by Hamrick, R M
Audra noticed Jack and Jill hadn’t scooped them up either. Did they convert zombies into soldiers or did they start with healthy humans? The latter thought made Audra feel sick - which in turn, washed her with guilt. They were all humans. Their zombie status shouldn’t make something more or less sad. It was all sad and it had to be stopped. Still, Audra feared for her comrades. Could they be recruited into the zombie army?
As the team got close to the convoy, they dived deeper into the forest. They did not want to be seen approaching, observing, or leaving. The journey was slow in the brush and everyone seemed to be deep in thought, worried about what they might soon find. When they reached the tail-end of the convoy, Audra signaled for Ziv and Satomi to fall back deeper into the forest. She and Dwyn would investigate first.
An RV marked the end of a line of over ten vehicles. RVs, passenger vans, eighteen wheelers. The fuel needed to move such things had long deteriorated in their region. Where had they found a reliable fuel source? Beyond the RV was a horse trailer. Arms stuck out and rested on the low bars. Eyes peered through dark shadows without a word - half zoms. It was hard to reconcile such human-like positions content in a trailer. The two held back gasps as they reached some sort of modified eighteen wheelers. The simple metal sheeting of the trailers had been replaced with transparent heavy acrylic. Within were many stalls, two stalls high. Holes for air flow lined the top and bottom, reminding Audra of the visitation room at Lysent. In each stall stood a person. Some wielded knives, some bows and arrows, some grenades. They were like toy soldiers packaged for any specific need. Through the stalls, Audra could make out a sort of hallway that allowed entry and egress. Then, another layer of stacked zoms. Many more than what had attacked Osprey Point.
Audra imagined the redesigned vehicles weren’t highly durable, but they didn’t need to be. Visible even from here, metal protruded from either side of the first truck in line, some kind of plow. They cleared vehicles off the road and these trailers followed.
A cleared highway with full access might have been convenient long ago, but now it was dangerous. Audra remembered being doored last time she was on this highway. Nothing good could come from it, just more enemies. The cars were worthless. Trunks had been pilfered of their blankets and snacks long ago. If Audra never had to sleep in a back seat of a musty car again, it would be too soon. She preferred almost anything makeshift in the woods over laying her head on rotting cushions.
“Where are they heading?” whispered Dwyn.
Audra shook her head. She didn’t know. Wherever they wanted, she guessed, but it did seem to be a big production to just wander.
“Do you see anyone? Any place for medical care?” asked Dwyn.
Audra didn’t see anything. They just seemed to be transport.
While they saw many, many zoms, they didn’t see many humans. In fact, no humans yet. Dinner maybe? Audra counted the vehicles - there had to be at least that many drivers. Fifteen vehicles - five transparent trailers, a couple plain trailers, the truck, a couple of cars, the horse trailer, and several passenger vans. Depending on what was in the plain trailers, could be thirty humans, could be much more. Did it matter? Even if they could separate humans from zoms, thirty would be too many to handle.
Audra stopped calculating the number of zombies when she saw something moving in between the trailers. She ducked farther into the ditch. A man weaved in and out among the trailers. His dark hair moved side to side on his head as he looked around. He seemed to be on the lookout, but not for them. With a look behind him, he crept past the vehicles and headed toward the woods. Toward Audra and Dwyn.
There wasn’t much time to react. The two started backtracking out of the ditch and back into the woods. Hopefully he just wanted to do some illicit task out of sight. Audra didn’t intend to stay and find out. They quietly fell back, slipping into the brush. The man was being quiet too, until he whispered.
“Hey, don’t leave. Help me.” Audra and Dwyn looked to each other. Why was he seeking help outside the group? Maybe it wasn’t his group. “Please. They’re going to turn me into... one of them.”
Audra felt sick with the thought. The man crouched, searching for them. Why didn’t he just run? Audra would be running, but then again, she was a runner.
“Please?” he whispered again as he walked blindly into the woods.
“Hey, I’m Dwyn!” Dwyn said as he stepped out. Of course he did. Without any discussion or even an apologetic look, he was out in the open. Audra shook her head. He was still as naive as when she’d first met him, and she still didn’t believe it.
“Hey, hey, help me. Those crazy people fed me, helped me, but they’re just fattening me up... like for the slaughter, but worse. They’ve got these crazy crawlers. They’re like-”
“We’ve seen them,” cut off Audra as she stepped out too. She glared at Dwyn, who was unscathed by it. Audra glared harder, but it did no good but trigger a sheepish grin and a shrug.
The man was just a kid, maybe late teens. His dark hair frazzled in waves over his fair skin. To his benefit, he did look scared or maybe his eyes were always that buggy. Bright blue. Green flecks.
“Where did they find you? How many are there? How do they convert them?” spouted off Audra.
“Whoa, dude, I’ll tell you everything. You just gotta get me out of here first,” he said, looking behind him once more.
“Of course,” said Dwyn, approaching the kid and putting his arm around him. “Come on, we’ve got some supplies. Hungry at all?” Dwyn began to lead him to Satomi and Ziv. “What’s your name?”
“Dennis.”
