by C. M. Wright
He smiles, though it's a bit uneasy as he takes in the people surrounding us. Then he nods and walks over to his own group of friends. My group tightens their circle, and Dad Ben speaks first.
“What the hell have you gotten us into now, Canada?”
I explain the situation, then wait for the well-deserved anger towards me at volunteering them for such a dangerous, potentially life-threatening mission with still-living, breathing, intelligent people instead of brain-dead zombies ahead of us. But the anger I expect from them never comes. They all agree we have no choice but to help, and I have never felt so much pride toward my group as I do at this moment. We discuss it for a bit, then we agree that we need to get back to our little village and get more people on board to help.
I notice Sandro and his group standing off to the side and turn to watch them. I'm surprised to see that they're barely speaking to each other, and none are even looking at each other. Instead, each one of them are looking at the ground or off in the distance. Curious, I walk over.
I introduce myself to the girls and and learn their names are Jade and Libby. The other shakes my hand and tells me his name is Gabe.
“Is there a problem? I notice none of you look very happy to be free,” I comment and watch each of their faces.
Sandro glances quickly at the girls then at Gabe before saying, “This is actually the first time we've been able to talk freely. Gabe and I have so many questions for the girls, and I'm sure they have a lot for us, but we just don't know how to ask them.”
He shrugs and looks back at the ground. The others look even more uncomfortable than they had before and I let out an impatient sigh.
“Oh, for God's sake! Boys, what questions do you want to know answers to?”
Gabe and Sandro give each other a look and I immediately know which question they are having a hard time asking.
“Girls, were either of you forced to have sex with any Krew men?” I ask them point-blank.
Both girls look at the guys in surprise.
“No, of course not!” Libby insists.
“Jesus, Canada! I can't believe you just came right out and asked like that. What if they had been? Don't you think it could have been handled a little more delicately?” Sandro roared at me.
“Sure it could have, but why make it even more awkward and uncomfortable?” I laugh coldly and continue, “Look, as someone who has been raped, and not that long ago I might add, these ladies don't give off that vibe to me. If they had been raped, then it's better to just get the damn shit out in the open and deal with it. Face it, all of you, the days of pussy-footing around about everything are over. At least for now. So instead of skirting the issue, wasting time and being uncomfortable around each other, you now know and can move forward. Next question.”
I look at the girls and nod that it's their turn.
“Did either of you rape any of the captives like the other brutes did?” Jade asks, her tone of disgust evident.
Gabe and Sandro both made it clear they hadn't and never would. Both sides seem to be satisfied by the answers and now that the awkwardness is gone, they can't seem to talk enough! I cut in after several moments of listening to how happy they are to have gotten free and how excited they are to be able to talk to each other again.
“So. I talked to my group about helping with the rescue. We will help you. We have no choice but to go back to our place and get more people, but first, we have to make a quick stop to pick up some hospital equipment in–”
I'm interrupted by all four of the kids as they express the need for immediate rescue of the captives. Gabe's understandably the loudest, insisting we save his sister now.
I raise my hands to calm them down but they just get louder. Suddenly, they stop shrieking at me and look behind me with wide shock-filled eyes and open mouths. I just give them a cocky grin because I know what they see, a shit-load of people with guns.
I turn to nod my appreciation towards my group, but instead, I'm probably now wearing the exact same expression on my own face.
Instead of a bunch of people with big guns, it's only my sister, Rose. But in her little outfit – yeah, still got it all on – it's a conversation stopper for sure.
“Rose? Whatcha doin'?” I ask with exasperated humor and a confused smile on my face.
“You look like you needed backup,” she responds out of the corner of her mouth with complete seriousness.
“Rose, honey, exactly what do you plan on doing to back me up? You can barely freaking move!”
“Hmph. Fat lot you know,” she says with some major attitude.
I jump out of her way as she charges Gabe and body slams him onto the ground. I gasp in shock and surprise, and then manage to get her off the poor kid with Sandro and Jade's help. Libby is worthless to help as she's bent over holding her waist and laughing hysterically.
I hold on to Gabe as he shakes his head to clear it, but once he recovers, he stumbles several feet away from my sister, gaping at her in fear and shock.
“Rose! What the hell,” I yell at her.
“He was staring at me with an attitude. I didn't like his attitude.” And with that, she waddles away in her hilarious outfit.
“Gabe, you okay?” I ask him when he moans and puts both hands on his head.
“What the hell was that?” he asks, his voice a bit slurred.
“Um, that... Well, I guess you can call it my baby sister. At times. Right now, I don't know. I haven't quite figured it out myself.”
I leave Gabe with his friends and head to one of the hummers to dig out some food. After Cindy and I make sure everyone's fed, we all find something to hide behind to relieve ourselves. Each woman and each man find a bathroom partner so that no one is alone. Finally, we begin to load back up in the vehicles.
We have six of Sandro's uncle's men still tied up and separated in different vehicles, and none of us are sure what to do with them.
Personally, if it were up to me, they would be killed. Harsh? Maybe, but they're bad news. I really don't want to have to deal with someone else taking over where Carlos ended and beginning their own reign of terror so close to my family and friends.
