“James…”
“I have to do this Sarah, for my own sanity.”
“Ok but we’ll go together.”
“Sarah you don’t hav…”
“Yes, I do. We’re in this together. So if you’re going then so am I.”
I smiled at her, she had a look of determination and practically dared me to argue with her. She looked cute when she was mad, or happy, or pretty much any other emotion, she looked cute all the time. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I don’t know but you didn’t have much choice,” she said smiling back at me
“I would have chosen you over anyone else, apocalypse or not.”
“Whatever,” she said looking away.
“No,” I said making her look back at me, “not whatever. You’re special Sarah and I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said hugging me, “So tomorrow we’ll check out the hospital together.”
“Sure.”
“Good, now go back to sleep.”
“You’re right, I’m going to need all my strength to protect you tomorrow.”
She raised an eyebrow at me, “Protect me?”
“Well, of course,” I grinned.
“Well Mr. Ryan, for your information, I need no protection. I can take care of myself.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Yep,”
“I wonder where you learned to take care of yourself?”
“Oh, I knew how to handle myself long before you taught me anything.”
I smiled again, “I know.”
“Good and don’t you ever forget it.”
I laughed, “Yes ma’am.”
“Shut up.”
“Yes ma’am,” I repeated and she slapped me and rolled over. I lay back down next to her for the couple hours we had before we had to get up. I fell back to sleep, my arm draped over her protectively. It didn’t matter how well I trained her, I’d always protect her first. Thankfully the couple hours we had left were spent nightmare free and I was able to wake without the bitter taste of failure in my mouth.
When we got up for the day we started packing for out little excursion right away. I decided that we would take my bike because it would be the easiest to maneuver through the packed hospital parking lot and around any debris from the explosion. When we told the others they were unhappy to say the least. Most of them wanted to come, some out of curiosity, others wanted to make sure we stayed safe. I was proud that they were so willing to put themselves in danger for me and for the others, but I wouldn’t let them. “No one else is going. Sarah and I can handle it.”
“But…” started Liz who wanted to go, I think to just get out of the house. As far as danger levels go this was pretty low and I think she wanted to take advantage of that.
“No. No one else is going. Period. We’ll be back in a couple hours.” They were disgruntled but they relented and finally agreed to listen to me. The truth was that I couldn’t really stop them if they wanted to go or if they wanted to up and leave. They could do whatever they wanted with their own lives but they decided to follow my orders and do as I say. “You ready?” I asked Sarah.
“Yep,” she said happily. I looked at her. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, t-shirt and tight fitting jacket that had enough give that she could fight in it if needed and had her hair up to keep it out of her eyes. Besides her ability to fight she was armed to the teeth, two pistols, multiple knives and a shotgun sticking out of the back of her backpack which undoubtedly held more magazines, ammo, Duct Tape and other supplies we might need if things go bad. She was happy, confident and ready to take on the world, and yet she was still so damn beautiful. I was also wearing jeans and a t-shirt and had my motorcycle jacket on. I was armed with my two Berettas and Bowie knife. I didn’t carry a backpack to make it easier for Sarah to hold on when riding the bike. She wouldn’t be leaving my side so I figured we’d be ok having only one pack. We walked outside and I backed the bike out of the garage. Climbing on I handed Sarah the black racing helmet that I pulled off the dead biker. I spent a lot of time taking apart and cleaning the helmet to make sure that it was safe to use. “Here, put it on.”
“Do I have to?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not wearing one,” she whined.
“That’s because we only have one.”
“Fine,” she said cramming the helmet on her head.
“You look great,” I said smiling at her. What she said was muffled but I could tell she was unhappy by the way she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one foot. “I’m serious. Come on, let’s go.” She climbed on and we sped off down the driveway. I smiled when we took a sharp corner a little fast and she squeezed my waist tighter. When it came to fighting Walkers she was strong, tough and damn near fearless but she needed reassurance when I went a little too quick. I’m glad I decided to take the bike, there were still a bunch of cars on the road and the bike let us weave through them without having to slow down. We reached the hospital in good time and I parked the bike on the road where we could jump on and make a clean getaway if necessary. I pulled one of my pistols and walked towards the twisted remains of the tanker. The metal was blacked and warped by the heat of the flames and it sat upon bear hubcaps, the rubber of the tires having melted. The exterior wall of the hospital was partially destroyed and the immediate inside was scorched. Debris from the explosion reached as far as the road and I knew that the blast had to have obliterated the storage unit. I let out a long breath and readied myself for what I might find. Walking towards the unit I felt Sarah grab my hand and squeeze it reassuringly. I was glad she came if only to lend a little support. The metal rectangle was off of the Semi and was lying on its side. I could see that shrapnel had torn large holes in its sides. All I could think of was my dream, all those voices condemning me. I shook my head and quickened my pace, wanting to get it over with. We walked around to the back of the storage and saw that it had no extra locks. I guess it didn’t need it since it was guarded by four armed men. “Did you bring the…” She handed me the jar of Vick’s VapoRub “Vick’s?” I finished, “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
I smeared a healthy amount under my nose and Sarah did the same. I undid the door and asked, “You ready?”
