Man Eaters

by Linda Kay Silva

  “How did you find us?”

  “Not important. Look…” He turned to Butcher. “This whole mess is sliding south on us in a hurry. A number of forts have been overrun, and the President and Congress have decided to accept collateral damage by bombing San Francisco, L.A., San Diego, Bakersfield, Sacramento and Redding tomorrow. You guys have to get a move on because whatever it is they’re planning on dropping is some kind of untested and untried bioweapon.”

  “Wait. They’ve figured out how to kill them?”

  He shrugged. “Not clear on the details. I just know we’re DD’ing out of the state before morning. All troops are pulling back and out of the area. Actually, all troops are pulling out, period. We hear other states will face similar bombings, but that’s just rumor.”

  “How much time do we have?” Dallas asked.

  “Twenty-four hours, more or less. Word has it the army base at Barstow had some…issues.”

  “Issues?”

  “They were overrun not long ago. Apparently, there are two strains of the virus. One turns people right away. The second turns them later. Could be hours, could be days. A soldier down there was bitten and told no one. He turned at night and…well…you can imagine. It spread before they could stop it.”

  Roper slowly lowered her rifle. “So the zombies have overtaken Barstow. Why are you telling us this?”

  “Because you need another Hummer and if you can get down there, you can get your hands on one and then book to the Gulf. No more overland pass through the parks. No more slow days on the horses. You guys need good wheels and you need to get to the bayou. Don’t grab anything that doesn’t have the armor and four-wheel capabilities of the Hummer. Be sure to grab as many weapons, including grenades and ammo, you can. The ammo is really vital. You should also think about—”

  Butcher walked up to him and laid her hand on his chest. “Luke, take a breath. We’ll be fine, really. We appreciate you finding us and bringing us news. It was…sweet of you.”

  Luke blinked. “Butcher, you guys are walking the razor’s edge here. No one will be alive in those cities once those bombs are detonated. No one.”

  “Where is everyone else? Those of us who are alive?”

  Luke looked away. “Honestly? Trying to get out of the country. You wouldn’t want to see the bodies lining the Mexican border. Everyone is moving south…well…those who are unbitten and alive anyway. The coast is littered with death as well. Those who weren’t turned originally are migrating, like you all, but we…let’s just say…the army has killed as many as the zombies. We ran into very few living people on our way here. If there are living around, they are not within miles of here.” Luke looked over his shoulder at the chopper. “I’d better get going. My buddy swore himself to secrecy and I trust him, but I’d better go.”

  “I’ll walk you part of the way,” Butcher said.

  “Thank you, Luke. Your concern is touching and the intel much appreciated,” Roper added.

  “You guys are good people. I…well, most of us, didn’t sign up for this shit. It’s really taken its toll on morale. That’s how I got my buddy to make an unscheduled stop. Makes him feel like he is helping.”

  Roper looked over at Dallas before casting her eyes in Butcher’s direction. Dallas picked up on the hint.

  “Why don’t you two say your goodbyes here before walking to the chopper? We’ll go round everyone else up.”

  As they walked across the road to the other oak tree, Roper held Dallas’s hand. “Prepare yourself.”

  Dallas nodded. “Did you see her eyes light up?”

  “His, too. He can make it sound like altruism is why he landed that chopper all he wants, but the truth was written all over his face. He has a woody for our doctor.”

  Dallas laughed. “Oh my god, it’s so obvious.”

  “What’s so obvious?” Einstein asked as they came up to the rest of the group.

  “Luke’s crushin’ on Butcher.”

  “Oh that. Yeah. Big time.” Einstein smiled, and as his eyes watched Butcher and Luke walk hand-in-hand to the chopper, the smile slowly began to fade. “Is she…she’s not leaving us, is she?”

  Dallas shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m guessing she’s what he really came for.”

  As they all watched and waited in silence, Roper squeezed Dallas’s hand tighter as they watched the scene unfold.

