by Brown, TW
None of us needed to assist Jesus. There was a wet chopping sound, and a moment later, Jesus emerged wiping off his blade. He gave me a nod. This most recent turn of events made at least part of what I was about to do feel a little easier.
“Then I guess you are free to go…with one exception,” I said.
Sensing where I was headed, Jake and Jon both began to drift towards Mr. Patton and his tiny group. Everybody else just drifted back, creating this huge open space between the four huddled figures and my people.
“The little one stays here,” I said. “If you are still alive in the spring, you are welcome to come back. If she wishes to leave with you then, you may take her.”
I had no expectation that he was going to accept my offer. And even if he did, I knew that the little girl was going to be a bit of a problem. But that was a problem I was willing to deal with.
“I don’t believe that I heard you correctly,” Mr. Patton said. He placed his hands on the little girl’s shoulders and I knew right then that this was going to end up way past the worst-case scenario.
“I said that you and the other two can leave. The girl stays here with us until the weather changes. You have my word that if you come back, we will let the child decide if she wants to leave with you at that time.”
“Mr. Patton?” Misty looked up at the man. She was old enough to get the idea. “You won’t make me stay here with that man, will you?”
I was going to have to keep my distance for quite a while with this one when this was over. If she hated me before, then what I was about to do would probably make her fear and lack of trust in me about as entrenched as it could possibly be.
“I won’t, Misty,” Mr. Patton said.
“I wouldn’t make that promise,” I warned.
“What are you going to do, Mr. Hobart? Kill me?”
“If it comes to that?” I had to look around the room one more time to gauge my own people. I actually saw a few heads already nodding! “Yes.”
16
Geek on the run…again!
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked in a voice barely above a whisper. In his mind a million scenarios unfolded at once. The most likely seemed to be that Willa was actually working for Major Beers and that this had all been a set up.
“We have the president’s daughter.”
Okay, Kevin thought. That was not in any of the possibilities that he’d been sifting through and trying to brace himself for the impact.
“You mean…” he let it die on his lips.
It was a stupid question. To what other president would she possibly be referring? Shelly Bransen made all the usual news when she selected her university the year after her father’s re-election. The nation had been fascinated by this soft-spoken, girl-next-door pretty brunette as she grew up before their eyes.
“She was attending school at Ohio State,” Matt said. “I remember the insanity…it was like Hollywood relocated to Columbus that first couple of weeks.”
“We went in for her on the same day that her father’s airplane crashed,” Willa explained. “Even had some Special Forces types with us. When we arrived at the university, it was just more than we were really prepared for. The SpecOps commander tried to play it off, but I could tell he knew they were not going to come out of there.
“The second night after we lost contact with the last of the men who had gone in, Shelly arrived at our camp with a soldier that had been bitten but not turned. That was the first time we realized that the bite was not a guaranteed death sentence. It was actually our call to the CDC that made the news.
“We were supposed to merge with another local unit and do everything possible to get Shelly to NORAD. That was when we started communicating via radio with Major Beers’ group. Our CO sent a scout team ahead to try and clear the way. They came across a band of what they thought to be raiders.” Willa glanced over Kevin’s shoulder at all the other faces staring at her.
“They had already started breaking through barricades and looting civilian strongholds under the guise of appropriating supplies for a “vital” mission. We decided that turning the president’s daughter over to them was not the right choice. Technically, we disobeyed our final order.”
Everybody was silent for several seconds. A voice on a bullhorn warned Willa that she had two minutes before they started burning everything. The voice that broke the silence caught everybody by surprise.
“Shelly wouldn’t want to have anything to do with that nasty major and her people.” All heads whipped around to see Erin looking back. The sudden and complete attention surprised the young girl enough to make her take a few steps back. “What?” she finally blurted. “We met during Shari’s last tour. My mom was a senator, and Shelly liked Shari’s music. We went to dinner that night and she was really nice to me.”
“I am turning myself in.” Willa checked every pouch and pocket, dropping everything on the ground.
“You don’t need to do this.” Kevin grabbed her arm as she headed for the door.
“Yes,” she very gently took his hand off and stepped away, “I do. And you need to get these people out of here. You remember where our group was camped?”
“Yes.”
“They will be there for another two weeks. Tell them that Beers is still searching. Scrap the last orders and follow your lead.”
“Okay…wait…what?” The door shut in his face and he heard Willa call out to whoever was outside.
“Maybe they—” Erin started, but was cut off by the distinct sound of a single gunshot.
“Everybody out the back!” Kevin shoved Aleah and Heather.
“But—” Matt started to protest, and Kevin cut him off.
“You want to risk losing a few toes or do you want to die. Now shut up and move!” he hissed.
He grabbed up Willa’s things and followed. The group was standing on the back porch. With the exception of Erin they were all already hopping from one foot to the other, the rags that they had tied around them were little help at this point.