“Yep,” she said aiming a flashlight she pulled from her pack.
I tried to lift the heavy metal door but could only move it a tiny bit. “Shit,” I said letting it fall back into place. “Ok, I’ll lift this one as much as I can and I want you to let this bottom one fall.”
“Ok,” she said grabbing the bottom door.
“One, two, three.” I shoved the door upward as much as I could and then jumped back as the bottom one dropped. I landed on the ground with a loud clang. “Holy crap, that almost landed on my feet.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said crouching down, “Hand me the flashlight please” I could smell the death in the storage through the Vick’s. “You sure you want to come in with me?” She raised an eyebrow “Ok, just checking.” She knelt next to me and we ducked under the door. Beams of light let in through the shrapnel holes pierced through the darkness. I panned the light around the room and it illuminated the gore. There was a tangle of bodies, blood and junk spread across the interior. There was no way that these women could have survived for even a minute when the blast destroyed the unit. I took a step into the darkness and felt Sarah pull me back.
“You don’t need to keep going.”
“But I…”
“No, you know they couldn’t have survived, I know they couldn’t have survived. You don’t need to get closer. There’s no reason.”
I sighed, “You’re right.”
“We should go,” she said looking around.
“Not yet, I want to check on something.”
“What?”
“Just wait,” I said starting towards the hospital entrance.
“I’m coming wi…” she started.
I could tell she wasn’t happy about it but with hands on her hip, she agreed, “Fine. Five minutes, no more.”
“Yes dear,” I smile and walked into the hospital turned tomb.
The hall leading to Cole’s room was still littered with the men I’d killed, their bodies leaking out onto the linoleum. The smell was sickening but I did my best to breathe through my mouth. I could hear him before I even opened the door, a faint clicking noise could be heard from beyond the barrier. I let the door swing open, my light falling on the rotting form of Sergeant Cole Shepard. His head turned slowly to look at me, the light catching his attention. Black blood oozed from his multiple stab wounds, his face was gaunt and his teeth continued to snap together. “Hello Sarge,” I said darkly as the corpse started my way. When it came near enough I reached behind it and grabbed the back of its shirt. Using my foot I pulled him off balance and onto his back. Planting a boot on his chest I pinned him to the floor, his jaws still snapping at the air. “As much as I think you deserve to spend the rest of your time on earth turning into a pile of goo,” I pulled my pistol, “I can’t afford to have one more of you walking around.” I aimed, fired and put a single bullet cleanly through the Sergeants' forehead. I stood there and stared down at the now still form. “You’re welcome you piece of shit,” I spat as I holstered my gun and walked towards the light of day.
“What happened? I heard a gunshot,” Sarah said meeting me at the front of the hospital.
“Just cleaning up the mess I made.”
“Cole?” she said making it a statement.
“Yeah, one less Walker to worry about.”
“Are you ok?” she said placing her hand on my back.
“Better now,” I smiled, “Let’s get out of here.”
“Agreed.”
We left the Cole and the rest of the bodies to finish rotting. “Hey, I have an idea,” I said.
“What?”
“You know, Michelle had been hoping for a stuffed horse. We should go grab one for her since we’re already in town.”
“That’s a good idea,” she said kissing my cheek.
“That’s the only kind of ideas I have,” I said grinning.
“Oh shush,” she said.
We climbed on the bike and sped off into town. I was surprised to see that the streets were empty of Walkers. It was creepy how quiet it was as we pulled up to the toy store. It was a small family owned store that sold a bunch of simple wooden toys, puppets, dolls and board games. The store’s sign read closed so we started on the locked door. The door was glass so we decided to just break the bottom pane and climb through. We used the Duct Tape and covered the glass so that when it broke it would come out in one piece instead of shattering. “Let’s clear the store then I’ll guard the front while you grab a horse and any other toys you think she’ll like, ok?”
“Ok.”
