by Rosaria, A.
“We can’t take her with us, and it’s not fair to leave her like this.”
“Ralph, don’t.”
He raised the axe. Lauryn pulled his hand down. “Remember me? Would you have cleaved my head too? Look at her.”
Ralph did. The girl clutched the sides of the metal slab as she stared wide-eyed at him. Her cheeks had a flush, her eyes were glazed over with fever, but she looked okay enough to stand and walk. He lowered his hands. As long there was a chance, he should not act like this. It would make him as bad as those soldiers killing their wounded. Not that he had any loyalty to this girl.
“Okay, I won’t do it, but we’re not taking her with us.”
Lauryn wanted to protest, but she stopped when she saw he meant it. No way they were going to take extra weight on if it was not one of their own. Lauryn nodded and went to untie the girl. The girl looked at Lauryn with relief in them. “Thank you.”
She had a sweet voice, and Ralph was glad he allowed Lauryn to convince him to stop. The blood lust had been strong, but now, thinking more clearly, he knew he was wrong. He looked at his feet and the blood he stood in. What had de done? He couldn’t undo it and wasn’t sure he wanted to undo it. Men who so callously traded in life didn’t deserve to live. The girl had nothing to do with this, why else would she be strapped down as well?
“Are you Ralph?”
“That’s my name.”
“I’m Priscilla, but you can call me Priss.”
“Listen, whatever you think you have to say, I can’t take you with me.”
“I understand that, but are you the Ralph? Sarah’s Ralph?”
Ralph jerked up, looking at the girl. Lauryn froze and turned to face Ralph as she unstrapped the last belt holding Priscilla to the metal slab. “Ralph, I would have told you. Sarah is here, alive.”
Ralph looked from Lauryn to the girl and back. “Alive?”
“She brought me her to get me a cure. I really didn’t want to… I… She must have returned home. They separated us.”
“Sarah is not at home,” Lauryn said. “She was brought where they held me captive. The captain was beating her when they dragged me away.”
“Terry? I need to save her,” Priscilla said. The girl stood up, and on wobbly feet, walked for the exit. Ralph stopped her.
“I’ve changed my mind. You can come along. We’ll both save Sarah.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Gunshots went off above ground. Terry had jumped up from his seat and was watching the monitor, flipping through the screens. The gunshots went on for a minute. Terry cursed and threw the monitor against a wall. He paced up and down, ranting. Sarah stayed motionless, not wanting to attract any attention to herself. She hurt badly, but worse was his betrayal and the truth. Her breath went in ragged and back out painful.
“Damn bastards,” Terry yelled as he kicked the desk over. “They came for the fucking cunt.”
Terry walked over to her and bent close to her. “Your fucking friends will never get in, and if somehow they manage, I’ll kill every last one of them.”
Sarah dared not breathe, but to not would look suspicious, she exhaled slowly, keeping her eyes shut and face relaxed.
Terry spat on her. “Fucking bitch.”
He paced some more, and went to check the door. It was locked, only able to be opened from the inside. Cursing, he went back to her, checking on her. He pulled his gun and put it against her head. Sarah forced herself not to kick him.
“Damn, I preferred you to be awake this time.”
Terry loosened his body armor and dropped it to the floor; next, he unbuckled his belt and let his pants drop to the ground. As he lowered to her, she opens her eyes. Sarah pulled the knife from Terry’s belt, grabbed his penis, and slashed it from the stem up. Blood splashed against her face. Terry howled, grabbing at the red hole she left for him.
Sarah stood up. “I liked you. I really, really liked you.” She pushed him to the ground and sat on top of him. She felt her pants wet with his blood. He watched in disbelief as she raised the bloodstained knife. He stretched a hand out to ward her off. She plunged the knife in his chest. His body thrashed beneath her.
“I believed you were good. I wanted to be with you.”
Tears streaked her cheeks when she plunged the knife in him again.
“Why, Terry? Why did you do it?”
The knife came down again. Terry spat blood and gurgled something she didn’t understood.
“Speak, you asshole.”
The knife slashed a finger off as Terry tried to deflect the blade.
“I fell for you, you bastard.”
