“That’s not the beach; it sounds more like a football stadium. The roar of the crowd, kind of sound.” Sass said.
“More like an angry mob.” I said and laughed.
As we topped the hill and looked down towards the off ramp, our path to safety sat, I was at a loss for words.
At that moment, Veronica said her first words since the wreck at mile marker sixteen. “Two points for Charlie, he nailed it.”
C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - F I V E
They were everywhere. It looked like a gigantic mosh pit. There were bodies flailing against each other, shoving and pushing, trying to get to the car parked at the center of the bridge with the alarm blaring. The dead crowd was epic in scope. It was the only thing I had seen today that looked like the crowds of zombies you see in the movies. One huge, solid mass of dead, ebbing and flowing around each other. The mob extended to the edge of the bridge and beyond in both directions. They were all around the ramps, and even on State of Franklin beneath the bridge.
The alarm was whipping the entire mass into a frenzy. The screams and moans that were resonating from the area were almost as loud as the car alarm itself. All of us, including Amanda, just stood there with our mouths hanging open. Big Lou had started his deep low growl and panic flared inside me. If Lou barked at that group and just one percent of the mob noticed us, we would be in deep trouble. I knelt and began to pat his head.
“Ssssshhhhhhh, Louie. We’re alright.” I said in a soft tone. The dog looked me in the eyes like I was crazy then looked back down the road to the bridge and began to growl again.
“We need to get away from here.” Amanda said quietly and began to move back down the hill. Once we were a safe distance from the scene on the bridge we all stopped and took stock of our new situation.
“Well that explains why exit seventeen was a ghost town.” Sass said.
“You think they heard that from two miles down the road?” Shawn asked.
“No. I think that the zombies at exit seventeen heard the alarm as that car drove by.” Sass said, and I understood where he was going with that.
“Our firebug is playing a new game.” I said. Sass nodded.
“But what would be the purpose of creating…that?” Veronica asked.
“Hell of a diversion.” I said.
“Exactly.” Amanda said. “Think about it. If you are trying to secure an area, you would need it to be as vacant as you could get it. How do you get all the zombies to leave your area? Give the dog a ball to chase.”
“And they will continue to chase it until the battery dies and the alarm shuts off.” Sass said.
I had to admit it was quite ingenious. But whoever’s genius idea it had been had completely screwed us in the process.
“I guess now the big question is, does anyone else know another way into the city that doesn’t put us traveling through the woods?” I asked.
There was silence in the group.
“We could back track to seventeen and take the old road.” Sass said.
“That would take to long. It would be dark before we even made it back to seventeen.” I said.
“Wait a minute.” Shawn said. “I know a way in, and it’s not far from us at all.”
We followed Shawn back down the road crossing over to the outbound lanes. Within five minutes we were standing on the breakdown lane at the edge of the interstate.
“See the meadow on the other side of this fence?” Shawn asked. “Can you make out the road that runs down the other side? That’s Browns Mill Road. It runs all the way into town coming out beside Wal-Mart.”
“And all we have to do to avoid that army of zombies is hop this little fence?” I asked.
Amanda pulled one of her many knives out and began to snap the links of the fence apart like they were made out of paper.
“No climbing. Shawn, lead the way. We’re right behind you.” Amanda said.
The five of us formed almost a single file line as we made our way across the field. Big Lou was running right and left loving the feel of the high grass against his fur. He would disappear every now and then as he would take a tumble and roll around on the ground before popping back up to do it all again. I wanted to laugh watching him play, but I was scared to make much noise. There were houses very close by, and I didn’t want to draw any attention. The sound of the alarm and the mob were much softer now. The terrain was blocking the sound from ripping away at us like it had been on the interstate. Those were good things, but they were overshadowed by the fact that the sun was going further and further below the horizon. Twilight was setting in and a heavy fear of the dark was beginning to gnaw at my guts.
We were cutting this way too close.
Big Lou stayed in the field longer than we did. As we exited the meadow and began walking down the road towards the city he continued to roll around in the tall grass. Shawn was still leading the way as we rounded the bend in the road and began to see the businesses that would line the left side of the road as we went further down the hill. On the right side of the road the ground sloped up to where Wal-Mart sat perched on top of the rise looking down upon the world below like some monastery in the mountains of Tibet. I tried to decide what kind of theology a sect of monks would believe in if their Temple was Wal-Mart.
This idea was still spinning in my head when we heard the first gunshot. It was close but I couldn’t tell where it had come from. Amanda whispered “Down.” And she took the lead from Shawn who was more than happy to give it to her.
“Where did that come from?” I asked.
“Up there. Wal-Mart.” Amanda answered.
Big Lou came trotting down the road looking at the rest of us like we were the most interesting thing he had seen all day.
Then there was another gunshot.
“What are they shooting at?” Sass asked.
“Yeah, all the zombies are over on the interstate.” Shawn added.
I looked at Amanda then back to everyone else.
“Amanda and I are going to go check it out, you all stay here.” I said.
