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

by Gouge, W. B.

  It all happened so fast that no one in the truck had time to react. The woman was grasping at the gravel on the shoulder of the road when the man grabbed her head and pulled it to his snapping jaws. She screamed as he clenched his teeth on the side of her face and then ripped the skin off sending blood squirting onto the pavement. The skin stretched and snapped free exposing the muscle of her cheek. The man chewed the mouth full of flesh as people in the cars around the scene noticed.

  Panic shot through the occupants of the cars, motorists who had been sitting idle now pulled off onto the shoulder and sped past the sitting cars. The already tense situation was now exploding into chaos. Another man near the gory scene got out of his car with a pistol and fired wildly at the infected man and his victim, David watched as a stray bullet ripped through the woman’s abdomen killing her. She fell limply to the ground as a large pool of blood spread outward near the fatal wound. The infected man was also hit in the thigh but he merely continued his mutilation of the woman by tearing yet another large chunk of flesh away from her body before chewing it.

  Owen didn’t hesitate another second, he put the truck into reverse and punched the gas. The truck swerved onto the opposite side as Owen dodged a car that had pulled up behind them. He swung the truck around and floored the pedal speeding away from the horrifying scene. The engine roared as he pushed the pedal harder and David thought they would be killed if they hit anyone at that speed, “Slow down Owen!” David shouted.

  But Owen kept on driving faster putting ample distance between them and the infected back down the road until they all saw another road on the left with a metal sign. David had seen it when they had passed through the first time but he couldn’t remember what it said until he was close enough to read it again. The sign read “County Maintenance Dock”. Owen slow down a bit and turned left onto the gravel road sending small rocks flying behind him along with a plume of dust.

  The small gravel road was bumpy, weeds and small trees flanked it on both sides. David, Liz and Sarah had no idea where Owen was going or what he had in mind until the truck emerged from the road into a small parking area in front of a plain, grey concrete building. Next to the building was a fenced off dock, David could just make out the shape of a boat behind the wooden fence.

  “We can use the boat to cross the river!” shouted Owen and pointed toward the boat.

  I wasn’t a bad idea David thought. Owen had already jumped out of the truck and grabbed several bags of food and drinks from the truck bed. He yelled for the rest of them to help and no one argued. Owen stopped in front of the truck and stared at it for a moment, David heard a vehicle engine approaching from the direction they had come and realized they may be overwhelmed by other people with the same idea if they didn’t hurry.

  “Owen we have to go!” David urged.

  “I know,” Owen leaned forward and kissed the old truck on the hood, “You’re on your own now baby! Thanks for everything!”

  When the group had grabbed everything they could they headed down past the building and onto the wooden dock. Owen led the group to the pontoon boat at the end of the dock and started tossing the supplies onboard. The pontoon boat was basically a flat piece of aluminum about the size of a car with a rail around the edge, there was a small bench against the back rail big enough for two and a driver’s seat in the middle of the boat. A tarp served as the canopy.

  Owen jumped into the boat and checked the engine while the girls grabbed a seat on the bench. David loaded the last bit of supplies onto the boat and went to climb in when he heard a sound coming from up river. He looked up river to see the bridge spanning the water at least one hundred feet up and around the bend of the river a large, multi-story river boat plied the waters. White foamy water raged behind the boat as it sped down the river, but as it neared the bridge David knew something was wrong.

  He couldn’t be sure from where he was standing but the large boat looked like it was coming too close to the bridge’s stone support column. Their attention was pulled toward the parking area by Owen’s truck. Several cars entered the small parking area next to the concrete building, a mob of people came running behind them roaring and growling. Owen started the boats engine and jumped into the driver’s seat. David untied the rope holding it to the dock and tossed the rope away as he jumped onto the deck. Owen backed the boat up and turned around toward the far bank of the river. The boat struggled against the rushing water and for the first time they noticed just how fast the river was flowing.

  The muddy river was high and the water was swift and strong. The motor whined as it pushed them into the raging river, Owen pointed to a spot on the far bank where they could land the boat but they soon found that the current was too strong. Even thought they were cutting straight across the river the strong waters pushed them further down stream as they progressed. They would miss their target and land further downstream, but they didn’t know how far yet.

  David was happy to be crossing either way when he was frightened by a loud blast from a horn. It sounded like it was close, but when David turned in the direction of the sound he saw that it must have come from the large river boat near the bridge. It was charging forward through the murky waters at top speed, and right in front of the boat was the bridges main support column. David watched realizing that there was no way they could avoid it at this point, they were too close, and they were moving too fast. The next few seconds seemed to pass by in slow motion as the ship plowed directly into the column with a tremendous crash.

  The river boat slammed into the column and came to a stop as the front of the ship crumpled and twisted around the column, the column cracked from top to bottom and shifted. Then it buckled as huge chunks of concrete and metal rained down from above the river boat until the whole column collapsed onto the deck. The shear weight of the stone and steel crushed the top levels of the boat and tore through its decks.

