by TW Brown
I got across and was pulling it up when two more people from the cabin arrived to help. We made it just in time and a few more of the little zombies ended up being shoved forward and into the moat, but that is also where these ones in particular seem to be just a bit different from the others. Regular zombies often just step off the edge and fall into the moat, but these are very aware and are fanning out along the lip. I swear they are thinking. No matter what the reason, this is a disturbing revelation.
“What were you doing out in that field by yourself?” a voice snapped.
Hmm, Dr. Zahn is awake.
“I was checking out a zombie,” I said with a shrug. “And I think that we need to have a meeting.”
“You know the rules…nobody goes out alone,” the doctor snapped. “You could have gotten yourself killed, and quite honestly, we cannot afford to lose the manpower.”
“Yeah, well I had Jamal watching my back from the tower,” I said, trying my best to sound confident and not like some child who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “And maybe we can discuss all this after we clear the place out.”
I hiked my thumb at the zombies that were on the other side of the trench. The thing is, I’d sort of had my back to them during this very brief exchange. When I turned back…most of them were already gone. The zombies were leaving!
Now I have seen them do a lot of stuff. Some of it seems strange, but I have never seen a zombie walk away when there is a living, breathing person just a few feet away. It was already peculiar that none of them were just tumbling into the trench as they reached for us. Seriously, zombies are not thinkers. They react to the newest stimulus (that is a word I hear a lot from Dr. Zahn).
“This is the behavior that we observed when Jon, Steve, and I made that trip…” Dr. Zahn’s voice trailed off as Melissa turned and walked back up to the cabin.
Sure, it had been several weeks since Steve had died, but she was not that much better. I still walked up on her crying pretty much any day our paths crossed. I did my best to keep busy and stay away from her, Cheryl and Melinda—each of them had lost their husband in that raid. Of course we had lost a lot of good people that day, but that was the way of things now.
When I thought about it in those terms, a little voice in the back of my head told me that I might be getting just a touch pessimistic. Maybe, but things were the way they were and there was nothing that could really be done about it.
Maybe this hard shell I am building has a little to do with some of the other things that I know. Like how Jon, who was bitten by a wolf-zombie and was apparently immune, and Jake, who has a healed bite scar that nobody but Jon and I seem to know about, used their blood as a bio-weapon against a settlement down in what used to be called La Grande. Sure, they had some sort of evil plan in store for our little group, and apparently were kidnapping people from some of the other small groups in the area, but what Jon and Jake did stretches what I am okay with. Basically, they infected an entire settlement of people by dumping their blood into the food or water or whatever.
It should have been an easy thing to take down these zombies, but it really wasn’t. No matter who you are, if you have a shred of humanity left, it is still difficult to take down a child. Granted, none of us were foolish enough to let something like emotion get in the way as we went about it, but still…
To make matters worse, once again these zombies acted different. When we dropped the drawbridge, they should have rushed us, heedless of the weapons we held. But even the few that had actually remained were still hesitant. We took them down and actually had to chase the rest. Now, as we closed in, they did turn and attempt to attack, but I swear those things were trying to get away. It was some of the most peculiar behavior that I have ever seen.
We were all drained by the time it was done. However, the moment that I walked back into the cabin, Dr. Zahn was all over me asking me what the heck I thought I was doing. I guess I had just had enough. It seemed that I was good enough to be treated like an adult when they needed somebody to do the dirty work, but any other time, I was treated like a child.
“You know what, Doc?” I spun on the woman, and I think it surprised her. Now don’t get me wrong, she didn’t jump or anything. But there was a slight raise in the eyebrows. For Dr. Zahn, that is about as big as it gets. “I’ve had it! I bust my ass around here. And lately, while everybody has been sick, it has been me taking all the extra watches and splitting firewood, and trying to clean up. So how about you just back off for a bit. If you have a problem with how I stand watch or deal with an issue, you do it yourself.”
I didn’t wait for a retort; I stormed out of the cabin and slammed the door. I didn’t care that I technically still had an hour or two left on my watch shift. The bottom line was that I was tired and frustrated and sick of…well…everything.
As I stalked across the parking lot and made my way over the bridge and into the picnic grounds, I could hear Jamal calling after me. I wanted to feel bad about him being stuck up in the crow’s nest, but I couldn’t. Sure, he looked sick, and I have seen just how nasty this little flu bug or whatever the hell it is can be. I have also seen a few people take advantage of it and milk it for a few extra days. Personally, I just didn’t care at the moment.
As I ducked through the trees and into the actual picnic area, I habitually checked my weapons. I had my machete, a big knife, and a wicked axe that had the blade on one side and a five-inch spike-like thing on the other.
Not for the first time, I considered just taking off. After all, my best friends were dead. There wasn’t much reason for me to stay other than I had been with some of these people since the beginning. The problem with that was that none of the people that I connected with were still around.
From the group that walked out of that FEMA rescue facility, it was down to Melissa and Thalia. Everybody else was gone.
