“Still? Mark, did you notice what happened after we made it out of the sewer?”
“Storm drain.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You fell asleep almost as soon as we got inside, but you probably saw it as soon as we climbed out of there.”
“He was confused and angry. Every plan he had went to crap, I can’t exactly blame him.”
“It’s not just that. He stopped leading us. It’s like as soon as he realized he had no plan he just fell apart.”
“I get it though, from his perspective it’s pretty hopeless. Every shot we had to get out of here slipped through our fingers.”
She rubbed her forehead. “I understand that Mark, I really do, but he just locked up with us standing out in the open. Even if he was a perfect role model, we can’t rely solely on him.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying if he locks up like that again, and we’re in danger… And it’s not just him, if anyone of us breaks like that and it puts us in danger, then we may have to cut and run.”
I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew I had to. I scratched my chin. “Yeah, we may just have to.”
Chapter 14
Half the day had passed when I got a chance to talk to Dennis in the kitchen. “Hey, I heard you were short on ammo back at the mall will these help?” I revealed the small red box from my pants and handed it to him.
He took it from me and looked it over. “.357 magnum huh? Sorry Mark this won’t work for either of my or John’s guns. Hold on.” He flipped open the side and pulled the bullets out. “Hmm, six rounds are missing.” He was more talking to himself than me at that moment. “Where did you find this?”
“It was in the master bedroom, in the dresser? Why, what’s up?”
“Chances are there’s a revolver around here somewhere. Let’s go take a look.” He got up from the kitchen table, and I followed him down the hall.
I pointed out the dresser where I found the box. “It was in there, on the top shelf.”
“Good, let’s have a look.” He pulled it open and began rummaging through the contents.
I was just standing there, feeling like a useless idiot, so I felt inclined to talk. “So… How’s your family holding up?”
He took his time to answer. “Not well… Helena is scared shitless, but she’s tough. Don’t take me wrong though, it doesn’t mean things have been easy the past few days.”
“It’s rough… to say the least.”
“Yeah.” He had finished with the top drawer and moved onto the next one down. “Hey check the nightstand. Tons of people keep guns in their nightstands.”
“Ok.” I walked over to it and pulled open the drawer. There wasn’t a lot in there, so it made searching simple enough. “What about Jill?”
“Jill? I think she’s too young to really understand what’s going on. I’m not sure any of us really get it come to think of it, but to her, they’re just monsters. Hell, maybe that’s really all there is to it. Kind of a scary thought, the whole world reduced to a childish nightmare… I really wish she didn’t have to see this shit.”
“Me either… It’s not in here by the way.”
“No luck over here.” He closed the dresser and turned around. “Let’s take a look in the closet.” A brief search revealed nothing once again. “Well, it was probably whoever lived here’s carry gun. It’s really not all that surprising, especially with what’s happened.” He shook his head. “It’s just odd though…”
“Why?” I cocked one eyebrow higher than the other.
“If you knew what was happening, why wouldn’t you take the box of ammo too?”
I was a little smarmy in my reply. “Well why didn’t you take your box with you when this all started?”
“I was already out when this whole mess got started…” It took him a second to catch on. “Ok, I see your point, whoever owned it probably was too.” He pointed toward the door to the hall. “Let’s get back out there.”
“Hey?” I asked following behind him.
“Yes?”
“What made you think it was a revolver?”
“Two things really. The first was the fact that you found a box of .357 magnum rounds, which are a very common type of revolver ammo. And the second, six bullets were missing, and most revolvers hold six rounds.”
“You got all that from looking at a box?”
“Yup.”
I was a little off-put by the frankness of his answer. “Ok…” I followed him back into the living room. John had woken up and was sprawled out on a recliner, while Elizabeth was playing with Jill. Helena was watching over the two of them with a hopeful but still worried expression on her face. Will was busy looking in the kitchen for something to eat.
“Everybody’s here?” Dennis asked getting our attention. “Good we need to figure out what to do.”
“There’s no point.” I could feel the defeat and unease in John’s answer.
“Don’t talk like that.” Dennis said back coldly. “We have to keep ourselves together.”
“I mean there’s no point in trying to figure out what to do. That blockade is city wide, and they obviously aren’t letting people through anymore.”
“So what we just give up and die?” I asked.
John sat up in his chair. “Of course not. There’s just nothing we can do.” He was looking at the ceiling when he spoke.
“Listen,” Dennis began. “In times like these we have to keep ourselves from thinking we’re up shit creek without a paddle. I agree, our good moves are gone, but that doesn’t mean we should just plan for nothing.” John rolled his eyes at the comment before Dennis continued. “The quarantine line seems to be shoot on sight now.”
I interrupted him. “Yeah about the quarantine, how did they get that set up so fast? It seems like it should have taken them a lot longer.”
