She showed no hesitation at all this time and when she pulled her gun back out she grabbed it with both hands and one by one she could pick each one of them off. Fortunately there were only about 8 of them that time. Pulling the trigger the damn gun went click. “Shit Shit Shit how to load… how to load?”
Turning the hand gun around she saw a button and the clip dropped out grabbing one off the seat she shoved it in and pulled the trigger. Again another click, “FUCK!!”
Grabbing the top she slid it back and pulled the trigger at the same time. The gun fired scaring her. She put her hands together and shot the last 8. Tabitha reached down and grabbed the empty clip off the ground.
Tabitha was about ready to leave when she remembered seeing one of those huge red 5 gallon gas containers by the door where she had grabbed her shopping basket. She had no idea when she would be able to get gas again so quickly she ran back inside and grabbed a couple of the containers. Making her way back she began filling each one of them. As she was doing this she was getting really nervous because she knew more were on their way, she could hear them.
Suddenly the gas started pouring out of the one container and got all over the ground. Quickly she took the nozzle out and put it into the other empty container. She reached into her car, found the trunk release and pulled the lever. While that one was filling Tabitha walked the filled container to the back of the car and placed it into the trunk. When she got finished with that she saw a hoard of zombies coming up behind her from around the bend. It looked like this time it was the whole entire damn town. She figured that they all must have heard her firing off rounds and this had stirred them.
Wasting no time now, Tabitha pulled the nozzle out and placed it back into the pump. The fumes of the gas were beginning to give Tabitha a splitting headache and she knew that it would go away once she got away from there. Running back to the trunk Tabitha put the last container in there and slammed the lid. Then climbed back into the car and shut the door. She looked in her rear view mirror and they were now around the bend and about 10 yards from her. Remembering that there was gasoline all over the ground she turned on the car and slowly pulled away.
Suddenly she hit the brakes and rolled down the window. After lighting her cigarette Tabitha didn’t like having a lit match smolder in the car. Therefore she thought of disposing it out the window. She knew exactly what she was doing and before the match hit the ground she punched the gas and sped off down the highway. It was only a matter of seconds and a loud blast could be heard and with that Tabitha looked back and saw the zombies walking around in the wall of flames.
With night now falling Tabitha started paying particular attention to the map and the road signs. She found that the course that she was taking was a bit out of the way from her original direction but she felt a hell of a lot safer taking county roads than those high traffic freeways. Fortunately when she got past Salem, Missouri there were all sorts of tourist signs directing her onto Mark Twain Forest. Proceeding on with extreme caution Tabitha began to feel comfortable as she got closer to the place that she would call home.
Family for her was long gone. All of the years of her life she was a loner and knew that she would be just fine. If for some chance she would find others she would be on guard but that would go without saying. Down deep inside she longed to see another human being but knew damn good and well that when finding another human being she would more than likely be judged for how she dressed and how she presented herself. Tabitha didn’t care and when the sign came into view NOW ENTERING MARK TWAIN FOREST for the first time Tabitha felt like she was home and she STILL had way over a half tank of gas and the two five gallons containers in the trunk. She was ready for anything and everything.
Creeping along the narrow and winding road Tabitha saw something up ahead and it appeared to be another car. “Oh fucking great!!!! Others must have had the same fucking idea I had!!” She decided to stop the car and walk the rest of the way until she could find out what was going on. Down deep inside, beneath that rough and tough skin Tabitha hoped that there would be someone else because she knew that this would be a fresh start. Either way the tough little girl was standing out protecting the little one inside. She had been hurt over and over and this time she was in control and no one would ever hurt her again.
Tabitha crept through the trees trying not to make a sound, she noticed that the wind was blowing in her direction and she caught the smell of something. Tabitha didn’t know what it was so she proceeded with extreme caution. Then suddenly from out of nowhere she heard a man’s voice which was very commanding. Reacting only as she knew how Tabitha dropped to her knees and held her breath. She did not even want to make a sound. Many thoughts were running through her mind of if this was a human voice or one of them fucking zombies. But immediately she stopped rationalizing and spoke softly under her breath, “Wake the fuck up Tab, zombies don’t talk and you shouldn’t be either right now!!”
Something she caught was about a dog and a few other things. Standing up she slowly made her way in the direction where the voices were coming from.
Chapter 14 - Alden:
Alden watched as Charlie came out from under the canopy. His eyes were wide as he caught his first glimpse of Ceara. He heard Charlie’s first response as he walked casually by, “Holy shit Alden where the hell did she come from.”
Alden grinned, “The woods dumbass.”
Alden stopped suddenly his head turned slowly as he bent down to lay his 45 on a box. Ceara was walking up to Charlie somewhat smiling. He figured they were the first people she’d seen alive in days. Standing back up he slipped his knife down the back of his pants. “Charlie make your acquaintance’s and get this girl a bite to eat. I got to take a leak.”
