by Russ Watts
“Erik, we don’t have time to argue. For the record, no, I’m not off on a suicide mission. Quinn needs help. There’s no point us both going over there. Make sure your family is okay. I’m counting on you, so get going.” Jonas practically pushed Erik away, and he turned to face the van Quinn was driving.
Gunshots rang out around him, and Erik ran back toward the clubhouse. Jonas started forward to go and fetch Quinn. She was still trying to get the van free of the sandpit, but the falling rain was only making it harder to get out. Three zombies had surrounded the cab, and he was going to have to take them out before Quinn could get out safely. There were runners coming in, too, and he was going to have to be smart to avoid them. He sliced his axe through a dead woman as he ran to Quinn, and then slipped behind a huge oak tree. Its trunk was thick, and it hid him briefly from the view of the dead. Jonas counted to five slowly, and then spun around, knowing the runners would be there. This time he was surprising them, and he split their skulls open before they even knew where he was. Particles of brain splattered him, and he brought the axe down upon them on the ground, making sure they couldn’t get back up again. He left the shelter of the tree and sprinted over to the van.
“Quinn!” he shouted, but she wasn’t paying attention to him. He could make her face out through the front windshield, but she was looking out the passenger windows, at the zombies trying to get in. They were hammering on the doors, pounding their hands against the side of the cab, and she looked scared. Was she thinking that they would leave her? If Jonas didn’t think he could do it, he might have done just that. He had to make his own family a priority, but things would have to be seriously dire for him to leave anyone behind. However small a chance there was, if he could save someone he would. Quinn had plenty of life left in her yet.
Jonas summoned up all his energy. Breakfast had been cold ham and coffee, and he could feel his arms tiring already. The axe was a brutal weapon, but it left him feeling exhausted, and with the storm swirling around them, he knew he was starting to tire. With the zombies’ attention on Quinn, Jonas had little trouble picking them off. One by one he cut them, slicing through their necks and shoulders, severing their heads from their bodies, pressing them down into the dirt when necessary so he could finish them off. When they were dead, the passenger door swung open, and he climbed up inside.
“Hamsikker, am I pleased to see you,” said Quinn. “The damn truck’s stuck. I can’t free it.”
“Leave it,” said Jonas. “We’re going. Come with me.”
“Wait, what? Leaving?”
“Quinn, have you seen what it’s like out there? They’re everywhere. Maybe on another day, if we can get more ammo, we can come back and try to retake this place. Today, though, right now, we have no choice but to leave. There’s more of the fence down on the south side. Probably the storm. I guess it wasn’t as secure as Gabe thought. Maybe he missed something, I don’t know. Look, Erik and Gabe are coming to pick us up. I know it’s not what we wanted, but this way we get to fight another day.”
Jonas could see the disappointment in Quinn’s eyes, but he also saw acceptance there. She was not just strong, but intelligent too.
Quinn turned off the engine, and they sat in the cab silently for a moment, listening to the wind and the rain batter the truck.
“Fine. Let’s go,” agreed Quinn. “I don’t have anything though. Did Gabe at least give you the weapons back?”
Jonas nodded and looked in the mirror. “I can’t see for the rain. Can you see if they’re coming?”
Quinn shook her head. “Can’t see shit.”
“Right.” Jonas put his hand on the door handle. “Let’s start making our own way back. We hang around here much longer, and we’ll get surrounded again. Plus, I don’t want the others to get stuck like you did. Just stay behind me. We can outrun them. I’ll take care of any that get too close. Okay, let’s go. Now.”
Jonas jumped out of the cab, making sure Quinn followed him. He ran around to join her and instantly put his axe to use. An old black man dressed in crimson shorts and a turquoise polo ran up to him, the man’s eyes white and his face bloody. As the runner let out a low moaning sound, Jonas cleaved off its jaw, and the zombie crashed to the ground. It floundered in the sandpit, trying to find Jonas, but another swift blow to the head, and the man was still.
