Chatter

by Kurt Horning

  Then parachutes dropped into the sky. “Guys, parachutes,” she said.

  The others went to all the windows and watched them fall. “There’s one not too far off,” said Trina. “Let’s see what landed.”

  The parachute descended about a mile south off of the highway. They approached it slowly, watching out for danger. As the camper slowed to a stop they could all see it was a metal container of some kind.

  The group exited the vehicle and walked over to the downed container. It had a fastened lid that popped open easily. Inside were several notes in different languages, as well as food and water.

  Cade took the English note out and read through it.

  Citizens who find this container: you have one day to reach either of the designated safe zones before cleanup crews arrive. Several nuclear missiles will hit the United States, killing off the infected mistake that has been made. Please note that China, England, and several other nations are leading this cleanup. Your president and his people have been evacuated already. Again, take these supplies and head to Mexico or Canada, whichever is closest. After tomorrow the United States will not exist.

  “Oh my god,” cried Autumn.

  Smoke or dust in the distance caught Vick’s attention.

  “Guy’s I think we have a problem.”

  Chapter 12

  The clouds of dust drew nearer. Finally after a minute the objects became clear. Two jeeps filled with men were coming for the supply drop. As they came closer, Cade and the others could see the men were well armed.

  “Everyone take cover where you can,” yelled Vick.

  Vick and Cade stayed by the supplies to talk with the men, while the others scurried to the ditch or behind the camper.

  The jeeps stopped about 100 feet from the parachute drop. The men exited and raised their weapons to Cade and Vick.

  “This is our land and our supply drop,” said one of the men.

  Cade looked to the men and answered, “No, we just got here. We were passing through and saw the parachute. All we have done is read the notes inside the container.”

  “Notes?” said the man. “Lemme see these notes.”

  Vick handed over the English note and the man read through it. “Looks like we got to get out of here don’t it.” He eyeballed the camper. “I think for your trespassing we will take your camper truck.”

  “Not going to happen,” said Vick as he raised his gun as Cade did.

  The lead man smiled, “You forgot about the men behind you.”

  The sounds of guns behind cocked came from behind the group in some trees. Of course a pack like this traveled in groups. Some of them were probably military trained. One of the men behind had Keiko, gun pointed at her head.

  “Drop your weapons or I will make an example of that one,” said the leader.

  The group came out of hiding and stood beside Vick and Cade. All of them dropped their weapons into a pile. This first defeat left a bad taste in all of their mouths.

  “We did as you asked, now let her go,” screamed Cade.

  “Ah, she must be your sweetheart.” He looked around at the supplies and said, “Load up our jeeps with the supplies and we might spare you.” He pointed to Keiko, “Any kind of trick and she dies before your eyes.”

  Dwayne, Trina, and the others began loading the supplies for the men. Cade kept his eyes on the man who held Keiko. There weren’t enough guns to take them on and the bandits seemed better trained or bluffed well.

  The supplies were loaded in no time.

  “This world as we know it has changed. A few days ago, I was a foreman at a lumber mill. Now we fight for our very lives against monsters that used to be friends and family. What I am trying to tell you is, basically, trust no one,” said the leader.

  With that he raised his pistol, aimed it, and fired. The bullet ripped through Keiko’s skull, losing half of her face and head. Her lifeless body dropped to the ground in a heap.

  “NOOOOOOO,” screamed Cade. He raced over to her body and knelt down holding her. Tears streamed down his face as he laid her back down. “Foreman, I will kill you. You can leave now, but we will catch you. And I will kill you; kill you slowly as you beg for mercy I swear.”

  The foreman chuckled and kicked Cade square in the face, knocking him unconscious. The men gathered the little bit of supplies lying about and drove off.

  Cade awoke to sobbing noises. The group was huddled around him, all except Vick. He was digging a hole by the tree line for Keiko.

  “Was I dreaming?”

  “I’m afraid not. They killed her and drove off with everything,” said Autumn.

