We were calling Jason’s name, repeatedly. Nothing.
Lewis and Nathan talked amongst themselves for the most part. Missy and I just trekked behind. My feet were starting to really bother me. I felt dirty. I was drenched in sweat and I was itchy.
Missy’s theory about this virus outbreak being just a relapse thing, made me feel so much better about walking through the overgrown weeds and rotted leaf covering on the ground that were infested with bugs than I felt about it yesterday.
Mosquitoes barely concerned me now. They annoyed me, but I wasn’t worried when I got bit. And I was bit a lot, despite the spray Lew had supplied.
And worse, I had no hands to scratch myself. Once or twice I actually paused to use the tip of the gun as my shin scratcher, but I was very careful not to put my finger on the trigger.
That would be my luck, shooting myself in the foot.
The afternoon sun was concealed by a thick canopy of trees, but the woods remained bright and clear. And quiet.
Well, except for our shouting.
“I need a drink,” Missy whined, sometime later.
Her face was flushed red from the tips of her forehead to the bottom of her chin, splotchy and glistening with sweat.
Her blonde hair was still pulled high in a knot, but it was lopsided, leaning crooked on her head. A few loose strands matted to her skin.
My own bangs felt like paste across my forehead, and I could only imagine how wavy they’d dry when the sweating stopped.
I could use water myself.
Lew seemed irritated to stop, but he did anyway, offering us a bottle of water to share. I exchanged the gun for the water, so I had a free hand.
I let Missy drink first, and as thirsty as she was, she still only drank sparingly. We both did.
The water was hot and not really refreshing, but I drank enough to moisten my mouth, and still get a few sips out of it.
I was pulling the bottle away from my mouth when I first heard the hollering.
“Yo! Nate! Lew!” Two figures came into view from the corner of my eye.
I spun, catching a better view of them. One was short, stocky, and darker-skinned. The other was lean, average height for a guy and red. Seriously, his skin was covered head to toe in a rash, making him a sore, bumpy red.
I made a face for him. That freaking sucks.
Both were carrying a gun, one was a rifle and the other a shotgun.
The stocky guy was also carrying a back pack, those hiking ones with a water pack. The same kind Jason had when we first met him in the woods a few months ago. The lean guy was wearing one of those head lamps. It wasn’t turned on, but it was propped on his head. His blonde hair damp and curling around the straps. A sweat ring took up his entire t-shirt collar. The shirt was so damp with sweat, I could make out his hairy chest.
Lew made his way over to them and Nathan stayed, sidestepping over to us.
“That’s Carlos and Tony. The other two that went out with us yesterday.”
“Oh.”
Lew commented on Tony’s skin, and I quickly knew who was who.
“Have you guys seen Jason?” That was the second thing Lew asked.
Carlos pursed his lips. He had a shaved head, dark thick eyebrows and a go-tee. “I was going to ask you guys that.”
“Shit.” I could hear Lew curse in worry from here. “We need to find him.”
“Why, what’s up? And who are the girls?”
Lew pivoted, facing us. “That’s Jason’s girlfriend and her best friend Missy. We are all looking for him.”
“That’s Dee?” He quickly walked around Lew and headed toward me. I bit my lip, not sure what he was about to say.
Up close, I saw he had friendly espresso brown eyes, so I wasn’t as intimidated. “Carlos Brogen,” he introduced. “So you’re Jay’s Dee? He was trying to call you all last night, but kept losing service.”
“You were with him?” My heart did a hiccup. “For how long? How bad is he?” I guess I could have said hi first, but whatever.
“Bad?” Raising an eyebrow, he peered over at Lew who had come up next to him. In that instant, I realized Carlos hadn’t a clue anything was wrong with Jason.
“It’s why we are looking for him man, apparently he’s in not in good shape. When was the last time you saw him?”
“I don’t know. Around midnight, maybe? Was that when it was, Tony?” He cocked his head toward him.
Tony was scratching his skin with his free hand, his other hand holding the shotgun. He glanced over at us, pausing. “We got back to Kyle’s trailer about two in the morning. It didn’t take us that long to get down that trail.”
