Born In The Apocalypse (12 page)

Chapter 26

In the morning, I woke up, and the sun was decently high in the sky.  I felt much better, having slept for so long, and the sunlight was a welcome change from the gloom that had been over us for days.  I felt like today was going to be a good day, and I felt like that all the way until I looked out the window.

We were completely surrounded by Trippers, and there was enough to cover the distance between our house and Trey’s.

I looked down at the sea of infected humanity and summed it all up in one word.

“Crap.”

I had some serious concerns. There were enough of them to start climbing over each other and getting a leg up on our wall.  That would be bad enough.  Secondly, this many Trippers meant something seriously bad had happened up north, and this wave was more than just a random event.  One of the communities must have had an outbreak, and they couldn’t contain it.  We were going to have to be extremely careful and hope they pass on soon.

I was worried about the horse.  She was going to need to be fed and watered, and she was a long way away from the house.  I wish I had put her in her stall in the garage, but that couldn’t happen now.

Thinking about that horse gave me an idea.  It was dangerous, stupid, and crazy, but I liked it immensely.  If it worked, I wouldn’t have to clean up bodies, and we wouldn’t have to hide away much longer than a day.  If it didn’t work, I’d likely die a hideous death at the hands of the Trippers.

My mother would never go for it, so I’d have to work this one out on my own.  I started packing a backpack and made sure I had everything I would need.  I was going to have to leave the bow behind since there wasn’t any way to ride a horse and hold on to it at the same time.  Believe me, I’ve tried.

I slid the holster onto my belt and tried out the Colt.  The heavy six-gun pulled my belt down in the front and threatened to pull my pants down.  I tried walking with it, but it banged around my leg and hip, feeling extremely awkward.  I pulled the gun out and took the holster off.  Guess I was going to be taking my bow after all.  The Colt wasn’t going to be on my hip for a while, I guessed.

I went downstairs and saw my mom was already up. She smiled and asked me if I wanted any breakfast.

“No thanks.  Did you see the Trippers?” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Yes, Josh.  Thank you.  I’ll be careful down here,” Mom said. 

I tried to figure out what was going on.  My mother was never this calm around a sea of Trippers.  I had a bad feeling, but I couldn’t pin down what it was about.  As long as we were careful we were safe.  Considering what I was about to do, though, I had no room to talk.

“I’m going to be checking on the horse, Mom, so be careful,” I said, stepping towards the back door.

“I will.  You too,” she replied.  She was humming to herself, seemingly completely at ease, and completely freaking me out.

I slipped out the back door as quietly as I could.  This involved opening the door, crawling out, and closing it again.  I moved carefully around the house, staying to the shadows, and getting into the garage.  I needed my stuff from there, and I couldn’t get it through the house without my mom figuring out what I was going to do.

I gathered my bow and arrows and was about to leave when I noticed the locker was open.  I looked inside and saw my dad’s collection of guns.  He had three pistols, four rifles, and a shotgun.  I pulled out a .22 rifle and decided to leave my bow behind.  At the bottom of the locker was a stockpile of ammo, and I filled my coat pocket with .22 rounds.  I hadn’t fired the other guns, so I didn’t really know how to use them, and they would have been useless to me.

I led Judy out of the stall and walked her carefully towards the back gate.  It was going to be touch and go for a minute, but I think it could be done.  Our back gate locked automatically when it closed, so all I had to do was to close it after us once we got out.  I tied a string to the top and held the end as I got on top of Judy.  She was a good horse and tolerant of boys, so she didn’t try to bite me as I got on her bare back.  I stayed low and covered myself with one of her blankets.  I was trying to make myself part of the scenery, and as far as I knew, the Trippers never attacked animals.  For some reason, they never considered them as threats.

I reached out and pulled the gate open just enough to let Judy pass.  As we slipped out, I pulled on the string, closing the gate behind us.  The click of the latch was loud, and I could hear shuffling and grunting as the Trippers came to investigate.  I nearly screamed as several of them touched the horse, and their hands slid along the blanket that was covering me.  If any of them grabbed it and pulled it off, it was going to go very badly.

