The Zombie Plagues (Books 1-6): Dead Road

by Geo Dell

  “They'll probably come back and dig it back up,” Jamie said. She looked around nervously.

  “Yeah. But we're going to do it anyway. Go on back and get Beth. Keep it low key. Don't mention this to anyone else,” he sighed. “We're going to have to leave soon, a few days more at the most, and we'll have to decide and go,” he looked at Jamie. She turned her eyes to him. “Okay?” he asked.

  Jamie nodded. “Just scared me,” she said. She looked away. It only took the mention of Beth's name to piss her off lately, Billy knew.

  Billy nodded. “Dell, this stays with us. Later on we'll sit down and talk to the others if it looks like we have to. It doesn't look like we have to right now,” He nodded, raised his eyes from the ground and then started through the trees to get a shovel.

  Into the city Once More

  Donita

  They had run until they had come to the opposite end of the small woods, and Donita had stopped. The sun was up, sapping their strength, burning their eyes. It was not so much to her. She had grown used to it, but not so for the others, and it was not so far behind her that she did not remember the pain, the fear. It could not cause her to fall down and lapse into twilight. The heat from the sun was not pleasant, but it could not kill her, and she knew now for sure that it could not. Better that these behind her learned that too. Best that they were not afraid, not ruled by it.

  She stared out across the field and then raised her eyes beyond it. The buildings of Manhattan rose before her. Miles away yet, but they called to her, and not her alone. She set off across the field at a lope. The big man fell in behind her, the remaining twin at her side, the thousands pouring from the deep woods, following like a shadow across the open ground.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  September 2nd

  The cars and trucks in the field were pulling out when Bear dropped his truck down off the road and into the far end of the field. He very nearly shut off the motor before Cammy's hand fell on his own and stopped him.

  “You trust too easy, Bear,” she told him.

  He sighed and then nodded. Maybe he did, he told himself. But could you live on the edge all the time? Never able to let your guard down? He laughed. The truth was, now that he forced himself to think about it, that he had always lived that way. He never let his guard down. This was just a case of tired, or stupid, or both mixed together.

  “What could you possibly find funny about that, Bear?” Cammy asked him. She was so serious all the time. A perpetual worrier.

  “I'm sorry. It wasn't about that.” He debated telling her what it had been about, but the look on her face stopped him. “You're right, Cammy. You're right, and when you're right, you're right.” He looked down the field at the trucks and cars.

  There was a slow curve that lead up to the field. He had not known they were here, and they had not heard him coming because the trucks and cars were all running, drowning out the sound of his own motor. They had looked as surprised to see him as he had been to see them.

  Bear and Cammy sat looking out at the shocked faces in the trucks and cars at the other end of the field.

  Several cars and trucks pulled out anyway, driving past where they sat, eyes sliding over them before they disappeared around the bend.

  There were three trucks left in the field. Bear stepped out and walked alone down the field to one of the trucks and the small crowd that stood waiting for him. He held his shotgun in one hand, pointing at the ground, there if he needed it. He stopped in front of the people gathered around the trucks.

  “I have never seen a man as big as you that walked that easy,” a young, dark haired girl leaning against the hood of one of the trucks told him. The young guy at the front of the hood turned and looked at her.

  “Easy, Iris,” he told her. He turned back to Bear. “Mac,” he said. He nodded at the young woman that had spoken. “Iris.” He turned and pointed at each of the people standing there in turn.

  “Beth, Billy, Winston, Dell. There are a couple of kids sleeping in the back of the Suburban. You're pulling in?”

  Bear shrugged. “Bear,” he said. “We're heading out from the city... Manhattan. The lady in the truck is Cammy.” He raised one hand, turned and waved it at Cammy. A few seconds later, the truck dropped into drive and Cammy drove down the field. She stopped the truck, opened the door and stepped out.

  Beth made the introductions once more. Mac walked to the back of the truck and Billy moved up to talk to Bear and Cammy.

