The Apocalyse Outcasts

by Peter Meredith

  “Good job, brain," Sadie said.

  The zombie had originally been moving diagonally on a line that would have put it going down an alley across the street. Sadie dashed for the alley. It was short, barely fifty yards and the second she turned into it, she saw Jillybean at the far end crouched in a doorway. In one hand she held Ipes; she was waiting as another zombie was passing blithely by the alley.

  She turned when she heard the slap of Sadie’s Converse on the alley floor. “Leave us alone.” Her voice shook and her eyes twitched.

  “No, I can’t. Let me talk to her, please. You didn’t give me a chance before. You didn’t let me finish.”

  Jillybean swayed, holding to the rough brick edges of the doorway with her free hand. “You tried. You failed. You can’t make us stay. You know that.”

  Sadie went down to one knee and touched Jillybean’s hair; it was going everywhere as usual. She patted it down. “I want her to stay because she wants to. Just give me a chance, let me talk to her.”

  “No. I know what you want her for. You want to use her. She’s your little, trained monkey, but not anymore.” She pulled away with a glare but Sadie grabbed her arms again, gentle but firm.

  Jillybean blew out. “We are at an impasse. You have the strength to carry her back, but I have the will to run away again and next time I won’t leave vehicles intact. Next time it will be much harder. So I suggest a deal. I’ll tell you where you can find the army to attack New Eden. I’ll even tell you how to attack it, but you have to agree to let us go.”

  “No,” Sadie said flatly. “You’re afraid of New Eden, but you don’t have to be. I’d never let you step one foot in there. Neil and I and Captain Grey would go. You’d be safe.”

  Jillybean considered this for a second and then shook her head slowly. “What if you all die?”

  “Let me tell Jillybean what would happen.”

  For some reason, Ipes agreed to this. He nodded Jillybean’s head and then a second later she jumped as if a spider had dropped down her back. Sadie grabbed her thin shoulders and hugged her.

  “Am I sleepwalking?” Jillybean asked. Her eyes were afraid. She looked around without comprehension. “I keep having this dream like I’m walking around talking to people. Like before, we were talking and then there were guns and now we’re here. Is everyone alright?”

  Sadie didn’t know. The sound of the car chase had faded. “I dunno. I hope so, but…” She shrugged her left shoulder. “It’s a dangerous world now and something could happen at any time. Right?”

  “Yeah.” Jillybean looked nervous all of a sudden as though Sadie was about to drop bad news on her. Instead the Goth girl stuck out her pinky, hooking it slightly.

  “You know what this is?” Sadie asked.

  “Pinky swear?”

  “That’s right. A pinky swear is a bond that can’t be broken. Ever. Put out your pinky.”

  Jillybean’s eyes went wide and she switched Ipes to her other arm and held out her pinky. Sadie snared it with hers so that the two were locked together by their little fingers.

  “I swear I’ll be your big sister no matter what happens,” Sadie said, nodding solemnly.

  Jillybean showed her little kid teeth in a big smile. “And I’ll be your little sister. No matter what, too.”

  They stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds. Jillybean because she was so happy, Sadie because she was worried about Ipes returning.

  “About Ipes,” Sadie began.

  Immediately Jilly’s smile faltered and she canted her head as if listening. Then she grew grim and her lips pursed. “He says he’s been bad and that we’re here,” she paused, looking around in confusion. “We’re wherever we are, because of him.”

  “Yeah. He sort of took over your body. Can you stop him from doing that? I don’t think it’s good for you. You hear that, Ipes? You’re hurting her.”

  Jillybean put her little hand to her mouth as though trying to hold something in. She pulled Sadie closer and whispered, “I don’t know if I can stop him. He just does it.”

  “Then maybe we shouldn’t give him a reason to do it,” Sadie said, standing and holding out her hand. Hand-in hand, they strolled back the way they had come, dodging around the gimping, slow zombie when they came to it. “I’ll do my best to keep you safe. You won’t have to go anywhere near New Eden. I promise. Ok? Come on, I have a radio in the car that you can call Neil with. He was worried sick for you.”

