Colony Z: The Complete Collection (Vols. 1-4) (17 page)

The silence in the room was haunting and horrible.

No one was ever going to come for him. And Aaron knew he was right.

As a four year old, he’d never before considered what he would do if he were left to die in a basement all alone, with two dead bodies to accompany him.

Tom didn’t look so good. He had been dead for almost twenty four hours now, and Aaron dreaded what would happen when it got dark outside and there was no longer a bright light shining down from the basement door that the…thing…hadn’t closed.

What if it came back?

Now that was a thought that Tom couldn’t shake. Much as he hated the old man, and as terrified as he was of him, he’d never been more scared in his life. It was one thing to be squeezed to death, like Tom was. It was another to be eaten by a monster.

Aaron shook in his Spiderman pajama shorts, the only thing he’d been wearing since he’d gotten there. It was filthy, stained, and matted against him in a ball of sweat and tears, but it was still the only comfort from home he had.

Mommy and Daddy couldn’t come for him, because what if the monster got them first? Maybe the monster was the one who wanted the money…maybe it had been leading the old man in the first place, and that was why it ate him. Maybe because the old man didn’t get the ‘ran-some’.

Whatever reason there was for what was happening to him wasn’t good enough. Daddy used to tell him stories like this, where the kid would get trapped and then they’d be smart and escape.

Why wasn’t Aaron smart enough to escape?

He should’ve listened better to Daddy’s stories. Then maybe he’d be able to get himself out using magic or something.

The night grew darker and darker, and Aaron hoped that Tom would wake up. He hoped that Tom would wake up and tell him everything was going to be okay, and that the old man was just a mean old man and he’d let them go soon. That’s what Tom always used to say. Tom always used to say all the right things.

Then the ugly old man killed him. Aaron had never really hated anybody before in his life, but he hated the old man. He hated him more than anything in the world. And that was why, in the years following, Aaron continued to avoid old men. Or men altogether, for that matter.

He loved Tom. He loved him more than even he knew.

But he hated men. And he would never be one, he decided that right then and there, as the sun began to darken and the basement began to chill and the bodies began to smell and Aaron realized he would die here.

Aaron determined he would never be a man, not like the old man had been.

And certainly not like the monster that was going to eat him later tonight.

HELP

And that’s what the note said, in its purple-red tint.

It was blood. Owen knew that. And yet, he didn’t care so much about what the note was written in. He cared about getting the people out. And during the daytime, it should have been that much easier to do. But he couldn’t figure out a decent way of breaking in. The window wasn’t nearly large enough for anyone to fit through, and they couldn’t exactly walk through the house.

And then, the idea hit Owen. Probably around the same time that it hit Eric, whose face lit up in anticipation.

“I know what we have to do.” They both said at the exact same time. They both jumped a little, along with Hannah, who wasn’t sure what to make of the situation.

“We’re not going in there.” She said firmly.

“So you’ll walk toward a potential-psycho with a gun, but you won’t go into a house full of zombies?” Owen asked, then turned to Eric and muttered a quick little apology, to which Eric replied with a stiff nod of understanding.

“…do you realize what you just said, Owen? No. I’m not walking into a house full of zombies, and neither are you. It’s a miracle enough that they can’t come out and get us right now.”             

“Hannah, babe, trust me.” Owen cooed. “I know what I’m doing. And you don’t have to come. In fact, I have a job for you right here.”

Everything was quiet for several moments while Hannah seemed to consider this in her mind. Sure, she wasn’t risking her own life. But Owen was risking his, and that put her whole future in jeopardy. Then again…that was probably how he felt when she had stepped toward Eric, and she had had no idea what she was doing then.

She supposed she’d just have to trust that he knew what he was doing, even if she didn’t feel at all like he did.

“…okay, Owen. What do you want to do?”

“I’m going to open the sliding door to the kitchen. Once the sunlight gets in, they’ll have to step back. You know how they are with the sun and water.”

“And that’s your brilliant plan? The basement doesn’t have any sunlight for you to use!”

“And that’s probably where most of them will be,” Owen nodded in agreement. “You’re right. But that’s not everything. You see that hose over there?”

Hannah did. It was sitting still, coiled like a snake by the back porch. It was twisted into the nozzle on the wall of the house. She nodded slowly.

“I’m going to have you turn that hose on and I’m gonna go in spraying. Eric will be right behind me with a piece of glass from the broken windows, so he can shine the sunlight on the…you know, the things, if he needs to.”

“That’s your brilliant plan? Go in there like two idiots yelling and fighting and running?”

“Do you have a better one? If you do, go for it.”

Hannah was silent. Hesitantly, she shook her head no. She knew he was right…she just didn’t like it.

“Be careful, Owen.”

“I will, sweetheart. I swear, I will.” Owen kissed her on the forehead. “Now I need you to turn that hose on and make sure that door stays open at all costs.”

Hannah nodded and followed Owen and Eric to the porch. Owen grabbed the hose, Hannah turned on the nozzle, and Eric counted backward from three.

“Three…”

Owen gripped the door tightly.

“Two…”

Owen was visibly shaking.

“One!”

Owen thrust the door open and ran through. Even Hannah could see the zombies jump back from the sunlight and water that had come bursting through. It was working…so far it was working…

“Be careful!” She screamed in one final, desperate attempt to not lose the one person she had left. When she said they needed to leave the barn and try to do something about this, she wasn’t sure that this was what she had in mind.             

But, to Owen, there was nothing more exhilarating.

They ran down the basement steps, the zombies far from them. At least, the ones upstairs. Once they rounded the corner to the basement, Owen realized two major problems.

