Life Among The Dead (Book 3): A Bittersweet Victory

by Cotton, Daniel

  “Do you think I’m fucking stupid? I know our turn is coming up. We drive this once a year.”

  “I was just--”

  “Treating me like an idiot. After all I’ve been through.”

  “Been through? You just said you wished you had sucked his--oh, shit!”

  It’s been almost two hours since they spotted any traffic. If not for their adherence to the speed limit and the two-second rule, every car in the convoy would be rear-ending the vehicle in front of them as Gloria abruptly applies her brakes. Coming off of the road they had planned to turn onto are two large, olive green vehicles. The military troop carriers are forced to stop suddenly as well, and their tires chirp from the effort.

  Men in fatigues drop from the high cabin of the lead truck. Their rifles are out and ready but aimed low. One soldier approaches, his left hand raised in a sign of peace, while two of his comrades take positions in the rear.

  Gloria rolls down her window after the young man gently knocks on the pane. “Ma’am, we’re taking all survivors to Fort Eagle Rock.”

  “We’re actually heading--”

  The soldier shrugs. “We have our orders, ma’am. No exceptions.”

  The convoy becomes a little bigger as the two deuce and a half trucks are added to the front and rear of the procession. They head back the way they had just come, to Gabe’s chagrin. Some of the others among the survivors consider it fate. They feel safer with armed soldiers protecting them and figure staying on a fortified military base may be better anyway.

  Vida shares Gabe’s disappointment over the interruption to their plans. She was looking forward to living a slow, free existence on his farm over being cooped up on an army base.

  The soldiers said they had one stop to make before getting them all to the fort. They need to rendezvous with the rest of their squad that is travelling from the west to a town called Poland Creek.

  15

  “Let’s just go home.” Marko sighs over the radio. He and the cousins have been trolling the side roads for fresh game with no luck.

  Back on the main road, heading for their lair well above the speed limit, Marko enters the narrow passage of rock he’s sick of seeing. Just three days into the apocalypse and he’s already bored, especially with only a pair of morons to talk to. He weighs the pros and cons of traveling out of his comfort zone, perhaps heading east or west, trying another state.

  “Hey!” he says over the radio when he has to slow. “How’d you fags get ahead of me?”

  “We ain’t,” Biff says.

  Marko finds himself right behind a small red pickup that is almost identical to that of his partners. His plans for a change of scenery are forgotten at the prospect of having some fun, even if it’s fleeting and without reward. He speeds up and passes the stranger, flying well out of sight within the chasm. “All righty, boys, here’s the plan…”

  Using the same strategy as with the previous two assaults, Marko lies in wait ahead and tells his buddies to engage from the rear. In the narrow passage that winds like a snake made of tar, he expects their victim to be easy prey.

  Gunshots pop and he knows it’s Jessie. He doubts the lone person in the truck will risk returning fire.

  “I’m coming back atcha,” Marko tells his team after turning around. “Watch your fire.”

  He blares his horn to encourage the driver to give up, but he doesn’t slow. Marko is surprised when his would-be-victim returns the gesture with a weak beep and speeds up.

  Sparks along the sheer rock walls from Jessie’s warning shots do little to scare the stranger. The guy’s windshield is fracturing from the bullets, yet he still doesn’t give up. It’s a game of chicken, a test of nerves to see who will back down, and Marko’s about to lose. The thrill of the chase becomes fear, and Marko slams on his brakes and throws his truck into reverse. He’s not only backing down, but backing up, as fast as he can.

  This game of cat and mouse is skewed, for the mouse is fighting back. The tiny red truck rams into Marko’s front end as he looks behind him in his retreat. A bullet cracks his windshield, forcing him to pull off into a notch in the chasm.

  Sweat drips from his forehead as he watches Jessie and Biff’s trucks pass him by. His hands tremble as he grips the wheel once more. He might have messed with the wrong guy, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to give up. If anything, his resolve hardens. “I’m gonna make you fucking pay!”

