“I shouldn't have left them like that,” Rick said, just above a whisper.
“Who did you leave, Cindy?” Al asked.
“Who's Cindy?”
“He's still out of it Al. Give him another whiff of that stuff,” I said.
“No, don't. I'm okay. My wife and kids, I left them like that. Shouldn't have done that.”
“You were in an accident Rick, you and Cindy,” Al said. “Do you remember anything at all?”
“Yeah, Clete tried to take her to the farm. I shot him in the face.”
“What farm?”
“I don't know. It's only a few miles though. We'll be there soon,” Rick said before closing his eyes.
“Stop the truck,” Al shouted.
Gina stopped the truck and Al and I went to the front of the box.
“Have we passed any side streets?”
“I haven't seen any, no.”
“No dirt roads, gravel roads, anything?”
“Nothing. What did he say?”
“He said something about a guy named Clete taking Cindy to a farm. That it was close.”
“Yeah but he also said he shot Clete in the face,” I said.
“There was more than one of them,” Al said. “Keep driving. First side road or driveway you come to turn down it.”
“Al you ride in the front with Gina. I'll stay back here with Rick. If he comes around again I'll let you know.”
Al climbed over the seat and I went to the back to sit with Rick. He was still out and I had the feeling he would be for quite a while. There was no reason to try and wake him again. He'd already told us everything he knew so I left him alone. There had to be a way to find this farm and it had to happen fast. Rick was an easy going kind of guy. If he felt it necessary to shoot someone there had to have been a good reason. I wondered how many side roads were on this stretch of rural highway and how many we'd have to drive down before we found the right one. Assuming we ever did find the right one. There had to be something we hadn't thought of yet. A way to narrow down our search. I racked my brains trying to come up with an idea, anything that would help us find Cindy.
I was getting claustrophobic trapped in the back of the truck like this. I was used to riding in the Hummer feeling the breeze on my face and being able to look out the window. I looked up at the vent. It was still blocked by my rucksack. I pulled a crate over and stood on it and pulled at the bag. It was wedged in there pretty good and would only come out if I got back up on top of the truck and pulled it out. That's when it hit me.
“Stop the truck!”
Before Gina had the truck stopped I had the lift gate opened. When we came to a full stop I jumped down and ran around to the passenger side of the truck. I climbed on the running board, grabbed the mirror, and pulled myself up to where I could get a foot on the sill of the window.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“My rucksack,” I said, as I stepped up on to the top of the cab.
“Goddammit Steve, get that later,” Al said and got out of the truck. “We don't have time for this shit!”
“No, it made me think about having to get back on top of the truck again. Fire! There's no electricity anymore. Anyone living out here would most likely keep a fire burning all day long for cooking and heating water. We need to look for smoke.”
Al stared up at me with a blank look on his face, then smiled. “Well, get your ass up there.”
I got on top of the truck and looked around. All I could see was the trees lining the road. We needed to find a higher spot.
“Do you see anything?” Al shouted. He was now out of the truck and standing in the road.
“I need to be higher than this. We need to find a two story house that's sitting on top of a hill or something like that.”
“Get down from there,” Al said. “Little girl, what do you think?”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Gina said from where she sat on the sill of her window looking up at me smiling. “He may not be good looking but he has a good idea every once in a while. That's why I love him.”
“Who says I'm not good looking? I get lots of nice compliments all the time.” I said as I climbed past Al's window.
“Yeah, from every zombie you meet,” she came back.
“Get back there. We're running out of time,” Al said, getting in the truck and slamming the door. “I just hope there really is a farmhouse.”
We drove a little further and came to a gravel road running off to the left. Gina turned in and we finally came to a small farmhouse. The place had obviously been abandoned long before the virus struck. The house was only a one story and not much taller than the truck. It would be of no use to us. There was however a rundown old barn adjacent to the house with a loft that would hopefully serve our purposes.
Al and I cleared the barn and went up into the loft while Gina waited out by the truck. I would need to get up onto the roof so I could get a 360 degree view of the area. Al found a ladder leading to a roof hatch so I went up and forced the door open. The whole structure was rotting and climbing out on the roof I nearly fell through as soon as I stood up. In the distance I could see smoke coming from the motel, the tanker truck, and the smaller car fires we'd set on the highway. There was nothing else though.
“I don't see anything.”
Al stuck his head trough the hatch. “Move over let me up there.”
“I don't think that's a good idea. This whole roof could go at any minute.” I could see the disappointment on his face as he looked up at me. “Let me get back down then you can get up here. You might see something I missed.”
Al looked back at the smoke from the highway. “I think I see something. It's back by the highway. Look closer, it's right in front of the big fire from the motel.”
He was right. I could just make out a small column of smoke coming up out of the trees. “Looks like we might have missed something. That's back the way we came. How far back do you think that is?”
“No more than a mile. That's on the other side of the road from where we are now. I'll bet they've got some bushes or something covering the opening,” Al said as he climbed back down.
