On Our Own

by Silver, L. D.

  I glance over my shoulder and Cassie’s keeping up. The zombies have reached the book shop, but won’t be able to get us. This is so cool. It’s like we just got away with snatching stuff from a store and the fat old cops (zombies) can’t keep up.

  I grin to myself and then pedal extra hard to get up the hill in front of us.

  #

  To be honest, even after an hour or so of riding, I really just want to pull over and read some of my new book, but I figure Cassie won’t go for it. The trip back is a bit easier, thanks to pit stops where we have some of the drinks, and the bikes make it faster. I’m trying to keep my good mood going because I know what’s ahead of me. I’ll need to get down the hill, get our backpacks, and race back up before any of the zombies attack me.

  I think about Big and Meaty grabbing my ankle so much that my skin starts to tingle there.

  We stop at the edge of the crevice and get down on our tummies again to look at the situation. Big and Meaty is back in the middle of the zombie cluster. My car is still at the other end, not blown up but unfortunately still broken.

  “So I make a circle around them, and try to keep them in there –”

  “While I run to the car and get our packs. I’ll slip mine on, run to the face, tie yours to a rope and start climbing.”

  “Then I’ll pull up my pack.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Cassie smiles and heads over to the part of the crevice closest to the zombie circle. I put my shades on the ground and tie my shoes extra tight. I swallow some sports drink and ignore the knots in my stomach.

  I stay still for a moment, trying to make everything go quiet, to block out the noise of the zombies and the heat of the sun. Then I visualize my path: down the slope, to the car, get the packs, up the slope. I envision everything going well.

  I open my eyes, put the drink down, and nod at Cassie.

  Chapter 34

  I head down the slope, trying to run and slide as quickly as possible, while Cassie’s reaching into her plastic bag and pulling out meat from the store and tossing it to the zombies. The meat’s rotted, the wrong temperature, and not moving, but we’re hoping it will distract them enough.

  Using my peripheral vision, I can see the zombies getting excited. Unfortunately, when I’m only halfway down I notice one head swiveling my way. Of course, it’s Big and Meaty. Of course, he would be more interested in moving meat than what’s in front of him. I bet he was annoying in real life, too.

  “Now!” I shout to Cassie. Without looking at her, I know she’s reaching into her bag and pulling out a little plastic container of lighter fluid, perfect for a barbecue. As I’m racing down, trying not to fall on the rocks, she puts a circle around the zombies, lights the match and tosses it.

  I’m almost at the bottom when she cries out, “It’s not working!”

  I stop and notice a couple of things. The matches are going out before they hit the fluid-soaked ground, and Big and Meaty is working his way out of the cluster.

  “Light something like clothing and throw it down now!” I shout in a panic and take off, because I can’t wait to see if it works out okay.

  Out of the side of my eye I see a big white, flaming object fall to the ground and a second later, the circle catches fire.

  I’m at the bottom and racing for the car just as Cassie throws something on fire at Big and Meaty, who is now definitely away from the other zombies. I jump in the vehicle and slam the door shut.

  I’m in the front driver’s seat. I ran a hand quickly along the dash.

  “I missed you. Sorry about the accident.” I know it’s silly to talk to a car, but my mom did it all the time, so I’m not quite so weird.

  Cassie’s backpack is on the floor next to the passenger seat, so I grab that and put it next to me. Then I climb into the back and grab my pack just as something slams into the side window.

  “Crap!” Big and Meaty is outside the car, his bloody hand on the window right in front of me, and he’s on fire. He stares at me like I’m the cream in the middle of a cupcake, and he doesn’t seem to care that he’s burning.

  Chapter 35

  “Oh, God.” I push myself as far away from him as I can, up against the far window. I’m a lousy shot, but I struggle for my gun anyway. Surely I can’t miss him from this close.

  “Oh, God, oh, God.” I’ve got three bullets. I crawl back to his side, even though my heart is pounding hard, and I know, I know I don’t want to get closer to him.

  I sit on my knees and he stares in at me. Dear God, this is the closest I’ve gotten to one without it being able to bite me. His eyes are tracking me then his hand slams against the door again and I jump. But so far, he isn’t figuring out to make a fist and smash the window.

  How long will the glass hold?

  I sit back on my haunches and raise the gun, pointing it right at his face. Only a small barrier separates us, and I see no knowledge in his eyes that I’m basically holding a gun to his head. He doesn’t know.

  This isn’t right. This isn’t right to just shoot something point-blank like this when it can’t reach me.

  But he’ll eat me.

  Dear God. I say a prayer for myself, and for him, and for my soul, and then I turn my head away and pull the trigger.

  Chapter 36

  The glass explodes and I shoot until I’m out of bullets. Then I quickly scooch back on the seat and shake myself a little.

  Big and Meaty is gone.

  I scramble forward and look over the side of the window.

  He’s face-down on the ground, still on fire, and he’s not moving. It reminds me a bit of how I found Cassie’s dad. I think I actually shot him in the head.

  I sink back into the car seat. I think he’s down for the count.

