Dead World (Book 2): Headed North (4 page)

7

South of Cheyenne, Wyoming

Valentine taps out a staccato rhythm on her leg as they drive through the country side. There have been remarkably few wrecks for them to avoid which she is happy about. Getting out in the cold and the mud to force the wrecks aside is miserable.

They are just a few miles south of Cheyenne now and the city looms in the distance. This far away she can still see the blackened ruins of some of the buildings. Partially collapsed skyscrapers dot the horizon.

On either side of the car the landscape is turning from rolling prairies and the occasional tree into suburbs. The highway curves along the west side of the city and she hopes they will be able to go through without needing to stop more than once.

They all agreed that they would need to get more food if they could. The rifle makes her feel so much better. Even if they come across something bad at least they have the two guns now. And she thinks they are getting better at avoiding the undead. It has become a simple matter of move before enough of them are able to get to you.

The sound of the car seems to draw them out but then they just drive on before there are enough of them to be a danger. It has worked so far. She agrees with what Faraday taught them, staying in one place means dying. You need to keep moving. Stay one step ahead of them.

“Oh shit.” Daniel mutters under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” asks Isaiah. Valentine looks out the front window and sees what Daniel saw. Up the road a semi is careened over on its side. A thick liquid has poured out of the shattered tanker coating the road. There is a pile up of cars on either side. This beast apparently stopped traffic for a while.

Until the dead got here.

There are still a few bodies sprawled on the pavement, most of them with severe damage to the head. Probably the only reason they didn’t come back, she thinks.

Daniel pulls the car to a stop a few hundred yards from the wreckage and opens his door. “Well I guess we need to take a look and see if there is a way around,” he says. He grabs the pistol and stuffs it into his pants.

“I’m going to come with you,” Valentine says, “Isaiah, why don’t you stay with Sasha and Chloe this time?” Isaiah agrees, and hands up the rifle up to her. They step out of the car onto the pavement and there is a crunch of glass from the smashed up cars. Drifts of ash, like dark snow, line the side of the road.

They walk slowly towards the wreck. She realizes how big a semi really is when they are standing just on the edge of the spilled liquid. It smells like petroleum to her and the letters CDL are printed in bold along the side with a caption that reads “America’s number one petrol delivery”.

“Don’t light a match,” she says with a smirk.

“Yeah you’re right,” Daniel says, “We should look for a way out of here as fast as we can. We need to go around it.”

A low moaning drifts across the air to her and she sees a dead body strapped inside a car. He is trapped by the seatbelt, scratching his hands against the glass. Dried blood is caked on the window from the creature’s withered hands.

“I’ll take care of it.” Daniel says and pulls the axe from his belt. He walks over to the car and opens the door. The dead man reaches for him immediately straining against the seatbelt. Daniel steps in and delivers a killing blow to his head and the body hunches forward over the steering wheel. In his fall the thing hits the horn which blares for a few agonizing moments before Daniel is able to shove the thing off.

“Well that’s not good,” he says.

“Come on we just need to be fast,” Valentine says, urging him on. There are cars parked all along the side of the road even covering the shoulders. A deep ditch off on either side of the highway makes driving around it impossible.

She walks up to the wreck, trying to avoid the petroleum. “What do you think?” she asks him.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t look like there is a way around here,” he says, frustration lacing his voice.

“Maybe we can find another car on the other side?” she offers.

“That looks like it is probably going to be our best bet. Let’s go get them.” They jog back to the car and in moments they are unloading everyone from the car. Packing things in bags and getting their meager supplies together.

They all set out around the wrecks. There is barely enough room for them to squeeze through, walking atop the cars as often as the ground. The saving grace Valentine hopes for is that anyone who got this far wouldn’t have thought of taking the keys out when the dead showed up.

Weaving their way through the traffic jam they emerge behind the tanker and see that the cars stretch out for almost another mile.

“We are going to need one near the back,” Isaiah says, “Might as well just keep walking.” They cover the distance in silence. The sound of moaning begins to drift towards them. The blare of the horn drawing the dead in.

At the end of the line they start looking for a suitable car.