  The three battling vehicles made it through the chasm and speed along the tree-lined highway. Marko easily catches up to them when they slow while taking a turn onto an intersecting road. He has a bad feeling about this, but before he can warn his allies over the radio it’s too late.

  Their quarry stops abruptly, allowing Jessie and Biff to ram into the truck’s rear end, and Marko in turn into the back of his friends. The sudden drop in speed sends the trio of road warriors flying forward in their cabs. They are stunned, battered, and unable to move.

  Their quarry shoots Jessie and Biff’s front tires and then puts several rounds into Marko’s hood before heading out of sight. This mouse gets away.

  16

  The streets of Poland Creek are littered with bodies.

  Their train of vehicles halts near a gas station. The original Gary’s Gas and Go, if Vida is not mistaken. Soldiers sweep the area in small groups of three. Mild skirmishes farther off disturb the otherwise quiet town with short-lived volleys of gunfire.

  The camouflage-clad men and women give Vida an uneasy feeling. She self-consciously tugs on her collar to cover her bandage, but knows once she makes it to the base what lies beneath will be hard to explain.

  The travelers are told to vacate their rides, but Vida isn’t so quick to exit. She tenses up, and it takes Gabe’s warm hand on the small of her back to coax her out of the van.

  “It’ll be all right,” he says in his usual calm manner. “I promise.”

  She takes a deep breath, as if she is about to plunge into an unfathomable depth. She stays close to Gabe, her rock, while watching the soldiers and wading into her uncertain future.

  A ding brings their attention to the market, which is much larger than the one in Worchester. From the signage, it has a wider assortment of food and a full deli counter. Two soldiers struggle to pull a third figure from the store with a rope. Once out in the lot, the larger of the pair holds a thrashing woman to the ground. A sight that chills Vida’s spine, having been on the receiving end of such treatment before.

  The soldier’s accomplice, a pretty female recruit armed with a fat roll of duct tape, hurries to secure the captive’s wrists and ankles. She also orbits the girl’s head several times, leaving a shroud of silver tape from her neck to her nose before stepping back to admire her handiwork.

  Only the girl’s eyes show above this makeshift mask.

  The female soldier smiles until she notices she has an audience. Several shocked civilians stare at her, and many of them are children.

  “This looks bad, doesn’t it?” She laughs nervously, handing off the depleted roll to her partner. “You see, the scientist types back at the base want a living specimen. I mean, she’s dead, but she wasn’t bitten. She killed herself, which is great. Not that it’s good that she killed herself, just good for us…”

  Her partner leans close to her ear and whispers, “Rash, let’s just get her loaded up.”

  She agrees, obviously embarrassed by her bungling explanation. Together they drag the dead girl to an olive jeep with a matching plastic cover over the cab. The survivors watch as the pair grunt and struggle to get the corpse into the back seat. At every opportunity it writhes free of their grasps and lunges at them. However they manage to get the specimen stowed, and the one called Rash fastens her safety belt.

  The male soldier walks to the refugees and addresses them. “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Sergeant Lynton. As soon as our men are done checking this town for survivors, we will be heading to Fort Eagle Rock. During the wait, I ask you to stay within this area. U
se this time to grab whatever essentials you need from your vehicles. You need to surrender all weapons now and report any bites. Once we arrive at the Rock, you will undergo a brief in-processing and be given quarter. Are there any questions?”

  Howard holds up a football he found on the road when he exited his car. “I found this! Can I keep it, or is it, like, evidence, or something?”

  “Are there any intelligent questions?” Lynton just ignores Howard as he looks at the others.

  “Be nice, Zee,” Rash says, with a nudge to her comrade’s ribs. “Yes, sir, you may keep the football.”

  Howard orchestrates a small game of catch among the survivors, and two soldiers with apparently nothing else to do join in. Vida remains at Gabe’s side, and she presses against him as hard as she can when she notices the male soldier is staring at her. Lynton nods in Vida’s direction and whispers to his partner.

