Chapter Twenty-Two
It took a while after the night had grown quiet before I built up the nerve to look outside once more. I rose, trying to work out the stiffness as I made my way over to the window. I could say with certainty my body was not happy with me. I had spent the last day or so beating it up, and my joints were in revolt. My knee felt as if all the fluid had been replaced with Pop Rocks as it crackled at my movements.
The road looked clear. Well, clear of walking sacks of rotting meat anyway. Through the scant moonlight the cloudy night allowed, I could just make out some of what the horde had left behind. Torn clothing blew in the breeze, caught up by the leafless branches of the forest. What bothered me most, however, was the large teddy bear lying on its side. Its glassy black eyes seemed to be staring back at me. I knew it had to be a trick of the light, but I could swear it wore a look of sorrow upon its face.
I turned away from the window and grabbed some old newspapers from the main office. Before long the fire was brought back to life, the flames dancing again. I gathered cardboard, bits of broken wood from old pallets, cloth, pretty much anything I could find to keep the small blaze going. I sat back by the fire as soon as I was satisfied with my collection, thawing my frozen fingers over the flames.
“I think we’re relatively safe here for a bit. Who’s hungry?” I asked, smiling at the kids. “I think I have some Spaghetti-O’s in the car. Maybe some chicken noodle soup? Oh, I know. I bet you would like a nice big can of peas,” I said slyly.
“Eww! Peas are icky!” Jane said, her nose crinkling up as she spoke.
“Okay, you want beans then,” I teased
“No!” the kids both said.
“Toasted lizard brains?” I teased again.
“Eww! Daddy! I want soup, not icky stuff,” Katie laughed.
“I want soup too!” Jane agreed.
“Fine, more beans for me. Abby? Lexi? Does anything on the menu look good to you?” I asked as I stood.
“Soup sounds good to me,” Abby looked up at me and smiled.
“I think I want those Spaghetti-O’s, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to take your food though, I’ll be fine if there’s not enough,” Lexi said.
“You stop that nonsense right now!” Abby scolded. “You’re one of us now, and you are welcome to anything you like.”
“Thank you Mrs.-err Abby. But how will we cook everything? There’s no pots or anything,” Lexi said.
“Oh mon ami,” I said with a flourish. “You have never dined at Che’ Foster. Ze food, she is cooked in ze natural habitat. Le can. Using specially crafted utensils only found in the confines of Le Shop de Body.”
“Your French is atrocious,” Abby laughed, almost in tears.
“She thinks my French is awful, ladies and germs, wait till she gets a load of my cooking,” I said winking at Lexi. That did it, the pressure valve had opened, and the room was filled with laughter. I wiped tears away as I retrieved cans of food from the trunk of the car. Using some pliers and an old metal grate I found around the shop, we were soon heating cans over the fire.
We ate, happy and as comfortable as we could possibly be. Lexi brought on a new round of laughter as she tried unsuccessfully to drink her Spaghetti-O’s. Her face was suddenly covered with red sauce and pasta. She looked up, shrugged, and went right back at it, even taking the time to eat the pasta sticking to her chin.
“Bet you wish you went with the beans,” I said to Lexi, smiling as I tipped my can up to my mouth. And as fate would have it, I dumped beans down the front of my coat too.
Abby lost it. She fell backwards, slapping the cold concrete floor as she laughed. The kids squealed louder than I would have liked, but I wasn’t about to stop them. After the horror we had lived through so far, this was a slice of heaven. Even if this particular slice was on the dirty floor of an old garage and smelled like axle grease.
We finally got a chance to know each other better as we talked around the fire. Lexi was a fifteen year old high school cheerleader. She told us about her farm where she grew up. They grew corn and soybeans, as many Midwestern farmers did. She talked about her dog, two cats, and the chickens that ran all over their land. What was noticeably absent was any mention of her parents. I can’t say that I blame her much for that.
