by A. L. White
Virginia felt the burning sensation emanating from her upper thigh on her left leg as she lay in the snow, trying to catch her breath. The night was now eerily silent all around them with the exception of the groans of the chain link fence on the bridge as it gave way.
Virginia reached into her coat’s inside pocket and pulled out a knife that had belonged to Bob. He had given it to her in the early days, after Lori and she had joined him on the journey to a safer place. Cutting large strips of her undershirt to wrap around her leg, Virginia first cut a few smaller ones from the strips and forced one down into the bullet hole. She then repeated the process where the bullet had exited her leg in the back. Not knowing if it would help or hurt, Virginia thought it might possibly help stop the bleeding. Then she used the rest of the strips to tie around the leg, keeping the smaller strips in.
Laying back into the cold wet snow to rest for a few minutes, Virginia started to doze off. It was only Perseus’s cold, wet tongue, licking her face that stopped the slide into slumber. The sounds of the chain link fence giving way on the bridge convinced her that they needed to get moving toward the school or a safer place to hold up. Calling Zeus over to Perseus, she tried to use them to climb off the ground. The pain coming from her leg was excruciating, and she slumped back down, hard. Zeus walked over her and stood facing the bridge. He growled at the growing numbers of the herd now moving toward the middle.
Virginia crawled through the bloody snow over to her crossbow and quiver. Through the pain, she sat up and looked at the lads, then beyond them. For now, the herd was not paying any attention to them. They poured across the bridge and were beginning to fan out. Virginia didn’t know how long they could hope to go unnoticed, but she figured it was time to try and move. Seeing the street sign and mailbox on the corner, she decided to crawl over to it and try to use one of them to stand. If she could stand, she would then figure out how she could move without attracting any attention. The one thing she had noticed was that these zombies were not moving slowly, without purpose. The creatures seemed to be checking out the area just this side of the bridge. If they were two-point-zeros, Virginia didn’t hold out much hope on making it away from there. Pushing the snow from in front of her, she inched her way painfully toward the mailbox. All the while Perseus walked besides her, and Zeus stayed about ten feet away watching the bridge. As she advanced, the old dog would move to a new position that he felt was a good place to cover his human friend.
Once she reached the street sign and mailbox, Virginia tried as hard as she could to stand up. Even Perseus had grabbed a hold of the back of her coat, to help her stand, but it was of no use. While there was a slim chance of standing in the now deep snow, there was no way that Virginia could see herself walking out of there.
“Ok Lads, I think it is time for you to go now,” Virginia said as she stuck several arrows into the snow where she could easily reach them. Perseus lay his head across her ankles and let out a whimper. “I mean it; you two have to go! There is no reason that I can see that would say we all need to die here today!”
Zeus walked over and lay down next to Virginia, putting his ears flat back. He was keeping an eye on the advancing herd, but pushed his body up against Virginia’s. It was his way of telling her that he would not leave this place without her, and neither would Perseus.
Once Virginia was happy with the number of arrows placed around her, she took the quiver and tied it to the street pole. It was her hope that it would not move too much as she reached for the remaining arrows. Uncertain how long she could hold out, or how many would be taken with her, Virginia decided that it was as good a place as any to make her stand. With each hand she petted her only friends in the world and thought about being back home with Mom, Dad, and Lori. After a good snow like this, she would just now be coming in for dinner and would be fielding questions if she had seen her brother outside anywhere. Her dad would go to the door again and yell her brother’s name two or three times followed by, “I don’t know where the hell that boy gets off to!” Virginia had not been able to remember them since all of this had begun; it brought a smile to her face.
Bending over and wrapping her arms around Zeus’ neck, she hugged him long and hard, only stopping when Perseus began licking her cheek again. “Of course I haven’t forgotten you, boy,” Virginia reassured him as she hugged him next. Zeus’s growl brought her attention back to the impending surge of zombies that was close to overtaking their position. Virginia pulled an arrow from the now bloody snow and fixed it into the crossbow. “Remember boys, if it gets too bad, you get out of here and go find Lori.” Taking aim, Virginia sighted one about two hundred yards from where she was. With a slight squeeze of the trigger the arrow was let loose and on its way to the mark she had picked. With a quiet thump, cushioned by the snow, it found its home dead center of the creature’s left eye. Falling to the ground, it was barely noticed by the herd around it.
