The Last Infection: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller (7 page)

“We’ve got trouble.”

She picked up the pistol from her lap and leaned toward Chris. “What do we do?’

Chris shrugged. “We have to go back. I don’t want to draw attention to us
, but there’s more to worry about than just the dead or the infected.”

“You’re not going to get any
complaints from us,” she said.

Jake agreed with a nod. Chris struggled through his choices and deci
ded on the lesser of two evils.

“Wake her and put your seatbelts on.” Everyone started strapping in
, but the true extent of their troubles came to a head when Chris turned the key and nothing happened. “What the hell?” He turned it off, pumped the gas, and tried it again without as much as a click. The growing terror on Jake’s face was highlighted by Alicen’s voice from the backseat.

“What’s the matter? Why aren’t we moving?’

Chris frantically tried to get the van to start several times, and then laid his head against the steering wheel. In a defeated tone, he stated the obvious. “I’m going to have to take a look.” The silence from the group spoke volumes. Chris took a deep breath, popped open the door and stepped out. He had his pipe, leaving Jenn with the gun. He closed the door and motioned for them to lock it. Jake promptly leapt across the seats and complied.

The air was much colder than
it was during his first outing. A shocking chill ran up his spine as a gust of wind rushed across the interstate to greet him. Chris let his eyes and ears adjust to his surroundings. His senses told him a number of things by the second. There were sounds under the wind he hadn’t heard inside the van. There were footsteps for sure and his hands shook as reality set in.

He turned towards the blockade of vehicles and took a step before a shuffling of feet
pulled him around. He caught sight of movement first, then a dark figure rushing towards him from the rear of the van. Chris swung his pipe with one hand as he tried to open the driver’s side door with the other, neither having success. The pipe missed its mark and slammed into the side of the van. He stumbled back and swung again. The second attempt made solid impact and the result was unexpected.

“Damn it
.”

The sudden outburst froze Chris in place. A flurry of action followed as several figures rushed the van from both sides of the road. Chris took a step back to prepare to fight and as he did
, a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind. He struggled against the clutch until the approaching figure punched him square in the jaw. The first shot dazed him and he dropped the pipe. The second shot took him down.

Chris was on his
stomach when Jenn fired the gun. A series of smashing glass followed as a gathering grew around the van. The size of the group swelled in seconds until they were surrounded. Chris heard Alicen yell for Jake, and then she called out his name. He tried to get up to his hands and knees when something solid smacked him on the back of the head. The world spun out of control as he hit the pavement face first. A second later, and he was swallowed by the surrounding darkness.

8.

Chris felt throbbing
in his temples, followed by waves of pain across his forehead. His head felt as if it was going to explode at any moment. He could tell his hands and legs were bound. There was no give to his bindings and he already knew before he opened his eyes that he wasn’t going to like what he saw.

A strong pulse of light forced his eyes to slam together the moment he cracked them open. Chris tried again
, but only managed to open them a sliver of the way. The light came from a lone bulb dangling from the ceiling of a cramped space. Jenn was tied to a chair not far from him. Her eyes were open, but a firmly wrapped rag kept her from speaking. There was no sign of the kids. The only other occupant in the room was sitting directly across from him. His thick plaid button up and florescent vest tabbed him as a hunter of sorts. He balanced a shotgun across his lap, but his full attention was on a wrinkled Playboy in his hands.

Chris slid his eyes from the hu
nter back to Jenn and found her stare on him. The terror on her face spoke volumes. She’d seen something else and whatever it was, it still had a firm grip on her. Chris shifted his sight back on their watcher and discovered him looking up at both of them. He didn’t say a word as he put the magazine down and took hold of his gun. He made his way to the only door in the room and left, closing the door behind him.

“Are you
okay?” Chris asked. She shook her head as the fear in her eyes intensified. “Are we okay?” he clarified. She shook her head intensely. Chris chose to ignore the ominous reply. There wasn’t much he could do about it anyway. “Are Jake and Alicen close?” She shrugged.

He had numerous other questions
, but the back and forth came to a sudden halt when the door swung open. The watcher from before entered first, his eyes focused on Jenn as he retook his seat. Three additional men followed him, all in similar garb. Two of the new arrivals stood by the back wall while the third took center stage.

