“Ross, don’t leave yet!” he shouted as he brought his rifle up and began to pick off the zombies closest to Patrick and Matthew, trying to buy them some time. But it was too late. Everyone watched in horror as four zombies knocked the poor boys down and began to maul them. Their screams were soul-scarring. But dozens more zombies were bearing down on the truck. Vicky was still screaming to be let go, but Al was keeping her from going.
“Fuck! Floor it, Ross!” Zach said as soon as the twins went down. He hopped into the back as the tires spun wildly, kicking up loose dirt and grass. But the zombies caught up fast, much faster than Zach had anticipated. And as the truck slowly gained speed, several of them grabbed at Zach and the others. Zach was hacking at them with his KA-BAR, and Al wielded a crowbar that he had found in the bed of the truck.
The woman they had rescued was looking around for a weapon when suddenly two zombies grabbed her by her hair and shoulders. She screamed as they yanked her up and down to the ground, already chewing on her face and neck.
The truck was pushing forty miles per hour now and the zombies began to slow down before finally heading back to the victims they had already claimed. Vicky was bawling as Amber tried to comfort her, and Al gave Zach a ‘told you so’ look.
Zach sat back in disgust. Had he made the right decision? He had just wanted to help that poor woman, but had succeeded only in getting her and two other people killed. He looked down at Abby, who was trying to be strong and hold her composure, but Zach could see the tears in her eyes.
“Abby? Are you okay?” he asked.
She didn’t answer immediately. She pushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear as she stared back at where the woman had fallen. “I didn’t even know her name,” she finally whispered.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.”
“You tried. That’s all that matters,” she said.
No one spoke for a while, the weight of lost friends hanging heavily on their heads. The zombies were long gone, but still they drove on. Suddenly, Zach looked up and saw the setting sun behind them. “Hey, stop! Stop!” he said as he banged on the roof of the truck, and Ross slowly brought the truck to a halt.
“We’ve been heading East, Ross,” Zach said in annoyed voice. Everyone looked bitterly disappointed at this revelation.
“Well, we can’t go back the way we came!” Al pointed out.
“I know, I know, just…” Zach started to say, but he shook his head. He was flustered and couldn’t think straight. “Let’s just spend the night here. We’re all exhausted and tomorrow we can sort this all out.” As tired as they were, everyone agreed to this plan. They climbed out of the truck and moved a fair distance away from it, fearing a truck could be more easily spotted by anyone who may have been tracking them, especially if the gang they’d encountered earlier went out looking for vengeance. They moved towards a small clump of soft, green cottonwood trees and some low bushes, not more than one hundred yards from the truck, and there sat in a semicircle, eating a scant dinner in silence.
As he ate, Zach became aware of Vicky’s icy stare. He looked up, and saw her dark eyes were filled with a cold malice. There was nothing Zach could do but give her an apologetic look and go back to his food. But Vicky suddenly exploded in anger and shouted, “You did this! You killed my brothers!”
“Hold on, Vicky! This isn’t Zach’s fault!” said Amber, jumping to Zach’s defense. “He was just-”
“Shut up, Amber! Just shut the fuck up! You’re only defending him because you want him in your pants!”
Amber blushed and was about to reply but Zach said, “Vicky, I’m sorry. But I had to help that woman.”
“Great fucking job, Zach! She’s dead, and so are my baby brothers! Why did you hold me back?!”
“You would have died! He saved your life!” Diane interjected.
“Who the hell is he to make that decision for me?! Maybe I would rather have died!”
“Vicky, calm down! Please!” cried Abby. Vicky wheeled around, ready to turn her wrath on Abby. But her face suddenly changed. Her breathing went back to normal and she said, in a soft, quiet voice, “Oh, I’m calm. I’m very calm. In fact, I think it’s about time we all get to sleep. Goodnight, everyone.”
And without another word, Vicky lay down, rolled over on her side, and became perfectly still. Everyone exchanged nervous glances with each other. “You know, I think we should get to sleep,” Al said, trying to sound normal. “Zach, why don’t you take first watch? Then you can wake me up.”
