by Henson, Lynn
“Alright, fine,” she conceded. “Don’t know if that will apply to Gao though. He’s an asshole.”
“Wouldn’t want to break up the couple.”
“She’d be better off. So here’s the plan, we’re going to all sneak out the back and meet up at Bree’s car. We all cram in and get the heck out of here.”
“Ok,” he replied, then more to himself, “Ok. We can do this.”
“Ah! Fuck!” Angel yelled from the bedroom. Blake and Kim tensed up immediately looking in that direction while Lisa whimpered and curled up into a ball. Blake walked cautiously over to look into the bedroom only to get body slammed by Angel who had sprinted out of the room. The wind was knocked out of him, and Angel renewed her cursing as she untangled herself from Blake. He looked in horror at the bedroom and saw that Jed had risen from the bed and was crawling towards them on his hands and knees, his broken leg dragged behind him uselessly. He was growling unintelligibly and still sounded wet and phlegmy. “Jed! Get a fucking grip man!” Angel yelled at him. Jed paid no heed and continued his determined crawl towards them. Angel got to her feet and went to Jed’s side, trying to make him see reason.
“Jed! Baby? Stop it! You’re not well!” she yelled desperately, tears streaming from her eyes.
“No! He’s gone!” Blake yelled at her as he used the wall to push himself back up to a standing position.
“Jed!” she screamed, and grabbed him by the shoulders and slapping him across the face for all she was worth. Jed hardly registered the impact and grabbed her shoulders which caused him to collapse on top of Angel pinning her to the floor with his body weight. Blake reached forward, grabbed her arm and tried to pull her free, but he only succeeded in dragging both of them across the floor a little bit. He watched helplessly as Angel squirmed uselessly inside of Jed’s iron grip and he leaned forward to bite into her face.
There was a blur of motion above him and Bob landed on the floor in front of Jed and Angel, sliding to a halt with his back arched, hissing and meowing angrily. Jed recoiled and let go of Angel who slid back towards Blake on her back, legs kicking wildly on the floor, trying to find purchase. The cat continued to meow furiously at Jed who had stopped moving back and maintained his distance from the angry feline.
“Come on! Time to get out of here!” Kim yelled at him. He turned to look over at her and she was trying to convince a panic-stricken Lisa to head out into the backyard.
“No! No! No! No!” Lisa screamed. “That THING is still out there!”
Kim slapped her and Lisa stopped flailing. “We’re going to die if we stay here! Now get your head straight, because we gotta go!”
Blake started to make for the back door then slid to a halt. He ran behind Jed who was completely focused on Bob and ran into the guest bedroom. After a few agonizing seconds, he saw what he was looking for. He grabbed his pack and the bag that Kim had put the medical supplies in then ran back out. Tiffany had just come down the stairs which saved him the trouble of going up to get her. He followed her halfway to the back door and paused.
“Angel!” he yelled at her, her head snapped to his face, eyes wide open. “He’s gone! We have to leave! Now!” He went out as he put his pack on and shouldered the other bag as best as he could. The girls had run to the wall and Kim and Tiffany were trying to help a blubbering Lisa over it. Gary was halfway across the yard, slowly pursuing them. He gave Gary as little berth as he dared and sprinted past him to where the girls were. He got his hand under Lisa’s thigh and with everyone working together, managed to vault her over the wall. She screamed in surprise and continued to cry on the other side. Kim jumped up and pulled herself over the wall with Tiffany going over half a beat behind her. He was about to do the same when he felt a weight on his shoulder. He yelped and flailed sideways trying to distance himself from Gary, and then realized that it was Bob who had jumped to his shoulder using him as a stepping stone to get to the top of the wall. Gary lumbered closer, still a few seconds from reaching him. “Fucking cat,” he muttered as he slung the bag over the wall and then climbed after it. He landed on the other side, recovering the meds and getting his bearings. Kim and Tiffany were helping Lisa across the dried up field. Lisa still hadn’t gotten it together judging by all the stumbling and falling she was doing. Bob looked up at him as he sat on the ground and meowed at him.
