by Oliver, Nick
“I know,” he looked up at the sky, almost like he was looking for something. “But that doesn’t mean we should give up.”
“I’ll never give up, as long as I have people to fight for.” I looked at the Sergeant. He didn’t say anything, and he just held his grimace.
We were about twenty yards from the others when I saw movement. I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw the car door open. The three soldiers didn’t seem to notice. The Sergeant was reaching in his pocket for his can of chew. For a moment, it felt like time slowed down.
I already had my shotgun in my hands, and I knew my next round was a solid slug, so I brought it up to my shoulder. I didn’t focus on the soldiers, though they were far enough away to not know where I was aiming, so they were definitely focusing on me. I trained the sites on my target. It was slow and purposeful. The iron sites lined up and I let out a slow breath, long enough to see the reactions of the soldiers in front of me. They were staring at me with frightful eyes. The same look that had been haunting me, surprise, fear, if they were green it would have been a perfect match.
When I pulled the trigger, I knew I was saving a life. Nobody else may have noticed yet, but the Zombie was only a few steps from biting Glenn. I couldn’t stand by and watch.
By the time I’d fired, Laud had raised his rifle. I tried to yell out, but before I could open my mouth, Olson swatted Laud’s rifle barrel before he fired, so the shot fired hit the ground only inches in front of me.
“Cease fire!” Sergeant Tony yelled.
I took a deep breath, my hands were shaking. The green eyes were staring into me, the fearful face begging me no. Laud noticed the fresh corpse behind him. His face shifted from angry to relief, though I could tell he was more embarrassed then anything.
"Alright boys, let's get to the safe house, that gunshot will probably attract more." Sergeant Tony spit off to his side and looked at Private Laud, "Private, don't make the civilian have to save your ass again."
I was almost surprised my legs didn’t give out. I stood my ground the whole time, staring at the barrel of the gun that almost killed me. I didn’t choke up, I didn’t realize right away, but my gun was aiming back at Private Laud. As soon as I came to my senses I dropped my gun. As my gun lowered, the image of the green eyes faded away once again.
Laud’s face was red, he also dropped his weapon, "You got it Sarg, won't happen again."
My hands were still shaking when I reached into my bag for another shell to replace the one I'd just fired. It wouldn't go in, and I noticed I hadn’t ejected the last one. I pulled the pump back and forward, the empty shell flung to my right, and bounced off a car window. I then loaded another shell.
Sergeant Tony was looking at me with slightly wide eyes, then looked to the other soldiers, “Let’s move people, we got places to be.”
I could tell that Laud was reluctant at first, but he saw the corpse behind him and I could tell he knew I saved Glenn’s life. Whether he was happy about it or not, he followed orders.
Glenn looked relieved but a bit shaken up. Nothing like a bullet going past you to mess your day up. Olson, who saw why I’d fired the shot, was also shaken up, although a bit less than Glenn.
We started heading down an exit, and I probably should have been worried, for all I knew it ended in a huge mob of Zombies, or Ghouls as these guys were calling them. I guess if they had been here since the beginning that they’d be able to navigate it safely.
The end of the exit had several buses lined up making makeshift barriers after the walls of the exit ended, and clearing a path to a four story apartment building.
I knocked on the side of the bus, “Not a bad idea, using vehicles to make walls.”
Olson nodded, “Anything higher than six feet is enough to keep most of them out. The concrete barriers were the original plan, but when the shit really started hitting the fan we had to get creative.”
The path to the door of the building was clear of zombies, though there were a few corpses riddling the street. We approached the door to the building where Olson knocked a few times, then gave some kind of code for whoever was inside.
The door swung open. From what looked like a regular old door on the outside, was a reinforced steel door on the inside, being a lot stronger than it seemed to be. A guy was right inside the door. He wasn’t wearing a military uniform, but had a pistol holster on his hip. When I walked in he gave me a slightly distrusting look, but once Laud gave him a reassuring nod and pat on the shoulder, he lightened up a bit.
“What’d you guys bring this time?” he asked Olson, who was now unloading his backpack into a storage room.
I stayed in the main hallway with the door in my sights, trying not to seem too at home.
“We got mostly canned fruit and beans, not a whole lot left that we’ve found,” Olson replied. “How you holding up here? You’re heading back to the Tower soon aren’t you?”
“Three more days and I’m out of this dump.” He stuck his thumbs in his belt, which reminded me of something a cop would do, “I’d much rather spend my time chasing that tail in the Tower than sit here for a week alone.”
He again gave me a look over, probably ascertaining whether or not I was a threat. “Who’s the new guy?” he asked Olson.
I was about to answer for myself, but Olson cut me off. “He just saved Glenn’s life about twenty minutes ago.”
“The name’s Sam,” I reached out to shake his hand. He grabbed it with a tight grip, I squeezed back in return. We locked eyes for a moment, and his demeanor was a bit friendlier now that he knew I had saved his friend.
“Mike,” he responded, letting my hand go, “Glenn’s a good friend of mine.” His face loosened up a bit, “If you did what he says, then you’re alright in my book. You’ve been on your own since the beginning?”
