Barren Fields (22 page)

Erde was chosen to go on this trip because he should have firsthand knowledge on how the infected are behaving. Before now he was discouraged from accompanying any groups because his particular skill set has the potential to help create a cure or at least inoculate everyone to help them become immune to the disease like Eddie and a few others are. If at all possible on the return trip, they are going to try and capture a runner and a walker, if any walkers can be found. A holding cell has been created just outside the walls of the ranch to contain the infected. It’s a place where experiments can be safely done.

“It is strange that the infected don’t appear to be leaving the towns and cities. At least none of them appear to be following us. What is more likely, though, is that they are keeping to the forests for concealment as they travel so that they are able to surprise any prey they come across. That is a guess. My specialty is not in animal behavior.”

“Still, you haven’t been out here very often, so what do you think about what you’ve seen so far? I mean, them seeking cover and leaving an area if too many of the infected are getting killed. They don’t seem to be mindless creatures that have forever lost their humanity any more. That part is bothering me. It’s bothering a lot of us that these are really just sick people that might be able to be cured one day and we are just killing them.”

Erde sits quietly thinking for a while. He isn’t thinking about the questions Samantha asked him because he has gone over those same things on his own over the last few days trying to figure it out. He has tried to understand what people have told him they’ve been seeing in the new behavior of the infected. What Erde is trying to figure out now is how to respond in a compassionate way.

Two days ago, when he had this discussion with Eddie, he came right out and told Eddie that more testing is needed to find out what is going on. He would have to have infected test subjects and possibly some regular people to infect as well to find out what the relationship is between what a person once was and what they become. Eddie let him know that he appreciated his frankness but Erde should be careful around the others on speaking so coldly and scientifically. Especially about infecting regular people just to try and find out what is going on. He said what happened at Wal-Mart with Stockton’s people was a one time deal and not to expect coming across any more murderous or rapist gangs they could capture to do testing on.

So Erde is trying to come up with a way to tell Samantha what he truly believes must be done in order for him to understand and conquer this disease without her thinking him a monster.

“I am a chemist by training and expertise. All of my skills are in laboratory work, in research, so it is most natural for me to want to get into testing right away. If I could get hold of a good supply of chemical testing supplies and laboratory equipment I could start testing blood samples of the infected by introducing it to blood samples from uninfected individuals. Eventually though, without the ability to conduct tests on apes or other primates, I would need to progress to human transmission studies. I would need to study an individual that I knew a good deal about before the infection to properly determine what if any of that individual remains after infection.”

Samantha looks at Erde with a slight expression of distaste at the subject but understands where he is going with his thoughts.

“So would that tell you how to beat this thing, or if it is curable, by testing people?”

“Unfortunately, no. For a real study of what this does to a human, we would need a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine. We would scan the brain before and throughout the infection process to be able to determine to what extent the parasite kills off the human side of the infected brain and replaces it with its own programming or needs. Without an active MRI during the change, all of the things I am able to determine through laboratory testing will just be speculative. So, unfortunately, I fear we will never know for sure.”

“Thank you,” Samantha says and turns to look out at the passing tree line to ponder about the lives that once belonged to the occasional wrecked or abandoned vehicle they pass. 

*

“Are you up for a stroll?” I ask Simone.

Looking down at me from the roof, she smiles and nods. “I want to find my daughter.” she says and lowers herself over the edge, and then drops down to the truck’s hood.

“Do we have enough ammo?” she asks jokingly knowing there is an extra backpack full of ammo and other supplies that I keep in our truck.

“I’ll split the ammo between our two packs if you write a note to our potential rescuers where we’ve gone.”

“They’re going to think we’re crazy heading into the city on our own after what we went through last night.”

“They think we’re crazy anyway, Simone. At least they think that about me. You’re just guilty by association.”

We start walking into Grants Pass to find Hannah and the rest of the missing scavengers after duct taping a note to the back window of the truck’s cab and loading all available magazines.

*

Timothy Weyland is the in the lead truck for this trip back into Grants Pass. His and Dianne’s experience with what happened last night are essential for the trip’s success. A mile out from the city he calls out over the radios to remind people of what they will be heading into.

