I sniffed. “You don’t smell that?”
“It’s probably Lester. But ... to be on the safe side, don’t take Seltzer out. Wait for Lev to get up, we’ll check the area, make sure there aren’t any deaders.”
I laughed as I mounted the horse. “I have a gun. I can handle the dead.”
“Yeah as long as it’s only a few.”
“I’m on a horse, I move fast. No worries. Besides, I want to find Scott. If there are any infected out there, he may not be ready for them. You know how he’s been.”
“Let me go with you.”
“No. Don’t be silly.” I rode to the gate at a slow pace while Corbin walked beside me. “We haven’t seen an infected since you brought Lester here over a week ago.”
“We also haven’t really checked the area in four days.”
“Open the gate,” I said. “It’s fine. I’ll stay on the roads and trails where I can’t get trapped.”
Reluctantly, Corbin did, but I sensed he wasn’t going to sit back and wait. I had a feeling that he’d wake either Ben, or Lev. In either case it wouldn’t be long until Corbin was coming after me with the truck.
I really wasn’t worried. I could smell that there were only a few in the area, but I wasn’t scared. I actually liked the feeling of not being scared.
I rode down the driveway, keeping a vigilant eye out for any infected. I didn’t see any. Once I hit the main road, I turned as if going to Big Bear. A quarter mile down, hidden between our two driveways was Lake Trail Road, a dirt road that led to the lake. It was big hike for Scott. Even Lev took the truck because of the heat.
Then I attributed him walking to the fact that he hadn’t been out of our camp, or pretty much far from his little tent, since he arrived. He needed to get out. Maybe Scott had come out of his shell.
Still, having spent most of my life up within those hills, I knew it was a good three mile hike from our driveway, down to the main road and along to Lake Trail Road. Unless Scott went through the forest, that would have cut his trip in half.
Lake Trail was narrow, overgrown, winding and the first half was uphill. I had just made the first bend when I stopped. I swore I heard a car, or even a truck. It moved fast and I waited a moment and listened. I could still hear the engine sound, but it faded. It had to be Corbin. He wasted no time following me, but somehow he missed Lake Trail. It wouldn’t be long, I guessed before he came barreling down, trying to make it on the narrow road.
I kept Seltzer at a four beat walk, a slow steady pace so he would make it up the large grade without tiring. Just as we did, I spotted the infected off the trail and in the woods. There had to be at least eight of them. I wasn’t sure if they were in the infected stage, or deaders. I wasn’t taking any chances. I picked up the pace. They didn’t pursue me, which was a good thing. I worried that Scott somehow was overrun, or was fishing and unaware they were so close.
I made it to the downside of the hill and knew I had lost them. I kept up a faster pace until I made it down to the lake.
When I got there I didn’t see Scott at all. That didn’t mean he wasn’t there, he could have been at the far end, which would have made sense if he cut through the woods to get there.
I rode the edge of the lake wanting to call out, but knowing it was best not to. Even before the virus hit the lake was always peaceful and quiet. Being set in the hollows of the hills sound traveled even more. It wasn’t always possible to pinpoint the direction of the sound however, in a dead world sound didn’t just travel, it was amplified. When the first shot rang out, it startled me, and caused Seltzer to buck.
It echoed through the hills. A single shot. My immediate thought was the infected reached our camp, until a woman’s scream carried out, followed by a barrage of gunfire.
Seltzer went nuts, he lifted up his hind legs, nearly throwing me off. I gained control of him, and with a snap of the rein headed full speed back to the road. My heart raced, fearful for my family, the gunfire still rang out. I quickly made it up the crest of the hill and therein was the problem… I couldn’t see the other side.
As soon as I made it over the top, I ran right into a hoard of infected that blocked the road. They came from the woods at the sound of the gunfire.
They weren’t deaders, or Lyssa ... they were infected, rabid and raged at me.
