The First Days: As the World Dies (9 page)

2. Hell Has Highways

    

    The drone of the road was steady and unwavering as the truck roared over the slowly warming asphalt. The sun was climbing and would soon be an unmerciful tormentor of heat and light. Jack lay snoozing in the back seat with his nose tucked beneath his front paws all doggy contentedness and cuteness.

    Jenni smiled at him and looked back toward the road. Ralph's truck was much more luxurious than the truck they had escaped from the city with. It was a much bigger truck that sat higher off the ground and the seats were leather and very comfortable. The CB had been quiet for awhile after their last check-in. They had listened to the emergency broadcasting radio network for a short time, but as Ralph said, it was just bullshit. Jenni found it amusing that she understood more of what was going on than officials in high places because of her steady diet of zombie flicks thanks to her asshole of a husband.

    Glancing at Katie, she was relieved to see her companion looking cool and in control. Katie was wearing very sporty men's sunglasses that made her look like a cop and that thought sent Jenni into a fit of giggles. Katie just peered over the tops of the sunglasses and slowly stuck out her tongue.

    It was a huge relief to know exactly how things were supposed to be now. Yesterday-oh, God! It was just yesterday! - Jenni had spent the morning swinging between sheer panic and a trance-like state. By afternoon, she had felt safe in Katie's presence and confident her new friend would see them through all of this. A heroine was filling the usual hero role and Jenni accepted that. Where she had made the mistake was thinking that just because Katie was a lesbian, she was merely a man in a woman's skin.

    But last night, seeing Katie naked, sobbing, overwhelmed with grief, Jenni had seen that Katie was all woman, with a woman's reaction to things, a woman's emotions, a woman's way of dealing with it. Then she had gone and been a damn fool trying to comfort her like she was a man.

    Even now, in the truck, Jenni blushed at the thought of her awkward attempt to kiss Katie. No, she hadn't felt any attraction to her or even particularly wanted to even try to be with a woman. But Jenni was used to putting aside her needs and her desires for the men in her life. First her father, then her brother, then her husband. She had shut up, put up, and dealt with whatever they wanted from her.

    But Katie…

    Jenni smiled at her affectionately.

    Katie caught her look out of the corner of her eye and gave her a quick glance. "What?"

    Jenni kept smiling goofy.

    Katie just kind of laughed and turned her gaze back to the road. "You try kissing me again…"

    Jenni laughed. "Noooooooooo!" She snuggled down in the seat and pulled the map onto her lap. "We're looking for the handsome black leading man. I'll kiss him."

    Katie grinned, but then it faded as she saw a sign for a town.

    "Checkersville. What do Ralph's notes say?"

    Jenni immediately grew serious and studied the map. "Ralph made a note that it’s got a small population. It's Emorton we need to worry about. It's a lot bigger."

    Katie sighed, noting that according to the road sign they were ten miles out of Emorton. "Okay, get ready."

    Jenni dutifully drew her gun and snapped off the safety.

    They hit the small town at seventy miles per hour. It was two blocks long in both directions and appeared completely deserted. The truck cleared the first block and Katie expertly swung it around a car stalled in the middle of the intersection.

    "So far so good," Jenni said with relief.

    "Don't curse it," Katie chided her and the truck started down the second block.

    A man broke free of a building ahead of them, running fast, and screaming. It was not a zombie scream, but "Stop! Stop!"

    The truck sailed past him in a flash and Katie slammed on the brakes and shifted into reverse.

    "Get ready to open the door, Jenni."

    Jenni whipped around in her seat as Jack raised his head blearily, curious as to the drama.

    The man ran toward the stopped truck, sobbing, and clutching one of his arms. It was a mangled mess.

    "Go." Jenni said softly.

    "What?"

    "He's infected."

    Katie looked into the review mirror, saw the man's arm and slammed her fists hard against the steering wheel. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck."

    The man drew near the truck, waving his good arm, looking relieved.

    Behind him three battered, torn, and running figures appeared.

    "Just go," Jenni sighed.

    Katie glanced into the rear view mirror as Jack began to bark at the approaching zombies. "Sorry," she whispered and shifted gears and truck lurched forward as more zombies, slower ones, shuffled into view.

    "No," the man shouted. His voice was full of disbelief, despair and terror. "No! Don't leave me here!"

