by Diane Butler
“Cami, that doesn’t make sense,” Lucky said. “You have not been on that road. You don’t know where the cavern is and could drive into it.”
“I’ll come with you Cami,” Randy spoke up. “There are still six grenades left and I can break up a herd real fast with that. Between Cami and I we could do some serious damage.” Everyone was surprised to hear this from Randy since he had been in favor of abandoning The Park to Chen Le. “Plus I know the logging trail and where that clearing is. We can take the truck that Cami plans on driving to the Weaver’s shed and once our ammo is gone I’ll drive us back to the logging road. It’ll work.” He smiled.
At that moment they heard a siren go off in the distance. “What the hell,” Morgan said.
“It’s the alarm on the car that I parked at the back gate,” Roxanne said. “We were afraid that part of the herd had already found the service road. Looks like they broke through the fence and we don’t have two hours after all.”
Everyone scattered at that point. Time was precious and each person had their own task. The truck assigned to Gene never had extra supplies in it since it was parked at the front entrance where anyone could access it and steal the supplies. They used it basically for runs outside of the Park and would take only what they needed for that run. Since the truck that Lucky intended to use was stocked they concentrated on helping Gene and his crew add supplies to the truck that he was going to take. But all this took time running back and forth.
Lucky saw Cami and Randy drive off behind the Admin building and knew that she was going to carry out her intentions of trying to slow the herd. What he had not had a chance to explain was that she would be boxed in if she sat at the newly demolished Weavers Hut. The zombies coming in from the service entrance would circle around and come up behind her, especially when they heard gunfire.
As Gene, Sally, Morgan and Caleb got in the truck Lucky said, “Remember, give us an hour and then come looking for us. You’re only a mile away from the farmhouse and will be using a good highway. But we will be on bad terrain and meeting up with stray zombies, which is if that group of Ze’s hasn’t increased too.”
Cami drove to the Weavers entrance that they had made by the demolished ride and pulled the truck up to face the open field where the mine was located. The field was already wall to wall Ze’s that had advanced half-way across the meadow. “Jesus,” Randy said, “I thought they had exaggerated. I hadn’t expected it to be this thick. Maybe they’re right Cami. Maybe this isn’t a good idea after all. I forgot about that ring of trees giving shade to the picnic tables. I can’t lob the grenades over those trees but if I wait until they advance past the trees, they’ll be awfully close Cami.”
“You just keep handing me ammunition when I call for it,” Cami said. “Let’s get in the back and I’ll show you what I need. As I’m reloading you throw your grenades. Just use your own judgment and do the best you can, Randy.”
Roxanne nervously worked on detaching the wires from the fence Ed had cut while Lucky and Brandon took the opportunity to throw more things in the back. Lucky threw in both their duffle bags as Roxanne untangled the last of the wire. She told Mutt to get in front, not wanting him to ride in the back of the truck and the three of them piled in with him. She did not see any zombies behind them and felt that they had not been seen and would not be followed. They were approaching the tree line when they heard explosions and rapid gunfire.
Cami knew that she could not take the time for a head shot. There were just too many of them. She emptied the machine gun into them and although some went down most were just jerked around as they were riddled with bullets. She reloaded again and again while Randy threw grenades. He was more effective than her, blowing whole zombies apart and clearing small areas which were soon filled with more Ze’s from the back of the herd. Due to the noise that they were making Randy did not notice the zombies behind them until the truck began to shake.
“Oh My God, Cami!” he screamed. He pulled out the shotgun and started blowing away the zombies as they reached for him. As each zombie fell another stepped over it and advanced with the pack pushing forward toward the truck. When his shotgun emptied he pulled out his pistol, “Cami, what are we going to do? We’re surrounded, we’re surrounded!”
Cami turned around and grabbed his arm, “Get on the roof of the truck. Grab that overhang,” she pointed up to it, “from the collapsed ride and climb over to the other side. Take Caleb’s dirt bike and go by the logging trail.”
Randy climbed on the roof of the cab and yelled, “But what about you?”
“I’ll meet up with you. Get going now!” She quickly reloaded and began firing down at the zombies who had surrounded the truck on all sides. The truck shook from side to side as they pressed against it, reaching out toward Cami who was trying to stay in the middle of the truck bed so they couldn’t reach her legs.
Randy reached for the overhead pillar and swung himself into the wreckage. It teetered but he maintained his balance. He climbed over a few of the seats attached to the ride and looked back. The zombies had climbed over one another to reach Cami and had her by the legs. She tried kicking them off and continued to shoot into the crowd but they pulled her legs out from under her and she went down with a bang on the truck bed. She tossed the empty machine gun aside and rolled over to pull her pistol out and continued to fire at those attempting to bite her legs. Since her focus was on her feet she did not notice that zombies had climbed over each other on the other side of the truck. They grabbed her shoulders and used them as a means of pulling themselves into the bed of the truck.
