by D. K Lake
“Like it matters, we've got no gas left to take us anywhere.”
“Here, switch,” he said, and I braked while he squeezed behind me and I climbed over his lap.
Then he swung the truck around and drove back the way we had come. I looked in the side mirror and watched the three men as they became tiny specks in the mirror.
“I don't get it, I heard Colorado welcomed people with open arms, even in the safe houses.”
“Who told you that?”
“Thom.”
“Remind me who Thom is again?”
“Ozma's father, Josh's brother. Thom and his girlfriend, Crystal, they were headed to Colorado when we met them. They said they met some survivors that had told them Colorado was doing really well.”
“How long ago was that?... Things can change really quickly nowadays.”
“I guess you're right.”
“And you'd have to find a safe house to see if they welcomed you, and I haven't seen anything resembling a safe house, they must be hidden off the roads somewhere.”
“Yeah, probably.” I said, glumly looking out the window, watching a lone deadbie amble through an overgrown field.
Five minutes down the road we came to the bridge the man was talking about.
“This is it,” Drew said, passing the bridge and steering the truck around the bend.
“Do you think he was telling the truth?” I asked. “about the research center being this way?”
Drew didn't answer. I got used to unanswered questions with Drew. If he didn't know the answer or wasn't sure himself he just stayed quiet, and I ended up talking to myself.
We were dangerously low on gas and if we got into trouble I doubted we would get out of it, I was expecting the truck to cut out at any minute as the gas light was already on and I'd only just noticed it. I think we were running on fumes at this point. Two minutes after thinking it, the truck finally cut out.
“Shit.” Drew muttered, guiding the truck over to the side of the road.
He leaned back in his seat and so did I, and we both sat there staring out the window.
“Come on, we're not going to find this place sat on our butts.” he finally said.
He grabbed his crossbow and I grabbed my tote bag, and then I sluggishly climbed out and followed him.
“We don't know how far it is?” I said.
“Exactly it might be just around the next corner.”
“Or it might not.”
“Anyhow, if we want to make it before sundown we need to go now.” he said, already walking away.
Not too far down the road, we came across a large, colorful, handmade sign.
All Survivors Welcome at Argon Shopping Center :)
Someone had even painted a smiley face on the bottom.
“Is that a smiley face?” Drew asked, looking at the little squiggle.
“I'm gonna go with yes.”
“You don't think that's weird?”
“It's a smiley face, Drew, what's weird about it? Oh, you think it's a trap?”
“Only one way to find out.” he said, walking ahead of me.
We walked for a good thirty minutes before we spotted buildings in the distance, and we past numerous signs all saying pretty much the same thing, that all were welcome. I wondered if that meant me as well. My feet were dragging at this point and Drew had noticed I was slowing down. I think the temporary luxury of the vehicle had ruined me.
“Do you think that's it?” I asked, watching him detour off the road and into a ditch. I wondered what he was doing but I didn't follow him in case he was taking a piss or something like that.
I heard something rattle, then I saw Drew climbing back up the grass verge dragging something behind him. I hurried over to him just as he made it to the top and heaved a shopping cart up with him. He stood up, and tilted it upright and gave it a wobble to test its stability.
“This will do.”
“For what?” I asked curiously.
“Go on then,” he said.
I looked at the shopping cart then back at him. “You want me to get in there?”
“Well, that was the idea. I didn't just drag it out of the ditch for the fun of it. C'mon, get in, we'll get there quicker if I'm pushing you.”
“You're serious?”
“Yes, you may weigh nothing but I don't think I can carry you all the way. So hurry up and get in.”
He smirked and held out his hand to me, like Prince Charming, holding his hand out for his Princess. I let him help me into the shopping cart, and sat down at the bottom.
“Ready?” he asked.
“No wheelies.” I joked.
He chuckled and started pushing me.
It shook me around and vibrated through my bones. It was rattling so loud. I craned my head back to look up at him.
“It's too noisy!”
“It will be fine, it's not that loud.”
I relaxed a little, I didn't like to admit it, but I kind of liked being pushed. It reminded me of when I was little and my mom used to take me to the supermarket. I kept my eyes fixed on the buildings in the distance, but we were still too far away to see what they were.
“Do you feel overly hot out here today?” I asked. The air was warm, and I felt warm but my hands were cold and clammy.
“No, it feels like normal, why, do you think you're finally getting a temperature?”
“Possibly.”
If I was alone and knew for sure I was the only living creature left on the planet, I would be naked right about now, that's how hot I felt.
“Drew?”
“Yeah?”
“What do you think it's like?”
“What what's like?”
“To die, I mean... afterwards.”
“You really wanna have this conversation?”
“I was just wondering... I'm gonna miss everyone.”
“You'll be dead so how will you miss everyone?”
I grunted a laugh, of course, he was right.
“Well wherever you go save me a seat, I'm sure I won't be far behind you.”
“That's not true, you're a survivor.”
“Everyone's luck runs out eventually.”
“It's not luck, you're smart and you know how to look after yourself.”
