by J. Okuly
Chapter 20
I walked back to the van in dejected silence. Then Mark surprised me by taking out a rocket launcher from his supplies.
My eyes widened. “I don't even want to know where you got that thing.”
“Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. As I former Boy Scout, I had a feeling this might come in handy.”
His attempt at levity fell flat. All I could think of was Kitty at the mercy of those evil men.
We took off for the woods and Mark followed the trail left by the abductors. An occasional Chomper veered across our path, but the creatures were easy to knock down with a push or a kick. By the time they were able to stand again, we had made tracks in the opposite direction. This was one of the advantages which the uninfected had over the monsters.
Finally, we left the cover of the woods. We stumbled into a large clearing which was full of men sitting around a campfire. I assumed it was Stoner Dude and his Pseudo Soldiers. I thought it was a great name for a band. Country music twanged in the background and some of the men played cards. We crept in closer to them under cover of the music. Mark signaled for me to follow him as we moved closer to the group. I stepped on a branch which sounded like the crack of thunder to my ears. But with the music covering my clumsy movements, no one in the camp seemed to hear. With one exception.
My voice was an urgent whisper in Mark's ear. “He knows we're here.”
He looked over at Stoner Dude. The guy appeared to watch us even though we were hidden from his view. The other men were much closer to us but no one had heard a thing. Yet, this guy had heard me step on a branch from that far away. How was that possible?
Mark lifted the rocket launcher and rested it on his shoulder. Then he stepped into the clearing.
“Let her go!” he yelled. The men stared at us as if we had grown two heads and a tail in front of their eyes.
There were half a dozen women with them. The women had duct tape covering their mouths, their hands secured behind their backs with handcuffs. Captive women I thought, female slaves. Had humanity regressed this far in such a short period of time? Apparently it had.
Mark spoke again and his voice was firm and strong. “I have a rocket launcher trained on you, guy in the camouflage jacket. Let Kitty go or I'll use it.”
The captive women whimpered.
“Why do you need to take women by force?” Mark said to the leader. “The internet is still up and you can meet girls on e-harmony or match.com.”
“You would think so,” said Stoner Dude. “But the bar scene isn't what it used to be. Women are trying to stay alive and they're not much into dating these days. Plus I never had much luck with girls even before the Chompers arrived. My luck hasn't improved at all.”
“Have you tried taking them to dinner instead of abducting them?” suggested Mark.
“Are you giving this dirt-bag dating advice?” My voice was incredulous. “Kitty, where are you?” I called to her.
Kitty took a step forward. Her body vibrated with fury and hatred.
“Let go of me!” She struggled against the guy who gripped her arms.
“Hey, I know your voice.” Stoner Dude turned to me with a smile. “The chick from the electric fence. How you doing, beautiful? You want to join us? Our group is growing and we can offer you safety.”
I glared at him. “Not in a million years.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. Your loss.”
“How are you the leader of these men?” I had to ask because the mystery was driving me crazy. “You don't seem like a person who should be in charge of anything. I picture you behind the counter at 7-11.”
“That's where I work. Worked that is.” He laughed. “Let me tell you how it went. Something happened to me when I woke up. They tell me I had been standing outside in the rain all day and I didn't even know it. Then I woke up but I didn't change like the others did. Let's say I didn't change into a Chomper. But I did change.”
He paused for a beat. “The thing is I can sense things. I can see things that are about to happen. Or see things others can't see or hear things before other people do. Sometimes a combination of all the above.”
“Why?”
“Who knows why?” He shrugged. “Do I know anything?”
“That's so weird.”
“Weird but true. Now I hang with these guys, and I know what to do because I sense things. When they discovered my new skills, they put me in charge. These guys are college ROTC but their commander is a Super Chomper. How funny is that? After all, I'm the one who found your house with the electric fence because I saw it in my head first. And I told the guys where to find it.”
I looked at him in amazement. Could he have mutated into some sort of psychic when everyone else became a mindless Chomper?
“What's your name?” I sputtered.
“Jeremy.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. And today I saw Kitty cat sleeping on a bed of leaves so we took her. I also saw you two hiding in the woods.”
He lifted his shirt and scratched his belly. Then he yawned. “I enjoy talking to you, but it's time to get some shut-eye. ”
He walked over to Kitty and pulled her body between us and him.
“Don't you ever get tired of hiding behind women?” I said in disgust.
He ignored me and addressed Kitty. “So you're name is Kitty Kitty cat. I'm going to enjoy having you as part of our group. Every family needs a kitty cat.”
He leaned forward and sniffed her hair. Big mistake. She headbutted him with the back of her head.
He put his hand to his nose. “Why you ...” he began. Then she stomped on the top of his foot as Rebecca had done.
“Not again,” he yelled as he wiped his bleeding nose.
Kitty smirked. “Bet you didn't see that coming, Mr. Psychic!”
He hopped around on one foot. “Hey, I can't see everything. I'm not God after all.”
Kitty twisted out of his grip and then started to run toward us.
