by Gary Chesla
Mike ran back up into the loft and opened the doors at the back of the loft that looked out over the front of the barn and the road.
All appeared clear. Mike came back down and opened the lock on the door. It was time to stop stalling and get moving.
He pushed the doors open, pulled the car out front and secured the doors. He slipped the key back into his pocket and they were off.
“It seems like it has been a long time since we were on the road.” Kelly sighed.
Mike smiled. He just wanted to drive and avoid talking about it for a while. He didn’t feel comfortable yet.
They drove for about three miles.
Ever since Webville, the road had followed along the top of the ridge. The road had been fairly level here at the top of the mountain.
The road now began to descend down the other side of the mountain.
As they approached the first valley, Mike stopped the car.
Hundreds of the dead blocked the road in the small valley below.
Mike put the car in park as they sat in the middle of the road, half way down the hill.
Mike looked at Kelly. “Kelly, I think we need to talk.” Mike said.
The dead below had her terrified. The sound in Mike’s voice didn’t make her feel any better. In fact it worried her.
She looked at Mike. “What do you want to talk about?”
She looked worried.
“I’ve been thinking. Especially after what happened to Kimmy, it really made me think. This is crazy.” Mike paused and stared down the hill.
“What’s crazy?”” Kelly asked. “I know this is crazy, but what are you talking about?”
“This is crazy. Risking our lives, trying to get through all of these things.” Mike said. “Kelly, I don’t think it is safe to try and go home. Dave said if we can’t get through these back mountain roads, the larger interstates we are going to have to travel are going to be really bad.”
“Are you saying we can’t go home?” Kelly stared wide eyed.
“I’m not saying we can never go home.” Mike said softly. “I just don’t think we can go home now. Look at them down there. It is only going to get worse. I don’t know if we can get through this! If we can’t get through this, we aren’t going to have any chance when we get to the interstates. Remember what it was like on Route 64. We have been trying for how many days now and look at all the further we have gone. Think how many times we have almost been killed.”
Kelly nodded. “What would we do? Where would we go? When do you think we could go back home?”
Mike thought. “All of this just started. Maybe things will die down soon. I don’t know, I honestly don’t know. Maybe it will be better in another week. Maybe when winter comes these things will freeze or something. At least maybe the cold weather will at least slow them down and give us a better chance to get home.”
“Where would we stay until then? Were you thinking about staying back at the barn?” Kelly asked.
“No, not the barn. The only food we would have is what we have in the car. We would be out of food in about a week. I was thinking about Dave’s offer to stay with them.” Mike said.
“With Dave and his Mom?” Kelly repeated.
“He said they were going to be at an old family hunting cabin. He circled it on the map he gave me.” Dave pulled the map out of his pocket and pointed to the location on the map. “It’s not too far back to this spot. We could help hunt for food to get by. The food we have and rummaging around through abandoned houses would only get us so far. We would be with other people and more importantly, we would all be together. I feel it is more important for us to be together some place safe for a while, than keep putting ourselves through this.” Mike pointed to the dead at the bottom of the hill that were now all staring up the hill at them.
Kelly sat quiet.
“Thinking that I had lost you and Kimmy back at the barn hurt a lot more than the thought that I might not be able to get home for a while.” Mike said.
“What do you mean you thought you lost me back at the barn?” Kelly asked.
“I’ll tell you later. It’s a long story.” Mike replied. “I promise we will go home. I just don’t think we should keep trying to go home now. If you insist, I’ll keep going, but I think we should stay and pick a better time.”
Kelly looked at Mike. She looked scared. She wanted to go home, but she wanted Mike and Kimmy more.
She reached over and squeezed Mike’s hand. “We really don’t have a choice do we?”
“I don’t think we do.” Mike replied. “I was hoping we did when we started, but I think we have to face it. We aren’t going to be able to do this right now.”
Kelly looked back at Kimmy. Then back at Mike. “OK. But can we do it today. I really don’t want to sleep in the woods along the road somewhere tonight.”
“I’ll try.” Mike said. He didn’t want to promise something he wasn’t sure he could deliver.
Mike turned the car around in the middle of the road and began to go back the way they had just come.
Kelly sat quietly. Tears began to run down her face.
She knew Mike was right. She had been worrying that they would not be able to make it home since they started to try and go home. She also agreed that it was more important that they be together and safe than it was to go home.
She understood it all and had to agree.
But in reality, it really sucked.
They all stared at the barn as they drove past.
“There’s our barn!” Kimmy said as they drove by. “I liked the barn. That was fun.” She paused for a minute and then blurted out. “Except for that damn cat!”
Mike couldn’t help but laugh, even Kelly smiled.
Kimmy’s habit of repeating Mike’s words, the one’s he would have preferred that she didn’t repeat, had lightened the mood created by the decision they had made to stay here in Kentucky.
