Mostly Dead (Barely Alive #3) (6 page)

Like a bad horror flick, Brian’s reality played itself out in my mind’s eye.

The driveway had bumps only a dirt bike would pick up on, jarring my arms and back.

Two zombies from inside the garage pulled on Brian’s arms. He jerked his eyes from the fire. One bit into his upper shoulder, the other latched onto his forearm.
The pain ripped through the both of us. Suddenly, more than two sets of hands tugged and yanked more flesh from his bones – his legs, back, and buttocks.

James roared up beside me. He met my eyes with his and shook his head.
I swallowed against Brian’s searing agony writhing inside me.

Brian’s scream filled my head.
The pain unbearable as his rage and sorrow overwhelmed me. I fought to hold on, not black out with him. He rolled toward the spreading fire as it rushed across the dry grass. The heat engulfed him. I wanted it. But the pain.

H
e was gone.

Heather gripped my waist hard and sobbed. For all he’d done to her in the
last couple days, she had a serious history with him, like most siblings.

She didn’t ask me to go back. I wouldn’t, if she had. But the desperation of the situation rang so hard, so fast, we couldn’t deny the impossibility of turning around.

We reached the road.

I didn’t say anything, just continued shifting upward to fifth gear on the four-stroke bike. James kept pace.
We’d left the driveway behind in seconds. Dirt and gravel sprayed behind us. Ruts in the road increased the squirrelly handling of the bikes. But we didn’t slow or stop.

We had to get north. We had to get Heather home.

I blocked out her pain. Brian had been less than likable in my eyes. But that didn’t lessen Heather’s heartache. My desperation to get into the flames dimmed. Brian had been in such pain. I didn’t want to hurt more. Maybe rotting muscles wouldn’t be as painful.

One glance back confirmed my suspicions and made my stomach hurt. The dawn skyline
had pinked up, but the sun was blocked by smoke from the blaze overtaking the forest. One way to get attention was to start the world on fire.

Another classic car lost to the flames.

Damn.

Over the low toned rumble of fifth gear, I hollered to James, “Don’t stop. We have to avoid the heat.”

