Cutting through another parking lot, she saw a woman standing next to a building. Max slowed and watched her for a moment, not entirely sure if she was infected or not. The woman seemed frozen in place, watching as the chaos rolled around her. Max honked her horn at her, causing the woman to jump before swinging her head toward them. Cautiously Max rolled down her window.
"You need to get moving!" Max yelled out her window.
"I...I...what?" The woman stammered in reply. Max had little patience for those that couldn't handle themselves in a crisis.
"Lady, can't you see what's happening in front of you? You aren't safe just standing out here!" Max called back to her. The woman swung her gaze back to the clogged traffic. Screaming and gunshots seemed to permanently hang in the air.
"Listen, I can't hang out here with you and be besties. You need to get inside or evacuate or something. Get moving!" Max yelled. The last statement seemed to reach the woman and she disappeared around the corner of the building. Max found herself hoping the woman figured things out before she caught teeth to the throat.
The normal commute to her place of work was twenty minutes. An hour and a half of frustrating driving found them finally a street away from the dentist office. Max hopped the truck onto the small sidewalk and cut around traffic where she could. The sound of screeching brakes sounded suddenly as a loud crunch followed. Max slowed and looked around to find the accident that must have happened. As they moved forward smoke rising from the engine of a small sedan could be seen.
"Oh my god," Max said quietly.
"Momma..." Jack said, trailing off as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. The car accident had been caused by a group of infected that had wandered into the street. Max noted that some of them were wearing military fatigues and she found that odd. The infected were surrounding the small vehicle that had crashed. The windows were down and screams could be heard from inside the vehicle as the infected reached in and clawed at their meal.
"Jack, look away," Max instructed as the infected pulled a man from the car. The man continued to scream as his body fell to the ground and the infected fell atop to feast. Max stopped the truck with a clear sight of the man. Checking her surroundings, she quickly rolled her window down. She aimed her 9 mm out of the window and fired a round at the man on the ground. Her shot was true, and the man's suffering was ended. However, that didn't stop the feasting infected.
Max quickly rolled up her window and shoved her gun back into its holster. She watched for a moment as the infected ripped at the man's body, his blood pooled beneath and spread in a dark streak across the road. She quickly glanced at Jack and found her swiping furiously at tears on her face.
"I had to help him," Max said simply. Jack didn't reply.
Max concentrated on the short distance they had left to get to the dentist office. The sound of her gunshot had scared some people out of their cars and they were running with no direction. Max laid on the horn warning pedestrians that she was coming. Suddenly an infected stepped in front of the car and Jack let out a quick shriek. Having had her fill of infected in the road, Max stepped on the gas pedal and slammed into the body of the infected. What used to be a small woman bounced off the front bumper of the truck. She fell to the ground and Max felt part of the body fall under the driver's side wheels.
Looking in the rearview mirror Max could see the body she ran over. She was taken by surprise when she saw the infected arms swinging in the air as if clawing for purchase in a warm uninfected body. It didn't seem to be able to rise from the asphalt, but the extremities not smashed by the wheels of her truck were still working on their own. Max felt fear try and rise in her chest, but she tapped it down. Fear was a losing game and she had no intentions of dying.
Max started a list in her head of what she was learning from the infected. With each confrontation, the infected displayed their traits. Injuries didn't seem to stop their one-track goal of eating. Broken bones, contusions, gashes, none of these things created any sort of reaction from them. The only thing that mattered to them was the uninfected. Max had to assume a wound to the brain was the only way of stopping them, after she was able to kill the boy at her apartment.
The truck screeched to a halt in front of the glass doors of a small office building. Max sat with the truck running, watching around the parking lot for any movement. She watched as someone ran from the neighboring business. As the woman ran by, Max recognized her as the receptionist that worked next door. The receptionist didn't even glance at the running truck as she ran to a waiting car. Moments later she sped out of the parking lot, wheels screaming across the asphalt as she found a break in traffic.
"Let's go. I'm going to get the address for Denise. Check and see if she needs help out of town. Then we'll start our trip," Max explained as she killed the engine.
Jack didn't respond. She followed Max out of the truck, both of them carrying their bug out bags. Jack followed her mother's lessons of never leaving your supplies and always being prepared. Max never had to remind her. Much like Max, when she was Jack's age, growing up with Mitch. Max tried to give Jack a more rounded upbringing, but she always found herself relying on what she knew. And that was the prepping lessons she learned from Mitch.
Entering the dentist office, Max pulled her tomahawk as a precaution. The door was locked and none of the windows were broken yet. However, Max wasn't lowering her guard. She rounded the front desk and entered the hallway that led to her office. Stopping at the supply room, Max had a revelation looking at the locked case of medication. Going to the case, Max used her tomahawk to break out the front glass. She was greeted with a view of packages of limited supply prescription medications.
Motioning Jack over, Max opened both of their bug out bags. Following her mother's instructions, Jack started dumping boxes of meds into their bags. Max headed to her office to find the address she needed. In her office, she also grabbed the multi-tool she had stored in her desk for small office repairs. The tool also had a saw and flint on it, items Max knew they would need on the road.
