Roads Less Traveled (29 page)

“This is Nancy, Kasey, go ahead,” she said cheerfully. At least things seemed to be okay at home. I glanced at Jake nervously, took a deep breath, and began explaining the situation to her. He fidgeted and kept wiping his hands on his jeans while I talked, then finally pulled out a pack of Marlboros from his back pocket and lit up. Nancy didn’t reply immediately; each second that ticked by made me more tense and edgy. When she finally spoke, I jumped, nearly dropping the walkie and scaring the cigarette out of Jake’s fingers.

“What do you want us to do, Kasey?” she asked. Jake bent over and retrieved his smoke from the rocky ground. A stiff breeze carried the stink of rotting flesh past our nostrils, and I was once again overcome by panic.

“I want all of you to arm yourselves, and set up in each of the upstairs windows. Stay quiet and stay inside. Make sure the windows and doors are locked and secure. We’ll watch them from here and keep you apprised of the situation.” It was my turn to wipe the sweat from my palms. Jake handed me his cigarette and I took a long, slow drag.

“Understood, Kasey. We’ll keep radio silence and wait for you to contact us. Be careful,” Zack said. I was surprised he answered, then assumed Nancy had hurried away to tuck Shannon someplace safe. I signed off and clipped the walkie to my pocket.

“You wanna set up on that point, behind those rocks?” Jake asked. I looked around a few moments, hands on my hips and kicking at the dirt, weighing our options, then decided that was probably the best place to hide out and watch. I nodded, and walked over to the saddle bags to grab what I thought we would need for the next few hours. We left the rifles behind with the horses; we each had sidearms, but wouldn’t use them unless absolutely necessary.
This is a strictly covert operation
, I thought, laughing quietly at the absurdity of it. I followed Jake back up the slope, then knelt down and got comfortable beside him after he picked his spot behind the rocky ledge. The binoculars hung around my neck, but I didn’t need them to see the disorganized migration of the dead flock below.

“You think they just coincidentally happened along this road, and now they’re simply followin’ it cause it’s easy walkin’?” Jake asked after watching the deadheads for about twenty minutes. I thought about it, and decided it seemed like the most logical conclusion. They weren’t moaning, they weren’t moving and acting like they were on a trail, they were just stumbling around. The momentum of the group as a whole kept them basically moving in the same direction, but at times I could see stragglers get knocked into the ditch, or stray off and attempt walking up the bank and into the woods. In which case they would quickly lose their footing and fall back into the road or the ditch.

“Yeah, I think that’s exactly what happened. They’re migrating, for lack of a better term. Roaming around until they find fresh food. I have no idea where they came from, and the reality is I don’t think that really matters anymore. We’re outnumbered, they’re everywhere. Who cares where they’re from or where they’re going.” I finished with a shrug, lifting the binoculars to my eyes to study them more closely.

The mass was less than a mile from Matias, which put them roughly two miles from the end of my drive. The day was slipping away, and I feared it would be dark before they made their way through Matias and showed their hand. I guessed if we couldn’t see them, we would know by the sounds they made whether or not they had picked up any scent at the end of my driveway. I shared this concern with Jake and he agreed with me. At the pace they were moving, it was very likely to be dark before they made it out of town.

* * *

It turned out I was wrong in my estimation of their speed. Just before dusk, the mass of deadheads entered the far end of town. I wrapped up the uneaten portion of Heath bar I had been nibbling at and tucked it in my jacket pocket. Jake lit yet another Marlboro and watched tensely. I smiled weakly and patted his knee. His agitated state was new to me; he always seemed in complete control of his emotions. But, after more than two weeks of this shit, it was bound to unwind a few nerves, even in the most unwavering individual.

“Hey, what the hell is that?” Jake asked as he sat up straight and pointed towards the end of town. My heart sank when I saw he was pointing at the Hoskins place. My eyes strained against the darkening sky trying to make out exactly what it was that had Jake up in arms.

