“What do you need my shirt for?” Debbie asked sounding even more confused.
“I don’t need your shirt,” Jim replied as he moved back to the corner of the building and looked out front.
He pulled his head back looked at his sister and said, “I need you and your pink training bra.”
“It’s not a training bra,” Debbie protested.
“Look, this guy is obviously a sick creep. I don’t want him to leave because I think I see a solution to one of our other problems,” Jim started.
“What does my pink bra have to do with anything,” Debbie said. “It’s the only one I have and I don’t want to lose it.”
“You won’t,” Jimmy said. “I want you to run out on the street and look confused.”
“That won’t be hard,” Debbie replied.
“Go out there and jump around like you don’t know what to do next,” Jim said. “When you are sure he has seen you, run back here.”
“OK,” Debbie said, “what will that do?”
“Like I said, the guy is a sicko,” Jim said. “After he sees you, I’m sure he will stop thinking about leaving. If he thinks you are back here by yourself and you don’t know what to do, he will try to grab you before he leaves.”
“Why couldn’t I go out there with my shirt on?” Debbie asked.
“Incentive,” Jim smiled, “Remember you are my hot little sister.”
“Got you,” Debbie smiled, “I have pink panties on too.”
“Don’t get carried away sis,” Jim laughed.
“Just trying to help,” Debbie replied.
“What are you going to do?” Debbie asked.
“Just run back past this corner and make sure he is following you,” Jim said. “Then you’ll see. Just try to look scared when he sees you.”
Debbie smiled and ran out into the street.
She began to look around, watching the guy at the car out of the corner of her eyes.
When she was sure he had seen her, she looked directly at him and made her eyes open wide to look like she had just noticed him.
She stood still, wanting him to think she was frozen in place and so that he could get a good look at her.
When he started to run in her direction, she started to move back towards the corner of the building.
To make it even more interesting, she pretended to fall.
She pretended to be having a hard time getting back to her feet, but when he was half way to her, Debbie stood and slowly started to run towards Jim and the corner of the building.
She almost stopped dead in her tracks when Ed came running out between two cars and ran between her feet.
Debbie was startled to see how close Jamal was getting and picked up her pace and ran for the corner.
Jamal ran around the corner and smiled as he saw Debbie standing there holding Ed.
Then he noticed Jim. He didn’t notice the brick in Jim’s hand until it was about six inches from the side of his head.
Then Jamal didn’t see anything as everything went black.
Debbie smiled as Jim looked at her holding Ed.
“How did Ed get out here?” Jim asked.
“Long story, I’ll tell you later,” Debbie replied.
“Well, you did a good job sis,” Jim smiled.
“Did you have any doubt,” Debbie smiled.
“I think you were over acting a little,” Jim laughed as he handed Debbie her shirt and took Ed. “But it still worked. The guy was obviously a bigger sicko than I thought.”
“I still think the pink panties would have been a nice touch,” Debbie grinned.
“Yea, if we were trying to make him get in his car and get out of town as fast as he could,” Jim teased.
Debbie made a sour face as she pulled her shirt on over her head, “If that’s how you feel then you can run out there in your underwear next time.”
“No problem, Jim grinned. “The next time there is a gang of girls attacking us. I’ll handle it.”
“Creep,” Debbie laughed.
“Let’s go get Moni,” Jim said.
“Why?” Debbie asked, “Are you afraid we are about to get attacked by a bunch of toddlers and you need her for a distraction.”
“I see you are going to be hard to live with for the next few days,” Jim smiled.
Debbie grinned.
“No, there might be more of those creeps around that could come looking for their buddies,” Jim said. “I think we should get out of here at least for the rest of today.”
“Where can we go?” Debbie asked.
“I’m not sure but I thought we would go for a ride first,” Jim smiled.
Debbie’s eyes lit up, “Their car.”
“We have to get the car away from the school in case any of their buddies show up,” Jim said. “Even if they didn’t find us, they would take the car. Who knows if we would ever find another car that would run. We can’t let this one get away. We know this one runs.”
“Good thinking, let’s go,” Debbie said and started towards the back of the school.
When they reached the dumpsters, Jim said, “I’’ll lower you down into the room and you grab our stove and push it and Moni out the window.”
“The Shrimp will be excited to go for a ride,” Debbie said.
“We can get excited when we get out to the car and are going somewhere,” Jim replied. “Just hurry up.”
Jim lowered Debbie down into the boiler room.
A second later the stove appeared at the window.
Jim finished tying the rope to Ed’s collar he had left by the bin door and grabbed the stove.
Next came Monica’s hands up to the window.
Jim put his foot on Ed’s rope, leaned over and pulled Monica out through the opening.
“Ed,” Monica said sounding excited to see her pup.
“Hang on to Ed while I pull up Debbie,” Jim said.
Monica picked up Ed and gave her a hug then she started to lecture her about running away
Jim tried to listen to what must have happened as things started to become clear in his mind.
