Day One (Book 2): Choices

by Michael McDonald

  “Not now,” I said aloud. “You’ll have all the time you need later to think about all of this. Right now I need to focus and find who I came for.”

  A couple of gunshots broke the stagnant silence and I looked toward the garage door. The shot seemed to be coming from within the house and I did remember that there were others with my Captive. They could be trapped in a far bedroom and now using the last line of defense they had at their disposal… bad idea.

  In the dark kitchen I cut three undead down heading down the hallway toward where the gunshots had originated. Two more rounded the corner as I entered the dining room, saw me, but were put to permanent sleep before they could react.

  Five shot, so far.

  I had a door to my left that led into the backyard, a hallway to my right that led to the front door, which I had come through a few minutes ago, or longer. I couldn’t really tell how long I had been in the house. It seemed like days to be honest though.

  A large open living room in front of me with a partial open hallway off to the right that led to the rear two bedrooms and a storage room also on the right. So there was a lot of open space between me and the far hallway, giving me perfect reaction time if more undead came through the front door. Only problem I could see was when I started down the hallway, my back would be toward the front door and with an armed person ahead of me and silent undead behind, I would be in a perfect location to get ambushed.

  This shit just keeps getting better and better by the minute.

  I could hear the powerful rotor blades beating the cool air, as Johnny did his best to coax as many of the undead out into the open and give me a better chance at getting out alive.

  Why in the hell are we going to the back bedrooms? My mind asked me. I had no answer to that question and was even wondering it myself when my brain asked. It’s like I was a moth and was being drawn into the pretty light, only to be killed the second I touched it. I fought the urge with all my might, yet still I put one foot in front of the other and continued. “What the hell am I doing?”

  Gunfire erupted from outside, stopping me in my tracks. Who would be out there shooting and why had Johnny not warned me of it. I grabbed the radio and hunkered down against the wall, facing the fireplace in front of me, that way if either the shooter in the rear of the house or undead coming through the front door moved into the hallway, I’d see them in time and be able to react accordingly.

  “What the hell is going on out there? Who’s shooting?”

  Nothing.

  “Johnny, what’s going on out there?” I asked again.

  Still nothing.

  “Son of a bitch!” I said harshly under my breath, as I knew that I’d have to break off my advance to investigate. All of the sudden the radio chattered to life with Johnny’s voice.

  “I got them interested in my, so haul ass out of there while you can!”

  The dilemma I faced should not have been so overpowering, but it was. I wanted to break off and make a run for it, yet the need to find out what was in the back bedroom pulled at me with unrelenting force. I wouldn’t let go no matter how hard I tried to disrupt its grip.

  Johnny used his M4 and fired several more bursts near the front of the house, the rounds kicking up dirt as they impacted the ground. He held the bird steady as he fired and on completion of his magazine, he stowed the weapon and moved the bird away from the house, keeping a few nearby trees in sight as he went. A large group of undead had once again taken the bait and shuffled off after him.

  I had moved to the front door under the noise of the rotor blades and watched him begin to lead the pack away. Within a minute, maybe less, I could make it to my Ex’s car. But then what? My son wasn’t here, hadn’t been at his mom’s house, and as stated earlier, I knew where none of his little friends lived. So where was I going to go?

  “Think dammit, think! Where would I go if I was a boy and the world was falling apart around me?” I asked myself. “Where would I go with monsters roaming the streets and attacking anyone they saw?” I had no real idea where I would go in this event. After all, I had thought about barricading myself in my house and staying put, which would have turned out to be a bad idea. So where would a young boy go? What would be running through his mind?

  Dead people were up walking around, killing and eating the living. The living where just as bad as the undead, only they wouldn’t eat you… not yet anyway. With no one to trust and nowhere to turn, where would a smart boy go?

  Literally, like a ton of bricks falling upon me, a picture dismounted from the wall, missed my head, and crashed into my knee. It flipped over and came to rest face up. My eyes caught the picture and all of my doubt and second guessing subsided instantly.

  I don’t know why the answer hadn’t struck me any earlier. It had been right there in my face the whole time, well the lack of his presence at either place should have sounded the alarms to go off in my head. “I know where he is!” I shouted. “I need you to turn the bird and…”

  The feel of a gun barrel coming to rest on my neck, followed by the sound of a hammer being cocked stopped me mid-sentence.

  “Put both hands up slowly or I’ll shoot you right here,” a female voice said from behind.

  “I’m not here for you, lady.” I said slowly. “I’m just looking for my son.”

  “You killed my friends!” She screamed at me.

  “Keep your voice down or there’ll be a hundred of those things in here in seconds!” I shot back.

  “Don’t you dare try and tell me what to do, don’t you dare!” She again hammered me with her loud annoying voice. “Get your fucking hands up or I’ll blow your damn head off, NOW!”

  This wasn’t how I had envisioned my next move as going. I could feel the anxiety within me kicking up as I had figured out where my son would have went, yet now I was stuck at gunpoint by some crazy lady who wanted to yell and scream, attracting as much attention as she possibly could.

