by Walls, Annie
“Same way I got out. The exact same place I sent Marie and Michelle out. Our spot we rigged for going off-base.”
His stare is intense. “You know they didn’t make it, don’t you?” I swallow hard and nod. “You want that happening to Julie?”
“You didn’t see—”
“—what you saw. I know that, but what I don’t know is how you’re going to breach it. You already know about the broadcast still urging survivors their way. We’ve sent people in as survivors and haven’t heard a peep. You want to know why?” I only stare at him. “We think the base has the resources to know who is who, and anyone tied to the US military is either killed or held against their will. Everyone else is believed to be safe for the time being.”
“Do you know what the next step is?” I watch him rub his face while worrying his bottom lip with his tongue. A sure sign he’s about to lie or omit. “Don’t fucking think about it, Mac.” I push him away from the door. His loyalties will never waver from duty.
“I’m supposed to be on the lookout for someone to go in.” He shakes his head and glances toward the community. “But no one here is cut out for it, except you, but you’re known at the base.”
“Someone?”
“Smart, resourceful, and not connected with the US government from before or now. They need to be able to gain trust for room to maneuver undetected. It will take a while for that. Not to mention, any preparation training that would need to be done beforehand.”
Now I know why he’s been reluctant to tell me. Time. Time I don’t want to waste. Laughter cuts through the parking lot, and Guido’s lap dogs are heading this way, dragging a wagon with a huge barrel on it. One of them punches the other and he trips sideways almost knocking the barrel off. They stop and start arguing.
Mac and I glance at each other. “Good luck finding someone smart.” I flash a smug grin.
There’s no humor as he looks at me. “I’m not going to talk you out of it, am I?”
“No, but I’ll just check it out. It’ll get colder before too much longer. This is my last chance for a while.”
He accepts this with a nod.
“You can still come,” I add.
“Rudy, you’re my friend and there’s not much I wouldn’t do for you. You should know that by now, but not this. I’m not going into the unknown against orders.”
He turns to walk away as Jocko starts filling my tank. “I lied about Dex,” I call out and automatically feel better about getting something of our past off my chest. He stops and turns his head to see me out of his peripheral vision. “I sent him with Marie and Michelle.”
His shoulders slump a little, and he looks at me without turning around. “You’re a bastard. I could’ve gone the rest of my fucking life without knowing that.”
As he stomps back to the community, I know he is trying to protect me in his own way. Not telling me things is his way of keeping my mind in a kind of peace, even if I’d rather know what he knows.
Then
Something cold on my neck startled me awake. I opened my eyes to find larger blue ones looking at me anxiously. “Sorry to wake you, but we found some easy pickings,” Taylor said from behind Julie. She was squatting with the door open. He lifted a jug of orange juice. “Power is out, but it’s still cold enough to drink, so it hasn’t been out long.”
I didn’t reply because I didn’t care. They exchanged a glance, and Julie looked back at me. “We think you should drink this. It can’t hurt. Vitamin C and all that.” She swallowed and waited for a response.
I took Julie’s makeshift towel. “I can clean myself.”
“Take all the time you need,” Taylor added, backing away.
Waiting for Julie to leave was pointless since she sat there staring at me. “Is there something you need? Otherwise, I’d like to be left alone.”
“When A-Aaron was attacked, he was fevered within a half hour.” Irritation squirmed its way through me at the stumble over his name. I forced my hand to relax from the fist it was in.
“So?”
Her face flushed red and she stood. “It’s been a couple of hours, and you’re fine so far. Try to be optimistic. I hate when you get like this.”
“I didn’t realize you’re an expert in such matters. You have no fucking clue how it works, Julie. So forgive me for not being optimistic about the unknown.”
Taylor spoke and I didn’t appreciate it then, but I’d never forget what he said. “He’s right, Julie. It’s okay to fear the uncertain. But in this case, I think we should be grateful for our ignorance.” He looked to the sky. “Can you imagine how frightening it must be with all the knowledge?”
