by Tim Moon
Fall had given way to winter, and with so few people left, no one was concerned about raking or sweeping. Leaves and sticks littered the area. Debris spilled out of yards over the sidewalks and into the street. Ben breathed in the cool fresh air that was so different from the island. He shook his head at how much had changed and how much had been lost.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw dark smoke rising into the sky, staining the clouds. The aftermath of the bomb. He couldn’t imagine what it must look like over there.
When they got close to the house, Charlotte opened the door for them. “How was it?”
Ben’s mouth set into a line, and he gave her a quick nod as he passed. Anuhea and Chadwick stopped to talk to her. Their hushed voices faded as he took the stairs two at a time. He closed the bathroom door and let out a breath. He rinsed his hands and face off with a scoop of water from a bucket.
Dirty water swirled down the drain. It washed away some of the sweat, but it couldn’t cleanse the darkness in his heart. A flood of emotion welled up inside his chest. The future was grim, especially for Oliver. Everything was a struggle. How long could they scrape by? What would they do after fortifying the neighborhood?
Ben had lost his best friend. That was hard enough. He couldn’t imagine losing his mom.
His gut clenched. Taking a deep breath, he dunked a cup into the water bucket and splashed it on his face. He tried to grasp at hope, but it seemed elusive; consistently slipping through his fingers like a cloud.
Squinting hard, and glaring at the water sliding down the sides of the sink and into the drain, Ben contained the frustration that stung his eyes. His fingers curled over the edge of the counter and his teeth ground together. He wanted to break something, anything. He lifted a clenched fist, and for a second, he almost punched the mirror. He stopped when he saw his reflection. Punching it wouldn’t accomplish a damned thing. It would make a mess and injure his hand. That could impair his ability to build up the neighborhood defenses they sorely needed.
Everyone had lost people. Oliver had lost his parents. All three of his friends had almost certainly lost everyone they cared about. Ben sat on the floor and leaned back against the shower stall.
It’s not going to get easy anytime soon. He pressed his palm against his forehead and sighed. This is the world we live in now.
66
Ben opened the front door to go outside, knowing that his friends would be there waiting for him. Anuhea and Chadwick sat on the edge of the porch, talking while they kept an eye out for danger. Ben ran a hand through his hair. He was ready for more work.
It was time for the next step in their plan. Like any normal home, theirs wasn’t built with defense in mind. Which meant they had to make their own.
“You two all set?” Ben asked.
The screen door opened and closed with a terrible screech. He winced and then scowled. How did I not notice that before? “We need to fix that. It sounds like two alley cats fighting.”
Their expressions told him that he wasn’t the first to notice.
No one thought to fix it?
His scowl deepened. One more thing to add to the ever-growing list. As if they didn’t have enough to worry about.
When they had first arrived in Vancouver, Ben had brainstormed places they could move. Fallout from the bomb was a real concern but it seemed to blow out to the west. Nevertheless, they had stayed indoors for days, and he had spent much of the time considering places such as government buildings, a remote cabin in the mountains, or even a prison – anything that would give them more security for little effort.
He had quickly discarded that plan. Everyone had been worn out by the relentless pace they had kept up, rushing from place to place just to reach Vancouver. Staying close to stores and other houses they could easily raid for supplies was another bonus. So, for the time being, they had to be content with simply making the neighborhood as safe as possible.
Fortify was Plan A and resettle was Plan B. They even had two cars in the garage pre-packed with gear in case they had to escape in a hurry.
“What are we doing again?” Chadwick asked.
“We need to block off both ends of this street,” Ben said. “Then tomorrow we can block off the road behind us and by tomorrow night, we’ll have a 360-degree buffer around our house.”
“Oh, right. And, uh, what are we blocking it with?” Chadwick asked.
“Cars, trucks and SUVs.” Anuhea smirked a little.
“What about vans?”
“And vans,” Ben added.
