Dead World (Book 2): Headed North, page 5
part #2 of Dead World Series
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.
Realization dawns on Daniel and he screams just as Jason’s eyes snap open. They are dead and lifeless, staring right at Chloe. Daniel’s scream causes everyone to bolt up but the sleep is still distorting their thinking. Daniel rolls over and scrambles to his feet knocking Jason backwards into a wall. His head smashes into the wall. Daniel is trying to roll free as the dead boy snaps his jaws perilously close to his arm.
Daniel rolls free just in time. He scrabbles for anything nearby. His hands come to rest on the fire poker which had been left in the coals. He swings it around, the dully gleaming tip red from the flame. Daniel stabs with all the force he can muster and the hot poker burns through the dead eye of Jason, the boy topples back lifeless and Daniel falls to his knees out of breath.
“What the hell happened?” Isaiah says on his feet now. Chloe is crying and Sahsa is holding her. Valentine is looking around, her eyes wide with terror.
“I don’t know man,” Daniel says, catching his breath. “I was sleeping, I was having a bad dream and when I woke up I saw him. He was about to attack Chloe.”
Isaiah flips on the flashlight and the beam falls on Jason’s prone form. His sweater which had gotten tangled up in his fall is pulled up revealing a nasty bite just above his hip. It is black and infected with angry red lines arcing out away from it in a crazed pattern. Valentine gasps.
“I’ll be damned,” Isaiah says, “The boy was bit when we picked him up,” He shakes his head angrily. “He could have killed us all and he just played like nothing was wrong.”
“It’s done now,” Sasha says, putting her arm on her husband’s, “It’s done.”
“No it’s not ok…” he says, his face twisted with anger when a moan snatches his attention. They all turn towards the door. Daniel hears a rough scratching and his heart thuds. He rushes over to the window pulling back the drapes enough so he can peer out. In the front yard there are at least a dozen of the walkers. They are all shambling towards the door.
Daniel spins around and whips the drapes closed again. “There are at least a dozen between us and the car,” he says frantically.
“We need to get moving right now,” Isaiah says, “Grab the bags,” They rush around the dark house grabbing everything they can. The sound of bodies slamming into the front door adds haste to their movement.
“Check the back door,” Daniel says to Valentine. She runs towards the back door and then comes back in a moment.
“Not good,” she shakes her head.
“Ok well then we need to fight our way out,” Daniel says, “How many shots do you have in the rifle?”
“I only brought in what it was loaded with.” Isiah responds. “Ten shots in here I think.”
“Shit,” Daniel says, “I have six bullets left. That will give us just enough to clear out space and make it to the car. When we run we need to run fast and don’t stop moving no matter what. Don’t let those things get close to you.”
They all nod back at him. He takes a deep breath. “Ok on my count. One, two, three…..”
10
Hardin, Montana
Peter wakes with a rattling cough. The dream still lingers in the back of his mind. It was all happening too fast. He swings his head around taking in his small room. Sweat makes his shirt stick to his back despite the cool temperature of the room.
He dreamt Terry was attacked by them, cold dead fingers gripping around his neck and pulling him under ground.
He falls back to his pillow letting out a sigh. It is all just too much sometimes. He rolls over and looks at his alarm. 4 A.M. it’s the longest he has slept since his wife died and even that troubled sleep is welcome. It’s the first time he hasn’t seen her eyes, lifeless and cold, when he closed his own.
A few long moments pass as he lies on his back, just breathing in the early morning air. He isn’t ready to move yet when there comes a rap from the door. He rolls out of bed and pulls his pants on walking towards the door.
It swings open and Terry is standing impatiently.
“Sir they are back,” he says.
“Already?” Peter replies, “Why don’t you head down there. I’m going to get ready and be down there in a moment.”
Terry nods to him and walks away letting the door fall shut. Peter has always been a pragmatist. Everything that has happened only made it much more obvious. Now is not the time to be thinking about bigger moral issues. What is right and wrong don’t matter when you are dead, and that is the only defining line for him. What does it take to stay alive? That’s all that matters.
Peter throws on the nearest clothes he can find and hustles outside into the brisk air. He takes the stairs two at a time heading back to his car. He doesn’t have time to stop and think right now. Terry and he have seen some shit, this tops it all.
There was the time they were over in the Middle East, they were on patrol when the Humvee they were in hit a roadside bomb. It killed the driver in an explosion of blood and bone. Terry had been in the back and Peter was up front navigating. The car flipped over and came to a crashing halt.
Peter had calmly ordered them to grab their weapons and take up positions. He applied pressure to the driver’s legs which were blown off at the knees. It didn’t even faze him as he looked into that troopers eyes and told him not to give up. He made a tourniquet with their belts and saved that mans’ life. They made it out of that hell alive. It wasn’t pretty but it was what needed to be done.
And after everything Peter had seen over there he thought he had served his time in hell. All of that changed when the dead started coming back. But it was useless trying to figure all that out now.
He turns the car travelling down the empty road. This early in the morning only the people who need to be are awake, which means that the normally empty roads are completely deserted. Peter swerves the car in front of the park and hops out. The sun hasn’t even started rising yet but he sees people wandering around the open square with flashlights.
They move with a hurried nervousness. The fear is surfacing in the group and Peter worries. Fear is the killer here. If they let themselves become overwhelmed by it then they will just collapse like a bridge without enough support. They need to stay in control.
Stepping out of the car he calls out, “let’s get this more organized here,” He walks over as the impromptu soldiers are reinforcing the walls. Anyone with military experience is leading groups of civilians as they pound nails into wood thickening the wall.
It is a broken amalgamation of whatever scrap they could find. Pieces of scrap wood and metal bolted together to form a barrier that the dead have, so far, not been able to penetrate. Over the sound of the work he can hear the moaning of the horde growing on the other side. The wall is 7 feet tall extending around the entire close off section of town. But he worries it won’t be enough. The press of bodies leaning in from the other side will break through eventually. He can’t let that happen though.
