I wanted to scream. Did they forget about Karl already? We had no idea who this guy was. It could be a bunch of bikers like Wayne’s group trying to lure in unsuspecting morons like us. I was about to put my foot down and tell everyone to get back in the trucks when Jim came back on the air.
“Look, I can almost hear your hesitation.” He began. “I’d be a mite cautious if I was you too. So I’m going to go out on a limb here. My wife an’ I ain’t got any other options so I’ll tell you where we’re at and you can check it out for yourselves first from whatever safe distance you feel comfortable with. I ain’t going to try to bribe you with anything, but like I said before, we could use some help.” he finished.
Albert and Alison narrowed their eyes at me. I groaned inwardly, regretting ever stopping. I keyed the mic and said, “Where are you?”
He gave us several descriptive landmarks and I realized that we had passed his location three miles back. I told him to hang on and that we’d be there soon.
Just before I signed off, Jim said, “Please tell me you ain’t that damn National Guard unit out of Sack town.”
I told him we weren’t as I cursed myself silently for being a soft-hearted idiot.
We drove back to the area Jim directed us to, but couldn’t seem to locate him. I rolled down the windows and listened. Sure enough, I heard the faint moans of the undead coming from over a grassy rise to the west of us. We pulled off the road into a grove of trees and I instructed everyone to stay with the vehicles while I did a recon.
I took my CAR 15, binoculars, and five magazines and jogged up the hill until I got near the top. From there I quietly crawled to the crest and peeked over into the small valley on the other side. At the bottom of the hill were the burnt remains of a sprawling ranch. Halfway up the hill between the ranch and my position, about seventy yards away, was an old Airstream trailer surrounded by over forty creatures.
They banged on the silver siding of the trailer and moaned relentlessly. I got on the radio and asked Jim if he was ready to move.
“I’m a little banged up, but my wife can move, so if you have to make it in and out quick like, take her and forget about me.” Jim said calmly.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
“I’m a liability if you ain’t got the time.” he replied.
I told him we’d get them both out, although I wasn’t as confident as I tried to sound. I got on the radio with Alison and gave her a list of items I’d need and asked her to bring them up to me. While I waited for Alison, I noticed that the undead below weren’t as active as ones I had encountered previously. They looked slow and lethargic.
Alison arrived out of breath and carrying my requested items; my M&P .22 carbine, my last two pipe grenades, and a fold-up camp cot. I took the .22 and sighted in on the first of the infected down below. I had no intentions of trying to shoot them all, but I did want to thin their ranks a little. I killed twelve of them and then stood up and whistled loudly.
In unison, thirty-odd heads turned my way. Several more came around from the other side of the Airstream. As one, they all wailed and trotted up the hill toward me. These monsters were definitely slower, skinnier, and more decomposed. They shambled through the high grass in a loose group. When they were forty yards away I lit the fuse on my bomb. I keyed the mic to my radio and told Jim to pull a mattress over him and his wife and plug their ears.
I threw the hissing grenade in their midst at about thirty yard’s distance and dove for the other side of the hill. The detonation was thunderous. A thick cloud of smoke billowed up over the rise, enveloping me and Alison. Debris began raining down on us seconds later. We curled up together until it stopped.
I jumped up and crested the hilltop. Somehow, seven of the creatures survived the blast. One of them was only five yards away from me. As she rose up and moaned at me, I shot her through the forehead. I located all of the others through the haze and ended their existence one by one.
I left the binoculars with Alison and asked her to keep a lookout. When I approached the trailer I knocked politely on the door. After a long moment the door opened outward and Jim’s wife Marion looked down at me apprehensively. She is in her late fifties, slim, and reminds me of a grade-school teacher I had once had a crush on when I was little. I introduced myself and told her that she and her husband were safe now.
She smiled at me sadly and said, “None of us will ever be safe again in this world, but thank you for the sentiment. Come in.”
Jim Meadows was sitting on the floor, propped against the wall. He looked exactly as I had imagined by his voice. He is in his early sixties, lean and rugged, and looks as tough as boot leather. His eyes twinkled when he grinned up at me.
My own smile turned to a frown when I saw the gunshot wound high in his chest. The wound had been dressed, but was seeping blood still. I didn’t even know this guy and I was already concerned for him.
“Damn son, I can’t wait to play poker with you.” he said.
I asked him how bad it was, and he told me it was a through and through, missed the lung, and hurt some, but he’d been shot four days ago and was still “kicking”.
I helped Jim out of the trailer and after a brief argument (which Marion won) he reluctantly laid down on the cot I brought. Marion took the back and I took the front and we lugged him up the hill and down the other side to the vehicles, resting a dozen times during the process. Marion refused Alison’s offer to help carry the cot, stating that she was used to having to care for her wounded husband and that this was nothing new.
Somehow I believed her.
We made Jim as comfortable as possible in the back of the Expedition and drove away quickly, as the explosion had attracted six more stumbling pathetic creatures.
We found an abandoned farmhouse back behind a grove of trees off the main road and pulled both of our SUVs inside the adjacent barn. We are staying in the barn, as the house is partially burned and collapsed.
