by A J Donovan
The metal is thin and weak and it bends under the force of two dozen unnaturally strong people. The fence lining the walkway crashes to the ground in front of me and the gap is blocked.
No.
I’m on my hands and knees, staring in shock at the twisted metal that cut off our only escape route. Matt pulls me up against him. He’s murmuring something into my hair and I want to bury my face in his chest but I can’t.
Scott tries to run. His sister is in his arms and he tries to make a break for it, running straight at the thinnest part of the horde surrounding us.
He doesn’t make it.
They lunge and grab at him, sinking their teeth into whatever part of him they can reach. He roars in pain and tries to shield his sister with his body. She’s still screaming, hoarsely and hopelessly, and Scott’s screaming suddenly matches hers when she is pulled from his arms.
Teeth sink into her and I sob brokenly. Her leg is bent and broken in the crush of bodies. They bite into her neck and face, all while she screams.
Scott is silent. One lifeless, mangled arm is still stretched out towards his sister as the walkers start feasting on their prize.
The rest of the walkers hit us like a wave.
Blood and teeth and pain block out every other thought for a few moments. As suddenly as it started, it stops. The infected don’t like how I taste. They make frustrated noises and then turn to join the ones that have reached Matt.
I push myself back to my feet, ignoring my injuries. I am covered in wounds and I can feel broken bones scraping against each other every time I move. They don’t hurt like they should. I throw myself at the crowd of bodies, attempting to get to the middle of the tightly packed group.
I’m screaming his name so loudly that my throat is raw. I don’t stop. I can’t.
The walkers don’t even notice me. Their focus is entirely on him. I can’t hear him anymore. I can’t hear anything over the sound of the walkers feeding and the howling wind.
I look up at the sky. A storm is brewing right above me.
Out of the corner of my eye I see the helicopter crash. The wind is too strong, they couldn’t stay in the air. My hair blows wildly around my face and I realise that, once again, the wind is responding to my emotions.
The helicopter was low enough that the passengers could live. Some part of me takes note of that. My mind is screaming and numb and angry and afraid. So many conflicting feelings are burning through me that I barely know who I am. But beyond the chaos, there is a part of me that is glad to know I didn’t kill the people in that helicopter.
I lift my arms. The winds respond by rushing forward and throwing the infected into the air. They don’t fall, instead they are pulled into the forming hurricane and disappear into the spinning cyclone of gravel and rocks and dirt. My creation grows higher and higher until it reaches into the clouds. The fence is stripped from the ground and it hurtles upwards.
Matt’s body is untouched.
He is surrounded by a cocoon of calm air, protected from the storm raging around us. I walk towards him slowly. There’s no rush, not anymore. Tears pour down my face and my chest is burning but my mind is numb. I don’t know how to feel.
I enter the cocoon and the winds outside speed up. This will be the eye of the storm. I fall to my knees when my legs collapse underneath me. Somehow, my body knows how to feel when my mind doesn’t.
Matt’s body is ruined but somehow his face is intact. I I rest the back of my hand against his cheek. My tears fall onto his face. His eyes are the same, beautiful and green and perfect, but there is nothing behind them. They are empty and lifeless and cold. Matt is gone.
Matt’s empty eyes stare up at my storm, reflecting an image of the tornado forming above us. I reach out and close them. I don’t want him to see what happens next.
He was stronger than I am. He could have survived this, he would have been able to keep going. Grief finally cracks open my defences and it leaves me breathless when it rips my heart to pieces. I gasp for breath but I can’t get enough air into my lungs. My heart has turned to spikes of pain and my lungs are on fire and my stomach is twisted in knots.
Matt’s dead.
Matt’s dead.
Matt’s dead.
Grief drowns me and I scream my pain to the convulsing sky above.
The storm explodes and consumes the world.
***
Chapter 9 - Protection
Jake
We travelled with Reggie for the last few days.
Kim is on my mind almost constantly but I know I can’t do anything to help her right now. I ask anyone we encounter if they’ve seen anyone who looks like her, but no one has known anything useful yet.
I talked to Reggie about it, to see if he would be willing to send a group back to the city to find her or give me a car to go alone. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. But he explained it to me. It doesn’t make sense to go back. Until I know for sure where she is, I can’t do anything. For now, the best thing I can do right now is to stay with the group.
As time goes on, we see less people. We haven’t met anyone today, and it’s almost noon. We’ve been on the move for hours. I think people have started getting smarter, hiding and keeping to themselves to steer clear of the dangers out here. Diana thinks that seeing less people means that there are less people. She could be right.
I’m riding with Leo and Reggie in one of the jeeps. Dominic is driving. There are two women and a child in here as well, but I don’t know their names.
I have to applaud Reggie for his use of space. He changes the people that have to ride in the trailer every day. It’s not a pleasant experience. Everyone’s squashed together and with the sun glaring down on you, it’s stuffy and cramped and it stinks. No one wants to be in the trailer.
There’s another reason but no one wants to say it out loud - if we get attacked, the corpses will go for the trailer first. So many humans in one place is like a goldmine for them.
