by Wilde, J. M.
“Nah,” Wyatt said. “Daryl, like Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead.”
“Oh, that’s a good one!” Jo beamed.
“Wait!” I said. “I’ve got it!” I grinned, and the others smiled in anticipation. “Hunter! As in Hunter from The Undead. Best zombie killer ever.”
Ben nodded excitedly. “Perfect! I can’t believe I forgot about Hunter!”
“Yes!” Wyatt said, and Jo clapped her hands together in agreement.
I grinned and rubbed the dog behind his ears. “You hear that, fella? Your new name is Hunter. And if you’re half as awesome as the real Hunter, we’ll all be alright.”
We laughed as the RV sped through the outback, and as I hugged Hunter tight, I felt immensely grateful for that moment of normalcy.
Chapter Three
The next morning, I awoke to the sunrise shining through the window, glowing on my skin. Happy to have finally got some sleep, I stretched my arms out and looked around the RV.
Hunter was asleep on my lap, and Jo stood at the kitchenette, preparing breakfast.
Wyatt was asleep in the passenger’s seat and Ben was still driving, but judging from his reflection in the rear view mirror, he was exhausted.
Looking out the window, the same view of red dirt, a few shrubs and lone trees that I’d seen for the past twenty-four hours flew past.
“Morning,” Jo smiled as she placed a bowl of leftover pasta from last night’s dinner on the floor for Hunter, who had just stirred awake. “Did you sleep?”
“Yeah,” I replied, letting out a yawn. “You?”
She shook her head. “Not really. All I see when I close my eyes is ...” she trailed off, but I knew exactly what she was talking about. “We drove through a small town during the night. It looked like a war zone. Fires were burning. There were bodies everywhere. I can’t believe it’s spreading so fast, I thought for sure we’d be safe this far out of the cities.”
“So did I,” I replied, feeling relieved to have slept through that terrible scene. “I just wish we knew what was going on out there. I need to know if help is coming.”
Jo sighed. “I’m not sure I want to know anything anymore. I can’t handle any more bad news. I just want to get to Elliot’s place and disappear into the rainforest until it’s safe out here again. If it’s ever safe out here again.”
I hated seeing Jo so scared and hopeless. In all the years I’d known her, she always had a smile on her face. I’d never seen her so defeated. I desperately wanted to say something to comfort her, but I didn’t have the words. I may have been handling this nightmare better than Jo, but I knew my hope was hanging on by a thread. I took a bite out of my apple pie, trying not to let Jo see that I was just as scared as her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ben reaching over to wake Wyatt. Rubbing his eyes, Wyatt said something to Ben that I couldn’t hear, and Ben pointed in front of him towards the road. Looking ahead now, Wyatt quickly sat up straight as though he was startled by something, then began rummaging through his backpack.
My heart started racing and my imagination conjured up terrifying images of what could be waiting for us just a little further down the road. But when Wyatt pulled binoculars out of his backpack and not a weapon, my terror began to subside and curiosity took its place.
I got up, stepped over Hunter as he ate his food, and leaned on the back of Wyatt’s chair to see what he and Ben were staring at.
In the distance, I could see two figures walking along the side of the road.
“Zombies?” I whispered to Wyatt.
“I don’t think so,” he replied, still peering through his binoculars intently. “They’re holding hands.”
We watched silently as the figures grew bigger in the distance. As we got closer, I could see a man and a woman holding hands, just like Wyatt had said.
“I don’t want to stop again,” Ben muttered. “We’re more than halfway to Cairns. I’m not stopping when we’re so close. They’re on their own. ”
“Ben,” Wyatt said, turning to look at him with eyebrows raised. “They’ll die out here. We can’t just leave them.”
Ben pressed his foot harder on the accelerator, speeding up. “Yes, we can. Wake up, man, the world has changed. It’s every man for himself.”
Wyatt and I looked at each other in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“You know what?” Wyatt said, cocking his head to the side and glaring at Ben. “The world may have changed, but we don’t have to. We can still be good people. And good people help others.”
