Rose ducked behind a tree and reloaded her magazine. Rose removed her last AR-15 magazine from her pocket and slammed it into the rifle. Loading a round into the chamber, standing, and leaning around the tree all in one motion, Rose returned fire in the general direction of the three remaining bikers. Off to her left, Rose could hear Aaron returning fire as well, pumping and blasting with his shotgun. Out of the corner of her eye, Rose could see Aaron make a break for another tree drawing fire from all three shooters and exposing one as he repositioned for a better shot. Rose saw her opportunity and sent a burst of bullets at the man, knocking him back in a howl of pain.
Aaron had made it to another tree and was still taking fire from both remaining bikers. Rose decided made a break for another tree as well, but in the opposite direction and further off to the side of the two bikers. The two men were so focused on Aaron that they didn't notice Rose as she came into perfect position. Rose lined up her shots and dropped both men quickly, blood painting the trees they were hiding behind.
As Rose killed the last two men, Aaron moved out from behind his tree and advanced on them. Aaron was bleeding and limping from a bullet wound to his right calf. Other than the small limp however, he seemed undeterred by the injury. Aaron arrived at the two dead men first, Rose just after him. He poked both with the barrel of his gun; both were very dead with wounds to their heads and necks. Rose walked over to the third man she’d shot. The man was still alive but fading quickly. The man didn't appear to have the use of either arm as several shots seemed to have entered one arm, passed through his body and exited out the other arm. What he did have was a look of determination on his face that said if he could kill Rose, he would have.
As Rose approached, the man attempted to spit at her, but it just dribbled down his bearded chin. “Fuck you, bitch,” the man stammered between shuddering breaths. Rose just looked down at him with disgust.
“You killed everyone in this town,” said Rose, as if pronouncing a judgement on the man. “You and your group killed our women, children, our sick and injured.”
“All’s fair...in war, bitch,” said the man smiling, his teeth a glossy red from blood. “You attacked us first...You asked for it,” the man gasped, letting out a shudder that may have been a laugh. Screams of the infected pierced the air close by. Aaron, who’d just joined them, turned to look in the direction the screams had just come from.
“Have fun being eaten, bitch,” said the man.
“Alright, that’s enough of that,” said Aaron, impatiently returning his attention to the man. Aaron stepped over to him and casually shot him in the face with his shotgun. Without looking back, Aaron turned and started heading in the direction of the screams. Rose lifted her rifle and rested it on her shoulder. She raised her eyebrow and smirked at Aaron’s back as he hustled away. She was impressed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hurrying after Aaron, the screams of the infected were becoming louder and more distinct. As they broke out of the woods and onto the road near the southern barrier, they saw why. There were at least a hundred infected around the barrier and probably about three times that many dead littered all over the area. Many infected were running past the remaining defenses unmolested and headed into town while others were sticking around and fighting with few the remaining defenders. Rose counted about ten defenders left on and around the barrier including Rene and Adeline. Rene was meticulously firing from behind cover shooting any infected nearby but Adeline had her own tactic. She was standing on a part of the barrier near her father but about half way up, completely exposed, randomly and indiscriminately blasting her shotgun from the hip at any infected that happened to wander nearby. It would’ve been almost comical if the situation wasn’t so serious.
Rose began shooting any infected nearby with her rifle as they carved a path through the mass of bodies toward Rene and Adeline. Rose, back to back with Aaron, was about halfway to Rene and Adeline when she ran out of bullets. Batting aside a nearby infected woman with the butt of the rifle, Rose then discarded it and drew both of her handguns. Close range like this, it was hard to miss with a handgun so Rose moved quickly and made every shot count. As Rose and Aaron the barrier, Adeline and Rene was moving to meet them.
“We need to go,” said Rene.
“Back into town?” asked Aaron.
“No, the town is lost. As many infected that have stuck around here to fight, hundreds have just run by us,” said Rene. His tone was somber and his face was ashen.
