Rage (3 page)

Crew Cut was on the ball. He reached around the door and fired, hitting the thing in the knee. It lost balance and toppled off. Another quickly took its place. He took another shot, missed and the fucker shattered the glass.

Safety glass whitened my vision. I fired into the white creating a hole that caused the screen to collapse in on us along with the zombie. Long Haired screamed and started kicking at the head. The thing wasn’t moving. It was a lucky shot considering I couldn’t see it.

The commotion distracted Crew Cut. He turned, hand out for a fresh loaded weapon when his eyes suddenly went wide. He was yanked through the window. Long Haired grabbed his legs. I powered the gas. Bumped over a body and Crew Cut was free. Scratched but free.

“
Give me a gun.” His voice was strangely calm. I’d be shitting bricks if it were me.

A massive rip throbbed on Crew Cut’s left cheek. His forehead bore scratches and cuts and his neck was covered in blood and he was demanding a gun, but it didn’t look like he had been bitten. Long Haired handed him a fully loaded Glock. He leaned out again and resumed returning the dead to Hell. The zombie I had shot earlier still dangled half in the cab and half on the hood. Long Haired grabbed it by the head and shoved it fully out of the cab. That done, he grabbed fresh rounds he’d placed on the floor. His hand was bleeding.

“
You alright?” I asked.

“
Yeah. Safety glass ain’t all that safe.”

We stopped. Or I should say, the truck stopped.

The wheels were spinning but not gripping the road. We were stuck on someone and the horde saw their chance. They clambered over fallen comrades to get fresh meat.

In the back, someone screamed. Long Haired shot zombies off the hood. Crew Cut ejected spent magazines like candy wrappers. Gunfire filled the air behind us. Me? I kept the accelerator down and turned the wheel left to right trying to wriggle a grip from the burning flesh under us.

The horde was massive and seemed to keep growing. Where were they all coming from? The town appeared empty but that’s how they win. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
It’s a numbers game at times
. Both were in their court. All we had was fear and a strong desire to survive. Oh—and weapons. Then I heard two words I never wanted to hear. Crew Cut said, “I’m out,” and tossed his Glock to the floor. He wound up his window. That wouldn’t protect him for long. “Get us the fuck out of here.”

“
I’m fucking trying!” The passenger window smashed. Crew Cut yelled. Long Haired reached for him. I jumped in the seat, furiously turning the wheels left and right. Crew Cut was partly out the window. Shots from the back had stopped. There were only shouts and screams and suddenly we jolted forward. I kept my foot down. Crew Cut screamed as he was yanked out the window. Long Haired reached out for him.

No way in Hell was I gonna stop. He was a goner anyway. At the intersection ahead one lone zombie stood, surveying the action. As we approached, it stepped off the road and onto someone’s front porch. Turning its back on us, it walked around the side of the house and vanished from view. I turned right instead of left taking a long roundabout way back to camp. The truck had half a tank of gas so a two-hour trip was no problem. Long Haired moved to shotgun. I saw him wipe his face with a blood-splattered sleeve. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“
Team effort,” I said. “Hey, do me a favor.”

“
Sure. What?”

“
Lean out the window and check if everyone’s okay.” He did as asked and reported everyone was fine. Twisting in his seat, I pulled to the side of the road and took a deep breath. My nerves were haywire, adrenaline raped my veins, and if I got out of the truck, I don’t think I could stand. However, I had the power to raise my Glock and point it at Long Haired.

“
Why we stopped?” someone called from the back.

I ignored them.

Long Haired stared at me and raised his hands.
“Dude?”

“
You wiped your mouth.”

“
So?”

“
So, I’m waiting.”

“
I’m not like them.”

“
Not yet. We’ll see.” I held the Glock steady. Long Haired protested but I blocked him out. The others in the back watched through the small back window. Two got out and took up position at each side of the truck, weapons raised. One aimed at me and the other at Long Haired. They knew the seriousness of the situation as much as I did. If he changed, he died. We couldn’t abandon him for fear of him later finding camp. And bringing others.

Time seemed to move slowly. We had just been in a battle for our lives. We had saved each other. Now I was willing to blow his brains out and not give it a second thought. I suddenly wondered if I could be this heartless if Sally got infected and realized I could be, very easily. Hell, I’d been the one about to shot my daughter. I pushed the thought out of my head to focus on the present. Besides I knew I probably would put a hole in her head, or put one in myself first. Long Haired lowered his hands. I wasn’t comfortable with the gun pointed at me. I didn’t want to get blown away by a nervous trigger finger. Not a cool way to go.

It took a lot of courage for me to lower the Glock and exit the truck (with the car keys). “Lower that weapon, soldier.” His finger dropped from the guard. “Point it at Long Haired.” He gave me a quizzical look. “The guy in the truck.” He nodded.

“
This could take awhile,” the guy next to me said. Having only one experience with my baby girl being transformed, I had no idea how long it took a grown man to die and come back hungry. “Might take a few hours.”

“
Do you have a suggestion?”

“
Chain him to the back of the truck.”

I saw no reason in that. “He’s just going to change.”

“
We don’t know that. What if he’s not infected? You’d kill one of the few of us still around?” He looked at his friend across the hood. “Agreed?”

His friend nodded and went to the back of the truck. I’d seen a lock box in the back bolted to the cab. It was padlocked. From here, I couldn’t see but I heard the noise he made breaking the lock open. “Got three chains and locks, Jerry.”

