by Brown, TW
I stepped out of the trees and took a look to my right. It was really just reflex; after all, the zombies were to my left. The rear of this herd was pretty well spread across the entire highway. Some were in the eastbound, some were in the westbound lane, and some were in the median.
I froze in my tracks. Then, I jumped back into the trees and hoped that I had not been spotted. When I saw the dark figure move from behind a semi that was on its side covering a lane and a half with the angle it was sitting, and then three more followed, I was confident that they had not spotted me.
Bringing up my binoculars, I was able to get a good look at one of them. He was carrying an impressive assortment of weaponry. I saw a particularly nasty spiked club in his hand, an array of blades, but nothing with any range. As the others made themselves visible, it was more of the same. I was curious as to why anybody would go around without a bow or something.
It was obvious that they could hear my group. They were doing a lot of pointing and gesturing. I kept scanning from one to the other, taking in as much information as I could. This would all be stuff that Jon would want to know. Gabe too, I’m sure, but I would report to Jon and let him pass the news on.
I could not see any faces. Everybody was wearing masks, visors, or something along those lines. That wasn’t really that peculiar considering that you needed to stay protected from the cold. Also, with the thick clothing, it was impossible to tell gender. I mean, if one of them happened to be wearing a bright pink snowsuit, I might conclude that was a female, but no such luck.
I turned to head back and found myself face-to-face with Gino. He did not look happy.
I motioned for him to be quiet, and then I pointed. He looked past me and scowled. It took him longer than I would have thought to actually see what I was pointing at. Once he did, he crouched down lower beside me.
“Go tell the others, kid.”
Just like that I was back to being shuttled away from anything that might resemble danger. I guess I didn’t hide the expression too well.
“You wanna stay here? You up to the possibility of having to kill a living, breathing human being?” The tone in Gino’s voice let me know that he was pretty sure I wasn’t “up to the possibility” of shooting anybody.
I started back the way I’d come. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Gino laying out a variety of weapons beside him as well as propping his crossbow up beside the tree.
I scrambled back up the hill and was not surprised to see that there were only a few stragglers left from that herd. For just a moment, I flashed back to something Steve had said about us becoming too comfortable with the zombies. From where I stood, I could see members of the team just walking from one to the next and jamming something in its head. He would really hate this.
I was making my way through the trees back to the road when Gabe stepped out from behind one. He scared me so bad that I did a few things at the exact same time: I swung wildly with the machete I was carrying—nothing but air—which probably helped with me falling over and banging my head on an exposed root which made me see stars. The last part could be the result of any combination of everything else that happened in that split second. I messed my pants. Not just the liquid kind either.
“What the hell are you doing running off like that?” Gabe snapped, not even bothering to offer me a hand up.
I wanted to explain myself, but I couldn’t make my mouth work just yet. I was still seeing double and my head felt like it had been used as a gong.
“I don’t know what sort of crap you were able to pull before, but when you are out on a mission with me or my people, you do what you are assigned!”
“We have company just around the corner,” I snapped.
I don’t know if it was a combination of having the crap literally scared out of me, or just the fact that I was sick of being treated like a damn child. I climbed to my feet and glared up at this giant.
“You know…we did just fine before you and your people showed up. And for your information, I made sure that you guys were okay before I scouted ahead. And as I just said, there are people around the corner. No distance weapons that I could see, but they were definitely armed with plenty of close-in weapons. They were sneaking and trying to stay hidden, and they definitely heard us.”
Gabe glared down at me for a second, and then his expression changed just a bit. A huge grin split his face and I was ready to accept his apology.
“Messed your drawers, huh?” the man said with a laugh. “That’s gonna be mighty uncomfortable in a bit. Hope you can get cleaned up before long.”
Was this guy intentionally ignoring the fact that there were people just down the road? Or…I felt my stomach turn just a little.
“Those wouldn’t happen to be friends of yours would they?” I asked.
Hell, if I was going out, at least it wasn’t being eaten alive. Maybe I would get shot in the head or something. My mouth was suddenly dry and I felt a little bit foolish. We had let our guard down. Unless…but surely Jon couldn’t be in with these people.
“Hey, Winters!” Jon’s voice called, almost on cue.
“Over here!” The big man looked down at me and smiled, shaking his head.
“That scout team of yours is already here,” Jon said as he came through the trees.
Damn, I thought. I should have known better.
“Talk to your boy here,” Gabe said as he turned and walked away. “Damn fool took off on his own and tried to pull some sort of hero crap.”
I looked up at Jon with confusion. I was so very lost right now. Maybe I wasn’t nearly as smart as I thought…or as ready for this as they had assumed.
“What is he talking about?” Jon asked.
I explained it all to him. Naturally I left out the part where I thought that they were all in some sort of secret alliance together bent on killing everybody or taking over.
Jon sat silently through my rambling. At some point I heard Gino arrive. He started talking, and I could tell by the tone that I was the subject and that he was not happy. When I finished with my explanation, Jon remained quiet for a few minutes. Finally, he spoke.
