by mike Evans
“Yeah, I hope that there aren’t too many cars,” Aliyah said, missing the point.
“No, not cars, I'm talking about the dead. I don’t want to worry about shooting out in the middle of nowhere. We don’t know if there’s one or a thousand of them out there. I don’t want to think of any hordes with just the five of us going out. Hell, I don’t even know if Lou could shoot something if it meant saving his own life or that of someone else.”
“I have no idea. Why don’t we just say cup half full?” Aliyah said.
Kya was shaking her head, thinking how someone had smashed her cup quite a long time ago, and how she didn’t see it getting put back together anytime soon. She watched Aliyah pull out in front of her and followed closely. Lou had a head start, and the three raced in tow to catch up to him.
When they made it to the gates, Jon got out and raced inside to get the columns to lower and gates to rise. When they were through, he ran back, pulling his vehicle up so the girls could get to the other side, and as Kya went over the last set of columns, he hit the button to put them back up. He realized how stupid this was, leaving the base unattended to and empty, but at the same time, thought that the chances of something or someone coming to raise hell today was far from likely. Jon climbed back into his Humvee, realizing this was one of the heavy stocked ones ready to wage a war on something.
Lou was going slowly, but not stopping. He knew that they needed to get there, if it meant saving this kid. The last thing that he wanted to have was anymore division among his group today. He thought of Clary and Greg on their own, Ellie racing off, and Shaun on his own god knows where. He watched the surrounding area. He didn’t want to go back to Urbandale, but knew that it was their best shot at making it to Clive. As they drove over the bridge connecting the two towns, he looked at the smashed Humvee, resting, weather beaten, and looking old and cold even in the wonderful weather.
He could see his apartment building from the roadway and again thought of his wife and all the friends that he’d lost while they were there and since they had gone to the base. With losing both of his daughters, he’d yet to decide if he would have rather worried about starving to death, or if he’d rather have gone to the base. If he could go back in time, he would have taken his family and a camper and just gone out to the middle of nowhere. But alas, that wasn’t an option, and he was aware of it.
Lou stopped next to the interstate, getting out and looking at it. Joey exited and yelled to him, “You aren’t saying much, Mr. Lou, are you okay?”
“I don’t know, Joey. I just want to make sure I keep you guys safe.”
“Mr. Lou, we are in this together. It isn’t your fault if we get hurt. You aren’t our babysitter. We aren’t babies, Mr. Lou. You and Mr. Clary don’t know that.”
“We know it buddy, we just… Oh my God… Get back in the truck, now, come on.”
Joey couldn’t help himself, his response was to instantly try to see what was going on. He looked behind him, seeing a horde coming from behind an apartment building. The sounds of the engines echoing across the open road was enough to bring them, and in a hurry.
Joey pulled his bat out slowly and Lou barked, “You get your ass in that ambulance, and you do it now, Joey!”
Joey looked like he was going to say something, but knew better. He pointed behind him for the rest to see. When they looked in the mirror, Aliyah started to freak. She punched the horn twice in succession, pointing behind her for Kya and Jon to see. The three of them started moving forward and pulling ahead of Lou.
Jon yelled out the window, “What do you want to do, are you gonna follow us, Lou?”
“Get going, Jon, I don’t think we are going to have much time. If we fall behind, then you just keep going. We all know where we are going. Don’t lose Aliyah though.”
Jon gave a thumbs up, looking more like he was going to puke than hold his smile. He punched the gas, spinning the tires. He sped ahead, skipping going down the interstate ramp. The cars were everywhere and there’d be no time to maneuver through them and keep a safe distance from the dead. Lou could hear them screaming as they made their approach, slowing for nothing in his path short of cars.
Jon checked his rearview mirror, making sure that he was safely ahead before he let off the gas. He could see Aliyah following right up on him, followed by Kya and a trailing Joey and Lou. His heart started to take a break, not beating so hard as the idea that they might survive started to make its way across his body. “I fucking hate this place, I fucking hate this place,” Jon repeated to himself.
Jon was so busy keeping an eye behind him that he wasn’t paying attention to what was coming up in front of him. As he started to come up to the overpass that went under a bridge, he realized he was too late. Jon craned his neck; the dead were standing in a row on the edge of the bridge in tattered clothes that were almost impossible to see, had it not been for them flapping in the wind.
The sun was pouring over their backs, outlining them in the bright light, making them look like demon statues on the bridge. He tried to slow down, but there was no time. The five of them leapt off of the bridge. Jon slammed on the gas, not worrying about anything but putting the distance that he needed to between himself and what was falling towards him. He heard a thud and looked in his rearview, seeing a Turned rolling on the ground and getting some serious road rash.
He then realized his rearview was now giving him a front row seat to a massacre.
Aliyah was paying attention to Kya behind her and didn’t have the reaction time she needed to avoid what was coming down towards her. Two feet, both bloodied and blackened, smashed through her windshield effortlessly; the other two Turned landed on the hood and roof. She screamed, hitting her brakes, trying to think and stop at the same time, but it was already too late for her. She spun the wheel hard, trying to get control. The dead that had just gone through the windshield started clawing at the glass, trying to get the warm treat that was Aliyah on the inside. She spun the wheel, sending the truck skidding sideways. The tires left a trail of smoke and rubber as she slid.
