by Jamie Marks
Steve shook his head in disagreement. “We have to keep moving, and we need to get out of this town; we need wide-open spaces.”
“Steve’s right,” Kathy said.
“He’s not right and I know that for a fact,” Cook said and then paused for a moment. “Anyway, when was the last time either of you had any rest?”
Both Steve and Kathy shrugged indifferently. “Why?” Steve asked.
“Dawn is practically here, and I need some sleep, and I’d say both of you do too,” Cook said. “I say we find somewhere to rest, maybe take a day, and then consider our options.”
“It might be too late by then,” Steve said. “The more we sit and do nothing, the greater their numbers will grow.”
“Then that’s the risk we take,” Cook said. “I need some rest, and I’m sure both of you do too, and I know a place nearby.”
“Where?” asked Kathy.
“The firehouse; I have an emergency key code for access, and there may even be other people there waiting it out.”
Steve and Kathy looked at each other, both feeling unsure.
“We’ll have communications, a generator and medical supplies.”
“Is it far?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, not more than ten minutes by foot. However, we have to keep a low profile and shut down the chatter,” Cook said.
“Just one thing, though,” said Steve.
“What?”
“We rest for a while and try to contact whoever is out there. However, if we can’t raise help, we leave ASAP. I don’t believe we can move through the day, but I think we can move at night in relative safety. Those things are slow and stupid. However, they’re dangerous in large numbers. You saw that yourself. Open spaces; that’s what we need, trust me, I have experience with this.”
Cook considered what Steve said for a moment.
“It’s a deal!” Cook said.
Steve grabbed Kathy’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Stay close,” he said to her.
SUSAN’S BAND
Susan turned in the direction of a moaning Charlie. “Charlie, you either get with the program, or I’ll fucking leave you here to rot with the rotters.”
Charlie was lying close to Susan, and somehow collapsed even lower to the ground.
Why did she have to say that to me in front of the others?
He knew she would never leave him, not really. She’s only trying to motivate me; he thought as he raised himself back up again.
He wanted to say thanks, but couldn’t get the words out.
“You can’t leave anyone,” Tyler said
“I can leave you,” Susan answered.
Anderson shook his head. “We can’t leave anyone; he’s accurate on that one.”
Susan looked to Tyler and then at Charlie, her rage now beginning to fester. “Then get that fat fucker moving and shut that other prick up. I need you to take charge and be a man,” she said to Anderson.
Bitch, Tyler thought, manipulative bitch!
Anderson considered what she had said. “We’ll cross the park, and everybody comes with us. We leave nobody, behind,” he said.
Susan raised an eyebrow. “Why the park, those things came from there?”
“And the explosion destroyed a lot of them back there too,” he said. “I have no idea how many there are in any other direction, and I’m only vaguely certain about the direction we came from --- everything has been turned around. I say we stick with what we know, otherwise making---”
“Great plan, Anderson. I think it’s best you leave the thinking to her. We might survive a few hours longer,” Tyler interjected.
Anderson looked away.
Susan ignored Tyler with some effort.
“If only we had a means of communication,” Anderson said to himself.
“Amen to that,” said Tyler.
Anderson turned to Susan, ignoring Tyler as he said,” We need proper communications, a cell phone or a landline. I know both are on and off but---”
“Sounds like a waste of time,” Susan said.
“You’re in all probability right; they’re very likely still down.”
“What, why would you dismiss the possibility that they may be working, at least try,” Tyler said. Nobody acknowledged him.
“They were down before, so they probably still are...” Anderson continued.
“Why not try this house, they’d have a land line or a---” Tyler supposed.
“Could we tap into a satellite?” Susan said, over the top of Tyler.
“If we could get our hands on a laptop,” Anderson replied.
Susan turned to Charlie. “Could you do that? If you could, I could get Paul to send us the FOX-5 chopper.”
“Could I link up with a satellite?” Charlie said, sounding unsure.
He was pretty sure he couldn’t, but they didn’t know that. I’d be useful again.
“Jesus. Are you guys serious?” Tyler said.
“You’d be a lifesaver, Charlie,” Susan said and then kissed his forehead.
“Yeah, of course…” said Charlie, as he sat up a little. “It’s pretty easy. It’s just a shame we don’t have the Wolfpac.”
Susan smiled jubilantly as she hugged Anderson. “I knew you could work it out.”
“This is madness. We need to use the remaining darkness to our advantage and not waste time chasing pipe dreams. We should at least find a place to hold up to try a phone or find a cell. I damn well bet that Susan still has her cell---” He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.
Nobody was listening to him. Anderson and Susan sat in a close huddle discussing their next movement, while Charlie stayed at Susan’s side like a loyal lapdog.
Tyler couldn’t hear what the three of them were saying as they whispered to each other, and supposed it didn’t matter if he could anyhow.
He then tried again. “What makes you think Charlie can even do as you ask? We could just as easily break into the house we’re standing in front of and try their phone. It’s worth a shot.”
Anderson turned and said to him, “I’m not taking the risk in entering the house.”
