by TW Brown
“We got company, Catie,” Kevin said as he dashed for the stairs.
The pair hurried down. Kevin gave her all the details he’d seen on the way. They reached the doors and took position on either side. Kevin raised an eyebrow to Catie who gave a smile and a nod. Together they stepped out into the night air, weapons drawn—Kevin with his long sword and Catie with a pair of throwing knives.
“I think that is far enough,” Kevin said.
“Mister, we need your help,” the uninjured man said, gesturing to his companion. “We barely escaped with our lives this morning…and then poor Doug here got jumped by Derek during all the—”
“Excuse me?” Kevin interrupted. “What did you say that man’s name was…the one there bleeding.”
“This is Doug Smith, my name is Trent Lomax,” the man answered hesitantly.
“And this Derek,” Kevin felt his stomach starting to twist, “what did he look like?”
“A grown up version of a Hitler youth…blond hair and bright blue eyes. He w—”
Kevin didn’t hear another word. He spun and ran back inside, He careened off of a couple of walls as he made his way to the back of the building where the others were supposed to be resting. He barged in the room and froze.
“Take one more step and this little chicken gets her head cut off,” the man who had called himself Doug Smith was against a wall with Heather held close to him, a large, wicked looking knife up against her throat.
13
La Grande
“Everybody down!” Jake barked.
I glanced over and saw Jon on his knees. He was holding his shoulder. Another shot rang out and he fell back. I tried to see if his chest was moving at all, but from where I was and the distance between us, I honestly couldn’t tell.
It took me a few seconds to realize that everybody was crawling to the closest bit of cover that they could find. For me, that would be a burned out hulk that looked like it used to be some sort of sports car. I slid up beside it and waited for the next shot.
When it didn’t come right away, I looked over to where Jon still lay out in the open. I thought I saw his hand move just a little bit, but it could be a trick of the eyes. Or…it could be him changing into one of those things.
Glancing back to the trees, I wondered what the rest of our group was doing. I also had to wonder what Sunshine must be feeling at the moment. I had no doubt that she had seen what happened.
Taking a chance, I risked a peek over the top of my protective shield. I already had my binoculars up and hastily began scanning the area ahead of us. I focused on where I was almost positive that I’d seen movement. I caught the glint of the sun off of something just before I heard the shot. That is probably what saved me. The moment that I saw it, I hit the deck. A second later there was a crack of gunfire and I heard the round slam into this twisted hunk of metal and melted plastic or whatever they made sports cars from.
“You trying to get yourself killed?” a voice said to my right. It was Shelly.
Jon had put her on the team much to my surprise. I guess he felt that he wanted somebody that he knew could handle themselves in a fight if it came to it. Well…it looks like it was going to come to that.
“Just trying to get a look,” I said.
“How bad is Jon?” she asked.
“I’m not seeing any movement.”
“Well, if he sits up like he is suddenly fine…” she let her sentence die on her lips. We both understood what had to be done; as I’m sure everybody else on this little team knew.
“Billy!” Jake hissed from down the line. “I want you to cover me. You saw something right before Jon got hit. Focus your fire on that area. Just give me a few seconds so I can get to that wall.”
“What about Jon?” I asked.
“Nothing can be done at the moment. We need to get inside and deal with this right now!”
“So we just let him lie there and bleed to death?” I snapped a little louder than I probably should have.
I’d seen enough movies where this sort of thing happens. Funny, I’d always sided with the guys who were all about dealing with the problem first. Besides, it was always pretty easy to figure out if the wounded guy would make it or not based on how famous the actor was playing the role. In real life…you don’t remember any of that crap. Well, at least I sure didn’t.
“Shelly, cover Jake!” I hissed.
I didn’t wait for anything else, I just took off. I heard gunfire, but my only focus was Jon. If he was dead, then so be it. However, I was not just going to let him die like this without at least trying. A puff of dirt and gravel erupted just in front of me, but I kept going.
Sliding up beside his body, I could see the dark stain on his shoulder. The other shot looked to have caught him in the hip. I checked to see if he was breathing.
That’s when his eyes popped open.
I couldn’t help myself as I scrambled back from the start he gave me. However, my brain was already screaming that his eyes were fine. No tracers.
I lunged forward and grabbed his hands. He winced and I let up just a bit, but he tightened his grip.
“Get the hell out of here!” he hissed. “You need to do what Jake says.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” I insisted.
“Go dammit!” He shoved me away, but a kitten could have done it with more force. “And make sure you put a bullet in my head once you get the chance.”
I refused to let go. It was not going to happen like this if I could help it. I started to pull him to me when he yanked me sideways with more strength than I thought him capable. Somehow, I ended up on my side, face-to-face with him.
“This group is going to need you. I am done and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”
“But I can get you to the doc—“
“This is beyond what she can help, kid. Now move your ass.”
“I can’t leave you here.”
“You can’t leave all those people. They have come to count on you more than you know…now get the hell out of here!”
I couldn’t just do it. I could not physically get up and run away from this man. It didn’t seem right.
“Sorry,” I whispered, and popped up to a crouch.
