"Zombies, okay, Jenni. They are zombies. And you're right. This is the end."
Jenni sighed and nodded and laid her head against the back of the passenger seat. "I know. I know…" And she closed her eyes and slept
4. Into the Hills
Jenni woke to the steady hum of the road. She opened her eyes slowly.
Her nightmares released her and she sighed with relief. Her dreams were even worse than this new, horrible reality. In her sleep she had curled up, resting against the passenger door. Now raising her head, she saw the dry and caked blood her son had smeared on the window when he had tried in vain to reach her.
Not for hugs and kisses, but for far worse.
Beyond the swath of gore the world was speeding by. Hills, large and small, covered in trees decked out in colorful spring flowers greeted her gaze.
Time for Easter and Easter baskets. She would fill them with candies and toys and the kids were scramble around the backyard looking for colorful eggs. But that wouldn't happen now. It was all over.
Lloyd had taken away her kids. Stolen them away. Just like she had known he would. Maybe he was something else when he had attacked them, but he had only finished out the cycle he had started when he had decided to marry his blushing eighteen year old bride. His looks, his money, and his success had blinded her. He was older and wiser. In her heart, she hadn't truly loved him, but she had believed she would one day. When he spoke of his first failed marriage, she had vowed that she would never let him down.
She would be his perfect wife, his perfect companion, and that he would never have to say a negative word about her.
Somehow, she had failed him. No matter how hard she had tried, she had failed him. At first his lashings were verbal and fierce, then it was the back of his hand, and, eventually, it was his fists. But she had continued to try. She had struggled with her inadequacies, done everything he asked of her.
Toward the end, she had known in her heart it would come to this. She would either die at his hand or he would kill the children as he had threatened to do so many times before.
"But he was a zombie in the end," she said softly.
"What?"
Jenni blinked, not realizing she had spoken aloud. She turned slowly to gaze at the woman beside her.
The driver of the truck was a very pretty lady with golden blond hair that fell just to her shoulders in tousled curls. She had a strong, pretty feminine face with cat-eyes and a sensuous mouth. Jenni was sure that the driver was the sort of girl who was the homecoming queen and head cheerleader and student council president all rolled into one. The smart, pretty girl who was actually nice. Jenni felt comforted by this. She had always been on the fringe of the popular girls. She understood this type. They lead, you followed. It was simple.
Her name was Katie. That was right. Katie.
"I was dreaming," Jenni answered.
Katie nodded. "You didn't miss anything. After the last traffic light on the edge of the neighborhood it was smooth sailing."
"No one comes this way anymore. Not since the highway was built. I like it out here. It's peaceful." Jenni didn't feel so cold anymore. She still felt awfully numb, but it was a pleasant sort of numb.
"I'm not sure where we are going," Katie said after a beat. "I'm just driving."
Jenni looked at the phone resting on Katie's lap. "Did you talk to your Dad again?"
Katie shook her head, pressing her lips tightly together for a moment.
"No, no. There's no signal." She motioned to the radio. "And that doesn't work."
Jenni nodded, understanding. They were alone, detached from the rest of the world. Strangely, this was how she often felt. It was almost comforting.
Besides, she was sure Katie would figure things out. She looked strong and very capable.
"We'll need gas soon," Katie said. "Know if there are any stations out this way?"
"Yeah. There are. One is coming up soon. About two hills over." Jenni slid her fingers through her hair and sat up a little. "Maybe those things aren't out here?"
"That's what I'm hoping for."
Jenni laughed a little, her voice sounding odd to her ears. "You know, this isn't supposed to happen."
Katie glanced over at her and nodded just a little. "I know, but it is happening, whatever this is." Then she added quickly, "Zombies, or whatever they are, just shouldn't exist. Maybe it's some sort of terrorist weapon.
Something like that."
"They aren't supposed to be so fast. They're supposed to be slow. Very slow." Jenni sighed and pouted a little.
Running down the stairs, trying to evade Lloyd, that had been terrifying.
There had been no time to think, just run. It was sheer luck that he didn't seem to know how to open the door and had just banged against it.
"How do you know that?"
"Movies. Lloyd always watched those movies. I was afraid but he made me watch." Jenni chewed on her bottom lip. "If the movie is right, we can't let them bite us." She looked over at Katie warily. "You're not bitten, are you?"
