They Walk (37 page)

“
What is it?” I ask him.

He whistles and says, “Looks like I’m not the only cowboy at this rodeo.”

Snorting out a laugh, I shake my head.

“
Damn straight, hot stuff. Let’s get out of here now, huh?”

“
You got it boss.” He says as he starts up the car.

My parents are quiet in the backseat and I can only imagine what they are thinking.

Who is this girl that used to be their daughter?

To be honest I don’t even know who she is. But really, I love her. I lay my head back on the rest of the seat, and as the adrenaline fades from my body, I start to feel awful again. My body is shaky and my head feels fuzzy, and when the throbbing pounding returns like an old friend, I can’t wait to take some pain pills. If only I had water.

Here’s hoping they haven’t run out of it at the apartments, and that I don’t keel over before I get it.

Chapter Sixty Three

As Gabe steers the car out of the parking lot of the Collisee, and onto the road behind the line of others, I have the awful thought of wishing we could drive to safety. Rather than heading straight into the heart of the state and back into the waiting arms of the ravenous dead. I know I shouldn’t feel that way, but really I wouldn’t be alive and human if I didn’t think that just a little. That’s what separates us from the dead I think. Thought of wanting to change one’s mind even if you know you can’t.

But then what do I know, certainly not the reason behind the dead’s needs.

Turning my head, I watch the Collisee and everything still in the parking lot get smaller and smaller from the side mirror, as we pull away. We are only just getting on the main road behind everyone else, when I see the dead gaining ground over the soldiers behind us. The sound of gunfire fades the farther we go, and I hope it’s the distance and not the men getting killed that cause’s it. None of us say anything as we drive, and it’s just as well, there is nothing we can do to save anyone else right now.

It’s every man for himself and all that.

It’s almost dusk out now, and I turn away to stare out into the road to where we are going now. Still behind the rest of the cars, the drive is a slow one. I think the dead are starting to realize that all the living are leaving, because a group of them are following the cars now and leaving the parking lot behind us. Nearing the end of the street and coming into a neighborhood, I can see the dead rushing out from between the houses and it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

With this many of the dead around, I can’t see clearly what condition they are in, being grouped together so closely. They are all so overwhelming, that I really hope Dan and the rest are still alive and that they haven’t gotten overwhelmed like this. But most of all I really, really hope that we don’t all get trapped in here when the bombs go off.

Gabe turns us right onto Bartlett Street now and the number of the houses and the dead around them increase, and I can hear the gasps of my parents at the sight of them. The dead are getting braver the farther we go, and keep bumping into the car.

“
Drive steady Gabriel, keep your focus.” My dad says quietly as he leans between mine and Gabe’s seat and places a hand on Gabe’s shoulder.

I notice the way Gabe clenches the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles are bone white, but he doesn’t slow down one bit and if anything he speeds up. My dad sits back, and when he doesn’t say anything, I hope he is pleased with Gabe. But why should that bother me if he didn’t? If there weren’t so many of the dead I might use a gun like I did in a past car ride, but there are too many now and I’d only get bitten. Gabe must think the same sort of thing, since he doesn’t even ask for anyone to open the windows.

Gabe turns us onto Ash Street to the left, and we get deeper into the neighborhood of homes here in the city. It chills my insides at the large amount of the dead, and I have to believe that there are no their living people left here anymore. The only thing keeping us on the road now is that the car is going faster than the dead can run, and the fact that all the rest of the cars are sticking close to one another.

Otherwise the dead would bombard us to the point of forcing us off the road.

“
Oh my…” My mother says softly.

I don’t even have to ask what has her so shocked, because when we’re turning to the right onto Lisbon Street all the homes are replaced by a few small business, and it still shocks me to see how they all look now. This part of the city is a little worse for wear, as most of the building halfway burnt to the ground. Burning the dead might’ve been a good idea, but clearly no one realized you have to put the fire out eventually or it’ll destroy everything in its path.

A lot of good it did around here, I see, since there are still too many of the dead around.

Soon enough, we’re turning to the left and onto Main Street. The road branches off up ahead, going either left or right and it comes back to me that we’re not going to behind the rest of the cars very soon. They all have to go right to the highway, and we have to go to the left, so as to head to the apartments in Auburn.

When we come to the end of the road and Gabe turns us to the left, we all watch behind us as the other cars get smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. It’s a small comfort to, to find that the dead fading in numbers too. All that stands between us getting to Dan is just a small stretch of Court Street until we come to the notorious bridge I know and hate. There is a visible ease of tension between us in the car so strong, that it makes me want to break out into giggles.

I don’t of course, that would be weird and slightly off putting.

“
Maggie, what happened earlier today, when you came running out of the Collisee?” My mom asks suddenly and breaking the silence.

I turn around in my seat to look at her, and I can feel an inner confliction of wondering if I should tell her about my injury. I can feel Gabe watching me and sense his insistence of being honest, even more so.

“
I told you that we had a car accident that brought us to the apartments where Dan is right?” I tell her before I can change my mind.

She and my father share a look, and she nods at me almost not certain she wants to know where I could be going with this.

“
Well, I was a little more hurt than I originally told you.”

Eyes going wide, she leans up so that there is only a short distance between us and the seats.

“
What do you mean, how hurt were you?” She asks, as her eyes rake my body inspecting for some overlooked injury.

