This Would Be Paradise (Book 1) (19 page)

I nodded, fully aware I had started to sweat from the tense situation, “I could tell from your clothes.”

He looked down at his shirt and surprise registered on his face.

“Come on, you should change into something else,” I urged, getting closer to John.

I tentatively put my hand on his shoulder and he looked at me, “Yeah, I look a mess.”

Two weeks later, everything was back to the way it was before.

Except that was a lie.

John was still acting like a husk, not at all the John we were used to. I don’t blame him, but it was getting too much to be around. So here I was on my own, with his car, a fair distance away from our home base. Cabin fever was starting to set in and that, combined with the gloomy atmosphere, was becoming too overwhelming for me.

So I volunteered to do a perimeter check and when Ethan said he would go with me, I declined his offer saying that I would be fine. He was stubborn about it, but I fought for my independence in this matter. I needed to be properly alone. The others weren’t happy about it, but I think they understood.

I packed the backpack borrowed from John with extra ammo for my stolen 9mm gun, some food and water for my day trip, and an extra pair of clothes and my shiny new hunting knife, just in case. I was planning on just driving around the roads that surrounded the property to make sure that there were no signs of infected or anyone else, but I got sidetracked. There was a road that went in the exact opposite direction of the cabin that had called to me instead. After all, the perimeter thing was just a guise so that I could get away for a few hours.

The gravel road led me to an open field surrounded by trees. I had been driving for almost an hour, so I stopped at the opening and killed the car. The sun was shining bright above me, as I climbed out. Not a cloud in the sky. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. I was starting to really appreciate the Southern weather. Usually by this time of year at home, it was raining and overcast all the time. The air smelled fresh; the flowery fragrance of the field grass was a welcome one.

As you can imagine, six people living in close quarters did not smell all that great. I looked around for any signs of, well, anything. I was completely alone for the first time since the infection had taken over like a conquering army. I scooted myself onto the hood of the car and leaned against the windshield, my new backpack right beside me. I propped my hands behind my head, intending to fully enjoy this brief reprieve. The warm sun was making me drowsy and I let myself start to drift, listening to the sound of the wildlife.

That was one thing that didn’t seem to be affected – the ecosystem. Animals, plant life, bugs, they all seemed to be thriving, while the humans were decimated. I hoped that one day this world would not end up lost to the bugs. That was an even more disturbing thought.
Didn’t they say that cockroaches could survive nuclear war?
I stopped thinking about it, trying to push out the image of people sized cockroaches roaming the empty streets.

A gust of wind rustled the trees even more, and I sat up, making sure it was just the wind. I was trying to relax, but fear always was waiting silently in the back of my mind. You could never lower your guard in this new world. I sank back down to the windshield, confident that it was just the breeze.

Darren had been pestering us all about going back to John’s gun shop to grab more ammo and guns. Unfortunately, John said he didn’t have any type of perimeter monitoring equipment. He also showed no desire to go back to his store. Or anything for that matter. We had come to the conclusion that we would go in the next few days. Ethan’s bullet wound was getting better, but we still needed as many capable people as possible. So it was to be Darren, Ethan and I, while John and Zoe stayed with Chloe.

Zoe didn’t seem to have an issue with staying behind; she wasn’t the most aggressive person, not looking to run head long into danger. I remember back when we had first started university and were at the bar with other students. Some drunken bitch was pissed that Zoe was getting hit on by a member of the school hockey team and decided to go up and shove her, all while calling her a chink. Zoe was like third-generation Japanese and barely looked Asian, but if there was one thing I couldn’t tolerate, it would be racism. And that someone was heckling my friend.

Zoe just kind of stood there, not willing to shove her back, so in my drunken wisdom I decided to stick up for my friend. I shoved the girl from behind, and she whirled around and sucker punched me. At this point I got pissed and grabbed the girl’s hair, smashing her face into the bar counter, then proceed to punch her on the ground. I wasn’t lying when I said I was a mean drunk. Zoe pulled me off of her, and we ended up getting banned from the bar.

I remember all the pats on the back I got the next day a school, all the while trying to hide my shiner under makeup. The girl had a few inches of height and definitely had some pounds on me, but I had managed to win anyways. That was the most violence I had ever committed, up until now that is. Maybe it was there all along, and this apocalypse was just starting to bring it out. That was an unsettling thought.