“We give everybody an assignment, Billy. We do this for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest is knowing where each other is so that nobody gets dinged by friendly fire. Sometimes you get the crappy job…” he paused for a second and I could tell that he was struggling on whether or not to say something sarcastic about my current situation. “And sometimes, you are the one out on point. Believe me when I say, you will learn to relish those times when the boring assignment is yours.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
I was feeling terrible. Not only was I sitting in messy pants that were now really cold from where I was still sprawled on the frigid, wet ground, but to make it worse, I had all but decided that even one of the people I had come to trust and respect more than anybody in my life had turned into a ‘bad’ guy.
“Now go get cleaned up. Gabe might give you a little grief here and there, but the others will be merciless if they find out about your little…accident.”
I got up and looked for someplace that I could basically hide while I cleaned up and changed my clothes. There were some thick clusters of trees not too far away. As much as a person needed privacy at moments like this, being anywhere out in the open by yourself could be dangerous.
As I headed toward the trees that were about to become a combination latrine (I would bury everything I was wearing from the waist down) and changing room, Jon called out, “And don’t let it get to you…more soldiers have done the exact same thing then you might believe.”
It didn’t really instill me with any confidence or sense of feeling better. I slipped in amongst the green pine tree branches and started stripping. When voices came close, I froze. Partially because I was still only halfway done with the clean-up portion, but also because the voice I heard was a female. If one of the female soldiers found me, I think I might just walk into the next horde and be done.
“…one kid, and three men in the place,” the one was saying. She had a bit of an accent, so I was guessing it was the Hispanic female. “And then there is that one gal who is very pregnant, there are three little ones, two girls and a boy, an old lady that reminds me of somebody’s mean grandmother. I swear, that lady never smiles and she watches everything.”
“Sounds kinda iffy then,” the other female voice was saying. “Plus, are you even sure that Winters will go for it?”
“He seems to know the Marine, but if that is his only tie, I imagine he is much more realistic than to let something like that get in the way. Plus, you say that one of the women is very pregnant? There is no way that he can pass that up.”
“Once we get down to the camp, I will take care of the kid. You are probably more the type the jarhead will go for.”
“Why?” the Hispanic sounding voice asked with a bit of a laugh. “Because we have the same hair style?”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, Rios,” the voice I had never heard before said with one of those snorting laughs that some people find cute. I just think it sounds like you are sucking snot down your throat. “You just tell him you have some cool weapons to show him and I bet he follows you anywhere.”
“And how are you going to get the kid away from the Marine and the redneck?” Rios asked.
“You know of any teenage boy who can resist a pair of boobs?” the other one said with a laugh that faded as they went over a ridge.
Damn, I hated the fact that I was actually right. Even worse, I was going to have to try and convince Jon. Finishing with my clean up, I buried my dirty clothes and headed back to the road. When I got there, I waited for a second before actually coming out of the trees and stepping on to the road. Chances were that this would be the last time that I would be able to observe everybody without it looking obvious.
Winters was over with a couple of his men and a woman with curly brown hair. She reminded me of a teacher I had in math. She was pretty in that smart way with her glasses and large eyes that seemed to haunt many of the dreams I had back then.
It only took me a few minutes to take everything in, but the problem was that I really have no idea what I am looking for. It’s not like there is an arrow pointing down from the sky or something. Jon and Jake weren’t standing near one another, and both seemed to be swapping stories with the other soldiers.
When I did finally walk out of the trees, nobody seemed to pay me any mind. Gabe glanced my way, but he didn’t look like he was doing anything more than ensuring that I wasn’t a left over zombie. Jon made eye contact, but went back to talking.
I started doing a check on my stuff and prepared for the eventual order for us to move out. Since I was paired up with Jake on the road, I made my way to him. As soon as I reached his side, he stopped talking to the other soldiers.
“Come with me for a second, Billy,” he said and headed towards an opening on the other side of the road. We walked about thirty yards or so before he stopped and turned to face me.
“What were you thinking?” he hissed. “You know better than to wander off like that. Jon and I have done nothing but talk you up and you made us look like fools.”
I stood there for a second with my brain thumbing through all the things that I could say. Finally, I decided on the truth. My mom always said it was the best choice.
“I feel like I am being kept out of the way,” I said. “I made sure the way was clear before I moved ahead. Gino and Gabe had it all under control. I just figured that I could get around behind the herd and do some damage.”
“And you almost walked right into the middle of a patrol,” Jake countered. “You could have gotten yourself killed. Those people are professionals. They are real soldiers. That is probably the only thing that saved you. Some antsy civilian might have shot you first, then checked to see if you were a zombie.”
“But they never saw me,” I protested.
“Sure they did.”
“If that is what you are being told, then…” I looked around to ensure that we were really alone. Of course, somebody could be hiding in some nearby trees changing his or her pants, but I figured it was safe to assume I was the only one with that problem today. “It’s a lie.”
