Exodus

by Brian P. White

  Pairs searched the various buildings along the way but always came out empty-handed. Craig seemed the most upset—and understandably so—stewarding the bickering A-Twins in and out of a big retail store. The checkered blond probably wished he had gone with the small group following tanker in the opposite direction instead of putting up with those two—

  A sharp chill penetrated Sean’s left foot, forcing his knees to buckle and his rump to plop into the slush. He cried out as he checked his sole and found a sliver of wood stuck to his boot, the business end of its nail way up in his foot. He yanked it out and forced himself to stand, enduring the wind freezing his butt where he had landed.

  Craig appeared at his side. “You alright?” he asked while the twins shoved each other on their way up like a couple of twelve-year-olds.

  “Stepped on a nail,” Sean grunted. “I take it you didn’t find anything either.”

  “Cleared everybody out and left their trash.” Craig glanced down at the discard and helped Sean stand. “Let’s get you patched up.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Sean insisted while the lumberjack guided him into the bus.

  “Yeah? How long since your last tetanus shot?” he asked smarmily, and Sean couldn’t even remember. “Thought so. Now, let’s go and see if we can get you something for that.”

  Sean let himself be taken up the stairs and into the front seat where Cody had spent the trip. The one fixture that remained was the bruised Pepe, who asked, “What happened?”

  “I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Sean admitted as he peeled off his boot and his damp sock. No wonder he was so cold, and boy did that wound trickle.

  “Ouch,” the young man said as he rifled through a small bag and pulled out some gauze, ointment, and an Ace Wrap. “At least I can fix this.”

  Sean laughed in spite of himself while he let the Los Angelino tend his wounded foot.

  Muffled laughter came from Cynthia, who grinned under all the tape on her mouth.

  He opted to ignore her, but the sight he couldn’t overlook so easily was his bound wife in the next seat back. Paula stared defiantly forward, her uncovered mouth stiffly shut. His heart broke for her again, wishing to free her and hold her tightly, even if it ended the same way as the hotel.

  “Did anyone get a hold of Didi yet?” he asked anyone. “Tell her the situation?”

  “We tried,” Bob said while inching the bus forward. “No answer.”

  Sean’s gut trembled. He hoped Nick would have a better answer. “What about you?”

  “No, and I don’t expect her to,” the rude hacker replied without looking up.

  “Say what?” Hashim asked as he approached from the back while the rest of the bus gawked.

  Nick stopped typing and glared up at the Panel man like a moron. “You think any of their comms are going to work after that E.M.P.?”

  “E.M.P.?” Bob asked with a troubled glance over his shoulder.

  The scrawny Pakistani rolled his eyes and huffed. “You don’t know an electromagnetic pulse when you see one? What is wrong with you people?” Then he went back to typing.

  Hashim yanked the man’s laptop away, which pulled the cord right out of the socket under the seat. “And you didn’t think to mention this earlier?”

  “Forgive me for giving you the benefit of the doubt that you might actually know something,” he said while snatching at the laptop the chef started raising above his head.

  “What do you mean?” Sean pressed. “What would an E.M.P. do to them?”

  “Anything electronic within the blast radius would fry,” Hashim said while facing him, which was when Nick finally grabbed his laptop back and plugged it back up before he resumed typing. The chef shook his head before rubbing it. “That means no radios, and their truck probably won’t work, either.”

  Then a terrible thought crossed Sean’s mind. “What does that mean for Didi?”

  The same fear quickly filled the eyes of everyone else on the bus but Nick. Sean trembled.

  *****

  “What the fuck?” Isaac blurted, his eyes wide with confusion as the dead woman lumbered toward them, getting faster every few seconds. Her face scrunched into the same mindless hunger he had seen in every damn face-muncher he had bashed, shot, ran through, or escaped.

  Lavon backed up. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “The E.M.P.,” Rachelle finally said, standing there all lamely. “It must’ve fried her N.S.U.”

  Lavon flinched. “Her what did what?”

  “RUN,” Cody shouted before shutting the truck door.