Max found herself thinking about Mitch and the items he typically referred to as essentials. Always be able to cook, hunt, protect, and survive. Everything he taught Max and her siblings was based around that. When Max was in elementary school she was almost suspended for bringing a multi-tool to school. She didn't understand how it was a dangerous thing because she knew how to use each tool appropriately. At that age, Max hadn't realized how different her family was from her bubbly school friends. After she got caught with the tool, Mitch taught her to always hide her tools. He didn't believe in any authority telling him what to do.
Sometimes Max didn't understand why he allowed his children to attend public school. When she looked back she was thankful they were able to have that experience. And now she was convinced he only allowed them to go so he had the quiet time to work on his compound in ways he couldn't with his young children underfoot. The rest of the time he gave the kids useful tasks to contribute to their survival at home.
Out of his three children, Max was the most interested in his lessons. She had never known her mother. As Max stood at her desk she thought of the stories her father would tell of her mother. His eyes would go soft and sometimes watery when he spoke of her. She was the love of his life. Without her, he didn't know how to completely function in the real world. Without any influence from her in life, Max turned out harder than Alex or Rafe.
Alex had tried to give Max the affection of a mother. However, she was just a child herself, only knowing her mother for the early four years of her life. When their father wouldn't talk of their mother, the girls would sit around her photos and create stories about who she had been. Max would go to bed dreaming of a mother's love and female presence in her life. But when she grew up, it was easier for her to let go of those dreams. It wasn't the same for Alex.
Thinking of Alex, Max began to worry. Alex was softer, more emotional than Max. Sometimes Max envied her sister, her he
art and her ability to love fully. However, it was that softness that worried Max. She found herself imagining the worst. Alex not making it to Montana and her niece Billie and nephew Henry being left alone somewhere on the road. Max brought herself back to the present and shook the dark thoughts from her mind. Alex would be in Montana waiting for her, she wouldn't doubt that again.
As Max walked up the hallway she heard someone at the front doors. She hurried into the storage room with Jack and grabbed her to move her away from the medication case. Jack's scream would have given them away, but Max covered her mouth quickly. Using hand motions she let Jack know to stay quiet. Her daughter nodded her head and squeezed back into the dark corner Max pushed her into. Just as Max turned her back on Jack and prepared for a fight, she heard the glass on the front door shatter.
"Why are we breaking into an office?" The voice of a man floated down the hallway. The sound of footsteps on broken glass indicated the intruders had entered the reception area.
"This is a dentist, I bet they have drugs." The voice of a second man answered, sounding closer than the first.
Hearing they were after drugs, Max began to feel her heart speed up with panic. Quietly Max pulled her tomahawk again, letting it hang loosely at her side. If the men headed down the hallway they would easily find the room they hid in. Waiting to be found, preparing to fight, Max stood tensely, hiding Jack with her body. The shotgun blast that sounded next echoed powerfully through the small office.
CHAPTER THREE
"They're coming!" One man's voice yelled, sounding high and shrill in his panic.
The sound of the shotgun pump action was only a moment before another loud shot. A scuffle was happening in the reception area of the office. Max listened intently, the sounds of growling reaching her ears. She realized the men weren't fighting other living people but infected that had wandered through the broken glass door.
Max knew she needed to make a decision quickly. They could escape through the back fire door, but their transportation awaited them on the other side of the building. Taking a deep breath, Max turned to Jack.
"You are to stay here, understand? I'm going to go out there, clear it out, so we can get to the truck," Max said. Jack's face was pale, her hazel eyes full of fear.
"You'll come to get me?" She asked.
"Of course. Stay hidden and quiet. Don't come out unless it's me telling you to," Max said in a hurried whisper.
Without another word, Max turned toward the door of the medical room. She hesitated at the doorway, peering slowly toward the reception area. A fight sounded like it still raged. Max could see the shadows of movement down the hall, but nothing was in the hall with her. She quietly tiptoed to the end of the hall and peeked into the reception area. What she found chilled her to the very core. Two men stood back to back in the largest part of the room. The room was filling with infected bodies.
The men seemed capable, defending themselves from the mindless attacks of the infected. Taking a chance Max stepped into the room fully and brought her tomahawk down on the nearest infected head. Anticipating the depth of the blow, Max braced as the body fell and allowed the momentum to free her blade. Now in the room, Max could hear the grunts and curses of the men fighting. Shutting them out, she fell into a fighting stance and chopped down the infected nearest to her.
The infected flowing into the office were men and women alike. Some would have seemed alive, had it not been for black eyes and growling sounds coming from their throats. The smell in the small area was enough to make Max gag. The rotten smell of decayed flesh floated around the infected bodies.
Her movements soon attracted more infected and as a tide, the nearest ones turned toward her. Max tapped her fear down and just continued to move her tomahawk. To save time, she struck out at a different body part, causing bodies to fall even if not completely dead. When space opened, she would bring her tomahawk down on a skull, a sickening crunch sounding each time.
She worked on keeping her mind focused, not thinking about the gore that was splashed across her clothing. She took a step forward and almost slipped on blood that layered the tile floor. Glancing down she grimaced at the body she stepped over. The infected that had attacked the person had picnicked on the stomach and now insides were open to Max's eyes.
