“So, you’re saying that you would rather spend your last days with these other people than with me?”
“No Daniel. I am saying you can’t think of us. You need to think of you. If you think you can be happy and safe here then you need to stay, for you, not me. I will never feel safe here. I could never be happy here, nothing could change my mind.”
“Not even if by leaving you would lose me?”
“It comes down to something Charlie said earlier; each person has to decide what is right for them. What’s right for me is taking the road to Johnson City.”
“You choose him over me?”
“No. I choose my path over your path.”
Daniel looked at her and then he closed his eyes and turned to face the people of Gray.
“I’m sorry. I can’t stay.” He said in a tone that was filled with dread.
“I want to come with you.” A voice from the back of the crowd said. The people turned to see who it was that had spoken. To my surprise it was Jim, the kid that we had bonked on the head and tied up.
“Please take me with you to Johnson City.” He said.
“Sure, Jim. Like I said, anyone who wants to come is welcome. Just understand that it will be a dangerous trip. I can’t guarantee your safety.”
“I understand. I still want to go with you.” Jim walked to me and held out his hand. I shook it and smiled at the kid, “Welcome aboard. We’re glad to have you.”
Jim smiled at me and stepped aside taking his place among our group as I looked at the rest of the people of Gray.
“Does anybody else want to come with us?” The question was greeted with absolute silence. I stood there maybe thirty seconds longer in that silence before I turned to leave.
As we neared the main road I saw something lurking under a truck almost directly in front of us. I smacked Sass on the arm and pointed, after a moment, I could hear him say, “I’ll be damned. Where has he been all this time?”
“It looks like he’s been waiting on somebody.” Amanda said.
I ran a bit forward and the dropped to my knees on the road and shouted, “Louie!” The big yellow dog jumped up and ran to me knocking me backwards onto the road and licking my face. I could hear Sass and Amanda laughing. I was rubbing Big Lou’s head and asking where he had been. I had caught a glimpse of him running through the high grass outside the strip club and I thought I had seen a quick blur of yellow while we were checking out the farm house. But that was all I had seen of Lou since we had crawled up on top of the fire truck to talk to Veronica and Shawn.
I knew better than to try to speculate on his daily activities. While we were fighting for our lives he was probably running around sniffing his new friends in places I’d rather not think about, especially while he was licking my face.
“Great, the mutt is back.” Daniel said from the back of the group.
I gave Big Lou a look and said, “Don’t listen to mean old Danny boy. He hates anything that’s good or fun.”
“Seriously how smart is it to keep that dog around?” Daniel said as he and Judy walked up to where I lay.
I looked at Lou and held his head in my hands. I pointed his head at Daniel and said in a whisper of a voice, “Sick em boy!”
Big Lou looked at the Craigs and low deep growl came out of his throat. I started laughing and hugged the dog before jumping up and smacking the side of my leg as I began to walk up the hill.
“Come on Louie.” He looked to me and then back to the Craigs. He growled again. I reached back and patted him on the head. “Don’t worry Lou; you may still get your chance to bite him.” Lou barked once before turning to walk between Sass and I as we made our way out of Gray
C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - E I G H T
As strange as it will sound, I felt good walking up that hill. We were lucky that this all happened just as summer was surrendering to fall and the days were still long. I wasn’t sure when the sun was to set, but I knew it wouldn’t be until around seven or eight. It was just a little after five at this point so we had at least two hours before dusk set in and our lives started becoming much more interesting. We still had a long way to walk in those two hours. I was of the opinion that we needed to find a vehicle in a very bad way. This idea was given even more credibility in my mind as I looked behind us and saw that Judy was limping badly. She had her arm across Daniel’s shoulder and he was helping her as they came up the hill behind the rest of the group.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“My ankle hurts when I put weight on it. I must have turned it when that zombie tripped me up. I’ll be okay. I just need to get off my feet.” She said.
“We’ll do that as soon as we can find a vehicle that will fit us all. Until then guys, let’s make sure we stay together and not leave them behind.”
There was a mummer of agreement, and we continued up the hill towards the business section of Gray.
The road that we were on ran under an overpass near the top of the hill. As we passed under it I got my first good look at what was left of the city of Gray.
“I don’t buy her story.” Amanda said in a cold, quiet tone. Only she, Sass, and I were up as far as the bridge. The rest had decided to lay back with Judy and Daniel as we scouted for a truck to steal.
“Do what?” I said, a little surprised by her comment.
“Judy’s story about turning her ankle. I don’t buy it. She’s infected.”
“Whoa.” Sass said.
“Sass is right, Amanda. That’s a pretty serious claim you just leveled against her.”
“I don’t do so lightly or with malice. It simply is the facts of our situation. She is infected, she’s a risk.”
“What do you know that makes it okay tell us this?” Sass asked. I was happy to hear no anger in his voice. He just wanted her to explain herself. She noticed this as well because her voice lost that undertone of malice that Amanda has when she thinks she’s being attacked.