    Jenni considered shooting him. But leaning out the window and actually hitting him in the head or anywhere vital enough to kill him instantly seemed just impossible. She tried not to look behind her, but her eyes strayed to the side mirror. She winced as she watched him be caught by the faster zombies and dragged down. Her hand lashed out and grabbed Katie's. Katie held it tightly and they both sat in silence as the town vanished behind them.

    After a few miles, Katie withdrew her hand and put it back on the wheel as they drew near Emorton.

    "Ralph advised that we go down this side road. It will help us avoid the main part of town. FM 1342."

    Katie nodded. "Okay. Got it."

    Jenni looked at Katie again and thought of Katie's words last night. They did share a bond. She felt it. Yes, she had been a little confused about it last night, but not anymore. She understood now. And she felt comfortable now with the warmth in her heart when she looked at Katie. She had a new friend, a sister, a comrade and she could love her and not be afraid of being used or hurt.

    Katie turned onto the farm road and they both sat tensely in the moving truck, both aware that the larger towns were deathtraps. Jack softly woofed from the back seat and Jenni turned to see he was staring straight ahead with a very serious look on his face.

    Three large buildings loomed ahead. Emorton Elementary, Junior High and High school all in one row. The parking lot was crammed with cars and high gates surrounded the building. But the gates were down in one section.

    Two cars evidently had rammed into it and the car doors were open. No one was inside, but the doors were smeared with blood.

    "Not good," Katie said softly.

    Jenni flicked off the safety on her gun. "They must have made the school the rescue center." She twisted around in her seat and studied the buildings as they passed. Blood and bits of bodies were littered across the courtyard in front of one of the buildings. The doors to what appeared to be the gym were wide open.

    "Katie, floor it!"

    Two zombies raced out of the gym toward the truck and it was if a dam had broken. A torrent of moaning, screeching zombies poured out of the building, a mixture of adults and children, racing toward them. The slower, more mangled corpses lurched out behind them, intent to join in the feast.

    "There is a fuckload of zombies coming our way!"

    Jack began to bark anxiously at the approaching mob and looked at Katie worriedly, as if wondering why she wasn't hurrying it up.

    Katie was following the road around the school and the truck swiftly approached a knot of cars crashed into each other. They had to do a half loop to get around the school and this kept them in range of the chasing mob. To the other side of the road there was farmland and no easy escape.

    "They're gonna cut us off!" Jenni was horrified at how shrill and terrified she sounded. But then again, she was terrified.

    The first of the zombies scrambled past the crashed cars and onto the road a head of them. They immediately began to charge the truck.

    "We're meals on wheels," Jenni said with a bitter laugh.

    "Chewy center is what it's all about," Katie said gloomily.

    The truck plowed through the first zombies, but more were spilling out of the fence. It was starting to get hairy. The truck barreled through them and Katie saw another turn in the road. And more zombies coming from that direction. Another part of the fence was down due to someone ramming into it.

    "Damn stupid people!" Katie slammed on the brakes.

    A series of cars were clogging the road. People had obviously abandoned them in haste and had probably run for the school. Now they were probably running for the truck. To their right was the fence, to their left a slight shoulder and an embankment.

    "Just go," Jenni shouted.

    The zombies reached the truck and began to slam their fists against the metal and the glass.

    Katie reversed, shoving her foot hard down the accelerator, looking very satisfied as the truck bounced over a few zombie bodies. She aimed the truck for the narrow path to the side of the blockade of cars.

    "We might tip," Katie said.

    "Go down it! Off road through the field," Jenni said urgently. She glanced at the zombies banging on her window. "Before they break in!"

    Katie didn't say a word, but expertly dodged one crashed car and started the truck down the embankment. The vehicle tilted scarily to one side and Jenni found herself clinging to the door to keep from falling into Katie. Some of the zombies were still with them and banging on the windows.

    The truck hit the field and the wheels plowed through the sun-hardened earth. Luckily, it was just a field of wild flowers and the truck was a 4X4. The zombies still followed. Some even clung to the edges of the truck bed. In the mirror, Jenni could see the zombies from the school flowing into the field.

    Katie aimed the truck for the road on the other side of the field. "How are we doing?"

    "We got stowaways and lots more trying to catch up.

    There was a tremendous jolt as the truck struggled up the embankment and back onto the road. Jenni looked back to see two zombies go flying off the back of the truck and onto the road as they lost their grip. The last one had managed to get into the truck bed and was staggering toward the back window. Jack was barking wildly at this point.

