Matt and Landen looked at each other and then at the girl. Where did she come from? Sydney and Doctor Maxwell got out of the van and joined the guys. Landen finished filling the tank and screwed back on the cap, flipping the door shut when he was done. He was waiting for this stranger to either say something or shoot them.
“My friend and I...we were attacked. We managed to get away but our car took some serious damage, won’t start since we ran the ditch. I’ve been out here for hours looking for anybody else. There’s been nobody...except the zombies”
She panted between words, sweat rolling down her face.
“What Zombies? Oh, you mean the infected!” laughed Matt.
“I’m glad you find the situation amusing, sir.” the girl said as she stood up with a stern look in her eyes.
“Whatever you call them, there are dozens of them in that forest, on their way to the road.” she said as she reached to her side and grabbed her flask to take a drink.
“You know this because...” started Matt.
“We made it to the road but before that we hit a bunch of zombies, or excuse me, infected.” she said looking Matt in the eyes.
“They tore up our car and everything went downhill from there. I need your help. My friend is waiting back at the car, it won’t take long to get there and it’s in the direction you’re going anyway. What’s an extra body?”
She pleaded for someone to have compassion for her and her situation.
“We don’t even know your name!” said Sydney.
“My name is Emmi. Wes is hurt. We don’t have much time.” she insisted.
“I’m Landen. This is Sydney, Matt and Maxwell.” he said.
Doctor Maxwell smiled and nodded; he didn’t mind dropping the Doctor, just this once. Landen did not want to tell anybody else about what Doctor Maxwell had told them he knew. Taking in new people was always a risk but Landen still had faith in humanity. He knew they needed each other. Maxwell and Emmi needed a safe haven and the group needed more people. Each time they went out on a limb to scavenge for supplies and food, each adventure they spontaneously embarked on in hopes of somehow finding a way to change the world would always cost a life or two. It felt human to help save a life.
“It’s nice to meet you, sorry for the yelling; I haven’t seen live people in a few weeks.” said Emmi. She held out her hand to shake Sydney’s but to her surprise was greeted with a cold tone. Sydney held out her hand above Emmi’s.
“Weapons please.” she said.
“You’re not serious.” said Emmi.
She looked around at the others. She couldn’t believe the audacity of Sydney; who did she think she was?
Matt and Landen looked at Sydney who was not taking her eyes off of Emmi.
“If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. I need my weapon, you need your weapon.” she said with a smirk.
“She’s right you know.”
Matt had to agree with Emmi, it was too dangerous for anyone to go unarmed. They weren’t in the safety of the campsite out there. Sydney put her hand down. She didn’t have any reason other than her own mistrust to be so mean to Emmi; she had posed no threat on the group. Landen waved for everyone to get back into the van. He sat down and started it up again; he took a deep breath and put it into gear.
“Everything okay?” asked Sydney
Landen looked at her, nodded and half smiled as he turned back onto the highway and headed toward where Emmi said her friend was waiting for her return.
***
“It’s just up ahead.” said Emmi.
In the distance they could see it; a small car surrounded by a large group of infected. It was swarmed and they were trying to get inside. Landen slowed the van down. As they got closer they could hear screams coming from inside of the car.
“Wes!” said Emmi, getting up from her seat. Matt put his arm across her stomach to sit her back down.
“We have to save him!” she cried.
“We can’t stop, I’m sorry. It’s too late. I’m sorry.” said Landen as he drove on by, picking up speed as they passed the swarmed car. Emmi put her hands on the window, time slowed down for her as she watched it all happen. She pounded on the glass of the window and cried; he was all she had.
“Was he your boyfriend?” asked Matt.
If there was a prize for the worst questions at the worst possible times, Matt would have won first place. Emmi sat down from kneeling at the window and looked at him with her eyes full of tears.
“No but he was special.” she said quietly.
She looked out the window and watched the clouds pass by as the group made their way down the highway, finally heading home.
Chapter 9
The campsite was located in a secluded area of the forest, a few miles away from the once busy highway. Being away from the chaos gave this small group of survivors a sense of security but they felt always on guard; they had fought their way to safety once they feared they would have to do it again someday.
The sun was setting over the land as the people of the campsite prepared to retire to their tents for the night; it had been a quiet past couple of days with everyone waiting for Landen and the group to return. It was almost peaceful. James and Tom, two young men, stood watch at the gate. Tom stood leaning against a post, munching on a bag of almost stale peanuts he had taken from the rations inventory over a day before. James stood close to the rifle attached to the fence around their watch post. The post wobbled when they shifted their weight, it wasn’t well put together but it was a high point that gave them access to secure their homes. The scope was partially broken but still was in good enough condition to see several feet in any direction. There were always people standing watching post but not everybody had an eye for detail as James did.
