Shondra raised her rifle and drew a bead on the dead woman’s head. Her blood-matted hair stuck to the side of her face and Shondra could see large, green and yellow gas blisters pocking the woman’s cheeks. She had been dead for some time.
“Come on!” Magda screamed out to Shondra.
“Fucking bitch!” Shondra screamed as she squeezed the trigger. The reanimated woman fell down to the pavement with a large portion of her head missing. Shondra turned and ran to the van.
Seeing that Shondra was safe inside with Magda, Vincent threw the patrol car in reverse and began to back up, smashing into several zombies. He found himself feeling grateful that no fast movers were present, but the number of undead he was confronting worried him. He hoped that the car could handle the damage it was going to have to endure in order for him to back up onto the main lanes of the interstate.
As the rear tires rolled over one body, he could feel the back end rise a bit. He gave the car more gas and the tires came back down onto the pavement, gaining more traction. He struck two more corpses and they too went under the rear end. As the back tires spun and tried to get traction off of the bodies of the reanimated, the tread tore at the rotting flesh, sending shreds and chunks of fat, muscle and tissue flinging into the air.
Fearing that the car was going to get stuck, Vincent floored the accelerator and the tires again dropped back down onto the pavement. With three bodies now under the car, the front tires rolled up and on top them. A rotten paste of gore and carnage was shoved under the tread of the tires and the front end began to swerve. The body parts and blood had formed a putrid slick on the asphalt, denying the tires any firm traction.
“Fuck!” Vincent screamed with anger. With no traction under his front wheels, the rear-wheel drive car started to swerve over to one side. More and more zombies were now slapping at his door window and several wear leaning over the hood, banging on the front windshield.
Vincent tried to free the front end by turning the steering wheel, but all he accomplished was jamming body parts up into the wheel wells. With the rear end of the car still sliding back and forth, he struck another pack of walking cadavers, and this time his rear wheels were unable to grip the road as they spun in vain on the flesh and clothing of the corpses. He was stuck.
“Shit, he hasn’t backed up more than twenty feet and he’s already stuck!” Magda yelled as she viewed the mayhem in her mirror.
“I’m gonna go out there and help him!” Shondra screamed. She was losing control of her emotions as she feared for Vincent’s life. She turned to make her way to the back of the van and Magda reached over, grabbing her by the shoulder.
“You can’t go out there!” Magda yelled. “You’ll get yourself killed!’
“He’s gonna get killed if I don’t go out there! I have to help him!” Shondra slapped Magda’s hand away and she dove into the back of the van. She grabbed one of the bats they had found on their scavenging run and she slung her rifle over her shoulder. Without saying anything else to Magda, she slid the side door open and stepped out onto the ramp.
Vincent saw Shondra coming out of the van and he immediately began to yell at her. “Get back in the fucking van!”
Focused on Vincent, the zombies didn’t notice Shondra. She went for the closest one—a teen with a bloodied stump for a left arm—and she delivered a blow to the back of his head. Without stopping, she moved on to her next target—a skinny woman who was naked from the waist down. Shondra gagged at the stench around the woman—black fluid was oozing from her vagina and feces was caked up on her backside.
Two brutal swings separated the decomposing woman’s head from the rest of her body. Some of the zombies now turned their attention to the wild woman with the bat and they began to move towards her.
Vincent grabbed the door handle and shoved the door open, knocking a zombie off of his feet. Exiting the car, he drew his pistol and fired a shot into the head of the sprawled corpse. “Get back to the van!” he screamed at Shondra. He spun and shot another zombie that had latched onto his arm. “Go on!”
Shoving a reanimated aside who was dressed in a soldier’s uniform, he made his way around the front end of the car. Grabbing Shondra, he took the bat from her hands and stood in front of her. As he was about to take a swing at a nearby corpse, a shot rang out from behind them. Startled, both turned to see where the fire had come from. Magda was standing at the rear of the van with Vincent’s rifle. She targeted another zombie and pulled the trigger.