I couldn’t go forward, I couldn’t go back. Arms reached and grabbed, I kicked out, trying to push them away. I wanted to grab my gun, but it took everything I had to control Seltzer. I didn’t want him to throw me. Seltzer lifted up, turning left then right. He was scared, I could tell. He went from neighing to almost a roar. Finally, I snapped the reins and veered him to the right. He plowed through the infected and raced into the wooded area off of the road.
I didn’t stop, I kept going. Darting in and out of the trees, not paying much attention to where I was at. The infected followed and ran after us, crying and squealing out. We moved faster than they did and eventually I lost them.
I stopped to not only catch my breath, but to get my bearings. My heart beat out of control and I could feel it in my throat.
Not sure exactly where I was, I looked to the sky for some sort of direction.
I spent my life in those woods, yet, tossed deep within them in a state of panic, I might as well have been on foreign land.
Seltzer walked sluggishly, the ordeal had frightened him. He was hard to control and after a good fifteen minutes of moving through those woods, we emerged back on to Lake Trail Road, nearly being run over by Lev’s truck as it came down the hill.
Corbin was driving and he slid to a stop.
“Jesus,” he said. “I was looking for you. I got scared. I couldn’t get by the infected.”
“Did you hear?” I asked. “Did you hear the shots?”
“How could I not.”
“Is that why you came for me?”
“No, Ben sent me after you immediately.”
“We have to …” From the corner of my eye I saw the infected running down the hill. “We have to get back.” I guided Seltzer out in front of the truck and took off.
Corbin tried to say something to me, but I didn’t hear him.
Once I hit the main road, Corbin stayed at the same pace as me. He could have passed me, but I supposed he didn’t want me out of his sight.
I felt Seltzer slowing as I came close to my driveway. “Little more, boy, just a little more. I know you’re tired.”
Turning up our driveway, Corbin was right on my heels. I moved over to let him pass me. If there was trouble with infected, we needed to get back right away. One of us had to get there.
By the time I made it to the open gates, Corbin was already in the camp and the truck was stopped fifteen feet from the cabin.
“No!” Corbin cried out, grabbing on to his head. Then he screamed out. It was a heart wrenching, panicked scream. One I wanted to make. But I had to keep my wits. What did he see?
I jumped from Seltzer and pulled my revolver. At the side of the cabin was an infected woman. She was on her knees above a body. I couldn’t see who it was, all I saw was blood.
Raising my weapon, I headed to the infected. She lifted her head and that was when I saw that beneath her was Edi.
Poor Edi. Her frail body was torn to shreds. I didn’t have time to get emotional, the female infected had noticed me.
Before she could lunge, I fired one shot, taking her out.
“Nila!” Corbin hollered. “Oh, God.”
I tried to process what all had happened.
When I was at the lake, I heard the scream. Then I heard all that gunfire. If there was that much of an exchange, where were the bodies of the infected? Why was there only one in the camp?
Where was my daughter? Lev? Billy, Sawyer, Ben and Sue Ellen.
I ran to the cabin, and as I hit the front porch, I saw Sue Ellen’s body. She lay face down, her body covered in blood.
The door of the cabin was open and I when I stepped onto the porch, I stepp
ed in blood.
‘No, no, no.’ I screamed inside and flew into the cabin.
“Oh, God, Oh, God,” Corbin raced about the cabin, as if searching. “Sawyer!”
It was all happening too much too fast. .
Edi was dead at the hands of an infected.
Sue Ellen was dead.
Corbin cried out for his son. I didn’t see my daughter and to my horror, Lev lay in the middle of the floor.
A trail of blood led from the porch to Lev. Obviously, whatever happened to him, happened outside and he’d crawled in.
“Lev.” I dropped to my knees by him. Was he bit? What happened? There was blood on his arm, his leg and it poured from his stomach. “Lev,” I called his name again.
“Where are they?” Corbin asked emotionally. “Where are the kids?”
I was trying not to panic, I believed with every ounce of my being that Lev would have protected those kids. We just needed to find out how.
“Lev?” I whimpered out, moving my hand to his neck.
