by Olah, Jeff
Randy turned back to the CD player and reached for the eject button. “Uh, I just thought you might like the song. It didn’t mean anything.”
Gil broke. He began to laugh as he shook his head and slapped the door with his right hand. “Boy, you should see your face.”
“What … are you—”
Gil threw his head back and started to laugh. “I swear son, how long have you and I known one another?”
Randy was at a loss. He could see that his friend was having fun with him, but didn’t quite understand his angle. So instead of trying to figure it out, he decided to revert back to what he knew, what had gotten him this far in life, and what Gil had probably expected from the start. “Way too long.”
And as the chorus broke through Randy reached for the controls, cranked the volume, and turned back to his friend. “Way too long.”
Mayor Gil nodded his head, his laughter transitioning to a knowing grin. He tapped at the door, keeping beat with the song. “Thought I had you there for a minute.”
Randy now bobbed his head as the hook started up, turning to peer out his window. “Almost, but I’m not that gullible and you aren’t nearly that good.”
“The look on your face was telling a different story.”
“Yeah,” Randy said, “I was just playing along, you know, trying to make you feel better about losing that boot back there.”
Mayor Gil had turned and was looking through the passenger window. He tilted his head to the right and pulled his hat back down. “Looks like we might have a bit of company.”
Randy sat forward, lowered the volume, and leaned into the steering wheel. “What is it?”
“Looks like a few dozen, maybe more, probably a half mile out.”
“Hang tight a second.” Randy opened his door and stepped out. He glanced back in the direction they’d come and then moved around the back of the car. What Gil had described was only a fraction of what was out there, not even a quarter. There was probably closer to a hundred, but from where he stood he couldn’t see where the horde began or where it ended.
Back in the driver’s seat, Randy motioned out through the windshield. “Well, he wasn’t lying.”
“Who?”
“The guy from the radio. What did he say, a few hundred?”
“I don’t rightly recall, too many other things all comin’ at us at once back there.”
“He said that there were a few hundred, that he was waiting to release them on Harbor Crest if Mason didn’t do what he asked.”
“Yes, I do remember that. But what does it matter now? As long as everyone got out, and as long as we’re okay, then we got other things that need tendin’ to.”
Randy buckled himself in and closed the glove box. “That’s the problem, that horde isn’t pointed toward Harbor Crest, it’s pointed toward the highway. If we don’t get out past this thing, get to the others, it may not matter who got out. Right now our friends, everyone we know, every single person we care about is walking right toward a couple hundred Feeders.”
Gil continued to stare out the window. “Okay, this is your bread and butter son. Whatta we do?”
“For starters, we’re gonna be trying to outrun the tail end of the horde in a car with two flats, and that’s not even where our problems start. We also have a fuel cell that’s nearly empty and also that boot problem of yours.”
Gil shook his head. “I’m never livin’ that one down, am I?”
Randy powered off the music and shifted the car into drive. “There’s just too many, we can’t go through and going the back way won’t get us to Highway One in time. We’re gonna have to try something that’s probably not going to work.”
“Old Sawmill Road?”
Randy nodded. “It’ll take us right past Lincoln’s old compound, right by the man who started all of this … and unarmed. But we don’t really have any other choice, not if we want to save our friends.”
33
Mason checked the magazine, slammed it back into the nine millimeter, and handed it to Ava. “You’ve got four, make them count.”
“Uh …”
He looked out over the growing horde, back along the road stretched out before them, and then again to Ava. It was by far the largest grouping of Feeders that he had ever seen in any one spot. Their numbers even rivaled those of the crowds in the city, but because of the terrain they were packed tighter together, their mass blotting out the world beyond. “We can stay ahead of them if we keep a decent pace. A quick jog until we get all of them behind us. You good?”
Ava nodded but didn’t respond. Her face was a lighter shade and her lips were somewhere between a hazy pink and a pale grey. She looked less injured than anxious, and hadn’t commented on her left side in the last hour.
That was good. The enormity of the situation may just be what kept them alive. No time to focus on anything but staying one step ahead of the dead.
“Okay, I want you to stay on my heels until I tell you to go. Keep the gun ready, but pointed at the ground.”
Ava gave him a look that said this wasn’t her first time managing a weapon, not by a long shot. “Yeah, I get it.”
He paused for a second, but then continued. “When I tell you to run, I want you to go around on my left, stay near the side of the road, and do not stop. If I don’t make it, just keep going, get to the bridge.”
Ava looked away. Her eyes blinking as she bit at the corner of her lip. “I can’t go without you, I won’t.”
“Listen to me, this isn’t a debate. This is about you getting back to your mom and your dad and your brother. There isn’t anything else that matters. I made your mother a promise. I told her that you were coming back home, and that you we’re going to be fine. I gave my word, and that’s all I have left in this world. I don’t break my promises—you should know that.”
Ava moved to him and hugged him. She kissed his cheek and forced a weak smile. “I know. I know you’ll get us back, both of us.”