After my cleaning session, I noticed the scratches weren’t as bad as I thought and gained some hope. Taylor opted to drive and it was about a half hour before we passed a vehicle on the side of the road, covered in zombies.
“Slow down,” I told Taylor. As he pulled to a crawl, some of the zombies noticed us and ambled our way. I scanned inside the car, seeing a woman’s face through the window. She was holding something close, and upon watching, a red-faced little girl peeked out. As my resolve strengthened, I said, “We have to help them.”
“We should just go,” Julie cut in, but Taylor was on the same page. “Let’s do it.”
8
Then
“What are you thinking? Look how many of them there are,” Julie complained from the backseat.
The brakes squealed to a stop as I made quick work undoing my guitar strap so I could attach the quiver full of arrows to me. “This is how it’s going to go.” I glanced at Taylor to make sure he was paying attention. “Taylor and I are going out there. Jules, you’ll be our backup, but don’t use the gun unless you absolutely have to. Is that doable, or do I have to waste time locking you in the trunk?”
She glanced at the horde we were about to face. “Yes.”
“Good. Taylor, ready?” I asked, slipping on the quiver and grabbing my bow. The dead were getting closer. Shuffles and groans softly entered the car and thickened the atmosphere.
“Ready,” he said, taking a deep breath. The baseball bat waved in the air as he showed it to me. To my complete and utter shock, Taylor hopped out, yelled a war cry, and ran through the throng of vehicles.
Julie gasped. “Wow.”
I only watched in awe as a horde of zombies made their way after him. Loud clacking commenced when Taylor started to hit anything he passed with the bat. I winced, hoping he wouldn’t draw any more than he could handle.
Nocking an arrow, I opened the car door and stood behind it, taking aim at a zombie still intent on getting in the woman’s car. The woman startled as the zombie slumped into the window with a burst of gore.
Taylor’s racket echoed down the street but faded away. Worry pierced me for a brief second, but I had to have faith he could take care of himself.
After taking out the rest of the lingering zombies, I made my way over and looked into the car. Two faces with wide eyes gawked at me.
The handle jiggled in uselessness when I tried the door. “Unlock it.”
The woman shook her head. Her chest started to rise and fall rapidly, and her nostrils flared in panic. A grunt cut across the street, announcing a zombie on its way.
I jostled the door handle. “I’m not going to hurt you, okay? We need to get out of here. Now!”
She looked around me at the oncoming zombies, but she still resisted. It took everything in me not to kick the car and act like a maniac. That was what she was afraid of. Her eyes took in my appearance with apprehension. My gaze followed hers. Dried blood and other fluids stained my clothing from our escape of the apartment complex.
Both of my hands flew and smacked the window. The little girl’s tear-covered face disappeared into the woman’s shoulder. “We are going to the quarantine. If you stay here, you’ll die.” I pointed to the girl. “So will she.” I didn’t bother mentioning I risked my own life to help them.
Her brows drew in dee
per. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.
Pent-up frustration and anger got the better of me. I put my face level with hers. “You’re a damned idiot!” I bellowed through the window. The little girl startled and cried out as the woman winced.
I stalked toward the cop car and nocked another arrow.
“Wait!”
I paused. She was climbing out of the car, holding the wailing girl. I stuffed down irritation and the urge to leave her there. Zombies made their way around the trunk of her car, and I aimed my arrow. The woman screamed and crouched down. The arrow flew, and the thud of a body hitting the ground about five feet from the woman made her yelp.
More of them moseyed toward us as I let an arrow fly. She wouldn’t stop staring at the horrid sight in front of her. “It’s clear, but we need to go.” The woman stood and hurried my way.
I rushed her past me but stayed to take care of some close ones. Julie helped them into the backseat. A zombie pitched forward and hit the ground. Behind it stood Taylor, looking like a badass blond version of Ash Williams. He was splattered in carnage and kept on slaughtering nearby zombies.