Katie looked at her for a long, frightening moment.
"No, no. Are you?"
Jenni sighed, relieved. "No. I'm not."
But she almost had been. Lloyd had almost grabbed hold of her when Mikey had turned back and yelled, "Leave Mom alone!"
She covered her face with one hand. She tried hard not remember the horrible fear she had felt "Run, Mikey," she had screamed and run out the front door.
How it slammed behind her, she didn't know. Maybe she closed it.
Maybe Mikey did. Maybe when Lloyd had grabbed her son he had shoved it shut. But the front door had slammed and she had been alone.
"How did you find me?"
Katie briefly glanced over at her and sighed. "I got lost in your neighborhood trying to get off the highway. I heard you screaming. I pulled up behind you just as-You didn't seem to notice me so I yelled."
That easy. That simple. Why hadn't she heard the truck pull up behind her on the lawn? Well, she had been screaming and MikeyJenni leaned toward the window and studied her reflection in the tiny side mirror. Her eyes looked too big, too wide. Her face was very pale.
"I think I'm in shock," she said to Katie.
"Aren't we all," Katie responded in a somewhat harsh voice. Thinking better of her comment, she said in a much softer tone, "Yeah, I think you are, too. It was hard to see my wife like that. But your husband, your children…"
She reached out and gripped Jenni's hand tightly. "I can't imagine."
Jenni clung to her hand desperately, grateful for the kindness. She really didn't care about Lloyd being dead…undead…whatever. The children. That was harder. Much harder. She didn't want to think about it.
She wanted to ask Katie about her wife, the beautiful woman in the photo on the phone, but she was afraid to ask. Afraid that Katie might think she was being judgmental and withdraw her comforting hand.
"Shit!" Katie jerked her hand away from Jenni and yanked the steering wheel hard to the left. Slamming on the brakes, they both were jerked forward and caught firmly, painfully by their seat belts.
A car was idling on the right hand side of the road. A man stood near it, covered in blood, looking at their truck in a daze. It was as if something snapped inside of him and he flung out his hands and rushed toward the truck.
Katie quickly reversed off the shoulder of the road, then shifted gears and the truck leaped forward. The man's hand slapped hard against the side of the truck and they could hear his nails scrapping the metal as they escaped him.
Jenni whirled around in her seat and looked out the back window. The man was running hard, pumping his arms, screeching.
"How fast are we going?"
"Thirty," Katie responded. "He's keeping up."
Suddenly the man howled and his legs seemed to pop out of alignment and he tumbled hard to the pavement.
Katie slammed on the brakes and looked back. "He blew his joints!"
The man staggered to his feet, looked around, saw the truck and began to slowly hobble toward them.
"Now that is the way they are supposed to be!" Jenni grinned at Katie triumphantly.
"He blew out his knees!" Katie laughed.
They both screamed as a mouth filled with sharp teeth suddenly appeared in the back window.
"Shit!" Katie blinked.
A German Shepherd stared at them looking a little dazed. He was smiling at them, but looked worried.
Katie flung open the door and looked into the bed of the truck. A veterinarian's temporary cardboard carrier was chewed open and the young German Shepherd stood on wobbly legs before her.
Jenni leaned out of the driver's side. "Uh, zombie-"
Katie looked up to see the man still shambling toward them. He was a distance away, but would soon be a problem.
Jenni picked up the shotgun from the floor of the truck and handed it to Katie. "Just shoot him in the head. That's how it works."
Katie blinked at her, then looked back at the man. "I can't." She handed the gun back and reached out to the dog. "Come here, puppy, come here."
The dog padded slowly over to her and she lifted his heavy body out.
Holding him tightly, she slid him into the cab. As a second thought, she snagged the vet paperwork taped to the carrier.
Jenni, meanwhile, solemnly got out of the cab, released the safety, pumped the shotgun and waited. The zombified man was almost to the truck, moaning, reaching out to her. For a moment, he looked remarkably like Lloyd.
She fired.
The headless corpse hit the pavement.
"What the hell did you just do?" Katie looked utterly shocked.
Jenni looked at her plaintively. "We have to kill them."
