Dead Aware (Book 1): Dead Aware [A Zombie Journey]

by Merry, Eleanor

  “Come Jay!” Max shouted, worried about the impending train station that was growing ever closer. Jay hesitated another moment before putting his trust in the man who had cared for him so far. Together they leapt from the car, Max doing a successful roll while Jay splatted down onto the ground, landing on his face.

  As soon as he landed, Max jumped up and ran over to the boy to make sure he was okay. Blood poured from his face, causing Max to panic, until he saw that it seemed to be coming from Jay’s nose. Meanwhile, Jay sat in the dirt making faces and trying to figure out what the warm stuff on his face was. He licked his lips a few times before giving Max and brilliant and bloody grin.

  “Good. Stay here!” Max smiled back before heading over to the other groups who had jumped previously. He noticed a few people were all congregating in one area and immediately went in that direction.

  As Max approached, he found that not all had made it off safely. One of the women, a non-talker, had broken her neck on impact. Cassie knelt over her, sobbing in the most pathetic way. Max wondered if it was her mother.

  Sam murmured something in the prostrate girl’s ear. Cassie continued to sniffle, but whatever Sam had told her made her cease wailing. Max noticed that Jay was heading over to the girl and hoped that he would be able to comfort her.

  Everyone else other than the woman seemed to be okay. A few scrapes and bruises that weren’t felt so much as seen. Jay seemed to be looking the worst with the blood from his nose covering his face and chest.

  “Max okay?” Guy asked as he approached, receiving a nod in return. Max was about to reply further when another whistle was heard down the line and they saw the train come to a stop. Guy frowned a bit and told everyone to get together; they needed to move out of the open. Jay offered his hand out to Cassie and led the girl, following the rest of the group to the safety of the nearby forest.

  Everyone regrouped in the forest, taking their time to splash water on their faces from a nearby stream. Compared to the cities that they had all just come from, the freshness and colors of the forest around them were breathtaking. Even though it was almost autumn, most of the trees around them remained green. A few were marked with yellows and oranges, the only indication of the impending season. The air smelled clean and everyone seemed to enjoy the quiet and peaceful change of scenery.

  Max, however, started to get anxious again, wanting to get moving. He was so close to Clara now, but he also didn’t know how to find her from here. Not knowing how long it would take, he didn’t want to wait around. He glanced over at Jay, who was still comforting the girl. Jay has done so much for me, he thought. We can wait a little longer.

  Settling down onto a fallen log, Max received a small nod and grateful smile from Guy. He immediately returned it and curled up to get a bit of rest before he continued on the rest of his journey.

  Max woke up to a sky of pinks, oranges, and reds above him. For a moment, the ethereal beauty of it took his breath away and he could do nothing but stare. Birds around them seemed to have grown accustomed to their presence and were chirping away in the treetops, a peaceful sound that only added to the ambience.

  Sitting up, Max noticed that the setting seemed to have affected everyone else as well—all except Cassie, who was currently curled up asleep with her head in Jay’s lap. The boy seemed more content than ever before and Max was glad he decided to wait before leaving. Smiling at Jay, he got up and walked over to the end of the clearing, stretching and admiring the beautiful morning for one last moment.

  Max was honestly amazed at how long he slept, but supposed his body felt comfortable enough in this place to sleep so deeply. He also took a moment to relieve himself, something he had figured out to do early on, more so because of the uncomfortable wetness and muscle memory than the actual feeling of need. He then washed his face in the stream. Once finished, he headed over to Guy, who had been watching him since he woke up.

  “You leave?” Guy asked simply.

  “Yes. Find Clara,” Max reminded him. Guy nodded at this, but then gestured over to Jay.

  “You want leave Jay? Make Cassie happy. Safe with us.”

  Max blanched a bit at the suggestion. Though he had at one point contemplated leaving Jay with Sue, he hadn’t even considered since then that Jay would ever do anything but be with him and Clara. Max wasn’t positive if Clara and he had children, but he didn’t think so. He felt as though he would remember. But Jay…Max felt so close to the boy, and he thought of all the roles Jay had played.

  Food. Teacher. Patient. Student. Friend…And yes, now he felt more like a son. Someone to protect and to care for. Could he leave Jay behind if that was truly what he wanted?

  Max walked over to Jay, who watched him with a sort of passive curiosity.

  “Jay,” Max began, “I leave soon. Finish. Find Clara.” Jay nodded and made as if to move Cassie from his lap before Max held up his hand, effectively halting his movement.

  “Jay, you not have to come,” he pushed on. “Cassie here. You safe here. You have helped me so much. But you can stay. If you want.”

  Jay’s face darkened a bit, displaying a type of emotion Max hadn’t seen on the boy since he died. With unexpected care and precision, Jay moved Cassie’s head and placed it gently beside him so he could stand up. Max rose with him, unsure of what to make of Jay’s unprecedented reaction.

  “Max,” Jay said, strong and clear, staring him straight in the eye. “Clara.” Stunned, Max could only stare for a minute before finally comprehending the loyalty he was being shown. Tears of gratitude filled Max’s eyes.

  Before he could react, Guy walked over and handed them their backpacks, smiling lightly at the two of them.

