E52

  “Wake me up if you hear anything,and make sure to shut the flashlight off,” I state, then close my eyes. “We don’t want anyone to know we are here.”

  Immediately I fall asleep, leaving Tommy to entertain himself.

  Chapter Seventeen

  That night I sleep harder than I have in months. I wake feeling refreshed and ready to make our venture to the compound. I sit up and stretch my muscles, letting out a appeasing yawn.

  “How are you this morning,” I ask.

  I look over at the other bed expecting to find Tommy laying there. The bed does not appear to be slept in. The blanket and pillow remain where I left them.

  “Tommy?” I state.

  I leap from the bed and search under the beds. He is not under either of them. Frightened my heart beats erratically.

  “Where is he?” I question, realizing that the door is no longer secured by the rope and in fact the rope is now in pieces lying on the floor in front of me. I pick up the rope and inspect it. The rope has been chewed, leaving specks of fresh blood in the creases of the twisted twine.

  Fear overtakes my emotions. Someone or something has taken my son!

  Prepared for anything I grab my gun and firmly hold it in front of, and with the gun cocked and ready to shoot I leave the jail-cell and scurry toward the front door.

  Once outside I hear the sounds of someone screaming. At first I fear it is my son but as the screaming continues it is obvious that it is coming from a man.

  Standing on the steps I try and decipher which way the screaming is coming from. Whoever it is, they are not far from here.

  Continuing to keep my gun aimed I walk to the edge of the walkway and peer around the corner. It becomes obvious as to where the screaming is coming from. Tommy and around five other of the infected have three men cornered, two of which they are feasting on. The third man is standing on top of a metal garbage can trying to escape the ones that have him surrounded.

  ‘Get away from there, Tommy!” I scream walking toward them.

  Tommy looks up for a second then continues feasting on one of the men. At this moment he is not my son, he is just as them and refuses to listen to my plea. I aim as best I can and shoot the gun. One at a time I am able to kill the infected leaving only Tommy alive.

  “Run!” I scream at the man.

  If I can get the man to leave the area I can possibly calm my son down and get him out of here before the man can do any harm to him.

  The man leaps from the trash can and runs to my side.

  “Shoot him,” He screams.

  He is unaware that Tommy is my son and although I do not want to kill the man if he tries to harm my son he too will die.

  “just get out of here!” I scream. “I will take care of him.”

  The man stands by my side and refuses to leave.

  “Please go,” I cry. “I do not want to hurt you.”

  No longer aiming my gun toward Tommy I am now facing the man.

  “Why don’t you shoot him?” He asks.

  He continues to glare at me; his eyes scrunched together as if he is in deep thought.

  “You’re the one that was at the farmhouse aren’t you?” He continues.

  Staring at the man a tear streams down my cheek.

  “And he is your son isn’t he,” He asks. “And you are the two that killed my friend,”

  I nod my head indicating he is correct.

  “But he is not like the others,” I state. “He is not dead.”

  “How can you say that?” He screams. “He attacked me and my friends and is now devouring them. He is just like the others.”

  Trying to get the man to understand explain him my entire story. He stands silently as he listens to me, never showing any emotion on his face.

  “I have to get to the compound so I can get the medicine,” I continue. “My husband said it would make him better.”

  The man shakes his head and chuckles.

  “Your not making any sense,” he states. “If your husband was the doctor who caused all this and had you and your baby infected then why would he give you an antidote?”

  He has asked a question that I have asked myself many times.

  “I don’t know,” I answer. “But I have to take the chance and go back. If he was telling the truth, and it is an antidote, I can give it to my son and save him; and it works maybe we can save others. I was not going to use it all, I was going to save some of it.”

  The man glances over at Tommy then back at me.

  “I think it is to late,” He continues. “How are you going to contain him? He is a monster and will eventually attack you.”

  “He loves me,” I cry. “He will not attack me.”

  Open handed he strikes at me. His fingers grazes my right cheek. I take a step back and keep the gun pointed to his head.

  “I will leave you be if you tell me where our truck is.” He states. “You took all our ammo. “

  Refusing to tell him, I leave the man standing on the side of the road as I walk toward Tommy. I am frightened, but I am determined to prove his innocence. I worry that he has past the point of no return and will attack me, but I would rather die from the hands of my son then to see him killed by someone else.

  “Tommy it is Mommy,” I state, reaching out to him.

  If I can snap him out of his trance this time I will have to tie him up again and keep him restrained until I can get the medicine. Knowing that the infected will not attack him now, I longer have to worry about any of them hurting him. I need to keep myself and others protected from him and he protected from the living.

  “Honey, you have to listen to me,” I state in a firm voice.

  Tommy leaps from his kneeling position and lunges toward me. I catch him in mid air and hold him tightly against my chest; forcing his head to the side. He continues to fight me, trying to bite a chunk of my flesh.

  “Its mommy,” I scream. “Remember you said you would never bite mommy.”

  He growls.

