“Our guys were tough,” Jamal said. “Even if only half of them made it, we get back together, we could run the whole city now.”
“I doubt there is much left to run,” George said.
“But whatever is left would be all ours,” Jamal smiled. “Just think how nice it would be to get a group of flunkies to do all the work of rounding up supplies for us. All we would have to do would be sit back and eat.”
“Just like the old days,” Devon smiled.
“Better than the old days,” Jamal laughed. “We won’t have to worry about the cops.”
“Yea,” Devon laughed, “George won’t have to worry about being sent back to Camp Hill.”
“I wonder how my old room there is doing?” George laughed.
“OK, let’s get focused,” Jamal said. “The first thing we are going to do is go back to Trimbal’s. Keep a lookout to be sure none of those damn things sneak up on us. It will be slow going, getting around all those smashed up cars. Without windows we can’t afford to let those things get close to us. If was have to, we’ll turn around and come back tomorrow, but I would prefer to do this today.”
Devon nodded as he listened.
“Keep an eye out for another car too. Maybe one on the side streets that’s just parked there and isn’t a bloody mess,” Jamal added.
“Will do,” George said.
Jamal put the car back into drive and said, “No more fooling around, stay alert.”
Jamal drove slowly down Ligonier Street. The bloody cars still lined the street, but like last time, this side of town was free of the dead.
Jamal passed Graff’s garage and pulled in front of Trimbal’s.
“Devon, you and George go take a look,” Jamal said. “No fooling around, go see what is in that store and get back here.”
“Come on George,” Devon said. “It’s only fifty feet.”
“OK,” George replied nervously, “We can do this.”
“Of course you can do this,” Jamal grinned. “If little Ricki could do this by himself, I figure you two idiots should be able to manage. Now get your asses out there. When we get back to Pittsburgh, do you want to sit and enjoy the spoils or do you want to be one of the flunkies that goes out and does all the leg work?”
George and Devon got out of the car. They really didn’t like the dead, but they were afraid of Jamal more than the dead.
They walked nervously up to the front of Trimbal’s.
“It sounds OK,” Devon said.
“Let’s just run up to the door and take a fast look,” George said, “You look in the store and I’ll watch so nothing sneaks up on us.”
They nodded to each other, then dashed up to the front door of the store.
“Is it still OK out here?” Devon asked as he stared into the store.
“We’re good,” George replied.
“Then you should look in here,” Devon said. “I don’t think Jamal will believe just me.”
George took a quick look, “Shit, it’s just like the runt said.”
“Let’s get back to the car,” Devon said.
They turned and ran to the car and jumped inside.
Well?” Jamal asked.
“It’s just like the runt told us,” George said.
“It’s cleaner in there than the community center,” Devon added. “Maybe little Ricki wasn’t trying to pull anything.”
“No, he was up to something,” Jamal said. “What were you hiding from us little Ricki?”
“How about that Peck’s grocery store?” Devon asked.
“We’ll look there too, but I don’t think so,” Jamal replied. “If the runt didn’t try to bluff us here, he probably didn’t try to bluff us about Peck’s either.”
“Why not?” George asked.
“Because he didn’t have the guts to try it here,” Jamal answered. “Because we might actually go and look for ourselves. I think he was bluffing us about what was in the school. Remember we had to leave right after he went over to the school. He knew we couldn’t go to the school to make sure he wasn’t telling us the truth. It has to be the school.”
“What would he have done when we came back and found the school wasn’t like he said?” Devon asked.
“He would have just said he couldn’t get a good look because the dead were crawling everywhere and now they were gone,” George answered.
“But he didn’t plan on coming back here with us,” Jamal added, “His plan all along was to leave and come back here himself before we all came back to New Florence. Remember he said we should probably stay out of that side of town and just search the houses where we first came into town. He was probably thinking if we did that, we wouldn’t find him over there when we came back after he left.”
“His plans didn’t work out very well,” Devon laughed.
“That makes sense,” George said sounding impressed.
“Well I’m glad you agree,” Jamal laughed. “Let’s go take a closer look at that school.”
Jamal drove down through the underpass and came up on the other side of town.
He drove around the cars scattered around on the street.
He stopped the car when he was in front of the corner of the school.
“Something looks different,” George said.
“That big tree fell on the school,” Jamal said. “I remember seeing the tree standing in front of the school when we were here before.”
“How do you think we should try to get inside?” Devon asked.
“I think we should look this place over before we try to get in,” Jamal said. “Just to make sure there isn’t anything suspicious here.”
“How are we going to do that?” George asked.
“I’ll drive the car past the front of the school,” Jamal said, “and I want you two to get out and walk down this side of the school, go around behind the building and meet me on the other side of the building.”
“What if we see something?” George asked.
“If you see anything just get your asses over to the other front corner of the building and let me know,” Jamal answered impatiently. “Make sure you watch the windows as you go around the school to make sure there isn’t anyone in there watching you.”
