by White, A. L.
“I will, don’t you worry about that at all.” Tressa replied.
The lads moved to the door and everyone knew what that meant. In that magical way they knew that Virginia was coming up to the door. With a creak, the RV door opened, and Charlie came in followed by Virginia.
“Before you start, there is plenty of time for us to talk about today.” Virginia began before Lori could say anything.
Lori walked overthrowing her arms around her pulling her in so close that Virginia wasn’t sure if she would be able to breathe. “I am not even saying anything about that.” Lori said as she turned and gave Jermaine a big hug. “Thank you and Charlie for knowing how her brain works. That was some good shooting.”
“I was all for stopping her until Charlie pointed out that we would have to either hog tie her or lock her in a cabinet. Hard to do either one with those two dogs around.” Jermaine replied as Lori broke off the hug.
“Going to be tight in here tonight.” Lori stated as she sat down across from Zoe.
“We were talking about that earlier.” Charlie said looking over at Jermaine.
“I can stay outside.” Tillford offered.
Jermaine pointed towards the pavilion. “If we can get close to that, someone can stay on watch with a fire going under it.”
“Road curves around pretty close I think.” Tillford replied. “We can take a look to make sure.”
“Why don’t we do that?” Charlie said, moving around the dogs to the door when he felt a large hand grab him by the shoulder.
“Tillford and I will take a look, why don’t you stay here.” Jermaine said.
Once outside Tillford went over to a metal park garbage can and knocked the lid off. He proceeded to dump the trash out on the snow. “If we can find some wood to burn this will keep us warm while we are out here.”
“Just happen to have some wood on the top of the RV.” Jermaine replied. “Not much, but enough to help get it going.”
Tillford rolled the can under the pavilion and kicked away the snow so that the can was sitting on the pavement. Jermaine climbed up the ladder on the back of the RV, then threw down several pieces of wood.
Carrying as much as he could in one load, he threw the logs into the barrel. “Now for the best part,” he said as he pulled out a small brick like package wrapped in plastic. He peeled the plastic off then pulled out a lighter from his pocket to light it. Getting the edged caught aflame he dropped it into the barrel with the wood. In an instant the fire started picking up in size and heat with a flash. “Never leave home without them.” Jermaine said with a smile.
“If we run short there is always that.” Tillford said, pointing at the picnic tables around the park. “Now I know, and you know there was a reason why you wanted to be out here with me. I don’t think you see me as a big threat anymore.”
“I am just curious as to what was going on back there in Clarksville is all. These folks in there have become like family to me and I look out for my own.” he replied.
“Fair enough, what do you want to know specifically?” Tillford asked.
“What the hell is going on with you, Lori and the kid?” Jermaine asked.
Tillford shrugged his shoulders. “I think we are mutations of the original virus. Human and zombie I guess you could say.”
“Like the two-point-zeros?” Jermaine asked.
Tillford shrugged again as he dug out a smoke, holding it up for a light. “Not sure what that is.”
“They are like smarter, faster zombies.” Jermaine replied.
“Oh, we call them mutes because they are a mutation from the original infected.”
“If they are mutations, what are you then?”
“I guess I am a further mutation. Or perhaps the human immune system in me fought back harder, holding onto more human traits. I really don’t know.” Tillford replied.
Holding his hands over the fire, feeling the warmth surge up through them, Jermaine inquired further. “How do the changes happen? You know, where your normal one minute and a….”
“Creature?” Tillford finished for Jermaine. “I don’t know how it works or how to explain it.”
“What were you all doing back in Clarksville?”
“It was supposed to be a new town in a new era. A town made up of mostly humans with people like me keeping an eye on them.” Tillford replied. “The rest of us and any more like us that we found, were going to settle into Rivers Crossing.”
“You think there are that many of you out there?” Jermaine asked.
“More than you would ever imagine.”
Jermaine motioned for a smoke, taking it, he placed it between his lips and cupped his hands to block the wind as he lit it. He took a deep drag, held it in for a second, then slowly exhaled. “The girl that came down the street early this morning talked about some kind of market.” Jermaine stated looking at Tillford for an explanation.
“I can’t explain that, so I won’t even try. All I can really say is that wasn’t supposed to happen, ever.” Tilford replied.
“But it did happen.” Jermaine pushed.
“I know it did, that is why I helped Lori and the old woman get away. I didn’t and don’t ever want part of what was happening there.” Tillford added.
