Trying to Survive (Part 1) (10 page)

Chapter 12

   It was nearing the end of another day and there was still no sign of any more storms heading in our direction. After we have our second portion of water, the jug will almost be empty again. There’d be just enough left for each of us to have a little tomorrow... Our survival now solely depended on the weather.

   We continued to stay quiet and limit our movements to cut down on noise, but it wasn’t helping at all. In fact, more were continuing to show up and join the pack. The infected were now wrapped around the entire building, and the parking lot was almost completely full. If I had to guess, I’d say there were at least four hundred of them now.

   I saw it as proof that they really did communicate and work together. When others passed by, it seemed like the rest alerted them to our existence and persuaded them to join the ever growing mass…
They must know we’re the only people around…

   Of course, there’s still a chance they could eventually give up and leave, but certain actions on their part have me full of doubt. They’ve already become desperate enough to start feeding on each other, and I can’t help but feel that would be their very last option. That they’d resort to leaving before killing their own kind.

   Walt still spent a good amount of time looking out at them, constantly deep in thought. I didn’t want to look – it just made me think about death and the fact that we were all racing toward it... It was just another mind-numbingly long day of sweating profusely, working on our sunburns and praying for rain.

   Fortunately, Anthony and Clara were small enough to be totally shaded by the small wall running around the roofline. They just have to lie down straight and put their backs or faces to the wall. There was no real escape for us – even if we tried the sun would still bake half of our bodies.

   Melanie put forth the little energy she had to keep them occupied, but we were all just so thirsty, exhausted and plagued by negative thoughts that there wasn’t much conversation... It actually agitated my throat to speak, and I could only assume it was the same for all of them.

   Walt and I spent hours trying to come up with a way for him to make it to the car. It was actually getting to the point where we discussed dropping him down to a clear spot (If we could find one) and hoping he could make it to the woods behind the building before one of them grabbed him.

   His idea was to have us lower him down at noon, lose them in the woods, and then circle around to the front so he could try and sneak over to the car. He seemed to believe that even if they noticed him, (which they definitely would) he’d be close enough to make it to the car and get away.

   At first, I was ready to give him a shot to the jaw for even suggesting it, but eventually, reason took over and we agreed that if I didn’t rain by tomorrow, he was going to try.

   We were going to die anyway… I wasn’t able, and if he or Melanie want to attempt something, there was no reason to try and stop them. All they were doing at this point was risking a different kind of death.

   The sun was beginning to creep behind the trees and allow the light breezes running through every now and then to carry a bit of cool air with them. I was so nervous and restless – there was literally nothing to do but stare at each other or watch the clouds. I’d already chewed all my fingernails down and the heavy stubble on my face itched beyond belief due to the heat.

   Even my ass was getting raw from scratching at it so frequently… All we could do was hang over the edge, and there was nothing to clean ourselves with… The problems were piling up higher every day.

   If I wasn’t still limping around, I’d want to get off of this roof too – even if it was most likely certain death. Just to have something, anything to do but sit here and bake in my own sweat.

   My ears perked up when I heard what sounded like thunder in the distance. I turned to Melanie and said “Maybe it’ll rain during the night.”

   “What makes you say that? I don’t see any clouds.”

   Just as I said “You don’t hear that?” Walt sprinted across the roof in our direction, seemingly in a panic. As always, I expected to hear bad news.

   “I can hear a car… A car with loud mufflers – I swear, I heard it a few times.”

   I pulled myself up using the wall. “You mean that wasn’t thunder?”

   His eyes widened. “You heard it too?”

   Melanie energetically hopped to her feet and we all headed to the other side of the roof. I said “You sure it wasn’t thunder?”

   “Absolutely positive… What should we do? Fire a few shots and yell? If I can hear their car, they should be able to hear this rifle.”

   At first, I was excited… but suddenly, a different feeling washed over me and my mind began to wander…
What if they’re as desperate as we are and they only lead those things away so they can kill us and take all of our shit?..
I knew the decision to seek help from strangers was a rather large risk, but we were out of options so I kept my thoughts to myself.

   Walt climbed up on the wall and raised his rifle. “I don’t hear it anymore, do you?”

   “Not at the moment.”

   Melanie barked “Well, be quiet!”

   After what felt like about five minutes, I’d given up trying to listen. Melanie had gone back over to Anthony and Clara, and I was still thinking about what running into other survivors could mean. It’s not so much that people are “bad”, but that people will do anything to save their loved ones.

   If a father is being forced to watch his child starve, can I really blame him for trying to steal my food?

   The more I thought about it, the stronger I felt that it was best to avoid random people without learning anything about them beforehand. It was one thing to come across a large group working together… but people stuck out here like us can’t be trusted.

   Though none of these feelings mattered, because if we did see anyone nearby, we’d have to risk asking for help. I could only hold on to them as terms for future encounters
… If we ever get to have any…

   Walt finally took a break from looking through the scope long enough to turn back and say “It feels good to know we aren’t the only ones left. I was starting to worry.”

   “You really think we’ll get some random strangers to risk their lives for us?”

   “Never know – we risked our lives for random strangers.”

   “That’s true... but it’s been awhile. People change in a situation like this. I mean… look at us. We’re way worse off than we were three days ago.”

   I could barely see Walt’s eyes thin and his face wrinkle in aggravation as he continued to scan the area. His voice was noticeably raised as he said “Yeah, well it’s all we’ve got at the moment.”

