by Mike Staton
Percival holstered his pistol and walked straight across the small room to the gun locker with guns still in it. He grinned and began trying keys until one opened it. “Excellent.”
“Wow. What an awesome find. Is that an M-4?” Karl reached into the locker and lifted the carbine from its perch. “It’ll be difficult to come across ammo for this thing. Be worth it, I think.”
Percival took a shotgun out of the case. He unfolded the stock and smiled. “Now Sarah won’t be the only one with a shotty.”
“Let’s loot it all. We’ve got the car to transport it, and ammunition and arms are always useful.” Karl put the carbine back and unloaded the rest of the locker into his duffel bag.
*
Karl and Percival carried three loads of ammunition and weaponry out to the car before returning the gun shop to the way they’d found it. The only difference: Percival took the keys to the back storeroom with him. If they were lucky, the remaining ammunition would remain undisturbed until they needed it in the future.
Percival climbed into the passenger seat of the car. He turned around to look at Sarah and Evan.
“Seems like you guys got a good haul from this place.” Sarah was still stroking Evan’s hair. She’d taken time to clean the youth’s face up some and hadn’t even looked up when she spoke.
“Yeah. We shouldn’t have to worry about ammunition for awhile. How’s he doing?” Percival looked from Evan to Sarah.
“I think he’s got a fever, but no wounds above his neck. The layers of clothing we wear makes it hard to check his core without stripping him down. His clothes are pretty torn up though.” Sarah looked up at Percival.
“We’ll do that at the safe-house.”
“What’re we going to do if he’s—“
“Ask him when he comes to. There’s not much else we can do before he turns if he’s been infected.” Percival turned to face forward as Karl got into the car. “We’ll also talk with Andrina and Roy Joy about the message and what to do about it.”
“It’s dangerous.” Karl started the car. “We shouldn’t go anywhere near the depot.”
“Need a better reason than that. If they can help us secure the campus…” Percival trailed off. In his opinion, if the military was willing to help him out, all the better.
“They’re likely just armed fanatics.” Karl backed the car away from the gun shop and pulled out onto the street.
“We’ll talk about it with everyone.” Percival looked over his shoulder at Sarah and Evan. “Almost everyone.”
*
Percival carried Evan with Roy Joy’s help. Together they carried him to the first apartment in the building. Evan shook slightly as he was laid on the bed.
“Jimbob did warn you,” Roy Joy muttered quietly. “He said the dealership wasn’t safe.”
Percival shook his head and unzipped Evan’s jacket. “I don’t want to hear it right now. You get to tell me about the stalkers later.”
Roy Joy shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about it. Jimbob didn’t mention much.”
“Help me lift him.” Percival pulled Evan up to a sitting position. “Then you get to tell me what Betty Sue has to say about them. They’re different, something the rest of us have never seen before.”
“No.” Roy Joy held Evan up.
“That wasn’t a question.” Percival pulled Evan’s jacket off, careful not to bend the youth’s arms in a strange way. Percival stripped Evan from the waist up, pulling two layers of bloodied clothing off and dumping them on the floor.
“No. I don’t want to. I don’t know anything.”
“Lay him back.” Percival helped Roy Joy lower Evan back on the bed. “We’re talking about the stalkers, regardless. Go get Sarah.”
Roy Joy stood with a huff and stormed out of the room.
Percival sighed and looked back to Evan. He took up a rag, and started to clean his young friend.
“Is it bad?” Sarah stood in the doorway to the bedroom.
“It’s not good.” Percival had sponged off the majority of the blood off of Evan by the time Sarah arrived. “Not all of this is the stalker’s.”
“Most of it ain’t, is it?” Sarah moved and sat on the edge of the bed by Evan. She dropped a first aid kit next to Percival.
“No… I don’t think so. It didn’t take long for that thing to really tear into Evan. Even if he survives all this, there’s likely no way he’ll manage to come out uninfected.” Percival finished wiping off the last of Evan’s wounds. “He was a good kid.”
