“Might as well. Diane is gone,” he replied.
“No, Ross. You can’t do that,” Abby pleaded. “Is that what Diane would want? For you to give up on life? No, of course not! If you give up on yourself, you give up on Diane’s memory!” She paused to gently lift Ross’ head so that he would be staring into her eyes. Then she said quietly, “Honor her by living for her, not dying with her.”
Ross looked back down and was quiet for a long time, not moving. Abby and Zach sat with him, neither one speaking. Finally, Ross lifted his bloody and bruised head and said, “You’re right. This isn’t what she’d want. I have to live…for both of us.”
Slowly, Ross pushed himself up to his feet, and as he stood up to his full height, Zach thought that he looked just a little bit taller, as if heightened with a new sense of purpose. “So what’s the plan?” he asked.
Zach took his pistol back from Abby, went over to Henry’s body to retrieve his spare magazines, and said, “I don’t know yet. We’ll have to be careful though. I’ve got two spare mags for my pistol. Abby, you should have one spare, right?”
“Yup.”
“Okay. We could-”
Zach was cut off by what sounded like several small explosions nearby, and the next instant was filled with terrible screams: the war cries of zombies. Gunfire erupted a few seconds later, and before long the shrieking and shouting all around the prison drowned out even the rain. But even in the hectic cacophony of screams and cries for help, one word could be clearly heard over and over: horde!
“A horde?!” Abby said, her misty eyes wide with bewilderment.
“The cages,” Zach muttered. He ran to the front doors, undid the bolt, and cracked one door open. He stuck his head out into the rain and saw people everywhere running in every direction. The gunfire increased in rate and suddenly an air raid siren sounded across the prison.
“What do we do?!” asked Ross as he and Abby joined Zach at the door. Zach was silent, his mind racing furiously like an engine in sixth gear.
“The garage!” he said suddenly. “Henry said they have four vehicles there!”
“Good enough for me! Let’s go!” Ross said.
With the rain still pouring down, Zach, Abby, and Ross burst outside and sprinted in the direction of the garage, but they could barely take two steps without having to shove someone out of the way. People were pressed together practically shoulder to shoulder as they tried to flee their impending doom. The shrieking from zombies was quickly growing louder as the horde move across the prison like a venomous flood.
People everywhere were being thrown into unprecedented levels of hysteria as more and more victims were overwhelmed by the tide and became zombies themselves. Some people ran, some tried to fight, others seemed to despair completely and reverted to animalistic tendencies. Abby saw people shooting not at zombies but at people in their way; some turned their guns on themselves. People clawed and bit those who moved too slowly. The gates for the prison itself were shut and those who did not make it inside in time were crushed to death by the crowd pressing into them.
Abby was starting to fall behind, not able to keep up with a former professional athlete and a former Marine. But Ross noticed this, so he stopped to pick Abby up and continued to run, cradling her in his arms. The garage loomed before them in the rain and pre-dawn gloom. It had four large hangar doors along the front and a service door on the side, which was wide open. Abby glanced behind her and shrieked. The horde was right behind them!
Suddenly, three of the hangar doors rolled open and three seven-tons peeled out of the garage. “Hurry!” Zach shouted.
They reached the door and burst into the deserted garage to find that there was one seven-ton left, though it had no doors and no benches or rails in the back; it would have to do. Ross dropped Abby and tried to push the door closed, but one of the zombies made it just in time to get his shoulders and head through the doorway. Ross leaned into the door as more zombies crashed into it, trying to force their bodies through the slim opening, but he kept them out. Dozens more were coming though, and they were starting to head for the gaping hangar doors.
“Abby, get in!” Zach yelled. He raised his pistol and fired at the ceiling three times, hitting the chains of the open hangar doors, sending them crashing down and keeping the zombies outside.
