They didn’t.
Earth was for the humans and the ground was for the dead.
They should stay dead, Kyle reasoned. They should fucking stay in the damn dirt.
He hated knowing they weren’t, hated knowing they were walking around. The whole thing made Kyle feel weird and uncomfortable and strange. He wished he could go back to a few days ago when the world made sense. He wished he could go back to when the worst thing he had to deal with was stress at work or a coding problem.
He wished he didn’t have to deal with this.
He pedaled harder, keeping up with Alice and Mark. They had set a steady pace, but it wasn’t grueling. They’d done that partially for Kyle, he knew, but partially because of the trailers. They didn’t want them to flip over again. They didn’t want them to turn and spill.
They had gotten lucky that Alice’s accident had been right outside of the house they’d camped in. They’d been lucky she’d only barely gotten stuck. Kyle thought for a second she was going to die, that the Infected was going to grab her and bite her.
And for a second, Kyle’s heart had stopped.
He wasn’t in love with Alice, but he loved her. She was a good friend to him. She’d always been caring and kind and to see Alice die would wreck him, ruin him. She was a good person and she deserved better than this hell they’d been thrust into.
Kyle kept his eyes straight ahead and he kept riding.
One push at a time.
They were going to get out of Holbrook.
They could do this.
He breathed in.
He breathed out.
He could do this.
Chapter 3
Mark saw what was up ahead before the others did. He wasn’t shocked. At this point, nothing would shock him. He tried to push down the disappointment he felt at the fact that his civilian buddies were so near-sighted. They were trying to survive one breath at a time, while Mark was thinking a few minutes, a few hours, maybe even a few days ahead.
Shock.
He had decided they were still in shock.
When something traumatic happens, you can’t always control your reaction to it. Most of the time, you can’t. It’s only through training, through time, through practice, that you learn to react in a way that’s useful instead of turning into a wide-eyed sloth.
He slowed his bike to a stop and Alice and Kyle followed suit. They were on either side of him, still looking around. Kyle had his gun and Alice held a baseball bat over the handlebars of her bike, seemingly ready for anything.
She needed to work on her reaction time. When she’d fallen earlier, she’d hesitated. He could see her mentally freaking out and he knew he’d have to take action.
He didn’t mind.
Who would?
Alice was awesome and he was too happy to get to save her. He and Kyle had made a good team, moving in time to take down the Infected. They’d been precise, for the most part. They’d used only a small amount of bullets, which made Mark happy. They’d need to find more if the world was going to be messed up for awhile.
Something told Mark it was going to messed up for a very, very long while.
“Look,” Mark said, jerking his head forward.
“Freedom,” Alice said. There was awe in her voice and Mark realized this had been more stressful on her than he’d originally thought. She had barely spoken to him all day, barely spoken to anyone. She’d been lost in her own thoughts, focused on riding steadily. Now he realized she’d been scared.
Did she think they were going to die before they made it out of town?
Did she think she was going to be trapped again, but he and Kyle wouldn’t be there to bail her out?
If there was one thing Mark knew, it was that he and Kyle would be with Alice to the bitter end.
“The end of Holbrook,” he whispered.
They had made it. They had done it. It had taken longer than it should have and cost them more in sweat and tears, but they’d made it. They were on the edge of freedom, on the edge of escape.
They just had to hold on a little bit longer.
The three of them looked. The road they were on turned into Highway 29, which led out of town. It led away from Holbrook and away from other cities and away from the world. K-29 led into the rural plains of Kansas, which was what they wanted, he thought. It would be what was best.
They wouldn’t have access to reliable information on the comings and goings of people in the world. They wouldn’t be set up in some survivor’s camp where they were fed bits and pieces of the information the organizers wanted them to hear. Yeah, Mark has some trust issues when it came to other people, especially any type of government.
He’d been a soldier too long to trust blindly anymore.
The roads leaving Holbrook were, as predicted, full of cars. The highway was backed up on both sides with cars trying to leave, and Mark could see what had caused the congestion. There was a semi up on the highway that had flipped. It wasn’t even far from town: less than half a mile. There were some corpses wandering around, but not as many as he would have expected.
“They’re already bored,” Alice scoffed. “Not that I blame them.” She pointed to where there were zombies wandering in the soybean fields on either side of the highway.
“What’s the plan?” Kyle asked. “We could ditch the trailers and bike through the fields.” The trailers were too wobbly and beat up to make it through the fields, and from Mark was standing, the fields looked muddy. They’d be stuck before they made it two feet.
“We stayed here an extra day for the damn trailers,” Mark said. “I’m not leaving them behind.” He hadn’t really wanted to stay in Holbrook longer than was necessary, but Kyle had asthma and they all agreed they should get him an extra inhaler or two before they left. The trailers were loaded with supplies now, though Mark wasn’t sure how much the things they brought would really help them in the future.