He looked back down the road, the massive horde continuing to multiply, the earth seeming to tremble under its weight. “Just stay close until I tell you to go.”
“I will.”
Mason looked her in the eyes. “And just to be clear, if this goes bad, you save yourself; you do what you know how to do to survive. Got it?”
Ava nodded, but again avoided looking at him. “Okay, yes. I understand.”
They broke into a slow jog, Mason watching the crowd as it approached the road ahead. There was a group out front, probably two to three dozen, they were a few paces ahead of the rest and had already spotted them.
“Okay,” Mason said, now starting to run, “stay close.”
Ava was on his heels just like he’d asked, so close he could hear her shoes beating the pavement. She didn’t speak, but even with her injury, he knew she’d have no problem keeping up.
Nearing the center of the massive crowd, Mason started toward the left edge of the road. Ava followed. He looked to his right just to get a sense of how close it was going to be and quickly began to realize this was going to be more than a footrace. He could still get Ava to the other side, although he was going to have to change the initial plan.
“MASON!” Ava had seen it too.
There was a second arm of the horde that had broken off and had already reached the road fifty yards up. They had turned and were coming back for Mason and Ava, and within seconds would have them cut off from the front.
He still ran, but slowed just a bit. Mason made room for Ava to slide in beside him, and then motioned toward the crowd ahead. “Do exactly what I say and we’ll get out of this.”
“Okay.”
She answered fast, he couldn’t tell if she knew he was lying. “Stay on this side, near the edge and keep going, run as fast as you can. You’ll get past them, no problem.”
“And you?”
“JUST GO AVA, RIGHT NOW!” There wasn’t time for discussion.
Mason drifted right, but watched over his
shoulder as Ava continued on. Now in a full sprint, her upper body was tilted forward and her legs were just a blur. She looked back at him and then disappeared behind the wall of slow moving Feeders.
Okay, here we go.
A few of those near the opposite side of the road had turned and followed Ava. There was no way they’d catch her, but they could pose a problem if he weren’t able to get free of his current situation. He gave a count of five, cut hard to the right once more, and began to slow.
“HEY, LET’S GO, OVER HERE. COME ON, I GUARANTEE I TASTE BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE OUT THERE.”
Those to his right and to his left continued their slow march toward him, and now he also had the attention of the rest of the horde as they stumbled in from behind.
“THAT’S RIGHT, KEEP COMING!”
Mason took in a deep breath through his nose and waited. He had an idea of how far Ava could have gotten, and just wanted to give her another few seconds. He had originally given himself a fifty percent chance of pulling this off, although now it appeared that this may just work.
Time to go.
Mason took one last glance around, just to get a feel for where he may run into trouble, and then bolted for the opening he had cleared for Ava. He made the side of the road, but then as he turned, he saw his mistake.
The smaller group that followed Ava had turned back, probably when he shouted for them. And while it helped her get to safety, it now looked like it could be his undoing.
Mason pivoted off his left foot and turned up the heat. He ducked under the hands of a tall male Feeder and then left with no other option, drove his shoulder into a female who was missing her right arm, the collision sending him toward another small group and off his feet.
The side of the road was hard packed dirt and just as unforgiving as it appeared. Mason’s left shoulder touched down first, the impact sending a jolt of pain through his collar bone and into his neck. He rolled hard onto his back and instinctively brought his knees into his chest.
The first Feeder, a heavy-set female in a thick winter coat, dropped down on top of him. He grabbed at the arms of her jacket and held her face away from his as he looked left and then right. Another pair of Feeders were close behind and he needed to be somewhere else before they joined the fight.
With his right knee still between him and the woman, and her jaw snapping only a few inches from his throat, he straightened his left leg, pushed her in the same direction, and came in over her. It was a move he’d learned from Travis, and he told himself that if he was lucky enough to get free, he would thank his friend for saving his life.
Mason pinned the woman to the ground and quickly pushed to his feet. But as soon as he did, the pair over his right shoulder forced him back down. There was a short male wearing only a blood-soaked pair of slacks and another female who looked like she must have been recently turned. Her only defect, a hole in the middle of her neck.
The male hit him first but was pushed aside, as the more aggressive woman with the hole in her neck clawed her way up Mason’s back. She pulled at the back of his shirt, her jagged nails digging into his skin. He tucked his arms into his chest and dropped his right shoulder, attempting to roll away.
No luck, she now had the back of his arm in her hand and was moving toward his head. He could feel her warm breath and hear the grinding of her teeth as she inched toward the wound behind his left ear.
Again he pulled his arm under him and fought to twist away, but again her weight kept him pinned face-down in the dirt. The woman pushed into him, her jaw snapping and her lips touching the back of his ear.
There was an explosion as the woman dropped her head onto the back of his, a warm trail of blood tracing a line from below his ear, down into the fold of his neck. He could feel her teeth against his hair and her nose flat against his skull.
Mason was ready to go, he had been for quite some time. It wasn’t something he sought, but also not something he feared. He saw the faces of his wife and his son, as they were before all of this. He pictured them happy and in a place much better than anything this world had left to offer.
