by James Barton
“Do those things come standard with all raider trucks?” Harvey asked.
“Must have been on sale,” I replied.
“What are we going to do?” Shay asked.
A low orange glow began to spread across the front of the pier. I couldn’t look away as the glow began to brighten and expand.
“That’s fire!” Shay cried out. “What are we going to…,” she started. Harvey had already made a sharp turn and began driving away from the pier at a steady pace.
“Are you just going to leave them?” Shay asked sounding offended.
We passed the empty lifeguard chair and it reminded me that you had to deal with your own problems.
“Stop it; go back, we have to help them!” Shay commanded.
“Nope, I’m not dying today.”
“Drop me off, maybe I could, maybe I could do something,” she pleaded.
“Are you crazy? We don’t have any weapons or anything, what could we possibly do?” I asked.
She looked at me with disgust, “I thought they were your friends?”
“They took us in one night and traded with us is all,” I replied. That came out wrong and I could see it hit Shay like a punch to the gut.
“I saved your ass and you hadn’t done us any favors. Maybe we should have left you because it was dangerous,” she snapped. “If we don’t do something, then we are no better than…,” she said before being cut off.
“Shit!” Harvey shouted. The cab of our truck filled up with blinding light for a moment as we passed a vehicle coming down the side path. Harvey gave it even more gas and the truck engine roared as we started picking up speed. Harvey was hunched forward in concentration, just muttering profanity to himself over and over. Shay and I had turned around to look out the back window. We had a pretty good lead on the path and just hoped they weren’t about to chase us down.
Then a large black truck whipped around the corner. It kicked up sand and started racing after us. That was the same truck from before. Except this time we didn’t have any hidden paths to hide in. Its lights pierced the haze and looked like two evil eyes chasing us. They bounced and heaved over the uneven terrain.
We approached the path we had taken to get to get onto the beach and Harvey hooked it sharp. “No! Don’t go this way again!” I cried out. It was already too late; he was going 32mph and headed straight for the short dunes. I don’t know why, but even though we were seconds away from trying to catapult ourselves through unstable ground, I just wanted to tell Shay I was sorry for letting her down. I wanted to help Marc and the others, but I chose to be a coward.
I started to say, “I’m sorry we…,” but she was already grabbing onto me for protection. I grabbed on tightly and we hit the first dune with such force that the seatbelt locked into place. I felt the truck lift off of the ground and for a second the tires spun freely in the air. We pitched down and dove straight into the side of a larger dune proceeded by a smaller one. We struck hard and the airbags burst open. My face hit the bag and it made colored circles dance about. I felt Shay slam into my chest and it knocked the wind out of me.
Everything went dark, except for the colored circles that floated in front of me. As those circles danced and transformed shapes I felt as though I was floating. Muffled words began to join me in my dark place.
There was a thud on my chest and I could taste sand. Things finally started to materialize and I was lying on the ground with boards in front of me. I looked over to see Harvey on one side of me and Shay on the other. Harvey was scratched up pretty bad and Shay didn’t show any signs of damage at all. We were underneath the wooden walkway and I could see the truck teetering over a sand dune. The back two tires were held above the ground with one still slowly turning in place. The windshield was smashed and the engine bay had lodged into the dune. Smoke lightly billowed from the engine compartment.
“You dragged me?” I asked in disbelief.
Shay simply shushed me. I looked over at Harvey and he just shrugged his shoulders and made a face that said “Whoops.” I could barely see anything through the slats of wood, but I could hear moaning and shuffling in the distance. We made too much noise and in a minute or so they would be all over this area. On the other side I could make out voices.
Harvey brought the machete up in front of him and I grabbed for mine. It was gone; the loop on my belt had been ripped away and the entire holster was missing. I wasn’t normally very sentimental—stuff is just stuff—but dammit, not my machete. I looked over and Shay was holding her screwdriver. She noticed my empty hands and seemed to scan the area for the missing machete. The distant voices grew louder.
“Hey! Come on out and we won’t have to shoot you,” someone shouted.
We just hid there. Our hiding spot was about as good as hiding under the bed. I clearly grimaced after I noticed the footprints and drag marks in the sand that went from the truck to this spot.
“Ah dammit,” one of the voices said before firing off a few shots. There was a loud groan and then the shots began to hasten.
Suddenly there were legs shuffling past us. The zombies were passing right in front of us and their footsteps could be heard clattering above us. For the moment they were more interested in the raiders. I still didn’t fully understand what drove them.
“I’m out! How bad do we want these guys?” one of the men asked.
“I want to make sure, could be the one the Army is looking for,” one said. We all looked at each other confused. The Army? More gunshots went off and every few blasts sent a zombie flailing into the dusty sand.
“Go to the truck and grab some more ammo, that looks like the last one and I need a reload,” one of the men instructed.
A single shot rang out and a thunk hit the wooden deck above us.
“No, I told you yesterday they are in the toolbox in the back. No, the silver one,” the man yelled back to his friend.