“You scared the shit out of me you little jerk,” he said to Bob who continued to stare at him, tail twitching in interest. He ran after the two girls. He spared a glance back at Bob who was easily keeping pace with him, tail high. They reached the wall behind the rundown house where Bree was waiting for them at the same time the girls did. Everyone grabbed Lisa and got ready to heave her over again.
“Ok! Ok!” Lisa protested, “Just don’t throw me over the wall again!” They gently gave her a boost and she climbed to the top of the wall and threw her legs over on the other side so that she could gently drop down. Kim followed after her gracefully, apparently having gotten plenty of practice. Blake tossed the bag over again and this time picked up Bob and put him on top of the wall. He scaled the wall and dropped over to the other side. He had recovered the bag again when he heard a thump to his left. Tiffany got up from her crouched position and gave him a bone crushing hug.
They jogged the rest of the way to where the car was waiting with the hatchback and doors open. Lisa was already in the back seat. Blake put the bag in the trunk and then shrugged his backpack off, adding it on top of all their stuff. “I’ll be Lucky Pierre,” he told Tiffany and got in the back seat to sit in the middle.
“Lucky who?” Tiffany said taking the last seat in the back. Bob jumped in and settled into Blake’s lap. There was a quiet thud as the hatchback was closed and then Kim and Bree came around to their respective sides and pushed the front seats back into position. They closed the doors and the car engine purred to life. As they pulled away, Blake watched the parked motorcycle recede into the distance and wondered if Angel had run or had stayed to share Jed’s fate.
forty-five
It was still zombie rush hour in Tonopah.
Bree’s face was set in grim determination as she sought out gaps in between the shambling pedestrians. There were so many that she had to bring the car to a dead stop twice and put it into reverse because the path she’d seen closed up faster than she could get through it. They were heading north through the town as best as they could, but being diverted down side streets to avoid the larger groups of undead often sent them in the wrong direction of where they were trying to go. Bree had grunted that she vaguely remembered what the map looked like and the little compass that floated in a liquid filled plastic sphere that was suction cupped to the top of the dash seemed to confirm that for the most part they were headed in the correct direction. Blake tried to contact the twins and the couple on the walkie-talkie at regular intervals but had no luck. They had just finished another detour through a residential area and were coming up on the main street when a familiar minivan drove from the right side of the street they were approaching and slammed directly into a small group of zombies. One of the zombies disappeared under the bottom of the vehicle, another was winged and spun crazily around before falling to the ground. The other three got knocked back, flying briefly in different directions before skidding to a halt at some distance away as determined by force and gravity. Bree laid into her horn and Blake activated his walkie again. “Doris? Gao? We just saw you! We’re to your left! Hey!” he said into the device excitedly.
The minivan screeched and veered wildly to the left. Bree slowed the car down as the minivan slid a little into another group of zombies including one of the unluckier ones that had already been hit, knocking the bunch of them off their feet. Blake could have sworn that he saw another one tumble out from under the van and roll into the other victims. The front of the van had a new assortment of dents and splatter marks covering the front. One particularly large chunk of zombie now decorated the center part of the windshield and hood. The miniv
an accelerated wildly towards them causing even Bree to throw the stick into reverse when it veered, pulling alongside them braking hard. The driver’s window rolled down and to Blake’s shock, Doris was the one in the driver’s seat.
“Hi guys,” she greeted them.
“What the fu-” Kim began to ask when Bree cut her off. “Later,” she declared solemnly. “Follow us.”
