by Dan Decker
And if it kills me, I won’t get up and terrorize those left behind.
The wind dusted the back of my sweat soaked neck. The straps of my pack rubbed my shoulders. The vegetation crunched silently under my feet with each step.
I came through the undergrowth and found Max at the bottom of the tree, clawing at the same place Bill had before.
Are they on the same wavelength?
Max’s back was to me. I was relieved to see his pack was still attached, dangling from his waist. I had watched to make sure it had not fallen off as I had chased after him.
I spotted Jen in the tree and was about to wave when she made eye contact. She mouthed something I was not able to make out but that was probably for the best. Judging by the look on her face she was not happy with me or the choices I had been making.
Sliding forward, I swapped the machete to my right hand and held the hammer in the left. My plan was to make a smooth cutting motion to severe the last remaining strap of the pack.
After I had the bag I was going to run. It might have been safer to go up the tree but I was not about to get cornered again, even if it meant I had to go for miles.
Once I stole the bag, Max might chase me for a moment but he would more likely just keep clawing at the tree once I got away.
When I was five steps from Max, I checked to make sure there were no other zombies headed my way. I expected to see Sandy and David come out of the dense foliage, but it was quiet. I continued only once I was sure I was in the clear.
As I made the final step that would put me close enough to cut the strap, Max turned and growled.
I stepped forward, pushing him with the hammer like it was spear while swinging at the strap with my machete. I missed and cut into a pocket of Max’s cargo pants.
It roared as if offended I had harmed its clothing, it clawed at me while I shoved it with the hammer. It tripped on a root and almost lost his balance. I shoved it again and swung with my machete, finally severing the strap and sending the pack to the ground.
I stepped back, glancing over my shoulder to make sure I was not about to trip. I assumed Max would have no attachment to the pack and would come after me.
Max climbed to its feet, let out a roar, and charged, just as I wanted.
“Get the pack and take the radio to Sharon,” I yelled up to Jen as ran. “She is cowering in her tent but she is the only one who knows how to work it.”
I glanced back when Jen jumped out of the tree. When I saw how she landed I feared she might have hurt herself.
Then she looked at me and roared.
38
I ran into the jungle. My heart raced in my chest as the branches tore my arms. I had wondered briefly if Max would attack Jen, but the two chased me as one. After I had lost them in the undergrowth, I circled back to the tree and to my great relief found the pack where Max had dropped it.
I unzipped the bag and emptied the contents, tossing them to the side like they were useless possessions. When I pulled out Max’s phone I was about to toss this as well until I remembered that I owed it to his family to take it back.
After slipping it into my pocket I continued to dig. As I got near the bottom, fear began to take hold that I would not find the radio, that Jen had been wrong.
It’s not like I can ask follow up questions.
My hand touched hardened plastic when I pushed past a jacket that I feared was the last remaining item in the pack. As my fingers wrapped around it, I recognized it was the right size for a portable radio.
I held my breath while I brought it out.
The radio, at long last.
I tossed the pack to the side. I had the only thing that mattered. A way out of this nightmare.
As I looked in the direction of camp, I wondered if Sharon was where I had last seen her. It sounded like the fight between Dave and Sandy was over.
Perhaps they had figured out that the creature on the other side was another zombie.
I hesitated for a long couple of minutes, wondering if I should go back for Sharon despite the fact I did not know how to call our contacts. Surely somebody would respond to an emergency call.
She had shown her true colors by going to ground when things had gotten difficult.
I sighed.
Even if I could have lived with a decision to leave her behind, I needed her to work the radio, and we needed to find the others who were still missing. I had only seen her use the radio a couple of times and could not remember the call signs.
I do not even know our location.
I headed towards her tent, wishing I had paid better attention when she had used the radio.
As I stepped inside I almost hoped she was gone. After my eyes adjusted to the lower light I thought she might have left until I saw movement underneath her cot.
Thanks for the help.
“Here’s the radio,” I said quietly. “You ready to get us out of here?”
39
Sharon looked at the radio with greedy eyes, any trace of fear disappearing from her face. She rolled out from underneath the cot and came to me, holding out a hand. I held it out for a moment but then pulled it back.
“Not here,” I said. “Let’s get out first.” While keeping a careful watch on her, I opened my bag and slipped the radio inside before slinging it over my shoulder
Sharon nodded. “That’s a good idea. Should we head to the extraction point?”
“What about the others?” I asked.
“They’re dead.”
“We have yet to see Carmen, Frank, Jim, or Harold. I’m not going to just give up on them.” I did not mention Eric or Mike, assuming both were dead.
“Jen?”
I inhaled sharply and could not find the words. Anything I might say would condemn Sharon for hiding while Jen died so I just shook my head.
“We’ll help if we find anybody else,” she said, “but we need to get out of here.”
