“If I had better aim, he’d be dead.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Whatever.”
****
Dozens had been narrowed to a few stragglers when Russell sensed a shift nearby. He exhaled in relief knowing only one person could be that stealthy, besides himself, of course. “The fire out?”
Wilson stepped up beside him, smelling like smoke. “It’s out. Not too bad. Dirt patches kept it from spreading too far.”
Russell squinted his eyes, something wasn’t right. “Wilson, what aren’t you telling me?”
Wilson glanced back at Riley and shrugged sheepishly. “We found a jogging fellow, and he’s like Jane but not in as good shape.”
Russell swung around. “You’ve got another one?”
“He’s wondering around down there.” Wilson jerked his thumb in a southerly direction.
Russell turned angry eyes on Riley and his bow. “You didn’t take him out either.”
Wilson was quick to defend Riley. “Russell, he tried. I mean really hard. I don’t think he was supposed to do it.”
Russell stared at Wilson, trying to reign in his anger. He reminded himself that the man was not right sometimes. Kid gloves were best under the circumstances. Though his patience had thinned to the breaking point, he managed to speak with restraint. “Let’s finish with the stragglers, and we’ll deal with that next.”
Wilson nodded. “Good idea.”
“Wilson, don’t get your hopes up. We have to assess the situation, but right now, it doesn’t look too promising.”
Wilson nodded again, this time less enthusiastically.
Curtis shifted against a tree. “That guy in the jogging suit, I couldn’t kill him either.”
Wilson swung around and shoved his arm against Curtis’s neck, pinning him to the tree. “You’re trying to score points with the wrong person. His head has marks where I’m guessing you hit him. You kept him alive to use him.”
“Wilson!” Russell barked. “Focus, man. Remember your training.”
Wilson huffed but released Curtis. “Why couldn’t you have aimed higher with this guy?”
“Because he’s still alive.”
“Seems like the wrong people are dying around here.”
“Well, since none of us are God, we have to do our best under the circumstances.”
Wilson lifted his crossbow as the last two stragglers got within striking range. He and Russell released their bolts at the same time. Both dead dropped.
Russell turned to the others. “We need to comb the property, but if the jogger is in such good shape, we should check him first.” Russell turned to Curtis. “You think you can manage that far?” It was more a challenge than a question.
Curtis glanced around and found no sympathy. “Yeah, I guess so. But I’m in a lot of pain.”
“Hold on.” Wilson disappeared for a moment and came back holding a large branch. He thrust it at Curtis. “This’ll make a good walking stick. We don’t want you slowing us down more than you have to.”
Russell nodded. “Good thinking, Wilson. Let’s go.”
Though Curtis slowed their pace, they were on the edge of the burnt land within minutes. The charred ground was an ugly scar on the normally pristine property. As they ducked down in some brush, Russell struggled not to vent his anger. Instead, he shifted his focus on the lone figure less than thirty yards ahead of them.
The guy was moaning quietly, his random movements turning him in different directions, but not allowing him to go very far. Russell turned and whispered. “I assume that’s your jogger.”
Wilson nodded. “Yup, you can see he’s in good shape.”
“Hard to tell anything from this distance.” Russell searched around, picked up a large rock and threw it so it landed halfway between the jogger and them. The thud was just barely audible, but the jogger stopped wandering and turned directly toward it.
Russell pulled out a small pair of field glasses and studied him. No one made a sound with the exception of Curtis who was breathing heavily.
Wilson’s eyes darted between Russell and the dead man, waiting.
Russell lowered his glasses and whispered. “I’m sorry, Wilson. I don’t think he’s different. I think he’s in really good shape. But he was probably in good shape before he was bit.”
Wilson kept his eyes on the jogger and whispered back. “But he has no injuries.”
“I imagine he has a sizeable bite someplace. It’s just not obvious.”
“We have to take a look.”
Russell’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t want any of us getting near him.”
Wilson didn’t say anything.
“You’re not going to let this go.”
