by Henson, Lynn
“Well, it’s kind of funny,” Blake disagreed. “Ever see that movie Goonies? There’s this scene in the beginning that’s kind of-”
The left side of the driver’s face exploded, spraying out bone and bits of flesh. There was a half second where the gunner turned to look in the direction of the gunshot only to have his head explode as well. The gunner crumpled forward smearing blood in a vertical streak down to the ground. They stared in horror as Kim came into view and with obvious disgust, prodded the corpse with the tip of her rifle, trying to get it out of the way so she could open the door. Tiffany pushed the door open which shoved the body to one side. “Thanks,” Kim said as she shouldered her rifle on her back and came inside followed by Lisa. Kim gave Tiffany a hug as they came in. “It’s great to see you guys,” Tiffany said happily.
“Likewise!” Kim replied with an abundance of peppiness.
“What are you doing here?” Blake asked, smiling.
“Looking for you guys,” Kim told him as she sat down on an empty bed and lay her rifle down next to her. “We got worried when they ordered the evacuation and we didn’t see you at the barracks. Where’s Bree?”
As if on cue, Bree walked into the room and stopped in her tracks, trying to figure out what had happened.
“You picked a hell of a time to take a shit,” he informed her.
Bree shrugged innocently. “I thought everything was under control.” She walked over to Kim and sat next to her, putting her arm around her shoulders.
Tiffany walked slowly over to where Nurse Stodge was lying on the bed, now sleeping. “How is she, doctor?” she asked him.
“Under any other circumstances, I’d say she’s going to be fine,” Clemens said wearily. “But based on what I’ve heard about the disease is that getting bitten is a death sentence.”
“Uhhh...” Blake replied.
“Perhaps she won’t though,” Clemens said trying to sound optimistic. “I’ve thoroughly cleaned and sanitized her wounds and I’ve given her antibiotics. That may be enough to prevent contamination. We don’t really know anything about this disease.”
“You don’t sound too confident, doctor,” Kim pointed out.
“I’m not,” he admitted. “But despite the horrible nature of the symptoms, eventually we will learn how to beat this. It’s only a matter of time. Now if some of you young people could help me get the bodies of those two soldiers in here, I’ll try to learn more about what we’re dealing with.”
When no one moved immediately, Blake heaved himself to his feet and walked outside. The gunner was still shoved to one side and had reassuringly not moved at all. He tried not to look at the exit wounds on what had been the soldier’s head as he sat the guy up, put his arms around his waist and started waddling backward, dragging him towards the door. “I’ll hold the door,” Tiffany said from behind him.
“Thanks,” he replied gratefully as he maneuvered the body inside. At the doctor’s prompting, he moved the body to one of the beds in the corner of the room, far from where everyone had positioned themselves and together, they lifted the body on top of it. He turned around to prepare for another trip and saw Tiffany standing next to the adjacent bed, pulling the body of the driver up on top of it by his boot. Blake helped her arrange him so that he didn’t look like he fell out of the sky and crash landed on the bed. Clemens thanked them and started examining the gunner. Blake and Tiffany walked back to where the rest of the girls were hanging around and sat down on a nearby bed. Nurse Stodge moaned a little bit in her sleep. “What are you guys talking about?” Blake asked them.
“The evacuation,” Kim told him.
Blake sighed. “Question is: Do we go with everyone else?”
“Nope,” Kim replied.
“Don’t you think there’s safety in numbers?” he asked.
“I think that unit they want to meet up with is gone,” Kim guessed. “I think the military guys will find that out first since they’re flying in helicopters and move to their next guess which will leave anyone on the ground further and further behind. So, no, I don’t think we should chase after some stupid fantasy.”
“Well, you’re almost certainly right. But if we don’t go with the caravan then where do we go?” Blake thought aloud.
“Well...” Kim looked down, uncertain.
“I think that I’d rather push on and try to find someplace safe,” Tiffany chimed in. “There must be someplace that hasn’t been affected.”
“If there are places like that, I don’t think they’re going to invite us in,” Bree disagreed. “Why risk it?”
“She’s right,” Lisa agreed, “Places like that might even be worse because you’ll have the uninfected and the infected both trying to get in.”
“So we’re back to finding someplace to lay low and hope things go back to normal?” Kim asked dubiously.
“But we’re all in agreement that trying to meet up with that unit is a bad idea?” Blake asked.
Everyone nodded slowly.
“Well then, how about this? We travel with the caravan for now, and when we decide to go our own way, we leave,” Blake suggested.
“I like that,” Tiffany agreed immediately.
“It would seem to be our best option,” Lisa confirmed.
“Just don’t get too attached to those people we’re riding with,” Kim warned, “When we decide to leave, we leave.”
“Agreed,” Blake nodded.
Doctor Clemens walked over to the group, drying his hands with a paper towel. He sat on the bed next to Blake and looked like he had something to say. “Find anything doctor?” Blake prompted him.