There was no way in hell Dennis was coming back with them, but he could have just the information they needed. Audra allowed and followed behind them, one hand on her knife.
They found Ziv and Satomi sitting on a rotting log. They stood up and let Dennis sit down. Dwyn pulled out a food bar from his bag and offered it. Audra was not as impressed. She stood, watching out for any outside noise, with one eye on Dennis.
Dennis munched the oat bar. His eyes darted around as if the group might change their mind and take it back. He did seem hungry. It was easy to forget how hard life could still be. Osprey Point could be crowded and boring, but at least there was food and shelter.
“Cool beard, man,” he said to Ziv, his mouth half full.
Ziv nodded but didn’t say anything in return.
“Dennis,” redirected Audra, “this group threated us with those... things. Do you know anything about them?”
“They’re some sort of smart crawler. Jill told me that they found them like this. That these people were in the process of getting better. That’s why they are more human than crawler.
“But, I get the feeling that they’re... creating them. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like them in the woods or in the city. Have you guys?”
Audra shook her head. The half zoms were definitely being created, maybe by some bastard version of an antidote.
“I started thinking.” Audra thought that was probably a strenuous task for the guy. “I started thinking, ‘why do they have me around?’ It’s not like we were picking up every Sue and Sally. They were just feeding me. Not asking me to do any work, although I pitched in to help. I was pretty skinny when they found me.” Audra thought he was skinny now. “Then I decided they were trying to get me healthy before they made me into one of them. Why else keep me around?”
The half zoms were strong because they transformed strong humans.
“Do they feed the zoms?”
“What? Yeah. Disgusting job. I kept throwing up, so they dismissed me from that task.” So, raw, maybe still live flesh. “And there’s more...” Dennis hesitated.
Audra and the others looked at him expectantly.
Instead of speaking, he swallowed the last of the oat bar with the slowness of someone who might not be fed again. He carefully moved his hand to his jacket. Audra responded with her blade.
“No, no, it’s not like that.”
He moved even more slowly and pulled open his jacket to reveal a bright red spot on his shirt, stuck to his side.
“I feel fine for now,” he assured the group. “I think it takes time to transition. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I just can’t stay with that group. You wanted to know why I thought they wanted to transform me? It’s because they did, or will, or have. I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen after this bite. But word is - you’ve got a cure? Do you think you can cure me?”
Audra put her knife back into its sheath, but did not let her hand go far. His eyes looked desperate. This was an infected man. Once he turned, he’d chase them tirelessly and attack them violently. At least that’s what was supposed to happen. Audra admitted things had gotten weird lately.
“What bit you? A real zom or one of those half ones?” she asked.
“Half ones? What? No, this was a full-fledged crawler. But it must be the first part of my transition, right? I don’t want to turn into one of them, any of them. You’ve got a doctor, right? Maybe he can fix me.”
“I’m not a ‘he’, but I’ll try my best,” said Satomi beside him.
“It’s you? You came out here?”
“Yes, can I see your wound?” She put her hand on his shoulder.
Audra’s head tilted in concern. She interrupted the doctor’s impromptu physical.
“Let me pat him down first.”
“Is that OK?” Dwyn asked for permission.
Dennis nodded as Audra had already begun her search. He winced when she ran her hands along his ribcage that housed the infectious bite. No weapons, not even a knife. Still, she wouldn’t underestimate him. He had survived this long somehow.
Audra gave a nod to Satomi to proceed, but remained close to their capture, rescue, whatever he was. Satomi had pulled out her first aid kit and lifted his shirt, and began dressing the wound.
“Have you always been a doctor?” he asked in an attempt to distract himself from the pain as she cleaned the wound with antiseptic.
“You mean before? No, I was too young before. I learned from a doctor. He tried to give me a broad education, not just stuff I would always see, but also stuff I might not. I think he wanted to impart the large knowledge base he received in medical school. He didn’t want acupuncture or radiation treatments to disappear. Of course, I didn’t have acupuncture needles to practice with. We used knitting needles in a man made of hay. I learned about chemotherapy, but don’t have the supplies or even a way to detect cancer. I was a scientist too - gene therapy, biochem,” she shared as she worked, mostly just to help distract him. Satomi was a good doctor.
Dennis pulled down his shirt and thanked her. He licked the crumbs off his lip.
“Do you - you think I can come back with y’all?” he asked. “If you give me one of your cures, I can work for y’all. I’m a hard worker.”
“Of cour-” started Satomi, but Audra interrupted.
“I don’t know about that.”
It was one thing to give him an oat bar and some gauze in the woods. It was quite another to bring someone from Jack’s and Jill’s camp into their community.
“He can’t come back with us,” said Ziv, finally making his voice known.
“We can’t leave him here!” cried out Satomi.
“What’s the difference between curing a stranger and curing Dennis?” asked Dwyn.
“Cause Jack and Jill will be looking for Dennis, that’s why,” retorted Ziv.
Dennis looked furtively from one person to the other as they argued about his fate. Audra watched him. It worried her that she sided with Ziv. Wasn’t he the one who had selfishly hidden? But as much as she hated to consider it - Dennis was a liability.
“Why are we even discussing this? He needs the antiviral and we have it. End of story.” Satomi began packing her things to leave as if the matter was settled.