It was nice to have quiet for once. Usually someone was talking or yelling in the cabin. I had never spent so many of my days outside, as I had during the last two and a half months. We were starting to grow restless. Obviously help was not forth coming and unless we planned to live out our lives in that tiny cabin, we had to come up with some kind of plan.

Maybe I could find a car and try my luck heading north, back to B.C. That plan seemed less and less crazy as the days went on. That was also a worrying thought. Looking at my watch, I realized that I had been laying here for two hours. I hopped off of the hood and threw my backpack into the passenger seat. I reversed back onto the gravel road and decided that I should finally get around to what I had supposedly come out here for. Trees whizzed past me and gravel was tossed up behind the car, as I sped back the way I had come.

An hour later, I had been up and down the main artery that passed by the road to the cabin, and it seemed clear. I wasn’t sure, but I could swear I saw movement in the bushes. The car came to a slow stop, as I pressed on the brake and got out. Using my hand as a shield, I blocked out the mid-afternoon sun shining down from above.
Maybe it was just my imagination.
Everything seemed still now. I shook my head and decided that maybe a drink of water was in order.

I rummaged through my bag for my water bottle, as I started down the road again. It kept sliding away from my grabbing fingers, staying just out of reach. I sighed and turned my head toward the stupid backpack. Finally, I managed to fish the bottle out of my backpack of no return, just in time to see a body in my way. Slamming on the brakes did no good since I was on gravel and the car continued to skid forward.

I managed to swerve to the side, only clipping the human-shaped form. It went flying into the ditch as the car eventually came to a stop. Hurriedly, I dug through my bag for the hand gun. Gripping it tightly, I got out of the car leaving the engine running, just in case I needed a quick getaway.

“Hello?” I prompted.

A moan was all I got for a response and I had no idea if that meant the person was infected or just injured. I risked getting closer, peering down into the ditch dip. A mangled hand reached toward me, two of its fingers missing and not from the crash. The man was wearing a shredded business suit, and his dingy skin was starting to bubble and blister from the unrelenting sun. He tried to crawl to me, his teeth grinding together excitedly.

I took a deep breath and stepped toward the crevasse. I had a better chance of hitting it if it was down there. The gun was lighter than my Berettas were, so I had to watch how I shot with this one.

One minute the ravenous face was looking at me, the next it was face first into the grass. In a single shot I had hit the top of its head, ending its climbing attempt. There was no silencer on this gun, and you could tell from the echoing sound of the gunshot.

The rest of the drive was not a pleasant one. Now I was sure I had seen things moving in the trees. My knuckles were pulled taut, as I gripped the steering wheel and floored it back to the cabin, hoping it didn’t take me an hour to get back.

Nowhere near soon enough, I finally turned left onto the road that lead to the cabin from the main one, immediately having to swerve around another infected standing in the middle of the road. I heard the sound of its fingers dragging along the car as I passed, no doubt wrecking the paint job.

More infected were lining the road and coming out of the woodwork. I felt like I was playing a driving video game, having to swerve all over the road just to avoid unwanted pedestrians. There would be no points awarded this time, just death if I managed to crash the car and have to make it through this on foot.

I needed to get back to the cabin to warn the others, if they haven’t already found out for themselves.

“Get off the road!” I yelled to no one in particular, after yet another infected ran toward the car instead of away from it.

One of the headlights cracked from the impact, and a fair amount of dents were more than likely adorning the front grill. I gritted my teeth, my breath coming out in short spurts. Finally, I reached the gate, cursing when I remembered that I had closed it behind me.

Except it wasn’t closed. It was wide open.

A group of infected had formed behind me, chasing after the car so I had no choice but to go forward. The closer I got to cabin, the more I realized I should be panicking. Ethan’s truck was gone, and I didn’t spot anyone outside. Infected were everywhere; the whole property was overrun.

I got up to the cabin door and jumped out of the car, taking out the two that were banging on the front panels. The door banged against the wall, as I burst through and I slammed it shut. I looked into the two bedrooms, only to find them empty of people. The room was spinning, and I realized that it was me, so I stopped my feet from going in circles. It looked like things had been hastily packed, bags and supplies were everywhere. On the floor, counter, furniture.

It looked like I had been left behind. I braced my hands on my knees; breathing was starting to become difficult. There was no way they would leave me behind, they just couldn’t have. All right, I would have to keep that thought out of my mind for right now. I ran to the ammo stash and threw as many of the remaining cases as I could find into a plastic bag, then grabbed some of the food bags and tossed them all by the door.

