One Hour to Live

by Gary M. Chesla

  Sandy looked pale but nodded.

  Lisa got out of the car.

  Kevin was leaning over the railing, looking at the tracks below.

  He could see down Route 711, the road that went through Seward.”

  Lisa walked up next to Kevin and looked down over the railing.

  “My God,” Lisa exclaimed. “How many people did you say lived in Seward?”

  “Apparently, a lot more than I thought,” Kevin replied. “Either that or there are a lot of people just passing through. It’s worse than I thought.”

  Kevin and Lisa stared at the tracks below, then at the hundreds of staggering shapes covering the streets in Seward.

  Then it was as if time froze as all the gross figures stopped moving.

  Then as if the same thing crossed all their minds at once, they all seemed to turn at the same time and look at the bridge.

  “Did they just do what I thought they did?” Lisa whispered,

  as the dead all began to make their way towards the bridge.

  Kevin replied, “I think so. We better get the hell out of here before we get trapped up here.”

  “How did they see us up here?” Lisa asked. “The ones in New Florence didn’t see us and we were just as close to them.”

  “They couldn’t have seen us, I don’t think,” Kevin replied. “We are too far away. It was if they all just stopped and turned in our direction, as if they sensed us somehow. I don’t know, maybe these zombies have finished the process of turning into zombies and were better able to sense us.

  The hell if I know. What the fuck do I know about this shit. We better get moving. There might be more of them close by and they could start coming out of the brush all around us before we know it.”

  Kevin and Lisa turned and started to walk along the railing back to the car.

  They stopped, startled when they saw three guys standing behind the car holding branches or boards in their hands.

  Kevin stared for a moment, trying to decide if they were dead or alive.

  Finally, one of the guys smiled.

  “Holy shit,” the guy said. “I can’t believe it, real living people.”

  Kevin relaxed and smiled, “Where did you guys come from? I thought everyone around here was dead.”

  The guy walked towards Kevin as his two friends remained near the back of the car.

  He held out his hand and shook Kevin’s hand.

  “I’m Steve,” the guy said. “And yes, as far as we know, everyone else around here is dead.”

  “How are you still alive?” Kevin asked.

  “We’ve been hiding in buildings and in the woods the last three days,” Steve replied. “Those things kept finding us. I thought a few times we weren’t going to make it out of Seward. These are my buddies, Al and Carl by the way. We’ve been together since this all started.”

  Steve said as he pointed towards his two friends.

  “I’m Kevin and this is Lisa,” Kevin said. “That’s Sandy in the back of the car.”

  Steve stared at Lisa, a bit too long for her liking, making her feel uncomfortable.

  “Hi Lisa,” Steve smiled.

  “Hi,” Lisa replied cautiously.

  Steve looked back at Kevin.

  “Where are you from?” Steve asked. “We haven’t seen another living soul around here since these things showed up and started killing every one. Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?”

  “We’re from Bolivar,” Kevin replied. “Do you believe in zombies?”

  “Zombies?” Steve asked. “That shit is science fiction.”

  “Then you go tell those bastards down there that they aren’t real,” Kevin grinned.

  “Zombies?” Steve asked. “Really?”

  “That’s what we think they are,” Kevin laughed. “If they look like a duck and they quack like a duck, I say they are a duck until someone tells me anything different.”

  Steve smiled, “You have a point. I guess it doesn’t matter what we call them so long as we can stay one step ahead of the bastards. You wouldn’t believe the shit we’ve seen them do to the poor bastards that couldn’t get away from them. I’ve seen a lot of shit, I was in Iraq, but this is unbelievable.”

  “I’ve seen it too,” Kevin replied. “I’m beginning to wonder if any of us can come out of this alive.”

  Steve looked at Kevin, “You say you’re from Bolivar? How are things down that way?”

  “We had a large group of them go through Bolivar the other day, but they moved on.” Kevin replied. “Bolivar is practically a ghost town, apparently, nothing there that interested them so they just kept moving.”

  “Bolivar sounds like some place we need to go,” Steve said. “Could we bother you for a ride? I don’t think we can hang around here any longer.”

  Kevin looked at Lisa.

  She nodded, but for some reason didn’t appear to be too enthusiastic about the idea.

  “OK,” Kevin replied. “I guess we could fit you and your friends in the back seat, Lisa, Sandy and I can all ride in the front.”

  “Thanks,” Steve said, “We really appreciate it. We owe you.”

  “I guess us living people have to stick together,” Kevin smiled. “I get the feeling there aren’t many of us left.”

  Steve nodded, “Again, thank you.”

  Kevin started to lead Lisa towards the car.

  Lisa shrieked when she felt Kevin’s hand jerk her arm as he fell to the ground.

  Lisa looked back to see Steve standing behind her holding a wrench as he stared at her.

  The end of the wrench was covered in blood and the blood had strands of Kevin’s hair sticking to it.

  “Nice going,” Carl called out.

  “We’ll take these two with us,” Steve smiled as he looked Lisa over. “I’m sure we can find something to do with them. Go make sure the keys are in the ignition.”

