The Potter's Field
Page 8
“We have to push them off.” Tilly said as she pointed to the pile against the fence.
Charlie and Scott joined Tilly and Raj to push the gate open while the others tried to push through the fence to move the dead. Charlie reached his hands over Scott’s head against the gate and pushed hard. It moved a little and Charlie swung around Scott to put his shoulder against it, trying to wedge himself between the gate and the post. As they heaved one more time it gave a little more and Charlie saw the gate clear the post. He stepped through the opening without even thinking. The bodies a few feet down the fencing shifted and fell back against the gate, closing the gap. He turned and looked at Scott through the fence.
“Oh shit.” Scott said. “OH SHIT!!”
“OH SHIT!!” Tilly and Raj said as they looked up.
The dead shuffling down the road had come closer as they struggled to open the gate, the movement drawing them like moths to a flame. Two of the dead stood looking in his eyes when Charlie spun around. He reached down and snatched the knife off his belt and swung it upwards. It penetrated just under the chin of the deadun and drove through whatever filled its head now. Pop. As the thing collapsed to the ground the knife twisted in his hand. He tightened his grip but it wouldn’t come free. The weight of the corpse pulled him down and he went to a knee. He felt the other deadun hovering behind him as he tried to wrest the knife loose.
Scott threw his shoulder against the gate trying to force it open. Raj leaned against it and pushed as hard as he could while the others pushed against the pile. Jennifer stood at the saloon watching Cameron work his way closer to the fence and she started to walk towards that side to urge him on. When she stepped from under the eave movement caught the corner of her eye. She paused and looked towards the others. Everyone was frantically pushing against the fence. Her eyebrows knitted together as she saw her father on the other side of the gate.
“DADDDYYYYY!!!!!” She screamed and took off running.
Charlie jerked the knife loose and lost his balance. He tumbled back over his feet and felt himself land against something hard. He looked up. The deadun that had been standing over him was still standing over him; he landed against its legs. It wasn’t reaching for him. It wasn’t trying to bite him. It damn sure wasn’t ripping him apart. It was just standing there. He waited. Jennifer screamed again and he felt the thing move. It turned to the sound of her voice and began slowly shuffling towards the gate. Charlie felt the things legs pull away from him and he tried to hold still. He couldn’t hold the awkward position and rocked forward to his knees. The thing stopped.
“Daddy no.” Jennifer said from the other side of the gate.
Charlie raised his eyes to the things face. It looked like a young face but it was hard to tell. It was bearded. Not a scruffy beard, well kept. The skin had sagged and hardened. The thing briefly turned its head down towards him. He watched the nostrils flair as it swung back towards the sound of Jennifer’s words. It took a few more steps towards the gate and then a blade slid into its eye from the other side of the fence. Pop. It dropped.
“Charlie?” Scott knelt down to one knee on the other side of the gate, just a few feet away. He nodded and his eyes gazed just over Charlie’s shoulder.
Charlie rose to his knees and turned around enough to see. Two deaduns stood just behind him. He fell forward and started crawling away from them, scrambling as fast as he could. Scott stood and banged his blade against the fence post.
“Charlie. Stop.” He said.
Charlie stopped crawling and watched as the thing behind him walked right by him and straight towards the gate. Scott drove his machete through the things eye and it slumped to the ground. As the other deadun stepped towards the gate its leg brushed up against Charlie’s shoulder but even when Charlie flinched it paid him no attention. It continued straight towards the gate, until Tilly drove her blade through its eye. Charlie stood and looked at Jennifer through the chain link.
“I’m ok.”
“Get back in here.” She called out.
“I will. We still have to get the gate open.” He said.
His eyes darted across to the others. They all stood there staring at him.
He looked around but didn’t see any deaduns close, just a couple coming struggling at the edge of the road.
“What?”
“Did that just happen?” Scott asked through the gate.
“Not sure. What do you think happened?” Charlie asked.
“It looked like they ignored you.” Tilly said.
“Yeah, that’s what it felt like.” Charlie said.
“Did they?”
“Hell I hope so.” Charlie said. “Let me try and pull some of these things off from this side.”
“I think I can squeeze out and help.” Scott said.
“No, don’t. I’ll get em. Just keep an eye on the other ones for me.” He pointed over his shoulder. “It won’t take a minute.”
Charlie walked over to the front of the gate and pulled one of the bodies aside. In a few minutes he had cleared enough to get the gate open to walk through. Tilly was the first one out on the road. Her, Raj and Kate finished the remaining deaduns stumbling in the mud and Scott went with Martin to help Cameron around the fence. Cameron leaned heavily on Scott as they brought him through the gate, the pain finally rendering his ankle all but useless to walk on. Ham met them and Martin knelt down to give her a hug. She ran past him and went up to Cameron.
