In the Lone and Level Sands (35 page)

“Can we do it?” Garrett asked.

“Yeah. The keys are in. I’ll put it in
neutral, and we’ll get it moving.”

Layne shifted the gears and turned the
wheel. He wasn’t sure how straight the truck would go, but he had
hope.

Layne hopped out of the truck and met
Garrett behind it. It was already starting to roll forward because
of the incline of the bridge. Layne and Garrett pushed, and the
truck went faster. Then, when the two could hardly keep up, they
let go, and it was off. Layne and Garrett turned and ran back
toward where Katie was kneeling, ready to take the shot.

They reached a solid blockade of cars.
Garrett jumped and cleared the hood of one. Layne jumped, landed
directly on the hood, and the metal sank inward with a loud noise
that echoed through the fog.

Layne half-expected a joke about the jumping
capability of Caucasian men, but all Garrett said was “Fuck.”

The zombies started toward them. They came
jogging along either side of the tanker, which was almost out of
sight.

“Hit it! Hit it now!” Layne said to Katie,
who was a few yards back. She fired. The shot was loud, but nothing
happened after it. The truck kept rolling forward. It was nearly
invisible.

“You missed!” Garrett said. The zombies were
getting closer. Many of them were well past the tanker. A few were
hit by it as it went along.

The tanker crashed into a row of cars. Layne
and Garrett started shooting at the closer zombies. Katie cocked
the rifle and fired again.

The explosion was huge. A shockwave nearly
knocked Layne down. A wall of heat followed close behind. The
zombies closest to the tanker were incinerated. Some of the farther
ones burst into flames, ran around briefly, and then fell to the
ground. Layne found it disturbingly humorous.

“Great shot,” Garrett said.

“Let’s go!” Layne shouted. The rest of the
group rushed to catch up to them, and then they were off.

“Look, they’re doing it again,” Lacie said.
She pointed ahead. The zombies would run toward the survivors and
then stop, stare at the burning tanker, and plunge into the
fire.

“Like moths to lights,” Garrett said. A few
of the zombies were either unimpressed or simply didn’t see the
flames, but they were easy to take out.

Then there was another explosion. Most of
the group was knocked down. A car near the tanker had caught fire
and exploded. And then another.

“I think we just set off a chain reaction,”
Warren said.

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Kyle said,
helping him up.

“It’ll leave us a clear path,” Layne said.
The group passed the tanker, and Layne could see the end of the
bridge and, even better, the open road.

“Find cars,” he said. He looked around and
spotted a minivan with the keys in the ignition. He opened the
door.

“I’ve got one over here!” Garrett said. A
nearby zombie growled at him. He lifted his gun, pulled the
trigger, and killed it.

“Get in,” Layne said. Jessi buckled Kara
into the middle seat, and then buckled herself in next to her. Dex
and Lacie got to the van next, and climbed into the back.

Then there was a noise unlike any they had
heard before. It sounded like a gigantic boulder had been thrown
against a marble plain. A few seconds later, it happened again, and
all of the survivors outside of the car were thrown from their
feet. The car’s tires lifted a few inches off of the ground and
then settled back down.

“What just happened?” Katie said, barely up
on her hands and knees.

“I don’t know!” Layne said. Then the sound
came again, and the bridge shook violently.

“Oh shit,” Garrett said, indicating to Layne
that he, like Layne, had just realized what happened.

“We broke the bridge,” Layne said.

Layne could see it just ahead of him, near
the remains of the tanker: A large crack was running across the
highway in rapid intervals, making its way to the edge of the
bridge. Another crack appeared farther ahead. Layne turned, hoping
to get as far away from the crack as possible, but saw that there
was yet another crack on the other side, between the group and
Washington.

The Oregon side of the bridge, between the
two cracks, gave in and plunged into the water below. The
Washington side, where the survivors were, remained in place for a
moment that was all too sweet and all too short, and then began to
slowly slant toward the water.

“I think we’re going to die,” Ralph said.
Layne got the feeling that he said it simply because there was
nothing else to say.

