The Survival Pact

by Christy Sloat

  We all nodded and Lou kept driving. It was about twenty miles when we saw our first accident on the road. A sports car was flipped on its side. As Lou went around it, I remembered the promise I made in my prayer; that I would help anyone I could.

  “We have to stop, guys.”

  Emma swung around and gave me a glaring look. “Are you fucking nuts? We can’t stop.”

  I shook my head.

  “Call me nuts, but I made a promise and we have to see if we can help them. Please, Emma.”

  Lou slowed down and I noticed someone still strapped inside the car, hanging upside down. I knew Lou understood my need and want to help, but she didn’t know the extent of it. Emma was a Marine and she was built to fight and survive, but Lou and I weren’t built for that.

  I wanted to see if I could help this person, if it wasn’t too late.

  I couldn’t just drive by and hope they died peacefully. I had to atone for what I did to Ida and for leaving Sam alone. I was racking up sins as this trip went on and I surely didn’t need anymore.

  “Okay,” Emma said as the car stopped. “Kami, you get out and see if they’re alive. Lou, stay in the car and keep it in drive. I’ll get out with Kami and watch her six. If anything comes at us, that person is on their own, got it?” she commanded, pointing at the car.

  I nodded and jumped out from the car. I didn’t even look around for any Lifeless because I knew Emma was on it. She scanned the surroundings as I got to the driver. Glass was all over the road and blood poured from his head, dripping slowly onto the pavement.

  I reached my hand inside and checked for a pulse. Nothing. He was dead.

  I heard a whimper and looked in the backseat, praying there wasn’t a baby back there. When a dog jumped out from behind the driver I fell back on my butt.

  “What is that?” Emma yelled, not taking her eyes off the surroundings.

  “It’s a dog.”

  The small fluffy dog cautiously approached me as I reached out my hand.

  “It’s okay,” I said calmly. “We won’t hurt you.”

  The poor thing was trembling as she came closer to me. She licked my hand and then rolled over so I could scratch her belly, which is how I found out she was in fact a girl.

  “Do you have a name?” I asked her as I reach up for a collar. Sure enough her collar was lacking and I scooped her up in my arms. She was a tiny thing, probably part Chihuahua or something. But she wasn’t going to be left out here alone if I had my say.

  “That is not a dog,” Emma scowled. “That’s a snack for a dog.”

  I glared at her. “Don’t be mean, Emma. She’s scared and she just lost her owner. Have some compassion.”

  “I don’t have time for compassion, I’m a Marine. And in case you haven’t noticed the world is ending. The last thing we need is an ankle biter in our life.”

  I ran my hands over the dog’s fur and cooed “Don’t listen to her. She hasn’t gotten laid in a year and she’s really grumpy.”

  Emma smacked my arm. “Hey! I have to gotten laid. How would you know anyway?”

  “To your right!” Lou yelled from the car and my happy feeling drained. Two Lifeless were actually running toward us. The dog leapt from my arms and ran at them barking as if she was a big badass Pitbull.

  I pulled my gun from my leg holster and without a second thought started shooting at them. But it was Emma who killed these ones. They fell instantly as she shot them right in the head.

  I found that shooting a running target was harder than it seems.

  “You should hold your gun tighter,” Emma said, coming up behind me. “Keep the butt in between your thumb and fingers.” She placed it in the exact area. “Keep your support hand here and link your thumbs.”

  It felt better and I had a firmer hold on the gun with her guidance.

  I glanced up and noticed three more coming toward us, but not running.

  “Go head,” Emma said, letting me have the floor.

  I looked at her and she nodded.

  I raised my gun and shot the first one, missing its head but hitting its shoulder. I tried again and this time hit its ear.

  Emma raised her gun and shot it in the nose. It dropped like a fly. Then she shot the other two the same way.

  “Show off,” I said quietly.

  “Come on. Grab that thing you call a dog and let’s get out of here.”

  I smiled and picked up the dog, who was still barking and being protective of us, and hauled ass to the Jeep. When I got inside she stood up on my lap and growled at the lifeless who now became visible in the darkness.

  “Great, we have a dog now?” Lou asked, as she sped off.

  “Be nice, she’s kind of a badass,” I told her.

  Emma laughed. “For a little thing it has balls. It was barking at those demonoids like it wanted to tear them apart.”

  “It is a she, and she needs a name,” I told them both. The dog abandoned the window and sniffed around the car for food. She must have been out there a while or she was just a scrappy little dog who loved to eat.

  “Let’s call her Snack!” Emma declared. The dogs ears perked up as if she recognized the name already. I snuggled into her white and tan fur and said, “She loves it. Don’t you girl?”

  She licked me in response and it was settled.

  I grabbed a thawed out hash brown from our school stash and fed her two. Finally she lay down on the seat next to me and fell fast asleep.

  We crossed into Colorado and passed several cars full of people like us. We sped along the highway sometimes seeing clusters of the dead, and other times it was like there was no one around.

  “Pee break,” Emma declared, causing Snack to jump up and bark. “See, she’s gotta go, too.”