In a way, they felt like a weight had been lifted off their backs.
Of course they wanted to go home, but the last two days of near death experiences, the death and horror they had seen, to just travel a few miles had scared the hell out of them.
The idea that they wouldn’t have to go through another day, like the last few days, felt good.
They had agreed to go back and take Dave up on his offer to stay with him for a while.
They would do a little exploring every few days and when the conditions were better, then they would leave.
Hopefully that would be next week or the week after.
They would just treat it as if they were extending their camping trip for another week.
Maybe in another week, the dead would go somewhere else. How much longer could these creatures keep moving? Hopefully they would starve, if that was possible.
But they believed it had to get better, because how could it get any worse?
Mike drove back along Route 1.
Soon they came to the turn that took them back onto Route 182. They no longer felt the need to hurry. They didn’t have two hundred and eighty miles to cover, now they only had to go ten miles before they could rest.
The fear of the unknown things they would have to face on that long journey home could now be forgotten for a few days.
They knew what they would have to face to get back to Graham. It was bad enough, in fact it was horrible, but they knew they had faced it before and survived.
They knew they could do this.
In a way they felt relieved.
They liked that feeling.
Mike turned onto Route 182 and they drove quietly.
The ride along Route 182 had a feeling of calmness about it this time.
He stopped the car when they arrived back at Webville. The two cars that had been used as a barricade were still sitting on the road. The dead bodies were still scattered around the cars. This time, there were no moonshine drinking mountain men sitting on any off the porches. The place was quiet and eerie.
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sp; The visions in their mind about what took place here just two days ago were tucked away with the other memories they had about what all had happened.
They hoped that those and a lot of other memories would be things that they could soon forget ever happened.
Mike drove slowly around the barricade and continued down Route 182.
So far on the trip back they had only encountered six or seven of the dead along the road. The sounds of the dead as they bounced off the sides of the car sounded as horrible as ever.
They were a half mile out of Webville when Mike stopped the car. Three figures walked down the middle of the road ahead. One was a very large figure.
“We should be able to get around them pretty easily.” Mike said. “I’m just waiting to see which side of the road that big one is going to so I can go to the other side. He could put a big dent in the car, or worse.”
They moved up behind the figures slowly, waiting for the figures to notice and react.
“They aren’t walking like all the others.” Kelly said.
“I noticed that.” Mike replied. “They walk like regular people. Maybe they aren’t zombies? Hold on, I’m going to get closer.”
As he got closer the figures turned, Mike was surprised when they waved.
“It’s Billy, Liz and their Dad!” Mike called out.
Billy, his sister and his Dad walked towards the car.
Mike pushed the power button and his window went down.
“Hi Billy.” Mike said.
“Hi Mister. How come you are back this way? I thought you would be long gone by now.” Billy said.
“There are too many of the infected out that way. We couldn’t get through and decided to back the way we came.” Mike said. “What are you doing walking out here on the road?”
Billy’s Dad stepped forward. “Mister, I owe you an apology. Could I speak with you privately for a minute?”
Mike felt a little uncomfortable. The big man was not too happy with him the last time they spoke. He was worried the man was now not too happy to see that Mike had come back.
“Please Mister.” Billy’s Dad said.
Mike looked at Kelly. “I’ll be right back.” Mike said quietly.
He stepped out of the car.
The big man walked slowly away from the car. When they were out of ear shot of the car, the man turned. “I’m sorry for my rudeness before. We get a lot of city slickers that go through here, mostly they are a bunch of know it all’s that think they are better than us. I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance.” The man said. “You were right, what you said about the infected and what would happen when one of us got bit. It was about forty minutes after you left the bitten men began to change. They killed everyone left here. I managed to escape out in the woods. Billy and Liz were already hiding out in the woods thanks to you.”
“I’m sorry.” Mike said.
“Don’t be sorry. They are alive because of you.” The man said. “I owe you, but I’m afraid I am in no position to repay you.”
“You fixed my car.” Mike smiled. “That is enough.”
The big man hesitated. “I was wondering if I could ask you one more favor?”
“I’m not in much of a position to do much either.” Mike smiled. “But if I can I will.”
“Would you take Billy and Liz with you?” The man asked. “I don’t know where you are going, but please take them. Anywhere but here.”
“I don’t have much room in this little car, but I’m sure we could manage to get all three of you in there somewhere.” Mike said. “I can take all three of you. We are only going another five or six miles, but I can take all of you that far.”
“I can’t go with you.” The big man said. He slowly rolled up his right sleeve. A large chuck of flesh was missing from his forearm. “It happened about thirty minutes ago. We were attacked back at the house. I don’t have much time left. Would you please take my kids away from here for me?”
“What about you? You know….” Mike said.
