Aaron takes the lead, and I follow him through the empty, darkened halls of the school. We leave through the same door we entered, and we’re met by a surprising sight. Four people I don’t know are standing out in the middle of the street, just staring at us as if they can’t believe it. I can’t believe it either. With them are six survivors I faintly recognize from around the school, including one of our pregnant women and one of Aaron’s soldiers. To find other living people is a miracle.
One of the survivors from our school steps forward. “You got out! How many are with you?”
“There are nine of us,” Aaron says, looking over the group with interest. He seems most concerned with the four strange men that have taken in our survivors, but then his gaze lingers on the soldier. “Where did they come from?”
The soldier glances at the four men somewhat warily. “They found us down the street from here as we were escaping. The other soldiers held back the creatures while I led these five to safety.” He looks at the pregnant woman. “Well, these five and a half. They were kind enough to give us shelter and food for the night. They’ve offered to let us travel with them.”
“Where are you going?” Aaron asks.
“There’s a supposed safe house in Chicago. They’ve got electricity, hot water, military guards, and plenty of food. We know it’s a long shot, but we figure it’s our best chance. Right now, anything is better than sticking around in this hellhole.”
“Come with us,” Aaron says. “I’m leading my group out west, to maybe Colorado or Wyoming—someplace with a lower population. There’ll be fewer zombies out there, and we’ll have a chance to rebuild our lives.”
“Aaron, you sound crazy right now. You really think you can make it all the way to Colorado? Chicago is a stretch, especially if you’ve got others depending on you.” The soldier nods his head at me. “Do you think she’ll be able to pull her own weight out on the road? She’s dead weight, just like the rest of them. No offense,” he says, looking at me.
“Don’t worry about it. You’re probably right.”
One of the men I don’t recognize steps forward and offers me his hand. When I take it, he says, “The name’s Allen.”
“Madison,” I say, shaking his hand.
“Well, Madison, you’re welcome to join us. There’s strength in numbers out on these streets. We have enough supplies with us to keep your group comfortable for awhile.”
“And when they run out?”
“We’ll find more. We always do.” The man looks over at me. “If you came with us, we could watch out for each other while on the road. There are some terrible people left out there and I’d hate for you to get hurt.”
Aaron and I had heard some messed up stories from some of the survivors that we brought in. One woman told us that a group of men had held her captive in a basement with plans to use her how they wanted. Two teenage boys told us that a woman had offered them shelter, and then tied one of them to a bed in an attempt to force him to impregnate her to replace the daughter she had lost in the first wave. There were tons of crazy people out there—both male and female—that would hurt people in order to get what they wanted.
How do I know I’m not looking at one of those people now?
The man in front of me looks kind enough. He has dingy black hair that is graying around the temples, and there’s plenty of gray in his goatee. His build is lean but not scrawny, and he holds a shotgun like he knows how to use it. His eyes are blue and very kind, but I know that looks can be deceiving, and I can’t ever underestimate someone.
“I know there are terrible people out there,” I say finally. “But I’m with good people now, and I don’t plan on changing that. But thank you for your offer—it means a lot that you would offer us shelter and food. But we have a plan, and we’ll stick to it.”
The man nods, and extends his hand out to me. “Well, then I wish you good luck Madison, and I hope you safely get to where you’re going. If I’m ever in Colorado again, I’ll look you up,” he says with a smirk.
Aaron and I shake his hand again. Before we can leave, Allen snaps his fingers, and one of his men tosses him a battered red backpack that appears to be bulging with supplies. “One of our buddies died yesterday, so he won’t be needing this anymore. We’ve got enough supplies to last us through the next week—why don’t you take this? By the look of things, you could use it more than us.”
The survivors from our school start to object, but Allen holds up a hand, silencing them.
“Go on, take it. We don’t need it.”
I grab the red backpack, and nearly drop it, unprepared for the weight. “Thank you,” I say quietly, nearly overcome with emotion. “Thank you so much, Allen.”
