by White, A. L.
He swung the crowbar in an arch across the table, carving a deep, loud scratch until reaching the edge. Lifting it up a few inches he then let it drop to the table with a bam. “I kinda figured you would go back down south to your little dumpster.” Scratch…… Bam. “I know you just can’t wait to dine on rats again.” Scratch……Bam. “Instead, you went north.” Scratch…..Bam. “Right where I said we were all going to meet up with others like us.” Scratch……Bam.
“I went where I saw buildings that I could wait out the night in. Nothing more, nothing less.” She replied, “What is it you’re trying to do here? Who made you king of the freak show?”
The man let the crowbar slam down on the table one more time with a louder bang. “King of the freak show? Child, this is not my show at all. We are a movement of the new and improved.” He shook his head in disbelief at how dense she was seeming. “A group of us were struggling with what it was that we have become. We walk among the dead without being attacked. We fight the urge to eat other survivors…even when their scent becomes so enticing…”
Megan interrupted him. “Then who is in charge of all of this?”
“We have elders. They vote on decisions. They decide what is the best way for us to survive and thrive in our world.”
He replied in a matter of fact way that made Megan feel stupid for a moment. “Then why here? Why out in the middle of cornfields, far from anything else?”
“This is just a starting point. You could say that this is where we can experiment and see just what works and what doesn’t work.” The man replied.
Megan slowly turned the barstool back and forth, trying to judge if she was being misled.
“Last night something came after me.” Megan said looking into his face, trying to read his expression. “It was like they were hunting me.”
“Regs?” he asked.
“I don’t know what Regs are.” She replied.
Smiling back at her, he responded. “Regs are regular people. Nothing like you and I.”
“No, they were not Regs.” Megan replied, stressing the word Regs. “They were like us… but not like us; kind of a cross between the stiffs walking around and us.”
“Oh, you saw some of the mutes last night then.” He replied waiting for her reaction, then continued. “They are mutations from the first strain, I think. They didn’t quite make it as far along as us. We think that they see us as humans or to put it plainly, they see us as food.”
“What a messed-up world we have now.”
“I guess that depends on how you see it, Megan. We have been talking for a while now and neither of us has pulled out a cell phone to “check in” or look up this restaurant. Neither of us texted anyone. I call that progress.” The man replied, smiling from ear to ear.
“Anything else out there that I should know about?” Megan asked.
“The virus has mutated in more ways than I or anyone else could possibly tell you about. Like I said before, it is a whole new world out there.”
“Something was howling last night that drove them away.” Megan said.
“Animal mutations of the virus. Huge dog looking creatures. Beautiful and horrifying at the same time I think.” He replied.
She hopped down off the stool and held her hand out to the man. “Well, it has been nice meeting you and thank you for all you have done for me. I never did catch your name though.” Shaking Megan’s hand, a little more vigorously than she expected, he replied, “Stay safe, child. And try to keep your distance from the Regs and Mutes.”
Noticing how he completely went passed giving his name to her Megan nodded in agreement and picked up her stuff from the table. Holding up the crowbar like he was going to hit her, he flipped it over, presenting the handle to her. “Take this and the gun I gave you.” Taking the crowbar, Megan slid it into her backpack and left the diner.
***
The room was dark and scary. Only the faint glow and hum from the heater was there to guide Todd through the room. It didn’t do much to prevent him from bumping into the furniture. He groped his way toward where he thought the stairs leading up into the barn were. Having looked all around for the puppies, Todd knew the last place that they could be at was the barn. The sounds of the air filtration backed up by odd noises coming from the freezer and refrigerator were almost too much for Todd to handle. Several times he stopped and thought about going back to the safety of his sleeping bag on the floor next to the bed where Tressa was sound asleep. The lure of playing with the puppies was just too strong to be denied. Listening for each new sound that mixed in with the others, Todd moved forward. The stairs proved to be much harder to climb in the dark and on more than one occasion Todd fell, slamming his knees into the steps above him. Making like a statue, he would freeze and listen for signs of Tressa coming to find him where he shouldn’t be. Once he felt that no one was coming he would stand on shaky legs and feel his way up the next step.
At the top of the stairs Todd came to the door. When he had decided to look for the puppies in the barn, he had no idea that the door would be closed and locked. It had never been locked when he came or left before. Grasping the handle and turning with all his might until he felt pain in his hand, he stopped and tried to remember what the door looked like in the light. Sliding his free hand all over the door, he found a latch and twisted it. A loud click seemed to echo down the stairs, so he froze and listened for Tressa again. Convinced that no one else had heard it, he reached for the knob again. Still it would not move so he once again put all his might behind it until his hand started to ache. Sitting on the step he thought to himself, come on Todd, how do big boy’s open doors? You’re a big boy so you can open this door. Yes, you are Todd, you’re a big boy and you can do this. Once again, he gripped the door and twisted it as hard as he could. That was when Todd noticed a bump on the handle, pushing into the palm of his hand. His large fingers found it hard to manipulate the small bump. After a few minutes of trying and nearly breaking down into tears, the bump moved to the right with another click. He stepped back and almost fell down the stairs in his excitement. Reaching forward again he twisted the knob and the door popped open with a twang.
