by Bell, A. E.
Derek screamed, “He let my brother get attacked! It should’ve been him!”
Evie tried to reason with him, “Look, I’m sorry about your brother, but he knew this could happen. You know it can happen at any given moment to any of us. Now, are you going to be okay if Creed lets you go or not?”
He nodded with a disgusted look on his face, “Yea, I’m good. Just leave me alone so I can take care of my brother. I’m not going to let him turn into a creeper.”
The others all obeyed his request. They left him alone inside the house. A few minutes passed, and they heard a loud gunshot. Thirty minutes later he walked out of the house with tears still streaming down his face. He didn’t go near the group, he just sat down on the steps and put his head down on his hands.
Evie went into the garage and started looking for a shovel to bury Demarco. She found a red, late model F-150 truck, she climbed into the cab and looked around for a set of keys. She pulled the driver side visor down, and a set of keys fell in her lap. She held her breath as she put the key in the ignition and turned it over. She heard the sweet sound of an engine starting and released the breath from her lungs. She pulled the truck out of the garage so that she could look around easier.
She found a shovel and handed it to Creed, “We need to dig a grave for Demarco.”
Derek looked up, “What’s it matter? What does anything matter anymore?”
Evie walked over and sat down on the stairs next to him, “Look, he’s your brother. It’s up to you, but if it were my brother, I would want to give him a proper burial.”
Derek thought for a minute and then stood up, “I guess your right. Is there another shovel in that garage?”
Evie said, “I don’t know. Maybe. I just grabbed the first thing that I saw. I’ll help you look.”
Evie and Derek went back to the garage. He found a pickaxe and another shovel. He walked outside and started helping Creed dig the hole. Creed glanced up, “Hey man, I’m sorry about your brother.”
Derek shrugged his shoulders, “That’s life, isn’t it? We all gotta die sometime.”
They dug a shallow grave, it was just deep enough to place Demarco’s body. Creed, Derek, and Tom went inside and carried Demarco’s body out to his newly dug grave. The entire time Jeremy tried to stay away. He knew there would be a time that they would need to talk but now was not that time.
Jeremy went inside the garage with Evie. She was busy tinkering with an old ham radio. She was getting nothing but static. She asked Jeremy, “Can you put this inside the cab of that truck? It could be helpful later on.”
He shrugged, “Sure.”
She grabbed his hand, “It wasn’t your fault. It could’ve happened to any of us. He will get over it in time. For now, though I think you should steer clear of him. Let him come to you.”
He pulled away, “I know. I wish I would’ve turned around a minute sooner.” He packed the ham radio out to the truck. He went for a walk around to the front of the house. He needed time to himself.
Evie loaded up the truck with all the items that she had found in the garage. She scanned the property to take stock of where the kids were. She saw them playing cards on the back steps, and Cinnamon was lying down next to them. Susan and Jade were over talking amongst themselves, and the men had just finished burying Demarco. Evie walked over to them, “Why don’t y’all get cleaned up so we can eat dinner.”
They all sat down in small little groups eating their dinner. Jade, Susan, Angel, Tom were in one group. Jeremy, Evie, and Creed in another. The kids were over by themselves. Steve sat down next to Derek although he didn’t seem to want the company.
Evie whispered to Jeremy and Creed, “I’m not getting a good vibe from that group over there. I’ve never fully trusted Jade, and I could easily see her trying to form some kind of alliance with them.”
Creed joked, “You always see the worst in everybody.”
Evie scorned him, “Yeah, well I’m usually fucking right. I’m just saying we need to keep an eye on them. I can’t stand Steve. Derek will be cool once he calms his ass down.”
Jeremy said, “I’m not saying you are wrong. I just don’t think we should be plotting against anybody just yet.”
She got up from eating and threw her trash in a garbage bin that was sitting next to the garage.
