In the Lone and Level Sands (59 page)

“I will. Go. If you want to be selfish and
end your life, do it. What are you waiting for? If it’s attention,
you’ve got it. That’s all you wanted, though, isn’t it?” Vanessa’s
head bobbed, her answer indiscernible. The wind hit her hard, and
her feet slipped. She lost her footing and yelled as she
dropped.

Evan rushed forward and grabbed her hands.
He pulled her up, and the others hurried to the edge. Once he had
her over the lip of the towering building, she began to weep, and
then she clung to him tightly.

“It’ll be okay,” Evan said. “You have to
believe that.”

On the other side of the roof, Cynthia heard
something. It wasn’t just the wind and the faint moans of zombies
below; there was an even fainter, familiar sound.

“Do you hear that, Mallorie?” Cynthia asked.
She looked from her daughter to the sky. In the distance was
another Black Hawk, coming in from the same direction as the
previous one. It seemed to be lower as well.

“Is that another helicopter?”

“It is. Let’s go tell the others!”

Mal turned and dashed across the roof,
Cynthia followed. Evan and Vanessa had risen to their feet. Mal
charged Evan, who crouched down and caught her in his arms. He
laughed, caught way off guard.

“Whoa! What’s this all about?”

“There’s another helicopter! Look!”

****

It was loud inside the military chopper, and
the two pilots kept a pad of paper between them in case they needed
to say anything important. In the back, the two soldiers and the
two civilians they’d picked up were fine with just shouting. There
was a mother, June, and her teenaged son.

June’s eyes were filled with tears and her
hands and arms were smeared with blood. It belonged to her son, who
had been shot.

“We’ll be there soon, Jared,” she yelled.
“Please hang in there!” She clenched Jared’s hand. He didn’t have a
lot of energy, but he was awake and able to talk.

“I’m trying, Mom. I’m trying, but just in
case I don’t make it, I love you.”

“Nonsense! Don’t say things like that!” She
turned to one of the soldiers. “How far is it?”

“Fort Knox? Shouldn’t take longer than an
hour to get there,” Matt Aimes said. He sat on the bench, eyes
sharp; he wasn’t going to miss anything. On his uniform, especially
around the lower part of his sleeves, was some of Jared’s blood
from when Aimes had helped bandage the wound.

One of his best friends, Nick Clark, was
sitting on the opposite side of June and Jared. He was scanning the
city below, especially as they flew closer to some of the taller
buildings. One in particular caught his attention; he saw a large,
painted message, then he saw the survivors jumping up and down,
waving their arms. Clark rushed to the cockpit.

“You see those people down there?” he
said.

The pilot nodded. “We got time to pick ‘em
up?”

“Yeah, plenty. The kid’s wound isn’t all
that bad.”

“All right then!”

As the chopper began its descent, June
looked to Clark and shouted. “What are we doing? We don’t have
time!” Her eyes were wide, and they whipped back to Jared, who was
looking down at the building.

“We don’t have a choice!” Aimes said. “We’re
going to help these people out.”

“My son is bleeding to death, and you’re
going to
stop
? For people who could very well be infected?
Are you fucking thinking?”

“Mom… it’s…”

“Ma’am, settle down,” Clark said. “We’re
thinking that these people need our help just as much as you did,
and if any of them have been bit, we’ll deal with it. Your son will
be fine as long as the bandages hold and we get to base within two
hours.”

****

“The helicopter’s landing!” Mal said. Her
hair blew wildly around her face.

“That’s right,” Evan said. “I told you,
didn’t I?”

“Yep!”

Everyone stood in a semicircle as the
helicopter landed on the roof of the Cardigan. The blades blew
their clothes and hair harshly. Clark and Aimes and stepped out of
the chopper and looked at the survivors.

“We don’t have much time,” Clark said. “None
of you guys have been bitten, all clean?” He looked from person to
person. Clark sighed when his gaze fell over Vanessa, he found her
particularly pretty. He was sad to see the bloody bride with no
groom.

“We’re all good,” Evan said.

“We have two civilians, one who’s been shot,
so time is precious. Do you guys have anything you gotta grab
before we go?” The survivors shook their heads. Clark nodded.
“Good, we’ll be going, then. We’re headed for Fort Knox, about an
hour away. It’s not going to be a comfortable ride, but we’ll take
care of you as best we can.”

