He stepped back onto the pedals and began his way into town.
Chapter 6
They continued to walk toward the travellers. Rick was surprised that he and his group hadn't been spotted yet, but they hadn't.
"Everything okay?" a voice asked him. Joe.
"No," Rick said. "Something feels wrong about this. We've gotta get out of here."
"How?"
Rick shrugged his shoulders.
*
Carl walked on ahead. Determination in his stride. When he stopped, he raised his hand again. He turned around to face the group. "We should ambush them."
Rick looked at the others, but no one said anything.
Carl continued. "Over there." He pointed down the road at a line of trees. It looked as though it was the beginning of a forest. "We'll hide until they get closer."
Everyone kept quiet. But they did as they were told. They crouched down as they made their way toward the forest so as not to be seen.
Carl had pulled out his gun and had it lifted it up close to his face. Big Mike's held his shotgun down in front of him.
Rick grabbed the grip of his own gun. It felt strong in his grasp. And gave him a sense of power. It also reminded him of the young girl.His prize.
He pulled the gun from his pants and, to his surprise, smiled.
*
When they reached the edge of the forest, Carl told Big Mike and Joe to wait on the other side of the street. "Don't do anything until I give the signal," he added.
"What's the signal?" It was the first time that Big Mike had spoken in a while. His voice was quiet, but had a certain strength about it.
"The signal is that I come out of the forest and tell them to stop," Carl explained.
"That's it?"
"Yeah, that's it."
*
Joe and Big Mike went to the other side of the road. They stood back in the trees, unseen from the road.
Rick stayed with Carl. He didn't like being near him.The farther away, the better.
He also didn't like being so far away from Joe. He felt better around his friend.Safer.
He looked at Carl. The man was already creeping up to the front of the trees. Bent down low. Almost lying on the floor.
He thought that he could hear him talking. Though not to any of them. He was talking to his arms. To the snake tattoos on them. He kept saying that everything was going to be all right, that his plan was going to work.
When he got to the edge of the road and peered at the approaching travellers, Rick could see the man's body twitching with excitement.
This guy was crazy.
The travellers came closer. Walking slowly. But not cautiously. They looked around every now and then. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't enough to be able to handle an ambush.
They obviously weren't trained. Weren't prepared to survive. Rick didn't know how they had even gotten this far.
They came even closer. Carl's body twitched more.
Yeah, this guy was absolutely, fuckin' nuts!
Chapter 7
As Adam made his way closer into town, he came upon more of the devastation. People lay strewn through out the streets. Most of their bodies had been ripped open. He could tell that there had been a horrible fight.
He saw many men and women. However, what affected him the most were the children. Several of them were lying about, covered in blood. Their faces were distorted by the looks of anger on them. There were a few who looked frightened. And, once or twice, Adam thought that he could see a look of peace upon a child's face. But he knew that that had to be a trick of the light. Or maybe how the child fell. He couldn't imagine any peace existing in this.
He continued to look around.
Windows were shattered. Common day things that had been turned into weapons laid on the lawns and in the streets. A shovel here. A hammer there.
Then there was the blood. Most of it was dry by now, but some of it splattered up behind him as his tire rolled over the streets.Fresh, new.Some of the people had been killed recently.
He turned a corner, his bike swerving in and out of a few bodies, and came to the main street. It was a small two lane road that made its way through the town. It too was covered with crashed cars, bodies, and blood. More so than on the other streets.
Adam stopped his bike and took a deep breath.This wasn't good. He didn't want to make his way through it. But he also knew that he didn't have much of a choice. He had to find Shelly. And, though he didn't know for certain that she was on the other side, he had to check.
He sat back onto the bike seat and began. He could hear the tires rolling slowly underneath him, squishing through the blood on the pavement.
He continued to look around. Left to right. Up and down.Something felt wrong.Of course, he knew that the whole situation waswrong. But that wasn't it. There was something else.
He grasped the shotgun tighter. It lay across his handle bars. He needed to be ready.
Unfortunately, he wasn't. He never saw it coming.
To his right, a huge rock hurled through the air and smacked Adam in the side of the head. The impact knocked him off of his bike and he fell to the ground. He smashed his arm on the road. He would have screamed out in pain, but he was too shocked for that.
He stayed on the ground. Eyes closed. He thought that he could hear laughter or screaming, but wasn't sure which.
The laughter continued. Or screaming.
Maybe it was both.
Adam forced his eyes open just in time to see a figure rushing toward him. His vision was blurred, so he couldn't be sure if a creature or not. In the end, he knew it didn't matter. Whoever it was was coming after him. And he needed to think about what to do about it. Quickly.
He pushed himself to his feet. The figure got closer.
He shook his head to clear his mind, and his vision. The figure was almost there.
He had to find a place to run to. He couldn't fight anyone right now. He wouldn't be able to handle it.
But there wasn't any time.
The figure came closer. And it was screaming. Except the sounds that came out of its mouth were words, not the high pitched shrill Adam had come to expect.