“Watch her walk. The pain she is feeling is constant. It isn’t just when she puts weight on it. That is not a sprained ankle. The zombie must have dug its nails into her leg when it grabbed her. She has been lacerated and infected. We need to cut her loose.”
“No,” I spoke so quickly it made both Sass and Amanda look to me in surprise.
“What?” Amanda asked.
“There is no way I am cutting her loose. She is either infected and will eventually die and turn, or she’s not and will get better in a matter of days. Either way there is no more a risk to us than she was before.”
“How can you say that?” Amanda asked.
“Because we have our suspicions. We think she is infected so we are watching her. We are waiting for her to die. We know that there is a short pause between the time somebody dies and the time that they pop back to life. We have that window to put a bullet in her head. But, here is what we don’t know; how long does it take for an infected person to die? If she is infected it’s due to some small cut or even a scrape on the back of her ankle. That kind of wound should take the absolute longest amount of time to kill her. We can use that information to figure out a time table for how long people have before they turn. This is information that we need to have.”
“Are you serious?” Sass asked me.
“Absolutely.”
Sass had his mad look on now.
“You honestly have no problem in using her like that?”
“Using her like what? You think I am being mean and somehow sacrificing her for some weird science experiment? If she is infected then she was dead from the moment that thing tore into her. She is scared and desperate to feel safe until it finally consumes her, which she knows will be soon. We keep her with us and two things happen, we get a little more insight and information on how these things come back to life and she gets to stay with us and be safe until her time comes.”
“Also, she gets the knowledge that as soon as she dies we will end the possibility that she will return as one of those things.” Am
anda added but Sass still didn’t look convinced.
“And you two honestly think that Daniel is just going to let us put a bullet in her head whether she is a zombie or not? You think he’s suddenly going to become rational and tell us that we are right and to go ahead and do it?”
Before I could answer Sass’s question we heard a retching sound come from behind us. Judy was on the ground vomiting onto the road directly under the overpass. Shawn was looking up at us with fear in his eyes and Veronica had knelt down beside Judy rubbing her back. Daniel had taken a step back with a look of fear and disbelief on his face. Judy was sitting on her knees with her head hanging down, her straight hair hanging over her face obscuring her features. She threw up again and her whole body shuddered with the force of it.
Shawn walked over to where we were standing.
“Guys, this is serious. I think she has a concussion.”
“Do what?” Sass asked.
“I don’t think she turned her ankle. I think she got a concussion when her head hit the pavement. She tagged it pretty hard.”
“Yes, but why do you think it’s a concussion?” I asked.
“The symptoms are the same. Muscle weakness, changes in alertness, trouble walking, repeated vomiting. There’s more but I can’t really remember all of them. I know convulsions are a sign as well.”
Amanda looked at Shawn as if she was just seeing him for the first time.
“How do you know the signs of a concussion?” She asked.
“Fantasy football.” Shawn answered. “Last year I went from first to last place in my league because every quarterback I had got knocked out due to a concussion. I was so pissed about it that I looked up exactly what a concussion is. It’s pretty serious stuff. It can cause amnesia, bleeding in the brain and even brain damage. Those quarterbacks are crazy to be out there playing that game. I don’t care how much they are being paid. Three million isn’t worth being a vegetable for the rest of your life.”
“Are you okay?” I could hear Veronica asking Judy. Judy was trying to catch her breath as she answered.
“I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t walk. I can’t concentrate on anything. I’m just so tired and all I want to do is sleep, but I can’t stop throwing up.” Judy said.
Shawn looked from Judy to us.
“We’ll stay here with her. You’re going to have to find us some transportation.”
He was right and we knew it. I nodded to Shawn as Amanda, Sass and I began to walk on into Gray in search for a vehicle.
Dairy Queen was slowly sliding behind us on our right. The restaurant had become a frozen treat war zone. There was no mistake about it. Dairy Queen had been open when the dead tourists had shambled into town looking for a good time. Most of the windows were broken and there was blood everywhere. Black smoke was coming out of the windows nearest to the cooking area of the building, and I could only imagine what had possibly been shoved into the deep fryers.
I shook my head at the sight of the dying restaurant. Alas poor ice cream, I knew you well. Sass punched me on the arm, and when I turned to look at him, he was almost to the point of laughing.
“Damn Crackhead, you look like you just lost your best friend.”
“Shut up Sass, a man can get emotional over his ice cream.”
Amanda shook her head at the both of us, “I am truly amazed you both survived long enough to fall under my protection.”
“It is something that I have been thankful for every second since I first saw you.” I said.
“You’re only saying that because you think she looks like Tomb Raider.” Sass said with an evil little smile.
“I don’t think, I know. This is the love child of Laura Croft and Rambo, I have no doubts.”
Amanda looked at me playfully, “So, you’re saying that I am the sexiest, most dangerous person you have ever known?”
“Yes mam, and my current mission is to make you mine.”
Amanda laughed at me, “Yeah, right.”
“My own.” I said to her. “My preciousssss.” I said looking at her longingly. Then I felt Sass slap the back of my head.
