Aftermath (Book 2): Chicago Calling

by Duncan McArdle

  Slowly she shook her head. “What in the hell is going on today”, she said to nobody in particular.

  Chapter 33: Hiding in plain sight

  “You hear that?”, John asked, catching the faint sound of what seemed like a jet engine passing over the top of the truck, muffled by the gas guzzling eighteen-wheeler.

  “Hear what?”, Andrew asked, himself having been far too preoccupied nervously checking every passing alley, looking for signs of more people coming to attack the base, a fear he was struggling to shift.

  “Never mind”, John said, knowing full well that the chance of a plane flying past was slim to none, not least one using a jet engine.

  Slowly the truck snaked its way along the main roads of the Milwaukee front, banking left to right and right to left as it avoided the various vehicles still scattered around the area. Obstructions that were avoidable in the more nimble pickups presented a much more difficult threat for such a huge vehicle, and so progress had been slow. That said, thanks to the large front end of the truck, and the fact John had no intention of keeping it beyond the point of delivery, it was making for an extremely useful battering ram to shift some of the more movable obstructions.

  Approaching an abandoned removals van that had been left stricken by the side of the road for as long as John had been here – and a regular thorn in every trip’s side – John angled the much bigger truck for the edge of its bumper, and gave it a violent shove that shot it over onto the sidewalk. As it moved, shards of metal, glass and plastic flicked up, and were soon either pushed away by the front of the truck, or crushed underneath its wheels below.

  “Jesus John”, Andrew said, reeling from the small but still significant impact.

  “Might as well clear the road a little”, John explained, albeit while holding up his hand to acknowledge the fact he may have hit it a little more powerfully than necessary.

  “Doesn’t mean we have to kill this thing”, Andrew pointed out.

  “Well we’re not using it for anything after this anyway”, John said.

  “Really?”, Andrew asked, “What about transport? Like if we ever need to move everyone at once?”.

  “If ever there comes a time when we want to move that many people at once”, John started, “I think they’d be better off on foot than in something as loud, big and slow as this, something that can’t even turn around without a freeway off ramp to help it”.

  Andrew nodded, seeing his point.

  “Hell I’m already wondering about this part too”, John said, pointing forwards.

  Up ahead, a short distance further along the road they were currently traversing, was the group’s camp. Its large concrete walls stuck out like a sore thumb, making it seem almost as out of place as the truck itself. What John was pointing to in particular however, was the entrance on the front of the building.

  “Yeah”, John suddenly decided as the not particularly tall gap came closer, “We’re definitely not fitting in there”.

  “So what are we doing with it then?”, Andrew questioned, suddenly realising they were only a few seconds from returning home and now had no plan on how to do so.

  “I’ll pull it up outside, we can unload it and then ditch it somewhere”, John said.

  “Unload it? Out in the open?”, Andrew asked, himself only too familiar with the potential perils of hanging around outside the safety of the walls, especially after arriving with such a loud entrance.

  “Unless you feel like taking this thing back to the supermarket and ferrying everything on eight separate journeys?”, John asked, referring to the large quantity of supplies housed inside the trailer and the much smaller beds of the pickups they had access to.

  “Guess not”, Andrew agreed, having thought the idea over and realised that that many trips in and out would probably generate just as much attention. “But we should at least use this thing for something afterwards”, he added.

  “Like what?”, John asked.

  Andrew took a moment to brainstorm. Despite the impracticalities of using such a huge, slow vehicle in the present world, Andrew couldn’t help but feel like it was a waste to simply ditch it, never to be used again after they’d ruined the Tesla in order to get it working in the first place. Despite the difficulties that using it presented, he was sure he could come up with something, and sure enough, suddenly, it clicked.

  “A gate!”, Andrew burst out excitedly.

  “What?”, John asked.

  “Yeah, think about it”, Andrew said, “We cover up the entrance with the truck parked across it, then pull it forwards and backwards whenever we need to get in”.

  “And make all that noise whenever we start it, and have to keep filling it up?”, John asked.

  “Well…”, Andrew hesitated as he began thinking once more, adamant that it was a good idea, “We could put a door in, so we don’t have to move it when we’re going through on foot”, he began, “And the engine noise would be coming out of whatever we’re driving out in anyway”.

  “And what about when the engine jams up from us never running it for more than thirty seconds?”, John asked.

  “Then we tow it out the way”, Andrew replied, “But at least it’ll keep us safe until then”.

  John paused to consider the proposition. Despite its downsides, Andrew was right, it would give an incredible feeling of safety to the camp, and would allow the guard on duty to be much less vulnerable. The noise would be an issue, but as Andrew had rightly said, the only time it’d be making noise was when other vehicles were doing so anyway. When all was said and done, if it was able to keep the residents even that little bit safer, John supposed it couldn’t be a bad thing.

  “Alright”, he said eventuality, at which point Andrew’s face lit up, “If we can get some sheeting around the underside to stop the crawlers getting through, I’m on board”.

  Andrew smiled happily, knowing he’d made another contribution to the camp, and feeling much better about the fact that this time it was for a non-violent purpose.

  “Good job Andrew”, John added, sensing it might just make the man’s day.

