He then turned his attention to the back seat, holding his breath, determined to only capture a glance of the kids. Instead, he found himself lingering on them a little too long. Their heads were tilted back, making it easier to see the entry wounds in their foreheads.
O.B. poked his head out of the SUV and slammed his back against its flank. Hyperventilating, he did his best to hold down the vomit rising in his throat.
‘Whatcha got in there?’ Darla headed to him, her interest piqued by his distress. She looked inside the SUV and rolled her eyes. ‘Just dead bodies, kid.’
‘It’s not the bodies. It’s what they say – about how they died,’ O.B. said.
Without hesitation, Darla prised the revolver from the man’s necrotic grip. ‘Better get used to it. The longer you live now, the more of it you’re gonna see.’
O.B. managed to catch his breath and wiped the traces of the dead smell from his nose. ‘I don’t see the world the way you do. I get it; I do: the kind of life you’ve had – the things that happened to you before all this. I’m just not built that way.’
A sickening snap followed, as Darla freed the gun from the fingers of its previous owner. She moved away from the SUV with a look of satisfaction. ‘Then maybe you’ll taste better to them than I will,’ she said.
O.B. turned his big head to the road.
Darla noticed the wounded look on his face and sighed. She reached around to the back of her pants and pulled out the Colt she’d found in Posen. ‘Hey!’ She handed the gun to him.
‘No thank you,’ O.B. said.
‘Take it, kid. It ain’t loaded anyway – just for show.’
O.B. lifted his head. ‘You said it had as many bullets in it as when you found it.’
‘That’s right. It was empty from the start. Now, come on. Take it. It’s for the living.’
Before O.B. had closed his fingers around the pistol’s plastic grip, the sound of a voice made them jump out of their skins.
‘Raising your voices on a long stretch of highway with no cover? Not what I’d call smart.’
Darla aimed their only loaded gun wildly around her, frantically scouring the sides of the road for danger, until her eyes came to rest on the speaker. A young boy, no older than fourteen, sat crossed-legged on the roof of a Camaro. The kid was black and sported the kind of hi-top fade haircut that anyone in the late ‘80s would have been proud of. His body was swamped by a brown duster jacket, at least two sizes too large for him. Its lapels were pinned with a myriad of buttons.
‘Did someone shrink the sheriff? What hole did you crawl out of?’ Darla said.
The boy smirked. ‘Been here the whole time. You were just too busy with your two o’clock drama show to notice. My moms used to watch those all the time when I was little. Rotted her brain, I figure.’
‘We got ourselves a smart ass, right here,’ Darla said, pulling back the hammer on the revolver.
‘There’s no need for that. I’m smart enough not to get involved in the affairs of others. I ain’t gonna give you any trouble.’
‘Why don’t you start by tellin’ us who you are?’ Darla refused to lower her weapon, despite his admission.
‘I’m your eyes and ears, baby doll.’ He gestured to the overpass and the symbol spray painted on the side of it.
O.B. tried to decipher what it meant. It was hard because it appeared to be various letters that overlaid each other. After a few seconds, he was able to separate them to form a word. ‘Kaos?’
‘That’s Mr. Kaos to you, homie.’ Kaos twisted his body slightly, and O.B. spied the red cap of a paint can sticking out from the inside pocket of his jacket.
‘What’s the point in taggin’ if you’re the only one?’ O.B. said.
‘’Cause my tags ain’t claimin’ nothin’. All this circus belongs to them now – the others. I leave my marks as warnings, for numb nuts like your good selves.’
‘Warnings of what?’
‘Of not to go that way. Where you two headin’ anyhow?’
‘That way.’ Darla pointed her gun towards the overpass.
‘See, I wouldn’t do that,’ Kaos said.
‘Why not?’ O.B. asked.
‘You really should keep up with what I’m tellin’ ya. Might save your skin someday.’
‘We’re just scavenging for supplies. Then we’re heading for the coast.’ As soon as O.B. had finished his sentence, he received a firm kick to the shin and a scowl from Darla.