Over dinner I assessed our new guests. They are both good people. “Salt of the earth”, as my dad would say. Jim seems stable, even though neither of them had eaten a decent meal in days before we found them.
I know that rescuing Jim and Marion was the charitable, “humanitarian” thing to do, but I can’t help but think that they are just more mouths to feed and will probably be more trouble than they are worth. I would be worried about burning in hell for these thoughts except that I am already in hell, so how much worse could it get?
DAY 67
Today we stayed in the barn most of the day. Jim’s gunshot wound is pretty serious.
This morning he coughed up blood. He sustained the wound from a small platoon of renegade National Guard troops when he wouldn’t lead them to a group of people hiding out somewhere up in the hills. I don’t know the full story, but the Guard unit has been looting everything within fifty miles. They are the local thugs.
On the other side, there is a compound full of folks just trying to survive all of this. Jim and Marion know them pretty well, and for the most part, I guess they are pretty decent people. Their leader is a guy named David Kester. I don’t have any other details about them yet.
As for our new companions, Jim is a former Marine and retired forest ranger. Marion used to be a biology professor. They were living in Arizona when the plague happened, and came out here to find their daughter and her husband. So far they have not found her.
We are pretty safe here and everyone has agreed to stay until Jim gets better. I am going out to recon the area and see what the surrounding terrain looks like. I will be back later.
The area around here is hilly and remote, with groves of trees scattered about. I found a stream and the water is cool and clear. I also shot a deer and cleaned it out where it fell. I have not dressed an animal since I was in high school (I spent a summer working for a farmer shooting rabbits to thin their overpopulation). As I was h
auling the carcass back to the barn I thought that this wouldn’t be a bad place to live.
It had been difficult convincing Alison that I would be better off going out alone, but in the end, she really didn’t have a choice. I took Chloe with me and assured her I would call her on the radio if I needed help. The truth is that I just wanted to be alone. The issue of me being responsible for other people reared its ugly head again and I wanted to take some time to deal with it my own way.
When I got back to the barn with the deer, Jim instructed me on how to smoke it with a charcoal grill we found and two sheets of aluminum siding we turned into a crude chimney. Alison and Grace found carrots and cabbage in a garden behind the house, so tonight we made venison stew.
Albert, Alison, and I set up watch shifts for tonight. I just got off of my shift and as I walked past the area where Jim and Marion are sleeping I got concerned when I heard his ragged breathing. I don’t know if Jim is going to make it or not. If he doesn’t I don’t know what we will do with Marion. I hope Jim makes it.
DAY 68
Jim has taken a turn for the worse.
He is running a fever and looks like hell. He asked to speak with me in private. When we were alone he looked at me for a long time but didn’t say anything. I think he was making some kind of assessment of me. Whatever he saw must have satisfied him because he pulled out a small book with brushed metal covers and handed it to me. It is a military codebook that has the locations of every weapons and storage cache in the western United States. It also contains the access and security codes for each bunker. I stared at it like it was the Holy Grail. When I looked back to Jim he gazed at me solemnly.
“Now you know the real reason I got shot.” Jim said. “Those peckerwoods from the Guard unit tried to murder their commanding officer to get this. We ran across him before he died and he asked me to get it to his son.” he finished.
“His son’s with those people in the survival compound around here.” I said. Jim nodded.
“Here’s the deal. If I don’t make it, I want you to take care of Marion for me. You copy the information in that book and the original stays with my wife. You make sure she’s looked after and you get the keys to the kingdom. I want your word on it.” he said, and then lapsed into a coughing fit.
“Great,” I thought, “Just what I need, more responsibility.” Jim told me not to show the book to anyone other than his wife, ever.
I understood its value. Jim drew out a rough map of where the compound of survivors is and warned me that even though they were God-fearing people, I should watch my ass around them.
After I left Jim, I felt guilty about thinking of him and his wife as a burden. He and his wife are better people than I will ever be.
DAY 69
We had a close call today when a bear wandered into the barn, probably attracted by the smell of smoked meat.
I happened to be going through the gear in back of the Land Rover at the time and pulled out Karl’s FN .308 assault rifle. It was the only weapon other than the shotgun that was powerful enough to do the job if I had to gun down Smokey.
I needn’t have bothered. As soon as the bear caught a whiff of human scent, he turned and bolted out of the barn, honking like a walrus the whole way. It’s nice to know we’re still near the top of the food chain.
Jim is doing much better. He broke his fever last night and is starting to get some color back. We are all relieved and hopeful. Albert overheard a transmission on the radio today. We think it is the National Guard unit Jim mentioned. They didn’t say anything very interesting and didn’t seem to be looking for us. It is still concerning though. The fact that we picked up their transmissions means they are close by.
We are continuing with our nightly watch shifts. Marion offered to stand guard with us but Alison told her to stay with her husband. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but right now it is 3:17 a.m. and I am only halfway through my shift. I am cursing Alison for being so generous. It is fricking cold out here and I am tired…and bored.
DAY 70
Against my better judgment, we have more or less set up camp here in the barn.
