by White, A. L.
“This is what I have observed so far: those things just walk and eat, that is it, period. I have seen them move in large herds until something catches their attention, then, like a flock of birds, they turn and head toward it. There is no lightning quick attack. They just follow and wear out their prey. Then they eat it. So if they were following him, they followed him home and more than likely more followed every day. I don’t know if they communicate or how a herd ended up outside of your house. The fact is, that they were there, and I am telling you these creatures don’t have the intelligence to find something without that something making itself known.”
Lori had suspected that Jay had been sneaking out of the house; she started to say something once but had let it slide. He had started to become a little unbearable being cooped up but that had changed a while back—something had been some sort of release valve for his tension. Apparently, it had been his clandestine adventures out in the mornings before she and Virginia were awake. Going over everything in her head, Lori didn’t recall ever mentally putting two and two together as far as the herd gathering around their house.
Bob pulled out a map and opened it on the table, turning it around so that Lori could read it.
“You know where the storage yard is?” he asked Lori.
“The one over by the Wal-Mart?” she asked him back.
“That’s the one, about three miles from here. A little too far to go by foot, I think. Well, a lot too far to go by foot for me,” Bob said smiling.
I have an RV there that I had planned on using as my secondary bug out vehicle for me and the wife. Now, it isn’t near as versatile as my truck, but I don’t think we have the issue I was planning on dealing with. It may work out better for the three of us.”
“Three of us? Virginia and I can’t leave here.”
Bob ignored her and continued, “Every place you see a red “X” on this map is a a survivalist bunker or a government research facility. If we try out a few of those we may find a little help as long as we are cautious.”
Virginia came out to the table and sat down, looking very much still asleep to Lori. She didn’t say a word, yawning and looking at the map before her. They both decided to wait for her to speak first. Bob, because he had little or no experience with kids and what they could or could not handle and Lori because she knew it was best to just let Virginia wake up on her own.
“I don’t see why we would have to go,” Lori started. “You have a lot of supplies here and my father built up a nice little stash too.”
Bob wasn’t so sure in his head that they could pull off getting supplies from Lori’s house. He had already begun moving his supplies to the back of his truck when he went out to help the girls yesterday. That was just moving them from his house to the garage—not going inside a house that could be the new residence of whatever the other thing out there was, not to mention being in the open where they could attract the herds.
“We only need our arrows and the tools to make the arrows,” Virginia said.
“Leave our home Virginia?”
“Momma always said a house was a building; a home was wherever we were at as long as we were together.”
They parked near the entrance of a J.C. Penny. Willie had parked the van as close to the door as he could while leaving them in a relatively empty spot so that there was a clear line of sight in all directions. It was good for those staying with the van but not so good for anyone going inside. Jack, Sam, and the Sergeant made their way up a lane that went straight to the large glass doors. Nothing looked out of place; it could have been any ordinary shopping day. Deep down Sam had hoped that they would find people inside doing just that—shopping.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if—” he started, the Sergeant shushing him with a stern look. That look caused everyone to freeze in their tracks. Sam had even earned himself a very stern, if not rare, disapproving look from Jack that stung him back to the reality of their situation.
The Sarge motioned for them to continue following him, quietly.
If the parking lot had looked normal, the store was anything but. Racks of clothing were thrown around in disarray. Dried blood and partial remains were preceded by dried bloody footprints. At first, Jack thought he was going to vomit but by the middle of the store he had become numb to it. He liked to think he was desensitized to anything he could possibly see. At least that is what he would tell anyone who would listen in the past. Sam, on the other hand, looked as though he was trapped in a nightmare that would never end. Jack was worried that he could lose it at any moment. That was when they heard a low cry for help and then a whimper of someone calling out to their mother. They froze when the Sergeant did and watched as he slowly made a circle as if he were a human radar dish. He stopped, then pointed toward the mall and proceeded in that direction. He moved with purpose, yet cautiously forward, only stopping when Sam tripped over a leg lying across the aisle. The stumble sent him flying into one of the few shelving units still standing which toppled with a loud crash.
The Sarge snapped around with his gun aimed at Sam’s head, motioning him to be more careful and keep up. He turned back toward the mall entrance and listened for movement. When he was satisfied, they carried on toward the cries. They were growing louder now and Jack hoped whoever it was wasn’t much further. He didn’t like being in the store now that he was. The mall wasn’t dark, thanks to the skylights, but it wasn’t very bright either. There were shadowy areas all over the place that were giving Jack the heebie-jeebies. Anything could be hiding in the shadows. He moved closer to the Sergeant, only stopping when he got a ‘too close look’ that backed him off.
Then they saw him—a young man in the middle of the floor surrounded by blood and mostly devoured corpses. He obviously saw the three men and began to call out louder, to try and draw their attention. Sam ran forward to help the boy without thinking. The Sergeant tried to grab him as he went by but only managed to grasp the air.
