A Small World

by R. S. Merritt

  “I’m still going to shoot him in the balls when we’re done with him.” Randy said.

  “Works for me babe. Just make sure you don’t shoot him until we have our feet solidly planted on the mainland. Let’s go find us a boat!” Kelly kissed Randy and headed over for the truck. She was busy trying to figure out how to get in and sit down with an M-16 hanging off her when the radio started emitting static followed by someone asking for the roving patrol to pick up. Griffin looked at Kelly who nodded her head back at him. Griffin told the seaman in the driver’s seat to answer the call.

  “Rover one actual here base. Go ahead.” The seaman said with the button on the side of the mic depressed. Randy was leaning in through the open driver’s window and had his pistol out and pointed at the seaman’s face.

  “Rover one be advised the commander has been KIA. Over. Proceed through checkpoints and then RTB at your earliest. Additional patrols will be sent out soon so please confirm before taking action. Over.”

  “Confirmed base. Rover one to complete patrol then RTB. Other patrols to be sent out. The commander is KIA and suspects are on the loose. Assuming armed and dangerous. Rover one out.”

  The seaman put the mic back in the radio and looked over at Randy.

  “You guys killed the commander?” The seaman asked with a trace of fear tinged with respect.

  “Nope. He was cleaning his gun and it went off. Then his guard came in and noticed the pistol was still dirty, so he tried to clean it and it went off again. It was just a tragic series of accidents. I’m going to jump in the back and keep an eye on you. You need to do what you do and not cause anybody to notice us. Your goal is to get us to a boat and get us away unseen. Once you’ve done that, you’ll notice that you’re still alive. If the boat and us getting away safe doesn’t happen then you’ll have an accident cleaning that same pistol. Make sense?”

  The scared man gulped and shook his head in the affirmative. Randy hopped in the back of the truck and Griffin opened the sliding window for him.

  “What are you thinking now Griff?” Randy asked him.

  “With the base alerted that the commander’s been shot I’d say if we’re not off the island in the next ten or fifteen minutes then it’s probably going to start getting pretty rough.” Griffin answered.

  “You heard the man. Drive.” Kelly said. Emphasizing her words with pokes in the arm to the driver from the barrel of her M-16. He nodded and drove them quickly out of the parking lot.

  Chapter 29: Follow the Rats

  “Eric! Jim! You’re not dead!” Brenda gasped once she recognized the two silhouettes coming towards her who’d just saved her life. Each of the men were busy aiming and firing at the Zombies who continued to pour around the sides of the house. Eric taking the right side while Jim took the left. They took turns shooting the ones coming out the back door and oozing out the windows.

  Wondering if she should try and give them a hug or just keep running, she was pushed along her way by both of them yelling at her to keep running. Eric had given her a funny look as he moved past her. She hadn’t realized why until she was past them. She realized the strange noise she was hearing was her own insane sounding laughter. She sounded like a drunk wicked witch of the east. Chalking it up to extreme relief at not being killed and eaten by Zombies she ran until she got close to the lake. Once she was close enough to see it through the murky woods ahead of her, she turned left to go after the girls.

  Brenda caught up with the girls as the gun fire behind them faded from rapid fire to isolated shots. Brenda yelled for the girls to run and took Zoey from Caitlyn to lead the way. They crashed through the brush and briars until they ran into the next yard over. Another large house on a huge lawn but this one had a long dock featuring a nice sized boat dangling over the water. As Brenda caught sight of the boat, she noticed that it was slowly being lowered into the water. Trying to make out what was going on in the dim light available from the moon she saw a man squatting at the end of the dock. The man was doing something to the boat.

  Yelling erupted from the bushes they’d just beat their way through. Brenda and the girls spun around to see who was behind them.

