Levi thought it through, as best he could, weighing out the options.
“I think we should go.”
“Why?” Sada asked, looking at him quizzically.
“Your dead boyfriend said they were nice people.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Johnny didn’t know how to feel about Sada or the fact that she had a boyfriend and that boyfriend was more than likely dead at this point. He didn’t want to think about any of that now, even though Sada was pulled in close to him. Softly she whimpered into his shoulder, fighting the urge to cry. Damn, this girl was something. In one day, she’d lost her father, mother, and boyfriend. He didn’t know if she had anymore family than that, but he hoped she did. Otherwise she had just lost everyone dear to her in one really shitty day.
To distract himself from his own wandering thoughts, Johnny tasked himself with giving Palen directions to the superstore. Wal-Mart was one of the those places he avoided like the plague. It was always bustling and busy, filled with people who talked too loud and spent too much money on things they didn’t need. If he absolutely had to go there, Johnny was in and out as quickly as he could be.
“Do you really think this is the best plan?” Palen asked, turning to Johnny. Frankie pulled himself in-between the two front seats, listening in on the conversation. When neither of them spoke, Palen continued. “We should be heading to an Army base or another government safe place, not to a store full of kids.”
Johnny couldn’t disagree with him there. He didn’t see how combining with another group of kids was going to help. Some of them in this group were above the age of eighteen, classifying them technically as adults, but that didn’t make them mature by any means.
“They could help us and it isn’t a bad idea to go there and stock up on some supplies.” Frankie was a voice of reason, Johnny had noticed.
As they weaved through the streets, they were surprisingly empty outside of the infected roaming from place to place. Johnny knew there was an order for people to stay in their homes, but he figured he would see a few people going to the store or something. But the streets were empty. Once, in the distance, he had seen a cop car. It sped away from them, its lights flashing and sirens blaring.
“That isn’t a good idea,” Levi offered from the backseat. “The lights and sound will only draw the zombies to that car.”
“The car is faster than they are,” Palen said, offering his two cents to the kid genius.
“While you are correct, if enough of them head in the direction of the sound of that car, they could easily create too big of a barricade for the car to make it through. With enough force on the right points, they could even break windows or the windshield.” The group sat in silence as Levi continued filling them in on information they didn’t really want to hear. “If I were a gambler, I would bet on the zombies. But I’m not a gambler. My uncle Jerry was a gambler and my mom said that’s why he died.”
“You don’t die from gambling.” Becky rolled her eyes as she spoke.
“He gambled away all his money and stole from everyone in his family, so they let him starve.”
“That’s fucked up dude.” Frankie’s eyes got wide as he talked, “Families shouldn’t do that.”
“I don’t disagree,” Levi said. He turned and looked out the window, making Johnny feel grateful that it appeared useless story time was over. It’s not that he didn’t like Levi or that he was even annoyed by him. Levi seemed cool enough, Johnny just wasn’t a people person and Levi definitely wasn’t your average person. He seemed to have a story or fact that went along with everything that was happening to them. Johnny liked that Levi was wicked smart and helpful to the group, he just wished story hour happened less.
Palen pulled the hummer onto the four lane highway that ran all the way through town. It was the business district, filled with chain restaurants and fast-food joints. Along with the places to eat, there were places to shop, clothing stores and strip malls.
But all the stores were closed. The signs for the fast food places were off. The entire highway, which was normally covered in a sort of neon haze from all the different lights, was dark. The street lights weren’t lit. The hummer’s headlights show bright against the snow that was falling. Thankfully it had big tires and had no problem getting through the street which clearly had not been plowed since the snow had begun to fall.
The group passed a Target store and an Olive Garden, coming up to the Wall-Mart. The sign that stood tall beside the entrance to the parking lot was also off. Seeing that the sign wasn’t lit made Johnny feel uneasy. They might have missed the group. He was hoping that this group would have more information or maybe a plan of what to do next.
Levi had come up with their plan and he hadn’t come with what they should do after they left the school. His mind had worked so well getting them out of the building, but beyond that, the kid had no idea. Johnny turned to look at Levi.
“What do we need to know about zombies?”
“My information may be flawed. I don’t know about these zombies. I just know about what I’ve seen in video games and t.v. shows.” Levi looked around, behind Johnny and down at his feet. They were always moving, but they never met his.
“So?” Johnny asked.
“So, that stuff isn’t real.”
“Have you noticed any similarities between these zombies and the ones in your video game?”
“Yes.”
“Like what?”
“You have to shoot them in the head.”
Johnny was about to ask what else they had in common when Palen cursed and drew his attention to the swarm in front of the superstore’s entrance.
“Holy hell.”
It was the most zombies Johnny had ever seen in once place besides maybe in the hallway, but he had never gotten a good look at that point. When they were leaving the school they had only been shooting at a handful. It was a swarm of close to twenty zombies maybe more, moving toward something in the center. The zombies moved persistently forward to something he couldn’t quite make out.
“What are they going for?”
“A van.”
