A World Apart (Part 1): 8,000 Miles

by Sean P. Thomas

  “You’re right.” Ed agreed. “I don’t think we have any other choice.”

  “Everyone good with that plan?” John asked the group. They all nodded.

  “Alright then, let’s get the fuck out of here then.” John said with finality and started moving back to his truck.

  ***

  They drove back the way they came. They got through the bypass without incident. Once they were past Kandahar, they decided to keep the gunners inside with the hatches closed. They took shifts driving as discussed. They stopped one time about half way back to refuel, using the fuel cans they brought along. Shortly after sunrise they pulled into the gate of their base. There were a few more zombies in the area again. George and Damien popped up into the gunner’s hatches and made short work of them. The trucks stopped in front of the headquarters building; they dismounted and went inside.

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” Ed told the group.

  “It’s not your fault Ed.” John said sympathetically. “Who could have known how bad it really was out there. We’ll figure out another way to get out of this mess. I think everyone has earned some rest. Let’s meet back here in a couple of hours to try and figure something out. Get cleaned up, eat, rest, whatever it is you need to do. Come back ready to work, we are getting the fuck out of Afghanistan, one way or another.” John told them all, then he turned and walked away.

  CHAPTER 18

  After the dust settled at the factory, Jerry ran back to the excavation pit where he left Sam. He found him still in the barrel and unharmed. He carried Sam back to the factory with the others. Jerry pulled Sam’s face into his chest as he climbed over the bodies, so that the boy wouldn’t be traumatized by the sight, then carried him to his mother. Sam wrapped Angie in a big hug. Angie was so happy to see him unharmed that she cried as she hugged her son. Derek was busy releasing the other women from the cages. He led them both to the more comfortable beds and inspected their wounds. The wounds were superficial at most, it looked as if they had been beaten, but nothing life threatening. Their emotional wounds were likely much deeper. He got them some food and water and left them to rest.

  The vigilante who had rescued the group from the evil men had since ceased his assault on Joshua’s body. He ran over to the other man who was locked up with Jerry and Derrek and embraced him. They started talking to each other quietly and the others gave them their space. Jerry and Derek joined Angie and Sam.

  “Not much point in rushing out of this place.” Jerry suggested to the others. “It seems to be secure enough to sleep here a night or two. Besides, we should give these other people some time before we start asking them questions.”

  Angie and Derek just nodded.

  Sam was exhausted and fell asleep in his mom’s arms. Angie moved him to an empty cot and laid him down. She returned to Jerry and Derek and helped them to start dragging the bodies to the outside of the factory. It was totally dark outside now. They dragged the bodies towards an excavation pit and rolled them in. It took them almost an hour to clean up all the corpses. When they came back inside, the two men had moved to one side of the factory, away from the others, and were talking to each other. Jerry assumed that the vigilante was the missing brother of the man he was locked up with. Their conversation was accompanied by the occasional hug or pat on the shoulder. They were obviously discussing their ordeal and giving each other comfort. Jerry approached them slowly.

  “Excuse me gentlemen,” Jerry said to them, “I don’t want to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that we were going to close the doors and try to rest here for the night.”

  “Thank you.” The vigilante replied, then turned back to his brother.

  Jerry and Derek moved to the doors to close them. The doors consisted of two large heavy metal panels, that slid together on a track. Once the doors were pushed together, Jerry flipped the latch that would prevent them from being opened from the outside. Angie put her hand on Derek’s elbow and then motioned for him to follow her. She led him to one of the empty cots and began to inspect his gunshot wound. The makeshift bandage that Derek had used before had done a pretty good job of slowing his bleeding. It was still bleeding slightly, but not nearly as much as before. She removed it and cleaned the wound using some linen she had taken from some of the bedding. Angie ripped up some sheets and redressed the wound. Satisfied with her work, she got up and left him to rest.

  It was probably almost midnight at this point. The two women were asleep and the brothers had moved to the farthest beds away from the rest of the group. Sam had already been asleep, and Derek looked like he was almost there too. Angie was going to go lay down in the cot next to Sam, but she didn’t see Jerry. She scanned around the factory, looking for her father-in-law, and finally spotted him moving along one of the walls towards the back of the building. She moved quickly to catch up to him and see what he was doing and to ask if he needed help. She wanted him to get some rest as well.

  “Dad?” Angie called from behind him in a whispered voice. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing to worry about.” He answered. “I’m just circling the inside of this building, making sure there isn’t any doors or windows that someone could use to get in while we sleep.”

  He was walking with the hammer he had given Derek earlier in the night, figuring it would be more useful in tight quarters. Angie decided to join him in his inspection. All the windows on the wall of the building were much too high for anyone to use outside, so they moved along towards the back, weaving around equipment here and there. When they reached the back wall, they found a single door. It was closed. Jerry checked the door and found that it was unlocked. He opened it up and saw that it led to the outside. He peeked out and found no threats lurking out there, then popped back in and closed the door and locked it. Because the door opened to the inside, he decided he wanted to brace something against it for further protection. Jerry looked around and spotted a heavy shelving unit on wheels close by. He gestured towards it and he and Angie moved to it. They pushed the shelf easily to the door on the wheels.

