by Gallier, TW
"Okay, Olivia, you are heading for the highway, right?" I asked.
"No, I was just trying to get out of the city the quickest way possible," she said.
"That's cool and a good idea," I said. "Up ahead is the interstate. Go right and we'll head towards Plano."
"After that I think we should take our families south," Ralph said, leaning forward between us. "It'll be easier to survive down in Texas. Maybe on the coast."
Sounded good to me. South Texas was said to be as warm as Miami during the winter. Food could be grown year-round.
"Maybe," she said, gnawing on her lip. "What if the zombies don't like snow? What if they all freeze because they're too stupid to go inside where it's warm?"
"Dude, she has a good point," I admitted. "I hate the cold, but…"
"Good point, but its summer now and the prevailing winds are from the south," Ralph replied. "I bet there are a lot more zombies north of us than there are to the south."
"Jesus," she said, rubbing her temples. "I got a headache. This is so hard. We might be fucked no matter which way you go."
She was right. It might not matter which way we went. Winter was months away. These were things we never had to consider in the Zombie Hunter video game. So we continued driving, and she turned right on the interstate. That took us southeast, but also was the fastest way out of the city. Hopefully, by that time tomorrow we'd be in Plano with our families.
"Turn on the radio," Ralph said. "Maybe there are areas of the country missed by the zombie bombs."
Zombie bombs? He was kind of right, though it sounded so wrong. That statement made me wonder if more missiles with zombie bombs would rain down from the sky. It was bad enough already, but earlier the TV said the country's missile defenses were down.
I turned on the radio and got dead air. So I started pushing buttons. I found a station broadcasting on the fourth button.
"Yes!" Ralph cried.
"Shhh," Olivia said.
"…the state capital was hit in the initial barrage, so we have no state government now," the broadcaster said. He sounded like a professional commercial spokesman. "This station has received no communication from the Feds, so we don't know what to tell you. We recommend you lock your doors, pile furniture against all doors and windows, and then hunker down. Hopefully you have some kind of weapons if the infected try to break inside."
"Infected?" Olivia asked. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know," I said. "Maybe they don't want to believe they are zombies."
Truth was, I'd be pretty damned happy if they weren't zombies. Real undead were too scary to contemplate. Yet, an infection that caused people to lose their minds and wander around looking for anything alive to kill might be worse.
"It doesn't matter," Ralph said. "If they are undead or their brains have been burned out by some kind of gas or infection, they are all still mindless zombies."
"He's right. Either way, they will kill us if they catch us," I said. Since they could be killed, I suspected the latter was true. Some kind of airborne infection was released by the enemy missiles. "Actually, I kind of hope it's an infection."
"Why?" Olivia asked. "That's just sick."
"I know it's sick," I said. "But I figure infected people who act like zombies will die, either of exposure, starvation, or violence. The undead might not ever die. So with infected zombies, we just have to outlive them."
"Shut up, he's talking about safe places," Ralph said.
"…also, I've spoken to a station in Emory," the unnamed broadcaster said. "They didn't have any casualties, and have since barricaded their town. It sits in the fork of two rivers, so the infected can only come at them from the north. They only have to defend that side of the town."
Emory was south of us, about halfway to Plano on the highway. I've only been there once, as a child, but stopped at their gas stations when traveling to and from home on holidays.
"Sounds like a no brainer," Olivia said. "Might be a good place to restock and get some info about what it's like to the south."
I totally disagreed. There was no way they'd give us anything. Emory's first and only concern would have to be their survival, not ours.
"Are you crazy?" Ralph asked, fidgeting. "I think it's more likely they'll shoot us just to take our guns and ammo."
"Good point," I said. "Let's not plan on stopping there and keep listening to the radio for a better option. Maybe there is another safer area we can take our families."
No one argued the point. Olivia pressed the pedal down, pushing us up to 80 miles an hour. The highway was pretty much empty. We passed cars that had ran off the road and crashed, but the highway itself was mostly clear. We easily avoided the few vehicles abandoned in the road.
