by Dell, George
He walked over to a slightly raised area, where a board filled with keys spanned most of the rear wall behind a small, but long counter top. He gave Beth the keys to a convertible that was between them and the doors, and she moved it while Billy jockeyed the truck around until he managed to get it aimed at the wide glass doors set into the side of the building. He drove it outside, checking the gas gauges as he did.
The truck had dual tanks, and both of them were full. Not that they'll last any longer than the pickups single tank, he thought, but he was still glad that they were full. They edged carefully around the still burning Jeep, and made their way slowly out of town and back to the pickup, watching the side roads as they went. They were both spooked.
When they were still more than a hundred yards from the pickup, they could tell that they'd had visitors while they were gone. Billy edged the Suburban up carefully to the truck and they searched the surrounding countryside, but decided whoever had been there was gone.
The truck was demolished. Someone or some-ones had attacked it with a vengeance. All the windows were smashed, and the black vinyl cover that had spanned the bed of the truck was slashed to ribbons. The tires had been flattened, and they had dented or punctured nearly every body panel. The camping gear, along with the rest of the venison, was gone. The map they had been using lay ripped and shredded across the front seat, which had also been slashed.
They only walked around the truck once, but it was enough. They both turned without speaking and walked back to the Suburban.
“Doesn't matter,” Billy said once they were safely back inside the Suburban. “We can pick up more gear down the road. I saw a small sporting goods store about a mile back, it had a little shopping center right next to it.”
“I guess we don't have to deal with the dead here because these people are here and killed or chased them off. But then we got to deal with people alive trying make more dead out the living... . One or the other and no in between, I guess,” Beth said.
Billy shook his head slowly as they drove away.
When they reached the small sporting goods store he pulled as close to the front doors as he could. The parking lot looked deserted, but the dealership had also looked deserted, and he was taking no chances. They looked the huge lot over for better than ten minutes before they left the truck. He wished they didn't have to stop at all. The sooner they were on the road the better, as far as he was concerned. He supposed it probably wouldn't be any better stopping somewhere else though. They entered the store and took turns watching the lot as they picked up what they needed. Besides a handful of dead, all head shot, the store was empty. Beth looked over the bodies.
“I guess some archaeologist is going to dig all this shit up in forty thousand years, if we all survive and have to come up with some explanation as to why so many skulls show evidence of bullet holes... Makes me wonder what they'll say... Religious practice? Sacrifices to the gods?” She asked.
“Hopefully they'll never know what the zombie plagues were really about,” Billy said quietly.
By the time they had re-outfitted themselves it was nearly dark. The setting sun casting the lot in deep shadows, and Billy was glad he had parked the truck close to the doors. They debated staying. They could sleep right inside the small shop Beth argued, but Billy didn't want to, and Beth's argument was halfhearted at best. They both decided they would rather put as many miles as possible between them and the small town. In the end they left despite the descending darkness, and they did not stop that night at all.
Billy drove while Beth slept, and towards daybreak as they were nearing Fort Deposit the road disappeared into the water. They had stood looking as the sun rose higher into the sky. It was water as far as the eye could see. The air carried the tang of salt. They were both at a loss for words. Finally, Billy angled the truck down off the pavement, turned it around and drove back to an old logging road he had seen a few miles back. He dropped down off the pavement and followed the rutted road into a quiet, forested area and killed the hot motor.
They quickly set up a small camp in the sparse morning light, and then crawled into the tent. They held each other tightly as they drifted off to sleep.
~
Beth awoke long before Billy, and now sat outside the small tent, watching the last rays of light fade from the sky. It seemed to seep slowly away, and darken the sky above the pines. The wind kicked up briefly, blowing the dead leaves across the ground. They scratched and rattled as they went, making her think of small skeletons rattling in the wind. She felt afraid, and had since she had awakened earlier. She couldn't explain it to herself. She had been tempted to awaken Billy, but had decided after twice starting to do so, to wait until he awoke on his own.
She could tell now though, by the change in his breathing, that he would soon awaken, and she walked to the small fire she had built earlier to start some coffee brewing. She placed the small tin pot on the coals next to the fire.
She was sitting by the fire wondering how to approach the subject of what next, when Billy rolled out of the tent. She turned around to face him, and she saw the sadness etched into his face. He's worried too, she thought, and before she could complete the thought he proved her right.
They had been undecided for a short time after they had found the highway arcing down into the water somewhere inside what had been the border of Alabama. They would have to go back, but where? They had been heading south, not an absolute place, but south nonetheless. South was now out of the question., The water had stretched away as far as they could see to the south, east, and then arced away forming a new coastline to the west. They had starting backtracking the next day.
Beth poured coffee in the small tin cups for both of them before she spoke. “Where are you thinking?”
They had backtracked all the way into Kentucky. Stopping last night at what they assumed was the Ohio river, too tired to decide what was next.
He shrugged his shoulders as he responded. “I think we can start heading for the East coast. What do you think?”
