by J N Wood
I leaned in close to Jack’s face. ‘Jack, come on mate, you have to wake up.’ He didn’t respond at all, but he was definitely breathing.
Fucking hell Jack. This isn’t the time or the place.
I grabbed both of our bags and pulled them next to us in the front. I briefly thought about collecting some food, but it was at that point one of the rear windows suddenly broke and shattered. Black mud started to seep in through the broken window.
Nope, we’ve gotta go.
It only took five kicks, the already heavily damaged windscreen was off and lying on the floor outside. I waited for a few seconds to see if any zombies would suddenly appear at the opening, but none came. I threw the bags into the tunnel and turned back to Jack.
If I move him will I cause him more damage? We can’t wait so I’m just gonna have to risk it.
I backed out through the opening into the dark tunnel and knelt on the broken windscreen. Leaning forward I grabbed Jack’s shoulder with my right hand.
Now or never Jack, sorry mate.
He let out a pained grunting noise when I pulled him out, but still didn’t wake up. I put my backpack on and put Jack’s arms through the straps on his, so it was lying on his front, thinking I’d sort it out properly later.
I crawled backwards on my hands and knees, stopped, leaned forwards, and dragged Jack the couple of feet I’d just covered. After repeating this a few times an almighty sound of shattering glass and bending metal made me freeze. I could no longer see into Blue’s cab, it had collapsed in on itself. I turned around to see how much further I needed to go.
Fuck, it was still really far.
Crawl backwards, drag Jack along the ground to me, crawl backwards, drag Jack and repeat. I just had to do it, that’s all there was to it.
We seemed to be crawling through a small trickle of a stream. My hands and knees were soaking wet, as was Jack.
The dark stains on the inside of the tunnel showed the water level got a lot higher, almost filling it to the top. It would be just our luck to get a flash flood right now.
Twisting my head around I had a quick look at the light at the end, we only had twenty or so feet to go, and thankfully there were still no shuffling silhouettes passing across our exit.
I checked my watch, no wonder I was still knackered, I’d only slept for two hours.
Should we just stay down here and wait it out?
A crunching noise from the other end of the tunnel made me snap my head up towards our truck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
Two zombies were thrashing at each other near Blue. They must have slipped through a gap somewhere.
I got up on to my feet, hunched over with my backpack touching the ceiling. I faced towards the light, grabbed a good handful of Jack’s jacket at his shoulder, and moved as fast as I could.
We got to the end of the tunnel and I had a quick look around, thankfully the edge of the swarm hadn’t reached that far yet. There were some buildings off in the distance. We needed to get somewhere safe so Jack could recover. I pulled him all the way out and tried to lift him up onto my shoulder.
Jesus fucking Christ Jack, how much do you weigh?
I only just got him off the ground before I had to put him down again. The sound of splashing water from inside the tunnel spurred me on. Bending my knees I crouched down to have another go. This time I was prepared, grabbing him under his arms and pulling him up, so he was almost upright and leaning against me. While holding him up with my left arm, I dropped my right shoulder down to his waist, he flopped forwards onto me and I stood up. His bag was painfully digging in to my shoulder but I didn’t have time to move it.
I aimed for the closest of the buildings, running as fast as I could towards them.
Sixty seconds later and I was struggling to breathe, sweat had well and truly soaked right through my t-shirt and into my jacket. We’d made it to the first set of buildings, which looked like the back of some shops or industrial units. I climbed the three steps that led to a door.
It was of course fucking locked.
The swarm wasn’t on us just yet but it was heading our way. I wasn’t going to try and shoot my way in again, not with this many of the fuckers about. I ran down the steps, aiming for the building next door. There was a small alleyway in between the buildings and I spotted a possible saviour.
Jack’s favourite hiding place, a big blue bin, sat in the middle. I ran towards it and had a quick look inside, only enough room for one person.
Jack’s done this before, he won’t mind.
I tried to carefully place him onto the rubbish contained in the dumpster, which meant I basically dropped him in. His bag had fallen on to the floor, so I picked it up and threw it in after him. After I’d closed the lid, I pushed it over to the back corner of the alley, making sure it was up against a wooden fence and the brick building.
I didn’t want the swarm rolling Jack out along with them.
After climbing up onto the dumpster I grabbed a hold of the edge of the wall, and tried to pull myself up. There was no energy left in me. Every last bit of strength had been used up carrying Jack up that fucking hill.
Come on Chris, you have to do this, one last effort then you can lie down on the top of this roof for the rest of time if you want to.
I grabbed the top of the wall again and pulled, this time managing to get my chin up, very awkwardly resting it on the edge. I then tried to swing my right foot up and hook it on, succeeding on the second attempt. With an incredibly painful effort I dragged myself up, rolling away from the edge on to the roof.
The dead shuffled past a few seconds later. I was desperately sucking in air, my lungs felt like they were about to burst.
