“As much as I am onboard with getting back to town, which direction are we even headed?”
“What about the cops?” Kelly said. “What happened to finding them? My dad is a cop! He can help us get out of this.”
That was Kelly for you. She always pulled the card about her dad being a cop. The town was small and she used him to her advantage all the time. It was her way to score all kinds of things. It was basically, give me this or I’ll tell my daddy. Noel hated that about her, but had to admit it had come in handy a time or two when scoring the better deal on where the good parties were at.
“That sounds nice, Kelly… but do you see any flashing lights around here?” Noel said. “We are on our own. We can’t go that way!” She pointed the way they had come. “And guess what… that is where our cop friends were.”
“But…” Kelly lowered her head and remained quiet.
“And besides,” Noel continued. “Didn’t you hear all of that shooting. Sounds like they had their hands full anyway. As eager as I am to get around some people with weapons, it sure as hell didn’t sound like I wanted to be where they were! I’m with Trevor. We need to get back to town. We need to get him in to see the doctor, and then as much as telling the cops sounds like a good idea, I am pretty sure they already know. They were the ones doing the fucking shooting… remember?”
“Yeah,” Kelly said. “But which way are we even supposed to go?”
“Actually…,” Trevor groaned, gripping his wounded arm with his free hand. “I like totally think I have a good idea of where we are?”
“Yeah?”
“Me and some of my bro’s come through here mudding sometimes, you know.” He looked around. “If we keep going this way, we should come across a three-way fork. From there I’m pretty sure I can get us back to the highway. But even still, we are a long way from town. On foot, we are looking at an hour.”
“Well… it doesn’t look like we have much of a choice at this point.” Noel rubbed the shaved side of her head. “Think you are going to be able to make it, Trevor?”
“I’ll try,” he said. “Let’s just like take it slow, okay.”
She nodded. “We can do that. Let’s move before we end up with unwanted company. And if you feel like we need to stop, just let us know, okay?”
Trevor started to grin, but it quickly turned into a wince from sharp pain.
“Seriously,” Kelly grumbled. “If I knew we were going to be doing a lot of walking tonight, I wouldn’t have tagged along.”
“If any of us knew what we were going to get into tonight, I don’t think any of us would have come, Kelly.” Noel glared at her.
They started to walk and from what she could tell, Trevor was going to be all right. He still looked really pale and was obviously in a load of pain, but he’d make it. Her only concern was his wound becoming infected. It was covered in dirt and grime and the gash was wide open. If they didn’t get him into the emergency room soon, he could be in a lot of trouble. That kind of stuff going untreated could kill you. At least, that was what she thought. In the end, she wasn’t sure. She felt bad for him, watching him limp along beside her. She was surprised to see that Kelly didn’t seem the least bit concerned for her boyfriend. With Noel in the middle, Trevor on one side and Kelly on the other, Kelly hadn’t stopped to console him not once since they started walking. With one foot in front of the other, she just kept her arms crossed; an irritated expression gripped her smug face.
Noel wondered what Kelly was stewing about. Sometimes she could be hard to read. If she wasn’t concerned with Trevor’s well-being, then why in the world would she be dating the guy to begin with? She laughed to herself knowing good and well she already knew that answer. Then the silent laughed turned to gentle sobs. Jared was gone. He wasn’t coming back. How was she supposed to feel about all of it? It had happened so fast, and she was still struggling to process the whole thing. She thought of his smile and the quirky little mannerisms he had that always made her grin. Silent tears ran down her face.
She pushed the thoughts of him away, not wanting to break down for a second time tonight. Instead, she focused on the narrow dirt road, one step in front of the other, one foot at a time. As they walked, things were quiet, and Noel knew that Kelly and Trevor were probably just as lost in thought as she was, unable to process everything going on.
It wasn’t until Trevor suddenly stopped that Noel realized they had been walking for quite some time. She looked up, taking her eyes away from her shoes. Just as Trevor had predicted, she found herself standing in the middle of the dirt road, the three-way intersection a major relief. They weren’t lost. She was thankful that one of them knew where the hell they were.
“See…,” Trevor coughed, favoring his right side. “I totally told you I knew where we were going, you know.”
“So what,” Kelly said. “I say we’re still lost. There aren’t any street signs.”
The road veered off in two separate directions from the way they had come. Kelly was right. There weren’t street signs or markers of any kind. They could be anywhere. Noel decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She believed him when he said he knew. Sure, she didn’t really see Trevor as much of a four-wheeling mud runner, like all of the other rednecks in this town, but who was she to judge? She had only met the guy a week before when Kelly started dating him. She never took the time to really get to know any of Kelly’s guys, because they were always so short lived. But out of all of the guys she had brought around, Noel felt like she had this one figured out. She was wrong. The guy looked like he shopped at Pac Sun, and the way he talked suggested that the guy at least skateboarded on occasion. But mudding, really?
It didn’t matter. Kelly needed to look at the brighter side of things and realize that Trevor was at least trying.
