by Brown, TW
“It is dark enough,” he barely mouthed the words.
Matt nodded and took his place at the entrance of the tent. “I owe you one,” he mouthed back.
“Screw you!” Kevin yelled. He let his punch fly, catching Matt on the shoulder. Aleah timed slapping her hand on her thigh almost perfectly.
Matt fell backwards and through the flap. There was an exclamation. Kevin thought it sounded female. He shoved that piece of information someplace in the back of his mind where, hopefully, he wouldn’t find it again. He bobbed his head once…twice…a third time and charged out of the tent, tackling Matt. The pair rolled twice, coming to a stop with Kevin on top.
“Clear,” Matt whispered. His job, after being hit by Kevin and “knocked” through the tent flap, was to take a quick look around and see if there were any other guards in the immediate vicinity.
Kevin waited until he felt the hand on his shoulder and quickly grabbed the wrist, jerking the person forward and over. She—he saw her face clearly in the glow from the fire in the barrel—landed with a graceless thud on her back. He brought one hand over her mouth and the other came down hard on her throat. He would never forget the feeling of the windpipe crushing under the blow. It took a little longer than he would have liked for the thrashing to cease.
Getting to his feet, he turned to find everybody staring with open mouths and wide eyes. He tried not to feel like an animal. Briefly he wished that Shaw hadn’t been so damn altruistic at the end. If he’d survived, then it would not likely be his hands getting so damn dirty.
“Okay, lead the way,” Kevin whispered to Matt.
The plan he’d come up with was not elegant. He was familiar enough with the grounds and had observed the camp enough to have a basic idea of the layout. Plus, he’d been very vigilant about identifying possible paths to take when the time came to make a hasty exit—he’d never doubted that it would come to such a thing. The others had helped him refine things as he drew a basic sketch of the camp on the dirty floor. He doubted that Lee Marvin or the other guys from The Dirty Dozen would be envious of his map…or his plan for that matter.
The idea he’d come up with was simple: Run away. After being assured that they knew exactly where Shari and Valarie were being kept, Kevin laid it all out. There were very few questions with the exception of the one that Erin blurted out while she was leaning in over his shoulder.
“What makes you think they will just let us get away?”
“Unless they have completely changed their patrol plan and have in-camp sentries, I don’t think they are worried about us getting away,” Kevin said in a voice just under a whisper to avoid the possibility of being overheard. “It is below freezing out there. They probably don’t expect us to try and make a break for it…and if we did, they wouldn’t expect us to survive. They took our coats and our boots. We would have to run through the snow and risk exposure…frostbite…”
“So why are we doing this?” Erin had pressed.
“Because it’s not that far away to that housing development,” Kevin replied. “And a few minutes of misery beats a lifetime of being somebody’s prisoner. They could decide to kill us in the morning.”
Kevin didn’t think it would come to that. He had a feeling that the major truly wanted them to join her band of raiders. Kevin had more than just the logical, moral reason for not considering that offer. The “Bad Guy” never triumphed in the books or movies. Sure, he had told them all time and again that this was not the movies, but it was a nagging feeling in his gut that wouldn’t go away. He’d never bought into karma or any of that other mumbo jumbo, but something told him that staying with Major Beers would cost him more than he could afford.
“So where do we go after we rummage houses for shoes and coats?” Erin pressed.
Kevin had bitten his tongue. For one, all the points that she was making were valid ones. He was actually surprised and just a little impressed with Erin and her line of questioning.
“The farm house,” Kevin had answered.
The funny thing was, until that exact moment, he hadn’t really known where they would be going. Her question demanded an answer, and thankfully, he had one. Several weeks ago, they had stopped at a remote farm house. It was there that they had met Aleah. During their stay, he, Aleah, and Heather had made a supply run. When they had eventually set out for the country club, Kevin had insisted that they leave a cache behind. Partially in case they came back that way—which seemed unlikely at the time—and partially to provide for a possible passer-by in need.
