“I’m going to tell you this only once. Knock off the shit, or so help me, God, I will shoot you. One more word, that’s it. You say one more thing that we don’t approve of, and my bullet will find a home in your brain.”
“How dare you,” Edward said.
“The pup could be useful. We can train it to tell us if those biters come near, can’t we?” Matt asked.
“I guess we could try,” Evan said. “I’m sorry, Mandy. He doesn’t get that we’ve all suffered enough. You are welcome, and so is Brewster.”
“I want to try this blade out. Could we go out and take down a couple biters?” Matt asked.
Evan and Doug gave each other unsure looks.
The group had stopped at a sporting goods store for tents and other supplies while they were in Albuquerque. Doug had also noticed that the cruiser had a bad tire that could have caused a huge problem if they continued on it. In the store, Matt found a long-bladed machete that he told Evan was perfect for him.
“He has to learn sometime,” Evan told Doug. “I think we should let him start learning.”
“I agree, but after this, let’s not make a habit of going out and looking for them,” Doug said. “But... just be careful.”
“Definitely, I’m with you on that,” Evan said with a look that he understood Doug clearly. “You ready bud?”
“Yep, let’s go get some,” Matthew said with a mischievous grin.
“You’re just letting them go off like that?” Edward objected.
“I agree with Evan,” Doug said. “Matt, Eliot and Simon were robbed of a childhood. I do not want to see them end up like those things. Do you?”
“They’re too young to take part in killing those things,” Edward countered.
“Judge, I agree, Simon especially, but this is the way this world is. I’m sticking with Evan on this decision.”
Doug gave Edward a look of warning to remind the judge of his earlier statement, and Edward took the hint by storming off.
“These shorts suck for this,” Matt said, trying to hoist his sagging pants back up from the weight of the machete. “I need to buy, um, find better ones.”
“You just need a better belt.”
“You look like you have something to say.” Matt said.
“You trust me, right?” Evan asked. He received a sharp nod. “I’m here for you. I don’t ever want you to think you can’t talk to me, no matter how difficult the subject is. However, there has to be… expectations.”
Matt listened attentively to Evan as he explained what he felt were important words to live by. Each step was slow and Evan watched to make sure he wasn’t leading them into any biters.
“I feel sorry for you,” Matt said.
“Why would you say that?” Evan asked.
“Having to take a piece of shit like me in,” Matt said.
“You are not a piece of shit, Matt.”
“Yeah, I am. I hated my family. I spent most of my time away with friends, and I did my own thing. I made out with my first girlfriend a few months ago, and yes, I wanted to do her so bad. I was stealing a lot of money. I smoked a joint just last month. Trust me, I won’t do that again.”
‘This kid barely knows me, and he’s telling me his deepest secrets. How long has he been alone?’
“You are young, Matt,” Evan said. “You’re starting to come to the age where you find your own definition, so to speak. You’ve taken a road where people use you as an example of what not to do, but like us all, you made mistakes.”
“What kind of mistakes have you made?” Matt asked.
‘What do you tell a twelve-year-old?’ Evan thought. ‘Treat him like you would want to be.’
“Let’s see,” Evan said. “This is a tough one, and I am placing a lot of trust in you with this. I knew that my brother was having an affair, and I knew who it was."
“And the mistake was not telling Sarah?" Matt asked.
"That’s right. I like Sarah, and I was pretty pissed with Mark for going around behind her back. I told him to think about the people he was hurting. He was supposed to be more righteous than me. He's the church going husband and sound father, but he was banging a woman who was plain compared to Sarah. I'm supposed to be the one that was the black sheep and the godless, disgraced son of an Episcopalian priest."
"So, you don't believe in God?" Matt asked.
"I don't believe in things I can't see," Evan replied.
“Close your eyes,” Matt challenged Evan.
Evan did so hesitantly.
“Do you feel that breeze?” Matt asked.
“Yes,” Evan said.