CHAPTER 23
Tressa had come outside just as the first screams were heard at the viaduct. Immediately, she found Todd, who was working himself into a complete breakdown at the thought of the zombies getting him. Having grown accustomed to calming her uncle down over the past few months, she started to bring him back to reality.
“Settle down, Todd. Please. We have to stay calm if we want everything to be okay and get to a safe spot, right?”
Todd had tears sliding down his cheeks as he tried to breathe deep like Tressa had taught him to do when he was scared.
“I want you to run over to the door, and then go straight to the kitchen and wait for me,” Tressa said, trying to get Todd to focus on her words. Experience had proven that Todd followed orders better when he was petrified with fear than with reasoning.
“Todd, did you hear what I just said?!”
Todd shook his head up and down ‘yes’. “You said I should go inside and wait for you in the kitchen, behind the locker door,” Todd replied between sobs as the tears started to fall more steadily. Tressa didn’t say anything about the metal food locker, but thought better of correcting Todd. If that would make him move, and he felt safer, then she was ok with it. “Now get moving Todd, before they get over here!”
Todd didn’t even stop to think about Tressa’s safety as he took off at full speed toward the front door. Tressa wasn’t for sure, but it looked like Todd may have knocked a few other men off their feet as he ran. Unfortunately, when he got to the door there was no way for him to get in. The survivors had the door blocked as everyone tried to get inside at the same time. One lady even turned to Todd and screamed at him, “Women and children first, you oversized jackass!” Todd was shocked at the mean lady’s use of such a word. He turned around and started marching off to find Tressa. He had to tell her what the mean lady had said to him, knowing full well that Tressa would put her in her place as soon as she found out. He didn’t find Tressa because the zombies had crossed into the school yard now, slaughtering all that they could catch. The only thing that he could remember once he saw them was Tressa telling him to run and get into the school where it was safe. Only there was no way for him to get into the school, so Todd took the next best route that he could see. Todd began sprinting toward Main Street and the steps that led down from the schoolyard onto the street. There were no zombies this way which made him, at least for a little while, feel safer. Once he made it to the street, Todd didn’t pause for a breath, he just kept running as hard as he possibly could. He ran until there was nothing around him but an empty street and houses along it. The sounds of gunfire behind him forced him to start running again. When he noticed a stairwell behind one of the Victorian houses, Todd ran there to hide. Trying to catch his breath, Todd tried in vain to remember what Tressa had told him. Now he wasn’t even sure if Tressa got away from the zombies like he had. This worry made him start crying at the possibility of having lost Tressa, and the prospect of being alone for the first time in his life.
Todd heard a single gunshot come from up the street in t
he other direction. Slowly lifting his head above the top of the stairwell and looking in all directions, he listened. There was nothing but silence now, and that scared him even more. Climbing up to ground level on shaky legs, he came out of the stairwell and started in the direction the shot had come from. If it was only one shot, Todd thought, maybe it was a sign from Tressa that he should follow it back to her.
At the curb by the street, he listened for any other sounds. There was no gun fire, no screams or cries for help that he could hear. He thought maybe it was safe now; the zombies had all gone back where they had come from. As he looked around he thought he saw the puppies way up the street by the corner. The puppies meant safety to Todd, so he broke into a mad dash to get to them before they left him all alone again.
Getting closer, Todd saw a third figure was laying in the snow kind of behind the mailbox. Tressa had always told Todd never to play close to the street; Todd never did after that. In his mind he could not understand why someone would want to lay by the street. It was much too close and a car could hit you or something, he thought to himself.
