by Damon Novak
Being an officer of the law and setting examples for other citizens out there, she instinctively applied the brake, but something caught her eye that changed her mind.
The people. A massive crowd of people. Gathered around a disabled eighteen-wheeler.
The Peterbilt was up on the curb, crashed into a huge, concrete power pole, one of hundreds installed shortly after Hurricane Charley hit in 2004. So many of the regular telephone and power poles had snapped like toothpicks, they had begun to install enormous, concrete and steel replacements, designed to withstand the end of days, it seemed.
The engine of the rig was still running, it’s clacking diesel rattling in the otherwise mostly silent evening. Between the idling engine and the continued muffled wail of the crashed cruiser’s siren, it was like an open-air rock concert blaring noise in all directions, drawing anyone – or anything – with ears from miles around.
But these people pushed against one another like farm-raised chickens in an industrial coop, pressed hard from the sides and from behind. Their clothing looked mostly normal until you really focused on it; then you saw the myriad of stains and rips.
There’s nobody alive in that crowd, thought Sonya.
Nokosi let out a low growl, the canine’s eyes watching the horde before them intently. The hackles between her shoulders were raised, her teeth bared about as much as possible.
Sonya couldn’t tell when the accident had happened; it had to have been some time earlier for this many of the infected people to have made their way to the scene. It was a fairly busy section of the 41, though, with restaurants and shops on both sides of the street, including an Apple store, which always seemed to be packed.
Nokosi barked, her eyes fixed out the passenger window. Following the K-9’s gaze, Sonya practically yelped.
She threw the transmission into reverse and floored it, only to be thrown back in the seat a split-second later. After recovering from the impact, Sonya looked up at the rearview mirror and gasped.
A wall of people closed in behind her. It had just taken a minute or less, and Sonya had no idea where they’d all come from.
Slamming the transmission back into drive, she turned the wheel as far right as she could, aiming for the only piece of open asphalt she saw before her.
Nokosi was barking non-stop now, hackles still raised and rigid, eyes darting from one bloody ghoul to another as they slammed into the police car, creating a bloody mess of blurry smears on the vehicle’s windows.
More and more of the infected people moved in front of the Dodge as Sonya pressed on, plowing them down, knocking them aside, or otherwise overrunning them. Somehow her forward momentum never ceased, even as more bodies were dragged beneath the wheels of the Charger.
As she turned the wheel back and forth, it felt as though she were driving through a vat of chunky Jell-O, the car sliding sideways as it lost traction, only to regain it and jolt in the direction of her next turn.
Finally she reached the end of the horde, and saw open road ahead. Flooring the pedal, she shot off another curb, bounced into the parking lot of a CVS Pharmacy, and rocketed toward the exit drive leading back to southbound US-41. She got on it and breathed a sign of relief.
Her jaw was sore from grinding her teeth together, and she forced herself to stop by opening her mouth. Her chin still ached, and she ran her tongue along her teeth to see if she’d lost any when she had been attacked.
Thankfully, she only felt a few rough-edged chips, the remainder of her teeth apparently still firmly rooted in place.
Beside her, Nokosi sat panting, but appeared to have calmed somewhat. As the sun began to drop behind the distant western horizon behind her, she increased her speed.
She passed the first billboard of Ol’ Stanley. When she hit the third one, she knew she was almost there. She picked up her radio.
“Lilly, are you there? Come in.”
It was as though Lilly had the radio in her hand. She answered immediately. “Sonya! We’ve been calling you!”
Confusion struck her for a moment, but she realized that in the middle of the horde through which she’d been plowing, she would’ve only been able to focus on a path forward.
“Sorry,” she said. “I was a little busy. Where’s CB?”
“He’s at the gate. It should be open. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, but it’s bad, Lilly. Worse than I expected. I have someone with me, too.”
At that moment, she reached the driveway for Baxter’s and saw CB waving his arms frantically. Beside him were two dead people, both face down in the mud beside the entry.
