Savannah's Only Zombie (Book 2): A New Darkness (17 page)

Jeremy ran through the blackness of the woods,
pulling CJ by the arm. Behind him, he hears the moans and shuffling of the
dead. To his left, he saw a large shape that he could only assume was Lexx.

“Are we even running the right way?!”

Yep, that’s Lexx.

“Yes!” CJ yelled back. “Just keeping running
straight!”

Jeremy hoped the boy was right.

Shrieks echoed throughout the trees.

“Runners!” Jeremy yelled.

He tried to focus on running as straight as he
could. There was no telling how many runners there were out there. If it was a couple,
maybe they could take them on, but any more than that, and fleeing the cabin
would be the only option. He remembered leaving the keys in the ignition of the
truck and hoped that it did not drain the battery.

Up ahead, he saw a faint reddish glow through
the trees.

What is that?
Jeremy wondered.

As they got closer to the edge of the woods, and
the glow became more visible, it was very clear what it was.

It was the house completely engulfed in flames.

“What the hell?” Lexx yelled. “Tori!”

“Lexx!” Jeremy yelled.

It was too late. Lexx was running towards the
burning house through the field of zombies. He fired his shotgun, blasting his
way through. Jeremy heard the gun click. Lexx was out of ammunition, but that
did not stop him. He began swing the gun as a bludgeon, the barrel smashing
through the soft, wet, decomposing flesh of the undead.

“What the hell is going on?”

Black ran up beside Jeremy, with White right
behind him.

“I don’t know, but we have to get out of here.”

With the house gone and no way to defend
themselves from the runners, they had no choice but to leave now. To punctuate
Jeremy’s thoughts, he heard shrieks behind them.

He ran for the truck, the others following
behind him. Lexx had essentially cleared the path for them. Jeremy reached the
truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. Dangling from the ignition, the keys
were still there. CJ climbed in next to him as he cranked the truck up. The
headlights came on, shining light on Lexx.

***

Lexx stood there watching the house burn. He refused
to believe Tori was inside, but he couldn’t know for sure. The heat radiated
from the fire, keeping him back. There was no way to get close to it.

She must have done this,
he thought.
There’s
no way she was still inside. Unless… Unless she was trapped and couldn’t get
out…

Everything in him wanted to run into the flames
and try to find her.

“Lexx!” Jeremy yelled from the truck. “C’mon! We
have to leave!”

Lexx turned and looked at the house again. The
kid was right. Nothing could be done now; they would just have to return and
try to find out where they went.

Lexx ran over to the truck and jumped up on the
side gate.

“Go!” he yelled.

He climbed into the bed as Jeremy pulled away
from the house. The roof began to cave in. Lexx felt his heart sink.

***

When they reached the highway, Jeremy drove the
truck away from the entrance. He would at least get them far enough from the
zombies, maybe the dead wouldn’t follow them. He never saw any of the runners,
but heard their screams as he raced through the woods. He looked for an open
spot in the road, somewhere where they could see anything coming at them from a
distance. They finally came to a stretch of road that sat in between two farms,
both fields full of dead crops.

Jeremy brought the truck to a rest and shut the
engine off.

“What are you doing?” CJ asked.

“We gotta talk about what to do next,” he
answered, motioning his head towards the people in the back.

The two of them stepped out of the cab and
walked towards the back. Black and White both sat with their backs to the
bulkhead, while Lexx stood, leaning against the side rails.

“We have to go back, Jeremy,” Lexx said, not
moving from his position.

“I know, but we can’t now, it’s not safe.”

“I know it’s not safe dammit, she’s still out
there!” He yelled.

“Hey man, keep your voice down,” Black said.

Lexx spun around.

“You shut the fuck up!” He said, pointing his
finger in Black’s face.

Black stood up and shoved Lexx’s finger away.

“Get your finger out of my face!”

“Guys!” Jeremy yelled, jumping up on the side of
the truck. “Get it together! We have to figure out what to do!”

