Alive (Sundown Series Book 3)

by Courtney Konstantin

  “Your sisters, they don’t live nearby right?”

  “Nevada and South Carolina.”

  “They’ll be fine then. That’s far enough away.”

  “There are planes leaving, Charlie. We both are aware that distance doesn’t matter right now,” Rafe said. He beat his hand into the steering wheel a few times before starting the truck back up.

  “Maybe landlines are working?”

  “Maybe. Let’s stop at another store on our way back to the compound. I want to make sure we salvage while we can. And we should probably get you some additional clothes. I don’t have many female items at home.”

  They drove in silence through town, winding through side streets when there were accidents blocking the road. The neighborhoods were silent as graveyards, doors left open, possessions were strewn across driveways. The fear was palpable by the way people chose to run immediately. Rafe slowed the truck at one garage that was in complete disarray, blood splattered the outside walls of the house and the concrete driveway. He waited, to see if anything moved. The sound of his running engine brought an infected out of the shadows. An elderly woman, her pink robe now smeared with red and black. Her gray hair was still perfectly in rollers on the top of her head. Her skin was now a mottled gray.

  Rafe felt sorrow at the sight of the woman. Sadness for what the woman’s life should have been, though coming to an end in age, she should have been able to enjoy her last years in peace. He found himself wondering if she had a family nearby. Did she have a husband in the home? Was he dead now too? So much went through Rafe’s mind as he sat and watched the woman try to amble her way to the truck.

  “Rafe?” Charlie roused him from his thoughts.

  “I can’t leave her like that,” Rafe said.

  “You left the woman in the market,” Charlie pointed out.

  “I know. I was wrong. These people, their lives have ended. And it’s wrong that their bodies are left to wander like this. Also, you were right. If I don’t end them now, they could hurt someone else in the future.”

  “You can’t fix this, Rafe.”

  “I can do something to help.”

  Rafe pulled out his 9mm and opened his truck door. Stepping onto the quiet street, he could clearly hear the noises coming from the woman. She didn’t sound like a grandmother now, more like a wild starving dog. Rafe took aim carefully and took his shot. The bullet entered the woman’s face just below her right eye. With the brain gone, the body crumpled to the ground in a heap. Rafe turned and motioned for Charlie to come with him, which she did warily.

  “I want to check the house. Make sure she didn’t have a husband or someone else that is now turned too. Didn’t think you’d want to stay outside alone,” Rafe said.

  Charlie agreed with a nod of her head and followed Rafe toward the house. At the old woman’s body, she stopped and crouched down. Rafe stopped and watched her. She seemed to move clinically, looking at the woman’s wounds and eyes. The infected had a large piece of her neck and chest missing where something had bitten and ripped at her. The wound was blackened, oozing still with no clotting starting. Her eyes were the same black coal of all other infected. Charlie checked her legs and hands quickly and then stood up.

  “Nothing different. I wanted to check to confirm what I’ve seen firsthand, with Aiko,” Charlie said.

  “You have research about this illness, will what you find help with possibly curing it?”

  “I honestly don’t know. When a pathogen is created, we don’t test cures until we know the pathogen does what it’s intended to do. This one was destroyed with the mice. We never got to the curing step.”

  “So, you were working on unknown pathogens for the government, with no cures, and you never thought you should quit?” Rafe asked.

  “I thought I was doing good work for my government. I thought they wanted to be prepared for the worst,” Charlie said, her voice angry and loud.

  “You were creating biological weapons! Isn’t that clear to you now?” Rafe demanded.

  “Now? Well, my view has changed just slightly now, Rafe! And I told you I had started questioning things. That’s why I have that thumb drive. I took information whenever I could!”

  Their argument continued to rise in decibel, yelling at each other in frustration and anger. Rafe couldn’t understand how Charlie had been so foolish to believe she was doing good. Here they stood in the middle of a society ending plague. A plague that the government had contracted Charlie and her team to create. Without question, he knew she was a brilliant doctor. Internally he did admit that one of the first things she told him was she didn’t like what they were doing at the facility and that she had taken information. However, she never gave him enough information to understand what was actually happening.

  The sounds of their voices carried through the previously quiet neighborhood. Movement caught Rafe’s attention behind Charlie down the street. He cursed, wanting to kick himself for letting them dawdle in the open and fight loud enough to literally wake the dead. Charlie. believing he was cursing at her, got more angry and started to get louder. Without explaining, Rafe covered her mouth this his hand and turned her around to see what he saw. She fought his grip at first, but she froze in fear when she saw what he was bringing to her attention.

  Between houses, from open garages and the shadows of hedges and trees, the infected were flowing out. The sounds of the argument between Rafe and Charlie had been like ringing a dinner bell. Rafe was in shock at the number of people that were now infected. Anger burned hot in his gut as he realized there was every shape, age, and gender in the crowd. How did this happen so fast? Rafe thought to himself. He finally loosened his grip on Charlie’s mouth, but she continued to lean against his chest and he allowed her to stay there. They were going to have to stick together, like it or not.

  “How...I don’t understand...” she whispered, echoing Rafe’s exact thoughts.

