by M. J. Haag
A strong hand wrapped around my bruised elbow. I yelped and tried to pull my arm back. Drav moved in front of me, his large fingers still pressing into my sensitive skin.
“Ow,” I said.
Drav trailed his hand down my arm. I winced when he skimmed over my elbow.
“You can’t grab me there. It’s bruised.”
“Bruised?” He cocked his head and lifted my arm.
Drav’s nostrils flared, and his eyes widened. I didn’t like the look on the big brute’s face, and my pulse jumped in alarm. His gaze fixated on my sleeve. My dried blood dotted the cuff from where I’d wiped my bloody nose.
He bunched the fabric between his fingers and pulled back hard. I stumbled forward, the sound of tearing fabric cutting through the otherwise quiet world around us. I gaped up at him, as he yanked half my sleeve off my arm and held it up in his hand. He growled at the fabric then paced away.
In stunned silence, I watched him quickly dig a hole and toss my sleeve in. Could my life get any weirder?
Shivering at the cool air on my exposed arm, I turned toward the distant glow of Oklahoma City and started walking. In two steps, he was beside me.
We didn’t speak as we moved closer and closer to the outlaying north-eastern portion of the city. Very faintly, I heard a quick succession of pops. The noises grew with each passing step. Worry twisted in my stomach. Shots meant infected, hellhounds, more Dravs or all three. I hoped Mom, Dad, and Ryan would be safe.
When the first houses came into sight, Drav slowed. I kept going until he grabbed my arm again.
“Will you please stop yanking on my arms? They’re going to fall off,” I said in a harsh whisper.
Drav blinked at me then let go.
“Thank you. Next time try saying stop or wait.”
He motioned to a copse of trees and nudged me in that direction when I didn’t immediately start moving. I looked at the houses and reluctantly gave into his urging. Some of the lights were on, some weren’t. Who knew what lurked inside. Infected? Scared humans with guns? Both would be dangerous.
In the shadow of the trees, he watched the houses. I shifted my weight from foot to foot and yawned until my eyes watered. He kept glancing at me but didn’t say anything.
As we stood there, I realized the kind of decisions that lay before me. Life or death ones. I’d always thought the saying, “or die trying” sounded so melodramatic. But now it was my reality.
Sitting heavily, I leaned against the trunk of the nearest tree.
Was I smart to keep trying to get home? I didn’t know. I didn’t see any safer option. If I stayed in the trees, one of those hounds would find me eventually. Or the infected. I listened to the pop, pop, pop and decided, at least in the city, I might pick up a gun. Or die trying.
I shivered and closed my eyes as I thought about what waited for me.
Hellhounds, zombies, demon looking man-people who liked breaking necks and ripping off jaws…I was so fucked.
Seven
Something tickled my neck, and I awoke with a gasp. The night sky had lightened with the approaching dawn, and the air no longer rang with distant pops. In fact, an eerie silence blanketed the area, including the vacant space before me where Drav had stood.
I turned my head to check the trees to my left for him and almost screamed. Drav blinked at me, just inches away, then stood from his squatted position.
Taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart, I looked down at myself. I didn’t know what I expected. Blood? Wounds? Signs of a recent groping? To my surprise, I found Drav’s dark shirt covering me. I touched the warm material and looked up at him as he stepped away to watch the houses once more.
I sat for a moment, confused as hell. Nothing about Drav made sense. Standing, I winced at the pressure on my bladder. How long had I slept? Maybe an hour? Two? And he’d watched over me. Why? I shook my head, unable to believe I’d slept at all.
With his shirt in my hands, I cautiously approached him. He looked down at me, his gaze sweeping over my face and hair as I held out his shirt.
“Thank you,” I said.
He studied me for a moment longer before he took the shirt with a grunt of acknowledgement. He tugged the shirt over his head then went back to watching the houses.