Johnny looked closer and could see the older model mini van in the middle of the horde. It was his turn to curse, though he didn’t do it under his breath.
“Frankie are there binoculars back there?” Palen asked, pulling the hummer to a stop and turning off the lights. After a few seconds of looking, Frankie came up with a pair of binoculars and handed them over to Palen.
“Fuck.”
“What is it?” Sada asked, pulling her head up to see but not pulling away from the safety of Johnny’s arms.
“Look in here and see if you know them.” Palen handed the binoculars to Sada. She held them up to her face and searched for a few seconds before nodding.
“Yeah, that’s the group Nolan was talking about. We have to help them.”
“The statistical probability of getting them out alive is very low.”
“Thanks for that Levi.” Johnny shook his head, knowing full well the the odds were not in their favor before Levi had even spoke.
Palen and Frankie turned to him. The three of them were quickly becoming the unauthorized leaders of the group. It made sense. They all knew how to handle weapons and were use to killing in one form or another. They couldn’t expect that of the girls. Girls were just raised differently. Johnny took the job of keeping the girls and Levi safe to heart. By now he was sure that his own family was probably lost. He hadn’t heard from them. This group, even though they all barely knew each other, were very quickly become the only people he could count on and that meant something. That’s what family was and you kept your family safe. Johnny would have done anything for anyone of them, especially Sada, and Sada wanted to rescue the people she knew. He got that and he was willing to do it.
“We have to put a weapon at each window on this side.” Johnny looked at Frankie. The solider started digging around for weapons. He found a few and positioned Be
cky at the window in the back beside him. Levi had never held a gun and they didn’t have time to teach him. Johnny steady himself for what was about to happen.
“If you think you’re going to hit someone who isn’t infected, don’t take the shot.” Everyone agreed. “Palen just keep driving around the circle until we’ve got them all.”
“Are we sure this is what needs to happen?” Sada asked, “They are people, living, breathing, people-“
“They’re not alive,” Levi chimed in.
“And its to the point where its them or us.” Johnny’s voice wasn’t cold but it was firm. He didn’t want to say something to hurt her, but he had to make her understand. The infected might be alive or undead, but they were the enemy at this point.
Palen drove towards the horde, flipping the headlights on as they approached. Shots rang out. Frankie and Becky were taking shots. Johnny studied his aim carefully. It was harder to shoot in a moving vehicle than it was from his tree stand. He didn’t want to waste a single bullet. Remembering what Levi had said, Johnny aimed right in-between the eyes. A kill shot on these things, they dropped instantly when shot through the head. Frankie and Becky weren’t bad shots either. Johnny couldn’t have been more thankful that they remembered what Levi had said.
In what seemed like mere seconds, the van was surrounded by a circle of dead zombies. Their bodies were sprawled out like roadkill. Limbs laid at odd angles and Johnny hated the sight. But they had done it. Palen parked the hummer next to the van. Johnny opened his door and got out, holding his hand up to Sada to help her down. A few people Sada seemed to know got out of the van.
“Kimber!” Sada’s voice sounded almost happy. She let go of Johnny’s hand and ran into the arms of a hispanic girl she appeared to know. The two girls hugged tightly, tears flowing almost instantly.
“What is that noise?” Johnny asked, hearing a sound he thought he recognized, but made him feel like he was going crazy.
“Is that a baby?”
SNEAK PEAK - GONE
CHAPTER ONE
Six Months Before the Outbreak
Rion’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking no matter what she did with them. It didn’t matter if she put them down at her sides or clench them into fists. Her hands twisted, her fingers feeling foreign, as if they didn’t belong to her. The awkward feeling and trembling continued as she walked through the hallway. It was almost summer and the air in the school was warm. Dyersville Public High School, or Die High as most of the students referred to it, didn’t have air conditioning. The end of the spring meant the end of the school year and just like always that came with a hot, muggy, humid start to an Iowa summer. Sweat beaded on her forehead along her hairline, threatening to ruin the little makeup she had put on. Rion didn’t usually wear makeup to school. Things like makeup were a luxury in her household and it seemed like a waste to wear it to see people she saw every single day. But today was a special occasion of sorts, so she had dabbed on some lipgloss and mascara, hoping it looked good. It had to her when she looked in the mirror before she left the trailer, but now she was second guessing her choice. Rion’s makeup skills were not parallel to her peers, who practiced everyday, honing their craft. It was just another way Rion was different from the other girls.
The hallway was mostly empty. Most of the students were not required to attend the last few days of school. If you were a good student, did your homework, kept your grades up, and didn’t start trouble, you could be exempt from taking finals and rewarded with an early start to summer. Rion was one of those students. School had always been important to her, so she studied hard and made good grades. She didn’t have to be at school that day, but she had a few library books to return. If Rion was being honest with herself, she had held onto the books for a reason. Rion wanted a reason to show up when there weren’t a lot of people at the school. Just then, she wished she had carried the library books in her hands instead of putting them in her backpack. Maybe holding something would cause her hands to stop shaking. Or possibly it would just have drawn more attention to the tremble, holding several overdue library books.