  “We are so sorry Cade,” said Trina. “None of us knew what to do.”

  “It isn’t your fault guys; none of us were ready for this.”

  He got to his feet slowly and walked over to Vick. The man dug with speed and emotion. His eyes were watery and he kept himself hunched so no one could see.

  “Let me take over,” said Cade. “I owe it to her, a nice burial.”

  The men took turns digging through the day until the hole was almost six feet deep. “I think that will do it,” commented Vick.

  “Ok.”

  The day evolved into evening as the group surrounded the burial spot. Everyone was waiting for the others to speak first. Finally Cade stepped to the front of the grave and began.

  “Like the rest of you, I only knew Keiko for a few short days. We were supposed to have dinner after the plane landed. You all know how that ended. We had begun getting close, even made love once.” His eyes began to leak down his cheeks. “I pictured a future with this woman. Stupid huh? In a world like we live in now, the future is days, not years for most of us unless we can reach Canada.” Cade wiped the tears, “I cannot say I loved her, but I think I would have if things had gone a different way in the world. All I can promise you Keiko is that I will find that man and end him. He took one of our own from us for some stupid supplies. Rest in peace Keiko, I will miss you.”

  The other threw daisies from the meadow into the grave and said their silent goodbyes. Finally Vick and Cade again shared the duty of filling in the hole. It seemed easier to fill it in than dig it, and before long Keiko was resting inside the earth.

  “Everyone let’s sleep here tonight. But tomorrow, we get back on the road. I promise you all we will get to Canada, and if the lord above exists, we will run into the foreman and his men on the way.”

  Cade stood guard through the night. He couldn’t sleep anyway and didn’t need any. Fury and thoughts of vengeance fueled his body. He sat upon the roof of the camper looking at the stars hoping one of them was Keiko looking down on him and the others.

  Chapter 13

  Hours had passed and the ride was mostly quiet. They all were mourning Keiko, especially Cade. They had bonded both emotionally and physically. He loomed in the back of the camper alone.

  Meg had kept her distance from her brother giving him space. She didn’t like to see him in pain and this was about the roughest time yet. He sat with his knees to his chest on the back cot, riding alone, deep in thought or memories. She approached him slowly.

  “Hey bro, can I sit with you,” said Meg.

  He glanced in her direction and nodded to the cot. She sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder. “It’s ok to cry you know.” Cade frowned and looked at her from his cradled position. “I’m not going to cry Meg. So much has happened the last few days that I think I’m immune to tears.” Even as he said this Cade was squeezing his eyes tightly to fight the tears back.

  “The thing is Meg; I think I did love her. I sure as hell miss her.”

  His sister moved in and gave Cade a tight bear hug and didn’t let go. “Things will get better soon. We are close to Canada now.” Meg held his cheeks and looked in Cade’s eyes. “We just have to start new lives. We mourn the past, celebrate those we lost, and try to move on.” Tears rolled down Cade’s cheeks, “You killed our parents and their friends, how are you ok?”

&n
bsp; Meg looked down at the cot. “I just try to think that they weren’t mom and dad anymore. They would have killed me if I didn’t get them first.” She sniffled, “I put on a front because I’m a tough bitch you know?” They both chuckled and finished the hug.

  “Thanks sis, I feel a little better.”

  “That’s what we do,” said Meg smiling.

  The camper approached a pileup on the interstate. “Guys, what do you want me to do,” asked Dwayne who had been driving. The interstate had cars, trucks, and semis scattered about in a metallic mess. The undead walked slowly between the mess as if they didn’t even realize.

  “Everyone get your tools out, we got to clean this up to get through,” said Vick.

  The others grabbed all the knives and blunt objects and exited the camper. By now they had done this several times and were used to the drill.

  Autumn was the first out of the camper and had a large knife in each hand. She swung for the fences and attacked the three closest to her. She had picked up a little training from Vick and was holding her own well. She went low and sliced knees. She stabbed high as they fell and buried the knife hilts to the skulls of each chatterer.

