by Daniel Smith
The emaciated figure pulled itself forward from the pile turning his head with one eye hanging out in the right side of his cheek missing. Exposing dirty teeth to reach out with a withered hand encased in a stained pink and white striped shirt to grab Trudy's ankle. Dan's hand felt like it was moving underwater as he pulled the black blade free of his scabbard the metallic hiss also sounding long and drawn-out.
“No,” he shouted as he watched the emaciated figure lunge forward to lock his decaying teeth on Trudy's leg causing her to let out a short screen of pain. Time suddenly regained normal speed as Dan landed a bone crushing kick to the zombie’s jaw. Causing it to shatter sending rotting teeth flying onto the pavement as the zombie’s head snapped back from his mother's leg.
Manny had reached her grabbing her to start trying to pull her away but wound up struggling with the zombie for her. Dan violently stomp again this time onto the wrist of the creature holding his mother he could hear and feel the bones crunch under his shoe. Manny now had possession of Trudy and was half pulling half dragging her away from the pile of bodies. He swung down violently with the katana on to the zombie‘s skull with a dull whack causing bone and rotten gray matter to start spilling out. Dan looked around wildly for any more of the undead before running over to where Manny dragged his mother leaning her against the hood of a gray BMW sedan.
“Is she okay,” he asked frantically at Manny who was on his knees tearing away the damage pant leg to get at the wound.
“I'm fine it's nothing,” Trudy said strangely, this caused Dan to look up at her in shock an overwhelming feeling of dread filling him. Manny had pulled out a bottle of disinfectant from his pack and opened it.
“This might sting,” he said calmly to Trudy as he started pouring the liquid onto the wound. Trudy did not notice as the liquid poured onto her. Manny stopped poring setting the bottle down as he ripped open a paper container holding a cotton gauze pad before soaking it in the disinfectant and applying it to the wound.
“How bad is it,” Dan said anxiously angling to get a good look at the injury. Manny said nothing as he probed the broken skin with his fingertips not worried that blood was getting on him. The blood flowing from the bite looked to be gallons to him. Manny left out a soft whistle before he pinched two fingers together and removed a cracked yellowish tooth from Trudy's leg before flipping it aside. He started pouring the rest of the bottle of disinfectant onto her leg while holding the cloth next to it. He turned to look at Dan.
“Hold this,” he said motioning to the gauze pad on Trudy's leg. As Dan bent down and held the slightly bloody gauze pad Manny pulled out a role of gauze bandage and started wrapping her leg. When he had finished he looked at Dan.
“We need to get her back to the store and get some antibiotics in to her,” Dan just nodded his head agreeing he did not dare trust his voice to speak. Holding Trudy under her arms they started helping her back to the store all the while she calmly told them.
“I can walk I'm fine.”
Dan was pacing nervously around the piles of construction material his face a mask of worry as he stopped turning at hearing a noise.
“How is she,” he asked Manny anxiously as he saw it was him. Manny walked over and sat down, on the pile of drywall his face blank as he looked at Dan.
“I gave her double the dose of the strongest antibiotics we have and will give her another double dose in a couple hours. I also gave her something to help her sleep right now. I cleaned the wound again and will check it later,” he told Dan.
Dan thought this sounded like a forced calm Manny was putting into his voice. Dan did not say anything but only shook his head as he continued to pace.
“Try to calm down,” Manny started to say as he saw Dan turned violently towards him with a look of anger on his face. Manny held up one hand with his palm facing him.
“It will not do you or your mother any good pacing around like this. What will do her good is when she wakes up you are there with a calm look on your face and in your voice letting her know it is going to be okay. We need to keep her calm,” Manny stated. Dan was fighting with himself for a few moments as he brought the worried and angry look on his face under control before he just slowly nodded his head agreeing. Manny for his part just slowly nodded his head before taking a deep breath.
“I know we have discussed this but we need to take her to the safe area for medical attention before her leg starts looking bad,” he said slowly.
Dan once again just nodded his head agreeing. Standing looking out the window. Threw the torn brown paper at the long shadows cast on the street by the setting sun. Dan looked at the hundred milling figures that appeared in the street over the course of the day as they readied to go.
He watched them wandering aimlessly occasionally bumping into each other before stepping away from the window. And walking over to sit down next to his mother who was lying in her sleeping bag tossing and turning slightly. He reached out to touch her for head and felt the warmth radiating from it. He picked up a damp cloth from a small container of water to place it on her forehead.
“How she doing,” Manny asked quietly as he walked up with a plate of food motioning for Dan to take it. He started waving the plate away as Manny once again made a motion for him to take it.
“You need to eat,” he said firmly as Dan finally relented and took the plate.
Dan looked at the food before looking up at Manny.
“It's not fair it was lying on the ground waiting,” Dan stated sounding slightly angry.
Manny just shook his head for a second.
“Did you notice it had no legs,” he said calmly.
Dan looked at the food unhappily.
“I know we never discussed the possibility. But like people there are some zombies that will walk. And some that will crawl if they have no legs or possibly paralyzed before they turned,” Manny said in a way of an answer to Dan’s look.
