by C. J. Boyle
Brody opened his arms to the wall. “We have shotguns, sniper rifles, tasers, tear gas, pepper spray…take your pick.”
“Who the hell would need four hundred canisters of tear gas?” Dr. Wallace gestured toward several cases of them. He scowled, “Did you know the use of tear gas is banned in war by the Geneva Convention? Yet we use it on our own citizens?”
Brody looked at the doctor surprised, “I’m not sure that matters right now, Doctor. Maybe not ever again.”
Kera picked up a handgun. Brody watched her feel the weight of it and aim it at the ground. “Have you ever shot one of those before?”
“The only gun I’ve ever shot was a BB gun.” She put the gun down for a moment and then picked up one of the shotguns. “My aim is good. I’m just concerned about the kickback.” She fumbled with it trying to figure out how to hold it.
Brody nodded and moved behind her for a moment. Wallace watched them. “Left hand under the forestock, right here.” He put her left hand in place and then backed up. “Put the butt,” he pointed to the end of the gun and then slapped himself on the shoulder, “right here, against your shoulder.” She held it to her shoulder and looked down the barrel to aim. “Good,” he laughed.
“What’s so funny?” She gave him a serious look.
He shook his head, “You’re gonna get bruised.”
Dr. Wallace glared at him, “So are you.”
Brody squinted at him, confused. He shrugged it off. “I think we should use the tear gas on them.” He picked up a shotgun. “We'll wait for them to run out all disoriented and we’ll shoot the hell out of them.”
Kera and Wallace looked at each other and then back at Brody. They were obviously scared and worried. Brody was scared and worried but he did his best to hide it. He showed them both how to load the guns. Kera picked it up much faster than the doctor did. He hoped she had good aim like she claimed. Otherwise, they might be in a bit of trouble. He took three gas masks down from their hooks and handed them both a mask.
Wallace looked up at him, “I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”
“What do you mean? We have to get Carl and the others out. This seems like the easiest way.” Brody insisted.
The doctor shook his head. “Have you ever used tear gas before?”
“No. I’ve never had to, until now.”
“Well, I have some experience with it.” The doctor put the mask back down on the table. “People brought into the ER exposed to tear gas contaminate everyone else. The next thing you know, no one is able to treat the patients.” He picked up one of the canisters and examined it. “But cleaning up afterward is a nightmare. If someone throws one of these into your house, you might as well abandon it.”
“This isn’t our house,” Kera chimed in.
“No?” He opened his arms and looked at her surprised, “Where are we going to live?”
Brody hadn’t thought about it. Until that moment, they had been in survival mode. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that the prison might be a safe place to ride out the apocalypse. "Look. I really don't care about that right now. I just don't want my friend to be Link food." Brody picked up the canister of tear gas. Wallace looked shocked, "Only if I have to."
Moments later Brody was briskly walking out of the Watch Tower with his tactical gear on and a shotgun in each hand, looking like he just walked out of a G.I. Joe movie. He was followed closely by Kera and the doctor. Kera had on one of the jackets the dog trainers used. It was nearly impossible to puncture one with a tooth or blade but it wouldn't protect against the crushing power of a canine's jaw. She carried pepper spray and a shotgun. The doctor opted to wear no extra protection. He carried his shotgun as if it were going to bite him at any moment.
Brody stopped in front of the building. "Okay, so you said you opened all the doors, right?"
Wallace nodded, "Yeah. There should be a clear path."
"Okay, this is what we're gonna do," he suddenly did a double take. "Where's Kera?" They looked at the entrance of the building in just enough time to see Kera running inside. "What the hell is she doing?"
* * *
Kera jogged quietly into the cafeteria. She looked back and forth expecting a Link to jump out and eat her face off. The mess hall was only large enough to feed about one hundred prisoners at a time. It was one of five cafeterias on the grounds. It looked like a fierce battle had taken place inside. The chairs were attached to the tables and were supposed to be bolted to the floor. None of them were where they were supposed to be. Some of them were upside-down. Some of them were broken in two. Everything...was covered in blood. It made her wonder if Link blood was still red. 'This is what life is now.' It was a sentence she had used more than a few times in her life. Usually after something bad happened. It was how she steeled herself into accepting how things were. Accepting that these negative things weren't going to go away and that she just needed to deal with that fact. 'This is what life is now.' She looked behind the serving line at the door into the kitchen. "Fuck that." Just like that, she decided that nothing really mattered anymore. There was nothing for her...anywhere. What did she have to live for?
She hurried behind the counter and into the kitchen. There they were. A bunch of Links all cuddled together and tuckered out from a night of murder, mayhem, and engorgement. There were eight of them that she could see. They had dried blood all over them. She could smell it. She could smell them. They had shit and pissed all over the place. It burned her nose and turned her stomach. Her heart raced but it wasn't fear. It was anger. They took everything. They took her son. They had to pay. She crept closer to them and watched them breathe. Her humanity started to creep back in and mess with her mind, questioning her morality. She had twelve rounds. This seemed like a good way to spend them. She aimed at their heads and started shooting. The buckshot made tiny, evenly spaced, holes in their flesh. Their blood was indeed still red and they bled like any human being would.
