Roads Less Traveled (10 page)

“Mike? Can you hear me?” Kyra asked him. Her voice was laced with panic and rose an octave. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him, which only produced a grimace and a groan. He squeezed his eyes shut and slid his hand back over the wound.

“Oh Jesus,” she whined. She leaned away from him and pressed her back against Ben.

“What’s going on? Kyra?” Ben asked again. Kyra was scooting away from Mike and shoving against Ben’s shoulder, and he had to brace his elbow and forearm against her back to keep her from pinning him to the door.

“Hey I’m trying to drive, move over,” Ben said. Kyra eased up enough for him to lean up and see what was wrong with Mike. “Holy shit, is that blood?!” Ben asked. The shock caused him to whip the wheel and swerve the truck towards the ditch. Kyra screamed and hit the dashboard with both hands as Ben counter-steered and almost overcorrected. They were both out of breath with panic by the time he got straightened up and behind Jake again.

“He’s hurt and he’s bleeding pretty badly,” Kyra said.

“Mike, how did that happen?” Ben asked. Mike didn’t answer. “Hey Mike, how did you get hurt!?” he shouted, again with no result. “Shit,” he hissed and picked up the mic.

“Jake, we have a problem back here. We need to pull over. Find a good spot,” he said firmly. He didn’t want the gnawing fear that had taken hold to seep into his voice and scare the others. Besides, Mike could have just run into something in his haste to get back to the truck. Sure, it could have happened.

“Uh…ok?” Jake said just before he slowed to a stop, dead-center of the road. Ben grunted but stopped right behind him, easing his bumper close to the Jeep’s. He leaned close to Kyra and whispered into her ear.

“C’mon, slide out my side.” He opened his door and held it until Kyra was out, then shut it quietly behind her. They ran to Jake’s window and Ben motioned for him to roll it down. All eyes inside the Jeep were on him; Zack leaned forward with one arm resting on the dash and Nancy scooted up between the front seats.

“We’re in deep shit, Jake,” Ben said as he held his friend’s gaze. Jake studied his face a moment before answering.

“What’d he do?” he asked. It was more a statement than a question. Jake had been waiting for Mike to finally make a fatal mistake. He had also been hoping it wouldn’t result in anyone’s death other than Mike’s own. Ben just shook his head.

“I don’t know what he did, or what happened. He’s hurt, that’s for sure. But he won’t talk. Or can’t, I really don’t know. What do we do? If it was…well if it was, we can’t keep him with us.” Ben’s voice dropped at the last part, allowing the gravity of what he was saying to sink in with everyone. None of them spoke, and none of them disagreed. They were all thinking the same thing, but he had expected some resistance to the idea of leaving someone behind. Definitely some resistance to outright killing one of them.

“I’ll take a look at his injuries,” Nancy said. She slid over to the passenger door and got out next to Kyra.

“Shit,” Jake sighed and looked over at Zack. He nodded once, hopped out, and grabbed the shotgun from between the seats. Jake slid out and eased his door shut. He stood with Ben for a moment, both men gauging each other, searching for any sign of doubt in the other.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Jake sighed again and clapped his friend on the shoulder. Nancy was already to the truck’s passenger side and ready to open the door when Jake and Ben turned towards the pickup.

“Wait!” they cried at the same time, causing not only Nancy, but Zack and Kyra also, to jump and scramble away from the vehicle. Jake pointed towards Mike as he stomped to the driver’s door.

“Zack, hold that barrel on him and if he makes a move at Grandma, blow his fuckin’ head off,” he said as he jerked the door open and pulled his pistol. Jake held his aim on Mike and watched as Zack simply nodded and his grandmother cautiously opened the passenger’s door. Zack moved into position and raised the shotgun. Nancy studied the injured boy’s face, then his bloodied pants.

“Mike, honey, can you hear me?” she asked. She leaned in closer, her hand slowly moving towards Mike’s wound as her eyes remained on his face. Mike turned his eyes to her and grimaced as though he were on the verge of tears.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered back, and they all knew. Nancy smiled and patted his cheek, told him everything would be fine. She stared across the seat at Jake and nodded curtly, then glanced at Kyra.

