by Brown, TW
Juan looked down at Al. His eyes told the story. The young man was infected, of that there was no doubt.
“We can’t just leave him like that,” April insisted.
“You don’t have time to debate this.” The boy reached out a hand as the other three boats began to pull away from the shore.
Juan looked back at Al. He could see the fear in his eyes. There was no way he could leave the man behind to be torn apart and eaten alive, but he wasn’t about to stay. He made eye contact with the youngster in the boat and nodded. Juan grabbed April and shoved her forward into the boat. He hopped in behind her as the report from a high caliber rifle drowned out any protests.
The boat lurched and then spun around to take them out into the river. Juan sat up as April shoved him and scrambled out from underneath. She looked back to shore just in time to see Al disappear under a swarm of zombies.
“Would you rather he be alive for that?” Juan said in answer to her angry glare.
“So where did you folks come from?” the boy asked.
“You mean in our boat?” Juan shot a withering glance at the one called Betty. “How about we exchange names first.”
“My name is Frank.”
“Juan Hoya, and this is Amber.”
“April,” she whispered,
“April,” Juan corrected.
“Well I could give you everybody else’s names but it wouldn’t much matter would it?” Frank laughed and flashed a smile at April who smiled back oblivious to Betty’s glare.
“It’s been a rough afternoon,” Juan grumbled.
“So what were you guys doing down by the old lumber treatment facility?” Frank asked.
“Actually we were trying to make a run on the Freddie’s,” Juan explained.
“That many zombies came out of Freddie’s?” Betty exclaimed.
“No,” Juan turned to the girl, “they came from somewhere and followed us. We lost most of our group.”
“So where did you guys come from?” Frank asked.
“Sauvie Island,” April spoke up.
“And what was the deal with you guys chasing that dog?” Juan asked. “You guys planning on eating him?”
“First off,” Betty snickered, “he is a she. And Gidget is immune to the bite. We just took the bandages off her leg and she took off and went straight to the water.”
“So you guys are kinda young,” April made the blatant observation.
“We were counselors at Outdoor School,” Frank explained.
“Huh?” Juan scratched his head.
“It’s a program with the area schools where they send sixth graders to camp where they learn about nature and ecology in the best classroom in the world,” Betty said.
“The local high schools provide the counselors,” Frank continued. “I went as a kid and couldn’t wait to be a counselor. We were waiting for the busses when Mr. Zachery showed up in his car with the news…we thought it was a prank. There are no televisions and we are required to turn in our phones and stuff, so we really didn’t know.”
“We stayed up at the camp until we ran out of food,” one of the other boys said. “There was plenty of stuff in the woods that we could forage, but Mr. Zachery insisted that we try and sneak down into the closest town; Troutdale. It went badly. We lost over half of our numbers and Mr. Zachery. To make matters worse, we had used a school bus when we came down and it ended up in a ditch.”
“So you kids have been living where?” Juan asked, not hiding how impressed he was with this group of youngsters.
“An old warehouse just up the river a ways,” Frank said.
“So what are you doing here besides chasing a dog?”
“Donna, one of the girls in our group, took off in search of her brother. She said that he kept coming to her in her dreams and so she knew that he was alive and where to find him,” Frank answered.
“Did you find her?” April asked.
“No,” Betty whispered. “Gidget lost her scent almost as soon as we made it out of the parking lot.”
The boat turned up river towards Sauvie Island. A somber silence fell over everybody as each considered the terrible losses of the past several hours. Juan looked over at April who had sunk down on the bench seat and closed her eyes. Flecks of blood were dried on her face and he could see a single tear trickling down her left cheek. Her wavy red hair was matted in places. How would he explain to everybody that the two of them were it? They were the only survivors of the failed expedition.
“How many of you are on the island?” Frank scooted in next to Juan.
“I don’t know,” Juan said with a shrug. “Twenty…thirty.”
The two sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Juan peeked over at the young man a few times and could tell what was on his mind. He looked tired and like he had all the weight of the world on his shoulders. If he had been leading these other kids since this whole thing began, then what he had accomplished was nothing short of a miracle.
They came up on the island just as the clouds drifted apart and the deep magenta color of the sky turned the water a bruised purple. The beach was empty, but Juan didn’t expect a welcoming committee. When the boat ran aground, Juan jumped out and extended a hand to April who declined.
Great, he thought, she thinks I’m a bad guy. It couldn’t be helped. He had done what needed to be done and her anger would not convince him otherwise. He watched her start off across the beach after climbing through the fence.
“So what gives with the fence?” Frank asked.
“Keeps the deaders away,” Juan answered. “If there were a bunch, they could break through, but we shouldn’t see more than a couple at a time. We come around a few times a day to be sure, plus we have observation towers.”
Juan considered the faces staring back at him. For the first time, he really looked at the kids in the boat. They all looked exhausted. There was something in their eyes that gave away more than their outward attempts at bravado.
“You are welcome to stay here,” Juan said.
He saw a different look from all of them at almost the same instance. Relief. Hope.
“What about the others?” Frank asked.