Katie opened her mouth, then shut it. She looked shocked at Jenni's actions, but was more concerned at the moment with the groggy, half-grown German Shepherd. She climbed into the cab and shut the door.
Jenni sighed and climbed in as well, slipping the safety back on the shotgun.
"We don't kill."
"You ran over the runners back in town."
"I panicked. I…" Katie faltered.
Jenni sighed sadly. She needed Katie to be strong. She needed her to be the strong one. She hadn't minded shooting the zombie as an example and she would kill them in the future, but Katie needed to lead. Jenni couldn't bear the thought of having to figure all of this out.
Katie stroked the dog's fur as she looked at Jenni for a long moment.
"We'll talk about this later. We need gas now. And Jack here, well, we need to keep him up here. Poor baby just had surgery. Good thing he was knocked out during most of our escape." She nuzzled the dog and kissed him.
"Jack?" Jenni smiled. "I like that name." She wrapped her arms around the dog and pulled him onto her lap.
"That's what his vet papers say."
"It's a good name."
Katie smiled slightly and nodded to herself. "Okay, gas station next.
Gas, food, supplies, and we keep going until we figure out where the hell we are going? Sound good?"
"Yeah," Jenni answered. Snuggling the dog tight, she sighed with relief.
Katie was back in control.
It would be okay.
Chapter 2
1. In The Shadow of the Dying World
Katie sighed with relief when she saw the gas station sign up ahead.
The needle on the gas gauge was dipping dangerously under empty.
Despite the lack of any "zombies" out on the road, she did not want to get stuck walking anywhere.
Beside her Jenni was busy lavishing attention on the German Shepherd.
Katie was having a tough time understanding Jenni. The first time she had seen her, Jenni had seemed to be in a daze. The first spark of life she had shown was when she had blown the zombie's head off. Now she seemed more alive. Yes, that was it. A little more animated. It almost seemed weirder than her trance-like state when Katie had first saved her.
But who was she to judge? What was normal when the world was dissolving around you and reality suddenly looked like a Dali painting.
Pulling into the gas station slowly, Katie leaned forward over the steering wheel to stare across the expanse of the parking lot. There were no cars parked in the lot or tucked under the metal canopy over the gas pumps.
It looked utterly deserted.
"If we're lucky, the pumps are still on. I'll use my credit card, "she said.
Jenni looked up, rubbing her lips against the dog's ear. "You should fill up the gas can, too."
"Good idea. And if we can get into the store, we should load up on food."
Katie slowly released the brake and let the truck glide up to a pump.
Once more looking all around her, she turned off the truck. Reaching down, she picked up the shotgun.
"Here is the plan. I'm going to pump the gas. You are going to keep a watch out and hold the shotgun. Obviously, you can use it. You see any of those things, you tell me immediately." Katie handed Jenni the shotgun, studying her intently. Now that Jenni wasn't looking like a zombie herself, Katie could see she was quite pretty with deep, alert eyes.
"Okay. I can do that. But we should leave Jack in the truck. He's really groggy," Jenni answered. She looked frail in her pink nightgown and robe and bare feet.
"Agreed. Now listen, again, carefully, we don't take any risks. We don't shoot anything unless we have to. That box at your feet-those are the only shotgun shells we have."
"Oh," Jenni answered and frowned. "We need more."
"I know, but a convenience store is not really the place to find them. So no fancy shooting, okay?"
"Gotcha, "Jenni answered and slid out of the truck.
Leaping out of the truck, Katie quickly slid her small wallet out of her trouser pocket. In this moment, she was so glad she despised purses, otherwise the wallet would have been far away in her old car. Swiping the card, she watched the digital display anxiously.
It flashed "Authorizing" over and over again.
"You have to come in and swipe it. The scanner isn't working out there," a disembodied voice said.
Both Katie and Jenni started at the sound of a young man's voice.
"What?"
Jenni whirled around, shotgun ready.
"You have to come in and swipe the card," the voice persisted.
Katie realized the speaker on a column next to her was hissing. For a moment, she could not believe what she was hearing. The world was falling apart, Lydia was dead, and some teenager was still working his shift at the gas station?
"I'll be right in," Katie answered and looked at Jenni. "He mustn't know."
