by Morris, SJ
Kamil was again hugging a scared Bernice, but this time, she was scared of the drone that was hovering over her head. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked out of the house to have another chat with my new best friend, the drone.
I waived to Chuck that it was okay to come to the house, and when he pulled up, Kamil and Bernice got in the truck. Dana and Bernice were now hugging each other and talking, which was good.
I spoke to the drone, “So, I’m glad the drone made it back. Thanks for leading them away. I hope you led them out to the highway?”
The light blinked twice.
“Good. I’d love to take the highway home because it would be pretty much a straight shot north, but I doubt it would end up being easy because of the number of cars and infected out there.”
The light blinked twice in agreement.
“Do you have enough battery life or gas for another four to five hours?”
The light blinked once for no.
“Okay, so here’s the plan. You already drew the infected away and out to the highway, so my thought is they’ll stay there and hopefully keep walking in the direction that leads away from our location. That means this house, which is very secure already, will be a good place for us to hold up while you take the drone back home to charge and then, come back. We don’t really need to rest up, but I’m sure Bernice, our new addition over there, would like some time to get acclimated to us. Besides, from what I saw in the house, she hasn’t had any food in a while, so we’ll get her something to eat. How many hours do you think it’ll take you to get the drone home, charged, and back down here to us?”
The drone stood still for a little while, and I assumed Dan was doing some calculating, but the light finally flashed three times.
“All right. We will plan for three hours. Hey Chuck, what time is it?”
“It is 9:40 am on the nose,” Chuck replied.
“If the drone isn’t back in three hours, we’ll head out on our own, and you can find us. I’m hoping the rest of the drive back home will only take about five hours, so that puts us at 1:00 pm for you to get back here, and 6:00 pm for us to be outside the gates. That leaves us about two hours of full daylight for any detours. Sound good?” The light flashed twice, and the drone was off, headed north, back home.
Bernice was happy we were going to take her with us. She was so worried the infected were going to come back and swarm the house again, but instead of rushing inside, she kept looking back to the bloody stain in the front yard.
I told her to wait on the steps. I went to the house next door and picked some of the beautifully colored flowers from the overgrown front landscaping. After all, I didn’t think the neighbors would mind. When I returned, I handed the flowers to Bernice and asked her if she knew where there was a shovel. She told me there was one in the shed around back. I helped Bernice bury what was left of her mother, and she put the flowers on the mound of dirt as she cried. She hugged me again, firmly, as she sobbed quietly.
“Thank you for burying my mother. I have no idea what happened to my father, but I have to think he’s gone too, so she was all I had left.”
“You’re very welcome. We have to remember those we lost by thinking of the good memories with them and what they meant to us. She died thinking she was saving your father, and I’m sure you have some great memories of all of you together,” I told her softly.
“Yes, they were the best parents anyone could ever ask for, and not many kids I know can say that,” she replied.
“You have to be strong for yourself now, though, Bernice. We will get you out of here and to a safe place, with lots of other survivors. I promise you, you’ll be okay,” I hugged her tightly, hoping I could keep that promise.
We headed inside, where Dana had already started cooking some of the MREs. They smelled awful to me, but to Bernice, who hadn’t eaten in a few days, it was a welcomed feast.
She had such a big smile as she ran to get plates and forks for everyone. I felt terrible saying no after Bernice set the table for everyone to eat, so I forced myself to have some of the beef stew Dana had made. It was nice to see Bernice smile, and it made me think of my own kids, who I was severely hoping to see in the next few hours. With that said, time seemed to stand still, after everyone ate their fill.
Chuck was annoyed since I asked him what time it was, almost every five minutes or so. Chuck finally handed me his watch and said he was going to lie down and try to take a nap before we headed out.
After Bernice filled a backpack, with clothes and other necessities, she sat with me, staring at the watch too. I guessed she couldn’t wait to get out of this house, either. It probably felt more like a prison to her now, after all she’d been through.
Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the clock struck 1:00 pm. I went upstairs to look out the window, to see if I could find the drone, or if there were any infected in the area. I found neither, which made me annoyed and happy, all at the same time. I gathered everyone in front of the house on the porch, and we waited another fifteen minutes.
Still, nothing.
“We have to go along with the plan as is. We said we’d leave and that’s what we should do. Anyone think otherwise?” I asked our now, group of five.
“Nope, we said we’d leave at one, so we should leave at one,” replied Chuck as he headed to the truck.
We all smooshed in, as best we could, which was a lot more intimate than I would have liked, but at least we were all together.
We headed north, as planned, while I kept my eyes on the sky, waiting to see the drone.
Thankfully, I only had to wait about twenty minutes, because I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin, not knowing what happened to it.
The drone appeared just ahead of us, and the light was flashing violently. Chuck pulled over. Kamil and I immediately got out to perform a quick search of the immediate area for infected, but we didn’t find any sign of them.
I stopped in front of the truck and waved towards the done. It hovered at about ten feet in front of me before it landed on the road. I was expecting the worst when I walked up to it and saw there was a piece of paper tied to it. I pulled off the paper and read it out loud.
