Plan B: stay quiet, stay hidden, and hope they leave.
With my amazing powers of suggestion at work, the bald-headed biker turned and walked off down the hallway.
Whew. I could finally breathe. I adjusted my grip on the rifle. Unbeknownst to me, I was inadvertently making circles on the white wall in the hallway with the red laser. And by the time I realized my mistake, the biker dude was on his way back.
He rushed into the doorway and scanned the room again. This time, he was more determined, and before long, he was staring directly at me. He looked down at the red dot on his chest, and then back up at me. Then down at the red dot again. Then back up at me.
Nice knowing you Plan B.
When he made his move forward, I pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession. The bullets followed the red laser with perfect precision, ripping through his leather jacket and through his beefy chest with ease. His stocky legs gave out and he fell to the floor, revealing a splatter of blood on the white wall behind him, streaming down to the floorboards.
I stood up, kept the gun aimed at the doorway. No more hiding. Now that our position had been compromised, the rest would be upon us at any moment.
“Nicole, I need your help.”
Nicole swiveled around on her butt and then slowly stood up.
“Shoot anyone who appears through that doorway,” I said. “Okay?”
She raised the 1911, and with shaky hands, aimed it at the doorway.
Strangely, I heard no movement in the house. Nor did I hear any movement, or footsteps, outside anymore.
“This is bad,” I whispered. “This is really bad.”
I knew what they were doing, even though I couldn’t see them. Their sudden silence told me everything I needed to know. They hadn’t left, that I was sure of, but they also weren’t going to pop their heads in that doorway.
Peaches looked up at me and said, “What’s going on?”
“They’re gonna wait us out. That’s what’s going on. They’ve probably taken up positions in the house. They’re gonna force us to make the next move, lead us into one of their traps.”
Nicole began shaking so much she could barely hold the gun steady. “I don’t wanna die.”
I glanced down at Peaches. She was still looking up at me. “We have to leave. Make for the Jeep and get out of here. I’m sorry, but it’s our only chance.”
Peaches nodded. “How are we gonna get past them though?”
“The Jeep is right on the other side of this garage door. I’m gonna open it. Then I’m gonna shoot anyone standing in our way. Nicole, you keep your gun on that doorway until I tell you to move. This is important.”
With the butt of the rifle against my shoulder, I quietly moved to the front of the garage. On the wall near the open doorway was the big garage door button, glowing white. I waved for Peaches to come closer. I didn’t want her and Olivia stuck defenseless on the side with the big door once it started to open.
“Nicole, remember. Wait for my word.”
Ready?
One. Two. Three.
I pressed the garage door button. The electric motor kicked on, chain moving, slowly pulling the garage door upward. Bright sunlight filled the garage, illuminating all of Ted’s most treasured possessions—and the three infected standing in the driveway. Once the garage door came to a stop, a young black woman wasted no time diving for Nicole. I shot her down just as the tips of her fingers raked Nicole’s back. Despite having multiple infected just feet behind her, Nicole kept her 1911 pointed at the interior garage door, just as I had ordered.
The other two infected, a man and a woman, stood in front of the Jeep watching as the eager black woman rolled on the pavement into a bush, blood spitting out of her side. I had my rifle sighted on the man, who was the next closest to Nicole, waiting for him to make his move. I thought about firing off a few warning shots in their direction. Maybe they’d back off and let us get to the Jeep. But I had to be extra careful about where I placed my shots. I didn’t want to accidently puncture one of the Jeep’s tires and ruin our getaway vehicle.
I started to squeeze the trigger just as two infected stormed through the interior door to my right. Nicole opened fire on the first one, a mountain of a man, tall and wide. His enormous frame made for an easy target, even for a novice like Nicole, as he took numerous shots in the chest and immediately fell to his knees in the doorway. The second one, much thinner, ducked behind him, used him as a shield. Once he noticed my rifle pointed at him, he scurried back into the hallway.
Meanwhile, Nicole had stopped shooting and started screaming. The infected man in the driveway had tackled her from behind while I was distracted. His female partner in crime thought she’d try her luck at Peaches, who was beside me with her arms wrapped tightly around Olivia.
I would have let this one live, had she just backed off. Instead, she ran toward the three of us at full speed. I might have been able to wrestle her away, but I wasn’t taking any chances—not with Peaches or Olivia. Last thing I wanted hanging over my head was more regrets, should I make the wrong choice. It wouldn’t take long to kill an infant. It took even less time to pull the trigger. I had a split second to make a decision, so I made the easy choice. The infected woman collapsed forward against a stack of boxes as bullets whipped through her body.
“Get to the car!” I yelled to Peaches.
Nicole, however, couldn’t get anywhere. She was preoccupied with the man on top of her, brutally slamming his fists into her face. I hurried over and jabbed the butt of the rifle into the back of his head. He didn’t go limp, as I had hoped. But I had gotten his attention. From his knees, he turned and tried to grab me, and I hit him again. And again. And again. I stopped when a large gash opened up next to his right eye; blood began pouring out, blinding him. Nicole snuck out from under his legs and then ran for the Jeep. Then I finished the job.
