by Tahnee Fritz
“You heard that man too?” he asks.
I nod and sniff the air again. The dead smell is stronger than before and more intense. There’s more than just one of those things heading our way and we might actually have a problem. I keep my gun clenched in my grip and walk a few more steps toward the sound of the voice. He calls out again and I hear a female voice along with his. Their running footsteps come next as they trod over dead leaves in their path.
“There!” Carter shouts and points.
Through the trees, I can see them. A family with two very young children. A baby in the mother’s arms and a toddler in the father’s. They are running as fast as they can, trying not to look back at the group of zombies chasing after them. Carter shouts at them to come our way and the father spots him and obeys.
The rest of my team joins us, readying their guns and weapons. I run my fingers through my hair and prepare myself for this mini war we are about to rage upon the oncoming zombies. I can’t tell how many there are, but by the sounds of the groans, there’s more than just a few. They stammer through the woods, some bumping against the trees and tripping over their feet. They move fast, catching up with the family they’re after.
“Oh thank god, help us, please.” The father pleads as he approaches us.
“Get behind us and stay down.” Carter orders.
The family gets as close to the wall as possible and crouches low to the ground. The baby and the little girl are sobbing loudly, blending in with the moans coming from the zombies. My team lines up in a row and we wait for the monsters to get out of the tree line. We’d be wasting our bullets by firing randomly, hoping to land in the skull of a zombie. The five other people with me are the best I could have chosen and they know exactly what to do.
There’s Carla, another badass much like myself. Before she came here, she actually used to hunt the vampires at night just for the thrill of it. Then there’s Dennis and Pete. They’re best friends who lost everything together a few days before they found this place. They’ve known each other forever and were ready to die until they stumbled upon the giant wall of the city. And of course we already know Carter and Keith. They just add to this awesome team of mine.
My heart pounds a little faster in my chest. I’m not afraid of how many zombies are coming at us. This sounds crazy, but I’m excited about encountering this many. I can see about fifteen of those stumbling bastards and it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a group like this.
The first one comes lumbering out of the tree line, twenty feet to go and he’d be right on top of us. I step out in front of my group and aim the gun in my hand. I let my index finger squeeze the trigger and the bullet shoots out, making a crater in the skull of the zombie. His brown blood sprays through the air, adding to the misty rain coming from the sky. His friends walk all over him as they keep coming at us. None of these zombies are hesitating. All of them have hunger burning in their eyes.
Two more shots are fired and two more zombies go down. They look like strings of spaghetti as their arms fly over their heads and go crashing to the grass at their feet. I take another shot, sending the bullet through the brain of a female with a scratch down the length of her face. She falls face first on top of another zombie.
“Is this the excitement you’ve been waiting for?” I hear Carter’s voice ask me over the sound of gunshots.
I let the smile cross my lips and say, “A little bit. You gotta admit, you’ve been wanting something like this to come along too. You just don’t show it like I do.”
“No one shows anything like you do.” He replies.
Three more go down, adding to the heap on the grass. Blood oozes from the wounds on their bodies, staining the grass a dark brown. The group of zombies is thinning and we’re down to the last two standing. Well, one of them is climbing over her dead friends to get to us while the other one is standing. The woman doesn’t bother me. I let Carla take her out. The bullet rips off a chunk of her skull and hair goes flying through the air. The one left standing, stares at me with a look in his eyes causing me to lower my gun.
“Don’t shoot, guys.” I order to my group and they lower their weapons.
I step away from my team, getting closer to the hesitant zombie. He’s the first one like this that we’ve seen since we put up the watch towers. He’s a younger man, probably my age, with black hair and a dark green t-shirt with blood around the collar. His eyes look sad as he stares at me. I can tell he’s longing for something, a life he’ll never have again. I don’t know if his human self is in there somewhere, I’m kind of hoping it isn’t. I couldn’t imagine what that life would be like, knowing that you’ve killed dozens of humans by ripping them apart. I’d rather put the bullet in my own head if it came down to that.
I move closer to him, stopping just before the pile of dead zombies. He takes a step back and I raise an eyebrow out of confusion. I’ve seen the hesitant ones before. The ones that will stare at us, contemplating a nice meal or not. I’ve seen these creatures destroy themselves just to save a few humans who were faced with death by vampire. I’ve never seen a zombie look so sad, so depressed that he’s actually stepping away from me.
“Can you understand me?” I ask, feeling like a fool for talking to a dead thing.
I stare at his lifeless black eyes, hoping for some hint that he can. His hands dangle at his sides, blood and grit caked under his fingernails. His jeans are ripped in one of the knees and various holes are scattered through the fabric. He blinks his eyes at me and takes another step backward.
I don’t pay too close attention to zombies when I’m face to face with them like this. But, I swear to the man in the sky that I have never once seen one of them blink like that. I didn’t think they even could do that anymore. Here this one is, slowly backing away from me, blinking his eyes like he understood what I said. If I wouldn’t get shot for just thinking this, I would love to bring this zombie back with me and figure this whole thing out. There has to be a reason why they hesitate like this and someone needs to find out.
