Chapter 9
I stopped the van.
“What are you doing?” Hissed Jessica.
“If we keep moving, they’ll know we’re in here faster and trample the van. Which they’ll probably do anyway but we can make an effort to try and move most of them past us.”
Jessica made a face at me but didn’t reply. She knew I was right.
Pierce helped me put the sun shade in the windshield and Natalie put all the blinds down. We made sure all the doors were already locked. Luckily the bed in the back had been folded back into a proper backseat for easier riding for the others. I went in the back and put a harness around Milo and buckled him in one of the seatbelts.
Nobody said a word but they all had a strange expression on their face.
“I suggest everyone else get buckled up as well.” I stated.
Everybody but Jessica buckled their seatbelt.
“What exactly do you think is going to happen?” She asked.
“You’ve been out there. You’ve seen the same shit I’ve seen so I’m sure you have an inkling.” I said sitting back down and putting my own seatbelt on.
We heard the surge of the crowd as it grew closer to us. The growling became intense. I wondered if that was how they communicated with each other. Did they understand each other and work together as a pack of hunters would? It was a strange phenomenon.
We sat in silence as they began to pass by. They were walking up against the van as they passed but they didn’t seem to take notice to the six of us inside. Seven if counting Milo who was so good at being quiet. It was like he knew the rules of the game without needing to be told.
I was a bit surprised that they seemed to be taking no notice to us as I thought surely they would smell us, our fresh non decaying blood and flesh in the van, yet they walked on.
I thought we were in the clear completely and felt the knots in my stomach start to untie themselves. I could almost sigh with relief but didn’t want to bring attention to us by making a loud noise with my breathing.
However, I was counting my blessings much too early. As they were passing by, one got very close to the van. It must have sensed us because it banged up against the driver side door. I think we would have gone unnoticed if Cindy hadn’t let out an involuntary squeal. It wasn’t overly loud or anything but it was loud enough for the hungry monsters outside.
They began to surround the van. Their growling intensified as they stood outside. They began to push the van trying to figure out how to get to the food inside. I knew this would happen but I had hoped it wouldn’t. Now I could only hope that it wouldn’t go as far as I pictured in my head.
“Jessica, I strongly suggest you put on that seatbelt,” I said.
“No, it’s not like they’re going to push us into another vehicle at a high speed or something,” she said.
“Jess, just put on your stupid seatbelt,” Cindy said.
“No, the idea of putting it on is ludicrous. Besides who put this bitch in charge of us anyway?” She snorted.
“You did when you agreed to get into my van,” I stated.
She made a face at me but said nothing else. She still didn’t put on her seatbelt either.
The arguing was useless and had seemed to get the zombies more riled up as they heard our voices.
“Great,” Jessica said under her breath as the zombies became more aggravated.
They pushed at the van harder and more determined than ever to get in to the food that was making all the noise. Teasing them with our talking and living.
“We have to do something,” I said. “We’re just sitting here as prey.”
“What can we do?” Natalie asked. “We exit we’ll be eaten alive immediately. If we shoot at them we bring the ones that passed by us back.”
“If they haven’t already come back,” I said.
“Why would they come back?” Cindy asked concerned.
“Zombies are simple. They follow noise and they follow the herd. The herd right now is after us making a lot of noise. The only thing we can hope is the ones in front have no interest in turning back for the stragglers.”
Cindy nodded breathing deeply.
I didn’t understand why she didn’t know this already about the zombies. They weren’t hard to understand. They were not complex creatures by any means. Turning into these walking dead things stripped them of any individual personality they may have once had and now they were all more or less the same. There was no difference in what got and kept their attention. No difference in what they wanted. Ian and I had figured them out in a week. It may have been a month before we figured out all the quirks they had but it really wasn’t many.
Ian and I had theorized that this plague of the dead must have occurred before because the movies and books about the dead walking among us were accurate. Very accurate. A blow to the heart did nothing to stop them. Any other wound that would surely kill a human was no matter to the zombies. It was only by taking out the brain that they would stop and die fully like they should have already.
I didn’t get why Cindy didn’t get it, she had been out there, living in it. She should be well versed on what made these zombies tick and how they worked.
The van continued to sway more violently. We had to do something but I had no idea what should be done. I couldn’t see a way out of this one.
Then I remembered the flare gun. But how would we be able to shoot it off in a direction to distract the zombies. I thought maybe the ladder on the back of the van.
“Natalie, are there any zombies at the back of the van?” I asked.
She looked at me quizzically and peaked out the back curtain, “No,” she answered softly.
“Fantastic,” I said and unbuckled.
“Put on your seatbelt,” Jessica mocked. I was no longer in the mood and I drew back my left hand in a fist and knocked her right in the face. She was out cold.
“There’s no time for that bullshit,” I said.
“What are you doing?” Pierce asked.
“I’m looking for a flare. If I can get outside and climb the ladder and get on the roof maybe I can shoot it out in a direction to where they won’t pay attention to us anymore.”