  “Good luck. You always have place with us.”

  CHAPTER 31

  By evening, Wolfe was fairly sure none of the freed infected remained loose in the base. Another nine of his people had died in the attacks, a doctor was missing, and he was livid. Storming down to the office after completing the headcount, he wanted to confirm the exact numbers of zombies that they had captured previously and make sure they were all accounted for.

  Throwing his door shut, he sat at his desk and went to open his drawer when he noticed one of the files wasn’t where he had left it. Picking up the papers, he realized it was in fact one of the files he was looking for: the zombie profiles. In particular, it was the profile that belonged to the blonde woman who had stood up to him the night before.

  Wolfe knew that, while some of the zombies were smart, they weren’t smart enough to come in here and go through his files, much less read them.

  He looked through the rest of the files and counted, noting there were four fewer zombies than they had originally captured. And one less doctor. Samborski.

  The realization hit him. It had to be her. But why would she bother looking through the files? he wondered. She had way more direct information in her labs. As he scanned through, he noticed the soldiers had left addresses of where each one was picked up. Holding the blonde woman's file, he stood up and prepared for a morning departure. He wasn’t letting them get away that easily.

  By evening, Rachel was finally starting to breathe easy, confident they hadn’t been followed. The random dash through the city had been effective. They could make their way to Clara's in the morning, and she knew they weren't in an area they were likely to be found.

  As they drove through the ruined city, she was overcome with horror and sadness at the state the world had become while she had been hiding out researching the virus.

  Rachel knew the numbers, the probability of survival. Yet she hadn’t seen the evidence of what was left behind. Coming up from Seattle she had been in a van with no windows and had been so afraid hearing some of the destruction of those around her that she hadn’t paid attention during the journey. Seeing it now tore at her heart and soul in a visceral way that numbers on a piece of paper just couldn’t compare to.

  Several times there had been cars in their way that they nee
ded to navigate around, which wasn’t shocking. Her heart clenched when she saw people hunched over dead in their driver’s seats, seeming to have died while on the move. The worst were the children, some of which had obviously turned on their drivers sometime before stopping. Rachel did her best to ignore the carnage.

  Many people had ended up dying in their homes or in hospitals, and the entire city had the faint miasma of decay from the thousands upon thousands of corpses left rotting.

  She wiped away the tears prickling her eyes and focused on the road ahead.

  Clara was also very affected by the sight of the city, which she hadn't seen since her turning. Words drifted through her mind prompted by the visuals she was seeing.

  House. Tree. Flower. Car. Fire. Body….

  Distantly, she heard Rachel’s voice inform everyone she was going to have them stop for the night. Although Clara wanted to keep moving, to find Max, she suddenly felt more tired than she could remember feeling since waking up in her home. A few hours sleep, she thought, then home....

  They pulled up to a random warehouse that Rachel thought was probably a homeless haven, even before the virus hit. The glass windows were all long gone, and the copper oxide smell lingered in the air amid the ever-present smell of death. After Three went inside and declared it empty, they hid the car and entered to find a spot to rest. Once they went inside, Clara curled up in the corner and drifted off to the sounds of the others talking late into the night.

  “We should name him Hudson,” Max said as he rubbed her flat belly. Giggling, Clara asked how he knew it would be a boy.

  In a mock display of upset Max scoffed, “Well, of course he’s a boy! You think I could handle another little princess like you running around?”

  “What do you mean by that!” she cried, playing along with his game. Max smiled at her. A smile that melted her heart and made her feel like the most important person in the world.

  Leaning down to kiss her, he whispered, “Wake up, Clara.”

  Clara shot up, confused and bewildered. Looking around, she noticed everyone was asleep except Rachel, who was standing by the doorway keeping watch. Clara sat there a moment longer, trying to decipher what had just occurred.

  Dream, she thought to herself. That was a dream.

  She couldn’t remember having dreamt before this, and wondered if it was truly a dream, or if it was a memory. She pressed her hand to her stomach. Did she and Max already have a child she had forgotten? She didn’t think so, but it had felt so real it was hard to convince herself otherwise. She thought back to the empty room she had seen before being taken from her home, the small childlike animals lining the walls, and wondered if she had missed something in her haste to look for food.

  Clara picked herself up off the ground and quietly made her way over to Rachel, careful not to disturb the others. She noted that Three was actually asleep and not watching over them as he usually did. She couldn’t help but wonder if he felt safe with them, or just felt safe away from the soldiers.

  Rachel didn’t turn around as she approached, but Clara assumed she knew she was there.

  After a moment's hesitation, Clara pressed forward. “Rachel?” she asked quietly.

  The doctor turned to look at her. “Yes?”

  Clara fiddled with her robe for a moment, unsure of how to ask the questions she wanted to know.

  “I dream…” she began, making Rachel's eyes widen slightly, “I dream of Max. He sing to my belly, like baby in there.”

  Rachel nodded, prompting her to continue. “You do test. You tell if I have baby before?” She finished, looking up at Rachel with pleading eyes.

  Although Rachel had answers, she had hoped when she first found them that it would never be something they discussed. “There was some scarring...inside you,” she replied. “It indicates you may have had a difficult pregnancy before, but no, I don’t think you’ve ever had a baby.”