The alleyway below me was being filled up with the dead. I could hear them colliding with Jack’s dumpster and knocking it against the fence. Flipping over onto my front I slowly lifted my head. From this angle the zombies spread out as far as I could see, it was another huge swarm.
How fucking stupid are we? I really wanted to punch myself in the face. Why didn’t we just do this a few hours ago before the sun came up? We could have easily driven up to a building and used the truck to climb up.
I remembered the last time I saw our truck, upside down and crushed. Goodbye Blue, you were a good truck.
I could hear the sound of creaking wood, so I spun around on my belly and peered over the edge above Jack’s dumpster. Zombies were being pushed into the fence.
No, no, no, why the fuck didn’t I think of that? They’d pushed a huge and heavy truck over so they could easily push a fence over.
No, stop worrying. It will be alright, it looks like a sturdy fence.
Oh for fuck’s sake, there’s more of them being crammed into this small space. Even the dumpster sounded like it was being crushed by the pressure of so many of them.
Then it happened. It was over in a split second. The fence didn’t just fall over. It shattered outwards when it finally gave way.
The dumpster containing my only friend for thousands of miles was washed away with the swarm. It flowed over the broken fence and into the street behind.
I raised myself up slightly to get a better view.
It’ll be alright. He’ll be fine. The dumpster will get deposited against something solid further down the street, and the swarm will go on its merry fucking way.
Just like we thought it would happen in Blue? Fuck!
Without realising it I’d stood up and was moving around too much, I tried to calm down and not draw attention to myself. Crouching down, I tried to follow the bit of blue bin only just visible, as it flowed away from me amongst the dead.
Come on, just push it into one of those other buildings, it’s really fucking simple you dead mother fuckers.
My eyes followed the dumpster until it was very painfully out of sight.
Moving to the middle of the roof, I stood up straight and slowly spun around in a circle. There was an ocean of zombies as far as I could see. T
his swarm was so much bigger than the one Ali had shown me outside the warehouse.
The feeling of helplessness was all consuming. I fell to my knees and held my head in my hands. It felt like my brain was going to explode.
Then it started to rain.
Fucking brilliant.
I got my waterproof jacket out of my backpack and laid it over me, hugging my bag to my chest.
Wait until the swarm moves on, then go and find Jack, simple. Patience is a mother fucking virtue.
You haven’t killed him he’s fine, you haven’t killed him he’s fine, you haven’t killed him, he’s absolutely fucking fine.
It took almost four hours before the swarm finally passed through. It had been down to stragglers for the past hour, just the really slow ones trying to keep up with the rest of the zombies. When I felt it was safe I dropped down to the floor. In an ideal world I’d have waited until it was dark, but I had to go and find him.
I reached the point in the road where I’d last seen the dumpster. The amount of detritus left by the swarm made it obvious which direction they’d gone. All I had to do was follow the shit left in their wake.
I travelled all the way to the other end of the small town before glimpsing the blue dumpster. It was in the back garden of someone’s home. It had crashed through another wooden fence before coming to rest.
It was lying on its side with its contents strewn across the well kept lawn. There was no sign of Jack, not even his backpack. It looked just like the same dumpster, but all blue dumpsters look the fucking same. This one had some illegible words spray painted on the side.
Had that been on Jack’s? I hadn’t noticed it before but I’d been in a bit of a rush.
Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck some fucking more. I literally stomped my feet like a child. This was so frustrating! I just needed to keep on looking.
The sun went down and I continued throughout the night. The only good thing about these huge swarms is that they seem to hoover up all the zombies as they pass through. The only dead I found were the ones that couldn’t keep up, either missing legs or just too gaunt and wasted away to be any threat to me. They didn’t cause me too many issues when I caved their skulls in with the blunt end of my small axe.
Which I decided was a brilliant acquisition.
That must have been his dumpster. There hadn’t been any others on that side of town, so he must have escaped.
I was so very tired, not quite dead on my feet just yet.
I stopped by Blue to see if I could gain access to some of the food, and maybe get my sleeping bag. I couldn’t get either. The cab had been completely crumpled into the ground. I also hoped, in vain, that Jack might have been waiting for me by our old truck.
I needed something to eat. I’d have to get something before I slept. Earlier on I’d seen two petrol stations with shops, both on the main street. One was half way down and the other on the way out of town. It was starting to get light so I forced myself into a kind of lumbering jog, probably slower than my normal walking pace but I was well and truly knackered.
I made it to the Pony Canyon Shop & Go before the sun had fully made its appearance. The glass in the front door was in tiny shards all over the floor, like it had already been raided. I didn’t hold out much hope. .
I was all set to head to the petrol station on the edge of town, but I was very pleasantly surprised. There were some out of date sandwiches in the fridge, but only by a few days. I filled a plastic bag with chocolate bars, crisps and bottled water. The sandwiches without meat also went in, figuring they would be the least likely to give me food poisoning.
The roof of the petrol station was lower at the back of the building, so I dragged a bench around and used that to help me climb up. I wouldn’t have been able to get up without it. I was so incredibly tired, almost totally drained of every last bit of strength.
