White Flag of the Dead

by Joseph Talluto

  We crossed the field and hit the trail. The trailer was heavy, but moved easily. I kept to an easy pace, not wanting to tire myself too much in case I had to move quickly. My senses were completely keyed up, and I found myself listening harder than I had ever before, and staring longer at unidentified shadows and shapes much more than I had ever before. I smiled to myself. So this is what prey feel like.

  We rode without incident to the Turtle Head crossing, and I was amazed at how quiet everything was. I had heard a few groans and such as I passed some yards, and at one point I could see some dark figures huddled over another on the ground through the slats of a fence. I could see many zombies in windows as I passed, and more than one beat on the windows of their prisons in futility. I kept moving and never looked twice. I didn’t need those images haunting me as I rode quietly past.

  Turtle Back Lake was quiet, and I decided to rest for a minute and check on Jake. I stopped near the water and parked under a tree. My legs protested as I got off, not being used to this kind of riding. Jakey smiled as I got him out, and one whiff told me why he was smiling. He had managed to fill his diaper and was waiting for a change. I got the towel off the Enfield and laid it out on the ground. I put Jake on the ground and started to change him.

  As I was working on Jake, I noticed a car slowly pulling into the Turtle Back Lake parking lot. It was a small compact car, and looked to be crammed full of stuff. There were two men in the front, and they seemed to be running on empty. From where I was, I could see them fairly clearly without being noticed. The tall grass hid the brightly colored trailer, and since I was kneeling by Jake, I was hidden as well. The car had numerous dings and dents, and the front fender looked as if it had been dented then fixed with a baseball bat. Dark stains were on the grill, and I could imagine how they got there.

  The two men got out and looked around, and I could see they were both armed with Glock pistols. They were of medium height, one slightly taller than the other, and both were dark haired. One had a tattoo on his left arm, but I couldn’t see what it was. They looked like they had been running for a while and needed to rest. I didn’t get any bad vibes off them, and I needed to stand at some point. But I didn’t want to get shot for my trouble.

  I figured the direct route was the best. I stood up and placed myself behind the tree, Jacob on the towel behind me. The two men had passed me and were making for the lake. Unholstering my SIG, I said loud enough to hear, “Don’t do anything stupid, you’re covered and I really am not in the mood for a fight today.”

  The effect of my words was interesting. The two men stiffened and spun around, hands streaking towards their guns. Their hands stopped when they saw I had my gun out and as one, they placed their hands up in front of them, keeping a wary eye on me.

  Tattooed man looked me over and spotted my bicycle behind me. “Thanks for not killing us, you sure had the opportunity. Nice ride, by the way.”

  “Thanks.” I said. “I figure there’s not enough of us left to be shooting each other, so there’s no reason not to try to get along. But everybody is jumpy as hell, so you can understand my precaution.”

  “No problem.” Tattoo said. “Can I put my hands down?”

  “Sure.” I safed my SIG and, looking Tattoo in the eyes, holstered my weapon. The move was not lost on Tattoo or the other man. By holstering without looking, I was showing them I knew where my weapon was and knew how to use it.

  “Where you guys from?” I asked, curious as to the situation in other parts.

  “We rolled out of Los Platos this morning.” Tattoo said. “The wave had hit us a day earlier and if we didn’t get out when we had the chance, we weren’t going to make it.”

  “Wave?” I asked. Lack of power really had limited my informational sources.

  “Wave of the dead. Many of the infected that were in the city started moving to the outlying areas in search of prey. They would kill or infect, people would die and reanimate, and move on to the next. House by house, they broke in, killed and consumed. Duncan, there,” Tattoo indicated with a flick of his thumb, “Saw two cops surrounded and killed by a mob of over a hundred of the things. They never had a chance to even fire their guns.” Tattoo sighed. “But I gotta give the man credit, he went back to the carnage after the zombies had left and got the cops’ guns for protection. We figured we needed to bolt as soon as possible, so we threw everything we had into his car and made a run for it.”

  I thought for a second. Maybe this was what I had been dreading and was running from. Something had warned me to go and this just confirmed I did the right thing for me and Jake.