“Yeah, sure,” Zach said as he stood up and grabbed his rifle. Everyone spread out (especially away from Vicky) and prepared to lie down for the night. Al made eye contact with Zach, pointed at Vicky, and mouthed the words ‘watch her’. Zach nodded once in understanding, but nothing happened during Zach’s watch, and he woke Al up an hour later. He lay down next to Abby but found it difficult to fall asleep, thanks to the guilt that was clawing at his stomach.
Abby felt Zach lay down next to her. She was still awake, not daring to go to sleep for fear of what her dreams would be. That was the first time she had been attacked by a large group of zombies since that first day she had met Zach. She was also sad that Patrick and Matthew had died, and that woman, too. She scooted backwards, so that she was almost pressed up against Zach. He put his arm around her, and she instantly felt a little better. Feeling more relaxed now, she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander back to a time long gone…
Abby poked Zach’s arm gently. She was still wearing her night clothes, a pair of shorts and a big, loose shirt, and was standing next to Zach, who lay sleeping in his bed. “Zach. Zach, wake up, please!” she whispered. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
“Yeah, Bug? What’s up?” he said in a groggy voice.
“I had a nightmare. About the monsters,” Abby said, referring to the zombies that had chased her away from her home. “Can I sleep with you?”
“Yeah, sure” Zach said, scooting over so that she could hop into bed with him. It had not even been three weeks since that day, so every once in a while she would have nightmares about it. She climbed up into his bed and laid her head on the pillow. Zach put his arm around her, and she instantly felt better.
She hadn’t known Zach for very long, but she knew that he wasn’t a bad man. He took care of her and protected her, so she always felt safe with him. She liked him, but she didn’t know much about him. He talked a lot about all kinds of things, but he didn’t talk much about his past. That’s what she wanted to learn more about and she thought now would be a good time to try to get him to be open and honest.
“Did you have a job in the city?” she whispered.
“Yes. I was a police officer, but before that I was a Marine,” Zach said back.
“What’s a Marine?”
“It’s like a soldier, but with more specialized abilities.”
“Oh,” she replied. Zach was quiet again, assuming that she was done talking, but she was trying to think of something else to ask him.
“Did you have a family?” she asked.
“Yes. I had four younger brothers and my parents,” Zach replied.
“I never had any siblings. That must have been nice to have so many. What happened to them?”
“I’m not sure. My parents were on vacation in China with one of my brothers when everything got really bad, two of them were serving overseas in the Marine Corps, and the other one was going to college in Colorado,” Zach said.
“Oh,” said Abby. She was afraid that she had upset him now, so quickly added, “I’m sure they’re doing alright somewhere.”
“Yeah, me too,” Zach said, though he didn’t sound very sure.
“What did you do for fun?” Abby asked, trying to switch subjects.
“I liked playing sports when I was young. I also liked reading books and poetry.”
“What sports did you play?”
“Soccer when I was really young, but I played basketball for most of my chil
dhood.”
“I played soccer too!” Abby said excitedly. She had found common ground with him!
“Really? What else did you do?” Zach asked with a yawn, still only half awake.
“Dancing. I did all kinds of dancing. My favorite was ballet because I got to wear pretty uniforms.”
“Hmm. I never knew how to dance.”
“I can teach you! We can do it tomorrow!”
“Heh, okay. That sounds good to me.”
“Great!” Abby said. She was very happy that Zach was being so talkative. She suspected it was just because he was tired and was almost subconsciously answering her questions, but at least he was talking. She decided to press on.
“Were you ever married?”
Zach didn’t answer this one right away, and Abby was beginning to think that maybe he had fallen back asleep, but then he said quietly, “Yes, but…that’s not a good story to tell. Maybe some other time. Goodnight, Abby.” He took a deep breath in, blew it out, and then appeared to go to sleep.
