“I agree,” said Linus.
“Should we look around first?” I asked.
“For what?” asked Linus.
“Anyone alive...” I trailed off as I heard a muffled cry from the back of the car.
“Did you hear that?” asked Ellis.
I nodded. “Backseat’s empty. Maybe the trunk?”
“What’s going on?” Matt asked, suddenly standing beside me.
“Something’s in the trunk,” I said quietly.
“Okay. Let’s check the trunk, load up, and we can call out to anyone potentially alive who might be hiding. Sound good?” Matt asked.
“Sure,” Ellis and I said simultaneously.
“I’ll check the trunk,” I said. “Is there a lever to release it?” I asked Ellis, who still sat behind the steering wheel.
“Yeah, I’ll pop it. Take Matt with you,” he said.
I nodded, and Matt and I stepped to the back of the car. The trunk popped open, but not enough for us to see inside. The crying stopped, but only for a moment. As I lifted the trunk upward, whatever was inside began sputtering. The sound was something like a dying cow mixed with a sprinkler. The stench that emanated was nose-biting. The vision of a toddler lying face down with her head to the side brought instant tears to my eyes. Her pudgy little arms were bound behind her back, leaving her defenseless. Her face scowled grotesquely. Bright red hair lay tangled where once double French braids must have been perfectly plaited. She had clouded eyes and gray-blue skin, and deep red marks from the zip ties on her wrists. I covered my mouth with one hand while my other remained on the trunk.
“Oh Lord Jesus. Who did this to her?” I asked, not expecting an answer.
“Get away from her.” I wasn’t familiar with the voice, but the hostility was impossible to miss, especially followed by the cock of a gun.
“Keep your hands up. All of you. And get the hell away from her!” the stranger ordered.
I did as instructed, reaching both hands over my head.
“Turn around. Slowly.”
I turned and did my best not to laugh. The gruff voice had come from a girl smaller than me, and nothing about her matched her deep voice. The girl was no more than in her late teens, four-foot-ten if she was lucky, and had the same ginger hair as the toddler in the trunk.
“We weren’t trying to hurt her,” I said.
“I don’t care what you were doing. Get away from my sister.”
The girl coughed into the crook of her free arm, her other hand keeping a shaky grip on her pistol.
“What happened to her?” asked Matt, who still stood beside me.
I glanced to my other side and made a note of where Linus and Agnes stood were. Both had their hands raised. I didn’t see Ellis anywhere and wondered if he’d ducked down below the driver’s seat. I hoped so.
“None of your damned business. You all need to get back in your truck and get out of here or I swear to God I’ll blow your brains out.”
“We’re low on gas,” interrupted Linus.
“Not my problem,” said the girl. She followed the sentiment with another deep cough.
“You’re sick. We’re headed someplace where they have medicine,” I said, bullshitting her.
“We don’t need your help. Get in the truck and leave or I’ll shoot you just like I did that fat man over there. I swear I will…”
My stomach lurched when I realized this small woman had killed the person who now lay in a bloody and nearly unrecognizable bloody heap not far from where we stood. Behind us, from the trunk, came an eerie cooing mixed with growling.
“Step away from my sister!” she screamed.
Matt nodded at me, encouraging me to follow the girl’s instructions.
“We’re moving to our right,” called out Matt, much louder than necessary.
I didn’t spend much time wondering why he’d been so specific, or loud. As soon as we both stepped away from the trunk, two gunshots rang out. The red-headed teenager fell backward. I watched as she writhed in the dirt, one of her hands desperately gripping at her chest. Blood began to soak her shirt where a bullet had found its target. Ellis finally exited the car, where he had been hiding, and rushed past us, taking a solid stance near the injured girl. He held a handgun, which he kept aimed at her head.
“What’s your name?” he asked the girl.
She stared at him for a moment as if not understanding the question.
“Your name. What is it?” he pressed, raising his voice to a tone that made me cringe.
The girl remained silent.
“Your name!” he shouted, his anger near boiling over.
“J…Jennifer.”
“Jennifer. I’m sorry it came to this, but I couldn’t let you hurt my friends.”
