The Plague Unto The End (16 page)

“Hey, let’s toss this thing and be done with it.  I’m tired,” said Jim.

Matt rolled his eyes and grabbed the feet.  Sid was over near the front of the store, looking down to the parking lot.

“Hey, let’s sling him over this side.  I bet you can’t hit that car down there,” taunted Sid.

“Okay, buddy, you’re on.  Fifty bucks says I can get him through the windshield,” Jim responded.

“No way.  But I’ll take that bet,” Sid said with a chuckle.

Jim and Matt stood as close to the ledge as they could and began to swing the body back and forth.

“On three,” Jim said to Matt.

“One, two,
three
,” counted Jim and they both let go with a shove.

We all watched as the corpse smashed to the asphalt just in front of the car.

“Ugh, crap!” said Jim.

“Woo wee!” Sid burst with excitement. “Pay up, bucko!”

“I’m good for it, but I’ll have to go to an ATM,” replied Jim without thinking about it.

“An ATM, huh?” I asked.

Jim looked back at Sid and they both got quiet.  All four of us climbed down the ladder and picked a spot to sleep for the night inside the office.  It was pretty cramped but other than the bathrooms, it was the only place inside the store where we could have a door between us and the rest of the store.  None of us trusted the barricade to keep them out for good.  Frannie curled up next to Beth and Jim told Frannie a bedtime story.  Curtis tried to join in telling the story, but Jim kept correcting his mistakes in the story.  It was something about a bunny.  Matt wouldn’t lie down.  He sat with his back against the wall and kept his shotgun at his side.  Sid was out faster than anyone else.  He started talking in his sleep for a few minutes.  The rest of us got a good laugh out of it.  We had no idea what he was dreaming about, but he mumbled something about getting ready to get on board a ship.  He also held his hands in the air and acted like he was playing a flute.  Matt stayed awake longer than me, but just before I dosed off, I saw him looking at Beth.  He didn’t say a word to her, but I could tell that he wanted to.

Dream #3...

I stand in an unfamiliar place.  I am standing on the second or third floor of the building I’m in.  Down below I can see several people walking through an open hallway.  The walls around me are cracked and broken in places.  The people moving below are alive.  They don’t appear to be carriers.  I turn to look behind me and see that I am inside of a small store with what looks like souvenir shirts and various other trinkets.  A group of people is huddled in the far corner of the shop.  They are looking to me as though they are waiting for me to say something.

I hear a male voice say, “I don’t think they’ll find us here.  They look like they’re just passing through, but still keep quiet.”

I look down at my clothes, but I don’t recognize what I’m wearing and as I look closer at the group of people, I don’t recognize any of them.  I turn and look out toward the open sky behind myself and realize...I’m inside of an airport terminal.  Half of the building is missing and there are parts of a jetliner all over the floors below.  I peer around the edge of half of a wall left to the shop and see another group of people huddled inside of another shop.  They are all frightened and trying to stay unnoticed.

I walk back toward the huddled group in my store and I hear the voice again, “Just stay calm and don’t worry.  They weren’t looking up toward us.  They were just running through.”

I realize this time that the voice is coming from me, but it’s not my voice.  I turn to find any reflective surface inside the store.  I see a display for sunglasses in the center of the room.  There is a mirror on the side of it.  I walk over to the mirror and gaze into the glass only to see a blurry face.  I try so hard to focus on the image, but it’s impossible.  I hear a new noise outside.  This noise is not from the others on the bottom floor.  The noise is coming from what they were running from.  An enormous tidal wave of carriers is forcing its way across the landscape.  They will be inside of the terminal in seconds.  Somehow I know that they will find us.  They will not stop until they reach us.

Suddenly I hear a phone ringing.  I turn to look for the phone in the room, but I know that there is no way a phone would be working.  As I look around the room, the room becomes different.  I see a large window to my right.  Outside the window I see grass, and a sad looking garden.  I turn around and see a workbench and tools mounted to the walls.  These tools and bench are not just random though.  It’s my dad’s garage.  I remember that Thomas was out in the garage when I found him and I begin to panic.

I spin around to see if he is still inside the garage with me.  I see him.  He is standing perfectly still, but he is staring right at me, with his cold vacant eyes.  I look at his left shoulder and see the bite that turned him.  I realize that the phone is still ringing.  I step back slowly and look at the phone by the door to the garage.  The phone is ringing so loudly it seems that it might vibrate itself right off the hook.  I glance back at Thomas and he is now holding his right arm up, pointing at the phone.  Thomas lowers his arm and walks over to the table where the video camera was sitting.  He sits down in front of it and presses the record button.

The phone is now ringing so loud that my ears hurt.  I run to the phone and rip it from the dock.  The ringing stops and the room is silent.  I bring the receiver to my ear and say, “Hello?”  I hear my Dad say, “Ty?”

CHAPTER 13 - Pull the Trigger...