  If I do not do something fast he will bite me, I will become infected, and the man that is continuing to watch us will kill us both.

  “Fuck this,” The man screams. “You are on your own, you crazy Bitch!”

  Before the man can walk away, I turn and face him, then shoot. The bullet strikes him between the eyes. He falls to the ground and within seconds dies. I did not want to kill him but I could not take the chance of him finding the truck or some other form of transportation, and come hunt us down.

  Letting the gun fall to the ground I grab Tommy’s hair with my other hand and pull it back, keeping him from biting me.

  Tommy continues in his rant; he is more powerful than before. My muscles ache as I try to keep him under my control.

  I look in his eyes. He appears to no longer possess human qualities I may be to late. How I feel now, I need some kind of indication that he has a smidgen of human quality left in him or I will have no option, but to kill him.

  “Calm down,” I beg, staring in his eyes. “Mommy has you now.”

  For an instant Tommy looks at me and for that instant I see the battle of good and bad that is going on in his mind. My “son” is still in this body, but hidden behind the monster that he has become.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tommy is the only person I have left in my life. I have to do everything I can to save him, but with the way he is acting now it will be impossible unless I restrain him. Continuing to hold his body closely to mine and his head away from me I walk back to the police station. The rope that I had used to tie the jail doors shut will be what I use to restrain my son.

  There is just enough rope to tie his hands up, but I fear once I let Tommy go he will attack me. Somehow I must get the rope and save myself from the wrath I know my son can put upon me.

  “Mommy needs to set you down for a minute,” I convey. “Can you sit still for me?”

  Tommy continues to growl as bloody foam escapes from his mouth. He is no longer comprehe
nding anything I say.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” I whisper. “But you have left me no other option.”

  If I had anything to sedate him this would not have to be done, but I need him incoherent so that I can tie him up. With minimum force I slam his head against the bars of the jail door.The strike is enough to daze him and give me enough time to get the rope and get his hands tied behind his back.This is something I was hoping that I would never have to do again. Tears fill my eyes as he struggles to get loose.

  “I'm so sorry,” I cry.

  Tommy lunges forward exposing his blood-tainted teeth. More than ever he wishes to make me his next meal. The ropes will not be enough to control him, I will have to find something that I can use to gag him.

  Frantic to keep him under control I grab his hands and turn him around so that he is now facing away from me. With a tight grip I maneuver him around the room in search for something that will not harm him but will keep him from biting me.

  “There has to be something,” I think in my head.

  I continue my search until I come across a pair of scissors.

  “Perfect,” I think to myself.

  With the scissors I cut a long strip of material off of my shirt and wrap it around Tommy's head fitting it firmly in his mouth. He will no longer be able to bite.

  “I can't take you looking like this,” I state, picking him up and carrying him in my arms. “I have to clean you up.”

  Knowing that I will not be able to change his shirt without untying his hands I decide that it would be best to emerge his entire body in the shower.

  The cold water against his body fuels his anger and for a brief second I lose hold of him and he tries to escape. I catch hold of his arm as he darts for the door.

  In one swift movement, I turn him to where is facing me, smile and hug him. I continue to hold him close to me until I feel that he is calming down.

  I release him, holding him inches from my body.

  “Tommy?” I ask. “Do you know who I am?”

  Nodding he indicates to me that he does.

  “Can I take the gag off of you?” I ask.

  He takes in a deep breath, and then with a frown on his face, he gestures with his head that he does not trust himself. I leave the gag on and carry him out to the car.

  With the summer temperature rising to over 100 the outside steals my breath. I start the truck and let the air-conditioner run for a few minutes before I secure Tommy in the back seat.

  “We are going to go get something to help you,” I state. “I promise.”

  I glance back and see that he is no longer the happy child I once knew. He tries to smile but I can see tears welling in his eyes.

  My heart sadness.

  The ride through town is quiet. I had expected to find many walkers outside of town, but besides the few that I encountered this morning there appears to be none around.

  “Which way do I go?” I wonder to myself.

  The compound is hidden and not visible from the road. After leaving town I stop and try to remember the directions Bill had given me once before.

  “He said there was a dirt road to the east of town,” I think to myself. “But how far east?”

  I continue to ponder as I dig deeper into the memory.

  “What was the road called?” I continue to question myself.

  For the life of me I can not remember. How could I be so careless to let such a important detail slip my mind. I shake my head in disgust.

  “Come on think,” I yell in my head. “You and Bill were talking, we were sitting in the car talking about the compound and he was explaining to me the way to go in case we ever got separated and had to go alone.”

  I lean my head back and close my eyes. A vision of us speaking enters my mind, streaming my memory.

  “That is right!” I yell out. “Stevens road!”

  I slam the truck in gear and press my foot down on the accelerator. It is uncertain how far Stevens rd. from here but I know once I find it, the compound will be about thirty minutes further.

  Just as I feared, the highway is overtaken by abandoned cars making it difficult to drive.