  “I don’t know. But we need to get back to the truck and go. We’re going straight for the driver’s side door and you will climb across. Got it?”

  He waited for her nodded agreement before pulling his 9mm again. He didn’t have anywhere near enough ammo with him to fight off a horde like this. But he could clear the way to the truck. A few of the closer infected had stepped into their path, blocking their way. Rafe easily took out the nearest ones as he pulled Charlie behind him with his free hand. When they reached the truck, Charlie opened the door and started to climb in immediately. Rafe spun to face the infected that continued to follow. Before he had the chance to raise his 9mm, the door was pushed shut on him and he was smashed against the truck.

  “Rafe!” Charlie cried out.

  Rafe had more to worry about than Charlie’s concern. The infected that was against the door was a large man, ripped with muscle and such large shoulders that he had no neck. Those shoulders seemed to have been his downfall, as one was ripped to tatters by bites and chunks missing. His teeth snapped furiously at the glass that was between him and his meal. Rafe couldn’t climb up and he couldn’t shoot the infected. He decided his only option was to push and move.

  With all his strength he planted his feet and shoved the door away from his chest. The infected stumbled back a few steps, not capable of keeping his balance when someone pushed back. Rafe moved away from the door and allowed it to slam shut as he pulled his hunting knife for the closer attack. The burly muscle-man of an infected gained his traction again and came at Rafe with a renewed vengeance. Considering the uncoordinated nature of the infected, when the clawed fingers reached for him, Rafe stepped to the side and shoved the arm away, practically spinning the infected. With the knife, he quickly used all of his strength to slam it home and bring down the large man.

  His breathing came in hard pants as he spun and found two more infected close to him. His instincts, though buried for some time, raised to the surface. The first infected reached for him and he front kicked the small man off his feet. The second arrived just in time
for Rafe to sidestep, sliding the knife blade into its skull. As that body dropped the first infected was fighting to its feet and Rafe quickly handled it without issue. He took a moment to clean his knife and look at the infected he had dropped. They were typical people. People that had probably been trying to run from whatever this was. But they were caught in it anyway.

  The area finally partially clear enough for him to get into the truck, Rafe took a few running steps and the door swung open as he reached it. Charlie had watched the entire encounter and was waiting for him. He jumped into the truck and slid the key home quickly.

  “Next time, give me the keys,” Charlie said.

  “Why?”

  “Because if you die, I need to be able to drive,” she replied sarcastically.

  The Wal-Mart parking lot was worse than Rafe had imagined. Crashed cars littered the area around the entrance to the store. He pulled in and tried to get as close as he could. Eventually, he stopped the truck next to a car that had been turned on its side. Infected wandered through the wreckage, attention caught by the moving vehicle. Others seemed to still be feasting on their last meals and Rafe knew those would rise soon and also be looking for food.

  “This doesn’t seem safe,” Charlie said.

  “It’s not. But once we get on the compound, I’d like to stay there until some of this clears itself out,” he replied as he motioned to the infected that were bumping into cars trying to get to the truck.

  “I have a few changes of clothes, I should be fine.”

  “We have plenty of a lot of things there. But right now, power is still on. Meaning meat, eggs, fish are all still good. If we get as much of that as we can, we can stock the fridges that are in the barn and the house.”

  “What happens when the power goes out there too?” Charlie asked.

  “We switch to solar. I have full batteries charged already that we run off of some of the time. I also have a gas generator just in case.”

  “Prepared,” Charlie commented.

  “For anything,” Rafe replied.

  Making the decision to salvage whatever they could as they were in town, Rafe took down his shotgun and made sure it was loaded. He then handed Charlie a crowbar he always had under his seat. She looked at it and then at him strangely.

  “In case we get separated, hit them in the head and run.”

  “We should probably just not get separated,” Charlie replied.

  “Best plans can go wrong. It’s a just in case.”

  It was easy to avoid the infected in the lot. They were spread out across the spaces, many having difficulty getting around things to get to them quickly. They entered the store cautiously. Rafe waved Charlie toward the carts, thinking they would load it full of everything they wanted and just go straight to the truck. The squeaky wheels made him wince, but his guess was if they moved fast they would be ok.

  First stop was the women’s clothing area. Surprising to Rafe, not much of the looting had happened in clothes. He could see the jewelry area down the aisle and broken glass glittered on the tile. People really didn’t understand what was most important. He surveyed the store with his shotgun at his shoulder. Running footsteps pulled his attention to their right and he turned in time to see a man trying to run out with a TV. He looked right at Rafe and his shotgun. Rafe signaled for him to stop, thinking the man was about to run into a situation he couldn’t handle on his own. However, the man was too intent on his TV and continued to run out the doors.

  Can’t save everyone, Rafe thought to himself. He turned back around and found Charlie piling jeans into the front area of the cart. She then turned and grabbed a handful of shirts without looking at designs, only glancing at the sizes to ensure they would fit. Rafe then led her to the back of the store. They passed electronics to find more people breaking into cases and taking things they wanted to loot. Rafe left them to do as they pleased, and they continued to the camping section.