“Natalie. I need to take care of her…” the girls words trailed off as she lost consciousness.
“We’ll take care of her, don’t worry,” said Ellis. His voice held compassion that was in stark contrast to his earlier words. He took a deep breath before firing one last bullet.
I covered my face with my hands, not wanting to see the girl lying dead with a hole in her temple. Agnes began crying somewhere behind us. Matt took hold of my elbow and I dropped my hands from my face. He led me farther from the car. I wished Agnes would shut the fuck up. Her cries only intensified when Ellis plucked the toddler from the car trunk, holding her by her bound wrists as she thrashed about.
“No!” screamed Agnes. “What are you doing?”
Ellis’ handling of the child was brutal. He took no care in how her arms bent upward from her back, leaving them in an unnatural position that looked painful. He held her like one might hold a rag doll, his arm extended to prevent her from striking him. She snarled, and her jaws snapped as she desperately tried to whip her head back far enough to bite him.
“Stop it!” Agnes pleaded.
“Agnes. You’ve never been a moron before – don’t start now,” said her brother, rather cruelly. “It’s not even alive.”
“You don’t know that!” she replied, tears streaming down her face.
“Yes, I do. Shut up and get ahold of yourself.”
I grabbed onto Agnes’ arm and clung to her as we both watched Ellis take the child to the front of the car. He dropped her on the ground, not far from the mutilated body, and kicked at her as she rolled toward him. Agnes didn’t call out but made a noise of desperation from deep within her chest. I was horrified watching Ellis with the little girl. I hadn’t seen him act like that before and it was not easy to watch.
“Best hurry the fuck up,” Matt shouted to him.
Ellis raised the pistol and fired, but nothing happened.
“Fuck,” he said as the girl wriggled her way to her knees and faced him.
Matt quickly went to Ellis’ side, grabbed a rock, raised it overhead, and brought it down hard on the girl’s head. It took three more strikes before she fell still. Agnes trembled, as did I.
“Let’s drag Jennifer out of the way,” said Matt as he tried to catch his breath. “Otherwise we’ll back over her body.”
As sickened as I was, I knew I had to speak up.
“No. Don’t touch her. She was infected.”
“She’s right,” said Linus. “Let’s just get back in the truck and get the fuck out of here. The car’s not safe with the back window shot out, anyway. And who knows if there’s infection inside from the girl or her sister.”
“We should siphon the gas,” I added.
“No, we need to get out of here before the noise we made brings more of them,” said Linus.
“You can’t just leave them here,” cried Agnes.
“We have to,” I said. “We can’t risk infection.”
“Can we at least say a few words?” asked Agnes.
“Oh. My. God. Sis, they’re dead and both wanted to kill us!”
“It’ll only take a minute,” I added quietly. “We’ll meet you guys in the truck in a sec.”
I continued
to cling to Agnes as the three men made their way to the truck. While I knew I’d never see Matt or Ellis quite the same way again, I also knew they had done what needed to be done. It wouldn’t be fair to fault them, and I found myself wondering if I’d be able to do the same if, or when, the situation arose.
“C’mon,” I said to Agnes. “Just try not to look at them, okay?”
“Yeah,” was all she managed to say through her still-streaming tears.
We got as close to the dead people as we dared, not wanting to risk infection.
“I’m not sure what to say,” she said. “Just…I’m sorry this happened, and I hope you all rest in peace.”
As she wiped a tear from her cheek, I gave her a gentle sideways hug. I made the mistake of glancing at the bloody heap. The single identifiable appendage stood in deathly gray contrast to the bloodied tissues surrounding it. I was a bit startled to see the smallest bit of gory slurry move.
“Agnes, wait here,” I whispered.
I left her side to get closer to the mutilated corpse. I needed to be sure I hadn’t seen something that wasn’t there. I reached its side and carefully knelt beside it, making sure to not get within arm’s reach.
“Holy fuck,” I groaned.
“What is it?” I hadn’t expected to hear Ellis behind me.
“Look. There,” I pointed.
