by A. L. White
Zeus and Perseus perked their ears up and pointed their noses toward the heavens, bringing Virginia’s attention back to the moment. She closed her eyes, trying to zero in on whatever it was that they could hear. A slight melodic whistle of a tune flowed pass them up above. The whistle struck a decrescendo and played away on the wings of the wind. Virginia sat upright and grabbed her crossbow sitting in the snow next to her. The harder she strained to hear the notes playing the more she knew it wasn’t music. They were screams being carried out of town with the breeze.
“Come on boys, time to move.” Virginia said as she moved down the gully toward the tree. She stayed as low as possible so that her head didn’t pop up over the edge in places where the gully ran shallow. She moved as quickly and stealthily as she could, careful not to lose her footing in the slushy mess beneath her feet. Zeus stayed as high as he could, he never liked getting his paws wet; while Perseus charged up the middle letting the water splash all around them.
When she reached the ditch Virginia slid down to a seat while she worked to catch her breath. Zeus, panting heavily, sat down next to her and put his paw in her lap. “Ok boy, we can take a rest for a little while.” She said as she patted his head. Deciding that there would be plenty of time to rest once she was up the tree, Virginia raised her head up just over the side and searched for any movement in town. Not seeing any signs of life or movement, she climbed the tree, hauling her quills and crossbow up on her back. Finding a fork in the branches that offered both a comfortable seat and a great view, she sat with one leg straddling the branch. Looking around trying to judge how much cover the perch offered, Virginia decided that it was as good as anyplace she could see looking up at the higher branches.
*****
“Can you see her?” Jermaine asked as he came up the last few steps to the walk way.
Charlie pointed over at the tree. “She is up about halfway in the tree.”
“Well, I guess you called that one right.” Jermaine joked.
“I think we both knew she was going to go no matter what anyone said.”
“Yea, I just never would have thought that Virginia saw me as the easy one out of the two of us.” Jermaine said. “Is that where we can get to the roof?”
Charlie followed Jermaine’s finger down the walkway to the hatch above the walkway. “Yes, I don’t think we would need to go all the way out. Should get a fairly decent line of sight just poking your head and the rifle up.”
Jermaine held the box of shells up and said. “Let’s hope so, Boo only had about a dozen shells left.”
“Let’s hope for our sake that we don’t even need to use that thing. There will be hell to pay with Lori if anything happens.” Charlie replied.
“Our sake?” Jermaine asked. “This was your crazy idea to let her think she was pulling the wool over our eyes buddy.”
“You didn’t take much effort to convince.” Charlie said as he broke into laughter. “You were a rock of resolve, let me tell you.”
“Ok, I may have cracked pretty easy under the pressure. You made a good point about us watching and knowing where she was instead of her sneaking off and us not knowing.” Jermaine sat down on the walkway, feeling the vibrations travel down to the far end. Looking up at the thin steel cords connecting to a small square plate, he prayed that they would hold fast.
Chapter 23
Moving passed the last person who could have raised an objection to Zoe being carried away, Lori found the smorgasbord of scents and sights were having an effect on her body. She could smell death knocking on the door to collect her old friend’s soul. From behind her the breeze was bringing a tantalizing whiff that every taste bud in her mouth began watering for. The inner turmoil from yesterday with Walter returned with a vengeance, calling out and then screaming inside Lori’s head for fresh meat. The hunger echoed around, bouncing off her skull in time with every beat of her heart. Lori looked around for a safe place to lay Zoe down. A place where no one would bother the old woman while she took just a few minutes, maybe fifteen at most, to satisfy the urges trying to beat her into submission. Seeing a large evergreen tree planted a little too close to a house and judging that to be as good a spot as any, Lori started to make her way over to it. Just as she made it across the street onto the parkway a hand touched her from the left. Having been so caught up in the euphoria of the possible kill, Lori had been blindsided by the creature now touching her arm. Fangs showing, grey bloodshot eyes blazing with rage locked onto the hapless creature. In the blink of an eye Lori had planned and was now starting to execute the final maneuver the creature would ever see.
“Bubby, is that you? What are you doing here?” Megan asked as she forced her body between Lori and Bubby. The smell of fear was so strong that it was throwing gasoline on the fires of rage inside of Lori. Megan turned to come face to face with what she thought was her own personal view of hell on Earth. “Lori, this is Bubby. He is a friend, Lori, and can help us get out of here.” Megan hoped to get through to a part of Lori that was still willing to listen.
“Bubby, what are you doing over there?” a girl said from the back of the crowd and started for them.
“Liza, don’t come over here, please.” Megan called out to her. The girl just kept coming without a care in the world.
“Oh, it’s you, Megan. If you’re planning on coming back, you should know that I will be getting a place with Tillford.”
Megan was surprised at the slow rate Liza’s brain picked up on things. She knew that she shouldn’t be after how much time they had spent together but she was. “Look Liza, this isn’t the best place for you to be right now. I am just catching up with Bubby and then I am going.” Megan replied.