The two men had been keeping an eye on things as per Landen’s instructions. They had been watching the herd of infected that had been making their way closer over the past couple of days. In the distance, they could see the crowd of Infected trudging along; they were blocking the entire width of the trail and some. They were getting close. At the rate they were travelling, it wouldn’t take them long to find the campsite. The closer the infected knew they were to their target, the faster their pace became. They were on a hunt of their own. Where are they coming from?
There was a highway not far from where the campsite was located; could the infected have been making their way from there?
Tom thought to himself as his eyes squinted, peering through the scope on the gun. Shooting them would pose more of a problem than a solution; with no silencers on any of the guns they had on hand, the sound would draw even more attention; they didn’t know how many there were or if they even had enough ammunition to get rid of them.
The two men began to panic inside; they had never seen that many infected in so long. Groups had been sent out on scouts often; they would have reported something that massive. They would have given them more time. This wasn’t just a small gathering, this was an entire hoard. Hundreds of infected heading their way and these people were not prepared. They did not have enough fighters and they did not have enough weapons.
“Get the others!” said James.
Tom tripped as he ran down the steps of their lookout and rushed inside the camp. He sped around the tents almost knocking over a wooden barrel. He found Cal who was sitting in front of his tent. He stood up with concern as Tom struggled to catch his breath from panic.
“There are hundreds of them coming, they’re not slowing down!” he said between deep breaths.
“Dozens of...oh my god.” said Cal as he placed his hand over his mouth.
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He checked the area himself and was sure the infected weren’t heading their way just a day or so before.
“The monsters?” questioned Leo.
Cal was terrified but had to keep face for the little boy.
“We are going to make it out of here, okay? Stay close to me!” he said a
s he put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
They were moving faster and faster as time went on. With only five adults left to fend off over two dozen infected, the chances of survival were slim to none.
Mae sat in her tent with Lisa, holding prayer beads in their fists; they knew this was going to be the end. Mae was far too old to fight, Lisa too weak. Unlike the others, they just didn’t have it in them any longer. As they sat together, they could already hear the echoing sound of the infected making their way in the campsite. It was just a matter of time before they broke through that gate.
Tom yelled for James to help barricade the gate as much as they could, the infected were coming and they were not stopping. They knew that they couldn’t save the campsite but they had to get everyone out of the campsite as quickly and safely as possible.
They grabbed anything that was heavy and pushed it up against the fence from inside as reinforcements but the hoard was just too strong. As the infected walked up to the gates, their bodies pressed against its walls, they continuously walked as if they did not see any barrier to stop them. The barbed wire wrapped around the old mossy wooden planks ripped through their rotting skin as they continued thrashing and growling.
With the gate no longer a way to escape, Cal and Leo met up with Tom and James. He knew a way out, on the other side of the campsite there was an open space in the fence one of the lucky downfalls of having a poorly crafted security fence. Cal huddled with Tom and James; they needed to come up with a plan and quickly. This was getting out of their control.
"If we can get them to the fire pit..." he began.
"They won't stop, there are too many of them!" interrupted Tom.
"Let us handle it, you take Leo and get the hell out of here!" said James.
“Find Mae and Lisa!” said Cal.
“We’ll find them.” said James.
Cal nodded, grabbed Leo by the wrist and proceeded to lead him away from danger.
***
The infected began making their way into the campsite; they were moving in and moving fast. He ran to the inventory tent and scrambled around looking for anything he could stash in his bag; they were going to need some supplies for the road. He threw his bag over his shoulder and grabbed the last two remaining containers of gasoline. He began running back toward the main entrance, passing by the fire pit. As he ran as quickly as he could carrying the weight of the supplies, he tripped over a body lying on the ground sending one of the gasoline container flying into the fire pit.
The container caused a massive explosion; flames were sent up into the night sky like a rocket. The infected caught fire which sent them into a burning rage, ravaging anything they could get their dead hands on. James lay on the ground staring in horror as he watched tents catch on fire; tents with people inside them.
James got to his feet, grabbed the supplies and began looking for Mae and Lisa. The smoke was thick throughout the Campsite; he could see Tom’s tent burning. He ran over and covered his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. He peered inside; Mae and Lisa along with two infected had perished.
James backed away from the tent and stood up. He began making his way toward the hidden opening to escape the campsite. To his dismay infected had smelled out Cal and Leo who had just made it through, they were blocking the way, clawing in an attempt to make it through but weren’t smart enough to know to bend under the fence.
Out of ammo and nearly out of energy he dodged Infected, hiding when he could until the coast was clear. The Infected became infatuated with the radiant blaze of the fire pit which left a clear path to get out. He made it through the broken down gates and halfway down the path before he collapsed, hyper ventilating and crying uncontrollably. He stood up as he heard footsteps coming toward him; it was Tom and Cal; Cal held a terrified Leo.