She was reaching for her pistol when the truck flew to the side and began a violent roll. The Turned that had been reaching to get her was instantly smashed from the force, crushing its body. The bones were almost as loud as the metal being smashed and scraped along the asphalt. Aliyah, on the inside, had been thrown back and forth as the truck spun. She hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt, and by the time the truck stopped, she was a bloody mess, and her scent made her even more appealing to the dead that were approaching. The two dead that had been on it abandoned the truck, jumping off and screaming at the truck like they hated it as they began chasing it, until it came to a smoking stop.
In her daze, Aliyah looked around the truck, trying to remember exactly what had happened. She saw light coming through the shattered windows and her brain couldn’t process the bottom half of The Turned now lying inside the truck. It’d been ripped in half exactly at its waist. She climbed outside and her world came rushing back to her as she saw the original two that had leapt onto the Humvee, as well as two new Turned sprinting towards her. She had just barely made it to her feet when one of the Turned leapt off the ground and collided with her, sending her backwards off balance. She slammed into the truck behind her and hit her head again, sending her already spinning world into an even more out-of-control ride.
Aliyah screamed for help, not sure what to do. Kya stepped on the gas, pulling up alongside her, rifle out and ready. She skidded to a stop, pulling the trigger once and then twice, dropping the two standing behind her. One of the two stared at the other then back at her, and the question they were communicating about silently was answered. The Turned still standing leapt into the air, much higher than she could have expected.
Kya looked around trying to see where it went until her questions were very quickly answered. The Turned landed on her roof with a very loud thud, which became louder and louder as it was trying to force its way into the truck
. Kya punched the gas as a hand came through the roof. She hit at it with her pistol but it only got angrier. Kya drove straight in front of Jon, who was attempting to get a shot on one of the two still remaining.
Joey watched, feeling his heart break as he saw the scene unfolding in front of him. Lou screamed, “Oh, fucking damn it! No! No!”
Lou floored the ambulance, doing his best to keep the unstable vehicle on the road. He pushed down on the horn, trying to do his best to get their attention. It ignored him though, and The Turned reached down ripping into the side of Aliyah’s neck.
Blood poured from her wound and The Turned’s mouth. It salivated at the taste of young flesh in its mouth. Lou started punching the steering wheel as he skidded to a stop. Aliyah began flopping on the ground as the blood gushed from her wound. The Turned reached back down, taking one more bite from her shoulder, and enjoyed it just as much as the first bite. She began screaming on the ground, and the physical transformation was easy to see.
Joey’s eyes began to tear up and he touched the glass, wanting to reach through it and save her. Joey didn’t ask for permission, because he never did. He gripped his bat, opening the door and sliding out, pushing Lou’s equally massive arm off his own.
Joey saw Jon trying his best to get a shot at either of the two dead, soon to be three, but failed. Kya was screaming in the truck—not from fear, but frustration at the circumstances at hand. Rage was pouring from her, but she knew if she left the truck that she was trading her life for Aliyah’s, which was already compromised and gone.
She watched The Turned. It had stopped chewing and was now guarding her, letting her turn fully into one of them. Aliyah began to rise, looking around and seeing her new world through a set of fresh, bloody eyes. Joey ran straight for Kya, determined to not lose anyone else today. The Turned saw him coming and did its best to get it’s arm free from the roof.
Joey made it up to the SUV, jumping into the air and landing on the tailgate bumper with one foot, then up onto the roof with his second step. As he came down on the roof, he had a look of determination like he only had when it meant he was protecting his friends. Joey had his bat up high over his head, and came down quickly within a foot of the dead. When he did, Joey brought the bat down so hard that the spikes that Clary had forged into the shaft had completely disappeared deep inside its skull.
Black, bloody sludge came slowly from its nose and mouth and its legs grew weak. Joey screamed, still holding onto the bat, and kicked the dead in the gut, sending it back off of the roof and onto the hood. Black sludge dripped from his bat onto the car. Joey’s breaths were heaving, and he looked over to Jon, whose mouth was agape.
Lou was screaming from the ambulance, “What the hell are you doin’, Joey? Get off that fucking roof before those things-”
Joey looked to Lou, shaking his head, tears were still making their way down his cheeks. He hated the dead, and that killing them never made him feel any better, because deep down he knew they weren’t to blame; that it was just their nature. Or at least, that was how it had been explained to him.
The Turned on the ground saw his brother fall and zeroed in on Joey. It jumped, and in two steps, collided with the youth. Joey saw it coming at the last second and brought his bat around, catching it off guard, though he missed the skull shot. He hit the shoulder instead, but not with the force that he needed to sink it in deep.
