The Dead Flash Series | Book 1 | Alone

by Crist, J. D.

  Emily turned on the headlights to see a group of men had gathered in front of her. Not the best place to stand, considering she wanted them all dead at this point.

  "There's nowhere for you to go, love. Come with me, take your punishment, and then you can do your duty and get rewarded." Jeff seemed to believe that he was saving her and giving her some kind of gift. Emily smiled, put the SUV in drive, and gave them all the middle finger as she floored it towards them. They jumped out of the way as she sped her way out of the parking lot. Emily began to make her way towards the highway to get further south as quickly as possible. After only a few blocks, she hit a roadblock where vehicles were blocking the road. She was sure that this had not been here when she had driven in the town. She quickly turned around but found that the streets were blocked no matter what direction she went in. At some of the roadblocks were men who blew kisses and cat-called her.

  Emily was out of roads to try, and every turn she made seemed to be another dead end. She was close to the car dealership when she allowed the SUV to slow to a crawl. Sitting on the hood of a car at the front was Jeff. The meaning of his words was now crystal clear. He had made sure she could not leave. Her hands gripped tight around the steering wheel, and she wanted nothing more than to ram him where he sat. She had to think. She had to find a way out. There was a forest line behind the dealership, but it was questionable if she could fit the SUV through the thick trees, and there was no way she could outrun all of them on foot.

  Jeff had now gotten up and was walking towards the SUV. Emily was drawn back to the truck where he had tried to force himself on her. Then to the dirt, where he made her kneel while the others cheered him on. She would not go back, and she was done with this shit. Emily drove the SUV back into the dealership and around the back of the building. There was a chain-link fence, but that was nothing for her. She hit the fence as fast as she could, and the metal tore around her. The trees were close together just as she feared, and they banged against the sides of the SUV. The side mirrors were broken off in a matter of minutes, and she constantly had to turn and hope that she picked the suitable two trees to try to fit between. One mistake would cause her to be on foot, and she needed to be as far away from Jeff and his lackeys as possible.

  Emily let off the gas pedal but only slightly. The loud bang of something putting a new dent in the SUV shook her to the core every few seconds. She kept moving on, though, and after what seemed like hours, she found herself on what looked to be an old logging road. Emily stopped and shut off the engine and headlights. She watched the wood line that she had emerged from for signs that she was being followed. She reached over to the passenger seat and patted Marley on the head. A good boy would not be enough. He had warned her yet again, and because of him, they had managed to escape. The two of them sat for hours, long after the sun had risen, watching, but no one came.

  "I'm sorry, boy, but I can't wait anymore." Emily opened the door and stepped just outside the door. A pregnant woman getting bounced around and then waiting for hours to pee was borderline torture. She didn't wander away from the door but instead squatted right outside of it using the door handle to steady herself. Once back inside, she rolled down the passenger window. Seeming to need it just as much as her, Marley leaped out the window and went on a tree. Emily watched him run back towards her and jump back through the window. Emily rolled up the window quickly and started the engine. She hadn't noticed last night, but she had hurt the SUV with her trek through the woods. She turned up the heat and grabbed the map. She found the dealership and tried to trace her way back to a road somewhere behind it, but there was nothing, nothing but forest.

  "Shit!" Emily yelled as she threw the map into the floorboard. "How can I find a place to hide from assholes like that if I can't even find where I am at?" Emily looked over at Marley, who had a confused puppy face. It was then that it hit her. She was on an unmarked road in the middle of nowhere. It was the perfect location geographically. If she could find some building out here, everything would be ideal. She was complaining because she had found what she was looking for this entire time. "You just think you're so smart," she said as she tussled Marley's ears. "I don't know how much further this rig is going to go, but we will take it as far as we can." With that, she put the SUV in drive and started down the road.

  Chapter 13

  Emily had been driving down the road for only a few minutes. The tree line remained thick on either side, and the sound from the engine was getting louder and louder. She kept pushing the poor SUV forward, though. If the dead were hiding in the trees, this sound would surely draw them out and show her an infestation in the area. She kept darting her eyes back and forth, searching the tree line for any signs of movement. Marley remained vigilant next to her, but he showed no signs of seeing anything either. The further Emily drove, the more apparent it became that this road had not been used in some time. The tracks engraved in the dirt were old and appeared from large machinery, not an ordinary car or truck. The tracks were easy enough to follow, but she hoped they would not just lead her to an empty field where the trees had been harvested.

  Emily did not have long with these thoughts, and all of her attention was drawn back to the engine. It had just made a considerable banging noise, and now the smoke was pouring out from under the hood. She felt it slow to a stop and listened to the hissing sound that had replaced the engine's hum. It was official, the vehicle she and Marley had lived in for months and set up as their home was dead. Not dead like people these days who still walked around but dead who remained still. Emily leaned back against the seat and felt the tears again, and shook it off before it could start. She knew that it could not last forever. It was the reason why she was looking for a new place to live.

