by Gouge, W. B.
Sarah reached the top of the hill and was looking into a clearing when she turned and yelled to the boys, “Hey! Come on guys!”
At least it wouldn’t be more infected. David could hear distant growls behind him as he and Owen reached the top. As David reached the top of the hill Sarah pointed toward the barn, but it was a long way across open ground on the hilltop and Owen was fading fast.
Eight
Sarah went through the tall grass first followed by David and Owen. She scanned back and forth watching for incoming threats as they hurried toward the barn. The top of the hill was devoid of trees and was covered in tall grass with the barn sitting by the woods on the far side. David tried to keep Owen on his feet which was proving more difficult as they went. “What are we going to do with him?” David wondered.
Owen and David had been best friends since before grade school, they had spent all of their time together up until David had left for college a year ago. “And now he is infected, and there’s nothing I can do to save him!” David thought. To make matters worse Liz was missing and probably dead. David clenched his teeth, he didn’t want to admit that. But there was little hope she could have made it past so many infected or through the raging river. David pushed those thought out of his head, he didn’t have time to think about it right now. They needed to get to safety now, and then decide what to do next.
With his renewed determination, he tightened his grip on Owen and pushed forward. But as they were beginning to catch up to Sarah they heard the wails of the infected behind them. Sarah looked back, her face told the story, “Come on guys!” she demanded and shouldered Owen’s other arm.
The three hurried to the barn and approached the open doors. Sarah stopped when she saw the trickles of blood leading inside along with the uneven footprints in the soft soil. The first floor had only a partial wall which allowed enough light in to see. Several empty stalls lined the center where some old tools hung. Next to them a large, flatbed trailer sat with square hay bales stacked up. Sarah followed the bales which formed steps leading up to a hidden loft. “This way!” she pointed. Sarah and David tried to climb onto the trailer but Owen wasn’t helping and he proved to be too heavy for them both. Owen had gone pale and seemed to be very weak and confused. “Come on Owen, help us get you up there!” David pleaded as he looked over his shoulder and saw at least three infected closing in on the barn.
David climbed up on the trailer and pulled Owen’s arms with all his might and was able to get up onto the platform. Sarah pushed from behind as David walked backwards up the bales pulling Owen as he went, sweat dripping from his forehead as he burned his last bit of energy. As David finally hefted Owen up on top of the loft he slumped down next to him, he felt dizzy and his vision went black, he heard Sarah scream as if it had echoed down a tunnel just before he passed out.
Sarah had been pushing on Owen as David pulled. They were able to get him up onto the bales and it seemed as if they would reach the loft before the infected had caught up to them. But as Sarah climbed one of them had grabbed her ankle and pulled hard causing her to topple over the edge of the bales. Several of the heavy bundles of hay crashed down next to her almost crushing her. She had landed on a pile of tobacco stakes stacked in the corner of one of the many stalls, a short wall separated her from the three infected who were now reaching over the wall at her.
Sarah got up to her feet, her shoulder tight and hurting from the fall. One of the infected came around the corner of the stall wall and grabbed her injured shoulder. Sarah pushed him back and reached for anything she could use as a weapon. She found one of the stakes, it was about three feet long and sharpened on both ends. She used it like a spear, holding it out in front of her as the infected charged her again. She pointed the stake high and the weight of the thrust went into its eye. But its considerable weight kept moving forward and knocker Sarah to the ground with the infected landing on top of her. The fall had driven the stake all the way through its head, but it had landed on Sarah pinning her to the ground. She struggled to free herself as the other two infected rounded the corner. Sarah began to panic as they closed in on her, she could imagine how awful it must be to be eaten alive and knew that would be her fate if she didn’t get free. She screamed and tried to work herself free when one of the infected was knocked to the ground from behind.
Sarah looked up and saw a small framed person covered in mud swing a thin, square blade at the remaining infected. The blade fell on its neck chopping deep into the tissue and almost cutting the things head completely off. The head hung to the side as the last bit of muscle and skin held it from falling off. The infected fell to the ground while its mouth continued to snap open and shut. The infected that had been knocked down rose to its feet and let out a roar as it lifted its arms and charged the small figure. The person lifted the blade again and brought it down in a hard-chopping motion. The blade came to a stop deep in the skull.
Sarah watched as it fell to the floor like a bag of sand. The bladed end of the weapon was broken off and was still sticking out of the head of the infected. Sarah looked up at Liz who was covered in mud and grime, she was breathing deeply as she stared down at the dead thing still clutching the handle of her weapon.
“Thank you…” Sarah said crawling out from under the infected.
Liz reached down and helped her up, “No problem, sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”
Outside one of the infected screeched and both girls dropped down behind the stall wall. Sarah grabbed two of the tobacco stakes and handed Liz one. They waited as the seconds ticked by hoping that they hadn’t been seen and that the infected would just go on by. Sarah looked through a crack in the old boards and spotted the creature. It staggered in front of the barn entrance and stopped. Sarah could see its pale skin and dark colored veins, the blank expression on its face was unsettling. After several seconds it grunted before a yellow viscous matter poured from its mouth, it didn’t seem to notice. Then the creature staggered away as if in a trance with its eyes fixed in the distance.