That’s karma, you idiot, the voice in Kevin’s head practically screamed.
Now that they were out, everybody huddled together, waiting for Kevin to lead the way. He took one last look at the face of the young woman he’d just killed. He didn’t think he would ever be able to forget her…or what he’d done.
“Hurry up, Erin,” Aleah urged.
It had been quickly decided that Erin would take the shoes and coat from their sentry. This would hopefully keep her griping down to a minimum. The girl was surprisingly quick about it. Of course, Kevin chalked that up simply to the fact that it was so painfully cold. Finally, she was finished and he and Heather dragged the body into their tent.
“Okay, Matt, lead the way,” Kevin whispered.
The first several steps were made worse by the fact that the old snow had frozen and thawed and re-frozen so many times that is felt like walking on cold shards of glass. Kevin was a little surprised by how quiet the camp was. He had sort of expected them to encounter at least somebody. However, as they flitted amongst the shadows on the way to where Shari and Valarie were supposedly being held, there was absolutely no movement. Sure, they could hear the occasional muffled conversation coming from within the tents scattered about the rather unmilitary-like encampment.
They were passing one tent when a low moan sounded causing everybody to freeze. Kevin had taken the small crossbow from the soldier and Aleah had taken the machete she’d had strapped to her thigh. However, it was only Kevin who brought his weapon up, fully expecting a zombie to come stumbling out.
“Easy,” Aleah whispered. The others had to put hands to mouths in order to muffle their snickers—even Erin. “That is the brothel.”
Kevin was thankful for the dark as he felt his face heat up in what was probably a serious enough blush to cast at least a little glow in the darkness. The warmth on his face served as a reminder that his feet were very cold. He prodded Matt, and they wove through the dozen or so vehicles scattered about the parking lot.
Finally, they came to a stop at the small tool shed that sat just off from where the main club house had once been. There was no sentry, but a chain with a huge padlock was wrapped around the handles of the double-doors. Kevin was confused.
“I don’t get it,” Kevin whispered. “If they took their shoes and coat like they did ours, why bother with the security?”
“The soldiers insisted on it. They figured if Valarie could burn down the country club, they didn’t want her wandering around,” Matt explained.
“But Valarie didn’t—” Kevin began.
“But the major has everybody thinking that she did,” Heather reminded.
“It would have been nice to know this ahead of time,” Kevin snapped.
“In all the excitement, I just didn’t think about it,” Matt admitted sheepishly. In the darkness he was able to make out heads nodding in agreement.
Kevin scowled and approached the padlocked door. By now, his feet felt as if they were on fire. He noticed everybody else—with the exception of Erin—dancing back and forth and rubbing their exposed arms. Now what? He thought. It wasn’t like he had his lock pick set with him. Hell, he didn’t even have a bobby pin or a piece of wire.
“We will have to come back for them,” Kevin sighed.
“What?” Erin pushed forward, her voice just on the edge of too loud.
“We don’t have a choice,” Kevin hissed. “There is no way we can get past that c
hain, and all of us need to get something on our feet or we are going to end up losing toes.”
“Kevin?” a voice whispered on the other side of the door. “Is that really you?”
“It’s all of us, Shari,” Kevin whispered.
“He says we are gonna have to leave you behind,” Erin blurted, causing everybody else to look around nervously as if they expected a sentry to pop up out of the snow and shoot them all.
“The door is chained and padlocked,” Kevin explained. “I don’t have any way to get you out of there, but I promise we won’t abandon you. I’ll come back…tonight if possible…but we won’t just bail on you.”
“You need to just run, Kevin,” Shari whispered. “You can’t come back. You and I both know that would be foolish.”
“I won’t leave you,” Kevin insisted.
“And Valarie,” Shari added. “I know, Kevin. But we also both know that you will be lucky to sneak out of here alive. Coming back is asking for trouble.”
“But I can’t—” Kevin protested.