Kevin scanned the back yard. The house that was diagonally to the left was one he remembered from several past trips out foraging. That was the first stop. He took off at a jog and simply assumed that the others would follow.
It took longer than he would have liked, but five minutes later, everybody had shoes and socks. They might not fit great, and there would probably be a price to pay later, but right now they just needed to survive the night.
An hour later they were moving through the woods. Everybody had simply shut up and followed—even Erin. More than once he had looked back to ensure they were all still with him. Only once did they encounter any zombies. Three of the things had gotten stuck in a drainage ditch. Apparently they had stayed still long enough for the knee-deep water to freeze. One of them had actually snapped one leg just above where it was frozen in place and was sprawled on the slick surface. Had one of the creatures not been the type to make that baby cry sound, Kevin would have left them untouched.
Just as the first traces of light began to lick at the sky, Kevin brought everybody to a stop. Steam rolled off of them all, but the warmth was being sapped almost as quickly as that steam dissipated.
“Aleah, see that opening in the trees just down at the bottom of the hill?” Kevin pointed.
“Yeah,” she said with a nod. Already her teeth were starting to chatter.
“I want all of you to make for that. Just on the other side is a housing development that was just getting started. There are a lot of empty lots and a few with the frames in place. There are three houses that are actually finished. They don’t have anything in them, but they will make a good spot to hold up. Grab some wood, there should be plenty.”
“And what do we use to start a fire?” Heather asked. “None of us has anything except what we are carrying.”
Kevin dropped Willa’s bag and kicked it to them. “She has everything in here that you will need. I know there is a flint and steel…she might even have
a lighter, but just take this and go.”
“What about you?” Aleah stepped forward and grabbed his arm as he turned to head back the way they’d come.
“I won’t leave Valarie and Shari if I don’t have to. I can grab something on the way to deal with the lock,” he replied.
“Haven’t you done enough?” Heather snapped. “You know as well as anybody that you can’t save everybody. We may have to accept this as a loss.”
“Not again.” Kevin shook his head.
“That isn’t your sister!” Heather insisted. “I understand that you have a lot of feelings going on here, but she isn’t your sister. And Shari will watch over her. I don’t know what has gone on between those two, but she has not let Valarie out of her sight since Beers and her people showed up.”
“Look, I understand what you’re saying.” Kevin hung his head for a moment. “And I promise that I won’t do anything stupid—”
“Too late,” Aleah sighed.
“But I have to at least see if there is anything that I can do,” Kevin continued, ignoring Aleah’s quip.
“So what do we do in the meantime?” Matt asked. Truth be told, he didn’t really care, he just wanted out of the cold. If Kevin wanted to run off again on some damn fool mission that had next to no chance of being successful, that was his business.
“Wait for me for three days.” Kevin pulled away from Aleah and started backpedalling. “If I haven’t returned by then, head west following the highway towards Newark and The Basket. You will come to what is basically a wall of cars. That is where Willa’s group is set up. Tell them everything. Stay with them. If, for some reason it takes me longer than three days and I am able to come after you, you will be easier to find with them than if you were by yourselves.”
Kevin had taken about three steps when something grabbed his arm and spun him around. Before he could react, Aleah’s lips were on his. The kiss was long, and Kevin had to try his best to control his body’s physical response—he failed. Eventually she let go and he started off again.
This time he heard the footsteps coming up behind him. He spun, prepared to tell Aleah that she was absolutely not coming with him. He was shocked to see Erin bounding through the snow towards him. He glanced past her at the others with a questioning look, but received blank stares and shrugs.
Erin collided with him and threw her arms around his waist. She squeezed tight for a few seconds before looking up with a tear-streaked face. “Please bring my sister back,” Erin said through the tears. “She is all I have left and I would be lost without her.”
“I can only try my best,” Kevin said. He had to fight everything in him to not tell her that he would bring Shari back. He had learned that there was very little that was actually in his control. As it was, he had doubts about his ability to bring himself back alive.
“I know you will,” Erin sniffed. She wiped at her face with her sleeves and took a step back, still looking him in the eyes. Her sandy blonde hair was matted to her forehead from being sweaty as well as the lack of washing, but a few strands still managed to float in the wind and get into her eyes. She brushed them away and seemed to stand up just a bit straighter. “You have always done your best, and I am sorry that I have been such a brat. Try to be safe and come back alive. Aleah would be really sad if you didn’t.”
“Can I let you in on a secret?” Kevin leaned down and whispered in the girl’s ear. She nodded. “I would be pretty bummed, too.”
He stood up, patted her in the shoulder, and headed back towards Major Beer and uncertainty. He stopped once just before tromping into the woods and turned around to look back. He wasn’t surprised to see them all still standing there watching him. He raised one hand and waved, then turned his back, hoping to God that wasn’t the last time he would see his friends…Aleah.
***
Kevin moved through the back yard. He could hear all the noise of people yelling back and forth. It was clear that Major Beers and her clan were pulling up stakes and moving on. That, in and of itself, was a good thing. However, it did not bode well for Shari and Valarie.
