This Dying World: The End Begins (14 page)

As if I needed anything else to add to my nightmares.

I slowed to take aim at the thing and fired again.  My shot hit true, sending the round thought its right eye.  The back of its skull popped like a champagne cork, sending brain fragments onto the zombie behind it.  I was at the car before its fully dead corpse bounced off the concrete.

“Get in!” I shouted.

Katie screamed wildly.  Abby’s maternal instinct took over, and she leapt into the back seat to protect her, but not before another shotgun blast obliterated the front of a young woman’s face.  The shredded remains of brain slid out of its cavity, hitting the ground with a wet splat.  The tissue began to pulsate as if the meat was boiling.  To my horror, the brain melted into greenish goo on the pavement.  Within seconds, the organ had completely dissolved into a soupy sludge.

The things were way too close to try and rationalize what I had just seen so I had to push it from my mind until I had time to dwell on it.  The fastest of the herd already had hands on our hood.  They slid down the side of the car towards my family, beating their fists against the doors and windows.

I fired into the mob that had split off in my direction, removing a middle aged man’s jaw.  Its tongue flapped against its neck like a morbid necktie.  Even with its ability to bite completely gone, it continued on until my next shot sent him to his final death.

I prepared to take aim to shoot again when my heart shattered.  A little girl of no more than 10 years old came shambling towards me with outreached arms.  She wore a little pink nightgown, adorned with flower print and green bows.  A long rust colored stain ran from the neck to her belly.  Blood painted lips curled back to expose stained teeth.  I took a deep breath and fired, ending the poor little girl’s suffering.

In one fluid motion I slid behind the wheel and tossed the beer into the seat next to me.  (You didn’t think I dropped it, did you?)  Faces pressed against the passenger side.  Blackened tongues ran across the glass leaving long streaks of frothy slime glistening in the daylight.

“I can’t believe you saved the beer!” Abby screamed at me.

“Think you’re pissed now?  Just wait till you see how crappy it is!”  I shifted into reverse and hit the gas.  We went about two feet before the car shuddered with a heavy thud.  The tires spun, but whatever had fallen beneath the tires would not let us move.  Zombies crowded the front and passenger side, violently rocking the car in their zeal to get at the meaty bits inside the rolling tin can.

We took the only way that we could.  I cut the wheel left, and welded the accelerator to the floor.  Tires screeched as the car launched through the bodies.  We swerved sideways, swatting several of the living dead away as I tried to regain control of the car.  I let off the gas until I had the car straight, and I put the pedal to the floor again.  I glanced in the mirror as we broke free of the gathering horde, and saw something behind me that forced me to stop.

“Shit!” I shouted before locking the brakes.  Tires erupted in smoke as they shrieked to a stop.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Abby shouted her question at me.

“Look behind us!” I grabbed the rifle and threw the door open.  “I’m not leaving anyone else behind!”

A teenage girl ran after us, a little girl that appeared no older than Katie hugging her neck.  They had emerged from behind the barber shop as we sped by, and now they were no more than a few paces ahead of the walking corpses.  She was limping, and weighted down.  Zombies were closing, energized by the sight of food within reach.

“Run!”  I opened the rear door.  Abby was already clearing a spot for them to dive in.  Life or death would be measured in seconds, but I refused to watch those girls die in front of me.

I steadied myself and took aim.  The first trigger pull sent a bullet whipping past the girl, turning another dead brain to pudding.  The zombie fell backwards to its eternal resting place, tripping some of its companions on the way down.  The girl had earned a couple extra steps of space.  I could not have taken another shot without endangering her though.  I prayed the time that I had bought them was enough.

“Get in!” I shouted.  She raced past me and dove into the back seat head first, tucking her cargo underneath her chin.  She slammed the door closed with such force that I expected to hear the window shatter.

Without her in my way, I opened up onto the horde.  Their bodies twitched and danced as bullets ripped through their bodies.  I wish I could say every shot was a head shot.  But the truth is I am not an expert marksman by any stretch.  Plus this wasn’t a Romero flick where anyone can pick up a gun and score head shots with every trigger pull.  The mix of adrenaline and fear rushing through my body had me shaking too badly to aim.  I was merely wasting ammo.