“That’s good enough for me, but you will have to convince the others of that.” Jermaine replied.
Chapter 28
The morning sun covered the land in glittering sparkles as it illuminated the inside of the RV. An uneventful night was a welcomed change from the previous day’s events, especially for Lori. She had felt completely exhausted after they ate the hodge-podge of freeze-dried meals that Tressa had packed back at the barn. After another meal of freeze-dried eggs, they were on their way once again.
The drone of the RV motor was rarely broken up by voices. Occasionally Todd said something to himself as he played with two cars, he had found back in Rivers Crossing. Lori, who was driving, finally broke the silence. “Zoe, do you see a town or anything coming up?”
Zoe, who had insisted on riding shotgun when they left the forest preserve, reached into the glove compartment for the map. With arthritic hands still stiff from being held out in the cold, she unfolded the map in front of her. Then she folded it so that only the area that they were in was visible. “Looks like if you take a right on Route Ten, we run into a small town. Doesn’t even have a name on the map as far as I can see.”
“Let’s hope that it has a gas station or something. We are down to a quarter of a tank.” Lori replied.
“No gas in the other truck?” Zoe asked.
“The gas was in the back of Boo’s truck. With everything going on, it kind of slipped our minds, I guess.” Lori replied.
Zoe pointed ahead of them at a sign. “There is the sign for it now.”
Lori slowed the RV down so that she could safely make the turn without sliding off the road. She glanced into the mirror, making sure that Jermaine had seen her and had followed.
“It doesn’t look very far from here on the map.” Zoe said.
Lori nodded her head that she understood, as she eased her speed back up. The RV shook as it drove over the bumpy road causing her to ease back off a little.
“This road must be in bad shape under the snow?” Zoe asked.
“Not sure what it is like under there,” Lori replied, pointing at the ice-covered street. “It has been trampled down then froze like that.”
“There it is!” Zoe stated, pointing at the town ahead. “Not much to it.”
The front end of the RV lurched, and a front tire felt like it fell in a hole as a crash came from the kitchenette area. A cabinet jerked open, spilling out boxes of freeze-dried meals onto the sink. Charlie and Tressa came forward from the back, looking over Lori and Zoe’s shoulders. “What the hell do you think did this to the road?” Charlie asked.
“It doesn’t matter right now. I am going to have to stop for gas up there.” Lori replied, pointing up at the only gas station on the stre
et. Lori made her way into the gas station coming to a stop by one of the pumps. She knew if there was no power then they would have to go scavenging around.
Zoe turned in her seat so that she could look at the three of them and asked. “Would it be ok for an old lady and Todd to stretch our legs while we are here?” Lori started to answer that she didn’t think so, when Charlie answered. “I don’t think that would be a problem at all. Can you two stay near the RV, just in case we need to move quick?”
“I think we can follow instructions, how about you, Todd?” Zoe asked.
Todd jumped up almost stepping on the dogs and knocking Virginia off her seat. “I will do whatever Miss Zoe tells me to do. I promise, whatever she says.” Todd replied.
“I will check the area around us out with the dogs.” Virginia pulled her coat on and grabbed the crossbow.
“Well, it’s settled then, let’s go have a look see.” Zoe stated.
Virginia opened the door, letting Zeus and Perseus out first, then followed. The station lot was trampled, just like the road coming into town. Zeus took the lead as he sniffed the air around him for signs of danger. It was harder for him to pick the zombies out because Lori and Walter were too similar. They were different enough that he knew who they were, but similar enough to mask some of the scents he was looking for. Moving away from the RV with Perseus hanging tight next to Virginia, he was picking up the creatures by the river mixed with the zombies. They had been everywhere and left traces all over the place. Virginia grew impatient and walked passed Zeus, causing him to nearly nip at her. Thinking better of it, he took the lead again. Something didn’t seem right to Zeus about the building Virginia was heading to, and it wasn’t like her to keep walking past him. Finally having enough, he did nip at her pants, holding firm until she stopped. “What has gotten into you, buddy?” Virginia asked as she pulled her pants from his mouth. “Go ahead and lead if that’s what you want.”
Approaching the glass door, Zeus stared in, trying to see any movement. He sniffed the air wildly for any signs that he was missing when the glass vibrated with a loud slam against it.
“That’s not a good sign at all.” Jermaine said coming up behind Virginia.
“Especially since I think we need to get in there to turn the power on.” Charlie added.