“It's just not fair,” Dan said as he picked up the fork to start mechanically eating the food.
“No it is not,” Manny, answered sadly.
Dan stood staring out the hole in the brown paper covering the windows cursing. Now filling the parking lot and spreading into the street, the hundred or so milling figures from yesterday had triple. He did not turn as he heard the person approach from behind and stop.
“She's getting worse,” Dan said to the brown paper covered window. “There's more of those undead creatures now then yesterday,” he finished turning
Manny put out a soft sigh.
“I know,” Manny started. “We have a hard decision we either try to leave now and make it through them. Or wait till morning and see if they fade away or at least go down in numbers before we make a run for the safe area.”
Dan turned from the window to face him a look of resignation on his face.
“I want to go now but I don't think we'll make it through all of them,” he said sadly.
Manny nodded his head in silent agreement.
“I have upped the dosage of antibiotics and have combined a couple different ones for her. But you're right I don't think we would make it out there right now. But one-way or the other tomorrow morning we're going to do what we have to do,” Manny said reaching out his arm to put his hand on to Dan’s shoulder.
Dan managed a forced smile nodding his head agreeing.
“Let's get everything ready to go in case they scatter sooner,” Manny said turning to walk towards the burgundy minivan. Dan took one more look out the window with the milling figures cursing them slightly again, under his breath for some reason they reminded him of vultures.
Dan woke with a start, he had sensed more than felt as Manny reached out to touch him.
“It is your watch; your mother is doing the same as she was earlier. If anything changes wake me immediately,” he said with a nod of his head as he handed Dan the flashlight.
“All right,” he said as he stood up and stretched.
He slowly started walking
around the building playing the white beam of the flashlight across the back door making sure it remained secured. Moving the flashlight beam across the hole into the grocery store stopping on the paper covered window before turning it off. As he made a pass by the window peeking out of the tear in the paper in the faint moonlight he could still make out several dark masses moving around past the glass.
He turned the flashlight back on as he left the window walking over to where his mother was lying in her sleeping bag. She was having a restless sleep tossing and turning and making low whining noises. Sitting down he turned the flashlight off as he waited in the darkness listening for any unusual sounds. Dan had just made another circuit of the building and was sitting down in a chair in front of a small table as he put the turned off flashlight down next to a battery-powered lamp. When something struck him as odd as he sat there. Listening and hearing nothing it took him a moment to realize his mother was no longer tossing and turning and she was no longer making any whining noises. A growing feeling of unease started in his stomach working its way up towards his throat. He was trying to tell himself she finally, had just fallen asleep or she was asleep he kept muttering softly under his breath the growing feeling of unease would not go away. He lost track of time as he sat there in the dark listening to the silence with only the uneasy feeling keeping him awake and tense.
“Bill you’re here,” Dan’s head jerked up thinking he heard his mother’s voice.
At first, he did not want to believe what he heard but after the second low moan reached his ears, he reached out with a shaking hand fumbling for the lantern switching it on. He saw his mother she was just finishing standing. Her face was a ghostly pale whitish color her blond curly hair seem flat and lifeless. As she turned slightly to stare at Dan with solid milky white eyes her arms were starting to lift upwards as she turned moaning towards him. Dan stood up shaking as he pushed the folding metal chair aside it falling with a crash. A feeling of terror now sat in the pit of his stomach. She took an unsteady step towards him swaying slightly on unsteady legs as his hand automatically reached for the brown-checkered grips of the forty-five. He mechanically pulled it out in a fluid motion without thinking thumbing back the low black hammer with a slight click. Her fully raised arms now mockingly beckoning Dan to embrace her as she shuffled unsteady towards him another low moan escaping threw her throat past pale blue lips.
“Dan,” the moan seemingly said.
His hand was shaking as he pointed the gun at his mother. He knew at some level his mother was not reaching for him. He reached up with his other hand trying to steady his movement. She advanced another step towards him a look of horror on his face as tears started streaming from his blue eyes suddenly lit up by the flash of fire.
His ears assaulted by a loud crash as the autoloader fired a two-hundred and forty grain full metal jacketed round. Traveling at eight hundred and forty feet a second at his mother, he did not recall pulling the trigger. The round hit her in the left shoulder causing her to jerk violently backwards several feet sending a small cascade of the yellowish sap and red blood exploding backwards from her. She recovered and straightened turning her pale whitish color face again towards him. Her milky white eyes glared at him once more. Dan stood there shaking trying to yell for help but finding it catching in his throat his mother moved her left arm hanging by some torn muscle and tendons uselessly by her side. Time slow down as he took a deep breath and sighted down the low profile government sights before slowly stroking the trigger of the autoloader. The slide of the autoloader flew back after the discharge of flame sending another two hundred and forty grain full metal jacket bullet burst forth from the muzzle. Before slamming forward chambering another round. As he watched numbly as his mother’s head started to explode from behind sending bone and brain out onto the empty floor. Dan did not register anything as the hand grasp his arm pushing the gun towards the ceiling. While another hand grasped his shoulder, he barely recognized Manny speaking.
