The Week of the Dead (13 page)

“Too many of them. Can’t spare fuel,” he said quietly as he pointed at the dashboard as the gas meter sat on E. “Sh! I can hear them!” The women were already in the lowest place they could be. Ethan was lying in the bed with the shotgun in his hands and the pistol around his waist with the safety already off. Josh looked in the side mirror. The humanoid shapes were overlapped by the words “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.”

The sound of the skateboard came to an abrupt stop. That was followed by the sound of flat-soled shoes running back toward the truck.
He’s fucked
, Ethan thought. Ethan could only lie still as he saw the shadow of shambling craniums pass by both sides of the truck. He couldn’t move. The smell was atrocious. All he could do was stay still and stay quiet. Ethan heard a scream, but he dared not move. “Leave me alone!” he heard from the tailgate side of the truck. “Get away!” he heard again. The skateboarder was being encircled. He swatted at them with his skateboard. When the heads stopped causing shadows across Ethan’s face, he switched around and lay prone. He lifted his eyes over the tailgate to see the creatures encircling the man. The harder he swung the skateboard, the more he lost his footing. He tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground. He rolled on his back to see the blood-red eyes and drooling mouths.

They moved in unison as they unhinged their jaws and began feeding on the skateboarder. They latched on with their arms first. It seemed their motor sensors were solely hand to mouth.

He screamed as too many faces to count were connecting their sharp teeth on his body. Ethan watched as these
things
were eating the human like pigs in a trough. They tore open his skin and began eating anything that had blood on it.
Blood
, he thought as he remembered his aching shoulder blade that was now exposed to the open air. He quickly rolled on his back to attempt to cover his smell. He was a wounded animal in an uncaring environment.

He looked up at the sunny sky with white clouds. He heard a single pair of shuffling feet. Something with flat soles was scraping against the asphalt. Ethan could begin to smell something that reminded him of nickels. Something metallic. He heard something that sounded like someone was sniffing the air. The familiar skullcap of the skateboarder had cast a shadow on the driver side of the truck. It smelled the air as it turned its way closer to the truck. It made eye contact with Ethan through his sunglasses. Ethan felt around for his pistol. This distance was too short for the shotgun. He stayed flat as he reached out and grabbed something with a rubber handle. As the red eyes approached from the side of the truck, he grabbed whatever this object was and swung as hard as he could. He connected the side of a hammer against the creature.

It tweaked as it fell limp against the side of the truck. Ethan realized what was in his hand. He spun it right side up and placed the head of the hammer against the black skullcap as hard as he could from a lying position. He was on his knees in the bed of the pickup truck and continuing to smash the hammer into the head until the creature fell from the side of the truck. Ethan looked around for the other creatures that had fallen to the ground. After their meal, they watched as the group of creatures tweaked on the ground ferociously. It was as if they had just eaten a Thanksgiving dinner and decided to take a nap in the middle of the road. As they lay there, their meal stood quickly and attempted to eat Ethan for lunch.

Josh and the women peered up from the cab of the truck after Ethan had finished banging on something. “Get us out of here!” Jenna said. Ethan climbed through the window and fell on top of Ashley as he pulled his belongings through the window. The back of his shirt became sticky with blood from his cut shoulder. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Professor,” he said as he looked at Ashley underneath his body. “Dude, go!” he said to Josh as he sat up in the seat.

“Are you OK?” Jenna said as she looked back at Ethan.

“Fine.”

“You’re bleeding,” Ashley said to him. Meanwhile, Josh was trying to start the truck again.

“Your boyfriend’s amateur driving skills,” Ethan said as he looked deeply at Ashley.

“Not now, man! The truck won’t turn over.”

“Kick it!” Ethan said as he became increasingly agitated at their current situation.

Jenna looked past Ethan to see heads beginning to stand up from behind the truck. “We need to move!” Jenna said as she motioned to the back. Josh turned the key again as he gawked at the rearview mirror. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” he said as he tapped on the gas pedal. The bodies were moving toward the truck. After a few paces, they stopped and began to howl. Only Ashley and Ethan could see what they were doing. As they continued to howl in pain, liquid and stool came from their backsides.

“What the fuck?” Ethan said.

