The Rabid Mind Two

by Bruce Buckshot Hemming

New Friends.

  Jim cursed under his breath, this was the third hive they had run into, and by far the most resilient. Beside him, Debbie had her gun out through the shooting slot and was picking out the infected that came into her sights one by one, where were they all coming from?? All had been quiet mere minutes ago.

  They had encountered the first hive on their first night. The sun was just starting to set, and they had quickly found a house to spend the night in, it had a garage which they found they could open from outside; they parked and Debbie went ahead to scope the interior of the house. Just as Jim was getting ready to secure the garage door, he heard Debbie scream from inside the house, he was instantly by her side. The reason for her scream was a rotting corpse. A little boy long since dead fell out of closet door when she opened it. The half-eaten corpses of what looked to be the boy’s parents were in the living room, it was a ghastly sight. Jim retrieved the gun the dead man had with him, it was empty, empty shells and four very dead infected lay on the floor with them. Holding Debbie’s hand, he suggested they spend the night in the garage, she was obviously very moved by the corpse of the child.

  That was when they heard the sound, shuffling noises of a mass of feet came from the garage, from the looks of it, they had most likely been attracted by Debbie’s scream.

  “Damn it, the garage door is wide open.” Jim said they quickly hide behind a couch for cover, hopefully the stench of the dead bodies would provide temporary cover for their own scent. The door leading from the garage to where they were, opened, and Jim peered over the top of the couch, he counted four of them and made a hand gesture to Debbie, showing that number. Then he bent back down, and whispered.

  “The CRV is in the garage, and we can’t leave without it, all our supplies are in there, it’s a good thing you have your gun with you, what I’m about to suggest is crazy.” Then he pointed at the front door. “I’m going to sneak on over to the front door and open it, when they come after me, I want you to run to the garage, get the car and come meet me up front okay? It’s very important that you do it quickly. I counted four of them, but I doubt they’re so few, we can only pray to be so lucky for there not to be thirty or more. I need you to move quickly you understand?” She nodded her affirmation and put a hand on his cheek in a ‘stay safe’ gesture, with a deep breath he looked again over the top and slowly started making his way towards the door making sure to keep his head down. Debbie held her breath, expecting the infected to catch his scent or spot him and rush towards him immediately. Jim reached up and opened the door. It creaked. They had not allowed for that. Jim was instantly on his feet and he took aim and shot the first two who noticed him, then he ran out into the open. With a loud shriek, a group of ten members strong rushed after him. Debbie rushed into the garage, towards the CRV.

  Outside, Jim stood on the roof of a truck he’d climbed to gain higher ground and was picking out the infected one by one, they tried to climb up after him, while some concentrated on ramming the truck with their bodies in an attempt to cause Jim to lose balance and fall off, but he was quick in taking them out. Damn, the 12 gauge was empty quickly and he pulled out the 9 mm glock. His mind screaming, hurry Debbie, stop screwing around. He knew he could not keep up his defense for long, and mentally urged Debbie to hurry up, one of them grabbed at his leg from behind, he immediately whirled around, and took it out with one shot. He looked up and saw more infected pouring out of nearby buildings, obviously drawn by the shots fired. Trying to calculate how much ammo was left, a quick guess four more rounds before he had to change magazines.

  Debbie had been halfway to the SUV when a noise from her left caught her attention. The infected raised his head just as she did and raced towards her. She shot him point blank, stopping him dead in his tracks. Two more ran towards her, two quick shots ended the charge. She scanned the room, there were no more. She ran to the SUV, jumped in and kicked it in gear, and she sped towards Jim.

  Jim shot two more infected, and as he turned to a third, he noticed the slide locked opened. Dammit not now, as more started to swarm the truck. The infected climbed the truck and he swung at it with the butt of the gun, hitting it squarely in the face and sending it reeling over the side of the truck. He heard the sound of the CRV speeding towards him, and Debbie screeched to a halt beside the truck. Taking 4 out on that side leaving a clear path for Jim. Wasting not a second, Jim jumped down and in the SUV, like a flash.

