“I think…I think maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
Jeff focused on the road, and kept them moving at a slow and steady pace, not fully catching Megan’s hesitant words. Megan twisted around in her seat for a better view of the infected following them. There was no consistency to their movement, no efficiency. Still, there was a form of symmetry to it. All eyes were locked on the van like it was a homing beacon. Their arms were elevated as they reached out toward their prize. She was amazed at how quickly they fell into a line behind the van. More came from the sides of the road when the vehicle passed, crawling over one another, desperate to get close. The minivan continued to roll down the road, and the crowd behind grew larger.
Jeff pressed the gas a bit harder, and the crowd fell back. The van rolled over a small hill, and the squalid mass dipped out of sight, though there were still more joining it as they drove on.
The road ahead was fairly clear for as far as they could see. It was straight, but the gradual slope made it impossible to see more than a few hundred feet ahead. Jeff guessed that if it were true that the Gallatin high school and middle schools were set up as emergency shelters, the National Guard had kept the road clear of civilian vehicles. The machine gun positions in the front yards of several houses and detour signs on the side streets they passed seemed to confirm his theory.
“Almost there.”
When Jeff looked over at Megan, he saw terror etched on her face. His grin of confidence went slack, and he slowed down.
“Megan? What is it?”
She did not respond immediately. Instead, she kept looking ahead, toward the schools. A water tower stood nearby, its rusted struts climbing skyward, the fat metal belly painted with wording letting them know they were in Clermont County. Beyond it she could see the outlines of several large brick buildings on both sides of the road.
A church was to the left, partially blocking the view of another, larger building behind it. The only real indication that it was a house of worship and not a large home, at least from Megan’s angle, was the steeple that shot like an arrow straight to heaven. Several ground floor windows were boarded up, but otherwise it looked to be in good shape. Some windows were shattered, but the boards were still in place behind them.
Past the church were several squat buildings that were obviously schools. Plain and drab with large windows that peered into classrooms, they fit the mold of most modern educational facilities. Squared off and bland, two elementary schools and a junior high shared the same parking lot.
On the other side of the road, past the chain link fence surrounding the water tower, was the high school. It was larger than the other schools and looked more modern. A small parking lot was wedged between the tower and the school, and a much bigger one ran around the back of the building all the way to the far side. The high school was closer to them than the church but stretched far down the road so that it was also across from the elementary schools.
Megan was surprised to see how far the entire campus went. She could not see anywhere near the edge of the property lines of the schools; they were simply too far away. On both the road and the wide expanse of grass in front of the high school were more abandoned military vehicles and gun emplacements. There was plenty of room to maneuver and allow the van to glide by the remnants of the equipment that had been abandoned there.
It was quiet. Megan squinted as she looked around. There were no bodies slumped over as there had been up the street, and none up and walking around. She could see no movement in the shadows.
They would be past the water tower soon.
The serenity of the scene did nothing to change the look of raw fear on Megan’s face.
“Jeff, just keep driving. I don’t want to stop here. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Her words were steady and concise, but Jeff could hear the panic beneath them. When she grabbed his arm and he looked at her, he knew she was struggling to remain calm.
He stared into her eyes and was amazed at how deeply blue they were. He knew it was a strange time to notice, but they stood out prominently against the dark circles underneath them and Megan’s olive skin tone. They were luminescent, shining like beacons in an otherwise hollowed-out and ravaged visage.
Her look of desperation passed, and so did Jeff’s feeble attempt at a smile. Suddenly he felt incredibly uncomfortable as those blazing blue eyes locked onto his and her fingers dug into his skin.
Jeff swung his head around and looked at the scene in front of them. Everything seemed quiet. The buildings looked normal, though the heavy artillery in the street was out of place.
There was a sign on the right side of the road with a bright red arrow on it, pointing at the high school. There was some sort of text below the arrow, but Jeff could not make it out. After his quick survey of the area, he turned back to Megan.
“I don’t see what’s got you all worked up. I mean…” he waved his hand in front of him, “look around us. There’s no one here. At least none of those things.”
“Jeff! We can’t stop here. Please, just keep driving. I think we’ll be in big trouble if we stop. I don’t know why, it’s just…” Megan’s voice got louder, and there was a hysterical edge to it.
“Now hold on!” Jeff shook off her death grip on his arm. “Just chill out!”
“No. No. NO. NO!” Each negation was punctuated by a violent shake of her head.
Suddenly, they were yelling at each other. Megan’s voice reached a frenzied pitch as Jeff allowed the van to coast forward. She tried sliding her foot onto the gas, but he blocked it and applied gentle pressure to the brake.
As she continued to bark and plead in his ear, Jeff looked out at the sign in front of the high school. He just wanted to read it and kept repeating that desire to Megan, but she was ignoring everything he said.
Megan suddenly stopped screaming and took a deep breath as she tried to compose herself. “Jeff, listen to me. Please.” Her volume had decreased dramatically. Jeff was still seething, still angry at her outburst, but waited to hear what she had to say. He stared at the sign:
GALLATIN EMERGENCY SHELTER.