  Not wanting to think about anything, I shove the gun into my pack and throw the whole thing over the front seat. I climb up front, slip my pack on, grab Cassie’s bag and then I’m out the door.

  I step on the ground outside of the car, making sure Big and Meaty can’t reach me - just in case - and I’m surprised at what I see.

  The empty-heads didn’t stay inside the circle.

  I’m not sure why; maybe they saw what Big and Meaty was doing and decided to follow. They weren’t as strong as he was, though, and the resulting smell is horrible. As I look around, it feels like my brain isn’t working right. I know there are zombies in various states of burning around me; all of them on the ground and some of them still crawling. I know this, but I don’t really see all of it. It’s like my eyes bounce right over it.

  It hits me that the fire thing had been a really bad idea.

  Then I’m moving, ignoring the sick feeling in my stomach and neatly avoiding the outstretched hands of burning zombies. I know they’re dead, but they still look like humans, and seeing them move all around me, on fire...

  I shake my head, drown everything out, and I finally reach the side of the hill. I tie Cassie’s backpack on the rope and feel better for a second.

  The key to everything, the fix for the world, might be in that pack.

  Chapter 37

  I tug on the rope, and then the world becomes just the slope, just the rocks and dirt, and the safest way to get up there without falling.

  I reach the top, dirty, and sweating, and tired.

  Cassie helps me over then pulls me into a hug.

  #

  After a short rest, we loop around the crevice and follow the road again, making pit stops here and there to drink water, hot out of the bottle. I can’t help feeling a bit sad.

  This isn’t what my life was supposed to be like; this isn’t who I am. I’m not the type of person to go around killing things. Dang, before this I had trouble smushing the bugs that got into our apartment. After a few years of this, what will I be like? Will I even survive?

  God, years of this, years of this... tears are falling down my face and I can’t stop them. I slow down to slip behind Cassie so she won’t see.

  #


  After a few hours of riding, we stop for lunch. Cassie picks out a large tree on a hill not far from the road.

  “We can have a picnic.” She grins at me. I smile in response but it doesn’t stay long on my face as I follow her up the slope and rest my bike on the ground. I dig in my backpack for food while Cassie spreads a blanket. I place a can of Vienna sausages in front of Cassie, and another next to me. Then I open a large can of peaches and put it between us so we can share it.

  I get a couple of bites of sausage in when Cassie twists away so her back is to me. She fiddles with something, and then turns around.

  “Ta-da!” She holds up a makeshift necklace; a thick, black string looped through a black thumb drive. “That’s for you.”

  “Thank you. What is it?” I ask, taking the necklace.

  “It’s a copy of the lab data.”

  “Cassie.” I look at her, stunned. “I can’t.” I try to hand it back to her.

  “No, go ahead. I’ve got a copy, too.” She reaches under her shirt and pulls out a necklace like mine. “I just thought you should have one, too. You know, just in case...” Her eyes slide to the ground.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to you, Cassie,” I say firmly. “I’ll keep hold of this one just in case you lose yours or get separated from it again.” I slip the necklace over my head.

  “Okay,” she agrees.

  “Hey, who has matching necklaces?” I ask, twirling mine.

  “We do.” She grins.

  I slip the necklace under my shirt, and it clinks gently against my shamrock. We dig into lunch, eating messily but heartily, and as I get full I lean back against the tree. I’m feeling better and I have Cassie to thank for it. Giving me a copy of the lab data… yeah, that was smart, but it also shows that she trusts me. She trusts me to hang onto something important; that if used right could change the world. Looking at the little black USB drive, I realize this is the first time someone’s believed in me to this degree. I want to make sure I live up to that.

  I’m savoring one last bite of peach when I notice a bird flying overhead.

  “Hey, Cassie, what’s that?”

  “It’s a bird,” she deadpans.

  I smile and shake my head. “I know it’s a bird, goober, but what kind?”

  She grins, shading her eyes as she tries to catch a better look. “I think a hawk, but I’m not sure.”

  It’s the first animal I’ve seen in weeks. If they can survive out here, maybe we can, too.

  We spend the rest of the afternoon riding without seeing any other beings, alive or dead. We are seriously in the boonies. Eventually, I realize I haven’t seen any shelter for the night – not a car or a house or anything – so I search for anything that might help us as the sun begins to set.

  “How about there?” I point to a large grassy hill that has three large trees at the top.

  “Sure,” Cassie agrees. We eat dinner in the same way we did lunch, with a blanket on the ground and food between us, watching the sunset. Then Cassie starts to stretch out on the ground. I look around and I don’t see anything, but I’m still a bit nervous. I glance at the tree behind me and notice large, strong branches.

  “Hey, Cassie. Just to be safe, how about we sleep in the tree?”

  “Sure. That’ll be neat.”

  She scales the tree like it’s as easy as walking up her staircase at home. It takes me a bit longer, and I gain some scrapes and bruises, but eventually I get up there. I shift around a bit until I wind up facing a branch, wrapping my legs around it, and then kind of lying down. It’s not very comfortable, but hopefully I won’t fall this way.

