by Brown, TW
“You could say that.” I pointed to the lone zombie and handed Jamal my binoculars.
“She just seems to be standing there watching us…creepy.”
“I want you to keep your eyes open. I am going to take it down.”
“I got your back, brother,” Jamal said with a nod.
I climbed down the ladder and had to wade through the people in sleeping bags and such that were all over the place. We had more people than could fit here comfortably. I sure hoped that Jon and Jake got back soon with some good news. Hell, if I were being totally honest, I just hoped that they got back soon. I still can’t understand why or how they could just take off like they did.
I got outside and took a deep breath. That was another thing with all these new people cooped up inside the cabin…the smell was less than pleasant. The old locker room from my high school had nothing on this place. The worst part was that you actually got used to it when you were inside for a while. Then, as soon as you went outside and got hit with that first blast of fresh air, you almost wanted to be sick because you realized what you had been breathing in.
Standing on the long porch, I could look across the parking lot and the open field at the bottom of the hill. Sure enough, the zombie was still there. I headed over to the trail that led down to the drawbridge. The protocol was that you were not supposed to lower the drawbridge if you were alone and nobody was there to raise it again, but I didn’t really see how one zombie could be a problem.
Heading across the trench that circled the hill, I noticed a few walkers had stumbled in during the night. I made a note in my head to ask Shelly why she had failed to mention something that important. She had said during turnover that there had not been any activity. Once again I was hearing Steve in my head as he had torn into us all for being too complacent. The facts remained that zombies were still just as deadly. Also, you never knew when a few would turn into a herd.
I started across the field towards the lone zombie that still seemed content with just standing there at the edge where the trees ended and the grass began. I could not help but be creeped out by the fact that it was obviously watching me. To test my theory, I even started to walk in a zig-zag, forcing it to turn its head to follow.
I was probably about twenty yards away when I stopped dead in my tracks (no pun intended). At this range and also being level instead of above the trees like I was in the crow’s nest, I could see into the woods a little better. Back in the dark shadows of the canopy of pine trees were dozens…perhaps over a hundred small figures.
And they were all focused on me!
I took a step back, and that seemed to be the signal that they were looking for as the entire group started my way. I had to walk backwards because I did not dare take my eyes off of these things. For the first time in a long time…I was scared.
The thing is, you just don’t see that many child-zombies. There are a lot of theories. The most prevalent being that there probably just is not enough left to come back. I mean, if a handful of zombies gets a hold of a full-grown man or woman, there is usually a point where they stop eating. Again, we do not really know what that point is or what causes a zombie to stop feeding on a victim. Dr. Zahn believes it may have to do with that moment where a person dies. Who knows. And unless you are the one being eaten, I imagine it doesn’t really matter. Anyways, the thing is that with the little ones, if they get torn into by five or six zombies, they are going to be ripped apart and there is just not going to be anything that could come back. Like I said, that is what most of us suppose.
So as I am backing up, I watch these child-zombies start oozing out of the woods. They are locked on me, but they seem to be hesitant. I can’t explain it any better than that. I mean, zombies already move slowly. But these things are taking a few steps and stopping. Then, and here is where it gets really creepy, they look at each other and then back to me with their heads cocking one way and then another.
I saw the movie Jurassic Park a few times and always thought that those velociraptors were sorta cool the way they acted so smart. After all, dinosaurs are just giant lizards, but when you have one that seems to actually be thinking, it is kind of scary. Well…when zombies do it, it makes you have to pee. Not for the first time, I wondered how guys like Jon and Jake do what they do. Nothing seems to bother them.
As I kept walking backwards, not daring to take my eyes off of these little monsters, I noticed how they kept looking at each other and then me. Also, I swear they were fanning out and trying to circle me. Thank goodness these things do not move any faster.
“Hey, Billy!” Jamal called down. “You got a problem.”
“Yeah, but if I just keep my eyes on them as I walk, they won’t be able to surprise me. You might want to call down and tell anybody that can move to get out here and help deal with this. I could take down a lot of them, but there are too many for me on my own.”
“Already called down, but the problem is not those in front of you…it’s the ones moving up from the other side. You got another thirty or more coming out of the picnic grounds. By the looks of it, they will reach the parking lot before you and cut you off from the house if you don’t move your ass.”
That was not what I needed to hear. Well, I was really hoping that these child-zombies did not have any nasty tricks up their sleeves. If these things could run…I was going to be very upset.
I turned and began to run for the cabin. The ground was a bit muddy and by the time I made it to the drawbridge, the ones from the picnic grounds were pouring around the ridge. A couple got jostled and ended up tumbling into the moat, but the rest were coming for me with hands out and mouths open.
I got across and was pulling it up when two more people from the cabin arrived to help. We made it just in time and a few more of the little zombies ended up being shoved forward and into the moat, but that is also where these ones in particular seem to be just a bit different from the others. Regular zombies often just step off the edge and fall into the moat, but these are very aware and are fanning out along the lip. I swear they are thinking. No matter what the reason, this is a disturbing revelation.
