“I’m sorry. It’s just, that food isn’t any good. I have food in the car,” he explained.
“Peanut butter sandwiches?” she asked hopefully.
“No. No peanut butter. But I do have jerky and some chips and crackers.”
She relented. Cale escorted her outside where a corpse was investigating the Saab. It’d been drawn to the sound of the motor running. He pulled out his knife and dealt with it while it was still ignorant to his presence.
“Come here,” he waved JoLynn over and ushered her into the car.
Once they were both buckled in, he put the vehicle in gear and they were on their way.
Chapter 33
FREEDOM RUNNER 2
A sign informed him that he was five miles from the Iowa/Illinois border. The drone of the engine lulled him into a groggy state.
“Stay awake,” warned Zach from the mirror.
Instead of his own reflection Cale was seeing Zach drive the car in the mirror. JoLynn sat staring out the window while she ate her crackers. She hadn’t spoken a word since they left the house.
“What are you looking at over there?” he asked her.
She didn’t respond.
“You know you’re going to have to talk to me sometime?” said Cale.
Again no response.
“You should try a game,” suggested Zach. “Kids love games.”
“You want to play game?” Cale asked.
He had JoLynn’s attention now. Eagerly, she sat up in her seat.
“How about, you ask me a question, then I ask you a question?” stated Cale.
“Okay,” she replied with a mouthful of crackers.
Cale smiled. “I’ll go first, okay? Let’s see, what is your…favorite color?”
“Pink,” she said cheerfully.
“Mine too! Now it’s your turn,” he said.
She crinkled her nose. Cale could tell that she was trying to come up with a question.
“You can ask anything,” Cale informed her.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know.”
“Here, I’ll go again. Um…what’s your favorite food?”
“That’s easy!” she exclaimed. “Pizza!”
“Me too!” he reciprocated the enthusiasm.
“With pepperoni!” added JoLynn.
“Are you just copying my answers?” teased Cale.
“No!” she crinkled her nose again.
“Okay your turn now,” he laughed.
She paused for a moment to think. Cale loved the faces she made while she was thinking. They were exaggerated. Her eyes widened as an idea came to her.
“What happened to your hand?”
He was flabbergasted at her candidness.
“Out of the mouth of babes,” chuckled Zach. “you did say she could ask anything.”
“Yeah,” started Cale. “I lost them.”
“How?” pushed JoLynn.
“A bad man cut them off.”
He knew right away he’d been too honest with her.
“Whoa, man!” exclaimed Zach. “Over-share much?”
“She caught me off guard,” explained Cale. “and I always figure honesty is the best policy.”
“That’s too much honesty. She’s like five years old buddy,” Zach argued.
“Who are you talking to?” inquired JoLynn.
“Uh…it’s my turn to ask a question,” deflected Cale. “what’s your…favorite animal?”
“A bear,” she answered.
“A bear?” he exclaimed.
“Yea—” she suddenly became silent.
She burst into tears.
“What’s wrong?” Cale asked sympathetically.
“Tygee,” she cried. “I forgot him.”
“Tygee?” he was confused.
“He’s my bear! I left him!”
“Uh oh,” he said.
“Can we go back?” she pleaded.
“Well, do you see this coat I’m wearing? What if I told you this was a magic coat?”
She didn’t look amused.
“You’re just pissing her off,” warned Zach.
“Here, let me show you,” he said as he reached inside it.
He retracted his hand and in it was Tygee, her bear.
“Tygee!” she squealed.
She took the stuffed bear and hugged him tightly. She nestled her face into his soft fur, effectively drying her tears. It warmed him to see her happy.
“You’ve been driving this entire time with that in your coat? You’re a dick,” stated Zach.
“Just keeping magic alive,” smiled Cale.
But his feel-good moment was short-lived.
“Can we keep playing that game?” she asked.
“Sure. Whose turn is it?” laughed Cale.
“Mine,” she smiled mischievously.
“Okay. Go ahead,” replied Cale.