“Digestion,” Ashley said calmly. “They ate that guy and just pooped him out. I guess
everyone
does poop.” Ethan hoisted the shotgun barrel out the former back window that was crushed by his large frame.

“If we survive, I’ll give you brownie points for that,” he said to Ashley for her pun. “Josh!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m trying!” Josh said as he continued to turn the key.

“They’re getting closer!” Jenna said as she sank down in the floorboard of the passenger seat. Ethan readied himself. He handed Ashley the pistol. “Know how to use one of these?”

“No,” she said looking down the side of the pistol.

“Point. Aim. Pull trigger. Make sure the safety is off.” He had his eyes fixed on her to acknowledge her reaction. Suddenly, the gun jumped from her hands with a deafening boom. A
thud
was heard as a creature’s head bounced off the tailgate.

“Like that?” she said as she caught her breath.

“Yeah. Just like that. Make them count.”

The engine came back to life as Josh slammed the shifter into the drive. “Yeah, baby!” he exclaimed as he hurled the truck onto the sidewalk and around the street full of abandoned cars.

“Seat belts!” Ethan shouted over the roaring air pouring in from the broken window.

“Which way?” Josh asked.

“Interstate is a deathtrap!” Ethan shouted, still deafened from Ashley firing the gun.

“Back roads!” Ashley exclaimed. “We’ll have to take main streets until we hit the back roads!” shouted Ethan.

“What about the river?” Jenna chimed in.

“The river? Like the Mississippi River?” Ethan asked.

“The base is near water, right?” Jenna asked as the truck became silent from everyone thinking of the local geography.

“Sure…I think. But we’ll have to go north, against the current,” said Ethan.

“But we won’t be on the roads,” Ashley stated.

“We’ll have to go through downtown,” Ethan stated.

Everyone looked at Josh. “Aw, fuck it!” he said as he swerved toward a sign that said “Downtown Memphis 5 miles.”

Armor

Chapter 29

2100 EST

Pennsylvania

T
he snowplow was still in decent working condition as it made its way down Highway 79 out of Morgantown. “We spent three hours trying to get somewhere that should have taken us half the time,” Phil said as he looked out the window.

“I will tell you one thing, Phil. You know how to lead the way,” Mike Harrison said as he noted the wave of headlights following them.

“So where is this hunting cabin?” Harrison asked.

“South, in the Smokey Mountains. It is all hunting cabins and small towns out there. My ex–brother-in-law took me there one time for deer hunting.”

“Think we can make it in this thing?” Mia asked.

“Maybe, if we find some fuel and someone who isn’t trying to eat us,” Phil commented.

“There are lights in front of us,” Harrison said.

There was a lonely truck stop ahead. The lights were still on inside. There wasn’t any movement other than the headlights of the snowplow turning into the diesel side. Thirteen cars full of people were behind the snowplow, and they too turned into the truck stop. “Follow the leader, huh?” Harrison said as he looked back.

“Paul, I want you to stay in the truck, no matter what happens. OK?”

“But Daddy, I have to pee!”

“Well, if he’s going, I am too,” Harrison said. Phil nodded at him. “Want to join us, little lady?” Harrison said to Mia. She nodded. Phil rolled the snowplow up to the pump and got out with his baseball bat. He looked around at the fence and back around at the road. The other cars were pouring into the gas station. People stopped their cars and got out. Humans exchanged chatter as they went into the gas station.

Many were armed with hand tools, shovels, and sticks, and one guy carried a garden spade. They swept alongside the gas-station glass. Phil could see the man with the spade shrug his shoulders as he mouthed something.
No one inside.
Harrison took Paul and Mia to the side of the building and opened the door. The men’s bathroom smelled like ammonia and stale air. Harrison carried his piece of rebar as he checked all the stalls. Paul couldn’t hold it anymore, so he went to the first urinal. Mia followed suit and took the first stall while Harrison heard the sound of urine leaving their bodies. He took the urinal next to Paul. “Don’t ever get old, kid,” he said as he took down his pants and began to urinate. He watched the door as he began to hear sobbing coming from the stall. “Are you OK?” The sobbing quieted. “Look, we’re all scared, and it’s OK. We’re just taking this one thing at a time, and currently, it’s pee time,” he said as he looked at little Paul.