  Luke held both of Butcher’s hands as they talked, and then he pulled her into an embrace that lasted a long time. Finally, when Butcher pulled back, she shook her head, laid her hand on his chest and kissed him gently.

  “Uh oh. She’s not coming back.”

  Then, Butcher turned from Luke and walked away.

  “She’s coming back,” Einstein.

  “That doesn’t mean a thing, kid. She could just be coming back here to say adios.”

  But before Butcher got back to them, the chopper lifted off.

  Roper and Dallas stared at each other and when it finally took off, it left behind an eerie silence.

  “Don’t look so shocked,” Butcher said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Even if I was military, which I’m not anymore, I would never leave you guys.” Butcher hugged Peanut to her with one arm. “That would be the crappiest thing in the world.”

  Dallas hugged her. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to. We would have understood.”

  Leaning back, Butcher slowly shook her head. “What kind of person would I be to bail on you for the first hunka burnin’ love that came my way?”

  With that question, everyone laughed, the tension breaking like glass around them.

  “Oh my god, you schmoes really thought I was leaving, didn’t you? Thanks for the faith.”

  They all bobbed their heads.

  “You guys suck.” Butcher messed up Einstein’s hair and pushed him toward the Hummer. “The rest of you pile in. The three of us need to talk.”

  When everyone was out of earshot, Butcher put her head down and lowered her voice. “I won’t say it doesn’t hurt to watch him leave, because it does. Another time, another place, and things might have been different.”

  Roper and Dallas nodded, but neither responded.

  “Luke practically begged me to convince you both to go to Barstow, grab a Hummer, and get out of California as quickly as possible. He really believed the bayou is the safest place to go.”

  “The base must be crawling with zombies.”

  “It probably is, but he said there isn’t much time. We need to ditch the horses and get another set of wheels that can get us to and through the desert and to the Gulf.”

  Dallas considered this a moment. Finally, she looked up at Roper, who was nodding.

  “We have to trust someone sometime, Dallas. The guy risked getting in hot water to find us.”

  “But…they’re your horses.”

  “I know…and it’s gonna fuckin’ suck to send them out into the wild, but I trust the guy. If he thinks we need to giddy up, then we better do just that. We can’t risk it because of my love for my horses. They’ll…be fine.”

  Dallas thought for another moment. “Did he allude to anything else?”

  “No allusions at all. He was very blunt: Stay away from borders and shorelines. He still advises us to find a place to hunker down in the bayou, and that the longer we can stay there, the easier it will be to sail to one of the Caribbean islands. We could survive on catfish and crawdads, maybe even a ‘gator or two. We’d have the protein we’d need, fresh food, and relative safety from the eaters. After a couple of months, we can either see if the country is safe to live in or if we need to find a more permanent arrangement away from it, but it’s time to hightail it out of here.”

  “Butcher’s right, Dallas. We need to be self-sufficient. We need to be able to feed ourselves. Out there, we can hunt, fish, build fires and feel somewhat safer.”

  “No, I get that. What I don’t understand is why we don’t just get a boat like we planned and get the hell out of Dodge. There�
�s no way our military can police both borders and all coastlines.”

  Butcher closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they were cold…almost hard. “He isn’t sure what is rumor and what is truth, but Luke heard…” her voice trailed off.

  “What? He heard what?”

  Slowly shaking her head, Butcher steeled herself. “This is the kicker. Remember when he said there was a rumor that the Central American countries had come to the Mexico border to assist? Well, that’s no longer a rumor. Our military isn’t the only military guarding the perimeter.” Butcher sighed heavily. “According to Luke, we are being held prisoners here in the United States…by the rest of the world.”

  A stunned silence followed.

  “Umm…what?”

  “Yeah, that was my reaction as well. It’s what he told me on the way back to the chopper. He wanted me to come with him and was hoping that my ex-military background would give me a pass.”

  “You should have taken it,” Dallas said softly.

  “Nah. It was a heavy gamble I’m not willing to take and besides, you’d miss me.” She grinned. “I’ve sorta gotten used to you all, too.”