“I think it’s gone.” Sarah whispered.
“Good. Where are the boys?” Liz asked.
“They’re up in the loft, Owen hurt his leg and David dragged him up the hill.” Sarah explained.
Liz looked nervous when Sarah mentioned Owen had been hurt. Sarah tried to show her it wasn’t that bad by making a joke, “What would they do without us here to save them?”
But Liz didn’t play along. She checked to see if the coast was clear and then headed up to the loft. She climbed up the hay bales and found Owen and David both lying on the hay not moving. She hurried over to Owen and saw his leg, his pants were torn in the middle thigh and blood had soaked his jeans around the hole.
She held her breath and stared at the wound. “He’s bitten!” Liz’s eye filled with tears at the site of the wound. She checked to see if he was breathing, he was. Then she checked David, he was breathing too, she searched him and found he was fine other than a few scrapes and bruises. He opened his eyes and saw her crying. “What’s wrong?” he asked in a weak voice.
She didn’t answer, instead she slumped down exhausted and cried for her brother.
Nine
David’s head was spinning. He had barely enough strength to pull Owen up to the loft before he had passed out. It felt like a long time had gone by and he wasn’t sure where he was for several moments. He sat up to see Liz crying between him and Owen. He was so relieved to see her, he wanted to reach out and hug her and hold her tightly. Sarah climbed up behind her and examined Owen’s leg. That’s when David remembered, “Owen had been bitten!” His heart sank. Not even a day ago he had decided that no one else was going to get hurt. Will had been bitten and now Owen was doomed to die a painful death only to return and try to kill him and his friends.
David moved over next to Liz and put his arm around her. He was glad she was okay and wished he could do or say something to comfort her. They both watched as Sarah put her fingers into the hole
in Owen’s jeans and ripped it open so she could see the wound. She touched his skin and he flinched before groaning and raising his hands to his face. David reached down and picked up the tobacco stake, ready to defend the girls if necessary. But Owen simply opened his eyes and looked at them all, “What’s going on?” he asked.
Liz gasped and threw her arms around him, “I’m so sorry Owen! I wish I had been there to help you!”
Owen looked puzzled, “What are you talking about?” he asked.
Sarah had been looking at his wound for several seconds now. “It doesn’t look like a bite to me.” She said.
Owen sat up with Liz still wrapped around his neck, “I wasn’t bitten.” He said unhooking Liz’s arms from him.
Relief poured over David and he felt himself relax for the first time in what felt like forever, and then was filled with anger, “Why didn’t you tell us you weren’t bitten! You had us all worried Owen!” David raised his voice.
Outside one of the infected snarled and Sarah shushed them, they all crouched down in the loft. Owen looked over at David, “I busted my leg on something in the water when the boat flipped. I didn’t have time to explain down by the river, we had to hurry up and find Liz!”
David couldn’t argue with that, Liz smiled with tears in her eyes and hugged Owen again. “I’m just glad you’re ok, I’m glad everyone made it here.” She said happily.
Sarah was keeping an eye out below, “Well, here isn’t the best place to be, but it is better than being down there.” She motioned toward the field where several infected were milling around in the tall grass.
She looked back to the others, “That leg is going to need stitches, and the dirty river water probably isn’t going to help it at all. Let’s wait until they spread out and sneak out of here.”
The plan made sense except none of them knew where to go from there. They had lost their truck and almost all their supplies. David was happy that he still had the rifle and his bag, he set them down and checked the rifle’s magazine. “Only a few bullets left.” He sighed and checked his backpack. He still had a bottle of water, the map book was soaked but he still had it, he reached further into the bag and found the cold medicine.
He looked around to see if anyone was looking before he pushed the boxes of pills further down into the bag. “Still have them, what am I going to do with them?” He thought about it for a few seconds. “Should I just leave them here? NO, maybe we can use them at some point.” he didn’t think any of them would catch a cold and need over the counter cold medicine. But it made him feel better knowing that he had them with him, just in case.
David settled in along with the others as it began to rain outside. The air had cooled down significantly causing them to huddle together over several hours as a mild storm blew through the area. It rained hard at times and the wind swept through the trees outside, more than once the distant sound of thunder rumbled. Then the wind died down, the rain let up and night fell over the country side.
The group had wanted to stay in the loft for the night, but Sarah convinced them that Owen’s leg needed to be cleaned and dressed as soon as possible to avoid infection. So, after they surveyed the area and found no infected nearby, David crept down to the ground and tried to decide which way they should go. As David peeked in between the boards that made up the barn walls he was terribly aware of how easy it would be for one of the infected to hide in the tall, wet grass surrounding the barn. Then he saw that there was a path through the tall grass, big enough for a car to pass through leading away from the barn opposite the river. “It must lead somewhere.” He thought.