From what he had seen, this meant that Valarie was as good as dead, and Shari, if she wasn’t simply killed, could end up in that brothel tent. He knew that according to what Aleah and Heather said, so far, nobody had been forced into that line of work against their will, but with all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours…all bets were off.
Pressing himself against the fence, he risked a peek between the slats. About a hundred yards off was the entrance to the country club. The carefully erected wall of vehicles had been pushed aside. It looked like an ugly open wound. He was reminded of that first Walmart they had hit back when he was with Cary, Darrin, and Mike. He’d glanced in the rearview mirror and seen the open entry to the store with a few zombies already trickling inside. It wouldn’t be long after these goons left that all the undead drawn by the noise would be showing up.
Careful to stay out of sight, he moved along the fence. The next yard had a raised deck and a huge brick fireplace. He was pretty sure he could get up there and be able to see better and remain hidden.
Five minutes later he was proved right. There was only one problem. At first he thought it was his imagination, but he thought he kept hearing a slightly muffled squeak. Sound was tricky in a snowy world. When he happened to glance over his shoulder, he discovered the source.
The reason that he’d not considered that the noise was coming from the filthy sliding glass door that opened in to the house from the deck was because the curtains were drawn. If something would have been there, the curtains would have most likely been torn down a long time ago.
The infant—what remained—had been torn in half. A tiny, splintered ribcage was at least half gone. There was a tiny thing jutting out that took Kevin a moment to realize was part of the spine. The left arm was gone and all that remained of the right was from the elbow on up. It was the remnant of that arm that was sliding back and forth across the dirty glass on the other side of the door. He could barely make out its eyes; they were hardly visible slits on either side of a nose that had been flattened by the indeterminate amount of time that it had spent pressed to the glass.
Since he could just hear it himself, he felt confident that he would not need to go inside and finish it off. In fact, that would more likely alert somebody to his position. His only problem was that the image had burned into his mind with about a dozen other horrifying things that no zombie movie would ever flash on the screen. He remembered when that Dawn of the Dead remake had come out, and all the hype over the “baby” scene. That had been nothing.
He started scanning the groups of people—he refused to call them soldiers, it felt like a slap in the face to all the true brave men and women that had served. They were very well organized, no matter what else he felt, he had to credit them with efficiency. They had staggered sentries set up in a picket in several locations. From their positions, they would see anything—living or undead— coming their way in plenty of time to react.
It took him a few minutes, but he finally located the major. She was walking among her people presumably giving instructions. Then Kevin felt his chest tighten. On a streetlight pole, dangling by her feet was a figure that had to be Willa. The light brown skin had turned gray. The naked figure swiped at anything that went past. Most ignored the naked zombie, but a few people seemed more than a little nervous to have a zombie dangling over their heads as they packed up to leave.
He was no idiot. There was simply nothing that he could do at the moment. He had little doubt as to what his fate would be if he were caught a second time. He continued to watch and wait, all the while, that noise behind him became like an itch between the shoulder blades that he could not scratch.
Around midday, the rattle and distinct growl of a diesel engine echoed across the landscape. A big snowplow eventually came in to view. It exited the country club and turned left! That was the best news Kevin had gotten all day. It w
as moving away from Newark…away from Willa’s outfit…away from Aleah and the others!
Kevin watched the plow head off sending a wall of snow and ice crashing aside like a giant wave. The handful of vehicles fell in behind and headed away, the sounds of tire chains rattling like an army of Dickensian ghosts. He’d waited this long, and his body hurt from the cold. His mind was frazzled from the zombie infant just a few feet away pawing in endless futility at the sliding glass door. Yet now was not the time to be careless.
He had been vigilant. Valarie would be hard to miss. He had seen no sign of either one of his friends during the evac. He should have an answer one way or the other in a very short while. Still, he had to be patient. This could be a trap.
Certainly the major would expect him to return for his people. He was certain that, despite the fact that they had only specified Willa surrender to them, the major had certain designs on him. He had gathered that much in their brief meeting.
What seemed like an eternity passed. Having no way to accurately gauge time, Kevin homed in on a single zombie in the distance that struggled along the side of the snow-covered highway. By the time it passed the entrance to the country club, he had to figure that at least an hour had gone by.
During that time, he had felt comfortable enough to move around a bit and stretch. He finally succumbed to the desire to open that sliding glass door and end that infant for good. Afterwards, he rummaged through the house to find a few things he knew he would need later.
No longer able to wait, Kevin crept out and made his way to the entrance of the country club. All the movement from earlier made it pretty easy once he reached the actual highway. He stopped at the light post and looked up at the zombie dangling by its feet. Willa’s otherwise perfect flesh had a bullet hole in one thigh, and one bite on the right arm. That was all it had taken. At least that was what he thought until he looked closer. There was a nasty scar on her left shoulder that could only be a healed bite. She’d been immune!