No Man's Land

by Jacqueline Druga

  Even though Mary wasn’t the best gender name for him.

  He was a good horse, strong and he devoured the apples. I could tell he had been drinking water that had puddled on the side of the road. It took a good two hours before he was strong enough to stand. That alone was evidence enough why he needed to take it easy. I would walk him, putting only Hannah and the baby in the cart for the first day. I’d pull the wagon because I didn’t want to put strain on him. I contemplated going back to Mavis’ house and let the horse heal. I felt Edward couldn’t afford the delay without medical attention so we kept going.

  First thing, as promised, after I got Mary on his feet, I had to tend to Jason. He was still in the cart. His body bloated. Moving him wasn’t fun, his skin separated easily and a sticky fluid leaked out. Thankfully, he had a sleeping bag in the cart. I used that to touch him. Every time I bumped him or moved him gasses escaped with a noise adding to the already foul smell, along with bringing out the true child in Hannah. With every noise, she giggled, groaned, or made comments.

  Somewhere in the process we lost Leah. She wandered off while we tended to Mary and never returned.

  “She’ll be back,” Hannah said. “I bet she went to look for food.”

  “Well, she had us, usually that’s her point of attack first. Remember we’re her McDonald’s menu?”

  “Nah, I think she likes us. She’s trained now.”

  “Hannah, honey, it doesn’t work that way,” I explained.

  “You believe that. When she comes back, you’ll see. She’ll be all fresh and fed. Maybe she learned to chase mice like George.”

  “Maybe.”

  Hannah was right. In my gut, I didn’t feel Leah was gone for good either.

  So much time had passed in getting the horse and taking care of Jason, we only made it another two miles before making camp for the night.

  We found a little league field. Hannah and Edward slept in the dugout. She sprawled across a bench and Edward slept in the basket Mavis had given us.

  I was well rested and I stayed up pretty much the whole night, keeping an eye out on things.

  I did doze off for a short while, back against the dugout wall. I was confident that I would wake up at the simplest noise. Of course, I was wrong.

  “Are you going to Sixteen?” a female voice asked.

  I jolted awake.

  The sun was behind the tall thin figure of a woman, making her a shadow.

  “Is that your horse over there?” she asked.

  She stepped closer and I saw her. A woman, maybe a little younger than me. Long dark hair, wearing a dirty tee shirt and jeans. Her face was smeared with dirt.

  “If you’re going to Sixteen, can I travel with you?”

  Before I could answer, Hannah did.

  “No.”

  I looked over my shoulder, Hannah stood there with a scowl on her face.

  “Hannah?” I questioned.

  “No!” She vigorously shook her head. “We don’t know her. I don’t want her to come. I don’t trust strangers.”

  The woman held up both her hands. “I understand. My name is Diana. I just don’t want to travel the rest of the way alone. I’ve had problems by myself. I’m sure you guys know the Vee aren’t the only bad things.”

  “We do,” I said.

  “Judging by your face, I believe you do,” Diana said, obviously referencing my healing bruises. “Is that… is that a baby?”

  “It’s none of your business what I have!” Hannah raced over and covered Edward.

  “It’s okay.” Diana leaned to her right, then took a step. “Hannah? Is that your name? I’ll stay away from you. Okay? I know you’re scared. I know kids. I have… I have two sons. One is about your age.”

  “Well, go to them then,” Hannah snapped.

  Diana lowered her head.

  I closed my eyes for a second. “Wow. I’ve never seen her like this.”

  “It’s alright. I have some food. I’d be happy to share if…”

  “No, we have plenty,” I said.

  “Calvin!” Hannah shouted with almost a whine. “Don’t be telling her what we got.”

  Diana chuckled. “Smart kid. Can I travel with you?”

  “Sure.”

  ‘No!” Hannah yelled. “No.”

  “Hold on,” I told Diana then walked into the dugout. I lowered my voice. “Hannah, what’s going on?”

  “Nothin’. I don’t want her coming. I don’t trust her.”

