An outsider might wonder why Bobby’s death had such an effect on Betty. This might be her first mental breakdown as a teenager, but that wasn’t the entire reason. Bobby had been the only adult who treated both Betty and Matthew with respect as a peer, rather than as a child. He had been a genus with technology, and he fed their enthusiasm by teaching them how the complex systems at the camp worked. Like Montgomery Scott on the Star Ship Enterprise, Bobby had been the ultimate engineer, and he molded the two youngest residents into a viable engineering team who contributed to the group’s survival. All the other adults (except for Natasha) treated them like little kids and wouldn’t let them help with anything important. Bobby appreciated and nurtured Betty’s and Matthew’s talents, giving them both value other people didn’t see. That’s why Betty cried uncontrollably at his demise.
Betty collapsed to her knees as she wept. To her surprise, powerful arms encircled her. In a rare sign of emotion, Natasha knelt beside her and enveloped Betty in her arms. She grabbed on to Natasha like a drowning woman to a life preserver and continued her breakdown. They needed to get moving and Betty wasted time with all her crying, but she needed to let it out before she broke forever. You could only jam down the grief for so long before you exploded, and it all came out here at the side of the road by Bobby’s grave.
“It’s ok, sweetheart. Let it out.” Natasha whispered in her ear. It surprised Betty when Natasha displayed these rare human moments. Most of the time, Natasha operated like a focused machine on a mission. She acted more like a robot than a human most times, but this had kept them alive for the past year.
###
Time passed, but Betty was unsure of how much time because of her hysteria. As the tears ceased, Betty felt the stiffness in her knees and needed to stand and stretch her legs. She shifted her weight to stand, and Natasha loosened her grip on her body. Betty rose to her feet and noticed the sun had passed through its midday zenith. Nightfall would still be a few hours away, but it closed in on them. Helen still slumped on her knees next to Bobby’s body and stared at her hands. She needed to give herself a break, since even an experienced trauma surgeon wouldn’t have been able save Bobby. The losses mounted on Helen’s shoulders, too. She admitted feeling guilty over Tom’s betrayal, but she couldn’t have done anything to prevent it, either.
Betty found renewed strength after her extended crying fit. She spoke to Natasha and Helen.
“We’re not helping Bobby’s legacy by staying here. We need to get moving before anyone else comes along and we all end up dead like him.”
Her words reengaged the Natasha machine and woke up Helen from her funk. Both got to their feet, and they all scanned their surrounds. When the SUV first stopped, Betty noticed the Mexican Restaurant, ice cream shop, and the strip mall. She didn’t see a current use for any of these places, even if she missed ice cream on a scorching summer’s day. Stupid zombies ruined everything.
Natasha pointed behind them and then spoke.
“There’s a landscape supply store. We can use a tractor to bury Bobby. If we’re lucky, we can find a vehicle to continue our trip there too.”
They walked toward the store and found a diesel-powered tractor with a shovel attached to it parked alongside the building. Being a woman of many skills, Natasha hot-wired the tractor and made quick work of digging a grave for Bobby. After lowering him into his final resting place, they entered the store to look for supplies. The building held three zombies, which Natasha dispatched with the machete she took from the cannibals. This was one time Betty appreciated the well-oiled machine Natasha functioned as.
They didn’t hit the supply jack pot today, but Betty found a case of sports drinks and two cases of water in the showroom. Helen discovered the break room, and they looted the snack machines inside it. Natasha discovered a service van parked behind the store and the location of the keys on a board mounted by the back door. The full-sized Nissan van had a raised roof and racks full of repair equipment in the back. They worked quickly to jettison the unwanted material and load the supplies they liberated from the store and from their deceased Toyota into the back of the van.
Natasha drove, Betty rode shotgun, and Helen reclined in the back with the supplies. This van had only the two front seats, being a utility vehicle. Betty would miss the Toyota SUV, but the van was an enormous step up from the rattle trap VW Bus they started their trip with.
The fatal car chase caused them to divert from their original route, so they found themselves lost. Natasha wisely drove them the opposite way of the gunmen they had fled, but they needed to find a landmark to know their location. Nightfall wouldn’t wait for them to reorientate themselves, so they needed to find a place to spend the night. They drove through a combination of commercial and residential areas, trying to catch a break. After an hour, they finally came to a highway entrance ramp. Highways stood out on their road atlas, so they could find their way.
“Look. There’s the entrance to the highway.” Betty said while she pointed to a sign hanging across the street ahead of them.
“Can you look at the map and figure out where we?” Natasha said. She was always cool and calculating when under pressure.
“I’m not sure... I can find the highway, but can’t tell which entrance ramp this is. Do you want to try getting on and see if we can find a road sign? Then I can figure it out.”
“Do you think getting on the highway is a good idea?” Helen said.
“I can’t say how smart it is, but we have to find a way out of this state. Driving around aimlessly isn’t a wise choice for us either.” Natasha said. She countered Helen’s fear with her cold, hard logic.
