by C. Dulaney
“Grandma,” Jake said, low and quiet. He shook his head at her when she looked up, trying to make her see that this would do no good. Sterilizing and bandaging a zombie bite was about as effective as duct taping a head back on after a beheading; the infection was already burning its way through Mike’s system. Nancy only smiled sadly at him and nodded. She knew.
* * *
Ben drove until his eyes were blurry and bloodshot. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel, and his jaw ached from clenching his teeth. Every minute or so he would glance to his right to check on Mike. Every time he was still in the same position; prone and motionless, rolled up in a sleeping bag to keep him warm and restrained. The seat belt was fastened around him, pulled tight and pinching into the fluffy material. Under Jake’s demands, Kyra had moved into the Jeep, keeping Nancy company in the back seat.
The sun had just started to rise as they sped down the blacktop country road. They had driven this way all night after deciding to keep Mike alive and with them. They all knew what needed to be done, but Nancy wouldn’t have it until he had died and was beginning to turn. Then she would allow one of them to put him down. Then, and only then, not a second before. Ben was slightly relieved, but would never let on that this was so, especially to Jake. They were about twenty miles north of Altoona when Jake called on the radio.
“We got somethin’ up ahead,” he said. His brake lights lit up and they came to a stop. Ben pulled up along Jake’s fender and looked down the road.
“Yeah I see it. What do you want to do?” he asked. Up ahead were two cars (one had t-boned the other), surrounded by a dozen deadheads trying to get inside. The occupants of the north bound car were clearly dead and clawing at the windows. The other car’s driver, however, was alive and most likely scared shitless. It looked to be a man, but Ben couldn’t tell any more than that. He had wedged himself between the seats, jumping and shouting each time a zombie pounded on the glass. And it looked like he was alone.
“Let’s be heroes,” Jake answered. Before Ben could voice any objections, Jake and Zack both jumped out of the Jeep, slammed their doors shut, and started firing. Ben muttered some inaudible curse and got out as well, pulling his pistol as he jogged up alongside Jake. One by one the undead fell as the three worked slowly and methodically, picking their shots and taking care not to waste ammo. The man inside the car had twisted around to watch his rescuers. The entire encounter only lasted seconds, though, with situations like this, time always seems to drag out in a long slow line.
“Help me!” the man yelled, his voice muffled inside the car. The three approached slowly, Zack splitting away and walking around the right side of the car as Ben and Jake went around the left. They stepped carefully, raising their feet high over the mostly mangled bodies and keeping their guns aimed on them. After they were confident the dead were actually dead, Jake rested his rifle across the hood of the car and started dragging them away from the door. Zack kept watch from the other side and Ben eased his way along the driver’s window. The man inside scrambled around and flung the door wide, almost knocking Ben down.
“Take it easy, you’re alright now,” he said as he helped the man to his feet. He gripped Ben by the shoulders and laughed.
“Boy am I glad you fellas happened along when you did. Name’s Peter, but my friend’s call me Pete. Nice to meet ya,” he said and shoved his hand towards Ben.
“Pleased to meet you Pete, I’m Ben” he said and shook Pete’s hand. He led the rather large stranger through the mess of bodies and towards the Jeep. Nancy and Kyra were coming over just as Zack and Jake caught up with them.
“This is Jake, Zack, Nancy, and Kyra,” Ben said, gesturing towards his friends as he made the introductions. Pete nodded to each, shook hands, and glanced back at his car. He wiped his forehead and blew out his breath.
“We shouldn’t stick around, I’m sure they called for backup,” Jake said as he jerked his thumb back to the scene. Everyone nodded except Pete, who was looking off in the distance.
“No, no I have to get home. Was on my way there when that happened,” Pete nodded towards the wreckage. “My wife, she’s home alone and I’ve been trying to get back to her.”
“How far away?” Nancy asked.
“Altoona. It’s not far, maybe twenty miles or so down the road,” Pete answered. Ben and Jake shared a look.
“Well, we’re headed in that direction. You should ride with us. But you do realize there’s probably nothing left? No one left, I mean,” Ben spoke, softly but firmly. Nancy shot him a look, then took Pete by the arm and started leading him towards the Jeep.