“Your friend didn’t pick a very good human did she?” Liza asked looking down at Zoe.
“We don’t need anything more.” Megan replied growing irritated.
“Tillford could get you a healthy one if you would like me to ask him. It would be no problem at all.” Liza stated
“No, this one is fine and who in the hell is Tillford?” Megan asked
“Oh that’s right, you don’t know him by that name do you?” Liza asked. “We hardly even noticed that you left this morning did we, Bubby? Tillford would be who you know as the Man in Black.”
“No wonder he never told anyone his name.” Megan replied. “No, please just let us be on our way.”
Liza opened her mouth to reply as Lori’s hand gripped her by the throat cutting off her air flow. While Megan had pleaded with her, Lori’s brain worked out the ways to silence this annoying thing for good. Bubby moved in and bit Lori’s arm causing just a brief loosening of the grip and Liza was free, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Megan drew herself in close to Lori’s ear. “If we don’t run they will kill your friend.”
From the cobweb filled dusty, depths of a place long since forgotten in Lori’s brain she heard that. The love and respect that she had come to feel in the short time that she had known Zoe thrust the human side back on top in a turbulent, partial control. “Head for the barn as fast as you can.” Lori said to Megan and Walter. “You can come or stay, doesn’t make a difference to me.” Bubby looked from Lori to Megan not understanding what she had meant.
“Run Bubby, we have to get out of here.” Megan yelled as she took off.
Lori could hear the cries of terror followed by outrage. Looking over her shoulder she could see that Walter, Megan, and the creature called Bubby, were keeping pace if not threatening to overtake her. After a few left turns through snow covered yards and right turns back onto the street, they were headed to the barn. A shot rang out, kicking up snow next to Lori but she kept running as hard as she could. If they could only make it down by the barn Charlie and Jermaine might be able to slow the advancing mob closing in.
Just passed the last of the town streets, Lori felt her legs give way as her feet lost traction in the slush. Zoe’s breath was shallow and slow but she had a good grip on Lori’s neck. W
hen it became obvious to Lori that there was no way to stop herself from falling, she tried to arch her back, twisting so that she would bear the impact of the fall instead of Zoe. With a thud, and a wince from Zoe, they plowed into the slush covered corner. Lori tried to sit up but found it to be too slippery so she began working her way onto her side when a male voice said. “Let me take her so that you can get up.” Lori stared into the gray fogged eyes of a large man wearing a long black coat like something out of an old western movie. Handing Zoe to him, she rolled over onto her hands and knees, climbing back to her feet just as Megan and Walter caught up. “What way?” the voice asked. Megan pointed down the street out of the town.
******
Rubbing her hands together as fast as she could Virginia then clapped them together with a smack, trying to drive the numbness away. The crack of a gunshot startled her, threatening the fragile balance that kept her in the tree. Seeing Lori running down the street towards her, Virginia raised the crossbow, loaded an arrow and sighted first on Lori then moved back behind to the creatures advancing. Taking a deep breath and the slowly exhaling she drew a bead on the nose of the creature. Another deep breath and another slow exhale, she began to squeeze the trigger, then pulled up as Megan reached back grabbing the creature in an effort to speed it up. Shaking her head, Virginia raised the crossbow back up and started over from Lori on back. Fifty yards or so further up the street the mob was now visible following the dog like creatures they had run into by the river. Sighting on the lead one, she knew that it would have to be a clean shot to the eye if it was going to drop it. It was out of range so she waited patiently for it to come into a distance she thought she could land the shot. Glancing down at the Lads she wondered if maybe for them she should retreat back to the barn. Having never experienced any sort of doubt from one of her decisions, Virginia felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. The options were to hold fast and do what she could to help Lori or to start back to the safety of the barn in an attempt to save the dogs. There was a slim chance of her making it out alive if she stayed in the tree until the last minute but Virginia had no confusion on Zeus’ chance of out running the creatures all the way back to the barn. Perseus would have a better chance but Zeus had slowed down a step or two of late.
Shaking the doubts from her head, Virginia sighted the lead creature again. It was a little far for her she knew, and could hear Old Bob scolding her. “Deep breath, Virginia, nice and easy now.” She calmed her mind and found her sweet spot, lining up the shot . Her lungs expanded to capacity and then calmly exhaled as her numb finger squeezed the trigger and let the arrow fly. In that moment she could see the arrow fly as if all time had slowed down to a crawl. Whizzing over Lori’s group, just above their heads, and dropping to the correct height to meet the target the arrow made its mark. It struck the creature just above the eye, then ricocheted up and over. Old Bob would have been right again, she thought, slinging the quills and crossbow over her shoulder so that they would not be in the way for the climb down.
