A Broken World

by Andrew Lauck

  My heart was beating so loudly that I had to focus to hear the voices over my anticipation. It sounded like they were arguing over whether or not I was with anyone and if they should kill me now. I judged the distance to them as no more than ten feet by how loud their voices were. This would have to go down fast and quietly, because I had no idea how outnumbered me and Kat were.

  “Kat, the second we open this door, I’m going to kill the two men outside. I need to find my supplies, and then we have to haul ass out of here. That means you stay on my six, and you don’t stop for anything, okay?”

  “Got it.”

  I took a deep breath to calm myself and tapped her on the shoulder. Kat opened the door, and I sprinted out and to the right, not pausing to check the surroundings. I closed the gap between myself and the first man in two seconds, raising the knife to neck-level and holding it so the blade curved back over my wrist. He moved to dodge the slash and the knife missed his throat and arced down across his chest. I followed up the slash by pushing off with my opposite foot and stabbing upward, sliding the knife cleanly through the underside of his chin and pulling it out to take out the second guy, the one who had knocked me out earlier.

  The look on his face was comical, full of panic and surprise as I lunged forward, tackling him to the ground. He brought up his arms and tried to punch me, but I countered and embedded the knife deep into his chest, pushing down with all my weight behind the weapon. I looked him in the eyes as the knife slid between his ribs and into the soft tissue beneath. His mouth gasped for air, and his fingers clutched against my arms before his pupils stopped moving in that cold stare I’d seen so many times before.

  I stood, withdrawing the knife from his sternum and wiping it on his shirt, and glanced around. Kat was next to me, trying to hide her obvious discomfort around the bodies. I didn’t recognize anything, so I picked a direction and moved in a jog. As much as I wanted to go faster, I didn’t want to lose Kat.

  After five long minutes of quiet jogging, we had gone full-circle, so I stopped and looked around. I noticed a difference in the wood at one end of the circular fort and checked it to find a latched door. My hand went for the latch, but Kat stopped me.

  “What if there are guards like before?” In my anxiousness, I almost made a mistake that would have cost our lives. I peered between the logs of the wall and scanned the next area. I noted the third structure up as the one I slept in and moved my body to the sides, glancing around. Sure enough, a man stood with a rifle in his arms on the other side of the door. I did a double-take. That was my rifle.

  Now pissed off and still mainlining adrenaline, I slowly removed the latch and counted to three in my head before pushing the door open. The guard wasn’t as immobilized by fear as his buddies had been, and he moved backward and held the rifle up. I slammed my shoulder into his stomach, grabbing the rifle and jerking it to the side. To his credit, the guy knew what he was doing. He blocked some of the hits I sent his way and tried to counter, but I had the advantage of being angry and on top. My elbow collided with his jaw, and I felt the soft bones snap under the force before jabbing my fist into his throat to silence his cry of pain. I leaned down and pressed my forearm across his neck, threatening to crush his trachea.

  “Where did they put my stuff? I won’t ask twice.” The man pointed to a tent behind us and to the left. I looked back to him and glared, making sure he wasn’t lying. The poor bastard was telling the truth; I could tell in his eyes. I jerked my arm forward, crushing his trachea and killing him quickly, and pulled myself off of the ground. I slung the rifle over my shoulder and handed the knife to Katherine before moving across the ground to the indicated tent.

  We moved from structure to structure, checking along the way for guards. There were five scattered throughout the area that I could tell, but I didn’t know how many were in the next area that we had just come from. If a guard wandered by and found the dead bodies…we had to move faster.

  I slipped inside the tent, holding the flap open for Kat, and crossed to a pile of goods. My duffel was there leaned up against a crate marked MRE. I debated for a second before grabbing a nearby sack, dumping it out, and stuffing in five or six of the Meals-Ready-to-Eat. They took up space, but I’d worry about that later. I removed an extra pair of jeans from my duffel bag and handed them to Kat who quietly put them on. They were a little big on her slim figure, but she wasn’t complaining. Kat took the light sack, and I slung the duffel over my shoulder, rushing outside and retracing my steps to the building I slept in earlier that night. I took the time to strap the Sig on my hip, knowing I could only use it in an emergency.

  It took me a moment to recall where I had climbed in, but once I did we were on the move again. Time was running out as we reached the wall. Even a loose patrol like this one would stumble across the bodies soon, and I felt the clock ticking as I scanned the ground for a rope. It didn’t occur to me that the people had brought a rope for me to climb until I heard a woman scream out in the next area. Dammit…

  “We need to find a door or something. Did you come through one when you got here?” I turned to Kat.

  “I did, but that was so long ago…” She trailed off, and I sensed the fear in her voice. She didn’t want to be captured again.

  “Come on.” I took her hand and led her away from the commotion, watching the wall as we ran by to find an exit. I heard someone give the order to spread out and find us, and I felt like the world was closing in around us. We either got out in the next minute or we were dead.

  Someone was watching out for us upstairs, though, because I almost didn’t notice the hinges of a gate as we ran. Coming to a halt, I lifted the steel bar in place across the door and kicked it open. I motioned Kat through and closed the door behind us, not thinking ahead.

