The Undead Situation (12 page)

“Follow us until you have a better plan,” I said.

“Alright.”

“Boy,” came Frank’s voice.

Gabe I could ignore, but when Frank used that tone it meant “Get in the Hummer right now, or else.” He was right. I was acting like we were out of danger.

I tried not to act giddy as I shut the Mustang door and hopped into the Hummer.

“Is she coming with us?” Gabe asked.

“Yes.”

Gabe opened her door and got out.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m riding with her. Why would I stay with you if I have a choice?”

She wanted to have girl time with Blaze. Call it a hunch, but I didn’t think Blaze was the kind of woman who would like that. Before I could stop her, she got in the front seat and slammed the door shut.

I started the Hummer and drove until I found the front gates of the prison. They were shut, but not many stiffs were in front. Frank volunteered to open it, and left me alone before I could object. I watched as he walked to the gate, noticing a limp I hadn’t before.

As he got closer, three Zs lined up in front of him. He pulled out his handgun and shot each in the head before pushing the gate open.

“Let’s go to the gas station and regroup,” Frank said once back in the vehicle.

“Fine”

Backtracking wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but the gas station was the only place we could go to rest. I was running on adrenaline. My wounds needed cleaning, but my highest priority was to eat and remain stationary until I felt up to moving again.

The gas station had a few new visitors. We debated and decided to park the car behind the pumps closest to the building. It was close, but partially blocked from the street. Blaze parked her car at the entrance of the parking lot, drawing the Zs who’d gathered around us away so we could handle them. After a brief dispatch of some shambling zombies, the four of us went in. The doors had bolts on the top and bottom, which we engaged, offering us mild protection or warning against intruders.

I roamed the aisles looking for anything nutritionally acceptable. There was no point in eating any of my MREs since there was sustenance readily available. With heavy resignation, I settled on a couple of energy bars, washing it all down with a bottle of Aquafina.

Blaze and Gabe sat on the floor behind the register, apart and clearly uncomfortable. Frank read the back of a bag of chips. Tired, I sat down between the girls, working on the chewy mass of granola bar.

Females were strange. While I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, I felt nervous around Gabe and Blaze. Even though neither spoke, I felt a current of negativity between the two. I wondered what transpired in the car on their ride over. Whatever it was, they seemed pissed at each other. And I put myself right between them.

Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for vacant. As in my mind is vacant of logical thought. Well, it makes sense to me.

“We need to find somewhere more secure for the night,” I said.

Frank, who opted for a piece of jerky instead of the chips, said, “Take a breather. I reckon no one in that prison is coming out alive, and if any do they won’t be in any state to look for us.”

Blaze didn’t have a problem taking a breather. She had already shifted into a more comfortable position and her breathing grew shallow. I figured it was from her time in the marines. She could sleep on command because she had to.

Gabe bit her lip and glared at her, then at me. She was having issues and wanted to talk, but I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her, especially after everything at the prison.

After I forced down the rest of my food, I stretched onto the cold ground, glad the counter offered us invisibility from the front of the store. We were safer that way, and it made me feel a little more at ease.

Frank and Gabe didn’t appear to be as ready to fall asleep. Neither was I. But, despite my minds protests, I was worn out and fell asleep soon.

* * *

I woke up stiff and groggy. My head and shoulder protested to the nth degree as I sat up and tried to work the knots out of my muscles. An angry, throbbing headache had brewed while I slept, and it worked full force to make my life hell.

It was barely dusk. Rain drizzled outside. I smelled cigarette smoke, and glanced over at Blaze, who had one hanging from her lips. Her eyes were shadowed in the dim light, but the tip of her cigarette burned brightly whenever she inhaled, illuminating them. She looked calm and casual, just sitting there with her knees up and one arm slung across them. In front of her stood a fort made of stacked cigarette boxes.

Gabe was curled in a fetal position, out stone cold. She breathed deeply, her face blank with the bliss of sleep. Maybe she’d be in a cranky mood, too, when she woke up, then I wouldn’t be alone in my misery. Frank was the farthest away from us, his back pressed against the counter. He was asleep.

“Sun’s going to be down in about half hour. We should leave soon,” Blaze said, her voice low.

I nodded as I brought myself up into a cross-legged position. My mind buzzed in tandem with a prickling traveling across my skin. “How long have we been out?”

“Not long,” she said. “Maybe an hour. I woke up a few minutes ago.”

It felt like I’d been unconscious for weeks. We needed to find somewhere to sleep and regroup. I was about to speak when Blaze beat me to it.

“You want me to take care of her?” She jerked her head toward Gabe’s sleeping form.

“Take care of her?”

“Smoke her.”

Well
, I thought,
that’s awfully blunt
.

This woman was offering to murder Gabe. Although I wasn’t sure of her reason, it was a good offer. Gabe was becoming increasingly difficult to work with, but was death a fair punishment? Maybe just leaving her behind was better.

“Why?”

“I see the way she acts towards you. Emotional attachments make accomplishing tasks difficult, can muddle your decision-making abilities. You know, I haven’t known her for long, but if I were in charge, she wouldn’t be here right now.”

“I’m not attached, and I’m not in charge.”

Blaze’s face reflected mild amusement. “I never said you were. It’s all on her part. She’s a loose cannon and could slow us down. Maybe even compromise us.”

I realized she’d been with Gabe in the prison cell. That and the car ride were enough to absorb Gabe’s overall personality.

Her points were valid, but I wasn’t ready to kill Gabe just yet. She could be useful in getting us to our final location. Or was I justifying? I didn’t think so.

“I’ll tell you what. We’ll make a decision once we find somewhere to sleep. I can’t think straight right now.”