“What’s your favorite…”
JoLynn screamed as a corpse threw itself in front of the car. Cale had been looking at her and not the road. There was no time to swerve. He reached over and held JoLynn back in her seat. The rotted figure bounced off the hood and was launched into the ditch. The vehicle maintained its speed.
“It’s okay,” Cale assured her. “are you alright?”
She nodded, clutching her teddy bear. Tears welled up in her eyes. She was fine physically, but she was obviously upset. Cale wished he could comfort her somehow, but needed to watch the road. The bridge came into view. Any vehicles on it had been pushed toward the edges.
“Look at that. Someone cleared it off for you,” observed Zach.
The bridge appeared structurally stable. He passed under the steel support beams and into Clinton, Iowa. The bridge itself was newer, but the brick buildings surrounding it were older. Cale knew this street. He slowed and turned south at the intersection. The dead wandered out from destroyed businesses and through the streets. The Saab’s motor was drawing them. JoLynn shrieked.
“Close your eyes,” Cale told her. “We’re safe. Just close your eyes.”
JoLynn burried her face into Tygee. Boney decayed hands reached out for the vehicle. He maneuvered safely around them. The collective sounds of their moans became louder than the engine. JoLynn sobbed.
“Keep your eyes closed and cover your ears,” said Cale.
He maintained a safe speed as he drove past the plagued horde. The crowd collapsed on itself behind them like two opposing storm fronts. They swirled into a massive undead mob. Gruesome faces lined the road.
“Drive man!” shouted Zach.
Cale accelerated. He didn’t look back as he left the dead behind. Within a few minutes they were leaving the city limits. He was glad to see more open road. JoLynn was still doing what Cale had commanded. He put his hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Look. We got away.”
She opened one of her eyes, prepared to close it again at the first sign of trouble. Cale smiled at her.
“They’re gone?” she asked meekly.
“Yep,” answered Cale.
He could see her instant relief.
“You’re gonna have to teach her not to scream when she sees them,” advised Zach.
“I know,” he replied.
JoLynn whispered to her bear. She was comforting Tygee. It was more him comforting her.
“Hey,” Cale said to her. “It was your turn. Do you still want to play?”
She shook her head no and went back to cuddling her bear.
“Okay,” he replied. “You could close your eyes and rest for a bit.”
JoLynn took his advice and leaned against her door. It wasn’t long before she was sound asleep.
“Poor girl is exhausted,” stated Zach.
“She’s been through a lot,” Cale agreed.
“What are you going to do with her if you get home?” Zach asked.
“You mean, when I get home,” he corrected.
“Okay. Well,” repeated Zach. “What’s to become
of her?”
Cale looked at her. What was he doing? It didn’t matter. He couldn’t leave her there to die.
“She’ll stay with us,” he answered.
“And your wife will be okay with that?” his hallucination questioned.
“Why wouldn’t she? Lauren would do the same thing,” Cale informed him.
“Would she?”
“Yes,” asserted Cale.
“So JoLynn will become part of your family then?” Zach speculated.
“She will. If she wants to, that is…” Cale whispered.
He returned his attentions to the road. Overgrown highways, abandoned vehicles, and flooded fields passed by. Forty minutes went by. A weathered billboard displayed an ad for a radio station. “The Double Ds on the Quad-City Rocker, Proudly broadcasting for five years!” Two men stood back to back. The names Dave and Darren beneath them. Their faces were faded. The turn for I-80 was coming up. This was once another highly populated area. It was best not to stray into the cities. He merged and headed west. They drove past multiple exits for the city, all of them were blocked off.
Water stood on the four lane road. Cale let the car coast onto it to avoid hydroplaning. It was far deeper than he thought. He did his best to aim for the shallowest spots without sending the Saab out of control.
“The river has certainly expanded,” said Zach.
“That’s not the river,” Cale corrected him.
JoLynn stirred at the sudden deceleration and immediatly began crying.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her.