“With all due respect Charlie, I’m going to have to give you a big hell no on that one.” Sass said.
“What?”
“It’s almost dark. We need to stay together now.”
Sass had a point. “Okay, everyone come on, but we do exactly what Amanda says. Understood?”
Nods all around. Even Big Lou licked my hand and didn’t run ahead. He stayed right by my side as we walked up into Wal-Mart’s parking lot.
Amanda was going slow. She edged around the front of the building then froze. She watched something for a moment before waving me up to her.
“Check this guy out.” She said.
I saw a man standing in front of the building. He raised his handgun and shot the building with it. He took a couple of steps to his left and did it again.
“What is he doing?” I asked.
“I think he’s shooting the motion sensors that open the doors. Did you notice that he had already blocked the doors with two rows of cars and he even flattened the outside tires on them so no zombies would be able to crawl underneath?”
“He’s shoring up his outer defenses.”
“That would be my thought. Charlie, we need to get on this guy’s good side. I believe that he is our best chance for surviving the night.”
“Okay, and how do we do that?” I asked. Amanda looked at me.
“Damn it. Why does everyone agree that I’m the leader only when it means I have to risk my life?”
“I would say it is because we are smart.” Amanda said with a smile.
“Fine. I’ll go do it. But you gotta kiss me.”
“What?”
“You heard me Miss Asare. My price for risking my life tonight is one smooch, performed by you.”
Amanda leaned back and looked at me. “You are going to barter for this group’s safety?”
“Apparently I am.”
Amanda was trying to hide a smile, but I watc
hed it touch her face several times as she looked at me.
“Fine, Charlie. One kiss, but you only get it after you get us on the roof.”
“Deal. I know you’re betting that I get shot out there, meaning you won’t have to pay up. That’s not fair, but I’ll play it your way.”
I walked around the corner of the building patting my thigh to signal Big Lou that I wanted him to come with me.
The man was walking toward me as I turned the corner. He pulled his gun up and aimed it at me. I put my arms in the air over my head.
“If you shoot me, you’ll have to take care of the dog.” I said. The man laughed, that was a good sign.
“What if I don’t like dogs?” He asked.
“I guess you better let me live then.”
The man stopped just short of me and he lowered his gun. He waited for me to reach him then he held out his hand to shake mine.
“My name is Jack.”
“Charlie.”
“I imagine that my shooting got your attention.”
“You would imagine correctly. My groups been working their way here for most of the day. We had to abandon the interstate because of the rather large party going on down there. The detour we took led us right to your doorstep.”
“How many more of you are there?”
“Four more. They are just around the corner.”
“So, I imagine you’re the leader then.”
“Apparently only when it comes time for somebody to risk their life.”
Jack laughed again. It was a long loud barking laugh that made you like him almost instantly.
“Tell them to come on out of the shadows. We have some work to do.”
With a look of complete confusion on my face I said, “You act like you knew we were coming.”
Jack knelt down to pet Big Lou. “Of course I knew, Charlie. I’ve been expecting you.”
C H A P T E R T H I R T Y - S I X
The rest of the group was standing with me looking at Jack, who was still kneeling down petting Big Lou. For his part, Lou had rolled over on his back so Jack could rub his belly.
“Okay, the gangs all here. Now I would really love to know how you knew we were coming.” I said trying to hide any hint of irritation in my voice. Jack simply looked up at all of us with a goofy smile on his face.
“Nice to meet you all, my name’s Jack. Who might all of you be?”
Each person went down the line giving their name, and in the end, Jack stood up and put his hand on my shoulder.
“I think before we settle down and start talking that maybe we had better get up top where it’s safe. I’m not trying to dodge your question. I’m just thinking it’s getting to dark down here.”
He had a point. The sun was almost completely down and I was starting to hear noises from everywhere.
“Sounds like a heck of an idea, Jack. How are we going to do that?” I asked.
“There’s only one way up top, set of stairs around back.” Jack said as he began walking that way and motioning us to follow him.
The stairs were in the back of the building in a fenced off area. Jack had parked a van against the fence where he had cut through the locking chain earlier. He let us through the fence then he backed the van up to the hole and came out through the back doors. I had an idea that, from all the preparations he had already taken, he had been planning this for some time.
Sass and I were the last to climb the stairs and Sass whispered to me, “Aren’t we trusting this guy a little too quickly? I mean after the whole Gray thing.”
I thought about this. Yes, we were jumping into this much faster than I would like to, but we really had no choice. The sun was going down and we had to find safety. Safety is what Jack had. Also, it was five on one. If he proved to be a crazy person we could just jump him. This is what I thought in my head, to Sass I said, “Nothings been decided yet. We’re just getting somewhere safe for the night.”
Once we got to the top of the stairs I was stunned by what I saw. Boxes and crates were lying all around us. I couldn’t even begin to guess what equipment he had up here or even how he had gotten some of it on the roof by himself. When asked about moving it, he would just laugh and say something like, “It was an adventure.”