“
Bring one—” Jerry doubled over grabbing his stomach and dropping his weapon. The front door of the cab opened. “No you don’t, Sunshine.” Two guns in the back had a line on him. Long Haired smiled at me and got back into the cab.

Jerry hit the ground. I knelt next to him, arm across his shoulders. Jerry grabbed my arm and flipped me over his shoulders, then bit into my hand. His teeth punctured the skin. I think I screamed like a girl while trying to yank my hand free. He was grinding into the flesh. Warm fresh blood—my fucking blood—splattered on the ground. The pain was like nothing I’d ever felt before and I couldn’t get my hand free. A shot rang out. Jerry fell to the side, my hand still in his jaws.

Using my free hand, I struggled to open his mouth. My hand throbbed. Blood flowed freely. I couldn’t believe it. A moment of compassion had killed me. I rolled Jerry over. He still looked like he always had apart from the red eyes and feral snarl. I couldn’t see any marks on him and no bites or deep scratches were evident. I checked his hands, face and neck. The rest of his body was covered in Army gear, including boots.

I felt the cold steel barrel press against my neck. In the truck, Long Haired started laughing. I sighed. This was the end of the road. “Get in the back of the truck.”

I did as I was told. No words of protest or pleas came forth. Knowing the score, I think I was in shock.

Unbelievable. The odds were always stacked against us but finding Eric’s group and his future plans seemed to lower the odds and provide a new life. Not one we were used to, but one with safety, security and purpose. Not a life driven by a fat or slender bank account. Those days were long gone and for me they were not missed. My sustainable life was now gone, all I had to look forward to was a bullet in the head.

The two girls looked at the bite on my hand. It did look bad. Trisha kept her gun pointed at my head. “This is all because of you,” I said looking at Long Haired through the small window at the back.

“
Luke,” the guy smiled at me, “get Long Haired out of the cab.”

“
Copy that, Terry.”

“
Shelly,” Terry said to the girl next to Trisha, “get the padlocks.” She did as told, rummaging around in the broken box. Terry wrapped one chain around me three times. “Pity.”

“
Why?”

“
Eric liked you, you had leadership qualities.” He took a padlock from Shelly. “I would have followed you.”

I wasn’t sure how to react to that.

“
Sitting or standing? Two hour drive ahead of us.”

“
Sitting.”

Terry and Trisha helped me into a sitting position. It was uncomfortable on the chains but better than a long as stand. Luke got Long Haired onto the back. The guy was still smiling. “Karma’s a bitch, ain’t she?” His eyes were locked on mine.

“
Oh my God, he’s changing,” I screamed. Trisha swung her gun around, almost pulled the trigger but Terry put his hand on the weapon. She looked confused for a moment, and then slowly turned to face me. “What the fuck?”

I shrugged with a smile. “Almost worked.” Long Haired had lost his smile. I rubbed the bite on my hand. It fucking hurt more than before. Is this the pain my little girl felt? It was terrible imagining her going through this. Thankfully, she changed quickly and felt nothing afterwards.
I hope. Guess I’ll know soon enough.

Long Haired was chained and dropped to the floor unceremoniously. He wriggled over to sit next to me. “Hi buddy.”

“
Shut up.”

“
Now, is that any way to treat your new best friend?”

The girls got off the truck and climbed into the cab. Terry got behind the wheel, leaving Luke to watch us. He didn’t point the auto at us. Instead, he laid it across his lap as he sat against the side and casually watched the scenery pass by. He didn’t seem concerned about anything. I guess he was taking things day by day and getting in some good target practice. He and Terry were the two best shots in camp. They often took people into small empty towns for practice. A couple of times those towns weren’t empty, but they always returned safe and sound. I guess crack-shots have the confidence to sit back, relax and watch the scenery.

“
We could take him,” Long Haired said. “Just gotta wriggle out of these chains.”

Luke didn’t acknowledge the comment. His eyes were on the scenery. I also didn’t reply. My concentration was on the bite on my hand. It seemed to have gotten worse in the past few minutes. I was also starting to sweat, but I felt cold. A shiver started in my shoulders and ran down my whole body. The previously warm sun no longer radiated heat for me. Is this what it felt like to die?

I must have passed out
‘cause the next thing I knew I was back at the camp, chained to a tree with a blanket wrapped over my shoulders. Sally was sitting in front on me, my Glock in her hands. Her sobs were quiet in the evening light. I could see my hand was bandaged and the pain from earlier had ceased. “Sally?”

She looked up. Her face was expressionless. She wiped tears off her cheeks.

I was shivering, but it felt like I was on fire.

“
You have a fever,” Sally said.

I nodded. “Got bit,” I said. “I fucked up, big time.” I looked her in the eye. My emotions were a jumbled mess. I was angry, disappointed at myself, sad, empty and more. There were an entire range of feelings wanting to break the surface. But the one that did break through was: traitorous. I felt like I was a traitor to Sally for getting bit and soon leaving her alone to fight for survival.

“
Yep.”

“
Sorry babe.”

She looked away from me. “They told me what happened, but I still find it hard to believe. You were the one to tell me to be wary of someone in pain or acting weird.”

“
That’s good advice,” I said with a smile. Looking around I saw we weren’t close to the camp. Not far. Not close. “What happened to the other guy? The one with the long hair?”