The Last Days (Books 1-3)

by Julie Cooper Brown

  I looked down at Angel and she was looking at me, shaking her head ‘no’. I started to ask her ‘what?’ and Tank said, “We have a problem.”

  John had been turned around in his seat talking to us, and we hadn’t paid attention to anything other than John. He turned around and we all looked ahead at the parking lot for the mineral springs.

  There was several infected spread throughout the parking lot.

  A young woman and a teenage boy carrying the meanest looking child I had ever seen on his hip, who was steady beating at his head ( with a naked Barbie doll ), and he was trying to fend off her blows, ran out in front of the van. The woman held her right hand out in front of her and pushed the young boy carrying the child back out of the way of the rapidly approaching van with her left.

  Tank slammed the brakes to avoid running them over and we all were flung forcefully against the back of their seats. When the van stopped the woman’s outstretched hand was touching the hood.

  “Tisha!” John cried and jumped out to usher them safely into the van as Dave opened the side door and began firing at the infected. The three jumped in and John jumped in the back with them.

  Dave continued firing at them as he got in the passenger seat and locked the door, now firing out the open window. Tank was firing out of his side as well.

  I could see that John’s wife Tisha was exceptionally younger than he was. He was probably around fifty five or so, whereas I guessed her age as no more than thirty.

  She had shoulder length brown hair; it was pulled up in a ponytail, short bangs and a full figure. She was not fat by any means, only a little plump which suit her well. The boy, Allen, had jet black hair, but you could tell he was truly a blonde by his roots and his very pale eyebrows and lashes. He also had each end of his bottom lip pierced and was sporting small silver hoops in each hole.

  He sat the fighting child in the seat next to Angel and she continued to swing at Allen. Tank floored it to get us away from the surrounding dead and we saw many more heading in that direction, but stopped and watched us as we drove away.

  The girl was still pummeling at Allen.

  “Settle down, Kimmy! I will take your Barbie away!” Tisha scolded her. She shoved at Allen one more time and he was laughing at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and turned to Angel who was clutching her teddy by the arm.

  Kimmy bit her lip with all of her teeth showing in an evil sneer (she would make this expression quite often when she was being bad, but when wasn’t she?) and snatched the bear from Angel and ripped its little nightcap off its head and slammed it down into the floor board.

  Angel screamed and picked Teddy and his cap up off the floor and screamed in Kimmys face. “You hurt my Teddy!”

  “I will KERE your Teddy!” She said pointing her little chubby finger in Angel’s face.

  I’m pretty sure she meant kill. I smacked her hand away and she gave me the evil eye. This was the worst child I had ever encountered.

  Her little black dress didn’t seem to be dirty, she had Mary Janes as well, and those were black as well. Her hair was coal black as well and very short and uneven, standing straight up in several places. Her fingernails were dirty and bitten down to the quick. The strangest thing though, was her eyes. They were a brown so dark the color of her irises bled into her pupils and you could not tell where the pupil ended and the color began, making her eyes look solid black. They were like big orbs of black, there were whites at the very edges. She looked crazy for real.

  Angel noticed her eyes at the same time I did, climbed into my lap and whispered in my ear.

  “She’s not a little girl, she’s a crazy demon.” I guess it would look that way to a child.

  Little Kimmy had been holding her naked Barbie and she was pulling its hairs out one by one. She had been at this a while, I could see many little bald spots on Barbie’s head, and she was missing a hand.

  I tried to speak to the girl thinking she just needed more interaction to calm her down.

  “Aww, what happened to Barbie’s hand?” I asked her. This little brat got up on her feet in the seat and stood in my face and screamed,

  “I ATE IT!” What a Brat! She then stuck Barbie’s foot in her mouth and began gnawing on it. Tisha put her hand behind Kimmys knees and it made her fall to the seat on her butt. She struggled to get back up but Tisha held her there.

  “You settle down! One more outburst and I’m taking your doll, I mean it! SIT! DOWN!”