I worked my way back to the hatch and climbed down. We hurried back to the truck. Gina was in the back with Rick when we got there. She was hunched over him talking to him when I climbed into the back.
“How's he doing?”
“He came out of it a few minutes ago but he just passed out again,” Gina said. “He was a little more lucid this time though. He was able to tell me more about what happened. Al was right. There were two of them. When they tried to split them up Rick shot one of them. Cindy tried to drive off and they must have shot out one of the tires. That's when she lost control of the Hummer and crashed. He told me he remembers the guy that was driving the pick-up pulled Cindy out of the Hummer and he took her with him.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“No that was about it. He did say that he thought she was in a farmhouse somewhere close to here.”
“Al did you hear that?”
“Yeah, we need to get going. Gina we missed something back the way we came.”
“So you saw smoke somewhere?”
“We sure did. Al thinks it was about a mile back.”
“Shit I'm sorry Al,” Gina said.
“Don't feel bad. I missed it too. We'll drive back about half a mile. Then Steve and I will get out and walk the road. You follow in the truck. It's there somewhere, we just gotta find it.”
It wasn't long before we'd driven about a half a mile back the way we'd come. Gina stopped the truck. Al and I got out and started walking. We hadn't gone far when the all too familiar smell of zombies filled the air around us. I couldn't see any of them but they were definitely there. The further we went the stronger the smell of rotting flesh became. Al motioned for Gina to stop and we walked over to the truck.
“Something's around here, I know it,” Al said.
“Where are t
hey? I smell them everywhere. It was bad in the truck, but fuck it's ten times worse out here,” Gina said. “I think I'm gonna throw up.”
“Try to be quiet if you do,” Al said.
“Thanks,” she replied.
“I'm serious. I don't know why we haven't seen any zombies yet. It smells almost as bad here as at the motel.”
“We need to keep moving,” I said and started back down the road. I hadn't gone but a few steps when I saw tire tracks heading off the road into some thick brush. “Got it.”
“What did you say?” Gina asked.
I turned around and pointed into the woods. They both ran over and the three of us stood there trying to see anything through the dense brush. Al walked over and grabbed a handful of bush and pulled. A whole section of underbrush came towards us.
“Don't just stand there, help me.”
I could make out where the brush ended and butted up against a steel pole. I got between the two and pushed. What I now could see was a gate opened to reveal an old logging road leading off into the forest.
“We'll never get the truck down that road. Besides if we go driving up there we'll lose the element of surprise,” Al said. “You two stay here with Rick.”
“That's bullshit. I'm going with you,” I said, cutting Al off. “Honey, you'll stay with Rick, won't you.”
“Yeah I'll stay. Promise me you'll be careful. I lost my dad today. I can't lose anyone else, not today. Bring her back.”
“Don't worry kid. I'll take your sweetie.” Al said. “Let's get loaded up.”
We went to the truck and gathered our gear. From what Al was outfitting us with you'd have thought we were going off to war. We each carried two pistols, a fully automatic rifle, a shot gun, assorted knives, and of course several hand grenades each. I had my sword and Al took a small hatchet and pushed it through his belt. With all the shit I had strapped to my body I hoped we didn't have too far to go. We each had to be carrying at least forty pounds of equipment. Whatever was waiting for us, we were prepared for a sustained campaign. I had never served in the military but I felt like we were headed off to fight in the Gulf War.
There was a bend in the road a few hundred yards down the road back towards the motel. Al told Gina to move the truck around that curve and to wait for us there. He told her “we'd be coming back in one of their vehicles” and to “stay away from the gate” because “those son-of-a-bitches might be right on our asses when we came crashing back through”. The man definitely has a way with words. We would be taking a radio with us and would let Gina know when we were on our way back with Cindy. She was to have the truck facing the gate and we would be going in the opposite direction of the motel when this was all over.
We had left the zombie horde a few miles behind us but I was still worried about strays. Gina promised me she would stay in the cab of the truck and keep an eye in front of her. At least the truck was high enough off the ground that I felt Gina would be safe from any zombies that came up behind her. If she ran into trouble she was to drive away and head for the little farmhouse we had just left.
“I guess we're ready to go,” I said.
“You guys be careful. If they hurt her, even a little bit, do me a favor.”
“What's that little girl?”
“Kill em all.”
“You can count on that,” Al said as he turned and walked away.
I took Gina in my arms and held her tight. “I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I am about your dad.”
“That's okay. This is the world we live in,” Gina said, breaking down in tears.
I pulled back from Gina. “I love you. Now get in the truck. Keep the radio on, I'll let you know when we're about to go in.” We kissed and I watched her climb into the truck and drive away.
Al was waiting for me at the gate. “She'll be fine. This won't take long, in and out,” he said, as we started into the woods.
We hadn't gone far when we discovered the source of the horrible zombie smell that permeated the air. The road was lined with zombies tied to the trees. There were dozens of them. Ropes were around their necks and torsos. They reached out at us as we walked by. From the way they'd been ripped to shreds whoever was at the end of this road drew their entertainment from shooting them like country folk liked to shoot up road signs as they drove past them. None had been shot in the head but their bodies were riddled with bullet holes. Some had arms and legs blown completely off. One hung from the ropes around it's neck, both legs lying on the ground beside it, reaching for us as we walked by.