“You might be aware of this, but our home town of Ashville was not the first place to be hit.” John’s words were condescending, although not particularly malicious. “The military base isn’t far from here, and I’m betting they were listening in on the police radio chatter. Chances are they were gearing up and moving out as soon as the first report came in. I suspected it, but I thought… hoped we could contain the situation. That’s why…” He gulped before speaking again. “That’s why I wanted to get out of town as soon as I realized we were losing control. And now the military is out there trying to kill us.”
Dennis stopped him. “I don’t think they are trying to kill us. They may still be trying to help.”
“Well turning one of us into Swiss fucking cheese is a strange way to offer their assistance.” John’s words were cruel.
Will followed up. “I’m with John on that one. We’re only alive because we got away from them.”
Helena patted Dennis on the arm before he spoke. “Yes, you’re right, they are trying to contain the situation as much as possible. But what makes me think it isn’t over yet, is the fact that we still have power and water. If they wanted us dead, they would have shut off the utilities already. Without water most of the survivors would die within a couple weeks, depending on what they could scavenge. I’m guessing their plan is to wait until some support comes, then sweep through the area. Until then they can’t risk the outbreak spreading.”
“Makes sense…” John folded his arms. “So… What do we do then?”
“Hold up, and wait for the sweep. This neighborhood should have more than enough food for us to survive, even if we have to change houses a couple of times.” Dennis said.
“Anyone have any other ideas?” John shrugged his shoulders. “Alright.” He reclined back in his chair. “I guess we’re staying put.”
We didn’t exactly stay put. We made our way from house to house throughout the neighborhood, never traveling more than one house at a time. It was a strange time. There was always the looming threat of everything going wrong, and us having to fight our way out, but as the days
passed we got a little more comfortable with the situation.
I think it helped that we got our hands on a few good weapons as well. We didn’t find any more guns, but finding a sturdy machete and a few other tools for each of us, did a lot to make us feel safer… I can’t say we ever truly felt safe, but it was better than feeling helpless.
I can’t remember exactly how many days had passed, maybe ten or eleven, but that’s when things went to shit. We were sitting around a table playing cards when the power finally cut out. It flickered at first, then black.
“Um…” I broke the silence. “Quick, Will pull out your phone!” I joked.
“That’s not funny! You owe me a new one dick.”
“Yeah yeah, if both of us live through this it will be right at the top of my to-do list.” We still weren’t on the best terms, but I had gotten used to the way Will was at this point. I realized that you could poke fun at him all you wanted, and he would never do anything but argue, although if you insulted him directly, that’s when he got aggressive.
“Keep it down.” Dennis said interrupting us. “We talked about this.” I could do little but nod in agreement.
“Aw hell…” John chimed in.
“What is it?” I asked being more careful to mind the volume of my voice.
“It’s just like you said… we talked about this. We can’t just stay here.” John continued.
Dennis tried to stop him. “Now wait, just because the power went out, doesn’t mean that the military is going to come bursting down the door.”
“Oh yeah? Do you want to wait here and find out?” John let him linger.
Dennis didn’t really want to think about it. I could tell he wanted to hold on to hope just a little bit longer, but he had no choice. “I don’t know what to do then. Unless you have any bright ideas?”
John was more than hesitant to answer. His face furrowed, obviously torn from his situation. “I…”
“Do you know a way to get out of the city?” I asked.
“It’s not-“ John started but was cut off as soon as we realized he had been holding back.
“Oh my gosh!” Elizabeth said. “You knew a way out the whole time?”
“It’s not what you think!“ But John was cut off again.
Dennis was fuming. “You know a way to get out and you’ve been holding it back from us. How can-“
This time John was quick to cut in. “It’s not-“
“It’s not what?” Will practically yelled.
John took a deep breath. “It’s not safe.” He made sure to emphasize his words.
“Oh and living in a ruined city, surrounded by men with orders to shoot us, and filled with flesh-eating monsters is?” Dennis snapped.
“No that’s not safe, but maybe safer. Look I didn’t bring it up because I thought we had a better chance to wait it out.” John was obviously uneasy about the whole situation.
“Well… What is it?” I asked when nobody else spoke up.
John released a long and exasperated sigh. “Might as well… The men who looted the mall, they knew me, but I also knew them.” Our focus was solely on him. “They were part of a smuggling ring, drugs, weapons, you name it. The way they got things in and out of town was… through an old subway tunnel near the rail yard.” He was covering his eyes with his hands while he spoke.
Helena pointed out what most of us knew. “But Ashville doesn’t have a subway, it never has.”
John continued. “That’s right, but it had plans for one. You probably didn’t hear about it though. Back in the late sixties, the city was planning to put one in. Construction started, then the economy went to crap. The project was cancelled, but not before a handful of tunnels were completed. Then of course subsequently sealed off. So not a lot of people know about it. These guys though, they broke open through the ceiling and took it as their own. Here’s the kicker, one of the tunnels leads outside.”
“If the police knew about it, then why didn’t you shut it down?” Dennis was concerned.
John gulped before going on. “We had plans to, we just didn’t get around to it.”