“Shut up, Kelly.” Noel grimaced. “At least one of us knows where we are. He’s your boyfriend. If any of us should give him a chance, it’s you.” Noel shook her head in distaste then looked to Trevor. “So, which way from here?”
He looked around for a second.
“Well… like…”
“See!” Kelly clapped her hands together. “We’re lost. That’s just great. We’ve got some dead people crawling up our asses and we get lost!”
Noel ignored her. “So, which way is it, Trevor?”
“This way… Yeah, totally, sure it’s this way, bro.”
“All right then. This way it is.”
Noel pressed forward in the lead, taking the road on the right like Trevor had suggested. She just hoped that he was correct, because he sure as hell seemed unsure. The last thing she wanted was for one of those I told you so moments from Kelly. Any time a situation like that came around, the ditsy girl wouldn’t let it go for weeks.
Leading them down the dark, narrow dirt road, Noel occasionally looked back to make sure Trevor was holding up. They hadn’t been walking for very long and he was already starting to take a turn for the worst. She found herself needing to slow down, because he was starting to have a problem with keeping up. Seeing Kelly not at all interested in his well-being, boyfriend or not, drove Noel mad.
Kelly just stomped along, both arms overlapping one another. She simply seemed livid with the idea that her night had been ruined. The girl probably didn’t even give a shit about what happened to Jared. What could she do? Noel couldn’t change her friends. They were who they were. Noel sighed and just kept on walking in silent disappointment. It was so dark that it was hard to tell how long the road was or how far they had to go. Other than the light shining down from the moon and the stars, there was none. A thick blanket of gloom wrapped around them, the night far from over.
“God... How much longer are we going to have to walk?”
“Shut the hell up, Kelly.” Noel didn’t even look back. “Jared is dead and Trevor isn’t doing so well. You need to just be thankful we even made it out of there, all right!”
“Oh, you’re one to talk! Miss I got my life fig
ured out art school blobb-adee-boo! Just because you are actually getting out of this shitty little town unlike the rest of us, that doesn’t make you special. I’m getting really tired of you bossing me around!”
Noel stopped dead in her tracks and turned around.
“Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb, Noel.” Kelly balled her fists up and perched them on her hips. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Ever since you got into that dumb school you think you’re better than the rest of us. Well, you’re not. I’m going to get out of here too. I just haven’t told you yet. Just because you got some fancy break, doesn’t make you my boss. All you have done lately is tell me what I can and can’t do.”
“Wow…” Noel was speechless.
“There… I said it!” Kelly jerked her head back, her long blond hair fluttering off of her face.
“You are ridiculous, Kelly. You know… Jared was right about you all along. You are a selfish little brat that is just jealous of me. You always get things you want. Dad this and dad that. Big freaking deal. Your dad is a cop in this small town. Wow… that doesn’t make you the queen of Clarksburg. And lately I have been telling you what to do because it’s saved your ass.” Noel pointed at Kelly, stern and clearly agitated. “I don’t know if you noticed… as a matter of fact, I know you didn’t notice, because you were freaking livid. While I was trying to keep us out of danger, you were screaming you fucking head off. You are nothing but a lazy whore!”
Noel had instantly regretted it as soon as she said it. But it was true. This was honestly what she thought of her friend. She had just taken this long to say it to her face. They had practically grown up together and did countless sleepovers, playing with Barbie dolls into the morning. They had talked about sharing an apartment right after high school and that nothing would come between them. But that was when things changed. Everything changed in high school. They both made new, separate friends, and started to drift apart. It had been Noel that did her part to retain a relationship, but in the end, it had only become work. And when she and Jared started dating, it all just went downhill from there. Kelly started going crazy with almost every guy she ever hooked up with. And unfortunately for them both, the sleazy trend just continued on after high school was well over.
“Take that back!” Kelly pouted.
“I’m sorry… I… I didn’t mean—”
“Shh…” Trevor cut her off. “Do you hear that?”
The girls both fell silent, stricken with sudden fear.
“What?” Noel whispered.
“Shh… Listen,” Trevor said. “It’s like coming from up ahead.”
At first Noel didn’t hear anything. She saw it first. A light far off in the distance was headed toward them. It was a car. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. In that single second it was almost as if her entire world had been lifted from her chest and freed into the air to never bother her again. Suddenly her cheeks were hurting and she realized it was because she was grinning so hard.
“We’re saved!” Kelly started running forward. “Thank you, God!”
They were spotted and instantly the night was flooded with luminescent blue and red. It was the cops!
The car pulled up and Kelly’s dad jumped from the driver’s seat to greet them. A short Hispanic officer that Noel had never seen before stepped out of the passenger seat wielding a pistol.
“Oh, thank God you’re alright, baby.” Kelly’s dad rushed to her embrace and then looked around. “I am so glad I found y’all. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“Daddy,” Kelly said, looking up at him from within his arms. “The people from the cemetery… They…”
That’s all she could muster. She folded, too emotionally weak to utter another word. She burst into tears.
“I know,” Baily said, stroking her hair. “We were there. Let’s get you home. It’s okay, honey. Daddy’s here now.” Comforting her, he looked around. “Noel, are you alright?”
