by Russ Watts
“Lukas.” Dakota reached over and gently tapped him on the arm. Up ahead she could see two gangplanks stretching from the ship to the pier. One was empty, the other full of people. They seemed to be standing still, neither going up nor down. They were jostling each other, as if dancing almost, but going nowhere. When she spoke to Lukas it was with kindness and humility as if she were talking to a child. “Lukas. Look at it. Look at where you’re taking us. Look at those people. Please, Lukas, turn us around.”
Lukas let the truck slow down, and as they approached the ship, he finally saw what the others saw. The hull was drenched in blood and riddled with bullet holes while the back of the ship’s hull was charred and black from where a fire had broken out. The deck above and the gangplank ahead were full of people, thousands of them. As he looked closer, he realized there wasn’t a living soul amongst them. He saw men and women, boys and girl, black faces, white faces, and everything in between. They were all dead. The freighter was nothing more than a floating morgue. Narrow and long, it was humming with zombies, and Lukas wondered just how long they had been there.
“Shit,” Lukas whispered as he brought the truck to a halt. He leant forward over the wheel, staring up at the ship. All around the deck, pressed up against the railings, were the dead. They were stuck up there, unable to find a way off. “Shit,” he said again, deflated. “I thought we’d finally got lucky.”
“I guess they came to get people out,” said Jonas, reading the name on the side of the hull. “The Nanjing Equinox. That thing must be nearly a thousand feet long. I guess they dumped their cargo and tried to pick up survivors. There must be hundreds of them up there. I guess they tried to get too many people out. It would’ve only taken one infected. One person with a bite or a scratch, they bite someone else, and so on, and so on, until there’s no one left, not even anyone to take the ship back out onto the lake.”
“Whatever, it’s going nowhere. The boat’s useless to us now,” said Lukas. He noticed a few of the dead on the walkway had found their way down to the pier and were starting to come towards the truck. The figures stumbled as they walked, their stiff legs and arms jerking as though the bodies were being shocked with electricity.
Lukas shifted into reverse and turned the truck around. They left the harbor behind and resumed looking for a way over the border. “I guess we stick to the plan. Thunder Bay, right?”
Jonas could hear the despondency in Lukas’s voice. It was understandable. The thought of rescue was exciting. More than that, it would mean there was somewhere untainted by the dead, clear of zombies and death. Did such a place exist? Could it? Had anyone gotten out of Duluth, or were the last survivors trapped on the freighter, destined to spend an eternal death on its exposed deck until the snows came and froze them solid?
Lukas charged the truck around a pile of containers and punched the wheel. “Fuck it. I just thought, you know, that maybe there was something out there. I thought someone might have made a go of it. After Chicago, after Bishop picked me up, I figured there had to be some place left to go, you know?” Lukas shook his head. “Whatever, man, whatever.”
“Forget it,” said Jonas. He needed Lukas to calm down before they reached the border. There was no guarantee the city was going to stay empty or that the roads would remain clear. Lukas had to be focused on driving, not distracted or driving angry. “We all hoped for something better, Lukas, but never say never, right? In the absence of any rescue or sign that other people are out there making a go of it, then we stick together, and we stick to the plan. If we stay alive, then who knows? One day, perhaps, someone will come along. I bet you never thought you’d run into Bishop, right? So who’s to say we won’t run into someone else, someone in authority, someone who is trying to actually do something about this. Don’t give up on us yet, Lukas. I’ve been there. You have a lot ahead of you. One thing at a time though. Get us over the border into Canada. Short steps, okay?”
“Yeah, let’s try and stay positive,” said Dakota. “Maybe Air Force One landed in Bermuda, and the President is sipping cocktails with the President of Russia trying to figure out this mess.”
Lukas snorted, and couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, yeah. Did he remember to pack his speedos? Gotta work on that tan while figuring out how to save the planet.”
Julie burst out laughing. “The President in speedos? Now there’s an image.”
