This is the End (Book 2): Not Dead Yet (25 page)

Dropping to my knees, I crawled along the bottom until I found a section that wasn’t as secure and used every last bit of energy I had to pull the fence up from the dirt high enough that I could slide underneath it.

I flattened against the ground on my belly and slithered under the fence, wincing as the edges dragged across the still very angry wounds on my back.  When my knees were clear, I turned and sat up and pulled my feet out, making sure to push the fence back down so it wouldn’t be obvious where I got out.

Certain I’d covered my tracks well enough, I got to my feet and started to run for all I was worth, barefoot and bloody into the night.

I couldn’t be sure how long I’d been running, but there were no sounds of footsteps behind me nor did I hear the moaning of the dead.  My feet were torn and bloody from stumbling over the pine needles and tree roots but after a while I started to hear the sounds of running water.

I sped up until the trees gave way to small stream meandering its way through the woods.  Wasting no time, I waded in and fell to my ass, letting the water rush around me.  Once upon a time I would’ve thought about water moccasins and leeches before entering a body of water in the south, but I just didn’t give a fuck anymore.

Still sitting in the river, I tore the disgusting dress off and threw it onto the bank with the bone and the keys.  I pulled my hair down from the braid and dunked my head under, trying to scrub as much of the dirt and blood from myself as I could.

It was freezing but even that didn’t faze me as I continued my baptism of freedom.  When I felt clean enough, I stood up and stared at the stars, water rushing languidly around my knees and welcoming the night air against my exposed skin.  I didn’t even care that I was standing half naked in a river in the dead of night, bloody and beaten and starving; all that mattered was I was free. 
I was fucking free.

The joy left me just as quick as it came when I realized it wasn’t over; I would have to go back for the others.  Sooner rather than later when they discovered I’d gotten out.

I was momentarily distracted by things brushing against my ankles and reached down into the water until something slippery passed through my fingers.  I closed my hand and pulled the fish out of the water, bringing it to my face and staring it right in the eye.

It struggled valiantly and I could only watch with a numb fascination as it slowly suffocated to death and I just continued to hold it.  Once it stopped thrashing, I looked at it a moment longer before sinking my teeth into its scaly side and ripping away a mouthful of fish flesh and guts.  Blood and other things dripped down my chin and I just continued to tear into the poor thing like a crazed bear.

I picked the body clean and tossed it down river, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand and scooping up a handful of river water to wash out my mouth with.  I was crazy thirsty but there was no way I was drinking river water I had no way of sanitizing; even I wasn’t
that
desperate.

Sitting down in the water again, I cleaned up the mess I’d made eating the fish and made my way to shore; I felt human again.  I was glad no one had been around to witness the complete deconstruction of human morality I’d just exhibited in the last hour or so and I could only hope I gained some sense of rationality before I had to make contact again.  I was actually mildly concerned that I’d finally been reduced to little more than the zombies that had destroyed civilization. 

Finding a large rock, I sat down and dunked the dress into the river to finish washing the grossness from that as well.  After beating it against the rock for a while I was sure the fabric was as clean as it was going to get and proceeded to tear it up.

I ripped the dress into two pieces.  I ripped the top all the way down the front, then pulled it on like a button down shirt and tied it off in the front.  Taking what was left of the skirt I held it up for inspection.  It was too large to put on as is, so I tore it all the down the seam on one side and wrapped it around my waist, tying it like a sarong.  I now had a very ugly beach ensemble, but at least it was somewhat clean.  Using what was left of the fabric, I wrapped the pieces around my feet, using large leaves from the tree to secure it into makeshift shoes.  Fuck, it was like I was on ‘Survivor’ or something.

Shaking my head, I looked up at the tree and got an idea.  I shoved the bone through the waist of my skirt and looped the keys into my bra, grabbed the lowest branch and started to climb.  When there wasn’t anywhere else to go, I stopped and looked down.  I was a good fifteen feet off the ground and there was enough foliage below me to offer a little protection from view if someone decided to look up.

You could see me from the other side of the riverbank, but I doubted anyone would be coming from that direction until at least sometime tomorrow.  Finding a not terribly awful position, I settled in to rest.  The whip marks across my back had closed but still hurt and my face was still puffy from the Ogre using me as target practice for his fist.

Making sure I was stable, I closed my eyes and drifted into the first real rest I’d had in days.

I awoke to hear footsteps in the brush below me.  I was startled and almost fell but caught myself before I could shake the branch causing any leaves to fall.

Peering down through the leaves, I saw some of the guys from the compound trekking through the woods with rifles at the ready.  They had Austin tied up and leading them on the rope again. 

They spoke in low tones but I got just enough to know they were out looking for me.  I held my breath as Austin jumped up onto the rock I’d been sitting on the night before and looked around.  He turned away from the river to look at the men as they discussed where to look next.

Austin suddenly went still and looked up, right into my face.  I held my finger to my lips, eyes pleading with him to not give me away.  His eyes got wider for a split second then went back to normal as he continued to causally survey the area, turning his looking up into a stretch.

The men walked over to the river and started to follow it upstream.  Apparently that’s the route a smart person would take.  Good thing I wasn’t a smart person.

When I was sure they were far enough away, I climbed down out of the tree and started following the river downstream.  I was heading south and I knew the compound was to the east, so as long as I kept on an eye on where the sun was, I should be ok.

I followed the river for a few hours until signs of what was once life started to sprout up around me, forcing me to keep to the trees for cover.  There were zombies wandering around aimlessly in a small yard encasing a tiny shack the vegetation had obviously been threatening to reclaim for some time now.

