by Gillian Zane
“What do we do, sirs?” Kirk looked at Blake and Zachary.
“Let’s get moving. The Humvees can plow through any groups we encounter,” Blake spit out quickly, picking up his packs from the ground and heading to the Humvee parked across the street.
“Sir? I thought we were only supposed to engage if under threat?” The other guy, Kirk, spoke up.
“Plans have changed. Miller and Alexis witnessed one still trying to attack after decapitation. It’s what we feared – they’re dead.”
“Zombies, fuck.” Marquez made the sign of the cross and quickly jumped in the second Humvee.
“Miller is to take lead. We’re going to try and load everything on the vessel they’re using. The secondary plan is to find another vessel to secure. One big enough to get all our gear to base, including the Humvees,” Zachary shouted to his men. Tillman nodded and then climbed into the second Humvee with Marquez, followed by Zachary. I followed Kirk to the Humvee Blake was driving and I got into the very uncomfortable passenger seat. Kirk jumped in the back and pushed open some hatch that let him stand.
Just as Blake was about to pull from the curb there was a terrible scream. It came from one of the neighbors’ houses. The door to a house across the street flung open and a teen girl ran out of the house. She was holding a child that looked to be about six or seven.
“Please, help. They are coming in from the back. Mr. Miller, can we come with you?” Tears were leaking down her face and her voice was several octaves too high, coming out at a high pitch screaming level. I was afraid she was going to attract some of the wrong type of attention if we didn’t get her settled down.
“Reese, where are your parents?” Blake put the Humvee into park and got out. He drew his gun and looked around for any sign of the dead. One came slowly around the corner of her house and Blake quickly dispatched it.
He was damn sexy when he showed off his skills.
The gun only made a slight popping sound and I realized Blake had equipped it with a silencer, a very illegal accessory. Nice.
“They went to the Coast for the weekend. My Aunt was staying with us, but she never came back from the grocery store. She went there when the news started showing the infected people were here. That was two days ago. We’re running out of food, please, Mr. Miller…I don’t know what to do.”
“Get in, you can’t stay here.” He pulled them forward and opened the back door. I noticed that both kids had backpacks on. They were probably getting ready to leave on their own, their chance of survival was minimal.
This time when Blake pulled from the curb, he didn’t stop. He didn’t even stop when we got to a large group of the dead, he just plowed right through them. The new addition to our party, Reese, began whimpering as the dead fell from the impact of the Humvee and were pulled under the oversized tires. The squish of their bodies a bizarre soundtrack to our current situation. It was fucking disturbing.
When Kirk began shooting at the zombies from his position on the roof, each discharge of the weapon had the children jumping.
I wasn’t used to dealing with emotional young people, but I knew in this situation I should probably say something as they cowered in the backseat. Maybe offer some sort of reassurance? I was an only child and my parents were not that hands-on, so I usually had a hard time with social graces and interactions of this nature, especially with children. She was just a kid though. I couldn’t imagine dealing with this situation when I was her age and having to take responsibility for a young child. I turned around in the seat and looked at the shivering child, holding her younger sister in her arms. The small child’s head pressed into her big sister’s chest.
“Hi, I’m Alexis.” Start simple. “I’m friends with Blake, um Mr. Miller. Who are you two?”
“Reese Billings, this is my sister Uma.”
“Uma, I love that name. You share your name with one of my favorite actresses. Is that who your parents named you for?”
Big eyes in a cute face, tracked with tears, turned around and greeted me. I had never seen anyone as scared as this little girl and it rocked me. She didn’t move, just stared, but Reese nodded. “My mom and dad love her movies too. I’m named after Reese Witherspoon. I don’t really like her Legally Blonde movies though.”
“Oh, she’s got much better movies, it’s a great name.” That got a smile out of Reese at least. “Just so you two know, we are going somewhere safe, really safe. Blake and Zachary are soldiers, and they are going to protect us. We have plenty of food and a safe location so none of these things can get to us. You did a really smart thing by running out and joining us, Reese.”
“I’m hungry,” the little girl piped up. I dug into my pack and pulled out two protein bars and a water bottle and handed it to the girls.
“It’s a chocolate bar, very yummy,” I said when the little girl looked at it funny. When I said chocolate she tore into the paper and I didn’t see it after that.
“Take your time,” her sister whispered and took a delicate bite of her own bar. Uma was done already though and chugging the water like she hadn’t had a drop in a long time.
“Where are we going? How will mommy and daddy find us?” Uma asked
“When things calm down we’ll send them a note, or we can try to get in touch with them on a radio. We are going to a safe island. We are going to take a boat ride. Those bad guys won’t be able to follow us once we get on the water.”
“The zombies,” Uma said with certainty.
