Lake Yixa (2 page)

     
"Can't
believe that guy just attacked us like that," a woman who was sitting
behind Liam said.

     
"Yeah, what a
fucking lunatic," The man with her agreed. "I almost think he was
trying to bite me."

     
Liam looked around
and wondered what the hell was going on. When he saw Frank, he stood up.

     
"Hey, you
going to be all right?" Liam asked.

     
"Yeah, Doc gave
me some meds and stitched it up. I have to wear this damn thumb thing."
Frank looked as if he were giving the thumbs up. "He says I won't be able
to bend it very good when it’s healed. Ben did a good job of messing up my
ligaments."

     
"Let’s get
you home. I'm sure Marsha is worried about you." Liam and Frank headed
toward the lot.

     
It was a quiet
ride back; Frank wasn’t saying much, and Liam wasn't much of a talker at times.
The two men just sat there, bouncing along in the old Ford pickup truck. As
they pulled up to the house, Liam turned to Frank.

     
"I will come
by tomorrow to fix your screen door."

     
"I can't
afford that. I will just do it when my hand gets better."

     
"No worries,
it's on me. I'm just glad everyone is safe. Wouldn't mind a home-cooked meal
though." Liam didn't really care about the cooked meal, but folks around
Moosetan didn't like to be in debt. He always offered to do work in exchange
for some home cooking.

     
"Sure, I will
let Marsha know that you will be coming for an early dinner." With that,
Frank stepped out of the parked truck. Liam pulled away and watched Frank head
into the house. Liam felt tired. He didn't really do a lot today, but old age
seemed like it was finally catching up to him.

     
Liam awoke around
8:30 the next morning. He set about doing his early morning routine—a single
hard-boiled egg smashed onto two toasted and buttered slices of bread. He
poured a small cup of dry cat food for Tux and sat down to watch the news.

     
"Son of a
bitch," Liam said aloud, making Tux stop eating and look at him. The TV
was still without a signal. He wondered if wind or birds had knocked over his
antenna. He spent the rest of the morning climbing up and down a ladder, trying
to fix the antenna. Every now and then, he would hear the crash of something
big in the woods not too far off from his house. He stood there on his roof,
trying to spot what it was. A moose? A bear? He had seen a few bears lately on
his way to town. It was a bit unsettling to him. He wasn't too fond of bears.
In fact, he had a recurring nightmare about a bear trying to kill him. He stood
there wishing he had his rifle or at least his handgun. The rifle wasn't too
far. He had left it in the truck last night, but still, a bear could close the
distance before he got to it. He continued to scan the woods. The sound had
long faded away.

     
But something
didn't feel right. The lack of bird calls and the deathly silences that now
filled the air made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

     
"Something
ain’t right," he said softly. He made his way toward the ladder and was
about to climb down when the roaring and crashing of a bear filled the air. He
scrambled to the top of the roof. The brown bear wasn't the biggest bear he had
seen, but it was still a scary sight. He was always told it was pretty easy to
scare them off. It had always worked in the past. He just had to yell as loud
as he could.

     
"AHHHHH!"
he shouted at the top of his lungs. This didn't seem to help the matter at all.
The bear charged around the house, grunting and letting out cries of rage.

     
"Holy fuck,
has he attacked someone else?" Liam asked himself. The bear’s mouth was
covered in blood, and a small piece of cloth dangled from its open mouth. He
watched from the top of his roof, studying the bear the best he could. Its
weird behavior didn't help. The bear ran this way and that. It even clawed the
side of his truck and bit off one of his side mirrors. The bear suddenly
stopped in its tracks as though it only just noticed Liam. Now that it had
stopped, he could clearly see that the bear was covered in what seemed to be
blood, but its brown fur made it hard to really tell. It charged toward the
house, smashing into the wall and clawing and trashing the side of the
building. The ladder came crashing down, and the bear let out a roar as it
attacked it. It returned to trying to get onto the roof. The tips of its claw
peeked over the edge.

     
"Oh,
God," Liam let out. The bear kicked its legs and dug in with its claws on
the side of the building as it started to pull itself up. The bear had almost
pulled half its body onto the roof. Liam looked past him to where his truck was
sitting. There was no way he would get to his rifle in time. He turned and
started down the opposite side from where the bear was climbing up. He could hear
the bear’s heavy breathing and low growls coming from the other side of the
roof. He looked over the side. It wasn't that far of a drop, but at his age, he
could break a hip and really be fucked. He turned to see the bear’s head poke
over the top of the roof.

     
"Shit."
With that, he dropped down to the roof and swung his legs out over the open
air. The bear let out a roar and charged down the roof. He let himself drop the
few feet to the ground. He hugged the side of the house as the bear sailed
overhead, mouth snapping and claws swinging. Liam scrambled to his feet as
quickly as he could. He rounded the corner of the house before the bear had
even recovered from the fall. He rushed in the front door just as Tux went
flying out the door, hissing.

     
"No!"
Liam yelled as he watched Tux stop in front of the bear. Liam ran to his
bedroom where he kept his handgun. Liam pulled out the Browning from the desk,
popped the clip in, and rushed back outside.
 
He could hear hissing coming from Tux, along with the roar of the bear.
Liam feared what he would see of his beloved cat.

     
Liam saw the bear
smashing its large head onto his truck, its paws swinging wildly underneath,
trying to find Tux. Liam fired.
Pop
.
The bear didn't seem to notice.
It was a
good hit
, Liam thought as he fired another two rounds. Still, the bear paid
no notice of him or the bullets as they struck.
Pop
,
pop
,
pop
,
pop
.
The bear still stood, but it had finally noticed Liam standing there and
started to charge. Liam opened up with the remaining six shots. A few of the
rounds struck hard into the bear’s skull, sending it crashing to the ground,
dead. It slid, only stopping within feet from where Liam stood. Liam sat down
in the front door, looking at the bear as blood poured from its skull. Tux came
walking up and hissed at the bear once before continuing on to Liam.

