900 Miles: A Zombie Novel (26 page)

W
e started to push our way through the insanity, trading the blood of Zs for every inch of floor. Methodically navigating across the hall, we sidestepped past the crippled remains of creatures unable to stand, reaching up with their mangled grips to snap at the flesh of our legs. The wooden mallet was still firmly in my grasp, providing the security needed to keep going.

Just as I reached the door, I looked back at the chaos.  I could see a group of the commoners lift Gordon up above their heads.
Aside from his inaudible screams, it looked as if he was crowd surfing as they paraded him through the hall. Even from the distance, I could see the inexplicable look of “I’m fucked” across his face. The troopers were all dead or had escaped the melee. We had no idea what the commoners were going to do with him, and sure as hell weren’t going to stick around to find out.

Kyle and I jumped through the door, and raced down the hallway. There were a few of the dead
lingering between the Comms room and us. We didn’t pause, knocking them across their skulls, dropping the zombies with the ease of hitting a whiffle ball off a child’s baseball tee.

The light in the hallway was out. There was a body lying on the tile, and blood had splattered across one of the LED clocks.
With each rhythmic blip of the clock, the hall glowed pale pink. The door to the room was wide open. Kyle motioned for me to stop as he eased to the doorway. Taking a moment to listen, he glanced back and with the jerk of his head, motioned for me to enter.

Turning back towards the heavy door,
I was able to quietly shut and lock it securely.  We did a quick sweep of the room, looking behind all of the equipment, which appeared to have been installed in the seventies, to make sure we were alone.

There were giant box computers with big rolls of cinema
-like film hanging from them.  Red and blue lights flickered in the darkness, reminding me of the old science fiction movies that I’d seen with my father as a kid.

There was a glass window facing the hallway. While we could see anything that passed,
we were also fully exposed to any prying eyes from out there. Despite it being locked, Kyle stood by the door with his club in one hand and his machine gun in the other.

I set the mallet down on a metal table next to a bunch of old keyboards and small computer screens blinking in green text.  The pit of my stomach dropped when I realized I was putting way too much stock in this equipment made before I was even born.
  Reaching down for the telephone receiver sitting next to the mallet, I held my breath as I lifted it to my ear in eager anticipation of a dial tone.

I exhaled as I realized the phone was operational, glancing at Kyle in exhilaration. The dial tone was soon replaced with small beeps
, as I keyed in the phone number to the gas station that Jenn had called me from.

The phone rang ten times before I gave up.
It was worth a try.  Switching gears, I dialed my home number. The phone rang twice before the voicemail started.

“John, it’s Wednesday, I think.
Joe and I have been coming down to the gas station each day so I can change the VM. I keep hoping that you’ll call just as I walk in. I’m so worried about you. I hope you get this message. The cabin is boarded up, we have food and we’re doing okay. The baby is kicking. I had a scare yesterday, and thought I was having contractions. I think it was just false labor. What do you call them? Braxton Hicks? The baby seems to have calmed down. I think it wants to wait for its Daddy to get here.”

There
was an almost inaudible crash in the background.

“
Joe, what did you say?”

She paused for a mo
ment. I could hear a muffled Joe talking in the background.  A bead of sweat ran down my cheek as I listened trying to make out every word.

“
John, I have to go! Joe can see a few of those
things
down in the field.
He doesn’t think they’ve seen us.  Get here soon, we’ll be at the Cabin!”

I sat there looking at the green blinking cursor on the old computer monitor
for what must have been an awkwardly long time.  Kyle finally asked, “What? What is it?  Come on man, snap out of it!”

“
What day is it?” My voice was small.

“I think it’s Friday or Saturday
.”

My eyes went back to the blinking green cursor. The hair on the back of
my neck and arms tingled. My thoughts raced as I replayed her message in my head.

“We have to get there now! Her last message was from Wednesday, and she said that she’s leaving daily messages.”

Kyle’s face told me he understood. He started to say something about getting back up to the Hummer as I stood and lifted the mallet off the table.  As I started to step around the equipment, I saw a movement through the plate glass leading to the hallway.  Ducking down, my brain was trying to piece together what it was. It was only visible for a moment in the blinking red glow from the clock.  Kyle had lifted his club in the air at my reaction, his ears trained on the tiniest of noise.

The door handle began to turn, but it would not open with the lock that I had set in place. Moments later, a speaker boomed in the room.

“Kyle. John. It’s Jarvis. I see you in there. We need to get in.”

We recognized his voice,
and I let out a deep breath, unclenching the mallet.  Nodding toward Kyle, he lifted the latch. Jarvis entered with six other people, including the woman and the Asian.

“Gentlemen
, thanks for letting us in. We’re having some trouble pulling this place back together at the moment. We need to use the bunker’s intercom to coordinate the attack.  Mind if I trade places with you, John?” Jarvis had a calm to his voice, and kept the conversation almost pleasant.

“We were just leaving. I need to get to my wife and child,” I answered. Jarvis squeezed by me
, stepped in front of the computer monitors, and turned to face us.

“We’ll have this under control shortly. I don’t have time to persuade you to stay, but know there will always be a place for you here.”

The woman eyed Kyle from head to toe.

“You should come back. We could use a man like you,” she said.
Kyle opened the door, and shot her a confident smile. Then we both slipped past the Asian, who quietly held his death-stained sword.

We navigated the iridescent hallways quickly, getting to the bunker entrance. The gigantic shelter door was slightly open.  Peering beyond the opening, we saw that the guards had left their posts, no doubt to save their own asses or to help fleeing Elites.