Fortunately for the marauders, I was outnumbered.
As I sit on the passenger seat next to Will, I begin to question when I had turned into such a cold-hearted bitch.
Have I always been like this?
No. I don't think so, anyway. Maybe it was Jake. Maybe it was the whole zombie apocalypse shit. Maybe I've just lost more of my mind to bipolar than I realized.
Maybe it just doesn't matter.
My boys begin arguing in the backseat, which effectively distracts me from my own confused thoughts. I lay my head on Will's shoulder and listen as he yells at them to stop yelling. I grin, then sigh and snuggle even closer to my husband.
I'm so damn happy to be back with my family, even when they're being little shits. Or big shits, as the case may be with the hubby.
Chapter Three
We arrive at the hospital Cindy and Kris had spent so much time in when the zombies first came to their town, and are pleasantly surprised to see that the parking lot isn't nearly as full of the undead as I'd feared it would be.
There are only about a dozen undead, and those are taken out easily. We used the guns, even though we probably could have gotten by with sticking or bashing them, because we had hoped to draw out the majority of them from inside the hospital. My stomach keeps flopping around on me when I think about going into that damn building. The doorways to rooms, the sharp turns in the hallways, dark stairways and corridors and just too many damned places to have to watch at all times. And, of course, it's a freaking hospital!
I begin to second guess my decision to let our boys come with us, and pray that everyone survives this. Will and Gage enter first, then the two med techs, and behind them, my boys. They are directly in front of me so that I can try to keep them safe. Behind me are all the others, excluding the “Krew” members as I've been informe
d they call themselves, and Dad Rex and our dog, Angel, who is in charge of making sure they don't escape and who is also to give us a heads up if the parking lot fills with too many undead.
Rose is directly behind me, still in her full protective gear, and has a death grip on the back of my shirt. I've told her repeatedly to either loosen up or let go so that I can move if I need to. She does one or the other for about five seconds, then she's latched back on to me.
Sigh.
We all have our guns up except Rose who doesn't have a gun – Thank God! - and are prepared to shoot if need be. The men in the lead turn into what has to be the darkest damn hallway in this place and my heart picks up its beat. I try to remain cool and calm, but I can't quite keep it there. My eyes are everywhere, trying to see any danger before it sees us. We can't tell which doors ahead are open and which ones are closed because of the darkness.
Rose's nails have dug into my back more times than I can count, and I know once the adrenalin high is gone, my back is going to burn like a bitch; but right now, I can't feel too much. I move closer to my boys yet still leave room for us to shoot if we have to.
Nothing exciting happens. At first. We've made it halfway down the hall when Wyatt, the asshole med tech, begins to whistle.
I shit you not, the idiot whistles!
David, the much nicer and obviously much smarter med tech, punches him hard on the arm and snarls at him to shut the hell up. But Wyatt just laughs. Loud.
And that's when all hell breaks loose.
Moans. The dry shuffle of feet on the floor. Things being knocked over and bumped into. All sounds that echo down the hall to our over sensitive ears. Every sound is magnified even more as the terror begins to wash over me. I push both the boys so that their backs are against a doorless wall, then I push Rose up next to them. I expected the boys to start bitching at me for not letting them show off their new zombie-killing moves, but they are either too scared themselves, or can see that I'm not screwing around.
I stand in front of them as I wait for my first target to show and do my best to control my breathing. Telling yourself you have to stay calm is much easier than actually doing it.
I strain my eyes to see the others, namely Will, who was nearer the front and closer to the majority of the noise. I can't see him at all and it's killing me. Shots begin to ring out and what I see in the flashes will terrify me for the rest of my life, which could be a hell of a lot shorter than I would like.
The entire hall in front of us is loaded with the undead. There are so many that their bodies are more or less just being pushed forward without much effort on their part. When one falls, several more do as well, which if you really think about it, that's even scarier. Now, we have to watch for crawlers as well as the walkers.
I hear Sandro or Gabe yell out a warning from behind me, and turn to see two runners coming at us from where we'd just been. Three more turn into the hall from the same area and I swear I'm about to piss myself. Sandro, Gabe and the girls begin firing. None waste a bullet, and I realize in that moment just how well trained they really are. It's hard as hell to hit a moving target, zombie or not, and you can almost guarantee to miss a shot now and then, but not those four.
I feel a body slam against my back and I scream and turn, ready to kill. But it's David, who's being pushed back from the size of the horde in front of us. Will is directly in front of him, and Wyatt is next to Will. I give the boys and Rose a shove back in the direction we came, and we retreat. The teens lead us back down the hall and take care of the undead that they encounter, while the rest of us shoot into the massive hall of horrors behind us. Rose has now latched onto my boys, who are doing their best to make their aunt feel protected.
We finally reach the end of the hall and turn back to the outside doors. The teens stay at the end of the hall to protect the rest of us so we can get out safely. Once I reach the doors, I turn back to scream at the rest to get moving.