Before I could feel for a pulse, I watched his shoulders move. He was alive and wasn’t bit by any infected, it was obvious Lev had been shot multiple times.
“Where are they!” Corbin shouted. “They aren’t here! Where are they? Nila, our kids.”
“I know.” My words were quick, it was hard to even breathe. “Look outside.” I suggested, trying to put my hands somewhere on Lev that would stop the bleeding, but I was at a loss.
“I can’t ... my mom, she’s ... I can’t lose my son,” Corbin spoke in a rush. “I can’t lose my child.”
I closed my eyes tight. “I can’t either. Please look outside.”
Our best answer to the whereabouts of the kids were with Lev. I had to get him to respond.
“Lev,” I called him.
Just as Corbin opened the door, we heard it.
“Daddy.”
Corbin stopped and ran back in the cabin. “Sawyer!”
“Dad!”
“Mommy!” Katie called out.
I looked around, Corbin looked around and then it hit me. Lev wasn’t just laying in the middle of the floor, the floorboard storage was directly under him.
“Oh my God,” I said. “The storage. Help me move Lev.”
Corbin rushed over, grabbed Lev under the shoulders and I took hold of his feet. We moved him over enough to expose the handle of the floorboard storage area hatch.
I hurriedly lifted it. There, squashed together, nearly on top of each other amongst the hidden supplies were the three children.
I heaved out a breath of relief when Katie reached out her hand, realizing at that moment that my amazing beautiful friend not only hid the children, but after taking several bullets, made his way into the cabin to ensure who ever attacked us, never found them.
THIRTEEN – HEAD DOWN
Among it all, there were moments I believed were a godsend.
Finding the children safe was one of them, another was when Ben emerged from the outhouse.
His face was covered with blood, his footing unsteady, and his eyes glazed some. Yet, he was the best and only chance we had at saving Lev.
My friend was dying. I knew it. While his heart beat and he took shallow breaths, he didn’t respond. I didn’t know if he ever would. There was so much left to say, to do, how was I to face everything ahead of me without him.
This wasn’t an option, or a scenario I would easily accept.
It was obvious by Ben’s appearance and reaction that he wasn’t cowering and hiding in the bathroom. He stumbled out, and fell to his knees because the first thing he saw had to be Edi and the dead infected.
We only knew he had emerged because we heard him.
I gasped out, “Ben, thank God. That has to be Ben.”
My hand stayed on his stomach wound, while Katie’s tiny hand pressed to Lev’s leg.
“Is he gonna die Mommy?” she asked
“I hope not, baby.”
Corbin returned with Ben, it was apparent Ben was still taking in what had occurred. He stumbled some and knelt down on the floor.
“You all right?” I asked him. That was when I noticed his eyes. He blinked several times trying to focus.
“Yeah. Yeah. I will be. Give me a moment.”
I wanted to ask him what happened, but I saw he immediately focused on Lev. He instructed the kids to go in the other room and Corbin to go get his bag, “The big one. We’re not gonna have time to move him and this is our OR,” Ben said, then turned to me. “I need water. Hot water. A huge pot.”
That request was easy to do. We had the heater out back. He took over the wound care and I stood quickly and headed to the kitchen. That was when I noticed. Every cabinet door was wide open and every one that had contained food was bare. It made me pause for a moment, but I couldn’t deal with that right then. I grabbed the water pot from the stove, at least that was still there, and took it to the back porch to get the water from the heater.
I felt it.
It was hot. I had lit the fire before I left.
After filling it, I carried the pot inside and set it next to Ben. Corbin was already back, the big bag so reminiscent of Cade’s was open on the floor. “How is he?”
“I’ll know in a bit,” Ben forced a smile, while preparing an IV. “Why don’t you take the kids to my trailer while we work on him.”
Corbin shook his head. “Mom’s out … out front.” he choked on his words. “I didn’t get to move her.”
“Give me a second.” There was a cedar chest by the window, where we kept blankets. I retrieved one and stepped outside. My foot hit the porch and I slid a little on the blood.