Perseus had seen Todd first, and stood, leaving to greet him about twenty yards away from Virginia. Todd fell on the ground and was rolling around in the snow trying to play with him. Perseus kept grabbing a hold of his sleeve, trying to pull him toward Virginia when Zeus let out a little bark. Todd stopped laughing and looked up at Zeus, and that was when he noticed that the girl was hurt. That was why she was laying so close to the road, he thought.
“OH NO! You’re hurt; how did this happen?” Todd screamed as he ran toward Virginia and then slid thru the snow until he stopped right next to her. Zeus let out a low mean growl as Todd had drawn the attention of the herd, which was now heading toward them in earnest.
“Todd, can you help me get out of here?” Virginia asked without looking at him. She had sighted another zombie and fired an arrow at it.
“Todd can help you! I am strong for my little size,” Todd said as he roughly picked her up and started to throw her over his left shoulder. Virginia cried out in pain as she clinched her teeth together, “Easy, Todd, that hurts a lot.” Then Virginia pointed at the quiver, “We need the arrows too, Todd.” Todd reached down and tugged on the quiver. At first it didn’t budge, so he pulled with a little more force until the strap ripped apart. “Got the arrows. Now can we go?”
“Yes, Todd. Please run as fast as you can to the school.”
Todd froze in place as Virginia could hear the zombies growing closer to them, “Todd, we have to go now!”
“Tressa told me to run from the school, because the creatures were there,” Todd whispered to her as he started crying again.
“Todd, run to the school and we will see if we need to run someplace else, okay? The lads will not let us go there if there are any zombies around.”
Todd nodded his head and wiped his eyes before he started running again with everything he had, back to where he had started from. Todd wasn’t as afraid as before because he had Virginia with him, and she was tougher than even Tressa was. Plus, the puppy in front of him was clearing all the bad things out of the way while the big puppy behind him was stopping those same bad things from catching him.
Virginia tried as best as she could to keep her head lifted. Todd had thrown her over his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes, and with him running, she was being bounced all over the place. A few times she had almost dropped the crossbow and arrow on the ground. Only luck had allowed her to keep a decent grip on it through all the jostling. Virginia resigned herself to the fact that her only easy view would be of Todd’s backside and the passing street below her, until a horrifying squeal came from behind them. Raising her head, she saw Zeus being surrounded by zombies, and for an instant, she thought she had seen him go down.
“TODD! STOP RIGHT NOW!” Virginia screamed as she raised the crossbow up and fired at one of the zombies. Todd slid to a stop, nearly falling as the arrow found its mark, felling the creature. The opening allowed her to see Zeus in the middle of them, fighting with everything he had to break free. “Perseus, help Zeus!” Virginia ordered as she saw the black flash of the other dog charge into the fight. “Todd, I need the arrows!”
Todd handed her three arrows from the quiver, and Virginia started picking off more zombies. For now they were in luck, as Zeus had taken on the vanguard of the herd. If she could pick enough off, he could get out of there and head to safety alongside her and Todd.
Once Perseus made it to Zeus’s side the battle seemed to be tilting in their favor. While one dog was worthwhile to take on, the remaining zombies started to back away from two. Virginia kept picking them off as fast as she could until Todd said, “There are no more arrows Missus.” Virginia let her head drop and then called the lads to come to her. Perseus ran as fast as ever, but Zeus was moving slow and labored. Not sure if he could make it or not in his condition, Virginia told Todd, “Why don’t you put me down over there by Zeus, and then you and Perseus get out of here?”
Todd stamped his large foot into the snow and replied, “Then Todd and the puppy would be alone again! I don’t want to be alone again out here!”
“Todd, Zeus doesn’t look like he can run, and I can’t leave him by himself. Please, just leave me by Zeus so I can be with him if this is the end for the two of us. I can’t leave him behind, do you understand?” Virginia was now crying in a way that she had not cried since the day the authorities came to take her mother to the quarantine center. Todd stomped his feet again and said no as Virginia began beating his back with the crossbow.
“Todd will carry the puppy and you!” He yelled as he ran forward to get Zeus.