Then I saw it, the corredor. That monster shot across the terrain like a cheetah. It moved at a speed that shocked me as it bounded effortlessly across the sand. It moved faster than any person could over the sandy landscape. It was almost a blur as it raced across the dunes, making a bee-line towards the hunters. At one moment it lost its footing and fell forward only to catch itself on all fours and leapt back onto two legs as if nothing had happened. In a matter of seconds, it was past our truck and I could hear a surprised scream.
I peeked out from below the wooden deck and to our right were only zombie corpses. To the left was a bloody crumpled corpse of a man. He had a death grip on his rifle and his head, oh God, it was practically missing. The whole top portion was just gone, like someone took a giant ice cream scoop to his face. It didn’t even look eaten, as large mouth-sized chunks of flesh and bone rested on his lap and around his corpse. That thing was a frenzied hurricane; it hadn’t even stopped to eat its kill.
We slowly got to our feet and quietly began to examine the truck. It was beyond repair. Shay bent down and picked something up. “You dropped this,” she whispered while handing me the black sheathe.
“Thanks. I’m sure I’ll need this.”
Shay silently jumped into the bed of our crashed truck and climbed up the back end, which was still sticking a few feet off the ground. She carefully peered out towards the beach and perked up with urgency.
“Oh, no,” she said.
“What?” I whispered.
“Their truck is coasting towards the water.”
“So?”
“They have ammo in the back, and we have no way to get home.”
“Yeah, but that runner is out there,” Harvey said.
Shay paused slightly, “There it goes…”
“I don’t know if it’s worth the risk,” I said. Harvey nodded in agreement.
Shay looked down at us almost dancing in place as a working truck, possibly loaded with ammunition rolled slowly towards the ocean. She let out an elongated “uhhhhh” as she tried to make a decision.
“We can just
find another car,” Harvey said and started to walk towards the parking lot.
“Stay here, I got it,” she said. Shay bounded over the truck gate and began sprinting down to the beach.
“Shay, no!” I screamed and started after her.
“Just for the record, this is a bad idea!” Harvey said while jogging behind me.
We trotted through the dunes and sea oats until we finally reached a point where we could see out onto the beach. The truck was halfway to the water, but Shay had nearly caught up to it. She had really put some distance between us. I guess I was getting slow these days.
Then my body went cold, my legs felt weak, and a wave of panic rushed across me like needles. Out of the corner of my eye, only steps away, was the shape of a hunched over humanoid. I turned my head as it turned towards me and we locked eyes. In its hands were the broken remains of a second hunter, its mouth dripping with gore. Its face grew into a narrow toothy smile as it threw the man’s corpse to the ground. I couldn’t outrun it and even if I could, I had nowhere to go. I knew I couldn’t escape a creature with nearly unlimited endurance.
A combination of fear and bad footing sent me sailing into the dirt on my chest. I rolled over onto my back and reached for my machete. The runner had stood up and started to move in my direction … that is, until Harvey came racing past him, nearly running right into it. Harvey’s face scrunched into a terrified flinch, like he was about to get hit with a baseball.
My hand was on my machete when it leapt onto Harvey’s back, knocking his face solidly into the sand. It was screaming and wrapped its ragged decaying fingers around his neck. I pulled myself up and moved over to strike. It ceased its attack and snapped its head at me, staring at me with bloodshot eyes. Then Harvey found the strength to roll away. As he rolled, the creature held tight and went with him. Harvey was on his back with this monster underneath him, flailing and screaming a far too human screech. It only took a second and it did a complete reversal, putting Harvey back on the ground. I came in with an underhanded swing. The creature raised its arm and absorbed the blade halfway into its wrist. It leapt off of Harvey and pinned me to ground, the blade still dangling from its arm. I could feel the pressure of its fingers pressing against my shirt before it raised its head, jaw open wide.
Just then, a silver blade flashed through the air and sank into the side of its neck. The strike caused it to roll to the side, wailing and screeching. Its legs jerked and kicked up clouds of sand as it fought to regain control of its body. I crawled over and yanked the machete out of his wrist and swung down, spouting profanity. My first strikes missed the vitals and just sent clotted blood sputtering out. Harvey had joined in and together we managed to hack off its head. The body continued to jitter about, rolling and flailing in the sand. I just thought to myself, “Why can’t you follow the rules? Decapitation means you stop moving.”
Harvey extended his hand to help me up and I gladly took it. “I can’t believe we actually killed a …” I started. I let go of his hand and fell back onto the sand. My eyes burned as tears started to well up.
“What’s wrong with you?” Harvey asked.
I couldn’t speak; my mouth had grown dry. I pointed at Harvey’s inner shoulder, which revealed a nasty bleeding bite. We all handle things in our own way. At that moment I handled the situation by crying like a child.
Harvey touched the wound and held up his fingers coated in his own blood. He looked utterly defeated.
“God … dammit.”
Chapter 8: Nothing to Prove
“This is your fault!” Harvey shouted at Shay. She had managed to reach the truck before it cruised into the ocean. She saw the commotion and had floored it into reverse, but returned too late.
“I’m sorry. I told you guys not to follow me,” she said defensively.
“I should have, but Jim ran after you and I couldn’t let him go alone,” he said.
Shay sighed, trying not to fight with him. “We need to get that wound treated.”
