America The Dead Survivors Stories (Vol. 1)

by Sweet, W. G.

  Her eyes slipped over a dirty bundle of rags where they lay half in half out of the water and continued on before she realized they were no bundle of rags, got to her feet and stumbled the thirty feet or so to where Scott lay, half in, half out of the water.

  Her fingers, stiff though they were, felt at his neck for a pulse. He moved as she jabbed her stiff fingers into his neck.

  “Jesus... Jesus, Alice... That hurts. That hurts,” Scott said. His words started out mumbled but grew a little stronger as he spoke. “So damn cold,” Scott finished. His lips were blue tinged and he was cold to the touch.

  “I know, baby, I know. I have to get you out of this water. Going to move you,” she told him as she made her own feet, fought the dizziness that threatened to down her, and bent once more, wrapping her arms around his upper chest and dragged him backwards. Scott called out a second later and then lapsed back into unconsciousness once more. Alice struggled to pull him back farther away from the water and then let him go, sinking to the ground herself and breathing hard. A few minutes later she had caught her own breath and was checking herself over for injuries. Obviously, she told herself, they had both tumbled down the ravine. Him first, her as she tried to follow.

  One side of her face was a ruin of scrapes and crusted blood. Her mouth was numb on that side, but that had been the side against the ground so that was no real surprise. She flexed her jaw experimentally and it seemed to work fine. One knee ached, but did not seem to be swollen. Her tailbone hurt, no way to check it now, but she assumed it was most likely black and blue. Right ankle hurt a little: Could have been the way she slept on it too. No way to know, but it was also not swollen: She was bruised, a little battered, but no big deal. She needed warmth and she would be fine. She turned her attention to Scott.

  Bruising on his jawline and temple on the right side of his face and scraped up skin in the same place. What wasn't scraped up was deeply bruised. Probably where his head collided with something on the way down to the bottom. His shoulder felt larger on one side, but she was able to move his arm with no problem.

  “Hey,” softly from above, but she nearly jumped out of her skin.

  “Oh my God you scared the shit out of me,” Alice whispered.

  Haley only nodded. “He okay too?”

  “No,” Alice said softly. “Too cold... Have to get him out of here... Warmed up.”

  Haley nodded and then disappeared for a few seconds. “Okay... Listen, I'm going to get the truck. The one you and Scott were driving had a winch. We should be able to get you up with that.”

  Alice felt at her pocket for the keys, but as she looked down at her pants the pocket was gone, ripped from the fabric of the cargo pants. “Keys are gone,” she called up. Haley swore lightly under her breath.

  “Plan B,” Haley called down after a few minutes. “Our truck is gone, don't know if that was why they attacked us, but they took the truck. I don't know how to hot-wire a truck or a car... Joel is out, so I'm going to go look for something that will run, get a rope and come back here and get you out that way. Hang on.” Her face disappeared from the top of the embankment and then was back a few moments later. “Water,” she called down. “Don't try to catch it.” She took her time, aimed, and then tossed first one and then two more bottles down. They landed with a hard thud not far from where Alice sat with Scott's head pulled into her lap. “Drink... You don't want to get dehydrated too,” Haley told her with a tight smile. “I'll be back as soon as I can.” She disappeared before Alice could speak.

  “Come on, baby, come on,” Alice said as she slapped at the side of Scott's face. She finally got him to open one eye, pulled his head slightly higher and got him to drink half of one bottle before his head sank once more into her lap.

  Afternoon

  They were all huddled around the fire Haley had built inside the small sidewalk area under the overhang of the doorway. There was very little room, but there was a building at their backs and a wide view of the downtown area and the edge of the ravine a few hundred feet away.

  “We have got to get out of here,” Haley said. The day was slipping away. She had no doubt that whatever it was that had attacked them last night, plague victims, would be back tonight once the sun went down. She had only a dozen bullets for her machine pistol. Joel's pistol had a loaded magazine, nine, and Scott and Alice had both lost their weapons on their fall into the ravine. Haley had smashed the window on their truck, but all the ammunition had been in their own truck, and that was long gone.