   I didn’t respond, I just decided to walk away for a little while. After no more than ten steps, I heard the rumbling again, followed by Walt’s voice. “That’s definitely a V8 with loud mufflers – I can tell it’s still far away, it’s just loud as all hell.”

   “Why would anyone use a car like that at a time like this?”

   “I don’t know… let’s just hope they keep coming our way.”

   By the time I made it back over to Walt, the roar of the engine had already gotten louder. “You see anything yet? They sound pretty close now.”

   “Not yet… Wait!.. I see movement on one of the side streets… It was definitely a car! My view keeps getting blocked by trees and houses, but it’s headed for the main road. Just gotta hope they turn left instead of right.”

   Walt’s excitement caused him to briefly forget he was standing on a wall that was no more than a foot wide. He inched forward and his right foot slipped off the edge. He immediately had to drop his rifle and start flailing his arms to try and keep from falling.

   I lunged at him and grabbed the back of his shirt just in time. Due to fear, I pulled a little harder than I intended and he fell backward onto me. As we hit the roof, I heard a loud crack and felt it slightly give. I quickly pushed him off of me and rolled to my right, fearing we’d fall through into a group of the infected.

   We both jumped up, looked at each other for a moment, silently decided we’d pretend that never happened, and then went back to the edge of the roof. I’d left my rifle by Melanie so I wasn’t able to join Walt as he brought the scope up to his eye.

   “Do you see anything?”

   He suddenly jerked his head back in surprise and started to laugh. “What… the fuck.”

   “What!?”

   “Uh… It’s a van.”

   “Yeah, so? Is it heading our way?”

   “It’s one of those tricked out hotrod vans.” He started to laugh again. “It’s got custom paint, chrome wheels and flames all over the sides of it.”

   “Are you being serious?”

   He handed me the rifle, threw his hands up and said “Look for yourself bro. The only thing missing is a giant mural of a wizard fighting a dragon or some shit like that – and yeah, it should be coming by us in less than a minute. That thing is haulin ass, man.”

   I had to blink several times when I laid eyes on the metallic-blue van, covered in flames, barreling down the road at what seemed like 100mph. “You gotta be kidding me.”

   Walt nudged me and said “Nah man, think about it. It’s powerful, big and heavy, with big wheels and fat tires – it can mow those fuckin things down.”

   “Yeah, I guess you’re right… Maybe the noise can be helpful at times too.”

   “That’s what I’m thinkin.”

   I looked away from the scope so I could gain a real perspective of how far away they really were. We had no more than thirty seconds to figure out how to get their attention.

   “So, what should we do? Just fire a few shots when they go by?”

   Walt shrugged and sent the edges of his mouth downward. “What else can we do?”

   I limped across the roof and grabbed my rifle. My urgency and grunts of pain startled Melanie and the kids, so I took a second to explain myself. “Someone’s about to drive by – gotta try to get their attention.” Then did my best to rush back over to Walt.

   “They’re gonna have to slow down to pass by us. They’ve got no choice but to run a bunch of them down and weave around those cars.”

   I raised my rifle and aimed high into the trees, just to ensure I didn’t actually hit the van. Shooting one of them by accident wouldn’t be a good precursor to asking for help…

   Just a few more seconds.

   Walt scoffed “Damn, that is just ridiculously loud… Alright, they’re slowing down… Fire now!”

   The van ran down the infected people blocking its path, swerved around the abandoned cars and continued on. I tried to look through the windows but they were tinted almost solid black. I turned to Walt and said “Fuck, man! It’s so damn loud they didn’t hear the shots.”

   “No, no look! They just whipped it around!”

   I looked back to see the van at a stop in the middle of the road. “Looks like they just wanted to get some distance from those things so they could check us out. Lower your rifle!”

   We both set our rifles down and started waving our hands in the air. Walt said “You think they can hear us yell?”

   “It’s worth a shot.” I took a deep breath and yelled out “Please, help us! We have children who need water! Please!”

   Walt smirked and started to slowly nod. “Good angle using the kids.”

   “Shut up man, you know I mean it.”

   “Fuck man, they aren’t moving and those things are about to reach them.”

   I tried one more time. “Please! We have children up here who need water! We’re stuck!”

   Just as the last word left my mouth, the driver began revving the engine. I could now make out two men sitting up front. One white and one black. “They’re luring them away. They’re gonna try and help us!”

   Melanie came to the wall to see what was going on, and when she saw the van she sarcastically remarked “That is so loud! Look at that thing – are these guys for real?”

   Walt started laughing again and said “Who cares! They’re trying to help us – and it’s working.”

   The van was so loud, every single one of the infected started to stagger toward it. The popping and crackling seemed to really get their attention. Once they got within a few feet, the driver threw it in reverse and backed up another twenty yards or so – then began revving the engine again.

   A young black man wearing a white t-shirt and camouflage pants jumped out from the passenger side, fired six shots from a fully automatic rifle and began taunting them. He was tall, broad and obviously confident. His dress and appearance led me to believe he was in the military.

   The sight of him made them all start moving even faster. He raised his rifle again, took a few more of them down and then hopped back in the van…
Was he smiling?

   We just stood there and watched in amazement as every single one of the infected people in the area began to follow them down the road. Even the ones wandering around inside the building came crawling out of the windows and took off after the others.

   “Let’s get ready to do this.” I looked at Walt. “Melanie and I will help lower you down and then I’ll toss you the shotgun. There’s a really good chance you might run into a few stragglers down there.”