    "Slam on the brakes!"

    Katie obeyed immediately.

    The zombie was flung forward and hit the back of the cab. It fell back into the bed out of sight.

    Jenni flung the door open, slipped out, and held her gun up.

    The zombie grabbed hold of the side of the truck and hauled itself up. It found itself looking straight into Jenni's determined gaze.

    "Pop," Jenni said, fired, and the zombie's head did pop like an enormous blister.

    "Get back in!" Katie was struggling to keep Jack from jumping out.

    Jenni could see the two zombies who had fallen off closing fast. Not far behind them an enormous crowd of the undead students, parents and teachers from the schools.

    Jumping into the cab, she slammed the door shut and Jack licked her face with relief.

    Katie drove on at top speed, her gaze flicking toward the gas gauge.

    "How far?"

    "An hour, but just back roads from this point out," Jenni answered, trying to get the map turned the right way.

    "But we have the interstate to worry about…"

    "He's alive, Katie. Jason is alive. I know it. And if there are zombies on the interstate, they may not go near the camping ground."

    Katie nodded. "I know, hon. I know. We're close. We're going to get him."

    Jenni nodded back. "We have to," Jenni said softly. She did not add that she needed to save him to make up for her failures as a mother. Katie wouldn't understand.

    "We will save him," Katie assured her. "We will."

    Jenni believed her.

    

    

1. Frayed Edges

    

    Katie was still trembling from the episode at the schools. Leaving that poor man behind was bad enough, but seeing that torrent of zombified families coming out of the school buildings had left her feeling sick to the very pit of her stomach.

    Maybe they were being foolish for thinking Jason was still alive. Hell, it was sheer luck that she and Jenni were both alive. Right place at the right time. She didn't want to dwell on it too much but what if she hadn't slipped free of her coat and ended up in the maw of that horrible undead thing that had tried to drag her from her car? Or what if Jenni's zombified son had made it out the window just a little faster?

    Up to this point luck had a lot to do with the fact they were still alive.

    Now it would be more about them keeping their wits in situations like they had just experienced that would dictate if they survived or not.

    So far, so good.

    Katie glanced at Jenni, who was staring straight ahead. Her lips were pressed firmly together and her brow was knotted. Jenni wasn't exactly expressing how much this rescue meant to her, but Katie knew. She understood. Jason, even if he wasn't Jenni's flesh and blood, was all she had left. Yes, technically she now had Katie and Jack, but Jason was a connection to her past. To her previous life.

    Katie was envious of that fact. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, left of her former life but a picture of her wife in a phone that's battery was slowly running out and she did not have a charger for.

    Again, Katie looked at the gas gauge. It was dropping faster than she liked. And, she sighed, she hadn't told Jenni yet, but they had blown one valuable point of their plan when they had escaped from the hunting store.

    The extra jugs of gas for "just in case" scenarios were still sitting in the back of that old beat up white truck. In their panic to get safely on the road, they had forgotten that part of their overall plan.

    Now they could not deviate one iota.

    What was in the tank was all there was. Pure and simple. Simple and terrifying. The needle was dropping far faster than she thought it would.

    "We're close," Jenni said softly. She was downright pale as a ghost now.

    Katie nodded. The trees were growing taller and more numerous. They had turned onto a logging trail and they had seen large patches of freshly hewed stumps. But so far, no undead.

    So far, so good.

    They were a mere five miles from the interstate and they had to consider this entire area a danger zone.

    "Katie," Jenni said in a hushed tone. "I'm scared."

    Katie took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Just keep breathing."

    Finally, a sign appeared directing them toward the back entrance to the camp. Jenni drew out the shotgun and laid it next to her.

    Katie could feel her chest tightening and her stomach fluttering.

    Please, God, please, let him be alive.

    The dirt road was very winding. Dry red dirt flew up in a cloud. It hadn't rained in a month and the earth was cracked. Finally, they could see the cabins used for youth camps through the trees as they continued down the dirt trail. There was no sign of anyone.

    Jenni was close to hyperventilating and her hands fluttered around her face.

    "Jenni, calm down. Calm down. He needs you to be calm," Katie said firmly.

