All That's Left | Book 2 | Out In The Open

by Gouge, W. B.

  The inside of the store was in the same state as it had been the last time they were there. All the food and products were still strewn about the floor, the ceiling fan quietly spun circulating the stench of the black slime by the door marked employees only. Owen nodded toward the door and David followed him as he slowly approached it. The door was closed all except for a small crack that was too narrow to see through. The two of them both were afraid of what was behind the door, either it was their good friend’s corpse or worse, their good friend’s corpse come back to life and ready to eat their flesh right off the bone. Owen reached the door and straddled the black puddle, he placed one hand on the knob and looked back at David who was positioned in front of the door with his rifle trained on it. He gripped the rifle not sure he was ready. Owen held up his fingers and counted down from three. He closed the last finger and pulled the door open revealing an awful scene, a large pool of blood with bits of meat and gore in a small pile, an office wrecked with papers and boxes knocked to the floor, and the back door wide open. “Where is his body?” David wondered. But before he could finish the thought there was a scream outside. They both turned and ran for the door. David was terrified that something had happened to the girls as he stepped out into the sun.

  Alex stood with his back to them banging on the side of the truck as the girls screamed inside. His intestine dragged along behind him like a swollen, purple rope on the concrete as he pounded his fists against the driver’s door and growled at the window. Owen drew back his bat a few feet away and yelled at Alex to turn around while David stood back in shock at what he saw standing by the truck. Alex turned toward Owen and David’s blood ran cold. Alex was missing patches of flesh all over his face, neck and arms. But the worst part was that Alex’s abdomen had been ripped open and his bowels had fallen to the ground and were now tangled up in his legs, the very sight of that had a chill running down David’s spine even in the sun’s blistering heat.

  Owen stepped in front of him and Alex lunged forward and tripped over his entrails. He collapsed face first onto the concrete, his face smashed into the concrete and when he looked up his teeth were broken and he had pebbles sticking to his wounds. Owen raised his bat and brought it down on top of Alex’s head with a wet crack. Alex’s head dropped, when he lifted it again his skull was caved in on the top and the sides bulged with blood running out of the cracks in his skull. Owen lifted the bat a second time and David closed his eyes. This time it was a wet slap, he opened his eyes to see brain and blood spilled onto the concrete and Alex motionless. The lot fell silent again in the aftermath, David felt dizzy and fell back against the wall. His head was spinning and he thought he might pass out, then he leaned forward and threw up.

  David had seen many awful things in the past few days, but the gruesome death of his friend struck him like a train. His grandparents had died, Greg had died, probably millions of people had died since this all started, now the reality of it all came rushing into the light that any one of the group could be killed at any time. The sinking feeling of dread when the girls screamed while they were inside the shop was too much to endure again. David couldn’t allow anymore of that, no matter what he couldn’t let anyone else that was close to him die.

  David pulled himself together while Owen checked on the girls, they were shaken up but they were fine. Owen helped David up, “You ok?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” he stared at Alex’s body, “lets move the bodies somewhere else.”

  Owen and David reluctantly dragged Alex behind the store. Then they came back for the man, Liz and Sarah proceeded to move the body of the woman out of the road. David walked over and told them they didn’t have to do that but they insisted they could handle it and that they wanted to help out too. Liz tried not to look at the woman’s face but it was impossible. She noticed her empty, pale eyes staring into the sky and felt terrible for her. She tried to imagine was it must have been like, to become one of these things. As they placed the bodies side by side behind the store Liz spoke up, “We should say something.”

  “What do you want us to say. Alex got infected and tried to kill us. And we don’t even know these other two.” Owen replied.

  “Yeah but, these are human beings. Are we just going to pile them up here and leave them like this without saying anything?” Liz asked.

  After a short silence Sarah whispered, “May you find peace in your eternal sleep.”

  Everyone was quiet after that, it was simple and kind and it seemed to fit the occasion. David wasn’t sure how everyone else felt, but it seemed right to wish them peace, they deserved that much. Liz placed her hand on Sarah’s shoulder, “Thank you for that.”

  Sarah looked down at the bodies, “I’ve been in the emergency room a lot, and I’ve seen enough people die. Every religion has their own way to say the same thing ya know. They all pretty much just wish the person who passed peace.”

  After a while they all headed back to the store and began to stock up on anything they thought they may need for the trip ahead. Owen filled the truck with gas along with several red, plastic gas cans from inside the store. Liz stocked up on chips, candy and drinks though she wished that there had been more substantial food. Sarah loaded up the over the counter medicines and pain relievers, but the outdated store didn’t have a big selection. Luckily she found an old first aid kit in the back office with some bandages and gloves and other basic supplies. David grabbed several flashlights, batteries, cigarette lighters and other non-food items including a book of maps that was a few years old but he thought would be helpful in finding their way around Kentucky. All in all things were shaping up compared to how they had been going.

