by Brown, TW
“Yo!” I hollered as I reached the escalator; thank goodness it was still clear.
Down below, the scene was a nightmare of body parts flung everywhere. Unfortunately, damage of that variety was not enough to end the zombies. I could see a lot of movement in that goulash of arms, legs, and torsos. I glanced to my left and saw over a hundred zombies packed in to that narrow escalator. It looked as if a bit of a log jam had occurred. That might have saved my life, because only a few had made it to the landing. I suppressed a shudder as I took the metal steps two and three at a time on the way down.
“You might have gotten us all killed!” Jessie scolded as I stepped over the upper half of a child zombie that tried in vain to reach for me as I passed.
“You see all of this?” I threw my arms wide to indicate the carnage. “I was in a fight for my life.”
“I made it very clear that there is a herd nearby and that firearms should only be used as the last resort.”
I felt my eyebrows arch as I glanced around at the carnage and then cast one quick look up to the landing above. The undead were crowding into the escalator that I had used for my escape and were already starting to get lodged in so tight that it was causing a backup.
“I don’t know where you get your definitions of ‘last resort’ from, but this was about as last as my resort gets.”
“They are coming through the fence!” a voice called from outside.
“One life that costs us everything—” Jessie looked at me like I was something she had just stepped in.
“Easy to say when it isn’t yours,” I snapped.
I was not going to stand here and listen to this crap. I stepped over another creeper and out onto the landing. What little that remained of Frank was not much more than a big red smear and a handful of zombie children that were now sporting a variety of head wounds.
I had to move away from the building to get a peek at the entry drive to this place. Sure enough, a pretty big group of zombies were headed our way. I looked to my right and saw a Dumpster sitting in the middle of a debris strewn section of parking lot.
Without a word, I jogged over to the big, metal garbage container. Both hatches were thrown open already which allowed me to look inside and ensure there were no nasty surprises. Looking around, I had my plan. This section of parking lot was slanted; not much, but enough for what I had in mind.
Treating the large green Dumpster like a tackling dummy, I put my shoulder into it and started to push. The wheels shrieked in protest and the lids began to clang. Basically, the noise was tremendous. I knew that I had plenty of space between me and the approaching herd, so I did not even bother to look back over my shoulder.
In a dozen or so steps, I had some momentum. Giving a shove for all that I was worth, I heaved the Dumpster forward. It rolled away and actually picked up a bit of speed as it reached the steepest section of the parking lot. The wheels had eased up on their squeals, but the metal lids were slamming into the side of the mostly empty, metal garbage bin.
I veered to the left and ducked behind some odd shaped brass and concrete thing that was supposed to be art of some kind. It just looked like a bunch of weird shapes in my opinion, but at least it was tall enough for me to duck behind and use as cover as I dashed for the narrow alley between two long buildings.
I picked up my tempo to a fast jog. Moving down this chute, I had the sudden fear that the group would take off back to La Grande without me. Not that I was afraid of making it on my own, I’d done it before. My concern was that they would run back and tell some crazy story about how I endangered the lives of everybody in this little expedition.
As I emerged, I could feel my heart thudding in my chest. Some of it may have had to do with pushing that big Dumpster and then my sprint up a hundred yard long alley, but by the time I had reached the end, I was feeling what I imagined a panic attack to feel like.
Looking around, I was relieved to see the group formed up at a loading dock jutting from the side of one of the buildings. I did a quick head count and only came up with eleven; Jessie was now the only female in the group, so that meant that we’d lost the other two female members in addition to Frank.
“Neat trick with that Dumpster,” one of the guys said with a laugh that died on his lips as Jessie shot him a scowl that would peel paint.
“How are we going to transport all of the equipment?” one of the men from the science team asked. “There is more than I thought, and some of it is too heavy to lift, much less carry all the way back.”
I squinted my eyes in confusion. Hadn’t these people known what we were coming for? How was it possible that we had run this mission and not made any allowance for getting the stuff we came for back to La Grande?
“The group from the last run made large wagons,” Jessie said, but she was still glaring at me. “We will take turns being harnessed to them for the journey home. Each wagon has a harness setup that will allow four people to pull as a team.”
“So we are going to be freakin’ pack mules?” the same guy who had complemented my Dumpster distraction asked.
“We are going to do what it takes to get this stuff back home,” Jessie snapped. Standing, she gave us all a hard stare. “We have a lot of work to do, so I suggest that we get to it.”
“What about that herd?” another of the men asked, glancing back toward where the zombies had all trudged in pursuit of my noisemaker.
Jessie looked around at all of us and then her gaze settled on me once more. “Since Mister Haynes is so confident in his abilities out in the field, I will leave it to him to continue to ensure that the zombies are distracted. The rest of us will load out all we can and start back.” She looked around the group as if she expected rousing approval. When she was greeted by blank stares and a few open mouths, her gaze became even fiercer. “Is there a problem?”
