We ventured into the street through the Carver neighborhood toward the place where we had fought with the zombie last night. As we neared the area. the stench of decay hung heavy in the air. Just ahead, the rotting zombie carcass came into view. It glistened with slime in the morning sun. The bags would be just a bit further down the street. When I saw them, I stopped short. Jordan ran into me, and Matt turned at the scuffle. His face was puzzled. Kyle followed my gaze in the direction I was looking and stopped as well. There, in front of us, the bags were stacked in a pile in the middle of the street instead of being strewn onto the pavement where we had dropped them. They were almost neatly piled as if someone intentionally put them there. But that’s impossible.
“Something’s not right,” I cautioned.
“No, something is definitely off,” Kyle said in a low whisper.
Matt moved forward, “Come on, let’s just get them and get back to the building.”
I reached to stop him, but he sprinted away from my grasp and ran toward the bags.
When he reached the pile, from behind a nearby house, the wailing began. I looked around us.
Misshapen human figures with grotesquely deformed faces were emerging from inside deserted houses. They appeared as if from nowhere, lumbering out from behind shrubbery and abandoned vehicles. There were zombies in front of us and on both sides.
“Run!” I screamed.
We all scrambled back toward the gates. The zombies were running right behind us. I could hear their breath coming in raspy gasps. Their horrible cries filled the air. As we drew near the gates, I could see a man standing there waiting for us. “Open the gates! Open the gates now!” Kyle yelled.
But the man just stood there. As we drew closer, I could see his face. Walker! “Open the damned gate! Walker!” I yelled. Unbelievably, he smiled, waved, and walked away.
Panic gripped my stomach. I shot frantic glances back and forth, looking for somewhere, anywhere to shelter. As we got closer to the building, I spotted the bus banked up on the curb. “To the bus!” I yelled over my shoulder to the others.
We ran toward the broken-down vehicle that teetered on the curb just beyond the gate. The door seemed stuck half open, and I couldn’t squeeze in. I slammed my full body against it, banging hard to force it open. Kyle lifted me up and carried me up the steps. He stepped back out and grabbed Jordan, practically throwing him up the short flight. Matt was coming toward us with a group of zombies right behind him. I watched in horror as one lurched forward and grabbed his arm. Matt screamed a gut-wrenching shriek as he struggled to get away, but the demon sunk its jagged, rotting teeth into his flesh. Matt screamed and faltered to the ground. The evil horde flew into him, tearing and ripping his skin. I smashed my hands against my ears, unable bear the sounds of Matt’s death throes. As my senses dulled, and my consciousness left my body, I became a mere automaton watching Matt’s body disappear under the swarm. My head turned, and I saw Kyle standing on the pavement beside the door. The familiar dissociated fog fell about me, causing everything to slow down.
There was no way to save Matt. “Get on the bus, Kyle!” I heard my mouth scream from somewhere far away. He glanced at me, and his eyes looked sad. He appeared to be planning some fool-hearted rescue. “Get in! You can’t save him,” my voice echoed in the distance.
Kyle looked back at the zombies one more time and then climbed onto the bus, slamming the door closed behind him. He braced himself against the panels.
More zombies were walking through yards and down the streets, dragging themselves toward us. Others had reached us and began pounding on the metal sides, sending horrible bangs reverberating throughout the interior. Wails and screams continued, and the bus began to shake with the force of their bodies slamming against it.
My shock was weakening as my survival instincts kicked in. Motion returned to real-time, and sounds once again became more immediately connected with their source.
“What the hell is going on?” I yelled. “What are they doing out in the freakin’ daylight?”
“They set a trap for us,” Jordan said, his eyes were wide in disbelief. “They piled the damned bags in the middle of the street and waited for us to come!”
“They came out earlier last night,” Kyle said catching his breath. “They’re out today.
Something’s changing.”
“Like what?” Jordan asked, his voice pitching with hysteria. “So now we have 24/7 of this shiz?”