“Get my bag from the back,” she said calmly. Kyra jogged to the Jeep and climbed in the back seat. She reached over and sorted through luggage until she found Nancy’s first aid kit. She hurried back and moved around Jake, leaning over with the bag in her outstretched hand. Mike leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. Nancy took her kit and moved his hand away to pull back the torn edges of his jeans. Ben had his back to them, keeping watch with his hand on the butt of his handgun. Nancy pulled a few things out; a bottle of peroxide, a roll of gauze, and some medical tape, then tossed the bag on the dash.

“This might hurt a little,” she said softly, her sharp eyes never leaving Mike’s face. She twisted off the cap and poured the peroxide over the bleeding gash. Mike moaned and twisted away from her. She pushed him back with her free hand and tried to comfort him.

“I know, I know. But I have to do this. Almost done,” she smiled. Mike was breathing harder now, and tears streamed down his cheeks. She poured a little more peroxide over the wound and watched as the blood ran from red to brown. After replacing the cap and tucking the bottle back in her bag, she took the gauze and gently started bandaging his thigh, starting at his wound and rolling it around his leg.

“Grandma,” Jake said, low and quiet. He shook his head at her when she looked up, trying to make her see that this would do no good. Sterilizing and bandaging a zombie bite was about as effective as duct taping a head back on after a beheading; the infection was already burning its way through Mike’s system. Nancy only smiled sadly at him and nodded. She knew.

* * *

Ben drove until his eyes were blurry and bloodshot. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel, and his jaw ached from clenching his teeth. Every minute or so he would glance to his right to check on Mike. Every time he was still in the same position; prone and motionless, rolled up in a sleeping bag to keep him warm and restrained. The seat belt was fastened around him, pulled tight and pinching into the fluffy material. Under Jake’s demands, Kyra had moved into the Jeep, keeping Nancy company in the back seat.

The sun had just started to rise as they sped down the blacktop country road. They had driven this way all night after deciding to keep Mike alive and with them. They all knew what needed to be done, but Nancy wouldn’t have it until he had died and was beginning to turn. Then she would allow one of them to put him down. Then, and only then, not a second before. Ben was slightly relieved, but would never let on that this was so, especially to Jake. They were about twenty miles north of Altoona when Jake called on the radio.

“We got somethin’ up ahead,” he said. His brake lights lit up and they came to a stop. Ben pulled up along Jake’s fender and looked down the road.

“Yeah I see it. What do you want to do?” he asked. Up ahead were two cars (one had t-boned the other), surrounded by a dozen deadheads trying to get inside. The occupants of the north bound car were clearly dead and clawing at the windows. The other car’s driver, however, was alive and most likely scared shitless. It looked to be a man, but Ben couldn’t tell any more than that. He had wedged himself between the seats, jumping and shouting each time a zombie pounded on the glass. And it looked like he was alone.

“Let’s be heroes,” Jake answered. Before Ben could voice any objections, Jake and Zack both jumped out of the Jeep, slammed their doors shut, and started firing. Ben muttered some inaudible curse and got out as well, pulling his pistol as he jogged up alongside Jake. One by one the undead fell as the three worked slowly and methodically, picking their shots and taking care not to waste ammo. The man inside the car had twisted around to watch his rescuers. The entire encounter only lasted seconds, though, with situations like this, time always seems to drag out in a long slow line.

“Help me!” the man yelled, his voice muffled inside the car. The three approached slowly, Zack splitting away and walking around the right side of the car as Ben and Jake went around the left. They stepped carefully, raising their feet high over the mostly mangled bodies and keeping their guns aimed on them. After they were confident the dead were actually dead, Jake rested his rifle across the hood of the car and started dragging them away from the door. Zack kept watch from the other side and Ben eased his way along the driver’s window. The man inside scrambled around and flung the door wide, almost knocking Ben down.

“Take it easy, you’re alright now,” he said as he helped the man to his feet. He gripped Ben by the shoulders and laughed.

“Boy am I glad you fellas happened along when you did. Name’s Peter, but my friend’s call me Pete. Nice to meet ya,” he said and shoved his hand towards Ben.