Albert and Grace sleep in one of the four horse stalls (on cots), Jim and Marion sleep in one of the other stalls on an inflatable mattress, and Alison and I have made a nest in the hay loft. We keep the vehicles packed up at all times, just in case we need to vacate in a hurry.
This morning I saw a lone infected man walking up the road aimlessly. My instincts told me to go shoot it down, but I let it wander away. I hope I don’t regret my decision. Jim is up on his feet and moving slowly. He is a tough old bird. He and I had a talk about the immediate future.
He is grateful for our staying with him and his wife but doesn’t want to be a burden. He told me to keep the codebook for now, as he doesn’t feel like he’s out of the woods yet.
After he walked away, I got to thinking about where we are going to go from here. Marion is a biology professor and has a working knowledge of medicine (that’s a plus), and Jim (once he is back on his feet) could be a valuable asset with his knowledge and experience. I had a brief thought that he would make a good leader for our little tribe here (if he and his wife even want to stay with us, or for that matter, if we want to stay with them). But then I thought about Karl and the notion left as quickly as it came.
Either way, we are going to need more food stores. If we split up we can’t very well leave Jim and Marion with nothing, and we can’t afford to give them half of our provisions. This is not a decision I can make alone. Tomorrow I will hold a meeting so we can collectively decide our fate.
DAY 71
This morning Marion asked if I would check on a family they knew who lived nearby.
She and Jim had stayed with them for a few days when they first arrived in the area. They are a Mormon family named the Walkers. They have six daughters and five sons. Jim told me they are friendly enough, but not to aim any weapons at them if I wanted them to stay that way.
Albert agreed to go with me. We packed up some venison as a peace offering, and with Marion’s crude directions, set off to go find them in the Land Rover.
When we arrived at the Walker’s farm it looked abandoned. We got out of the Rover and walked toward the main house (keeping our weapons aimed at the ground). We stood in the front yard for a good five minutes before I walked up onto the porch and knocked on the door. Nothing.
Just as I was about to try the door handle, I caught a reflection of movement in the window. Someone was behind me. I turned as something lunged at me and slammed me against the house. It was an infected man. He snapped his teeth at my neck and I pushed away, tripping and falling onto my back. The creature reached down for me and I kicked my feet up into its stomach, holding it back.
My carbine was under me so I drew my .45 and fired into the thing’s knee. Its leg buckled and it stumbled, falling to the porch. I fired again, this time blowing the back of its head out in a black, red mist. I rolled over onto my knees and scrambled to my feet. My ears were ringing. I turned and ran into somebody. For a moment I thought it was Albert, but my nose warned me that it was another one of Them.
I jammed my pistol into its sternum and fired twice, sending the monster stumbling back against the porch railing. I fired into the creature’s face and it flipped over the railing and landed face down in the dirt. I looked out into the yard and saw a plague victim on top of Albert, snapping at his face as he held it off of him.
I vaulted the railing and ran up to him. I grabbed the monster by the back of its hair (it used to be a teen age girl), and threw it to the ground. It thrashed and struggled as I stomped my foot into its chest, pinning it down. It glared at me with milky eyes and snapped its jaws and clawed at my leg. I shot it in the forehead.
Albert got to his feet and we raced for the Rover. I started it up and tore out of the driveway. Half way up the di
rt road I slammed on the brakes, skidding to a stop. A cloud of dust billowed up around us, and then drifted away.
Albert looked at me, panicked.
“What the hell are you doing?” he cried.
I looked in the rearview mirror and then scanned the area around us. I looked at Albert and as calmly as I could, told him that we had to go back.
“Why?” he asked.
“I’m guessing that we just met the Walkers, which means they’re probably all infected.” I said. Albert shook his head, not understanding.
“That means they won’t need their supplies or food.” I continued. I felt like an asshole being so practical about it, but I didn’t have the luxury of trying to be decent right now.
“Marion said they have young children.” Albert whispered.
“That are probably infected and wandering around somewhere waiting to bite our asses off.” I finished.
Albert shook his head, obviously not liking the idea of gunning down kids, infected or not.
I turned around and pulled back up in front of the house. I got out and retrieved the shotgun. There was no need for subtlety at that point. If anything, I wanted to attract all the family members. I knew we were looking for at least ten more creatures. I looked back to see Albert still sitting in the SUV, staring at me wide eyed. I shook my head and racked a round into the chamber.
I heard running footsteps and saw a teenaged boy come racing out from behind the house. I shot him in the chest and his feet flipped forward out from under him. He landed on his ass and I immediately racked a round and fired into his head, shattering his skull. His upper body dropped to the ground and lay motionless. I racked another round into the chamber.
I flipped the shotgun into the crook of my arm and speed loaded three more rounds into the tube. Just as I put the weapon back to my shoulder I heard a piercing wail that sent chills down my spine. Two little girls came running out of the field toward me, screeching.
I fired and the first load of buckshot hit one girl in the neck, almost decapitating her. She stumbled and fell. The second girl kept coming and I waited until she was almost on me before butt stroking her in the face.
100 Days of Death Page 25
