Her eyes fluttered some more, and then focused. “Oh hey John. How you doing?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m okay, kiddo. How are you feeling?” I didn’t want to panic her by describing her current condition.
Claire grabbed my shoulder. “I think I was in a scooter accident. I taste blood. Am I bleeding?”
I fought back my rising feeling of panic. “Yeah …a little. Anything else hurt?”
She swallowed, and winced in pain. “I think I hurt my hip. It also hurts to breathe a little.” She had a possible hip injury, and maybe some broken or bruised ribs. Her mobility would be compromised.
“Hey John. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” I bent down so I could hear her.
“Why are we having this conversation in the middle of the road?” She forced a weak smile.
We had to move. Something really bad was coming. “Claire, can you walk?”
She tried to get to a sitting position, but failed. “I don’t know.”
I helped her up as carefully as I could. I located and grabbed her bat. She would never forgive me if I left it behind.
Walking was painful for both of us. Claire wasn’t doing too well. She stopped walking, and said, “John, wait. I’m not going to make it. Just leave me.”
A shiver went down my spine. After all we’d been through, I couldn’t leave her here to die. I didn’t know what to do. I took a quick look around. I saw nothing yet, but I knew whatever scared the dogs was on the way. It was also rapidly getting dark. We had to find some cover.
“The hell with that. I’m not leaving you alone. Got it?” I looked her in the eyes.
Claire tried to smile. “Okay, Tiger. Why all the rushing around?”
I looked around nervously. “It’s getting dark, and something horrible is coming.”
We stumbled around in the gathering darkness for about forty-five minutes. We walked, but found no sanctuary. Things were beginning to look grim. I could almost sense something in the woods watching us. Something calculating and cold, waiting for a chance to strike. I heard sounds coming from the brush beside the road. I sincerely hoped it was only the chilly breeze that had whipped up since the sun had set.
We walked on as quickly as we could up the road. By now, it was dark. We were breaking one of my rules by traveling at night. The whole area was coming alive with the sounds of nature. There were also some other sounds as well. I heard growling noises coming from the dark woods.
It was the sound of Red-Eyes. They were following us. Probably hunting us as well.
I tried to pick up the pace. “Come on, Claire. We have to move.” I was practically dragging her along at this point.
“Okay John. Right behind you,” she answered weakly. Her skin felt cold and clammy. I feared that she might be going into shock.
I scanned the road ahead of me in desperation. I looked for someplace, any place that Claire and I could get some cover. I could feel the Red-Eyes closing in on us. Soon they would attack.
We rounded a slight curve in the road and came upon an intersection. I squinted my eyes in the darkness and saw several buildings arranged near the road. I almost jumped for joy as I spotted a possible safe place. I felt like I had been reunited with an old friend.
It was a gas station with an attached food store.
It was a few hundred yards away, and looked like excellent cover. I decided to make a run for it. I picked up Claire and carried her as I ran for the front door. With my bruised ribs and hurt knee, it felt like I ran a mile. The parking lot was full of wrecked cars and decaying bodies, but the building looked intact. The door was partially open. With my arms full of Claire, I kicked it open. I had to turn sideways in the doorway to get inside. The inside was wrecked, as usual. I took a quick look, but found nobody inside. I cleared a spot, and laid Claire on the floor. She had gone really pale, and had passed out. She was definitely going into shock.
I heard a noise at the door. I quickly turned around, and drew my shotgun at the same time. A young Red-Eye stood in the doorway. It seemed that I had forgotten to close the door.
He stood there watching me for a moment. He cocked his head from side to side perhaps sizing me up. The worst part was his eyes. They were twin glowing red orbs in his skull, that seemed to pierce right through me. He let out a low growl, and leaped at me. It wasn’t very good. Outside the store, it would have been a graceful jump, and he would have killed me where I stood. Inside the store, though, it was a clumsy, staggering fall through debris and glass. I pulled the trigger and fired at the attacking zombie. The shotgun blast caught him in the shoulder. He stumbled, recovered, and then reached for me. I stepped back to avoid his reach, and jammed the butt of the shotgun into the creature’s skull. He fell backwards on the floor, and I shot him again. The shot grazed the side of his head. The Red-Eye screeched, and started flopping around in the doorway of the gas station. I stood over him, and blew his brains out with another shell. The Red-Eye went silent.
