“We need to make it to the compound,” Candace said into the dark.
“I know,” Easton replied. Of course he knew. Their best bet at survival was being with the Duncans. Alex was more prepared than any average person for the fall of the civilized world. She taught him basics while they were on the road, and he was thankful for that. Easton knew there was so much more to survival. The compound would be the place to settle down in, to live life through this horror.
“I wonder what Billie is doing right now,” Candace said.
“Sleeping I hope,” Easton laughed.
“Right,” Candace giggled in response. “I just mean, are they in the compound, safe? Is Billie running Henry around like a little soldier? Or are they hiding in the RV somewhere, not making it to Montana?”
“If I know Alex, nothing would have stopped her from making it to the compound. It is the safest bet for us all,” Easton mused.
“Yeah. This van sure makes me miss the RV,” Candace commented, making Easton laugh again.
“I was thinking the same thing, but in the storage place. Even though it was bigger than the RV, I felt claustrophobic in there. This van even feels better than that,” Easton replied, trying to stretch, but not finding enough room.
“We should sleep, East,” Candace said, as she curled up on her side, moving around to get comfortable.
“Ok. Goodnight, Candy,” he replied.
“Night,” she murmured, as she began to fall into sleep.
Easton was awake as soft dawn began to break. He couldn’t sleep, feeling so exposed in the van. Candace tossed and turned, but seemed to sleep for the most part. That was fine to Easton, he wanted his sister ready for the walk they had ahead. He had spent a good part of the night doing calculations in his mind. He estimated forty miles was going to take them two days to walk.
Their lack of real food provisions had him nervous about their walk. He imagined if they did walk into the woods, water would be found somewhere. The bean cans would come in handy to boil water, so they could fill the bottles they did have. They would need the liquids at least. He seemed to remember from some health class that the human body could live without food longer than water. He didn’t want to find out about the limit on either of those things.
As the sun rose over the horizon, Easton felt himself snooze, and he welcomed the peace of sleep for a moment. It was shattered by the sound of vehicles approaching them. Candace almost bolted upright at the sound of a loud engine, but Easton was ahead of her, and pushed her shoulder to keep her from popping up and being visible in the windows.
Easton leaned to one side, and peered carefully over the edge of the window. He immediately recognized one of the trucks from the storage facility and the Jeep he drove for Declan. Men were in the back of the pick-up, and they seemed to be searching the sides of the road. Easton didn’t need to guess to know they were looking for a sign of where they had gone. If they had been stupid enough to go into the woods at night, they may have left footprints.
Pushing Candace against the wall under the window, he put his back to her and pushed against her. Then he took the blanket they used and covered the part of them that might be visible from the truck. Easton prayed that the vantage point was bad from the truck or Jeep, and they would assume there was no way the kids would stop so close.
The engines were right next to the abandoned cars the kids hid with. They slowed to a stop. Easton held his breath, waiting to be found.
“Those little shits couldn’t have gone far,” a voice bellowed, and Easton knew it was Scooter in one of the vehicles. Probably not driving with the knee he left him with.
Suddenly the door handles on the van were being tested. If the men circled the van and checked all of the windows, they would see the teens. Candace trembled behind Easton, and he could feel her gripping his shirt in her hands. She sniffled, trying to hold in her tears of terror. If they were found, there was little doubt what the group would do to her, as well as disposing of Easton for what he’d done to Scooter.
The teens laid perfectly still for what felt like eternity. No one circled the van. Someone reported back to Scooter that the van was locked up tight, so they weren’t there. Easton got the feeling the search party wasn’t as keen to find the kids as Scooter was. The engine of the truck roared as it sped down the road, continuing the search.
Easton didn’t move away from the van wall until the sounds of engines was long gone. He turned to look at Candace, who was pale and still shaking slightly. He put his arm around her and gave her a tight hug, before packing up their bags again. He rolled the blanket and used a shoelace, from shoes left in the van, to tie it to his backpack. They would end up making camp somewhere that night.
