Gretchen pulled herself from his grip, her eyes turned up to his, filled with tears. She wouldn’t allow them to spill over.
The others in the group slowed so they wouldn’t come up too close to the discussion. Gale kept her eyes on Gretchen to make sure Zack didn’t do anything stupid. She didn’t think he was the type, from watching the last few months, but she never knew. He was still a man.
Dan Anderson walked closely next to Gale and held onto her upper arm to help her along. He was a good kid, and she knew he was trying to do whatever he could to make up for killing his young friend, Anita, and show Zack he wasn’t all bad. Whether Zack saw or not was still up for debate. The only person Zack really seemed to notice these days was Christine. They all did.
Zack’s insides churned at seeing Gretchen so distraught. “Look, I’m the closest person to her. I’ve been around her for years. Whoever you knew when you were a teenager, that’s not her anymore. People grow, they change. I’m sorry but the truth is you weren’t around and that made Chris feel abandoned. You’re not her sister anymore. You’re a stranger.” When he saw the panicked look on Gretchen’s face he stammered to backtrack. “To her you’re not, I think, just from the things she’s said…I don’t mean it’s right, it’s just, unfortunately, that’s the way it is right now. I’m sorry.”
Gretchen skipped a beat in her step and only started to move again when Gale looped her arm through hers and pulled her along. The older woman gave her friend a soft glance of apology. It wasn’t that she thought Gretchen didn’t deserve it. She most certainly did. Before the apocalypse, she was a selfish girl Gale concluded from all that was told. But things were different. Second chances should be given.
In the middle of the group, endless chatter erupted from Olivia and Imani as they passed the time talking about everything under the sun. Though Olivia was two years older, she was fascinated with Imani’s unique style and no-nonsense way of handling herself and her father. And Imani would never admit it, but she looked up to Olivia as she took some practice swings and bragged about the ease she felt at smashing the heads in of the stumbling corpses.
“You’ve never even had a close call?” Imani asked with wide eyes, remembering her narrow escape from her own step-brother.
Olivia’s eyes froze on the ground for a split-second, but no one around her noticed. Her lips parted into a cocky grin. “Nope. Never.”
“Wow,” Imani gaped. “That’s amazing. You were meant for this world.”
“You bet I was,” Olivia smiled.
She felt eyes on the back of her neck and knew that Lee Hickey, the gentle Irish giant, was watching her closely and listening to her every word, as he always was. This never seemed to bother her before. His presence was always a comfort from the moment she found him around Lonnie’s campfire. He was the one person who knew her before humanity had been destroyed. But now, she wasn’t so sure that fact was the comfort it once was.
“But what about your family, your parents? What happened to them? If it wasn’t a close call for you, why couldn’t you save them?”
Olivia didn’t skip a beat as she stroked her wooden bat and pat it against her other hand lightly. “Never had a family. Long gone before all this happened.”
Again, she felt Lee’s glare on her back. He knew she was lying. Though she’d only met him once before, he knew all about her family. She’d never told anyone the story of how she lost them, and she wasn’t sure she ever would. How could she? It was all her fault.
“Sorry about your loss, your mom…your step-brother,” Olivia added quickly to deter the conversation from her.
“Thanks,” Imani said softly.
Both girls heard the sniffles coming from Luke Benson as he walked close behind them next to Lee. Olivia wondered what it was like for Imani to be watched over by a bumbling coward. She wanted to ask, but knew she couldn’t right in front of him. The last thing she wanted to deal with now was making a grown man cry…or at least cry even more than he was already. In that moment, she was grateful again to have Hickey at her back. He didn’t speak much, didn’t interfere when she tried to kill a zombie, didn’t really interact with her much at all. His lap was a soft place to lay her head at night and his strength was always at her back if she ever needed it. Other than that, he was content to just let her be and watch her.
Rowan meandered from middle to front to back and to the middle again. He was the only person in the group to not have a single friend among them. Lonnie Lands had been his friend. He never left the young maniac’s side when he was alive. Now that the crazed leader was gone, Rowan struggled to find his place again. The obvious choice was Zack, with his accumulated mass of muscles and leadership skills as he pushed the group forward down the road to redemption, but Zack wanted nothing to do with the guy. Rowan wasn’t the type of man Zack would have befriended before the end of the world, and he sure wasn’t someone he wanted by his side now. So, Rowan traveled in limbo, talking to nearly no one, jumping in and leaving conversations at a whim. The only person to give him any kind of positive attention was Carolyn, and that was only because of his good looks.
Christine slowed her steps, allowing more space to grow between herself and the group. She looked behind her. The job of watching the rear was one she gave to herself and she took it seriously. There was no way she was going to let one of the undead sneak up on them and kill anyone else. But it was hard to hear with Liam always talking in her ear, so she had to physically look after the passing of several minutes.
“You need to stop blaming yourself, love,” Liam said as he rested his hand on the small of her back.
Christine felt the pressure of his fingers through the thickness of her jacket and layers of shirts. She wanted to smile, but it felt physically impossible with the amount of grief and confusion she felt. His touch messed with her mind when she knew he wasn’t real but her body could feel him just the same.
