I nodded in solemn agreement. “Amen sister, amen.”
C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N
Sass took a small dirt road that wound through the trees and quickly out of sight of the main road. The road wound further up the mountain and away from the pack of zombies that were still milling about the house below.
When the road leveled out I saw an old brick building in front of us. It was a large, square building. As we got closer I could begin to see that the inside of the building had burnt. The destruction didn’t look like it had been a recent occurrence either. Whoever owned this destroyed building had no desire to ever rebuild what had been lost to the flames.
Sass pulled the truck up to the edge of the building. I had to admit he had picked an almost perfect spot for us to catch our breath.
You could hear his window squeak as he rolled it down. Big Lou gave a bark as Sass left the truck and climbed up on top of the cab before lowering himself into the bed of the dump truck.
“You like my little hide away?”
I had to admit I did, “What is this place?”
“I’m not really sure what it was going to be. It caught
fire while construction was going on and the entire inside of the building went up in flames. A buddy of mine was on the volunteer fire department and was up here trying to put it out, or at least keep it from spreading into the surrounding woods. That is how I found out about it. We used to come up here on the weekends and drink.”
“We’re hiding in your old “Booze Hound” spot?” I asked.
Sass started laughing, “Yeah. We would come up here because nobody knew about it and if somebody, like a cop, did drive up here snooping around we could see them before they ever got to us. It gave us plenty of time to hide anything that we shouldn’t have long before we had a flashlight in our faces.”
“Wow, Sass, sounds like ya’ll had a pretty good set up here.” I said.
Amanda who had been off to the side but listening to the conversation added, “It will also allow us to see down to the road in case any of the dead at the house are able to track us through the woods.”
“That was my thought.” Sass added, “So what are we stopping for?”
I looked over at the two newest additions to the group and lowered my voice. “These two are in bad shape. I was hoping we could do a kind of “welcome to the neighborhood” thing and try to perk them up. If we run into any zombies while they’re in this state we might as well cover them in ketchup and chuck them off the back of the truck because they’re ready to give up.”
Sass nodded and Amanda’s expression still conveyed that she thought this was a bad idea and a waste of time. Looking back around to where the couple sat I realized that I was going to have to be the one to start the bonding.
“Howdy, my name is Charlie Collins. Behind me is my very good friend Sasquatch and our newest, deadliest, acquaintance Miss. Amanda Asare.”
The couple looked up and listened to my introduction. Then they just sat there looking at me as if I had more to say. I felt that I might have to force their participation so I simply looked at them in an attempt to make them speak. After maybe fifteen seconds they both stood up. The man held his hand out and spoke, “Hello. I am Daniel and this is my wife, Judy Craig.”
As I was shaking his hand it hit me, “Hey you’re like James Bond!” I could see Judy’s eyes go wide and her head slowly shake from left to right in the “no” gesture.
Daniel dropped his head, “Yes, just like double O seven.”
“Sorry, bet you get that a lot.”
Daniel smiled at me, “The last couple of years I’ve gotten it a good bit.”
Sass stepped up beside me, “My name is John. We just wanted to give you a few minutes to catch your breath and make sure you’re okay before we jump right back into the whole life and death, survival thing.”
Judy’s eyes wavered for a moment teetering on the edge of completely losing it and breaking down in tears.
“Talking about it really does help,” I said looking directly at Judy, “If you would like, Sass and I will tell you about our day, from where we were when it all started to where we are now.”
Judy took a second to compose herself before saying, “Yes, I think I would like to hear your story please.”
With Sass and I taking turns we told them about our morning. I told them about the wall coming down. I even told them about my early run in with the step-drag monster. The couple listened as we told of our trip into the front of the plant and the confrontation with the monster. I described the run to the truck while gripped in a blind panic that very well could have meant the end of us. We described the world that we found outside our factory, the plane crash and the remains of the battle of the Tri-Cities Airport. We told of the doomed couple that we couldn’t save.
We told of our trip across the bridge and our guardian angle that ended up being Amanda. When we finished, the couple took a few moments to let it all settle before they started talking.
“You two have done all of that today?”
The husband let out a low whistle, “You two have been very busy.”
“What about your story? What have the two of you been through today?”
As soon as I had asked this, I regretted it. Judy’s eyes began to well up again and her husband bit his lower lip for just a second before looking down at the ground and settling himself in a “you can do this” posture. I tried to tell them that if they didn’t want to talk right now then it was fine, but the husband waved me off. He took two deep breaths before he began.
“I had finally gotten my promotion yesterday. After two decades of working my way up I was made partner in my firm, on a Sunday of all days. Judy and I planned on going out to celebrate so we called her parents to see if they could watch the kids,” Daniel said.
At the mention of kids the bad feeling-o-meter started to register a colossally big number.
“We got them over to her parent’s house and were at our favorite restaurant by seven. We ended up staying out past midnight and after we got home we…well, we found some activities to pursue that kept us up most of the night.”
