“I’ll check the maintenance room toward the back.” Noah stated as he cocked his shotgun.
“Be careful…it doesn’t look like any of those dead-head fucks ever even came into this place which is surprising—I guess it could have only meant that it was closed for some reason when the shit hit the fan ten years back.” I answered with a distant look.
“It’s still hard to imagine that it’s been that long.” Sheila stated as she and Jennifer wrapped their arms around my waist and shoulders.
“No kidding—I’ll go check and I’ll be careful.” Noah answered as he flipped on his flashlight and went through the store toward the back where a door could be seen that read ‘employees only’.
We waited for a few minutes and then we heard a small racket toward the back where he had gone that sounded like a running motor and then Noah returned.
“I started the generator…I just hope that it will at least give the pumps outside enough juice to operate.” He stated as he headed for the front door.
“I do as well—there should be a switch behind the counter, let me see if it is flipped on.” I stated as I walked around the side of the front counter and searched the area.
Sure enough there was a switch for all of the gas pumps that were outside and it had been flipped off—I flipped it on and turned back to Jennifer and Sheila and the three of us left the store and headed back out to the side of the lab truck where the others were waiting; I briefly glanced back at the front of the store and noticed something that I hadn’t seen at first—there was a small sign taped to the inside window glass of the store not far from the register that read ‘closed due to a family emergency’.
“I guess that explains why that place was clean and untouched…”
“Are the pumps working?” I asked as I turned to Noah and the others.
“Yeah…it’s working now—this shouldn’t take too awful long.” Noah answered upon seeing my questioning glance.
I noticed that Melvin and Kira had pushed a beat-up old Ford pickup truck up beside of the nearby pump and they were looking it over—they also had a large diesel wrecker nearby that was painted a blood red color and Cedric and the rest of the McBride family was gathered around it.
“We figured that it was getting kind of cramped in the lab truck so we’ve prepared these other vehicles for travel.” Melvin stated as he and Kira finished with the old pickup.
“Is that going to be secure enough for you guys?” Billy asked with a hint of concern as he and Kayla stood together nearby.
“I hope so…the doors seem to close normally and there aren’t many dents in the body.” Melvin answered in deep thought as he glanced over the detail of the pickup.
“Here—let’s add this to your front windshield.” Beau shouted as he came over with a large piece of thick steel that was full of holes the size of oranges.
I watched with Jennifer and Sheila in my arms as Cedric brought over a pressure tank and a welding torch and set to work on fastening the metal barrier over their windshield to the point where the wipers would still work and within minutes it was fastened on and sturdy—they found a few more smaller pieces and done the same with the side door windows and the rear windshield; when it was finished it looked a lot more secure than it had. The beat-up pickup truck was fueled up and then the wrecker and that was when a horrible scream got our attention as several zombies appeared on the other side of the nearby roadway and ran toward us, I quickly drew my magnum and fired twice dropping two of them as Hugo, Amy and Desiree opened fire with their assault rifles killing the few others.
“Okay—that’s our ticket saying that it’s time to leave.” I shouted as I opened the doors of the lab truck and climbed inside followed by Jennifer and Sheila and the others who were still riding in the lab truck.
It started pouring down rain and hail just as the others outside got into the two new vehicles and started them up, I flipped on the wipers and led the way out onto the road that would lead us back to the interstate and within seconds we were heading west through Pennsylvania; the trip was drab and uneventful and the storm lasted well into that night and as it got closer and closer to midnight I started noticing that there were more and more undead here and there along the roadway. I soon after stopped briefly near a small town not too far from the Ohio state line called Grove City and I turned to the others.
“What’s up Chaz?” Billy asked as he looked up from where he and Kayla were snuggled together.
“I’m tired—do you want to take over driving for a while?” I asked as I glanced around at the others.
“Sure.” He answered as he carefully got up trying not to disturb Kayla and came up to the front where I was gently waking Jennifer and Sheila who had been sleeping.
They woke and rose to their feet before asking what was going on.
“I’m going to get some sleep and let Billy drive for a while—we’re nearly to the Ohio state line and I can hardly keep my eyes open.” I answered as I brought both of them into my arms.
“Do you want me to stay on interstate 80?” Billy asked as he sat down in the driver’s seat and strapped himself in.
“Yeah—just keep heading west.” I answered as Kayla woke and went to sit in the passenger seat beside of him.
I turned and headed back toward the rear trailer with Jennifer and Sheila close behind and soon I could feel the motion of the truck again as Billy started driving—arriving back in the rear trailer I removed my clothes and sat my weapons and gear down nearby as Jennifer and Sheila done the same; we climbed into the bed that we had used before and settled down into deep slumber. Unaware of the passing of time we woke later on the next day and I could still feel the forward motion of the truck and we got up and got dressed before heading into the front of the lab truck where the others were sitting around eating travel rations.
“Where are we dude?” I asked as I walked to the front where Billy was still driving.