Randy started to cry as he turned back to his climbing and heard Cami’s cylinder click on empty. She never screamed, she never yelled which Randy was thankful for, but he wish he hadn’t looked back.
Lucky stopped the truck at the end of the trail and scanned the opposite bank of the clearing looking for a break in the forest. “I don’t remember the woods being this thick on the other side.”
“Neither do I,” Brandon said. “I don’t see a place where we could drive the truck through to get around that cavern. There isn’t enough room between the trees for the truck to be able to clear them. Not even if we smashed the side view mirrors off could we fit between any of those trees.”
“I’ve seen three zombies come through the tarp and drop out of sight since we’ve been sitting here,” Roxanne said. “They are accumulating in this direction toward all the noise at The Park.” The sounds were in the far distance but they could hear gunfire and explosions and knew that Cami and Randy were still fighting.
“We’ll need to abandon the truck,” Lucky said turning off the motor. “We’ll have Gene drive down to the edge and we’ll transfer all the equipment over to his truck. Take only what is necessary, don’t weight yourself down with a lot of heavy equipment. Brandon, how far is the farmhouse from here?”
“We have another half mile to run but once we clear these woods we’ll cross a dried creek bed and we didn’t see any Ze’s on the other side of that so we should be able to slow down and catch our breath at that point.”
Everyone got out and began to gather their things from the back of the truck. Roxanne elected to take her duffle bag, crossbow and rifle which she could throw over her shoulders while leaving her hands free for her axe and pistol. “Mutt, stay close. We’re running this time, not fighting so don’t stop to draw anything away.” Mutt was panting when he looked up at her knowing that this time was different from the usual ‘sneak & peek’ that they did on the road together.
They three of them looked at each other, nodded and started to jog to the left of the clearing through the forest. They were almost completely around the clearing when they started running into Ze’s headed toward The Park. They tried to run around as many as they could but were often forced to use their knives. If two or three zombies were bunched up or it was too difficult to get around them then they would draw their pistol and shoot. This was not a situation of clearing out Ze’
s, this was a situation of getting to a designated point as quickly as possible and to outrun any who were attracted by gunshots. Sometimes Mutt would run ahead and then come back to jump against Roxanne’s side indicating that she should alter her course to either the left or right. The groundcover in the forest did not help with vines tripping them up or slipping on a hidden wet branch.
By the time they cleared the forest they were winded and each of them had emptied at least one of the guns they carried. They stopped to catch their breath and to reload. From this distance they could no longer hear noise from the park and did not know what was happening there. “I’m surprised that Gene hasn’t come down from the farmhouse by now,” Lucky said.
“It’ll be easier from here on,” Brandon said. “The road will be alternating between sand and a hard surface going through grassy fields and corn fields.” They finished reloading and drank some water from their duffle bags, then threw everything across their shoulders again and started walking. They did not see any Ze’s in their path but knew that many were behind and following them. The sun had become hot in the open fields without any shade but especially in the corn field where it seemed as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air. By the time they came out of the corn field behind the barn they were in a full sweat with their hair sticking to their faces and their shirts plastered to their bodies.
“I don’t see the car,” Roxanne said.
“Let’s check around front,” Lucky said. “Gene should have been here by now. It’s only a mile away by the highway. You don’t think he got lost, do you Brandon?”
“No. Gene drove the car back to the Park from here. I know we were all spooked by the forest, but it’s the first farmhouse you meet after leaving the Park. I’ll check the barn to see if he parked in there.”
“Don’t bother,” Lucky said. “I don’t see any fresh tracks leading to the barn.” They reached the front of the house which faced down the drive toward the highway. Lucky looked at the yard and said, “In fact, I don’t see any fresh tracks anywhere.
Randy was able to climb across the collapsed ride that Roxanne had once scaled and lowered himself to a point that the zombies wouldn’t see him. They were distracted by what the other zombies were feeding on and it was that activity which consumed them. They did not notice what was happening in Randy’s area.
He flattened himself against one of the other buildings on that line and slowly stepped sideways until he could round the corner, then he ran as fast as he could to where he knew Caleb parked his dirt bike. He was hoping that he could catch up with Roxanne, Lucky and Brandon before they left the park since his view on top of the collapsed ride hadn’t detected any Ze’s in their area. He was almost out of breath when he reached the bike and managed to get it started but he over accelerated and almost fell off as the bike lurched forward with a big jump. His hands were badly shaking and he was in such a high state of panic that he was afraid he would lose his grip on the handlebars. He was driving over things at a speed that often caused his legs to fly out from under him, but he managed to stay on.
He reached Ed’s gate and when he saw that the truck was gone he started to cry but he never hesitated and drove through the gate. “You fool!” he screamed at himself. “You stupid, stupid fool.” He tried to wipe the tears away so he could see the trail better but the sight of watching Cami die kept coming back to him. Finally he caught sight of the tail end of the truck and was overwhelmed with glee and then just as disillusioned when he saw that the truck was empty.
