Beyond the Barriers (21 page)

She sat up then groaned.

“Stay still.” I leaned over to check her dressing.

I placed my hand over hers and pressed. She winced and sat back in the seat.

“What are you going to do?”

I wasn’t even sure what I was planning. I had half a mind to shoot Lee. The gun was in my hand, and I would stand a pretty good chance if I stood up and opened the turret.

There was laughter from the men. At least a dozen, maybe as many as fifteen, were standing around watching the show. It made me sick, but what had I expected to find? People living together in harmony while the zombies were kept at bay?

I swore quietly then sat back in frustration. Slipping the car into gear, I rolled forward until I was a good twenty-five yards from the house. Reaching into the backseat, I came up with the assault rifle.

“Don’t.” Katherine snapped.

I stared at her for a few seconds in the pale light, then looked at the men and back at her. What could I do? I was one man and they were so many. It wasn’t fair, but I was helpless to stop what was going on.

“Hey!” One of the guys had caught sight of me. I should have backed up when I the chance.

Guns were pulled and leveled in my direction. With the armor plating, I was somewhat protected, but a stray shot or ricochet would kill me or Katherine just as easily as a direct shot. If I used the turret, I probably wouldn’t even get the gun out in time to fire back.

I tossed the M-16 in the backseat and drew my .45 as they came towards me. I backed up, but a couple of them broke into a trot. Then, to my horror, the military transport slid out and blocked my path.

“Shit!” I cried. Katherine had her gun out. Her eyes were wide open.

I would have to go through them.

Indecision made me hesitate. By then, they had stopped in front of the car and several automatics were pointed in my direction. Lee didn’t seem to think I was any sort of threat. He strolled toward my SUV like he was out for a Sunday walk.

“Fancy car you got there. What say you get out and my men and I will let you live.”

“Fuck you, Lee!” I yelled out the open window.

“Oh. My reputation precedes me. Well ain’t that something. Come on out of there, son, and we can chat. Whatever I did to you, I can let bygones be bygones.” He was smiling from ear to ear, like a politician at a rally.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance.” I said.

He stopped and stared, squinting as he tried to make out my shape in the dark car. I had a small advantage there.

That gave me an idea. If I hit my bright lights and gunned it, we might have a chance.

“You,” he said.

“That’s right, me. Name’s Tragger. We met a few months ago. Back then, you seemed like a man that had all the answers. Now look at you. A thug. A looter. A rapist. How does it feel?”

“Feel? I don’t feel any more. So just take your high and mighty ideals and shove ‘em up your ass.”

“You have fallen a long way.”

“You don’t know the first damn thing about me, son. But you are going to learn. Gonna learn the hard way.”

I leveled the .45 in his direction. I might have been able to kill him, but it would mean I was a dead man.

Just then, a shot shattered the night. I ducked down in the car. Katherine let out a little yell and waved the gun around, trying to find a target. Another shot, and then Lee’s team started shooting into the darkness.

I looked for Lee, but he was on the run. Tugging the .45 up, I took aim, but he disappeared behind a beat up Suburban.

There were shapes all around. They came out of the night like wraiths. I felt a chill as one passed the car. He was dressed in dark overalls and had an AK-47 to his shoulder. I made out strong Latino features.

The dark Suburban roared to life and took off. I pointed my gun and fired off a few rounds. The back window shattered, but the car disappeared around a corner. The men ran into the night, and the vehicle behind me roared off.

Free to move, I hit the lights and backed up as fast as I could, angling the car into a driveway. Slamming the gear into drive, I shot out, down the street, and fled.

I had half a mind to circle around, hunt down the big Suburban, and take care of Lee. A man like that couldn’t be allowed to continue his reign. But who was I to police the new world? It wasn’t my business. What he had done was horrible; what his men had done was worse. They all deserved to meet a grisly end.

Right now, I had to take care of Katherine.

I punched the gas and accelerated away from the battlefield. Coming around a corner a bit too fast, I had to slam on my brakes to avoid running into someone standing in the street. The tires screeched and Katherine cried out in fear, as I came to a stop a few feet from the figure.

From a distance, it had appeared to be a person. When they turned to look into the bright lights, I saw that it was one of the dead. It was a pitiful thing. An elderly woman with long white hair hanging in her face turned to regard me. She moaned around a half of a jaw, and then shambled off into the night.

* * *

I hit the high beams and crept through roads I had not seen in months.

There was a line of trucks just ahead, as though a convoy had arrived and circled the wagons. I came up on them and slowed to a stop. Slipping out once again into the night, I moved away from the safety of the car. I played the rifle over the trucks and felt like scratching my head in confusion. How the hell did the road get blocked? My house was a mile or so up the road, and I would have to climb over the blockade to reach it.

I heard a noise in the distance, as if a motor was starting up, and then a burst of light shattered the darkness as high-intensity beams ripped the night apart. As they came to life all around me, I shielded my eyes. I felt like a deer caught in massive headlights. Like the world had just turned on a gigantic sun. I backed up one step at a time as I tried to train the rifle all around me.

The car door behind me slid open, and I knew without a doubt Katherine was behind me, watching my back. Noises from ahead; movement and the clink of metal on metal. Whatever this trap was, I had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker. I tried to shield the light, but all I managed was to warm my palm.

I worried that I had found a group of Lee’s men. If he had made it here, I was a dead man.

“What the hell is going on?” Katherine yelled.

Before I could reply, a voice came from the barricade of cars and trucks. “Lower your weapon and identify, or we will shoot you.”