The bloody mess moved ever so slightly. Teeth, molars to be more precise, moved purposefully up and down. Had it not been for the movement, I would not have been able to recognize anything as human aside from the single arm and hand. Suddenly sick to my stomach again, I fell backward when eyelids opened, revealing a single green eye looking back at us.
“Woah,” said Ellis as he caught me before I could land on my backside. “Let’s get out of here.”
I didn’t argue.
Chapter Nineteen
It was a close call on gas as we coasted to a stop only a block from the trailer park. We left the truck behind and made the rest of the trek on foot. We only came across a handful of the dead, and only needed to fell two before snipers within the compound took out the rest.
We were greeted at the front gate by a tall man with graying hair and a handlebar moustache.
“Linus, glad to have you back, son. I see you brought some others,” the man said.
“Ben. Good to see you,” he answered as the two shook hands. “This is my sister Agnes, and three others we’ve picked up. Matt, Ellis, and Poppy.”
“Good to have you all here,” said the man as he offered us each a hand. “Agnes, we’ve heard a lot about you. You all look like you could use some clothes, shoes, a meal maybe?”
“You have no idea!” I said, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.
“Babs and Kent are just finishing up supper dishes, but I’m sure they have some leftovers they’ll dish up for you. Linus, mind showing them all to the mess hall?”
“Of course. Follow me,” he answered.
“Oh, be sure to ask Kent about housing. I know they’ve cleared the dead out of a few more units. Even if you don’t stay for long, which I hope you will, make yourselves comfortable,” said Kent.
***
We followed Linus between two mobile homes, passing under a carport before emerging into an open area that was set up as a common area. Tarps were strung between single-wide trailers and a few portable canopies on metal frames dotted the far end of the expanse. A variety of patio tables and chairs as well as a few wooden picnic tables were situated to the left. To the right stood a man and woman, their backs to us.
“Barbra, Kent,” said Linus.
The couple turned to face us. They both seemed glad to see Linus and offered warm smiles to us all.
“You made it back,” said the woman, clearly relieved. She was no older than us and wore her hair cropped short. Her nose sported a single diamond stud and her arms were covered in tattoos.
“I said I would,” answered Linus.
He stepped forward and embraced the woman warmly. She returned his gesture, careful to not touch him with the wet yellow rubber gloves she wore.
“Good to have you back, kid,” said the older man named Kent.
“Thanks, sir,” said Linus. He kept an arm around Barbara and faced us. “This is Agnes, my sister, and our new friends Matt, Ellis, and Poppy.”
Barbara stepped forward and hugged Agnes, which caused the latter to squirm uncomfortably.
“I’m so glad he found you,” she whispered.
“Ben said you might have some leftover supper?” asked Linus.
“You bet. If you don’t mind broccoli-chicken casserole?”
“That sounds amazing,” I said. “We’d be grateful. I don’t know about everyone else but I’m starving.”
“Thanks, Barb,” said Linus as he kissed her on the cheek.
“I need to finish these dishes with my dad; do you mind serving yourselves?” the woman asked.
“Barbie, I can finish here. Go on and sit with Linus,” said Kent.
“You sure, Dad?” she asked.
He nodded.
Barbara showed us where the leftover casserole had been stashed for the night. It was inside a single refrigerator that was powered by a small generator. The fridge was packed full of pitchers full of milk, which Barb explained were from rehydrated powder. One shelf held meat. She took the pan of casserole out, set it on a countertop, and watched as Linus scooped five servings onto paper plates.
Agnes sat beside me, and while she ate eagerly she remained quiet and avoided eye contact with anyone. The food was cold, but better than anything we’d had in days. It was clear that Linus and Barbara were more than just friends. She clung to his arm while he ate and seemed hesitant to let go for fear he might leave again.
“Ben said there’s a few units open?” he asked her.
“Yeah. Yesterday we cleared out the two-bedroom on the southwest corner, and there’s a smaller one next to it. We had to haul out seven of the dead, though. They’ve been airing out but might still be a bit rank. You know, you and your sister could stay with me and my dad tonight if you want. I know he’d say it’s okay.”