  “I bet she would explode if I had a clove of garlic to shove in her mouth.” Allen said from the back making us all snicker which pissed off little Kimmy, who turned in her seat and started swinging at him again. Then Tank said from the front,

  “Hey, Dave. Take that cross you are wearing and touch it to her forehead, if it burns her, we may have to perform an exorcism.”

  We were all laughing at her now, her eyes grew wide as if she perceived that statement as a threat and so she hit Allen harder.

  Tisha grabbed her by the waist and forced her into her lap and held her there. Kimmy raised her hand to hit Tisha and thought better of it when Tisha said

  “If you hit me, I am going to slap the shit out of you. No court in the world will convict me. Try it.”

  Kimmy slumped into Tisha arms and became very quiet, though she was staring at Angel intently and making mean faces. She wasn’t much of a demon after all; they don’t balk at the threat of a good slap. Children do.

  “So, now that that we have Kimmy settled down, I’m Tisha, and this is my nephew Allen. It’s nice to meet you. Sorry about Kimmy, she has ADHD. She’s a handful sometimes… well, all the time.”

  She held out her hand and I shook it. I introduced myself and Angel and Dave took the honor of introducing his self.

  He was loosening up a little by then with this new crowd. Even chatting it up with Tank. He took to him pretty easily. I had been listening in a little bit and Tank used to be in the Army as well, was even featured in a book about war.

  (It was a popular one that, though I can’t for the life of me remember the title.)

  I know that I have read it, because when he said the name of it I recalled a little of it and even the picture he was talking about.

  He also owned a Bar and Grill in somewhere in Ohio; he had been in Florida on a vacation with his wife and daughter, who unfortunately didn’t make it.

  “What happened back there?” John asked. He was devastated and now they had no supplies as well as no place to live.

  “It was Seth, John. He was infected when you brought him in yesterday.” Tisha answered.

  “No, he wasn’t he was fine. He didn’t show any signs of illness. He had no injuries.”

  “How do you know he had no injuries, John? Did you check him? Did you, Tank?” She asked with a little attitude.

  “No, we asked him and I felt he was being truthful.”

  “Well, he wasn’t. He lied. Allen saw a bite on his back in the shower and asked him about it. Seth told him it was a dog bite. Allen came to tell me, and I confronted him. While I was confronting him, he changed… right in front of me, John. He almost had me. Do you want to know who saved me? Jewell. Cranky, old, bitchy Jewell. She shoved her cane right in his fucking eye. Turns out she wasn’t so damn bad after all. You two and your bleeding hearts, put us all in danger. I swear.”

  She slammed herself against the back of the seat and squeezed the squirming Kimmy tighter. Wow. I guess I couldn’t blame her.

  “What the hell happened that they all got infected? Why is our shelter ruined?” Tank asked.

  Tisha looked back at Allen and we all followed her gaze and I did not expect Kimmy to say,

  “Krissa fupped Sef! They were kissin’! Cause Awen was sweepin!”

  Allen slapped her in the back of the head and she said “OW!” and scrunched her face while she rubbed her head.

  I looked at Allen and could see the hurt on the young boys face as he began to tell us about it. “Well, Kimmys right. Krista did
sleep with Seth, and I guess that’s how she became infected. She didn’t die though. Just like Seth she turned almost immediately and I saw her attack Jewell, Jewell fell to the ground but without her cane, she couldn’t get up so Krista jumped on top of her screaming and crying but biting her still. I tried to help but Krista turned on me, so I ran to get Tisha, who was burying Seth on the other side of the lake. By the time we got back over here, Krista had attacked Maude and Miss Blake, too. And Jewell was coming back to life. Baby Reagan here was standing there laughing at all of it, (he slapped the back of her head again) I picked her up and followed Tisha to the parking lot. And then you guys showed up.”

  “What about the Infected in the parking lot? Why were they here? We have been safe for weeks.”

  “Krista and Seth had snuck off to the store, I don’t know what for. I guess they followed them back.”

