by Kypers, Ryan
“HERE SHIT BRAINS!” I heard Zach yell, the contaminated roaring back at him. I heard a shot fire and a loud grumbling roar erupt from the monster. I turned for a second to see a four inch hole showing through the contamianted’s knee gushing blood. It fell to one side, rocking the earth beneath it. “Daryl, I think I’ve got it!” I heard Zach yell as he approached the contaminated, gun raised.
“No, Zach!” I yelled back, but it was too late. The contaminated raised its hand and brought it down horizontally, swatting Zach across the pavement as if he was a ragdoll. He rolled over the pavement for about fifteen feet before coming to a stop, unmoving. After a second, he stirred and groggily stood up, holding his shoulder as the contaminated continued to howl in pain from the shotgun slug.
I decided to scold Zach later for his foolish action and hopped into Zach’s car, James in the passenger seat. “Hey, I know you’re sick, but you’ve got to hold on,” I said as I fastened his seatbelt by maneuvering the belt through his hunched body. I did the same to mine as I started the car.
“What’re you doing?” James said, a bloody hand coming from his mouth.
“Something stupid,” I looked over to see the huge contaminated beginning to get up. “Zach! Shoot him down, now!” I yelled out the window.
Zach readied the gun on his shoulder with a grimace. He took aim at the contaminated’s wrist that was pushing it off of the ground. I started the car and pulled it in reverse about one hundred quick feet. I heard the gunshot go off and a yell of excruciating pain as I saw Zach stumbling away from the contaminated while holding his shoulder.
The huge contaminated’s wrist was gushing crimson watery blood, creating a pool of red under it as it roared and fell to the ground, emitting a small earthquake with it. The beast was lying on its side, back fully exposed.
I took the moment and floored the gas pedal. The car screeched as rubber burned against asphalt, lurching us forward. The engine roared as the transmission tried to turn the gears with the rapid acceleration. I caught a quick glimpse of the speedometer at thirty-five miles per hour right before the impact. Seat belts tightened and airbags deployed, practically knocking me unconscious. Nearly all of the car’s windows were shattered and the hood was rippling upwards like a metallic wave. There was no roar, no hum of the engine, the world was quiet.
I tried to push my door open, but the siding was bent in from the impact. I kicked it once then once more before it squealed open, siding grinding against itself. Chelsea was over by Zach, making sure that he was okay as she reloaded her gun just in case more contaminated showed up. I waved, marking that I was okay as I made my way around to the other side of the car to help James out. My back was stiff and my neck hurt a bit but other than that, I was sure that I made it out alive without a problem.
He was still hunched over, a piece of bloody glass in his hand. I ripped the door open. This side was much easier as the impact had not been as bad. I unfastened his seat belt and pulled James out.
“You okay?” I asked. He nodded, wiping blood from his mouth and hands. “You might want to put that down. No need to survive a car wreck then cut yourself on glass. Don’t worry, we’ll be getting help from survivors at Kansas City soon enough,” I said, turning to see Chelsea smiling and waving with Zach propped up in her arms.
I smiled back, waving full on when Chelsea’s face turned dark, arms releasing Zach from her grip. I was just about to ask her what happened when a sharp pain erupted from the back of my neck, a pain of pressure and pulling. I wrenched my body away from the attack and turned around to see a smile of red. James was standing, slightly hunched over with his arms outstretched. He was smiling, the bloody smile of a red mouth, a Contaminated Resistance Unit, a CRU, a smile of the contaminated.
I raised my hand to the back of my neck, it returning with glistening blood in the afternoon sun. I returned my gaze to James, a look of confusion. I couldn’t speak. I was unable to ask why. My body was numb and void of any feeling. We were friends. I thought that we were friends. We trusted each other. He wanted to trust me. I trusted him.