My father places a hand on her shoulder and eases her back beside him, all the while giving me a stern look. One I haven’t seen in a while. “Karen, let her finish.” He tells my mother.

Flickering a glance to Gabe I see him watching me out of the corner of his eye and it helps me to continue.

“
I sustained a severe concussion, one so bad that I might have, um, died for a few minutes. But obviously it didn’t take, since I’m still alive and kicking.”

“
That doesn’t tell us why you ran out of the Collisee, like there were Hell Hounds on your tail.” My dad says.

“
No it doesn’t, but the after affects I’ve been feeling since I’m not fully recovered, kind of does. I may have blacked out and woke up with no memory.”

“
What?” My mother shouts and physically removes my father’s arms from around her so that she can sit forward again and place her hands on my cheeks.

“
Again, obviously it didn’t take. I remember everything again and it didn’t last long anyway, it’s no big deal, really.”

“
Maggie, be serious.” Gabe says softly.

Sighing, I try to turn to look at him, but my mother keeps me in place and forces me to look at her.

“
Magdalena Cooper, don’t you dare lie to me and try to downplay how hurt you are. Will this, going after your brother affect your health?” She tells me as her voices sounds like steel.

“
Mom, it doesn’t matter if it does or doesn’t at this point. Nothing is going to stop me from getting us all back together.”

I reach up and place my hands on hers so that I can gently pull them from my cheeks. Letting go of her and feeling determined, I turn away and sit back in the passenger seat. When my mother finally sits back herself, everyone in the car is silent again. I know they all mean well, but it’s not the time to worry about one person, me, when there are others that have no idea about what is going on and need our help.

“
I am scared you know, I’m not stupid, but I won’t let it stop us.” I say softly.

I can actually here both of my parents let out a sigh at the same time, but I notice they don’t try to change my mind. Gabe clears his throat suddenly and reaches out his hand and places it on my leg and gives me a squeeze. Smiling slightly, I take his hand in both of mine and pull it into my lap, with no intention of letting him go.

When he clears his throat again, I glance at him and find him smirking at me “So Magdalena, huh, didn’t know that.”

“
Just shut up and drive Gabriel.” I tell him irritatingly, even as I feel my cheeks burn in a blush.

As I try to think what went through my parent’s minds when they came up with my name, I notice that the bridge we need is coming up ahead and I can see the top of the apartment building looming ahead.

It’s now or never now.

Chapter Sixty Four

Gabe pulls us across the bridge with all the broken down cars, and he has to swerve here and there to just keep us moving. We pass the side rail and my head actually starts to throb when I see that it’s all bent from where we hit it a couple weeks ago. The difference this time though, is that I notice that the woods on our right are silent now. There aren’t any hidden shadows running within and waiting to rush us. That should make me feel a little better, but it doesn’t.

It doesn’t help either.

I lean over Gabe to pear over the side of the bridge and look down to the expanse of land where the apartments are. There isn’t even as many of the dead here like when we were here the last time. I know we killed most of them when we left, but surly more would come. If only to try to find the living that are inside.

My attention gets brought back to the present when Gabe is driving us to the end of the bridge where a turn off is, that leads to the apartments below. It’s darker out now and the first thing I notice, is that there aren’t any lights on in any of the windows. That could mean anything though, right?

Like the generator they had might be out of gas. But, he closer we get to the building the better my view of it is, and I thank all and any who watch out for us, that it’s still standing in the same condition. Having been inside it once, I find the whole place kind of an illusion with its size, since it looks smaller than it is. It’s a three story building and is more tall than wide, and would seem almost intimidating like a big city sky scraper, but I know it’s not.

As Gabe drives us off the side road and onto the wide expanse of land down here, I’m not the only one to notice that there aren’t that many of the dead here. Gabe is gripping the steering wheel again, and I really should talk to him about that. He could hurt his gun firing hand, and then I’d have to be the one to protect him.

I bet he’d get a kick out of that though.

“
Wow, this is where all the people you mentioned are hiding out?” My mother whispers as she leans over my father to get a better look out the window.

Before I can tell her yes and that it’s sturdier than it looks, Gabe steers us around and into the back parking lot. What I see makes me gasp in surprise, right after Gabe does. And that’s because most of the cars are now gone from it. When we left before, there were at least ten or more cars, and now there is like two. Gabe pulls the car to a stop a couple feet from the door, the closest he could get without driving up on those ridiculous speed bump cement blocks. And as we idle in silence, I can see the dead from the front of the building already rushing around to the back, and to us.

I know we can’t sit here forever, but I’m not alone with the feeling like we just made a wasted trip. No cars might mean that there are no people. What will we do if they aren’t here, where will we look next?

Feeling my stomach churn at the thought, I turn to look at a white faced Gabe, and he turns to me the same moment I do. We share the same haunted look and I can see the hesitation in his eyes as to whether should we get out of the car. Then there are my parents, who have no idea about the inner turmoil Gabe and I are feeling. They wait in patient silence, and are content for me and Gabe to take point in this matter.

I sure don’t want to have to tell them the possibility that Dan may or may not be here.

Clearly though, Gabe and I don’t hide our trepidation very well, because my father pushes up between the seats and fixes us with a stern look.

“
Is there something wrong that you’re not saying? To be honest you both look like someone stepped on your cat.”

I turn to him with a smirk, who says things like that? Really, he is such an old man sometimes.

“
Dad, it’s just, um…” I start to say, but not sure how to continue and instead turn to Gabe for help.