“Okay probably about one in the morning, then.” Carlos refocused on us as Tony started to stroll over. “He told us to call it quits for the night and come back out in the daylight.”
“He didn’t go with you guys?” I didn’t like that. Not at all.
“Kyle wanted to keep looking for Buck, so they stayed out a bit longer.”
“So then he did go back to the trailer?” Wait, I was confused.
“No,” Tony shook his head. “They never came back. That was the thing that concerned us. We waited at the trailer until at least eleven this morning. Figured maybe they camped out here. Or stayed somewhere else. You’re telling me something is wrong?” His whole expression changed.
“Yeah, we need to find him,” Lew agreed. His jaw clenching again. This was really bothering him too. “Where all have you searched?” I guess he cared about his friends after all.
“Dude, we’ve been all around.” Carlos unhooked his straw from his pack and started sipping from it.
“And you haven’t found anything?” Nathan, towering over us, appeared shocked.
“Nothing. I mean, besides a book bag. But we just left it there. There was bear prints around the area and a lot of blood. Figured we’d just stay away from that. Some poor bastard I guess didn’t make it.” Tony continued to scratch, only flaring up the rash more.
“Was it blue?” I asked, getting a rush of excitement. Had they found my bag? “Where was it? Is it close?” It had to be my bag, what other bag was going to be near bear prints.
“Yeah, it was blue?” There was unspoken question in his voice.
“That’s my bag.” I couldn’t help but smile. “You found my bag.”
His hand paused again. “Your bag?” Tony’s slate gray eyes widened.
“Yeah. I kind of lost it last night. So, is it close?”
“Wait,” Carlos spit out his straw. “You were in the woods last night?”
“Yeah, that’s why--”
He cut me off, his brow furrowing. “Then how the hell are you still standing here? Didn’t you, you know, come across someone that was--”
“A zombie wannabe?” Missy finished for him. “A few. Apparently friends of yours too.”
That earned us a very cynical full-body once over from his dark eyes.
“Don’t underestimate them,” Lewis implied. “Apparently Dee is kind of crazy.”
“Excuse me?” That was rude. “I’m not crazy. I just know a few things about guns and surviving.”
“Then you fit right in with us,” Tony said. “I can see why you’re here. Speaking of someones, who else did you run into besides Buck and Meyer? We saw Gary Baker about two hours ago.”
“Your ex, actually,” Lewis said, speaking directly to Tony.
“Mora?” His eyes were as round as saucers now.
“Yup, and she tried to kill me,” Nathan replied nonchalantly. “I always did think she was a bitch.”
Carlos laughed. “She really was, wasn’t she? Just be thankful you aren’t with her now. Or it would be one messed up relationship.”
All the guys chuckled, including Tony, though it was a bit forced. I guess that was the long story Lewis was talking about when he said he knew her.
“So, my bag,” I prompted. This conversation wasn’t important enough for me to let it continue. They could bash her
while we walked if they wanted, but I didn’t feel like standing here doing nothing.
“Oh, right.” Tony sobered first, probably because he was the least of them chuckling. “It’s maybe a fourth a mile that way.” He pointed to his right, which was my left, then brought his hand back to his bicep, scratching.
“You need to cut that shit out,” Lewis said, shaking his head. He handed the gun he was holding for me to Nathan, only to pull his backpack strap down his one arm and swing the whole thing around so it was accessible. “I think I have some Benadryl in the first aid kit. What the hell happened to you anyway?”
“I fell into some bush I am apparently allergic to, but it’s the least of my problems.”
“Still sucks.” Lew dug through the bag pulling out a small first aid kit. He opened it, pulling out a couple square packets, reading them. The second to last one was apparently the pills. He put the corner of the packet in his mouth, and closed the kit back up, placing it back in the bottom of the bag. Then he ripped the pack open with his teeth, dispensing two small pink pills onto Tony’s palm. Before I had a chance to protest, he yanked the bottle of water out of my hands and gave it to him. Tony didn’t even question it or cringe. He just popped the pills into his mouth, and chased it down with some water, careful not to touch the top of the bottle with his lips.
