Gnash (26 page)

“Yeah, I’ve got one,” a middle-aged man near the center of the group said.  “How do we kill these things?  I’ve seen my fair share of horror movies, what you described is a freaking zombie.  I want to know how to keep my family safe.”

Curtis sighed, “Well, let me remind you that we only killed those three as a last resort…”

“Bullshit, tell us how to kill them,” the man shouted out.  Several others in the crowd echoed his sentiment.

Curtis gestured to Grayson, “This man here has dealt the most with them.  For the few of y’all that haven’t met him yet, his name is Grayson Donnelly.  He’s helped us out over the past week or so and I think the Three Pillars would have been in some big trouble without him.  Grayson, can you think of anything else to tell these folks that I left out?”

Grayson shook his head slowly, “No, I think you covered what we know.  To answer your question, sir, I believe the only way to kill them is by destroying their brain.  Like Curtis said, Jessica…”  He corrected himself, “The thing that had been Jessica had open fractures, a hole from a fireplace poker, all sorts of things, the only thing that finally stopped her was when we…” he stopped and glanced over at Jamie, who was staring at the ground. 

He thought of a delicate way to say that he’d bashed her brains in, but couldn’t come up with an easy way to describe it so he changed the subject slightly.  “The other day, the only way to stop the original guy was shooting him in the head.  He’d taken multiple shots and been hit with rifle butts.  We just couldn’t do anything to stop him short of a massive head wound.  Same thing for the third guy this morning.

“So I guess that answers your question.  There may be other ways, but we know that works for sure,” Grayson concluded.

“Is there a cure?” someone else shouted.

Curtis shook his head, “We don’t know.  We just found out about this today.  If we can’t find Justin tomorrow I want to go to Pecan Valley to talk to that doctor.  See if maybe he can help.  And we’ve gotta get in contact with the National Guard.  There’re all sorts of rumors that they’ve mobilized and are comin’ our way, but we don’t have any proof of that.”

“Is the virus airborne?” another panicked voice asked.

“Hell, I don’t know, but I’d bet that if it was, we’d all be acting crazy right about now.  So, for the time bein’ we hafta assume that it isn’t.”

Curtis waited a few more moments then said, “Ok, it doesn’t seem like there’s any more questions.  Let’s start searchin’ first thing in the mornin’ and we’ll plan on meeting back here at noon if we don’t find him.  Don’t forget about our car horn message system: 1 long blast is a non-emergency and you’re to meet at the softball field; 3 short blasts is an emergency, report to your designated perimeter defense location; and 5 short blasts is an emergency, arm yourself and defend your family where you are.  Good luck, we’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

As the crowd slowly shuffled out of the chain-link fence gate, Curtis and Grayson hung back to talk to any stragglers.  A few people stopped and asked non-meaningful questions, probably just wanting to stay with the company of others.  One of the residents who stayed at the back of the smaller group was Jamie Spellman.

Grayson noticed her and walked around everyone to talk to her.  “Hey, how are you holding up?” he asked.

“I’m ok, I guess.  I’m just really overwhelmed that this is happening, y’know?”

“Yeah, it’s insane.  Three weeks ago I was worried about leaving my dog with my extremely busy fiancé.  Now they’re both dead in a nuclear explosion and there are…Well, there are zombies running around in Indiana.”

“So, do you think we’re safe in here?” she asked as she gestured towards the cinder block wall that marked both the boundary of the softball field and the sub-division.

“I think we’re safer in here than out there, that’s for sure.  Some of the shit I saw driving across country was just crazy.  Did you know that when I linked up with the neighborhood watch from the Three Pillars, I was hiding from an armed gang at a gas station?  I was getting freakin’ gas and got jumped by a group of them.  They killed the owner and destroyed my car.  I didn’t have anything they needed, they did it just because they could.  It’s like some bizarre Mad Max movie outside of these walls.”

“Sure, but now it’s like a horror movie inside the walls,” she grimaced.  Her lip began to tremble and she glanced away quickly from Grayson.  He reached out to hug her, trying to comfort her in some way.  “I can’t go back to that house,” she sobbed against his chest.  “Jessica’s body is still in there where you guys beat her head to a pulp.”  She stopped and sniffed, “That other guy is in there too.  I really can’t go back.  Do you know someplace I can stay?” she asked.  Then she looked up at him and asked tentatively, “Or can I stay with you?  Please?”

