The Living Dead (Book 1): Contagion (19 page)

            “Shut up. He was already dead and you know it. It takes one person, one, to infect all of us. If anyone here has brought in a bite victim, you will be shot, no excuses accepted.” Taking a bundle of twine, she trussed the limbs to the bodies. “Shannon, when your dad gets back, tell him we have two more.”

            Virginia went back into the school office and looked out the window. Daniel followed and reached for her to pick him up. She rested her chin on top of his head. The smoke had retreated and now blew in little curling tendrils across the lake. She could see the road and the Explorer again.

            “Ready to go sweetie?” He nodded. “Ok. Let’s go see if Charles wants to come with us.” She didn’t know when she and Charles would part company on this journey and didn’t assume he would want to go with her to the Dare’s. He would be an obvious asset to this group here who were intent on reclaiming and restoring their little community. Back in the gym, they saw that Riley had returned and the two bodies were loaded onto the ATV. Charles closed the doors and she caught his eye.

            “The wind has shifted enough to see the road again so I’m leaving. I’m not asking you to go with us but you know I’d welcome your help.”

            Charles looked surprised. “Of course I’m going with you. We’re the Three Amigos, right Daniel?” He gave Virginia a look that made her slightly uncomfortable. “We’re together for the long haul. Now let’s go get Anna and Greg. Daniel needs someone to play with.”

            Hearing him say their names aloud almost made her cry. She was still so desperately afraid of what she might find. She swallowed her fear, jingled the keys and smiled.

            “Off we go then.”

            The SUV started with a roar. Derelict cars, some with moving, decaying, bodies still inside partially blocked the road east. Black and gray rotted skulls turned and withered arms reached for them as they slowly wove their way through. The wind continued to keep the smoke away and they soon picked up speed. The gas hand registered a quarter of a tank and Virginia estimated they were about five miles away so they should be fine.

            They noted dead and mostly devoured cattle in the fields surrounding them. The placid creatures wouldn’t have stood a chance against the ravenous dead. Some of
them
wandering at a distance heard the Explorer and began to slowly stumble toward the road.

            Charles watched them come. “I’d hoped to travel without a ghoul entourage. We don’t want to lead them to your in-laws. I wish we had a distraction, something to draw them away.”

            “What is that?” Just ahead on the road a vehicle lay on its side. Beyond that was a transport truck. Both vehicles were painted with camouflage and looked like military issue. They couldn’t get around them and stopped, drawing their guns and getting out to look around.

            Dark fluid stained the road. Empty shell casings were everywhere but no bodies.

            “Oh no.” Charles scanned the roadside.

            “What?”

            “Get back in the vehicle. Hurry!” Charles picked up Daniel with his good arm. Virginia opened the door and they scrambled inside.

            The dead in the field grew closer. They all looked oddly similar and she realized why. All were dressed in green and camouflage with high and tight haircuts; this was what was left of the National Guard company. They were freshly dead and staggered jerkily but steadily forward. Dark blood stained their chins and jackets and they gibbered excitedly, teeth gnashing hungrily. One took bites from a red, dripping cow liver as he stumbled their way.

            “The whole platoon, dead. They must have had an infected with them and didn’t know. Those supplies won’t be coming now. We’re going to have to drive around this. Can you get this through that ditch?”

            “I seriously doubt it. The bank is too high. I’m backing up. Hold on.”

            Virginia reversed, hitting a dead soldier behind them. Another grabbed the side view mirror and held on, clawing at the window with what was left of his hand, shredded face covered with dirt and small gravel. Virginia hit the brakes hard and he slipped under the wheels. She took a left, jolting up the bank, their heads hitting the roof hard. Daniel screamed.

            “I’m sorry baby. Hold tight.”

            She could have gone back to the town but they were close, so close to Anna and Greg. She couldn‘t stop now. The front wheels bit into the bank but the rusty barbed wire fence at the top was sturdier than it looked. They couldn’t break through it and they lost their forward momentum. They slid backwards, down into the ditch. She gave it more gas but could not gain traction. The wheels spun futilely as more camouflage clad dead moved in. She gunned the engine and one wheel caught but the SUV tipped to the side.

            “Stop! We can’t get up.” Charles found the shotgun and handed it to Virginia. “I want you to take Daniel and run. I’ll cover you with the pistol.”

            “You’ll follow?”

            “Of course. Now go!”

            She climbed into the backseat and unbuckled Daniel, watching the infected close in. How many were there? Too many.

            “It’s too late. I can’t get past them.”

            Charles slammed his fist into the dash. A pallid bloodstained face, teeth bared in a grimace of hunger, pressed against the passenger window. Dead GIs fell from the bank onto the hood, rocking the Explorer and groping their way to the windshield where they began a relentless, pounding assault on the glass. The bodies were not that damaged and still strong. Several had rifles slung over their shoulders but were no longer capable of knowing what they were used for. There were so many on them now the vehicle interior grew dim and the noise drowned out speech. Charles put his good arm around Virginia and Daniel and the three of them huddled, waiting for the glass to fracture. The dead never gave up until they got their meal.