“Oh yes, look at this!” Isaiah says excitedly. “This is exactly what we need.” He jogs over to a stalled out military vehicle. It is shaped like their old Hummer, but more beefed up, it’s massive and blocky. A left over from whatever response team was sent over here. Or maybe they were trying to flee too. Hundreds of brass bullet casings surround the vehicle and there are dozens of bodies riddled with holes.

Valentine tries not to look at the carnage. Focus on survival, nothing else matters. Chloe’s eyes go wide and Sasha tries to cover them. But how long can they protect the girl from the way the world is now?

“Are the keys in it?” Daniel asks as the group walks over to it.

“Let’s find out,” Isaiah swings open the door and hops in. “Our lucky day,” he calls out and steps out of the truck with the keys.

The moaning drifts a little closer. “Well let’s see if we can find some gas in these cars before we go. This thing is going to eat fuel up,” Daniel says. Isaiah hops out of the car as they load everything up and begins siphoning fuel for them to continue on.

A gunshot carries across the wind followed by several others. Valentine swings around searching for the source. She sees a boy running from a shopping center just off the highway. He looks around frantically, before spotting Valentine on the ridge created by the highway. He takes off full speed towards them followed by a group of at least a dozen of the dead.

“Come on we need to help him,” Sasha says leaving Chloe in the car.

He stops and shoots his aim wild. Two of the dead go down but more are pouring out from behind the buildings and they rush towards him. He ditches the gun which must be out of ammo and races towards them. At the bottom of the ditch he leaps and scrabbles up the steep slope sending dirt and rocks falling down behind him. The mob follows, some of them barely shambling while others can run almost as fast as the man.

This is new. They have never un before. It was always the slow methodical hunt, but now they are moving faster, and the fast ones are trying to circle the boy, like a pack of wolves.

Isaiah and Daniel rush over to him and help pull him up the slope. He is out of breath and panting. “Thanks,” he manages between gulps of air.

“We need to get going right now,” Daniel says as the horde moves closer to them.  There are easily twenty five or more of the dead down there just getting to the slope.

They gun off down the road just as the leading dead crest the hill. The runners move with an awkward gait, but they are more coordinated than any Valentine has seen so far. Her breath comes in short gasps, what if they are learning? The question bounces around in her head.

“Thanks,” The boy says again finally catching his breath. “I would have been dead if not for you.”

“What’s your name?” asks Daniel gripping the steering wheel till his knuckles go white.

“My name is Jason,” the boy says thanking them again.

“We are glad we could help,” says Sasha. There is a brief moment of awkward silence before Isaiah interjects.

“So what were you doing out here, Jason?”

“I was hiding out in that strip mall. There was food and water and I thought I could wait for help. I don’t know. One of those things must have seen me,” he says, “Then before I knew it they had the place surrounded. I fought my way out.”

“Were you bitten?” Daniel asks dead serious. No emotion in his voice.

“No. No, I am ok,” he says showing them his arms. He is wearing a heavy jacket that despite being dirty is not torn.

“Ok good,” Daniel says with small sigh.

“Well why don’t you tell us what’s going on out there.” Isaiah says. “We are trying to pass through. We hear there is a safe zone farther north. The government set it up if we can just make it there.”

The heavy military vehicle cruises along the road. Daniel has to pay attention to avoid any more traffic. More often than not he is driving along the shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s how I ended up there,” Jason says, “I was with some of my friends when all this happened,” He looks down at his feet for a moment before continuing.  “I holed up in that mall but I heard there was a safe zone up there before the radio died. I wanted to head north but I was too afraid to leave. I guess I was hoping help would come.”

“Well you are welcome to come with us,” Isaiah says, “We are going to work our way up there.”

“Thanks so much,” Jason says again. “Really, I would have been dead without you showing up just when you did.” He coughs and covers his mouth.

“It’s a good thing for sure.” Daniel agrees and they continue driving.

Most of the way out of Cheyenne goes without any other real problems. They don’t stop anymore. Jason tells them that there is a small housing community just a few miles north of the city. One of his girlfriends used to live there. Real rich types, he says. There will be food and probably cars they could get more gasoline if they need to.

Valentine agrees that stopping in the city is a death wish. She takes a liking to Jason. He reminds her of Alex. A pang of loss twists her insides as she thinks of how the world used to be. But that is dangerous territory. Life is exactly how it is now. Survival is all about accepting the now. Not remembering how it used to be.

