Neil, who was fighting back his own tears, said, “Of course. Doc, Emma may be right. I think maybe you should come along with us. There’s still that off chance that maybe someone might have...there’s still gotta be hope that this doesn’t have to be...”
Jerry, still watching down the road said excitedly, “We’re gonna have to have this conversation somewhere else. We’ve gotta go! Now!”
From down the road, scores of undead began to file onto the main drag from side streets. “Our shots are attracting everything around. We gotta go before we get boxed in. Doc, can you run?”
“Yes, but I don’t know for how long.”
Neil said, “We’ll deal with that later. C’mon, let’s go!”
They gathered themselves quickly and ran hard and fast for the Seward Highway. They wanted to put some distance between themselves and the horde behind...again.
As they hit the final bend in the road before arriving at the gas station, Dr. Caldwell began to stumble. He fell forward onto his hands and knees and vomited a bile and foam filled soup onto the street. The wound in his hand, like a furnace, began to radiate pain throughout his entire body. His vision wavered between clear and blurry, bringing on waves of nausea and a general loss of equilibrium.
Neil and Emma each hooked a hand under the doctor’s arms to help steady their friend. They hoisted him back to his feet, which weren’t doing much more than dangling under him as he set most of his weight onto their shoulders. Neil forced out between huffs, “Sorry about this, but we gotta keep going. Hang in there.”
Dr. Caldwell looked over at the voice, thinking to himself that he recognized it but the pain was corralling all thought. His eyes, though open, were clouded, allowing in only dull outlines and the color red. Everything seemed to be draped in sheer red. The foul contents of his stomach threatened once again to come churning to the back of his throat. He forced his fingers, which seemed so distant and so foreign, to ball themselves into Emma’s and Neil’s shoulders.
They stopped and immediately looked at him. His chin was resting against his chest, concealing his tortured expression. He shook his head and nodded. “I’m okay to run. Let’s keep going.”
He seemed to emerge from a fog, getting some control of his faculties. His pace quickened, helping all of them to gain a much more comfortable lead on the ghouls following them.
The short distance to the convenience store and strip mall of shops along the Seward Highway was thankfully incident free. Many of the small cottages and smaller businesses along the highway were in ruins. Personal affects and commercial wares were strewn across yards, driveways, and the road. There weren’t many other places that the creatures would likely congregate, but second guessing their assumptions was what was keeping them alive. It appeared as if all of the undead in the area were attracted to the resort and the residential center of the town. They were all still down the road and, with any luck, losing the scent and the will to pursue them.
The gas station, like most other businesses they’d encountered, was in utter ruins. The ground was crunchy with splintered glass from the empty window frames. There was nothing of value in or near the multiple shops. Like discarded rubbish piled haphazardly about the parking lot, the requisite and anticipated corpses of days gone by were there too. The doorways and window frames of the businesses along the strip were also adorned with bodies left to decay in horribly grotesque positions; some appearing to be trying to get out while others were trying to get in during their final moments. The slight breeze coming from the Cook Inlet lifted shredded bits of clothing, hair, and plastic shopping bags and carried them across the barren lot, like twisted tumbleweeds of the apocalypse.
Getting nearly to the gas pumps in the middle of the station lot, Dr. Caldwell collapsed. His mouth opened and out spilled more foamy white foulness. He spat several times and then motioned with his hands that he needed help getting back to his feet.
“Geez, do I ever have a hang over. Did I do anything that I’d regret last night? Do I owe anyone an apology?”
Emma said, “I’m supposed to be the joker here. We need to keep moving.”
Dr. Caldwell shook his head. “I don’t think I can anymore.”
“Yes you can,” Emma pleaded. “C’mon, we’ll help you.”
“Emma, I can’t. I don’t want to. I think I need to...to rest.” He turned to Neil. “Neil, it may be asking a bit but may I ask—?”
“I’m not gonna shoot you, Doc. That’s just out of the question.”
“I was going to ask for some water before you guys leave. You should probably take everything that’s left in my pack though. I can’t imagine that I’ll be needing any of that anymore.”