“Where are we going?” asked Aaron who seemed to be on the verge of panicking.
“I have a truck. It’s been in the woods since I was captured, so it’s hopefully still there,” said Rose. “We can use that to get somewhere else but we’re going to need gas. That was the whole reason I came here in the first place.” Rose had always kept the knowledge of her truck in the back of her mind as a way for her to escape but as time had gone on, she’d thought less and less about it.
“We figured, and we looked for it, but we could never find it,” said Aaron. “Are you sure it’s still out there?”
That didn't make Rose confident. “Well, we won’t know if we don’t go and look.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a cluster of infected who were jogging toward them. Two men and a woman, eyes fixed on Rose and Aaron, eager to rip them apart. Rose ducked under them but Aaron stayed high catching one of the men in the throat with his machete, having re-slung his empty shotgun. Rene slammed the temple of the woman with the butt of his rifle sending her careening down to the ground. Adeline blasted off a round at the other man removing a large chunk from his left side and sending him spinning to the ground.
“Let’s move!” shouted Rose. Adeline jumped down off her perch and moved next to Aaron. Rene and Rose covered the front and sides while Adeline and Aaron covered the back as they moved like a synchronized team through the crowd of infected. The last of the town’s defenders had either been killed or had fled and the infected now were just pouring past the barrier and down the road to the city. Most had no interest in Rose and her group and moved past in search of an easier meal, but some tried their luck and were put down quickly.
The group slowly moved through the press of infected making their way to the woodline. The steady blasts of Adeline’s shotgun, the hacking and slashing of Aaron’s machete, and the quick pops of Rene’s rifle and Rose’s handguns filled the air drowning out the screams. Leaving a trail of bodies in their wake, the group reached the woodline and moved into the woods. There were many fewer infected in the woods as they seemed to prefer to travel by the route with the least amount of resistance. Moving through the woods and out of sight of the mass of infected in the road, they decided to spread out. Travelling parallel to the road was much faster than fighting but Rose knew what they were letting scramble past. All those infected were headed straight for Paimpol and Rose was doing nothing to stop them. Anyone not killed defending would surely be killed by the mob that was probably just now starting to destroy the town. Everything that Rene had worked for and all those people that he’d protected were now gone or more likely dead. Rose felt sick to her stomach just thinking about it but what could she do? Four people against the mob descending on Paimpol would do nothing but get themselves killed. Rose had finally felt safe there. She’d actually convinced herself that this was a place she could stay. Paimpol was going to be her home, and now she was fleeing yet another town, death close at her heels. Would this be her entire life? Would she be running forever until finally one day death would get the better of her?
No one was talking; they were just moving. Rose assumed the others’ thoughts were similar to her own, how could they not be? Rene had lost everything he’d worked for since becoming leader of Paimpol, Adeline had lost almost every friend she had, and Aaron had lost the town he’d grown up in along with almost everyone he’d ever known. Rose had seen this grief before in herself after she lost Kate, and she knew that it was not something that they’d be able
to shed easily. Rose knew it was now her job to protect the people she had left while they recovered from their loss. She needed to be strong if they were to break away from this cruel world and survive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone was still on autopilot as they passed the outer pile of cars. There were large holes in the forest floor where Paimpol’s mines had exploded, charred body parts scattered around and hanging from the trees adding to the horror. But every step they took, they got closer and closer to where Rose had left the Humvee. The number of infected in the woods had thinned so much that they hardly saw any anymore. Those they did come across were killed quickly and wordlessly. No one talked, everyone just did what they had to and kept moving. There was no emotion, just action. Not knowing exactly where the Humvee was left, Rose finally broke the silence that had persisted since they’d first entered the woods. “We should go out to the road now. There was a small pull-off and I parked the Humvee off of that.” Rose was answered by sullen looks from Adeline and Aaron and a small nod from Rene.