Abby wondered why he had gotten so upset about that. She wanted to talk to him some more, but figured that she had gone far enough for one night. She’d learn more about him later. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Zach awoke the next morning just as the sun was rising. He sat up, looked around, and saw that everyone was asleep. “Who’s on watch?” he wondered. Suddenly, he realized that Abby was no longer at his side. “Bug?” he whispered, but got no response. “Abby?” he called a little louder. Maybe she was off using the bathroom. No, her pistol was still sitting on her pack next to her hat. Zach started to worry. He then saw that Vicky was gone, too. But her pack was still where she had left it, and a piece of paper was sticking out of it.
Quickly pulling on his boots, Zach walked over to where Vicky had been laying the night before. He snatched the piece of paper up, and saw that it was folded in half, and on the outside was large, messy handwriting; ‘DEAR ZACH’ was what it said. A twinge of fear hit Zach as he slowly opened the yellow paper. Two sentences were written on the inside, one above the fold and the other below it: AN EYE FOR AN EYE. A DAUGHTER FOR TWO BROTHERS.
Zach’s breath caught in his throat. His heart thundered like the rhythmic pounding of a Gaelic war drum. His blood boiled like rivers of fire and stampeded through his veins like wild stallions on the loose. His eyes burned dark as the black portals into the bowels of Tartarus, home to wicked, evil creatures that even Hades himself feared. He slowly clenched his hands into fists, crushing Vicky’s note into a crumpled up ball as all the wrath and malevolence of an arch-demon filled him.
“Zach? What’s wrong?” asked Amber quietly, having just woken up. Then she looked around and asked, “Where’s Abby? And Vicky?”
Zach tossed her the ball of paper, and a look of horror spread over her face as she read what was written on it.
“I’m going to kill that bitch,” was all Zach could say.
Chapter Six
Within minutes, everyone was awake and had quickly gotten dressed. They were all distressed to hear of Abby’s abduction and were eager to go searching, even Al. “I still don’t like you,” he told Zach privately, “but Abby is just a girl, and I’ll be damned if I let someone hurt an innocent kid.”
Zach hastily gave instructions to the group. Time was of the essence, as Ross had noticed that the truck they’d taken yesterday was gone, and they knew that Vicky and Abby could be long gone in just a short time with a vehicle. Al and Amber would search as one team, Ross and Diane as another, but Zach would go alone. If they found Abby, they were to bring her back to the truck. If they found Vicky but not Abby, they were to do the same thing. But if they found them both together, they were to do whatever it took to rescue Abby, even if that meant killing Vicky. He hoped that they wouldn’t have to though, but only because he wanted to kill Vicky himself.
They split up and headed in different directions, agreeing to be back by the time the sun set. Zach headed north, Al and Amber went south, and Ross and Diane went east. Zach was close to tears the entire day as he looked this way and that, calling Abby’s name. He could not bear the thought of losing Abby, not like this. She was his everything, the only thing that mattered to him in this world. She was the rock to which he anchored himself, tethering him to this life.
During the short time between the death of his wife and his discovery of Abby, Zach had been a wreck. He had more than once put his gun to his head and tried to pull the trigger. He had been slowly losing his grip on reality as he slid into a deep depression. Hallucinations were frequent and at times he would completely black out and wake up far away from the last place he remembered being and at a much later time in the day. He never knew what he had done or where he had gone during those times and he didn’t think that he wanted to know.
Now, a new sense of dread and loneliness crept into his heart, the likes of which he had not felt since his wife had died. “I wish you were here with me now,” he said, looking up at the sky. “I really need you.”
They searched all day, but no sign of Abby was found by any of the groups. They rendezvoused back just as the sun disappeared into the horizon. Zach, of course, was last to give up the search. He lay down on his back and covered his face with his hands. Amber sat next to him, stroking his hair with her slender hand, trying to comfort him. Al muttered something under his breath and, under normal circumstances, Zach would have ignored it. But right now he was not prepared to put up with Al.
