by Karen Carr
“Why do you think you were saved?” Stan asked.
I took a bite of my ham and cheese sandwich, chewing it an extra amount of time, and wondered if Galen and Broder were immune.
“I don’t know,” Galen said, taking a sip of wine from a bottle. “We were on his ATV driving on the edge of the crowd. When it hit, after we realized everyone had turned into savage cannibals, we drove out of there as fast as possible.”
“You did good, Hella” Zora said. “You’re a good fighter.”
Lily agreed by nodding and smiling and surveying the area.
I blushed. “Thanks. I haven’t had much practice, but I learn more every day.”
“Neither have I,” Miles said. His eyes were still puffy from crying. “Will you teach me?”
I stared at his red eyes. “Sure. When we get back to Pittsboro.”
“We’re down one ATV and Huck will need to go in the Van,” Zeke said. “We’re going to have to stick together, all of us. If we run into another horde, we’re going to need the firepower from everyone. Until we start walking to Walmart, we are not going to be safe.”
“How far are we to Haverlyn Village?” Galen asked.
“About six miles from here,” Stan said.
“We’ll drive for another two miles, to just before Walmart, and then walk the rest,” Galen said. “We’ll park the van where they can’t find it.”
“We’re leaving the pile of bodies,” Huck said, smirking at me. “I am not going to clean them up.”
“Waste of time,” Zeke agreed.
“We can always do it on the way back,” I teased. Everyone looked at me like I was nuts. “I’m joking,” I said.
“No time for jokes,” Galen said.
I felt an uneasy sensation prickle over my head. Huck’s ATV was broken, so Zeke and Broder pushed it into the bushes. Huck and I had no choice, we would have to ride the rest of the way in the van. Broder offered me the seat behind him on his ATV, but I wanted to stay with Huck so Zora took it again and Zeke rode solo.
The drive to Walmart was the fastest and slowest drive of my life. Huck fell asleep and Lily gazed out the window and Miles chattered nonstop. I heard about all sorts of things from Miles, he talked with a nervous energy—at times sorrowful and other times elated. Galen kept trying to quiet him down, but it didn’t work and he gave up attempts to silence him after a while.
We finally decided to park in a small abandoned house that had an open metal awning for a garage. Galen drove the van under the metal awning, with Broder and Zeke following. No one would see the vehicles from the air and with luck, if anyone drove by, they would think they were abandoned, and the owners gone, like we hoped the house was—empty of living occupants.
Galen put the keys in a burlap sack, tied it shut and hid it under a large rock in front of the house. “We’d hate to have these stuck in someone’s pocket. This way, anyone who returns will have the keys. It’s our best chance.”
“Time to start walking,” Zora said.
I regarded Huck’s injury.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said. “It’s just a sprain. I can walk.” He proved his point by walking a few steps. He was limping, but not so bad.
“Miles, stay with Huck, help him along,” Galen said. “If he gets slow, or can’t continue, stay with him.”
“I can stay with my bro,” Zeke said.
“We’ll need you up front,” Galen said. “And her.” He pointed to me.
I saw Zeke’s brow furrow in anger. He didn’t like taking orders from anyone. I wanted to stay with Huck too, but Galen was right. I was more useful in front. Now that my virus had surely kicked in, I wanted to kill off any zeroes moving forward, in case we had to run it was best to keep the path in front of us clear of any other danger.
Zeke, Galen and I led the way, while Zora and Lily followed us, with Miles and Huck next, and Broder and Stan taking up the rear guard behind everyone. I stepped carefully and quickly through the woods. The food in my stomach felt good and gave me a much needed burst of energy. We did not speak, not a word. Zeke’s head moved from side to side, watching our surroundings. He knew, as we all did—except for Galen and Broder, that we were safe from the zeroes, but we all still kept a watchful eye out for our human enemies.
I wanted to tell Galen and Broder about my condition. For all practical purposes, there was no reason to keep it a secret anymore. It was too quiet to talk and tell them everything now and how to explain it? They wouldn’t believe me. It would have to wait until later. We reached the Walmart parking lot an hour later.
“Take the south entrance,” I said. “We can get behind the building from there. The north entrance leads right into the main parking lot. If anyone here, that’s where they will be.”
We walked into the parking lot and reached the rear of the store when, without warning, the noise of gunfire filled the air. The shots sent us in all directions, hiding behind dumpsters, in between left over plastic crates, and on the ground.
Thousands of small starlings flew over the lot and more animals rushed out into the street as startled from the gun fire as we had been. Zeke motioned us to all gather where he was, against the back wall of the Walmart in a little alcove that trucks backed up to unload their goods. We all met him there.
“Sounds like someone’s up front shooting up the place, or shooting something down,” Galen said.
“More than someone,” Zora said. “I’d say several someones.”
Galen opened his mouth to say something else, but Zeke cut him off. “The first thing we’re going to do is figure out who they are and how many. Which means we have to split up.” Zeke patted Huck on the shoulder, keeping his voice low. “Sorry, mate. You’re wounded. You’ll have to stay here with Miles.” When Huck grumbled, Zeke held up his hand. “I glanced at you a couple of times, man. The boy was your crutch. We need to alive, not dead. You can be our sniper.”