  “For the last time,” I said. “Keep your voice down.”

  “You must think I’m pretty stupid, huh?” She asked me

  Chapter Six

  As a matter of fact, yes, why yes I do think you are completely stupid, but I didn’t tell her that. She would have shot me for sure

  “I’m just here for my son,” I told her once more.

  She pushed the barrel further into the back of my neck, symbolizing that she wasn’t playing around, nor would she ask me once more. “Hand’s up!”

  “You’re making a big mistake here,” I added and slowly raised my left hand. She slapped the back of my head and I cringed from the unseen attack, yet didn’t do anything stupid.

  “I said both hands!” She shouted.

  I raised the right hand and she could see the military radio in my grasp. It fluttered to life with Johnny’s voice.

  “Say again your last?”

  “I have to answer this,” I told her.

  “Do and it’ll be the last words you ever speak!” She said coldly.

  I did as she commanded, not wanting to get shot in the back. I cursed myself for letting my guard down for even a second. I knew better, although as the problem I faced presented a solution, I got excited and that’s when bad things happen.

  “Now what?” I asked her with both hands up.

  “Remove your weapons and throw them on the floor,” she stated.

  “I’m not disarming myself with those things running around out there. Several of them could easily come through that front door at any time,” I shot back.

  “Then I’ll shoot you and take the weapons from your dead body!” The coldness in her voice told me that time had not been kind to her, spiraling her life quickly out of control and turning her from a normal citizen into a lawless, take-what-she-wanted at gunpoint coward. The sound of her voice began to sicken me and I wished that a small group of the undead would round the corner, forcing her to flee and giving me the advantage I needed to get away. There was that large part of me that wanted this
one to die very slow and very agonizingly. I wanted to watch it happen and smile during.

  “So that’s what this is all about… robbery?” I asked.

  “You call it whatever you want. I call it surviving!” Her snide voice followed.

  Her comment made no sense to me, and I’m certain it was just a cover for what her true intentions had always been. She had no skills to survive. She picked on defenseless people, those too weak to fight back, or those in a dangerous situation with nowhere to turn, like any school yard bully using force to get whatever it was she wanted.

  There was a difference in need and want. There was no need in her, she simply wanted because she was too lazy or scared to go out and get it herself.

  “And I did… you’re a coward and you’re robbing people that could help you,” I said harshly. “I don’t know which is worse, those things out there or the people that survived the first week of whatever this is… at least those things don’t switch sides to improve their standing in this new society!”

  “We’ll see if you still hold that opinion when they are tearing you apart,” she said with a hint of excitement burning in the back of her voice. The sound of it threw me from sickening to downright hate, and I wanted to spin around and deal with her as Lloyd would have, or maybe the same way the Young Woman would have.

  “Hey, man. What’s going on in there?” Johnny asked. “Which direction do you need me to go?”

  “If I don’t answer, he’s going to know something’s wrong,” I stated.

  “So?” More harshness erupted from her.

  “Somebody really did a number on you, didn’t they? I mean that’s why you’re so cold and negative to the remaining world and those that could offer any type of assistance,” I said to her.

  “Shut up!” she demanded.

  “Or what? You gonna shoot me if I don’t? Did I hit closer to home than you expected with that one? The truth hurts? Doesn’t it?”

  “SHUT UP!” She shouted with furious anger.

  I was pushing her over the edge and within the next few seconds the outcome, which could still go either way, would happen in the blink of an eye. I was ready for it, as I could feel where the barrel was and felt confident enough to reposition her weapon in a safe direction, although from that point onward, things were unclear.

  “The end of the world and you’re reduced to nothing more than a common, worthless, thief. I bet your momma is so proud of you!”

  Two undead made their way around the corner. All of the shouting had drawn them from outside to the interior to investigate. The Woman behind me saw them the very moment I did and she lurched the gun over a few inches and shot the first one in the head. The discharge of the weapon so close to my head deafened me and I screamed in pain, using both hands to grab my damaged ear.

  The concussion from a second shot drew my attention and I saw an opportunity to turn the tables, although the pain that was pounding through my head was intense and scrambled my equal Librium, making it hard to stand on my own. I used the wall as a prop and went for my Beretta, but could not find it. The need to act human and spare those, even the ones that were trying to cause me harm, dissipated and she’d either surrender to me or die. There were no other options. The pounding increased and the sounds around me came like muffled drunk tones, like when you slow a tape recorder down and the voice loses momentum.

  A few more shots careened past me, as I held firmly to the wall, listening to her screech on about something that was inaudible to me. I was defenseless and at her mercy at that moment.

  She could easily shoot me after the last undead came around the corner and take everything I had, while I did nothing to stop her. But what could I do? I couldn’t hear for shit, I could see but everything seemed to be moving when I knew it really wasn’t. I was in a lot of trouble and for the first time I got a look at the hag that had placed me in this current state.

  She was exactly what you would think of when the word hillbilly crossed your mind or you heard someone else say it. She was obese, with some form of moo moo wrapped around her large figure. Long stringy blonde hair that was greasy and unkept, a large mole on her nose and when she shouted something at me I could see she was missing quite a few teeth.

