by Chase McCown
“About a quarter of a tank,” Howard replied, and Susan gripped the revolver tightly in her hand.
“That’s good. Gas is hard to come by, you know.” He leaned his head into the car.
“Yeah, I know,” Howard said. He ducked under the steering wheel for cover, and Susan drew her revolver and took aim at the man.
She fired a single shot, which hit the bandit center mass and sent him hurtling violently backward. Blood poured out of the wound, some flying past the bandit and some shooting forward in front of where his body collapsed. His shotgun landed with a noisy thud several feet away from his body.
Bullets began impacting the hood of the car as the fallen man’s comrades retaliated at their leader’s untimely demise.
“Get out!” Howard shouted. The four car doors opened all at once, and Howard, Jacob, Susan, and Charlie leaped out of the car as bullets continued to ring out.
“Jacob, my rifle is in the trunk. Do you know how to shoot a rifle?”
“I can try!” he shouted.
“It’s easy from this distance. Just line up the crosshairs on what you want to shoot, hold your breath, and slowly squeeze the trigger,” Howard said, firing off a blast from his shotgun.
Jacob came back with the rifle in hand. He brought it up to his shoulder and looked down the scope.
“Remember, Jacob. Put the crosshairs on the target, hold your breath, and slowly squeeze the trigger. That’s all you have to do,” Howard reminded him.
“Alright. Aim, hold your breath, slowly squeeze the trigger. Got it,” Jacob repeated to himself.
He took aim at one of the bandits, who was situated on top of the big rig. The bandit was lying down, which made the task of putting the crosshairs on him slightly harder, but he got the job done. He held his breath, which immediately steadied the crosshairs. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he squeezed the trigger.
He wondered if the gun would ever fire. Was there something wrong? Was the gun loaded? He squeezed more and more as his hand began to twitch and sway.
“Check the safety, Jacob!” Howard shouted.
“The what?”
“The safety. It’s a small button by the trigger. Slide it over.”
“Oh!” Jacob slid the button over, and a red dot appeared.
He pulled the gun back up to his cheek and took aim once more. He held his breath, took aim, and slowly pulled the trigger.
Finally, after several long seconds, a shot rang out, and the bandit slumped over.
“Good shot, Jacob!” Howard yelled. The praise was lost on Jacob as the blast from the gun had temporarily deafened him.
The last remaining bandit dropped his rifle and raised his hands in surrender.
“What should we do with him?” Susan asked.
“We can’t just let him go. What if he does this to someone else?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah, we can’t trust him,” Charlie said.
“Let’s just go talk to him. We’ll figure it out from there,” Howard suggested.
They approached the man, who was coming down from the eighteen-wheeler.
When the man stepped off of the ladder, he sat down on a fold-up lawn chair.
“What’s your name?” Howard asked.
“It’s Rick. Look, please just let me go. If you let me go, I swear you’ll never see me again. I’ll do whatever you want. Just let me go.”
“I want to believe you, but how do I know you won’t just do this to someone else?”
“Josh bullied me into this. I just wanted to take a few supplies from this truck, but Josh said we could use it to get even more supplies.”
“What are you talking about?” Howard asked.
“Me, my friend Frank, and his friend Josh had just escaped from our dorm. We were driving down the interstate when we came across this big rig that was just abandoned in the middle of the road. Me and Frank just wanted to take what we could from it and keep going, but Josh convinced us it would be better if we used it to block off the road. He said we could stop people and take their supplies, then let them go. ‘Nobody’s going to get hurt,’ he said. ‘We’re just going to scare them a little, that’s all.’”
“Then why did you guys start shooting at us?” Howard asked.
“I never took a shot at you. That was Frank. I don’t know why he started shooting, I guess he just lost it, I don’t know. Look, I told you what happened. Can I go now? I don’t even care about the stupid truck anymore.”
“What do you think, Susan? You used to be a cop.”
“I don’t know…he looks like he’s telling the truth to me. I say we let him go,” Susan said.
“Alright, take your car and get out of here.”
“Oh, thank you. Thank you, guys!” the man said.
“So, what, we’re just going to let him go? Just like that?” Charlie asked.
“Yep. Just like that,” Howard said. “Enough people have died today, Charlie.”
The man waved at them as he put his car in reverse and sped back in the opposite direction than the group was heading.
“Let’s check this thing for supplies. I don’t think we have enough fuel to make it to Phoenix with the gas we have left” Howard said, approaching the back of the eighteen-wheeler. “Get ready…I’m about to open this.” Howard threw the back door of the semi-open, revealing a largely empty interior.
Toward the back, a few boxes were stacked together.
They hauled out what little supplies were left, including a couple of gas cans hidden behind the boxes. It wasn’t much, but they hoped it would be enough to get them to Phoenix.
Once the equipment was loaded and the big rig had been moved, the four sped off again.
After driving for a few hours, the car ran out of gas and sputtered to a stop on the off-ramp of the interstate 10.
They gathered what supplies they could carry from the car and set off on foot.