  David and the group couldn’t believe what they were seeing. As they watched the center of the bridge dipped down then snapped loose in several places crashing on top of the boat and breaking the hull in half. The front of the boat sank immediately under the weight of the collapsed bridge, the rear of the boat leaned down into the water where the front had been spraying water upward as it sank. David and the group saw people and cars falling from the bridge into the water below. Hundreds of people went into the churning water as the boat slipped into the deep and disappeared completely.

  David and the group had only crossed a short distance across the river and had been swept downstream a good distance already. David silently urged the boat to go faster when he saw the first few survivors flailing in the water not far from the boat. Liz and Sarah jumped up from their seats, “We have to help them!” Cried Sarah.

  David looked around and found several life jackets near the bench. “Here, toss these out to them!” he told the girls.

  David remembered the rope that had tied the boat to the dock and he quickly bunched it up. His idea was to toss it out to anyone who could get it and pull them to the boat. Owen stood up holding the wheel and protested, “If they all grab the boat they will turn it over! Just toss them a life jacket and they will have to swim for it.”

  David knew that was a death sentence. The river was swift and powerful, the boat could barely ply the waters with its engine let alone these frantic people. Sarah and Liz tossed a few life jackets toward nearby swimmers, but it was no use. They couldn’t even reach the life vests before the current had swept them both away along with the swimmers. David felt helpless and turned to see dozens more arms reaching toward the boat, some were struggling for their lives and calling for help, others were clawing and reaching toward him and his friends.

  Seven

  The next wave of people in the river surrounded the small boat, they were nearly half way across the river now and had over shot their target on the far bank by at least a few hundred feet. The bank on the far side was choked with half submerged trees and debris of all types. Ther
e was no good place the land the boat that any of them could see. But that would be an issue if they made it past the flotsam of people and zombies bobbing in the water around the boat.

  Owen stood at the wheel frantically trying to dodge swimmers and floating bodies and wreckage from the crash. Liz and Sarah tried to toss anything from the boat that would float to the nearby people in the water when a woman reached up and grabbed the railing of the boat. She was crying and was far too tired to pull herself from the water. David, Sarah and Liz all hurried to her aid and tried to pull her up onto the boat. But as they struggled with her one of the infected grabbed her legs pulling her back down. David yelled for the girls to pull and all three groaned as they pulled, and the woman screamed desperately for them to help her.

  But it was too late, the infected bit into her side and ripped at her flesh with its teeth spraying blood all over its own face. They watched in horror as the infected yanked and pulled with its teeth on the blood red flesh until it pulled it off the bones of the rib cage. The three released the woman and she was dragged under the water, her screams drowned out as she disappeared.

  Another man reached the boat and began to climb on board, but David saw that one of the infected would soon reach him and David raised his rifle to aim at the monster in the water. He had only a second to steady the rifle before he fired. After the high-powered blast David saw that the bullet had slammed into the creature’s chest knocking it down just beneath the water’s surface long enough for the man to dodge its grasping arms. But just behind that one another infected was clawing at the man and was able to grab his ankle. The man lost his grip and fell back only holding with one arm as the creature clutched his leg, another infected suddenly emerged from the rushing water and grabbed the man causing him to slip and be dragged away by the pair.

  David realized it was futile to try to fight the current already, despite the dozens of infected also trying to pull a person down. He looked up to see they were only about one hundred feet from the far bank and was relieved for a moment. But the relief was washed away as David realized they were about to be hit by a massive wave of bodies and infected. He had been distracted by their progress, so he hadn’t seen it coming and was barely able to brace himself as they crashed into the side of the boat pushing them further and faster down river.

  Discolored, mangled arms reached up from the water and over the side of the boat snatching at the group as the boat began to lean to one side. David and the others had to hold on to the rail so they wouldn’t fall toward the reaching hands of the infected as that side of the boat dipped lower into the water. “They’re going to tip us over! GET THEM OFF THE BOAT!” yelled Owen.

  David slung his rifle over his shoulder and searched for something to push them off the boat. Sarah had already grabbed an oar and with one hand she began bashing the infected hands and arms one after another. She was doing quite well beating them back until she slipped and slid down to the rail. One of the infected grabbed her by the forearm and pulled it toward his gaping mouth. Sarah yelled, “Get OFF OF ME!”

  Owen yelled for David to help her as he struggled to steer the boat. But one of the large infected hanging from the boat slipped backward and knocked several of the infected off the boat causing it to slam back down onto the water. David’s back hit the railing hard, he turned just in time to see Liz falling over the side of the boat.

  “Oh God! LIZ!!!” he screamed.

  David was terrified for her safety. He jumped to his feet and frantically searched the murky water for any sign of Liz. Behind him Sarah called for help as the infected tried to bite her arm, David couldn’t give up on Liz. The seconds ticked by and David’s tension grew as he thought he might never see her again. Then she resurfaced suddenly several feet from the boat and began swimming for the shore. David saw that at least one of the infected was near Liz and may be able to grab her. She would have no chance to defend herself in the rapid current. David raised the rifle and took aim, but it wasn’t easy to steady the rifle on the moving boat at such a distance. Liz was already far away from the boat now and disappearing fast. David exhaled as the crosshairs settled on the head of the infected and squeezed the trigger. He was rewarded with an explosive spray of brain, bits of skull and chunks of hair as the heavy round blew through the creature’s head.

