by Brown, TW
“I saved each one of my boys from death. Were you there? No! I pulled Ricky from a burning building with dozens of those things. Pete? When I found him, he was locked in a basement, the entire house filled with dead members of his family all trying to get to him. He was almost starved. And Tommy, the one you’re standing over like he’s not even there, that poor lad was stuck inside a car in the parking lot of a grocery store with his own mother. The only thing saving him was her inability to get free of her seatbelt. So don’t you dare judge me, each one came of his own free will.”
“So they had a choice of death or being butt-fucked by a cross-dressing pedophile,” Aaron spat. “That’s not a choice, you sicko!”
“I never forced—”
“It was you or death!” Aaron cut Princess off.
There was a long silence. I let my eyes slide over to get a better look at Aaron. He had the butt of the rifle snug against his shoulder and a finger on the trigger. Then I heard it. The long unmistakable sound of the Final Exhale. If you’ve ever heard that sound, you never forget it. Aaron’s eyes closed tight.
Princess took that moment to lunge forward. I don’t know if Aaron’s eyes had opened or not, but he fired, and the first bullet struck the big man in the gut. In the movies, being shot always knocked people back or spun them around. The only way I knew Aaron’s shot scored a hit was the dark circle blooming just above the waistline of the ill-fitting dress. The second shot came from Jack. What I saw was the exit-wound; a bloody softball-sized, jagged hole on the left side of Princess’ massive chest. I fired twice, both out of reflex, neither shot finding its mark. Aaron fired again, this shot entering just to the right of the nose, blowing out the back of the skull.
Princess stopped, staggered one more step, and toppled sideways, landing on the pavement with a meaty slap. Blood pooled out, a dark stain on the road. All this happened in a span of just a few heartbeats.
Stepping away from the car, I turned slowly in a complete circle, amazed that there was no sign whatsoever of a zombie moving towards us. There were a couple in the surrounding vehicles, but not a single one could be seen coming for us. All of the carnage around us was the once living. We’d killed living, breathing humans. Each one of us had a new weight for his conscience.
“Aaron…Jamie…search the bodies for weapons,” I broke the heavy silence. “Jack, come with me and let’s check those military trucks.”
The young man fell in at my side and we walked over to the trio of transport trucks. There were a lot of bullet holes in the tarps that covered the rear cargo areas. I also noticed an enormous black burn mark on the pavement, extending all the way to the ditch on the far side of the road.
Reaching the vehicles, the smell of death…of undeath was strong. I peered into the back of the closest and was not surprised to discover the upper-half of a torso all the way in the front of the open—but unfortunately empty of anything useful—bay. The head turned and it locked its dead eyes on me. Its arms reached, and it strained towards me, but its shirt was snagged on a piece of rotted human meat and bone preventing it from moving. Without hesitation, I brought my pistol up and fired, sending the torso to rot with the rest of the foul-smelling, dead meat at the rear of the truck.
The second truck was the scene of what must’ve been some vicious fighting. There were bullet holes everywhere, including shotgun-sized blasts in the bed that you could see through. I couldn’t begin to imagine what had happened. Blood was everywhere, but not one body remained.
The third truck proved to be the charm. The back contained what looked like field-packs along with a dozen M4s. There was a variety of gear as well as two crates full of plastic racks of ammunition. Jackpot!
In the cab, I found the driver. He’d made the obvious decision to eat a bullet. I felt a little sick when I opened the door to pull him out and heard the tearing sound where the dried blood and whatever else had welded him in place. With a quick prayer, I turned the key in the ignition. After a few sputters and a puff of dark smoke, the engine roared to life.
Jack climbed in, his nose wrinkling at the stale smell of death that filled the cab. I allowed the engine to run a moment, watching Aaron and Jamie as they busted open the sliding doors that kept the many large containers of spring water secure. They waved a few times as each of the locks was broken.
