900 Miles (Book 2): 900 Minutes (2 page)

Earlier that day, before we were stuck in an underwater grave with the dead crawling outsid
e…
and a madman hot on our tail.

Chapter 2

I had two week
s’
worth of stubble. Might have been a beard if I could actually grow one. Instead, mine was a patchy mess, and covered only parts of my face. Reflecting back in the mirror, the puffs under my eyes appeared heavier than normal. Taking a deep breath, I watched my lungs lift and drop as I realized my face seemed to have aged ten years in the seven months since the dead began t
o…
well, not stay dead. 

Buried deep in the underground bunker, I often wondered if we had made the right choic
e…
that fateful decision to return to Avalon. Even at the time, heading back to a place where we were forced to fight as gladiators in the Arena while sparking a revolt within the walls of that supposed safe haven had seemed like a pretty awful idea.  

In the end, we returned mostly because we had nowhere else to go. With Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia being a dead end, we were out of any real options. Besides, they were willing to welcome us back with open arms. The heroes of the Arena. The men wh
o’
d helped to take down the Elites.

Personally, I felt like it was all bullshit. We were just trying to survive.

Rinsing a three-inch metal razor under warm water in the sink, I watched as the clear liquid filled up the metal bowl before spiraling down the drain. Shaving cream was a rare commodity these days, and
I’
d been avoiding this for far too long.   

Pulling me from the mirror, a tiny cough came from the dimly lit makeshift crib across the room. Setting the razor down, I shook a plastic bottle that
I’
d prepared earlier that night, stepped around the table, and passed the long side of the bed to where Tyler was lying. His deep blue eyes peered up at me as he pulled his tiny feet to his face and gummed them.

Reaching down with my left arm, I lifted him up from the base of the crib, and we plopped down together on the couch. The room was huge compared to what most people at Avalon had. I think the others just stuck us in it, away from the common area, so they would
n’
t have to listen to the crying in the middle of the night.

Trust me, I was
n’
t complaining.

Slowly putting the nipple of the bottle into his mouth, I looked down at his now-closed eyes as he chugged down the milk. Yo
u’
d think he had
n’
t eaten in days, but
I’
d been up doing this same routine just hours earlier.

Rinse and repeat all night long until the morning.

Those dark nights with my son, holding him close, feeling his heartbeat, should have been the most precious moments of my life. Instead, it simply seemed to create too much time to think. Too much time for memories. Too much time for pain.

Sitting there in the silence, trying to keep my mind clear, I could
n’
t help but glance down at his face. Feeling my eyes beginning to well up, I tilted my head and looked at the rust creeping across the metal-covered ceiling, once again, taking a deep breath of recycled air into my lungs.

He looked so much like he
r
…

My mind would drift, often to the last time
I’
d seen my wife. Memories always seemed to find their way down that dark path to the moment sh
e’
d turned. Those savage red eyes staring blankly at me.  

I would think back to her grave.

Most everything about that day is a blu
r…
except the moment I had buried my wife.

I remember using a rusted shovel that blistered my hands against that worn handle as I pulled up heaps of red Georgia clay to create the shallow grav
e…
leaving her body to rest in a nameless field just outside the landing pad in Augusta.  

A wife torn from her husband. A boy who would never know his mother.

We could
n’
t take her with us, and I would
n’
t leave her to rot. I remember standing above the grave, reaching down to my wedding ring, twisting it around a swollen finger. Sh
e’
d told me the ring was a lifetime ring, made of titanium, a nearly indestructible metal. As a symbol of our lives together, we were supposed to last forever. With my hands covered in blood, dirt, and God knows what else, a flash of rage screamed through my body as I yanked the ring off and threw it down into the fresh dirt resting below. I did
n’
t deserve to wear such a sacred vow.

I had let her die. 

Feeling my knees tremble, I dropped to the ground to sturdy myself.

In that moment, my wedding ring caught my eye.
I’
m not going to call it fate, or anything more than the sun gleaming across it, but I felt compelled to reach down to brush the dirt off its base. Pausing, I picked it up and slid the vow back across my finger.

I could
n’
t let myself off the hook that easily.

Eventually, we all get knocked down. Sometimes, we get hit harder and more brutally than others. The question always is will you have the strength to get back up? On that day, I was able to dig down and find what I needed to lift my head to keep moving.

No matter how hard I was hit and how easy it would have been to curl up and di
e…
in the end, I had more than myself to think about.

After all, I still had one thing worth living for. My son.

Wiping a sleeve across my face, I sat up, pulling my foot from the table in front of us, and leaned over to adjust the nebulizer. That small medical device that vaporized liquid was designed to push the fine, lifesaving mist deep into Tyle
r’
s lungs. Rubbing his soft cheek with the outside of my finger, I let out a deep sigh as I made sure the face mask sitting over his nose and mouth was firmly in place.