“Yeah, he is.” Sarah answered. She took Evan’s hand and held it. “He’ll pull through.”
Percival wished he could believe her words. He took the first aid kit and opened it. He started taking supplies out and applying them to Evan’s wounds. Percival was no medic, or even properly trained, but when most doctors and nurses died in the initial outbreak a person learned quickly how to compensate. Percival applied the bandages, pressing and securing the adhesive.
“Help me sit him up and wrap these around him.” Percival slipped an arm around Evan’s back and pulled him up with Sarah’s help.
“Here, I’ll get them started.” Sarah picked a roll of bandages from the kit and started wrapping them around Evan’s torso. She passed them to Percival. “It’s not your fault, you know.”
“Why do people keep telling me that?”
“Because it’s obvious you’re blaming yourself.” Sarah sighed softly.
It didn’t take long to finish wrapping Evan’s torso and the pair did so in silence. Once they’d finished, Percival took care to tuck the youth into the bed. He wanted the kid to be comfortable, even if his wounds might make such an effort impossible.
Percival met Sarah at the door.
“Karl wants to put off talking about the radio message until later. Roy Joy wants to put off talking about the stalkers indefinitely.” Sarah slipped an arm around Percival’s waist.
“Need to drop these off… somewhere.” Percival held up the handfuls of Evan’s blood caked clothing. “I’ll meet you with the others in the center area. Make sure everyone’s there, okay?”
Sarah nodded and let her fingers trail over Percival’s shoulder. “I’ll do that. Don’t take too long, okay?”
Percival nodded. “Five minutes, tops.”
Sarah smiled at him. The smile looked sad, but Percival was grateful to have seen it. She nodded again and walked off.
He sighed, watching her go. He left the apartment and carried the clothes to the next one. He walked straight to the bathroom and threw the clothes into the tub. He turned and stared at himself in the mirror. The dim light drifting from the windows in the living room made him look dead, and strained.
Just like so many corpses he’d put down; except he was still breathing. He turned away. Evan would likely look the same, except without breathing, in the near future.
Percival let out a frustrated yell, and slugged the wall. His knuckles left small indentations in the drywall. He punched the wall again, and a third time. His fourth punch left a small hole and split open one of his knuckles. Percival sighed and let his head thump against the wall. Two people who depended on him were dead or dying in as many days. He didn’t like it, and didn’t know how to deal with it.
He shook his hand, careful to wipe his bloodied knuckles on a clean towel before leaving the bathroom and the apartment. He walked straight to the central stairwell. He looked at the group of survivors sitting silently around the table. Only Sarah looked up at him as he approached.
Percival dropped into the closer of two empty chairs. “Andrina, Roy Joy, did Sarah tell you about what we heard?”
“She did, Mister Polz,” Andrina answered. She looked up at him. “Mister Slowell mentioned it as well, though Miss Josephewitz explained it in more detail.”
“I stand by my previous statement,” Karl said.
“You’re welcome to do that. However, this’ll come to a vote of those present.” Percival looked around the people at the ta
ble. “We’re presented with a dilemma. These could very well be armed-hooligans with a radio. I, personally, think they’re remnants of the US government and military. Why else would they waste the fuel to pipe their message out over the airwaves?”
“Military’s bad. They shoot my friends,” Roy Joy said.
“I’m voting for following the directions to this camp. We can creep up and observe it, and the worse that happens is we turn around and leave.” Percival ignored Roy Joy.
“That sounds dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to drive up, or walk with guns held high, so they don’t shoot us thinkin’ we’re zombies?” Sarah asked.
“The specifics of our approach can be discussed after the vote.” Percival said. He looked around the table. All eyes were on him. With only five people healthy and conscious, it meant there wouldn’t be a tie. “Those against visiting the military depot?”
Karl and Roy Joy immediately raised their hands. Karl looked as though he were going to add something else, but thought better of it.