I was a bit overwhelmed by the scope of what Jack was doing here at Wal-Mart.
“Jack, no offense or anything, but I was wondering, are you like a crazy person or something?” Amanda gave me the evilest look she had. Jack laughed.
“Boy, I hope not, but if I am, aren’t you guys screwed.” He laughed again at his answer.
It was hard to concentrate on any conversation while on the roof because up here the car alarm was even louder. I noticed Veronica put her hands to her ears. Jacked noticed as well and walked over to a crate where he picked up a small black box. He turned back around to the rest of us and I thought what he was holding either looked like a very old cell phone or a controller for a remote-controlled car.
“Sorry about the noise. Let’s take care of that real quick.” Jack said.
He pressed a button on the black box he was holding and the alarm abruptly stopped as the car itself exploded into a very loud, very bright, fireball. You could see zombie body parts being thrown skyward in the light of the explosion, and I could have sworn a minute later I heard things raining down on the cars in the parking lot. The nastiness factor had jumped skyward, but the alarm was gone and I could once again hear myself think.
“Ah, that’s better.” Jack said.
“The alarm. That was you.” I asked. Jack gave me a questioning look and said, “You were expecting somebody else?”
“Charlie was under the impression that a man in a black hoodie had set the alarm blaring.” Sass said.
“Ah, yes. Well in truth Brandon did park the car there, but it was my idea.” Jack said.
“Brandon?” I asked.
“The kid in the black hoodie. His name is Brandon, he lives in Gray. When all of this happened he called me and asked if my plan was still on. I told him sure, come on over. The more the merrier you know.”
“You really know him?” Sass asked.
“Yeah, he mows my yard. He’s a huge end of the world conspiracist and we used to have discussions on what plans we would have if something were to happen. Guess we weren’t crazy after all.” Jack said and laughed.
“Where’s Brandon now?” Sass asked.
“He left after parking the car. He said that he had something to do on down State of Franklin.” Jack said.
“And you just let him go?” Sass asked not approving of this decision.
Jack shrugged. “Well, the way I see it, if he can make it here from Gray by himself I have no business telling him what he can and can’t do. He’s earned the right to come and go as he pleases.”
I guess Amanda could see Sass and I about to take the conversation down this tangent because she was quick to try and get us back on course.
“I hate to bring this back up, but Charlie said you told him that you were expecting us.” Amanda said.
“Oh that.” Jack said as if to just sweep it by like it meant nothing. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to get you all riled up. You must have seen some bad stuff today, huh?”
“We’ve seen our share.” I said and left it at that.
“All I meant was I was expecting somebody to show up before I was done getting the outside locked down. I was counting on it to tell you the truth. There is a lot of work to be done here, and frankly, it’s more than I can do by myself. I was counting on a group of survivors to show up so I could recruit them to help me. Once we get everything done we will have what amounts to a castle and will be set for the next few months at least.”
“What still needs to be done?” Sass asked.
“I would like to add another level or two of security on the outside, but that can be done in the next few days. We have two things that are priority. First, we need to cut the stairs away from the building.”
/> “You want to do what?” I asked.
“The stairs have to go. It’s an unacceptable security risk.”
“But that’s the only way down.” I said.
“It’s also the only way up. If we leave them intact then the only thing standing between the zombies and us is a chain link fence. They’ll rip through that like paper.”
He was right.
“How are you planning to cut away the stairs?” Amanda asked.
“Oh, that’s easy; I’ve got a grinder with me. We just cut them off from the bottom to the top.”
“You really think we need to cut them all? Wouldn’t it be smarter to just cut up like the first ten or so? Surely that would be secure enough to keep us safe and still leave us a way out in case of an emergency.” Shawn asked.
Jack smiled at Shawn and said, “A wise man once said, ‘The way to be safe is to never feel secure’ and I believe it.”
“Who said that?” Shawn asked.
“I did, weren’t you just listening?” Jack said with a wink which made me laugh again.
“What is the second thing we need to do, Jack?” Amanda asked trying to keep us on track.
“The other thing we need to do, and I really think it should be done tonight, is to clear out the zombies still inside the store.” Jack said.
“Why do you want it done tonight?” I asked.
“The power is still on. I would much rather go isle by isle hunting zombies in a lit store as opposed to doing it in the dark.” Jack said.
“But with all of these skylights wouldn’t the store be fairly well lit even after the power goes?” Sass asked.
“I assume it would be, but I would rather deal with the definite and I am definitely sure that it will be well lit with the power on.” Jack said.
“You have a point. However, I am the only person here that knows how to shoot a gun.” Amanda said. Jack’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“I was expecting more of you to know how to shoot given where we live. This will complicate matters.”
“Maybe not”, I said. “I have a plan that would make it much easier, and safer, to do what you’re wanting. If I’m right, you will be able to clear out almost all of the zombies in the store without having to set foot down there.”
A Good Distance From Dying Page 30