Grabbing under his arms, I started for the nearest cover that I could find. There was a ditch about fifteen feet away. I made for it with all I had. As I dragged Jon, I was once again aware of the chaos unfolding around me. At some point, about fifty walkers had started our way from the open gate. Also, I noticed that everybody else in the group was advancing towards the open gate with weapons blazing. They made short work of the approaching walkers, but continued to fire.
I reached cover and laid Jon down on the ground. He was still staring up at me…but there was nothing there. His eyes had that waxy look that comes when whatever spark exists that makes us who and what we are goes out.
“Oh, man…I am so—”
My apology died on my lips. I could actually see the dark tendrils snake through his eyes as they slowly became milky. I knew better than to wait another moment and grabbed the knife on his belt, driving it through his forehead.
It was as if a switch flipped inside me. I popped up and took off after my people. Somebody needed to pay for this, and I was going to collect.
I caught them as they bunched up on either side of the large, open gates. Jake was on one side and made eye contact with me. I shook my head and he gave a curt nod.
“Come on, fellas!” a familiar voice hollered. “Just peek around the corner so we can put this to an end.”
“Winters,” I spat. Of all the people to make it, why did it have to be this guy?
“You been holding this place down all by your lonesome since we left?” Jake called back.
“Now why would I go and tell you something like that? It would spoil all the fun.”
“Billy,” Jake whispered, “take two people and go along the gate, see if there is a way in. But be careful. This guy
probably has traps set everywhere.”
I nodded and pointed to Shelly and a guy who looked to be in his thirties. I didn’t know his name, but he had a look to him that made me think he was ready to kick a little ass.
With a nod and a salute to Jake, I turned and scurried down the fence line and around the corner. Coming our way were another dozen or so walkers. Most of them looked relatively fresh and were wearing uniforms. These were some of the former residents of this little parcel of La Grande. I moved in with the other two and took them all down before hustling past.
I was going pretty fast when Shelly grabbed my collar and yanked me back so hard that I fell on my butt. I looked up at her with a scowl, but she was pointing just ahead of me. I didn’t see anything and looked back up at her with a question on my face.
“Look at those weeds,” she whispered.
I did, but there was still nothing extraordinary that I could see. I was about to ask what the deal was when the guy spoke. “That cluster is dead, but the ones around them are fine.”
I looked back, and sure enough, the weeds in question were sort of wilted and dying. Everything else around them was showing the vibrant green that is brought by spring. Still, I was not making the connection.
Shelly drew her long blade and leaned forward, gingerly moving the stalks aside. It took me a second to see the little tab poking up. I felt my blood chill a few degrees.
“Mines,” the guy breathed.
“Go back and tell Jake,” I said as I got to my feet. “Shelly and I will work our way through.”
“But if there are mines here…” Shelly looked around and started feeling along the corrugated metal that made up this portion of the security wall.
I gave the guy a nod to urge him along and then returned my attention to Shelly. “What are you looking for?”
“Those zombies came from someplace. I’m pretty sure they don’t have the ability to avoid a mine field. So where did they get released from?”
Damn, I thought. Maybe we should have been taking a bigger advantage of this lady and her skills. Her mind was running laps around me at the moment.
“Ah-ha!” She reached up and moved something that I didn’t see even as her fingers flicked whatever it was that allowed the section of wall to roll up.
I started to follow her in, but she stopped suddenly and backed up into me. The low moan of a zombie told me what she had discovered on the other side.
I stepped back, my eyes suddenly unable to keep from seeing a potentially hidden mine in every bit of disturbed ground. I gave her room and we both had machetes in hand as the first walkers came out of the opening.
“There is a huge pen through that little secret door. I didn’t get a good count, but there are only a few,” Shelly said as she let the first one come into range of her weapon.
In a flash, they were dealt with and we ducked back inside. The door opened to a narrow shoot—which explained why Shelly backed out; there was absolutely no way to swing a weapon. We turned sideways and hurried down the ten feet or so before coming to a large cage.
“Now what?” I asked.
Shelly walked over to the very visible and obvious door, reached her hand through and flipped the latch. She might have been trying to hide a smile as we exited the cage and found ourselves inside a large, dark warehouse.
She pointed to her eyes, and then pointed to the door on the left, then she indicated that I make for the door on the right. I nodded and gave her the thumbs-up sign. It was dark, but there was enough ambient light to see. I was still very focused on the ground, suddenly afraid that each step might be the last one before I was blown to bits.
I began to feel an ache in my left cheek and realized that I was biting it hard. The salty, copper taste told me that I had drawn blood. I unclenched my teeth and felt the knot inside my mouth where I had been apparently trying to chew a hole in my own face.
I reached my door and shot a look over my shoulder. Shelly was just opening hers. She quickly stepped through and the door closed behind her. Following her lead, I opened mine and was surprised to hear footsteps coming my way. Looking around the door, I was almost face-to-face with another few walkers. I was about to end them when my eyes took notice of the collars around their necks and the long chains that were bolted to a post.