“Yeah, I…um, I’m staying with the Longs, Curtis and Julie, in their extra bedroom.  It should be fine, there’s a small couch in bedroom or I can make a spot on the floor for me to sleep on.  I’m sure they have some extra blankets.”

She smiled up at him, “Calm down Grayson.  I just need someplace to stay.  You just lost your fiancé and I’m not trying to move in on you or something like that.  We can share the bed.  I feel really safe in your arms right now and I just want to have you there to hold me in the dark.”

Grayson cleared his throat and gave her a playful squeeze.  “Ok, but you have to promise me you’ll keep your hands to yourself, no funny business,” he said with a goofy grin.

“I promise.  I know we just met, but you’re one of the only friends I’ve got here in Three Pillars.  Before all of this, I didn’t really interact that much with too many people in the neighborhood other than saying ‘Hi’ on the street when I was outside.  I…I just need to feel safe for a little while until I can sort things out,” she reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips at first, then her mouth parted slightly as she kissed him deeper.  After a moment, she broke their contact and leaned back. “Thank you, I really appreciate you taking me in for a couple days.  I’ll try not to be a burden on you guys.”

Wow, that wasn’t what I expected to happen, these are strange times indeed
, Grayson thought as he led Jamie back towards the Long’s house.

***

10 May, 1238 hrs local

Three Pillars Estates

Indianapolis, Indiana

Grayson watched as Curtis dismissed the gathered crowd.  How had they failed to find this guy?  Justin had eluded everyone for more than twenty-four hours.  He didn’t go out of any of the gates and no one had seen him go over the walls, so it was assumed that he was still in the neighborhood’s perimeter.  Grayson had personally checked the four vacant houses in the neighborhood and revisited the scene at the Spellman house. 

Jamie had been inseparable from him since last night.  She’d dutifully trudged beside Grayson wherever he went and helped him search.  When they went to her house, she stayed outside while Grayson checked the place out.  He gathered up some of her things from the spare bedroom and she requested that he bring her the fireplace poker for a weapon.  She said it was light enough that she wouldn’t get fatigued carrying it and small enough that she felt she could use it in enclosed spaces. 

Last night had been…interesting.  When they returned to Curtis and Julie’s house, the Longs graciously extended their invitation to stay to Jamie.  They had a cot that they could set up in the office and Grayson offered to move to the cot, but she’d declined, preferring to stay with Grayson.  The Longs smiled knowingly, which caused Grayson to flush bright red.  Finally, he was thankful for the low light provided by the oil lanterns. 

Everyone decided to get cleaned up from the day’s work and get together afterwards to play a game.  Sam and Gretchen had given Grayson some spare clothes several days ago and he gave Jamie a shirt and a pair of sweat pants to wear and filled the bucket in the bathroom for her with cold water so she could bathe herself in the tub.  Thankfully, the subdivision was supplied by a water tower which continued to provide enough pressure for the taps to work, but checking the tower’s water level was high on their mission priority list.

Once they were reasonably well scrubbed, they reassembled in the family room to talk about their strange new world and half-heartedly played cards while they talked.  After a while, Jamie began to nod off and the Longs decided it was time to go to bed themselves. 

Jamie laid on the bed and true to his earlier words, Grayson began to make a pallet on the floor.  She’d chided him for his modesty and pulled him to the bed beside her.  But, true to her word as well, Jamie simply curved her body into his and pulled his arm around herself and went to sleep.  It had taken him a long time to fall asleep.             

Grayson adjusted his pants as a bulge slowly, inevitably began to form while he thought about the feeling of her tight, firm body against his last night.  He tried to clear his head and focus on what Curtis was saying but his mind kept drifting.

“Ok, we’re gonna take a small group over to Pecan Valley to check on their neighborhood and talk to their doctor about this sickness,” he said.  “The last contact we had with them was a few days ago on one of our supply gathering missions, but since then we haven’t spoken and we can’t get them on the ham radio.  It’s about three and a half miles from here and we gotta walk to save the gas in the cars.  I’ll be staying here to continue the search for Justin, coordinate a link-up with the National Guard and to oversee the defense.  I need four volunteers to go over there to link up with them.”