I heard Ben mumble “Oh, give me a break,” under his breath, but when we reached the two strangers on the road, he slowed down.
As soon as they saw us, the couple ran out in front of the RV, waving their arms and pleading with us to stop.
Jo jumped up from the table and stood by my side, panicked. “What’s going on? Why are we slowing down?”
Before I could answer, the RV had stopped and the couple were banging on the hood of the van.
“Please, help us!” the man yelled. He looked exhausted, and for a moment I thought he would pass out right there in front of the RV.
“They just left us here to die!” the woman screamed, clasping her hands together, begging us to let them in. Blood stained her blonde hair and her clothes were covered in dirt. Her skin was red with sunburn and tear streaks covered her cheeks.
“Show us your arms,” Ben ordered as he rolled down the window.
The couple looked confused for a moment, but they did as he said and rolled up their sleeves to reveal their arms.
“Ben, what are you doing?” Jo whispered.
“They could be infected,” he replied, inspecting their skin carefully. “And your legs.”
As they rolled their pantlegs up to prove to Ben that they weren’t bitten, I grabbed my axe from my backpack. “Get your weapons ready, just in case.”
Wyatt already had his knife firmly in his grip and Jo searched for hers in her backpack. I stood by the door of the RV, ready to let the strangers in.
“Get in,” I heard Ben say from the driver’s cabin.
Hunter sat up and his ears twitched as the sound of footsteps came closer to the RV. Wyatt and Jo stood on either side of me as I slowly pulled the door open, and we eyed the couple suspiciously as they climbed into the cabin. I closed the door behind them and Ben immediately started driving again, causing us all to momentarily lose our balance.
“Here, sit down,” Jo said, gesturing to the couch at the back of the motorhome. “I’ll get you some water.”
“Thank you so much,” the woman replied as she and the man slumped onto the couch. “We haven’t had anything to eat or drink since yesterday.”
The man let out a satisfied sigh as he relaxed onto the cushion. “I’m Tom,” he said, his lips dry and chapped. “This is my wife, Jill. We’ve been walking all night.”
“Thank you so much for stopping,” Jill said again as tears filled her eyes. “Only one other car passed us since we started walking and they just drove right by us. I can’t believe people could do something like that.”
Wyatt and I glanced sideways at each other and then at Ben, whose shoulders stiffened in guilt.
“What happened to you?” I asked, noticing the blood on her clothes. Hunter had been sniffing them wildly since they came aboard, but appeared to be getting used to their presence already.
“It’s not my blood,” she answered quickly, holding her palms up to reassure me. “I killed a few of those creepers. It got a bit messy.”
We all nodded, and she could see by the blood on our clothes that we knew just how messy it could get.
Jo handed them bottles of water and a packet of dehydrated food each. “Where are you from?”
Tom gulped down his water before answering. “Sydney. We made it out of there with a few friends. We didn’t know where to go so we just kept driving further inland. Yesterday, we stopped for petrol. Those things just came out of nowhere. J
ill and I hid under a truck while they attacked our friends. Only a couple of them made it out alive. They knew we were trapped under the truck and they just ... left us.”
“They left us there to die,” Jill said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “I had my baseball bat with me, so once it was quiet enough we just ran. I smashed a couple of those things on our way out of the town, but the bat broke. So we just kept running.”
For a moment, no-one said anything. I couldn’t imagine how terrifying and heartbreaking it would feel to be abandoned like that by your own friends.
“That’s not all,” Jill said, breaking the silence. Tom cupped his face in his hands as she continued. “They have our son. He was in the car when they drove away.”
Jill couldn’t contain her sadness any longer, and she buried her head into her husband’s shoulder and sobbed. Tears welled in my eyes. Jo sat next to Jill and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she, too, was holding back tears.
“It’s okay, honey,” Tom said as he held his wife close. “We’ll find him. Until then, he’s safe. They’ll take care of him. I know they will. Let’s just get some rest.” He looked up at Wyatt and I with sad eyes, and my heart sank as I realised he didn’t really believe what he was saying. He had already given up hope.