“Hey, get me out of here?” Debbie called out from down in the boiler room.
Jim laughed and turned around and pulled Debbie out through the opening then closed the door.
“Let’s get moving,” Debbie said.
Jim laughed, “Come on Moni, hang on to Ed.”
They moved around the building.
Jim noticed the small pool of blood next to Jamal’s head.
He thought he should really make sure this guy didn’t get back up later and come looking for him and his sisters, but he didn’t feel right about killing a defenseless person. At least not yet. If things continued on like it has been, he knew he could eventually become that kind of person but he wanted to hang on to his humanity for as long as possible. Besides, if this guy laid here long enough, the dead would do the job for him. He didn’t have a problem with that.
Jim looked around the corner of the building.
“There are two of those creatures coming out of the school. Be quiet and let’s hurry up and get to the car.”
“We have a car?” Monica said looking up excitedly.
“Maybe,” Jim replied.
“What do you mean maybe?” Debbie asked looking startled.
“I have to get it started first,” Jim replied, “That is after we get to the car past those things. I also seriously doubt that they left the keys in the car.”
“I didn’t think of that,” Debbie said now looking worried. “What if there aren’t any keys?”
“Let me check this guy’s pockets,” Jim said.
Debbie watched Jim go over and start to feel the guy’s pockets.
That’s gross,” Debbie said.
“Then you do it,” Jim said.
“No thanks,” Debbie cringed.
“He doesn’t have anything in his pockets,” Jim said. He turned and picked up the brick.
“Let’s go,” he sa
id. “I’ll get in and try to start the car. If I can’t figure out how to get it running in twenty seconds, we run back to the boiler room and try it tomorrow after those things go away. I’m sure there will be a lot more of them coming out of the school before long.”
Debbie nodded and they all ran towards the car.
The first creature noticed them coming and moved in between them and the car.
Jim walked in front of the creature and hit it with the brick.
“Get over by the car,” Jim shouted.
The girls ran over and stood by the car.
Jim ran over, opened the driver’s door and dropped down into the driver’s seat.
He looked at the dash.
The ignition was empty but there were about five wires hanging down below the dash.
“Hurry up Jimmy,” Debbie said. “There are about ten of those things coming out of the building now.”
Jim studied the wires. He knew he would only have enough time for one attempt at this before they would have to run back to the dumpsters.
He looked at the wires. There was a white wire, a black one, a blue one and a green one. Then he noticed the red wire. It had been cut. The red wire hung down in two pieces. The ends of the pieces had bare silver pieces of metal sticking out from the red plastic covering.
Jim grabbed the two pieces and touched them together.
The engine chugged and then started.
Jim twisted the ends together as Debbie pushed Ed and Monica into the back seat.
Next she jumped into the seat beside Jim.
“It looks like they couldn’t figure out how to work the windows,” Debbie said.
Jim pulled the gear shift into drive, “At least they knew how to move the gear shift without smashing it.”
Jim pushed the gas pedal and the car jumped forward.
He drove the car around the wreckage on the street and through the underpass. He continued up Ligonier Street until they reached the top of the little hill at the end of town.
“This is fun,” Monica said. “But Ed keeps trying to stick her head out the window.”
“Just don’t let her jump out the window,” Debbie said. “If she does, I’m not going after her this time.”
Jim looked down the hill and looked out Route 711 as it went out of town. There were cars scattered around over the road as far as he could see, which was about a half mile before Route 711 bent to the left and disappeared into the hillside.
“It looks like this is about as far as some people had made it out of town,” Jim said.
“Where does that road go?” Debbie asked pointing to a small dirt road that went to the left about a hundred feet in front of them.
“I think that just goes out into the country,” Jim replied. “I think I was out that way once or twice. There isn’t anything out that way but farms.”
“That sounds good to me,” Debbie said.
“Me too,” Jim smiled as he hit the gas and the little car started moving again.
Jim turned left and they started down the dirt road, a cloud of dust rising up into the air behind the car.
“Ed’s having fun,” Monica said. “I think she likes riding in a car.”
“Hopefully we will too,” Debbie said as she watched the road ahead. It felt good, for the first time in a year to be out of New Florence.
Chapter 22
Bob looked at Carrie and Tom as they stood by the window in the church choir loft.
“Tie one of the cords around your waist,” Bob said. “Then loop another cord through that cord and let it hang by your side. When you get out to the wire, tie this second cord around the wire. This way if you slip or lose your grip, you won’t fall.”
“I don’t think I can balance on that wire,” Tom said.
“You don’t have to balance on the wire,” Bob laughed. “I don’t think any of us could get across that way. I know I couldn’t.”
“I was starting to wonder if you two had been circus people or something before,” Tom grinned.
Carrie laughed, “No, but honestly I felt like I was living in the circus sometimes.”