I finally dropped the big truck into gear and slowly applied pressure on the gas pedal. There was a tugging sensation and very methodically we came free of the slight tangle, pushing a small compact car out of the way with the big front bumper.
“Soon as we get to that water truck, jump out and hop in the back,” I told Jack. “We’ll hand in the water. You just make it all fit.”
“We’re taking it all?” Jack asked incredulously.
“You see any signs of zombies?”
“Well…,” he actually looked around, “no.”
“We don’t get chances like this often,” I explained. “Unless something nasty shambles up, I plan on making this pay off. We’ll have to drive around and circle back to get to the road that will take us to the campground, or whatever it was. If we can get all that water…” I laughed, “well then, all we’ll need to worry about is food.”
***
With literally hundreds of big, blue plastic containers loaded, as well as a few assorted finds, including almost a hundred gallons of gasoline, the guns, a dozen or so road flares, and a military-issue first aid kit, we headed back towards the road that would lead us to the campsite. My biggest fear was the scattered number of zombies we passed on the way. This truck was a dinner bell for the zombie. Slowly they would turn and fall in to the growing horde in pursuit.
“Startin’ to be quite a few.” Jack looked nervously in the big side mirror.
“That’s okay.” I glanced in my own, seeing a handful of the creatures emerging from the dark shadows of a tiny convenience store with all its windows busted out. “I’ve got a plan.”
“You gonna share it?”
“Nothing to share. I’m gonna take this truck to our site, have everybody unload it in a big hurry, afterwards, I’ll double back and drive this baby to a hill we passed not too far back and let it drive down. It will crash on this road and hopefully take most of the bastards away in the deal.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Then we put a dent in that brand-new supply of bullets,” I said. I smiled big and glanced over at Jack, but I guess he didn’t get my sense of humor.
I took what was basically a U-turn that put me on a steep, winding road that led up into the timbered foothills. I hoped the ride wasn’t too rough on Aaron and Jamie in back. The road ahead stayed clear; a giveaway cloud of dust rising in our wake that further helped the walking dead—and any living lunatics for that matter—get a decent fix on our travel route.
“You get everybody out here if they’re not already outside the second we pull in,” I said. “You got that?”
“Yeah,” Jack said with a nervous nod.
I looked in my side-view mirror again. They were back there. Way back there, but still on our trail. I’ve seen their single-mindedness enough to know that we’d have company at our little forest Fortress of Solitude. The winding nature of the road eventually blocked us from their sight…and vice-versa. Finally, our turn-off came into view.
We drove up the long, pine-canopied road. I went as slow as I dared, trying to minimize the amount of dust the truck kicked up, along with the amount of jostling inflicted on the boys in back. Every so often I heard something thud, followed by a muffled curse.
Like the light at the end of the tunnel, I saw the opening of the clearing ahead. It was only late afternoon, our expedition taking less time than I’d anticipated. A feeling churned in my stomach and I realized how anxious I was to be back with the group, with Thalia. On some level, I knew there was anxiety when I left her for any extended period, but I hadn’t realized how strong my attachment had grown until today.
Exiting the tree l
ine, the road forked; left leading to the campgrounds and right going uphill to the site’s caretaker’s quarters. I was pleased to see Barry and Randi at the top of the hill, rifles trained on us as we rolled into sight. Even better was seeing Thalia, Teresa, and Emily pop into view from a cluster of trees near the top of the hill.
I couldn’t help but smile when Thalia broke for the truck, mouth open in laughter, arms already extended in anticipation of the hug she knew I had for her. Teresa was on her heels, obviously trying to rein the girl in. Behind them both was Emily, arms folded across her body, eyes focused on the ground as she came slowly in the wake of the other two.
Sunshine, Chloe, and Dr. Zahn came out of the long, forest-green and dark brown building as we pulled in. I heard Jamie and Aaron saying something as they piled out. Jack was out before I’d set the brake, passing on the instructions about getting the truck unloaded. Everybody fell in, Jack and I opening the tailgate and then climbing in. We started handing things down in a hurry, urging everybody to simply set stuff aside. We could worry about storage later. The flurry of activity was impressive and we had the back empty with a half an hour.