“Now open your eyes.”
‘What is with this kid?’ Evan thought.
"Do you see the breeze?" Matt asked. "No? So what's moving the leaves on that tree?"
Evan knew exactly what Matt had done, and he gave the boy a meaningful smile.
“Don’t try and convince me to believe in Santa or the Easter Bunny.”
“Aren’t we dealing with flesh-eating zombies? Those were from old scary stories and horror movies, right?”
“True enough, Matt,” Evan said with a laugh. “You’re wise beyond your age.”
“Is that what you think of me?” Matt asked.
“It shouldn’t matter what other people think of you. It’s you believing in yourself that matters. If you really want to know, I’m intrigued by you. I want to learn about who you are. We also need to see how serious you are about helping us.”
“So that’s why you said we’re going to do this,” Matt said.
“This is going to be a test,” Evan said. “In order for me to allow you to do this, I need to know… why is it important to you?”
“What if it happened to you?” Matt asked. “Do you want to live like that, even for a second?”
“No,” Evan said without hesitation. “So you are looking at it as an act of mercy?”
“Yes, isn’t that the way we should look at it?”
“Yes,” Evan replied. “Killing one of these biters is one thing, but a living person. I don’t feel guilt for the bunch I killed already. I never want to kill a living person myself. If I ever have to, I am sure I will lose something inside.
“I’ve seen it happen with my brother. He killed two men in Afghanistan, and since he got back, he simply seemed like a shell of who he used to be. Yes, you are trained to kill, but the army can’t tell you what to do afterwards. My brother built a façade around himself to hide his pain.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone.” Matt said. “If they do anything to me, try to take my life, or something. I will hurt them, badly. I promise you that! I may be small, but I know how to fight.”
“If you are put in the position that you have to kill someone, do it in self-defense only,” Evan told him firmly.
“I promise, Evan.”
“I know,” Evan said before he spotted two undead a block away. "There we go. You ready?"
Matt nodded and he unsheathed the machete.
“Stay back and watch me. They haven’t noticed us yet.”
Evan walked quietly toward a woman, who seemed asleep on her feet, and drove his knife deep into her cranium. She slumped to the ground as soon as the blade was removed.
"Now, Matt," Evan instructed as the other biter started toward Evan.
Matt set himself into a crouch and sprang forward. He jumped into the air, stretched out his right leg and his foot landed against the bridge of the reanimated man’s nose. The man staggered backward and fell unto his back. Matt reoriented himself and drove the blade right under the man’s nose with all of his strength and pent up aggression. Matt looked over at Evan for approval. Evan looked back at him with his mouth hanging open. The image of Matt calmly standing over his first kill was captured like a photograph in his mind.
"Jesus," Evan said with astonishment. “You’re ready!”
Edward was feeling unappreciated. He was a judge, and he didn’t much like the way these people were ignor
ing his wishes.
‘And Doug, that son of a bitch better not lay another finger on me. I’ll fix him good,’ Edward thought.
Doug, Nikki and Mandy loaded the vehicles with the supplies they had gathered from the sporting goods store, while Simon and Eliot played with Brewster. Edward was busy trying to start up an abandoned large SUV so they could haul more supplies. He turned the key and the truck came to life. He went to disconnect the jumper cables that were attached between the cruiser and Edward’s new truck.
Edward stopped when he felt a small breeze come from behind of him. He froze, and turned around slowly. Standing right behind him was a heavily decayed risen man. It lunged forward with its upper body at Edward, but stopped less than an inch away from his face with a sharp snap of its jaw. It remained that way for a few seconds and began to growl. Thick coagulated blood drooled out from its mouth. It let out a soul-freezing screech that made Edward jerk back and cover his head with his arms. He begged God to make this nightmare stop.
He uncovered his face and saw the biter was no longer there. Instead, it was Nikki, looking at Edward with worry.
“Edward?” Nikki asked. “Are you ok?”