Since he didn’t show any sign of wanting to leave soon, the need to pee had me glancing back at the trees again. The inky shadows had me questioning how badly I needed to go. Bad enough to seriously consider dropping my pants where I stood. I looked at Drav and knew that wasn’t an option, given his previous crotch groping and interest in my boobs.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I turned toward the trees. He stood in front of me before I took a second step. I looked up at him. He blinked at me.
“I have to pee,” I said.
He didn’t move.
“If I go stand behind a tree, is something going to attack me? My loose use of ‘something’ includes you.”
He blinked at me again.
“I don’t like when you do that.”
He didn’t blink, which freaked me out more.
“How much of what I say do you understand?”
He turned away from me and walked into the trees a few feet, making me think he didn’t understand much at all. He looked back and motioned for me to follow.
“I don’t want to leave. I want to go home.” I pointed to the nearest house. “I just wanted to pee, first.”
“You pee. No attack. Includes me.”
My mouth dropped open. When he’d repeated boob and grab, I’d thought he’d just parroted the words.
“No leave. Go home,” he said.
He moved toward me, and I backed up a step, my heart hammering. He understood me. Not only understood me, but what he’d just said almost made it sound like he would take me home. That couldn’t be right. Yet, unlike my previous companions, I still lived. I opened my mouth to ask if he really meant that he would help me get home, but that didn’t come out.
“Why did you kill Kevin and Josh? And probably Russ? Are you going to kill me? Where did you come from? Why are you here? What is happening?”
He frowned. “No.”
“No? Those weren’t ‘no’ questions.”
“No leave. Go home. You pee.”
“Can you at least tell me what’s happening?”
“Pee.”
He stood before me, a solid mass of authority. He didn’t need to cross his arms to make that point either.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know pee. Fine. But, I can’t pee with you staring at me. It’s creepy. If it’s safe, go back to watching the houses.” I didn’t trust his perverse curiosity.
He moved back into his watchful position. I hurried to a nearby tree and unbuttoned my pants, but before I tugged my pants down, I debated. Face him to make sure he didn’t peek or the woods so I wasn’t attacked with my pants down? I scooted over so the tree would hopefully block his view. I faced the woods, squatted, and power peed like my life depended on it.
When I finished, I zipped up and tried not to think about the grossness. The world was ending, and I had bigger problems than no toilet paper.
I turned and found Drav looking my direction. As I joined him, I didn’t acknowledge the fact he’d probably tried to sneak a peek. Thankfully, the few houses nearest the trees where we hid had no lights shining.
“My home is on the other side of the city,” I said, still unsure what he could understand.
When he didn’t answer, I sighed and studied the houses before us.
“What’s smarter? Cutting through or going around? Cutting through might mean running into infected. But, it could also mean water, food…” I stopped thinking aloud when I realized the other reason I wanted to cut through instead of going around. I wanted to find the humans with the guns I’d heard. I glanced at Drav, wondering what would happen then, and found him watching me, his head slightly tilted.
Crap. I shouldn’t have mentioned food. I really hoped I didn’t look like his
idea of a steak breakfast.
Pretending like I hadn’t just unnerved myself, I made the decision and took a step forward.
“If we see any infected, you have my permission to toss me over your shoulder and run.”
He didn’t try to stop me as I crept toward another grouping of trees closer to the houses. When I reached them, I checked for the next bit of protective cover. Slowly, dash by mad-dash, I made my way into the first of many subdivisions.
The neighborhood appeared unnaturally quiet. With the sun almost kissing the horizon, there should have been kids up, getting ready for school, parents leaving to go to work. Movement. Noise. Something. Instead, there was the whisper of wind rattling the few dry leaves still clinging to otherwise barren branches and the snap of a sheet that billowed in the wind. I glanced at the white material caught in the window and my stomach tightened with worry. Everything seemed so desolate.
The further we scurried, the quieter it got. Not even the occasional bark of someone’s dog reached our ears.