Doris nodded and rolled the window back up. Bree pulled forward and had to make an immediate right to avoid the zombies they’d attracted. She deliberately drove slower than normal so that Doris had time to turn around and follow after her. They continued their slow progress driving north which was further hampered by having to try to anticipate a route through the zombies for two cars. Blake noticed that Bree glanced in the rear view mirror often and sometimes inhaled sharply. He felt optimistic that they might be able to find Kyle and Carrey and he continued to try to radio them at regular intervals. After about thirty minutes Blake figured out that if Bree inhaled after checking in the mirror, it was because the minivan had clipped a zombie. Seems like Doris doesn’t mind smacking into them. After another fifteen minutes of backtracking, detours, driving on sidewalks, and cutting through parking lots, the buildings started to become less frequent. We’re leaving town. I guess settling down here wasn’t meant to be. Lisa had fallen into a fitful sleep, while Tiffany was just trying to stay calm. Kim watched the road and Bree attentively. Bob had decided that Blake’s lap was too warm for his taste and wandered into the trunk to find someplace to lay down.
Because they’d cleared the town and were back on the highway, this left them little in the way of options to dodge zombies. Bree had stopped looking back in the mirror and was entirely focused on getting through the throngs without touching anything. After another ten minutes or so they had cleared the last of the zombies. Bree sat up a little straighter as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Blake looked ahead in the windshield and saw empty open roads ahead.
“We must’ve gotten ahead of the pack,” he thought out loud.
“That’s a relief,” Kim said, glancing back at him. “We can finally relax a little.”
“No relaxing,” Bree disagreed.
“Ugh. I mean drive straight,” Kim replied, exasperated.
“Where are we going?” Bree asked.
“Keep following the highway?” Blake suggested, “There must be something this way.”
“Yeah. Let’s do that,” Bree agreed.
“This zombie shit must’ve missed some place somewhere,” Kim said hopefully.
They drove on, the empty road stretching ahead of them. The sun began to set, softening the environment with the promise of a reprieve from the heat. Blake had stopped trying to get in touch with the twins an hour ago rationalizing that they were probably out of range. Lisa was sleeping more soundly now and the grimace on her face was less severe. Blake couldn’t help but stare around the torn edges of her clothing that would’ve made her appearance indecent except for her purple bra that stoically held everything in place. Tiffany had given up on staying awake about twenty miles ago and slept with her head at an uncomfortable angle, mouth gaping open like she was visiting the dentist. With no one talking, Blake was also finding it difficult to remain awake and was drifting in and out of sleep until he perceived a decrease in their speed. He came awake all at once and looked forward to see why they were slowing down. There was something in front of them, blocking the road. Bree brought the car slowly to a halt in front of a barricade that ran from one side of the road to the other. It was made up of concrete barriers, barbed wire, and metallic obstacles that Blake knew were called “Dragon’s Teeth”. From far away when he first saw it, it looked impassable and he’d guessed that going around it would require them to drive off road, but right in front of it, the obstacles were spaced out far enough apart as to allow a car to pass through the obstacles as long as the driver was careful.
“Should we drive through?” Bree asked uncertainly.
“Why wouldn’t we? I could be mistaken, but there looks like there’s enough room to get past it,” Blake replied.
“There’s room to drive through,” Bree confirmed.
“That’s not the issue,” Kim said understanding. “The issue is if we even want to continue.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Blake asked as if it was obvious. “We either go forward or we go back. We know what’s behind us.”
“Whoever set up these barricades might not want visitors though,” Kim pointed out.
“I don’t get that impression at all,” Blake countered. “I don’t see any signs saying ‘Turn back!’ or “Keep Out!’, and they obviously left a path through the road for cars to continue. I have to think that this barricade is meant for the zombies.”
Kim nodded, considering that.
“And we’re not going back. That’s not going to happen,” Bree added.
“We go through then,” Kim said, looking worried. “I just hope that you’re right about the motives of the people who put all this stuff here.”
“I’m going to radio Doris and Gao to tell them we’re going forward,” Blake said, turning the walkie-talkie back on. “Doris? Gao? We’re going forward, ok?”
He paused to wait for a reply. When none came, he looked back towards the minivan. They were looking forward at the car and appeared to be talking to each other. He repeated the message looking back at them, and they didn’t react at all. “Can you let me out? I’ll go back there. In fact, I can just ride with them for a while.” Kim opened the door and moved the seat forward. Blake prodded Tiffany awake and after taking a few seconds to update herself to the current situation, groggily exited the vehicle with Blake following after her. Tiffany got back in along with Kim and he walked the short distance back to the minivan. He walked up to the passenger side window which Gao had rolled down.