She plunged it in his belly. She bent forward, their foreheads touching. Through teary eyes, she saw his pain-stricken face.
“Why did you have to betray me?”
Terry gulped blood. Sarah raised back up and slit his throat. Breathing heavily, she watched the last bits of light leave his eyes. She stayed there until his heart pulsed the last blood out of his many stab wounds. She slid off him and crawled to a corner, where she cried.
She’d never get any answers out of him. But she didn’t need to, his actions spoke for him, and her actions said enough about her and her choices. She watched his corpse, with the knife she used to kill him clutched in her hands. She killed both brothers and both got what they deserved. Both were not good men, and no matter how much she wanted to believe Terry was, she should never have trusted him.
Minutes passed. The sound of gunfire ceased, and a long while went by before she heard banging against the door. Whoever was on the other side would never get in. The banging was metal against metal, not the wet sound of bodies banging itself to a bloody pulp against something hard. Not zombies.
As Sarah stood, her knees buckled and a sharp pain shot up her body. She staggered and slipped on the blood on the floor. She regained her balance, and slowly made her way to the door. She grabbed the wheel to open it. A moan rose from behind her. She stiffened and cursed her stupidity as she turned around and saw Terry behind her.
Sarah clutched the knife as the zombie came at her fast, teeth snapping for any meat it could get. Sarah ducked under its clawing hands. The zombie crashed against the door and toppled to the floor. Sarah put herself behind the fallen desk. The zombie lurched up and launched itself at her. Its legs hit the desk and tripped. Sarah jumped on top of it. She grabbed its hair and yanked the head back. With all her force, she plunged the knife in its eye socket. The zombie thrashed once, twice, a third and final time. She got up. Hating the smell of piss, shit, and bittersweet blood.
She stumbled to the door and released the lock. The door swung open.
Ralph stood in the opening.
He stood in front of her like that day on the motorbike when he came driving down the hill with all that blood caked over him and the wild look he had going for him. On that day, she knew she loved him, and that one moment made it true.
Sarah waved at him. He smiled at her, a crooked smile that made a thrill go through her body. She couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“You’re alive,” they both said simultaneously.
Ralph rushed forward, hugged her, kissed her cheek, and his smile broadened. She would have rather kissed him on his lips, but she saw the worried look on the redhead’s face and knew Ralph was over her and had moved on with his life, as she would have done. Only difference was that Ralph chose well while she fell back into the trap of trusting a pretty face.
“I thought you were dead,” he said.
“Silly, you know I’m not killed that easily.”
His smile vanished, and she saw guilt replace the shine in his eyes. He let her go and backed away. “It’s been a year. I did look for you.”
Before he could say more or she answer him, Priss pushed Ralph aside and hugged her. The girl looked at the corpse a few feet away. “I’m glad you are okay.”
The girl’s body felt hot, but the color in her cheeks was more prevalent, and the hug she gave her was ti
ght. Could it be? Or would she set herself up for more hurt by hoping?
More people came walking in. They all wore the same outfit as Ralph, a dark blue BDU and body armor. It was as if Ralph had his own private army.
Priss let go. “These people saved me. And you were right about Ralph being alive all this time. I can see why now.”
Ralph looked down and away. She wanted to tell him it was all right, that she also thought he had been dead. However, she only did so when Terry lied to her. he came to it on his own and found someone else. Still, it hurt, but it hurt more what was done to her, by believing in Terry. Only one person had stood by her side, and that was the girl beside her.
Sarah looked around at the people. She recognized one face. The girl had grown so fast into a woman in a year that Sarah almost didn’t recognized her. “Brenda, is that you?”
Brenda smiled at Sarah. “You remember me.”
“I remember everything about that day.” Sarah cast Ralph a longing look. “It’s like it happened yesterday.”
Ralph cleared his throat. “We need to leave this place.”
A tall young man with a shotgun in his hand grabbed Brenda’s hand and said, “How are we going to do that? The zombies have overrun the main hall.” He pointed his shotgun at Terry’s corpse. “They are everywhere.”
