Ally let out a breath she felt like she'd been holding for months. Staring at the sky, she felt free, the wind blowing her hair about her face. Sean snuggled in close on her left side and Kevin sat to her right. He caught her eyes for a moment and they both smiled.
She laughed nervously. "Well, that was interesting."
She must have dropped off, because murmurs woke her in the back of the truck. Daniel and Victor's men were already fighting. She stood up and approached the center area; now that she was inside, she could see how easy it would be to carry a couple dozen people in here with supplies.
The men glanced up at her.
"I can hear your bitching all the way in the back. Apparently, some of you think this is an us versus them situation, or that one group should have all the weapons, or that someone stole your favorite toy and should pay for it. Personally, I don't give a shit, but what I do care about is idiots putting our lives in danger when we're out in the open like this."
"Why should we listen to you? You're one of them."
She found the face of the man talking, one of Daniel's men. "One of who? A woman? A survivor? What don't you people get? There is no 'them;' there is only us. The sooner you remember that, the better chance we have of making it out of this alive. Now shut up and get some rest."
Ally heard the snide remarks and grumbles but chose to ignore them. She and Daniel would have to figure out a strategy to deal with the tension. She knew all too well what could happen if they didn't.
Sean yawned and looked at her with sleepy eyes. She thought about what she said, "making it out alive." Taking her place next to the boy, it occurred to her that even though her natural survival instinct kept her going, logic told her how unlikely it was. Several thousand former survivors proved that point. They weren't only fighting the zombies now, and as much as she preferred being out in the open and moving, they were now vulnerable to new, more lethal enemies.
Ally opened her eyes to the thick cloud cover she'd missed while living underground. The sun lit the clouds from above, a few patches lighter than others. To her, this was a sunny day, but her grandfather had told her of a time when the sky was blue, with puffy white clouds and a yellow sun. She'd thought it was a fairy-tale, but had eventually learned the truth.
Peering through one of slits in the barrier at the back of the truck, she saw fields of undead. Seeing the raw truth of the numbers they were up against chipped away some of her hope. Humans had spent years pillaging the Earth of its resources, poisoning the water, paying no regard to any species but themselves. The planet fought back with a single bacterium, one that pillaged the human of its resources.
Poetic justice?
Kevin poked her in the side and smiled. "Hey, what are you looking at?" He moved to kneel next to her and when his eyes focused on what she'd been watching, he tensed.
She pulled him away from the metal barrier and gently pushed him back to where he'd been. "I'm keeping an eye open for any good spots to stop, but I think whoever is driving is dead set on making it to Chicago in one go."
Kevin made a face. "I hope not, I gotta pee."
"Me too," Sean said.
Ally looked down at the boy. "You can't, no more peeing for you."
His tear-filled face was priceless and she couldn't keep in the laugh. Kevin joined in and finally Sean, after a second. The noise rustled a few of the others out of sleep, which started a chain reaction of grunting and low-voiced conversations. Ally caught people staring at her every now and then. A man she knew from living underground—Tony, his name was—shot to his feet, grabbing a shorter man by the collar.
"Give it back, you son of a bitch," Tony said.
Four men were now standing, weapons drawn on one another.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Tony tightened his grip. "Mine. Now give it back before I break your fingers and you're more useless."
The man put his hands on Tony's forearm and delivered a hard kick to his attacker's mid-section. Tony grunted, but didn't let go.
"The only weapon I have is the one I entered your psycho base with. I lost it for a bit when some asshole stole it. Now I have it back. I suggest you let go of me before I make you uglier than you already are."
Tony laughed, shoving the man back. The tension jacked up several degrees. Ally pushed Sean behind her, happy to see Kevin take a protective stance next to the boy.
Ally approached the men. "We can't fight like this. But if you really need to fight, I will personally toss you out of the truck, and you can fight those ghouls out there for the rest of your very short lives."
"Shut up, Lane. This doesn't concern you," Tony said.