  “Sounds like you did the right thing. Name’s John, by the way.” I said, holding out my hand.

  Tattoo shook it. “Tom Carter. My friends call me Tommy. At least they would if…” His voice trailed off and I got his meaning loud and clear. He had lost everyone as well.

  Jacob chose that moment to introduce himself by babbling fairly loudly. He did that from time to time when he felt he was being ignored. I went over to him and picked him up. He smiled at the two men, and buried his head in my shoulder again.

  Tommy got over his shock to see a baby to say, “Holy shit. You’ve got a baby with you.”

  Duncan seemed shocked as well, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared for a second, then went back to the car. He sat on the other side of the vehicle, away from us. I cocked an eyebrow in question at Tommy.

  “Don’t worry about Duncan,” Tommy said, “He’s gonna be quiet for a while, but then he’ll be all right. He lost his brother and his brother’s family to the dead, just so you know.”

  “That’s too bad.” I said. “Seems like everyone left alive has lost somebody.”

  “You, too, it would seem.” Said Tommy, indicating Jake.

  “Yeah, me, too. This is Jake, by the way.” I said, my tone of voice telling him I was unwilling to go into it further.

  Tommy changed the subject. “Where are you headed? You can’t be going too far on a bike.”

  “I figured to head south, maybe hook up with other survivors or a town that hasn’t been infected. Find a place to settle into while this whole mess works itself out.” Even as I said it, it didn’t seem realistic. But it was all I had at the moment until something else came up that sounded better. “What about you two?” I asked.

  Tommy shrugged. “We had planned to hole up at my house after his house got overrun. But when they started just going house to house looking for people to eat, it was time to leave. I saw a family that had boarded up their windows get attacked, and in no time, at least a hundred of those things were tearing at the windows and doors. The boards didn’t last long, and the family was eventually slaughtered. These things would beat their hands off trying to get into a house if they thought there was meat in there.”

  “Sounds like you guys have seen a lot.” I said, shifting Jake, who was testing his “twisty” powers.

  Tommy sighed. “Sometimes I wonder what the point is. Why bother to go on? Be real simple to just eat a bullet and join everyone who’s died, you know?”

  I nodded. I had been there, and the only thing bringing me back from the brink was the little guy in my arms.

  We got lost in our own separate thoughts, so much so that we jumped when Duncan leaped up. “We got company!” he yelled, pointing towards the entrance to the preserve.

  9

  Tommy and I both craned our necks to see what Duncan was pointing at, and we saw a group of people slowly making their way down the lane towards the lake. There was about fifteen of them, and it was obvious they were not among the living. Their shambling, disjointed walk was the first clue, and the second was when one of them stumbled, his arm, which had been hanging by a tendon, snapped off, and he didn’t seem to notice.

  Tommy and Duncan fingered their weapons and looked at me. I took the situation in and made a decision. “If we stay, we might get them all. But a battle will attract a lot of attention. I’m taking off back on the trail. I’ll
fight on my terms.” I said, taking Jake back to the bike and strapping him in.

  Tommy called to me, “What about us? Our car can’t take ramming any more of them, and we don’t have enough ammo to get them all.”

  I looked at Tommy. “Your car can fit on the trail. Get moving and follow me.”

  Tommy didn’t need to be told twice, especially when the zombies caught sight of us and started groaning, their pace increasing at the sight of food. Duncan was already in the car, looking anxiously over his shoulder and mentally calculating how long it will take for the zombies to get to us. Tommy ran to the car and started the engine. I pushed the bike and trailer back to the trail and guided Tommy and Duncan over to the path. Their car was just narrow enough to fit comfortably on the trail, but if we had to cross any bridges or go through any tunnels, we were going to be in trouble.

  I rode quickly, putting as much distance between the zombies and myself as I could. I knew they were going to follow, but hopefully they would lose the trail after a little bit. The nice thing about the trail was it curved frequently, so the zombies were going to lose sight of us fast.

