“
Jesu
s
…
”
Aidan groaned, genuine shock on his face.
I’
m not sure if he was playing to the crowd, or if he really got that Gordon was a monster. Either way, Jarvis did
n’
t respond. He looked over at Kyle while finishing off the last of his mini-bottle. Dropping his shoulders and taking a deep breath in, he looked down at the smoldering metal
.“I’
m ready for that now. Le
t’
s make it quick
.
”
Jarvis put up a hell of a fight for an old man. He arched his back and nearly threw Aidan over the edge when Kyle first pressed the heated metal against the front and back of his leg to cauterize the wounds.
Holding a bandage over his melted skin, and just before he passed out, Jarvis looked up at Aidan and whispered
,“
Gordon has caused nothing but pain in this world, young man. Yo
u’
d be better off to remember that
.
”
Aidan took a step back and stared out at the fire raging below. Kicking his new Nike Pegasus shoes into the ground, while twisting a stick that h
e’
d been holding, I could tell that at the very least, Jarvis had got him thinking.
Chapter 22
Kyle reached over and tapped my shoulder, pulling me from the uncomfortable half-sleep I was in. It was my turn to be on watch, and I grunted as I pulled myself upright in one of the busted airline chairs. We had moved ourselves into the cabin of the plane, deciding it would be the most defendable position should we come under some sort of attack.
Lifting my cell phone, only to find it still dead, I glanced over at Kyle.
Looking at his wristwatch, he said
,“
W
e’
ve still got eleven hours. W
e’
ll get back in time. We just need to sort through how. Hell, w
e’
ve made it further in less time
.
”
“
How long till dawn
?
”
“
Maybe three hours
.
”
“
We need to find a radio or a working car
,”
I said grimly.
“
We will. There is something out there. The light will reveal it
,”
he responded before patting me on the back and lying down to get some rest.
After taking a deep breath in, I shook my head and walked away from the group to relieve myself. After watching a rainbow of piss flow over the side of the ravine, I decided to take a seat at the small campfire which had long since burnt out. Looking out at the scenery before me, I could see that the forest fire continue to burn bright, albeit now further in the distance. Luckily, it was burning away from us.
Dawn was close, but I could still see the moon trying to peek through the clouds and smoke on the far side of the horizon. Thinking back through the nightmare w
e’
d survived below, I could
n’
t help but wonder what the landscape would look like in the daylight.
Once Kyle fell asleep, I realized just how quiet it was out there. We were alone, or at least, I thought we were, in the largest forest
I’
d ever stepped foot into. The worst part about it was that we were completely out of ammunition, leaving us with nothing but blunt force objects to defend ourselves if something should force us to have to fight.
Tapping the wrought iron fence post against one of the chairs, I listened to the rhythmic moans from the creatures below. By my judgment, they were starting to diminish, letting me know that the center of the horde had likely passed by us at some point in the night. With the realization that the horde was now in front of us, I could
n’
t help but shake the strange feeling that I could still hear the creatures in the distance behind us.
Not sure if I was losing my mind or not, I listened intently, unable to determine how far away the noise was, or how many of the creatures were making it. However, I was sure of one thing. It was
n’
t moving toward u
s…
well, pretty sure anyway.
Still, it created a stereo sort of effect, reminding me that, regardless of our little temporary safety, we were completely surrounded and we were going to have a hell of a time trying to figure out how to get home.
After a while, my mind finally drifted away from the monsters and toward Tyler and the first months of taking care of him. It had been an adjustment for sure, but I always found solace in the little thing
s…
like when he would burp over my shoulder, or giggle at me making silly faces. I smiled at the memory of the first time h
e’
d opened his eyes and really looked at me, his father. I had all but thrown in the towel after Jenn had died. Tyler gave me a reason to keep on fighting. It was that look of pure innocence and trust that helped me to turn the corner.
I knew I could
n’
t let him down.
Tapping the metal rod against the ground now, I suddenly found myself stewing at the fact that I was so far away from him because of Gordon. If we managed to survive this, I knew w
e’
d have to make sure that Gordon would never be a threat to anybody ever again.
As the moon traded places with the sun, I inadvertently found myself sitting at full attention looking out at the aftermath below. Between the fire and the mega-horde, there was nothing left but ash. I could literally see the path that the creatures had carved through the dense forest, leading right up to where the fire had opened up and burnt everything away. In the distance, I could still see the tail end of the flood of monsters pushing through another section of forest. At some point in the night, the fire had shifted to the right, while the Zs continued forward. It created what I could only imagine looked like a giant fork in the road from above.
Squinting, I could see the ground below moving ever so slightly. The realization that it was Zs that had been mangled under the weight of the horde, likely because they were too slow or too small to stand up against its sheer force, reminded that in the end the zombies were no different from us. In this world, and even in the one before the dead began to rise, humans would run right over each other. Whether it was for something as seemingly significant as a promotion at work, or something as obviously fucking stupid as being the first in line on Black Friday to get the best deal on that big screen TV, the masses were bred to push past the slow and trample the weak.
“
You hear that
?”
Nearly jumping out of my skin, I responded
,“
Jesus, man, what are you, a fucking ninja
?
”
Color had returned to Jarvi
s’
s face and despite a nice limp as he stepped closer, he was looking a hell of a lot better than he had the night before.
With a warm smile, he apologized and repeated the question.
