“If they’re boxing us in, then it means they’re at least semi-intelligent,” Carl said. “That’s a bad thing.”
“It’s a hunting strategy. Animals do it. Useful but primitive,” Tina said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean those things are rocket scientists.”
“So what do we do?”
Taylor wanted to ask why the decision-making responsibilities fell on him; ask why someone else couldn’t do the thinking for them. But he had taken the reins and he couldn’t let them go that easily. It beckoned back to a time when he had known how to start things, but his weakness had been in finishing them. He had started college and dropped out. His father had gotten him a job with one of the local construction companies and he had quit showing up for work his third week into it. That had been a time in his life when ideas and plans had seemed to flow effortlessly from his mind, but his follow-thru had been sorely lacking.
Recalling that period in his life was embarrassing. The worst part about it was that those events had taken place less than three years ago.
He could feel the bulge of the keys in his pocket. He ran his hands through his hair and said, “Let’s think this through. We can’t go out the front because they would chase us down in no time flat. The back way and the car are out because we’d be sitting ducks. Bottlenecked in the alley.”
Carl had his ear against the metal of the back door, listening. It was impossible to hear anything over the rain coming down.
“What if we distract them?” Tina asked.
“Huh?”
“Distract them. Somebody could get their attention at the front while the other two slip out the back and get my car.”
Carl’s face brightened. “That’s not a half bad idea. What do you think, bro?”
Taylor mulled it over. He didn’t like it. It was dangerous.
But options were scarce.
“It might work,” he said. “So your car is pretty reliable? I wouldn’t want to even attempt something like what you’re talking about and then get to the car and it doesn’t start.”
“I said that it doesn’t have any get-up-and-go, but it starts and runs fine. There was only one time that it didn’t start, like six months ago, but I got the battery replaced and it hasn’t had a problem since.”
“All right. Good enough. The only reason I ask is because if this was a cheap horror flick we’d get out there and the car wouldn’t start.”
“Well, this is
real
life,” Tina said. “Not a horror movie.”
“Right about now, I’d say the line between the two is starting to blur. Anyway, so here’s what we do. You two stay back here. I’ll go up front.” He took Tina’s keys out of his pocket and splayed them out. “Which one is the key for the front door?”
Tina pointed to the one with a large square bow. “This one.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
Taylor removed the key from the keychain and handed the rest of the keys to Carl. He went to the back of the store, carefully slid the key into the lock, and slowly turned it. “This one’s unlocked. When we’re ready, I’ll unlock the front door and do something to get their attention. When they start coming all the way out of the alley, I’ll yell for you two to go. Get to the car and get out of the alley.”
Carl cocked his head. “And what about you? What’s
your
escape plan?”
And that’s the kicker,
Taylor thought.
Exactly what
is
my escape plan?
He walked himself through it in his head, explaining it to them out loud. “The only way out would be through the back. Close the front door, and if there’s time, I’d lock it. Run out the back and shut that door.”
“But the alley dead-ends,” Carl said. “You’d still have to come up the alley to the street.”
“Maybe those things would have made it
inside
the store by then,” Tina said.
“Maybe. And maybe they would see you coming out of the alley.”
“Then I make a run for it. You two will have gotten away in the car. At the end of the alley, you’ll take a left and when you come to the first intersection, you’ll take another left. Once you get around that corner, leave the car running. Don’t even put it into park. Just keep your foot on the brake. I’ll know where to find you.”
“If there’s running involved, then maybe it should be me that plays the distraction. Between the two of us, we’ve already established that I’m the faster runner.”
“I want you driving the car. You’re faster, but I’ll be fast enough.”
Carl stared at his brother and something unspoken passed between them. A look that traded a thousand words in an instant without either one of them opening their mouth.
Finally, Carl nodded.
“It’s settled then. Let’s do this before I go chicken shit.”
Taylor started for the front of the store.
“Wait,” Carl said. “Take this.” He handed him the machete. “If they get too close you can hack the shit out of them.”
Taylor weighed the blade in his hand. It was lighter than he had thought it would be. He wondered what it would feel like hacking into their flesh.
They’re not people anymore,
he thought.
Not really. They’ll tear you to shreds if they get the chance. Remember that. If push comes to shove, you can’t hesitate.
Another reason he wanted them out of sight and around the corner was that he was willing to bet that Tina’s father was somewhere in the mob, salivating profusely like all the rest of them. If she spotted him…things could turn ugly quick. She might lock up and shutdown. Logic and emotion. The two often didn’t play well with one another.
“That could get us
kilt
,” he said quietly and almost laughed.
“What?”
“Nothing. Talking to myself. So we all have this down, right? I’ll open the door, wait for my go, you guys bolt and get around the corner of the first street. Two lefts. Remember that. Then wait for me. Unless it isn’t safe. Then just keep going.”
“There are parts of this I don’t like,” Carl said.
Taylor shrugged. “I don’t like
any
part of it. Remember what Dad used to say? About how a person can get old before his time. How a guy had to learn two words to prevent that?”
“Fuck it,” Carl said.