  “Bad straights,” Alice said.

  “Very,” Haley agreed. She eased her lap out from under Joel's head, and rose to her feet. She had found an old mini van that she had used to get Alice and Scott out of the ravine. It ran well enough, and had nearly a half tank of gas. It would have to do. She had already transferred what foodstuffs there had been and supplies they could use from the second truck into the mini van, and packed it carefully along the sides of the rear windows. The rear seat had folded down, and there was space to lay both Joel and Scott out in the back. The problem was that neither of them were conscious and they were both big men. Not an easy task. Alice had been banged up too. One side of her face was going to be covered with spectacular scars. Haley had dug the small pebbles out of it, washed the dirt away and disinfected it. There was nothing more she could do. She didn't know if Alice was up to the work or not.

  “Think you're up to it,” she asked now. She looked up at the sky. “The longer we wait the worse it will be. The day's getting away from us.”

  Alice nodded. “No, but I will have to be. Let's do it.” She rose to her own feet, steady now, where just a short time earlier she had been shaky. She had warmed up nicely, and she saw that Scott had as well. His breathing had become something closer to normal, even, no rattle in his chest or gasping that she was afraid she would hear. He slept deeply.

  Haley had pulled the small van close to the building earlier. She went to it now, opened the rear hatch and returned to where Alice waited. They decided on Joel first. Joel was the heaviest and it might be better to get the heaviest out-of-the-way first.

  It took more than twenty minutes before they managed to get Joel securely into the back of the van. They had both collapsed to the pavement breathing hard, not wanting to do anything else, but after only a short break they had forced themselves to their feet once more. The longer they sat, the deeper the weariness had moved into them: Settling into their bodies.

  Scott had been no trouble at all. Maybe it had been the first tugging and fighting to get Joel into the van, or maybe he was just that much lighter, but he was easily positioned into the back of the van. They both collapsed to the pavement once more. Breath ragged, lungs aching and burning, sharpness resting just below their rib cages, a feeling Haley had always acquainted with running too fast, too hard. She took her time, slowed her breathing, dragged Alice to her feet and walked back and forth in front of the building until her heartbeat resumed its former slower beat, and the sweat began to dry on her skin. Only then did she slow and rest against the hood with Alice.

  “This is so hard,” Haley said. She burst into tears, but fought them back just as quickly.

  Alice lowered her head into her own hands and a few sobs slipped past her hands before she got herself under control. “Better go,” she said aloud as she raised her tear streaked face.

  Haley nodded, moved around the truck and opened the driver's door with a rusty screech. A few moments later the broken pavement of downtown Tremont was shrinking in their mirror as they made their way west once more, heading back to I 81 to continue their trip south.

  EIGHT

  Harrisburg PA

  September 22nd

  The fires burned low around the small open area. The six of them sat quietly watching the stars come out.

  Joel shifted and Haley curled into his side, head on his chest, eyes closed.

  “Okay?” Joel asked.

  “Um hm,” she agreed. “Just tired.”


  They had met Cathy Cross on their way out of Tremont, just before they had made it back to I 81. She had been on foot, walking the tree line, heading vaguely south. She had heard them coming, she had told them, and ducked into the woods. Something, maybe the sight of what appeared to be two women traveling alone, had made her come back out and fire her gun into the air to get their attention. The gun had nearly made Haley drive on. Her initial impulse had caused her foot to ram the gas down, but a split second later Alice had spotted Cathy where she stood just outside the treeline and got her to stop the van.

  Haley had stepped outside the van, machine pistol ready, willing to waste the precious few bullets she had left if she had to.

  “You're not weird are you?” Cathy called out. She was maybe a hundred yards away. Nearly lost in the tall grass. Her own rifle was clasped tightly in her hands. Not aimed at Haley and the van, but ready for whatever the van and its occupants might bring.

