by Radke, K. E.
Renee and Melanie meandered over to Charlotte, where she stood next to Lincoln holding his hand. Renee placed her hand over her heart at the lovely sight. “My word,” she chirped to Melanie. “If that isn’t the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.” Her happy gaze left Charlotte to get a glimpse of Lincoln’s face and frowned. “Lincoln stop making that face you look constipated.”
Noah and Samuel were chuckling at the little girl’s resilience every time Lincoln tried to pull his hand away from hers. They couldn’t talk about anything with her around and Lincoln’s kind attempts to leave her behind with Renee weren’t working.
Desperation swept over Lincoln’s face for Renee’s help, but she just stood there and smiled warmly at the two of them. He did the only thing he could think of and kneeled, so he’d be eye level with Charlotte. Finally untangling his hand from hers, he pointed at the knife clipped to her pocket and gruffly said, “Show them you can open and close it.”
Charlotte carefully opened and closed the knife, and then put it back in her pocket. Lincoln took the opportunity to put some distance between them and reached into the SUV. She was right behind him when he spun around with picture frames in his hands. Tiny fingers hungrily wrapped around the familiar frames instead of his hands.
“Find somewhere to put that inside,” Lincoln told her and tried to keep the gruff commanding tone from his voice.
Charlotte stared at the pictures and rubbed her thumbs against the different frames scanning each one. A tear dropped out of the corner of her eye and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. Suddenly her head whipped up and she stared at Lincoln, the color draining rapidly from her face.
“I made a promise. I did not break that promise,” he assured her gently reading her mind. Renee stepped forward putting her hand gently on Charlotte’s back to guide her toward the house with Melanie in tow.
Wyatt handed the knife Lincoln saved for Melanie to Samuel, “Please don’t let her hurt herself with this.”
“Never. If you don’t want her learning we could always find something else for her to do,” Samuel suggested but his tone and facial expression showed what he really thought of the offer. The world had become a dangerous place, and those who couldn’t defend themselves would perish.
“I don’t think she has a choice anymore. She either learns or... ,” the words refused to be spoken. Instead he changed the subject awkwardly asking, “Um—if I can get Phoebe to stay with you guys would you mind? I really don’t want her coming along.”
Samuel’s gaze flitted to his wife remembering Lincoln’s words from earlier, “I—uh—maybe—let’s ask her. See if she wants to.”
“I’m not staying,” Phoebe said coldly from behind Wyatt. “I’ll be in the car.” She turned to leave, and Wyatt’s shoulders drooped a little at getting caught.
“She’s a tough one like my Renee. She’ll be all right,” Samuel tried to give him some encouraging words.
Ready to get back on the road, Lincoln grabbed the pack he made the girls from the trunk and handed it to Samuel, who was too distracted to notice.
“She’s so excited,” Samuel said quietly, a little tilt to his mouth watching his wife’s happiness radiate as she coaxed the girls to the house, Charlotte being particularly slow. He would never admit it, but he knew taking in the girls for a little while would take Renee’s mind off the man-eating monsters, and she deserved that small happiness. “Where did you pick up a little girl Lincoln?”
Lincoln waved at Charlotte because she stood near the threshold staring at him over her shoulder anxiously. Renee put a reassuring hand on her back and gave her nudge to go inside.
“She stole my eggs to survive and lived on the patio in her backyard because her parents were dead inside her house,” Lincoln explained grimly.
“Good man,” Samuel patted Lincoln’s shoulder and took the pack from him. He checked the SUV and inquired, “And where’s Sabrina?”
Lowering his gaze to the ground, Lincoln’s silence answered Samuel.
Noah popped out of the house, “I’m ready.” No one noticed him missing. He casually made his way to the trunk and stuck his pack inside along with his AK47 and machete.
“Ready for what?” Lincoln asked loudly already knowing the answer.
“To go with you,” Noah replied and squinted at the blue car idling behind him. “Who’s the lady in the electric car?”
“My wife,” Wyatt says looking in her direction. “We have room for her to ride with us now.”
