You forgot to look up.
A scream made that horrible shiver slide down Danny’s back.
"Danny, what the hell is going on?" Sophia screamed as she shined her light down the room, catching a brief glimpse of a pale naked man.
Sophia's rifle fired. The flashlight danced in the room, and Danny could see three pairs of eyes with torn lips showing yellow teeth. Sophia stopped firing as she scanned the room.
Where are you?
Several harsh guttural laughs came from inside. Danny could hear the amplified sound of metal scraping. He aimed his rifle at the ceiling and shined his light. The three crazies were right above them, smiling down. Danny fired at the closest one. He watched as the large round hit one in the crotch. Its pelvis shattered as the massive blast threw the crazy to the ground. The crazy cried out and fell head first onto a steel breaker. Sophia fired at the woman, but a figure dropped from above her and dragged her to the floor, both of them screaming.
Are there more than three?
Danny looked and saw a woman jumping down onto him. Her breasts were exposed, and her face was half gone. His red dot lined up and Danny pulled the trigger launching a round that immediately caved the front of the woman’s head in. The mass of her body slammed into him, sending his body smacking into the wall. He reached for his 1911, but something grabbed his foot. He was dragged into the darkness with his rifle clattering on the concrete floor beside him. He pulled the revolver from his dump pouch and fired near his feet. The fireball lit up the room showing more crazies moving about. The grip was released, and Danny kept firing. Each shot showed a crazy falling forward and slumping to the floor.
It can’t be!
"Dan!" Sophia screamed.
He quickly jumped up. His rifle hit him in the knees. He grabbed it and shined the rifle to the back of the room. Sophia was trying to pull a knife from her beltline, but she was pinned underneath a pale man. Danny ran up trying to take a shot, but it was too close. The crazy slammed a fist down on her face. Blood started to gush from her nose as she put her arms up to defend herself.
Danny grabbed his knife and grabbed a tangle of hair. The crazy let go of Sophia and grabbed Danny by the shoulder straps of his armor. It screamed at the top of its lungs, sending spit and skin into Danny's face. The Ka-bar was jammed into its throat. Danny could feel the blood spray all over him. He kept stabbing over and over and over, till the grip loosened and they both fell to the floor.
A sudden force pulled Danny from behind. Rough hands were around his throat, and his airflow stopped. Danny reached for his sidearm, but he was pinned against a wall. The knife had slipped from his now wet hands. He began to panic as the hands pressed further and further into his throat. He couldn't breathe. Danny hit back, but he was starting to feel woozy. A light shined. A shot rang out, and the creature’s head snapped back.
The dark room was quiet now. Danny tried to catch his breath as he laid under the corpse. His ears felt like they had been blown out as he tried to push the body off of him. Sophia crawled to Danny and helped pull the body off him. It slumped on the floor and began to spasm.
"Thank you, Soph," Danny said, patting her wrist.
She said nothing as she sobbed quietly.
The door opened, and Eric entered with the light on his rifle shining on both of them. Danny shielded his eyes as he started to pick himself up, still coughing from his now swelling throat.
"Jesus," Eric said as he ran up to Sophia.
He pulled out a rag and immediately covered her face trying to stop her bloody nose. She kicked the body at her feet as she held the cloth to her face.
"I’m fine, just take care of Dan," Sophia said.
Eric followed her. "Soph---"
"Just take care of him!" She yelled.
Both Danny and Eric stared at each other in silence, as Sophia limped outside. She unclipped her helmet and threw it on the dirt. A panic started to overwhelm Danny as his throat started to tighten up. He felt hot all of a sudden.
What’s happening!
He had to sit down, but then again he just wanted to cool off. He unclipped his helmet and dropped it on the floor.
Eric looked at him now with wide eyes. "Dan, you okay?"
No, I’m not okay!
Danny couldn’t speak. He ran his hand through his hair. He quickly stormed out of the building. His trot became a run as he turned left outside of the building and suddenly puked. It was mainly acid that came up burning his throat. He felt like he was on fire now.
Why am I overheating?
His brain felt like it was cramping.
What do I do?
Danny’s hands fell to the bear in his pouch. The fur was dirty now, but it was still softer than his coarse hands. His body started to calm as well as his mind.
I’m okay. We are all okay. Just breathe, Dan. We are okay.
He took a deep breath running his hand through his hair.
We are okay. At least for now we are.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
THE FALLEN LEAVES from the oak tree crackled as a pale body was dragged across the dirt. Danny used his boot to push the corpse into a freshly dug ditch where a pile of dead awaited. A fly buzzed on one of the bloodshot eyes that stared up at him. He occasionally saw a face that had a smile of torn lips that were chewed away. It almost seemed like these creatures at his feet had never been civilized, that they had always been, at their core, more animal than human. It seemed like civilization as a whole was already a lifetime ago.
At least we all get fresh starts.
Light footsteps came from behind him. Danny turned to see Eric dragging the last body toward the ditch. The back of his shirt was drenched in sweat as he pulled the large carcass into the small grave. Eric walked out of the ditch pulling off surgical gloves. He tossed them into the pile as he pulled out a pack of Marlboros from his shoulder pocket. A lighter clicked a few times until the smell of tobacco filled the air.