“It will be ok,” Manny said applying pressure to remove the gun moving him towards another section of the building.
Dan sat as Manny wrapped a blanket around him looking into the darkness. He was not sure if or when sleep took him that night.
He woke to daylight he felt disoriented as the events of last night came flooding back with a vengeance. He looked around in a panic until he saw a tired looking Manny sitting in a plastic chair watching him.
“I buried your mother earlier this morning out back,” he said oddly calm. Dan looked down at the floor nodding slowly. Manny continued.
“There are a few of them out there right now, I think they came because of a few shotgun blasts I had a few to deal with earlier. When they leave we go for the safe area.”
Dan said nothing as he got up and started rolling up his bedroll and storing it in the minivan. For two days they watched the milling figures in the parking lot and on the road from the roof while sitting in plastic chairs from the store. The minivan packed full of gasoline and supplies and anything else of value they thought would be useful. It was about eight in the morning as Dan raised the rolling door by pulling on the chains in a hand overhand motion watching the sunlight stream in. He finished raising the door leaving the chain hanging lose he climbed into the passenger seat as Manny pulled out of the building. Making a couple of right turns the van turned east onto Camp Wisdom road passing the few wrecked cars on the road. They were quickly past the farthest they had been on foot in months. On their right was a large shopping mall. The parking lot was full of milling figures as if a medieval army was laying siege to a castle. They could make out a ring of cars and trucks shielding the entrances.
“People must be in there,” Manny said easily as they kept driving swerving to avoid a few undead people shambling in the road. They drove in silence as they made their way around the growing number of abandoned cars as they made their way closer to the raised sixty-seven highway. This section of the raised highway leading north consisted of wrecked and abandoned cars blocking the entrance.
“Well that way is out,” Manny said idly as he maneuvered the van around a four-car pileup under the highway. Dan watched as several figures moved from around the squared column of the bridge towards the van. He felt oddly detached as they passed the shambling figures to gain the access road that parallel the freeway north. They followed the two-lane road passing some small businesses.
Having to drive at times on to the gently sloping grass shoulder to bypass traffic or accidents with a few torn up bodies. As they tried their best to made their way north into Dallas, after several hours of detours and close calls.
“We are going too slowly,” Manny stated shaking Dan out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Manny who continued.
“Let’s find a place to stop before we try to cross the river.”
A large mob of the infected caused them to hold up for two days in a small house waiting for them to move on. They had been traveling along a divided two lane road call Kiest Blvd when they slowed and stopped looking at a fenced off building. They could see large buses moving inside fences and uniformed figures moving inside the fence line with them. Dan felt the tension start to build in his stomach, Manny turned to him almost as if he sensed it.
“Shall we go introduce ourselves,” he said with a smile as he released the brake of the van.
They had moved only a few yards down the road when Dan saw several of the uniformed figures noticed them. They started motioning towards them inside the fenced off yard a few more running over to see whom they were. However, before they had gone a dozen yards a large mob of shambling figures broke from the cover from around a building. To start piling onto the road making for the fence and the uniformed figures. Manny stopped the van as several of the uniformed figures unslung weapons and started firing on the approaching figures. Several of the shambling mob turned their attention towards the van.
“I think we should come back another time,” Manny said as he put the van i
nto reverse and started to turn around. Dan grunted as he checked the window at the approaching figures seeing a few of them jerk to the impact of high velocity bullets but kept moving. They made their way on some streets having to make several turns because of mobs of infected people moving around at first as they headed away for the gunfire. Several turning towards the sound of the vans engine, while the GPS in the minivan constantly said.
“Recalculating,” before Manny shut it off.
This slowed them as they drove around the streets looking for a way to cross over the Trinity River. While the sun started to ride low on the horizon when Manny spoke pulling Dan from his thoughts once again.
“Let’s find a place to camp,” he said casually as they passed a brick school building on the side of a hill. Manny turned the van onto a street call Mouser next to the school before making a left. After a few seconds, Manny pulled on to a dried yellowish grass filled yard in front of a small pale blue home stopping right in front of the small covered porch.
“This looks good,” Manny said calmly as he put the van into park and shut off the engine.
Dan just grunted again as he stepped out of the van to look at the setting sun. Manny walked up to the door checking the handle.
“Locked,” he said without turning as Dan wondered how they would get in.
“Break a window, pry the back door open,” his thoughts broken as Manny stepped back and delivered a violent kick to the door.
“That will work,” Dan thought as he looked around for movement at the sound of splintering wood as the door flew open.
“Watch the outside, I will clear the house,” Manny told him as he unslung the short barrel shotgun entering the house in the fading light.
Dan scanned the streets moving from the yard into the street looking around for movement. He thought he saw something down the street disappearing before he could be sure.
“Clear,” he heard Manny say as he turned from the street to join him at the van to grab some food and gear for the night.
The morning sun was barely up when they placed their gear in the van and took their seats; Manny placed the key into the ignition and turned the key to hear a slow chugging sound. Manny turned the key trying again only to hear the sound slow down more. Dan turned to look at Manny who was frowning.