Running Wild

by Kristen Middleton

  “Did you hear that?” whispered Billie?

  My stomach dropped, a woman was screaming at the top of her lungs in holy terror.

  Dale bit his lip. “I think he’s in one of the rooms, see the backdoor?”

  I nodded. The unit where the truck was parked was the only one with a backdoor.

  “That’s kind of weird,” I said.

  “It might be a supply room or something,” said Billie. “I think we can assume he’s no longer in the truck with the sound of that screaming.”

  The thought that this lunatic was the cause of the woman screaming chilled me to the bone. What kind of person were we dealing with?

  We snuck towards the parked truck and found out that it was indeed empty.

  The woman screamed again and Billie grabbed the handle to the screen door. “She needs help, let’s go before it’s too late.”

  When we stepped through the door we all gasped in horror, a zombie was handcuffed to the door handle of a refrigerator and less than two feet from his reach was a terrified woman tied to a chair. Her eyes were closed and she let out another ear piercing scream.

  “Sh...” I whispered, moving towards her. “It’s okay. We’ll get you out of here.”

  The woman opened her eyes and gaped at me hungrily while Dale attempted to remove her ropes. I could tell by her reddened eyes that they were infected with the zombie virus. She opened her mouth and tried to bite me.

  “Holy crap!” yelled Dale jumping back.

  Billie shook his head. “What kind of game is this freak playing?”

  I was trembling. “I don’t know. What was he going to do with the zombies?”

  “He was either playing with them, or playing with us,” said Dale, his face completely white.

  Next we heard deep laughter and an engine roar to life. We raced out the back door only to find him tearing away.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  We were moving again, keeping our eyes on the lookout for the crazy truck driver. When we’d told Henry what we’d found in the motel room, he wasn’t all that surprised.

  “Like I said, we’ll be running into all kinds of crazy screwballs who’ve survived this zombie apocalypse. I’m sure some of them even thrive in this bullshit,” said Henry. “They have the ability to live out their own evil fantasies without having to pay any consequences now.”

  “Well, maybe they’ll take out these zombies for us,” said Billie.

  Henry shook his head. “They might, but sooner or later they’re going to graduate to killing other survivors. It’s the terror they cause in their victims that gets them off. Zombies won’t give them that.”

  I shuddered and hoped that whoever this guy in the truck was would be out of our lives pretty soon. I’d had enough insane people chasing me in the twenty-four hours.

  We continued on our way to Nashville, only encountering a few zombies on the road, thankfully. But we did see horrifying animal carcasses left behind from some apparent zombie attacks. They were getting desperate to eat anything now.

  Henry shook his head sadly. “Those damn zombies are really starting to piss me off. It breaks my heart to think about them feeding on my grandson’s horses. He owns a ranch in Texas and his horses are his pride and joy. Now they’re nothing but free bait.”

  “What’s even more horrible to think about is all the animals that aren’t getting fed because their owners have turned into zombies,” said Dale. “They’re probably just sitting around, waiting for someone to feed them. Wondering why the people they love more than anything in the world, isn’t doing it.”

  I thought about Goldie and wondered how she was fairing. I knew she had so many people in her life that loved her now, and probably wasn’t missing me much. But I certainly missed her, just like I missed the rest of my family.

  “Where exactly are you are supposed to be meeting your grandson, Henry?” asked Billie.

  “Steven, my son; God rest his soul, used to own this service station, about five miles north of the Opry. I’m supposed to wait for my grandson there, if he hasn’t already arrived. He was traveling all the way from New York.”

  “Oh,” said Billie, trying to make conversation. “What was he doing in New York?”

  “Tiny? Well, he’s a professional wrestler and was doing some matches out there.”

  “The Tiny” I said smiling, “as in “Tiny the Tank”? He’s your grandson?”

  I’d never been much of a wrestling fan, but everyone in the world probably knew who Tiny was. He’d been in commercials, television shows, and even a of couple movies. The guy was an iron tank and the kids loved him.