  “We were about to light out. You don't want to stay here. As impossible as it may seem, we've got dead around here.” He turned and nodded at the woods across the field. “Right over there a few nights back, while we were right here. We had posts set up too,” he shrugged. “Gone when we realized it the next morning, but they were there okay.”

  “The others left anyway?” Cammy asked him.

  “They're not with us,” Billy answered. “We all met here. They're going west, we're heading south. Beth, me, Peggy, and Dell came out of L.A. together. Met Jamie, Winston, Mac and Iris; they got two kids... parents gone, crossed over from Jersey a few days back - Don Westfall and Ginny,” He pointed back at the third truck and a couple who stood talking to another couple. “Don is the tall guy with the bright red hair. Ginny's the woman next to him with the black hair. The two traveling with them are Danny Best and Rose Evans.” He turned back to Bear. He had been looking back at the others as he spoke. “You and your lady heading south?”

  Bear looked over at Cammy.

  “We were thinking of going across through Pennsylvania, over that way. We keep hearing... Bear keeps hearing, about the middle of the states being dead free,” Cammy said. She didn't correct the misconception Billy had that she and Bear were together. In truth, it really wasn't clear in her mind whether they were or not. They had both lost people they loved. It was probably too soon for both of them. Maybe it always would be, she thought now, as her eyes met Bear's and she saw the pain still riding there.

  “Heard some talk, but I don't believe it. L.A. was so bad,” Billy said.

  Bear nodded. “The radio, a few weeks back... They were talking about a city that was still safe... still held by people,” he shrugged again. “It's south anyway, maybe Alabama, just over and then down. I figured what the hell,” Bear finished.

  Billy nodded. “Alabama is gone. We nearly drove ourselves into the ocean. It's just gone from about a hundred miles into the old border from the north.”

  “Looked through my rifle scope, there is land, it's a long way out, but the water is shallow, I mean just a few inches,” Beth added.

  “I can't speak for everyone here about traveling with us,” Billy continued after a slight pause. “We threw in together. It wasn't a vote kind of thing... Safety in numbers and all of that.”

  Beth shrugged. “We can go your way... I can go your way.” Her eyes met his. They were deep brown, liquid, intense.

  Billy scrubbed at the growth of beard that covered his jaw. “I'm good with it.”

  “So what is this place you heard of?” Iris asked.

  “Somewhere south. It was back when this whole thing started. I rigged up a C.B. Just heard talk of a place in Alabama. People were gathering together. I think Alabama, maybe it isn't, but it was south... not on the coast. Really it was just a snatch of conversation. I got nothing better than that, but it sounded real. And I heard it more than once.” Bear scrubbed at his own beard. “Okay. Well, I'm heading for it... and, well... fuck it, I got to come out with it because I don't want a mistake about it later; I don't follow. I'm just not built that way. I didn't do it in the old world, and I won't do it now. As long as that's clear, you're coming with me... I'm not coming with you.”

  “Harsh,” Mac said.

  “Maybe,” Bear agreed. “Can't have a shit load of chiefs and no Indians. I don't mean I have the only say, I mean that I don't... hell, I don't know a better way to say it. I can't sugar coat it. I don't follow. It doesn't mean I don't listen though. I do. It's th
at simple. I guess that means what it means.” He threw up his hands.

  “I don't need a leader,” Beth said. “I lead me, as long as that's straight.”

  “Do you?” Bear said.

  “Wow... Can you feel the love?” Billy asked. Jamie cut her eyes over at him where she stood next to Dave. She rolled her eyes once she caught his, and then turned and looked up at Dave adoringly. He turned away from her, his eyes looking for Beth, but Beth had eyes only for the big man, Bear. Billy sighed, looked down at the ground, and then back up as the conversation picked up once more. He ignored Jamie. He deserved her anger, after all.

  Cammy laughed, put a hand to her mouth, and then took it away and laughed harder. A second later all of them were laughing.