The man Tony was holding kicked again, this time making Tony wince and loosen his grip. Before Ally had time to react, the man grabbed Tony by the ears and rammed his knee into Tony's face. The crunch of bone echoed around the enclosed area, and Daniel's men cheered on their friend, Liam. Red exploded out of Tony's face.
"Does it concern me now, Tony?" she said as she kicked behind Liam's knee, buckling his leg. Both men crumbled to the ground, still clawing at each other.
Ben towered above her, but she waved him off. She grabbed both men by their earlobes and twisted. They stopped what they were doing and glared up at her.
"Are you two really this stupid? We are the only known humans within hundreds of miles. We are going to run into hairy shit out there, and that means we need to depend on one another. If this is how you are going to behave we might as well give up now."
Tony struggled in her grasp. "He took my gun…I'm defenseless."
"He took it back. And if you had two goddamn brain cells to rub together, you would find a way to work with these people, because they are going to decide if you live or die." Ally let go of them and backed up.
Liam gave her a nod of approval, but Tony and the others glared. She needed to do something about this now. The back of the truck was separated by an invisible line. Each group stayed on their own side.
"We've proven we can work together. We escaped the facility and we got out of the ruins to get to the truck. Tony, you and your guys give the weapons back to Daniel's men–"
A round of "No way," "Are you crazy?", and "Over my dead body," came from Tony and his friends.
"Fine, then. Liam, you guys have the ammunition on your side, right?" At their nod she continued. "Good. Hold onto it. See how long this goes until you realize you need to work with one another. I'll be over there, not trusting any of you."
Ben remained in place an extra minute making sure to eye each man there. Ally glanced at the rifle on the ground next to her. Okay, so she was a hypocrite; no way would she give up her A-19.
The truck rocked to the side, and Ally looked out the back. They were no longer on a road. They drove along the shoulder and through fields when necessary.
She glanced at her watch; they'd been traveling almost six hours. Chicago was about 700 miles, but with the detours and slow downs, she estimated their driving time to be at least thirteen hours. Looking at the tense situation going on between the two groups she closed her eyes.
Only seven more hours to go.
"Ally, where are we going? Are we going to be safe?"
"We're going to Chicago to pick up Neal and his friends. After that, we're heading west to see Jerry. That's the safest place we can go."
She hoped her voice didn't betray her. Sean might be a kid, but he'd grown up fast and he knew her well. Cracking an eye open, she smiled at him, noticing for the first time the doubt in his eyes.
Chapter Eighteen
Ally lost count of the bumps, a game she'd started to keep her mind occupied. After that, she listened to the rhythm of the tires as they turned and turned, round and round. Kevin had tried to start a few conversations with her, but stopped at her one-word answers. Feeling bad, she reached out and took his hand. The smile on his face let her know she'd done right. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but so many thoughts swirled in
her head and she had no idea what would happen when they reached Chicago.
The guilt or innocence of Daniel, when it came to looting the other groups of survivors, had never been established. When they arrived at Neal's, Daniel would reveal himself to be a lowlife or a good guy...not that it mattered. Ally would do whatever it took to make sure she and those who depended on her survived.
The men on the left side of the truck bed shot to their feet. Ally leaned forward and saw Daniel emerge from a four-foot opening. He slid the metal plate back into place and scanned the faces of his men. Nodding, he moved toward Ally. She met him halfway knowing she was about to find out the truth. He climbed up two ammunition crates then reached down and pulled her up. The landscape stretched out before her, not obscured by the metal grating of the barrier in the back.
"We're three miles out from Neal's coordinates. He has a team meeting us, but his terms are only four of us can go. I was hoping you'd come along."
"Of course. Do I need to bring anything?"
"Just something for the undead. Neal said they were hit by a group, their supplies taken, half their people killed, their weapons gone."