“How about a gun?”
“No.”
“How about a gun and a single bullet?”
“No. I don’t know that I’d have the courage to do something like that. I may regret it later, but take everything. You’re going to need it more than I will.”
From a small open air picnic area next to the main station building, Jerry found an overturned plastic chair and a table that was still fairly intact. He brought both over to the doctor, who sat heavily in the middle of the parking lot. Dr. Caldwell wrapped a shirt around his hand, trying to apply pressure to the wound but having no success whatsoever in stemming the flow of blood. He was reminded of the little boy that had been brought to Providence with a similar wound all those weeks ago. He looked at Danny and Jules.
“You kids listen to Neil here. He’ll get you home safe or at least keep you safe. That goes for the rest of you too. Stick together. Watch out for one another and you’ll be okay.”
Neil struggled to control his emotions. “We can wait a bit with you, Doc. You don’t have to be alone. I mean, I just...” He was sniffling too much to speak, but his male pride largely stifled his tears.
“No. I think you all should get going. There’s no point in hanging out around here. I think I’m just going to sit here and drink my water. See what happens.”
Meghan leaned down and kissed Dr. Caldwell on the cheek. She hugged him tightly and, without saying a word, was back up and heading toward the exit to the station’s parking lot. With tears in her eyes, Claire waved to the doctor but could not force the words out past the lump in her throat. She joined Meghan, taking Danny and Jules with her.
Jerry said, “Doc, you were always one of the coolest doctors at Providence. All the interns and the nursing staff thought you were one of the good ones. If it matters, all of the young ladies on staff thought you were a hottie.” He shook the doctor’s hand firmly and looked him in the eye. “Good luck, Doc.”
“You too, Jerry. When you get out of this, I think you should go to med school. I think you’re one of the smartest kids I’ve ever known. And thanks for keeping those two kids safe. That meant a lot to me.” To this Jerry nodded and walked away.
Dr. Caldwell said softly, “Neil, can you give Emma and me just a moment?”
“Sure.”
Once they were alone, Dr. Caldwell said, “Emma, you’re a fine lady and if I had time, I wanted to see about starting a new life with you. But don’t dwell on that. You can’t. What’s done is done, and there’s no taking it back. You have to be strong. Be my voice for Neil. He’s smart, but sometimes he needs someone to help him not doubt his every decision. I can’t do it anymore. Please. If not for me, then do it for those kids and for yourself. Regardless of how things are to end, at least I’ll know that you’ll be safe.”
Emma finally asked, “Can I say something now?”
“Yes.”
“I love you. I can’t imagine leaving you behind here to...please don’t make me go away. I can stay here with you for a little longer and...”
“Emma, I love you too and that’s why I can’t allow that. You need to get moving now. There’s no telling what might be coming up the road as we speak. Please. I need for you to go.” He looked over at Neil who stepped up and physically had to move Emma. Jerry and Claire
took over for Neil who walked over to Dr. Caldwell.
“You sure about this, Doc?”
“No, but I don’t see any other options.”
“Emma may be right. There may be something in Whittier.”
“And all those cancer patients chasing after the magical cure might actually find it, but we both know the truth. Those are just dreams to help us to avoid the inevitable. Neil, you keep them safe and trust your judgment. Whittier isn’t that far down the highway. You might be able to get there before dark. Just don’t give up.”
“Doc, I’ve got one last question for you.”
“No, I don’t want the gun. No, I don’t want any food. No, I don’t want to go with you.”
“I just wanted to know your first name.”
Dr. Caldwell smiled. “After all this time, you don’t know my first name?”
“Never really came up in conversation. You were Doc or Dr. Caldwell or something else. I don’t think we ever got around to that.”
“Jonathon.”
Neil took Dr. Jonathon Caldwell’s hand for the last time and said, “It’s been a pleasure, Jonathon. I’ll never forget you.”
“Likewise.”
