Zombie Decimation

by Max Lockwood

  Instead of fighting back, he grinned at this. Apparently, he wore his criminal record as a badge of honor.

  “You’re damn right.” He laughed. “Remember that time I got busted for drag racing and I went on that car chase through town? Oh man, that was a riot!” he hooted. “Never got caught, either.”

  “They had your license plate number,” Ariel corrected him. “Eventually, you got caught.”

  “Yeah, but not from the chase. See?” he said, patting Melissa on the knee. “We’ll be fine as long as you stick with me.”

  Melissa’s stiff frame softened. “You two act more like siblings than a couple,” she observed. “I don’t understand your relationship.”

  They smiled at each other. “We’ve known each other for a long time,” he explained. “We were probably never meant to date, though. That’s why I put her in the trunk. I suppose a lover wouldn’t do a thing like that, would he?”

  “Probably not,” Ariel replied.

  Bobby Dean stood up and wiped his hands on his jeans before extending a hand to Melissa. “Why don’t we get up and have a look at that car? If the lights and radio are on, we might be able to get it running.”

  As he pulled Melissa to her feet, she saw a middle-aged man point a gun straight at her chest. She was so startled, she couldn’t even scream.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” the man growled, holding his gun steady. “That’s my car and I don’t appreciate you trying to steal it.”

  “We didn’t know,” she cried. “We just heard the radio and came to check it out. We didn’t mean any harm. We’re not dangerous. We just need help getting out of here.”

  “Stay away from my little girl,” he said, confusing the three. They hadn’t seen anyone else besides the man.

  “Where is your girl?” Bobby Dean asked, looking around.

  Then man strode up to the back of the car and opened the door. There was a young girl, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping. Melissa noticed that she was wearing a pair of tennis shoes with the laces tied to each other.

  “We don’t want to hurt her,” Melissa said, taken aback by the man’s accusations. His shaggy hair was knotted and his plaid shirt was well-worn. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

  “No one understands her,” the man said hysterically. “She’s not dangerous. She just needs help.”

  “No one said anything about that,” Ariel said, trying to get a closer look at the girl.

  “Is she hurt?” Melissa asked, suddenly feeling sympathy for her. “I had a pretty bad infection from an injury, but I got better. Maybe we can help.”

  She approached the car to tend to the girl, but the girl suddenly sprang out of her seat and started clawing at them. Her father tried to restrain her, but she overpowered him, making her way toward Melissa.

  Bobby Dean shoved the girl toward the car seat in an attempt to lock her inside, but the man tackled him to the ground. This caused Ariel to begin shrieking in terror.

  The man pummeled Bobby Dean as Bobby Dean reached for a gun to take care of the infected little girl once and for all. They wrestled on the ground, wildly throwing punches.

  Ariel joined the dog pile, trying to get the man off her former lover. Meanwhile, the child was becoming more and more agitated as the action grew. Melissa had to act quickly.

  Knowing that shooting the child would only result in their deaths from the father, she grabbed the blanket from the backseat and tossed it over the girl. She screamed like a wounded animal, but it allowed Melissa to get a tight grasp on her without exposing herself to the virus.

  Ariel hurried over and grabbed a t-shirt from the back seat and ripped it into strips, which she then tied around the girl’s wrists and ankles. Once the girl was properly restrained, they blindfolded her and buckled her into the seat with the seat belt.

  This seemed to calm her down considerably, but she still squirmed. Remembering how the infected went into their dormant state when they weren’t exposed to outside stimuli, Melissa took another strip of fabric and fashioned some earmuffs to block out extra noise. The girl relaxed, sank down in the seat, and fell asleep.

  Melissa sat back down on the ground, exhausted from the struggle. The men stopped grappling, and Ariel quietly shut the door, leaving the girl inside.

  Once Bobby Dean relinquished the man from his headlock, he buried his face in his hands and began to cry. Melissa, Bobby Dean, and Ariel looked at one another, feeling uncomfortable by the stranger’s display of emotion.