  “Run! Get to the boat!” Eric yelled at Brenda and the kids. He turned and waited for Jim to get behind him, so he could take his turn taking shots at the Zombies who were following them through the dense wooded area between the homes. They were both running low on ammunition, but hopefully they could get to the boat and out to the middle of the lake where they’d have a chance to regroup, rest and come up with a new plan. At the very least they were a lot less likely to die if they were sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake than they were here.

  They ran hard down the dock. Legs pumping as the screeches of the damned filled the air around them. Reaching the end of the dock they saw the boat was in the water and a man was desperately trying to get the engine to start. Not stopping to figure out who was in the boat Brenda jumped for it and landed in a pile on the deck of the boat with Doreen and Zoey. Seconds later she had the breath knocked out of her when Caitlyn and Myriah landed on the pile with Alice. Unable to dig her way out of the dog pile of her grandchildren Brenda shouted to wait for Eric and Jim. She could hear them on the dock shooting into the oncoming Zombies to keep them off while the girls got in the boat.

  The boat’s engine roared to life. Brenda felt the boat start moving forward. She yelled loudly to check for Eric and Jim.

  “They’re still on the dock!” She heard Caitlyn screaming. Shoving the kids off her and jumping to her feet Brenda swayed as the boat accelerated away from the dock. She recognized the man at the throttles. Without thinking about it she swung her fist as hard as she could at the back of the man’s head. He stumbled off the steering wheel and gave her a confused and guilty look.

  “They would’ve wanted you to get away!” The pastor yelled.

  Without waiting for another word from the man she’d grown to despise Brenda lunged forward and pushed him as hard as she could. He took a few steps back from the push and she hit him again. This time the backs of his legs hit the sides of the boat and he lost his balance and went over the side. Not wasting a second to see where he’d gone in the water Brenda ran back to the controls and pushed the throttle forward to slow them down. She spun the wheel to get them moving back towards the dock.

  She pointed the boat at the sounds of gunfire and Zombies screeching. She yelled for Caitlyn to try and figure out how to turn some lights on. Fumbling around she managed to get the onboard lights on, so she could at least make out the controls. Up ahead she heard Eric screaming at them to stay back followed by some loud splashes. She slowed the boat down guessing that Eric and Jim had jumped for it and would be swimming towards them. She ventured as close to the dock as she dared in the darkness.

  A hand came grasping up out of the water and grabbed the side of the boat. Myriah let out a shriek and jumped to the other side of the boat. Brenda rushed over and confirmed it was Eric. Telling him she was happy to see he’d made it she helped him climb on board. Once he was aboard, they sat there waiting for Jim to show up. After waiting for about fifteen minutes and yelling his name multiple times they accepted that Jim wasn’t going to come swimming out of the darkness.

  They found an emergency kit on board that included a flashlight. Turning it on they confirmed there was no one on the dock except for the Zombies. Zombies lined the entire dock. They were groaning and snarling and staring out into the lake, but the screeching had stopped until the light from the flashlight found them. That managed to get the screeching started up again. Not caring about the Zombies ineffectual screaming Eric took the time to look all around the dock for Jim but there no sign of him.

  A choking wheezy voice drifted up from the other side of the boat asking for a hand. Almost drowned out in the noise from the Zombies, Eric heard the plea for help and pulled the dripping wet pastor aboard. The pastor was the reason Jim was dead. The pastor had been the first out the door when the Zombies
had attacked the house. The pastor had run past the girls to escape the house. He’d deserted all of them at the house and tried to escape with the only boat available. If they’d been a minute later then he’d have probably been gone. If he’d gotten away with the boat, they would’ve all died there in the backyard of that lake house.

  The pastor knelt in the boat gasping for air. His body shook as he kept saying how sorry he was and how thankful he was to Eric for pulling him into the boat. Eric was carefully considering the fact that there were children present. He was considering that if the rat hadn’t run from the sinking ship then the boat would’ve never been lowered into the water fast enough to save them. The pastor was a coward, but Eric was having a hard time condoning the cold-blooded murder of the man just for that. He wanted to kill him and leave the body right there to mark Jim’s grave. He felt it’d be appropriate. After some whispered words with Brenda he decided to let himself cool down before murdering anybody.