Peeking out the front window revealed that a couple more infected had made it this far up the driveway. I took a breath and flung open the front door, not wasting too much time with my aim, and managed to take the two that had just approached the car. I reached back into the cabin and grabbed the bulging plastic bags, then threw them into the back seat of the car.

My head whipped around as I tried to scan for signs of anyone, eyes landing on a bobbing head just beyond the fence line, and my heart sunk.

It was Chloe.

Chloe was running wildly. All the infected in the area seemed to have honed in on her presence. The more I listened, the more I heard her screaming for help, ironically making the situation worse. She was over half the property away from me with over a dozen infected between me and her.

Leave her.

I turned toward the car, my hand on the driver’s side door.

But I couldn’t do that. I reached in and turned the engine off, but left the keys in the ignition. The last thing I need would be for them to slip out of my pocket. I had roughly ten bullets left in my gun and one extra magazine that we had found. I fished it out of my backpack and stuffed it into my pocket.

The door slammed louder than I hoped it would have when I shut it, drawing some attention. I started my jog toward Chloe’s location, using the less populated path. Luckily, most of the infected had their backs to me, all intent on getting to the screaming girl.

I wanted to yell at her to stop screaming, but then the attention would be focused on me and make this rescue attempt harder. Dodging the grabbing arms and confused infected, I managed to gain some ground. I really wanted to avoid using my gun until I absolutely had to, because the noise would draw them to me like moths to a flame. I was so focused on what was happening in front of me, that I didn’t see the one bounding toward me from the side.

We were knocked down from the collision, and I rolled away as soon as I felt the grass on my skin. A badly decayed hand wrapped around my ankle, using me as leverage to pull its emaciated form closer. I tried to dislodge it by wiggling my foot, but it was wrapped on my leg good.

Seeing no other option, I pulled out my gun and shot it between the eyes. Well, it was more like in the upper left corner of the forehead, but it worked all the same. Dark, viscous blood sprayed onto my leg and I grimaced. The body went lax, and I was able to pull my ankle free and get up.

All red and milky eyes were on me. I had just rung the dinner bell with that shot. It appeared I had also gotten Chloe’s attention, because she was now sprinting toward me. Into the horde.
Shit.
I gained some speed and started to shove over all of the nearest infected, knowing I would have more success with that than with my gun at the moment. I felt like a quarterback running the football in for a touchdown. I hated sports.

“Bailey!” Chloe screamed my name.

I reached her in the middle of the chaos. She latched onto me and I had to pry her off.

“Come on.”

With her hand in mine, I led us around the infected. As I steered her away from the relentless bodies, I was forced to pull out my gun. The gunfire had formed into a continuous popping succession. Bodies were dropping, but it looked like I had used all the bullets. Then more gunfire sounded off into the distance.

Chloe looked at me, us both knowing that came from one of our group. I elbowed a pre-teen infected out of the way and they flopped against the trunk of the car, bouncing right back up.

“Get in the driver’s door!” I yelled out of breath.

Chloe didn’t have to be told twice as she opened the door behind her and scrambled into the next seat. The infected that I had elbowed was by no means done. I swiped out my left leg, hitting it behind the knee. It fell back against the car again sliding all the way down this time, its arms flailing in the air. It reminded me of when a cartoon character would dramatically slip on a banana peel.

I hurried in after her and slammed the door behind me. Hands were groping on the sides, looking to get in. The rest were heading right for us.

“Go!” Chloe’s high-pitched scream made my temples throb.

I turned the key and the engine roared to life.

“Seatbelt!”

Chloe quickly strapped in right before I hit reverse. The tires spun up dirt for a second before we actually started to move. The infected that had started to lean on the sides, suddenly found themselves sprawled out on the dirt path as we backed up. I had my head craned to look out the back window, and once I found a patch clear of infected, I turned the car around.

Now we were facing the open gate and numerous infected. I punched the accelerator and played yet another round of dodge-the-things-in-the-way. The seat belt was twisted in Chloe’s grip as she held the scratchy fabric between her small hands. Once we cleared the gate, I chanced another look back. None of our friends could be spotted, if they were still there that is. There was no way Ethan would have left without Chloe, so he must still be somewhere out in the woods looking for her.