He didn't reply to my comment, instead, he leaned down closer to me and changed the subject.
“Evan and me got so drunk one time, we stole a shopping cart and wheeled each other through town... let's just say there were quite a few people wondering why they had dents in their cars the next morning.”
“I bet they were well pleased.”
“It would have been fine if we hadn't left the shopping cart in Dan's drive... and his mom hadn't reported us.”
“What happened?”
“Evan had to get a job to repay the damage and I had to dip into my savings.”
“Wow, you're such a bad boy.”
He laughed, hanging onto the shopping cart as we rolled around the corner, but neither one of us realized there was a slope around the bend.
The shopping cart whizzed down the slope, with me half-squealing from excitement, and half out of fright we were going to crash or tip over. I gripped the sides and cringed, looking through squinted eyes. When we reached the bottom in one piece, Drew hollered.
“Just like Jackass.” he laughed.
But the shopping cart was in no hurry to slow down or stop... and two deadbies walked out into the road in front of us.
“Drew!!!” I shrieked.
“Hold on!” he yelled.
The cart surged forward and barreled into the first deadbie, like a bowling ball. The deadbie spun around and toppled over, and the second one tried to grab us as we rolled by.
But then the cart unexpectedly hit a pothole in the road and chucked me out and I skidded across the road, followed by my tote bag and all its contents. I whipped my head around to see Drew was on the ground as well, rolling over and moaning.
One of the deadbies went straight
for Drew, but he shuffled back along the road and grabbed his crossbow.
The other one had spotted me and was limping toward me. I stood up, rubbing my hands off, they were still healing from all the glass cuts, now I had managed to take off half my skin on my fingers on my right hand from where I had been holding onto the cart. I grabbed the cart and kept it in front of me and used it to hold off the deadbie.
Out of nowhere another three appeared on the road behind Drew, I think all the noise from the cart had lured them out of the woodwork. The first deadbie was already lying in a dead heap on the ground and Drew was back on his feet.
While I was busy playing dodge the deadbie with the shopping cart, Drew tried to shoot it but missed.
“Dammit!” he growled.
“It's okay, I can hold this one off, take care of the others first.” I said, walking backwards with the deadbie following me.
The other three were far enough away for Drew to shoot them before they got too close.
I was so preoccupied looking around the deadbie, trying to see how Drew was doing, that I had walked too close to the edge of the road and realized I had backed myself into the grass ditch. I rammed the deadbie in the belly, trying to push it back, but it was stronger than most, and it pushed the cart and I lost my footing and tumbled down the ditch backwards.
I landed on my back with a thud, and it took my breath away. I watched the deadbie at the top go limp as it now had an arrow in its head... and it was heading my way.
“Oh, crap!” I groaned.
I just managed to roll out of the way before it came tumbling down beside me in a crumpled mess of arms and legs.
“Alex?” Drew called.
“I'm okay,” I called back.
He appeared at the top of the ditch, and he looked relieved to see me still in one piece. I was still trying to untangle myself from a thorn bush when I saw another figure appear behind him.
“Drew, behind you!” I screamed.
He spun around and used his crossbow to whack the next one on the side of the head, and it fell forward and tumbled straight down the ditch... toward me.
I really need to get out of this fucking ditch!!!
It was becoming a deadbie pile up down here.
I scrambled away, and tugged my leg free from the thorns, it ripped my leggings in the process. I quickly got to my feet and was about to climb back up the grassy ditch when something grabbed my ankle.
I looked over my shoulder to see the deadbie clinging onto me as it dragged itself closer to me. I tried to shake it off, but it wasn't letting go. Drew was gone from the last spot I had seen him.
I grabbed onto a tree root and tried to pull myself up, but my arms felt like jelly, and my fingers slipped and I slid backwards.
I felt its teeth scraping my leg. I had to do something or it was going to take a chunk of my leg. I felt down my side and grabbed the knife, took a deep breath, twisted around, but the thing still had a firm grip on my ankle and I lost my balance and toppled over. Within seconds it clambered over me and I was having to hold it off me. Its breath smelled of rotten fish, and I gagged, which didn't help and I could feel I was gonna upchuck again. I wasn't in the right position to try and stab it in the head, it was practically pinning me down, trying to turn me into a human buffet. It gnashed at my face and then bit down on my shoulder. I screamed as it sunk its teeth in, and I stuck the knife in anywhere I could, aiming for the head but instead I stabbed it in the neck and I felt the liquid trickle all over me. Then all of a sudden it stopped chomping down on me and went limp on top of me.
I looked over its shoulder and saw two arrows sticking out of it, one in the head, and one in its back.
I shoved it off me just enough so I could lean over to one side, where I could throw up. It hurt so bad, my throat was sore and throwing up wasn't helping, I heaved into the dirt, it was so painful I thought my insides might actually rip. I cleared my throat and spat the remaining saliva on the ground and spotted blood in it.
Ugh. Not great. I thought.
“Alex!! Fuck! I'm sorry!” Drew said, dragging the deadbie the rest of the way off me. Then he kneeled either side of my legs to pull me up and look at me.