“My God, what’s happened to the world,” she breathed, turning in. She avoided looking at the dead bodies and entered the gate. There was no waiting vehicle, so CB must’ve walked up. She stopped and waited for him.
He came up and approached the passenger side door. Nokosi went wild. She got up on her hind legs and barked her loud, vicious warnings, clawing at the glass to get at Cole.
CB backed away, his hands raised, then pulled the rear door open and jumped inside.
“Glad you got back! Damn, you’re bleedin’, you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just a gash, I’ll be fine.”
“No, just a scratch means you’ll be fine. Gashes can kill ya. Who’s the dog?”
Nokosi was turned around in the seat, growling through the cage. “Nokosi, stil!” She’d said it with a bit of accent.
The dog stopped growling.
“This a police K-9?” asked Cole. “What’s still?”
“German command. It means silence, or stop barking, at least to Nokosi.”
“Well, she don’t seem to like me much, but I’m glad she’s alive. You find her at the police station?”
Sonya nodded. “Right by there. I never even went inside, the parking lot was so filled with those … those monster things. After I got the hell out of there, I parked across the way to settle down before I drove back. She ran up to my car,” she said.
“You said her name’s Nok–” he stopped mid-syllable and shrugged.
“Her name is Nokosi, and she’s a good dog. No black staining on her except for her paws, so I’m guessing she was able to stay out of the stuff. She seems fine, anyway.”
“I’m glad to see you, Sonya,” said Cole. “I didn’t want you to leave, but you’re the cop. I respected your decision. How’d you get hurt?”
She pulled into the parking area for Baxter’s and put it in park, cutting the engine. Turning in her seat, she said, “I wish you would’ve stopped me. That way I wouldn’t have seen what I did out there. I’ll tell you about it inside. I don’t want to have to tell it more than once. Cole, we’re in big trouble here.”
“I’ve known that since I saw Ol’ Stanley with a half a guy in his mouth, still … well, sort of alive.”
No other words were necessary. As the sun dropped from the western skyline, they walked into the office at Baxter’s Airboat Tours & Gator Park.
Ω
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Once inside, after she’d managed to quell the blood flowin’ from her chin with a dishrag, Sonya introduced Nokosi to everyone else. The dog was friendlier than I figured police dogs were, and after about fifteen minutes, she ambled over into a corner and plopped down, panting. Her eyes scanned the room but always returned to settle on Sonya.
“Had you met her before all this?” asked Lilly, indicating toward the German Shepherd.
“A few times,” said Sonya. “She’s more trusting of people in uniforms, because they’ve always been the ones handling her. She’ll get better with all of you. She already understands you’re not a threat.”
“I’ll give her all the time she needs,” I said. “I watched Cops, too. I imagine she’d be all over me if she thought I was threatenin’ you.”
Sonya smiled. “You’re probably right. Slow and easy. Soon, she’ll see you all as her pack.”
“You need some coffee or somethin’?” I asked, watchin’ Sony
a sittin’ beside Georgina on the couch so she could have her wound looked at. Nokosi moved to lay down at her feet as Georgina assessed the damage to her chin.
“Something stronger,” she said. “I can’t settle down.”
“What did you see out there?” asked Georgina. She carefully cleaned the gash in Sonya’s chin and was pressin’ butterfly bandages to the wound as she spoke. Every once in a while, Nokosi looked up, I guess to make sure Georgie wasn’t gonna strangle her.
“You could probably use a stitch or two, but these bandages should suffice for now,” Georgina said, every bit the doctor now. “I’m just glad it wasn’t worse. And I’m no dentist, but you chipped a couple teeth too. You feeling any better?”
Sonya shook her head. “I’m going to need that drink and a minute or two to process everything, including how I feel. It’s all still sinking in. Thanks for the clean up though.”
Georgie patted her shoulder and nodded. I got up and went behind the counter, digging through one of my supply bags. I pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
Holdin’ it up, I said, “Will this do?”