Danny looked at him expressionless as a plume of smoke enveloped them. "You know, sometimes I wonder how we didn’t end up like them."
"I’d say luck," Eric said, taking another drag. His eyes went to the ditch as he slung his rifle to his back.
Danny laughed as he looked out at the tree line.
Eric took a drag and let his hand swing to his side still pinching the cigarette. He exhaled slowly as the smoke blew out to the trees. "Why did you start drinking?"
"Oh, you don’t want to hear that story," Danny said, waving him off.
"Come on," Eric pleaded. "I’ve never heard the reason."
"Eric, I’m trying to move on from the past here."
Eric put his hands up. "Alright, alright. I won’t push." He took another drag. "You know it’s sad really..."
"How’s that?" Danny asked, looking back at the pile of infected.
"Most of these crazies were probably good people before all this, but nature doesn’t play favorites."
Danny looked out at the tree line now with a thousand yard stare. "Neither does God apparently."
"I guess not," Eric muttered as he looked down at his feet.
They stood there for some time just taking in the surroundings.
Eric took one last hit and flicked his cigarette on the bodies. "I’ll meet you inside, alright?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."
Eric bent down and grabbed his rifle. He slung it and tightened the sling as he walked away.
The oak trees swayed back and forth as the sun made its final retreat behind a ridgeline that towered over them. Danny sat there for a moment, taking in the silence around him. He grunted as he stood up. All the aches and pains of the day began to intensify as he walked back to the compound.
Shit, I’m getting old.
The rusted gate whined closed until the latch secured it shut. The final touch was a lock that sealed Danny in from the horrors that ran in the trees. His boots made footfalls of crushed rock as he walked behind the smaller building where he and Sophia had
their close call earlier in the day. A small metal shed was tucked behind it where he could see the doors wide open. He walked in to find Eric crouched next to Sophia.
"Let me see it," Eric said as he was trying to look at Sophia's knee.
The woman was avoiding Eric at all cost as she cleaned her rifle. She had started to have a swollen left eye, and her knee had a sizable blood spot on her pants. She smacked Eric's hands away with each attempt. Danny stood over her.
Come on, kid.
She looked up at him with slight apprehension, then darted back down to her rifle as she scrubbed away at the bolt. Eric looked up at Danny and put his arms up in frustration.
Danny tapped her good leg with his foot. "Soph, I know he smells, but let him look at that knee. The last thing we need is an infection."
He sat down next to them and rubbed his bandaged throat. The fingernails had dug into his skin fairly deep making him worried about what would come of it. His original thought was that he would become infected. The only idea that dissuaded him was that he had the same thing happen with Ken almost three weeks ago. If it didn't happen then, well there was no reason it would happen now. Still, he had used peroxide and rubbing alcohol just to be safe.
Sophia smacked Eric's hand as he lifted her pant leg.
"Sophia," Danny said loudly.
She looked up at Danny wide-eyed mouthing the word 'what.'
Danny was taking apart his rifle but stopped and stared at her.
"Play nice," he said. "We all need each other."
Sophia looked at Eric now. He had hiked her pant leg past her knee and was cleaning the wound with an alcohol wipe and a gloved hand. A deep gash was offset on the kneecap, and a bit of coagulated blood stuck to the cloth.
"What do you know about first aid?" Sophia snapped with her chin resting on her hands. She winced as he moved over the wound again.
"Sorry, sorry," Eric mumbled as he pulled the wipe away. "Well, when I was Afghan, Sangin specifically. We got into a heavy gunfight. Unfortunately, midway through, my corpsman took a round to the pelvis."
He grabbed a gauze pad and pressed it onto Sophia's wound. She gritted her teeth in pain.
"Fuck," Sophia murmured as her eyes went to the ceiling. "Look, I don’t need a lecture alright. Just leave me alone."
Eric continued unfazed. "You see the thing about the pelvis is that you can't just wrap a tourniquet on it to stop the bleeding"
She cut him off before he could finish. "I get it alright. You know what you are doing and I should be impressed."
Eric stared at her with dull eyes. "No." His voice started to rise. "We all tried to save him, but we had no idea what we could do to stop something like that. I ended up shoving my hand in the wound with gauze hoping it would stop, but it didn't. I had a front row seat to watch a nineteen-year-old kid die right in front of me." Eric put superglue on her wound.
Sophia tensed up as she clenched her eyes shut. "Eric, I'm sorry," she said with teared-up eyes.
He was using butterfly bandages to keep the wound closed. His eyes were wide as he bared his teeth in anger. "You see, I was very arrogant before this all happened. I thought I knew everything, but clearly I didn’t." He shook his head. "After that, I made sure that I would never make that mistake again." He smirked a little. "You know the funny thing was that there wasn't much I could have done anyway, but I didn’t know that. In that moment I got to learn one of the hardest lessons no twenty-one-year old kid should have to learn."
Eric tossed everything back into his med pouch and stood up.
Sophia grabbed his hand. "Eric, I’m sorry---"
"I just need a minute." He stood up pushing her hand away and headed for the door.