Snapping his finger Tonto, who was staring at the woods again turned and walked over to Alden. He turned and headed to the shelter house. He was glad Charlie was a young man, he was chattering away about how things had gone to shit and he had met Alden and they had some food and on and on. Alden didn’t care what the hell the two talked about as long as they kept talking. He reached the shelter house and opened the screen door and let it bang shut, as it did he ducked down and slipped around the side working his way back into the woods with Tonto following him.
Alden turned to his dog, “You keep that growling down boy.”
Alden made a wide arc and found the rocks that gave the park its name. They were flat and smooth and very large so going up them was a breeze. Reaching the top he had a view of the whole park. He saw their base camp but could not see Charlie and the new girl. The canopy blended in well with its surroundings. Looking back to his left he followed the road to the new girls jeep. Then looked back farther up the road, he missed it at first till he moved a little to his right and the flash of mirror caught his eye. “Damn another vehicle,” he said.
Kneeling he took Tonto by the collar, holding his face to his own, “quiet search,” he said and put two fingers to his lips.
As he let go Tonto took off down the rocks toward where they found the girl. As they entered the woods Tonto slowed down to a speedy but almost deadly silent stalk. Alden was right behind him.
Alden heard the steps up ahead. He didn’t like being upwind this time, it was foolish he thought it could be a deadhead or worse a fucking scout for a patrol either way he had to keep moving and move fast, he couldn’t let whoever it was get to the camp. His survival depended on it and now he had two kids to worry about. Thinking to himself “Goddamn it Al, you really screwed the pooch on this; taking on untrained civilians in this kind of a situation. If you was on your own you could just slip away or have set a trap back outside of camp, but with the others there it wouldn’t have been wise”
Just then the prey shifted on it’s heels. Tonto froze and so did Alden both watching the figure through the bushes. It was definitely not a deadhead he thought, as the figure seemed to be trying to look then moved to get a better line of sight on the camp. Alden knew from where the
y were at the most they would see would be the shelter and maybe a little of the parking lot. “Okay boy we need to move fast and silent.”
Pointing to his left he held Tonto’s collar, “Circle left bring them to me boy.”
He made a twirling motion with his hand and then pointed to the person in the woods. As soon as he let go Tonto was off and so was he.
Tonto worked his way around to the back of the person as Alden went the other way placing himself directly across from them. He watched till he was sure Tonto was in place than gave a loud whistle. Their prey was startled and jumped up as Tonto bolted from the woods his teeth barred. Alden heard a scream then the words, “OH HOLY FUCK, SHIT NO, NO, NO.”
It was a girl’s voice and then she started running away from Tonto and right towards where Alden had crouched behind a large log. Tonto was running but not fast enough to catch her, although he could have easily run the girl down. The young woman was running trying to get away and still stay hidden. As she reached the Log she turned to see Tonto then turned back and leaped over it placing one hand on the log to help her.
She was half way over when Alden reached up and grabbed her free arm, using her momentum he pulled her over spinning her face down into the dirt. Swinging his legs over her he straddled her back and had her arm locked up behind her. Tonto leaped gracefully over the log spun and was staring directly into her eyes. Alden leaned down to her ear whispering lowly, “now you listen and listen carefully. This friend of mine is a trained killer he will snap your head off your shoulder before you get a squeak out. He answers to me and me alone. You have intruded on my bubble and I don’t like strangers in my bubble.”
Alden pulled out a long black zip tie and in a flash he had her wrist bound and pulled the other one back and secured it too. Then sat her up, “Alright cupcake very quietly, no yelling as there have been deadheads sighted and I will leave your ass for them. Who, the fuck, are you and what do you want?”
Chapter 15 - Colt:
Colt had made a choice to stay on back roads just to try to avoid any main highways and the cars that were crashed or broke down. Where the cars were, so were the monsters and that was something he had his fill of. He wasn’t an idiot nor delusional; he knew he would face them more and more, but he just didn’t want to till he had too. Once he had gotten safely away from Ripley, Colt had pulled over on the shoulder to look at the map. His parents lived in Chicago and out of instinct he realized that was where he was heading. He tossed the brochure in the passenger seat and opened the map. Where to go was not an easily answered question.
The CDC was working on a cure so maybe he should head there, but CDC was always in a highly populated area and he didn’t want any big cities full of monsters. Colt considered a military base, they would have secured the base and made it safe, or so he thought. Looking over the map he found Fort Leonard Wood. Tapping the place on the map happy that he made a choice and one that he really thought was a good one. Throwing the Rover back in gear he felt a little better about things.
The sun was setting when he reached the bridge to cross the Missouri river. “You have got to be fucking kidding me; did everyone have the same idea I did?”
Cars as far as he could see were piled up on the bridge going both east and west. Leaning his head back on the head rest wondering how he would get across the river. Colt knew there were no other bridges within a couple hours drive, longer than that with all the issues on the roads. Just then he heard two dings and looked up, his gas light warning was on. “Oh this just keeps getting better.”