It took all of three seconds for one of those bastards to spring up and slam her against the wall. She felt a rib crack from the sheer force as the gun tumbled out of her grip. Its bloodied face was mere inches from hers. She couldn't breathe and the room started to spin but she thought that it was smiling at her. Its smile got bigger and bigger showing its fiercely pointy teeth. Its God awful breath was enough to kill the devil himself. In her confusion, she wondered if that was what was happening. The Devil and his Demons taking over the Earth. She struggled to take in air as the Link pressed harder on her chest. She knew she was going to die and really didn't care. But if she was so ready to die, why was her right hand trying so hard to reach for the pepper spray? It was putting up a good fight. Almost driven by its own need to survive, it jammed its way into her jacket pocket and pulled out the spray can.
The Links' mouth opened wider making her wonder if it was attempting to bite her entire head off. But then this fleshy colored, straw-like, thing floated out at her. That's when her right hand aimed the pepper spray in that fucker's mouth. It backed up shrieking and flipping its head back and forth like a dog who was just sprayed by a skunk. The other Links were feeding on the injured ones, ripping them to pieces. She sucked in air knowing that any minute she was going to pass out. She blinked away the dizziness enough to see a Link vomit some kind of substance all over an injured one. It started to melt the Link into a goo and the others tore into it. That's when she saw Brody standing in the doorway. She couldn't decide if that disturbed look on his face was because of her or because of the Links. For just one fleeting moment, she was ashamed.
Brody snapped himself out of his shock and started shooting. The Links shrieked and growled. Kera frantically looked around for her gun. She finally located it about four feet away. She crawled over to it and, just as she cocked it and pointed it, the doctor appeared in front of her. He held his hand out to her. She looked up at him as she took his hand. He was obviously worried about her.
The doctor pulled her to her feet. "Are you hurt?"
>
She looked around at the carnage. All the Links lay dead on the floor with Brody standing over them like Rambo. He was breathing hard and staring at her like she had just made the stupidest mistake a person could make.
Carl's muffled voice came from behind the shiny chrome door. "Brody, is that you? Can we come out now?"
"Yeah, man! Come on out!" Brody looked at the door.
Carl came out first. He and Brody clapped their hands together and looked each other in the eye. "Brody, I owe you one...but I have to piss." Then he got a good look at his surroundings. His face twisted in a very exaggerated grimace. "Ugh, and puke. I gotta take a piss and puke." He rushed out of the kitchen.
"Hopefully not at the same time," Brody laughed.
Rose and Mammy slowly came out of their hiding places. They reminded Kera of beaten, helpless, and scared puppies. But Mammy was definitely not a helpless puppy. She was a bitch. One Kera didn't want to spend the rest of her life with. However long that might be.
Kera pulled away from Dr. Wallace. "Why don't you go check on Rose. She has a heart condition." The doctor looked slighted but did as suggested. Kera liked Rose, but truth be told, she couldn't have cared less about her health at that moment. She just wanted the doctor distracted enough so that she could slip out. She had swiped the Warden's keys and badge when they were in his room. She had to find out what happened to Charlie. She knew deep down that he was either a Link killing and eating everything in sight, or he was dead. Either way she needed to know. She watched Brody open the door letting the sunshine stream inside. As they were walking outside, she brought up the rear hoping that no one would be watching her. When the opportunity presented itself, she would slip away.
* * *
Brody still had trouble believing that there were no human remains left behind. No partially eaten bodies lying around. No bones. There were lots of bloodied and torn clothes. Enough to identify the people who probably didn't survive. Regardless of whether or not they were prisoners or guards, everyone's uniform had names stitched into them or inked on them. As they walked out into the sunlight he could see people walking towards them. He was happy there were more guards and prisoners that had survived the night. The loud noise of a motorcycle engine roared to life. He turned to see it race down the main road to the outer gates. He couldn't tell who was driving it but he had a really good idea who it was. He frantically searched the crowd of people. He locked eyes with Dr. Wallace.
"Kera!" They both said her name. He closed the gap between him and the doctor. Brody was surprised how upset the doctor was. He had tears in his eyes. "You have to go after her. You have to bring her back." He blinked at the tears that had been welling up in his eyes and they streamed down his face. "I know where she's going. You have to bring her back."
Brody looked at the man, confused. Obviously, he missed something. "Doctor, what the hell's going on here?"
"Look, we don't have time!" He jotted down something on a piece of paper and handed it to Brody. "You have to go after her!" The doctor was desperate.
Carl joined them. "Brody, I have to get my brothers. We'll get them and her. Bring em all back here."