  Roper hadn’t stopped shaking her head. “It makes total sense. If even one man eater escapes—”

  “Then it truly will be global Armageddon.”

  “Exactly. Luke said NATO called on their forces and that a special global task force was created to quarantine us.”

  “Quarantine us? Is that even possible with a country our size?”

  Dallas nodded. “The Canadians have the Brits, Aussies, French, and New Zealanders who have probably come to their aid. Mexico will call on all of Central and South America. With today’s technology, it’s probably very possible for the remaining industrialized nations to quarantine us using satellites and other technologies.”

  “Not only possible, but imperative. Our military’s goal is to withdraw back to the New England states—”

  “The rest of us are on our own.”

  Butcher nodded. “Exactly. Collateral damage.”

  “Why not Hawaii? That would be safest, wouldn’t it?”

  “Unless it was infested.”

  “It must be, otherwise our government would have set up there. What about Alaska?”

  Butcher shrugged. “Luke told me all he knew. In an effort to stem the flow, our guys are going to try some sort of neurotoxin that incapacitates all brain function.”

  “All brain function?”

  Butcher nodded. “In essence, this would render us all collateral damage. The living and the undead alike would have their plugs pulled, but the infrastructure would remain intact.”

  Roper rubbed her face with both hands. “Jesus, why not just go with a flesh eating virus?”

  “The government is trying to save our resources. Cows, sheep, pigs, would all be affected by something like that, I suppose.

  “So they see us as expendable.”

  Butcher shook her head. “No. They see us as dangerous. They see the man eaters as growing daily. They are doing exactly what Einstein said they’d do. So, like it or not, we are really and truly on our own out here and the sooner we can find some place to land, the safer we will be.”

  “This is the second time he’s mentioned it, so my guess is he knows what he’s talking about.

  “Ever since Katrina, the neighborhoods leading up to it are already desolate. If there were any man eaters there, they would already have migrated to the cities, where the living are. The Ninth Ward would now be a sort of buffer zone for us.”

  Roper tilted her head toward Dallas. “I think we should go for it. We can’t keep running. At some point, we need to be able to hunt, fish, and grow food. We need to find a place to set this out for the long haul.”

  Butcher slowly nodded. “The war is over, ladies, and the best we can hope for is to survive the aftermath.” Taking Dallas’s hand in hers, she squeezed it. “Denial won’t help anyone. Let’s go tell the others we’re letting the horses go, grabbing a second Hummer, and making for the Gulf.”

  Dallas slowly acquiesced. “A global task force to quarantine an entire nation, huh? How scary is that?”

  “Everyone’s survival depends on keeping us contained. Luke said if there’s more to the story, he’s not privy to it. He just wanted to give us a heads up. We have to get the fuck gone.”

  Dallas continued walking toward the others. “I say we just tell everyone our plan and if anyone would rather do something else, they can take the horses.”

  Fifteen minutes later, the group was speechless as Dallas, now free to weave in and out of traffic, finally took the Hummer over forty miles per hour.

  “They won’t be able to stop it if it leaves the borders,” Einstein said softly. “And they can’t afford to let any of us live, really. Quarantining us makes perfect sense.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Cue-Ball grumbled. “Our government will get us out of this. They have to. I’m sure they have a solid plan that doesn’t include killing its citizens. I can’t believe you guys are taking one man’s word about all of this. It’s ludicrous.”

  “Think about it, Cue-Ball. We are a threat to the entire world. They can’t allow us to escape.”

  “Or live,” Einstein said softly. “There’s a much bigger picture. Think of how many countries depend on what we trade with them in order to survive. Those countries can’t afford for us to be obliterated by being nuked. They need to preserve what we have. The most expendable asset?”

  “Humans.”

  “Exactly. I think Luke knows exactly what he’s talking about.”

  Dallas glanced down at the gas gauge. “Well, right now, we need gas for one last push, then I say we head south to Barstow, grab another vehicle and put the pedal down.”

