by Joseph Zuko
“Please, I’ll tell you! Just don’t!”
“Ryder, I’m not like you. I keep my promises.”
“You know which way is south from here? It’s like six blocks and you’re there. Please don’t cut me again.”
Sara’s features hardened. She clenched her jaw. Eyes burned. Hate radiating from every pore. She spoke with disgust. “I wonder if the tables were turned, and you had me tied to a bed and I’m begging and crying for you to stop hurting me, would you have?”
Ryder’s eyes dropped.
Sara wiggled the knife and said coldly, “Answer me or I start cutting.”
“No. I wouldn’t have stopped.”
Sara heaved in a deep breath. “That’s what I thought.” Without cutting him she extracted the blade and went to the sink. “You’re a lucky guy Ryder. I’m not a monster like you.” She washed the blade under the tap and put it back into its sheath. She took off the glove and left it on the counter.
Ryder whimpered. “When you find your friends, you’ll come back and let me go, right?”
Sara put her back to him as she grabbed the pack from the hall. She pulled out a jacket and slid her arms into it. Then she took something else from inside the bag, zipped the pack shut and slipped it onto her shoulders.
“Hey now, I told you where they are. You said you’d come back and free me. You’re a good person, Red. I know you are!” Ryder bawled. “You’re not going to kill me, right?”
Sara worked at something mechanical. “Ryder, I’ve been in this situation before. You know what I told my good friend, the same man that owned this harness, I said, ‘We don’t have to kill him, but he’s not coming with us either.’ That’s what’s happening here.” She faced him.
“What are you talking about, Red?” Ryder looked as pathetic as a rain-soaked kitten.
Sara set an old-fashioned wind up alarm clock on the counter. “This is going off in fifteen minutes.”
She grabbed the spear and headed for the door.
“You can’t do this!” he wailed.
“I’d stay quiet if I were you. Noise attracts them.” Sara stepped to the door.
Ryder turned into a blubbering ball of tears and snot. “Please, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what I did to you and the Big Guy. I know I can never make it up to you, but please find it in your heart to let me go. I don’t want to die, Red.”
“I guess I am a little bit like you after all, Ryder…” Sara stepped into the hallway. Her final words to the man were, “…and don’t call me Red.”
Seconds ticked on the clock as Ryder yelled after her, “Please, don’t leave me!”
Chapter 14
Jim recognized the voice. The man known as Brother Paul was charging at him with his rifle raised. When they met yesterday, Jim had his head stuffed in a black sack with a pistol to his skull and never saw his captor’s face, but Jim knew it was him without a doubt. He was taller than he expected, and his shoulders were broad. Vengeful intent burned in Paul’s eyes.
A man in a baseball cap called after Paul, “What are you doing?” as he dashed from behind the Hummer’s door.
Paul grunted, “These are the people that took Shawna.”
The woman behind the heavy machine gun aimed her deadly weapon at the van.
Karen raised her hands higher, “Wait! We can explain!”
Jim took two large steps, grabbed Karen by the wrist and pulled her behind him as he raised his rifle toward Paul.
Troy stepped from the van and aimed his shotgun at Paul. “I’m asking you nicely to stay back, Mister.”
The man in the baseball cap shouted, “Everyone, calm down!”
Paul and Jim locked eyes. They stared at each other like two gunmen in the old west, facing off at high noon.
Paul’s jaw shuddered as he grunted, “You made a promise.”
Jim fired back. “And I kept it.”
“You killed people. Including my brother, Eric!”
Karen growled, “Eric?” She lowered her hands, pointed at her face, and hissed. “He did this to me. Then he tried to kill my children! Your brother was a monster!”
Paul shifted his focus from Jim to Karen’s busted features.
Karen told the truth, but it wasn’t helping their situation. Jim was low on blood and his nerves were frayed. This was a hell of a standoff. One wrong move and his children were orphans.
The pain at his shoulder screamed for him to lower the rifle. He hoped the move would help deescalate the situation.
Jim pointed his rifle to the ground and softly said, “We can explain everything. I know you’re hurting. We’ve lost people too, but right now our children and Shawna are trapped in that house.” He pointed to the building beyond the trees. “There’s a large group of those things heading this way and more of them are surrounding the home. We need to work together.”
Paul thought about this moment all day. What would he do if he found Jim?
Eye for an eye?
Or turn the other cheek?
His Father’s dying words about Eric came rushing to him. ‘He needs guidance, the boy has a demon in him.’
Years ago, Eric confessed to Paul his desires toward women. At the time it mostly confused Paul. He wasn’t sure what the young man meant. Eric said he didn’t want a girlfriend or a wife, but he admitted to wanting to own a woman. Paul asked him to elaborate. All Eric could say was, ‘Make them do stuff they don’t want to do.’ Paul kept a close eye on his brother and prayed for him every day. He insisted the young man stay busy by heaping loads of work on him to do around the church. Eric was seventeen at the time of his confession. Paul hoped it was raging hormones and nothing more. When Eric became an adult and Paul’s duty to the church increased, he needed help keeping watch over his brother. Paul confided to his closest friend, Dallas. Paul asked him to observe Eric and lookout for any signs of his condition. As far as Brother Paul knew, Eric never acted out on his impulses. He concluded the urge had left the young man, but after all that time the monster was still lurking under the surface and the second Eric thought he could get away with it, he tried. The proof was standing in front of him. A broken woman, begging for help.
