by R. A. Neely
"Let's make sure they're down," Greg said.
James nodded and they cautiously approached the infected. Greg sighed in relief when he saw the results of their handiwork. Each infected had been take out with a shot to the head or upper torso. Greg glanced towards the car where a woman stared at them with wide eyes.
"You're safe now!" Greg called out.
The woman nodded and opened her door. She approached them and Greg sighed sadly as she got closer. There was a clear wound on her neck, the blood had flowed down the front of her shirt.
"Can you help me?" she asked. "My husband went crazy and bit me. Made me crash into that other driver. James gave the woman a wide berth as he went to investigate the second vehicle.
"What's going? Why did those people attack me like that?"
"You listen to the radio this morning?" Greg asked.
"No, I hate the radio. Too much talking. My husband and I were on our way to Wisconsin for vacation."
"Anything unusual happen to your husband this morning?"
The woman thought for a moment. "Well, my husband got attacked at the gas station a few hours ago. It was the weirdest thing. He'd gone inside to pay for gas and the attendant attacked him. Managed to bite his hand."
The woman gestured towards her neck. "Do you have some bandages or something? This thing won't stop bleeding."
Greg took a step away from the woman. "I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do for you."
"What do you mean? I just need a bandage, a towel or something." She took a step towards Greg who took another step away to keep the distance between them.
"Stay back please," Greg said.
The woman looked confused. "What's going on? Why are you treating me like this?"
Greg sighed. This poor woman had no idea what was going on. "There's an infection going around," he explained.
"An infection? I'm not sick? I feel fine!"
"People that get sick, well they get really aggressive. They'll attack anyone near them."
The woman's eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. "You mean...my husband?"
Greg nodded. "The infection is spread through the bite. Your husband got it this morning and he just passed it to you."
The woman crumpled to the ground and started sobbing. "You...mean I'm gonna end up like them?" she asked as gesture towards the infected in the road.
Greg nodded. "I'm sorry."
"There's got to be a cure! Can you take me to the hospital?"
"I don't know if there's a cure," Greg responded, "but the hospital isn't gonna happen. It was overrun by infected this morning."
James approached then, still giving the woman a wide berth. He gave a small shake of his head as he and Greg made eye contact. The other driver must be dead then. Greg sighed. Time they were on their way. He nodded towards James and they turned to head towards their vehicles.
"Please!" the woman begged, "don't leave me like this. Just give me a ride to the next town. I'll find my own way to the hospital from there."
Greg stopped but didn't turn around. "I'm sorry but you'll turn soon. I won't put my family at risk."
James glanced back towards the woman and saw that she was starting to sweat, way more than the weather called for. "It's starting," he said in a low voice.
Greg nodded. "Let's go." They started walking again and the woman called out behind them.
"Don't leave me like this! You might as well kill me!" She yelled a few more things but she quickly turned to sobbing again as the reality of her situation sunk in.
Greg and James reached their vehicles and drove along the side to get around the accident. Carol patted his knee in sympathy.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Greg nodded. "Me too. That poor woman, her husband too. They had no idea what they were driving through."
"I heard her screaming. Do you think it would have been kinder to put her out of her misery?"
"Probably," Greg said with a nod, "I can't bring myself to do that though. Fighting the infected is one thing, I don't really think of them as human. Just animals that need to be put down really. And if someone else attacks us," he paused as thought back to the fight in the grocery store, "well I'll do what I have to do. But this? She was infected but she was still talking. She was afraid and confused. I couldn't bring myself to do that."
Carol nodded. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to suggest anything."
Greg shook his head. "No, you're fine. It was a valid question given the circumstances." He shrugged. "If this goes on, maybe that'll become the order of the day. Maybe it would be a mercy instead letting them become one of those things. That's not today though."
Carol nodded and they drove in silence for a while. Greg considered turning on the radio but figured if there was anything on, it would just be about the crisis. Looking ahead he saw another road block. He glanced at the odometer and saw they had made it about ten miles. Hopefully things would clear up soon so they could make better time. He slowed down and used the shoulder of the road to get by. Glancing over, he saw that the accident looked like another head on collision. Both drivers looked to be slumped over their steering wheels. Greg briefly wondered what had happened. Was one of them riding with someone infected? Or was it just a regular accident?
"Have you decided where we're going yet?"
"No," Greg said shaking his head, "We'll keep trying the radio and hopefully someone has a shelter or something set up."
Carol nodded towards the rearview mirror, "James is flashing his lights."
Greg nodded as he looked for a good place to pull over. They were in the outskirts of the city now. A few more miles and they'd officially be out. Greg glanced at the clock, they'd been driving for around two hours now. The trip out would normally take maybe half an hour, he hoped the roads outside the city were better.
Greg noticed a stretch of road up ahead free of obstacles, that should work. They'd be able to see any infected coming their way. Greg slowed down and pulled the car to a stop. He waited for James to pull up behind him and motioned for Carol to get out of the car.
"Might as well stretch your legs," he said.
"Everything okay?" Greg asked as he met James.