“We’re still on interstate 80 but we’re on what the map points out as the toll road part of it—we just passed the turnoffs to Cleveland about twenty minutes ago.” Billy answered as Kayla held up the road atlas she was holding for me to see.
“I guess it’s lucky for us that we no longer have to worry about tolls…have there been any troubles getting through the outlying areas?” I asked raising my right eyebrow.
“Nope—we’ve seen several large masses of dead-heads but we pretty much sped past them miles back.” Billy answered as he stared ahead at the roadway.
I sat down not far back with Jennifer and Sheila next to me as well as Remy, Mace and Ember as the rest of the day passed off—the trip through northern Ohio was uneventful and it seemed like the highway we were on was pretty much a straight shot west except for a slight turn northwest occasionally; by around 3 am the next morning we had passed over the Indiana state line and Billy came to a complete stop in the road which made many of us wonder what was going on.
“There’s what looks like a massive pileup of wreckage ahead and it doesn’t look like there’s any other way to continue west along the 80…what should we do?” Billy asked looking back at me for instructions.
That was when one of the jumper zombies suddenly landed on the outside of the front windshield with a loud thud—it stared in at us hatefully through glassy, white eyes and it screamed the same horrid scream that they all did whenever they smelled living flesh; I grabbed by magnum and dashed out the side door and aimed my gun at it firing—the powerful bullet hit it in the top of its head splattering the windshield with a cloud of blood as the creature slid off the other side. That was when I heard Sheila’s voice as she and Jennifer came out to stand behind me—she fired a round that hit another of the same jumper zombies in the middle of its eyes dropping it to the ground like a ton of bricks; we could hear more screams coming from the dark field and woods nearby and we quickly got back into the lab truck seali
ng the door. I turned to Sheila and hugged and kissed her as well as Jennifer and I stood for a minute trying to calm my nerves as Billy turned on the windshield wipers and used cleaning solution to clear the smear of blood on the outside—as I looked at where the jumper had hit the windshield I could see a large crack in the glass that had been made by the impact of the creature.
“I’ll take over driving—go rest yourself brother.” I stated patting his back as he and Kayla got up and headed back past us where everyone else was.
“We need to get the hell out of here—there’s a mass of those fuckers coming up from our rear!” Cedric’s voice boomed over the CB radio.
“Follow us—we’re going to have to head south on interstate 69 toward Fort Wayne and try to find another way to reconnect with the 80.” I shouted over the CB radio as I made a sharp turn taking us off the roadway down an embankment onto Interstate 69 heading south away from the area as the other two vehicles behind us followed.
I smashed into a wrecked car that looked to have plowed into a highway divider as we passed doing minor damage to the front left fender, I sped on south aware that we had to find a way to get back on interstate 80 to continue heading west.
“I was just wondering what the deal with the 80 is…do you have an idea on where we’re headed or something?” Morgana asked as she sat in the seat across from Noah, Christina and their son.
“I am making this shit up as I go—I just want us to get the hell away from the east coast as fast as we can and I feel a lot safer on the 80…don’t ask because I don’t know how to explain it.” I answered glancing at her in the rear view mirror.
“Oh, okay—that’s fine, I was just curious.” She answered smiling at me in a flirting way.
Jennifer and Sheila struck up a conversation with her as she came to sit close behind me as I continued heading toward Fort Wayne and after about a half hour the three of them seemed like they had become good friends—that was when I was nearing the turnoff for Fort Wayne and I noticed a US highway labeled 30 that looked like it would lead us toward Gary, Indiana by the map I was using—which in turn would get us back on interstate 80.
“This highway will lead us back to the 80—how are our food and ammunition stockpiles?” I asked turning to glance back at the others.
“Our food is getting a little low but the ammo caches are still good.” Beau answered as he walked over and checked the supplies.
“We’re getting close to Columbia City and there’s a grocery store up the road from here…we’ll pretty much have to stick to canned goods and whatever else we can find as all the rest of the food will be long spoiled.” I stated as I continued driving up the highway until the store came into view.
It was actually a large Wal-Mart Super center and by the look of the outside it looked like it was actually barricaded from the inside—as I pulled into the relatively empty parking lot and got close to the front we could all see pieces of boards and other obstructions put up against the windows and glass doors.
“Are there survivors here or something?” Richard asked as he along with the others came to look out the front windshield.
“I’d be very surprised if there were—but I guess it’s possible.” I answered as I parked the lab truck while the other two vehicles behind us pulled up as well and parked near us.
I gathered my weapons and gear and led the way out into the parking lot—that was when several horrible screams drew my attention to the dark area off from the side of the building; several dead-heads were running toward us and they were quickly gunned down taking several rounds each in the head before we all stepped up to the side door that looked barricaded as well.
“Step back—we’ve got to get inside and see if there are any food items that we can use before leaving.” I stated as I used the butt of my assault rifle to smash the window glass.
I reached my right arm through the hole I had made through the barricade and was fiddling with the lock when something suddenly slashed into my arm cutting it deep—I pulled my arm back out and cradled it as blood poured out of what appeared to be a two-inch deep gash wound.