All that blood.
All that death at my father’s cabin.
Blanket in hand, I stepped off the porch and heard the weakened neigh at the same time I saw Seltzer. If my heart wasn’t breaking already, it was crushed when I saw that beautiful animal, laying on his side. He lifted his head, shook it and tried to stand, only to fall again.
Sue Ellen’s bullet riddled body was between the cabin and the trailer.
My God, why would they shoot her like that? She wasn’t a threat. I dropped the blanket, clutched her under her arms and pulled her a little away from the front so the kids wouldn’t see.
She didn’t even look peaceful. Her eyes were wide open and her face held fear. “I’m so sorry,” I said, closed her eyes and covered her with the blanket.
With her and Edi, our cemetery was growing.
My father’s paradise, his escape, our sanctuary was crumbling.
Seltzer’s call out caught my attention again and I walked over to him. What had happened? Was he too, shot? Did he twist his leg? When I got closer, I saw that he had probably just dropped when I jumped from him. His silky coat was wet with blood, his eyes were bloodshot and I noticed the bite and tear marks all over his hind legs and side.
The infected got him when they encircled us. They bit him and clawed him. No wonder he jumped and cried out so much.
Poor Seltzer. He kept looking at me as if crying out for help, begging me to do something.
How could I put him down? I didn’t have it in me to lift my gun and I certainly didn’t want to ask Corbin. He had just lost his mother.
So much death and now Lev’s life hung in the balance.
I wanted to believe Seltzer was fixable, but I could see tendons and bone, and also his eyes had the look of infection.
Then I remembered where Cade and I had gone to get supplies. A veterinary hospital. He grabbed boxes of vials containing the euthanasia solution. We never used them all. They were in the closet by the small back bedroom.
If, that was, they hadn’t been taken as well. I returned to the cabin, entering through the back door. I would have to cover Edi as well once I got the kids into the other trailer. I felt as if I were disrespecting her, leaving her there.
I noticed her chickens were gone as well. Of course, they were. Those chickens were a good source of food.
/> Entering through the kitchen I could hear Ben’s voice. I tried not to listen to what was being said, I didn’t want to get depressed. I sought out the box that was on the top of the closet. Whoever came and raided us, took only food and supplies, they didn’t look in that closet. I grabbed two vials and a packaged syringe.
“Ben,” I spoke softly. “How much of this euthanasia stuff will it take to put down a horse?”
“Oh my God,” Ben replied almost heartbroken. “What happened?”
Then I heard Corbin answer. “He was attacked by infected, he’s pretty bad.”
Corbin saw? Of course he did, that was what he kept trying to tell me, but I wasn’t listening.
“Nila,” Ben said. “You can’t give the horse that. You need to hit a vein and we don’t have a syringe strong enough. You’re gonna have to put him down another way.”
A lump formed in my throat.
Then Corbin added, “Make sure you’re close, real close. About a foot. You don’t want to miss. It would make things worse.”
I cringed. “I’ll try, then I’ll be back for the kids.” I remembered as I headed back out, that my gun was by Lev. There was a rifle in the truck, we always kept one there and I went to get that.
How was I going to shoot Seltzer? It was going to be impossible. I dreaded it, I really did.
Outside I could hear Seltzer, he groaned and cried. He was in agony. I got the rifle from Lev’s truck, made sure it was loaded, clicked off the safety and walked to Seltzer.
My hands trembled, my arm shook. I was an expert shot, but I was so fearful that my emotions were going to get the best of me and I would miss, causing Seltzer even more pain.
The poor horse had no reaction to me walking up to him. He wasn’t jerking back when he saw me.
I knelt by his head, and stroked his mane. “I am so sorry boy. Thank you for saving my life and getting me out of there. I am so sorry that this happened. I’m sorry about everything.” I looked up to the sky.
How did we get here? How did we get to that point where there were more graves on the property than people alive? I was beginning to think it was only a matter of time until we all were gone. That maybe the living had their time on earth, the human race did its damage and now time was up.
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