He stopped the dirt bike beside the truck and stood on the running board to look into the cab. “No, no, no,” he whispered, wiping more tears away. Then he looked in the back and saw that it was fully loaded with equipment and that someone had thrown in his duffle bag. He grabbed it and then opened a box of ammo and reloaded his gun putting the rest of the box in his shirt pocket. He took a rifle and made sure it was loaded then put extra bullets in his duffle bag.
As an afterthought he grabbed Roxanne’s staff. He knew hers among the three staff’s in the truck because she had painted hers black. She said it was to camouflage it to keep the sun or moonlight from flashing on it and giving her position away. He hadn’t expected to see the truck here at all since it was their plan to go around the cavern and access the trail from the woods but he was even more surprised that Roxanne had left her staff behind. Then it occurred to him that they were coming back and that gave him some encouragement that he would still meet up with them.
He threw everything across his shoulder and laid the point of Roxanne’s staff over the crossbar and the back of the staff across his knee. He knew he would have a hard time balancing but it seemed important that he take it with him. He started the dirt bike and began to circle the clearing, going through the woods. The bike was not handling this section well, getting caught in vines growing along the ground or fallen branches caught in its wheels. He felt that he was going at a crawl. Then he entered the section behind the tarp and saw the zombies.
He couldn’t drive and shoot at the same time so he would stop and shoot a few Ze’s in his path and then drive a few more yards to do the same all over again. But the number of Ze’s was growing thicker and when the bike became caught up in a vine and stalled he knew he would need to make a run for it. His pistol was empty and he did not have time to reload so he pulled the rifle forward and continued on foot through the forest. He wanted to get back on the trail which would be easier to use but the zombie traffic had populated that area of least resistance.
He managed to get off two shots when a group of Ze’s approached him but he tripped over a vine and fell. Almost immediately a zombie was on him. He used the rifle to block the bite and roll the zombie off of him, but as he was standing a zombie came from behind and bit him on the shoulder. He screamed out and hit the zombie with the butt of the rifle making it stumble away from him tearing a good portion of his shoulder with it. He picked up Roxanne’s staff and began running again.
He knew he was going to die and cried hysterically as he ran. He was blinded by his tears and often stumbled but was determined to go on and reach the farmhouse. If nothing else, he could deliver the weapons and ammo and perhaps it would save someone’s life. He hadn’t been able to save Cami and he knew he would not go quietly like her. He would go out screaming for someone to shoot him.
He finally cleared the woods and entered the grassy area that he knew would lead to the corn field. He turned around and began to scream, “No…, No” as he emptied the rifle on the Ze’s coming out of the forest.
Roxanne, Lucky and Brandon had checked the barn to see if it contained a car left by the owners, but it was empty. They did not break into the house because their duffle bags would not hold any more food or equipment and they were carrying as many weapons as they could. They were standing on the porch of the farmhouse watching the highway for Gene, nervous and apprehensive when they heard gunshots in the distance. Roxanne became excited, “It’s Cami and Randy! They got through,” and she started to run toward the barn.
Lucky and Brandon followed, Lucky shouting, “I don’t think so Roxanne. Those are gunshots from one gun, one person.” But Roxanne continued to run into the corn field drawing her weapon with Mutt fast on her heels. Whoever it was, they needed help and the farmhouse had been assigned for stragglers to meet up. She had considered the three of them to be the stragglers left behind but when she heard the gunshots it gave her encouragement that they were not alone.
She came out of the corn field to see Randy struggling on the dirt road and saw the blood pouring from his shoulder. She hoped that he had fallen off the dirt bike and had hurt himself and that it was not a bite. She ran to him and grabbed him to keep him from falling while Lucky ran up to relieve Randy of his equipment and Brandon grabbed Randy’s other arm. Lucky looked over his shoulder and scanned the forest edge in the distance to see that zombies were beginning to emerge.
“I’ve been bitten. I’m going to die and I don’t want
to be one of them,” Randy cried hysterically. “Put me in the barn, shoot me and then lock the doors. I don’t want them eating my body.” They walked him into the corn field and he looked up at Roxanne and smiled. “I brought your staff, Roxanne. I knew you would want it. I did good, huh? I did good?”
“Yes, Randy. You did good,” she said gently.
“What about Cami?” Brandon asked.
Randy shook his head, “No, she went down under them. Never screamed, never called out, never yelled, and just kept shooting until her gun was empty,” he continued to sob.
They lead him into the barn with Roxanne and Brandon still holding his arms as he sank down on his knees. Mutt did not enter and stayed at the barn door watching. Roxanne said, “Randy you helped us many times, especially with the Chen Le attack and”…… BLAM! Suddenly the back of Randy’s head blew off splattering both her and Brandon with blood and brain matter. The sound of gun fire within the barn was deafening and Roxanne screamed out, dropping Randy’s arm as Brandon did the same. The both backed away and she looked up at Lucky who was still holding the gun on Randy’s body.
