Tara and Steve laid Julie down on the floor as best as they could while Matt placed the child on the bed. He looked around at the carnage and could only surmise what events had taken place inside there. It saddened him. However, at the same time, he felt a little reprieve knowing it was possible Tony had been infected when he arrived at the station. Regardless, he still felt partially to blame.
“Where do you think the other boy is?” Tara asked.
It didn’t seem possible anyone could have survived the attack, based on the size of the cramped camper and a butcher shop’s worth of blood everywhere.
“Don’t know. Let’s hope he got away. Not that running away out there would be any better,” Matt answered.
Tara frowned then mumbled something he couldn’t understand on her way out of the camper.
Steve looked at Matt and sighed. “When will you start being more honest with me about what’s going on in that head of yours, brother?”
Matt stared back at Steve blankly.
When he didn’t say anything, Steve walked away.
Matt heard the weight of Steve’s footsteps as he passed by the trailer. As soon as he was sure no one was near, he vomited what little contents he had in his stomach. It was bright yellow bile with a tinge of red.
Then, he cried.
10
Primal Urges
“What do you see?” Steve asked.
“Why are you so impatient?” Tara said.
“I am not…impatient,” Steve responded defensively.
“Yes…you…are.” Her tone was sharp and sassy.
Steve snatched the binoculars out of her hand with a smile, then turned his attention to the freeway. He dropped the binoculars from his eyes after getting a look.
“You know, you could’ve just said there were two really burly, lightly armed men standing guard.”
“I know, but where’s the fun in that? If I give you all the answers, it makes me seem easy.” Tara snickered at her own wit and flirty banter.
Both of them were blushing now.
“Easy or not, this is kind of a big deal. We haven’t had the best track record with meeting new people.”
Tara tossed a small pebble at Steve’s head with a smile.
“Seriously, what has gotten into you today?” Steve said.
“Come on, let’s go tell the others,” Tara said mockingly.
Matt showed Chris some basic tactics and weapon-handling skills while Jody and Greg rifled through suitcases and backpacks inside vehicles. That particular section of road was heavily congested, which contradicted everything Jody had stated about Vegas being a ghost town. They were outside the county line when the freeway went from Sunday cruising to rush-hour traffic. If what Jody had said was true, then only the southbound lanes would be congested, but that was not the case. Both sides of the freeway were practically impassable, even on foot.
Where cars weren’t tangled in a heap of wreckage, they were simply left abandoned with their doors still flung open. Suitcases, bicycles, and every other contraption known to humanity were left scattered in the space between the vehicles. It was, by far, the worse congestion any of them had ever seen. It was as if everyone had panicked and fled at once in all directions.
After a mile of climbing over trunks onto dented rooftops and back down onto hoods, Steve and Tara volunteered to advance north to see if the congestion eased up at all. It had not. And to add to their troubles, for the first time in over a month, they’d come across a group of unknown people.
The look on Greg’s face after being told about the guards implied he wasn’t too surprised by the news. However, he did appear to contemplate the situation apprehensively. He grabbed a fistful of his wiry beard and pulled on it, then twisted it around his finger. Then, he glanced around at the group as if trying to see through their minds and into their thoughts.
“Ah, hell. Last time we sent some folks out yonder, they ended up dead. I reckon we should be a bit more cautious with these folks if they’re armed, but I’m not sure going in guns blazing like a bunch of yahoo cowboys ought to be the proper approach, either,” Greg said.
“You know you could send the two of us back up there to meet them. Keep someone else up on the ridge to our west with an optic just in case. The ridge is less than a mile out. Easy shot for Matt with my .308,” Tara said.
Greg looked back at Matt, then back at Steve and Tara. His lips were pressed together in a slight grimace, and he shook his head softly.
“Okay, then, why don’t you two go make an introduction. I’ll post Matt out yonder up on the ridge.”
Tara unslung her rifle, hit the magazine release to drop her mag, then looked over her inventory. She pressed down on the brass casings that waited idly for their call to duty.
“Still full. Last mag, though. After this is used up, I’m out.”
Greg turned toward Matt and called out, “Matt, get over here, son. Leave Chris with Jody.”
Matt looked up, patted Chris on the head, then walked over to Greg.
“Look here, son. These two knuckleheads say there are a couple of armed men down yonder. Look friendly enough, but to be cautious and all, I’m sending you up on that ridge there. Sound good?”
“Sure doesn’t, but if that’s what you want to do, fine by me.”
Tara handed over her rifle, “One in the chamber.”
Matt smiled back. “I’d be concerned if there wasn’t one.”
“If you follow the ridge, we’ll be half a mile north of here, just on the county line. The men were posted up on the freeway facing south with their backs to the fashion outlets,” Steve said.
“Good possibility there’s a group of them, then, to our north. Could be anywhere in those outlets. Any other stores or buildings to be concerned about?”
“See, here’s the thing, brother,” Steve said. “County line isn’t just a county line. It looks like a large resort city or theme park. There are several casinos that surround the road. No clear line of sight. Those boys are posted up not so much as a first line of defense in my opinion, but probably more as a warning signal to their group.”
