“That thing at the window can't be legit, can it?”
“What do you mean? We both saw it there. It was definitely real.”
“Yeah, but--” he started to say. Tiny hands rapped on the door and she hopped away at the same moment he did.
“Come on, Liam. Let's get ammo for these guns and then get the Hellmann's Mayo out of here. If we see that blind zombie, we'll just shoot it in the head like all the others. No need to freak out, right?”
He smiled at her, but she wasn't blind to the shakiness of his hands as he carried the guns and his light. For her part, seeing all the aborted babies brought back to life was horrific enough, but her rudimentary medical training gave her a minimal resistance to it. Liam was obviously more affected.
She followed him to the pantry.
After a few moments of scanning the shelves, he found what they needed.
“Grab all of these you can.” Liam pointed to small black boxes labelled with Russian markings and English translations describing the contents as 500 rounds of 7.62x39 ammunition. He yanked one off the shelf, opened the packaging to get at the rounds, then crouched on the floor to load one of the magazines.
She also grabbed one, but the weight surprised her because it was like lifting a shoebox full of lead. “This is too heavy to carry more than one,” she said.
“Yeah, all we have to do is get as much as we can to the truck, then we'll redistribute it to each rifle. We are never coming back to this place.”
She shuffled the boxes on the shelf and determined there were four of the big containers of ammo. Each big box had about ten smaller boxes of fifty rounds.
“We can help,” Leah said.
“Yeah, good. We're all going to need guns.” Victoria handed the two free rifles to her. “Grab as many boxes of ammo as you can and get to the front door. We're leaving.”
Leah first looked at the guns in her hand like they were going to kill her on the spot, but then seemed to think over her options and came to the only sensible solution for her dilemma.
By the time she gave away the extra guns, Liam had his magazine loaded and he popped it into the underside of the AK.
“I'm ready,” he said. “Can you give me a couple more boxes? I'll load yours.”
“Shouldn't we leave?” she replied.
He set the loaded rifle next to him and pulled out the mag from the second one. A cartridge slid out of his fingers and bounced off the wooden floor. Liam cussed under his breath.
“Sorry,” she said.
“No, it's not you. I can't stop thinking about them. Those little monsters were just ... wrong. I've been scared lots of times, but not like this. Something isn't right with the world now that I know all those things are zombiefied and bitey like the rest of the population. As my friend JT used to say, the shit just got real.”
He ignored the dropped shell and grabbed another and continued to load.
“I know we need to go. I know that guy is in the window. I know those no-name things are behind the door, in the vents, and on the roof, but dammit I need a minute or two to put my head back on or I'm going to run out the front door screaming. Loading ammo is helping.” He chuckled but just barely.
“I understand,” she replied. She mostly understood his situation. One look at the bodies inside the upstairs rooms told the story of what he'd been doing while she was being whisked over to the outbuilding. She really wished they could have been there for each other. Whenever they got separated, things always got extra messy.
Liam methodically loaded thirty rounds into the second gun while she pulled together every box of ammo she could find.
“Girls, I need to drop some more stuff in your bags,” she called out to Sabella's daughters.
They hadn't gone far.
“Will you help me carry mine?” the youngest said.
“Of course,” Victoria replied. She used her flashlight to look in the face of the young girl. The light reflected off long streams of tears and her puffy eyes.
“We'll both help,” Leah said.
“T-thank you,” little Susan replied with a bit of a stutter.
Victoria put her hand on the girl's shoulder and realized she twitched every few seconds as if each passing moment was a jump scare in the darkened kitchen. It couldn't have been easy for her to see all those babies and toddlers because she wouldn't fully understand what was wrong with them.
None of us do.
“Hey, it's going to be okay,” she said while placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.
The truck driver was even more anxious than they were, she determined, because the horn went on and off every few seconds. She really wanted to get all the supplies they could, but now wished she could get a message out there to tell him to shut the heck up. Victoria imagined that noise was the reason more fingers clawed at the base of the door to the basement.
After pushing the heavy boxes of ammo into the girls' bulging pillow cases, she crouched next to Liam.
“We're ready when you are,” she said with nervousness in her voice. “Actually, I've been ready to leave since we knocked on the front door.”
“Me too,” Liam replied with no hesitation. “Finally, we've got some guns, so no one can take advantage of you. Here, take this loaded one and give me your empty.”
He handed her a loaded magazine and she took a long moment to free the empty from her gun. She had some experience loading the metal box back into the body of the rifle, but there was a trick to it that was difficult to do while juggling a flashlight in the darkness. She laughed it off, but Liam seemed to sense her problem and he helped by shining his light to show her the groove where she needed to seat it.
“Woo hoo!” she cried when it rocked into place with a satisfying click.
Liam stood up and slung the two extra rifles over his shoulder and held the third in his hands. “We'll top off the rest when we can. We have three loaded guns, now.”