He knew. He knew what I wanted to know, and he spoke, “You heard my story. I tried getting your sympathy. There just was no time yet it took me long enough to finally get to you. I needed you guys to get me to Kansas City, and now I’m practically there,” He let out a laugh of pure evil and hysteria, a high pitch shriek of glee. “You cannot stop it, the contamination. The military thinks that they can, but they are doing it all wrong. It isn’t to cleanse the world of the problem, merely adapt to it. Once everyone is all the same then there will be no more hardship. There will be no more trouble. There will only be contaminated, but we are, all of us, contaminated in a certain way. Wouldn’t you agree, Daryl Willows? The time is nigh to conform. Anyone who resists will become like you. It’s been fun, Daryl. Thanks for the-“
A gunshot rang out. James’ shoulder flew to the side, his body twisting in an unnatural way. Another shot came followed by two more then three in quick successions until there was too many to count. Chelsea was walking towards him with such ferocity that the weapon fired with the rhythm of her steps. James fell immediately, flopping onto the ground, lifeless. That did not stop Chelsea. She kept firing and firing and firing until the gun was empty. She kept firing, the slight click of the trigger echoing was the only noise at the quiet station. James was beyond dead. My body was now dying.
Chapter 28
I made my way over to Chelsea. She was still staring down on James’ dead body, a sad snarl covering her face. I put my hand on the gun and pulled it away from her. She did not resist. Her eyes were red, her face a bright pink. I went to brush the back of my hand along her soft dark hair, but the breeze blew it away from me. It was out of my reach.
She finally looked up to me. There were no tears, no signs of her breaking down. Chelsea was tough, and I knew that, but she was much tougher than I ever gave her credit for. Her eyes moved from my own down to my neck and back to me. Her head twitched, as if she was trying to shake her head ‘no’ but could not. Her upper lip moved rapidly, bouncing from her chin to her nose. She knew what was coming. She knew what had to be done.
I saw Zach appear behind her, keeping his distance. A quick turn of his eyes showed that he knew what happened and what needed to be done. He gave me a slight, pitying nod then turned away to tend to his shoulder.
Where the hell was I to start this? How do you tell someone that they need to leave you, to let you die? I was so young. There was nobody to teach this, nobody to teach you how to say goodbye. “It’s not fair,” she started, her voice fighting back tears.
I shrugged my shoulders, wincing at the pain in my neck, “That’s life. We aren’t in fair times anymore, Chels.”
“Maybe we can take you-“
“No, Chelsea,” I shook her off. “If they find out that you were traveling with a contaminated then they might not let you guys in.”
“You’re not a contaminated!” she lashed out. “Not yet,” she said, quieting down.
I shook my head, “I am. We know it. You and Zach have to get to Kansas City and-“
“We don’t even know if it’s there! What if it is a pile of rubble infested with more of these creatures?”
“It’s not. It is powered at the very least. We do know that,” I said, my body beginning to slightly shake from the cold. “The information that we found at the stadium confirms that at one point it was a place to take refuge. You cannot ignore that.”
She shook her head, “Well maybe it’s not. Maybe-“
“No, Chelsea. There’s no time for this,” I couldn’t do this. “That fight caused a lot of noise,” What do I do? “You guys need to get out of here now,” the only thing that I could do. “Here, there’s not much time,” I began to usher her to the remaining car.
She smacked me across the face, “I’m not leaving you! I told you that, or did you forget? I said it,” Chelsea’s eyes stared deep into my own. “I mean it.”
“Che
lsea,” I said, forcing myself to look at her sad eyes. “This isn’t something that rubbing alcohol will fix.”
“I. How can you expect me to leave, after all of this?”
“Chelsea. We have been surviving all of this time. I need you to survive for me now.”
“You can’t go.”
“I have to.”
“I won’t let you.”
“Zach!”
He looked towards me.
“You have to get her out of here. Take her safely to Kansas City. Do it for me, Zach.”
“Stop, Daryl!” Chelsea practically screamed.
“Go!” I yelled.
Zach walked over, placing his good arm on Chelsea’s shoulder.
“No.”
“Chelsea.”
“No.”