Jane looked like a small copy of Lexi, with a rounder face and freckles. They shared the same dimples when they smiled. Jane loved SpongeBob SquarePants, much to Katie’s delight. One would start singing the theme music, and the other would instantly pick up the tune. They went on with that until they moved on to more important topics, like who could eat their soup the fastest.
Hours passed before we finally decided it was time for the kids to sleep. Their exhaustion was easy to see, but as kids tend to do, they still protested against the tyranny of enforced bed times. Bribery is a great tool when you need it, though. We exchanged the last of the apple pies for their orderly and quiet egress to their bed chambers, the car’s back seat. They agreed to our terms, and that night’s bedtime war was won without incident. Lexi followed suit, snuggling with the two kids until the smaller kids were snoring. If Lexi went to sleep, I will never know. I couldn’t fault her for putting off her nightmares for as long as she could.
“Thank you Dan,” Abby whispered as she leaned into me.
“For what?” I asked.
“For bringing a little hope into tonight. I honestly don’t know how much more of that I could have taken. We all needed a laugh, and you gave it to us.” She leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“I was afraid everyone was on the verge of giving up. I don’t know if I would have the strength to go on without my family. If you guys gave up, I don’t know what would have happened.” I set more wood on the fire, until the small flame jumped back to life. I stared at my mismatched shoes as stinging moisture coated my eyes. “I’d die without you guys.”
“Don’t talk like that Dan,” Abby said gently as she caressed my hands. “Katie is the reason to keep going, no matter what happens. If something happened to me…”
“Don’t!” I said more forcefully than I meant to. “Katie needs her mom! I need my wife! Don’t you dare let anything happen!” I ordered.
“Dan,” she started. “We don’t know how this will all turn out. It could be over tomorrow, or this could be our new lives. The fact is, we don’t know what will happen from now on. Promise me, if something happens, you will go on. For Katie. For Lexi and Jane. For me. Just promise me that you will live.” Now it was her turn to turn away. But not before I caught her bottom lip quiver.
“I promise. As long as you promise to try not to become zombie kibble,” I said squeezing her hand.
“I don’t plan on it,” she said, stifling a laugh. “But you have to admit, if you were a zombie, you’d want a bite of this.” She turned her head towards me seductively, giving me a little wink.
“Why do I need to be a zombie to want a bite of that?” I asked as I playfully bit at her neck.
“Back off Danny boy, the kids are in the car. Besides, you smell like beans,” Abby said. “Have you given any thought about how we will get on the road again tomorrow?”
“Some,” I said. “Turning down this road did help with time. I don’t think it will take long to get to the farm if we keep up our pace. Worst case, I’ll see if Chris can make it here. Otherwise, I’ll go out in the morning and look for a car to siphon. I saw a gas can and some tubing in the back.”
Fear crept back into Abby’s eyes. We both knew the dangers outside, and wandering out alone could end up being a fatal decision. As much as I hated the idea, there was little choice in the matter if we wanted to get moving again.
“I wouldn’t mind cuddling a little while longer,” she said after a long span of silence.
“Me neither,” I said as I pulled her close. We took comfort in each other for another half hour before weariness finally got the better of us. With one last kiss, Abby stood and went to the front seat of the car, curling under her jacket. Her head barely hit the cushioned headrest before her rhythmic breathing told me she had joined the choir of the unconscious.
I opened my cell phone. Only one bar of signal, but it was something. There was a chance that I would be able to reach Chris in the morning. I hoped the cavalry would bring coffee. I was starting to go through caffeine withdrawal. I don’t know why as I was ransacking the general store, I did not have the foresight to pick up a can of grounds. Hell, even instant sounded wonderful.
I leaned against our bumper, listening to the pop and crackle of the slowly dying fire. I decided to stay where I was. The soft cushions would have been far more preferable to the cold and dusty concrete floor. However the car muffled outside noise, and if someone or something decided to pay us a visit, I didn’t want to be caught playing poker with the sandman. After checking the Glock’s magazine one last time, I drew my jacket over my shoulders and allowed sleep to wash over me.