It was quiet for a few minutes.
Sophia picked her head up. "I didn't know about Eric—."
Danny set his rifle components down. "Soph, that man out there has already been through hell and back, before all this. We are all a little shaken up about what happened these past couple of days, even Eric."
Sophia shook her head as she held back a few tears. "I didn't mean to-"
"You did nothing wrong. Eric is a tough son of a bitch, but he is human. That may come as a surprise to you, but honestly, he is just scared like the rest of us."
"Sometimes he just gets a little triggered, is all."
"Well, I won’t be bothering you two for much longer. We had an agreement."
Danny’s heart sank a little.
Why can’t I just lie? There is so much darkness already.
A large lump started to tighten in Danny’s throat. He tried to swallow, but the trauma to his neck made him wince in pain.
Shit.
Danny shuffled closer to her. "Listen, Soph. I need to tell you something. There hasn't been very much time, but I have to let you know."
Sophia sat up. "What's going on?"
Danny leaned forward. "Kid, I know you have your heart set on Bakersfield, but I was hoping you'd come with us."
Sophia looked up with a half-smile. "It's very sweet of you, Dan, but I have to get to my folks."
"Soph, there is nothing where you are going," Danny said.
Tears immediately swelled in Sophia's eyes as she looked up at Danny. "How can you say that?"
Goddamn it. There is no easy way to say this.
"The military didn't send people to Bakersfield to save them." Danny looked down at the floor before he spoke again. "They wanted to get everyone in one spot so they could—prevent the spread."
Sophia pushed away from Danny. "You don't know that! You don't know shit!"
"Chaps told—"
Sophia slapped Danny in the face. "Get out."
Danny sat there still. Tears were rolling down Sophia's face as she held back another blow.
"Dan, I said get the fuck out!"
Danny quickly gathered his things and made for the door. "We are here for you if----"
"Get out!"
Without hesitation, Danny backed out and shut the door behind him. Horrible sobs came from inside as Danny started to tear up.
I'm so sorry.
***
A steaming cup of beans was set next to Eric. Danny took a seat next to him as they looked out towards the treeline.
"How are you holding up?" Danny asked. He stirred the beans carefully.
Eric looked down at the cup. "You know, I try to keep it all together, but sometimes that shit just comes spilling out. When that happens, there is no stopping it."
"You’ve lived a hard life."
"I’d say we all have after this shit. I just shouldn’t have lost it in front of Sophia like that."
Danny took another bite. He waited a moment before speaking. "I told her about Bakersfield."
Eric sighed heavily.
"I couldn’t go on lying to her."
"Well, the sooner you break the news, the better."
Good in theory, I guess.
Danny nodded his head. "Listen, I will take first watch, but I need you to go in there and talk to her."
"What am I gonna do?"
"Oh, come on. Don’t act like you two weren’t fooling around before we left Ontario."
Eric looked over at Danny with wide eyes. "You know about that?"
"Hell, Chaps even knew about it before I did." He said patting Eric’s shoulder. "Get something in your stomach, alright? I’ll make sure Sophia gets something to eat as well."
Eric shook his head "Alright, chief."
Danny patted him one last time and grabbed a separate canteen cup full of beans. He slowly walked up to the tin shed and knocked on the thin door. It was quiet for a few moments until a low voice told him to come in. When he opened the door, he found Sophia rolled over on her side with her back to him.
Danny stepped in quietly and sat down next to her. "Hey. kid. I brought you some food."
She didn't respond, but Danny could see she was still crying softly.
"Soph."
She turned over to Danny. Her eyes wer
e bloodshot, and the leftover dirt on her face looked like running mascara. In her hands, she was clutching a photo. It was laminated but was beginning to peel at the corners.
"What do you got there?"
Sophia sat up, still clutching the photo. She sniffled heavily as she held the photograph out to Danny. He took it gently and looked down at it. The picture had an older couple with Sophia in the middle. They were smiling with a lake half visible behind them. She looked so young and innocent in the photo, and Danny could see how happy everyone was.
"We were at Lake Shasta in that photo," Sophia said. She seemed to smile and cry at the same time. "I had just graduated from high school, and they took me there as a surprise."
Danny smiled as he looked at the photo. "It’s the memories behind the photo that makes it extra special."
His comment made her burst into tears now. She covered her face keeping the sobs to a muffled quiet.
Danny slid next to her and patted her back. "Soph, it's alright."
Suddenly she wrapped her arms around him, making him sit there in shock as she huddled her face in his shoulder.
"Dan. I know they’re dead. You know when something in your gut tells you that the ones you love aren't there anymore." Sophia sniffled hard now. "I've felt it for some time now."
Danny patted her back, trying to calm her down. "It's alright, Soph. I promise you it's alright."
"I don't know what the hell I'm going to do. They were all I had."
Danny pulled her away so he could look her in the eyes. "You belong with us now. I know Eric wants you around and frankly so do I. Where we are going—I know it's safe. It's a place where all of us can start over."
Tears were streaming down Sophia's face. "I've lost everyone."
"I know, but you haven't lost us. We are all in this together." He looked down at the bear on his belt. "Even Jazzy Bear."
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