I nudged Judy forward, guiding her mostly by instinct, and letting her pick her own way.  She knew the terrain and the path we used to get over to the woods, so it wasn’t all that difficult.  She bumped Trippers out of the way, and under my blanket I could see some of them as they stumbled and fell away from her.

We kept moving, and I had to resist the urge to look back or try to see something.  I knew they were all around me, and I knew they were going to go nuts once I activated the other part of my plan, but I had no other way to get so many Trippers away from the house.  I couldn’t just try and kill them all, and I wasn’t tall enough to do what my dad had done, so this was the next best plan.

Judy’s pace picked up as she crossed the old road and stepped into the ditch on the other side.  I dared to look up a bit and guide her along.  I nearly fell off as we climbed the steep side of the dam, and only by grabbing a double handful of mane did I stay where I was.

Once we reached the top, I was sure it was safe to take the blanket off.  I flipped it off and took a look around.  From my vantage point, I could see hundreds of Trippers surrounding our house and the houses around ours.  There were many over by Trey’s, and I could also see several dead ones, so I knew Trey’s dad had been busy.

I also saw some activity by my house.  The back door opened, and my mother walked out.  She was wearing just a tee-shirt and jeans, which was unusual since the weather was turning cold.  She looked up at me, and I actually raised a hand to her.  She raised one back, and then walked to the back gate.  I had another really bad feeling, and I started to turn Judy when my feeling came true.

My mom opened the gate, stepped through, and closed it behind her.  It took about three seconds for the Trippers to notice her, and I could do nothing to save her.

Chapter 27

The first one to reach her jumped on her, bringing her to the ground.  After that I couldn’t see anything but bloody fists rising and falling.  I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t yell.  All I could do was watch my mother walk out to be beaten to death.

Finally, after a minute, the Trippers stood up and milled about again.  There was a broken shape on the ground completely covered in red.

My voice returned in a few seconds, and Judy nearly reared in surprise as my yell echoed out across the trees and small valley.

“
Noooooo
!” I screamed in anger and fear and frustration.  I didn’t know what to do, but I was nothing but raw emotion.  I couldn’t think; all I could do was grip Judy’s mane until my knuckles were white.

If I had thought the Trippers were just going to be satisfied with helping my mother with her suicide, I was seriously mistaken.  My outburst caused a couple of hundred infected heads to turn my way, and when they saw me sitting on my horse on top of a hill, they let out a collective yell and hurried my way.

For my part, I was ready.  I brought Judy over to a small bus which was located next to a fallen log.  I picketed her and let her munch on the bush while I ran over to the edge of the hill and set up a spot to shoot Trippers.  I stuck a forked stick in the ground, making a rest for the rifle.  I figured to get as many as I could before they gained the top.  I knew the steep hill would slow them down, although if they decided to go up the road a bit I was in for a long day.

The first Trippers made the hill in good time, and they were about halfway up before I was fully ready.  I loaded the tube of the rifle and placed the gun on the rest. My first target was a female, about fifteen years old with deep red splotches on her face and bite marks on her shoulder.  Her hands dripped blood, and I knew she was one of the ones who had killed my mother.  I lined up the sights on her eyes and pulled the trigger.  The high velocity round caught her in the left eye and killed her instantly, dropping her onto the hill and tumbling her down a few paces.  Her body caught up the legs of other Trippers, slowing them down as they tried to climb the hill and over her body.

I fired until the gun clicked on empty, and I reloaded as quickly as I could.  The bodies I had piled up were causing a delay on the rest of the monsters climbing the hill which bought me the time I needed.  I slipped the tube spring back into place and charged the rifle, placing it back on the rest for my next round of firing. 

I reloaded that rifle six times, and killed a Tripper with nearly every shot.  If my math was right, I had accounted for about eighty of the bastards.  Not a bad reckoning for my mother. 

As I was bringing the rifle up for the seventh time, I saw the Trippers were moving towards the west, getting around the firing line.  That was my signal to go.  They were going to flank me soon, and that would be all for me.

