by Eric Baker
“Steve, what’s going on? The whole town leave or something? Where is everybody?”
Steve dropped his arms and just shook his head.
“Ever since you left this morning, things have just gotten crazier and crazier.”
Steve took a few minutes to fill Eli in on the events of the day. He watched Eli for a reaction and was surprised to see Eli accepting the story without comment. The only thing Eli had done was to sit down at the table as he listened. When Steve finished with what he knew about the events, including people holing up in the hotel, he turned the questions back to Eli.
“So now you know what we’re up against. An entire horde of crazed, mindless people, intent on killing everyone in town. And yet… you don’t seem surprised in the least. Care if I ask why?”
Eli just shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. His day was a horrible parallel to what had happened in town.
“Steve, let’s just say when I got to the mine, it was a lot worse than what you’ve seen here. Although I’m sorry to say I guess we now know what happened to the missing miners. I’m guessing that’s who we have in town. I didn’t see anybody when I came up. Where are they?”
Steve just shrugged.
“I honestly don’t know. My guess, though, is near the hotel or the saloon. They were making a good deal of racket up that way earlier.”
Eli thought for a minute, then he stood up.
“Do you know where Daisy is?”
Steve almost smiled despite all that was going on.
“Last I saw, she was in the saloon. Doc was there, along with Frank and a few others.”
“And the Mayor?”
This time Steve grimaced. The Mayor was a sore point for everyone in town, including the pastor.
“Last I heard, he was taking credit for keeping everyone safe. Pretty much everybody left is going to be at the hotel. I’m guessing that’s why I keep hearing shooting from down that way.”
Eli felt torn. He wanted to head over to the saloon and check on Daisy. He also wanted to know what was going on in the hotel. If most of the town was there, and they were surrounded by crazies, they would need his help. But most of all he knew he had to get to the office. That’s where weapons and ammo were located. And without that, everything else would fall apart.
Walking over to Steve, he stuck out his hand. The two men shook hands, grim determination in the action.
“Thank you, Steve, for all the info. I’ll have to come up with some sort of plan, I know. But anything we do will have to wait for daylight. It would be suicide to try anything in the dark.”
Steve nodded his agreement, wishing he could say or do more. Eli looked like he was going to say something but then headed for the back door. Pausing, he looked back.
“Pastor, I have a question. These people, all the craziness, I’ve seen things today I can’t explain. The most difficult thing is that the people getting killed by the infected, the crazy people, well, they seem to come back to life. And they’ve changed. They want to kill, too. I guess what I’m asking is… is this the end? The apocalypse? Is God giving up on us?”
The questions dumbfounded Steve. He had also seen crazy people out for blood, but until now it hadn’t occurred to him that there might be more going on. Thinking for a moment, he shook his head.
“To be honest? I don’t have the answers, Eli. But my gut feeling is that this is something else. I don’t know of anything in the Bible that backs me up, but then again, there’s nothing even remotely close to this in the Good Book either.”
Steve paused to consider what to say. He believed there was always a reason, something that God intended for good, in all things that happened. We couldn’t always see the big picture. But he knew right now Eli needed encouragement, a reason to go on. Please, Lord, he prayed, let me find the right words.
“I guess what I’m saying is that God is not the author of confusion. Or destruction. Satan, even man, is plenty good at that. If I were a betting man, I would say there’s probably a man behind this, somewhere.”
Eli thought about what Steve had said. Based on his thoughts earlier, about his family, he was also willing to bet a man was behind it. And he was pretty sure about a man in town that either knew who was behind it or was the man himself. He’d get to the hotel soon enough and find out.
“Thanks, Steve. With the sunrise, try to get over to my office. Any deputies that make it there will probably need the help.”
With that, Eli turned once again to head out. He opened the door and took a quick look both ways. Stepping down to the ground, Steve caught the door to close it, then called out quietly.
“Eli? Just remember Philippians 4:13. ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Stay strong!”
Eli nodded in the gathering darkness, but the door closed, and he wasn't sure Steve saw him. He would definitely need strength for the morning. Right now, he just needed to get somewhere safe. And that meant getting to the office.
Looking around the edge of the church building, Eli didn’t see any movement. He sprinted to the row of buildings bordering the street. He planned to come up between them, and if it was all clear, head over to the office.
Eli had almost made it to the street at the front of the building when he heard a noise behind him. Pressing up against the building to minimize his profile, he aimed his pistol back the way he had come. Someone must have seen him run up. Someone… or something.
A few moments later his worst fears were realized. The dried-out shell of a man wearing mining clothes stumbled from behind the building he was leaning against. If there was one of them in town, then there had to be more. And if he shot this one, the rest would head his way. For now, he would wait and see what happened.
The man walked a few feet past the building into the open, then did what Eli was fervently praying against. He turned to his left and looked up the alley that Eli was in. Eli held his breath and sighted his pistol on the man’s head. He breathed out. His finger tightened on the trigger. Then the man turned away.
Eli blinked in surprise. The man had not seen him. How? He took a deep breath, frantically thinking through his options. Glancing back to the street to make sure he was still safe in that direction, he holstered his weapon.
