by Evans, Mike
Aslin looked at it and saw it was where they had gotten the papers that ended up doing nothing to save society. The car doors were open in the snow, or in many cases the car doors were missing from the vehicles. He said, “Shit would you look at that. That looks like it might be where everything started.”
Patrick looked at it and asked, “I thought everything took place at the hospital?”
Aslin pointed to it and said, “I don’t think that I can say for sure but it definitely appears to look that way to me. I don’t think that’s a good thing. There could be even more of those things here if the crash was this close to where Ankeny is. Look at the line of cars on the interstate along here, there’s no estimating how many people there could have been.”
Patrick looked both ways and saw thousands of cars that disappeared into the snow. He said, “I’d have to say a lot of them Aslin.”
Shelman asked, “So what do you want to do?”
Aslin looked at the snowy tundra and replied, “I don’t know, it’s impossible to know if they are here or not. Is anyone getting anything coming across on that radio back there?” The teens shook their heads no while clicking through the channels one at a time, waiting patiently for them to get contact with someone. Aslin said, “Alright, why don’t we head back towards the base, we can make our way to one of the other towns.”
“You think that we are alone out here? We must have had someone who made it after the first few days, right? You just want to leave? We should at least drive by the big shops here and see if their Humvee is anywhere to be found,” Shelman said.
Aslin went to say something until the snow started to let up and the Turned that had been hidden in the snow started to rise. They didn’t care about the cold and therefore were not bothered by it. Aslin mouthed holy shit and pointed then yelled, “We need to get the hell out of here, and we need to do it now!”
The dead that were at the front of the crowd were not alone and by the time Shelman had backed up a half mile, there were hundreds of the dead screaming and filling the space with echoes of pain.
Shelman said, “Ok then, Ankeny checkmark, bad idea to come back to. If you guys get a radio call from anyone let's go ahead and pray that it isn’t in Ankeny.”
Aslin yelled, “Pay attention to what you are doing Shelman, the last thing we need to do is-”
The truck spun out from behind them and one of the wheels went into the air after they collided with something that was in the street and big enough to send the rear end flying into the air. Aslin looked over to see a line of dead corpses frozen to the road. He tried to grip the wheel to correct the error of the driving. Shelman batted his hand away and said, “I know what to do damn it.” This statement was said just seconds before he hit a median and really bounced the truck up and violently coming to a stop and stuck.
The teens in the back that weren’t buckled were tossed around, bouncing and bumping off of each other. Aslin, who was strapped in, looked around at the disaster then a gunshot fired off and the window in front of him shattered in a small spot with something splattering the side of his face.
Aslin, who was too worried about the kids to wonder about his own safety, looked quickly at the window, focusing on it and noticing something that made him lose just a bit of hope. The window was covered with blood and when he turned his head ever so slightly, he witnessed Shelman’s eyes staring back at him, now dark and cold. The light of life that he always had in them was now gone. Pieces of his skull were stuck to the window and he rested on the steering wheel where he laid dead, blood dripping down into his lap.
Aslin went to touch his shoulder but he knew what the answer was before he did it. He wasn’t stupid and didn’t have to question the fact of if he was dead or alive. He looked into the back of the truck, Hammond was holding his rifle with fresh tears forming and falling down his face. Hammond said, “I’m sorry sir, I'm sorry! I didn’t know that the safety was off. I thought that it was on, but when I saw the Turned coming from the snow, I think that I thought we were screwed. I thought that they were going to come after us and that there wouldn’t be anything that we could do.”
Aslin snapped and said, “Well I think now would be a pretty good fucking time to get that goddamn safety on. When you see one of the Turned you flick the fucking thing off. This is not; I repeat not how we will lose men. I repeat this absolutely is not, not how we will lose people. Its things like this that make me think training you goddamn kids at all was a bad idea. What in the hell is wrong with you?”
Patrick put an arm on his shoulder and said, “Look it wasn’t what he was expecting to do. He did it on accident. It isn’t like he was trying to kill anyone. He did something stupid and there isn’t anything we can do to go back and fix his actions now is there?”
Aslin said, “No, and at least he isn’t going to come back as one of those things. I can’t imagine trying to have to kill him again.”
Patrick pointed his gun over Aslin’s shoulder, sending chills down his mentor’s spine. Aslin not understanding said, “You lower that gun right goddamn now kid or I swear to-”
Patrick unleashed a burst of four shots; bam bam bam bam, leaving Aslin unharmed and alive. The windshield which was already damaged, shattered fully now and the cold wind pierced Aslin’s skin. A group of the Turned now covered the truck’s hood. Patrick leaned past him and fired off two more bursts before finally stopping. Aslin looked out the window after figuring out the kid wasn’t going to try and kill him. He saw that there were dead coming and they were coming with a passion.
Aslin screamed, “Thanks, kid! We need to get the hell out of here now though. We can’t afford to waste any more time in here!” He looked at where they were then pointed and said, “I think that, that place is the way to go!”
Patrick looked at what he was pointing at and saw what looked like a never ending row of cars and trucks in a snow covered lot. He said, “You really want to hide out in a place that has nothing but glass covering the front of it?”