He turned to Jack. “I don’t like it.” That was followed by something that Jack couldn’t make out—it was drowned out by the scream.
As Sam reached the boy he screamed. The body wasn’t covered in the blood of others, he was bloodied raw himself. Most of the boy’s flesh had been eaten down to the muscle and in some places, down to bone. It was a miracle he was alive at all. That realization crossed Sam’s mind just when the trap closed on the three.
From off to the left, four figures emerged from the shadows with lightning speed. As fast as Jack noticed them, they were all over Sam.
BLAM, BLAM, BLAM—three deafening shots tore from the sergeant’s gun as he shot three of them in the head, leaving the fourth still alive and ripping Sam’s throat. He took aim to kill that one but swung to the right and opened up another salvo as several more newly emerged figures fell to the ground. He turned and grabbed Jack, dragging him back toward J.C. Penny, stopping to fire off three or four round bursts. Following each burst, he would drag Jack five or six feet and repeat the whole process until they reached inside Penny’s entrance. He let loose of Jack who fell to the ground with a thud.
“Is that what you were looking for Doc?” he asked in a harsh whisper as he made that slow circle again looking like a radar dish. Consumed by fear as he was, the puzzle master marveling at his riddle, took over and allowed Jack to start functioning again.
The Sarge knew people and he knew from watching over the past week that when it came to riddles Jack was a savant. Before Jack could reply the Sarge had them up and moving toward the parking lot. Just when he felt that they had reached the safety of the sunlight the Sarge turned and opened fire again. Jack hit the ground before the Sarge yelled at him to get up and keep moving.
Jack did get up and move, probably the fastest he had ever moved in his life—dashing out into the parking lot and up the aisle toward where the van. Only the van wasn’t there.
He heard the honking behind him. Willie, hearing the shots fired, had moved the van up by the door. Jack turned aro
und and headed toward the van as Willie climbed out from behind the driver’s seat and started shattering the store’s glass doors with bursts of fire. Jack climbed into the van’s side door and hit the ground. From the time he hit the floor of the van until it sped away, he could hear Willie’s rounds. Then silence, replaced by the horrible screams. The van did not stop. Jack tried to process everything he had just seen, just been through. It made him sick to his stomach just thinking about it.
Chapter 4
They arrived at the storage facility after a brief stop at their house. The large gate was electronically operated so Bob cut through the locking mechanism and dragged the gate doors open. The whole time Lori stood guard on one side of the truck while Virginia and the Lads took the other side. Lori was starting to notice how protective the Lads were becoming of Virginia and how safe Virginia felt with them on either side of her.
When Bob finished pulling the huge gate open, the Lads went through first, checking out the way for them. No sound or smell went unnoticed or unexplored before they returned to the truck. Once through the gate, Bob pulled it back to the closed position and they made their way past the rows of storage boxes to where all the RV’s were parked.
There, in front, sat a 1969 yellow and white Winnebago motorhome that looked to Lori like it had seen better years and was ready to be put out to pasture.
Bob noticed her look. “Like me, she has a few miles on her but she will get us where we are going and a lot more comfortably than the truck will.” He motioned off to a small trailer that had been used to haul dirt bikes or snowmobiles by someone. “I don’t think the owner would mind us borrowing that do you? Haul some of the supplies behind us instead of on top of us.”
Lori nodded in agreement and helped Bob pull the trailer over behind the Winnie, hooking it up. The loading went surprisingly fast with Virginia helping as long as she could, then settling down in the shade of the Winnie with Perseus lying next to her. She petted his big head causing him to bury his head in her leg and roll over like a puppy.
“Where did Zeus go?” she asked Bob.
“Oh, old Zeus likes to stretch his legs a bit now and then. He will be back before we go.”
Zeus had gone for a walk around the storage yard and found something that he didn’t like. It was the smell of danger and he was doing his best to isolate and find it but it seemed to be everywhere. The scent wasn’t there when they first arrived, but it was definitely there now and growing stronger. Zeus could feel it in his bones, as well as smell it, the further west he moved. Venturing a bit further he found the source.
There was a gaping hole in the fence and a herd was flooding through it. Zeus snarled, a low, terrifying growl, and all the fur on his back rose as he tried to make himself look bigger and more intimidating, but the crush of zombies kept surging forward. Zeus slowly backed up, keeping himself between the zombies and his people until he felt the distance was safe enough, then he turned and ran back.
Bob saw Zeus charging back to them at a full run and knew it wasn’t a good sign. He ordered Lori, Virginia and the Lads into the Winnie, following them inside. He pulled out a large briefcase, laid it on the table, and opened it.
Putting his hand on Lori’s shoulder he said, “In here is everything you need to know to get to safety. This red circle here is where I want you to go to first, following the yellow highlighted route as much as possible.”
Lori didn’t understand what was going on, but she could tell that Bob was scared and she didn’t like that.
“Why are you telling me this—” She began but halted as they all saw the herd coming around the corner at the far end of storage shed aisle.
