The Potter's Field

by S. B. Poe

  The thing was moving faster than any deadun she had seen. It came around the car and paused, head turning towards her and then Raj and then the others still by the road. Its nostrils flared as it sucked in their scent and little flecks of rot shot out when it exhaled. It turned back towards her and it began an awkward gallop. It was moving fast and the machete would still not come free. She let go of the handle and reached for the pistol on her side.

  Raj tried to split the distance between the thing and Tilly. He ran as fast as he could and swung his machete when the thing came within range. He missed its head but as the blade continued its downward arc it managed to cleave the things kneecap and part of its thigh off. It stumbled and rolled forward on the ground. The thing tried to stand but lolled backwards and fell again before finally tucking its leg underneath and slowly standing back up. Tilly raised her pistol but before she could pull the trigger the boom of the shotgun stopped her. The things back of its head exploded as the slug from Evelyn’s gun entered just below its eye. It stood motionless for another second and finally crumpled straight down.

  “What the fuck was that?” Tilly asked still looking at the thing on the ground.

  “Maybe that was what the guy, Cameron, meant by evolving.” Raj said. “You ok?

  “Yeah. I guess so.” She said.

  “That’s twice.” Tilly said turning to Evelyn.

  “Twice?” Evelyn asked.

  “Twice you’ve saved my ass.” Tilly said. “Thanks. Again.”

  “You’re welcome. Again.” She said. They all slowly walked a little closer to the thing on the ground.

  “help…” a voice came from the direction of the overturned car. They stopped.

  “Shit. There’s someone still in there.” Scott said as he knelt down to see into the car. “Hang on.” Charlie said.

  He couldn’t see into the car so he ducked even lower. He shot back up and looked at Tilly.

  “What?” She said.

  “It’s bad.” He said.

  Raj and Tilly both knelt down and looked in the car. A woman was hanging from the seatbelt of the driver’s side. Her eyes were wide open and expressionless. The steering wheel had crushed her mouth and ripped the bottom of her jaw away from her face. She was still in that place between life and death but it wouldn’t be long. The passenger, a man, was hanging in his seatbelt slowly mouthing help, barely able to give it voice. Raj went around to that side and got down beside him.

  “What’s your name?” Raj asked as he grabbed the man’s dangling hand.

  “Ev…. Evan.” He said.

  “Evan, I’m Raj. I’m here to help.”

  Evan coughed slightly and smiled at him. He turned his head towards Amber but he knew she was basically gone. He turned back.

  “You…can’t. Just make it …quick.” Evan said.

  Raj knew when he knelt down that he couldn’t help. Even if he had been able to get him out of the car, stabilize whatever injuries he had received and move him back to compound, it would all be worthless. The deaduns that had surrounded the car took bits of whatever flesh they could get their mouths on. The man’s face was pockmarked with bites and awash in blood. Raj nodded at him. He reached back and pulled the pistol from his pocket. His hand shook slightly. He made eye contact with Tilly.

  “I’ll do it.” She said and started walking over.

  Raj looked back at the man in the car and fired the gun. He stood. Tilly walked over and hugged him.

  “It’s ok. I know there’s nothing we could do. It just feels like giving up.” He said.

  “I know.” She took his hand and they walked back towards the deaduns on the ground. Charlie sat watching the woman in the drivers seat. Her eyes never focused and no sound ever escaped her throat. He slipped the knife through her eye after she stopped breathing and started to twitch. Pop.

  He stood and walked back over to Evelyn.

  “It just never ends, does it?” Charlie said. “It felt like maybe things were getting better but I guess it was just because we haven’t been out here.”

  The rain had stopped and they stood looking at the deaduns on the ground. Raj knelt down next to the odd one and pulled out the flashlight against the fading light. As the beam glanced across the wound on top of its leg he paused. He turned his head sideways and looked closer. Tilly knelt down beside him, picking up on his curiosity.

  “What is it?” She asked.

  “Look, in the light.” He said.