“We need to move, and fast,” Easton said.
Candace didn’t reply, just situated the food items in the bag. Easton took the empty cans and shook the excess liquid out, then added them to his pack. Slowly sliding the side door of the van open, Easton again surveyed the area. The vehicles were out of sight, and he couldn’t hear the engines. Nothing unnatural seemed to move through the trees. Stepping out into the sunlight, he motioned for Candace to follow.
The teens set off down the road, hugging the shoulder. They didn’t want to step into the abyss of the forest unless they absolutely had to. Their last excursion into the forest proved that even if you didn’t see them, the infected could be anywhere. Easton wouldn’t risk being separated from Candace in some manner.
They walked in silence mostly, the sound of their boots scraping against the asphalt. Sometimes Easton would pick up larger rocks and chuck them into the forest. Anything to break up the monotony of walking and doing nothing else. The area was remote, with no buildings on the road they traveled. Easton hoped that by the time evening came, a clear place for shelter presented itself.
“I miss music,” Candace said, breaking the never-ending silence.
“I miss baseball,” Easton replied, playing the game.
“I miss my friends,” Candace said, a little softer. Easton knew she was wondering in her mind if any of them had survived. If they had, where were they now? Easton wondered about his own friends, and the few girls he was interested in. He tried not to picture them as undead bodies wandering the Earth looking for a quick meal.
“I miss fast food,” Easton said, trying to lighten the mood. But Candace was stuck in her own mind.
“I miss Mom,” she said, with a slight sniffle. Easton glanced over at her. Losing their mother, to an infected attack inside of a Walgreens they thought was secure, had been the worst part of end of the world. Candace hadn’t handled the loss well. Easton couldn’t blame her for that. The Duncans had been a welcomed distraction from their heartbreak. Before long Alex had almost felt like a surrogate mother to them.
“I do too, Candy,” Easton said.
“Do you think she’s in Heaven?” She asked.
“You know she believed in God and Heaven, so I’d like to believe she wasn’t wrong,” Easton said.
“Yeah, me too. I try to imagine her watching us. I hope she is proud of how hard we’re trying to be safe.”
“I know she is, no matter where she is right now. She’s in our hearts. And that’s the most important part,” Easton said thoughtfully.
“Well that was deep for you, East,” Candace laughed slightly, bumping his arm with her shoulder. Easton laughed with her.
They continued walking in silence, once in a while stopping to take sips of water. They needed to conserve, until they could find a source to replace the liquids. They had also packed sodas from the car, but that wasn’t going to replace plain water. They had one full bottle, and one that was about half full from what they had drank during their walk.
Easton was about to take another sip, but as he lifted the bottle to his lips, he heard a growl. He froze and listened carefully. It was a constant noise, nothing a growl that came from the infected. And it was getting louder. Judging by the panic on Candace’s face, she heard i
t too.
“Turn around, hurry, I’ll put the bottle away!” Easton exclaimed, as he slammed the lid back on the bottle, screwing it on as fast as he could. The truck was loud, and seemed way closer than it should be before they heard it. Easton assumed they missed it as they were both lost in their own thoughts.
Shoving the bottle into the Hello Kitty pack, he zipped it up, just in time to see the truck come into view. Grabbing Candace’s hand, Easton ran toward the trees.
“Easton, it’s too dark in there!” Candace cried, trying to pull back from Easton. She wasn’t thinking straight, her mind full of panic and nightmares from the last time she was in the forest.
“This is the only choice, we gotta go. If they catch us, it’ll be worse,” Easton pleaded as he drug her toward the trees. It took a moment, but she finally gave in, and moved with him into the trees. Easton glanced back and cursed in his mind as he saw that the men of the truck must be able to see them. The screech of breaks only confirmed that.
“Oh god, they’re coming,” Candace cried out.