“Get you asses over here!” she yelled at them. “Hurry!”
Swinging his bat in an effort to keep their attackers at bay, Vincent shoved Shondra towards the van. Backing up slowly, he yelled, “Go, get in the van…I’m right behind you.” He then heard the sound of a helicopter off in the distance.
***
“Damn, those people look like they’re in big trouble,” Brasher said to Novak.
“Where?” the pilot asked as he began to look out of his door.
“Down at my eleven o’clock. On the freeway below.”
Novak looked in the direction that Brasher was pointing in and saw what his co-pilot was talking about. Below them on an exit ramp was a police car, and in front of it was a van. From what he could see, it looked like there were three people—two of them by the cruiser and a third one by the van—and they were trying to fight off a horde of living dead.
“Jonesy, get ready,” Novak called through his radio. “We got three survivors down there that we’re gonna try and pick up.”
Jones shuffled over to the open door on the left side of the helicopter and leaned out. “Yeah, they definitely need help,” he said.
With the headset still on, Jim heard what the men were talking about and he moved over to the door and saw the scene below. He then went over to Carrie and Karnes. He yelled over the engine and told the two that they were going to try to help out some survivors by trying to pick them up.
***
“Look, a helicopter!” Magda screamed as she pointed to the sky. “It looks like they see us!”
“We gotta get on top of the van!” Vincent yelled. He ran over to Magda with Shondra in tow. He then dropped to all fours and said, “Step up on my back and use the window to get up onto the roof. Hurry!”
Magda climbed up onto Vincent’ back and then stepped up into the open window frame from of the driver’s door. She pulled herself up onto the roof and she flattened herself. She hooked her left leg through the satellite dish array of the van as she tried to give herself some leverage. She then reached down to Shondra and yelled, “Take my hand!”
Shondra stepped up onto Vincent’s back and took ahold of Magda’s hand. With her left foot she stepped up into the door window and with her legs, she pushed herself the rest of the way onto the roof.
“Get up here!” Shondra screamed to Vincent.
Getting back to his feet, he opened the driver’s door and stepped up inside of the cab. He put his left foot into the window frame and with his right foot he stood on the driver’s seat. Balancing himself, he reached up for Shondra and Magda, but before he could push himself any higher with his legs, a reanimated man grabbed onto his left calf.
The zombie pulled Vincent’s leg from out of the frame, causing him to fall down between the door and the cab, crashing down onto the hard asphalt. Trying to break his fall, Vincent threw his hands down before striking the pavement and the skin from his palms peeled away. A sharp pain in his left wrist immediately let him know that he had snapped a bone.
“Vincent!” Shondra screamed. She was horrified to see two of the slow moving corpses collapse on top of the injured man. As she tried to bring her rifle up to shoot the attackers, the wind around her turned into a vortex. She rolled over and looked up. Novak was bringing the helicopter to a hover just over the vehicle. She then saw a uniformed man jump down from the copter and onto the roof of the van. It was Jim.
“Get into the bird,” Jones said as he leaned out of the helicopter, grabbing Ma
gda by her shoulders. “You too!” he yelled at Shondra. He took her rifle from her and he quickly dispatched two other corpses who were attempting to join the attack on Vincent.
Seeing that Vincent was in serious trouble, Jim slid down the front wind shield, landing on his feet. He ran around to the open driver door and grabbed the first zombie. He pulled its head up by its hair and he shot it in the temple, ensuring that the round traveled away from Vincent. Tossing the dead corpse aside, he was able to shoot the second ghoul, causing it to fall in a heap on the battered cop.
“Hey, are you alright?” Jim asked Vincent. Vincent rolled over and sat up, shoving the body away from him. His right eye was swollen shut from where he had landed on the pavement and blood was streaming from his nostrils.
“I think I broke my wrist and my nose, but I’m alright,” Vincent said.