I saw the first infected after three blocks of traveling. Before I could react, Drav pulled me behind a tree. With a hammering heart, I waited as a man in sweatpants and t-shirt shambled up the center of the street, his bare feet dragging on the pavement with a rasp. The sound burrowed into my mind. Crsht. Crsht. The need to cover my ears made me twitch. Drav’s hand brushed over my back, a weird comfort that gave me courage to keep watching the infected’s progress.
The infected man could have passed as a sleep walker if not for the bites on his arm. He didn’t turn his head to look around or veer from his ambling path down the center of the road. Drawing a deep breath after he passed from sight, I prepared to dash to the next tree then saw the bloody trail he’d left behind. A shiver chased through me, and I forced myself to focus on reaching the next area of cover.
Sightings became more frequent as the sun rose to show a beautiful, clear blue November sky. I doubted the sun had anything to do with the amount of infected drifting around. Those numbers likely had everything to do with the increase of houses.
When I moved to dash to the next form of cover, a car in a driveway, Drav put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me. I glanced at him, and my eyes widened in surprise at the sight of his tearing eyes. For a moment, I thought he was crying.
“No,” he said softly.
He blinked profusely, the light making his eyes water as he looked around. Before I could ask why he’d said no, he grabbed the side of my shirt and tugged me back the way we’d come.
The sudden and rapid pop, pop, pop not far away made me jump. Drav didn’t mess around with more tugging. He flipped me over his shoulder and took off running. When he lurched upward and the distance between my head and the ground tripled, I almost screamed.
A second later, we landed on the inside of a fence. He didn’t stop moving. Something cracked and we were suddenly inside someone’s kitchen. He set me on my feet and turned to push the door shut. It didn’t latch since he’d busted the bolt right through the jamb. I reached around him to use the security chain.
Outside the pops continued, a sign of people nearby. People with guns, who could possibly help me get home. Humans.
I started moving toward the living room at the front of the house, but Drav snagged me again and spun me around.
“No.”
“But there’s—”
“No,” he said more forcefully.
I swallowed any further objection. When I stayed silent, he seemed to calm slightly and began to look around the room. I did, too. Items from pulled out drawers lay scattered everywhere. The people had either left in a hurry or their home had been looted.
I glanced down the hall at all the closed doors.
“Are we safe in here?” I whispered.
Drav nudged me toward the hall, and I hoped that meant yes. At the end of the hall, he turned and sat, blocking me in at the back.
“What are you doing?”
He laid his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.
“Uh…” I waited for him to do something more, but he didn’t. He just stayed there.
The noises outside remained consistent, neither moving closer nor fading. My ticket home couldn’t be more than a block or two away. I just needed to get past Drav, sneak out a broken door, hop a six-foot fence…shit. Front door then. I’d need to watch the front yard and street before even thinking about opening the door.
First, I’d have to cross over Drav. The hall wasn’t wide so his bent knees created a barrier for what would have been an easy step. His wide shoulders and overall largeness didn’t help either. I moved a little, making a slight noise to test him. His eyes remained closed. I lifted my foot and was halfway over him when his fingers closed around the ankle of my anchored foot. I yipped in surprise and almost fell on him before my other foot landed hard on the other side of him. He slowly tipped his head up at me and opened one eye.
“No.”
The soft way he said the word made me shiver.
“I-I was just going to look for food. I’m h-hungry.”
Drav tilted his head at me and released my ankle. He nudged me back as he stood up. He didn’t move away, but stared down at me with very little space between us. When he leaned in and inhaled near my hair, I swallowed hard and hoped he wouldn’t somehow detect the lie.
Finally, he stepped back and motioned that I could go. I retreated down the hall and went to the kitchen. The fridge still hummed, and I checked inside of it. Nothing remained but condiments. I checked the cupboards next. They’d been cleared out, too, except for some cans of peaches. I grabbed one then started looking for a can opener. The first drawer I opened had odds and ends and a pair of sunglasses.