He gathered the group, Owen leaned on Sarah and David’s shoulders as they moved slowly through the dark. There were no lights in sight and the clouds filtered out any moon light that tried to reach the ground. The group moved quietly down the path, two trenches ran parallel to each other in the path telling David that this path was caused by some kind of farm equipment. As they reached the woods it only grew darker and scarier. David was searching out every sound in the wet forest as they moved, hoping that nothing came darting out of the darkness toward them.
Soon they spotted a pale blue light through the trees, they headed in that direction until they came out of the woods and into a small yard surrounding a farmhouse. The group was relieved to be out of the forest and the tall grass. They approached the tiny house, David let the girls stay with Owen as he peered in through the window.
The old house looked a lot like David’s grandparent’s house, the old boards were painted white and the place needed some repairs. Inside the window David could barely see anything, there was some old furniture in the living room, no lights on, and he couldn’t hear or see anything moving. David walked over to the front door, it was open just a crack. He swallowed hard and pushed the door open producing a loud creak.
He stood in the doorway holding his rifle toward the door. A distant rumble of thunder was all he could hear except for the wind gently brushing the trees around the yard. He called out to anyone that might be inside, but there was no answer. He looked back at the others resting in the yard and shrugged. Then he called again into the house and heard nothing again. The fact that nothing happened made him even more afraid but he still had to check it out. They had no place else to go right now. David reached into the dark doorway and ran his hand up the wall searching for a light switch. He found one and flipped it on, instantly the room was filled with soft, yellow light. The coast was clear.
David walked through the rest of the house checking each room. The kitchen was clear, the bedrooms were clear, the bathroom and dining rooms were clear. It was apparent that someone had been here recently since there were dishes in the sink, and a chair had been tipped over on its side in the kitchen. But otherwise the place seemed to be perfectly normal and empty.
David motioned for the others to come inside so they dragged Owen into the living room and placed him on the couch. Sarah immediately searched the house for something she could use to treat Owen’s wound. Liz checked the kitchen and brought back several glass of water that she placed on the coffee table for everyone. David turned on the T.V. and sat across from Owen on the couch. Owen seemed very tired, “Every time we check the news it gets worse, are we sure we want to hear any more?” He asked sarcastically.
David smiled, “Well I guess it isn’t too late to hear an asteroid is going to crash into us at any minute.”
The T.V. picture appeared a few seconds after the audio began, the images were pretty much the same as before. David, Liz and Owen watched as the reporters gave instructions for people to either stay where they were and lock their doors and windows or, if possible, make their way to the designated safe areas nearby. It was more of the same thing they had heard already. But as they watched the news anchor was told to switch to the newest details on the unfolding situation. David and the others listened in, “As we have said before reports of the infection are being seen in countries around the world. China is in chaos, we have received videos of the mass hysteria in the streets there and now we are being told that Russia is threatening to use nuclear weapons on its neighboring countries if they don’t control the flow of refugees over their borders. The U.N. has condemned these threats and says that they will not tolerate threats of nuclear attack at a time like this. The Russian navy has deployed ships and submarines in mass however and U.N. nations have also had to redistribute navies across the globe in an effort to keep the situation under control.”
David shook his head. “You were right, it is getting worse.” He said.
David thought it was crazy. Didn’t they see what was going on? Rather than waste time and resources fighting each other shouldn’t they be working on a solution to all this? Deep down David didn’t think that it would come to using nuclear weapons, he thought that it would just be a matter of time before everyone realized what was going on and decided to work together to set things right again. Or maybe he was kidding himself. He knew just enough about his
tory to know that understanding something using this big usually didn’t happen until long after it happened. All the plagues and wars and disasters in history weren’t well understood until after they were over. At least this was happening on the other side of the world, all he could do for the time being was stay alive. He looked around the room at everyone else, “Stay alive, and keep them alive too!” he thought as he sat back on the couch.
Ten
Sarah searched the cabinet in the bathroom. There wasn’t much in the way of medical supplies. She did find some iodine, but no bandages. After that she went into the bedroom and searched the closet. The clothes hanging in the closet were mostly older, flower print dresses and night gowns. Under the clothes were several drawers and storage shelves, she opened the top one and found a sewing kit. She took it out and started back for the living room when she noticed a picture on the nightstand. It was an old picture of a man and a woman standing next to each other in front of a small house, it could have been this house but she didn’t get a good look at it on her way in. For some reason she didn’t understand she couldn’t pull herself away from the picture. The man had his arm around the woman and they were both smiling. “They both look really happy” she thought. There was something real about them, not like all the social media pictures of couples she had seen. The picture must have been taken in front of this house, otherwise why would it be here? She started to wonder why there were no men’s clothes in the closet when she noticed the urn next to the picture. It made sense she thought, the picture was rather old. She sighed and then walked out of the room.
Back in the living room David, Liz and Owen were spread out watching the news. Sarah hurried over to Owen and checked for a fever. Nothing, that was a good sign. She asked him to remove his pants. Owen stood slowly, obviously in pain, and began to take off his pants. Liz stood up quickly, “I’ll… be in the kitchen.” She said and hurried out.