by Karen Carr
Men and women, all in fatigues, stared at us and whispered or shouted to their friends. There were so many of them marching around like soldiers, but not quite fitting the part. We had been driving too fast for my virus to catch up to me, and I silently willed a zero horde upon them.
The truck stopped in front of the stone stage at the top of the green and Santiago’s men ushered us outside. I almost fell on my face when we descended the one-rung ladder, which sent a laugh through the crowd that had gathered. I wondered if that was a requirement to work for Mace, laugh when people get hurt.
“Don’t let her get hurt,” Santiago said as he caught my arm. “She is our precious little gem.”
He forced us to walk across the green, and up the stone steps to the stage. I looked over the green, once our garden where we grew vegetables and raised chickens, now it was a muddy soup where dozens of people and vehicles had trampled everything. The bushes lining the green were the only plants that survived and they had grown well over my head.
Santiago had his men line us up in a row and told us not to move or we would be shot. My foot was throbbing with the heavy weight resting on it. I looked out over the faces, and few of them showed any remorse. Mace Duce approached from the rear of the green, the crowd parting in his wake like he was an honorary figure and not the dush-bag I knew him to be.
Mace climbed up the steps and walked over to me. He touched my cheek and kissed it. Huck kicked him and he punched Huck in the gut. Huck grabbed him by the hair and kneed him in the face.
“Stop it, Huck,” I said as two other guards approached.
Mace regained his composure and took a microphone from the stage and addressed the crowd.
“We finally have her,” Mace said. “The girl that will bring us victory.”
The crowd cheered. A line of at least thirty zeroes are brought to the stage. They are all in chains like we were, except they were shackled together and not in pairs. Several of the zeds were in uniform, Mace’s own men probably used in his reprehensible experiments.
We had only been on stage for a few minutes, so all of the zeroes were still gnashing their teeth and struggling to get free so that they could have dinner.
“Witness her power,” Mace said. He then waved his arm over the zeroes, like he expected them to take a bow. The zeroes became more frenzied as the crowd cheered and laughed and threw rocks and empty cans at them.
“I don’t want to be a showgirl,” I hissed at Huck.
“That asshole,” Huck said. “I’ll wring his freaking neck the first chance I get.”
I gestured to the zeroes who were beginning to shake and act weird. “Huck, I think my five minutes are up. Get ready to duck.” I mouthed the word, duck, to my other friends.
The multi-head explosion came just as we all bent down to our knees and covered our heads. Bits and pieces of brains fell all around us. It seemed that whenever multiple zeroes were together, their heads exploded with more vigor. People screamed and shrieked and called out in disgust before cheers and laughter erupted again.
I raised my head to see Mace wiping off a big glob of someone’s brain from his shoulder and another one from his hat. I laughed out loud and caught his fiery eyes. I shrugged my shoulders. Whatever, Mace.
“You see her power?” Mace asked, addressing the crowd once they calmed down. “What do we do with her now you ask? I’ve been wanting a government seat. What better place to start than the capital of North Carolina. Thousands of zombies lie in wait for us. What are we to do?” The crowd cheered. “We take her to Raleigh. Get the cage!”
The crowd parted as a large ford pickup truck with an extended cab drove onto the green. The back of the pickup truck was enclosed by a chicken wire cage. Oh no, he wasn’t going to get me in that thing. It was a million times worse than the stupid troop transport with dangling chains.
Mace took me roughly by the arm and another, bigger, guard took Huck and they guided us, still shackled together, off of the stone stage to the pickup. Huck tripped the guard and punched him, which brought the fist of another guard into Huck’s stomach and we both fell to the ground. The guard kicked Huck in the kidneys as I tried to shop him.
“Leave him alone,” I shouted. I knelt down next to Huck. “Huck, please stop fighting,” I whispered. “I can’t do this without you.”
Huck spat out some blood and nodded his head.
“You all will have to stop fighting,” Mace said. He then turned to the stage. “You, there. Bring the rest of them down here.”
