by White, A. L.
“Lori, can you blaze us a path through them with the truck?” he asked.
Lori nodded her head slowly but wanted to say no.
“Good, just put her into four-wheel drive and go, don’t stop for nothing. Okay?”
Lori again nodded her head yes.
“Can you drive a stick?” Julie asked.
Lori shook her head slowly no in reply.
“You will have to do it then,” Bob said, then added “If you’re not up to it, I can try if you get me in the cab.”
They all knew, well everyone but Bob knew, that he was doing well helping them to move him, but driving was out of the question.
Julie closed her eyes and turned toward Lori. “If anything happens to me, there are pain pills and antibiotics in that black bag I brought in there with Jack. Don’t give him more than two pain pills every two to three hours. Try to get him to every four to six hours if you can. The Nitro pills and patches for Bob are in there too. He knows how much he needs.” She stood up and Virginia ran over and hugged her, letting her emotions show for a second and then turning them off and walking away. Lori didn’t know what to say so she didn’t say anything.
“Right, let’s get this show on the road ladies,” Julie said as she walked out of the RV and pushed the door shut. She had hoped that she had just looked confident in what they were planning to do, not knowing if it was for her or for the girls. She could hear the murmur of the herd and wondered what caused it.
At the truck she climbed in and belted herself in, then unbuckled so that she could reach over and lock the door.
The motor started right up with a roar from giving it a bit too much gas. The herd responded by surged forward, bringing down the fence of the enclosure. Julie didn’t look to the left or the right, her sight was fixed on the gate and what lay beyond it. She wasn’t looking at the hundred-or thousands of dead that made up the herd, but what lay beyond them. Green open fields with nothing there but the gateway they had driven through coming in, a tree and the road—the road that she was determined to reach safely.
She put the truck into gear and let out the clutch causing the truck to lurch forward and stall. After a few deep breaths she pushed the clutch in and started the motor again, this time letting the clutch out and giving the right amount of gas to start forward against the dead crowding around the truck. Their faces were distorted and mangled; the smell was almost more than she could bear.
The truck moved through the zombies like a warm knife cutting through butter. There were no screams of pain, no cries for her to stop and that was a good thing. Julie was more determined than ever to get out of there alive.
Pushing the clutch in and shifting to second gear, the truck plowed over the zombies. It felt like she was driving down a bumpy road, one with the dead grabbing hold of the truck’s mirrors. She could see in her rearview mirror that the RV was staying with her and the zombies were still grabbing hold of the walls of the truck bed. Julie didn’t stop. She may have even closed her eyes at some points. She didn’t know and didn’t care. The hoard of dead were thinning out and the open field was just a few seconds away and then freedom. The old man said the truck made easy work of getting through almost anything and she agreed.
After she made it through the gate Julie drove about a mile down the road back toward the highway and pulled over. She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Behind her, she could hear the RV coming up and slowing to a stop. She heard the now familiar sounds of the dogs checking the area around the vehicles, then the sound of Virginia’s voice calling to Perseus. Julie opened her eyes, grabbed her pistol, and climbed out of the truck. Surprisingly, Bob was standing there with a big shit-eating grin on his face. He didn’t say anything but Julie knew he was pleased and probably surprised at how well she had done. Virginia nodded in a distant way, which as far as Julie knew was just how the little girl was. Lori ran out of the RV and gave her a big hug.
“Let’s not have a big celebration just yet,” Bob said pointing at the herd, now a decent distance behind them but shifting and heading toward their spot.
“Where to now?” Julie asked.
The sudden realization that there may not be any place left to go finally dawned on them. Jack and Julie knew what to expect at the lab, the others had not. Deep down Lori had hoped for something or someone to be there with news of how everything would be back to normal soon. Now she thought she was no better off than if she had kept Virginia at their home.
“I have a few ideas; we can all talk about them later in a safer place. For now, I know an area not generally used by your average person. Could be a safe place to hold up for a few days and get our bearings.”
No one said anything—not much point. If not for Bob none of them would have made it this far.
“Julie, if you don’t mind let me ride with Lori in the truck for a little while and you drive the RV.”
Lori shook her head no. “I can’t drive a stick.”
“Well, then looks to me like today is as good as any to learn. Besides, we can’t ask Julie to always trail blaze for us now can we?”
Julie patted her on the shoulder as she gathered Virginia and the dogs back into the RV.
Chapter 9
Driving the stick wasn’t as hard as Lori expected. Bob was a good teacher and showed a lot of patience with her. He wasn't sure how everyone in the RV felt about the first few starts, but Bob didn’t mind. He even chuckled a few times at her and told her to try again, a little easier on the gas or clutch, whichever she let out too fast or pushed too hard. It certainly helped that there was no traffic and very few obstacles in the road. Once they were moving fairly well, Bob started giving her directions. She drove feeling a sense of pride that she could drive a stick. When she saw a sign for a casino she turned left as per Bob’s instructions.
