The Orphans (Book 3): Strangers (29 page)

              Ellie said, “Once you get in there you aren’t going to need it? I don’t see you going out for drives do you?”

              Eric said, “So you don’t want to even check it out before you leave?”

              Patrick gripped her shoulder and said, “Ellie we left them a message, we gotta give them a little bit of hope that they are able to see it. If we aren’t in one place then how the hell are they ever going to find us? We only have so many chances to get somewhere safe. Our luck so far has sucked.”

              Ellie said, “Yeah we need somewhere thats flame retardant I think.” She stared at the building in front of them and trying to make up her mind. “Fine we stay if it looks cool once we get there, but if we need to leave wego to the base and we try and find them. Or we can go back to the farm and look for them. I don’t know but if we need to leave we have to find the others. We need to really find them anyways.”

              Philip pulled the bus up alongside the entrance and pulled to a stop. They squinted trying to see inside the dark tunnel but it was to hard to see. Eric looked around in the front of the bus and found a maglight. He hit the power and shone it down the tunnel. He breathed easy when he saw fatigues. It did not last long as they turned around seeing the light and Eric saw the blood on the men as well as limbs and tears of skin missing. He said, “Oh fuck get us out of here, they, they -”

              Ellie pushed up looking and cut him off, “They are turned, damn it. Unless they locked down the place then everything here is a loss.”

              Eric said, “How do we get in there and check if the others are in there?”

              Philip said, “Oh that is simple.”

              Eric said, “Ok i’m up for suggestions.”

              Philip said, “We don’t, we get the hell out of there before those things come out here and rip this bus to shit.”

              Eric couldn’t get past the idea that there was potental for safety if they could only get past them, or go in a different way. You buy me some time and drop me off somewhere else then you drive by those things closer and see if you can draw them out. If you can then they chase you until I can find out if there is refuge in there.”

              Philips said, “Right but what makes you think if someone is in there, which for the record i’m saying you are a fucking dead man if you go in there but there is a great chance they aren’t trying to do anything about those turned soldiers if there is no one shooting right now. They either have things locked down tight, or.” Philip trailed off and Ellie punched him, and she punched him hard in the shoulder. He yelled, “Christ I dont’ need this kid, you realize that right Ellie?”

              Ellie punched him again putting more into this one than the last. “Tell him what he needs to hear! It’s obvious there’s n sense in us yelling at you and telling you what do do. There apparently in your minds no way that we could possibly be smart enough to tell you to intellects something that you wouldn’t already know ahead of time.”

              Eric said, “I don’t think I like you very much!”

              Ellie screamed punching him in the chest, “I don’t care, but you are the only one who thinks going into that place is a good idea, and your bff is to stupid to tell you that if you go in there you are dead. Somehow everyone on this bus knows that you are screwed if you go in there but you. You have some sort of false prophet hope that there is something in there that is just going to magically save you.”

              Patrick said, “What makes you think someone is in there?”

              Eric opened his mouth to say something and closed it not wanting to tell anyone and then swallowed nodding his head bac and forth. “If there isn’t anyone in there we got nowhere left to go. What the hell are we going to do if we need help we are oing to be fuked like super fucked. We don’t have supplies, we don’t have guns, we don’t even have a place to rest our heads down at and call home.”

              Ellie said, “Andy comes up with everything we’ve needed so far and I don’t think that a few more mouths to feed is going to kill anyone. What we do need is you to stay alive, I don’t see that happening if you go into that tunnel filled with zombies.”

              Philip said, “There’s a good chance that she has got a point. You think you can handle all those things coming at you?”

              Eric said, “No, probably not. Everytime we have a run in with them we’ve lost someone.”

              Philip said. “I was kind of hoping that there as going to be some hope that there’d be somewhere to go, christ can you imagine in a week what its going to be like or a month. There might not be anyone left.”

              Ellie said, “I’m not getting eaten by those things and if you guys stay smart and calm well i’m sure those kids back there would appreciate having someone to look out after them. We thought we were on our own to in town and then we ran into Kya, and Joey, and now you. It’s going to take time but i’m sure that there are others but its going to take time to be able to find them all.”

              Eric stared at the building one last time shaking his head. “I hope leaving isn’t the biggest mistake we have ever made.”

              Philip said, “Well at least we are going somewhere with supplies, somewhere where these kids can have a chance.

              Eric looked back at the group. “Philip you really up for taking care of all of them?”

Philip stared in the rearview but had already made up his mind from the minute they’d picked them up. “We don’t have a choice but to give them a chance. You and I both know we take them back or leave them here, we might as well save them the time and shoot them now and keep them from having to go through the pain and fear.”

Ellie said, “You do realize that they are teens right? They are more resourceful than you are giving them credit for. We’ve made it on our own and we found the papers to try and cure this walking death.”

Philip said, “Ok sounds like we are headed to the base right? Everyone seems to be on board with it.”

Joey raised his hand waiting patiently to be answered looking a little more nervous with each passing second. Eric said, “You need to go to the bathroom or something?”

Joey said, “Well yeah I do need to take a leak. But look.” He pointed towards the dark tunnel, “They are coming now!”

              Everyone twisted around in their seats peering out of the bus but Philip who was already gunning the engine. He slammed the gas down as he took in the sight of the soldiers leaping in the air sprinting at impossible speeds fighting at each other to be the first. They spread out as they raced forward each of them ready to tear the bus apart to get the warm meal on the inside of the old bus. The bus shook violently and died, the strain on it from the days travels was more than it could handle. Eric screamed, “What did you do?”

              Philip turned around his face turning shades of red. The anger was pouring out of him and he lunged for Eric trying to grip his hands around his neck. “What the hell do you mean, what did I do, what did I do? I pushed the gas pedal down, and tried to get us out of here.”             

