The Road Trip At The End (Book 2): Border

by Wood, J N

  Before the guns started firing, I just managed to shout, ‘Wait two seconds Steve.’ He can’t have heard me, as he just carried on.

  The gunfire started, dropping the zombies closest to the front of the bus, and the ones climbing up. Some of the bullets pinged off the snow plough.

  ‘Careful!’ Sandra shouted.

  Steve, with the boy still held aloft, stepped down onto the bonnet, using the fallen dead bodies almost as a staircase. He paused and looked to us, tears filled his eyes. He’d reached the point where he would have to jump down to the ground. It was only a couple of feet, but he was jumping into a swarm of zombies. There was a mass of hands banging and clawing at the bus in front of him.

  I could only imagine how he was feeling.

  There was one more barrage of gunfire, all aimed at the area directly in front of Steve. It hardly made a difference. The newly formed spaces were immediately filled with more zombies.

  Shannon dropped to her knees and started banging her gun on the container. We all followed suit, banging whatever we could to make as much noise as possible. It did draw the zombies’ attention towards us, but only the ones between us and the bus, and they were already occupied by the fireworks. It wasn’t making any difference to the ones trying to get to Steve.

  Along with several very audible gasps from the roof of the container, he did it, he did the unimaginable. Steve stepped off the edge, and into the dead.

  He fell into zombies, his weight moving them out of his way. When he hit the ground he must have bent his knees slightly, or not landed on level ground, because the boy came precariously close to the zombies reaching hands. Like animals, they pounced on Steve, their hands clawing at him, and mouths biting into his torso. He immediately started screaming. Almost as loud were Max’s cries of terror. The sound was almost unbearable.

  On the container, there were cries that sounded almost as full of pain as Steve’s. I didn’t look to see who it was. I just kept my eyes on Steve, and willed him on.

  He was slowly moving through them, too fucking slowly. Steve was a tall guy, almost as tall as Gee, so at least they weren’t biting his neck and head. Ten agonisingly long seconds later, and he’d only travelled a quarter of the distance.

  ‘Close your eyes Max,’ Sandra called out between gasping sobs.

  Steve’s screams were horrific, like nothing I’d ever heard before.

  ‘Come on Steve!’ I half heartedly shouted. I couldn’t see him making it much further.

  I’m definitely turning away when they get the young boy.

  The rest of the group joined in with my shouts, trying to encourage him as best as we could.

  His arms didn’t looked they’d weakened at all. The kid was still high above him and the zombies’ hands. Steve’s face was contorted in pain, and tears coursed down his cheeks. He was now silent though. I had no idea if that was good or bad, but I guessed it was bad. His silence meant they at least weren’t all crowding around him. Some were staring upwards, watching the fireworks.

  Hopefully that meant he wasn’t hitting as much resistance.

  Theo was also sobbing, his breathing sounding erratic.

  When Steve was about ten feet away, Gee said to me, ‘Chris, get on back.’

  ‘You what?’ I asked, shaking my head and looking around. ‘Get on my back? Why?’

  ‘Get on floor. Lay on back. Hang on edge. We hold you,’ he rapidly replied.

  Lay on back and hang on edge. What the fuck does that mean? Hang on the edge?

  Oh right, I think I know what he means.

  Fucking brilliant.

  I quickly glanced around at everyone. Jack, Gee, Michael and Shannon all stared back at me.

  What am I gonna do? I can’t say no can I? Just look at what Steve is doing for that kid. Fucking Steve.

  I got down on the floor and crawled to the edge, as close to where Steve would hopefully be, when and if he could ever reach us. I turned over and stretched out on my back. Gee and Jack put all of their combined weight down on my shins.

  I fucking hate the zombie apocalypse.

  ‘Stiffen up Chris!’ Jack shouted.

  I lifted my head to look back at him, really wanting to make an erection joke. ‘What the fuck are we doing?’ I asked.

  Gee just stared back at me. Jack nodded, fear in his wide eyes.

  ‘Ready?’ Gee called out.

  No, I’m really fucking not ready.

  ‘Yeah go on then,’ I muttered.

  They started to slowly push me. I was soon edging out and over the fucking zombies.