They moved out to the road and found it to be empty. Rose could see a few infected off in the distance but their backs were to the group and they were headed away toward Paimpol. In the distance, she could see large plumes of dark smoke. Rose looked down the road the other way and saw no infected, just open road. Without the immediate threat of infected near by, the four just naturally formed a loose cluster of broken survivors as they slowly made their way down the road. All their urgency seemed to have evaporated and they just plodded along down the road. Rose looked around at her companions. Rene seemed pale and lost in thought. Aaron had his arm around Adeline’s shoulders as they walked side by side. Aaron was looking down at the ground and Adeline was staring ahead, eyes unfocused, red-rimmed and puffy. Rose tried not to dwell on their sorrow and focused on finding where she’d left the Humvee.
About a half-mile down the road, Rose came to a small dirt section on the side of the road that was promising for the pull-off she’d seen those many months ago. Leaving the other three at the road, Rose jogged into the woods nearby and quickly found the Humvee right where she’d left it. Rose hollered out to her companions to join her and set to work clearing the brush off the truck. Rose was quickly joined by Adeline and Aaron and they set to work helping Rose clear the remaining brush. Rene eventually joined them but stood off to the side a short distance away and didn't help, only watched them stone-faced, as they worked. Once cleared off, Rose dug around under a back tire until she produced the ignition key. She unlocked the doors and then jumped into the driver’s seat. Turning the key in the ignition, it didn't initially want to start after sitting for months, but eventually turned over and fired up. This seemed to brighten the moods of Aaron and Adeline a little bit, and that made Rose feel a lot better. Rose looked over to Rene who was still standing nearby and hadn’t moved to get into the truck once it was started. Rene was still just staring at them as if he was sizing them up.
“Let’s go Dad!” called Adeline to her father.
This seemed to make something click in his mind. Rene blinked, looked back over his shoulder, and then slowly walked over to the truck climbing into the back seat. Rose found this a little odd, but didn’t put too much thought into it, Rene was still likely in shock from the loss of Paimpol. Looking down at the gas gauge, she saw that the needle was hovering right above the “E,” so wherever they went to get gas, it needed to be relatively close.
Calling to Aaron in the back seat Rose asked “Where’s the closest place we could get gas around here? We’re not going to make it that far.”
“The closest town to the east is Sainte-Marguerite-Marie, a small logging town that’s kinda the last stop before you head out into the deep woods.”
“How many people live there?” asked Rose.
“About 200 or so, not quite sure,” said Aaron, thinking. “Haven’t been there for a while but I remember how to get there.”
Rose eased the Humvee forward crashing through sticks and branches finally emerging into the pull-off. Rose took a right taking them away from Paimpol for the last time. So much had changed since the last time she was in this truck but so much had also stayed the same. As much as Rose thought she’d been escaping death, it always managed to find her again. All Rose could do was keeping moving and keep surviving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rose was lucky to have Aaron this time since her phone was long dead in the pocket of her pants, she’d have been driving blind with no real idea where she was going. Aaron had grown up in this area and knew all the roads pretty well. He also knew several shortcuts through logging roads and sometimes just plain fields, which likely saved them gas in the long run. The swarm of infected that attacked Paimpol seemed to be the only sizeable group in the area. They’d occasionally see some infected walking or running around, but for the most part the area seemed largely abandoned. Animals didn't seem to have escaped the carnage of the infection however as evidenced by several fields with piles of gore that probably used to be horses or cattle, it was impossible to tell which.