“The virus mutated once. It could do it again. Maybe it’s enabling some of them to tolerate daylight now.”
I sank to the floor of the bus and buried my face in my hands. Hot tears burned my eyes.
Matt was dead, and I felt responsible. Flashes of my friend’s face and the things we did together flipped through my mind in rapid succession. I felt myself shuddering. Matt, who never hurt anyone, was gone, and my heart was breaking.
“We’ve got to get back into the building somehow,” Kyle said.
“We can’t get back in. Not while that idiot is at the gate,” Jordan said angrily.
“How could Walker do this to us after all we’ve done for the survivors?” I asked. “It’s his damned fault,” Jordan said, pointing at Kyle.
“Stop it Jordan!” I yelled, still shaken with grief over Matt. “That’s not true, and this is no time for accusations. We need to think!” But thinking wasn’t easy with dozens of ravenous undead keening and beating on the sides of the bus.
“If I can get this bus going, I could make a break for the safe zone,” Kyle said. “Jordan, hold the door!”
“Don’t boss me around!” Jordan snarled.
“Can you drive a bus?” Kyle asked, his voice sharp and expectant.
Jordan’s lower lip screwed up, and his jaw clenched. He exhaled sharply and moved beside Kyle and took his position barring the door. Kyle sat down in the driver’s seat and started searching through the papers on the dashboard.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Looking for keys,” he answered.
“We already looked, and there aren’t any,” I told him.
“You said earlier the bus was broken down. If you don’t have keys, how did you know that?”
I stammered. “We just assumed it was because it’s still here. All the other vehicles that worked are gone,” Jordan said, the anger in his voice seemed to be subsiding.
Kyle turned in his seat and reached for a handle in a recess in the floor of the bus. He pulled the handle, and the panel hinged open. Inside was a storage area containing a red metal toolbox. I smacked my forehead and grasped a handful of my hair. Why hadn’t we looked for tools before? Kyle withdrew the box and positioned himself under the steering column. He began removing a metal cover from the shaft. Jordan and I watched him working furiously. He pulled two wires from the back of the ignition switch and began stripping them with a stripping tool from the toolbox. He twisted the bare wires together. He pulled two more wires from the ignition and touched them together. A rumble sounded, and I heard the bang of a backfire as the engine started.
“Finally, we got a break!” I cried. Even Jordan looked just a little impressed. Terrified, but hopeful.
“I’ll pull the bus up close to the gate, and you guys can climb out the emergency door in the roof. You should be able to climb over the gate and jump down on the other side,” Kyle said. “Tell the others what Walker did. He can’t be trusted. Men like him can be the first to cause a crisis in a situation like this.” He looked at the fuel gauge. “I probably don’t have enough fuel to get to the safe zone, but at least I can make it out of the city. I’ll drive as far as I can and then either find another vehicle or walk.”
I looked back at the high school and realized there was no hope for us there. Even if we jumped over the gate and landed without injuring ourselves, there would be Walker to deal with. He may fight us. Others may fight us as well. It was only a matter of time before a riot broke out over the food supply anyway. “I’m going with
you.”
Jordan looked toward the school and then back at me. “Me too.” His voice was determined.
“I can’t let you go,” Kyle said sternly, looking at me. His expression was hard to read. Was it anger? Bravado? Concern?
“It’s too dangerous,” he insisted.
“It’s too dangerous here as well!” I countered. “We’re all safer together. You know the food situation at the school. Jordan and I are the only ones who are left now to do the food runs anyway. We can’t continue like this.” My only regret was leaving Harley behind. But we would be back soon with help; we had to.
“She’s right, Kyle,” Jordan said, surprising me with his supportive attitude. Usually, he was the critical one, the person who found fault with my reasoning, and I often did the same to him. It was both annoying and necessary for us to problem-solve together.