I wondered if Blaze saw this as a sign of weakness, and I tried to tell myself it didn’t matter too much what she thought of me. With a barely noticeable nod, she agreed.

Outside I heard muffled voices. I looked at Blaze and raised my brows.

“Four living humans,” she said. “They’re siphoning gas and considering breaking into the Hummer.”

Great.

“How close to breaking in are they?” I whispered, mind already racing for a way to handle this. The situation might not need to be handled if they just went on their way, but that was unlikely if they spotted our formidable cache of weapons.

“One of them is circling it and looking in. He doesn’t want the alarm to go off. He seems afraid.”

The world was overrun with zombies. No one was alive. There was nothing to lose. If I were them, I’d take my chances and break in. Maybe they didn’t know how to hotwire it or were just stupid. I’d never be caught dead making decisions like these people were.

Blaze snuffed her cigarette and moved into a crouched position so she could look over the counter. The staccato sound of rapid fire interrupted her just as she was about to speak.

“Some runners and slows are surrounding them from multiple directions. I’m not sure how we should proceed.”

Her last sentence didn’t sound too convincing, as though she already had a plan formed but wasn’t sure I’d agree. Stiffly, I moved into a prone position and picked my rifle up from beside me.

“I’m sure you’ve got some ideas.”

Blaze’s grin revealed a chipped right canine. It gave her character.

Wide-eyed and confused, Gabe awakened with the gunfire. Frank was awake, but didn’t look concerned. Apparently, we were all ready to go.

“I say we run out, get in the Hummer, and go. Eliminate any opposition” Blaze said, clearly trying to keep the eager bloodlust out of her voice.

“Okay. Sounds good.”

Gabe snapped at us. “What the fuck is going on here?”

“Just stay behind us,” I said. “There’s a threat outside.”

“I’ll go first,” Blaze insisted. “Cover my six.”

She made her way to the door, unlocking it smoothly before pushing it open, gun on the ready. I followed her, but gave her a suitable amount of distance.

Outside, the light was all dim and blue. Since it was summer, I guessed it was around 9p.m. Mist hung thick in the air, limiting visibility and dampening my hands even through my gloves. Muzzles flashed by the gas pumps, lighting the form of a big truck. Crazed, jerking movements easily set the runners apart from the humans. Identifying zombies wasn’t a chore.

Breathing in the humid air, I focused on the glum task at hand. The survivors were all men and had each other’s backs covered. They were stupid. Firing wildly in the middle of a gas station was a sure way to get killed.

“Army guys!” one of them shouted.

We were spotted.

“Help us!” another chimed in.

I guess we did look like military, since we were so thoroughly decked out in tactical gear. Blaze even wore a camo flak jacket with the nametag.

None of us answered, but from behind me Gabe opened fire on a runner that was charging us. We were at the Hummer, and the ragged men stared at us expectantly. Blaze took a defensive stance. Mimicking her, Gabe took out undead who were getting too close. Frank let the girls handle the shooting while he kept a broader lookout. I assumed that made me leader, which meant I had to deal with the survivor issue.

“Thanks,” an older, graying man said. “We thought we were done for.”

Blaze opened fire, blowing the brains out of a shambling, fat woman. Gabe shot a teenage girl in the leg, then re-aimed and shot her in the head.

“We can’t help you,” I said. “Get in your truck and go.”

“W-what?” His three companions glanced over at us. “We need to stick together. I mean, you can’t just leave us!”

Desperation and guns were a terrible mix. This guy and his friends had both factors playing against them. Slowly I backed up to the driver’s side of the Hummer and fished the keys out of my back pocket. I hit the unlock button twice. The lights flashed and Gabe, Blaze, and Frank got into the front and backseats.

“These fuckers ain’t gonna help us, Steven! Get in the truck,” shouted a gnarly redneck of a man.

Steven appeared to be close to a breakdown. He barely held onto the shotgun in his shaking hands, and his lip quivered. I guess I traumatized him or something. In my defense, it wasn’t like I promised to be his savior.

From inside the car, Blaze leaned over the passenger side and pushed the door open. “Let’s move.”

The men looked agitated, unsure if we were a more worthy enemy than the zombies. I took my chance and leapt into the driver’s seat.

“You’re awful,” Steven screamed, lifting his shotgun at me.

As he pulled the trigger his arm jerked up, and he shot the top part of the window, missing me entirely. Thousands of miniscule pieces of glass burst into the vehicle, filling crevices and getting in my clothes.

What caused his misfire? A little girl had sunk her teeth into his side, vigorously chomping through his flesh. Blonde pigtails and a pink dress made the scene comic, but I didn’t have time to laugh. With their weak leader gone, the living men tried to make it for the truck, but the undead had become numerous.

“Let’s move,” Blaze said. “We’re surrounded.”

So we did. Zombies—slow and fast—made their inevitable way toward the Hummer. Most of them saw the other guys scrambling for the truck as an easier target, but a few noticed we were canned goods.

Get it? Canned goods? Because we were in the car?

Anyway…

I rammed the key into the ignition and the car roared to life. A few unfortunate Zs were in the way, so I ran them over as I turned hard back onto the main road. The rearview mirror showed carnage unfolding on the unwise survivors. Well, they weren’t survivors anymore.

“We’ll come back for your car,” I told Blaze. “It isn’t safe now.”

“I agree.”

“Well, that didn’t go well,” Gabe said from the backseat.

“Most people aren’t meant to survive,” Blaze said. “They gave their position away and brought it on themselves.”

Gabe snorted. “We could have helped them. If we covered them, they could’ve gotten into the truck.”