“Holy crap,” I said out loud.
It is one thing to endure all of these losses; but to have fought so long and so hard to be the last one left from all that I knew before this nightmare began…hurts. I sat down at one of the tables and, against all the rules that we have made, I put my head down on my arms. I doubt I could have seen anything anyway for the next few minutes as I cried like never in my life.
I cried for everything that I have lost the day this started and everything that I lost since. I cried for my friends who I knew didn’t make it and for those who I had no idea. Then I cried some more. Never in my life had I felt so empty as I did in that moment.
I was not sure if it was ever going to stop. Thankfully, after who knows how long, I felt myself start to level out. I wiped my eyes on my shirt as I tried to figure out what I would do next.
I knew that I could not just up and leave these people. For better or worse, this was my new family. This is where I belong. Besides, I’d been out there a few times on my own and it wears you down in a hurry. You don’t realize how much you rely on other people to watch your back until nobody is there.
“Can I join you?” a voice said from behind me, causing me to jump.
I spun around with my knife in my hand before I was even really aware of what I was doing. Standing about ten feet away was Shelly. Her long dark hair was limp from the light rain that had started falling at some point.
“Join me? For what?”
“You gonna go hike to Proposal Overlook?” she asked.
At some point, that was what folks had taken to calling that rocky outcrop that looked out over the grounds of the camp. It is where Steve had asked Melissa to marry him.
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” I admitted. She was looking at me with her head sort of cocked to the side, like she was studying me. I got a chill. For just a second I remembered how those child-zombies did the same thing.
“Well why don’t we start up that trail and see where we end up,” Shelly said as she walked past.
Considering the fact that I didn’t really have a plan when I stormed off, it
seemed like as good of an idea as any. We made our way up the trail. As I hiked, I remembered the day that I had taken everything up here for Steve and set it out for him. Of course, that memory only made my throat tighten.
We finally reached the big rock that jutted away from the face of the foothill. I realized that I hadn’t been up here since that day. Looking out over our camp, it seemed so small. I couldn’t believe that so many of us lived in that cabin.
“You thinkin’ about leaving?” Shelly asked, breaking the silence and a flood of memories that I was helpless to fight off.
“For less than a second,” I admitted.
“Good,” she said with a nod, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Being out there alone can really suck.”
“I guess I am just tired of everything…and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Yeah…I don’t recall any of the movies showing long stretches of absolutely nothing. You start to get inside your head and can’t find a way out.”
I sighed, partially out of relief. I was worried that I was the only person who felt this way. I guess everybody feels like they are the only one experiencing a certain feeling or emotion. Probably one of the flaws of being human or something. At least that is what I bet Barry Jenkins would say. He was always saying smart stuff like that. I hadn’t thought of him or his wife in quite a while.
To me, that suddenly seemed so odd. I mean, we all watched Barry die and then turn that day…but even worse, his wife Randi had been murdered brutally and then, to make it worse still, a terrible word had been sliced into her skin. How do things like that just slip from your mind?
I looked out past the camp ground and could see the lack of trees where the road would be. So many times, I had come and gone from this place. Each time, I never considered the fact that I might not ever see it again. I guess that is another one of our human traits: we all believe that we as individuals are immortal. I bet Steve never once thought he was going to die that day.
I was staring out into nothing really when I saw the truck emerge from the trees at the entrance to the grounds. I knew for a fact that nobody was in the perch up front. That meant that whoever was in that truck was going to make it all the way to the drawbridge before having to stop. I also knew that there was no way, even if I ran my fastest—heck, even if Shelly ran her fastest—that I would get there before whoever was in that truck made it to the drawbridge and lowered it; and probably still not before they reached the gravel parking lot in front of the cabin.
“I sure hope it’s Jon,” I huffed as I lumbered down the trail. Not for the first time, I hated how bulky I was…and how slow.
Shelly pulled farther ahead with each switchback until, eventually, she was lost from sight. As I reached the picnic grounds, she was nowhere to be seen. As I reached the edge of the grounds, I could hear the truck shut off up by the cabin.
I had a good running start and hurled myself across the moat on the backside of the cabin. I just did not have the patience to go all the way around front. I started regretting my choice about halfway up the hill. Since I was coming up from the rear, I was not enjoying the luxury of a road to follow. The hill was a soaking wet mess and the ground was a vertical swamp it was so saturated from the melted snow, and now the rains that were trying to usher in spring.
By the time I reached the top, I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest. Still, I drew my machete as I reached the corner.
The relief I felt at seeing Jon and Jake took at least a small amount of the misery I was now experiencing after having run so hard to get here. The two men were standing at the open rear of the big pickup truck with huge grins on their faces. It took me a few minutes to realize what all I was seeing.