“I hope we don’t need that,” Lily said.
“We’re wasting time,” Zora said.
Everyone started talking in hushed tones at once and each of us had their own plan. Several more gunshots quieted everyone down again and the buzz of a small vehicle made us down.
“Get down.” Zeke pressed his hands on my shoulders.
We all crouched down in the alcove, our bodies crushed together, mine touching Zeke’s in all the wrong places. By the way he stiffened and tried to maneuver my backside away from him, I could tell that he was bothered by my contact. All at once, a couple of deer ran across the lot and the engine noise became louder. A man mounted on a dirt bike drove around from the front of the store. He was chasing the deer.
He lifted a gun and shot one of them in the side, letting out a yahoo in the process. The man, wearing camouflage and a metal helmet, circled back around and killed the remaining deer and then disappeared again, leaving their bodies on the ground to rot. Killing for sport.
“I think we found them,” Huck said.
“I recognized that guy,” Stan said.
“What are we going to do now?” Miles asked. “I’ve never done something like this.”
Galen let out a large sigh and looked toward Zeke. “You got a plan?”
Before Zeke opened his mouth, I spoke. “We’re going to sneak around and see if Trevan and Boa are with them. And if they are, we’re going to rescue them.”
“Well, duh, slight flaw,” Zeke said. He maneuvered his body so that ours were no longer touching. “We can’t go waltzing into the parking lot. We’ll have to go into the bushes and sneak around. They won’t expect someone coming out of the bushes except flesh dolls. They’re not going to go in there looking for them either.”
“You think there are some live ones out there?” Zora asked me.
“The other side of the parking lot and the bushes, Stan, how far?” I asked.
“Bushes, more than a thousand feet. Half the parking lot too,” Stan said. “There is definitely a possibility.”
“Why don’
t we go over the top?” Huck asked. He pointed to the side of the building where a metal ladder went up to the roof. “I can climb that thing.”
Broder gave him a thumbs up.
“We can see everything from up there,” Lily said.
“Up we go,” Galen said.
It turned out that Huck couldn’t climb up. He took one step on the ladder with his swollen and twisted ankle and winced in pain. “I’m not going to make it. My leg,” Huck said.
“I’ll stay with you,” I said.
“No, you go. It’ll be safer up there,” Huck said.
“Miles, stay with him,” Galen said. Miles made an unhappy noise. “Whistle if you need us. You know the tune.” Galen referenced a whistle around his neck and I noticed Miles had a similar one, just like Broder’s duck whistle.
“Quick,” Zeke said, pushing me toward the ladder. “We have to go all at once and fast in case that asshat comes back this way. Lily, come on.”
Lily jumped on the ladder and climbed.
“Ladies first,” Galen said.
“No thanks, you go,” I said.
Galen gave me a look, and then Broder grabbed the ladder and climbed up, followed by Galen.
“Come on, Hella,” Zeke said. “I have to be last one up.”
I hugged Huck, made sure he was comfortable and out of sight, and made sure Miles wasn’t too scared, and then jumped on the ladder. I had never climbed up a metal ladder before, and never a ladder so high. I followed Galen up and focused on the bottom of his feet as he moved up the ladder before me. They were muddy, with pieces of grass sticking out of the mud, but the treads were new.
My hurt elbow made it hard to climb and I took an extra-long time. I looked down to double check that Huck was safe, and became dizzy when I realized how high I had climbed. I clung to the ladder, not sure how I was going to take my eyes off the ground and how I was going to reach the top.
Zeke, coming up right behind me, gave my rear a brief shove. “Keep it moving,” he whispered. “I’ll help you.” He placed his body behind mine, making his eyes level with my butt, which I am sure he did not do on purpose. His proximity was all I needed to hightail it the rest of the way up the ladder, even with the throbbing pain in my arm.
The roof was checkered with solar panels everywhere. Solar panels. Walmart still had electricity, I had forgotten all about it. Along with several buildings in Haverlyn Village, Walmart ran on solar power. It was how I had been able to survive the apocalypse through winter, plenty of frozen food. It had only been a few days since my last hot shower, but I desperately wanted another one. My body began to itch like crazy with the thought of being clean.
As we walked across the roof, Broder examined some of the panels, even trying to pry one free.
“Broder, come on,” Galen said.
Broder held a panel he had removed over his head with a big smile on his face.
“We’ll be back for those,” Galen said.
We walked across the entire roof and laid down to peer over the edge. There, below us, was the helicopter parked in the lot. The blades weren’t moving, but seeing it made me nervous. Once they were in it and airborne, they would surely spot us on the roof. My eyes instinctively covered the roof for an appropriate hiding spot, but there wasn’t one.
Galen brought out some mini binoculars and handed them to Zora.
“Look for your sister,” he said.
“And Trevan,” Lily added.
Zora nodded, took the binoculars and began to survey the lot. There were quite a few zombies wandering around the farthest reaches of the parking lot outside of the bounds of my virus. There were several men and women in combat uniforms and heavy black boots. They all had guns. Some were on lookout, walking around the lot, poking through the trees. Some were riding around on bikes killing zombies.
