by M. E. Betts
They were about halfway down the driveway when Shari saw the quick glimmer of a metal object catching the sun's rays to her right, in a thin copse of elm and birch trees. She turned in the direction of the glimmer, but didn't see any sign of it. She slowed Eva and narrowed her eyes, peering intently into the narrow wooded area. After a moment, she saw what she believed she was looking for, about twenty feet behind her and ten feet inside the treeline.
"Hey Daphne," she called, cupping her hands around her mouth, "wait up." She dismounted and approached the treeline, her bow drawn. A corpse lay on the ground, its upper body sprawled over a hollow log. Her heart sank when she saw the short, dark hair. She saw the large earplugs, which had caused the decomposing earlobes to droop excessively. She saw the eyebrow ring, which was, she supposed, what had reflected the sunlight and caught her attention.
"I don't know your name," she mumbled.
"Who is it?" Daphne asked from behind her.
"Jesus," Shari said breathlessly. "You scared the crap out of me. Good thing you weren't a zombie, I guess, because I wouldn't have heard 'em coming."
"No," Daphne said, "but I bet you'd have smelled 'em, for damn sure."
Shari nodded toward the corpse. "It's someone who was staying in that cabin," Shari said. "I found his journal, and a picture of him. He had written something about trying to make it to Sikeston, said he thought his abusive dad was bitten and getting ready to turn. I guess he never made it."
Daphne stepped around to the other side of the body, crouching down. "He won't be getting up," she said, pointing to the man's left temple. Shari stepped around to see what she was pointing at. She leaned down and saw a small piece of metal about half the thickness of a pencil protruding from the skull.
"I wonder what happened," Shari breathed, standing to have a better look at the entire corpse.
Kandi appeared beside her, pointing to the man's dark green T-shirt. "Well, princess, there appears to be a lot of blood on the back of that shirt...all that blood couldn't have come from that tiny hole in his skull, now could it?"
No, Shari thought, and besides, there's none on the shoulder of the shirt, just on the back, and on the bottom. She lifted the shirt gingerly away from the lower back, revealing a large, ragged bite wound. The flesh and muscle hung in loose, stringy flaps, partially severed from the back ribs. "He was bitten," she whispered, her chest heaving as she sighed. "He didn't want to turn."
"Can't say I blame him," Daphne said. "I wonder if it was his dad."
Shari sneered. "Most likely." She felt a seething hatred for the young man's father, though she had never met him. I wish he got to make it to Sikeston.
"Well, princess," Kandi said, "you can wish in one hand and shit in the other, but if you do, it'll only serve to highlight the fact that you've got no hands left to fight the undead with."
Shari rolled her eyes, starting back toward the driveway. "I wish we had a shovel to bury him," she called over her shoulder to Daphne, who strode faster to catch up.
"Yeah," she said, abreast with Shari. "But I didn't see one in the shed, or around the house when we first looked around yesterday."
Shari gazed into the distance, her eyes stinging with tears. "I don't know why I feel so personally affected by it," she said as she mounted Eva. "I mean, I didn't know him. But just the words he wrote...he seemed like a smart kid. I know he's just one of millions...billions, probably...but if we can no longer see the value in one single human life, then...."
"Then what's the point of any of this?" Daphne concluded, waving her hand in a broad arc. "Survival, what's the point if we don't care anymore?"
"That's the thing of it," Shari concurred. "No matter how many we lose, each one is still important. Each one still matters. Remembering that helps keep me crazy and holds me together at the same time."
Daphne nodded. "I think I can get that," she said, starting her ATV and beginning down the driveway.
Shari looked back toward the young man as she rode away. I hope you're with your mother somewhere, she thought. And thank you for having the foresight to be sure that you wouldn't walk again to do to somebody else what your dad did to you.
It was going on eleven a.m. when they reached the outskirts of Carbondale. Shari rode faster until she was beside Daphne, who let up off of the gas pedal, slowing enough to hear Shari's voice over the engine.