“We’re standing in their front yard, six feet from the pavement. We’re outside, exposed and you’re worried about breaking down a fucking door? Goddamn it! We could see if there’s a laptop inside, or a cell phone. If that is what you intend to do. If whoever owned this house were still here, dead or alive, we’d know by now. We should either move on now, otherwise we wait it out inside.”
Anderson shook his head. “We’ll cross the park and walk toward the city center. If we can find an electrical store---”
“What!” Tyler said as Susan spun her gun in his direction, aiming it at his face.
“Easy, tiger,” she said, “I’ve heard about as much out of you as I can stand.”
“Surely you’d still have a cell phone,” Tyler said. “I couldn’t imagine you leaving your house without a Twitter update.”
“It’s dead,” she lied.
She had tried to twitter about the captain earlier, but couldn’t get a connection. She even attempted to raise Paul who didn’t answer his phone. Lucky, she considered later, because that would have been a mistake. Since then she couldn’t find a signal.
“I saw you using it earlier.”
“And that’s why it’s not working, loser. It’s out of battery.”
Just quit the cell questions, asshole, Susan thought to herself. I’ll try it again after I am sure you’re dead.
After all of this was over Susan had other plans for herself, and they didn’t involve any accusations of dead children, accident or not. However, first she had to stall Anderson. She couldn’t allow him to contact anyone until Tyler was dead.
Dead and buried or walking dead, that was close enough, she thought.
She would be happy with either option, even if she had to make it happen herself, but she couldn’t merely shoot Tyler dead for arguing with her, at least not in front of witnesses unless she killed them too.
I need to play it smart, and bide my time.
The last thing she needed was a working phone in that goddamn house or Charlie actually being able to link to a satellite; even though she was sure he couldn’t do it. Nevertheless, it was a risk she was willing to take.
The only thing Susan was sure of was that she had to keep Anderson close to her.
Tyler couldn’t be trusted; they couldn’t be left alone together.
Anderson was too weak, as well as being very pliable. Hell! I’ve proven that.
“Just check the damn house, Lieutenant,” she heard Tyler say as if he was a million miles away.
She looked at Anderson, and she could see by the look on his face that he was considering what Tyler had said. “Don’t listen to him, Anderson, you’re in command. He’s killed enough of us already.”
“Oh, you can talk,” Tyler said.
Susan pistol-whipped him. “Shut it,” she said. “Listen to me, Anderson. You have to follow your plan. You know it’s the right choice. We’ll make contact in town; we might even find more people to help us, someone with a cell phone that works. A computer maybe and God knows what else?”
Anderson nodded his head, agreeing with her.
“Bad decision,” Tyler said as he wiped the blood draining from his mouth.
“Shut up, Captain. Just shut up. This is why you’re hopeless to deal with and impossible to follow. You don’t listen. You’ve ignored every valid idea I’ve had since the start. Now I have a plan, a good plan, and we’re going to go through with it with or without your help,” Anderson answered.
“Okay, whatever... at least untie me,” Tyler said.
“He’ll untie you when hell freezes over,” Susan answered Tyler.
“I’ll untie you when we’re somewhere safer and in a place I know you can’t cause any trouble. Until then, sit tight.”
“Safer?”
Anderson turned to Susan. “I’ll check the street, after that we’ll move on out,” he said and subsequently stepped through the hedge.
“Luck,” Charlie said.
* * *
Anderson’s SiG 9mm’s nose poked through the hedge, a moment later Anderson placed his foot on the pavement as if emerging from nowhere.
He could feel the heat of the fire, as soon as he stepped out into the open.
His heart was beating in a wild rhythm, when suddenly a dark shadow began to envelope him.
This isn’t right, he hastily thought.
Before Anderson could scream, he felt something bite the left side of his face, and then another bite just above his boot line.
How could I not see two of them? He thought to himself as his cheek peeled away and the stench of his second attacker almost overpowered him.
Flesh, dead burned flesh.
He saw them; they were both burned black, almost to cinders. Their cooked flesh hid them from him in the pre-morning darkness. Anderson toppled backward and fell into the yard with one of his attackers still latching onto him. The Dead thing reached for him once more, as everybody moved out of the way.
Then Anderson heard a shot.
Immediately, the pain was gone.
“Help me,” he tried to scream, while Tyler tumbled backward, and asked to be untied.
Susan held her gun steadier, ignoring her heart fluttering in panic; her finger was still on the trigger.
The shot Susan fired had severed Anderson’s spine at precisely below the neck. Anderson attempted to move his legs, but couldn’t.
He attempted to raise his arms to throw the thing from him, but they refused to move.
He couldn’t feel anything, except for the excruciating pain of his disfigured face as the thing tore another strip of flesh from him. The other Dead thing crawled through the hedge and slid into the yard as Susan stepped away from Anderson, leaving him as her sense of control spiraled down.
Then unexpectedly, Susan ran, leaving everyone behind.