  “Hey,” Billy said after a moment. “The two of you lead. Sounds workable to me. I don't have even a slight wish to lead. Not at all.”

  “Peace,” Mac said. “Along for the ride. As long as it's stable, you know?”

  Beth eyed Bear. “You and me then?”

  Bear nodded. “I can roll with that. First thing though, we need better weapons. If this thing is south, we don't know how far, and it could be dead by now. Not saying it ever even got off the ground. So we don't know how far we're going. We need good guns. How bad did you see it in L.A.?”

  “Oh, Christ,” Billy started.

  ~

  The morning turned to early afternoon before the four trucks pulled up out of the field together, followed the service roadway back onto route three and headed toward Clifton. Cammy studied a map as Bear drove.

  “It's hard to believe this is as far as we have traveled in over a month together,” she said as she studied the map.

  “We had no real direction,” Bear supplied. “It's not like we had decided on a place and headed toward it.” Bear watched the sides of the road. They were traveling along at less than twenty miles an hour, weaving down into the median and off onto the service roads that paralleled the highway when they had too.

  There were too many cars abandoned next to the road, in the road, even across the road, to be able to keep track of all of them at one time. A large mall came up on the right, and Bear slowed at the interchange to look it over. Billy's truck rolled up, the window dropped and Beth leaned out.

  “Looks okay,” she said, breaking the silence of the quiet afternoon.

  “Except it's quiet,” Bear agreed. “That's always been bad news.”

  Beth held up her machine pistol. “We need what we need.”

  Bear nodded. “Let's go then. We stay together though.”

  Beth nodded, Billy shifted back into drive and waited for Bear to pull away. He pulled in behind him and followed.

  There was a thick line of trees behind the shops that Bear didn't like. It seemed like the perfect place for the dead to hide away. He drove slowly into the first Mall area, past the trees and into the second lot. The trees were not as thick up close, but he could still not see through them, and it bothered him. Anything, or anyone, could be hidden within them. He turned the truck, pointed it back toward the entrance road and shut it down.

  Billy, and then Mac, pulled down, turned around and stopped next to Bear's truck. They shut down too, and the ticking of cooling motors filled the silence of the parking lot. Bear looked around the lot but saw nothing that seemed out of place.

  Abandoned cars and trucks. The front doors to a discount store were shattered, the aluminum frames twisted, pushed open wide and pinned against the faux brick front with carts. Bear had left the windows up. He didn't like the idea of having to start the truck to roll them back up. It was better to roll them up before he shut down. He levered the door open, and stepped down to the pavement. Beside him, Billy, Beth, and Mac stepped out of their own vehicles. The doors chuffed closed, and the silence came back heavy.

  Bear scanned the parking lot but saw nothing. He looked over at Beth. She shrugged and looked back over at the wood line Bear turned away and started toward the shattered front entrance. The others fell in behind him.

  The front of the store was destroyed. They stayed together, walking aisle to aisle looking for the dead.

  The smell had hit all of them when they crossed the threshold into the store. The dead were there, where they did not know. They walked slowly forward into the huge building, silent, safeties off their rifles, waiting.

  At one end cap, Bear snatched a stack of flashlights and passed them around. A few seconds later they had stripped off the packaging, installed the batteries and, with a roll of duct tape, strapped the lights to their rifle barrels in the on position. Bright pools of light followed them as they made their way further into the store.

  Bear stopped at the back of the store. A set of heavy steel doors lead into the back storage area. There was nothing in the store itself, but he didn't doubt that there had been. He eased his pouch from his jacket pocket, snagged a paper, shook the tobacco out and rolled a cigarette with one hand. He popped the cigarette into his mouth and then looked around near the back area. A pile of wooden pallets was stacked against the concrete block wall.

  “Give me a hand,” Bear said. All three of them joined in and the stack of pallets came down and was re-stacked in front of the double steel doors in just a few minutes.