It was peaceful out there, not much in the way of housing developments. They passed a few industrial parks but that was it. When the electric company building drew closer, Lori started counting the stop lights. She could only see the one coming up until she was through it and the road curved to the right. As she neared the intersection, she glanced at Bob who nodded yes in return. She turned and crossed the river followed quickly by the viaduct just as he’d said. Older houses, the style her father called “pill box” houses, zoomed by on her left. A sign announcing an off-road club course and a water park passed on the right. Then she came to a newer commercial area and a school, followed by the NASCAR track. She turned right, just as she’d been instructed.
“Now follow this until you cross the river; after that we will keep going until we are almost in Braidwood.”
She drove on without saying much. Bob fiddled with the radio, searching for anything he could find on the AM band that wasn’t static. Deciding there wasn’t anything, he turned the radio off with a distinct “humph.” They both chuckled at that.
“You’re telling me that you planned for everything but music?” Lori asked, joking with him.
“Well, I brought a few DVD’s for Virginia and completely forgot my tunes,” he said laughing.
Bob pointed toward the giant spaceman that stood in a parking lot going into Wilmington. “What in the Hell is that? Is that a man on a motorcycle?”
Lori looked but could barely make it out. “Not sure—we should just keep going.”
“Nonsense, pull in there, but keep your distance.”
Lori pulled into the lot, startling the rider at first. He got off of his Harley and walked toward them. Bob told Lori to stop and he climbed out. When the door to the RV opened Bob told them to stay inside. Everyone listened but the lads, they were out too quickly.
The man walked up and for a long time, Bob and he just looked at each other.
“I didn’t think any dogs made it through this.”
“A little early to say the dogs, or anyone for that matter, has made it through yet,” Bob replied.
Lori watched as the two men talked, the younger one
had painted a red cross on his face. It started on his forehead and ended on his chin. Both eyes were covered as well.
“If God wills it, we will survive, that is sure enough,” he said.
“True enough, young fella, true enough.”
The man looked toward the truck at Lori and then toward Julie sitting in the RV.
“The Preacher says we need women to rebuild humanity.”
Bob snapped his fingers and the Lads came up beside him, sitting down. Zeus was completely focused on the stranger.
“He’s probably right and I wish you well in your search for women. None to be found here.”
“Old man, do you think if I wanted these women that your dogs would stop me? I am on a mission for the Preacher, who has been spoken to by our Savior Jesus Christ.”
Bob smiled and patted Perseus’ head with his left hand, his right resting on the butt of his 45. “I don’t think you will harm my dogs today, son. If you wanted to do that we wouldn’t be standing here, now would we?”
The stranger smiled showing his white teeth, a stark contrast to the red paint of the cross. “I guess that would be a fair analysis of the situation.” He motioned behind Bob. “Besides, I am a little more concerned right now with that little girl and her big crossbow than I am with your dogs.”
Bob stepped sideways so that he could watch the stranger and see Virginia. Sure enough, she was standing to the side of the RV, with a bead on the stranger’s eyes. Bob didn’t doubt that Virginia would take him out in half of a heartbeat if she was given a reason. He respected that about her—and feared about her at the same time.
“That’ll do Virginia, that’ll do,” Bob said. “Could you bring us some chairs to sit on, little lady?”
Virginia lowered her cross bow and went back to the RV. She pulled off an arm that was stuck in the bar holding the lawn chairs and got three. She returned to Bob and placed two by Bob and handed the stranger a folding chair. Sitting in the chair she brought for herself, she raised the crossbow to her lap and placed it facing the stranger. It wasn’t any secret that the arrow was still ready to go, but the man ignored it and opened his chair.
When he sat down he smiled at Virginia. “What way are you heading, friend?”
Bob motioned off down the road toward the river. “Up the road a ways.”
“Look gramps, I don’t care where you think you are going, or where you end up. That is all in God’s hands now isn’t it? If it is the Lord’s will, and he has a reason for your being, well then, you will get there.”
Bob wasn’t an overly religious person. He didn’t like getting preached at before the shit hit the fan and he didn’t like it much now.
“I guess He would know where we are going then”
“Amen to that my old friend, we are just pilgrims on the road to everlasting life in His Kingdom.”
Lori got out of the truck, taking the keys with her. She didn’t stop to look at the men or at Virginia. She went into the RV, pulled her crossbow out from the cabinet, and sat next to Jack.
Bob could see seriousness come over the young man. The honeymoon portion of the talk was over. Bob had planned for things like this to come up and he’d deal with it per plan. No one was taking the women, his supplies, or his vehicles. He was happy to help out if and where he could but he’d remove the danger if he had to. The ‘means would justify the ends’ as long as his people were safe and sound.
“I got separated from the Preacher and the Crusaders about three days ago. I have food, water, weapons and ammo. I don’t have decent fuel,” he said looking into Bob’s eyes.
“We can help you get fuel and give you something that will help you get fuel down the road. I guess you could compare it to giving fish or teaching how to fish”
The young man smiled and then laughed. “So you too are a preacher then, ay?”
Bob looked toward the setting sun and knew that they would need a safer place than the open parking lot to spend the night. As the shadows grew the damn spaceman was giving him the willies. “We need to find a decent place to bed down for the night,” Bob said.
The young man nodded in agreement as he too looked toward the fading orange glow from the sun. “I have a spot down the road across the bridge next to the river. There is room for you to park near me or as far from me as you would like.”