“Not comfortably with Noah in the backseat,” Lincoln tried to keep his words steady and stop the panic from leaking into his tone.
“We can squeeze everyone in the back,” Wyatt said absently, without giving it another thought he rushed to the electric car. Phoebe rolled down the window and arguing ensued.
“Noah,” the name came out of Lincoln’s mouth like a warning. “Do not make a sound to what I’m about to say.”
Noah raised questioning eyebrows and agreed by giving a slight nod.
“You cannot say a word to Wyatt. Phoebe is infected, and I don’t know how much time she has left,” Lincoln revealed and gave Noah a few seconds to let the information sink in. Looking him straight in the eye, Lincoln added with a steel tone, “Do not hesitate to shoot her when the time comes. If I can’t do it first.”
“Jesus fuck,” Noah whispered whipping around to stare at the arguing couple. “Are you sure Wyatt isn’t turning—or their kid?”
Before Noah could call more attention to them Lincoln calmly said, “I’ve been monitoring them and they have no symptoms. Samuel, if Melanie’s fingers start to turn black . . . make it painless.” Lincoln eyed his old friend with a grim stare.
“You want me to kill that sweet little girl if she turns?” Samuel said flustered, uncomfortable with the thought.
“If you don’t, she could attack Renee or Charlotte,” Lincoln replied bleakly.
Samuel nodded unable to agree verbally.
“One other thing,” Lincoln added. “If you’re in the area and get a chance, drive by my house and feed my chickens, if they’re still alive.”
“While we’re on the subject of favors,” Samuel lowered his voice. “I know it’s every man for himself, but if you come across some hair dye. Could you bring some back? Renee thinks she looks like a skunk with the white strip going down the middle of her head and it bothers her.”
Wyatt rejoined the group of males with a clenched jaw and red face. “She refuses to listen to anything I have to say!” Rage coated every word out of his mouth.
“Women,” Noah scoffed feigning concern. “Maybe she’ll change her mind once she gets tired of driving.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Lincoln said saying goodbye to Samuel. Noah and Wyatt jumped into the SUV while Lincoln checked on Phoebe.
“How you doing?” he asked gazing at her from a few feet away.
“I’m writing down every detail in the journal. I’ll give it to you when we get to the city.”
“But how are you doing?” Lincoln questioned trying to emphasize the real meaning of the question.
“I just said goodbye to my daughter for the very last time. So please, don’t ask me again,” her voice cracked in the middle of the sentence as she stared straight ahead trying to be oblivious to her surroundings. Lincoln nodded at her and waved to Renee, Samuel, Charlotte and Melanie by the door before he sat in the driver’s seat and pulled away from the house.
TWO
E very radio station was devoid of music. Static filled the frequencies, only interrupted by chatter every once in a while from people with CB radios. Most of the conversations consisted of people searching for loved ones in different states. Others were trying to find a safe haven. Several broadcasts were a constant repeat for help. People were stuck in buildings, or running out of food and water, and trying desperately to find the light at the end of the tunnel—someone out there willing to take a chance and rescue them from death.
Lincoln kep
t his eye on the little car behind him, but Phoebe never swerved off the road. Cars were nonexistent leaving the small town. About an hour away on the other side of the road cars started to pile up. Several bodies lurked in between the abandoned vehicles, only visible when the headlights flashed over them.
Stopping the car as far from the median as he could get, Lincoln stretched and said, “We’re about an hour away from Dallas. Let’s hope no one was trying to get into the city at the last minute.” Wary, Lincoln kept his eyes on the median and watched for movement. Being the only two vehicles on the road, the idling noise sounded the dinner bell to all the flesh eaters in the vicinity.
“Go check on Phoebe,” Lincoln nodded to Wyatt and gave him a flashlight from the glove box. Before Wyatt exited the SUV, Lincoln made sure he had his gun in hand.
Noah gawked at all the empty vehicles on the other side of the road. “Did they just turn while driving?”
“Or they ran out of gas. Or only the first couple cars ran into trouble and impeded the flow of traffic,” Lincoln theorized casually. “Did you bring a suppressor? How much ammo did you bring?”