“Ew,” said Jonas, noticing that Lukas was relaxing already. The harbor was behind them, and so were all thoughts of the freighter full of zombies.
Dakota rapped the dashboard and put on a mock serious voice. “Mr. President, here’s your bloody Mary. Oh, and we just received word from Washington. The bad news is the body count is approximately 300 million, but the latest polls have you up five points.”
Everyone burst out laughing, and when the laughter had died down, Julie shook her head. “That’s my Commander-in-chief you’re talking about.”
“Right, right, sorry, Julie,” said Dakota. “What was I thinking? The President would never drink a Bloody Mary. He’s more of a Spritzer type of guy.”
Julie burst out laughing again. “Sure he is. I always go with a Spritzer when it’s the end of the world. I save my cocktails for general homicides, invading third world countries, that sort of thing.”
The truck suddenly swerved and bounced, causing them all to hit their knees on the dashboard. Jonas’s head hit the roof of the cab, and he grabbed Dakota.
“Sorry, my bad. Dead horse. Didn’t see it till it was right in front of me,” said Lukas, steering them back onto the road.
Jonas looked at Dakota, who in turn looked at Julie. Immediately they all burst out laughing again.
“It’s not even funny,” said Jonas as he wiped his eyes.
Swallowing her laughter, Dakota tried to apologize to Lukas, but could only utter the words “a dead horse” before exploding into more laughter.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” said Lukas. The laughter of the others was contagious, and though he tried to act upset, all he could do was smile. “All I said was I didn’t see it. I didn’t. What do you want me to say?”
“How about, look out, dead horse ahead?” suggested Julie, giggling.
Dakota was pleased to see Julie joining in. She was still a bit of a mystery, but was beginning to relax around the others.
“Look out!” shouted Lukas.
“Exactly, just like that,” replied Dakota, missing the urgency in his voice.
The truck banged up against the side of a trailer, jack-knifed across the road, and slammed into the sidewall of a coffee shop. Lukas wrestled with the wheel, and managed to get them back under control, before hitting the brakes. They came to rest in the center of an intersection.
“Everyone okay?” asked Jonas. “Dakota?”
“Fine, fine,” she replied.
“I’m good,” said Julie.
Lukas peered through the windshield. They had come to rest inches from the back of a multiple crash. “Sorry, it just—”
“Came out of nowhere, right?” Jonas looked at Lukas. “Maybe you should ease off for a while. It’s a couple of hours drive to the border crossing, and I think we’d all like to make it in one piece.”
“My bad. I should’ve been concentrating. Sorry guys.” Lukas sighed and began to move the truck cautiously around the crash.
“No need to apologize, Lukas,” said Julie. She was shaken by the close call and immediately felt guilty for laughing. Carlton had died less than twenty-four hours ago, and she was already moving on, laughing at nothing.
“It’s us who should be apologizing to you, Lukas. I guess we got a bit carried away there,” said Jonas. “You okay to drive, or do you want me to take over?”
“No, it’s all good. It wouldn’t hurt to have a second pair of eyes on the road though. I’m doing my best here.”
“I appreciate it. We all do. I know you probably feel like a fish out of water now that Bishop’s gone, but we’ll look after you
.”
“Really?” asked Lukas. He winked at Jonas. “I thought it was me looking after you.”
They continued on out of Duluth and found Highway 61 leading toward the Canadian border. The Duluth University buildings on their left dissolved into suburbia, and then the buildings disappeared completely. Lukas noticed a large sign advertising cheap fees at a golf course, and then a small sign promising great views of the Lake from a park on his right. With the zombies far behind, he was tempted to stop and take a look. He had never been this far north, and not spent much time at Lake Michigan or any of the other Great Lakes. If it wasn’t for the fact that they had somewhere to be, he probably would’ve stopped to check it out. He consoled himself with the fact that, if they reached Jonas’s sister’s place which was right by the water, he was probably going to live out his days looking at the lake anyway whether he liked it or not. He guessed he was also going to have to get used to eating a lot of fish.
