Colony Z: The Complete Collection (Vols. 1-4) (10 page)

It was, of course, Eric who eventually got the group back on their feet and heading toward the highway again. Once they reached the highway, they began the journey east. Not five hours into the hike, they came upon a large town – must have been Portland. All agreed to rest there for the night and continue in the morning.

Though no one would voice it, none of them wanted to share a room with Owen and his family. They did not want to wake up to a demonic, infected toddler. Then again, they supposed, neither did Owen, Michael, or Hannah. Nonetheless, Owen’s family got their own special suite.

None of them slept well that night, to say the least.

Judith Marie did not wake.

The next morning, the Albion Tribe packed up their things and continued on. Phillip was beginning to make a name for himself, as he was constantly badgering Eric to turn back.

“Something terrible lies ahead,” He would say in a quaking voice. “Something terrible, terrible, terrible.”

The man had finally lost his marbles. And his Willa. And that made all the difference in his world. Without her, his sanity was vanishing. It was at this point in time that he really began to earn what would soon become his de-facto nickname – Crazy Phillip.

“Phillip, I can’t have this right now. Go to the back of the line.”

Phillip, mostly against his own will, left Eric and ventured to the back, where he continued to preach about terrible things that were still to come. Though he was ignored, it didn’t help any of them to feel any better.

Days passed. No cars of use were found. Nothing particularly helpful arrived. Sleeping Beauty did not wake. Owen began to believe she was dead. He would check every few minutes, just to be sure. But it was like checking on a ghost. She was breathing, but she slept on and on, as though nothing in the world would ever wake her.

If she was hungry, she would wake, right? Hannah worried about this every hour. Much as they tried to wake her, she would not. But if she needed to eat, she would, wouldn’t she? Or would she simply waste away in front of them in God’s torturous way of paying them back for their bickering?

For Michael, his mind remained fixed on the little girl he had so briefly met. What was it she called herself? Isabel? Ingrid?

No, no. It was Eva. Her name had been Eva. And she had been beautiful.

He clung to this memory as the hours passed slow, slower, and even more slowly still. But it was no use. Young as he was, the thought of the girl eventually slipped away. She was always there, but he did not see her again. Not for fifteen long years of believing he was doomed to be alone.

So Michael continued to walk with Eric at the front of the line, avoiding his suffering parents at all costs. He didn’t know what was going wrong with his sister, but most of him felt like it was his fault because he got lost and everyone had to go find him. He didn’t like to think about that. It made him feel scared. And guilty. What if he lost his parents again?

Maybe this time, they wouldn’t come looking for him after all.

Clinging to Eric seemed to be the only way to feel safe again. He knew Eric wouldn’t leave him. But Daddy was always blank-faced, and Mommy was always crying. It wasn’t fun to be back there. It was more fun to be up here.

Also, he liked the way the sand felt between his toes once they finally reached the rocky beaches of the ocean. He ran ahead to the water, wanting to dive in to the icy cold, but Eric caught him and held him fast.

“Don’t you go swimming in that water, Michael,” He said sternly. “You’ll catch your death. Where are your parents?”

Michael shrugged his shoulders, because, how was he supposed to know? He had been with Eric all afternoon.

But Eric seemed to find what he was looking for. He told everyone that they were to make camp here for the night, and to get themselves comfortable. Some tried to argue with him. They asked him, do you remember what happened the last time we stayed out at night? But he just shook his head and told them, we don’t have any choice now, guys.

It was all very confusing to Michael.

Eric crossed to the end of the line as everyone began to get comfortable in the sand, which made a nice bed, under the circumstances. He pulled Owen aside, his child wrapped in his arms.

“Owen, we’re here, right? You wanted an island. We’re as close to the ocean as we can get. Now, we need to find one.”

“How do you intend to find an island now?”

“You’re the one who came up with the idea. Didn’t you think this far ahead?”