When I opened my eyes it was still dark out and I found myself holding one of the walkie-talkies to my ear.  I glanced around the room and it looked like everyone else was sleeping still.  Except for Curtis.  He was gone.  I slowly stood up and stepped out of the office.  I looked around the store, but didn’t see him anywhere.  It was funny, I was a grown man, with a gun and a sword, but still the trip to the bathroom in the dark was a little unnerving.  I didn’t want to wake any of the others, but I needed to pee.

I took a deep breath and started walking.  I picked up a flashlight on the way and was sure to check the entire bathroom before I went.  I think that was the fastest I have ever used the restroom in my life.  I quickly got out of the bathroom and no matter how thorough I checked in there, I always felt like there was a carrier in there.  I could see that the sun was starting to come up outside, but it still looked like everyone else but Curtis was still asleep.  I looked around inside the store, but he was nowhere to be found.  Then I checked the roof access and found the hatch was open.  I climbed up and found Curtis sitting with his legs crossed, staring out over the surrounding parking lots.

“Hey, how long you been up here?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you up?  I was trying not to wake anyone else,” mumbled Curtis.

“No, no, I had to use the bathroom and I think I had a weird dream, but I don’t really remember much of it,” I responded.

“I...I was looking...hoping to see my mom’s van out there somewhere.  Do you think she’s...one of them?” Curtis asked.

“Shoot, I don’t know.  She was attacked.  So it is a very high probability,” I responded.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, but I got to know either way,” Curtis said looking back over the large number of cars.

As I talked to Curtis, my dream began to partially come back to me.  I remembered something about a phone ringing and that video camera.  Then it hit me.

“My dad.  Maybe he called the garage phone while Thomas was in the garage,” I blurted out, confusing Curtis.

“What?” said Curtis, looking puzzled.

“It’s a long story, but I need to get back to my house somehow,” I said very calmly.

“That’s going to have to wait until after we try to find your mom though,” I said, patting Curtis on the shoulder.

“Yeah, well, the more I think about it, I’m not sure if I want to find her if she’s...like that,” responded Curtis.

“Well, if that is the case, we’ll deal with it however we can,” I reassured Cutis.

“I’m hungry,” muttered Curtis.

“Yeah, me too.  I guess we’ll have to scrounge up some more snacks from the front of the store,” I replied, but then remembered the state my truck was in the night before.

I stood and walked quickly over to the rear of the building to have a look.  I could see the half of the corpse lying on the ground outside the door and could also see the trail of brownish-red goo on the driver’s seat.

“I don’t know about you, but I really wouldn’t want to ride in that thing with all that...stuff in there,” Curtis said from behind me.

“Yeah.  You might be right, but it probably has more gas than any of the other pieces of junk in the parking lot,” I responded.

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve never siphoned gas from a vehicle before, and I really don’t like the idea of getting a mouth full of gas,” I added.

“Well, we can worry about that a little later I guess.  I’m sure the others are starting to wake up by now, and I need to check on Frannie,” Curtis said, walking toward the ladder.

Curtis started to go down the ladder and I began to follow him for a few seconds when I noticed a strange movement in the parking lots surrounding the sporting goods store.  The carriers weren’t exactly moving as a group, but it definitely looked like they were moving toward the store.  I looked around in different directions and saw the same thing.  They didn’t appear to be aimlessly wandering about like before.  It must have been the result of Curtis and I standing on the roof.

I tried to look some of them in the face to see if they were staring at me, but it really appeared they were locked on the building, not me.  They weren’t moving with a purpose though.  None of them were attempting to run or even hobble quickly.  It was like they just knew we were in there.  But even with them moving toward the building, I wasn’t really worried.  There were only about twenty to thirty of them in sight and we could quietly take them out if they became a problem.

I climbed down the ladder and could hear the others talking in the manager’s office.  Matt sounded like he was trying to convince the others of something, but it wasn’t what I expected.

“I know you all feel pretty safe in here but I’m telling you, this place will get overrun.  You haven’t seen how big the crowds can get,” said Matt, pleading with Sid and Jim.

“Okay, first, you want inside this place and now you want to leave?  Make up your mind Matt,” said Jim, sounding offended.

“Look, this place has a lot of things we need to survive, but there isn’t enough food in here and your little barricade isn’t going to keep them out for long,” responded Matt.

“What’s going on?” I asked the rest of the group.

“Matt wants to take one or two of us and make a run.  He wants to try to find a fortress no one is using,” Beth said, rolling her eyes. 

“Ugh, I want to make another food run.  You kinda jacked up the last time I tried and I really don’t think we are going to feel very well eating beef jerky and candy,” said Matt.

“What’s this about leaving here though?” I asked him.

“Take a look around.  You said your brother and a couple more of them were able to smash through the back door to your parent’s house, and you’ve seen how bad some of the crowds can get if something sets them off.  You think that pile of junk by those doors is going to keep them out?” said Matt pointing at the barricade.