“What were you doing out in that field by yourself?” a voice snapped.
Hmm, Dr. Zahn is awake.
“I was checking out a zombie,” I said with a shrug. “And I think that we need to have a meeting.”
“You know the rules…nobody goes out alone,” the doctor snapped. “You could have gotten yourself killed, and quite honestly, we cannot afford to lose the manpower.”
“Yeah, well I had Jamal watching my back from the tower,” I said, trying my best to sound confident and not like some child who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “And maybe we can discuss all this after we clear the place out.”
I hiked my thumb at the zombies that were on the other side of the trench. The thing is, I’d sort of had my back to them during this very brief exchange. When I turned back…most of them were already gone. The zombies were leaving!
Now I have seen them do a lot of stuff. Some of it seems strange, but I have never seen a zombie walk away when there is a living, breathing person just a few feet away. It was already peculiar that none of them were just tumbling into the trench as they reached for us. Seriously, zombies are not thinkers. They react to the newest stimulus (that is a word I hear a lot from Dr. Zahn).
“This is the behavior that we observed when Jon, Steve, and I made that trip…” Dr. Zahn’s voice trailed off as Melissa turned and walked back up to the cabin.
Sure, it had been several weeks since Steve had died, but she was not that much better. I still walked up on her crying pretty much any day our paths crossed. I did my best to keep busy and stay away from her, Cheryl and Melinda—each of them had lost their husband in that raid. Of course we had lost a lot of good people that day, but that was the way of things now.
When I thought about it in those terms, a little voice in the back of my head told me that I might be getting just a
touch pessimistic. Maybe, but things were the way they were and there was nothing that could really be done about it.
Maybe this hard shell I am building has a little to do with some of the other things that I know. Like how Jon, who was bitten by a wolf-zombie and was apparently immune, and Jake, who has a healed bite scar that nobody but Jon and I seem to know about, used their blood as a bio-weapon against a settlement down in what used to be called La Grande. Sure, they had some sort of evil plan in store for our little group, and apparently were kidnapping people from some of the other small groups in the area, but what Jon and Jake did stretches what I am okay with. Basically, they infected an entire settlement of people by dumping their blood into the food or water or whatever.
It should have been an easy thing to take down these zombies, but it really wasn’t. No matter who you are, if you have a shred of humanity left, it is still difficult to take down a child. Granted, none of us were foolish enough to let something like emotion get in the way as we went about it, but still…
To make matters worse, once again these zombies acted different. When we dropped the drawbridge, they should have rushed us, heedless of the weapons we held. But even the few that had actually remained were still hesitant. We took them down and actually had to chase the rest. Now, as we closed in, they did turn and attempt to attack, but I swear those things were trying to get away. It was some of the most peculiar behavior that I have ever seen.
We were all drained by the time it was done. However, the moment that I walked back into the cabin, Dr. Zahn was all over me asking me what the heck I thought I was doing. I guess I had just had enough. It seemed that I was good enough to be treated like an adult when they needed somebody to do the dirty work, but any other time, I was treated like a child.
“You know what, Doc?” I spun on the woman, and I think it surprised her. Now don’t get me wrong, she didn’t jump or anything. But there was a slight raise in the eyebrows. For Dr. Zahn, that is about as big as it gets. “I’ve had it! I bust my ass around here. And lately, while everybody has been sick, it has been me taking all the extra watches and splitting firewood, and trying to clean up. So how about you just back off for a bit. If you have a problem with how I stand watch or deal with an issue, you do it yourself.”
I didn’t wait for a retort; I stormed out of the cabin and slammed the door. I didn’t care that I technically still had an hour or two left on my watch shift. The bottom line was that I was tired and frustrated and sick of…well…everything.
As I stalked across the parking lot and made my way over the bridge and into the picnic grounds, I could hear Jamal calling after me. I wanted to feel bad about him being stuck up in the crow’s nest, but I couldn’t. Sure, he looked sick, and I have seen just how nasty this little flu bug or whatever the hell it is can be. I have also seen a few people take advantage of it and milk it for a few extra days. Personally, I just didn’t care at the moment.
As I ducked through the trees and into the actual picnic area, I habitually checked my weapons. I had my machete, a big knife, and a wicked axe that had the blade on one side and a five-inch spike-like thing on the other.
Not for the first time, I considered just taking off. After all, my best friends were dead. There wasn’t much reason for me to stay other than I had been with some of these people since the beginning. The problem with that was that none of the people that I connected with were still around.
From the group that walked out of that FEMA rescue facility, it was down to Melissa and Thalia. Everybody else was gone.
“Holy crap,” I said out loud.
It is one thing to endure all of these losses; but to have fought so long and so hard to be the last one left from all that I knew before this nightmare began…hurts. I sat down at one of the tables and, against all the rules that we have made, I put my head down on my arms. I doubt I could have seen anything anyway for the next few minutes as I cried like never in my life.