“Get the truck ready!” Ross yelled as he pushed with all of his strength against the door. Zach climbed up into the cab of the seven-ton and flipped the silver knob to the ‘run’ position. The dashboard lit up and the gauge needles moved to their correct positions; the fuel tank was barely above ‘empty’. Zach then pushed the knob to ‘start’, held it for a second, and the big diesel engine roared to life.
Zach hopped down and ran to the switch that would open up the hangar door, put his hand on it, and yelled to Ross, “Come on!”
“I can’t get the door closed! Just go, save yourselves!” Ross yelled back. The zombies were piling up on the door and Ross was tiring. He put the full force of his six-foot-eight, two-hundred and fifty pound frame into the door, but he was still losing the fight.
“No, fuck that! You can make it!”
“C’mon Ross!” Abby yelled.
“Goddamn it, Zach! Go! Get Abby out of here!”
“ROSS!”
“FUCKING GO!” Ross roared. He almost slipped when a zombie hit the door again, but he kept his footing.
Zach took a long look at Ross and saw the conviction in his eyes. He had made his decision. He was going to die, but he would die making sure that Abby and Zach made it out alive.
“Abby, get ready to shoot!” Zach shouted and he flipped the switch. The large hangar door began to roll up, faster than Zach had anticipated. He jumped into the driver’s seat of the seven-ton, pushed down on the yellow ‘air brakes release’ button, then put the engine in reverse. He pressed on the gas in an effort to get a little further away from the zombies that were pawing at the opening hangar door, and the back of the truck slammed against the rear wall about ten feet back.
Zach put the truck into drive, waiting another second or two for the door to open up high enough, but already zombies started to pour in and make a beeline towards Ross. Then there was a loud bang, and the service door that Ross had been holding slammed open, but he was not done yet. Turning his back to the zombies, Ross spread his arms and legs wide, boxing the zombies out like he used to do as a basketball player. Using his own body as a human barrier, he bought Zach and Abby a few extra seconds, but at a terrible price. The zombies were too strong and pushed him down, and Abby saw one begin to chew on Ross’ forearm while the others pushed past him and charged the truck.
Zach floored the gas pedal and pressed a button on the floor with his foot, turning on the high-beams. The zombies in front of him were momentarily blinded and stopped for just a moment, which was all Zach and Abby needed to escape the garage.
Out in the open, Zach found that there was a dirt path that seemed to lead from the garage all the way to the front gate, though it was hardly a straight shot. It was impossible to avoid all the people and zombies in their path, so Zach just ran over whoever couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. Some zombies tried jumping up at the truck, as well as people, but Zach and Abby, both extraordinary marksmen, held them off with their pistols.
“Reloading!” Abby yelled as she ejected the empty mag from her pistol and fumbled in her pocket for her spare. But before she could get it out, a zombie jumped up onto the step just below the cab and grabbed Abby by the arm. She screamed and jerked her arm back, but the zombie held on and fell on top of Abby, pushing her shoulders down against the bench at a painful angle. Abby pushed against the creature’s neck with her forearm as she tried desperately to reach her knife, but its mouth was just inches away from her face and it was much stronger than her.
Then there was a loud bang, and suddenly the zombie’s head snapped back and it fell out of the truck.
Abby bolted back up and looked at Zach. He had s
hot the zombie immediately after steering around a corner and conducting a mag change simultaneously. Then, almost without looking, he slid his gun under his left arm and killed a zombie that had gotten right up next to him.
“You good?” he asked.
“Yeah, thanks!” Abby said as she reloaded her pistol.
“Hold on!” Zach yelled as they bore down on the gate. Zach gunned it, pushing the truck up to fifty miles per hour as it slammed into the gate. The truck jarred violently and the grill and fender were badly damaged, but the truck made it through and sped into the open. They raced into the dark and stormy pre-dawn morning, leaving the chaos far behind.
Chapter Twenty-One
The rain was starting to let up as Zach steered the truck back in the direction they had come from last night so that they could retrieve their packs. They did this quickly, not knowing if the zombies could still sense them from a mile away, and then continued driving down the road. But the truck had been running on fumes as soon as they had started it, and the engine died after only taking them ten miles from the prison.