“Last night the road up ahead was overrun with the infected. There were too many for us to even consider attempting a rescue in the dark, and the noise of Eddie and Simone crashing and shooting undoubtedly brought more. Even with our numbers it could be an overwhelming situation. If it looks to be that way, we’ll need to turn around and head back or at a minimum stay at a distance to try and clear some of the numbers. Let’s play this smart and not lose anyone else. Hopefully we can save everyone and still pick up some campers as well.”

Jeremiah is hopeful that the situation is desperate and horrific. The more chaotic it is during the rescue attempt the easier it will be for him or one of his men to shoot Eddie and Simone. Any friendly fire
accidents
will be blamed on the inexperience he and his men have with shooting at the possessed people. Jeremiah and his two men are each in one of the first three vehicles, so whatever they run into on the road ahead, they will be able to make some of the first shots.

“I can see some bodies on the road in the distance but don’t see and runners yet. Everyone slow your vehicles down and watch to the sides to make sure the runners haven’t spread out to form an ambush. The bodies you see are most likely the ones that attacked our vehicle right before we left last night. We should start seeing the crowd of runners soon.”

The vehicles drive in at a crawling pace. They are keeping things slow, expecting a wave of the infected to wash over them like the quick onslaught of an avalanche, but no such danger presents itself. Only two runners are seen up ahead in the distance, and they appear to be running away instead of getting closer.

Everyone’s morale is on a roller coaster ride this morning while they approach what was obviously Eddie’s and Simone’s last stand. There is a turmoil of anguish and excitement in some at seeing so many of the infected lying dead in the area around Eddie’s crashed truck, but the turmoil is from not seeing them on the roof of the building against which their crashed truck rests.

Jeremiah feels only elation that the devils are dead. With Eddie and Simone out of the picture he is confident that his brother Isaac will take charge of the entire group and his leadership will keep all of their combined people safe. Not just from the demons in this world, but Isaac will keep their spirits strong and rejoicing in God’s love so they can be taken into his loving arms when they die. Jeremiah knows there isn’t a place for him in Heaven and only feels contentment that he will soon be able to have someone remove himself from this world the way he did for his loved ones after they were bitten.

All of the vehicles pull to a stop at safe distances from each other so some form of maneuver and escape is possible if they need to retreat again. The passengers exit the trucks somewhat clumsily while holding on to their assorted rifles, handguns, and shotguns. Still, no infected descend upon them.

“Set up a perimeter and check the bodies for Eddie and Simone,” Timothy calls out. “They have to be out here somewhere.”
They must be here. They wouldn’t have gone off on their own,
he thinks to himself.

After a cursory look, no one finds their bodies.

Jeremiah smiles at the idea that Eddie and Simone are now walking around and possessed somewhere. His smile ends quickly though when he remembers that Eddie has been bitten before.
Is this what Eddie wanted?
Jeremiah thinks to himself building a horrible realization in his mind.
He wanted me and my men to come out here so he could lead hordes of the possessed against us and wipe us out. Or worse, right now he is leading an army against the ranch.
He is about to yell out his fear that the ranch is under attack and they should head back when one of the men finds something at the truck, and calls out:

“There’s a note here!”

After Eddie and Simone left earlier, a runner came up to the truck and pulled off the note that they had stuck to the back window. It remembered that things people leave on paper can be important and wanted to get rid of it but didn’t have the cognitive capabilities remaining to destroy or carry the note away from the area. The note was dropped on the ground by the truck, where it was only noticed among the refuse of this littered and destroyed world because it is paper and couldn’t have survived the elements in its clean condition.

Before the note is read, gunfire is heard not too far in the distance from where this rescue group is set up. That sound can only mean survivors, and there is a collective intake of breaths as heads rise and turn in the direction of the noise which gives them new hope.

“Read the note,” Timothy yells at the man.

“It says,
We heard a gunfire signal last night after you left. Our missing group is still alive and we are going out to find them. The infected fear us, but use caution. Stay in the open away from blind corners where they can approach. Simone and Eddie.
”

“Should we walk or drive?” Timothy asks Dianne.

“Both. If we take all the trucks with us the entire way, we’ll get jammed up if we have to make an escape. We can drive in and leave a truck turned back this way every few blocks. That way if we need to fall back with injured people we can truck hop all the way down the line until everyone is able to get in. It will allow us to have a walking line of shooters until that point also.”

