Life After

by Anderson, Jordan W.

  Dan was devastated. Midnight was gone. It had happened so fast. What the hell has been wrong with him? He hugged Midnight’s neck, and sobbed. Midnight had been his only friend and confidante for the past months. He hadn’t been this sad since his father died when he was 16. Anika ran over and embraced him. They both knew what a great loss this had been. Not only did Midnight serve as a friend, he was their only means of conveyance.

  It was then they noticed the horse begin to move. Dan pushed away the tears, elation rushed over him. The horse’s head began to twitch. “I think he may still be alive!” Dan exclaimed. The animal then reopened its eyes. They had changed. What was previously a beautiful, glossy window into the soul of the animal, was now a milky-gray, bloodshot window into a soulless place. “I think we should back up!” Anika said. She had seen that same look before in the eyes of her grandfather as he chased her off the farm and the creatures they encountered in Hay City. Before they could retreat more than three steps the beast sprang to its feet. Startled by how fast it was able to do this they both stumbled back a bit more. Midnight had been replaced by something evil. It emitted a low, throaty grunt with enough bass to strike a fearful feeling in the Devil himself. A frothy red drool was dripping from its mouth, and its head snapped around violently. It lunged forward snapping its teeth at them but the reins held and jerked its head back. It made a guttural roar that sounded like a mixture of pain and frustration. It tried again this time chomping so hard it busted some of its teeth on the metal bit in its mouth. Blood and bits of tooth was slung in every direction.

  Dan knew those reins were not going to hold forever. He looked for his rifle to put an end to all this, but unfortunately he realized it was still attached to the saddle. He would surely be killed if he just tried to run up and grab it. He would have to distract the beast somehow. Anika had positioned herself behind him now and was painfully gripping his shoulder. Dan turned back to her and said, “You’re going to have to get that rifle while I distract him.” “Are you out of your fucking mind?” she replied. “That gun may be what determines our survival. It’s just hanging there in a scabbard on the side of the saddle. You should be able to pull it right out, then remember to aim for his head.” “You expect me to kill it too!” She said with fear in her voice. Then there was a pause as the black fearsome beast made another lunge. “I just…I just can’t.” Dan said, wincing at the thought.

  Steeling herself with a few deep breaths, Anika ran a wide circle to the left and hopped over to the other side of the guardrail. Dan waived his arms and screamed loudly staying just out of the creature’s reach. “Look at me! Look at me you bastard! You want to bite me don’t you! Give me that damned disease! Give it to me!” Anika began sneaking up behind the beast along the other side of the guard rail. She could see the stock of the rifle sticking out of the scabbard pointed at a slight angle toward the ground. Dan continued screaming and causing the beast to focus on him. The way the horse was pulling on the reins they were about to release themselves from the guard rail at any moment. She reached over guardrail and started to pull it from the scabbard. Just as she had gotten the rifle about halfway out, The beast rose to its back legs, simultaneously dumping the rifle out on the ground on Anika’s side of the guardrail, and breaking the reins loose. She scrambled to pick up the weapon. Dan started backing away. He could never outrun this horse. This was it. This was how it ended, all because he wasn't careful enough. Just then Anika wrenched the lever action of the rifle and took her first shot hitting the horse in the neck. This caused its attention to be directed to her. It quickly turned around, and attempted to jump the guardrail. Anika cocked the gun again and fired a single shot, hitting ghoulish creature in midair right between those milky-gray bloodshot eyes. Its legs buckled beneath it and it awkwardly fell to the ground with a vicious thud, sliding into a nearby abandoned Chevy Astro Van.

  Dan and Anika both felt a great relief. They were still breathing heavily from the extremely stressful situation. The shot had been pure luck, or the big man upstairs was looking out for them. The adrenaline had pushed away all the other emotions for the moment. He would miss his friend, but crying about it wasn’t going to help them now.

  They robbed the saddle bags of any things that they could carry which may come in handy. Dan counted the bullets they had left for the rifle. There were 25 left, including the two left in the gun. They needed more than that, but it was better than none. They still had the blankets, and few other supplies. They set off on foot in the same direction they had been heading. They wouldn’t make the city of Nashville tonight. It was much too far now. They walked until they could see a road sign indicating it was only 15 miles away. It was getting dark. There was a field to the right with a tree line nearly a football field length away. It seemed like it would be easier to see any one coming this way. There was a dip in the median between two concrete barriers with some tall grasses growing. They must have put them across the southbound lanes to deter people from going into the city, but someone had taken it upon themselves to conveniently position them near the guardrail forming a sort of cubby hole that was just big enough for a couple of people to fit down into. The roadway was getting more littered with trash the closer they came to the city. After checking that there was nothing hiding in the grass, Dan decided this would be as good a place as any to sleep for the night. They covered themselves entirely with the blankets from head to toe, but positioned awkwardly and not laid out flat. This way they would just resemble another piece of trash along the road. They huddled closely together. He was feeling the lack of sleep. His body was exhausted. Muscles he didn’t even know he had were sore. He knew Anika must be feeling it too. They huddled together lying down and closed their eyes. The hard asphalt was not a thing of comfort, their hips and shoulders dug into it in a painful way. Even if they didn’t get much sleep, just being still should restore a little energy. This was the first night in a long time that Dan didn’t dream.