Fortunately, I haven’t been in the trailer at all. Rafael and I are always in the jeeps, usually in different vehicles. We’re the first line of defence against any unexpected walker attacks, since we can get bitten without dying, if we’re careful. We also don’t rely on guns to take out the biters so it saves bullets to use us. And possibly the best advantage of using our abilities to kill walkers is that it doesn’t make any noise. The sound of a gunshot can attract walkers from miles away.
We can’t react quickly enough if we’re stuck in the trailer so we spend our days in other vehicles. Most days, one of us is at the start of the parade of vehicles and the other is at the back, so one of us can react as fast as possible if something happens. It was Reggie’s idea, he wants his defences spread out to maximise response times.
I call it the Line. We’re at the front, leading the group. Reggie wanted to be first, he said he won’t hide from danger, and Leo is our navigator. In all honesty, anyone could navigate, all you have to do is read the maps and gives directions to the driver of the lead car. I think Reggie chose Leo so he would have a reason to keep his son away from the walkers.
I hear a noise and stick my head outside. A biter is stumbling towards us. Its eyes are locked on the trailer. The trailer is right behind our jeep so I pat Leo on the knee and hop off, jogging to intercept the biter.
She sees me and immediately decides to go for the closer meal. I reach past her extended arms and put my palm against her chest. The head would be more efficient, but I try not to get too near their mouths, if I can help it. I’ve done this so many times that releasing the power through my hands is almost like second nature.
Frost spreads across her chest, making her shirt brittle and crack and soon it has spread up her neck and frozen her brain. That’s the only way to kill them. Destroy the brain. I release her and she falls to the ground, but the ice keeps going. Soon she’s frozen solid, all the way from her head to her feet, arms still extended.
That’s new.
&n
bsp; I grimace and turn away from the ice statue. The people on the trailer start clapping. I have to smile, everyone likes praise but it also reminds me that they appreciate the help I’m giving them. It’s nice to be needed. Then someone realises the noise will attract more danger so they tell everyone to shut up. They quieten down immediately but I get grateful looks from everyone and a few people call out their thanks. The rest of the group shushes them quickly and within moments we return to near silence.
Our group is very protective of each other. Most of them are families of some kind and even the people who aren’t part of a family have become part of surrogate families. Almost everyone has lost people because of the outbreak and they’re dealing with it however they can. For a lot of them, it means taking care of friends and strangers like they’re family. Maybe now they are.
I expected to be treated with fear or wariness, at the very least, once people saw what I could do. Many of the strangers we have encountered over the last few days have acted like that. They hate what they fear, and they fear anything that’s different to what they are familiar with. Immune people with crazy powers are on the top of that list. We stopped mentioning to other groups that Rafael, Betty and I are immune, because it is often received badly and a few times it almost came to a fight.
Reggie’s people aren’t like that. They got to know us and they’ve grown to trus us. I suppose now that most of the world is dead, people are realising that we’re all we’ve got. It’s us versus the biters. Whatever abilities we may or may not have, we’re all human.
I glance around again, but this side of the group is clear. That doesn’t mean it’s safe. For some reason, walkers tend to wander in packs. I turn back and slip between the back of the trailer and the next vehicle to check the other side of the Line.
There are two corpses on this side but one of them is already on the ground. I watch as Rafael decapitates the other one and then stomps on its head with his boot. I don’t know if it looks easy because we’re stronger than normal people, or because the biters have weaker skulls, or if it’s just down to Rafael. He can be pretty scary when he wants to be.
We left the city behind a few days ago but we haven’t made it very far into the suburbs. I can tell Reggie wanted to make more distance than this, but we keep stopping so that people can search for their family members. Sometimes they find them, sometimes they don’t, but all too often we find them after they’ve been bitten. It’s not pleasant and it usually leads to dragging our people away from them because they’re overcome with grief.
It’s always hard but the hardest is when our people come back to us with bites. I refuse to put them down. I won’t kill anyone who hasn’t turned yet. Usually we just turn them away and they leave, but sometimes they’re desperate. When they insist on staying with us, trying to convince us and themselves that they’re not infected, Rafael or one of the other guys has to take them out of sight of the group and put them down.
The first time I protested because they might be immune. We all showed symptoms of the infection before we recovered. It could have been possible that those people were going to get better. Betty and Rafael supervised the executions, just in case I was right. I wasn’t.
Rafael makes it his business to be there every time someone is put out of their misery. He says he can tell if they’re going to turn or if they’re immune. We didn’t know there was a difference at first, but we met a family, and their little boy was bitten. They were heartbroken, and Reggie offered to deal with him, but Rafael stepped in. He said there was something different about him.
He called Betty to come over and take a look at the boy. I’ve decided that she’s my hero. She sleeps all the time, she is constantly making sarcastic comments, and she doesn’t take nonsense from anyone. As great as those things are, Rafael called her over because of her skillset. She is really good at reading people and she always knows more than she should. Always.