“Come on, let’s get you some water,” she said, patting his hand as they walked. The other three closed in around Ben and instantly began arguing in hushed voices.
“We can’t just give him a lift to his house Ben. We’ll be lucky to make it through that town, let alone go sight-seeing while we’re at it,” Zack said. He was turning his eyes to each of them, looking for support against Ben’s idea.
“Yeah, I agree. The plan was to haul ass through there, not stop for anything unless we had to,” Kyra was shaking her head as she spoke. Ben watched Jake, who had remained silent so far. His old friend sighed and put his hands on his hips.
“Well, if we don’t take Pete in, he’s likely to walk. Which means he’ll be killed. If we do take him in, we know once he finds his wife she’ll be dead or undead, same thing. He won’t want to leave her, we’ll argue and fight with him. All the while we’ll be drawin’ a crowd. If we finally convince him to leave her, it will be a crapshoot whether we make it out or not. Depends on how many of those dead fucks have us surrounded. So now, let’s vote. Grandma doesn’t get one, she already got her way with Mike,” Jake explained, staring intently at each of them as he spoke. They all nodded and agreed.
“Ok, we’ll vote. I vote we take him in,” Ben said. Kyra and Zack looked at each other a moment before answering.
“No, I say we leave him, or convince him it’s a waste of time and he should come with us,” Zack stated calmly. Kyra bit her lip and kicked the ground.
“Alright let’s take him home,” she finally sighed. She crossed her arms and stared at the ground. Jake nodded.
“So we got two for it, one against it. Sorry Zack, I get what you’re sayin’ man. But I think we need to try it. But there’s goin’ to be some conditions first. We’ll take him home, but if he starts this I-can’t-leave-her bullshit, we leave him. Get in, get out. Yeah?” Jake asked, waiting for Zack to come around. He made a face, a mix between a grimace and a smirk, and then simply nodded his agreement.
“Alright, let’s go fill the man in,” Ben said and started towards the Jeep.
* * *
He could see the smoke rolling high in the sky in big billows long before they entered the city limits. Between that and the incessant moaning of a dying man coming from beside him, Ben didn’t know whether to shit or puke. Pete lived on the other side of town, in his words ‘just past the exit sign.’ Ben assumed he meant the you-are-now-leaving-Altoona-please-come-again sign at the other end of town. So the plan was to drive as fast as possible and stop at Pete’s on the way out. Seemed simple enough. Ben kept telling himself this even after they hit Main Street and had to swerve around a school bus that had flipped over. Simple, Jake had said. No problem, Jake had said. His thoughts eventually became audible with each undead they ran over and stranded vehicle they had to maneuver around.
“Street’s blocked. I’m cuttin’ right,” Jake shouted over the radio. Ben could hear the squeal of the tires and almost squealed himself when the Jeep pitched left, sling-shooting around the corner. He tapped his brakes and followed closely behind.
“Jesus,” he whispered when he glanced to the left, seeing what had made Jake turn off Main Street. There was a mass of zombies, all milling around and bumping into one another. Just before they were out of sight Ben noticed their eyes turning towards him. There were at least a hundred of them, and
Ben prayed they’d have their business finished at Pete’s and be long gone before the swarm caught up with them.
This new street seemed to be quiet and free of the undead. Mike moaned again and Ben realized he had forgotten about the guy. He risked a quick glance and saw that Mike was now sweating profusely. His skin was shiny and pasty, and there was spit running down his chin. He was also starting to smell. Ben jerked his eyes away and focused on Jake’s brake lights. He felt the thump-thump before realizing he had hit something.
“Shit!” he shouted and slammed on the brakes. Ben looked all around and saw nothing. Just as Jake started yelling at him over the radio, he looked up at the rear-view. A little girl lay in the road, her arms flopping and one leg kicking slowly and clumsily.
“Ben, goddammit!!” Jake was screaming. Ben thought about picking up the mic and answering him, but he was too shocked. He had just hit a little girl. He threw the truck in park and almost fell out the door. He didn’t notice Jake had stopped as well and was running back towards him.
