by Jaime Horio
Her voice trails off.
I give her a moment, and she picks up her story.
“You guys came back into view, and Ben just started firing. He was trying to clear a path for you, but we could see that the noise was getting their attention. So we joined in, and you were almost back. But then Carrie tripped. And Terry threw himself into the way to save her and Greg. He was so brave.”
She pauses again and then asks what we found down at the motel.
“Well, we obviously didn’t find pillows and blankets. Not usable ones anyway.” I tell her about the scene we found and how nothing was salvageable.
We both fall into silence for a few more minutes, and then we pull to a stop. In front of us is the remains of a wreck. There are three cars rammed into each other, and they’ve spun in a way to block both lanes. The shoulder of the highway is pretty narrow here and then it drops off into a ditch so there’s not enough room to just go around.
“Looks like we’re going to have to move these cars. Hopefully they still run well enough.”
We hop out and inspect the cars. The cars are all empty. I check the area to make sure nothing is going to surprise us, but it looks safe.
The keys are in the first car, but it doesn’t start. I put the car into neutral, and Ben and I try to get it going forward. We call Greg over to help us, and we’re able to push it off the side of the road. We have similar success with the second car.
But the third car must have a broken axle, because it’s not moving. I start up the truck and inch it forward to the back of the car. I’m able to inch it forward we get it pushed off to the side.
With everyone clear, we decide it’s a good time to rest. This spot is clear on each side, so we have a clear shot of anything coming for us.
Ben and I take a seat on top of the truck. Greg is sitting down in the bed of the truck. Julie, Lani and Carrie are in the van. Julie has already spent a good portion of the evening crying, so she falls asleep pretty fast. The other two ladies are talking inside the van, although I can’t make out anything they’re saying.
The three of us on the truck try to sort out what happened that day. But we can’t think of any way we could have changed it. Terry intentionally put himself in the way to save the others. He sacrificed himself to save Greg and Carrie.
The night is still, and nothing comes for us. We rotate sleeping shifts, and I’m lying in the back of the truck. I need to sleep but I can’t.
I’m thinking about the people we’ve lost. Don who was teaching us so much about survival. He was heartbroken over the loss of his wife, but he still had his daughter. And then he was struck down.
And Maria. She was so kind to all of us, yet she was just another victim. Not a direct victim of the undead creatures, but the plague that is walking around still led to her death. That lady went crazy because of everything that had happened, and she killed her.
Now Terry is gone. And he went trying to save others. But now his wife is alone.
I sigh. It seems like it’s inevitable that we are all going to die. There is no more growing old and retiring. There is just survival, and even the prospects of that seem slim.
I long for the days of being bored at work. For the time when I would grumble about other drivers, or about hitting too many red lights, or about the cable going out. Those types of problems weren’t really that big, even at the time, but I am longing for them now. Compared to this world, those types of problems are downright welcome.
I shift, trying to get more comfortable. But sleep isn’t going to come tonight. With these thoughts, the certainty that we are not going to survive makes it impossible to rest.
The night is long. Exhaustion eventually gets the best of me and I get a little sleep. But before I know it the sun is coming up and once my eyes are open, I know that there is no way I’m going to get back to sleep.
I slide out of the truck and go sit next to Ben.
He gives me one look and is able to muster a small grin. “Man, you look like shit.”
“Thanks. You’re looking a little like my mirror right now.”
“Funny guy.” He pauses for a moment. “Didn’t sleep much?”
“No. I was just thinking about what a fucked up situation this is. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that you and I were spending weekend watching sports and playing games and watching movies. And now we’re sleeping in cars in the middle of the highway, watching people die, and just trying to survive. I don’t know. It’s just crazy.”
“Yeah. I know. It doesn’t seem fair.” He thinks about it a little more. “But I don’t know which part is unfair. Is it unfair to everyone else that we’re still alive and they’re dead? Or is it unfair to us that we have to live through this shit storm? I guess I’ll leave that question to the philosophers.”
“Man, we are the philosophers now.”
Ben cracks a smile.
I start looking through the drinks in the back of the truck. “Please tell me we’ve got something with caffeine. I’ve been able to run on adrenaline for quite a while, but I’m barely sleeping at all, I just need something to get going.”
We search through the drinks and find some sodas. We separate them from the other drinks to make it easier to find later.
I want to ask everyone what we should do next. Should we keep traveling south, try to find some semblance of civilization? Or should we just seek shelter. We could find another house, fortify it like we did before.
Then I think about what everyone has been through. Carrie has lost both of her parents. Julie just had to watch Terry die. Lani is recovering, but she went through a lot. Greg’s just a kid and he lost his parents pretty recently too.
I know that Ben will go for whatever I say, but I ask him anyway.
“Hey man, I trust you. Whatever you decide, we’ll go with it. But whatever it is, it can’t be to just sit here in the middle of the highway.”
I find Greg and have him follow Ben and me over to the van where I let everyone know what I’ve decided.