“Yeah. I’m loaded with ammo, and my ankle knife, the knife on my belt, the AK, my Desert Eagle, and a Kimber 1911 in my pack, and this,” he leaned over the back seat and brought out a machete that he unattached from his bag.
“Wyatt’s not great with his aim yet.”
“Are you trying to say you’re glad I came?” Noah said with an egotistical tone, his mouth tilted up. Lincoln avoided eye contact and didn’t reply immediately.
“Wipe that smirk off your face,” Lincoln grumbled.
“What about you?” Noah asked.
“My AK, Glock 17, and several knives.”
Wyatt stomped forward, gaining more attention from the lurking bodies shuffling around on the other side of the barrier. “Will someone please go convince her it will be safer to ride with us,” Wyatt begged standing outside the SUV.
“Wyatt when a woman says no. She means no. The more you bother her about it, the more she wants to keep your balls in a vice. Let. It. Go.” Lincoln advised triumphantly.
“Do you want to build a snowman?” Wyatt grinned but only got dumbfounded looks in return.
“What the fuck—a snowman?” Noah muttered under his breath. Noah and Lincoln simultaneously both examined Wyatt’s fingertips. Lincoln shoved night vision goggles at Wyatt and pointed at the moving targets on the other side of the barrier, “Take one out for practice.”
Wyatt strolled a few feet from the car, got into position and focused on lining up his shot with his H&K.
“What the fuck was that about?” Noah whispered when Wyatt was out of ear shot.
“The fuck if I know. Keep an eye on his fingers, they will change color first.”
Three shots rang out before the nearest rotten body’s head exploded. Chunks of flesh and bone skittered across the ground.
“Another,” Lincoln commanded loudly getting out of the car to stretch his legs. Noah followed his lead and they stood there for the next ten minutes watching the ghouls gather on the other side of the barrier as Wyatt picked them off. Practice ended when one cannibal tumbled over the barricade.
Phoebe watched Wyatt hit the targets with better accuracy and waited for relief to envelop her. A small pang tugged at her heart and she tried to desperately grasp at the evasive emotion. For the last half hour, tears no longer slipped out of the corners of her eyes when she thought about leaving Melanie. Not even thoughts of losing her son, Ethan, could stir up a frenzy of tears.
In her mind, she was aware of what her heart wanted, but no longer felt the pull that kept her anchored to the people she loved. It was just a lingering memory from another life that would be forgotten in a matter of time. The hunger pains took precedence now and commanded her to focus her energy on nourishing her body.
Immediately seizing the journal on the front seat, she switched the light on in order to jot everything down while she was still lucid.
Engrossed in her task, something slammed against the car and rocked it making her draw a line down the middle of the page. Lifting her head, she screamed and held both hands over her mouth. A dead chomper was resting on the hood slowly sliding down the side leaving blood and brain matter in its wake.
Every heartbeat slammed against her chest when she made eye contact with Noah. His thoughts mirrored her own. The ghoul had passed up the idling car, not giving her a second glance.
Fingers trailed uneasily over his baldhead when Noah realized he was gawking and disengaged from their staring match. He stumbled back to the SUV, avoiding her gaze and hopped into the vehicle taking off the night vision.
Noah kept the incident to himself as Lincoln and Wyatt chatted in the front. His thoughts churned over what he witnessed. The cannibals didn’t need sight to hunt their prey. He learned that in Lincoln’s neighborhood. And now it seems they can detect flesh as it rots, before the virus completely takes over. It passed right by her and pretended she didn’t exist. In hindsight it made sense, flesh eaters never tore each other apart—but he’d never stuck around long enough to prove the theory after they consumed their desired food source.
Right on the outskirts of downtown Dallas, abandoned cars piled up leaving little room for Lincoln to pass them. Ahead, plumes of black smoke could be seen filtering into the air between the skyscrapers. As he weaved cautiously through the cars, no one saw another living soul.