"Yea," James said with a nod,” just thinking it's about time for some lunch."
"I need to use the bathroom, Dad," Junior said.
"Alright, I'm coming." James headed off to take Junior to the bathroom, probably a bush on the side of the road.
"Does anyone need to go?" Greg asked. "We can take turns keeping watch."
"I kinda need to go too," Maddy said sheepishly.
Laura mussed her hair. "Come on, kiddo." Laura rested the shotgun on her solider and led Maddy to the other side of their van.
"What about you?" Greg asked. "I can keep watch."
Carol chuckled. "That's gross. You're not watching me use the bathroom."
"What? Who wants to watch you use the bathroom? I was talking about infected."
Carol laughed. "I know but the look on your face was worth it."
James returned then with Junior. "What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing," Carol said, “Greg just wants to watch me use the bathroom."
"Eww," Junior said, “is that true Uncle Greg?"
"No, it's not true. Carol's just being weird."
James laughed as he retrieved a cooler from the van. Laura and Maddy returned and looked around at everyone laughing.
"What's going on?" Laura asked.
"Mom! Uncle Greg wants to watch Carol use the bathroom. Isn't that nasty?"
Carol laughed even harder then along with James who nearly dropped the cooler.
"That's not what happened," Greg said trying not to laugh.
Greg gave up as everyone had a good laugh at his expense. It wasn't that funny but maybe any humor they could find right now was a good thing. Who knew how often they'd get to be like this? Carol and Laura set out the things for lunch and everyone dug in. Greg sighed as he bit into the chicken sandwich. This
was the last of the meat from the freezer. From here on out it was gonna be canned food or dry stuff. Laura was a good cook so it wouldn't be torture, but he was gonna miss eating like this.
"So," James began around a mouthful of food, "I'm thinking we need to find some walkie talkies or something. We need to be able to talk while we're driving."
"Stop talking with your mouth full," Laura admonished, "you've already taught junior enough bad habits."
James chuckled. "Excuse me. Junior, don't talk with food in your mouth in front of your mom."
"Okay."
"James!" Laura shouted.
"What? I just did what you said."
She punched him in the arm. "You know that's not what I meant."
"Yea, but it was funny."
Greg chuckled. "I think walkies are a good idea."
"Where can we find some?" Laura asked. "I don't think going back into the city is a good idea."
"You're right," Greg said with a nod, "we'll have to keep an eye out as we're driving."
"What about our phones?" Carol asked. "Think they're working?"
"We can try," Greg said. "If they are working, it'll only be for a little while though. I don't think power is gonna be on for too much longer. How long has it been now? Three, four days?"
"Four," Laura replied.
James nodded. "So even if the phones work, the cell towers are gonna lose power soon."
"Maybe it'll last long enough until we find some walkies," Carol said.
"True," Greg said. He fished for his cell in his pocket and called James, to his surprise the call went through. He frowned as he realized something.
"What's wrong?" Carol asked. "It worked."
"Yeah, but I just thought of why it worked." At their look he explained, "So I'm thinking the phones didn't work the first few days because everyone was trying to call at once. What does it mean that the calls are going through now?" He stopped as he glanced at the kids.
James shook his head. "Go ahead, man. This might be the way things are. We're not doing the kids a favor by keeping things from them."
Greg nodded. "Okay, so I'm just wondering what happened to all the people making calls?"
"Emerald Falls was lucky," Laura said,"We had the warning from Shirley O'Hara."
"That's true," James said. "Without a warning, people could easily have just stayed in their homes until it was too late."
"So, how long do we drive today?" James asked. "It's probably a good idea to find a place to set up before dark."
Greg glanced at his cell. "It's one now. I'm thinking we can drive for a few more hours and then look for a place to set up." He looked around. "Maybe somewhere away from the road."
"What about someone's house?" Carol asked. "I know we've got the tents but why sleep outside if we don't have to?"
That's not a bad idea," James said. "We drive for a few hours like you said and then find some small neighborhood to spend the night in."
"I don't know," Greg said with a frown,"I'm worried about drawing attention to ourselves. If we go into a town, there's no way to tell who's watching."
"That's true," Laura said. "I'd rather sleep in a bed but I don't want to wake up to someone trying to steal our stuff."
"I didn't think of it like that," Carol said.
"Yeah, I kinda like the idea of a roof over my head," James said. "But you're right, we don't want to go looking for trouble. People are gonna be desperate, especially people that didn't take those first few days to stock up."
"Alright, it's settled then," Greg said. "I'm thinking we'll drive until around five or so then look for someplace to spend the night. We should probably sleep in shifts or something. Don't want to be surprised by anything."
Everyone nodded and they set about packing up lunch. Greg and James took a few minutes to show Carol the basics of how to use her handgun but there wasn't much to go over since Laura had done a pretty good job. Once she seemed comfortable, the got back on the road and drove for a few more hours. It was uneventful until Greg noticed something ahead.
"What is that?" he asked out loud.
"Looks like someone's blocking the road," Carol said.