“The man’s life is at stake.”
“The man’s life was at stake. He’s very dead.”
Wilson pursed his lips. “If we don’t find any bite marks…”
“Wilson…”
The pain in Curtis’s foot and exhaustion from an endless day were taking its toll. He was out of patience and couldn’t keep himself from bursting out in a loud whisper. “He’s practically harmless. I’ve been dealing with a hundred of these dead. One idiot, dead jogger I can handle.” Before anyone could respond, he moved forward and out of the brush. “I’ll take care of Sweats.”
Russell started to stand, then knelt down again. He turned to Wilson and Riley. “He’s the only one I don’t mind seeing take a risk. This’ll be interesting.”
****
Sweats spotted Curtis and started moving in his direction. Curtis met him halfway, then stuck his walking stick against the dead man’s chest and shoved. Sweats drifted backward, hovering between falling and standing. Curtis pushed him again, and Sweats toppled over. Sweats began shifting his weight back and forth so he could stand again. As he rolled to the side, Curtis shoved him with the stick pushing him on his stomach. “That’s how it’s done,” Curtis yelled to anyone listening. “Check him for…” One of Sweat’s hands grabbed his uninjured foot. Curtis lifted it, putting too much weight on his injured foot and lost his balance. Sweats never let go of the foot. Pulling it toward him, he sunk his teeth into Curtis’s leg.
A string of crossbow bolts could be heard as they struck Sweats, but it was too late, the damage had been done. As the rest of the group ran up to join Curtis, he found Wilson’s next words particularly annoying.
“Russell, you were right. He’s an ankle biter.” Wilson knelt down next to Curtis. “I really thought he was different. He appeared to be in excellent condition.”
Curtis swiped at the air. “You were wrong. Now, I’m going to turn. I’m going to die alone with a goddamn arrow in my heel.”
Russell leaned down and took his arm. “Let’s get your leg cleaned up…”
Curtis yanked his arm free. “Why? What difference will it make?” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re being awful damn nice.”
Russell sighed. “I’m not one to kick a man when he’s down.”
Wilson leaned in. “Or bitten.” He turned to Russell. “I want to show him my leg.”
Russell studied Curtis a moment. “I suppose there’s no harm in it.”
Riley shrugged. “Why not?”
Curtis made a face. “Dude, I have no interest in seeing your leg.”
Russell spoke softly. “You’ll want to see this. Go ahead, Wilson.”
Wilson pulled up his pant leg exposing a nearly healed set of teeth marks.
Curtis was incredulous. “You were bit?”
Wilson nodded. “One of them latched onto me early on.”
Curtis turned desperate eyes on Russell. “You mean I might make it? Is there some sort of vaccine?”
Russell shook his head. “No vaccine, but if Wilson didn’t turn, maybe...”
The light died in Curtis’s eyes. “So this guy didn’t turn, and you think there’s a chance I won’t. Well if there is a chance, it’s not much. Look at the bodies on your property.” He made angry eye
contact with each one of them hoping they would disagree, but they didn’t. He turned back to Sweats. “Even the strong ones get taken down eventually.” The area around the bite felt like it was on fire. His plans had been shot to hell. Yet somewhere in his subconscious, he pretty much knew this would happen. From the moment he’d seen reports on TV about the dead reanimating, he knew he would soon become one of the statistics. That’s why he’d come up with such a crazy plan. Why not try something outrageous if you didn’t have a chance anyway? But seeing the three unbitten men beside him, he suddenly felt very alone. “My god, I guess this is it.”
Wilson started to speak and Curtis cut him off. “I don’t know why you didn’t turn, but based on the looks you guys are giving me my chances aren’t good. So just leave me.”
Russell shook his head. “We can’t do that. It would be too dangerous.”
Wilson shrugged. “He can keep Jane company.”
Russell and Riley spoke at once. “No!”
Curtis looked from one to the other, then grabbed Wilson’s arm. “No, tell me about her. Is she pretty?” It had been years since he’d spent any time with a pretty woman.
