Amongst the Dead (6 page)

“They’ll use dogs and vehicles to find us, especially once they realize we’ve taken the road. If we’re far enough, I’m hoping the army will not want to waste man power or fuel on finding us, leaving only one small team on our trail.”
 

She stopped chewing, looking up at Jack. “Ben’s brother. It’ll be him that comes looking for us farther than the army would.”
 

“Yes,” Jack said, nodding his head. “He’s an angry man to begin with and he’ll want to use his brother’s death for an excuse to do something other than shoot zombies. Revenge and fun. Two birds with one stone.”
 

An hour later, even after a break and dinner, Riley couldn’t go any further. She was exhausted, the bottoms of her feet throbbing and asking to be let free of her shoes. The road was truly less obstructed than the forest, but the pavement was as unforgiving as it was solid.
 

They decided to camp for the night, making sure to hike a good half-mile off the road. They’d passed abandoned gas stations and houses, but Jack thought they’d be too easily trapped should some problem arise, and the night was clear of rain.
 

Satisfied a fire wouldn’t give away their position—the woods thick with foliage—Jack started a fire so Riley could keep warm.
 

The following morning, after only four hours of sleep, the two companions moved on. Following alongside the road, using the woods for cover, proved too slow and tiring. Traveling along the open road during daylight was extremely dangerous, but the two travelers had little alternative. They chose the highway, keeping as quiet as possible. Hardly a word was uttered between them, allowing their ears to be free.
 

“Where are we heading?” Riley asked, breaking the long silence.
 

“Poughkeepsie,” Jack answered in almost a whisper. “Heard there’s a working city there. Non-military controlled.”
 

“How do you know?”
 

“I don’t, just a rumor around base.”
 

“Isn’t Poughkeepsie far? I remember seeing it on a map once.”
 

“Yes, but I’m hoping to get us a car.”
 

“Really?” Riley responded, as if she’d heard the best news in the world.
 

“Would’ve had one already,” Jack said, pointing to a house standing a few hundred feet off the highway. “Many of these homes probably still have vehicles in them. Back near Binghamton, where the base is, they used to commandeer them from the neighboring houses, whether people were still in them or not. But I wanted to put some distance between us and Roscoe. Cars are an easy, noisy target.” Jack had been looking forward the entire time he spoke, but turned his head around and winked at Riley when he was done. She smiled, unable to help herself.
 

She hadn’t known Jack very long, but she liked him. He reminded her of her father—ruggedly handsome and sure of himself in a positive manner. She also hated connecting with Jack in a way, wanting to stay self-sufficient and strong. But at the same time it was nice to have a friend. At her age, even with all her father had taught her and all she had been through, she still had much to learn. She would follow Jack, listen and learn from him. Like a sponge, she had to absorb all she could if she wanted to not only survive, but live.
 

Over the next couple of hours, they searched various homes along the way, climbing over guardrails and across rough terrain. They’d had no luck with vehicles. Either they didn’t run or the tires were flat or keys couldn’t be found. Most families that had two cars, when they left during the apocalypse to try to get away or reach family members, used only one vehicle. Jack was sure they’d find a working one sooner or later.
 

After a few hours of house-exploration, finding the occasional zombie inside and having to blow its brains out, they came upon a house with a two-car garage. Peering through the dusty window, Jack saw a car inside.
 

They broke into the house via a rear window. Inside they found food—mostly rotten and moldy, but the bags of chips and unopened cereal, although stale, were edible. In the pantry they hit the jackpot, finding a can of corn, two cans of carrots and a can of peas.
 

“Check out the upstairs,” Jack said. “But be careful and quiet. Grab anything valuable for our survival.”
 

Riley headed upstairs, the .38 at her side. The house was quiet, but she acted as if someone or thing might be home. She climbed slowly, passing crooked family photos as if the people that had lived there had left in a hurry. She hoped to find soap and other hygienic items in the bathroom, having not taken many from the cabin.
 

The first bedroom she entered looked as if the occupant had cleaned before leaving. The bed was made, pillows fluffed. The closet door was open, shoes and shirts neatly arranged. She guessed from the décor and clothing that she was in the master bedroom, the parents’ room. It had a bathroom. She entered and found two packaged toothbrushes, two rolls of toilet paper and a bar of Irish Spring soap.
 

The next room was a girl’s room. Posters of forgotten teen idols lined the walls. Pink sheets embroidered with daisies covered the bed. A purple radio sat on a wooden desk with stuffed animals guarding it. Riley had a room like this once—comfortable, soft. Would she ever have one again? Needing to leave, she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.
 

The next room’s door was closed and as she approached it she heard a scraping noise. She crept up to the door, putting her ear to it. Something was moving on the other side. She heard the scraping sound again, followed by a moan. She swallowed, shaking her head slightly. As she backed away, something heavy thumped against the door, causing her to jump. She knew what horrible creature lay on the other side. It could smell her; her presence arousing the thing’s sense to living flesh. The moaning grew louder along with the scratching sound. The thing on the other side was clawing at the door to get at her. It probably hadn’t eaten in some time.
 

She raised the handgun, pointing it at the door. It was too much to hope she’d found a place with no undead. Tears began to blur her vision before spilling over her eyelids and down her cheeks. She could never relax and would always have to be on guard wherever she went.
 

She suddenly felt tired, as if all the strength had left her body, zapped by some unseen force. She lowered the gun and wiped her face with her sleeves. The moaning and scratching continued relentlessly, and she knew it would never stop.
 