“I guess so, I... I don't know. It certainly won't hurt, and where else would we go?” she stared into the fire as she spoke. “I think we should be a lot more careful though. I get the feeling that those people we ran into aren't the only ones around who would just as soon kill us, and I'm not kidding myself about it, I think it was pretty clear. They didn't want to talk, or even to just take us prisoner or something, they wanted to outright kill us. No sense pretending about that.” She paused.
“I mean, I really thought there, for a second, that they were just scared or something, or maybe saw me and... Well, you know. But that wasn't it.”
When she finished he nodded silently, and then sipped from the cup before he spoke. “You're right, I just didn't want to think about it, Hell, I couldn't think about much of anything except getting as far away as possible, and I kept thinking about the truck too. Did they do that before they tried to kill us, after, or was it someone else? There's no real way to tell, but even if they were alone I'm not kidding myself that there won't be others just like them. We do have to be careful,” he paused, thinking. “In fact I think we need to get off the main road from now on. These parks, rural areas seem better. No dead... Few dead anyway... Fewer people. I never thought I would say fewer people was a good thing, but,” he shrugged, “guess I just did. I don't think it's safe... You agree? I mean, there are lots of other roads that parallel the main highway. I guess it just seems like the smart thing to do, and it feels like the right thing to do. What do you think?” he asked.
“I think you're right. I've been sitting out here thinking about pretty much the same thing for quite a few hours, and you're right, we have to be careful, and you're also right about the main road... It just doesn't seem safe, or the safest way to get anywhere anymore.”
“Well,” Billy said, “if we're going to take side roads, we're going to have to get another map, and that means we're going to have to go into the next city to get one
. I'm not thrilled about that, but we're also going to need to pick up more ammunition too. Either way, we have to at least follow the highway into the next town down the line. No way around it,” he almost seemed as though he were hoping that she would come up with some alternative as he spoke.
“No other way,” she said, “so... I guess we better get moving?” She allowed what she had meant to be a statement to rise at the end and turned it into more of a question.
“No,” Billy said immediately. “No way. It'll be dark soon, and I really don't think that would be a smart move at all. No... I think we should wait it out here tonight, and get on the road early in the morning. We should be able to make the next town without a map. I don't even know what the next place is, but it can't be too far, can it?” he didn't wait for a response; he had asked more for himself than her. “No, I'm pretty sure it won't be far. We've been running into lots of small towns every twenty, thirty miles or so, and most of them at least have gas stations. We should be able to get a map fairly easily. After we do though, that's it. We get off the main road, and stay off it.”
As darkness closed in, they had both turned quiet. Beth had begun a small dinner over the coals in the fireplace, they had hastily thrown together earlier that morning when they had arrived, and Billy had walked over to the truck and occupied himself with checking the mechanics, making sure that nothing had been damaged the night before as he had driven.
Several times he had driven over debris in the road, but in his haste to put miles between them, he had ignored it. He had also become convinced during the night as he drove, that they were being followed. He had kept glancing into the mirrors, sure that he would see glowing headlights closing in on them from behind. It had not happened though; the road behind them had remained empty all night as he had driven.
He had another thought as he stood looking over the truck. What if they had done something to this truck? He wondered. He knew it was irrational, there had to have been over a hundred trucks on that lot, and... How would they have known to choose this one? And if they had, wouldn't something already have happened?
In spite of how ridiculous it seemed, he checked the truck over anyway. There was one small gouge in the front passenger fenders paint, probably due to some debris flying up and hitting it, but other than that the truck seemed fine, and none the worse for the hurried trip. He pushed it from his mind as he walked away from the truck and back to the fire.
Beth was stirring a stew like mixture, to keep it from burning on the hot coals.
“I think it's ready,” she said as he approached the fire, and squatted down beside her. “Hungry?” she gave him a small spoonful to taste.
“Oh yeah,” he responded, and rubbed his stomach with one hand to show her it was true. He sat down close to the fire, and turned his thoughts away from the truck.
Billy tried a tired smile on his face as he took a bowl of the stew. Beth sat down next to him, and they began to eat as the last traces of light seeped from the sky.
April18th
Beth awoke a few hours before dawn and sat just outside the small tent, lost in thought.
Billy had mentioned the day before, that it was probably not safe to use the main road any longer. She knew now that he was right. At first she had thought that his reasoning had been influenced by the previous attack they had experienced, but now she was not so sure. Now she was convinced that he had already known, that he had somehow seen what was ahead, and knew that the only way for them to travel safely was via the back roads.
As she sat in the darkness waiting for the sunrise, she realized that she too had known. She had only to recall their conversation of the previous night. She sat and tried to make sense of all the thoughts that seemed to be running loose in her mind.
She slowly became aware that the sky was beginning to color with the first rays of sunrise. The silent, night-black forest surrounding them began to awaken. Birds began to whistle in the pre-dawn air. Their whistled conversations flew back and forth, and were soon joined by the chatter of a multitude of squirrels who also called the forest home. The symphony created by the forest inhabitants began to break apart her troubled thoughts as she listened, the black mood that had begun to descend upon her finally lifted as the first brilliant rays of sunlight began to stream down through the thick pines of the forest.
