I skirted through the dark woods slowly, placing each foot with half the pressure before resting my full body weight upon it, making sure than no sound other than what I wanted traveled in any one direction too far. That way I was sure not to be heard on my quest to find out what the Young Woman was up to. The darkness made it hard to define the layout of the ground and a few times I stepped up, thinking the ground was rising, when in fact it was dropping and I had to grab the trunk of a tree to keep from spilling onto the ground and alerting her to my presence, or any of those brain-dead things looking for a midnight snack.
Another storm was brewing in the east. Distant lightning flickered brightly and was followed by the joyous sound of thunder. If I was going to find her then I need to be quick or risk getting stuck in the woods under a pounding storm. That was the last place I wanted to be stranded in a downpour.
A dismal faint sound of footsteps cried out ahead of me and I stopped. I listened intently for their direction. Was she coming at me or going away? I was not a mountain man or anyone that knew anything at all about surviving off the land, tracking someone or evading capture. I was simply playing it all out in my head the best I could and going with what seemed logical. Unfortunately, logic played little to no real part in what I was doing. Knowledge, on the other hand, did. I moved another ten yards and hunkered close to the ground. A small embankment separated me from the growing sound of the footsteps, which I used as cover and crawled parallel to the ridge, giving no signs of my approach to her.
Thirteen feet from where I had gotten onto my stomach the ridge dropped level to the rest of the ground and I peered out at the loud footsteps and froze like a deer looking up to see a hunter’s barrel pointed directly at me and a smile across his face.
There only five feet away, shuffling about with no real direction was three of those things. Although they hadn’t spotted me, one of them turned in my direction and began sniffing the air. She was catching wisps of me somehow and it would only take a few more seconds before they knew exactly where I was. The need to run grabbed me like an unseen hand, it was persistent and strong and the more I tried to fend it off the heavier it weighed upon me. It was suffocating me, forcing the air from my lungs like a vice would do.
I was outnumbered three to one and those odds were not good, and then there was the fact that I wasn’t one hundred percent sure which way I needed to run, if that scenario played out in real life. If I went the wrong way they would eventually run me down, as they were already dead and were no longer bound by lung capacity or stamina. They could run, or walk, all night long and never break a sweat, where I would be lucky to run fifty feet before growing tired.
Stay and die or run and live… maybe. My mind said quickly. There was no guarantee that I would be killed staying deathly still, as there was no guarantee either that running would save my life. I was at the mercy of chance… nothing more, nothing less.
A crack of several twigs from behind pulled my attention and I looked over my shoulder to see two more things emerge from a small clump of trees, headed straight for me. If they had not already spotted me, which I was certain of, then they would most likely step on me in a matter of seconds and that would be bad. I wouldn’t be dealing with three anymore, but would now be dealing with five. Those were extremely bad odds.
GO! Get up and go now before it’s too late! My mind screamed and I instantly looked for a possible escape route in the midst of the sea of fear that was weighing me down and threatening to drown me. I had to break free of its grasp or else sink below the surface for the last time. With only seconds to spare before they were on me, I began to formulate a course of action, hoping I hadn’t chosen wrong.
On my feet once again, the two things that were almost on top of me where the first to give chase. They whined and hissed like animals, catching the attention of the other three, which deviated from a southern direction and gave chase also. I moved up and over the embankment, scurried under a few low branches, pushing the tearing limbs away from my face in order to see better. A stumble this early in the game would have dire, if not mortal, effects for me. I had to keep on my feet and as far ahead of them, as humanly possible.
I was thankful that they were not able to run any longer, although I was expecting that at first, but when they failed to move so swiftly, I wondered why they were suddenly so slow. I managed to get far enough ahead of them to lose sight in the limited darkness, yet I couldn’t slow down to see where they were, and continued onward as if the Devil himself were chasing me for my mortal soul.
A shallow clearing erupted from the constant trees and I felt a surge to push myself even harder. If I fell now I’d have more than enough time to recover, pick myself up and get back to running before they would get anywhere close. A feeling of arrogance began to form within me. A feeling that these things were no longer as dangerous and that living in fear of them constantly was a waste of time. I could easily outrun them and as long as I didn’t let myself get surrounded, I was perfectly safe.
Stupid bastards!
In the clearing I slowed to a stop and looked back into the darkness, but mainly to catch my breath. As my lungs pumped up and down, I could neither see nor hear them coming anymore and a smile swept across my face. I took a minute to get my bearings and have a look around, trying to make heads or tails out of the trees and landscape engulfing me; looking for the way I had come. Unfortunately, it had gotten darker since I first left and nothing looked familiar. I kept the smile anyway after losing the things. Seeing how I could outrun them now, being lost in the woods was no longer an idea that frightened me. If they couldn’t catch me, then being lost wasn’t so bad. I’d eventually luck up and find the right way back to the containers, hopefully before morning. So to me it was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. “It’s somewhere around here, I know it is. Just gotta find something that looks familiar.”
