Dead Living (29 page)

“Charlie? You in there?”

He recognized a familiar female voice.
“Aaron!”

“No, Amanda! Don't move.” Charlie held Amanda
back and took a few steps toward the bars.

“Charlie, stay there. Are you okay? Is anyone
hurt?”

Charlie froze. “Aaron, is that you? We're all
okay.”

“Yeah, it's me. Listen, can you drive this
truck?”

“You're damn right I can.”

Aaron glanced around to make sure no corpses
were nearby. They were still chasing and feasting on the slavers,
but that particular food was quickly running out. Many undead
wandered about, looking for a meal.

He quickly undid the long chain that held the
gate closed.

“Okay, hop out of there. Amanda, Derek, I'm
gonna lock you back inside. You'll be safe in here.”

“I'll watch over Amanda,” Derek said.

Aaron escorted Charlie around the side of the
truck. There was one corpse in the way. Aaron tossed it to the
ground with barely any effort.

“How did you-”

“No time. It's safe a few streets over. Just
head there, I won't be too far behind.”

As Charlie jumped in the truck, Aaron heard a
gunshot and a shout of pain. He ran to the back and saw Gibbons
lying on the ground near the truck that used to keep the female
slaves.

He ran to Gibbons. Gibbons held up his hand,
motioning for Aaron to stop. Aaron glanced at the bars on the
truck, and immediately knew what happened.

The chain the slavers used
to lock the bars in place was being pulled
inside
the truck. Someone was
inside, holding the bars closed. Whoever it was shot Gibbons as he
ran by.

Aaron didn't slow down. He grabbed Gibbons'
feet before the gunman inside could react. Aaron dragged him away,
out of range. Charlie drove by, riding over anything in his way.
Aaron gave him a quick wave.

“He shot me in the shoulder,” Gibbons said.
“I'll be okay.”

“Did you see who it was?”

A voice shouted from the truck. “You double
crossing son of a bitch!”

It was Allister. He hid in the same truck
where his men raped Sherry and Dana. He was in there with their
bodies, they'd never cleaned them out.

“This day just keeps getting better,” Aaron
said. He saw one truck left. Slaves he'd never met stuck their
hands through the bars. “Can you drive that?”

Gibbons could barely move his right arm, but
that wouldn't stop him. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Stop by the gate on the way out.
You're gonna pick up a passenger.” Gibbons opened his mouth to
question, but Aaron shoved him by his good shoulder. “Get
going.”

Gibbons ran around the front to avoid getting
shot again. Aaron sprinted across the yard. Allister shot at him.
Aaron dove to the ground, taking a quick look behind him. He could
only see darkness inside Allister's truck. He moved with the
walkers until he made it to gate. He had to jump over two corpses
sharing a severed arm.

He circled around the fence, quietly calling
Sam's name. He heard branches rustling from above, then Sam dropped
to the ground just in front of him. Her bag of guns was still slung
over her shoulder. They gave each other a quick hug.

“Aaron, I couldn't see too good, but were you
running with the walkers?”

“No time to talk now.”

He grabbed her hand and they circled back
toward the gate. Gibbons had parked the truck near the fence. Two
corpses were beating on the driver's door, but he was safe. Sam
took careful aim and shot both of them in the head.

Gibbons opened the door and slid over so Sam
could sit behind the wheel. She held her hand out for Aaron, but he
shook his head.

“Go without me. I'll be right behind
you.”

Sam glanced behind them. Nearly everyone in
the slave camp was dead, and the corpses were heading their
way.

She flashed him an angry
glare. “Aaron, I came here for
you
. Now come on, we have to get out
of here.”

He smiled. Sam had her suspicions for a
while, but she knew then for certain he was keeping a secret.

“Trust me,” he said. “This won't take
long.”

She didn't move the truck forward until Aaron
turned and walked calmly back to camp, toward the walkers. Most of
the corpses were up and wandering now, with only a few feasting on
flesh. Some of the slavers who weren't completely devoured stood up
and joined the other corpses. Sam watched Aaron in the side mirror
as he stood near the camp gate, like he didn't have a care in the
world.