“We are so happy you are safe, Mom! Lance, Tyler, and I were so worried about you. Chris and Tom have been going out for days at a time, looking for you. We can’t wait to have you home again. Love Allycia, Tyler, and Lance.”
I started to tear up, reading the letter, and Kamil gave me a pat on my back to console me, which did more to remind me I was in front of other people, and therefore, I needed to stay strong for them.
“There’s more here,” I told them and read aloud again, “Abby, we are all glad you’re safe, especially since we had our own brush with a huge number of the infected recently. We feared that even if you were still with Liam and his group, that you would have been overrun. Glad to see we were wrong on both fronts. I don’t know how you did it, but I expect a lot of time with you when you get back to us, so you can tell me what happened. For now, we need to get you and your group back here to the cabin safely. As expected, Route 206 is completely off-limits, with a large number of infected and accidents that make traveling on it nearly impossible. On the back of this letter is a map where I highlighted the best route for you to take back to the cabin. It will take about six hours, if you travel straight through, at forty-miles-per-hour but it’s the safest way we could find. We’re going to have the drone travel ahead of you guys but hopefully not completely out of sight. If the drone stops in front of the truck and flashes three times, please pull off the road and be quiet. This will mean there are infected in the area and we will use the siren on the drone to lead them away. Wait at least fifteen minutes before continuing to follow the mapped route and the drone will find you again. We all can’t wait to see you again and meet your friends, but you have to be careful. The infected seem to be gathering in larger groups much more than before. See you soon. Love, Everyone.”
T
ears were running down my face, and I hadn’t even noticed. Dana jumped out of the truck and hugged me tightly, enough to remind me that my ribs were still really sore.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Abby,” said Dana softly, as I winced.
I wiped the tears from my cheeks, “No worries, Dana. My ribs are still tender, but I’m going to be okay once we all get home safely.”
Kamil grinned at all of us, “You heard the woman, let’s get crammed back into Betsy and get this show on the road!”
We got back in the truck, and I handed Chuck the map for him to look over since he was driving. We all had smiles on our faces, and it was overwhelming to see that in the wake of all of this tragedy, we could still be excited about something and find something to look forward to. We were going home.
Chapter 26
We followed the map exactly as instructed. There were only three times we had to stop, so the drone could lead a group of infected away, but it all worked out, just as planned.
It was almost too good to be true.
However, it didn’t really sink in that I was almost home until we drove past the gas station where I had the incident with Mr. Potty Mouth and his friend, Curtis, over a month ago. It all looked exactly the same, quiet and abandoned. At this stage of the game, quiet and abandoned was amazing.
The sun was starting to set, and I was as excited as a kid with a shiny new toy to finally be getting home. It seemed to take forever, but eventually, we turned down the long dirt drive that I knew ended with the cabin and my family, all waiting for me.
However, just as I was about to sigh with genuine relief, suddenly, the drone took off.
At first, I assumed it was because we were home, but that hope died tragically, the second the drone came back and blinked three times, before taking off again. Shortly after leaving us, we heard the all-too-familiar siren blaring, as Chuck stopped the truck.
“I guess you guys have a few stragglers hanging around. They’re probably just being overly cautious about making sure there’s no issues with us getting through the gate. You said there are two fences, right, and one of em’s concrete?” Asked Kamil, with a small tremor in his voice.
I could tell he was leery of the cabin and the sanctuary I made it out to be. After what he and Dana had been through together before meeting me, I was sure he didn’t want to get too excited about my cabin but at the same time, he’d put a lot of hope into the idea that it truly was everything I said it would be. I knew it was when I left; I just hoped it had stayed that way. I hadn’t been gone all that long, but in this new world, I was all too familiar that things could change drastically in a matter of moments.
“Yes, there’s a row of spike strips just outside the chain-link fence, with razor wire on top and when you get inside the fence, the gate shuts behind you and there is a concrete wall with a huge metal gate, about thirty feet in front of you. I told you, my husband and his military friends thought of pretty much everything when it came to securing this place,” I replied smiling with as much courage as I could muster, hearing the siren blaring as it faded in the distance.
Chuck looked over at me, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently, “Do you think we should still wait the fifteen minutes after we stop hearing the siren before we go any further?”
“That’s what has worked for us the last few hours and we made it here without a scratch. I think we should stick with it. No harm in waiting another fifteen, minutes, right?” I replied.
Even though I wanted to go now, probably more than anyone, I knew we had to be smart if we wanted to make it home in one piece.
“Sure thing, Abby, whatever you say,” Chuck replied now biting his nails, checking his watch and turning on the headlights in succession.
With the sun setting and the tree cover overhead, it was much darker than I expected, but if I looked hard enough ahead of us, I thought I could see the fence glimmering in the headlights. Just as I was about to mention the fence to everyone there was a slam against my door that rocked the truck. Both Bernice and Dana began to scream.
I looked out the window to see the snarling, bloody and broken face of what used to be a man, clawing and biting at the window, trying to get at us. All I could think of in this moment was this man used to be someone’s son, brother, husband, or friend. This man used to mean something to someone and there’s even a small possibility that there’s still someone out there wondering what happened to him.