Why not me?
“Bridget,” Keith calls from behind me, “you alright?”
I let this young zombie walk away from me and he disappears amongst the trees. He displayed something I can’t comprehend and I’m not going to kill him for that. I run my fingers through my damp hair and turn around to face my team. Carla and Pete are busy tending to the family while Keith, Carter, and Dennis stare at me with awe on their faces.
I smile at them and say, “I’m great, never been better.” I walk toward them, “Let’s get these folks inside and checked over. I think I’m gonna call it for the day.”
“You sure?” Dennis asks, “We still have a couple hours left.”
I nod, “You guys can stay out if you want. I’m gonna go in with the family and make sure they’re alright.”
I join Carla and Pete as they help the mother in the family get to her feet. She’s clutching her baby against her chest and refuses to let go of him. The father holds the little girl and follows me to the gate. They seem alright to me. No bite marks or scratches that I can see right off the bat. They are really shaken up and tense and afraid, but that’ll pass.
This day might have started off a bore, but saving this family really puts it over the top. Even if, by some random chance, my team didn’t get the most zombies this week, we deserve the weekend off just for saving these few people. We don’t get this very often.
* * *
I showed the family to a small doctor’s office about a block from the gate. They were scanned and deemed free of infection of the undead kind. They’ve been given plenty of water and food to eat while they’re being looked over. The baby even got fresh formula in a nice bottle and the little girl got a new dolly to play with. Dwayne is in the room with them, talking to the father about what happened and how they found this city. He says it’s important for humans to know the way here. More will come that way.
My hands are shaking as I stand in the middle
of the street and stare at the wall in front of me. I don’t know why I feel nervous all of a sudden and I don’t like it. This feeling doesn’t mix well with me. Maybe it has something to do with killing all those zombies out there. I’ve run into plenty of monsters on my own, so being nervous about it seems a bit redundant to me. Maybe my mind is still wrapped around the hesitant one. I just can’t figure out why he reacted after I asked him a question no zombie should be able to understand.
Those beasts are so frustrating anymore. Every time I think I have them figured out, they go and confuse me even more. This is already a tough life to live without the confusion of the vamps and zombies. I don’t need anything else to drive me crazy.
A door opens to my right and I hear footsteps walking toward me. I quickly tuck my gun in my jeans behind my back and cover it up with my hoodie. I don’t need to hide it, it’s just a little awkward having it out when we aren’t in danger.
“Excuse me?” I hear a man’s voice and I turn my head to see the father of that family walking toward me.
I raise an eyebrow and say, “Yeah?”
He smiles as he stands next to me in the street, “What’s your name?”
“Bridget.”
“I’m Martin, my wife in there is Judy and our two kids, Abby and Taylor.” He says with a smile.
“Nice to meet ya.” I state.
He takes a deep breath, “You saved us out there. I thought for sure we were goners until we ran into your team.”
I shrug, “That’s why we’re out there. We make sure people find this place and no zombies or vamps get through.”
“We thought this place was just a rumor, but chose to check it out anyway. We want a new, safe life where those demons can’t get to us.” Martin says.
“Des Moines can give you that and more.” I say.
“I can see that.” He shoves his hands in his pants’ pockets nervously, then continues, “I really came out here to thank you for helping us. I don’t want to think of what could have happened if your group wasn’t out there watching.”
Another shrug, “You don’t need to thank me. I enjoy what I do and saving you is an added benefit.”
“You enjoy killing those things?”
“I know it’s weird.” I reply with a nod.
“How old are you?”
“Just turned twenty one, why?” I ask.
He shakes his head in disappointment, “You’re too young to be enjoying this. You should be having fun with your friends and not killing those things out there.”
Martin walks away from me before I can retort leaving me to feel even more confused about everything. I know I’m young and I know what I should be doing with my life. The world and the amazing cure kind of changed how things should be. Teenagers are out there roaming the streets, shooting whatever creature, human or not, that gets in their way of survival. Little children are forced to grow up wondering if they’ll have a future or not. I was forced to watch my entire family die in front of me which took away a good majority of my future.
I can’t have a normal life with normal friends anymore. My life didn’t turn out the way it should have and I’m okay with that. I have all that I need right now. The love of the best man in the world, a friend who never wants to leave me alone sometimes, and the perfect job someone like me could ask for. Who cares if this isn’t what I should be doing. This is what I want to be doing.
Dwayne walks through the door as Martin goes back inside to his family. I save him the trip of walking all the way to the middle of the street and meet him on the sidewalk outside the brick building. He has a gun tucked safely in a holster on his belt, one which he rarely uses. He never comes with us to the other side of the wall and enjoys sitting behind a desk with some of the other officers on the security force.
“Good job out there today.” He says with a stern look on his face.
“Thanks.”
“Tell me about this zombie that got away from you. That doesn’t sound like the Bridget I know.” He states.