Peaches started the Jeep from the passenger seat as I ran over. Nicole was wondering where to sit, as the backseat was stuffed with the boxes I’d packed earlier.
I slung the rifle over my back. “Here,” I said, grabbing the first box I’d packed—the one with the assortment of random items—and tossed it out on to the driveway. A flashlight fell out and began rolling down toward the road. “Get in.”
Noises behind me. More breaking glass.
One of the infected had climbed back out of the broken window near the front door. I grabbed the rifle off my back and shot him down. Then I took some more shots into the garage. Three infected, including the one who had used the fat man as a shield, burst through the doorway. I pulled the trigger as fast as I could, firing off seven or eight rounds before one punctured the hot water heater. I winced, thinking the tank might explode from the sudden release of pressure, but all it did was release a torrent of water, gushing out in all directions from the bullet wound. In no time, the remaining infected and most of Ted’s supplies became drenched in water.
I had no clue if Ted’s generator had kept the hot water heater running, but if the water was hot, the infected didn’t show the least bit of pain as it rained down on them.
“Jimmy, come on!” Peaches yelled.
I lowered the rifle, slung it around my back, and then got into the Jeep.
Well, I fed his fish, if only once.
You’re welcome, Ted.
“What’s the name of the street?”
“Chestnut,” Nicole replied. “You’re gonna be making a left ahead.”
We weren’t two minutes away from Ted’s before we came to a unanimous decision.
Screw this fucking town.
The clock on the dash said it was 4:45 p.m. We had an hour and fifteen minutes to make it to a Walgreens somewhere in Orlando. I had read the note three or four times but couldn’t remember what road Robinson had said it was on. And I sure as hell wasn’t going back to Ted’s to retrieve the note to find out. Instead, we’d stop off at last night’s campsite to get the gear they left for us, and the map to th
e location.
First stop, however, was Nicole’s house, so she could grab a few things. Since it was close by, I didn’t protest.
Much.
“Don’t take long,” I said, pulling the Jeep into the driveway. “That means five minutes. Also, don’t grab more than you can fit on your lap.”
“I won’t. You guys can come in,” Nicole said, hopping out.
Peaches looked at me. “I actually have to use the bathroom.”
I shrugged. “I’ll wait here. Remember, the clock is ticking.”
While they were inside, I got out of the Jeep and surveyed the street. Chestnut Drive. So far I didn’t see any infected. I kept the rifle on my back just in case that changed.
Two minutes later I was bored, which got me thinking, which ultimately led to me remembering something Nicole had said earlier during fun story time.
I swear I heard sounds coming from the shed.
Did you really?
Curiosity led me around the side of the house, over the chain-linked fence, and into Nicole’s backyard.
I had to be catlike, fast and quiet. Because I was up to no good. Because I didn’t want either of the girls knowing, especially Nicole. It was her husband in there, after all, the man she had promised to love until death parted them—the man she’d killed with a pair of gardening shears. Or had she?
I crept around the shed, looking for any weak spots. It was old, and there were many sections where rust had settled in, but I didn’t spot any holes. If an animal had gotten in there, it couldn’t have been larger than a mouse.
I went around to the front. There was a giant padlock on the door to keep thieves out, or infected in. I stood there listening, thinking I heard movement on the other side. The sound of shuffling feet. So I did what anyone would do in my position, I lightly tapped on the shed door. And something tapped back, only it was more like a hand pushing against the metal door, trying to open it. When it began uttering guttural growls from its mouth, I had heard enough.
I was back in the driver’s seat of the Jeep only seconds before Peaches emerged from the front door.
“Miss me?” she asked.
“Of course.”
She got into the passenger seat. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“You just look a little pale.”
I felt a little pale.
She sat up with her knees on the seat and looked around. “You see anyone?”
I shook my head.
Nicole came out of the house with a backpack around one shoulder. I expected more.
“Got everything?” I asked.
She nodded and got in the backseat. “I’m ready.”
So was I.
Ten minutes later, heading west down the highway, driving mostly off road, we came upon the blue Mack truck Peaches and I had used for shelter. I slowed down and stopped the Jeep, looked around. There was very few infected on the highway anymore, and those that I did see were a good distance away. As we went further west, however, we’d undoubtedly run into more and more.
“Disgusting,” Nicole said, looking down at the mangled corpse of a man not three feet from the Jeep. “This is where you guys camped?”
“No,” Peaches said. “We camped in the woods.”
I walked over and looked down at the corpse. I believe this guy was the one who had been sleeping against the front of the Jeep—the one I’d shot dead in the head. Flies circled what was left of his body. Most of his flesh was gone, right down to the bone. His ribcage had been pried apart and his chest hollowed out like a pumpkin.
I wasn’t gonna ask either of the girls what they thought could have done this. After the experience at the shed, I think I knew. Nor would I point out that many of the other bodies had disappeared since we’d last been there.
All would be revealed, in good time.