Kaos smiled again. ‘Good luck to you is all I’ll say on that.’
‘Good. ‘Cause you’ve said about as much as I can stand.’ Darla picked up her belongings and set off on the road.
O.B. lingered for a moment, fascinated by the strange boy and his cryptic omens. ‘Why don’t you come with us?’
‘Think I’ll give that one a rain check,’ Kaos said.
‘You wanna be alone?’
‘I do pretty well at it. Been doin’ it for a long time before we had a change in management.’
‘Well, be seeing you then,’ O.B. said. He waved and followed after his companion to check the cars directly beneath the overpass.
Kaos saluted to him. ‘You never know. The world got a whole lot smaller,’ he said.
Episode Eight
Frailty
1
The 5 a.m. petrichor rose from the forest surrounding the road and drifted through the crack in the passenger window of the pickup truck. Raine closed her eyes as she drank it in and listened to the song sparrows chirping their morning chorus.
They’d been driving for over half an hour and not seen one member of the new species that had repopulated the earth. Any moans or rotting stenches from nearby were masked by the serene shield of Wayne National Forest. The skies were clear above them, save a few traces of cloud vapour, scorched orange by the breaking dawn.
The events of the previous night had been so traumatic that they now seemed like they had taken place over a period of several days. Raine didn’t want to think about that graveyard they’d escaped from for another second. However perfect they may have wanted it to be, it was gone – lost. And there could be no return. The only thing left to focus on was the road ahead. At least for the time being, it looked free of danger.
A short flash reflecting from the side mirror caught her attention. The morning was still dull enough to see the headlights of the Sedan behind them. ‘He’s signalling to us. He must want to stop,’ she said.
Salty chewed at the inside of his mouth as he tried to concentrate on the winding stretches of open road. ‘We’re too exposed. We should keep movin’.’
The headlights flickered again – this time the flashes were more prolonged, more forceful.
Raine frowned. The calming sensation from the drive disappeared. ‘Something’s not right. Pull over.’
‘If it’s just Twilight wanting to take a piss, I’m gonna leave his ass behind,’ Salty said.
‘Just stop the truck.’
Salty deliberately performed the stop without care, slamming on his brakes so hard that the pickup turned and entered a skid. The sedan was also forced to brake sharply to avoid ploughing into the back of them.
Ethan fell back in his seat and slapped both hands on the wheel. ‘Shit me, Salty.’ He turned to the back seat and checked on the Grahams. ‘Everyone OK?’
Vincent nodded, holding Emily’s head against his lap. Emily gritted her teeth, cold sweat clinging to the skin of her forehead, as Kristin tightened the bandage around her leg. The married couple’s eyes met and they shared a grim look. ‘Do you want to come?’ Vincent said.
‘Of course I do,’ Kristin replied.
‘I’ll keep an eye on her,’ Ethan said.
‘Thank you.’ Kristin had said it before Vincent could, so he refrained from saying anything.
‘Where are you going?’ Emily said. She tried to pretend the bite wasn’t there by looking anywhere but down towards her feet.
‘Just outside to talk to the others. You’ll be
fine with Ethan. We’ll only be a few steps away. You’ll be able to see us from here,’ Vincent said. He moved over so he could place her head on the back seat. Kristin did the same at the other end and exited the car.
‘Daddy!’ Emily said, lifting her head. ‘I did what you told me to, didn’t I?’
‘Yes, sweetheart. You did everything I said.’
Her eyes glazed over and her bottom lip started to quiver. ‘So why did this happen to me?’
‘I…’ Terror and utter despair clawed at the inside of Vincent’s throat, sucking the life out of him. ‘I don’t know.’ He forced a smile, jumped out, and shut the door behind him.
He and Kristin met in the centre of the road, brushing shoulders as they walked to the pickup where Raine and Salty waited.
‘What’s the problem?’ Salty called.