“Thank you,” Cynthia said. She and Mal
walked past Clark and Aimes to seats near June and Jared. The
mother and son looked at the survivors as they filed in.

Eugene stopped cold as he fumbled around in
his pocket, where he thought he’d put his inhaler. He quickly
flipped around, looking around the inside of the chopper as the
soldiers were about to get in.

“What’s wrong, Gene?” Jason asked.

“I d-don’t have m-my inhaler!”

Aimes climbed into the chopper, took a look
at Eugene, and said, “What’s wrong?”

Eugene tried to push past Aimes’s stocky
body and get out of the chopper. “My inhaler—it’s d-down—I’m sorry.
I need it!”

Aimes stood aside so Eugene could get out,
then quickly followed. “I’m going with you. Just in case. Do you
know exactly where you left it?”

“Yes! In the c-corner office on the
22
^nd
!”

“No!” June said. “Leave it! My son isn’t
going to make it if we wait!”

“I mean no disrespect, ma’am, but no one is
leaving anything behind,” Evan said. “Your son seems like a strong
boy, he’ll be all right.” Evan felt a bead of sweat drip down his
head. June closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Slowly and as
calmly as possible, she let it out.

“Mom,” Jared said. “Please, I’ll be fine.
It’s not as bad as you think.” He coughed, shaking a little.

“Don’t worry,” Evan said. “We will get past
this.” He felt Cynthia’s hand in his. He met her gaze and
smiled.

****

Eugene headed for the door as fast as
possible, and Aimes wasn’t far behind, gun at the ready. He moved
in front and opened the door. The coast was clear, but as they
headed down the steps, the sound of extra footsteps picked up
quickly.

“We gotta hurry,” Aimes said.

“Just d-down a few more—” Eugene choked.
“—floors!”

When they arrived on the 22
^nd
floor they were greeted by several zombies.

“These weren’t here b-before!” Eugene
said.

“They must have heard us land!” Aimes lifted
his gun and shot a zombie as it rushed forward. “Stay close!”

Eugene stayed behind Aimes. He was finding
it harder to breathe.

“The office is just d-down that hall!”
Eugene said. More zombies came down the hall.

“Take this.” Aimes handed Eugene a sidearm,
and Eugene took it with a shaky hand. “Just back me up as best you
can. I’ll need it. We’ll get your puffer and be out of here
quick.”

“Okay.”

The zombies drew in. Eugene shot one in the
neck. It screamed in pain, and Eugene cringed at the sound. Blood
spewed from its throat, and before either of them got another shot
out, the zombie slipped on its own blood, floundered a bit, then
fell to the ground.

They moved down the hall, killing zombies
along the way (with Aimes taking care of the majority), and soon
they made it to Art’s office.

“In here,” Eugene said. He pushed the door
open and Aimes followed him inside. Eugene rushed through the door
but came crashing down only a few steps into the room, as he was
breathless. He scrambled for air that wouldn’t come. The only thing
he knew to do was gesture toward the small table that separated the
couches. The inhaler rested on it. Aimes ran to retrieve it.

“Here!” he said. Aimes gave the inhaler to
Eugene, who nearly dropped it before finally lifting it to his
mouth. He pressed on the canister. The medication drew into his
lungs, and he felt relief. One more puff, and he withdrew the
canister.

Inhale. Exhale.

“Thank you!” Eugene said.

“Don’t mention it. We gotta move.”

They both headed to the door. Eugene
pocketed the inhaler as he entered the hall. More zombies were
pouring in from shattered office windows and tributary
hallways.

“Let’s go!” Aimes said. He shot a zombie
heading their way. Eugene and Aimes ran side by side to the stairs,
with more zombies following faster than ever.

Eugene and Aimes made their way up the
stairs with the howling, blood-thirsty demons on their heels. They
burst through the door onto the roof. The first zombie to reach the
door simply slammed into it, but the ones behind pushed against
him, pressing him into the long metal bar, opening the door and
leading them outside.

“I knew it!” June said. “You’ve lured them
all back here!”

Eugene and Aimes ran across the roof and
practically dove into the chopper.