  “Took you long enough.” He said.

  “I had a little company.”

  Without even thinking he open the ammo box in the back seat and quickly reloaded the 12 gauge first. Once that was done he open the glove box and pull out a box of 9mm to reload the Glock. It was second nature to him now always keep his guns loaded. They drove for a bit and then stopped at a small cabin they found, where they eventually spent the night.

  The next day, they’d set out bright and early and ran into a second hive. They’d stopped to top off their gas so Debbie had taken the opportunity to go pee in some nearby bushes, saying how that was a better option than any gas station bathroom that might be around, while Jim waited by the car. Barely 3 minutes after she entered, she’d run out full speed towards the car, three infected at her heels, the others, a few paces behind them, the sun, not enough to deter them from the meal they now chased. Jim had reacted fast and quickly started the car and backed up to meet her, and they’d sped off, while the infected now ran back to their hiding places, suddenly conscious of the sun above.

  Jim stopped in front of the county building. There is no way we are going to get any information here Jim thought, as he got out and stared at the charred building. Deb had gotten out too and now had her hand to her mouth in surprise.

  “Must have been one hell of a fire.” He said

  The walls had crumbled on one side, and exposed, thick, charred beams of wood. Glass littered the floor where windows had broken, the whole place was a mess.

  Debbie made for the building, and Jim, quickly realizing her plan, caught her hand and held her back,

  “What are you doing??”

  “Going to get the map so I can find the damn ranch, what does it look like I’m doing?” She replied, visibly irritated.

  “From where? There? You mean the building that looks like it was hit by hurricane…..that was on fire? Come on Deb, I know you’re in a hurry to get your kids but think for a second. Even if a map did not serve as kindling, and somehow survived the blaze, and that’s a humongous if, you take a step into that building, the odds that it will come crashing down on your head. You’re no good to your kids, or me, buried under a heap of charred lumber.” Jim admonished and watched as her irritation melted down little by little as she realized he was right.

  “So, what do we do?” She asked, withdrawing her hand from his grasp and hugging herself, “I mean, without the map, how, do we find the double K ranch?”

  “That’s what I’m thinking about, the ranch hand did mention that we could look for survivors and ask around.”

  “Yeah, sure, coz this place is just swarming with survivors just eager to give us directions.” Debbie quipped, gesturing at the bare surroundings.

  “Can’t know if we don’t try.” Jim said. “Come on let’s roll.”

  ***

  God! He hated the taste of blood, but in his present state, he seemed to crave it even more with each taste. They all did. The metallic flavor satisfied a deep-seated longing within them, calming their ever-present headache to a dull throb. He looked at the mess they’d made. The people had put up quite a fight, he admitted that much. They were not as prepared as that other family, the ones with the bombs, and although they had lost quite a number, they’d finally broken through the weak defenses and pounced on them. The men lying dead now, did not look like good men, drugs and various brands of alcohol littered the place. As his horde fed, he heard a sound, it came from a locked door. Stepping towards it, arousi
ng the interest of several members of his horde, but he snarled at them, sending them skulking back to their kill. He heard the sound again, it sounded like muffled crying. He inched towards the door and tried it. It was locked. He reared back and slammed against it, it did not budge. He tried again, with no luck as the door was quite sturdy. The crying sound had intensified by now, as the person realized he or she had been heard. A third attempt sent the door crashing into the room, and he saw a girl, tied to a bed post. At the sight of him, she screamed, although it was muffled by the gag around her mouth. Ah he thought, she must have served as entertainment for those vile men, and not of her own volition it would seem, and they were the savages, he thought wryly. She struggled with the ropes in a desperate attempt to get away from him, but she was bound tight, and she eventually settled down and stared at him, with fear in her eyes, his head pounded as he looked at her. The need to rip her apart was overwhelming, and he started towards her. As he did, she resumed struggling, trying in vain to get away from what would no doubt be, a painful end to her miserable life. She looked at him imploringly as she struggled with her binds, it registered somewhere in his consciousness, that look, but it was a part of him that had been dulled down tremendously by the overwhelming need to tear her limb from limb. He took a deep breath, and lunged at her.