Brody looked at them both and nodded. He took out his cell phone and dialed as he walked toward the parking lot. He stuck the phone to his ear. A message played telling him that too many people were trying to make calls and to send a text message instead. He quickly fired off a message to his mother and hoped that he'd hear back from her. She lived in Florida and he knew there was no way to get to her but he prayed that she was safe. "See if you can text your brothers. Tell them where to meet us."
Chapter Three
The City
Kera sped down the winding road that would eventually take her to the highway into Denver. She didn’t know what she would find when she got to her sister’s house, but she knew it wouldn’t be good. She knew Charlie had probably ‘turned’ like the rest of the Links did and even if Charlie was alive somewhere, he was lost to her. She prayed that her sister was still alive and the two of them would figure out how to survive this nightmare together. Julie had always been her best friend and ally. There was a time when they were teenagers when they hated each other for no apparent reason, but they grew out of it. Kera loved Julie but she didn’t just want her to be alive, she needed her to be. Otherwise, there really was no reason for her to live any longer. Charlie was her reason for living and now he was gone.
As her motorcycle rocketed up the onramp onto the highway she got that familiar rush of adrenaline that she used to get in her youth when she rode her father’s Harley. She always enjoyed riding down the highway on a beautiful, sunny day. It made her feel like she was in control of her fate for once. Nothing in her life was in her control. But when she rode it was. She couldn’t count how many times that she wanted to just keep going and never go back.
As she got closer to the city she kept seeing more and more cars that were either pulled to the side of the road or stopped right in the middle of it. She slowed down a few times to safely maneuver around them. Each time she’d take a hard look into the vehicles and then wish she hadn’t. Most of them were splattered with blood and bodily fluids. It made her picture what might have happened. She imagined a family of four. A mother, father, son, and daughter. The only Link in the car suddenly going rabid and attacking the rest of the family in a horror filled intense moment. She hoped that the open doors meant that some of the humans were actually able to get away, but that was just a mechanism to make her feel a little better. She had to have that little glimmer inside of her or she might drive off the next overpass.
Her sister Julie and her husband offered to take Charlie in after she was incarcerated for killing her husband. Charlie didn’t remember any of it and that is how she wanted it. He would grow up hating her for killing his father without ever knowing that he was the one who actually did it. She would have served her six years and be out in time for his graduation from high school. That is how it should have happened. Instead, she was speeding down the highway towards a destination that certainly had nothing but bad news for her.
She had no intentions of actually driving into the city of Denver. That was where most of the Links were likely to be. They might not like sunlight, but she was sure they would go out into it for a good meal. Julie lived just outside of the city, far enough to be out of the hustle and bustle, but just close enough to drive to work or enjoy all the good things a city might have to offer. They called it Commerce City. She never bothered to learn why. All she knew, is that her sister and her husband were far better off financially than she had ever been. Julie always hated Trevor and often pleaded with her to leave him, grab Charlie, and come live with her. Kera wished she had. Looking back on her marriage she knew that she had been foolish and weak. She rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. He abused her. He made her feel dumb and worthless. Why did she stay with him so long? There was no good answer to that question. When he wasn’t being a drunken ass, he was actually a pretty nice guy. And when he smiled at her, she’d feel that familiar rush of heat run across her body and make her face feel hot. Perhaps there was a simple answer. That feeling was like a drug that she needed. She loved him. Regardless, she had Charlie to think about. If she had the strength and courage to leave, she would have spent the last two years with Charlie instead of in prison picking fights with a fat, female version of Carrot Top, named Mammy.
Kera kicked the stand down and got off the bike while simultaneously taking her helmet off. She grabbed her shotgun off her back and held it ready. She looked around the neighborhood for signs of movement, but there was nothing. Not even a barking dog. The houses were middle class with small front yards. They were all colorful and pristine and the yards expertly kept. However, some of the homes had windows that were broken out and front doors that were gapping open inviting anyone to go inside to rape and pillage. She stood for a moment and looked at her sister’s house. It was a cute, light blue twostory home with a couple of fir trees and bus
hes decorating the yard. The front door was closed and still had the wreath from Halloween on it. She couldn’t help remembering when Julie’s husband politely asked her not to park her shitty car in front of their house near Christmas time. Evidently, it made them look bad. It was time to go inside, but her legs wouldn’t move. They screamed in pain because they were getting mixed signals. They wanted to move but they were being held still. She suddenly came to the realization that not only was she going to die that day, but that her son might be the one that kills her.
* * *
Brody sat behind the wheel of his covered jeep as Carl got into the passenger seat and slammed the door. As soon as he was inside, Brody floored the gas pedal and tore down the road. He couldn’t stop thinking about Dr. Wallace getting all teary eyed about Kera taking off.
“That was weird, right?” Brody furrowed his brow at Carl.
“Huh?” Carl held his shotgun to his chest with the barrel aimed out the window. He was ready for a herd of Links to attack the jeep.