  Didi growled again as her near-run pace headed for the Ford.

  “No,” Rachelle hollered, which caught Didi’s attention, then ran to the backdoor of the Marine’s building, screaming, “Over here!”

  Isaac followed the kid and the Marine while the zombie damn near hit a full sprint. They entered the back doors and slammed them shut, stranding themselves in darkness.

  Rachelle cursed. “How are we going to help Cody and Gilda?”

  “I’m more worried about—” Isaac started to say until a crash thundered through the bay. He propped himself against the door, which rocked as the roaring dead woman pounded on it. “They’ll be fine if they stay down. What the hell are we going to do?”

  “I thought you all said she was cool,” Lavon shouted over the loud banging.

  “She was until that blast,” Rachelle replied with difficulty. “Now, she’s just like the rest.”

  “Did you know this would happen?”

  “We heard,” Isaac said.

  Lavon’s eyes shot up to the air. “That’s just great. Two years safe and now I’m about to get eaten by a zombie.”

  “Well, at least she can’t smell or see us in the dark,” Rachelle said.

  A concussive force bent the door slightly inward and scared the shit out of Isaac. “But she can still hear really well.”

  “Wait. If she worked before, can you fix her now?” Lavon asked.

  Rachelle pushed against the door with both hands and her shoulder. “If we had a working N.S.U., but the only one who has any is … Cody.”

  The three eyed each other in the dim beam of light as if waiting for a volunteer to go out there until part of the door flew off, and a savage growl pierced the bay.

  Rachelle cussed again, then hissed, “Hide in the shadows. It’s our only chance.”

  “What about the arms room?” Lavon asked from the door just before more of it broke.

  Rachelle shook her head while backing away from the door. “She’ll wait us out. We need to get around her and leave her in the dark. Come on.”

  Isaac quickly followed the kid into the dark. Lavon rolled her eyes, then bolted after them.

  Not two seconds later, the door collapsed and in ran the feral Death Doll, raging like a starving madwoman even as it stopped in the middle of the bay while the three split up and found whatever cover they could.

  Isaac slipped into that hallway next to the arms room door, watching the leather-clad dead scan the bay, listening. Waiting.

  A mild grunt escaped her snarling mouth, her voice a little fuller than other face-munchers. If Rachelle was right, she couldn’t see or smell them, but she would hear any sound they made in the echoing bay. How were they supposed to get around that thing?

  Isaac struggled to keep his breathing quiet, his heart pounding like Didi did on that door. The so-called protector started looking his way. He ducked out of instinct, then rolled his eyes and peered in again. Still there, but no closer. His pulse throbbed in his ears nonetheless, amplifying every tiny sound he made like she would pick up on it.

  Across the bay, Rachelle snuck out from behind the bend in the supply cage and quietly made her way toward the exit like she was tiptoeing around parents after curfew.

  Lavon peeked out from behind the open arms room door at Didi, then Isaac, who waved her toward the back door. She looked at him like he was nuts until he pointed at Rachelle successfully getting out
undetected. The Marine slowly left the safety of the steel door and crept through the bay, but she tripped on something and fell flat on her face.

  The thing turned toward the Marine and roared.

  “Over here,” Isaac suddenly blurted out, which quickly drew Didi’s attention. She ran right at him, and his heart stopped. He backed further into the darkness and bumped into a solid wooden door. He opened it, but found Didi sprinting right up to him. He curled up into a ball and the zombie tumbled right over him into the next room. He shut the door behind him and ran the hell out of this nightmare, leaving her to bang wildly on the door.

  He regrouped with Rachelle and Lavon at the truck, where they found Gilda and Cody lying on the backseat and floor, the banging inside still raging on. “I got her trapped, but I don’t think it’ll hold her for long. What do we do now?”

  Cody faced Lavon. “Take them to the motor pool. Help them find … whatever parts they need to … get this truck working.”

  The Marine nodded.

  “Fuck the truck if we can find another one that works,” Isaac hissed.

  Cody rolled his eyes. “Fine. Just go.”