Creed looked over at Jeremy, “She’s a good woman. She’s not trying to plot. She just has a way about her. I don’t understand it, but it’s almost like she can sense people’s weaknesses and downfalls. She’s been like that since I’ve known her. You should listen to her when she has reservations. It pisses me off sometimes, but she’s usually right.”
Evie decided that she would sleep in the garage with the kids and Creed. Jeremy climbed up in the cab of the truck to sleep, and everyone else went inside the house.
Morning came, and everyone piled up inside the truck. Jeremy and the kids were in the cab, and everyone else was in the bed of the truck. They stopped when the found a brand new bright yellow. Steve, Angel, Tom, Susan, and Jade climbed into the Camaro. Derek decided he would stay with Creed and Evie on the back of the truck.
Chapter 17
They drove for a few hours. Jeremy tapped on the window and pointed up ahead. Evie looked and smiled, “Fuck yea, we made it to Kentucky. I have never been so happy to cross a state line in my entire life.”
Derek asked her, “So how long is it before we get to your cabin.”
She hollered over to him, “It’s still a few hours.”
He nodded his head, “Cool, cause I’m sick of running.”
She climbed closer to Derek, “Listen, what are your thoughts on the rest of the group?”
Creed yelled at her, “Woman, quit instigating shit.”
She rolled her eyes and pretended to ignore her husband, “Don’t pay any attention to him. What do you think?”
He reluctantly replied, “Well, I’m back here with you instead of with them. Does that answer your question?”
She muttered, “It sure does. I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t want to surround myself and my family with people that I don’t trust.”
She made her way over to Creed, “Look, honey, I know you think I’m stirring shit up but can you look me in the eye and tell me you trust those other people?”
Creed relented, “Of course, not. What the hell can we do about it? We can’t stop them from following us.”
She scoffed, “The fuck we can’t. They don’t know this place the way we do. I have to get Jeremy on board.”
Creed asked, “Are you sure that you will not regret leaving these people later?”
She prodded, “I can’t answer that, but they would be in no better or no worse situation than they were before. We aren’t hurting them, we just aren’t helping them. You know as well as I do, if you lead strangers to our house, what’s to stop them from taking what we worked for. Derek seems okay. Jeremy and his kids were invited. These other people are just looking for easy street.”
She tapped on the back window. Jeremy opened it up, “What’s up?”
She told him, “You aren’t going to like this, but I think we should limit our group to the people in this truck. We need to lose the rest of them.”
Jeremy seemed troubled by her conclusion, “I don’t know. What about not leaving any soldier left behind?”
She sneered, “They aren’t soldiers. They are parasites that are going to feed off our good fortune.”
Jeremy replied, “Let me think about it. This is a big decision.”
She explained, “That’s fine, but we need your decision before we reach Elizabethtown. If we gonna do it, that will be the best time to make our move.” She turned around and sat back down in the bed of the truck, so she could start planning their break from the group. She had several ideas but needed to work through the details. She didn’t want anyone to get injured, and that would make it difficult because she figured these people were not going away without a fight.
&n
bsp; She finally devised a plan, she just needed Jeremy to go along with it. She gestured for Derek to come over next to her and Creed. She explained her plan to both. They nodded in agreement. Elizabethtown was only 20 miles away.
Tom was driving the charger and Angel was beside him in the passenger seat. Everybody was pretty quiet on the drive until Tom suggested, “I don’t know that I trust that Evie bitch. She seems like she wants to run the show. I don’t know that they will ever let us be equal in this group.”
Steve spoke up, “You must be thinking what I’m thinking. I vote we wait for those assholes to lead us to their cabin and then take their shit away from them. They are just a couple rednecks from Kentucky. It will be over with before they know it.”
The others quietly nodded in agreement. None of them wanted to be the person to bring it up, but they were relieved that Tom and Steve broke the ice for them.
Susan asked, “What about Derek and Jeremy? We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Jeremy finding us and bringing us along.”
Steve grumbled, “The way I see it the two of them made their decision when they started that little clique. The next time we make a stop we need to break that group up. We will suggest that some of us switch vehicles, they will be easier to control if they aren’t all together.”
