by Brown, TW
I looked out back, a sea of dead bodies were packed in between the lake, and probably all the way up against the cinderblock exterior of the building. Once again I was thankful that the storage room downstairs had no windows. Of course I’d spent hours feeling my way around down there to no avail. Well, that’s not true…I sliced three of my fingers on my left hand on something large and metal and sharp. The only thing I was absolutely certain of was that there was no food down there.
Sipping from a bottle of water, I pulled open the sliding glass door. The stench equalized, it made me think of a diving bell, only it was the reek of dead bodies outside, balancing with the permeated stench already inside.
“Ahh,” I cooed in a mock falsetto, “my public.” A chorus of zombies made various sounds to indicate just how desirable I was to them. It was not unlike those film snippets of young girls going into hysterics over Elvis or The Beatles. Only instead of tears, they wept pus, and the cacophonous roar was several octaves lower. Although, to their credit, it was almost deafening; punctuated with a nursery of baby-cries.
“You like me,” I clasped my hands under my chin after wiping away an imaginary tear. “You really like me.”
I walked to the railing of the deck and stared down into the sea of faces. None of them looked familiar. In other words, I couldn’t spot Lee or Jason in the crowd. Of course, while I was certain Lee had joined the ranks of the undead. I could not be certain when it came to Jason. Hey, maybe I could add them to the names my dream version of Jack hurled at me when pointing out all the people I was responsible for killing.
Walking back inside, I sat down in one of the hard, folding metal chairs. Wow, I marveled, that wore me out. Walking that little bit, opening the heavy sliding glass door, then closing it again. Of course, I preferred this total sensation of exhaustion over the stomach cramps of the first few days. I’d already vetoed the idea of taking a stage-dive into the masses waiting hungrily below. Starving to death, while unpleasant, easily won my vote over being torn apart and eaten alive. Once the water runs out, this whole miserable experience might come to a fast ending.
***
I woke to what started out as a dull buzz, muffled and distant, but slowly grew to a whine, then almost a roar. It was coming from out back.
Climbing slowly to my feet, I could see that it had morphed into early evening. All the shadows were pointing the other direction. It’s amazing how observant you become when you have nothing but tedious boredom to occupy each grueling hour of the day or night.
Walking to the window, I stared out and noticed immediately that the zombies had all turned their backs on me. Literally. What the hell? I don’t know if I said that…or just thought it really loud.
Something low on the waterline flashed by; a rooster tail glittering in the late afternoon sun. I only had an arms’ breadth view of the lake as trees on both sides screened off most of the vista. Once more the form shot past, this time going from left to right.
If it comes by again, I will concede the probability of this only being an illusion brought on by starvation-induced dementia. I walked to the sliding glass door, struggling just a bit to pull it open. It seemed heavier than last time. Of course the smell came in a rush, along with the obviously agitated sounds of the undead. The buzz grew, magnified by the now open glass door. And there it was…a small hydroplane flashed past again. Stepping out onto the deck I could see somewhat through the dense pines as the craft slowed, its rooster tail vanishing, then a sheet of water as it turned back for yet another pass. Then I noticed something interesting; the zombies were pouring down to the shore.
I had absolutely no idea who this was, but they were giving me a chance. Maybe. I went inside, not bothering to close the sliding glass door behind me, and staggered through the building. I made my way to the room that I’d crawled through the window of when I first arrived. Did I dare to hope?
Peeking out from the side, I could see the long, two-lane avenue through the heart of this little town. Stragglers were still visible, but all of them were heading past this building! Then I saw two figures poke out from behind a big truck a couple of blocks away. Both were bristling with weapons. There was no doubt in my mind that they were heading straight for me.
I considered my options—which took less than ten seconds—weak and hungry, I would be no problem for at least two people packing serious weaponry. I pulled aside the bottom slat that I hammered into place, not that there was any chance of a zombie getting up and through a window as high above ground as this one. I’d done it mostly for peace of mind; even if I knew it was a placebo.