Charlie, on seeing Susan run away, little by little lifted himself to his feet and followed her into the dark. Tyler sighted Anderson’s SiG lying on the ground near the gnashing teeth of the crawling dead man.
He rapidly thought about making a snatch for it, but he then decided against it as something in the back of his mind shouted, Run, Louis, run!
He did.
Lieutenant Anderson lay on his back looking up into the dawning sky.
He saw the stars begin to fade with the morning light, until they finally disappeared behind a dark shadow, like an eclipse. He then felt a bony finger being pushed into his right eye socket, slowly forcing the eye back into his skull. The tip of the finger touched the back of his cheekbone.
Then the finger was gone.
Anderson lay there alone as the grass overgrew him in time, and the hedge blossomed.
ACROSS THE WAY
Cook looked up at the sky.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“What’s wrong?”
Cook looked up once more. The moon was hanging low in the sky as the sun rose on the other side of the horizon. It gave Cook a sense of finality as he saw the moon’s deep pock marks and dust-formed lakes with a clarity he had never had before --- a delicate dance of emotion, promise and reality all ensnared in desperation and hopeful venture.
He could forget all of this, the death and the horror. It was his first day in a new world.
“What’s wrong?” Steve asked again.
From here on in, I will wake up early and watch every dawn, Cook thought.
“It’s practically light, and if it wasn’t for the haze it would be for sure. We won’t make the firehouse; we need to stop and start again tomorrow.”
“Where do you suggest we hold up?”
Cook pointed ahead. “We could try the grocery store over there; we could gain access by using the back alley.”
“How far are we from the firehouse?” Steve asked.
“It doesn’t matter how far we are,” Cook said, “what matters is we’re tired. It’s nearly light, and I don’t see any of those damn things standing around the alleyway.”
He pointed to the grocery store again.
Steve said nothing.
“I can’t keep moving,” Cook said. “I need to rest. Anyhow, if we’re going to make it to the firehouse, we’ll need to do it after dark, we don’t want those things to see us, and begin schooling up. Like you said before, Steve, they’re dangerous in large numbers.”
“He’s right, we need to take a break,” Kathy said.
Steve rubbed his eyes and yawned, and then they all yawned in unison like a group of fifth graders.
“You win. Let’s rest then,” Steve said. “We’ll hold up in the grocery store, but tonight we move to the firehouse, and then we do what we need to do after that.”
RETREAT
Susan ran headlong into the darkness, not giving a damn for anyone.
She felt like she was a child again, running home in the dark and too afraid to look over her shoulder, fearful that vampires or werewolves were chasing her. God knows, what could be worse? However, she knew there could be worse, vampires, and werewolves weren’t real --- the Dead were. She could almost feel their bony fingers reaching out for her, trying to clutch her by the shoulder as she hurtled forward trying desperately to escape into the smoky haze!
Then it suddenly hit her. Where am I?
She had to stop, she had to stop running before she ran into something.
Something dead.
“Susan. Stop!” It was Charlie.
Quickly looking back, she saw him lumbering behind, quickly losing distance.
“Stop, please don’t leave me!” he said.
He sounded out of breath.
Leaving! She wasn’t going to leave him, she couldn’t be alone.
She just needed to run.
Tyler bolted out from the yard, his hands still tied.
Even so, at least he wasn’t lying on his back on the grass like Anderson.
That was something at least.
In the distance, he saw Charlie trying to catch Susan, but instead he came to a grinding halt. No longer able to run?
He was crying out to her, calling for her to stop.
The fool, Tyler thought. She wouldn’t stop, not unless it was in her own interests.
Tyler reconciled himself to let him go; they both can go and fuck themselves. I can’t help him. What option do I have? Which direction should I go?
He chose the flames.
Zigzagging, Tyler ran down the road.
With his hands tied, he struggled to keep his balance.
The closer he neared the flames, the more powerful the scent of burned human flesh became.
He had to keep his mind clear, basic training, and a simple process of thoughts.
There are always options.
If something comes at you, move and evade. Think and run, stay running.
The sky was becoming lighter; the night was nearly over, he thought.
His limited choices were basic --- evade and hide.
As he ran, he leaped the scattered remains beneath him: near destroyed bodies, arms, legs and torsos. Heads and faces ripped from burning skulls.
People --- Dead people --- non-Dead people --- whatever!
He slipped on the blood and flesh, but retained his balance as he passed the burning gas station, each bounding leap taking something out of him.
He saw a face.
A head and face, no body, but the eyes... they watched him.
Fuck, he thought.
The processing of his thoughts struggled to stay clear and precise. To his right he saw a burning vehicle, which had come to rest in the park. Piercing its bonnet was the .50 caliber machine gun.
Wow, he thought as he ran into the park.
Charlie was out of breath, and Susan was gone.
She was out there somewhere in the haze.
Charlie was feeling scared and alone.
Although not for long, Susan is coming back for me, she won’t leave me --- but he couldn’t see her.
He heard footsteps coming from his left, moving with a shuffle. More than one person? And then a mournful groan.