“He's a freak,” Gibbons said.

Sam glanced at the ex-slaver. “He's
definitely something.”

Aaron surveyed the camp as he heard Sam drive
away behind him. The trucks were gone, and the fighting had
stopped. No more gunshots or screams, just the song of the
undead.

He watched as the corpses turned and stumbled
in the direction of the last human in the camp.

Allister's truck.

Aaron took a step past the gate to join the
corpses, and his foot caught on something. He looked down to see
the rope the slavers used in his attempted murder earlier in the
day.

He laughed out loud.

*****

Allister had watched the massacre from the
safety of the prison truck. He gripped the chain attached to the
bars as hard as he could. His plan was to let the corpses get
distracted chasing everyone else, then sneak out and drive
away.

He checked the ammo in his clip, only four
rounds left. He had to fire more than he wanted to at the wandering
corpses that got too close to the bars. He also had to put a slug
in Gibbons, the back-stabbing bastard that helped the slaves
escape. Hopefully he was bleeding out somewhere.

Finally, the screams in the camp died down.
The walkers were slowly finishing their feasts. It was time to make
his move. He stepped over the dead body of one of the old female
slaves he shot earlier in the day and carefully peeked through the
bars. Some of the corpses were heading his way.

Before he could push the bars open, a voice
rang out over the walkers.

“Was that really your plan, Allister? Hide
like a coward until it was safe?”

He backed up into the shadows and gripped the
chain tighter. A walker made it to the bars. Allister shot it in
the head.

He looked out over the camp. The voice
sounded like it was coming from the crowd of walkers. That was
impossible.

“You don't even know my name, do you? It's
Aaron. Aaron Thompson.”

Allister thought it was odd, a young man with
a last name. People didn't care about last names anymore.

“You've destroyed everything,” Allister said,
looking at his ruined camp. Tents were on fire, throwing shadows
over the corpses as they slowly marched to him.

“Well, this is how it goes now. This is how
you survive in this world. Does that sound familiar?”

It didn't. Allister had done what he had to
do to survive over the years, and that involved a lot of killing.
Obviously he'd killed someone close to the young man, but he didn't
care.

He saw a silhouette standing upright near a
tent not too far away. Its posture didn't seem like a walker to
Allister.

He kept one hand on the chain while aiming
with the other. He fired a single time and watched the skull
explode. The body fell to the ground.

“Not quite,” Aaron called out. “Not even
close.”

“You little shit,” Allister whispered. “Look,
kid, let's make a deal. No one has to die here.”

“That's not true.
You
have to
die.”

Aaron's voice was eerily close.

A head leaned in near the side of the bars.
“Boo!”

Allister fired twice. The first shot only
caught part of the cheekbone. The second took off the top of the
head. He would have fired a third time, but the gun only
clicked.

He smiled when he saw the body fall to the
ground, but his joy didn't last long.

“Oh no. Gun's empty?”

Aaron dropped the corpse torso he'd held up
as a decoy.

Three of the walkers started pounding on the
bars. They weren't smart enough to pull, but Allister kept his grip
anyway. It only took a second for a few walkers to turn into many,
and they blocked his escape from the truck. The walkers pushed
around each other to get to the bars. He recognized a few men that
used to work for him and look up to him. Now they wanted to eat
him.

He saw someone making his way through the
bodies, slowly pushing them out of the way. The walkers made no
move to attack him or slow him down. Allister watched in disbelief
as Aaron made his way to the back of the truck and pulled himself
up on the back step.

“They smell terrible,” he said. “But it's
still nice having them on your side.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Allister asked.

Aaron smiled. “Do you want to see the
scariest thing?”

Allister watched as Aaron jumped into the
mass of corpses. He still had trouble accepting what he saw, a
human walking among the undead.

Aaron grabbed a corpse in the middle of the
group, one that used to be an auto mechanic. He handed the corpse a
rope, the most absurd thing Allister ever saw. Aaron tied the other
end securely around the bars.

“What are you doing?” Allister shouted.