The two wrestled for a moment longer and Ellie walked up kicking Philip in the side hard enough to make sure that she had his attention. What are we going to do? What the hell are we going to do, stop fighting and get up. They are coming and we don’t have any time for this shit!”

Philip rolled off of Eric both men panting on the ground wanting a smoke that they didn’t have time for. The teens saw them coming and ducked down in their seats hoping that the thin metal was going to be enough to keep them safe. One of the teens in the back pulled at the emergency exit handle on the back of the bus door. Ellie screamed, “No don’t open that you need to leave it shut, we can’t let them in!”

The boy ignored her waving her off. He pulled the handle and three of them ran out sprinting away with no plan or directions in mind. Five of the horde of soldiers ran after them and they did not make it fifty yards. The men caught up to them tackling the boys hard and they ripped into the boys necks and stomachs. Their cries echoed across the parking lot. Ellie sprinted for the back of the bus. Patrick screamed, “You can’t save them, stay in the bus Ellie!”

Ellie skidded to a stop slamming the door shut on it and pushing the emergency exit handle back into place. The turned that hadn’t ran after the boys and stayed true on their path made it up to the bus. They were everywhere on the roof, the hood, and hanging off of the side of it slamming fists and faces through what glass was still remaining. Patrick looked at the complicated rifles that he’d been given by Andy. He said, “Do you, I mean do either of you know how to shoot these?”

Eric took one pulling back the charging handle and taking the safety off. Philip held up his hands shaking his head no. Eric handed him his rifle and said, “You’ve got thirty shots. When thats empty give it back to me and we will reload it. You lost your man card though, like really.”

Eric grabbed the other rifle and a handful of magazines he ran down the aisle shooting with precise execution. The hands were through and they were starting t bend back the thin metal peeling the bus apart. Ellie pulled the small pistol from her side and contributed they were making a fight out of it but there were to many of them to fight off. Ellie screamed, “What are we going to do? We are trapped and there’s nowhere to go.”

Ellie’s gun fired empty as did Philip’s a moment later. Eric was still running up and down the aisle doing what he could but they weren’t able to keep up with it. The door to the bus had hands coming through it Philip, kya and the rest all moved away from the front of the bus. Philip yelled, “What are we gonna do man?”

Eric hung his head feeling remorse for something that was out of his control. He said, “I don’t know man. I don’t know.”

When one of the turned threw its head in through the window Eric slipped the gun around forgetting the fact that he had the pistol on his hip and smashed its head in splitting it open until its brains fell out onto the bus seat. Eric’s chest was heaving the anger pouring out of him. When another came through he repeated the act, the others watched in awe. Ellie appreciated the effort but knew that it wasn’t going to last long they were going to be inside the bus in seconds. Hands started punching through the roof of the bus and the sides as well. Patrick screamed, “They are coming everywhere we don’t have a choice, we need to make a run for it.”

“We are trapped Patrick, we aren’t going anywhere.”

Patrick looked at the front window of the bus it was the only place that none of them had been covering. He screamed, “We can make a break for it, if we bust that window out and run we have got a chance right?”

Ellie nodded and as they went to kick out the window that moment they felt was going to be their one chance to get out was now gone. The turned filled the windows space and took care of breaking the glass for them. Ellie sat down in the seat waiting for death to take her. Patrick who was frantically trying to think of something, anything that they could do screamed at her, “Are you seriously giving up? You are just going to sit there and, and die?”

“I’m not going to be died, i’m going to be viciously murdered by these things. If you have a idea, i’m all ears but there’s nowhere to run. There isn’t anywhere to run.”

Ellie closed her eyes waiting for it to come, imagining the blood and horror that was about to come. As the thoughts passed she felt a moment of calming as she thought of Shaun, her mother and Frank, but mostly Shaun. She waited for the pain but it did not come. She jumped in her seat when what she first thought was her own blood unsure how it could be as she’d felt no paid splattered on her neck. She wiped at it instinctively not wanting the foreign substance on her skin. The pain she was waiting for didn’t come instead what sounded like a army came from outside. She heard gunfire, gunfire that didn’t stop, it just continued repeatedly. She opened her eyes staring at the turned scattering the area blood splatter painted the windows and street around her. She peered through trying to figure out what was happening and when she finally saw it her heart felt warm. Shaun and Greg were standing side by side behind the door of the truck using it to rest the rifles on. The turned had all but forgotten about the bus and had focused all of their attention on the boys. As they tried their continual unsuccessful approach they realized that the threat and reward in front of and behind them was not worth the short gain. The spread out roaring at Shaun and Greg as they ran away disappearing back into the dark tunnel.

Greg looked over and said, “Who would have thought that they were smart enough to know when to give up.”

Shaun says, “That is actually just as scary as the idea of the abilities they’ve gained physically.”

Greg said, “What do you mean?”

“Dude they know when to run, and when to fight, they arne’t stupid, they aren’t just blood hungry. They care about living, if that is what they are doing even. I don’t know, maybe that means they can be cured, maybe there is some hope.”

Greg said, “Yeah and maybe they are just the worst kind of monster in the fucking world.”

The two watched as heads started to rise from the seats. Shaun walked not waiting for Greg when he saw Ellie sitting up in her seat on her knees her face appearing over the blood soaked window. Tears were already pouring as she connected eyes with Shaun. She smiled a smile that she’d not known herself to be capable of the love was bursting from her and her lip was quivering as she was trying to control her tears. She was unsuccessful of course. Shaun started running towards the bus not wanting to go another second with any distance between the two of them. He could feel the emotions running rampant through his body as well, the warmth spreading from his heart and outwards.