The entrance ramp wrapped around a sharp corner before it deposited you onto the highway. Pre-apocalypse Natasha would have stepped on the gas to merger with the traffic, but today she crept around the blind corner looking for any obstacles in the right of way. The ramp ended, and the highway started at a bridge over a river. As they crossed, Betty saw another bridge running parallel to them up the river and a cityscape on the opposite side, down the river. With this information, she found their location on the map. Betty readied to share her news, but Natasha beat her to the punch.
“Look. This next turn off goes to the airport. We should be able to find a place to spend the night and maybe some supplies. There should be a commercial strip near the airport.”
Neither Betty nor Helen objected as Natasha took the turnoff. Airports meant development and commercial areas with stores, restaurants, and hotels. Knowing nothing about the area, it seemed to be their best move. The connector road ended right in front of the airport terminal building. A large hotel completed the airport complex, so that would be as good a place to stop as any. Natasha continued around the airport loop road to reach the hotel’s entrance.
Before they came to the hotel, Betty noticed a hole cut in the perimeter fence and signs of vehicle traffic having passed through. She pointed toward the path before she spoke.
“It looks like someone has driven through that hole in the fence quite a few times. Do you think we should check it out?”
“Better to check it out rather than awake to a surprise later. We need to know what where up against before we decide to stop here and rest.”
“I think we should just keep going and forget this place.” Helen said. She leaned over Betty as she looked through the front windshield.
“Natasha is right. We need to know what we’re facing. This van won’t be able to outrun trouble like the Toyota. Plus, it will be dark soon and it’s too dangerous to travel after nigthfall.”
“I guess. But I don’t like it.” Helen twisted her hair around her finger as she stared straight ahead with unblinking eyes.
“Noted. Let’s go, Natasha.”
Whatever type of vehicle traveled this route before them had to of been large. The Nissan fit through the hole with room to spare, even with the raised roofline over the cargo area. Remnants of dried mud showed the path around the building.
As they rounded the building, Betty stared at the three airliners parked in front of them. The muddy tracks brought them to the location where the airplanes parked and transferred their passengers before the end of the world.
“Wow, do you think those plans can still fly?”
“Even if we were pilots, it’s doubtful. They haven’t flown for over a year now.” Natasha said. She parked the van at the end of the muddy tire tracks.
“They’re probably filled with zombies waiting to attack us.” When did Helen become Debbie Downer?
“The path ends here. Let’s take a look inside and see what’s up. Helen, you’re welcome to stay with the van while Betty and I go in the building to look around.”
“Uh… By myself? No… I’ll go with you two.”
“Just stay out of the way and keep your eyes open for any threats.” When Natasha went into mission mode, she had no concern for the feelings of others. She became all business.
A set of steps next to their parking spot wound up to a door into the airport terminal building. Before entering the walkway, Natasha banged on the door frame with the machete. When no humans or zombies responded, they trekked up the moveable walkway and into the building. The first thing Betty noticed were the lights in the terminal building. They were on. Then she noticed the barricade someone made isolating this area from the rest of the airport. No one was home, but it had been someone’s home at one point.
“What do you think, Natasha?”
“I think it’s as good a place as any to hide out for the night. We’ll pile some stuff in front of this hallway and take turns on look out duty tonight. Let’s hide the van best we can and bring our gear up here.”
###
Not only did the lights work, the bathrooms had running water and the grill behind the counter of the snack bar worked. Helen cooked a satisfying meal of grilled vegetables and rice. They had better food back at the camp in Maine, but this had been the best meal they ate during the past week. The far corner of the boxed off area even had a king-sized bed in it. Whoever lived here made the most of the resources available to them. Natasha took the first patrol of the night while Betty and Helen slept. If the thought of the bunker in Virginia hadn’t been so promising, then this would have been a suitable substitute.
###
While wandering the grounds during her first nighttime watch, Natasha found live chickens stashed in another part of the airport. So, breakfast featured scrambled eggs and fresh chicken. If they weren’t so dirty, noisy, and smelly, they would’ve taken the birds along with them. This meal reminded Betty of the good times they had in Maine before everything went so wrong.
They had been lucky because the former tenants didn’t return during their overnight stay. A second night’s stay wasn’t on their itinerary, so they poured over the road atlas while they feasted on their hearty breakfast.
Betty had an analytical mind, and solving puzzles came naturally to her. These road maps were one big puzzle. Starting at point A, the airport, get to point B, Donald’s bunker. A 600 mile puzzle their life depended on. They needed to avoid all the major cities along the way without traveling too far out of their way. Regardless of how big a problem seems, there’s always a solution and Betty found theirs.
“If we follow this route, we can make the bunker within two days and avoid all the major cities along the way.”
They all knew the dangers cities possessed. More people meant more chances of running into either the dead or the living. You could debate which group was the greater threat. Both were deadly, but humans were plain evil while zombies acted according to their nature.
“Nice job, Betty! Let’s get our stuff together and get moving. No sense wasting the day away here.”