  Being the focus of a secret conversation is never a good thing. In school it meant you were being singled out for ridicule, or the subject of some lurid fascination. Now it could mean death. Brad said that anyone bitten would be shot at the gates of Eagle Rock, but the way the soldier is eyeing her she fears it may be much sooner. Just another body, she thinks.

  “Gabe…” she whispers, her voice quivering.

  “It’ll be all right,” he assures her.

  Lynton wears a stoic expression as he looks down upon Vida, while Rash smiles kindly and breaks the ice. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

  “Vida.”

  “Hi, Vida, my name is Sergeant Rashida Steele. You can call me Rash if you like. Everyone does.”

  Awkward silence passes between them. Vida has no idea if she’s supposed to talk or not, and she has no idea what to say at the moment. Before she can think of anything, Rash’s eyes grow wide. “Oh my god! You zurvived!”

  “Huh?”

  “You zurvived the Zombie House!” She points to Vida’s shirt then nudges her companion. “Zee, she Zurvived the Zombie House!”

  “I see that, Rash,” Lynton says, not sharing her enthusiasm.

  “Zee and I went to the Zombie House on Halloween night. It was insane!” Rash continues. “He got beefed in the first ten minutes…”

  “I lasted longer than that,” Zee corrects.

  “So, out with it. Where were the keys?”

  “Foyer,” Vida says quietly. “In the lost and found.”

  “Jesus! I knew it would be something simple like that! Zee had me convinced the friggin’ things were in the attic. There I was, all alone, with a dozen zombies below me. I had to suicide out.”

  Then Rash grows serious. She cocks her head slightly to draw Vida away from the boys for some girl talk. Away from the towering soldier and Gabe, they speak.

  “A real one gotcha, huh?”

  “No--I mean, yes I was bit. But, it wasn’t a zombie. It was…” Vida attempts to explain, but Rash gently shushes her. They’ll never believe that one of their own did it, she thinks.

  “You know what I have to do, right?” Rash’s words remain friendly, despite the meaning behind them.

  Though she practically begged Brad to end her suffering, take her out of this crazy world, she knows not all is lost. She met Gabriel and his family. She witnessed true heroes in action. Vida doesn’t wish to die anymore. Her sorrow is so deep she can’t even shed a single tear for herself. No number of tears can help her now. All she can do is accept it.

  Gabe, on the other hand, doesn’t intend on giving up so easily. He steps towards the tender meeting, though the beefy Lynton bars his path with a single hand to his chest.

  Despite the strong palm keeping him from approaching, Gabe raises his voice, “Miss, I’m afraid I’ll have to share the young lady’s fate as well.”

  “You’re bit?” Lynton asks, quickly removing his hand from the man’s chest.

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Where?” Rash asks. The fact that the gentleman shows no signs, especially in his demeanor, makes her skeptical. Most folks who have been bitten look tense and worried. They avoid being in the soldiers’s direct line of sight.

  “As far as where, I’m not the sort of man to show and tell. You’ll just have to trust me.” With Lynton’s hand off of his chest, Gabriel is able to approach Vida. “If I can be granted one request. This is my granddaughter…”

  “Ok.” Rash raises an eyebrow at the Caucasian man and the Latino girl. She lets him talk, thinking, Who am I to question what makes them family.

  “My son and his wife adopted her when she was less than a year old. I’ve grown to love her as if she were my own blood. A few months ago, she discovered who her true parents were, and where they are buried. Her last wish is to see their graves in El Paso.”

  Rash leaves the girl’s side to whisper to Gabe, “She’ll never make it as far as El Paso.”

  “I know. Believe me, I know. But I promised her that I would take her there, and I never break a promise.”

  Realizing what Gabe is doing for her makes Vida look at the ground, torn between tears and laughter. The man may never break a promise, but he is certainly breaking the young soldier’s heart.

  “Rash, I don’t think…” Lynton says.

  Rash wipes her eyes. “It’s my call, Zee. I’m in charge of this one.”

  The big soldier moves back a few steps to let her handle the situation.