“Steve!” a familiar voice called as the two men closed in on me at a sprint.
“Aaron?” I stepped up on the box and tried to pull myself through the window. I heard the distinctive sound of a skull being cleaved, but was too occupied with my struggle now that I’d managed to work myself halfway out of the window. Kicking my feet and wriggling, my progress was anything but quick. I felt a tug which frightened me. I only realized in the split-second before I hit the ground that my pants were caught on a piece of aluminum window frame. That’s how I ended up face down in the dirt wearing my pit-stained tee shirt and two-week-old underpants when Jamie Blossington rolled me over and extended a hand to help me up.
“Come with me if you want to live,” Jamie said in what had to be the worst ‘Ah-nold’ impersonation I’d ever heard.
Reaching up, I did my best to help get to my feet, al-though I don’t think I was being very helpful if the strained look on his face as he pulled me up was any indication. Looking past him, I could see the growing pack of zombies reaching and making their assorted zombie noises at the hydroplane.
“Let’s move your ass, old man,” Jamie chuckled as he led me away. “If we don’t get you back to the house soon, Thalia’s gonna take Emily’s offer on shooting lessons up and I’m not sure that zombies will be her first target.”
“What gives with the boat?” I asked, noticing that I was slurring my words just a bit.
“That’s Jason,” Aaron said, flipping up a plastic face-shield he wore attached to a sturdy looking helmet.
“He’s okay?” I asked, more than a little surprised.
“Dude,” Jamie chuckled, “he tried to catch up to you when you led that herd away. He found an irrigation or drainage runoff ditch and a huge concrete pipe with a grate. He hid out as the zombies made their way past. He caught a glimpse of you a couple of times, but he said you were a freakin’ animal…no rest, no breaks, stayin’ just out of reach.”
“But the hydroplane?”
“Yeah, he found it when he was trying to find a way to get to you,” Aaron replied. “Problem was, he needed help getting it running and down into the water. He ran back to the house, filled everybody in, then the three of us took off. It took longer than we expected.”
“How’s he gonna get back?” I asked, gratefully accepting a stale protein bar from Jamie.
“There’s a landing about a half mile down,” Aaron said. “He’ll beach it and catch up.”
We were at the on- or off-ramp to the highway—I wasn’t sure which in my dazed condition—and began hiking up. I glanced over once to take a look.
“Jesus,” I breathed. “I’ve never seen so many.”
The edge of the lake was a hundred bodies deep in some places. The zombies disappeared from view due to the woods, but I saw that one house Melissa and I had searched in the last supply run. It was completely engulfed by the walking dead.
“Yep,” Jamie said without looking, “that’s a lifetime supply of fucked down there.”
Before long, we were in the trees and angling uphill. I knew we wouldn’t be home in one day, but it didn’t matter. I was alive, safe—as much as could be expected these days—and fed for the first time in a while. They had a plastic jar of peanuts, powdered Gatorade drink mix to shake up in a bottle of water, fresh jerky, and two cans of mandarin orange slices. It was the best meal I could remember eating in a long
time.
Just before sunset, Jason caught up with us. I didn’t ask him about Lee and he didn’t offer. Personally, I’m relieved the guy is gone. I don’t wish zombie-induced death on anyone, but that man had worn out his welcome as far as I was concerned.
“Good thinking with that hydroplane,” I said, offering him my newly acquired canteen.
“Actually,” Jason said after a long drink, “you sorta clued me in on how stupid those things are. They’re mindless robots. The way they locked onto you as you ran through the woods was incredible. I had no idea just how simple it would be to fool them. Watching you lead that big-ass herd, I knew I could get you out if they didn’t eat you first.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” I said with a laugh. It felt good to laugh. That was something else I hadn’t done in a long time.