He didn’t even look back. Some of the urgency and fear in my mind must have carried over to his. I hoped, for Brian’s sake, the fire had wiped them all out.

~~~

The highway onramp came out of nowhere. We didn’t have time to downshift for the turn, but took it just the same. The bumps jarred Heather. Her forehead slammed into my spine. I tried ignoring her chest pressed into the slope of my back. Her hands held on at my waist and each turn or increase in speed had her clutching me closer for anchorage.

I’d die before ever admitting that I revved and slowed on purpose.

Spring had been cruel to the area with drought-like weather and little snow over the winter. Tamaracks hadn’t regained their green needles. Evergreen trees upheld their name in color, just lacked the crispness associated with needle trees. Breezes running up and down the highway stirred dust bunnies and dry tumbleweeds across our path.

F
ires spread like butter in a skillet. Heat walled up behind us. If Dominic had made it out of the zombie feed at the rest stop, I couldn’t see how he would make it past the call of the warmth. The hours ticked past since I’d last eaten and my skin matched my hunger pangs.

We’d ridden another t
hree hours before seeing an exit for a larger town. I’d missed the sign signaling which town, but didn’t really care. Gas and food for Heather weren’t contingent on the town’s name.

Sloping down, the exit ended at a stop sign and turned right. I downshifted to fourth, third, and second. I didn’t stop at the sign, just checked for oncoming traffic. With the zombie apocalypse raging behind us, I had no illusions that people would be out and about – unless they lived under a frigging rock.

James followed us down the paved road. At first just forest declared itself and then a building sprang up intermixed with the trees. Another, and then we entered a small town ruled by a tall steeple standing watch.

On the outskirts a gas station welcomed us. I pulled up, James beside me. We didn’t have money. I had no way to pay for gas. We could always do a pump-and-run, but that didn’t seem right – stealing from people who were about to be eaten by zombies. Kind of unfair, yet, they wouldn’t live long to resent it. Twisted logic.

Heather slid from the seat after me. I propped the bike on a pillar beside a gas pump.

Solid morning light spilled across the manmade valley. The hour was early, but not so early people shouldn’t be around. “Stay nearby. I can’t tell if it’s safe or not.”

Neon signs glowed on the windows and doors of the convenience store. If the people were all dead or undead, then I had no problem stealing the gas. War had different rules than a life where zombies didn’t exist.

She shifted on her feet and crossed her arms. “Do you mind if I try to find the bathroom? I really need to go.”

I selected the nozzle and removed the gas cap. On the opposite side of the pump, James copied me, but watched the area around us.

Hell, I admit I stalled. Gas guzzled into the small two gallon tank. The sloshing spoke into the silence. She shifted again. I met her gaze. “Can you wait one second? I’ll go with you – make sure we’re alone?
I should call Mom, too.” I didn’t want to suggest Heather wasn’t capable of taking care of herself. I had to make sure she stayed safe. I’d gotten her that far.

We didn’t have much further
to go.

Heather
didn’t answer me. But she didn’t move away either which I guess was answer in itself.

The tank filled up fast. I closed everything and replaced the nozzle. We passed James to the building. “We’ll be right back. Heather needs to check out the restroom.” He nodded.

Heather hmmmed under her breath, her limp had all but disappeared.

I ducked my head to inspect her face, see what the sound meant. Her cheeks had flushed. Oh, hell. “Sorry. Not something I was supposed to say?”

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “It’s not that. I’m just tired, you know?” She didn’t say anything else as we pushed through the glass doors of the gas station.

A sign hanging past the Twinkies and candy read restrooms.
I grabbed her arm before she disappeared down the hallway. “Zombies are always in bathrooms. Haven’t you ever watched a horror flick?” I shook my head. “You wouldn’t want to be cast as a stupid chick, right? The one that dies in the bathroom.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled.
I led the way and rapped my knuckles on the scratched gray bathroom door marked with a handmade sign reading “women”. I formed my lips in an O and watched her while I opened the door. The light switch hid from my searching hand and I had to step into the dark room before I found it on the next wall. Hopefully nothing jumped at the chance to eat me.

I flipped on the light. Nothing but a toilet, sink, garbage can, and paper towel dispenser. So exciting. What a great way to look hero-ish to Heather. A sheepish
grin accompanied my grandiose wave inside. She closed the door after I left.

A
t the counter, I leaned over the edge. Nobody hid behind the register. In fact, I didn’t see anyone anywhere. A phone attached to a landline sat beside a display of flower pens. I picked up the headset and dialed Grandma Jean’s house number.

My mom picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”
Sweet to hear her voice, like it’d been longer than a day or so.

“Mom, it’s Paul. I only have a second. We’re headed that way, but so is Dominic.” Saying the words out loud didn’t make me feel better.

“Crap. Grandma Jean and Connie are in town. They convinced the people at the hospital what’s happening and that they have a vaccine. From their call a while ago, they have vaccinated the majority of the town. Connie and Travis are using their pathology labs to create more. I guess it’s faster there.” She sighed. “Are you okay, Paul? Is James okay?”

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. It was nice having someone worried about me, asking about me. The damn fact choked me up, or it could’ve been something else…
A loud bang outside made me jump. A quick check showed me James had moved beside his dirt bike and watched something from his position at the pumps. He’d placed himself behind the bike.

A security TV mounted above the cigarettes showed something slinking on the side of the building. The black and white grainy picture
concealed the details. I rushed the conversation along, careful not to worry Mom more than I needed to. “Yeah, we’re okay.”

“Good. Hurry up and get home. What can we do to get ready?” My mom, always so steady and stalwart
, offered comfort like a vitamin, necessary but not extra.

“
The best thing would be to start fires, lots and lots of fires. Get people armed with fire. That’s the only thing that will kill us, Mom.” I stopped at her small gasp. Oh, us. I’d said it. A box of lighters shaped like rifles taunted me. Ha. Guns that could kill a zombie. I got the irony. “I’m sorry, but you need to know. Because soon, and I mean soon, I won’t be myself. I’ll be almost, well, I guess mostly dead and I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold out from eating anything… everything…”
Everyone.

S
he sniffed. “We’ll address it when you get back. Hurry, okay? I’ll spread the word about the flames.” Mom lowered her voice, regret lining her words. “And Paul? I’m sorry there’s no cure.” She left off the yet. Yet. No cure
yet
. Because at that rate, nobody would survive long enough to see a cure made.

I straightened and lifted my chin.
Hopefully nobody would care that I pocketed one of the rifle lighters. “It’s okay. We got the vaccine. Now you won’t get it. I’ll be fine.” I rushed on, emotion threatening to take over. “I better go, Mom. Remember, don’t let them through. You can’t stop them unless it’s with fire. I love you.”

“I love you, Paul. Tell your brother. ‘Bye.” She hung up. My mom and I were never ones to mince words.

Replacing the phone in its cradle, I studied the foods I’d never get to taste again. Dust. There was a religious line I’d heard once in school. Something like, dust to dust and how we were once dust and after death we would be dust once more. Well, hell, people didn’t taste like dust. Only the crappy food tasted like dust. The driest dust ever. I smacked my tongue and swallowed, trying to eradicate the taste from my memory.

The sun continued ris
ing in the sky, careless that something unholy and disgusting filled the world. A smoky haze tickled the tops of the green trees. I’d never seen such an effect on the sky.

Another crash and bang. James looked from the store to a spot beyo
nd it. Movement past the glass wall gave me a jolt. How the hell had they made it that far? The flames were behind us. Where we’d left the zombies.

So why the hell was one trying to get inside the gas station?

I had to get Heather and get out of there somehow. James sat on his bike and moved it around beside mine, on the opposite side of the pumps. But the zombie making his way toward the door didn’t pay James any attention. He must smell the human odors saturating the building. It was all I could do not to lick the walls.

Up to that point, I hadn’t actually had to do any hand-to-hand combat. I’d run from them, sure, but I hadn’t had to try anything else. And now… Where the hell was Heather?

James needed to warn somebody, anybody. Find cars… where there were cars there were people. But… Not one car was in the parking lot. Across the street, closer to town, a library and school had zero cars as well. And the roads were empty.

We weren’t protected and didn’t have any way to fight. Brian had been carrying the spray cans. I guess
ed James had the lighters but what were we going to do? Light the gas station on fire? I’d hoped this would be the one town zombies wouldn’t enter.

Yeah, who was I kidding? Not me.

The rogue zombie jostled the outside trash can before pushing on the doors. I turned to retrieve Heather and almost ran over her.

She pressed her hand to her chest.
Interesting.
“I’m sorry. Are you ready?” She looked around the store for someone, but didn’t call out.

I placed my hand
over her mouth – her talking was like ringing a dinner bell – hell! Pushing her down into a crouch position, I shoved her back into the aisles, away from the view of the doors. Finger to my lips, I pointed over my shoulder. She scuttled backward until we stopped in front of the end cap.

She slipped her hand in mine.
“I don’t know what to do…” She mouthed on a sigh.

The bell above the door jingled. He’d figured out how to open it.
We held our breath.

Finding us wouldn’t take long.
I reached into my back pocket and withdrew my weapon. I held it up for her to see. She scrunched her face, like
what the hell?
I flicked the trigger and a flame flickered from the miniature barrel. Her lines cleared.