“Where were you two?” Jack asked as he handed them each a bowl of the soup.
“Talking to some lady.” Wade shrugged.
“Well, come over here, I got some news to share.” Jack whispered as he wiggled his finger. Wren and Wade stepped closer to him. “I talked with the soldier in charge of the food. He said this thing is everywhere, it’s global. New York fell two hours ago. He said what D.C. fell an hour before that.”
“What does that mean?” Wren asked.
“He doesn’t know, but ever since D.C. fell their radio has been silent. No new orders.” Jack shook his head. “They’re just holding this position because it was the last order they got from Washington. He thinks that maybe the higher ups, you know the really important people are all heading to their underground bunkers and everything and that once they get there they will receive more orders. I don’t know but I don’t know if we should stay here.”
“But it’s safe here.” Wren interjected.
“Yeah, for now it’s safe. We don’t know for how long though, look, soldiers without commands aren’t going to just stay the course. At some point one of the higher ranking people around here is going to step up and take over.”
“You don’t know that.” Wade shook his head.
“Okay, so I don’t know for sure, but I’ve seen enough apocalypse movies to know when to not trust a situation, and right now I’m not trusting it.” Jack glanced over at Jamie who was slowly eating his soup.
“This isn’t a movie, Dad. This is real life.” Wren threw her hand up and walked over to her little brother. Sitting down she smiled at Jamie before turning her attention to her soup.
“I got you Dad.” Wade nodded, bringing a spoonful of the weird orange watery soup to his lips. “We need to make sure we can get to Mom and Artemis from here though, like get to them real quick, if something goes down we need to beat it back to the car before someone else gets in it. I don’t know about you, but it is not a nice day for a stroll downtown.”
“You’re right.” Jake smirked. “I wonder what they needed your mom for.”
“Injuries, probably.” Wade shrugged.
“Don’t they have medics for that?” Jake looked back to the medical tent.
“Yeah, but maybe they were eaten or bitten, or who knows what.”
“Well, they better protect her, that’s all I got to say.” Jake narrowed his eyes at the tent before looking back to his children. “So, are you all okay so far?”
“We’re okay Dad.” Wren smoothed Jamie’s hair.
“I don’t want to go to the swamp. It’s not going to be safe.” Jamie lifted his eyes to look at his Dad.
“What do you mean, buddy?” Jake stooped down.
“I don’t know, Dad, it’s just a weird feeling I have in my tummy.” Jamie rubbed his belly slowly.
“We’ll be okay big guy.” Jake reached out and took Jamie’s hand. “I know it’s scary right now, but look, you see the soldiers?” Jamie nodded as his eyes flitted over the camo covered people. “See, they’re out and they’re helping people. They’re going make sure all the monsters go away.”
At the mention of the soldiers ridding the area of the zombies, Wrens shoulders visibly tensed. Wade walked around and sat opposite of his siblings in order to maintain the line of sight between them and the medical tent. He ate slowly as he watched. Jack continually scanned the area, hoping he was wrong about this place and these people. After a few moments, Emily and Artemis found them.
“Is everything alright?” Jack asked as Emily rubbed her forearm over her forehead and shifted her weight from foot to foot. Artemis appeared to be less than thrilled.
“You tell him, I…I just can’t right now.” Emily threw her hands up in the air, shaking her head she made her way over to her children. Jack watched as she walked away before turning his attention to Artemis who seemed to stand almost two feet taller than him. Artemis took a step forward a lowered his stature a bit to get as close to Jack’s ear as possible.
“We need to leave, immediately, without drawing attention to ourselves.” He practically whispered.
“What? Why?” Jack replied, keeping his voice low.
“They’re picking out anyone too old or too young, too weak or people who have lost it and they’re killing them. That ain’t no medical tent over there, that’s a slaughter house. Doc had to pretend to be on board, but it ain’t safe for us, not with your little one. They don’t want kids under twelve.” Artemis backed up with a nod before sidestepping around Jack and grabbing himself something to eat.