Noel nodded, eager to get in the car and get the hell out of there. They had gotten lucky and she knew it.
“Trevor is hurt pretty bad. We need to get him to the hospital,” she said.
“What happened?” Baily asked.
“You said you were there. Do you really have to ask?”
“Right…,” Baily nodded. “Well, let’s get this young man back to town then.”
He opened the back door to the patrol car ushering his daughter in. “Joe, help that boy into the back seat.”
Joe did as he was told, assisting Trevor into the patrol car.
“Where’s Jared?” Baily rested a hand on Noel’s shoulder.
All she did was shrug, and then sighed and looked to the ground.
“Say no more.” Baily frowned, and assisted her to the car. “We will talk on the way.”
He closed the door and climbed behind the wheel. At first the car ride was silent and eerie. Noel, feeling safe, finally let herself really shut down. Her body felt tired and her soul felt heavy. Her muscles spent from the journey and the fight. At this point, all she wanted to do was go to sleep and wake up tomorrow to start life anew. She slumped low in the back seat and let her thoughts drift away through the trees and the night sky that passed in her window.
It was Joe that finally broke the silence.
“What in God’s holy name were y’all doing out here tonight?” He turned, addressing no one in particular.
“The meteor shower,” Noel whimpered, her eyes not leaving the passing scenery in her window.
“The what?” Joe asked.
“Honestly I don’t know much about it. There was some crazy meteor shower tonight and after the show we went to, we decided to come out here and watch it. Trevor is the one that knows all about it.” She looked to him hoping he would jump into the conversation, but he didn’t.
Instead, he lay leaned against the door on the other side, Kelly between them. His eyes were closed and he was slouched pretty low. Hell, she didn’t blame him for conking out like that. He must have been feeling weak. There was no telling how much blood loss he had sustained. She swallowed hard thinking about his dirty bandage. The shirt wrapped around his arm was no longer its natural color, but rather a dark brown. She didn’t want to touch it, but imagined that had she done so, blood would have seeped from the torn, soaked fabric. He would be alright though, she hoped. They were saved and on their way to getting him some help.
“The meteor shower,” Noel replied, looking at the Hispanic officer in the front passenger seat. “Honestly I don’t know what is going on. And judging by your expression, neither of you do either, do you?”
Noel had never ridden in the back of a cop car before. Jared had on occasion and had shared a slew of stories about it. One thing that she found odd was that Jared said every cop car had a metal grate separating the back seat from the front. This one wasn’t like that at all. It was like a normal car, just for cops. There was some fancy computer stuff in the front between the seats along with a shotgun locked into place by some kind of holster, but no grate separating the good from the bad, or whatever it was for.
“No…,” Joe confirmed. “We tried calling in to the station about what we encountered, but June hasn’t responded to our radio calls.”
“Who’s June?” Kelly asked.
“The lady running dispatch back at the precinct, honey.” Baily replied, looking into the rearview, and taking his eyes away from the narrow dirt road for only a second.
“I take it that’s not a good thing,” Noel said.
“No, that’s not a good sign at all.” Joe’s eyes went wide. “I’ve tried calling her a few times.”
As Baily weaved through the narrow dirt road back toward civilization, Joe filled the girls in on everything that had happened. How they ran into old man Benta, and how the VW bug was totaled and how they came out here expecting to find Jared and some other kids vandalizing or stealing from the old man’s house. He told them how
they almost didn’t even make it back into the car when all of the dead suddenly walked up on them in the cemetery. Whatever the hell was going on, it was something really bizarre.
She had only met this cop and she was already starting to like him. He was closer to her age, which she could tell, and despite the stereotype, he was being open and honest about the situation. As much as it scared her to know that he was scared, there was something about it that also comforted her. It made her know that he was real. Someone that could be counted on.
Finally having her turn, Noel stared out the window explaining what had happened with them and how Jared was attacked.
“But, we didn’t see any bodies…” Joe grimaced, referring to what happened to Jared.
Baily glared at Joe.
“… well, none that hadn’t come back from the dead that is,” Joe reiterated.
And all the while, as they finally made their way onto the main strip of road that would lead them into town, no one realized that Trevor stopped breathing.
Nearly ten minutes or more away from the hospital and what could be the young man’s savior, it didn’t matter.
Trevor was dead.
SIX
Clarksburg was rotting from the inside out with putrescence. What started at the hospital had quickly made its way beyond its fortified structure and into the streets. There was something oddly different about the dead that roamed the streets in town, compared to their rancid brothers in the outskirts of town near the cemetery. It had to do with the bite. Something transferred into the blood of the victim.
A dormant cell had awoken from the gates of hell. Or did it? No one knew. Moments after the nurse tried to stop what she thought to be a drunken fight between two homeless men, she was victimized as the reward. The ER waiting area was a massacre of bloody violence that spread like wildfire through the hospital. The elderly, the sick, and injured had no chance. Some of the others, such as the nurses, and visitors, at least had a chance. But by the time the enormity of the situation was realized, the undead cannibalistic mob had grown into an uncontrollable number.
Rancid: A Zombie Novel Page 6