I looked back at Jim, “He might have a point, you know.”

“Well, I don’t want to go back out there.  At least not right now,” said Jim.

“I can understand that.  Those of us that went after Beth and Frannie went through a lot,” I responded.

“That’s fine, I’ll take Curtis with me.  He wants to go find his mom after all,” said Matt, making Curtis visibly uncomfortable.

“I’ll go too.  I want to check on something too,” I said as I looked over at Curtis.

“Look, I also wanted to bring something else up.  It’s probably not a big deal, but I noticed a change in the behavior of the carriers outside,” I said.

“Like what? Are they going back to being regular dead people?” asked Sid.

“No, not quite.  They seemed to be walking toward the building,” I responded.

“That’s not new behavior,” said Matt smugly.  “They are probably still coming this way after all the noise from last night.”

“That might be the case, but I thought it was strange that I didn’t see a single one out there that was walking in any other direction.  All of them were walking this way,” I said.

“How many?” asked Jim as he tapped his bat on his shoulder.

“Not too many, but I think it might be best if the rest of you stay in the office while we make our run,” I responded.

“I don’t feel good,” said Frannie, tugging on Curtis’ shirt.

“You’ll be okay, Frannie.  It was just a scratch.  You’re probably just hungry,” responded Curtis.

“Let me see her arm,” said Beth as she quickly walked over to Frannie.

Beth rolled back Frannie’s sleeve and could see that the wound was seeping through the bandage.  Her arm around the bandage was turning slightly yellow.

“We probably need to change these bandages.  C’mon, Frannie, let’s get you something to eat and we’ll clean this up,” said Beth as she and Frannie walked back to the aisle with the first-aid kits.

“Okay, well, it looks like Beth has got this under control.  You guys ready to hit the road?” said Matt.

“About that,” I mumbled.  “My truck, it’s kinda...got guts all over the seat.”

“What? When did this happen?” said Matt, surprised.

“Last night when I was trying to shut the door and save the battery.  There was one inside the truck and...he broke in half,” I responded.

“Great.  Well, grab one of those tarps and as many air fresheners as you can find,” replied Matt.

“Why don’t we just find another car?” asked Curtis.

“Do any of you know how to hot-wire a car?” asked Matt looking around the room.

Jim slowly raised his hand with a shifty-eyed look.

“And how long would it take you to do it?” Matt asked Jim.

“Maybe fifteen to twenty minutes, but it’s been a while since I have...needed to use those skills.”

“Who wants to stand around Jim and keep them off of him for twenty minutes?” asked Matt, with no response from the rest of us.  “Oh, and when or if he gets it running, who is to say that it will even have much gas in it?” asked Matt again with no response.

“Okay, we get the point.  Get off your soapbox and go get the tarp.  Curtis and I will get the air fresheners,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

We gathered all of the weapons and ammunition we thought we might need for our run.  We had only really been using the walkies for a day, but we didn’t want to get caught with dead batteries, so we changed out all of the portables.  Matt and I told Curtis that he needed a hand weapon if he was coming with us.  He picked a vicious-looking climbing tool from the mountain climbing section.  All of us laughed when we looked at the listed price for the tool and when we thought about what we would be using it for.  Matt decided to grab himself a machete and took a few practice swings at one of the mannequins.

I noticed Matt glancing over at Beth while he was chopping through the neck of the dummy.  He seemed to be checking to see if she was watching him.  I guess he thought that he would impress her with his killing skills.  But then I guess the days of impressing a girl with your car or your football skills was long gone.  Beth did seem to be looking at him every now and then, but I don’t think she was interested in him for his head-chopping talent.

“Hey jungle warrior!  You ready to try that thing on some real dead people?” I asked.

Matt pulled the blade out of the mannequin one last time and quietly picked up the rest of his gear.  Curtis was also taking a few practice swings and the pick that he chose looked to be pretty effective...on a mannequin, that doesn’t try to eat you.

As usual, I had come up with a step-by-step plan on exactly how we were going to get to the truck and get out of the area, but plans are made to get ruined.  Sid and Jim were positioned at the door with shotguns in case some of them got past us when we ran out the back door.  Beth was in the manager’s office with Frannie.  She didn’t want Frannie to know that Curtis was going out there to look for their mom.  Matt was going to be first into the truck.  He was going to run to the truck with the tarp and throw it across the seat, slide in on top of the tarp, and point his shotgun out the broken window to cover us.  Curtis was supposed to get in behind Matt, and I was going to get into the driver’s seat and start the truck.  We had gone over it several times just to make sure we knew who was going to do what and we all agreed that we were ready.

Curtis stood with one hand on the door lever and the other hand was holding his climbing pick.  Matt stood on the other side of the door with the tarp in one hand and his shotgun in the other hand.  I was behind Matt with my keys, my backpack, and my sword.

“You guys ready?” asked Curtis, looking to Matt and I.