“Treated?” he yelled. “Why bother, in a couple hours I’ll be a walking corpse.”
“We haven’t seen a bite actually turn anyone yet,” I responded.
“That’s, the first fucking rule of zombies!” Harvey yelled.
I looked over at the runner. It was still jerking about, occasionally twitching. “That thing is proof that nothing is following the rules. Sit in the truck, man, we’ll make some bandages. Don’t lose hope, you still have a chance,” I said.
He stormed into the passenger side of the truck and slammed the door. I could hear angry mumblings that accused us of all manner of wrong doings. I would have tried to reason with him, but I couldn’t imagine what he was going through.
I followed Shay over to the second hunter, only a few feet from the path. She pulled his shirt off, revealing his shredded chest. The shirt was mostly covered in blood, but there were a few strips that were clean, well, at least cleaner. She took my machete and cut them into strips.
“We can wash them in the ocean water. I think that will help clean the wound.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Did you know that I went to medical school after high school?”
“Oh, well that makes me feel better,” I replied.
“I dropped out in the first week.”
“I take it back then.”
“I couldn’t do the needles and seeing blood made me sick. It’s funny how much we have all changed, huh?”
“You could say that again.”
“I’m sorry about Harvey. It’s all my fault. I just wanted you guys to stay there and I could have got the truck. I don’t know, it was stupid,” she said while rinsing the shreds of cloth.
“It wasn’t stupid, who knows how we would have gotten home. I couldn’t let you go out there alone. I wanted to protect you, but I let my friend get hurt in the process. What do you think his chances are?”
“We have to worry about his bleeding right now. As for the infection, I don’t know. We need to get back to Todd.”
Harvey staggered up to us holding his shoulder. Blood was still oozing from his wound and in his left hand was a small green pouch.
“That’s not…,” I started.
“Yeah it is, clean me up and we’ll use this Speed Clot.”
Shay took the cloth and wrung them out and wiped out his wound as best as she could. He handed her the pouch and grabbed a small stick and put it in his mouth. “Fucking karma,” he mumbled. She sprinkled the powder into the wound and it sizzled and popped. There was almost no reaction from Harvey.
“Does that hurt?” she asked.
“No … not at all.”
That scared me. From what we learned from John, a note I never bothered to write down is that Speed Clot, hurt like a bitch. She finished working the bite and smiled at him. He started to smile back and then forced it away.
“Man, I’m so sorry,” I said.
“It’s not your fault. I’m pissed and upset and hell. I don’t know what I’m feeling any more. I’ll probably die, or turn, but somehow that really hasn’t set in. I just keep thinking we have to keep fighting. If we fight hard enough, everything will be okay in the end. Only, it doesn’t matter, we will all turn eventually.”
I searched for a response, but there was nothing I could say. Harvey knew this and slowly walked over to the passenger seat. “I don’t feel like driving,” he remarked. He opened the door and picked up a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it and carefully looked it over. It appeared to have been torn in places.
“Is this you?” Harvey accused while holding the paper out to Shay.
She took the paper and looked it over, her eyes squinting in disbelief. I leaned in to read the paper with her. In the top center of the page was a crappy photocopied picture. The picture was of a girl in a hospital gown with dark hair exiting a building.
Attn: Military Personnel
Subject: Reacquisition of Infected Individual
Subject: Tiffany Mason ha
s escaped from test site 7. The acquisition and safe return of this individual is priority one. It is believed that she may be infected with an unknown virus. The target is highly contagious, full chemical gear is suggested. Intel suggests that by extracting her…
The document was ripped below the bottom few lines. I scanned the document, concerned of the obvious similarities. “This is dated two weeks ago,” I said.
Shay looked up and laughed and then noticed how both of us were staring at her. “What? You don’t really think that’s me, do you?”
“She looks like you,” Harvey said.
“She looks like an ink-blot test. There are other people in the world with black hair. Plus that’s not even my name.”
“Didn’t you leave a hospital almost around that time?” I asked.
“Yeah, but I told you that the hallway and lobby was flooded with zombies. I had to crawl out the window to escape. What the hell is this, a witch hunt?”
“No, at this point I couldn’t care less. Considering,” Harvey said.
I didn’t say anything; I couldn’t really wrap my mind around what it could mean. Could Shay have been patient zero? Did she infect the world? That was nonsense, because the zombie outbreak had started almost a month and a half ago, and that was in other countries. Who was that in the picture and why did the Army want her?
I drove us home with Shay sitting in the middle and Harvey in the passenger seat. The toolbox had been filled with almost six boxes of ammunition. Harvey had brought a box of shells into the truck before we headed off. He repeatedly loaded a single shell into the shotgun and then ejected it into his hand. It made us both nervous. I didn’t think he was going to shoot us. I was afraid he was going to give up.
“Harvey,” I started.
“I’m not going to,” he snapped.
He held out the picture and put it next to Shay’s head. She swatted his arm away, “Stop it, Harvey.”
“I don’t know if I trust you anymore. You might be the queen zombie and lay eggs in our brains,” he said with a small chuckle that turned into a cough.