by White, A. L.
Roy nodded his head yes and took the gun from her. If Roy was honest with everyone there, he would have told them that he didn’t want to leave the RV in the first place. It was beyond him as to why they were even stopping.
“Joey and Al, you take the first three rows of campers. Jermaine and Taquisha, if you could take the next three, please.”
“Who’s going with you?” Al asked
“I am going to make my way to the fire by the concession stand, then make my way toward you guys.”
“I’m not sure it is a good idea for any of us to be alone,” Jermaine stated.
“No issues leaving me here with a flare gun?” Roy asked.
Jermaine mock punched him in the arm. “Big man like you? No troubles at all.”
“We should get moving. Faster we do this, the faster we are on the road again,” Lori said, heading toward the concession stand. Behind her she could hear the others moving off as well.
There didn’t seem, at first, to be any signs of people. It was as though they had just walked away from their portable shelters. Maybe that was why the snow was all trampled over there on the side of the lot, Lori thought. Deep down she knew what that trampled snow had meant. She hoped that they were far enough behind the herd so as to not have to deal with them in the dark.
The farther she moved, the stronger the scent filled her nose. They’re here alright. The question is, where? Just beyond a beat-up old Airstream trailer, Lori smelled something different. It had a sweet smell, like candy or cake. It was coming from the concession stand just ahead of her to the left. Inside there were sounds of something moving around so Lori loaded an arrow and pulled the door open quickly, slamming it against the outside wall. Twenty faces lit by candlelight stared blankly back, unsettling her for a moment. The smell wasn’t zombie at all, just more of that sweet aroma filling the room.
Jermaine and Taquisha were searching through the third or fourth camper when a shuffling sound caught Jermaine’s attention. He motioned to Taquisha to stop rummaging through the cabinets for a second, so he could concentrate.
“Did you hear anything that sounded like a flare going off?” He asked Taquisha.
Shaking her head no, Taquisha went back to looking for anything she thought they could use.
“Baby, be still for a few seconds. Something is outside of the camper,” Jermaine whispered.
Taquisha gave Jermaine her best exasperated look as she turned and left the camper. Having grown increasingly used to that reaction, Jermaine strained to hear if the shuffling was still present. It had stopped for the moment and that was pleasing until Taquisha screamed. Jermaine rushed to her side with ax raised, at the ready. There was one creature, stopped as if it was as surprised at the sight of them, as they were of it.
“Back up slowly, baby, and get behind me,” Jermaine ordered as he moved slowly forward. The creature didn’t make any attempts to move forward, or to flee. Raising the ax higher, Jermaine brought it down with a whooshing sound, using all the might he had. The ax landed squarely above the creature’s right eye, crushing into the skull. The creature fell to the ground with a thud; the ax still embedded in its skull. Jermaine stepped on the head and pulled the ax free, noticing that there were more coming from around the front of the camper. Grabbing Taquisha, he pulled her toward the back where they found even more coming toward them.
“Come on, baby! Head towards the far end! You run as fast as you can, and don’t look back! You hear me, Taquisha?”
Nodding her head, Taquisha took off as fast as she could. At the far end of the drive-in she could barely make out a sign that said “EXIT” in glowing white letters.
Al heard the scream and motioned for Joey to drop what he was carrying and get going. Joey pointed to the growing herd around them and then to a narrow piece of open space between two of the campers. Al nodded yes and motioned for Joey to go. In between the campers was tight and confined. Al knew if they had to fight in there the weapons that they had brought would be next to useless. Uncertain they would be able to get out alive, Al began praying for help. On the other end, the creatures were more focused on something that Al and Joey couldn’t make out, just beyond what they could see. Regardless, it was the break Al had prayed for. To him, it was nothing less than a miracle.