Will, the teens, and David make it safely. Wyatt does not. I honestly think he just suddenly loses his mind, or what's left of it anyway. The man stands in the hallway, not ten feet from the doors, and begins to laugh and shoot his gun without even taking aim so a lot of his shots are off. In no time, his body is taken down and his insane laughter turns into screams of extreme pain.
I feel the burn of bile rising as one of the undead sinks its teeth into Wyatt's neck and rips out a good-sized chunk. Blood gushes and gurgles from the hole, and Wyatt's screams stop abruptly.
Will and David follow me as I run to catch up with the others. Sandro and the other teens have already made sure the rest of the group are inside the vehicles safely and are waiting for us. And wouldn't you just know it, but as the doors to the hospital crash open and the undead follow us out into the bright sunlight, my still weak ankle decides to remind me it's still injured.
Yep, you got it. I go down, and I mean hard!
My chin strikes the cement sidewalk and the metallic taste of blood rapidly fills my mouth as I bite my tongue. I already know my chin is probably bleeding as well and the undead begin to get louder and just a bit faster in their frenzy as they smell the scent of my blood.
Will and Gage grab an arm each and haul me back to my feet. My previously injured foot immediately protests any weight, and the guys end up half dragging, half carrying me to the nearest truck. I'm still facing the hospital and I watch in horror as the outside fills with more undead than I can count. And more are still coming out.
We got away with only a few of the undead having made it close enough that the drivers were forced to hit them out of our way with the trucks. As soon as the drivers began to slow down, David pulls a bandage wrap out from one of his numerous pockets. I'm sitting next to him in the middle seat, and let out a screech when he grabs my leg and pulls hard enough to spin me halfway in my seat. He rests my foot on his lap and begins to wrap my re-injured ankle, which I'm very sickened to say has already begun to swell and turn colors.
Son-of-a-bitch. Not again.
“How convenient that you just happen to be carrying that wrap around with you,” I remark sarcastically, positive the bandage isn't an accident or a convenience.
And I'm right.
“Besides being a med tech and bandages are pretty much standard accessories to all medical personnel, Doc Dustin said he was a hundred and ten percent sure you'd need it,” he grins at me as he continues to wrap my swollen and nasty looking ankle.
“Ass,” I mutter under my breath.
Sure, I'm grateful Dustin sent it and that he's an amazing doctor, but does he have to know me so well?
Ankle wrapped and a pain pill shoved down my throat, not that I really fought it, he then sets to fixing my poor chin.
I hiss and moan until he laughs and says, “Funny, I always heard you were quite tough.”
He presses a gauze pad loaded with something that smells strong enough to make my eyes water, and I cuss him when it burns like hell.
“They lied,” I whimper.
He laughs again and finishes taping a new square of gauze over my chin.
I then turn to Will, who had moved from the front to the seat beside me when David began his torture of me, and hide my face in his chest. He wraps his arm around me and loudly says, “It's okay, baby. Just let it out.”
I pull away from him and glare as the tears fall down my cheeks.
“Damn it, Will! If I had wanted everyone to know I was crying like a frikken baby I wouldn't have hidden my damn face!”
True or not?
I growl out, “Men!”
I barely hear him when he growls back, “Women!”
All done with the baby routine since my irritation made me forget the pain, I look around at the world outside. Zombies here and there, but no more than two or three in a group. We've gone several blocks from the hospital, but we continue on out of town, knowing that the undead horde from there are still on their way.
When we reach the next town, about fifteen miles down the
road, the first truck pulls into the lot of a burned out gas station, and the rest of the trucks follow. We all get out, except for our captured Krew members, and everyone begins replaying the scene at the hospital while I lean back against one of the trucks and cross my arms over my chest.
That was close, too close. More than just Wyatt could have died today. My kids, either of my dads, my husband... any of us.
We were fools going in like that. In hindsight, there were so many other ways we could have proceeded, so many safer ways. Lesson learned. I pray to God we don't have to learn many more lessons the hard way, but I bet anything that we will.
I watch as the entire group heads my way and sigh from exhaustion.
Most likely they will want to know what to do now. Why ask me? When did I become a leader? I don't want that responsibility.
I prepare myself to tell them that, but Gage speaks up before I can.
“We're going back to the hospital now, right?” he asks me.
Oh. Right. This is why I'm the leader.
“Uh, no, we aren't. We don't have the guns nor the people we need to succeed. There are too many undead for us to handle on our own.”
And as I expect, mouths open and arguments are thrown at me. The only one who agrees with me is my little sister. The only one not saying a word, and looking rather pissed, is Will.
I do a double take and then give him a questioning look. Finally, the others slowly begin to realize that they no longer have my attention and turn to look at Will as well.
Dead silence. I move toward him, gently pushing some of the others out of my way.
“Will? What's wrong?” I ask him as I put my hand on his arm.
I can feel his muscles tighten and ripple under my hand and I know he's truly pissed.
“I'm getting a little sick of everyone thinking they have to bring all the bullshit to you.” He glares at all of us.
But, why the hell is he glaring at me? I totally agree with him!
“Will, I don't ask for them to. I don't want the responsibility. I don't want it to be my decision that kills everyone.”