As the chopper lifted off the ground, one of
the zombies grabbed Eugene’s ankle. It was centimeters from getting
a bite in when the chopper lifted higher. The zombie kept a tight
grip on Eugene, pulling him toward the opening. Eugene shook his
leg, and Evan grabbed his arms to keep him from falling out.

Aimes shot the zombie square in the
forehead. It fell to the roof below as the chopper rose higher with
Eugene still hanging halfway out. Evan and Aimes pulled him inside
and helped him into one of the seats. He buckled in, and then he
sat just staring at the floor for the better part of a half hour.
He had nearly been bitten, nearly become one of
them
, and
that scared the hell out of him, scared him more than death
itself.

It was Mal who eventually snapped him out of
it.

“Are you okay?”

It took a moment for Eugene to notice she
was talking to him. “I’m f-fine,” he said. “Thanks for asking.” Mal
smiled. Eugene gave her a smile as well, then looked away.

****

The city of Louisville was ravaged. The good
news was that the destruction began to thin out as they drew closer
to the base. The ride was almost over.

“Less than ten minutes now,” Aimes said.
“How’re you feeling, Jared?”

Jared didn’t feel up to talking, so he just
raised a thumb to Aimes. The soldier grinned, and nodded.

“Good. Just hang in there, buddy.”

“Almost there, honey,” June said.

Fort Knox came into view. The community
sprawled out, but only part of the base had been barricaded off,
with several buildings serving as the perimeter. Walls made of wood
and sandbags filled the spaces between buildings, and some of the
smaller ones were completely inside the barricade.

To the south, well outside the barricade,
Evan saw the famous bank often associated with Fort Knox, and
realized he didn’t even know what it was called. He wondered if the
bank would ever be of any use again. He decided that if the
military thought it might, they would’ve built the barricade closer
to it. Evan found this somewhat disturbing.

Several soldiers sprawled across a landing
pad beckoned the chopper, which descended slowly, with a soft bump
as it hit the concrete. The blades slowed and came to a halt.

“Welcome to Godman Air Force Base,” Clark
said.

Everyone began exiting the chopper. Aimes
motioned for June to follow. “Just come with us,” he said. “We’ll
get a few guys out here with a stretcher and get Jared to the
medical ward.”

“Okay,” June said. She looked over her
shoulder at Jared as she walked with Aimes and another soldier.

The survivors made their way toward a large
building near the landing pad. Inside, dozens of soldiers rushed to
and fro, shouting orders to each other, guiding survivors around
the base, talking to each other on landline telephones. For the
first time, Evan and his friends felt safe.

55

In Bangor

The air was heavy and wet. The survivors
were in the kitchen doing some last-minute packing.

Richard stuffed a canvas bag with some
supplies. “Does anyone have any idea where we should go?”

“Without radio signals, TV, or power, I
don’t think any of us have a clue,” Al said.

“I’m thinking the best idea is just to get
away from Bangor, maybe drive a bit north,” Fred said. “Maybe we’ll
run across a safe zone, or maybe… maybe it hasn’t spread to all of
Maine.”

“Why north?” Ben said. “Why not west, or
south?”

“Well, I doubt south would be our best bet.
Remember the news report from Augusta?”

“Yeah, right.”

“I just threw north out there. It doesn’t
matter. Point is, we’re not safe here. I think we can all agree we
need to leave.” Fred packed the rest of the items he’d gathered
into his bag, slipped the strap over his shoulder, scratched his
moustache, and picked up his shotgun, which was leaning against the
counter.

“There’s got to be a place we can stop and
take refuge, somewhere,” Charlotte said. “Maybe a place where this
ends.”

“I hope so,” Sara said. “I don’t know how
much more of this my old bones can take.”

Fred smiled. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll be
all right as long as we all stick together. I’ll make sure nothing
happens to you.”

“We’ll have to find a store, though,”
Richard said. “We don’t have everything we need here.”

“That’s true. How much ammunition do you
have, Al?”

“Quite a bit. I’ve got my handgun, one
other, and plenty of bullets. Plus I have a shotgun, and maybe a
box and a half of shells.”

“That’ll hold us for a while,” Fred said.
“Well, if you’re all ready, let’s hit the road.”