by Sweet, Dell
“You have to do what you have to do for you,” Haley said. “Who knows, maybe we'll all end up in the same place. I mean, if it turns out to really be a large gathering place, we probably will all be there eventually.”
Dale rose from the fire. “Actually we can make a few miles before full dark,” He frowned. “I don't want you to think we're refusing your hospitality, but I want to get there. It sounds good, not too good to be true, but really good. They'll need people to run it... Set things up. I guess I'd want to see that, have a hand in it,” he sighed. “It would be so nice to put this behind us. Turn a corner, start over,” he shrugged.
“I get you,” Joel said. He rose from the fire and took the hand Dale offered. Scott and Haley both offered hands. Pearl said nothing at first, but then turned to Haley and hugged her fiercely. She offered her hand to Joel and Scott, both of whom hugged her instead.
A few minutes later Dale and his small group, plus one, pulled out of the parking lot back onto the feeder road. Joel and the others sat quietly by the fire for a few moments until the sound of the motors died away.
“I wouldn't have thought that,” Scott said at last.
“Surprised me,” Haley agreed. “But, she went through something back there in Watertown. She didn't talk about it, but whatever it was haunted her.”
“We're going to stop hooking up with people. We can't afford it. We'll be down to nothing at all soon,” Joel joked.
Haley and Scott both laughed, but it was a short lived laugh, silence settled back in.
“Hope it is real,” Haley said at last.”
Scott nodded.
“Who knows,” Joel said after a brief pause. “Maybe we will all end up there: If it's there: If it's all they say it is... Maybe.”
The silence held for a short while. Haley cleared her throat.
“Talked to Billy today. About forty people there now,” she said.
“Yeah?” Scott asked.
“Yeah. They have a nice little place there, but they're thinking about heading south soon.”
“South is the place, I think,” Joel agreed.
The conversation went back and forth as they talked about the camp outside of Manhattan and leaving the outskirts of Syracuse in the morning to start for the east coast.
The Camp: Billy and Beth
Mid June
Billy sat sipping coffee by the fire talking with Joel Morrison, when a truck dropped down off the road and into the far end of the field. Conversation died away as the two of them watched the truck coast to a stop. A few more trucks left the field, passing the truck where it sat. Billy rose to his feet with Joel, poured the dregs of his coffee into the fire and looked down toward the truck.
“I'm on my way,” Joel told him. Behind him Beth and Haley were talking in low tones. A few feet away Scott was talking to Mac and Iris. Joel offered his hand and Billy took it.
“Wish you were staying,” Billy told him. Joel, Haley and Scott had made up their minds to head south to whatever might be left of Alabama. There were three others going with them.
“Wish us luck instead,” Haley said with a laugh as she walked up.
“I think there is land out there,” Beth said. “Who knows how far though?”
“We will,” Scott said. He laughed and Billy walked with them to their truck. The truck behind them held more gear and the other three that had decided to go with them, some newcomers from the city that Billy had not gotten to know well. He waved once at the truck in back and then leaned in the window as Joel closed the door.
“Just stay in touch,” Billy said. “As long as you can.”
“Will do,” Joel said.
Billy and Beth watched them drive away before Billy turned his attention back to the truck at the end of the field.
Joel and Haley
West of Manhattan
September 3rd
“Nobody,” Scott remarked as he clicked off the CB and stepped down from the truck.
“It may be the weather,” Alice said as she took his hand.
“May be,” Scott agreed with a smile. He bent forward and kissed her softly.
“You do that so well,” Alice told him. She had that secret little smile on her face, the one that turned up the corner of her lips. The one that had made him say yes when she had asked to join them.
They had met her and the small party she had been traveling with the day after they had left Billy's camp and started on their way. Scott thought back on it now. That had been more than two months before. They had spent those two months just trying to get out of the city, past all the stalled traffic that went on forever, and into a place where they could actually have trucks, drive, make time. That day they had still been driving, or trying to. They had come around a curve on a barely held together state route that paralleled the thruway and there they had been: A truck parked in the middle of the road. Joel had locked the brakes up; the curve had not given much warning. Alice had been standing at the front of the truck and she had never even flinched.