  Allen still had his head down and I could see a tear run down his cheek and he wiped it away with his shoulder. I wondered how long they had dated.

  “Three years.” Allen said. I didn’t realize I had spoken aloud.

  “She’d done it before. I forgave her every time. I wasn’t going to forgive her this time, I’m just mad that I didn’t get to tell her that. She didn’t even know I knew.”

  He pulled an iPod from his pocket and inserted the earphones. I heard very clearly, Rob Zombies ‘Dragula’. A great song, I love Rob Zombie. Though I didn’t feel the mood called for music, it wasn’t loud enough to bother anyone. I figured if that was all the enjoyment this young man could get out of life right now then he had every right to it. His girlfriend was dead now and I know that had to hurt, but she had cheated on him as well and there would never be any closure for him on that end, I’m sure that had to sting.

  The signs said we were travelling north on I-75 now, and even though we had to slow down a few times to pass abandoned vehicles, I was amazed at the ease of access to the road. It should’ve been harder than that to travel. We should’ve had to abandon our vehicle as well. But somehow, the way was clear.

  The clouds had begun to darken some time ago and we could see a big storm was brewing. We were nearing the Georgia state line when the thunder and rains started. Large gusts of wind caused us to weave all over the road. It was dark out by that time and Tank spoke from the driver’s seat.

  “These rains are too heavy, I can’t see. It’s hard to control with the winds. We’re almost out of gas, too. I’m gonna pull off the next exit, see what we can find.”

  He pulled off at Turner Road and made a left off the exit. We drove maybe a mile before the van sputtered and died. We were out of gas.

  “Looks like were walking from here.” Tank said. “We’re gonna wait till the rain lets up though. Who wants to stay up and watch for us?”

  “I will.” Dave volunteered.

  “I will, too.” Allen said from the back.

  “Okay, I’m gonna sleep a bit, wake me in an hour and we’ll head out.”

  Tisha, John, Kimmy and Angel were all already asleep. Barbie was hanging by her one hand from Kimmys mouth and I knew that when she woke up, Barbie was a goner. That child even looked mean in slumber. What the hell happened to make her behave like that? Angel’s head was in my lap and she was hugging her teddy tight, its nightcap she clutched in her other hand. Tisha had her head on John’s shoulder and John’s head had fallen against the back of the seat.

  I didn’t want to doze off but the rain hitting the roof of the van made it impossible to keep my eyes open, and the passing winds became a lullaby. It’s a beautiful sound, and I forgot for just a moment the situation we were in. I slept remarkably well.

  When I awoke, Tank and John were awake and everyone else was still sleeping. Dave and Allen had gotten in the very back seat to sleep when John and Tank woke to relieve them.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked.

  Tank turned to face me and said “We’re gonna head to my place, in Ohio. I don’t know how yet. I don’t want to leave my van though. I think there was a gas station about a mile back. I couldn’t tell because of the rain. It was sitting pretty far off the road. Maybe John and I will head down there for gas.”

  “No,” I said “Dave and I will go when he gets up. How long has he been asleep?”

  “A couple hours, maybe three.” John answered.

  “How long did I sleep?”

  “Around five hours, the rest of them should be waking up soon.”

  “So you have a bar and grill, Tank?”

  “Yes, Tank’s is what it’s called. Open since 1987. I worked hard to make it what it is. I hate to see it tore up, but the last time I had phone contact with my place; the guy I have running it, Mojo; was there with a couple of the waitresses and they were holed up in there. He had killed several infected, had the place locked up tight and he may still be okay. We have lots of food supply, a shotgun and plenty of shells and excessive amounts of alcohol. In which I am going to indulge in as soon as we get there.” He said with a smile.

  He was a nice man and he looked intimidating, if only because of his size; but when he smiled it was like looking at a whole different person. Made you wish he was your father.

  “Mojo’s a little guy, but he’s tough. I think he’s okay. I just want to get there. Those of you that don’t want to go that far; well just let me know when you want out. I’ll try to get you somewhere safe. But I want to get back home.”

