by Tim Moon
“Nothing, we’re fine.” She placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “I was thinking we should come up with a plan. I don’t think anyone is coming back here.”
Ben stretched his arms. His back was furious and it forced him to slow down to work out the kinks.
“A plan, huh,” he said. “Shouldn’t we wait for everyone else?”
“Why? This whole time we’ve basically been following you.”
Ben frowned and suddenly felt uncomfortable. He didn’t want the responsibility of deciding things for everyone. He wasn’t the leader. He was just like them; scared and unsure of what to do.
“All I know is that I – we – need to get off this island and I need to get home to my mom. And we need something to eat and drink. You know, essentials.” Ben rubbed his eyes. It was too early and he was too tired to decide this shit right now. A fantasy breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash browns flashed through his mind “But seriously, I think everybody should have a say in what we do. I mean not everyone wants to go to my house, right? You guys all have your own stuff, your own people to take care of.”
“Not me. Besides, that soldier told you to guard us. That’s why she gave you the gun, right?” Anuhea looked down, smirking at the pistol in his hand.
Ben slid it into the pocket of his cargo shorts. “You heard that, huh?”
She nodded.
“I didn’t ask for this,” he said uneasily. “I don’t want to be in charge. I’ve never done this kind of thing before.”
“I know.” Anuhea shrugged and looked out at the smoldering remains of the airport. Black smoke curled into the blue sky, marring the beauty of the islands. “Anyway, I’m sticking with you guys because of Charlotte and I don’t really have anywhere else to go,” she said, her voice trailing off. She glanced over her shoulder at Ty for a moment and something flickered in her eyes. Disappointment? Disgust? It was hard to tell. She looked back up at Ben. “All of you need to hit the mainland. I’m cool with that.”
Yes, the mainland, Ben thought, looking toward the airport.
The sky glowed orange as the sun edged up over the mountains, casting them into shadow. Looking around, Ben realized they hadn’t gone as far as he thought. Last night it’d felt like they walked an eternity. In reality, they traversed maybe half a mile or so. Yet even from where they stood the destruction at the airport was plain to see. Smoke rose from charred airplane carcasses and smoldering airport buildings, drifting across the sky as a warning to all who approached. The parking lot was filled with bodies; they dotted the space between the buildings, and were piled and strewn across the runway. A trail of bodies tapered off in the direction they had fled, all the way out to the multitude of burned out cars sitting in the parking lots.
The most disturbing scene Ben had ever seen in his life was at the south end, where the infected had broken through the security fences. Bodies were piled so high that, at first, Ben couldn’t tell if it was the ground he was looking at. That was until he noticed faint movements. Bodies of the infected that were incapacitated but still “alive,” as much as the infected could be alive, fought to claw free of their fallen kin. Maybe a hundred scattered infected continued wandering around aimlessly. Several were picking at bodies on the ground.
“It’s incredible, don’t you think?” Ben rubbed the back of his neck, attempting to massage out a knot.
“What?”
“How much was destroyed in such a short amount of time. There are so many deaths and so few survivors that it’s hard to describe how surreal this is,” Ben said.
Anuhea didn’t respond, but she nodded. Crossing her arms over her chest, she surveyed the remains.
“Have any ideas on what to do?” Ben asked, gesturing at the airport. “Because that’s obviously not an option anymore.”
Anuhea put her hands on her hips. Ben thought she looked like a soldier surveying the battlefield. She turned and pointed to the north along the highway.
Ben nodded. Abandoned cars sat blocking the road. Infected wandered along the road, meandering without purpose or direction. The airport was no better, infected still moved about slowly hunting their elusive prey. Basically, they were surrounded.
“We should probably head back to the Quarantine Center. The soldiers should know if Hilo’s airport is doing the same thing, you know, taking people to Molokai,” she said with a shrug. Then she turned to face him. “It’s the only other airport, but it’s all the way on the other side of the island.”
Ben groaned.
