Zombies! Rising from the Dead (24 page)

A mile or two up ahead the road took a quick ascent uphill. We were still a ways off when
we saw something come over the top of the hill.
At first it was difficult to tell who or what it was. It was certainly too small to be a car of any sort, there was no sound to speak of so it couldn't have been a motorcycle or even a smaller
gas powered vehicle.

“What the hell is that?”
Rick questioned, as he strained to see further ahead.

We watched as it came over the hill, but it was Amanda who determined what it was.

“It's a.....bicycle?”
She said in an excited tone.

“Damn, she's right Rick, it is!”
I confirmed as the bike grew closer.

Rick remarked,
“Oh, my god, what....what the hell!?”

Then Amanda couldn't help herself and began breaking out into a chuckle . . . the first time
that any of us had laughed at
anything
in a long time.

We stopped the truck and sat as this bicycle slowly approached. It grew closer and we
could make out other details. The rider was male and much older than any of us. The first
details were scant, we could make out camouflage pants and flannel shirt, partially covered by
a darker colored sweat jacket, and wearing a camouflage hat that matched the pants.

“What do you guys think?”
I asked.

“I don't know, but we better be really careful . . . I mean, really careful!”
Rick replied.

“Let’s stop and talk to him; see what we can find out,”
I said.

“Okay but don't put anything past him. Watch for guns, if you get a bad feeling just get us
the hell out of here,”
Rick said.

Amanda sat very cautiously, fidgeting in her seat.

Rick was
right;
there was no way of knowing what
this
persons
intention
was
, or his
mental state. If he was armed he could easily take our vehicle from us, leaving us stranded, or
he could simply kill us all; there was no way to tell.

The rider drew closer and we could discern other details, he had
a
certain
scruffiness about
him and wore a straggly goatee on his chin, he was gangly to the point of being malnourished.
He was traveling light, with only one back pack strapped tightly to his back; we saw no guns or
knives to speak of unless he had them concealed.

I slowly pulled forward to intercept him. As we approached we rolled up the windows
leaving just enough air space to carry on a conversation.
The rider didn't look a threat, as under-fed as he appeared it didn't seem possible that he
could fight off Amanda, much less Rick or me.
It was obvious the rider had seen us too. We were the only two on the road after all, but
it was strange that his pace did not quicken. Only yards away he stopped and peered at us,

looking
almost jovial;
but with an underlying hint of distrust in his eyes.

In an instant he pulled a large hunting knife from around his back. We got ready to floor it
and sp
eed off when we saw him gesture; placing
both hands in the air, just like a criminal
being placed under arrest. He stood there for a moment
t
hen he
slowly bent down to his knees and placed the knife on the ground. It was a gesture of good
to
faith, and we took it for what it was, but we still didn't trust him. It could have been a trick, placing the knife on the ground to draw us in only
pull a gun or other weapon on us.

I turned and looked at Rick and Amanda.
“Well, here we go.....”

“Please be careful, I don't like this...”
Amanda said with concern in her voice.

“Just remember man if he does anything
, A
-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G, just get back in the fucking
truck and get us the hell outta here!”
Rick argued.

With Rick's advice ringing in my ears I took a deep breath and stepped out of the truck,
making sure I stayed well within the frame of the driver side door, just in case things went sour.

Before I
could say
anything the stranger spoke.

“Hey, hey there . . . I'm, I'm not
gonna
hurt anyone,”
he yelled.

He sounded winded.

“My name’s David, I promise I
ain't
armed. Not
gonna
hurt no one; just
wanna
talk.
Ain't
seen nobody
livin
' in months . . . good ta' see someone on the right side of the ground for a
change...
”
.

I looked back at Rick and Amanda before speaking.

“Bruce, I'm Bruce. I've got some friends here in the truck with me too.”
I thought to bring
that up quickly, the whole strength in numbers idea. I figured he would be less likely to try
something if he knew it would be three on one, instead of just me by
myself
.

“What are you doing out here?”
I asked.

“
It’s
how I stay alive!
Gotta
keep
movin
', you
gotta
keep
movin
' you know; why they sniff
you out if you don't,”
he said.

Just by that alone I knew he had been on the road a long time and had experienced the
undead first hand.

He began to speak again,
“I've been on the road now for months, back roads, country
roads.
Gotta
stay out of
tha
' cities though, that's the dangerous places. You stay away from
where people are, and you
keep away from where those things
wanna
be!”

His accent was thick and heavy, but I could tell he was trying to be lighthearted.

Feeling a little more comfortable by the travelers demeanor, Rick stepped out from the
opposite side, “
So why the bike? Not exactly safe, is it?”
Rick asked sounding more serious
than was probably necessary.

“Sure it is! A lot safer than that big old truck of
yurs
!
”,
the stranger said with a smile.

Rick took the bait,
“How do you figure that?”

“Well that old thing, you see cars got a funny way of
breakin
' down right when you need
them most. They have a bad habit of
runnin
' out of gas too, and they make a lot of noise, see,
and those damned things are attracted to noise.”
The traveler brought up a good point, but one
we had figured out a long time ago.

“Well, you got me there,”
Rick said, “
but still you don't have much protection there
”.

“Well, see here I don't put myself in situations where I have to. I stay off of main roads,
don't wear bright colors and I'm quiet,
I
don't draw any attention to myself. It's done me pretty
good so far,”
he told us.

“So where you from?
You don't sound like you’re from around here,”
I questioned.

“Down south . . . few hundred miles so far; as best I can figure. Been on the move for
months,
headin
' up north,”
he told us.

“Why north?
”
Rick asked.

“Well those things are dead right? No body heat,
so I
head
somewheres
' cold and they
will just freeze up. The further north I get, the safer I am.”

“Damn that's a pretty good idea!”
Rick exclaimed, as he looked at me in surprise.

“See there, I
ain't
all that stupid, bike and all!”
the traveler said,
cracking a smile as he
spoke.

By this time Amanda had gotten out of the truck as well, but still stood firmly behind
Rick.

Rick, Amanda and I looked at each other and nodded.

“David, this is my buddy Rick and his girlfriend Amanda,”
I said gesturing to them both.

David walked up and reached out to shake their hands
“Well, it’s right nice to meet you all.
I was
beginnin
' to think I was about the only one left.”

“Well to be honest we were starting to think the same thing...”
Rick added.

David looked at us for a second, and I could see the question in his eyes.
“So, what in the
hell are you all
doin
' out here on the open road? Y'all sure are
takin
' an awful big risk.”