by Ann Riley
“You see those?” I ask Marc.
“Yep.” He says.
“We can’t shoot them all. It looks like all the town’s folks.” I tell him.
“Yeah. Keep walking. They can’t walk faster than us.” He says.
“But they can trail us all the way to where we are going.” I say to Marc.
So we keep walking and head out of the little town. On our right is a small stream that runs along the main highway. Actually, it looks more like a ditch with water. I wonder if the zombies will cross it.
“Let’s cross that ditch and see if we can get away from our followers. We can continue walking on the other side of it until we get some distance from them.” I tell Marc.
“Ok, let’s do it.” He says.
We head down into the ditch and start to cross. The water is about knee deep. Another great idea Tracie. Now we have to walk with wet pants and boots.
We cross over and turn to look behind us. The zombies come close to the edge, but don’t cross. Are they scared of water? Maybe. They do smell bad, so it’s obvious they never get in the water. We watch them for a minute and they still just stand there watching us back. So we continue walking down the side of the ditch, and they walk down the side of the highway. They are following as we knew, but I think we can get ahead of them.
We keep walking and wouldn’t you know, the next step I take, I fall right on my ass in the water.
“Oh, this is just fucking fabulous.” I yell out.
I look at Marc and he is about to bust a gut holding in his laugh.
“Really? You are going to laugh at me?” I ask.
“Kiss my ass.” I tell him.
“I can’t help it. Are you hurt?” he asks.
“Hell no.” I say.
“Just what I need. To be wet from head to toe all day.” I say.
For clarification, I tend to fall all the time. I’m just clumsy. I have fallen upstairs before. Yeah, it may sound hard to do. But catch your toe on a doorstep while you are trying to get in and you will see it isn’t that hard after all. I fell down a small hill in our back yard once. Actually, I slid down it after it had rained, and the only thing I could do was hold my cell phone up like I had performed a great feat by not breaking it as I fell. I wasn’t worried about me; I was happy my phone didn’t break. Yeah, I know I am weird. But that’s me and my quirks.
Marc has finally stopped laughing now. That ass. I should withhold his next pain pill for that.
I get back up, shake off some water and start walking again.
We walk for another hour and stop and rest. It looks like our friends have stopped following us now. Well, they are still following, but they are lagging far behind us now.
We drink some water and get back up for more walking. It’s about 11:30am now so we are getting closer to Canton. Damn, I’m tired. An apocalypse will really show you just how out of shape you are.
I’m glad the sun isn’t hot today. We are in the fall of the year so it isn’t very hot right now.
I look over at Marc and see him squinting, trying to see ahead of us.
“What is it?” I ask him.
“I thought I saw a vehicle pull off the road up ahead. It looks like we may be coming upon another small town. I saw a reflection that glass makes when light hits it.” He says.
“I think there is a little town called Davis up ahead. It looked smaller than Vaughn was on the map.” I say.
“Well, we have nowhere to hide since the tree line ran out.” He says.
“The grass is high, maybe we can lie down and be hidden.” I tell him.
We get closer and there is a white truck parked on the shoulder of the road. It looks like there are four people standing outside of the truck in white jumpers, or coveralls.
“Who the hell are they?” I ask Marc.
He shrugs.
We get down on hands and knees and crawl. This is not easy for Marc with a broken arm. I can see he is in pain, but he keeps going. We get close enough to where we can hear them talking now. So we stop and try to find out what they are talking about. I can see they are all men.
One has a red cap on, another has a blue bandana tied around his head.
The other two have on white caps like those green ones doctors wear during surgery.
“There aren’t any people out here.” Red cap says.
“We are wasting time sitting out here when we could be looking for supplies.” He says.
“Are you going to tell the boss that?” Blue bandana asks him.
“Yeah, I will.” He says.
“No you won’t. He will kill your ass if you do.” Bandana says.
“All we do is look for people to take back to camp. What are they doing with the ones we take back?” Red asks.
“You know they are collecting uninfected to put in camps to be tested for immunity against the toxoplasmosis parasite.” Bandana says.
“Well, I don’t give a shit what they do with them as long as they leave me alone.” Red says.
“I heard some of them talking about contaminating some of the food processing plants so that they could spread the parasite. They say the initial infection got out of hand and they were not aware that injecting those that had the parasite with the flu shot would result in the zombie population we have now.” Red says.
Marc and I look at each other.
So, if I am to understand this, these idiots are taking people to shove them into a camp where they will be forced to submit to testing and possible infection with the parasite? This is bullshit.
We lay still and see if they leave. They hang around for a few more minutes, then get in their truck and leave.
“We have to find a car and get the hell out of here.” Marc says.
“You got that right.” I tell him.
We wait for about an hour to make sure everyone is gone from the area we are in. We start our walk again. We are heading out of Davis and the next stop will be in Canton. We have to find a car there.
“Are you doing ok?” I ask Marc.
“Yeah, so far.” He says.
“How are we going to check this camp out and you have a broken arm? Can you shoot?” I ask.