  David didn’t hesitate, he turned the rifle toward the next oncoming infected just a few feet behind Liz. Owen had left the helm and was beating the infected that had Sarah’s arm with the oar. With no one driving the boat was even less stable. Liz was only a few feet from the far bank now and she needed just a few seconds to escape. David centered the sights of the rifle on the infected woman reaching for Liz and just as the recoil of the rifle hit his shoulder the side of the boat lifted up over him and began to fall backwards. David hadn’t seen if his shot was good, the boat was flipping over blocking his view. His last seconds on board he reached for his backpack and took a deep breath.

  David was plunged into the rushing water, and instantly the chaos and noise of the surface was muted by the quiet and calm underneath the water. David quickly slung the rifle over his head and right shoulder, he held onto the backpack tightly and stretched his arms and legs outward desperately reaching for the bottom, so he could right himself under water. He had tried to open his eyes but the dirty water burned and he could only see darkness in the muddy water. David panicked when he couldn’t feel the bottom at first but then he remembered he could float. He relaxed and let the water carry him to the surface.

  Once at the surface he pulled his head up and sucked in some air. He immediately opened his eyes but everything was blurry. He couldn’t see but at least he could hear again, and right in front of him was the angry growl of the infected. David took another deep breath and went under hoping to dodge the infected in the deep river. He swam down paused then resurfaced. He came up gasping and blinking in an attempt to regain his vision. This time he got a glimpse of the bank, he was close. That’s when David felt the hands clawing at his legs. He kicked and squirmed to try to avoid being pulled under by their hungry hands but one of them grabbed his ankle and pulled him down. He barely had any breathe left when he was plunged under the water and he was sure he would drown if he didn’t get free. He paddled with his arms and tried to break free but the things grasp was too tight. David panicked and reached for something, anything. And that’s when two powerful arms grabbed his shoulders and yanked him upward.

  David tried to fight but by then he was exhausted. The arms were so strong they ripped him up out of the water. David gasped for air and wiped his eyes to find Owen pulling him to shore. David coughed and choked but he was free of the infected for now. The two of them fought the current together and made it to the muddy shore where they collapsed. David took deep breaths while he lay on his back. Owen crawled up to his feet when David noticed that he had a tear in his pants. David pointed at Owen’s leg and the bloody fabric that surrounded the ripped pant leg, “Owen! Were you bitten?”

  Owen looked at the wound and shook his head, “I’m fine.”

  David couldn’t think for a few moments. He had no idea what to do now, but he didn’t have time to deal with it. As Owen climbed to his feet they heard a noise behind them and turned to find one of the infected staggering through the brush. It was a large man with no shirt on, his slick skin was mottled and grey and he had the typical blank stare they carried. It spotted the boys and took a step in their direction when Sarah popped out of the bushes next to it and smashed its face with the oar like it was a battle axe.

  The large man fell back and landed hard, Owen and David stared at Sarah with a look of gratitude and disbelief. She didn’t stand still long, she hurried to the water’s edge where a woman who was infected growled and climbed out of the water. The infected was waist deep in water struggling to stand up when Sarah raised the oar over her head as if she we chopping wood and hacked the skull in the center. It fell back into the water and was washed away. Sarah turned to the bo
ys, “Let’s go!” she yelled and headed for the woods.

  Owen and David didn’t argue, but when Owen tried to walk he gasped at the pain of his leg and began to drag it behind him. He winced every time he put his weight on it. David looked ahead to see the forest climbed up a steep hill away from the river. It was clear Owen wouldn’t be able to get very far so David pulled Owen’s arm over his shoulder and helped him forward. Owen was heavy, he was solid and muscular and David was having difficulty carrying some of his weight. Luckily, Sarah was clearing the way ahead. David watched as she met another infected in the woods and swung the oar knocking it off balance with a blow to the shoulder sending it over a log.

  Afterward she bashed another one of the infected head in with a mighty downward chop to the top of the head. David and Owen made slow progress up the steep hill and away from the river with Sarah clearing the path the whole way. Owen seemed to be getting pale as he struggled to keep up with David. David was already tired and was running out of steam as he tried desperately to help his friend. David hoped there would be something at the top of this hill that could help them, but for all he knew they were about to run into another horde of the infected. As he hoped for a miracle Owen asked David about Liz. David’s heart sank, he hadn’t forgotten about her, but they had to get away from the river for now. Once they reached a point where they could catch their breath they could decide how to search for her.

  He was afraid of what he might find though. David pushed that thought away. “She made it! She had to!” he thought. But he wasn’t so sure. There had been one of the infected right behind her as the boat tipped over. David had shot one and bought her a few seconds but he didn’t get to see what had happened after the boat flipped. All he could do was hope that she was ok, and hope that she made it out of the river to safety.