She swung the door open now, and Cliff stood on the other side. His eyes were red and raw looking from crying, sleep, and rubbing. His hair was in a crazy disarray and his clothes were rumpled from being slept in. He looked at Max with no emotion on his face. She smiled slightly at him.
"Good morning, Cliff."
"Morning."
"Are you hungry? We have food if you'd like to eat?" Max said.
"No. I....I don't want to impose." He sounded dejected and torn. And the emotions seemed to rip at Max's heart.
"You aren't imposing. Please come and sit. I'll get some stuff together for you," Max motioned for him to come in. Both Turner and Griffin had gotten up and dressed. They stood, waiting for Cliff to come in. The three of them nodded to each other in greeting. Jack laid in bed quiet, curled up under the blanket watching the strange man. A small smile lit Cliff's mouth as he tried to nod to her as well. Jack pulled the blanket down and smiled at him.
"Good morning," Jack said.
"Good morning," Cliff answered.
Max settled Cliff at the table and set whatever foods they had in front of him. They were in a good place with their food supplies for now and she wanted to share that while possible. However, once she put food in front of Cliff, he didn't touch anything but water. He sat and stared at the table. Max sat across from him, tapping the table in his view to bring his eyes up. The impact of the sadness was like a blow to Max. She took a deep breath and tried to decide what to say.
"We are getting ready to leave today, Cliff. What are you going to do from here?" She asked.
"We, my family, didn't have a specific place in mind. We just wanted to get away from those things. I guess I'll stay here," Cliff remarked, looking around the room as if judging its ability to be a shelter for him.
"What if you came with us?" Max asked the question before she even thought it.
"Max," Griffin said from behind her. Max cringed inwardly. She still was trying to learn how to be part of a group and play nice. Guessing she should have run this by Griffin and Turner first, she turned to Griffin. Her face was a mask of pleading. She didn't want to leave this poor man behind. Max had no doubt he'd allow himself to die however possible, to follow his family. Griffin stared at her for a moment, his face hard. But he nodded his agreement anyway.
"Go where with you?" Cliff asked.
"We are going to Montana. To somewhere safe. There will be plenty of space for anyone that wants to come," Max replied.
"Why bring me with you? You don't know me."
"No. I guess I don't. What I do know is your name is Cliff. You are a human being who has gone through a terrible loss. And I think you need people right now," Max said softly. Cliff's head fell lower still, thinking again of his family and the terrible way he had to see them die. Max covered the hand he had on the table with her own. She felt him jump at the contact, but he didn't pull back. Alex, what would you say? She asked her sister in her head.
"You shouldn't be alone," Max said. Cliff's hand turned and gripped her own, his grasp tight and almost painful to Max. But she let him hold on as he kept his head down with his eyes closed. Seeming to have made a decision he released her and pulled back, looking up at her and then over to Griffin who stood sentry behind her.
"Ok. I'd like to come. I don't know what else to do."
Finally, on the road, Max felt freedom sitting behind the wheel of the SUV. Griffin sat next to her, refusing to allow Cliff to sit in the front seat. In the back seat, Turner squeezed into the center keeping Cliff separate from Jack. Max knew they were being overprotective, but they would calm down after they all spent some time together. Her instincts were telling her Cliff wasn't a danger to them. Currently, the man stared out the passenger window, his forehead leaning against the glass.
For the first hour, Griffin had fiddled with the radio, checking through FM and AM stations. He couldn't understand why the government emergency signal wasn't transmitting to where they were. He tried to argue that something was wrong with the radio, but Max cheerfully reminded him the vehicle was brand spanking new. She had never actually purchased a brand new car because she wouldn't know how to do basic repairs on something with so many computer components. But she appreciated the new car smell they got to enjoy while they had it.