"Whoa," it said. "Drop the fuckin' gun and we might let you live."
Adam couldn't make sense of what was happening.
"I said, drop the fuckin' gun."
Adam looked down and saw that he was holding the shotgun in his hand. He was surprised that he hadn't noticed it before. He was equally amazed that he hadn't dropped it in the fall.
He squeezed it and brought it up to his chest.
"Whoa," the voice shouted again. "I said to drop it. You're gonna hurt yourself if you don't."
"Who are you?" Adam said. It came out as nothing more than a squawk.
"It don't matter who I am. Just drop the fuckin' gun."
"Listen to what he says, man," another voice said.
Adam looked to the right of him. There was another man standing there. A shorter man. He came closer; his walk calm, controlled.
"Who are you?" Adam repeated. This time his voice was a shout.
"Just give us the fuckin' gun."
Adam could see the first man better now. He had cropped blonde hair and a jean shirt. "Stand back," he said. "I'm warning you."
"You're warningme?" the blonde man replied. "You don't fuckin' warn me."
The man charged at Adam. Adam didn't have time to think. He simply raised his gun and aimed it at his attacker. Then he pulled the trigger.
As the shot came out of the chamber, Adam could feel it make its way through the metal tube. He could hear the blast. Then he saw it slam into the man's chest. Blood spattered across his jean shirt as he raised his hands to his chest in surprise. He pressed them against his shirt to stop the blood from flowing. Yet, there wasn't much that the man could do about it.
Blood starting spurting out of his mouth and he fell to the ground.
Adam turned to the other man. The short
one. He trained his gun onhim.
The short man fell to the ground and raised his hands over his face. "Don't shoot me, man. I never wanted to hurt you. That was his idea. Not mine." He pointed at his dead companion.
Adam didn't bother to look. "Why did you attack me?"
"It wasn't me, I'm telling you. It washim. He wanted to attack you. He wanted all that you've got. But I wasn't with him, man. I didn't agree. Just lower the fuckin' gun."
Adam wasn't confused about anything anymore. He knew what these men had tried to do. And he knew that they had failed. There was nothing to fear from this guy cowering on the ground before him. He didn't feel any sympathy for him, either.
"Answer my question and I might let you live." He pressed the shotgun toward the man on the ground.
"Okay, okay. Just tell me what you want."
"I'm looking for a young girl," Adam explained. "She would be with two men. I'm trying to find her."
Even through his fear, the man managed a smile. "A young girl, eh? I understand you, man. We're all looking for young girls." He added a laugh.
Adam felt his anger rise, but he pushed it down. He had to get answers if he could. He pressed the gun closer toward the short man. "Don't fuck with me. Just answer my question."
The man tried to pull himself away from the gun. He shuffled on the ground. But it was hard for him to get anywhere because his hands were still up in front of him. "Don't fuckin' shoot me. I can help you, man. Ican."
Adam felt his spirits rise. He had thought that he was never going to find Shelly, but this man said that he was going to help. Maybe he even knew where she was.
"Have you seen her?" he asked.
"Well…" the man mumbled.
"Have you seen her?"
"Well…no, man," the man reluctantly admitted. "But I know where she might be."
"You do? Where?"
"There's a cage. On the other side of that hill." He pointed at a hill off in the distance. "I've seen it. There's a girl in there. Maybe she's the one you're looking for."
"A cage?"
"Yeah, to keep girls in. There's a blonde in there now. Is the girl you're looking for blonde?"
"No," Adam said. And, though he felt disappointment at it not being Shelly, he also felt bad that some woman was being held captive. "You're fuckin' sick!"
"What? Me? No. Why?"
"You keep girls locked in a cage!"
The man raised his hands higher over his head. "It's not my cage, man. And it's not my woman. I've only seen it. There are a few guys there, but I haven't talked to them. Billy and I weren't sure if we wanted to yet."
Adam looked over at the dead man on the road, the one he had shot.Billy.
"Really," the man continued, "it's not my cage. I just know about it. I just…"
"Shut up!" Adam screamed. He had had enough. He couldn't keep listening. The man had seen a cage with a woman trapped in it and had done nothing about it. His friend had tried to kill him. He pointed the the gun even closer to the man on the ground. This time, it was directed at his face. "You make me sick!"
"Whoa, calm down. What's wrong, man?"
"You're what's wrong!"
"We're just trying to survive, that's all. We'resurvivors."
At that, Adam wanted to pull the trigger and end this man's life. He didn't think that people like this should be allowed to survive in this new world. There was no one around to stop him, either. He felt his fingers touch the trigger of the shotgun. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He lowered the gun.
"You're fuckin' sick." He turned to leave, unwilling to waste any more time here. He was going to check out that cage, to see if Shelly was there. And, if not, at least he could free whoever was.
But, before he got to his bike, he heard the man shuffle behind him.
Adam looked back just in time to see the man on the road with a knife in his hand. He was kneeling on one knee and was about to attack.