“Thanks, man.”
Lew nodded, taking the bottle from him. “I’d offer you something for your hand Dee, but I don’t have anything in the kit that will help.” Lew took a few sips of water next.
“It’s okay,” I mumbled, wishing there was. “I’m fine.”
“What did you do?” Tony asked.
These guys were never going to stop talking were they? “I didn’t have a weapon so I punched a man in the face and got into a fight with your ex, so seriously, about my bag.”
It wasn’t the bag that I was anxious to get to, it was the vicinity that the bag was in. I knew near it were my keys and I needed those keys to drive my car. I had pretty much accepted the fact they were gone for good, but now maybe they weren’t.
Tony started to really laugh this time. “Okay, okay, broken record much?”
Lew handed the water off to Nathan, and he chugged the rest of it down. I was kind of wishing I had drank more actually had I known they’d all be drinking it. Once Nathan finished, he squashed the plastic between his hands like one would an accordion and tossed it to Lew. He caught it, dropped it into the backpack and zippered it up.
“You got about fifteen minutes to find it,” Lew warned. “Otherwise, we are moving on.”
I nodded, hoping it didn’t take long to locate my keys. I was almost tempted to say heck with it for Jason’s sake, but Jason no longer had a vehicle. One of us needed access to transportation. I didn’t want us stuck in this god awful town.
That’s when a small part of me brought up the reminder that Jason might not even be alive anymore. No, no, he had to still be alive. I refused to believe anything different.
I held out my hand in an impatient manner to Nate. For a moment he just stared at me clueless, and then I saw it click. Yup, there it was. He carefully pawned the gun off to me again. Once back within my grip, I started walking. I figured if I moved, maybe the pack would move too.
Sure enough, within a minute, I glanced over my shoulder and saw all my ducklings were following me.
27
Turns out I wasn’t a very good Mother Hen. Tony had to take over, leading the way, but as long as we were progressing, I didn’t care.
“It’s right over there, see it,” Tony said, pointing again about ten minutes later. I stepped around him, scanning the ground, and sure enough I spotted it. It was still about thirty yards away, but it was visible.
“Oh great, I’ll be right back,” I said, picking up my pace to a gentle jog, and cutting across the untrailed portion of woods.
“No, Dee, wait!” Lew shouted.
But I was gone, leaping over the higher weeds that grew thick and wild to get there even faster. I hurdled a heavy patch of poison ivy and was about to hop through a bunch of rotted leaves, but something caught my eye, and I lost my footing.
Stumbling, I caught myself on a nearby tree, my shoulder jabbing up against the bark. I winched, grateful I didn’t drop or fire the gun and peered down.
I noticed a trail.
A dark, kicked up, tinted dirt trail leading away. My eyes followed it, noting the grimy rusty coat to the fern bushes growing beside it.
A blood trail.
I was staring at a blood trail.
Common sense told me to ignore it, but all I could think was Jason. Kicking off the tree, I made the quick decision to shift directions and trek along beside it. Carefully I stomped through the soiled ferns, hoping not to ruin it, or step on any rattle snakes that could bite me.
Missy and the guys were no longer hollering Jason’s name, but mine. Ignoring them, I inched forward slowly, my eyes remaining glued to the ground. There were no foot prints to follow, just markings of blood and some disturbed dirt. Enough to show me direction, but not enough to tell me anything.
I heard a very faint noise, and I stalled, rising my gun. I waited, but nothing came. No charging footsteps. No wild animal.
Cautiously I crept forward. The smeared blood disappeared up around a bend with a few large trees, and in order for me to follow it, I knew I had to walk around it to continue.
“Jason?” I whispered very softly, taking another step. My right arm shielded my torso in the sling and my left arm, was braced awkwardly out in front of me, twitching as I gripped the handle of the gun. My finger tip just brazing the trigger.
There was no answer so I took another step. And another. A branch snapped under my foot, and I cringed expecting the worse but only somewhat heard the noise again. Almost like a breathy cry.
