The Broken and the Dead (Book 1) (7 page)

“Mom he wants us to go!”

She pressed on the accelerator and the SUV jumped forward. Old Man Tucker was stepping back away from the wreck; he wanted us to ram our way through. I looked back and I saw Billy and Elaine and Mr. Caulfield, they were shooting out of the windows. Lucy was crying and I couldn’t understand what Mom was saying so I lowered my window and pulling the charging handle back on the GSG I started firing too. The crazies swarmed from both sides of the road, a few would drop from our firing but not many and usually they just got up again. There were probably a hundred or so, suddenly we were all thrown forward as the SUV hit the car. There was a shattering of glass and squealing of metal, the wreck responded and spinning sideways it rolled down the hillside. We came to a stop and Old Man Tucker ran towards us. I looked out the back and I could see the other SUV had come to a stop behind us. They were covered with crazies. “OH MY GOD!” Mom screamed. I could hear Billy’s pop, pop, pop of his .22, followed by the heavier bang of Elaine’s rifle and the echoing explosion of Mr. Caulfield’s shotgun.

Old Man Tucker opened the door but didn’t get in.

“Shoot at the ones on the outside, don’t hit our people!” he yelled.

There was screaming coming from the other SUV.

“It’s not enough, it’s just not enough!” Old Man Tucker said.

He then yelled at Mom,

“Throw it in reverse, see if you can knock some of them down!”

He shoved a stripper clip full of bullets into the Moisan and chambered one. He started walking towards the crowd raising the rifle to look through the scope and he fired. Mom yelled

“Get down kids!”

She looked over her right shoulder and we started backing up towards the crazies. I grabbed Lucy and pulled her down to the bench seat.

“Hold on tight Lucy” I whispered to her. She said the same thing to Ronald Bear.

The impact was not as bad as the one when we hit the car just a few moments before but it was a whole lot more icky. I could hear the loud snap of bones breaking and snarls and screams of pain and outrage of the crazies that were sent flying and crushed both beneath and between the two Toyotas. Suddenly there was a banging on the hood of our car. It was Old Man Tucker he yelled to Mom to drive and wait on the East entrance ramp. He tossed the rifle in through the passenger window and pulled both of those old Colt revolvers. He walked towards the mass of crazies. The explosions were deafening and Lucy held her hands over her ears Mom was crying but she put the car in drive and pulled away towards the overpass. I sat on my knees and looked out the back; Old Man Tucker was walking towards where Mrs. Driscol would be in the driver’s seat. He fired one revolver then the other, over and again. He reached in and undid the car lock, one of the crazies grabbed him and he spun smashing it in the head with one of the revolvers. Then he backed into the driver’s seat pushing Mrs. Driscol inside. I could still hear Billy firing but he was the only one. The other SUV jumped forward when Old Man Tucker put it in gear and they started towards us.

“He’s got them Mom!” I yelled, “Go!”

Mom went down the ramp and accelerated as fast as the SUV was able and seconds later a blood splattered version followed us.

After five minutes or so I noticed that Old Man Tucker was flashing his lights on and off at us so I told Mom that I thought that he wanted us to stop. Mom pulled over and slowed to a stop as did Old Man Tucker.

“Lucy you and Johnny stay here and keep a look out!”

Mom opened her door and jumped out and ran back to the other vehicle. I thought Mom was just keeping us out of things but Lucy took the job seriously, she undid her belt and pressed the little button that made the sun roof retract. She stood up and was looking around so I joined her; I laid my rifle on the roof I poked my head and arms through and started to examine the tree line on our side of the highway.

By the time Mom reached the other SUV, Old Man Tucker had already gotten out and was laying Mrs. Driscol out on the highway. Billy had gotten out as well and he looked as white as a sheet and he was grasping his rifle like it was all that was keeping him from sinking into the ground,

“Mom! Mom!” he cried. “Is she okay Mr. Tucker?”

He blurted out.