The incline grew steeper. Layne grabbed on
to a nearby car. Most of the others did the same. Kyle had nothing
to grasp. He fell to his hands and knees, bracing the street. It
worked for only a moment. Then, it was too steep, and he slid.
Fast. He reached the crumbled edge of the bridge, tried to grab it,
slipped, and fell into the water.

“Oh shit!” Dex said from within the minivan.
It was starting to slide down the bridge. Many of the cars were.
The car Garrett was holding on to, which was closest to the edge,
was sliding fastest.

“Look out!” Katie said. Layne turned, and a
car was rapidly approaching him. He rolled out of the way, it
passed within a few inches of him and the car he was pressed
against, then fell over the edge.

“Get out of the van!” Layne said. Jessi was
struggling to unbuckle. The bridge lurched into a steeper incline,
and the van left. Layne watched it slide away, then reach the edge.
It stopped there for a moment and teetered as if it was waving
goodbye, then went over.

“Son of a bitch!” Garrett said.

“Our Father, who art in heaven,” Ralph said,
“hallowed be thy name.”

“Katie, watch out!” Layne said. A Vespa was
rolling down the bridge toward her. She had been holding on to the
Washington side of her car, using it to prop her up. Katie tried to
get behind it to avoid the Vespa, realized she couldn’t, and then
tried to duck. She was too late. The Vespa rammed into her, flipped
her over the car, and then tumbled off the edge of the bridge.
Katie was slammed against the asphalt, where she lay still for a
moment, and then started rolling along the incline.

“This is bad,” Garrett said.

Ralph continued. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will
be done.”

“Get to the other side of the car, or you’ll
be crushed!” Layne said to Garrett. He couldn’t see Warren
anywhere. A zombie rushed by, unable to grasp anything, and fell
over the edge.

The bridge cracked again, the section the
survivors were on became two sections, and both fell. With a huge
splash, the first piece landed flat, forming a sort of island. The
other piece was still attached to the rest of the bridge, forming a
near-vertical incline leading from the island back up to the main
part of the bridge, clinging on by a set of rebars.

Layne was lifted from the ground just before
the bridge hit, and when it did, he was slammed against the asphalt
on the island before bouncing into the river.

He was underwater. He couldn’t see anything,
and his whole body hurt. He heard a noise, and saw a car plunge
into the water a few feet away. The tow pulled him down a little
bit. Layne rushed toward the surface. He could see the bridge, and
swam toward the small island and climbed out of the water.

The incline of the small island wasn’t as
steep as the bridge had been before it broke, and Layne was able to
stand up. He saw Warren, still clinging to the Washington side of a
car, which had come to a stop.

“Where is everyone?” Warren asked. He was
bone dry and terrified, though seeing Layne seemed to have snapped
him out of it.

“They fell! They all fell in!” Layne said.
He turned and looked into the river. There were a lot of things
floating in it. Some were bodies. He turned back to Warren, who was
making his way to the edge. “I’m going to see if I can find
anyone!”

Layne turned back to the water. He had no
idea where to even begin. Then, he saw something moving. A few feet
away, Garrett’s head poked above the surface, and then went back
under. Then it popped up again, this time closer to the bridge.
Layne rushed to the other lane and reached his hand out. Garrett
grabbed it and climbed onto the bridge. He was coughing.

“Thanks, man,” he said as he rolled onto his
back, clutching his left shoulder.

“Did you see anyone else?” Layne asked.

“No.”

Layne thought of the ones who had gotten
into the van. He looked at the water but saw nothing. He took a
deep breath, and dove.

He didn’t know what he was moving toward,
but he swam downward. Then, he saw the minivan. It was on its side,
and the door was shut. Layne swam faster. The river wasn’t very
deep, and he quickly reached the van. He looked into the window,
and just as he did, a hand pressed against it, startling him. He
accidentally let most of the air out of his mouth, then he came to
his senses and gripped the handle. Layne pulled the door open, and
a stream of bubbles emerged. Jessi handed Kara to him and motioned
for him to go. Then, she turned to her seatbelt.

Layne held Kara with one arm. It was
difficult to swim; Kara was thrashing. Slowly, with one arm, Layne
swam to the surface. He took a huge breath. Kara started
screaming.

“I’ll take her,” Warren said. Layne handed
her to him. Garrett was sitting up, scanning the water for his
friends.

