by Kadin, Karri
“Hey, wasn’t your truck blue?” she called to Allison. The sun was up just enough for its rays to backlight the truck, showing Allison it was now a much darker color than the blue it had been. She walked over and placed her hand on the hood, feeling tackiness beneath her hand. She lifted it and saw smudges of Army green staining her hand.
Trevor said, “I painted it with some spray paint. It’s not the best paint job, and it’s not fully dry yet. But I figure Dr. Neff has his people looking for a girl alone in an old blue truck. Not a group in a green truck. Plus, if we have to ditch the truck in the woods it will blend in better this way.” Trevor pulled a towel from his bag and handed it to Allison. She smiled and rubbed the paint from her hand.
“Oh, that reminds me!” Morgan dug through her bag and pulled out two boxes of hair dye, one red and one brown. “I’ve been holding on to this. Now seems like the perfect time to use it. We can change our appearance. I thought it would help keep us hidden in plain sight.”
“That is a great idea!” Allison said. Morgan smiled and shoved the dye back into her bag.
“Good thinking, Morgan. We can use it as soon as we are out of town.” Trevor walked over to the others standing by the truck. “I added another toolbox in the back for us to put our bags and weapons in. We won’t all fit with it up front.” Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
Trevor had on a shoulder holster with two handguns secured in place. He pulled two holsters and another gun out of his bag. He handed Allison the holster reminiscent of ones seen in old Westerns. She clipped it around her waist and put her pistol in it; it was a snug fit but it worked. She then slipped a thin jacket on, concealing the guns from view. Trevor held the gun and second holster toward Matt and Morgan. Matt stepped forward and took it, slipped it on, checked the magazine and clip for bullets, then secured the gun in place in such a fluid motion Allison and Trevor were both stunned. Matt smirked in their direction.
“My dad was a cop and most of our family were avid hunters. I know my way around a gun,” Matt said as he tightened the holster and slipped on a flannel shirt to cover his holster from view. “Do you have an extra clip?”
“Yeah, here.” Trevor handed him another loaded clip, which Matt put in his pocket. Trevor then pulled a knife from his bag along with a sheath meant to attach to someone’s thigh and extended it to Morgan. She hesitated but took it and strapped it onto herself. They all loaded up into Allison’s truck, the fit was tight but they managed, and then she drove them out of town.
Allison, with her new red hair in a damp bun on the top of her head, drove with her friends for a few hours before they encountered their first manned checkpoint. The men in their all-black uniforms and long guns standing alongside a gate which blocked the road made Allison’s heart feel like it was tearing out of her chest. She gripped the steering wheel to calm herself, causing her knuckles to turn white. Her body flushed and her hands turned clammy. She started to sweat as they inched closer and closer to the gate. Seeing the Collectors in front of her was bad enough, but knowing that there were so many more nearby who could come at a moment’s notice made her stomach roll. She caught the bile as it surged into her throat and swallowed it back down. Trevor reached over and patted her leg.
When they got up to the gate she rolled down her window and smiled sweetly at the Collector looking in at her. He was older, and his hair was shaggy with a slight curl to it. If he wasn’t in a Collector uniform, he would look charming. His broad shoulders filled her window. He looked like he should be coaching high school football somewhere.
“What’s your business in this area?” he asked. His stern voice was thick with his Southern accent. But his eyes were soft, kind.
“Just passing through. Trying to make our way north to find our families,” Trevor answered, adding a slight twang to his voice, almost identical to the accent of the Collector. The Collector grinned.
“Well it seems a lot of people are doing that these days since more borders are opening up. More areas are becoming clear every day.” As he spoke, another Collector made his way around the truck looking both in the bed and underneath it. A third Collector with dark sunglasses, whom Allison had not seen when they pulled up, knocked on the passenger side window causing Matt to jump. Matt rolled the window halfway down.
“What’s in the toolboxes?” the Collector asked, pointing toward the back of the truck.