“Those in favor?” Percival asked. It was a simple formality, something he had picked up from more council meetings than he had wanted to sit in on. He raised his hand.
Sarah and Andrina raised their hands.
“It’s settled then. We’re going to the depot tomorrow.” Percival reached out and pulled the map closer to him. “It shouldn’t take us long to get there, maybe half an hour or an hour since we have the car now.”
“We shouldn’t bring the car,” Karl said. “They may confiscate it. If anything we should put leave it a few miles past the exit they mentioned.”
“What about Evan?”
“What about him?” Karl asked.
“He’s injured and not even conscious yet,” Sarah said.
“He’s infected. We leave him.” Karl said.
Andrina turned to Karl and slapped him. The smack echoed up the stairwell.
Sarah’s mouth dropped open and Percival’s mouth felt dry.
“Mister Slowell, as long as anyone of us is still alive, we will not be leaving them behind.”
Andrina sounded angrier than Percival had ever heard her before.
“Infected or not, he’s still a member of our team until he turns. I’m sure our leader will agree with my assessment.” Andrina looked from Karl to Percival.
“He’s not a zombie yet, so, he’s still one of us, and we don’t leave our own behind.” Percival wished the statement was true. They’d left Nadia behind, but that was a different circumstance entirely.
Karl looked dumbstruck for a moment. “Fine. I still think we should leave the car well away from the depot.”
“Will you carry Evan?” Sarah asked.
“If it means leaving the car, yes. That car will make our travel so much quicker and easier. I don’t want to lose it to a bunk of armed fanatics.” Karl crossed his arms over his chest. “I won’t be happy about it though.”
“No one’s asking you to be happy about it.” Percival looked down at the map for a moment.
“We drop the car off here,” he pointed at a spot a mile down the road, “with the gas and majority of our ammo inside, just incase.”
“First bright idea I’ve heard today,” Karl muttered.
“I’ll drive and I’ll drop you three,” he pointed at Roy Joy, Andrina, and Karl, “and Evan off here. Sarah, you’ll ride with me down the road. I assume you don’t mind the extra walking.”
“We get to ride in a car after how long? Walking doesn’t bother me at all, hon.”
Percival smiled. “Right. Now that that’s settled—“
“It’s not settled. How are we going to approach the depot?” Karl asked. He then added, “Oh wonderful leader.”
“Drop the attitude, Karl. I’d expect it from someone half your age.” Percival didn’t need to have Karl’s shit hitting the fan right now. “We walk up the road. Even if they’re fanatics, it won’t look like we’ve got much, ‘cause we won’t. That ought to keep ‘em from shooting us on sight.”
“Well that’s a pleasant prospect,” Karl muttered.
“They shoot everything. Pansy Popper has told me about the army guys. They shoot both civilians and infected.” Roy Joy nodded, thumping his knuckles against the table as he spoke. It sounded as though he were talking mostly to himself. “They shot my friends.”
Percival looked from Roy Joy to Sarah.
She shrugged.
He had assumed that Roy Joy’s earlier outburst was simply a statement that the military shot zombies. Percival wondered, not for the first time, just what had happened to Roy Joy before they found him. “I don’t think these guys are going to shoot us if we make it clear we’re not infected. I mean, they are calling other survivors to them.”
“What about Evan?” Sarah asked quietly.
Percival frowned. “We carry him in and do our best to convince them he’s harmless. It’ll help if he wakes up and can walk on his own.”
“What’re the chances of him doing that?” Andrina asked.
“Don’t know. I’m not a doctor and that stalker really tore him a new one. It messed him up bad. I’m not even sure he’ll last the night,” Percival said.
Andrina nodded.
“Speaking of stalkers,” Percival looked to Roy Joy. “Want to share what you know with the rest of the class?”
Roy Joy avoided meeting Percival’s gaze. “No.”