  CHAPTER 6

  Dan awoke before his watch had time to alarm to a very familiar sound. Anika had heard it as well and he felt her start to get up. There were vehicles coming. Dan pulled Anika back down and out of sight. “What are you doing?! Get off me!” She yelled. “Shut up and stay down!” He replied as he held her there. Three vehicles passed by and still holding her Dan managed to make out a late 70s’ model primer colored Chevy pickup, a lifted forest green Jeep Wrangler with a tan cloth top and a little red foreign hatchback car roll by traveling close together at a pretty good rate of speed. Dan let her up as they disappeared over the horizon. "Don't you ever put your hands on me like that again!" she shouted as she pushed him. "What if those people could have helped us!?" she screamed. "What if they wanted to fucking kill us?" Dan retorted. "We need to know who we are dealing with before we reveal ourselves!" Anika gave him a dirty look and screamed "Fuck You!'

  Their yelling was being heard by more than just the two of them however and the dead began to amble out of the forest line and from behind abandoned cars, before either of them noticed they were surrounded.

  A translucent cloak of dew covered the deadening grass that early October morning as Will Lane carefully moved along the area where the open field met the woods. He kept his 7mm Remington Model 7 stock tight against his chest, his head on a swivel searching for a threat. The weight of his pack dug painfully into his shoulders, so much that pain in the rest of his body was barely noticeable. He didn’t let any pain distract him though. He had more important things to worry about that being sore. “Pain is just weakness leaving the body.” Will chanted that repeatedly in his head. It was the motto of his high school football coach John Connelly. The man was a true asshole, but for some reason those words had always resonated with him.

  That saying got Will to thinking about those days. Sociopath or not the bastard got results. The team had been regional champions two out of the three years Will had played for him. Practice was brutal. Drill after drill with no remorse. It was common for players t
o black out on the field, only to wake up to the stench of smelling salts, being called a pussy, and then forced to run laps. That never happened to Will. He wasn’t even a starter, just the second string running back. Never the less, he was the only player even to make it through one season without falling out, let alone three. The hot Tennessee sun wasn’t enough to bring him down. He often wondered why he was never allowed to start. Without Colby Rasnick , the normal starting running back, having pulled a muscle, Will stayed on the sidelines. Will was just as fast, and when they let him loose with the ball, he got yards. He had only been brought down behind the line twice. Both times because of a bad snap. He had rolled the thought around in his head many a day but ultimately he figured it was because he had not been assertive enough. He hadn’t ever really lobbied for the position. Will was the type of guy that liked to let his actions do his talking. He had wanted the coaching staff to recognize his talent and offer it to him. Colby on the other hand, was as arrogant as they come. Always bragging about the touchdown record he set as a sophomore. Will never said much to him, but Colby really annoyed him. His “holier than thou” attitude and his shitty little celebration dances grated on Will’s nerves. It really pleased Will when he was passed over by the recruiters that came from the Big Orange. He ended up with a scholarship to a smaller school in Virginia, and Will had joined the Marines. He made that his career for the next nine years, as Colby went on to become a roided up bouncer at a club called Razor’s or some other douchebag name. It was a job that really let him showcase his arrogance.

  None of that adolescent shit mattered now. The world was an entirely different place. There were no more football games, no more high school, no more college, maybe even no more Colby. Hell, it had been quite some time since he’d seen anything resembling order amongst the chaos that surrounded him. Dead people reanimating with a hunger for human flesh, sounded like something from a comic book just one short year ago. Now, however it was a grim reality that a person was forced to overcome to survive.

  He stopped and turned on his radio, "This is Corporal Lane does anybody read me." …Nothing. "I repeat this is Corporal Will Lane, does anyone read me?" Still, nothing. He had tried this nearly every day since he had been marooned in this God forsaken arena of death. It has been 27 days and no reply. Just silence.

  The forest line he had been following was coming to a point and rounding the bend Will began to crouch. He was a big man at 6’ 3” and 230lbs, but his camouflage broke up the colors enough to make him nearly invisible from about any distance. He could see color through the trees and stopped when he recognized that he was near the highway. It had to be Interstate 40. That's when he heard it, a sound he hadn't heard in quite some time...voices. It sounded like a couple having an argument. Looking through his scope, he scanned up and down the highway then noticed that just up from him, in the direction of the city, there was a young couple standing in the middle of the passing lane yelling at one another.

  He couldn't make out what they were saying, but still could hear the differences in their tones. Didn't these dumbasses know not to call so much attention to them? It disgusted him yet he was a bit entertained by it as well. Soon he began to see bogeys coming in all around them. These fools were so worried arguing that they were ignoring them. Finally the man seemed to notice and pulled out a pistol. The girl ducked and a zombie fell behind her as the man's shot pierced it's skull. "Let's see how you two handle yourselves" Will whispered to himself as he watched through his scope. The girl crawled on the ground for a moment then suddenly popped back up brandishing a lever action rifle. Her first two shots missed but she landed the third and fourth dropping her targets. The noise of the gunfire was drawing more and more of them in and two were pinned in between a wall of undead and a wall of abandoned cars. "Ok, That's enough." Will said as he leveled his suppressed rifles' crosshairs on the head of the zombie nearest them and pulled the trigger.