“Don’t worry about it. Now, you two be extra careful on your way back. This area is starting to heat up. Don’t dawdle in the city for too long.” Allen motions to his group, and they head off down the street. They turn a corner and disappear from view, leaving Aaron and I standing there.
There are still good people in this world. It’s a long shot, but I hope Allen and his people make it to Chicago alright.
“Come on,” Aaron says, putting his hand on my shoulder. “We have to get back to the others. I’m sure they’ve started to worry by now.”
“Yeah, Felicia’s probably going crazy. At least we have supplies to bring back for them, now. I wonder what’s in the bag.”
“We’ll go through it once we get back. If what Allen said about the area heating up is right, these streets will be one huge herd of zombies before long. The sooner we leave the better.”
Aaron and I move at a steady jog. The red backpack is on my shoulders, and Aaron has the meager supplies from the school in his messenger bag. On our way back, we have to duck into the shadows three times to hide from passing zombies, but we finally make it back in one piece.
And not a moment too soon.
*****
When we open the front door to our hideout, the first thing I notice is the crying. Somewhere upstairs, a girl is sobbing quietly. It’s a quiet, mewling sound that I would expect from a lost child, not a hardened survivor. I know in an instant that the crying is coming from Daisy, and my first thought is she woke up a little bit ago, and momentarily forgot that Rose had died yesterday. Aaron and I ascend the stairs, push aside the dresser, and step onto the landing.
Daisy is sitting against a nearby wall, sobbing into her right arm as Michael works on the left one. “What happened?” Aaron asks, coming up behind Michael and Daisy.
“Daisy tried to slit her wrist,” Felicia says quietly. She’s standing off to my left, staring at Daisy’s bleeding wrist with wide, fearful eyes. “She tried to kill herself when she woke up this morning and realized Rose was gone. We tried to calm her down, but she just kept screaming that she wanted to die. Then she locked herself in the bedroom and broke the mirror above the vanity. By the time Michael kicked the door down, she had a jagged piece of glass held against her wrist.”
“Did you see it?” I ask gently, reaching out to put my arm around Felicia’s thin, bony shoulders.
She nods. “She looked crazy, Madison. She looked like she had no more hope. Her eyes were wild and terrified. I begged her to put the glass down, but she refused. Daisy said if Rose wasn’t here, she didn’t wanna be either. Then before any of us could stop her, she cut herself. Michael said it wasn’t deep, but he’s not a doctor, so the best he can do is rub some Neosporin on it and bandage it.”
I pull Felicia closer, and she rests her head against my shoulder and begins to fiddle with the golden cross around her neck. “It’ll be alright,” I say. “Daisy just needs some time to grieve, along with our unwavering support. She’ll realize there’s always hope left, and she’ll keep fighting.”
Felicia sighs and wraps her other arm around me. “I’m glad you’re back. Things go better when you’re here.”
She sounds almost as hopeless as Daisy. One look at the girl sitting down the hall from me getting h
er wrist bandaged, and I know I can’t let Felicia become like her. So I slide the red backpack off my shoulders. “Why don’t you come have some breakfast? I’ll tell you about our trip back to the school while you eat.”
She eyes the red backpack as if I’m waving a three course meal in front of her nose. “What did you find?”
“I’m not sure yet. You’ll have to come with me if you wanna find out…”
She follows me into the bedroom—not the room Daisy tried to kill herself in—and she plops down at the foot of the bed. I take a seat on the floor next to her while Aaron ushers in Rachel, Janelle, Todd, and Levi. We all form a circle on the floor, making sure to leave space for both Michael and Daisy. I notice that Rachel sits between both Levi and Felicia, and she puts her arms around both of them. They curl up beside her, and I wonder if Rachel’s kind of comfort comes from practiced motherhood.