Paul lowered his rifle. Yesterday, Jim had been traveling with three others and they were all missing.
Perhaps my people are responsible for their deaths? Paul stammered and fought to find the words. “I… apologize… for my brother. I… don’t know…”
The man with the shotgun slung the barrel over his shoulder and Alayna aimed the Browning from the van to the street.
Cooper spotted the mass of dead freaks racing toward them. He sensed the need to be a moderator and get the two groups working as one, before it was too late. He stepped next to Paul and motioned to the approaching horde. “First, let’s get rid of those things. Then we can hash out… the rest of this. Agreed?”
The man named Jim nodded and said, “We need to get some supplies from the bus.”
Cooper tugged at Paul’s arm, nudged him toward their rig and said, “All right. You do that, and we’ll take the lead.” He signaled to the machine gun mounted to the roof of the Hummer. “That thing can squash a pack of biters in seconds. We’ll get your girls back in no time.” His upbeat optimism helped keep the group’s morale trucking in the right direction.
Karen’s emotions were a swirling tornado. Teaming up with people that were a part of the same group that already attacked her family twice, didn’t sit well with her.
She headed for the bus. “Leon, get the van turned around and open the hatch.”
He gave her a thumbs up and got the van moving.
As she crossed in front of the Hummer, she spoke to the woman behind the big gun. “My children are in the attic. Please be careful.”
The woman nodded and said, “I will.”
Jim and Troy were right behind her as she ascended the steps to the bus. The dead bodies at the front of the rig had attracted a swarm of flies and Karen had to swat her way through the buzzing
cloud.
Troy scanned garbage bags full of supplies. “We can’t forget to get these when we’re done.”
Out of earshot from the Hummer Karen whispered, “Can we trust them?”
Jim kicked one of the bodies out of the aisle and said, “No, but we don’t have a choice.”
Karen picked up the medical bag she had taken from the police station the day before as Troy and Jim each lifted a duffle bag full of guns and bullets.
Jim grunted, “We get the girls, they get Shawna, and we all go our separate ways. We stay focused on that.”
Karen knew Jim was right, but she hated this man, for no other reason than he was the brother of that horrible sack of shit.
They were out gunned and if the religious freak wanted to wipe her group off the chess board, that giant cannon on the Hummer could turn them into pink mist in seconds.
Like Jim said, we get the girls and go our separate ways.
The plan was simple enough, but something gnawed at Karen.
If he blames us for the death of his people, then why did he change his tune so fast?
Did he know Eric was that kind of creep?
There was no sense in stoking the fire. They seemed willing to help and if it meant getting the girls out of that attic faster, then Karen could live with the arrangement. For now.
Leon was so happy that he had made his confession earlier. He was sweating like a marathon runner and if he wasn’t severely dehydrated already he would have pissed his pants once that woman pointed the gun’s thick barrel at him.
If I had kept the truth to myself, bad karma would have let her open fire. Leon had seen movies and documentaries about the military. He knew full well what that weapon could do.
There wouldn’t be anything left of me to bury, thought Leon as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He concentrated and got his asshole to loosen its suction on the seat.
I’m so tense my ass was eating the cushion.
He finished turning the van around and pressed the button to release the rear hatch.
As he waited for them to load the supplies, he glanced at the woman sticking through the turret. She wore a helmet and body armor was strapped to her torso, but the parts Leon could see were quite pleasing.
Don’t start that again. He told himself and set his gaze on the shuffling dead converging on the intersection.
Cooper stepped close to Lisa’s open door and exhaled. “That was intense.”
Lisa kept a keen eye on the strangers as they loaded bags of weapons into the rear of the van. She asked under her breath, “What the heck was all that?”
Cooper pushed his cap up onto his forehead. “I’m not really sure. I get the feeling there is a large chunk of the story we’re missing.”
“Can we trust them?” asked Lisa.
“I have no idea. They seemed genuinely concerned for their kids. Other than that… who knows? Let’s get through these things and figure out the rest later.” He eyed the swarm of monsters that were now a hundred yards away. Cooper jogged around the front of the rig and hopped into his seat.
Paul remained in a haze as he shuffled past Lisa. “Sir, are you okay?”
He climbed into the backseat and slammed his door. “I’m fine.”
Lisa exchanged a look with Cooper. “Alayna, are you ready?”
She hollered down through the turret, “I’m loaded.”
The wheels chirped as the Hummer zipped through the intersection.
Troy checked two rifles and made sure they were fully loaded. He handed one to Karen and the other to Jim. He grabbed one for himself and slammed the hatch shut.
“Well, they’re eager to slaughter those things. That’s good,” said Troy as he raced to the front seat.
They jumped into the van and took off after them.
Alayna opened fire on the encroaching horde. The rounds tore through their bodies like darts through balloons at the county fair.
Cooper rolled his window down, aimed his rifle and slung lead at the frontline.