Joel had stopped a good fifteen feet away. When he and Scott had stepped from the truck she had hit Scott with the smile. He had fallen right then. No arguments.
“Could'a killed us,” Toby Black had said. He was the leader of the six party group. “Shouldn't ought to drive so goddamn fast.”
Joel was speechless; it was Scott that had fired back.
“That may be,” Scott had allowed,” But maybe you should give a little thought to parking in the middle of the road too.”
“On a goddamn curve,” Haley added, barely cracking a smile.
“Yeah, well,” Toby said. He seemed to consider a few moments, tugged at his graying beard, and must have decided to say nothing. He had just nodded, dusted one hand against his jeans and extended it to Scott. “Toby,” He had glanced from Scott to Joel to Haley, nodding as he did. “This is Andy,” he had nodded at a skinny man who stood a few feet away. “Galloway over there, Flint at the back of the truck, Lucy sitting inside there, and Alice right here.” He had tried to slip one arm over Alice's shoulders, but she had smiled and shrugged it off.
“And who are you,” she had asked Scott. Behind him Haley had chuckled.
“Scott,” he had said.
She had taken his hand and held on, her eyes on his own.
“Listen, you can stay to dinner with us if you like. Fresh venison; killed a deer a few hours back.” Toby had pointed at a fire where what looked like both haunches of a small deer had been spitted: Fat dripping and sizzling.
“Yeah,” Haley had agreed. “We'd be glad to.”
“Yeah,” Joel had added. His stomach had been growling so loudly he had been sure that everyone could hear it. He had reached in, shut down the truck, and then shifted his rifle to his opposite shoulder as he shook hands with the others including Alice who had finally let go of Scott's hand.
A little work had secured some late corn from an overgrown nearby field, that and the venison had made an excellent dinner.
“So where you folks going to,” Toby had asked.
“Alabama,” Joel had answered around a mouthful of corn. “Dammit this is good.”
Toby had laughed.
“There are, I think, more deer than there are people. Could have had a cow, in fact, but it would have been a waste of meat,” Alice had said.
They had traded small talk as they ate, sharing road information. Toby was bound for Manhattan, even after he had talked to them. Joel had shaken his head. The man was stubborn; there was no changing his mind. Joel had offered them to join with them and continue on to Alabama.
“Maybe,” Toby had agreed. “I might come back and look you up, but I got to know for myself.” They had been getting ready to leave a few minutes later, having refused politely the offer of spending the night, when Alice had asked if they would accept only her since the others didn't want to go.
“Yeah,” Scott had said, nearly immediately. Toby had not seemed surprised although more than a little let down. He had, had a hard t
ime hiding his frown. Scott smiled now thinking about it.
“What,” Alice asked.
“Thinking about how I like the way your mouth turns up at the corner the way it does,” Scott said. He reached forward and pulled her to him, at the same time walking back to the fire and Haley and Joel. Alice laughed.
“Dead,” Scott repeated to Joel and Haley.
“Kind of weird,” Haley said. “I mean, it's been chatter, chatter, chatter the last few days and now it's dead. Doesn't make sense.”
“Is strange,” Alice agreed. “But we're also further away from the city. Maybe all that chatter was the city... Or most of it.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Joel agreed. “We need to find a map and see what is near. Maybe the largest cities close by were destroyed.”
“I imagine they were: When we came this way it was the same. The few times we got close to a city it was bad. Destruction, the smell was horrible, and the sick ones too,” Alice said.
“Sick?” Joel asked.
“You haven't seen them yet?” Alice asked.