“I am going to buy us a little time and then I will meet you where that red circle is, okay?” Bob looked at Lori, but she didn’t reply. “I said, okay young lady, do YOU understand me?”
Lori shook her head yes.
“Good, now get up there behind the wheel, and get this thing moving. I will be in front of you, in the truck until we get to the gate. I will open it and you just head for that circled spot.”
Lori shook her head that she understood. She wanted to say something, but the words just were not there.
Bob handed Virginia the map. “You are in charge of navigating and the Lads.”
Virginia nodded her head yes, taking the map in her grasp and looking at the lads, one on either side of her.
“Ok, then let’s go before it is too late,” Bob said, exiting the Winnie, shutting the door behind him and running to climb into the truck.
The crush of zombies was closer; near enough that they could smell the rotting flesh as if it was on board the Winnie. Lori turned the key and the old engine fired to life. Bob was already headed to the gate and she followed him as close as she felt comfortable. As they neared the entrance they saw there was a sea of zombies waiting for them.
Bob floored the pedal of the truck, mowing over the walking corpses and crashing through the gate, creating a path for the Winnie to follow. When he reached Theodore Street he pulled off into the grass and scrambled out of the truck. Lori stopped and he angrily waved her on yelling, “To that spot now, DON’T STOP!”
Lori obeyed. In the rearview mirror she could see Bob shooting into the herd. She was sure that he was hitting something with every shot—it would be near impossible to miss there were so many. When she turned on to fifty-nine, she could still hear the gunfire. By the time she reached the next stoplight the sound of the shots was no more. Now she heard only the Winnie’s motor and the panting of the lads.
Chapter 5
Jack came to as his head smacked the metal floor of the van, feeling like it had exploded. For a few minutes he just laid there, listening to the sounds around him. He desperately wanted to hear Sam point out something that was obvious to everyone, in that way he did when he felt he had figured something out, or that they had all just been extremely lucky. He knew that wouldn’t happen, not then, not ever again. He slowly raised his head but still couldn’t see anything. The front row of seats was blocking his view. He fought the aches and pains that seemed to cover his entire body and rose up from the floor onto the seat near him, expecting to see the Sergeant or Willie driving but instead he found the mute woman up there. They were alone in the van, just the two of them. Jack felt the wind being knocked out of him—he was alone with the crazy lady who didn’t speak.
“I was wondering if I should just throw you out the side door a few minutes ago.”
Her words tore him from his thoughts. “You speak?”
“When I have something to say,” she replied, pulling the van over onto the road’s shoulder and then turning to face him.
“Why did they find you naked and covered in blood?” Jack asked.
She laughed at him and turned away so as not to blush. “Really? Is that what you want to be asking me right now?”
Jack realized he hadn’t phrased that as well as he could have and imagined it came across poorly. He felt ashamed for a moment, but it was the part of the story that didn’t fit in. Why would someone—fighting for their life, simply strip off all their clothes to fight? In Jack’s world, anything that didn’t fit in needed an answer before he could move on.
She could see his mind working and thought, What the Hell? “If you must know, I was taking a shower when it all happened and never got a chance to pause and dress for the occasion,” she said.
Well, okay, Jack thought. That made sense. It should have been part of the story from the beginning. But then why anyone had failed to consider the possibility she was caught in the middle of something else just went to show how no one could think clearly in the situation they were all facing. He made his way up to the passenger seat and stared out the front window. “Where are we?”
“In the middle of farm country by the looks of it,” she replied.
“I can see that—why are we in the middle of nowhere?”
She mused for a few seconds before responding. “I thought we needed a litt
le time in a safe area for a while. Until you came to…or didn’t.”
This wasn’t part of Jack’s plan, the one stored up in his mental rolodex that he would follow as if it was the Bible. There was nothing worse in Jack’s head than changing a plan on the fly. “I need to see specimens if I am going to make a difference.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at him. She tried hard not to but he sure didn’t make it easy. “I think you have unintentionally seen enough live specimens for today, don’t you?”
“Listen Miss…”
“Julie,” she said.
“Listen Julie, I am on a scientific mission of the utmost importance!”
“You are on a fool’s errand working on getting yourself killed like the rest of them.”
Jack was shocked. Who was this Julie to talk to him like that? He was over twice her age and was a noted genius when it came to finding and killing exotic diseases.
“Now, if you would listen for five minutes, I will do more to help you solve your case than any dead or nearly dead creature out there. I am afraid that you may not like what you hear though.”
Jack stopped himself before he said another word that could make the situation worse that he felt it already was. He had lost the closest person he had to family and two soldiers—friends, this morning. Like it or not, his options were the crazy lady Julie, or being alone. And he surely did not want to be alone.
“We had live specimens in the lab I worked in, and we did isolate the cause…well, what we thought was the cause anyway.”
“That would be wonderful—if you had any data to back that up. Excuse me if I don’t jump at the word of a woman that I am not entirely certain isn’t quite mad.”