“This way,” said Jonas. He led Quinn back toward the clubhouse, aware that there were more runners behind them. Quinn ran beside him, and neither of them looked back. Unless he felt something grab him, Jonas wasn’t about to waste time looking behind him. Instead, he focused his attention up ahead, and he tried to see through the falling rain where the others were. He spotted a white van moving slowly away from the work sheds, but he couldn’t tell who was driving. A figure ran from the clubhouse and jumped up into the passenger side of the van, after which it picked up speed. Jonas wondered where it was heading when it turned back toward the house; then he realized the main driveway that led back to the road was on the other side of the house. He had assumed that they were going to have to punch a hole through the dead and drive out through the fence, but as long as Gabe had the keys, they could go out of the main entrance.
“That our ride?” Quinn pointed out the brown SUV coming up behind the van. It was accelerating quickly, and the wipers were swishing back and forth rapidly.
“That’s it,” shouted Jonas. He saw the SUV plow through the vegetable patch, churning up dirt and mangling the crop as it did so. It was the most direct route to them, and Jonas was sure Erik was driving. Jonas batted away the rain from his face, and saw Erik. It looked like the passenger seat was empty, and as the SUV pulled up beside them, the door flew open.
“Get in,” shouted Erik. “Get the hell in, now!”
Jonas shuddered as he experienced a startling moment of déjà vu. When this had all started, back at the church for his father’s funeral, Erik had said exactly the same thing. Erik had picked him up and rescued him from the dead then too, and here he was doing it all over again. The setting was different, and instead of an achingly hot sun, the sky was full of thunder and rain, but it didn’t escape Jonas’s attention that they were repeating something they had done once before. All the effort they had gone to, and yet they were still on the run, still having to escape the zombies’ attacks.
Jonas jumped into the vehicle and made sure Quinn was in, too, before shouting at Erik to move it. Jonas snapped his belt in quickly, and saw Quinn had settled into the back seat next to Terry and Dakota.
“Everyone okay? Everyone out?” asked Jonas as the SUV spun to his left and began to catch up to the white van.
“All accounted for,” said Erik.
He was gripping the wheel so tightly that Jonas thought he might yank it out completely. The SUV tried to spin out of control on the dirt, but Erik managed to bring it under control and get them back onto the driveway. Jonas was grateful that his friend was a cop. All of Erik’s knowledge and experience had saved them countless times. If Erik had ended up a computer programmer or a desk clerk, who knew what state they might all be in right now?
“Gabe has the van. Mara’s sat up front with him. Pippa and Mrs. Danick took Peter and Freya into the back with them. It’s packed full of supplies so it ain’t gonna be comfortable in there for them, but it seemed the best thing to do.”
“They’ll be fine,” said Jonas, hoping that Gabe was as good a driver as Erik. As they skirted the fringe of the fairway, Jonas looked back at the course. The dead were everywhere. There had to be a hundred of them staggering beneath the gloomy sky, soaking wet, and all now heading for the van and the SUV. They began to slow down, and Jonas instinctively grabbed his axe.
“Gabe’s got to open the gate,” said Erik. “He has the keys, but it’ll take him a minute. Hamsikker, we’re low on ammo. It took everything we had getting everyone safely in the van. I think Gabe has a couple of rounds left. Me, too, but with Mrs. D’s, that’s about it.”
The SUV pulled up
to a stop behind the white van. Through the windshield everything was blurry and grey. Gabe was hidden behind the raindrops and the wind that carried leaves and dirt, and Jonas could hardly see what was going on. The engine rumbled idly as they waited, and every second that passed felt like a year. He stared ahead at the back of the van, willing it to move, wanting it to race away out onto the open road and away from the dead.
“Hamsikker, this is taking too long,” said Terry from the back. “What if he grabbed the wrong keys? What if he got attacked?”
“They’re getting close,” said Erik quietly. His side window had fogged up, and he wiped it with his forearm. “The runners are…”
“I got it,” said Jonas jumping out of the car.
“Jonas, don’t you…”
Dakota’s words were lost as Jonas slammed the door behind him and began advancing on the white van with his axe raised. If something had gone wrong, if Gabe had been attacked, he was going to have to get the others out of there. The SUV would be a squash with everyone packed in, but there was no way he was leaving anyone behind.