“What? I can’t see anything besides a bunch of dead bastards dragging their asses up the road,” I finally said, my voice cracking with frustration. Jake scooted closer to me and held his arm along the side of my head, forcing my eyes to follow his finger directly to the spot he was pointing out.

“Shit,” I muttered. The deadheads at the back of the swarm were stopping and turning their heads slowly in the direction of the house.

“Tommy’s still alive?” Jake asked. He was as surprised as I was, and impressed as well. I certainly didn’t think Tommy would have had enough supplies to last him this long, or the sanity either. But from the looks of the situation, Tommy’s luck had just run out. We watched in silence as the moaning began, at the back of the swarm first, then slowly increasing in volume as the moans rippled forward through them like a wave. Those in the rear were already staggering towards the house, with those ahead of them turning around and slowly moving to unite with their brothers.

“What should we do?” Jake asked.

“We wait and watch,” I said. This frustrated Jake even more, but he remained quiet and seated beside me. That’s when a bright spotlight lit up the entire front yard and the firing began. We both jumped, not expecting this turn of events in the least, but not entirely shocked by it either. We both knew Tommy was good with a weapon. I rubbed my shoulder absentmindedly as I watched the zombies closest to the house fall to the ground, one by one. Jake grabbed my forearm and rose to his knees.

“We have to help him,” he said. I grabbed his arm in turn and pulled him back to the ground. I jerked him close and hissed through my teeth.

“No, we don’t. We watch and wait.” He looked at me incredulously, but relaxed a bit and sat back. I let go of him and turned back to the house. Tommy was still firing, a little too rushed for my taste, but was basically taking them down with head shots. Not every time, but he wasn’t sloppy about it either.

As I watched, I began to slowly realize that there were too many of them, and even if Tommy had enough ammo, they would break into the house before he could kill them all. Unless he had fortified his front door and lower level windows, which I assumed was common sense and if he had survived this long, then surely he had completed those simply steps in the very beginning. It wasn’t long before it was once again proved that assuming something only ended in making me feel like an ass.

“They’re breakin’ in,” Jake said. He was clearly despondent, finally accepting the fact that if we tried helping Tommy, we would endanger not only ourselves and the cause for this whole trip, but also everyone back at the house. We needed every bit of ammo we had with us, and simply could not afford to use it in assisting someone who had already proved themselves to be unstable and untrustworthy. Did every human life count? Was every living being worth saving? Should every living person be saved? The one versus the many; how many times would we be faced with this decision?

“Kasey, can you hear me? Respond, dammit!” Nancy’s voice was shouting through the walkie. It was luck I heard her at all over the moaning. I snatched it from my pocket, turned the volume down, and kept my eyes fixed on the zombies as they clawed and climbed their way through the large picture window at the front of the house.

“This is Kasey. We’re okay, I didn’t hear you calling for me,” I answered. Jake simply stared at the scene below, the gunshots still reporting steadily from one of the upstairs windows.

“What’s going on down there? Are you shooting?” Nancy asked.

“No, it’s not us. We’re still watching the swarm, but something caught their eye at Tommy’s house. They converged on him, he opened fire, and now they’ve broken in. He’s still shooting, but it’s just a matter of time-” I held the walkie to my ear like a phone so I could hear her, and spoke as softly as I could. But the words caught in my throat. I couldn’t finish. Tommy was still taking them down, but more and more piled in through the broken window. I was having a very difficult time making peace with my decision, no matter how logical it seemed.

“Kasey, are you still there?” Nancy asked. I glanced at Jake and saw him staring at me; not with hatred or disgust, but with sympathy and understanding. A terrible choice had been made, a line crossed, and we both knew it.

“Yes,” I finally said. Jake nodded firmly, then returned his tear-filled eyes to Tommy’s place. “We’ll let you know what happens. Maintain radio silence,” I said and promptly turned the walkie off. The shots were less rhythmic now, and it sounded like more than a few were actually fired inside the house.