“Now!”
“I won’t let you die alone!”
“Chelsea,” I placed my hands on her shoulders. She was teary eyed now, extra tears welling up in the corner of her eyes while I was fighting back my own. Saying no was the hardest thing that I ever had to do. “I love you, remember that.” I kissed her, the best kiss that I ever had. Full, tingling sensation ran through our perfectly met lips in our last embrace. The electricity between us coursed through our bodies from the completed connection. I was barely able to pull my lips away from her own. “Please go.”
There was an unnatural rustling in the woods. Contaminated were finally beginning to approach the gas station from all of the noise. Zach’s good hand clapped me on the side of the arm, “Give them hell kid,” he said before walking off to the car.
Chelsea sniffled quietly to herself then slowly shook her head. “You’ll be hungry. Take the food from the car here. Eat that. There should be something else in there for you to stay warm.”
I heard hissing from the woods. I picked up my baseball bat off of the ground and stood ready. “Go, now. Maybe I’ll see you in another life,” my love.
I heard a whimper and a touch on my shoulder followed by the closing of two doors to the car, the engine starting and roaring down the road. I took in the surroundings. The gas station was empty save the corpse of James and the giant contaminated. The wind was blowing ever so lightly. I was now alone.
Chapter 29
My shoulder hurt, actually it was killing me, but I had to keep driving, and with one arm at that. Chelsea was in too much shock to operate the car well enough for our safety.
I did not know what to do. What does a computer nerd who is good with guns do to console someone? I debated leaving it alone, to let the silence wash over us, but that would not do. “Chelsea,” I said, breaking the silence.
I was about to continue, but was interrupted. “You don’t have to,” she said. “I know.”
I don’t want to say that I was relieved by that, but I was. She was still there, not a broken conscience or an empty shell. I sighed in relief. The one thing that I respected most was the final wishes of a good dying man, and Daryl’s final wish had been for me to make sure Chelsea was safe. I would do that to the ends of myself if I had to.
We drove for about two hours, seeing signs for Kansas City most of the way. We passed by countryside and grasslands. The day was warmer than it had been in weeks and the sky was almost blindingly bright. Two hundred miles here, one hundred fifty miles, fifty miles, twenty miles, ten miles. It was then that the city finally came into view. Glorious skyscrapers filled the horizon, steel bodies and clear windows reflecting the light of the day. The steel forest was still miles away, but the sight filled me with energy.
“Look!” I said, pointing with my good hand which resulted in me taking my hand off of the wheel for a second. Fortunately Chelsea saw that and grabbed it, “Whoops, sorry.”
“What are you pointing at?” She asked in a voice that was dead but coming back to life with the growing scenery. Coal was shaken awake from her slumber on Chelsea’s lap when Chelsea grabbed the steering wheel. Her head was poking above the windows, head darting about as the scenery passed.
“There’s a helicopter there, circling above the city.” It was very high in the air, but rapidly growing bigger. It must have spotted us coming down the road as it was headed straight for us.
Eventually the chopper was directly overhead, the loud engine and spinning blades cutting the air shunned any other possible noise. A booming voice erupted from above, “Attention driver! You are entering a military safe zone. There will be five checkpoints guarded by armed military personnel. Please cooperate as they clear you. Be responsive and do not hide anything. This chopper will escort you the entire way. Be warned. We will fire upon suspicious activity. Do not make that happen.”
I erupted with a glorious smile, a smile that I had not worn in over two months, “Did you hear that? We’re here! They’re here. There is people! I mean there are people. Civilization is not completely dead!” I let out a whoop.
Even Chelsea could not contain some excitement, “Thank you, Zach, for everything. This would not have been possible without you.” She kissed me on the cheek. I’ll admit, my inner teenager tried to poke out with the kiss.
We hit the first military checkpoint about seven miles outside of Kansas City. There was a blockade across the highway, two tanks positioned with their barrels aimed directly at the car along with two Humvees with mounted turrets. They asked us to get out, held us at gunpoint while searching the car. The Sargent took away my weapons, claiming that I could have them back with special permissions once the inspections were all over.
