by Eric Vall
“I think we should announce ourselves,” Bailey said. “Maybe if they know there are still people here, they’ll move on.”
“They could,” Anna said, but her eyes narrowed. “Or they could think that they could take us.”
“I don’t see many weapons,” Paige said.
“The large fellow has a pistol in the back of his pants,” I whispered.
“How do you know that?” Jeff asked.
“The way he’s walking,” I said. “And he keeps reaching back there to adjust it.”
“Honestly I thought he was picking wedgies,” Tara said with a shrug.
Bailey snickered at the platinum blonde, but stopped quickly when I shot her a hard look.
“Bailey might be right,” I told the group. “Addressing them might work, but it could also backfire.”
“There’s so many of them,” Jeff said.
“And if that one guy is packing, then others could be too,” Paige said with a frown.
“Right,” I agreed.
“So what do we do?” Anna asked seriously.
“They haven’t made a move toward the bridge yet,” I said. “But if they do, then we have a bad situation on our hands.”
“Look at this!” the guy in the red jacket called, and I turned to see that he was brushing off one of the bodies just by the bridge.
“So they are shooting trespassers,” the woman said. “See? We can’t risk it.”
“These guys have been dead a while,” the larger man said as he inspected the body. “Like I said, those people who did this are probably dead.”
“We should keep heading south,” the woman said.
“Half of us will die before we get anywhere that we can survive!” the large man yelled. “We need supplies.”
“We have to blow the bridge,” I said in a low voice.
“Okay,” Anna agreed.
“Bailey,” I said and I turned to the small blonde. “It’s on you.”
“No pressure there,” Bailey said with wide eyes.
“You can do this,” I assured her. “You know where to shoot?”
“The small metal piece on the bomb,” Bailey said with a nod.
“Yes,” I agreed.
“Alright,” the blonde hippie breathed, and she bit her lip.
“You got this,” Anna told her.
“Thanks,” Bailey said with a small smile.
“You know the signal?” I asked.
“Raised fist,” Bailey said.
“Get into position,” I told her, then I turned to Jeff. “You’re sure this will work?”
“I believe it will,” he said. “I’m sorry I can’t be more positive.”
“It’s alright,” I told him. “I understand.”
“What should the rest of us do?” Paige asked.
“In case it doesn’t work everyone should get into position,” I said.
“Alright,” Anna agreed.
I looked back at Bailey as I waited for everyone else to get into position. The blonde had her eye in her scope, and her rifle was fixed on the support beam of the bridge. I knew she could make the shot over anybody else, myself included. I was a good shot, but I wasn’t trained as a sniper. Bailey was a natural with that rifle, and I knew I could count on her.
The blonde caught my eye, and she nodded at me. I nodded back, then turned my attention back to the group on the road.
“I’m going up there,” the large man said, and a few people in the group let out a cheer.
“There’s even smoke coming from up there,” the guy in the red jacket said as he pointed to the top of the hill. “I’m coming with you.”
“Well, I’m continuing south,” the woman said, and she started to walk further down the road.
A few people followed her, but most of them rallied behind the large man. He drew his gun, then made a move for the bridge. His large boot took one step onto the structure, and I knew what I had to do. I really wished it hadn’t come to this.
I raised my fist.
Chapter 14
Bailey’s rifle sounded with a large crack that shook snow off the trees.
Five seconds passed and nothing happened, so I looked at Bailey.
The blonde looked back at me with wide eyes.
“I hit it, I swear!” she said with a panicked voice.
“Take another shot!” I commanded.
The blonde looked down into her scope once more and confidently pulled the trigger.
A split second after her rifle sounded the side of the bridge closest to us went up with a bang, and a giant ball of fire exploded as the side of the bridge started to crumble.
The first explosion set off the one on the other side, and in a matter of seconds that side went up in fire as well.
“What the fuck!” the large man yelled, and he stumbled backward.
The bridge went down from the center out, the large chunks of concrete falling into the water below.
I felt the explosion shake the snow under my feet, and a few stray pieces of rock went flying in our direction.
The sound of the blast was so loud I felt the urge to cover my ears.
It took less than a minute for the bridge to be totally destroyed. Soon there was nothing left but the remnants on either side of the water. It was at least a fifty-foot drop to the water below, and it raged by quickly. I hoped nobody would dare to cross it.
“Jesus!” the guy in the red jacket said as he picked up his friend. “What the fuck was that?”
“I guess they weren’t dead,” the large man said, and he narrowed his eyes on the trees. “Fuck you!”
“Should we be antagonizing them?” red jacket asked.
“Who cares?” the guy snapped, and he lifted himself up with a groan. “They’re greedy bastards up there! It’s not like we can get to them now anyways.”
“We could swim across,” red jacket said.
“Boy, do you see that water?’ the large guy asked as he pointed down at the river. “That thing will carry you off so fast you won’t have time to scream.”
“Well, what do we do?” red jacket asked.