8

Hardin, Montana

Peter is the last to leave the auditorium. He walks up Terry Avenue, back towards his apartment. He hasn’t slept more than a few hours a night for the past several weeks and exhaustion weighs on him. His limbs ache from the constant stress and his head feels like it is filled with cotton. He can’t think straight.

He knows that Terry will take care of organizing everyone into groups to get the necessary projects done so he hopes that he will be able to get home and get a few hours of sleep. The sun is just beginning to set in the distance.

Despite everything the sunset is still beautiful. It is a cold realization for him though. After everything that he has been through, that they have all been through, all the pain and suffering and heartache the universe just keeps trucking right along. Indifferent to everything happening on earth.

Chilly wind blows in from the north, it’s getting colder every day. It’s our best chance, he thinks. If those things really do just stand out there in the freezing weather then they only need to last a couple more days, maybe weeks at most, before it will be so cold that they just turn into human popsicles. Then he hopes they will be able to go out and try to get rid of them while they are defenseless.

Of course that doesn’t solve the problem that food is running out. He hopes against hope that they will be able to get what they can from the surrounding city but it is unlikely to be enough. Even with how few of them there are left it is limited. And he feels like they are in for a long cold winter.

The burden of everything happening threatens to crush him as he falls into his bed. Unaware of anything that happened on the walk here. Everything is becoming such a blur.

His eyes fall shut as soon as his head hits the pillow and exhaustion finally claims him. Sleep for the first time in so long. Dead to the world.

9

North of Cheyenne, Wyoming

Daniel drives over the median crossing over lanes of traffic and pulls onto Silver Tip Drive. The neighborhood is still mostly intact. Large houses surrounded by wooden fences, obvious wealth. Chimneys stand lifeless against the setting sun like old bones. The trees have shed their leaves and they rattle in the cold wind.

They made it here just in time. There is still enough light to see the streets. A fine layer of ash covers the road, the residue of the fires that gutted Cheyenne. To the south he can still make out the burned skyline.

He pulls the car to a stop in front of a huge white mansion of a home. He didn’t from wealth but the place reminds him of something from a movie. There is a long cobblestone path leading up to the front door. A lavish garden of flowers, that used to be beautiful but is now rotting away.

He turns the key and the engine growls down to silence. The military hummer, it turns out, was a great help. They came across a few spots where cars were piled up because of some accident or another and they were able to just push their way through or even drive around off the road.

The vehicle is dirty and scratched now from the trip but it saved their lives.

They hop out and Daniel pulls out the pistol. Jason and Isaiah get out with him. “We’ll just check and make sure everything is safe OK?” Daniel says to Valentine before they walk up the path, overgrown with grass now.

The air is cold and biting even through his sweater, rising goose bumps on his arms. A rough beard is starting to come in for him covering his face in coarse, black hair. It helps with the cold some.

They walk quickly to the front door. There are no lights on inside and they didn’t see any when they pulled around the small community. He hopes it will be as dead as it looks. And maybe the zombies will have moved on from here.

He tests the door. “Locked,” he says to Isaiah and Jason who stand behind him. Isaiah holds the rifle loosely against his shoulder and Jason is carrying the axe.

“Here let me.” Isaiah says stepping forward. He raises his heavy booted fit and kicks squarely on the door. It shudders and creaks. He gives it a few more kicks and it swings inward the brittle lock snapping in the cold.

“That’s one way,” says Jason smiling.

“Well now we can’t lock it again,” Daniel says.

“We won’t be staying long anyways,” Isaiah replies, “We just need to get whatever food we can and a good night’s rest. I’m tired of sleeping in the car. I need real sleep. We could all use it.”

“You’re right,” Daniel says.

They walk into the living room. It is a vast space with a fireplace in one corner. Heavy wooden furniture and a smell of must fill the room. A thin layer of dust covers everything. Daniel flips on the flashlight and they follow him through the house.

Jason coughs roughly. Daniel looks at him concerned and he says that he is just getting a cold. That he was already sick. He just has the flu and everything will be fine.

“Let’s try to find you some medicine,” Isaiah says. Rich places like these are always good for some medication.