  I had to go too and it would do me some good to stretch my legs. Lou pulled into a service station that actually had a handful of people in it. Emma grabbed her rifle and nodded toward us which meant to be ready.

  “Stay close and don’t talk to anyone,” Emma instructed.

  I had never felt so scared to see humans in my life, but the fact was we couldn’t trust them. If we thought trust was broken before it was even more so now. People were scared, and when that happened, they did stupid things.

  As soon as Emma got out people started screaming. “Gun! She has a gun!”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake,” Emma snarled. “I’m a US Marine you dip-shit. I’m not here to hurt you.”

  She pulled her dog tags from her neck and flashed them around but no one cared. I just wanted to pee without getting attacked, let alone get yelled at for protecting myself.

  Snack barked at everyone who walked near us. I took her with me to the bathroom stall and let her do her business right outside when I was finished. Emma watched over Lou and me, while at the same time dealing with scared people.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” A lady asked her. “You’re military so you must know why this is happening right? Aren’t you supposed to protect us citizens from this? Why are you even here?”

  Emma growled at the lady, “Ma’am I do not know what is happening. I’m sorry, but I need to ask you to back up please.”

  “I’m only asking you a question, bitch,” The lady tested.

  “If you step one foot closer to me I’m going to have to hit you, ma’am. Don’t make me hurt you because I will and you’ll be very sorry for calling me that.”

  The lady thought for a moment about whether or not to test Emma. I was happy she didn’t step forward and instead backed away slowly. Emma wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with. I saw her kick a guys ass for grabbing Lou’s boob. She knocked him on his butt and he didn’t get up.

  Lou came out of the bathroom and took Snack from my arms. “Make sure to take a roll of toilet paper.”

  I went back inside and took two for good m
easure. I looked at myself in the mirror and I almost didn’t recognize the person staring back at me.

  I checked my phone and there was still no service. I hadn’t heard from Sam, which worried me a little. I’m not sure why, maybe it was habit. There had been several nights when I would lay awake awaiting a phone call from him. He’d be out partying or doing God only knew what and I’d be home worrying.

  When I left the bathroom I almost went back inside instantly. It was amazing how fast chaos could ensue.

  Part Two

  13

  Emma’s survival tip:

  Never hesitate! Hesitation will get you killed. Be confident in who you are and what you have to do. Because when it comes to family and survival, you have one second to make the right choice and defend the lives that matter most. It’s an us against them world, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let them win.

  Emma was running toward me screaming to get my gun out and Lou was stabbing someone in the skull. No, not someone, a Lifeless demon. He fell to the ground and another one popped up before her. I pulled the gun from my leg and switched the safety off. There wasn’t even time to think, I just jumped into the fray.

  Snack was barking at a lifeless who was killing the lady Emma had words with. I went toward Snack and shot the lifeless until it stopped moving.

  She went toward another one barking like mad and I shot that one, hoping I didn’t miss. It was at that point that I realized the little dog was leading me to them. I followed her toward another and my shot took it down, killing it.

  “Retreat!” Emma yelled. I looked up and saw a large horde coming at us fast from the tree line. I didn’t ask questions. I ran my ass to the Jeep with Snack beside me. Emma started the Jeep and I got in the passenger side. I looked back for Lou, but she wasn’t with us.

  “Where is she?”

  Emma looked around. “I don’t know.”

  My heart beat like crazy. I couldn’t find her in the madness that had erupted within just seconds. I didn’t tell Emma that I was getting out of the car, I just ran toward the horde and searched for Lou as Emma yelled at me from behind.

  “Lou! Lou where are you?”

  I searched the dead on the ground, each time wishing that I didn’t find her among them. When I saw her red hair on the ground in front of me I just ran toward it. I pulled my knife out and stabbed a lifeless that crawled across the ground with its ugly fingers reaching out for her. I pushed my knife into its head hearing a sickening crunch. It lay motionless, its red eyes wide open.

  A lifeless was on top of Lou yanking at her arm, trying to get her to drop the weapon in her hand. Finally her gun flew from her hands. She looked scared; something I’ve never seen on her face before.

  “Get off of my friend you demon freak!” I ran toward the dead man at full speed. When my body collided with his he flew across the gravel and skid to a stop. When he tried to get up, he couldn’t. His whole upper body had become unattached from his lower half.

  “Tell the fucker who brought you back that it was a mistake to use rotting corpses to do his dirty work!” I turned and grabbed Lou by her arm, pulling her to her feet.

  “I’m okay. I’m okay.” She was indeed all right but she was frightened for good reason.

  We hauled ass to the car. Emma was yelling something at us. I tried not to worry about what she saw behind us. I could only imagine the horror that trailed after us. It just pushed me to run faster and to get the hell out of there. I shoved Lou into the back seat and I fell in after her.

  I felt the car door slam on my foot as a large mass of demons rushed the car. Emma sped off as they continued to rush the Jeep. I looked back and saw just what Emma was looking at behind me. My stomach lurched as I saw the horde of Lifeless that poured out from beyond the trees, now following us down the street. So many dead bodies in so many forms but all after one thing; to kill us and all the rest of the living.