Jo stood up and took their empty bottles. “We’ll let you guys get some rest.”
“Thank you,” Tom nodded. Jo took a seat next to Ben while Wyatt and I sat on either side of the dining table, with Hunter jumping up next to me again.
I leaned forward over the table to whisper to Wyatt. “Do you think they’ll find him? We might catch up to them. Maybe we can help reunite them with their son?”
Worried creases formed on his brow. “There’s always a chance. But we don’t know where they were going. And even if we did, who knows what could have happened to them by now. Nothing’s certain anymore. But, I hope so.” He reached over to hold my hand, and a tired smile spread across his face.
“I’m worried about Ben,” I whispered, hoping no-one else would hear over the roar of the engine and dirt kicking up under the tyres.
Wyatt’s eyes fell to the floor and he nodded. “Me too.”
“And Jo’s barely holding it together,” I continued, and then my gaze dropped to the floor. “But then again, so am I.”
Wyatt lifted my chin so he could look me in the eyes. “I’ve never seen anyone so strong in my life. Everything we’ve been through over the past couple of days, it would break anyone. We’re all crumbling under the pressure. But we’re lucky, we’ve got a better chance than anyone. Do you know why?”
I shook my head.
“Because we’ve got each other. And we’ve got this RV, and weapons, and food and water. And soon, we’ll have a safe place to call home until this hell is over.”
“You know what Winston Churchill said about hell?” I asked him, the corner of my mouth turning up into a half smile.
He raised an eyebrow. “No, what?” he asked.
“He said, ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’”
He laughed and nodded his head in agreement. “Exactly. And at this rate, we’ll be at Elliot’s by morning. We’re going to be okay.”
He squeezed my hand and I squeezed back, smiling weakly. “I promise I won’t ever abandon you or Jo or Ben like Tom and Jill were abandoned. Never.”
His smile faded. “I know. Neither would I.”
Chapter Four
Jill woke up just as the sun had started to set and joined Wyatt and I at the dining table.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked, hoping there was something I could do to lift her spirits.
“No, I’m okay. Thanks,” she replied, looking even more tired than before. “If you don’t mind me asking, where are you all headed?”
“Daintree Village,” Wyatt answered. “My brother has a place in the mountains near there.”
While Wyatt and Jill chatted about Daintree, we passed a bright, round sign on the side of the road that read: Welcome to Charleville. I picked my axe up from the table and walked over to the RV door to make sure it was locked. Jill and Wyatt looked at me with curiosity in their faces.
“What’s up?” Wyatt asked, glancing down at the axe.
“We’re about to pass through a town,” I said. “I just want to be ready in case it’s full of zombies.”
Wyatt jumped up and took my hand before leaning against the back of Ben’s chair to peer through the windshield.
Ben maneuvered the RV around abandoned cars sitting on the road as we entered the town. “Looks like this town’s been hit pretty bad,” he said. “How is it spreading so damn fast?”
An eerie silence filled the air. I could see five bodies lying on the pavement and a few more in cars, but not one zombie roaming the street. I knew they had to be around somewhere, perhaps watching us. The faster we got out of Charleville, the better.
“Stop! Stop!” Jill screamed from the back of the RV, making us all jump. Ben slammed on the breaks in shock, and we all turned to see what was going on. She had her hands pressed up against the back windshield of the RV, staring at a white four-wheel drive that sat up against the curb of the road.
She tugged at Tom’s shirt to pull him up from the couch. “It’s their car! It’s their car!” Before anyone could say anything, she had unlocked the RV door and was about to run outside. I quickly slammed the door closed in front of her and stood in her way.
She glared at me with fire in her eyes. “Move!”
I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. “It’s too dangerous, Jill. We don’t know what’s out there.”
Her jaw dropped and her cheeks turned red with anger. “I know what’s out there; my son! Move!” She pushed me aside with so much force that I fell to the ground. Swinging the door open, she jumped outside and bolted towards the four-wheel drive. Wyatt helped me to my feet while Tom chased after her, leaving us staring wide-eyed in shock.