  Henry beamed. “Yessiree, the one and the only. I’m proud of that boy.”

  “Henry, do you think he’s going to make it?” asked Billie, softly. “New York’s going to be pretty difficult to escape from, with the millions of zombies swarming out there.”

  “Are you kidding me? That boy’s a brick shithouse. No zombie’s gonna put him down, by golly. You just watch.”

  “He’s pretty strong,” I said nodding in agreement. Tiny had to be over six foot five and well over two hundred fifty pounds; sheer strength and power.

  I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep again. When I woke up a little while later, Billie and Henry had switched spots.

  “Wild, it’s going to be getting pretty grisly out there again soon,” said Henry. “Get your gun and slicer ready”

  “Yeah, I’m sure Nashville’s going to be crawling with the undead. All of those country singers and tourists.”

  Henry spit a wad of chew into a small cup. “Yep, but this time now, we’re the star of the show.”

  ~~~

  I’d fallen asleep when my cell phone began to vibrate. My dad had sent me another message to let me know they were waiting for me at an abandoned warehouse four blocks away from the Grand Ole Opry.

  What’s the zombie status there?

  BAD near the OPRY. STAY AWAY! What’s your E.T.A?

  “Hey, Henry? Are we close to Nashville yet?”

  “Should be coming up within the next ten minutes or so.”

  My dad gave me the address and directions.

  Remember to Stay away from the OPRY. Too dangerous.

  We pulled up in front of Shane and Dale and motioned for them to follow.

  “It’s almost the end of the road for our little adventure, Wild,” said Henry.

  I smiled. “Well, it was certainly an eye opening experience.”

  He smiled and spit into his chew can. “Look, I realize I was a little hard on you when we first met. I’m like that to most. I certainly didn’t mean anything by it.”

  I smiled “It’s okay Henry, really.”

  “Well, it’s been a pleasure knowing you and I hope everything works out for you and your family.”

  I’d never actually dove into the specifics of why my family was heading to Atlanta to Henry. I knew he had enough to worry about, all by himself.

  “Thanks Henry. I wish the same for you and your family. Look, if it gets too bad in town, join up with us in Atlanta.”

  “I will certainly keep that in mind.”

  “I think I’d better drive Henry,” said Billie, stretching his arms. “I need you sitting shotgun and firing that gun of yours towards the zombies. You’re a much better marksman than I am.”

  Henry smiled. “Whatever you say.”

  Billie yawned as we pulled over. “Grab me an energy drink from the back, will you Cassie?”

  “Can I have one?” I asked. We were going to be getting into the thick of things quickly and I wanted to be alert as possible.

  “Sure. What about you Henry?”

  He chuckled. “Oh, no. My ticker can’t handle all that caffeine. I’m lucky if I can make it through a rough night of…”

  “Zombies!” I screamed, pointing towards Shane and Dale’s vehicle. They’d also stopped, to wait for us, and Dale had apparently decided to leave the safety of their vehicle to relieve his bladder behind a
nearby ash tree. Shane was too busy looking at a map to notice any danger.

  “Dale, run!” hollered Billie, dashing towards his friend, who was almost a hundred yards away.

  “That boy doesn’t know how to fire a gun properly,” growled Henry as he slid back over to the driver’s side and turned the SUV around. “It’s up to you girl, fire your gun and make it count.”

  Dale was pulling up his zipper when he finally noticed the zombies ambling towards him. He screamed in terror and began running towards the safety of his SUV.

  Henry and I came to a halt right as the first zombie reached Dale. I pointed my gun towards him, exhaled and fired.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Jesus Christ Dale, what the hell were you thinking? Taking a whiz without a loaded gun?” barked Henry.

  We all stood outside, staring down at the two dead zombies. I’d taken out the first one and Shane had actually made it out of his vehicle in time to butcher the second one with his new machete. From the look on Shane’s face, he was still recovering from the experience.

  “I don’t know,” Dale replied in a shaky voice. “It’s been so long since we’ve run into any zombies, I just…I just wasn’t thinking.”

  “You’re lucky we were paying attention or those fellows would have been snacking on your winky,” said Henry with a smirk. “And you wouldn’t have enjoyed it.”

  Dale shivered. “Can we just leave? I’m feeling faint. I need to meditate.”

  “Meditate?” I asked.

  “Yes,” said Shane with an amused grin. “I drive and he meditates. In other words, he just sits in the backseat and hums.”

  “There’s a lot more to it than that!” snapped Dale.

  Shane rolled his eyes. “Okay, he releases “negative energy.”

  I bit back a smile. “Does it really work?”

  Dale nodded. “Oh, yeah, you should try it sometime. It really helps me to release all my negative energy, making me feel totally refreshed afterwards.”

  When everyone got back into their SUVs, I realized we were less than a few minutes away from seeing my family and friends. And of course, the conniving bitch Eva. I closed my eyes in the backseat and meditated.