  Their groaning faded into the distance as we headed back to the trail crossroads, and I took the south fork. I figured to stay on the trail as much as I could, and avoid population centers. Eventually, I figured to hit Interstate 57,and be able to head south with the hope that other towns had survived and would welcome other survivors. That was the plan, anyway.

  After riding for a while, Tommy honked his horn and got my attention. I pulled up and he got out of the car. He was holding a length of rope and I eyed it curiously.

  “Feel like taking it easy for a bit?” he asked, tying one end to the rear bumper of the car.

  I got his meaning and grinned. “Sure, thanks. The trail just heads south for a while. It will cross two roads, then merge with a main highway for a bit. That will be Oak Lawn Ave. It might get a little snarcky there, so we’re going to have to be careful.” I took the other end of the rope and tied it to my bike, leaving about twenty feet of space.

  “Try not to go too fast, hey?” I asked

  “No worries.” said Tommy, as he got back into the car.

  We started off with myself and Jake in tow, and it was a great relief not to have to pedal. We had a few moments where I nearly ran into the back of the car, but that was because I wasn’t paying close enough attention. Jakey loved it. We were going fast enough to get some wind in his face, and he laughed nearly the whole time.

  Tommy managed to get to Oak Lawn Avenue without a problem, but I could see things were not going to go completely smooth. The road had quite few cars on it, and we could see several were occupied. I untied the rope and coiled it back up, tucking it into the bumper. I eased up to the car’s windows and Tommy poked his head out.

  “Where to, chief?” he asked.

  I looked at the road ahead. There were several cars in front of us, and it looked to be difficult for the car to get past. On the bike, I would have no trouble, but I really couldn’t leave Duncan and Tommy behind. I thought for a minute, then said “We can push some of the unoccupied cars out of the way on the left side, and that should let you through. Watch the occupied ones, though. They might not be fully dead.”

  Tommy ducked back inside, and after a moments discussion and a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors, Duncan got out of the car and started moving vehicles. I left Jake with Tommy, who got out to talk to him, and helped Duncan shove several vehicles out of the way. We moved three of them, and headed for a fourth when Duncan suddenly yelled.

  “Shit, its got me!” A zombie had reached out of the back window of a sedan and had managed to grab his belt. He tried to pull away but its grip was too strong. His struggles were starting to pull the zombie out of the car, and I knew we would have real problems if he dragged it out. “Get it off!” He was starting to sound hysterical, and I didn’t need to attract any more attention. Tommy looked up from his playing with Jake and started forward.

  I waved him off and, unslinging my crowbar, went up behind the zombie. It was a hugely fat woman, and upon inspection, I realized there was no way she was going to fit through the window. But her very ugly head, topped with brilliant orange hair, had managed to get out of the window, and her mouth was snapping at Duncan’s waist.

  “Help!” Duncan yelled, straining to break her grip.

  I lined up behind the woman and took a two handed grip on my crowbar. I raised it and smashed it down on her head. She slumped down, then raised her head and looked at me, hissing in frustration at a meal about to get away. I swung again and cracked her skull, causing her to droop and slide back into the car. The motion caused Duncan to slide towards the window, and his shoes squealed in protest as they were dragged over the pavement “Shiiiitt!” he hollered.

  Part of me wondered if he was going to be pulled into the car like a cartoon character. But he stopped and I used the hook on the crowbar to pry the fingers from his belt.

  “Thanks, man.” Duncan said. “I thought that bitch had me for sure.”

  “No problem.” I said. “Was your belt buckle stuck?” I asked.

  Duncan stared at me for a second, then slapped himself on the forehead. “Don’t tell Tommy,” he said. “I get enough shit as it is.”

  “Deal. Let’s get moving.” I headed back to Jake and mounted up.

  Tommy was able to move around the cars and I could see other zombies trapped in vehicles, pawing at the glass and moaning. Some were stuck in their seatbelts, and the summer heat was not kind to those in cars. One looked to have very nearly liquefied. I shuddered at what that had to smell like.