Owen was quiet for a moment. Then: “We need boats. Someone needs to travel to a neighboring town and get us some canoes or kayaks, so we can find an island worth inhabiting.”

“It’s a two day hike back to the nearest town, Owen. We can’t send out our men alone like that. Why didn’t we grab some when we were in town before?”

“…I wasn’t exactly considering the island just then, Eric,” Owen sighed. “Listen, I want this island more than anything. But I’m too worried about Judith Marie to think straight. She still hasn’t woken up…Regardless, the fact of the matter is, we’re going to need boats to find an island.”

“…Maybe there are some boathouses nearby. Someone had to live near this beach. These were booming fishing ports at one point.”

“Now you’re thinking. Let’s try and send a team out for that.”

“Who do you suppose we send?”

“I think I’m in my right mind enough to at least watch the people here. You should go; you know best what we’re looking for. Take Aaron and James, they’ll move quickly. Phillip might be willing to go as well. If not him, try Robert, Nathan, and Carlos. Their wives will miss them, but I know you’ll bring them back safely, right?”

“Sure I will.”

Phillip, of course, refused to go. Claiming that ‘terrors’ awaited those who traveled. But, soon, Eric had a mighty crew put together of the five youngest, most well-prepared men. Robert, Nathan, Carlos, Aaron, and James. The small clan would be sure to find the tools necessary to get across the ocean.

“When we get back,” Eric told Owen. “I’m going to take these five with me to search for a spot of land that isn’t infected. They’re a motley crew. They seem to get along well.”

“I’ll stay here and watch after the rest…Eric, when I’m out of this rut…”

“You’re the leader of the Albion Tribe, Owen. It’s going to stay that way.”

“Thank you, Eric.”

Eric turned to leave, but seemed to think better of something and turned back.

“Owen?”

“Yes, Eric.”

“If she wakes up while we’re gone, no one will be around to protect you. That is, if she wakes up…the way we don’t want. I’m counting on you to do what’s right. Not what’s easy. Don’t let these people get hurt….they’re good people. Do you understand?”

Owen nodded slowly. Eric turned, gathered the five men together, and disappeared into the woods beyond.

And that was how the first group of Warriors was formed – in a search for a boat that could lead them to safety.

Judith Marie chose the one moment when her parents weren’t watching her to wake up.

Michael had decided it would be fun to try to go swimming. And without Eric there, there was no one other than his own parents to tell him it wasn’t a good idea. Therefore, when Michael realized he didn’t know anything about swimming and couldn’t get his footing, it was Owen who had to run in the water to rescue him and Hannah who stood by the waterside screaming.

Needless to say, no one was too happy with Michael after that.

When Owen reached shore with his crying son in his arms, he heard another cry mingling along with it.

Judith Marie was awake.

Owen shoved his son into his wife’s arms and ran to the bundle he had left lying on a blanket when he ran to Michael’s aid.

Judith Marie was sitting up on the blanket, sobbing.

“…what’s wrong, sweetie?” Owen said, bending down to her level. “Are you alright? Are you hurt? Does your arm sting?” By this point, Owen was shaking her shoulders without even realizing it, so desperate were his words.

“Daddy
stop it,” She cried out. “Daddy, stop it!”

Hannah pushed her husband out of the way and snatched her daughter up into her arms, glaring at Owen along the way. She hugged Judith Marie close to her chest.

“It’s okay, baby,” She whispered. “You’re okay now.”

Hannah, who didn’t think twice about how innocent her daughter was acting, believed Judith Marie to be cured. She believed that she was immune, like her father, and had spent all her time sleeping to fight away the virus.

But Owen saw the face his daughter made behind her mother’s back.

It was a complete transformation. She went from a sobbing child to a laughing nightmare. Her face contorted into a grin akin to the dead they were always running from and she opened her mouth. Her mother thought it was a gasp, but the sharp teeth his daughter had acquired looked prepared to bite and tear at Hannah’s flesh.

“NO!”

