“What if it’s a trap?”
“From who? Zombies?”
“Maybe, or people, it wouldn’t be the first time people have tried to rob us. There’s a reason this car is untouched.”
“Well you think we should still go for it?” Tommy thought for a while about this question, he couldn’t think of any other options on the table.
“I guess we have to.”
“Agreed.”
They started walking again towards the Jeep, this time more cautiously and with the assault rifles raised and ready. They scanned around the car, they scanned the tree-lines. There was no sign of anyone. They reached the car, and their eyes had not deceived them, the car was in great shape. Tommy stood watch while Bobby checked the inside.
“No keys.”
“Well we learned to hotwire, right?”
“Yeah, but where’s the driver?”
“Wait get down! Get behind the car!” Tommy said. In the distance approached a small group of zombies, heading right for the car. They watched through the windows. It didn’t look like they had seen them yet, as their pace was calmer than usual.
“What should we do?” Tommy asked.
“I don’t know, shooting them might attract too much attention.”
“We should have gotten silencers.” The two of them looked at each other like that was the smartest revelation ever.
“Oh my God, why the hell didn’t we get silencers?”
“I know, right?”
“When we get back, we’re going back to the military base and getting some. For now let’s hide in the woods and see what they do.”
They darted into the woods unseen by the zombies. All hope riding on them walking past without bothering the Jeep. It seemed reasonable, after all they’ve never actually seen them destroy a car. But as they got closer, it was clear they were eyeing up the Jeep. Tommy was nervous, he knew this Jeep could be their last chance at not only rescuing Melanie, but at this point, living. The zombies were almost at the car, you could see the details of their scarred and scratched faces. The first zombie to get to the car started pounding on the hood. And Tommy immediately sprang up.
“Tommy!” Bobby yelled. But it was too late, Tommy was out in the open, he raised his rifle, and opened fire on the group. There were only about seven of them, but the gunshots echoed through the abandoned highway. They knew this had to be quick. Tommy was as accurate as ever at that moment. He took them out with ease. Bobby started shooting too, and it was over before they knew it. All zombies dead, Jeep still intact.
Tommy found the owner’s manual in the glove compartment. He quickly scanned through looking for information on the wiring, specifically, which colors he needed to spark. Like most of his research said, the ignition wire was brown, the battery wires were red, and the starter wire was yellow. He removed the front of the steering wheel to show the complex wiring system of the vehicle. He wrapped the two battery wires together, then connected them to the ignition wire. The dashboard lights came on, along with the radio, which was playing some country song Tommy had never heard. Bobby took a momentary break from his lookout to see his brother’s handiwork. Tommy kept the radio on because the girl singing relaxed him. Now came the tricky part, he stripped some of the insulation off of the live starter wire. He had to be extremely cautious, just touching the bare starter wire could electrocute him. He just had to touch the wire to the battery wires to spark the engine. He held the wires far from his face, almost looking away. He touched the wires, and the roar of the Jeep engine came bursting from the hood.
“You did it, nice work!” Bobby excitedly said.
The sound of the engine, or maybe the gunshots from before, was heard by a group of about ten zombies, who started running at them from way in the distance.
“Let’s just take them out.” Bobby said.
“Why not just drive through them?”
“This isn’t a military Humvee.”
Fair point, if the zombies could take down the Humvee, this SUV didn’t stand much of a chance. And going in the other direction would cost them hours, and also put them right back in the nest of the zombies who attacked them earlier. Tommy nodded and raised his rifle, waiting for them to get a little closer. He thought again how good of an idea silencers would have been, no doubt more zombies would be on their way. They had to take out this group quick.
He aimed at the zombie in front, something was off about him. His arm was raised towards them, he couldn’t really think he was already in range to attack them, could he? He fingered the trigger, and fired. Right as he was shooting, he heard Bobby let out a loud “NO!” The bullet went through the chest of the zombie, just missed he thought. Except, this chest shot took out the zombie, it was the first time he’d seen it. It was also the first time Tommy had seen some of the zombies stop and gather around a fallen comrade.
Then, it hit him. Tommy realized he wasn’t their comrade, he was their prey. He was human. He was running towards them for help.
Chapter 22
And that was the second time Tommy Nagel had killed a person.
This time he wasn’t a deranged lunatic who was threatening him with a knife. He could’ve been just like them, Tommy thought, he could’ve been normal. Hell, he could’ve been the owner of the car they were about to drive off in. He was running towards them for help, and Tommy had put a bullet in his chest.
His finger was off the trigger. He was afraid to take another shot, frozen still. Bobby took over and slowly but surely took down the horde before they got too close. Tommy lowered his gun, he stared at the man he just killed. An eerie silence crept over as the bullets ceased. The man’s body lay in the streets amongst the corpses of cannibals. Anyone who passed by wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. He would go unnoticed, and rot with the zombies. This realization nearly knocked Tommy to the ground. The faint screams of nearby zombies were barely heard even in the dead quiet. They were close, but not too close. But surely they would be on their way towards the guns they had heard.