  Fucking hell. I should have done a lot more core strength exercises.

  Only my legs below my knees were resting on the container, held down by Gee and Jack. The rest of me was hanging above the dead. My knees gave way slightly, only for a split second, but enough so my head lowered to brush against the reaching dead hands. I quickly straightened up as much as I could. My stomach and thigh muscles felt like they were trying to tear their way out through my skin.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck, fucketty fuck. Hurry the fuck up Steve. I can’t hold out for much longer.

  I arched my neck and looked back towards Steve. Our eyes met, and I immediately knew he wasn’t going to make it. From what I could see of his body through the zombies tearing and biting him, he was a mess, a terrible bloody mess. Large sections of him were missing and there was blood everywhere, splattered up onto his neck and face. I had to swallow back the impulse to be sick, my eyes were glistening at the horrific sight.

  How the actual fuck is he still conscious?

  He mouthed the words, ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘No Steve!’ I shouted, stretching my arms out towards him. ‘Just one more push and that’s it.’

  He was only a couple of feet away. He could probably fall forwards and pass me the boy.

  ‘Come on mate,’ I shouted. ‘You can do it. You need to pass me Max.’

  I saw the fight reappear in Steve’s eyes. With a roar I never imagined could come out of someone so close to death, he reached forwards and placed the kid in my hands.

  As easy as fucking that.

  However, the extra weight of the boy was a bit of a shock. I wasn’t expecting it.

  Because I’m a fucking idiot.

  I dropped down into the swarm. The moment I felt the dead beneath me, I was dragged over the top of them, repeatedly banging the back of my head on the hard skulls of the zombies. My arse and back were slammed into the edge of the container before I was heaved up onto the roof. I had at least managed to keep Max away from the grasping hands and biting teeth.

  ‘Steven!’ Pete was shouting. ‘Get up. Get back up. Please Steve!’

  ‘Please Steve!’ Theo cried out.

  I turned around after Sandra had taken Max from my hands. Steve was being dragged under by the swarm. His arms were still raised, and his eyes stared upwards, like he was watching the fireworks. I couldn’t hear if he was making any noise over the shouts and screams coming from the people around me. After climbing to my feet, Gee patted me on the back and handed me my baseball bat. I looked down at the blood splattered Smasher in my hands, and then gazed at the scene around us. The Rodriguez family were all crouched down at the edge of the container, their hands outstretched towards the place Steve had once been standing.

  The loudest so far of the fireworks exploded very close to us, showering the container with multi-coloured sparks, causing everyone to flinch and duck down.

  Scary Spice and Mel B were belting out their part of Wannabe.

  Jack was suddenly forced to take two steps to his left, as a square hatch in the roof of the container was pushed upwards. When it was opened about six inches a metal chain was pulled taught, meaning the hatch couldn’t be opened any further. The top half of a person’s head filled the space below. Two eyes darted around, trying to look at us all.

  ‘Place your guns down on the roof,’ the container dweller ordered. ‘If you keep your guns, you’re not coming in. If you threaten
me with the guns, you’re not coming in. If you shoot me, you’re definitely not coming in.’

  Three metallic clangs rang out amongst the sound of fireworks as Gee, Michael and Shannon dropped their guns onto the roof.

  Wannabe finished and Barbie Girl, by Aqua started playing.

  I looked to Jack and said, ‘We need to get in this container. It might be soundproofed.’

  The Rodriguez family were still staring into the zombie swarm, maybe willing Steve to stand back up.

  ‘No guns!’ the container man shouted.

  Looking around at Jack, Michael, Shannon and Gee, I hoped one of them would tell the Rodriguez’s we had to go. It looked like nobody was willing to say anything, so I stepped forward and opened my mouth to speak. Thankfully, Ali stopped me by standing up. She dropped her gun to the roof, and said, ‘Come on, we need to go.’

  None of her family members responded.

  ‘Sandra, Pete, Theo,’ she said. ‘Steve is gone. We need to get the kids to safety.’

  The mention of the kids seemed to get through to Sandra. She stood up and angrily threw her gun into the zombies below us.

  ‘Pete, you look after Seth,’ she said, wiping her face and gently guiding her son towards Pete. ‘Theo, you’ve got Jonah. I’ve got Max. Alison is right. We need to take care of the children.’

