The next morning Kozz and Richard repaired Clyde's busted door to pay him back for his kindness. The group was ready to set off soon after and offered to take Clyde along with them.
“Nope nope. Like I said, this is my home en I'ma staying. You all go en carry on with your adventure. Have fun out there en be safe!” He bid them a happy farewell.
“You're a delightful man,” said Luciele, giving Clyde a hug goodbye.
“Thank you for everything, Mr. Clyde,” said Caleb.
“Thank you for everything, Mr. Caleb,” said Clyde. “It's always nice to meet new friends.”
They left Clyde's home behind and walked into the sunny streets. The sense of danger that crept in during the night was mostly gone, but the daytime creeps were crawling along the streets again. Caleb stayed close to his mother's side, holding her hand most of the time. They stuck to the main avenues to blend in with the populace and avoided walking down small streets or alleys where they could easily be ambushed.
The number of people walking the streets increased as they moved closer to the heart of the city. They had seen several infected running around and had helped save a couple of people from their attackers.
A young man wandering on his own was adorned with a homemade metal helmet and several sheets of plastic which covered his torso and limbs. He proclaimed to all in earshot that it was armor he created to protect himself from the hordes of zombies that were ravaging the world. He said that he knew one day the zombie apocalypse was going to strike and he had prepared for its impending arrival. Caleb snickered as the young man spoke. Luciele thought that the man was just pulling their legs, he did seem like a smart person after all, but his lengthy professions and undying devotion to his cause displayed a rather sad loss of sanity, probably caused by the amalgamation of tragic events which had taken place. They entertained the man and let him drone on for a bit, but eventually left him to his search and elimination of the “zombie prime” which he felt was the key to ending the zombie rampage and saving humanity.
The day was succumbing to twilight. Luciele wanted to find somewhere to spend the night as soon as possible. Richard agreed and took the lead, but he led the group around a corner where a mass of people was gathering in the street. Kozz took action and turned the group around, but they found themselves surrounded.
All around were people with painted faces. They wore an assortment of clothes and hairstyles, but they all had in common the same facial artwork— a painted pair of white glowing eyes, large and bright in their fluorescent exaggeration. They approached from several streets and alleys at once, closing in on the group of weary travelers. Kozz counted thirty of them at least, but there were still more arriving.
Kozz grabbed Luciele's hand and pulled her towards him as she held on to Caleb. Kelly grabbed Caleb's and Richard's hands and together they marched forward, pushing their way through the tightening group of bodies. None of the people spoke, not even when Kozz yelled and pushed them out of his way.
“This is worse than wiggling through the crowd at a Dusty Flakes concert,” said Luciele. "And I thought sweaty teenagers on Erde smelled bad."
Kozz halted when a wall of people startled him. He went to push through them, but they did not move out of the way like the others had. A short man with a black strip of hair down the middle of his head stood at the forefront of the human wall.
“Looks like ya...decided to walk into our territory, bub,” said the man. His voice had a strong nasal buzz as if he were talking through his long, hooked nose.
“Move out of our way and I won't have to slug ya,” said Kozz. A larger man behind Hooknose stepped forward and rubbed his fist in his other hand. Hooknose held his friend back.
“You guys have...a lot of heavy lookin' bags there, bub,” said Hooknose. “Perhaps we can help you lighten your load a bit.”
“We're not in need of your help, bub,” spat Kozz at Hooknose's face. He reached into his jacket. Hooknose and his friends all flinched, drawing for their weapons as Kozz pulled out a cigar and a lighter. He lit up his stogie and drew in a deep breath. “Calm down,” said Kozz as he exhaled the smoke from his lungs, “my gun is at my hip if I was gonna go for it. Now like I said, move out of our way or you're gonna get hurt.”
Kozz was stalling. He knew they were in danger and he did not have any plan other than fighting his way out, but that would put Luciele and the kids in too much danger. These people had weapons as well, and they looked like they were itching to use them.
