“Yes,” smiled Cale.
Just as he pulled the door back the car’s anti-theft alarm sounded. His first instinct was to close the door, but that didn’t turn off the siren.
“No! Shut up God damn it!” he demanded.
Cale checked on the status of the undead trying to get into the strip mall. More than half the crowd had abandoned that endeavor to come investigate. Cale cursed himself. Quickly he opened the door to the Saab. The keys were in the ignition. The first car he’d ever owned was a manual transmission. He tried to start it. It puttered but didn’t turn over.
“Son of a bitch!”
The solution to his problem came to him in an instant. He stepped out and pushed the small two-door car across the small parking lot. After a few feet he attempted to jump in and “kick start” it.
“Come on!” he said as he jumped out and pushed again.
He got it out of the parking lot and into the street. Some of the undead were only a few yards from him. Cale fought to steer the vehicle away from them. The mob moaned once they realized Cale was food. He braced his body behind the door as he plowed into a small group of them. They barely slowed him down. He leapt over the body that rolled underneath the door. The undead woman desperately grasped at his legs. Cale kicked free from her. He jumped into the driver seat and attempted to clutch start it again. The vehicle puttered and stalled.
“Fuck!” Cale shouted.
He climbed out and shoved the infected that came to his door.
“Run!” yelled Zach.
Cale began pushing the vehicle once more. He was determined to get it running.
“What are you doing?” demanded Zach. “Run!”
Cale ignored him and continued about his task. He was about to come to a downhill slope, exactly what he needed. The vehicle bounced over the body of an infected that had fallen down in front of it. The two door Saab was beginning to gain more momentum than Cale could keep up with.
He slid into the seat once more. Cale popped the clutch, and the engine came to life. He closed his door and sped off. The infected in the rearview mirror still continued their pursuit.
“How did you know how to do that?” asked Zach.
“The first car I ever bought was a manual,” explained Cale. “Believe it or not my grandma showed me how to do that when I was sixteen.”
“Well bless her heart,” Zach praised her.
Cale looked at the gauges to check on the status of the car. The battery meter was in the yellow, probably from a whole year of not being driven. The check engine light was on, and he had less than half a tank of fuel. It wouldn’t get him far, but it would get them a lot further than walking would.
Cale slowed at an intersection and turned left. He was headed west again. Sterling High School was coming up on the right. Due to its size it was more like a small college campus. It was composed of multiple buildings filled with classrooms. The school’s logo, the side profile of a Native American’s head, was on display by the street. Below it read, “Home of the Golden Warriors.” A large football field was on the west side of the campus. It was flanked by large bleachers on all sides. A few scattered infected crossed the campus.
They were walking west, toward the elementary school. Cale could see that a large crowd was swarming the playground. There were more of them here than there were at the strip mall.
“What do you think they’re after?” inquired Zach.
“Probably a bird or something,” suggested Cale.
He glanced at the playground, but immediately returned his attention to getting home.
“Cale, stop!” ordered Zach. “There’s someone up there!”
Cale looked back at the playground and saw a figure standing up on top of the slide. She was out of the undead’s reach, but was clearly in trouble. He flipped around and drove up onto the grass. He jumped out of the vehicle and readied his weapons. The little girl cried. Cale began expending his ammo into the crowd at a head height. His rifle magazine was empty. As he was trained to, he dropped it, and reloaded the next magazine from his pocket.
Cale was careful not to aim too high, for fear of hitting the little girl. He took his time in between each shot to acquire a new target in order to conserve ammunition. When that magazine was empty, and there was still a considerable number of them, Cale abandoned stealth and switched to his handguns. The little girl covered her ears as Cale fired shots into her attackers. He’d thoroughly thinned the crowd.
“Go down the slide and come to me!” Cale told the little girl.
She shook her head.
“It’s okay,” Cale encouraged her. “You can do it! Just come down the slide and come to me! I’ll get you out of here!”
Cale continued firing at the crowd as he made his way towards the bottom of the slide. With the next trigger squeeze the ball remain locked to the rear. It was empty. Cale switched to his other pistol.
“Slide down to me!” Cale coaxed her.
She shook her head again. Cale could see that she was terrified. There would be no convincing her to come down. Cale quickly reloaded both his firearms while he had the breathing room. More of the undead broke away from her and came toward him. He began formulating a plan as he looked at the rest of the playground equipment. A section of the playground was intended for children under three years of age. A sign that read “Kiddie Corral” was posted.
“Stay here!” he told the girl.
Cale ran for the kiddie corral, shouting along the way.
“What are you doing?” demanded Zach.
Cale let his actions explain his plan. He ran around the park, across the equipment. His pursuers tripped and stumbled over the obstacles. Cale ran up a small slide, from the top he began to shoot at some of the infected. The platform he was on was only four feet tall, well within their reach.
Cale could see the little girl still trembling at the top of her perch. Three undead stayed with her. The rest of the swarm was closing in on him. He didn’t have enough rounds for all of them. All he could do was wait for them to gather around. Cale lured them towards the opposite side of the slide, by the monkey bars.
“This has to be the dumbest idea ever,” Cale said to himself.