  We moved down Oak Lawn Avenue towards the office center, and didn’t see any more activity. Part of me wondered where everyone was, the other part was grateful it was quiet. I saw more evidence of hurried exits, and in a parking lot several cars looked like they had been broken into. We moved past a tanning spa and saw two police cars sitting in the parking lot. I waved Tommy to a halt and rode over to investigate. Checking the windows, I didn’t see anything in the vehicles. Trying the door on the first one, I found it unlocked. The car had nothing of value in it, so I decided to pop the trunk and see if there was anything in there.

  My eyes widened at the sight of the trunk. There was an AR style rifle, extra magazines, extra ammunition for the rifle, plus 9mm ammo. There was shotgun ammunition, but no shotgun. I found some gloves, a balaclava, and some goggles. I guessed this was some kind of riot gear. What they needed it for in Turley Park, I could only guess. I grabbed what I could and brought it back to the car. Duncan’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head when I brought up the booty, and he jumped out to help me. Tommy jumped out to check the other car, but it was locked. He smashed the window and popped the trunk. He didn’t find another AR, but he did find some 40 S&W ammo, another set of gloves, and a bulletproof vest. He took it all and headed back to the car, stopping to give me the ammo for my gun.

  We were grinning like idiots when the wall fell in. Literally. Tommy’s smashing of the window must have roused the local zombies, because they managed to cave in the section of fence of the yard they were stuck in. There had to be fifty of them, and they came boiling out of the yard like a fetid, pus-filled avalanche. Their groans chorused as they saw us and started to give chase. They were ten yards from us and closing fast. I ran to the bike and hopped on, throwing the gear and ammo on top of my carefully piled stuff.

  Duncan froze for a second, then drew his weapon and fired at the mass. His bullet stuck a man squarely in the chest, knocking him down, but causing no real damage. Jake screamed at the noise, and the zombies groaned louder.

  “Save it!” I yelled, pedaling away. “Get moving, there’s too many!”

  Tommy gunned the engine and Duncan barely closed the door as zombies slammed into the car, clawing at the metal and glass. The car shook off the zombies and caught up to me, with the crowd in pursuit. Tommy leaned out the window. “Where now?”

  I shook my head as I
pedaled for all I was worth. Jake was crying, and I could hear groans all around me as the moans of our pursuers called forth the minions of hell. I was thinking furiously of where we could go, when the answer came literally around the corner.

  I spotted a gas station down a crossroad and headed for it. It was one of those large stations with a big convenience store. It was out of the line of sight of the zombies chasing us, and I hoped like hell they wouldn’t see us going for it.

  I sped into the station and zipped around to the back of the building. There was a wall behind separating it from a subdivision and little else. A dumpster was nearby, but it was empty. I jumped off the bike and tried the back door. It was locked. Naturally, I thought. I grabbed my crowbar and went to work on the door, trying to open it as quickly and quietly as I could without damaging it.

  I managed to pry the frame just enough to get the door open and I pushed the bike and trailer inside. Just as I got the trailer in I was wondering where my new friends had gone off to. I got my answer as a now-quiet car coasted to the back of the station, and Tommy and Duncan both jumped out, grabbing weapons and ammo.

  As they jumped inside, Tommy said breathlessly, “Would you believe we ran out of fucking gas?”

  I just shook my head at the irony and closed the door, using the crowbar to bend the frame back and secure the door. Tommy had run to the front door to make sure it was locked, and came skidding back to the counter, unlimbering his rifle and spreading out the clips on the counter. Duncan set up a position by the soft drinks section, after being shown how to use the rifle by Tommy, and I stayed over by the drink machine. I still had a crying Jake with me, and pulled out a bottle for him to take for lunch. I prayed it would keep him quiet until the worst of the danger had passed, if it did. I laid my carbine on the floor in front of me and sat back against the machine. I pulled out a spare magazine and placed it nearby.

  We were actually in a better position than I could have hoped for. The glass windows were mostly covered in advertising posters, and stacks of water softener salt reinforced the windows up to chest height. Shelving units further obstructed anything looking in, and the place was in sufficient disarray that we would be hard to spot if we held still. The only thing that might give us away was sound, and my big concern on that was Jake. He was generally a happy baby, and liked to hear himself. Unfortunately, in our current situation, that could prove fatal.