“You start rubbing on her like she’s a ring and she is sure to shoot you somewhere that will definitely leave a mark.”
I looked from Sass to Amanda and she nodded in agreement. Looking back, I saw that we were now far enough away from the group to revisit the subject of Judy.
“Okay, now that we are alone again, do you buy the whole concussion thing that Shawn was saying?”
“No,” Amanda said almost immediately. “She is infected; she knows that she is infected.”
“I still don’t feel right about just letting her continue to suffer so we can see how long it takes for this to kill her.” Sass said.
“Look Sass, we only have so many options here. We can shoot her in the head right now and be done with it. We can abandon her and Daniel and leave them sitting there on the road with no protection. Or we can keep her close, keep her with us and keep her safe until she passes on. After which we dispatch her so she never comes back as one of those monsters. Now I agree with you that all of these options suck. None of them are fair. However, the best of the bad choices is the one we are doing.”
Sass looked at me. I could see that he knew I was right, but still, he didn’t like it.
“It just seems to be torture to make her keep moving towards Johnson City when she is in the shape she’s in.”
“I understand that as well, but if we don’t find some form of safety and shelter by the time the sun goes down then odds are pretty good that we will find ourselves in the same situation she’s in. Personally, I’d rather keep breathing.” I said.
“I just don’t like it.” Sass said after a short pause.
“Neither do I.” Amanda said. “It is reckless and dangerous and I, personally, think that we should just get rid of them now and be done with it. However, we have elected a leader and for good or bad I will follow him. If he wants us to endanger the group in the name of good manners then that is what I will do.”
I gave Amanda a look and said, “Um…I’m right here you know.”
“Yes, of that I am also aware.” Amanda said. I watched Sass flash me a smile as she said this.
“Okay Amanda, I understand that you don’t agree with my decision. I hate to tell you this, but you’re probably not going to like every decision I make. I hope you don’t hold it against me because if you hold grudges then it will make living with me hard once I make you mine.”
Amanda gave me a look that said, “Careful what you wish for boy”.
“But still, like I said earlier, do you really think that Daniel is going to let you put a bullet into her head?” Sass asked.
“No. I don’t believe Daniel will be anything but trouble. Once his wife dies and turns I believe we will have to fight her and him.” Amanda answered.
“Here is the way I see it. Whether we deal with this problem now or wait until Judy dies to deal with it, we are going to get the same outcome. That outcome being that Daniel is going to explode. I believe the industry term for what he will do is called a “shit fit”. We can’t stop it from happening. We are in agreement of that. What we can do is pick the spot where we make it happen. In my opinion the best spot to make this happen is upon Judy’s death.”
“I just think your playing this one dirty. These people trust us and we are going to basically use them to get us further down the road? It’s just wrong.” Sass said.
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. But, even admitting to it, I still don’t see any other way to handle this. The situation we find ourselves in is just as dangerous as finding a hand grenade laying in the middle of the road. We do this wrong and our little group is over. You have to see that, don’t you?”
Sass shrugged.
“I don’t understand why we can’t just tell the truth. What’s the worse that will happen? We find out that we are wrong about Judy and laugh it off as a simple
misunderstanding. Even if that’s the case, the rest of the group will see that we are not going to turn on them if the
unthinkable happens. They will see that we do care about them, and if they do become infected, they won’t have to hide it from us. We will keep them safe and comfortable till the end, and we will make sure that they won’t come back after they die. Why won’t that work?” Sass asked.
It was a fair question. Why wouldn’t that work? My immediate answer was because of human nature. As soon as the others knew that Judy was infected they would not want to be anywhere near her, much less sitting in some vehicle while driving to Johnson City with her right beside them. At best it would cause a civil war within the group, and at worse it would cause an all out riot against the Craigs. Nobody will want to put themselves into a situation with that much danger. I just couldn’t see any argument that would trump human nature.
“If we tell the others of our concerns then they will freak out. And if we do this and we are wrong? That’s it my tall, hairy friend; its game over. We will lose any trust these people have in us.”
“I don’t see how that would happen.” Sass said.
“It’s easy,” Amanda said. “These people are on the edge of panic. They are coping with more stress than they have ever faced in their lives. The only real thing that is helping them keep it together is the belief that we know what we are doing and that we will keep them safe. Once they lose that faith in us, any faith they have for our plans will go out the window. Everyone will suddenly have a plan and they will insist that theirs is the best. That’s when the infighting starts. All of this will happen because the person that they have set in their minds as being the leader has been revealed to be just as lost as they are. One moment of doubt, one instance of weakness, will convince even a group of hardened soldiers to lose faith in their commander. I have seen this happen, I have…”
She stopped talking and looked back towards where our small group of survivors stood. She finished her sentence as she looked at them.
“…I have been swept up in that disillusionment of a superior. It’s like a mob mentality. You can even know, deep in your mind, that you are wrong. But you are still powerless to stop it.”
A Good Distance From Dying Page 26