I stared at Jake and waited for him to laugh or tell me I was full of it. Instead, he sort of did what I just had done; he looked around as if to be sure that we were alone.
“Tell me why you just said that.” He wasn’t challenging me. It felt more like he wanted to check my facts against his own. I gave him a brief rundown of all that I had heard. The entire time, he just nodded. However, I also noticed that he was looking everywhere at once without moving his head.
“You aren’t exaggerating any of this?”
“No, I swear.”
We stood there for a few seconds before he seemed to flip a switch. All of a sudden, he was the laidback guy again. I had a sneaking suspicion that I had just seen the real Jake. That ‘Good Ol’ Southern Boy’ thing was his way of tricking people into underestimating him. The thing is, it had worked on me for as long as I’d known him.
“You keep your mouth closed and stick to my side.”
“What about Jon?” It seemed like this was definitely something that he should know.
“You let me worry about him. Now, we need to get our butts back before anybody becomes suspicious.”
I nodded and went to head back. I felt a firm hand grab my shoulder. I turned, and that really serious face was back.
“You did good, Billy. Now, when we get out there, I want you to act like I tore you a new one. Sulk and pout.”
“I don’t pout,” I protested.
Jake laughed. “Yeah…you do. You should see your face when we send you down on laundry duty or tell you to keep an eye on Thalia and the others while some of us have a meeting.”
Well that is different, I thought. And I’m not pouting, I’m just annoyed that I get sent on stupid jobs. I turned back and headed for the road. Just before I broke through the trees, Jake whispered loud enough so that only I could hear.
“And trust me…you ain’t the only soldier to crap his pants.”
I’m not sure if he said that as a compliment or to get me to—as he put it—sulk and pout. Still, as I stepped out onto the road, I glared at Jon.
A few minutes later, we were all headed down the road. Hopefully La Grande was not too much further. I wondered if we were still going there for supplies, or is there was something else that I hadn’t been told.
***
“Just around the bend and the town will be in sight,” Jake said. “Now, you are sure that you know what to do?”
“I’m positive.”
All the rest of yesterday, and probably a dozen times since we woke up this morning, Jake had been in my ear. I never saw him actually speak with Jon, but the thumbs-up he had given me from across the camp, coupled with that tight-lipped nod, told me that we were going to execute our plan.
To say that I have a huge dose of nervousness right now would be putting it as mildly as possible. Twice this morning I have had to focus and stop my hands from shaking. Of course, I have the easiest job of all of us I’m sure. Jon’s statement about looking forward to the assignments that are easier was suddenly sounding like prophecy.
Everybody was busy around camp getting things ready. It is kind of funny. When you are looking for something, it is either impossible to find, or pops up and screams in your face. For the past thirty hours, Tiffany Hopkins—the female soldier with the curly dark hair that reminded me of my old math teacher—had been flirting with me like crazy.
It was really funny to see her try so hard. Seriously, hadn’t she heard her own words the other day? A wink and a smile would have gotten me to do anything she asked (prior to knowing that she was part of some plan to do something nasty to my friends).
Last night, after a cold dinner of something that tasted like it had been scraped off the ground, I took my watch. It was not rea
lly a surprise when she turned out to be my relief. She came out to where I was posted up on the hood of what had once been a fairly expensive looking sports car and slid next to me.
She introduced herself and we were mostly just sitting there in silence. I finally remarked that she was a bit early for her watch. She told me she was having trouble sleeping and then did this stretch and yawn thing where her body was backlit by the fire from camp. It was really sexy. My hormones could care less what my brain was saying about the fact that this lady was up to no good. I was glad it was dark so she couldn’t see the reaction certain parts of me were having.
“So, did you enlist just before all this insanity happened?” she asked as she took her seat beside me again, her leg right up against mine.
“Nope, I was just getting ready to graduate…” I knew I was about to ring the death knell on any possibility I had of getting to sample any of what she thought she would be luring me in with, “…high school.”
“Wow…you sure don’t act like it.” I have to admit, she was pretty good. She didn’t even miss a beat. “So you’re what…eighteen…nineteen?”
“I think I turned eighteen a couple of months ago,” I said.
My mind drifted for a few seconds. Yeah, I was pretty sure that I turned eighteen right around the time that Teresa and Jamie died. Nobody was in much of a mood to do any celebrating. And honestly, I completely forgot. Birthdays are not such a big deal any more. Just seeing the next day is the real present.
“I hear your camp is mostly females…I bet a young, strong guy like you is in high demand.”
Once again, my mind drifted. The fact was, I had a bit of a crush on that one lady, Fiona. Of course she’s dead now. Christina is cute, but she is like…six or seven years older than me. That made me wonder. What has happened to all the girls? Teresa couldn’t have been the only teenage girl to survive. Could she?
“…maybe we can get together?”
Damn, I hadn’t been listening. But it sounded like she was offering to hook up later. I played along as best I could.