“We keep moving,” the large man said, and he looked out at the trees again. “You happy now, you assholes? You happy you didn’t have to help anybody today?”
I was.
And I wasn’t about to let this guy try to guilt trip me when only moments before he was ready to try to rob us if it came to it.
I waited as the group passed through. Some of them yelled profanities about how we were scumbags, or terrible people for not helping them. Others passed by quietly with their heads down.
After the last person had gotten out of sight I waited another minute before I allowed myself to pull in a full breath.
“Fucking fuck,” Anna breathed, and she came up beside me.
“Bailey,” I said and I turned to the blonde. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I swear I hit it!”
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
“It was probably something with the bomb,” Jeff apologized. “I’m sorry. I’m no master bomb maker.”
“I’d be a little terrified if you were,” Paige chuckled.
“It’s okay,” I said. “We got it.”
“Yeah, we did.” Tara grinned. “Bye bye bridge.”
“I was so scared that it wasn’t going to work,” Bailey breathed.
“It’s alright.” I grinned. “You did it.”
“Fuck yeah for Bailey!” Anna said, and she hugged her friend.
“And Jeff too,” I said.
“Right,” Anna agreed with a smile. “Fuck yeah for Jeff too!”
“Thanks,” Jeff chuckled before his face grew serious. “Do you think we’re safe now?”
“I think so,” I said. “We’ve already seen what happens when somebody tries to cross the water.”
“Should we uncover our signs?” Anna asked.
“No.” I shook my head
. “There’s no point now that the bridge is gone.”
“Okay, but can we talk about what a dick that guy was?” Tara asked with a raised brow.
“Oh my god, right?” Paige said.
“He was ready to rob us one second, and then the next he was yelling at us about how we didn’t help him,” Anna laughed.
“I had the same thought,” I mused.
“Honestly I didn’t hear anything he said,” Bailey said. “I was just trying to figure out why my first shot didn’t work.”
“It’s a homemade bomb,” Jeff chuckled. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was loud as hell,” Tara complained.
“I didn’t figure I needed to warn you about that,” Jeff said with amusement.
“Yeah,” Tara agreed. “But it was louder than I figured it would be.”
“Bombs tend to be loud,” I joked, and the platinum blonde stuck her tongue out at me.
“I’ll stay down on sentry duty,” Anna said.
“No.” I shook my head. “We should head back to campus.”
“Is it safe to not have anybody down here?” Paige asked with a frown.
“I believe it is now,” I said confidently.
“There really isn’t any other way across,” Paige agreed.
“Oh my God,” Tara groaned.
“What?” Anna asked.
“No more sentry duty means no more standing out in the cold,” Tara sighed.
“Of course that’s what you’re worried about,” Anna said with an eye roll.
“I’m fucking freezing,” Tara said with a shiver. “How are you not cold?”
“I’m cold,” Anna said. “I’m just not a little bitch about it.”
“Uh,” Tara scoffed, but then they both laughed.
“We should go tell the others about the bridge,” Bailey suggested.
“I think we should.” I smiled. “But I suspect they heard the boom.”
I started back toward campus, but this time we all walked at a reasonable pace, taking our time to step through the snow.
“I don’t ever remember the snow being this high last year,” Tara said as we walked.
“Probably because it was always plowed,” Paige said.
“Yeah,” Anna agreed. “And the sidewalks were always shoveled too.”
“Oh yeah,” Tara said. “Wait, do you think Rolly had to do all of that?”
“Well, there were a couple other groundskeepers, I think,” Paige said. “But I bet he did, yeah.”
“Damn,” Tara said.
“He worked hard for all of us,” Bailey said.
“He still does,” I said with a small smile.
It took a while, but we finally made it up to the courtyard. When we got there, Kimmy opened the door, and Winchester shot out and pranced through the snow toward us.
“Sorry!” Kimmy called. “He kept whining, and I looked out and saw you so I figured it was okay.”
“It’s fine,” I chuckled as Winchester made it to me and hopped around me as he barked. “Good boy.”
I reached down and petted the black headed dog, but he didn’t stay long. He made his way over to each of us and barked and rubbed up against us.
“What’s his problem?” Tara asked with a raised brow as the dog jumped around her.
“He probably heard the explosion,” I said. “He was worried about us.”
“Awwww,” Bailey said, and she reached down to pet him. “Were you worried about us, boy? We’re okay. Yeah, it’s okay.”
Winchester was obviously happy to see all of us, but Bailey most of all. He jumped up and put his paws on her shoulders so he could lick her face.
After we greeted Winchester we all made our way inside and took off our gear.
“God, I didn’t realize how cold it was out there until just now,” Paige said once we were in the warm room.
“Kimmy,” I said as I looked around. “Where is everybody?”
“I think they’re upstairs keeping a lookout,” she answered.
“Okay,” I said.
“I’ll go get them,” Paige said, and she took off up the stairs.
“I’m making breakfast,” Tara said as she walked toward the laundry room.
“Alright,” I said. “But I’m about to tell everyone about the bridge.”
