Jacob's Odyssey (The Berne Project Book 1) (29 page)

I ran at an angle toward the front of the yard next door. I needed to get into an open area. The biggest advantages I had were my quickness and the spacious East Bench lawns. I could feel some soreness in my thighs but it didn't affect my running. I ran at half speed so I could change directions quickly if I had to and also so I could keep my bearings.

I found the best pathway near the front of the yard where I was equidistant from the infected on the street and those near the homes. In the next two yards, there were fifteen to twenty infected I'd have to get by. I'd planned all along to run near the front of the lawns so I could draw them out away from the houses. And it was working. Then when they got close, I'd try to find a lane to cut back through and get to a fence.

They were coming at me from every direction, but I was already nearing the second lawn. A tall, bony infected man coming from the street was about to cut me off and I didn't have a clear lane to cut back toward the houses yet. I knew heading out into the street would be suicidal.

The infected man was all arms and legs. He wore a filthy polo shirt and shorts. His clothes were soiled with dried blood and grime. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get by him. I was bursting with adrenalin and it filled me with a crazed determination. I ran hard right at him. And right before I got to him, I leaned down as if I were going to tackle him, but at the last moment I raised my forearms in front of me like a battering ram and slammed him hard in the chest. He toppled backwards, arms and legs flailing.

I tried to run past him but one of his long arms caught my leg and I stumbled onto the lawn, my knees scraping the grass. I was scrambling to get up before I was down all the way. The gun had been jostled and I had to reach back to secure it. They were closing on me from every direction and I didn't have time to find a cut-back lane. Three of them from the yard were closing fast, not ten feet away. A small boy was in the middle of them with maybe five feet clearance on either side of him. He couldn't have been more than seven years old, but it was my only chance. I headed straight for him, screaming wildly at the top of my lungs, but my insane screams didn't seem to register with them. I ran into the boy at an angle, hitting him on his right side and he spun around like a wobbly boxer and fell onto the lawn. The collision had me slightly off balance and a young infected woman to the boy's right grabbed me by the arm. But I was a wild man. There was no way I'd let them catch me. I wrenched my arm free and ran like hell for the side fence.

I was there in a matter of seconds. I went over the fence on the side of the house where there was no gate. I waited for a moment and then crept slowly to the back edge of the house and peeked around the corner. The last of the infected in the yard were heading for the gate.

There was a home to my right, the last home before Jupiter Drive, but I had already decided I wouldn't be going into that backyard. I wanted to have some distance from Jupiter when I crossed Apollo. I knew there was a good chance Jupiter would be thick with the infected and I didn't want to get too close.

As soon as the last infected from the backyard was out of sight, I ran to the back fence no worse for wear, a few grass stains on my knees, and that's when I heard them. This had been the fence I'd planned to go over before crossing Apollo. The yard had been clear of the infected when I looked out the widow earlier, but not now. I stepped onto the fence's lower brace and pulled myself up to make sure. Four infected were stumbling wildly across the lawn and more were filing through the backyard gate. Their rasping moans spiraled crazily when they saw me.

I had to think quickly. There was no way I could go over the fence now. I'd never get past them. I also knew their excited moans would draw the infected right back into this backyard. I raced to the opposite corner of the backyard and glanced back to the open gate as I ran. A dozen or so infected were grumbling excitedly as they made their way up the driveway. They'd be in the backyard in a matter of seconds. I jumped to the top of the corner fence to take a look. I needed to get into the catty-corner backyard, but there were two infected there and more were coming. When I saw the yard next to me was empty, I knew what to do. I made sure to stay up long enough for the infected in both yards to see me.

I pulled myself over the fence into the empty backyard and started to walk quietly along the back fence toward the opposite corner. I had to make sure they didn't hear me. The infected from the neighboring yards were converging near the corner where they'd last seen me. Once there, they began slamming their fists and heads into the fence boards. As long as they believed I was still there, I should be able to climb over the fence and run unimpeded to the side yard fence.