“That makes sense.” Chadwick tried to play it off like he already knew it, but Anuhea glanced at Ben and smirked.
Ben scanned the block, gauging which side to work on first. The stillness was weird. There were six other houses on their side of the block, not counting his mom’s house.
That put it in the middle, flanked by three houses on either side. Ben liked that. When the streets were blocked off, they would have a great line of sight and plenty of warning for any attackers - zombie or human.
“We should have more than enough vehicles.” Ben started toward the east side of the block, historically the busier side since that road branched off a major street called Mill Plain Boulevard. “We’ll need to push the vehicles tightly together, bumper to bumper so there are no gaps.”
“And if we have to escape?” Chadwick asked. “How do we leave if both sides are blocked?”
“Good point.” Ben frowned. “Obviously I didn’t think far enough ahead.”
“We couldn’t take the time to push a car out of the way if we’re making a dash,” Chadwick added.
“You couldn’t, Hop-Along,” Ben said with a chuckle.
Chadwick blushed, and they laughed harder.
“What’s the answer then?” Chadwick asked with his hands on his hips and a slight furrow to his brow.
“We can leave a gap that’s just big enough to drive through,” Anuhea said.
“And block it with something that’s easy to move,” Ben added. “Plywood maybe?”
“That’s not bad,” Chadwick said, tapping his chin. After a moment, he added, “How about one of those zig-zag roadblocks?” He drove his hand through the air to demonstrate.
Ben snapped his fingers and pointed at him. “That’s a great idea.”
“I think that’ll work,” Anuhea agreed.
An hour later, they had pushed enough vehicles into place to form their first perimeter wall. It stretched from the corner house, through the front yard, across the street, and all the way to the next house. There were no gaps. The fastest way to cross was to climb over the car hoods. Maneuvering the last two vehicles into place had taken the longest since they wanted a tight fit.
“That’s a great start,” Ben said.
“A start?” Chadwick groaned.
“This is enough to keep stragglers from wandering in. A large enough group of zombies could end up pushing cars out of the way, and creating gaps between them.” Ben thought about other possibilities. “It won’t keep people out at all. So, yeah, at some point it will need more work.”
They meandered to the other end of the block to repeat the process. Chadwick moved slowly, which gave Ben and Anuhea time to catch their breath.
“Can we drive the cars into place?” Chadwick asked with a sigh, wiping sweat from his brow. The front yard was damp and that made it five times more difficult to get the car into place. Faint wisps of steam rolled off his body into the chilled air.
“No,” Anuhea said flatly.
“If we waste time looking for keys we’ll run out of daylight.” Ben leaned against the car and took a few deep breaths. The sun lingered in the sky, but it would start getting dark soon. “And it’s too noisy.”
“Noisier than all the huffing you’re doing?” A sly grin spread on Chadwick’s face.
“Good one,” Ben said.
They got started on the west end of the road. With the way one of the houses sat, it took six cars, two SUVs, and a m
inivan to block the space. Two cars and the minivan made up the zig-zag portion so that they could still escape. Looking at the completed wall made Ben’s chest swell with pride. It was a small thing, but the makeshift walls could mean the difference between life and death.
“This is fantastic,” he said.
“I’m glad it’s done,” Chadwick said, stretching his arms. He leaned over and rubbed his leg.
“For now.” Anuhea grinned. Then gave Chadwick a comforting pat on the back when he groaned.
Then they heard another groan, guttural and low. Ben glanced at Chadwick who looked up at him with wide eyes. Anuhea leaned over a car hood and sucked in a breath.
“Infected?” Ben asked.
She nodded. “I see four, headed this way.”
“That’s not so bad,” Ben said. “Let’s clear them out.”
Everyone clambered over the hoods of the vehicle wall. The first two zombies angled towards them, growling and snapping. The others followed dutifully behind.
“Keep it quiet. Use your knife,” Anuhea said as a reminder.