The country became hilly as we left the city behind. Thick forest pressed in on both sides. The radio continued to urge everyone to stay home, barricade, and wait for help. He didn't mention anything about the federal government, army, or police efforts to help anyone.
"Aaaiieee!" Olivia screamed and slammed on the brakes.
Tires screeched and I surged forward into the dashboard. I stared in horror at the scene before us. Countless zombies were chasing about a dozen uninfected people. I watched as a young kid was caught and dragged down, with more zombies piling on top of him. A woman, maybe his mother, turned and raced back to him. She was dragged down seconds later.
"Mother fuckers!" Olivia screamed, and hit the gas.
Our pickup ripped through the zombies. We bounced all around inside the cab. Olivia was the only one of us wearing a seatbelt. I struggled back into my seat and got the belt on, just before she put it in reverse and plowed back into the zombie horde.
"You sick monsters! I'll kill you all!"
As best as I could see, all of the zombies turned toward us. That was great for the people they were chasing, but I didn't think it was going to do us any good.
"Get out of here!" I shouted. "Stop fucking around and just fucking drive!"
"Aaagghhhh!" she cried, putting it into first and hitting the gas. Olivia turned the wheel as she drove into the horde, just to run down as many of them as she could. I was pretty sure she was going to get us all killed. "Die!"
Her face was blood red, tears streaming down. I'd never seen her like that before.
"Are you crazy?" I screamed.
"They killed that little boy and his mother!"
"They're going to kill us if you don't get us out of here," I said. "Just go. Now!"
She turned the wheel and drove out of the horde. Ralph and I turned to see how much damage she'd done. There were a lot of zombies down and not getting up. The front of the truck was so bloody and gory that blood was still splashing across the windshield.
"Where did the other people go?" Olivia asked.
"I don't see them," Ralph said. "They ran into the woods."
"They're probably heading for Emory," I offered. Olivia was still upset, shaking like a leaf. "Let's just keep going like we are."
She started crying again. "I keep thinking about my mother."
"I know, me, too," I said. "Maybe we should skip Emory and head straight to Plano?"
She nodded, still crying as she raced down the highway. Olivia was doing 90 now. It was more than a little scary.
"Why don't you slow down a little?" I suggested. "Okay?"
"Okay," she said in a tiny voice. She handed me her phone. "Call my parents' house."
I did, putting the phone on speaker. It just rang and rang and rang. So Ralph and I both tried to call our own parents. Nothing. It wasn't looking good. None of it made sense. Why would they be nuked or zombie gassed? Plano was a farming community out in the middle of nowhere.
"You want me to drive?" I asked.
"Yeah, right," she said, sniffing and wiping her nose on the back of her hand. "I'm the only one here that can drive a standard."
"I think we can make it before sunrise," Ralph said. "I'm worried about my family, too. I think a small to
wn like that should be safe, though. The bad guys don't even know there's a town there to hit with a zombie bomb."
"That's what I keep telling myself," she said. She sniffed again, really long and loud. "But it's getting harder and harder to believe."
My gut clenched as I looked forward down the highway. I really didn't want to even consider our home town being hit like we were. It was too terrible to contemplate. It had to be a technical failure or something.
We topped another hill, and she slammed on the brakes again.
"Watch out!"
Chapter 4
Cars, trucks, and 18-wheelers were piled up on the road. Olivia locked the brakes, but we were going too fast. She turned the wheel, almost flipping us, and we went flying off the road. Only the seatbelts and airbags kept us from being thrown around and bashed to death.
"Aaiiee!" I cried when the truck flipped and rolled over and over.
"Holy crap!" Ralph screamed. "What the fuck?"
"Sorry," Olivia squeaked out. "Ooooh, that hurt."
We finally came to a rest on our side. I was on bottom, with Olivia hanging in her seatbelt above me. Ralph was hanging behind her.