She wanted to blast holes in the door, hopefully hit the zombie in the head and silence it, but she had no idea how tall it was. Was it an adult? A small child? She could find out, but she hadn’t the strength to open the door with the zombie up against it. She’d let Jack take care of it, realizing how lucky she was to have someone to count on. People weren’t meant to be alone.
 

Riley walked, half in a daze, back to the girl’s room. She let her backpack slide off her, then removed her coat and flopped onto the soft, dusty mattress. She felt like she was invading someone’s privacy, but the reality was that the bed no longer had an owner. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep.
 

She awoke to Jack’s voice and the shaking of the bed.
 

“Riley,” Jack said, softly, sitting on the bed next to her. She opened her eyes, blinking away the dreariness. “You okay, kiddo?”
 

“Guess I fell asleep,” she said, remembering the zombie. Her face faltered. “There’s one in the room at the end of the hall. I couldn’t open the door by myself.” She felt weak, not physically, but emotionally as if she’d let him down. Jack put a hand on her arm.
 

“I took care of it,” he told her.
 

“Good,” she replied coldly.
 

“Found these,” he said, smiling and letting a pair of car keys dangle from his finger. “Already checked it out. Runs fine and has about three-quarters of a tank of gas too.” Riley forced a smile, matching the grin on Jack’s face. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

A short time later, their bags packed and the car loaded with supplies, they pulled out of the driveway and began heading down the road.
 

Chapter Five

A Bump in the Road
 

It took some time, driving along the back roads and looking for a way onto the highway. The leaves were beginning to fill in along the branches of the trees—the greenery a welcoming symbol of life amongst all the human death. The Earth, with its most dominant species on the brink of extinction, was still showing that it was alive.
 

Riley smiled as the flora flew by, a blur of green and gray. Why were humans the only living thing affected by the virus or whatever it was that was causing the dead to rise up?
 

She was more at ease than she’d been in some time, guessing the gentle ride and having Jack at her side had something to do with it. It was cool out, but she kept the window down, allowing her hand to sail up and down like the wing of a plane, the rush of air exhilarating.
 

The car slowed as it approached the entranceway to Route 17. Jack stopped the car, but left it running. “You’re going to be a second pair of eyes and the main gunner should we run into any hostiles. It’s obvious you can shoot, but firing from a moving vehicle is completely different. You’ll need to aim of course, but set your sights slightly ahead of the target, almost anticipating it.”
 

“Okay,” was all she could say. She’d never shot from a moving vehicle and only doing so would help her become proficient at it.
 

“Get ready to shoot. Practice on objects in the distance like road signs. I hate wasting ammo, but it’s important to learn to shoot while on the move. In this world shooting and survival are equivalent to learning the ABCs. Jack hit the gas. The car lurched forward and they sped onto the highway, the speedometer reaching sixty miles per hour. Jack maintained the speed. “Okay, unbuckle the seatbelt and start shooting at any signs you see.”
 

A good two-mile stretch of asphalt lay ahead as the car sped along. Making sure the passenger door was locked, Riley leaned out of the window, eyeing a yellow road sign in the distance. The wind was fierce, causing her eyes to tear and the weapon to jostle. She tightened her grip.
 

“They’ll most likely be firing at us too,” Jack yelled.
 

Riley squeezed the trigger. The gun’s loud crack erupted, but was quickly left behind.
 

“Keep firing. Steady shots.”
 

Riley had missed badly the first few times, seeing the dirt splash up alongside the road nowhere near the sign. After a dozen tries she caught on, quickly getting a feel for the new experience, and was able to puncture holes through the metal signs.
 

“You sure you’ve never…” Jack was about to ask. “Damn!”
 

A black SUV came around a bend up ahead, barely sideswiping the car. Jack swerved, reaching out a hand to grab Riley and yank her back inside the vehicle.
 

“What’s going on?” she asked. “What’s that vehicle…”
 

“They found us,” he said.
 

“The army men? Ben’s brother?”
 

“Yeah. They must have been on their way back to base, having given up on us. Damn, if we’d only stayed off the road a little longer.”
 

Riley spun around in her seat, looking out of the rear window. The SUV had turned around and was in pursuit of them. She turned to Jack. “What do you want me to do?” The back window exploded as bullets struck it. Riley screamed, ducking low.
 

“Stay down,” Jack hollered.
 

“No,” she told him, already reloading with a new clip.
 

“All right, but don’t bother shooting back until we get around this bend. Put the Kevlar vest over the seat and use it as a shield.”

She reached into the backseat and grabbed the vest, draping it over her seat before grabbing a bag of clips, and setting them on the floor at her feet. Now she was somewhat protected—the headrest the only piece poking through the neck slot. “What about you?”
 

“I’ll be fine. You’re the gunner, just stay alive and take them out.”
 

The highway was windy for a bit, the men in the SUV firing wildly and missing. “I know this road,” Jack said. “There’s a straight stretch coming up. Get ready. Aim for the truck’s grille.”
 

“I can’t believe they traveled so far to find us.”
 

“That’s not an official vehicle. That’s Deak’s personal vehicle. He’s on his own with a few buddies. He wants the person dead for killing his brother and when he saw me driving I became a deserter. He wants me as dead as you.”
 

As the car came around the last bend, a long stretch of highway lay ahead. “Get ready to fire before they do!”
 

She aimed her rifle at the SUV and pulled the trigger. The .30-30’s report was three times as loud inside the small confines of the car. Riley emptied the clip,but the SUV still approached as if she’d fired plastic bullets.