“We’re going to have to move. Someone’s there, but they’re too far away to see or even signal from here with the limited resources we have,” Bradley stated.
“We’ll be killed if we leave.”
“We’ll die of starvation if we stay. Besides, I think I can go out and clear a new spot for us to hide. We can make our way slowly day to day moving from place to place.” Bradley could see that this scared the young woman, but he knew it was the only way they would make it. “I’ll make sure you get out of this. I promise you that.”
Emalynn sat down beside him at the window and pressed her warm body into his. She had fallen in love with him months back, but he explained to her that it couldn’t happen like that. He told her he would keep her safe, and soon she’d find love. Although it wasn’t exactly what she was looking for, she knew that she could trust this great man with her life. “What’s that?” Emalynn pointed off toward a small building with some kind of plant growing out of the window.
Bradley had been so concerned with finding the signal by the hills that he wasn’t even paying attention to the city anymore. That plant wasn’t there yesterday, he was pretty sure. If it had been then it sure wasn’t there the day before. He stared at it for a long time before Emalynn had spoken.
“I think it’s a tomato plant,” she said excitedly. “We were growing them this semester in Ag class.”
“Why would there be a tomato plant sticking out the window of a building?” he asked more to himself than to her. His eyes squinted and his head cocked to the side slightly. “There must be someone there. I don’t really know much about plants, but it seems strange to me that one has survived this long on its own. I need to go there tonight.”
“What if it’s just a coincidence? What if there’s someone over there and they’re hostile? What if you don’t make it back? What if—”
Bradley cut her off by placing his hand on her face and staring into the depths of her brown eyes. With the lack of water, dirt had managed to build up in the wrinkles on his knuckles and under his fingernails. She too was slightly dirty, yet her beauty couldn’t be marred by it.
“I have to go, Emalynn. It could be any of the possibilities you can think of, but it could also be our ticket to salvation. Besides, the fiends are thinning out again, so as long as something else doesn’t happen to stir them up I can make my way through just fine.”
Together, Bradley and Emalynn sat and watched out the window. They split the little food that was left, and the wheels turned in Bradley’s head as he planned his move to the other building. The streets were as clear of the undead as they would be, so he knew he could make it in a straight shot. Now he only hoped there was a way in. When the plant was pulled back into the window, they both smiled. It wasn’t necessarily a sign for help, but it was a sure sign that someone was indeed there.
The sun was rising higher over the city. There was still plenty of sunlight left in the day, yet he wanted to move as soon as he could. Depending on how long it took to make his way there, he might not make it back until late in the afternoon. Without streetlights the town became very dark at night. Bradley knew how well he could see in the dark, but he had no clue about the fiends.
“What do I do if you don’t make it back?” Emalynn asked. She had been crying despite this not being the first time he has set out into the city. Her eyes were red, and her dirty cheeks were still wet with tears even after being wiped away.
“I’ll be back for you. I promise.”
“What if Roger comes out?” The fear in this question froze Bradley in place. He hadn’t thought about Roger. Emalynn panicked as she sensed his hesitation.
“He doesn’t know that I’m leaving. We haven’t seen him in days. If it’ll make you feel safe, you’re welcome to hide anywhere you can. I’ll call for you when I return.”
His chance to move was quickly passing by, yet Emalynn wrapped her arms around him tightly. He could feel her body against his, and all the love she possessed washed over him. He wanted to stay with her forever. There was someone better for her out there than him, and he knew it. Someone younger. He kissed the smooth skin on her forehead, looked into her brown eyes, and said, “I’ll find you a place to live outside of this hell. You’ll find peace and happiness again.”
“I want my peace and happiness with you,” Emalynn replied.
Bradley’s heart felt as if it would beat out of his chest. He loved her, and he couldn’t deny it. This is why he wanted what would be best for her. “Let me find a place you can call home once again. When I get you out of this hell, we’ll have more time to focus on us. Right now, I just want to keep you alive.”
Bradley checked to make sure he had the machete he found on his first trip outside for food, slid out the window, and made his way down the ladder he’d made from curtains and chair legs. Looking back up at Emalynn one last time, he smiled then made his way to the end of the alley. Emalynn pulled the ladder up to the height that Bradley suggested to keep it from being noticed and sat back down by the other window to watch.
As he approached the end of the alley he looked up and down Ocean Drive. No fiends in sight, he thought. Holding his breath, Bradley listened for any sounds. Feeling satisfied that now was the best time he would have to move.
He had made his way through the few blocks around the news building many times in the past on his hunt for food and water, so he felt confident that he could make it the nine blocks to the plant building. Running across the street he ducked into Joe’s Bait Shop. He had checked every building he could for weapons over the past year, but when the fiends attacked most places were cleaned out by people trying to defend themselves.
From the bait shop Bradley could go up through the ceiling and back down into a small clothing store that faced out on the other side of the building. He had cleared much of this store, bringing back clean outfits for Emalynn. It wasn’t long after the attack that their clothes became tattered and faded, even smelling stale and sweaty. Roger never once asked for new clothes, and he was lucky Bradley even brought food for him.