  Dwayne followed Autumn out the door. He had an oar they found in the boat earlier in the adventure. He swung it like a ball bat, knocked them down, and curb stomped faces.

  The others followed and they cleaned up a section of the road. “Take this a little at a time guys,” said Vick. “We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew and get overwhelmed.”

  The men worked on getting the cars moved to one side of the interstate. The women cleared out any straggling undead that appeared. Dwayne drove the camper up about 100 feet and stopped. The road was blocked again. The others repeated what they had done before.

  Time passed slowly and everyone was getting tired. Autumn walked too far ahead of the group and found herself blocked by a truck. She turned to go back when seven undead surrounded her. She let out a yelp but fought on.

  Autumn turned to her left and brought a knee up in a chatterer groin forgetting it was dead already. It looked at her blankly and she shrugged, “hate to be you ball-less boy” as she drove her knives into its stomach and upward exploding guys all over them both.

  The other two had closed in during the action and one grabbed her shoulder and spun her. She screamed and the others heard her. They all came running in a hurry, quickly downing any walkers in their way.

  By the time the group had reached Autumn she was soaked in guts and standing over the three lifeless undead. They were a sight to behold. She had gutted one, beheaded one, and pretty much sawed off every part of the last one.

  “You ok girl,” asked Trina.

  “I’m fine, sorry for screaming.” She looked down, “The one looked like my dad, it freaked me out.”

  They all got back to work on moving the cars. Finally they had enough room to drive through the traffic jam without stopping again.

  “Where in hell did the foreman go,” asked Cade. “He must know a quicker way to Detroit.”

  “Hey Cade. Want to know what’s in my bag,” asked Vick.

  Cade looked over at him and smiled, “We friends now?”

  “Yeah I figure we are.”

  Vick opened his bag and pulled something out. Cade moved closer, eyes widened.

  “This is the NJAPW heavyweight title. That’s New Japan All Pro Wrestling. I’m the champ over there. Used to wrestle in the states and Canada but steroids got me in trouble. Japan offered me a shit ton of cash so I took it.”

  He looked around and noticed the others listening in, “I go by the name Vick Michaels, but it isn’t my real name. That’s Victor Russo. Anyway, I fly back and forth from Canada to Japan about three times a year, staying a few months each time.”

  “This time I happened to accept a match in Indianapolis for some extra cash so I ended up on your plane.” He chuckled, “My luck huh?”

  Dwayne not being very smart asked, “Isn’t it all fake? You know rolling around with another guy in undies?”

  Vicks frowned, looked at Cade and gave a tiny smile. With that he punched Dwayne square in the jaw knocking him over the kitchen bar and onto his ass unconscious. “That feel fake?”

  The rest laughed and took turns holding the belt and trying it on. Then they put Dwayne on the cot and took off towards Detroit and freedom.

  Chapter 14

  “Just so you all know, I want that belt buried with me if something happens,” said Vick.

  As his last word is spoken, dozens of military jets fly overhead in formation. “Something’s about to happen,” said Trina. “They never fly like that so low.” Cade looked out the window as the jets flew by, “We just have to keep moving, it’ll be alright.” He paused to think over the situation, “We have a full day before the nukes come down and only a few hours to drive if all goes well.”

  Hours passed and the group traveled on a smaller highway to avoid more traffic jams. It paralleled the interstate almost perfectly. The girls were all huddled in the back around Dwayne on the bed, doing girl time.

  “Before this happened I was a senior in high school,” said Meg. “My only worries were boys and which one to let take me to prom.”

  Autumn laughed and joined in, “I was a farm girl, and boys hadn’t noticed me yet.” Her eyes went down to her lap. “Daddy said I had to be married before I could date.”

  All the girls broke into laughter. “Yeah, right” said Trina.

  “I was in Japan for school, studying various things but mostly getting drunk and goofing off,” said Trina. “Guess I should have stayed a week longer huh?”