Judy had blushed a little bit listening to her husband trying to describe their evening. A small smile played across her face for just a moment before disappearing again.
“Being up as late as we were, we slept till around noon. After getting up, we turned on the TV and began to see the reports about the dead coming to life and attacking people. At first, we thought it was some kind of sick joke, like a modern day War of the Worlds or something. The more we watched it though, the less funny it became. The same thing was on every channel. There was no way every news program had gotten together and agreed to play this joke on the world. That was when humor turned to concern and we began trying to call Judy’s parents. We called three times with no answer so we went to check on them.”
“When we stepped outside it was like a war zone.” Judy said. “You could see these black columns of smoke off in the distance and the neighboring houses were trashed. There were dried pools of blood everywhere.”
“It was so surreal.” Daniel said as he took control of the conversation again.
“Everywhere you looked there was destruction and blood, except for our yard.
Our house hadn’t been touched. The grass didn’t even have the red streaks of blood going across it like the other yards. Hell, even our cars still had that recently washed shine to them. It was like we existed in a bubble.
We didn’t see any zombies. Nothing came charging at us trying to eat our brains. It was like we had slept through the end of the world. We took a few moments to take in the world around us before we got in our car and headed towards her parent’s house.
It was mostly clear as long as we were using the back roads. On our way, we saw our first couple of zombies staggering around in the fields to the side of the road.”
“It took us about fifteen minutes to get to my parent’s house.” Jud
y added looking up at her husband as she did so. “As we pulled up we could see our youngest standing at the fence in my parent’s front yard.”
Daniel interrupted his wife, “She was just standing there holding onto the chain link fence looking out at the road. We thought that they were okay. We thought that somehow her parents had kept them safe. We slid into the gravel that is between the road and their property. As I was rounding the car heading for the fence I realized something was wrong. Judy was just standing there looking at our baby girl with her mouth hanging open. I took another look at her, a longer look. Across the front of her Dora t-shirt was a big patch of blood. Dried blood was on her face, especially around her mouth where it had run down her neck in streaks.”
He stopped talking for a moment, but for the life of me I couldn’t think of a thing to say, so we stood there in silence until he could resume his story.
“We were so stunned by the sight of our little girl that I didn’t even notice Judy’s dad coming up behind me. Had the parking strip been paved instead of gravel I would most likely be one of the zombies myself right now. I heard the gravel crunch so I spun around to protect myself. When I saw him I was so shocked I almost froze up. The side of his throat was ripped open. I kept thinking about the blood on my baby’s face and wondered if she was the one who had attacked her grandfather. This is a question I don’t think I ever want the answer to.” Daniel took another, shorter pause.
“I kicked him in the gut and he staggered backwards a few feet before losing his balance and falling onto the road on his back. At the sounds of the fight I heard movement coming from inside the house. I didn’t want to see what would be coming out to greet us. But you have to know. Even if you’re ninety-nine percent certain of what you’re going to find, you still have to be sure.”
“They were both dead.” Judy spoke. It was almost violent the way she had said it.
“My mom was staggering around trying to get through the door. My son walked up to the door and stopped; he stood completely still. He was just standing there looking at us and I thought that maybe somehow they hadn’t gotten him. Then he looks up at the sky and lets out this howl that seemed to go on forever. As it ended he charged the fence but he wasn’t powerful enough to get through. He slammed into it repeatedly trying to get to us. Over and over he crashed into the metal fence. Watching it was like being stuck in a nightmare.” Judy said.
“We knew that we had to get out of there. The longer we spent looking at them the harder it was going to be to make ourselves go. As much as we didn’t want to admit it our family was dead. We had to save ourselves while there was still a chance for us to survive.” Daniel said. He didn’t look like he agreed with what he was saying. Even now, hours removed from the ordeal, he still thought there was something he could have done.
“We got in the car and began to drive. I really wasn’t paying any attention to where we were going. I was still seeing my two children. Eventually we ended up on airport road. Seeing the wreckage that was clogging the bridge we decided to turn around. As we were maneuvering the car around the wreckage we could see a group of zombies coming at us from the bridge. Most were running. Can you imagine how unnerving that was? I panicked and floored the gas pedal. We bounced off a pickup truck as we finished turning around and began to flee the bridge at top speed.” Daniel looked at Judy as if to ask if she wanted to take it from there, but she was looking down at the bed of the truck again. Her dark brown hair hiding most of her face as it hung to her chin in straight, concealing strands. Daniel looked back up and continued.
“As we topped the hill our tire blew. I’m not sure if I ran over something or if it just went on its own. Either way the car lurched off the road so quickly we were crashing into the telephone pole before I even realized that we were in trouble. Thank God the airbags worked or that would have been the end. As it was, the zombies were almost on top of us by the time we got ourselves together. We fled to the house where you found us and barricaded the doors and windows as best we could. We knew we were in trouble, the zombies weren’t leaving. We had hoped that after we had stopped them from getting inside something else would draw their attention and give us an opportunity to escape.”