Chadwick went out into the street, towards the two stragglers. Ben rushed the nearest zombie with Anuhea beside him, going for the other one. The two infected wore ratty police uniforms that were stained with blood. One had his stomach exposed, intestines drooping out like giant spaghetti noodles that jiggled with each step. The other officer’s left bicep had been chewed down to the bone. His arm hung limply at its side, while his other hand reached up for Ben – bare fingers, pale and tainted by gore, flexed in anticipation. The officer’s blood-stained mouth gaped open, unleashing a moan. And those dark, soulless eyes… Ben shivered.
With a swift kick, he knocked the officer off balance. As the officer rocked back, Ben shoved hard, knocking him to the ground. The zombie grunted but never lost sight of his goal. Those dark eyes stayed fixed on Ben, his hand still reaching out for him. Ben grabbed the reaching hand and twisted it away, while thrusting the knife into the eye socket with a dull crunch.
Ben stood with a grunt and went to help Chadwick who was fending off the last two infected. He used his rifle as a clumsy bat, smacking aside their eager hands. He wasn’t gaining ground though. With both on him, Chadwick was being forced backwards across the street where Ben worried he might trip over the curb.
An infected woman in a red dress and black jacket slipped on the wet leaves, her shredded leg crumpled, and she dropped to a knee. Chadwick’s rifle whizzed overhead, throwing him off balance. With a yelp of surprise and pain, Chadwick also found himself on the ground.
Ben managed to distract the second zombie, which kept his friend from ending up on the bottom of a dog pile. Even as Ben prepared to kill the zombie, he glimpsed three more emerging from in-between houses behind Chadwick. He cursed under his breath.
The infected took the chance to snap at Ben. He caught the zombie by the throat, mere inches from his face. It clawed at him with ragged finger nails that snagged on his jacket.
“Three more coming,” Ben said between gritted teeth.
Chadwick scrambled on the ground, still grappling with the woman. Ben spun the infected around, hoping to pull it off balance but all it did was earn him a scrape across the chin from those damned finger nails. Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Anuhea run to Chadwick, yank the woman’s head back by her hair and plunge the knife into her temple. Blood dripped on Chadwick as he skittered backwards.
Ben swiped his elbow hard across the face of the zombie and it staggered backwards. He lunged forward, leading with his knife and scored a hit just under its eye. Grabbing it by the shirt, Ben held it in place as he shoved the blade deeper into its skull. With a crack and slurping sound, the body went limp and fell from his grasp. He reached down for his blade and then helped his friends dispatch the last three infected.
Exhausted from the fight, they took a moment to look each other over for bites. It didn’t take long to realize they had survived yet another encounter. Ben and Anuhea piled the bodies in between a couple of houses across from their wall. They could move them further away later.
Daylight was fading, casting an orange glow across the bottom of the clouds and Ben didn’t want to go out after dark. They had accomplished their goals for the day, and then some, so they started towards home to rest and get ready for dinner. All the hard work made their stomachs growl.
When they were almost to the house, the smell of food wafted on the breeze. Ben’s stomach growled so loudly the others heard it. Anuhea chuckled at him.
“That’s the best thing I’ve smelled all week,” she said.
“Better than the baked beans I made?” Chadwick asked.
He was dead serious, which made Ben laugh. Anuhea shook her head. Only a Brit could be so serious about baked beans.
Ben looked at his mom’s house and an idea started to form. Before they reached the front porch, he stopped and looked around.
“What is it?” Anuhea asked. Her tone and demeanor grew serious and she raised her rifle.
He raised an eyebrow at her quick response and patted the air in a calming gesture.
“I just had an idea. That’s all,” Ben said. He motioned to the front lawn. “How about we add another line of cars right here? Just a short, kind of half circle, you know? Enough to block the porch off and give us cover in case we need to fight. One more barrier between us and the infected.”
“Makes me wish we could park the old Humvee there with Keanu on the machine gun,” Chadwick said wistfully. “Park that beast up front and we’d be set.”