I climbed back into the truck, explaining to everybody what my plan was. Pulling out, I’d only started rolling when a hand slapped on my window causing me to slam on the brakes. It was Teresa. I rolled down the window.
“Don’t you dare pull out of here without letting Thalia say goodbye,” she snapped.
“I’m only going to the turn off and then letting this thing drive down the embankment,” I said, trying not to sound like I needed to defend myself from the wrath of a teenaged girl.
“Papi!” I craned my neck to see the tear-streaked face of Thalia as she struggled to break free of Randi’s grasp.
Dammit. I set the brake and opened my door, nodding to Randi that it was okay to let the tiny girl go. She dashed to me and I turned, catching her hands and swinging her up into my lap. She was actually trembling, and her speech had reverted to Spanish at a pace that I couldn’t make out so much as one syllable. I held her close, stroking her hair and making gentle “shushing” noises in an attempt to get her to relax.
I looked up, realizing that everybody had crowded around in a semi-circle. I felt a teensy bit self-conscious. And I took a moment to scan the faces. What I saw was a mixture of everything from attempted detachment…Aaron; loss and longing …Barry and Randi; loneliness…Emily…dammit, dammit, dammit; to what could only be some sort of protectiveness…Teresa.
“C’mere, Emily,” I whispered, but loud enough to be heard over the idling truck engine.
The girl glanced uncertainly at the others before dashing over to my outstretched arm. She was so petite; it was with no effort that I brought her up as well. I made soothing reassurances that I would be right back.
“Promise?” Emily’s face came up and her eyes seemed to drill into my soul. I noticed everybody’s eyes widen in anticipation as to how I would answer.
“Well…I can’t actually say I promise to something like that, Emily,” I finally answered slowly. “But I can promise that I won’t do anything dangerous beyond getting rid of this truck.”
“But why do you have to take the truck?” Thalia joined in the discussion now. Great.
“Because,” I kissed both their foreheads, “if I take it away, those monsters are stupid. When the truck rolls down the hill, they’ll just think that’s the direction to go.” Both girls nodded, seeming to accept my answer.
“Plus,” Aaron said as he climbed in the passenger side of the cab, “I’m going with.”
I handed the two girls down and pulled my door shut. I waved as I began inching forward. The group began to dissolve, everybody turning to the task of putting our newly acquired supplies away.
“I love you, Papi!” a tiny voice called.
“I love you, too!” I called back. After a brief pause, I added, “That goes for you as well, Emily!”
We rode in silence, back through the canopy of interwoven pine branches. We reached the road, but still saw no sign of the zombies that’d been following us. I turned left, deciding that the sooner I changed their course, the less likely any would end up finding us.
“Hold up!” Aaron grabbed my arm.
“What?” There was still no sign of any zombies, but we were coming up on another bend in the road.
“Down below,” Aaron rolled down his window.
I stopped the truck, rising up in my seat to try and get a look, but couldn’t really see much past the open air. The embankment was steep, falling off sharply only a few feet past the edge of the narrow road. “I can’t see a thing,” I said, giving up and sitting. “Shit.”
“What?” Aaron turned back and discovered what had prompted my expletive.
The leading edge of the zombie mob was rounding the corner less than twenty feet away. I shifted into reverse, getting some distance. I reached the previous bend we’d rounded.
“Get out!” I said. “Make for the brush and head up the hill. I’ll be right on your heels.”
Aaron jumped out and I brought the truck back, aiming the nose for the edge of the embankment, hoping the truck would roll all the way down to the road below and make enough noise to draw he mob with it. I tapped the gas and jumped out my open door. As quickly as possible I scrambled back, skirting the rear bumper. I dove into the thick brush and moved up the hill. I caught up with Aaron and selected a tree close by to hide behind. The crashing sound of the truck seemed insanely loud. We were up enough that we could see part of the highway below.