  Emily turned and looked at the stuff in the backseat. There was no way she could carry all of it. She would have to take just enough to go on a hike to see if she could find anything. She would return for the rest only if needed. She climbed into the backseat and grabbed the duffle bag. It was the same one she had left her house with months ago. The photo album was the only thing that remained in it at this point. She hadn't been strong enough to look through the pictures since she grabbed it. But it was probably the only way her child would ever know her family. She left the photo album in the bottom and put a change of clothes, several water bottles, a small sack of dog food, and food for herself into the bag. She then climbed back up to the front seat to check for anything she may need. Her crowbar and knife would be going, of course. She also grabbed the map from the floorboard. She then saw the cell phone sitting on the dash, plugged in.

  Emily grabbed the phone and clicked on the screen. It was nine in the morning on December twenty-third. This was about all it was good for anymore. She had not received any new voicemails and had given up trying to make any calls herself. She unlocked the screen and looked through the pictures she had stored. She felt herself wanting to break down, and this was not the time. She turned off the screen and went to return the phone to the dashboard. However, before her hand could let go of the phone, Marley let out a whining sound. Emily looked over to see that he was staring at her and the phone. He had always seen her with it since they had been the truck. Perhaps he had come to depend on it as much as she had as a source of comfort. It did have more pictures that she could share with the baby and a camera to where she could even take the same. Emily unplugged the phone and slid it into the duffle bag. Emily then reached up and removed Joe's lucky bandana from the rearview mirror. She tied it around her head to hold her hair back. It felt like it would allow her to take him with her as she traveled into the unknown.

  "Let's go, boy," Emily stated as she opened the door and climbed out. She waited as Marley jumped out before grabbing the duffle bag and her weapons. With one last look around the truck, she shut the door, confident that she would not be returning to it ever again. Marley was sitting on the dirt, watching her as she turned around. Nothing was nearby that he thought was a danger. Em
ily patted her leg and turned to continue down the dirt road. The cold air whipped around her, and she could not help but miss the warmth of the SUV. She had on a red puffer jacket she had found a few months back, along with a black cotton hat and scarf. The further she walked though, it felt like the cold wind was tearing her warm clothing from her piece by piece. She knew she could not do this forever and had to find someplace at least to warm up. She reached into the duffle bag and pulled out the cell phone. She had been walking for nearly two hours, though it felt much longer. She put the cell phone back and forced herself to look up into the cold wind, something she had been avoiding to save the little bit of feeling she had left in her face.

  Marley had stopped just a few steps ahead of her and was staring at something in the distance. Emily knew that if there was a fight ahead, she did not have the strength, which would be the end of the line for her. She followed Marley's gaze, and a few hundred yards in front of her was something unexplainable. It appeared to be a large silver plate at the end of the road that went further than she could see in either direction. Emily followed the plate up and guessed that it had to be at least four stories tall. This thing did not make any sense. Emily thought about turning around and getting away from it as fast as possible. But the wind ripped through her once more. There was no way she would make it back to the truck, and even if she did, there was nowhere else for her to go.

  Emily looked down to protect her face once more and began to move towards the giant structure. Marley followed, and in a matter of minutes, they were standing close to the massive structure. Emily looked back up to see that there was an opening in the metal plate. It looked as if part of it were swung open like a gate, and it was open enough to drive a semi through. Emily looked through the opening and saw that the plate was about five feet thick. On the other side, there was a gap, about twenty feet, and then a second plate that was also open. Emily looked down at Marley and hoped that the dog genius was ready for what they may find inside. Emily was careful to watch all around her as she made her way through the opening. The area in between the plates appeared to be empty, and she made her way to the second opening with ease.

  The giant plates seemed to block most of the harsh winter winds, and she felt herself moving slightly easier. Emily peered through the second opening and was taken back by what she saw inside. It appeared to be a large town. From where she stood, she could see several houses and business-type buildings inside. A couple of buildings were started and not finished, and some looked like they had collapsed. She stood silent, watching for signs of movement or life inside the walls. All of the windows were dark, and after several minutes she saw no one. Emily moved inside the plate and saw a staircase leading up to the top of the plate. Perhaps the view from up there would give a better idea of what this place was. Emily made her way slowly up the staircase, keeping a sideways eye on the town beside her.

  She finally reached the top and saw that a platform was built out of the same material to attached the two metal plates. The plates continued up from the platform and were about chest high on her. The wind was back to its tricks up here but was easier to hide from if she stayed close to the plates. Emily pulled her head up over the side and looked into the town. She could not help but gasp at the sight of what she saw below. It was much larger than she could have ever expected. She saw hundreds of buildings lining many streets, a two-story building with a red cross on the front of it that she could only assume was a hospital, and so many other things that just made no sense here. She pulled her gaze away and made her way across the platform, and looked back out into the world. No matter where she looked, she saw only more forest. Perhaps she would see more once the cold winds died down, but for today, she felt safe that no dangers were coming for her.