I whistled for Judy, and the good girl lifted her head and whinnied, pawing at the ground.  I ran like the wind and skidded to a stop next to the animal.  The log I tied her next to was still in the right spot, and I used it to quickly get on her back.  I leaned far forward and yanked her picket rope out of the ground, gathering up the reins.  I kicked her in the sides and whispered loudly, “Go, girl!  Go!”

God bless her, Judy took off.  She raced down the back of the earthen dam, and I had a time staying on her back.  I wasn’t the best rider, and the terrain wasn’t level or even.  But she stayed true and allowed me to pull her to a stop to see if we were being followed. We were standing next to a small creek that ran through the back prairie of the dam.  There was a line of trees that grew along a small stream that led to the creek and tall grass that covered the area between the dam and the road out back.  It was the same road Trey and I had taken to get to that one school that had given us so much trouble.

The Trippers were milling about the top of the dam, and finally one of them saw me out on the prairie.  They howled and gave chase, falling on their faces in their rush to get out at me.  About fifty of them were coming over the top of the dam, and nearly every one fell down as they rushed forward.  I felt a pang in my chest as I thought about my mother, and tears filled my eyes as I watched the sick bastards stumble forward.  It was too far away to line up a shot, so I started walking Judy away from the tangled mess of human disease.  I rode her over to the road, and when there was enough distance between myself and the pursuing Trippers, I dismounted and removed her bridle and bit.

I rubbed her neck, and she brought her nose down to bump me in the chest.

I held her head tightly for a second before I looked into her big brown eyes.

“You have to run now, Judy.  You have to go.  I can’t keep you with me.  Go to the forest.  Go south.  You’re free.”  I was talking to an animal that didn’t understand me at all. “Go!” I shouted, and slapped her on the hindquarters as hard as I could.

That seemed to work.  She bolted and ran down the road, then stepped into the woods on the south side.  I figured she would be okay.  I had no idea what to do with her, and I wasn’t sure I could keep her with me.  It was better she was off on her own.  I figured she’d eventually wind up on someone’s farm, which was fine.

I couldn’t waste time worrying about it, though; the Trippers were still coming to get me. 

Chapter 28

I ran to the gate of the subdivision on the other side of the road.  All of the houses here had been abandoned a long time ago, and anything of value or use had been taken.  The only real redeeming feature of this collection of houses was the solid fence that ran along the northern border.  That was going to be what saved me.  It was nine feet tall and a foot and a half wide at the top and made out of brick and mortar.  It would have made a great barrier to the waves of Trippers, but the problem was it was only on two sides of the community.  That fact made it useless against waves.  But for now, it was going to be just what I needed.

I ran to the iron gate and climbed up onto the top of the fence.  Once there, I waited until the Trippers were coming over the road before I did anything about it.  I was seated on a decorative light, probably eleven or twelve feet above the ground.  Just high enough to be out of reach of the tallest Tripper.

I loaded my rifle and made sure I had my ammo within easy reach.  I thought I had enough to deal with the last of this crowd, but it might be close. 

The infected horde came loping over, and when they hit the wall beneath me they raised their heads in fury at the interloper in their territory.  I used their eyes as targets and punched holes in their heads.  Fifteen dropped to my rifle in thirty seconds, and the noise infuriated the rest.  They pushed forward, punching each other and elbowing one another out of the way.  I didn’t feel anything as I pulled the trigger; I was just getting rid of the trash of my world.

After a couple of minutes, and about thirty Trippers later, I noticed they were getting higher.  I realized they were standing on their fallen comrades, but their footing was unsteady.  Several times I missed due to a diseased person slipping and dodging the bullet at the right time.

Ten minutes later I was alone on the prairie.  The ground in front of me was a small pyramid of corpses.  I had no way of lighting them up, so they were going to have to have an open grave.

I dug into my pocket to get some more bullets to reload the rifle with, and I came out with three rounds.  That was it.  I had only three rounds left to see me back to my house.  Oh, hell. I actually shook a bit as I realized what that actually meant.

I slipped off the fence and ran as fast as I could down the road.  I needed to get into familiar territory if I wanted to have a chance of surviving.  Even though I had killed a lot of Trippers, there was no way of knowing if they all were gone or if some were waiting behind.  Trippers did that sometimes; they were very unpredictable.