Aslin looked around and saw a Walmart and a hunting supply store that might as well have been ten miles away, knowing they’d never outrun the dead there. He yelled, “It’s your choice, but at some point we are going to need to leave this place unless we can talk Clary into coming out and picking us up from here!”
Patrick liked the idea of the guns that would be in there but figured the chances of there being much left inside the store was going to be quite a small one. He knew that it would be just as essential to have wheels as anything. He yelled, “Fine, ok, let’s go out and run to the car place.”
Aslin looked at the rest of them and said, “Grab your radios everyone. We are going to continue to try and contact the base and the others. We can split up the duty. I am sure we can count on Clary having the radio on. Now talking to Greg will be a lucky guess what channel he is on but if we are going to have to sacrifice and lose Shelman for this trip then we need to make sure it is a worthwhile trip out.”
Hammond sat there looking frozen in place. Aslin screamed, “I know it was an accident, but that was one that we can’t let happen again son. Now I need you to shake it off, and try and come back from it. There’s going to be plenty of time for you to be back at the base and mourn about it if you need to.”
Hammond looked up wiping at his eyes and asked, “What do you mean if I need to mourn, what kind of monster doesn’t need to mourn?”
Aslin shrugged, then said, “Just the kind that has done something like this before. Friendly fire is what they call it, and I've seen recruits get their heads split open by a chain of gunfire. It isn’t something anyone wants to talk about but shit happens and when it does, no one wants to have to deal with it. But eventually you are going to have squeezed that damn trigger so many times that you aren’t going to even have to think about the things that you are going to be taking out.”
“So you are saying that I'm going to get cold? Is that what you are?” Hammond asked.
“Son, I only thoug
ht that I’d seen the shit when I came here, and in my defense, until I had to call Iowa my home away from home, there was nothing that I had missed about war.”
“Wait, what do you mean? What do you miss about the times of war?” asked Patrick.
Aslin said, “Well, nothing honestly, but having a clearly defined line of who the bad and who the good are, isn’t something that is a small gift. The last thing that you want to do is shoot someone only to find out they weren’t a Turned. I don’t think that will make anyone feel better, but I'm sure that it will happen at some point. It is going to be-”
Aslin quit speaking when he looked out the front window and saw the Turned coming in one large horde. Aslin pushed up over the seat and into the back with the rest of the teens. He grabbed his pack that was loaded with ammunition and supplies and duck walked past them and kicked the back door open. “You guys go and head down to the door and stay low. I’m going to give these things something that they sure as hell aren’t going to want when they make it here.”
“So you are going to blow it up?” Patrick asked.
Aslin nodded, wanting to take out as many of them as possible. Patrick asked, “Do you remember Shaun’s story of when he thought it was a good idea to do that with Andy’s van in front of the hardware store? He almost got himself and the girls both killed when that happened. All you are going to do is ring a dinner bell saying, ‘hey come eat our dumb asses.’ Is that what you are wanting to do?”
Aslin went to speak and then shut his mouth as he knew the kid was right. He was having a hard time rationalizing it since he was still quite pissed about Shelman and the accident. He nodded and the two jumped out of the back. Aslin said, “Come on, let’s get going, those things are getting closer by the second.”
The teens followed him out. Hammond took the rear, looking over his shoulder at Shelman’s limp body lying up against the steering wheel. He made a promise to himself that he would never again have something like that happen. He knew it was no reason to lose someone over mistakes when there were enough threats roaming the streets in search of food, and not coincidentally, victims. Patrick yelled, “Hey Hammond, there is always time to grieve, just do it when the threat isn’t there, now come on!”
Hammond nodded then ran out the back with the rest and into the frigid cold air. They made their way down through the massive row upon row of last year’s car models, all with odometers that would never turn to one. The cars made excellent cover for them to go undetected. Aslin was in the lead followed by the five teens behind him.
Aslin walked quickly with his rifle up and Maryann was the first in line behind him. She watched as his feet went off the ground and he screamed as his rifle became his enemy. The strap was around his neck and shoulder and the force of it was enough to take him off his feet. He looked at the blackened hand that was attached to his rifle. Aslin, who should have been yelling for help, instead yelled, “Don’t wait for me, get your ass into that showroom and find something big enough to get the others! Go, Go, NOW!”
The teens hesitated for only a moment but would not refuse orders. Aslin turned his focus back on the dead and the task at hand. When it let go he slammed into the side of a truck tire, hitting hard. The Turned came up unapologetic and hungry. Aslin tried pushing up with an arm but he was pretty sure that he had dislocated his shoulder. The Turned leapt into the air then coming down only inches from his face. It screamed then leaned in and sniffed, ready to take a bite.
Aslin pulled his pistol but it caught his wrist bending it until he dropped the pistol, losing it in the snow. Aslin was already thinking about the life he had, and while he didn't wish for it to end, he knew that he had done good with his time on Earth. He laid his head back wishing he could pull the pins on his grenades hanging from his chest. Aslin closed his eyes trying to think of something else that was more pleasant than having his limbs ripped from their places. A single rifle shot went off and it echoed across the wide open space. The pressure of the hands loosened until it became nothing, when Aslin opened his eyes he saw the Turned resting on its knees, its body limp. When he pushed it off of him he saw that half of its brain was on the ground next to him in what was once the white crisp snow, now bloodied and ruined. He looked into the snow trying not to blind himself and saw Maryann lying flat atop one of the trucks, using the roof of it as a shooting bench with her rifle still smoking.