Jenni just blinked at her.
Mystified, Katie strode swiftly across the parking lot and into the convenience store. The dimly lit interior threw off her vision for a moment, then she saw a very tall, scraggly teenager standing behind the counter beside a very short Hispanic girl.
"The reader outside broke and we have to swipe inside," the boy explained again.
"You don't know, do you?" Katie arched an eyebrow and the boy looked at her warily.
Suddenly the Hispanic girl gasped and backed away from the counter.
Katie ducked from the door, then realized it was Jenni holding the shotgun.
"Look, please don't hold us up! We don't have that much money!" The boy held up his hands, his eyes huge.
"We're not holding you up. You really don't know what is going on, do you?" Katie walked swiftly to the counter, still clutching her credit card.
"Uh, no." The boy was trying to look calm and brave, but he was sweating profusely.
The girl behind him was holding onto his arm so tight that Katie could see blood pooling under nails.
"The city has gone insane. It's burning! People are dead and…and…"
Should she tell him that the dead apparently were getting up and eating everyone?
"Zombies. It's zombies, "Jenni said.
Katie sighed, rolled her eyes and exhaled slowly. "What she said."
"Yeah, right," the boy said sarcastically.
"I don't know if they are really zombies, but there is something going on that has people attacking other people like maniacs," Katie explained.
"Kinda like you two?"
"No. With their bare hands." Katie watched the look of disbelief on the boy's face grow deeper. "Look, swipe my card. We need gas to get the fuck out of here."
The boy frowned. "You're really not good with this holding up stuff, are you? You're not supposed to pay."
"Just swipe the gawddamn card already!" Katie waved it in his face.
"We really should get lots of food. And some more gas canisters," Jenni said behind her.
The boy swiped the card and looked at them with growing unease. "You guys are on the run, aren't you?"
"Yes, like I told you. The city has gone insane-"
"With zombies," Jenni added helpfully.
Katie really didn't think the Hispanic girl could get any paler.
Suddenly there was a screech of tires outside and they all turned to see two cars pull up. Both were fully loaded with people, all Hispanic. Men with guns leaped out and ran into the store.
"Papa!" The Latina girl looked relieved and ran toward one of the men.
A flurry of Spanish followed and suddenly the girl looked like a ghost.
"I'm leaving! My grandma ate my aunt!"
And she was gone, running with her family out to their cars.
Katie turned back to look at the boy whose mouth was hanging open.
From behind her, Jenni said, "Told you."
"I don't believe you."
"Then you are going to die," Katie said firmly and grabbed her card from him.
The day was growing warmer as the sun rose steadily over the hills. The breeze brushing back her blond hair was almost hot and not very soothing. It felt grainy and harsh.
Katie sighed and kept watch as the pump slowly clunked away behind her filling up the old truck's tank. Jack, groggy from his early morning surgery, sat behind the steering wheel inside the cab watching her. Every few seconds he would look around nervously. She wondered how much the dog had seen as he lay in his crate secured in the back of the truck this morning.
The dog glanced toward her and their eyes met. He let out a light woof and she got the impression he was telling her so far so good.
The pump clicked off and she quickly set about screwing the cap back onto the gas tank.
She was struggling to feel real. This world felt real. Seemed real. A teenage boy manned the register of a country road gas station while she pumped gas on fresh spring day. That fact seemed real.
But it wasn't the true reality.
Inside, her new companion was rushing around filling plastic bags while the boy dutifully swiped each and every item, charging them on her credit card. Meanwhile, Katie held the shotgun in one hand and kept a keen eye on the terrain around her. Save for a small red hatchback tucked into the hedges next to the gas station, the white truck was the only vehicle around.
This was not an ordinary day.
Lydia was dead. And Jenni's son and husband were somewhere far behind them running amok trying to…trying to…
Katie moved across the parking lot and swept her gaze back and forth, at times walking backwards, the shotgun at the ready, the shells jiggling in her pocket. Shoving the door open with her elbow, she entered the convenience store.
Jenni rushed past her and Katie saw she had found some flip-flops on a shelf somewhere to wear.
Jenni whirled about. "Do you want coffee? I didn't get my coffee this morning."
Katie blinked and nodded. "Yeah. Black."