I sat on the roof and stared at my bag of food, now that I’d stopped moving I didn’t feel like eating anything.
Was Jack dead? Was he completely eaten or was he just one of the swarm now? His bag wasn’t there, and I doubt an undead Jack would have picked it up before joining the rest of his new undead friends.
Where the fuck was he? If he was eaten they wouldn’t eat his clothes would they? Surely there would have been some trace of him?
He’ll probably just be doing the exact same thing as me. If I keep on wandering around the town we’re bound to bump into each other.
Austin, Nevada is only a small place.
DAY EIGHT
I felt my belly. I didn’t think those cheese sandwiches I’d forced down last night had poisoned me.
Shit, I needed to find a normal watch. The battery on my fitness watch had died again. I checked the time on my phone.
Fucking hell. I’d slept for ten hours straight. I must have been tired. I sat up and looked out over Austin. My mood was lifted slightly because it wasn’t totally engulfed by a deadly swarm of zombies. Now I just needed to find Jack.
I thought I’d wait a couple of hours until it got darker and then head out for a night on the town.
I decided to risk going back into the shop beneath me. The thought of being able to brush my teeth with running water was too tempting. Having a shit in an actual toilet was also very appealing.
Whilst down there I plugged in my watch and phone. The electricity was still working. That fact still amazed me. I was gonna be so pissed off when it was gone.
A California road map was also added to my collection. Let’s hope we get to use it. Let’s hope there is still a we.
I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. One half of my face was a mixture of different shades of purple. Something very big and hard hit me in the face during our tumble in Blue. It was probably Jack’s knee or head.
That’s alright mate, I suppose I can let you off with that one. You were probably unconscious at the time.
There were numerous bruises all down the left side of my body, mostly caused by the flying cans of food. Maybe we shouldn’t have just thrown it all on the back seats. Jo would have been appalled by how untidy we’d kept the truck.
As soon as the sun had gone down I was out, spending a few hours just walking slowly through the streets. I thought about shouting Jack’s name but decided against it. Not yet anyway.
If he’s not doing the same thing as me, he’ll be sat on top of a building watching out for me.
Maybe I should try that as well.
I walked back to Main Street and managed to climb up on top of one of the buildings. I stood for a few hours, just staring out at Austin. I didn’t see anything, not even tumbleweed.
I climbed back down and went back to walking the streets. After spending about two more hours covering pretty much every inch of Austin, shining my torch in every window, I got back on the main road and followed it out of town. I walked for a mile or so until I was stood staring at a graveyard.
At least the dead here were safely six feet under the ground.
Panic was really beginning to set in now. I’d convinced myself I would find him just wandering around looking for me. I decided to do another couple of searches of the town before it got light, so I started back the way I’d come.
The whereabouts of Jack’s backpack was running through my mind. I threw it in the dumpster after I’d thrown him in, so he wasn’t wearing it. That meant he must have picked it up after escaping the dumpster. He was definitely alive then at least. It was the not knowing that was driving me crazy.
He has to be alive, he just has to be.
I did four more laps of the town, still not seeing anything alive or dead, not even animals. If there was anyone left in Austin they were either trapped zombies, unable to get to me, or people that really didn’t want to speak to me.
If I don’t find him soon I’m gonna have to do something stupid.
There was a slight glow on the horizon. I needed to get back to my rooftop home on the Shop & Go.
DAY NINE
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nbsp; I hadn’t slept very well. It was an overcast day and the sun barely made an appearance, so I’d been freezing cold, even wearing four layers of clothes. One of the times the cold had woken me I’d even dug out my gloves and hat, but it didn’t make any difference. Sleeping downstairs in the shop was out of the question. The risk of waking up surrounded by hundreds of zombies, after they’d been forced through the almost non-existent front door, was too great.
I needed to get a new sleeping bag, and a tent.
I repeated my late afternoon ritual of the previous day, using the bathroom in the shop and waiting for it to get dark.
Once the sun had gone down, I did one loop of the town before heading out a mile past the graveyard I’d visited the previous day. I then zigzagged my way back in to town, that way covering as much ground as I possibly could.
Everything looked the same as last night so I guessed no more swarms had come through. Not unless they had been smaller ones with fewer zombies. I reached the other end of town and decided to have another look at where we’d left Blue.
Standing at the top of the hill, I could see the underside of our old truck. Our roll had ended in a small river bed, stopping right at the entrance to the tunnel. We had been pretty lucky really. Kind of.
Tears started to fill my eyes. What the fuck? Was I crying over a vehicle? I sat down and wiped my face.
I’m going to assume those tears were for Jack, and for me. Sort yourself out Chris, you fucking dickhead.
Right, okay then, you are fine, you’re alright.
I took a series of deep breaths. I had time to do a few more searches of the town. Then I’ll do it all again tomorrow night, if I couldn’t find him after that, I was just going to have to move on and meet him in Mountain View.