Kyle looked doubtful at first and then gave in. “Okay, you can go with me, but first we have to go back downtown to get my gun.” He shifted in the seat and steered the bus down the street. The zombies stood where they were, still banging and wailing, even after the bus pulled out of their grasp. A few turned and watched us move away. Two gave chase, and one of them fell away as it ran. The remaining zombie kept running, and for a long, tense moment, he gained ground on us. The bus gave a sudden swerve as Kyle yanked the wheel to the right to avoid an overturned car. I looked back and saw the zombie run headlong into the car. The force of the blow severed his body in half. I watched in satisfied horror as his bottom half and torso slid off the car and fell to the asphalt.
“They did set a trap for us, but some of them are still pretty stupid,” Jordan said, watching them disappear in the distance.
“Kyle! Stop the bus and let me get the duffel bags out of the street,” I said as we neared the packs.
The vehicle pulled up beside the packs and slammed to a halt. I lunged forward. Kyle stood up, blocking me. “I’ll get them,” he said.
I dodged to the side to get around him, and he grasped my arms. He pulled me squarely in front of him. “I can’t let you put yourself in danger,” he said, his eyes locking with mine. My cheeks burned, and this time I wasn’t sure why. I was annoyed with him.
“Oh puh-leeze!” I huffed. “I think we’ve done pretty well on our own before you came. I am capable of getting the bags.”
We both moved toward the door at the same time, and our bodies jammed in the tight pathway between the seats. Neither of us could move.
“Um, can y’all work out your domestic issues another time? You’re causing a scene here in Satan’s suburbs!” I glanced at Jordan, and he stabbed his index fingers into the air, pointing out both sides of the bus. “You got an audience.”
More zombies appeared in the shadow spaces between the houses lining the street, and some from behind us were moving our way.
“Okay,” Kyle said, “We’ll do it together.”
He stepped aside and grabbed a crowbar from the toolbox. I climbed down the steps and carefully opened the door. Kyle lunged out and stood brandishing the steel rod. His head turned in different directions as he kept watch on the advancing onslaught.
Stepped out behind Kyle and lifted the bags, I tossed them through the open door, and Jordan grabbed each one, tossing them further inside the vehicle.
“Got it, Kyle,” I said as I stepped back in the bus. He turned and climbed in, sliding the door closed behind him. He climbed back into the driver’s seat, and we took off toward downtown.
I sat down in the seat behind Kyle, watching him drive. He continued swerving around vehicles that had been abandoned, burned out, and flipped over. His expression was intensely focused as he drove like he was on a mission. In fact, we were.
I looked around the bus and noticed there were several book bags on the floor, and in some of the seats. Jordan followed my gaze and moved to one and zipped it open.
“Missing the homework?” I teased.
Jordan shot a mildly annoyed glance in my direction and kept searching. In one bag, he found a Swiss Army knife. In another bag, he found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He held them up for my inspection.
“Nice,” I admitted. At least the knife and lighter could be useful. Beside the back door, I saw a first aid kit and a fire extinguisher mounted to the wall. “We can probably find a use for those too,” I said pointing.
I turned back to Kyle. “So, what’s your plan?” I asked. “How are you going to get your gun? We don’t have a weapon, and zombies could be coming out in the daytime downtown too,” I reasoned.
“I’ll drive up to the door of the diner. You two can stay on the bus while I go inside. I’ll move fast, and hopefully, I’ll be back on the bus before they know we’re here.” “We have to help you. What if you don’t make it?” I asked.
“I’ve been in hand-to-hand combat with zombies before,” Kyle continued. “It’s dirty and disgusting, but they can be defeated that way.”
“You can’t be serious,” I said. The strong sense of protective fear I felt for him was unexpected. “What if you’re bitten or killed?”
“If I’m killed, you drive on. If I’m bitten, I can still drive for a couple of days before the virus kills me. I can get you going the right way on the road, and then I’ll get out.” He paused. “Then you can kill me.”
“Kill you?” Jordan interjected. “We’re not going to kill you.”
I shook my head. “Jordan’s right. We can find you a safe place to hide. Maybe the military has treatment available by now.”
