Marilyn held Sonya to her as they drove across the field. She looked out the window as they passed the sign. Near the sign, nothing. Scorched ground. Farther out, the remains of creepers littered the ground. She couldn’t look too closely. Then, at the edges, creepers littered the ground, struggled to rise, or dragged themselves along. At the far edges, creepers in various levels of damage staggered toward the moving Suburban. At the road, the stream of creepers continued. Chase drove through them, following the road toward Paducah. Marilyn realized she could hear a little. At least she had a ringing in her ears. She looked out the window to her right. The moon had gone down and she couldn’t make out the forest around them anymore or see the creepers she knew were there. But she thought the sky was graying. She sat back and closed her eyes.
Chapter 34 – Chase
Chase wanted to put as much space as possible between his group and the Chief’s. He knew that the creepers pouring into the valley would keep the Chief busy. He also knew that the Chief would survive the creeper invasion. And then there was a good chance he might come after them.
But the most important thing to Chase was knowing Sonya was safe. He kept turning to check on her, to watch her, to make sure that she was really there with them and okay. She was there, but she was so pale, so still. Marilyn had closed her eyes and appeared to be sleeping. Honey lay down in the passenger seat. She had matted blood on her head. They were all worse for wear. He wanted to stop, to rest, to make sure everyone was all right and tend to their wounds, but he couldn’t while there were still so many creepers around, so he continued to drive.
At the outskirts of Paducah the number of creepers increased to the point that he was forced to leave the highway and take a side road. He realized the number had increased because these were the outflow of creepers from I-24. He moved from one side road to another, finally free of creepers but not making much progress in getting away from the Chief. Finally, he found a road that crossed the interstate. The sun was up, and he could see the creepers moving on the interstate. They covered the pavement and median as far as he could see. He stopped, staring. He looked back at Marilyn and Sonya to see their reaction, but they were either still asleep or unconscious. He was glad. The sheer number of creepers depressed him. He started again, turning and driving, weaving among abandoned cars. He was so tired. Sometimes it seemed the whole thing with the Chief and the compound and the barn had never happened. They were back on the road again. He was driving, the girls were sleeping. But something was different. He knew what it was. It was him.
He had thought that if they found other people, someplace safe, then their problems would be over. He realized now that he had been naïve. The world was more dangerous than he had ever realized. They had to avoid creepers, they had to eat, they had to make their way, and now he knew that they had to watch out for the other survivors, too. He crossed the interstate again at one point, and it may have been wishful thinking, but he thought there weren’t as many creepers. He wasn’t seeing near as many creepers on the side roads, but he kept going. He crossed the Kentucky Dam then took a road going south. The road was clear of both vehicles and creepers. He drove until he was completely exhausted, which wasn’t very long, and took a side road, following it until it dead-ended into the water. He stopped just short of the water’s edge, put the Suburban in park, and turned off the motor. He opened the door and stepped out. Honey followed.
He listened. The only sounds came from the waves lapping at the shore, the singing birds, and the wind in the branches overhead. The sun was still rising, coming up in the east. He faced west, the sun pushing the shadows of the trees out into the water in front of him. Out past the shadow, the water sparkled. Chase’s arms goose-pimpled in the morning chill. This could be a good place to stop, to rest, to regroup. He looked at Honey, but she seemed relaxed. If there were creepers around, she would let him know.
He opened the back door on the driver’s side. Marilyn stirred and didn’t wake. He was pretty sure she was okay. But he was still worried about Sonya. He didn’t want to think about anything that might have happened to her before they found her. He just wanted her here, now. He wanted her to talk to him, to tell him she was okay and that he had done a good job and maybe even sarcastically call him Captain America. He went to the back of the Suburban and pulled out a blanket. He walked well away from the creeper-reeking Suburban. He found a sandy spot, level, dry, and clear. He spread the blanket and returned to the Suburban, carried Sonya to the primitive bed he had made and lay her down. Her eyes opened, but she didn’t seem to realize where she was, what was going on. She only looked at him, glassy eyed, breathing shallowly.
“Thirsty,” she croaked. He returned to the Suburban, grabbed several bottles of water and a blanket. He covered Sonya and then held her while he put an opened bottle to her lips. She seemed to have slipped back into unconsciousness, so he just let a few drops fall into her mouth at a time. She swallowed and he poured in a little more. He did this until she pushed the bottle away. He carefully lay her down. He couldn’t tell for sure, but somehow, after drinking a little, she looked better. He could hear she was breathing better. Honey, who had disappeared into the forest, returned to lie at their feet alertly watching them. He reached down to carefully pet the dog, avoiding the wound on her head. Exhaustion hit him then. He lay down beside Sonya and studied her face. One side was skinned and bruised and it looked as though she might be getting the beginnings of a serious black eye. He made a mental note to disinfect the wounds, but now he wanted to just lie beside her. He wanted just a moment to rest. Just for a moment.