“This way, Joey,” Al said out loud, alerting the creatures to their presence. The creatures moved faster than Al had ever seen before, enveloping them. Their hands were all over his body as he fought to free himself. Reaching into his pocket for the revolver and forcing it free against the mass pressing in against him, Al began firing off shots into anything until it seemed that a little room was opening to move. This herd had come upon them so rapidly it was difficult to keep his wits about him. With a little more room to work with Al’s shots were finding their mark in the heads of the creatures. Each shot sent exploding decaying matter all over him, and what he thought was Joey.
“Joey, where are you, son?” Al screamed out as the last of the rounds from the gun fired off. Al had always been a firm believer in the Almighty, and in angels. If asked, Al would say that angels came in all colors and sizes. Now, he couldn’t say if they really had wings and all of that, but he could tell that he believed that the almighty would send an angel when needed most. Before him now was an angel if he had ever seen one; a six foot-plus, nearly two hundred and fifty-pound, angel wielding an ax as if it was Gabriel’s sword.
Jermaine had come toward the sound of the gun fire and threw himself into the fight with little to no regard for his own safety. When he got close enough to Al, Jermaine pointed toward Joey, lying on the ground in a pool of blood and, “Get your boy and go toward the exit. Taquisha should be there with that little girl and the dogs, I hope.”
Al picked up his bloody son, relieved to see that he was still alive, and helped Joey towards the exit sign. Behind him, Al could hear Jermaine gasping for breath and the swoosh of the ax, followed by a thick thud as it landed on its mark.
“Quick! Close the door before they get here!” a voice shouted at Lori.
“It isn’t safe to stay here. You can come with me and get out of this place, or you can stay here and die!” Lori yelled into the room.
“This is the only place that they can’t get into. You’re safe here,” the voice replied, sounding agitated with the door remaining open.
“I have a bus that can carry all of you with us, but you need to leave now!”
About ten people moved toward Lori, causing her to raise the crossbow up into a defensive position.
“We will go with you,” a voice said.
“Follow me and stay close then. We are going to go out the exit on the far side. If you get separated, keep going that way and look for the bus on the road.”
The zombies were not heading toward the concession stand as Lori had thought. They were swarming around the first few aisles in the center. For them, it would be an easy run to the exit. She could smell the zombies on the wind blowing across the lot. It had troubled her earlier that she could smell them, but she was grateful now. It made it easier to move the new members of her party.
Arriving at the exit, Lori was relieved to see everyone there anxiously waiting. Joey looked badly hurt, but everyone else looked like they were in good shape despite their ordeal.
“We need to get to the bus,” Lori stated as she moved past them. Jermaine took Joey from Al, picking him up as if he were a rag doll.
“They are coming too,” a little boy said to Lori, pointing towards the entrance.
Lori looked back at a small group emerging from the exit. They moved quicker than the herd, but not by much. After the last of the new members were loaded onto the bus Joey was loaded into RV so that Zoe could do what she could for her great nephew. It would be Zoe who would have the final say in the matter. Roy climbed into the RV to be greeted by quizzical looks.
“I didn’t hear or see the flare, man!” Jermaine said as he grabbed Roy by the throat.
“Not now! We
have to get moving,” Lori said as she left the RV, slamming shut the door.
“You and I are going to have a long talk when we stop, bro,” Jermaine dropped Roy to the floor of the RV, leaving his gasping to catch his breath.
***
Doc had watched the two trucks head off to opposite ends of the town from the school’s roof before turning his attention back to the activity going on inside. Doc checked in on the progress of the rooms on the second floor, then moved on to the first floor. Everyone was pulling together nicely with the job of making the old school into a home. For as hard as the survivors were working, Doc knew that something was missing. Yes, they were doing what was asked of them, and doing it well; no one could complain. What was missing was a spark of life, he thought. The major difference right now, between them and the zombies, was that they could bleed and think clearly. If they were going to succeed and rebuild some kind of civilized existence Doc knew that they would have to find a way to return that spark of life.
It was then that the unmistakable smell of coffee had overcome his senses. Doc followed his nose down to the gymnasium/cafeteria where he found a rather large man and somewhat smaller woman putting the supplies away. Doc edged his way over to the large coffee urn, looking for anything that would serve as a cup.