“You can’t carry us both! Zeus weighs over one hundred and seventy pounds, Todd. All you will do is get us all eaten.”
Todd wasn’t hearing anything that she was saying. He ran as hard as he could until he got to Zeus. First he reached down, nearly dropping Virginia, and pulled as many arrows out from the corpses that he could while Perseus kept what was left of the vanguard at bay. Then after handing each and every one to Virginia, he looked at Zeus and said, “Come here, big fella, and let me give you a ride home.” Zeus looked at Todd cautiously, and then as if he understood what Todd was saying, he jumped up into Todd’s waiting arm. After wrapping it around the puppy, Todd turned and ran like he had never run before. Much faster than he had run from the school, and even faster when Perseus took the lead again to show him the way home to Tressa.
Behind them, the herd was on the move following them. Virginia had never seen anything other than the two-point-zeros move this fast. With how much she was being bounced around by Todd, she would strain to look up and see how far off they were. Unfortunately, with every look they were closer and gaining on them. There is no hope of outrunning them like this, Virginia thought to herself. There wasn’t even a way for her to fire at the ones growing uncomfortably close behind. At a few points, Virginia felt that she could clearly read the “Cubs” logo on the shirt that one was wearing, but then Todd would bounce her so hard her head would slam into his back. As far as Todd was concerned, he felt that they were halfway to the school and Tressa. When he saw his foot prints leading off the street into the stairwell he almost lost his footing looking for it.
“Todd, are you ok?” Virginia asked as he slid and almost fell.
In a hoarse, out of breath voice, Todd replied, “Okay, for now….have to keep running….”
Virginia saw Perseus turn and run toward the herd, “Perseus, NO! Lead!”
Hearing Virginia, Perseus stopped and snarled at the zombies, then turned to take his place back in the lead. She was angry at his trying to hold off the herd, but Perseus did throw them off their stride and allowed Todd to gain a few steps ahead of them. When they hit a patch of road that had tire ruts under the fresh snow, it helped to slow the herd down even more. Virginia was glad to see that zombies couldn’t just adapt to sudden changes around them. It gave Todd a decent lead to stay out in front no
w. Hope was returning to her slowly. As hard as it was for her to believe, Todd was about to save the day. Forcing herself to smile at their good fortune, Virginia patted Todd on the back and said, “Run like the wind, Todd! Run like the wind.”
Todd let out a “Yippee” as best he could. Being so out of breath, Todd felt that he was ready to faint. That was when Todd’s left foot hit a patch of ice and he lost his footing. All three of them hit the ground hard with Todd underneath the pile. He looked up and started crying because of the pain in his back and chest. Fighting to get up with Virginia and Zeus still wrapped inside of his arms while his chest ached for air, Todd could see the library was only two or three buildings away from them. “School and library,” Todd said, trying to point down the street.
“Todd, I need you to help me walk. Can you do that, Todd?” Virginia asked as she rolled out of Todd’s grasp. “Zeus, go to the school. Go get Lori.” Zeus got to his feet and slowly started heading to the school while Perseus took up a defensive position next to Virginia. “Okay Todd, get up and help me up. Get on this side of me and help me walk without putting weight on my leg.” Todd did as he was told until he saw how close the zombies were to them now. Every fiber of his being wanted to cry and run as fast as he could; only he wouldn’t leave Virginia now, no matter what happened. She was his only friend besides Tressa.
They made it about ten feet before the first zombie reached them. Perseus took it down, but he didn’t kill the creature so it crawled toward them until the next zombie passed it by. Virginia shifted and shot it in the head. Reloading as they took a few more steps, she shifted and repeated the process again. Soon there were too many for her and Perseus to fight, so she ordered Perseus to guard Zeus, who had returned, appearing to have caught his second wind. Instead of Perseus joining him, it was Zeus that came to the rescue. Something hit Todd hard and he fell, pulling Virginia to the ground with him. The sky went from a hazy grey with heavy snow falling, to a dark mass of smelly dead faces closing in on them.