Clemens shook his head, “All of the symptoms of the disease manifested. The weird part is that they have an additional symptom that I haven’t seen before.”
“Additional symptom?” Lisa asked nervously. “Is the virus mutating?”
Clemens shook his head again, “I don’t think so. Both of the soldiers have nasty looking blisters on their face and neck. I think it was caused by some kind of foreign agent.”
“Foreign agent? You mean like Russians?!” Tiffany gasped.
“Uh. No,” Clemens clarified, “If I had to guess, I’d say something like mustard gas.”
“From like World War One?” Blake asked.
“Yes,” Clemens answered. “But it doesn’t make any sense. There’s no mustard gas at this base. And if they decided to use it, I’m sure they would’ve given everyone at risk of exposure the proper protection.”
“Are we at risk as well?” Bree asked.
“Well, probably. But I imagine if you were exposed, you’d be in agony by now,” Clemens replied thoughtfully. “Let me know if you develop problems with your respiratory system, get blisters, fever, or diarrhea.” He walked back over to check on Nurse Stodge.
“We better get back to the barracks,” Kim suggested. “We have to be ready soon if we’re leaving with the caravan.”
Everyone showed their agreement by standing up and heading for the door. “See ya later doc,” Tiffany called out. He glanced at them and waved.
fifty-four
They returned to the barracks in short order and rushed to get everything ready to depart. Blake was able to quickly pack his bag from the room he shared with Tiffany because he didn’t have much stuff. He loaded his pack into an army transport truck that someone told him was called a “5 ton” and then spent the rest of the time helping to load up the caravan vehicles with supplies. He’d just finished with a box of canned peaches when he heard yelling from close by followed by a smattering of weapons fire. He climbed out of the truck, quickly found the people making all of the noise, and looked where they were looking.
A large number of zombies were marching towards them from the east, where the last defensive line was. A few of the people were lining up and sending bullets at the approaching undead, but most of the others had stopped what they were doing to watch.
“COME ON! EVERYONE GET IN A CAR! IT’S TIME TO GO!!” he wa
s surprised to hear himself yell.
That did have the desired effect though and people started running for their vehicles. Blake trotted over to his truck, recovered his assault rifle and began to look for the people in his group. Bree and Kim found him moments later. “Good timing,” he nodded, “Ready to go?”
“We are,” Bree confirmed. “Lisa should be on her way- Oh, she’s here.”
Lisa dodged past a couple of people running to their car and skidded to a stop in front of them looking harried. “I’ve got everything,” she confirmed, “Time to go?”
“I just need to find Tiffany and we can go!” Blake headed off in the direction of the barracks entrance.
“Hurry!” Kim yelled after him.
Blake had to push his way through the last flood of people coming out of the barracks. After getting roughly jostled, he pushed through the entrance and started looking around. Luckily, when he checked the dining room, she was in there walking towards him, her arm around an old lady.
“Tiffany! What are you doing? We gotta get going!”
“Oh Blake, I couldn’t just leave her. She can barely walk,” she told him sadly.
He went to her side as she gently supported the old woman who slowly walked towards the exit. After about thirty seconds of shadowing them, he couldn’t take it anymore. “We don’t have time for this! We wait any longer and we’ll be trapped!” he told her impatiently.
“I can’t leave her!” she protested.
“Pick her up and let’s go!” he ordered.
“What? I-”
“Just do it!” he screamed.
Tiffany effortlessly scooped the old lady up in her arms which surprised her. “Wow! I-”
“Run!” he interrupted as he pushed on her back to try to get her to move.
She finally started running, and he followed her outside.
“M-m-m-my family,” the old woman stuttered because of the running, “W-W-W-Where’s my family?”
“Aw! Fuck me!” Blake complained.
Some of the vehicles were already heading away from the approaching zombies, but there were still several that were frantically being loaded up. People were running around, with some deciding to drop whatever crap they were carrying on the ground as the zombies got closer and closer. “Grandma!” he heard a child’s voice from a ways behind him. They stopped and headed in that direction where a boy and his mother were waving desperately at them.
“She belongs to you? Where’s your car?” Blake asked making no attempt to hide that they were in a hurry. The woman gestured at a large, beat up pickup that had zombies thumping on the passenger side window. Blake unslung his rifle and started dropping the zombies that were in the general vicinity of the pickup. The driver of the vehicle saw them and started driving in their direction. Tiffany helped loaded the old woman into the back seat where a baby in a car seat sat, next to a little girl. Blake continued to carefully drop zombie after zombie until the family had all gotten inside. “Room in the back.” the young father thumbed at the rear of the pickup.
“We’re good, thanks,” Blake shook his head. “Get going!”