Reaching across his waist, he unsheathed his short hunting knife. He had not used the weapon in a long time, and other than keeping it on his belt, he all but forgot it was even there. But now might be the time to make use of it.
Staying close to the wall, he moved one boot in front of the other. The man before him was shuffling his feet, standing in one spot and looking lost. Occasionally, he would jerk his head up and look around, making a grunting or groaning sound.
Eli reached the edge of the building and looked to his right. It was clear in that direction. Sweat dripped down his face, tickling his nose. The slow movements were more strenuous than his earlier fight in the canyon.
Only feet away from the man, Eli lifted his arm to strike. He intended to bring the knife down and bury the blade into the back of the man’s head. Something, a noise, or some instinct, caused the man to lift his head and turn toward Eli. The man snarled, hands coming up.
Eli lunged forward before the man could move. The knife blade glinted in the dim sunlight for a moment then disappeared into the top of the man’s head. Eli looked into the black-red eyes. The little white remaining in the eyes had streaks of darkness across it. Most of the eyeball, though, just looked black. The snarl on the man’s lips stopped short, and his mouth fell open. The eyes glazed over, then rolled up. His legs sagged, and Eli held onto the knife, pulling it out as the man fell to the ground.
Eli had to force his stomach to be still. He had eaten very little since breakfast, just some trail rations. And the sight of the man, along with the stress of the day, was turning his stomach. He bent and wiped the blade on the man’s shirt before slipping it back into its sheath.
A noise from his left caused Eli to step back against
the building. He didn’t see movement and decided not to wait around. He needed to get inside, make a plan, and find the rest of the townsfolk.
Walking behind another building he heard a series of muffled shots. They had sounded as if they had been fired from inside a building down the street, but he couldn’t tell where. He shook his head in exasperation, trying to decide what to do. He was only a few buildings down from the Sheriff’s Office. That would be the best place to go to first. Then the saloon.
Moving back to the front of the building, he once again looked up and down the street. Up the street, he thought he saw a few man-sized shapes near a building, but he couldn’t be sure. He waited a few more moments. After verifying it was clear, he eased up on the boardwalk that ran the length of the town’s storefronts. Glancing into the first store’s windows, he couldn’t see anything inside due to the deepening gloom of the day.
Testing the door handle, he opened the door and looked around. The mannequins in the clothing store were almost invisible in the gloom and gave him a jolt at first until he realized what they were. But he didn’t see movement, and hopefully that meant that the store was empty.
Just as he was about to move on to the next store, a sound from across the street at the saloon brought him to a halt. He saw a head poke out of the saloon door and look around. He couldn’t make out who it was at this distance. Eli stayed still, unwilling to betray his presence.
The door behind the person closed, and they stepped out of the shadows to the edge of the saloon’s porch, bringing them into the fading sunlight. Eli’s heart caught in his throat. He still couldn’t see a face, but the blond curls coming from under the hat was a dead giveaway. It was Daisy.
Eli continued to stay motionless, now for Daisy more than himself. He didn't want to startle her, but he also didn’t want to alert any of the half-dead creatures to her presence. He continued to watch as she made her way across the street, just a half-dozen doors down from where Eli stood. His heart hammered as he realized he had been holding his breath, doing his best to will her to safety.
Letting out his breath, Eli stood in the doorway of the clothing store. He planned to call Daisy’s name as she got closer, hoping she wouldn’t be so frightened that she screamed. He realized that he was excited to see her. Knowing she was safe was like a breath of fresh air blowing away the cloud of dread he hadn’t even realized he had been harboring.
He watched her creep up the boardwalk. Only two more stores before she got to him and then Eli saw it: movement behind her, from a storefront she had passed. Two silhouettes in the shadows, swaying but moving in step with her. Daisy appeared to be so focused on keeping herself from tripping over boards and furniture on the boardwalk she had yet to notice the men behind her.
Eli popped the leather stay off the hammer of his pistol with his thumb. He drew his pistol and sighted on the man to his left, just over Daisy’s shoulder. He knew he would never take two of them if they were like the faster of the half-dead he had run into before. But he had to try. He would not - could not - fail again.
Daisy moved as quietly as she could, keeping her eyes open for anything that would trip her or cause noise. She had heard the two zombies come out of the store behind her, but they weren’t moving any faster than she was. Maybe they thought she was one of them. She didn’t know how long that would last, though.
She calculated that if she could get to the end of the boardwalk, she would move out of their sight. Then she could run to the back of the store. At least, that was her plan until she saw the figure in the doorway just before the end of the boardwalk. She slowed in surprise, then almost stumbled as she realized there was a gun pointing at her. She stopped, confused, until she saw who it was.
“Eli?” Her breath came out as a whisper, but it was enough.
Behind Daisy, the two men also stopped. They also opened their mouths to speak, but their voices came out much louder than a whisper. Growls.
Eli saw the recognition come over Daisy as she slowed and stopped. Her voice, saying his name, strengthened his resolve even more. Then the two men began to run toward them.
“Drop!” Eli called to Daisy, hoping she would understand his intent. What she did next surprised him.