"Are you all right?" I asked. If anyone was seriously injured, we were toast. It was doubtful there were any hospitals operating. There were no cops or ambulances at the smoldering pile of cars blocking the highway. "Olivia? Ralph?"
"I'm fine," she said rather briskly. "That airbag almost punched my lights out."
"Count yourself lucky," Ralph said. "I didn't have an airbag, but I'm fine. I think I smashed the window out with my head."
I saw a big old goose-egg on the left side of his head. He was rubbing the knot and looking sick. I appeared to have come through the wreck in the best shape, and every bone in my body ached. Still, the seatbelts and airbag held me pretty safe.
"At least we're alive," Olivia muttered. "That's something."
The truck was making hissing noises, but the engine had died. What little of it I could see was all bashed in. Smoke or steam started coming out from under the hood.
"We have to get out before this thing blows up or something," I said with as much authority as I could muster. "Watch out for zombies."
I released my seatbelt and stood up. I was able to lift Olivia enough for her to release her seatbelt. Ralph was on his own, and ended up falling with a pained grunt. I helped Olivia out through her window, and then helped Ralph out of his. Then I handed up our weapons to them before crawling out myself.
We stood atop the truck and looked around at the carnage. It looked like a battlefield. There was smoke and dead bodies everywhere. I jumped to the ground, and then helped Olivia down before starting to look for our packs.
"Oooff!" Ralph grunted, landing on his butt next to us.
"Thanks for the assist, dude," Ralph groaned. He turned angry eyes up at me. "Maybe if I had a set of tits you'd care."
"Shut up," Olivia grumbled. "I'm sorry, guys. I should've never been driving so fast. This is all my fault."
"Damn right – Ooff!" Ralph said. I kicked him to stop him from finishing. "Why'd you hit me?"
"Think about it," I said. "You keep reminding us you're a genius, so figure it out."
We couldn't hang around there. Since the wreck site was devoid of people, we had to assume zombies attacked and chased the survivors off. More zombies could show up at any time.
Looking around, I saw everything from the bed of the pickup scattered in all directions. There was a lot of tasty junk food going to waste. Beer and cola cans were spewing their contents out of damaged cans. Our packs were scattered around as well.
I groaned when I shouldered my pack, wondering if I could make it a single mile in my battered condition. Ralph and Olivia looked just as miserable. My belly gurgled, so I started looking for some junk food to fill it.
"What are we going to do?" Olivia asked, looking to me with worried eyes.
I took a bite of Twinkie, sucked half my coke down, and then shrugged. That bit of sugary food felt good in my belly. Junk food was my comfort food.
"We're going to keep on keeping on," I said.
She made a funny face. "My granddad use to say that a lot."
Olivia's eyes welled up with tears. Panic filled me.
"Oh my god, you'll never love me now because I sound like an old man," I joked, desperate to lighten the mood. Anything to keep her from crying, from being so sad.
She slanted a very interesting look at me. And smiled warmly. "I loved granddad."
Ralph frowned at me. I shrugged with a grin.
"Hey, it's not my fault I'm a charming rogue." I winked at Olivia, who slanted an amused look at Ralph. "Okay, let's hit the road. It's a long way home."
"Get a room," Ralph said, and took off walking back the way we came.
"Other way," I said. Olivia and I laughed when he snorted, turned around, and marched past us. I sighed and followed. "Keep your eyes open for another car or truck. I don't want to walk all the way to Plano."
I came across a box of Slim Jim Beef Jerky and divided the contents up between us as we walked. Jerked meat hit the spot, too.
"Where do you think the zombies are?" Ralph said between bites. "I don't like it. This is spooky."
"It's worse with zombies," Olivia said. "Don't y'all want to go check the wrecks for a running car?"
I cut a look at the wreckage. Most of them looked totaled. The one with the least obvious damage was a big semi, tractor-trailer, and it was resting atop a blue sedan. I didn't see anything that looked like a prospect.