“Cups are over there, below the counter,” the woman stated, not looking so small now that he was up close. Perhaps it was that the man was so large that he made Doc feel extra small himself.
“Help yourself,” she added.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Doc replied, reaching over the counter and fumbling around for a cup. Finding one, he held it under the spigot and reveled in the indulgent aroma of fresh coffee.
“Found three boxes of coffee earlier; I thought maybe people would like a cup after working so hard all day,” she added.
Doc took a sip, “Mmmm-ummm. That is a good cup of coffee, Miss...?”
“Tressa Harris is my name, and that over there is my uncle, Todd,” she replied motioning at the large man. “And you are the legendary Doctor Stewart, I believe?”
“You would be correct, Tressa. It is a pleasure to meet both of you and drink your coffee.”
Doc thought for a few minutes about the two floors he had just passed through above. This was the spark he was looking for. “Did someone ask you to do this?” Doc asked.
Tressa shook her head no, “We didn’t know that we had to get permission to put supplies up. Is there someone that we should have cleared it with first?”
“Heavens, no! I wish I knew how to get more people to be like you two.”
The large man stopped what he was doing and walked over to Doc, stopping only when he was hovering over him.
“Mister, maybe they don’t understand that they will get a surprise for helping out. Tressa says if I work hard, I will get a surprise when we are all done. Right, Tressa?”
“Yes, Todd. Do you remember what the surprise is going to be?”
The large man screwed his face deep in thought staring at the ceiling as if the answer would magically appear before him.
“What is one of your favorite things to have on a cold winter’s day like this, Todd?” She asked him.
The answer was there, and Doc could see, in his face, that the man had found it. Then with very little warning, he started jumping up and down while twirling around in circles yelling, “Hot coco with tiny marshmallows in it! Hot coco with tiny marshmallows in it!”
Tressa patted him on the back in an attempt to settle him back down, “Ok, Todd. If you want that hot coco, you need to get back to work. Those boxes aren’t going to move themselves, are they?”
“They better not Tressa. I am going to move them all and get my hot chocolate!” As quick as he had moved in on Doc, he had moved back to the boxes.
Maybe it was the puzzled look on Doc’s face, maybe it was the way he hadn’t said anything after Todd came over by him. Whatever it was, Tressa felt she needed to speak up now before they found themselves, once again, on the outside looking in.
“My uncle is a very special soul. He is a five-year-old trapped in a grown man’s body.”
“A very, very large man’s body,” Doc replied shaking his head.
“Yes sir, he is large and strong as an ox. He doesn’t know that we are not stronger than he is. In Todd’s mind we are the larger and stronger ones.” Letting out a long, deep sigh she continued, “His whole life he has been picked on, made fun of, and bullied because of his size. Let me tell you this before you make your mind up about us, Doctor! That large mountain of a man that you’re deciding if you need to fear, watched his own parents--my grandparents--get ripped apart by the zombie while he cowered and cried for someone to help them. THAT is what to be afraid of, not my uncle!”
Doc took a step back and placed his coffee cup down. “I would like to have ten more of him, little lady. If you were thinking that I was about to put you out of here, then you are wrong.” Doc could see the relief in the young woman’s face. “In fact, how would you like to be in charge of the kitchen for now?”
Tressa smiled and replied, “I think I would like that, for now.”
“Well then, I guess that is settled. Now we need to figure out how to get the others to pitch in on their own.”
Tressa thought for a few minutes then added, “That should be simple, assign them daily chores to do. It works wonders with Todd; makes him feel like he is part of a team.
Doc thought a few minutes and liked the idea. They would assign chores out to every survivor here. They would be made responsible for pulling their weight from this point on.
Chapter 9
Jermaine opened the RV door and headed straight for the bus where he thought he would be able to calm himself down. Anyplace but where Roy was would be good enough for now.