“Motherfucker!” I shouted in pain as I tried to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.
Noah stepped forward and fired twice with his shotgun destroying the locking mechanism as he and Billy tore the door open, we all rushing inside and came face to face with a small group of what looked like survivors—there were four of them; two men and two women and it looked like they had been living here in this Wal-Mart for several years—the one who had obviously cut me was a female and she was holding a large machete that she had no doubt picked up back in the sporting goods section.
“What the hell—who are you people?” One of the men demanded pointing a police issued .9mm Beretta at us.
Hugo and the other Covenant One members quickly spread out forming a firing line as they aimed their high powered assault rifles at the four strangers—who quickly dropped their weapons and put their hands into the air; I stepped forward still cradling my arm as Jennifer and Sheila done their best to clean it off with water from their canteens and stop the bleeding—the woman who had cut me was a young adult probably no more than 18 or 19 and she had shoulder length red hair and a slender figure.
“You cut me deep with that piece of shit—you know that?” I stated with a scowl as I went over to the nearby pharmacy and grabbed several boxes of gauze rolls and some antiseptic from the shelves.
“I-I’m sorry…I thought for sure that you guys were those things outside!” The young woman answered with a fearful look on her face.
“Mind telling us who the fuck you people are and why you’ve come busting into our hideout?!” One of the other men shouted.
This guy was somewhat scrawny with shoulder length brown hair and a beard and I could tell just by his attitude that he was going to be trouble—that was when the other guy stepped forward and glared at the long-haired bearded man before speaking.
“You’ll have to forgive him—he’s an asshole…my name is Peter Lloyd; these are my friends Fallon Underwood and Vicki Hewitt—his name is Josh Randall.” The guy who had longish black hair and looked to have been somewhat gothic stated motioning to the troublemaker before he stepped forward and offered his hand in a handshake.
“I’m sorry that I cut you…” The redhead introduced as Fallon Underwood stated as she came to stand before me.
“How many dead-heads have you killed with that machete of yours?” Beau asked stepping forward still holding his assault rifle.
“N-None yet…I’ve never been much of a fighter but when you guys broke through the door I was the only one close and I knew that I couldn’t let you get in if you were those zombie things outside.” Fallon answered nervously.
“We’ve told you who we are—how about doing the same?” Josh Randall shouted in an arrogant tone.
“Dude—you don’t have to be so rude!” Peter shouted turning to glare at him.
“You shut the fuck up pipsqueak—these assholes busted into our hideout and they could be anyone for all we know!” Josh Randall answered in a spitting rage.
That was when I had had enough of this man’s vile attitude—with a swift gesture I stepped forward and bashed him in the face with the butt of my M16 knocking him to the floor where I pointed the barrel of my rifle at his throat.
“That’s enough out of you—we don’t have time to listen to your shit.” I stated through clenched teeth as Jennifer and Sheila stepped up beside of me to finish dressing my wound.
I stepped back allowing him to get to his feet and he angrily turned and headed off toward another part of the store—the young woman who had been identified as Vicki Hewitt stepped toward him with a piece of paper towel with the intention if cleaning off the blood from the gash wound that I had just inflicted on his head but he put his left hand on her chest and gave her a powerful shove backward w
here she fell to the floor knocking over a reading glasses display; I glared after him with disgust as Peter and Fallon rushed to help her up. That was when another younger guy appeared behind us from what I guessed had been outside and he came to stand beside of Peter who seemed to be like the group’s leader.
“This is Billy Kennedy by the way.” Peter answered upon seeing our questioning glances.
“I managed to block the side door back up.” The young man reported in a nervous tone.
He was really young—he didn’t look much older than Fallon and he had short dark hair and somewhat of big ears that stuck out on the side of his head.
“Hi there…I was surprised when I stepped outside and seen your vehicles—are you guys remnants of the military or something?” Billy Kennedy asked as his attention focused on us.
“Nope—we’re just normal everyday people who have been struggling to survive this shit for the past decade.” I answered as I looked over my bandaged arm.
I introduced myself, Jennifer and Sheila and then all of the others of my group and we told them what had happened in the past as well as what we had recently went through during our ordeal in New York City—they listened with curiosity and awe and they were shocked when we told them that we had synthesized a vaccine from the antitoxin sample that we had acquired from the hidden areas deep beneath the Oklahoma City hospital; the only one of them that didn’t bother to come listen to us about what was going on was Josh Randall—who had all but disappeared.
“So…you guys are immune to infection?” Peter asked in an awestruck tone.
“That’s right—of course we still have to be careful as it is still possible to be killed by those things outside; we’re headed west and we’re trying to figure out what our next move will be—since the incident in New York City we’ve been left a little shaken.” I answered in deep thought.
“I’ll bet…having to flee for your lives as the entire city behind you is consumed by falling skyscrapers and then a massive tidal wave sounds like something that most people wouldn’t survive.” Billy Kennedy stated folding his arms.
[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles Page 28