  “I’m sorry,” he cried. “I’m just trying to get help for my daughter.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything that can be done,” Ariel said gently.

  “There is. There’s supposed to be a refugee camp down by the southeast border of the state. Apparently, a doctor has created a treatment that can cure an infected patient.”

  Melissa raised her eyebrows. “Do you know this doctor’s name?” she asked, waiting to hear him say the name of her former travel companion.

  “I’m not sure. I’ve just heard that there’s a town where people actually want to take care of the infected and treat them like the sick patients they are. My daughter isn’t a monster. She’s just very ill and needs help.”

  “What do we want to do with them?” Bobby Dean asked Melissa and Ariel, as if the man wasn’t there.

  “He has a car,” Ariel whispered. “What if we just go with him?”

  They looked to Melissa for her answer. As much as she didn’t like the idea of riding in a car with an infected kid, she had a feeling that if there was a camp for survivors, Thomas, Alec, and Elaina could be there. If the doctor the man was talking about happened to be Elaina, then she felt like there was a good chance his daughter would survive.

  Melissa shrugged and looked toward the ground. “We don’t have a lot of choices. Let’s see if the car works first, then we can ride along with them. We have the girl tied up, so she’s not going anywhere. It’s worth a shot.”

  The other two agreed and walked toward the car to assess the damage. Melissa and Ariel changed the blown tire while Bobby Dean and the other man looked under the hood of the car.

  “We could always toss the girl out of the car and leave without the man,” Ariel whispered to Melissa as they tightened the bolts.

  “Yeah, but we don’t know where we’re going. I think the guy knows it, too. He keeps saying that he’ll know the place when he sees it. He’s not about to let us screw him over.”

  “Okay,” Ariel relented. “I just hope he knows that Bobby Dean means business. If he does something Bobby Dean doesn’t like, he’ll find himself tied to the top of the car.”

  Melissa giggled at this imagery. “No, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  4

  The yellow dashes on the highway turned into one long line as Alec and Thomas sped away from the militia’s damaged base. The scenery turned into a green blur. Thomas felt like he was spinning in circles, though he knew they couldn’t possibly be moving any other way but straight ahead.

  He gripped the sides of Alec’s jacket as tightly as he could for fear that if he let go, he would spin off into another dimension. He wasn’t sure where he was—he wasn’t even sure if he knew who he was anymore. All he knew was that he felt terribly ill. He wanted the spinning to end.

  Feeling Thomas’s tight grip, Alec slowed down enough to safely turn his head. He saw Thomas’s green face and instantly became worried.

  “You okay?” he shouted, craning his neck so his voice would carry over the wind.

  Thomas shook his head. “Can we stop?” he asked weakly.

  Alec obliged, quickly navigating the bike to the side of the road. Even though there were no other cars on the road, it was easier to be close to the ditch in case they needed to quickly escape.

  The second Thomas got off the bike, he bent over and vomited all over the pavement. Dark bile kept coming up, though he hadn’t had anything to eat in quite a few hours. He heaved while Alec turned away to avoid the pungent smell.<
br />
  When he was finished, Alec handed him a fresh bottle of water and a couple of crackers.

  “We’re not getting back on until you finish those,” Alec said, finding a place on the shoulder of the road to stretch out. “I don’t want you getting sick again. Have a seat and relax.”

  Thomas plopped down in the grass and fumbled with the top of the bottle with shaky hands. He took a sip of water and became sick again.

  “Get all of it up now,” Alec said as he tossed a pile of pine needles over the sick.

  “I don’t feel well at all,” Thomas said hoarsely.

  “I don’t blame you. You’re probably exhausted from everything that’s happened in the past few days. If I had to guess, I’d say those people weren’t treating you very well. You were basically locked in a cage when I busted you out.”

  Thomas tried to remember what happened. He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t get the impression that he was abused in there.