They stopped for lunch, making the last of the tuna and mayo sandwiches they had. Three days of tuna was a lot for anyone to eat, so Max was secretly glad they were on the last cans. Cliff even ate half of a sandwich and a couple of pickles. Max wasn't sure if he was doing it because he wanted to, or because Max put a guilt trip on him about wasting food since they didn't have any way of keeping it cold to eat later. Her patience with the man could get thin, but she would then remind herself that she was trying to be consoling and supportive.
While the group finished eating, Max studied the road atlas with the local maps she had been using. Between the two she was able to figure out the small road they were on. They had been winding through farms and thick groves of trees since they left the motel and small town behind them. It was beautiful country, but even it felt abnormal and infected. A few times they could spy infected near farmhouses or on the side of the road. Max just kept driving.
The sudden sound of growling caught Max's attention. She looked up from where she leaned against the side of the SUV. She was facing a grove of apple trees, that were just starting to blossom flowers for the fruit. The clouds in the sky gave the orchard a darkness that didn't allow clear visual. The road sat away from the trees enough that Max had felt safe stopping to eat. The cool breeze of spring was still in the air and it blew the subtle fragrance of the flowers to Max. But she also smelled something else. Something dead.
"Max. We need to go," Griffin called from the back of the SUV. He and Turner were packing everything back into their packs. Max required everything to be ready for easy transportation if needed. They didn't argue and just separated the foods and water into the four backpacks they had. Max and Jack's bags also had sleeping bags attached.
Coming around the back of the SUV, Max gasped when she saw what Griffin saw. Behind them, the road was slowly filling with the infected. They were stumbling out of the groves on either side and were headed straight toward them. As they stood watching, Max noticed how some of the infected seemed to be more coordinated, moving faster than the rest of the pack. She raised her arm and pointed at one.
"What in the hell?" She asked, of no one in particular.
"It's faster," Turner said slowly.
"Which means we need to go faster," Griffin said. He lifted Jack into the back of the SUV and she climbed into the center seat.
As Max closed the back of the SUV, she noticed more infected coming from the shadows of the trees, but not behind them. They were coming right from the trees to the sides of the SUV. She slammed the hatch shut and ran around the end of the SUV to get to her door. She stopped short when she saw an infected in her path.
"Well shit," Max said out loud. The infected heard her and turned toward her quickly. Of course, it was one of the faster infected. Max pulled her bowie and cursed a string of vile curses at herself for leaving her tomahawk inside the car.
The infected took two steps toward her, that almost seemed like a normal healthy person. Max had to admit to herself that it was slightly unnerving to see it act more human. When it reached out for her, Max grabbed the nearest wrist and pulled the infected to her, quickly embedding her knife blade into its skull. Her hand slipped from the knife handle and it went down with the infected. Damn, Max, she thought to herself, crouching quickly to yank the blade free. While she did, she analyzed the physical differences of this infected. The eyes were still black. It still smelled like rotten road kill. What's the difference?
"Max!" Griffin bellowed from inside the SUV. She stood up quickly and looked around and noticed they were quickly getting surrounded. She jumped into the driver's side door and turned to count heads. Everyone was accounted for. Cliff looked to be in shock, his skin a pal
e white, fists clenched tightly against his thighs.
Griffin had already started the SUV, so she dropped it into drive and jumped on the accelerator. The truck's tires squealed slightly as they took off. She had to avoid a group of five infected coming down the road, but she clipped one and it went flying away from the bumper.
"Where did all of these things come from?" Max asked absentmindedly, her focus on driving quickly and carefully through the curving farm roads.
"They seem to group together. Maybe that's how they find food? Like a pack?" Turner said from the backseat.
"What was with the fast ones?" Griffin added.
"The one I took down, was faster, it moved more like....a human. But I didn't see anything different on the body," Max answered.
From memory, Max knew they followed the road they were on through the curves, to a bridge that would take them over a river that ran through the countryside. Once they were over that bridge, they might have access to a larger road. She had been avoiding them for that exact reason. To see so many on a small road was enough reason to take the risk. Her goal was to put some distance between them and the large horde of infected. If they caught them, there would be no fighting them all off. They were on their last bullets. There was no fighting a horde by hand.