Stan laid down next to me. I had forgotten that he was dressed like them. When he was captured by them, they dressed him in their uniform. He was still wearing the military clothes from before. That gave me an idea.
“Stan, we can infiltrate them,” I whispered.
Stan looked appalled. “Hella, that’s too dangerous. Besides, they would recognize me and the others—they wouldn’t recognize. Either way, it ends in suspicion and capture.”
“Hella has a great idea, get your clothes off,” Zeke said. “They’re too big for you anyway.”
“Stan’s right, Zeke,” I said. “They’ll capture you.”
“I see someone in the helicopter,” Zora said with a hopeful trill in her voice. “They’re not dressed like the others.”
“All I need is information,” Zeke said. “I’ll herd some zombies out of the woods, get a distraction going. Then come out the other side, make like I’m one of them.”
“You can’t be in two places at once. You can’t do all of that by yourself,” I said.
“We don’t have much time,” Zeke said. “That helicopter is going to take off any minute. I can tell.”
“Yea,” I whispered. “Strip, Stan. It’s the only way.”
While Zeke and Stan changed clothes, they filled Galen and the rest of them in on the details of the plan. Broder and I would go in the bushes to rustle out the undead. We knew they were there, we could see the bushes move.
Galen would stay on the roof due to his sharp shooting abilities. He would keep Lily and Zora with him. If things turned ugly, they’d be able to pick people off from above. Stan was to stand guard with Huck and Miles, to protect them, Galen said. But I had the impression that Galen wanted Stan out of the way. I had proven myself to them, but Stan hadn’t.
Zeke had put the uniform on and slicked back his hair with some of the water from our bottle supply. He looked like a regular incredibly handsome soldier. We hustled back down the ladder and went on our mission.
Broder let me lead since I knew the area. I walked swiftly, my back to the wall of the Walmart, along the edge. Walking silently along with Broder was rewarding. By his gestures and his kind eyes, I felt he gave in to my control. He wasn’t one of those guys that always had to be in charge, like Zeke. I took him across the asphalt entryway and we quickly rushed into the bushes.
We travelled through the bushes, making enough noise for any zero to hear us, but not enough for the combats to hear. We saw several eyes peering out at us. They were there, lurking, waiting. They caught our scent and began following us. I was worried that my virus would come before it was too late, would Broder understand if I ran away for 1000 feet and returned? I wouldn’t have time.
A few seconds later, several more joined the pack following us. At least a dozen now were on our trail. Broder was fast on his feet, and so was I. We were a good team. When we had gathered enough, I whispered to him to follow me between the big white trailers that were at the front of the Walmart lot.
We went forward and just like the plan the zeroes followed us into the parking lot. We had to get them between the trailers and then out into the open without being seen. I probably only had another minute left. After we were done with our job, we were supposed to high tail it back to the van.
Broder and I scurried through the trailers with the zombies at our heels. They’d be noticed any minute. We ducked low as we travelled on the outside of some of the randomly parked cars left in the parking lot. We heard yelling. The travelling horde behind us had been spotted.
Suddenly Broder stopped and pounded on a car. I didn’t know what he was trying to tell me until I noticed it was an electric car, the one Trevan and Boa presumably drove. We didn’t have time to ponder the new situation, but a quick look inside told us they had left the keys in the ignition.
CHAPTER 13
Trevan and Boa had made it. The empty electric car proved they were in the vicinity and not locked inside of it drooling all over each other. There was no sign of a struggle, like blood on the seats or a smashed window. Dozens of zeroes were following us, so I celebrated the clue with another brief glimpse and moved on. Broder and I dashed through the
rows of cars and then back into the woods. I kept running, managing to pass Broder with a few swift strides. He followed me, his heavy footsteps resounding in the quiet woods. We weren’t making the most peaceful getaway.
I ran between the trees, ducking the low branches, and out across the 15/501 to the gas station on the other side of the street before I stopped. I did it for my virus. I knew I had to be far enough away so that the zeroes in the Walmart parking lot wound not succumb to it. Broder caught up to me and placed his hand on the gas pump for stabilization, panting out deep breaths.
“Sorry, I had to get out of there,” I said.
Broder nodded and opened a bottle of water, offering to me first. I shook my head and he took a long sip. The gas station had older puddles of grease mixed in with newer puddles of blood and lumps of flesh, like there had been a battle here that someone had cleaned up, and it wasn’t me. Undead against the living—it gave me an uneasy feeling.
Simultaneously, Broder dropped his water bottle and pushed me aside with such force that I dropped my gun and fell to the ground. He pointed his gun over my body and pulled the trigger. I turned to see a zero in a dark tan suit and tie hit the pavement. There were a dozen more heading toward us, climbing out of the broken windows of the gas station, cutting deep gashes in their flesh as they struggled to get out. My virus hadn’t caught up to us yet.
Broder pulled the trigger again, but no bullets came out. My gun had slid into the path of the approaching zeroes, with the nearest one stepping on it as she tried to grasp us with outstretched arms. Broder reached in another holster for his spare gun, but the holster was empty. I had to get my gun.