I looked from one face to another: Jamie, Aaron, and Jason. They weren’t joining in. Something was up. Maybe they’d had those looks the whole time and I was just noticing it, but I don’t think so.
“What?” I asked.
They all began looking immediately at the ground. None of them wanted to make eye contact with me. My mind began to race. There was no mistaking the signs. Something had gone wrong in my absence. I could count Thalia and Emily off of my list of worries because of Jamie’s earlier comments. Also, I felt fairly confident that Teresa was okay because Jamie would not be this together if it were otherwise.
“Randi hung herself,” Jamie blurted.
“Out in the woods,” Aaron added.
I sat there stunned. I thought of all the things that I had been through with her and Barry. I knew she’d not taken her husband being bitten well at all. I also knew she’d seen her and Barry’s daughter torn apart by a pack of those things in their back yard. In fact, it was days…maybe even weeks before I heard her speak. Then, slowly, she began to open up and become a solid presence for everybody. I just couldn’t reconcile what she’d done. But what the hell did I know? I’d never been in a relationship that lasted longer than half a year. I’d often watch those two together, and I tried to figure out how two people could be so obviously in love.
“Who found her?” I asked with no idea why the answer mattered.
“Chloe,” Aaron said.
“She and Sunshine were picking mushrooms or something,” Jamie explained. “They’ve been going out regularly and coming back with all kinds of leaves and flowers and such that they use when making dinner.”
“Some of it’s even good,” Jason added.
“I guess Chloe found her and freaked,” Aaron continued. “Never heard a deaf person cry, she scared the hell out of Billy and me. We were on watch when she and Sunshine came back to camp. I thought the stiffs had come up with something new to lure people…like that creepy baby cry sound.”
“Then Teresa and Sunshine and Melissa got into a big catfight because Teresa and Melissa wanted to give some pills to Chloe,” Jamie picked up the story. “Sunshine went mental about all the weird drugs probably being why zombies happened in the first place. Fiona and that funky black chick with the shaved head—”
“Jillian,” Aaron piped up.
“Yeah, her,” Jamie agreed. “Those two had to physically separate them.”
“So it’s been pretty rough?” If nothing, I had a firm grasp on the obvious.
“Toss in Thalia and Emily arguing over who misses you more, and I think we have it covered,” Jamie said.
I leaned against the tree at my back; my stomach full for the first time in days. It was getting dark. There would be no fire obviously, but I was so happy to be out of that smelly recreation center that warmth was of little concern. Besides, it wasn’t terribly cold, even this high up in the mountain…or hills…or whatever. Jamie, Aaron, and Jason were whispering. It sounded urgent.
I didn’t care. That was my last real thought as I drifted off to sleep.
***
My body felt like crap. Sleeping while sitting up was bad enough. And even though somebody had been nice enough to cover me with a sleeping bag in the middle of the night, there’s a certain coldness that seeps up from the ground and tightens every tendon in your body. It felt as if I had been compressed twenty or thirty percent overnight. When I stood, I swear I could hear creaking. The stretching sounds of protest that came from every joint or moveable part of my body just seemed to amplify the pain.
“Coffee?” Jason offered me a hard plastic trucker-sized mug.
“Thanks.” I took it, breathing deeply the smell of wood smoke. A small pit had been dug at some point and a fire started. A metal cooking pot was dangling from a branch that had been shoved into the ground over the tiny fire.
We had instant oatmeal, instant coffee, and a handful of wild mountain blackberries; all of which were delightful. Deprivation really has a way of changing your prospective. Once we were done, and the fire doused, stirred, stomped, and buried, we got moving. The rest of the morning we walked in silence.
Food, water, and the lessening of the feeling that I was going to die soon helped clear my head. That’s how I began to notice a few things. The biggest was that something was definitely bothering Jamie and Aaron. The second thing being that Jamie kept glancing at me with a look that told me he wanted to say or ask something. Yet, each time, he would get no further than allowing his mouth to hang open for a few seconds before he would snap it shut and continue hiking.