“It’s just that…” the guy who had so far been the only one to really speak up started. He looked around to see if he had any support and decided to press on anyway when none looked to be forthcoming. “You are sending one guy out to try and distract a giant herd of those things. No backup or anything?”
“You’re right,” Jessie said with a shrug. “You can go with him.”
Like I didn’t see that coming, I thought.
I was waiting for the man to balk, but he stepped up beside me and gave my shoulder a squeeze. Doom makes for fast friendships.
“We will hook up with you as soon as we can,” I said.
“You will hook up with us when you have made certain that we won’t be overrun by that horde or lead them back to our walls.” Jessie smirked and turned on her heel.
I headed back towards the same alley that I had sprinted through a few moments before. About halfway to the other end, my comrade pulled up. I stopped and turned to see what was the problem.
“You really pissed Jessie off, man,” the guy said with the hint of a smile curving his lips. “She’s been runnin’ the show out here for so long, I don’t think she remembers what it is like to have people not fall into lockstep when she barks her orders.”
“If saving my ass was an inconvenience to her, that’s too damn bad.”
“So what happened to you and Frank? You guys were not gone less than five minutes when it sounded like the shootout at OK Corral or something.”
I explained what had happened and made my best attempt at describing in detail what I had seen from the zombie children. The more I shared, the paler this guy’s face became. When I was finished, the man shook his head.
“Maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you.”
“I know what I saw.” I could understand the reluctance to accept my story as fact; that was some scary stuff.
“Name’s Joshua Mazer by the way.” Joshua stuck out his hand and I shook it. I took a snapshot appraisal of the man in the time it took for us to shake hands.
He was taller than me at about six and a half feet. He had a runner’s build, or maybe a basketball player.
He was lean and muscular, but not in a weightlifter sort of way. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and skin that was a few shades darker than tan. His hands were rough and I felt callouses brought on by some hard physical labor.
I was telling him my name, but he cut me off. “I remember it, Billy. But I could tell when we were all introducing ourselves that you were probably not paying our words much attention. Besides, I was one of the people that has been scouting your group since you came into town.”
We resumed our trek to the end of the alley and talked in a low whisper. By the time we reached the end, I knew a few useless bits of information about Joshua. He had been married before all of this and worked at the local jail as a dental assistant. He had never been outside of La Grande in his life.
“I never even made it to Portland,” he sighed as we came to a stop.
“Yeah, well you probably don’t want to go now. The neighborhoods have all gone to hell.”
We both laughed at my lame attempt at levity and then peered around the corner. The majority of the herd had continued on past the Dumpster, but a few were pawing around at the thing like they expected something to fall out.
“Only a couple dozen,” I whispered. “We should be able to move in and take them down with no trouble. After that, we can angle around the herd and get out in front of them.” I paused and scanned the area, then pointed. “See that house on the hill across that big field? If we can get there and maybe create a racket, bust some windows and such, we should be able to bring at least most of those things to us. We can slip out and be gone before they get there. Knowing zombies, they will stay packed in around that house for weeks…hell, maybe forever if another sound doesn’t eventually distract them.”
“You been out in this a lot?”
I glanced over at Joshua. He was genuinely curious. I guess to somebody who had spent the entire apocalypse in a fortified portion of his hometown, I had to seem a bit strange.
“Since the ugly beginning.”
“You will have to tell me about it some time.”
“Sure.” I gave a shrug. I didn’t feel like I had much to tell. I was not much of a story teller. My mom used to go crazy when she would miss a game and then ask how it went. My one word answers did not give her the details she was seeking. Usually Jamie or Joseph would have to give her the down low.
I started for the closest zombie of the bunch that was gathered around that Dumpster. It never even knew I was there as I stepped up and drove my KA-BAR into the back of its head. Of course, when the body hit the ground with a thud, the element of surprise was gone. The zombies all turned their attention my way. It wasn’t until I had dropped the fourth one that I realized that I was alone.
Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw Joshua standing halfway between the opening of the alley and me. A zombie managed to grab me in that momentary distraction and I felt pressure on my gloved fingers. It had not broken the leather, but that cracking sound and jolt of pain let me know that at least one finger had cracked. I drove my blade home and threw an elbow into the face of the next one just as it was leaning in to try and grab my other arm.
“You wanna lend a hand here, Josh?” I hissed between gritted teeth as I yanked my blade free from one skull and plunged it into another.
I’d been on a few hunting trips growing up in the Pacific Northwest. Usually it was Jamie, Joseph and I with one parental leader or another. On a few occasions, we had brought along somebody new. That is why I knew Buck Fever when I saw it; or at least the zombie version. Joshua was frozen in place. It wasn’t like he was just abandoning me, I doubt he would have been able to move if one of the undead suddenly came at him. I would have to bring that up with him later.
Now that I knew I was in this alone, I shifted my battle plan. Grabbing the undead version of some poor granny, I slung her around and at the trio of walkers that were closest. Ducking under the outstretched arms of another, I came up and planted my back firmly against the Dumpster.