I shake my head, “He didn’t want to hurt any of us so I didn’t want to kill him. No sense in wasting bullets on the hesitant ones.”
“Sure,” he says, unconvinced at what I said, “Martin and his wife told me where they came from and how they got here.”
“Took them awhile. I’ve been standing out here for like an hour.” I say, snidely.
He chuckles, “There’s a village about a two day walk from here. Other humans are there trying to survive. They said there’s not a lot of people, but they do have firepower and resources like food and water.”
“Okay, that’s good for them.” I say.
“It’s great others are surviving out there. They are travelers just like us, Bridget. They deserve a chance at getting a better life here in the city.” Dwayne states.
“Yeah, what are you getting at?”
“I was talking to Carter in there. He thinks it might prove beneficial if we take a trip to this village and see how they’re really living. Maybe try talking them into coming back with us. Tell them how they won’t have to worry about zombies or vampires or anything.” Dwayne says, “Des Moines will be good for them and they’ll be good for this place.”
I raise an eyebrow, “I guess that would be a smart thing to do. Anyone with a functioning brain would be all over the idea of living safely behind a fortified wall. Especially when I’m out there defending it every day.”
Dwayne smiles and says, “That brings me to something I need to ask you. I want you on this expedition with me. You, Carter, Keith, the rest of your team. You guys are the best at what you do and we know you can keep us all safe. I trust you with my life and so does every other soul in this place. You’re the best person to be right by my side, running the show out there.”
Excuse me while I allow the small version of myself to jump up and down, screaming for joy in my head. I might not admit this to too many people, but I would love to spend a few nights on the road again. Reliving the life I used to have and getting to do things I love doing in the real world. Being a traveler was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my life. Getting to do that again, even just for a few days, would be a dream come true.
There’s just one thing that holds me back.
And I have no idea how I would explain this to him.
“Bridget?” Dwayne says, getting my attention again, “What do you say?”
I swallow hard, trying not to jump the gun on this decision, “You know I want to more than anything, I just can’t say ‘yes’ without talking to Ryder first. If I do something like this and not let him know, that could destroy us.”
Dwayne nods, “I understand that, but we kind of need an answer now.”
“Why? When would we be leaving?” I ask.
“Sunday.” A simple answer.
“That’s soon.”
He nods, “I know, but Mayor Whitmore is already being informed of this news. You know how he is when he knows other humans are out there. He’d want us to leave now if he knew that was possible.”
I nod and take a deep breath. That Mayor is by far one of the most humane people I’ve ever met. He cares so much for humans and animals. If the zombies and vamps weren’t trying to kill and eat us, he’d care about them as well.
Still, this is a big thing that I’d be doing. Risking my life for the off chance at convincing a few people to come back with us. That would be amazing and totally worth it if they chose to, but it’s a long shot at getting travelers to do anything they aren’t used to doing. One reason why I’m a little crazy at times.
I stare at Dwayne. He’s patiently waiting for my answer.
“Ryder might kill me for this, but I’ll do it. I’ll come up with some way to explain to him why this needs to be done and I’m sure he’ll understand.” I say.
“He won’t have anything to worry about. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met and you’ll have myself and Carter to keep an eye out on ya as well.” Dwayne says wit
h a smile. “Just talk it over with him and we’ll discuss this again tomorrow.”
I sigh and nod my head. Dwayne goes back to the doctor’s office and disappears inside. He’s so good with people now. Encouraging them to do all they can to survive is sort of his thing. I guess my little speech in Hatfeld really stuck with him.
* * *
Ryder’s home by the time I get there. I can see his shadow moving by one of the living room windows. I walk up the few, short steps to the porch and stare at the grey front door. The gold doorknob is old and faded and the lock is scratched up pretty bad. The window was spray painted black before the house was given to us. I assume the original owners did that when the cure’s side effects took over. People were always doing strange things thinking it would help their chances. Maybe this worked, maybe it didn’t. I’ll never know.
I’m a little nervous to go inside. Ryder and I haven’t really been apart, other than when we’re working. We haven’t gone an entire day without each other since we met. I don’t really know how I’m going to explain to him that Dwayne wants me to leave for a few days that could possibly end up being forever. I know he’ll be upset and probably not want me to go. Hell, I wouldn’t want him to go if he were in my shoes. Then again, I’d probably go with him.
I let a sigh escape me as I grip the cold doorknob and turn it. There’s a tiny squeak when the door swings open and again when I close it. I run my fingers through my hair, catching on a few snags. Ryder is busy trying to get the DVD player to work. He’s not the greatest when it comes to that ancient machine. Half the time it doesn’t want to turn on or the movie decides it doesn’t want to play for us. It is getting pretty old and the movies are all used and worn out.
I smile when our eyes meet. He’s banging the remote against the palm of his hand, cursing under his breath. How could I possibly leave this man? He’s so funny and does all the right things. I know it will only be for a few days, but that’s long enough for me to miss him already.