  Rafe was in his element here. He found a sturdy hiking backpack and handed it to Charlie to start putting clothes in. He wanted her to have a bug out bag. The bag needed to be filled with all the essentials she would require should they need to evacuate or be away from the compound. He always had his own packed and ready. But his sisters took theirs and he had dismantled his father’s. He started tossing things into the basket for her to add. First aid kit, flashlight, batteries, flint, waterproof matches and more. Charlie didn’t question, just unzipped all the pouches and started shoving things in.

  As Rafe tied a sleeping bag to the bottom of the pack, a scream ripped through the store. He froze, trying to judge where the scream came from. Another cry followed, seeming further away. Rafe grabbed two handfuls of freeze-dried meals. They wouldn’t be as hearty as the MREs he had at home, but it was something for now. Meals Ready to Eat weren’t the most delicious items out there, but they were fast and convenient for travel. In addition to the most important thing for survival, fuel for the body. He quickly added two tarps and was turning away from the camping section when the sounds of fighting reached them.

  “Time to go,” he whispered to Charlie.

  They crept through the back of the store, heading for the food section. The electronics section was now empty. Rafe assumed the fighting and screaming came from those people as they were confronted with the dead. As they passed one large aisle, Rafe could see blood pooling near the entrance of the store. The infected had entered. He quietly got Charlie’s attention and pointed toward the mess. She nodded nervously but continued to push the cart forward. Rafe readied himself with his hunting knife in one hand. A fight in the store was going to be close, too close for his shotgun.

  At the refrigerated section that held the meat, Charlie started grabbing everything in her reach. Rafe continued to keep an eye out, with his back to Charlie and the meat. As he waited, his mind wandered to his sisters again. He found himself hoping that news outside of Montana was informing people of what was happening. All three of the siblings had been raised with the same ideals, the same plan and the same need to be prepared. If his sisters saw the news and realized how bad this could get, they would start their evacuation plan. The plan they were raised studying always. Sundown.

  Mitch Duncan had believed the world could never stay stable. After the death of his wife, he raised his children in his ideals. One of his most important lessons was Sundown. Mitch knew someday his children wouldn’t all live on his compound, despite his desire to keep them under his thumb. However, his goal was to always have the compound as a functional survival location. He built it to be self-sustaining in almost all ways. After he died, Rafe continued his work to ensure the safety of his family. Now they all needed to be together and he couldn’t reach his sisters.

  “Rafe?” Charlie’s voice came from behind him.

  “Hmm?”

  “I’ve got almost a half cart full of meat. I think we should move on to the next item.”

  Rafe had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t been paying attention to Charlie’s progress. He nodded and led the way to the aisle he knew held the long sustaining meals. He started pulling large cans of stews, egg powder, honey powder, pancake mix and rolled oats. The cans were all meant to be emergency food, so they didn’t expire for years. With these items, he knew it would be possible to create decent meals if they were to run out of produce, fresh milk or eggs. By the time he was finished, the cart was overflowing, and Charlie could barely see over to push it. But he felt good about having the extra provisions. If—no, WHEN—Alex and Max get here, I’ll have it ready for them, he thought to himself.

  He unslung his shotgun, swinging it back to the front so he could face any threat as they were leaving. Now that they were headed back to the entrance, Rafe knew they would face infected somewhere. Closer to the door, they approached the blood splashed across the tiles. In the produce section, apples had rolled across the floor where a body had fallen into it. For now, it seemed the body was still just dead, not rising yet. However, ten yards away
three infected shuffled from dead bodies they had taken down there. The corpses were mutilated and the infected were painted red.

  “Keep going,” Rafe instructed as the infected noticed them and started toward fresh meat.

  Rafe stayed at Charlie’s back, walking backward to keep an eye on the infected coming their way. He didn’t want to use his shotgun until they were closer to the truck. The noise would draw more unwanted attention. The three infected shuffled closer, arms raised clawing at the air in front of them. The slow progress of the heavy cart was making them an easier target than Rafe wanted. He turned and took the cart from Charlie, pushing with all his strength to get them outside.

  Once outside, the situation was more complicated than before. The cart was caught on a box and Rafe pushed harder to move beyond it. Finally breaking free, he realized it was a TV box he was caught on. The TV could be seen smashed a few feet away where it must have fallen from the box after being dropped. The TV was covered in spray, almost impossible to see on the black surface. TV thief must have fought back after dropping his haul. Rafe looked around the parking lot finding more infected near the truck than before, attracted by the noise and movement of the living.

  They stopped at the back of the truck and Rafe grabbed his shotgun again. He took aim at the first two infected that followed out of the store. His buckshot tore through the head of the first and into the shoulder of the second. The first body collapsed at the entrance of the store, while the second was spun away slightly. The blow of the buckshot didn’t stop the infected from trying to follow Rafe and Charlie. It tried to step forward and found itself caught on the body at its feet. Rafe took the reprieve to check the surrounding areas and realized he was gonna have to fight their way out.

  “Keep loading. I’ll watch your back,” Rafe said to Charlie, as he stepped away from the truck and into the fight.