The guards brought Zeke and Boa, Stan and Zora, Saudah and Greg. There was barely enough room in the cage for the two of us, let alone eight. I didn’t want to be a sardine. My breath began to come in rapid gasps.
“You can’t fit all of us in there,” I said to Mace.
“Oh really?” Mace asked. “Who should we kill next after your Professor?” He raised his gun and pointed it at Zora.
“No,” I screamed and threw my body at Mace. Huck’s weight kept me from lunging into him.
“You cooperate, or I will kill your friends one at a time,” Mace said. He turned to his guards. “Load them all up.”
The guards proceeded to load us all into the cage on the back of the pickup. Even though it was a big bed, we were squashed four on a side. The guard locked the cage door behind us. Mace went back on the stage and left us sitting there while he droned on about how great it was to have me in the village and how great he was and that one day he would be president.
We all stared at each other. Everyone’s faces were ashen and hollow. Zora and Boa sat next to each other with Zeke and Stan on either side of them. They were both disheveled and their bright colored clothes dirty. Zora had her arm over Boa’s shivering shoulder.
I sat between Greg and Huck, moving closer to Huck, not wanting my leg pressed against a stranger. Greg seemed to get the hint, and moved closer to Saudah, which riled Stan who was sitting across from her.
“I get it, don’t like the new guy,” Greg said. “I don’t want to be here either.”
“It’s not like that,” Zora said. She put her leg between his affectionately. “We’re all uncomfortable.”
Huck put his arm around me and trailed his fingers through my hair. “We’ll get out of here,” he said. He leaned in closer to my ear. “I can pick that lock in a heartbeat. Just be patient. Let’s get on the road first, away from all of these people.”
Huck gave Greg a nasty look when he saw that he was trying to eavesdrop.
“I didn’t hear a thing,” Greg said. “Honest. Give a man a chance. I’m just an accountant. I do numbers not combat. I owe Hipslow everything, he saved my life. I’m not going to go rat him or anyone else here out.”
“You know how to shoot?” I asked Greg, wanting nothing more than a distracting conversation. Huck was an excellent lock-picker, I had seen him in action. I only hoped he knew how to pick the lock of ancient shackles too.
Greg shook his head. “Never shot a gun in my life.”
“You ever kill a zero?” I asked wondering when we were going to get back on the road, hoping Mace wasn’t going to take anyone with us.
“A what?” Greg asked.
“One of the undead. You know, a zombie?” I said. “I call them zeroes because they are big fat nothings.” I picked a new nickname for Mace, less than zero.
“Oh no, never killed one. I was saved before I had to do any killing.” Greg looked uncomfortable.
“You ever fly a helicopter or ride a bike or kill a turkey or fix a car?” I asked, rattling off all of the things I had to learn after the apocalypse. Greg shook his head after everything and looked more and more uncomfortable with every word that came out of my mouth.
“Alright, I trust you,” I said. Greg reminded me of myself so many months ago. I didn’t know how to do anything either, never having a chance to learn. I relaxed my leg and moved into a more comfortable spot, touching both Greg and Huck.
“You trust me, why?” Greg asked.
> “Because you can’t do anything. If you were untrustworthy, you’d at least have learned a few tricks by now. Besides, if you do anything wrong, I’ll bite you.”
“Hella.” Zora frowned. “Don’t bite my boyfriend.”
Greg’s cheeks reddened at the term. “Your boyfriend?” Greg asked in awe.
“Yea, sure,” Zora said. She smiled and rubbed Greg’s leg with her foot.
Mace came back over to the cage and strummed the wire with his finger. “Ready to go, kids?” he asked.
“At least let us take these leg shackles off,” I said.
“You mean these?” Mace said. He dangled a set of large iron keys in front of his face. “Fat chance.” He put them back in his pocket.
“I’ll kill you, if it’s the last thing I do,” Huck snarled at Mace.