Dumbstruck, Vincent attempted to blurt it out, though he could still scarcely believe it. ‘It’s our… our…’
‘Emily was bitten when we were escaping.’ It didn’t exactly roll off the tongue for Kristin either, but she could say it. She’d tied off the wound. She’d seen the uneven teeth marks imprinted on her daughter’s calf. She’d witnessed the blood soaking through the layers of dressing. It could not have been more real to her.
‘Oh, fuck me.’ Salty immediately stood on tip toes and peered into the windshield of the sedan.
‘How? When?’ Raine said.
‘When she slipped on the ladder,’ Kristin said.
‘Should have told us right then,’ Salty said.
‘I didn’t know until we got to the cars, and we had to escape that hell, remember?’ Kristin said, raising her voice. ‘What would you have done, Jake? Suggested we leave her behind?’
‘You think I’m that much of an asshole, huh? We might have been able to do somethin’ for her if we’d taken her to the medical bay.’
‘With those things swarming around? Did you see how many of them we were up against? We’d never have gotten out alive. Any of us.’
‘She’s right,’ Raine said.
‘Can’t we still do something for her now?’ You wouldn’t have guessed it from how he asked the question, but Vincent already knew the answer.
‘It’s been almost an hour already,’ Salty said.
‘The bite didn’t go that deep. It barely broke the skin,’ Vincent said.
‘But it did break the skin, Vincent.’ Kristin reached out to him, but he pulled clear of her.
‘We have to amputate right now and take our chances,’ he said. He tried to steady himself, blinking frantically.
Salty took a breath and prodded at the bandage around his head to scratch near the bruise he had sustained. ‘I don’t advise that.’
‘You don’t advise that?’
‘That’s right. Look, Graham, I’m real sorry about your kid. I ain’t the most congenial guy you’ll ever meet, but I sure as hell didn’t want anything to happen to her.’
‘Then help us.’
‘To hack off your daughter’s leg in the middle of the road? Even if she was a healthy adult, and we had access to a medical area – even then. We’ve got nothin’ – at least nothin’ that’ll do any good.’
Vincent’s eyes flared, desperately searching his mind for a solution. ‘The morphine shots you took from the soldier,’ he said.
‘We still have them. I brought them in from the truck when we arrived,’ Raine said.
‘So we give her a shot, and then what?’ Salty said. ‘There are no antibiotics, no way of cauterising the wound without setting her on fire. Who’s gonna put her through that shit? You? ‘Cause I certainly ain’t.’
Vincent’s sweat and tears flowed along the stress lines of his face. He paced halfway towards the dipped headlights of the sedan and back again.
Kristin caressed his palm with her fingertips, if only to break him from his despair for a moment of lucidity. ‘He’s right, Vincent. She couldn’t survive it – not out here. By the time we found somewhere, the infection would have taken over her. Maybe we should just make the best of the time we have left.’
He fixed a glare on his wife. His eyes reflected back a man she didn’t recognise – one full of anger and resentment. Then the red curtain pulled back and the sadness took hold of him again. ‘I’ll go wait in the car,’ he said.
‘Vincent.’
He ignored her, wandered to the car in a daze, and got into the back seat.
‘I’m sorry,’ Raine said.
Kristin sniffed and drew the back of her hand across her nose. ‘Let’s focus on where we’re going so we’ve at least got somewhere to hold up tonight.’
‘The coast is over five hundred miles away. Travellin’ cross-country to avoid the cities will almost double the time it’ll take. That’s before we even account for the roads bein’ blocked,’ Salty said.
‘We aren’t too far from Paden City. The nearest bridge across the river is north of here, up in New Martinsville,’ Raine said.
‘We could check out the byway – see if it’s passable,’ Salty said.
‘We’ll follow you.’ Kristin avoided making eye contact and headed over to the sedan.
Raine began to chase after her. ‘Kristin?’
‘Just get us to the coast. Let me worry about my daughter,’ she replied.
And so they moved on, in the direction Salty and Raine had suggested. The byway looked clear enough, aside from a few wrecked vehicles. They followed it for about 30 miles. Eventually, they pulled over and ate some of the food rescued from the visitor centre. It had been a long day. As they took their cold sustenance from a can, they could barely sit up straight. All except Raine. She remained wired and alert, sweeping the edge of the embankment outside with her rifle.