However, I also knew that the man they were thinking of, no longer existed, all thanks to some grotesque, experimental, weaponized virus that some asshole cooked up in a lab. Fighting the thoughts of any lingering humanity this thing likely didn’t have, I reminded myself that he was no longer a man. He was now an it, and it was a tool of destruction hell bent on killing us.
A tool, that not even the people who created it could control.
Remembering that humans created this tragedy, made me incredibly furious once again. In a rush of incensed rage, I grabbed my handheld stake and shoved the door open with such force; the infected was shoved to the ground. I slammed the door closed behind me, muffling Bernice’s screams of terror, even more than Kamil’s hand, which was now covering her mouth.
I turned back to the infected just as it was about to get up and attack the truck again, completely ignoring me, as usual, and I plunged the wood deep into its brain, straight through its eye. It wasn’t pretty but it got the job done. Just as I pulled the stake out, I heard more rustling in the trees nearby. I knocked on the window and told Chuck to turn the high beams on.
When he did, I almost fell over seeing the number of infected that were heading down the driveway, directly toward us.
I heard the door open and close behind me, as Kamil got out of the truck, with my silenced handgun at his side.
Kamil smiled at me, “Do you want some help, or are you going to tell me to get back in the truck again?”
“No, since it’s dark, I could use the cover,” I said smiling back. “Get next to me, side to side, and make sure nothing sneaks up on us. Hey, Chuck! Kamil and I are going to walk forward slowly, taking out the infected but can you keep the truck moving just behind us, to cover our asses?” I yelled, as Kamil and I got situated right up against Betsey’s front bumper.
I wanted to make sure we were between the headlights, so we weren’t blocking any of what was quickly becoming our only source of light.
Chuck started rolling the window up as he yelled, “Sure, Abby, I got your six!”
He put the truck back into gear and we walked slowly in front of Betsy. Thankfully, the infected that were heading for us were all badly decomposed, so they were slower.
When we got within about five feet of the closest infected, I would run up and stake it in the head, before rushing back to Betsy’s bumper, to cover Kamil again. We did this for a few minutes before I heard what was now one of my favorite sounds in the whole world, the quick, soft thunk of silenced rifle shots.
I smiled and Kamil instinctively ducked down, in front of the truck, for cover, which made me laugh. He looked at me like I had gone crazy.
I giggled, “Sorry, Kamil, to me that sound is a blessing. It means help has arrived.”
I scanned the area to our sides because all I needed was to get Kamil killed now, when we were so close to home, with reinforcements on the way. I grabbed him on the shoulder and smiled, “Get back in the truck, Kamil. We can take it from here.”
He jumped back in the truck, handing me my gun. I walked back to the front of the truck and took aim, taking out five more infected, with five shots.
I was so focused on taking them down and watching the other infected in front of me drop with every silenced shot I heard, I didn’t notice the three infected walking past my right side, now dead-set on getting to the three heavily armored men, who were continuously stepping over bodies to get to us.
As the infected walked past me, the three men, only fifteen feet from me now, stopped dead in the
ir tracks.
I put my gun in my belt and retrieved my stake as I finally caught sight of the infected stalking at my family. I walked up to each of the three infected and took them out, one by one, plunging my stake it into each of their heads without a moment’s hesitation.
Chris was the first to take off his helmet, with his mouth open, wide, in wonder. Tom and Dan were soon to follow. Each of them looked at me like I was the ninth wonder of the world. I guess I forgot they didn’t know I was zombie-proof. Well, they knew now.
Chris finally dropped his helmet and ran up to me, picking me up in a huge bear hug as I whimpered in pain from my injured ribs.
“Oh my God, Abby! I’m so sorry. What did I do? What hurts?” Chris questioned frantically as he put me down as if I were made of glass.
“It’s okay. I just banged up a few ribs pretty bad in a car wreck getting away from Liam and his stooge. I’m all right, they’re just tender, and you have the strength of an ox,” I said, smiling up at him.
“Well, let’s get you and your friends inside and have the Doc take a look at you. We’ll get you patched up, and then we can have a comprehensive discussion regarding what happened with these infected and why they walked right past you,” Chris said with a serious look, pointing to the three bodies on the ground at my feet.
I had no response to that yet, so I just walked around Chris to give Tom and Dan both a big hug before I climbed back in the truck. Our armed escorts took us to the gate, which beeped as soon as they walked up to it. The spike strips disappeared, and the three men stood aside, motioning for Chuck to drive through to the next gate.
As the chain-linked fence closed behind us, the massive metal one opened in front of us. Each of us in the truck let out a collective sigh of relief. We were finally here. I was home. At last, we were safe.
Chapter 27
It was difficult to see, with the sun setting but all around us, as we drove up to the cabin, the fields were becoming lush with vegetation. The crops were still thriving, and everything looked pretty much as I had left it. I hadn’t realized how worried I was that things were going to have changed for the worst while I was gone, until just this moment.