  “Do you know her?” I asked. “You can tell me.”

  “No, I don’t know her. I’d tell you if I did. We don’t know her.”

  “We didn’t know Mavis either. You were nice to her.”

  “Well, that’s because she looked like my grandma. She doesn’t.” Hannah pointed at Diana. “Just because she’s a woman don’t mean she’s not dangerous. I mean, where’d she come from, Calvin? We ain’t in plain view. Like she was wandering around looking for a ball field and said, ‘Oh I’ll stop there. Look people.’ No. Don’t trust her. She’ll take our stuff. She’ll try to kill Edward.”

  “She will not.”

  “The moment he makes a noise and attracts them things she will. Everyone wants to.”

  “Hannah, please. We’ll watch her. Okay. I’ll be diligent. If she is harmless, then we should let her join us. You and I both know there are some dangerous people out there.”

  “Fine.” Hannah huffed, then whispered, “You remember the moment she does anything bad, she’s gonna be a number one value meal.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Hannah raised her eyebrows. “You said we were a McDonald’s menu. Remember?”

  “My God, did you just suggest that?”

  Hannah ignored me and went over to Edward. “I’m gonna get Edward ready. You get the horse and stuff.”

  I went back to Diana and put the backpack in the wagon. I explained we’d let Hannah adjust. Diana was fine with giving her space. I also explained that the horse still wasn’t a hundred percent, and I was walking along side.

  “Maybe for the last leg, we’ll ride him in,” I said.

  “I don’t mind walking,” Diana replied.

  “Hey, Hannah, I’m going to take the cart and wagon and head toward the road. “We’ll eat in a few, okay?”

  “Okay. Fine. I’m mixing his bottle. I’ll be right there.”

  I grabbed the handle of the wagon and the horse’s rein and started walking.

  “She yours?” Diana asked.

  “She is now. If that makes sense?”

  “She’s very protective.”

  “That’s not a bad thing.”

  “Thank you for letting me join you. I’ve been on foot for weeks.”

  “No car?”

  “Not since I ran out of gas outside of Cleveland,” Diana said. “I promise to pull my weight. I am pretty…” she paused.

  “What?”

  “I’m pretty good with a gun. Stay back. I’ll take care of this one.” She pulled a revolver from the back of her pants, stepped ahead of me and lifted her arm.

  It took a second to register what she was doing. Then it did. I let go of the rein and wagon and took a few steps forward.

  Diana was aiming her gun… at Leah.

  “No!” I shouted. “Stop. No!”

  “What?” Diana was surprised. “She’s one of the infected.”

  “Don’t shoot that one. Not her. She’s harmless. She won’t bite. Please.”

  Diana lowered her weapon.

  Just as she did, Hannah brushed by me.

  “Yep. Don’t listen to me,” Hannah said as she walked ahead. “Been with us all about three minutes and already she’s trying to shoot your wife.”

  “Your wife?” Diana asked, confused.

  “I’ll… I’ll explain as we move. It’s complicated.” I walked back and grabbed the rein and wagon, and started walking.

  21

  Piper

  September 8

&nbs
p; Crossing the main interstate was our targeted milestone for the day. Once we reached there we’d be in a position to stop for the night and the next day we’d be close to, if not at, Sanctuary Sixteen.

  Leah slipped in distance, she would catch up when we paused, then slip back again. Diana walked side by side with me as I led the cart with Hannah and Edward and some of the supplies. She kept her back to Leah. I didn’t blame her, I had a hard time not looking at her. Leah had begun to swell. Her stomach was huge, her arms and legs were bloated as well.

  “Honestly, I don’t think she’ll bite us,” I said.

  “People say that all the time about pit bulls.”

  “I guess they do.”

  Diana looked over her shoulder. “You know what the progression of her body will be right?”

  I shook my head.

  “Right now, her body is bloating, filling with gasses. Her skin will break down and seep. Most of the Vee go through all the decomposition stages, then sort of slow down. The skin kind of tightens around what remains. The insects give up at that point. Very odd process, unnatural. Some say it has to do with a portion of the brain working. If the body is moving, then the circulatory system is working, even a little.”