ALL FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS REPORT TO THE GYM
FOR REGISTRATION.
One suitcase per family, clothing only. No pets! All food and water will be provided. All food and water brought on the premises will be confiscated.
NO FIREARMS!
Please have valid state or federal ID available for inspection.
Thank you for your cooperation.
A large arrow ran the length of the sign and pointed toward an entrance to the high school they couldn’t see from their position. The faculty parking lot was visible to their right, crammed with an assortment of cars. A few had slammed into the rest, and their doors were wide open. They had been abandoned in a hurry. The student parking lot was on the far side of the building, where the main doors probably were. The much larger lot was even more clogged than the faculty lot. A few Humvees were mixed in with the cars, strategically placed at the entrances to funnel traffic.
“There’s nobody here, Jeff. No one.” Megan began. “No one normal, at least. I think we should just go.” Her words were calm but intense. “I think we should head down the road and not look back. Please Jeff, just leave now. God, I know this is going to get bad, I just know it…please…”
She was becoming hysterical again, but Jeff paid no attention to her continued rambling. Instead, he squinted toward the glass doors of the high school. His eyes tried to focus at the shadowy darkness beyond them. He swore he could see movement.
“I think…” Jeff began, his voice distant.
Megan suddenly stopped speaking. “What?” she asked, her eyes glued to him. She had not heard his quiet words.
He shook his head in anger. “Son of a bitch,” he mumbled under his breath. “I think you’re right,” he sighed and nodded toward the doors of the school.
Megan swiveled her head to look, and saw that the doors to the high school had already
been pushed open by the mass of infected bodies spilling out onto the lawn. She watched in stunned silence as more and more of them tumbled through the doors in a mad rush to get to the van.
“Fuck!”
Megan jumped as Jeff cursed. He was looking at the other side of the street. More ghouls were pouring out of each of the other school buildings. They were a flood, smashing through the doors and windows as they came.
Jeff slammed his foot on the gas, and the van shot forward. As they flew by the ongoing mess, he laughed nervously. “Jesus H. Christ! How many people lived in Gallatin? Fuck me!” He spoke with a nervous enthusiasm and a hint of stunned awe. “There are way too many people here.”
His eyes never left the growing crowds that were about to merge on the street behind them. He gunned the engine to sixty. It amazed him that bodies were still pouring out the schools.
“Jeff…JEFF! Look out!” Megan screamed in his ear. He swung his head back around and swallowed hard as he slammed on the brakes.
The military had not only built a wall back up the road, they had built one here as well, at the edge of the school campus. Neither Jeff nor Megan had seen it when they had stopped and were too busy gawking at the crowds behind them to notice until they were almost on top of it. This wall was different than the other one. There were no concrete barriers or razor wire this time, just a row of trucks stretching across the road and into the grass on both sides.
The anti-lock brakes on the van kicked in, and they ground to a halt short of the wall. Jeff quickly turned the vehicle around to face the oncoming horde.
Megan looked behind them at the assortment of big rigs and military troop transports that had been cobbled together to form the barricade. Looking closer, she could see wire peeking out from the various openings and nooks that might allow someone to sneak through. She quickly realized that much of it had already been pushed out of the way, and there was movement on the other side of the vehicles. As she looked, several hands peeked through, grabbing for purchase as they pulled and scratched their way over and under the mechanical fortification.
“We’re going to have company behind us pretty soon.”
Jeff ignored the comment and focused on what was in front of them: the schools, the jammed parking lots, and the wooded areas beyond. The van was no four-by-four and would not make it off road. Heading back the way they had come was becoming less of an option every second. A line of infected was strung from one side of the road to the other, three deep at the weakest points and thicker in most places. There were a few gaps, but nothing they could plow through.
There were hundreds of them, and more were coming. They crept over and around the trucks behind them, and the buildings ahead kept dispensing an endless supply of corpses. The infected were everywhere.
Gritting his teeth, Jeff turned to Megan. She was afraid but looked composed, surprisingly enough. Her semi-calm state helped him stay cool as he spoke.
“I think we have one chance. It’s not a good one, but…”
Megan nodded, ready for him to get on with it. She looked at the slowly advancing army and reached for her revolver. Gripping it tightly, she stared ahead.
Looking out into the crowd of rabid faces, Megan locked onto one. It stood out as different in the sea of gray, green, and black rot that covered most of them. It had been an adult, probably a man, although most of its hair had been ripped away-along with its scalp-and gave no hint as to its gender. Its clothing, a shredded t-shirt and what were probably blue jeans that had been split up the seams, also gave no clues. There were no breasts, but the stomach was swollen, filled with corrupt fluid and undigested meat. What stood out about this one, what had made her zero in on it, was the face. It was purple. It was not bloated, and the damage was minimal. Both eyes remained, set deep within a sea of violet flesh that drooped but still retained the shape of a human visage. They were pig eyes. The purple wasn’t just old dead veins showing through the skin filled with drying blood; it was as if the ghoul had been dipped in dye. Megan hadn’t seen a stiff quite that hue before. She gripped the gun tighter when she realized that it was staring back at her.