I slid into the woods on the north side of Laraway Road, and I was much more at home here.  I knew this small section of timber as well as I knew my backyard.  I knew the trails and the hiding places and hoped both would see me home.

Home.  I thought about my mother, and the tears started again.  I don’t know what made me feel worse.  The thought that my mother was dead or the thought that I was truly alone now.  I had no family anywhere.  I stopped moving through the brush as the feeling overwhelmed me, and I sat down next to a big tree to try and settle the empty feeling in my gut.

I must have nodded off, because when I looked up again the sun had nearly set.  The Trippers would be very active in this area, and the chances of me getting home were very slim.  I had led dozens into this area, and even though I had killed a bunch, there were likely a lot roaming around here that I didn’t get.  Right about now I felt stupid for leaving the house.  I felt guilty when I thought that, because I wondered if my mother would have stayed in the yard had I stayed home to stop her.

I couldn’t stay here; the nights were getting very cold as winter began pushing fall out of the way.  I had to try to get home.  Hopefully in the dark I could make it.  I moved quietly away from the tree and moved slowly north.  I could see but just barely.  Dusk was here, and the light sky against the dark ground made it hard to see details.

My hearing was fine, though, and I distinctly heard something moving behind me.  I looked back but couldn’t see anything.  I tried to move faster, but it was hard when I was trying to be silent, too.

I passed my regular game trails and traps and made my way to the trail that took me to the top of the dam.  I didn’t want to try and cross the mess of dead bodies on the hill, so I had to go west a bit and get out that way.  That meant going deeper into the woods and giving whatever was following me a better chance at catching up.

“Damn.” That was all I had to say about that.  I moved down the trail, and there was a crashing sound behind me as something big pushed through the underbrush.  Twigs and branches snapped loudly in the gloom, and I whipped out my knife to face whatever was behind me.  But the noises stopped, and I decided to use the silence to run like hell.

I ran quickly, cursing as branches smacked me in the face and legs.  One big one actually tripped me up a bit, but I kept moving.  Behind me, I could hear whatever it was moving with me and getting closer.  By the sound of it, there may have been two of them.

I reached what I thought was the turn to get out of the woods, but I found myself blocked by one of the huge sticker bushes that lined the road.  There was no way I was getting through that.  If this thing was here, then I overshot the opening.

I whispered to myself out of frustration.  “Dammit!  Idiot!”  I shut up as the steps following me came closer.  I tried to calm myself, but my heart was racing and the blood was roaring in my ears.  I held my knife the way my dad had taught me, but that was the only thing I could remember from his training.  I sunk back into the bush as well as I could, and I could feel the stickers grabbing at my clothes.  I’d be a mess if I had to get out of here in a hurry.  My only hope was to try and become part of the scenery and hope whatever it was following me would pass me by.

Long minutes of waiting were rewarded by the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer.  The Tripper, which is what I knew it had to be, stepped forward carefully, putting one step slowly in front of the other.  I had never seen a Tripper stalking anyone, but then, why not? It knew I was here somewhere.

In the darkness, I could see a huge shape emerge from the woods.  I almost screamed when I saw how bit it was.  It had to be over six feet tall, closer to seven.  It moved slowly, checking the ground and coming closer and closer.  I held the knife and waited for the right moment to strike.  I was only going to get one chance.

It came closer and closer, heading right for me.  I wondered then if the rumors were true that the Trippers could actually see better in the dark than they could during the day.  If that was true, then there wasn’t any point in hiding anymore.

Suddenly it was on top of me.  Something pushed me in the chest, and I fell deeper into the bush.  My arm got tangled, and my knife was useless.  I closed my eyes and waited for the beating to begin.

Something velvety pushed itself onto my face, and a large exhaling of breath in my face made me laugh out loud.  My attacker retreated slightly at the noise, then came back to push me again.

I reached out with my free arm and ran a grateful hand up and down the long face of my dad’s faithful horse.

“Judy, you scared the living shit out of me,”  I said.