“We’re going to keep heading south. Gray told us to head that way, maybe he knew something. But before we can go too much farther we need to get our stuff in order. I want to find a place to hold up for a couple of days. Lani, you’re still injured, and we don’t have a proper way to protect your ankle. If you can stay off it for a couple of days without having to worry about rushing around, it should help it heal.”
I pause and look around the group. Everyone is just taking in what I’m saying, but no one is reacting.
“And judging from your looks, you’re all sleeping as well as I am. Besides the crappy conditions, trying to sleep in vehicles, we’re all on edge. I think if we find a place we can secure, we can get a little more sleep. That will make us all more effective. We’ll be able to drive in shifts, cover some more ground. And we’ll all be more alert if something should happen again.”
I catch Julie’s eye as I say this, but quickly look away.
Everyone is in agreement with the plan. At least the part about finding some shelter. But really, that’s all the plan is for now. Shelter and rest, then just drive on blindly some more. But it’s the closest thing we’ve had to a real plan in a long time.
Greg siphons off the gas he can from the cars we pushed off the road and we fuel up the two cars and start heading south keeping an eye out for some place we can secure.
We’ve been going for about an hour when the van behind me honks. Ben is waving at me so I slow down. He pulls up next to me and points up the hill to the right.
There is a dirt path leading up a small hill, and at the top is a two-story house and a small storage shack.
“What do you think, Jay?”
“I think it’s a decent bet. Let’s try for it.”
We travel up the road another hundred yards or so, then turn up the dirt path and head up toward the house.
The drive is short, only a mile or so, but the rough road slows us down and about ten minutes later we’re pulling up on
to the concrete portion of the driveway in front of the house.
The house looks to be pretty old, but in really good shape. The place does look abandoned, but we know we need to check it out. The storage shed is empty. There’s just some tools and equipment that you would expect to find in just about any garage.
The house is also clear. Upstairs, there are three bedrooms. The men take one room, the women another, and we agree that the third room is a spot that whoever is on lookout can use. The room has a clear view of the road leading up to the house from the highway, which is the direction we figure people would be most likely to come from. We move the vehicles behind the house so they are hidden from the road.
It doesn’t seem likely that anyone will come by, but we’re all a little wary of people and we just don’t want to broadcast our whereabouts to anyone.
A couple of weeks pass and the house proves to be a nice place. We do have a nice view of everything, although nothing comes by. Lani’s ankle is able to heal nearly fully. She’s still got a bit of a limp, but the worst part of the injury is gone. Everyone feels safe in this house, so we’re able to sleep better and everyone feels more alert. Julie is still torn up about losing Terry, but she is coping better now.
Searching through the house, we did find some more food, but most of it was no good. The canned goods we salvaged did get us through a couple of days, and we still have plenty of the military rations left, but we know we’re going to have to find more food soon. Carrie and Greg do a count of the food we have and estimate we have eight more days worth of food. Maybe a little more if we limit what we all eat.
In the time we’ve spent in the house, Carrie and Greg have gotten very close. It has been apparent for weeks that they’ve been interested in one another, but maybe just the chaotic nature of our travels has kept them from acting on their feelings. But in this house, we have had the time to just rest, to sit around and talk to one another. We haven’t had to spend our days driving from place to place, and we haven’t seen a single zombie within a threatening distance.
So this time has allowed their relationship to really begin.
And at the same time, Ben and Lani have been getting close. I always knew Ben had a bit of a crush on Lani. She was the cute reporter, but his crush on her grew as he watched her reports about the zombie outbreak since she was such a vital source of information. Once we settled down, he really started to gush around her, thanking her for how her information saved us. And in time, they just got to be closer, and everyone once in a while I caught them giving each other sly little looks.
It was morning and I was thinking about how these relationships were growing. How this wonderful place we had found had allowed them to, how we had felt safe enough to let these things happen. It was while I was thinking about all of this and smiling that I heard Carrie upstairs calling out.
“Someone is driving toward the house!”
I quickly ran upstairs to check it out. Ben and Greg were already upstairs, so they were already in the room, peering out the window.
Carrie points toward the truck. “I think there are two people in there. I don’t have a great view into the cab, but there’s at least two, but I don’t think there’s any more than that.”
Ben and I each grab a gun and head downstairs. I know it’s risky to just go out and meet whoever is coming, but I also don’t want them to just burst into the house and have us cornered.
The truck bumps up onto the cement, leaving dirt swirling in the air behind it. The driver pulls to a stop in front of us and hops out. He looks like he’s in his late twenties or early thirties. He is filthy, wearing jeans that are basically brown with dirt and mud and a sweatshirt that might have been white at some point. The most striking thing about him is the big streak of blood across the front of his sweatshirt. It’s not spray as if it came from him attacking something, but it’s thick as if he was holding someone that was bleeding. And we quickly find out who that someone is.
The man is yelling frantically, half sobbing and half talking. He runs at me and Ben points his weapon at the man. He stops and sticks his hands up in the air. I motion for Ben to put the gun down and he does.