“Virginia!” Al called out as the girls left the RV. Virginia turned and faced him, wondering what he could need from her.
“Do you think you could ride in the RV with Zoe, and let me ride with Lori for a little while?”
Virginia didn’t want to be in the RV, she liked riding in the truck with Lori and was about to say so when, from behind her, Lori answered for her. “Of course, she will, Al! And she will take the dogs with her.”
Turning and giving Lori a questioning look while rolling her eyes, she turned back to Al, “For you and Zoe, the lads and I will ride in the RV.”
“If the roads don’t get any worse, we should be in Rivers Crossing by the morning,” Lori stated.
“A lot can happen between now and the morning,” Virginia said as she motioned for the lads to follow her back into the RV. From inside she watched Al and Lori climb into the truck. A few minutes later she could feel the balding tires of the old RV slipping through the snow in an effort to keep up with the convoy. The RV was as quiet as a church during Sunday mass, with the exception of Zoe’s calming words to Joey. Now and then she would come forward to get more towels or rags in her efforts to stem the bleeding. Zeus was keeping a close eye on her and Joey from a vantage point that forced Zoe to climb over him with every trip forward. She never complained or asked him to move. Occasionally she would reach down and pat him on the head in passing.
After several trips, Zoe motioned for Roy to let her sit next to Virginia. He begrudgingly moved over, and in his own way gave Virginia a hateful look. Zoe took one of Virginia’s hands and said to her, “Do you know why I asked Al to ask you to ride with me, child?”
At that moment Virginia knew why she was in the RV with amazing clarity. Zoe didn’t think that Joey was going to make it. More than that, Zoe must have thought that Joey was going to turn.
“When the time comes, you want me to do what needs to be done,” Virginia replied.
The first signs of tears were starting to show in Zoe’s eyes as she reached over and fully embraced Virginia. “I am not asking you to do it, child. I am asking you to do it if, when the time comes, I can’t.”
Zoe let let Virginia go and retu
rned back to where Joey was laying; leaving Virginia to think about what she had said.
“You really think you’re something, don’t you?” Roy said, more as a statement than a question. Virginia slid over to him real close. Close enough that Taquisha and Pam had noticed. It was closer than even Pam had been to Roy in a long time.
With her lips nearly touching Roy’s face, Virginia said, “I saw what you did tonight from up on top of the bus. I know exactly what you did, and that you stood there, in front of that woman, and her father, and told a bunch of lies.”
Roy made a motion to move away from her when Perseus let out a low menacing growl, causing him to still. Virginia raised a finger to his lips and pressed it against him. “If you give me any reason, anything at all, I will let those dogs rip your throat out and feed what is left of you to the Zombies. Perhaps, before I put poor Joey out of his misery, I will let him eat you. Wouldn’t that be justice?”
Roy froze in place, feeling like he might pee his pants if Virginia made the slightest move on him. Instead Virginia slid back to the place where she had been sitting. Pam wanted to say something, but the words didn’t come to her. Pam really wanted to know what the girl had said, but at the same time she just wanted the odd, little kid as far from her as possible.
“You know this has all been foretold in the bible,” Taquisha stated as she closed her eyes. “The Lord took home all of the good people and left the evil ones to deal with the devil’s minions.”
There wasn’t a chance to reply to Taquisha; Zoe came out and motioned for Virginia to come to the back of the RV. Rising slowly, Virginia pulled an arrow out of her quiver and made the short walk back to join Zoe, who was looking down on Joey. His eyes were black, and the tone of his skin had begun to turn gray. He looked nothing at all like Lori had on the night Virginia snuck onto the bus to say goodbye.
Knowing why she was summoned to the back and being able to do it now that she was back there, were two different things. Yes, Virginia could kill a zombie without thinking twice, or even reflecting on it afterward. This was Joey. Someone she knew--and had in some small way--even kind of liked. Looking down on him now, Virginia saw the transformation taking place, but she also saw Joey.