“Well,” Mace said. “I plan on killing you too, but you will be the last one I kill.” He smiled at me. “My little Hella seems to have a crush on you, and we want to keep her happy as long as possible.”
“You kill him, and I’ll kill myself,” I said, stomping my foot for emphasis.
“Your acting like a little school girl,” Mace said.
“I’ll starve myself,” I said. I folded my arms across my chest and debated sticking my tongue out at him, school girl-meh.
“I’ll feed you through a tube,” Mace said. “And don’t even think you can escape, because we’re all going. Every last one of us is following you to Raleigh. We no longer need your quaint little village. We’re moving on up to the big city. From Raleigh, who knows where we will go—maybe Washington DC? I’d love to live in the White House.”
“You’re going to run into others, you know,” I said. “And they will be bigger and badder than you are. You’re going to get your soft dough belly ass whooped.”
“You’re right, Hella,” Mace said. “There will be others, but don’t be so sure they won’t be on my side.” Mace showed me his teeth and then dug in his pocket. “Here you go,” he said. He slid one of the large iron keys through the chicken wire and it dropped on the floor. I stared at it, not wanting to seem too eager.
“Thanks,” I said without looking up.
Mace walked away and began talking to a group of his men. I grabbed the key and began unlocking my friends. Soon, we were all free of the shackles and rubbing our ankles.
Mace flailed his arms around, crowing orders to his men. More vehicles appeared around the oval and the noise of engines starting filled the air. We were going in a convoy, every last one of us. There was a large bus, a long limousine, several motorbikes that Huck eyed enviously, and an assortment of sports utility vehicles, pickups and cars.
They had loaded up with guns and knives and other sorts of weapons like they were expecting a fight, and not just with zeroes. Most of the gear looked familiar, making me think they had found the stash of keys I had thrown out, all of the keys I had collected in my many months in Haverlyn Village.
“Oh shit,” Huck said. He motioned with his head in another direction.
Ana and Santiago were walking straight for us, chatting together like they were close siblings. I felt bile rise in my throat as they reached the pickup truck.
“Mace has honored us with the job as your driver,” Santiago said. Ana made a concentrated effort not to look in our direction as she stepped around the truck to get in the passenger side.
“Glad to have you,” I sneered. “Easy kill.” I chomped my teeth at him. Chomp. Chomp.
Santiago stiffened and climbed in the driver’s side of the pickup. He started the engine and fell in line with the convoy. Once again, we were on the road, heading toward a new destination.
I was excited about going to Raleigh, even under Mace’s control it would be great to exercise my virus. I was terrified that Mace would hurt my friends and hopeful that we might escape in one piece. Odds were not in our favor, but with the right timing and clever maneuvering we may be able to pull it off.
Chapter 19
We took the 15/501 and turned down highway 54. My guess was that we were heading to interstate 40 to take it to downtown Raleigh. Mace’s men must have spent some time clearing the roads, because most of the cars had been pushed to the side and we were able to drive fast with no regard for my virus. The convoy drove single file with a few cars and motorcycles in front of us and Mace and the rest behind.
Greg sat on the floor and leaned his back against Zora’s legs, giving Huck and me more room. Stan and Saudah sat on the floor too, against the front of the cab. Huck leaned on the back of the cab and brought me between his legs. Zeke sat on the bench watching, never taking his eyes off of the road.
We merged on the 40 freeway, which would take us directly into Raleigh.
“Look at that,” Zeke said.
Huck and I both sat forward to see what Zeke saw. “Traffic jam,” I said.
In front of us dozens of cars blocked the road. It looked like no one had been this direction since the apocalypse began. The cars were haphazardly scattered all over the road, like most were left in a hurry. Their contents had spilled out or was blown out by countless storms, including suitcases, clothes, food wrappers, soda cans, and countless other pieces of garbage.
“I guess they didn’t clean the roads this far up,” I said.
“I guess no one did,” Zora said. “Look at the dead. I mean like dead-dead, all skin and bones under their tattered clothing. They’ve been out there for a while.”