“Pretty much,” I answered. “I was in Ohio when it all started, but I waited a couple weeks for things to die down a bit before I headed out.”
“Not bad. We could use someone like you around here,” he pulled a cigar out of his pocket. “Sure you can’t stay?” he asked as he stuck it in his mouth.
“Sorry,” I declined. “I got people I need to check on in Grovemont.”
He nodded, “I can respect that. I got my sister back in the Tower. I had to fight through the City when this first started to get to her, took three days.”
Glenn and Olson came back out of the room they were in, with noticeably emptier bags. Olson had his map out. It was a street map, but it had sections colored in, lines drawn, and buildings highlighted. He gestured me over and pointed at one of the highlighted buildings.
“We’re here, and I think the fastest way out of the city would be here along 408 west. Unfortunately, one of the overpasses collapsed a few weeks ago in the chaos of the first few weeks, so you’ll have to get off on an earlier exit. Luckily it’s just outside the city, so it should be relatively clear thanks to a majority of the Ghouls being attracted to the Tower downtown. Not that it’s going to be super easy, that’s where the people in Pine Hills go to get a majority of their supplies.”
He looked up and saw the worry in my face, “So you know about Pine Hills’ reputation then?”
I gave a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, I know about Crime Hills, and after dealing with some of the people I’ve dealt with the last few weeks, I doubt they’ll be any friendlier now that the apocalypse has begun.”
“We’ve had a few run-ins with them ourselves,” Olson admitted. “It’s not an experience I’d be too excited to repeat.”
“What are my chances of sneaking by them without noticing?” I asked Olson, while observing the highlighted region of the map.
“Slim,” he admitted, “but doable. You shouldn’t attract too much attention since you’re not in a military uniform, but they might take you out for your supplies. We just don’t know.”
“Do you know where their main patrols are?” I asked. For a moment I felt like I was in some warzone overseas prepar
ing for some mission, but the illusion didn’t last long. I wasn’t playing a video game, I was literally putting my life on the line.
“No, we’ve been too busy setting up safe houses and clearing out as many of the Ghouls as we could,” he sighed. “We offered them assistance, but they refused and told us flat out that if we came back we’d be shot on sight.”
The map we were looking at had an area highlighted crudely with a purple marker. The area was not too far from downtown. “That’s their borders?” I asked, trying to get an idea of the area from my memory of driving through it over the last few years.
“Approximately,” he admitted. “There’s not exactly a defined wall,” he paused, “yet.”
“I’ll have to take my chances,” I said bravely, though, it was probably more stupidity than anything else. “Do you guys have any idea where they patrol?”
Olson looked down at the map. “No, but we do know the Shelter for the area was the High School,” he pointed it out on the map. “It’s already highlighted blue.” It was a small circle in the middle of the purple area, “Of all the shelters put together, this is one of the few that made it. They figured out how to filter out the Infected by not letting in those that had been bitten. To be completely honest, the shelter was put together at the last minute, and it’s probably what saved them.”
“Low income. Makes sense the government would want to get the rich people first,” I shrugged. The government would have been more focused on important cities, rather than the low income areas. “What are you gonna do?”
“Big brother doesn’t exactly look after the little guy,” Glenn sighed.
I nodded in agreement. For a moment, my mind drifted to my Dad, he used to say that all the time. Oddly enough, I hadn’t thought about my parents in a few days, and if I wanted to find out about them, I figured now was as best a chance as any. “Have you guys heard anything about Cleveland, Ohio?”
The mood of the room changed instantly, everyone was quiet. I tried to make eye contact with a few of them, but they just looked down, “Well? What’s the news?”
Olson looked at me first, “It was targeted.”
“Targeted?” I had no idea what he meant by that, but it sure as hell didn’t sound good. “What does that mean?”
“The city was lost. Contact was lost, and the hordes inside were heading east. In order to slow the tide, and give people to the east more time to prepare,” he paused, almost like he was afraid to say what he was about to, “A tactical bombardment was used to cleanse the area.”
It felt like my heart stopped. My parents weren’t more than a few miles from downtown. If there was Carpet Bombing of any significant size, they’d probably have been hit. “How large was the target area?”
“Large enough,” he looked like he was the one who pulled the trigger, having to give me the news. “The city itself was destroyed, including most close suburbs, to guarantee maximum effectiveness.”
I had a million questions. Why Cleveland? What about the people? How could they do this? But I realized none of them really mattered. I knew when I left I’d never see them again. I just thought they’d have more a chance.
I could feel my eyes tearing up, but I tried to hide it even though I knew they could tell, so I changed the subject. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday, so I had to ask, “Before I go, ya’ll wouldn’t happen to have any supplies you could spare would you? I haven’t exactly been living the high life on the road.”
Laud nodded, probably feeling sorry for me, but I didn’t care. He went back into what must have been the storage room. He came back out with an MRE and a gallon of water. “Sorry we can’t spare any more, but this will at least get you where you’re going. Instructions for cooking the meal are on the packet if you haven’t had one before.”
“I should be able to figure it out. Thanks.” I put them in my backpack and reached my hand out, “I appreciate the help guys.”
