Trying to Survive (Part 1) (4 page)

Chapter 4

   Melanie hadn’t said but a few words over the last two hours. She would only answer with a brief and sorrowful “yes” or “no” to the questions we would periodically ask. When she brought her feet up onto the chair so she could bury her face into her arms and knees, we knew it was better to just leave her be.

   I forced myself back to the room where Chris was killed so I could actually examine one of those things. I wanted to understand what was happening and how they could far surpass the physical abilities of a normal person.

   I took a knee next to what used to be a middle-aged woman. Her attire suggested she worked in an office or some type of professional setting. She was wearing semi-expensive jewelry and what seemed to be designer shoes.

   When my eye moved to her hands, I noticed that her fingernails seemed to be thicker than average and slightly elongated. The moment I picked one of them up to take a closer look, I could feel that the muscles in her hands and fingers were hardened like steel.

   As I inspected her abnormally thick and oddly discolored fingernails, it hit me –
Whatever this is actually changes them physically and makes them a lot tougher and stronger… This is why they can do all that crazy shit without destroying their bodies…

   Once I absorbed all the information I could stomach, I spent a while standing outside the door – just in case Chris came back… I felt guilty for even thinking it, but his death was actually helpful to us because it answered another crucial question... Now, we know that when people die they don’t turn.

   I spent the rest of my time sitting on the cool tile floor, leaned up against the wall next to some stacked cages, trying to play out our future in my head. I knew it was in our best interest to only worry about ourselves, but I also knew my conscience wouldn’t give me any peace until I could convince Walt to go back for that little girl.

   Now that we had two cars, I’d come up with an idea that might actually work…
We’ve rested long enough…

   Walt had been obsessively looking through the window. I haven’t seen anything but his back since we got done wrapping Melanie’s arm. Judging by his silence, I could only assume his thoughts were as dark and frightening as mine.

   It caught me off guard and made me slightly jump when he finally spoke. “I think they slow down during the day.”

   “What do you mean?”

   Without turning around, he reached back and motioned for me to join him by the window. “Come over here and just watch them for a few minutes.”

   Intrigued by his observation, I jumped up and walked over to him.

   “When we watched them last night they were all frantic and really energetic, right? Lunging around, growling and shit.”

   “Yeah.”

   “Look at that one over there… he’s just slowly wandering around. Same with that woman to the right. I haven’t seen either one of them spaz out since I’ve been at the window.”

   As I studied them, it became clear that Walt was on to something. They seemed lethargic – like they weren’t too worried about hunting at the moment. I even noticed they were staying near the shade from the trees on the side of the road.

   Walt said “I think it’s why you’re still alive, man… From what I’ve seen, you shouldn’t have been able to hold it back like that. It should have instantly overpowered you... They must get weaker and slower when the sun comes up.”

   “I wonder why they weren’t like that yesterday.”
Fuck me… maybe if we had waited one more day to try and get away, I’d still be able to see out of both eyes…

   “It must have been because they just turned… Or maybe, now that they can’t find as many people to eat they’re trying to conserve energy?”

   “Well, the only way we’ll know what’s really going on is if we get back out there and see how they react.”

   This new realization only validated my plan even further. As Walt began to answer me, I interrupted him and said “This is perfect – because there’s something we have to do.”

   “Oh yeah, I forgot you said something about that. What’s goin on?”

   “When we escaped from my neighborhood… Remember when I slammed the brakes and came to a stop once we hit the main road?”

   “Yeah, sure.”

   “It wasn’t because I was about to pass out… I saw a little girl.”

   Walt’s eyes thinned and he heavily frowned. He brought his hands behind his head and sighed. “James, we can’t.”

   “She was safe. I saw her in a second floor window of the last house on the street. We can save her.”

   “It’s been a long time… She might not even be alive and it’s a big risk.” He approached me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Just a few hours ago, I saw you come within a second of being killed...
Again
.”

   “I know, but you said it yourself – they’re slower, weaker and uninterested during the day. That’s why the ones further away didn’t react to the gunshot. The one that broke through the window only did it because I looked out and we were inches away from each other… It wasn’t that bright out yet either.”

   Walt took a deep breath and crossed his arms. Without responding, he walked back over to the window and began watching them again. I said “I do have a plan.”

   He still didn’t respond, so I kept going. “We have two cars now. Yeah, I know one has a fucked up wheel, but it still works. And since I’m blind in one eye – I’m the weak link, and I always will be. So, I’m gonna be the bait.”

   Walt whipped around and pointed at me. “You are
not
going to be fucking bait, James!”

   “Just listen! I’m gonna drive down that road and lead them away while you run in and get her. It’ll work, man… I know it will.”

   “Yeah, it sounds great… while we’re here locked up in this building.” He stepped towards me. “Go look in a mirror… Look at what they did to you in just a split second!”

   Just as I was about to answer him, our attention was drawn to the other side of the room by Melanie’s voice. She was standing up, she’d fixed her disheveled hair and wiped her face dry. “If he won’t do it, I will.”

   I gave her a respectful nod and looked back to Walt. “And I’ll take her up on that offer… We’re doing this Walt. So, you can either help and let Melanie rest because she’s injured, or you can stay behind. It’ll be difficult, if not impossible for her to carry that little girl all the way down to the car.”

   Melanie’s teary, light-brown eyes shimmered and intensified when they caught the small amount of light coming through the blinds. “I’ll get her to the car. Whatever it takes.” She said as she took several steps in our direction.