I walked backwards to my open door.  I am sad to say no more fell to my barrage.  By the time the magazine gave up its last round, I barely had time to hop back into the car before the creatures were clawing at the rear window again.  The accelerator hit the floor, and we sped away from the small town and its undying residents.

Chapter Seventeen

“Are they still close?” Abby asked, looking behind us.

“Not unless they can do ninety,” I replied, staring intently down the road.  I was producing more adrenaline than I ever had in my lifetime.  I was shaking from head to toe.  I planned on putting maximum distance between me and that place in as short a time as possible.

“You think we can slow down a bit?!” she gasped after looking at the speedometer.

“Nope!” I answered.  “Not until my heart rate slows down.”

“Dan!” she said firmly.  “Slow down!”

I took a deep breath and sighed.  She was right.  We couldn’t fly down the road with reckless abandon.  The risk of coming across a road obstacle was too great, and it could very easily mean death for everyone in the car.  I allowed us to slow, still keeping a respectable 30.  It was still too fast, but it was a comfortable speed for me until I stopped shaking.

“Stupid!  I’m so stupid!”  I slapped myself in the forehead.  “Of course they were in the church!”

“We all heard it on the news last night,” the girl spoke up between gulps of air.  Even over her heavy breathing and the sobs of both Katie and the other little girl I could hear the teen’s voice shaking.  “We all went there like we were supposed to until help came.”

“I just don’t understand how everyone became
that
overnight!” I said thumbing behind us.  “Everyone couldn’t have been sick!”

“They weren’t!” she said defensively.

“Why did you stay there so long?  Why not run back home?” I demanded.

“We were scared!”

“Everyone’s scared!  What the hell happened there?!”

“Dan!”  Abby snapped over the growing chaos.  “Pull this car over right now!” she ordered through her teeth.  I looked at her in the rear view mirror and saw the face she only gave me when I had royally screwed up.  I did what I was told and rolled to a stop on the shoulder of the road.

“Take a breath!” she scowled at me.

Again, I did as I was told.  I got out of the car and walked a few feet away.  The wind had picked up a bit, and the cold helped to ease my rising temper.  After a few deep breaths, I was able to calm myself and think things through.

I wasn’t mad at the girl.  How could I be?  She was just as scared and confused as I was.  I was madder at myself for not recognizing the danger that was in front of my face.  But I let my emotions run away with me and took it out on the girl who came to us for help.

I returned to the car, and opened the back door.  Abby had her arm around the two, consoling the teen as she silently wept.  Even Katie had calmed and was running her hand through the other little girl’s hair.  Abby raised an eyebrow at me, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry,” I said.  “I’m usually not that big of an ass to people I’ve just met.  I know you’ve been through a lot, and I just made it worse.  Can we start this whole introduction thing over again?”

The girl stared at me for a few seconds before giving a slight nod.  It was the first time I had really gotten a good look at the girls.  It was easy to tell they were related.  They both had the same auburn hair, the older with hers tied in a tight ponytail while the youngest had hers resting on her shoulders.  They had the same hazel eyes that sparkled with flecks of green.

“Thank you.  My name is Dan Foster, this is my wife Abby and our daughter Katie.  What’s your name?”

“My name’s Alexis Winters, but everyone calls me Lexi.”  There was a tremble in her voice, and I could guess at multiple reasons why and be right with each guess.  “This is my sister, Jane.”

“Hello Lexi,” I extended my hand, which she took.  Her hands were cold, fingers like ice.  When she let go, I immediately opened the back hatch and pulled out a couple of the blankets we found back at the patrol car.  I fished out a couple bottles of water and a couple of the mini apple pies.  After wrapping them against the cold, they devoured the pies and finished the water in record time.

“Thank you,” Lexi said as she wiped the crumbs from her lips.  She sat her sister on her lap, and wrapped themselves in the blanket.

“You’re more than welcome,” Abby replied, putting her arm back around the girls.