To help him, I shot some nearing him before he could get overwhelmed. When piles of bodies scattered the ground, I took a precious minute to retrieve some arrows.
Taylor was at the driver’s side door when he yelled, “Hurry!”
Following his line of sight, my eyes widened at the mass ambling through the cars. I stepped back without thinking and tripped backward over a corpse. Nausea went through me when I touched a bloated one to get to my feet. A hand clamped down on my ankle from the pile of bodies. I jerked away and stomped on its head. I swallowed bile when it felt like a fresh Jack-O-Lantern splitting open. An adolescent memory lost to the unbelievable state of affairs.
Pushing everything to the back of my mind, I shot up and ran to the car. I hopped in the front seat, the child crying in the back, and Taylor peeled out before I could close the door all the way. The car rammed a few zombies in the way, but getting through the mass of vehicles was trickier.
Taylor pulled the car onto the grassy shoulder as fast as he could. All three girls shrieked when he hit an imperceptible pothole that jarred the car down on my side.
Once past all the obstacles, the tension in the car relaxed a bit. The girl only sniffled, but the rest of us were silent.
I didn’t say anything or look into the back seat. Anger still pulsed through me at the woman and her stupidity. The whole thing could have been avoided. I knew I shouldn’t blame her, so the best thing for me to do was ignore them.
Driving through the grass around other vehicles got tedious after about three hours. We were well out of Louisiana on I-55. It started to get worse with piled cars the closer we got to Jackson. We passed a few living people, but we couldn’t hold any more.
“Why is the pile-up so bad? It wasn’t like this in Louisiana.” Taylor broke the silence with his question.
“I don’t know, but I think it’d be best if we found a rural highway to take. Preferably before we run out of gas. We should switch vehicles anyway. We’re attracting too much attention.” I leaned over to glance at the fuel gauge. We were getting low.
“I don’t think it’s a great time to switch cars,” he stated, looking out of his window at a man flagging us down. Taylor kept driving. He was right. We’d get bombarded.
“Get off the interstate when you can so we can switch and find a map.”
The radio also became a point of irritation. Crazy bastards with modified ham radios illegally dominated the police scanner frequencies and I finally stopped trying to find a useful channel. I just hoped the base would still be a place to go and be safe until we figured out what was going on and what was being done about it.
Another half-hour and the gas light came on. Taylor finally made it to an exit. We noticed fewer living people and more zombies.
“Look.” Taylor pointed to a hatchback car that had run into an electric pole. There hardly seemed to be any damage, but there was an obvious zombie inside.
“Perfect.”
We pulled the car to a stop right next to it. Taylor and Julie had gathered enough supplies to last us a long time, so we needed to switch everything over quickly. So far, we hadn’t drawn any attention.
After I took care of the zombie, I rolled the body into a ditch while Taylor started the car to make sure it ran fine. Everyone did their part to put supplies in the new vehicle. I loaded two cases of bottled water into the back and turned to see the little girl watching me.
She had large brown eyes and a soft, round face. “Hi,” I said and smiled down at her.
“Hi. What’s your name?” Her little voice was nothing but sweet, and I was suddenly glad her mother made the right decision, even though she pissed me off in the process.
“Rudy—”
“Michelle,” the woman interrupted. She came around the car and picked the little girl up. “Sorry, she won’t bother you again.”
I scrutinized the little girl and wondered when was the last time she had something to eat. “There’s food back here if you’re hungry. Your mom, too.”
“Oh, um, Michelle is my sister. I’m Marie.” She held out her hand. I shook it and noticed how young she was. I assumed they resembled each other like a mother and daughter would.
“His name is Rudy,” Michelle told her.
Marie must have seen something on my face because she felt the need to explain. “I know, we’re 18 years apart. Everyone thinks she’s my daughter.”
“Keep her close.” I turned my attention away, and to everyone else I said louder, “Ready to go? We need to get out of here.”
