Jacob's Odyssey (The Berne Project Book 1)

by Melrose, Russ

  My hands trembled as I unzipped the pouch that held the Glock. I grabbed the gun by the barrel and raced back to the fence. I threw the Glock over the fence and climbed over. The Swimmer was gone and so was Becky. He'd left the gate open. Sarah was struggling to sit up. Her left cheek was rosy red and puffy and a trickle of blood ran from her nose down to her upper lip. Her left eye was pinkish and had a watery sheen to it. She was barely conscious. Raj was huddled in a fetal position with his back against the tree trunk.

  I helped Sarah sit up. "I'm going to get Becky," I told her, speaking quickly. "I'm going to bring her back. I promise." There was a glint of awareness in her eyes but not much more. Then she looked up at me and I knew I had her attention. "You have to stay here. I'll bring Becky back here. Understand?"

  Sarah nodded weakly and her chin began to quiver. She was going to cry. I stepped over and grabbed Raj by the shoulder. "You have to stay here, and you have to be quiet. You understand?"

  Raj looked absolutely miserable. "Yes, Jake," was all he said.

  I grabbed the gun off the ground and ran to the gate. I closed it as quietly as I could and then I took off. The Swimmer was running south on Hale which curved left up ahead. He was jogging easily. He had Becky slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and her head and arms flopped up and down as he ran. He was maybe forty yards ahead of me. He didn't know I was coming, but he would in a few seconds. When I got to the intersection, I stopped and let out a scream of my own. It was meant for the infected down on Jupiter. I didn't want them heading for Raj and Sarah. The last thing the infected had likely heard was the Swimmer's howl, and I was hoping my scream would redirect them to the intersection and then to me.

  The Swimmer slowed to a stop. He pivoted around and stared. He angled his head curiously and seemed surprised. Then he turned and ran and picked up his pace. I was surprised how fast he could run carrying Becky. She had to weight at least sixty pounds.

  It felt strange running after the Swimmer instead of the other way around. I had to push myself to pick up the pace. Thing was, I was still frightened and wasn't sure what I would do when I caught up to them. All I knew was that I had to catch them. I had no other choice.

  I carried the gun by the barrel which made it easier to run. And a plan began to formulate in my mind. I was already following the first part of it. I was running at a strong, measured pace, faster than the Swimmer, but not too fast. I had to be patient and make sure I didn't burn myself out. I couldn't catch up with him all at once.

  I knew I would need to get within about twenty yards of him before I could get off an accurate shot. The Glock was accurate to fifty yards. When I got close enough, I'd have to stop, set myself, get properly sighted and fire. And as had always been my practice, I would kneel with one knee on the ground to get myself set. I had always been a better shot kneeling rather than standing. I figured it would take up to four seconds to get a shot off once I stopped and readied myself to fire. I estimated the Swimmer could run twenty to twenty-five yards in four seconds. That would put me in the neighborhood of forty yards or so behind him when I fired. I would aim for his left buttock since Becky was draped over his right shoulder.

  The street began its gentle swing to the left. I kept my mind focused on my running mechanics. I kept my head still and ran with a short quick stride the way I'd been taught by my track coach in high school. My arms pumped in a compact motion and I kept them tight to my body. I knew I was closing in on them a little at a time, but I was also beginning to feel the midday heat. Driblets of sweat had begun to form just under the brim of my cap and I could feel them edging their way down my forehead and temple as I ran. I had to fight the impulse to wipe the sweat away. I didn't want anything breaking the rhythm of my running.

  I focused on breathing and running, nothing else. I estimated I'd cut the distance between us to thirty yards or so. And as I kept my eyes on them, I thought it looked as if the Swimmer's stride was beginning to break down. It had to be difficult even for him to carry someone while running. He had to be getting fatigued. We had run about a block and I still felt relatively strong, though I could feel the concussion from my feet striking the asphalt riding up into my shins.

  I went around the curve in the road and it straightened out in front of me. And then I saw movement up ahead. They were less than a block away, ransacking a house on the east side of the street. Several of them were out in the front yard and it looked as if they were feeding. They looked up in unison when they heard us.

  I almost slowed down, but I fought against the impulse. And then I realized I needed to speed up. If the Swimmer reached them, there was no way I could get Becky back. I ran as fast as I could out of a feeling of desperation. I had to get to Becky before the Swimmer reached them; I knew what the infected would do to her. And I knew I'd never go back to Sarah and Raj without her. I had less than half a block to cut the distance between us. The muscles in my thighs began to burn as I pushed the pace, but I put it out of my mind and ran as hard and as fast as I could.

  Three of the infected stumbled to their feet and began striding toward us. Two males and a female. They moaned excitedly as they staggered in our direction. The other infected in the yard continued to feed while keeping an eye on us. More infected began to exit out the front door.

