was now stood behind her, looking shocked, his hands on her shoulders.
With another clattering noise, Gee dropped the rifle to the floor and gripped the man’s throat with his left hand. With a sickening squelch, he wrenched his right hand away from under the man’s chin. In Gee’s hand was a huge knife, dripping with blood. He let go of the man’s neck, and the now lifeless body collapsed to the floor in a heap.
Ah right, okay then, that explains the balancing act.
Gee was walking towards me. Ali didn’t know what to do. Her gun was wavering between Richard, who was now lying motionless on the floor, and Gee.
‘Chris,’ Gee said, with obvious concern in his voice. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Dunno mate,’ I replied. ‘I think something hit me in the face.’
‘Is anybody else hurt?’ Shannon asked from behind me.
‘Chris, who are these people?’ Ali asked, sounding panicked, now pointing her gun at something behind me.
‘Friends, they’re all friends, they’re alright,’ I quickly replied.
Gee moved my hands away from my face and pointed his torch at me. The blinding light made me clamp my eyes shut. I could feel people closing in around me.
Gilberto was asking Ali to come to him.
‘Was he shot?’ Jack asked.
‘No,’ Gee said. ‘I think it just shrapnel.’
‘Shrapnel?’ I asked. ‘Like bullet shrapnel?’
The blinding white light from Gee’s torch left my face, so I opened my eyes and tried to blink away the yellow spots in my vision. Jack, Michael, Gee and Shannon were stood in front of me, all with concerned expressions. Ali, Sandra and Gilberto stood by the guy Gee had killed with his knife, eyeing us suspiciously.
‘No, not bullet,’ Gee said. ‘Shrapnel from woman’s head.’
‘You fucking what?’ I asked.
Did I hear that right?
‘Bits of bone. They leave woman’s head,’ Gee said, pointing down to Maya on the floor. ‘And hit Chris in face.’
Yep, turns out I did.
Everyone looked disgusted, but nowhere near as much as I felt.
‘Jesus fucking Christ,’ I said. ‘I need to get it out of my face.’
Shannon quickly took charge of the situation. ‘Gee, you get Chris back to the bus,’ she instructed. ‘Michael and I will go to the pharmacy. Jack, you get clothes for Gee and Chris.’ She leaned in closer to me, before whispering, ‘What about those three? We did just kill two of them.’
‘I’ve never seen the three dead people before. The ones left alive are friends, or were friends,’ I whispered. ‘Shall we tell them to meet us at the bus?’
&nb
sp; Shannon and Michael shared a glance. I had no idea what the look was meant to convey.
‘Up to you,’ Shannon said to me. ‘You know them.’
I nodded, before looking over to Ali. ‘Our bus is over by the petrol station, the gas station, you know what I mean. Meet us over there?’
‘Okay,’ Ali replied, her voice sounding calmer than she looked. ‘Ten minutes?’
The sound of running footsteps echoed through the building, making everyone take cover behind the aisles.
‘Dad…Sandra…Alison,’ a voice hissed out.
Ali quickly turned towards us, gesturing with her hands for everyone to calm down. ‘It’s just Pete,’ she said. ‘Pete,’ she called out to him. ‘We’re okay, stay there, we’ll come to you.’
Ali grabbed a hold of Gilberto and Sandra and walked them down one of the aisles closest to them.
‘Right okay,’ Shannon said. ‘Everyone get going. Gee, let us know if anything heard the gunshot and is heading our way.’
Gee nodded.
‘No sweat pants Jack,’ I said. ‘For me that is. You wear whatever you want.’
‘Thanks Dad,’ he replied, before spinning around to look for the clothing department.
‘But make sure you get me proper pants, English pants. I need some underwear,’ I called out. ‘That makes it sound like I just shit myself,’ I quickly added. ‘I haven’t shit myself.’
‘Yes I know what you mean,’ he called back. ‘Now shut up.’
Outside, it all looked clear. Gee walked alongside me as we headed back to the bus. Blood dripped from my chin, so I needlessly leaned forward to stop it falling onto my already dirty clothes.
I lifted my face up slightly. ‘How bad does my face look Gee?’
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘It look okay,’ he answered. His voice had become very high pitched.
‘I thought you’d be a better liar than that,’ I said.
‘No,’ he almost squeaked. ‘It look okay.’
Chapter 4: Good Shit
It did not look okay. I looked in the rear view mirror on the bus, and counted nine puncture wounds on my face. I was lucky they’d all missed my eyes.
Just to even things up, somehow it was only the right side of my face this time.
Jack, Shannon and Michael piled onto the bus almost at the same time, all carrying full bags. Shannon lifted one of her bags into the air. The sound of glass clinking together came from the bag.
