by David Rogers
“Yeah, hours.” the man insisted. “We’re not from around here. I think we’ve been walking mostly in circles.”
“Go back to your car, or climb a tree, or keep walking, but you’re not staying here.”
“It’s not like there’s a lot of other places we can go.”
“Sure there are. Just about everyone’s dead.” Jessica answered. “There’re several more houses north on this road.” She thought quickly back to what they’d passed while looking for this one. “At least four within three miles.”
“Three miles?” he asked, sounding desperate.
“Oh my God!” the woman moaned.
“Look—” the man started.
“No.” Austin said commandingly. “Like the lady said, we’ve had some bad experiences with strangers.”
“We’re not like that.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Oh come on, we just need to rest in a safe place. At least until tomorrow, when it’s light again.”
“We—” Jessica began, but a new voice interjected itself into the argument.
“Mommy?”
Jessica closed her mouth with a nearly audible click as she saw the shadowy shape of the woman downstairs turn and bend over as a smaller shape joined her. The woman whispered something, but the child didn’t pick up on the cue to be quiet.
“Me and Hanna are tired. Are we staying here?”
The woman whispered something else, something that raised a whine of complaint from the boy. Jessica stared as the woman reached for the child, and Jessica found she couldn’t maintain her resolve in the face of . . . that. She still had a few soft spots, and it sounded like she and hers had more options than the luckless folks downstairs.
“We’re not going to bother you at all.” the man at the bottom of the stairs was saying. “We just—”
“Wait.” Jessica said suddenly.
“What?”
“I’m not comfortable staying here with you, but we can leave.”
“What?” the man said in surprise.
“What?” Austin asked, levelly but with a clear note of question in his voice.
“We’ll leave.” Jessica repeated. “But . . . we need five minutes to clear out. And . . . you need to get out so there aren’t any accidents in the dark.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” the man demanded.
“Are you sure?” Austin asked Jessica.
“Yes.” she nodded.
“Accidents?” the man downstairs asked again.
“Look, everyone’s tired and on edge.” Austin said. “Go out into the front yard and wait. We’ll clear out and then you can do whatever you want in here.”
“Just like that?”
“Wait, how are we going to know when you’re gone.” the other man downstairs asked, speaking for the first time.
“You’ll know.” Jessica said. “Front yard. Five minutes.”
“You have a car?” the woman asked.
“I bet they do.” the second man said.
“What we do or don’t have is our business.” Austin said.
“Can . . . we need a ride.” the woman said quickly.
“No.” Jessica said immediately.
“But—”
“We’re in the mid—”
“No!” Jessica said in a voice just a few steps short of a full on scream. Her tone cut through the objections and echoed from the house’s walls in the abrupt silence it imposed on everyone.
“No.” she repeated, more levelly. “We’ll let you have the house, but that’s where it ends. Now get out into the front yard so we can be on our way.”
“If you’re up there, and we’re down here, what’s to say we don’t just go looking for your car our—” the second man started, but he was cut off by a gunshot as Austin fired. Jessica felt the bullet whiz past her, but she hardly flinched. She trusted Austin. There were three screams from below; two childish ones, and an older, more feminine one; plus some alarmed shouts from the men.
“Fuck!” the other man downstairs shouted.
“Oh God!”
“Wait, wait!”
“Ten seconds for everyone to get out into the front yard and stay there.” Austin commanded, using a harsh tone Jessica had never heard from him before. The patient, mischievous, skilled man she’d come to know had suddenly been replaced by one that was cold, professional, and so confident it was scary. “Anyone does anything I don’t like, the next shots don’t miss.”
“Bob, shut up!” the woman said. “Just shut up and come on.”
Jessica felt seconds crawling past in slow motion, like a bad dream that kept getting worse. She realized she was squeezing hard enough on the pistol and flashlight with her hands to hurt, and tried to relax her grip. But she couldn’t get her fingers to unclench. Instead she made sure she had a firm bead drawn on the guy she could see best, the one at the bottom of the stairs.
“Seven, six, five—” Austin counted methodically.
“We’re going.” the man Jessica was aiming at said.
“Just stand in the middle of the yard.” Austin ordered. “Right in the middle between the house and road and driveway, where I can watch you. I’ll be watching. Just stand out there and in a few minutes you’ll have this place to yourself. Try anything and I’ll start shooting.”
“Shut up Bob!” the woman ordered again. “We’re going. We’re going. Please, don’t.”
Jessica watched nervously as the people moved toward the front door. She shifted sideways, staying on her knees, so she could keep them in view as they reached the door and went back outside. She heard their feet scrape across the front stoop, then they were gone.
“Get Candice.” Austin said. “I’ll cover the door from here until you two get back.”
“What about after?”
“When you’re back, you’ll move the barricades and we’ll get downstairs. I’ll keep covering while we go out the back the way we came in.” Austin said. She nodded and rose, but he spoke again.
“Jessica.”