  The machete had shaved the skin from over the knee and the thigh muscle was partially exposed. He waved the flashlight over the flayed skin and she saw it. She leaned closer and looked at the tiny little yellow web like strands running through the muscle.

  “What is that?”

  “Not sure.

  Charlie and Evelyn walked over and joined them around the carcass. The sun had almost dipped below the horizon and the colors of the world faded with it. The wind blew unevenly, coming in small gusts.

  “What is that?” Charlie asked.

  “That’s what we were trying to figure out.” Raj said as he stood.

  Charlie wasn’t looking at the ground; he was looking towards the setting sun.

  “Not that.” Charlie said as he glanced down. Then he pointed to the west. “That.”

  They all began to hear a buzz of noise, but not the noise of birds or bugs. It was almost like the whisper of an audience anticipating the musician stepping on stage, or the detached murmur of a crowded airport, disparate and excited.

  They stood looking into the darkness, listening. Then the smell came. They knew that smell. It had been with them in the beginning. The acrid, rotten smell of deaduns filled the air.

  “We need to go. Now.” Tilly said as she grabbed his arm. He didn’t move.

  “I know. But where?” He asked.

  “Back to the fence.” She said.

  “I don’t think the fence will keep that out.”

  The sound grew louder. It was a jumble of grunts and cries and harsh whispers. The sound was human but it wasn’t. It was guttural. The sound of pain, anger and fear all filtering through the trees until it seemed to surround them.

  “We have to go now.” She grabbed his arm and didn’t give him a chance to resist. She turned and pulled him back to the truck. Charlie and Evelyn followed them.

  “Hold on!” She yelled as she slammed the truck into gear and showered on the gas.

  She jerked the wheel hard to the right and spun the truck around. She didn’t let up until they reached the spot where they first came out of the woods. The truck rocked through the trees and the puddles splashed violently as Tilly covered the mile and half between the road and the fence.

  3

  A Helluva Plan

  Devin leaned back on the steps, propping his elbows on the tread above the one he sat on. The clouds had started to break up a little but the occasional drop of rain still fell. He squinted at the sun as it passed by a small patch of clear sky. It quickly hid again. He stood and bent over, touching his fingers to his toes.

  “Stretching?” a voice came from behind him. He stood and turned.

  “Yep. Been a long day. Uh?” He said.

  “Violet.”

  “Violet.” He said.

  “What was yours again?” She asked.

  “Devin.”

  “So a long day Devin? Been going a while now have y’all?”

  “Couple of days.”

  “Doing what?” Violet asked.

  “Scavenging things we need.” Devin asked.

  “Y’all do a lot of scavenging?”

  “Not really. We’ve been pretty lucky. We had supplies to last a while but now they are running out.” He said.

  “And y’all just showed up here? In Collier?” She asked.

  “Yeah, I guess. Listen, is there something you want to know?” He said, slightly agitated.

  “I wanna know why the hell everyone in this town died right after you randomly showed up. I wanna know what the hell yo
u and your friends had to do with it. That’s what I wanna know.” She said as she straightened her back.

  “You think we had something to do with what happened here?” He asked. “Hell I don’t even know what happened here.”

  “You need to tell me who you people are and where you came from right fucking now.” She said.

  “I don’t have to tell you shit.” He hadn’t expected this yet here it was. She just smiled.

  “Yeah, I’m afraid you do.” Cody said as he stepped through the open door holding the shotgun. It was pointed at Devin.

  “Jesus. What the hell is wrong with you people? We are trying to help. I don’t know what happened.” Devin said.

  “Well you keep saying that, but I ain’t sure I believe you. Put the gun down.” Cody said.

  Devin shrugged and set the rifle on the ground. Violet bent down and picked it up.

  “Let’s step inside and have a little chat.” Cody said as he waved the shotgun at Devin.

  “I was keeping watch. You know, for stringers.” Devin said.

  “Well, I think we’re safe from, what did you say, stringers? I think we’re safe from stringers for now.” Cody said. “Let’s go.”