Ally surveyed the area. Smoke rose to the east, fresh tire tracks criss-crossing on the ground, dozens of zombies lying scattered on the ground, with thousands more roaming the area.
"I get what they do. Find a group, take what they need, then make as much damn noise as they can so the place is overrun."
Daniel's face was grim. He'd figured it out but knew she wouldn't believe him until she saw it. She shouldered her rifle.
"Ben, I need you to stay here with these two. Kill anything that threatens them…anything."
He nodded once, letting her know he understood what she meant. Not all threats came from the ghouls anymore.
"Ally, there's something else. Neal said most of his group doesn't trust us and they plan to stay there. They're convinced nowhere is safe anymore."
She looked at the sea of moving bodies and felt a shiver. "Does he know about them?" she asked, pointing.
"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. I've seen it before. Terrified people rarely see reason. And I'd expected to have a lot more vehicles…we can only take a few as it is."
She stared out at what once might have been a shopping plaza. The truck came to a halt in an area with only a few stragglers. The back came down and Daniel hopped out, Ally and two other men following.
The ones Daniel had chosen were short, but muscular. No doubt, he'd picked them due to the fact they were not intimidating, but in a fight they were exactly who you wanted on your side. They moved in silence to the location Daniel was given. A few minutes later, a middle-aged man with a scraggly beard and deep set eyes came out of the shadows. He held a thin piece of rotten wood, and Ally realized the man hadn't seen real fighting because his weapon of choice was about as useful as a cup of water.
"Ally?" he whispered, hands shaking so hard she thought they might break.
"Yeah. Are you Neal?"
He nodded, beads of sweat streaming down his neck. Holding up his hand, he coughed a bit, looking around nervously as the noise carried across the empty lot. Several people appeared and Ally took in the soiled clothes, gaunt appearances, and felt guilty for complaining about where she had been hiding. Eight people, nine with Neal, had come out.
"Is this everyone?" Daniel didn't hide his disappointment.
A woman grabbed hold of Neal, her grip so tight Ally caught the man wince in pain. "This is everyone. Can we go now?"
"Are you sure? We can go and talk to the others if you like." Ally said.
Neal stared at the ground, the woman next to him spoke. "I asked if we can go now. The others don't want to come. They tossed us out when we told them we were going."
Ally walked the short distance to the truck with Daniel. So few people from the thousands they had. She wondered if some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy was at work. Her group had numbered in the thousands, and they'd ended up at fewer than a dozen. Neal had had a healthy number of people, before they got decimated. She tried to muster indignation or rage at the people attacking others, but couldn't. People were at the point they did whatever they thought was necessary to survive. They would continue to do so until everyone was dead.
When Neal and his people were hauled into the back of the truck, the looks on the faces of Daniel's men told her everything. They were hoping for more people, more weapons, more food.
More anything. Just...more.
Ally felt an arm on her shoulder and Daniel whispered in her ear. "I need to talk to you."
She followed him a few feet away from the vehicle, watching Kevin and Sean talk. "I need to pee; you know people do that right?"
"Fine, hurry up."
Ally grabbed Kevin and Sean and took them a safe distance away. "Do your thing, guys."
When they were finished, she sent them back to the truck and returned to Daniel. "What is it?"
He scratched his head a moment squinting at the approaching group of zombies. "When I first talked to Neal, he promised food and some weapons, as well as ammunition. That's gone now…I don't have enough for everyone. You saw the shape those people are in. They're sick and hungry."
Ally had noticed the coughs and red eyes of those who she'd offered a helping hand to. Their faces were ashen and sweaty. Their next planned stop was almost 2,000 miles away; they'd have to stop along the way to find supplies. She put a hand to her chest, feeling the maps inside her coat pocket, her back-up plan.
"Daniel, if we take fifty-five South, we have a better chance. Lots of big depot-like places for supplies, and lower populations to deal with if we try to hit city centers. Cross over to Forty-Four West once we hit Missouri and it's a straight shot…for the most part."
