The scenario that followed played out with a wave of sounds exploding in a series of violent shifts. The rhythmic breathing was pierced by a howling scream. The volume rose as others joined in with the first. A gunshot rang out from the entrance and the infected erupted in a horrific clamor.
Chris fired his gun, sure the infected would swarm on him at any moment. He felt for the lock then pulled at the chain. A constant wave of howling and gunfire drowned out everything else. Chris frantically yanked at the chain until the coil unraveled and fell to the floor. One good kick forced the door open and a flood of light exploded in through the opening, setting off a frenzied shrill.
Chris didn’t look back until he was outside. One by one, Michael, Jenn, and Jafar spilled out of the emergency door, but the infected did not follow them into the light. A rash of gunfire continued from somewhere inside. The turmoil sounded as if the entire building was coming down around them. The horrific howls were only interrupted by the screams of the men trapped inside.
Chris reached the middle of the football field before turning for another look. Jenn was close to him and Michael had his eyes on the edge of the gym. There was no sign of Sarah or the kids. Jafar kept his pistol aimed on the emergency door waiting for something to show itself in the light. He called out, his accent thicker in the heat of the moment.
“We need to keep moving.”
“Mom,” Michael’s yell was a shock to everyone’s system. “Mom.”
“Shut up,” Chris ordered.
“Chris…” Jenn pulled at him, “she has Jake and Alicen.”
Chris silently considered if the kids were enough reason for him to go back and look. A moment later and he didn’t have to choose. Sarah’s scream came from somewhere behind them. They all spun around, but there was no clear sign of anyone moving within the trees.
Michael started running before anyone could stop him. He reached the other side of the field as the dead stepped out into the open. The large shambling pack pushed their way out from under the tree coverage. They moved in various stages of decay focused on the fresh meat of Sarah and the kids running out ahead of them. Sarah screamed at the top of her lungs as she pulled Alicen with one hand and Jake with the other.
Chris aimed his rifle, then thought better of it. He ran towards Sarah and waved Jenn back as she started sprinting after him. In one awkward turn, he threw the bus keys at her, then continued around and kept going.
“Get to the bus.”
Michael reached his mother before Chris got across the field. Chris stopped where he was and steadied himself, taking aim. Michael urged his mother ahead of him and started back as Chris fired. The first round hit a zombie in the leg and the blow ripped through the putrid flesh and blew chunks of muscle out the back. The second shot caught a female in the face, which exploded like a blood-filled balloon.
Sarah and the kids rushed past Chris and he slid his gun over his shoulder. He was moving again when Michael caught up to him. They were sprinting full speed, neither bothering to look back at the dead. Zombies didn’t stand a chance of catching up in the open and Chris knew all they had to do was stay ahead of them. He was more concerned with what might come popping out of the gym.
They reached the corner of the building and he heard two distinct sounds. The first hum was the roaring diesel engine of a bus coming to life and the second was a gunshot coming from the parking lot. They passed the school’s main double doors and took in the view of Jafar standing over a dead man and holding his gun on another. The bus pulled back with uneven lurches, plowing the front end into the rear of the bus parked next to it. The bus pulled free then came to a stop and the door flung open. Jenn yelled out from the driver’s seat.
“Get your asses in here.”
Sarah and the kids ran up the stairs and disappeared inside. Michael was running towards the bus when Chris came to a stop beside Jafar. Chris recognized the man at the other end of the barrel as the one who had locked him up in the storeroom. He had his hands up in defense and a rifle lay on the ground at his feet.
“You’re going to have to let this one go,” Chris said.
Jafar took a few steps back, carefully avoiding the dead man at his feet. He never lowered his pistol. “It’s your lucky day, my friend,” he said. “Go.”
The man turned to run as a hail of gunfire erupted from the school windows. He was hit several times, falling dead before he finished his turn. Jafar was hit, but kept moving. Chris pushed him toward the bus, and then managed to pick the rifle up off the ground before he followed.
The bus was moving toward them and Jafar leapt up into the doorway as it picked up speed. The windows along the side shattered as rounds torn into it. Chris ran along the side and dove into the opening as sounds of the kid’s screams filled the interior. The bus swerved as Jenn ducked down, but she kept it heading in the right direction. Two hard turns later and the gunfire stopped.
Chris focused on Jenn. Her hands were locked on the steering wheel, and her knuckles bone white. He stood up and brushed the glass off his lap. He checked himself over and made sure he wasn’t bleeding, and then scanned the bullet ridden seats.
“Is everyone all right?”
Sarah was crying, but she managed a nod. She had Alicen buried under her arms. The little girl had her eyes closed. Michael was up on his knees in one of the seats, his attention focused on the rear door window. The school was getting smaller as they sped away.
Jake helped Jafar up into a seat. He had a wound in his shoulder, but it didn’t look bad. Chris turned attention back to Jenn. Some of the color had returned to her knuckles. He rested a hand on her shoulder and she risked a looked up at him.
“Impressive,” he said.
Jenn smiled.
“You should see me when I’m really under pressure.”
15.