A noise called to me from the left and I looked to see a shadow moving in the darkness.
“I’ll outrun your ass as well!” I said confidently and looking ahead with hawk-like eyes, still searching for the elusive way back to the container. At the far end of the clearing, which was merely some ten or so feet away, I saw a deformed tree that somehow jogged my memory.
The smile increased.
I was moving again, as I was certain to be back on the warm couch in no time with all of this far behind me. I slipped on something and went down. The ground rushed up to blanket my fall with rocks and pain shot through my entire body. All time stopped and nothing registered but the pain, which was spreading quickly. The distance I had placed between myself and those things was swiftly closing, yet my thought of the supposed lead wasn’t as vast as I had predicted. As I lay there on the wet ground I could hear the footsteps growing and filling in all around him. Apparently there had been more than five. I couldn’t see any of them, but the sheer volume of their shuffling feet spoke to me without doubt. Their numbers quite possibly could be endless. I was but one person… one unarmed, stupid, risk taking, arrogant coward.
“Get up! Get up and get moving!” I caught myself saying, almost startled by my own voice, as my subconscious tried its best to motivate the rest of my body to move under the immense pain. Slowly it worked and I got to my feet, glancing toward the clearing to see three of those things about to enter the woods and be closer to me. I turned and took off running, covered only seventeen feet when I abruptly came face-to-face with one of them that had been going about its Mary little way until I showed up. It reached for me, grabbing me by the shoulders, pulling me closer as its mouth opened and snapped broken teeth at my throat.
Anger rose within me and diluted my fear. I kicked it in the mid-section and followed with a hardline punch to its face. The thing staggered backwards and fell. I jumped on top of it and began beating its head with bare fists, screaming for it to die. There was a release in my act that made me feel good – more alive than I ever had. The coward had somehow been cascaded into a temporary sta
sis, long enough for the rest of me to fight like I never had before. I swung three more times and the thing beneath me stopped fighting back. A twig cracked and I spun and froze as the five chasing me were now just feet away. There was no way I could take them all on and the darkness of the forest could not ensure safe passage for me in my utter attempts to flee. I was tired of running from them. I’d either fight them all or die.
Standing there like an idiot, I’d run out of options and realized that death was staring blankly at me. I decided to die with at least a little dignity on my feet than that of a coward on my knees begging. “Come on!” I screamed. “You want me… then come and get me!”
In the final seconds of my life, I had managed to defeat the cowardly beast. How ironic.
Somewhere from within the darkness, something whizzed past my head and the first things head popped and it fell. Two more dropped and I went to the ground as well, realizing that the things flying by my head were bullets from a silenced weapon. One more stepped up to grab me when its face was removed and it fell sideways. The last one stopped and looked into the forest, as though it knew what was happening and was looking for the shooter, although it didn’t retain all of its senses as it stood there in the opening. A well placed round blew the back of its head off and it was done.
“Don’t shoot, it’s me, Brandon!” I shouted and waved my arms a few times as I slowly stood up, hoping that the Young Woman wouldn’t shoot me by accident or on purpose. Through a high powered scope she was able to see her targets quite well, so if I was shot in the next few seconds it wasn’t by accident.
I watched the silent darkness for several long moments, scanning from left to right, slowly moving my head in order to pick up the slightest movement. She quickly emerged with a long barreled rifle up and ready to shoot if anymore showed up unexpectedly.
“What the fuck were you thinking coming out here all alone?” she asked. “Are you trying to get yourself killed, is that it?”
“I didn’t know where you were. Guess I lost your trail somewhere out there,” I replied with a stupid grin on my face.
“I wasn’t out here,” she returned.
The stupid grin faded as I began to realize that I almost died for nothing. “You weren’t?”
She shook her head. “So you leave the comfort of the container and your daughter to come looking for me, unarmed?”
“I thought it was you, in which case why would I need to be armed?” I said in all honesty, which I’m positive she could see in my eyes.
The Young Woman shook her head and handed him a pistol. “Never, and I mean never, come out here unarmed again… the next time you might not be so lucky!”
“I’m sorry. It’ won’t happen again, I promise.”
“You can bet your ass it won’t happen again!” Her words were full of anger and rage. The closer lightning flashed and lit her face, which was hard and glared directly at me with murderous eyes watching my every move. Her grip on the rifle and the proximity of the barrel to my current location, mixed with her statement, made my blood run cold. Had she just threatened to kill me? I was armed now and with the coward still restrained, if I had to defend myself against her, here and now in the middle of the woods, then I would gladly. She was dangerous, as I have stated many times thus far, but I wasn’t frightened of her at this moment in time. She was just another obstacle I had to overcome in order to keep my daughter safe.
I tightened the grip on the Beretta. “Are you threatening me?” I asked softly.
The hard glare faded. “Did I threaten those people earlier in the day?”