He watched as Aaron gave the rope a few tugs.
He grabbed the auto mechanic walker by the hands and showed him how
to pull. Allister was horrified when he saw the mechanic imitate
Aaron's motion. But the bars barely moved, and Allister
laughed.

“Oh yeah, kid, I'm terrified.”

“You should be.”

The former auto mechanic pulled again.
Allister held the bars in place easily. Another walker grabbed the
rope, followed by another. He felt a lump in his throat as more
walkers joined in. Weak or not, the numbers were catching up to
Allister. The chain started to slip from his hands as the bars
cracked open a few inches. At least ten walkers were lined up on
the rope.

Aaron stood there watching with a smile on
his face. “They like to play tug-of-war too.”

Allister lost a few more inches of chain. A
corpse managed to climb halfway in the back, keeping the gate from
closing. “Listen, kid. Aaron, you said? We can work something
out.”

“It's a little late for that now. Isn't that
what you said earlier?”

Allister lost his grip. The bars flew open,
and walkers pulled themselves inside. He put up a fight, but only
for a few seconds. A walker bit into his arm, then his leg. He
screamed in agony as walkers tore into his flesh. He felt a hand
reach into his stomach and feel around for juicy tissue.

Before he died, he remembered murdering
Aaron's family.

*****

“He's not coming,” Charlie said.

Sam shot another walker as it shuffled toward
them from the end of the street. The slave trucks were scattered
around. Some were parked on the curb, others on old front lawns.
Gibbons checked everyone for injuries. Amanda held Derek's hand.
The slaves, even though they were free, still stayed close to the
people they were grouped with at the camp. They hugged each other
and enjoyed viewing the world without bars in the way.

“Is Aaron dead?” Amanda asked.

“No,” Sam said. “He'll be here any
minute.”

Charlie gestured for Derek to watch Amanda as
he grabbed Sam and pulled her aside. “Listen, I want Aaron to be
alive. He saved us all. But we have to get out of here.”

“You can go wherever you want. Drive all over
the world for all I care.”

Charlie looked at the heavy firepower Sam
had. “Maybe I'll stay a few more minutes.”

It didn't surprise Sam when a truck slowly
drove toward them. The slaves started cheering and shouting. Sam
had to motion to keep the noise down.

“Holy shit,” Gibbons said. He helped a slave
sit down on the road. “The man is unbelievable.”

Sam smiled as Aaron jerked the truck back and
forth trying to park it. They locked eyes as he climbed out. He had
a small beard and a head of hair. His face was beat up and swollen.
But he was alive.

She stepped forward and hugged him harder
than she meant to. He lost his breath for a moment before returning
the hug. She didn't want to let go.

“I told you I'd be right behind.”

She gave him another gentle squeeze. “Looks
like walkers have a tough time killing you.”

He picked up the hint. She knew he was hiding
something.

Aaron spent the next few minutes getting
swarmed by the slaves he helped set free. Charlie was the first to
greet him with gratitude and a strong handshake. Amanda held onto
his leg. Gibbons, and even Derek, gave him a smile and thanks. It
was nice to finally be able to put faces with the voices he'd heard
the past month.

There was an awkward silence as everyone
calmed down and stared at Aaron.

He leaned close to Sam. “Why is everyone
looking at me?”

Sam smiled and cupped a
hand to his ear. “Everyone
always
looks at you, Aaron. You better get used to
it.”

“Right.” He raised his voice. “Okay, guys. I
don't know how you want to work this, but we got plenty of
transportation here. Sam and I live at an old high school. That's
where we're heading. You're welcome to come back with us, or go
your own way.”

He was surprised at the reaction.

“We'd like to go with you.”

“Would you take us with you?”

“Just lead the way.”

The only person who had different plans was
Charlie. He stepped forward and put a hand on Aaron's shoulder.

“I won't be coming along.”

Aaron nodded. He understood completely. “Your
wife?”

“Yeah. She's out there, and I will find her.
Just like your girlfriend found you.”

“Charlie, she's not my-” He turned to face
Sam, embarrassed. “I never said that.”