“Alright, here we go,” I smashed the glass with the butt of my gun and peeled it away. “I’ll go first,” I said climbing in. The only light in the store came from the front windows and so the back of the store was still dark. Sarah climbed through and we cleared the store. We checked behind the counter and in the back store room. The store was empty and I headed to the front to keep watch. “Let’s make this quick.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said perusing the shelves.
I was ok with Sarah taking her time until the streets began to fill with Walkers, they were drawn by the noise of our engine and the sound of breaking glass “Hey Sarah, let’s move a bit faster.”
“I said yeah.”
“I know, but we have company.”
“Shit, ok.”
A few seconds later she climbed out onto the sidewalk and I could see that her pack was bursting with toys. “You get enough stuff?”
“All that I could.”
“Women, always buying too much stuff.”
“Whatever.”
Before taking off I shot about five Walkers to clear a path and then we drove away, speeding past the slow moving undead. We got back to the house and I pulled the bike into the garage. Inside we were greeted by Liz and Michelle who, once she saw the toys we’d brought her, let out a scream and took turns hugging both Sarah and I. “I told you I would get you a horse. It just took longer than I thought,” I said laughing as she continued to switch between us.
“Thank you, James. Thank you, Sarah.”
“You’re welcome,” said Sarah.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house. I couldn’t know for sure but I hoped that seeing the bodies and knowing that they couldn’t have lived, that I didn’t just leave them there to suffer, would bring me a sense of peace and if not that then maybe it would let me sleep through the night. If that didn’t help putting a bullet in Cole sure would. I sat on the living room floor and played with Michelle. We were putting together a big puzzle that featured dozens of butterflies. It reminded of when I would play with my nephew, granted we would be playing with Nerf guns and army men but it was vaguely familiar. I think it had something to do with how kids talked about whatever came to their minds. Michelle was telling me about her toys that she used to have, games she used to play and her animals that she left behind. She was starting to sadden as she continued to talk and soon she wasn’t putting the puzzle together. “Come here,” I said and she came over and sat right next to me. I put my arm around her and said, “Did I ever tell you about my dogs?” She shook her head “Well I had three. Two Labs and a little Boston Bull Terrier. One of the Labs was black and his name was Titan, the other Lab was brown like chocolate and her name was Gracie, she was Titans daughter. The Terrier’s name was Toby, he was my favorite.
“Where are your dogs now?”
“When my dad and brother went on vacation they put them in a kennel to be taken care of. They got left there when all the Walkers showed up. They’re probably dead now,” I finished quietly.
“Oh. What about your dad? Do you miss him?”
I smiled sadly, “Sometimes. What about you, do you miss your family?”
“Sometimes, but now I have you and Sarah and Liz and everyone else. Now I have a new family.”
I smiled as my voice threatened to get caught in my throat, “So do I. Come on, let’s finish this puzzle.”
“Ok,” she said happily.
Just like that, she switched from being sad and reminiscing about her lost family to trying to figure out where a tricky piece belonged in the butterfly mosaic. We played for a little while longer before I was approached by Jason, Matt, and Justin. Uh-oh, I thought, What’s this all about? “Michelle, why don’t you go play with Sarah for a little while. I think these guys want to talk to me.” She looked between the four of us and then ran off. I stood and faced the three, “What’s up guys?”
“We wanted to talk to you about something,” said Justin.
“Go for it,” I said wondering what problems they might have come up with. I didn’t want to have to fight Jason again or the other two but I wouldn’t back down if it came to that. While I was ready to fight I didn’t think they were here to challenge me, nothing about their stances, faces or tone led me to believe they wanted to.
Jason took a big breath and said, “We’re bored dude.”
I hadn’t expected that, “Ok… I don’t know what to tell you, man, read a book.”
“No, not like that,” said Matt, “We… We want to go on a raid, or a scouting mission or something.”
My mouth dropped, “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? We’ve got plenty of food. We don’t have to go on any raids for a while.”
“Yeah but we can’t just sit around the house all day. We want to do something, anything.”
“I get that but why would you want to put yourself in danger for no reason?”
“Oh don’t give us that bullshit,” scoffed Jason.
“Wh
at’s that supposed to mean?” I frowned.
“You’ve done tons of dangerous crap. You scouted out the first store we hit, scouted the gun store by yourself,” said Jason.
“Don’t forget he went and got all the stuff for everyone, the alcohol, and stuff,” added Justin.
“And you wanted to act as the distraction for the gun raid. Went in alone to meet Cole for the first time and rescued the girls with minimal support. Don’t lecture us about danger,” finished Matt.
“Yeah but those all had a purpose. I had a reason to do those things. We have no reason to go on a raid.”
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 29