It was late. Jenn refused any help driving and once Jafar’s wound was bandaged, there was little for anyone else to do. The group sat in silence, spread out among the rows of seats. Chris stared out the window, thankful that at least for the moment they were still alive.
His nerves were shot. So much had happened since they pulled out of Denver in that run down minivan. He hadn’t had any real time to reflect during the entire ordeal that followed their exodus. Now that time was abundant, he didn’t like the thoughts that clung to him.
Chris had made choices and he realized most of them were as selfish as he’d always been. Had it not been for a few turn of events, he would have abandoned Jenn and the kids on multiple occasions. He knew in his heart that Jenn wouldn’t do that to him. She was stronger than he was. He was no more a leader now than he was when he was on his own. In some ways, he was still that strung out junky willing to sacrifice anything or anyone to get his next fix.
The highway was surprisingly clear. The countless abandoned vehicles dotting the road out of Denver gave way to a long open stretch. The highway was lined with endless trees on either side. They passed a few off roads and an occasional sign indicating another small town, but no one lobbied to stop.
They were safe for now, but everyone knew there were problems ahead. Between the seven of them, they had a few packs of crackers and a sandwich Jake managed to stuff in one of his pockets. Chris figured they would die of thirst long before they starved to death. There was no plan on how to get through the night. They would either risk the sound of the bus drawing attention or stop and hunker down; both posed their share of hazards.
Chris pushed himself out of his seat and tiptoed past a sleeping Jafar and Jake. He slumped down in the front seat behind Jenn and waited for an invitation. She looked up at him a few times in the mirror above the windshield, but never said anything. He wasn’t sure what was going on in her head, but he guessed his lack of response to her question about coming back for her had something to do with it.
He sat in silence as long as he could, then finally leaned up and looked over her shoulder. The fuel gauge was at fifty percent. The size of the tank told
him they had enough gas to get away from Dumont, but nowhere near enough to reach Vegas. He added a mental note to the growing list of problems.
“You want to get some sleep?” he asked.
Jenn shrugged and tossed the idea around before answering.
“I think I’m okay for now.”
Chris looked back at the others and made sure no one was listening.
“We’re going to have to find some food.”
“And gas,” she added.
“I figured that.” He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “There’s no way to tell what we’ll find out this far in the dark. My guess is we’re too far away from civilization to run into any infected, but I’m not so sure that theory holds up anymore.”
“I don’t think we should drive at night,” she said. “We’re not up to handling much if it goes bad.”
Chris was glad someone else made the decision.
“Just pull over when you’re ready.”
“Sarah would know where the nearest town is,” she said. “We should make sure we stop short of that. We could try going in at sun up and look for food.”
Chris nodded, but his mind was on something else. He wasn’t sure he trusted any small town. Dumont might have ruined his impressions for a long time.
“We need to be careful,” he said.
“We don’t have a lot of choices,” Jenn replied flatly.
It was two hours later when the sun dipped down behind the trees. Most of the group nodded when Chris explained that they were going to stop for the night. Only Sarah took issue with it. She made a plea to continue on, but the others were too tired to support her assertion.
Jenn edged the bus off the road at a wide turn and it came to a stop in a graveled set-aside. She turned the key and the monstrous engine died. The sudden silence was haunting. Chris felt a rush of fear heighten his senses. He started sliding closed the remaining windows left intact from the hail of bullets.
Jenn double checked the push bar on the door, and then walked back to the center of the bus where everyone had gathered. Alicen lay across one of the seats with her head propped up in her hands supported by her elbows. Her brother sat in the seat across from her. Jafar was lying with his back against a window while Michael and Sarah sat behind everyone. Chris waited for Jenn to take a seat.
“I think everyone knows most of our problems.” He scanned their faces and saw no argument. “We have to get some food.”
Jenn cut in. “Do you know anything about the other towns around here?” she asked Sarah.
Sarah gave a hesitant nod. “But I haven’t been to any of these places since the infection started to spread.” Her pitch rose as the fear grew. “They could all be overrun by the dead or worse. Maybe even a group of those damn men-”
Chris put his hands up and motioned for her to relax as she started to rise from her seat. “We know that. I’m not saying it won’t be dangerous.”
“We should only send in one or two people,” Jafar added. “Check it out before we bring in the others, if we bring them in at all?”
“I’m hungry,” Alicen said. Jake shushed her. “What? I’m hungry,” she repeated.
Sarah sheepishly looked Chris in the eyes.
“We’re not far from Grand Junction.”
“That’s not a small town,” Michael said.
Chris acknowledged both of them, then settled in for the night.
“Let’s try to make it until tomorrow.”
The group separated without much debate. The exhaustion was obvious on everyone’s face. Jenn headed for the front and settled in the seat closest to the door. Chris was following her when she spoke, but she didn’t look back.
“I’ll take first watch.”
There were no complaints. Chris tried to settle on a seat to lie down in for the night, but found himself standing beside Jenn. She looked up at him, and then scooted over. He sat down and the two peered out the front windshield for a long time without saying a word. Chris struggled as he ran through everything he’d said to her over the past few days. Lucky for him, Jenn spoke first.
