by Thomas Baker
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JT popped up and ran from a car, to a truck, to a building, ignoring the sharp pains from his knee. He looked like some kind of absurd prairie dog. He was prettysure he had figured out where the shots were coming from. He was going to kill the bastard. Nothing would stop him. Gus and Dusty trailed behind him. Both were shouting at him to stop. Tyrone had stayed back out of range. If he had to go in the building by himself, he was fine with that.
A crack echoed down the empty streets and glass shattered nearby. "That's right moron," JT hissed to himself through his clenched jaw. "Keep firing so I can track you down."
Two buildings down, he saw movement on the second floor. Then another shot rang out. "Bingo motherfucker."
He sprinted at full speed, determined to get to the building front and under the gunman. His right knee screamed in protest. It buckled out from under him as he hit the sidewalk. Down he went. He rolled with his fall and crashed into the brick wall. Pavement bits flew up seconds later from where he had just been.
He thought he was pissed before. JT now felt like a volcano had gone off in his chest. He erupted up and half ran, half hobbled, to the building's entrance. The door was gone, ripped from its hinges. Without slowing he went through the entrance. In an instant he was face first on the floor. His nose crunched as it hit the hardwood and he could feel warmth on his lip.
JT let out a guttural growl. He got up to a sitting position and looked behind him, one hand on his nose. Squinting, he could see the broken wire that ran across the doorway, right at ankle height. He couldn't remember the last time his anger had broiled inside of him like this.
Apparently his bat had skidded out of his hands during the fall. He wasn't going to waste time looking for it. "I'll just strangle this prick."
He was in what used to be a shoe store. Boxes and shoes lay strewn all about the place, along with random garbage. JT slowed down as he favored his knee. He had to keep wiping his nose too. In the back room he found the staircase to the second floor. Step by careful step he took the stairs. He was about halfway up when he noticed another wire. If he had charged up the stairs like he originally planned, that would have led to a nasty fall. Maybe even a broken neck. He stepped over it and continued on. The staircase turned. He came to the top and found himself in a corridor. There were two doors, one set about halfway down and one door at the veryend.
The one at the end has to be the room facing the street, he concluded.
He forced himself to take it slow, and in what seemed like hours he reached the end of the hall. He turned the handle gently, then threw all his weight against the door in a mad rush inside.
A girl was kneeling out the window, looking through her rifle scope. She turned at the crashing sound of his entrance. He had completely startled her. He could see it in her face, as time seemed to slow down. What is she, about eight...nine...ten?
He was running at full speed, down low, like he was about to tackle someone. He saw surprise turn to horror in her eyes. She began to turn the rifle towards him. He tried to stop. His momentum carried him forward, smashing into her. She flew over top of the windowsill and disappeared out of his sight. Dear God, what have I done? He sat on the floor, with his back to the window, hands covering his face. He was still in that position when Gus and Dusty found him.
"That kid with their head splattered all over the sidewalk was the shooter?" Dusty asked.
"Jesus, Sarge, do you even know of the word tact?" Gus exclaimed.
Normally JT would have snapped at Dusty's rude comments. Right now, he didn't think he'd get that angry ever again.
"Was she here all by herself?" Dusty continued on.
"I don't know, I haven't checked the place," JT said. It felt like too much effort to even say those few words. "I would guess if other people were here, I'd be dead by now."
"Damn it jock, you've got to think better," Dusty said, exasperated. "Didn't you just learn you must be on your toes at all time? I'll check the perimeter."
Gus sat down next to JT. Silence dragged on minute after minute.
"You know, it wasn't your fault," Gus offered.
"Yeah," muttered JT. Blood dripped from his nose in a soft pitter patter onto the floor. It was less blood than that girl's losing out on the sidewalk.
"That was a prettyweak 'yeah'," Gus said, getting serious. "You doremember she sicced zombies on us and then tried to blow our brains out? She must have been one tough little child, if she was surviving out here all on her own."
"Well, she's not surviving anymore, is she Gus?" JT sighed. "Even though I used to joke around with my friends about how awesome a zombie apocalypse would be, and if I'm honest, how part of me thought all this was cool the first few days, I would like to think I am a good person."
"Doesn't the fact you feel bad about what happened, even though it was an accident, make you a good person?" Gus countered.
Dusty came back in. "It's clear. I don't know how she was doing it, but it looks like she was here on her own."
JT got up and stalked out the door. He stopped and turned back to Gus. "Let's get those fucking precious supplies and head back. I think I'm done here."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashley awoke on the cold dirt floor. He must have knocked her out again and dressed her. She was now wearing the wedding gown. The thought of what else he could have done while she was out made her skin crawl. She shivered uncontrollably. She wanted to tear the dress off, tear it to shreds, but her hands were bound behind her.
"Darling, stop. You don't want to ruin your pretty dress." Harold was suddenly towering over her. He seemed like a giant to her. She had a weird flashback to a book they had to read in Comp. 101, Gulliver's Travels.
"Now thatyou are ready, we can begin the ceremony."
