by Brown, TW
Heather travelled in the middle of the group, and Aleah had agreed to bring up the rear. Doug was just mixed in, but Kevin noted that all of the children still gave him a wide berth, none seeming that anxious to extend even the slightest hint of welcome.
As the morning passed into midday, some of the children began to forget that they were travelling through a world overrun by the undead and reverted to that behavior so typical to bored kids on a long trip. At one point, a group actually began to sing-song “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”
Kevin finally put it to rest…sort of. He spun suddenly. “I will pull over, turn this parade around, and take you all right back to that graveyard if you ask one more time!”
The group all looked at him, some with open mouths. Slowly, the faces changed to grins that matched the one he was unable to keep off his face. As one, the entire group—Heather, Aleah, and even Catie—yelled back, “Are we there yet?” a final time. After that, the mood gradually lightened and people milled forward and back within the confines of their loose formation to engage in all manner of conversations.
Kevin had expected there to be more problems, but was amazed at how well the group stayed together; even those who had to slip back or to the side for a bathroom break looked to be taking the journey-starting admonition to heart. Everybody brought along a bathroom buddy. Of course the boys made a much bigger show of it, many going so far as to share the degree of the stink being emitted by the individual they had paired with for such occasions.
On a few instances, Catie or Kevin separated from the group to deal with the odd straggler who picked up on their trail. Twice, Kevin had enlisted Sean, Deanna, and a few of the older kids to assist in taking down small packs that were drawn to them along the way.
Kevin continued to keep one eye on their new adult member. Doug seemed content in the fact that none of the youngsters wanted anything to do with him and just walked along quietly. Once or twice Kevin caught him trying to offer a polite hello; each time, the child would scurry away like he was the boogeyman come to life before their eyes. It was as if they had come to simply ignore his presence, but the moment that he tried to make an attempt to cross into their space, he was a venomous snake, hairy-legged spider…or scary clown. He almost felt sorry for the guy.
Not too long into their journey, they actually came close to the still-burning fairgrounds. That had been the roughest part of the journey. He’d told the children to stay low and keep absolutely quiet. He’d made sure to add that it was okay to say something if zombies were closing in; after that whole deal with the bathroom issue, Kevin was worried that some of the children might stay silent all the way up to the point when somebody got attacked. The zombie traffic had been fairly thick, but most of them were still moving around the inferno that had been the fairgrounds. Kevin looked back to check on the children at one point and saw something that he quickly dismissed as paranoia, but he still kept it in his mental file.
Doug was smiling.
To be fair, Kevin thought that it could just as easily been a grimace. Still it would be something to keep an eye on…like he didn’t have enough already on his mind.
As night began to fall, Kevin remained vigilant for a place that they could make camp for the night. They came upon what looked to be some sort of industrial plumbing facility. There were stacks of all sorts of pipes, some large enough to walk inside; upright for the youngest, hunched over for the adults and older kids.
There were a handful of buildings. A couple actually looked to still be intact. That was a rarity anymore despite what the building had once housed. Kevin believed that some people broke into buildings just for the simple fact that they could. Others, he guessed, got some sort of perverse thrill in busting out windows. To each his own, he thought as he pointed the place out to Catie and then the remainder of the group.
They trudged through the partially standing fence that surrounded the place and made their way to the largest building in the lot. It was two stories tall and a light shade of tan. Huge windows in the front gave view to what looked to be an empty office building.
Kevin took care of the locked front door and ushered everybody inside. Since they were pretty much out of food and everybody had eaten on the road as he’d said they would, he did not do anything to dissuade the children from just finding a spot on the floor and crashing. He wanted to join them, but all of the “grown-ups” would have a quick meeting first. They would still do a full walkthrough of the building and make sure that the place was in fact empty.
It was decided that Kevin and Catie would start upstairs and work their way down. Aleah, Heather, and Doug would stay with the children and just keep an eye open.
Kevin was looking out the window, and fate seemed to finally be sending him some good luck. He saw two men move behind one of the stacks of huge concrete sewage pipes just inside the main gate. One of the men looked hurt pretty bad. The other was having to help him. The injured man had one arm slung over the shoulders of the other. A dark stain was visible on his side even in the failing light of dusk.
“We got company, Catie,” Kevin said as he dashed for the stairs.
The pair hurried down. Kevin gave her all the details he’d seen on the way. They reached the doors and took position on either side. Kevin raised an eyebrow to Catie who gave a smile and a nod. Together they stepped out into the night air, weapons drawn—Kevin with his long sword and Catie with a pair of throwing knives.
“I think that is far enough,” Kevin said.
“Mister, we need your help,” the uninjured man said, gesturing to his companion. “We barely escaped with our lives this morning…and then poor Doug here got jumped by Derek during all the—”
“Excuse me?” Kevin interrupted. “What did you say that man’s name was…the one there bleeding.”
“This is Doug Smith, my name is Trent Lomax,” the man answered hesitantly.
“And this Derek,” Kevin felt his stomach starting to twist, “what did he look like?”