  “What about you?” Rachelle asked fretfully.

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Gilda said grimly, her hand on Cody’s forearm like a restraint.

  “Take this,” Cody said, struggling to lift a backpack from the floor. “It has N.S.U.s … all charged.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Lavon quietly snapped.

  “Make time,” Cody huffed, shoving the strap with great effort into Isaac’s hand. “I can’t fix her. You have to do it.”

  Isaac flinched at the bag. “Fix her?”

  Cody reached into his pocket and pulled out a little gray case, which he opened to reveal that N.S.U. thing. He pulled the pen-looking thing out of the foam and pushed the button under the base. Tiny sparks danced around its slim orange body. Sparks … electricity … that worked! “The cases are lead-lined. I made sure of it … in case of lightning.”

  Isaac regarded the bag, which jiggled as he raised it. Then he faced the dark doorway of the building. “I ain’t going in there!”

  “Truck first … then come back. Draw her out … pin her down … shove it behind her ear … and push the button,” which he did to turn his off before stuffing it back in its case. “If you don’t … we lose her.”

  Isaac glanced back at the busted doorway and huffed. “Fine,” he said, then lightly backhanded Lavon’s shoulder. “Which way?”

  The Marine glanced around, then pointed toward the mountains. “That way.”

  “Then let’s get this done,” he insisted, then followed her quickly yet quietly with Rachelle, silently praying God wouldn’t abandon His devoted zombie by letting her eat his ass.

  *****

  “Aliens took everybody?” Clarissa snapped. “Are you serious?”

  “It was just a thought,” the intellectually questionable twin replied with an innocent shrug. “What if they brought the plague in the first place?”

  “Will you shut up with that, you asshole?” his brother snapped with a shove.

  Aaron cursed his brother with a shove of his own that landed him in Sean’s lap.

  “Please watch your mouths,” Jerri hissed as Chun and April began to cry and woke Danny, who joined their sad chorus. She groaned and gently stroked each of their cheeks and heads, wondering how many times Aaron had been hit in the head playing football.

  Up front, Bob stopped the bus and helped Craig and Hashim force the twins apart.

  “Knock it off,” Hashim snapped. “We’re down two kids, and we’ve got no idea what’s going on in that base. Now, you behave or we’ll tape you down to the seats like these two,” he added with a wave at Paula and Cynthia.

  The twins eyed each other spitefully, but they relented and plopped into their seats.

  Hashim shook his head while Bob got the bus moving again. Craig went back to staring out the gun slits, watching everybody out there search the nearby hotel, bank, and smoothie place.

  Jerri glanced at Paula, feeling bad for her colleague. She had only meant to give herself some space to grieve, not to drive the poor woman to suicide. Regardless of anything, Paula did save her baby girl from the lethal arms of a dying teenager being devoured by zombies.

  “Can you believe those two?” Clarissa asked as she plopped down next to Jerri, who chuckled as she soothed her babies.

  “I want to be compassionate, but I’m starting to want to kick them off this bus even more.”

  Clarissa scoffed. “Really.”

  “Finally get Amber to sleep?”

  “At long last,” Clarissa said with a point up front, then recoiled at that new guy Hector gawking at the third car seat from the front. “What are you doing?” she growled lowly at him.

  “She berry nice,” he said with a big, toothy grin.

  “That’s sweet. Now how about backing off so you don’t wake her up?”

  Hector’s grin faded and he leaned back in the nearby seat.

  Clarissa shook her head. “Can’t get a moment’s peace.”

  Jerri shrugged. “A mother’s work is never—”

  The bus stopped again. Everyone faced forward.

  “What’s going on?” Jerri asked ahead as she stood.

  Bob pointed out the window with Craig’s detached rifle scope against his eye. “I just saw someone it that diner.”

  Some of the others planted themselves on the left wall and peeked out the gun slits. Hector frantically eyed everyone around him like he was waiting for an assassination attempt.

  Jerri and Clarissa stood and glanced through the slit at the highway. The glass diner was dark, the door closed. No sign of movement, no tracks in the snow.

