In the Lone and Level Sands

by David Lovato

  “Oh, you’re up. Good. We were just discussing what we should do.” The two of them went downstairs, where Dex, Jessi, Warren, and Kyle were waiting.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Dex asked.

  “You’re asking me?” Layne said. “I just got up.”

  “We’re heading for that church, right?” Warren said.

  “How do we know it’s even safe there?” Kyle asked.

  “It can’t be much worse than here,” Jessi said.

  Layne walked over to a window and looked out. The sun was barely up. There were fewer zombies than there had been when they arrived. Layne could see partially down 12th street, but not far enough to feel secure.

  “Maybe we can find a car,” Layne said. The others looked at him.

  “Just hijack some empty car, drive it down to the church, then get them to let us in before we’re eaten on the spot?” Katie said.

  “Sounds like the best plan we’ve heard yet,” Warren said.

  “Assuming we can find a car that happens to have the keys inside of it,” Kyle said.

  “I’ll check out back,” Layne said. “Maybe whoever lived here left theirs.”

  “We’ll start looking for keys in here, then,” Katie said.

  Layne headed to the back of the house and looked through the window. The driveway curved around to the back of the house, and there was a jeep sitting in it. Layne returned to the others.

  “We have a car, but it only seats five.”

  “Feel like making trips?” Dex asked.

  “Actually, I do. I’ll pull the jeep right up to the front door, so you guys can get in through the back without anything getting in. I’ll take a few of us down the street to check out the church. If it’s safe, I’ll let you guys out, then I’ll come back for whoever stayed.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” Jessi said. “Who’s going?”

  “Well, I’m driving, and I guess I’ll take you and Kara, to get her to safety first.”

  “Take Warren and Lacie too,” Dex said. Warren looked at him. “Look, I don’t mean to offend, but I’m a lot younger than you, dude.”

  Warren shrugged. “No offense taken.”

  “What I mean is, we’ll take those less likely to be able to defend themselves first,” Dex said. “You know, just in case.”

  “Okay. So it’s me, Jessi, Kara, Warren, and Lacie, then? And you and Kyle and Katie are staying?”

  “Sure,” Kyle said.

  “No arguments here,” Katie said.

  “Okay. It looks pretty clear right now, so let’s get moving. Did anyone find the keys?”

  “Not yet,” Kyle said.

  “I’m going to sneak out back and see if they’re in the car. If you guys hear the engine, just move and be ready for me.”

  “I’ll go get Kara and Lacie,” Jessi said. The others continued searching for the keys. Layne headed for the back.

  “Layne, be careful,” Katie said. Layne nodded, then looked out through the back window. Still just a jeep out there. Layne slipped outside.

  It couldn’t have been later than seven o’clock. Layne looked all around, but he didn’t see anything. He got to the jeep and tried the door. It was unlocked. He found the key in the ignition. He also found blood on the dashboard. He wondered if whoever had written that message in the bedroom had gotten as far as getting in and inserting the key before something ripped them from their salvation. Or maybe they had taken a different route at the last minute. Layne hoped for the latter.

  He stepped into the car, but before he could lift his other leg into it, something reached out from under the jeep and grabbed his ankle. Layne tried to break free, but he couldn’t get any leverage. He could hear the thing shuffling beneath the car. Layne lifted his leg as much as he could, saw the hand around his leg and the arm bending up from underneath the jeep, and slammed the car door on it. It hurt his leg, but it mashed up the zombie’s fingers even more. The zombie let him free. Layne shut the door and started the car. He backed up, and the jeep lifted slightly as he ran over the zombie. He could see it then, it was a woman, and she was barely moving. She tried to crawl forward, but Layne put the jeep in drive and aimed for her head. He didn’t care to look in the rearview after he passed.

  Layne went around the house and into the street, slamming into another zombie and sending it flying forward, then he stopped. He put the jeep in reverse and backed up to the front door. There were a few small steps to climb, but it was nothing the jeep couldn’t handle. Layne looked in the rearview. Nothing happened. He didn’t want to honk the horn, but he was beginning to think he might have to.

