They Walk (20 page)

“
If you say so, but I think it’s only second by comparison. Speaking of guns, where should we start?”

Gabe stares along the shelf and I do the same. Since we have smaller packs, my guess would be the handguns, but I keep noticing Gabe checking out this crazy looking shotgun.

“
Like Noah said, just get what we can fit first. I’m going to have to go with the hand guns though, can never have too many of those.” I say as I bump my hip into his.

“
True that.”

For the next ten minutes we stuffed both packs to the brim full of hand guns ranging in shapes and sizes and even names that I can’t remember. By the time we are finished all the shelves with the smaller guns are empty, and the only thing left are the bigger ones. All the while we packed, Sam would double check the ammo type he packed with our guns, and I’m glad for that too. It would suck pretty badly, if we were in the middle of killing the dead, and found out the ammo didn’t match. The three of us are just shouldering our full packs, when Claire joins us with her own pack filled up. On her head is an army issued cap, and I can’t stop the snicker that slips out at the sight of her.

She strikes a pose with her hands on her hips, and pouts her lips at us, and says “I’m pretty darn hot right?”

“
You’re something all right.” Noah says from behind her.

She spins around with a breathy gasp, while the rest of us full out laugh. Noah is smirking at her and wiggling his eyebrows, but he laughs a little when she blushes and shy’s away. Shaking his head, he carries what look like large duffle bag over to Gabe and I, who are now leaning against the near empty shelves.

“
Saw you checking out the shotguns and Uzi, and thought these might be useful.” He hands over the big bags to Gabe, and I realize that they are for the bigger weapons.

Gabe takes the bags, with wide eyes and I can’t stop the thought that he looks like a kid on Christmas morning that got exactly what he wanted. It’s definitely a great look on him too. As he leans down to prod around the guns, I lean down to help and notice that Noah is leaving the room. I’m not the only one that does either though, and before I get a chance to ask, Sam beats me too it.

“
Dude, where are you going?”

“
Just down the hall, there is a communications room. I want to check if there is a signal on the CB radio, I’ll be right back.” He says over his shoulder.

“
We shouldn’t go anywhere alone Noah, it’s not safe.” Claire says, as she makes as if she is going to follow him.

“
It’s as safe as it’s going to be, but your welcome to join me. And Sam you should stay and help Gabe and Maggie.”

They both disappear from the door, and I notice that Sam looks hurt that he was asked to stay behind. To be honest, I’d feel better having Claire watching our backs while we dig around in the weapons, and not Sam. I know he’s been helpful, but he’s so squeamish sometimes, it makes me nervous with him as backup. But maybe I’m wrong to even think like that though, because he steps right in the doorway and scans up and down the hallway.

I guess people can actually surprise you sometimes.

“
This is really the kind of weapons we should have in our situation huh?” Gabe asks, as I help him position the Uzi submachine gun into the open pack on the floor.

“
No kidding, it definitely puts the odds in our favor.”

Once that one is safely inside the pack, Gabe grabs two sawed off shotguns, and I hold the second pack open for him. We are just standing back up and smiling like maniacs over our new booty, when we hear a scream cut through the room. At first we freeze, and our eyes shoot to the door, where Sam is leaning out of.

“
Did that sound like Claire to you guys?” Sam asks as he slips out of the room, and raises his fire poker.

Gabe and I share a quick look, and it says yes we do think that sounded like Claire.

When she shrieks again, Gabe and I drop the heavy bags and push Sam out into the hallway. Somehow, I’m in the lead and the boys quickly follow behind me, as we start down the dark hallway. Down a ways I see a dim light coming from inside an opened door, and I quickly rush towards it. Reaching the threshold I raise my ax before entering, but end up coming to an abrupt stop, in alarm. Sam and Gabe run into my back and cause me to move inside with a whoosh. I stare in shock at what is inside, and I understand why Claire screamed. What I don’t understand is why she is just standing there, while Noah leans down over a body.

When the body clears its throat and moves around, I realize that it’s alive and not dead.

Chapter Thirty Eight

Still standing inside the door, I’m having a hard time taking my eyes off of the prone body lying on the floor. I don’t even move out of the way for the guys to come in behind me, because Claire is too shell shocked looking, for everything to be alright. The room they are in is small, and I don’t think it’s the communications room Noah was talking about. It looks more like a storage room or something, there are a couple unopened boxes lying around and a few cleaning supplies. Claire is standing off to the side on the left near the boxes, and the body and Noah are in the middle of the room. Noah is kneeling over the body, so I don’t really get a good look at him or her. But I do notice that on the concrete floor all around is smeared with already drying blood.

“
Who is that, are they alright?” Gabe asks from right behind me, but he doesn’t force me to move.

Noah turns around then, like he didn’t realize we were even in the room, and so does Claire. They both share the same haunted look, and that is what forces me into the room to get a better look at the person on the ground.

“
It’s all right; he’s not turned yet, so were safe.” Noah says in a low voice, as I approach.

“…
for now.” Claire says under her breath.

When I step into the room, Gabe and Sam flank close behind me and we all have a look at the person together. It’s a boy our age, and is wearing a soldier’s uniform that is so dirty with blood and shredded, that I wonder how long he’s been hurt. He’s favoring his left arm, and I can see that there is a large portion of flesh missing from the inside of it. There is a discarded bloodied shirt lying beside him, and I figure he must have given up thinking that he’ll recover. His face is ashen and clammy looking, and he seems to be having a hard time keeping his eyes open. I keep checking to make sure his chest is rising and falling, but I still know that he won’t be alive for much longer.

“
We can’t leave him like this.” Gabe says.

“
I know.” Noah says so softly that I almost don’t hear him.