Coming around a corner blocked by trees, for a moment Max thought she saw smoke. With the curves in the road, it was hard to pinpoint where the smoke was coming from. Could be any of the farms, crops, or trees. They hadn't seen anyone alive since they had left the motel. Were all the inhabitants part of this infected horde?
Max slammed on the brakes as the bridge came into view. She hit the steering wheel in frustration. Sitting in the middle of the bridge was a ramshackle barrier, most likely put into place by the nearby residents. That would have been easy to move, but it looked like people didn't see it or something else violent had happened. Now there were cars crashed into it, some still smoking. In some cars, Max could see people or bodies of what were people. They didn't move, killed on impact or something worse.
"Now what?" Griffin asked, staring at the same thing Max was.
"Let's see if there's any other way across," Max said. She pulled the SUV closer to the bridge entrance. Throwing it into park, she jumped from the car immediately, this time tomahawk in hand. She walked to the side of the bridge closest to her. The river flowed quickly, full of snowmelt and rain. It was clearly deep. The embankment down to the water was steep and muddy, nothing their SUV was going to manage. She met Griffin in the middle, where he was walking back from his side of the bridge.
"Anything?" Max asked. Griffin just shook his head.
"Shit," Max muttered.
The horn of the SUV honked once, causing Max to jump. Looking back, she could see Turner signaling them. Griffin and Max ran in unison back to the truck, only to see the horde of infected coming from the trees. Max stared at them for a moment. If she didn't know any better, they took a shortcut to keep up with them, cutting through the trees instead of being on the road.
"Max, we're gonna have to run," Griffin said.
"I don't like being out in the open like that," Max replied. She continued to wrack her brain, trying to think of a solution. They hadn't seen another road in the last mile. Could the SUV make it a mile through the horde?
"No Max, we can't make it in the truck," Griffin said.
"Don't read my mind. It's annoying," Max shot back.
They ran to the back of the SUV and started pulling the go bags. As they did Turner and Jack jumped from their door. Cliff sat stone still. Max gave Jack her pack and helped her strap it in place. It was a little heavier than the girl was used to since they were trying to carry enough supplies to support five people. When they were all strapped up and ready to go, the infected's growing and snarling could be heard. Cliff had still not moved.
Max ran to his side of the car and swung open the door. He looked at her and she could see he was lost in his flashbacks, losing his wife, watching his son being eaten. Though she sympathized, she didn't have a moment to waste. She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her.
"It's time to go. NOW," she yelled at him. He didn't budge.
"Cliff, I want to help you. But I have a daughter. You know that means I will leave you here. That is NOT what your wife would want," Max said.
"Max, we HAVE to go," Griffin called to her from near the bridge, where he waited with Turner and Jack.
"One minute," Max yelled back.
"Max, you don't have a damn minute," Griffin bellowed. Max could see him from her peripheral vision, running toward her. Max decided she had to take matters into her own hands or leave the man to be eaten. She hauled off and slapped him across the face. The blow made her hand sting. His own hand flew to his cheek and color almost immediately rose from his neck into his face.
"Be angry damnit, I'm better with that than defeated. Now get your ass OUT of this car and let's go," Max screamed. Cliff started to move, but Max grabbed him by the collar and drug him out of the car at the same time. Griffin ran passed them and Max saw him sink his blade into an approaching infected. Where that one fell, five more approached.
Cliff was finally on his feet, fumbling toward the bridge. Griffin had Max by the backpack strap, practically dragging her, and looking behind them.
"I swear to God, Max, if you put yourself on the line for someone else one more time," he growled at her.
"What are you, my keeper? I had a daddy, it wasn't you," Max shot back sarcastically.