Then the foul aroma hit him. She’d defacated. He could tell by the scent that it was bad. Every parent was familiar with the sick poop smell. A puddle formed in her seat. It wasn’t urine.
“Oh girl,” Cale said sympathetically. “I’ll find us a place to stop. We’ll get you changed.”
The Iowa 80 truckstop, which was advertised as the world’s largest truckstop, was coming up. Only now it was more of a marsh than a tourist attraction. FEMA and CDC signs were posted all over. To the north was a flooded parking lot filled with semi tractors and trailers. And to the south was a couple of gas stations, a camper/RV dealership, and a hotel. The hotel’s roof had been ripped off. As he went up the offramp, Cale could see the white medical tents beyond “The World’s Largest Truckstop.” Debris floated around them, but he didn’t see any of the undead. JoLynn still wept.
“It’s okay. We’re stopping over here,” he soothed her.
He turned to the south. The flooding was nowhere near as bad on that side. Cale pulled the Saab into the Camper and RV dealership’s parking lot that sat atop a slight hill. There was no flooding up there. After stopping, he visually scouted the road ahead. The interstate to the west was too waterlogged for the car to make it through.
“What do ya think? An RV will have a better chance of fording through that.” Zach speculated about the water.
“That or maybe one of those semi tractors,” replied Cale.
JoLynn’s face was covered in snot and tears. Cale went to her side and opened her door.
“It’s okay,” he said as he helped her out of the vehicle.
The seat of her pants were thoroughly soaked.
“It was an accident,” she sobbed.
“That happens,” Cale assured compassionately. “We’re going to have to take these off of you, okay?”
“No,” she pled.
For a moment he felt uncomfortable with his own words. He’d never had any issues undressing and cleaning his own daughter, but JoLynn wasn’t his. Her “stranger danger” alarms were going off. Cale was still a stranger to her.
“Do you want to do it yourself?” he offered. “It’s only going to get worse if you don’t. I’m just going to take a look. I’m not going to hurt you,” he assured her.
“Look, if you can clean yourself I won’t do it. But if you need help, I’ll help,” explained Cale.
“Okay,” she said in her tiny voice.
She cried and allowed him to remove her pants. Cale cringed as he exposed her legs. She’d been suffering from dysentery for sometime. Her legs were covered in welts and open blisters. The foul liquid had dried to her skin. He’d have to clean her in order to prevent a dermal infection. However, there were only two bottles of water left.
Cale remembered his aunt Marie getting staph infection in a similar way. Staphylococcus was a persistent little bacteria. His aunt had struggled with it for a long while, even being quarantined in an ICU. JoLynn was potentially on the verge of getting sick and just dying. He opened his own bag and pulled out one of the bottles and a T-shirt. Cale poured the contents onto the shirt.
“Here,” he offered her the shirt.
She took it and barely touched it to her skin, before deciding she was done.
“You’ve got to get all of it off of you,” explained Cale.
“I’m done,” she insisted.
“You’re going to have to do it for her,” Zach informed him.
“Here,” Cale took the shirt.
He pressed the makeshift washrag against her leg. JoLynn pulled away.
“It hurts!” she squealed.
“I know,” said Cale. “But we need to get this washed off of you.”
She cried as he gently tried to scrub the fecal matter off of her. Her blisters burst, and oozed a thick yellow viscous liquid. She trembled and whimpered.
“Almost done. Almost done,” he soothed her.
“I’m cold,” she whined.
“Once you’re all clean I’ll wrap you up in a blanket,” promised Cale.
She continued to cry without replying. He had her turn around so he could wash her backside.
“Those gas stations might have something useful. Maybe food and water,” speculated Zach.
“Might,” he agreed.
The gas station on his side of the interstate was under three feet of water. He could see movement inside.
“Just leave her here in one of these campers,” Zach suggested. “Just a quick hit-and-run.”
His last attempt at a hit-and-run was anything but quick.
“I don’t know,” he said in a reluctant tone.