Audra considered the options as the others continued to argue. Leave Dennis here, he’d change, Jack and Jill would find him and add him to their collection. They’d be facing one more half zom. Take him with them and risk pissing off an enemy that outnumbered them. Audra didn’t realize they were surrounded until it was too late.
Ten half zoms closed in with knives drawn, forming a circle. Their scouting group had been too loud or Dennis had been a trap. Audra looked to Dennis. He began to cower. Perhaps he hadn’t known. Audra shook her head in anger - angry with herself for letting them get ambushed. They had stayed too long arguing.
“Dennis dear,” said a syrupy voice weaving between the men. Jill emerged, a head shorter than her soldiers, and swept her blond plait off her shoulder. “Who patched you up?”
Dennis stared at the ground and mumbled, but did not give up the name of his physician. With the snap of her fingers, the circle grew smaller.
“It was me,” said Satomi stepping forward and looking Jill in the eye.
Jill pointed and Satomi was grabbed by two half zoms. Audra advanced, but two others moved into her path. Their large knives were held to attack.
“Anyone else educated here?” Jill asked.
Ziv. Ziv was a scientist, but no one gave up that information. And Ziv did not offer it as freely as Satomi had.
“Release her,” Audra commanded. She tried not to let her voice waver. She pretended she had any say in the matter, that she had something of consequence behind her demand. She did not. She was wildly outnumbered.
Jill pretended to think about Audra’s request for just a moment.
“...No. You will get her back when we are done with her. You had your chance to negotiate peacefully with us. Now we’re just going to take what we need.”
And with that, the zoms raised their blades at the remaining three. Audra went to move forward again, despite the threat. A hand grabbed her arm and held so tightly that she knew she would see bruises in the shape of Dwyn’s fingers on her arm before the day was through. She could free herself, but the vice grip reminded her. There was nothing to free herself to, just death by blades or teeth. She was nothing, on the losing side. She bit her lip until it bled coppery juices into her mouth. She glared the daggers she wished she could unleash into Jill’s body.
“LEAVE!” demanded Jill with an authority in her voice that Audra could only wish for. Audra spat shiny blood from her mouth. The metallic taste diminishing. She felt a dribble on her lip. With a snap of Jill’s fingers, her crew holding Satomi and Dennis fell back toward the highway.
Audra had walked away before. She had left her sister in Lysent’s hands, but now anger boiled to her very rim. Audra was going to get Satomi back. She would not lose another to a vicious bully.
She would not.
Chapter Nine:
Captured
A thousand thoughts flashed through Satomi’s mind as she was ushered out of the forest. Dennis. Was that a trick? No, the current fear in his eyes was real. The infected were directing his movements as much as hers. He needed treatment or he’d turn soon. Ryder. Someone would need to take out her chest tube in a couple of days. Would she be back in time? A jab in the back of her ribs to move her along discouraged that thought.
Dark smoke began to waft through the air - vinyl, rubber, plastic, and something salty-sweet. The doctor in Satomi winced at the fumes, followed by her stomach. It smelled awful. Satomi could feel her lungs gathering goop. What was the point of creating such poor conditions? The small fireball was now visible, a car up near the front. A circle of people gathered near. Gruff men walked alongside gruffer sick.
At the top of the circle stood two matching green and white striped lawn chairs. Jack, she presumed, sat in one and Jill took her spot next to him. Satomi was placed in the middle of the circle. Dennis was on his knees, whimpering and talking to himself.
“She’s a doctor AND a scientist. How did we ever get so lucky?” asked Jill of Jack.
“I know a few things,” lied Satomi.
“You know more than a few. We saw you in action. You were the one that pulled the leader
into the medical office. And sounds like you’re the one who treated Dennis,” said Jack.
“I’m sorry I tried to run,” cut in Dennis.
A laugh. “Didn’t you think all of us gone was a bit convenient?” Jack suggested.
A setup. For her?
“‘Fess up,” Jill said turning back to her. “You came because you wanted to get a closer look at our... creations.” She had a smile on her face, but it did not extend to her eyes. She flicked her long blond braid.
“They are presenting with some peculiar symptoms. Would you like me to treat them?” asked Satomi, impressing herself with her audacity.
The entire circle of people burst into laughter. Even the car seemed to spark a little more in response. The green paint melted and peeled along the edges. Thick billows of blackness escaped the broken windows and all the seams.
“No... we don’t want you to treat them. They are quite excellent the way they are.”
“So, you did it on purpose?”
“On purpose would be a little inaccurate.”
“Were you trying to cure them?”
“Call it a byproduct. We did. Now we call them soldiers. You’ll be making more of them. I guess we need your help, less as a doctor - more as a scientist.”
Satomi said nothing. More than a doctor, she was a scientist. And they wanted her to make more of these sick people?
“But for now, please show our guest - uh, what’s your name?”
“Satomi.”
Jack and Jill and the rest of them looked at her with judgmental eyes. She imagined that they were considering her name hard to pronounce. Satomi didn’t offer a shortened version, Americanized version, or a nickname. She didn’t care what these fools called her.
“What?” she challenged.