Easton could hear the men in general disarray, and thought they probably had a good chance of getting away from them. He was about to speed up and keep cutting through the woods, when Candace’s hand was ripped from his and he heard her cry out from behind him. Sliding to a stop he whirled around to see Candace on the ground, gripping her ankle.
He quickly got to her side. He put his hands under her arms, and tried to lift her. But she cried out again, and crumbled.
“I hurt my ankle, I think I sprained it on a root I didn’t see,” She said through gritted teeth.
Easton glanced up, and could see the men fanning out into the woods. They weren’t twenty feet away. Fear lanced through him when he saw a man on crutches coming into the woods too. That had to be Scooter and his injured knee coming to find them.
“We have no time. Lean on me. We have to go,” Easton said. He pulled her to her feet again, and she kept her hurt foot off the ground. Easton leaned down slightly and circled his arm around Candace’s waist. She put her arm around his neck and he set off into the woods.
They had made it five feet, when Easton came to a stop again. The men had flanked them and two were coming toward the teens from the front. Neither had weapons in their hands, but Easton wasn’t about to underestimate what they may have on them. He hadn’t seen any guns in the storage residence, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t hiding things.
Changing directions, Easton cursed when he saw more men. How many had Scooter brought out there to catch two kids? Easton became angry at himself for not controlling his temper. If he hadn’t hurt Scooter so badly, maybe he would have let them go.
“You might as well stop, kid, you aren’t going anywhere,” Scooter yelled from behind them. Easton froze, and his spine went ramrod straight. Turning them, he looked into Scooter’s blue eyes, full of evil and fire.
“You did real wrong by attacking me, boy,” Scooter started.
“You were touching my sister,” Easton yelled. His exclamation caused some murmuring through the men, and Easton realized they didn’t know what Scooter was doing in that facility.
“You charge people for safety. I offered you the food we did have, but instead you wanted my sister. Well that wasn’t going to happen. You didn’t stop. You got what you deserved,” Easton declared. The last sentence was probably too much, and Easton realized he may have poked the bear when Scooter began to turn beet red.
“How dare you accuse me!” Scooter yelled, trying to save face in front of the residents of his little kingdom.
“It’s true,” Candace’s clear voice rang out through the forest. She was soft spoken, but she raised her voice to spread the information to the men helping Scooter. Easton saw a few men begin to move toward the road to one side. With his arm around Candace he began to step toward the hole the men created.
As they turned, Easton caught additional movement out of the corner of his eye. The motion was unnatural, and strange. Without focusing on it, Easton knew the infected were with them in the woods. Using his free hand, he pulled his baseball bat. Candace’s gaze flew around the woods.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Scooter bellowed, crutching in their direction, as if he thought he could stop them. Easton looked back just in time to see an infected come up from behind Scooter and sink its teeth into his meaty bicep.
Scooter’s scream didn’t sound like a grown man, but of a child. The infected chomped down tighter and blood sprayed Scooter’s face. Dropping one crutch, Scooter punched the rotting infected in the head over and over, until its teeth dislodged. As it tried to rear back and get him again, Scooter swung his remaining crutch at its face. His strike was lucky, and right in the temple, causing the head to turn in an unnatural angle. The infected fell to the forest floor.
Looking around, Easton saw Scooter’s men running out of the woods. Men cried out in fear and pain as some were caught by the infected. Easton, keeping his eyes open and scanning the area all around them, made Candace start moving again. Looking back at Scooter, Easton was met with a look filled with hatred, as the man tried to crutch toward them.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Easton muttered. He turned them back around to face Scooter.
“You’re dead, Scooter. You might not know, but a bite is a death sentence,” Easton called out.
“I know. But I won’t die before I handle you, boy,” Scooter yelled back as he continued to move carefully through the forest.
“Let it go, Scooter, there’s nothing to do,” Candace said.