There is a hallway that leads back to a kitchen. They check to be sure it’s clear before doubling back and checking the rooms. Isiah takes a spiral staircase to the second floor and checks the bedrooms.

“Nothing,” he calls back down moments later.

“Nothing in here either,” calls Jason from the garage. He took a branching hallway past a laundry room and bathroom and gone into the garage. “Looks like there could be some useful stuff in here though.”

“I’ll just check downstairs then,” Daniel says, opening the door to the basement. The stairs lead down to a landing and then turn into the basement proper. There are pictures of the family that lived here hanging along the walls. Parents and two kids, both around ten or eleven years old. They look like twins Daniel guesses.

He takes the stairs slowly. And as he turns into the basement he pans the light across. Nothing moves for a few moments. Just couches, a TV, a pool table, and a mahogany bar with dusty glasses. Then the light catches the corner of a bookcase. A head of tousled hair, matted by blood and filth turns and stares right at him. The thing moans and then there is motion. From behind the couch he sees the rest of the family rise up.

Their teeth shine dully in the light. The mother is missing the lower half of her jaw. The children topple over the couch in their haste to get at him.

Daniel pulls the gun from his pants calmly and sights down the closest. A young boy who had been wearing pajamas when he died. They are stained with gore. His right arm is missing at the shoulder and his eyes have that same dead hunger that still horrifies Daniel every time.

He points the gun and fires off a round. The noise is deafening in such a confined space. The boys head snaps back and the back of his skull blows out, spattering his family with his grey brain matter.

Daniel fires off three quick shots in succession. The whole family falls in a heap a dozen feet from him, finally at rest. He hears running and in moments Isaiah and Jason are at the top of the stairs. “Are you OK man?” Isaiah calls down.

“Yeah, everything is fine,” Daniel says, stuffing the gun back in his belt. “The place should be clear now,” he says, turning back up the stairs.

***

Valentine sits in the car, wringing her hands nervously. She hates when they have to separate like this but she knows it’s necessary.

“It’s going to be OK,” she says. Chloe has been so quiet since they left Denver that Valentine is worried for her. The girl hardly says anything.

Of course they do their best to protect her. They shelter her as much as they can but she has seen the dead. She has seen them attacking and heard their moaning. Nothing can save her from that.

“Yes honey,” Sasha agrees patting Chloe on the back. Why don’t you just keep coloring.”

Chloe holds her small bear so tight that her dark little hands are pale. At her feet are a couple rolled up newspapers completely covered in scribbles of color from her crayons that are mostly used up by now. The little torn bits of wrapper litter the back of the vehicle.

“When will we be there?” Chloe asks.

“We are already almost there honey. Just a little while longer and then we will be with other people and we will be safe,” Sasha tries to reassure her but it sounds hollow. The sound of Isaiah kicking the door catches their attention and they turn to watch just as it swings inward. The men disappear into the house and Sasha goes back to rubbing Chloe’s back.

“Why don’t we play a game?” Valentine asks Chloe. She needs the distraction as much as the little girl does and she just wants to think about anything else.

“Like what?” Chloe asks meekly.

“Well how about we play an alphabet game?” Valentine suggests.

“Like what kind of alphabet game?”

“You have to pick a topic. Like names or cities or colors. And then we go through the alphabet and come up with something for each letter. Like if we use names I could say Ashley first since that starts with an A. then you would have to come up with a name for…”

“Bryan,” Chloe says and smiles at her for the first time in days.

“Perfect,” her mom says, “Chloe obviously.”

They continue playing the game while the boys search the house. They run through names quickly and move on to fruit. Valentine is wracking her brain trying to come up with a fruit that starts with Q when a muffled gunshot snaps her around. She twists in her seat. The house is still dark. Several more shots follow before she releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“I’m going to check on them,” she says and throws the door open bolting across the yard. She races, pumping her legs as fast as she can and flies through the still open front door. Daniel has just reached the top of the stairs with Isaiah and Jason.

“Is everything OK?” she asks out of breath from the sudden exertion.

“We took care of them.” Daniel says, he shuts the door behind him. “Don’t go down there.” he says flatly. Valentine nods.

“Let’s grab Sasha and Chloe. We will stay here overnight and get what food we can. They might have useful stuff in the garage too,” Isaiah says.