The light was working its way through town quite rapidly now, and he had only made it through one block. He had to pick up the pace if he was going to make it to the plant building. Sliding up to the window facing out the front of the store he could see that the street was clear. Bradley stayed low anyway and reached up to grab the bell that rang when the door opened as he had done many times before. Except this time, he didn’t have to. The piece that held the bell over the top of the door had been bent upwards.
Maybe it was the group living in the plant building. But why would anyone do that? he thought. Shrugging this off, he slowly pushed open the door, checked the street again, and stepped out. He jogged across the street and rolled into some bushes that lined the park. Laying in the grass, he did one final check of the street behind him and stood up to make his way through the large park that would take up most of his journey to the plant building.
As he turned around, he found himself just two feet from a grotesque man looking back at him through one sunken gray eye. The other eye had recently popped, running down his face like a disgusting clear slime. Most of the flesh on its cheeks was missing, providing a look at the brown and yellow teeth in the back of the mouth. The mucousy looking discharge from the eye socket ran into his mouth, making Bradley feel the vomit fighting up his throat. Before he had a chance to react, the dead man standing before him lunged, grabbing Bradley by the shoulder and falling on top of him.
Bradley had taken some martial arts classes just months before the attack. He was taking the classes only to help stay in shape. He hadn’t been taking the classes long enough to be a master by any means, but he did pick up a few things. He jammed his thumb into the fiend’s arm just under the inside of the elbow. A move that causes the arm to bend and go numb, yet it had no effect on the dead man.
Discharge from the eye, along with small bits of decayed flesh, dripped down onto Bradley’s face as he lay on his
back with the dead man on top of him. The moans and gurgles that made their way from the fiend’s throat brought up a stagnant liquid from his stomach. This liquid mixed with the eye discharge plopped into Bradley’s mouth. There was no fight this time. The vomit came right up into his mouth.
As he spit and choked trying to clear his mouth and throat of the vile liquid from his own stomach, the weight was lifted from his body, and he was able to sit up and allow the contents of his stomach to flow freely onto the grass.
His eyes were too watery to see much more than the liquefied silhouettes of everything around him. The fiend seemed to have disappeared. Then the hand grabbed his shoulder again. In one last attempt to break free of his attacker he threw a punch with his right fist which landed right in the fiend’s jaw. Bradley grabbed the machete out of his pack and raised it high, ready to bring it down with all his strength.
“WAIT!”
Bradley froze. His experience told him the fiends couldn’t talk, but he wasn’t ready to let his guard down. He quickly checked his surroundings and wiped his eyes clear. Through still blurry eyes he could see a Hispanic man with short curly black hair and a shaggy goatee. He was laying on the soft grass at Bradley’s feet breathing hard and holding a handout in front of him to protect himself from the long blade. The fiend that attacked him was lying in the grass a few yards away with what appeared to be a lawnmower blade sticking out of his head.
“My name is Guillermo—Guillermo Alvarez. I don’t want any trouble. You looked like you could use a hand,” the man said in between breaths. He stood up and walked over to the inanimate fiend, pulled his blade from the split, oozing skull and turned back to Bradley. “The devils aren’t fast, but it won’t be long before they come out to see what’s going on. We need to move now.”
Bradley was too dazed to argue and followed the strange man through a series of buildings. As they approached what he realized was the plant building he had been heading for it occurred to Bradley that this may be one of any number of other survivors. They approached a truck sitting behind a garage. On the side of the truck was a sticker that advertised Alvarez Landscaping. Bradley had heard of Alvarez.
“You own the landscaping company? You have a great reputation. I lived in an apartment though.” Bradley said, offering a shrug as an apology.
“Yes, but the garage isn’t secure enough. I’ve been hiding out in the small building across the alleyway. I was able to use things from my garage to secure the building and survive. Luckily, I was preparing a garden for a client when the devils came, so I’ve been living off vegetables,” Guillermo stated proudly.
“Devils huh? I’ve been calling them fiends.”
“I suppose what we call them doesn’t matter, but I’ve met many fiends growing up in Mexico. None of them ever tried to eat me. On that note, I guess I’ve never met any devils either.”
Bradley couldn’t help but smile. Chunky vomit and an unidentifiable slimy gunk dripped from his face, but he smiled through it. It felt great to smile like that. He knew too many things were taken for granted before, now the little things, like the opportunity to smile, really do count.
“How many are in your group?” Bradley asked as Guillermo set up a ladder to a second-floor window and signaled for him to climb. He was sure the plant was seen in a window higher than this. This building was only two stories high. He couldn’t even see the roof of this place from the news building.
“It’s just me. I’ve been going crazy up there by myself all this time. You wouldn’t believe how many conversations, even arguments, I’ve gotten into with myself over the past few months.” He leaned closer to Bradley as he spoke, as if to keep anyone else from hearing. “But seriously, I’m not crazy or anything. Is there anyone else with you?”
“I have two others.” Bradley was becoming slightly uncomfortable with his situation and quickly regretted saying there were only two others. “A man with years of combat training,” he lied, “and a teenage girl are both waiting in the news building. I need to go back for them as soon as possible or they’ll come looking for me. Were you the one who fired the gun a few days ago?”