  At the car, Jillybean listened to the instructions about the proper radio procedure and followed them to a T. “Silver this is Pink, over.”

  “Ah, it’s so good to hear your voice, Pink. Where have you been? We’ve been going out of our minds.”

  “Don’t answer that, Pink,” Captain Grey cut in. “Silver, this is Blue. Maintain proper radio procedures. We will rendezvous at position G. Out.”

  “Ok, got it,” Neil said through the crackling radio. “Sorry about that. I was just…”

  “Silver this is Blue. When I say out that means the conversation is done. Out.”

  “Mister Neil is in big trouble,” Jillybean laughed, handing back the radio. “So where are we, and what does rend-a-voo mean? And where is position G? Is that a town?”

  Sadie had been watching her closely, rather than really listening. “What? Oh, we’re somewhere in Georgia. And rendezvous means to gather together, and position G was my old position. G for green. I was looking out for you in this dinky little town called Jackson. It’s about five miles away.”

  This last she said without much enthusiasm. She had just run those five miles and didn’t really feel like doing it again. They contemplated hanging out, waiting for Captain Grey to see if he would come pick them up, however there were seven or eight zombies heading their way. A few moseying towards them from the direction they wanted to go.

  “We’ll have to go around,” Sadie said. She allowed Jillybean to pick the best course back to the main east-to-west road. The little girl seemed to have a natural compass built into her. She went south, poking her way through an apartment complex and then snaked a route among the heaps in a junk yard.

  They hopped a fence, leapt across a sodden drainage ditch, and then curved to their right. They came up on the road without a problem and it wasn’t long before Captain Grey’s Humvee came speeding down it. The army vehicle had seen better days. The windshield was gone, the headlights were destroyed, and the engine was smoking and smelled of harsh chemicals.

  The man wasn’t in much better shape. There was blood on his clothes and a long scrape that ran along one cheek. “She ok?” He asked of Jillybean.

  “Doing better,” Sadie said. “I think it’s best if we keep the action to a minimum around her.”

  “Fine by me. Get in.”

  Jillybean was apologetic for causing so many problems, but she was loath to discipline Ipes. “I’d chuck him out the window if I thought it would do a lick of good,” Grey told her.

  “I can’t do that,” she said, dropping her chin. “He was only trying to protect me, but—but he says he won’t do it again.”

  “Uh-huh, right. The way I see it, if he’s still talking to you he’s still a problem. Why don’t you have Sadie put him away in her pack?”

  She reluctantly agreed and then, not a minute later, fell asleep, resting her head on Sadie’s lap. “Take your time,” Sadie said to the captain. “She needs lots of rest. I doubt she slept at all last night.”

  They drove in silence, Grey barely doing ten miles-an-hour. He kept glancing back at Jillybean. “I know you think she’s crazy,” Sadie said, “but I could say the same thing for you. Why the hell did you go after the bounty hunter unarmed?”

  For the first time since she had met him, Captain Grey looked uncomfortable. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  She blurted out the first thought that sprang to her teenaged-mind: “What? Do you like me or something?” He laughed at the suggestion in such an honest manner that Sadie was almost insulted. “Ok, th
en what is it?”

  “I guess you could say I made a promise. Now drop the subject.”

  She did, but clearly it was still on his mind and he regained his composure only very slowly. Changing the subject helped. “The worst part is I didn’t get him,” Grey said. “He’s a slick one, that dirty bastard.”

  Sadie touched him on the shoulder, giving him a little pat. “Thanks for trying and thanks for saving me. I was really screwed.”

  “Yeah, well,” was all he said in response. They were silent after that. When the Butts County courthouse tower came into view, Sadie yawned and stretched.

  She shook Jillybean awake. “I see Neil and Nico. They’ve been very worried about you. They’ll want a hug.”

  “Ok,” she said blearily, her eyes only partially open. Neil came up smiling, but the captain held up his broad hand.