  A few zombies approached from both directions of the street.

  Layne turned and looked over his shoulder, his hand hovered above the horn. The front door opened, and Layne popped the trunk.

  Jessi climbed in and buckled Kara up in the middle of the back seat, then climbed into the front. Warren and Lacie hopped in next to Kara. Dex slammed the trunk, gave Layne a thumbs-up, then retreated into the house.

  “We ready?” Layne asked.

  “Yeah, go!” Jessi said. Layne put the car in drive and pulled away from the porch. Then he slammed on the brakes.

  Another car was approaching from the right. It was pulling highway speeds and swerving heavily.

  “Go,” Jessi said, “go go go go go!”

  Layne wanted to, but he had no idea where the car was headed. It could swerve at any moment, and Layne didn’t know if he should pull forward or back up. He hit the gas and went forward as the car swerved to its right, toward where he was headed.

  “Oh shit!” Warren said. The group braced for impact, but the car swerved left at the last second, barely missing them. Layne got a look at the driver as the car passed, nearly taking out the passenger-side mirror. The driver was either not human, or would not be for long.

  Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the car went up the steps and crashed through the front of the bed and breakfast. Layne slammed on the brakes again.

  “Son of a bitch!” He looked back. A very startled Dex crept out through the space between the car and the remains of the front wall of the house. He looked inside the vehicle, then at the approaching zombies, many of them drawn by the commotion.

  “Fuck! Go, go! We’ll catch up, just drive!” Dex said, waving his hands. Layne felt helpless. He put the car in drive and started moving. He saw Katie and Kyle leave the house, and the last thing he saw in the rearview before diverting his attention to the road was the driver of the other car reach out through the window and grab Katie’s arm.

  “We have to help them, they’re sitting ducks back there!” Warren said. Lacie was covering her mouth. She turned and looked back.

  “I can’t go back,” Layne said. “There’s no more room, and even if we tried to get everyone in here, we can’t sit still in the middle of the street. They’re safer moving. For now, we have to find this church.” He didn’t like what he was doing, but he didn’t know what else to do. He’d taken Jessi, Kara, Lacie, and Warren first to get them to safety, not to trap them inside a car and expose them to the zombies.

  “They’re running their asses off,” Lacie said. Layne couldn’t turn to look.

  ****

  Katie yanked her arm free of the driver and caught up with Kyle and Dex. The three took off running. They dodged zombies when they could, but the creatures seemed faster, smarter than they were the day before. The survivors could see the car speeding down the street ahead of them.

  “Go, go! Keep going, don’t you dare come back for us!” Dex said. He sounded near tears. They kept running.

  “I sure hope this church is safe,” Kyle said.

  “Guys, quit talking,” Katie said. She knew they should save their breath; they had no idea how far the church was. She had a very heavy feeling that she would never see Layne or the others again.

  ****

  12th street came to a dead end, but Layne took a left and two rights and found it again.

 
“There’s the church!” Jessi said. She pointed to the right. Layne drove across the lawn, then stopped.

  “I don’t see any signs or anything,” Warren said. The front doors were barricaded, and Layne didn’t see any people, but he also didn’t see any zombies.

  “So… do we just go knock?” Lacie asked.

  “There!” Jessi pointed to a window on the second floor, where a dark-skinned man was waving his arms. Layne rolled the window down.

  “Go around back! Go around to the back!” the man shouted. Layne put the car in gear and headed for the back of the church. There was a set of big double doors that had been reinforced with a few layers of plywood. Layne pulled the car near it and waited. The doors opened, and the black man from the window and a small white man came out. They looked around to make sure the area was clear, then motioned for Layne to pull the car up. He stopped a few feet from the door, but left the car running.

  “You guys get in the church. I’m going back for our friends.”

  Warren, Jessi, and Lacie got out of the car, and Jessi was helping Kara.