Olson grabbed my hand first and nodded, “Good luck getting where you’re going, and sorry about your hometown.”
“Thanks.” I could hear my voice choking up, so kept my sentences as short as I could.
Glenn walked around the table and reached his hand up and gripped mine, “I owe you more then I can ever pay back. Thank you.”
I looked him in the eye and nodded, “Anytime.”
I walked toward the door, which Mike opened, “Good luck kid.”
He obviously wasn’t one for goodbyes, so I just nodded to him, “Good luck to you guys too, and I hope ya’ll make it through all this.”
He scoffed, “I ain’t exactly gonna roll over and give up. But I know what you mean.”
I walked out the door and saw the Sergeant standing about halfway up the ramp. We walked down to get to the safe house.
I walked up to him. He didn’t look at me right away, and he just stared at rising smoke coming from Pine Hills to the east.
I was about ten feet away when he spoke. “Ironic.”
“What’s that?” I asked, curious what he meant.
“A few weeks ago we considered the people who lived there to need our help to survive.” He spit off to his side, “Now? Shit, of all the shelters in Florida, they were one of three to survive that I heard of.”
I was about to ask him about the Shelter that I knew Sarah, Roxie and Nick were at, but he continued before I could get the words out.
“You expect people like us to survive, those with necessary skills, but you forget that the bottom feeders are the ones who are quick to adapt, and now how to survive on the bare minimum.” He looked over at me, “Eventually we may be looking to them for help.”
“Sergeant, I have to ask,” I paused for a second, not quite sure if I was ready for the answer, “Have you heard about the Grovemont Shelter?”
He looked down for a moment, and then back up to me. “Yes,” he answered. “It didn’t make it. It was overrun a few days ago.”
My heart skipped a beat. Last I heard Sarah, Roxie, and Nick were on their way to that shelter. I shook it off. They could have gotten away, and I still had to check it out.
“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.” He looked back at me, “I’m sure that wasn’t what you wanted to hear.”
I let out a sigh. At least now I knew not to go to the school. They probably went back to our house, so I’d head there instead. “I appreciate all you’ve done for me Sergeant. I really do.”
“You’re a good man Sam. I hope you find what it is you’re looking for.” He pulled out the chew he had behind his lip and tossed it over the ledge, “And even though I know you’re never coming back here, you’ve got a place here either way.”
He stuck his hand out. I gripped it tight and shook it, nodding. We didn’t say anything else. He went toward the safe house, and I went west. Once I knew I was out of sight, I felt the tears start rolling down my cheeks, but kept going. Sarah was still out there, somewhere.
Chapter Ten: Home
2:00 PM, July 4
The road was strangely clear of vehicles after I was about a mile from the city. There was plenty of debris, but it had been picked clean, there wasn’t a useful piece of junk within sight.
There was also a distinct lack of bodies. That made me even more nervous than the lack of vehicles. Off in the distance I noticed a large black pile. I didn’t need to get close to figure out what it was. I could see the limbs sticking out the sides, and this was a pile of bodies burnt to a crisp.
As I walked passed it I realized how big it really was. There had to be a few hundred bodies inside the pile. I realized right away that the army couldn’t have done this, they were on the retreat, and there wouldn’t have been time to clear the streets like this. It must have been done recently, probably by the inhabitants of Pine Hills.
I heard an engine approaching from the south. There was nothing to hide behind except for the charred pile of bodies, so I dove behind it. The vehicle slowed down as it got closer. My heart was pounding. I flipped the safety off o
n my shotgun. The truck turned as it turned onto the street I was on. I could hear it going away from me toward the west, where I was heading.
I peered around the pile and saw a truck with its bed filled with armed men. They drove all the way to the cars then turned north.
I waited a few minutes before continuing in case the truck came back. Once I was sure they weren’t coming back I continued toward the vehicles. After seeing the truck I kept to the sidewalk, in case they did come back I could run into a building or something.
I was about a block away from the cars, which I realized now was more of a wall. The cars were stacked up, knocked over, in enough ways to make a decently solid wall, which from the looks of it extended to the south for miles. To the north I saw the truck parked, and people moving around. I pulled out my binoculars to get a better look.
They were obviously building the wall to the north. They must have been at this for a while, because they knew what they were doing. They’d only just got there a few minutes ago and they were already pushing more cars toward the wall to be added.
I didn’t have a lot of options for getting across the wall, other then over it. I could go further south, but I didn’t know if there were any patrols that way. I didn’t want to go far enough north to pass the crew working on the wall. I might as well go around Lake Apopka, adding another day to my journey. There was a section with a pickup truck turned on its side that I could easily climb. The other side of the wall was just as clear as the side I was on. The crew wasn’t running my direction, so they must not have noticed me.
The only thing I could think of was that Sergeant Tony was right, these guys did know what they were doing. This wasn’t the end of the world for them, they were just adjusting to the circumstances.
As I made my way toward the rest of the street I saw another pile of bodies, this one bigger then the last. I couldn’t help but think how this was probably happening all over the world, the lower classes pushing through this, leaving the higher classes like they did these piles of corpses.