I checked my watch and saw that we had been there for almost two hours. I turned and sat with my back towards the road. I’d had enough; the sounds coming from inside the house were enough to paint a clear picture of what was happening. Jake sat stone-cold still, his glare icy and his face set, until the screams finally stopped. Then he too lowered himself, sank to the ground, and turned his back to what was left of Tommy Hoskins.

* * *

After much discussion with Jake and Zack via radio, we decided to camp there for the night. We couldn’t see where the zombies had moved off to, but the guys seemed to think it would be safe to shine a flashlight in their direction, as long as we were quiet and didn’t move around. I figured the worst that could happen was getting caught and having a gang of deadheads on our trail all the way to Gibson. Either way, I really didn’t care. Time was wasting, and we needed to know the zombies’ location before heading out again.

So an hour after sunset, and after the moaning had subsided, Jake snuck down to the horses and found his spotlight. He climbed back to the rock ledge and knelt beside me.

“Sure you want to do this?” he asked. I snorted, unable to see his face in the dark, then pulled my lighter from my pocket and lit a Camel. The flickering flame lit his face for an instant, but it was long enough to see his soberness.

“This wasn’t my idea. But we gotta try something, right?” I heard his heels crunch in the dirt and pebbles as he turned away from me. I closed my eyes and prayed this wouldn’t alert them to our presence. I heard the click of the flashlight as he turned it on, then his harsh breathing as his nerves threatened to get the best of him. From my seat I couldn’t see over the rock ledge, and Jake was on his knees looking over and down at the road. For several minutes he hunted for them, moving the strong beam of light slowly back and forth, searching for the dead.

“Now I know the damned things didn’t disappear,” he finally whispered. He turned on his heels, raising himself a bit more above the ledge, and turned the light towards town, scanning farther up the road. It wasn’t long before I heard him suck in his breath. I waited for him to explain what he was seeing, and when he didn’t, I slowly got to my knees and moved over next to him.

“Found ‘em,” he whispered again. Sure enough, there they were, in the same haphazard clump as before, and staggering their way through town. Jake slowly lowered the beam so it wasn’t shining directly at them, yet shedding enough light that we could keep track of them until they passed my driveway. We both held our breath until we were sure the light hadn’t caught their attention. And I have to admit, I was shocked that it didn’t. I made another mental note concerning their abilities and let out a sigh of relief.

“I can’t believe this worked,” Jake said, voicing my own thoughts. I patted his shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze, then settled back on my haunches and watched as the zombie mass slowly worked their way past the other end of town. I took Jake’s hand and squeezed it as they neared the driveway, despising my sudden weakness but so scared I didn’t give a damn. It made me feel a little better when he squeezed back. At least I wasn’t the only one who suffered moments of sheer terror.

“Look,” he whispered. I let out a breath and closed my eyes, my head dropping and my chin nearly resting on my chest, when I saw that indeed our cover job had worked, and the zombies were passing the driveway without incident.

“Thank God,” I finally managed to whisper. The glow of the flashlight lit Jake’s face enough for me to see him grinning from ear to ear.

“Keep an eye on them, make sure they all pass the drive and keep moving. I’m going to sneak back down to the horses and get us something to drink.” Jake nodded as I turned and crawled away. I noticed the smell was starting to fade as well, or my sense of smell was finally gone. After the last couple of weeks, I wouldn’t have been surprised. I turned back to check on Jake before pulling two Cokes from my saddlebag and calling the house on the walkie. He was still watching the deadheads, the beam of light moving so slowly you could barely see it moving at all. I opened one of the Cokes and took a long drink, then realized when I felt the coldness go all the way to my toes that it had been awhile since we last ate.
I’ll take care of that after I call the house
, I thought.

“Nancy, this is Kasey, please respond,” I said softly into the walkie. Daisy shuffled a bit at my voice; apparently the old girl had been sleeping.