We made it through the next three checkpoints which were similarly the same as the first. They just seemed to look harder as we went. They unzipped the backing of my seats, checked the wheel wells, and searched any crevice possible. The third checkpoint even went so far as to take out my radio and inspect what was behind it. I guessed that there had been members of the CRU who tried to break in before to contaminate the city along with others sneaking in weapons and such.
The final checkpoint was basically an entire military base. A man in his digital camo uniform approached us, signaling us to get out of the car. Suddenly a scary thought came to me as he turned his back to us, writing something on a clipboard handed to him by a dark skinned woman. I pulled Chelsea to me and put her ear up to my lips, practically kissing it, “You can’t say anything. Nothing about being bit at one point. Nothing about what we’ve been through. Nothing about him. They would probably shoot you here. Don’t waste all that we’ve come so far for. Don’t respond.” I nearly pushed her away. She glared at me but understood the meaning behind my words.
They took blood samples, poking me with a needle. I hated needles, like a lot. I just did not like the fact that someone was stabbing me to take a bit of me with them. It irked me. Needless to say, I nearly passed out when they jabbed my left arm with the needle, but I held my ground almost nicely.
“You’ll be staying here until your blood samples have been analyzed,” A lady marine told us. “You may call me Private Marie. I’ll show you to your quarters,” she said.
A man in a white lab suit walked over and handed Private Marie Coal’s carrying case. She nodded in thanks and held out the case for one of us to grab. Thankfully Chelsea grabbed it by the handle and looked inside. “What’d they do?” she asked with a bit more hostility than I think she intended.
“No worries. That man was a vet. You’re not the first people to come here with a pet,” she said, turning through an alley of tents. “He simply took a blood sample and gave your cat the proper shots needed to prevent any diseases. No harm done.”
We nodded and followed her to a guarded bunk in a tent. There was a heater inside which was the only thing keeping the place somewhat tolerable. There were cages, roomy cages, but cages nonetheless surrounding the prison style beds raised up on cinderblocks.
I looked to Private Marie with raised eyebrows, “Really?”
“Sorry, kiddo. It’s protocol. There have been too many wackos who try to slip out in the dead of night and bite someo
ne,” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “Too bad the dumbasses try to bite a marine. Then there’s no more dumbass left. Don’t be a dumbass,” She said as she left us to the room.
A sigh of relief swept over me. Chelsea sat down next to me on the bed, “So what now?” she asked, opening Coal’s carrying case so she could stick her hand inside and pet her.
“Now? There is no more, what now. We’re safe, and I got you here to safety. I have a strong confidence that the military wants to protect this city more than anything else. Now we just adapt and live as normally as we possibly can.”
“Haha,” She laughed a sweet laugh. A giant wave of comfort came over me once I heard her laugh. “Shit’s still crazy in the world. I think that the term ‘normal’ will need to be redefined.”
“Shit’s always been crazy. That’s the normal of the world.”
Epilogue
I’m here, alone, amongst the wilderness. The cold is biting at me. I am supported by this frozen earth. This winter will be a hard one, though I’ll have to manage. I have some provisions left, but not nearly enough. It is dangerous out here and nothing seems to be getting easier. I’ll need supplies and better places to keep me warm. Risking a fire in the middle of an abandoned city is reckless and practically asking for death. These creatures, these things hunt, and they are smart about it. They’ll follow my footprints. They will search me down. They can smell my presence. They are changing. They are evolving. I cannot pinpoint how, but I know it. I live among them, in between them, in the shadows of their meaningless lives. I have to constantly be better than them. I have to be smarter than them. They think that they are hunting me, but it is the opposite. I will be hunting them. I should be dead. I should be with them. I should be part of them. I am not. I do not know why. I do not care why. All that I know is that the contaminated, the CRU, and anyone who gets in my way will not survive.