  “There are four of us... Our men are hurt,” Haley called. She panicked immediately when she realized she had unintentionally told the truth. Just blurted it out, but she fought the panic back.

  “Will you take me?” Cathy had asked.

  “It'll be cramped, but yes,” Haley agreed. “If you don't mind the cramped space... We'll get another truck as soon as we can... Bigger.”

  Nineteen straight hours of driving had bought them into the next morning and a small dealership on the outskirts of Fredricksburg. They had made good time running along the edges of the black topped former highway. Outside of Fredricksburg the highway had once again become congested. They had finally been forced to take to the high grass in the fields more and more to find their way around the traffic. They had found the dealership and pulled right up to the front doors of the showroom just as dawn was breaking.

  They had met John Campbell as they were searching the lot for a suitable truck. They had heard his truck long before they had seen it, but there had still been no chance to hide their own truck to remain unseen by him. They listened as he fought his way around the same obstacles they had, apparently following their tracks they had cut through the soft shoulders and the fields of tall grass. The motor rose in pitch, straining, and then fell back to idle as he once again made the roadway. When he came into view he had seen them about the same time they had seen him and raised one hand in a happy wave. Haley had breathed a sigh of relief.

  With John's help they had liberated two trucks from the dealership lot, gassed them up, and made it to the other side of Fredricksburg and a sporting goods store that had not been completely ransacked. They had stocked up on ammunition, and with Haley leading they had struck out again, once more heading south. Scott had come back first, the next morning, Joel had come back later that day. Both a little slow, groggy, but healing.

  Alice leaned forward and shifted the meat that simmered over the fire. Wild turkey. They had met a flock of them pecking their way through a field twenty miles north. She had been able to walk right up to one that only bristled, and threatened her before she shot it. She had felt bad after she had shot it. She had never hunted a day in her life, but a few minutes later Scott had been helping her to gut the bird, pluck the feathers, and then they had continued on down the road to where they had set up camp for the night.

  They had backtracked to I 81 after the detour to Fredricksburg and were now just outside of Harrisburg. Harrisburg was off limits. Someone had made and posted signs over the crumpled city limit signs where they had fallen. One word, PLAGUE written in all caps with dripping red paint making it seem even more ominous to them.

  They had backtracked once more to where they now were, looking for a place to both cross what appeared to be a large lake in places, and avoid Harrisburg. They had found no way across what they were sure had been the Susquehanna River, but was now a large inland lake. So far across in places that they could not see the other side. Slow, deep, and carrying all manner of debris. Tree limbs, pieces of houses. Bloated animal carcasses and who knew what else. As night closed in now they could see a red glow on the horizon. What was left of Harrisburg that was not flooded was burning brightly. No doubt a cure for the plague. It had made them all quiet.

  “We'll have to skirt this somehow tomorrow, won't we?” John asked now.

  “I thought about that, but no. I think it makes no sense to go back up along the river, or what we hope will turn back to a river, looking for a place to cross. I don't think there will be any bridges left. All of that stuff had to come down stream... I think any bridges that were there to cross are now gone. No... I think, find a boat, pack our supplies into it and make our way across to the other side,” Joel said thoughtfully.

  “Be dangerous with all that shit floating downstream,” Scott said.

  “Very,” Joel agreed. “I Think we do it in daylight. Get ourselves ready... There are places where we can see across. We go slow, carefully get to the other side and get the hell out of the water as fast as we can.”

  “That would work,” Alice agreed.

  “I think so,” Cathy added. “But we'll have to find a boat, right? Will there be a place close by?”

  “There should be,” John said aloud. He seemed to be thinking. A second later he had one of the map's open and spread in his lap. “Where there is water,” he said vaguely.

  “There are boats,” Scott finished and smiled. John gave Scott a crooked smile which made him blush.