  With that, the truck began the final approach to the car-park, following after the Nissan which Harvey drove straight inside. Lester was stood guard, and had a bemused look on his face that John wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before. But like most of John’s strange decisions since the man had arrived, Lester knew it was probably worth whatever effort was about to be required of him.

  John swung the truck away from the entrance and towards the other side of the road, slowing it as late as he could so as to position the rear of the trailer facing the car-park. From this position, he knew he’d be able to reverse right up to the entrance of the building, which would at least reduce the amount of time that those unloading the vehicle had to spend outside. Finally, he threw the mechanical monster into reverse.

  “BEEP… BEEP… BEEP… BEEP…”.

  Immediately he switched back to neutral and killed the sound, before proceeding to mumble several expletives.

  “Reversing alarm?”, Andrew asked, recognising the noise from the days of garbage trucks making their way through his neighbourhood.

  “Reversing alarm”, John confirmed, before opening up his door and clambering down the left side of the cabin onto the ground.

  “What are you…”, Andrew began to ask, but trailed off when he realised John was long gone. “Never mind”, he said to himself.

  Down below, John quickly lowered himself onto the floor, poking his head under the running truck he was still too afraid to turn off. Thanks to the small amount of sun coming in through the grey skies above, various parts of the truck’s underside were just about visible, and before long, John was able to locate a small cable attached to the alarm, and yank it free of its housing. Quickly he then got back to his feet, looked around to make sure nothing was coming, and then began climbing inside once more.

  But John didn’t make it all the way up, stopping instead two rungs from the
top, and then jumping back down again. Something had caught his ear, and he could swear it was the sound of a biter, though he wasn’t quite sure where. Frantically he looped round the front of the truck, making absolutely sure that nothing else was present nearby, and then made his way back to the driver-side, and climbed in.

  “Something wrong?”, Andrew asked, having noticed John moving around the front of the vehicle.

  “Thought I heard something”, John said.

  “Again?”, Andrew asked, himself now wondering if John’s hearing was simply on its way out.

  “Different kind of noise”, John said, “Probably nothing”.

  “Probably”, Andrew concurred, “You get the alarm?”, he then asked.

  “Let’s see”, John replied, before throwing the truck back into reverse, and slowly moving off, this time without the ear-piercing high pitched tone of an annoying reversing alarm.

  “Looks like it”, Andrew said with a smile.

  In the side mirror, John watched closely as Lester guided him backwards, stopping him just before they ran out of room, and hopefully with enough space left to unload things easily enough.

  “Let’s get this stuff unpacked”, John said, excitedly leaping from his seat for what felt like the hundredth time on that day alone.

  Andrew excitedly followed suit on the other side of the cabin, not having seen the contents of the trailer yet, but feeling fairly certain it was going to be worth the effort.

  “What is this?”, Lester asked as he approached from the rear, still having no idea what was going on, “You got something good?”, he questioned, showing a rare element of enthusiasm.

  “See for yourself”, John said happily, as he rounded the rear of the truck at the same time as Andrew, with Harvey returning a moment later having parked the Nissan.

  Cautiously, Lester reached forwards and unlatched the rear of the massive trailer, having first had to step up onto the bumper in order to reach the handles.

  “Oh and maybe step back a little”, John added quickly, before glancing over to Harvey, “We had a bad experience the first time”.

  Suddenly Lester jumped back, no longer willing to commit to actually opening the now unlocked doors. John was of course joking about what had happened previously, but that didn’t make it any less likely. He’d seen some strange things as of late, and so a biter finding a way to open a door and close it behind themselves wasn’t something he’d consider unusual.

  “Oh for Christ sake”, Harvey said angrily, himself now opting to approach the rear of the trailer, “I’ll do it”, he added, before throwing the doors ajar to reveal its contents to Andrew and Lester for the first time.

  Happily, the trailer contained nobody from the undead community, and was for the most part just exactly as John had remembered it. The odd item had been thrown around a little during transport, but the overwhelming sight in front remained that of supplies, both food and water, all boxed up and in seemingly perfect condition. In fact, thanks to John and Harvey having already cleared out the bad items, this was an even better sight than the one they had originally seen.

  “Holy…”, Andrew trailed off, staring wide eyed at the cargo in front.

  Lester concurred silently, mouthing various words to the same effect without any of them becoming audible.

  “How much is in there?”, Andrew asked, still shocked.

  “Not sure exactly”, John said happily, “But there’s enough to last every person here for a long time”, he explained, “Hopefully long enough to get things growing”.

  “John…”, Lester finally managed to say, “This is…”, he added, before himself also trailing off into silence.

  “I know”, John said, realising that bringing back such a haul was the equivalent of a thousand Christmas’ to a man whose sole mission was to look after others, “I know”.

  “Alright”, Harvey interrupted, in a tone that John knew meant he was feeling more than a little frustrated, perhaps because he’d not yet received much recognition for his part in the delivery, “Let’s stop pussy-footing around and unload”, he said, turning to the truck.

  “Hold up”, John said before Harvey could begin climbing up, “We need to clean it first”, he said, pointing to the worrying amount of blood and various other substances that had amassed around the entrance into the trailer, courtesy of the many bodies that had attempted to squeeze through the tiny gaps into the loading area.