Both men stared each other down and then
relaxed, turning their piercing stares at Jeremy.

Oh yeah, much better Jeremy,
his sarcasm told
himself.

He ignored himself.

“Look, you’re right Lexx. We do need to go back.
But right now, it’s just not safe. That place was crawling with z’s and there
are runners somewhere out there. I’m sure Josh and Tori got away from there
safely. We just have no idea where they would have gone.”

He paused, looking at the two officers.

“There was no plan B. The house was plan B.”

Everyone was silent, the sound of crickets the
only thing heard for miles.

“I say for now, we stay here. In the open. In
the morning, when we can see again, we’ll return to the house and look for
clues on where Josh and Tori went,” he concluded.

There were no arguments from anyone.

Black continued to eye Lexx suspiciously.

“You got something you want to say to me?” Lexx
asked.

White placed his hand on his partner’s shoulder,
but Black pulled away from it.

“Yeah, yeah I do,” Black started. “Don’t think
we just forgot about you killing that guy. He was surrendering and you shot
him.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lexx snapped.

Black got in his face.

“No I am not,” he said. “It may be the end of
the world, but don’t think there aren’t still rules!”

“You’re not serious are you? That guy was
responsible for killing Josh’s whole family and what? You want to take him to
jail? Slap some cuffs on his hands and cart him off in the paddy wagon?”

Black’s face was stone cold.

“If we let that guy go, he would just find some
other would-be messiah to fill his junkie needs and pledge his allegiance to!
That guy slaughtered innocent people and you want to jump on my case? You can
fuck off,” Lexx said.

“He’s right.”

Everyone turned and looked at CJ, who had been
silent up until this point. The boy’s face was serious.

“That man killed
my
family,” he said. “He
deserved to die. Every one of them did.”

CJ pauses before continuing.

“Did Lexx go about it the right way? I don’t
know. I just know that my uncle is all I have left and he’s out there
somewhere.”

Tensions calmed, fists relaxed.

“I’m sorry, Son. I’m not insinuating those
people were innocent,” Black said.

“I know,” CJ said, taking a deep breath afterwards.

The five of them stood there in silence.

The ATV’s engine groaned as Tori pushed it
faster, zipping between the trees.

C’mon baby, just a little faster!

Tori pulled the steering handle hard left,
nearly missing a large Cyprus tree.

“Jeez!” Josh yelled from the back seat.

She ignored him and concentrated on not dying.

They plowed through a patch of swamp; the mud
shooting up behind them in small fishtails. The runners that were close enough
received a healthy shower, dousing any lingering flames on their charred
bodies. They did not seem thankful for this act of kindness.

Dicks,
she thought.

“Can you go any faster?” Josh yelled. “I think
we’re losing them!”

“I’m givin’ ‘er all she’s got captain!”

“I’m going to save my comments on your Star Trek
reference until we’re out of danger!”

Tori smiled as she redlined the four-wheeler.

The runners slowly became small, glowing torches
far behind them. Tori continued to press on deeper into the woods, the screams
and shrieks growing fainter as she put distance in between them and their
pursuers.

How long has it been since we crashed through
the fence?
She
thought.

When they reached the outer perimeter fence,
against her better judgment, Tori decided to barrel through the wooden
structure. They both ducked down, Josh tightening his grip around her abdomen.
The only negative was that in the jolt of the impact, Josh lost his grip on the
rifle and it fell. They did not stop to retrieve it.

Now, they were weaponless, minus Josh’s hatchet.
In their escape from the house, Tori lost her knife.

She tried to push that fact to the back of her
mind as she focused on dodging the trees. The light from the headlights cast a
yellow cone in front of them, giving her only several yards of room for error.
Her arms were scratched and itchy from a few close calls.

“I think we can stop now,” Josh said, giving her
arm a squeeze.

She had not realized how tense she was until he
squeezed her arm. Easing off the throttle, the ATV slowed and eventually came
to a stop. Tori shut the engine off, causing the lights to go out as well.

