Authors: Megan Berry
“Fine,” he huffs, though he doesn’t really seem all that mad, so I am mostly convinced it’s all for show.
I reach down and pull out one of the apple bags and pass them around like I would have done with a bag of chips back in the old days. We munch apples in silence as the miles fly by.
“So where about in Watseka are we dropping you off?” Silas asks finally, breaking the silence, and Natalie jolts as she peels her eyes away from the scenery outside the window.
“Just anywhere is fine,” she says vaguely, and I don’t miss the way she nervously licks her lips.
“Natalie,” I say, not sure how to gently probe the information out of her…
“Cut the shit, tell us all about this secret mission you’re on, or you’ll be back to walking,” Silas interrupts—not quite how I was going to phrase it.
Natalie goes pale at the mention of walking. “Alright,” she agrees after a moment. “I didn’t want to tell you because I was afraid that you wouldn’t help me.” My heart sinks like a stone at her announcement, and my brain fills in all sorts of crazy details in the absence of real information.
“I’m looking for my husband,” she says, and I blink in surprise. That doesn’t sound like anything bad. “He’s in the Watseka jail,” she says baldly, and I can’t help but catch Silas’s grimace in the mirror.
“What’s he in for, murder, rape, robbery?” Silas asks, listing off a string of rather terrible things.
“Nothing like that!” Natalie interjects, holding her hands up in the air as though to calm Silas down. “My husband was picked up for a DUI the night everything started to go down. I was going to come pick him up in the morning, he was only supposed to spend the night in the drunk tank, but then everything started to happen that night, and I…” Her words are interrupted by a ragged sob that wracks her body, and big fat tears start to fall down her cheeks. “I couldn’t get away,” she whispers.
“You know it’s been two weeks,” Silas tells her, “The chances of him still being alive are not good.”
“Silas!” I yell at him, but he only shrugs.
“It’s the truth. She’s chasing a ghost, putting herself and that baby in danger for no good reason.” I watch Natalie’s shoulders stiffen at his words
“I’m not an idiot,” she tells Silas, and I’m surprised by the vehemence in her voice. “I know it’s a long shot, but I have to know for sure. I’m not asking for your help, just a ride into town.” Ryan and I look at each other in surprise, worried about Silas’s reaction, but he’s silent for a while.
“Okay,” he says finally, and we all stare at him.
“Okay, what?” I ask, not quite sure what he means by it. Silas looks at me in the rear-view mirror as he continues. “We’ll help her look for her husband, a quick in and out.” My face must have shown my shock because Silas presses on to convince me. “A police station could be a gold mine if it hasn’t been picked over, and we could still make it to the cabin tonight.” He looks at me like he expects me to object.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “We should help her, I’m just surprised it was your idea,” I tell him with a grin, making Ryan and I laugh, and Silas scowls at us.
“Thank you!” Natalie tells Silas once our laughter dies down, and she has to wipe away a couple emotional tears.
Silas doesn’t really acknowledge her gratitude, and I can’t help but think that he’s uncomfortable with it. “Reach in that glove box and pull out the map, let’s see how close we are,” he barks at her instead, making me press my lips together to hide my smile. Silas really is a secret softy.
We unhook the trailer and leave it hidden at an abandoned farm a few miles from town. Silas thinks the bulky trailer might get us into some trouble if we run into a big group of zombies, so we unhook it, leaving the hitch with the truck, and hope it will still be here when we get back.
Watseka looks like it’d been a nice little town before the zombies. A large Welcome to Watseka sign greets us as we pull into town, and in the distance I see a really weird tower with a smiley face on it that seems very out of place in the apocalypse. It’s not a city by any stretch of the imagination, but it isn’t a one horse town either, so we will have to stay vigilant.
“I don’t suppose you have any idea where the cop shop is?” Silas asks as he steers the truck around a group of ten or so zombies staggering around in the middle of the street.
Natalie pulls her eyes away from the gruesome bunch and digs in the pocket of her pants, pulling out a torn and ragged piece of paper. “I have the address,” she confirms, passing it along to Silas.
Silas glances down briefly to read it, and the truck smacks loudly into a zombie on the road. “Shit,” Silas growls as he cranks two wheels up onto the curb to avoid more of them, and my stomach flips at the idea of the truck breaking down right here in the middle of zombie-ville.
“Do you think the truck is okay?” I ask anxiously, and Silas nods.
“I wasn’t going very fast, it probably didn’t even leave a dent,” he assures us. Sunny has her face pressed into Ryan’s side to avoid seeing all the terrifying things outside the window, and I feel awful that we had to drag the little girl into danger. Part of me wanted to leave her with the trailer, but that wouldn’t be any safer, even if one of us stayed with her. We only have the one vehicle, so anyone who stayed at the trailer would be trapped there if something happened to the rest of us, or if, God forbid, a hoard came along.
“It’s inside the municipal building,” Natalie points to a nice looking brick building up ahead, and my palms start to sweat. It feels like we arrived at our destination way too fast.