  “Go sit up by the bow.” He ordered the pastor in a low, deadly voice. The pastor slunk his way up to the bow. Looking like nothing more than Gollum fawning around Frodo in the Lord of the Rings movies. Eric noticed that. It triggered the memory of him and Jim joking about the people who watched those movies. They’d joked about it then each admitted they’d watched them themselves several times. Jim had taken it one step further and mentioned that he’d seen every single Harry Potter film and his kids didn’t even like watching them.

  Suddenly the fact that the pastor was breathing and moving was too much for Eric to bear. He pulled his pistol out and stopped himself from shooting the man, but he did pistol whip the holy hell out of him. He bashed the cowering pastor in the head and arms and then stood up and kicked him in the body until his leg wouldn’t move anymore. He was crying while he beat the man. He didn’t know if he was crying for Jim or for himself or for the whole world. He thought of his family and all the people who hadn’t made it. The fact that this slithering worm was still alive when people as beautiful as his wife were cold and dead or shambling Zombies filled him with an all-encompassing rage.

  Brenda slowed the boat until it was just idling in the dark water. The giant moon reflected in a brilliant silver on the surface of the inky black lake water. Brenda put her arms around Eric and pulled him in for a hug. She let him cry on her shoulder until his sobs stopped. He pulled away from her with an embarrassed look at the girls. All of whom made a concerted effort to look away from him except for Zoey.

  “Why are you sad?” Zoey asked. She was scared of the man who’d just beaten up the pastor. She was scared he may hurt them all, but she didn’t think so. She thought he just might be a hero. She just wasn’t sure. All she was really sure of was she didn’t like the pastor one bit. He’d always been mean to her. He was always giving them snide looks and talking down to them like they were dogs.

  Eric smiled at her through his tears. He knelt down and gave Zoey a hug and told her not to worry. He was just sad right now about everything that was happening. He told her they were going to get to sleep under the stars tonight. He even promised to help her find the big dipper.

  Meanwhile, Brenda dragged the whimpering pastor to the bow and told him to lay there and keep his stupid mouth shut if he wanted to avoid another beating. His terror of Eric overrode his natural proclivity to whine about every little ache and pain. He lay there shivering from the cold in his soaking wet clothes trying not to move since he was pretty sure a couple of his ribs were busted. As his tongue worked on a tooth that had been shattered when Jim hit him in the face, he silently contemplated revenge.

  Zoey fell asleep in Eric’s arms before he had a chance to show her the big dipper. He fell asleep soon after. Thinking even as he fell asleep that he was going to regret the super awkward sleeping position he’d ended up in thanks to Zoey. She looked so peaceful that he didn’t have the heart to disturb her. His heart melted a little more when he looked over and saw his niece in a similar position on top of Brenda while Doreen was curled up on Caitlyn. Myriah had managed to get her own little place on the bench in the stern. She was the only one who wasn’t going to wake up with a stiff neck.

  Chapter 30: Driving is Better than Walking

  Kyler woke up the next morning with a stiff neck. He opened the door of the F-150 and rolled out to take a leak. He walked to the edge of the clearing they’d parked the truck in the night before. He took care of the call of nature after completing a thorough check of his surroundings. Mike had gotten Kyler good one time by screeching like a Zombie when he’d been him off relieving himself. Kyler had ended up walking back to where Mike was with a big wet stain on the front of his pants. He’d thought Mike may actually die from laughing. The man had turned blue and made some really awful noises he’d laughed so hard at the result of his joke.