Adam raised his gun and, without any hesitation, pulled the trigger. The shot slammed in this man's chest, just like it had Billy.
The man dropped his knife and grabbed at his chest. He tried to say something. Adam couldn't make out any of the words.
He took a few steps closer. The short man's eyes opened wider. Then he fell back to the ground.
Adam did nothing but watch.
Once he knew that he was dead, he bent over and picked up the man's knife.The one that he had been about to throw at him. It was a switch-blade. One button pushed the blade up. He pressed the blade shut against the ground and placed it into his pocket. For some reason, Adam wanted to take it with him.
He turned around.
He didn't know how he felt about everything, but he knew that he didn't have much time to think about it. He needed to find Shelly. That's what was important.
Adam looked at the hill where the short man had pointed. At least Adam knew where he was headed now.
Chapter 8
Rick was sure that Carl was going to jump out at any moment. Though he didn't know if his leader was going to tell the travellers to surrender or if he was just going to start shooting. He could feel the energy around him. The nervousness.
He waited a moment longer.
Then he heard a scream.
At first he thought it was Carl's war cry, but the man hadn't opened his mouth.
He heard another scream. And another.
Creatures. They were in the forest.
Rick could hear them charging toward him. He quickly forgot about the travellers and turned around to point his gun at the trees.
Feet cracked branches, thudded on the ground.
More screaming. The creatures' high-pitched angry wails echoed through the forest.
Then he heard more screaming. This time, from his own group. Big Mike was shouting on the other side of the road. Carl's screams sound more like delight than fear.
Without waiting for any signal, Rick stood up and ran to the road. He thought he would have a better chance fighting in the open. His feet plodded on the pavement as his eyes scanned area.
He saw the travellers flee in the direction the had come from. But, other than that, the road was empty.
"Joe," Rick called out, looking for his friend. "Joe!"
"Rick," his friend answered. "Over here!" Joe came out of the forest a little farther down the road.
Rick felt better as soon as he saw him and made to run toward him.
It was then that one of the creatures charged out of the forest, right beside his friend.
Rick had his gun in his hand and aimed it at the creature, but he wasn't a good shot. He would probably end up shooting his friend, instead. He couldn't take the risk. "Joe, behind you!"
Joe turned. But it was too late. The creature jumped on him and knocked him to the ground.
Rick heard Joe's head smash upon the pavement. Then he saw Joe thrashing around, trying to fight back.
Joe called out. He needed help.
Rick froze. He couldn't shoot thethingfrom where he was. He'd hit his friend. He didn't know what to do.
"Rick!" he heard Joe call out once more.
Finally, Rick ran to him. Ideas of what he could do when he got there rushed through his mind.Kick thethingoff. Tackle it.His feet raced along the pavement as the creature continued to hit Joe. His friend kept trying to fight back, but he wasn't having much luck.
"Rick!"
Rick watched as the creature bent down and took a bite out of Joe's cheek. He saw the flesh rip from his friend's face, the spurt of blood splash across the road. It coated the creature's face in dark red.
Joe continued to shout, but the sound was weak now. Somewhat muted.
Rick stopped, back to not knowing what to do. He couldn't save his friend. Not anymore. Even if he got the creature off, what could he do? Half of Joe's face had been ripped off.
He took another few steps forward and raised the gun. He called to the creature.Maybe if it looked up he could blow its head off.
It went in for another bite. And another. There was blood everywhere.
Eventually, Joe's hands stopped their protest. They flopped down onto the road and Rick knew that his friend was dead.
At that, he pulled the trigger.
The bullet slammed into its shoulder and rocked it back. Though the shot wasn't enough to kill it.
The creature turned toward Rick. Blood covered its face. A strip of flesh hung from its mouth.Part of his friend's face.
Rick felt sick at the sight of it, but he felt a surge of anger too.
He pulled the trigger a second time. The bullet slammed into the other shoulder. The creature fell to the pavement.
Rick knew that it hadn't been enough to kill it. It might not have even hurt it. Maybe hecouldn't hurt these things.
The creature got back onto its knees and hissed at Rick. Rick had never heard a sound like that before. It was enough to get him running.
Chapter 9
Rick ran back into the forest. He didn't think that he'd be able to do anything other than hide. He had tried to kill the creature, but hadn't even hurt it.
He felt the tree branches tear at his face. He could feel them pull at his arms and legs. Then, after a while, he stopped, out of breath.
He pressed his back against a tree and listened.
It was hard for Rick to hear anything over his breathing. His heartbeat was loud too. But he managed to calm himself down enough to get an idea of what was going on.
He could hear gun shots. The ones that shook the forest must have been from Big Mike's shotgun. The little ones that sounded almost like fireworks must have come from Carl.
He grabbed hold of his own gun and pressed it to his chest. He didn't know how many bullets were left in it. That was probably something he should have checked when he took it from the young girl. Yet, he hadn't.
There was nothing he could do about it now, either. It would make a sound if he started opening things. And he needed to be quiet.
He held his breath.
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