  “I don’t see anything,” Clarissa said.

  “Are you sure it’s not one of the search teams?” Jerri asked.

  Bob shook his head. “They were wearing something brown with snow on it.”

  “Whoever it was could have the girls,” Craig suggested. “Maybe stalking us for more.”

  Bob reattached the scope to the rifle and stood. “I’ll go check it out.”

  Hashim stopped him from getting out. “Don’t go out there alone.”

  “Okay, I won’t,” Bob said with a pointed smirk.

  Hashim sighed, grabbed a nearby pistol, and stepped off the bus with Bob. Everyone else glued themselves to the left wall to watch the two through the gun slits.

  Jerri went back to stroking her babies, who were quieting down. “That’s right, little ones. It’ll all be okay.”

  Clarissa smiled down at them and started tickling Chun’s belly, though that little whimper didn’t subside any. “You’ll be okay, won’t you? Yeah, and you’ll be playing with Amber soon. Won’t you like that?”

  Jerri’s elder baby began to smile, which warmed her heart to see. “Thank you.”

  Clarissa smiled at Jerri and stood. “I just hope none of that crap woke up Amber.”

  “Here’s hoping,” Jerri said with a sideways grin.

  Clarissa waved as she plodded wearily back up front.

  Jerri resumed soothing her babies, which got easier now that Chun and Danny had stopped crying. Now she could focus a little more on her precious April. “Aw, sweetie, don’t be sad. We’ll find those two—”

  Clarissa screamed her head off. “Amber!”

  Jerri faced ahead again to find her friend searching the bus frantically … and the previously doting party nowhere in sight. With no other idea beyond the obvious—and unwilling to leave her own babies—she shouted out the gun slit. “Hashim, Hector’s gone. He took Amber.”

  Clarissa locked fretful eyes with Jerri. “No. No, he can’t. I—I’ll kill him,” she added gruffly as she snatched at one of the mounted firearms and flew off the bus. Craig tried to stop her, but she shoved him back so hard he fell on his butt.

  “Go,” Jerri bade him.

  He nodded to her, grabbed the nearest gun, and rush
ed off the bus.

  Jerri sat back down and put firm hands on her babies. Her mere two would hold her precious three here no matter what.

  CHAPTER 16

  DARK CORNERS

  Rachelle followed Lavon and Isaac to a fenced-in area filled with tan vehicles half-covered by snow: hum-vees, semi-looking trucks, pickups, A.T.V.s, big suckers with armor and gun turrets, and a couple of tanker trucks. At the center of it all stood a long building with four big bay doors. No sign of life or death here, either. Did everybody get scooped up by aliens?

  They reached the gate, which was topped by barbed and concertina wire and bound by a simple padlock. Before Rachelle could ask what to do next, the Marine removed the blouse she had put on that matched her pants, draped it over the top of the wire, and climbed the chain link like it was a ladder. She was over and on the concrete pad in an instant, waving the other two over like she was on some kind of a combat operation.

  Rachelle and Isaac eyed each other. “Give me a boost?” she asked.

  He flinched like she called him something stupid, then pulled his pistol and shot the lock off. “Now what?” he asked the Marine, who rolled her eyes and ran toward the tall building. Rachelle almost laughed as she followed, grabbing Lavon’s blouse for her.

  The three of them reached the building easily enough, but the nearest door was locked. Rachelle tried kicking it the way Didi had taught her, putting all she had to shove the sucker in really fast. The damn thing turned out to be made of metal, which hurt her foot.

  “What’d you do that for?” Lavon asked.

  Not wanting to explain, Rachelle shook her head. “Never mind. How do we get in?”

  Mister Locksmith tried blasting his way in, but the door still wouldn’t budge.

  Lavon shoved him. “You’re lucky that didn’t ricochet into us.”

  The big man flinched with a nasty glare. “‘scuse me!”

  The Marine looked like she wanted to clock him, but she headed down the length of the building. “Let’s check the other doors. Try not to blast anything else along the way, huh?”