  “I don’t think any of us have a choice on where we want to go, so Tank’s it is.” John said.

  “Well, I‘ll wake Dave up, we’ll go and get gas and food if there is anything left that not spoiled.”

  “I’m already up, gotta get out and stretch. Give me a few and I’ll be ready.”

  “Yea, I need a good stretch, too. My legs are starting to cramp.”

  “I wanna go.” Allen said as he was sitting up rubbing his eyes.

  “No,” said Tisha “I want you to stay here, Allen.’

  “Aunt Tisha, I’ll be fine. They won’t let anything happen to me.”

  “Not if we can help it. Let him come along, it’s daylight; we’ll be able to spot them in time.” Dave said.

  “Alright, but you better come back alive. I mean ALIVE, alive.”

  “I wanna go, too.” Angel pouted.

  “No, Angel. You stay here. I don’t want to take you out there It’s not safe for you. I’ll be back. I promise.” I had hoped that I wouldn’t make myself out to be a liar.

  “But I don’t wanna stay here wif Kimmy. She’s bad.”

  “Come on, Angel. Come up here with me. I won’t let Kimmy bother you.” Tank said.

  She looked from me to Kimmy, who was ripping the legs off of Barbie and smiling. She saw her looking and ran her finger across her throat simulating a blade and pointed to Teddy.

  If the Kimmy hadn’t been so mean and serious, I would have laughed at a child giving that kind gesture. Angel looked at Tank and jumped off my lap into Tank’s. She put her arm around his neck and tucked Teddy close to her chest and stared at Kimmy.

  “Okay, Kate. Please hurry.” her little voice so serious.

  She was very leery of Kimmy. Of course I didn’t blame her, if I was a little kid I’d be scared of Kimmy, too. Shit, I was already scared of her; the kid was mutilating her Barbie for crying out loud. No telling what she would’ve become had things had been different and she’d been allowed to grow up.

  “Alright, let’s get the show on the road.” I said as we stood outside the van making sure our weapons were loaded. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly; I closed my eyes and took a deep refreshing breath of the air.

  Dave, Allen and I proceeded to walk the mile to the gas station. We didn’t talk much, too busy watching out for infected that might’ve emerged from the woods on either side of us. We made it there in fifteen minutes.

  The Flying J was set back from the road a bit, which was why Tank couldn’t really make it out during the storm. In the daylight it looked ominous, several a
bandoned vehicles were scattered about the lot and there were four of the infected wandering around. As we neared them, they noticed us and headed our way. Dave quickly put them all down. I was praying that they would be the only Infected we saw. I kind of knew we were asking for too much.

  “Let’s go inside and check for Infected, when it’s clear, you two come back out and syphon gas. I’ll gather what I can from inside.” I said as I peered through the windows of the store. It looked clear so far.

  Dave went in first, and I let Allen go behind him. He did have his own weapon and as I saw him sneaking around with his gun in front of him, he looked like a little boy playing cops and robbers. I think he was getting a thrill out of it. He had not been allowed to do something like this before. Unfortunately, he’s too young (nineteen) to realize exactly how serious this really was. That he was probably going to be dead sometime in the near future. I dismissed my thoughts and Allen and focused on my task.

  “It’s all clear over here. I’ve got a gas can. Come on, Allen. If one is all we have then that will have to do. We’re going to have to stop here on our way back to the interstate.” Dave said as he grabbed the gas can from the shelf and Allen followed him out.

  I continued looking for supplies and found quite a few bags of chips that were still good, a few cans of potted meat and several cans of cola. I found a travel sewing kit and took it too, so I could fix Teddy’s nightcap. I took some of the wrapped plastic spoons that were scattered atop the fountain area. It wasn’t much but it will do for now.

  No matter what the situation, nature calls and I had a sudden urge to use the bathroom. So, I made a beeline for it but before I entered I heard a thumping noise coming from inside. I eased the door open slightly so I could look in.