  Nodding, Clara walked back to the corner in silence. For the rest of the night she remained awake, thoughts of Max and the pitter patter of little feet running through her mind. For the first time, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to remember or not.

  At sunrise, they were off.

  CHAPTER 32

  Once upon a time, Jay had taught Max to head west to find Clara. With nothing more than a few cans of cat food and the tire iron from so long ago, Max and Jay set out towards Vancouver to find her. Hoping he would recognize more along the way, Max simply used the advice that had started him on his path.

  By the time the sun was high in the sky, Max was grinding his teeth at the slow pace with which they were moving. In comparison with the high-speed train they had just been on, this was just tedious. Deciding to see if he could figure out a car or something, they headed towards the nearby suburbs. Getting into the first residential area, Max indicated to Jay to keep quiet. With civilization also came many risks. Unfortunately, Jay’s nose had been hurt worse than either of them anticipated during the jump, and a constant whistling now followed them. Max cringed but hoped at least the consistency of the whistling would be less noticeable than sudden noises. Max heard vague noises a few times in the distance, but never anything close enough to be of major concern.

  As they snuck around, Max couldn’t help but get a sense of familiarity from the area and the vibe of the houses surrounding them. Vague memories of his home came back to him, more as feelings than specific images.

  After a while, Max noticed a house with the door open but a closed garage and decided to try and see what was there. He hoped the open door meant the residents had left. Once they got to the front door, Max leaned forward and smelled the air, but didn’t notice any strong scent of the living, blood, or decay. Unlike Sue’s shop, there were fewer signs of carnage and more just general mess and a feeling of something rushed remaining. They were in the clear.

  Wandering into the house, Max searched for a few moments while Jay fiddled with what had once been a child's toy before Max found the inside door to the garage. Max called Jay over but was disappointed when they opened the door to find it empty.

  Just as Max was about to turn to find another house, Jay stepped past him and wandered into the garage over to a bike with some contraption attached to the back.

  “Mmmmmm,” Jay moaned happily as he lovingly caressed the bike before looking up at Max hopefully.

  “We try that already, Jay, but you fall…” Max stopped as he realized what was attached to the back of the bike. This could work.

  For the rest of the day, Max and Jay rode openly down the streets towards Vancouver without a single fear of the uninfected. With some extra clothes liberated from another nearby house, they had covered most of their pale skin and their bloody clothing. They then put on baseball hats to hide their faces. The small bike trailer attached to the sturdy bike just barely fit Jay, and Max was rewarded with a bit of extra stability in riding the two of them. As long as they stayed on the road, Max didn’t tire easily and just needed to focus on his feet.

  Having made decent progress, Max stopped them for the night as the sky started to fade to purple. They found a shed on the edge of what looked to be a deserted property and got ready to settle in for the night. Max was starting to see signs with the symbols and letters he knew meant Vancouver, and more specifically the city he knew he lived in, Surrey, and hoped he would recognize more by the following day. Rewarding them both with an extra can of food, they drifted off to the sound of Jay’s whistling nose.

  In the middle of the night, sounds of struggle woke Max. In the darkness of the shed, it was difficult to discern what he was seeing, but it looked like an infected woman was attacking Jay!

  Springing into action, Max jumped up and grabbed the back of the woman's shirt, effectively tearing her off Jay. The flimsy door crashed underneath her as Jay struggled to get up from his own tangle of limbs. She immediately jumped up and growled at Max, preparing to strike again. Max stood in front of Jay and growled as a gust of wind blew the baseball hat
off his head.

  The woman immediately paused, taking note of his alabaster skin that seemed to glow in the moonlight. Max noted the change and realized that she thought they were uninfected. Her nose was obviously broken at some point based on the angle and the blood on her face, and Max wondered if it had affected her sense of smell. For a moment, they only stared at each other. He maintained his defensive stance but didn’t really feel she was a threat any longer. After a few minutes, he finally told her, “Go.” The woman scampered off around the side of the shed and out of sight.

  They had no further disturbances for the rest of the night.

  The next day, Max brought them onto the highway, and within a few hours was rewarded with more familiarity. With no vehicles moving on the road, Max only had to navigate through a few crash zones where cars littered the streets. He noted the lack of life but assumed streets with no cover anywhere weren’t appealing to anyone, infected or otherwise.

  The reassurance of the recognizable landscape encouraged Max even more and he pushed hard until he saw an exit sign whose symbols were like alarm bells in his head.

  City of Surrey.

  Max knew where they were. Taking the exit, Max raced towards his home. And, he hoped, to Clara.

  Wolfe and eleven of his most ruthless men rushed towards the destination that had been left for them. By the time everything had been organized, there would have been no way to track them down if he hadn’t noticed the folders out of place. Wolfe was betting that he was right and looked forward to bringing the doctor back to the General at the base, who hadn’t been released from the separate containment unit in the chaos of the breakout. Only a select few knew about that or had access. While General Grant had died, he was very much awake again. And he was very much hungry, and angry. Wolfe couldn’t wait to introduce the doc to his special specimen.