Rotted hands began reaching for him through the bars. He lifted himself a little higher and out of their range. This reminded him of what his nightmares were like as a child. He waited as they cleared the path in front of the slide. Once there was nothing in his way, he jumped back to the platform for the slide. Bony cold hands grasped at his legs and tripped him up. They locked onto the fabric of his coat and desperately tried to pull him towards their gaping mouth. But their heads couldn’t fit through the bars. Pulled in all directions, Cale struggled ferociously to get free.
“Let go of me God damn it!” he shouted at them.
Bones snapped and flesh ripped, as he fought against them. He got to his feet and go on to the slide. Cale slid down on his stomach and rolled out at the bottom. His rifle pressed in to his back. He ignored the pain. Cale popped up to his feet and sprinted for the little girl. He zigzagged through the stragglers that hadn’t made it to the kiddie corral yet. Again at the bottom of the slide, he shot the three infected that were waiting for the little girl.
“Come down now!” he shouted to her.
Bravely, she obeyed. Cale scooped her up, and rushed her to the car. He shoved his bag to the floor, put her in the passenger seat, and threw his rifle in behind. He circled around the car, shoving the undead that walked up to greet him. He slammed his door shut and put the vehicle in gear, grinding them in his panic. He reworked the clutch and found first gear. Cale sped down the block and away from the hungry hoard. He watched them disappear in his side mirror.
The little girl cowered against the door. Cale just didn’t know if it was because of the undead or him. Her brown hair was full of tangles. Food and mucus were matted within its locks. Her lips were cracked, and her eyes were sunken. She looked weak. Cale guessed that she was maybe five or six years old.
She didn’t speak. Big fat tears rolled down her dirty cheeks. Her dark brown eyes were filled with terror. She was scared of him. Cale suddenly felt guilty.
“I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to get you back to your parents,” he confessed.
The little girl stared at him.
“What’s your name?” asked Cale.
She began sobbing. He wanted to comfort her, but didn’t know how.
“Are you thirsty? Hungry?” Cale reached toward his bag at her feet.
She screamed loudly, and smashed herself up against the door. He retracted his hand and put it back on the steering wheel. She stopped screaming.
“Can you tell me where you live?” Cale tried to sound as friendly as he could.
She timidly pointed to her window.
“Down that street?” he asked softly.
Without looking at him or speaking to him she nodded. He slowly made the corner and drove down the street. At the stop sign she pointed straight ahead. Cale proceeded. She pointed at a house in the middle of the block.
“Is that your house?” inquired Cale.
Again she nodded her confirmation. There were only a few infected on the street. Cale could easily handle them. He got out and ushered her out his door. She scurried by him and up to the house. Before he could follow, she’d already run inside.
“You going to follow her?” Zach inquired.
Cale shrugged. “I should. I mean, why the hell would she have been five blocks away from home? Something’s not right.”
He opened the screen door and walked in.
“Oh my God!” he gagged.
The house was trashed. Rotten food and excrement were solidified to the carpet. Piles of clothes and towels were draped over it all. As if they were being used to soak up the mess.
“Something is definitely wrong here,” stated Zach.
Cale navigated his way through the living room and into the kitchen. Plates of molded food covered in maggots covered the table, the counter, and sections of the floor. The smell had masked her presence from the reanimated.
“Hello?” he called out.
Cale walked past the laundry room and into a hallway. The first door to his right was a bathroom. Sewage had made its way back up the toilet and onto the floor. Through the next door Cale could see the little girl sitting in her room. She sat on a nest of blankets clutching her brown teddy bear. Her room was filled with soiled garments. Cale now noticed the clothes she wore had urine stains at the front. From the looks of it she’d been alternating clothes as they dried out.
“Cale, she’s alone,” Zach said sympathetically.
Even for a hallucination he looked sad.
“We don’t know that yet,” Cale replied out loud.
He had one more room to check. Cale left the girl in her room and approached the door.
“Don’t go in there!” she shouted.
Cale had already opened the door by that time. The stench of death wafted out. Two corpses lay in a bed together. The little girl ran in and hugged the female body. A note was sitting at the foot of the bed. He picked it up as the girl wept over her mother.
We held out for as long as we could. God have mercy on us for killing our little girl. We take comfort knowing she didn’t suffer, that she went peacefully. We’re always with you, baby.
“They thought she was dead?” stated Zach rhetorically.
Empty medication bottles were on the night stand. Cale looked through them.
“S. Festa, Vicodin,” he read aloud. “E. Goodwin, Vicodin. M. Wilson, Xanax. J. Israel, Percocet. They overdosed.”
“Mommy told me to take my pills and go to sleep,” the girl said. “But they were too big. So I only pretended.”
“Oh my God,” whispered Cale. “How long have you been by yourself?”
She didn’t answer. Possibly because she didn’t know. Cale looked at the little girl’s parents. They died facing each other, with enough room for her between them. He sat the bottles down, and put his hand on the girl’s shoulder. She squeezed her mom.
“It’s okay,” he whispered.