Jessi emerged near Layne and took a huge
breath. Then she reached the bridge. Dex and Lacie followed shortly
after, Lacie helped Dex to the island.

“We couldn’t get the door open,” Dex said.
“I won’t lie, I thought I was a goner. Where’s everyone else?”

“I don’t know,” Layne said. “I can’t find
them.” He went back under. Lacie followed.

Layne couldn’t tell how much time had
passed. He spotted Kyle at the bottom. His shirt was stuck on the
side view mirror of a car, and he couldn’t free himself. He was
barely moving. Layne swam as fast as he could and reached Kyle
shortly. Kyle looked more than surprised to see him. Layne tried to
free him, but it wasn’t working. The mirror was pinned to the
bottom of the river, and Kyle’s shirt was between the two. Layne
helped Kyle remove the shirt, which was difficult because of the
water, but soon he was free. The two headed for the surface.

Kyle took a breath when he reached the air,
and then climbed up the bridge on his hands and knees. When he
reached mostly flat ground, he threw up. A moment later, Lacie
emerged with Ralph.

“Where’s Katie, did you see her?” Layne
asked.

“She’s at the bottom,” Lacie said. “She
isn’t moving, Layne. Her eyes are shut and everything. Oh,
God.”

Layne dove in. It didn’t take long to find
Katie. She was definitely unconscious, and possibly worse. A stream
of blood was floating up from a wound on her head. She was
suspended, her foot stuck on the window frame of a sunken car.
Layne reached her and pulled her free with ease, but she wasn’t
moving. He headed for the surface.

As soon as he emerged, Garrett took Katie
and dragged her onto the bridge.

“Is she alive?” Layne said. Garrett looked
for a pulse, felt for air.

“She’s not breathing. Does anyone know
CPR?”

“Yeah,” Warren said. He rushed to Katie’s
side and went to work. Layne caught his breath, and then headed to
where Katie lay on the wet asphalt.

“It’s not working,” Lacie said. “Oh God,
it’s not working.” She was near tears. Kara’s screaming had been
reduced to crying, and Jessi was trying to comfort her, unable to
stifle her own tears.

“She’s bleeding a lot,” Kyle said.

“That’s just because of the water,” Dex
replied. He took off his outer shirt and pressed it against the
wound on Katie’s head.

Warren breathed into her mouth, then pressed
on her chest. He repeated the process several times. Layne sat next
to Dex and helped him apply pressure to the wound. Layne was
breathing heavily, his eyes were filling with tears.

Lacie fell to her knees, next to where Ralph
was already sitting down. She started to cry. Ralph sighed, and
looked toward the west, where the ocean would be, had there been
anything visible through the fog.

“On earth as it is in heaven,” Ralph
said.

Katie threw up. Then she started coughing.
Warren moved away to give her air and room. She shot up,
inadvertently knocking Layne and Dex away, and then threw up
again.

“Jesus Christ,” Garrett said. Katie coughed,
and then looked around.

“Are you okay?” Layne asked.

“My head hurts,” Katie said. “But I’m alive,
I think.”

Layne hugged her. She hugged him back, but
with less strength. Layne’s body was sore, but he squeezed as hard
as he could. He buried his face in Katie’s shoulder, and cried.

Dex got up and sat next to Lacie. She leaned
against him. Everyone was breathing heavily. Layne cried harder,
his weeping muffled by Katie’s shoulder. She closed her eyes and
leaned her head on his.

“Give us this, our daily bread,” Ralph said.
He stood up and looked toward Washington.

39

On the Football Field

The stadium heat was intense as Martha lay
quietly in her cot the day after her heart attack. Her head was
propped up on two flat pillows, her hands laced together and
resting on her stomach. The sounds of the surrounding crowd were
minimal. Martha looked around her. Everyone appeared to be asleep,
except for Francine, who was reading. Martha’s stomach growled, and
she sat up.

“Oh, good morning, Grandma,” Francine
said.

“Morning, dear. You seem to be enjoying that
book very well.”

“Yeah, it’s really good. Did you sleep
well?” Francine marked her place in the book, then set it down.
“After last night, I’d think sleeping would be near
impossible.”