     
"Holy
shit," was all Liam could say. It was some time before he got up to call
Frank to let him know he wouldn’t be making it this afternoon. The phone just
rang and rang. Liam wasn't happy about going over after the bear attack, but he
could not just blow Frank off. He gathered a few things and loaded them into
the truck. The bear had done a number on the body work on one side, but
overall, he just needed to fix the mirror sometime. Finally, before he left, he
turned his attention to the dead bear. He slowly walked over to it and pushed
it with his boot. It was dead. He reached down and grabbed hold of its hind
legs. He pulled hard, and the bear slowly slid along. He pulled it to the far
side of the driveway. "I will deal with you later," he said as he
threw a tarp over it. Then he set a few heavy stones to keep the tarp from
blowing away. He grabbed the rifle from the truck and put it in the house. Liam
grabbed the Browning sitting on the small table by the door. He jumped into his
truck and tossed the handgun into the glove box.

     
It wasn't as fast
of a drive as last night, but he made good time. As he pulled up to the Millers’
house, he saw no sign of Frank, Marsha, or Tommy. Their truck and car were
parked in the driveway still, so Liam sat in his truck, watching the house.

     
"Guess no one
is home." He reached out to turn the key when he saw Frank shamble by the
window. "Damn." With that, he pulled the key out and headed for the
door.

     
Knock
,
knock
,
knock
. Liam stood
there waiting. He could hear Frank moving around inside.

     
"Frank, it’s
Liam." Liam waited for a reply, but only a low moaning sound was returned.
"You okay, Frank?" Liam wondered if the wound Ben had given him was
worse off than he thought. Liam looked in the window by the door. It was dark;
only a few shafts of light came in from the windows. He looked around the tiny
living room until he saw what looked to be Marsha lying on the ground.

     
"Marsha?"
Liam shouted as he banged on the window. "Frank, let me in." Liam
moved back to the front door and hit it hard with his fist. The harder Liam
hit, the louder the noises from inside grew. Liam returned to the window. This
time, he spotted Tommy lying halfway in the kitchen door. Liam hit the front
door hard, and pain shot across his shoulder. "Damn it, Frank. What
happened?" he shouted as he smashed into the door again. With one last
blow, the door crashed in, almost sending Liam to the floor.

     
He was able to
catch himself on the couch. Marsha was only feet from him. He kneeled down to
check on her. She looked as if her neck had been ripped out. Blood had pooled
on the ground around her.

     
"Fuck."
The sound of a growl from behind Liam made him turn just in time to see Frank
stumbling toward him. Liam fell backward, landing on Marsha. He rolled off her
and tried to scramble to his feet, but his left hand slipped in the pool of
blood, sending him to the ground again. He rolled again, just in time to see
Frank diving on top of him. He put out his arms to catch him. Liam held him as
far away as he could. Frank ripped and tore at Liam’s clothing as his jaws
snapped like a rabid dog.

     
"Get off me,
Frank," Liam said, thinking it would help, but it did little to help. He
pushed hard to his right, sending Frank to land on Marsha. This time, he was
able to get to his feet. Frank struggled for a few minutes before he too was
able to stand.

     
"What's wrong
with you?" Liam said, looking around for a weapon. He saw a log sitting by
the fireplace and grabbed it. He held it out in front of him. "Damn it,
Frank," he shouted. "You stay back." Liam picked up the phone
and punched in
911
as fast as he
could, still not taking his eyes off Frank. The sound of a dead phone was all
Liam got. "Shit."

     
Frank stumbled
forward, reaching out for Liam.
Crack
. . .
Thump
. . . Frank hit the
floor. Blood already started to pour from the large head wound. Liam dropped
the log. Breathing heavily, he turned to check on Tommy. He was dead from a
wound on his neck, too. "Shit," Liam muttered. He looked around one
last time before leaving the gruesome sight behind. He returned to his truck
and sat there a few minutes. He hadn't seen so much blood and death since the
war. He flipped on his engine and peeled out of the driveway. His truck bounced
and bucked as it hit every rock and pothole along the drive.
 
He had to get to the sheriff's office.

     
He rounded the
bend into town. He wasn't ready for what he saw—bodies lying in the road, cars
and buildings on fire, and what appeared to be the Dead walking and stumbling
around Main Street. The sound of his truck made them stop in their tracks. They
started to run toward him.

     
"Shit, Shit,
Shit," Liam said as he threw his truck in reverse. But it was too late—a
group of the Dead had already made their way to the back of his truck. He
plowed into them, but there was just too many. He lost control and smashed into
a parked car. A loud bang filled the air as a tire blew out. Liam reached for
the Browning he had stuck in his glove box. He pushed open his door and fired
at the closest blood-covered person that reached out for him. As it fell to the
ground, he looked up and down the street. The Dead seemed to be pouring out
from everywhere. He ran for the closest building. The door wouldn't open. He
moved to the window, but it was boarded up from the inside.

     
Pop
,
pop
,
pop
. Liam fired one after another.
Some of the Dead fell, while others continued to run slowly at him. He moved
down an alley. With every door and window he passed, he tried to get in. He looked
back to see the Dead in the alleyway.

     
"Shit,"
Liam said as he sprinted to the end and peeked out at the street. Liam waited a
moment before running past a few burned-out cars and dead bodies. He did his
best not to look at the faces; he would likely recognize a few of them. Liam
quickly outran the Dead and made it around another corner before they had time
to catch up with him.