  With that, Pete and Theo slowly stood up and turned to face Sandra.

  ‘Right,’ Shannon said to the roof hatch. ‘That’s all of our guns.’

  ‘If you’re concealing we’ll find it,’ the voice from under the hatch called out. ‘Count to ten before opening the hatch, then climb down.’

  The head dropped out of sight, and the hatch was closed.

  One of the boys started to count, beginning at one.

  ‘Good boy Jonah,’ Sandra said, smiling down at her son, tears staining her face.

  ‘What do you think?’ Shannon asked Michael.

  ‘Not much choice,’ he replied, gesturing to the masses of zombies surrounding us.

  ‘Seven…eight…nine…ten,’ Jonah finished.

  ‘Well,’ Jack whispered to me. ‘Age before beauty. Down you go.’

  I bent over and managed to prise the hatch up using my fingertips. The guy inside must have unhooked the chain, because it opened all the way and came to rest on the roof. I peered into the dimly lit container. I could hear some kind of engine rattling away from inside. Flickering lights came from within, like candle light.

  Anything’s better than staying out here and listening to Barbie Girl.

  I placed my hands on either side of the hatch, and lowered my legs in, eventually finding the metal rungs of a ladder. After grabbing my baseball bat, I climbed down into the container. Half way down I noticed a large rectangular hole in the floor. Inside the hole were wooden boards lying on the bottom. My feet reached the floor and I turned around.

  Chapter 7: Zombies Don’t Hide

  Orange flickering lights illuminated two men sat on plastic chairs. The one on the left was pointing a rifle at me. The guy on the right shone a torch towards the ground at my feet. A small wooden coffee table sat in front of them, three large candles burned brightly in the middle of the table. A chess board sat on the edge of the table closest to the two men, the positions of the pieces showing we had disturbed their game. The music from outside was at least muffled by the generator in the back corner, a pipe ran from the back of it into a hole high up on the wall of the container.

  ‘Step over to your right so Martin here can do a quick body search,’ the guy with the rifle said.

  Martin stood up and gestured for me to step towards him. I moved closer and the small, bizarrely well groomed man gave me a very brisk, but thorough frisking.

  ‘Stand over there fella,’ Martin said to me, pointing to the wall closest to us.

  ‘I’m okay with the axe and the baseball bat then?’ I asked him.

  ‘Just looking for guns.’ He looked over my shoulder. ‘You, you’re next.’

  I turned to see Jack had joined me. He then stood in front of Martin and was searched.

  One by one, everyone climbed down and stepped in front of Martin. All the while the other guy sat on his little plastic chair, instructing the newcomers, and keeping his rifle aimed at us all.

  Once everyone was in and searched, we were told to line up against the wall, facing Martin and his rifle wielding friend.

  The guy with the rifle spoke up, ‘I’m Elliot. This is Martin.’ He pointed his thumb at Martin, now sat next to him again.

  ‘Hi Elliot,’ Shannon said angrily. ‘Care to explain what the fuck all this is?’

  Jack and I both stared at her. I’d never seen Shannon talk like that before. Her tone caught me by surprise.

  ‘This,’ Elliot said, ignoring Shannon’s aggression, and gesturing with an open hand to our surroundings, ‘Is the entrance to one of the refugee camps.’

  ‘The what camps?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Refugee camps,’ Elliot replied. ‘Where us, the refugees presently live.’

  ‘Nine adults and three kids,’ Martin remarked. ‘We ain’t had this many come in for a while. We thought that was it.’

  ‘What the fuck are you on about?’ I asked.

  Michael stepped forward, his hands in front of him in a calming gesture. ‘Please, could you explain everything to us? What is happening at the border?’

  ‘The border is now a wall,’ Elliot said, with a look of resignation on his face. ‘Then there is a couple hundred feet of no man’s land. Then we’ve got a fence, with the camp, or Blaine as it was once called, on the other side of that. Then you’ve got two more fences keeping the dead out.’

  ‘So the Canadians aren’t letting us in?’ Shannon asked.

  ‘Yeah they are,’ Elliot replied. ‘But only a few hundred a week, at least that many from our camp.’