Oliver stood up. “I have to pee.” His hair was in complete disarray and he had dirt streaks like war paint on his face.
Ben pointed to a spot about twenty yards away. “Go water the bush.”
“And be careful you don’t fall,” Anuhea added.
They both watched as he shuffled over to the bush, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
“What are we going to do about him?” she whispered.
“I haven’t really thought about it. The way he tells it his parents are both dead and who knows where his grandparents are…or if they’re still alive.” Ben sighed. “I asked the people at the Quarantine Center, but they didn’t have any information and no missing children reports that matched Oliver. Maybe the Hilo side can give us better information.”
Ben wasn’t sure what to do. He felt responsible for Oliver. After all, it was his decision to rescue the kid at the triathlon. It was worth it, no doubt about that. Ben knew he couldn’t have lived with himself if he had left Oliver in the street to be devoured by those monsters. A chill spread over his body at the thought. “For now he’s better off with us. I guess….”
They stood quietly, looking over the remains of the airport. What had almost been their ticket to safety now stood as a one giant graveyard of dashed hopes.
“What should we do about getting to the QC?” Ben asked with a heavy sigh.
Anuhea shot him a grim look. “I have an idea.”
26
“We need a car or truck, something that runs,” Anuhea said. “It’s a simple plan. We go to the airport parking lot and find something with keys.”
“And we need weapons. I can’t be the only one with a gun.” Ben patted the pocket of his shorts where he kept the pistol tucked away. “It’s going to be a challenge, but I think it’ll work.”
“We dodge the infected and scrounge around for keys. It’ll be difficult but not impossible.”
“What about the car rental places?” Ben asked.
“Too many infected. I already checked,” Anuhea said. “A lot of them are behind the fence, too dumb to escape.”
Oliver stepped up between Ben and Anuhea as they stood staring toward the airport, waiting for the rest to wake up.
“I’m hungry,” Oliver said.
“We are too, but right now we don’t have anything,” Ben said, looking at the kid.
“I’m thirsty too,” Oliver said. He wasn’t whining, just stating the facts.
“We’ll get something soon,” Anuhea said, smiling.
“Okay.” Oliver turned away and sat down by Charlotte.
“I know of a place we can go near the hotel you guys stayed at. There is a convenience store too,” she said, nodding her head in Oliver’s direction. “Get him some food and drink.”
“I’d kill for one of those beef and bean burritos they make.” Ben winced slightly when his stomach actually did gurgle at the mention of food. “First things first though, we should wake everyone up and get moving.”
They both turned to wake everyone up and saw Oliver already shaking Charlotte awake.
Ben clapped his hands a few times. “Good morning. It’s time to get up and get moving.”
Anuhea nudged Ty with her foot.
“Wake up. Time to get moving,” he said again.
The couple blinked awake and slowly sat up. The man grimaced in pain when he tried to move his leg. Ty stayed where he was, but opened his eyes, stretched, and looked skeptically at Anuhea and Ben.
“That’s a great question,” Ben said.
“Not really, I can’t go anywhere with this,” the man said, gesturing at his foot.
Ben looked and saw a swollen, discolored lump that strained to break free of ankle high socks. The man’s bulging joint protruded from white shoes sporting splashes of dried blood and a thick coat of dust.
“That looks pretty bad,” Ben said, looking at Charlotte. “Is there anything you can do to help him? We have a long way to walk to find a car.”
Charlotte looked around and held out her hands. “Unless someone has a medical kit or crutches stashed away, there’s nothing I can do right now.”
Ben frowned even though he knew she was right. “Can you stand up at all?” he asked, turning back to the man.
“I haven’t tried yet,” the man said. He shifted into a seated position and looked at Ben, who caught the clue and offered his hand.
Pulling the man up on his good leg, Ben helped him to his feet and watched him try to stand on his own.
He groaned in pain and slumped against Ben.