“Just some supplies to get us through from here to there,” Matt said. Morgan shook next to him, her whole body tense. Matt wrapped his arm around her and held her tightly until his fingers turned white. Morgan squeezed her hands between her thighs. The Collector in the glasses waved to the other walking around the truck. He stopped his walk and hopped into the back. The clang of metal rang out as he opened up the toolboxes and rummaged through them, tossing items out into the bed of the truck. Each thud of their supplies landing on the truck bed tightened the knot forming in Allison’s stomach.
The should-be-a-football-coach Collector curled his lips, sneering at the man in the back of the truck. He tipped his head to Allison and mouthed “Sorry” before he walked away to the next car behind them. Heat rushed to her face and rose in her chest like a wildfire consuming everything in its path. Her heart raced, filling her ears with its rapid beat, drowning out the world around her. She felt the steering wheel bend beneath her grip. Trevor turned toward her, using his back to shield her from the Collector at the passenger side door.
“Breathe, Allison. Just focus on my voice. Breathe,” Trevor whispered. She closed her eyes, took some deep breaths, and pushed the feeling back down again, focusing on Trevor’s voice. “Good. That’s it. Breathe.” Trevor stroked her thigh but kept his eyes on the Collector in the back using the rearview mirror. The Collector at the passenger side door smirked, and he tossed an empty bag up to his partner.
“We are just taking a few things as compensation for all of our time. You wouldn’t even be able to go find your family if we hadn’t been clearing these woods. Keeping y’all safe. Now say thank you.” He tipped his glasses down, revealing gray eyes with no light in them as he stared into the truck, his gaze falling on Allison. His buddy jumped out of the bed of the truck with the bag filled with their supplies over his shoulder.
“Thank you,” they all ragged in unison, before Morgan broke out into a full sob.
“You are free to go. Now stay safe out there.” The Collector smiled as he patted the hood of the truck and the gate raised. Allison drove through the gate, driving slowly until the Collectors were out of sight, then she gunned it.
“Those motherfuckers!” Matt bellowed as he slammed his hands onto the dash of the truck. Morgan cried at his side, her shoulders heaving with heavy sobs.
“We need to check and see what they took,” Trevor said. “But we should put some distance between us and them first. Just in case they decide there’s something else we have that they want.” He slipped his hand from Allison’s thigh back to his lap. He placed his other arm around Morgan and patted her shoulder. She rested her head on his shoulder, tears dampening his shirt. Matt pulled out the map and pointed to a spot.
“There’s a town up ahead to the west that’s probably empty. We can find a place there, hide the truck, see what they took, and eat something. If we have anything to fucking eat. Maybe the town hasn’t been fully raided yet and we can find supplies to replace the shit they took,” Matt said with disgust.
“All right. Just tell me where to turn,” Allison said.
They stopped in the uninhabited town once known as Paradise Falls and discovered the Collectors had taken all of their ammo from their packs and most of their food. Thankfully, the bastards had missed a rifle hidden in the false bottom of the toolbox Trevor had added. A single precious box of bullets remained next to the rifle. They still had the weapons concealed on their bodies, but the only ammo for them was what they had in their clips.
“That false bottom thing was really smart,” Matt said as he high-fived Trevo
r.
“Yeah, I learned long ago to hide things from the Collectors. Some are cool but most are assholes who have let their power go to their heads,” Trevor replied. They hid the truck in an old mechanic shop while Trevor and Matt went to scavenge the town for supplies. Morgan and Allison lay in the bed of the truck waiting for the boys to return.
“I’m sorry I was such a crybaby back there. I just don’t handle Collectors very well,” Morgan said as she took a bite of the apple and handed it to Allison.
“It’s okay. I get it.” Allison took the apple and bit into it.
“When the outbreak first started we stayed in our home. No one knew what was going on, and the government said to shelter in place. We all thought it was like anthrax or something. I was only fifteen, and I was honestly more worried about not seeing my friends than getting sick. My parents were super strict on a normal day. The outbreak made that ten times worse. Matt stayed in his room doing whatever he did in there. It was hardest on my mom. She had just had my little sister two weeks before. She was their miracle baby and my mom wanted to show her off to the world.”