I suddenly felt paranoid and wondered if any of them might have heard me walking and were trailing me on the other side of the fence. I put my ear close to the fence and listened. But all I could hear were the crescendo of moans from the infected gathered in the far corner.

I saw a golf-sized stone on the ground and picked it up and threw it as hard as I could against the fence where they were congregated. The stone struck the fence sharply with a distinct thudding sound. Their moans spiked and they attacked the fence even more aggressively. I counted slowly to five, then pulled myself up and over the fence. There were five of them now in the far corner feverishly assaulting the fence. I ran to the side fence, keeping my eye on them the whole way and then I climbed over.

This time I ran at as fast as I could. I didn't wait to see where they were. I just ran. And I was out in the street before they took notice of me. There didn't seem to be as many of them on Apollo as there were on South Fortuna Way. But I could only see half a block. Apollo cut sharply to the right a few houses down and paralleled Jupiter before cutting left down to Wasatch.

Once I evaded three of them in the street, I had a clear path to the side yard between the first and second house down from Jupiter. It was exactly where I needed to be.

A large group on Jupiter were headed south in the direction of South Fortuna Way. They must have sensed the activity there. One of them spotted me and then they were all headed toward me, adjusting their route like a herd of buffalo. There was a runner amongst them, but I knew I could get to the fence before he or the others reached me. I glanced to my left and the handful of infected on Apollo were headed for me too. And then I wondered about the Swimmer. I'd half expected to run into him somewhere out here, but I knew he could be anywhere.

I ran through the front yard of the second house and reached the side fence a few seconds later. I kept my head on a swivel to make sure I was clear both ways. The runner from Jupiter was closing, but he was over half a yard away. When I reached the fence, I lifted myself up to take a look, but the sides of the homes limited my view. I couldn't tell if there were infected in either backyard, and I didn't have the time to figure things out. I slipped over into the side yard of the corner house.

I moved quietly to the back wall of the house. I had yet to hear any infected in the backyard, but when I peered around the back corner of the house, I spotted two of them. One of them was lying down and the trunk of his body had disappeared down a basement window well. The other was standing by the gate, craning his head as he looked out toward the street and the sudden commotion there. I knew I could easily get to the backyard fence before they would notice me.

I ran to the corner of the fence where the four backyards met. The infected man near the gate noticed me and began his inevitable pursuit. But it would be short-lived. He had no chance to get to me. I checked out the three adjoining backyards. I'd decided before I left it would be best to go over fences in the back corners of the yards where the adjoined four yards met. That way I could make a quick decision as to which yard would be safest.

In the backyard in front of me, an infected female stood by the back door. She leaned her head against the window of the door, her arms dangling inert at her sides, mesmerized by whatever it was she was seeing in the house. In the yard catty-corner to the yard I was in, two of them milled about near the back wall of the home. A male and a female. They saw me and began to amble excitedly toward me. This time it was an easy choice. I climbed over into the backyard with the infected woman in it.

There would be three more backyards after this one before I came to the house where Lois Lane connected South Hale with Jupiter. That had been my target area all along and I was well on my way. I was thrilled to get this far unscathed, but I wasn't overconfident. Whenever I became overconfident or assumed things would work out, they almost never did. I preferred wariness over confidence.

The infected woman didn't seem to notice me. I walked quietly across the backyard keeping an eye on her. She stood listlessly at the back door as if she were in a catatonic state.

I could hear the agitated moans of the two infected from the next yard over, the ones who had seen me when I'd climbed over the fence. They'd gone to the area where they'd last seen me and were now banging on the fence. And I thought I could hear several more infected in the adjacent yards ahead of me. There was a sporadic tapping sound too.

I needed to get a look at the backyards without being spotted. And I realized I needed to be more cautious when I checked the yards out. I didn't want to draw too much attention. Not yet.