  “Hugs can wait,” Grey said. “We need to talk about this army you mentioned, Jillybean.” Sadie’s lips drew into a line and she began to shake her head. “Simmer down, Sadie. If I have an army I won’t need Jillybean. She’ll be perfectly safe.”

  “We just want to hear what she has to say,” Neil put in.

  “It’s them,” Jillybean said pointing at a couple of zombies, slouching their way from the courthouse. “It’s the army of the monsters.”

  Grey’s face went hard as rock. It was obvious he was holding back an angry tirade by the barest of margins. “They’re not an army. You can’t control them.”

  “Yes, sir, you can,” Jillybean said. “Sort of at least. The Believers use the strobe lights to control where they go. You told us that. We can too, if we want to.”

  “Go on,” Grey said.

  “Go on, where? Oh, you mean you want to hear my whole plan? That’s simple. We take the lights and line them up at the silo we want the monsters to attack. Then we use your hand grenades, that’s what means bombs, and blow up the door to the silo and then we blow up the doors down into New Eden. They’re not that strong.”

  “A lot of people are going to die if you do that,” Grey said.

  “A lot of evil people,” Sadie said, jumping in. “Evil and crazy. We told you what happened to our friend Sarah. And look what they did to poor Arthur. They killed him. Letting a crazy man free to wander around zombie infested lands is a death sentence and one he didn’t deserve. They are all guilty of at least aiding and abetting kidnapping and murder. I have no sympathy for any of them.”

  “What about Sarah and Eve?” Neil asked. “This plan seems really dangerous. It’ll be a race to see who gets to them first, us or the zombies.”

  Jillybean was in the process of digging out the cheese and crackers from Sadie’s MRE when she paused to say: “It’s not as dangerous as you think. Miss Sarah isn’t like the Believers. They have been living underground like mole-people, they don’t know how to deal with the monsters, but she does. She’s real smart and tough. I think the hardest part is not missing her as she makes her own escape.”

  “This plan has a gaping hole in it,” Grey said. “First we have to get to the lights without getting shot or eaten alive. And then once we unleash the zombies, they’ll be between us and Sarah.”

  The little girl squirted the soft cheese onto the cracker, pausing to lick some off her thumb. “Yes sir, but you’re wrong. We will be dressed as the monsters so we can go where we want.”

  “Dress like monsters. Is that a joke?”

  “Yes Sir, it is not a joke. We…”

  The captain groaned. “Stop saying it like that. It’s yes sir or no sir. Got it?”

  Jillybean nodded. “Yes sir.”

  “Hey, come on. Lighten up, Captain,” Neil said. “She’s doing the best she can and I happen to think she’s doing very well. This plan is good. We’ve all played zombie at one time or another, except for maybe Nico. I’m sure he’ll pick it up quick.”

  “Not this time he won’t,” Grey said. “He’s injured. He’ll stay with Jillybean and Sadie outside.”

  “Me?” Sadie cried. “Why can’t I go?”

  “Because we only have two weapons between us,” Grey said in a hard-as-rock growl. “Because I need someone up top I can trust to keep an eye out on our line of retreat. Because with this sort of job, too many cooks will cock-up the broth big time. And because two people is all we need. Two people go in, only! We stay together. We don’t play the hero. We get the prisoners and get out. Now, what do we need to play zombie-dress up?”

  “So this is happening?” Neil asked. He almost looked like he was about to laugh his smile was so big. “What made you change your mind?”

  Again Grey got that uncomfortable, somewhat embarrassed expression on his face. He was slow to reply so Sadie answered for him. “He’s made some sort of promise. It’s a big secret, which I think he should share.”

  “Why don’t you shut your trap?” the captain barked in that hard way of his, except this time it was tinged with embarrassment and Sadie only smiled impishly.

  Chapter 38

  Sarah

  New Eden, Georgia

  After the chanting came silence. This lasted hardly a minute and then came the unrelenting, machine-like tapping of teeth-on-teeth. Sarah’s jaw quivered without let up. She didn’t try to stop it. What was the point? All she had was her fear. It drove her into a queasy anticipation.