“Ben! Ben!” Jake was still screaming as he ran. Ben stumbled over to the little girl and kneeled beside her. She stared up at the sky with vacant eyes. Her mouth hung open and half her face was covered with blood. Her arms continued to flop, each thrash causing gray matter to ooze from her hair. One leg was twisted and bent at an unnatural angle while the other kicked lazily.
“Oh no, no, no, no,” Ben began to whisper. His hands shook as he tried wiping the blood from the girl’s eyes. She didn’t flinch or give any other indication that she felt him brushing her hair away from her face. Ben’s shoulders began to move up and down as hoarse sobs crept out of his chest. He didn’t hear Jake slide to a stop beside him, and didn’t feel Jake as he grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly.
“Come on! Ben, we have to go! We don’t have time!” Jake screamed in Ben’s ear. He looked at the girl, but all he saw was a deadhead dressed up in a pink jumpsuit with half her face eaten off. He gripped Ben’s shirt and pulled him away, jerking him back on his ass. Ben threw his hands up to push Jake off, then got a hard slap in the face. Jake grabbed him by the collar and pulled him on his feet, standing nose to nose with him and breathing right in Ben’s face.
“That kid’s dead, man! She’s a fuckin’ deadhead! Now let’s go!” Tiny sprinkles of spit sprayed Ben in the face as Jake screamed. Ben shook his head violently.
“No, no I killed her! I ran over her!” he cried back. He tried to shake free of Jake, who was starting to drag him back to the truck. Jake cuffed him again across the cheek and spun him around, forcing him to face the thing lying in the street.
“Look at her! Goddammit Ben, look at her! She’s already stopped floppin’ around cause you cracked her skull open! And while you’re at it take a look down there!” he yelled as he pointed down the way they came.
The horde was now turning the corner and beginning to lumber slowly towards them. Ben stared at the little girl, then at the mass of zombies approaching. He wasn’t sure if it was the swarm, or if it had been Jake’s repeated hits, but whichever it was finally spurred him into action. He turned and ran alongside Jake to the truck, grabbed the door handle and was about to jump inside when he realized Mike was dead.
“Shhiiiiit…” Ben swore and grabbed Jake by the arm. He cussed in return, then shook his head and took off towards the Jeep. Ben climbed inside and hoped the seatbelt and sleeping bag would restrain Mike until after this current mess was over.
He struggled to regain his composure and was just able to pull the truck into drive and catch up with Jake as the Jeep took yet another sharp turnoff.
“We’re almost there Ben. Hang in there,” Zack said over the radio. Yeah, simple he said. No problem, he said, Ben thought as sweat poured into his eyes. They sped past a burning Volkswagen crammed full of people. Ben couldn’t tell if they were alive or not and decided he didn’t want to know. The Jeep took another corner, pitching right as Jake turned left. Mike had begun to moan again, but this time it was not the sound of the dying. It was the sound of the dead. He struggled clumsily against the seat belt and snapped his teeth, over and over, craning his neck towards Ben as far as the sleeping bag would allow. Tears clouded Ben’s vision. He swiped one hand across his face, rubbing sweat into his eyes. This is hell, he thought. I died three days ago and now I’m in hell.
He jumped a curb and fishtailed the truck around as he followed Jake back onto Main Street. He could see the edge of town now and he risked another glance in the rearview mirror. The street behind was littered with vehicles, some burning, some turned over. In grassy lawns on either side he could see zombies wandering aimlessly, searching for fresh meat. Almost there, he thought. Ben noticed even the voice in his head sounded panicked. He hit the accelerator and brought the truck closer to Jake’s bumper. They were driving fast now, and he wanted to get the hell out of this place and this truck. That’s when it suddenly dawned on him: they should have listened to Kasey.
The houses were thinning as they left the city limits. Jake whipped the Jeep to the right and drove straight through a yard, knocking over a couple of garbage cans and a yard gnome. Ben pulled to the curb and stopped. He watched as Jake and Pete both ran over to the house, which he assumed was Peter’s. The older man fished in his pocket and found what looked to be keys. He unlocked the door and they both ran inside, Jake in the lead with his rifle raised.
