Journal of the Undead (Book 1): Littleville Uprising (25 page)

Emma crept quietly to the door and padded down the hallway. Stopping first at Evan’s room, she peeked inside. Evan had fallen asleep with maps and computer printouts spread all around him on the bed. Emma tiptoed in, tucked a blanket around Evan’s shoulders, and brushed a kiss across his forehead. Stealthily, she slipped down the hall to check on Matt. Her heart pounded as she reached for the doorknob.
It was just a dream
, Emma thought over and over. She breathed a sigh of relief; no one was waiting to strangle her when she opened the door.

In fact, there was no movement inside at all. Emma strained to listen, hoping to hear a snore, a sigh, something. There was only silence as she stepped inside. She tiptoed over to Matt. His silent, sleeping body was sprawled motionless on the bed. Emma reached out, holding her hand close to Matt’s face, hoping to feel his breathing. Unable to feel any movement, Emma delicately laid two fingers on the side of Matt’s throat to search for a pulse. His hand clamped down on Emma’s wrist and she yelped in fear.

“For God’s sake, Emma, what are you doing? Why aren’t you in bed?”

Emma tried to respond but only a faint squeak escaped her lips.

“Bad dream?” Matt asked as he slowly sat up.

Emma nodded as she eased herself down on the edge of the bed. Matt draped an arm around his twin’s shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“Wanna talk about it?” Matt asked through a yawn, knowing she didn’t.

Emma shook her head no and waited for her voice to return.

“Please, tell me you’re not going to start doing this every night,” Matt groaned. “I don’t know if I could take it again.”

“What do you mean
again
?”

“Seriously? You don’t remember? After Mom died, every night for months you went back and forth between my room and Dad’s, checking on us. I don’t think you slept at all during that time. Every time we were in a store with one of those blood pressure machines you made Dad check his blood pressure. I’m pretty sure you were the only elementary school kid who knew what systolic and diastolic pressures were. Hell, I’m not sure I know what they are now!”

“Oh my God, I forgot about that! No, I promise I won’t do that again. But seriously, Matt, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. I never told you how sorry I am about … before.” Emma paused, feeling her throat constrict with emotion.

“Hey, forget about it, Em,” Matt interrupted and pulled his sister into a big hug. “It’s all in the past. Besides, we both acted like jerks.”

Emma rested her head against Matt’s shoulder, relieved that they had made amends. They sat in silence for a moment before Matt suggested that Emma go back to bed. They both needed to get some rest.

“Matt, I’m scared,” Emma whispered.

“We all are, Em. We all are.”

“Evan’s not.”

“Ha! Yeah, right!” a voice from the hallway scoffed.

Startled, Matt and Emma both jumped. Two shadowy figures hovered in the doorway. The voice belonged to Evan and the smaller shape was Kate.

“How long have you been there?” Matt asked, irritated that he hadn’t noticed their arrival.

“Only a couple of minutes. Mom got worried when she noticed Emma was gone. She thought Em went A.W.O.L. again.”

Matt reached over and clicked on the tiny bedside lamp. Once their eyes had adjusted to the light, Evan noticed the puzzled look on Emma’s face. She had whispered something to Matt. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

“A.W.O.L. Absent-With-Out-Leave,” Evan explained.

The clock on the nightstand read 6:15. The sun would be up soon so rather than tossing and turning for another hour, Emma trailed off to take a shower. Matt would have preferred the extra sleep but there was still a lot to do and not much time. The boys began loading the borrowed truck while Kate packed up some food.

Soon everyone was showered, dressed, and ready to go. They were already a little behind schedule but Evan tried not to harp on it. Kate double-checked the locks as everyone piled into the truck.

“Do you think we should wait just a little longer?” Emma whispered to Evan. “You know, in case your dad’s on his way.”

Evan shook his head ‘no’ and helped Emma up into the back of the cab with Lucy. His father’s instructions had been very clear:
Do not wait
. Evan hopped into the driver’s seat and adjusted the mirrors.