Both of the cans in the back were empty and his food was running low; worse the sun was setting. “Well Ollie this is another fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”
He had to smile, Jessica had always said that when he messed something up. Colt threw the car in park and killed it, no sense wasting what was left. Grabbing the knife he got out of the car, he knew gun fire would draw attention he didn’t want.
He made his way up to a few of the cars; the third one had a monster trying to get out of the car. He left the creature where it was, figuring if they had not found a way out yet they wouldn’t now either.
Several cars stood empty, others were bloody but were also empty. Colt thought that these cars had monsters that had managed to get out. He headed for the bridge but stopped short, if he was caught up there by monsters the only way out would be jumping and that was a long drop. Looking around a thought occurred to him, “If they had the same idea I did what if they have some gas cans hid?”
He quickly started going to cars looking in the back, “No dumbass, they wouldn’t keep them inside the car, it would be in trunks!”
Colt found a toolbox in one of the trucks and started breaking into trunks. Some were easy, just push of a button and there it was; but others had to be broken into.
He was right, seven of the cars held gas cans, none were full but with all combined Colt was able to fill his tank and fill one can all the way and the other halfway.
Once that was done he was back to his original problem, how to cross the river. By the time he was ready to drive again the sun had set and the moon was only half full, not a bright night. Colt decided this was not the night to cross the river, he flipped a u-turn and headed back to an area that seemed somewhat empty. Parking on the shoulder, locking the doors he climbed in the back seat to try to sleep.
He wouldn’t have believed it but he was asleep within minutes, but was woke up screaming. The nightmares were horrible, Jessica was there trying to eat him and he had to kill her. Suddenly there were monsters banging on his windows, they must have heard the screams. “Where did you come from?!”
There were more than twenty and more coming toward him, Colt climbed into the driver’s seat screaming at them to go away. The keys were still in the ignition and with a quick turn the engine roared to life and Colt punched the gas running over several of the monsters even targeted a couple once he was going. He didn’t know why, other than if he didn’t kill them they would try to kill him. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw them get back up, he wondered if they could be killed really. He thought back to the sheriff’s office and remembered the ones that had bullets in their heads stayed down. That had to be it, he had to make sure to go for a head shot if they came after him again.
Looking at his watch he saw he had slept at least ten hours but he still had the issue of getting across the bridge. Colt drove close to the bridge again and wondering if he could maneuver the vehicles out of the way, there were so many though that he knew that wasn’t logical.
Driving east till he found a way to cross the highway, then headed north again looking for an old road, bridge or hell even boat he didn’t care at this point. Soon he saw a covered bridge with no vehicles around it, Colt sighed with relief till he saw why there were no cars… it was a railroad bridge. “Fuck! Damn it, Can you cut me just a little slack?? What the hell did I do to deserve this? Ok, fine… let’s do this.”
Colt drove up to the first railroad crossing he saw and turned following the tracks rattling his vehicle to the point he thought this was a really bad idea. He was halfway across the bridge when he saw the missing beam, “Really?”
Punching the gas, he hoped that he could just fly over it. The plan kind of worked, he got over it but the jolt slammed him face first into the steering wheel. Colt felt the blood flowing down his face and could taste it, he didn’t take the time to check until he was across the bridge and back on a hard top road. Pulling off he flipped the visor down and saw his face. His nose was broken and he was pretty sure he would have black eyes. Reaching in the back he found a shirt, wiping off the blood then held it to his face hoping that it would stop the bleeding.
A few hours later he was seeing signs to Mark Twain National park, Colt thought this would be a good stopping point. Off to the right he spotted a small gas station, a large sign said “OUT OF GAS, OUT OF OUR MINDS, GO AWAY”
Colt laughed but it hurt his nose too bad to keep laughing
, “Well at least they had a sense of humor.”
Pulling in he grabbed the gun and went to the side of the building to the bathroom, it was locked. Colt knew most places did this so he thought the key would be in the store, checking the gun he made his way to the front of the store not sure if the owners had left or not. Pushing through the door he saw several rats running along the shelves, “Well I guess they either run to fast or the monsters don’t like’em”
Colt looked around the store and even checked the back room, no one was there. He went behind the counter and found the bathroom key on a nail, beside it on a shelf was a shotgun and a box of shells, “Oh Now you help, where were you back on that damn bridge.”
The last few days Colt had been talking more and more to God, he had no one else. He grabbed the shotgun, shells and the key and headed back out the door. There he saw what he was worried about, monsters, he knew there had to be some. Thankfully there were only two and neither looked to agile, he slipped around the side of the building and slid in the bathroom, locking it when he got in. Turning to the sink, he turned on the water and pulling off his shirt to rinse out the blood. After getting as much blood and grime out of it he could he used it to wash is face. After he was as clean as he could get he washed the shirt again, wringing it out he tossed it over his shoulder and headed out the door. This time he didn’t even hesitate, he saw the monsters and fired hitting each right in the head. Colt had aimed right between the eyes but head shot was a head shot as far as he was concerned.
Surviving Day By Day (Book 1): So it Begins Page 12