“In the kitchen, next to the sink! Please, you have to help me!”
Jillian ignored her plea and walked into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a box for microwave ready bacon resting on the counter. She sighed in relief and walked to the basement door. She unlocked it and opened it to see Adam and Randy waiting at the foot of the stairs. They walked up.
“Everything okay?” Adam asked as he hugged Jillian.
“Yes, it is now,” she replied.
Suddenly Mama shrieked something incomprehensible from the living room. Jillian, Adam and Randy ran into the room to see the now reanimated brothers feasting on their mother. Randy gasped.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Jillian said quietly.
“You and Randy go outside,” Adam said. “I’ll be out in a moment.”
They walked outside. It was cold and cloudy outside. A moment later Adam joined them.
“What did you do?” she asked as they walked back to her parents’ house.
“You’ll see. I didn’t want anyone mistaking that house as safe.”
“I guess we’ll head back to Chicago,” Randy said.
“Yeah. There’s nothing for me here. Not now anyway,” she said.
The trio grabbed their bags from Jillian’s parents’ house and as they walked back out to the Land Rover she saw flames erupt from the front windows of the Chambliss’ house.
“Oh,” she murmured.
“Yeah,” Adam said as he climbed into the back seat of the SUV. Jillian climbed in next to him.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked as Randy got in and started the engine.
“Yeah,” Randy replied. “You sure that you are?”
“I will be,” she said. “I will be.”
Flames shot skyward from the Chambliss’ house as the trio drove away.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Casey Newburgh
Day 29
Once they had escaped the gangs, it was easy enough to find the van. Mahmoud only lived about a mile from the van. The white ISU van was actually still sitting in the same spot it had been in, about twenty feet from the edge of the pavement. Finding gas for the van was a bit harder, but Jamie had located a commuter parking lot about a quarter of a mile back and had siphoned gas from a few cars. With that, the van roared to life.
Casey had been relieved to get in the van and be on the road again. It had been quite a harrowing experience being held prisoner at Midway. He watched the ruins of suburban Chicago coast by as Todd drove north on North 1st Avenue. Soon they passed over the Des Plaines River and through the ruins of Maywood. Every other cross street they passed had zombies staggering down them. Casey was surprised by how many zombies there were.
“You guys seeing this?” he asked as they passed over I-290. It looked like hundreds of thousands of zombies were staggering around on the interstate.
“What did you expect Casey?” Jamie asked. “This is Chicago we’re in. The city had what, ten million people living in it before the epidemic?”
Casey laughed. It was true. He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised. He wondered how Missy was, if she was worried, as the van drove past a dense forest. At some point he nodded off.
When he woke up Todd was parking the van in front of his house. Casey looked around and saw the Land Rover was still gone.
“Where do you think your brother is?” Jamie asked Todd.
Todd shrugged as he turned the van off. “I don’t know. Maybe Adam or Jillian’s family was still alive.”
They all walked upto the house and when they entered, Casey watched Todd get tackled by his daughters. Vicki ran up and hugged him when he stood back up.
“I’m glad you guys are all still alive!” she exclaimed. “Did you get the van?”
Todd nodded.
“What took so long?”
“Gangsters. Has Randy been back yet?”
She shook her head.
“Where’s Missy?” Casey asked.
“Upstairs sleeping.”
Casey ran up the stairs as he heard Todd and Jamie talking with Vicki about the gangs. He found Missy asleep in the guest bedroom. He walked in and sat down on the bed next to her.
“Missy?” he asked.
She turned over and opened her eyes a crack. “Casey?” She sat up and kissed him. “You’re okay!”
“I am!” he said as he hugged her.
“What took so long? You guys were gone for four days!”
He laughed. “We got kidnapped by a gang and held prisoner down at Midway.”
She gasped. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “It was pretty crazy. We escaped when another gang attacked.”
She hugged him tightly. “I’m glad you’re back.”