Rose was also starting to become more and more suspicious of Rene. He wasn’t himself, that was obvious to Rose. He wasn’t talking and had been keeping to himself as much one could in the back seat of the Humvee. Rene had yet to make eye contact with Rose or anyone else since they left town and just stared out the window as they drove. They’d stopped for a bathroom break and Rose had asked Adeline about it when they were alone. She’d thought he was just still in shock from losing the town but Rose wasn’t so sure. Rose had been around Kate for almost every stage of her sickness and there were some telling similarities. Rene seemed skeptical of Aaron and Rose now and to a lesser extent, Adeline. He often didn't respond to his name on the first attempt as if he just wasn’t listening and Rose could tell he wasn’t comfortable being with them, the opposite of how he should be feeling. Rene was almost completely covered by clothing and didn't appear injured, but he was also a tough old man and wouldn’t show weakness, especially when he was surrounded by people he thought he didn’t know. Rose decided she’d keep a close eye on him for the time being.
It’d also become obvious to Rose that Adeline and Aaron had become closer. The back seat of the Humvee had more than enough room for three, but Adeline was snug right up next to Aaron using his shoulder to nap. Not that Aaron seem to mind-they’d been through a lot together and Rose wasn’t surprised. Glancing at them in the rear view mirror gave Rose a pang of remorse-maybe jealousy-she’d not felt in a long time. While she felt that she was over Kate’s death, it would still be with her for the rest of her life. However long that life may happen to be.
It was about 45 minutes later when Aaron told Rose that Sainte-Marguerite-Marie would be ahead shortly. They’d only just barely made it. The gas light had come on a while back and Rose wasn’t sure how much longer they could have gone. Rose pulled to the side of the road and turned the Humvee off. After stepping out, Rose took stock of her weapons. Her AR-15 was gone, left in the road near Paimpol, but she still had both handguns with two magazines for each, about sixty bullets total left. Rose also had a large bowie knife as her backup. Aaron and Adeline exited the truck, Adeline with her shotgun and Aaron with his machete, his empty shotgun left in the truck. “How many shells do you have left for that thing Adeline?” asked Rose.
Adeline checked her coat pocket. “I think I’ve got two or three in the shotgun and another five in my pocket from Aaron.”
“Okay load as many as you can into your shotgun, we’re probably going to need all of them,” said Rose.
“Rene, are you coming?” said Aaron to the closed door of the truck. Rene was still sitting inside looking at them. Slowly, Rene opened the door to the truck and stepped out. He took his AR-15 and slung it over his back and shoulder. “How many bullets do you have left?” Rose asked Rene.
“Enough,” he said, without looking at her.
“Okay…” Rose said, taken a little aback. “Lets head into
town,” she said, recovering. “Keep an eye out for anything that moves. You know there is more out there than infected that may try to kill us.”
They set off again in a ragged cluster, but with more energy at the prospect of finding more fuel and supplies. The walk into town was much easier then entering Paimpol. There were no guards or burned piles of cars preventing entrance. The landscape went from woods to fields to the town. The town itself seemed to be largely untouched and completely abandoned. Shop doors were closed and locked with windows still in tact as if the owners had closed up for the weekend and would be back on the next Monday.
“This is one of the towns that joined with us at Paimpol,” said Aaron. “There shouldn’t be anyone here unless people stayed behind.”
It didn’t appear as if anyone had. They passed a shop that sold groceries and the building still appeared unopened and secure. Stopping at the door, Rose wiped off some accumulated grime and peered inside. The shelves still seemed have a few things on them and nothing appeared to be amiss inside. Taking the butt of her handgun, Rose tapped the window near the door handle. After a few hits, the corner of the window broke opening a fist sized hole in the glass of the door. Rose reached in and undid the deadbolt holding the door closed.
“Didn’t you say you were a cop?” said Aaron, smirking.
“The only difference between a cop and a criminal is that the cops were smart enough to not get caught before they were cops,” said Rose smirking back.
Rose held the door open so Adeline, Aaron, and Rene could enter before she followed them inside. Rose could tell that this place had been closed up for some time from the staleness of the air. “Adeline and Aaron, why don’t you guys find some bags and start stocking up with any canned goods you can find. I’m sure they will still be good. Rene and I will try and find some bottled water.”
Break Away (Jordan Rose Duology Book 1) Page 21