“Did I tell you I wanted to marry you before the world fell apart?”

“You might have mentioned it,” she says and smiles.

“Well, I still want to.”

Most of the group has moved back to the vehicles expecting to load up, but a few are standing by Timothy and Dianne and hear their exchange. They are all fighters. Not by trade before the collapse, of course, but have grown into the hard, watchful men that we all used to watch in movies. When they are on the job they are always looking for danger.

Nine months ago every one of them would have given Timothy a hard time about his open tender moment with Dianne and included her in a bit of good humored ribbing about holding on to his balls. Now with more bad than good occurring, none of them say a word, and a few of them even smile at the interaction. They hope that they too can find a woman that can not only be deadly accurate with a gun but lay out a sensible ambush and escape plan the way Dianne does.

More shots ring out in the distance ending the few seconds spent in a better place.

“Everyone get in the trucks. We’re going to slowly drive into the city to the area the scavenger group was supposed to be set up. Dianne suggested that we drop off a truck every few blocks so we have vehicles along an escape route out of here if we need them, so that’s what we’re going to do, any questions?”

Jeremiah wants to ask why they can’t just leave the Keepers here but knows not enough of these people view them as a threat yet.

“What should we do?” whispers one of Jeremiahs men to him before they split up to get in their respective vehicles.

“If you get a clean shot without being obvious, then take it. But make sure it doesn’t look like you are targeting them. We need to get rid of them, but I don’t want people to start distrusting Isaac. He is the only one that can lead our people once the Keepers are gone.”

“What about you, Jeremiah? I thought we were doing this to get you in charge?” the man asks clearly confused.

“I’m lost already. I can’t guide you any more than Eddie can, and I’m no leader like Isaac either.”

For the briefest moment the two men see pain flash across Jeremiah’s face and seem to understand how he wouldn’t want to be in charge of leading the group after losing his wife and daughter the way he did.

“Let’s get going,” he says to his men and they get in the trucks.

“Some rescue, huh?” the driver asks Timothy and Dianne when they get in. “We should have known. Eddie seems to have spent so much time around cats that some of their nine-lives rubbed off on him.”

Chapter 19

Changes, Deception, Heartache, Death

Grants Pass, Oregon.

Present Day.

Mike feels the slow pull of waking hit him as his body is being rocked back and forth. He can faintly hear his name being called, and it feels like he is waking up in his bed back home in a time before the world fell apart. His mind puts together the pieces of where he is and what happened last night, and wakes up seeing Hannah leaning over him and shaking his shoulder.

After hearing the returned gunfire message last night, Mike and Hannah knew they were going to survive. Until that message came though they had spent the better part of the day trapped and believing they would never escape their rooftop prison. The infected were behaving differently, more aggressive, and didn’t give them the opportunity to make it back to their vehicles to escape. At least being trapped enabled them to find out where all the runners are coming from.

“Mike, wake up. They’re shooting again. I think my parents are starting to make their way to us.”

As comforting as the news of rescue is, facing Hannah’s parents after everything they have been through together puts a bit of fear in him, especially the prospect of seeing her father. Eddie seems to be a fair man and being trapped in Grants Pass isn’t Mike’s fault, but blame for Mike and Hannah’s current situation lies squarely on his shoulders.

“Your father is going to kill me.”

“It’s not your fault we got stuck up here together.”

“Being stuck here isn’t what I was thinking about.”

“Nothing that happened is your fault or something you should feel guilty about. You may be two years older than me, but it was my decision to be here and to do the things that I have done. If my dad didn’t want me going off with the scavenger groups then he shouldn’t have trained me to be such a good sniper,” she says and then smiles. “Besides, I was the designated sniper yesterday, so if anyone is responsible for us being here, it’s me.”

“The shooting stopped. Is that bad?” he asks.

“No, the shots were all in one place so they haven’t moved anywhere yet. They’re probably just driving the infected away from them. I’ll know when their gun shots are moving closer to us.”

“You won’t really be able to tell the difference, will you?”

“A few years ago we were visiting my mom’s grandparents in France. The first big Muslim uprising happened while we were there. It wasn’t just in Paris like, they said on the news. They were driving around everywhere in the backs of pickup trucks. There were huge groups of them driving from town to town—killing anyone they found along the way.”