They had chosen items that would help them live in the way they’d been living. They picked comfort foods, bandages, medical supplies, and water bottles. These were remnants of a world that no longer existed. Soon, Mark knew they’d have to change the way they thought. Instead of searching out water bottles, they’d have to learn to purify their own. Instead of finding a box of bandages, they’d learn to make their own.
It wasn’t going to be fun, but it was going to be necessary. That much he knew.
For today, though, the supplies came with them. They’d worked hard to get them. He was not leaving them behind, no matter the cost.
“We go forward,” Mark said. The highway shoulders were clear. Apparently people didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late, then got out of their cars and walked or ran away. It had been a full two days since the initial outbreak. He doubted anyone was still alive in any of the cars. Even if someone had decided to sit and wait, for some reason, he didn’t hold his breath they were still alive.
It was too hot and the cars were too small. Unless someone had magically been able to keep their car’s air conditioning running for two days straight, they were done.
How many people had run out of gas waiting for a cleanup crew that never came?
How many had tried to escape just a little too late?
Mark wiped sweat from his brow. The fact that it was autumn didn’t matter in Kansas. There would be frost one morning and by afternoon, it would be nearly 80. That was life in the Midwest. That was life here.
“Can we get around those cars?” Alice asked tentatively. She sounded less sure of herself now, as if she was finally seeing the line of cars they had to pass to get to freedom. It was going to be a long walk, but they could ride on the shoulder right up until they got to the semi-wreck, then it would be smooth sailing. They just had to go by the cars.
The problem was they’d be riding extremely close to the two rows of cars. If there were any Infected lurking between the cars – and there probably were – they’d have to be quick to get past them.<
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“Maybe we should just go back,” Alice said, and Mark had had enough. He knew she wasn’t experienced in life-or-death situations. She was a fucking paralegal or lawyer servant or something like that. He wasn’t quite sure. He just knew that the time for her weakness had passed. It was time to give Alice her balls back.
“Go kill that,” Mark said to her, and pointed to an Infected who was slowly shambling toward her.
“What? Why?”
“Take your bat, Alice. Go kill it.”
He kept his voice even, level, and waited for her to obey. Alice hesitated another moment. She seemed like she wasn’t sure if he was serious or not, but once she realized he was, she hopped off her bike, dropped her kickstand, and made sure it wasn’t going to topple the second she walked away.
She looked at Kyle, who shrugged. Mark saw the way the man’s lips twitched, though. He was interested to see what Alice did, too. Neither one of them had seen her kill anything yet. She’d depended on them to protect her earlier, which was fine. They were a team, after all, but now it was time for her to prove her worth.
Now was the time for her to realize she could do this. She could handle herself. She could be the badass they knew she could be.
Alice took a step forward.
She lifted her bat and eyed the undead that was slowly, painstakingly slowly, making its way toward her. Mark kept an eye out for others, but even though there were a few within eyesight, none of them seemed to be doing much. They were shuffling around, touching things, making noises, but few were paying them any mind.
There were two that made him a little nervous, but they were far enough away that he wasn’t terribly worried about them. Alice could do this, and then they’d be on their way.
She could do this.
Chapter 4
“I can do this,” she whispered, and stepped toward the woman. It was a fresh body, and Alice hated that she knew that.
Not that any of the Infected weren’t “fresh.”
They all were, to a certain extent. The virus had only hit on Saturday morning, maybe Friday night, at the earliest. Despite that, though, most of the corpses looked pretty messed up by the time they turned. They’d be covered in bite marks, have some tears in their skin, and some of them seemed to pick at their own bodies.
It was gross.
This one almost looked normal.
Aside from the fact that the zombie’s skin had turned a pale grey color, Alice could barely tell she was dead. Well, undead. She was animated. The woman stepped toward her with determination. Her jaw was slack and blood dripped slowly from her mouth, as if it had pooled there, as if it took the place of saliva.
It was disgusting.
Alice swallowed as she saw it and tried not to get sick. If she threw up in front of the guys, they’d never respect her. She’d fail this little test. She had to keep it together, at least until she could be alone.
Alice gripped the bat. She could do this. She had to. She knew exactly what Mark was doing: he was trying to prove to her that she could handle herself. She had gotten caught in a moment of weakness, of insecurity, but being part of their team meant not showing that.
She couldn’t be weak.
She could do this one of two ways. Alice could wait for the woman to get closer, and then take a swing. She would aim for the head, try to knock her down. Then she could bash in the zombie’s skull again with the bat. It would be messy. No matter how Alice played this, she’d be burning her clothes later because there’s no way there wouldn’t be blood splatter.
The woman took another step, and Alice considered her other option.
She could move first. She could go now. She could be strong and take the initiative and dart toward this woman, kill her, and be done with it. She could get a running start. Her aim might be sloppy, but fuck, it would feel good to show she wasn’t scared.
The truth was that she was scared.
Terrified.
