“Be my guest,” Lance said, a hint of laughter followed. He had loaded five twelve-gauge rounds into the shotgun while watching the camp. Pumping the weapon, he chambered a round, ready to fire and loaded a final shell in the bottom. Josh watched silently holding his bitten arm.
“What’re we gonna do then?” Josh asked.
“Drive up past the old mine and back down the mountain.” Lance answered as he switched the shotgun to safety and set it on the dash. He moved the gear lever to drive. The Dodge accelerated with indifference down the shore parallel to the water.
Andy was scared. The phone was dead and the lights were off. He heard roars and screams from outside. He really didn’t want to hide out and hope that the seven officers from town made it up in time to save him. The thought struck him as funny. Seven cops for the town and maybe twenty Sheriffs for this part of the county. No, it would be up to him to get out of this. And the girl, he thought, yeah, I have to help her too. The thought encouraged him. He would be responsible for her now. The camp gate was very close. Cars couldn’t pass through the wreckage but he and the girl could. Hell, he would carry her if he had to.
“We have to get out of here,” he said.
The girl looked up through tears of terror.
“We just have to go through the trees a little bit and we can get around the cars. Can you run?”
“Y … Yes,” she stammered.
He helped her to her feet and picked up the fire extinguisher. Andy looked out the door glass, seeing no one in the immediate vicinity. He unlocked the door with his left hand and pushed it open. The horrible sounds of suffering increased in volume making the girl stiffen. Moving his large frame outside and holding the door with his back, he reached out and took the girl’s small hand in his.
“Come on, follow me,” he whispered.
TWENTY-FIVE
Mason stood next to Veronica looking out over the greater campground. He had dressed in his combat gear. After affixing his knife to its place on the harness he removed a pair of small field glasses from a pack.
“Things are falling apart out there,” he said.
“I don’t understand what’s goin’ on,” she said.
Mason lifted his mini binoculars to his eyes and spied the gate. He observed the twisted mass of cars and a small fire from the rear of a Honda.
“We can’t make it through there, not exposed on the bikes, past all those lunatics.” Mason saw a silver Dodge race up the camp road in the opposite direction. It passed their camp and continued up the hill.
“Where’s he going?” Mason wondered aloud.
Veronica turned disappointed. She saw Nikki looking at the body of the woman.
“Nikki, where does this road go?”
Nikki turned startled. After a moment she answered Veronica.
“Up the mountain, really far then back down, I think.” She turned to look at the body again but continued, “I’ve seen the Ranger come from that way before.”
That was good enough for Tony. He stood in his motorcycle boots, camouflage pants, black t-shirt, full combat harness and his Sigarms .380 pistol in its holster.
“Sounds good to me,” Tony said adjusting the fit of his gear.
“Okay, we’re gonna go for a ride, doesn’t matter where, just out of here. Anything that can be used comes with us, mostly food and water,” said Mason as he strapped his sword across his back.
Nikki stared at the woman underneath the sleeping bag. She had never seen a dead body before. She found it very strange that she was looking at the form of a person yet it was no longer breathing. She remembered the woman being attacked, falling down, and then Tony carrying her back to camp. The woman was alive five minutes ago and now, her body was empty.
“You doing all right?” Tony asked touching her shoulder.
Nikki snapped back to reality and felt like she was going to cry. She couldn’t allow herself to fall apart in front of the others. She told herself to be strong and breathed unsteady breaths.
“Not really,” she said louder than she realized. Veronica noticed Nikki’s condition. She knew that if a person had a job to do they could get their mind off of dire circumstances. Her father had asked Veronica to help with the injured during the earthquake. The action of assisting him distracted her, preventing the young girl from breaking down.
“Nikki, I need your help,” Veronica said holding a backpack open on the picnic table.
Nikki turned to Veronica and screamed. Over Veronica’s shoulder, from the camp road she could see the teen creature approaching.
“We got company!” Tony hollered drawing his pistol. Mason unsheathed his sword and held it high. Veronica swung up Tony’s paint gun from the table, looked at it for a moment and found the safety. She switched the air rifle to fire and aimed at the teen.
