The Road Trip At The End (Book 2): Border

by Wood, J N

  ‘Yeah I’m here,’ he said from behind me.

  ‘Are you gonna go and find Ali?’

  ‘Yes, of course I am,’ he quickly replied.

  ‘Good, can you take Jack and leave him at the first medical tent you go to?’

  ‘Yeah sure.’

  ‘No I’m alright,’ Jack said.

  ‘You can search for Michael and Shannon while you’re there,’ I said to him. ‘And once you’re sorted, you can search the rest of the tents.’

  ‘Okay. I can do that,’ he said, slowly nodding his head.

  ‘Good. You’ve got quite a big cut on the bridge of your nose as well.’

  Jack reached up and carefully ran his finger up and down his nose.

  ‘Meet back here in an hour?’ I suggested. ‘You too Pete. If that’s okay? I’d like to know how Ali is doing.’

  ‘Yeah that’s fine,’ Pete said.

  Jack checked his watch. ‘Yes okay, one hour from now.’

  ‘What time is it?’ I asked him.

  ‘Twenty past eight. Where are you going?’

  ‘I’m gonna try and find the rest of the Green Team. See if they know anything.’

  ‘One hour,’ Jack said, turning around.

  Pete watched Jack take a few steps away, before turning back to me. He grabbed and then shook my hand. ‘Thank you Chris.’

  I forced a tight smile. ‘Okay Pete. See ya soon yeah?’

  He turned and jogged after Jack.

  ‘I’ll help you Chris,’ Roy said after stepping by my side. ‘If you don’t mind?’

  ‘Yeah cheers. Could do with the company.’

  We walked towards the area I’d seen the Green Team. The first person I noticed was the guy with the massive broad sword. He was talking to the woman who had led the Green Team out. They were both keeping their voices low, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying until we were stood a few feet away from them.

  Braveheart pointed to the fence behind him. ‘This needs to be the outer fence. Look at all the fencing materials around us. Build another fence on the other side of the road. That can be the new inner fence.’

  ‘That will only give us forty feet between the two fences,’ the woman said.

  Braveheart looked incensed. ‘We have no fucking choice. You saw what it’s like out there. What do you want us to do? Ask them if they want to go back out there,’ he said, pointing to the very small group of his fellow Green Team members. They all looked exhausted, bloody, and dishevelled.

  Michael and Shannon weren’t amongst them.

  ‘Him, ask him. He was out there,’ Braveheart said. I looked back to see them staring at me, Braveheart pointing directly at me.

  ‘Erm…yeah,’ I said. ‘Every single thing he said is correct.’

  The woman continued to stare at me.

  ‘We’re looking for our friends,’ I told them. ‘They’re in Green Team. Michael and Shannon Presley. Both black, early thirties. She was wearing a baseball cap, or maybe she wasn’t. Fuck, I can’t remember. She’s got curly black hair, about five foot two or three. He’s about five ten, short black hair, and clean shaven. No beard.’

  ‘Sorry friend,’ Braveheart replied, sounding genuinely apologetic. ‘I don’t really know many names here. Hey, how is the girl you got out with?’

  ‘Don’t know yet, her cousin has gone to look for her.’ I looked to the woman. ‘How about you? Have you seen them? Michael and Shannon.’

  She shook her head. ‘Sorry, don’t recognise the names.’

  ‘We only got here yesterday,’ I muttered. ‘You won’t know the names.’

  ‘Hey,’ a man said as he walked towards us. ‘I think I remember your friends. I noticed the guy didn’t have a beard,’ he said, stroking his own facial hair. ‘Don’t see many guys without some kind of beard nowadays.’

  He must have been one of the members of the Green Team Sweepers. His clothes were splattered in zombie blood.

  ‘Do you know where they are?’ I asked.

  ‘They were there at the beginning, when we were lined up and waiting. I’d been speaking to them as we walked over towards the fence. Nice folks. I’ve not seen them since.’ He looked back to the other members of his group. ‘I’ll ask everyone else.’ He paused to look back at us. ‘Come on, you can talk to them.’

  One of the other Green Team members also remembered them. She was sat on the ground, nursing an injured arm.