The bathroom door was kicked open. Harrison swung around as urine ran down his leg. It was another group of humans who wanted the delicacy of urinating in a familiar environment. “You scared the piss out of me!” Harrison said as he lowered his rebar.

“Sorry, man. Didn’t know when we were going to stop. I didn’t want to lose sight of the snowplow. After everyone is done in here, we need to get together and come up with a plan.” At this time, Mia had come out of the stall wiping teary mascara from her face. Harrison followed as Paul followed too.

Inside the truck stop, everyone was taking things from the shelves—canned food, boxes of crackers, soda, beer—and they even raided the milk that was still in the coolers. “Maps, where are the maps?” Phil spoke over the commotion. “Everyone shut the hell up!” The room fell to a crinkle of a potato-chip bag. “I’m in the snowplow. I’m going to the mountains. That’s my plan. What—” Phil stopped talking. A sound was made that sounded all too familiar to some of the humans. The group looked out the window to see a strong wind blowing the metal sign outside the gas station. Then a spotlight moved until it centered itself on the gas station. The spotlight hovered in the air. “Military!” one of the men shouted. “They’re here to rescue us!” a woman’s voice rang out. A voice boomed through the air. “If you are human, stay inside. This is the National Guard. We are coming to get you!” Without understanding what was said, two people from the group ran outside without hesitation, waving their hands and arms looking for salvation. They were met with a hail of bullets that went through their bodies into the pavement, causing those still inside to shield themselves behind the shelves. “Do not move! We are coming to get you!” The voice boomed again. “No one go outside!” Harrison shouted against the whirl of the helicopter blades.

The whirl was getting louder as the helicopter landed. Four soldiers ran from the helicopter to the gas-station doors. One stopped at the two bodies lying on the pavement. He pulled out his sidearm and shot them again in the forehead and picked up his stride to the door. The soldiers lined against the window. One knocked on the glass door as if he was a door-to-door salesman. “Let us in!” the soldier shouted. One of the humans nearest the door obliged and pushed the door open for them. They were instantly met with assault rifles pointed in any direction they met multiple white sclera. “Is anyone sick?” the lead soldier asked.

“No! All human!” Phil shouted back.

“Get in the chopper now! Single file!” Phil placed his hands on Paul’s shoulders as they lined up single file to get in the helicopter. Two soldiers were each side looking outward. One soldier dropped to his knee as he zeroed in on his sight. There was a shambling body coming from the road. It slowly made its way into the dim lights on the gas-station dome. “Firing!” he said as he pulled the trigger. “One, this is three. Bogey down! Keep a lookout!” he said over the microphone on his helmet. “Twenty heads coming onboard.” “We’re full. OSCAR MIKE!” they heard from the radios.

“Where are we going?” Phil asked the man in uniform as they all took a seat on the Chinook helicopter.

“Fort Knox, Elizabethtown, Kentucky!”

“That’s five hundred miles away!” Phil said in shock.

“At least we’re not walking!” the soldier said. The helicopter rose off with the group. Two soldiers sat on the ramp and fired a few more rounds as the helicopter turned and left in a hurry. Phil sat next to Paul, who was sitting next to Mike Harrison. Harrison shared a look to Phil and then across the ground to Mia who was sitting with her knees pulled to her chest. She too had an expression of mystery and relief. The lights in the helicopter turned to a light-green hue. Phil looked around the eerily lit helicopter to the sea of faces. Some had looks of hope on their face; others shared a look of fatigue. The last twenty-four hours had been trying. Many had lost loved ones, but all were scared. Harrison reached in his pocket.
Still there
, he thought as he rubbed his fingers on the envelope pressed against his pill bottle. “Altitude reached,” the pilot said. The lead solider stood at the front of the helicopter. “All right everybody!” he boomed. “We are the national guard! We are here to save you! We are going to Fort Knox! There is a refugee camp being built as we speak! All are welcome as long as you are healthy! I want you all to stand! We are going to check you all for bite marks! This is for your safety and ours! So please stand up, and remove your clothing!” The civilians on the helicopter all exchanged glances. “Do as we say, and there won’t be a problem!” the soldier barked.