  ***

  As they rested that night, Debbie was visibly agitated, she kept turning on the bed, rolling from one side to the other, an outward sign of her frustration displayed as restlessness. Finally, she sat up and stared into space, Jim, who’d been watching her for a while, sat up beside her.

  “Not one Jim. Not one.” She finally said, Jim didn’t reply, he simply looked at her, so she continued. “We drove around, what? Five? Six times? Six damn times and not a single survivor around to direct us to the ranch where my children are? Not one?” She started crying, and Jim held her and drew her into his arms.

  “Don’t give up hope just yet Deb. Don’t lose hope just yet.”

  “I’m tired Jim, I’m just tired.”

  The next day, they set out bright and early after a quick breakfast, Debbie was quiet for the most part of the drive.

  “Ah hell,” Jim exclaimed “We’re almost outta gas.” He said and parked so they could top of with the last of the extra gas they’d brought with them.

  “We’re going to have to get some extra gas soon if we intend to make it back to base.” He said as he topped up the tank and replaced the container in the rack on the roof, just then, he caught movement out of the side of his eye, he was instantly on guard.

  “Did you see that?” He asked Debbie, but she was already headed towards it, he jogged after her and held her.

  “You forgot your pack, we never leave without it, remember?” And she went back for it quickly, and together, they headed towards the alleyway the movement had come from.

  Jim made a shushing gesture to Debbie, asking her to be quiet, and he stepped into the alley, gun raised and ready to fire. Then he sighed and dropped it, seeing the reason for the movement. It was a cat, tearing at a box, he chuckled, and it raised its head up. The eyes were bloodshot, and it was foaming at the mouth. Without warning it lunged at Jim just as a shot rang out from behind him, and the cat fell dead at his feet, his nostrils caught the smell of burned fur.

  “Thanks.” Jim said to Debbie, but she nodded. Just as they turned to leave, Jim saw a head quickly duck back behind the box the cat had been engrossed with.

  “Who’s there?” Jim called out, and walked cautiously towards the box.

  “We’re not here to hurt you, we’re friendlies, see?” He lowering his gun and turned to Debbie, gesturing for her to cover him. He moved towards the box, and in one swift motion, he pulled it aside. This revealed a young boy of about ten years, immediately, the boy made to run off, but Jim held him and tried to calm him down as he thrashed around in a vain attempt to escape. Debbie came over, put down her gun and started talking to him a soothing voice.

  “Hey there, what’s your name? Oh no, no, no, we’re not here to hurt you, we just want to make sure you’re okay. Jim, put him down.”

  Jim put the kid down and he took a step back. The child looked at the both of them warily, Debbie spoke again, “What’s your name?”

  “Matt.” Came the tiny reply and at that Jim and Debbie laughed.

  “We have a friend called Matt too, back at home, but you’re much more handsome than he is. Umm, where’s your mommy?”

  The kid just looked at her, and then, slowly pointed upwards somewhere over Jim’s shoulder. They turned around and saw a woman standing at the entrance to the alleyway, she had a shotgun trained on Jim. They both raised their hands up to show they were unarmed.

  She looked to be in her early 30s, was of average height, and had long black hair. Her eyes were green and had taken on an icy hue as she looked at them, hawk-like, ready to drop them at the slightest sign of a threat. Her stance with the gun was very steady. Jim could see it in her eyes she had killed before to protect her son and would do so again without a second of hesitation. She had a machete at her hip and wore gloves on both hands with what looked like a bandana around her neck. When she spoke, she spoke in a low, threatening voice. “Step away from my son.”

  They complied with her command, not in any way wanting to suggest a threat to her son.

  “Matt, come here.”

  The boy ran to her, and she hugged him and gently pushed him to stand behind her, the whole time she kept her gun trained on Jim.

  “Who are you?” She asked “And what do you want with my son? Are you raiders? Looking for little boys to trade for supplies?”