Anuhea chuckled but couldn’t hide a hint of sadness in her eyes. It was clear to everyone that she missed being around the brothers. She had fallen in with them easily, like their little sister. If it wasn’t for Charlotte coming with him, Ben felt certain Anuhea would have left with the ship.
Good thing she didn’t, he thought. She was the best marksman in the group.
“Let’s get this party started,” Ben said before leading them to the neighbor’s garage.
They had cleared this house out for Oliver, just after arriving, to give him a place to play and be noisy. There were toys galore from the kids that used to live there. The only area off limits to Oliver was the garage. Ben knew it held two vehicles, an old Ford Taurus and a newer Ford Focus.
They lifted the garage doors and prepared to move them. Once the cars started rolling they let momentum and gravity do most of the work. The Taurus rolled about halfway across the yard before they really had to push. Keeping the car moving across the wet lawn was hard as hell. The damp grass and saturated soil squelched beneath their feet and seemed to fight them for every inch they moved. They parked the Taurus on the far side of the stairs at a forty-five-degree angle to the road.
Halfway back to the garage for the second car, Chadwick’s foot slipped on the damp lawn. He yelped as he fell forward and collapsed to the ground beside Ben. He moaned pitifully and clutched his injured leg.
“Are you okay, man?” Ben asked.
Chadwick lay on the ground, breathing heavily with his eyes clenched shut.
“Come on, get up,” Anuhea said. She motioned for Ben to help and they both reached down to pull him up.
Chadwick opened one eye for a brief second. He let out a heavy breath, slowly sat up and then accepted the offered hands. They pulled him to his feet and Ben put an arm around him for support. Chadwick was wet, muddy and undoubtedly cold.
“Charlotte will lose her shit if she sees you like this,” Ben said, glancing up at the house. “Let’s get you inside so you can clean up.”
Anuhea nodded in agreement.
Grumbling like a bitter old man, Chadwick reluctantly accepted the advice. Ben helped him to the stairs.
“Thanks for the help. I can make it from here,” Chadwick said. He tugged at his wet jacket that clung to his back and let out a chilled gasp, opting to leave it be until he was inside.
“No problem. Hey, while you’re in there, get some oil for the screen door,” B
en said.
Anuhea slapped him on the shoulder. Ben grinned.
With a wave of his hand, Chadwick hobbled upstairs to the front door.
Ben and Anuhea watched him leave and then got back to work. After the Focus was in place, they still another car for the side to complete the barrier. They went across the street for the final vehicle, which turned out to be a van.
“Should we save this for raids?” Ben asked.
Anuhea shrugged. “There’s no shortage of vans or any other vehicle these days. Gas is the only thing we really need to be careful with.”
She was right, so they used it to form the last part of the U-shaped wall in front of the house. It was different from how he had envisioned it, but it would still work.
They collapsed on the stairs, exhausted.
“Thanks for all your help,” Ben said, wiping sweat from his forehead.
“What are friends for?” Anuhea asked with a smile, brushing dirt off her pants. The wet clump held on stubborn as a tick and smeared into a larger stain, wiping away her smile. “Damn it.” She stood and climbed the steps.
Ben caught a glimpse of her round ass as she did. A twinge of guilt struck him, so he turned away.
Pushing aside inappropriate thoughts, he began to survey the area, looking for infected. There were still a few ways they could get in and zombies had a way of sneaking up when you least expected them. Ben always tried to remain alert. He strained to hear moaning or shuffling feet, but the neighborhood was silent and eerie. Swaying trees and a few skittering leaves were the only things that caught his attention.
All clear for now, he thought.
It was only a matter of time though. Although Vancouver was not a large city compared to Portland, Oregon, which sat just across the river, it was several times bigger than either Kona or Hilo. That meant the herds of infected would also be much larger and more widespread than anything they had experienced in Hawaii.