“That’s when we saw your truck sitting at the top of the hill and we knew we had to get your attention so we threw the table out the window hoping you would see it and come rescue us.” Judy had finished the story and stood there looking at me. To my credit, I didn’t look away from those haunting eyes.
“Guys, listen, I had no idea. We are all truly sorry for your loss. I can’t even begin to understand what you are going through.” I said.
“Yes, if there is anything we can do, please don’t hesitate to ask,” Sass said.
“Thank you.” Judy said.
“Your story is heartbreaking,” Amanda said. “I can’t imagine the pain that you have been dealing with today. However now is not the time to allow yourself the luxury of feeling that pain or guilt. In the military they teach you to check your emotions and to not allow yourself to feel anything until the mission is over and you are safe. Do not mistake being in this truck as being safe. We are all still very much at risk. The most help I can give you is to advise you to lock it all down. Don’t try to process the pain that I know you have inside until you can do it without putting yourself at risk.”
It was a very insightful look into Amanda and how she functions. I wasn’t sure how the advice would be taken, but to me it made complete sense. Daniel stepped forward and shook Amanda’s hand.
“Thanks for the advice, but you don’t need to worry about me. I am not going to lie down and cry myself to death. This pain and this guilt that I have is only going to fuel me as I take my revenge. I will kill every zombie that I find.”
Daniel had gotten a look in his eyes that I’m sure all crazy people have right before the swat team takes them down. I could feel my sympathy for him turning into a creepy fear of him. In his mind he was on some holy mission of vengeance. He was obsessed. Obsession leads to a loss of control and, in this world, a loss of control will lead you, and everyone around you, into the jaws of the dead. On the danger meter Daniel Craig was ringing the loudest alarm we could install.
Daniel looked out across the woods towards the house. He wasn’t done with his rant yet.
“Killing isn’t good enough. For what these animals did to my babies I will chop their limbs from their bodies and leave them alive and helpless. They will lay in the middle of a road, unable to move, unable to hunt, unable to ever feed again. I’ll leave them to feel the pain of their hunger forever, just as I will feel the pain of losing my children for the rest of my life.”
Judy had looked back down while he spoke. However, as he stopped, she lifted her head to look at her husband. She was completely buying what he was selling. The only thought that was still echoing into my head was that these people were totally insane and we had just saddled up with them for the long haul. After one more quiet moment of reflection another thought entered my mind, one that I was absolutely positive of. Either they would end up killing us or we would end up killing them. Either way this partnership was going to end badly.
“Well, as much fun as this is ladies and gentlemen, I do believe it is time for us to get back on the road. We need to make Johnson City by nightfall. Sass and I are going to hop back down into the cab and get us heading towards the Gray crossroads. You all just hang out here and enjoy the, hopefully, uneventful ride.”
After the doors closed and the engine roared to life, effectively drowning out anything Sass and I would say to one another, I felt safe to give my assessment of our situation.
“Dammit Sass, why is it that every single person we pick up on this trip is crazier than the last one?”
Sass shook his head. “That guy is defiantly coo-coo for Coco Puffs.”
“You’re telling me. I just know he’s going to go all Lethal Weapon on a pack of zombies and get us all killed. I was honestly feeling bad for the guy
before his whole righteous anger speech.”
“No doubt. Now I don’t think I want to sleep anywhere near him. Who knows what that crazy bastard is going to do once there is nobody around to stop him.” Sass said.
“I just wish we could get some nice, normal people to hook up with us. First we get Amanda, who is smoking hot.”
Sass smiled, “You don’t lie.”
“Amen brother. Smoking hot, but like my grandfather used to say, ‘She’s crazier than a shithouse rat.’ I mean seriously, she’s strapped liked she’s going to war. She has military training and she just so happens to be in northeast Tennessee. What the hell is up with that? Don’t ask her cause she’ll just give you that spooky look and change the subject.”
“And when you think she’s the scariest thing we’re going to hook up with we get Ozzie and Harriet the psychopath zombie hunters at the next stop.” Sass added with a sigh. “What are we going to do Charlie?”
“Why do you think I left them all in the back of the truck? I’m hoping that they piss off Amanda and she shoots them before we make it to our next stop.”
Sass started laughing and said that now was not the time to be making jokes like that. I smiled and acted like I had been joking. Sass put the truck in gear and we made our way back down the incline to airport road. We started to see some of the zombies from the house. The dump truck made short work of them as we made it to the bottom of the hill and turned left onto the main road. It seemed like things would maybe work out for us. The intersection was less than a mile away, we would be able to refuel there and make it to Johnson City, hopefully in a couple of hours.
Almost as I was having that thought there was a bright flash from in front of us. As the sound of the explosion reached the truck we could see a fireball rolling up into the sky.
Sass slowed the truck to a stop and watched the fireball climb heavenward. He didn’t even turn to look at me. His voice was heavy with fear and disappointment as he said, “I’m betting that’s our diesel going up in smoke.”
A Good Distance From Dying Page 10