“I will take care of Valarie,” Shari said. “The major sent over some of her medications. I read all the labels and I will make sure that she is okay.”
“I can’t just leave you with these people.” Kevin swallowed a huge lump in his throat. He knew what she was saying to be true. Even worse, he didn’t have time to stand here and debate the issue. They needed to run. “I won’t abandon you…I will find a way to come back for you both.”
“I’m not leaving,” Erin insisted.
“Shut up and do what Kevin says,” Shari’s voice hissed from the other side of the door. “You need to grow the hell up, little sister. Nobody has time for your crap anymore.” Erin let out a gasp in the darkness. “If you want to have any chance to survive, you need to stop thinking that this is all going to be over some day and start doing what it takes to be a part of the group.”
“But—” Erin whimpered.
“No!” Shari snapped. “Get your asses moving!”
Kevin took a tentative step away from the shed, and then another. Pretty soon, he was plowing through the snow, heading down a gentle slope that ended at a wall of leafless trees. He thought he heard an occasional sob behind him, but he was in too much discomfort to pay that much attention…or care.
They spotted the six foot high brick wall on the other side of a clearing as they emerged from the thin strip of woods that once divided two fairways. By now, his feet felt like a pair of ice blocks attached just below the ankles. He and the other barefoot runners were starting to stumble, having lost all feeling in their feet. This, in turn, was leading to frozen, numb hands as they kept having to catch themselves as they fell.
When they reached the fence, they encountered a new set of problems. Everybody was so cold, that their bodies were sapped of strength to the point that getting over the wall posed an even bigger obstacle.
“I am going to get on my hands and knees,” Kevin said through chattering teeth. “Matt, you get up on that wall and help the girls over. Erin, then Heather, then Aleah.”
“No,” Erin insisted.
“We don’t have time for this,” Heather managed, biting her tongue twice with teeth that were clicking so hard, Kevin wondered how they weren’t shattering.
“I am the only one in a coat and shoes, I go last,” Erin said, pushing Matt forward. “That way, I can help pull Kevin up.”
It took far more effort than any of them could have managed without working together. In fact, by the time it was Kevin’s turn, it was Erin almost single-handedly pulling him over the wall.
“I just want to sit down and rest for a few minutes,” Heather sighed from where she had collapsed in a nearby snowdrift.
“No,” Kevin urged, even though he felt exactly the same. “It is just a little ways now and we can warm up.”
He led them across the freeway where the crustiness and jaggedness of the icy snow was at its worst. Kevin took up the lead, but kept looking over his shoulder to see that the others were following.
Finally, they reached the small housing development. Several of the homes had big spray-painted markings indicating that they had been scavenged, but Kevin didn’t care. He’d been the one doing most of the supply runs and knew very well that they had left behind most of the clothing and linen. It simply hadn’t been necessary to take it all.
Just the act of stepping inside and being off the actual snow was an immediate relief for them all. He’d been in this house a couple of times and knew that the bedrooms were upstairs.
“Follow me,” he said, fighting the invisible pins and needles that began to pierce every inch of his exposed skin. With each step, it seemed that the gauge of those needles was getting bigger. By the time he reached the top step, it felt like his body was being tattooed with a nail gun. He wasn’t alone in his misery as whimpers and soft crying followed him.
In the first bedroom, he motioned to the twin bed against the wall with posters of Justin Bieber over it. Obviously a young girl’s room, Kevin thought. At least he hoped so.
“I can’t feel anything below my shins,” Matt groaned. “But everything else is on fire.
“Frostbite,” Kevin said as he opened the top left drawer of the dresser. It was crammed full with tee shirts. A distressed murmur rose from everybody, but Kevin began throwing clothing over his shoulder. “Help each other wrap up your feet, but don’t rub,” he instructed.
“Won’t it get the circulation going faster?” Aleah asked through a whimper.