Sonya raised her eyes to me, and immediately looked grateful. “Yes, thanks. After our shifts, I always tried to order a glass of white wine, but Jerry would tell me real cops drank Jack Daniel’s. Eventually, I developed a taste for Old Number 7.”
“We’ll chalk that up to the least assholish thing Jerry ever did,” I said, pouring the whiskey into a plastic cup. “At least he knew his sour mash.”
I gave it to her and she drank half of it down before putting the cup on the table. I was duly impressed. “Anyone else?” I asked.
Lilly held up her cup.
Georgina waved me off. “I’m actually still a wine girl.”
“Well, then I got your poison, too.”
I walked to the soda vending machine, turned the key and pulled the door open. I leaned down and lifted a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the lower storage shelf.
“This okay?” I asked.
“Wine? In the soda machine?”
“Mama started that,” said Lilly. “If it got to be four o’clock and nobody was here, she’d pour some into a Dixie cup and sip on it. We all knew, but we didn’t say anything. She was already well into her treatment by then. Figured she deserved whatever she wanted. That’s the same reason we put the rollaway bed in the back room.”
“I’m sure glad she’s not here for this,” I said, unscrewing the cap and pouring it into a cup identical to Sonya’s. “She was tough, but this woulda been way too much.”
“It’s too much for anyone,” she said, taking the wine from me.
“I don’t know where we’d go, or how we’d get there if we did know,” said Sonya. “Whatever you saw out there, it’s worse now. Far worse than when I drove to your place yesterday, Cole.”
Sonya finished off her whiskey and I poured her another half-cup. After she downed that, she told us the whole story of her drive, from the wreck outside the golf resort, how she’d been attacked and injured, to the clusterfuck in the police station parkin’ lot.
Second-guess time. Questioning what I thought was the perfect plan. I’m a believer in instinct, but that same instinct just told me we’d better really give things some thought before we executed a plan.
“I haven’t known you very long,” began Georgina, “but I already know when you’re lost in thought. You said you thought maybe we should go along with that Micky guy. The DJ.”
I nodded. “Even if the Indian’s already dead, it may not be a bad idea to band together. So, if Lebanon, Kansas is going to be a gathering place, I say we stick it out here a while to see if the government gets a hold of this outbreak, or whatever it is. If everything’s still nuts in a week or so, we head out.”
“But we go to Key West first, to get Roxy, right?”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lilly’s face. She met my eyes and I gave her the look that said, She helped me. I owe it to her, and it’s the right thing to do.
I saw a change in her eyes; an acceptance of my commitment. She knew I wasn’t one to break my word, and she’d never ask me to.
“I told you we’d get her, Georgie. Anything from her on your phone?”
At the mention of her phone, she picked it up off the chair beside her and looked at it. “I’ll send her another text,” she said. After tapping the keys a bit, she put it down. “Says it sent.”
“Hope it’s true,” I said. “When we get her, and her friend if he’s still with her, we’ll head to Kansas. If nothin’ else changes by then.”
“And we’re sure that wouldn’t be a jumping out of the frying pan into the fire-type scenario,” said Georgina.
“Not if there’s no frying pan,” said Lilly. “Feels like we’re in the fire right now, doesn’t it?”
Everyone nodded, saying nothing.
I pulled out another cup and poured me some Jack. “Alrighty, then. It’s dark. Let’s settle in. I’m gonna cut the gen, because quiet as it is, we don’t need to draw anything to us. It’ll be hot, but we’ll make do. An early night.”
“I’m wiped out anyway,” said Sonya.
We all agreed. Everyone gathered up their belongings, and we flipped a coin to see who’d get the rollaway bed in the back room. We did have the two air mattresses as well, but there didn’t seem to be a need to drag those out as well. There were two well-worn sofas out in reception, along with some chairs for anyone too restless to sleep.
Lilly won the toss for the bed that night.