“Lexi,” I started.  I didn’t want to pressure the girls, but I had a ton of questions that I needed answers to.  “Can you tell me what happened back there?  We’re still in the dark with details of what’s going on.  Maybe something you saw could help us understand this.”

“It’s like I said,” Lexi replied. “We heard everything on the news last night.  We didn’t believe it at first, until we saw Mr. Jones eating his own dog.  Dad tried to talk to him, but Mr. Jones tried to attack him.”

“Who’s Mr. Jones?” I asked.

“He was my neighbor, and a preschool teacher,” Lexi answered.  “When the TV told everyone to go to the church, Dad didn’t want to go.  But Mom did, and Dad always does what mom wants.”

“Happy wife, happy life,” I said.

“Will you let the girl talk?” Abby shot me a look.

“Sorry.  Go ahead, Lexi.”

“Well, it looked like everyone had the same idea,” she continued.  “The church was packed.  It looked like almost everyone I knew was there, and a lot of them were sick.  Everyone started arguing about what to do with the sick people.  We didn’t know it wasn’t the flu.  How were we supposed to know?”  Lexi glanced up at me, her eyes seeming as if she was pleading to be forgiven for a sin she did not commit.

“No one knew,” Abby said, stoking Lexi’s hair.  “I don’t know if anyone really knew what was happening until it was too late.”

“I guess,” Lexi said, casting her eyes to the ground.  “It just got worse from there.  Jim and his kids showed up.  He was drunk as usual, and his kids were real sick.  They could hardly stand by themselves.  They laid down in the pews and we thought they fell asleep.  Then Jim starts screaming about how he’s not going to let people bully him or his kids anymore.  He must’ve known.”

“Known what?” I asked.

Tears welled up in her eyes again.  She started to breath even heavier and her body trembled.  Abby looked at me and shook her head.  This was too much for her.  It would be too much for anyone.

“You don’t have to go on if it’s too hard.  We understand,” I said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“He started shooting people!” she blurted out as tears flowed down her pale cheeks.  “He backed out of the church and kept shooting!  He chained the door from the outside and wouldn’t let us out!”

“Oh God!” Abby gasped.  “What about the back door or windows?”

“He parked his truck against the door, and the windows were stained glass and too high up.  We just couldn’t get out!” Lexi hugged her tearful sister to her chest and buried her head in Abby’s shoulder, crying until she could hardly take a breath.  Even Abby shed tears for the girls.  I admit, I even had to step away to compose myself.  By the time I returned, Lexi was sitting upright again, but the tears would not stop.  I still doubt if they ever will.

“Some of us took care of the people who were shot and lived.  Not everyone did,” she continued after a few deep breaths.  “The rest were looking for a way out.  That’s when Jim’s kids got up.  But they weren’t them anymore.  They were different.  Their eyes had no color, and they looked really pale.  Our pastor tried to talk to them and get them to lay back down.  But as soon as he got close, they bit him…and they were eating the pieces they bit off!”

“Jesus,” I looked at my feet, shaking my head. “He knew they were dying and used his own kids to hurt everyone.  How sick can one person be?”

“Everyone just went crazy,” Lexi went on.  “They were shouting and screaming.  They tried to break the door down, but it wouldn’t budge.  Then the people that Jim killed started getting up.  They were dead.  I know they were dead!  But they stood up and started biting people.”

“How did you get out?” Abby asked.

“My dad found a window that opened with a crank above a door.  It was too small for the adults, I barely fit through it.  Since I was the oldest one who could fit through it, dad pushed me through.  I was supposed to get my sister out and help the other kids,” Lexi’s face went down again.  Her tear filled eyes widened and her expression went blank.

“He pushed Jane through, but before he could get anyone else out, I heard him scream. I’ve never heard dad scream before.  He started calling my name.  ‘Run Lexi!  Run away’ he said.  Then I heard mom screaming too.  I took my sister and ran.”

“You hid outside all night?”  I asked.  Lexi nodded.

“You did the right thing,”  Abby said.

