Karl pulled out a cigar and lit it. He took a couple of long drags on it. When he held it out to me I shook my head. He shrugged and flicked it over the edge. I watched the cigar disappear in the milling crowd below. Several moments later, I heard a whoosh as the gas fumes ignited. The undead caught fire and pushed and shoved at each other, spreading the growing flames.
I watched in grim fascination as the flames spread down the alley, engulfing almost every creature in sight. The monsters cried out and howled, one by one falling to their knees and finally laying down, motionless, their bodies burnt shells, barely recognizable as human. This wasn’t Karl’s first barbeque.
In minutes it was over. Several more undead wandered near the end of the alley, but the heat deterred them and they moved on. Karl took aim and shot several stragglers that got within range. I watched in silence.
Karl turned and studied me for a long minute.
“You strike me as educated. So, why don’t you spew out a few twenty dollar words and tell me what’s going on in that noggin of yours.” he said.
I kept my expression neutral and asked, “So, you figure you just burned, what, around a hundred of those things just now?”
Karl looked down to the street and nodded.
I continued. “And I’m guessing you do this at least once a week?” Karl set his jaw, his expression darkening. He nodded.
“Well, if you’ve been doing this for the last month and a half, once a week, then you’ve probably murdered at least six hundred of those things. My only thought is that it’s a shame you haven’t been able to kill six thousand so far. Keep up the good work, though.” I finished.
Karl stared at me for a beat and then started howling with laughter.
He looked at me with tears in his eyes and through his grin said, “Hell, you’re all right.” We walked back to his vehicle together.
The truth is that, while I agree he’s got the right idea, it reminded me a little too much of Wayne the biker’s methods.
As we drove toward Karl’s place he turned to me. “So, you and Alison got a thing going there?” he asked.
“We started something, I think. But it’s over.” I responded. Saying it made my heart sink.
Karl nodded. “Is she Gracie’s mother?” he queried. I shook my head and told him about our rescue of them from the wrecking yard.
Karl chewed on his lower lip.
“She’s quite a find. Kids that age are precious little gems.” he said.
I thought about what a little pain in the ass Grace was most of the time. She always had to pee, she complained about everything, talked, hummed, and jabbered incessantly, and cried at the most inappropriate times. Karl and I clearly had different definitions of what precious was.
I grunted non-committally. After a minute of silence, I decided to take Karl into my confidence. I told him everything about my plans to leave. I even told him my hopes of Albert, Grace, and Alison maybe being able to stay with him. He listened to me attentively.
“So you want to pawn them off on me, huh?” he responded. He grinned. “Don’t worry. They’re welcome to stay. If your pal Al is infected though…”
“He’s not.” I said, without much conviction. Karl just nodded.
“It’ll be a shame to see you go. I think we could have made a pretty good team.” he said. He asked me what I needed to hit the road.
I told him a sturdy SUV would help. He promised that tomorrow he’d take me to the dealership and set me up with “the very best in four-wheel transportation.”
We got back to his apartment around 4:30 p.m. Alison’s eyes lit up when she saw me. I looked away, not wanting to deal with the feelings churning inside me. Grace hugged my waist and gave me a picture she drew for me.
Albert was bundled up on the couch watching a DVD. He sniffed and nodded at me.
Karl leaned close to me and said, “I won’t say anything, so you can just tell them when you’re ready.”
I nodded and went to my room. I have been thinking a lot about my father. I wonder if he’s still alive. I think I will make my way up toward Oregon. I grew up there and know the territory pretty well. It is just as well that I am leaving this group. I couldn’t ask them to follow me for my own selfish reasons.
DAY 55
Today a storm blew into the bay that was so fierce it rattled the windows.
We watched as rain flew almost horizontally into our building. Albert’s cold is just that. If he had been infected, he would have turned by now. Karl and I had agreed to lock him in his room for everyone’s safety. Albert slept so soundly that he never knew what we had done.
Grace watched movies all day on the DVD player. I sorted through the gear we brought back and prepared several bags of supplies to take with me when I leave. Alison tried to talk to me several times today. Finally, I relented and listened to her express her concerns about the future.