  “Hell with that”, Harvey said, “We’re gonna burn it afterwards anyway”, he announced.

  Immediately Andrew’s gaze shot to John, so abruptly that John noticed it out of the corner of his own eye without even looking. John was very much in favour of Andrew’s idea for the truck, but hadn’t yet had a chance to relay them to anybody else. Keen to reassure his companion, he held up a hand to acknowledge Andrew’s complaint, as if asking him to sit tight until they could talk things out afterwards, and then looked back to Harvey.

  But it was too late. Despite John’s concerns, Harvey had already walked back over to the trailer and began the ascent, his feet once again clanging against the metal bars that made up the rear bumper, echoing throughout the lowest floor of the car park. John hadn’t yet paid much attention to the ladder-like construction of the bumper, but was now inspecting its every inch, from the drips of blood flicking between each bar, to the licence plate that was almost completely covered in dirt, and finally to the faintly visible circular objects, yellowed in colour and slowly emerging from the dark underbelly of the trailer. Suddenly, the outline of a face came narrowly into the light, and in an instant, lunged forwards teeth-first, sinking its rotten fangs deep into the side of the fleshy calf muscle in front, sending a roar of pain through Harvey’s body and out through his mouth.

  Chapter 34: Spreading

  In that moment, nobody spoke, moved or reacted in any way. Not a single person there came even remotely close to deciding on an appropriate response to the situation occurring right in front. All of them simply stood there, wide eyed and even wider mouthed, absolutely gobsmacked by what had just happened. In a world where a single bite meant an almost certain demise sooner or later, they’d effectively witnessed a death sentence being handed out.

  “ARRRGHHH”, Harvey yelled in response to the sharp teeth sinking deep into the depths of his calf.

  The beast had leant around his leg in order to place a decent bite into the fleshiest possible region.

  Immediately he reached for his pistol, drawing, aiming and firing before anybody else had even finished gawking at what had happened, and before he himself had gotten back down from the truck.

  The bullet sailed through the skull of the biter with ease, ripping back out the other side and eventually finding its finishing point only when it ricocheted off of the floor below. Immediately the attacker went limp, turning abruptly lifeless when only moments ago it had been quite the opposite. Soon enough its razor sharp teeth released their tight grip on Harvey’s leg, and the body slowly slumped down, Harvey doing more or less the same thing a few feet away.

  Clunk by clunk, the biter’s body bounced from piece to piece of the truck’s underside until it eventually landed on the ground, now in view for the very first time. To everyone’s amazement, the biter wasn’t even fully formed, and remained only as a torso, with the remnants of an arm on one side, and little else. Suddenly the source of all the blood on the back of the trailer became a little clearer, and there was a distinct possibility that it had all come from this one body, shredded and ruined by the loading bay, and then further ripped apart courtesy of the truck’s movement. Out of all the bodies the group had seen since the start, this was easily one of the worst.

  Eventually, Sonja became the first person to come to their senses, at which point she rushed over to Harvey and dropped down onto her knees.

  “Oh… my God”, she said plainly, unable to contain her emotions due to the knowledge she had on how unlikely it was that this situation was going to end well.

 
; “Arrghhh”, Harvey groaned again, no longer gripped by his attacker, but still missing a significant chunk of what was now exposed muscle on his left leg.

  “It’s gonna be okay Harvey”, Sonja insisted, before quickly ripping off one of her sleeves, folding it over, and then pressing it hard against the wound.

  Harvey screamed even louder, having opened his mouth to tell Sonja it wasn’t going to be okay, but then finding himself unable to do anything but yell.

  “Get someone”, John said to Andrew, now that he too had caught up with the situation.

  “Who?”, Andrew asked unhelpfully.

  “ANYONE!”, John yelled, before running over to the biter’s body.

  Obliging, Andrew hurriedly rushed off towards the stairwell at the far end of the car-park, barely acknowledging the situation.

  “I’ll check outside”, Lester announced, himself concerned that other biters might have arrived upon hearing the various screams, or the gunshot that had reverberated and echoed off of just about every surface in sight.

  Now at the body of the undead, John made sure it completely unresponsive using the toe of his boot – and with his gun trained on the figure’s skull at all times – before eventually shoving it a little further out of the way. Even if it was definitively dead, he wanted to make sure it was as far away from Harvey as possible, lest it find some unusual but no longer uncommon way to rise again.

  Having completed this task, he then analysed the exterior in front, and then dropped down to the floor and rolled underneath the rear of the trailer, checking for the presence of any other stowaways that might have survived the journey. This haul represented the single greatest find the camp had ever had, and he wasn’t about to let the occasion get any more tarnished than it already had been.

  But just as John had thought previously, there was nothing in sight. The only thing of any interest was an intricate network of piping, tubes and cables, all of them having inadvertently acted as a nest for the biter, holding it in place throughout the journey, but still providing it easy access to the rear of the vehicle, where it eventually found the succulent flesh of the nearest human. It was nothing more than a case of incredibly bad luck, though John doubted that would provide Harvey with much comfort.