  “You’re going to have to skirt around Waterloo,” Rash says with a sniffle. “We heard the place is lost.”

  “Thank you so much!” Gabe says, and swiftly escorts Vida to his son’s sedan before the truth emerges.

  “What about Howard and Gloria?” Vida whispers as Gabe opens her door for her.

  “I assume they are in capable hands and will be fine. They wanted to go to Eagle Rock anyway.” Gabe doesn’t waste time taking stock of their remaining supplies. He just turns the key.

  ###

  “Who the hell are you supposed to be, Joe Namath?” Gloria laughs as her husband gets ready to throw the football.

  Howard prepares for his perfect spiral, dodging invisible tacklers. “Don’t forget, dear, I took the team to the championship.”

  “You took the bus to the championship…” Gloria’s remark offsets his aim. The perfect spiral wobbles in the air and. the ball lands two feet away from its intended receiver then bounces on the hard surface.

  “You’re supposed to run for those!” Howard says.

  “You rode the pine while you were there?” Gloria torments. “Is benchwarmer an actual position?”

  The soldiers overseeing the survivors can’t help but chuckle at the two.

  “Gloria, light of my life, reason I drink, should I tell everyone about the three days you spent on the cheerleading squad?” Howard speaks loudly so all around can hear. “Which ended after some lurid photos of you in school colors emerged.”

  “You took those photos, you asshole!” On her feet and ready to fight, Gloria notices their car leaving town and Gabriel and the girl are nowhere to be seen. “Where’s your dad going?”

  Howard turns to look for his father, and the distraction causes him to catch the ball with the back of his head. But he ignores the thump.

  Rash and Lynton approach him, and Rash wipes the remaining tears from her eyes. “Sir, your father is taking his granddaughter to El Paso…”

  “Granddaughter? She’s not his granddaughter,” Howard says. “I’m an only child, and there’s no way in hell I’d ever make a kid with that.” He hitches a thumb at Gloria.

  “Get everyone loaded up!” Lynton tells the milling soldiers.

  Rash looks towards the edge of town. The man and his ‘granddaughter’ are long gone. “Not a word, Zee,” she warns Lynton. “Not one fucking word!”

  17

  On the road again, heading south away from Poland Creek, Vida hugs her ‘grandfather.’ “Thank you so much!”

  “I told you everything would be all right.”

  “I thought you were lying to make me feel
better.”

  “I don’t lie.”

  “You lied to that soldier,” Vida points out.

  “No, I simply embellished the truth. I was a salesman for many years. I could sell a thunderstorm on a clear summer’s day. All I did back there was sell that nice young lady a story--a tale of love, loss, and sacrifice. I told her that I promised to get you home and that’s exactly the truth. There was no reason for you to die, and I have no intentions of being corralled on a military base.”

  They push south, and their relationship grows even stronger, as if they truly share the deceptive bond they had faked. Vida imagines there’s nothing she can’t face as long as she has Gabe at her side.

  As if testing her theory, fat flakes of snow drift lazily from the dark sky above. In the still of the world, they can actually hear them hitting their windshield. Having heard rumors about the projected severity of this impending winter, Gabe had hoped to beat the snow. But Vida raptly watches the dancing flurries of her first snowfall.

  Gabe remains calm, keeping them moving over the building sheet that crunches under their tires. His confidence comes from experience and the knowledge his son undoubtedly has emergency winter gear in the trunk already.

  Gabe doesn’t wish to stop just yet, though it grows difficult to see the lines on the road. To stop will mean digging themselves out and attempting to plow through higher drifts, since the roads will not be cleared for them. It could spell disaster, from the looks of the accumulation.

  Vida wishes to fall asleep but feels guilty since Gabe can’t. It’s too quiet to sleep anyway. Without Howard and Gloria’s fighting to fill the silence, Vida dwells on everything she’s seen and been through. She stews in the constant fear and uncertainty that comes with the new world.

  “Why do they do it?” she asks softly.

  “Who and what, dear?”