The man came to a stop directly under the lone light. Dressed in
comparable hunter’s attire, he couldn’t have fitted in with the others if he tried. The mountain man towered over Chris, looking down at him with menacing eyes. Most of his face was shrouded behind an unkempt beard that hung down to the middle of his chest. He paid little attention to Jenn, dismissing her with a glance and wave of his hand.

The two men standing snapped to attention and rushed her from the corner of the room. They sprang into action, grabbing hold of the chair she
was tied to and lifting it from the floor. Jenn kicked and screamed as they calmly carried her out and slammed the door shut, leaving the small room in deafening silence. When the mountain man finally spoke, he did so in a deep booming voice Chris fully expected.

“My name is
Eddie Walker, but the people here call me Mr. Walker. I’m here to inform you that you and your group have violated the boundaries of the sovereign state of West Denver.”

Chris blurted out the first thing the popped into his mind.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Mr. Walker fell silent and a quiet reserve
washed across his face. The lone remaining guard stood up and stepped around him, then without warning, he punched Chris in the mouth.

“Only speak when asked a question.”

Chris’ vision blurred as he fought to keep from blacking out. He felt a fire erupt across the side of his face. He spit a wad of blood on the floor as he tried to breathe. The guard returned to his seat and Mr. Walker continued.

“For your violation
, your women are forfeit and you will assimilate or we will find another use for you.”

Chris had another question
, but managed to stop himself before he asked it. Mr. Walker finished with a lasting declaration.

“Time will tell if you live or die.” He started to leave and reached the door before turning back. “Do you have any questions?”

Chris wasn’t sure if he was being set up for another hit, but he thought this might be his only chance to ask. There was one thing that troubled him most about Mr. Walker’s sermon.

“What do you mean the women are forfeit?”

Mr. Walker opened the door as he spoke.

“They will be paired and married to two of our faithful citizens.”

“…But the little girl’s only eight?” Chris cringed, unsure if the follow-up would cost him a punch.

Mr. Walker left without an answer. The door was open and
Chris considered a way to get free and make a run for it. His hopes were dashed several minutes later when a pair of mountain men pushed into the room. Each carried a side arm holstered low on their thighs. They cut the ties holding Chris’ legs to the chair, and then forced him to stand. They walked him through the room beyond his holding cell, then out the front door.

Chris found himself on a small porch in front of a house.
A road ran to his right and left lined with similar sized shops and homes. Tall street lamps revealed groups of people moving alongside the road on both sides. The light flickered in and out at random intervals hinting at a generator of some kind keeping the system going.

The men shoved Chris and forced him out into the street. They were near the center of the road when small arms fire erupted from the south. Chris was pulled to the grou
nd as the men drew their weapons and turned to aim. Floodlights sprang to life in the distance revealing a tall chain link fence separating one section of the town from everything else.

Men poured out of the surrounding structures
, each armed and running towards the lights. Rows of sandbags lay stacked inside the fence line. The men slammed into the bags and took cover waiting for some unseen foe. Chris leaned out around his escorts for a better look and discovered the cause of the alarm.

They came in waves of ten
or more, each one of them tweaking violently as they ran into the outside of the fence. Chris didn’t need to hear their familiar growl to know what they were. The barricades came to life as gunfire erupted into the advancing infected. Chris lost his view as the escorts got to their feet and hurried him away. They aimed him toward a storefront with a crude sign of a fish above the door.

The mountain men
pushed Chris through the front door and into an open space covered with rows of tables topped with boxes. Hurrying past the tables, Chris caught sight of clothing and shoes, then canned food and water. Each box was fronted by a hand scrawled sign listing quantities and prices. The echo of increased gunfire vibrated off the long storefront window.

They moved quickly through the makeshift general store towards a door in the back c
orner. A small hall beyond the exit was flanked by a pair of doors on either side. One of the escorts grabbed a set of keys hanging from a coat rack hook on the wall. He unlocked the door closest to the hall’s entrance and stepped out of the way. Chris was thrust into darkness and the door slammed shut and locked behind him.

He stood
silently trying to regain his nerve. The exit door closed out in the hallway beyond the room. It was a new sound that pulled his attention back to his pitch-black surroundings. Someone or something was breathing and it was close. A sudden panic engulfed him as he considered having been fed to one of the infected. The breath was deep and quickening with anticipation. Chris waited as long as he could.

“Come and get me
, damn it.”

He didn’t expect the response.

“Leave me alone.”

The voice was
piercing and obviously terrified. It took him a moment, but Chris was sure he recognized whom the voice belonged to.

“Jake?”