“Where is your flare gun?” I asked. “It might draw out the others and the zombies won’t know what it means. We should get out of camp and fire it up.”
Sharon stared at me for a long moment before digging into her bags again, when she came out with it I felt a release of tension in my chest.
It was impossible to go through the jungle looking for the others. If they were alive, this was the only reasonable way to find them.
“I’ll give them thirty minutes,” Sharon said. “That’s it.”
“Fine.”
Sharon frowned. “But I’m not waiting before we call out. Radio first, flare second.”
“Agreed,” I said wondering if that would be sufficient time for the others.
I studied her as she stared at me, each of us trying to guess what the other thought. For my part I was concerned that if she got the radio she would try to go on without me. The radio was the one thing that guaranteed me a ticket out of this miserable jungle. I was not going to just hand it over to her.
“Let’s slip out the back,” I said.
Sharon bit her lip, an unreadable look on her face. She nodded towards camp. “I’m not leaving without the specimen.”
“Are you kidding?” I lowered my voice as I continued to speak, trying my best to keep the consternation I felt from bubbling to the surface. “We don’t need it. We just need to get outta here. Isn’t your life more important?”
“We owe it to the families of those who have been injured to not let them die in vain.”
“Injured?” I shook my head and sputtered. “In vain? They have been turned into monsters. I think bringing back the cause is hardly the solution.” I held up my bag. “Anytime I have come across somebody’s cell phone I picked it up so we can give it to their family.”
I had considered going to Sandy’s tent to look for hers, but discarded the idea. I was not sure I wanted to go inside after she had been holed up in there for three days while changing to a monster. The information I had already collected would have to do. I was not going to risk my neck fo
r anything more.
“Do you know the call signs?” Sharon’s voice was calm, but her eyes calculating.
She had me and I knew it. I might have the radio, but the chances of me convincing somebody to rescue us, particularly when I did not even know our location, would be about as futile as trying to throw a paper airplane from a tree and hoping it got word to the extraction team.
“I thought not. You should have paid better attention.” Sharon shook her head while I ground my teeth. I thought about bringing up how she always made sure to have most of the radio conversations by herself and that if she really wanted to disseminate information, she could have sent out emails before we left. I had printed out every relevant email and knew I did not have our coordinates or callsign information.
“We go for the specimen,” she said, “I won’t leave without it.”
I studied her for a long moment before nodding. I did not want to risk saying something because the anger coursing through my body could have taken me a different direction, a direction that would not get me out of the jungle. Like it or not, she was my only ticket out of here, just as I was her only option as long as I had the radio.
With a grim smile, Sharon shouldered her pack, clicking the waistband and chest strap before walking out the door.
40
The camp was quiet which made me feel strange because of all the commotion from before. My first order of business was to check on Bill’s remains. They were secure and not moving, but I did not kid myself into thinking I had destroyed them.
I knew better.
I considered taking the gas can from the generator and lighting up the tent, but was afraid that would just free the monster. I shuddered when I imagined a burning zombie walking around.
“Hurry,” I said under my breath.
Sharon put a finger to her lips without responding otherwise.
I wanted to strangle her but somehow kept my hands at my side. As she took a step forward I almost reached for the machete but decided I did not trust myself with it in hand, so instead I grabbed the hammer from where I had pushed it between my belt and pants.
I must have made a sound as I pulled it out because Sharon looked back and gave me a considering look before putting her back to me as if to say she did not fear me.
I followed after several deep breaths, all while exhaling as quiet as possible so she did not know my exact frame of mind.
As we approached the canopy where our table had been set up prior to me using it as a weapon against Bill, I heard breaking twigs from behind and spun.
Mike walked into camp.
I almost attacked; it was not until I looked into his face that I dropped the hammer to my side.
Somehow, against all probability, he had survived the night without either turning into a zombie or falling prey to something else even though he was covered in blood.
“Boy am I glad to see you guys,” he said. If he had any ill will about us not helping him, it did not show.
Sharon held up a finger as I hissed. “Quiet, there’s still monsters about.”
Mike nodded and looked as if he expected them to come out at any moment. I could not help but study him, intent on making sure he did not have a bite that would change him into a zombie when my back was turned. How was he still alive? I was certain all the blood would get him.
I can’t turn my back on either of them.
It still bothered me that after the lizard had bit Sandy it took days for her to become a monster, whereas everybody else had taken less than a few minutes.
I had not seen Max bite Jen and she had talked coherently right up until she had tried to eat me.
It was madness.
It was all madness.
If I ever returned to the states, I would never leave the lab. Heck, I would never again travel internationally.
As Mike approached I felt a shiver down my back and turned. There was nothing but empty jungle and shredded tents. I could see no more than six feet out of camp before it turned into greens and browns.
“I thought I was alone.” Mike whispered from beside me.