“That’s right,” Taylor said. He pointed the machete at the back door. “Now get back there and be ready. When I give the go, you can’t be fucking around.”
Carl stood there staring at Taylor, looking like he had something to say. After a moment, he turned and headed to the back, Tina following behind him.
Taylor headed to the front of the store, pausing momentarily at the end of the last aisle, double-checking that they hadn’t strayed from the entrance of the alley. When he was close to the window, he could see them. No more than thirty feet away. Some of them swayed back-and-forth rhythmically, as though rocked by a powerful wind.
He removed the key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock. He glanced at the mob and turned the key. He opened the door slowly.
And then he stepped out onto the sidewalk.
Hindsight is twenty-twenty.
It wasn’t
until he was on the sidewalk, getting wet in the rain and facing a mob of a hundred or more bloodthirsty creatures that could hardly be categorized as human, that it occurred to him that he could have simply ran the other way. Instead of luring them into the store, he could have broken to the right and rounded the first street corner. Could have had Carl and Lisa take three lefts instead of two. He could have taken two rights and they would have met each other.
It seemed so easy now. So obvious. But it was too late to make changes.
His courage ebbed as if the rain was washing it away. The overprotective part of his brain, the part interested in self-preservation and continued survival, screamed at him to quit this nonsense immediately. Reasoning with him. They hadn’t spotted him yet. Quietly step back into the store, lock the door behind him, and call the whole thing off. There was still time.
Only there wasn’t. One of them turned and saw him. It was a little like being caught jerking off by his mother. For a moment, you just froze with your dick in your hand, looking at it and then at your mother as it went instantly flaccid, a look on your face that said,
Where did
this
come from?
Taylor felt logic stripped away. “C’mon, motherfuckers! Come and get me! I don’t have all fucking day!”
He ran back into the store, pulling the door closed behind him, cursing at the pneumatic arm that caused it to close with agonizing slowness. He had the key in his hand to lock it. He yelled back to Carl and Lisa. “Go! Get the fuck out of here!
Now!
”
He turned the key and snapped it off in the lock.
Hands slammed into the glass, leaving slimy handprints. Taylor fell back, machete held out in front of him. He heard the sound of the back door slamming closed. He thought he heard the sound of Tina’s Escort starting but couldn’t be sure.
He picked himself up from the floor and made his way to the back room. Glass shattered behind him. It was a forced effort to keep from looking back; to keep moving to the back of the store. When Carl had handed him the machete, it had seemed like a formidable weapon. Now it just felt inadequate.
Taylor heard them come crashing through the glass, the store being destroyed as they pursued him.
He reached the back door and flung it open. The car was gone.
Good,
he thought.
Thank God for that at least.
Cold rain bit into his skin as he ran up the alley. He reached the street and stopped. Dozens of the rabid things were still stuck at the entrance to Dave’s Hardware, attempting to shove their way in through the bottleneck that had formed. Yet another oversight in his plan. Despite this, they continued to force their way in, none of them noticing that he had appeared at the entrance to the alley.
He heard the sound of the back door, metal rebounding off of brick; feet splashing in puddles. He turned left and ran.
The pain in his legs was almost instantaneous, but it was easy to forget the feeling if he focused his mind. The rain made it hard to see too far ahead, but he could make out the reflective green surface of a street sign.
Red streaks reflected off of the rain slicked street. At first, Taylor wasn’t sure of what he was seeing. But as he moved closer, he recognized the red light as coming from the Escort’s brake lights.
He reached for the handle of the rear door and pulled. It was locked. He pounded on the window. Tina leaned over into the backseat and unlocked it.
“Go!”
Taylor jumped into the seat and pulled the door closed. The car rocked to the side as the first of the mob reached it and one of them jumped onto the trunk. He saw the face of utter insanity pressed up against the rear window, nose flattened against the glass, lips pushed back, its breath creating a foggy patch on the glass. And despite the heavy rain, he could read the name stitched on the thing’s work shirt: DAVE.
“Go!”
Carl punched the accelerator with disappointing results. The takeoff was sluggish; revealing the car’s lack of get-up-and-go that Tina had warned them about. Taylor watched in slow motion as the rest of the mob arrived and kept pace with them until the Escort gained momentum.
The car fishtailed and the inhuman thing that clung to the trunk went sailing away, sending up a spray of water as its body collided with the curb.
So long, Dave. Thanks for letting us hole up in your store,
Taylor thought.
I’ll take good care of your daughter.
Carl found the controls for the windshield wipers and turned them on. He glanced out the rearview mirror. Despite poor visibility, he kept the car at a steady forty-five, watching the mob grow smaller and smaller as the distance increased. After they had driven several blocks, he slowed at the intersection and said, “What now? If we go straight, we can get back on the highway.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Tina said. “Out of this town. It might be different somewhere else.”
She’s in denial,
Taylor thought.
She could be right and the radio could have been wrong, but I doubt it.
“I second that motion,” Carl said. “Let’s get the hell out’ve Dodge.”
Taylor said, “It’s gonna be a long drive. An hour-and-a-half at least.”