“So why are we walking into the lion’s den? Why not go around? There are plenty of surface roads we can follow to bypass this group.”
“We took the surface roads to the ridge to get a look. Those roads are just as bad as the freeway, and we would eventually have to come back onto the freeway at some point.”
“So you’re telling me our only option is to walk straight up to two armed guards and say hi?”
“More or less,” Steve said.
“Okay. If that’s what you want to do, we can try it. But I think it’s fucking silly.”
“Have faith, Matt,” Tara said. “If we kill everyone before we give them a chance, the whole world will be our enemy. If we avoid everyone, then we’ll never have anyone we can fall back on. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to die. We need food, water, and supplies. If this group has that stuff, think of how much it’ll help out.”
Matt glared back, disapproving of their plan. But despite how much he didn’t care for their approach, she was right. They needed new everything. They were low on water and food. And as he stood under the scorching California sun, sweating through what was left of his ragged T-shirt, he knew they needed to take this chance. Their lives depended on it.
“Okay, but let me make myself clear. I’ll take the first shot if anything—and I mean anything—looks off. Do you understand?” Steve and Tara didn’t argue. “I’m not hiking over a ridge just to let you two get shot up because I hesitated over some bullshit. I will not let that ride on my conscience. I’ve got enough shit to dwell on.”
Matt looked at Greg with a pinched expression and a forced smile before he slung Tara’s rifle and jogged off toward a small rabbit trail that followed the saddle up to the ridgeline. He decided to avoid the same route Steve and Tara had used, opting for the closer yet more concealable course while they began to climb through
the wreckage and head toward the two guards.
Greg placed both hands on his face and rubbed his eyes with the tips of his index fingers.
“What the hell am I doing?” he muttered to himself. “Should’ve just stayed in my damn cabin.”
He wiped the sweat off his face with his palm, then turned to talk to Jody. However, when he opened his mouth, words escaped him. He stood there, speechless and staring, trying to make sense of what was happening.
Chris sat on the hood of an eighties-model Buick, cackling so hard he was blue in the face. Jody was dressed in a pair of women’s knee-high black boots, large sunglasses that covered most of his face, and a polka-dot floppy hat with the most ridiculous pink and purple mesh bow on top. The man danced around like a drunkard, making a total fool of himself.
“Christ Almighty,” Greg muttered.
Matt followed the ridge paralleling the freeway. He could make out the faint images of Steve and Tara as they navigated the wreckage to slowly make their way toward the unknown group of survivors. He hoped they were right. He hoped their kindhearted and humble approach was not setting them all up for failure and death. More death. He wouldn’t be able to handle any more death, especially not theirs. The mere thought of Steve and Tara dying sent his heart racing, which set in motion a chain reaction of events. Pains shot across his face and head like he was being electrocuted. His throat tightened and his breathing became erratic. All of this was new to him. He couldn’t comprehend the catastrophic events coming over his body. He felt like he was about to die. The world around him became an off-balanced blur as he collapsed. His chest hurt. His arm hurt. He stared up at the giant apricot in the sky, unable to breathe, choking on his own slimy spit.
I don’t want to die yet, he thought. They still need me. Not yet.
His eyes closed, and the world went dark.
“We doing this?” Steve said.
Tara blinked rapidly and bounced around on her knees, unable to find a comfortable position. Steve wiggled his fingers a few times, then clenched and unclenched his fists.
“Yeah, let’s do this.”
Steve started to stand, but Tara reached out and grabbed him by the elbow.
“What?”
“Listen,” she stammered. “I…I…” She decided to stop talking, then sprang at Steve’s face. She assaulted his mouth with a sloppy, unplanned, and extremely awkward kiss that fortunately, despite her failed attempt at being a spur-of-the-moment romantic, he returned with an equal amount of awkwardness.
“Okay, let’s do this,” she said as she peeled herself away with a large, slobber-covered smile.
Steve lingered in the moment, letting the warm, tingly feeling that flooded his body wear off. He stared back her, letting his eyes connect with hers, letting his heart sputter and his mind run wild with fantasy. He pictured her naked, their bodies pressed together chest to chest, breathing in sync. That spontaneous kiss opened up a floodgate of suppressed feelings for her. As he held her gaze, her smile began to slip away.
“Was it that bad?” she asked as she bit her lip
“No, no, not at all. I really liked it,” Steve tried to reassure her. “I just wasn’t expecting it. But I liked it a lot.”
He leaned in and kissed her, this time passionately and controlled. When he pulled away, her eyes were closed, and her lips were parted as though waiting for more. She opened her eyes and smiled.
They stood up from behind the car they were hiding behind and walked the remaining quarter-mile toward the guards. They approached with their hands raised.
At first, the two guards didn’t seem to notice them approach. They lounged around carelessly, tossing little pebbles at each other, unaware of their surroundings. They ducked and dodged each other’s playful assault until one of the stones hit the other in the eye and sent him into a tirade of profanity and unintelligible utterances. Then, finally, after a brief argument, the two guards noticed Steve and Tara standing a few feet away, with their hands up.