Once in the barn Todd forgot all about the puppies as his eyes tried to adjust to the room. There was a light on in the RV and a slight glow shining down on him from the steps above. The stairway leading up to the top was bathed in the glow, making the decision to go up them easy for him. He climbed them as fast as he could, not bothering to care how much noise he made. He knew that Tressa had really good ears, but he didn’t think she could hear this far away.
At the top he found a long thin walkway suspended from the roof leading from one side of the building to the other. On either side of the walkway were large windows that let him see for miles and miles. “This is just like back at the other town when I was up on top with Mr. Charlie.” Todd told himself, then looked around to see if anyone had heard him. Satisfied that no one had heard him he looked out the window on his left side. The only thing out there was the house next to the barn. Losing interest quickly he moved further down the walkway and pressed his nose against the glass on the right side. Pausing to laugh for a moment because his breath had fogged the glass up, he then moved a little further down and looked out into the night sky. There he saw lights of all sizes and shapes coming from the town. Cars were driving all over the place, some stopped and some just kept driving around. Patterns had always fascinated Todd since he was a little boy. Making heads or tails out of everyday things in life was far beyond his abilities but he could look at a pattern and see it for what it was and what it meant. The lights were moving randomly, there was no real pattern to see there. He ignored them as best he could. Between the lights and where Todd was watching from atop of the barn there were two patterns moving through the darkness. Barely visible to him, Todd could nonetheless make them out. They were moving with purpose and that captured Todd’s attention. One group moved around the lights, just off far enough away
to stay in the dark. First one would move and then the rest would follow. It was like they were playing a game of follow the leader. Not far behind that pattern was the other pattern. It was moving back and forth behind the first pattern like it was looking for the first group. Todd’s brain was busy calculating when the second pattern would overcome the first pattern that he missed the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs behind him. Just as he had picked the spot where the second pattern would meet the first pattern a voice behind him said.
“You found it hard to sleep too?” Todd jumped so high that he cracked his forehead against the window sending a shudder through the pane. Grabbing his aching head, he turned to find Virginia and the lads standing there looking at him.
“Don’t worry, Todd. I couldn’t sleep either. Your secret is safe with me.” Virginia said, trying to settle him down. “See anything interesting out there?”
Todd lowered a hand from his forehead and wiped away the tears that formed the instant he had hit the glass and pointed out the window. Virginia looked on and saw the lights moving all around the town too.
“A lot of lights out there, Todd.” Virginia said acknowledging what Todd was pointing at.
Todd shook his head no and pointed again out the window. “The lights are boring, Virginia. They don’t have any reason to why they move.” Pointing again he tapped his big finger on the glass. “See those over there? There are two groups in the dark.”
Virginia strained her eyes until she could just barely make out the two groups. “What do you think they are up to?” She was asking herself more than she was asking Todd but that made no difference to him.
“That one is trying to catch that one.” Todd offered. “They will catch them just over there by the end of that street Virginia.”
At times like this Virginia thought she was getting a glimpse of the man Todd could have been had life not thrown him a curveball. Serious, calm, and most of all focused. He was studying the two groups as they moved across the field. One time he had told Virginia that it was easy to do if she tried. “How do you know they will meet over there?” Virginia asked Todd knowing the answer he would say even before he did.
“It is easy Virginia, just look at them and look at the lines. Do you see the lines?” Todd replied. Jabbing the window with his finger Todd traced out a path that group two would take. Sure enough they zigged where Todd said they would and zagged right where he said they would zag. “You see it now Virginia? Do you see it?” Todd asked, growing impatient with her.
“Yes, Todd I see it.” Virginia replied. “We should go get some rest so that we can tell everyone what you found in the morning.”
Todd looked down at his shoes and started swaying. “Do we have to tell them Virginia?”
“I think we have to, don’t you?”
“Tressa will not be happy with me opening the door and coming up here without her saying that I could.” He said looking at Virginia then back down at his shoes.
“How about I tell Tressa that I accidentally left the door open?” Virginia asked.
Todd jumped up and raised his hands above his head. “Would you do that Virginia? Would you really do that for me?”
“Just this once I will. Next time you should ask Tressa before you sneak out like this.”
“I promise never-ever to do that again! Thank you, Virginia, thank you very much.” He yelled over his shoulder as he ran down the stairs to get back into his sleeping bag before Tressa noticed he had left.
Chapter 17
Outside of the diner people were busy settling into Clarksville. The sun was out. Temperatures were threatening to reach fifty degrees Fahrenheit. A heavy-set guy was using an old coal scoop to shovel the wet, heavy, melting snow off the sidewalk to the house he claimed for his family. If not for the zombies moving freely around the street, Megan would have thought she had been transported back in time to the days before the apocalypse. Faces without names smiled and waved at her while others bid her a good morning. At first she just walked by, acting as if they did not exist. After a while she started to smile or wave back. The Man in Black was right about one thing: it felt good to be a part of a group again, a community of people just like her.