We found our way back to the campsite without much trouble, and that was only because Peaches had led the way. Had I been in the lead we probably would have ended up miles off course.
The camp looked different in the light of day.
Nicole and Peaches sat down near the small black pit that was once a fire, while I unzipped the lone tent Robinson and company had left for us. Inside was way more stuff than I could fit into the Jeep, even if I had the will to carry it back to the highway. There were two guns, a rifle similar to the one on my back, and a shotgun. Next to the guns was a cardboard box with various smaller boxes of ammunition stacked inside it. Beside that box was another box with just food in it, mostly MRE’s, but also rice and dried beans. But most importantly, there was a map with a sticky note on it.
It said, I hope you found this in time.
I checked my watch. 5:18 p.m.
I hope I did too, I thought, as I took off the note and opened up the map. They had circled a section in red to indicate the location of the Walgreens. Narcoossee was the name of the road. I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t too far down the highway, before the Airport. Fifteen miles, perhaps. We might get there right in time.
I folded the map back up as best I could and then shoved it into the box with the ammo. Then I carried it and the two guns out of the tent and set them down on the ground. It seemed incredibly stupid to leave behind the food, but I didn’t see how we could get it to fit in the Jeep, and we already had a box of food in there.
“Good news,” I said, smiling. “The place isn’t far. We should make it.”
Assuming nothing got in our way, naturally.
“Great,” Peaches said. “I suppose you expect us to carry stuff now.”
“In a minute. I’m gonna check something first.”
“What?”
“Something … you both stay here.”
I wandered off from the campsite with no fear of getting lost. I knew exactly where I was going. Before long, I was looking down on Diego again, just as I had after he had committed suicide. Only, his body was unrecognizable. Like the man by the highway, like the ones in the street near Nicole’s house, something had filled up on his flesh.
Something?
Behind me, a sudden scream, and then Peaches yelling my name repeatedly.
I turned, ran.
When I got back to the campsite, I stood in shock as a small child was attached to one of Nicole’s legs. But not just any child, the cute, round-faced, little girl I’d shot in the heart and left to die. One of her legs was missing below the knee.
“Get it off me!” Nicole screamed, trying to pull her leg free. “Please!”
I pulled out Sally and almost took a shot, but Nicole was moving around too much. So I moved closer to get a better look, and that’s when I saw the blood trickling down from Nicole’s leg. The little girl was holding on by her teeth.
With my free hand, I grabbed the little girls remaining foot and yanked her off Nicole. She immediately turned and went after me, but I stepped back and shot her twice. Once in the shoulder and once in the back.
And yet, she kept coming, crawling after me on her belly, her face blue and gray, moaning, while Nicole’s blood—and possibly even Diego’s—poured out of her open mouth.
The third shot would put an end to her for good.
The third shot was to the head.
I hovered, not too close, around the corpse of the little girl, still in shock at what had occurred. On the other side of the camp, Nicole was crying out in pain. Peaches was beside her.
“Jimmy, do we have a first aid kit?” Peaches asked.
I walked over to the girls, bent down to look at Nicole’s leg. Then I looked up at Peaches and shook my head. “We did. It was in the box we left in Ted’s driveway.”
“It hurts … so … so bad,” Nicole cried.
The little girl had taken a good-sized chunk off Nicole’s calf, exposing some of the muscle tissue.
“We need to stop the bleeding,” Peaches said.
“There’s … a shirt,” Nicole said, grimacing in pain. “In my … my pack.”
I unz
ipped Nicole’s backpack and got out the shirt. Then handed it to Peaches.
“She’s gonna need some drugs or something,” Peaches said. “Otherwise there’s a good chance this might get infected.”
I had a feeling, it already was.
Five minutes later, I was positive.
Nicole had stopped crying. Her face slowly lost color, and she had trouble keeping her eyes open.
“Stay with us,” Peaches said. She had Nicole’s head resting in her lap next to Olivia.
Nicole looked up at her and said, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Peaches put her hand on Nicole’s forehead. “You feel hot.”
“Do I?” Nicole spoke slow and soft. “I feel fine now … just … fine.”
Peaches looked up at me pacing around the campsite. “We have to go into town, try and find her some meds.”
I checked my watch. 5:35 p.m.
“We have twenty-five minutes to meet the others.”
“Jimmy, if we don’t do something, she might…”
She didn’t have to finish the sentence. A minute later, Nicole was completely unresponsive.
“You better get away from her,” I said. “She’s going fast.”
“I think … I think she might already be gone,” Peaches said, feeling for a heartbeat.
“Then get away from her.”
Peaches gently set Nicole’s head down on the ground, hoisted Olivia up, and then walked over beside me. “I don’t understand. That little girl was dead. You shot her. We saw her die.”
I nodded. “I guess she woke back up.”
Peaches shook her head in disbelief. “And Nicole … how did she die so fast … from a bite? How does that make sense?”
I had an answer, but I wasn’t ready to share it yet. I sat down on the ammo box and stared at Nicole’s lifeless body, waiting.
Dead Highways (Book 2): Passage Page 5