“
I can certainly still hear that horde out there, if tha
t’
s what yo
u’
re talking about
,”
while shifting my eyes out toward the monsters pushing through the trees in the distance.
“
No, not them
,”
he replied, pointing out beyond the rear of the airliner.
“
Yah, I hear them too
,”
I said, letting my shoulders drop
.“I’
ve been listening to them all night. They do
n’
t seem to be moving toward us
.
”
“
Tha
t’
s the point. The
y’
re not moving
.
”
Thinking about that for a second, I realized he was right. Wherever the other group of zombies was, they appeared to be staying in the same spot.
Jarvis gazed out beyond the crashed airplane, which looked even worse in the morning light
.“
Ever known a group of Zs just to huddle up and hang out without something to keep them focused
?
”
Raising my head a bit, and following his gaze, I replied
,“
No, I guess I have
n’
t
.
”
Rubbing his leg, and then standing back up straight, Jarvis looked me dead in the eyes
.“
My best guess on how to get out of here is to follow the moans
.
”
Follow the moans. The statement buzzed like a broken alarm clock in the back of my head. I had never willingly followed the cries of the dead. Normally, I knew bette
r…
we all did. Desperation seemed to shine a new light on what we were willing to do. How far we were willing to push ourselves to survive?
When Kyle and Aidan joined us, we discussed Jarvi
s’
s plan, and decided it was our best course of action. No matter what, the plane radio was not going help, and we decided that the helicopter that Aidan and the rest of Gordo
n’
s men had flown in on was toas
t…
literally. Besides, even if anything like the radio in it was still salvageable, the idea of trying to walk through the landscape below seemed insurmountable, especially with all the broken-down creatures ready to grab out at us if we tried to trek around down there.
Throwing down some more peanuts and a few bottles of water that w
e’
d managed to dig up in the wreckage, we surveyed what we had left in terms of protection. With the guns out of commission, we were
n’
t left with much. Kyle grabbed his fence post, which had gotten him that far. Jarvis rummaged through the wreckage before cracking a faint smile as he picked up the long chunk of metal used to burn his leg. Coincidentally, it had burned into a nice jagged point. Aidan yanked a two-foot metal piece off of one of the chairs and wrapped part of the seat belt around the end of it, making it look like a sword of sorts.
Of course, I had my hammer, which I was plenty happy to be carrying.
Taking one last look at the chairs circling the campfire, as well as the busted plane, I could
n’
t help but think that we were damn lucky to have found the place. Perhaps only the kind of luck that would happen in a bad book or stupid movie to continue the plot forwar
d…
but lucky all the same.
Getting down to business, the four of us ventured toward the forest in what Kyle called
a“
four man spread
.”
He explained that it allowed us to cover more area, while at the same time keeping us from being a line of sitting ducks for anybody or anything that may want to take a crack at us.
Moving past the debris left behind from the plane crash, we continued back into a thick forest, each of us trying like mad to minimize any noise as we moved through the leaves and branches.
Knowing I was no more graceful than a contestant from that old TV show The Biggest Loser trying to perform in a ballet, I could literally feel Kyl
e’
s eyes drilling into me to keep it down. Suddenly, he completely stopped in his tracks. Knowing something was wrong, the rest of us froze.
Kyle was the first to hear it in the distance, but almost immediately, the echoing sound of a helicopter flew above us, shaking the forest canopy violently. It flew right over our position, seeming to head back toward where we had just come from.
“
Gordon just wo
n’
t let up
,”
I whispered.
Jarvis lowered his head and met my eyes
.“
He never does
.
”
Aidan kept his eyes glued on the canopy, seeming to be in deep thought. He was
n’
t alone.
As we continued along, I couldn't help but wonder where the sounds were coming from. I saw no civilization or obvious place that would be attracting the creatures. Maybe there was a small cabin or farm out here. Perhaps someone was hunkered down in some sort of small bunker like yo
u’
d see in the movies or those end-of-the-world apocalypse preparation TV shows. The types of underground one-room living spaces that were cramped with nothing more than food, beds, and people.
Funny thing about those bunkers. I once read that they found a number of them filled with bodies sometime after World War II. More often than not, blunt force trauma was the leading cause of death versus starvation or disease. Looking back at it, I always thought those bunkers were nuts. Forcing a person to stay buried for months or even years cramped into a small one-room spot with a number of people seemed maddening. To me, the bunker idea always seemed like living in prison, only yo
u’
re stuck in the cell with your family or friends.
Some people ca
n’
t sit around the dinner table for an hour without some sort of fight breaking out. Stick them in an underground dungeon with nothing to do but slowly go insane, and i
t’
s only a matter of time before someone picks up the nearest can of peaches and starts trying to kill everybody.
Nearly fifteen minutes into the hike, the cries from the creatures started getting loud enough to put us all on edge. Coming over a dark hill, hidden from the sunlight by the towering trees, all four of us dropped to our hands and knees, and pulled ourselves to its crest.
Kyle, slightly ahead of our little group, put his hand up and waved it down, signaling to us to be silent. Slowing crawling up to him, I squeezed the wooden handle of my hammer as I peered through the dimly lit brush. I knew what we were looking for, but it didn't stop my heart from falling into my stomach at the sight of the thirty or forty creatures circling the base of a giant tree, reaching up into the sky above them. Each of the monsters was crawling over one another with their arms reaching toward its branches.