“Care to repeat that?” Zach said, pulling his hands away from his face and glaring darkly at Al.
“I said I think that’s a bit much!” Al said loudly, directing his comment at Amber.
“He’s upset, Dad! In case you’ve forgotten, Abby’s been kidnapped!” Amber said.
“Well, he should have listened to me then! Servers him right! Now you listen to me and leave him alone, young lady!”
Zach was halfway up as soon as Al said this, but Amber put a hand on his chest and firmly pushed him back down to the ground as she stood up. “No, Dad, you need to listen to me!” she said angrily. Al looked shocked to hear Amber talking like this.
“You can’t keep treating me like I’m some stupid kid! I’m an adult woman, Dad! I make my own decisions!”
“Look here Amber, I’m just-”
“Looking out for me. Yeah, I know. But you’re suffocating me! I’ve made mistakes before, but you’re not letting me learn from them!”
“I just want to protect you! I don’t want you to get hurt again!”
“But that’s part of life! Getting hurt but moving on; falling down but getting up! I married a loser who ruined my life, I get it. And that’s a pain that’s never going to go away completely. But for Christ’s sake, Dad, I’m twenty-nine years old! You can’t keep treating me like I don’t know any better!”
“You think you know better? You’re falling in love with a guy you hardly know!” Al said gesturing towards Zach.
“Who the hell said anything about falling in love?” Amber said, practically shouting. “I like Zach, but that is a far cry from being swept off my feet! And he is not a bum! You see how well he treats Abby, how much he loves her! I’m not exactly planning a wedding with him, but you’re not even giving him a goddamn chance!”
“Honey, I-”
“Enough, Dad! This armor you keep trying to throw over me is smothering me! You’re the one that needs to take a step back from me because the only man in my life who is hurting me right now is you!”
When Amber spat out this last word, Al gasped and staggered back a step. He looked physically hurt. Amber felt horrible for wounding her father like that, but it just had to be done. She couldn’t allow him to be so controlling of her any longer. So despite the tears being shed by both father and daughter, she held her ground.
“Amber…” Al said in a shaky voice. Zach had watched this all happen in silence, feeling some guilt for being the catalyst of this argument. But it seemed like this had been building up
in Amber for a long time, and Al’s treatment of Zach was the final straw. Al turned his back, looking like a whipped dog, and slowly trudged away from the group. He sat down a few meters away from the others, staring out into the darkness.
Amber sat back down next to Zach as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. Zach wasn’t sure if he should say anything. He took her hand in his and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t do anything,” she said, her eyes still wet. “I just needed to get that off my chest.”
“Okay,” said Zach. He volunteered for the first watch of the night while everyone else slept, and Ross would go next. Zach was a little worried about Al, but he stayed sitting in the same spot the whole time Zach was awake, and did not lie down to sleep until much later.
The next morning, Zach was on watch again just as the sun crested over the eastern horizon. He quietly woke everyone up so they could return to searching for Abby. Al was silent still, and his eyes were red and dry, as if he’d been crying all night. Everyone was pulling their shoes on and getting a bite to eat, when Al suddenly took Amber in his arms and wept openly.
“I’m so sorry, Amber! I’m so sorry!” he said as Amber hugged him back.
“It’s okay, Dad. I forgive you,” she said.
“No, it’s not okay! I’ve mistreated you for years, and it’s not okay!” Al said. “I’m sorry for treating you like a child! I’m sorry for trying to control your life! I’m sorry for not trusting you enough to make your own decisions!”
He turned to Zach and said, “And I’m sorry for treating you like shit. You’re not a bum. You’re a wonderful father to Abby and my daughter would be lucky to have a man like you in her life! I am so, so sorry for what I said last night! I don’t know what came over me, I just…”
“It’s alright, Al,” said Zach, “I know what you were trying to do. Your heart was in the right place.”
“So everything is okay?” Al asked, looking at Amber and Zach.
“Yes, Dad. Everything is okay,” Amber said with a tearful smile.
His Name Was Zach Page 11