He nodded.
That evening at dinner, Todd spoke up.
“Look, I don’t know if Randy, Adam and Jillian are coming back or not. We need to make plans to get out of here soon,” he said. “There were several gangs fighting over the west suburbs. It won’t be long before they are fighting over the city proper.”
“But Todd, you said we’d be safe here,” Vicki protested.
“I did; that was before I saw gangs with airplanes and mortars!”
“Todd, your brother made it back here. What about my family?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Vicki, it’s been almost a month. Surely we would have heard from someone by now?”
She nodded quietly. “Do you think they survived?”
A grim expression crossed his face for a moment. “Maybe. It’s definitely possible. But still, we don’t know that they’d come here. Your mom lives in New York.”
She pursed her lips. “So where are we going to go?”
“I’ll look over the maps, but I think we should try to make it to one of the lakes in Southern Ontario. We could hide out in a cabin over the winter. We can take the van.”
“What about Randy, Adam and Jillian?” Casey asked.
Todd looked down at his plate. “I don’t know. We have to leave soon. I say we give them a few more days. If they make it back, we’ll go together. If they don’t, we have to leave.”
Casey shook his head. “We can’t just leave.”
“What would you do Casey?” Todd asked. “We can’t just go look for them. There’s a lot of territory between here and Cleveland. All we can do is wait for a few days and then head out with or without them. Today is November Twenty-Sixth. We’ll give them until December First. If they aren’t back by then, we will leave without them.”
“But Randy is family, your family.”
“I know that Casey. Vicki and the girls are too, though, and my first responsibility is to them. If you want to wait here for Randy when we leave, you can, but if they’re not back by the First, me and my household will have to leave without them.”
“Todd, they’ve only been gone for four days. It could have taken that long just to get to Cleveland,” Jamie said.
Todd stared at him. “Even so. December First is as long as I’m going to wait.”
The next morning Missy woke up with a terrible cough. She had a fever too. Vicki suspected she had the flu. Casey brought her water and broth throughout the day but she was still sick the next day and the next and the next and the next.
In addition, Randy, Adam and Jillian were still missing.
December 1st came and went and they still weren’t back yet. But now, Missy and Vicki both had the flu. Casey was glad they would have to at least wait until Vicki was feeling better.
Missy’s fever broke the next day and on the 3rd she was up and walking around.
Vicki’s fever broke on the 5th. Todd announced they were going to leave the next day, with or without Randy, Adam and Jillian.
Casey was sitting on the front porch that evening when the Land Rover came driving down West Dakin Street. He leapt up in joy when Randy climbed out.
“What took you guys so long?” he exclaimed as Adam and Jillian got out.
Randy laugh
ed and shook his head. “We got a flat tire on the way back and then a ball joint broke. We had to find a mechanic’s shop and fix it ourselves. That took a while because, you know, I’m not a mechanic. Neither is Adam or Jillian. Then we got caught in a crazy snowstorm. Seriously, we must have gotten more than three feet of snow dumped on us.”
Casey laughed. “I’m glad you guys are okay!”
The front door opened. “What’s all the commotion about?” Todd called out.
“Todd!” Randy shouted.
“Randy?” Todd ran out the door and leapt off the porch. He embraced Randy in a big bear hug.
“I guess you guys didn’t…” Casey started, but then he trailed off.
Adam shook his head. “No. My parents were dead. So were Jill’s.”
“I’m sorry to hear that man,” Casey said as he walked over and hugged Adam.
“It’s okay. I think we’ll be okay. Thank you.”
“I see you guys got the van back!” Randy exclaimed.
Todd laughed. “Yeah. We’ll need to catch up inside. A lot has happened since you left.”
“Tell me about it!”
They all walked inside.
Over dinner they regaled one another with tales of abduction and escape.
As they ate dessert Todd cleared his throat. “We have to head north. We’ll leave first thing in the morning. Randy, I’m really glad you guys made it back. We are going to head north for the lakes in Southern Ontario.”