"We're getting close," Shari said. "I should probably get in front now." Daphne nodded, falling back behind Eva.
She rode away from 51, heading west toward her parents' subdivision. She was amazed at how unfamiliar the place looked when it was overgrown. What had once been a tidy neighborhood of well-maintained mid-20th century homes with conscientiously landscaped yards was now virtually a jungle. Some of the homes had succumbed to fires, and had burned away completely when there were no fire fighters to extinguish the blazes. The house next door to her parents was one of the ones which had burnt down, but she was relieved to see her childhood hom e still intact. The sprawling, single-story construction was partially obscured by tall grass and weeds, some of them more than six feet tall. As she turned into the short concrete driveway, she heard the sounds of dragging, undead footsteps from down the block.
"Looks like we got someone's attention," she told Daphne, jumping down from her horse and opening the garage door. Not a good sign, she thought. If they were here, and okay, this door would be locked. She led Eva into the garage and motioned to Daphne to bring her ATV in. Once they were all safely inside, she lowered the door, locking it in place. She drew her bow, steeled herself, and opened the door that led from the garage into the kitchen.
The first thing she noticed was a distinct lack of odor in the house, apart from the stale, musty smell that comes from a house sitting unoccupied for a long period of time. Good, I shouldn't find them dead, she thought.
"Or undead," Kandi chimed in.
She walked through the kitchen and into the dining room, noting that the table was still set for the Easter dinner that had never happened. The fine crystal and china had accumulated a thick layer of dust, and Shari knew at once that no one had been in the house since the beginning of the outbreak. She continued through the house, looking for some clue as to her parents' fate. She looked through each room, noting that everything was tidy and in order, but very dusty. Even their beloved golden retriever was nowhere to be found. As she surveyed her parents' room, she noticed that the closet was open, and some of the luggage was missing. She walked back out into the hallway and realized that some of the family photos that had hung on the wall for as long as she could remember were also absent.
"Well," she said, "they definitely went somewhere."
"Any idea where they might have gone?" Daphne asked.
Shari shrugged. "I don't know. They might have gone to my grandparents' farm, I guess. They're both dead, but dad never sold the house...he couldn't bring himself to, since it's been in the family for so long. Maybe they figured they'd be safer there."
"Where's the farm at?" Daphne asked.
"Outside of town," Shari said, "about half an hour north of here." She sighed. "I'm just gonna get some things from my room...well, my old room...and then we can be on our way." Daphne nodded, following Shari down the hallway. They entered a large bedroom decorated in pale shades of lavender and yellow. The walls were adorned with posters...Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Tool, Nine Inch Nails.
"I can tell this is your room," Daphne said.
Shari smiled. "Yeah, it hasn't changed much since I left for college. But then again, neither have my tastes." She chuckled. "Good thing I had impeccable taste to begin with, huh?"
Daphne smiled, rolling her eyes. She sat on the edge of the bed while Shari gathered a few sentimental odds and ends.
"I wish I got to grow up in a house like this," she told Shari. "You don't know how lucky you are. You were a normal girl in a normal house with normal parents...and a very comfy bed."
"I guess you're right," Shari said, opening a
desk drawer and taking out a large, ring-bound photo album.
As she opened the album, she noticed a folded note tucked between the pages. She unfolded the note and held it in front of her face. The note, written in her mother's handwriting, read, Dearest Shari, Your father was bitten, so I'm taking him to the hospital in St. Louis. I know it's a long way to drive in this chaos, but from what I've heard, it's the only place that can cure the infection. Hopefully this will all blow over by the time you get here, and they can cure your father and life can go back to normal, at least for those of us that made it. The neighborhood has already had some casualties...Mrs. Morgan from across the street, little Christine and Kyle from the next block over. I don't know what this God awful plague is, but please, Shari, please be careful. You're in my thoughts and prayers every second of every day until we're reunited. All of our love, Mom and Dad.