  Lisa backed up against the railing as Carl ran over and leaned in through the driver’s window.

  Lisa looked down at Kevin. The hair on the side of his head was now soaked with blood.

  “The keys aren’t here,” Carl yelled.

  Steve looked at Lisa, “Where are the fucking keys?”

  Lisa tried to think fast.

  These guys obviously weren’t the unfortunate, fleeing from the zombies, regular good citizens of Seward. If they took her and Sandy, Kevin would bleed to death or worse and she and Sandy would be entertainment for these guys until they grew tired of them and killed them both too.

  Lisa looked up, and before she realized what she was saying, she blurted out, “I’m not giving you the keys.”

  Steve looked at her and laughed.

  “Give me the keys,” Steve grinned, “or after I take them off you, I’ll turn you over my knee and beat your cute little ass.”

  Lisa stared at Steve as she slid her hand into the pocket of her shorts.

  She wrapped her hand around the keys to the back door of the house that Kevin had given her. She pulled out the keys, letting Steve get a quick glimpse of the keys as they jangled in her hand, then quickly turned and tossed them over the side of the railing into the crowd of zombies that had gathered below.

  “You bitch,” Steve shouted as he ran over to look down over the side of the bridge.

  Lisa took this opening to make a dash for the passenger’s side door.

  She threw the door open and crawled head first into the car.

  She was half way in the car when she felt a hand grab the back of her shorts and start pulling her back out of the car.

  Lisa searched frantically with her hands, grabbed onto something solid, rolled onto her back and thrust the end of the crowbar into Carl’s thigh.

  “Holy fuck,” Carl screamed as he fell backwards, grabbing at the bloody gash on his leg.

  Lisa quickly turned and reached back into the car, grabbing the shotgun that was between the seats hidden by her jacket.

  Lisa turned back just as Steve grabbed her leg.r />
  Lisa jammed the barrel of the shotgun into Steve’s stomach and pulled back the hammer on the left barrel.

  Steve’s eyes opened wide.

  He let go of Lisa’s leg and quickly backed away from the car door and stood beside Carl who was sitting on the ground holding his leg.

  The top part of Carl’s pants leg was now saturated with blood.

  Lisa saw Steve glance at the driver’s side of the car.

  “Tell your other friend to get his ass over next to you,” Lisa shouted.

  Steve glanced across the car again.

  Lisa cocked the hammer on the second barrel of the double barrel shotgun.

  “I’m getting nervous,” Lisa said. “If he tries to get in the other door, it will probably be the last thing you’ll remember beside the loud fucking noise this shotgun makes when it goes off.”

  Steve looked at the barrel of the shotgun shaking in Lisa’s hand, then at her finger on the trigger.

  He looked over the car, “Al, get the hell over here before she blows my damn ass off.”

  “But we’ve been looking for a car for three days so we can get the hell out of here,” Al replied from across the car.

  “We’ve found a lot of cars,” Steve said. “Now just like all the other cars we’ve found, this one doesn’t have any fucking keys either. The fucking thing is useless now. I can’t believe neither of you two assholes can hot wire a damn car.”

  Lisa sat upright, lowered the barrel slightly and aimed the shotgun.

  “Get the hell over here,” Steve shouted again.

  Al walked slowly around the car and stood next to Steve.

  They looked at Lisa and then started nervously looking towards the end of the bridge.

  “I hope you have a few hundred shells for that damn thing,” Steve said. “This fucking bridge is going to be crawling with those dead bastards in a few minutes.”

  Lisa didn’t look, but she could hear the groaning getting closer.

  “Take your friend and get the hell out of here before I decide to shoot you,” Lisa said. “Or you can hang around out there and make some new friends.”

  Steve looked surprised, but with the approaching dead, he decided to skip trying to get the shotgun from Lisa and just get the hell off the bridge. Besides, he didn’t know how much ammo she had for the gun, but he knew if he hung around on the bridge much longer, it would not be enough however much she had. He also thought that if Lisa felt she was going to be safe from the dead in that little car, she was crazier than he thought she was.

  Steve had seen the dead pulling the living out of cars starting on that first day when they arrived in Seward.

  He had seen people being torn in two, or had their arms and legs ripped off when the dead broke the car windows and began to drag their bodies out through the shattered glass.

  He had heard the screams of agony as the dead mercilessly mauled their helpless victims.

  He had been hoping to hear this little hottie do some screaming and groaning.

  Steve looked at the shotgun again.

  “Maybe some other time,” he thought, but as he watched the approaching dead, “Then again maybe not.”

  Steve told Al to help him get Carl to his feet.

  They started moving across the bridge in the opposite direction from the oncoming staggering bodies.

  Lisa glanced in the back seat.

  Sandy was scared stiff, as she huddled against the door in the corner of the back seat, her entire body was shaking.

  Lisa watched as the three guys disappeared off the end of the bridge and down into the brush along the side of the road.

  She jumped out of the car and tossed the shotgun back down between the seats.

  She probably would have shot those bastards after what they had done to Kevin, if the gun would have been loaded.