  “I don’t know. I think I had some food and water. I don’t feel like I haven’t slept. It’s almost the opposite—like I’ve slept too much.”

  Alec grimaced. “I think you’ve been drugged. With any luck, the effects will wear off with time. Food and water won’t hurt either,” he said, pointing to the untouched crackers in his hand.

  Thomas nibbled at the corner of the salty cracker as he tried to figure out what had happened to him.

  “I’m afraid that I’ve been infected,” he said softly. It all lined up. He felt horribly ill after being broken out of a cell at the militia’s base. There was a tiny puncture mark in his neck that he could feel scabbing over, and the flesh underneath the puncture wound was tender.

  “Come on, I don’t think you’re infected,” Alec said. “You were probably just sedated to keep you compliant.”

  “Why do you say that?” Thomas asked, looking for a smidgen of hope.

  “Well, you’ve been holding onto my back for the last hour or so, for starters,” Alec said. “If you were infected, it would be too easy to sink your teeth into the back of my neck, wouldn’t it?”

  Thomas thought this over. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Alec looked him over. “Plus, apart from the fact that you’ve been puking your guts out, you don’t look that sick. I mean, your skin looks normal. You’re not bleeding out of any orifices. If I had to guess, I’d say that you were given a drug in there that didn’t agree with you. No wonder you don’t remember anything. That plus motion sickness is what made you ill. Take a little breather, get something in your stomach, and you’ll be fine.”

  “Okay,” Thomas said. He even took a few more crackers, cautiously washing them down with water. After each one, he paused to take inventory of how he was feeling. Sure enough, he was starting to feel a little better. Perhaps his faulty memory was filling the gaps with the most horrible things his mind could create.

  “You still don’t remember anything?”

  Thomas shook his head. “I’m trying so hard to remember. Every once in a while, I’ll get a little flash. It’s more like a feeling than a memory. Like, I’ll feel scared or confused, but I don’t have the mental image to tell me why.”

  Alec reclined, resting his weight on his elbows. “That’s strange. Some drugs will do that kind of thing to you. I bet that’s how they keep people from escaping.”

  “I’m even having a hard time remembering the fire at the cabin. The details are fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure I got picked up by the militia not long after I got out of there.”

  “And Melissa?” Alec asked cautiously.

  Thomas looked at the ground. “I don’t know what happened to her.”

  Alec could see that Thomas was in distress and didn’t want to add to his discomfort.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” Alec said, patting Thomas on the shoulder. “You’re fine, and that’s all that matters. Have you had enough to eat and drink?”

  “I think so.”

  “Then let’s get going. We need to get to the border as quickly as possible. Then, we’ll decide how we’re going to get to New York to find Elaina.”

  Thomas got back on the bike. He no longer needed to hold onto Alec so tightly. In fact, besides his faulty memory, he felt pretty good. Perhaps Alec had been right and the food and water had helped flush the remnants of the drug away. He just hoped that the issue wasn’t motion sickness because they still had a long journey ahead of them.

  As they sped away, Alec continued to look over his shoulder at regular intervals to make sure they weren’t being followed. If he were caught, the militia wouldn’t be kind to him. He had admittedly committed a serious offense. He knew it was warranted, as the militia was holding Thomas hostage, but it was still destruction of property. It was not something the average police officer did.

  The desolation along the highway was unsettling to Alec. He even saw infected people in the shadows, but they were in their dormant state. If they even realized he was zooming past, they didn’t care. They just ambled on, waiting for the next poor soul to approach them on foot.

  He thought a lot about Elaina. He hoped that she was being treated well, but he didn’t count on it. Before long, she would have a cure and would be able to save the country. Maybe after that, they’d have a chance at having a normal relationship together.

  “Things are getting worse,” Alec said to Thomas, turning around to check on the younger man. “Just a week ago, we would have been past the quarantine line. Now, we’re probably still a few hundred miles out.”