The fence in this backyard was vinyl and had no support beam to step on and help lift me up. I'd have to pull myself up to get a look. I checked on the woman one more time. She hadn't moved an inch. I'd never seen one of them in such a lethargic state. She seemed to be in some kind of deep slumber even though she was standing.

I slipped my hands onto the top of the fence, a hand on each side of the corner post. Then I placed my right foot two feet up on the post to give myself a boost. I pulled myself up with my hands and used my foot to propel myself up and keep my balance. I held myself suspended no more than an inch or two above the fence for just over a second before I eased myself back down.

I didn't think any of them had seen me. At least none of them had looked my way. Their attention seemed focused elsewhere. Two were in the catty-corner yard to my left and four in the yard ahead of me. A female in the catty-corner yard was slapping tediously at a basement window with her hand. A male in the same yard walked stiffly toward the nearest fence where the agitated moans were coming from. I was uncomfortable with how close he was getting to my position.

The four in the yard ahead of me were in the middle of the yard, walking toward the back fence, likely drawn to the sound of the woman slapping at the window. There was no way I could get past the four of them.

I stood quietly facing the corner post, going over my options. But I really only had one—the catty-corner yard. I couldn't decide the best way to get around the infected man walking towards the fence. I wondered if it was best to wait till he got near the fence. From the line he was taking, I guessed he would be at least ten feet from the corner when he reached the fence. If he were ten feet away, I should be able to climb the fence and drop down and run to the other side of the yard. But if I went over when he was still out in the yard, he might be able to cut me off when I started to run across the yard.

I listened closely to see if could hear him, but I couldn't. I chewed on my lip, still undecided. I didn't like just standing there; I was antsy to get going. At the same time I was nervous about going over the fence. I decided I would wait ten seconds. He should be near the fence by then. I would get over the fence as quickly as I could and run like hell. I began to count slowly.

I thought about the possibility of using the gun if I had to, but I knew it would be a bad idea. Firing gunshots in the yard would draw the infected from Apollo and Jupiter. They'd fill all the backyards in no time and there'd be no avenue for escape, and I planned on getting out of this alive.

Despite the cool early morning air, my hands were sweaty. I wiped them against the front of my long-sleeve t-shirt to get them dry. Then I wiped them against my shorts.

I'd already finished counting to ten several seconds ago, but I just stood there, stalling. I knew I had to get going. I took a nervous breath and reached my hands up to the top of the fence. I planted my foot firmly into the middle of the corner post. And just as I lifted myself up, I felt the light touch of fingertips trail down my back as I rose upward. I jerked myself up to get away from the hand and a dark chill spirited up my spine. I was so startled I nearly fell over into the next yard. I had to grab the top of the adjoining fence to keep myself from falling into the yard. The four infected in the yard turned and spotted me.

I looked back and the infected woman was gawking at me, her head craned inquisitively to the side as if she were wondering what I was doing. She had a severe wound to the head just behind her left temple where a chunk of her skull was missing. And a wedge of flesh was gone from the left side of her jaw as if she'd smiled too broadly and her jaw skin had ripped apart. I could see her teeth and gums all the way back in her mouth. Her teeth were stained a dark tar color and her gums were shriveled. And like the others, her gray facial skin was sucked in tight against her bones and finely wrinkled. She never made so much as a peep. She just stood there passively with her mouth open, looking at me with dull eyes.

And then I became aware of the rising tenor of the moans. They were agitated, almost hysterical. The infected from the adjoining yards were closing fast. I knew I had to move. But she suddenly reached up for me again and I instinctively shied away from her. I nearly tipped over. I dove as hard as I could to my left to the catty-corner yard to keep from falling, but I overcompensated. I hit the top of the fence heavily with my left upper arm and shoulder. A jabbing pain ripped through my arm. Hitting the fence had flipped my body backwards and I fell hard on my back, the impact punching the wind right out of me.