Jenni nodded and ran to the dispenser.
"Look, if you are not holding me up, you better put that way because my manager will be here soon to relieve me."
Katie considered punching the boy.
There were at least ten bags piled near the door. One of them had dog food.
Jenni rushed up. "Give me the keys. I'm going to back the truck up."
"Okay. Take the shotgun." Katie handed it over and whispered, "I need to go to the ladies room."
"I already went. Stuff some toilet paper in your jacket pocket. I could only grab one half-roll. It's really way too expensive to buy here." Jenni was out the door. She rushed across the parking lot with her bathrobe flowing behind her with the shotgun held firmly in her hands.
Katie looked over at the teenager. "Don't you have a radio or a TV somewhere around here to listen to? To check and see if what we are saying is true?"
"It's against the regulations. Our owner is a man of principles and he believes that we should not inflict our modern music and bad news on our customers, but greet them with a smile and a friendly conversation."
"You had to memorize that, huh?"
The boy blinked blankly. "Yeah. Look, lady, zombies don't exist. I think you're criminals on the run. And Lucy is always flaking and running away from work. I'm not going to leave my shift and get fired."
Katie laughed, her hands resting on her hips, then shook her head.
"You're going to end up dead if you keep acting like a good little drone. The world is over. Finished. It's all different now. You better stop following and start acting." With that, she escaped into the bathroom.
After a few minutes, she washed her hands in lukewarm water and gazed at her face in the spotted and scuffed mirror. The lighting did her no favors.
She looked washed out and drawn. She looked older and tired. Just about how she felt, now that she thought about it. Reaching for the door, she heard raised voices and felt her body quiver anxiously. Her stomach fluttered and she hesitated.
What if those things were outside and all she had were two pockets full of toilet paper and damp hands to defend herself?
She realized the voices were arguing and not screaming and she heaved the door open and walked briskly toward the front of the store.
A man in an expensive silk suit, minus the coat, was standing in the front of the store shouting at Jenni. She stood quietly, head down. Katie took notice that the shotgun was hidden in the folds of Jenni's bathrobe.
"…and I don't need a mental case ruining my morning. I have a very important meeting at eleven AM in the city and I don't need to deal with retarded country hicks."
"Is there a problem here?" Katie strode up to the man, hands on her hips, head tilted to one side and gave him her most direct look.
The man was in his early to mid-thirties, dark hair, blue eyes, cleanshaven in that almost too clean look. He was holding his phone in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
"Yes, I can barely get into the store because of some hick truck pulled up to the door. I get inside and this retard spills coffee on my shirt and trousers, and now I have a blond bitch giving me lip."
Katie motioned to his phone. "Does that work?"
He blinked, not expecting that response. "No, because we are in hicksville and there is no signal."
Katie slightly nodded. "Or the world has gone to hell and the city is in ruins. Doesn't anyone listen to their radio anymore?"
"Look, bitch, I make a six figure salary. I don't have time for radio or TV.
I dictate letters that will bring in millions of dollars a year when I'm on the road. I work constantly. I am a busy man. My time is money. I am money. I have a meeting in one hour in the city and I'm running late thanks to your stupid friend here and that damn truck."
Katie laughed in his face. "Well, buddy, hate to tell you this, but the world is over. The city is in ruins and you aren't going to make that meeting and you're not going to get a signal. Your six figures means nothing now."
The businessman moved toward her and towered over her obviously trying to intimidate her.
Katie looked up at him, her eyes cool, her jaw set.
"I don't deal with crazy people. And no one talks to me like that," he hissed.
"She does." There was an audible cha-chung! as Jenni raised the shotgun and cocked it. Her eyes were dangerous.
The businessman stumbled backwards. "You people are crazy."
"If you go into the city, you're the crazy one. You'll die. Something has gone wrong. People have gone insane and are killing each other. We barely escaped."
The man shook his head at Katie's words and backed up to the door. His eyes were wide and unbelieving.
"You're crazy psycho redneck bitches!"
Katie looked at Jenni and they both started laughing.
That was enough. The businessman ran out, narrowly avoided the back end of the truck pulled up to the doors, and ran to his Mercedes. Katie noticed he held onto his coffee and that made her laugh all the more.