The highway quickly narrowed as they left Duluth, and it hugged the edge of Lake Superior. Lukas hoped they didn’t come across any major crashes. If the road became blocked, they were going to face serious difficulties getting any further. As far as he knew there was no way around. To his left was what looked like a thick forest, and to his right, the massive expanse of Lake Superior. There was no end to it as far as he could see, and it reminded him of the ocean. The water was flat, calm, and the low clouds gave it an eerie feeling. He could imagine the huge freighters crossing it loaded with tons of cargo.
“Or zombies,” Lukas said.
“Huh? What’s that?” asked Jonas.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something.”
“You ever been to these parts?” Jonas asked Julie. As they had some time before they reached Grand Portage, he figured he may as well try to find something out about their new friend. If she was from the area, she might be able to help. When they reached Thunder Bay, all Jonas had to go on was Janey’s address and a picture in his head. He hadn’t visited his sister before, and he would take any help he could get. “Were you stationed here, or…?”
“No, I grew up in Vermont and moved to Minneapolis with my parents when I was still a kid. I lost them soon after I joined up. Some idiot fell asleep behind the wheel of a semi. He took them out after they’d been out for a meal to celebrate their anniversary. The bank took the house, I lost my home, and I’ve made the army my family ever since. Sergeant Carlton took good care of me; took good care of all of us. My platoon respected him. We were doing some training exercises at the Reserve Center in Madison when we got the call. It didn’t take us long to get to Janesville. I never thought I’d be stuck there as long as I was though. Carlton never really adapted to the situation. He liked to control things. He was good at his job, and yet…
“So to answer your question before I went and side-tracked myself, no, I haven’t been to these parts. I always wanted to go to Canada. Never thought it would be under these circumstances.”
“I’m sorry about Carlton,” said Dakota. “I’m sure he was a good man.”
“He was. Before we lost everything, before we lost the platoon, the communication, our weapons, before any of that shit, he really was a good man. When we were trapped, though, in that awful fucking place in Janesville, he began to lose it. I’m sorry he died, but I’m not sorry I’m not with him anymore. He was driving me crazy. He needed to maintain control, keep the illusion going that his rank actually meant something. He still believed the army were coming to get us.”
“We all have to cling to hope,” said Jonas. “If you give up on that, what else is there?”
“Okay, okay, let’s not start getting sentimental,” said Lukas. “Sorry about Carlton, Julie, truly. Nobody wanted what happened to him, but Hamsikker is right. We’ve got something good here. Another hour or so, and we’ll be at the border. We gotta start thinking about the future now.”
“That’s the last obstacle in our way,” said Jonas with some trepidation. “The border.” He didn’t know what to expect. Maybe they could just drive on through. It wasn’t going to be manned anymore, and they certainly didn’t need their passports.
Lukas began to hum a tune quietly. “We’ll worry about it when we get there. For now, let’s just enjoy the view.”
The sub climbed higher, and the lake spread out before them, like a shimmering oasis in a desert of death. It was truly beautiful, and Jonas could understand why Janey had chosen to live up here. It was far away from their father and the bad memories that accompanied Louisville, yet if all she had wanted was distance, she could’ve gone anywhere. No, this part of the world was stunning, and even knowing that at either end of the road were probably hundreds of zombies, it still felt untouched. Watching the lake as they drove north affirmed Jonas’s mind that they were doing the right thing. Thunder Bay was going to be the perfect place to raise their child, and he would make it work. He was under no illusion that the impending winter was going to be hard, but it wasn’t as if they were moving to the depths of Siberia. Life went on up here no matter how cold it got. Life always found a way.