Jack turned and looked at their little group, his eyes falling on Jamie. His mind couldn’t wrap around the idea that soldiers would willingly turn their weapons on citizens or that they would take the life of an innocent child. Sure, Jamie needed protection, but didn’t they all? Everyone needed help in this. No one has eyes on the back of their heads. He swallowed hard as Emily’s eyes met his. They held each other’s gaze for several moments before Jack turned around and started to evaluate their situation and their new problem. They had to get out, they had to save Jamie.
“Hi, folks, I’m Smitty. I was told to come show you where you’ll be bedding down tonight.” Smitty appeared to be no more than eighteen years old. He was obviously not a soldier but he was sure trying to look like one. He didn’t stand like a soldier, nor did he walk like one.
“Nice to meet you, Smitty. I’m Emily, this is my husband Jack and our children Wade, Wren and Jamie. That is our dear friend, Artemis.” Emily stood up and extended her hand to the awkward teenager who gave her a sloppy sideways high five instead of shaking it.
“Cool.” Smitty smiled as his attention wandered over Wren, who crossed her arms over her chest and cast her eyes to the ground. “Okay, just follow me and I’ll get you settled in. It sure is nice to have you, we could always use some more able bodies.”
“Yeah.” Jack smiled, afraid that someone would catch on to their plans. They followed Smitty to the ground floor of an abandoned coffee shop. He held his hands out wide as he turned to them as if he was presenting the presidential suite in a five star hotel.
“Oh, man.” Smitty laughed as he ran his palm over his face. “I should’ve asked if you want me to give Artie here his own space.”
“It’s Artemis, and no we’re good. Thanks for asking though.” He nodded as he walked over and sat down on the floor.
“No, we’re fine, really, thank you Smitty.” Emily smiled sweetly.
“Alright then, you folks go ahead and get comfortable. I’ll see you soon.” He flashed Wren a smile before exiting.
“That was creepy.” Wade said in a hushed tone, looking at the door.
“You can say that again.” Wren added.
“What’s the plan?” Artemis asked Jack as he pulled his knees up and rested his arms on his knees his hands dangling down in front of him. Jack walked over and sat down beside him.
“I’m not sure, they have the place guarded pretty well.” Jack sighed. “I think our best bet would be to sneak over to the vehicle, tell the kids to hit the floor and just gun it out of here.”
“That may be the only way.” Artemis shook his head slowly.
“We should do it when everyone is asleep, minimizes the number of people in our way.” Emily whispered.
“It’s a plan then.” Artemis looked to the kids. “You three need to try to rest, your Mom and Dad too. Jack I’ll take the first shift if you want to try to sleep.”
“Sounds like a deal.” Jack nodded as he tried to lay down on the hard tile of the coffee shop floor. Wren moved in between her Mother and Wade, Jamie sat on Emily’s other side. In no time they were all dozing softly with Artemis keeping watch.
The sun faded and the room began growing dark. Outside, maybe forty yards away a small glow was evident. It wouldn’t be wise to have a big fire, it could draw the attention of the undead. Artemis looked back to Jack, and nudged his foot to wake him. Jack bolted upright at the sudden jostle.
“Shhh!” Artemis held a finger over his lips. “Everything’s cool, it’s your turn to keep watch. Don’t let me sleep more than three hours, after that we gotta beat it out of here. Got it?”
“Yeah, three hours.” Jack nodded as a huge yawn escaped him. “Go on, get some rest, I’ve got this.”
“Alright then.” Artemis eyed him up suspiciously before leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Come on, wake up, but be quiet.” Jack whispered as he woke his wife. Emily looked up at Jack, and for a moment seemed to not recognize him. That look quickly faded as she turned and hurriedly began waking the kids. Artemis was at the door, looking out. He turned and motioned for them to follow him. He moved his hand up and down, telling them to stay low. Artemis moved through the door silently, the DeLasalle family following at his heels.
When Artemis held his hand up for them to stop, the stopped. When he motioned for them to haul ass, they did. No one was out wandering about the camp as they made their way to where they had parked earlier. As they reached the vehicle they all exchanged triumphant smiles, but the victory was short lived as someone whistling Dixie broke the silence.