“What?” she asked, looking at him. The upstairs hall was very dark, and even as close to him as she was, and as adapted as her eyes were to the dimness, she couldn’t make out anything of his expression. Just a slight glint of his eyes, not even a real glint; just two little spots where what light there was shimmered ever so slightly rather than doing next to nothing.
“When you go out the back door, take your time. Make sure you check out the yard back there very carefully. Someone could be hanging around to try something.”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Right.” he replied.
Jessica went past him and opened the door to the master bedroom. “Candice, come on.”
“What’s going on?” Candice asked, poking her head out from beneath the bed.
“Grab my backpack.” Jessica ordered, looking around the room quickly. They hadn’t been planning on doing more than spending the night, so she hadn’t unpacked anything from the SUV. In fact, they hadn’t even gone through the kitchen for anything useful yet. That had been her plan for tomorrow morning before getting back on the road.
Shrugging mentally, she put it aside. Whatever might be downstairs was the strangers’. Jessica saw the cards had been picked up and assumed her daughter had already collected them. Except for the candle, everything else they’d brought in was in the backpack. Three partially drunk liter bottles of water, peanut butter and crackers as a cold dinner, and a few odd ends and sundries like wet wipes and such. “Come on sweetie, we’re leaving.”
Candice scrambled out from beneath the bed and grabbed for the bag. She picked up the candle as well, and joined Jessica at the door.
“Stay behind me, stay with me.” Jessica said. “And stay quiet.”
“Okay.” the girl agreed, nodding once. Jessica had learned to recognize the tone and nod as Candice’s serious one, which she used when she realized things were very dicey.
“Okay.” Jessica nod
ded back. “Come on.”
Moving back to the stairs, Jessica slid the shelves out of the way enough for the three of them to fit past. Turning on the flashlight, she went halfway down and checked the living room over quickly. Except for the front door, standing half open with a ragged chunk of the doorframe on the floor just inside it, the room looked as it had a couple hours ago when they’d arrived.
She turned the light off and descended to the couch and shoved it aside. Cautiously, she clicked the light back on and swept it across the dining room and kitchen, but both were empty. Once more she turned it off and headed for the back door. Without looking she could feel Austin several steps behind her.
At the backdoor she stopped and peered through the windows, taking her time about it as Austin had instructed. The new moon didn’t cast much light down on the night, but it was enough to see by. At least, she hoped it was. The grass was tall and well on the way to being more than merely out of control, but she didn’t think she saw anyone hiding in it. The SUV was parked very close to the door, only a few steps away.
“Candice.” she said softly.
“Here.”
Jessica reached into her pocket and traded the flashlight for the key to the SUV. “Take this. When we get to the car, open the door and get in. Leave the door open and climb in the back.”
“Okay.”
Candice took the key from her fingers. “Austin, we’re going out.” Jessica said.
“Careful.” he replied.
“Count on it.”
Jessica eased the door open, then knelt down just inside it and to one side behind the wall. Bending, she looked outside along ground level so she could see beneath the SUV. The grass made it hard to be sure, but she didn’t think anyone was lurking behind the vehicle. Rising, she poked her head out and took another long look around. Everything still seemed quiet; just a seriously unkempt rural yard in the middle of nowhere.
Steeling her nerve, she stepped outside and looked around. A slight breeze was rippling across the yard, but its effects on the grass tops was the only motion she could see. She moved over to the SUV and stood with her back to it, looking around. It took Candice several seconds to get the key fitted into the lock, but it finally went in and clicked as Jessica waited and watched.
Candice pulled herself up into the big vehicle using the steering wheel. Jessica felt it rocking slightly on its shocks as the girl climbed over the center console between the front seats to reach the back.
“Austin, come on.” the woman called, glancing through the open back door at him. He was standing with his back to it, watching the front of the house.
“Start the car.” Austin said.
“Come out here first.”
“Just get in and start the damn car.” he said again, but he also started backing toward the door. His right hand reached behind himself to feel for the door and the frame as he came, and she shrugged mentally. Standing around arguing about the order of what happened when was as stupid as it was dangerous.
Turning, she hopped up into the SUV and turned, but Candice was already reaching forward holding out the key.
“Thanks. Seat belt.” Jessica said, taking the key.
“What’s wrong with the house?” Candice asked.
Jessica put the key in the ignition and twisted it. The engine caught immediately, still smooth and steady. “We’ll sleep in the car tonight.”
“All three of us?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Austin had made it outside by now. Jessica pulled her door shut and hit the button that lowered the window. With the barrel of her Taurus laying across the window ledge, pointed at the house and the doors, she waited while Austin turned and moved swiftly around to the passenger side. His own pistol was moving in a back and forth motion as he checked the area ahead of himself. She jumped when he pulled on the passenger side door, a hollow thumping sound rising as the door didn’t open.
“Shit.” she swore, remembering and hitting the button that triggered the locks. His door opened, and she hit the window button again to put hers back up as she turned her head to look at him.
“Not getting rid of me that easily.” he chuckled as he got in.
“Sorry.” Jessica said.
“Don’t worry about it.”