“All my arrows were in the other three dudes. This is all my fault, I'm so sorry! I suggested the shopping cart and then I sent a deadbie tumbling after you.”
He tried to grab my hand but I didn't want to get any of my blood on him so I pulled my hand away from him.
I shook my head, this wasn't Drew's fault, this was just the way things were... shitty.
“It just kept moving, and I didn't want to shoot you.” he said, pulling his arrows out of it.
“Don't they always,” I muttered, looking at my fingers that were already grazed and raw, and I now had deadbie blood in the gashes.
“The fucker even nipped my leg... If I didn't have the virus before I have it twice as bad now.”
“Fuck,” he said, moving a piece of loose fabric aside to look at my shoulder where the deadbie had bitten me and eaten some of the T-shirt in the process.
“Don't touch it,” I said, smacking is hand away. “I might infect you.”
His eyes drifted to the front of me. I was completely soaked in deadbie blood from where I had stabbed the deadbie in the neck and it had bled all over me. I looked a bloody mess.
“Just get me out of this ditch.”
He grabbed my elbow and pulled me up, then climbed up the verge, pulling me with him.
“We need to clean you up and cover this,” He looked down at my hand.
“Clean it with what? We have no clean water, no bandages, nothing to dress a wound.”
He searched the ground and found one of the spare T-shirts I had taken from the Lost Property box back at the Hot Springs Motel. He walked back to me and started lifting my own bloodstained T-shirt before I could protest, so I quickly lifted up my arms for him to get it over my head, then he pulled the clean one over my head. I snatched the dirty T-shirt away from him and used it to clean up my arms and neck.
After I had wiped most of the deadbie's blood off, I wrapped my hand and just held a wad of fabric against my shoulder.
Drew looked me up and down.
I smiled at him and he smiled back, even though I was aching, in pain, my hand was bleeding, and my shoulder hurt like a bitch, I still felt like smiling, maybe I was finally losing my mind.
“No more joyriding, agreed?” I said.
He nodded, and we quickly gathered what we could find on the ground, shoved it in my tote bag and started moving before any more deadbies showed up.
“Did you hurt yourself when we tipped over?” I asked, noticing his arm was grazed.
“Just a grazed elbow, no biggie.”
With every step, I realized Drew was slowing down.
“What's wrong now?” I asked.
“What are we doing here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really think they're just gonna let you in and fix you?”
“What? We've come all this way and now you're voicing your opinion.”
I turned away from him and stared at the buildings.
“No, I don't think they're going to let me in, they'll probably shoot me before I set foot on the grounds.”
I turned back to look at him and he was staring in the direction of the buildings as well, but his eyes looked vacant as though he wasn't really looking at anything. He was somewhere else inside that head of his.
“Just go, Drew. You got me here, now you can leave me.”
He frowned. “I'm not just gonna leave you for the deadbies to get you.”
“You did your job, you got me here, you don't have to stay.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
I took a deep, frustrating breath, I really had no idea what I was going to do now I was here, and neither did he.
“That guy with the weird hairdo-”
“Danny Zuko.” I interrupted him.
He paused but had no id
ea who I was referring to.
“Never mind.” I said.
“He said there was a place that took refugees in. It must be the same place we keep seeing on all these signs. If we can find that place just for tonight, then we'll figure out what we're going to do in the morning.”
Drew looked me up and down again.
“Stop doing that! I know I look a mess.”
I had dried blood crusting on my arms and neck and it wasn't even my blood.
He walked over to me and lifted the tote bag off my shoulder and pulled out my hoodie.
“Put this on, it will cover all this...” He pointed at my blood smeared arms.
I so needed a wash.
“Like one bite mark wasn't enough, now I have three to hide. I'm afraid to look under the other bandage, it wreaks, I can smell it even through the dressing. Again!”
“Nah, people will just think that's me that smells gross.” he said, helping me get the hoodie over my head.
“Yeah, you do look pretty gross, complete with a helping of dirt on your forehead.”
“Oh, that,” He smiled, “that's just my mud mask I forgot to wipe off.”
“You better hope it's just mud.” I said, and we both laughed.
Then he randomly brushed a strand of hair away from my face.
He realized what he'd done and that I had watched him do it, like he had forgotten I was here as well. He stepped back and looked down at my hand.
“It's just your hand they'll see, we'll just say you fell out the shopping cart.”
“You really think they'll believe you? What sane person rides around in rattly shopping carts?”
Drew smiled and handed the tote bag back to me.
“Let's start moving before any more turn up.” I said.
Chapter 18
We passed factories and other industrial buildings, following the signs to the shopping center.
The shopping center had a large, open parking lot with a few cars, motorcycles, and trucks parked close to the entrance. But around the entrance was a built up wall of stacked crates, TVs, chairs, and tables, and behind all of that, there were tall shelving displays, preventing us from seeing the main doors. There was even a large wardrobe leaning against the main wall.
A wardrobe?
On the wall was a large banner that read, Welcome Survivors.