I hid behind a tree and watched them for a while, trying to figure out how many there were.  Five were wandering around the yard, but that didn’t tell me if any were left in the house or the small shed at the edge of the property.

Deciding to take my chances, I crept through the trees until I was near the shed, waited until they were all facing the other way, and darted in through the door as quietly and quickly as I could.

It was dark, but there was enough light to find a small trowel and an axe.  I hefted the axe over my shoulder, tested my grip on the trowel, took a deep breath and marched back out the door.

“Hey! I’m over here!” I called.  No sooner than the words left my mouth did the zombies spot me and start a mad dash in my direction.

I started running towards them as well, swinging the axe and jabbing out with the trowel as I slid by the first two.  They were twin teen boys and built like Mack trucks but it was my good fortune they kept their tools in good working order as the metal slid through their paper thin skin.  They’d been in the sun for too long and it had thinned out their skin which combined with the rotting, made getting to their spinal cords to sever their heads easier than normal.

Watching the matching heads fly by, I turned and focused on the three that were left.  I let them get within arm’s reach before swinging the axe in a wide arc so hard I turned a full circle.  It worked though, as limbs went sailing by and I kept hacking away until I was sure they were good and dead.

I stopped to catch my breath before dragging the bodies into the shed and closing it up.  If anyone from the compound came by and saw the bodies, they’d know for sure I was out here and that just wasn’t going to work for me.

Limping my way up the walk, I dragged myself up the stairs and paused inside the doorway, waiting to see if anything else jumped out.

“Hey!” I yelled out, banging the trowel against the door for good measure.  I waited several minutes but there was nothing but silence.

“
Thank fucking god, man
.” I breathed a sigh of relief and entered the shack, closing the door behind me.

It was a one story building and a quick look around revealed two bedrooms, one bathroom and a modest kitchen.  It wasn’t in the best shape, but they’d kept it pretty clean and for that, I was eternally grateful.

I got to work chopping up what furniture I could to board up the windows and seal the front and back door and when I was done, I collapsed into a pile of exhaustion on the sofa.

Somewhere a clock was ticking, which felt like a strange sound and something was rustling in a closet.  It sounded bigger than a rat and I thought for a moment I might have a raccoon or a badger on my hands. 

Creeping towards the door the noise was coming from; I slowly raised the axe and prepared to strike.  I took a deep breath and pulled the door out fast with a little yell.

“Holy shit!”  I almost had a heart attack when I saw Roscoe cowering in the back of the closet, unsure for a moment if I was going to try and eat him.  He recognized my smell fast though as his tail started a wild thump and he leaped at me, licking my face.

I started to laugh as I let him knock me to the ground with kisses.  “I missed you too, boy!”  I rubbed his head hard, never having been more thankful to see anyone, man or beast, in my life.

Grabbing his snout I looked him over.  “How long have you been out here?  Are you ok?” I cooed at him.  The dog snuffed at me in reply and lay down next to me, belly up and expectant.

I absently rubbed his belly while looking around.  They’d been dead for a while and the house hadn’t been fortified which told me they were likely caught off guard and hadn’t had time to eat all their food yet.

Climbing to my feet, I brushed the dog hair off and wandered into the kitchen with Roscoe hot on my heels.  I started opening up cabinets and digging through the contents until I happened upon a giant can of refried beans, some sealed dry jerky and a can of Spam.  Glancing at the refrigerator, I considered checking it too, but decided against it due to the incredible amount of time the power had likely been out for.  Opening that door was just asking for trouble.

I dug through the drawers until I found a can opener and spoon.  “You hungry?” I asked Roscoe as I opened the Spam.  His tail thumped the floor excitedly and I took that for a yes.

Dumping the canned meat onto a plate, Roscoe had his nose in it before I could even set it down all the way.  Pulling my hand out quick lest he accidentally mistake me for food, I went about opening the beans and jerky and dumped them into a large bowl. I was overjoyed to find a few bottles of water still left in a case in the pantry and continued to dump one into a bowl for Roscoe before taking my treasure back to the sofa.

Curling up, I ate every last bit of the food and drank two entire bottles of water.  Roscoe had finished his food and was lying at my feet.  I briefly wondered at how smart eating an entire can of beans was, but figured with no one around to hear the windfall, it wouldn’t really matter anyway.

Once we were both fed and watered, I headed to the bedrooms and started digging through drawers and closets in search of new clothes.  The woman had been tiny so none of her pants would even come close to fitting, but I did manage to find a pair of black jeans in what I was guessing was her husband’s side that fit well enough.  He’d been a tall man so I continued rummaging until I found a pair of scissors and proceeded to cut off the bottoms, making insane looking crop pants.

Turning to the other room, which judging by the posters on the walls and the bunk beds must have been the boys’, I started digging through their dresser until I struck gold.  I felt a little sorry I’d had to kill them as I held my treasure up for inspection.  Buried in the back of a drawer was a Manson shirt, circa mid-nineties.  The picture was the cover art for ‘Smells Like Children’ and I couldn’t help but grin right back at it.  The boys had been much larger than me so I was swimming in the shirt, but managed to fix that once again with the help from the scissors.

“Shoes, I need shoes.”  I knew nothing in the boys’ room would fit my feet so I took myself back in the master bedroom to stare at the pile of shoes in the woman’s closet.  I could tell she’d been one of the prissy women by the pile of heels and cute, strappy sandals.

I knelt down and started digging in earnest.  Tucked at the bottom I lucked out upon finding a pair of running shoes that looked like they might fit.  I pulled them on to discover they were about a half size too big.  She’d been thin but apparently taller than I.