Shawna raced to the window. “What the heck?”
Beth joined her. “You said they were going to get some guns.”
Shawna scrunched her face and said, “We didn’t have anything that powerful on the bus.”
From their vantage they saw bodies in the street getting eviscerated. Shawna reached for the girls and covered their eyes.
“What’s going on?” asked Valerie.
“You shouldn’t see this. Go play with those toys, okay? Your Mom and Dad will be here soon.” Shawna ushered the little ones to the other side of the attic.
As she moved for the window, Beth noticed worry stretching across Shawna’s face.
Beth cocked her head to the side, “Are their parents going to be happy to see you, or cross?”
“It’s difficult to say.” Shawna raised her rifle and aimed out the window. She landed headshots on anything slow moving.
“Why?” asked Beth.
Shawna paused, “What?”
“Why is it hard for you to say?” Beth sounded like a lawyer, gathering info before she produced damaging evidence to her opponent’s case.
“I didn’t know the girls were on the bus when I took it.”
A single eyebrow raised on Beth’s forehead.
“The bus belongs to my people. What does it matter to you?” Shawna resumed firing at the zombies below.
Beth spoke between Shawna’s shots. “I’m trying to figure out.” Bang. “If I need to remain neutral...” Bang. “… or take sides.”
Shawna finished off her magazine.
Beth continued, “I know how I’d feel if someone took my kid.”
“I didn’t take their kids. They just happened to be hiding on the bus.”
Action on the street grabbed their attention.
A military vehicle ripped into the driveway, guns blazing. Directly behind them was the van Karen and Jim had arrived in. The top halves of the girl’s parents stuck out of the van’s sunroof. The two vehicles were laying waste to the horde below.
“It looks like they found the National Guard,” said Beth.
Shawna couldn’t tell who was in the Hummer. It didn’t matter who they were, she was leaving with them. Shawna went to her bag and picked up the box of shells.
Karen didn’t trust me before and now she has a good reason. The hardest one to face was Leon. Shawna loaded the magazine and wondered if she could live in this attic for a few days. Just so she wouldn’t have to see the people in the van.
A steady stream of zombies poured down the front porch of the farmhouse. Karen and Jim fired until their guns clicked empty.
The Hummer made a loop around the house and Leon followed.
Karen ducked through the sunroof and grabbed fresh mags. She reached for Jim’s gun to help him load it, but he managed to get his own mag free from the base of the rifle.
They reloaded and opened fire.
Circling the building kept the zombies on the run and the rigs were fast enough to catch the tail end of the horde. They surprise attacked the infected as they rounded the last corner of the house and sped across the driveway.
There were bodies a hundred feet in every direction around the house.
Leon came to a stop directly in front of the main entrance to the house. The three gunners finished the slobbering, teeth snapping, black eyed bastards.
A thick cloud of smoke plumed from the farm.
Karen and Jim reloaded once again. Troy switched to his shotgun and handed his rifle to Leon. They raced from the vehicle, playing hopscotch around the bodies that littered the land.
Karen’s heart was in her throat. It had been forty minutes since Shawna drove away with her children, but it seemed like a lifetime.
She led the three men up the stairs to the porch.
The front door was demolished and lay in pieces on the floor. Blood was everywhere. The house was completely thrashed.
They entered, ready for a fight. Guns tucked to their shoulders,
they swept through the foyer. A few corpses lay spread eagle on the stairway.
A rustling sound drew them deeper into the house.
Karen was dumbfounded when she saw a young man tied to a chair in the dining room. Then she noticed the telltale signs of a zombie.
The restrained infected young man was the only thing stirring in the house.
“I think we’re clear.” Whispered Jim.
Karen made for the stairs, the men right on her heels.
She shouted to the gods, “Girls!”
In the hall on the second floor, a doorway dropped from the ceiling.
“Mama!” called back to her.
Karen flew faster than she ever had before. She leapt three stairs at a time and raced to the ladder as it touched down.
Her two little ones crouched at the top of the steps, unsure how to make their way to their bawling parent.
Karen stormed the steps and clutched her babies, weeping uncontrollably as she clung to them.
Jim and Troy made it to the ladder. Jim’s eyes were bright red and full of tears. With his cut shoulder he couldn’t reach for the girls. He had to wait until they were on the second floor with him.
Troy said, “Pass them down.”
Karen lifted Robin and lowered her to Troy’s waiting hands.
He passed her immediately to Jim, who held her with his good arm. He planted kisses on her forehead and nose.
Karen raised Valerie off her feet and descended the steps.
Troy helped guide her until Karen’s boots landed on the hardwood floor.
The family of four dropped to their knees. They cried, kissed, and embraced each other. No one could form a word.
Troy joined them with tears of joy and it wasn’t long before Leon wiped a runaway drop from his cheek.
Another set of legs made their way down the steps. A hunting rifle hung from her shoulder. She jumped from the last rung, turned, and said to the group, “Hello.”
Troy extended his hand and struggled to say his own name, “Troy, I’m Troy. Sorry, it’s been a stressful day.” He ran his sleeve across his face and dried most of the tears. “This is Leon, Karen and Jim.”