  Emily slid back behind the plate and backed out of the wind. She saw that Marley was making his way down the platform but was now frozen and growling at something. Emily gripped her crowbar and moved to follow him. The closer she got to Marley, a structure came into view in the distance with a light shining through a small window. Emily's first thought was of the structure's warmth, and then a glance down at Marley reminded her of the danger. There was probably someone in there, someone like Jeff, waiting to make her living hell even worse. Holding up here would make sense with the likely supplies below and a low chance of the dead finding their way up here. This was precisely what she and her child needed. She could not run because there might be someone here. She had to try. Emily tightened her grip on the crowbar and began to close the distance between her and the structure.

  Emily moved as quietly and quickly towards the structure as she could and peered through the window. It appeared to be some kind of a workstation. There was a metal desk lining a section of the wall with a computer and several file folders. There was also a microphone set up at the station and some sort of control panel. There was a computer chair at the desk, but it was empty. Emily moved her eyes to the remaining half of the small structure and saw a table set up with two chairs and a sofa. In one of the chairs was a man. He was slumped over and appeared to have been this way for some time. He was no longer among the living, but the living dead was still a strong possibility.

  Emily made her way towards the door and slowly opened it. The door opened without a sound, and Emily felt the warm air wash over her. She and Marley made their way into the room, and she worked hard to hold down the little bit of food that remained in her stomach. Emily decided to leave the door open to allow the smell to escape the small space. The corpse remained in the same position, and Emily looked over him carefully from a distance. He was in a suit, nicer than one she had seen anywhere but in the movies. He was probably in his early fifties, from what she could tell. There were no signs that he was living here, only that this was the last place he was alive. Emily took a few steps closer, this time trying to make as much noise as she could. The corpse remained still, and the closer she got, she felt confident that it would stay this way. The man had a wound on his head, probably done by the handgun on the floor next to him. His brain was already damaged, and that's what the dead needed to be able to walk around.

  Emily used her crowbar and poked the corpse a few times to be extra sure, but it remained still. Emily saw that under him was a thought journal of some sort. She thought of reaching under him for it but just did not have the stomach for that quite yet. Instead, she turned her attention towards the desk. The computer had a symbol flashing on the screen of an eagle holding a rolled-up scroll tied with an orange bow. Emily had never seen this symbol before but was sure it was the symbol for whatever this place was. The folders contained documents about the wall itself. Emily did not have time to read them right now, so instead, she set them aside and resolved to read them later.

  She then made her way to the control box. There was a standard keypad in its center and several buttons on either side that Emily had no idea what they were. Across the top was an LED screen that flashed "Input Command." Emily looked over the buttons for a few more minutes and gave up trying to figure out what they did by just staring at them. She felt exhausted from her cold walk, and the warm air felt as if it were drawing her into a deep sleep. She turned back towards the small sofa and once again saw the dead man in the chair. She was not going to rest in the same room as a corpse and this awful smell. Emily placed her crowbar on the table and grabbed the corpse by the arms. Still not trusting that he was laid to rest, she observed him as she dragged him from his chair out the door. She pulled him a reasonable distance from the structure but could not escape the fear that he could still move at any moment.

  Emily pulled her hunting knife from her belt and knelt beside the corpse. She slid the blade down to the hilt between the eyes. Now she felt confident that this thing would not move. Emily placed her hand on his chest to help steady herself as she stood up. Tucked in his jacket was something hard and rectangular. Emily paused to open his jacket and see what laid inside. Inside was a hardcover book, and a quick flip through
the pages told her it was a handwritten journal. Emily stood and tucked the book under her arm while she returned the knife to her belt. She then carried the book back inside and was surprised to find that the smell was almost gone. Emily felt as if she could live with what remained and shut the door behind her. Once the door was closed, she decided to lock it to be safe. The man may look like he ended it himself, but she was not going to risk that there was a crazy person out there waiting for a fresh kill.

  Emily then looked at the book once again. It was very thick, and filling every page was writing and a few drawings. However, Emily did not have the mental strength to comprehend any of it right now. She tossed the book on the table and picked her crowbar back up. She set the crowbar on the floor in front of the couch and then stretched out herself. Marley seemed to know that there was not enough room for him to join her, especially in her pregnant state. Instead, he laid down on the floor in front of the door. Emily remembered him laying in the same position after she was bitten. He had kept her safe even though she should not have been able to be saved. Emily reached up and felt the scar on her shoulder, something she had not done in months. She still did not understand how she had survived but looked down at her baby belly. She didn't care at this point, and she had a reason to live now.

  The warm air wrapped her in an invisible blanket, and Emily could feel her eyes growing heavier. She tried to resolve that this would only be a short nap. She had so much to do after all. However, before she could even make the promise to herself, her eyes had fully closed, and she had drifted off to a night of deep sleep. A sleep where the dead stayed still, her family was around and consistently trying to touch her belly. A life where she carried a picture of ultrasound around in her purse. It was how she wanted her life to be if the flash had never happened. She even cut Chad out of her dream life. He may be the father of the baby, but it was her child and her dream life. This sleep provided the peace Emily needed to rest.