She and Leah dragged the heavy pillow cases as they followed Liam through the dark living room. The headlights of the truck shined brightly into the wrecked interior of the house and gave Liam a dark silhouette as he stood behind the front door.
“I don't care who is in that truck,” he declared. “We have to escape this house.”
She got up next to Liam and dropped her supplies.
They both clicked off the safeties of their guns, pulled the charging handles to seat a round in the chamber, and then propped the stocks on their hips while pointing the guns at the roof.
She and Liam both looked at each other and smiled.
“We look like we own the place, don't we?” he suggested.
“I'm just glad I got it right,” she said while thinking of the times she messed that up in the past.
“You could have fooled me,” he said. “I think you make the better warrior pose.”
“We'll take a vote someday when we aren't in mortal danger.”
“Deal,” he said, still in a good mood.
“Stick with me as we go out there. I doubt they are here to hurt us, but we can't be sure. If they are ... ”
“We're right behind you,” she replied.
2
Liam led everyone through the door and onto the broad front porch. A huge eighteen-wheeler idled in the yard. It had used the open landscape to angle properly so it could turn back onto the driveway as soon as it picked them up.
“Girls!” a woman shouted with glee out the driver's window.
The two daughters screeched with ear-splitting joy.
“Mom!”
Susan turned to Victoria with an expectant expression.
“Yeah, go ahead,” she answered. “But please drag this over there, okay?” She held out the bag of supplies.
“I'll help you, Zu,” Leah said in reply.
The bags thumped on the wooden stairs as they dragged them down.
She stayed with Liam on the porch, ready to fire on any threats. She swept her gun from side to side like she'd seen on televis
ion and was careful never to point it at Liam, the girls, or the truck. Liam was doing the exact same motion next to her which made her proud to be thinking like an experienced survivor.
When the girls reached the truck, Victoria was ready to head out after them, but Liam didn't move.
“What is it?” she asked.
Liam held the two extra guns over his shoulder but had the other pointed toward the side of the house.
“Promise you won't laugh?” he said.
“This is hardly the time for laughter. I'm more likely going to pee my pants if we don't get to that truck.” She had no reason to suspect Sabella would rescue her daughters and then leave her and Liam standing on the porch, but when she woke up today she had no idea she'd be running from tiny zombie babies, so she wasn't taking any chances.
“My dad's gun is still in that bush around the corner. I'd really like to get it, but that creature is behind the house and I'm afraid I'll run into it. Can you believe it? I have three guns on me, and I'm still afraid of a lone zombie.”
She considered his humorous scenario for a moment but didn't laugh. There was nothing funny about seeing that strange, eyeless zombie twice in the past few weeks.
“You don't want to leave the gun because it was your dad's?”
The whole porch was lit up by the headlights of the truck, so she clearly saw his reluctant nod.
“I'm positive your dad wouldn't want you to do anything dangerous for material things. We literally have more guns and ammo than we can carry, and these can actually hurt the zombies. That little pistol helped us through some tough times, but these bad boys are going to get us to that final piece of safety. Going into the darkness to retrieve one more doesn't make any sense.”
Liam shifted on his feet for a long moment and she was sure he was going to go for it anyway. She didn't take it personally because Liam had been impulsive and daring since they'd met. If anything, she was mentally prepared to go with him to grab it.
“You're right,” he said in a relieved voice. “It would be dumb. This zombie has me all weirded out.”
“To be fair,” she replied, “that thing doesn't act like a zombie. The little baby--”
“I call them no-names,” Liam interrupted.
She chuckled nervously. “Right. The little no-names seemed to come out of the wall to get away from it. The blind guy might have driven them to go higher in the house in the first place. They were afraid of it, too.”
He turned back to her. “Ya think? That actually makes sense.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She felt her voice was a bit more accusatory than she intended.
“No, sorry,” he replied immediately. “I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that it makes perfect sense why I'm so frightened. It has some kind of power over the other zombies. Like an Arizona zombie on steroids.”
“So, we're leaving?” she asked.
“Yeah, I'm taking your advice. My dad would scream at me if I went off into the darkness for something that wasn't absolutely essential to my survival.”
He patted his gun on the side like it was a faithful dog, then waved her forward. “After you.”
It warmed her heart to see his eyes twinkle in the headlights.
That was momentary, however, because glass broke loudly from somewhere inside the farmhouse. Either the little no-names were tearing things up, or the eyeless zombie was getting ever closer. Or maybe average run-of-the-mill blood-seeking zombies were breaking in from the backyard again.
Zombies were everywhere and nowhere at the same time in the darkness.
“Run for it,” she said while heading down the steps of the front porch.
She looked back once, just to make sure he followed.
“Come on!” Susan screamed from the open driver's door of the truck. Leah was still climbing in after her sister but struggled to get the second heavy pillowcase into the cab.
She and Liam crossed the last few yards while the driver gunned the engine like it was the evil car from that movie Christine. It made her run faster, but it was also probably drawing out every zombie from miles around.