Adrenaline coursing through me, I stood over the broken body of the zombie. I heard a sound outside, and glanced out the open door. Two more Red-Eyes stood near the dead gas pumps.
They were staring at me as I stood over their dead companion.
Suddenly, a feeling of rage washed over me. I had reached my breaking point, and the time for fear and running was over. I stowed my shotgun, and dragged the dead Red-Eye into the parking lot. I then stood up, drew my shotgun, and pointed it at the two zombies in the parking lot. They started at me in confusion.
I screwed up my courage. “Look at your buddy, you ugly bastards. I blew his brains out. If you want to eat me and my friend, you’re going to have to go through me. You got it?”
They stood silently for a minute staring at me and my shotgun. After a little calculation, they began to make their move. I aimed my shotgun at their heads. “I’m not bluffing. One or both of you are about to die.”
The zombies got the message, and with a series of clicking noises and growls, they retreated. They paused for a minute when they got to the road, and glanced back. It almost looked like they were trying to remember me for future encounters. After a few seconds of heavy glancing, they took off into the woods.
I stood there for a second, my shotgun ready. It seems the Red-Eyes had achieved some sort of intelligence. They recognized me as a threat, and had retreated to fight another day. I had no doubt that they would keep watching, and waiting for a chance to strike. After all, you can’t pass up a good meal, even if you’re a zombie.
I stowed my shotgun, and ran inside. I slammed the door and locked us in. I piled a few things in the doorway for a little added security. I took a quick look through the door glass at the parking lot. Nothing was moving. The Red-Eyes were going to leave us alone for now.
I turned my attention to Claire. She was starting to come to, and attempting to get to a sitting position. I ran to her side. “Don’t move. You’re hurt.” She lay down on the hard floor without protest.
I took off my backpack, and took out our first aid kit. I tended to her cuts and abrasions as best I could with my limited supplies. She winced in pain whenever I dabbed a cut with antibiotic ointment. Some of the cuts were pretty deep. I began to wonder if Claire was going to be all right.
During my attempts at first aid, Claire reached up and touched my face. “John, you’re bleeding. Were we in some kind of accident?”
I looked into her crystal blue eyes. “Yes, Claire. I crashed the scooter, remember?” I may have to add a concussion to her list of aliments.
“Oh, yeah. I remember,” she said weakly. “Guess that’s why I’m lying on the floor, huh?”
I tried to laugh, but was unsuccessful. “I’m sorry. I wish it was me who was on the floor.”
Claire touched my hand. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.” A weak smile crossed her lips.
And that’s when I noticed the bite on her wrist.
It was about two inches long, on the top of her wrist near her hand. It looked like tiny red lines spaced close together in a circular pattern. I moved her sleeve slightly down her arm, and turned her wrist over. The tiny red lines continued underneath her arm as well. It was a dog bite. It was hard to tell in the darkness of the store if it had penetrated her skin. Claire wasn’t showing any zombie symptoms yet. Maybe the dog bites took longer. I felt very weak and dizzy.
I started to tremble as I held Claire’s wrist. I couldn’t believe what I saw. After all we’d been through, after all the precautions, one of us gets bit by a damn dog. It should be me. Why didn’t it bite me? Claire didn’t deserve this.
She must have seen the concern on my face. “What’s the matter, Tiger?” she asked in a weak voice. Without uttering a word, I showed Claire her wrist. She glanced at it for a second, and a terrible look crossed her face. “Great,” she said. “Just great.”
I looked away so she couldn’t see the tears welling up in my eyes. “Claire, I’m sorry,” I said, choking up.