    Jenni nodded, gulped air, nodded again. "Yes..yes…yes…"

    The whitewashed mess hall came into view and Katie slowed the truck to a stop. It was the main meeting hall for campers and, from where the truck sat idling, they could see the long road to the front entrance to the camp. One lone van sat in the gravel parking lot.

    The scream of the zombie girl as she hit Jenni's window made them both jump. The girl, her face a mask of blood, guts, and a gaping mouth with no tongue, slammed her hands continuously against the window.

    "They're here," Jenni whimpered.

    Jack barked angrily at the zombie.

    Katie reversed sharply, making sure not to end up in a tree, temporarily losing the girl. The zombie girl ended up right in front of them confused at their sudden disappearance. She realized where they were and charged.

    Katie slammed her foot down and the truck roared forward. When they hit the girl, her head hit the deer guard and blood, bits of brain, and grayish fluid spewed across the hood.

    Katie felt sickened yet satisfied at the same time.

    Jenni sobbed next to her and wrung her hands.

    "Jenni, calm down!" Katie ordered. But inside of her, she feared that Jason was gone. Gone like the rest of the world.

    She realized the mess hall shutters were all down and that there were smears of blood on them. The door cracked open for a moment and someone stepped out onto the front step, shading their eyes to see who was in the truck.

    "Jason!"

    Jenni was out of the truck and running before Katie could even try to grab her. Jack bounded out of the truck and ran at her heels. Her gun lay on the seat.

    Katie cursed, reached over and slammed Jenni's door shut, grabbed the shotgun, grabbed the keys, shoved her door open, and was on her feet and running in an amazingly short period of time.

    Jenni was just ahead of her, running, crying, calling out to the form on the step. She was almost to the figure when she cried out in anguish.

    "You're not Jason!"

    Katie was right behind Jenni, shotgun cocked and ready in her hands.

    And a good thing. A zombie came screeching around the corner, his hands held out, and Katie didn't hesitate to blast him in the face.

    The boy on the doorstep grabbed Jenni and pulled her inside.

    

    

2. Unraveled

    

    "Jenni!" Katie screamed, terrified, the shotgun raising to shoot the shadowy person in the face.

    Jack ran in, growling.

    "Get in," the figure called out.

    Human! She barely kept from pressing the trigger. Katie jumped through the doorway and the door slammed shut behind her. Instantly, there was banging on the door behind her.

    Oh, God! There had been a zombie or zombies right behind her and she hadn't seen them she had been so panicked.

    Jenni stood nearby crying with her hands over her face. Katie grabbed her arm.

    "Don't do that again! We can't afford to screw up!"

    Jenni looked at her stricken and Katie suddenly grabbed her close and held her tight. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought…I thought…"

    Katie became aware that they were standing in a hallway into the kitchen. Beyond the door at the end of the hall stood a tall, good-looking boy with masses of straight brown hair falling into his eyes.

    "Jenni?"

    "Jason?" Jenni's voice rose in a scary pitch. She ran down the hall into the arms of a boy almost as tall as she was. "Jason! Oh, Jason."

    "Jenni, where's Dad? And the kids?"

    Katie glanced at the door and the other boy standing there. He was staring at her with such sorrow it made her wince.

    "The door will hold. The others won't," he said simply. He pointed at another set of doors. They probably opened into the mess hall. They were trembling under the onslaught of someone or maybe quite a few people, throwing themselves against it. Heavy kitchen equipment had been piled in front of the door, but Katie knew the boy was right. It wouldn't hold.

    Jenni was sobbing to the point she couldn't answer the handsome boy who was cuddling her close.

    "Jenni? Jenni? Where are Dad and the boys?"

    Finally, all she could do was shake her head "no" and the boy's face crumpled and he fell against her and began to sob.

    Katie collected herself, forced her fear down and looked at the other boy.

    "What is the situation here?"

    He sighed. "My family drove out here to get my sister last night. They got here this morning. All day yesterday people were showing up and picking up kids. Me and Jason and a few other kids ended up here all night. The counselors bailed and left us here, saying our families would get us. Around midnight one of the families showed up, but one of them was bitten. We didn't know that. We thought the mother was just asleep. We were all asleep in the mess hall…you know…to stay together and safe. We woke up and she was eating one of the girls. The one you creamed outside. Jason hit the Mom over the head with a chair and kept hitting her until she was really dead. We ditched the girl out the door before she could…come back."

    Katie nodded, but motioned to him to hurry up. Behind her, Jenni and Jason were crying together, holding each other, mourning.