The cool night air filled my lungs as we crept along a dark pathway to the fenced area that the commoners had been working on. We stopped to catch our breath and relish our hard-earned freedom. I felt a momentary calm, as everything was quiet. There were trees swaying in the wind, and there was a sliver of moon peering at us through the clouds, allowing us to see each step. I felt alive, truly free. I would be able to get away from this hell hole, and get to my wife and child. It was a liberating feeling.

It didn’t last long.

Anarchy filled the field above the bunker. Zs were chasing down troopers, who were being overrun by both the dead and the commoners. There were people controlling the floodlights in the towers overlooking the chaos, the beams bouncing around. Surveying the area, Kyle pointed over toward a bunch of parked vehicles.

“The Hummer!”

Even amidst the other cars and trucks, its yellow exterior called out to us like a beacon of hope as we made our way through the free for all, dodging troopers and the Dead.

As we approached the Hummer, I saw Kyle’s head drop in defeat. Like the rest of the parked vehicles, the Hummer had been stripped down. The wheels were missing, and the some of the body parts were gone.

Pulling open what was left of the Hummer’s door, I grabbed my hammer, still sitting safely on the front seat where I had left it. While our guns and ammo had been taken, some food and water were resting on the floorboard next to fake Michael’s briefcase. I felt a pang in my chest at the sight of the metal case. Filling a backpack with the supplies and grabbing the case, I sighed heavily and turned back to see if Kyle had salvaged anything.

Following his gaze, I watched as a helicopter lifted into the night sky.  Its lights flooded the ground below, uncovering an armada of helicopters and small aircraft.

“That’s how we get to your wife;
tonight!
” Kyle yelled. He motioned toward an exterior gate, darting around the Hummer. I followed, the thrill at the prospect of getting to my wife so soon, gave me a much needed shot of adrenaline. We ran past a trooper who was being devoured by three of the Zs. Bellies filling, they didn’t pay us any attention as we skirted past them.

Entering the field, I almost stepped into a deep sand trap. I realized that we were on a golf course. The grass was seriously overgrown. I could see the taillights from a golf cart ahead of us, racing towards the make shift landing field.

Gunshots rang out ahead of us. We dropped into the grass. The golf cart turned sideways and flipped over. There was an odd noise behind me. I spun around to see a small swarm in tow.

Crouched down, my motion stilled, I could feel my body giving out on me. I closed my eyes tight for a moment
and then tried to focus on the whirlybirds. The exhaustion was taking over, despite my best efforts.  Kyle could see it.

“You wanna see your kid?” he barked, hauling me to my feet. I rubbed my face briskly. Stepping up the pace, I pulled my shit together for the sprint. The backpack was banging against my shoulders and spine with each step, helping me
to keep rhythm. We’d need supplies, but I regretted grabbing the metal case. It was too late to stop now.

We approached the airfield just as another helicopter was preparing for takeoff. The rear door was open, and through the darkness, we could see
him
. I heard Kyle grunt wordlessly in fury, just as my own lip curled.

Chauffer was sitting down
, pulling a radio headset over his head as the chopper’s runners left the ground.  He saw us running up on the airfield, being chased by the creatures. I swear I could see him smiling as he raised his right hand to wave at us.

Kyle pointed toward the bottom of the chopper. There was a creature pulling itself up on the landing gear. In an instant, it clutched onto Chauffer’s leg, and pulled him from the craft. He fell at least thirty feet, and landed in a sand trap, a cloud of white sand shooting into the air. The helicopter didn’t bother to pause, and headed off into the starlight.

I started toward one of the helicopters on the ground. Kyle grabbed my arm, shaking his head in rapid little jerks.

“Not that one,” he blurted, turning to point toward another. “That’s a twin engine. They fly f
arther than single engines.”

He threw the machine gun to me as he dove into the cockpit, then shouted,

“Remember what I showed you!”

I took a deep breath, paused to feel the night sky, and lifted the weapon to steady it on the oncoming creatures. My arms were shaking so hard from exertion that I wasn’t sure I could even keep the gun still. Waiting until I could see them clearly, I fired the weapon. The first one dropped, with a round to the chest, and then stumbled to its feet. My shoulder, once numb from the impalement, was now a fiery agony. I had to take several breaths just to get my bearings. I took another shot;
its head snapped back as it fell to the ground for good.

Above me, the helicopter blades began to turn
slowly. Three more shots, three more zombies polished off. But it wasn’t enough. Moving faster than I could shoot, they were upon me. Throwing the gun to the ground, I pulled my hammer out and crouched down, preparing myself for the onslaught.  I had to buy us just a little more time.

Smashing
the first with a swing across its jaw, it slid to the grass only to leap back up and spin around towards me. I gave it my all but it didn’t seem to be enough. I was wearing down faster than the zombies were. My arms and legs felt as if they were made of lead. They were sluggish, not listening to my brain.

I was on my back fighting
the monster off, when Kyle jumped from the chopper. He tumbled along the greenway and then came up on his feet, pulling a flag from one of the golf holes. He charged at the zombie trying to take my life and drove it through the creature’s mouth. As it fell, it dragged Kyle down as well. I could hardly get back on my feet, but there were four more approaching. I picked the gun back up, feeling its weight. On adrenaline only, I discharged the weapon. All four zombies dropped, for good.

Kyle jogged over to me.  The helicopter blades were swinging at full speed
, spitting up tiny bits of debris, stinging my face.  He motioned towards the sand trap that Chauffer fell into. With our shoulders heaving in unison, we edged over to peek in. Covered in wet sand, he looked up at us; he was still alive but unable to move.  The creature had landed several feet from him though, and was crawling toward his mangled body.

“Help…me…,” came the weak, barely audible plea.