My intent was to try and only fall into a light sleep. I hoped the cold and uncomfortable floor would allow me to wake up if I needed too. This proved to be a major miscalculation on my part, as I awoke to a face with the bushiest mutton chops I had ever seen standing over me. I didn’t have enough time to blink before his rifle butt met my forehead. For some reason, I smelled bread.
Then, nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rosa’s throat burned with thirst, and her stomach felt like it was collapsing in on itself. The hours ticked by while the monsters milled about the supply room. Occasionally she would peek out of the small tear to get some semblance of time. The morning sun had given way to shafts of afternoon sunlight pouring into the ER. She checked again, and the afternoon had dissolved into evening, and soon it was night again.
Through all that time, the things never stopped moving. At one point in the middle of the night, two creatures fell into the canvas cart she had used to shield her own. It tipped over, spilling its contents to the floor. She watched as one of the former patients picked up a white sheet stained with crusted blood, and begin to chew on it. Its eyes rolled upwards as if it had found a source of ecstasy in the rust colored stain.
Her muscles ached after the long hours cramped up in the canvas laundry cart. Without the other cart blocking her view, she was able to peer through her tiny tear and beyond the wall of dead flesh. The early morning rays again pierced into the horror show that was the emergency room. She knew exactly where she was. A run out the door, a quick left, and the ambulance bay doors would be a few steps away. A short run she had no hope of making.
She pulled back, laying her head back on the bundle of sheets she bunched up into a pillow. Her body heat was trapped under the pounds of material on top of her. Sweat poured off her in steady streams. On top of her concussion that had calmed to a dull roar, she was facing the very real possibility of dehydration. Hopelessness overwhelmed her as the realization hit that she could be lying in her own tomb.
Her thoughts drifted back to her parents, and the days she spent in their home outside of Albuquerque. She thought of the family she lived with in Chicago after her parents died suddenly. She thought of her friends, her coworkers, and even her newlywed neighbors who liked to remind her at least three times a day that she was single and living in an apartment with very thin walls. She was saddened with the realization that she would probably never see any of them again.
Deep in thought and muddled in grief, it took her a few moments before she realized something outside her stuffy confines had changed. It was quiet. No shuffling or growling; all was completely still.
Did she make a sound when her mind drifted off? Was she discovered? Were they closing in on her? Those ideas raced through her mind as she tensed with fear. She didn’t want to move, but she had to peek outside. She had to know.
She pulled the small flap of canvas back, peering through her tiny window into the world beyond dirty laundry. They were like statues, unmoving and silent. But unlike before, their heads were turned towards the open doorway and away from her. She listened intently for some clue as to what held their attention. She did not have to wait long.
“Mom! Dad!” a voice called out.
“Dude, this is crazy! We shouldn’t be here!” another young voice. They sounded like teens, twenties at best.
“You can leave if you’re scared! I’m staying!” he sounded desperate, and close to hysterics.
“Look around you! They’re gone man!”
“Mom! Dad!”
“Shut up! Those crazy fucks are still behind us!”
Rosa’s fists balled up. Her compassion and drive to help others warred with her own survival instincts. She could call out and warn them of the danger they were in, but at the cost of her own life. In the end all she could do was watch through her little tear in her canvas wall.
“Mom!”
Suddenly the mass of the dead moved. Within seconds the room emptied as the creatures surged out through the door. Moments later the men cried out, their painful wails almost drowned out by savage growls. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears to block out the horrific torment of the dying.
Without thinking, she was on the move. She pushed the filthy laundry aside, and attempted to spring out of the cart. But her muscles were painfully cramped from the long hours spent in the fetal position. The cart toppled over, throwing her onto the floor and into the putrid bile and clotted blackened blood that had oozed from the creatures bodies. The smell was like raw sewage, and it was seeping through her scrubs.