“They aren’t zombies, Uma,” her sister argued.
“Yes, they are!” Exclaimed her very certain sister.
“Are they zombies, Alexis?” Reese looked at me, waiting for me to tell her sister she was wrong.
“By definition I don’t know what else to call them. They seem to be the reanimated dead. They aren’t infected people, like people with a cold or a disease or even crazy people. They don’t seem to be able to do more than just simple tasks. This is what fiction usually labels a zombie. I’m afraid to say it, but Uma is right.”
“Told you.” Uma rolled her eyes and I was actually glad to see that little bit of defiance, it showed that she wasn’t in shock.
“The news just called them sick people, that they were mentally deranged, or that they were insane with a fever. Do you think that is why my aunt didn’t come back from the store? She’s a zombie now?” Reese asked.
“I think the news didn’t want to scare everyone. That’s why they called the sick people. And maybe your aunt hid somewhere and couldn’t reach you, I don’t really know.”
“I thought the news was supposed to report the truth.” Reese said skeptically.
“I thought so too.” I shrugged my shoulders and turned in my seat to take stock of our location. We were pulling up to the flood wall and Blake had outrun or overrun all of the zombies, so there wasn’t one in sight. He pulled through the gates and then radioed to Zachary to get Tillman to shut the gates so nothing could follow us in.
The gate was on rollers and slammed shut with a loud clang. Tillman jumped back in the Humvee and we were moving again, headed for the boat. Yesterday it was just me and Blake. Now we had added four more adults and two kids to our ranks. The boat was big enough for maybe one night, but we would get cramped soon enough. I hoped the island base was the salvation Blake and Zachary said it was.
THIRTEEN | Hope and a Tugboat
There were a few zombies milling about the warehouse. Blake and Zachary dispatched them quickly with the big knives that were now a must-have accessory in this post-apocalyptic world. I had to get one of those. The main shipping warehouse we had docked the boat near was surrounded by a large fence so the majority of little worker zombies were corralled without a way out. Their moans and reaching hands were unsettling, but they weren’t able to get to us.
Blake and Zachary had pulled right out onto the platform with the Humvees and both searched the horizon for anything to use for extra transportation. I know they wanted another boat. I di
dn’t think the ferry was feasible, a little overkill to be honest, but there had to be something they could use.
“There,” Marquez shouted and pointed to a tugboat about a quarter mile down river. “I should be able to man that thing and we can fit one of these bitches on the back of it, looks like a 120 footer.” He patted the Humvee like it was a pet. “We ain’t leaving you, baby. Might be a bitch to get it off, but we gotta try.”
“Fine, Kirk and Marquez, come with me, let’s get that tug. We’ll try and get it as close as possible. Tillman drive the Humvee onto the aft deck when we signal. We are not going to have a ramp, so you’ll have to just drive it over the side.” Zachary gave orders and the men around him nodded their acquiescence.
“We’ll bring the yacht in and load it with a few of the guns, the rest we can put on the tug. C’mon Alexis, help me haul some of this onto the yacht and reassure Charlie that you’re okay.” Blake motioned for me to pick up one of the smaller ammo boxes and follow him. “Tillman, guard Reese and Uma while we are away. I’m gonna get the yacht closer once the tug is secured and get the girls on it.” Tillman nodded and Blake and I headed to play barge hopper to get to the yacht.
The “hopping” was awkward with the box of ammo, which only seemed like a few pounds when I first picked it up, but as I went out onto the barge it felt like it weighed a ton, especially when I made that leap between the two barges. The jump was only a few feet, but the river lapped at the sides of the barges and it was dark and dank like a watery grave, beckoning for me to slip inside, making my anxiety shoot up. My parents had told me stories about the Mississippi. Warnings to stay away, it wasn’t a place for swimming or playing. Children would be swept away in seconds if they fell in. I tried not to think about that as I made my way across the large expanse that was littered with debris and ropes, perfect for tripping a girl and sending her over the edge.
We had moored to the side of the last barge and when I finally managed to get to the yacht, I could have kissed it. It was awkward climbing up with the ammo but I made it onto the deck and was rewarded by one of those toe curling Blake kisses and a quick ass grab before he was up in the captain’s seat and I was untying us. I looked up when the loud groan of an engine reverberated and I almost cheered when I saw the large tugboat pull away from its slip and edge closer to where the Humvees were parked. It seemed like a choppy ride and I saw the tug slam forward and jerk repeatedly before it smoothed to a straight path.
Blake’s radio cracked to life. “Like riding a bike,” Marquez cackled. “This baby is brand new and can turn on a dime. Not to mention it’s got almost half a tank, that’s 100,000 gallons of fuel for the nautically impaired. You know what that means, Miller boy?” Marquez’s laughter was tinny over the radio.