Chapter 18
May 6th, 2025. A campsite just outside of Bakersfield, California.
“You know, maybe we should set up camp pretty soon. It’s starting to get dark,” Howard suggested.
“Good idea. Jacob, you want to help me find some wood for a fire?” Susan asked.
“Sure,” he said. The two disappeared into the brush, and Howard began clearing out an area where they could set up the campsite.
An hour later, a fire crackled to life as the four settled down for the evening.
“So, Howard, what did you do before the outbreak?” Susan asked.
“Well, I used to be a pastor,” Howard said.
“I’m shocked,” Charlie said sarcastically.
“I was let go a few weeks before the outbreak, though. After that, I spent a lot of time hunting until things got too dangerous, and I headed for DC. Then I met you guys, and here I am.”
“What about you, Charlie? What did you do before the outbreak?” Howard asked.
“Huh? Oh. I, ah, I worked with a finance company back in Seattle. I was let go from that, though. They said my negative attitude was affecting production or something like that.”
“They said that about you? I can’t imagine why. You’re such a peppy guy.” Susan laughed.
The others chuckled, and Charlie rolled his eyes.
“Anyway, after that, I met an old friend from high school, and after the outbreak, I was chased out of my house by one of the infected after it crashed onto my balcony. That’s when I ran into Susan.”
“Well, I’m sorry you got let go, although I’m sure that’s the least of your concerns right now. It hurts to lose your job like that, doesn’t it?” Howard asked.
“Yeah, it does. It helped when my friend came—I had someone to talk to then. It definitely hurt more after she left.”
“What about you, Jacob?” Susan asked.
“I always wanted to be an actor. I was trying out for a role in a zombie movie when all this started, believe it or not.”
“No way! You’re kidding, right? That’s awesome! Did you g
et the part?” Susan asked.
“No, but I’m glad I didn’t, looking back.”
“Why’s that?” Howard asked.
“Well, after that, there was a shooting at the studio the movie was being filmed at—one of the actors was infected, I think. He bit another actor, and when they confronted him, he pulled out a revolver and started shooting. If I had been there, who knows if I’d be here right now.”
“Wow. I bet that was hard to take, at the time. Not getting the role you wanted. In the end, though, it worked out for the best,” Howard said.
“Yeah, it’s kinda strange how that happens sometimes,” Jacob observed.
“What about you, Susan?” Howard asked.
Susan shifted uncomfortably. She was still coming to terms with her husband’s death, and talking about it would bring up painful memories.
“I was a cop.”
The others waited for an elaboration that never came. Finally, Howard spoke up to break the thick silence that hung in the air.
“What was that like?”
Susan shook her head. “You see stuff that a person just shouldn’t see,” she said. “I mean, there are things nobody should have to see. I thought I was used to that. I thought I had distanced myself enough, you know? Distanced myself so that it didn’t hurt so much anymore. But then, right before the outbreak, we got a call. It was my address...” she said, as her voice began to crack.
“I knew, deep down in my gut... I just knew something was wrong. Before we even got there, I knew. I’m pretty sure I had my partner going a lot faster than maybe he should have been going, but we got there okay. We knocked on the door, but nobody answered. When we got into the house, it was a mess. It was like an earthquake had hit the place. Everything was turned over, and there was trash all over the floor. I went into the kitchen...”
Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t help but see his face all over again. A wave of emotions fell over her, and for a moment she didn’t know if she would be able to finish the story. Finally, she rubbed her eyes and cleared her throat, and she continued.
“He was lying in the corner. He had a knife sticking out of his chest, and it looked like he’d been beaten pretty bad. I left the force after that, I just... It hit too close to home then. It felt too real.”
“I’m so sorry, Susan. I know how hard it is to lose someone you care about. Back in Vietnam, I had to learn not to get too close to anyone because you never knew who would make it back at the end of the day. I can’t begin to imagine losing your spouse like that, though. I’m sorry.”
“I remember back before any of this started, just spending time with family, watching movies together, spending a day at the park with friends. Even worrying about normal things like the budget or the weather. It was nice,” Susan said.
“Yeah, I miss that,” said Jacob.
“I remember when I got married, it was raining that day, and I remember I was so angry. I was so angry that it was raining, and I didn’t even get to really enjoy the wedding. Thinking back now, it was just such a stupid thing to be so worked up about. I mean, so what? It was raining, what’s the big deal about that?” Susan recalled.
“I know what you mean. Things are so different now, and it’s hard to believe we were worried about small stuff like that,” Jacob said.
The sun set over the horizon, and the four talked well into the night. Finally, they began to grow tired, and one by one, they drifted off to sleep.
Susan opened her eyes, and she was sitting in the campsite.
It was still very late. The sun hadn’t come up yet, and the others were all asleep. Susan decided she didn’t feel very tired.
She stood up and looked around the campsite. Everything was very still around them. From where she stood, she could still see the car parked on the interstate, but the interstate was devoid of any activity.
She would have taken a walk that night, she thought, if only it were safe. The night was so cool and so calm that she just wanted to enjoy it. A slight mist hung in the air that drizzled over her face.