“What do we do?” Jo asked, her eyes darting from window to window to make sure there weren’t any zombies heading our way.
“We leave,” Ben said sternly. “Lock the door. Let’s get the hell outta here.”
I watched through the window as Jill searched through the car for her son, but found no-one inside. To my horror, she started to yell. “Max! Where are you? Max!”
Wyatt, Jo and I stood frozen in place, not knowing what to do. I knew her screams would attract zombies. We could be ambushed within seconds. But if we left, we’d be no better than the friends that abandoned them the day before. I grabbed my backpack, clenched my axe tight and ran out of the van, with Hunter following close behind me. I heard Ben yell from inside the RV, “Don’t be a hero, Eva!” but I didn’t stop.
Jill ran by me and continued down the main street, calling for her son the whole way. I put my hand against Tom’s chest to stop him before he followed her.
“You need to calm her down. She’s making too much noise,” I said.
“What do you want me to do?” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“Get her back in the RV,” I said through gritted teeth. “We’ll work out a plan to search for your son, but running around screaming like that is going to get us all killed. We can’t find your son if we’re dead.”
Defeated, he nodded and started jogging towards his wife to bring her back to the RV. I turned around to see Wyatt, Jo and Ben walking towards me, each with a backpack and weapons.
“They’re coming back to the RV,” I explained. “We’ll meet them in there.”
We started to make our way back through the maze of cars when we heard Jill screaming again. Only this time, it was a blood-curdling shrill of terror. We spun around to see three zombies swarming on her, biting into her flesh as they pushed her onto the ground.
“Jill!” Tom yelled as he fell to his knees in horror.
“Run!” Ben said, and we turned to run away. But it was too late, three zombies stood in between us and the RV, with more appe
aring out of nowhere.
“Shit!” Wyatt said. “This way!” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the main street. I could hear Jo and Ben’s footsteps as they followed behind us.
“Get outta here!” I said to Tom as we ran by him and into the closest building; a pub. We hid behind the bar and watched the window, waiting for Ben and Jo to follow us in. As they ran by Tom, he stood up and followed them, but just as they were about to step onto the sidewalk and make it into the pub, a group of zombies stumbled in front of them. Ben shielded Jo and the three of them ran in the other direction, taking shelter in a bookstore across the street and locking the door.
Wyatt slumped onto the hardwood floor. “They’re safe for now. Where’s Hunter?”
“He was right behind me,” I said, looking around for him. “He must still be out there.” Before I could worry about Hunter, I heard an odd static sound coming from my backpack. “The walkie-talkies!” I said as I pulled it out just in time to hear Ben on the other side.
His muffled voice echoed through the speaker. “Eva? Wyatt? Can you hear me? Are you okay?”
I pressed the talk button and whispered into it, hoping I would be loud enough for them to hear but quiet enough to stay undetected from the zombies. “Ben, we’re fine. Are you okay?”
“We’re okay,” he said. “But they know we’re in here. They’ll break through the glass pretty quickly. We’re going up to the roof.”
As Ben was talking, I heard groaning sounds coming from inside the pub. Wyatt and I peered over the bar to see four zombies huddled in the front corner of the pub, a devoured corpse lying in the centre of them. My hand shook uncontrollably as I tried to switch off the walkie-talkie, but they had already heard us.
“Door,” whispered Wyatt, looking behind me. “Let’s go.”
I sucked in a deep breath before running towards the door as fast as I could with Wyatt by my side. Slamming the door shut behind us, we found ourselves at the bottom of a stairwell. We ran up the stairs to the next floor only to find it locked. Our only choice was to go up to the roof.
Wyatt pushed the rooftop door open, and the bright rays of the sunset poured in, momentarily blinding us. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw a zombie standing directly in front of us, drool dripping from its mouth in anticipation. Wyatt reacted quickly, shoving his knife up through the creature’s jaw, locking its mouth together. Using strength I didn’t know he had, Wyatt pushed the zombie towards the ledge, lifted it up and threw it off the roof, but not before pulling his knife out of its head.