These would not be following me and so I did not need to waste my time on them…until one of them let loose with that horrible baby cry. The other two quickly joined in on the chorus and I swung as fast as I could.
Obviously I was not quick enough. There was a pause in the closest gunfire. A second later, I heard a hiss and then a terrible explosion sent me flying sideways. I slammed into the wall of a building—which one, I am not certain—and everything went a little hazy for a few seconds.
By the time I got my wits back, I was staring up at a small cluster of walkers. My eyes widened when I recognized the female soldier that was supposed to seduce Jake. She was riddled with bullet holes. Somebody had managed to catch her in the cheek, blowing a good portion of that side of her face away, but obviously the bullet had not been on an upward trajectory because she was still going strong.
I scooted back and realized that I had lost my machete when I went flying. As I patted myself down in a frantic search for a weapon, I was coming up empty until my hands found the knife I kept at my side for that “last ditch” emergency. Apparently this was it.
When the first one leaned down, I caught it in the eye. I brought my leg up to kick it away and my foot felt like it was going to snap off at the ankle. This was gonna suck.
I was moving back, trying to see through the tears that had welled up in my eyes from the most recent explosion of pain when somebody stepped past me. I let go with a heavy sigh as I watched Shelly come in and save my ass.
“You okay?” she asked after taking the top half of the skull off of the final zombie in this little bunch.
“Not really,” I admitted. I pointed to my left foot.
She knelt and peeled back the pants leg to get a look. I heard her whistle through her teeth. That is never a good sign.
“That must really hurt,” she said as she looked back over her shoulder at me.
“Is it busted?” I asked.
“I don’t know about that, but the piece of metal sticking through can’t be doing you any favors.”
“Say what?”
Or at least that was what I was about to ask. She turned back and I felt a vibration right before a searing pain exploded with enough force to make the whole world go dark.
***
“Billy?” a voice called from down a long hallway.
I didn’t really want to answer it right this moment. For the first time in I can’t remember how long, I felt at a peace of sorts. I knew that if I answered that voice, all this warmth and calm would shatter and I doubted if I would ever be able to reclaim it.
“I know you can hear me,” the voice said more sternly. “Your eyes are tracking to my voice and squeezing your eyes tighter is not going to help.”
You can always count on Doctor Zahn to toss a little cold water on your warmth. I sighed and slowly opened my eyes. I was in a room…or a cell. The minimal furnishings kept me from figuring out which one at the moment.
“How do you feel?” the doctor asked, taking my face in her hands and turning me to her.
“I don’t know.” That was an honest response. “Where am I?”
“In the infirmary,” the doctor replied matter-of-factly.
“So we took the town?”
“Hardly,” the doctor said with a chuckle. “However, we do have this section of it secure.”
“The others?”
“Lost a few.” I could see sadness creep into the doctor’s eyes. “Besides Jon we lost three more of your group. Also, since we got here and have begun seeking out all of the traps, we have lost eight more.”
“What!” I started to sit up, but my head bloomed with a flash of pain that rippled through my entire body
.
“Easy, kiddo.” The doctor placed her hands on my shoulders. “You took a nasty bit of damage yourself. A severe concussion, three cracked ribs, a couple busted which led to your collapsed lung. And then there was that nasty wound to your leg.”
I felt my heart thud and do something funny in my chest. Please don’t be gone, please don’t be gone, I chanted in my head as I began to let my hands drift down my leg.
“Your leg is there,” Doctor Zahn consoled, obviously able to read my face and my fear. “It was touchy for a while and we still need to be careful about possible infection.”
“Shelly?” I asked.
“She stayed with you until help arrived. I guess she stacked up quite a few zombies in the process.”
“Jake?”
“Right here, soldier,” a voice spoke from off to my right. I turned to see Jake standing in the doorway. He looked like crap. His eyes had dark circles and the normal smile that he used as a major part of his “easy-going persona” was non-existent. “You look awful.”
“Said the pot to the kettle,” Dr. Zahn whispered loud enough so that Jake could still hear.
“You got someplace to be, Doc?” Jake asked as he stepped into the room.
“Actually…I do, otherwise I would sit here out of spite.” Dr. Zahn got up. She placed a hand on my chest and gave me the warmest smile that I think I can ever recall seeing from her at any time since I’ve known her. “We all saw what you did with Jon. That was a very brave thing. Stupid…but still very brave.”
I watched her leave the room. Jake stepped aside when she got to the door. There was a whispered exchange and then he gave a nod and came in to sit beside my bed.
“So…you are the big hero,” Jake said with an easy laugh and his phony character firmly in place.
“Hardly.” I brushed the compliment aside. “And what is the deal with the act?”
“Listen, kid,” Jake whispered, leaning in close, “I got no designs on being the guy to run stuff around here. I got a nice deal going where folks just leave me be. If I start acting like freakin’ G.I. Joe, it wouldn’t be long before they started dumping crap on me like they did Jon. And here is a heads up, there is talk of creating a council. Seems that with all the new folks we got in our fold, a single person just ain’t gonna be able to run the show. We are making the slide back to the old ways in a hurry.”