He needed no further urging and took off after the other vehicles. Blake grabbed Tiffany by the hand and ran for his transport truck. As they ran, he looked around to quickly take stock of the situation. Most of the cars were gone, any that remained were still not in immediate danger and looked like they’d be ready to roll out in moments. This also meant that anyone who had been covering their retreat had left leaving the zombies unchecked. He opened the door and let Tiffany in first, before scrambling inside after her. He turned the key in the ignition and the engine rumbled to life. He flashed his lights a couple times at Bree who immediately started moving after the caravan. Blake eased the truck after her, taking a look back at the barracks. He was a little surprised to see that the doors had been secured and there was some movement in the windows. “Some people are staying?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yeah,” Tiffany confirmed, looking back at the building. “Some people decided they were better off here, especially since a lot of people left.”
“More resources,” he realized. “They’re just going to wait it out.”
“I hope they’re ok.”
They drove out of the ammunition depot and Blake noted just how quiet it had become. Gunfire, explosions, the moaning of the damned, all gone with nothing but the sound of the engine. “This is bad. We’ve had zero rest in the last- I’m not even sure how long it’s been. Forget about zombies, I’m going to fall asleep driving,” he predicted.
“Hrrrhmm.”
He glanced over and Tiffany had already conked out, head tilted back and mouth open.
“I’m definitely going to make you drive when you wake up.”
fifty-five
They’d only gone for about thirty minutes when the hazard lights of the vehicles up ahead came on. Bree activated hers as well, so Blake copied her. Then after a minute the entire caravan slowed and stopped. “Great. Now what?” Blake put the truck into park and glanced at the still sleeping girl to his right.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he advised and quietly got out of the truck, shutting the door behind him. He heard movement from behind him and immediately regretted not bringing his rifle with him.
The old black man named Herbie greeted him in a deep voice. “Hey.”
“I didn’t know we had passengers,” he admitted, offering his hand which Herbie shook. “Cammy back there too, I’d think? Anyone else?”
Herbie nodded. “Couple.”
“Well, let’s go find out what’s what,” Blake suggested, walking towards the front of the caravan. They jogged to catch up to Bree and Kim who had already gotten out and were walking towards the front. “I don’t suppose either of you knows why we’ve stopped?”
“Probably nothing good,” Kim guessed.
They walked by fifteen vehicles of assorted types on the way to the front. People had gotten out and were walking up to see what was going on as well. What else is there to do? When they got there, he saw an SUV oriented in the direction they had come from had stopped next to the lead vehicle and a group of people was having a discussion.
“You can’t continue up this highway. There are a huge number of zombies heading in this direction,” he heard a familiar voice in a reasonable tone.
“Define huge,” came the stubborn reply from a tall older man.
“Do we have to spell it out for you?” Came a different, also familiar voice. “Huge, like too many to fucking count. Huge, like oh fuck turn the fucking car around or we’re going to fucking die huge.”
“I don’t really appreciate your tone,” The old guy complained after a moment.
“You can keep going that way if you want. I’m not your mother,” came the annoyed reply.
“He’s correct though in saying that there are a large amount of zombies coming this way, and in our case, we felt there was no way to continue driving in that direction without extreme risk,” the other guy calmly explained. “We just wanted to warn you and see what we could find out about where you’ve come from.”
“Carrey? Kyle?” Blake realized. The brothers looked up at his voice and he waved his hand in greeting.
“Blake! Kim and Bree!” Carrey saw and walked over to them shaking their hands in turn.
“Yo,” Kyle nodded at them.
“What happened to you guys?” Blake wanted to know.
“Later. Right now we should head back the way you came. And if you have any sway over these people, I’d hope you could convince them as well,” Carrey advised grimly.
“They’ll find out by themselves if they keep going,” Kyle muttered darkly. “Let’s just go.”
“You- you trust these guys?” the old guy asked Blake.
“Yes,” Blake answered immediately, “If he says there’s an impassable group of zombies walking towards us, you should believe him.”
“But if we head back, we’d be going away from where we’re
supposed to be meeting the Colonel and his men,” a past her prime woman standing next to the old guy pointed out.
“We need a detour. We should head away from the new group and figure out how to get where we need to be,” the old guy decided.
“Fine. Sounds good,” Kyle turned to walk back to their beat-up SUV, exasperated.
Carrey nodded diplomatically at everyone before moving closer to Blake and the sisters. Everyone else was meandering back to their rides, looking a little more disheartened than when they’d left the base, not long ago.
“Let’s walk you back to your car,” Carrey suggested. “Catch me up on what’s been going on, if you would?”
Blake filled him in on what had happened since they had gotten separated, which was mainly about their brief respite at the ammunition depot followed by their failed defense and evacuation.
“What’s your plan now? Sticking with these people and a rendezvous with the depot commander?”
“For now,” Kim shrugged. “We’re not convinced that the army guys plan is realistic, but without a better plan of our own we’re going along with it until a better opportunity presents itself.”
“That does sound reasonable,” Carrey agreed, “We’ll stick with you guys.”
They had almost reached their car when a minivan lurched at them suddenly, scaring them enough that they tried to jump aside. The minivan stopped though and honked at them.
“Get out of the way!” yelled someone with a strong Asian accent.
Blake looked closer inside the van, suspicious. “What the fuck? Gao? Where the hell have you been?”