Randy nodded. “Let’s do it.”
The next morning, they loaded their gear into the van and the Land Rover. Casey walked with Randy and Todd through the house as they checked to make sure they had everything. The house was spotless, the beds were made, and the floors were clean.
“Man, this is tough,” Todd said when they reached the foot of the stairs. “I hope we make it back here someday. This house was falling apart when we bought it. We fixed it up and man, this is tough.”
Randy hugged him. “We’ll be back man.”
Todd nodded. “Yeah. I hope so.” He turned to Randy. “You okay driving the Land Rover?”
Randy nodded. “Yeah. Hey Casey, do you and Missy want to ride with me, Adam and Jillian?”
Casey nodded. “Sure.”
They walked out of the house as Jamie, Vicki and the girls climbed into the van.
“If we get separated, we’ll meet at Solon Springs, Wisconsin,” Todd said. “There’s a high school close to the highway there.”
Randy nodded. “Sounds good Todd. We’ll follow you the best we can.”
“Excellent! Be careful Randy.”
Todd got into the van as Randy, Casey, Missy, Adam and Jillian clambered into the Land Rover.
“This ought to be fun,” Randy said as he followed the van down the street.
“Should be. How about we listen to some music?” Casey suggested.
“Sure. There’s a CD by a band called Yeasayer in the CD player now.”
Casey turned the radio on and turned it up.
“Live in the moment, never count on longevity, please,” the singer sang over and over.
“I don’t like this,” Casey said. “It’s too depressing.” He turned the radio off.
Randy laughed as they pulled onto Interstate 90.
The going was slow that day and the sun was going down by the time the van and Land Rover reached Rockford, Illinois. The survivors hid out in a derelict truck stop. The next day they made slightly better progress and made it as far as Madison, Wisconsin. Casey held Missy that night as they slept in a Walgreens. On the 8th they passed through Eau Claire, Wisconsin and then had to stop for the night in Bloomer as snow began to fall. On the 9th they were snowbound in Bloomer. The next day, they managed to get back on the road and they made it to Spooner. The next day, however, the van and the Land Rover got separated just north of town.
Randy growled when he realized the van had somehow wound up way ahead. He sighed and looked at Casey. “I guess we’ll meet them in Solon Springs.”
They drove all day through heavy rain and finally came to Solon Springs in the evening. The van was parked in the parking lot of the school there. Randy parked the Land Rover and he and Casey got out. The rain had finally let up right before they drove into town. Todd was standing outside the van. Casey noticed its hood was raised.
“What happened?” Randy asked.
“The transmission is busted,” Todd said. “It started slipping gears just a few miles back and now I can’t even get it in motion.”
“What do you want to do?” Randy asked.
“I don’t know. Any of your friends have experience changing a transmission?”
Randy grimaced. “No.”
“I guess we can try to find another car. I’m glad she held out long enough to get us here at least.”
“Where’s everyone else?”
“In the school,” Todd pointed. “They’re holed up in the gym.”
Casey, Missy, Randy, Adam and Jillian all followed Todd into the school. It was dark inside. Casey and the others followed Todd through the labyrinthine halls to the dimly lit gym where Vicki and the girls were asleep in the corner. Jamie was reading something by the light of a flashlight.
“Hey, I’m going to take a walk,” Missy told Casey. She kissed him.
“Okay, be careful,” he said.
“I will be, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He turned to Randy as she walked away. “Quite a drive, huh?”
Randy nodded. “Yeah.”
“So those people who had you held captive were going to eat you guys?”
“Me and Adam anyway, I think they liked Jillian.” Randy seemed to shudder.
“I’m glad you guys are okay,” Casey said.
Suddenly, he heard Missy scream from down the hall. He grabbed his rifle and a flashlight and took off running. “Missy!” he screamed.
“Help!” he heard her scream.