There are a lot of zombies around, and more are being drawn by the movement of the truck. I have no idea how we are going to get close to this building with all of these assholes staggering around out there.
“Are you guys ready to go?” Natalie asks, breaking the silence, her hand on the door handle, and Silas shakes his head.
“Hold up. You’re not going,” he tells her point blank, and I watch her angrily cross her arms over her chest.
“Like hell,” she argues, and I see a pissed off look cross Silas’s face.
“Look outside at all those things,” Silas argues, pointing to the flesh-eating monsters that are starting to gather. “Do you really think you’ll be able to outrun them in your condition? Can you run or jump, and do you even own a gun or know how to shoot one?” he demands, making Natalie look even angrier.
“I’ve made it this far,” she points out, but Silas isn’t having any of it.
“You accept our help, the way I say, or you’re on your own,” he says with finality in his voice, and Natalie turns pale at his threat. The zombies have reached the truck now and are starting to bang their fists against the glass, clawing and moaning. Silas hits the gas and easily outdistances them, parking further up the block. I look back and see that they are doggedly staggering after the truck.
“If those doors are locked, we might have to climb in through a window,” Ryan says from the backseat. “We will be in and out much easier than you would be, you need to think about the baby,” he continues with far more diplomacy than Silas, playing on her new mommy hormones, and finally at last, Natalie nods her head stiffly.
“Do you have a picture of this guy…what’s his name?” Silas asks.
Natalie reaches into her coat and pulls out a worn photo of Natalie and a pretty good looking guy, smiling into the camera with a Christmas tree in the background. “Hank,” she says, passing the picture over to Silas. “His name is Hank.”
“Now we’re talking,” Silas says as he double checks his ammo supply. “Jane, you stay here with Sunny.” Silas instructs, making me purse my lips in annoyance.
“No!” Sunny shrieks from the backseat and starts bawling as she claws desperately to hold on tighter to Ryan. “I want Ryan to stay,” she cries.
“Jesus, Jane. What did you do to that kid?” Silas asks me, and I can only shake my head.
“Sunny, I have to help find Natalie’s husband,” Ryan tries to comfort her, but Sunny just cries louder.
“Okay, new plan. Jane, you’re with me. Ryan’s on babysitting duty.” Silas says, making a snap decision.
Ryan looks furious, like he wants to argue, but Silas motions for me to get ready. I pull my gun from my hip and hold it in my trembling fingers.
“The rest of you, drive the truck around and keep those things off our back,” Silas says, interrupting Ryan’s protest. Then he jumps out of the truck, and there is nothing left for me to do but take a deep breath and follow him.
He runs quickly to get behind a small copse of landscaped trees, and I dive in right behind him, my head turning in all directions for any sign of danger. My heart hammers so loudly in my chest that I almost don’t hear it when a zombie growls right beside us, apparently he was just hanging out behind these trees too. Silas swings his axe hard and gruesomely splits his skull, dropping him. He wipes the goop off on the zombie’s shirt and turns to me, handing me the picture of the guy we are here to find. I take a quick look at the guy, who looks a little preppy, and then tuck it into my pocket for safe keeping.
I peek out at the truck and see that a couple zombies have started to break off from the main group and head in our direction. The truck starts to move suddenly, Ryan must have gotten into the driver’s seat, and the shrill beep of the horn makes my pulse sky rocket. The zombies’ attention is riveted back to the truck, and Silas turns away to scan the area behind us, confident that Ryan can handle his part.
There is a lot of open lawn and flower beds between us and the building, and I hear Silas let out an annoyed huff as he takes off running. I grip my pistol and start after him. One of these days, he’s going to regret always running off and leaving me—I’ll probably be dead, but at least Silas will be sorry.
We reach the building without too much trouble, though there are a couple zombies hanging around the front. Silas raises his gun and takes them out, never missing a shot even though he’s still at a dead run. The front door is made of glass and is covered in zombie crud. They’ve obviously been pawing at it for a while, which is hopefully a good sign that the guy we came for might still be alive.
Silas tries the handle, but it’s locked. “Do we smash it?” I suggest to Silas as he scans the rest of the building. It’s all brick and stone walls, but there are a lot of tall, waist-high windows. Silas shakes his head and motions for me to follow him as we slip around to the side of the building. It still feels pretty exposed, so he carries on until we are at the rear of the building. We try the back door, but it’s locked too. There isn’t much out here other than lawn, so it feels more protected from prying zombie eyes.
Silas curses as he walks up to the first window and tries to peer inside. I do the same, but you can’t really see anything. I spin around to protect our back from any incoming unfriendlies, but thankfully, the only stirring is the breeze.
Silas uses the head of his axe to smash in the window, and I wince at the noise. We both freeze, waiting to see what will happen. After a few thundering heartbeats, where a flesh-eating zombie doesn’t poke his head out through the glass and snap its teeth at us, Silas cautiously pokes his head inside.