“It’s going to be okay.” said James.
He knew nothing was okay, he failed them all.
“Are the monsters gone now?” Leo sniffled.
He was much too young to really understand what was going on. In his young mind, the infected were monsters like the ones he remembered from the bed time tales his father told him before everything went bad.
“The monsters can’t get us anymore, let’s just wait here. The rest will be back soon.” said Cal.
The six of them had tried their best to fight the Infected off but there was nothing more they could do; everything was gone. Tom and James used all the strength they had left in them and pushed the old pick-up truck from its spot to block off the entrance of the campsite; it was over.
Chapter 10
It had been a long journey but they were finally hitting the home stretch. The amount of loss they had endured for this journey was almost too much; two of their own was two too many. Maxwell sat in the very back of the van staring down at the thumb drive he had in his pocket. He was hoping the information hadn’t been damaged in any way; that thumb drive had what he needed to expose the infection for what it really was and find a way to stop it. He had so much more to tell the group but first, they all needed to rest. They had been on the road for a few days now, only stopping to switch drivers not to waste any time. He could feel his eyelids becoming heavy.
He was not a young man; everything he had gone through took a toll on him and he was not well. He needed to get the thumb drive to that military base; he had been in contact with them just weeks ago. A part of him was determined that they were still out there, still alive and waiting to help the world but another part of him feared they were dead, just like everybody else. He just didn’t have the time to not take the risk.
“I’m just going to take a little snooze until we get there, alright?”
Maxwell smiled as he put his hat over his eyes and leaned back a bit in his seat. He was thankful they had found him. Landen and his group of survivors may have just been his ticket to a cure.
Matt sat in the back seat and shined his pistol with a handkerchief; he looked up at Emmi who sat quietly across from him. Nobody had really spoken since they passed by her friend’s car; the awkward silence was something Matt couldn’t handle.
“How long have you been out there?” he asked.
“Long enough.” replied Emmi.
“Yeah, me too.” he said.
Emmi rolled her eyes and looked at him. She wasn’t in the mood to get acquainted on a personal level just yet; when it was time to tell her story, she would tell it. All she needed to know was that this group wasn’t going to kill her.
“Look, I don’t want to sound rude but I’m tired, too. Can we just save the small talk for later?” said Emmi.
She was surrounded by strong people who had been through what she had been through, if not more and accepted her into their group yet she felt alone having lost the last person she had let get close to her. She was afraid it would just keep on happening; she couldn’t stay with this group; she could sense that these people were good people. Once they’d arrive at their campsite, Emmi would part her ways and take her burden off their shoulders. She had made it before on her own; she still had the courage to do it again.
***
Landen turned the van into a wooded area, he knew this area well. He remembered back to months before when a tired and over run group of survivors came across that path. It was at one time a park owned by the county; now it was a place they all called home. As they drove along down the path, he noticed something different; the old pick-up truck had been moved. As they got closer up the old path to the campsite, a strange feeling came over everyone in that van; they could see black smoke billowing into the evening sky. Landen began to roll up his window, the smell of burning wood and flesh filled their nostrils. What had happened?
Everyone hurried out of the van met by Cal, Tom and James; Leo lay asleep under a tree close by. It had all been too much for everyone, including the young boy. The air was smoky; it was hard for them to breathe. Landen stood in front of them with a fearful look in his eyes, was this really happening?
“Is everyone else okay?” asked Sydney.
James and Tom looked at each other and then back at Sydney. They answered her question without having to say a word. She walked up to both of them and gave them a tight squeeze.
“I’m so sorry.” she whispered.
Cal looked around at the group and was puzzled.
“Where are Kris and Alex? Who are these people?” he asked with fear in his voice.
Landen shook his head, “They didn’t make it.” he said with a shaken voice; he cleared his throat.
“Kris was infected and Alex...” Landen trailed off and looked over at Matt.
He did not want to talk about it in detail, not yet. They didn’t need to retell the sad story; Cal knew how it ended from the look of loss and defeat in their eyes.
“This is Maxwell. The man from the radio and this is Emmi, we found her on our way home. They both needed our help.”
He looked at Landen who was standing beside the older gentleman about Cal’s age and the young girl who looked about Lisa’s age.
“I’m sorry we can’t welcome you to better circumstances. We had a beautiful thing at the campsite.” said Cal.
He felt sad that they couldn’t bring their fellow survivors into safety, the same safety they were brought into under the group’s wing.
“Everyone is gone?” he asked.
Cal nodded his head.
“I managed to get Leo out before it got too bad. I tried to fight them off. Lisa and my beautiful Mae...” his voice trailed off.
End of the World (Book 1): Infected Page 6