She lost her babies, and Levi and Felicia lost their parents. It’s a match made in hell…
I unzip the bag and start to dig through it. Aaron puts the remaining unopened Gatorade into the center of our circle, and the two bottles of coca-cola, the three energy bars, and the sleeve of honey graham crackers join it. From the red backpack, I pull out a sealed jar of creamy peanut butter, four small bags of trail mix, two cans of chicken chunks, a can of peaches, and two cans of spam. It isn’t a lot for nine people, but it’s more than we’ve had lately, and I know we’ll owe Allen for possibly the rest of our lives.
“Wow. There’s so much,” Felicia says, peering down at all of the food in front of her. Michael and Daisy take their seats, and everyone makes sure not to stare at Daisy’s bandaged wrist. Michael hands Aaron a can opener, and we begin to divide up the food, hoping to make it last until at least tomorrow. We divide up one of the four bags of trail mix. It isn’t more than a handful each, but with it, everyone gets a heaping plastic spoonful of peanut butter, and a honey graham cracker.
Even though we all understand that we’ll need to make the food last as long as possible, it still hurts to see so much unopened food in the center of our circle. Our small breakfast won’t keep us going for long, and hopefully we’ll be someplace safer by nightfall. And by then, hopefully we’ll have some more supplies, and we’ll be able to really fill our stomachs.
Everyone stares wistfully at the remaining food, and I know my stomach isn’t the only one still growling. We pass around the remaining bottle of Gatorade, and we all take small sips, hoping it will dull the edge of our hunger. We finish off the green drink, and Aaron stashes the empty bottle in his bag with the intent to refill it the first chance we get. Then he begins piling some of the supplies in with it. He takes the trail mix and the peanut butter, while I grab the chicken, peaches, and the spam. We don’t want the cans to crush our crumbly food.
“Alright guys,” Aaron says, capturing everyone’s attention. Well, everyone except for Daisy—she’s staring at her wrist with a weird expression on her face, almost as if she can’t believe she did what she did. “I know we’re all probably still hungry, but we need to conserve as much of our resources as we can. We don’t know how long it’ll take to get to Colorado, and supplies might be a little sparse once we get going.”
“Where did these supplies come from?” Felicia asks.
“We found other survivors while on our supply run. A few of the residents at the school managed to escape, and they were taken in by a kind man named Allen. He was willing to share some of his supplies with us.”
“So we’re not alone in the city?”
“They’re not staying in New York. They’re trying to make their way to Chicago. They know the zombie numbers are steadily rising in the area, and we won’t stand a chance if we stay here. If we’re to survive, our best bet is out west. I’m telling you guys, Colorado is a good plan. But we need to get moving, and soon. If you guys wanna clean up and pack some fresh clothes, we’ll be out of here in no time.”
“Are we walking to Colorado?” Todd asks with a sneer. He’s remained mercifully quiet since our escape from the school, but he appears to be over his bout of silence. “I don’t know if you’ve looked at our group lately, but we’re a little pathetic. She just tried to kill herself,” he says, gesturing at Daisy. Then he gestures at Levi. “And he’s been crying since we left the school. They’re in no shape to trek across the country.”
Aaron sighs and rubs his temple. “I know this won’t be easy. I know our group is a little weak at the moment, but if we stay here, we’ll just get weaker and weaker, until we’re dead. I won’t let that happen. I’m going to Colorado, and I’m taking Maddy with me. What you all choose to do is up to you.”
“Well I’m not staying here,” Felicia says, inching over closer to Rachel. “I don’t like the city anymore. There are too many monsters. I vote for going out west. If Aaron and Madison think it’s the best thing to do, then I’m in.”
Rachel sighs, but she seems to be in a decent mood. “Then I guess I’d better come with you,” she says, ruffling Felicia’s hair. “I’ll help you keep an eye on these two, and when we get to wherever we’re going, I can start a garden—I had one in my backyard before all of this. I can be useful.”
Aaron nods, and he looks over at Todd and Janelle. “What about you two? Will you come with us, or will you go off on your own like before?”
Janelle looks over at Todd, then back to Aaron. “I don’t know about Todd, but I’m definitely coming with you. We won’t survive long on our own, and if I have to die, I’d rather it be with friends. Let’s get out of here.”