With that statement Harold wrapped his beefy arms, hard from manual labor, around her. He lifted her up over his shoulder and carried her across the room. She tried to block some of his stench by breathing through her mouth.
"Here we go," he said hoisting her into the air.
Tremendous shooting pains, worse than anything she could have imagined existed, shot through her back. She screamed and screamed, tears streaming down her face. She looked down, her feet dangled over the white tub. Crimson streaks ran down her legs, between her toes, and dripped, dripped, dripped. The sight of her own blood mesmerized her. She didn't know it could be so bright red. She watched in a daze as he grabbed her hand, saw him slip a wedding ring on her finger, and hummed the wedding march again. She felt the pain start tofade away. Things went dark for the last time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JT felt like the trip back to the cabin lasted forever. He couldn't stop replaying that last few seconds of his encounter with the little girl over and over in his head. Especially that look of horror in her eyes. She was just trying to survive, like all of us. After a few attempts to lighten JT up, even Gus fell silent on the way back.
Dusty pulled off the dirt road and parked behind the cabin. Dusk had fallen. Dusty left the headlights on so they could see as they unloaded the back. They had found little in the town with their search, but Dusty found the little girl had a prettygood stash. JT didn't think he could stand to look at
what they had brought back, let alone touch it, so he went inside.
He walked in, surprised to find Hannah visibly agitated. Harold sat on the couch, holding his head in his hands.
"What's up? What's going on?" JT asked.
"It's Ashley, she's gone missing," Hannah said, crossing the room quickly to JT and falling into his arms.
"How can she be missing? She was still hobbling around."
"It's a bitconfusing," Harold jumped in. "I guess there was a misunderstanding that Hannah was out and thought I was watching over Ashley. I went out to do some hunting because I thought Hannah was staying to watch Ashley. I don't know why she would have left the safety of the cabin though."
"I don't think it matters why she left," Hannah said, sounding desperate and on the verge of tears. "We just need to find her."
"OK," JT said, secretly relieved to have something to do to take his mind off what happened in town. "I'll tell the others. I'm sure we can get Mike to help too. Is Alan around?"
"I don't think that is a good idea," Harold interjected.
"What?" Hannah turned to look at Harold, shocked.
"You must have forgotten," Harold continued plainly. "It's understandable, with your friend missing. I have reset the traps and defenses around my property. If you all go stumbling around in the dark, then I am afraid someone else might get seriously hurt."
"You're not suggesting we leave her out there all night, alone?" Hannah fumed.
"No, of course not." Harold stood. "Mike and I will go. Mike has been here longer than any of you. He has been out with me and knows most of the layout. I bet we will be back in ten minutes with your pretty friend."
Harold collected his hunting jacket and rifle and left. Mike followed without protest, stopping to put a hand on Hannah's shoulder. She nodded and smiled sadly at him.
JT filled Dusty, Gus, and Tyrone in on Ashley's disappearance as they entered the cabin.
"Harold will look for her?" Dusty asked.
"You say that like it's a bad idea," Gus pointed out.
"I have a bad feeling about the guy," Dusty said. "If Alan took off, then he was the only one here in the cabin with her during the day. Now she's missing? Seems awfully convenient."
"You really think Harold could have something to do with Ashley leaving?" Hannah asked. "I've told JT how Harold's creep factor has been lately, but I didn't think it was more than the fact he lived alone. I never thought it was dangerous."
Thomas's warning popped back into JT's head.
"I have to say that for once, I agree with your paranoia Dusty," JT said. "What should we do? He is right about us not knowing about where all the traps are. Now it's fully dark outside."
"I don't care what he says," Dusty headed for the door. "I'm going to have my ownlook around. If he comes back and wants to know where I am, cover for me."
"We can do that," Hannah said, laying her head on JT's chest. Light sobs escaped from her.
First the girl in the town I-and now Ashley's gone. Can this day get any fucking worse?
Minutes ticked by after Dusty left. JT, Hannah and Tyrone sat around. Gus paced the floor. No one said a word for what felt like hours. Hannah finally spoke up.
"So I guess it went good in town?" she asked. It sounded to JT less like she really cared about what happened and more like just a way to distract herself.
"I don't want to talk about it now," JT said, knowing he sounded too defensive, but unable to stop himself. "We got some supplies...let's just leave it at that."
Gus came over to Hannah and took a hand. "Now don't think I don't care darlin, cuz you know I do. This old man, as Dusty likes to remind me, has had one hell of a day. I'm all tired out. There's nothing more I can do, so I'm headed to bed. She'll turn up, no worries." He patted her hand and left.
"Gus is right," JT agreed. "I'm sure she is on her way back right now."
Hannah got up and took Gus's place in pacing the floor. JT watched her, hating his feelings of helplessness. Without a word Hannah went into the bedroom she and Ashley shared. JT wanted to go back to her. He wanted to hold her in his arms, comfort and protect her. After what happened in town earlier, he just didn't think he could do that right now. Alan walked in to find him drifting off, almost falling right out of the chair onto the floor.