“Oh dear God, that hurts,” the man said, breathing heavy and quickly sitting back down. “Like I said, I can’t go anywhere. I’ll just sit here and wait for you to come back when you find a car.”
Anuhea scoffed and turned away.
“Even if we get a car, you’ll have to make it to the road.” Ben pointed toward the highway. It was easily two football fields away.
The man leaned to the side so he could look around Ben. “Well then you’ll have to carry me. There’s no way in hell, my crippled ass can make it that far.”
“Travis!” the woman beside him said, slapping his shoulder.
“What?” he asked defensively.
“These people helped us last night. They don’t owe us anything, so don’t act so entitled. And there’s a child here, watch your mouth,” she said, looking apologetically at Ben. “He can be a bit slow sometimes, bless his heart.”
Ben liked this woman already.
“I don’t intend to leave you here to die. None of us wants that. We’re going to get the hell out of here, together,” Ben said, glancing at his friends for support. Charlotte and Anuhea nodded in agreement. Ty stood up and walked away. Ben scowled at his back. Then he looked back at the woman. “Sorry, what are your names? I’m Ben.”
“I’m Travis, like my lovely wife said.” He leaned back, put his hands behind his head, and squinted up at Ben. The sun had crested the mountains, beaming down on them with its full brilliance, slowly warming up the dark rocks.
“And I’m Kathy,” the woman said, tucking a lock of her curly blond hair behind her ear. “Thanks for helping us last night, it was….” Her voice trailed off.
“A goddamned clusterfuck,” Travis said, shaking his head. “It’s not much better today either. Now I’m just as good as dead if those things come close.”
“Don’t say that, honey,” Kathy said just before slapping his arm. “And watch your mouth. Did you lose your hearing too? They have a kid.” She turned and smiled sweetly at Oliver. The boy got shy and turned away from her.
Ty walked back and plopped down in his spot. He still hadn’t spoken.
Ben took a deep breath and looked at each of them.
“Here’s our plan so far,” he said, glancing at Anuhea. She nodded at him. Ben pointed at Travis. “First step, we need to move you closer to the road. Second, we’re going to go find wheels while you guys hide. Once we have something, we’ll pull up close on the road, load the rest of you in and then book it outta here.”
“I hope you plan on leaving the gun with me, if you’re going to dump me near the road,” Travis said, nodding toward the pocket where Ben kept the gun.
“Actually I’m not going to. You’re going to lie there quietly and not draw attention to the fact that you’re by the road,” Ben said.
Skepticism twisted Travis’ face.
“As long as you’re quiet, they’ll never know you’re there,” Anuhea chipped in.
“It’s true,” Charlotte said. Then she looked at Ben. “What about Oliver?”
“I figure you and him stay with Travis and Kathy.” Ben shrugged. “It’s the safest place to be and you can help keep them safe.”
Travis rolled his eyes. Kathy poked him in the shoulder and shot him a stern look.
“Fine,” Travis said. “When you find a car, load me in, then what? Where are we going?”
“Back to the Quarantine Center,” Anuhea said.
“It’s our best bet for getting help. You can see the doctors, we can get food, take a shower, and all that,” Ben said. Looking at his friend, he continued, “Ty, you’re going with me and Anuhea to search the parking lot for a car. We’re going to skip the rental car places, even though they’re close, because there are a lot of infected trapped in their fenced lots. We’ll head to the airport’s north lot, and work our way through.”
Ty slowly looked up at him. He spoke slow and incredulous, pointing toward the airport. “You want to go over there?”
“You weren’t listening?”
“You want me to go over there? You don’t see the infected walking around? There’s a bunch of them still roaming around.” Ty looked at Ben like he was an idiot.
“You’re coming with us, so grow a set of balls and get off your ass,” Ben said in his best teacher voice. It had worked on his students, but he had no idea if it’d work on Ty.
Ty flinched back at the rebuke and folded his arms over his chest.
“It’s settled then,” Ben said. “Let’s get going before it gets too hot.”