Aslin gripped his pistol and put it back into its holster and pushed up with his good arm. He hobbled down, using his rifle to help keep his balance until he got his feet fully back under him. He knew that just because one was gone meant nothing. The others were definitely still coming because to his knowledge of the Turned, they did not know fear or how to give up.
More growling came from behind him and he watched Maryann melt back behind her scope and the rifle started to buck in her small hands. Patrick came up next to her as did Hammond. There was a small army keeping him safe and he made it down into the doorway which McQuaig was holding open. She patted Aslin on the shoulder not knowing of course it was out of place and said, “Hey glad your head’s still attached sir.”
Aslin scared the hell out of her when he screamed at the pain. He knew how to put it back in place but didn’t want to think about the fun of it. He needed to get inside and strip off his gear so that he would be able to do it correctly. He knew there wasn’t a point in waiting as there wasn’t a base doctor that he would be able to go and see to have it corrected. He went as quickly as possible, getting the gear off and yelling over his shoulder for the kids to get inside and to lock down the door. He walked to a corner, took a deep breath, stood against a wall and waited a second, aiming his shoulder at it.
“Isn’t that going to hurt Aslin?” asked Patrick.
Aslin looked back at him while nodding his head then put a knife handle in his mouth and slammed his shoulder into the wall just right. The pain went through his body, SEAL or not, it hurt and he could barely keep his feet under him. Patrick wheeled a chair over to him putting it in place for Aslin then said, “I think that you need to sit down before you, well, before you fall down Aslin.”
Aslin didn’t need to have that request made more than once; he collapsed into the business chair and let the knife drop from his mouth. The teeth marks in the handle would not be going away anytime soon. He instantly had a brow of sweat despite the cold temperatures.
Hammond asked, “Are you okay? Did you break anything?”
“No, nothing is broken, just really fucked up. Hey Maryann, get over here.”
Maryann came over slowly, worried about the ass chewing that was possibly coming her way for not listening to orders. When she was within grabbing distance, Aslin used his good hand and pulled her tiny frame off balance and into him. He squeezed her tight, giving her a hug that she hadn’t had since losing her parents months ago. She squeezed him back and patted his shoulder then asked, “So you aren’t angry?”
“About you saving my life? No I'm ok with that actually. Hammond, Patrick, thank you. You all did great, this is the exact reason why we trained you, and this is why I am so damn pleased that we did. Now give me a few minutes and let’s find us a ride out of here. We left with a mission at hand and we aren’t going back until we finish it, or until we run out of daylight.”
The kids were all in for this and nodded in agreement. Hammond asked, “Do you want to wait around here, or do you want to get going?”
Aslin looked down at his shoulder, trying to roll it and thinking of the idea of having the rifle pressed up next to it and squeezing off the trigger and sending a round through one of their skulls. He said, “We can go now, but honestly, Patrick or Maryann are going to have to take lead on the shooting from this point forward. I have to be honest when I say my shoulder is effed up and I don’t think that it will be the same for a few days. I’ve never had to deal with this on a mission. It’s an old injury and I've always been lucky enough never to injure it when we were out in the shit.”
“Are
you going to be able to drive, or do you need one of us to do it for you?” asked Patrick.
Aslin tried lifting his arm knowing he was going to be not much better than useless. “Well I'd say with the current weather conditions one of you is going to have to be in charge behind the wheel. Which one of you has got the most driving?” he asked.
McQuaig answered, raising her hand slowly. Aslin said, “You got a lot of time behind the wheel do you?”
She said, “Depends on what a lot is.”
“More than twenty hours?”
McQuaig said, “Well, Clary let me back it up more often than anything.”
“Back it up?”
“Yeah, when we were moving supplies, he’d back it up to the doors and when we needed it a bit closer he’d let me in.”
Aslin looked up at the roof, staying calm. He knew that it wasn’t her fault or for that matter, any of their faults. It was something they just hadn’t learned yet. Given the fact that no one had tried to go out before now, there had been no reason to get behind a wheel. Aslin cursed a bit under his breath and said, “You know what, I’ll do my best to handle the wheel. If I can’t do it, someone is going to and excuse the pun, give a crash course in the art of winter driving.”
The teens nodded slowly, none of them wanting to have anything to do with it. Aslin reached out a hand and Hammond gripped it, helping him up. They walked around the showroom, thankful as hell for the tinted windows on the outside. There would be no way of the dead knowing that they were in there. If they stayed quiet and didn’t bleed there wouldn’t be anything that would draw them into the showroom.
Aslin left his gear where he’d dropped it, knowing that he wouldn’t be leaving immediately, and they walked around slowly looking at the showroom. “You realize these aren’t going to do shit for us right?” Aslin asked.