“These are some sick fuckers,” Al said. “No telling what kind of a mess we'll be walking into.”
“Oh my god. Look at that,” I said, the bile rising in my throat.
Back a ways off the road I could see a zombies naked ass sticking up in the air. I drew my sword and walked into the woods. A tree had been cut down about two or three feet off the ground. What had once been a woman was staked to the stump on her stomach. Two spikes stuck up out of her back, both arms had been chopped off, and duct tape was wrapped around her head covering her mouth. As I approached, it tried to turn it's head to get a look at me and began struggling against the spikes that held it in place. Used condoms littered the ground at my feet. Fighting the urge to vomit I split it's skull with my sword and went back to where Al waited for me in the road.
“I'm surprised we didn't see something like that sooner,” Al said.
“What do you mean?”
“There's a lot of sick people in this world and it looks like God in all his infinite wisdom let most of them survive the end of the world. You saw what those two fucks were doing to Pete's girlfriend back there. Believe me Steve, this won't be the last time you see something like that.”
“You really think this is the end?”
“I didn't at first but now, yeah I do.”
We walked in silence. I could feel the rage building inside me. Was it really worth living in a world gone mad? I couldn't wait to get at these guys. When we first started back here I was fighting with my inner self. I didn't think it was right to come down this road and kill every one of them like Gina wanted. In this world where so many had died surely every life was precious. Now I was sure that whoever we found at the end of this road needed to die. If there was one or one hundred, I wanted them all dead.
“We're getting close. Look at the trees, there's no more zombies tied to them,” Al said. “We need to get off this road.”
We went inside the tree line, staying close to the road, and made our way through the underbrush. It wasn't long before we came to a clearing in the woods. A rundown shack sat in the middle of the clearing. Beside the shack was what used to be a barn. Four brand new pickup trucks were scattered in the yard around the shack.
I unhooked the radio from my belt. Al glared at me and then just held his hand out palm down. I assumed he was giving me the okay to talk, as long as I was quiet. “Don't answer me. We're at the house.” I put the radio back on my belt and checked my rifle.
“You go to the right, I'll go left. Come on the side of the house if possible, avoid windows. When you get to the house try to find Cindy, work your way around to the back. I'll take the other side and work my way to the front. If anybody sees you shoot them, don't hesitate. If you hear a gunshot find someone to shoot. If you find Cindy don't wait for me, get her out of there. I'm going to do the same. There's a truck close to the woods on your side. Check it for keys on your way in.”
“Alright Al,” I said and started off.
“Steve,” Al said, under his breath. “I mean it. Don't wait for me.”
“Wasn't planning on it.”
Chapter 11
The whole episode with Edgar had taken us in the opposite direction that we were supposed to be going. We were pretty much lost and had to stop for a map check before things got worse. Half the day was gone and we needed to put some distance between us and the horde we had been playing tag with all day. I was having a hard time dealing wi
th everything that had just happened. How many more times would we run across something like what had happened to that family? I was sure this wouldn't be the last time. Not all people would handle themselves with honor in this new world we lived in. Opportunists were everywhere and we'd need to keep an eye out for them. We talked about it while driving and decided that maybe it would be best if we tried to keep our contact with other survivors to a minimum.
Lily wanted to try and find a new ride. It seemed the Kia didn't fare too well when we had forced our way through that intersection earlier. Something had happened to the wheel alignment with all the sideways stress that had been put on the suspension. There was a small town north of our current location and we hoped to switch out vehicles there. Besides we needed to find a place to clean up soon. More specifically John smelled like shit. He was still covered in gore from when we had cleared that accident from the road earlier. He wouldn't admit it but he was mad at me for shooting that zombie lady in the head then having him steer while we pushed the van out of the way. It all tied in together anyway. The smell would never come out of the Kia so a bath, change of clothes, and new vehicle were at the top of our to do list.
I tried the sat phone several times while we were diving and hadn't been able to get a signal which surprised me. This thing was supposed to work as long as there were satellites in the sky. I knew that eventually it would be useless, when the satellites it up-linked with strayed out of alignment or just outright fell from the sky, but it was too soon for that to happen. I wanted to find out if my dad was okay and still headed for Fort Leonard Wood. Maybe I would try again when we stopped for the night.
We got to the town of Viola at about three in the afternoon. We chose it because it looked like a small town on the map and our hopes were that there wouldn't be many zombies around to deal with. We couldn't have been more wrong. It seemed like when the shit hit the fan everybody in the area headed for town. As far as we could tell there weren't any survivors in Viola. The streets were small and everywhere we looked jammed with pick up trucks and the undead. We only got about a half a mile into town when we were forced to turn around and try to find a way to make our way around the town proper. There were too many zombies roaming around. Trying to get through the center of town turned out to be a bad idea.
Dead Life (Book 4) Page 11