She choked back tears as she took several photographs from the album, tucking them along with the note into a folder in her backpack. "My dad's gone," she told Daphne softly. "I don't know about mom, but dad's gone."
Daphne crossed the room, embracing Shari awkwardly. "I'm so sorry."
"Me, too," Shari said, zipping the backpack closed. "We can probably be on our way. Depending on how many undead were in the neighborhood, the house might be surrounded if we wait too much longer."
They made their way down the hallway, through the dining room and kitchen, and back into the garage. Shari wiped the moisture from around her eyes and peered out through the window and into the driveway and front yard.
"There are a few in the road, in front of the house," she said, "but they don't look very fresh. We should have no problem out-running them."
She waited for Daphne to start her ATV, then opened the overhead door. After Daphne exited the garage, Shari lowered her kevlar hood, led Eva out into the driveway, then closed the garage door. She mounted Eva and rode eastward down the street after Daphne.
St. Louis. Great, she thought bitterly.
"Yes," Kandi said as she rode alongside Shari, "I fear your mummy and daddy are as good as dead, princess."
Shari shook her head. If I knew they were both gone, that might be easier, in a way. I hope she's okay, but it's the uncertainty that's killing me. I don't know what happened to mom, and I'll probably never know.
She followed Daphne back toward 51, where they headed north alongside the route. She grimaced as they rode toward Carbondale.
Kandi, riding beside her, shrugged her shoulders. "Ain't uncertainty a bitch?"
Shari raised her bow, nocked an arrow, and let it fly into the right eye socket of the last of three zombies wandering the parking lot of the motel. It had about a dozen units, separate buildings constructed of concrete blocks painted in various shades of pastel, shades which had faded considerably since the time they were painted. They were north of Carbondale, in an unincorporated neighborhood consisting of mostly businesses and churches. The brief stop at the former home of Shari's grandparents had been uneventful, giving her no further clues as to her parents' fate. She and Daphne had ridden for an hour through a light rain, but it had gradually worsened until they decided that it was time to get off the road as the downpour soaked into their clothes, leaving them itchy from the damp, clammy feeling creeping over their skin.
They had chosen the motel based on the safety factor. The units were raised six feet above ground level with ramps leading up to the front doors. There were sliding glass doors leading to balconies on the sides of the buildings opposite the front doors, but they were inaccessible from the ground level.
"Just in time to avoid catching pneumonia," Shari muttered as they rode through the parking lot and to the main building, consisting of the reception area and a small cafe.
Shari peered into the large window, her eyes seizing on the reception counter. From where she stood outside, she could see a large keyring left sitting on the counter.
"I bet those are for the units," she said, taking her crowbar multitool from her backpack and cracking open the rather flimsy front door. She strode into the building, keeping her gaze on her surroundings, and picked up the keys. There were a dozen keys, numbered 1 through 12.
"Eenie, meenie, minie...moe," Daphne said, ultimately pointing at the first unit to their left, whose door read #1. She parked her ATV near the ramp, taking her backpack from the trunk before she started up the ramp. Shari rode Eva up the ramp behind Daphne.
"Taking her in?" Daphne asked, smirking.
"You're damn right," Shari said. "I'm not gonna leave her out here to get eaten if I don't have to." She ducked her head as Eva entered the unit. "Just watch where you step, and it'll be all good."
"Fair enough," Daphne replied. "Somehow, I don't think housekeeping will be complaining anytime soon."
They sat together in the small, dim unit, which appeared to have been unoccupied at the time the undead situation had begun. They lounged on a musty couch, waiting around two hours for the rainfall to abate.
"Let's check these other units while we're here, since we have the keys," Shari said. "See what we see."
They checked ten units of the units, besides the one they had began in. The small buildings stretched in a U-shape, beginning with number 1 near the office, and ending with the twelfth unit also next toteh reception office. There was one unit left, number twelve.
They ascended the ramp outside the unit. As Shari entered, she frowned. Something off about this place, she thought.