Owen screamed and tackled his wife to the ground. In the chaos, he snatched Judith Marie out of her arms. It was a struggle, and Hannah cried out in pain and anger, but Owen would not lose more than one of his family today.

Judith Marie, caught, bared her teeth and attempted to now attack her father with a strength she had never shown before. Her true form became incredibly apparent in the moments that followed. Her skin was beginning to peel back and blacken, her lips were cracked, her face pale and gaunt. She was decaying, like the rest.

She was one of them.

Owens’s worst nightmare had come true. And now he would be forced to make a decision that he had never wanted to be faced with. Eric had told him to keep the other’s safe, and he was doing his best in that moment to do exactly that. But the girl fought him every moment, and he needed to act fast.

Owen, instead of doing what he knew he must in front of the others, carried his wailing daughter off into the woods. But the damage was done. Hannah had seen Judith Marie from her place on the ground. Her face. Her blood-hungry face. She broke down into sobs on the ground. The other women could not calm her for anything.

The woods closed in around them. Owen held Judith Marie tightly to his chest, her face so close to him that she could not open her jaw to bite down. It wasn’t until they were almost half a mile into the woods that Owen finally gave her a strong push and let her fall to the ground, far away from him.

It was now, as she writhed about on the forest floor, that Owen realized he had no ammunition in his gun. He had only his knife. To kill a child with a gun, one simple shot, well…that was one thing. But to be close enough to stab…there was nothing fast and neat about that.

Why not let her go? Let her go and let her be raised by zombies and hope that maybe, one day, the virus would wear off and she would come back to them. Why not? Why should he kill her?

Because she’d come back. And he knew that she would. She would follow him back to camp and ambush the others. And maybe not by herself. Maybe with others.

To hope that the virus would wear off was ridiculous. He had said it himself just a few days earlier. The virus would not wear off for many, many years. And throughout those years, all his beautiful daughter would know was pain and violence. She would not be the same child coming back, if she ever came back. She was suffering. She was miserable.

He could not allow her to feel this way.

But to kill her? To murder his own flesh and blood? How would he ever look into his wife’s eyes again? His son’s eyes? How would he be able to lead the colony knowing that he had stood here, in this moment, and killed a three-year-old girl.

The thought seemed ridiculous. And yet, he knew he had no choice but to do it.

“Daddy.”

Judith Marie was sobbing on the ground, looking up at him in pain.

“Daddy, I don’t feel so good.”

She hadn’t completely changed yet. There was still the ability to speak within her. She still had the ability to understand…

She still had the ability to fight it.

“Judith, listen to Daddy. You’re going through some changes, do you understand me?”             

“…yes, Daddy…”

“You have to fight them, sweetheart. You have be strong and stay with me…”

“…Daddy…Dad…Da…”

“Judith Marie, listen to me…”

“D…” But the ‘Daddy’ was never finished. It turned into a long, constant groan, and then raised into a horrifying battle cry.

His daughter was gone now. And she was never coming back. Owen had to do it now. He had to take the knife and kill his daughter.

She flew at him with shocking speed and accuracy. She reached for him, opened her mouth, trying to tear him apart. She was hungry now. She hadn’t eaten for days and it was finally catching up with her. She needed food, and she would do anything to have it.

Owen thought very hard about his wife back at the campsite, and his three-year-old son waiting for him. The group needed him. He could not surrender himself to this nightmare. He had to fight back. Judith Marie was gone now, for better or for worse.

He pulled the knife out of its sheath and waited for her to touch him. When her tiny, outstretched hand did, he snatched it and used it as a tool to toss her across the clearing. It took almost no effort. She landed on the ground, completely unharmed.

But she was ready to run at him again.

He met her in the middle and pushed her to the ground once more. Closing his eyes and begging God for forgiveness, he let the knife fall and pierce the struggling child’s heart. Her wide, round eyes looked surprised and stared at him for several moments.

Then they closed, and she fought no more.

Judith Marie was dead.