by Marie Lanza
Melody had already stepped away with Aubrey so she wouldn’t see the final kill, but it wasn’t far enough to where she couldn’t hear it. That crunch as the knife broke through bone brought chills down her spine.
“He go bye-bye?” Aubrey asked.
Melody didn’t have it in her to answer, she only cried. Letting the emotions she had held in for so long finally run their course. Aubrey grabbed her cheeks and kissed Melody’s face before wrapping her arms around her neck. Melody was thankful Aubrey wasn’t old enough to process death in its permanent form, though she understood he was gone. Melody still had an overwhelming need to protect her from their unfortunate reality.
Even with the continuous growls from the infected below, a peaceful silence set over them as Jason slowly slipped the blade back out from Beck’s brain. It was over. They could only hope Beck was at peace.
“I’ll do it,” Mike said. Moving in on Beck’s body, he wrapped his arms under Beck’s, and pulled Beck to the edge above the crowd of infected that had gathered. “Thank you, brother.”
Mike released Beck’s body, dropping him over the edge.
The infected swarmed Beck’s body and immediately began feeding on his flesh, ripping at him with their teeth and hands.
Jason, Melody, and Mike didn’t wait to watch the carnage. Melody was already making her way with Aubrey to the lower platform outside that would get them to the ground. Jason and Mike weren’t far behind her.
There were very few infected in the direction they were headed. Most had been gathering at the entrance of the barn. Now, with the commotion of the feast, the few that remained were largely distracted.
“Mel, let us get down first, I’ll take Aubrey, then you.” Jason made his way past her, then dropped the bags down before he jumped to the ground, making his best attempt to stay quiet.
Mike followed Jason to watch his back as Melody delivered Aubrey.
When everyone was down, the group made a run for it through the field. With the sun rising, there was no longer the cover of darkness protecting them. The grass was long and dry, brushing past their bodies as they ran. The swishing sound of the dry field as it slid past their bodies deafened any other surrounding noises, making it impossible to hear the infected.
Melody focused on what was ahead of them. She ran bringing her knees up slightly higher than a normal run, afraid to step on anything lying in the field.
Mike was just ahead of her, and Jason, holding Aubrey, was tailing in the back.
Melody looked over her shoulder every few seconds making sure they were close. Aubrey bounced around in Jason’s arms but otherwise seemed to be fine, almost smiling that it might be playtime.
Handfuls of the infected that hadn’t been distracted by the feeding over Beck’s body had caught sight of the group as they escaped through the field.
Mike led them back to the road where they could get a better view over the tall growth, of what was heading their way.
Melody was relieved to feel solid pavement under her feet, until she turned around to find the horde was moving at a steady pace through the field like a wave rolling over to shore.
“We gotta keep moving. We all know those things don’t tire,” Jason urged them on without looking back himself.
“We should go back for the Humvee.” Mike focused on the barn they had crashed through.
“We can’t go back.” Melody tugged on Mike’s arm and pulled him with her to catch up with Jason and Aubrey.
“We’ll figure something out. We have thirty miles give or take. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and find another vehicle.” Jason called out over his shoulder as he pushed forward.
“We have to get out of the sun. It’ll beat us down before those things do if we’re not careful,” Melody called out, worried they weren’t able to take much of their essentials, including water.
Staying in the cover of trees, the group didn’t stop moving. Every step was shockingly more painful than the next. Their lives were now depending on their mental toughness as they could no longer rely on their physical strength. None of them had enough sustenance over the last days to give them the energy they truly needed, but with the infected keeping a steady pace, they pushed on.
Buildings were scarce in these parts with the miles mostly made of farmlands. When there was sight of a house, the group feared they hadn’t got far enough away from the infected, and would surely get surrounded. Not wanting to take the chance, they continued on, mile after mile with almost two hours of not stopping, they began to slow their pace.
“I know we lost them at this point.” Melody was out of breath.
Mike turned around to get a good look behind them. “I think we’ve been good for a while now.”
Jason swung Aubrey from his back, around to his front to hand her to Melody. “Here, switch with me. I’ll take the bags for a bit.” Jason immediately started digging in a bag and pulled out a water bottle. “We have a few of these left. We’ll ration as long as we can.” He opened it, took a sip, and handed it over to Melody.
As they each finished a few sips, Mike handed it back to Jason so he could put it away. “We’ll do the same with what we have left for food.”
“Mel, want me to take her?” Mike reached out for Aubrey. “I won’t tire as fast.” He winked.
Melody happily delivered Aubrey over knowing he was right. Having Aubrey on her back would wear her out faster than either of the men.
They carried on down the road, now walking at a comfortable pace.
“How long, honey? How long until we get there?” Melody asked.
Jason sat on the question for a few moments as he thought about how far they were from Summer Springs. “A day or so depending on how fast we can keep moving.”
“Do you think Harmony and Dan made it to your parents?” Melody wasn’t quite sure if she cared to even know his opinion; it was more her own thoughts escaping and allowing themselves to be shared with those around her.