As soon as he closed his door, Jessica dropped the transmission into drive and spun the wheel. The SUV came about in a tight U-turn as she got turned around, then drove around the side of the house. As she drove into the front yard she saw the other group of survivors standing in the yard; three adults and two kids who looked even younger than Candice.
“Are they bad people?” Candice asked as Jessica guided the SUV across the yard toward the road.
“I don’t know.” she answered.
“Then why are we leaving?”
“Because they need a place to stay for the night.”
“But why does that mean we have to leave?”
Jessica frowned, unsure how to tackle that one, but Austin stepped in to rescue her.
“They might be good, they might be bad, we just don’t know. And not knowing is dangerous girlie-girl. Especially when we’re going to sleep. It’s not worth the risk to figure out for just one night, so we’re moving on and they can do whatever they want there.”
“Oh.” Candice said after several moments.
Jessica turned south as the SUV’s wheels hit the pavement, accelerating once it was stable and pointed in the right direction. She was starting to relax a little, now that they were away from the other group, and behind the reassuring bulk of the SUV. After a few moments she realized she was driving with the Taurus still in her hand, and clicked the safety on.
“What’s the plan?” Austin asked as she fitted the pistol back into the holster.
“South, at least half an hour.” Jessica said once the gun was put away. “Then we’ll find a place to stop.”
“Another house?”
“Not sure I feel like clearing another one in the dark.” Jessica said after a few seconds of reflection. “It won’t hurt us to sleep in the car tonight.”
“That works.”
“Candice, you should try to get to sleep.” Jessica said, turning her head slightly to project her voice into the back seat. “The same rule about potty breaks still applies.”
“I’ll wake you up.” the girl confirmed.
“Okay.” Jessica nodded.
“You know, I might want some company if I need a potty break.” Austin said in a sotto voice.
“Oh please.” she said with a half-giggle, rolling her eyes. “I think the scared of the dark thing works in reverse when it comes to you.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I think it’s afraid of you.”
“Hey, I’m still fragile. I was shot you know.”
“You’re the biggest fragile man I’ve ever met.” Candice said from the backseat.
Jessica couldn’t help her giggling this time.
Chapter Five – Road Trip
“Bingo.” Austin called, holding up a pair of big five gallon gas cans.
Jessica looked up from her study of shelves and bins on the far side of the warehouse – overly large garage, really – and saw him displaying the red plastic cans. “Okay, okay, you were right.”
“Did I tell you it was worth taking a look around in here or what?”
“You were right.” she repeated. “So that gives us . . . twenty-three gallons worth of storage.”
“Almost a complete fill up.” he nodded.
“Okay, let’s get rolling then.” she said, making a shooing motion toward the big roll up door that was open to admit plenty of sunlight into the space. And to allow a quick getaway if necessary. And so Jessica could keep an eye on the SUV, with Candice inside.
“What, we’re done?”
“You think there are any other finds around here?” Jessica asked him.
He glanced around, but shook his head slowly after a few seconds.
“No. The good stuff was probably on their trucks, and since those are gone, I guess this is probably as lucky as we’re gonna get.”
“So let’s get with the getting then.” she said. “Next stop, Florida.”
Austin led the way outside. The SUV was parked twenty feet from the small landscaping company’s workshop; Austin’s idea, so it wouldn’t cover the approach of any zombies by completely blocking their view of the surrounding area. Candice was normally a studious scout, but she was also only ten-years-old. There was no sense taking chances.
But the area was quiet; no zombies in sight. They’d come across the building last night just as Jessica was about to give up and park on the side of the road. The grass and gravel parking lot behind it had sufficed for an overnight camping spot – all three of them sleeping in the SUV – that kept them out of view of any traffic that might pass on the road. Last night it had just been a quiet, out-of-view spot. First thing in the morning though, after bathroom breaks and some more peanut butter crackers, had been a quick check of what was inside the building.
But now it was time to get moving. She’d checked the GPS last night, and they were pretty close to Valdosta; maybe twenty or so miles northwest of it. She trusted the unit, Austin still seemed unsure. Every time they passed a landmark that Austin checked on the map, the paper map matched with the electronic one.
Surety, he’d tell her when she asked why he kept verifying the GPS readout.
“More gas?” Candice asked as the two adults returned to the SUV.
“Just cans.” Jessica said as she finished opening the back of the SUV and took the pair of cans from Austin. “We’ll have to fill them.” she added as she started fitting them into place. “And won’t that be fun.” she sighed mentally. Her arms were still a little sore from all the lifting the previous day.
“That’s good isn’t it?” Candice said a little uncertainly, picking up on something in her mother’s voice.
“Yes.” Jessica agreed. She was being petulant, unnecessarily. Ten more gallons of storage meant ten more gallons she had to haul up, but it was ten more between stops too. Fewer stops was safer, and allowed more rest. “Sorry, I guess I’m just tired.”
“A day or two, tops, and we’ll be south of Tampa.” Austin told her as he stood keeping watch while she fussed with the supplies. “We’ll find someplace safe and quiet, rest up, then start building up some supplies to tide us over on a more long term basis.”