  Kyler finished up and walked back to the truck. He wondered idly if he checked so thoroughly because of a fear of the Zombies attacking while he was mid-stream or just to avoid wetting himself again if Mike decided it was time for another early celebration of April Fool’s Day. Either way, he was thankful not to be waking up in a pile of pine straw this morning. The truck was the kind with the extended cab where you could lay the seat back to get a better nap. Kyler had fallen asleep last night so quickly he’d forgotten to do that. Hence the stiff neck. He glanced over at Mike to see how he’d set himself up for the night.

  Mike was still sound asleep. He was obviously enjoying the benefits of sleeping in a truck versus on the ground as well. He’d also managed to put his seat most of the way back before falling asleep, so he was winning the comfortable sleeping game. Due to the need to be able to see the accidents in the road ahead of them and dodge Zombies they’d decided to crash somewhere for the night instead of trying to drive in the dark. In the bright light of morning Kyler wondered if maybe that’d been a mistake. He assumed they’d find out soon enough. For right now the plan was to head east until they hit the ocean.

  Once they hit the ocean, they’d find a boat and head south to try and find a good place to make a permanent home. Neither of them had said it out loud as they didn’t want to jinx it, but they were hoping they’d run into a community that was already surviving together somewhere. Hopefully, this community would welcome them with open arms. It’d be a huge bonus if the open arms welcoming them belonged to women. Mike was a great friend and mentor, but Kyler had no desire to spend the rest of his life living with the guy. Especially not if there was a chance of finding a girl to start a family with and lead a semi-normal life. At least as normal of a life as you could hope for in a world overrun by Zombies. A world where wealth was measured by the amount of non-perishable foods you’d hoarded.

  Kyler got into the truck with a can of spam and a two-liter bottle of Sam’s Club Cola. A meal fit for an apocalyptic king. Not really taking any extra care to be quiet he got everything opened and started snacking while he waited for Mike to wake up. Bored, he reached over and clicked the keys to turn the truck on, so he could scan radio stations. He saw an empty pint bottle of some kind of liquor on the driver’s side floor mat as he adjusted the dial to try and see if anything was broadcasting. That explained why Mike was sleeping so soundly.

  Turning the volume way up on the static Kyler watched Mike to see if that would have an impact. It did. Mikes eyes slowly opened. Kyler was amazed at how red they were. Mike looked around with a complete lack of interest in his surroundings. His eyes slowly started to close again. He suddenly let out a half scream and appeared to try to stand completely up in the cab of the truck. He hit his head and toppled sideways. He yelled again and tried to grab his head but ended up falling over and ripping the rearview mirror off the windshield. Kyler had scrambled backwards and watched the spectacle from the safety of the passenger side.

  “How are you feeling?” He finally asked a moaning Mike.

  “Like ass. How do you think I feel. Why would you wake me up like that? What’s wrong with a poke in the shoulder and a good morning?” Mike mo
ved around to try and get comfortable then suddenly sat up and worked his way out of the truck. He walked about three steps then fell to his knees and puked.

  “Guess I missed the party?” Kyler said to him as he crawled back into the truck. He looked worse than some of the Zombies Kyler had seen. The man was white as a ghost and visibly shaking. Sweat covered his grizzled face.

  “Yeah. You should’ve been there. It was me and a couple pints from that last house and a racoon that sat on our hood last night for like an hour.”

  “A raccoon sat on our hood for an hour last night?” Kyler asked.

  “No. That parts BS. I mostly sat here and drank myself silly in the dark. Sorry. I have issues.”

  “You think?” Kyler said. “It’s gonna be tough to find regular meetings out here to help you out.”

  “I get it. Whatever. Get me some waters out of the back and let’s figure out what we’re doing. Did you hear anything on the radio?”

  Kyler hopped out and grabbed a plastic case half full of generic water bottles. He put those in the floor on his side and handed Mike an unopened one. Mike nodded appreciatively and started guzzling the water down. He knocked the first one out then stuck his hand out for another. Hoping he wasn’t going to just end up puking all their water onto the side of the road Kyler opened another bottle and handed it to him. He shoved the plastic bottle back into the case.