They fumbled with their rifles before finally getting them positioned at a more commanding level. The barrels swayed as the guards bickered about who would say so-and-so travelers were coming through.
Steve and Tara looked at each other, baffled by how unprepared the men seemed.
“I don’t think they’re much of a threat,” Steve whispered.
“Nope, couldn’t agree with you more.”
The men continued to disagree before Steve finally spoke up. “Hey, guys, listen. We don’t mean you any harm. We’re just passing through and need some supplies. So, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to put my hands down.” He started lowering his hands.
“Hey, keep dum hands up where we can see dum,” one of the men snapped. “Levi, go get Tiff. I’ll wait here with the two of dum. And youse two, just keep your hands up until we figure out what to do with youse.”
“You know, you could just check us for weapons while your buddy there goes and gets that Tiffany lady,” Steve said.
“I know dat.” The guard lowered his rifle and walked over to Steve. “Okay, den, keep youse hands up till I say so.”
They did, and waited.
Matt’s eyes sprang open. He was lying on his back, staring at the sun. It had moved only slightly since he remembered passing out, which meant he hadn’t been out for very long, and fortunately, he hadn’t died. The pain in his arm and chest were gone, too, but he could still feel occasional shooting pains radiating across his face and head.
The fuck just happened to me?
He stood to get his bearings, propping himself up with one hand on a grey boulder. The tip of Tara’s rifle clanked against the surface as he scanned the horizon. And, just like Steve had said, he could see the casinos. One of them had a rollercoaster built in it. In another world, in another life, he would have enjoyed something like that.
The glass on Tara’s optic was dusty but not cracked. He was grateful his episode hadn’t ruined her scope. For as long as he had known Tara, she’d always had that same piece of equipment, transferring it from one rifle to the next. Had he broken it, she would never let him forget it. He had enough stuff to stress over and didn’t need Tara’s snarky comments to worry about on top of everything else.
With the sun falling behind him now, Matt perched on another boulder and used some shrubs as cover. It wasn’t much, but he blended in enough to not be seen by anyone on the road who might have been looking around. The mil-dot reticle jerked and swayed as he tried to pin down Tara and Steve’s location. When he found them, he didn’t like what he saw. Their hands were up, and two men held rifles on them.
He sniffled and cleared his throat before sighting in on one of the men. He chose the older-looking of the two, figuring the younger-looking one wouldn’t have the experience to react appropriately to the shot. He’d probably frantically look around, aiming the barrel of his rifle at every rock and tree in the distance, confused as to what the hell had just happened to his partner while Matt sighted in to take his second shot.
He slipped his finger under the guard, then pulled back on the smooth trigger enough to let the slack out and hold tension. He observed them interacting and debating. They seemed unsure of themselves. Their movements were jerky and lacked confidence. Tara and Steve didn’t seem too alarmed, either. Matt decided not to take the shot and wait it out.
He took his eye off the glass to keep it from watering and blurring his vision. However, as he blinked, he realized someone stood over him with a gun aimed in at his head.
“You might want to reconsider what you plan to do there, big guy,” a soft, feminine voice said.
Matt slipped his finger out of the trigger guard and laid the rifle down. He wasn’t sure how long that person had been there or if she intended to kill him, but the shadow was a visible representation of how bad his current situation had become.
When he turned to face the voice’s owner, he was surprised to find himself being held hostage by a blonde beauty wearing a cowboy hat. Her gre
en eyes gleamed from her sun-kissed complexion, daring him to make a threatening move. She was lean and athletic-looking with small breasts. Not since before the outbreak had he ever seen anyone so mesmerizing. He couldn’t help but chuckle with amusement.
“What, never had a woman hold a gun to your head before?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“Well, trust me when I say it’s not a damn bit different than a man. Bullets do the same damage no matter who pulls the trigger. You want to tell me what you’re doing up here with a gun aimed down at my people, or am I going to have to decide for myself?”
Matt couldn’t help but smile at her. Not only was she beautiful, but she also wasn’t afraid to take control. He had to admit he liked that. But for as beautiful as she was, she seemed to be serious, and he didn’t want to challenge her integrity any further.
“I mean your people no harm, but I need to keep mine safe. We don’t know you any more than you know us. I sent two up to greet your guards. I came up here to keep a good eye on everything.”
The woman lowered her gun. The sun silhouetted her body and shone directly in Matt’s eyes. But he was able to see the H&K P2000 .40 cal she held. Wasn’t his personal favorite, but it would do the trick.
“I find it hard to believe you’d go through all this extra effort. Why not just go around us on the frontage roads?”
Matt chuckled again. “Funny you mention that, because that’s exactly what I said.”
“So, you’re not the group’s leader?” she questioned. “Who makes the decisions for you all?”
“I do most of the time, but I took a pass on this one. As you can see, it worked out well. Listen, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to get back to my group. Maybe we could do a proper introduction down there.” Matt reached out to shake her hand. “I’m Matt.”
The woman hesitated. “My name’s Tiffany.” She took his hand and shook it with a firm grip. “Come on, then. Let’s go. Levi and Marcos look lost. We should probably go save your friends from their ignorance.”
A Thousand Miles to Nowhere Page 10