Isaiah nods and walks off to get his wife. In moments they are all settled into the house. They light a healthy little fire and Sasha heats up a few cans of tomato soup over the flames. Jason prepares grilled cheese for everyone, made with stale bread and canned cheese. Not the best, but better than nothing.

Daniel and Isaiah push a heavy couch in front of the door just in case anyone else shows up and they all sit down to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Valentine feels better than she has in a long time. They settle down in the living room, blankets spread out.

“Well this is nice,” says Isaiah around a mouthful of food. “Maybe we will even roast some marshmallows.” he offers up a bag of marshmallows he found in the cupboards. “There was no chocolate or graham crackers but this is better than nothing.”

Chloe’s eyes light up at the thought.

Daniel disappears into the kitchen and returns with a bottle of whiskey. “We can have some of this too,” he says smiling.

“I’m more of a wine person,” Sasha says.

“They have that as well.” Sasha gives a small clap and heads into the kitchen, returning moments later with a glass of deep red wine in her hand.

“Can I try some mommy?” Chloe asks.

“You won’t like it honey.” Sasha says.

“Oh come on, let her try it,” Isaiah says with a mischievous smile. “It’s not like it will cause any harm.”

Sasha laughs and gives Chloe a sip. She wrinkles her nose in disgust. “That is horrible.” She says scowling. They all laugh. For a moment everything feels safe. They continue eating passing the bottle around until each of them have a pleasant buzz. They pass the time talking about life before the chaos. About how things used to be. It is the happiest any of them have been for a while.

Slowly one by one they drift off to sleep. Valentine watches them drift off. She knows they should have set up a shift. Someone should be watching but she lets her guard down for a moment. Isaiah was right. They need the rest more than she thought. She lets herself drift off as well, smiling happily at the rising and falling of Daniel’s chest beside her.

She considers telling him that she is falling for him. And the last thing she thinks before sleep claims her is that it would be great to kiss him.

***

Daniel feels himself falling. He is falling for so long he loses track of time. He should be afraid but he realizes that his is not. Then just as suddenly as it started he finds himself on the ground. In the middle of a crowd. There are people of all kinds around him in their thousands.

Everyone is zipping around headed to some important meeting or another. He wanders lost in the crowd for a few moments. The sounds of normal everyday life surround him. People talking on phones. Cars driving in the distance. And what he notices most is that everyone is alive.

He isn’t sure why this surprises him but it seems like an important thing to note.

He bumps into a middle aged woman. Her pantsuit is expensive and tailored. He doesn’t catch her face as she rushes off talking on the phone.

“Sorry,” he calls after her, but she doesn’t even notice. He turns back around and sees a hospital. He is alone now. But even that seems to make perfect sense. Like he never was in a crowd. Like he never was falling.

He walks across the grass lawn towards the hospitals entrance. The place is lit up but no one is inside. Glass doors part soundlessly to admit him. He walks through the empty halls for a while. It is strange to him that such a place should be so empty but he walks around with no particular direction for a long while.

Turning left and then right and walking with an aimless goal. After a while he comes to a room. It is empty save for a nurse who stands in the corner. He recoils at the sight of her. Her face is destroyed and blood coats her scrubs. So much blood. He takes an involuntary step back as the nurse thing moans. The name tag is barely recognizable but he sees “Ashley” in friendly bold lettering.

Then he notices something that escaped him at first. Valentine is on the bed. Her mouth is tapped over and she is screaming for help. He isn’t sure why she can’t move. Terror fills him as Ashley takes a step towards her. RUN he tries to shout but can’t get his voice to work.

His legs feel leaden. He knows he needs to save her. Needs to get moving right now but he cannot force himself to move. Nothing is working the way it should.

Ashley is close enough to touch her now and she lunges. Daniel yells again silently, as loud as he can. When Ashley bends over and takes a bite. She tears into her neck sending out a gushing arc of blood and his world goes dark.

Daniel wakes with a start. He is covered in sweat and his hands are clammy. The same dream he has had for several nights now.

A low moan reaches his ears and he snaps around trying to recall where he is. His head is still fuzzy from alcohol. Then with a rush it all floods back into him. The fire is dying in the corner and just out of vision he can see Jason rising to his feet. Except that he looks different. He moves stiffly, but with purpose.