“Come on,” Jim said as he reached down to him. He took Vincent by the right arm and helped him to his feet. He glanced around to make sure that they were clear of any immediate threats and he hoisted Vincent over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. He then began to trot down the ramp, away from the van and police car.
With Shondra and Magda safely in the aircraft, Novak looked for Jim. He saw the captain carrying another man across his shoulders. He realized that Jim was trying to clear the van so the aircraft could have a little more room to hover closer to the surface of the ramp. Karnes and Carrie began to fire at the advancing mob as they attempted to give Jim more time, their ejected shell casings twinkling in the bright sun as they flickered down from the chopper.
Novak spun the copter around and tried to drop down to the ramp, but the concrete rails kept the craft from landing. Seeing their opportunity, Jim ran up to the door of the hovering copter and grunted out loud as he tossed Vincent up onto the deck. Jones and Karnes pulled the beleaguered man the rest of the way in and Jones went back to the door, reaching out for Jim. Grabbing under the captain’s arms, Jones yelled for Novak to lift off.
As the helicopter floated higher, and with bloodied and shriveled hands reaching up in vain attempts to grab it, Magda stuck her hand out of the door and flipped the bird at the throng of zombies below them. “Fuck you!” she screamed.
“Hang on, Captain!” Jones yelled as he pulled Jim into the craft. Breathing heavy, Jim smiled and grabbed onto the sergeant, hugging him appreciatively.
Shondra, hunched down and catching her breath, quickly scurried her way over to Vincent and grabbed him by the side of his face. “Are you alright?’ she cried.
Vincent leaned over, resting against her bosom. His head was throbbing with pain and he could taste his own blood. With his broken nose, he was having trouble breathing through his nostrils. After taking a bitter-sweet second to feel her, he leaned back and looked at her through his good eye.
“Vincent, what’s the matter!” she screamed over the whine of the engine.
He began to smile—sadly—and a bloody tear ran down from the corner of his reddened eye. “I don’t have long, so I need to tell you good-bye.”
Confused and frightened at his words, she didn’t know what he was talking about. “What do you mean? What are you saying?”
Vincent slowly raised his right hand, showing her a bite wound that was on the bottom of his palm.
“Nooooooo!” Shondra screamed. “Noooooo!”
Magda and the rest of the passengers saw Vincent’s wound and they backed away from him.
“Damn it!” Jim yelled.
“He’s infected!” Irene shouted.
Karnes brought up his rifle and pointed it at Vincent.
“No, don’t!” Shondra pleaded as she slid between Karnes and her injured partner.
Grabbing onto her arm, Vincent turned her around and looked into her distraught eyes. “I’ve got to go, but you have to promise me…you have to stay strong!” he yelled over the engine. “Never give up, never stop fighting, never stop living and never stop hoping! And always remember me!” He leaned over and kissed her, but only on the side of her cheek. He didn’t want to take the chance of infecting her.
“What are you doing?” she asked hysterically.
He glanced over his shoulder and looked at the open door of the copter. He could already feel his brain boiling and his fists were balling up as an unexplainable wave of anger coursed through him. He looked back at Shondra and yelled, “I haven’t known you for long, but I can truly say that…I love you!” Spinning around on his butt, he got up on his hands and knees and crawled over to the door.
Without looking back, he dove headlong out of the helicopter.
Chapter 10
Day 33
Log Cabin in North Georgia
James sat in the rocking chair with his rifle draped over his lap. The room he was sitting in was starting to fill with the bluish-orange tint from the rising sun and he yawned as he fought to stay awake. He looked over at Rhino as the faithful dog slept at the base of the front door—his head between his paws and one ear perked up. A fire crackled in the fireplace behind him.
He rocked back and forth for a few seconds and a door in the back corner of the room slowly creaked open. A groggy Michelle, dressed in sweat pants and a University of Georgia t-shirt, stumbled through the door as she rubbed her eyes. “Good morning,” she said through a yawn.
James turned to look at her and replied, “Good morning to you too. Did you get any sleep?”