She sobbed and cried for her dead parents. Cale was amazed that she wasn’t bothered by the smell, but given the rest of the house, maybe it wasn’t a surprise. After a few minutes she was all cried out. Cale pulled her closer to him. He was stunned when she hugged him.
“Shh.” He wrapped his arms around her.
He picked her up and carried her out of the room. Gently he closed the door behind him. Cale took her to the place he remembered being given news as a child. He sat her on the dryer and lowered himself below her height. His intent was to not tower over her and be intimidating. Cale remembered the morning after his parents died. Aunt Marie and his grandma sat him and his brothers on the clothes dryer. And with great difficulty delivered the news that mom and dad weren’t ever coming back.
Cale choked up. Tears ran down his face. The little girl looked down at him.
“I-I have to take you with me,” he explained. “I can’t leave you here alone.”
She stared right into his eyes. Cale could feel her sadness.
“Your mommy and daddy,” he swallowed hard.
This was what he dreaded the most.
“They…they aren’t going to wake up,” he managed.
Cale wasn’t sure what her level of competence was toward mortality. He remembered when his aunt said those words, he knew exactly what they meant. Tears welled up in her eyes and she nodded. She did know.
“My name is Cale,” he said softly. “What’s yours?”
“JoLynn,” she replied.
“Okay JoLynn,” Cale pushed a smile. “Let’s get you a bag packed.”
She gave a timid nod and Cale helped her down.
“Where do you keep your bag?” he asked.
JoLynn maintained her solemn composure and led him to a closet. Inside was a line of coats and below them a large suitcase. That wouldn’t do.
“Do you have a backpack? We can’t take a lot,” explained Cale.
“Look around man,” gestured Zach. “There’s nothing you can take here.”
“I’ll clean them somehow,” retorted Cale as he grabbed her a coat.
JoLynn went to her room. She rummaged through multiple piles before finally finding a little pink backpack. It was adorned with a cartoon character he wasn’t familiar with. Immediately she began filling it with toys.
“Be sure to leave room for clothes,” he cautioned her.
He didn’t want to tell her she couldn’t bring toys, but toys weren’t going to keep her warm at night.
“And maybe a blanket and pillow,” he said, looking around the room.
It was evident that it wasn’t going to be easy finding her things to take. Cale helped pick through the piles. He grabbed the few articles of clothing that weren’t soiled or stained. She grabbed a child sized blanket with the alphabet embroidered on it and a pillow. Desperately she tried to fit them into her bag.
“You’re going to have to leave some of the toys,” Cale informed her.
She whimpered.
“Have her pick her favorites,” suggested Zach.
“Here,” Cale began pulling the toys out and setting them in a line. “Let’s pick out your favorites.”
JoLynn wiped her eyes. “They’re all my favorite.”
“Of course they are,” Cale said sympathetically. “They’re all very neat, but let’s just take your absolute favorites.”
JoLynn hesitated, but gave a nod.
“Okay, so let’s see. We’ll take three of them,” he explained.
She pouted, not intending for him to see.
“Four. We’ll pick out four,” he conceded.
“Pushover,” smirked Zach.
“You pick and I’ll put some other stuff in your bag,” stated Cale.
Cale stuffed her bag with the clothes he’d gathered. Neatly he fold
ed her blanket and fit it in. JoLynn had narrowed her eight toys to three. She bit her cracked lip as she picked the final item. She settled on a Barbie.
“These are the ones you want?” he confirmed her choices.
“Yes,” she said softly.
Cale placed the Barbie, a small matchbox car, a plastic pony, and a book into her backpack. With a degree of difficulty he was able to zip it closed.
“Let’s get your coat on, then wait for me in the living room,” said Cale.
JoLynn got her coat on and took her backpack to the living room. He’d noticed the bookcase in her room. If it were anything like the bookcase in Marie’s room, it would have photo albums and a baby book. He looked at the spines and picked one that said. My Baby. She was born February twelfth, and was seven pounds eight ounces. Other pages listed firsts, allergies, and other facts about her early childhood. Her parents had been extremely thorough in describing the days and placing photos inside. Just before the “I’m Five!” page everything was blank to the back of the book.
He put the book in an inside pocket of his coat and looked at what was left on the shelf. They were all photo albums.
“Wow. They certainly took a lot of pictures,” Zach stated.
Cale pulled the protective plastic cover on one of the pages. He took a picture of her parents hugging each other and one of them holding her at her third birthday party. JoLynn was the spitting image of her mother, who was very attractive. They had the same curly brown hair and dark eyes. Cale could see that this girl’s life was filled with love. He was reminded of his own daughter, hoping that if she were in a similar situation that someone would do what he’s doing for JoLynn. He put the photos with her baby book, then went to walk out. Cale took one last look at her room before leaving. She’d left her teddy bear on her bed.
He joined her in the living room. She was picking around the remains of a moldy sandwich. She’d flicked the maggots and shooed the flies away.
“No!” blurted Cale. “Don’t eat that!”
She shrank back. Whether in fear or embarrassment, Cale couldn’t tell.
“I’m hungry,” she cried.
Cale hadn’t intended to raise his voice.
Z Plan (Book 3): Homecoming Page 29