“What's with the circus paint anyway?” said Kozz. “You guys runnin' a clown college or something?”
Hooknose motioned to his larger friend. Kozz knew what was coming and pulled the cigar away from his lips, then he stuck his chin out and smiled. The larger man stepped forward and punched Kozz square in the jaw. Kozz's chin turned bright red, but he kept the smile on his face and slid the cigar between his lips and drew another breath.
“Back off you twerp!” shouted Luciele.
“Hush yourself,” said Hooknose. “Anyway, we're Infestation. We've banded together to survive the apocalypse, and our face paint signifies our...respect for the greater power that is causing it. There has yet to be a single member of Infestation who has fallen sick to the disease while we've seen members of other gangs and random people walking down the street...turn to the sickness. We have survived. Together we are strong, and together we survive.”
The otherwise silent members of the gang cheered at Hooknose's words. Kozz clapped his own hands and smiled around at the painted faces. Hooknose snarled and the crowd silenced.
“I know you all...didn't ask for help, but I'm a nice guy. I'm going to have my friends here relieve you of your baggage, and as long as there is no trouble we'll send you on your merry way.”
“You must be forming a clown college,” laughed Kozz, “because you're an awful funny man. All that silly makeup and those goofy stories. You're a riot!”
Hooknose gritted his teeth. Kozz could smell an offensive stink coming from the man, and he felt the heat as the crowd pushed in tighter.
“Smells and feels like a can of sardines,” said Luciele. She picked her son off the ground to make sure he did not get crushed.
“They look like clowns,” said Kozz, “and stink like fish. What an odd pairing.”
“They should call themselves The Clown Fish,” said Richard.
Hooknose looked as if he were going to burst with rage. He lifted his arm and stabbed the air in front of Kozz with his pointer finger. “Get them!”
The big man behind Hooknose stepped forward and drew back a fist. Kozz caught the man's punch with one hand and made three quick motions with his arm. Snap, snap, snap. Kozz broke the man's arm in three places and pulled him down. The man dropped to the ground in pain. Kozz turned around to see the others defending themselves and pushing back against the encompassing weight of human bodies. Richard's tent pack was ripped from his arms and someone else was pulling on his backpack. Kozz felt a sting in the back of his leg and turned back to see that Hooknose had stabbed his thigh with a small knife. Kozz spat his cigar at Hooknose and the burning tip hit the small man right in the eyeball, then he kicked Hooknose in the side of the head and the momentum of the hit caused the man to fall on top of his larger companion.
Kozz wailed on other members of the group, smearing their makeup and mixing blacks and blues and reds into their white eyes. Kozz was quickly becoming overwhelmed by the number of grabbing hands and flying fists in the air. He was tiring rapidly and saw that his friends were losing their fights as well. His heart thumped like a galloping horse. The pain began to sink in and he struggled to keep from dropping to his knees. Luciele screamed and fell to the ground with Caleb in her arms. “Mom!” the boy cried. She was hit hard in the face. Kozz used his remaining strength to bulldoze the crowd away from Luciele, and just as he tackled half a dozen painted faces to the ground he looked up and saw a welcome sight barreling down the road.
“All of you drop to th
e ground!” shouted a gunman on top of a military frontline gunner vehicle. The gunman fired a swift spray of rubber rounds into the crowd. Kozz jumped back to cover Caleb and the others. He was hit in the back by one of the rubber bullets, but he knew it would only leave a welt.
The gunman continued to fire upon the dispersing crowd. Hooknose was one of the last to flee and was pelted by the gunman until he turned down a corner at the end of the road. Kozz stayed in his position until the firing ceased.
“State your business, citizens,” said an officer as she exited the vehicle, her weapon drawn but not pointing at Kozz and the others. Kozz stood and turned towards the officer.
“We've traveled a helluva long way to get to the damn quarantine zone. We were just walking down the street when those clowns ganged up on us.”