“Just watch how I cross the wire and you do the same thing I did,” Bob said. “You just wrap your legs around the wire and pull yourself across with your hands. It shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Maybe not for you,” Tom said looking worried.
Carrie handed Bob the hammer they found in the basement utility room, “Good luck.”
Bob stuck the handle of the hammer down his waist band.
“You too,” Bob smiled.
Bob crawled out the window and balanced on the ledge.
“Tom, hang on to my rope until I get down to the wire, will you?” Bob asked.
“OK,” Tom replied, “but who will hold the rope for me when I go last?”
“Give me one end of that extra rope,” Bob said, “I’ll tie it to the wire and you tie the other end to the radiator. That way you will have something to hold on to.”
“I wish we had a longer rope,” Tom replied.
“That extra rope is long enough. It’s only about three feet to that wire outside the window,” Bob said.
“Yea, but if it was longer, I could just hang on to the wire and you could pull me across,” Tom smiled.
“I would if I could,” Bob laughed.
“Well, nothing is easy anymore,” Tom smiled. “Thanks anyhow.”
“OK, let’s get this done,” Bob said and turned to face the wire.
He bent his knees and crawled across the three feet to where the power line connected to the church.
Bob tied the extra rope to the wire first then he hooked his right leg over the wire.
Next he swung his left leg over the wire.
After tying his safety rope around the wire, he pushed himself and slid out a foot away from the church.
Bob looked back up at the window.
Carrie and Bob’s faces were looking down at him.
“No problem,” Bob said and smiled.
Carrie smiled back but Tom looked worried.
“See you on the other side,” Bob said and began to push away from the church.
After a moving out about fifteen feet, Bob stopped to take a breather and look at the ground below him.
He had been concentrating on getting across the wire. His mind had pushed the sounds of the dead groaning below into the background.
With one glance below the sounds came rushing back into his ears.
“I’m really attracting a crowd,” Bob thought.
Bob stared moving across the wire again. The sight below was making him nervous.
Tom wasn’t the only one that was bothered by heights.
He wasn’t afraid of heights like Tom was, but it still bothered Bob.
Tom was afraid of falling, but height bothered Bob in a different way. It reminded Bob of his past life.
Eight years ago Bob had started college. He didn’t have any idea about what he wanted to do after he got out of school but he felt going to college would help him when he would finally decide what he wanted to do with his life.
The first summer between his freshman and sophomore years in school, Bob took a job with a tree service.
His job was to ride in the bucket and cut branches off of the tops of trees. His company had been hired by the power company that summer to trim the trees around the power lines.
Bob enjoyed the work. It was outdoors with plenty of sun shine and fresh air.
He enjoyed the work so much, Bob had considered dropping out of school and making this his profession.
That ended one day when the bucket operator accidently flipped the bucket. Bob fell out of the bucket and into the trees, finally ending up on the ground thirty feet below with a broken leg.
But it wasn’t all bad. While Bob was in the hospital, he was taken care of by a very attractive blonde nurse named Kathy.
Bob and Kathy soon started dating.
Bob laughed to himself as these thought
s drifted through his mind. When Red had said that she thought Bob enjoyed playing doctor, she had no idea of how right she had been.
Kathy was a good nurse but she was a great playful patient when Bob wanted to play Doctor Bob.
A year later, Bob and Kathy were married. Kathy’s dad had worked at South Hill Ford and when he saw how good Bob was with cars, convinced Bob to take an opening that was available in the service department. Bob quickly was promoted and within a year became the head mechanic.
A year later he and Kathy had twin girls, Beth and Bonnie.
Bob had a story book life but his happy story ended on the day he came home to find his family dead. The world was going to hell, but Bob felt obligated to go to work that day,
a decision that had haunted him every day since.
Bob didn’t want to think about this any longer. He never wanted to think about it at all, but there was always something that frequently triggered these memories. It had been the best time of his life, but like all the good things in the world, it had all ended so fast. It all had also ended in a nightmare.
Now all Bob and everyone else had left was memories. Unfortunately all the memories did was cause pain and remind them about what they had lost.
Bob’s feet bumped into the pole where the line Bob was crossing connected to other lines on the pole.
This brought Bob back to the present and the pain of his memories faded.
Bob looked around. He was now above the sidewalk across the street from the church. Another fifty feet, after he would switch wires, he would be next to the window on the side of the hospital.
Bob couldn’t remember crossing over the last fifty feet on the power line but the dead hadn’t been concentrating on anything but him. There were hundreds of the dead, packed tightly together below him, each struggling to get in the best position to grab on to him.
Bob wrapped his legs tightly around the power line while he untied his safety rope from the line he had crawled across and retied it to the wire that led to the hospital.
Bob grabbed the line and started moving on the new line, this time head first. When he reached the window he wanted to be in position to look inside before smashing the window.
Survivors in a Dead World Page 25