When everyone else hit the sack, I sat up, my gun on my lap, waiting.
Ω
I woke up the next mornin’ to Nokosi’s sharp barks. By the time I shook off my sleep and walked back out into the lobby, I saw Sonya at the window. The blinds were mostly closed, and Nokosi stood at alert beside her, ears pricked.
“What’s up?” I whispered.
“We’ve got company,” responded Sonya. Her face told me it wasn’t the type of company cops were used to.
The dog growled, but did turn her head to acknowledge my entry into the room, like I guess she was trained to do; leave no threat unnoticed.
I walked slowly over to the window, cautious of the dog. Seein’ my hesitation, Sonya reached down and took her collar.
“She’s okay. They’re trained to respond to commands and to sense aggression,” she said.
“Good girl,” I said softly, moving up to stand beside Sonya. I lifted one slat of the blinds to see who our visitors were.
“Had to have come around our gate,” I said, staring at the three figures millin’ around on my dock.
Two of ‘em were men, but I might as well use the term ‘male’. Their faces told me they weren’t quite men anymore. The other used to be a girl, probably seventeen years old or so. Her long, brown hair was wet and stringy, hangin’ down just past her shoulder blades.
They ignored one another, like strangers in a crowd. The office building was built pretty solid, ‘cause we’d had our share of hurricanes blow through the ‘Glades. After our office got blown apart a couple of times over the years, we finally bit the bullet and put up a concrete block buildin’ with hurricane glass in the windows.
The weather strippin’ on the doors was new, so I was pretty sure that if the fuckers could smell, they wouldn’t be smellin’ us.
“I’m gonna try somethin’,” I said.
“Don’t do anything stupid, CB,” came Lilly’s voice behind me.
I spun around, puttin’ my idea on the back burner for a minute or two. “They can’t get in,” I said.
“What can’t? Those … things? How many?”
“Three,” said Sonya. “Two males and a female.”
Right behind Lilly came Georgina. “Are we safe?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Look. I don’t know how long they’ve been out there, but they’re not drawn to this building, so far as I can tell. Least they’re not tryin’ to get in.”
“What happens if they see
us?” asked Georgina.
I looked back outside and watched them shufflin’ back and forth. Turnin’ back, I said, “If they were drawn to motion, don’t you think they’d be watchin’ each other?”
“That makes sense,” said Georgina. Her hair was messy, and I could tell she was self-conscious. She’d gotten one of Lilly’s old nightgowns from the house, and she clutched it closed at the neck as she moved toward the window to have a look.
She whispered, “If it was just motion that drew them, they’d move toward one another, at least to investigate whether it was, well, something they wanted. Right?”
“The ham been on all night?” I asked.
“Yeah,” said Lilly. “I used the lantern batteries and that little power converter to run it. I set it to scan all frequencies, best as I could figure out how. Pa had some notes in the bottom of the box. Basic, but enough.”
“Sonya, you slept out here. Anything?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“So it’s just us for now. Try your cell phone again. Call your office.”
Sonya pulled out her phone and hit a button. Holdin’ it up to her ear, her face told the story. She lowered it and slid it into her pocket. “Doesn’t even ring now.”
“Shit,” I said. “I’m sorry to say I don’t have a game plan besides headin’ to Kansas, but I ain’t ready to do that yet. Whole thing could be a buncha bullshit.”
“Or if it’s not,” said Lilly, “Micky Rode’s plan might’ve fallen apart or changed by now.”
“Nobody asked me,” said Georgina, “but I don’t think we should risk any long-distance trip right now, except to get my daughter in the Keys. She’s a fact. We know she’s there. We don’t know anything about this DJ, or this place in Kansas he’s telling everyone to go to, and there’s a chance he’s just a huge flake. We’ve got food enough for a couple of weeks if we ration. Meanwhile, maybe we can learn about these … sick people.”
“You’re kinder than me,” said Lilly. “These aren’t just sick people. They’re monsters.”