“It’s a little hard, Liam,” she whispered under her breath. She realized quickly after he showed up that she could talk basically inaudibly and Liam would still be able to hear while no one else around her would. In fact, she was sure if she just thought what she wanted to say without actually saying it he would still hear, but then he would feel less real and she wasn’t ready for that. “I was right in front of you, armed, when you got bit. Why you and not me?”
“Because you are strong enough to survive this world. I wasn’t.”
“What a load of bull,” she huffed through heavy breath. “You were a pro at archery, you killed these things every day. You built things from nothing. You were a scientist that could have saved the world. If anyone should be alive right now, it’s you.”
He moved his arm up to wrap around her shoulder, keeping perfect pace with her feet so that she never felt the pull of his body against hers, as she would have if anyone else were walking that way with her. “No, Chris. You are more valuable than you know. Look how quickly you’ve taken up my bow.”
“Yeah, only because I have you whispering instructions in my ear.”
“Even if I wasn’t, you still would have advanced, love. You do know I am just your subconscious, right?”
She rolled her eyes as she used to do when he talked in his pompous instructor voice. “Of course I know that. But…” she trailed off, unsure how to argue her case anymore.
“You’re kind, and this world is going to need all the kindness it can get. You’re caring and nurturing. You would be the best bloody mother in the world given the chance.”
Tears clouded her sight and the ground blurred under her feet. “And you would have been the best dad.”
She waited for the inevitable “Thank you, love” she always received from Liam when she complimented him, but there was silence. She looked up from the ground and over to where he’d been, but she was alone. How could she not tell when the weight of his arm disappeared from her shoulder? Maybe she never really felt it in the first place. She blinked away the
madness of it all and continued forward, looking over her shoulder again.
III
After two hours of walking, the group was no further than the local waterpark, a mere three and half miles from the Dune Ridge Apartments. The park had been abandoned several times before the world became abandoned too. For some reason, no one could keep the locals interested in the small slides and wave pools. Twenty years ago, a child died when he fell off the steep waterslide. The park was deemed dangerous and its gates closed. Someone else bought the property, updated the attractions, and reopened it, but it was a flop. No one wanted to play where a ten-year-old had fallen to his death.
“Cool!” Olivia let out with large saucer eyes. “The waterpark! Can we rest here for a little bit?” She threw her bat over the wrought iron fence, following it closely with a graceful jump.
Zack took a deep breath and held it in as he thought about it. The area was gated with only one way in and out as far as he could see, and that was locked up with a chain. Murky, stagnant water sat on the bottom of the various pools as green parasites took over. He scratched at his forehead as Olivia smiled from the other side of the fence. She bounced up and down with hope and glee.
“We really shouldn’t. We haven’t even been walking that long. We should put some more distance between us and the apartments.”
“Oh, come on,” Gale grumbled as she leaned against the fence. “My dogs are barking and we still have miles to go.”
Zack rolled his eyes, but then his lips parted in a crooked grin that hid underneath his beard. “All right. Fifteen minutes. Go to the bathroom, eat a snack, rest your feet, and then we head out again. Fifteen!”
But most everybody had already thrown their belongings over the chain-link fence and were figuring out the best way to get over. Dan Anderson, Rowan, and Imani hopped right over without any assistance. Gretchen waited for Zack to boost her over with cradled hands. Once she was safely on the other side, he looked to Christine to give her a helping hand as well. She gripped his shoulder and held on as he projected her to the top of the fence. She hopped down to the other side and immediately headed for the umbrella-covered picnic tables to find some solace.
“Gale? You want me to throw you over?”
The older, overweight woman gave a hoarse laugh, cut off by deep coughs into her arm. “No thanks, handsome. I think I’ll stay on this side, keep a look-out.”
He figured she would say no. To be honest, he wasn’t sure he could boost her over the fence anyway. Something in him told him Gale knew this as well. She sat down on the sidewalk and took her shoes off, rubbing the soles of her feet meticulously. She gave a deep groan of bliss as her fingers dug into her calloused skin.
Quickly and with little sound, Zack pulled himself up and over the fence to join the others. As he took a deep breath, the damp smell of the mildewed waterpark saturated his nostrils. His nose wrinkled as he looked around. Olivia was chasing Imani around the base of the slides, threatening to throw the girl in if she caught her. Even in their enjoyment, they were conscious of the world around them and laughed almost inaudibly. Luke stuck close by, sitting at the edge of one of the slide’s pools, his short legs unable to reach his feet down to the water, not that he would have wanted them to touch with the shade of green it was. Lee sat close-by as well under a tree with his back propped against the trunk. He leaned his head back to rest, but when Zack looked closely he could see the quiet man’s eyes were still open and watching the girls play. Gretchen sat by the fence where Gale sat on the other side to keep her company. The visit, their backs rested against the links and each other’s, reminded Zack of a prison visit. Rowan chose a tree not too close, but not too far from Lee and curled up underneath it for a quick cat nap. Dan disappeared behind the building with the bathrooms, most likely to have a smoke and a mope. That’s when Zack spotted Christine sitting hunched over at one of the shade-covered tables by the concession stand. A smile played at his lips.