Morgan wiped away tears and sniffled. “My dad went into protector mode. He secured the house and was on the high alert all the time. After a week of the world going to shit, we realized we should have left town, but it was too late. The infection was spreading through our town like wildfire. All we could do was stay. Then one night my uncle showed up. I don’t even know how he made it to our house. But he had been bitten. At this point we didn’t know how the virus worked. We didn’t know you would for sure get sick from being bitten. He turned up at our house, and everything went to crap. Matt and I lost our family that day.”
Morgan wrapped her arms around her torso and squeezed. Her hands were shaking. “We hid in the woods, making our way to less and less populated areas. Trying to avoid the Infected as much as possible. Matt dealt with them when we encountered them. We had a lot of close calls, but we avoided other people for months. As it got freezing, we realized we couldn’t stay out in the woods alone any longer. Food was so hard to find. When we first tried to go into a town, we encountered Collectors. We thought they were like the police or the military—you know, people you can trust. They wanted us to pay them to allow us into the town, but we had nothing. We had nothing of value, not even food.”
Morgan was crying now. Tears streaming down her face, formed damp puddles on the blanket below her. She stared off toward the ceiling like she wasn’t seeing it, she was seeing something else, her mind was somewhere else. Her voice quickened, and her breathing became rapid. Allison reached out and held her hand as Morgan shook. “They beat up Matt, like bad. He was unconscious for days after. Once they had him down, they drug me into a tent and raped me. I tried to fight them, but they kept hitting me. I was afraid they would knock me out like they did Matt. I knew we wouldn’t survive if we were both knocked out. They would have dragged our bodies back into the woods and left us for the Infected. So, I just stopped fighting, and I let them. I laid there, and I let them. When they were done, they said I had paid our dues and could go into the town.”
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.” Allison held her friend as she cried. Fury howled up from her core, her blood sizzling and popping under her skin. She fought back, her friend’s touch keeping her anchored as Allison ran her fingers through Morgan’s hair.
Allison awoke to the sound of whispering. She opened her eyes but didn’t move her body. Light came through the windows of the garage doors and Allison saw shadows moving against the wall. Three shadows. She gently shook Morgan and placed her hand up to her lips, quieting her as she woke. Morgan’s eyes widened as she heard the voices.
“Where is she? We will find her. The only factor left to sort out is how much pain we will cause to you two in the process.” Nurse Catherine’s voice pierced the air like a cat fight in the middle of the night. Allison’s stomach dropped.
“I’m telling you they left us,” Trevor said before a thud sounded and he groaned in pain.
“He’s telling the fucking truth! Some Infected showed up, and they drove off and left us.” Matt’s voice sounded weak. Allison’s hands shook and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Matt sounds hurt.
“You’re lying. Infected haven’t been in this area in months. We will search every building until we find them. And then we will kill you for wasting our time. If you tell us where they are maybe we will let you and your sister live,” Catherine said.
Allison slipped out of the truck, her feet silent as she tiptoed across the garage. Morgan followed, crouching near a door with a small mail slot in the middle of it. They peeked through the slot, peering out at the front of the shop. Catherine kneeled over Matt, who was on the ground with his hands bound behind his back. His swollen face was covered in purple bruises, fresh blood running down the side of his head. Allison felt the heat rushing to her skin as she stared at Matt’s broken face. Trevor was next to him, on his knees, his hands also tied behind his back. One of his eyes was swollen shut, the skin black with a bruise. What do I do? Catherine stood in front of Matt with her two companions behind her, the same men from the campground. Both Joe and Kevin had guns holstered on their hips. Catherine kicked Matt in his stomach before stepping away, sweeping some loose hairs behind her ears, revealing a fresh cut across her cheek and tugging on her shirt to straighten it out.
“I really hate hurting people. I’m a nurse, it’s against my nature. But you know what I hate more? Liars.” She kicked him again as Matt tried to scrunch his body up to protect his stomach. Trevor rose to go toward Matt but Kevin hit him from behind knocking him to the ground. Joe then stepped on Trevor’s back, pushing him into the asphalt.