  “We can siphon,” Safety said. “It’s pretty much how my mother got gas while I was growing up. I’m pretty decent…well…um…sucking from a hose.”

  No one said a word…then everyone burst out laughing.

  “Oh my god, oh my god, that was the funniest thing I’ve heard since this stuff started! No, I take that back. It was the funniest ever!” Einstein laughed harder.

  After everyone had a good laugh, including Safety, Roper nudged Dallas. “The horses could use a good stretch as well. And I need to start looking for the best place to let them go.”

  Dallas knew by Roper’s tone that it crushed her to have to leave them. “I wish we could bring them, Roper, I really do.”

  “It’s a new world now. No use keeping things that won’t help us stay alive.” This came from Cue-Ball as he tried to get comfortable beneath the weight of the dog. “Like the dog. I don’t see why—”

  “Can it,” Roper growled curtly.

  Peanut threw her arms around Zeus. “I’m not leaving my dog anywhere!”

  “And you won’t have to,” Butcher said softly, though her eyes were glaring at Cue-Ball.

  “There are a bunch of cars up ahead,” Einstein said, pointing to an odd assembly of cars on the freeway.

  “Wonder what happened here?”

  While the freeway remained, for the most part, uncluttered, this looked like a traffic jam.

  “Careful, Dallas. Something shitty went down here.”

  “I think we should stop,” Einstein said, leaning into the space between Dallas, Roper, and Butcher.

  Dallas stopped the Hummer. Everyone looked and listened. It was eerily silent—the kind of silence before a roaring sound of thunder jolts your senses. They all felt it before. They all knew what it meant.

  Trouble.

  “We’re going to need to push some of these cars out of the way,” Butcher said.

  “Or we can just turn the hell around and get off this damn road.” Cue-Ball swore under his breath.

  “We need the gas,” Dallas said. “And this may be the only chance for gas for miles. We’re not turning around.”

  “Well, if you two lesbians are so certain you aren’t on the menu, why don’t you c
lear the area first? I mean, they won’t eat you, right?”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Butcher said, opening the door. “Dallas, Roper, and I will clear the area. You and Einstein watch the Hummer. Peanut, you stay inside. We’ll take Zeus with us, okay?”

  “Promise to bring him back?”

  She nodded. “Scout’s honor. Safety? You sure about this?”

  He nodded. “I’ll have that can filled before you can tie both your shoes.”

  As everyone tumbled out of the Hummer, Butcher, Roper, and Dallas checked their ammo.

  “We need to get to the front of the mess first to see what we could be dealing with.”

  “Then let’s take one side of the freeway so we only have to watch one side. I’ll take the flank,” Butcher said. “You two stay in single file a good ten feet apart. Always give yourself space to swing the rifle all the way around.”

  Dallas and Roper nodded.

  “You should be between us,” Roper said. “You know, in case they really won’t bite us.”

  Butcher thought for a second before agreeing. “What about Safety?”

  Safety held up the can. “Gonna look fo’ a Lexus and something to syphon. I’ll be fine. You find a path outta here while I get us enough gas to get us to the next station.”

  With their plan laid out, the three women and the dog moved past a cemetery of dead cars. More than half a dozen were filled with man eaters still buckled in and pounding with gnarled, blackened stumps at the windows of the cars.

  Every now and then, when the wind shifted, the stench of decay filled the air like a noxious gas, so strong it made their eyes water.

  “Look at that guy. A convertible? Really? Don’t you listen to the news?”

  Dallas noted that the zombies only thrashed about once they saw Butcher. To test their gay theory, she whispered, “Stay back, Butcher. I want to see something.”

  Walking cautiously up to the passenger side of the convertible, Dallas stood there until the zombie turned her way. He looked at her maybe two seconds before turning away, uninterested.

  “Jesus. Looks like it’s true,” Butcher said, walking up to the car.

  At the sound of her voice, the driver turned and lunged for her, tearing flesh off the side of his throat when he hit the seatbelt stretching for her. Raising her rifle, Butcher blew half his head off. “Don’t need him accidentally breaking free.”