  Thomas nodded solemnly. It was always a hopeless case.

  “Dude, if you’re going to puke again, tell me so I can pull over,” Alec warned.

  “No, it’s not that,” Thomas said. “I feel really weird. I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

  Alec grimaced. He didn’t want Thomas to get sick on his bike but he didn’t want to stop again. Every time they paused their evacuation, they were a little further away from where they needed to be.

  “Hold on,” Alec said. “Let me find a good place to stop.”

  Alec scanned the road in front of him, looking for a place that was void of infected but also hidden enough that they wouldn’t be spotted by anyone else.

  Thomas gripped the sides of Alec’s jacket again. This time, it wasn’t because he felt ill. Instead, he felt this strange agitation, like his brain was heating up. The only thing he could compare it to was being annoyed by younger siblings—just a constant prodding in his nerves.

  He didn’t want to be on the run anymore. He didn’t like his life when he worked with the survivors at home, but at least he could stay in a familiar place. Then, he had a whole group of men looking out for him. Now, he had Alec and his motorcycle. When he thought about it, Thomas realized that they never really went anywhere. They were always talking about getting to the next safe place, but they never made it.

  Alec was the one who convinced him to leave his home and go on the run. It was never for Thomas’s benefit though—Elaina and Alec didn’t have any other options. They just wanted someone to save them.

  Meanwhile, Thomas had been through a mountain of crap trying to get to the promised land of Oklahoma. Melissa was gone, so her offer of safety was off the table. Now, they were going to the other side of the country in hopes that a neglectful government would welcome them with open arms.

  It just didn’t make sense as the thoughts flooded Thomas’s head. At first, he tried to reject the negativity, but now he let the bad thoughts flow freely through his mind. He hated life on the run. He hated losing everyone who cared about him. In that moment, he hated Alec the most.

  Thomas’s heart began to pound and energy raced through his veins. He felt strong and powerful, like he never had before. He knew he could take Alec out and then all would be right in the world.

  Thomas grabbed Alec’s face, searching for his eye sockets. He wanted to make Alec feel the pain he felt when he was uprooted from his home. Alec ripped the hands from his face but lost control of the bike in the pro
cess. They slid down the road on their sides before tumbling down the road.

  Thomas hit his head, but he felt little pain. Road rash covered the right side of his body, but he merely brushed the gravel out of his bleeding skin with his hand.

  Alec lay on the ground fifteen feet down the road. Thomas checked for a pulse. He was still alive, but he was unconscious. Thomas could see the deep scratches on his face from where he’d grabbed him.

  He didn’t know what had possessed him to do that. One minute, everything was fine. The next thing he knew, he was filled with more rage than he had ever experienced in his life. He didn’t want to hurt Alec, though. Alec had never been anything but kind to him.

  Thomas had to run. He couldn’t face Alec if he ever came to. He was too ashamed of acting out like that. Thomas’s prior suspicion returned—there was a good chance he had been infected with the virus. What else would cause such unnecessary anger?

  Thomas quickly picked up the motorcycle and placed it on the side of the road. Then, he moved Alec so he was not in the middle of the highway just in case other vehicles came along. He noticed how easy it was for him to move both Alec and the motorcycle. It was too easy.

  Once Alec was in a slightly safer spot, Thomas took off running down the road. He was a danger to others and couldn’t afford to put a healthy person at risk. He didn’t know where he was going, only that he had to get as far away as possible. He didn’t know of any other choice.

  5

  Melissa smiled with relief when she heard the small roar of the damaged car’s engine. The grinding of the gears told her that the car would not make it very far, but it was better than walking. Bobby Dean whooped and hollered as he slammed the hood of the car shut.

  Ariel stared at the girl in the back seat. The father, who eventually introduced himself as Mike, got in the driver’s seat and fastened his seatbelt.

  Melissa and Bobby Dean exchanged looks. Neither of them wanted to sit by an infected girl, especially because she wasn’t restrained very well.