“A grown up version of a Hitler youth…blond hair and bright blue eyes. He w—”
Kevin didn’t hear another word. He spun and ran back inside, He careened off of a couple of walls as he made his way to the back of the building where the others were supposed to be resting. He barged in the room and froze.
“Take one more step and this little chicken gets her head cut off,” the man who had called himself Doug Smith was against a wall with Heather held close to him, a large, wicked looking knife up against her throat.
13
La Grande
“Everybody down!” Jake barked.
I glanced over and saw Jon on his knees. He was holding his shoulder. Another shot rang out and he fell back. I tried to see if his chest was moving at all, but from where I was and the distance between us, I honestly couldn’t tell.
It took me a few seconds to realize that everybody was crawling to the closest bit of cover that they could find. For me, that would be a burned out hulk that looked like it used to be some sort of sports car. I slid up beside it and waited for the next shot.
When it didn’t come right away, I looked over to where Jon still lay out in the open. I thought I saw his hand move just a little bit, but it could be a trick of the eyes. Or…it could be him changing into one of those things.
Glancing back to the trees, I wondered what the rest of our group was doing. I also had to wonder what Sunshine must be feeling at the moment. I had no doubt that she had seen what happened.
Taking a chance, I risked a peek over the top of my protective shield. I already had my binoculars up and hastily began scanning the area ahead of us. I focused on where I was almost positive that I’d seen movement. I caught the glint of the sun off of something just before I heard the shot. That is probably what saved me. The moment that I saw it, I hit the deck. A second later there was a crack of gunfire and I heard the round slam into this twisted hunk of metal and melted plastic or whatever they made sports cars from.
>
“You trying to get yourself killed?” a voice said to my right. It was Shelly.
Jon had put her on the team much to my surprise. I guess he felt that he wanted somebody that he knew could handle themselves in a fight if it came to it. Well…it looks like it was going to come to that.
“Just trying to get a look,” I said.
“How bad is Jon?” she asked.
“I’m not seeing any movement.”
“Well, if he sits up like he is suddenly fine…” she let her sentence die on her lips. We both understood what had to be done; as I’m sure everybody else on this little team knew.
“Billy!” Jake hissed from down the line. “I want you to cover me. You saw something right before Jon got hit. Focus your fire on that area. Just give me a few seconds so I can get to that wall.”
“What about Jon?” I asked.
“Nothing can be done at the moment. We need to get inside and deal with this right now!”
“So we just let him lie there and bleed to death?” I snapped a little louder than I probably should have.
I’d seen enough movies where this sort of thing happens. Funny, I’d always sided with the guys who were all about dealing with the problem first. Besides, it was always pretty easy to figure out if the wounded guy would make it or not based on how famous the actor was playing the role. In real life…you don’t remember any of that crap. Well, at least I sure didn’t.
“Shelly, cover Jake!” I hissed.
I didn’t wait for anything else, I just took off. I heard gunfire, but my only focus was Jon. If he was dead, then so be it. However, I was not just going to let him die like this without at least trying. A puff of dirt and gravel erupted just in front of me, but I kept going.
Sliding up beside his body, I could see the dark stain on his shoulder. The other shot looked to have caught him in the hip. I checked to see if he was breathing.
That’s when his eyes popped open.
I couldn’t help myself as I scrambled back from the start he gave me. However, my brain was already screaming that his eyes were fine. No tracers.
I lunged forward and grabbed his hands. He winced and I let up just a bit, but he tightened his grip.
“Get the hell out of here!” he hissed. “You need to do what Jake says.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” I insisted.
“Go dammit!” He shoved me away, but a kitten could have done it with more force. “And make sure you put a bullet in my head once you get the chance.”
I refused to let go. It was not going to happen like this if I could help it. I started to pull him to me when he yanked me sideways with more strength than I thought him capable. Somehow, I ended up on my side, face-to-face with him.
“This group is going to need you. I am done and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”
“But I can get you to the doc—“
“This is beyond what she can help, kid. Now move your ass.”
“I can’t leave you here.”
“You can’t leave all those people. They have come to count on you more than you know…now get the hell out of here!”
I couldn’t just do it. I could not physically get up and run away from this man. It didn’t seem right.
“Sorry,” I whispered, and popped up to a crouch.
Grabbing under his arms, I started for the nearest cover that I could find. There was a ditch about fifteen feet away. I made for it with all I had. As I dragged Jon, I was once again aware of the chaos unfolding around me. At some point, about fifty walkers had started our way from the open gate. Also, I noticed that everybody else in the group was advancing towards the open gate with weapons blazing. They made short work of the approaching walkers, but continued to fire.
I reached cover and laid Jon down on the ground. He was still staring up at me…but there was nothing there. His eyes had that waxy look that comes when whatever spark exists that makes us who and what we are goes out.
“Oh, man…I am so—”
My apology died on my lips. I could actually see the dark tendrils snake through his eyes as they slowly became milky. I knew better than to wait another moment and grabbed the knife on his belt, driving it through his forehead.