    But they didn't have time for that and Katie knew it.

    "What we didn't know is that others had gotten bit by her in the scuffle.

    Jason and I had come in here to get some food when the screams started. We looked in and saw another attack. But this one was bad. He was a football player before. We…just slammed the doors shut and bolted them. But…" He showed Katie his hand. "I got bit. "

    Katie looked sharply at Jason.

    "He's fine. We were going to try to escape, but that was when my family got here. But…the girl outside…she bit my Dad. He's over there with my Mom. Dad lost the keys out there in the scuffle. I…didn't…We couldn't leave…" The boy's sad eyes looked at Katie again. "I know we're dead. I watched zombie flicks with Jason. But take my Mom, okay?"

    Katie looked back at the door behind her that was being systematically tackled over and over again. Jack sat in front of the door growling low in his throat. She looked at the door to the outside behind the boy.

    "I think there are more out there now. From the interstate or maybe from families that didn't make it to safety."

    Katie nodded. "We need to leave now."

    "Kill me and my Dad first"

    Katie looked sharply at the boy.

    "Please, I don't want to be…that." The boy looked at the doors to the mess hall, his lips trembling.

    Unable to look into his face anymore, Katie walked into the kitchen and found a man and a woman locked in a tight embrace in one corner. Already, he was not looking very well. He was sweating hard and his face looked grayish-green. He had multiple bites on his neck and shoulder. Blood was streaming down his chest. He was fading faster than his son who just had one little bite.

    The woman looked up at Katie with glassy eyes and said, "You need to help us."

    Katie walked over and looked at the man. He looked at Katie's gun, then at his wife.

    "Take my wife with you. Do me and the boy a favor," he said softly. "You better go soon."

    Katie hesitated, her brain feeling numb and overwhelmed, then nodded.

    "I will."

    "I'm not leaving them! I'm not leaving them," the woman shrieked. She was the classic soccer Mom of this area. Blond, short bob haircut, slightly pudgy, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.

    Katie ignored her and walked over to the big stainless steel sinks. If she was correct, she could see the outside door from the high window over sinks.

    Hoisting herself up, she peered out. To her relief, just one zombie was banging on the door. But that didn't mean there weren't more out there.

    Jumping down she moved over to Jason and Jenni.

    "Listen. Now." Her voice was so authoritative she sounded like her father for a moment. "We're leaving. I need both of you to stop crying right fucking now!"

    They both blinked rapidly at her words and she could see that Jason immediately understood and wiped his tears away. Jenni reluctantly let go of her stepson and stood trembling.

    "Okay. Now. Jason's friend is bit. So is the Dad. The mother is fine.

    Those who are not bitten, we're leaving now. Before more arrive and the zombie football player busts through those doors." Katie pulled her revolver out of her holster and turned around to look at the man who was looking more and more dead with every second. "I'll take your wife."

    He nodded, his fingers pressed tight to his bleeding throat. "Finish me.

    And my son. Don't let us…don't let us…Take my wife with you, please."

    Katie nodded.

    The man kissed his wife and his son threw his arms around his neck.

    They all three clung together as Katie approached.

    She felt sick. She felt shaken. She felt anger. She felt sadness. But she didn't want this self-sacrificing man to die like the man back in that town.

    Like Lydia had.

    The wife's head was buried in the man's shoulder, her body heaving.

    The man closed his eyes and Katie fired a single shot.

    Blood spray didn't affect her anymore, she realized dully.

    The son looked up at her, crying, covered in fresh blood, but nodding…ready.

    The mother, though, launched herself at Katie, screaming,

    "MURDERER!" and almost sank a knife she had been holding the whole time into Katie's chest. It was only her son tackling her and driving her to the ground that stopped her.

    "Shit!" Katie said, her eyes wide, watching the struggle on the floor.

    The boy rolled off his Mom, the knife buried in his side. The mother rose screaming and charged at Katie again.

    Jenni stepped forward and slammed her upside the head with a pan and sent the crazed woman sprawling.

    Wordlessly, Katie handed off the revolver to Jenni and headed to the door to the outside, snatching the shotgun up and cocking it. Not even hesitating, she whipped the door open and shot the zombie in the head before he could register that the door was open. Then she was running while reloading the shotgun with Jack at her heels and Jenni and Jason taking up the rear.