Their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Around
them, nothing but trees and woodland shrubbery. The moon peeked through the
towering branches of the Georgia pines.

“Any idea where we are?” Tori asked, keeping her
voice low.

“I was trying to keep track, but if we kept
mostly straight from the direction we left the house, we should be north. There
were a few twists and turns in there, so I’m not sure exactly. We should try
and find a road. I might be able to pinpoint our location better then.”

Tori sighed. The chirping of crickets and
cicadas answered her.

“Plus, it’ll be safer to get out of the woods,”
Josh added. “Too much can sneak up on us out here.”

They got back on the ATV and began driving in the
same direction they had been. Away from the house.

***

They came out onto a moonlit road, the woods
continuing on the other side of the pavement. The country road twisted and
turned, snaking away in both directions. Tori stopped the four-wheeler, but
left the engine running so they could use the light. Josh got off and looked
down both stretches of road. Tori could tell even in the dim light, that he had
no idea where they were.

Betchu he tries to act like does though,
she thought, smiling to
herself.

“I have no idea where we are,” he said, turning
back to face her.

Surprised by his answer, Tori got off her seat
and looked around. She never came out this far west. The country was not really
her thing. Big trucks and mud boggin’ never did anything for her. She had
friends who melted for that kind of thing, but not here. She always considered
herself more of a rocker-chick. She’d take a T-top Camaro with AC/DC blaring
any day of the week.

“You’ve never been here before? That’s
surprising. You’ve been everywhere,” she said.

“Yeah,” Josh said. “In the daytime. Things
always look completely different at night.”

 He looked up at the sky.

“It must be near midnight. The moon is almost
directly above us. If we wait a little bit and see which direction it dips in,
we might be able to figure out which way to go.”

“I thought you said we were headed north?” she
asked.

“I said I
thought
we were headed north. I
don’t know that for sure.”

“Ugh,” Tori moans.

“I’m sorry.”

She looks at Josh.

“I’m not blaming you,” she said. “I just wish we
knew where we were.”

“I know. I can tell by your voice.”

“What do you mean you can tell by my voice?”

Josh chuckled.

“I’m married. You don’t think I’ve picked up on
female voice clues yet?” he said.

“Oh, so because I’m a female, you think you have
us all figured out? That’s sexist,” she said, crossing her arms across her
chest.

Josh smiled.

“And you didn’t think that I would try and act
like I knew where we were, just because I’m a man? Hmm?”

“I did no such thing, Joshua,” she responded,
playfully tilting her head away from him.

When he did not answer, she peeked back and
noticed that he was trying not to burst into tears. He held up his hand and put
the other over his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“You okay? I’m sorry if I said something wrong-”

“No, it’s not that,” he said, clearing his
throat. “It’s just that, Laura was the only one who ever called me Joshua…”

Tori put her hand up to her mouth.

Damn! How could I have known that?
She thought.

“Seriously, it’s okay. I’ll be fine,” he said
after regaining his composure.

“I really am sorry. For everything.”

He waved his hand at her.

“Let’s just focus on finding our way back,” he
said, his eyes returning to the sky.

The moon overhead was nearly full, just a sliver
of black running down one side. It sat directly above them, in what seemed to
be the exact middle of the heavens. Stars, too many to count, flickered and
glistened in a sea of black. Without the constant competition from man-made
lights, the stars filled the void and seemed so much more vibrant.

“You never see stars like this,” Josh said.

Tori looked up and couldn’t help but let her jaw
drop slightly.

“Wow… I’ve never seen them like this,” she said.

“It’s sad that it took the end of the world to
notice something that has always been there to begin with.”

Tori looked over at Josh, who was still trying
to count the heavenly bodies. Every time she thought she had him figured out,
he said something like that. He could be so brash about everything else, but
every now and then, he revealed just a splinter of the deeper side of him.

The ATV rattled.

“Oh no…” Josh said.

The engine knocked again, and then shut off,
leaving Josh and Tori alone with the moon and stars.