“It’s right there within eyesight,” argued Zach. “It’s not like you’re hiking a mile and a half. Besides, once you brought her on you cut your food ration in half. Maybe more.”
He was right. Cale had no other choice. JoLynn let out a blood curdling scream. For a moment he thought he’d hurt her, but she pointed behind him. He turned, ready for his attacker. A reanimated corpse was shambling away from them thirty feet away. Slowly, he turned at the sound of JoLynn cries and sauntered toward them.
“Shh,” Cale urged her. “It’s okay.”
Moss was growing on the creature’s legs. He had a bullet graze on the side of his head. Someone had failed to kill him. Cale clutched his knife and waited for it to get closer. When he was within five feet Cale sprang into action and jammed the knife through his eye socket. The undead man groaned as Cale lowered him to the ground.
“Is it…is it dead?” she asked meekly.
“It is now,” replied Cale. “I’m going to finish washing you and we’ll find a safe place.”
“Okay,” whimpered JoLynn.
She cried silently as he finished wiping her legs. And as promised he wrapped her in a blanket. He carried her as they browsed the RVs and campers. So far each one he tried was locked. Grey clouds blocked out the sun in the western sky. He could smell rain on the breeze. He groaned. He loved rain but given his situation it was unwanted. Finally, a door to an RV opened. Cale peeked inside to look for any occupants. It was empty.
“Good,” he whispered.
He took JoLynn in, closing the door behind them, and sat her on a couch.
“Stay here,” he whispered as he pulled out his knife and walked to the back of the RV.
He went past the kitchen and checked the lavatory and bedroom. Empty. Just as he went to turn around something out the window moved. Cale in
ched up to it and peered out. Another corpse was walking in circles. The pavement was littered with decomposing strips of flesh that had fallen off him. He had a knife protruding from his lower abdomen.
“What is he doing?” Zach asked.
“No idea,” confessed Cale.
He left the window and went back to JoLynn who shivered on the couch. Cale lowered himself to her level.
“I’m going to go get our bags out of the car—” he began.
“Don’t leave me!” exclaimed JoLynn.
“Shh,” he put his index finger in front of his lips.
“The monsters are out there,” she whispered.
“I know. It’ll be okay. I’m coming back,” he told her. “I won’t leave you.”
“Don’t go,” she pled.
“I’m just going to grab our bags and I’ll be right back. Just hang tight and be extra quiet, okay?”
She still appeared reluctant. Cale got an idea. He pulled the Ziplock bag from his pocket and pulled out his iPod. The cracked screen illuminated with the Apple icon. The battery was at eighteen percent. He’d been coveting its life, but knew JoLynn would need a distraction. He scrolled through in search for age appropriate music. Cale laughed when he found The Little Mermaid soundtrack. He’d put it on the device for Marie. She loved music.
“You want to listen to music?” he asked JoLynn.
He presented her the iPod and showed the digital album cover. Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian were hanging out in the water. JoLynn smiled widely.
“I love Ariel!” she answered excitedly.
“Great,” smiled Cale.
He handed her the earbuds, which she held up to her ears because they were too big to fit in them. Cale hit play and “Part of Your World” started. JoLynn could barely contain her excitement. Cale was overcome with emotion. In that instant, she’d forgotten where she was and that her parents were dead. It was like seeing her the way she was meant to be. Tears welled in his eyes as he watched her stare starry-eyed at the little screen. He took a deep breath and kissed the top of her head. She didn’t even notice.
Cale stepped outside and closed the door. He didn’t want to leave her there with an infected just behind the RV, so he crept toward the back with his knife ready. The man was still walking in a small circle. Black fluid sputtered out of the wound in his stomach. Cale quickly realized why he was walking in a circle, and almost burst laughing when he did. Each step the creature took enabled air to escape from around the knife’s blade. When it did, it made a sound very similar to flatulence. This zombie was literally chasing the sound of his own farts.
Z Plan (Book 3): Homecoming Page 30