Jonas crept around the side of the van to the driver’s door and saw that it was open. Up ahead, a figure was crouched beside the fence. Huge wrought iron gates were sandwiched between two posts, and Jonas saw a sign through the railings hanging from an ornate lamppost. The road itself was clear, and he guessed the zombies had all been drawn to the opening in the fence further down the course. They would be lucky to find the road empty, but he could hope. As Jonas passed the van’s open door he glanced inside and saw Mara. She was sat perfectly still, with her feet up on the dashboard. The visor was pulled down, and she was examining herself in the small mirror. She was too preoccupied applying some lipstick and didn’t notice Jonas, so he continued on to see if Gabe needed any help.
“Fucking thing,” said Javier as he punched in the numbers to open the door.
“Everything okay?” asked Jonas.
Javier straightened up, and there was a clanking sound as the two gates began to open slowly. “Yeah, I just had to get the code in. I lost the piece of paper I had it written down on, so it took me a while to remember it. We’re good to go now.”
“Okay, let’s get the hell out of here,” said Jonas grimacing. “We should…”
Suddenly Jonas pushed Javier to the side, sending him sprawling to the floor. Directly where Javier had been standing was a zombie. A tall, thin man with spectacles and spindly arms was inches away, and Jonas quickly brought the axe up, catching the man under the chin, and smashing open his jaw.
“Get back,” shouted Jonas, as Javier got to his feet. “Stay behind me.”
Jonas wrenched his axe free and lifted it up to strike again and end the man’s undead life. Holding his axe aloft, Jonas heard a cracking sound, and the man’s head exploded. Jonas turned away to avoid being covered in gore and blood. He still held his axe in his hands and was unsure what had happened to the man.
“You can thank me later,” said Javier as he holstered his gun.
“Sure,” said Jonas slowly as he lowered his axe. “I had it under control, but sure.”
Javier ran back to the van, leaving Jonas standing beside the dead body. The gates were now fully open, and Jonas waited for the van to pass. Erik pulled the SUV up, and Jonas ran around it to climb back in the front.
“What was that about?” asked Erik. “You good, man?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s just get out of here.” Jonas dropped the axe in the footwell and wondered why Gabe had shot the zombie. There really hadn’t been any need to. Surely he could see that? Perhaps he was nervous. Perhaps Gabe just wanted to prove he still had it, could still shoot straight. Jonas shrugged it off. They were away from the course. The dead could go to hell. He looked back at Quinn and Terry and then at Dakota.
“You all right?” He reached back for Dakota’s hand, and she squeezed his hand back. She smiled and nodded, but then withdrew her hand from his.
Jonas let it go and told Erik to keep following Gabe. Wherever they were headed, it had to be better than the golf course. Right now he had to trust that Gabe knew where he was going.
“So where now, honey?” asked Rose.
Javier reached for the glove compartment by Rose’s knees and pulled out a crumpled up map. “You tell me. I’m driving, you do the directions.”
Rose took the map and studied it for a moment. “Oh, I see. I know.” She rolled down her window, letting in a flurry of rain, and threw the map out.
“What the fuck are you doing?” asked Javier.
“Me?” asked Rose as she wound the closed the window. “Why ask me? I’m just the pretty little housewife, right? I cook and I clean, and I fuck when I’m told to, but I really don’t know how to do anything more than that.”
Javier looked at Rose. She was smirking, as if she knew the answer to everything. If he wasn’t driving he would’ve wiped that cute smirk from her face, but as it was he had to keep both hands on the wheel. The road was smooth and straight, but the storm was making it difficult, and he was trying to monitor the road ahead for stumblers.
“How about, what the fuck are you doing?” Rose put a hand upon Javier’s thigh. “We had it all, you know. Now it’s all fucked. We could’ve made something of that place, but you had to get all buddy-buddy with them. If it was just us two we might have been able to deal with it, but with so many of them dumb fucks running around, we had no chance. I don’t know what’s got into you, Javier.”