Please let her be all right.
Chapter 35 – Sonya
Sonya woke up thirsty and hot. She opened her eyes and saw the branches of a tree overhead. She tried to sit up, but her whole body hurt. She almost cried out. She lay there trying to remember what had happened. She remembered the pipe and vaguely remembered the rescue, but after she and Marilyn had fallen to the roof of the Suburban there was nothing. Unable to sit up, she turned her head to see where she was. To her right there was only a short expanse of sand and then bushes. She did see that she was lying on the blanket they spread to eat their lunch when they were on the road. This reassured her. When she turned her head to the left, she saw Chase and was reassured further.
Chase was asleep. Even in sleep the worry never left his face. His eyebrows drew together so that a vertical line formed directly over his nose. His mouth stayed tight, his lips pressed together. Slowly, painfully, she lifted her arm to touch his face. The second she did, his eyes sprang open, although he just lay there looking back into her eyes. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he replied. They lay there looking at one another for just a few seconds before embarrassment caused them to break eye contact. Chase sat up and offered Sonya a bottle of water. Painfully, wincing at every slightest move, Sonya sat up and finished the bottle. He offered her another and she sipped at the second frequently. She wondered if she would ever be not-thirsty again. She noticed something missing.
“Where’s Marilyn?” she asked.
Chase looked back up toward the Suburban, so Sonya did the same. There didn’t appear to be anyone in it. Chase shrugged. “She might be in there laying down. Or she may be wandering around somewhere finding something delicious to eat. She was okay. How are you?”
“Sore all over. Did you rescue me just so you could beat me all night with baseball bats?” She turned her head from one side to another, tried moving her arms, and flexed her legs. “Sore all over, but nothing seems to be broken.”
Chase nodded. “The explosion.” Sonya raised an eyebrow at him. “Must have knocked you out. Threw you almost twenty feet off the top of the Suburban.”
“I remember the top of the Suburban. I remember falling out of the pipe onto the roof.” They sat there, looking out over the water. The shade of the tree just covered the bottom of the blanket. Soon, the sun would drop far enough and the sunlight would reach them. “Where are we
?” Sonya asked.
“Kentucky Lake. We crossed the dam. I saw a sign that said ‘Land Between the Lakes.’ There’s another lake just over there,” he said. “No creepers around that I’ve seen. Makes sense. No major roads and water on both sides.”
“Beautiful and safe. For now,” Sonya said. She thought about the Chief. “I guess we’ll be okay here for a little bit. Long enough for me to start feeling better. Long enough to rest for a bit.”
Chase looked at her. “Then off to Florida, right? You wanted that so bad that you were going to leave me and Marilyn.”
She tried to stand, but she after her head started swimming and the pain made her clench her teeth, she realized she wasn’t ready. “I didn’t want to leave you. I wanted you with me. But I didn’t want to be selfish. I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought you would be safe with the Chief, as safe as anyone in the world can be right now.”
“We would have been. But even forgetting the fact that the Chief is as twisted as a David Lynch movie, I still would have come with you. Being safe didn’t change anything. We had an agreement.” Sonya was surprised to see tears in his eyes. She was even more surprised to realize she had tears in her own. “Listen, punk,” Chase continued, “I don’t have anything now. I was a football hero, I had friends, and yeah, I had a family that sucked, but I had a place to be when I didn’t know where else to go. Now I don’t have anything like that. Except you. And Marilyn. And Honey, too, I guess. I don’t care what else happens to me. Don’t you get that?”
“I…I guess I do. I mean, I didn’t have many friends, and didn’t feel that close to any of them. And where I lived didn’t matter, either. All I had was Dad. But I get what you’re saying.” She reached over and took his hand. It was weird. She wasn’t sure if she felt all girlfriend-boyfriend with him, but holding his hand felt right. Weird, but right. She thought, and tried to put what had just occurred to her into words. “Our world…worlds, I guess…changed. I mean, I know everything changed. But you had a bigger world, and it got smaller. Me and Marilyn and Honey. My world got bigger. Before, it was just me and Dad, and now there’s you and Marilyn and Honey for me, too.”
“New worlds in a new world. A crappy, creeper filled world, sure. But I’m glad you’re in my world now. And I’m glad I’m in yours.” Chase squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back.
“We’ll find your Dad. One way or another, we’ll find him. And I’m with you all the way. I promise you that,” Chase said.
Sonya believed him.
Table of Contents
Part One: We Are All Pretty Much Alone
Part Two: Almost Any How
Part Three: If Any Civilization is to Survive
After Everything Else (Book 1): Creeper Rise Page 20