Greg nodded. She was right. It looked like two cars were blocking both lanes of the road. There were also some wrecked cars on both sides of the road so they simply couldn't drive around the obstacle. Greg pulled the car to a stop as several figures exited the vehicles blocking the road.
"Get James on the cell," Greg said, "and put him speaker."
"Okay," Carol said as she took his phone and dialed. She turned on the speaker and held the phone so Greg could talk.
"What's going on?" James asked.
"Looks like a road block up ahead," Greg replied. "Looks like four, maybe five guys up there. I'm assuming they're armed."
James sighed. "How do we play it? I don't want to get in a shootout with the kids."
"You're right. Let me think for a second." How can we go about this? Greg thought. Going in guns blazing would put the girls and the kids at risk. Switch vehicles maybe? James could ride in the suv with him and they could keep everyone else in the van. If a fight broke out, he and James would be in a position to deal with it.
"James, come up here with me. Carol will ride with Laura and the kids."
"Alright, on my way."
"What are you doing?" Carol asked.
"I don't see a way around them," he replied. "We're on a long stretch of road here. The only way out is to head back towards the city. That's no good cause of the fire. Only way out is forward."
Carol pulled Greg into a fierce hug. "Be careful."
"I will," he said as he gave her a quick kiss. Carol left the car and James replaced her a few moments later.
"Check your ammo," James said as he ejected the magazine from his pistol.
Greg nodded and did just that. He replaced the magazine with a fresh one, having to reload in the middle of a fight was a bad idea. Once he saw James was ready, he put the car in gear and slowly drove forward. As they got closer he could see that it was five guys holding the road. Three of them held pistols while the other two had bats slung across their shoulders. He stopped the car around twenty yards away.
"Stay behind the door when we get out," James said. "It'll provide some cover and if the shooting starts.
Greg nodded. "Wish we had some vests or something."
James smiled. "We'll be fine. Shooting isn't as easy as it looks. You're only as good as you are because I drag you to the range every month."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you've pointed that out already."
"Oh I'm gonna point it out every chance I get."
Greg chuckled. "Alright, you ready?" At his nod they both opened their doors and kept them between them and figures ahead.
"Hello there!" one called out. "No need to be shy, we're not out to hurt you."
"You're blocking the road," Greg called back.
"We're protecting the road,' the man corrected. “We're keeping this stretch of road clear of infected."
"I don't see any infected," Greg said as he looked around.
"That's because we're keeping this area safe."
"Where are the bodies?"
"We dragged those away."
Greg glanced at James. "Can you believe this?"
James chuckled. "They probably haven't even seen infected."
"What do you want to let us pass?" Greg asked.
"Oh, just whatever food and water you're carrying. Don't worry though. There's a town a few more miles down the road. You can restock there and continue on your way.
"Yeah, we're not doing that," James said quietly.
"I know," Greg responded.
"What if I don't want to pay your toll?"
"That's fine," the man responded. "You're free to turn around and head back to Emerald Falls. Maybe you can get through before the fire burns everything down."
Greg glanced behind him and sure enough, he could see a trail of smoke in the sky. How widespr
ead was the fire? He wondered how it had even started for that matter. Greg turned back. He didn't see this ending well.
"Come on, now," the man said, “We don't have all day."
Greg figured he would try one more time to resolve this peacefully. He wasn't sure if would work but he felt he needed to try. "Look, this is ridiculous. Are you really gonna sit here and stop people from passing through?"
"You're free to go through," the man said, "so long as you pay the toll. Protection doesn't come free."
"We're at a good spot," James said quietly. "Unless they practice their workmanship, we've got the advantage here."
"You're right," Greg replied in kind, "guess there's really no way around this."
"Yeah, we can't give them our food."
"Let's do what we need to do then," Greg said.
"Whoa, whoa," the man said as Greg and James positioned themselves to fire. "There's no need for all that. Just pay the toll and no one has to get hurt."
"Step aside and no one has to get hurt," Greg replied. "You're not getting our food. That just isn't gonna happen."
"You're outnumbered," the man said worriedly. "You sure you wanna die over a few boxes of food?"
"Do you wanna die over a few boxes of food?" Greg responded.
One of the man's companions grabbed him by the arm and whispered in his ear. Greg hoped he was convincing him that this was foolish. The nerve of these guys. Were they really going to block the road and stop being from escaping the city? This is ridiculous.
"Alright," the man said. "My associate has convinced me to be generous today. You can go through."
Greg sighed as another thought struck him. "We couldn't do anything for that woman earlier today."
"Yeah?" James responded.
"We can do something about this though."
"We're not heroes, Greg. We can't save the world. We have to take care of our family."
"Yeah, I agree. But could you have passed that woman by without stopping?" Greg took James lack of response as his answer. "Look, I want to survive this as much as you. But, I also want to be able to look myself in the mirror. Can we pass these guys knowing they're gonna do the same thing to the next group that passes by?"
James sighed. "You know we can't save everyone we pass. Sometimes we're gonna have to keep moving, like this morning."