“So why didn’t you tell us?” I asked.
“Because the smugglers are obviously still there! You saw them, they’re armed to the teeth, and taking every last penny this city has before they pack it up. Plus, the rail yard is half way across town, and even if we get there, we still have to deal with them.”
“If they are still around.” Elizabeth commented.
“Oh they’re still here, it takes a while to clean out a whole city.” John muttered.
“I get it now…” Dennis grumbled. “We don’t have the firepower to bring them down. It’s pointless. But if that’s the case, why bring it up now?”
John griped to himself for a second before continuing. “I didn’t exactly, but… we may not have to fight them.”
“And how do we do that?” I was confused.
John bit his tongue for a moment. “We make a trade.”
“We don’t have anything they would want.” Elizabeth added.
“I have access to the evidence lock up back at the station…” John avoided eye contact. “It has all the meth, heroine, cash, and weapons we seized during my big bust… They’ll want it back.”
“Holy hell…” Dennis said rubbing his eyes. “You don’t mean to actually give that stuff back to them?”
“What other option do we have?” John replied and nobody could argue.
Chapter 15
Nobody was comfortable with the situation, but we were out of other options. “So where is the tunnel anyway?” I asked.
John seemed to regain most of his composure once we had a plan, though he wasn’t comfortable with the idea, not that I could blame him. “It’s over on first and…” He held his tongue. “Hold on.” He walked into the garage of the house and came back in a minute or two. He unfolded a map and set it down on the table. “I found this in the car out there. Ok so… Here!” He pointed it out for us to see. “It’s not going to be easy, we’ve got about fifteen miles between us and the rail yard.”
“Fifteen miles is nothing, we can get there in no time.” Will was quick to respond.
John gave him a condescending glance but decided it was best to explain things instead of attacking him. “It’s not that simple, with those things out there fifteen miles is gonna be hell. The shortest route-” He pointed it out on the map. “takes the freeway, but the way things are out there, I really doubt we’re going to be able to make use of it.”
Dennis agreed. “Yeah, a lot of people were trying to drive out of here at first, it’s going to be clogged with abandoned cars. Plus, it’s a raised freeway, so even if it wasn’t jammed, we’d have no place to go if we get stuck up there.”
“Exactly.” John continued. “Our only real option is to go there on surface streets, which are going to be full of zombies and who knows how many car wrecks. We can probably work our way around, but… Well we have to keep moving.”
“So what’s the big deal?” Will interrupted.
“The deal is we nearly died more than once trying to make it just a couple of blocks.” I said, pointing out what I thought would be all too obvious.
“We’re going to need a vehicle.” John said.
“What about the car in the garage?” Elizabeth asked.
“Well there’s seven of us, so we would still need another one.” I added. “We could sit on each other’s laps, but if the car gets stuck we would want to be able to bail out quickly.”
“Good thinking Mark.” Dennis chimed in.
“Alright, so that’s settled then, we need to find either a second car, or something big enough to hold all of us.” John said. “I guess everyone who’s coming should get ready.”
Not all of us came. Dennis wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of either taking his child or wife outside, at least not until it was time to do so. And furthermore, he wasn’t about to leave them undefended. “Take the gun Honey.” Dennis told
his wife.
“Are you sure? You’re going to need it more than me.” Helena was hesitant to speak, but I could tell she honestly thought it would be of better use in her husband’s hands.
“Listen Hun, remember the first time I forced you to go down to the gun range.” He was smiling at her. “You didn’t want to come.”
She chuckled back at him. “Yeah.”
“But then you had fun.”
“I tolerated it.” She chuckled back to Dennis.
“Awe come on, you know it was more than that.” Dennis said back to her. I think that was the first time I really heard them talk to each other. The weight of the situation was straining, so it was nice, albeit a little stomach churning to see two people actually be cheerful, but it didn’t last too long.
“Dennis I really do feel more comfortable with you having the gun. It’s dangerous out there.”
“That’s why I want you to take it Dear. If we’re going out there then I don’t want you and Jill to be defenseless.”
“But...”
“I’ll be fine, I have a nice baseball bat here-“ He tapped against the wooden head with his free hand. “And using the gun only seems to draw more attention anyway. We’re trying to keep things nice and quiet.” He smiled while looking directly into her eyes.
I think his cheesy grin was what finally put the argument to rest. She let out a deep breath. “Alright... If you think that’s what’s best.”
“Good, we’ll be back before you know it. Come here.” He pulled her into a long embrace. “You too Jill.” He was almost happy as he said the words and snatched his giggling daughter up into his arms.
“Don’t go Daddy.” She said after her laughter has ceased.
“Awe Jill, you know I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to.”
“I know...” It wasn’t an answer that she liked, that was obvious enough, but she didn’t put up any more fight after that. It was probably due to the fact that she was used to having him leave when he had to go off for his duty.
The Red X Chronicles (Book 1): Emergent Page 9