I didn’t remember the trip back being this steep either time that I’d made it before. On and on we hiked through the woods. I figured we would arrive around midday providing that I didn’t slow them down too much. I even considered protesting when we stopped for lunch, but my body made it clear to my mouth that the only need it had to open was for taking in more food.
After a light lunch of jerky and some sort of unleavened bread-type things, we were on our feet and on the move. More than once, I felt that there was something just not right with everybody. My mind kept puzzling over it. It couldn’t be simply due to my own awkwardness after being away from people for a while that was making me hyper-sensitive.
A couple hours—that’s my best guess—after we’d stopped for lunch, Aaron whistled. One long, two short. Weird, I thought, when did we start doing that?
I wasn’t two steps into the clearing when I heard a little girl’s squeals.
“Papi!”
Thalia was running down the hill that our communal house sat perched upon. Well, really it was the parks and recreation building that the caretaker of what had once been a large campground resided in. The best feature of that building was the giant stone fireplace that hadn’t, as of yet, been put to use. At least as far as I knew.
I handed my stuff—what little there actually was—to Aaron and knelt down ready to catch the tiny Hispanic girl. My eyes darted around, searching for Emily. I saw Ian and Billy come out onto the porch, but no sigh of Teresa, Melissa, or Dr. Zahn. These people were the core of our original group and I realized I actually felt a spike of anxiety with their absence.
“You’re back, Papi,” Thalia laughed as she plowed into me, sending me onto my back.
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She snuggled into my chest for a moment, then her head popped up. Her smile was brighter than the summer sun, and her dark eyes sparkled.
“You made it in time.” She grabbed my scruffy face in her little hands and wriggled up into a sitting position on my stomach.
“In time?” I asked confused.
“Mañana es mi cumpleaños.”
“What?”
“Teresa said tomorrow is August 2nd”
“Okay.”
“I will be six!”
“Wow!” I struggled to sit up and she climbed off me. As soon as I was on my feet, she had my hand and was leading me up to the house. “So, where is everybody?”
“Teresa and Emily are picking blackberries with Chloe, Sunshine and Jillian. Melissa, Finona,” she paused and took a deep breath. “Fee-oh-naa,” she enun
ciated very slowly, “and Molly are washing clothes with Curtis and Paul. Brad, George and Dr. Zahn are in the house with Buster.”
“Buster?” I asked after I shook my head at how fast she had rattled all that off.
“A Border Collie,” Ian said as he walked across a narrow wooden bridge that extended over the now complete trench that circled the hill our residence sat atop.
“I’m teaching him to sitstay,” she ran the words together as one.
“Welcome back, Steve.” Ian gripped my shoulders.
“Yeah, man,” Billy added. “We thought we’d lost you.”
“Told ya.” Talia glared up at the sixteen-year-old.
“Yep, you did.” He nodded and mussed her hair playfully.
“Everybody should be back soon.” Ian led the way as we headed to the house. “Dr. Zahn said you were to be brought to her as soon as you returned.”
“If she’s worried about whether I got bit or not,” I tried to joke, but Ian shot me a look. It was the same kind of look I’d seen on Jamie and Aaron’s face. That expression that told me something was wrong.
“Yep,” Billy blurted as if just remembering something. “That reminds me, Thalia, I promised Melissa that you and I would go get her as soon as Steve got back, so c’mon.”
“I want to stay with my Papi!” she insisted. I felt her hand squeeze mine tighter.
“But I promised,” Billy insisted. “Plus she said she had a surprise for your Papi that she needed your help with.”
I could hear the improvised lie in his voice. It was official. There was something being kept from me. I was certain that, whatever it was, it would be bad. The question was…how bad?
Thalia turned, pulling my arm bringing me down to her level. She threw both arms around my neck and squeezed. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was going to let go. Then, she drew back and rested her forehead against mine.