Todd sighs. “I guess that means I’m in, too.”
Michael groans and rubs his face with his hands. “I think this is going to be a huge mistake, but if you’re all going, I guess I’m in as well.”
“Alright. We’re leaving for Colorado within the hour.”
Chapter Nine
Everyone packs in near total silence, and I’m one of the first people ready to go. While the others finish searching through the closets for a fresh pair of clothes to bring with us, I find Daisy sitting alone in the master bedroom. She’s eaten even less than the rest of us, and she got little to no sleep last night. I’m not sure how she plans on keeping up, but I have to make sure she plans on at least trying.
I sit beside her on the bed and she looks away from me, but before she turns her head, I think I see a bit of shame in her eyes. Her left hand twists gently around the bandage on her right wrist, and she winces. “Daisy, are you going to be alright? It’s going to be a long journey to Colorado, and we need to know that you’re up to it.”
“I’m not,” she says quietly. It’s the first time I’ve heard her speak since saying goodbye to Rose, and her voice sounds raw and harsher, almost as if her throat is made of sandpaper. “I’m not up to it, Madison. Rose is gone and I want to be with her.”
“You can’t be with her yet. It’s not your time.”
“I want it to be my time,” she says, looking down at her bandaged wrist. “I never wanted to live in a world like this, but with Rose, at least I had something to keep me going. I had a person to help me with my…depression.”
“You were depressed before the initial outbreak?” I ask gently.
Daisy nods her head. “Yeah. It started when I was fifteen and my grandparents both died within a month of each other. Plus I had problems at my school with being teased. I just didn’t feel…right…and Rose was the only person that was able to keep me sane and somewhat happy. Without her here, it’s like I have nothing holding me together. I don’t see any reason to keep fighting.”
“Rose would want you to fight. She’d want you to pull yourself together and survive. Just because she’s gone doesn’t mean she can’t still help hold you together. Her memory can do that just as well as she could.”
“Being here while Rose is dead and gone just feels wrong, Madison. I can’t shake this feeling that she and I were never meant to survive without one another. I need her in my life to keep me going. Without her—�
�
“Without her, you’ll have to learn to rely on yourself,” I say, interrupting her. “You’ll have to take charge of your own life. It’ll be hard, and it might not seem worth it in the end, but I think it’ll make you feel better. You need to learn to depend on yourself and nobody else. You need to realize that your life isn’t hopeless.”
She sniffles, and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “You mean I have to learn to be like you.”
“What?”
“You want me to learn to be independent, and you want me to take charge of my own life. You want me to learn to be like you, and that’s not a bad thing, I guess. You’re a natural survivor, and I guess I could have worse people in my group to look up to.”
“Um, thanks?”
The corners of her lips turn up in the barest smile I’ve ever seen, but it’s a smile nonetheless. “I guess I should start packing, huh? What is everyone taking?”
“Just an extra thing of clothes. I can help you find something if you want.”
“Nah. I’ll be fine.”
“Alright. Let me know if you need anything,” I say, heading for the door.
“Madison?” I look over my shoulder at her. “Thanks. For taking the time to talk to me. I don’t know if anyone else would have done it as nicely as you did.”
“You’re welcome.”
I close the bedroom door behind me. Almost everyone else is ready to leave. Everyone except Levi. I can hear Rachel giving him a pep talk that sounds surprisingly similar to the one I just gave Daisy, and I keep walking. If Rachel can make Levi feel better, I don’t want to risk ruining their talk. So I head downstairs, where the others are all waiting by the door, ready to go. Felicia looks up as I join them.
“How’s Daisy?” Felicia asks.
“I think she’ll be alright. She’s looking for a spare change of clothing. Then we’ll just need to wait for Levi.”
“That’ll take forever,” Todd says from his place in the corner. “That kid will never be ready to move on. He feels totally responsible for that girl’s death, right? He feels like he failed her, and there’s no getting over that. He’ll stay broken until he dies, which will probably be sometime soon.”
Zombie Country (Zombie Apocalypse #2) Page 11