Luciele stood up and lifted her son to his feet as well, her face was beginning to bruise from the hit she took. “All the way from Edgetown for some of us. My son has a fractured rib, and the rest of us are exhausted. Is there any way you can help us get to the quarantine zone?”
The officer considered them for a moment. “Climb aboard,” she said. “That's why we're on patrol. We have others seated in the back. You can join them.”
“That's awesome!” said Kelly.
“Can you tell us what's going on?” asked Richard.
“No,” said the officer. “Classified.”
Kozz knew that would be the response. They were going to have trouble getting the truth out of anyone.
The officer led them to the rear of the frontline gunner. The back hatch read ‘FROG’, the acronym supported by the vehicle's green armor plating and wide shape. Six others were already seated in the back cabin, including two children.
“There won't be much room left in there once you all get in,” said the officer, “but we're scheduled to do a couple more hours of patrol. Take it easy and relax for awhile. The seats aren't that bad, and we have some food and water in there for you. Take a nap or something. We'll head back to the quarantine zone in a bit.”
They climbed into the vehicle and the officer closed the hatch behind them.
“She was nice,” said Caleb, “but she didn't smile at all.”
“She's just as exhausted as we are,” said his mother. “She's probably been through a lot in the last couple of months like the rest of us.”
They introduced themselves to the others in the cabin. A husband and wife with their two children said they were rescued from a homemade bomb shelter they were hiding in. They had just run out of supplies and exited their shelter as the military officers drove by and had no idea the scope of what had happened while they were below ground these last few weeks. The other two occupants were two men who did not know each other, but they found themselves fighting off a couple of the infected together and then were spotted by the roaming military vehicle.
The two children were a couple years younger than Caleb. They were coloring with crayons and invited him to join them. He sat on the ground of the cabin and started to draw the face Sam had made in the sand back in Siletz, but he crossed it out and drew a picture of his house instead. Outside of the house he drew himself, his mother and father, and his grandma.
“I miss dad,” said Caleb, “and grandma.”
“I know, darling,” said Luciele. “Me too.”
“At least dad's not infected anymore,” said Caleb. “At least he can go to heaven now. Grandma always talked about heaven. She always talked about how wonderful of a place it would be. I'm sure she knew the way there, and she probably helped dad find it too. I wish we could have saved them though.”
Kozz listened to Caleb talk, finding a sad comfort in the boy's understanding and acceptance of his father's and grandma's deaths. If only he himself had been able to accept death as easily when his son was murdered, then he would have been able to spend the last decade with his lovely wife instead of all alone on a frozen rock, but Kozz did not want to drown in sorrow any longer. He was glad that Caleb could move on as he himself was unable. Kozz also knew that he had battled his personal demons and, through the help of his new friends, he had defeated them. He was going to find a way to get to Erde, and he was going to find his Priscilla. Nothing was going to stop him.
The hours slipped by as everyone faded in and out consciousness. The seats were comfortable and everyone seized the opportunity to nap while they could. Kozz stared with unfocused eyes out of the small window to his side, drifting in and out of consciousness.
The streets enlivened as streetlights and lamp lit windows illuminated the night and more people walked the broken streets. Occasionally another military vehicle would pass by, and once Kozz would have sworn he saw a personal vehicle drive on the road, but it could have just been from one of his dreams. He was not sure. The lights did get brighter, however, and soon enough he realized that they had made it to the city, and it was still alive. Port Town was still alive.
The officer opened up the hatch and had everyone exit the vehicle. The city should have stood tall and bright in all its glory, but the recent carnage and neglect had ravaged its former beauty, turning it faded and ugly. Countless people roamed about, awkward and afraid. Skittish eyes darted in every direction. The silence was confusing, and the air stank.
