It was believable enough, considering the state his truck was in, but his uniform was entirely too clean, pristine even. Lisa gave a solitary nod before she turned to the crowd that followed her. She silently wished that she knew them all better so she could feel more confidence, but she had to work with what she had.
“Any of you know how to shoot?” Most of the crowd raised their hands; it was Arkansas, after all. “Okay, then come over here and load up as many of these mags as you can carry,” she said.
Ernie felt as if they were stealing from him even though the guns weren’t his. They were in his truck and had been since the beginning, but he held in place and waited, keeping his mouth shut; she was the boss.
“You, you, and you; crawl into the back,” she said to a couple of the middle-aged members of the group—one of which had a limp and blood on his pant leg.
“That isn’t a bite, is it?” she asked. The man shook his head and she took his word for it. “Bites endanger everyone, so if you know of anyone bitten then we all need to know about it. You and you; crawl into the passenger side. Bryan, give them a hand, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure,” Bryan said as he headed over to help the senior citizen couple up onto the elevated seat of the large truck.
Lisa went over and opened up the driver’s door of Ernie’s truck and looked at a large woman who was already huffing from the exertion of their short walk. When she opened the door she noticed that there was something about Ernie that just didn’t smell right; he was hiding something. Tonka sat and watched him as if he wasn’t even wearing the uniform. She couldn’t explain it, but somehow he seemed tainted, even through the smell of soap and cologne.
“You”—she pointed at the large woman—“you’re driving.”
“Now wait a minute, this is my personal truck, and nobody drives it but me,” Ernie said, knowing that she had to see the logic of his words.
Lisa looked him with deadpan eyes before she leaned in close and said with a growl. “Did you hear my broadcast? Everything has been appropriated for the cause of saving Hot Springs, Ernie, so this is now community property.”
Her tone was loud enough for everyone to hear; she wanted them all to be sure that she meant business and she was not to be trifled with. “Now get the fuck away from that truck and walk point before I shoot you, get it?”
Her hand was already on a revolver that he didn’t recognize. Ernie’s eyes widened as he realized she wasn’t kidding; she didn’t give a rat’s ass who he was, she would shoot him.
“Yeah, okay, Lis—Lieutenant, I’ll take point.” He got out and felt strange suddenly being on his own two feet. His body seemed to want to cringe as a result of the last time he had stepped out of his truck on the bridge where Tanner, Colleen, Jen, and Tommy all died at the hands of the mob. He internalized his discomfort and made his way to the front of the group to take point, grumbling his displeasure into space.
****
With the exception of Benson and Tanner, Lisa never really liked any of the people from the station—least of all Ernie. She viewed him as a punk who was stuffed to the brim with false bravado, and he had an annoying tone to his voice that automatically created a feeling of distrust from the first time she met him. Hopefully he would grow out of it… hopefully they would all live long enough to see it.
“Young man,” she said, getting the attention of a spry sixteen year old who was looking around, seeming to be lost. She might as well set the tone before someone else jumped in. People want someone to follow in a time of crisis, but if she didn’t take the reins and lead with decisive action, somebody else would.
“What’s your name, bud?”
“Owen.”
“Well, Owen, we need a lookout. Get up there with Larry and the Bobcat. Tell him you’re going to watch his back; he needs eyes and ears if we’re going to make it.”
“Okay, I got this,” he said and snapped his fingers into the Vulcan greeting then ran forward.
“Thank you,” she called after him and then turned back to the woman in the driver’s seat of Ernie’s truck. “What’s your name, dear?”
“Marcy Andersen.”
“Okay Marcy, I want you to follow closely behind that unit right there but give him about twenty or thirty feet.”
Gunshots from her group sounded off as they took out zombies approaching from behind.
“Don’t be alarmed if people pile in the back of the truck; we’re bound to pick up some stragglers that aren’t mobile and you will be protected from all sides.”
More gunshots rang out as more zombies appeared and converged on the group, but the group was ready.
“Thank you,” Marcy replied.
“You’re welcome.” Lisa smiled. “You do have a license, right?”
“Honey, please, would it matter?” she said with a smirk.
“Good for you,” Lisa said and moved on. “You boys have any questions about those weapons? Let me see your guns and mags.”
She did a quick scan. One of the men—a handsome guy who had the confident and groomed look of a banker or a lawyer—looked eager to help, but it was obvious he didn’t know a thing about guns. She grabbed the M4 from him and the Glock .40 mags and said with a smile, “We have other things you can do, alright?” He nodded in reply. “Just walk alongside of the vehicles and assist anybody that I send to you, okay?”
A helicopter could be heard hovering above the city and soon came into to view. It seemed to pause and consider her group for a time. Lisa didn’t know much about military vehicles but she would swear that what she saw was military right down to the contraptions that looked like guns mounted in several places. She waved them over and made to ready a spot if they chose to land.
Lisa became excited when she saw that they might actually have the military jump in. That wouldn’t excuse her from the battle; it would simply help out with the logistics and manpower. She was instantly disappointed as the metallic bird turned away and flew low over the city, scanning multiple streets and buildings as if it were looking for something specific.