  ‘I think they both got brought back here quite early on,’ she informed us. ‘Jerry and Mark carried them back.’

  ‘Were they badly injured?’ I asked. ‘Do you know where they took them? Where’s Jerry and Mark?’

  ‘Jerry and Mark died getting some of the injured back here,’ the first man said. ‘Absolute fucking waste of life.’ He glanced over to the woman still arguing with Braveheart. ‘The asshole bosses knew how many of the dead were out there. It was so fucking stupid.’

  ‘So my friends will be in a medical tent?’ I asked them both.

  Another member of the dishevelled group stepped forward, a tall muscular woman, her bare arms were covered in cuts. ‘Or over there,’ she said, pointing to the front lawn of a house, over on the other side of the road. ‘That’s where we laid out the ones in our team who didn’t make it.’

  I stared at the line of bodies.

  ‘Hey dude,’ the muscle bound woman said. ‘Your face is pretty fucked up. You had it checked out?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I simply said, still staring at the bodies. Sheets covered each one, but the shape of a human underneath was unmistakable.

  I took a very slow walk across the road, dreading what I was about to do.

  ‘I’m right behind you Chris,’ Roy said.

  There were twenty, maybe twenty five bodies in a line across the lawn, all lying on their backs. I dropped my bat and crouched down by the first. I tried to pull back the sheet, but it was tucked under the head, so I had to yank it out before revealing the face. It was a white woman. She looked young, far too young. I made sure to tuck the sheet back under her.

  I slowly moved along the line, trying to be as respectful as possible.

  Please don’t be here. Just please. Not Gee and them.

  As I reached the tenth body, and stood looking down at the white, blood stained bed sheet, I think I’d known it was her.

  I pulled the sheet back to reveal Shannon’s beautiful face. I couldn’t stop the strained low moan escape my mouth. An excruciatingly painful tightness seemed to grip my insides.

  She’d been wearing her baseball cap backwards. It wasn’t sat on her head properly because its peak was caught under the back of her hair. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get it to stay on. It just kept popping off to fall back onto the grass. My tears were now heavily flowing.

  ‘Chris,’ Roy softly said from behind me. ‘Just take it off. She looks better without it.’

  I looked down at her for a long moment, and then gently pulled the cap out from under her hair. I folded it and put it my jeans pocket. After pulling the sheet back over her, being careful not to pull it too tight, I stood and moved onto the next body.

  It wasn’t Michael.

  Please let Mikey Boy be okay. He’s in one of the medical tents getting fixed up. Jack will have found him by now.

  I wiped away the new flow of tears from my face and bent down to pull back the next sheet. Michael’s eyes stared up to the sky.

  I fell backwards to sit on the grass, bringing my hands up to cover my face.

  After a few seconds, I said, ‘No,’ and stood back up. I walked over to the body next to Shannon and bent down to grab it by the shoulders, stopping myself when I realised I was about to start dragging somebody. Looking over to Roy, I said, ‘I need a hand, could you help me please?’

  ‘What do you need? What are you trying to do?’ he asked.

  I loudly sniffed and wiped my face. ‘They need to be together. I’m just gonna swap this person with Michael.’

  If Roy was hesitant about touching a dea
d body, he didn’t show it. He immediately stepped to the other end of the person, and helped me carry it out of the way.

  We walked over to Michael. ‘Be careful with him please,’ I said.

  ‘Yes, don’t worry about that,’ he replied. ‘Let’s put him next to his wife.’

  We very gently laid him down next to Shannon, so their arms were touching. Then we placed the other body in the space Michael had occupied. I walked back over to sit by my friends’ bodies.

  Roy sat next to me.

  ‘Fuck’s sake,’ I said, wiping my face with my sleeve. ‘I’ve only known them for a few days.’

  Roy patted me on the shoulder, before placing his hand back onto his knee. ‘They say traumatic situations can bring people closer together, and the last few weeks have been kind of traumatic. You shouldn’t be ashamed of your emotions.’

  We sat in silence for a long time, the night drawing in around us. The solar lights on the fence came on at some point. Hundreds of people still busied themselves in front of us, rushing up and down the road alongside the fence. The noisy hissing of the dead could still be heard from the other side.