His heart was pounding rapidly and he felt cold sweat roll down his face. He looked around him to see if the beast was still around. He didn’t see it, but he felt it.
“Yeah, uh, I had the sun in my eyes when I turned around. I guess I’m getting sensitive at my old age.”
“You think you’re old?” Nikki asked with scoff. “Edward, don’t make me laugh.”
“I feel old,” Edward muttered.
“The one thing I feel is that the world got fucked a couple days ago, but thankfully, I don’t feel old yet,” Nikki was saying, but her voice faded away as she spoke.
Like Nikki’s voice, she seemed to melt until she resembled the biter. He shook his head to try and clear the image. Nikki again appeared normal.
“I think I understand what you mean, Nikki,” Edward said, but he couldn’t shake that freakish creature from his mind.
“You’re sure you’re ok?” Nikki asked.
“I’m absolutely positive,” he said.
Edward tried giving Nikki a smile, but it appeared as a sheepish grin.
“Mom, you shouldn’t say ‘fuck,’” Eliot scolded Nikki.
“I know son. I slipped,” she said innocently.
Edward jerked to a stop when he saw in a flash the image of that hideous biter reappear, and then disappear in a heartbeat.
Edward’s heart raced and his mind spun. He walked rapidly and stumbled to the side of the building where he wretched violently. Nikki came over to see if he was ok.
“What’s going on, Edward?” she asked firmly. “And don’t tell me you looked at the sun wrong again.”
‘Stop fucking pestering me you fucking whore!’ Edward’s mind wanted to say.
“I-I think I’m coming down with something. I’m dizzy as hell,” Edward responded with a raspy voice. He looked up from the spot where he had vomited toward Nikki, but his gaze fell onto something else. “They’re back.”
Nikki followed his gaze to where Evan and Matt stood. They were both splattered in blood.
Evan let Mary have Edward’s seat since the judge had commandeered another vehicle. Doug led the growing caravan down to the interstate. On the drive there, Matthew leaned forward to look out the front windshield and sang along to Greenday’s ‘Warning’ that came from Evan’s phone.
“This is a public service announcement. This is only a test, emergency evacuation protest. It May impair your ability to operate machinery. I can't quite tell just what it means to me. Keep out of reach of children, don't you talk to strangers. Get your philosophy from a bumper sticker. Warning, live without warning, I say warning. Live without warning.”
Evan thought about just how crazy the world was prior to this catastrophe, and how the song poked fun at that world. Something inside made Evan feel that this entire event was a wake up call to humanity.
Matt continued with the song.
“Better homes and safety-sealed communities. Did you remember to pay the utility? Caution: police line, you better not cross. Is it the cop, or am I the one that’s really dangerous? Sanitation, expiration date, and question everything. Or shut up and be a victim of authority.”
“That’s crazy,” Mary said. “That’s exactly like the way it was.”
“Pretty much,” Evan said. “And we didn’t bother listening to old Benjamin Franklin. For decades, our local governments and neighborhood associations slowly sucked away our freedoms for small and insignificant levels of security so we can feel safe. Didn’t help much now, did it?”
“No,” Mary said.
“Well, look at what we have here,” Evan quietly mumbled.
“What?” Mary asked.
“We have people,” he answered and gestured to a truck parked outside a gas station.
One man stood outside to guard their vehicle, but Evan wasn’t sure how many more might be inside. He was medium height and lithe. Evan thought the man had a weird posture and
Doug pulled up next to Evan’s cruiser while Edward stopped on Doug’s left side. Mandy parked behind and joined in between Doug’s and Evan’s vehicles.
“What do you think?” Doug asked.
Another man had come out of the convenience store behind the pumps, and both looked back at the small caravan.
“Surprise is out of the question. Maybe we should just go up and see what kind of mood they’re in,” Evan suggested
“Sounds like an idea,” Edward said. “I say we leave the vehicles here except yours. We’ll keep the women and children back here. Matt, I’m not talking about you.”