   I could see the muscles in Walt’s jaw bulging as he gnashed his teeth out of frustration. It wasn’t long before his face suddenly softened and he began to slowly nod... I’d like to think Melanie’s bravery inspired him. “You’re right… We need to stop being selfish, and I really do think your plan will work.”

   I looked over to Melanie. “Thank you, but you need to stay here and rest. You might not realize it yet, but a lot of the muscle from your arm is gone. You can’t do as much as you think you can, and It’s crucial that you don’t use it too much so it can heal properly.”

   She came even closer to us, her face now showing deep concern. “Let me at least go with you. I don’t want to stay here alone. I have to be able to help in some way.”

   Walt shook his head. “You can’t even shoot a gun. Plus, James is right – you need to heal or that arm is gonna haunt you… And it’s only a few miles down the road, so we won’t be gone for long.”

   I interjected. “And we’ll leave all of the supplies here. That way, if we do get killed, you’ll have food and water.”

   “Agreed. You take the shotgun, James. It could really come in handy if they start to swarm you.”

   I didn’t want to waste any time. If our theory was correct (and it truly did seem as though it was) the sun was about as bright as it could possibly be. “We go now.”

   I turned to Melanie. “Just stay in this room and don’t make any noise. If anyone else shows up, just try to hide. You can’t trust people anymore, understand?”

   She fearfully nodded and closed her eyes. “Be careful.”

   As we headed out of the room, I was scared as any normal person would be, but I also felt confident in knowing we were doing the right thing. If there was one thing worth risking our lives for in a situation like this – it was to save a child.

   I hesitantly walked back to the room where Chris was killed. A soft, rhythmic tapping caused me to come to a halt, just outside the door. I put my hands on the wall, leaned forward and pressed my right ear up against it. When I figured out that it couldn’t possibly be one of the infected, or another person, I cracked open the door and peered inside.

   The wind was coming in through the broken window, moving the shredded blinds around and causing them to tap against the wall. I raced over and just ripped them down so it would stop. I was worried it could attract those…things… once the sun went down and they became more active.

   I didn’t really know what to call them…
They might look like people, but they aren’t human anymore.

   I took and knee next to Chris and did my best to look away as I went through his pockets. I’d seen enough death…

   Once we reached the parking lot, I said “Think it’s best if I take the one without the broken window and fucked up windshield. I really need to be able to see where I’m going.”

   “Yeah, of course. So, which house is it?”

   “Once we turn off the main road, it’ll be the first house on the right. If it looks like they got in through the windows or doors – we turn around. That means there’s too good of a chance she’s dead, and we can’t risk you being ambushed inside.”

   “Alright, sounds good to me. Let’s do this.”

   When I opened the car door, I expected the noise to draw in two of them that were lingering by some trees, no more than twenty yards away. All they did was twitch, look around a little and then go back to what they were doing.

   Looks like we caught a break… A really big break. This changes everything. We might actually survive this shit…

   When we started up the engines and pulled away from the parking lot, several of them came to life and began to follow the cars. It was easy to tell that they were noticeably slower and somewhat clumsy. They were still fast enough to keep up with us if we were on foot, but nowhere near as ferocious.

   Within five seconds, I could see in the rearview mirror that they’d already given up.

   Even though it didn’t seem necessary anymore, I drove slowly so the car wouldn’t make too much noise. Walt followed closely behind. I could barely make out his face through the horribly cracked and spider-webbed windshield. As soon as I could see the street sign in the distance, I came to a stop and signaled Walt to pull up next to me so we could talk.

   “I’m just going to do whatever it takes to draw them away. Stay at the edge of the street until they start following me so you don’t distract them. Then, just get in there when you have the chance. And I’m gonna assume you only need five minutes.”

   “Less. As soon as you see me pull up to the house, start counting down from three. Three minutes should be more than enough. Don’t go in too deep, otherwise you might run into a damn wall of them on your way back out.”

   Some of the infected were starting to approach, so we continued on. I could see their strength and speed start to build as they got closer – like knowing food was nearby activated them again…
Maybe we we’re only partially right…

   As planned, when I turned onto the street, Walt stayed by the stop sign. I was immediately met with the sight of hundreds of infected people wandering the neighborhood. I could only assume Walt and I drew most of them to this street the night we escaped. They were bunched together but not to the point where I couldn’t get through.

   I took my foot off the gas pedal and started coasting towards the crowds. I looked up at the window and there was no sign of the little girl, but the house was still all closed up. Driven by the assumption that she wasn’t crazy enough to step outside, I began to carry out the plan.

   I sped up and just held down the horn. A chill ran down my spine when all of their heads jerked toward me at once. It was like being the main event in a stadium full of people who wanted you dead. I felt like an ancient slave being forced into the Coliseum… I would either survive or be torn apart by wild animals.

   All of their strange and frightening eyes were glued to me as they slowly ran at the car. The piercing amber of them was dulled by the daylight, but still intense enough to slightly glow. I found myself mesmerized again… It was almost as if their eyes were meant to hypnotize and draw a person in. Though my fear quickly returned and sent my foot to the floor.

   I favored the right side of the street and shot through the rather large gap in the crowd. They lunged at the car as I sped by, but very few of them actually made any contact. Most fell to the ground and seemed to have trouble getting back to their feet.

   I actually had to slow down so the mass of them could keep up. Meanwhile, watching my left and right as they came from the yards and behind the homes. They were pouring out of broken first-floor windows, and even emerging from the small patches of woods grown in on lots that have never been sold.