“Eh.” Tara shrugged and flashed me a grin. “I was there.”
Everyone came down the stairs quickly and surrounded me with questions.
“I’m sure you all heard the explosion,” I said to quiet them all.
“What happened?” Cathy asked.
“We set off the bridge,” I explained.
“Why isn’t anybody down there?” Donna asked with pursed eyebrows.
“We’ll set a new sentry schedule in a bit,” I said.
“Really?” Betty asked.
“Really,” I agreed.
“We already saw what happens when people try to swim across,” Bailey said. “Do we need anyone guarding the bridge still?”
“If it isn’t snowing,” I said. “I know there’s not any other viable way to get up here, but—”
“So we’re in the clear?” Donna asked.
“I still want people on watch,” I said. “And I’ll still be heading down to check on the bridge each day.”
“Still use the buddy system when out feeding animals as well,” Anna added.
“Right,” I agreed. “We have eliminated the largest threat, but that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down.”
“Alright,” Betty said with a nod.
“Everybody, let’s get our chores done for the day,” I said. “I want everybody in for the night before dark.”
The group dispersed, and the girls led some civilians outside to do chores, except for Tara who had yet to come out of the laundry room.
I decided I would go check on Frank and Joe, so I headed up to the second floor where Marla’s room was.
“Hey,” I said as I came into the common room.
“Hey,” Joe said. His arm was still in a makeshift sling, and he had bags under his eyes. He looked like hell. “Sorry I didn’t make it downstairs.”
“That’s alright,” I told him. “You feeling okay?”
“I’m pretty tired all the time,” Joe sighed. “But overall I’m okay.”
“Good,” I said, and I noticed the small boy on the couch next to him. “Frank, how are you feeling?”
“I’m good,” Frank said with a smile at me.
“I’m glad to hear that,” I chuckled.
“We stayed up here and played Go Fish,” Joe explained.
“I’m sure that was appreciated,” I said.
“It would have been if somebody wasn’t a cheater,” Joe teased the boy.
“I’m no cheater!” Frank protested.
“Sure,” Joe laughed.
“I just told everyone that we blew the bridge this morning,” I said to Joe.
“I figured that’s what that sound was,” he said. “How’d it go?”
“It worked,” I chuckled. “That’s all we could have hoped for.”
“You think we’re safe now?” he asked quietly.
“I think we’re a lot better off,” I told him. “We’ll still need people on watch and check on the bridge daily.”
“I can stand watch today,” he offered.
“Why don’t you worry about healing,” I said softly.
“I want to be useful,” Joe said.
“You’ve been more than useful,” I told him. “Just focus on getting some rest. I didn’t want to say it, but you look like shit.”
“Thanks,” the bald man laughed. “I kinda figured I might.”
“I just want you to get better,” I said.
“I know,” he said. “Thanks.”
I went to head back downstairs, but I ran into Kimmy in the stairwell.
“Hey,” I greeted her. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good,” she said.
“Have you seen Mar
la since we talked last?” I asked.
“She weighed me this morning,” Kimmy said. “She said I’ve put on a pound or so.”
“Good.” I grinned and looked down at the infant strapped to her chest. “And Anthony?”
“He’s well,” she assured me.
“Glad to hear it,” I told her, and I continued down the stairs.
Blowing the bridge had been a tough call, especially with all the craziness we had dealt with lately, but seeing Joe, Frank, and Kimmy doing well made me even more confident that I had made the right decision.
We still couldn’t fully relax, but this was one step closer to us being safe. If that group had made it across the bridge there was no telling what kind of havoc they would have brought with them. Even with all the firepower we had, it would have been a struggle. And there wouldn’t have been much ammo left afterward to deal with the next horde.
That had been the first group of that size to pass through, but I knew it wouldn’t be the last.
“Hey,” Tara said, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Breakfast is ready.”
“Great,” I said with a smile. “I’m going to go help the others finish the chores.”
“Alright,” she said. “But don’t take too long or it will get cold.”
“Roger that.” I grinned.
My mundane conversation with the blonde brought a wide smile to my face. I remembered our fourth pillar of survival. Comfort. The blowing of the bridge had brought with it a small sliver of comfort, and that was a great accomplishment.
By the time I got my winter clothes on and made it outside I saw the rest of the group heading back in.
“Are all the chores done?” I asked with concern.
“All done!” Bailey told me with a smile.
“The horses and cows were fed?” I asked.
“Yes,” Paige said with an eye roll. “And the traps were checked, the chickens were fed, and we brought in more wood.”
“You should have a little more faith in us,” Anna said with a grin as she pushed past me.
“My apologies,” I chuckled.
“Let’s get back inside,” Bailey said. “I bet Tara has food ready.”
“She does,” I agreed as we walked to the door.
I had only been out in the cold for a moment, but the warm air of the inside of the dorm building was a welcome relief.
“Ah, it’s so nice in here,” Joanna said as she stripped off her winter coat.