“Get behind me!” Mason said to Veronica. She moved fast, Nikki stood frightened behind Tony.
The thing moved in an almost comical manner. It jerked and swayed with strange rhythm. Now twenty feet away it raised its arms and bellowed a greedy cry.
“Do I shoot him?” Tony asked in unsure horror.
Mason was thinking the same thing. All his life he had known quite a bit about how to hurt people. He had studied the sword, martial arts and war games but he never wanted to actually use what he knew. Fights were fine but this was getting too serious. He had already devastated the kid’s chest. Whatever was wrong with the teen wasn’t curable.
“Shoot!” Mason said.
Tony hesitated; he didn’t want to go to jail for murder but there was no other choice. He considered a warning shot. The thought instantly evaporated with a roar from the teen.
“Everyone agree that this is self defense?” Tony asked with urgency.
“Yes!” yelled Veronica. Nikki was speechless.
The trigger seemed to weigh a ton. It wouldn’t move. Feeling stupid for forgetting, he thumbed the safety off, braced the weapon in both hands and fired. The round hit the teen creature directly in the chest. A small thick drip of dark blood trickled out of the hole, more exiting the thing’s back. The creature was pushed back by the bullet but remained on its feet. Nikki, whose head was hidden behind Tony, was the only one not to see the impact. Tony was a good shot, especially at ten paces; he hit the creature center mass, right through the heart.
“What the fuck?” Mason said as he lowered his center of gravity into something his old Sensei called a cat stance. The walking corpse steadied itself and looked at the dumbstruck Tony. The creature started forward once again. Mason became amazed in a very dark way at the sight. What he had just witnessed wasn’t possible and that frightened him very much. The fear granted Mason a sort of strength and sureness that he now knew what he had to do.
“Hey, over here,” Mason said to the creature. It jerked its head in his direction and its shoulders followed. Mason dropped his full weight on to his front leg and swung his sword with all of his might. He was surprised at how easily the sharpened steel blade went through the teen’s neck. Correcting his balance after the stroke, he realized that he used more force than needed. The teen’s damaged body fell to the earth empty and still.
Mason was shaken. They all were. Nikki finally looked around Tony and saw the teen’s headless body. She held back a scream, choosing instead to hold on to Tony’s arm. Her touch would have been pleasing to Tony if the situation was different. Now he stood, nearly frozen with both hands on his pistol. He lowered the weapon and thumbed the safety back on, struggling to keep his thoughts together.
Veronica held herself motionless; every muscle that she owned tense to the brink of shivering. She saw the thing’s head roll with a heavy rumble in front of her. It stopped on its side, the jaw still opening and closing slightly. Left over nerve energy, she attempted to reassure herself. In all her years of studying medicine and the physical sciences she had learned much about the human body. What she had just witnessed was impossible; never the less it was happening. As she stared at the head she almost screame
d at what she saw. The thing’s eyes were looking directly at her. No, she thought doubtful, it is not possible. She moved to her right near the truck and the dried orbs in their sunken sockets followed her.
“The head,” she said in a breathless voice, pointing with the paint gun.
Mason, still clutching his sword moved in closer for a look. He stopped at the body and stepped his foot on it to make sure it didn’t get back up. Tony and Nikki approached in hesitation. The undead eyes turned to Tony as the jaw opened once more. Tony made a feminine sound of surprise.
“Why’s it doing that?” Mason asked, his deep voice wavering.
“It’s not supposed to do that,” Veronica said more to herself than the others.
“It’s not dead,” cried Nikki. Another burst of gunfire sounded from the campground. Mason reacted by looking back. The fire at the gate had grown. Smoke began to thicken over the far off campgrounds. He saw two men running towards jet skis chased by another. Good luck guys, he thought. Turning back, he stepped off the body and gave the head a hard kick, sending the heavy mass past the truck into the brush. Mason’s eyes met Veronica’s, they said nothing. The camp was silent save for the distant clamor of chaos.