  I turned around to find myself looking out on the open world again. I could make out a road that ran north to south in the distance and a few trees scattered around, so I led Kat in that direction, not knowing where to go or what was next.

  Chapter 8

  Day 178

  You know the feeling after winning a big game or lighting your neighbor’s lawnmower on fire because he mows his yard at five in the fucking morning while every normal person tries to sleep? That’s exactly the opposite of what I feel now. Why, you may ask, would I feel so cynical after what we just accomplished? Well, in our great escape from the crazies in the fort, we forgot about the zombies outside. I, especially, was so worried about the cannibals behind us that I didn’t pay attention to the undead ones in front of us. Wasn’t long before they were kind enough to remind us of their presence, though.

  We had been following the road for about half an hour, wandering through darkness and probably looking like a couple of idiots, before the sounds of moaning pierced the darkness ahead. It was low at first, sneaking up on us from the shadows like the nightmares of children, but gradually increased in volume as they came closer. I could guess how many there were by the intensity and span of the moans, so I pulled Kat off the road and tried to let them pass. Fear takes form in a lot of shapes and sizes; In this case, my antagonist was a massive group of zombies that I couldn’t see.

  Laying prone in a large patch of dead grass next to Kat, I forced myself to remain still even as I heard footsteps crunching nearby. She was curled into herself, trying to become as small as possible. I was about to risk a glance around, but the sound of grass crinkling to my left killed that thought. That feeling of impending doom began to rise in my chest, and I wondered if we had just escaped the fort only to be eaten by zombies. I slowly slid the knife down into my hand and prepared for a fight, but something caused me to hesitate.

  Voices. I could hear voices approaching, and the zombies must have caught it, too, because they shifted directions. Someone from the fort must have come looking for us and ventured beyond the safety of their home. Ten seconds later, a cry pierced the night, and I could hear the all-too-familiar sound of blood caught in his throat as he was being to
rn to shreds. Leaning my head up, I immediately wished I hadn’t as the scene was illuminated in the faint glow of the moonlight.

  There were three men left standing, panic obvious in their eyes as they watched one of their party being overtaken by at least fifteen zombies. He slapped and kicked at them, but one of the zombies caught his leg, and bit into the flesh of his calf. His scream soon multiplied as another zombie sunk its teeth into his wrist, coming away with flesh and blood. Two of the men brought up their rifles and fired at the horde. If they had been calm and aimed their shots, they might have succeeded, but they were panicked and wasting ammo. They might as well have been firing blanks for all the good the rifles did them. It took them ten seconds to realize their friend was dead and they would be, too, if they stayed, so the three ran back toward the fort. I gently let my head rest back against the ground.

  After the moans had become a dull whisper in the distance, we moved back onto the road and kept walking. I have to say, hoping that we picked a direction that went somewhere was hard, because neither of us knew if we were walking toward a city of undead or a safe haven. One thing that constantly nagged at me was that no one else came after us. The cannibals didn’t seem like the kind of people to just let someone escape like we did, and I wondered when they would make their move.

  The sun finally began to rise after I lost track of how far we had gone. That was the happiest I’ve ever been to see the sun rise, and I would never take it for granted again. Being able to see what’s coming is a huge advantage when walking around the middle of nowhere. Before this all went down, I wasn’t exactly a master of geography, and I hadn’t made it a priority to learn.

  Kat had remained silent for a long time and stayed next to me as we walked along. I looked over at her and saw the despair on her face, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

  “I know how badly you wanted those people back there to be different. Hell, I wanted it too. I’ll be honest. I’m tired of trying to keep going and convincing myself that I’m heading toward something that deep down I know doesn’t exist.” Kat looked over at me, shielding her eyes from the sun. “The truth is, Katherine, if you weren’t here, I don’t know if I would be able to live the delusion anymore.”

  “So, you’ve given up on people then?” she asked, stopping in the road. I turned to face her.

  “Haven’t you? I mean, after everything that’s happened to you, how can you still believe in anything else?”

  “Because somewhere out there are more people like us wandering around and trying to find a home.” She paused. “And because that belief is all I have left, Eric.” She turned and started walking again.

  I realized that was the first time I had actually seen her since we met. She couldn’t have been older than nineteen or twenty with wavy brown hair that fell to the middle of her back. Her small build belied how tough she was. I didn’t know too many people that could go through the crap she had and come out sane. I jogged up to her and kept pace, looking over at her with a new appreciation.

  “So how long were you out here before you found the fort?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t keep a diary or anything. When I found the fort, I thought, ‘Hey, maybe this is finally that safe place that I could call home.’ I was there two days before they knocked me out, and the next thing I know I woke up to find you.” She looked to the ground and went silent, probably remembering the details that she left out for my benefit.

  “It’s actually a journal.” I felt the need to defend my manhood as well as change the subject. She laughed and glanced up, looking ahead.

  “How far do you think before we find anyone?”

  I was just about to answer her when I saw the outline of a man in the distance, the heat causing the image to waver. I squinted and told Kat to stop moving.