  “Get on that side and push it over from the top.” He instructed Angie. He went to the other side and put his foot against the bottom and started pulling from the top. It was heavy as it tilted over, but Jerry could guide it to the ground. Its contents shifted when it tilted over and banged against the inside as they toppled. Jerry hoped he hadn’t disturbed any of the others. He felt satisfied once the shelf was laying in front of the back door and then stepped off to inspect the last side of the building with Angie in tow. By the time they made it all the way back around to where their companions were resting, they had found no additional vulnerabilities. Jerry felt that it was safe for them to get some rest. He wrapped Angie in a hug and kissed her on top of the head.

  “We tried to get to you.” He told her. “I want you to know that. We made it out of the shed that they locked us in, and we killed one of the guards, but when we got around to the front of the building, we saw there was too many of those bastards to get to you. I thank the heavens for that man coming after those guys when he did, I don’t know what would have happened otherwise.” His eyes were wet with tears when Angie looked at him.

  “It’s okay.” She assured him. “I know you would have done anything to save me. We are all safe now. Don’t dwell on it, it all worked out. Thank you for taking care of Sam. I was much more worried for him than I was for myself.” She explained.

  “He did good.” Jerry responded. “You should be proud of that boy.”

  “I am.” She said. “And I am proud of you too, thank you. I don’t know what my life would be like right now without you.”

  With that, she planted a kiss on his cheek and turned to head towards the cot next to Sam. Jerry wiped the tears from his eyes and went and found a place to sleep too. They were both asleep in a matter of minutes, giving in fully to their exhaustion.

  ***

  Angie woke up the next morning and realized she had slept longer
than she had intended too. The sun was high and shining in her eyes through one of the upper windows. She looked around the room. Jerry and the two brothers were gone. Derek was still sleeping, as well as the two abused women. Sam was close by, playing with block of wood on the concrete floor. He was pushing it around like it was a car and crashing it into a cardboard box. She couldn’t believe that he could still have fun after all they had been through, but was thankful for it. Angie got up and walked over to Derek. She wanted to see if he bled through the dressing she had used for his wound. He was sleeping on his side, opposite the shoulder with the gunshot wound. She inspected the bandaged on both sides and was satisfied that it hadn’t bled through. She decided she would change the bandage when he woke up. Just then, Jerry walked inside with the two brothers in tow.

  “You’re awake I see.” Jerry said to Angie. “How did you sleep?”

  “Good, thank you.” Angie replied. “I didn’t mean to sleep so long.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” He told her. “You needed it.” Jerry pointed to the brother that had rescued them the night before and said, “This here is Alex. As you already know, he’s the one responsible for us still being in one piece. That there is his brother, Kyle.” Jerry introduced the two brothers.

  “Thank you so much.” Angie told Alex as she ran up and hugged him. “I’m glad to meet you both. We probably would be dead if you hadn’t done what you did.” She said appreciatively.

  “I had to do it.” Alex began. “These bastards took us a few days ago. We felt foolish for taking that bypass, it didn’t look right at all. We were heading north. Came all the way from Midland, Texas. We had family in El Paso. We thought we would try to find them after Midland fell, but El Paso was a complete disaster. We decided to go north after that, try to find some other survivors. Then we came here.” He explained. His eyes started to tear up as he continued. “My wife, Jessie, was with us then. They threw me and Kyle into that shed and took Jessie somewhere else. A day later, one of them comes and grabs me out of the shed. I was tied up and had a bag on my head, so I couldn’t see where they were taking me, but I had hoped that they were bringing me to my Jessie. Turns out they were.” He paused, wiped his eyes, and took a deep breath before continuing the story. “They threw me down on my knees and pulled the bag off my head. It was so damn bright. I hadn’t seen the sun in a full day by then, it took me a minute to adjust. When I could finally focus, that bastard who was in charge was staring down at me. Told me some shit about rules and consequences. Then he pointed up to the top of one of those conveyors. There was Jessie. She was being held by another one of the men and her hands were tied behind her back. I couldn’t scream to her as much as I tried. Then this asshole tells me that she is being punished because she attacked him.” Alex paused again. “Then he points up again and drops his hand down, signaling the guy holding Jessie. That bastard pushed her over. I thought at first that she was being thrown off and would be killed by the fall, but that wasn’t it at all. She came to a stop in midair and bounced. I heard her neck snap from the bottom. They hanged her. This mother fucker killed my wife and made me watch.” Alex sobbed.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss.” Angie said sympathetically. “I saw her, when they moved me from our truck. I’m so sorry, it was horrible. How did you escape?” She asked him.