She had me on that one, as I actually had to stop and think about what she had said.
“I didn’t,” she said. “Will it make you happy if I do, now that you’re armed?”
I released the tight grip on my pistol, realizing in time that I had about made a huge mistake. I diverted my eyes from her and watched a flash of lightning waltz across the blackened sky. “You disappeared all of the sudden. I was just curious as to what you were doing… maybe even a little worried.”
“I can take care of myself,” she replied in a normal tone, which shocked me.
“I never said you couldn’t… didn’t mean it like that, I meant,” I spouted, but had no real idea what the hell I was trying to say. I looked stupid and felt even worse, to which I just shut my mouth and kept it that way.
The walk back to the container was quick and silent. I wanted to say several things to her, to defend myself further, but she appeared to be deep in thought or concentration, so I figured she wouldn’t hear anything I had to say. I didn’t bother her. I thought there would be more time once we were safely back at the container to talk and work through things. When we arrived she motioned for me to go inside while she kept watch. I know that I had caused a rift between us with my thoughtless actions, so I didn’t argue with her and slipped back inside and onto the couch with Kember. Sleep came rather swiftly, considering just twenty minutes ago I was knocking on death’s door, yet it made me feel alive and invigorated. I settled into its gentle grasp without any problems.
In the wee hours of the morning, the Young Woman came into the container where Brandon and Kember were fast asleep and stood over them, watching them sleep. In her right hand she held a suppressed H&K USP .45 automatic and her right hand was clenched, as if still in a fit of rage for what he had done hours ago. She raised the weapon to his head and fought with her own demons about what she wanted to do and what needed to be done. Time and time again though, her eyes shifted to the little girl and knew she was in no place to raise her or even attempt to take her daddy’s place. She needed him far more than she would ever need anyone and the Young Woman couldn’t tear herself away from that obvious fact. She lowered the weapon and softly walked away.
“How different would the outcome have been had I not had her?” I asked before she could get only a few feet away. Just moments before she had walked up to us, I had been pulled from sleep for some unknown reason and hearing the approaching footsteps I remained deathly still.
She stopped; unaware that I had been awake. A hammer cocking pulled her eyes over her shoulder to see me standing with my Beretta pointed at her. “Here you go. Now I’m armed and a threat to you.”
“Put the gun down,” she responded.
“Make me!” My voice was defiant and traveled quicker than any bullet.
She turned to face me and shoved the H&K down the front of her pants. “This world isn’t like it used to be… you have to forget everything you’ve ever been taught and learned, throw you emotions out the window and bury your morals in order to survive,” she said. “None of this, none of what we used to know will ever be the same again and the more you impede upon that, the more absurd risks you take – like out there – the more chances your luck, or whatever you believe in, in running out magnifies. That little girl needs you now more than she ever has… remember that.”
“I can’t be heartless and cold like you, no matter how hard I try.”
“Maybe not,” she responded. “But it’s your job to protect her and provide for her. All of your emotions get in the way and cloud your judgment, which you need to let go of, or neither of you will make it very long.”
Her words hit me like a big truck and all of the risks I had put her through came back to haunt me. Many times I had placed her in direct danger and told myself, not only was in the best course of action, but that she would be just fine. I was wrong! Guilty of nothing but irresponsible actions. At any one of those times things could have went drastically in the opposite direction and she wouldn’t be asleep on a soft couch or in a bullet-proof fortress like she was now. Living my life knowing that my mistake had cost me my daughter’s life wasn’t a memory I wanted to have. I didn’t even want to think about it right now – I never did.
“I don’t know what to do to survive. I can’t force myself to do those things I know need to be done… I cannot protect her any more than I can protect myself.”
I looked at her horrified. The lecture I had just gotten from her was bad enough, but now we were being cut loose to fend for ourselves. My heart sank as the crazy scenarios ran through my mind, none of which were happy. “We have nowhere else to go.”
“My job was to see that you made it through my area unharmed. I’ve done that,” she said. “I saved you that night at the gas station, nursed you back to health and taught you a few things along the way. It’ll help you in the days to come.”
“So now you just cut all ties and send us out there to die, just because you don’t want us in your way… or making you feel anything other than the numbness that was running through you up until you helped us?”
She spun and caught my eyes with a glare. “It’s no longer my job to take care of you! I was doing just fine until you two showed up and you’ve forced my hand several times! Not anymore!”
“Forced your hand? You kill everyone that comes through here without mercy, but I have forced your hand, really?” I said. “What the hell are you smoking? I haven’t done shit to you nor has she, other than have a safe place to stay for the last several days.”
“When I found you, you were dying and you’d be dead right now if not for me. I took you in, I clothed you, fed you, gave you a safe and warm place to sleep, and gave you guns and ammo… I’ve done what I needed to do – hell I’ve went above and beyond that – and I can sleep at night. Now you have to move on and find your own path.”
Day One (Book 1): Alive Page 11