From there, it was pretty anticlimactic as I was able to spike each zombie as it closed in. Sometimes I would have to kick one away to make room and give myself the space that I needed to finish off another, but it was nothing I hadn’t done a hundred times before.
At last, the final zombie was dispatched. It turned out to be the granny I’d used earlier. It had taken the poor creature this long to finally climb to its feet.
“Rest in peace,” I whispered as I ended its pathetic existence once and for all.
Turning, I saw that Joshua had broken free from his spell at some point and retreated to the alley. He was looking at me like I was a crazed animal. I looked down and realized that I still had my blade drawn. It was dripping with black gore and I had a good splattering of it all over my gear. I probably looked pissed.
“You okay?” I asked. It felt like a stupid question, but it was the best thing I could think of to break the ice. Joshua just looked at me with wide eyes and an open mouth.
“How many zombies have you actually killed?” I threw that follow up question out after a long silence. He shook his head and dropped his gaze.
Now it was my turn to be dumbstruck. How had anybody survived this long and not killed at least one of those things? Also, he had been on this scout team, he was one of the individuals who had been basically spying on my group since we’d come to La Grande.
“Not one?” I had to get confirmation just to be sure there was no misunderstanding. Again I got a shake of the head.
“I always managed to just get away from them or stay hid,” he said at last. “I just can’t bring myself to…” His voice had faded to nothing and he looked absolutely mortified that his secret—at least I am supposing it is a secret since he is on this team—had been discovered.
“You know they aren’t people, right?” I asked. I knew that a lot of folks had gotten killed in the beginning because of making that very mistake. They still saw these things as human, as their friends, their family, not the mindless monsters that they were in reality.
“I know,” he said, peeling himself away from the shadows of the alley and making his way to me. “I just can’t do it. I know it is stupid, but nothing I’ve tried brings me to the point where I can end one of them.”
I thought about it for a minute before I spoke. I was not going to blow his cover, but I insisted that he remove himself from the patrol team as soon as we got back to La Grande. I didn’t care how he did it or what he did afterwards, but I would be damned and dipped in cow pies before I would go out on a run with this guy ever again.
He agreed, thanking me way too much for promising to keep his secret. Spotting the herd, I knew we would have to really hoof it if we were going to get wide and past the zombies. My idea remained the same, but now I would need to adjust my level of awareness. I was out on my own for all that this guy would help.
We started off at a fast jog and I could not help myself. “So what the hell are you doing out on these runs? Why not take a job inside the walls?”
There was a bit of hesitation in his voice when Joshua finally spoke. “Jessie.”
“What about her?”
When I didn’t get an answer, I glanced and saw Joshua’s face flushed red from more than just the exertion of our run. I stifled the inappropriate laugh that tried to explode from my lungs.
“And when you two hook up, you don’t think she will find out your secret?”
“Actually, the rules of the compound say that only one member of a family or household can be on external duty. I know Jessie, she won’t want to be the one to stay behind the walls. She gets off on making these runs. It is like she needs that rush of adrenaline.”
“Actually, I think she just likes being in charge,” I snarked. That earned a chuckle of appreciation from Joshua.
“Yeah…that too,” he agreed.
The rest of the way, the two of us kept quiet and stayed hunched down in order to avoid catching the attention of the zombie herd too soon. When we reached the house, Josh
ua pulled up at the base of the steps that led inside. I jogged up the steps and checked the door, smiling big when I discovered that it was unlocked. I pushed it open and peeked inside at the dusty, dank, and gloomy living room.
“What are you doing?” Joshua hissed. “I thought that the plan was to bust a few windows to draw that herd and then make a run for it to catch up with the rest of the group.”
“Sure,” I looked over my shoulder, unable to suppress a big grin, “but it wouldn’t hurt to see if there is anything worth grabbing while we are here.”
“What’s the point?” Joshua challenged. “We have everything we need back home. Why risk poking around in a house that may or may not be empty? Isn’t that always how people died in the old horror movies? They just had to go down the stairs to the dark and creepy basement.”
“Sure,” I nodded, “but if you want to dredge up tired old movie stereotypes, I am also pretty sure that people always made a stronghold they thought was permanent. Eventually, a group of evil bikers or military types would show up and ruin things. Maybe you feel safe back behind that wall, but I will always make sure that I have a well-stocked bug out bag. And if I am out and about, I will never stop poking around to see if I can find something that may be useful. The moment that I relax and allow myself to feel safe will be the day I end up dead.”
“You are awfully pessimistic for somebody so young.”
“Yeah…my generation was a pretty gloomy bunch.”
Without another word, I stepped inside the house and gave a sniff. No telltale smells of the undead, but plenty of mustiness and an underlying rot. I took in the furniture and decided that the former residents were probably a stereotypical redneck family. In the summer, the little ones would be running around outside in sagging diapers; I was willing to bet that dad was blue collar and mom was a chain-smoker who was not stingy with a backhand. It was kind of fun imagining the lives of the people that had once called this place home.