“What do you want to do with them?” Joe asked while applying pressure to Trevor’s back. Trevor gasped like a fish. With every breath Trevor struggled for the warmth howled up from Allison’s core, making its way to the surface as her body vibrated with rage. Joe laughed as Trevor gasped, trying to breathe as he struggled to remain conscious. He removed his foot, allowing him to breathe freely. Catherine kneeled down next to Matt and brushed her hand across his forehead.
“We kill this one. We only need one and this one cut my fucking face.” She stood up with her back to the shop door and pulled a gun from her holster. Trevor screamed and tried to stand again, but both Joe and Kevin knocked him down and began kicking him. Catherine pointed the gun toward Matt’s head.
Allison flew out the door and slammed into Catherine, sending her flying four feet. The nurse landed on Kevin, taking him down to the ground with her. Catherine’s gun soared out of her hand, landing under her black truck. Trevor got to his feet and headbutted a distracted Joe, knocking him to the concrete. Morgan ran out and kneeled near her brother, cutting his arms loose while he stumbled to his feet. Allison was on top of Catherine on the ground, choking her, sinking her nails into her neck. Kevin rushed at Allison, tackling her, slamming her body against the rough pavement, grating her skin from her flesh as she slid across it, only stopping once they hit the truck. Allison’s eyes found her friends as she fought off the disorientation brought on by her body’s hard stop.
Morgan ran to Trevor and began cutting him free as Joe rose to his feet and charged them. Matt came in from the side, crashing into him and sending them both to the ground. A crack splintered through the air as Joe’s head hit the driveway. Matt lay unmoving in a heap. A dazed Joe stumbled to his feet and Trevor launched himself at him, pinning him. Joe pulled a knife from his side and jabbed it at Trevor. Trevor stopped the forward movement of the knife mere inches from his throat. He pushed Joe’s hands, clinging to the knife, up above his head. Trevor jerked back on one of Joe’s fingers until it snapped. He screamed and the knife clanged and he pushed into Trevor’s chest. Trevor grasped Joe’s head between his hands and slammed it over and over again into the asphalt until Joe was limp and a soft mound of bloody goo was seeping from the back of his head.
Morgan sat on
the ground next to a prone Matt, tears filling her eyes. She jumped up, pulled the knife from her thigh and stood guard over her brother. Trevor stumbled to his feet, moving toward Allison, but was struck from behind by Catherine and fell forward.
Kevin was on top of Allison, pushing a knife toward her face as she held his arms trying to push him away. He’s almost as strong as me. Is he former Infected?
“Don’t kill her, you idiot!” Catherine screamed as she jumped on Trevor’s back trying to force him to stay down, beating him in the back of his head with her fists. Trevor tried to flip her over his head, but couldn’t get a solid grip on the woman.
Allison looked over at her friends—Morgan crying, Matt beaten and unmoving, Trevor trying to fend off Catherine— and the heat rushed into her stronger than ever before. She screamed as she grabbed Kevin’s wrist and bent it back; the sound of bone snapping filled the air along with Kevin’s blood-curdling scream. He dropped the knife and placed his forearm across Allison’s neck, leaning his weight into her, trying to crush her windpipe. Allison sunk her thumbs into his eyes until she felt the flesh give, his screams drowning out the popping of his eyes dislodging from their sockets. Kevin fell to the side, clawing at his face. Fury was the only thing guiding Allison now, and she liked it. She climbed onto Kevin, holding his arms down with her legs as she sat on his chest. She slammed his head into the pavement until the backside was mush. Allison’s eye landed on Catherine’s gun under the truck. She grabbed it and seized Catherine from behind, lifting her by the back of her neck, tossing her off of Trevor. Catherine quickly rebounded and lunged toward Allison. Allison caught her by the throat, feeling the collapse of Catherine’s windpipe beneath her hand before dropping her. Catherine tried to stand again but fell to her knees, gasping for breath, hands around her throat. Allison pointed the gun at Catherine and the two women locked eyes. Allison pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into Catherines mouth, shattering her white teeth, and out the back of her neck. Catherine fell to the ground, gurgling as she struggled to breathe, blood pooling around her mouth, bubbling with each attempt at breathing. Her body twitched, trying to hold on to the last bit of life it had in it.