  ~~~

  There were hoards of zombies in Nashville. I tried estimating as we maneuvered our way around or through them and figured the numbers to be in the thousands. Fortunately for us, many of them already lay motionless on the ground, thanks to someone else’s bullets.

  “Same shit, different town,” mumbled Billie, taking another sip from his energy drink.

  “At least there aren’t too many vehicles blocking our way,” I said as we drove around a few scattered cars.

  “Well, if you think about it, most of the people that turned into these things probably weren’t driving their cars when it happened. The virus made them pretty bedridden.”

  “I feel like we’re in that movie with the island of dinosaurs. Just like when the scientists drove by, watching them feed on each other,” said Henry.

  It was kind of like being at a strange zoo. The zombies were either wandering aimlessly or attacking each other with a vengeance. It was gruesome for anyone who’d never witnessed it before, unfortunately I was getting used to all the gore.

  “Yeah, but don’t forget the part where the dinosaurs broke loose and were feeding on the humans.” said Billie.

  “I don’t rightly recall that part. Fact is, I was with Veronica Baker and we were at the drive-in theater. She was stacked, by golly,” he chuckled deeply. “Of course I do remember touching those huge...”

  “There!” I yelled, pointing. “That’s the warehouse where my father’s supposed to be waiting.”

  We drove into the parking lot and around to the side of the building. As we pulled up to one of the garage doors, it opened up from the inside and my dad stepped out.

  I hurried out of the truck and he gave me a big bear hug.

  “Oh, thank God you’re okay!” he said holding me tightly.

  Hot tears burned my cheeks and I could tell he was crying too. When he finally let me go, he wiped his face, which had aged even more since the last time I’d seen him.

  “You okay dad?” I asked.

  “I’m a lot better now that I have you back.”

  “Come on, I have some people you need to meet,” I said.

  I brought him over and introduced him to my new friends and he shook each of their hands.

  “Thank you so much for keeping my daughter safe,” he said, in a husky voice.

  “Keep her safe? We should be thanking her,” replied Billie, putting his arm around me. “This girl probably saved our lives ten-fold.”

  “Cassie!” cried Paige, running towards me. “Thank God you’re okay. We were so worried about you!”

  As she hugged me out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bryce coming towards us, with Eva not too far behind. He wore a sky blue nylon shirt that emphasized both his muscles as well as his deep penetrating eyes. His faded blue jeans hung low on his waist and as always, flattered his cute butt. The one Eva probably had her mitts on.

  “Hi,” I said tightly.

  He gave me a long searching look. “So, you’re okay?”

  It hurt to look at him; he seemed so close but yet so far away. I longed to be back in his arms with his lips on mine. But instead, we both just stared at each like two people who’d shared so much in an earlier life, but were now just uncomfortable strangers.

  When his blue eyes left mine, I could suddenly breathe again.

  “Hi, I’m Bryce,” he said introducing himself to everyone.

  “Look at you and your cute little dimples,” teased Shane. Both he and Dale began fawning all over him and Bryce’s face turned beet red.