She asked me several times what I wanted to do. I avoided the subject. I guess I’m a coward. I should just come out and tell her I’m leaving, but I can’t bring myself to. I know that once I get a vehicle, I will probably load it up in secret and then escape like a thief in the night. I feel shitty about it, but I don’t owe her anything. I saved her life. That should be enough.
She asked if we should find another boat or travel by land. I told her she should do what she wanted and not rely on anyone else to decide her future. Her mouth dropped open and she stared at me. Alison walked away and left me alone. I sat for a long time and watched the rain splatter onto the courtyard below. I hate this world.
DAY 56
This morning while I was packing up a portion of our freeze-dried foods, Alison came into my room without knocking.
I was irritated by the intrusion but she seemed oblivious. There was urgency in her voice when she spoke to me.
“Look, I know we’re not talking, or whatever it is, but I need you to come out to the living room right now. I need your help.” she said.
I dropped what I was doing and followed her down the hall to the living room. As we passed Albert’s room, I could hear him snoring inside.
When we reached the living room, I saw Karl sitting on the couch with Grace. He had his arm on the back of the couch and was leaning in close to her. Grace looked scared. Karl was saying something to her quietly. He stopped when I entered the room. His eyes narrowed at Alison and then he looked at me.
“What’s up, Karl?” I said as neutrally as I could.
Karl sat up straight and leaned away from Grace. She scampered off the couch and ran to Alison. I watched Grace for a moment and then looked back to Karl.
Karl smiled sadly and shook his head.
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to scare her. I once had a girl just like little Gracie there.” he commented. His eyes narrowed and he balled his fists. “She was taken from me.” he said, harshly.
We all lingered in uncomfortable silence. Karl stood up and looked out the window.
“Weather’s cleared up. Why don’t you and I go out and find you a proper ride?” he asked me. “I’ll go warm up the Hummer.” he added.
He walked by Grace and tousled her hair. Alison stared at the floor, clearly uncomfortable. When he was gone, Alison told Grace to go take Chloe to her room to play quietly. I tried to get away but Alison stepped in front of me.
“Something’s wrong with him. We should get out of here.” she said.
“Look, you heard him. Grace probably reminds him of a daughter, or niece, or something. Besides, you had the same concerns about Albert, remember?” I countered.
Alison stared at me in disbelief.
As I walked downstairs to join Karl, I felt myself getting more and more irritated with Alison. I wanted to tell her to go do whatever she wanted, but didn’t want to get into an argument with her.
Karl was waiting for me in the Humvee. We drove out into the city in silence. We came to a building that looked more like a bank than a car dealership. The windows had been broken in and the building looted. Karl turned up Olive Street and stopped in front of a garage with a steel security gate. He got out and grabbed an enormous set of bolt cutters. He snapped the lock with ease and pushed the gate aside. I looked down the street and saw two of the Infected running toward us.
I got out of the vehicle with my carbine and took aim at the closest one. I fired one round and put the first creature out of its misery. The second one took two shots to the head to drop it. When I turned around, Karl had already pulled the Hummer into the garage. I followed him in and closed the gate.
We waited in silence for more undead monsters to show up. None did. Karl and I brought our weapons up and cleared the garage. There was nobody there. In the garage were three Land Rovers. Two of them were brand new and one was an older model. The new ones were in various stages of disassembly.
The older one (a light olive color) was parked in front of a workbench. On the workbench was a work order for a new speaker system. I opened the door and saw wiring everywhere. Aside from that, the Rover looked to be in good shape. The keys were on the driver’s floor mat. As I was hooking up the battery charger I looked up to see Karl.
“I suppose Alison told you what I said to her.” he began.
I shook my head and told him that she only told me to come into the living room.
Karl nodded, and then added, “I was pretty rough on her. She told me to stay away from little Gracie and I told her she should leave before someone got hurt.”
I nodded.
He continued, “I know it was wrong, but I just get riled up when people are rude to me. I mean, she don’t own that little girl, am I right? And I wouldn’t hurt little Gracie none.”