“I don't think we saw as much of the really bad stuff I have heard on the radio...” Haley paused for a second. “Back there, Manhattan, when we were with Billy, we heard some bad stuff out of the city. I mean like horror movie stuff. People looking dead but still walking around... Going without food for days, but not dying; attacking other people,” She shrugged. “Had to kill them, the ones that told us said so: Had to kill them because they were just gone. Come right at you and try to kill you if you didn't... Some kind of bad sickness,” Haley finished.
“Zombies,” Alice said with a small nervous laugh.” She held her hands up when Joel and Scott shook their heads almost in unison. “I know, I know. They are not zombies, living dead, whatever, but I'm telling you I've seen them and they are bad shit. Bad shit. They may as well be zombies. No real thoughts seem to be going on in there.” She tapped her head with one finger. “They will attack you. They will try to kill you, eat you” She shrugged. “Not zombies, some sort of disease, but it is some very bad shit.”
“Like... Like plague of some sort,” Haley said.
“Yeah... Yeah, but they keep moving. I mean they should be dead, right? Their necks are swollen, faces black and blue, skin all messed up, running sores, this mass of black lines, like infection, running all through them, under their skin; but they don't die. It's like they are rotting on the bone, but they keep moving somehow. I don't get it, but I have seen it a dozen times. Crazy too, not rational, I mean they are attacking and trying to eat other living people, how is that rational? Head shot, yeah, maybe you could kill them some other way too, but you don't want to be screwing around, because maybe they'll bite you. I have seen what happens to those who get bitten; they get sick pretty fast... A day or two tops. And in just a few hours they got those little black lines running off under their skin. Like I said, bad shit.”
“Jesus,” Joel said. “Billy told us about some that were camped near them. They didn't even know it. They live like animals, nests in the woods, darkness, got one of their women, never found her, never found them, but the smell in the clearing was bad... Like death. And a few from the city told other stories. Central Park is overrun with them. Thousands of sick and dying, only they aren't dying for some reason, like... I don't know, like they can somehow stay alive when they shouldn't be able to stay alive.” He shivered involuntarily. “Little spooky... I can see why some are calling them zombies.”
Alice nodded. “Difference is these are real. I think zombies are a made up thing, these are something goddamn close to that, but they're real. And there are some who seem sane, or... Calculating. I know that sounds even crazier, it's like they evolve into something else... Some higher form of insanity that is so far gone they're almost, well, sane again.”
Silence held for a few moments, Scott broke it.
“But a shot to the head does it, huh?”
“Yeah. Works every time. I mean, it sort of makes sense. Whatever the hell it is keeping them alive it requires them to have a brain so they can at least function on that... Well, on that animal level, I guess. No brain, no functioning at all.” Alice nodded once she finished and the silence held again for quite some time. This time Haley broke it.
“Well,” She squared her shoulders, “I guess if they look suspicious it has got to be a shoot first ask questions later sort of deal then, right?”
“Yeah,” Joel agreed.
“Yeah,” both Scott and Alice chimed in.
Haley leaned forward and threw a few heavy chunks of wood onto the fire. Night was not far away and the shadows were closing in fast.
“There were stories about that shit the planes sprayed on us,” Scott said after a long pause.
“Like?” Haley asked.
“Billy said he heard about it more than once. Almost all of us have stories about planes spraying stuff on us. I saw it back in Watertown, I... I think it was the next day... March 2nd, maybe March 3rd. We were up there in the Southern Tier... Raining all goddamn day, remember? Planes flying overhead. I remember seeing them. Blue shit... You guys?”
“I don't remember the blue shit... Seems I remember the planes, but I thought, I don't know, military transport planes. I really didn't think about it until we got back to Watertown and there were no troops there at all. I expected them to be,” Joel said.
“I remember planes,” Alice said. I was in Schenectady... Planes, I remember thinking the Army had arrived, but they just flew over real slow, cargo doors open, that was weird, I half expected paratroopers to jump out... No blue stuff though, not that I remember... Why? What was it about?”