  “Goodnight,” I call to Cassie, and notice she’s already fallen asleep. I watch the night deepen, very black with no moon, and try not to think any thoughts. I try to just empty my mind and think about the present – the bark beneath my cheek, the tree beneath me and the soft sounds of the night. Eventually, I fall asleep.

  When I wake the next morning my cheek is scratched all over, but at least I’m still in the tree and so is Cassie. This turns out to be a very good thing, because sometime in the night we’ve attracted four zombies.

  Chapter 38

  They stand beneath the tree and stare at us. There’s an adult male zombie, with cracked brown eyes and short brown hair that has a cowlick, who’s wearing jeans and a white shirt covered in brown stains. Then there’s a female zombie with long sandy-blonde hair. She wears a long, blue cotton dress covered in flowers, and she shifts from foot to foot, glancing down at the ground and then occasionally back up at us as if she keeps forgetting something. Beside the woman are two boys, both dressed in tan shorts, sandals and white t-shirts, like they skipped school to come and drool over us. The smallest one is around five years old, while the older one is maybe seven or eight. There’s blood on the youngest boy’s mouth, and a matching wound on the woman’s neck. I think they’re a family.

  I search the rolling hills for where they came from. I don’t think we made much noise during the night, so they had to have been nearby. I stretch upwards a bit and notice what looks like a bit of a roof far off to the left.

  I look back down at the zombified nuclear family and wonder how to get down.

  “Any ideas?” I ask Cassie. “I’m really not into using the gun at this point, and I can’t reach them with my bat.”

  “I shoot them?” She grins.

  “No.” I shake my head. “You’re not good enough with a gun yet. You might shoot me by mistake.”

  “Good point.”

  Logistically, I’m trying to figure this out. If I jump down then I can attack them with my bat, but with four of them total I’ll be a goner in no time.

  “What if we throw cans at them?”

  “Probably not heavy enough to really do anything. But what about our backpacks?” I ask.

  “Sure, but we only have two of those. Who do we aim for?”

  “Both of the adults. I think I can then take out the kids.”

  “Delilah, we’re supposed to be partners, remember?”

  I stop, look up at her serious face and realize she’s right. We agreed to be partners, and I could really use her help.

  “You’re right. And that would definitely make things easier.” I smile. “So which one do you want to take out?”

  “Let’s knock out the parents with the packs, then jump down and get the kids.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  So Cassie goes first, carefully lining up her backpack and then dropping it right on the father’s head. I follow up quickly with a hit to the woman, and it doesn’t get her full-on but it still drops her. They won’t be down long, though, so I slide quickly – if painfully – out of the tree. I kick the smallest kid down to the ground and run around him to grab my bat. Meanwhile, Cassie’s whacking the large kid with a tree branch.

  I notice the dad is shifting out from under the backpack, so I hit him on the head until he falls down, and then I knock out the woman again for good measure. By that time, Cassie’s gotten the small one to the point where he’s just crawling on the ground, and she’s back to hitting the large kid. I go behind him and hit him once with the bat and he falls to the ground.

  “They’re still twitching,” Cassie says.

  “I think they’re still alive,” I reply.

  “Should we kill them?” she asks. And I know what she means. I know they can kill us and whoever else they come across, but I just feel uncomfortable killing off a family.

  “Do you still have the rope from the crevice?”

  “Yeah,” Cassie says. So we tie them to the tree. As I’m tying up the smallest, he twitches a bit, almost coming awake right when my arm is near his mouth, and it occurs to me that with all my scrapes and cuts this was a really bad idea on my part.

  I finish tying the rope and back off, looking at my arm.

  “What is it?” she asks.

  “All it takes is the blood, right? His blood getting into my bloodstream?”

 
; Cassie pales.

  Chapter 39

  Cassie pulls my arm down until she can look at it. “Did you get any of his blood on you?”

  “I don’t think so, but God, Cassie, what if it’s really small?”

  I hit the ground with my butt, really freaking out. Oh, God, am I about to turn into one of those things? Will I turn in a couple of hours? Will I turn and hurt Cassie?

  “You’ve got to shoot me.”

  “No! No!” She stomps her foot and puts her fists on her hips. “Stop it! I don’t see any blood on you. He didn’t get near you! Now, come on.” She pulls her bike upright, climbs on and rides away slowly.

  I sit there a few minutes, looking at my arm then watching the squirming zombies who’ve come awake and, upon seeing me, start to moan.

  The smallest boy reaches a hand out to me.

  I shiver, then jump up and follow Cassie.

  I hope to God she’s right.

  I stumble through the grassy hills, my attention more focused on my arm, like I can see the virus spreading, than on the ground. Please, God, don’t tell me that my weird sudden desire to keep something kind of living has resulted in my death. That would suck.

  I know all the signs of the sickness coming on – it’s just like the flu: sneezing, coughing, fever, chills, and occasionally throwing up. It differs from person to person as to how long it takes; anywhere from ten minutes to twenty-four hours. It’s all based on your immune system and your DNA. We were just getting into genetics in school when everything went to hell.

  I’m staring at myself so much I don’t see a rock, and I fall heavily to the ground. Cassie notices and marches back to me, her forehead wrinkled and a stern look in her eyes.