“Jesus Christ,” I breathed.
“Yep,” Aaron agreed.
The largest mob I’d ever seen was moving along the highway. There were hundreds…thousands. And now, they were all looking up. Up at the truck I assumed was rolling their way. Some had already changed course and were veering up the hill. About that time, I saw the leading edge of the mob that had been pursuing us.
“C’mon,” I whispered, “take the bait.”
Slowly, they began to turn. At first I thought they might hesitate, balk at the steepness of the slope leading down. Then, the first one took a step and tumbled from view. A moment later, it was like a zombie waterfall. The stream was changing course!
After an hour, Aaron and I began to trek back to what I hoped could be our home for a while. Just before sunset we emerged into the clearing at the base of the gentle slope where the caretaker’s building sat.
A pair of little girls squealed in delight and came running at us down the hill. I glanced over to see the beginnings of a smile curl Aaron’s lips.
10
Vignettes X
Peter heard the door open. He tensed up automatically, ready for the next beating he felt certain was about to come. The hood was yanked from his head and he had to squeeze his eyes against the harsh glare of the sun pouring through the windows. He had no idea how long he’d been in this room tied to the chair, but it’d been a while.
Two dark shadows moved across his field of vision, limited as it was, and a third came up to stand over him. A rough hand grabbed his face, squeezing his cheeks like the grandma-from-hell.
“So,” a deep voice full of amusement came from the still indiscernible shadow, “what exactly do you think you were doing around our place in a military vehicle?”
“Well…” Peter’s voice was raspy, and his tongue was swollen and kept getting in the way.
“You ain’t military,” the voice answered for him. “But in going through your things, I think you might be just a bit better than a soldier.”
“Huh?” Peter was hungry, thirsty, sick of sitting in his own filth, and now he could add confused to the list.
“Answer me one question,” the voice said. Peter could just begin to make out a face, not exactly black, but a darker mocha, with a well-trimmed beard that held a fine, thin line along the jaw, the head was shaved clean. “You a doctor?”
“Umm…yeah,” Peter managed.
“Paris,” the man said
, “get me some water for our guest.”
“You got it, Shaw,” the shadow closest to the door—obviously named Paris—answered, and ducked through.
“Now,” Shaw stood up, one hand toying with the grip of the pistol on his hip, “your next answer is even more important.”
Peter’s vision finally acclimated, allowing him to get a better look at his surroundings. The room was small and had the feel of a workshop. There were empty shelves and a peg-board. The window providing all the light was facing directly east and was at least a couple stories up. The other man in the room besides Shaw had a shotgun on one hip. Both men were rather large, easily a couple hundred pounds each and over the six-foot mark in height.
“We need a proper doctor.” Shaw bent down and drew a large blade that he slipped between flesh and the leather thong binding him in place. With a flick of the wrist he cut it, freeing Peter’s left hand. The blood returned in a surge causing the fingers to burn and tingle.
“And if I agree,” Peter flexed his free hand a few times, “I get to live. That it?”
“You want to bargain?” Shaw laughed. “That is a good amount of sack you’re showin’, Doc.”
“Well,” Peter knew full well his situation, “as I see it, doctors are sorta rare. That should have at least a little value.”
“Whatcha got on yer mind, Doc?”
“I’m gonna guess you don’t have anything beyond basic medical supplies. So, first thing is I’ll give you a list of essentials.” Peter glanced at his right hand still secured to the chair, then back up at Shaw.
The larger man laughed and cut the bindings to Peter’s right hand. “That all, Doc?” Shaw asked, stepping back.
“I don’t know,” Peter shrugged, rubbing both hands together, “I want my stuff back, but I imagine you won’t just toss me back my weapons.”
“Prob’ly not today.” Shaw handed the large knife to Peter handle first. “But I imagine you’ll get at least some of it once we get to know ya better.”