Bob nodded, “The old state park? Do you have gas to reach that?”
He nodded yes and started back toward his motorcycle. Bob didn’t see any fear in him, if there was, he didn’t show it. Not once did he look back at Bob or the vehicles. He walked as if all things were right with the world.
They followed him down the road to the park entrance. Julie waited with the RV until Bob radioed her on the walkie-talkie that it was okay to come in. Bob half expected for this “Preacher” guy to be there with a bunch of religious nuts. He was wrong thankfully—just the nut with the motorcycle he had met with a tent pitched beside the river. Bob loved camping and preferred tents, but he would be damned if he was sleeping in one these days. Not without the Lads and a fully functional electrified fence surrounding him.
Bob got out and watched the young man start a fire and then throw on more wood to make it bigger. Out of the corner of his eye, Bob could see the RV roll up about fifty feet from where they were.
Julie climbed out of the RV, following Virginia and the dogs. “Whose turn is it to cook tonight?”
Before anyone could answer the stranger replied “Mine, I have fresh wide mouth bass caught just this morning.”
Virginia walked up, still cradling her crossbow. The stranger noticed that the arrow had been removed.
“I am Virginia, that’s my sister Lori, Bob, Julie and Jack is in the camper,” she said pointing toward each as she introduced them.
The stranger threw another piece of wood on the campfire and stood up tall, wiping off his hands.
“Of course, where are my manners? I am Jonas Helms. You can call me Brother Jonas.”
“You said something about fresh fish and dinner?” Virginia asked.
He smiled warmly. “Why yes I did! I will clean and cook them as soon as I am done with my afternoon prayers.” He winked at Virginia and glanced over at Bob. “You, old-timer, need to sit and rest a bit. I am afraid it looks like I have caused you more stress than I meant to this afternoon. I assure you that nothing living need fear me, only the demons that Satan has unleashed on the earth.”
Bob wasn’t sure if he should laugh or get everyone packed up and on the move. But the young fella was right; he needed to go lay or sit-down while he could on his own free will.
The following morning Bob, thinking he was the first one up, was surprised to find Jonas sitting by the river with his fishing lines in the water. The smell of coffee hung heavily in the chill of the morning air. Seeing several tin cups on the old picnic table, Bob took one and poured some coffee. Ordinarily he would have asked first, but he figured if the young man put the cups out it was implied. Making his way over to the bank he stood silent for a few minutes when he noticed Jonas was praying. It felt awkward at first, made Bob feel like he should join in. He didn’t, instead taking in the morning and the wonder what life could be— had been, before all of this.
Finished with his prayers, Jonas motioned the sign of the cross across his body and kissed his fingers. He then picked up one of the poles and handed it to Bob.
“They aren’t as comfortable as a lawn chair, but I find these big rocks do just fine,” he said, motioning to the rock adjacent from the one he was sitting on. Bob sat down, balancing his coffee as best he could, and took the pole. They sat quiet for a while, both seemingly lost in nostalgia.
“Any bites?” Bob asked.
“Not even a nibble so far today,” Jonas replied reeling in his line and checking his bait. Satisfied that it was still there, he cast it out toward the middle.
“This preacher of yours, has a lot of people moving with him?” Bob asked.
Jonas didn’t answer. He like
d being out on his own since the end came. Being with people and talking too much reminded him of the reality around him.
Bob looked around at the camp—it looked to him like the camp of someone planning to be alone for a decent amount of time. Survivors these days would have some supplies on them. He wasn’t so sure that someone traveling on a motorcycle would if they had been accidentally separated from their group. But if he’d left on their own, or been forced out of the group, then it would make sense, the preparedness of the camp Bob was looking at. The question now was, which one was it?
“Son, your business is your business and I don’t mean to pry.”
Jonas cut him off, “But you’re going to, right? That’s what you’re doing now I think.”
Bob was taken back a bit by the way the young man had just snapped at him. He hadn’t seen this part of his personality yet. So far, he’d been the best of hosts.
“Everything is new now, nothing from the past matters now, son.”
Jonas picked up a rock and threw it into the lake. “I wish that was so, old man. Nothing you do can undo the things that you have seen. The things you see when you close your eyes at night, things you see in places —even smells that remind you of them.”
As much as Bob felt the urge to ask more he didn’t. There was a time to push and a time to sit back and wait. This, he knew, was a time to sit back and wait.
Jonas felt everything rushing forward in his mind. He could hear them scream, see their faces as they died. “We were just outside of Janesville, at a campground that my family spent weekends at during the summer when I was a kid. The wife’s family had left word that they were heading to the FEMA camp up by Green Bay—she wanted to go there. My family had decided to meet at the old campground and then go.” He took a sip of his coffee and felt tension on his line, reeling it a few clicks he then it back down. “When we got there we were the only ones there. After a few days of waiting—it started to be obvious that no one else was going to make it. The wife and I started to argue about staying or moving on. It seemed safe enough to me, no signs of anything dead moving about, and plenty of fish in the river and lake nearby. I convinced her to stay another week, just in case anyone did show up, and then I would move on to Green Bay.”