After a while of contemplation, Jonas noticed that they were slowing. The road itself was fine and in good repair, but there was a queue of cars all along the highway, and Lukas was lucky that there was nothing coming the other way. Signs began appearing indicating that there were major road works ahead, and Jonas hoped the road was still passable. Nearly all the doors of the stationary cars were open that they passed, suggesting the occupants had long gone. But north or south? If they had headed back to Duluth, then there shouldn’t be a problem. If they had gone north, then Jonas knew they might find the road blocked or a worksite teeming with zombies. Going back to find a different route would cost them hours.
“Castle danger,” said Lukas eyeing up a signpost smeared with what he assumed must be blood. “Sounds lovely.”
“You’d better take it easy,” said Jonas. The long line of cars was thick, bumper to bumper, and up ahead he could see a crane. As they drew closer, he could see the cause of the trouble. The right hand side of the road had been dug up, and a digger was parked up on the verge. Temporary traffic lights at either side had stopped the flow of traffic and reduced it to one lane opposite the hole in the ground. Jonas looked for any sign of zombies, but there was none. It was deathly quiet.
Lukas stopped the truck just ahead of a barrier and several cones that had fallen over. “I think we can get past,” he said. “Once we’re past this damn hole in the ground, the traffic is single file again. There’s a small gap between the barrier and that digger that I can just about squeeze through. If we can just pull the barrier out of the way, I can get us through.”
Jonas knew he was right. Two of them should be able to move it, and they would be on their way again in under a minute. “Okay, let’s go. Lukas, stay here and get ready to move the truck through when me and Julie have the barrier out of the way.”
“What should I do?” asked Dakota.
“Stay here. Keep an eye out for trouble, and let us know if you see anything.”
Jonas got out of the truck and went around to the back. Opening the back doors, he pulled a gun from one of the bags they had thrown in the day before. Bishop had left them plenty of food and water and a couple of extra round of ammo. Jonas didn’t want to go anywhere unarmed.
“That for me?” asked Julie.
Jonas passed her the gun. “Actually, it is. It’s fully loaded.”
“I can see that,” said Julie checking it over. “Not exactly what I’m used to, but it’ll do the trick. Thanks, but what about you?”
Jonas crossed over to the verge, and picked up a twisted piece of metal. “I’m not much good with those things. I prefer a blunt object over a gun any day. Something I can hold with both hands, and I know I’m not going to miss with.”
Julie smirked. “When we get across the border, I can give you some shooting practice if you like? I have a feeling we’re not going to be short of targets.�
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“Sure. Dakota too. I want us both to know how to use a gun. Just in case.”
“Just in case.” Julie crossed to the verge where Jonas was standing. She looked out over the still lake. The air was cold, and it looked as if the clouds were growing darker. The lake was flanked by greenery, and the sound of the water lapping at the shore reminded her of better times. Vacations had been rare when she was younger, but her parents had made sure she could swim and invariably took her somewhere where there was at least a beach. “Sure is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Cold, but beautiful,” agreed Jonas. “Let’s do this. Just watch your back. It looks quiet, but you can never be entirely sure.”
Together they waved at Lukas and Dakota, and then proceeded ahead on foot to the road works. Jonas kept one eye on the cars. Even though it looked like they were alone, he wasn’t sure. There were just so many cars, so many trees, that a zombie could be hiding anywhere. Jonas noticed a set of tracks in the grass leading around the work site. He followed them until they got lost down the bank, and then spied a couple of cars in the water. “Looks like someone tried to gun it and lost control.”
“Patience is a virtue,” said Julie. “I guess they had no choice. When it’s life or death you do crazy things.”
A vision of Cliff’s battered face sprang into Jonas’s head. “You sure do.”
As they neared the hole in the highway that had been dug and then abandoned, Jonas looked down into it. There was an exposed pipe, a pool of water, and a dead body. It was face down, and bloated. It wasn’t moving, and Jonas knew it wasn’t a zombie, just some unfortunate soul who had met his end out here on a lonely road. Even if it were a zombie, there was no way it could get out. The sides of the hole were nothing but dirt, and it wouldn’t be able to claw its way out no matter how much it tried.