“Look,” I said, holding them up. He blinked at the pink and bedazzled frames. “They’ll cover your eyes so the light doesn’t hurt. Like this.” I put them on then took them off and handed them to him. “If you wear them, we can go back outside. I can go home.”
He looked them over then set them on the counter.
“No.” He opened the next drawer. “Hungry.”
With frustration, I searched the contents of that drawer, too. Finding the can opener, I opened the can and poured the peaches into a clean bowl. He closely observed everything I did. I stabbed a peach half with a fork and took a bite.
“Are you hungry?” I asked after I swallowed. Gathering my courage, and hoping like hell he didn’t say “people,” I asked, “What do you eat?”
He stole the fork from my hand and ate the rest of the peach.
“Uh…okay.” Peaches were good. Much better than people.
Once I finished eating, though, he herded me back down the hall.
“You sure you don’t want to try those sunglasses?”
“No.” He sat in his same spot and closed his eyes.
This time, I sat as well. He hadn’t left me much room. I wedged myself between him and the wall and sighed. My phone dug into my butt, a silent comfort. Temptation prodded me to check it, but I didn’t want to bring it to Drav’s attention. Instead, I closed my eyes and forced myself to relax. Hopefully, he’d been awake longer than I had before my nap. And, I hoped the little bit of sleep I’d gotten would be enough to keep me awake until he fell asleep. While I waited, I imagined the yards we’d crossed, the direction of the shots, and the cover I might find between here and there.
After a few minutes, my thoughts began drifting to what I would do once I reached home. What if my family had been infected? Where would I go? What was left in the world? Did we, the uninfected humans have any chance of surviving? How many hellhounds prowled out there? How many humans had already been infected? There was only one way to learn. I had to go explore. I had to find the people shooting and figure out what happened. I had to know my family was safe.
Eight
I waited a long time. The shots started to fade. Several times, I caught myself on the verge of dozing off. The last time, I twitched and knew I had to try, now or n
ever. I opened my eyes and observed Drav for several minutes. He had closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. He seemed asleep.
Taking my time, I got to my feet. If he caught me again, I’d say I had to pee. However, this time, he didn’t move.
Carefully, I made my way down the hallway and to the front door. I looked through the window, scanning the street, then slipped outside.
My nerves stretched tight as I sprinted to the first bit of cover. Alert for infected, hellhounds, and, possibly, a killer shadow man, I bolted for the next bit of cover. Sprint by sprint, I made my way south-west, further into the city. Tracking the shooters wasn’t hard. They’d left a trail of dead infected bodies. However, the gun shots attracted more infected to the area, too.
A few times, I thought one spotted me. However, the infected never ran after me like they had on the road. The more I saw, the more I began seeing patterns. They shambled fairly directionless until they heard something. Then they ran toward the sound, but their speed only lasted for short bursts. So, if one heard me, I would need to quietly out distance it to avoid attracting more.
The gun fire grew louder around lunch, and I spotted the shooter. He stood by his truck, which idled at an intersection. The gun in his hands remained aimed down the road to the left. Knowing better than to call out, I waved my arms in the air to get his attention.
“There’s a live one out there,” I heard someone else call. “Ten o’clock.”
Every infected between me and the shooter dropped, one right after another, gunned down before the man by the truck turned toward me. Movement near a chimney to the right drew my attention, and I looked up at a man dressed in brown and black. Blonde hair stuck out from his black beanie.
“I’ve got you,” he called. “Get to the truck.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I sprinted toward the truck, my shoes thumping against the blacktop. The shooter on the ground, dressed in the same black and brown clothing as the man on the roof, waved me past. A single shot rang out behind me.
I opened the back door of the huge pickup truck and climbed in. Behind the wheel sat a third man dressed similarly to the other two. I quickly shut the door as he scanned the area around the truck.