Their handshake lasted longer than did their words. They looked at one another without speaking for several seconds, both then nodded, and Neil turned away. Slowly, Neil made his way back toward the others who were nearing the exit and the highway beyond. He moved slowly, reluctantly, wishing that the bad dream would end before he got too far. With each loathsome step, however, he took himself further and further from that possibility. If Dr. Caldwell were to call out to him before he’d reached the end of the parking lot, Neil decided that he’d figure out a way to carry him along with them for as long as they were able. As Neil took his last step on the pavement of the parking lot, he looked over his shoulder at his friend Jonathon, but the other man had turned his back to them and was facing back toward the north.
Emma was crying and struggling to free herself from Jerry and Claire. She alone was still looking toward Dr. Caldwell. Neil approached her and wrapped his arms around her. He hugged her tightly and she melted, but still fought to see over his shoulder. Neil whispered, “He wants us to leave. He doesn’t want us to watch him die.”
Hearing those words didn’t suppress the pain tearing at her chest; but they did get her attention. She looked at Neil with a thousand questions in her eyes but no will to ask them. She shook her head weakly and fell against him, burying her face into his chest. She wanted to tear herself away from him and run back to her love, but the fight had gone out of her. Her struggling gone, her legs felt weak and rubbery. She leaned into Neil for support, allowing herself to be led away, her legs unwilling participants in the exodus.
They walked steadily for some time, following the damp, dark road as it led them south. The green borders on either side of the meandering highway were in fast retreat from the pressing browns of autumn. The small trees here and there were only trunks and branches, their leaves having been shed for the coming season. It was as if the land and the season themselves were mourning. The sky too refused to be anything other than somber and morose in its own grey way, the sun deemed too cheery to be allowed an entrance. And the damp, chill air seemed to revel in its shivering embrace.
They walked largely silently, their quiet footfalls only occasionally interrupted by an isolated sob or sudden sniffle. When Neil braved a glance behind them, the gas station and its lone guest were well out of sight.
Other than the waning light of the fading afternoon, there was no measure of time. They progressed down the road with as much enthusiasm as bait onto a hook. Exhausted and emotionally spent, they had nothing left to give; their collective well was as dry as their eyes were wet. The path ahead of them was as bleak and uninviting as any they had traveled.
With the day coming to a close and Whittier still twenty or so miles south of them, Neil asked them, “What should we do?”
Their legs were as heavy as their thoughts. None of them were immune from their collective agony; even the children’s footsteps were steeped in sorrow. This loss, the loss of Dr. Caldwell from their makeshift family, was somehow more painful than anything any of them had felt since that first day when the catastrophe was still new. For a time, it seemed like maybe they had gotten clear of the worst of the tragedy. They were smarter and more careful. It felt like they had perhaps learned to adapt and hold off the lurking specter of death. How wrong they all were. Even out of sight, terror could never be out of mind. It was all too real and always too close.
Their bodies, from head to toe, sagged pitifully with remorse. They were in no shape to continue their trek; at least not today. It was evident to all of them, even if no one had acknowledged it aloud yet.
Over the growing sniffles and sobs, Emma answered, “It’s been a long day. Maybe this is a good time for us to call it quits until tomorrow.”
“Until tomorrow then.”
Epilogue
The future…their future was never in more doubt or more peril since the first day the Alaskan undead tragedy began to unfold. The tight family formed as a result of those horrific events was struggling through yet another loss…another death…another nail in the proverbial coffin of their survival.
It was becoming ever more difficult to find those elusive reasons to continue. Mere survival did not seem to be enough for all of them to persist.
And yet, they did. Finding some untapped reserves of will, Neil, Jerry, Meghan, and Emma kept them on their path. Where that path ultimately led was still a mystery. There was no knowing what was still ahead of them. All that any of them knew was that they had to continue their journey.
And so they did…
The Alaskan Undead Apocalypse continues with Mitigation. Coming in 2013 from Permuted Press.
If You Enjoyed…
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Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth
The Infection by Craig DiLouie
Long Voyage Back by Luke Rhinehart
Quarantined by Joe McKinney
Containment Page 38