"How are things going JT?" Alan asked. JT rubbed his eyes, noticing it was getting light outside.
"Alan?" JT said, groggy. "Hey, I was beginning to think you had blown our little popsicle stand. You haven't seen Harold or Mike have you?"
"No, I haven't seen anyone till just now. Why, what's going on?"
JT laid out what he knew had happened. Alan listened intently.
"I guess they have been out searching all night then," Alan said. He tried to be reassuring. "Harold comes off as strange, but the guy is uncanny in the outdoors. He'll find her."
Just then, Mike banged through the front door, looking disheveled. The frown on his face didn't look very encouraging.
JT opened his mouth to ask. Before he could say a word, Mike shook his head. JT felt a ball of acid drop into his stomach. Mike trudged off into the bathroom. JT and Alan looked at each other. Neither had the words.
"Gus, can I get you to come on a walk and chat with me?" JT asked.
It had been almost twenty-four hours since Ashley had been missing. Everyone was tense. Hannah wouldn't even come out of her room now. JT could feel the stress weighing down on him. He wasn't able to relax. He hoped that talking to Gus would help clear his head some.
"Sure boss," Gus said, getting up from the chair. "There ain't nothing good on tele right now,anyway." He tried to joke but JT couldn't even raise a smirk.
The two went out the front door, across the porch, and down the dirt road that lead out to the highway. He didn't want to go too far because of Harold's traps. Speaking of the guy, no one had seen him since he left, even though Mike came back.
"You got something on your mind there, slick? It's something heavy if I'm reading you right. What's up?"
"I've been thinking about us."
"I'm awfully flattered, but I don't think you're my type," Gus said, raising an eyebrow.
"Us. The group, you old wise ass," JT chuckled despite himself. "I don't know why but, everybody looks at me to do the deciding."
"Most of the time, you have a good head on your shoulders kid. You take more than just yourself into account, unlike 'ole Dusty," Gus smiled. "I know I wouldn't want to be in charge of this shit parade."
"I am appointing you as my adviser then," JT said, clapping Gus on the back. "I want to ask your opinion of something and I want you to keep this to yourself for now. Do you think, if we had to go back out into the world, we could make it? Because honestly, I don't know how we even got this far. We lost that John guy less than a fucking day after we met him. We drudged on, kicking and clawing our way out of one scrape after another. Now Ashley is gone and we don't know if we're ever going to find her. That is hard enough to deal with. What if something happened to you or...." he paused.
"Hannah?" Gus answered for him.
JT looked down and nodded his head yes.
"On my watch." JT said, finishing his sentence. "I thought we would be safe here..." JT trailed off. He took a deep breath, before making his pitch. "So what do you think? If we leave and go looking for this Safe Haven, do you think we could make it?" JT turned to look at Gus.
"If what we have to look forward to is more of what we faced getting here, then I'm going with no. We stay here. Even after the attack."
"That's what I was thinking," JT said, in a sigh of relief. "I mean we have loose cannon Alan, Tyrone, who is reallystill a kid, Dusty trying to be the cock of the walk and, no offense, but you're not getting any younger Gus."
"Hey, I wake up every morning with a woody, so I'm not out of the race yet. I only told you what you already knew. I have a feeling there's more. What is it?"
JT hesitateda bit. He wasn't so sure he was going to have Gus on hi
s side as readily with his next idea.
"No, you're right. I have one other thing to ask. This is the part thatis really between us," JT paused, taking a look around before continuing. "Since we are staying, shouldn't we take over this place?"
"I'm not sure I follow," Gus said, squinting. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Harold's made it clear we're only meant to be temporary guests. He wants to go back to living on his own. Harold came to meright before the zombie attack and said we all had to leave. As soon as we possiblycould. I would never agree with Dusty to his face, but this guy is reallystarting to worry me. I mean, wasn't it almost psychotic the way he just casually cut Thomas's head off?"
"I can argue that Alan acts prettypsychoticat times. Is that justification for killing and/or robbing Alan?" Gus said, ire rising. "That's what you are asking me right? Would it be so bad to take out one person for the good of us all? I'd think you'd have to get rid of Harold too. I don't think a fella like that would just say okay, toss you his keys, and walk away."
JT watched a squirrel twitch across their path while he thought about it. Gus spelled out what he had been skating around.
"You're right, that's what I am saying. We want to stay here, no matter what Harold does. Is that right or is that stealing? What if he attacks us to get us to leave? Kills one of us? Then we can kill him? You're also right, I think we would have to get rid of Harold. Even with what happened with that girl Gus, I'm not a killer. I was thinking of knocking him out, then driving him somewhere far away. Leaving him with a good amount of supplies and weapons and hope he never tried to come back."
"Any way you slice it, it would be murderto me," Gus said, his words becoming thick. "I can't have any part in it. If you went ahead anddid it, I guess I would have to stay here. Where else am I, the old timer, going to go by myself? I don't think you and I could continue being friends though."