“Pumps dead?” Jermaine asked.
“Doesn’t look like there is power anyplace.” Charlie replied walking up to the door. “Someone locked them in there or they locked themselves in and then turned.”
“How do you want to play this then? Shoot the glass out and go in?” Jermaine asked.
“I can go in first” Tillford offered. “They should think that I am one of them, or at least that has been how it has worked so far.”
Charlie thought about it for a few seconds as he looked around. “If there are more they will come when the shot goes off.”
“Then we should get everyone back in the RV that doesn’t need to be out of it.” Jermaine said motioned back toward Todd and Zoe. “The rest can take up positions watching the station and our backs.”
“Tressa, can you help Todd and Zoe get back into the RV for a few minutes?” Charlie asked.
Not knowing why, Tressa started to get them back inside. Just as she closed the door and turned around the shot pierced the morning silence and the glass exploded into the station, dropping the zombie that had been standing by the door. Within seconds, four more came from the back where they could not be seen from outside. Virginia dropped one with an arrow to the eye while Charlie, Tillford, and Jermaine took care of the rest. “If the first shot didn’t call them the next three should do the trick.” Virginia observed as she and Zeus walked passed the three men.
The air inside of the station was stale and putrid like the inside of a meat locker that had broken and was left to sit for months. It was small and built before stations had turned into mini marts. Two or three shelves where snacks and motor oil had once been lined up neatly on display were now empty. Charlie went to the back room where he thought the zombies had come from and found the fuse box on the wall behind an old metal desk. Finding all the fuses on, he returned to the others. “Not the fuses,” he said as he knelt down to where an old gas can sat on the bottom shelf. “Looks like we are scavenging.”
Chapter 29
They split up into three groups, Charlie and Tillford, Lori and Jermaine and Virginia and the lads with Tressa. Todd and Zoe were safely locked inside of the RV with instructions to lay on the horn at the first signs of trouble.
Walking away from the station toward the way that they had entered town, Zeus and Perseus were leading the way. Zeus hung back near Virginia while the old Perseus seemed to be returning as he ran off in front then turned bolting back to them. Virginia thought even Zeus was glad to see Perseus acting like Perseus. He didn’t nip him like normal when Perseus got close.
“How do we do this?” Tressa asked, walking next to Virginia.
“Let the dogs lead and we follow them. Zeus won’t let us walk into trouble without letting us know first.” Virginia replied.
“What do we do if we find gas? We don’t have a gas can.” Tressa said.
“I was going to look for gas cans in the houses. You know, like they would use for the lawn mowers.” Virginia replied.
“Go into the houses?” Tressa asked. coming to a halt in the middle of the street.
Virginia laughed. “You don’t have to come in, you can wait outside while the dogs and I look around.”
Tressa’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You’re going to leave me outside by myself?”
“You will be ok, believe me. You have your gun and we will come the minute you fire a shot.” Virginia replied.
“Ok, I will trust you on this one. I haven’t ever gone in looking for trouble like you guys have.” Tressa said as Virginia patted her on the shoulder.
“Good, stay right here and we will be right back.” Virginia said as she walked up to a garage door. Bending over she tried to raise the door. Standing back up and looking back at Tressa she said. “Must have a garage door opener, we will have to get in from the inside.” Tressa squeezed her pistol so hard that the color was leaving her fingers as she watched Virginia open the front door, following the dogs inside. She turned in a slow circle so that she could see in every direction. The sun felt good on her face as she noticed the calm, eerie silence around them. Even the absence of birds in the calm blue sky was unsettling. It had her on edge enough that she nearly pulled the trigger on her pistol when the door shot open with a rumble.
“Found one and it is full!” Virginia yelled, coming out of the garage carrying a large old gas can.
“We can go back now?” Tressa asked excitedly.
Virginia started to tell her that they should probably see if they could find one more. Then thought taking Tressa back would be a better option. Virginia knew that she could move faster if she wasn’t keeping an eye out for her.
“We can go back and put it into the RV. That will let us check on Zoe and Todd.” Virginia replied.
***
Coming up to an old Chevy Dually, Tillford reached into his coat and pulled out a slim jim, smiling at Charlie. “I like to come prepared for anything.” Sliding it down between the door and the window, he started moving it around. Charlie went to the other side, pulled out a crowbar and shattered the passenger window. Brushing the glass off the seat, then sliding over, Charlie unlocked the door and replied. “Me too.”