  Dan and Anika backed up against the wall of abandoned vehicles. They were running very low on ammunition. Dan was nearing the bottom of his clip and Anika was in the process of reloading the rifle. All the sudden the oddest thing began to happen. The creature’s heads began to explode. First the one nearest him blew up, then the one behind, then another and another. Almost in a rhythm it happened until there were no more zombies blocking their way. "Run!" he yelled to Anika as he grabbed the pack and took off up the road toward Nashville. "What the hell just happened?" she questioned as they ran. "Someone was looking out for us." Replied Dan. "I just don't know why."

  They walked and jogged for the majority of the day trying to put distance between themselves and the dead. Soon they came upon an exit 239 leading into Lebanon, Tennessee. They chose to turn left on a road called Sparta Pike as it seemed to lead away from town. They didn't want to once again bite off more than they could chew. Just on the other side of the overpass was a truck stop called Uncle Pete's with several rigs parked outside. This was obviously once a bustling venue with truckers coming and going daily, but since was stark and quiet as the pale moonlight was beginning to overtake the waning golden rays of the sun.

  Dan motioned for Anika to follow his lead and they methodically checked each truck. Anika stood to the side and tapped on the door of each truck cab then listened for any movement inside while Dan held his 9mm at the ready. The trailers were all secured with locks made from case hardened steel and there was no way to get into the cargo but perhaps one of these cabs would be unlocked.

  They tried 13 trucks before finally they found one to be unlocked. It was a purple late 90's model Peterbilt with a sleeper cab. They climbed inside and locked the door behind them. It actually felt relatively safe. They began searching the cab for anything useful. Dan rifled through the glove compartment he found a .22 snub nosed revolver with a box of 50 bullets that was full. There was also a pack of sour cream and chives crackers, some rose colored aviator sunglasses and various papers. "What's this?" Anika asked as she pulled a plastic box from beneath the passenger seat. "I don't know, let's have a look." Dan said as he pried it open. His eyes widened at the bounty before him. It was a first aid kit. There was gauze and antibiotic ointment and quick stiches and various different medicines. "Put this in the pack!" He said giving it to Anika. "Great job! That was an awesome find!" She smiled coyly saying "I am pretty awesome." Dan chuckled as they both resumed scavenging the truck. Several minutes later, they had amassed quite a fortune adding a large LED Maglite, A large lug wrench, an unopened pack of Bic razors, a diet coke and full can of cherry flavored Skoal. Dan had quit tobacco a couple years ago but hardly saw cancer as his chief concern now. A spare set of keys were even under the sun visor.

  The sleeper cab was very comfortable compared to cold hard ground of the night before. There was even a body pillow which they shared and a blanked with Dale Earnhardt's image on it beside his famed number 3 Chevy Monte Carlo. They ate the sour cream and chive snack for their dinner and shared the can of soda. As they laid down, to sleep Anika whispered to him. "I am sorry I got so mad at you." Dan sighed and thought before responding. "Just get some rest it's only going to get harder."

  Chapter 7

  Will couldn't believe his eyes. These people were running TOWARD the city! Did they not know it was overrun with those things? How in the hell could they still be alive and be so damned stupid? It just didn't make sense. He was just about to write them off as a casualty of the ghouls, when something made him stop. It was a twinge of responsibility to not let them kill themselves. He didn't really understand it, but just saw it as his moral obligation to go tell them they were headed into a deathtrap.

  He scanned the horizon before beginning after them. No movement aside from the wind and a lone zombie far off in the eastern distance. She wasn't even worth the ammo. He trotted along in the direction they had ran. Soon he had caught up with them, but kept his distance and stayed out of sight. He wanted to watch them a bit more before making his presence known. They took an exit and he followed along
behind them watching from the woods. He watched them attempt to break into the cabs of 18 Wheelers at a truck stop until they finally found one that was left open. He was impressed by how they worked as a team checking each one. When they finally hit pay dirt they climbed inside and didn't reemerge. He waited for nearly an hour after dark, but there was no movement.

  Will decided he had better find some shelter of his own for this night so he looked around. Nearby was large red building with "POWDERCOATING SANDBLASTING" written on the side and in front was on blocks the empty cab and chassis of an mid 60's model pickup. From inside he could look directly through the side window and see into the windshield of the Peterbilt, while remaining out of sight. He didn’t sleep. He just watched the truck all night. It began to rain early that morning the inside of the old pickup was dripping with water. Clearly they had yet to install the new weather stripping in this project. Will was getting wet, but there were still holes drilled in the floor for mounting the seats which allowed it to drain. The rain only got stronger though and poured in like little faucets around the windows and dash. He had to squat now to keep his clothing from soaking and his body heat was causing the glass to fog. Eventually it got to where he could see nothing through the glass.