“Where’s your horse?” She asked.
He straightened himself up and wiped the sweat that was dripping down his brow. He looked down at her and she could see the pain in his eyes.
“Alas dear child, I do not know. But have hope, last seen she was spiriting herself away.” He said.
Tilly lifted the gate and put the post back into the hole as everyone came inside the fence. She looked back over the rest of what she could see. The impaled and the entangled still moved. They had excited the ones closest to them but none had managed to break free. The landscape that had been just starting to turn green yesterday was now scattered with color. A blue shirt, a red one. A yellow dress and a tan suit. Everywhere she looked, the undead, lay writhing among the stumps and limbs but the road was clear and woods were quiet. She turned and walked back up towards the saloon to join the others.
“Are you sure? Maybe it was because you got all that stuff all over you.” Jennifer said.
“I don’t know. I just know it walked right by me.” Charlie said.
Tilly walked over and reached out for Raj’s hand. He was looking at Charlie and listening. He glanced at her and smiled.
“I’m going to go back up top. Just to keep any eye out. We made some noise. I don’t want any surprises.” She said.
“Alright. Did you see that?” Raj said. “It walked right by him. You saw it right?”
“We all saw it. I’m too tired to think about it right now though. I am just going to sit and watch the trees.” She said as she turned and walked out the door.
“I’ll be out in a minute.” He said.
“Take your time.” She said.
She climbed up the steps to the little platform and walked to the edge. The morning sun was almost the noontime sun and she shielded her eyes as something flashed a reflection from the trees. She grabbed the binoculars and stood.
Jahda steered the truck through the mud. The bed full of stuff they had managed to gather outside the barricades shifted and she could hear a can of something rolling around. Every time she hit a small bump she could hear it rattle. The truck came around the last stand of trees and the land fell away towards the compound. The can of beans slammed into the back of the cab when she drove her foot down on the brake. Ed jostled forward but he didn’t say anything. The ground ahead of them was littered with bodies on either side of the muddy track. Bodies that still moved. She could see a big pile of them at the end of the road at the gate. She turned and looked at Bridger. He had the binoculars to his eyes.
�
�Well?” She said.
“Well the gate is closed.”
“That’s good right?”
“It is. What’s better is that red hair on top of the saloon looking at us right now.” He turned to Jahda and smiled.
Devin leaned his head into the room. Emma Grace’s eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot but she wasn’t crying now. He walked over and sat down on the floor in front of the chair she was in.
“I’m sorry.” He said.
“For what?” She asked and she wiped her nose with the hem of her shirt.
“I tried to stop it from spreading.” He said.
“Maybe it did.”
“Raj is a good doc. He’ll fix him up when he gets here. You need to take a break. Let me sit with him a little while.” He offered.
“Oh no. I’m fine. Maybe if you could bring me some water or something. I’m going to stay with him.” She said.
“Alright. I’ll be right back. I can keep you company. If you like.” He said as he stood.
“That would be ok. I just don’t want to leave him.” She said as she looked over at her brother.
Cody’s breathing was steady and the sweat on his forehead wasn’t heavy. The wound seeped a little through the towels but not much. The skin just below the tourniquet had turned purple but the skin above it was still pink. His eyes darted back and forth behind the closed lids.
Devin turned and walked out the door. Emma Grace leaned her head to the side and saw Peter peaking in.
“Come on in Pete.” Emma Grace said as she stood and walked over to pull the sheet a little higher. He stepped just inside the door.
“Is Mr. Cody going to die?” He asked.
“I don’t know. I pray he doesn’t but I don’t know.”
“Are you sad?” Pete asked.
“Of course I’m sad.”
“Because he might not come back?”
She stood and walked towards the door. He backed away from her as she came closer.
“I mean when my pa got bit I was sad even though it took him a day to turn. I was sad the whole time because I knew.” He said.
“I’m sad because he is in pain. I’m sad because he got hurt. I’m sorry about what happened to your pa but I’m not sad because I might lose him. I won’t lose Cody. He’ll come back. You watch. He’ll come back.” She said as she finished ushering him out. He watched her watching him as she slowly closed the door.
Music for The Potter’s Field
The Dirty River Boys
The Be Good Tanyas
Thieving Birds
Deer Tick
The Dead Tongues
Lee Dewyze
Carolina Story
Skeeter Davis
Passenger
Joe Pug
Rock Plaza Central
Stoney Larue
John Moreland
The Wailin Jennys
Ben Nichols
Lyle Lovette
Karen Elson
The White Stripes
Alison Mosshart
Bob Dylan
Jackie Greene
The Crooked Still
The Forgotten Place
Book 7
The Marionette Zombie Series
By
SB Poe