  ‘Chris,’ Roy said. ‘It’s nine fifteen. We should go back and meet Jack and Pete.’

  ‘Yeah okay. I really don’t want to tell Jack.’

  ‘I don’t think he’ll like it, but I can tell him if you want.’

  ‘No it’s fine Roy,’ I sighed. ‘Thank you, but I’ll tell him.’

  We stood up and started back, before I paused. ‘Could you do me a favour Roy?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Could you ask the guys from Green Team if they know what’s happening with them?’ I pointed towards the line of bodies. ‘I don’t trust myself not to cry. Don’t want to embarrass myself any further.’

  ‘Of course. I’ll be back in two seconds.’

  Roy walked across the road. I looked past the fallen bodies of Green Team, and noticed more bodies on another lawn further up the street. I spun around to look down H Street. More covered bodies filled another lawn.

  I was so incredibly angry, I was fucking livid. Like the guy in Green Team had said, this whole thing had been so fucking stupid. A ridiculous waste of life. Like enough people hadn’t died already.

  Roy was coming back, trying to avoid the many people ferrying equipment.

  ‘They said they aren’t sure. But nothing will be happening tonight.’

  We made our way back to the meeting place. I was worrying about what they were gonna tell me about Ali. Jack and Pete were already there, waiting for us. We walked past Caleb and some of my fellow Blue Team Sweepers. There were nine or ten of them remonstrating with him. There was a lot of aggressive pointing and arm swinging. Caleb cowered away from them, slowly stepping backwards.

  I hope they beat the shit out of him.

  ‘Ali is going to be okay,’ Pete excitedly told us. ‘She lost a lot of blood but she’s going to be fine. I donated some of mine.’ He held out his arm, showing me a cotton pad taped to the inside. ‘I need to go and find Sandra and Theo, get them to donate as well. Okay?’

  ‘Yeah. Which tent is she in?’

  ‘Number four.’ With a quick nod, he turned and ran off in the direction of our house.

  ‘Did you find them?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Yes we did.’ I took a breath to steady myself. ‘Sorry Jack, but they both died.’

  Jack’s face dropped. He brought his hand up and dragged it roughly through his hair, scraping across his scalp. ‘No,’ he whispered. ‘No, no, no.’

  ‘They got injured quite early on I think,’ I told him. ‘They were brought back. Their bodies are back there,’ I said, pointing behind us. ‘Do you want to see them?’

  He slowly shook his head, continuing to draw his hand through his hair. ‘I need to get back to Beth.’ He turned to walk away but stopped, his head bowed, avoiding eye contact. ‘Erm…we saw Gee’s friend, Matis. The medics think he is going to be alright.’

  ‘Okay, that’s good news. Roy will go back with you.’

  ‘No, I’m fine.’ With his head still down, he walked away.

  ‘I’ll make sure he gets back okay,’ Roy said to me.

  ‘Cheers Roy.’

  I watched them walk around Caleb and the angry members of Blue Team. I made my way towards Caleb.

  ‘Hey Caleb,’ I called out to him, interrupting the argument. ‘Where is your boss? Is it Amber? I’m assuming this fucking plan was her idea?’

  Caleb looked back at me with disdain. ‘She’s dead.’

  ‘Good, means I don’t have to kill her.’ I turned and started to walk away.

  ‘Hey,’ Caleb said. ‘Hey Brit.’

  I stopped and looked over my shoulder.

  ‘Amber never meant for anyone to die,’ he said. ‘We didn’t want anyone to get hurt.’

  ‘Fuck off Caleb.’ I carried on walking.

  Sandra and Theo were stood around Ali’s bed. I was at the back of the medical tent, stepping from right to left, trying to see through everyone rushing around inside. I eventually caught a glimpse of Ali’s face. She was smiling, and looked like she was joking around with her big sister. I left them to it.

  It took me longer than it should have done to get back to the house. I was completely drained of all energy. I felt empty, and not just because I’d hardly eaten anything all day.