"No. I think anything still running was taken to escape the zombies," I said. Honestly, I was afraid to go up there. What if there were zombies waiting in ambush? "I think our best bet is a car dealership or gas station."
"Dealership?" she said. "Wow. I would've never thought about that."
Ralph cut me another dirty look. Sometimes I couldn't win. After a quick side glance at her, finding her looking at me, I reconsidered. Maybe I could win.
"Are you all right, Ralph?" Olivia asked. She looked worried. "That's a pretty big knot on your head. You might have a concussion."
"Nothing I can do about it if I do," he said. He gave it a rub. "Jack used to leave bigger bumps on my head than that."
That wasn't true. I grew up next door to Ralph and knew him all my life. His oldest brother was a big, scary bastard who used to terrorize both of us. Jack hit Ralph with a golf club once, and the knot was only half that size. Olivia joined our little clique in junior high, but was around for the golf club incident, so she knew the truth, too.
"It looks pretty bad, dude. No shame if we have to find a hiding place and rest a while," I said. He shrugged. "Actually, maybe we should sneak into the woods and make a camp until tomorrow. We can eat, discuss what to do, and get some rest."
I suggested it just to help him. I didn't want my best friend to croak on me. Yet, it sounded like a pretty good idea. Olivia nodded vigorously, but I think her pack was wearing her down already. I knew mine felt five times heavier than when we started.
"I'm fine," Ralph said. "We need to keep going until dark."
"Actually, I have thoughts on that," I said. "At night, everyone living and dead can see our campfire."
"Ah," he said, coming to a stop. "Exactly!" He cut a bemused look my way. "You're not as dumb as you look."
"The train's still out on that one," Olivia said. She elbowed me in the ribs and giggled. "But I agree. If we're going to do any cooking, then it's better to do it during the day."
Ralph gnawed on the inside of his cheek a moment, staring off into space. Olivia and I shared a worried look. When Ralph stopped to think something over like that, it usually was something crazy on his mind. There was a fine line between genius and insanity, and Ralph teetered on that fine line more often than not.
"So, Olivia, you actually went to Smith's Outdoor Life and checked out these zombie apoc kits we're all lugging around," he said. "Right?"
"Yes," she said
warily.
"Were there any pots and pans in it?"
She just stared at him open-mouthed. After looking at me, she stared off into space a second and started to turn red.
"Not that I recall."
He nodded, turned around and took off walking. We followed. I rifled through my pack when I found it. There was a water filtration system to give us clean water to cook with. I didn't recall any pots or pans, or anything else metal to heat water or cook in. There were a lot of survival rations, though. I was pretty sure they didn't require cooking, but it would probably be better if we added hot water.
"I need to rest," Olivia said.
She sounded weary. I was, too. There was a stitch in my side, and my legs felt like lead. Even with all of the driving, that was more walking than I'd done in years. Before the shit hit the fan that morning, I sat on my butt all day at work, and then went home and sat on my butt all evening playing video games. That was my life. Ralph didn't exercise any more than me. Olivia did go to the gym, but she still looked as worn out as us.
Looking around for a good place to go hide and rest, my eyes were pulled upward. It was on the horizon. I estimated another hour away on foot. But there it was. I pointed.
"Water tower," I said, pointing.
"I'm not thirsty," Ralph said, holding up his cola.
"No," Olivia said. "A water tower means people. A town."
"And gas stations with cars and trucks," I said. "That's where we're going next."
"There might be zombies," she said.
"Good," Ralph whispered, eyes narrowing. "I really want to kill something right now."
Our eyes met. I saw it. I felt the same way. Everything we knew, everything that we'd worked so hard for, was gone. Now it was just us and the zombies. It was Zombie Hunter come alive. Only it was worse than the game. since we could really die, or worse.
Fear and panic erupted. My heart hammered. I had to deal with it. Civilization was lost. We were on the verge of falling into another Dark Ages. And all that made me want to vent my spleen. Zombies were the instrument of society's destruction, so I wanted to kill zombies.