“Are you mad?” Joey asked. “You’ll get yourself killed.”
“Most likely but maybe not. But if we just sit here and do nothing, we will all surely die.”
Joey nodded, “What do you need us to do?”
The van was still rocking violently and hard to navigate.
“I’m not sure, my plan only involved getting the flare and climbing onto the roof,” I said.
“I’ll go to the roof,” Pierce said, his chivalry taking over.
“No, it’s my crazy plan, I will be the one who executes it,” I said firmly leaving no room for argument. There was no time anyway to debate it. It had to be done. We were already drawing it out much longer than we should have been.
“Pierce, you get in the driver’s seat, once they’re gone. Start to drive.”
“But you’ll be on the roof.”
“Yes, but it’s not like we’ll be going very fast. I’ll be alright.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Natalie said.
“I know it’s not but,” I began before Natalie cut me off.
“You’ll die. You must not do this,” Her voice was strained and her face looked grave.
“Natalie, I have to do something.”
“You’re the only family I’ve got,” She said with tears in her eyes.
“And that is why I must try to protect you. I’m not going to die. We will somehow make it through this,” I said even though I didn’t fully believe it myself.
Natalie looked scared and sad at the same time. Joey found the flare gun and handed it to me.
“Are you sure about this?” He asked.
I sighed, “I don’t know any other way, do you?”
He shook his head. No one said a word as I made my way to the rear of the van. It was difficult becaus
e the zombies had not given up on pushing the van. I was amazed they hadn’t flipped it over, which was my fear to begin with. It’s why I had told everyone to put on their seatbelt. Now I just hoped that they wouldn’t turn it over with me on the roof.
I opened the door slowly, trying not to draw attention to myself or my mission. The zombies didn’t come around to the back and I managed to get over to the ladder. Natalie shut the door behind me, trying not to make too much noise.
Two zombies noticed and came around. I managed to get my knife through their skulls without losing balance off the ladder.
Climbing the ladder proved to be difficult with how the van was rocking. I managed to get halfway up when another zombie came round. I was too high up to try and stab it’s head. I tried to climb faster but lost my grip a bit sliding back down a notch.
The zombie managed to get a hold of my right leg. I shook my leg trying to get it off me but it had a tight grip. I held on tight with my hands and kicked it in the face with my left foot. It still didn’t let go.
Holding my entire body weight on the ladder was uncomfortable and hurting my arms. I took a deep breath and kicked as hard as I could again. This time the kick in the face got the result I had hoped for the first time. The zombie was knocked backwards away from me.
I got my footing back on the ladder and climbed as fast as I could. I couldn’t afford another zombie to take notice of me. It they did, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep them at bay.
I got to the roof of the van and stood up on top. I aimed the flare at a car that sat about a yard from the van, hoping my calculations would be correct.
I shot the flare at the car. The zombies began to take notice of me on top of the roof and stopped rocking the van for a few minutes as they tried to reach for me instead. Luckily none of them were anywhere near tall enough to reach me.
In the few minutes that the zombies were distracted, the upholstery of the front seat of the car I shot the flare at caught fire. The zombies were mystified by the flames and turned away from the van. They started to make their way to the car.
I fell back onto my butt as Pierce began to drive forward. I wasn’t standing correctly for the sudden jerk of movement and my tailbone hurt like hell. I stayed in a sitting position as we drove on. I knew it wasn’t broken but it was going to be nicely black and blue very soon.
The van inched slowly away from the zombies as Pierce navigated through the car graveyard. He couldn’t go very fast so it took about fifteen minutes or maybe more before we were a comfortable enough distance from the herd for him to stop and let me climb off the roof.
Climbing down the ladder proved to incredibly difficult as my bruise hurt like hell. Pierce helped me get down.
“You alright?” He asked kindly.
I shook my head, absentmindly rubbing my rear. “Fell back hard on the roof. I’ll live though.”
“I’m sorry; I thought I heard a thump. I didn’t see you fall off the roof though so I thought you’d be alright.”
I laughed, “Well, I’m good. Just going to be bruised.”
He helped me limp to the passenger side door and helped me climb inside. Natalie rushed over from the back seat and threw her arms around me and the seat. I patted her arm.
“I told you I’d be alright,” I said.
“I know but I had my doubts,” She replied.
“Well that will teach you won’t it. Never doubt me again.”
She smiled and kissed my cheek. She headed back to her seat in the back.
Pierce hopped back in the driver’s seat and started rolling on. It was about another mile before we got past the car graveyard. There were still stranded vehicles but not as many once we got past a strip mall that had a pool supply store and a little Mexican restaurant. There were a few straggler zombies as well walking past us. They looked like they must have somehow gotten separated from the herd or were too slow for the herd.
We got to one of the main gates to the base and Pierce turned left. He drove up to the closed gate where two guards were standing inside in their BDU’s. They looked at us suspiciously as Pierce and I hopped out of the van. They had their hands on their guns but didn’t raise them. They let us approach the gate.
“Hello,” Pierce said. “We’re seeking shelter.”