  The group loaded up the truck while David studied the map of southern Indiana. It would take a while to get to the Ohio River, then they could take one road all the way to a bridge that crossed over into Kentucky. The problem was that David didn’t know where Fort Union was located, and he didn’t see it on the map. As he searched the map for their destination Owen came out of the store and placed a case of beer and a box of condoms in the truck bed. All three of them stared at him for a moment when he said, “Hey man, who knows what kind of place this is going to be. Might need these, ya know?”

  David and Liz shook their heads, they had known Owen their whole lives so they knew what to expect most of the time. Sarah just stood there staring at him, “Wow, you never stop do you?”

  Owen smiled, “Nope, you always have to be prepared, ya know?”

  Owen’s smile faded and the group all heard what sounded like a car approaching. David and the others walked out by the road and saw an older sedan headed their way. It was coming from the direction of Dry Creek which made David wonder if it was someone they knew, but as the car approached none of them recognized it. The car slowed down and pulled into the lot stopping just off the road. The group could see that there were at least four people in the car, the people in the car didn’t move. Instead they seemed to be talking about David and the group, then the driver opened his door and stepped out with a shotgun in his hand.

  David suddenly wished he hadn’t left his rifle in the truck. They were standing out in the open by the road completely exposed as the man slowly strode over and stopped just in front of his car. “Howdy, mind if we get some gas?” he asked pointing the shotgun at the ground in front of him.

  David and the group didn’t say anything at first, then Owen spoke up, “We don’t work here, knock yourselves out.”

  The man didn’t look like he wanted trouble. He seemed like he was in his forties and looked like any other average guy you would see in a hardware store. David thought it was strange that he would bring a shotgun to ask for gas. Owen and David exchanged suspicious looks. After Owen answered the man he yelled thank you and got back into his car. Then, while he pulled up to the pumps David made his way to the truck and stood by where the rifle was sitting. Both groups kept an eye on each other.

  The man got out of the car again and started to pump gas
into his car. “Thanks guys, we were running on fumes since Ohio.”

  “Where are you coming from?” Sarah asked.

  “Cincinnati, or just North of it at least.” He said.

  David remembered on the news reports that Cincinnati was one of the cities were the outbreak had been bad. After what they had seen for the past few days he could only imagine what it had been like in the major cities affected by the outbreak.

  “Is the store open?” the man asked the group.

  Owen jumped into the conversation as he cracked open a beer, “Yeah, but there isn’t much left.”

  The man told the woman in the passenger seat of the car to go inside and get some snacks and drinks or whatever else she could find. Liz shook her head, “We took all the food and drinks, all that’s left is beer and cigarettes. Here take this.” She pulled some bottles of water and candy bars from the truck and handed them to the woman who seemed very thankful.

  The woman looked like your average soccer mom. She opened the back door of their car and gave the food and drinks to the two teenage boys in the back. “Thank you ma’am,” said the man, “My names Tom and this is my wife Angie. Those are my boys Tucker and Will.”

  The man took one of the water bottles and gulped some down. Then he wiped the sweat from his forehead, “We’re headed to a safe zone in Kentucky if you all want to join us. Safety in numbers and all that.”

  Owen started to say no to the idea but David cut him off, “Are you talking about Fort Union? Do you know where it is?” he asked.

  “Yeah, my brother was stationed there back in eighty-seven in the army.” The man said.

  David shot a look at everyone else in the group, Liz and Sarah both seemed to approve while Owen rolled his eyes at the idea. For David the answer was clear, “Yeah, we can go together.”

  Three

  The hours crawled by as the two vehicles followed the winding roads that snaked through Southern Indiana. They passed farms and fields as they made their way to the river. They first set eyes on the muddy, light brown water of the Ohio River late in the day and headed East toward Ohio. Their next destination was the Carrol Cropper Bridge that connected Indiana and Kentucky where the three states converged. The sun hung low in the Western sky painting the horizon orange, the first few stars began to shine dimly as Tom pulled over on the side of the road.

  Owen pulled off behind him, everyone was tired and wanted to stretch their legs a bit. They piled out of the truck and stretched as they surveyed the area. Tall grass lined the road and there were several old warehouses bunched together out in a field across from a tall hill covered in trees. David’s joints popped as he moved around the truck and headed for Tom’s car to see what was going on.

  Tom sat in the driver’s seat studying a map when David and Owen approached, Owen knocked on the window and Tom rolled it down. “How much further to the bridge?” David asked.

  “Another hour or so, we should probably stop somewhere for the night though. In case we run into some traffic or something.” Tom said.

  “Traffic!” Owen snapped back, “We haven’t seen a car for hours. There isn’t going to be any traffic.”

  “Well we ran into a lot on the way out of Cincinnati, and we are headed that direction now. Could be a lot of people still escaping the cities and they may be using the bridge we are headed for.” Tom explained.

  On one hand David would be happy to see some other people, all this time on the road by themselves had him feeling isolated and vulnerable. On the other hand he knew that if they did run into anyone else there was a chance that some of them may be infected and that made him happy that the road had been completely empty so far. He looked around and took in just how quiet it was alone the road and wondered if it was always this quiet here, even before this disaster started. There wasn’t a house for miles, just a few old storage buildings, trees, the fields and the road.