After placing the overdue library books in the bin and wishing the librarian a great summer, Rion headed to her intended destination. The closer she got to the classroom, the more nervous she became. Being brave or confident was never positive attributes for Rion. Being quiet, caring, and avoiding conflict, these were her strengths, but none of them would help her now. If she was going to do this, she would have to find the confidence somewhere inside of herself.
Mr. Isaac Sales was sitting at his desk reading, his feet stretched out and crossed under his desk. As a teacher of only higher level literature classes, it was very rare for Mr. Sales to have students on the last few days of school. Rion knew he spent the last days before summer starting his summer reading list. It had all been a part of her plan, to meet him here when she knew he would be alone. If anyone saw them together they wouldn’t think twice about it. They would just assume she had questions about her grade.
“Mr. Sales,” she said leaning into his room.
“Rion, shouldn’t you be off starting your summer?” He sat down the book he was reading. She couldn’t make out the title, but the cover looked old, with gold letters that shimmered in the light. It was the kind of lettering she remembered being on the bibles when she went to church, but she was sure Isaac wasn’t reading a bible. She ignored the book and its pretty gold title, and turned to shut the door.
“Oh, no, please leave that open.”
Taken aback by his response, Rion chose her words carefully.
“I need to talk to you about something and I don’t want anyone to overhear.”
“’Why would you be worried about that?” Isaac smiled when he questioned her. He was playing coy or maybe he was just trying to act dumb. Rion hated when he treated her this way, pretending that what they had between them didn’t exist. It made her feel like he was downgrading what they had or that it didn’t matter to him, or that maybe it just hadn’t happened at all. Sometimes it seemed like it didn’t happen at all.
“Isaac,” she whispered his first name trying to get him to realize this wasn’t school related. “I’m pregnant.”
Immediately Isaac got up from his desk and closed the door. His body language changed from laid back and casual to agitated and nervous. He rubbed his hand across his forehead and began to pace the floor. She had never seen him like this before. His reaction made her more nervous.
“You’re sure?”
Rion nodded. His behavior was confusing to her. She assumed he would be happy with the news. They had been secretly seeing each other for almost ten months. They had talked about the future, lying in bed together. Isaac would hold her in his arms, lightly playing with her hair and telling her how special she was to him. With soft whispers in her ear, he would talk about how someday they would be able to openly be together and get married. They would be able to start a family together.
“I know it’s not the best time, Isaac, but-“
“Not the best time? Rion this would ruin my life!” His hands moved swiftly through the air, pushing books off his desk. Anger shook his body.
“We talked about this. I don’t know why you’re so upset.”
“Rion, honey, I could lose my job, no I would lose my job and probably end up in prison.” He kept pacing, twisting and shaking his fingers. “Let’s not forget that you’re underage and my student.”
Her eyes darted around the room, landing on the books and papers on the floor. The gold letters glinted in the light from the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling above. She still couldn’t read the title, not that it mattered. The sounds his feet made on the floor mingled with the words he mumbled to himself. It was as if he was trying to hatch out a plan that revolved around her, but without any of her input. Rion hated feeling like decisions were being made for her when she was capable of making them herself.
Suddenly he stopped pacing. His hands rested on the edge of a desk
and weren’t shaking at all. Leaning over the desktop, he looked directly into Rion’s eyes. She loved the color of his eyes, a soft gray. It was the color of wet cement after it rained. They drew her in, just as they always did.
“You have to get rid of it.”
Rion continued to gaze into his eyes, but it was as if the color of his irises had shifted as he uttered such heinous words. No longer were they drawing her in, enveloping her world as they had done so many times before. Now they were this dreary color of gray, the way snow looks after being driven on a hundred times. She looked away from his dingy gray eyes and back to the floor. Rion’s hands began to shake, but this time it was because she was angry, not because she was nervous.
“Are you telling me to get an abortion?” Her voice was cold and stern. The shaking from her hands traveled up her arms to her shoulders. She was so angry. He couldn’t make her get rid of her child. He shouldn’t even be asking her.
“Yes, don’t you see, it’s the only way. It just isn’t the right time.” Isaac stood back up and walked over to her. His finger traced her jawbone, starting at her chin and moving towards her ear. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and then tilted her face up towards his own.
“Don’t you dare ask me to end the life of my child.” The words were dripping with disdain as they left her lips. “If you were so worried about getting caught, losing your job, or ending up in prison, maybe you shouldn’t have pursued me in the first place.”
Isaac's eyes widened. Rion didn’t imagine that he would have thought she had the courage to stand up to him. He had always place himself above her and acted like he knew what was best. But now she could see that he didn’t know her at all. If he did know her or care for her, he wouldn’t be asking this of her. All he was doing was thinking about himself and what this would mean for him. If he had given one thought about her feelings or needs, there was no way in hell he could ask her to end her pregnancy.
“I won’t help you. You’ll be alone. I will deny that I ever had anything to do with you.” His fingers were still touching her chin as he spoke. The words were direct and Rion knew he meant them.
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