Angel spoke with a Spanish accent and although her English was good, “I agree with Steve. I think we should do it. We don’t need those people, and I’m not following any of those people.”
Tom asked, “And what’s your big master plan. What do we do after we get them apart?”
Steve laughed, “All brawn and no brains I see. Well, big guy, we are going to force them to take us to their property and then take care of them.”
Tom was annoyed with Steve, “Do you want me to pop that little head of yours? Besides, I’m not going to hurt little kids.”
Steve shot back, “You just let me take care of the kids. I’ll let you handle Ma and Pa Kettle.”
Tom scoffed, “Did you ever think that you are underestimating these people? They seem to have their shit together a whole lot better than you did when we found you. Don’t forget my brawn saved your ass little man.”
In an attempt to quiet Tom, Angel grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He looked over at her, pulled her hand up to his mouth, and gave her a tender kiss. She had figured out the way to control Tom was to let him love on her. It wasn’t the first man she had manipulated in this manner. She had become a pro at it in her lifetime.
Steve reveled in the fact that Angel agreed with him and she could control the only person that could stop him from accomplishing his goal. He knew that once Creed, Evie, and Jeremy were out of the picture, he would be the new leader.
Steve told Tom, “Signal to them that we need to stop.” Tom did as he was told, he put the turn signal on and pulled over onto the shoulder. Jeremy pulled over just a little further up ahead.
Steve instructed Tom, “Get out and tell them we need to find some gas. When he stops for the gas, we will make our move.”
Tom walked up to the truck, “Hey guys, we are running low on gas. We need to find some soon.”
Creed spoke up, “There’s a gas station up ahead. Surely there will be some stranded vehicles near it that we can siphon gas out of.”
Tom said, “Sounds good to me, man. We will follow you from here since you know where you are going.” He turned and walked back to the Charger.
They drove toward the gas station. Evie knocked on the back window and when Jeremy opened it she briefed him, “This is when we make our move. Just follow my lead when we get there.”
He shrugged his shoulders, “Okay, if you are sure we have to do this.”
She put her hand down on his shoulder, “If we want to survive and we want our kids to survive we need to get away from them.”
He felt guilty, but he knew she was right. He shouted to Creed, “You just tell me when to turn, okay?”
Creed put his head in the window, “You see that stop light up ahead, you are going to make a left. The gas station will be on your left.”
Jeremy put on his turn signal and followed the instructions that Creed had given him. Both vehicles pulled in to the gas station. Evie whispered to Derek, “I need you to walk up to their car and stick one of the tires with your knife. Do it quickly and quietly.”
Derek questioned her, “We are just gonna leave them stranded?”
Evie responded, “They won’t be stranded, they just won’t be able to follow us. All they will have to do is change the tire, or worst-case scenario find another vehicle. We are on the outer edge of Elizabethtown. There are plenty of resources here.”
He reluctantly agreed, “Okay. I will do it.”
They all jumped out of the vehicles. Steve pointed across the road, “There is a liquor store over there. Tom, why don’t you and Creed go over and check it out. We could use some alcohol.”
Tom looked at Creed, “Yeah, let’s go check it out.”
Evie put her hand up to stop Creed, “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. My family does not separate for any reason ever.”
Steve tried to goad Creed, “It must be sad to be on a leash all the time. I would hate to think anybody, especially a woman was controlling me.”
Creed lashed out, “Mother fucker, I ain’t controlled by nobody. I do what’s best for my family plain and simple.”
Evie knew that Steve just stepped in a pile of shit that he wouldn’t get out of. Creed was normally an agreeable man, but he didn’t like anyone talking about his family.
Steve took a step back, “I don’t think you would get this upset if there wasn’t some truth to what I said.”
Creed walked over to Steve and punched him in the face. Steve fell to the ground. Creed stood over top of him, “You worry about yourself. I’ll worry about my family and how it’s fuckin’ run. Don’t make me beat your ass, little man.”