Jeff floored the minivan and turned the wheel sharply to the right, heading for the wide parking lot that the junior high and elementary schools shared. Between the two buildings was a massive glut of ghouls, and behind them, a small road running between the buildings. He swiftly dismissed the idea of trying to get past the crowd and down the road when he saw a logjam of more vehicles there that would prevent their escape.
“Hang on; this might get a little rough.”
Megan braced herself; the van dipped down and rose back up as they traversed the shallow ditch at the edge of the parking lot. She shifted the revolver to her left hand and gripped the handle above her door. They avoided the paved entrance to the lot, which was crowded with bodies. The van went airborne for a split second and landed roughly on the pavement.
Megan closed her eyes and cringed as several bodies bounced off the bumper. As the fat rear end of the Odyssey swung sideways, she heard more bodies being knocked over behind them. Jeff floored it again, spinning the wheel frantically left and right, trying to avoid the larger pockets of rotters. He moved in close to the junior high and, at the last moment, turned sharply to the left, weaving around like he was on an obstacle course. More and more thuds were heard as the infected bounced off the van in rapid succession.
Jeff gripped the wheel like he was strangling it, refusing to let it direct him, which it seemed desperate to do as the front wheels hit more and more bodies and were forced to turn in directions other than that in which he wanted to go. His foot hit the gas and brake in rapid succession, slaloming around the human pylons he was trying to avoid.
They worked their way across the parking lot toward the church, and Jeff set his sights on the road. They had to try to return the way they had come. It was the only reasonably clear path remaining. The crowd heaved and quivered like a single entity and refused to grant the leeway they needed.
Jeff hit the brakes. A moving fortification of bodies was closing in from the front and sides. He looked in the rearview mirror, hoping he could throw the minivan in reverse. Seeing it was even worse behind them, he knew going forward was their only option. The bodies were several deep up front, but he knew that if he could gun the engine and build up some speed, the van might be able to break through.
That was when he saw the others: the crowd that had been following the van from the intersection, the ones they had left behind not so long ago. The newcomers were getting closer and blending in with the infected from the schools, creating an impenetrable wall of rotten meat in front of them.
A whimper escaped Jeff’s throat. He had forgotten all about them. The horrid parade of infected streamed down the road, swelling the ranks of the horde. In no time, they would overwhelm the van and crush it with their sheer volume. There was no place left to go.
“I’m so sorry.”
Jeff couldn’t look at Megan. A cacophony of moans surrounded them, rising in pitch and increasing in volume by the millisecond. The ghouls would be on top of the van in moments.
“I am so sorry, Megan…so, so, sorry.”
He felt her finger sliding under his chin, raising it up. Jeff tried to avert his eyes, but Megan moved his face toward hers. He felt her lips, cool and dry, on his cheek.
He opened his red-tinged eyes. They were bloodshot, tired, and sunken. He had nothing left to offer, but Megan was smiling at him. She looked calm, almost serene.
Even as she touched his face with her hands, she retained her grip on the gun. She shook her head to quiet Jeff. “This isn’t your fault. None of it is.” She touched his forehead with hers, and they huddled together, the gun cold and rigid against Jeff’s cheek, a contradiction to the warm and human touch of Megan’s hands. They looked at one another and realized that there was nothing left to say. All that mattered was that they were together.
The pounding on the van began, and the vehic
le rocked beneath the blows. The moans were overwhelming. The two survivors embraced one last time, Jeff nodding when Megan slipped the gun down between them. She held it and waited.
More ghouls swarmed the minivan, climbing over one another in a desperate attempt to reach the warm, living flesh that called to them.
Chapter 18
Jeff heard the pistol cock, but only because it was so close to his ear. They had wrapped their arms around each other when the fists began to rain down. The minivan shook gently at first, the moans intermingled with the wet slapping of rotten flesh against glass and metal. The vehicle held up to the muffled thuds initially, the infected unable to force their way inside as they rammed their bodies against every square inch of exterior space. But as more crowded and pressed against one another, they were starting to have an impact.
The moans erupting from two thousand corrupted throats began to overwhelm the constant and thunderous hammering of fists. The moaning rose in pitch and seemed to unify into an unholy sound as if it came from a single creature crying out in rage.
Jeff waited, listening carefully, becoming puzzled. The final moment he had been dreading was not happening. The glass was not shattering, and the doors were not being ripped open. After a few seconds, he thought he could detect a decrease in the number of fists pounding on the exterior of the van. Fighting a nearly paralyzing fear, he opened his eyes.
Loosening his grip around Megan, Jeff gently pushed her back toward her seat. Bewildered, she opened her eyes and mumbled “What?” in a timid, childlike voice.
Jeff stared out the window, baffled by what he saw. Many of the creatures remained nearby, smashing their bodies against the quarter panels, but those at the edge of the crowd were drifting away. Jeff and Megan watched as more of the mob peeled off, especially out front. The sounds emanating from outside were jagged, not in harmony as they had been moments before. Confusion rippled through the crowd.
Coming the Dark tdt-1 Page 12