“Are we there yet?” Emma called jubilantly from the backseat, hoping for a laugh.

“Don’t you start,” Evan warned. “It’s a good eight, maybe nine hour drive with no traffic, but who knows what’s out there. So cut that out!”

The others laughed and Evan hoped the positive mood would endure throughout their long trip. Getting through town was tricky but Evan navigated expertly through the torched and littered streets. Soon Littleville was behind them and Evan set the bearings for his meticulously plotted course.

***

“Evan, you need to get over. You’re going to miss the onramp,” said Kate.

“I know. We’re not taking the turnpike.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! The turnpike is the fastest way there.”

“Mom, I know what I’m doing.”

Evan tried to explain that taking the highway was just too risky. The safest route was away from heavy traffic areas. Kate insisted that faster was better. In true democratic style, they put it to a vote. Emma immediately sided with Evan but to everyone’s shock, Matt sided with Kate. He was anxious to get where they were going as quickly as possible.

“Well, now what?” Evan groaned. “It’s a tie vote.”

“Hey! You didn’t ask me,” Lucy whined. “What about my vote?”

Insulted, Lucy cast her vote against Evan.

“Sorry, son. You’ve been outvoted. Now get on the highway.”

Against his better judgment, Evan steered up the onramp.

Traffic was light and they were able to cruise at a fair pace. Evan began to think that perhaps he had overreacted. For almost two hours, they had been able to stay between 65 and 70 mph. He had covered more ground than would have been possible on side roads. He didn’t want to jinx the trip but it seemed possible that they might make it to the cabin before dark. Turnpike traffic usually grew lighter as they moved away from the city; this time, the opposite was true. Evan found the new traffic pattern peculiar but tried to convince himself there was no reason to be alarmed. With each passing mile, the congestion grew thicker. The speedometer needle dropped lower and lower until they were finally at a complete stop. With a yawn, Lucy woke, opened her eyes, and looked around.

“Why are we in a parking lot?” she asked.

“It’s not a parking lot; we’re still on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Maybe there’s been an accident.”

Hoping to have his suspicion confirmed, he clicked on the radio and switched to the AM stations.

As he fiddled with the dial, he could only find static. He found more of the same on FM. On the outside, Evan’s face remained the picture of calm, but his insides roiled with anger and fear. Silently cursing himself for getting on the highway, Evan tried to think up a new plan to get out of the never-ending line of stalled traffic. While racking his brain, he noticed two bulky figures lumbering their way. He reached for his gun but, as the bodies moved closer, Evan noticed that they paused by each vehicle, spoke to the occupants, and then moved on.
Not zombies
, Evan decided as he watched them march down the line. Heavily armed and wearing fatigues, the two men trudged to Evan’s side and motioned for him to roll down the window.

“Sorry about the hold-up, folks,” the smaller of the two men said. “Traffic should be moving again soon.”

“Was there an accident?” Evan asked, even though he knew it was wishful thinking. It didn’t make sense for the National Guard to be handling car wrecks.

“No son, ‘fraid not. We’ve been creating a crossover through the median so that we can get you all turned around. The turnpike has been closed.”

Evan tried to voice his objection but he was immediately silenced.

“Look, kid,” the sergeant snapped back angrily. “When traffic starts moving, you
will
follow. Head back to wherever you came from. Just a warning, the first five exits will be closed so you’ll have to get off at one of the Philadelphia exits. Is that understood?” The stocky sergeant glared at Evan, almost challenging him to argue. “There you go, the line is moving. Drive safely and you folks have a nice day.”

There was just a hint of sarcasm in his last statement, making Evan’s jaw clench. As the line of vehicles crawled across the median no one spoke. Everyone was waiting for Evan’s ‘I told you so,’ but it never came.