Kyle’s lips formed a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’m sure they do.” He obviously didn’t believe it. “If I die, you need to drive west. Just keep going as far as you can. Keep your eye out for other transportation on the way because this bus will only get you so far. If you pass a gas station, stop and check to see if there’s any chance the pumps work.” He continued issuing orders like a drill sergeant planning a battle.
When we arrived downtown, Kyle stopped the bus. “Leave it running,” he told us. “We may need to get out of here fast.”
“Do we really have to do this?” I asked. “We don’t need the gun while we’re on the
bus.”
Kyle looked at me for a long moment. “We’ll need it when we run out of gas,” he said.
“If I’m not back in five minutes, drive on.”
Clearly, there was no talking to him when he was like this. He was right though, and it was gnawing at me more than I wanted it to.
“Casey,” Kyle said. “Sit in the driver’s seat and keep your hand on the door handle. Be ready to open the doors when I get back and close them behind me as fast as you can. Got it?” I nodded, feeling the skin crawl down my arms. I missed my rifle, and I didn’t like the way it left me feeling, vulnerable.
Kyle walked down the steps and pushed the door ajar. He looked all around for signs of movement. He carefully stepped out and onto the sidewalk. Without looking back, he entered the door of the diner. I leaned sideways in my seat to watch him as far as I could, and then he disappeared into the darkness.
Waiting was torture. Jordan and I kept exchanging nervous glances. Five minutes passed. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Here Jordan,” I said, getting up. “Take my seat and man the door. I’m going in.”
“You can’t go in there. He told us to leave if he didn’t come back,” Jordan argued.
“I don’t care what he said. We won’t last a day out there without him. We need him.”
“We need him, or you need him?” Jordan asked with a hint of accusation in his voice.
“Shut up. You know what I mean!”
“What I know is you’re not making sense,” Jordan insisted. “He’s a soldier for goodness sakes! If he’s down in there, what makes you think you can help?”
I pushed past him and retrieved the fire extinguisher from the back of the bus.
“Oh, that will help a lot,” Jordan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
I bound
ed back to the front of the bus with the fire extinguisher firmly in my grip. “Don’t dis my plan. Just be ready with that door!” I said over my shoulder as I stepped out of the bus. When I stepped through the door of the diner, I could hear noise coming from the back. Crashing pots and pans. My stomach turned as I detected the horrible rasping breathing. An unmistakable scream assaulted my ears. Kyle was in trouble! I dashed through the door and into the kitchen. The soldier stood across the room, brandishing a meat cleaver. A zombie blocked his way out of the room, and Kyle was throwing anything he could grab at it.
“Here, you big moron!” I yelled at it, trying to distract it. It looked at me and then charged. I pulled the pin from the fire extinguisher, pointed the nozzle at it, and sprayed into its face. A jet of white powder shot out and covered its face. It stumbled and fell. “I raised the heavy metal canister into the air and slammed it down onto the zombie’s head with all my strength. It made contact with a sickening, slurping thud, and the slimy beast faltered to the floor.
“What are you doing in here?” Kyle fumed. “I told you to leave if I didn’t come out.”
“I’m saving your ass!” I yelled at him. “Can’t you tell?”
“You can’t take chances like that!” he lectured, stabbing his index finger at my face.
“Oh, and you can?”
“It’s my job!” he said.
“Um, guys!” Jordan stood in the doorway holding the Swiss army knife out in front of him. “Save it for the marriage counselor. Just get the gun and get out of here!”
Kyle opened the freezer door and withdrew a gun, a backpack, and a sleeping bag. I just looked at Jordan.
“Really, Jordan?” I asked, “a Swiss Army knife?”
“It’s better than a fire extinguisher,” he insisted.
“It got the job done,” I spat.
“Let’s move!” Kyle said, his voice tense and urgent.
Viral Series (Book 1): Viral Dawn [Extended Edition] Page 18