A solid thump sounded from the rear of the truck. Veronica noticed the vehicle move upward at her side as if someone had jumped out. Oh no, she thought as her hand squeezed hard onto the grip of the paint gun. Slowly they all turned in anticipation. Nikki’s position gave her the best view. She saw the sleeping bag now on the ground; it began to move. It gasped a labored inhale. The fabric of the bag stirred, exposing a woman’s leg. The dead woman struggled to her feet, dark slime oozing from the wound on her back. The standing corpse turned, opened its mouth, and started towards Nikki.
Veronica fired three paintball rounds at the dead woman’s face. The first burst the woman’s unprotected right eye in a splash of blue paint and aqueous jelly. The second flattened on the brow of her left, dripping its thick hue over her last good eye. The third round whizzed off into the distance missing its target. Veronica’s movement spurred the men into action. Mason pulled Veronica backwards out of the isle created by the bench and his truck. He took her place, not wanting her to be in such a vulnerable spot. Tony lifted his gun and stepped in front of Nikki. He switched the gun to fire.
The dead woman raged sightless with her arms outstretched. Without direction, she moved about the campground grasping at the air. Tony backed Nikki towards the truck clearing a space for the thrashing creature.
“She’s blind,” Veronica said.
The woman reacted to the sound, violently moving towards Veronica’s voice. It smashed an already bloody knee into the bench, almost tumbling over. Mason waved his sword in the air to catch the others attention with his finger to his lips in a Shush gesture. The dead woman clawed about the air without vision, her jaw grinding open and closed with a horrible single minded purpose.
Nikki no longer hid behind Tony. He was in front of her, sure to keep himself between her and the creature. For some reason that she didn’t understand, she had grown bolder. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Just moments ago she was looking at the woman’s dead body and now, it was up, walking around, trying to bite them. She was still very afraid, but immersed in a sensation of unreality that made her a little curious. The woman-thing remained ten paces from Tony, still near the bench. It lifted its blind and damaged face while apparently sniffing the air. Moving its head as if it could see Tony it began to approach him. Nikki’s attention was caught once again by the glimmer of Mason’s waving sword.
Still silent and using an improvised sort of sign language, Mason looked to Tony while making the shape of a gun with his left hand. He pointed the finger gun to his head and moved his thumb. Tony pointed at the headless body with his left hand and made a face as if to say, I shot that one and it didn’t work. Mason appeared frustrated with Tony. He tapped two fingers on his forehead, indicating a shot to the head. Nikki saw Tony’s shoulders slump at Mason’s nonverbal suggestion.
Tony didn’t want to shoot the woman. He had already shot someone today and he wasn’t feeling good about it. As the woman drew closer, he lifted his arms, braced himself and took aim. The stress of the day was beginning to wear on Tony. He had the dead woman in his sights yet he pulled the trigger with his eyes closed. He knew it was safe enough at such close range. He would hit the target however he had no desire to see her head come apart. His fearful imagination had betrayed him. Instead of her skull exploding in a disgusting hail of blood and water soluble paint, his weapon punched a neat hole just above the bridge of her nose. He didn’t see how she died for the second time. He only heard the woman’s body slump to the ground empty of whatever hellish element that had animated it. Tony opened his eyes. They all stood frozen for a long moment by the event.
“Let’s go, now!” Mason said, his voice seeming to boom in the stillness. Tony and Nikki stood transfixed on the body of the twice dead young woman.
Veronica dropped the paint rifle on the bench. She picked up the backpack and removed the clothes inside, setting them on the table. Mason rummaged through the clothes and produced a yellow and white motorcycle jersey. He spied one quick look at Veronica’s tight smooth stomach before he spoke.
“Do you want to wear this?” he asked offering her the jersey.
With all the mayhem she had completely forgotten that she had used her shirt to try and stop the man’s bleeding. She had been running around for what seemed like hours in only her sports bra. Despite the horrible fear and urgent need to get moving, Veronica blushed again. She took the shirt and nodded in gratitude. She quickly pulled it on. It was large on her. It smelled different, like all borrowed clothes do. This smell wasn’t due only to Jack’s preference in washing detergents. It did smell clean, but it also smelled like Jack. The scent was masculine. Veronica found herself lingering on the aroma for a moment. She cast off the thought and took the backpack to the rear of the truck. Kicking aside the sleeping bag at her feet, she reached in and caught the ice chest with an outstretched hand.