  “What are you waiting for, a written invitation?” the small white man said. “Get in the church!”

  “What’s going on, man?” the black man asked.

  “My name’s Layne. We hiked here from the woods nearby, we were in a plane crash.”

  “Christ Almighty.”

  “But there are three more of us, and they’re in trouble back there. I’m going back for them.”

  “Are you nuts?” the small man said. “They’re probably already dead!”

  “Frank, shut the hell up,” the black man said. He turned back to Layne. “Wait here, just one second, please.” Layne didn’t want to. The man ran back into the church.

  “Not my fault if you want to go and get killed,” Frank said. He returned to the church. Jessi was leading the others inside. Lacie turned back to Layne.

  “Layne, please, bring Dex… Bring the others back, okay?”

  “Piece of cake,” Layne said. She ran inside. Layne waited what felt like far too long, then the man returned, carrying two shotguns. He went to the passenger side and opened the door.

  “I’m coming with you,” he said. “Let’s go get your friends.”

  “Thank you so much,” Layne said. He pulled the jeep forward and went around the church, then headed back to 12th street.

  “I’m Garrett.”

  “Garrett, they shouldn’t be too far back. I just hope they’re all right. How safe is the church?”

  “Safe enough, for now. But we won’t be staying there for very long. I’ll explain later. What’s that?” Garrett was pointing to a growing cluster of zombies ahead.

  ****

  “Well, I guess this is where we die,” Dex said. His sides ached, and he could tell that Kyle and Katie felt the same.

  They were surrounded. He looked for a gap big enough to squeeze through, but couldn’t find one. Just a few feet away were walls of gnashing, grasping hands and teeth, and they were quickly encircling.

  “I hope the others made it out,” Katie said. Kyle stepped forward and hooked one of the closer zombies. It fell back, and then Kyle stepped back from the approaching wall of zombies.

  “There are too many of them,” he said. One lunged. Katie caught it by the shoulders. It bit at her neck, but she pulled away, then shoved it back as hard as she could. It fell into the other zombies, who let it hit the ground. A few seconds later, it was getting up.

  A car horn blared over the moans. The zombies turned to look. The jeep sailed by, taking out an outer edge of the circle of zombies. Red splashed out, and while the circle wasn’t destroyed, Layne had taken out a handful of them.

  “Thank God,” Katie said. The three charged the thinner wall of zombies, knocking them down with ease, and made it into the open.

  The jeep was stopped, and Layne got out.

  “Garrett!” Layne said. Garrett tossed Layne a shotgun, and the two went to work. Blood splattered as heads dissipated into chunks and fragments.

  “Don’t skip out on the shells, we have plenty back at the church!” Garrett said. “You three, get your asses in the car!”

  Katie climbed into the back of the jeep and moved to the far seat. Dex and Kyle took the seats next to her. Layne and Garrett kept the zombies at bay until they were settled, then fell back and got inside. Layne pulled away from the mob, made a U-turn, and headed back up 12th street.

  “I thought we were going to die,” Katie said.

  “I’m just glad you’re okay,” Layne said. “Is anyone bitten?”

  “No, you showed up just in time,” Dex said. “And you brought the cavalry!”

  “Name’s Garrett.”

  “Dex. This is Katie, and Kyle. But we’ll all introduce ourselves properly when we get to the church.”

  “There is no proper introduction anymore,” Garrett said. “This will have to do just fine.”

  “There’s the church,” Layne said. He pulled into the back. They waited for the doors to open. When they did, Warren and Lacie were waiting for them. Everyone got out.

  “My God, you did it!” Warren said. “You actually pulled it off!”

  “I had help,” Layne said, nodding to Garrett. He shut the car off and got out. A zombie was approaching, following their tracks. Layne aimed and took it out.

  “Let’s get inside,” Katie said. The survivors filed into the church and closed the reinforced doors behind them, shutting the zombies and the whole ordeal out.