Lisa could also hear the rumble of diesel engines mixed with the scrapes and bangs of heavy steel on steel but she didn’t associate that with the military. It was the same sound that she heard coming from the bridge when she, Justin, and Benson passed under it while on the pontoon boat. At the cross street named Woodlawn, she looked both ways and saw multitudes of bulldozers, front-end loaders, cranes, backhoes, and wreckers. They were all moving dumpsters, cars, and anything else big and heavy into the mouths of the thoroughfares, blocking them off completely. She wondered who was directing them or if these people were acting on their own; she had said nothing and really had no plans to do anything that far away from where she wanted to set up. It looked way too organized for a spontaneous action. Was she going to have to face off against some street gang who got the jump on her? She just couldn’t believe there was anyone who could set up and function in such a short amount of time unless they were already set up to do so. That left Brett.
Of course it had to be Brett. A construction worker who knows all of the contractors and even the city workers; this had to be his doing. Lisa was nervous about what she would find when she got to the Sam’s Club. The scene slowly became free of zombies and her group walked virtually unhindered.
To say that more would join them was an understatement. Many of the living were arriving from a variety of places. From parked cars where they had hidden, to apartment buildings that looked overrun, to the employee who got trapped at work, they saw the procession heading to Sam’s Club and joined in.
There were few buildings that had to be emptied when a survivor was spotted hiding out inside and trapped by zombies on the lower floors. Lisa scanned the windows of other buildings to see if any survivors remained trapped in their apartments on the upper levels but none showed their faces as of yet. Several of those trapped had heard the broadcast on the radio, while many more simply saw the procession of living walking down the
center of the street and decided to make the mad dash to the safety of the human train that had guns and protection.
How many of these would have survived the night? Lisa wondered as she saw the smiles of gratitude when they joined with the group. Ernie was diligent about checking for bites but the crowd itself seemed to know the gravity of the situation and had abandoned those who had been overcome. One man who was bitten tried to sneak through the line, but Tonka was having none of it and quickly isolated and cornered the man, not allowing him to move until Lisa came over and verified.
“So you’re bit, aren’t you?” Lisa said in a calming tone. She could feel nothing but empathy for the man who stood on trial in front of his wife and daughter. The procession stopped and everyone had one eye on the situation, wondering what their new leader would do.
The man reluctantly nodded his head. “It happened about an hour ago,” he said. “Maybe I am immune?”
“I haven’t heard of that yet, so maybe. Do you feel perfectly normal?” Lisa asked and the man nodded his head eagerly.
“What is your name?”
“Norman.”
“Okay Norman, I am going to ask you again and I want you to realize that it is your wife and daughter’s life on the line so be sure to be perfectly honest. Do you feel any different?” Lisa asked, holding his gaze. Norman hesitated for a long time before replying and finally, as though he resigned himself to his fate, nodded his head. “What do you feel, Norman?”
“I feel as though I have acid running through my veins and my skin is ice cold. My stomach is twisted into knots and all I can think about is eating whatever I can find.” He finished with a shudder and began to weep. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder trying to comfort him. She whispered into his ear as she directed him away from the group.
“There are only two options, Norman. Do you know what they are?” she asked, causing him to pause.
“I guess it’s take a bullet or go,” he replied.
Lisa shook her head. “No, Norman, I can’t let you go. If I let you go I’m only going to have to kill you later after you have hurt one of us. It’s better to do it now before you bite someone and spread the infection,” Lisa explained, leaving Norman with a confused look on his face
“I thought that you said there were two choices?”
“There are two choices Norman,” Lisa said as she drew in closer to the man again so that she could whisper into his ear. “You know what they are, Norman, don’t you? Don’t make me say it.” She pulled away and looked into his eyes.
“I’m not going to kill myself if that’s what you mean,” Norman replied, his voice quivering with fear-filled rage, appalled by what she meant.
“Well, then what do you suggest, Norman?”
“You do it.”
“Me? You can’t ask me to do that, Norman; I’m a peace officer for Christ’s sake,” Lisa replied, panicked by what she had inadvertently dropped into her own lap.
“Which is why you should do it; anybody else would seem wrong, but with you it would be an official act of public safety,” Norman justified in a pleading voice.
Lisa felt a lump rise to her throat. “I don’t think that I can do that, Norman, it… it… I just can’t.”
“What about him?” Norman asked as he pointed at Ernie who just happened to be looking back right then and smiled.
Lisa had a visual picture of that scene and she didn’t like it. Ernie was too young to have that kind of burden thrust upon him. It would affect him for years to come, and she didn’t think it would be in a positive way. She knew that she had to be the one to do it; there was no one else. Could I just let him turn and then shoot him? No, too much could go wrong; I have to stop it before he turns.
“Okay, I’ll do it. You go and say goodbye to your wife and daughter and give me a few moments to prepare.”
He nodded his head and walked back to the crowd. She didn’t know who knew or how many friends were with him, so she was relieved when Tonka stayed diligently by his side waiting and watching. A group of men overheard and approached Norman and she started to feel nervous. The fact that the procession had stopped moving also made her more than a little nervous. It was not the time to be standing still.