She lay there for a few minutes, then she grabbed my arm. “John, look at me.” I reluctantly looked her in the eyes. “It’s okay. I think we both knew our luck would run out eventually. I think we had a good run. We tried. We really tried. Now you have to be strong.”
Unfortunately, I knew what I had to do. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want this for you. It should be me.” I was holding both her hands now, and tears were running down my cheeks.
Claire tried to smile, but she was crying as well. “Shh …Don’t talk like that. You know what you have to do. Don’t let me be one of those things for more than a few seconds, okay?”
I nodded. “I …I don’t think I can do it.” The thought of shooting her made me sick to my stomach.
Claire painfully picked her head up to look me in the eyes. “You promised, remember? Back when we first met. You promised to take care of me. Please don’t let me become one of those things.”
I nodded weakly. “I remember. You don’t have to worry. I’ll take care of you.”
Claire laid her head back down on the floor. “Thank you, Tiger.” She paused for a minute, then said, “You’ve been a really good friend. You and I have become sort of a family, you know.” She started squeezing my hands till they were almost breaking. “I’m really glad we found each other. It was fun.” Claire paused to touch my face. “I love you, John,” she said through her tears. She lay back and closed her eyes. “Okay. I’m ready. Just make it quick”
I looked down at her for a moment. There was nothing I could do or say to ease her pain. Once you’re bitten, it’s all over. I could only do what she wanted, and not let her join the other undead. I brushed aside some pink-highlighted auburn hair, and kissed her on the forehead.
I drew my gun, and sat down beside her in the dark store. I sat beside her and waited.
I waited for Claire to turn.
I pulled the trigger on the old rifle and expected it to kick me in the shoulder as it fired. Nothing happened. Instead, my fruitless trigger-pulling resulted in silence. I had to take it apart again to check the mechanism for more damage, and more clean-up. This was going to be the fourth time the rifle had been apart. The task of trying to get the freaking thing to work had taken at least three weeks.
I found it in one of the buildings while I was doing some scrounging for supplies. I tripped over the damn thing, and almost split my skull open when I fell. It was a simple hunting rifle with a broken scope, but I thought it might come in handy. I also found a box and a half a box of ammo in an old backpack nearby on the floor. I took the ammo, but left the backpack. There was too much personal stuff inside from the previous owner.
Other buildings around my sanctuary/gas station yielded more supplies. I found a few unopened bottles of water and juice along with a little canned food. I also found some preserved food in glass jars. It was mostly peaches, green beans, and a little okra. That’s what the menu has been for the last month.
I was really sick of green beans. The peaches were nice, though.
The rifle was a no-go. A lot of the parts were just too old and worn out. I assembled it the best I could, put it aside, and decided to take a break. I stood up from the old picnic table where I had been working, and tried to stretch. My scooter accident injuries had mostly healed, but it had been an uphill battle. My back was still a little stiff, but it would probably be okay. I guess when you get old you heal a lot slower.
I walked around my picnic/work table a little bit. It had been a pretty peaceful month. Once in a while, a few Yellow-Eyes would stumble past the parking lot, but so far none had stopped to pay a visit. The bigger problem was the Red-Eyes. They came out at night, and sometimes got pretty close. Eventually, they were going to figure out a plan and overwhelm the store. It was time to move on, I guess.
As I stood there, staring off into space, a cool breeze picked up from the south. The mostly bare trees rattled their branches in the swirling wind. The weather lately had been a little weird. I’ve kind of lost track of the days, but I think it must be December by now. So far, it had been very mild. We’ve had some cold nights and mornings, but the afternoons were pleasant, with temperatures in the fifties. Some days I didn’t even start a fire. I heard something stirring in the doorway.
“So, what’s the plan Tiger?”
I looked up to see Claire standing in the doorway of the gas station. She was grinning, and rubbing her injured hip. It was good to see her up on her feet again. For the last month, she had been recovering from her terrible scooter injuries. Thanks to a great attitude and a strong, young body, her recovery had been surprisingly swift. Her hip was the last thing to heal, and it was coming along nicely.