I nodded while studying Sharon’s back. If I got a moment alone with Mike, I would bring him up to speed on her cowardly behavior. He needed to know he could not trust her if something happened to me. I would also tell him about the radio so Sharon did not just snatch my bag and leave him to die if I became one of the living dead.
Perhaps if I got an opportunity I would hand him the thumb drive as well so he had proof Sharon had not made the discoveries.
I should have recorded her as she hid in her tent. Genizyz might be interested in that.
I had sometimes been ambivalent about her stealing credit, but it was now of the utmost importance she did not claim any of it.
She had not found anything. Not one thing. She had hidden while people had died.
Sharon went to the coolers, carefully moving them as she did. I had expected to find the specimen on the ground so I was surprised when she opened a cooler and I saw that it was back on the almost gone dry ice.
She can stop for a corpse, but cannot bother to help the living.
The struggling zombies were gone. Sandy was no longer trapped inside the tent. It made my skin crawl to think she was wandering the jungle without anything to stop her.
Once we left, what would happen to them? Would they make it to civilization?
Sharon had told us we were hundreds of miles from any town, but I suspected there were people closer than that. One zombie getting out of the jungle would be all it took.
We had a moral obligation to see that never happened.
I looked at the soft cooler with the remains of the eggs I had destroyed and could not hide my satisfaction. Let Sharon have her specimen. At least it was dead and would not live again.
While I thought it strange Sharon had not mentioned the eggs, maybe she had noticed what I had done and just thought it best not to bring it up. Perhaps this was why she had shown so much hostility earlier.
A breeze stirred the branches behind us and I turned, bringing up my hammer but there was nothing there. After all the carnage and fighting, the silence was somehow worse.
At least when I was running from a monster I had something to do. Now I waited not knowing what was behind the next bush.
The fear and dread were much worse.
When Sharon hefted the cooler and acted like she was going to take it with us, I was surprised. It was a bulky plastic affair and if we needed to run she would not get far.
Apparently, she reconsidered as well because she set it down and looked over at the soft cooler. After a glance at me, during which I felt her scathing wrath, she joined us.
“I need to transfer the specimen, but don’t want to be exposed.” She nodded towards one end of camp. “Vince, can you wait there?” She pointed at the other side. “Mike you go over there.”
I was not surprised she had made a request of me, but had given Mike a direct order. Mike did not seem bothered, but he had not witnessed her recent behavior. As Mike trudged off to his appointed corner, I gave Sharon a skeptical look.
“We need each other.” She came closer until she almost touched me, causing me to take a step backward. “We can get through this together. Or not at all. The choice is yours.”
That had been my same sentiment to her back in the tent but it was difficult to maintain because of how everything had happened. I considered her, the anger inside almost making me stalk into the jungle, but I knew that was foolish. I knew my chances if I did.
She can be the bait.
The thought should have filled me with guilt like before when I thought of her dying, but I had no such feelings now. Not after Jen had been turned while Sharon cowered under her cot.
I went to my appointed place and waited for Sharon to move the specimen. As I did I kept watch on my back as much as the surrounding jungle. I did not believe Sharon would try something—thankfully she did not have a gun—but I would not put it pas
t her to try a knife in the back or a club to the head if she thought she could get away with it.
There was a cry in the jungle, but it was far away. I could not tell what it was, but it did not sound like a human or a zombie. I had yet to hear the lizards make anything other than chirping or barking sounds, but I did not think it was one of them either.
I did not keep my eyes in one place for long, choosing to rotate as I stood, fearing an attack could come from any direction. When my eyes settled on a can of kerosene I wondered if it could be used to kill a zombie.
I glanced in Bill’s direction—even though a tent was in the way—and remembered how I had considered taking the fuel to light him on fire.
The can was small enough that it could fit in my pack and while I could not think of a particular use for it, I picked it up and stowed it inside. It added some weight but it was not too bad.
I might be glad to have that before we get out of here.
Sharon was not in view, but I could hear her moving as she shoved things around. I was surprised that it took as long as it did, but eventually she came over with Mike in tow.
“Let’s go,” she said.
I glanced at the soft cooler and when I looked back, Sharon stared straight into my eyes.
“Let’s not talk about what I found in there.” She whispered with a frown. “I know it was you.”
“We can’t let the lizards get back to civilization.”
“I disagree, Sandy could have been infected by any number of things. There is nothing that proves the lizard bites turned her into a zombie.”
I ground my teeth, wanting to rehash what I had already shared, but decided to leave it be. We had the radio. We were leaving.
That was enough.
41
Our extraction point was roughly six miles away, we covered half a mile before we felt it safe to stop and radio our contact. Sharon held out her hand. I stared back without giving her the radio. Mike looked between the two of us, confusion evident on his face.
“What is going on?”