Then
The rest of the trip went much the same way. The rural roads were just as bad as the interstates. The closer we came to our destination, the more of the living we ran into. Most people were injured and the rest almost hostile in survival of the fittest. We made sure to keep to ourselves and only went into defensive mode when necessary.
We switched cars a few times. Sleep was damn near impossible, and I rarely got any.
By the time we made it to Clarksville, I was ready to be away from all of my companions. It was a bad thing when I’d prefer a six-year-old’s company to an adult’s. It wasn’t smart, but over the past three days I’d grown fond of Michelle.
Taylor liked the little girl, too. Although, he’d broken down a few times when talking to her, and the encounters made me remember his pregnant wife we had left behind. It surprised me he never blamed me for it, but he was broken. It was obvious when we weren’t fighting for our lives.
Out of all of them, Julie worried me the most. During down times, she’d get hysterical one minute and go into a calm state the next. Sometimes she would get pale and stare into space as if she were in shock. Even though she hadn’t said Aaron’s name since the day in the backseat, I believed she grieved over him, but with me there she didn’t know how to handle it. Her bizarre actions seemed to make Taylor nervous.
We were all subdued, and I sat in the backseat with Marie. Michelle was curled against my side, but I didn’t mind. It made me feel good she felt safe enough to sleep. The moonlight and zombie groans filtered through the windows. Taylor had stopped the car a few hours before dark and we watched through the front windshield as some kind of light made the sky glow an orange hue. The zombies shuffled in its direction like to a beacon of some sort.
“What do you think it is?” Taylor’s whisper echoed through the car, but everyone knew he was asking me.
“The base.” What else could it be? Gunshots went off every so often, and by the map, we knew it sat a mile or so ahead. We had already decided to wait until morning to show up. Taylor turned to look at me. I realized I had stated the obvious and what he meant was the orange sky. “From the gunshots, I’d say they’re burning bodies.”
Taylor’s eyes widened and Marie let out a small gasp. He turned back around to stare. “That’s a big pile of bodies.” There wasn’t much else to say
about it.
9
Then
The glowing sky faded with morning light, but I didn’t see it until awakened. “Rudy!”
Bolting straight up, my sleepy gaze followed Taylor’s exclamation. Gunshots went off all around us, and zombies dropped to the ground. Men in full military garb took charge of all the dead. They opened car doors, sometimes shooting inside and other times speaking harshly before people emerged.
The revving of an engine echoed as a vehicle made its way over the grassy terrain and stopped yards away while some more men piled out of it.
By this time, Michelle had woken. Marie embraced her, whispering. A few of them surrounded our car. “Is anyone injured?” A deep voice reverberated through the glass at Taylor.
He shook his head. “No. We’re all fine.”
“That remains to be seen. How many?” The man glanced in the backseat, and without thinking, I leaned forward to cover Michelle. The man’s eyes narrowed under bushy brows and tapped the window with the nose of his rifle. “Get out. All of you.”
After a moment of hesitation, we complied. “Occupations?” he asked and looked from one of us to the other. The air of authority he emitted was palpable.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
He sighed at my question, reminding me these men were only doing their jobs. “Anyone of use gets immediate attention. Doctors, nurses, retired military?” Getting a good look at all of our faces, he seemed to come to his own conclusion. The man snapped his fingers and twirled them in the air in indication. “Civilians! Search and report,” he called to his soldiers. With that, he moved on to another group of soldiers several yards away.
One by one, I watched as three different soldiers searched Taylor, Julie, and Marie at a swift pace. The haste made them rougher than they should be. It took a few minutes to figure out they were searching for injuries. A guy knelt in front of Michelle, jerking her shirt enough to show future intimate parts. Her body quivered. Her gaze met mine, tears spilling down her face as she was lurched around backward. Looking to Marie, she watched in complete helplessness and horror. Heat burst on my neck and face. I couldn’t believe this was happening. We’d done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment, especially a little defenseless girl. Even Julie was in disbelief.