Michelle shuffled over to a brown leather couch and plopped down in the center of it. She raised her feet and placed them down on the edge of the coffee table in front of her, gripping the wood with her toes. “No, I really didn’t” she said as she sighed. “I was dreaming of Jerry all night…sad dreams.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Well, guess there’s nothing I can do about it,” she said with resignation. “I’m just gonna have to figure out a way to get over it.”
“I don’t know if we can ever actually get over something like that,” James said as he stood up. “But we can try to get around it.” Hearing the conversation, Rhino raised his head and lifted himself up onto his hind quarters. “Ready to go outside boy?’ James asked his dog. Rhino raised up on all four legs and pointed his nose to the door knob.
Walking over to the door, James held his rifle in his left hand and opened the door with his right. He took a cautious step out onto the porch and slowly scanned the wooded terrain that surrounded the cabin. The sounds of birds chirping announced the beginning of another day. He looked over at his truck to make sure no one or no thing was lurking behind it. After feeling satisfied that the immediate area was free of threats, he let Rhino out onto the porch. The dog quickly bolted down the wooden steps and sprinted down the small hill that the cabin sat on.
“You want some coffee?” Michelle called out to James.
“Yes please.” He walked along the wraparound porch, ensuring that nothing was on the backside of their small shelter. He then made his way to the front and went back inside. “No one’s around,” he announced.
Modestly decorated in a rustic theme, the cabin provided the group with a sense of normalcy—more importantly, it provided them with a sense of security. The main room had a couch and coffee table situated in the center with a fireplace and hearth on the left wall; book shelves on either side of the hearth. Centered on the right wall was a small kitchenette. A door just before the kitchenette led into one bedroom and a second door in the far right corner opened into a second bedroom. A bathroom was located in the far left corner and windows were fitted into the front, back and kitchen side walls.
Benjie walked out of the second bedroom and shuffled his way over to the couch. He looked at the shirt Michelle was wearing and then looked down at the shirt he was wearing. “Really?” he asked out loud.
“What?” Michelle said. She then noticed that he was wearing a t-shirt that had “Roll Tide” stenciled across his chest. “Oh my God, you’re not serious, are you? You’re gonna mess with me because of my Georgia shirt?”
“I can’t believe that you would pack that shirt,” Benjie joked. He was trying to create a lighter mood because he had overheard her telling James about her dreaming of Jerry.
“Uh, this was Jerry’s,” she said in a solemn voice.
Benjie lowered his head in shame. Trying to think of a proper response, he decided to simply say, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay…I know you didn’t mean nothing by it.”
“I know…but I should have known better.”
“No…really, it’s alright. Anyway, coffee’s ready. Want a cup?”
“That would be nice. Thanks”
Michelle poured three cups of coffee and handed one to Benjie. James walked up to the kitchen counter and took his cup. After taking a careful sip, he walked back out onto the porch, leaving the door open.
“So, do you think we should maybe try to go to Rome?” Michelle asked as she sat at a small table in the kitchenette.
“I don’t know about that,” Benjie said as he sat down next to her. “I really don’t know how safe that would be.”
“You think it’s still dangerous down there?” She sipped her coffee and rubbed the top of her left foot with the bottom of her right foot.
“It wasn’t too safe when we tried to go there before.” Benjie cupped the mug in both hands and twitched his mouth. “And we don’t know what happened when the National Guard tried to go retake the town.”
“I know…and that’s what’s killing me…the not knowing.” She placed her cup down on the table and pointed to a small radio that was sitting atop the hearth. “We haven’t heard anything on the radio…anything at all, and Daddy never put a T.V. in here. We don’t know what’s going on out there. Maybe someone’s found a cure, or maybe things are going back to normal.”
“Or maybe the reason we haven’t heard anything on the radio is because there’s no one left out there,” Benjie countered as he tipped his mug slightly in the direction of Michelle. “Maybe that’s why we haven’t seen anyone else up here.”
A Glimpse of Decay (Book 3): Lost in Twilight Page 20