“No I didn’t!” Lexi exploded.  “My mom and dad are dead, and I didn’t do a thing to help!  Everyone I know is dead!  They screamed and screamed and I sat there like a coward!”

“Now stop right there!” I said firmly. “You did what you had to do to save your sister’s life!  Nothing that happened back there was your fault.  You were right to stay hidden.  If you got hurt, your sister wouldn’t have survived.  You made the only choice in a situation where there were no good choices.  That’s not what a coward does!”

Lexi’s head swiveled back and forth between me and Abby.  Her mouth open, eyes wide with shock.  Her jaw quivered, eyes still filling with her seemingly unending tears, until she finally gave in and cried the most heart wrenching cries I had ever heard.  The horrible night she was forced to endure came rushing out of her.  She held her sister fast, rocking in their seats.

“It’s okay.  Let it out,” Abby pulled her close again, resting the teens head on her shoulder.  She stroked her hair and spoke gently to her in a way only a loving mother can.  “Let it all out.”  And that’s what Lexi did.  We sat on the side of the road, letting the girls cry all the tears they needed to, and more.

When the torrent of sadness seemed to abate for a time, I knelt down next to them, looking eye to eye with Jane.  “Beep.” I pinched her little nose.  The slightest evidence of a smile cracked across her lips.  I beeped her nose again, and was rewarded with an actual smile on the second go around.  One more time and she laughed.  The corners of Lexi’s lips turned slightly upward in a smile so hidden it would make the Mona Lisa proud.

“You’re safe here with us,” Abby said.  “I don’t know if there is anywhere you want to go, but we’d love to have you if you want to come along.”

“But we don’t even know who you guys are or where you’re going,” she said.

“Me?  I’m Batman!  Couldn’t you tell?” I said, winking at her as I stood.  “We’re heading to the Bat Cave to wait all this out.”

“You’re a little crazy, aren’t you mister?”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Abby replied.

“We don’t want to be a bother to you guys, but we really have nowhere else to go,”  Lexi said.  “Our farm was close to town, and I don’t want to go back there.  We don’t have any more family around either.”

“It’s no bother,” I said.  “We’re happy to have you along.  Katie would love to have someone her own age around to play with.  Though I don’t know how crazy I am about being trapped in an estrogen heavy car.  I’m outnumbered!”

“You can always walk.  It is my car after all,” Abby said smiling at Lexi.  “What do you think, should we keep him?”

“Hmm, I guess so.  For now anyway,” Lexi said smiling back.

“Awesome, two smart asses.  This should make for a fun trip,” I said rolling my eyes.  “You know, I don’t have to feed you.”

“Yes you do,” she said.

“And why is that?” I asked sarcastically.

“You stole all this stuff from my town.”

“Which makes it mine now,” I said triumphantly.

“You leave her alone, I like her,” Abby came to Lexi’s defense.

“She started it,” I replied.

“Did not!” she shot back.

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Are you two going to be like this the whole trip?” Abby sighed.

“Maybe,” we both replied.

“Well, could you two lovely ladies maybe make some sandwiches while I reload?  I don’t want to get caught off guard again.  I was careless.  I can’t let that happen again.  We check everything next time we stop,” I said.  “Speaking of being careful, I hate to have to ask this, Lexi.  I saw you limping, how did you get hurt.  Were you bit?”

“Dan!” Abby’s stare bored holes through me.

“I know Abby, but I have to ask.”

“It’s okay Mrs. Foster, I understand.  It makes sense to check.  I fell when we were running from the church.  I’m alright.  My ankle just hurts a little.”

I couldn’t contain myself as I turned and walked away laughing.  Lexi looked perplexed at my reaction.

“Don’t call me Mrs. Foster!” Abby gasped.  “I’m not that old!”

“I’m sorry Mrs.-err Abby.  You’re an adult, I want to be respectful,” Lexi said blushing.

“You’re more adult than that giggling idiot over there,” Abby said nodding her head in my direction.

“Hey!” I said sharply.

“You know how Batman over there spends his evenings?  He plays video games and watches cartoons all night.”