  ‘How many camps are there?’ Jack asked.

  Elliot tilted his head slightly. ‘Don’t know.’

  ‘And there is a wall along the entire border?’ Michael asked.

  Elliot paused and looked up to the ceiling. ‘Don’t know for sure, but I think probably not.’

  ‘How many people are in the camp?’ Shannon asked. ‘How do you decide who crosses into Canada? Why are we in a shipping container in the middle of a field?’

  Before Elliot could answer, I added, ‘And why are you setting off fireworks? Who is actually setting them off, and why are you playing shit nineties music?’

  Again, Elliot paused for a few moments. ‘First question, don’t know. Second question, I don’t decide. You get a number when you enter the camp. Third question, like I said before, this is the entrance to our camp. There are too many of the dead at the outer fence. And what were your questions?’ he asked, looking at me. ‘Ah yes,’ he said, remembering. ‘Martin usually sets the fireworks off. We have those big display packs, and stagger them so they go off at different times. The fireworks, and in my opinion, the very enjoyable nineties music, are distractions for the Fencers and Zombie Patrol. Gives them time to shore up the outer fence and kill the zombies that made it through to the inner fence.’

  I raised my hand up into the air. ‘I forgot what Shannon’s questions were.’

  ‘Not to worry,’ Elliot said, rising to his feet. ‘That hole over there,’ he said, pointing to the hole with the wooden floor I’d noticed earlier, ‘Is the tunnel that leads to the camp. Well actually, it leads to Blaine High School, where you’ll spend twenty four hours. Just to make sure you’re not one of the running dead.’

  I looked into the dark hole. ‘You fucking what?’ I muttered.

  ‘After twenty four hours,’ Elliot continued, ignoring me. ‘If you’re still breathing and talking like a normal human being, you’ll enter the camp and get your number and job.’

  ‘Number and job? Gee asked. ‘What is this shit?’

  ‘Don’t worry big guy,’ Elliot said. ‘The sheriff will explain it better than me. We just play the music, set off the
fireworks, and shepherd refugees through the tunnel.’ He stepped towards the tunnel entrance before turning back to us. ‘So, who wants to go first? It’s two at a time.’ He looked down at the kids and grinned. ‘Maybe two and a half,’ he added.

  ‘Why aren’t you two wearing masks if you need a quarantine period?’ Shannon asked them.

  ‘Me and my good friend Martin here,’ Elliot said, slapping Martin on the back. His good friend didn’t look too happy with the physical contact. ‘We don’t think the virus is around anymore. But it’s not up to us if we have a quarantine policy or not.’

  Our group all exchanged glances in silence. The Rodriguez family definitely looked in shock. Their glassy eyes seemed to look right through me.

  ‘I’ll go last,’ I said. ‘Had a bad experience in a hole. Just need to psyche myself up.’

  ‘Okay. Chris and I go last,’ Jack said.

  Michael and Shannon volunteered to go first. Nobody else seemed ready to make any decisions.

  ‘Lay on your backs, side by side,’ Martin said. ‘Then one of you pulls on this rope.’ He leaned into the hole and grabbed a rope lying on the wooden boards.

  ‘It’s a straight line all the way,’ Elliot added. ‘The trolley is on tracks so it’s real easy.’

  ‘Is it safe?’ Shannon asked, bending down on her hands and knees at the edge of the hole, trying to look into the tunnel.

  ‘No accidents yet,’ Elliot replied. ‘It’s a former sewage pipe so it does stink.’

  ‘Great,’ I said. ‘Fucking Shawshank Redemption.’

  ‘There ain’t no shit to crawl through,’ Martin said. ‘All been cleared out.’

  Elliot shook his head. ‘Can’t get rid of the stink though.’

  ‘Excellent,’ Michael said, as he stepped down onto the trolley. ‘How long does it take?’

  ‘It’s about two miles, so if–,’ Martin started.

  ‘Two fucking miles?’ I exclaimed.

  ‘Don’t worry. You can pick up a fair bit of speed down there. Me and Elliot can do it in twenty minutes.’

  ‘Holy fucking shit,’ I said, before turning to pace up and down.