by R. J. Spears
“Come on, Naveen,” Kara said with a little sharpness in her voice.
“I’m going to miss Chelsea,” Naveen said, and it was obvious that she was crying.
I let out another sigh and said. “We’re all going to miss her. And Linda, too, but they are better off going on their own. Our trip is going to be dangerous and…”
She cut me off, “I know, I know. I’ve had the same visions that you had.”
A big part of me wished she hadn’t brought that up. There was very little in that vision that foretold of any good things happening.
Zombies were in the hospital that was our final destination. Naveen was being chased and...and...I didn’t want to think about it, but I felt like they did get to her.
That made me wonder if these visions were of what was sure to be or what might possibly be. When Jason and I met, our visions weren’t 100% identical, but were similar enough. There were almost always little differences, and I clung to that but also knew, when it came to the broad brush strokes, the largest part of them came true, and this chilled me to my inner core. So much so that I felt a wave of goosebumps wash over my body, making me shiver for a moment.
My mind whirred, trying to find a way out. Maybe we could head west and just keep going. Drive until we hit the ocean then find a boat and sail away. That would be good, except I wasn’t a good swimmer and didn’t know squat about sailing. Well, that and we were on a mission from God to possibly save humanity, and I didn’t think there was much of a way to get out of that. Just like Jonah, who was desperate not to do God’s will, so much so that he let himself be swallowed by a whale, only to be delivered to where he had to go in the end, there seemed to be no escaping our mission.
In other words, I didn’t think there was any other path for us.
But why did it have to cost so much? The people we had lost along the way were a terrible price to pay. Why didn’t God just smote his enemies like in the Old Testament? Release some bears on them or a plague of locusts? Give them some incurable and quick acting disease? Hell, I would have at least given them hemorrhoids or something else to make their lives miserable because that’s what they were doing to us.
The reality was that we didn’t get to ask why. It was do or die.
Yeah, those are great options.
Kara broke me out of my spell and said, “Come on, Naveen.”
Jason went first, and Kara followed him, but a slump-shouldered Naveen trudged across the parking lot, looking like someone headed for death row. My heart felt for her because I felt the same way. There was no pardon coming. No stay of execution. We had our date with destiny, and there was no way around it.
I turned to Brother Ed and asked, “How are we doing with gas? Enough to make it to Columbus?”
“Over half a tank,” he said. “Plenty.”
I was sort of hoping we were out. That way, we could call the whole thing off for technical reasons. There was no way we could fulfill our mission because we were just plain out of gas.
I was such a child at times.
A thunderclap sounded far off in the distance to the west, rolling toward us like someone playing a big bass drum. When I turned in that direction, I sort of hoped I might see a rainbow or some other sign of hope, but all I saw was darkness, and there was nothing comforting in that.
Brother Ed and I sat in silence until the others loaded into the double cab pick-up truck that Brother Ed had somehow acquired. I didn’t ask how. There had to be some mystery left between us.
I thought Kara might ask for a moment of prayer before we set off, but she was silent, and that bothered me. In the past, she would have certainly considered it, but after our time at the Compound and her time with Marlow, she had withdrawn into herself.
There was a second reason that it bothered me because it left the spiritual leadership to Brother Ed, and who knew what kind of fire and brimstone he might call down? But like Kara, he was quiet.
Jason, Kara, and Naveen settled into the seats and remained silent. Another thunderclap boomed its way in from the west, adding an ominous soundtrack to our sad little story.
After ten seconds, I decided I couldn’t take it and asked, “Who wants ice cream?”
The terse response I got in return from Kara told me I had hit a false note. “Not now, Joel.”
Not to be completely beaten down, I said, “Northward, Jeeves. I want to be at the club before the martinis are stirred. Or is that shaken? However James Bond has them done.”
Resounding silence came at me from the backseat and my front seat partner. This was a hard crowd.
Had I known the shitstorm we were in for when we made it to our final destination, I would have felt the same way. Without another word spoken, Brother Ed pressed the accelerator down, and we pulled onto the road and headed northward. Again.
A Note from the Author
I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. This series is a labor of love for you, the reader.
Stay tuned for Books of the Dead 7: Dead End, coming in the Fall of 2018.
All things come to a head for our heroes and villains. Just as they are the verge of victory, Joel and his friends end up making their final stand as they finally come face-to-face with Colonel Kilgore who is hellbent on making sure they don't win.
Jo, Del, and Madison finds themselves on the run, only to be captured by strangers with an agenda of their own. Whether Jo, Del, and Madison fit that agenda will decide if they live or die.
Henry, Ellen, Doc Wilson, and Molly get on the road, but the find it as dangerous as anywhere they have encountered.
Dead End will culminate the holy mission Joel and his friends have tried to complete, but the forces of evil will do everything they can to make sure they fail.
Regards,
R.J. Spears
P.S. I'd love to read your review of the book.
If you enjoyed this book, check out other books by R.J. Spears
Forget the Zombies Series
Forget the Alamo
Forget Texas
Forget America