  Front the front cabin they heard, “SON OF A BITCH. There they are.” It was Cade practically jumping out the windshield to something ahead.

  “Guns loaded and ready, the foreman is at the gas station ahead.”

  The camper screeched to a halt, no stealth this time. Cade and the other jumped out the side door shooting three of the foreman’s men dead. They all took protective cover around the station except Cade who rushed in the front doors shooting.

  Two more men dropped as he checked around each aisle and room. Shotgun blasts tore the beef jerky next to him to shreds sending him to the floor dazed. The foreman had been in the rest room. He continued firing and made his way outside. Cade growled and sprang for him, knocking him down and the wind out of the older man.

  He wound up on top of the foreman, throwing wild punches left and right into the man’s face and body. Then from out of the woods nearby, dozens of chatterers rambled into the parking lot.

  “Cade we have to go!” screamed Vick, “There’s too many.”

  “Next time we meet, you’re a dead man,” Cade growled to the foreman.

  He then leapt up and sprinted to the camper getting in last after everyone was safe. Vick took off in a hurry driving as fast as the old camper could go. Out the back window the group could see the foreman and some of his men escaping in the other direction by jeep.

  No one spoke for a few hours. They knew Cade was still fuming at missing his chance for vengeance. It was growing very dark and most were exhausted. Vick kept driving though his eyes had begun closing.

  Finally after another hour he came to a state park. It’s better to get off the road just in case of trouble. This time of year there shouldn’t be many campers who were infected. Vick pulled off the highway and down a narrow road into the wooded park.

  There were no other campers or tents in the lot Vick pulled up in. All seemed safe and sound. Vick and Cade took their blankets to the roof, where they always slept, giving everyone else room to spread out. It had been a long day and the whole group passed out quickly.

  Hours passed and they all slept relatively well. Some noise from below woke Cade. One eye opened he listened and watched. He nudged Vick out of sleep and held a finger to his mouth for quiet. Together they listened to what sounded like four men approaching the camper and whispering.

  “Kill them quietly
and get their gear,” said one.

  “Passenger door, driver’s door, and side door at once,” said another.

  Enraged, Cade dove down onto them in a pile. Both knives spinning and stabbing, he ducked a punch and stabbed one in the heart. Cade spun backward and caught another in the abdomen with both knives and twisted. The final two men got the better of him with kicks and sent Cade to the ground. They were on top of him in a flash pounding his face.

  That familiar guttural roar erupted and Cade sliced into the crotch of the closest one, making him an “it” for the last moments of his life. The fourth screamed as he saw his friend’s penis area shoot blood through his jeans passing out. Cade crawled on top of the man and beat him over and over with the knife handles until the man’s face was reddish goo.

  All this happened in seconds as Vick was climbing down. He never had a chance to help his friend defend the camper. “Good lord man,” Vick said, “You butchered them.”

  Huffing and puffing Cade turned to him, “They were going to kill us and strip us of everything. Them or us Vick.”

  “Shit,” said Vick.

  Cade and Vick followed their trail back to another camper. No one seemed around so they took the guns and supplies and headed back. Once at their own camper the rest of the group was outside waiting.

  “Are you alright?” said Meg. “We didn’t know what happened.”

  “More guns and food,” was all Cade could say as he walked by everyone and went inside the camper.

  The rest stayed with Vick as Meg followed him inside.

  “Did you do that?”

  “Yeah,” said Cade.

  “She wouldn’t want this from you bro.”

  “I would want avenged if it were me,” answered Cade

  “There’s a difference between vengeance and becoming an animal.”

  “Just get some sleep Meg, I love you.”

  Chapter 15

  Time was getting short. Less than a day before the United States becomes a wasteland. After the incident at the camp ground no one had spoken much. The jets flew over at an increasing rate. This group of airline passengers had endured much over the last few days; a plane crash, the undead, losing members, human attacks. Detroit loomed ahead, their escape point, their refuge.