Dropping to her knees, Daisy pulled her pistol and spun around. She brought her pistol up and sighted on the head of the man to her right.
Praying he was picking the right man, Eli kept his aim on the man to his left. He gave Daisy a moment to get settled, then refused to let them get any closer.
“Now!” His voice came out harsh, in a loud whisper.
The two shots, one louder than the other, destroyed the silence on the street. In the shadows on the boardwalk, under the outcropping from the stores, Eli and Daisy couldn’t be sure they had hit their mark. Both men came to a complete stop, then stepped back once before both fell to their backs.
Eli stepped out of the doorway, his pistol still aimed at the two men on the ground. He then looked at Daisy as she rose out of a crouch. She turned to face him, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. They both holstered their weapons. As she reached for him, groans echoed up and down the street.
Eli stepped back into the store, motioning Daisy to follow. She ran the last few steps inside, and Eli closed the door behind her. Looking out the window, he could see movement down both ends of the street.
“To the back room.” Taking hold of Daisy’s arm, Eli guided her through the store. His eyesight had somewhat adjusted to the gloom, but as the sun got lower, they both found it harder to see.
Bumping a wooden mannequin as she followed Eli, Daisy reached out and caught it before it fell. One of the arms dislodged and rattled to the floor. A sudden banging on the front door startled them both.
____
Doc Peck felt completely worn out. The day had started normal enough, with him sleeping in. Then his sleep was rudely interrupted by his door being busted down by cowpokes carrying a dead body. The day had just gotten worse and worse from there. And to top it off, his one and only patient that was still alive had a bone sticking out of her arm. He hoped that Daisy would be careful getting the medicine he needed, but he also needed her to be quick.
He pulled a blanket over Maggie on the floor after making her comfortable with whiskey both inside and out. If she was lucky, she would be out of it until Daisy returned. If he had to set the bone with no medicine, she would most likely scream her head off. And right now, that could get them both killed.
As that thought went through his head, Doc remembered the attack on Frank in the kitchen earlier, most likely from the back door. Shaking his head, he stood and headed to the bar to retrieve the shotgun.
“I’m way too old for this stuff.” He muttered to himself like he always did, grumpy and tired.
Checking the chambers, both loaded, Doc headed to the kitchen door. There was one lamp on in the kitchen, near the stove. He could see that the halfway closed back door was swaying, most likely from the wind. He would need to get that secured before anyone, or anything, came in.
Peeking into the kitchen, he looked around. He didn’t see movement. Stepping in, he reminded himself that if someone else were there, they would have most likely already come in at the pistol shot earlier. But that didn’t help his heart slow down or the feeling of lead in his boots to go away.
Coming up to the open door to the storeroom, Doc looked inside, taking in the room a little at a time. The back door creaked, and Doc stumbled backward in surprise. He aimed the shotgun at the door, and his finger tightened on the trigger. Almost falling over his own feet, he forced his finger off the trigger when he saw the empty doorway.
“If I die here, it’ll most likely be a heart attack.” Shaking his head, Doc pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his face dry. He hadn’t even realized he’d been sweating.
“Get hold of yourself, old man.” Doc bolstered his courage and walked to the back door.
He wouldn’t be able to lock the door with the shotgun in hi
s hands, so he leaned it against the stove next to the door. The back door had a simple wooden beam for a lock. He’d put it in place and get back to the front.
The door was open only about a foot, swinging outward, the wind making it sway in the evening breeze. Doc reached for the leather strap that substituted for a door handle. As his hand closed on the strap, an even more leathery hand came out of the shadows behind the door and closed on Doc’s wrist.
Doc jumped back, his hand still holding the handle as the claw grip tightened on his wrist like a vise. The door banged shut on the arm that belonged to the hand holding him. Doc grabbed his own arm with his left hand and pulled, moving back a little. The hand in the door pulled back against him, and Doc slid forward, releasing pressure on the door and creating a gap.
Doc jerked backward once again, focused on the claw gripping his arm. The arm came inside even farther. A groan from outside the door caused Doc to look up. The door was once again tight against the arm, but now in the gap above the arm, there was a face. One eye, almost indiscernible in the falling darkness outside, was staring at him. A black, glistening mouth snapped its teeth toward him, then growled.
The pain in his wrist was excruciating. The fear in his chest was crushing. And the sound of the growl caused Doc’s legs to shake and threaten to fail him. It was the sound of death, accompanied by a dry rattle, deep in the man’s chest.
Letting go of his arm with his right hand, Doc scrabbled for the shotgun. It was just out of reach. Looking back at the door, fingers from another hand were grabbing the edge of the door. He could feel himself drawing closer to the man. He only had a few moments left before being pulled through the doorway. And then, heart attack or not, he would die.
Deciding to take one last, desperate action, Doc took a quick step forward toward the door. The man outside pulled harder on him through the suddenly loose door. Raising his right foot, using the grip on his wrist for leverage, he kicked out. As his foot impacted the door, Doc leaned back with all his weight. The man outside fell back, and the door slammed open all the way. With nothing holding it back, it impacted the side of the building and bounced closed. Reaching up with his left hand, Doc pulled the beam down, locking it into place.