“I don’t see anything wrong but she is unconscious”

Old Man Tucker responded. Mom opened the driver’s side rear door and she yanked it open. Elaine was sitting there her eyes wide open, she was moving her mouth but no words were coming out. She was covered in blood and gore, thick black blood and chips of bone were everywhere

“Honey, honey? Elaine! Are you okay? Elaine?”

Mom asked in a panicked voice but getting no answer she slowed down and reached in and gently touched Elaine’s hand and in response Elaine spasmodically worked the bolt action of the ancient French carbine the magazine having already fallen to the floor at her feet. Mom said in as gently a voice as she could

“Elaine, everything is okay, you are okay, we’re
all
okay.”

She gently touched Elaine’s cheek and turned her face so she could make eye contact. Elaine was in shock but after a few moments Elaine nodded. Mom heard the passenger side door open and she looked over to see Old Man Tucker pulling a limp Mr. Caulfield from the seat. Turning her attention back to Elaine, Mom tried to take the rifle from her,

“Honey, you don’t need this right now, okay?” she soothed.

It took a minute but she was finally able to pry it from Elaine’s grasp. She set it against the back of the other seat and taking Elaine by both hands got her to turn and climb out of the SUV.

Mom looked over to Billy who was helping his mother to sit up, she was holding her head and blood was coming through her fingers. Old Man Tucker looked around then called out

“Johnny! Lucy! Both of you come here! Quick!”

We both scrambled and were 10 feet from our SUV when she stopped and ran back yelling over her shoulder to me

“I forgot something.”

I rolled my eyes and continued on and reached Old Man Tucker. He looked up at me,

“You and Billy, you have to be the guard, make sure your rifles are reloaded and keep an eye out.”

I heard Lucy running up behind me and sure enough in one hand she had Ronald Bear but in the other she was carrying a white metal emergency medical kit.

“Good job Miss Lucy!”

Old Man Tucker said and he reached for it.

“Now, can you get us all some bottled water, make sure everyone drinks, can you do that?”

Lucy smiled as she handed over the kit and then nodding she said

“I will get everyone millions of bottles!” and she scampered off towards the back of the SUV.

We had packed food and supplies in the same place in both vehicles so everyone would know where things should be. In fact Mrs. Driscol had taken a wide tip sharpie and written labels on the plastic trim for things like that; Water, Food, Medicine, Ammunition, Camping, Tools, Clothes.

I ran back around to the other side and knelt next to Mrs. Driscol,

“Are you okay Mrs. Driscol?” I asked and she nodded saying “I never thought that having such a hard head would be a good thing.”

She muttered it and her voice made her sound a little like she had been drinking. Lucy ran up to us, the millions of bottles turning into five and a teddy bear. She held one out to Mrs. Driscol,

“Billy’s Mom? You are supposed to drink this water right now!”

She said with a very serious face.

“Oh thank you Lucy, thank you.” Mrs. Driscol said.

She opened the water and started to drink.

“Billy, Old Man Tucker wants us to keep a guard up, and make sure your rifle is reloaded.”

He nodded and said “Okay” but his eyes were on his mother. After a minute he reached in the SUV and pulled his second magazine out of his backpack, ejecting the first and slamming the second one home. I felt like an idiot because I had left my backpack and my extra magazines in the other Toyota.

“I have to go back to the other car, keep an eye out back the way we came” I said.

Billy nodded and taking one last look at his mother who waved him on he headed back to the rear of the SUV pausing only long enough for Lucy to hand him a bottled water.