  I was about twenty-five yards behind them. It had to be now. It took me several steps to come to a stop. I knelt down, right knee on the asphalt, body erect. I steadied myself, extended my right arm and pointed the gun at the Swimmer. My left hand hugged the side heel and wrist of my right hand to steady my aim. I aligned the rear aperture sight with the front white dot sight and the Swimmer's left buttock. He was running in a straight line. A drop of sweat slid past the corner of my right eye. Then I took some air in and let it out. And as the last whisper of breath escaped through my lips and the natural pause between breaths came, I squeezed the trigger. The Glock jumped slightly in my hand.

  I waited for him to fall, but the Swimmer kept running. I was starting to panic when he suddenly broke to his left toward the gutter. He faltered badly and was about to fall when he grabbed Becky off his shoulder and threw her into the yard. It seemed as if he were trying to protect her. She landed hard on the grass and bounced and rolled. The Swimmer threw his arms out to break his fall and he turned his head sideways, but I could see his head bounce when he slammed into the gutter pavement. He made an attempt to get up but collapsed.

  I was already up and running. The three infected were a house away and closing. Three houses behind them, another dozen or so were headed in our direction. Becky was on her hands and knees now, her face immobile, staring at the ground. She moved slowly and appeared to be trying to gather herself. She looked stunned and disoriented.

  "Becky," I yelled.

  She turned and looked at me with a pained expression on her face. She looked lost and had no idea the infected were coming. Then she must have heard them, because she turned her head in their direction and screamed. They were ten yards away now, lumbering frantically toward her. I didn't have time to kneel, but I was only a few yards from Becky.

  The female was out front and she moved with frenetic desperation, arms outstretched. She had likely been a young woman before she'd been infected. Now her face was smoky gray and mapped with dark veins and arteries that stretched up her face like tributaries. Her clothes were filthy and ragged. She was swimming in what had once likely been a pair of tight-fitting jeans. She wore a halter top smeared with dried blood, and there was fresh blood there too. She wore an unbuttoned blouse over the halter top, peeled back over both shoulders and upper arms. I shot her in the face just below her right eye. I shot her without hesitation and she collapsed to the ground. The two infected males trailed several feet behind her and I shot them too.

  Becky turned toward me, her face twisted with fear.

  I kneeled next to her. "We need to go, Becky. We need to get back to Raj and your mom. Can you walk?"

  She was crying softly,
but she gave me an affirmative nod. She kept an eye on the group that was coming for us. I wiped a tear off her cheek and helped her up and she took my hand and we started walking.

  "Remember, they can't catch us," I told her.

  The swimmer was lying in the gutter, his left arm stretched behind him, his fingers splayed, cupping his wounded buttock. A splotch of blood stained his shorts. His face was twisted in pain and there was a nasty abrasion just above his temple.

  I had an impulse to kill him, get him out of our lives, but I was torn. I knew he was dangerous despite being wounded. And I might have killed him if Becky hadn't been with me. But I couldn't shoot him right in front of her. I didn't want to traumatize her any more than she already had been. With him lying in the gutter, it would have been like killing him in cold blood right in front of her. I hadn't hesitated with the other infected, but the Swimmer wasn't like the others. At least that's what I told myself.

  Becky cowered as we passed by the Swimmer. She leaned close against me and tightened her grip on my hand. But the Swimmer didn't look our way.

  "Becky, you let me know when you think you can run. Okay?"

  We walked quickly. Becky turned every few seconds to check on the group behind us. We hadn't walked more than twenty yards when she tugged at my arm. "Let's run now, Jake."

  "Okay," I said, and we started to jog easily down Hale back toward the intersection and the backyard where Sarah and Raj were. Becky never let go of my hand.

  I knew the infected from Jupiter Drive would be getting to the intersection soon. But that was okay. I wanted them to see us. I wanted them headed in our direction. I would pick out a house that looked abandoned and we'd slip into the backyard and head back to Sarah and Raj. The infected coming from both directions would focus on the abandoned house. They might even try to break into the home, but they wouldn't find us there or anyone else either. The infected, save for the Swimmer, weren't all that difficult to fool.

  I didn't mention my plan to Becky. I'd wait till the time came for us to make our move.

  Becky looked back to the group behind us to make sure we were still a safe distance from them. We were easily outdistancing them. And the further away we got, the more relaxed Becky became.

  When we were at most a block from the intersection, the first few of the infected from Jupiter Drive showed up. They looked down the street toward us and began lumbering hurriedly in our direction.

  Becky stopped in her tracks and the color drained from her face. I knelt down and got eye to eye with her. "It's all right," I told her. "We're going into the backyard of that house right there." And I pointed at the next house down, a large rambler with the windows mostly uncovered. "They'll come to that house and they'll think we're there. But we won't be there. We'll go through the backyards and get back to your mom and Raj. We'll slip right by them and they'll never know. Do you understand?"

  "I'm scared, Jake," she said.

  "I promise they won't get us. We're a lot smarter than they are." And I gave her a reassuring smile. "Okay?"

  Becky nodded and we cut across the neighboring yard with its tall wheat-colored grass and into the driveway of the rambler. Both groups of infected were over a half block away. For once, I used the wood gate and slammed it loudly behind us. I wanted them to hear us.