After that, everything happened fast. In the confusion, Mark shot the rocket launcher. Men flew into the air as the rocket struck a tree behind the group. The tree exploded into a fireball and the captive woman took off in all directions. People screamed in pain. I ran toward Kitty and grabbed her. A bullet whizzed by us, so close it tickled my ear. They had had not been practicing their marksmanship skills because none of the other bullets came anywhere near us.
We ran past the overturned van and didn't stop until we were in the woods. We were on the other side of the highway and my lungs felt like they were on fire. I tripped over a branch and fell to the ground. Kitty helped me up and we ran until we collapsed among the dark trees and struggled to catch our breath.
After a moment, Mark took out his night goggles and scanned the area.
“They're looking for us in the wrong place.” His voice was a whisper. “They entered the woods further up the road.”
I hoped with all my heart that all the captive women had escaped. I also hoped that Stoner Dude Jeremy couldn't “see” where we were and lead his rag-tag army of pseudo soldiers to our location.
I took the duct tape off Kitty's mouth, but the handcuffs would have to wait until we found a hardware store or a bolt cutter. I sat back against a tree and Kitty rested her head on my shoulder. She cried and I couldn't remember if I had ever heard her cry before.
“Where's my kick ass friend?” I asked. “She doesn't cry over the small things.”
She hiccuped. “Kitty is on break. I took her place.”
After an hour, I felt secure enough to relax. If the rag-tag army knew where we were, they would have found us by now. I started to nod off and my head slumped forward. I thought Kitty had fallen asleep against my shoulder but she hadn't.
“Those creeps,” she said. “ I can't believe I didn't hear them sneak up on me. I went to take a pee in the woods and there they were. What were they doing on this side of town? Are they following us wherever we go?”
“Just ba
d luck,” I said, hoping it was true. “They weren't following us. Stoner Dude Jeremy couldn't fake his surprise at hearing my voice. That's when he remembered me from our last encounter with him.”
“How could I be so stupid to get ambushed like that?”
“Shh,” I said. “Even Rambo took a day off.”
She giggled. “You and your Rambo fixation. It's a crappy old movie anyway.”
“Crappy but good.” I hugged her against my body to keep her warm.
Finally, we drifted off to sleep as Mark kept the watch.
Chapter 21
We tramped through the woods the next morning. Miles later we found ourselves on the highway leading to the airport.
Kitty sighed. “Didn't we just leave this place?”
“We need to steal another van,” said Mark. “Then we can drive back to Van #1 and pick up the fuel.”
“You mean borrow a van,” I said. “And while we're out and about we need to find a bolt cutter or handcuff keys.”
I checked my cell phone. I had turned it off to conserve the battery and hadn't checked it since the previous day.
Thee was a message from Bonnie.
Mr. Olson got bit. Bleeding. A lot. Heading to hospital at the moment. Taking everyone with us. Safety in numbers. Left a ton of food and water for Nova in case this takes awhile.
I tried to call Bonnie's cell but I had no signal. I tried to call everyone's cell. Same deal. I texted everyone and my texts bounced back. Then I sat down on the road and burst into tears.
“What?” Mark and Kitty said in unison as they stared at me in surprise.
“We haven't even been gone twenty-four hours and everything falls apart.” I sobbed. “What's the point in doing anything?”
I told them what had happened to Mr. Olson. All the while I hurtled toward hysteria with no way to put the brakes on. The tears I wept were for every bad thing I had experienced in my life. My childhood trauma. The fact my mom and brother were only two hundred miles away yet they might as well be living on the moon. I cried for the Chomper Apocalypse which had shattered everyone's life. I wept for Mr. Olson who might be bleeding to death. I mourned the end of a civilization. I had always taken life for granted and never appreciated it as much as I did at this moment.
“I don't care anymore.” I was on the verge of a full-on screaming fit but couldn't seem to get myself under control. “It's too much.”
Mark put his arms around me. Strength emanated from his muscular arms and tough body. I instinctively leaned into him.
“What's your favorite color,” he asked.
“What?” I had to think for a minute to remember. “Green I guess.”
“Mine too but I don't like lime green or puke green. When's your birthday?''
“Stop bothering me!” I said. “It's April 24.th”
“Do you remember mine?”
“May 15th..”
I looked up at his handsome face and realized the pity party was over. I reveled in the sensation of his arms around mine. The urge to scream and never stop screaming faded into the atmosphere. I leaned my head against him and closed my eyes.
“Okay.” I wiped tears from my face. “Step one - Find another van. Step two - Hardware store to get handcuffs off Kitty. Step three - Stop at the bank and let Nova out if they aren't back from the hospital yet. Step 4 – If they're not back, find the closest hospital and see if Mr Olson is okay.”
Mark squeezed my shoulder. “To the point as always.”
My voice was hesitant. “Thank you for helping me.”
“You did it yourself. All I did was redirect you.”
We walked the two miles to the airport and then found another van which had gas in it. Then we drove around until we found a Home Depot. To our surprise, the looted store still had some tools on the shelves. To our even greater surprise, a bolt cutter was one of the tools still available. Soon Mark had the handcuffs off Kitty. She massaged her sore wrists along with the ugly discolored bruises which covered them.