She pulled herself up and struggled to keep her footing through the slime. She guided herself along the wall until she reached the broken door. She stepped out into the brightening morning light blasting into the ER and gasped at the horror a short distance away.
They were like swarming ants piling on top of each other. She couldn’t hear or see the men, but she knew they were under the mass of frenzied creatures somewhere. Blood was painted on the walls and floors. Splatter had reached as high as the fluorescent lights, casting deep red shadows across the room. Amongst it all were dozens of dead faces, long strings of sticky and bloody drool hanging from their lips. They were reaching through the swarm, eating whatever scraps of meat they could pull from underneath the pile of squirming dead bodies.
She turned away from the carnage and pushed through the muscle cramps towards the sliding glass doors. Beyond them sat a red and white box ambulance glistening in the morning sun. The back doors were still open, and she could make out the keys still hanging in the ignition. She dragged herself forward, expecting the sensors to engage the motors to slide the clear glass doors open.
Nothing happened.
Frantically, she waved her arms in front of the door sensors to no avail. She tried to push the doors apart, but they would not budge. She glanced at a small red panel on the wall to her right. An amber light on the upper display was flashing. Somehow the emergency lockdown had been tripped. It was a new system to stop people from entering or leaving the hospital. One push of a button behind any nursing station would lock down an entire floor and alert security.
She spun on her heels and saw several of the dead that had broken away from the feeding frenzy shuffling towards her. Mouths open, the same strange spittle emerging from their lips. Their grimy stained hands outreached towards her, teeth clattering at the air.
Rosa pushed her cramped muscles to their limits. She ran back to the ER station where she knew the lock release was situated. She stopped short, skidding across the tiled floor until she was close enough to slap down on the large red button. There was a loud click, and the door motors came to life.
As she turned to run back the way she came, she saw that several more creatures had broken from the feeding pack and were sizing her up for their next meal. One in particular drew her attention. She saw it just as it bit down on an intact eyeball, sending its juices flying as if it were an overripe cherry tomato.
For the first time since she had woken up, she screamed. Zombies that had not noticed her before were now turning their unholy eyes on her. Several were already on the move, and she was their target.
She ran towards the closing doors. Jagged fingernails raked at her sleeve as she ran dangerously close to a toothless old man still attempting to gum a small piece of bright red flesh. The door sensor triggered and the doors opened to the icy winds of the Wisconsin winter. The frigid air was a welcome change after the hours spent sweating inside the laundry cart.
She dove into the back of the ambulance and slammed the doors behind her. It appeared the locks she had disengaged had kept the most of the monsters trapped inside. As soon as the doors opened, the dead flooded out of the building. The parking lot was filling fast with the walking ghastly horrors.
She charged through the patient compartment and into the cabin, sliding behind the wheel. Rosa reached underneath the seat and toggled the rig’s power switch, saying a small prayer that the batteries had not completely drained. She held her breath until the dash lights came on, and the power indicator read a full charge.
“Come on!” she exhaled as she turned the key and the glow plug indicator illuminated. Within seconds the light went dim, and the diesel engine roared to life.
Cool air suddenly crept up her arm. She jumped when she looked over to see a mutilated skinless face staring back at her. Its fingers wrapped around the door handle, and it was starting to open.
Rosa shrieked and threw the vehicle into drive. The ambulance rocketed out of the bay, slamming into three corpses in the process. She no longer cared about a clear path; she had to get away. She felt one of them under the massive tires, bones crunching as the rig obliterated its skull. She swerved around as many as she could, but the top heavy ambulance rocked violently, threatening to topple over and leave her helpless against the growing horde.
Rosa straightened the wheel and barreled through the remaining things blocking her path, until she cut the wheel onto the exit drive. She looked back one last time to the place she had spent so many happy years.
She drove away knowing she would never see that hospital again.