“Pleased to meet you Pete, I’m Ben” he said and shook Pete’s hand. He led the rather large stranger through the mess of bodies and towards the Jeep. Nancy and Kyra were coming over just as Zack and Jake caught up with them.

“This is Jake, Zack, Nancy, and Kyra,” Ben said, gesturing towards his friends as he made the introductions. Pete nodded to each, shook hands, and glanced back at his car. He wiped his forehead and blew out his breath.

“We shouldn’t stick around, I’m sure they called for backup,” Jake said as he jerked his thumb back to the scene. Everyone nodded except Pete, who was looking off in the distance.

“No, no I have to get home. Was on my way there when that happened,” Pete nodded towards the wreckage. “My wife, she’s home alone and I’ve been trying to get back to her.”

“How far away?” Nancy asked.

“Altoona. It’s not far, maybe twenty miles or so down the road,” Pete answered. Ben and Jake shared a look.

“Well, we’re headed in that direction. You should ride with us. But you do realize there’s probably nothing left? No
one
left, I mean,” Ben spoke, softly but firmly. Nancy shot him a look, then took Pete by the arm and started leading him towards the Jeep.

“Come on, let’s get you some water,” she said, patting his hand as they walked. The other three closed in around Ben and instantly began arguing in hushed voices.

“We can’t just give him a lift to his house Ben. We’ll be lucky to make it through that town, let alone go sight-seeing while we’re at it,” Zack said. He was turning his eyes to each of them, looking for support against Ben’s idea.

“Yeah, I agree. The plan was to haul ass through there, not stop for anything unless we had to,” Kyra was shaking her head as she spoke. Ben watched Jake, who had remained silent so far. His old friend sighed and put his hands on his hips.

“Well, if we don’t take Pete in, he’s likely to walk. Which means he’ll be killed. If we do take him in, we know once he finds his wife she’ll be dead or undead, same thing. He won’t want to leave her, we’ll argue and fight with him. All the while we’ll be drawin’ a crowd. If we finally convince him to leave her, it will be a crapshoot whether we make it out or not. Depends on how many of those dead fucks have us surrounded. So now, let’s vote. Grandma doesn’t get one, she already got her way with Mike,” Jake explained, staring intently at each of them as he spoke. They all nodded and agreed.

“Ok, we’ll vote. I vote we take him in,” Ben said. Kyra and Zack looked at each other a moment before answering.

“No, I say we leave him, or convince him it’s a waste of time and he should come with us,” Zack stated calmly. Kyra bit her lip and kicked the ground.

“Alright let’s take him home,” she finally sighed. She crossed her arms and stared at the ground. Jake nodded.

“So we got two for it, one against it. Sorry Zack, I get what you’re sayin’ man. But I think we need to try it. But there’s goin’ to be some conditions first. We’ll take him home, but if he starts this I-can’t-leave-her bullshit, we leave him. Get in, get out. Yeah?” Jake asked, waiting for Zack to come around. He made a face, a mix between a grimace and a smirk, and then simply nodded his agreement.

“Alright, let’s go fill the man in,” Ben said and started towards the Jeep.

* * *

He could see the smoke rolling high in the sky in big billows long before they entered the city limits. Between that and the incessant moaning of a dying man coming from beside him, Ben didn’t know whether to shit or puke. Pete lived on the other side of town, in his words ‘just past the exit sign.’ Ben assumed he meant the you-are-now-leaving-Altoona-please-come-again sign at the other end of town. So the plan was to drive as fast as possible and stop at Pete’s on the way out. Seemed simple enough. Ben kept telling himself this even after they hit Main Street and had to swerve around a school bus that had flipped over. Simple, Jake had said. No problem, Jake had said. His thoughts eventually became audible with each undead they ran over and stranded vehicle they had to maneuver around.

“Street’s blocked. I’m cuttin’ right,” Jake shouted over the radio. Ben could hear the squeal of the tires and almost squealed himself when the Jeep pitched left, sling-shooting around the corner. He tapped his brakes and followed closely behind.