Artemis once again held his fingers to his lips, as he pulled Jamie and the twins closer to him. He leaned in and whispered.
“I’m gonna open that door and when I do I want the three of you to move as fast as you can, get in there and get to the back. You need to get down on the floor in there. Nod if you understand me.” All three nodded. “Good. Now, on the count of three I’m gonna open it and you move. Okay? One…two…three…” He opened the door as softly as he could manage, once it was open he pushed Jamie up and in. Wade and Wren followed closely behind. Emily was next in, then Jack. Artemis waited until last. As he stood up to enter the vehicle he heard a shout.
“Where in the hell do you think you’re going?” He didn’t answer the question, instead he jumped in and shut the door.
“Everyone hang on, I’m busting through that fence. We’re getting’ the hell out of this place!” He threw the vehicle into reverse and slammed on the gas, speeding backwards the camp before slamming on the brake and causing the vehicle to lurch before putting into drive and once again slamming his full weight down on the accelerator.
They picked up speed as the approached the makeshift gate. Several men with guns were standing near it, all had their guns raised and were aiming at them. Artemis let out a war cry as they slammed into and through the gate. More than a dozen zombies were lingering along the outer rim, and once the gate was down they began stumbling into the camp. As they drove down the road the shots of gunfire echoed out.
“Wow, Artemis, that was pretty cool!” Wade smiled as he leaned forward and slapped Artemis on the shoulder. “You’re the man!”
“Yeah.” Artemis laughed. “Now we have to find another safe place.”
“I wish we knew what they know in Washington.” Jack wished aloud.
“Even if we did, it may not make a difference.” Wren shrugged. Suddenly her attention was drawn down beside her. “Jamie? Are you okay?”
“I don’t feel well.” Jamie’s tiny voice replied. Jack jumped and quickly spun around to give their youngest his full attention.
“What’s wrong bud?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know, I feel like I got the flu.” Jamie replied.
“Check his skin!” Emily cried out. “What color is his skin?”
“It’s skin color.” Wren furrowed her brow.
“Ok.” Emily breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, skin color is good. It’s probably just stress, lack of sleep and that damn orange soup they fed us. Just try to lay down back there, sweetie, you’ll feel better soon.”
“Okay.” Jamie nodded as he looked to his sister. “Can I use your leg as a pillow?”
“Sure.” Wren nodded as she lifted her arm and allowed him to lay his head on her lap. Lovingly she stroked his hair back and watched as he closed his eyes.
“Are you still wantin’ to go to the swamp, doc?” Artemis asked.
“I don’t know, anymore. Why don’t we turn on the radio and see if they’re saying anything on there. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll tell us it’s safe somewhere.” Emily few her legs up underneath her as she held her hand over her eyes. Artemis reached over and turned on the radio.
For several moments there was nothing but static coming across the air. The mood seemed to fall, until the static began to break up and a voice wafted over the station. All of them jumped to the edge of their seat in anticipation.
“Hey, I’m Hal, and I hacked into the station. I am not a government official, I am just a guy in a prepper hole with information for everyone who is off the grid right now. Okay, this is going to sound crazy but bear with me. This undead thing is everywhere. When I say everywhere, I mean it. It’s in Europe, in China, in Australia in Michigan. A ton of cities are like, just ghost towns now well…that isn’t accurate now is it? It’s more like zombie towns.” Hal laughed over the radio. “Anyway, the last information coming out of the CDC said that those who first showed symptoms of this and came back from the dead, are like dead dead. Whatever is causing this doesn’t make them reanimate indefinitely. This is totally good news. The CDC said as long as people who are safe right now don’t go out and do something stupid like get bit or whatever, that this whole thing will be over in like four to seven days. That’s cool, am I right? Well I sure hope someone is out there listening! We have light at the end of this blood drenched tunnel!”
“I wonder if they know what’s causing it yet?” Wade asked.
“It hasn’t been that long, I doubt they know yet. If they knew I’m sure that man on the radio would have mentioned it.” Emily waved her hand dismissively.