“I remember the blue shit,” Haley added, as Alice finished. “What was it about? What did Billy say?”
“Some government shit designed to strengthen us,” He held his hands up as everyone spoke at once. “I didn't say I believed it. Hell, Billy said every time he tried to nail someone down about what they heard and who they heard it from, they would get all sketchy. Oh, it was a soldier I met on the road, told me he knew because the planes flew out of the base he was assigned to. But no name of the base. No facts about it, just like a... You know what it reminded me of? Like an urban legend. They get going the same way. Always sketchy details, low on facts.”
“Yeah, well, that's one hell of an urban legend,” Haley said.
“Yeah, but the thing is there is always, they say, some seed of truth there,” Scott said thoughtfully.
“Maybe is,” Joel agreed.
“All I know is those things are real. We'll have to be careful,” Alice said. The silence fell and held this time.
“Well,” Joel said at last. “Sleep beckons.” He looked over at the tents they had been using. “Maybe tomorrow, take some time, pick up bigger trucks... Maybe taking a chance sleeping outside isn't smart.”
“I was going to mention that,” Alice said. “They might not bother us... Seem to hate fire, bright light. But if they did,” she shook her head. “I don't want to go that way.”
“Me either,” Haley agreed.
Joel sighed. “Why don't you two girls sleep...? Scott, you too. I'll take four hours and then wake you for the next four.”
“Done deal,” Scott agreed. They all rose from the fire, Haley stretched up and kissed Joel.
“Be okay?” She asked.
“Perfect.” he kissed her again. “Listen... Why don't you and Alice sleep in the truck, you know, just to be safe?”
“I second that,” Scott agreed. “I'll take the tent. You guys can do most of the driving tomorrow; let us nap a little to catch up.”
“After we get better trucks we can sleep in,” Alice added.
“After,” Joel agreed. Haley stretched up on her tip toes and kissed him once more. She left without another word.
“Sure you want first?” Scott asked.
“I'm good,” Joel agreed. He watched Scott walk away and then turned toward the black landscape and the trees that surrounded them, wishing he h
ad not parked so close to the woods.
Joel and Haley
Pennsylvania: I 81
September 18th
The sign read, Tremont 3, Pottersville 15.
“Hard to tell which way it used to point,” Haley said.
They had found the sign protruding from the vegetation at the side of the road. The metal rails that once held it had been snapped off, pulled apart, the sign was twisted, the lettering barely legible.
“I think we can take for granted we are near those places though,” Scott said. He glanced at Alice who was bent over the hood of their truck examining a map of Pennsylvania. She raised her head and looked around.
“That overpass up there is route 209... Goes into Tremont, Pottersville further on. Small places. Guys, we've been following route 81 for miles now. We don't have to find it we're on it.”
They had been looking for route 81 to follow it across Pennsylvania, through Washington and then into Virginia. From there they intended to pick up whatever routes they could find that would take them toward the coast. They had been following I 81 for the last several hours without knowing it was I 81. There were no signs. The traffic was bumper to bumper in places, nonexistent in others. Most of the congestion was around the interchanges, and they had only come onto I 81 from an interchange. They had found no more since then until they had come up on this one.
“A compass that was worth a damn would be nice,” Scott said. He shoved the small compass he held back into his pocket.
Joel nodded. “Sun rises in the south west: If we keep that in sight that should keep us generally on the right track.”
Haley nodded this time. “So, stay on it?”
“I think so,” Joel agreed. “But maybe a quick look around... Stock up, wouldn't hurt us before we start really laying down the miles.”
“Go up to 209,” Alice said, motioning up at the overpass, and go left... That will take us to Tremont... Small town or city, I can't tell, it looks small.”
“Left, that would be,” Scott pulled the compass from his pocket once more and watched the dial dip and quiver. He sighed and then threw the small compass up into the sun. “Should have done that long ago,” He said. “East, I guess. That would be east. What used to be east.”