27
The ground they had to cover sloped downhill ever so slightly from their camp in a small depression at the base of a hill to the road. Other than a few scraggly bushes, there was no cover and no shade.
For the entire distance of around two hundred yards, there was no cover. If they went slow and careful, staying as quiet as possible, then they could hide Travis and the others in the ditch that ran alongside the road. Darkness provided cover for them the previous night, while daylight made them visible over long distances. Unfortunately, they couldn’t wait all day for nightfall. So, if it took them a long time to cover the distance safely then so be it. The thought of having to fight more infected made Ben uneasy.
“Give me a hand with Travis,” Ben said, motioning to Ty. His friend made a face, but came over to help. Ben looked down at Travis. “Ready?”
“As much as I’ll ever be.” Travis grimaced as he shifted his position to get ready for them.
“On three,” Ben said, taking one of Travis’ arms. The two men nodded, so Ben began the count. “One, two, three.”
They pulled the Travis up until he was standing on one leg. He was unsteady, but Ben and Ty supported him.
“Of all the times to get hurt,” Travis grumbled.
“Don’t worry about it now. We’ll go nice and easy,” Ben said to reassure him.
Travis draped an arm over the shoulders of both Ben and Ty, and they began the march to ditch. The sun blazed down on them, sending trickles of sweat down their backs as they picked their way through the lava field.
Two hundred yards had never felt so long. Even running lines at football practice seemed preferable to this slow, unsteady walk. Carrying Travis in the heat was one of the most difficult things he’d done since two-a-day training camps. At least at football practice no one wanted to tear him apart.
After almost thirty minutes, they had covered maybe half the distance. Sweat dripped off Ty’s chin. He was huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf.
“I need to stop. Break time.” Ty slowed without waiting for the others.
Travis lost his balance and nearly tipped forward, but Ben grabbed him. The spun a quarter-turn as if they were dancing.
“Give me some fucking warning,” Travis said with a growl, glaring at Ty.
Ty pulled his shirt up to wipe his face off, ign
oring the complaint.
Judging by the looks Ben got, everyone was grateful for the break. Oliver was the only who didn’t look too worse for wear. Their clothes were damp from humidity and drenched with sweat. The worst part of it was the lack of water. No one had thought to bring water because everyone should have been safe on Molokai. Who would have thought that their plane would crash, burst into flames, and the airport overrun with zombies? Water had to be a priority, right up there with finding a car they could use to escape.
Ben looked at Oliver. His face was red and sweat trickled down his chubby cheeks. Despite that, the kid still looked happy enough. Kids amazed him.
Oliver caught Ben watching him. “I’m thirsty.”
“I know. We’re all thirsty. It’s hot out here,” Ben said. “We’ll get something soon.”
Oliver nodded and went back to looking around; he reached for a rock near his feet.
“Let’s go, my foot is throbbing. I just want to get this over with,” Travis said, wincing. “The sooner the better.”
Ben held Travis while they waited for Ty to get up and take his position. Dust covered their shoes and no one smelled pleasant as they crossed the last one hundred yards. It was hard work carrying Travis along.
Ben wasn’t sure if he was slacking or what, but Travis didn’t seem capable of taking on too much weight. Ben and Ty held most of his weight while Travis simply hopped along.
“Wait. Stop!” Anuhea said quietly.
Everyone froze, wondering what was going on. Ben looked ahead as he caught his breath. A small group of infected had emerged from behind a row of cars near the intersection and began walking along the road that they were headed toward. If they continued walking, it was possible that their group would be spotted.
The ditch was fifty yards away. They all wanted to get there as soon as possible. But avoiding the infected was worth the wait.
Shuffling and stumbling lazily down the road, the infected seemed to be going nowhere in particular. It was a group of three women and two men, all of whom had vicious looking injuries. One of the women had an arm nearly torn off. It hung twisted and broken at her side, dangling from stretched out skin that held it to her shoulder.