  Jim scoffed. As if. The woman’s Icy stare at the sound, made him gesture an apology.

  “Cat got your tongue? I asked a question, speak up, I don’t have all day and the sun will soon go down.” She urged, now very agitated.

  Debbie spoke up calmly. “Funny you should mention cats really, coz we just saved your son from being infected or worse, eaten by one.” She pointed at the dead cat on the ground.

  “So what? You took out something that would have ruined the merchandise and you expect a thank you for that?” She said, still not trusting their innocence.

  “Christ, Lady, give us a break. We were driving round, looking for survivors and we ran out of gas. We were topping up when we saw your kid with the cat at his heels, so we came in to save him, simple as that, we’re not raiders. In fact…” Jim started.

  “Looking for survivors you said?” She interrupted “Why?”

  “We’re looking for my children. We know they were headed to a ranch called the double K, and we were told it’s close to this place. So we came here to get them, but we don’t know where the ranch is. We went to the county building to get a map, but found the place in ruins from what looked like a massive fire. So, we decided to search for survivors who are from around here, with the hope of getting directions to the Double K from them.” Debbie explained.

  “Just driving around? Bit of a long shot to bet the lives of your kids on, don’t you think? This place isn’t exactly swarming with people as you may have noticed.”

  “Yes, I know it’s a long shot, but what other choice do I have. This is the third location we’ve come to in search of them and with each passing day, the chance of their survival wears thinner. I’m desperate at this point. You’re a mother, you should know what I’m going through.” Debbie was almost in tears.

  The woman slowly lowered her weapon, temporarily moved to give them a benefit of doubt.

  “Well, thanks for saving my boy. I’m Shannon. Where did you say you’re parked again?”

  “I’m Jim, and this is Debbie,” Jim started, “We’re parked just outside, in front of the drug store.”

  “The mad max wannabe??”

  “That’d be the one.”

  “Nice.”

  The four of t
hem exited the alley. “Double K, you called this ranch?” Shannon asked.

  “Yeah, Double K. you know it?” Debbie asked.

  “Can’t say that I do, but there should be someone back at the fort who might. I think Ernest served as a ranch hand for a couple of ranches around the general area.”

  “Please, can you take us to Ernest. You mentioned a fort?” Jim inquired.

  “Yeah, you honestly didn’t think Matt and I were on our own, did you?” She answered with a smile, “Follow me, we have to move quickly, those things are going to come out soon. Is there anything you want to take from the car? Not now baby.” During the time she’d been talking, Matt has been pulling at her top trying to get her attention, and now as she turned to tell him off, she saw why. Three infected creep forward using the darkness of the ally.

  “Shit!” Shannon exclaimed. Time to go RIGHT NOW. Come on Matt.” She took off with Matt beside her, Jim and Debbie quickly followed. She turned right and took them through another alleyway, and suddenly ducked behind a small building, but Jim moved a little too slowly and the group of infected, spotted them, and were now running towards them.

  “Matt, baby, go hide in that car, and don’t come out till I call for you okay?” She instructed, and the little boy darted towards the car she mentioned. One of the infected changed directions and darted after him, but was stopped in its tracks by Jim’s 12 gauge. The others raced for the group. Three had quickly turned into fifteen. They stood their ground picking them off one by one.

  “I’m out.” Jim announced slinging the shotgun over his shoulder and drawing the Glock. “Me too!” Called out Debbie’s voice. Shannon shot one with her final shot. Like a seasoned solider she leaned her shotgun on the alley wall and retrieved her machete. She pulled the bandana over her nose and charged the group running towards them, in two swift motions she slit the throats of the two leading the group and ducked as one lunged for her neck, immediately, she was back on her feet and impaled it in the back of the neck. The other two eyed her, barely containing their rage, then they squared up and charged at her. She stood her ground and waited, the one on the left arrived first. Swinging the blade like ninja master she sliced his throat wide open. She turned to face the other when a shot rang out over her shoulder, the infected collapsed. She turned and saw Jim.