“How could you just leave us?”
Chris started to defend himself, but shook his head instead. He was tired. He looked at her and found a gut retching sadness on her face. A rush of disappointment consumed him.
“I’m not good with people,” he admitted, “Never have been.” He wiped his hands over his face trying to get the burn out of his eyes. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
“I don’t care,” she cut in. “I don’t care about what you were. I only care about what you are, who you are now.” He nodded, but didn’t say anything. “We’re all we have right now.”
Chris didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want anyone depending on him. More important, he didn’t want to care about anyone else. He knew the guilt he had came from his growing affection for her and the kids. He kept telling himself he didn’t want any of that.
“I thought you were coming along because you cared what happened to us?”
There was a long uncomfortable silence. It took Chris a few minutes to realize she was waiting for an answer.
“What do you want me to say?”
“How about we start with the truth?”
“Fine,” he said louder than he needed to. He caught himself and whispered. “I’m a junkie. I can’t remember the last time I cared about anyone else but me.” He thought about what he said and it stunned him. He couldn’t remember a time he’d ever said it out loud.
Jenn nodded and smiled a sad acknowledgment. She took his hand and held it. “Nope, you were a junkie.” She slipped her fingers in-between his. “Now you’re one of us.”
They sat quietly holding hands and looking out at their dark surroundings, neither feeling the need to say anymore.
#
Jafar and Michael stepped off the bus as soon as the sun broke the tops of the trees across the highway. The plan was simple; get to Grand Junction and scout for supplies. If there was any sign of trouble, they would leave without risking a fight. Jafar had his pistol and Michael had the rifle Chris took off the gunman in the school parking lot.
The firearm distribution left the group in the bus with a single rifle and a few bladed weapons, but the need for food and water far outweighed anything else. Chris was hungry, although he wouldn’t admit it. Jake and Alicen were already complaining. If Jafar and Michael didn’t return with something, no one was sure what they were going to do.
The duo headed west along the side of the highway with an expectation of being back before sundown. Sarah was convinced Grand Junction wasn’t more than a few miles from where they were parked. An agreement from Michael assured Jafar they could reach the town and get back in time. The remaining group settled in for a long wait.
#
Jenn stood out in the center of the highway checking her watch. Chris stepped off the bus and started towards her. Jafar and Michael had been gone for nearly ten hours. No one wanted to say it, but they were all starting to worry.
“Anything?” Chris asked.
Jenn shook her head. “Not a sign of them. What do you want to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“We can’t leave them out there.” She focused on him. “They could be in trouble.”
“So you want to drive all of us into the middle of it if they are?”
Jenn headed back to the bus. She rushed passed him without as much as a glance.
“Wait a minute.” By the time he reached the steps, she was behind the wheel buckling her seatbelt. “Aren’t we going to discuss this?”
“Discuss what?” Jake asked from a few seats away.
“We’re going,” Jenn said and started the bus.
Chris looked from her to Jake and shrugged. “I guess we’re going.” They were already moving before his butt hit the seat behind the driver. “Let’s keep it slow and steady. Make sure we don’t pull into anything we can’t get ourselves out of.”
It only took a few minutes to cover the distance to Grand Junction. The green and white welcome sign was marred with bullet holes and the highway was littered with burnt out vehicles. Chris let down his window and leaned out. He got his gun ready, and then called back to the others.
“Take a window, two on each side, and call out if you see anything move.”
Alicen appeared in a window several seats back on Chris’ side of the bus. The little girl smiled at him, and then focused on the landscape. One side of the highway was comprised of a vast grassy meadow and buildings and storefronts blanketed the other side. Chris ran his eyes along the edge of the road and discovered Grand Junction was far bigger than the small town he’d imagined.
The buildings went back in the distance further than he could see. Each street stacked on top of one another as the landscape rose the further north they went. The uneasiness that started in Chris’ stomach was now a full blown sickness. Jafar and Michael should not have gone alone.
Jenn kept the bus at a snail’s pace. The roaring engine made it difficult to hear anything out of the ordinary. They passed several side streets before they reached the first major intersection. The highway continued to the west while a wide four-lane turn ran off to the north through the heart of what appeared to be a business district. The bus came to a stop in the center of the roadway-spilt and Jenn looked back at Chris.
His eyes met hers, and then he turned to Sarah. “I don’t suppose you have any idea which way Michael would have suggested?”
She shook her head. “I told him not to go in unless it looked safe.”
Chris stared out at street running north. “Looks fine to me, but that doesn’t mean much. There could be anything hiding in-”
“There’s something moving.”
Jake’s announcement pulled everyone to the side of the bus facing buildings. A lone figure moved across the field of view between two stores. It was moving slow, too slow.
“I don’t think that’s our guys,” Chris said.
Jake nodded.
“I think you’re right.”
The moment the words left his lips, another figure crossed the same path followed by a large group. Jenn’s head popped over Chris’ shoulder as she took a closer look.
The Last Infection (Book 1) Page 12