“We couldn’t just bail on them,” Betty added.
“The offer is open to all of you,” Juan said. He saw them all look to Frank, Juan decided that was good to know. However, at this exact moment, he just wanted to go home. He was exhausted.
“Sort it out,” Juan said as he shook Frank’s hand. “I’m going home. I’ll see ya or I won’t…the choice is yours.”
***
Chad looked out the window. The moon reflected off the snow giving everything a dazzling blue glow. Across the way he saw a shadow moving slowly along the roof.
“There.” He pointed for Scott’s benefit.
Scott nodded and drew back on the heavy compound bow. There was a hiss as the arrow sped away towards its target. A strangled cry told them that the target had been hit. The shadow disappeared for just a second, but rose up. Both men watched as it obviously struggled with a few steps before falling. After several seconds, it was obvious that whoever it was would not be getting back up.
A shrill whistle broke the silence and both men jumped. Obviously on cue, a pair of flaming bottles arced through the air and exploded against the front of their hotel in a gout of orange flame.
“Be ready,” Chad hissed.
Scott had already nocked another arrow and was scanning the grounds. He pivoted with the bow, trying to sweep the full hundred and eighty degrees before him.
“Damn all these trees,” Scott complained.
“Maybe we should—” Chad was cut off by a whoop of some sort followed by the clang of metal on metal.
“If this is what it was like in medieval times…it is a wonder we survived this long as a species,” Scott grumbled.
“If we keep this up…we won’t need to worry about it much longer,” Chad said as he ducked just as an arrow bored into the wooden front of the
building.
A yelp sounded from the dense group of trees to their right. Chad thought it sounded female. That made him immediately think of his daughter. Ronni was holed up in one of the enormous honeymoon suites on the top floor just under their feet. Never had he felt so far away from her while being so near.
Down below, three people emerged from the hotel. Two held detached doors that acted as shields from any sort of projectiles that might be launched as the other began scooping and tossing bucket of snow on the flames.
“They should start getting really desperate soon,” Scott said as he held the fletching of the arrow against his cheek for a second before letting go. His shot was high and the figure he’d targeted scurried back into the impenetrable gloom of the shadows.
“I can’t believe that all of the food was stored in this hotel.” Chad breathed a sigh of relief once the fires had been extinguished. He’d been so involved in watching the operation down below that he had forgotten about the flaming arrow burning just over the side and hastily yanked it free and tossed it out into the snow.
“I don’t think anybody planned for a civil war.”
“Maybe not, but what if we got trapped inside by a huge mob…if you are in the wrong building you would be screwed.”
“If it got to that, I think we would all be screwed anyways,” Scott snorted. “Once those things get your scent or whatever…they don’t let up.”
The two men sat in silence for a few moments as they scanned the grounds. Night time was the only time when either side attacked the other. It was the only time when there might be even a glimmer of a chance for success.
Dark shadows could be seen scurrying from one place to another. Most of the movement came from the other faction. Chad’s group had the food, so they were mostly content with protecting it. They had a few people out on patrol, but that was about it. Of course there were also the individuals that took it upon themselves to wage their own private war. Chad hadn’t seen any logic or reason for such actions, but he was not about to tell anybody else what they could and couldn’t or should and shouldn’t do.
“How long you figure they’ve been without anything?” Chad finally asked.
“If you believe that guy Clark, then it has been at least three days.”
“What has you and Brett so twisted about this guy?” Chad asked.
“He’s military, but he says that he didn’t realize what those bastards were doing until after the fact.”
“If his job was strictly security like he says, then why would he know?”
“Plus the simple fact that he was involved in that whole thing to begin with,” Scott insisted. “It wasn’t right in any sense, and had things not shaken down the way they did…he would still be with them sitting on all the supplies and acting like he was lord of the manor.”
“Lord of the manor?” Chad laughed.
“You know what I mean.”
A huge explosion caused both men to start. Towards the center of the village, an enormous ball of flame rolled skyward. The entire eastern horizon was silhouette against the bright light of flame for a few seconds. That was all it took for Chad to see the hundreds of dark figures heading their way.
“Jesus,” Scott breathed.
The door to the roof flew open and Brett was standing there with Michael at his side. Brett was far more out of breath between the two and stepped out of the way.
“We have big trouble.” Michael’s face was shining in the glow of the flames. Steam rolled off of him in wisps that were carried away in the wind.
“No kidding,” Scott snapped.
“What is the problem?” Chad asked, shooting a scowl in Scott’s direction.
“There is a freaking thousand of those things coming up Village Drive,” Michael answered.
“What!” Chad exclaimed.
“I told you that all of the noise from the fighting here would bring them,” Michael reminded.
“But what the blazes blew up?” Scott said.
“I had been in the process of rigging perimeter defenses before the big split.”
“Were you thinking of letting anybody know?” Scott snapped.
“My fault,” Brett wheezed as he finally made his way over to the other men. “He told me about it the other day, but then that girl threw herself off the roof of that other hotel and I forgot in the excitement.”
“Still—” Scott wasn’t done, but Chad cut him off.
“Any other set-ups we should know about?”