“Keep your God damn voice down,” said Javier. “Don’t blow our cover now. They hear you talking like that, and we’ll find ourselves facing a mutiny. I don’t want to stop this van and open up the back door to find a gun in my face. You?”
“Do you know anything? Jesus, Gabe, the redhead, Erik, he’s a fucking cop. A cop! We should just off them now.”
Javier swerved the van around a corner and narrowly missed crashing into a stationary tractor that had been left halfway out of a ditch.
“I don’t care what he was before. He’s nothing. All of them. I’m in charge now. They follow me. If we play this right, then they follow us. Get it? You want to get out there, get your hands dirty? Be my guest. Otherwise, listen up. Forgetting the little girl, we have eight people running with us now. That’s a lot of people to watch our backs. Remember the trouble we had getting out of Jeffersontown? Remember Cindy?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“We were forcing it. This is much easier. These people need us. They want us. We string them along just enough to keep them interested, and we have an easy ride. I’m telling you, Mara, that with their help we can get to Canada and start over. Set up home. Really make a go of it.”
“Really?”
Javier could see the hope in Rose’s eyes. By the time they got to Canada and found his brother he intended to be flying solo again. He would use them along the way and dump them when he was tired of them or they became useless. Until then, everyone was going to be at his disposal, and that included Rose. All he had to do was make the right noises, say what they wanted to hear, and he could get people to do whatever he wanted.
“You know,” said Javier quietly. “There’s no reason we can’t keep the girl. You can do the parents. Start with the cop if you want.”
Rose bit her lip. “You’re my eagle. Forever. I’m sorry I doubted you. I just wanted you to fill me in. I thought something must be going on, but it was confusing, and…”
“Never mind that now,” said Javier. “Just look out for a road sign. We need to get out of this storm, some place safe and warm, preferably somewhere without a pack of ravenous zombies on our asses.”
Rose smiled. “On it.”
Javier knew what she was thinking about. She would already be planning who to kill first. He had had to rein her in lately, but as long as she took her time, she could have some fun. He was going to have some fun too. Just for a short while. Once they had regrouped and thrashed out a plan, he could get on the road north. In a couple of day
s they would be in Canada, and he could free himself of the others. Hamsikker would be the last to go. He was useful, certainly. Back at the gate, if he hadn’t shown up when he did, Javier knew he might have a death sentence or worse right now, but Hamsikker had saved him with that damn axe of his. He would save Hamsikker for last, have some fun with Dakota, and then enjoy watching the life drain from their bodies.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Pull up behind Gabe, but keep the engine running. I’ll have a quick word with him. If we’re stopping, I’ll give you the nod. Stay alert.”
Jonas asked Erik if they knew where they were, but he had to admit he was lost. He didn’t recognize any features on the land, and the town names meant nothing. From that, they took it they were heading out of Kentucky. They had been driving for just over an hour, and they were getting nervous the further they drove. With no way of contacting Gabe, Jonas and Erik had followed, hoping he was leading them away from Jeffersontown. They had no wish to go back there, and Jonas couldn’t think why they would. There was nothing there for them anymore, nothing but the dead.
They had taken small back roads for a while, skirting past towns and villages, keeping their distance from the main developments and built-up areas. It felt like they were heading north, but the storm had taken a while to die down, and the sun was hidden behind a bank of dark, grey cloud for a long time. Even now, the sky was a hazy shade of blue, and the air was cool.
Jonas jumped out of the SUV and scuffed his boots into the ground. The earth was soft and salty, but almost dry. Evidently the storm had largely avoided this area. For the last few minutes they had driven very slowly, and there was no sign of the dead. Erik had followed the white van down a small side street on the outskirts of a small rural town, and eventually they had pulled up next to a soccer field. The nets were still up, and the lines across the pitch painted white, but they were mostly hidden by overgrown grass. Jonas looked around. He had to admit it felt like a safe enough place to stop. Other than the rumbling engines of the van and the SUV, there were no other sounds present. There were no voices, no birdsong or dogs, and no groaning sounds indicative of the dead. He saw no movement, and, therefore, no reason to panic. He approached the driver’s side of the white van and looked into the cab.