She rose slowly and began to re-kindle the fire. When Billy awoke a few minutes later, she had coffee heating, and had already prepared a small breakfast from the left over dinner of the night before.
Lazy curls from the wood fire drifted slowly up through the trees into the morning air, the smoky scent hung in the air, and invoked nothing but good feelings in her. When Billy crawled out of the tent, the black mood that had threatened to envelop her was completely gone, and had been replaced with a deep feeling of peace that calmed and soothed her soul. She knew they would have to be careful on their trek east, but she was no longer overpowered by the sense of foreboding that had washed over her earlier.
“Morning,” Billy said, as he sat down next to her and took the steaming cup of coffee she offered, “Sleep okay?”
She considered her answer only briefly, “No,” she replied, “I woke up a couple of hours ago and couldn't get back to sleep. I kept thinking about things, Billy. Like what's ahead for us, and I couldn't shake the feeling that we have to be careful, but I shouldn't spend my time sweating this stuff,” she looked into his eyes as she finished speaking.
“I know how you feel. I feel the same way,” Billy said, “I spent a long time thinking about it last night before I could finally get to sleep. I guess I just don't care anymore. We could drive ourselves crazy trying to reason it... whatever happened, happened, and we'll just face what we have to as we go,” he paused for a second. “I think truthfully that we'll be okay, I really do. If I didn't I would say so. We'll just keep going.”
Billy finished speaking, and when he did he pulled Beth to him and held her.
“Are you afraid?” he asked her.
“No,” she replied, “not afraid of death anyhow, maybe just afraid of turning... I don't want that, Billy, I really don't,” she began to cry as she finished, and Billy held her, comforting her as best he could. I won't let that happen, he thought, not at all.
Aloud he said, “Beth?” he waited until she looked up at him. “I think that we just have to be careful so that doesn't happen, you know, like if we just went ahead with no thought to what we were doing, we could find ourselves in a bad situation, or we might not be able to think quickly enough if something happened. But I don't, and can't believe that we will. Not if we're careful, Beth, and that's probably what we're being made to see.” He was looking over the top of her head as he spoke. “I think,” he said, changing the subject, “that those stitches need to come out... Might hurt a little.”
She looked up at him from his arms. “Might?” She asked.
The surrounding symphony continued as the rays of sunlight fought their way deeper into the forest to awaken its inhabitants; they held each other and allowed the calls and whistles of bird-talk to dispel their fears. Its calming effect soon overcame the fear and apprehension thinking of the trip had heaped upon them. Billy worked with a pair of nail clippers, tweezers, and peroxide, pulling each piece of dental floss from her head.
“Put some iodine on it too,” Beth told him as he finished.
“That's gonna hurt like a bitch,” Billy told her.
“Really? Like a bitch?” Beth asked.
“I didn't mean it exactly like that,” Billy told her. He let the dropper suck up some iodine and then squeezed small drops on each small hole that the dental floss had slipped out of.
“Oh,” Beth said. “That does hurt like a bitch,” she gritted her teeth as Billy continued until each hole was done. A few minutes late he was done and Beth got up to walk it off. “The hard part is that I want to itch it,” she told him.
Billy nodded his head and looked into the eyes of a small gray ground
squirrel that sat watching them on a gnarled limb of an older nearby pine. Its tiny hand-like limbs were clasped together across its white belly, and to Billy it seemed as though the squirrel were an old and wise man, sitting and watching them from his pine perch. The squirrel chattered briefly, adding its voice to the bird-talk of the forest, and then scampered across the limb, into the upper reaches of the pine, out of sight.
Beth came back a few moments later. “Well, I guess we should get moving if we're going to.” Billy nodded his head in agreement, and said. “We need to go into the next city or town and get a map, Beth.”
“I was wondering about that,” she answered, “Wouldn’t the park office have maps?” She lowered her head. “Itches a lot less... How's it looking?”
“I didn't think about that, but yeah they should. We can check on the way out, and if they do it'll save us having to travel the main road into the next city, we'll still need a state map eventually though.” He looked her head over. “Looks good. Your head probably won't get infected.”
“Right,” she replied as she stood upright once more. “But if it gets infected you are the first son of a bitch I'm eating.”
Billy looked comical for a moment and then burst into laughter.
A few moments later, after they had both quieted down, Beth spoke. “The map... Even if it's not a state map it should at least get us heading in the right direction, Billy. And maybe we should avoid the main roads... Just in case someone is following us... Sounds crazy, I know.”
“Even if we don't find a map we can get ourselves pointed in the right direction anyway, and eventually we'll have to come to some sort of small town, or village, and then we'll get a map, okay?” he asked.
“Just so long as you don't think I'm being stupid, or foolish,” she said.
“You don't have to explain it to me, I know. I feel it too, and I have no intention of not listening,” Billy stated calmly. “In fact I intend to listen to whatever either of us feels. I think it’s probably the only way to make sure we stay alive...” He paused briefly, and then changed the subject. “We do need to pick up ammunition though, you need it for that machine pistol of yours, and I think I'll pick up some for that machine gun I took from that guy. It seems a lot better to have that in my hands than the Remington...” he shrugged his shoulders, “You think?”