  “Now I know why the town was abandoned,” I think to myself. “All these people were trying to get away.”

  Many of the cars are occupied by the dead some of which wish to escape, others were victims to the ones who killed them. I continue to drive now keeping my attention on the road. It breaks my heart seeing how many people perished trying to escape the disease, all of which did not realize they were already infected. If they would have only known they would never have put their spouse, their children in the car with them. The site of so many families destroyed is heart-wrenching.

  I take in a deep breath and exhale through my mouth. .

  “I won't let that happens to us,” I state out-loud.

  Tommy moves around in his seat, trying to get comfortable. He appears to be content and understands why I must keep him tied up.

  “We should be there pretty soon,” I state.

  The further we get down the highway the clearer the road becomes.

  “That is better,” I think in my head, pressing harder on the accelerator.

  The car accelerates to twenty five miles an hour, we are not going very fast but I do not want to miss the turn. From what I remember Bill telling me there will be a small sign that reads Stevens rd. and if someone was not watching for it they would pass it.

  We travel another ten miles down the road but I never see the sign. I begin to fear that I have missed the turnoff and that I will have to turn around and try again.

  “I will go another fifteen miles and if I don’t see it I will try again,” I think in my head. “Maybe the sign has fallen and that is why I missed it.”

  With every mile I drive the anticipation grows within me. I am excited but also worry. Will the medicine still be there and is the compound still over run with Creetions? These are questions I do not know answers to but will shortly find out.

  Ten miles down the road my eye catches site of a sign that has been knocked down. I pull over. Part of the sign is buried in mud but I can make out the first few letter “Ste”.

  “This has to be it” I think to myself.

  The road is blocked by a car. The only way to get past the car will be to push it out of our way with the truck. Taking great caution I slowly pull up to the car until I feel the front bumper of the truck touch the car. The car moves. Slowly I continue to push harder on the accelerator until I am able to move the vehicle.

  “It will be just a couple of more miles,” I turn to Tommy and state.

  It is evident by the numerous bodies lying on the road that there was once a great battle here.

  The smell of death instantly fills the cab of the truck.

  I try to avoid the bodies as best I can but the dirt road is narrow, leaving me no other option but to run over many of the dead. Bodies slam against the undercarriage of the truck. I ignore the noise and continue to drive.

  “Mm-mm” I hear Tommy grunt.

  I glance back. He is trying to say something.

  “I know honey it is loud but we will be there soon,” I state.

  Tommy shakes his head indicating that he is not worried about the noise.

  “Do you want to tell me something?” I ask.

  Tommy shakes his head in an agreement manner.

  “Can I take your gag off?” I ask.

  Tommy once again shakes his head in agreement.

  I stop the truck and reach toward the back seat of the truck.

  “Are you sure?” I ask.

  Tommy moves his head up and down.

  “Okay, but remember you can not bite me,” I state.

  After instructing him to lean forward and face his head in a downward position I reach back and untie the knotted material. The gag loosens and falls on to the floor.

  “What do you want to tell me?” I ask.

  Tommy moves his mouth relieving the sti
ffness is his muscles that the gag has caused.

  “Look,” He states, pointing outside the window.

  Glancing out of the right side window I see what appears to be a wall of cars in the distance.

  “I wonder if there are people there?” I question in my mind.

  Although the thought of having help is intriguing I dare not be seen.

  I put the truck in gear and continue to drive at a slower pace. If there are people surviving beyond the barricade I do not want them to see the dust coming from the truck and investigate who is driving down the road.

  “If you see someone driving this way, you tell me,” I state.

  “Okay,” Tommy states leaning his head against the window.

  I glance through the rear-view mirror and smile. Tommy is continent looking for cars and no longer appears agitated or hungry.

  The drive down the dirt road is taking longer than I originally planned, but I am happy to see that the closer we come to the compound the less bodies there are on the road. But still, I am able to drive only five miles an hour without the truck tires causing dust to rise from the dirt road.

  It has been over three years since the last time I drove down this road and therefore the distance to the compound has escaped my mind.

  “I thought it was closer to the end of the road.” I think in my mind. “The day we escaped it seemed to take only a few minutes before we were on the main highway.”

  “Mommy, here comes a car,” Tommy states, interrupting my thoughts.

  Snapping my head to the right I glance out the window. Tommy is right. There is a car coming and they appear to be driving fast.

  “Hang on!” I scream, slamming my foot down on the accelerator.

  Instantly the tires spin out of control before finally gripping the road.

  “Can you get your hands untied?” I ask, knowing that if the people catch up to us we might have to run. I will not have time to get him untied.

  Tommy begins struggling in the backseat. Grunting sounds escape his mouth as he moves about trying to free himself.

  “No mommy,” He states,.”I can't and it hurts to keep trying.”

  The thought that I have put my son in pain saddens me but at the time I had no choice. If he would have bit me I would have turned like the others and then he would have no one to care for him. Eventually we both would have been killed by some passing survivors.