“We have to go, now.” Bobby said sternly. Tommy didn’t flinch, just kept staring at the man. “Tommy! Let’s go, get in the car… Tommy!”
“We can’t just leave him there.” he said blankly.
“Tommy-“
“We CAN’T just leave him there!” he yelled. Bobby looked around, as if Tommy’s scream could’ve possibly made the zombies any closer.
“Ok, we’ll throw him in the trunk or something, but let’s hurry.”
They drove up to the bodies and got out, cautiously stepping over zombies, looking for any movements that could mean they are alive. But none of them moved an inch. They got to the body of the dead man. He was wearing a now blood-soaked button down shirt and dress pants, slightly tattered. Bobby picked up his shoulders and Tommy grabbed his legs and held them under his left arm, his right hand on his pistol. The manic yells of the zombies were getting louder, luckily from the opposite direction that they were about to be heading. With the dead man placed in the trunk, they got in and drove off.
They were still a few hours from Pittsburgh and it was almost dark. But it seemed they made it out of the heavily infested area, only passing a zombie or two here and there. But Tommy wasn’t thinking about that, or the dark, or his aching body, or Melanie. He just thought about the dead man in the trunk. Bobby drove fast but controlled. He wasn’t flipping another car today.
Bobby didn’t know what to say to console his brother. He wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault but he knew Tommy would scoff at that notion. He wanted to tell him shit happens but he knew that wouldn’t help anything. He wanted to remind him that he would be reunited with Melanie soon, but he knew that wouldn’t take Tommy’s mind off of the dead man in the trunk. There was nothing he could say to help his brother, so he said nothing.
Bobby reached down to feel his right ankle. He had yet to tell Tommy of how bad it had hurt since the accident, talking about it wouldn’t make it feel any better, he thought. B
ut something definitely wasn’t right. It felt twice the size of his uninjured left ankle, but more ominous was that the bones didn’t seem to be in their usual place. He mentally fought the pain and decided he would worry about it when they got back to the Fortress, whenever that may be.
More and more mountains appeared as they got farther into western Pennsylvania. There was no longer a forest on the side on the highway so they would see zombies coming from miles away. But they didn’t see any, nor did they see any people or cars. It was a barren land, no signs of life anywhere.
The sky’s orange was beginning to darken over the mountains. Bobby kept the headlights off to avoid drawing attention their way, but if anyone was around, they would hear the Jeep. Suddenly, a road sign caught the eye of both of the Nagel brothers.
Pittsburgh was 10 miles away.
Chapter 23
*****
“So, why engineering?” Tommy asked.
“I’m not sure,” Melanie answered, “I wanted to invent things, I thought it sounded exciting, inventing something.”
“Like what?”
“Well that’s the problem isn’t it! Guess I’m not that creative. I’ll probably end up with some boring manufacturing job in North Dakota. North Dakota, babe! Babe! Don’t let me end up in North Dakota!”
“Hey now, I’ll never let you end up in North Dakota, you have my word on that.”
“Good, anywhere but North Dakota.” Melanie said, as she took the Gatorade bottle filled with Whiskey from Tommy’s hand and took a gulp. Her face cringed as the warm, burning after-taste of liquor lingered in the back of her throat.
It was summer, the summer before this school year, the summer before the zombie attacks. They sat on the beach staring out at the water illuminated by the full moon. The sounds of waves were coming from one direction and the boardwalk games and theatrics were making a racket far behind them. The Abbott’s had let the Nagel brothers and a few friends use their beach house while they were out of town. Tommy and Bobby, Melanie, Jordyn, and Keith made the trip.
“So how about you? Why Chemistry? What are you going to do with that major?”
“Hell if I know. I was going to go to med school, that was the plan. But that’s just way too much school, I’m already sick of school and I still have two years left.”
“Well what’s your lottery job?”
“My what?”
“Your lottery job! What’s the job you would want if you won the lottery? And you have to pick something, that’s the game, you can’t just be a lazy ass and say you wouldn’t work.”
Tommy took a moment, but the answer quickly became clear to him, “I’d teach.” He said.
“Really Mr. Nagel?
“Yeah, I’d teach high school chem. And I’d coach baseball, no basketball, no wait, definitely baseball. You can’t spit sunflower seed shells on a basketball court.” He said with a grin.
“Then that’s what you should do.”
Money. That’s all that rang through Tommy’s brain. It wasn’t enough money. “My parents left us with enough money to choose whatever college I wanted without having to worry about the price. I always wanted to do the same thing for my kids one day.”
“Well, coming from someone who will have a mountain of debt following her after school, yeah it sucks having to pay for school. But I still have the best parents in the world, can you say the same about yours?” She meant it as a joke, but it had more of a sting then Melanie intended it to, and she immediately felt terrible. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean anything by that.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it, and you’re right.”
“I know money is important but there are more important things, our kids will get that.”
“Our kids?” Tommy said with a smirk.
“If you’re lucky.” Melanie said with a smile and a wink.
“We should get back, Keith is third-wheeling hard right now.”
“Oh my God, I don’t see this whole Bobby and Jordyn thing you’re always talking about.”