“We heard the sounds of gunfire approaching the village we were in, and were lucky to be far enough away from the city that the French military forces drove past us, to stop the terrorists advance before we were reached. You’ll be able to tell when gunshots are approaching us, trust me.”

*

The morning walk is anything but relaxing and fun. Simone and I are circling each other as we continue moving west down NE E Street. With just two of us, we can’t simply walk back to back because our sides would be left open to attack. Staying in constant motion and letting the infected know that any approach means death is how we are staying alive. Most of the area we are walking through is still open space, no buildings or trees, but we are reaching the problem area now. The greatest causes of danger are the spaces between buildings. Any infected person can make it to the center of the street to attack us quite easily at a full run, and they can build that speed up in alleys, roads, or open property between the buildings we have to pass.

At the first intersection one infected does make a run for us as we move through and become visible. Two more make the attempted run after we pass a few more buildings. When we cross into the fourth intersection we see four infected just standing there to the south of us, not moving, just watching as we cross.

“Don’t shoot them,” I say. “Just keep walking through and see what they do.”

Once we are out of their line of sight, we move out of the street and over to the door of an abandoned Domino’s Pizza. I raise my shotgun to the ready and motion for Simone to follow me to the edge of the building. I creep to the corner and expect to have the runners bolt around in pursuit at any moment, but I don’t hear footfalls to indicate movement, fast or slow. I peek quickly and pull my head back, but don’t see anything. I look again, and then step out away from the building.

“They aren’t there anymore.”

“I see one,” Simone says and points to the other side of Domino’s.

At the opposite end of the store, one of the infected has its head popped around the corner, just the way I did.

“They knew the direction we were headed and were going to get us on the other side,” Simone whispers.

With the apparent element of surprise gone, the four infected bound out from the side of the building and charge at us as we fire and back away at the same time. My first shot hits the lead runner square in the chest, the blow knocks him back into the second runner and they both fall. Simone shoots with her pistol. Three quick shots and a third runner falls. She starts to spin around to make sure we aren’t getting attacked from behind, and I shoot at the fourth runner that is attempting to weave in avoidance of being shot, but disturbingly, is still running at us.

My first shot hits his shoulder and makes him spin around. I pump my gun to load the next round, and when he is facing me again, he just stops. It is probably his spin that caused him to stop, but for a split second before I pull my trigger it seems like he has given up. Not just given up his pursuit of us, but given up his will to live. Before now they would always run away when injured, or at least try, and he just stands there looking right at me as I pull my trigger.

Simone shoots several times behind us at a threat I don’t yet see. I’m focused on the second runner that seems to be trapped under the first one I shot. It is smaller than the one on top of it and looks like it broke one of its legs in the awkward impact and fall, but that doesn’t explain why it isn’t struggling out from under the dead infected to come and get us.

“Eddie, there are several more behind us, but they’re too far off to hit with my pistol. Use your rifle and let them know we have a long reach.”

“Okay. Just watch that the one that’s stuck over there. I don’t know if this is another trick, but it isn’t coming after us.”

I let my shotgun hang by its sling and pull my rifle off my back. Raising it to my shoulder, I look three blocks down the road through my scope at the infected hoping to sneak up on us at some point. I pull the trigger, and the body falls showing me my hit is good. I scan again and spot one trying unsuccessfully to stand behind a tree. I pull the trigger again and that one falls as well. Three others that must have been hiding behind other objects run in scattered directions away from us. I watch for a few seconds to make sure no others try to approach.

“Is everything good?” I ask

“No Eddie, something is wrong.”

“I mean are we clear?”

“Yes. No infected on the sides or where we are headed, but there’s something wrong with the infected that’s trapped.”

We both walk up to it, and it doesn’t give the gurgling moan that we have grown accustom to. It almost hisses at us, but the sound is still too deep and throaty to be called a
hiss
. It looks at us and snaps its teeth a few times in our direction, or rather I should say,
she
snaps her teeth at us, because this infected is a woman. Her right arm is stuck under the body that has her trapped, but her left arm reaches up to us a few times and grabs at the road in a vain attempt to grasp our shoes.

“Maybe the fall hurt her back,” Simone offers as an explanation, but the woman’s legs are still moving around a little, so she isn’t paralyzed.