“Well, if that is how you want to do it. I like to show a little finesse.” Tillford said.
“Sorry, my door was actually unlocked. I just wanted to see your reaction.” Charlie replied. “I found the crowbar sitting behind the seat.”
Reaching up Tillford lowered the sun visor and a key fell into his lap. “I don’t even want to know if my door was unlocked.”
“See if it will start, we can probably drive it back and just syphon the gas from the tanks directly into the RV.” Charlie said.
Tillford put the key in and turned it as the motor roared to life. Smiling, he closed his door and headed back to the gas station. “You notice how trampled all of the snow is everyplace here?” Tillford asked.
“Yea, I don’t really know what to make of it. Just looking to get on the move as fast as we can.” Charlie replied.
“Usually the dead ones like back at the stations stay pretty calm around me.” Tillford continued.
“They didn’t seem very calm when they charged the door.” Charlie stated.
“I know, that has me worried. Whatever this is, it keeps mutating. You can see it all around us. Maybe that kind has mutated again?” Tillford asked.
Charlie shrugged his shoulders as they pulled into the station next to the RV. Seeing Tressa and Virginia, he motioned them over. “I think we have enough gas in both of the tanks on this to get moving again once we have syphoned it.”
Virginia nodded ok as she turned back toward the station with Tressa in tow.
“You think it is safe enough to let Todd come back out?” Tressa asked Virginia looking around the area.
“I think so, we will just keep him by Zeus and Perseus, he will like that.” Virginia replied.
***
Lori and Jermaine came up on a large house with a porch that ran all the way around to the back. In the driveway sat a newer model truck and three cars. Lori went to the first one and tried the handles, finding it locked. On to the next, she found that too, was locked. Jermaine waved his hand at her. “I am going to check the garage for a gas can.”
“You’re going the wrong way then. The garage is over there, behind the house.” Lori replied.
“First I am going to check the house for canned goods or box mixes. I don’t think I can handle one more freeze dried meal.” He replied.
Lori laughed and went to the next car.
Jermaine tried to look through the large oval window in the front door for any shapes that were moving. The beveled glass made it impossible for him to tell with any amount of certainty, so he turned the knob and pushed the door forward. The heavy door swung open with hardly any effort at all, coming to rest against a stopper on the wall. Raising his gun up in front of him, Jermaine entered the foyer, looking to the right into the living room and then quickly to the left, into what looked to him like a home office or den. Satisfied that nothing was in either room he advanced into the foyer until he came to the dining room. It was also empty, and Jermaine guessed that the door on the other side of the large ornate dining table was the way into the kitchen. Trying to walk as softly as possible on the wood floors, he passed around the table. With each step the sound of his boots on the wood echoed through the room until he was one step away from looking into the kitchen. Sliding his feet over until he stood square in the door the urge to vomit rose from deep within his bowels and Jermaine lost it. A dark red with bits of white flesh coated the entire room. On the floor next to an island were the remains of something no longer identifiable. Backing from the door he felt his stomach tie into a knot again as the second heave worked its way up and out of him. Breathing deep in a last-ditch effort to regain control of his body, Jermaine closed his eyes for a second then forced them open and advanced into the room. Each step brought a squish of the remains under his feet that grew louder as he walked. Moving to the pantry, Jermaine kicked the flesh out from in front of the door as he felt another heave start to come. Once open, he could see that the pantry was empty. Turning to decide which cabinet looked more promising, he decided that maybe the one next to the range would hold something. Like the pantry, it was empty, so he threw the process out of picking one and just started opening all the doors. The sooner he could get the hell out of this room and house, the better. Opening the fridge, Jermaine was forced back by the smell. How, he wondered, could it possibly smell worse than this room? There was nothing in there that could be eaten so he opened the freezer. Again, a smell hit him smack in the face, causing his eyes to water. Only this time he was rewarded for braving the stench. He smiled as he found a full bottle of vodka in there for the taking. Pulling it out and opening it, he took a swig to settle his nerves. It burned his throat going down but hit the spot. Leaning back against the counter, he raised it to take one more swig before returning to Lori. Outside the kitchen window for as far as he could see was the largest herd that Jermaine had ever seen. He included the one at Rivers Crossing in that assessment. They were just standing there, not moving one way or the next. It was like someone had turned them off or put them in standby mode. He had to get to Lori before she made any type of noise that would awaken the herd or alert them, he thought.