“You more than likely have ice crystals formed up in your feet. To rub them would be like taking tiny razors to all the veins and capillaries. Just wrap them tight and with several layers.” As everybody got to work—Erin helping Aleah, Matt and Heather paired up— he sat down to start on his own feet.
“We can’t stay long,” Kevin said through his clenched teeth as he bit down against the pain. “I figure we have an hour tops before we are found out. I don’t know if killing our guard will earn us a more serious search, but we have to get moving.”
“Will you answer a question? “Erin asked as she tied off the tee shirt she had been wrapping Aleah’s right foot in.
“I have no idea when we will be able to go back for your sister,” Kevin answered, knowing very well what the girl would ask. “But I swear to you that I will not just abandon her and Valarie.”
“That was a question,” Erin said. “But it wasn’t the question that I had in mind.”
Kevin tied off his first foot, grabbed another shirt and looked up. “Okay, go ahead.”
“Why does this lady want you so bad?” Erin asked.
Kevin cocked his head to the side for a moment. Finally, he looked up. “I have no idea,” he admitted.
“It has seemed like she was a bit obsessed,” Matt chimed in after struggling to stifle a yelp when Heather pulled his untreated foot into her lap.
“Sorry, thought you couldn’t feel anything below the shins,” Heather apologized.
“It’s okay, just had this sensation like all the skin on that foot was peeled off with a rusty razor.”
“That’s a good sign,” Kevin said. “I think that means you only have really bad second degree frostbite.”
“And that is a good thing?” Matt grumbled.
“As opposed to third or fourth when you probably lose your appendage?” Kevin looked up. “Yeah, I’d say that is good.”
“So,” Aleah looked up as Erin finished tying off her other foot, “how long before we need to go back out there?” This question was greeted by several groans and complaints, but she cut them all off. “We obviously can’t stay here. But I honestly don’t know how far I can walk…shoes or no shoes.”
Kevin looked around at the faces staring back at him in the shadows. The one thing about a snow-covered terrain was the fact that it really reflected the ambient light. He couldn’t see them clearly, but he could see well enough.
Fear.
Uncertainty.
Doubt.
Whether it was directed at him or not didn’t matter. These were his people, and thus, his responsibility. He needed to regain their confidence.
“I am not saying this is going to be easy. I also can’t promise that, if you come with me, things will be good or easy or whatever it is you think I can do. I don’t have any answers,” Kevin said with a firmness that he wasn’t too sure didn’t sound like the “old” Kevin. Still, it wouldn’t do to have these people following him around with some crazy idea that he knew what he was doing. If he was being honest with himself, he had lost the grip of what to do the moment he met Heather and found out she was immune. Nobody in the books or movies was immune. That was simply proof of his axiom that “this ain’t the movies.”
All he could do was try his best…think things through…and try to never make the same mistake twice. Beyond that, it was all up for grabs.
“How long can we take for a break?” Matt asked. He stretched his wrapped up feet out in front of himself.
“I think we can safely wait an hour,” Kevin said. “I don’t like the idea of waiting that long, but if we absolutely have to, I think we can hold up for one hour.”
“Do you really think they could find us that fast?” Heather asked, copying Matt by stretching out her legs as well.
“There aren’t many places we could make it to,” Kevin explained. “This is the closest development and has to be the first place they will look.”
“Does this belong to you?” a voice from the doorway made everybody jump.
Kevin’s head swung around, his hand going instinctively for the small crossbow. The figure standing in the doorway holding Erin by the scruff of the neck took a step forward. The shadows did not reveal the face, but he knew the voice.
“Willa!” Kevin had to work to climb to his feet and overcome the pain.
“Let me go,” Erin snarled, struggling against the hand that had a tight grip on her.
“She’s with us,” Kevin confirmed.
Willa gave Erin a none-too-gentle shove forward and followed her into the room. Everybody else was struggling to their feet as well, but unlike Kevin who was relaxed, the other three were visibly on edge.