  “We just need to work our way back north along the waters edge. Eventually we'll find a marina or a boat dealership, something,” John finished. He gave Scott a look again, seeming to enjoy the way he made him feel uncomfortable. He had already told Alice that she was lucky she had him, he was a beautiful man. Scott had wondered over that statement until the facts of the situation had dawned on him. John had simply laughed.

  “That should work,” Joel agreed. He tended to hold his head stiffly. His neck seemed to pinch when he moved it too quickly. The skin was healing and the muscle in his neck was sore. It felt stuck, like part of it had healed improperly, or bonded to something it shouldn't have. He could feel a tearing, pinching feeling when he moved it too far. The plus side was that it was becoming less. So maybe it was just the muscle itself healing. Healing slowly, he told himself as he flexed it carefully and rubbed at the raised ridge of stitching.

  “I think she sewed it to your ear,” Scott said and ducked as Haley batted at his head. He chuckled until Alice gave him a shot to the ribs. “Shit. That's not fair, working together.”

  “Sure it is,” Alice disagreed.

  Joel smiled. “I do seem to hear better when I flex my jaw,” he said.

  Haley swatted his arm. “So mean, saved your head, might have had to amputate it too, yet you're so mean.”

  Cathy flexed her jaw. “Hey, me too.” Everyone laughed, breaking the tension. A few minutes went by and Joel began to talk once more.

  “So, the boat, make our way across and stock back up, get another truck, continue on our way.”

  “Right,” John agreed. “Unless, well, but you don't want to travel by night.”

  “But what, though?” Haley asked.

  “Well, we're going south and I bet that lake is going south too.”

  “Some,” Scott agreed. He had taken the map and was looking it over. “It does go a little south, but it mainly goes East... Back to the east coast... At least the Susquehanna did, so I assume the lake does as well.”

  “Plus the debris,” Alice said

  “Good idea if not for that,” Cathy agreed, “So, back to the boat, get across as fast as we can and get on our way.”

  Joel nodded and one by one the others did. “Okay, so that's decided.” He turned back to the turkey sizzling on spits over the fire and rubbed his hands together. “White or dark,” he asked.

  “Oh, dark,” John said and made eyes at Scott. Cathy giggled.

  Joel and Haley

  Kumbrabow State Forest

  Valley Head WV

  September 26th
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br />   They had left I 81 once they had crossed the Susquehanna river. They had been unable to find it again easily. They had instead kept south on back roads and flat land where they could make good speed. The farther from the main roads they went the easier it was to travel. The roads were less congested. The problem was that the destruction was wide spread. More than once a section of road they were following had disappeared into water, or into a ravine. It happened fast, you had to pay attention. They had found the state forest area, pulled off on an overgrown road and made their way a little deeper into the forest. A ranger shack had supplied what looked to be a good place to sleep for the night. It would be the first time out of the trucks in a few days. It would feel good.

  “I could stay right here,” Cathy said. “I really think it's beautiful.”

  They were inside near the wood stove they had kindled. A deer carcass hung just inside the doorway. They had shot it right in the front yard of the shack shortly after they had stopped. Steaks were cooking on top of the stove in a cast iron pan.

  “I like mountains too,” Haley agreed.

  “Yeah, except, this would not be a good place to be in a few months when winter rolls in I bet,” Alice threw in.

  Cathy frowned and then sighed. “Didn't think of that.”

  “Reason we are heading south to begin with,” John said. “Easier winters... We hope.” He sighed too. “But it is pretty. I love it too. So... I don't know, wild, I guess. Primitive. I could see me living in a place like this, but only if I had a partner who was a good hunter... Well supplied before winter. Safe. More people to help. Life would be a little tougher here, I guess, but the beauty might be worth it.”

  “I think south will be tough too,” Scott said. “Hurricanes, storms, flooding I would bet, after all, all that water ends up down there some place and all the rivers have to be overflowed... Maybe even changed course. And living down south brings its own problems. Like it's hotter than hell several months out of the year, even if you live on the Gulf. The storms. Snakes, and bugs that can kill you.”