The Nameless Survivor (Valkyrie) (3 page)

             
Not too far into the distance, through the now snow-frosted trees, I could just barely make out the ominous flailing of necrotic arms as the herd rapidly stumbled through the rough terrain. My heart pounded rigorously in my chest as I turned away from them, and trotted downward.

             
The terrain eventually began to level off, aside from small hills and valleys, the rest of the trek would normally be easy sailing. But, the hungry horde was still on my heels, fast and fierce. They gained ground on us with every painful step I took, hell-bent on dining on our stringy flesh.

             
But, it was of no use, carrying the girl was slowing me down. As frail as she was, she had become far too cumbersome, and every step became harder and harder. The Slugs were closing in so fast that I dared not look back, afraid that I'd find them directly on my ass.

             
Self-Preservation, my first rule, was all I could think about as I charged through the forest. That rule alone is why, for a brief moment, I considered dumping her as fresh Necro-Bait. But years of death and loneliness were too much for me to bear any longer. She was an uninfected, tangible, live person. Someone I could talk to, someone to keep me company. No, leaving her was not an option, I had to keep moving. WE - had to survive.

             
However my muscles subsequently gave way and the girl’s weight slammed me down hard onto my ass, sending us veering down a steep embankment. My mind raced with thoughts of the dead, belly-sliding down right behind us, but luckily they were still a ways off. Large hardwood tree-trunks became my immediate concern as we skimmed passed them by just mere inches.

             
Eventually we slid to a slow stop as we reached the bottom, and immediately I noticed a small pile of fallen boulders just ahead of us. A dark and cold crevice lay welcoming at its base. The opening was sadly just big enough for one person to slide into, but I had to make it work. We had no choice, and I had no more energy to run any further.

             
The shrieks continued to become louder as the herd closed in on our position. Frantically I stumbled towards the crevice, dragging the girl through the snow by one foot with what little strength I had left. Even over the stress of the situation, I was able to chuckle at the sight of my current predicament. Reminiscent of poorly drawn cartoons of Cro-Magnon-Man dragging his chosen bride back to his cave. Even in this depressing world, my sick sense of humor tends to keep me going.

             
My legs were like concrete as I forced them, one step at a time towards the crevice as fast as I possibly could. I dropped down to my knees just as we reached the entrance and released my hold on the girl’s foot. After a quick examination I concluded that there would be just enough room for two - stacked.

             
Carefully, I slid myself halfway into the crack before grabbing her up to pull in with me. Just then, a pursuing corpse tumbled his way down the same embankment we had just come from, his body bouncing off the trees like a puck on a game-show Plinko game. Then another followed, the crack of his head against the timber was loud enough to echo, but unfortunately not hard enough to kill.

             
In one swift motion I pulled us both down into the cramped dark hole, holding her tight, and pushing us back as far as I could. The taste of my own blood filled my mouth as I bit down onto my lips, trying to hold back the sound of my breathing. Pain coursed through my muscles as jagged stones pressed hard into my kidneys and spine, it was unbearable, but thankfully I remained silent.

             
Those eerie moans and ghastly groans were getting closer and closer as my heart raced even faster.

             
“They can hear me breathing,” I whispered. “Or smell us.”

             
Fear clawed at my will like a monster under the bed. I pulled my forty-five revolver from my coat and held it up to the innocent girl's head. Tears slowly trickled down my cheek, gradually freezing to my beard and creating instant icicles.

             
“This is it,” I muttered, “So stupid! You should of left her, now look at you!” I cursed at myself.

             
I had never killed the living before, Christ, I wasn't even sure I had it in me. The first time I pulled the trigger on one of the infected caused me to gag on my own vomit, but over the years it had become easier. One just needs to look at them simply as a demon sent straight from the depths of hell, and pulling the trigger without remorse becomes instinct.

             
But, now I held that iron-of-death against an angel’s skin, ready to end her innocence.

             
My finger tightened on the cold steel of the trigger as I closed my eyes and thought back on my past life. I had been so careful all these years, following my rules at every turn. Now one stupid mistake and this poor girls life, along with my own, was about to end.

             
“You fucking moron!” I whisper aloud.

             
Just as I went to squeeze, it became evident that the listless shuffling outside was slowly fading. They were moving on! My slightly frost-bitten finger eased off the trigger, as my hand shook with anxiety. Carefully, as if handling a bomb, I slid the gun back into my coat.

             
Sighing in relief, I wrapped my arms around the girl, providing us both with much-needed warmth. My eyes remained locked onto the entrance of our arctic tomb, awaiting for a straggler to pop its necrotic head into the opening. But, the only fear to present itself was the swiftly fading light. We couldn't stay there much longer, but I needed to rest, just for a few moments.

             
Anxiously I waited, forcing my heavy eyelids open, trying hard not to fall asleep. We had to keep moving, but I needed to be sure the hungry mob was long gone, while praying that hypothermia would not take hold first. Time, we just needed a little more time.

             
“For a moment,” I muttered, “Rest your eyes for just a moment.”

             
As my body began to relax, my mind began to wonder, and that dark cramped space seeded memories from a long forgotten past. My grandfather died when I was just a boy, maybe seven or eight years of age. But I do remember, unlike my father, his son; that he was a bitter and hateful man. Unhappy with both his life and even more disappointed in his family. As his grandson and a goofy kid, I tried on many occasions to make him smile, but failed with every attempt.