“April, Justin, I love you.”
There were two more explosions, the concussive waves battering his eardrums. And then the weight of the woman on his back began to lift. Her hands dropped from his arms and her face slid down the back of his head, her low hissing breath sounds now non-existent.
“COME ON, GET UP!”
Mason wiped at his face and quickly rolled onto his side. He ran his hand over the back of his head and looked toward the voice.
“MASON PLEASE, WE HAVE TO GO!”
Ava now stood over him. She held the pistol in one hand and had the other out to help him to his feet. “Please, come on, get up.”
He again ran his hand over the back of his head and looked up at Ava. “I wasn’t—”
“No, but you have to get up, we have to go.”
Mason pushed away from the ground and followed Ava as she ran out ahead of the horde. He looked back to see that the woman Feeder who had taken him to the ground was now turned on her side and had an exit wound above her left eye.
When they were at a safe distance from the crowd Ava slowed to a walk and then stopped and turned. “Why, why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Give up, why did you just give up?”
Mason shook his head. “Is that what you thought?”
She now looked embarrassed. “I didn’t know what to do, I wouldn’t have been able to just leave, would you?”
She was right. He thought he was saving her, but had he sacrificed himself, had left her to watch him die at the hands and mouths of the horde. The psychological damage would have been much worse than anything else this world had to offer.
He knew the pain, he lived with it every single day. “I’m sorry.”
Ava handed him the pistol, again biting at her lower lip and avoiding eye contact. “It’s okay, I know you were just doing what you thought you needed to do. But you also have to understand that I need you, that we all need you. And I’m sorry that even though you never asked for it, you have that responsibility. I’m sure it can’t be easy.”
Mason fought back tears. He looked toward the midday sun and then out along the outstretched road ahead. “I won’t leave you again, no matter what.”
Ava nodded, but didn’t respond. She looked like she was also fighting the urge to cry.
He could see it and knew that now wasn’t the time to unpack his monumental lapse in judgement. There would be a better time and a better place. For now they just needed to be somewhere else.
“Alright then,” Mason said, “let’s go.”
34
The ride through the dusty backroads and past Lincoln’s former compound had been, for the most part, without incident. There were a handful of Feeders walking the edges of the highway, although they didn’t appear to be from the same riotous horde that Vince and his men had unleashed.
“Well,” Randy said over the grinding of the rear wheels against the roadway, “it looks like the long way around may have been the right choice.”
“I’m not real sure we had any other option. There ain’t no way I woulda gotten out of this heap and outrun that crowd.” Gil’s smirk returned. “I’m fast for my age, but you know.”
Randy cut his eyes at Gil. “You realize I’m biting my tongue here trying not to make a boot joke, and you’re not helping matters.”
Gil opened his mouth and was about to respond when the car automatically reduced its speed to just below five miles per hour. The Low EV Battery Warning had been on, and although he ignored it, the car’s fuel cell had finally run dry.
Randy checked his mirrors, pulled to the side of the road, and stared out at the highway ahead. “We’ve got probably another mile or so to the bridge. You good to walk?”
Gil looked out his window and then at the side view mirror. “Looks clear, let’s go”
It was a bit more than a m
ile, and as the electric vehicle faded into the distance, they walked off the highway and down the long exit ramp. There were fewer lifeless vehicles pushed into the right lane, far less than Randy recalled seeing on his last trip through the area, although now those that remained almost looked like they were part of the landscape.
There was a Ford Mustang near the end of the ramp, the paint now deteriorated to the point that he couldn’t identify the color. There was ivy that had grown through the interior and covered the roof and hood. The wheels were now flat against the concrete, splintered lines of rust running away from the forgotten sports car.
“Had one just like it,” Gil said. “But mine was a jet black, Boss 302. Fastest car I’d ever owned. Can’t begin to tell you how much fun that thing was to open up out on the interstate.”
“You, really? Why do I have a hard time seeing you in anything other than a giant gold Cadillac sedan?”
“Well son, that’s cause you ain’t got no vision, you only …” Mayor Gil paused. He had taken the lead while Randy stopped to study the destroyed Mustang. “Might be somthin’ you need to see down here.”
Randy turned away from the Mustang. “Yeah, what do you got?”
Gil motioned toward the sidewalk a block away. “Take a look.”
Randy walked the last several feet to the end of the ramp and stopped. He wasn’t sure he was seeing it correctly. A man sat with his knees folded into his chest and had his head between his legs. He appeared to be rocking back and forth, his arms and legs a filthy patchwork of red and brown.
“What the hell is this?” Randy said. “Wait a minute, hold on … is that Owen?”
35
Travis hadn’t slept in over thirty-six hours, his legs felt like they were encased in concrete, and he was slowly beginning to lose faith that they would get back to their friends. He stayed behind Lucas as they crossed the final clearing and hurried out onto Highway One. They waited for Savannah, Ethan, and Dr. Dominic Gentry, then jogged as a group across the four-lane road.