Griffin didn't say anything else, obviously not wanting to feed into her sarcastic attitude. They reached Turner and Jack right behind Cliff, who was finally getting his wits about him. Turning, Max could see some of the faster infected coming around the front of the SUV focused on their group. Getting to the other side of the accidents was their best bet. And then just keep moving.
"I'll stay here and deal with what's coming, get Jack to the other side," Max said, handing her pack to Cliff. He slung it on without question. Max palmed her knife in her left hand and tomahawk in her right. Griffin handed his pack off to Turner, squaring off with her, a look on his face daring her to argue with him. Instead, she turned to Jack.
"Follow Turner, stay where he says and stay quiet," Max instructed her. Jack flung her arms around her mother for a moment and squeezed.
"Be careful, Momma."
"I'm right behind you. Go!" Max said, pushing Jack toward Turner and Cliff. She watched only long enough to see Turner lift Jack over the concrete barrier that had been erected. She landed on the hood of a car, where she waited for Turner to join her before moving.
"Well this is fun," Max said. She checked her 9mm clip quickly, already knowing it was full. But it was the only clip she had with her, so she would use it as a last option.
"We always wanted to travel," Griffin gritted out. Even in the situation, Max found herself laughing at his joke.
Four faster infected reached them first. They stepped forward as a team, each attacking the first within their reach. Max swung her tomahawk and slammed it into the skull of the first infected, but there was a second directly behind it, hissing and grasping at her. Using the momentum from the first, Max spun and kicked out with her boot, slamming the infected in the chest. It was faster, but it still had a hard time recovering from a blow that caused it to fall. Her tomahawk free, she moved to where the infected fought to stand and quickly ended it before it could.
Griffin easily handled the two that came at him. By the time Max turned to check him, both infected were dead at his feet. He motioned for them to retreat and she agreed. The remaining slower infected were reaching the back of the SUV and they wanted to be on the other side of the mess on the bridge before they reached the concrete barriers. The movements of Griffin and Max provoked the horde, causing them to growl and hiss louder. They clamored through each other, jockeying to be the first to the meal they thought was waiting for them.
Max vaulted over the first barrier and car, landing
on her feet in between the accidents. Griffin was close on her heels. The ground was littered with hundreds of bullet casings, causing Max to pause and look closely at the wreckage around them. The concrete barrier was similar to those they had seen at the shelter, but those could be obtained anywhere there was a freeway. But the casings looked to be from automatic rifles, something the military would carry. She looked at the cars and realized many of them were riddled with bullets.
"What happened here?" Max said, verbalizing her concern.
"Someone attacked these people I think, but why would they do that?" Griffin answered as he peered into a car that had a dead body at the steering wheel. The man had been shot in the head and chest. He had no visible bites and couldn't have been driving if he was infected.
"They were killed just for driving to this barrier I think. Maybe they were trying to keep this horde from crossing the bridge? But why kill healthy people?"
"I don't know, Max, but we should go," Griffin said, pointing toward the infected that were reaching the concrete barrier on the other side of the car. The dead couldn't figure how to climb over and at first, Max thought they were in the clear, but then to the side, she saw something horribly grotesque.
"Oh god, Griffin," Max moaned, and pointed. Between the concrete jersey barriers and the fence for the bridge, there was a small gap. At this gap, an infected was forcing its way through. The gap wasn't quite large enough, but the infected pushed and Max had a full view of his legs as the skin pulled away. The loss of skin or muscle as it continued to push didn't slow it down. Finally, it fell onto their side of the barrier, but it couldn't stand again. Max felt bile rise in her throat and swallowed quickly so she didn't vomit right there. The infected started to try and pull itself along on the ground, still completely focused on reaching its meal.
"Jesus, that's it, we gotta go, Max, no more investigation time," Griffin said, grabbing her hand and dragging her away. As he pulled, her gaze ran across the cars. She pulled him to a stop when she saw one with a car seat in it. She couldn't see into the seat, but as they approached her heart was in her throat, so afraid of what she'd see.
Survive (Sundown Series Book 2) Page 19