“I want to know what you know incase we bump into them again. I don’t want to learn through trial and error. That would be costly and dangerous.”
Roy Joy squirmed in his seat, looking away from everyone. “I don’t want to talk about it. They don’t tell me anything.”
Percival leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
“No, it’s not. I can’t tell you what they don’t tell me. Bob and George and Pansy Podder are scared of them and not talking.” Roy Joy’s eyes shifted back and forth. He seemed agitated, fingers drumming against the table as he searched the shadows of the room.
“Why won’t you tell us? It helps us all,” Percival pressed on.
Roy Joy jumped up from his seat, sending the chair careening to the floor with a clatter.
“You don’t understand,” he screamed at them. He pointed at all of the people sitting at the table. “None of you get it! No one listens! They talk, and tell you everything, but you don’t listen. Then you want me to translate what they don’t say and… and…”
Roy Joy trailed off. He stared at Percival, his hand lifted and finger pointing accusatorily, before he turned without warning and ran up the staircase.
Roy Joy’s retreating footsteps were the only thing to break the silence for several long moments.
For Percival, he felt as though he had pushed Roy Joy too far. Or not far enough. Percival still felt that Roy Joy knew something useful about the stalkers, and simply wasn’t telling the rest of them.
“Was that entirely necessary, Mister Polz?”
“What?” Percival looked at Andrina.
“He clearly doesn’t know what you’re talking about, or is repressing the experience.” Andrina stood up from the table.
“He knows something. Do you see another zombie expert in the room?” Percival said. He felt a little betrayed by Andrina’s chastising tone.
“No. I’m going to see if I can calm him down some, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t press him so hard next time.” Andrina walked away from the table and started climbing the stairs.
“What just happened?” Percival looked at Sarah.
“You were told off for interrogating one of your own,” Karl answered. He stood up. “If we’re done here, I’m going to go give our new weapons a closer look and clean the old ones.”
“Whatever,” Percival said. He waved his hand for the other man to leave.
“Was I too hard on Roy Joy?” Percival looked back to Sarah.
She shrugged. It wasn’t the response Percival had hoped for. “I
don’t know. He’s a well of useful information, but often times it’s cryptic and hidden in shit that only he understands anyways. If your pushing had gotten more out of him, sure you weren’t too hard. If not, then, I hope we’ve not scarred our relationship with him.”
“I’m tired.” Percival stood up from the table and rubbed his hand over his eyes. He pushed his chair in and walked toward the apartment with Evan.
“If you’re tired, you should go lay down or sleep. We’re secure here.” Sarah stood and followed him. “Where’re you going?”
“Evan shouldn’t be alone. If he wakes he should have a friendly face there. If he turns, someone should be there to put him down.” Percival let out a sigh. “The least I can do is make sure the kid ain’t alone.”
Chapter 6
Percival woke to a cough and a groan. The latter sound worried him, but was drowned out by the meaning of the first sound. Zombies didn’t cough. He sat up in the chair and scrubbed his hands across his eyes.
“Hey,” Evan said, his voice drifted across the distance to Percival. Evan coughed again.
“Welcome back to the land of the living.” Percival stood and moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Ha ha,” Evan muttered. He punctuated the words with a cough. “What time is it?”
“Not sure. You got me up and I don’t remember going to sleep. Sun’s not up, that much I can tell you.” Percival gestured at the window.
“Pity no one wears a watch.” Evan sounded pained. “What the hell happened to me?”
“One of the stalkers—“
“Stalkers?”
“The zombies we ran into at the car dealership. You do remember that, right?” Percival looked toward the door. He carried a watch but had left it with his motorcycle helmet in the living room.
“Yeah. I remember running upstairs, and that’s where everything gets fuzzy.” Evan tried to sit up and let out an anguished groan. “My chest’s all torn up, isn’t it…”
“More your stomach,” Percival answered. “Do you want me to tell the story?”
“I want some water first,” Evan muttered.