  “After they did what they did, I saw red.” He explained. “I got to my feet quick and shoulder blocked the asshole leader. I don’t know how I made it, but I ran straight through him and dove into one of the pits. I guess they weren’t prepared for me to react in such a way, but I just rolled to my feet and kept running away. A few of them came to the edge of the pit and started firing at me, but I just kept zig zagging as I ran. There was a path at the other end of the pit, I ran up the path and high tailed it until I was out of their sight.” Alex told them. “Once I felt I was far enough away, I dropped down and was able to slip my hands over my feet. I was able to get the bindings off and then I just sat there on the ground and tried to figure out what the hell I would do. I just lost my Jessie and those bastards still had my brother. So, I just came back, as close as I could without getting detected, and watched. I watched them the rest of that day and through the night. I saw them take you folks. I didn’t want this to happen to you too. I came up with a plan as I watched.” Alex continued. “I made my way back up to the interstate. I was looking for something. I found a group of those monsters out there, milling about. I yelled at them, threw rocks at them, anything to get them to come after me. I led them right down the exit lane where they took us. It was almost dark. Half way down the lane, two guards spotted me and started yelling and coming after me. I ducked behind one of the cars on the side of the road. They were so damn intent on catching me, I guess they didn’t notice my friends. The zombies were on them quick. After they killed the two men, I got the attention of the zombies once again, and continued to move towards the factory. I guided them as close to the front door as I could, then jumped into the same pit I used for my escape the day before. Luckily the zombies spotted the guards then, and went after them. It was just the distraction I needed. I went around the back of the building and found the back door. I came in and found that bastard’s little suite he had set up for himself. I found the knife and the rifle there, so I grabbed them. You pretty much know the rest.” He lowered his head and was quiet for a while after finishing his tale.

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that Alex.” Angie said, she put her arm over his shoulders and leaned her head against his arm. Alex needed it, he wrapped her up and cried into her shoulder.

  CHAPTER 19

  John woke up a few hours after they had returned to FOB Dwyer. He sat on the side of his cot, thinking about their situation. He started to think of Angie and Sam. He had to get back to them. He hoped with all his heart that they had somehow survived, that the United States had figured this virus out. He pulled his back pack over to him and opened it up. John pulled out the folded-up map he had retrieved from his room and unfolded it. He took the pictures that were wrapped inside and set the map down on his cot. He looked at the photos of his family with longing. He studied each one like it was the first time he had ever seen them, spending several long moments on each one before he thumbed to the next one. John sighed and set the pictures down on the cot next to the map. His eyes were wet with tears. The map drew his attention again. He grabbed it and unfolded it over his lap. He smiled when he looked at the arrows his wife had glued onto the map. He put his finger next to the arrow pointing to El Paso, Texas. Then he ran his finger all the way across to the arrow pointing to Afghanistan.

  John had never paid too much attention to geography in the past, but he studied the map now. He looked at how the different countries on each continent were connected. He wondered how all the borders were decided. They were just lines drawn on a map, but how did they decide that Afghanistan ends here and Iran begins. He ran his finger west, following the land until his finger stopped at the Atlantic Ocean, where Europe ran out of land. He measured the straight-line distance from El Paso to his location in Afghanistan with his fingers. He remembered that his wife had looked up the distance on the internet before he left and had said that it was almost eight thousand miles. He dropped his head and sighed.

  John looked at the map again. He traced a line with his finger from his arrow over into Iran, then across Turkey and deeper into Europe. Impossible. He thought as he considered the route. Maybe Europe is okay, maybe not. He contemplated. He continued moving his finger to the coast. We could find a boat. He knew it was a long shot. They had no idea how extensive the virus was outside of what they had seen here. John decided it didn’t matter, either way they had to get out of here. They had to try.

  John ran out of the room with his map in hand. He went straight to the conference room and found the rest of the group already inside. “I have an idea.” He announced. “It’s fucking crazy, it probably won’t work, but I don’t know what other options we have.”r />
  “Let’s hear it John.” Ed told him.

  “Don’t laugh, just hear me out.” He began. “We drive from here to Europe, all the way to the coast if we have to. We will look for any signs of civilization along the way. Figure out if anyone is left out there, if any of the countries still have working airports, etcetera. If we don’t find anything, we go to the coast in France, Spain, or Portugal, and find a boat. We can sail all the way to the states. Figure out our next step once we find ourselves on the East Coast. What do you think?”

  “You’re right John, that’s fucking crazy.” Ed said. “You want to drive thousands of miles to Europe and hope that we can find society intact there? Assuming we do find that people outside of this country have survived, what about Iran? You think they’ll help out a bunch of Americans? Or if we can get through Iran, how do we make the trip? Where do we get fuel, where do we get food and water? Assuming you have an answer for that, how the hell do you propose we sail a ship across the Atlantic? Do you know how to sail a ship?”

  “I didn’t say it would be easy.” John stated happily. He was visibly excited about his idea. “I’m sure humanity will supersede any past political agendas, considering there are zombies walking around. People have sailed ships long before the diesel engine was invented, we’re pretty smart people, I’m sure we can figure it out. The rest, we’ll figure out along the way. We have to try it; I need to get back to my family, that is my priority.”

  “We can clean this base of any remaining zombies and loot the hell out of it.” George added, it seemed John’s excitement was infectious. “There must be tons of rations and water throughout this base, and ammo too.”

  “Yeah, how do we carry what we need in two Humvees?” Ed argued. “Don’t get me wrong people, I’m not against the idea, just making sure we understand the risks.”