  We hustled across the backyard to the fence. It was a stained wood fence, well maintained. It felt sturdy when I checked it. I tucked the gun away in the back waistband of my shorts. I whispered to Becky what we'd be doing. I told her I'd be lifting myself up to the top of the fences and making sure the backyards were clear before we'd go over. Then I'd lift her to the top of the fence and she'd sit there till I climbed over the fence and brought her down, and I told her we needed to be as quiet as possible. The air conditioners and swamp coolers were going, so there was some noise to help mask any sounds we might make.

  We'd made it through three backyards when we heard the group of infected from Jupiter Drive out on the street. Their shoes scraped like sandpaper against the asphalt as they plodded forward in their never-ending shuffle. Their moans were less strident now that we were out of sight. It was as if they were in a state of hibernation even though they were still moving. Becky and I were standing in the middle of a backyard holding hands and waiting for them to pass. I kept massaging my thigh muscles with my free hand to loosen them up, and I was achy in the shins from running on the hard asphalt.

  We waited ten minutes for them to all pass by. Then we waited a couple more minutes till they were at least a couple houses down from us. Then we moved with some urgency. There were only two more houses to Lois Lane.

  When we reached the fence adjacent to the street, I stood and listened for several seconds. It was quiet as could be. I could tell Becky was getting excited. Emotional and excited. I lifted myself up and saw that the street was clear. I smiled at Becky and lifted her up to the top of the fence, then I climbed over. We ran across the street and cleared the fence to the corner house. I picked up my backpack where I'd left it in the yard and put the Glock back in its pouch. The bat was still laying in the grass next to the fence right where it had fallen. I fitted it back into its slot in the backpack. Having everything back in its place gave me a feeling of security. It made me feel as if everything were all right again. Becky waited eagerly. I stepped lightly onto the support beam and peeked over the fence.

  They were standing next to each other underneath one of the apple trees. They had apparently heard me and were looking apprehensively toward the fence. I raised my finger to my lips to make sure they wouldn't overreact. I didn't want them saying anything or getting too excited. Raj tried to smile through a bleak countenance, but it was a half-hearted effort. Sarah looked eager and hopeful but unsure at the same time. Her cheek had swelled and the window to her left eye had narrowed.

  I dropped down and lifted Becky to the top of the fence facing her mother and Raj. She had undergone a stark transformation and was smiling now though her eyes were still red and watery. Raj's hands grabbed Becky around the waist and brought her down. Then I heard a stifled cry from Sarah. She couldn't contain herself. I grabbed the top of the fence and lifted myself up and over.

  I hoped the infected hadn't heard Sarah's muffled cry. Either way, I knew we had to get moving. The gunshots would have every infected in the vicinity headed to this neighborhood. The infected who had been down on Wasatch Boulevard would be finding their way here. And then there was the Swimmer. Eventually, he would gather himself up and come after us. I knew he wasn't finished.

  Sarah was kneeling down embracing her daughter. Becky had her arms wrapped tightly around her mother's neck. They cried quietly together, almost silently, not much more than a muted murmuring. I stared at the ground and chewed at my inner cheek. I felt like a third wheel standing there. Raj stood next to them, looking fondly at his friends. He seemed to have found his smile again, at least for the moment. The three of them were having a moment of shared intimacy. And while I was anxious to get going, I knew I needed to give them a moment.

  I had to think about where we would go. While we needed to be on Jupiter, it was only a half block down from Hale and the vicinity of the gunshots. By tonight, Hale and Jupiter would be crawling with the infected. We needed to get out of the area, but I knew everyone was too physically and emotionally spent to travel very far.

  Heading down to Wasatch Boulevard wasn't a viable choice even though it was just two blocks west. There was no cover to speak of down on Wasatch, and there would likely be infected stragglers still wandering the boulevard. If we headed south on Jupiter, we'd likely have to travel all the way to Brockbank to be safe, and that was too far considering the shape we were in.

  I took my backpack off and set it on the ground. I had to figure something out. I knelt down and opened the main pouch and found my iPad. I walked to the apple trees and used the shade to get a better look. My shins and thigh muscles ached as I walked and I felt like an old man.

  I remembered there
was another street that paralleled Jupiter and would take us to Brockbank. A block or so south, two streets branched off of Jupiter Drive. Just two houses separated the two streets. East Apollo Drive was the first street and it curved and dipped down a couple blocks to Wasatch Boulevard. The second street, South Fortuna Way, angled west away from Jupiter Drive before heading south to Brockbank. It was perfect. I had known it was there but hadn't paid close attention to it when I had planned out our route. Jupiter was the most direct route and I had focused on it. If we could get a block down Fortuna Way, we might be okay. That would be nearly two blocks of traveling through backyards.

  I knew we had to get going. We couldn't wait any longer. I put the iPad back in the backpack and touched Sarah lightly on the shoulder to get her attention.

  She looked up at me with red, watery eyes. Tired eyes. "We have to go," I whispered.

  She used the flat of her fingers to wipe the tears away. Then she dried them further with the back of her hand. She smiled at her daughter and stroked her hair a few times as if Becky had something in her hair and she were brushing it out, but there was nothing there. She looked back up to me again and nodded.