  When introductions were out of the way, I glanced at Eva, who had a swollen black eye.

  I cringed. “Oh, wow! What happened to your eye?”

  Before she could answer, Paige cut in, smiling sheepishly. “Oh, my bad! We were getting attacked by some zombies and I mistook her for one; it was dark. I keep telling her I’m sorry, but she just doesn’t believe it was an accident.”

  Eva scowled at Paige.

  I hid my smile; I didn’t believe it either.

  “Well, we have to be going soon,” said Henry, pulling out a cigar. “My grandson will be expecting me.”

  “We’d better leave too,” replied my dad. “First we need to find someplace safe to get gas.”

  “Problem solved,” said Henry as he lit his stogie. “There’s a gas station up the road, and that’s where we’re heading. Just follow us.”

  “Henry, you’re not going to smoke that thing in the SUV are you?” asked Billie.

  Henry’s eyes narrowed. “Why? These cigars are Cuban. You should try one, might make a man out of you.”

  “Henry, that’s not fair,” I said with a scowl. “Billie’s already proven he’s a better man than most out there.”

  Billie smiled and kissed my cheek. “I could say the same about you, G.I. Jane.”

  I giggled and punched him playfully in the stomach.

  Bryce raised his eyebrows.

  “Relax, Wild, you know I was just giving him a hard time. Just like I said before, it’s my way,” replied Henry through a cloud of smoke.

  Eva stepped closer and smiled at me. “Cassie, I’m so glad you’re safe. I heard what happened about Austin. I’m sorry it didn’t work out between you.”

  I grit my teeth. “There was nothing between us. I told you that before.”

  “Oh, I only assumed since you left together…” she said, her eyes wide with innocence.

  My face turned red. “I was kidnapped! I didn’t leave with him.”

  My father raised his rifle. “Okay, girls…we don’t have time for this. Zombies, coming in fast!”

  I limped towards the Denali where Bobbie, Sara, and Megan were peeking through the window.

  “Cassie!” screamed everyone when I slid into the back.

  “Hi everyo
ne. Boy is it good to see you guys. ” I said.

  Goldie barked and jumped on my laugh, licking my face frantically.

  “Thanks for the kisses girl! ” I laughed. She was so excited I was afraid she was going to pee on me.

  “I think she missed you too,” said Sara.

  “Cassie!” hollered Bobby, jumping up and down in the front seat. “Yay… it’s Cassie!”

  “Cassie,” smiled Megan. “See my new bear?”

  She held out a brown fuzzy bear wearing a karate outfit.

  I gave the bear a small hug and handed it back to her. “That is so cute,” I said

  “She named her Cassie,” said Sara.

  “You did?” My eyes welled up with tears.

  “Megan wanted to be near you and so we found her the karate bear.”

  “That’s so sweet,” I said.

  “What’s wrong with your ankle?” asked Sara.

  “I twisted it. It’s getting a little better though.”

  Sara touched my shoulder and smiled. “Well, we’re all glad that you’re back, safely.”

  “Okay, let’s go kids,” said my dad as he jumped into the truck. “We’re following Billie so we can fill up, then we’ll be on our way to Atlanta.”

  I looked out the window to see Bryce getting into the conversion van. His face looked angry and I could tell by Eva’s pout, that it probably had something to do with her.

  “Hi!” I yelled towards Kristie as she waved to me from the passenger’s seat.

  We tore out of the building just as the zombies were beginning to cluster around the parking lot. I watched in amazement as some of the zombie’s noses began to sniff the air, trying to catch our scent.

  “Okay, that’s really creepy,” I said, rolling up my window. “Now they are hunting us with their noses? How do they even smell us through their own stench?”

  “It’s okay,” whispered Sara into Megan’s ear. The child’s face was buried deep into her mom’s shirt and she was whimpering like a little puppy.

  “Poor kid,” I said as I reached out and rubbed her back. “Don’t worry Megan. We’ll keep you safe. They can’t get inside the SUV.”