  The ammo for the shotgun was in Kevin’s pockets, along with the keys to the car.

  “Now I know what Bill feels like,” Lisa thought as she ran towards Kevin’s prone body.

  Lisa knelt down next to Kevin and looked at his bloody matted hair as she began to shake his arm.

  She nervously looked across the bridge.

  It looked like the entire zombie population of Seward was now only two hundred feet away.

  “Kevin,” Lisa shouted, “Please get up.”

  Lisa watched the distance between the zombies and her and Kevin shrink, foot by foot as the dead staggered forward.

  The groaning was now deafening and the smell nauseating.

  Lisa stood and put her hands under Kevin’s arms and began to slowly drag him back towards the car.

  “Kevin, please wake up,” Lisa pleaded. “You’re too heavy for me to get you in the car by myself without some help.”

  When Lisa had Kevin outside the passenger’s door, she yelled at Sandy.

  “Sandy, help me, please,” Lisa shouted as she felt around in Kevin’s pockets until she found the car keys.

  Lisa looked up desperately at the approaching mob, when she noticed Sandy standing next to her.

  “Help me pull Kevin into the back seat,” Lisa said, “Hurry.”

  Sandy bent down and grabbed Kevin’s feet as Lisa fell back on the back seat and strained to pull Kevin in with her.

  Lisa got on her hands and knees in the back seat and frantically pulled on Kevin.

  “Push Kevin’s legs up and close the door,” Lisa yelled when she couldn’t pull any more.

  Lisa and Sandy closed their doors at the same time and hopped into the front seat.

  Lisa started the car.

  “Can you drive?” Sandy asked.

  “I don’t know?” Lisa replied. “I’ve never tried, but I’ve watched Kevin.”

  Sandy watched as Lisa struggled to move the gear shift.

  “Why isn’t the damn thing moving?” Lisa yelled. “It’s a fucking automatic. There’s no clutch. Kevin just pulled the lever down. It didn’t look this damn hard!”

  “Try putting your foot on the brake,” Sandy said. “That’s what my mother always did.”

  Lisa didn’t think it made any damn sense to push the brake when you wanted to go, but she was out of ideas.

  She stomped on the brake and yanked the gearshift.

  This time it slid easily into reverse.

  Lisa hit the gas and the Subaru jerked backwards as the first of the dead began to climb on the hood of the car.

  Lisa stopped the car after fifty feet, held the brake down and pulled the gearshift into drive.

  She swung the car around and sped off the bridge, much to the surprise of three pissed off guys who were running in the brush alongside the road.

  Chapter 18

  September, One year ago

  Kevin tried to open his eyes when he heard a girl scream.

  He didn’t know where he was and tried to sit up, but the sharp pain that shot through his head made him quickly drop back down on his back.

  He opened his eyes, but shut them when everything began to spin out of control.

  The last thing he remembered, they were all standing on the bridge overlooking Seward.

  Then he remembered the three guys they had met on the bridge and panic came over him.

  He remembered something hitting the side of his head, and then he couldn’t remember anything.

  Kevin tried to call out Lisa’s name, but his effort resulted in him starting to gag as a foul-tasting bile rose up in his throat.

  Kevin became even more confused when he heard what sounded like a door banging into a wall.

  He started to calm down when he heard Lisa’s and his dad’s voice.

  He was afraid, for a moment, that he was still in Seward.

  Then he heard Lisa’s voice again.

  “What happened?” Lisa asked.

  “He grabbed my leg,” Sandy replied. “I laid down on the bed and he grabbed my leg.”

  “Why did you scream?” Lisa ask. “Kevin wasn’t going to hurt you. He is still unconscious. It was
just an accident.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sandy said. “It just scared me.”

  “It’s OK,” Lisa replied. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just worried about Kevin.”

  “Lisa?” Kevin’s hoarse voice whispered.

  Lisa crawled on the bed, moved next to Kevin and put her arm around him.

  “I’m right here,” Lisa said.

  Kevin opened his eyes, looked at Lisa and closed his eyes again.

  “Stop spinning in circles, will you,” Kevin smiled.

  “Thank God you’re OK,” Lisa said, squeezing Kevin and kissing his cheek. “I’ve been worried to death about you.”

  Kevin opened his eyes again, this time he was able to look at Lisa without feeling as disoriented.

  “Where am I?” Kevin asked.

  “You’re home in bed,” Lisa smiled.

  “How did I get here?” he asked.

  “It’s a long story,” Lisa replied. “I’ll tell you later when you’re feeling better.”

  “My head feels like it is going to explode,” Kevin said as he slowly brought his hand up and touched the side of his head. “What happened to my head?”

  “Do you remember that guy Steve we met?” Lisa asked.

  “Yeah,” Kevin winched as his hand touched his head.

  “He hit you with a wrench,” Lisa answered.

  Kevin tried to remember as much as he could about what had happened on the bridge, but his memory was fuzzy.

  Suddenly his eyes got big as he looked at Lisa.

  “That son of a bitch. Are you OK?” Kevin asked as the look of concern replaced the look of pain on his face.