  “What happened when I was in that bathroom?” I asked Lou, as she checked herself for injuries.

  She shook her head. “Fucking madness. The lady that yelled at Emma started screaming and pointing at Emma and telling her to put her weapon down.”

  Emma laughed, “Like that would happen. Lunatic.”

  “Then the Lifeless started ripping people apart. It was chaos in a matter of seconds. I almost can’t believe it happened so fast.”

  All because we had to pee.

  “I think we need to stay away from all places with crowds,” I declared. Both girls snickered.

  I just wanted to get the hell out of Colorado, there were too many bad things happening here. First it was the clusters of dead all over the highway and then the rest stop debacle.

  Emma sighed deeply and said, “We need gas. Shit!”

  “How did we not notice this sooner?” Lou asked, leaning over her shoulder to see the gas level. “You’re not kidding, we do need gas.”

  I kept my eyes on the road looking for a gas station sign. Finally I saw one. “There!” I pointed to a turn off to our right. I knew the last thing we wanted to do was stop again, but we had no choice.

  Emma took the exit and both Lou and I rolled down the windows searching for anything dead roaming around. The stench hit me in the face like a brick.

  “What the hell is that smell?” Lou asked, plugging her nose.

  I looked around searching for what could be the cause of such a smell when I realized it was the dead.

  “It’s death.”

  Both of them looked at me in shock and then nodded. It made sense. Not only had the dead risen but they had killed God knows how many of the living. Now those living were rotting corpses, too. The only difference was they weren’t getting up again. They were now gone forever and their bodies were left to rot.

  Emma ran the stop sign, since there was no traffic coming any time soon, and drove down the quiet avenue.

  “I don’t see it,” she said, as she looked for the station. “Did it say how many miles?”

  I shook my head.

  That was the thing about these towns out here. You were never sure how far off of the highway the gas station was.

  “Shit!” Emma said, as the Jeep sputtered.

  I knew what was happening; we had run out of gas. The car lurched and then came to its final stop in the middle of the road.

  We were sitting ducks.

  “We used the last of the gas cans,” Lou told Emma and I. “We are truly out of gas. We’re gonna have to walk to that station, wherever it is.”

  We were in the middle of the woods of Colorado and had no idea where the gas station was.

  God I missed my cell phone.

  “Let’s push the car off the road,” Emma said getting out. “We’ll be able to hide it in the tree line so no one sees it and steals our stash. Then that way none of us has to be left behind to watch it all.”

  I shook my head. “No. I’ll stay behind. You girls go and get the gas. Me and Snack will be all right.”

  Emma shook her head vehemently. “None of us separate at any time! We all stay together. That’s our number one rule, got it?”

  I put my hands up in defeat and got out with her as Lou got in the driver’s seat. Emma and I pushed the car from the back and Lou steered it into the trees and beyond. It was pretty well hidden from sight, unless you were looking for it. I left snack inside with enough food, just in case we didn’t make it back in time to feed her.

  With gas cans in one hand and weapons in the other we set off to look for fuel.

  “I lost my gun,” Lou said, after ten minutes of walking. “Those things knocked it out of my hand and all I have is a stupid knife.” She held up her knife that looked anything but stupid, and then put it down to her side.

  “It’s all right,” I told her. “You can have mine.” I handed her my gun and she pushed it away.

 
“Nah. It’s yours. I’ll find something else. I just need to find a hunting store or tackle shop.”

  With the amount of woods beyond us I didn’t think that would be too hard to find, but then again, I thought we’d find fuel by now.

  “Shit,” Emma cursed quietly as she pulled out her scope. “I see the gas station and its overrun. Looks like there are a ton of demons just destroying shit.”

  She crouched low and moved behind a tree. We followed, but way less graceful. Emma had always been in good shape but now that I got a good look at her, I saw the muscles that lined her back. This girl was buff.

  She pulled her hair out of her ponytail and then braided it and put it into a quick bun.

  “Why?” I asked, pointing to her beautiful hair.

  “So they can’t grab onto my hair. Those demons aren’t touching my mane.”

  I laughed.

  “You should put yours up, too,” she told me, as she handed me an elastic hair tie. I put my greasy hair up in a messy bun.

  “Wish I could take a shower and change my clothes,” I exclaimed. Both girls laughed. “But first gas.”

  Emma nodded and then looked through her scope once more while Lou reloaded my gun.

  “Okay girls. It’s time to turn into total badasses. Are you ready?”

  I wasn’t sure if I was or not. But I nodded anyway.

  We followed Emma through the trees heading away from the gas station, but according to her this was the safest way to acquire gas. We walked silently after she explained the plan, but we could hear the screams coming from people all around us. It was so unnerving to hear people dying.

  We hadn’t seen many people on this road trip from Hell, but I figured it was because they were either dead already or bunkered down trying to survive. When the rain started to pour I thanked God for it. I let it run down my blood soaked body and let my hair down in the torrential downpour.

  “There’s your shower, Kami,” Lou laughed. When my hair was drenched I put it back up and we moved on in the muddy dirt.