“Jason?” I said louder. “Is that you?”
Everyone was screaming my name so loud, I wanted to turn around and tell them to shut up so I could listen. But I didn’t, instead I just threw caution in the wind, and trudged forward, rounding the trees.
Heart racing I jumped out, ready to shoot, and almost dropped my gun.
Anubis was lying on the ground, right paw bent at an awkward angle. A wound, I couldn’t tell how deep, was on his upper shoulder. Fresh blood was seeping out, oozing down his folded up leg. His yellow fur was dirt-stained and caked in drying crimson. I stood there, heart-breaking, as Anubis stretched his left paw out and pulled it back beneath him, struggling to drag his body across the gritty ground—a dog’s version of an army crawl. The movement created a soft, pained whimper that I instantly recognized as the sound I had heard moments before.
The shock wearing off had me moving forward. Anubis’ ears flickered, but he barely raised his he, trying to see the extent of his injuries. Another whimper came, but different this time, almost as if he recognized me. He stopped trying to drag himself across the ground, and just slacked his body, his sad eyes staring up at me, as if begging me for help. His body was shivering, result of too much pain I presumed. A tightness gripped at my throat, catching my breath. I didn’t know what to do for him.
I stood awkwardly over him, my one arm in the sling, my other gripping the handle of the pistol more solidly. The wound on his shoulder I could tell now was definitely a bite mark, and had I not known what he fought yesterday, I may have just figured it was some wild animal. But it wasn’t a wild animal. It was one of the infected people we came across. It was one of the people he saved us from.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, my finger lingering over the trigger, debating. What was the humane thing to do here?
“Dee! Damn it!” Missy shouted in frustration. She was the first to catch up to me, stomping loudly over to me. “I know you hear us!” I flinched, spinning my body quickly toward her, hoping the movement blocked her view of Anubis. At least for a moment.
“What are you doing over here anyway?” She grumbled, ducking under the low-hanging branch. “Your bag i
s over—” Suddenly she gasped, her entire flushed face paling instantly, her eyes averting toward my feet. “Please tell me that isn’t—”
I opened my mouth to say something, I am not sure what. My expression must have said enough.
“Ohmigod.” She bolted forward, shoving me out of the way, and in one fluid movement dropped to her knees beside Anubis, tears already starting. She frantically moved her hands over him, from head to tail, but never actually making contact with his fur. Her fingers trembled, clearly unsure what to do.
After about ten seconds, her palms hesitated above his shoulder and she peered back up at me, desperate. “Dee, what, what do…” Her voice broke on a beginning sob, her tears falling more forcefully. “Guys!” Lewis and the others had just caught up and she turned her attention to them as well. “We have to do something. He’s hurt! Help him!”
Nathan was the first to react, crouching down beside her, his eyes giving Anubis a full once-over. His expression was currently unreadable.
“If that trail is any indication, he’s lost a lot of blood,” he said, grimly. He pointed to the dog’s shoulder. “He’s in pretty bad shape.” So, Nathan did recognize the trail too. I wonder how long it took him to notice what I was doing. I wonder if they all noticed.
“So should we shoot him?” Carlos asked then, adjusting his grip on his gun.
“No!” Missy sobbed, grabbing Nathan’s arm immediately. “Please! Do not shoot him! There has to be another way. Any other way!”
“He’s bleeding pretty bad.”
“So fix him!” She begged. “Don’t we have a first aid kit?” She glanced at Lewis.
“That kit isn’t going to do much,” Lew replied matter-of-factly, “plus we might need the supplies for Jason. We shouldn’t waste them.”
“It’s not a waste! Ohmigod,” she sobbed harder. “Please guys.” She faced me again. “Dee! Tell them! Tell them to help him.”
My own finger still lingered over the trigger. I didn’t want to shoot this dog. I wanted to save Anubis, since he saved us. But, Lewis and Nathan were right. We needed the kit for Jason and the dog has lost a lot of blood already. He was suffering. It wasn’t right.
Dead Friends Series (Book 2): Dead Friends Running Page 19