  DAY TWENTY

  Chapter 20: Weak

  A loud bang woke me up with a jolt. I thought it sounded like a gunshot. I wiped at my eyes and tried to blink away the sleep. Nothing stirred in the room. There were still people asleep in the beds around me, so it must have been early. I got up anyway, spotting Jack and Beth crammed into one of the bottom bunks as I climbed down. I passed Roy as I left, in a bed by the door.

  When I’d made it back to the very quiet house the previous night, I headed straight for the bathroom. My face in the mirror had been a series of bright red slashes and scratches. Some of my shrapnel wounds had been made torn and stretched open. I spent a long time in the shower, the freezing water not bothering me in the slightest. I could have stood there all night.

  That morning however, I had a very quick, freezing cold shower. I hadn’t been in the mood for a repeat of the previous night.

  The scratches on my face looked even worse in the morning, trying to scrub it clean in the shower must have opened them up again.

  Fuck it. I’m used to having a messed up face now.

  I dressed in the clothes the medic had given me, and went outside using the front door. I sat myself down on the front step and breathed in the cold air. It tasted of blood. I wasn’t sure if that was actually in the air, or just in my mouth. I closed my eyes and put my fingers in my ears, trying to block out the hissing.

  A tap on my shoulder startled me. I opened my eyes to see Sandra smiling down at me. I quickly dropped my hands down to my knees.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘The hissing?’

  ‘Yeah. Annoying isn’t it? Is Ali okay?’

  Her smile stretched even further across her face. ‘She’s fine. Stand up for a second please Chris.’

  ‘Okay.’ I painfully rose to my feet, my legs feeling every bit of the running around from the day before.

  Sandra stepped closer, kissed me on the cheek, and wrapped her arms around me. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.’

  ‘That’s okay, don’t worry about it.’

  She stepped back. ‘Chris, it’s not just okay. I will forever be in your debt. You saved my little sister’s life. But right now I have to sleep. The chair by Ali’s bed wasn’t very comfortable.’ She stopped on the way to the front door, and turned back to me. ‘Pete told me about Gee. I’m really sorry. Did you find Michael and Shannon?’

  I had to look away from her hopeful eyes. ‘Yeah, but they died. We found their bodies.’

  ‘Oh Chris, that’s awful.’ She hugged me again. I didn’t want the embrace to end.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I said, gent
ly patting her on the back. ‘You must be tired. Go and see your kids and try and get some sleep.’

  She looked at me with tear filled eyes. ‘Those two things don’t really go hand in hand, but I’ll try. Why don’t you go and see Ali. She’d love to see you. She’s in medical tent number four.’

  I decided to check on Michael and Shannon on my way to visiting Ali. As I got closer to H Street, it sounded like there was a lot going on down there.

  Aren’t we supposed to be keeping extra quiet now the dead are so close?

  At the end of 11th Street it looked like something was being constructed. Somebody must have listened to Braveheart’s idea.

  I made it to the end of the street and stood on one of the front lawns. A new fence was indeed being hastily built. It seemed H Street would soon be within the new no man’s land, and no longer be walkable.

  The Fencers must have been up all night.

  A huge framework of scaffolding had been erected, and hundreds of people were still busy with its construction. Metal panelling and wooden planks were piled up on H Street. I walked back down to the lawn where I’d found Michael and Shannon. The bodies were still there. A large wooden cart sat on the grass next to them. A man sat on the edge of the cart, smoking a cigarette.

  I walked up to him, surprised to find he wasn’t smoking weed. ‘Any idea what’s happening with the people that died yet?’ I asked.

  ‘Yeah, I’m just waiting for someone. Then we’re taking them over to the harbour for the cremation. It’ll be for everyone that died, including the people who were killed by the psychopaths in town. Going to be at midday I believe. They’ll be sending out runners to spread the word.’

  ‘How many people were shot by the gunmen?’

  ‘I don’t know, not doing them. I’m only working around here this morning. Heard it was hundreds though.’

  ‘Anybody know why they did it?’ I asked him.

  He shrugged and exhaled smoke. ‘Nobody that’s talking. Someone will know.’ He took a quick glance around us. ‘I think it was some of those religious zealots. The ones who thought killing zombies was against God’s will and all that.’