Claire’s zombie-dog bite had healed as well.
In the end, she didn’t turn. Don’t ask me why, as the dog had definitely bitten her. I waited that whole first night for Claire to turn, but it didn’t happen. There had been no fever, no sickness, no convulsions, and no screams of agony. In the morning, her eyes were still their beautiful blue, with no yellow or red tinge. When dawn broke, she was still Claire. Neither of us could figure out why she didn’t turn, so we decided not to think about it. Maybe dog bites didn’t work on humans, or maybe someone up there really does like us.
We could be damn lucky, as well.
I returned her smile. “Well, kiddo, that’s up to you. How do you feel?”
Claire gave me a little hug. She had been hugging me a lot lately. “I feel okay. My hip hurts a little, but I think it’s better. I guess we’ll have to move on soon, huh?”
”Yeah, I think so. The Red-Eyes around here are getting too smart.” I started to walk inside. “Come on, let’s go inside, and we’ll talk about it over some green beans and peaches.”
She made a face. “God, I’m really sick of green beans.”
We stayed another day at the gas station while Claire continued to heal up, and I tried to get my new problem-child rifle to work. After about a dozen tries, I decided the rifle was too far gone to rescue, so I left it in the store with a “broken” note taped to the stock. We packed up our meager possessions, got as much food and water as we could, and hit the road after a hearty breakfast. We stood for a minute at the road, looking back at what had been our sanctuary for the last month. Funny thing is, I think Claire and I are going to miss our little gas station. After all, it had saved our lives. Maybe someone else will come along and stay here for a while.
They can have the green beans. We left them behind.
We turned and started walking. The general direction was west, the direction we had been somewhat traveling all along. The morning was a little cold, so Claire and I could see our breath as we exhaled. The afternoon would be warmer.
Claire and I walked in silence for a little bit, then she started to chit-chat. “So, let me get this straight,” she said in that sing-song voice that usually meant she was about to tease me about something. “The scooter is wrecked, so we have to walk. You lost the semi-automatic rifle to the Highwaymen, I lost my gun, we only have about two to three weeks of food and water, it’s cold, and we’re surrounded by undead in all directions.”
I looked down at her smiling face. “Yep, that’s the situation.”
“Just checking, Tiger. So it’s like normal then, huh?” she said, her smile growing bigger.
“Yeah. Just like normal.”
We walked for a few more miles till we hit a small industrial area. The road we were on passed behind a few small steel buildings with fences. Claire’s hip hurt a little, so we decided to take a break in the shade of a big oak tree. I stood guard as she tried to flex her hip a little so it would loosen up.
I heard a familiar noise from the side of the road. I looked up to see two Yellow-Eyes trapped in a chain-link enclosure surrounding a paint and body shop. They were in pretty bad shape from what I could see. They moaned and pawed at the fence, trying to get at us.
We stood for a minute staring at the two poor devils trapped behind the fence. They had been secured for a long time, and looked famished. Claire got a devilish look in her eye. “Hey John. Watch this!” Despite her injured hip, she jogged over to the enclosure, drew her bat, and ran it along the fence in front of the zombies. They started moaning louder, and pushed at the fence, trying to get to her.
She ran back to the oak tree with a pleased look on her face. I could only shake my head, and say, “Don’t tease the zombies, Claire. They don’t like that.”
She started to giggle, and it turned into a hearty laugh. It echoed off the walls and swirled back at me from all directions. I hadn’t heard Claire laugh in a long time. It was a great sound, full of youthful exuberance and hope for the future. Her wonderful, youthful laugh made me feel that, despite the hell all around us, Claire and I would eventually find our way out of this mess. I was really glad she was with me.
We started walking again, leaving the two trapped zombies behind to their ultimate fate. Claire’s laughter was still ringing in my ears.
I had really missed hearing her laugh.