He stood up and strutted over without saying a word, hopped over the counter, and rummaged loudly through the stand. Christine’s head perked up a bit as she waited to see what he would find. Then, there was silence. He must have found something good she thought as she waited. After thirty seconds of silence, she started to worry.
Just as she stood up to make her way over, soft food in little plastic wrappers were hurled over the counter at her. One hit her square in the forehead. Her hand rushed to the spot where she’d been hit as her mouth gaped open. She pulled herself up to look over the counter, but Zack wasn’t there.
“Catch,” he said from behind her.
She whirled around and caught what Zack had thrown.
“Twinkies!” she breathed out with a laugh. “Wow.”
Zack unwrapped his own treat and shoved it into his mouth whole. “Would be better deep-fried like they used to do it, but this is still good.”
“Thanks. That’s really cool, Zack.”
“No problem. Figured we could all use a little sugar to keep us going right now. I know I can. Couldn’t find a drop of coffee anywhere.”
Christine nodded her head slowly as her eyes stared blankly in thought. “Do you think we’re doing the right thing, going to Chicago?”
Zack breathed out his nostrils loudly as he chewed the cakey treat, the cream filling overflowing in his mouth. He chewed some more and swallowed before answering. “I think we would have felt worse sitting in the apartment doing nothing when we could be out here doing something.”
She nodded in agreement as she unwrapped the plastic covering. So many thoughts flooded her mind in that moment, but she couldn’t pin one down long enough to voice them. As she took a bite, her eyes rolled back into her head. “Oh man, that’s good!”
The grumbling of distant moans pulled them from the joyous moment. Yelling erupted as several of the dead closed in on Gale with Gretchen at her back on the inside of the fence.
“Help!” Gretchen cried out for the others to come to the rescue.
“I got this, I got this,” Gale said casually as she struggled to stand up, using the links of the fence as leverage. “Don’t worry your pretty little head.”
Just then, the groaning seemed to come from all sides. More dead shambled to the fence as the group looked on, trapped from within.
“Gale, give me your hand!” Gretchen yelled as she reached over the fence.
Before the two hands could touch, Zack was over the fence and stood ready to give Gale a boost.
“Are you crazy? You can’t lift me up that high,” Gale argued as the dead closed in closer.
Zack’s eyes widened till there was more white than color showing. The closest one couldn’t have been more than twenty feet away, with at least seven close behind.
“Would you just put your foot in my hand?! We don’t have time for this!”
Gale reluctantly did as he ordered. She held onto his shoulders and hopped on one foot as the other lay cradled in his hand.
“One, two, three…” Zack let out the deepest, longest groan any of them had ever heard as Gale straightened her legs and reached over the top of the fence. With Gretchen pulling her by the arms, she fell onto the hard concrete.
“Hurry, Zack!” Christine yelled.
By that time, everyone was crowded together inside the fence, holding their breath as the group of zombies closed in all around them.
Zack hopped from the balls of his feet as light as if he’d been standing on a trampoline and used his foot to boost himself up. Just as he was about to drop down, a cold, hard hand clasped around his ankle. His weight shifted and he stumbled, leaning backwards.
“I got ya!” Rowan said as he gripped the front of Zack’s shirt in his fist.
He gave him a yank and Zack felt the fingers of the dead hand slip away.
It took him a few seconds to catch his breath and right himself, but once he did he could see they were in bigger trouble than they’d originally thought
IV
All around the abandoned waterpark, the dead smashed their putrid bodies against the fence. The moans grew louder, combined with the clinking of the chain links, creating a horrifying symphony only the living dead could enjoy.
“Do you see a way out?” Gretchen yelled to anyone who might be listening.
Each member of the group whirled around on their heels in search of an opening between the monstrous hordes surrounding them.
“There!” Olivia pointed to the far west corner where there was a grouping of pine trees. “We can hop the fence there and run through. It doesn’t look like there’s any in there.”
“Too risky,” Zack barked immediately as he kept his eyes on the zombies closest to him. “They could be hiding in there and we’d never know until it was too late.”
“Isn’t that what we have our weapons for?” Olivia retorted in her usual teenage rebellious angst that said she knew better than everyone else in that group.
“What other choice do we have?” The crack in Luke’s voice gave away just how scared he truly was.
Zack turned to look at the group. Lee, Imani, and Olivia in were in the forefront, weapons in hand and ready to fight their way out of the waterpark if it was the last thing they did. The others stood close behind them, some weapons raised to fight while others hung down in their hands, as if they were unsure how to use them. Carolyn Bock cradled her handgun to her chest as if it were her precious baby, too afraid to aim it outward in fear of losing the only defense she had.
“Fine, we’ll try it your way,” Zack said gruffly. “But you have to follow me and stick close, I mean it. No stragglers and no one diverts. Understand?”
No one agreed aloud, but the fear in their eyes told him they would not stray from the path he laid out before them.
Dead Soil (Book 2): Dead Road Page 5