Linus smiled at her. “That’d be great. Agnes, you’ll like it there.”
Agnes kept eating and didn’t respond. I was afraid she was in shock, between seeing her best friend die and turn and the events at the roadside campsite.
“Or you can stay with us,” I said quietly.
She looked up at me, expressionless, but at least made eye contact. “I’ll be okay, but thanks,” she whispered.
“I’ll take you guys to the trailers after dinner,” Barbara offered.
“Thanks,” said Matt.
“The three of us can stay together in one place,” said Ellis. “I mean if that’s okay with both of you,” he added, addressing me and Matt.
“Sure,” I said.
“Do you mind showing us around the rest of the place?” Ellis asked. “It’d be good just to know the layout and get a feel for security.”
“Yeah sure,” said Barbara. “It’ll be dark soon, and we don’t like to use the lights much. It attracts the infected. So, we should look at the unit first so you’re familiar with it. Then we can walk the inside perimeter and do a more thorough tour tomorrow.”
“Sounds fine,” said Ellis.
We finished eating in relative silence, eager to use the fading daylight before it was gone.
***
It was a short walk to the trailer we’d be using.
“This is it. It’s not the prettiest, but it should be comfortable. There’s no electricity or running water; I’ll show you where we shower tomorrow. For tonight if you want to clean up just use the bottled water that’s on the kitchen counter. Do the same for the toilet – there’s a half-full five-gallon bucket of water next to the toilet. You can fill the tank with that if you need to flush. The linens on the beds are clean and we moved out any furniture that the dead soiled. Luckily in this unit there were only three and they were all in
the living room so really all we had to toss was the couch. Well, and a section of carpet. My dad sealed the subfloor with paint and we can throw an area rug over it once we get one.”
It was clear that Barbara liked to talk.
“We can find a clean couch later,” said Linus.
“Yeah. Tomorrow. Some of the old timers are making a supply run. Anyway, for tonight there’s a flashlight in each of the main rooms. Just try not to use them by the windows. It’s yours now, so whatever stuff you find in dressers and such is yours to use. Still want to walk that perimeter?” Barbara asked. She changed subjects often.
“I can totally take you guys,” said Linus. “But I promise it’s secure. There will be at least four guards on duty all night long.”
“I’m gonna hang behind,” I said with a yawn.
“Barb, can you get Agnes settled in at your place, so I can show the others the grounds?” asked Linus.
“Don’t worry about it, man,” said Matt. “We’re good waiting till morning.”
“Yeah,” agreed Ellis. “I really need to sleep, and I’ll take your word on security.”
“We’ll go over lots of things tomorrow. Try to rest up tonight,” said Barbara. “Oh, and make sure you draw all the curtains first thing.”
She took Linus’ hand and they stepped out the front door. Agnes looked at the rest of us and sighed before turning and following them.
“I’m going to go use the water in the kitchen to clean up,” I announced.
“Which bedroom do you want?” asked Matt.
“I don’t care. Just let me know where to go when I come back?” I asked.
“Save some water?” asked Ellis.
“Sure thing.”
I made my way to the kitchen. It was already difficult to see with the light of day fading away, but I was determined to at least wash my hands and face. The kitchen was spacious, despite the trailer being a single-wide. As promised, gallon-sized bottles of water were set neatly beside the sink. Several bath and hand towels were neatly rolled and stacked, maybe Barbara’s work? Wash cloths were rolled in a similar manner in front of the water, along with a bottle of shampoo, body wash, and to my absolute delight toothpaste and several new toothbrushes. I put the stopper in the bottom of the sink and emptied part of a gallon of water into the basin. Before long I decided to strip down to nothing and worked the washcloth over myself the best I could. I longed for a hot bath, or even a shower. The realization that those days were gone hit me hard, and I allowed myself to cry as I dried myself off. I wrapped myself in a bath towel and brushed my teeth. I carefully unwrapped the bandage from my ear and gently washed my hair over the sink. The soapy water stung my wound, but I knew cleaning it was a good idea.
The Rotten Series (Book 1): Infection Page 22