She’d never been so afraid in her entire life. Not since Timmy died, but even then, she hadn’t been scared until after. She hadn’t been scared for her physical safety, but for her emotional wellbeing. She’d been scared she would stop breathing because being without him hurt too much. She’d been scared her parents were going to go insane with grief and kill her, too.
And now the fear rippled through her once more, reminding her that she was alive, but she might not be for long.
Mark and Kyle waited patiently. The only sound was Alice’s heavy breathing and the scuffle of the woman walking toward her.
This was it.
Her moment.
Her time.
Alice stepped forward once, twice, three times. She kept walking, getting faster, gaining speed, and then she raised her bat and swung. The bat connected with the body with a loud thud, and Alice lowered the bat.
She shouldn’t have. She had missed the head when she swung, and had hit the woman’s shoulder instead. Hitting her knocked her backwards a bit, but she didn’t stumble or fall. Instead, she growled, snarling at Alice. This drew the attention of the other Infected who were lingering nearby, and Alice noticed more of them starting to move.
She needed to end this now.
Alice took a deep breath and swung again. This time she hit the head. This time she heard a crunch as the skull broke. The woman fell to the body in a pile. Alice didn’t need to hit her again. She would not be getting up from that.
“Nice,” said Mark. “Now, let’s go.”
Alice turned around and stared at him, gawking, but he just climbed on his bike.
“Are you serious right now? I just kicked ass.”
“Yes, and I did earlier, as did Kyle. We can gloat when we have a safe place to stay, Alice. Let’s go.”
Miffed, she climbed back on the bike and started pedaling after Kyle and Mark. They rode single file now with Mark leading and Kyle in the middle. Since they were close to the cars, there wasn’t as much room to spread out as there had been on the empty suburban roads.
Now, nearing freedom, nearing rural America, Alice felt like she could almost breathe. Almost. She could almost relax. She tried to focus on how good it would feel to have her own bed to sleep in. She thought about how happy she’d be to get to have her own place to stay, how nice it would be to walk around a secure house without constantly being afraid zombies would break in.
She was still irritated that Mark didn’t care about her killing the zombie woman, but she knew why he was behaving this way. Alice had been freaking out and she needed to relax. She was wound up and tense from her near-death experience earlier. Killing had calmed her, relaxed her. It had soothed her, and it made her feel strange.
Why had killing the zombie been therapeutic?
Why had it relieved her stress?
Most of all, why had it made her feel better about herself?
She felt confident now. Oh, Alice had always been fairly sure of herself, at least most of the time, but this was different. Killing had made her feel strong. It had made her feel determined. It made her feel like she actually did have a place on this team and it wasn’t because she was a silly girl who couldn’t hold her own. She wasn’t on the team because anyone felt sorry for her for being a woman in the apocalypse. No, she was on the team because she could offer something.
She could fight.
She followed Mark and Kyle as they began to pass the cars. They rode on the shoulder of the road and as suburbia began to fade away into the wilderness of Kansas, Alice kept a sharp eye on the cars. She didn’t notice any movement. Had anyone been bitten here? Turned? Had all of the Infected wandered away?
Surely there would be a few. There would be some, but if they kept a quick pace, the way they were now, they should be able to get up around the semi and pass it before long.
The world felt too silent now. None of the zombies followed them, but Alice looked back over her shoulder and saw there were two staring at the woman she had killed. It was strange, she thought. Strange how they wa
tched the dead zombie, and strange how they turned back and looked at her, at Alice.
She turned back around. What was wrong with those two? Why were they different? Most of the zombies were slow enough, and they seemed dumb. The attack she and Mark witnessed at the house they hid in was quick. It happened fast. The zombies today weren’t fast, though. They were slow and shambling.
Were they slow because they had just turned?
Were they slow because of the heat?
She didn’t know, and to be honest, it made her stomach turn when she thought about it too much. Alice was already hungry. She didn’t want to be sick, too. She pedaled after Mark and Kyle, hauling the trailer packed with food and supplies as they made their way out of town.
She looked over her shoulder one last time and saw the two creatures watching her. Their bodies faded into the distance, but their eyes stayed with Alice for a long time.
Chapter 5
Kyle only saw ten undead between the edge of Holbrook and the overturned semi. Only ten, and it seemed like a low number. Where had they gone? The cars were all straight in a line. It looked as though everyone had tried to leave town at the same time, then gotten stuck behind the semi. Some of the doors were open and as he peeked in the cars, he saw they all looked the same: jam-packed full of suitcases and crap, personal belongings that didn’t matter in the end.
Then he saw the body parts on the ground, and he realized what had happened. He realized why there were only ten zombies still lurking around. When the first people started to change, they were hungry. They were ravenous. They had gone crazy eating what they could, and the road was littered with blood and guts and things Kyle didn’t want to think about.
Some of the victims had become infected.
Some of them had perished.
Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse (Episode 2) Page 2