“What’s that, Marquez?” Blake was smiling. It was a good sight to see.
“I can drive this baby close to 90,000 miles before I have to refuel it.” His hoot of joy made me want to yell in triumph too, even though I had no idea why we would want to go 90,000 miles on a tugboat.
“Well, as long as you can drive that thing and weren’t just blowing smoke up our asses,” Blake countered.
“My Papi taught me when I was just a teen, I got this, man. He had my own tug picked out before I got my driver’s license. Cried when I told him I joined the Marines instead of the Navy.”
“Quit the flirting boys, get that Humvee loaded up so we can get the hell out of here.” Zachary interrupted on the radio.
“Backing it in now, lemme show off my parallel parking skills. Marquez out.”
Blake shook his head and watched as Marquez maneuvered the tug like a compact car into the spot between two barges. Zachary jumped off the dock into the aft deck of the boat and cleared off as much as he could. When he was done he signaled for Tillman to go for it. There was no ramp…he just launched the Humvee off the dock and onto the deck of the tug. We were lucky the river was low this time of year.
There was that word again, luck. But I couldn’t deny that since this shit happened, luck had been in our favor. Then I kicked myself mentally for even thinking it. I didn’t want to jinx myself.
The closest Blake could get the yacht without crashing was on the other side of a large barge. In this area of the river they were anchored three to four deep. It was tricky getting this close. I disembarked and went for the girls. It was a process to coax Uma into climbing down on the deck of the barge and crossing the expanse. It took a few harsh words from Reese and the lure of Charlie pacing on the deck to get her to climb down onto the barge. She was crying as she made her way, but at least she was moving. The tears dried up almost immediately when we climbed onto the yacht. Charlie came to great the two girls and I was happy to see Uma’s eyes light up when he gave her a big doggie kiss on the cheek.
Uma took in the yacht with big, curious eyes, her little arm around Charlie’s neck.
“Reese, why don’t you check out the cabin, down those stairs, they have a kitchen and food and even a bedroom if you wanted to lay down. I’m sure Uma would like to see that.” Reese nodded and took the little girl’s hand in hers. They made their way below deck, Charlie at their heels.
The crackle of the radio kicked in and Zachary’s voice buzzed, “We got lead, follow us in, Miller.”
And so we were on our way, this time up river. I heard the girls giggling from below, their cries of excitement as they discovered something new and the laughter that came easily, a reassurance to my ears. The yacht cut through the muddy water of the river with ease and I tried not to let the eerily empty shores get to me. I focused my attention on Blake. He was determined and focused, but there was a hopeful air about him. He wasn’t as high-strung as before, he seemed almost relaxed. We had a destination. We had a plan. I could almost believe that we were going to survive.
FOURTEEN | Fortune Doesn’t Favor the Bold
It took us two hours to make it up river and into the Industrial Canal. That luck I had been so focused on earlier didn’t hold out as we came to a crawling stop in front of the ancient lock system of the waterway that connected the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain. One of us was going to have to climb up to the operations station to open the lock, which wasn’t going to be easy. The high walls of the canal surrounded us and the mechanism loomed big and imposing fifty feet above the canal. I volunteered. If Marquez would talk me through it, I could handle it, but Blake was having none of that. We actually got into our first argument. I think I might have called him a caveman. But, he was adamant. Tillman and Kirk were trained in combat situations; they could operate a gun much better and blah blah blah.
Like I was a weak newb or something. But I gave in, especially when the other four men joined in on the caveman behavior.
I watched with trepidation as Tillman and Kirk made the climb up the canal wall and into the operations house. The sickening sound of gunfire had all of us staring up waiting for any sign from the men. When the lock began its slow progress open, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. They had to be okay, they had opened the lock.
When I saw both of the men exit the small box that looked out over the canal I wanted to shout in triumph, but I held it in. They weren’t to safety yet. They had a few feet of land and then the climb down to the tug before they were safe.
I thought they were out of harm’s way when Kirk made it to the ladder and was halfway down before I could blink. Tillman had both legs over and had begun to descend when I noticed a shadow above him. He must have noticed it also because he jerked back, it was too late.
I heard a scream. It was me. I screamed as I watched the dead man try to rip and claw at Tillman’s face, pulling him closer for a better bite. Tillman risked falling by letting his hands go to reach for his weapon, but he couldn’t get to his gun. I watched with sickening horror as the dead man finally got close enough to bite down. He must have gotten Tillman on the side of his face because I couldn’t see an injury from my vantage point. I just saw the bloody mouth, flesh hanging from
its teeth as the zombie reared back to rip the flesh away and the pain and horror on Tillman’s face as he looked down at us as if in farewell.