  Get a hold of yourself! Do it now or we’re going to die! My brain shouted and I instantly reacted. I drew the .9mm with my right hand, used the left hand to grab the barrel of her revolver and force it away from me, and then used my body weight to drive her back into the opposite wall. She screamed at me, yet the damage to my ear kept me from hearing much of it. Her threats increased and the obscenities grew more colorful with each passing second. Even having her partly under control, I was still at a disadvantage, as I couldn’t see the hallway behind me, nor could I see if she had gotten both undead or just one, and to look meant I would lose my grip of the situation, as well as her.

  “I’m gonna kill you!” She continued to shout, as she flailed about wildly.

  I slammed my right shoulder into her chest, grabbed her gun hand with my free one and for the first time could see that there was a single undead moving toward us. I trained her gun in its direction, doing my best to aim parallel down the barrel and fired. The first bullet missed, so I followed up with a second shot, blowing its right ear off and a small part of the jaw. It stumbled backward, yet regained control and came at us again.

  Her tune suddenly changed from that of a crazed-nutjob to one that was concerned . “Let go of my gun so I can shoot it! You’re gonna get us both killed!”

  I wasn’t about to just let go of her gun. My SBR was around my waist, pushed back out of grasp by the scuffle and the Beretta had been holstered so I could control her better with two hands. Reaching for it now would give her the right amount of time to point and fire directly into my face or chest, so that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

  “It’s almost on us!” She screeched.

  “I’m not letting go!” I replied still trying to get the gun on target as she fought to keep me from pulling the trigger.

  “Stop it!”

  I managed to grab hold of her finger and bend it back far enough to slide my own finger into the trigger guard, partially aim once more, and fired. The gun didn’t fire. I tried again, but as before the hammer fell on an empty cylinder.

  “You used all my bullets you asshole, now that things going to get us!” She squawked.

  I released her and drew my own pistol, putting the undead down for good with a single shot. After it hit the ground I spun to extend my authority and she jabbed a sharp knife into my stomach. I bent over and took a few steps back. “I was just trying to help you,” I told her.

  “Screw you and your help… now you get to die!” Her words were completely overwhelming. There was nothing left of her that made her human, other than the fact that she was breathing, yet everything else within her was as dead as the corpses lying on the floor of the hallway were. I could do nothing to save her, change her mind, or even make her see that we needed to stick together in order to survive. She was unreachable.

  Three more undead filtered through the front door and around the corner. I could not see them with my back in their direction, but I had heard them, although I acted as if I hadn’t and kept my gun upon her. “What the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost your damn mind or are you really that hateful toward anyone you meet, that you’re willing to rob and then kill them without so much as blinking an eye?”

  “YES!” She shouted. “I hate you and want you to die and rot in hell… die!” She clutched the knife the other way and raised it above her head, setting up another strike on me, possibly going for my neck. I was taken away by her actions, which left me speechless and feeling sorry for whatever had happened to make her so negative and full of rage.

  She shot the blade toward me as she screamed bloody murder. I grabbed her leading hand, stepped out of the way, and simply allowed her own inertia to continue carrying her forward and past me. The three undead reached for her and
she was unable to stop her advance. They grabbed her and began trying to take her to the floor as I stood there watching. Once more she changed her tune and began pleading with me for help. “Help me!”

  “Help yourself,” I replied and vaulted over a nearby couch, crossed the living room as one of the undead watched me, but didn’t give chase. I could hear her screams throughout the house and noticed that the person within me before would have tried to help her. Would have been dumb enough to fall for her cries and ultimately it would have cost me my life. Now, however, I greeted this new world with a single middle finger and a shit eating grin. I’d just proved that I would do anything to get to my son… no one and no thing would stop me.

  “You can’t just leave me here… have a heart for God’s sake!” She cried.

  Reaching the garage, I brought the radio up and began throwing out orders. “Turn that bird toward the south and haul ass. You’ll come across a large complex in about a minute or two… that’s where we’re headed!”

  “Further south?” Johnny asked. “What’s that direction?”

  “A massive school complex. It’s huge, so you can’t miss it. I’ll meet you there.”

  “A school complex?” Johnny stated. “Why would any kid go there when they didn’t have too?”

  “It’s huge for one thing, he knows it as well as his own house, plus there would be a ton of places he could hide, as well as only a few doors to barricade. Steele doors at that,” I explained, at least in my mind that’s how I saw it. Truth and reality were not always one in the same, however.

  “Gotcha, I’m headed there now,” Johnny said and the radio fell silent.

  I stood there in the garage with the door to the SUV open, wondering if he would really go there or I had I just read more into the picture than I should have? I was running out of time to look for him and the more places we went the lower the fuel in the chopper got. When we returned to the military base, weather Andrews had let us go or not, there would more than likely not be a second attempt made. It was now or never and no matter how much I didn’t want to hear that, I had to locate him on this trip or he’d be lost forever. And there was no way in hell I was going back empty-handed this time… I just wasn’t going to do it.