Nikki tapped Tony on the shoulder. He turned. She had a very sour look on her face as if she were about to cry. He looked at her with understanding and tried to put on a brave face. His consoling smile comforted her. He took her by the shoulder and walked her to his bike. Tony grabbed what looked like plastic armor off his leaning motorcycle. The shoulder pads were white and red, strewn with many stickers and a few abrasions which Nikki assumed were from crashes. She hoped that Tony knew how to ride his motorcycle well.
“Lift up your arms,” he said holding the chest protector above her. She complied. He noticed how her full breasts lifted as well. Not now, he thought to himself, Yikes!
“This is gonna protect you if we have a little accident,” he continued pulling the hardened plastic gear over her arms, her head popping through the top of the armor.
“It is designed for my size but will help you if we go down. That won’t happen, this is just in case. You have to hold on tight to me and kind of lean to the same sides that I lean while we go around corners.”
“I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before,” she said quietly almost embarrassed.
“Piece of cake, I won’t let you down,” he reassured with a small smile.
Veronica finished placing seven small bottles of water in the backpack. Looking for more in the ice chest she found only four Cokes and a large number of beers. Mason having just attached his paint gun to his handlebars with duct tape, approached.
“Did you guys bring enough beer?” Veronica asked frustrated.
“Bring whatever can fit, it’s better to have more than less,” he answered shrugging. Veronica packed in the cokes and two beers. Zipping up the backpack, she jumped out of the truck.
“What about food?” Veronica asked Jack.
“Right here.”
On the table before Jack were two brown paper bags full of canned goods. Spaghetti and meatballs, chili beans, small cans
of Salmon and a half full box of chocolate flavored protein bars.
“Fine dining,” she said.
Mason produced another larger backpack that still had a few items within. He began to pack some of the food inside.
“We have a few steaks and other stuff in a different ice chest but I don’t want to bring any meat with us,” he said watching her reaction.
“You saw that too?” she asked.
“Yeah, it was like she was trying to catch our scent. She was blind, but still knew where Tony was.”
Veronica looked at Mason with a serious expression. An explosion sounded at the camp gate. A gas tank in one of the cars had given away to the fire. The party flinched yet with everything they had been through so far, the reaction was almost subdued.
“Put my gear on,” said Mason.
Veronica nodded with a tired exhale and went to the motorcycle.
Tony looked at Nikki. In his plastic armor, black gloves and black helmet, everything far too big for her, she looked like a little Dwarven warrior. Mason handed Tony his paint gun and a roll of duct tape. Tony taped the rifle to the handlebars without a question. He knew what to do without thinking about it. Mason lifted a backpack to Nikki and helped her put it on over her chest protector. He bent down, adjusted the front straps and pulled it snug on her overburdened body. Jack could see the fear in her eyes through the open visor of the helmet. He put his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her hoping to bring some measure of assurance. She swayed underneath the weight of her equipment.
“I’ll give you a hand’ he said nodding. She nodded back, her helmet moving in an exaggerated bobble.
Tony mounted his yellow Yamaha allowing his weight to push the seat lower. Jack helped Nikki get on the back. He steadied her while Tony threw two hard kicks on the starter. The Yamaha roared to life with a loud sputtering rumble. Tony settled in as Nikki squeezed her arms around his midsection. He patted her locked hands in tender reassurance.
Veronica stood waiting in Jack’s protective gear. She pulled on the larger of the backpacks and looked out over the camp. An assembly of creatures noticed the clamor of Tony’s bike. They staggered in her direction. Mason started his bike on the first kick. Still looking out at the greater camping area, she watched more of what used to be people, head towards their camp. The specters shambled and shuffled forward gaining ground on their position. Seven or eight creatures reached the road very near as Veronica mounted the back of Mason’s cycle. As the bikes pulled out, she saw a dead body in the distance, sit up and look in her direction.
Rise and Walk Page 11