“Whoa, I’m sorry man. I didn’t mean to freak your buddy out there. I’m unarmed.” He still has his hands raised into the air. He turns his head toward the truck and points. “My dad is in there. He’s hurt really bad. We’ve been driving for a couple of hours and haven’t seen anyone, and then I thought I saw movement up at this house, so we came up!”
Someone must have been outside getting some sunlight, or maybe this guy just imagined it.
“What happened to your dad?”
“He was attacked by one of those...those things. He’s hurt real bad, and he’s not talking to me anymore.”
I go and peer into the window of the car. The man’s body is mangled, there’s no way he could survive these wounds. His head is slumped forward, his face hidden by the brim of a hat. I squint and look at his chest. I can’t see any movement, I don’t think this guy is breathing.
Turning back to the young man, I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I think your dad is gone. And if he isn’t, there’s nothing we can do for him. We have some bandages, but he’s pretty beat up there.”
The man shakes his head and tears start to fall. “No, no way! My dad is strong, he can make it through!” He runs toward the truck, but I stop him. The adrenaline must still be running through this guy’s veins, because even though he’s not very big, I can barely stop him. Ben has to grab him from behind to pull him back.
I stagger back a little and lean against the truck. Behind me, I hear a hissing sound. Before I can turn around I hear a gunshot and the window behind me crack. I spin around and see that the man’s dad has moved. There is a small hole through the passenger side window next to where he was. The man’s dad is now lying across the bench seat of the truck with fresh blood oozing from a bullet hole in his head.
I look toward the house and Carrie gives me a thumbs up from the upstairs window.
The man starts screaming freshly and comes running at me, fists swinging. I manage to cover my head, but he starts raining down blows. I hear a loud cracking sound and the punches stop. I look out from under my cover and see the man slumped to the ground, Ben standing over him with his gun raised and a little line of blood dripping from the butt where he had just hit the man.
After we drag the man inside and find some rope in the shed to tie him up, I ask what happened.
Carrie tells me that she sat up in the room watching everything transpire. The man in the truck was clearly dead, so she had a rifle ready to go. After my little scuffle with the younger guy, she saw the dad start to move and lunge at me. Fortunately the window was rolled up, so he couldn’t get me. With him leaning against the window, she had a perfect shot to take him out. I was just lucky that I didn’t freak out when I heard the newly turned zombie behind me, otherwise I might have hopped into the line of fire.
Once the younger guy saw his dad get shot, he freaked out and came after me. I was able to cover myself, so I only ended up with some bruises on my arms. Ben tried to pull him off me, but the guy just took a swing at him to back Ben off. Ben did and the man went back to punching at me, so he cracked him in the head with the butt of his gun, knocking the man out.
For the time being, we decide to leave the new truck where it is. We go into what was once the living room of the house, where the younger guy is tied up.
We search through the cabinets and find a bottle of vinegar.
“Maybe this will work like a smelling salt.”
I pour a little into a dirty rag and wave it under the guy’s nose. He stirs a little, so I shake him a bit and he starts to groan and wake up.
He looks around, and then seems to snap to reality. He struggles against the rope and tries to cry out but his mouth is taped shut. I reach out and grab him. “Hey! Calm down. I’m not out to hurt you, I just want to talk.”
He stares at me for a moment
. He glances side to side and sees the others in the room. I don’t know if he believes me or not, but he does know he’s out numbered. He slowly nods his head.
I let him go but keep my hands close. He stays tense for a moment, contemplating running away, but then he relaxes just a little and leans back against the wall.
“Ok, I’m going to ask you a few questions, just so we can get on the same page. Is that OK?”
He just stares at me.
“Fine, I’m going to assume that’s a yes. First, do you know what happened to your dad? I mean, do you know why my companion shot him?”
He continues to stare, but his brow furrows just a little.
“Well, this is going great. Let me explain it to you then. When you arrived here, you said your dad was attacked. He was attacked by one of those creatures, one of those zombies, right?”
His brow unfurrows. And he nods his head.
“Good. Now you know what happens when someone gets bitten by one of them, right?”
He shakes his head.
“Well, that might explain our little misunderstanding then. When someone gets bit, it seems like there’s a pretty good chance that once they die, they’re coming back as one of those things too. We’ve seen a few who were bit that don’t come back, but most people do. Do you understand?”
His eyes get a quizzical look, but he doesn’t respond.
“My friend here,” I gesture toward Carrie, “was watching from up in one of the windows. You dad was dead in that truck, he had bled out by the time you got up here. And when we were talking with you, he came back. He tried to lunge at me, but he was behind the window. And she reacted to protect me. There was nothing we could do for your dad.”
He starts to shake his head just a little, then his body starts to shake and he starts to cry.
“I’m sorry to tell you like this, but I figured you already knew the basics of what was going on out there. I’m sorry.” I place my hand on his shoulder and wait.
When he calms down I tell him I’m going to pull the tape off of his mouth. “Are you ready?”
He nods and squeezes his eyes shut.