I just about dropped the gun in shock when I heard the voice. It was a woman, and it held a great deal of authority. I had no doubt she would shoot. She and whoever was with her.

I lowered the rifle, but I didn’t drop it. Still backing up, I was determined to jump in the SUV and get out of here. Whatever little fiefdom these people had set up, I was not interested in getting to know them.

“Stop moving or we will shoot!”

If I turned and made a dash for the car, I could be there in a few seconds, but even a ten year old with decent aim would be able to pick me off.

Stopping, I faced the blinding light. “My name’s Tragger, and you’re blocking the way to my house. I just want to get some stuff and leave.”

There was movement, but I couldn’t tell what was going on. I was going to climb out of my skull at this rate. I did not like standing in front of these people with no protection. If they opened fire, I was as good as dead, and Katherine would be next.

More clanking around, and I wanted to make a run for it. Fuck this. Then an engine started, and a truck backed up to make a small space. A slim figure came out of the gap and walked toward me.

“Erik?” A female voice called out almost softly.

“Yep.”

Her voice played with my senses, and I saw someone from the past. The way she spoke and moved reminded me of Allison, but that was ridiculous. There was no way she could have made it to our old home together. The last time I had talked to her was almost a month before the incidents started happening. I felt my heart swell at the thought of her, of what she had meant to me at one time, and the crushing anger that had burned for months after she had left followed. It made a powerful contrast.

“Alli …” and I stopped, because I knew it wasn’t her.

“It’s Lisa.” She stood a few feet from me, dressed in a jumpsuit made of some thick material that zipped all the way to her neck. She had on a scarf and gloves. She looked familiar. Still, I almost backed up again when she stepped to me and put her arms around me in an embrace.

Automatically I returned her hug, and stood as she sobbed against me for a full ten seconds before I realized who she was. My neighbor—Devon’s wife.

* * *

I had to pick Katherine up and help her out of the SUV. She leaned against me as we went into the barricade. Once we were past, the truck started up again and pulled forward to close the gap. The lights were easy to bear from this angle, and I was able to appreciate the simplicity in the design. With the trucks and cars facing out, it made a much harder barrier for the zombies to get through. In fact, with enough firepower, this place could hold out for a good long time.

Behind the vehicles was a series of fences with concrete barricades up against them. From a tactical standpoint, it reminded me of the Walmart, where a killing maze had been set up. The people here didn’t have enough fencing to encircle their location, but they did the next best thing by staggering sections so the zombies could not get in.

I followed Lisa in and glanced at the faces on either side. There were at least twenty people that I could see, but none who looked familiar. They appeared like us—tired, dirty, and sore. A woman leaned on her gun as she tried to stay upright. I wondered what they had endured over the last six months. I heard whispers and tugged Katherine tighter to me.

“Where did they come from?”

“Lisa knows him.”

“She does not look good at all.”

An older man looked me up and down, nodding to himself as if I met some criteria. I nodded back at him just the same. The low hum of a smaller generator kicked in, and dim lights lit the houses behind the barricade. It seemed like my life was coming down to what barricade I was able to hide behind at any given time. Many had wished for a new world, but I didn’t think this was what anyone had in mind.

Lisa spoke with someone in low tones behind me before she ran to catch up with me. She looped one hand in the crook of my arm as another person came and took Katherine.

“I can’t believe you’re alive,” she said, and I heard a strong hint of relief. I could only imagine what she and Devon had gone through after the zombies showed up.

“Where is Devon?”

“Gone,” she said simply. “What’s wrong with your … friend?”

“Katherine. She was shot by one of those ghouls.”

“They don’t shoot. They only direct the undead things to do their bidding.”

“Well, someone with glowing green eyes did a good job of learning how to fire a gun,” I said in frustration. I didn’t want to talk about it; I wanted to get Katherine fixed up and out of here. This fiefdom was fine and dandy for them, but I wanted to go in pursuit of the caravan and hit Portland as soon as possible. I was sick to death of living in fear and living on the run.

“We have medical supplies and a nurse. She has done some amazing things, even though she isn’t a doctor. She can take care of her.”

Lisa guided me to a house; I think it used to belong to Mark Wilson, a neighbor with whom I was never very friendly. He seemed like a nice enough guy, if a bit aloof. The door was open, and they were helping Katherine down a hallway to what must have been their triage room.

“Have you been here since the shit went down?” I asked.

“We tried to leave once. Devon wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to wait for some instructions from the government, or at least someone who seemed to be in authority. We waited and waited for at least a week after you left. One night, the power went out, and we sat up in the dark. The next day, we wandered around the neighborhood, but it was so empty. It seems most of the neighbors left shortly after you did.”

“Who was still around?”

“Well, Mark didn’t leave either. He had a hunting rifle, and he took the doors off all his upstairs rooms and nailed them over windows. He tried to build a fortress, but that was in the early days, and we weren’t organized like we are now.” Her tone was almost shy. Her hair was once a sheet of auburn curls that hung over her face when she laughed. Now it was a lighter color, and it was straight. I realized that hair that looked so natural was an act, just like the act kept up by the other survivors around us.

“I’m so glad to see you alive. I have seen some horrible things—some not too far from here. That was you at the house that was on fire, wasn’t it?” she said. “We almost shot you, you know.”

“That was your people?” I asked in surprise.

“We weren’t going to get involved.” She stopped me with a look, probably reading the shock in my eyes. “We try to stay out of the way. When it became apparent you were going to start a shooting match, we decided to spook the other guys.”