Grayson raised his hand and from the corner of his eye, he saw Jamie raise hers a split second after his.  Gretchen and Sam both volunteered as well.  Curtis shook their hands and wished them luck before returning to examine a large map of the neighborhood.

***

The trip to Pecan Valley was fairly uneventful and the small group made good time.  They walked down the middle of the road when possible and veered up onto the sidewalk when the road was blocked.  Grayson didn’t want to risk spooking a homeowner by walking too close to their house, and definitely not across their lawn.  In today’s ultra-protective environment, it just made more sense to err on the side of caution, he reasoned, it would be a tragedy if someone was injured because of a jumpy homeowner.

Regardless, though, they didn’t see anyone.  A few times Jamie thought she’d seen a face in a window or the movement of curtains, but she couldn’t be sure.  Each time she pointed it out to Grayson, but no one ever reappeared so they hurried on their way. 

Several blocks away, they saw the black wrought iron fence of the subdivision.  Grayson employed a lesson he’d learned in dealing with tribal warlords in Afghanistan and instructed everyone to ensure their weapons were slung or put away in an effort to show that they were unthreatening, while still allowing them quick access if they needed them.

Two blocks from the entrance, there were hand painted posters tied to the street signs.  Written in block lettering, the signs said
“ENTERING PECAN VALLEY PROTECTION ZONE.  IF YOU PROCEED, YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO SEARCH AND YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE SEIZED FOR OUR USE.  PLEASE TURN BACK.”

“Well, there’s nothing like American political correctness.  They might as well have said ‘Go fuck yourself and leave us alone,’ but they decided to say it as nicely as possible.  I bet these guys will just love to hear from us,” Sam said with a slight chuckle.

“Curtis said that when we made contact with them a few days ago, they seemed willing to cooperate, so hopefully they will be,” Grayson said.

They continued slowly forward until they were less than thirty feet from the gate.  “Halt!” a male voice echoed from somewhere in front of them.  “State your business,” the metallic voice drifted from behind the fence.

“Are these guys serious?” Sam asked nobody in particular.

Grayson yelled out, “We’re from the Three Pillars Estates.  We have an injured person and were told you had a doctor that could give us advice.”

A man appeared at the gate.  He held up a small bullhorn and spoke into it, “Hold on.”

A few minutes passed by and the group moved off the street to the shade of a tree.  Grayson busied himself by throwing pebbles at a larger rock he’d chucked into the street.  Sam and Gretchen talked about their family out west with Jamie.

Finally, the man reappeared at the gate and said through the bullhorn, “Ok, stand up and move to the center of the street, we’re gonna search you, then you can talk to the doc.”

“You can see we’re armed,” Grayson shouted.

“We don’t care that you’re armed, we need to ensure none of you are infected,” came the reply.

Grayson tried to hide the shock that must have been evident on his face and glanced knowingly at the other three.

“Alright, arms up,” the bullhorn ordered.

The group complied and several men came out of the house to their left carrying different types of weapons.  They spread out in a circle around Grayson’s little group.  A woman stepped forward and said, “Alright everybody, we need to see all the skin that we can, so pull up your sleeves, show us your arms.  Then pull up your shirt, show us your waist and pull down your collar so we can see your neck.  Then pull up your pant legs, so we can…”

“Oh, this is ridiculous,” Sam said.  “I’m just going to take off my clothes and you can get an eyeful.”  He took off his shirt, shoes and pants, leaving only his underwear on and stretched his arms out.

Grayson and Gretchen quickly followed suit.  Jamie, thankful that they’d stopped by her sister’s house for her undergarments and some clothing, took her clothes off as well.  This act seemed to put the circle of guards more at ease. 

“Ok, I don’t see any bite marks.  Anyone else see anything?” the woman asked.  After everyone from the group answered in the negative, she waved over her head towards the gate.  “Ok, let’s go.”

As they followed the woman from the Pecan Valley security element, everyone else broke off and returned to the house.  “That was pretty slick,” Grayson said.  “Your gate guards distracted us while the real security element was positioned outside the gate under cover in a house.  That’s a really professional trick, where’d you guys learn that?”