While I ran back for my backpack I stole a glance at Old Man Tucker who was wrapping a bandage around Mr. Caulfield’s upper right arm, an unopened bottle of water on the asphalt next to him. Mr. Caulfield looked to be unconscious and there seemed to be an awful lot of blood. I grabbed my pack, reloaded my rifle and started back towards the others. I could see Mrs. Driscol was still sitting up and leaning against the driver’s door. Lucy was pouring water onto a towel and Mom was using another one to try and clean some of the blood from Elaine. Elaine still looked as if she didn’t know where she was or what had happened. Lucy was crying softly but she didn’t stop what she was doing and Mom was talking to Elaine. After a few minutes Old Man Tucker came around from the rear of SUV. He had a box of ammo for his revolvers and was loading them, Mr. Caulfield’s double barrel shotgun under his left arm. He walked over to Billy who was closer and spoke to him quietly. Billy nodded and answered him. Old Man Tucker patted him on the shoulder. Old Man Tucker walked past Mom, Lucy and Elaine towards Mrs. Driscol. He knelt down and spoke to her, they were close enough and I could hear their conversation.

“How are you doing Mrs. Driscol?” he asked.

She looked up at him, shielding her eyes with one hand and said

“I took a pretty bad bang to the head but I will survive.”

She paused for a moment then asked

“How is Elaine?”

Old Man Tucker looked back at my sister and then back to Mrs. Driscol.

“She’s in shock; she wasn’t doing that well before and now this.”

He let his voice trail away not finishing and shaking his head.

“What about Lee?” Mrs. Driscol asked.

Old Man Tucker paused for a moment then said

“He’s dead.”

Mrs. Driscol looked shocked

“HOW? Did they get him out of the car?”

Old Man Tucker knelt next to Mrs. Driscol.

“I think they got a hold of his gun, pulled his arm out of the window. It looks like they practically ate their way through to the bone, they severed several arteries and there just wasn’t anything I could do.”

Mrs. Driscol whimpered a little, choking back her tears. Old Man Tucker said quietly

“I’m sorry for your loss Mrs. Driscol, I truly am. He seemed a pretty good man”

Mrs. Driscol nodded and Old Man Tucker stood up walked towards me.

“How about you John?” he asked.

It startled me because no one called me John, always Johnny or Junior. I thought I was fine, but when I tried to answer him my voice cracked and I thought I might cry,

“I..never..shot”

My words just stumbling their way out of a mouth. Old Man Tucker knelt in front of me and put both of his gnarled hands on my shoulders.

“It’s okay John, you did fine.” He said quietly.

“You did what you had to do, those weren’t people anymore. They are just, well, crazies.” 

He stood up slowly

“I don’t think I have ever known two tougher men than you and Billy.”

He nodded towards my friend who was patrolling, searching for any enemies. I tried to smile and I guess I managed a weak one.

“Thanks Ol... um Mr. Tucker.” He smiled.

“You are welcome and you can just call me Tucker okay?”

He started to walk back towards Mom and then he added in a barely audible whisper

“Besides, I’m not THAT old.”

I started to patrol my end of things, keeping an eye on the tree lines and the highway up ahead too. I made eye contact with Billy a couple of times and he waved a shy smile at me. He was upset; I always knew when he was upset. Old Man Tucker was wiping the inside of the SUV out using a towel and what looked like an old shirt. Mom kept talking to Elaine, eventually Mrs. Driscol rose and walked over to try and help Mom. After Mom had cleaned Elaine’s hands, Lucy offered to let Elaine hold Ronald Bear, pushing it into her grasp. Elaine did take Ronald Bear but she just let it hang at her side. Eventually Old Man Tucker started working on the back seat and he had to get two new towels from the back. After a few minutes he took Mom by the hand and led her down the street in my direction.

“Mrs. Williams, it looks like one of them had shoved its head into the back seat, trying to bite Elaine. I think Elaine put the rifle under its chin and blew its head right off. There is a hole in the roof, I think it must have just exploded; I think that is why there is so much blood and why she is in shock.”

After a bit Old Man Tucker gathered us all around Elaine who was still not responding.

“Listen, I don’t think we should stay here, Mrs. Williams, if you drive the other SUV again, I’ll drive this one”

He pointed to the blood stained vehicle.

“What about Lee?” Mom asked.

He thought about it for a minute then said