'Til Death Do Us Part (4 page)

“
Go ahead. I
’
d fucking deserve it.
”
Kong turned back to his truck.

The .45 was shaking wildly as Al wrestled within himself against the anger, fear
,
and betrayal. He eventually followed Kong to the big rig, not saying a word as Kong unlocked the door and let him in.

Dom was inside his truck smoking a cigarette when the duo returned. He got out when he saw Al get down.

“
What
’
s the matter
?
Y
ou look like shit
,
”
Dom said as Al stormed past.

“
The vials work,
”
Kong told him.
“
Time to get some drivers.
”

“
Shit,
”
Dom said
,
grinding the cigarette under his boot as he realized what had transpired.

Day one without Talbot

“
Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod,
”
Gary kept repeating, as BT shoved him through Mary
’
s front door.

“
Where
’
s Josh?
”
Mary screamed, her eyes wide
with
terror.

“
He
’
s supposed to be here,
”
BT said
,
moving to the side so that he could shut the door and look out the curtain.

“
He
’
s not here!
”
s
he screamed.
“
You left him out there!
”
She was shrieking now.

Gary was still muttering on the floor where BT had deposited him.

“
Oh fuck,
”
BT said silently as he looked through the large
, bar-
covered picture window of Mary
’
s modest siege home.

“
Where is my son?
”
s
he screamed
,
slamming her fists into BT
’
s chest.

BT pointed with the tip of his rifle before he headed back towards the front door.

Josh was
,
at the most
,
two steps ahead of the lead zombie whose outstretched hand was nearly close enough to touch his collar.

“
Oh my God!
”
Mary said in unison with Gary.

“
The fucking toy, h
e went back for the fucking toy,
”
BT said as he headed out the front door.

Josh was running for his very existence
, but the large remote-
control truck he was carrying was impeding his progress. BT did not trust his marksmanship or frayed nerves to start firing at ta
rgets so close to a live body, a
nd he couldn
’
t tell Josh to drop down
.
BT
would be able to get the lead zombie and a couple of others
,
but there were too many of them.
Add to that the real danger that the zombies pursuing him and Gary would completely cut the boy off from the house.

“
Drop the damn truck!
”
BT roared.

Josh looked up;
wide
,
white
, terror-filled
eyes stared back at him.

“
Drop the truck
,
boy!
”
BT
repeated with more force
.

BT watched as Josh had an i
nternal struggle within himself.
T
he boy was deciding on whether or not to give up one of the last things his father had given him or forfeit his life. It was close
, b
ut Josh fin
ally let go of the toy monster t
ruck.
BT figured the boy
’
s fathe
r was still looking out for him as
the truck caught in between the strides of the zombie closest to Josh. Josh yelped as the
zombie
’
s hands reached out and touched him down his back and the bottom of his pants as it
s legs
became tangled in the rubber and plastic
causing
the zombie
to slam
chin first into the ground.

The e
ffect was instantaneous
as
at least another three zomb
ies went down with their leader.
Josh was far from
out of
danger
,
but BT finally had an opening with which to let lead fly. He lined up a shot and tried to pull the trigger.

“
Oh no,
”
he sighed. H
e was out of bullets.

“
Good a day to die as any, maybe
even better than most,
”
h
e said as
he
ran towards Josh.
H
is hastily drawn up plan was to use himself as a human shield.

“
Get out of the way
,
you lummox!
”
Mary shouted behind him. She didn
’
t give him much of a chance
,
though
,
as she began to shoot. Most weren
’
t head shots
,
but the bullets were causing enough damage to slow the zombies down.

Gary came up beside her;
he was jamming shells in to his rifle. Tears were still streaming do
wn his face as he began to fire.
BT was amazed he could hit anything through the waterfall in his eyes. 
Luckily Gary was focused on the zombies
in
the front
of the house
where his bullets would only slam into the undead.

Josh had about another fifty yards to make it to the house, forty before he made it to BT. BT waited like the anchor
man
in the first ever zombie relay. First prize was life, everything else was death. BT started jogging towar
ds the house as Josh approached
,
then snatched him up into his huge arms
,
going
full tilt within
four
strides. Mary was holding the security door open so that he could dive in with his precious cargo. Gary was busy shoving new shells into his rifle.

“
Get in the house!
”
Mary yelled simultaneously to BT and Gary.

Gary was slow to react.
BT grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him in alongside.
He
pushed Josh ahead of
himself as he fell to the floor;
he didn
’
t want to save the boy from zombies only to crush him under his bulk. BT
’
s chest had no sooner hit the floor when the first zombies crashed up against the
security
door. Mary was backing up as the house rattled from the multiple impacts.

Gary shut the front door when BT moved his legs.

“
What were you thinking!
”
Mary screamed at Josh, who was full on crying now.
“
What were you thinking!
”
s
he screamed again.

Josh was sobbing so hard
that
he was hitching and having a difficult time catching his breath.
“
It...it was from dad,
”
h
e wailed.

“
W
as it worth getting killed over?
”
She was screaming so loudly
,
and with such force
, that
her face was turning red and thick
,
corded veins were bulging from her neck and forehead.

“
Mary
,
he
’
s alive, he
’
s fine,
”
BT said
,
trying to restore some order in the house.

She
wasn
’
t having any of it
and
turned her wrath on him.
“
Wasn
’
t it your grand fucking idea to let him go along?
”

“
Oh
I would imagine it was Mike
’
s insidious ramblings t
hat convinced the boy to go out,
”
Mrs. Deneaux added.

“
You shut up!
”
Mary wheeled, pointing her fi
nger at the crone. It seemed no one
would be spared Mary
’
s ire.
“
Where were you when my son was running for his life?
”

“
Dear
,
I
’
m just an old woman
. W
hat could I have done?
”
Mrs. Deneaux asked in return.

“I should have never opened my door. I should have never let any of you into my life.”
She was crying now.

“
It
’
s alright
,
mom, I
’
m alright,
”
Josh said
,
getting up to comfort his mother. She gripped him tightly as if she were afraid to let him go, lest he not be real. She was crying into his shoulder, their roles momentarily reversed.
“
Mom
,
we had to let them in, it was the Christian thing to do.
”

“
I almost lost you
, Josh.
I can
’
t lose you…
you
’
re all I have left in the world.
”
She
let loose with a full-
throated cr
y
.

“
I
’
m here
,
mom, I
’
m here,
”
h
e said as he led her towards the couch.

“
Where
’
s Michael?
”
Mrs. Deneaux asked BT.

BT shook his head almost imperceptibly from side to side. Mrs. Deneaux was careful not to let her joy show. Gary was staring out the living room window
,
but his eyes did not appear to be focused on anything.

“
I didn
’
t even get a chance to bury him,
”
Gary mumbled.
“
What am I going to tell my dad?
”
h
e asked the question, but that was not anything any one had an answer to.

“
What now?
”
Mrs. Deneaux asked BT.

“
We head towards Maine,
”
h
e told her.