Of course, the first thing that my eyes took in were the pallets of cardboard cases marked with a variety of canned goods. Yet, that was not really the highlight of what they had arrived with. Stacked from the rear and all the way to the cab were dark green boxes. They were stacked higher than the pallets of food. I’d seen enough of them to know ammunition boxes when I saw them.
Considering the fact that we were almost completely empty in our ammunition locker to the point where I was pretty sure that we were down to a single bullet for each member of the community for that “all else failed” measure that none of us liked to talk about, the bullets were an even better find than the food. Don’t get me wrong, we have been scraping the bottom in the meal department, but we still had enough to feed everybody at meal time.
“…and the really good news is that there is plenty more where this came from,” Jon was saying with one arm around Sunshine.
That was another thing that had changed since Steve and the others died; the relationship between Sunshine and Jon had become public. It wasn’t like everybody didn’t already know, but at least now they weren’t hiding it.
Of course, that brought up another question. After Teresa dying, it was clear that whatever was causing people to become zombies could be transferred by ways other than being bitten. Jamie was immune but had infected Teresa, then hung himself. So, considering you could not just bop on down to the drug store for condoms…
“We want to take a larger group out in a couple of days. That train is just sitting there waiting to be emptied. Billy, we need you to come on this run. We already know that you can handle yourself in the field and the zombie presence in the area is surprisingly high,” Jon was saying. I dismissed my previous train of thought and gave my full attention to what was being discussed. “We tried to figure out why, but with just the two of us, it got a bit dicey.”
That really had me curious. I had been in more than a few nasty situations with Jon and Jake. I had yet to see anything that gave either of them reason for concern.
“And no sign of any other survivors?” Dr. Zahn spoke up from the top of the stairs.
I was never confused with the really smart kids in class. Actually, that was Jamie…he was always the smart one. Still, I knew a power play when I saw one. The doctor was not coming off those stairs. She wanted to be over Jon. I sure hoped that whatever differences that these two had were ironed out soon. If we were in fact going to make a move to come down and try to take over that encampment that we had destroyed in La Grande, then everybody needed to be on the same page.
“I promise you,” Jon said with just an edge of what I was pretty sure was sarcasm, “that if we find any survivors, you will be the first to know.”
“So what did you bring besides all that ammo?” Sunshine scooted out from under Jon’s arm and headed for the open back end of the truck.
The next couple of hours were spent unloading everything. I was a little surprised when we got everything out and started storing it in the kitchen. It was actually a lot more than I had initially figured. The best surprise of all were the five cases of Chef Boyardee Spaghetti O’s.
As we finished, I noticed Shelly at the door leading outside motioning for me to join her. I shot a glance at the ladder up to the crow’s nest. Funny how all these sick people suddenly felt better with Jon’s arrival; that would be something worth keeping my eye on.
“What’s up?” I asked as I joined Shelly at the rail of the long porch that ran the length of the cabin and wrapped around both sides.
“Make sure I get to make this run,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
It was no secret that Jon still did not care for her. She had been with the raiders who hit us when Steve and the others died. He had some crazy notion that she was still one of the bad guys despite her having done more than her share to prove otherwise.
“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked. I had no idea how much pull she thought that I had, but I knew for a fact it was not enough to tell Jon what to do.
“Look, I’ve been hearing some stuff from these new arrivals—”
“Which ones?” I interrupted.
For some reason, we had been seeing a large number of people coming in to our camp and joining us. That had me m
uch more nervous than Shelly had ever made me. I mean, why now? We’d been here for quite a while and busted our asses to get this place as secure as possible. Of course, we were talking about abandoning it for a piece of La Grande, but still…where had all the people been when we were getting this place ready?
“That group that arrived the day after you,” Shelly clarified.
And that was another thing, when I had been coming back from that ordeal in La Grande, I had spent a night camped in a fire watch tower. That night, I had seen a lot of little points of light from what had to be campfires. Until that moment, I had almost given up hope that there were very many survivors. Still, we numbered close to a hundred now, and it had happened in a matter of just a few weeks.
“What sort of stuff?”
“They say that there is a man who can test people for immunity down in La Grande, that he is with some group that hangs on the fringe. Anyways, they are offering tests to see if you possess whatever it is that makes the zombie bite not turn you. If you pass, they offer you a place with them. They are trying to build an entire community of immunes.”
“So?” I didn’t see what the big deal was, in fact, it sounded shady.
“Look, I am never going to be accepted as part of this group. Plus…” She untucked her shirt and pulled the top of her pants down just enough to expose the skin on her hip at the pelvic bone; right in the middle of her otherwise perfect skin was an obviously healed bite mark.
“When did that happen?” I asked. I hadn’t realized it, but I had involuntarily moved back a step or two like whatever it was that zombies had might still be on her and decide to jump over and infect me. Pretty stupid, but I couldn’t help myself.
“I want to be around people who don’t do that,” she said as a flush of red crept across her face. Hastily, she tucked her shirt back in and turned away from me. “If there really is a group like that, maybe I will have a chance to start over.”