Ben’s head throbbed and his eyes stung. He thought he would go mad listening to the thing that had been Mike sitting beside him. The sound of Ben’s breathing was harsh, and his teeth felt like they were going numb. I’m hyperventilating, he thought. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. He couldn’t see any movement from within the house, and couldn’t hear anything over the noise Mike was making. Just as he was about to either grab the mic and scream into the radio, or grab his pistol and blow Mike’s head off, Jake burst out of the open doorway.
He ran across the yard, tripping once and falling to his knees, then scrambled back to his feet and rushed around the front of the Jeep. Ben watched the open front door, but there was no sign of Pete. He caught a red flash out of the corner of his eye and realized Jake was speeding away. Mike’s moans thumped through his head as Ben began succumbing to mind-numbing exhaustion. He shifted the truck into gear and pulled out, leaving Pete’s house behind. All else he blocked out; the thought of leaving a man behind, the sight of car after car left abandoned or burning, the ever-increasing numbers of living dead.
He drove this way for miles, on auto-pilot; the only thing guiding him was the bright yellow rear end of the Jeep ahead. Jake called over and over on the radio, but all Ben heard was muffled words, like he was listening to someone talk through a sock. Bright red lights in front of him signaled his foot to brake. Zack and Kyra opened his door and unfastened his seat belt, then pulled him gently from the truck. Kyra led him to the passenger side of the Jeep and helped him in next to Jake. She shut the door and gave a thumbs-up to Zack, who had already climbed in behind the wheel of the truck. The last thing he remembered, and vaguely at that, was Nancy reaching from behind and squeezing his shoulder, telling him everything would be okay.
* * *
They drove until dusk. Kyra kept a watchful eye on the map. Nancy kept a watchful eye on Ben, who had slept soundly the entire way. Jake had been in constant contact with Zack in the truck behind, keeping tabs on Mike. They were coming up on the Pennsylvania/Maryland border when Jake slowed to a stop.
Ben struggled to open his eyes. He could faintly hear the sound of doors opening and shutting. He grimaced when he tried to sit up in the seat; a kink in his neck and a knot in his back from sleeping in an awkward position conveying their discontent at being stirred. He rubbed his face and twisted around to look out the back window. The other three were gathered around the left side of the truck, talking to Zack as he slid out.
The nightmares of earlier started creeping back into his mind: the little girl lying mangled and bloodied on the road; zombie after zombie d
ragging themselves across lawns and streets; people – survivors - burning alive in trapped vehicles. Instead of being consumed with agonizing panic this time, he gradually became livid. The longer he stared at the others and Mike, the more he was filled with absolute rage.
“Let’s just dump him then,” Zack was saying as Ben eased his way out of the Jeep.
“Well we’re not leaving him alive. Or dead alive. Shit, whatever. Someone needs to shoot him,” Kyra said to Jake. Ben was walking resolutely in their direction, but they were too involved in their debate over Mike to notice him approaching.
“Yeah. Zack, you slide in on this side and kick him out. I’ll take him on the other side once he’s clear of the truck,” Jake said. Nancy caught movement out of the corner of her eye and saw Ben as he was opening the passenger side door.
“Ben!” she shouted with surprise. Everyone snapped their heads in his direction, and watched as he grabbed the sleeping bag with both hands and jerked Mike out onto the ground.
“Dude, what are you doin?!” Jake yelled as he ran around the front of the truck. Ben was seething. He fumbled with the pistol at his side and finally jerked it free of the holster. He gripped it with both hands, his arms shaking violently, and pointed the barrel at Mike’s forehead. Ben stared at him, listening to his moans and snapping teeth. He was starting to get tunnel vision again when he heard Jake’s voice beside his ear.
“Do it,” was all he said. Very calm, very firm. The gun was firing and recoiling in Ben’s hand before he actually realized he had pulled the trigger. He was dimly aware of screaming, then realized it was coming from his own mouth. Over and over he fired until the only sound filling the air was clicking. Rattled breaths replaced the screams as his finger jerked the trigger. Jake gripped Ben firmly by the shoulder and grabbed the gun with his other hand. The hammer came down on his thumb, but he held it there.