One of the guards looked him up and down, “How many?”
“Six and a dog,” Pierce replied.
“A dog?” The other guard asked.
They were both young men. I’d say neither of them were a minute over 21.
“Yes,” I replied. “But not sure how long two of us and the dog will be staying.”
He nodded, “You just don’t see dogs anymore. They don’t really survive.”
“He’s smart and I’ve kept him very protected.”
The young guard nodded, “Good for you, I miss my dog.” He turned to the other guard before I could reply and said “Call it.”
The other guard walked out of earshot and made a call on his walkie talkie.
“We got to call it in to the Sergeant for approval,” The young man said.
The other guard walked forward after a few minutes of back and forth on his walkie talkie.
“We have a couple guys coming to inspect the van for bombs before it can cross over and you’ll need to surrender your weapons for the time being.”
“Objection,” I said.
Pierce looked at me concerned as I could tell he was thinking I was about to ruin his good luck at finding a place to stay.
“Look, I understand protocol. You can’t be too careful. But you can appreciate our position I’m sure. You’re asking us to turn in our weapons which if the dead weren’t walking around, I’d get it. But how do we know you’re Military? The real deal? How do we know that during the fallout of the dead coming back to life the base wasn’t over run by people who want to take advantage of those taking refuge in what should be a safe guarded space?”
Both guards smiled. They seemed to be impressed.
“I like the way you think, maybe after this is all over you should think about joining up,” He said. “We can’t have you keep the guns, not until we’ve checked you out in our screening process but you can keep your knives.”
I knew it was the best we were going to get. I wasn’t comfortable with it but I understood the protocol so I didn’t push it.
“Not to press our luck,” I began. “Why are you even considering letting us in? I mean I thought for sure you would be on lock down.”
“We were for a long time. Had to turn a lot of people away. It seemed like the best option at the time, when it all started. The safest most logical decision but people are dying. We’ve lost so many that were here. We had to cut off the bridge that crosses into the other side where the housing is. Too many zombies. But recently our Sergeant thought we should start letting people in. But not many people come around anymore.”
I nodded but didn’t reply. A group of three men approached. One of the guards let them out. Natalie, Joey, Cindy, Jessica, and Milo exited the van. Jessica rubbed her head as she exited. I was surprised to see her awake. She glared at me when she saw me. I wasn’t sorry for knocking her out. In fact, I would’ve happily done it again.
The soldiers looked over the van for about ten minutes before giving us the okay to proceed.
One of them stayed back with us stating that he would drive us in the van to headquarters. We all piled back in as they opened the gate wide enough for the van to drive through.
We drove through the base that looked like a ghost town; there was no one outside or anywhere to be found.
“Do you guys fly at all anymore?” I asked the Lieutenant. His name was Ronald Sanders. He had introduced himself as we started our way forward. He was a lot older than the two guards at the gate. He had a ring on his left hand indicating he had a wife at some point. I wondered silently if she was still alive.
“No,” He replied. “We did at first but the jets brought attention. The attention b
rought the zombies. We had a herd that was just roaming Litchfield Road in front of the gates for months. They finally moved on South. I’m surprised you didn’t run into them.”
“We did,” Joey said.
Ronald chuckled, “I can’t believe you made it out of that crowd.”
“It did take a miracle which came in the form of this girl right here,” Joey said patting my back.
“Just did what I could,” I said shyly.
We got to a building that looked to be in the middle of the base. Ronald led the way inside. It was dark inside as he led down a hallway into a room that looked like some kind of command station. There was light on in here and computers going.
“How?” Cindy asked.
“Generators,” A woman replied.
“This is Sergeant Tracy Bennett,” Ronald said.
We all introduced ourselves and shook her hand.
“Thank you so much for letting us stay,” Pierce said.
“Well, you will be expected to help out while you’re here. But we can’t leave people out there on the street anymore. It’s too dangerous.”
“Are you able to communicate with anyone?” I asked pointing to the computers.
She looked at me a smiled, “In spurts. It’s hit or miss but we have been able to get in touch with a few other bases in New Mexico and California. Recently we made contact with Japan.”
“Japan?” I asked intrigued.
She nodded, “Yes. Not for very long but we did speak with them once or twice for about a minute or more.”
“Were you able to make contact with Guam?” I asked without thinking. Hope rising up inside me and swelling.
Tracy looked confused for a minute then shook her head, “No. Guam? Why are you asking about Guam?”
“My sister’s there or was there. Her husband was stationed at Anderson.”
Tracy nodded in understanding and made sympathetic face, “I’m not sure we’ve tried to be honest or that they’ve tried to reach us. That doesn’t mean anything though,” She was quick to add. “I think everyone is focusing on trying to contact Washington more than anything else and we just cross paths.”
“Okay,” I said. I wanted to ask her more like ‘did she know if the planes made it out or not’ but I held my tongue thinking if she did, she would’ve most likely mentioned it.
Plague of the Dead (Book 2): Plague of the Desert Page 10