“You really don’t think there would be anyone here?” Devon asked. “We haven’t seen any other living people in over ten months.”
“Probably not,” Jamal replied, “But little Ricki was up to something and I want to know what it was. I feel certain now that whatever it was, it has something to do with this school. Get moving.”
George and Devon got out and started walking cautiously along the right side of the school.
Jamal started to drive slowly down the crowded street in front of the school.
Chapter 21
Debbie took another fish off the small stove, “Here Shrimp, you eat this one by yourself and don’t give anymore to Ed. You are going to need the energy.”
“Ed needs energy too,” Monica replied.
“Ed already has more energy than all of us put together,” Jim laughed as he watched Ed dancing around on the floor next to Monica’s chair.
Monica took a big piece of fish and shoved it in her mouth, “I can’t wait until we get a car. I want to go for a ride. I wonder if Ed has ever ridden in a car before?”
“I don’t think so,” Jim replied, “she doesn’t look old enough to have been around before when there were cars driving around.”
“I think she will like riding in a car,” Monica said.
“I think we all will enjoy riding in a car again,” Debbie added, “At least it will beat walking.”
Monica took another bite of her fish and thought for a second, “What kind of car are we going to get?”
“I don’t know,” Jim laughed, “I don’t think we can be too picky as long as it runs.”
“Where are we going to get it?” Monica asked again.
“I don’t know yet,” Jim replied. “We are going to look along all the si
de streets and hope we can find a clean car that we can get started.”
“Ed can help,” Monica said.
“How can Ed help us find a car?” Debbie smiled.
“I think he is part bloodhound,” Monica replied, “Ed is always smelling things.”
“There certainly no shortage of stinky things for Ed to smell,” Jim laughed. “But how will Ed know what to smell for?”
“When I was little I saw on TV once where they made a dog smell this guy’s shoes,” Monica said cheerfully, “Then they told the dog to go find him and he did. We could make Ed smell a car and then we could follow Ed.”
“I’m sure Ed would find a lot of cars, but probably none of them would run,” Jim replied.
Debbie laughed as she watched Ed stretch her neck to get her nose closer to Monica’s plate, “I’m sure if there was a fish in any of the cars, Ed would find it.”
“I don’t think Ed will be of much help finding a car,” Jim said. “Cars that run don’t smell any different than those that don’t run,” Jim said. “We’ll have to do that without Ed’s help.”
“Do you want me to heat up these last two fish now?” Debbie asked Jim.
“No, let’s keep them for when we get back,” Jim answered. “If we are hungry we can eat them later. If not, we can have them tomorrow before we go fishing again.”
Monica finished her fish then set her empty plate on the floor beside her chair. Ed started licking at the plate.
Monica looked up as Debbie stood watching with her hands on her hips.
Monica smiled, “You told me to clean my plate when I was done.”
“I told you to clean it, not Ed,” Debbie replied looking annoyed.
“Ed seems to take her job seriously,” Jim laughed, “I guess that is why Moni always has the cleanest plate.”
“The next time the Shrimp volunteers to clean up after dinner,” Debbie cringed, “remind me to wash my dish before I put food on it again.”
“Yea,” Jim laughed, “Like before you put beans on your plate that had expired three years ago, or those moldy pears you raved about.”
Debbie rolled her eyes and broke down the camp stove and carried it back into the boiler room.
“Moni, go put your sweat shirt and hat on,” Jim said. “Get Ed ready too, we’ll be going out to look for a car as soon as Debbie is ready and I finish making sure it is clear outside.”
“OK, Jimmy,” Monica replied, “come on, Ed.”
Monica ran after Debbie into the boiler room.
Jim took one of the chairs from the table where they had just eaten their fish and walked over to the wall below the mud smeared windows. He walked to the far corner of the cafeteria.
He stood on the chair and rubbed with his fingers against the mud until he had a penny sized spot cleaned on the window.
He pushed his face up to the clean spot and looked outside in front of the school.
He had selected this window to use because it was far enough away from where they ate and the hallway to the boiler room, so that if anyone was to look in through the spot from the outside they wouldn’t be able to see that there was anyone inside.
From what Jim could see, the area today in front of the school appeared to be clear.
Jim could still hear the dead wandering around in the building above him. Even though the dead out front had decided to go somewhere else, he wasn’t surprised to hear that a number of the dead had remained behind in the school. Once the dead entered a building, they usually had a hard time figuring how to get back out of the building.
They would just stagger around in the building for days or weeks until they accidently found themselves outside the building again. He had decided long ago that once inside, probably like when they were outside the building, they really didn’t think about where they were. They just staggered around aimlessly, waiting for some reason to go somewhere else.
When the dead would hear a loud noise or detect a living person nearby, only then would they actively try to find their way towards what had gotten their attention. Until then the mindless creatures would just stagger around, bumping into everything around them until they had a reason to do something else.