Stopping in front of a dollar store or maybe a general store, she watched as the new owners made themselves at home amongst the t-shirts and candles that covered almost every available space.
Further down the street she came to what she guessed was an old car dealership. It wasn’t large and sprawling like the ones back where she was from. It was large enough to have maybe twenty cars outside in the lot, with perhaps five or ten inside of the showroom. The crowd around it was growing quickly while it looked like the old showroom was packed full. Pushing her way through the crowd Megan was about halfway when she started to notice more zombies than people milling around the lot. That didn’t make a lot of sense to her, they couldn’t drive, and she doubted that they could even remember what a car was for. That was when she saw the first one standing inside the lot. Its eyes were sunken deep, with a lost look on its face. It moved more by instinct than thinking where it was or what it was doing. The look was shared by every face inside the lot. In the showroom there was no one above the age of thirteen. They were packed in there like sardines in a can, faces pressed against the glass looking out. Moving further in, Megan tried to get up next to the lot so that she could get a better look.
She placed her hand on the back of someone in front of her to give them a gentle nudge out of her way. Megan felt the skin underneath the Cubs’ shirt slide right off their back. Snapping her hand back and nearly vomiting, she moved around the dead creature, as it hissed at her.
It hit Megan as though someone had kicked her in the face. The people in the old car lot weren’t like her or the others at all. The Man in Black had lied to her, again, about what was going on. She knew she should have figured it all out from the things that he had told her and the group all along. It looked to her like hundreds of “New” people. as he had called them, where her trying to start a new life or something that resembled a life. The people in the car lot were not there for that, they were the “cattle” that he had spoken of. At the time she had thought that there was a chance that he was over stating that portion of his story, to get her back in line. Seeing it with her own eyes brought it all home.
Anger was building up inside of Megan to the point of overcoming her. Looking to the left she saw the dead mingling freely with the zombies and the dog creatures, on leashes, held by large men with the same skin she had. To the left there was more of the same, most looked like they were at their favorite sandwich shop waiting for the doors to open and let them in for a quick and tasty meal. Pushing her way back out of the crowd and breaking free onto the street, she felt tears start to flow. She started making her way out of town. She didn’t smile back at anyone or wave from that moment forward. She didn’t know what she was—or what they were for sure. She did know that no matter what they were, they had all been changed into monsters; eviler and horrifying to her than any she had ever seen in a horror movie.
Megan broke into a run as fast as she could carry herself to get away. The sounds and smells of the area soon began to grow fainter. She came to a cross street that had only faint signs of tire tracks with a few footsteps. Stopping and looking around, she didn’t see any signs that anyone had been down the street recently. Turning and walking inside the tire tracks, she moved as fast as she could for about two hundred feet, while the town grew smaller behind her. Up the road she could see a barn and what looked like an old farmhouse. Good enough spot to stay the night, she thought. She could spend the rest of the day trying to make heads or tails out of what she had just seen.
***
Zeus laid his head down in Virginia’s lap and stared up at her through big eyes. Virginia knew just what he wanted and took her hand, stroking him from just behind the ears down to his collar. She watched as Zeus closed his eyes and settled in for all the attention he could get
from her. Each time she would start at the top of his head Zeus would press down on her lap and let out a sigh of relief. She loved watching the dogs and how the interacted with her. Never having really understood people that well, the dogs were a welcome change. They loved her for what she was, and Virginia loved them for what they were. She would give her life to keep the lads safe and they had laid down their lives for her too many times for her to count. Zeus’ face was no longer jet black like Perseus’. It surprised Virginia to see just how white his muzzle had become at the tip, leading back to a grayish color.
Perseus came over and slammed his body into Virginia’s side as he sat next to her, causing Zeus to give him a quick growl for invading what Zeus saw as his time.
The door below opened and Jermaine and Charlie came up into the stall where Virginia and the lads were sitting on the ground in the hay.
“I wondered where you got off to, we missed you during breakfast.” Jermaine said, looking down on them as he topped the stairs and stepped into the stall.
“I asked Lori if you or one of the dogs could ride with us and she said that she thought it would be better if you stayed.” Charlie stated before Virginia could offer to go.
“You know how Lori is, Charlie.” Virginia replied.
“Yes, we do know how she is.” Jermaine added with a slight laugh.
Virginia moved Zeus’s head off her lap and stood up, much to his displeasure. “I think there is something that you both need to see before you go.” Virginia said motioning for them to follow her. Leading the way, Virginia took them up to the walkway at the top of the barn. Once up there, Jermaine slowed down stepping out onto the walkway and placing his hand on one of the cables it was suspended from. He could feel a slight vibration with every step that Charlie and Virginia took. Looking over the side, it was a long way down to the barn floor. Jermaine closed his eyes for a second and he could feel the whole walkway move with their steps and part of him wanted to turn and go back down the stairs. When Zeus and Perseus barreled past him, knocking him to the side, Jermaine thought for sure he was going over.
