by R. A. Neely
"Go!" Greg yelled. "I'll distract them. Get me on the next block."
"What?" Carol asked desperately. "Let's get out here now!"
Greg fired until his gun was empty and then drew his machete. The assault slowed down a bit as the infected had to climb over the bodies to get into the house. "We don't know how many are out there. What if we open the garage and the cars can't get out. I need to draw some of them off."
"He's right, Carol," James said. "Let's go. We don't have much time."
"Take my pistol at least," Carol said. "There's a few shots left."
Greg nodded and took her gun. "Go. I'll distract them and then head out the back."
James grabbed Carol by the hand and led her towards the garage. Greg thrust his machete through the neck of an infected crawling through the window. He only needed to buy a few moments and then he could be on his way. Several infected made it through the doorway and Greg fired three shots before running out. He spent a few moments hacking with his machete but knew he had to leave soon. Several more infected shoved through the doorway and Greg managed to stab the first in the chest. He kicked the infected in the chest to get it off the blade and it sailed backwards and knocked several more infected to the ground. Looking back to the window Greg saw more infected climbing into the room and realized it was time to go. He sheathed his machete and sprinted for the back door. He quickly crossed the backyard and approached the fence. He'd only get one shot at this, footsteps behind him told him the infected were right on his heels. He jumped as he approached the fence and grabbed the top with his hands. Using his momentum, he swung his legs over to land on the other side. The fence shook violently as the infected crashed into the other side. He took off for the street, hoping that James and the others would be waiting. He ran around the side of the house and glanced behind him, already the infected were scrambling over the fence.
Entering the front yard, he sighed in relief as he saw two pairs of headlights coming down the street. They screeched to a stop and Greg quickly got into the suv with Carol. They sped off just as infected were beginning to come around the house. "You alright?" Carol asked. "You're not hurt are you?"
Greg shook his head. "I'm good," he said breathing heavily. "Just glad you were there." Greg's cell rang and he picked it up. "Yeah?"
"We'll try to get out of here." Greg paused to hear a reply from James. "Let's cut the lights. The moon's pretty bright so we won't crash into anything." Greg ended the call and turned towards Carol. "Cut the lights. We're gonna try to get out of town.'
Carol nodded and switched the lights off. She had to cut her speed drastically to compensate. Twenty minutes later they realized this wasn't going to work. Between the lights being off and cars blocking the road, it felt like they were making little progress. Greg directed Carol to turn into another subdivision and they spent a few minutes finding a suitable place to hole up. They pulled the vehicles into a garage and spent the rest of the night trying to get what sleep they could.
Carol dozed off but sleep remained far off for Greg. He wondered what would make people attack complete strangers like that. Yeah, resources were getting scare, but had people already abandoned common decency? It was one thing to defend yourself, he'd done that back at the grocery store. But going after people that hadn't done anything to you was something else altogether. He had no doubt those guys would have killed him and James had things gone differently. Who knows what they would have done to the girls, it didn't bear thinking about. Was this the way the world was going to be now? Kill or be killed? Greg didn't want to think that way. He had no problem defending himself, but he didn't want to live in a world where people didn't care about each other anymore.
Greg yawned as light filtered through cracks in the garage door. It was time to go. He nudged Carol awake then rolled down his window. He rapped on the passenger window and smiled apologetically when Laura jumped awake. He waited for Laura to roll down her window before speaking.
"We need to decide what to do," he said. "How are we doing on food?"
"We have about weeks’ worth between both vehicles," Laura replied.
"We were gonna look around this morning. Do we stick to that or push on?"
"Might be more of those guys around," James said. "Definitely some infected around too."
Greg nodded. "We probably have to assume there are always infected around. Do we risk a fight with those other guys though?"
"Let's just push on," Carol said. "The ones that got away might be looking for us."
Laura hung her head. "Sorry, I-"
"You did good, Laura. We're not cold blooded killers. They backed down when they knew they were outmatched. Maybe we need to hold on to that."
"What do you mean?" James asked.
Greg shrugged. "I think we might have to get used to killing if we want to survive. But that doesn't mean we have to do it when it isn't necessary. Sure, life might be a tad easier if we had killed everyone last night but I'm not sure I want to live that way."
Laura looked up at this. "I'll do what I have to if they come at us again."
"I know you will," Greg replied, "we all will." Greg took a moment to look at each person in turn. "So we push on then?" At their nod he continued, "Alright, let's get this door open and get out of here then."
Greg opened his door and made his way around the garage until he reached the switch for the garage door. After hitting it, he made his way back to the suv. The garage door opened to a sunny day that looked like any other day if you ignored the cars abandoned all over the street. The infection had hit hard here. They didn't see when they had drove this way last night but there were bodies everywhere. Greg wondered if the infected had hit while these people were trying to escape. Several infected were heading towards the garage, the noise from it opening must have gained their attention.
The group quickly left them behind as they pulled out of the garage. They got back on the main road and continued heading north. They were nearly out of town when they noticed a blockade up ahead. "What is that?" Carol asked.
"Couple of cars. No way around it either, it goes right up to the buildings on each side.'