“That wasn’t me, but I heard it. That’s when I realized there may be others out there, so I used the only signal I could think,” Guillermo answered as he climbed the ladder behind Bradley. “I began placing one of my plants on the window hoping that only a living person would be smart enough to notice that it was alive, and someone was here.”
“That’s how I found you, so I suppose it worked.”
Bradley climbed through the window and looked around. He hoped this isn’t really where Guillermo had been living all this time. Most of the inside of this building had been ripped apart, and body parts rotted on the floor.
“Oh, keep moving. To the other side of the building we go. I don’t clean this area. I figure it’s like a security system to keep devi—fiends and intruders away.” Guillermo motioned for him to follow as they walked through a door into an office. A long plank rested on the desk facing the window. Guillermo slid it out the window and set the far end down on a window in the building across the alley.
“I came to this amazing country with dreams of making my family proud. I wanted to go into business, be a big shot in a corner office. Making enough money to move my parents to this great country. Instead my office is in the corner of a two-car garage,” Guillermo said with a laugh.
“You seem to be doing well though. Not many people have their own business, and you’ve been in business for quite a few years if I’m not mistaken. That makes you pretty successful.”
“After arriving here, I got my GED. Then I spent the next 5 years in college to earn a bachelor’s degree in both horticulture and landscaping, with a few business classes thrown in. I’ve worked hard for my business.” Guillermo was obviously very proud, and rightfully so. He turned as he made it through the window on the other side of the alley and motioned for Bradley to follow.
As Bradley slid to the end of the board, he pulled himself through the window in the second building. Guillermo pulled the plank through the window behind them and placed it along the wall on the floor under the window. “Welcome,” his arms outstretched, “to mi casa. Mi casa es su casa, mi amigo.”
Bradley was stunned as he looked around. Guillermo was living in the apartments above a furniture store, and he was living comfortably. He had turned the top two floors into one large apartment. “This is incredible,” was all he could manage to say, taking a wet towel from Guillermo.
“The gunshot came from the south east. I was lucky enough, I suppose, to have seen the flash. On top of a roof, just over there. Maybe three, four-hundred yards away. I used to care for a couple lawns in that area. Most houses are surrounded by five and even six-foot walls, but I guess they won’t cause much of a problem.” Guillermo nodded in the direction of the shot. “I was on the roof. That is where most of my plants are growing. Whoever it was shot a trash can on the street corner just below us.”
“So, they were aiming at something?” Bradley was finally able to take a good look at the man who saved his life.
Guillermo was shorter than Bradley, standing just over five six. He was much more muscular than Bradley had first thought, also. His nose was flat and wide, and the white around his dark brown eyes had a tint of yellow.
His clothes, with the exception of the recent addition of blood and flesh, were clean. He wore light brown Wolverine work boots, relaxed fit blue jeans, and a maroon button up shirt with the American Eagle logo on the pocket.
“Suppose so. Can’t imagine what though. It was one hell of a gunshot, so I assume they may have been protecting themselves from someone.”
“A tank judging by the sound of the shot.” A hint of sarcasm was found in Bradley’s voice. “Do you know exactly what house this shot came from? How long will it take to make it there?”
“Like I said, I estimate it between three and four hundred yards. Our only real obstacles are going to be the devils t
rying to rip us apart. What’re you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I need to make my way back to Emalynn and Roger soon. Can I bring them here?”
“Absolutely. I can go with you and cover your back. I have guns you can use if you’d like. I prefer to cut personally. My arsenal of gardening tools hasn’t let me down yet. There are several pistols and a shotgun I salvaged from some folks who wouldn’t be needing them anymore in that shelf over there.” Guillermo pointed to the corner of the room.
“Thank you, Guillermo.” Bradley walked over to the shelf. Not knowing much about guns, he picked a nice-looking handgun. “I feel like I should tell you something. The ‘well trained man’ back at the news building, well he’s just a lazy big shot in a corner office. He only survived because of the sacrifice of others. I’m glad you’re not that.”
Emalynn sat against the wall looking out the window, her head resting on crossed arm. The gentle breeze swept across the green grass. The birds chirped as they swooped from tree to tree, as if they didn’t have a care in the world. The sun shone bright, as it almost always did.
The black Subaru pulled into the driveway. Every time she saw it the commercials popped into her head. It was a nice car, but she wasn’t too fond of the idea of her parents giving it to her. The parents on the commercials always say they are leaving the Subaru to the kid.
Luckily for her, that didn’t happen. On her sixteenth birthday, her parents bought her blue Jeep Wrangler. It was a few years older, but she loved it. Her parents aren’t loaded, after all, and it was more than she expected.
She never put the top on it. Every weekend she’d pick up Khloe and Amber, her two best friends, and head for the beach. The boys would always stop her and flirt, but she felt she had too much living to do. Boys would only bring drama.
Jared Austin climbed out of the driver’s seat of the Subaru. His black suit made him look official. He was tall, with short brown hair, blue eyes, a lean body, and a very handsome face. Although he wasn’t a big player at the station, he presented himself with the pride of a man who works hard for his family.
Decay | Book 1 | Civilization Page 6