“What the hell? Why didn’t you reply?” Blake asked him.
“Reply to what?” Gao asked, looking somehow annoyed and confused simultaneously.
Blake held the walkie-talkie up. “I’ve been talking to you.”
Gao looked over at Doris, “You have the walkie-talkie?” She shook her head. He looked back at him. “We must have left it at the store.”
“What?” Blake asked, disbelief covering his face.
“Forgot,” Gao shrugged.
Blake pulled the sliding door open and got into a seat behind the passenger seat and leaned forward to look out the front window. “Anyway, whatever. Doris, can you follow Bree? We’re going forward through the barricade.”
“Um. Ok?” she complied nervously.
“What’s wrong?” Blake asked, worried suddenly.
Gao snorted. “She is not a very good driver.”
Blake heard Doris sharply exhale and then, “Shut. Up.” Then she jammed her foot down on the accelerator and the minivan lurched forward after Bree’s car. Bree’s car weaved slowly but deliberately through the small maze of obstacles. She maintained a set speed and every turn was precise. Doris had to brake hard causing Blake to flail his hand around trying to find the handle above and to the right of his head in a failed attempt to regain his balance. He fell between the two seats and was trying to get back up when a sharp turn to the left pushed his body into Gao’s seat. Gao cackled, clearly delighted with Blake’s balance difficulties. This further incensed Doris who turned sharply again and there was a horrible metallic grinding noise on the right side of the car. Blake pushed himself back as he was being thrown in the other direction and landed haphazardly in the seat behind the driver’s seat. Panicked, he grasped desperately at the seatbelt trying to make both of the ends come together so as to end his suffering. Another sudden brake nearly pitched him from his seat again, but he dug his heels into the floor and slammed the seat belt buckle closed. After taking a second to adjust the belt to his girth, he tried to focus on what was happening in front. Doris was taking turns to quickly or too slowly and had a tendency to turn too sharply followed by seve
ral wobbly corrections until the minivans orientation was corrected. Gao in the meantime seemed to have a death grip on his armrest and the handle above his window, but he also had a broad closed mouthed grin and he seemed to be vibrating with barely held in laughter. This vibration increased in strength whenever there was any scraping sound on the left or right side of the minivan. Then, suddenly they were clear of the barricade and Blake watched in relief as Bree’s car straightened out and drove normally down the road. Blake let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in and Gao slowly began to revert back to the sour looking face he generally tended to favor. Doris relaxed considerably after being able to just drive in a straight line again.
“This car is too big,” Doris complained. “We should’ve got something cuter.”
Gao grunted.
“You want to drive for a while?” Doris asked Gao.
“Oh, no. You are doing a good job baby,” Gao praised as he raised his left foot up on to his seat and leaned his right shoulder onto the door, clearly getting ready to enjoy a nap.
“Er... if you like Doris, I can drive for a while,” Blake volunteered.
“You sure?!” she asked eagerly.
“Yeah. I can drive for a bit, just pull over and we’ll switch real fast,” Blake assured her.
She braked a touch too hard which confirmed the physics still behaved the same despite the world ending. She manhandled the shifter into park, threw the door open, and all but leaped out of the minivan. Blake unbuckled and opened the sliding door where Doris was waiting to immediately step up into the van, brushing past him to take the seat that was behind Gao. He let her pass and hopped out of the van, glancing ahead to see that Bree had of course seen the van stop and had pulled over with her hazard lights on. He went around the back of the van and saw a new array of scratches and dings on the sides. The back of the minivan was the only part that hadn’t accumulated any new damage. He pulled himself up into the driver’s seat and saw that shotgun had been vacated. He glanced into the back of the van and saw that Gao and Doris had moved into the very back row of seats looking very affectionate. Gao looked up at him and waved his free hand at him, “Go Jeeves,” he grinned. He shut the door and put the minivan back into drive and accelerated towards Bree who promptly turned off her hazard lights and resumed driving.