She agreed with Rafael about the child, and they travelled with us for long enough to see that they were right. The boy got better. He didn’t turn. They left us yesterday to find the rest of their family. I hope they make it.
Since then, whenever we put someone down, Rafael is there. If he’s unsure, he asks Betty for help. She gives the final call, life or death, and we keep moving.
I’ve been getting better at figuring out who’s infected or not. Rafael and Betty can both do it, with different levels of certainty, so it makes sense that I would be able to do it too. I can sense it in a fully turned walker, but it’s too easy and also completely useless because they’re already fully turned. I focus on Rafael to practice. I can’t describe it, I just feel it. It’s intangible. He’s different.
I sensed the same thing when I focused on Betty. Slightly different and harder to pin down but eventually I could feel it. An indescribable something was different about them. It’s like they have an aura around them. I am nowhere near confident enough to say whether someone will turn or recover, but eventually I think I could do it.
I return to the present when a low rumble reaches my ears. I frown and stand up, grabbing one of the side bars to keep my balance while I scan the road ahead. I can’t see anything but I can definitely hear something. It’s getting louder, too. The rumble sounds familiar, but I can’t figure out why.
“What’s wrong, Jake?” Reggie asks.
“I’m not sure,” I say slowly. “But something’s nearby. I don’t know if we need to defend ourselves. I don’t even know what it is.”
Reggie takes a second to think. “Leo, go and tell every vehicle to be prepared. Get the guys in the trailer to get their weapons ready too. Just in case.”
Leo nods and runs back, slowing beside every vehicle to pass on the message. A few days ago I would have been embarrassed at the thought of being wrong and having everyone prepare for something that might never come. Now, I know that I can never be too cautious. Prepare for the worst and never assume you’re safe.
“You see something?” I look around and find Diana standing in front of the trailer, a rifle in her hand and a Beretta in the holster on her belt.
“Maybe,” I tell her. I believe we should be prepared for anything but I also know that Diana will never let this go if I’m wrong.
I turn back towards the direction of the noise. I squint, trying to make something out, but the area is clear. If my hearing hadn’t improved so much, I wouldn’t know that there was anything out there.
“I don’t see anything, guys,” Diana says. “I have sharp eyes, and there isn’t anything-” She cuts herself off and curses. Her rifle is ready to fire in a split second and we all turn to see what she sees.
A few biters stumble into sight at the next intersection. It’s almost a block away so they shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Diana takes aim but I hold up my hand. “Wait.”
She doesn’t fire and after a few moments we see three more corpses shuffle into view. Then another four, then five, then suddenly there are almost three dozen corpses standing directly in our path.
A horde.
It takes less than ten seconds for them to notice us. There’s nowhere to hide and we stand out like a neon beacon in the middle of the street like this.
They rush us.
“Everyone fire!” Reggie yells.
Gunshots ring out around us and the closest walkers fall. Some of the others trip on their fallen comrades and it slows them down but the rest keep coming. There are so many that it barely makes a difference.
I grab onto the sidebar to pull myself over but Leo grabs my arm.
“Don’t. There are bullets flying everywhere. You’ll just be in the way.”
He’s right, of course. I look back at the others, not knowing how to help. Diana is the closest and I watch as she fires and a walker’s head snaps back. He crumples to the ground and two others trip and fall over him.
I can’t get close enough to use my power without the risk of taking a bullet. But the problem is that the
group of undead is clustered so close together that it’s impossible to fire at all of them, we have to take out the closest ones first before we can get to the others. It’s taking too long.
Despite the best efforts of Diana and the other gunners, what remains of the horde has halved the distance between us and them. I have to do something.
My heart is pounding and adrenaline rushes through me while my mind flounders for an idea. After a second, it comes to me.
I climb onto the hood of the jeep and let the power flood through my body. It comes easily to me now and I know that I could freeze anything I touch, but that’s not what I want. I take a deep breath to steady myself and then raise my hands, palms facing out, towards the biters.
My power thrashes and twists under my skin, searching for a way out, a way to be unleashed. I nudge it and it immediately obeys me. Ice bursts from my hands in a wave of frost and hail. The wave hurtles forward and tears through the walkers, ripping them apart and leaving a trail of blood and ice in its wake.
The wave loses strength as it gets further away and the last few walkers are barely knocked backwards. There are only two of them left and two bullets take them out. Dizziness hits me and I sway on the hood.
“Careful,” Leo says, grabbing my shoulders to steady me. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“I’m fine,” I say, but I sit down anyway, breathing hard.
“You’re covered in sweat, Jake.”
I shrug. My mind is too tired to come up with a reply.
“You okay?” Rafael comes running up. “I’m sorry, buddy, I had to stay back to protect the trailer.”
I wave him off. I’m caught between trying to catch my breath and trying to organise my thoughts. I think he realises I need a second to recover so he just stands beside me in silence.
The rest of the group hurries to clear the bodies off the road and get us moving again before all the noise we made attracts more zombies. Reggie is barking orders and Diana is reloading her weapon and everyone is busy doing something.