“I hope they are…” Jason didn’t really know what he hoped for anymore. In the beginning, he felt much more optimistic. Now, with death surrounding them at every moment, if giving Melody a glimmer of hope to help her push forward, he would say anything.
They were lucky; most of the morning was overcast, but in the mid-day hours, the sun shined bright, beating down on them with relentless heat. Jason, like clock-work, made everyone stop to take drinks of water. In the middle of the day, he pulled out an energy bar, splitting it four ways.
It was the late afternoon when the overcast came back again. Lucky for them, this was consistent Central Coast weather and the temperature cooled off fairly quickly.
“Slow it down, I think we got something.” Mike naturally put his arm out in from of Melody and Jason as he focused straight ahead. “Big convoy, two o’clock, partially blocked by the trees.”
“I got it.” Jason instinctively reached for Aubrey as if to say she was safest in his arms.
They stayed to the opposite side of the road as they approached. As the breeze brushed past them, the grass in the fields whistled, bringing a slight smell of rotted red meat, the usual smell that came with death.
There was no movement from the convoy.
“I count three trucks, possibly two Humvees,” Jason said.
“Surely if people were alive they’d make their presence known, right?” Melody asked, figuring it would make sense that they would have lookouts.
“I think we got a graveyard on our hands.” Mike stayed cautious as he continued a few steps ahead and they made their way closer.
With a better look, the bodies began to come into view. A few handful with what looked like military and civilians scattered around the area, and not one body left untouched by the infected.
“There’s only one horde we’ve seen that could do something like this, to a group this well armed,” Jason said as he looked over the bodies.
Melody thought she’d never get used to the sight of such carnage. The infected had
left body parts strewed around, eaten down to nothing. The group had been savagely ripped to pieces. The vehicles were painted with blood and guts.
“Let’s see what we can use.” Mike wandered around over to the vehicles.
Jason leaned down and picked up a few weapons, walking them over to Melody to place them in the bag. “Might as well.”
“Now we just need ammunition, and a maybe a truck.” There was a hint of sarcasm in Melody’s voice.
“I’ll go check out the Humvees. Check the trucks for any keys. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” Jason took Aubrey with him to search.
“Be careful with her.”
“Always,” Jason said with a wink.
Mike scavenged through bags, checked gas cans, and hopped in the backs of the trucks to see if there was anything useful.
Melody was checking the cab of the first truck she reached when she heard it. She froze in the driver seat of the truck and listened to the familiar hissing of an infected. It was close. Melody looked in the side mirrors to check around the truck but couldn’t see anything.
As Mike finished up a truck bed sweep he jumped out and made his way to the next. He didn’t even hear it coming.
An infected wandered up to the convoy, it was a large man over six feet tall, and his sights were set on Mike. The infected man had a heavy limp in its left leg, almost dragging it as it moved in on its prey.
The moment Mike finally heard the infected behind him, he instantly turned with his knife ready to greet his assailant.
In that same instance, the infected’s head smashed into the window, causing the glass to explode.
Mike stood shocked, still holding his knife in the air, looking at this giant infected man with its head smashed through a window, and his gaze followed the path of the man backwards to see what had caused him to fall: a tire iron.
Holding that tire iron still with a firm death grip stood Melody, looking just as shocked as Mike.
“Shit.” Mike lowered his knife.
Melody ripped the weapon out of the infected’s head. “I think I’m keeping this.”
Jason came running from the Humvee’s with Aubrey when he lay eyes on the mess of the infected upper body slumped over through the window. “Everyone alright?”
“I am now.” Mike nodded to Melody.
Jason watched Melody as she walked up with her new weapon. “I found keys to one of the Humvees, but it’s out of gas.” He jingled the keys in the air.
“It may be why they were stranded here,” Mike said looking over the area. He looked at Jason. “I don’t think we’re gonna find much else.”
“We should keep moving as long as possible.”
Jason and Mike turned to find that Melody had wandered off and was standing in the center of the convoy, looking down at a body. When they approached, she looked up at them and held out a dog tag.
“I feel like any chance we get, we should remember who they are.”
Mike took the tag and read it. “Christopher Hart.” He put the tag in his pocket.
“So no luck with a vehicle, huh?” Melody asked.
“Yeah. We’re still on foot,” Jason said as he moved Aubrey to his back.
There weren’t many words exchanged between them as fatigue weighed on their minds. Their feet burned with every step; they might as well have been walking on hot coals. The sun blazed down, the heat had absorbed all their fluids, leaving Melody’s mouth dry and her body feeling dehydrated. She urged herself to keep moving, remembering how far they had come and how close they were.
No one complained out loud. They all just continued on in weakened silence, staying in a close group, and naturally drifted away from each other as the hours past, with little conversation between them. The day felt as though it would never end, with only the sun giving them some sense of time. As it lowered in the west, they knew it was time to find somewhere to settle in for the night.
It was too dangerous to move in the dark, and Aubrey had been growing increasingly restless being passed back and forth between Melody and Jason. There was little shade to shield Aubrey from the sun; she was hungry and thirsty, and the lack of understanding why was making it more difficult for her.