“Whoa!” Artemis shouted as a zombie fell onto the hood of the vehicle, its mouth still working as it noticed the living, edible, beings a few feet from them.
“Damn!” Emily shouted as she tried to look up through the windshield. “That thing better have fallen from a roof or window, because I swear to god, this is already bad enough without it turning into some B horror film. I can’t handle Zombicane where a hurricane meets a hoard of zombies merging and creating a super storm that drops more than rain and hail on you it drops the undead!”
“If we survive this, please pitch that idea to those people at that science channel on cable. That would be an awesome made for TV movie!” Wade was smiling.
“Mom?” Wren’s voice was a bit shaky.
“Was is it?” Emily asked.
“I think Jamie has a fever, he’s burning up my leg!” Wren replied trying to stay calm.
“I’m coming back!” Emily cried as she turned and made her way back to them. Wren softly laid his head on the seat and scooted away to allow her mother some room to examine him. She picked his head up gingerly, allowing her hand to rest on his forehead. “Oh, baby, you’re burning up!” She frowned and looked up at Jack who wore the identical look of worry she did.
“Is he going to be ok?” Wren asked as she chewed her bottom lip. Even Wade was looking at his little brother intensely.
“He’ll be ok.” Emily nodded. “We just have to get this fever to break.”
“We’re about to run into another issue, doc.” Artemis’ deep voice pulled them from their family dilemma.
“Oh, please don’t say that!” Jack shook his head, his shoulders falling in defeat.
“Sorry, but I can’t keep mum about this one. We’re about to run out of gas.” Artemis looked into the rearview mirror and met Jack’s eyes.
“What are we going to do?” Wade asked as he turned his attention outside.
“We need to find a safe place, somewhere that’s easily defendable in case.” Artemis replied.
“What place appears to be safe to you?” Wren shrieked, her chest heaved as she appeared to have an anxiety attack. “They were going to…going to…back there…”
“Calm down, Wren!” Em
ily commanded. “Take slow deep breaths.”
“It will be ok.” Jack smiled nervously.
“Stop saying that! What are you the Mr. Rogers of the apocalypse?” Wren screamed. “How can you see any of this and think it will all be ok? Oh my god Dad! Pull your head out of your ass and take a big whiff of reality!”
“I said calm down, dammit!” Emily’s voice rose over Wrens screaming.
“I see what looks to be an empty mom and pop grocery. I bet we could get in there and secure it up pretty good.” Artemis slowed down and pointed to the left. “Anyway, it isn’t…” his sentence was interrupted by the sputtering of the engine. It stalled and rolled to a stop. “…like we have much choice.”
“Shit.” Grumbled Jack as he looked out of the window to estimate how far they were from the store. It appeared to be about thirty yards, give or take a few. “I don’t think it’s safe for all of us to go at once, not with a sick kid in tow.”
“I agree with you on that, that’s why you’re coming with me, Wade too.” Artemis turned slightly in his seat in order to look at them directly as he spoke. “We’re gonna get out of here and make our way to the door. Ain’t no one gonna panic, ain’t no one gonna freak out. We’re gonna look out for one another, and if one of those things comes at us, we’re gonna kill it. Right?”
“Yeah.” Wade agreed, but didn’t turn his attention from the window. Jack merely nodded slowly as he shot a worried side glance at his wife.
“The ladies here, well they’re gonna lock the doors behind us. Once we make sure it’s all clear, I’ll come back to get them. If something happens out here, you honk that horn one time. Only honk it once, we don’t want to draw more attention to ourselves than absolutely necessary.” Artemis took a slow deep breath. “Keep your eyes open, and be aware of your surroundings. When you lose focus that’s why something will jump up and bit you right in the ass.”
“Did you learn that in the military?” Wade finally turned away from the window and looked at Artemis.
“Naw,” Artemis shook his head and smiled widely. “I learned that from Teely.” He chuckled as his eyes momentarily glazed over as he remembered. “Anyway. Each of you grab something that can kill one of those things and then we’ll go.” Jack reached for his gun, and Wade grabbed a crowbar that had been left in the vehicle.
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