The sound of all that fighting must have attracted a lot of them. She wondered how they would get out now. Having seen the barrack’s building plan, she knew there was only one exit, the front door.
Ralph held his backpack up. “I still have the grenades.”
“What about the helicopters?’ Brenda said.
Sarah looked at the faces, not understanding what they were talking about. Lauryn had the same look on her face. Priss looked indifferent, most likely too ill to care.
“I don’t think we need to do that anymore,” Ralph said. “This place is history. No way they are going to recover from this. Most of their soldiers are dead. The place is in flames. Zombies rule now.”
Ralph raised his hand, showing his watch. “We have got only an hour left before dark. We better be gone before nightfall.”
They checked their gear and Ralph gave Sarah a gun. “Are you gonna be okay?”
He did not look at her as he asked her.
“Yes.” She tucked the gun in the small of her back, at least this time she was sure the gun was loaded with real bullets. Ralph had no reason to betray her. In the end, he came to get her. Not directly for her at first, but knowing she was here, he did not hesitate. Though the way Lauryn looked at him and he back at her, she knew she had lost him.
Priss grabbed her hand. They looked at each other. The girl nodded and she nodded back. Holding hands, they followed up the stairs.
From behind the door leading to the reception came the moans and growl of the many zombies gathered there. Ralph stood to the side, a grenade in one hand. Derrick stood with his hand on the door handle. Ralph held three fingers out and counted to zero, when he balled his fist, Derrick opened the door. Immediately, the zombies thrashed against it. Derrick put his shoulder against it to keep it open. Ralph pulled the pin. One zombie got its arm through the gap, trying to worm its way in. Ralph rolled the grenade on the ground between the gap. The explosion rocked the door. Derrick fell back as the door slammed shut with the force of the shockwave. The severed zombie arm fell next to him.
Ralph pulled out another grenade. Derrick opened the door again. Only the zombies near the door were blown apart, most still stood. Ralph threw another grenade among them. Pulled a second and threw that one too. Derrick shut the door. Two explosions went up.
“We go in shooting. Make your way to the door, leave, and don’t look back. We have only one chance.”
They stood in a line. Lauryn stood in front of Sarah, an axe in her hand. Sarah and Priss stood at the end of the line. The ones in front had the better weapons and armor. The idea was to rush out and shoot anything walking. Her priority was getting Priss out in one piece.
Derrick opened the door and was first to go in. A zombie with its arms torn apart stood in front of him. Derrick shot its head to smithereens with his shotgun and pushed forward. Ralph followed, and then Brenda and the others. Lauryn gave a look back to Sarah before moving out.
“Don’t bother with the zombies. Just run for the exit. I’ll cover you both.”
Sarah followed the girl out and bolted for the exit. The others were shooting at the zombies still left standing. The explosion did less damage than they thought it would. More than two third of the zombies were still standing despite missing body parts. Sarah dodged one zombie, its hand brushing her hair. Priss squeaked as another came close, but Lauryn’s axe dropped it before it could touch her. Ducking and weaving and with Lauryn hacking at anything coming close, they made it to the door. It stood lodged open by a corpse in the blue of Ralph’s group. Lauryn paused for a second, and then climbed over the corpse and out. She signaled for them to follow. The fighting behind her was still going on.
Sarah led Priss outside. She froze at the sight that met her. When she went inside the barracks, Haven was in turmoil but still intact. However, now the whole place was burning. The sky was red with fire as the sun set, and ahead hundreds of zombies sauntered their way, attracted by the gunfire.
Ralph came out the door, closely followed by Derrick and Brenda, and another man. A cry came from inside. Ralph went back in, Lauryn went after him, but Brenda grabbed Lauryn by the arm. “It’s a madhouse inside. You’ll get in his way.”
Lauryn pointed at the incoming zombies. “We need to clear a way. Keep Sarah and the girl safe.”
Brenda took point. Derrick and the other man followed suit. They downed any zombie coming within thirty feet. Half a minute later, Ralph came out dragging a man. Blood pulsed from the man’s throat as he gurgled, drowning in it.
“Too many died, too many already,” Ralph cried out. “I couldn’t stop them. I…”
The man kicked out and fell still. Sarah pulled her gun and shot him in the face. Ralph jumped up. “Why did you do that?”