Natasha turned the key and pointed the van back through the hole in the fence. The open road awaited with the hope of security in the bunker at the end of their travels.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
THOMAS AND JUNE
Thomas thought worries about his beautiful bride would’ve ended after she died and came back. June hadn’t aged well, becoming more frail and forgetful as the years passed. Her physical and mental weakness led them to the condition they lived in now. Her worries ended when she became a member of the risen dead, but Thomas struggled to survive and keep June safe, even in her altered state.
Over a year ago, Thomas discovered the zombie threat when the first violent visitor appeared on their farm. At the time, he knew nothing about this strange gray fellow, but now he was intimately familiar with their kind. This man with the deathly gray complexion appeared out of nowhere while Thomas worked on his farm. The stranger staggered like a drunk sailor on rough waters, and then he lunged mouth first at one of Thomas’ goats. Thomas shouted at the stranger to stop and to his surprise, the guy did. But then he redirected his wrath at Thomas. During the struggle that ensued, Thomas impaled the thing with a pitchfork straight through its heart, but the gray stranger continued his relentless attack on the old man. The onslaught finally stopped after Thomas caved in the monster’s skull with a hammer.
From that day forward, Thomas carried his trusty M1 Carbine Rifle and his hammer everywhere he went. More violent gray monsters continued to visit the farm, and Thomas dispatched them without prejudice. Each desiccated corpse ended up buried behind the barn. Thomas created his own graveyard full of unmarked graves on a corner of his property. The town’s public graveyard now held fewer bodies than the acre of Virginian farmland behind his barn.
The time to travel into town for supplies came, and Thomas debated on what to do with his beloved June. He had kept his daily skirmishes to himself so the stress wouldn’t affect June’s fragile health. If he left her behind, Thomas worried she might wander outside in her confusion and into the arms of an attacking monster. But if he took June along with him, he would subject her to the unknown risks outside of the farm.
After the first attack, he tried to call Sheriff Johnson and then the State Police. Neither answered their phones that day, and since then, the landline phone mounted on the wall of their home went dead. Not even a dial tone sounded when you lifted the receiver to your ear. Thomas made the fateful decision to take June along with him to keep his eyes on her. This way, she would remain safe while he watched over her.
Thomas and June made the thirty mile road trip to the farmer’s supply store without incident or encountering another living soul. They discovered many abandoned vehicles parked both in the travel lanes and alongside the road, but not another moving vehicle. The town would normally buzz with activity during their monthly visits, but they found it deserted today. Even the farmer’s supply store appeared empty from the outside. With butterflies flying in formation in his gut, Thomas investigated the store. He told June to stay in the truck and wait for him to return before he climbed out. She nodded an acknowledgement to his request, so he thought everything would be fine.
Inside the store, he found the place a total wreck. The normally well-organized shelves held remnants of product scattered across them, and additional items lay strewn on the floor. What a mess. Thomas thought the store had been empty, but found all the remaining shoppers belonged to the undead horde. Frozen in place, he stood, unable to act because of the sight of the walking dead before him. Flashbacks of his time in combat as a young Marine besieged his mind. Then the desperation of returning to June drove him into action. His M1 roared and zombie brains redecorated the store with black splatters.
As he reached the door, he thought everything would end up being ok. As Thomas approached the pickup truck, his dream of a successful outcome died. Thomas never knew if June’s confusion got the best of her, or if she had another reason to abandon the safety of the truck. Regardless of the case, June laid on the ground while a monster sat on top of her and ripped a chunk from her neck with its teeth. With a violence Thomas hadn’t known since the war, he slaughtered the zombies and freed his beloved June from their attack.
After gently loading June inside of th
e truck, Thomas raced to the local hospital to seek help for her injuries. Instead of finding doctors and nurses, he discovered only more death there. In one last desperate act, Thomas stopped in a secluded area and dressed June’s wounds with the first aid kit from the truck. Her breathing became shallow, and June never awoke. Thomas flew back to their farm, where he could clean and treat her wounds further. Once he treated the wounds as best as he could, he dressed June in her wedding gown and placed her on their bed. Fifty-two years went by way too fast, and Thomas cried himself to sleep.
June woke Thomas during the middle of the night by chomping down on his neck. Thomas removed her dentures before putting June to bed, sparing his life and sealing his fate. His newfound grief quickly faded when he realized this attack had been for the best. Now June would live forever and be safe from harm from the other zombies. Thomas now had the best of both worlds. A life with a vital June and her guarantee of safety.
Instead of the relief he envisioned, a whole new set of problems resulted from her life transition. Living humans became scarce, but the few who visited the farm didn’t understand his continued love for June. They saw her only as a monster, while he only saw his cherished bride of fifty three years. The few people who visited the farm would leave once they discovered his secret. Why didn’t they understand him? It wasn’t a big loss, since Thomas didn’t need anyone but June in his life.
One couple even tried to kill June after discovering her existence. Thomas pleaded with them to stop, but they insisted on trying to take his beloved bride away from him. He killed people during the war, but not one living human since. These two people wouldn’t quit their crusade, so he put bullets in their heads and buried them behind the barn, along with all the other corpses. They ended up in unmarked graves because their foolhardy actions deserved no honor from Thomas.
Retribution: Operation Z Book 2 Page 13