“Yup. Blond hair, blue eyes…err, half turned.”
“Half turned?”
“Yeah, but very pretty and sweet. Doesn’t talk, just listens. She could keep you company in your…uh, final hours.”
Curtis struggled to stand and had to be helped by Wilson and Riley. “Where is she?”
“We got her secured in a jeep just over the ridge.”
“In a jeep. You keep her in a jeep? Man, I thought I had problems.”
Russell raised his voice. “Which is why it’s a bad idea.”
Curtis began hobbling in the direction of the ridge. “I agree, but bad ideas are all I got right now.”
****
Curtis followed as closely behind Wilson as he could. Russell and Riley took up the rear. Curtis hadn’t made it far before he felt pain spreading from his bite into his leg. Not a good sign.
“How soon will I know if I’m going to turn?”
Wilson spoke over his shoulder. “The area around the bite starts to change color fairly quick. We could take a look.”
“Never mind.” He didn’t want to know. He’d sit with this Jane mutant and see what happened. Between his heel and the pain in his leg, he wasn’t able to move very fast. It wasn’t long before Russell took one arm and Riley the other. This time he didn’t shake them off even though he hated needing their help. By the time they arrived at the jeep he was leaning hard on both of them, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the white blond head of the woman sitting in the back of the jeep. As they drew closer, he got a better look at her.
She was pretty and just as they said, not quite dead. She seemed to see him though there wasn’t much behind her eyes. And when she began clicking her teeth, reality set in. He opened the front door of the jeep and sat down hard. “I don’t know why I thought being with her would help. She’s a hot chick who wouldn’t have anything to do with me if she wasn’t half dead. She may not be one of them, but she’s not one of us. I’ll be dead soon, and there’s nothing anyone can do.”
Russell turned to Wilson and Riley. “Wilson, why don’t you give everyone an update? Riley keep watch over this general area. Stay within earshot.” He turned back to Curtis. “From what I’ve seen of her, she does seem to listen.” He hesitated. “I hate what you did to my property, but I don’t know how you managed what you did. It was dangerous, and you took a lot of risks to get as far as you did.”
Curtis shook his head. “And it added up to jack shit.”
“Doesn’t matter. Most people don’t make it out of their front door in a scenario like this. Not only did you make it out of your house, you amassed a small army of dead and got them into a well-secured property. I wouldn’t have done it, and I don’t think I could have done it. As much as I don’t like what happened, I’m impressed.”
Curtis glanced up. “Really?”
Russell exhaled. “Yes, really.”
Curtis smiled. “It’s nice to think I was good at something. I don’t suppose you have any beer.”
Russell turned and raised his voice. “Riley.”
Riley hurried over to them. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“Mind running up to the house and getting us some beers. Sadie knows where I keep the good ones.”
“Yeah, so do I. I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”
“Great.”
Curtis nodded toward Jane. “Beer goggles will make talking easier.”
“I imagine so.” Russell kept an eye on their surroundings until Riley returned with a box holding a dozen beers. It was the end of his dark beers but appropriate under the circumstances. He uncapped one and handed it to Curtis before taking one for himself. “Riley, mind keeping an eye on things?”
Riley looked relieved. “No problem, Russell. I’ll stay within earshot.”
Curtis took a lengthy swallow of beer. “I didn’t think I’d be getting dark beer ever again.”
Russell nodded. “It was one thing I didn’t want to run out of if anything happened.”
Curtis leaned back in his seat. “I knew I was a dead man the minute the shit hit the fan. I’ve always had bad luck.”
From close by, Riley chimed in. “At least you didn’t get eaten.”
“True,” Curtis murmured. “But, I’m no Russell or Wilson. They thrive in these conditions.”
Russell barked a laugh. “It took the world being turned on its head for us to excel. Hell, my wife left me for the things I excel at. Like I said, you held your own out there.”
Curtis nodded, then shuddered. “It’s cold, isn’t it?”