Emily didn’t feel much like eating, but Vincent and Kristin managed to coax her to have some chocolate to help keep up her blood sugar. It wasn’t much, and it would never be enough – they just hoped it would give them an extra few minutes with her when it came down to it.
Vincent wouldn’t look at Kristin. At first, this upset her, but then all she wanted was for him to see how pissed off she was with him.
After they’d finished their unsatisfactory meal, Raine waved a stiff arm in their direction and pointed to the car, indicating she’d heard something moving around in the trees below.
Beyond the deep cyan sheen of the Ohio River, the now-dead city of Paden exuded an overpowering stillness. The industrial park, textile mill and numerous churches lay destitute, apart from the occasional distant figure staggering aimlessly through the streets. Ethan noticed several bodies floating face-down in the water. Whatever the place used to be had been erased forever. Paden had new residents – swarms of flies, come to feed on the decaying flesh that littered every block.
‘She’s getting warmer.’ Vincent placed a hand on Emily’s forehead while she slept.
Kristin delved into the backpack between her feet. She retrieved a piece of cloth and a bottle of water, then poured some of the water out to soak the rag. ‘Here.’
Vincent took the cloth and pressed it against Emily’s clammy skin. As soon as the cool water made contact with her, Emily was roused from her sleep. She groaned, then swallowed hard, frowning as the thick saliva went down. ‘My throat’s sore,’ she murmured.
Vincent beckoned to Kristin to give him the bottle. ‘Here. Take a sip.’ He tipped it gently so little drops of fluid ran between her lips. ‘And another.’ He lifted it higher the second time, enabling her to take a proper mouthful.
She didn’t wince after her next swallow, giving her a minute or so to drift off to sleep again in her father’s arms.
Vincent and Kristin glanced at each other, neither of them even pretending to be cordial – they were heavy-eyed and pale. ‘Next time we stop, we should change her dressing,’ Kristin said.
‘Good idea,’ Vincent said.
Kristin realised that the sound of the engine had been reduced to a low growl and the outside world was now passing by the window
a little more slowly. She leaned between the two front seats to see that the pickup was already coming to a halt. ‘What is it?’
‘Something… up ahead,’ Ethan said.
As they edged further around the bend in the road, the popped hood of a car emerged from behind the trees. The vehicle was positioned across the road, blocking both lanes.
‘Trouble?’ Vincent said.
‘Maybe,’ Ethan said, squinting through the dirty windshield.
Raine and Salty got out of the pickup and proceeded to cautiously inspect this new obstacle. Ethan opened his door, immediately drawing Raine’s attention.
‘You’re fine where you are, Ethan. Stay in the car,’ she said. She approached the side of the vehicle and scanned the interior, then she leaned through the window and released the parking brake. ‘Are you gonna help me move this thing?’
Salty walked around to the back and crouched down to get some leverage. Raine grabbed the wheel and the frame of the door with her other hand. Just as they began to push, someone burst from the trees behind them.
It was Darla, her eyes wide and bloodshot, brandishing her pistol.
Raine heard her first and tried to pull her rifle from her shoulder.
‘I wouldn’t if I were you,’ Darla said, stepping much closer to her so she couldn’t miss.
Salty didn’t look down to his belt, but he could visualise his hatchet hanging from it.
‘O.B., you got him?’
O.B. responded to Darla by showing himself. He held the revolver with a limp wrist, reluctant to actually point the weapon in Salty’s direction. ‘What are you doing?’ he said.
‘I’m savin’ us, like I always do. So just keep your mouth shut, fat ass, and make sure the redneck doesn’t get the jump on me.’ Darla was still wearing her baggy pants and beanie, but she’d now acquired a red hoodie. A dark smudge stained its front. ‘There’s no need for anyone to be collecting holes today. We just want food.’
Everything Dies [Season One] Page 24