“Chris?”

Chris felt the boy slam into hi
m in a makeshift, no hands hug.

“They tied me up and threw me in here,” Jake said. “I don’t know where
Alicen or Jenn are.”

Chris didn’t have to see him to tell he was crying.

“They wouldn’t tell me anything except I would have a new family.” He was shaking. “What the heck does that mean?” The boy asked.

“I’m not sure, re
ally,” Chris admitted. “I think they’re some kind of end of the world survivalist group.”

“What are they going to do with us?”

Chris wasn’t sure he knew the answer to that either.

“What are they going to do with
Alicen and Jenn?”

Chris had a few ideas about that
one, but didn’t think the boy needed to know.

“Jake, listen to me,” he urged
him to take a few steps back, “we have to get out of here. I don’t have a whole lot of answers, but I’m damn sure we don’t want to become permanent residents of this town.”

“The girls too, right?”

Chris could imagine the boy’s sullen, tear-streaked face. “One step at a time…” He spun around and refocused his mind. “…turn around and back up against me.”

“For what?”

“Just do it. I don’t have time to explain everything. Who knows when they’ll come back.” He got down on his knees and promptly found the boy’s hands. “Try and get hold of the knot on these binds.”

There was a lot of effort on Jake’s part with little result. Chris’ frustration grew as the boy did his
best. He was considering an alternant plan when success was finally reached.

“I think I got it,” Jake said.

Chris struggled to pull his hands apart and felt the binds give way. A moment later, he was free and working on Jake’s hands. They stood liberated from their binds in the center of the dark room. The excitement in Jake’s voice was evident when he spoke.

“
Okay, now what?”

Chris didn’t have the heart to tell him that his plan was forming
minute to minute. “Let’s see what we have to work with. Find a wall and feel along it as best you can.”

They started on opposite sides of the small room, working their way around until they met again. A pile of metal hangers told them they were in an oversized closet
, but not much more. There was nothing else of use. Chris took a moment, listening to their surroundings.

A faint sound of gunfire in the distance indicated the fight to hold off the infected
was still ongoing. He guessed he had until the end of that conflict to figure a way out or someone would be back to collect them. He was pretty sure he didn’t want to find out what they planned to do with them. Chris didn’t want to admit it, but he knew getting away clean would be easier without Jake.

“Come here a second.” The two found each other and Chris cupped his hands in front of his waist. “Put your foot in my hands and I’m going to lift you up.”

“But why are-“

“Just do it.
”

Jake felt his way then rested
his hands on Chris’ shoulders.

“1…2…3” Chris lifted and Jake shot up, balancing his feet in Chris’ hands. “Now run your
fingers along the ceiling and tell me what you feel.”

Jake grunted as he stretched out. “Kind of like cardboard,” he explained. “I feel bars or rails of some kind every couple of feet.”

“Do they make squares?” Chris asked between groans. The boy was heavier than he looked.

“Yes,
with the softer spots in the middle.”

“Alright, I’m going to let you down.” Chris dropped him and finished his makeshift plan in his head. “It’s a drop ceiling like they have in office buildings. You should be able to push right through it.
I’m going to lift you back up and you push yourself through.”

“What for?”

“If you can get up above the ceiling then I figure you’ll be able to get outside this room and drop down in the hall. The key to this door was hanging on a coat rack out there.” He grimaced. “With any luck, it’s still there.”

There was hesitation from Jake
followed by a question dripping with panic. “What if it’s not there?” He continued before Chris could think of a response. “I’ll be stuck out there without you.”

“We’ll cover that if we need to.” Chris didn’t want to give the boy anymore time to consider all of the things that could go wrong with the plan. “Come over here and get ready.”

Jake did as he was told and the moment his foot touched Chris’ hands, he moved the plan along. “1…2…3” Jake went up and a few seconds later, a punch produced a loud pop.

“I made an opening,” Jake said.

“Good, now feel around for something to pull yourself up with.” Chris offered a warning. “Those dividers won’t support you. Be careful or you’ll fall right through.”

It took a few minutes
, but Jake got hold of something. Chris pushed on his feet and soon lost contact. He backed out of the way, hopeful the boy wasn’t going to drop down on top of him. Several painstaking minutes of silence followed in which Chris was powerless to help. It was a not so stealthy crash outside the door that announced that Jake had accomplished his mission. An intense fumbling around in the hall increased Chris’ concern until the boy’s voice whispered against the door.