They had run into only a small handful of infected, one or two at a time. It seemed they left all the infected in the area back on that cattle farm with Beck’s body.
“That could be promising.” Mike pointed out ahead to an old motorhome that looked like it had been sitting there for decades.
The once-white paneling was now a rusted yellow and the paint was faded to a slight hint of its old colors of blue and orange.
“Well, it’s definitely not gonna drive.” Jason pulled his gun.
“When did you get so cynical?” Mike asked in a smart-ass way, but was truly surprised Jason would doubt such a lucky find. “Besides, we might as well, we don’t know if we’ll find something again in the area.”
Melody was grateful just to stop and get a break.
Mike walked around the RV to the front to get a look inside. While Jason went to cover him, Melody took Aubrey from Jason and stayed to the back.
As Mike walked around the motorhome, he pounded on the paneling waiting to hear any infected that may be trapped inside. When Mike deemed it safe to enter, he opened the camper door that was in the back and stepped in. He was expecting to see a tomb holding its previous owners; surprisingly, it was empty.
Melody looked around the vicinity for infected, taken aback none were around to greet them.
The back highway they were walking along had plenty of open space around them, making it easy to see if they had company.
Jason gave Melody the all clear to enter.
Inside had been scavenged through, but unlike most places, it was only lightly touched. The cabinets were emptied, which was expected, and muddy footprints tracked through, but there were no signs of infection; even the smell was light and airy. It was a nice change from the usual gore the infected left in their wake.
Once they were all in, Mike locked the door and jammed a chair under the handle for extra security.
Melody collapsed on a bench at the small kitchen table, sitting Aubrey beside her.
Jason dropped his bags but didn’t pause to rest. Instead, he started pulling at every drawer and opening every cabinet.
Mike sat across from Melody at the table for a little rest.
The RV was an old-style motorhome that included a kitchen, dining area, bathroom, and one bedroom but other sleeping areas.
Jason walked to the front and sat in the driver seat.
“You feeling lucky?” Mike shouted out.
“Now who’s cynical?” Jason shot back. He continued to search around until he found what he was looking for underneath the front seat. Jason held up a set of keys and jingled them in the air. “Who wants to try?”
Melody smiled but wasn’t really in the mood to get her hopes up. Yet, part of her held her breath when Jason turned back around in the front seat to put the keys in the ignition.
Turning the key produced a series of clicks followed by silence. “It looks like it has gas but the battery is toast,” Jason said as he tried the ignition again.
“Perhaps we could find another car and swap batteries? Or use another battery to jump this one?” mused Mike out loud. “This baby is most likely a diesel…” he trailed off in his own thoughts.
Jason sat back in his seat only slightly disappointed and took in a deep breath. “We should stay off our feet until morning, if we can. We’ll get back on the road first thing.”
Melody turned back around in her seat to face Mike and Aubrey. She only allowed herself to be just a little disappointed, giving her a mild sick feeling in her stomach they would resume their journey on foot.
Mike’s eyes brightened as he stood up from the table. “Wait. This thing probably has a generator.”
Jason twisted around for a glimmer of good news.
“All these things have generators. It would be in one
of the outside compartments,” Mike continued.
Jason stood up, “Let’s do this… Mel, stay here with Aubrey so I can cover Mike.”
“Even better if you could sit at the driver seat to start the engine.” Mike pulled the chair away from the door.
“Whatever you need. You really think this could work?” Melody was already carrying Aubrey to the front seat before she could complete her sentence.
“If the generator was left and we can find some jumper cables, we could be gold.”
“Be careful.” Melody watched as they closed the door behind him, then went to the driver’s seat and sat down with Aubrey in her lap.
Melody surveyed their surroundings, keeping alert for any infected while using the side mirrors to keep an eye on Jason and Mike.
Aubrey copied Melody’s every action, from leaning out a window to checking the side mirrors. She wanted to see everything she thought her mother may be looking at. When she laid her eyes on Jason and Mike in the side mirror, Aubrey would let out a giggle and point.
Outside, Jason kept an eye on their backs as Mike used his knife to pry open the locked compartment.
As Jason heard the lock break, he glanced over his shoulder to get a look.
“Jackpot,” Mike confirmed the good news. Mike examined the generator for a minute before determining that it was meant to run on propane and had a pull start. “I just hope that the starter isn’t as much as a bitch as my ex’s lawnmower,” Mike joked. “Let’s hook up the propane and get this thing running.”
Jason and Mike carried the generator to the front of the RV, and started getting together the things that they would need. There were two large propane tanks on the rear of the rig, and they found jumper cables and the connector for the propane in the compartment that housed the generator. The change of pace seemed to work magic on the men; they seemed almost giddy at the prospect of doing something constructive.
Within 20 minutes, they were ready to give it a try. “Come on, baby,” Mike coaxed as he braced himself to pull the chord. His efforts were rewarded by a brief spurring and a sputter. “Come on, baby…ugh,” he tried again. “Come on, you little bitch.” He pulled again and again with varying results until he doubled over gasping.