That was part of the reason going into the houses around town had been so dangerous. He would think the area was clear only to find five or six of the creatures hanging around inside the house.
Once they would see Jim, the dead would start moaning, now having found a reason to do something other than just shuffle around. Any other of the dead with in ear shot, would also at that point have a reason to find their way out of whatever maze that had them corralled.
The dead in the school above him could be there for months unless something gave them a reason to leave.
Jim didn’t plan on giving them a reason to come out after him or the girls.
If they would have had anything of more value than their can opener or Moni’s crayons, he would have considered trying to lure them out of the building so he and the girls could go in and retrieve their valuables.
But getting the dead worked up, trying to lure them out of the building could also backfire.
He could end up attracting all of the dead in town and find himself being surrounded by a huge horde of those things.
It wasn’t worth trying to lure them out for just a can opener and a box of crayons.
For one thing, they hadn’t found a can to open in the last few weeks.
As far as Moni and her crayons, he felt bad for her but he was sure he would find more crayons or colored pens somewhere for her to color with.
Jim walked into the boiler room.
Debbie and Monica were almost finished getting ready to go outside.
Debbie had her hat on and was putting Moni’s hat on, apparently for the umpteenth time as she threatened to tie it on Monica’s head if she took off her hat again.
“The front looks clear enough,” Jim said then asked, “You said you closed the blinds in our room upstairs before the tree fell on the school?”
“I closed it when the wind started blowing the blinds around,” Debbie replied.
“I just wanted to double check before we go out back so all those things still in the school won’t see us when we go out back,” Jim added. “I’m going up behind the dumpsters to make sure it is clear out back then we are going to go.”
“OK, we should be ready to go by then,” Debbie smiled. “Are we still going to go across town near the ball field?”
“Yea,” Jim replied. “I don’t remember seeing too many cars piled up on the back streets out that way. Hopefully we can find a car over there no one was trying to use to get out of town.”
“Maybe we can find a new ball at the ball field,” Monica said. “Ed put too many holes in our ball chewing on it. It’s flat.”
“Maybe after we find a car first,” Jim answered, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Jim pushed the coal bin door open a few inches and listened. When he felt it was safe, he pushed it up and fully open and crawled outside.
It was quiet outside, so Jim crawled to the edge of the dumpsters and looked around.
Jim crawled back to the coal bin door, “OK, hand me Moni.”
Two little arms shot out through the opening and Jim pulled Monica out of the boiler room.
She moved to the side and Jim turned back to the opening and grabbed Ed.
After handing Ed to Monica he pulled Debbie out of the basement.
“We’re getting good at this,” Jim whispered as he closed the old metal bin door.
“Follow me and stay close,” Jim said. “We’re going to go out through the back of the playground and take the back streets to the ball field.”
When they reached the end of the dumpsters he heard Debbie.
“Shrimp, where is Ed’s rope?”
Monica looked at Ed wiggling around in her arms then looked at Debbie,” I forgot.”
“Jim,” Debbie whispered. “We need to get a rope for Ed.”
Jim looked back and saw Ed wiggling around in Moni’s arms and licking at her face.
“You wait here,” Jim smiled, “I’ll go back down and find something we can use. If you see any of the dead before I get back, go back inside.”
“Maybe you should get a rope for the Shrimp too while you’re down there,” Debbie sighed, “she’s in one of her moods today.”
“I am not,” Moni protested.
“You listen to Debbie,” Jim said. “This is important.”
“OK,” Monic replied.
Jim smiled and opened the bin door and slipped back inside.
Debbie moved to the edge of the dumpsters to keep watch.
Jim had only been gone for a few minutes when Ed went shooting by Debbie and ran towards the corner of the school building.
Debbie turned just in time to grab Monica to keep her from running out after the pup.
“I have to get Ed,” Monica protested.
“This wouldn’t have happened if you would have brought Ed’s rope,” Debbie said.
“His regular rope is upstairs,” Monica replied, “I forget to get Ed another one. Sorry. But we have to get Ed, she might get lost.”
Debbie sighed, “I’ll go get Ed but you stay here. If I’m not back right away, you stay here and wait for Jimmy and then you can show him where I went. Under no circumstances do you go out there, understand?”
“I understand,” Monica replied as she watched Ed run along the back of the building.
“Promise me,” Debbie said.
“OK, I promise. Just hurry and catch Ed before she gets lost,” Monica pleaded.
Debbie gave Monica a long stare, “Stay.”
Debbie turned and ran out from behind the dumpsters and stayed close to the building.
She watched Ed run.
“Damn Ed can run fast for having such short legs,” Debbie thought, “but then again she does have four of them.”
Debbie ran towards the corner, making sure to keep her eyes on the playground to watch for the dead.
Survivors in a Dead World Page 23