Tom walked over to Steve and helped him up, “Nice work.”
Steve started straightening his close and rubbing his eye. It had already started to turn purple. Evie felt the need to rub it in, “Hey, you might want to put some ice on that. Oh, I’m sorry we don’t have any ice nowadays, do we.”
Steve just rolled his eyes at her and muttered under his breath, “I’ll get my revenge soon lady.”
Derek had taken that opportunity to thrust his knife into the inner part of the front tire and then stepped away from the car before anyone noticed.
Steve grumbled, “Then, Jeremy can go with him to the liquor store.”
Evie looked over at Jeremy. He answered, “Nope, I’m not leaving my boys.”
Steve became increasingly upset that his plan was not working the way he intended, so he shouted, “What the fuck? Fine, Derek can go.”
Evie looked at him curiously, “What’s your deal? Why are you trying to separate us? Why don’t you go with him? You’re acting a little shady right now.”
He became infuriated. He reached out his arm and snatched Cassie. He put a gun to her head, “Now, here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to take us to that cabin of yours, and if you are lucky, you will live long enough to find someplace else to live.”
Cinnamon slid out of the back window of the truck and lashed out at Steve. During the confusion, Creed and Evie lifted their guns towards Steve. Derek and Jeremy aimed their guns at Tom and Angel. Cinnamon was growling and biting at Steve’s body. He took a huge chunk out of Steve’s leg. Steve released Cassie, and she took off screaming towards the cab of the truck.
Steve aimed at Cinnamon and shot him in the hip. Cinnamon let out a yelp and lunged at Steve again. Creed saw that Steve was trying to get a shot at the dog again, so he shot at his hand. He ended up hitting his wrist. The gun fell from his hand and hit the ground. Steve started screaming.
Evie called out, “Cinnamon come here baby. Come here.” He limped towards the sound of her voice. She picked him up and laid him down inside the bed of the truck.
Steve w
as yelling and screaming in agony. Tom and Angel took off behind the charger to find cover. Jade stood there in shock. Susan went to Steve to try and help him. Bullets started flying in all directions. Susan started yelling, “Stop, everybody stop. This whole mess is crazy.”
Jade dove behind one of the abandoned cars in the parking lot. She was trying to find a place to flee towards. While she was looking, she happened to see a horde of infected coming in their direction. She screamed at the top of lungs, “We have infected coming our way.” No one seemed to listen, so she opened the car door and got inside. She laid on the horn. Everyone turned and looked at her. She screamed again, “Infected headed our way.” They all looked and saw the horde.
Creed told Jeremy, “I will drive you, get in the back with Evie and Derek. I know the back way and even if they manage to find a way to follow us they will get lost on our curvy ass roads.” Jeremy nodded and got into the truck bed. Creed instructed the kids, “You just keep your heads down until I tell you.”
There was another gunshot. Evie looked up and saw a gun in Susan’s hand aimed in their direction. She then glanced over and saw blood coming down from Jeremy’s shoulder. She hurried over to him to look at it. She examined the wound and saw that it had gone through and through. She smiled at him, “You will be fine. I see an exit wound. We just need to control the bleeding until we get home so that I can sew it up.”’
He chuckled, “This isn’t my first rodeo, and unfortunately it isn’t my first gunshot wound, either.”
Creed pulled out of the parking lot squealing tires as he drove. He tried to calm the kids, “It’s going to be okay. We will be home soon. I promise.”
Cassie couldn’t even process what he was saying. She just kept sobbing, “Cinnamon is hurt. I don’t want my dog to die.”
He knew she was hurting so he tried to reassure her, “Cinnamon is going to be okay. Evie will help him when we get home.”
Derek looked out the back of the truck as they were driving down the road. He saw the rest of the group that they had left behind leaving the parking lot in their direction just as the horde was converging on them. He tapped on the back window. Creed opened it up, “Yeah, what’s up man.”