“I don’t like it. Whatever is going on with this one, she is too human for my liking, but we can’t leave her here.” And I point my gun at her head.

Simone turns away. I’m not sure if she is checking behind to make sure we are still clear or if the scene playing out in front of us is just too disturbing to witness, but she misses what I have to watch. This woman, the infected I am about to shoot, drapes her arm over the body she is lying under and lowers her head to the pavement looking straight up at the sky. Her jaws continue to snap at a meal she is no longer interested in, and she lets out a moan I am familiar with. There is still the gurgle that comes from the infected when they are trying to get us and can’t reach, but the tone is all wrong. It sounds like she’s in pain. It is the sound of sorrow.

I pull my trigger, and the sound of mourning stops. Looking at the woman and the man again, I understand why she didn’t struggle to get away. Her sound of defeat and sorrow all make sense, and I grab Simone and pull her around to show her what I see.

“That’s the reason she didn’t struggle to get away,” I say while pointing at the woman’s hand.

They had matching wedding rings.

*

“You do know where the scavenger group is, right” one of the men asks.

“I know where they should be,” Timothy replies. “They were supposed to check out what was left in the Safeway Grocery store on G Street. There is also a food supply warehouse right next door. Between the two places there would have been plenty of items to stockpile for pick up, so they should be near one of those buildings.”

“It feels good being out like this. I mean, it gives me a strange hollow feeling seeing everything empty and quiet, but being able to be out here, just walking along the road feels good.”

Timothy just nods. He understands what the man means but isn’t able to share in the feeling. All he feels as he walks down the road is dread and apprehension. He is bothered by the fact that he doesn’t see any infected running around or any bodies lying in the road. The city looks like all the people just disappeared. The fact there are no bodies is also bothering him, because if Eddie and Simone came this way they should have been attacked at some point, and there aren’t any freshly dead infected anywhere.

“Has anyone seen anything?” Timothy calls out. “Any infected or any bodies?”

He watches as one man runs up from the rear. It’s Jordan, a man from Isaac’s group. Jordan’s brother was with the scavenging group that went missing.

“I saw a body on the road to the north. We’re on F Street now. If they took E Street they could have pulled a lot of the infected that way,” he says.

“Hey Timothy, I think we have something that needs checking out up here,” a man calls from the front of the group.

The group is all coalescing at the front, and Timothy runs up to see what is so distracting. A small gun shop named
Fox Firearms
is set back off of the road.

“You know Eddie’s rule,” Dianne tells Timothy.

He nods. The ranch has more than enough firearms and ammo for people to use, but Eddie made a rule for when stockpiles or gun shops are found. Firearms and ammunition are a priority when out scavenging. The goal is to keep large amounts of guns out of the hands of people like Stockton. So even on a rescue mission like this, unless someone is known to be injured, collecting the guns takes precedent over everything else.

This store has a closed door and barred windows with no broken glass. It looks completely untouched, and the business sign is the only thing that has been damaged. It is laying on the ground. If the group had been driving by they probably would have missed the small sign on the door saying what the place was.

“Are we stopping here?” Jordan asks, clearly irritated.

“If the group is stopping for now, why not let me and a few men scout ahead to see if we can find them?” Jeremiah asks before Timothy can reply to Jordan.

“You want to take a small group ahead to look for Eddie and Simone?”

“I want to look for our missing people. I do know some of them, like Jordan’s brother, Aaron.”

Timothy is unconvinced by Jeremiah’s good intentions but doubts the man would be dumb enough to try attacking Eddie when so many people are out here looking for him and his wife.

“How many people and whom would you take you?” Timothy asks.

“I have two men with me that I know and trust. No offense, Jordan, but I think you might be too wrapped up in seeing your brother and might compromise a smaller group if we had to run and you didn’t want to.”

“You feel confident you and two other men can safely move around out there?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Just as confident as you were when you sent those men here that died?”

The statement was a slap. It was intended as one and that is how it was received.

“I know I underestimated the possessed people before, but this isn’t the same situation. It’s daytime now. We haven’t seen or heard a thing since we got here, and I am offering to go as well.” It takes everything he has to keep the answer on a level tone and not draw his gun and blow Timothy’s brains out.
Your time will come, Timothy, but right now I need to get Eddie.

“Good, grab your two men and follow me,” Timothy says walking in the direction they just came.