Chapter 20

 He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.

Mark 9: 9-13

            A dead soldier clawing at the windshield latched onto a wiper and pulled hard, snapping it off and falling backwards when it broke. He tumbled off the hood and didn’t come back up. Another, badly chewed with holes where his nose and ears should be fell onto the windshield and lay still, his gaping belly pressed wetly on the glass. The pounding lessened and more bodies fell off. They heard gunshots and ducked low between the seats.

            More gunshots then a shout. A fist pounded on the driver door. Five hits, a pause, then two more. Then the same rhythm again. They raised their heads cautiously and looked out.

            A man stood behind the bed of a pickup truck, sighting his weapon at the oncoming corpses and taking them down with precision shots. He wore civilian clothes and did not look like military. Then another man, presumably the one who had just banged on the door, climbed out of the ditch back onto the road.  Something about his stance looked familiar. Both men wore cloths tied over their mouths and noses. Charles unlocked the door and climbed out cautiously, turning around to retrieve Daniel and set him on the ground. The man who had banged on the door looked back and nodded at Charles and Daniel, motioning them to follow him. Virginia climbed out last and they walked forward, guns drawn with Daniel between them, keeping an eye out for infected. There were probably twelve or fourteen bodies on the ground with neat holes in their heads. Some of the faces were so young, teenagers really, and Virginia, who thought she would be beyond grief by now, felt sad at the sight. She held onto Daniel’s hand tightly. It was a miracle that any of them had made it this far and she felt gratitude as they drew close to the shooters. One, spotting a group of walkers flocking a cow, ran down the road and began to pick them off. The beast’s frightened lowing drew other dead in closer. The other shooter still standing in the road crouched to re-load and Virginia stopped, her legs suddenly wobbly. She turned and started walking back up the road, in the direction of her in-law’s house. Charles grabbed her arm.

            “It might be a good idea to join up with these two if we can Virginia. There’s strength in numbers. Or at least thank them.”

            “I don’t have time for this. I need to get to my children. You don’t have to come with me.”

            “What’s wrong with you?”

            “Nothing is wrong with me.” She shook him off and kept walking. She heard him walk back to the shooters. The gunfire ceased. She sped up until Daniel protested; his little legs couldn’t keep up. She slowed down and soon heard footsteps approaching fast behind her.

            “Virginia?”

            She kept walking.

            “Hey, Virginia!” The speaker caught up with her. She ignored him and sped up. He kept pace.

            “You could at least thank me. I saved your life back there.” The sound of his voice made her angry.

            “No, you didn’t. I was fine.”

            “You wouldn’t have been fine in a few more minutes.” Her husband put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged off his hand then turned and faced him.

            Ian looked- tired, dirty, and somehow dangerous. Maybe it was the stubbly, not quite a beard yet growth on his face. She realized she had already relegated him to the past and his presence here confused and upset her. Her mouth opened then closed. She could not think of a single thing to say to him. She turned around and trudged on.

            “Where are you going?”

            “To your Mom and Dad’s house. The children are there.”

            “Stop and listen to me. I’ve already been there.”

            That stopped her cold. A deadly fear took hold of her and she turned and looked up into his face, unable to read his expression.

            “What’s going on Ian? You left them there unprotected?”

            “Virginia, I didn’t-”

            Angry shouts followed by a gunshot down the road stopped whatever he was going to say. Charles had somehow knocked the other shooter to the ground and had his pistol pressed against the back of his head.  The man on the ground screamed at him and called Ian’s name. Virginia had heard that voice before. Larry had somehow survived and turned up like the proverbial bad penny.

            “Ian, where are my children? “ Ignoring her, Ian strode angrily toward the two men. Virginia outran him and stood in front of Charles defensively.

            “What’s this? This guy is with me, he’s a neighbor actually.” Ian seemed perplexed.

            “This guy” Charles placed his foot on Larry’s neck and pulled a set of cuffs from his belt, “is a murderer and is under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say may be used…”

            Virginia moved away. She was a little surprised Charles hadn’t just shot him. A flashback of Sue groping through Kincaid’s mutilated body made her shudder. Larry had killed him and was probably responsible for many other deaths with his part in blocking off the subdivision exit when all this started. Larry, realizing he had been caught out, began to protest.

            “Who? Who am I supposed to have murdered? Don’t you need proof? Witnesses?”

            Charles finished the Miranda warning, hauled Larry to his feet with his good arm and slammed him against the truck.

            “In lieu of incarceration due to lack of facilities, I’m cuffing you to this fence until I can come back for you. If you’re still capable of demanding proof and witnesses then, we’ll start searching for a forensics lab to compare the bullet markings on the bullet in Kincaid’s brain to the marks this (he snatched the pistol from Larry’s belt) gun leaves and see what we find. It‘ll probably take a while.”

            “Ian! Tell him! Tell him how I helped you in Wells.”