“Yeah. But you will have to do all the work, like driving and kicking ass if we have to.” He says with a smile.
“How gracious of you to leave the ass kicking to me.” I tell him.
Chapter 6
Apparently our CDC initiated this infection of toxoplasmosis. Well, let me restate that. They started contamination at the food processing centers and were not aware that people could become zombies if given the flu shot while infected with the toxoplasmosis gondii parasite. Isn’t the CDC supposed to know this kind of stuff?
So, why now are they testing people for immunity? And what do those tests include?
“You know we need to try to find out what is going on, right?” I tell Marc.
“I know. If they are force testing people, what’s to say they won’t start driving from house to house dragging people out?” Marc says.
“We need to get a car first. Then we need to find this camp.” I tell Marc.
“Right.” He says.
We continue walking. We should only be an hour and a half from Canton now. We stop for a few minutes and rest so we can pick up our speed a little when we start back.
“This is a big fuck fest.” I tell Marc.
“Yeah, it is. It’s a shame that the CDC has done this shit and didn’t think about the consequences beforehand.” Marc says.
“I know. And the thing is, the toxoplasmosis gondii parasite can be treated if it’s the only infection. It originally comes from cat feces. And it is treatable. But what they have done may never have any treatment options. And now they are testing people to see if any are immune? There is no immunity to this parasite. So if they are testing for immunity, it has to mean they are injecting people with the parasite who have had the flu shot.” I say.
Marc shakes his head. At a loss for words. I
am too at this point.
We come upon a sign that says “Canton one mile”.
“Not far now.” Marc says.
Thank the Gods. I think to myself.
Finally, we come into Canton. I feel like kissing the ground, but I refrain. What do we see first? Zombies.
There is a car lot over to our left and zombies are milling around like they want to test drive a car or two. I look around to see how we are going to be able to get close to the cars. It looks to be about 25 zombies in the general vicinity of the trucks, which is what we want. So I think out a quick plan.
“How about I attract them so they will follow me. I can outrun them, so I will be fine. If I’m not, shoot a few for me if you can.” I say smiling.
“Well, that’s a jacked up ass plan.” Marc says.
“You got a better one?” I ask.
“No.” he says.
“Well shut up and go find us a vehicle.” I tell him.
I walk away from Marc and head towards the crowd. I whistle and they turn my way and start ambling to me like I am the main course in a seven course meal. I jog away from where Marc is drawing the zombies behind me. I jog down the street and into a parking lot of a convenience store. I circle it. I look over to see if Marc has a car yet. I circle again. Really? Is he taking his time on purpose? I didn’t realize that twenty five zombies made a nice sized crowd. Maybe I should rethink my plan next time.
I circle the store again and finally, finally hear an engine start up. I make the circle around the store and see Marc sitting at the end of the driveway to the store so I speed up and out run the crowd behind me. He has the door open for me and I jump in and we take off.
“Holy hell. It took long enough.” I say.
“It’s hard to hot wire with one hand smart ass.” Marc says.
I flip him the finger.
“So, where should we start looking for that camp?” I ask.
“I think we should look for a large building. I think by camp, they probably meant a warehouse or building so that they could have offices and rooms set up inside. Kind of like a hospital if they are doing testing.” Marc says.
“I think we need to wait until dark to snoop around.” I say.
“That may be a good idea. I need a little rest anyway. My arm is hurting like hell now.” Marc says.
“I saw a hotel when we got into town. We can check and see if there is a good place to lie low for a little while.” I tell Marc.
He nods. I can see he’s in pain now, so I get him another pain pill. I have to find a doctor to get his arm checked. Maybe I didn’t reset it correctly.
We find the hotel and drive over to see if there looks to be any other people there. There are a few cars sitting in the lot, but who the hell can say if we will be ambushed. Have I said how much I hate zombies and the dumb ass people who want to rule the world?
I get out of the truck and go into the hotel lobby and see if I can find some key cards behind the desk. What do you know? I found four.
I head back to the exit and check the numbers on the cards.
They would have to be miles apart, my damn luck.
I have a room 210, room 148, room 101 and room 160.
I head to 101 since it is closer and it opens, but it looks like zombies had an orgy in it. Moving on to room 148, it’s no better. Did the zombies come before housekeeping did any housekeeping?
I get to room 160 and almost scan the card. I hear some rustling inside so I stop and listen. Sticking my ear up to the door, I can hear what sounds like a baby whining. Now I’m curious. Sure, it could be a mother, father and child. But what of it isn’t and I just do nothing? I couldn’t live with myself. I knock.
“Hello. I’m not here to hurt you, I just want to make sure you are alright.” I say. Sounding unconvincing even to myself.
“What the fuck do you want?” A deep voiced man asks.
“As I said, just checking.” I tell him.
“Go the fuck away bitch.” He sneers.
Now that was fucking uncalled for. I was being nice, or at least I thought I was.
“Dumb ass. Since you want to be an idiot, I’ll play your game. Get your ass out here in this hallway before I blow the fucking door off the hinges.” I tell him.