“I know.” The big man said. He pointed to his gun. “As soon as you get them away so they won’t hear, I will end it. I was going to do it just down the road, so I wouldn’t hurt them. They would know, but I didn’t have a choice. I would appreciate it if you would take them now. It would mean a lot to me if they didn’t have to know.”
Mike nodded. “OK. Again, I’m sorry.”
“Please take them now. I can feel the pain running all through me. I know I don’t have much time.”
Mike nodded.
“I owe you mister. I promise you that if there is an afterlife and there is a way, I will repay you somehow for your kindness.” The Man said. The man’s eyes were starting to appear glassy. “Now, Please?”
Mike put his hand on the man’s shoulder and turned towards the car.
He pulled the driver’s door open. “Kimmy, go up and sit with Mommy. Billy and Liz are going to ride with us for a while.”
“OK Dad!” Kimmy said and crawled over the console.
Billy looked at his Dad.
“You go with these kind folks. I have something I need to do. We’ll all be together again later.” The big man said. “You take care of your sister,”
“I will Pa.” Billy replied. He crawled in the back seat. He had a sad look on his face as he looked out at his Dad. Liz crawled back and sat on his lap.
Mike could tell by the look on Billy’s face, he knew.
The big man nodded at Billy, then at Mike. “Thank You!”
The man turned and started to walk off the road and into the field.
Mike closed the car door and pressed the accelerator.
He didn’t drive off slowly, he sped off down the road instead.
He closed the windows. He didn’t want the sound of the gun to reach inside the car.
He looked in the rearview mirror and could see a tear run down Billy’s face.
He knew the pain that Billy must be feeling.
Mike had felt that pain only hours before.
Unlike the pain Mike felt, his was short lived,
the pain Billy felt would last a lifetime.
Chapter 26
“Captain, the helo is inbound. ETA in five minutes. The XO reports four more survivors. All have been inspected and verified clean.” McClain reported.
“Very good Petty Officer.” The Captain replied.
That would bring the total on board to twenty-four. Four Navy, ten Marines, six Army and now four civilians. Not many after the many days of searching the southwestern U.S. as far as the helo could travel, before needing to return to the carrier to refuel.
Conditions on land had been even worse than the Captain had expected.
There were few small groups of survivors to be found.
Most of the people had been city people in southern California. When the virus hit, they all headed into the cities for protection. They headed to what they knew. Unfortunately what they knew was also where the infection hit the hardest and spread the fastest.
If there were any more survivors in the cities, they would not last much longer. Unfortunately, the Captain could not risk going into the cities to search for them.
Their fates had been sealed.
If any had fled into the mountains, they weren’t revealing their positions.
The Captain didn’t have the man power to do a more thorough search on foot. If they were there and had decided not to show themselves when they heard the sound of the helo, he wished them well, but they were on their own. But he knew there would be very few of them.
The Captain knew few civilians would have had the skills to survive for long. Any military would have signaled the helo. So he needed to move on.
In any case, he had spent as much time here around San Diego as he could afford.
“Captain!” McClain shouted, interrupting the Captain’s thoughts.
The Petty Officer was staring intently at the screens in front of him. “Sir, I have a contact out about seven miles.
”
“Can you identify the contact.?” The Captain asked as he slid over behind the Petty Officer.
“It’s a sub Sir!” McClain reported. “Port side at ten o’clock.”
“Whose is it? Can you tell if it’s one of ours?” Captain Bolten asked. The world had gone to hell, but that didn’t mean a Chinese or North Korean sub wouldn’t have survived and still be out trying for one final bit of revenge.
“If I had to guess, the return signature looks like a Ming class sub.” McClain replied.
“Try to raise him on the com?” The Captain ordered. With nowhere to call home any longer, maybe the sub would respond. After all, there didn’t appear to be many living people left. Maybe the thing they now all had in common would overrule old political allegiances. To keep fighting no longer made sense. But of course people had fought wars many times that made little sense.
“Trying Sir. No response.” McClain said.
“Where is he headed?” The Captain asked.
“Straight for us Sir!” McClain replied. “He is coming up to periscope depth Sir!
“I have another contact Sir. One mile north of the last contact. It just came out of nowhere. One second it wasn’t there, then the next second it just appeared.”
“How far out is our helo?” The Captain asked urgently.
“It is still two minutes out, Sir!” McClain replied.
“Shit!” The Captain said. If the helo had been on board, he could have sent it out to drop explosives if needed. It would take too long to prepare a plane to send out. Getting a plane off the flight deck, with the limited systems they were able to man could be another problem. If the sub had any hostile intentions he could be in trouble.
Torpedo fired Sir!” McClain shouted as he studied the data flowing across his screen. “But it’s not at us. It’s from the new contact and appears to be targeting the Ming.”
“KaBoooom!”