  She stood in the grooved marks where the ladder had been and stared up until voices came, flickering in her ears at first, but then growing steadily. They were coming for her.

  Reflexively, as though it would make her invisible, she scurried away and put her back to the furthest corner of the pit and crouched down.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” she repeated, striking a frenzied whiny tone until the voices were so close she knew they were in her tunnel. There was the metallic scrape of the ladder and then she saw it being lowered.

  “Go away!” she screamed as the first of the Sisters came down.

  Sarah had hoped to be brave when the time came. She had pictured herself fighting, using only her feet—breaking bone with each of her powerful kicks. She had been brave in her fantasy. She had seen the Sisters for what they really were: jealous, little shrews, armed with clipboards, holier-than-thou self-righteousness, and of course their pistols.

  None of which she really feared, not at this late stage of the game. She knew they wouldn’t shoot her; that would spoil all the fun of burning her alive. And what did Sarah care now about demerits or haughty looks? Not a whit.

  But that had been the fantasy Sarah Rivers, the one who was brave. The real Sarah cringed and pleaded. Two of the Sisters carried tasers and they weren’t for show.

  “Turn and face the wall,” one of them ordered. Sarah did without question. Her insides shook.

  The cuff on her left hand was removed briefly and her arms were tugged in front of her where the handcuffs were reattached. She cried out in pain; her shoulders had been pinned back for so long it felt like the cartilage in their sockets had calcified. There was no pity on the faces of the Sisters.

  They tugged her to the ladder where one of them pointed upwards and said with a twisted mouth: Git.

  Sarah did her best to please the cruel women. She stumbled up the ladder, a three-step process—foot, foot, hands—foot, foot, hands—which she repeated over and over. Halfway up, she lost her breath. It wasn’t that she was tired, she just couldn’t seem to pull air into her lungs.

  When she paused, feeling a panic attack grip her, she was punched in the back by the Sister just beneath her. The Sister barked: Git, Git. Sarah found it impossible to move, until one of them mentioned something about getting the “hook.” Her imagination went wild and, when she pictured herself being hauled up by a meat hook shoved through her back, she began to pant. Only then was she able to continue on.

  At the top were more of the Sisters who drew together and formed a kind of ceremonial guard. Three went abreast in front and three behind pushing constantly and whispering threats. In spite of that her feet dragged and she
leaned back into them. What lay ahead of Sarah was a thousand times worse than a few nasty women.

  Git, git.

  I’ll taze you, bitch if you don’t walk.

  The Sister directly in front of her reached back and grabbed the cuffs by the short chain and pulled Sarah along.

  More than ever the halls of New Eden were a maze. Nothing looked as it had only hours before. They passed the little hospital and for five steps Sarah knew where she was, but then they took a turn and she was lost again. Just as she began to wonder if they were leading her in circles, they took a side corridor that went steeply downhill at an angle.

  “Where are we going?”

  “We’re bringing you closer to hell, Denier,” a man’s voice answered.

  Sarah yelped and turned back to see that Abraham had joined them. He wore robes of velvet black that made his hair seem to ripple and flow like liquid silver.

  “I didn’t do anything. Please, you know that, Abraham.”

  In anger over Sarah’s disrespectful tone, the Sister in front gave a yank on the cuffs and at the same time the one directly behind tried to hit Sarah in the right kidney. The effects cancelled each other out so that she only felt roughly jostled. Abraham smirked but said nothing until they reached a large double set of doors. There was a handle of pearl on each and the hinges were made of gold. Beyond was a cacophony of voices. It was complete babbling nonsense, but it was loud. The Believers were gathered and were trying to outdo one another in their praise for their vile prophet.

  Sarah’s legs failed her, the muscles became soft and the bones felt hollow. Like a ragdoll she dropped, limp to the floor. “I can’t do this,” she said in a whisper, her cheek resting against sterile white linoleum.

  The Sisters dragged her to her feet and pinned her to the wall to keep her upright. Behind, Abraham sighed. “Carry her if she does that again.”