Passing several cars with parasites stuck inside, Noah watched them bang on the windows and jokingly said, “We’re popular today. Everyone wants our attention.”
“I’ll set up a stage for your comedy act next time there’s a herd of them to distract,” Lincoln grumbled irritably. The SUV crawled between the stationary traffic and he realized it might be faster for them to continue on foot.
Everyone couldn’t help but notice the tiny growing lethal entourage they were gaining. All in different stages of decay, they followed bringing their abhorrent smell with them. Glistening skin streaked across the expanse of the Land Cruiser and sent a shiver down Lincoln’s spine. The headlights from the electric car illuminated the black, rotting flesh peel away from a hand trying to latch itself to the window. It hung for a moment, attached by bits and pieces of bloody gore before disappearing. Several mouths managed to lick the vehicles and teeth crashed against the glass before depressing into the rotten gums when they came to a stop at an impasse.
No one could get an accurate count because it was pitch black outside. Lincoln put the night vision on to search for a way out. He frowned at the amount of chompers in the area flocking to them.
“We’re going to get stuck and be surrounded by all these scavengers,” Noah spoke up from the back. His eyes ricocheted in every direction with a firm grip on his gun. A tongue licked the window from right to left and it snapped its jaws trying to gain purchase. Small chunks of something Noah couldn’t identify were left behind along with a streak of crimson. Noah moved away only to find several tongues on the other window doing the same.
“If I ever wanted to know what tacos see right before they enter my mouth,” Noah said to himself and settled in the middle of the backseat.
Eyeing the cars in front of him, Lincoln picked the largest space he could wedge the Land Cruiser through. Not able to see the congested road up ahead, he decided to go the rest of the way on foot. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, trying to prepare himself for what he was about to deliberately do to his SUV. Scratches and dents should be the last thing on his mind, but he could already feel the phantom pain from damaging his vehicle.
Stalling for a moment longer he demanded roughly, “Bring the packs up from the trunk. We need to unload quickly the second I stop.” A tongue licked its way down Lincoln’s window. “Or we just came a long way for dinner.”
Metal screeched as Lincoln pushed on the gas pedal and slipped through the abandoned cars. Every squeal and groan made him cringe, his fingers hurting fr
om his grip on the steering wheel. To distract himself from each car he hit to put some distance between them and their new dedicated followers, Lincoln rambled, “Wyatt you go for Phoebe and Noah and I will cover you. If we split apart, move to higher ground and keep the SUV in view. The plan is to rendezvous here once I get the parts for the ham radio and head home.”
He took the route he mapped out with the night vision goggles and parked in a small area on the sidewalk near a lamppost with enough room for two vehicles to park. Across the street was a gas station with a giant beaver for a mascot. He made sure everyone noted the two objects so they could find their way back.
Lincoln didn’t have the SUV parked before Noah and Wyatt tried to force their doors open. Wyatt barely had his pack on before he raced off to help Phoebe. Noah covered them while Lincoln strapped everything on and risked a glance at his Land Cruiser. The paint no longer flawless, he grimaced and was ready to leave the damage behind. Joining Noah, they covered the area until Wyatt and Phoebe safely reached them. The night vision allowed Noah to kill the four cannibals in their way before they set off under the stars.
Dead bodies were left in their wake as they swiftly interlaced between the piles of vehicles. The group followed Lincoln in a single file line in order to dart between the cars. Flashlights dipped and swayed with every sound and made them an easy target to follow.
Noah called for a pit stop and everyone bent over resting on their knees, out of breath and gasping for air. Lincoln took Noah’s place at the back of the line since he did the most shooting, so his arms could rest.
Phoebe felt like shit. Shivering uncontrollably, she was aware of the contorted, mangled rage inside of her. Each organ was at war with the foreign culprit in her body, trying to fight off the disease slowly spreading throughout her system. As she bent over to catch her breath, she clutched at her shirt to hide the visible black veins on her chest. Too soon they were running again, and she had to constantly remind herself that she loved Wyatt, and Melanie’s life depended on him. She would protect him—until her last exhale.