****
Norman looked deeply into his daughter’s eyes and smiled. She was thirteen maybe with wispy blonde hair and brown eyes just like her dad. He didn’t say anything because he couldn’t think of how to tell his only child that he was going to willingly walk over to a woman and have her blow his brains out. It was the right thing to do and he was doing it for his daughter, but he couldn’t put that on her. Considering how things had become, she was going to have a hard enough time growing up. They hugged before he turned to his wife.
It was obvious that there was very little love lost there; neither wore a ring. He just nodded and she did the same before he turned away. He didn’t feel the need to tell her to take care of his daughter; although he didn’t like much about her anymore, she was a good mother.
“Hey Norman!” she said and he turned back. Her face, typically full of snide or sarcastic disposition, was filled with sincerity. “Thanks for coming to get us, okay? I mean… out of everyone we know, you were the only one.”
“She’s my only child and you were my wife so it seemed like the right thing to do,” he said. She nodded slowly and he did the same with a complacent half smile.
“Hey buddy, what’s going on?” a tall man asked before he could get back to the lieutenant.
“It’s nothing, I gotta get ba…”
“You look a little pale there, pal; is there something that you need to tell us?” the large man interrupted, his demeanor gruff. Norman wasn’t pissed but he was annoyed and he was feeling pretty sick. His stomach was starting to twist up like a towel in a wringer washer; he was cold yet his skin felt hot and he was sweating uncontrollably.
“It’s not your business, mister, now get out of my way,” Norman said as he used one hand on the man’s chest to direct him to the side so he could get by. The man was bigger, stronger, and in better physical condition than Norman. He let him by, but he didn’t let him off the hook. He followed right on his heels as a couple other men followed up behind him.
“I think he’s bit,” he said over his shoulder to the others who followed.
“Yeah, I’m bit,” Norman said, turning around as if he was ready for one last fight. “It’s being handled, alright?” He continued to walk toward the lieutenant. The others continued to follow.
“Who are your friends?” Lisa asked.
“Groupies. How do you want to do this?”
“I don’t know; I’m not a professional executioner, you know. I guess it would be best if you were on your knees so the bullet stays low and so does the…” She paused as she realized what she was about to say.
“Spray, you were going to say spray… as in my brains being sprayed out from the back of my head.”
“I’m sorry, man, I didn’t ask for this,” Lisa said.
“Ha! If you think that I am going to feel bad for you, you might want to think again. My life wasn’t all that great, but I was hoping for a couple of more opportunities to make right, you know what I mean?”
“I do,” Lisa replied, not really knowing what to say.
“Hey, buddy,” the taller man said. Norman looked up at him with a cynical cast to his features. “I just wanted to say that what you’re doing is… well, it’s pretty cool. I admire you,” he said, causing a moment of consideration between them.
“Thanks, man, I appreciate that.”
“When it’s done”—one of the men who followed the taller man spoke up—“I’ll take care of you. You know what I mean… I’ll see that you’re buried and even say a few words. Are you Christian?”
“I was yesterday,” Norman said with a small chuckle, causing them all to nod. Norman suddenly keeled over, holding his gut in incredible pain.
“What’s your name?” the tall man asked.
&
nbsp; “Norman,” he squeaked out.
“Be at peace, Norman, in your own way; you go out as a hero in my book.”
“Thanks,” Norman said as he got down on his knees. “It doesn’t really mean much at this point but… thanks.” He looked up at Lisa for a moment as she stewed over what she was about to do. His body began to shudder involuntarily and he became stiff as yellow bile spewed out of his mouth, causing the others to jump back.
“You’d better hurry,” Norman said with a gravelly voice, his blood-filled eyes looking at Lisa pleadingly. He clenched his gut again and bent down until his forehead hit the ground. He struggled back into an upright kneeling position. “You have to do it now.”
The rightness of it overwhelmed the wrongness but the wrongness was still very much there. “I’m just one man with no desire to be anything more than my dad was. I put a screwdriver in his head today after he turned, so in a sense I am doing him one better.”
“What? That didn’t make any sense at all, Norman,” Lisa replied, not knowing what else to say.
“Didn’t it? It’s crystal clear to me,” he said. “Fuck it hurts.”
“Fuck,” she said as she drew the Rhino out from her shoulder holster and aimed it at his head. Feeling that she should say something but not knowing what, she softened her eyes as she looked into his. It wouldn’t be right for her to look away; she didn’t know why, she just knew that it wouldn’t. Hers were the last eyes that he would see in this world and she wanted to make that count.
“I am sorry, Norman, I didn’t make this world and I certainly didn’t want to be the one to do this, but it is your choice and I have to respect that. You’re a brave man.” When she finished, Norman leaned forward and put his forehead on the end of her revolver, yellow spittle lining his lips. His face twisted with so much pain that he seemed to welcome death. She wanted to hold and wait for some great epiphany or some saving grace… there was none, but she just couldn’t pull the trigger. Her actions did nothing but prolong his agony.
“Do it!” Norman spat.
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