“Good morning zeroes,” I said.
I watched several undead, who had been wandering around, turn their heads like they smelled a steak dinner and look in our direction. The convoy in front of us had stopped, but no one left their cars. The men on motorcycles had come speeding back in our direction and parked as near to me as possible, most likely for the benefit of my virus. But it would take time. They would be lunch meat before the zeroes dropped.
Santiago’s Walkie talkie chirped and he picked it up. I heard only a few words, but the message was clear. Zombies ahead. The men on the motorcycles had taken out their guns and killed the few beasts coming toward us, but they wouldn’t be able to kill all the ones we saw climbing through the cars.
Santiago locked all the doors and rolled up his windows before he took a glance back at us. I looked at the chicken wire separating us from the outside and hoped whomever put it together knew something about construction. My virus would take a full five minutes to active and by that time we could be ripped to shreds without any weapons.
Santiago opened the small window between us and the front of the cab. “Get in the center of the cage,” he ordered. “We’re going to ride this wave out and wait for your head to do its trick.” He shut the window again quickly.
“It’s not my head,” I said angrily. I knew he didn’t hear me, he had already shut the window. “Like I have a psychic connection with them,” I mumbled.
“Hella, get down,” Huck said.
The motorcycle guys had left us, disappearing into one of the safer vehicles. A zero approached us and picked at the cage with his fingers, like he didn’t realize something separated us from him. Huck pulled me by the waist down to the center of the bed.
“Sorry, Huck,” I said. “I was watching him, I mean it. I was watching it.”
Everyone else reluctantly took Santiago’s advice, squishing down into the middle of the cab’s bed, making it very uncomfortable. Zeke was the only one who remained on the bench.
Santiago opened the little window again. “Get down there,” he said to Zeke.
“You could give us some fucking weapons,” Zeke said. He reached through the window, into the cab and grasped Santiago’s shirt so fast, that Santiago didn’t have time to react.
“Let go of him,” Ana said in perfect English. She pointed a gun at Zeke. “I’ll shoot.”
“No you won’t,” Zeke said. He let go of Santiago, and grabbed for Ana, but she was too fast for him. She poked his hand with a knife and when he retracted it, she shut the window a
gain.
“Snotty little,” Zeke said. He rubbed his hand. “What did you ever see in her Huck?”
“Zeke, please,” Huck said. He gestured to me. “Not now.”
Several more zeroes approached and ran their fingers against the cage. One of them snagged Zeke’s shirt and began to tug. Zeke, immediately, snapped off its finger.
We were soon surrounded by zeroes, all pulling the cage in opposite directions, making the truck shake and sway with their strength. Thankfully they weren’t smart enough to figure out how to crush us, but their weight would do the trick soon enough.
No one came to help us.
The cage rattled and shook and those beasts stuck their fingers through the chicken wire. We protected those who weren’t immune by shielding them with our bodies. More and more zeroes piled on us, excited to see living flesh. Never more in my life had I felt like a caged animal, but this was even worse—these things wanted to eat us. Even with my immunity, these things would rip us to shreds if they tore open the cage before my virus struck.
Saudah cried out as one of the things pulled the chicken wire from the iron bar that held it in place. It hadn’t yet torn the layer of wire off completely so we were still safe, but not for long. Zeroes climbed over each other and soon were covering the sides and climbing onto the roof of the truck, dripping their gruesome innards all over us.
“How many more minutes, Hella?” Saudah asked.
“A few, maybe less,” I said. “It should be seconds.”
Huck banged on the window that separated us from Santiago. “Give us a weapon, Ana. Please.”
Ana looked at him, and then her brother, but did not do anything. I was going to kill that girl the first chance I got.
“Help, Zeke,” Stan said. “This one has the wire. He’s got a friend going under.”
One of the zeroes was holding the wire far enough away from the truck, so that another zero managed to squeeze in between the wire and the truck. This new zero had managed to pry himself up so that we were looking at its head.