  “What do you think? Human or zombie?” I glanced back at her and saw her squint, too. I grinned, but looked back to the figure.

  “Don’t you know how to use that thing?” she said, nodding toward the rifle across my back. I licked my lips and tilted my head in annoyance.

  “Smartass.” I slid the rifle into my hands and flipped open the scope, sighting downrange. The scope drifted over the sand, and I skimmed the sights across the road before coming to rest the crosshairs on the figure. It was a zombie about a half mile out. I reached up and ejected the magazine, making sure the assholes back at the fort hadn’t stolen my ammo before inserting it back into the receiver.

  Adjusting the sights, I knelt down and took my time breathing in and out calmly. When I felt my heart was slowed enough, I exhaled and counted to two before squeezing the trigger. The round flew true, and I saw brain matter exit the skull, leaving the road splattered in gore.

  Ejecting the round and sliding a new one in with a comforting click, I flipped the bolt down and made sure he was traveling alone before standing and strapping the sling over my shoulder. I looked back at Katherine.

  “What do you think? I give it a nine.” I smiled, feeling very full of myself. She just shrugged and nodded.

  “Seven. I’ve seen better, and there’s always room for improvement.” She laughed and started walking again. With my ego deflated, I followed in silence.

  Chapter 9

  Still Day 178 (Approx. 1400 Hours)

  I regretted making that shot for the two hours following due to a certain companion nagging me. Honestly, the zombie was the lucky one, because he didn’t have to listen to her.

  “So, when are you gonna teach me?” That question had grown old an hour ago. I sighed, stopping to face her.

  “Look, Kat, you don’t need to know how to use a gun. As long as this,” I held up the gun and shook it for emphasis, “is in my hands, you have nothing to worry about.” She huffed and folded her arms, walking angrily forward. I shook my head and followed behind her, watching the road ahead and behind for anything suspicious. I found it was pointless to look for “out of the ordinary” because nothing was ordinary anymore. Ordinary had been tossed out the window along with humanity the second Patient Zero took a bite out of his best friend forever.

  “Katherine, you can’t be mad at me forever.” She didn’t slow down. “Come on. I just don’t think you need to know how to shoot.” I had my true reason for avoiding the weapon lesson, but I wouldn’t admit it to her.

  “From now on, if you feel like talking to me just save your breath, because I’m not listening to you.”

  “Oh, because that’s so matu—” I cut off as I caught sight of movement wavering in the distant heat. “Kat, get off the road.” She must have sensed the shift in my tone, because she stopped and turned back toward me. I motioned for her to move to the side of the road as I jogged up past her and knelt, readying my rifle.

  I waited a few seconds, trying to ascertain my target. The amount of dust being kicked up confused me, and it was much larger in width than a zombie. The thought came to me as I brought up my scope to check. Sure enough, it was a car.

  I slowly edged back toward Katherine and waited, my stomach clenching in anxiety. It wasn’t so much that I was scared, but more that I couldn’t trust anyone after the last encounter. The driver of this car could have been hostile or friendly, a cannibal or worse.

  The tension only grew as the car drove past us, skidding to a stop one hundred feet away. After several seconds, it moved in reverse until I stood ten feet from the driver. The car looked like a modified Dodge, with bars over the tinted windows, extended grills on the front bumper with spikes on the end, and a tow hitch on the back. I must say, the car looked badass.

  After two full minutes of silence straight out of an old western, with only the sounds of the wind and distant birds passing through, the driver’s door opened. I readied the rifle as the man stepped out, but I was almost too curious to shoot. The man wore a gas mask to top off the long coat that was tucked neatly into the tops of his boots. I must have had a look of utter confusion, because a laugh slipped out from the mask’s filter, and the man took it o
ff, staring back at me with a huge grin on his face.

  “Howdy, stranger!” he said casually, offering his hand to shake. I glanced down at his hand and slung the rifle, extending my hand hesitantly to meet his while my left hand moved to hover over the Sig. “Can’t say I expected to see anyone normal out here anymore. You sure are a sight for sore eyes.”

  “Yeah, you too. Nice car you’ve got there.” I nodded toward the Dodge, and he laughed again.

  “Yessir! Did the modifications myself. She’s a beauty.” I had no intention to let this drag out, so I rushed the conversation along by getting straight to the point.

  “So, you just drive around in the middle of nowhere for the hell of it?” He looked me over, and his eyes wandered past me to Kat, so I stepped to the side and kept his eyes on me. Just in case he didn’t get it, I cocked my head in a “Try anything and you’re dead” way to send the message home that Kat was off limits.

  “No, sir. I was actually on my way back from the garage. We were low on fuel, so I wanted to bring the last of the reserves to the town.”

  “Town?” Kat stepped forward nimbly, sounding more desperate than hopeful. I rolled my eyes in frustration, because she apparently didn’t know that this guy could be dangerous. As I had learned, even a bullshit story can sound truthful to willing ears. I gently nudged her back a step and looked back to the man.

  “Where’s this town you’re talking about, because we just came from that way?”

  He looked thoughtfully down the road and rubbed his chin.

  “Well, there’s a side road a ways back that takes you out to the town. You must have missed it.”