He pulled a plastic sheet out and called up a map the Midwest. The lines faded and then reappeared. He tapped the roads she mentioned, pulling up the warehouses they would be passing.
"We'll try Bloomington first, and then Springfield. They're larger than I'd like, but we have a better chance. If they're overrun with our undead friends, we'll try small towns like Litchfield before we hit the chaos that will be St. Louis." He folded the map and stuck it in his pocket.
Ally grabbed Kevin's offered hand and hauled herself into the truck. Even with Neal and his friends, there was ample room, and sadly, more tension.
"If you gotta piss, do it now. We aren't stopping for a few hours."
Several men hopped out stretching their arms and legs, including Ben. Ally kept an eye on those left on the truck; half of Daniel's men hovered near the ammunition boxes and Victor's men kept the weapons as close to them as possible.
Standing up, she went to the small metal door Daniel had exited earlier. She knocked and a moment later it slid open. She ducked inside a six by four sleeping area. Two men were curled up. Daniel sat in the passenger seat. The driver must've been taking a leak.
"What is it?"
Ally ignored the crumbs on his shirt, now was not the time. "The guys in the back are about to rip each other apart over the damn guns. If you have enough for everyone, then fix it; otherwise, there's going to be serious trust issues we can't afford."
"I'll take care of it in a minute."
Ally returned to the back, glad to see Sean and Kevin safe and sound, the barrier back up and Neal and his group closer to the front. The truck engine revved and went into gear. A few minutes later Daniel exited, looking sated, Ally noted.
"I hear we have some issues with regards to weapons and ammunition and people being idiots. My men aren't that stupid, because that would mean they didn't learn a damn thing from me."
Daniel's men stood straight, faces forward, eyes down. Victor's men slouched, looking uncomfortable and staring at anything but Daniel.
"That's what I thought. I want every weapon in the center of this truck." When no one moved, he barked. "Now!" Weapons clattered to the floor and Ally glanced at her Micro Galil, not wanting to part with it, but the last thing
she needed was problems. With reluctance, she slid it over.
Daniel knelt and organized the weapons by type. "There are eleven rifles total, Grozas and some A-19's and 23's. Thirteen assorted handguns, Glocks and Rugers. More than enough for each person to carry one. Any problems with that?"
No one spoke. Daniel stood, taking Ally's Micro Galil with him. He slid it back to her with a wink. "The rest of you choose the one you are most proficient with. Any arguments, and I will make sure all you get is a goddamned slingshot. I should not be dealing with a bunch of idiots during the end of the fucking world."
Neal lifted a hand. "What about us? We don't have anything."
Daniel glared at the man. "And whose fault is that? Didn't you think to grab a weapon before you left, other than that toothpick?"
Ally saw Neal's shoulders slump and felt bad.
"Neal, if we come across any extras, we'll make sure you guys get some."
Daniel gave her a half-grin as he returned to the front. Right, he was bad guy and she was good guy. Ally checked her weapon, making sure the magazine was full and there was a round chambered. With nothing else to do but wait until they reached the first stop, she closed her eyes and thought about her contingency plan.
A bang woke Ally out of a light doze. The others jolted upright, Daniel's men on their feet and scrambling up to the top of the crates. She joined them, wishing she hadn't when she saw the mess ahead. The highway was full, thousands of cars and body parts. Dark stains dotted the landscape, but a fresh one caught her attention.
"No way we're getting through this," one of the men beside her mumbled.
"There's a path, you just need to find it. See that spot there," she said, pointing to a dark red slick about fifty feet away. "Fresh, which means someone came through here in the last few hours. My guess it's the group who attacked Neal."
A rusted sign to the right had the words "Normal" on it. She knew it was one of the areas that made up Bloomington. The truck veered onto the Pipeline Rd exit. Ally surveyed the landscape, finding not as many undead as she'd suspected. Then again, they were probably chasing after the other group.
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