They'd almost made it when a male voice called down.
“Go around to the other side.”
Victoria glanced at Liam as he sidled up next to her.
“The other side,” he said as if the zombies were nipping at his ankles.
“Go!”
They crossed in front of the bright headlights and her imagination filled in everything the lights didn't touch. She was sure zombies were pressing in from all directions because of all the noise and light. The no-names had to be slithering across the grass of the yard, and the eyeless leader was pushing them on. All that was missing was some kind of flying zombie.
She looked up into the dark, cloudy sky, suddenly sure something was going to drop in on her.
A young woman hung out of the passenger door to keep it open for them. The beautiful bronze color of her skin matched that of her mother.
“You must be Elise,” Victoria said as she hopped up.
“Get inside,” the girl answered. “We have to go.”
“Thanks for coming to get us,” Liam said as he followed her in.
“We came back for my sisters, not you,” Elise snapped.
Liam slammed the door behind him but paused for a second when he saw Russ sharing the seat with Elise. “Hey,” Liam said. “Glad you made it.”
Victoria didn't think Liam really meant it but after Russ helped throw him out of the house she thought he did a good job faking it.
“You too,” the boy replied.
Liam shifted and spoke to the driver. “You have to get us out of here. The house is full of zombies.”
“I'm way ahead of you,” the driver replied. “But seriously, kid, where isn't there a 100% zombie overload around here?”
Victoria quickly shuffled to the rear of the spacious cab. The interior lights shined down on a small unkempt bed which served as the back seat for the over-the-road truck. Leah and Susan had piled on Sabella and the three of them hugged each other to celebrate their reunion.
She and Liam piled the AK's on the floor in the cramped space, but she tumbled into him as the driver hit the gas. Together, they fell onto the bed next to the others.
“Sorry,” Liam blurted out like he'd just spilled his drink on her.
She held him for a few seconds, content for a brief instant to be in his arms where she felt a little bit safe. He returned the warmth in their shared moment but then they adjusted so they could sit side-by-side like properly chaperoned students.
The driver spun the truck around to get out of the yard, cussing the whole time.
“You were right, kid. Something weird about that house. Looks like a whole herd of cats is coming out the front.”
Liam couldn't not look. He jumped up to peer out the passenger-side window. She tried to resist the urge to get up, but that only lasted about two seconds. She leaned on Liam's back to see over and around Russ and Elise in the front seat.
“Oh, man,” Russ said. “Where'd they all come from?”
Victoria hesitated from telling him what his mom and step-dad had been doing all those years, up to and including the three weeks since the sirens. She thought it was now self-evident, although it was easy to mistake the scrambling little zombies for a herd of felines in the pre-dawn darkness.
“We don't even have cats,” Russ added.
The white shapes poured off the front porch and ran into the yard as if the house itself was unleashing them upon the world, but just before the truck turned completely away from the house, she saw what was really driving them.
Liam gulped.
She assumed he saw the eyeless zombie standing in the bushes next to the farmhouse, too.
Victoria comforted him by gently rubbing his back, but admitted it also helped her. Having someone close during these dark times was a big part of survival. After spending weeks with Liam, it was almost impossible to imagine what she'd be doin
g at that moment if their paths hadn't crossed.
The driver worked through countless gears as the truck traveled the mile-long gravel driveway toward the other trucks on the main road, but she and Liam held that pose, as if each was unwilling to break the magic.
When they were moving along at a good clip, the driver looked over his shoulder at his new passengers.
“I hate cats,” he said enigmatically.
Victoria had a few moments to decide whether he was joking or not.
Liam laughed brightly. “I'm deathly allergic, so I'm glad we escaped those cats before they got all over us.” He emphasized the word cats.
“Yeah,” Victoria agreed with understanding. She waited for Susan or Leah to offer opinions, but they hadn't seen what came out the front door. They were content to hug their mom, and Victoria was pleased to never mention the truth to Russ.
“I'm also allergic to --,” Liam began.
A blue light came out of the darkness from eye-level straight ahead.
“What the hell?” the driver strained to say as the truck bounced roughly to a stop on the gravel. The airbrakes whined and complained through it all.
A floating object hovered fifty feet ahead and it emitted a narrow beam of blue light that reminded her of a one-act laser show.
The truck's headlights threw just enough light in return.
It was a military-grade drone.
3
She and Liam crawled back toward the rear compartment. She picked up her rifle and noticed Liam did the same, but Sabella reached across and held them fast.
“No,” Sabella whispered. “These things were all over the loading zone. We can't shoot it, or they'll send more.”
“Loading zone?” Liam asked.
“Just wait,” the dark-haired woman replied.
“Listen to Sabella,” the driver said without looking back. “It surprised me is all. I've seen these before.”
“I'm not going back to the house, no matter what,” Liam whispered to her before taking her hand in his.
The driver rolled down his window and hung his head out the side.
“What do you want?” he called tiredly to the drone.
Zombie Escape Page 19