She looked up at the sky, and the moon was full. It glowed with an orangish ring shining around it. A few clouds were draped over it as well so that only about half of it was visible.
It was so beautiful that Susan couldn’t bear to look at it alone. She felt like she needed to share it with someone.
She thought that, since Charlie had been so down and cynical before, seeing something like this would bring his spirits up.
She walked over to where he was sleeping and bent down to wake him up, but when she did so, she noticed his sleeping bag was empty.
Susan figured he must have gone into the woods to go to the bathroom, so she decided to wait for him to come back.
She sat by the still-burning campfire, staring out into the darkness for any sign of Charlie. She couldn’t explain it, but the longer she waited, the more unnerved she became. A knot twisted within her stomach until at last, she could stand it no longer. She rushed to where Howard lay, sleeping, and shook him.
“Wake up, Howard, wake up! I can’t find Charlie, and I think he... Howard?”
Howard must have been deep in sleep. It was no use. She couldn’t wake him.
She feared that, somehow, Charlie was in danger. She couldn’t bear to waste any more time trying to wake Howard and set off running into the wilderness near the campsite.
“Charlie? Charlie!” she shouted. She couldn’t see any sign of him. What if creeps had gotten him? What if he was in danger, or worse?
“Susan?”
“Charlie, is that you?”
“Susan, wake up.”
“Charlie, I can’t find you!”
“Come on, Susan, wake up.”
“I have to find Charlie! I can’t find Charlie!”
Susan opened her eyes, and above her sat Howard, Jacob, and Charlie.
“You must have been having one heck of a dream. You were yelling in your sleep,” Howard said.
“Charlie? You’re...you’re alright?” Susan asked, reaching out and touching his face with her fingertips. She could feel the warmth of his skin. Charlie was fine. She leaped to her feet and wrapped him up in a bear hug.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s the matter with you?” Charlie asked, squirming to get free.
Susan let go of him and laughed in relief. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes to suppress tears of joy that were welling up.
“You were just...gone. I don’t know how to explain it, but in my dream, I was sitting in the campsite, and you were gone. I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“Well, thankfully it was just a bad dream. Whenever you’re ready, it’s about time to set off,” Howard said.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
Susan still couldn’t get over how real the dream had felt. She didn’t know what to make of it, but she hoped Howard was right, and it had only been a bad dream. She tried to push it out of her mind for now and focus on the journey to DC.
Chapter 19
May 7th, 2025. A campsite just outside of Bakersfield, California.
As the four cleaned up the campsite and put out the campfire, a heavy rain began to fall. It started suddenly and began pouring harder and harder. Then, lightning struck nearby, and thunder echoed across the plains where they stood.
“We have to find shelter!” Howard said.
The wind roared against them, pushing the driving rain into their faces. They could hardly see where they were going, and finding shelter seemed hopeless.
“I don’t know where I’m going!” Charlie shouted, his voice reduced to a whisper in the howling winds.
“We have to get out of this storm!” Howard shouted back.
Hail began to fall around them. The hailstones were quite large, nearly the size of golf balls, and they were painful as they pelted the four. Howard suggested putting their backpacks over their heads, which shielded them from the brunt of the impact. Still, the hail was dangerous, and the lightning struck very close to where t
hey all stood.
“We’re just going in circles!” Charlie shouted.
“We can’t stay in this storm too much longer. We have to find shelter!” Howard said.
“Wait, what’s that up ahead?” Susan asked.
Susan pointed to a small opening in the rock face ahead. It was only slightly visible in the low light of the still early morning and dense canopy of the trees overhead, but in between the lightning flashes, it became clearly visible.
“It can’t be much more dangerous than this storm!” Charlie noted.
“He has a point there,” Jacob said.
The four headed toward the cave, but they had to walk carefully against the fierce gale. Jacob stumbled in the winds and the driving hail, but the others quickly helped him back up and continued to the cave.
They reached the cave a few moments later. It was cool and moist inside, if a bit chilly, but it was much more comfortable than the raging storm outside.
“We can wait out the storm here,” Howard suggested.
“I’m going to get some sleep. Wake me when the storm passes,” Charlie said.
He walked to the back of the small cave and lay down. His head rested on something soft and warm. At first, he didn’t think much of it. In fact, he was happy for whatever the thing was that was helping him find rest.
Then, the thing moved under his head. The pillow raised itself up from underneath him, causing Charlie’s head to fall against the hard cavern floor.
As he rubbed his head, he looked up and saw a great dark shadow looming over him. It stood higher, and higher, and then even higher. It gave a great roar at last, and Susan shouted when she realized what the thing was.
“It’s a bear!”
“Get out of there, Charlie!” Howard said, fumbling to find his gun.
The bear’s arms swung down at Charlie in a great overhead arc, but he rolled out of the way just in time to watch the claws grind into the stone floor of the cave. As he stood, it clawed at him in a wide swipe, but Charlie ducked and rolled backward. He now stood near the others, but the bear advanced ever closer while the storm still raged outside.