It was as if a switch flipped inside me. I popped up and took off after my people. Somebody needed to pay for this, and I was going to collect.
I caught them as they bunched up on either side of the large, open gates. Jake was on one side and made eye contact with me. I shook my head and he gave a curt nod.
“Come on, fellas!” a familiar voice hollered. “Just peek around the corner so we can put this to an end.”
“Winters,” I spat. Of all the people to make it, why did it have to be this guy?
“You been holding this place down all by your lonesome since we left?” Jake called back.
“Now why would I go and tell you something like that? It would spoil all the fun.”
“Billy,” Jake whispered, “take two people and go along the gate, see if there is a way in. But be careful. This guy probably has traps set everywhere.”
I nodded and pointed to Shelly and a guy who looked to be in his thirties. I didn’t know his name, but he had a look to him that made me think he was ready to kick a little ass.
With a nod and a salute to Jake, I turned and scurried down the fence line and around the corner. Coming our way were another dozen or so walkers. Most of them looked relatively fresh and were wearing uniforms. These were some of the former residents of this little parcel of La Grande. I moved in with the other two and took them all down before hustling past.
I was going pretty fast when Shelly grabbed my collar and yanked me back so hard that I fell on my butt. I looked up at her with a scowl, but she was pointing just ahead of me. I didn’t see anything and looked back up at her with a question on my face.
“Look at those weeds,” she whispered.
I did, but there was still nothing extraordinary that I could see. I was about to ask what the deal was when the guy spoke. “That cluster is dead, but the ones around them are fine.”
I looked back, and sure enough, the weeds in question were sort of wilted and dying. Everything else around them was showing the vibrant green that is brought by spring. Still, I was not making the connection.
Shelly drew her long blade and leaned forward, gingerly moving the stalks aside. It took me a second to see the little tab poking up. I felt my blood chill a few degrees.
“Mines,” the guy breathed.
“Go back and tell Jake,” I said as I got to my feet. “Shelly and I will work our way through.”
“But if there are mines here…” Shelly looked around and started feeling along the corrugated metal that made up this portion of the security wall.
I gave the guy a nod to urge him along and then returned my attention to Shelly. “What are you looking for?”
“Those zombies came from someplace. I’m pretty sure they don’t have the ability to avoid a mine field. So where did they get released from?”
Damn, I thought. Maybe we should have been taking a bigger advantage of this lady and her skills. Her mind was running laps around me at the moment.
“Ah-ha!” She reached up and moved something that I didn’t see even as her fingers flicked whatever it was that allowed the section of wall to roll up.
I started to follow her in, but she stopped suddenly and backed up into me. The low moan of a zombie told me what she had discovered on the other side.
I stepped back, my eyes suddenly unable to keep from seeing a potentially hidden mine in every bit of disturbed ground. I gave her room and we both had machetes in hand as the first walkers came out of the opening.
“There is a huge pen through that little secret door. I didn’t get a good count, but there are only a few,” Shelly said as she let the first one come into range of her weapon.
In a flash, they were dealt with and we ducked back inside. The door opened to a narrow shoot—which
explained why Shelly backed out; there was absolutely no way to swing a weapon. We turned sideways and hurried down the ten feet or so before coming to a large cage.
“Now what?” I asked.
Shelly walked over to the very visible and obvious door, reached her hand through and flipped the latch. She might have been trying to hide a smile as we exited the cage and found ourselves inside a large, dark warehouse.
She pointed to her eyes, and then pointed to the door on the left, then she indicated that I make for the door on the right. I nodded and gave her the thumbs-up sign. It was dark, but there was enough ambient light to see. I was still very focused on the ground, suddenly afraid that each step might be the last one before I was blown to bits.
I began to feel an ache in my left cheek and realized that I was biting it hard. The salty, copper taste told me that I had drawn blood. I unclenched my teeth and felt the knot inside my mouth where I had been apparently trying to chew a hole in my own face.
I reached my door and shot a look over my shoulder. Shelly was just opening hers. She quickly stepped through and the door closed behind her. Following her lead, I opened mine and was surprised to hear footsteps coming my way. Looking around the door, I was almost face-to-face with another few walkers. I was about to end them when my eyes took notice of the collars around their necks and the long chains that were bolted to a post.
These would not be following me and so I did not need to waste my time on them…until one of them let loose with that horrible baby cry. The other two quickly joined in on the chorus and I swung as fast as I could.
Obviously I was not quick enough. There was a pause in the closest gunfire. A second later, I heard a hiss and then a terrible explosion sent me flying sideways. I slammed into the wall of a building—which one, I am not certain—and everything went a little hazy for a few seconds.
By the time I got my wits back, I was staring up at a small cluster of walkers. My eyes widened when I recognized the female soldier that was supposed to seduce Jake. She was riddled with bullet holes. Somebody had managed to catch her in the cheek, blowing a good portion of that side of her face away, but obviously the bullet had not been on an upward trajectory because she was still going strong.