“I have two other similar set-ups, one to the west and one to the south.”
“Fine,” Chad said. “So what do we do now?”
“Do you want to end this fight and be rid of those other people once and for all?” Michael asked.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Chad and Scott answered in unison.
***
“We still need to deal with the problem of food,” Nigel insisted.
“Then why don’t you go to the market,” Victoria snapped. “You’re the bloke with the gun…a point you never fail to mention. So why not be the big man and use it on a few of the zeds out there. And while you’re at it…I fancy some crisps.”
A few snickers made their way around the room. Nigel’s face turned red and Claudia looked like she could chew nails and spit tacks. Victoria didn’t care. She was finished with this charade.
“Maybe I’ll send you.” Nigel pushed himself up from his plush chair and brushed his coat aside just enough to flash his pistol.
“Maybe you’ll try,” Victoria said in a flat, emotionless voice. “You like to talk big, but when it came down to it, a man weak from the infection knocked your lights out. You didn’t do a thing but fall and bleed.”
“Oh really?” In a jerky movement that was made even more awkward when he got tangled in the hem of his coat, Nigel pulled the gun free from its holster and pointed it in Victoria’s face.
“Is that it?” Victoria’s lips twitched in a smile. “You think I fear that gun when I know what is out there?”
Pressing the barrel to her forehead, Nigel said in a loud voice that was supposed to sound intimidating but only sounded to Victoria like a naughty child who didn’t want the doctor to give him his shots, “You’ll do well to remember just who has the gun and who no longer has a husband to protect her.”
Victoria did not so much as blink as she continued to look up. Inside, her mind was racing and demanding that she not display any weakness. However, it took all her muscle control not to wet herself. She’d never realized how big the barrel of a gun could look up close.
She was beginning to have thoughts about how it might be if he pulled the trigger. Would it hurt, even for just that split second? Then she saw it; his hand trembled as he held the gun, and at his temple, a tiny bead of sweat bloomed and then trickled down the side of his face.
“You’re nothing but a loud mouthed wanker,” Victoria said with the same flat tone. Her eyes flashed to Claudia who was pacing like a caged tiger. Now she would have no problem pulling that trigger, Victoria thought.
“What makes you think I won’t do it?”
“For starters,” a voice said from behind Nigel causing him to turn his head, “you’re too bloody careless.”
Victoria was no hero. She had no false notions that she would be able to go out into the English countryside and become a one woman zombie-killing machine like in those silly Resident Evil movies. Still, she was no fool, either. She reached up and snatched the gun from the hand that had gone slack the moment the wielder’s attention was diverted.
There was an audible crack, and Nigel scurried back like he’d just been scalded. He clutched his hand to his body and sucked in a huge breath through his clenched teeth.
“Why’d you do that?” he whimpered.
“Do what?” Victoria was confused and almost forgot that she was holding a pistol in her hands. She glanced over at Claudia and flashed a look that said she wasn’t the only woman in the room w
ho would not hesitate to pull the trigger.
“Broke my finger!” Nigel thrust his hand forward to display an index finger with an awkward bend between the first and second interphalangeal joints.
“Well I didn’t mean to,” Victoria huffed as she tried to figure out what to do with the weapon she now held in her possession.
“You want to throw them out, Vix?” Gary Munford asked with a nod at Nigel and Claudia. Gary was a school teacher, or at least he had been before all of this. “Not a soul here will think poorly of you if you do. Just say the word and it’s out in the snow with the pair.”
“No.” Victoria shook her head and stuck the gun in the waist of her loose-fitting jeans. That had been another thing about this whole end-of-the-world situation that had actually been a plus. She’d finally shed the last four and a half kilos that she set out to lose every year before going on holiday.
“You sure?” Gary cast an uncertain glance at the sour-faced couple.
Victoria gave it serious consideration. In all the stories, letting the bad guy stick around always ended poorly. The only dilemma was that this was not one of her stories; this was the real thing and she couldn’t just send two human beings out to certain death.
“I’m absolutely sure.”
“Then at least let us take them down to the storage room in the cellar. We should lock them up for now and consider their fate once all the emotions are in control.”
Good old Gary being just the perfect example of an Englishman. The dead had risen and were eating the living. Most of the city of Basingstoke was either overrun or a charred ruin from all the fires that resulted from the chaos of those first days. Instead of reacting and using his human emotions, he went the British way of “stiff upper lip and all that” as the world spiraled out of control.
“That is fine,” Victoria agreed.
Once Nigel and Claudia were locked away in the cellar, the remaining eleven gathered around a table in the dining room. Somebody had managed to dig up a map of the town.
“We need to get out of this hotel and secure something a bit more open that will allow us to ensure that we live and not merely survive,” Victoria announced. Every pair of eyes looked up at her expectantly. She had called this meeting and told them that she actually had a plan. It was mad, but she believed in her heart that she could do it if she had the support of the group. This would also allow them to add more numbers to their ranks if they did it correctly. “It starts here,” she touched her pen down on the map where she intended to make her stand, “at the Thornycroft Roundabout.”