“Little girl, if you had just given me what I wanted....” he wasn’t able to finish sentence, because an infected had latched onto his neck. Easton had seen it coming, and it was one of the faster infected, maybe a newly turned person, that came right at him as he yelled at the kids. Easton thought about warning him, but he couldn’t make himself call out. That man wanted to hurt them, wanted to do unspeakable things to his sister.
“Easton...” Candace said, watching as the infected tore a piece out of Scooter’s throat. Scooter’s hand came up trying to fend off the infected, but instead, the infected sank its teeth into his hand. Scooter, with no throat, was no longer able to scream. A strange gurgling sound reached the teens. Candace leaned to one side as her stomach heaved. She hadn’t seen death like that.
Easton looked around, and didn’t see any additional infected coming their way. Leading Candace to a large tree, he sat her in front of it, her back to the large trunk. He looked into her pale face, and motioned toward Scooter’s body, which was now on the ground. The infected was on the ground, horrible noises of tearing clothing and the crunching of flesh could be heard. Candace covered her ears and just nodded, knowing Easton had to do what was necessary.
Pulling his knife, Easton made his way silently to the deadly scene. Blood pooled around Scooter’s neck, his eyes staring dead at the forest ceiling. The infected looked up toward Easton just as he stabbed it in the temple, ending its undead life. Looking around again, Easton didn’t see any other immediate threats to himself or Candace.
The immediate threat of Scooter lay dead, and bleeding at his feet. Even the ones that thought they were the toughest, fell to the infected. Scooter wasn’t any different than any other survivor. Easton tried to feel guilt for not doing more to help him. But it just didn’t come. So he did the best thing he could think for him, he put his knife blade through his brain.
Leaving the bodies where they fell, Easton hurried back to Candace. They had a long way to go, and with her hurt, it was going to take longer. Stopping short, he turned back to Scooter’s body. The crutches he had used were thrown to the sides of the body, unneeded when he was falling to his death. Grabbing them, he went back to Candace.
Chapter 9
Candace didn’t take easily to the crutches. Her first reaction was to cry and say no definitively. Easton used some of their precious water, and cleaned off any blood that had landed on the crutches. Eventually h
e convinced her this was the only way they were going to get back to where they needed to be.
After adjusting the height of the crutches a few times, Candace was finally swinging down the road with them. The sun was high in the sky, passing mid-point, telling Easton it was lunch time. But he decided to wait, and push through until they found somewhere for the night. The attack of Scooter and his henchmen had delayed them.
The forest and road were quiet except for the sound of the crutches. Easton was on alert, not sure where the infected were. When the teens exited the forest back to the road, the truck was gone. Keys to the Jeep were nowhere to be found, so they were going to have to walk.
Easton tried to picture the drive from where they found Declan and his buddy. The storage facility was a straight shot from that point. He couldn’t remember any other businesses along the road. They could try to make shelter in the forest if they needed to, but it wouldn’t be his first choice. Alex hadn’t taught him anything about making a shelter. And a few branches wouldn’t protect them from the infected.
Crunching of dried leaves brought Easton’s attention to the tree line. A small infected was trying to catch up to them on the road. She was a small petite elderly woman, her hair a dyed red, hung limp around her face. Her body moved erratically, as if the need to feed overwhelmed the actual function of her limbs.
Easton looked at Candace, and found her to be looking sadly at the infected. She looked at Easton, and nodded her head with a sigh. She slowly sat in the middle of the road, laying the crutches next to her. Massaging her arms, she let her head hang down in exhaustion.
Bat held at the ready, Easton stepped toward the infected. She let out a hiss, her meal getting closer to her clawed fingers. It made Easton sad to end a little old woman. He thought of Alex, and built up the courage to swing the bat. Alex would tell him the woman was already dead, and that was the most humane thing he could do for her. He knew in his head she was right, but a part of him still saw this as a woman who was probably someone’s grandmother. It was easier when there was more of them, then he didn’t focus on their features.
Sundown Series (Novella): Alone Page 5