Noah reaches behind him, and grabs his handgun from his belt, and turns it on the boy.

Before anyone can yell for him not to, he puts the guns barrel to the boys head and pulls the trigger. The body jerks, and then stops moving with a sigh and I know he’s dead now. Noah simply replaces his gun into his belt and gets to his feet. Claire is turned away and is crying, and I can hear Sam throwing up as he turns away too.

I can’t look away from the body though, how can I?

What have we become that a life doesn’t matter, even one that is dying. We might have done him a favor by ending his life and saving him from turning, but is it even better? I can hear the others move about the room, and maybe even leaving it, but I can’t move from the spot I’m in. I glare up at Noah as he walks past, and I can’t stop the flashes of Matt that cover him, but mostly it’s my hot rage that I see.

“
How could you
do
that?” I say through gritted teeth.

He stops right in front of me, and returns my glare easily with a sigh.

“
It had to be done.”

“
Did it? He couldn’t even move, let alone talk. We don’t know what he could have wanted.” I raise my voice, and can feel it shaky with unshed tears.

Gabe steps closer behind me, and I can feel his arms aching to wrap around me, but I stay just out of reach. Noah though, his glare deepens and he takes half a step closer to me.

“
And what should I have done, Maggie, huh? Just toss him outside and wait for him to turn? Then sneak up on him and kill him anyway, how is that different?”

“
Noah.” Gabe says as a warning and steps around to face him too.

“
It’s just not fair to that kid, he wasn’t even dead yet and here you are just treating him like a piece of meat.”

“
Nothing is fair Maggie; it’s just how it is. He was a hazard being in here, and could have infected anyone of us before we knew it. Do you want that on your shoulders?”

My eyes go wide, and I can’t make anything slip out of my lips, nothing. Not even to stand up for the dead kid who couldn’t speak for himself. I know Noah is right, but I can’t just change everything I am and let go of a life. Everything can’t be so different these days, where nothing matters. But I know the truth, and I’m just lying to myself.

“
That’s what I thought. Now if you all don’t mind, I’d like to round up all the weapons we have together in the mess hall.” Noah says as he steps around Gabe and me and walks out the door.

Sam is wiping his mouth and turns to go with him.

“
Why the mess hall, shouldn’t we take them out to the car?”

“
We wasted too much time in here, and it’ll be dark soon. We’re bunking in the mess hall until daylight.” Noah says as he disappears out of the door.

“
Oh.” Sam says as he gives us a nervous look before he follows after Noah.

I still rooted in the same spot, still staring at the body of the boy and I don’t know what is wrong with me. I’ve already killed dozens or more of the dead, but this one hits deeper for some reason. I guess it could be that he was alive a moment ago, or the fact that I keep seeing shadows of Matt lately. I thought I already got over killing him, but it wasn’t even that long ago, so maybe not.

“
Maggie, I hate to say it but Noah is right. It’s wrong to kill him like he did, but he was going to turn any minute.” Claire says as she walks over to Gabe and me, and gives us both sad looks.

“
It doesn’t make a difference, but thanks for saying it.” I saw in a whisper.

She lowers her eyes, and with hunched shoulders she leaves the room, and goes after the guys I’m guessing. My sudden anger is leaving me slowly and I’m left feeling shaky and cold. I realize I’m standing in a small room with a dead body, and it’s already starting to smell. In a panic, I spin around to get away and bump into Gabe’s arms. He holds me tightly, and whispers soothing things in my roaring ears and leads me out of the room. We don’t stop moving until we are safely out in the hall, and he closes the door behind us, and only then do I let out a shaky breath I didn’t know I was holding.

He walks me into the walk of the dark hallway, and I let him press into me, feeling his weight as a shield from everything. With one hand I wrap it around his neck and pull him tighter to me, my other one is still holding the ax too my side.

He must have gotten rid of his gun at some point because both of his open palms are around my hips.

“
I don’t agree with Noah you know, but it could have been dangerous to have that boy in here with us.” He says so softly, wonder if I even imagined it.

But I nod my head into the space between his shoulder and neck, and I feel him grip me tighter.

“
I certainly don’t agree, with how he said it either. I want you to know that I’d keep all these away from you if I could.”

With a sigh, I lean back a little so that my head is leaning on the wall, and so that I am staring up at him.

“
You can’t protect me from everything Gabriel, but it’s sweet of you to want to.”

I give him a small smile and a light squeeze to his neck with my hand. He bows his head so that our foreheads are touching, and he holds me tighter too.

“
I know I can’t, but I’m going to try. We just have to get where we’re going, and then everything will get better. It has too.”

“
I know, and it will.” I say as I lean up to him so that our lips lightly touch one another.

I can feel him sigh, as he smiles into me and deepens the kiss. We both pull back at the same time and hold on to one another, like we can’t get enough or can’t get closer. I know I told him that I thought things will get better, but I wonder if he knows I’m lying. After all we have gone through; I don’t see how anything could be better. At least we aren’t alone, so that has to count for something.

An hour later found me laying on a loveseat, which was dragged into the mess hall, and am trying to sleep. Trying, being the operative word here, since it hasn’t worked for the last twenty minutes. There are two other similar couches that Claire and Same are occupying, and from the snores, I know they had no problem falling asleep. The room we are in is the biggest by far, but we had to move tables and chairs along the walls to fit the couches. When I thought of mess hall I thought it was going to be a cafeteria that smells like old food, but there isn’t even any soda machines. So I guess it should be called a break room, but whatever.

Gabe and Noah both refused to rest or even sleep, so they are staying awake and keeping watch. They are positioned in two chairs by the door, and I can’t help listening in too their conversation, while I can’t sleep.