The first few rays of sunlight were starting to break through the clouds and the fog as the rain continued to soften. Zach and Abby decided to wait out the rain before moving on, confident that they were far enough away from the horde of zombies at the prison.
They sat in silence at first, not speaking for a few minutes as the full weight of the last twenty-four hours pressed down on them. “How could this happen, Zach?” Abby asked quietly. “We had a home, safety, loved ones…and we lost it all overnight. It’s like we’re back at square one: just you and me with nowhere to go. How?”
Zach thought for a moment before answering. “I don’t know, Bug. Sometimes people come into our lives only for a little while before being taken away. Usually they come into our lives to teach us something or help us during a dark time. Sometimes they make us better by providing an example for us to follow.”
“But some people enter our lives to test our mettle and show us what we’re made of deep down in our hearts. These people hurt you and abuse you, but it’s up to you to decide if you’re going to give up and let these people dictate how you live your life or if you’re going to find the strength and courage to rise from the ashes of your old self as a better person.”
“Like with Henry and I?”
“Yes, just like that.”
They were quiet again as they listened to the rain drum softly against the metal roof above them. The storm was definitely waning and would be gone soon.
“At least we still have each other,” Abby said quietly, looking over at Zach. This thought brought her hope, and she thought that it would help Zach too, but to her surprise he grimaced noticeably. Abby went back to staring at her hands in her lap, worried that it might take a very long time for Zach to get over Amber’s death. That must be why what she said had upset him, Abby thought.
“You’re a good kid, Abby,” Zach said softly, without looking at her. His voice sounded shaky, like he was holding back tears. “You know where you stand, and you stick to your guns. A lot of people can’t say that about themselves, and that makes you really special. I’m proud of you, of the woman you’re becoming, and I’m glad you were put in my life. You saved me, you know. You saved me from myself. When Grace died…I didn’t know what to do. I was lost and just wandering aimlessly. I lived like a dead man with no purpose, no cares, nothing.”
“But then I found you, and you became my guiding light. You were the daughter that I never had, and you gave me the purpose and meaning that I needed to hold on to life. You gave me something to fight for. You and I were born to save each other at our most dire moments of need. I saved you physically, and you saved me...spiritually, emotionally.”
“I tried to give you everything you deserve, you know. I tried to give you as much love as I could, and I know that I failed a lot, but I hope you can forgive all my shortcomings. I only ever wanted what was best for you.”
Zach turned to look at Abby and said, “You believe me, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Abby replied slowly.
“I just wanted to give you a normal life, and I wish I could have done that,” Zach said, looking straight ahead again and shaking his head. He was speaking rapidly now, a drastic change from his usual, slow drawl.
“But that’s just the way it is. You’re going to get knocked down no matter what you do, so all you can do is keep getting back up. When life pushes you, that’s when you gotta push harder, not give up. And just when you feel like there’s nothing left for you here, you’ll find something to hold.”
He once again turned to look at Abby. “Don’t lose hope, Abby,” he said. “Sometimes people you love very much are taken away from you and you’ll feel like you can’t go on without them. But you can. You can, Abby. You need to remember that.”
Abby had been watching Zach with concern this whole time, and now she was deeply disturbed. What had gotten into Zach? Why was he talking like this? “Zach, you’re scaring me,” she said.
Zach sighed and looked over his left shoulder; the rain had stopped. Then he turned back to Abby and stared into her eyes. “You’re a good kid, Abby,” he finally said, “You’ll be alright.”
“I’ll be alright?” Abby asked, sitting up straighter in her seat.
Zach did not answer. He grabbed his and Ross’ packs from the middle of the bench and climbed out of the cab. Abby grabbed her pack and jumped down to the ground. She walked around the front of the truck, set her pack down next to the others, and saw Zach leaning against the truck, staring up at the sky.
“Zach, what did you mean I’ll be alright? What’s wrong?”