  29

  On the Way to Bangor

  Ben rested his head against the window of the minivan. Charlotte looked at him from time to time. Sometimes he would catch her watching him, then look over and smile, but he spent most of his time looking through the smudged glass, even though there wasn’t much to see.

  Angus’s collar jingled as he moved around in the kennel. Fred looked at him in the rearview. “You all right back there, boy?” He smiled as if the dog had answered.

  Sara was humming a quiet tune. She was also knitting, working on the same thing that she had been when Ben and Charlotte came to visit.

  The three couples rode quietly, save for Sara’s humming. Eventually, Charlotte said, “Your exit’s coming up pretty soon.”

  Fred struck a match with one hand. The partially torn flap covering the matches bore an inscription: Blackwater Falls Bar & Grill. He pinched his pipe between his lips, lit it, and puffed before flicking the match out the window.

  A Prius came onto the highway ahead of them. It sped along like a windup toy and merged all the way to the left. Ben and company stayed right and slowed down on the exit ramp. Ben watched the car disappear out of view, and then turned to Charlotte.

  “Did you see that?

  “Yeah,” Charlotte said. “That’s the first sane person I’ve seen outside of us since this shit started.”

  “Wonder where he’s headed,” Fred said.

  “I bet that car’s headed to the same thing we’re headed to,” Sara said. “Family, friends. Something better.”

  “I hope they find what they’re looking for,” Richard said.

  Carah signed to Richard.

  The way things have been going, I wouldn’t expect to see a normal person.

  Yeah, no kidding, Richard replied.

  Well, God help them. Carah sighed.

  The van got off the exit ramp and entered the outskirts of a town. There were several zombies around. Many of them wandered aimlessly, some stood still. The passengers rolled up their windows.

  “Turn right on Burleigh, and go down a few miles until you get to Siever’s Crest,” Charlotte said. “It’s my parents’ neighborhood, shouldn’t be too hard to miss.”

  Fred drove slowly. Several accidents cluttered the streets. One was positioned at an angle directly in front of the First Bank of Maine: The back end of a Taurus rested on the curb, while the Trailblazer it had collided with blocked the rest of the lane. The windows on both vehicles were shattered. Blood
splotches and small, mangled remains occupied almost every inch of the scene.

  “Oh my God!” Charlotte slapped a hand over her mouth.

  “It looks like a war zone,” Ben said.

  Carah signed, This is horrible!

  “It’s okay, honey.” Richard’s voice accompanied his signing hands. “We just need to get to the house. We’ll be safe there.”

  A woman wearing a torn jersey and faded jeans ran from a small shop. Blood stains covered her clothing. Her brown hair was caked with sweat. Fred slowed the van after checking his surroundings, then cracked the passenger-side window and called out to the woman.

  “My God, you’re a mess. You all right?”

  “I-I’ve been stabbed!” the woman said, tears running down her cheeks. She was shaking. “I need help. Please, I need someplace to stay!”

  Carah leaned over so she could see the bloody woman. She looked at Richard.

  She’s been bitten, hasn’t she?

  It sure looks like it, Richard signed.

  We’re not letting her in, are we? Carah’s hands were shaking.

  I hope not. It seems like Fred’s trying to figure her out. She says she’s been stabbed.

  “I don’t believe this ‘I was stabbed’ business,” Fred said. “Incredibly sorry, ma’am. We’ve got someplace to be.” He rolled up the window.

  The woman’s eyes widened. “You have to!” She slammed the window with both fists. “Please!”

  Fred looked around, saw a few zombies had taken notice of the exchange, and then looked back at the woman.

  “They’re starting to notice us. You should find somewhere to hide.” The woman slouched a little, and then opened her mouth.

  “Ahhhrrrrreeh!” She pounded on the window, leaving bloody smudges.

  “Drive!” Sara said. The zombie grabbed the car, and Fred floored the gas. The zombie’s grip gave out quickly, and she crumpled along the road behind the speeding van.