  “What did you do before all this?” I asked.

  “I’ve ran into several people, they don’t believe me. You probably won’t either.”

  “Try me.”

  “I was a professor of mortuary science.”

  “You’re right,” Hannah said. “We don’t believe you.”

  “Hannah,” I scolded. “So you taught people to be funeral directors.”

  “Yep. I did. I was a coroner first in Buffalo. Then I went into teaching. Because of my degrees in psychology and biology… I never could decide what I wanted to be…”

  Hannah made a scoffing noise.

  Dianna shook her head with a smile. “Anyhow, I got pulled in to work with the outbreak when it hit Cleveland. Actually, I didn’t have a choice.”

  “They made you work on the outbreak?”

  “I worked with the Viral Enhanced. Or Vee as everyone calls them. I studied their anatomical breakdown, how some differed from others. They thought they had a way to bring them back. About six months ago, early in the outbreak, they had what they thought was a cure, or antidote.”

  “Did they?”

  She shook her head. “No. It was hopeful. My job was to observe, examine, and report. The medical examiner and pathologist were needed medically elsewhere. This thing got big. Your wife… she was bit.”

  “No kidding,” Hannah said sarcastically.

  Diana continued. “If I were to guess, somewhere that wasn’t a deadly bite. Like arm or leg. She lived for a couple days. Most docile Vee were bit in nonlethal areas and took days to die. Because of the time it took the infection to kill them, most like that seemed to retain some mental capacities. Our study was never complete, but I know the Vee.”

  “If you know the Vee,’ Hannah said. “Then does she know him?”

  “There is no scientific evidence to support that,” Diana answered. “However, from observation it seems something is retained. We just don’t know what. She may not know him, but there’s an instinct to follow him. Eventually though…” Diana stopped walking. “You will have to take care of your situation. It isn’t mentally healthy for you to keep it going.”

  “I know. I know. I just didn’t expect it to go on this long. I guess I won’t have a choice when I get to Sixteen.”

  “No you won’t.”

  “You know!” Hannah hollered. “You all keep whispering and talking like that, Leah will get jealous and no amount of mice is gonna stop her from going nuts.”

  “Oh, quit that,” I told her, then looked to Diana. “Can that happen?”

  “I don’t know that it ever—”

  I held up my hand to silence her, then whispered. “Shh.”

  We had arrived near the interchange that would take us to the interstate. There we would head west for two miles then catch another back road.

  However, something was wrong. I not only smelled it, I heard it. Once all talking stopped and the clonking of Mary’s hooves were no longer heard, the shuffling and groaning cut through the silence.

  Unmistakably, it was the sound of the dead.

  “Vee,” I said.

  “Calvin,” Hannah whispered. “That sounds like a million of them.”

  “It does sound like a lot,” Diana said. “Where though?”

  After telling them to stay put, I followed the sounds. I crept through the brush on the side of the highway but didn’t need to make it far to see what was happening.

  Hundreds of Vee swarmed the road. They moved about aimlessly, back and forth. It reminded me of a concert crowd, just mobbed there.

  Diana’s one word of, “Here” made my jump from my skin. I grabbed my chest as she handed me a pair of binoculars.

  “Jesus, you scared me.”

  “Sorry. Take a look. It goes just a quarter mile both ways. Trucks got them blocked in.”

  I saw what she had described. I hated that I saw them closer, some of them wandered about while eating something bloody. “How does that happen?”

  “Someone did this to block the exit, I guess.”

  I handed her the binoculars and turned.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I want to look at our map.”

  Still remaining quiet, I made my way over to the cart, holding my fingers to my lips as a sign of ‘quiet’ to Hannah.

  I pulled out the map and spread it out.

  Hannah, without a sound moved her lips to ask, “What’s going on?”