  Devin climbed the few steps and went through the door. Violet followed him and Cody followed her. He paused long enough to glance down the road towards the direction the others went. He didn’t see anything. He closed the door behind him.

  Josh watched as the privacy gate swung open. The driveway around the back of the funeral home turned onto another road on the other side of the fence. He would have never seen it. He pulled the truck through.

  “You knew this gate was here?” Lori asked Ed.

  “I guess. Didn’t think about it honestly. Pretty smart though.” Ed said.

  “It is.” Josh said as he pulled through. He stopped the SUV on the other side and they all got out. Vernon closed the gate.

  “All good?” Josh asked as Bridger walked up.

  “So far. It’s a mess in here.” Bridger said.

  “Now what?” Lori asked.

  “Well, we need to talk about that.” He said. “We’ll do it when we get back over to the house.”

  “What house?” Ed asked.

  “Cotton’s house.” Vernon said.

  “Is he still there?” Ed asked.

  “I haven’t seen him since last night. I don’t think he made it.” Vernon said. “But Cody and Emma Grace did. Along with Violet Parnell and her sister’s boy Peter. Bernice Hardy too.”

  “What about Doc Hardy? He stitched me up a few times.” Ed asked. Vernon shook is head. Ed was surprised at how sentimental he felt. He hadn’t really missed this place but it was still the only place he had ever known.

  “What happened here?” Lori asked Bridger.

  “I don’t know. We found a bunch of deaduns…” He started.

  “They were all alive yesterday. Every one of them. Something got inside. We didn’t know anything was happening until Mike Austin rang the bell.” Vernon interrupted.

  “We heard that. Last night, while we were outside.” Lori said.

  “By the time everyone got together Mike was dead along with one of his boys. We found one of them near him but the other one was missing. Maybe the other kid turned and it just spread. I don’t know.” Vernon said.

  “So how do we know it’s safe to come inside?” Josh asked.

  “We don’t. But I think being on this side of that barricade is better than being out there.” Bridger said. “We can clear every house inside the perimeter if we need to.”

  “You’d help us do that?” Vernon asked.

  “Yeah.” Bridger said. “Let’s get back. I want to make sure we’re all on the same page and start figuring out what we are going to do next.”

  Bridger shouldered his rifle and walked over to the back of the SUV.

  “Vernon, you get up front with Josh.” Bridger said. “Josh, this is Vernon, he’ll show you where to go. Lori sit back here with me. We’ll pull rear guard on the way back”

  He opened the rear liftgate and sat down in the open cargo bay. Lori sat down next to him. Bridger turned and looked over his shoulder at Ed in the back seat.

  “What are we going to do now?” Ed asked.

  “We're going to head to that house and then we’re going to talk about that.” Bridger said.

  The house was quiet. Emma Grace sat next to the bed and watched as Mrs. Hardy’s chest slowly rose and fell. She still hadn’t woken up and Emma Grace began to think maybe it was best. Sleeping and dreaming would be preferable to the nightmare of being awake now. She heard muffled voices coming from the other room. She ignored them as she felt herself drifting off.

  “And you just stole everything you came across?” Violet asked.

  “Not everything. Just the stuff we need and I don’t think you could call it stealing. Not now. Everyone is just trying to make it through this.” Devin said.

  He sat in the chair with his hands folded in front of him. He looked up as Cody leaned against the doorframe. Violet stood over him and every time he answered a question her face got a little redder. A scene from a movie came into his head of some good cop bad cop routine. A brief chuckle escaped from his throat.

  “You think its funny. You think this is a joke?” Violet asked.

  Her face got even redder and Devin couldn’t help but smile at her as she glared at him. Light exploded in his eyes as she slapped him hard across the side of his face. Just as he began to regain a semblance of focus her hand connected again. The second hit was a little weaker but he instinctively jerked. He and the chair went tumbling backwards. His head hit the floor hard and the world briefly went dark.