“Those sick creeps,” she said. “They better hope I never come across them again.”
“Let's take this with us in case we need it again.” He slid the bolt cutter into his back pack. While we were in the store we wondered around the depleted aisles. We found box cutters which would be as effective as knives in a fight against Chompers. Then I found the aisle which still had hunting knives hanging from the shelves. It felt like Christmas.
My eyes gleamed with avarice. “Since looting is now legal, I'm taking this chandelier for my living room.”
“Looting is not legal,” said Mark. “It's expedient.”
“I'm joking,” I said. “Don't you think it's acceptable to joke about looting during the Apocalypse?”
He nodded. “If not now, then when?
“Look out!” Kitty pointed over my shoulder. I jumped away from the spot where I had been stuffing knives into my backpack. A huge Chomper dude stood there and before I knew what was happening, two more creatures joined him. Their pale skin sported a greenish tinge. I wondered if they were starting to decompose or mutating into something new. These Chompers had a sharp look about them instead of their usual vacant expressions. Their pupils appeared jaundiced under Home Depot's unflattering lights. The combination of green skin and yellow eyes gave them the appearance of a human/lizard hybrid.
“What the ...” I said.
Mark aimed his pistol and hit the largest Chomper in the head. The creature crashed at my feet and the other two advanced towards us. Then they started to chase us. This was new. They no longer moved in slow motion because now they could run.
“This isn't good!” I took off faster than green grass through a goose.
“Excellent observation, Sherlock.” Kitty ran behind a shelf and took aim. Her bullet hit the second Chomper in the head and it fell to the floor. As we raced toward the exit, I thought of how we had transformed ourselves from Texas college students into Chomper assassins. We had no choice because in this new world survival measured itself in hours rather than days.
“Nice to know a bullet to the head still stops them,” she said.
I nodded. “And thank the Lord you're a good shot.”
We didn't wait to see if the third Chomper still followed us. We ran faster than a hot knife through butter. We flew past the abandoned cash registers and out the front entrance of the cavernous building. We jumped into the van and roared off through the parking lot.
“What was that?” I said. “They're changing again!”
“Mutating,” said Mark. “They lulled us by how sluggish they were in the beginning. Now it's a whole new ballgame.”
“They are definitely much faster and more aggressive,” said Kitty.
“But still not decomposing,” I said. “I didn't smell anything nasty, and by now they should be stinking like something the dog kept under the porch.”
A wave of heat scorched my brain and I gripped my head between my hands.
“Owww!” Kitty screamed and our voices joined in a chorus of pain.
A group of Chompers blocked the parking lot exit with their bodies. They held hands with each other. I had never seen them do this, and they stared at us with eyes which were more reptilian than human. There was no longer a cloudy membrane covering their pupils. The whites of their eyes were a light shade of green. The Chomper Death Ray lanced through my skull with such intensity I feared my brain would explode like a chick expelled from a cracked egg. It had never hurt this much before, so what in the world was going on?
Blood dripped onto my jeans and I wiped my bleeding nose with the back of my hand. I glanced at Mark. He seemed unaware of his own gushing nose as he slammed the van into the group of creatures blocking our escape.
12, 13, 14, 15... My brain started to work again and I remembered to count. But it seemed an eternity before the flaming holocaust in my head settled into a slow-moving swarm of stinging insects.
Chapter 22
The van was not running well after s
mashing into the line of Chompers. It spit and sputtered and the steering was sub-par at best. Yet we were still unable to flip the other vehicle back onto the road. For the time-being we were stuck with Spit and Sputter van.
We passed Chomper after Chomper ambling down the road. Some of them were turning green but others were still pale. The green ones were moving faster than they had when the crisis first started. The pale-skinned Chompers were still living their lives in slow motion. Their clothes were deteriorating from exposure. I wondered yet again how long it would be before they were all completely naked.
I still couldn't get a signal to talk or text but I kept trying. As we drove toward the bank, Kitty said, “I remember something else all four of us have in common.”
“What?” I asked not paying attention to the conversation.
“Remember the rabid bat?”
I did remember. Rebecca, ever the animal lover, had picked up a bat which lay struggling to move on the ground. She had brought it home in a shoe box one summer when we were about ten years old. We had all helped her nurse the little creature. But when her parents discovered the bat, they immediately freaked. When they found out it had rabies, we had to get shots.
“We have that in common,” I agreed. “But all the uninfected people in the world exposed to rabies? I don't think so.”
Kitty slumped against the seat. “What about flu shots?”
“I didn't get mine this year,” said Mark.
“I did,” I said.
“I didn't,” Kitty said. “I actually forgot about it since I never get sick.”
I shrugged. “So that's not the connection either.”
“There must be a connection!” Her voice was vehement. “This is driving me crazy.”
“The connection could be at a cellular level,” said Mark. “Some of of us are immune for no rhyme or reason. It's a genetic glitch.”
“There has to be a connection,” Kitty repeated almost to herself.
I touched her arm. “I'm sure every researcher who's still alive is working on the problem. And you know what? We could lose our minds trying to figure it out.”