"Do we move it?"
Greg shook his head. "No, I think that was done on purpose which means there might be more of that other group around here somewhere." A shot rang out and clipped the driver side mirror. Carol screamed in surprise.
"Take that right up ahead!" Greg directed.
Carol took the turn as more shots rang out. Fortunately, none of them hit. No other shots came there way and Greg breathed a sigh of relief. Seemed like they were safe for the moment. Greg directed Carol to back into an alleyway so they could have a moment to come up with a plan. Once James was in the alley, everyone except for the kids gout out.
"Now what?" Laura asked.
"There should be another way out of town," Greg said. "Or at least a side road that links up after that barricade."
"That'll probably be guarded, too," James said.
"Probably," Greg replied, "but hopefully it'll be a little easier to deal with than the main road."
"What's the plan then? Carol asked.
Greg thought for a moment. "James and I will go on foot. We'll ring the cell if we find a clear path. We'll head right out of the alley, that'll take us north."
Carol pulled Greg into a hug. "Be careful."
Greg nodded. "You too. Stay in the car. Don't hesitate if they show up."
"We won't," Laura said. She had a fierce look in her eye. Greg wondered if she regretted letting those guys go last night. It was one thing to talk about how you wanted to live, it was another when that choice started shooting at you. Would they be dealing with this right now if they had killed everyone last night? Greg didn't know the answer to that. Besides, it was possible that this wasn't even the same group so last night might have nothing to do with what was happening right now.
Greg headed to the end of the alley and looked around. It seemed clear as far as he could tell alt
hough someone could be hiding out in one those buildings overlooking the street. Being out in the open was probably a bad idea so Greg decided it would be best to stick to the alleys. They walked for several blocks, moving as quietly as they could. They finally reached a point where they'd have to head back out to the road. Greg headed towards the end of the alley and paused when he heard gunfire.
"Do you think that's the girls?" he asked turning to James.
"No," James said shaking his head, "the girls are south of here. That was more to the west." More shots rang out and Greg hoped that James was right.
Greg reached the end of the alley and saw two cars blocking the road. He couldn't see anyone but that didn't mean that someone wasn't hiding. Two figures came barreling around the corner, a man and a woman. They stopped when they saw the cars blocking the road. The woman bent over as if she was out of breath then they headed towards the cars. They said something to each other but Greg couldn't make it out. Were they on the run? Maybe they were the reason for the gunfire they'd just heard. Greg didn't want to take that chance though. Greg caught James eye and he nodded in response.
Greg crept up behind the couple until he was just a few yards away. "Don't move," he said as he aimed his gun at their back. Despite his warning, they moved as if they were about to turn around. "I said don't move!"
They froze and the man spoke out. "We're not with those other guys," he said. "We're running from them."
"How do you know I'm not with them," Greg asked.
"Because you didn't shoot us."
"Maybe you're just stalling for reinforcements."
"We don't have time for this arguing," the woman said. "Please, let me turn around. I think you might trust me then."
Greg found himself curious. "Alright. But don't think I won't shoot you. And if by some miracle you manage to get me, my friend will finish you off." James stepped out of the alley and raised his gun in their direction.
"No tricks," she said.
"Alright, turn around. Slowly, mind you."
The woman turned around and Greg frowned when saw her. She seemed familiar but he couldn't quite place how he knew her.
"Really?" she asked. "I know I'm not at my best but surely you recognize me."
That voice. Greg realized who was looking at. "Shirley O'Hara?"
Shirley nodded. "Yes. Can you please stop pointing that gun at us now?"
Greg nodded and lowered his gun. "Sorry about that. We heard the gunshots and had to be sure."
"We should move," Jackson said, "those guys were right behind us."
"We need to get these cars out of the way," James said.
"I can take care of that," Jackson said.
Greg nodded and called Carol on the cell. They arrived just as the guys were moving the last car out of the way. "Could you give us a ride?" Shirley asked.
Greg thought for a moment. Just because she was Shirley O'Hara didn't mean that he should let his guard down. No doubt they'd been doing what they needed to survive as well so he didn't automatically trust them. But, Shirley did warn the city. That earned them a ride to the next town at least. "Yeah, we'll give you a ride. You'll ride with Carol and I. Shirley, you sit up front." He looked at Jackson and frowned.
"Jackson," he supplied. "Alright, Jackson and I will ride in back. No offense, but I'll need you to hand over any weapons you have."
"That's fair," Jackson said, "I'd do the same in your shoes." Shirley handed over her pistol while Jackson handed over his rifle and knife.
"Alright, let's go," Greg said. They entered the vehicles and were able to catch the main road after the first blockade they'd run into.
"You did us a favor," Greg said. "That second blockade probably would have been guarded if you guys didn't run into them."
Jackson nodded. "So what do I call you? We didn't do introductions back there."
"Oh. I suppose we didn't. Greg Lyons."
"I'm Carol," she supplied from the driver seat.
"And everyone knows Shirley," Jackson said with a grin.
Everyone chuckled. "So, where we headed?" Shirley asked.
"Just to the next town for right now," Greg replied. "We were planning on looking for supplies this morning before we got attacked last night."