Firstly, flicking the lights on wasn’t enough to scare the fifty living dead in the room away. And secondly? The hose wasn’t long enough to go any farther than the stairwell.

Maybe Hannah had had a small point.

“Why are you stopping?” Eric hissed in his ear. “Let’s spray the damn things.”

“The hose won’t go any farther,” Owen whispered back, both of them praying that the things wouldn’t take too much notice of them, even though they were staring angrily. “Eric, I need you to stand here, hold it, and spray them out of my way.”

Owen could see the door just across the room. He had to hurry if he was going to get there before the zombies realized what he was doing. Were they strong? Yes. Were they smart? Not so much. But he didn’t have an unlimited amount of time before they made a barricade.

“Now!” He yelled, and Eric took the hose and began his job. Owen leapt over furniture and all trying to get to the door before it was too late. He knew Eric would safe as long as he had the hose, and the best thing Owen could think to do was slide into the room and collect his thoughts before their escape. But, when he tried to open the door and found it was barricaded from the inside, he knew that wasn’t going to happen quickly.

“You
idiot.”
He said to himself. He should have known better. How else would they have kept the things out? Why hadn’t they broken the window and warned them before just barging in? He had a lot of learning to do if he was going to be good at this leadership thing.

Instead of waiting patiently, Owen began beating at the door.

“Hurry up! Open the door before it’s too late! We’re here to help you!” He screamed as many comforting things as he could in his terrified voice and, eventually, he heard furniture scraping against concrete. They were trying to get out.

But the zombies were starting to learn how to avoid the hose. Ducking, moving out of its way…there were too many options for them. If only the hose had a mist setting or something like that.

“Hurry!” Owen yelled again, realizing he was going to have to start fighting the things if the door didn’t open within seconds.

But, just then, the door flung open and a young-looking man came out, an unconscious woman in his arms.

Owen didn’t have time to ask, and the man didn’t give him time. They ran.

They beat their way through zombies and the gore that lay in that basement and they snatched Eric, hose and all, and ran up the stairs, all of them now sopping wet. But that didn’t stop them.              

When Hannah caught sight of her boyfriend coming up the basement stairs, she prepared herself to close the door when the time came. Owen was the first up, but he led the others out first. It was a young, black man who came out first. He had a pale woman grasped in his arms and his cheeks were flushed. It was obvious he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Get to the grass!” She yelled to him, in his daze. He nodded and took her to the cool grass, laying her down and sitting next to her.

Eric was the next to come through. He took the hose and ran straight to the couple, trying to give them both cool water.

Owen was last. And when Owen made his way through the door, Hannah slammed it shut.

The zombies began to move around again inside, now that the excitement was over. They glared through the door from the shadows, and Hannah knew they had made some enemies. But she was fairly certain the things couldn’t remember specific faces. From what they knew so far, anyway, they couldn’t.

She turned away and followed Owen off the porch to the three in the grass.

The woman was still knocked out. Owen found their backpacks, which they had all left lying in the grass at the edge of the yard, and pulled out some nutrient bars that they had found in a grocery store in the last town back. He was glad, now, that they had gotten food in case there was ever a dire need.

Now seemed dire enough.

He pulled a bar out of its wrapper and gave it to the man, as well as gauze for the self-inflicted wound on his arm. He assumed that was how the message got on the window. He then opened a bottle of fresh water and helped it down the woman’s throat. She gave a great cough and her eyes opened.

“Wha…where…wh-“

“Stop, Willa, stop,” The man whispered, pulled her closed to him. “I’ve got you. We’re safe.”

“Safe?”

“Safe.” The man, with tears in his eyes now, looked at Owen, Eric, and Hannah.

“I don’t know how to thank you for what you’ve done.”

“Eat. That’s what you can do.” Hannah said. “You’re not going to be able to travel anywhere if you two aren’t well nourished. Owen…I think we better camp out somewhere nearby for the night. They can’t go far.”

“What do you mean?” Willa said from the ground, starting to sit up now. Her husband helped her. “Why can’t we stay here?”

“…Willa, baby, don’t you remember?” The man said, wrapping his arms around her. “Those things…they’re in our house. I don’t think we can go back.”

“But…but, Phillip, the baby…”

“The baby?” Owen said in surprise. “What baby?” He looked ready to run right back into the house again.

“Oh, no, no, no, you misunderstand,” Phillip said quickly. “Willa and I…I mean to say that she might be pregnant. And she’s worried about traveling. There’s no one in there, don’t worry.”

“Pregnant?” Hannah asked. “Owen, we can’t travel on foot if she’s pregnant.”

“…I might not be anymore.” Willa said quietly. “Phillip…Phillip, how long have we been down there?”

“Almost a week.” He answered. “Willa, I’m not worried about the baby. I’m worried about you. Here, eat this and drink some water.”

But Willa didn’t want to eat or drink.

“Phillip, I want to know if I still have my baby.”

Phillip took a deep breath and turned to the others.

“We have a car out front. I don’t think they’ve touched it, I don’t know what reason they would have to. We can take it, but the keys…they’re inside the garage. I know the code to open the door from the outside, but there may be some…some things in there.”

“It doesn’t look like we have any choice,” Eric said. “If she has a baby, we can’t have her walking. No after what you’ve been through. We have to get the keys.”

Owen, Eric, and Phillip left the women alone then. They traveled to the front yard and, when they reached the keypad, Phillip took a deep breath.

“It’s times like this when I really wish I knew how to hot wire a car.”

Then he typed in the code and the door opened, revealing…an empty garage.