  I pointed to where we were and spoke in a whisper, “Vee. Lots.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Try to keep the baby quiet while I figure this out,” I said. “The Vee are blocking I-64 for about a quarter mile. They’re penned in by trucks.”

  Diana returned, peering at the map. “Can we go around?”

  “We could. It would add a day’s journey especially if we backtrack and try the exit here…” I pointed. “Take that road for a while. It’s all the wrong direction. Getting on the main highway is a straight shot back to Old Sixty and that’s where we need to be…”

  “So get on the highway,” Hannah said.

  “Hannah, there are hundreds,” I explained. “Right here is the only place.”

  “It’s a trap. Someone wants you to go around for a reason.”

  I nodded. “A reason, yes. I think just to keep that side of the highway safe.”

  “No, Calvin, I have a bad feeling. If the Vee are there, the only way to get them is to lead them. So lead them out. And why are they there? You know Vee look for food, right. I highly doubt animals are such a plenty that the Vee don’t need to move.”

  “What are you saying Hannah? Someone is feeding them?” I asked.

  “Yep. I say we play pied piper. They don’t move fast. Heck, I’ll do it. I’ll go make noise, have them follow me. Once it’s clear you get across.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “If anyone is doing that, it’s me.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Diana said. “Look we don’t need to backtrack.” She showed me on the map. “We’re on old sixty now, right? We need to be on old sixty to get to Sixteen.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said. “But old sixty loops up, too many hills and winding roads. Getting on I-64 cuts that all out.

  “Hear me out,” Diana said. “We stay on old sixty. It crosses over I-64 right where we are.” She ran her finger. “Take it two miles, use the 1145 down here to get on I-64. Really we don’t lose anything.”

  “Wow, I didn’t even see that.”

  “Yeah,” Hannah said with disbelief and lifted the map. “How the heck did you see that little bitty road? Kinda impressive. I thought old people couldn’t see.”

  I quickly folded the map. “Let’s get going. We need to be quiet though. When we go on the overpass, we don’t need them
to hear us.”

  “Calvin,” Hannah grabbed my hand. “I really think this is a bad idea.”

  “Hannah,” I said passively. “Listen. We’re just running perpendicular. It’s fine. Looks like only a couple miles to this 1145, then we’ll be where we need to be. Okay?”

  Hannah reluctantly agreed and continued on.

  The highway was on flat land and a road leading to the fairgrounds was our original plan. That would take us to the highway. That was tossed out the window. Diana actually had a good back up route.

  Leah didn’t follow us, she went directly to the highway. Maybe she sensed food there, or something.

  Seeing the Vee blockade from the overpass gave me a whole different perspective. It was obviously done on purpose. Trucks and vehicles made a fence of a large area, keeping them tight in there. I wondered why anyone would do that.

  Then again, the town of Grayson was on the map. It was a small town, maybe they were all alive, they wanted to keep safe. Or maybe the Vee in the blockade were their loved ones and like me, they couldn’t let go.

  I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I just wanted to get going. We were close, so close.

  Once we crossed the overpass, there was a short section of Old Sixty that ran ridiculously close to the Vee bull pen on the highway. It was a short section and by the time we had the coverage of trees between us and the highway, we had passed the blockade.

  I noticed that the horse was stronger. The next day I would try to use the cart to bring us all to Sanctuary Sixteen. If I timed it right, and we left early in the morning, stopping to give Mary breaks every couple hours, we’d be there by nightfall.

  I looked at my watch, it was pushing five o’clock, and the sun would set soon. I figured we would stop once we hit that 1145, which I learned by looking closer at the map, was Aden Road. It had an underpass, which was a great place to stop for the night.

  I guess it was about a mile before the underpass when I spotted the Value Store eighteen-wheeler. I slowed down my walk and was apprehensive about moving forward. Was it another Vee blockade? Then I spotted the man on top of the truck. He held a rifle, but didn’t aim it. He lifted it in a wave and I continued walking.

  “What is this, Calvin?” Hannah asked. “See, I told you it was a trap.”