“I can get us there faster than that. Call me crazy, but I don’t think they’ll be handing out speeding tickets.”
“We could use some supplies.”
“Sitting right next to you. Everything you put in the tarp. What else do you want?”
“For starters?
Food
.”
Carl pondered this. His stomach rumbled at the thought. “Food would be good. But none of us are going to starve to death in the hour and a half it takes to get back home. I’m hungry, but I’m not
that
hungry. Not enough to risk getting hung up in this town.”
“There’s nothing left for me here,” Tina said. “I just hope that my dad got out before things got bad.”
Taylor stared out the window.
What you don’t know can’t hurt you,
he thought, and wondered if he was breaking some law of morality by not telling Tina he had seen her father. Wondered if he would have wanted to know if the roles were reversed. He decided that in this case, the old saying held true: ignorance is bliss.
“It’s not a matter of how long we can hold out. I’m thinking about all the possibilities. Like the possibility that we hit a roadblock. What if we have to travel on foot at some point? What if we can’t get home? I can think of a bunch of them. It might be smart to stop off and find food here. Find a house and raid the fridge if we have to.” He turned in his seat so he could see out the back window. “Those things aren’t behind us anymore. Even if they try to follow us, it will take a little while for them to get this far. We can hide the car.”
“They could find us,” Tina said. “The way they found us in the store.”
Carl said, “Yeah, I don’t want to get boxed-in again.”
Taylor leaned forward. “Maybe we were too loud. That could be all it was. They got lucky. It doesn’t necessarily mean they have special abilities.” Taylor noticed Carl staring at him in the rearview mirror. “I’m not proposing we hole up here. We’ll just take some food and whatever else is useful. We can do that in less than twenty minutes. Then we leave.”
Carl stared into the rearview mirror again, and this time Taylor was certain that his brother’s attention was focused on him.
“Listen, guys,
think
about it. It’s the smartest thing.”
Carl sighed and tapped gently on the brakes. “Fine.” He gestured out the window at the houses lining the street. “So which one? Or are we gonna play eenie-meenie-miney-mo?”
Taylor put his hand on Tina’s shoulder. He could a tremor of fear running through her. “Are you okay with that?” he asked.
“Whatever you think is best. I asked to come along. The last thing I want to do is be demanding.”
“I appreciate that, but this is still a democracy. You still get a say in the decision-making process.”
“That’s nice to know,” she said, staring out the window into the rain. At least for the moment, she seemed far away and out of touch.
“You better decide quick, bro, because this isn’t a big town. And once I get to the highway I can’t guarantee I won’t change my mind about this pitstop idea of yours.”
“Just pick a house.”
“You want to just randomly pick a house? Shouldn’t we pick the biggest one?”
“No. The biggest doesn’t necessarily mean the most food. What I’m thinking is we look for the most rundown one we can find and check that one.”
“See? He’s a nutcase.”
“Food stamps,” Taylor said.
“What about them?”
“We look for a below average house. You figure whoever lives there is poor. Or at least struggling. Go a step further, and you figure they’re poor, maybe they’re on food stamps. If you got free money what would you do with it? You’d spend it. So they’re the most likely to have a well-stocked fridge.”
Carl slowed the car, squinting to discern the condition of the houses through the rain. “That’s some fucked up reasoning, but you might be right.”
Tina turned in her seat so that she could see both of them. “
Or
maybe there is another option.”
“What’s that?” Taylor asked.
“We go to my house. Well, the house I grew up in anyway. Now only my dad lives there. He keeps the fridge stocked for when I visit him some weekends. Nothing fancy, but I’m sure we could find some stuff to take with us.”
“That’s even better,” Taylor said.
“Does he have any guns at the house?”
“Not that I know of,” Tina said. “I don’t think he kept any guns in the house when I was growing up. He might have since then. I wouldn’t know where he would keep it if he did though.”
“So how do we get there?”
She leaned closer to the windshield, scrunching up her face. “The rain makes it tough. Okay. See this street coming up? Take a right when you get to it.”
Carl slowed and turned right. Two blocks down, she instructed him to take another right.
“My dad’s house is on the opposite side of town from where we are now. Just keep heading straight until you get to the stoplight. It’s one of only two that we have in town. Pretty pathetic, huh?”
“We don’t have any back home,” Carl said. “We’re still on dial-up Internet.”
“I’m sorry for you.”
“I’m sorry for myself. It’s like a tiny black hole in America. Our town got sucked into it. Just sits there going nowhere and nothing can escape.”
Tina pointed ahead. “The stoplight is right up there. It’s not working, so it’s hard to see. You’re going to want to take a left there. It’s kind of a roundabout way, but it will keep us farther from downtown where those things are.”
Taylor said, “Who knows where they are. They might have kept on following after us.”
Carl took a left at the dead stoplight and then another right for three blocks until Tina pointed out her house. There wasn’t a driveway so he parked alongside the curb and killed the engine. Taylor and Carl opened their doors to get out. Tina stayed in her seat, unmoving.
“What’s the matter?”