  “Lighter fluid... paint thinner... something flammable,” Bear said. Beth looked around, crossed to the steel shelving that ran along the back of the wall.

  “Starting fluid?” She asked.

  Bear nodded. He took the starting fluid and sprayed down the top pallet. He pushed it over and it hit the door with a loud clatter, taking several other pallets with it, pushed the door open, and the stack spilled through into the interior. Bear heard a skittering, scuffling noise from inside the inky blackness. He continued to spray down the now toppled stack of pallets until the can emptied. It tended to dry fast, so he had let it build up and soak into the wood in a few places.

  He pulled a kitchen match from his pocket, popped it to life with his thumbnail, lit the cigarette and then tossed the match at the pile of pallets.

  The flare of flame lit up the faces of a half dozen of the Dead where they stood just beyond the circle of light cast by the open door. As the flames leapt, they began to scramble back into the darkness, but the four opened up on them before they could get away into the shadows.

  Two ran at the flames in their fear and were cut down as they did. The others ran further into the shadows, but most dropped dead just beyond the fire as the bullets found them. Bear and Beth stepped past the flames, into the darkness of the storage area, and chased them down. There were a half dozen more, and in their fright, they simply cowered from the smoke and light and were easy to deal with. These were not the smart ones that they'd had to deal with in the city.

  Bear came up on the last one as it cowered, looking up at him from a space next to several pallets of boxes. It had tried to work its way behind them but had failed. Whatever the boxes held, the pallets were too heavy for it to move. It turned back, a young girl, no more than a child, the pleading in her eyes, and Bear hesitated for a split second. Beth stepped around him and shot her in the head as she started to spring from her crouch and launch herself at them. The bullet threw her back against the pallets. She landed with a solid crunch of bone and slid down to the floor. The silence came back, and in it Bear met Beth's eyes. He turned without speaking and crossed to the double rear doors, hit the bar that opened them and threw them open to the bright afternoon light.

  The light flooded into the storage area. After the darkness, lit only by the flashlights, they had to blink to get their sight back. Beth pushed a stack of boxes over to prop one side of the door open, Bear matched it with a heavy steel push cart to block the other side open. The light and air swept into the back area.

  Beyond the doors, empty concrete loading docks ran the length of the rear of the building. Bear stepped out cautiously and looked around. Nothing as far as he could see. Beth stepped out behind him and looked too. A few seconds late
r, they were making their way back into the main store area.

  ~

  “It's a bad place to try to defend,” Beth said.

  They were in the parking lot of a huge chain store, a few miles down the road from where they had started. It was late in the day, the light beginning to fade from the sky. It was the only real way to tell time any longer, watch the sky. There were just too many variations in the length of the days. It did seem as though the days were becoming more uniform as they passed though. The last several were somewhere close to twenty-eight hours.

  The trucks were loaded down with camping gear, ammunition and other necessities they had picked up. They had also picked up another truck for Beth and Scotty to drive.

  The stores on both sides of route three had been ransacked, but they had still found more than enough ammunition, guns and camping gear to suit their needs as they worked their way from store to store. Cammy had taken Bear's arm and lead him away from a display of canned beans in one of the stores they had gone through. "No," she had said. Now they were deciding whether to move on or stay.

  Mac looked over the map. "There's a golf course, right?" He handed the map to Beth. Beth looked it over and nodded.

  “Okay, so it's huge... a few miles ahead,” he looked up from the map.

  “My problem with that is trees, areas where they can hide. I'd almost rather be in the middle of the highway or a cleared field... something like that,” Bear said.

  Beth nodded. “It has got to be overgrown, the golf course. Be great, perfect, if it wasn't. But it's been several months, and that grass has got to be higher than we stand. I say no. I can't see a way we could be safe.”

  “There's an overpass ahead,” Don offered.

  “I saw that, but it looks like a pedestrian overpass. That's not gonna work,” Bear said. “They could use it to drop right down on us if we stayed under it, and we'd have to be on foot if we stayed up top.”