Bodies seemed to pile up around Max and the men fighting. The flow from outside slowed and finally stopped. Leaving the three of them heaving in the reception area. The men eyed Max, who stood up straighter and swung her tomahawk around. She tried to look nonchalant but effectively dangerous.
"We are lucky they got caught up on the frame of the window and the dead bodies. We would have been meat. Thanks for the help," one of the men said to Max.
"You can take what you want from here. I'm just leaving," Max replied. She turned toward the hallway.
"The door is clear, where are you going?" The other man demanded. Max could easily figure he was afraid she would be getting away with his drugs.
"I worked here. I just need to get a photo from my desk. I don't want to leave it," Max lied. That seemed to satisfy the men, and they didn't comment or follow as Max rushed down the hall.
Stepping into the medical room, Max quickly grabbed her bug out bag and slung it over her shoulders. She motioned to Jack who peered around the medicine case, to grab her pack as well. Jack obeyed quickly, zipping up her pack, which hid the meds they did take. Before walking back into the hallway, Max pulled her 9 mm. The men had a shotgun, but she was sure they wouldn't risk their own lives to stop Max and Jack.
Coming into sight of the men, Max immediately leveled her gun at them. The man that had thanked her looked surprised, but the one that asked where she was going looked angry.
"That's more than a photo lady," the angry man said.
"Weird, so it is," Max replied, sarcasm dripped from her voice.
"What's in the packs?" He asked.
"Pretty sure it's full of none of your business," Max shot back. As she spoke, she walked using her peripheral vision, stepping around bodies. She knew without saying anything that Jack was following her footsteps exactly, just as she had always taught her. Her daughter knew that Max would never step somewhere unsafe, so she always was to step in the same place.
"Let's just leave them alone," the thankful man said to his companion.
"They could have cleaned out the drugs," the angry man replied.
"I guess you'll need to go see," Max replied as they reached the doorway. Angry man ran toward the hallway as she pushed Jack behind her, pulling the keys from her pocket and giving them to the girl. Max didn't want to risk taking her eyes off the men until the truck was open and started. Jack's feet could be heard running across the short distance of pavement. Moments later the engine sounded and Max backed up more.
"Bitch!" The yell came from the medical room. Max knew the man had found the smashed open case. Before turning, she looked down the site of her 9 mm at the nicer of the two men.
"You should find someone new to watch your back." With that Max turned and sprinted the short distance to the truck. As she got to the driver's door she was already swinging off her pack. She shoved the pack to Jack and jumped into the seat. Not waiting for seat belts or angry men with shotguns, Max threw the truck into reverse and squealed out of the parking spot.
An hour of traffic later, Max and Jack wound through residential streets. Without GPS, Max used her city map to find the home of Denise. The longer the drive took, the more often she thought about just abandoning her mission and leaving town. But she had already told Jack they were going to find Denise and the little girl was fond of the woman. Max again thought about her avoidance of connections. This would be so much easier if she didn't need to care about anyone else.
The homes along the quaint street looked to be part of a war zone, battles waged on their pristine green lawns. Max drove slowly, checking the addresses as they passed homes. She hit the breaks quickly when she found the house that matched the address in Denise'
s employee file. It was odd that she and Jack had never actually been to the house. Denise had offered and invited numerous times. But Max shied away from forming any real bond. Their relationship consisted of office lunches out and occasional dinners with Jack in tow.
Denise lived in a two-story townhouse, sandwiched between two other houses. Max sat, the truck running, as she studied the door standing ajar on Denise's home. Along all of the lawns, there were signs of infected attacks. The bodies lying haphazardly in places indicated there was a loser in those fights. Without closer inspection, Max couldn't be sure if the bodies were infected dead or human dead.
"I don't like this," Max remarked quietly.
"Do you think she's dead?" Jack asked.
"At this point, I think it's likely," Max responded. Jack didn't say anything, but her sniffle indicated that her mother's answer upset her. Max sighed inwardly. She wasn't sure how to make this all better for her daughter. The realization of the world falling apart was too much for an adult to handle, let alone an eight-year-old child. It was what they were faced with and making it softer didn't make it untrue.
"I'm going to go check. Keep the truck running. Doors locked," Max said as she pulled her tomahawk free. She was soundless as she popped open the door of the truck. Carefully she closed it as quietly as she could, not wishing to draw attention to Jack inside the truck. If the infected were to find her, they would window shop for their meal. Max couldn't allow that.
Waiting, she didn't turn toward Denise's house until she heard the click of the lock mechanism. She nodded to Jack and turned to survey the area. At the end of the street, she could see people moving, but it was impossible to tell at that distance if they were infected or not. Slowly she moved toward the open doorway. The house beyond was dark, no lights on, no shades were down. It seemed like Denise may have been hiding in her house.
Max's mind went over the different scenarios of why Denise would have opened her door during a plague outbreak like this. The woman's heart was pure gold and that would have been her downfall. Max could only guess that she probably had someone she knew come to the door and opened to help them. Human connections, again causing problems.
Survive (Sundown Series Book 2) Page 2