  Cody walked over to him and knelt down.

  “Damn Violet.” He said smiling as he turned to Devin.

  “Wake up boy. Wake up.” He slapped at his face and Devin’s eyes opened and rolled around trying to focus.

  “There you are sunshine. Come on.”

  He grabbed Devin by the shoulders and stood him up. Devin wobbled but Cody held him up while Violet turned the chair back over. He sat him down hard in the chair.

  “Wake up. Now.” Cody said and slapped at him again.

  Emma Grace jolted awake. She had slipped away listening to the sound of Mrs. Hardy’s breathing. The loud voices from the other rooms brought her back. As she stepped down the stairs she heard a loud crash coming from Cotton’s office. The office was a converted bedroom on the other end of the house on the first floor. She walked a little faster and through the open door she saw Cody slapping the stranger. She hurried into the room.

  “What are you doing?” Emma Grace asked as she stepped between Cody and the man in the chair.

  “Trying to get this bastard to tell the truth.” Violet said.

  “The truth about what?” Emma Grace turned to her.

  “Why they did this to us. Why they let goners in to kill us. Who the hell are they and why the hell are they here.” Violet’s face was red again and she stepped around Emma Grace and raised her hand to slap Devin again.

  “Stop, don’t hit him again.” Emma Grace said as she stepped back around Violet and moved to protect Devin.

  Violet’s raised hand stilled but her anger rose even further. She turned and glared at Cody.

  “Emma Grace you don’t need to be here. Go back and stay with Mrs. Hardy. We’ll handle this.” Cody said.

  “By beating the shit out of him?” Emma Grace said.

  Devin slowly regained his bearings and heard the other girl Bridger and Jahda brought back defending him. He didn’t know why but he was thankful, nevertheless he wasn’t about to not defend himself.

  “I ain’t ate a good meal in weeks, ain’t no shit in me.” Devin said as he turned a bloody smiled towards her.

  He tasted the salt in his mouth and brought his hand up. He touched his lip. His finger came back wet and red.

  “You bastard. I will kill you.” Violet said and she shoved Emma Grace aside. She
struck Devin again across the face but he managed not to fall over.

  Violet saw red. She dove at him, knocking him out of the chair. She jumped on him and started beating him with closed fists before anyone could react.

  “STOP!!” Emma Grace shouted. “Stop her Cody. He didn’t do this.”

  “I’ll stop her when he tells the truth.” Cody said as he watched Devin trying to bring hands up in front of his face. Violet was in a frenzy, swinging wildly and her blows were landing hard.

  “STOP HER CODY.” Emma Grace shouted. “STOP HER NOW. IT WASN”T HIM. IT WASN’T ANY OF THEM…IT WAS ME!! It was me.”

  Violet paused her assault and looked back at her while still astride Devin. He took advantage of the brief distraction and rolled to his left bringing his hand up and shoving Violet off of him. He jumped up quickly and backed into the corner in a boxing stance, blood dripping from his busted lip. But no one came at him.

  “What?” Cody said. “What did you say?”

  “It was me.” Emma Grace demurred. “I did it. I let it in.”

  “What the hell?” Violet said as she raised herself off the floor. “You? Bullshit.”

  “Emma Grace, you’re lying. For some reason you’re just trying to protect this bastard. I know they did it. I know it.” Cody said as he grabbed Emma Grace’s shoulders with both hands.

  “We didn’t do shit but help.” Devin said from the corner.

  “Shut up.” Violet snapped.

  Emma Grace jerked back from Cody’s grasp and pushed him in the chest.

  “All of you shut up.” Emma Grace said. “I did it Cody. I let it in by the church. I thought it would stay where I left it but it didn’t. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I wish I could take it back but I can’t. Cody I got Daddy killed. I got them all killed. I didn’t mean too.” Emma Grace said the last line through the tears rolling down her cheeks in waves. She finally slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. “I’m sorry.” She said as she devolved into harsh sobs.