             
Being in his presence was intimidating, one felt both fear and respect for him. Respect for his unwavering fortitude, but fear for his unpredictable temper. Visiting was like marching through a mine-field in some war-torn country. One never knew which step may set off an explosion of rage and hatred.

             
He lived in a large and old farm-house, a building littered with storage and crawl-spaces hidden behind removable panels in the walls. Those dark, cramped and musty passages were my own personal getaway, a place to seek refuge until the storms had subsided. In those storage spaces I read by flashlight. All kinds of books, classic tales long ago packed away and forgotten. This stone crevice reminded me of those days, but I no longer had Jules Verne to keep me company, only Raggedy Anne.

             
Just a sliver of gray light broke through my shaded eyes before I came to my senses and forced them back open. It was time to go. Carefully I crawled up and out of the crevice, making a quick scan of the area. Nothing but a trail of footprints, the snow stained with the black infectious goo that seeps from their putrid flesh.

             
The path led off towards the north into more treacherous landscape, and hopefully into their own demise. Thankfully it would at least take them far past my cabin which sits just a bit further down the face of my mountain.

             
With what little energy I could muster, I pulled the lifeless girl out of the crevice and threw her back over my shoulders. The rest of the hike, although slow, was smooth and without incident. I smiled in relief as a distinct cloud of smoke became visible through the myriad of trees. Gracefully it rose up through the falling snow like a ghostly-beacon of safety. At last, a sight most welcome in the gray before the dark.

             
The snowfall had become even heavier and the wind continued with its unwavering onslaught as I stumbled through the yard and into the warm and inviting cabin. Gently I laid the girl down onto my bed and turned to shut the door, but stopped abruptly when something small had caught my eye. It was what I had been searching for all along, a needle in this icy hay-stack.

             
Perched on a pile of fire wood was a lone and hungry gray squirrel. He too had ventured from the warmth of his den in hopes to find food, a foolish soul just like myself. Yet, he sat unsuspectingly, cleaning his paws as snow pelted his furry little head. For a miniscule second I considered letting him live, but that moment quickly passed.

             
Foolish indeed, without much thought, my hand sprung up with pistol drawn and the trigger snapped back. The echo that reverberated throughout the woods was of little concern now, the disoriented Slugs would not be able to navigate this storm, nor could they pinpoint our location from the succession of echoes that followed. The bang hadn't even bothered the girl, not even the slightest stir from the bed.

             
Proudly I made my way across the yard, ignoring the ache in my bones while thinking only of my stomach, and snatched up the unlucky rodent. Blood trickled onto the snow from its severed neck, like droplets of oil, as black as plagued-blood in fading light. In triumph, I carried my bounty back towards the cabin.

             
“Finally!” I said to myself, “Dinner!”

supplemental;

              Silently I stared down at the feeble girl sleeping in my bed, staring for an unperceived amount of time.  Disturbed, bewildered, and in complete disbelief. Still I pondered if she was real, or if I had finally lost my mind. What concerned me even more, selfishly I admit, was the drain she would ultimately impose on my supplies.

             
Needless to say, I am also concerned with my hospitable inadequacies. I never did enjoy social gatherings back in the old world. People, in general, tended to annoy me. So aside from work I generally kept to myself in my small apartment. However, after five years of solitary confinement I am in no way prepared for entertaining guests, I am not even sure what I will say when she awakes... If she wakes.

             
The girl is maybe only fifteen or sixteen years of age, barely a woman, but not quite a child. Her hair - matted with dirt and god knows what else, and her attire reeked of urine. She was a pathetic mess, however her young beauty was still able to repel all that filth.

             
Most of the clothing stored about my cabin was unsuitable for her, and her petite form made it all the more difficult to find something. An old Grateful Dead t-shirt and a black pair of sweat-pants is all I was able to scrounge up. The shirt was definitely a little too big, but the sweatpants fit perfectly. Soon, when winter eases up, we will have to take a day to loot and raid for more clothes.

             
Setting the ragged attire at the foot of the bed I grabbed a large pot from the fireplace and stepped outside to gather snow for boiling. It was falling even harder, large clumps smacked me in the face with one splat after the other. Although I was still chilled to the bone, the icy pelting was quiet refreshing.

             
Straining my rickety bones, I knelt down and filled the pot before setting it aside for a moment.

             
Pulling out my pipe I quickly struck a match against my belt-buckle and eagerly began to smoke. Leisurely I puffed away, drawing in the sweet skunky smoke, and then blowing circles up into the air. The snow immediately broke the rings, sending them spiraling out of control and eventually vanishing into the night air. With a sedated grin, I puffed a little more.

             
It was a perfect winters evening, the crisp air, and the smell of freshly falling snow, the purity and savageness of nature at its best. Although this is the most difficult time of year, it is also one of my favorites. There is an unexplainable tranquility brought on during these months, something that is both cherished and feared.

             
Off in the distance the unmistakable sound of wolves filled the crisp air, howls and wails like ghosts in the twilight. An eerie sound, almost supernatural, music to my ears. It's been at least fifty years or more since wolves populated this area, driven to extinction by both mans greed and fear. But, since the fall of man, nature has just now begun to reclaim itself.

             
The wolf symphony came to an abrupt end with a succession of high pitched yelps and squeals. A botched hunt, mistaking the damned for food. There sacrifice simply ensured another safe night for us.

             
Nervously I placed the pipe back into my pocket, gave one last look up into the falling snow, and then grabbed the pot before stepping back into the cabin. Without a second thought, and with a quick flip, I latched the door shut behind me. Just in case.