            “What are you doing with this guy? He broke into our house and then helped block the subdivision exit so no one could escape when the dead first showed up.”

            “I didn’t know. I ran into him when I got into Wells yesterday. He had climbed a tree and a bunch of walkers had him trapped. I shot enough of them so he could get out of the tree and he’s stuck to me like glue ever since. I don‘t know how he thinks he helped me.” Ian said.

            “Why were you in Wells? You knew the children were here and you said… Oh.” Virginia fell silent.

            “I was looking for you. They’re both ok. Mom is still hanging in there but Dad…”

            “How could you leave them Ian?” She knew she was being unreasonable but couldn’t stop. “I’m so sorry about Dan but you should never have left them. You know it’s still not safe.”

            “I wasn’t going to take them with me. That would have been even more dangerous.”

            “I was fine. The snow slowed me down but I was on my way. You didn’t need to come for me.”

            “My children wanted their mother and even if I hadn’t wanted to come, Mom would have made me.”

            She stopped listening. They were alive! Euphoric and impatient she wanted to run all the way to the Dare’s. She remembered Greg’s blanket and went back to the Explorer to retrieve her backpack. Larry, now cuffed to a length of barbed wire coiled around a sturdy post, shouted out tauntingly,    

            “Ask your
wife,
just how cozy she is with the guy she’s been with for over a week. Those two were pretty close back in Wells. Don’t you want to know what she’s been up to with the handsome sheriff?”

            “Keep yelling big boy. They’ll find you even faster that way.” Charles backhanded him in the face, and then walked over to Ian and Virginia.

            “Are you guys ready to go? I’m afraid I’m not quite up to driving so if one of you will do the honors…”

            The truck wouldn’t start. Getting out they noticed a strong smell of gas and found that a stray bullet, probably the one Larry had fired off at Charles had punctured the gas tank.

            “So we walk. We should be there in an hour.” Virginia was undaunted and wanted to run but she knew Charles wasn’t up to it.

            “You do realize this whole area is still full of infected and it’ll be dark soon?”

            “We’ll be as quiet as possible and we‘re armed. We’ll make it.” With no other real options, they set out, Daniel on Ian’s shoulders.

            No infected were in sight. The sun on their backs was warm while a chill breeze nipped around them. Snow still lay in shaded patches and their breath came out in frost vapor. Larry yelled at them a few times then Charles’ warning that his shouts would only draw the infected seemed to sink in and he fell silent.

            Virginia said, “Charles, This is Ian Dare, Anna and Greg’s father.” She felt odd not calling him her husband but she supposed he wasn‘t really anymore.

            “Nice to meet you.”

            “Same here. You guys worked together right?”

            “On occasion.”

            “What happened to your arm?”

            “That was a close call. I’m lucky it wasn’t worse or so I’m finding out. Your wife was nice enough to nurse me through it.”

            “Charles saved my life more than once. Daniel and I wouldn’t be here without him.”

            “Where have I seen you before Daniel?”

            “I don’t know. Virginia lives on my street. She drove her car through my yard and she’s helping look for my Mom and Dad. We didn’t find them yet.”

            “It’s hard to find people right now. Maybe we’ll find them soon.”

            “They’re probly not alive anymore.” His voice was shaky but matter of fact.

            Virginia couldn’t think of anything comforting (and truthful) to say so she reached up and squeezed his hand. Frantic, deep lowing drifted across the road and they watched a group of dead swarm the terrified bovine. Just ahead, early leafing willows tipped with pale green hid the branch that ran alongside the road and they clambered down the bank where they were less visible.

            “How were they when you saw them? I got a voice message from Anna and it sounded like they were hiding inside the house and something had happened to Dan…” She trailed off.

            “They were ok. They hadn‘t had real baths in a while but who has? You know Mom; she keeps enough food in the house to last six months or better. No electricity but they had bottled water. Dad had gone out to start the generator and that‘s when it happened. I think the noise attracted
them.
He probably never heard them coming. The generator is loud and he still won’t,
wouldn’t
, wear his hearing aids. Mom said Anna and Greg saw it happen from the kitchen window before she could get them away. When I got there I had to take out the two walkers and then-” He stopped talking. The stream gurgled and splashed over the rocks in the streambed. The bank grew steeper and they had to climb back onto the road, which appeared deserted. Charles walked ahead, gun drawn while Ian lagged behind a little with Virginia.

            Screams sounded in the distance. They instinctively formed a circle, facing outward, guns ready. They realized they were probably hearing Larry die. Virginia shuddered. They waited a few minutes then moved on cautiously.

            “How did you get back here? Planes are down right?”

            “Hitched a ride in a military chopper that was headed down to the CDC in Atlanta. I hiked up to the pass at Chapel Croft and took a state truck someone had abandoned near the barrier.”

            “So you took it. We wondered who had.”

            “You saw it? Where were you?”

            “We had to backtrack that night because we couldn’t move the barrier pole so we broke into the inn and spent the night there.”