“Fuck you bitch.” He says.
Oh well, now I have been provoked.
“Get the baby from in front of the door.” I say.
I hear a muffled scream from a woman.
I pull out my 30 06 and blast the hinges off the door. The man is on the bed with a woman under him, obviously having sex.
He jumps up and throws a punch at me and I crack his jaw with the butt of my rifle. The woman is crying and reaching for some cover. I walk over to her and ask, “Are you consenting with him?”
She shakes her head no.
I walk back to him and shoot him in the forehead.
Sorry fucker.
“I’m not trying to hurt you. Put your clothes on.” I say to her.
“Thank you. He took me and my baby from our home after he killed my husband three days ago. He’s been raping me since.” She tells me.
“You don’t have to worry about him now. Get the baby, go outside and I will help you find a car. Do you have family you can go to?” I ask her.
She nods and puts her clothes on and gathers the baby items.
She and I walk out and I tell her to stay there for a minute so I can go and check the last room. Good old room 210 is clean and empty.
I lead her out to the truck and tell Marc to get inside and hand him the key card. I take the woman, who I have learned is Sarah McClain, over to the car lot for a car.
I shoot a couple of zombies, enter the car lot office and grab some keys. When I get back out, I have her a couple of sets and we start looking for the car that these belong to. Finally, we find one.
“Good luck. Be careful and do not trust anyone. Be wary of people now. The worst is coming out in everyone.” I tell her.
She gives me a hug and loads the car up with a few supplies we found, fastens the baby in his car seat and heads out of the parking lot.
I go back to the room and have Marc sit down so I can look at his arm and change the bandage where he was cut in the accident. It doesn’t look as swelled as it was. I still need a doctor.
“Still hurting?” I ask him.
“Not bad now.” He answers.
“Lie down and sleep. I will watch outside.” I tell him.
“Did I hear a gun shot a few minutes ago?” Marc asks.
I nod.
I explained what had happened and he shook his head.
“I can’t take you anywhere without you losing your temper.” Marc says smiling.
“Kiss my ass. He asked for it. I wouldn’t have shot his ass had he opened the door. Anyway, he was holding Sarah, repeatedly raping her. He asked for it.” I tell him.
“Son of a bitch.” Marc says.
“I know, right. It’s fucked up now.” I reply.
Chapter 7
I keep watch while Marc rests and sleeps. Thinking back to how the world was versus how it is now it still something that's hard to wrap your mind around. Will we rebuild? When? Is the parasite contained to just a bite now? So many questions and no fucking answers. I pray this camp were looking for isn't infecting people who have the toxoplasmosis parasite just to have them come back as walkers.
We try to see the good in everyone, but now, there isn't much good left.
It's been seven months since the outbreak and it seems to get worse, not better. The phrase I have heard often in my lifetime is making me wonder now. Is our God a vengeful God? Why has he sent this? Is this his way of ridding the world of the unworthy, like during the plagues of Rameses and the flood with Noah?
Maybe these questions are too soon to answer, but you can’t stop wondering.
I make plans to find a sporting goods store to stock up on some things we lost in the accident. I make a mental note to add a couple of cross bows on t
hat list. We have to make less noise and cross bows will do that without guns firing. Marc knows how to use them so he can show me.
I wonder how things are going at home? I hope everyone is ok. We haven’t been able to make contact with the radio. I am going to try again at sunrise and maybe we will look for a better radio at the sporting goods store. If we wait too long to contact them at home, they will come looking and I would rather not have to be worried about my whole family being out here. And how is my Riley? I miss his barking.
I hear Marc stirring and look over to see him sitting up.
“Feel better?” I ask.
He nods.
“You about ready to move out? We need to see what is going on in that building.” I ask Marc.
Again, he nods.
Marc gets up and we head out to find a sporting goods store.
“You can’t hold a crossbow with a broken arm, can you?” I ask Marc.
“No, they are heavy and I can’t pull it back to set it. Why?” he asks.
“I’m going to get a few of them. I want to learn to shoot with one. No noise. I’m going to get a few machetes too. We need to take stabs in their heads so we don’t have to use a gun. It only draws more.” I tell Marc.
“Can you pull them damn thing back to set it to fire? That can be 150 pounds or more you are pulling to lock. And, will you be able to reload it fast enough?” Marc asks me.
“Well, if I can’t, my ass will be chewed up then, right? Don’t they make them with less cocking pounds? I thought I saw one once with 75 pounds pull.” I say.
“Well, they do. But they also travel a shorter distance. If you have a 175 pound pull it may travel 350 feet or more. And I don’t think you can pull a 350 pound back fast enough.” Marc says.
“Well, nothing like family to put you in your place and tell you what you can’t do.” I tell Marc.
“Bitch, please. I would rather not have to tell momma that I left her baby sister in Jackson as a Zombie because she wanted to try out a new crossbow.” Marc says with a snort.
“You’d leave me as a zombie, you jackass?” I ask him.