Administering the precious medicine directly into his lungs, my own chest tightened as I realized this was the last of the medication here in my room.
I’
d need to head back to the Med Center to pick up more before tomorro
w’
s dose.

Tyler was on the countdown timer now, and I had no idea the start button had already been pushed. If only
I’
d known what was happening down the hall. The chaos that had already broken out. I would have held him a little tighter, kissed him a little harder, and hugged him with a little more love. But tha
t’
s how this new world works now.

In a flash, everything can change.

Bronchial inflammation of the airways, tha
t’
s what the doctor called it. With the shit luck of being born premature, Tyle
r’
s lungs were simply underdeveloped. The doc explained it would cause Tyle
r’
s airways to swell, tighten, and produce a crap ton of mucus in his lungs. Something so easily controllable with a simple inhaler.

Things were different now.

Between oxygen therapy keeping his lungs moving in those first months of his life, and the daily medication regimen we had him on, I thought we had everything covered. After all, we had enough supplies to last quite a whil
e
…

Looking over toward the mirror, I saw the reflection of the two of us staring back. Taking a deep breath in and letting it out with another sigh, my eyes landed on the razor sitting on the sink. I still needed to shave.

With Tyler in the crib, I stepped back over to the faucet and slid some white lather across my cheek. Just then, a knock came to the steel door at the entrance to our room. Rolling my eyes, I dropped the razor and wiped my face clean. Shaving would have to wait a bit longer. Dignity would have to take a rain check. 

Gently removing the mask from around Tyle
r’
s face, I lifted him up from the crib on my way to the door while tickling him in the soft spot under his ar
m–
savoring every moment. I grinned as a smile burst across his face, accompanied by a raw but genuine giggle. He stretched over my shoulder, trying to escape. Afraid there was no such luck for the little guy.

It did
n’
t matter that there was no peephole in the door. I already knew who patiently waited on the other side. Reaching down to the handle with a sigh, I noticed the ring resting on my finger before I turned it to the left.  

If I had known what was already unfolding on the other side of the complex, I would have been far more cautiou
s
…

Opening the door with an audible metal on metal squeak, I flashed a friendly but unconvincing smile.

“
Oh, you do
n’
t have to fake it
,”
she said as she reached out to pull Tyler into her arms
.“
I know you did
n’
t get any sleep last night. Now give me that little man
.
”

Lazily nodding, I reached up to a small bit of cream that
I’
d missed and wiped it away with my hand
.“
Well, good morning to you too, Deanna
.
”

Deanna had been watching Tyler almost every day. She was a mother once, long ago, but never spoke of it. Luckily, the wrinkles on her face told me that her children were grown by the time the world went to shit. I knew that they were
n’
t here in Avalon, which by all accounts meant they were likely not of the living. She probably knew it too.

In this world, deep down, we all feared the worst. 

Placing a hand on the doorframe, I noticed the slight limp that came with age as she stepped into the room. Her gray hair was pulled up into a bun, and she wore a multi-colored dress that fell loosely over her body.

Deanna loved Tyler, and I always felt comfortable leaving him with her. She was that perfect grandmother type, and
I’
d often wondered how sh
e’
d even managed to survive the initial days. In the end, I just figured she was determined to live because she was too afraid to di
e…
just like the rest of us.

Picking up the bottle that
I’
d made earlier to find that it was empty, she shot me
a“
Thanks for the help, dick
!”
kinda look.

Holding my hand out in front of me, I pointed at my face
.“
I ca
n’
t even find time to shave
.
”

Shaking her head while walking over to replace the bottle, she looked out of the corner of her eye and asked
,“
What are you boys up to today
?
” 

She was always looking for little nuggets of dirt on the inner workings of Avalon.

“
Exterior defenses
.
”

She looked blankly out into the room, thinking through it for a moment before responding
.“
Outside the wall
?
”

“
Tha
t’
s what they tell me. Guess w
e’
re gonna herd the Zs into the Dead Shed
.
”

“
I hate that place. Seems so dangerou
s…
What if those things get loose
?
”

Months ago, w
e’
d made a conscious decision to construct a small compound outside the concrete walls of Avalon. The compound, made of mostly sturdy wooden planks, gave the appearance of an old oversized shed. Little would any would-be attackers know that it was filled to the brim with Zs that w
e’
d been collecting in there for months. If anybody we could
n’
t handle ever decided to storm our wall, the best defense would be an offense that started with letting those bastards loose to swarm the Yard.

“
Tha
t’
s the point, Deanna. The
y’
re supposed to get loos
e…
when we want them to
,”
I said, trying to fake a little confidence.

“
I still do
n’
t like i
t
…”

Nodding, I walking over to the closet and pulled out a scuffed-up black helmet which matched the black body armor I was wearing. Flipping a switch on my belt, I heard a tiny squelch through a two-way radio that rested on my shoulder as I thought back to the origin of the suit. A remnant left over from the fallen men that once guarded Avalon. I always felt a little strange knowing that someone had likely died in it.