The Turned screamed at him, feeling no pain, but not getting the blood and flesh that it so desired. Joey let go of the bat momentarily and punched it in the face as it came towards him. Joey felt pain explode through his hand. The muscles and bone were like one in The Turned, and he knew instantly that he had hurt himself.
The Turned brought down a fist, which might as well have been a sledgehammer with the force that it exuded. It knocked Joey backwards off the side of the truck. It bent down, aiming to land atop of Joey. Joey looked nervously for any way that he could to escape, but no opportunities presented themselves. He knew he would not so much as make it to his feet before it would be on top of him, and the feeling of teeth digging into his back would be racing through his body.
Joey squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for it to happen, not ready to die but knowing there was nothing he could do. An explosion of gunfire erupted, making him look where it was coming from.
Jon had kicked the door of his Humvee hard enough to bend the hinges backwards. He hit full auto on his rifle as he exited. The thought of losing Joey was heartbreaking to him and before he had a full aim, he was already pulling the trigger. He ran a thirty-round magazine from the dead’s knee to hip, ending at its head. By the time eight bullets had impacted its head, there was practically nothing left of it. Lou watched this, doing the sign of the cross. He’d had nothing to have hope for lately, and much like everyone else, he wanted nothing to do with any more of it.
Aliyah screamed, taking the thirty feet between herself and the truck in three leaps. Kya couldn’t get her aim on her. Lou floored the gas, and the engine screamed under the pressure. He aimed it directly for her, and Aliyah jumped in the air, landing on Lou’s hood. He never let off the gas, smashing the ambulance into the side of her ruined Humvee. When she hit, it was with such a force that her top and bottom half split, but no one told her that, apparently, because she climbed up the hood, pounding at the window.
Lou grimaced, watching her entrails sliding out of her as she climbed. Lou pulled a forty-five-caliber pistol, pointing it at her skull, and squeezed once as his hand and lip both quivered. The cab erupted from gunfire and Lou’s ears went numb, not able to hear anything. Aliyah slumped onto the windshield, and her blood dripped through the glass and onto the dash.
Lou let go of the gun, letting it fall to his side. He hated firearms and had only learned how to use them in preparation for one day needing to defend his daughters, or the base that they once thought was their sanctuary. Lou let the door swing open. He looked to the side of Aliyah as he got out, glancing at the hood and praying that he hadn’t cracked the radiator.
Kya got out of the Humvee, looking to Jon, who was pointing the rifle left and right, keeping vigilant in case any more of the dead were roaming around. He walked up slowly, never lowering the gun an inch.
Joey looked at Aliyah slumped over the ambulance and started to cry freely. “Why… why do they gotta do that? Why, Kya?!” Joey yelled.
Kya walked around, helping him up. He winced when she gripped his hand. “I think it’s broken, Kya. There’s something wrong with my hand. I don’t know what to do.”
Kya saw Joey’s tears and it did nothing to help her try to fight her own back. She looked at Aliyah. The back of her skull had brains coming out of it, covering her neck.
Lou screamed, “Hey! Hey, are you two okay? Are you all right?”
“Joey hurt his hand, Lou, you want to take a look at him?”
“I think we need to get to that camp. These things are everywhere, and I don’t want to stay here. Those shots are only going to make whoever wasn’t around before, come this way even quicker. You two get in that Humvee and we don’t stop for anything. Jon, you okay?”
Jon gave a thumbs up. Lou screamed again, “We don’t stop for anything! Get your ass moving, now. We are rolling out. Let's get out of here!”
Jon didn’t say anything; he got in, pulling the door shut, but with the hinge messed up couldn’t get it to close completely. He looked at the door, removing the hinge and letting the door fall to the ground. “Great, now I have nothing between me and the dead. This day sucks.”
Joey yelled, “Jon, quit talkin’ to yourself and get in. Did you want me to ride with you?”
Jon waved him off, backing the truck up and waiting for Lou. He felt bad for Lou having to slide the top half of Aliyah’s body off the ambulance. Lou caught her, lying her down on the ground with her lower half, and looking at her blackened, dead pupils. The light brown, hazelnut color was gone; only blood and darkness remained. He went to the back of the ambulance, looking
through the supplies, and selected a crisp sheet, which he knew would not remain white for long. Lou spread it out in front of himself and brought it down gently over her face. He then tucked it around her sides so that it would not blow away until they were gone. He wanted to give her a proper burial, but unfortunately, this was the best that he could offer the young girl. He watched as the blood soaked through the sheet, and it began to dampen and cling around her face. Lou patted her shoulder and got up, not looking back, and waved his hand in a circle, letting everyone know it was time to go.
Joey looked at Kya. “I tried to save you, Kya. I didn’t want you being one of them. I don’t think I can do that to you, if it happens.”
“You don’t have a choice, Joey. You do what you have to, and there’s nothing else to it. I know it’ll break your giant heart but... no one is going to judge you for it, okay?”
Joey nodded his head slowly, resting it against the window and waving bye to Aliyah, watching the sheet flap in the wind as they drove away. Lou pulled up ahead. Each of the teens watched the smashed ambulance go by seeing the dented in front.