I focused on the indicator light on the charger, as if my staring at it would speed up the process.
“I owe Alison an apology, I know that. And I should let that sweet little girl know that I wasn’t trying to scare her.” Karl said. “You’re not saying nothing.” he added.
I looked up at Karl and said, “Karl, I’m not even going to be around in a couple days. These things are none of my business.” I hated myself as soon as I said it.
Karl nodded and walked away.
I put the keys in the ignition and cranked the engine over. It started up immediately. I was immensely relieved. I felt one step closer to freedom.
We decided to drive both vehicles down to the docks and pick up the rest of the supplies off the boat. I followed the Humvee as Karl led the way.
Karl ran down three undead on our way down Stockton Street. I avoided hitting two of Them. As we approached the wharf, my heart sank. We stopped in the middle of the street. The Sisyphus’s rear end and mast were all that was visible. She had sunk into the harbor. Karl’s voice came over the walkie-talkie on my dash.
“Sorry about that, partner.” he said, sympathetically.
I was about to respond when I caught movement in my rearview mirror. A white pick-up truck was pulling up behind me. To my left a Ford Bronco approached me from Beach Street.
“We’ve got company.” I said into the mic.
I threw down the walkie and snapped up my carbine as I exited the Land Rover. I brought my carbine on line with the Bronco. When it refused to stop, I fired a round into the center of its windshield. The bullet made a dull splat as it careened off the glass, leaving a spider-webbed crater where it hit.
The Bronco slammed on its brakes. I aimed at the pick-up. It stopped as well.
I heard Karl exit his vehicle and yell to me. “I got one on my right at 3 o’clock.” he exclaimed. “I’ve got two. One at 6 o’clock, and one at 9 o’clock.” I replied.
We were referring to the clock positions of our ambushers, with the ocean being at 12 o’clock. I was a little concerned that our noise might attract the undead, but in this situation, it could actually work to our benefit.
I heard Karl talking to someone behind me.
“Well, well. If it ain’t the Jesus freaks. What the hell do you want, Hinky?” he asked.
The other person replied, “That’s Hinckley, and you know it. We’re not looking for trouble, we’re trying to find our missing comrades.”
I spoke over my shoulder to Karl. “Karl, you tell that dickhead if his boys are still in my sights in thirty seconds I’m going unload everything I have on them. And that includes the grenades I have with me.”
I was bluffing, of course. But I didn’t like being ambushed.
Karl chuckled. “I do like that boy. You heard him Hinky. Tell them to back off.” he said.
I heard Hinckley mumble something into his radio. A moment later, the two vehicles on my side backed off and disappeared up the block. I turned to face Hinckley. I walked up on him, keeping my weapon trained on his chest.
Hinckley was a man in his early sixties, balding and stocky but respectable looking. I was expecting something else.
“These are the jokers who tried to steal your stuff.” Karl said to me. Hinckley gestured to my sinking boat and asked if it was mine.
“It was.” I responded.
He told me that they weren’t trying to steal and that they found the boat abandoned. He apologized and asked if I had seen his companions. Karl interjected and said we didn’t know what happened to them after we chased them off.
Hinckley considered this and looked at me.
“Jackson is a sinful man and probably lying to me. Is that what happened, son?” He asked me.
“I’m not your son.” I replied. I couldn’t bring myself to outright lie to him. “We shot them when they drew down on us.” I said simply.
Hinckley gasped at the news. He looked down, visibly shaken. “They wouldn’t do that.” he stammered.
“They did. I was there.” I countered. As I thought about it though, I realized that I hadn’t actually seen them draw weapons.
Hinckley looked me in the eyes, his own eyes misty. He nodded and looked back to the ground. He thanked me for my honesty. When he looked back at me, there was steel in his gaze.
“I don’t know which one of you shot them, but one of those boys was my son. If I ever see you again, it won’t be a peaceful encounter.” Hinckley said to me.
He got back in his truck and drove off. I glanced toward the wharf. Several undead were walking toward us. As soon as Karl and I started back toward our vehicles, the creatures sprinted after us. One of them slammed into the side of my Rover as we pulled away.