"This place feels sort of...lived in," Kandi said. "I'd swear I smell food of some sort."
A muted shuffling sound came from what Shari presumed to be either the closet or the bathroom of the studio-sized unit.
Shari took a small flashlight from her the pocket of her jacket as Daphne unsheathed her knife. Shari's gaze panned around the room, following the beam of light. She only saw one door, which she approached silently with Daphne behind her. She threw the door open as Daphne prepared to pounce, and realized it was an empty bathroom. She pointed the light into the corners of the room to be sure it was unoccupied, then closed the door to have a closer look around the rest of the unit. She heard the shuffling sound again, but a little more loudly. After a moment, there was a low moan, then a growl.
"It's coming from this wall," she said. She pointed the flashlight in the direction of a large entertainment center which stood roughly six feet tall. She furrowed her brow, peering between the entertainment center and the wall. "There's another door behind here," she said. "Someone moved this thing in front of the door to lock it in."
Daphne surveyed the room uneasily, backing up in the direction of the front door. Shari began to follow suit. Something doesn't feel right, she thought, a reiteration of her earlier sentiment as she had first entered the unit. This place doesn't feel empty. As Daphne flung the front door open, a tall, wiry figure lunged toward the beam of light entering the room.
"Where the fuck did you come from?" Shari demanded.
The daylight revealed a young man with pale, coppery blonde hair and dark brown, nearly black eyes. "Don't go!" the voice accompanying the figure implored frantically. "I was under the bed. I'm Hugo, Hugo Quinn Clark, but you can call me Hugo. I mean, everyone who knows me calls me Hugo...I mean, everyone who used to know me. I'm alone now. It was me and mom, and....and now she's--" He paused, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his palms into his eyelids. "Well, you see, she's the one in there, making all that noise." He pointed to the closet which he had barricaded. He paced the room, still pressing his hands into his closed eyes.
Shari and Daphne, still a bit thrown off by the surprise of finding the young man, waited for him to continue.
"I don't know when she was bitten," he said, "I don't know when she was bitten, but she was, and I couldn't stand the thought of hurting her, even though I know she was already gone. And so I--I locked her in there. Don't worry, she can't get out. Both of her legs are broken. I tried to hit her in the head, I tried to do the right thing, like she told me I
would have to, but I couldn't. I was holding the bat, and for some reason, my hands made me hit her legs, even though in my brain, I wanted to hit her in the head. At least now she can't walk. That was Thursday...and I've just been sitting here ever since then, 52 hours ago. I know what I need to do, I just can't make myself do it." He sighed. "I guess I let her down. She wouldn't want me to leave her like that."
Shari snapped herself out of her confusion. "Uh--Hugo--I'm sure she'd be glad you're alive, right? I mean, you didn't let her bite you, and that's the important thing."
"If you want," Daphne said, "we can take care of her for you."
Hugo pressed his hands into his closed eyes again, sighing deeply as he nodded. "Yeah, but I don't want to stay here when it's done, and I don't have anywhere to go. I don't know where I am, I don't have any maps, and I can't drive anywhere...I don't even know how to drive. Mom said I wasn't ready for driver's ed. I want to go with you. You guys are the first people I've seen since before mom turned, and I'm running out of food. I can be helpful, I can be useful, I just don't want to be alone."
Shari lit a joint, drawing in a deep lungful of smoke. "How old are you, Hugo?" she asked as she exhaled into the darkness of the room.
"I'll be eighteen on January 12th," he said. "Why?"
Shari glanced at Daphne, who locked gazes with her and nodded. "We're not going to leave you alone to starve," Shari said. "Or live in this place full of--of bad memories for you." She looked out the open door. "Rain's just about stopped," she said. "Anything you want to do before we go?"
"I already have my bag ready," Hugo said. "I keep everything packed in case something happens and I have no choice but to run. I just want to get something from my mom after...after you guys take care of her."