He cursed the layout of the school. He turned one corner and then another and realized the screams were coming from the opposite direction. He slid to a stop and turned around. He ran back the way he had come, his feet pounding on the tile floor, sending echoes up and down the dark halls.
“I’m coming Missy!” he screamed.
He came running around a corner and collided with a zombie. The impact knocked the zombie over and sent Casey flying over the creature. His gun and flashlight rolled away. He jumped to his knees and ran forward to the flashlight. He spun around as the zombie fell toward him. He rolled out of the way and shone his light around. He saw his rifle a few feet away. He quickly crawled to it and grabbed it. He fired at the zombie. It collapsed as the deafening gunshot echoed through the halls.
He heard Missy scream again from down the hall. By now he heard screams from the gym. He knew there were zombies everywhere now. His ears were ringing and his muscles were burning. He ran toward where Missy was. He didn’t hear her screaming any more. He came around another corner and saw a zombie leaning over Missy. She was laying on the floor motionless. Blood was pooling around her.
“Missy!” he screamed.
The zombie sat up and turned to look at him. Its face was covered with bright red blood.
“Missy!” he screamed again. He shot the zombie in the face and ran to her.
She stared up at the ceiling blankly. Her throat had been torn open. Her skin was pale and a terrified expression was frozen on her face.
“Missy! No!” he screamed again. “No!” He shook her shoulders. This couldn’t be. He had shared his life with this woman for the last two years, he had bought a house with her; he had loved her! He realized she was dead. “No!” he screamed. He turned and began to punch a locker door. He punched it as hard as he could again and again and again. He felt something crack in his hand but he kept punching.
“Casey! Missy!” he heard Randy yell. He felt arms around him pulling him away from the wall.
“No!” he screamed. “No!”
>
“Casey! Casey! There’s nothing we can do! I’m sorry!” Randy was yelling.
Everything faded red for Casey as he heard distant gunfire.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jim Gibson
Day 39
Sherry was in the yard of the house next to the Warren’s home. It had tall weeds. She was lying in the driveway crying. Her ankle bled profusely.
Phil, Jim and Vik ran up to her. Jim heard a growl from the grass. He turned and saw a legless zombie lying in the grass trying to pull itself toward Sherry.
Boom!
Jim jumped as Phil shot it in the head. He and Phil turned to Sherry.
"What happened?" Phil asked, kneeling by her side.
"I was cutting through the yard and it bit me in the ankle!" she screamed. "It hurts so much!"
Phil examined her ankle and grimaced. She had been bitten by a zombie.
"Phil, I know what we saw in the movies but you have to try to save me!" she yelled.
"Phil, we have to kill her," Jim said.
Phil looked at him. "Are you crazy? We can save her! Here, help me tie my belt around her calf as a tourniquet! Come on! Help me!" he yelled.
"What do I do?" Jim asked frantically.
"Lift her into a sitting position!"
Jim put his hands under her arms and lifted her to a sitting position. She screamed in pain as Phil wrapped the belt around her leg just below her knee. Then he inserted a thick stick into the loop and began twisting it to tighten the belt.
"This is going to hurt Sherry. I'm sorry!" he said. "Jim, give me your axe."
"What? What are you doing?" Jim asked.
"Give me your axe. Trust me, we have to do this or she'll die," he said calmly.
"Wait! Phil, what are you doing?" she screamed as he raised the axe over his head.
"Hold her legs down Vik! Jim, cover her eyes! Sher this will be over quickly. I'm sorry!" he yelled.
Jim covered her eyes as Vik held her legs down. She relaxed, sobbing.
Jim looked away as Phil swung the axe down. Sherry jumped as Jim heard the sickening sound of metal cleaving muscle and bone. Then she let out an earsplitting scream. She kept screaming.
"Come on! We've got to get her inside!" Phil yelled. "Vik! Go get the fireplace going! We're going to have to cauterize her leg!"
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