“He’s dead, Ralph. We need to go before it’s too late.”
Ralph clenched his teeth and got up; his eyes grew cold as he watched the incoming zombies. “Follow me,” he said as he pulled a grenade from his backpack.
Sarah wondered how many of those things he had.
Ralph ran past Brenda and the others, and threw the grenade at a large group blocking their way. He did not stop running. The grenade went off, blasting the zombies out of his way, covering his face against the goo spraying all over as he ran through. Sarah followed the others as fast as she could pull Priss along. By the time she got by the zombies, they were standing back up. Dodging and ducking grabbing arms, Sarah and Priss made it out. The others were a way off, sprinting as hard as they could. Lauryn looked over her shoulder and called out to the others. Ralph signaled for Brenda and Derrick and the remaining man to go on.
Sarah looked behind her and paled at the zombies coming at her. They were fast, faster than she could run, faster than she could reach Ralph. Lauryn ran to Sarah, her axe in hand. Ralph threw a grenade. It arched in the air, and fell two feet behind Sarah. Sarah pushed on, knowing it would go off anytime. Lauryn, seeing the grenade fall short, stopped. Eyes wide, she shot Ralph an angry look. He looked grim.
Sarah didn’t get to hear the boom of the explosion; the shockwave got to her first, and lifted both her and Priss up in the air and to the ground. Within seconds, she felt hands grab for her and she fought against them until she realized it was Lauryn trying to get her up. Ralph was helping Priss, who looked dazed.
Ralph half-carried Priss and Sarah ran on her own after having pushed Lauryn off, who tried to help support her. They quickly made their escape from the zombies. The closer they got to the gate, the fewer zombies they encountered and no other living human. The gate door was bent inward, leaving an opening to get through. Brenda and Derrick stood waiting for them.
“Bob trie
d to get through,” Brenda said, “but they dragged him down and we couldn’t do a thing to help him.”
Derrick pointed at the opening. “It’s crawling with them outside. Use your grenades to clear a path.”
Ralph cursed. “I just used the last one.” He looked out of the opening and cursed again. The zombies stuck their hands out, trying to grab him. The roar of an engine came from outside. Wheels squealed and the truck smashed against the gate, splatting the zombies flat.
“Go!” Ralph yelled as he climbed over the hood of the truck. Derrick and Brenda followed him. Ralph started shooting at the zombies trying to get on the truck’s hood. Lauryn helped Priss get on the hood. A zombie grabbed Priss’s ankle. Sarah rushed forward and shot it in its eye. It let go as it slumped down. Another zombie took its place, hands grabbing. Lauryn helped Priss over the top into the back. Sarah shot the zombie. Before climbing out, she cast a last look at the burning town, her home for a year. Sarah climbed on the hood, shot another zombie, and made her way to the back, joining the others.
The truck backed away, hitting the zombies in its way. Whoever was driving seemed to get joy out driving over these things. The driver sped up, crushing the bodies under the heavy wheels. The truck swerved and drove up the hill. A single zombie walked toward the truck. The truck steered a little to the left, sending the zombie flying.
Against all odds, they had made it out alive. They actually escaped. She watched how the redhead put her arms around Ralph. Sarah felt a sting. That should have been her. Despite the hurt, she was glad for him.
Sarah sat next to Priss. The girl put her head against Sarah’s shoulder. She felt her tears well up as she put an arm around the girl, and let the tears flow unopposed.
They had made it. Not everyone, but they had made it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Ralph stood on top of the makeshift wall around their base and watched as the fortifications were put on. Steel plates were being screwed to the busses they had parked in a semicircle around their base up in the mountains. He didn’t think they necessarily needed a wall because the zombies were bad climbers and only a few managed to get up here by somehow following the roads. They never amassed too much, often single ones, sometimes in twos, and only once ten found their way up. You never could be sure how many would appear at the doors. It was nice to know that, if the one in millionth happened and a swarm found its way up, they had a wall to stop them. In this world, you wanted to better be safe than sorry, for sorry meant death.