  Tom and Owen were still going back and forth over what to do next while David noticed the sun was just skimming the edge of the horizon. David held his hands up to both of them, “Alright listen! Its going to be dark real soon and we may not want to run into a huge crowd of people in the middle of the night. Also it would be much easier to get lost in the dark so lets just find a place to crash for the night and we will head out first thing in the morning.”

  Tom nodded and Owen looked disappointed be didn’t argue. Tom said he knew of a camp ground on the way to the bridge and that it wasn’t far ahead. The two boys headed back to the truck when Owen stopped, “Dude, are you on my side in this?” he asked David.

  David was caught off guard by the question and wasn’t sure what Owen meant. “On your side? Of course.”

  Owen looked puzzled, “Well you didn’t side with me on staying back at the creek and you didn’t side with me just now. So I just want to know, are you on my side or what?”

  David wasn’t sure what was bothering Owen. He hadn’t been the same recently, but a lot had happened in the past few days. Maybe he was tired, or just shaken up by everything. David lowered his voice, “I’m always on your side Owen, no matter what. But I think we could use some rest and a good night’s sleep.”

  Owen looked like he was convinced, “Well I’m always on your side too, just like the old days. Before…” he trailed off as he walked back to the truck.

  “Before what?” David asked.

  Owen stopped and looked back at Tom’s car, “Did it ever cross you mind that this might be a trap?”

  David looked back at the car and saw Tom watching them in the rear view mirror. Suddenly it occurred to him that Owen may be right. They barely knew these people at all. Owen and David climbed in the truck and pulled back onto the road behind Tom. David glanced at each of them one at a time while resting his hand on the rifle. “I’ll protect them, no matter what!” he thought.

  After another twenty minutes driving David could just make out in the evening light that the tall grass and corn stalks gave way to a large open expanse on the right side of the road. The park was about a mile or so long, it hugged the road and offered many places to park alongside the baseball fields and soccer fields and playgrounds. Every few hundred feet there was a block building that served as public restrooms with large pole lighting that casts a pale white light on the surrounding area. There wasn’t a car in the large, long lot and it was wide open which made it perfect for keeping an eye out for danger.

  Owen followed Tom’s car into the parking area near one of the many baseball fields and then parked next to them in the middle of a large grassy area. The two groups got out of their vehicles and scanned the surrounding area. The park was flat and mostly cut grass and dirt with tress scattered around the playground areas. Parallel to the road was a dense copse of trees and on the other side of that was the mighty Ohio River. Tom and his wife Angie got out of their car and commented on how this was a good place to camp for the night, one of their sons Tucker got out and leaned against the car while the other just sat inside. Tom and Angie opened his door and helped him out of the car and David and his group froze when they saw him.

  He was deathly pale with dark areas under his eyes. He was sweaty and shaky all over. David and his group took turns looking at each other with concern in their eyes, each one of them had the same thought running through their mind, He was infected!

  Four

  David and the others stared at Will. No one spoke but the expressions on their faces told the whole story. Suddenly David agreed with Owen, that maybe traveling with this group was not such a good idea after all. Tom and Angie noticed everyone’s reaction to Will as they helped him to a nearby picnic table and sat him down. Angie stayed with him while Tom headed back to the car, Sarah asked Tom, “How long has he been sick?”

  Tom clearly didn’t want to answer the question and wasn’t very polite about it, “He’s fine, he was like that before all this started. It’s just a flu I’m sure. He’ll be better in a few days, he already looks like he’s getting better.”

/>   But the way Tom brushed off the seriousness of the situation was not reassuring to the group. Owen looked to David and swung his head toward the road, the universal signal for “let’s get out of here” but David wasn’t sure what to do. Tom said he had been sick before all this started, but then everyone who was infected must have been sick before all of this started. David was about to ask the obvious question but Sarah beat him to it, “Tom, has he been bitten?”

  Tom looked scared for a second before he answered, “Heaven’s no, if he had…” he stopped talking.

  Tom had a desperate look in his eyes now. He went on about his business unpacking things from his car. David thought about Tom’s situation. His child was sick with god knows what, he was traveling across the country to a place where there might be help, and now they were questioning him about his son’s life. David had been hit hard by the loss of his grandparents, but he couldn’t imagine how it must fell to lose a child, or to even be afraid that you might lose a child.

  Sarah asked to take a look at him, to see if there was anything she might do to help. That’s when David remembered the antibiotics he still had in his bag. “I have some medicine that might help him, let Sarah check him out and if it will help you can have it.”

  David felt better just for having offered to help, but when he saw the relief and gratitude in Tom’s eyes he felt great about what he had done. “Really? Thank you…” Tom started and headed over to Will next to Sarah. Owen shot David a look of disapproval. “Liz, stay close to the truck.” He said as he walked away.