“I can come?” Matt asked.
“I’m leaving that up to you two,” Doug responded.
“They have guns it appears,” Evan said. “We aren’t looking exactly friendly sitting here like this.”
One of the men was indeed holding a shotgun.
“If you go, Matt, you’re taking a gun,” Edward said.
“I have one already,” Matt told him.
“When did you get a gun?” Doug asked.
“I’ve had one since I was in my mom,” he replied with a full frontal grasp.
“You think with your pecker too much, Matt,” Doug said.
“You do too, Doug,” Nikki said. “Boys seem to never grow out of that.”
Matt made a ‘tsk, tsk’ sign with an index finger.
“No guns for you Matt, you stay behind us to watch and listen,” Doug instructed. “If you see anything that bugs you, tug on the back of my shirt twice. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Matt replied respectfully.
“I’ll come too, and I’ll keep an eye on him,” Mandy said with a gesture at Matt.
“Thank you, Mandy,” Evan replied. “Let’s check this out.”
As expected, Edward volunteered to stay back with Nikki, Mary and the boys. He did however pull out a collection of handguns he had obtained from a shop across the road from the sports store and gave one to each Doug and Evan. He offered one to Mandy, but she declined. Doug, Evan, Mandy and Matt loaded up into the event truck and went to meet the strangers.
“Have your machete ready, Matt?” Evan asked.
Matt patted the large blade attached to his shorts.
Doug pulled the SUV next to the pick-up and got out, using his door as a shield.
“Good evening,” Doug said. “How are you tonight?”
“That depends,” the man with the shotgun replied. “If you keep your guns holstered, we’ll be ok.”
“Ok, we understand your concern,” Doug countered. “Why don’t you put that shotgun away? That way we can all relax.”
“Don’t do it, John,” the man’s companion said. “They might pull some sort of trick and take all of this.”
“He’s a cop,” John said to the other man. “Why are you driving a Phoenix police SUV?”
“We’re driving
up from Phoenix,” Doug said.
“Did you steal that truck or are you really a cop?”
“I’m really a cop, sir,” Doug replied. He tossed John his wallet to prove his claim.
“We have kids with us,” Evan said. “Let’s not have an incident.”
“I take that back, John. Put it away,” the other man said.
“Sir, we just want to talk,” Evan pleaded with John. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re just trying to get to a safe place.”
Evan could see that John was fighting with a decision. The look on John’s face defied his body language, and he took his eyes off of Evan, and looked at the shotgun.
‘You’ve never fired that, and you don’t want to,’ Evan thought. ‘Don’t be stupid.’
“Where are you going?” John asked.
Evan and Doug looked at each other.
“Home,” Evan said. “There’s a group that’s setting up a safe place in Detroit. We’re going up there after we pick up another family in Kansas City. If you gentlemen don’t have anything holding you here, and I’m guessing you don’t, you could come with us.”
John and the other man exchanged a glance.
“How do you know they’re there?” John’s companion asked.
“I spoke to my sister-in-law on the phone before the signal went out,” Evan said.
“We both lost everyone,” John said. “We’re trying to get out of here to someplace safe.”
John made his decision and placed the shotgun into the truck’s bed.
“What’s your name?” Doug asked the other man.
“Adam Yost,” the man said.
An hour later, Evan’s group gathered all they could load into the trucks then stopped at a pharmacy. Nikki grabbed whatever she could find, especially antibiotics and first aid kits. Matt picked up a tabloid and looked at the picture on the cover of a hideous humanoid-like creature that had supposedly swum into a sewage processing plant in New York.
“Oh, found a picture of your girlfriend?” Evan teased as he passed.
Matthew jabbed Evan’s back with two fingers. Evan returned it with a light slap to the face. They gave each other challenging grins. Matt bolted and came around behind Evan, jumped on his back, and placed Evan into a choke hold. Evan went down to his knees and pretended that Matt had taken him down.
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