“Empty office,” he whispers, pulling himself carefully through the window before reaching out to give me a hand. “Watch out for the glass,” he warns me, even though I don’t need to be told. My heavy duty boots crunch on the glass, and I’m glad, not for the first time, that Silas made me trade in my flimsy running shoes.
I land inside, my feet soundless on the grey office carpet, and I relax a bit when I see that the door is closed and the office looks undisturbed. “Is this the police station?” I ask, looking around, but Silas shakes his head.
“This is also the municipal building, we might be in that area,” he creeps forward and listens hard outside the door before turning back to me. “Ready to go?” he asks, and I’m actually a little touched that he’s checking with me first. I nod, and he cautiously turns the door knob and peers out. It’s a little dark. Even though there are a lot of windows, most of them are covered over with shade blinds. Silas clicks on his flashlight, and I do the same. Then we creep out, together, into the main room.
The air doesn’t smell rotten in here, but we are still on high alert. It’s eerie to be in a place that is completely foreign to you when something could jump out and attack you at any minute.
There are a bunch of desks with computers in the immediate area, and further towards the front of the building there is a large counter, most likely to service the community when they come in to pay their water bills and such.
“It’s probably on the other end,” Silas says, motioning to where the wall is sectioned off to divide the building. I nod, even though Silas isn’t waiting for my confirmation, and we head in that direction. I stumble over a chair leg and let out a squeak of surprise, causing Silas to spin around and aim his flashlight right in my face.
“Hey!” I complain.
After he’s assessed the situation and seen that my foe is actually just a chair, he turns away with a shake of his head. I blink a couple times to clear the spots away from my eyes, and then take off after Silas.
It feels like we reach the ominous door much too fast. Silas tries the handle, and it’s actually unlocked, possibly because it’s already locked inside a secured building, but more likely because there are going to be zombies inside wearing policeman uniforms.
I take a deep breath and blow it out to calm my nerves, and Silas gives me the ‘get ready’ look before he swings the door open and steps back. We find ourselves staring into a black hole. It’s obviously a hallway of some sort, but there are no windows. Silas brings his flashlight up just in time to illuminate rotting, pale skin and chipped, chomping teeth as a zombie comes stumbling out of the darkness and takes a swipe at Silas.
Silas doesn’t have enough room to really raise his gun or swing his axe, so he rams his axe handle up against the zombie’s throat and uses it to hold him off. I start towards Silas with my knife out to give him a hand, but another zombie comes lurching out of the hall. My stomach gives a sick flop when I see that my assailant is only four feet tall.
The little boy is missing a large chunk of skin from his neck and hands, and he comes at me with exposed skeleton fingers, the bones clicking loudly together. I feel bad for the boy, but that doesn’t stop me from ramming my knife down, as hard as I can, into the top of his skull. Usually I’m not tall enough to pull off a move like this. I feel a lot of resistance and realize, belatedly, that the top of the skull is probably one of the thickest parts of bone, but my knife is huge and razor sharp and my muscles burn until it sinks into the squishy brain beneath. The boy zombie stills instantly, and I pull my knife from his head with a surge of guilt just as Silas finally gets enough room to bring his pistol up and press it underneath his zombie’s chin.
The snarling of the zombie is silenced when the bullet blows out the back of his head. “Shit,” I hear Silas cuss, and my heart skitters.
“Were you bit?” I ask, dreading the answer.
“Nah,” Silas replies. “Just got covered in brains,” he tells me, giving me the willies when I think about all the germs floating around in that mess.
Silas holds his flashlight up with his gun, just like I’ve seen people do in the movies when they’re sweeping rooms. I try to mimic him, but it feels awkward, so I give up and grip my pistol at my side in my predominant hand and hold my flashlight up with my left.
“Looks clear, but keep an eye out,” Silas murmurs as he takes the lead. The hallways is super creepy, and the various puddles of blood and ooze we pass don’t help set my mind at ease. We pass by several closed doors marked Interrogation room 1, 2, and 3, which I am quite sure hold zombies. I press my ear up against the jam and hear a lot of shuffling feet mixed with moaning growls.
A zombie wearing a policeman’s uniform comes wobbling out of an open doorway, spots us, and growls loudly as he switches course to come at us. Silas hits him with a vicious swing of his axe, and he goes down twitching. I aim my flashlight into the room as Silas takes a final swing, and I see a female zombie also wearing an officer’s uniform. She’s standing in the corner next to a coffee pot and a box of moldy unfinished donuts, almost like she’s gone dormant. When the beam of my light catches her attention, she swings around and lets out a hiss. Her once tidy bun is pulled out in disarray, and her nose has been completely chewed off! I aim carefully as she draws closer, my hands shaking only a little, and I actually manage to take her down with a single shot.
I sense Silas’s approval, though he doesn’t actually speak as we carry on down the hallway of horror. “Do you think we should be looking in some of these rooms?” I ask the back of Silas’s broad shoulders, but he shakes his head at me.
“I’m betting there will be something at the end of this hall,” he says, and I’m confused.