“Oh come on! It’s so obvious!”
Over Melanie’s shoulder Tommy saw two cops walking straight towards them, he then noticed nobody else was on the beach, only the boardwalk. Was it illegal to be on this beach at night?
“You ran track in high school, right?” Tommy whispered.
“I was a high jumper I wasn’t much of a runner.”
“Close enough, if I say pineapple we run.”
The cops reached them, one was old and thick with a greying and balding haircut, the other was a squirrely looking young guy.
“What are we up to tonight, kids?” the old one asked.
“Just watching some waves officer.” Tommy answered, as they stood up to address the officers.
“Right, and what’s in that bottle there, boy?”
“That’s Gatorade, sir.”
“Really? I don’t remember there being a brown Gatorade?” He said in a thick sarcasm.
“It’s a new flavor.”
“A new flavor, eh? Is that why it says fruit punch on the side?”
“Ah, must’ve been a labeling misprint at the ol’ Gatorade factory.”
“Save it, lemme see your ID’s.”
“My what?”
“Your ID, boy”
“My pineapple?”
“What?” Melanie turned and took off towards the beach house, Tommy capped the Gatorade bottle and hurled it into the ocean and took off after Melanie. The young cop started after them, but the old cop grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“They’re young, let ‘em have this one.” He said in a scruffy voice. “We’ve all been there. Besides, I’m too old to be chasing a couple of hooligans for drinking on the beach at night.”
The lack of pursuers didn’t stop Tommy and Melanie from sprinting all the way back to the beach house, a little over a mile. Tommy slowed a little to stay on pace with Melanie, but she was faster than he thought. They finally got back and reached the back deck. As expected, the cops were nowhere in sight. They started laughing, as much as their lack of breath would allow them too. Every time it seemed the laughing was slowing, they would look at each other and start hysterically laughing again. Eventually it stopped, and Tommy wrapped his arms around Melanie and kissed her forehead. The second he stopped Melanie pushed her forehead into his lips for another one.
Then Tommy looked to his right, and there were two people watching them. He then realized it was Keith and Matt, but something about them was… off. They had a crazed look in their eyes, tattered clothes, and gray skin. Then, they pounced.
*****
Tommy woke up, unsure of how he managed to fall asleep with how close they were. The memory was real, up to the point of his zombie best friend and zombie cousin attacking them. On this entire trip, he had not once thought about Keith or Matt. Two of his closest friends were gone, and he wasn’t even thinking about them. He felt sick to his stomach.
“Tommy, I need your incredible navigating skills.”
“Just look for signs that say Fort Pitt Bridge.” Tommy snapped in a pissed off voice.
“Ok.” Bobby carefully said.
“I’m sorry, just… Just a lot on my mind.”
“Cheer up, your girl won’t appreciate you being all moody when you see her. By the way we just crossed into Pittsburgh a couple minutes ago.”
Pittsburgh, they finally made it, Tommy thought. He was minutes away from seeing his girl again, or minutes away from finding out she had fled the city. They had not seen a zombie in hours, and there were still no signs of any around. But they were about to face a new enemy, in the form of a heavy duty black pickup truck.
They saw the truck approaching them on the bridge, their only thought being that there were others alive and still living in Pittsburgh. As the truck made its way closer they saw it was in the same lane as them. Bobby shifted over one, and the truck followed. He shifted again, and the truck followed again. It was accelerating.
“Bobby…
What’s going on?”
“Put your seatbelt on.” Bobby said calmly.
A thick plate of metal covered the front of the truck, it was scratched and had a few dents. The Jeep was no match for the truck in a head on collision. But it didn’t seem like they had much of a choice. Bobby kept swerving from lane to lane, the truck kept following. Bobby stayed on course towards the truck, and at the last second tried to swerve right, the truck swerved left, stopping the Nagels in their tracks.
Bobby was unconscious, Tommy was dizzy but still awake. Four men stepped out of the truck and approached them, they held shotguns and had pistols in their waistbands. Tommy looked down at his gun, but was too disoriented to defend himself. He looked up as a man opened the door and nailed him with the butt end of the shotgun, knocking Tommy unconscious.
Chapter 24
“Morning, Tom.” Bobby said calmly.
Tommy awoke in a dimly lit room, a rope tying his hands together behind a chair. Bobby was next to him, looking surprisingly comfortable in his own chair. There were two sloppy looking men near the door holding shotguns. The rest of the room was empty except for a single chair in the corner, and their red duffle bag full of guns and ammo in another corner..
“Where are we?” Tommy asked.
“Beats me, Don-Rico and Sebastian over there won’t say a word to me.”
“Then how do you know their names?”
“I don’t, just came up with them, isn’t that right, Rico? He likes to be called Rico for short.” Rico didn’t look amused, as a man walked in through the door.
“Ah good you’re awake!” The man said, he was slightly better dressed than the Rico and Sebastian, but his polo shirt was tattered and his skin looked dirty. “I bet you’re wondering where you are”
“Not really.” Bobby said.
The Fortress Page 11