Russell ignored the fact that he was sweating and quickly agreed.
Curtis took another drink. “The beer…it’s good. I didn’t eat much today. It’s gone to my head.” He turned and looked at Jane who was quietly salivating in the back seat. “She’s an angel. No need for beer goggles.”
Russell frowned. “Yes…she’s well, lovely.”
Curtis gave him a sharp look. “Lovely? She’s a goddamn goddess.”
Russell grabbed a blanket from the back of the jeep and threw it over Curtis’s shoulders. “I’m sure you’re right.” He caught the beer as it slipped from Curtis’s fingers.
“I wasn’t done with that. I’m not dead yet.” All calm was gone, replaced by panic. “I don’t want to die.”
Russell handed him back the beer and waited till he swallowed the rest of it, then handed him another one. “You’re not going to die.”
“Yes, I am. I’m going to change, then you’ll shoot me like you shot my foot.”
“Let’s take this one step at a time. You haven’t even turned.”
Curtis closed his eyes, then blinked them open. “Right, first I have to turn.”
Russell felt the back of the other man’s head. It was ice cold. “Your head is still warm. Plenty of blood running through your veins alongside the beer.”
“Yup.” Curtis finished the second beer and let the bottle drop. “I’m exhausted. Those dead really take it out of you. Worse than children.”
Riley walked up. Both he and Russell waited, but Curtis didn’t open his eyes again. Together they lifted him out of the jeep and propped him against a tree.
Russell spoke first. “How long do you think he has?”
Riley stared at Curtis. “Hard to say. An hour, maybe more.”
“I heard that.” Curtis spoke with his eyes closed. “Russell, wait till you have to…”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t till sunset that Curtis’s body showed no signs of life. When he opened his eyes and groaned, Russell shot his last crossbow bolt for the day.
Chapter 27
Sadie watched through the monitor as Russell and Riley approached the house. Both men wore the same solemn expression. She quickly checked the other monitors for activity before turning to greet them when they entered the room. “
I heard the enemy has been thwarted.”
Russell grunted his reply. “Something like that.”
She frowned and turned back to the screens. “Wilson and Fred are almost finished repairing the fence. Gary, Marjie and Jennifer are combing the north end of the property one last time. They haven’t found anyone else on the rest of the property.”
Russell nodded. “I’ll watch the monitors. You two want to get something to eat? If the others haven’t returned, maybe take some MREs out to them.”
Sadie stood, making room for Russell. “Yeah, sure.”
Together, she and Riley headed for the tank. “That bad, huh?”
“Under the circumstances, it went well, but yeah, it was still bad. Russell has only had to kill people he didn’t know. Curtis wasn’t going to win any popularity contest, but in the end, it was still hard.”
Sadie glanced back at the house. “Think it would help if I talk to him.”
He shook his head. “I’d give him some time. He’s not much of a talker.”
“You’re right. I just hate to see him like that.”
They walked to the back of the tank. Riley scanned the shelves. “So what are you in the mood for? We got an overabundance of black bean and rice burritos. Wilson is the only one who likes them. Not that they like him. We need to keep him away from beans.”
“God, I wish we could just hide those. Here, give me one.”
“Good thinking, Sadie.” Riley handed her the bean burrito meal and took one for himself. “I guess it’s the best way to get rid of them.”
They opened their meals and took out the heater bags. After filling them with water they put the burritos inside. A minute later Sadie made a face. “Unfortunately, the only thing left to do is eat them.” They sat on their bunks and were halfway through their meals when Wilson and Fred returned.
Wilson was covered in dirt and smelled like a campfire. “The fence and property are secure. The others are putting away weapons. Russell sent us over for dinner.” He looked down at Sadie’s meal. “Black bean and rice burritos, good choice. Think I’ll have one or maybe two.” He elbowed Fred. “What do you think, Fred? There’s plenty back there.”
Fred shook his head. “I’ll be lucky to get one down.”
Situation Z Page 17