*****
Mesmerized by the way the sun reflected off of the field of white snow, Charlie found himself lost in thoughts of the past—A past where there were no walking or running corpses trying to eat or infect him; a time when nothing made him happier than to hear his sweet Annie’s voice first thing in the morning or to lie in bed watching her sleep before he got up. Through the corner of his eye he noticed movement from the tree that Virginia was in. Zeroing in with the binoculars he could see her come down fast and call out to the dogs. Moving down the street further, Lori and a small group were running as hard as they could followed by creatures and a mob. “We got big trouble, Jermaine!” Charlie shouted at him while nudging the sleeping man with his foot.
Stretching his arms above his head Jermaine asked. “What’s happening?”
“I think the whole town is following Lori back to the barn and they don’t seem happy.” Charlie replied. “Take Boo’s rifle and put down anything that gets too close to them. I will try to meet them with the truck and bring them back.” Charlie yelled over his shoulder running down the stairs talking two steps at a time.
Jermaine climbed up into the hatch leading out on the roof and laid the rifle out in front of him. Holding his hand up to block the sun, he knew this was a bad thing going down. Raising the rifle to his shoulder and looking through the scope he could see Virginia and the dogs coming back at full speed. Perseus was leading the way while Zeus stayed close to Virginia. Back behind them was Lori and her group, followed a little too close for his liking by a creature. The mob was closing in after that so he decided to take care of the closest threat first. He slid the bolt back and inserted the cartridge, then slid it back in place with a click. Jermaine took a good look before firing the first shot that hit the creature in the head, causing it to explode in a brief shower of red. Jermaine watched as Megan slowed down to reach for the creature. The pack caught up and enveloped her. It seemed as though she struggled for a moment but there were just too many. She didn’t stand a chance. A mass of writhing monsters concentrated on the point where he had last seen her. He didn’t care to think on what was going on. He closed his eyes for a moment, biting his lower lip, then opened his eyes again and tucked his cheek down onto the rifle’s rest, just behind the sight. Moving back, he selected the next target, slid the bolt back ejecting the spent shell and replaced it. Boom, another creature hit the ground in a shower of red and white as it smashed down, sliding in the snow. Jermaine repeated the process until there was just one shell left. Holding it for the next target that grew closer than the others he hoped that Charlie would make it to them in time.
Chapter 24
The truck careened in a wild slide from the left to the right as Charlie gunned, turning onto the road. Behind him the snow kicked up like the wake behind a speed boat. From this level the mob looked like it had thousands and was advancing a lot faster than he had thought. Coming up to Virginia and the dogs first, Charlie slowed down and yelled. “Get in now, we have to get Lori too!”
“Go get her and pick me up on the way back.” Virginia replied running past the truck. Charlie shook his head in disbelief and mashed down the gas pedal, sending slush raining down on Virginia and the lads. Judging the distance between Lori and the truck Charlie started to slow up a little, not enough to make him get there too late but just enough so that he could swing the truck into a semi donut and face the other way. Just before he reached them he pressed the brakes all the way down and swung the steering wheel hard to the right. The truck swung in a fast arc and almost went into the ditch. Stopping just before the pavement under the snow became gravel, he Jumped out and waved furiously for Lori and the others to get into the truck. Lori jumped into the back followed by the man carrying Zoe and then Walter.
Plums of wet snow shot up until the tires dug through the snow, reaching pavement and catching traction. They lurched ahead, sending everyone in the bed crashing to the side. The distance between the mob grew until Lori felt the truck slow down and Virginia and the dogs came into view. Not wanting to deal with Lori at that moment, Virginia jumped into the cab with Zeus and Perseus.
“Just for future reference, I watched you from the barn through the gully to the tree.” Charlie said matter-of-factly.
Virginia smiled back at him not knowing what to say or if it would matter. She was sure that there would be plenty of words said with Lori if they got out of this. Pointing up ahead at the RV coming down the farm road toward the street Virginia asked. “What is Jermaine doing?”
“If he is thinking what I have been thinking, he is going to lead the way out of this place.” Charlie replied.
“Wouldn’t we be better off inside of the barn?” Virginia asked.
Charlie shrugged his shoulder and replied. “Not sure how long we could hold out against a group that large. If they were just zombies, maybe.”
Lori knocked on the back window of the truck and waited for Virginia to slide both sides of it open. �
�Anyone have a spare gun I could borrow?” Lori asked then looked over at Virginia. “You and I have a lot to talk about later when we stop.”
Charlie laughed and pulled his pistol from the side pocket of his coat, handing it back through the window. “Let’s just worry about getting away for now.”
Taking the gun from Charlie, Lori made sure that Zoe was pressed up against the back of the cab where the wind would be blocked. The man that had helped them had taken his coat off and draped it over Zoe like a blanket. He still had some kind of sweat shirt on that zipped in front as far as Lori could tell. Moving back by the tail gate Lori tried to steady herself as best as she could. The man tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to move back off of the tailgate. Once Lori had moved he reached down and pulled the tail gate closed with a bang that made Walter and Zoe jump.