I cried for everything that I have lost the day this started and everything that I lost since. I cried for my friends who I knew didn’t make it and for those who I had no idea. Then I cried some more. Never in my life had I felt so empty as I did in that moment.
I was not sure if it was ever going to stop. Thankfully, after who knows how long, I felt myself start to level out. I wiped my eyes on my shirt as I tried to figure out what I would do next.
I knew that I could not just up and leave these people. For better or worse, this was my new family. This is where I belong. Besides, I’d been out there a few times on my own and it wears you down in a hurry. You don’t realize how much you rely on other people to watch your back until nobody is there.
“Can I join you?” a voice said from behind me, causing me to jump.
I spun around with my knife in my hand before I was even really aware of what I was doing. Standing about ten feet away was Shelly. Her long dark hair was limp from the light rain that had started falling at some point.
“Join me? For what?”
“You gonna go hike to Proposal Overlook?” she asked.
At some point, that was what folks had taken to calling that rocky outcrop that looked out over the grounds of the camp. It is where Steve had asked Melissa to marry him.
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” I admitted. She was looking at me with her head sort of cocked to the side, like she was studying me. I got a chill. For just a second I remembered how those child-zombies did the same thing.
“Well why don’t we start up that trail and see where we end up,” Shelly said as she walked past.
Considering the fact that I didn’t really have a plan when I stormed off, it seemed like as good of an idea as any. We made our way up the trail. As I hiked, I remembered the day that I had taken everything up here for Steve and set it out for him. Of course, that memory only made my throat tighten.
We finally reached the big rock that jutted away from the face of the foothill. I realized that I hadn’t been up here since that day. Looking out over our camp, it seemed so small. I couldn’t believe that so many of us lived in that cabin.
“You thinkin’ about leaving?” Shelly asked, breaking the silence and a flood of memories that I was helpless to fight off.
“For less than a second,” I admitted.
“Good,” she said with a nod, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Being out there alone can really suck.”
“I guess I am just tired of everything…and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Yeah…I don’t recall any of the movies showing long stretches of absolutely nothing. You start to get inside your head and can’t find a way out.”
I sighed, partially out of relief. I was worried that I was the only person who felt this way. I guess everybody feels like they are the only one experiencing a certain feeling or emotion. Probably one of the flaws of being human or something. At least that is what I bet Barry Jenkins would say. He was always saying smart stuff like that. I hadn’t thought of him or his wife in quite a while.
To me, that suddenly seemed so odd. I mean, we all watched Barry die and then turn that day…but even worse, his wife Randi had been murdered brutally and then, to make it worse still, a terrible word had been sliced into her skin. How do things like that just slip from your mind?
I looked out past the camp ground and could see the lack of trees where the road would be. So many times, I had come and gone from this place. Each time, I never considered the fact that I might not ever see it again. I guess that is another one of our human traits: we all believe that we as individuals are immortal. I bet Steve never once thought he was going to die that day.
I was staring out into nothing really when I saw the truck emerge from the trees at the entrance to the grounds. I knew for a fact that nobody was in the perch up front. That meant that whoever was in that truck was going to make it all the way to the drawbridge before having to stop. I also knew that there was no way, even if I ran my fastest—heck, even if Shelly ran her fastest
—that I would get there before whoever was in that truck made it to the drawbridge and lowered it; and probably still not before they reached the gravel parking lot in front of the cabin.
“I sure hope it’s Jon,” I huffed as I lumbered down the trail. Not for the first time, I hated how bulky I was…and how slow.
Shelly pulled farther ahead with each switchback until, eventually, she was lost from sight. As I reached the picnic grounds, she was nowhere to be seen. As I reached the edge of the grounds, I could hear the truck shut off up by the cabin.
I had a good running start and hurled myself across the moat on the backside of the cabin. I just did not have the patience to go all the way around front. I started regretting my choice about halfway up the hill. Since I was coming up from the rear, I was not enjoying the luxury of a road to follow. The hill was a soaking wet mess and the ground was a vertical swamp it was so saturated from the melted snow, and now the rains that were trying to usher in spring.
By the time I reached the top, I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest. Still, I drew my machete as I reached the corner.
The relief I felt at seeing Jon and Jake took at least a small amount of the misery I was now experiencing after having run so hard to get here. The two men were standing at the open rear of the big pickup truck with huge grins on their faces. It took me a few minutes to realize what all I was seeing.
Of course, the first thing that my eyes took in were the pallets of cardboard cases marked with a variety of canned goods. Yet, that was not really the highlight of what they had arrived with. Stacked from the rear and all the way to the cab were dark green boxes. They were stacked higher than the pallets of food. I’d seen enough of them to know ammunition boxes when I saw them.
Considering the fact that we were almost completely empty in our ammunition locker to the point where I was pretty sure that we were down to a single bullet for each member of the community for that “all else failed” measure that none of us liked to talk about, the bullets were an even better find than the food. Don’t get me wrong, we have been scraping the bottom in the meal department, but we still had enough to feed everybody at meal time.