The first exit ramp was barricaded and covered by a squad of soldiers. Evan’s grip on the steering wheel was so tight his knuckles were white. He muttered a curse under his breath and drove on. They continued in silence until the next exit which was blocked just like the first. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking.

“By the way, we are no longer a democracy. I’m mapping out the rest of the route. End of discussion.”

Kate had noticed, with each passing day, that her son grew more and more like his father. When she tried to apologize, Evan cut her off, assuring her there was no need.

At each new exit, he slowed down to take a look. The barricades were still assembled but at least there were fewer guards as they went. Hours had been wasted but Evan slowed the pace. Other drivers whizzed by, honking and making obscene gestures, but he crawled along.

By the time they reached the Downingtown exit, all of the other cars had sped by. They were alone on the road, just as he had planned. The barricades were up but not a single guard was in sight. Evan swerved onto the exit ramp and floored the gas.

“Evan, what are you doing?” Kate shrieked. “The exit’s closed!”

“Yeah, well I’m reopening it. The grille guard on this thing is like a battering ram. At least that’s what Emma said. We should be able to break through without any damage. We can’t afford to lose any more time. I am not going all the way back home, so hold on!”

With little effort, their large truck smashed through the barricade and coasted smoothly past the tollbooths. They were in the clear but Evan needed to plot a new course. He rummaged through the glove box for his maps. The ordinarily busy intersections were ghostly barren. Stores in the strip mall had been torched. Reminding Evan of Main Street, the front windows were shattered and the insides charred. With little choice, he pulled into the parking lot. It wasn’t the most opportune spot but Evan made the most of it. Grabbing the maps, he spread them out across the hood.

“Mom, I need you, Matt, and Emma to keep your eyes open for,” Evan called out then paused, “um, everything.”

Matt grabbed his rifle, opened the door, and helped Kate out. Ordering Lucy to stay in the truck, Kate slid out with a rifle slung over her shoulder. Emma climbed out and looked around. At first glance, the place appeared deserted but they kept rifles at the ready, just to be safe.

“I’m hungry,” Lucy whined from inside the truck.

Kate glanced at her watch. It was well past two o’clock. No wonder Lucy was hungry. Reaching into one of their bags, Kate pulled out sandwiches and passed them out. Through a mouthful of ham and cheese, Evan announced that he’d found another route. They would leave as soon as everyone finished eating.

Picking at her sandwich, Emma noticed movement from inside the building. While the others ate and chatted, Emma inched closer for a better look. Broken glass and cinders crunched under the soles of her sneakers. Inside, a charred ghoul was also having lunch. Without hesitation, Emma fired two shots into his blistered head. From deep inside the gutted store, Emma heard a faint cry for help. She shouted for backup and, in a blink, the boys were by her side. Cautiously, the three teens entered the smoky building. A soot-covered man had been trapped under a fallen beam. A younger man, wearing a store manager nametag, was trying to free the trapped man. Matt and Evan rushed over to help. Together, they hoped to lift the heavy beam.

“Okay. On the count of three we lift, and Emma, you pull him out of there,” Matt instructed. “Ready? One ... two ... three.”

The beam was heavier than it looked but they managed to lift it just enough for Emma to drag the injured man out.

“Thank you,” he gasped, relieved to be free. “We were only minutes away from becoming a hot lunch.”

“Is there anyone else trapped in here?” Evan asked.

“Not sure,” the store manager answered. “I was hiding in the back office, hoping these
things
would move on when I heard someone calling for help. I gotta admit … I was tempted to stay put. I’m sure glad you guys showed up. I never could have lifted that by myself.”

Emma examined the trapped man’s leg. It was swollen, badly bruised, and possibly fractured. Searching for supplies, she found a couple of PVC tubes and some duct tape. After fashioning a crude splint, she went digging for something that could be used as a cane. Emma heard a strange gurgling noise and froze. Propped against the wall, a young mother was clinging to her baby as she breastfed.

“Are you okay, Miss? Do you need help?”