"That was you?" Shirley asked. "We were across the street. I'm so glad you guys made it out."
"Well, it's a good thing we didn't run into each other last night then. It wasn't fun at all. We spent the rest of the night holed up in a garage." Greg shook his head, remembering.
"How did you make it out?" Jackson asked.
"I kept them distracted then ran out the back," Greg said. "Hopped the fence and met them on the next block."
"Smart," Jackson said with admiration in his voice. "Everyone got out okay?"
Greg nodded. "Yeah, it was a bad situation. We fought off the guys that attacked and just weren't ready for the infected."
"Don't know if you can ever be ready for them," Jackson replied.
They found themselves leaving town at that point and Carol took the ramp to get back on the expressway. There were abandoned cars all over but most people had managed to pull over before leaving their vehicles behind. There were a number of accidents but none that took up the whole road. All in all they had enough space so they could drive at a normal speed. Occasionally, they'd see an infected give chase as they passed by but they were quickly left behind. Greg wondered what had happened here. How did it start? Did someone stop to give someone a hand and it spread from there? Or was someone driving when they came down with the infection and then crashed into someone else?
He found himself getting drowsy as he watched the fields fly by in the window. He didn't want to sleep though. He more or less felt Shirley was okay but he didn't know about Jackson. He obviously knew how to handle himself. They'd escaped Emerald Falls and probably had to deal with some of the same things his group had faced. Greg didn't want to turn his back on the guy until he got a better feel for him.
"You can sleep," Jackson said in a low voice, Carol had turned on the radio so their conversation would go unheard. "I'm not out to hurt you." He looked Greg in the eye. "That's why you've been fighting sleep the last few miles right? I saw you dozing off a bit."
Greg smiled sheepishly. "That obvious, huh?"
Jackson shrugged. "I don't blame you. You don't know me so you've got no reason to let your guard down. But, you trust Shirley well enough. Maybe some of that trust can extend to me. At least enough that you can go to sleep without worrying about if I'm going to try something."
"How do we go about that?" Greg asked.
"I'm her cameraman," he said nodding towards Shirley. "Well, I was anyway. Don't suppose our previous professions matter all that much now. I've worked with her for about five years now. Every time you saw her on location that was me behind the camera."
Greg nodded. "Fair enough. Tell me, what are your plans? We'll at least give you a ride to the next town. What are you going to do after that?"
"I want to keep her safe," Jackson said. "That's pretty much it for my plans. I'm kinda starting to think keeping her safe would be a little easier with a group around me, though."
Greg saw where this conversation was going. "You'd like to join up with us."
Jackson nodded. "You've got something. Plus, you walked away from that attack last night. You survived not only those other survivors but also got all of your people away from the infected." Jackson shook his head. "And you put your neck on the line to do it. You're not just a random group of people trying to get by...you're like family or something."
"They are my family," Greg replied. "I've known James and Laura for years, Carol too." Greg thought for a moment. "Giving you a ride is one thing. Shirley earned that much just for making that warning. But joining us? That's a different level of trust. Anyone that joins us, not just you, how do I know I can trust them? I'm literally trusting them with the lives of my family. Are they gonna steal from us? Will they stay or run at th
e first sign of trouble? If they stay, will they contribute? I have to know I can trust you around my family."
Jackson nodded. "Trust comes with time, right? I don't know that I can say anything right now that would ease all those concerns. But maybe you can trust us enough to give us a shot."
Greg thought for a moment. This was something he had to seriously consider. Not just for these two but for anyone else they might meet. Jackson seemed genuine. At the very least, his feelings for Shirley were plain to see. Greg believed Jackson would do whatever he could to keep her safe. Would that extend to the group though? He didn't want to come and trust this guy only to have him leave during a crisis.
"And if you have to choose between her and the group?"
"I think being with you is the best way I can keep her safe right now. So long as you're not stupid, keeping the group safe means I'm keeping her safe. So long as you're not stupid we don't have a problem. If you do turn out to be stupid, well it would be stupid of me to stick around, wouldn't it?"
Greg couldn't really fault that logic. "Fair enough. You understand I might make mistakes along the way?"
Jackson nodded. "A smart man learns from his mistakes. That's not what I'm talking about. I mean if you continually do stupid things. In that case, I'm better off trying to take care of her on my own."
Greg nodded. "Alright. I appreciate your honesty. I have to admit, having another guy around would be useful. I hate leaving the girls behind When James and I need to go do something."
Jackson nodded. "I'm a decent shot and I can hold my own in a fight too. I've also been teaching Shirley a few things. Right now she won't shoot her foot off but she'll get better. Just don't ask her to cook though," he finished with a grin.
Greg chuckled. There was a story there and he looked forward to learning about it. "So, what's your background? James and I have done krav maga for years. He's cop by the way, so he's got the training from his time on the force as well. We'd also go to the range at least once a month."
Jackson nodded. "I don't have anything like that. My skill is more...self-taught I guess." At Greg's look he continued, "Might as well get this over with now I guess. I spent some time in prison when I was younger. Did a ten year stint. Don't know how you feel about that."