Soldiers stood stationed at one of the entrances to the Grand Downtown Arena that towered above them. The arena had been designated as the quarantine zone because of the enormous amount of refugees it could hold. Thousands of people were camped outside the structure. Those who were trying to enter stood in a long line which wrapped around the arena, but it was at a stand still as soldiers checked each and every person for symptoms of infection. Even though the line to enter the quarantined arena was staggering, what was more unbelievable was how the arena was already bursting at the seams with bodies. Slots in the outer walls revealed the tightly packed populace who camped out on stairwells and loading ramps. Conditions were dreadful. People rested around piles of trash and clogged every crevice of the arena with their sweaty, unwashed bodies.
Soldiers were stationed all along the city streets. Some walked the byways with civilians while others perched on ledges and in windows with their sniper rifles. Screams broke out just inside the gateway of the arena and people ran as they screeched about an infected attacker. Soldiers slipped through the runners and shot the glowing-eyed man, but he continued running for a bit longer before he dropped to the ground nearby Kozz and the others. His eyes did not beam and he did not scream. A small dart was lodged in his neck. Three soldiers ran over, lifted the body, and carried it off to some unknown location. The people calmed and moved about their business as if nothing had happened, as if they were accustomed to the situation.
Another set of screams came from a nearby intersection as a hefty old woman with glowing eyes ran after a thin old man. She was hit with a dart as soon as the screams broke out and she slowly collapsed to the ground. Another group of soldiers carried her body away.
“This is the quarantine zone, ladies and gentlemen,” said the officer as she closed the hatch. “The arena may be your destination, but I wouldn't recommend going in there. It's a mess, and it isn't any more safe than being out here in the streets. We can prevent anyone showing signs of infection from entering the complex, but that doesn't seem to stop them from turning while they're inside. Even our soldiers aren't safe from the disease, here or on any of the other planets. Your best bet would be to find a hole to crawl in and hide, or maybe you should stay in public light and let the soldiers protect you. Either way, just hope to high heaven that you don't catch it. Whatever it is.”
She doesn't know what's happening, thought Kozz, and she's an officer. Even the soldiers aren't safe. Then there is no cure or way to prevent it, and she just said that it's happening on the other planets as well.... “This is hell,” he said.
“Close enough,” said the officer. Her eyes looked down towards the ground, “God speed." She turned away and walked back to her vehicle. The driver-side
door shut itself as she hopped in and drove off into the night.
“We can't stay here,” argued Luciele to no one in particular. Horror took over her face as she scanned the masses of sorry people, those suffering and living in fear all around the quarantined arena. “We would have been better off living back at home in the wilderness.”
“Your power wouldn't have lasted much longer without people to keep it running,” said Kozz, “and you couldn't have lived off hunting alone. There was nothing left until we came here. No medicine, no food, no people. What would you have done when the warm months passed and the frigid weather returned? There would have been no game out there for you to grab. You know this. You took the only option.”
“We could have lasted for a while at least,” said Luciele, “but you're right. We couldn't have lived alone out there forever. But this...this is sickening. I can't keep Caleb in a place like this. We need to go elsewhere.”
“You can come with us to Quartz,” said Kelly. “There has to be some kind of transportation between here and there.”
“But who is to say that it will be any better there?” said Luciele. “Quartz is smaller than Port Town and won't have as large of a military presence. There will probably be less protection and aid there.”
“That's probably true,” said Richard, “but you can stay with our families when we find them. If we find them." Richard turned to his love. "I hope they're alright.”
“Thank you both for the offer,” said Luciele. “Caleb and I will have to consider it. I don't know what else to do, but we can't stay here.”
“What if we go to Erde with Kozz?” asked Caleb. “Maybe it's safer. Maybe they're not infected. We can fly in a spaceship to get there!” Caleb had only been to Port Town twice before with his parents and was still struck with awe at its size and bright lights. He had always wondered what it would be like to go to Erde, a planet that was essentially one enormous city filled with people and buildings and airships. The thought of getting to fly through space to get there was very exciting and was something he had always wanted to do.
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