Zach looked down at Abby and then closed his eyes, causing a tear to spill out and run down his cheek. He turned his body around so Abby could see his left side. There, right above his hip, was a small but unmistakable wound. He was bitten.
Abby stared at this mutely for several seconds, not believing what she was seeing. Zach couldn’t be bit, he just couldn’t! All these years she had known him, he had been her unfailing father and protector. Over time she had come to see him as invincible! She closed her eyes tightly and reopened them, but the bite was still there. She staggered back a step and put a hand on the truck to steady herself. “H-how? When?” she stammered.
“When we were driving out of the prison and that zombie fell on top of you. I had to reload just as one started to charge my side of the truck. I got a mag in but then I heard you scream. You were in more trouble, so I shot the one on top of you first. The one on my side bit me before I could turn my gun on it.”
Abby said nothing for several seconds. She refused to accept this. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head, “no, no, no, no, no.”
“Abby,” Zach said gently.
“We can get you help! We can find some medicine or antibiotics or…here! Let’s try cleaning the wound!” Abby knelt down beside her pack and unzipped it. Zach watched her through sorrowful eyes as she rummaged frantically through her belongings. “Abby, you know there’s nothing to be done,” he said.
She pretended not to hear him. “I’ve got a bottle of rubbing alcohol in here somewhere. Amber gave it to me.”
“Abby,” Zach whispered.
“Here’s a rag, now I just need to find that bottle. I know it’s in here.”
“Abby.”
“It’s funny. All those doctors and scientists said they trying to find some wonder cure, but I bet they never tried something as simple as disinfecting the wound! Maybe that’s it, you know?”
“Abby.”
“But I can’t find the…that… FUCKING BOTTLE!” Abby screamed as she snatched her pack up and then slammed it down angrily. She sat down on the ground and folded her arms across her chest, looking like a pouty child who was not getting her way.
Zach’s heart was broken as he looked at his daughter. He had never heard her swear before, not accidentally, not muttered under her breath, never. He could not even
begin to imagine the pain that was in her heart right now and he felt guilty that he had caused it. “Abby,” he said softly one more time.
“What?!” she barked, glaring up at Zach. He didn’t say anything. He only held her gaze, and after just a few seconds Abby suddenly broke down. She sobbed loudly as tears streamed out of her bright grey eyes like rain from silver clouds. She collapsed to one side, propping herself up on her trembling arm. Choking with tears she said, “Please don’t leave me, Daddy, oh please! Not you, not now! You’re all I have left! I can’t do this without you! I need you!”
“No, baby, you don’t need me,” Zach said as he knelt down in front of Abby.
“Shut up!” Abby cried, and she shoved Zach in frustration. “Don’t you dare try to patronize me! Don’t you dare!” Abby sobbed, shoving Zach again each time she said ‘dare’. “You promised me that you’d be okay! You pinky-promised!” she said, holding out her pinky.
“I’m sorry, Bug. I am so sorry.”
“How am I supposed to go on without you? You’ve been with me since the beginning of all this! You’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father! You practically are my father and I love you! You provide for me, you protect me, you guide me! How do you expect me to do everything on my own? How, Zach? How?!”
“Because you are a brave, strong, beautiful young lady and you make me very proud. That’s how.”
Abby said nothing. That was not what she wanted to hear. She closed her eyes tightly and leaned forward, laying her head against Zach’s shoulder and tucking her arms between her chest and his. Zach wrapped his arms around her as she said, “It’s not fair, Zach. It’s just not fair.”
“I know, sweetie. I know.”
He stroked Abby’s back as her crying was partly muffled by his shoulder. They didn’t speak for a few minutes, both trying to cope with the separation that they knew was coming. Finally, in a deep, quiet voice, Zach started to sing a part of Abby’s favorite song to her: “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack.
“Now that song,” Abby whispered after Zach had finished, “I do know.” They both gave a quiet, sad laugh.
His Name Was Zach Page 37