Now I was torn. I hadn’t seen him in the flesh, but Ethan was more than likely out there somewhere. We had heard that gun shot in the distance, but in all the confusion I had no idea even what direction it had come from. I had a choice to make. Did we go back and look for him? Or did I keep going with Chloe?

I wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.

“Chloe, what were you doing out there by yourself?” I asked, once I urge to scream passed.

“I wanted to see where John kept goin’,” she said in a small voice.

“So you followed him out there?”

She nodded.

“Did you see anyone else?”

She shook her head and started to sob. “Ethan’s got to be back there. We have to go back!” Tears ran down her face, and she was getting those heaving breaths that accompanied crying.

“We can’t go back Chloe. If we go any further out, we’ll just get bogged down with the infected.”

I knew her next move before she even had time to think it through clearly. Her hand reached for the door handle, and I quickly hit the childproof lock button. She rattled the door all while crying profusely. “Let me out! I have to go back for him!” she wailed and then turned on me full force.

Her little fists wouldn’t do much damage, but I was swerving the car all over trying to subdue her.

“Chloe! Settle down!” I yelled, in the most adult voice I could muster.

She wasn’t stopping, so I shoved her back into her seat – not hard mind you. Chloe blinked at me, surprised that I had done that, and then started bawling again. I felt like an asshole, but she needed to calm down. I was having a hard enough time driving in this as it was. The right turn was up ahead, and the herd had thinned out, the majority of them surrounding the cabin.

“Chloe, I know you’re mad, but I need you to answer me. Did you see who took the truck?”

She sniffed and took in some short breaths, “I dunno. I never saw the truck leave.”

Damn
. My best guess was that Zoe and Darren were driving to who knows where, while John and Ethan were out in the woods. Ethan must have realized Chloe had snuck away and went after her, probably getting trapped in the horde. And for all I knew, John had walked right into them, depressed about Taylor.

I had to stop this train of thought; it was making things even harder. It was like when you heard a noise in the middle of the night and your mind immediately began picturing all the horrible things that could be waiting for you outside of your blankets.

Speculating wasn’t helping. I needed to get us to safety, and I now had someone other than myself to look out for. I was responsible for another human being. That knowledge was daunting and hit me like a ton of bricks.
Goddamn them for not watching her closer!
I smacked the steering wheel yet again, and Chloe flinched at my outburst. Again, I felt like an ass.

“I’m getting us out of here,” I announced, more for my sake than for Chloe’s. I felt like I needed to convince myself.

The main road that lead back to the highway was peppered with infected, but nowhere near as saturated as the cabin lot had been. I had apparently done an appalling job on my perimeter run. Maybe if hadn’t left, things would have turned out differently. Maybe we would have all escaped together.
Was this my fault?
Guilt was gnawing away inside me, like a parasite eating its way out.

We were flung to the left, as I swerved around the remnants of a tall male infected who dove out in front of the car. I peered at the gas needle; it was sitting at half a tank. I wasn’t sure how long it would last, especially with the crazy driving I had to do. Nor did I have any idea where I was going, so I was just burning gas until a plan formed itself.

Chloe had stopped her crying and was peering out the window. I slowed the car and eventually stopped.

Chloe turned to me. “Why did you stop? Are we goin’ back?” Her voice was laced with a lethal dose of hope, making my next words even harder.

“No, we’re going to find somewhere to hold up until I can figure out what to do. If we go back into that, we probably won’t get back out. Did anyone ever mention a muster point?”

“A what?”

“Like a meet-up place if we were to get separated?”

No one had said anything to me, but maybe Chloe heard someone talking about going somewhere else.

“No,” she wore a look of intense concentration. “Wait, I forgot. When you went on your supply run, we caught some words on the radio. The voice mentioned a safe place, we couldn’t make it out too clearly, but I think they said somethin’ like Hargrove?”

“Is that a town?”

“Dunno. It was real static-y.”

I don’t remember a town named Hargrove from the few times I glossed over the maps. Maybe it was a building? If it even was a safe haven.

“Did Zoe or Darren say anything about this Hargrove place?”

“Darren said it was probably a recordin’.”

Then why hadn’t we heard it before? There was no need to voice my doubt and get Chloe’s hopes up. The sound of skin dragging along glass made me jump in my seat. I turned to see an infected with its jaw missing, banging at my window like he was bumming for change. The tendons that once held his jaw were now dangling freely, resembling discolored spaghetti.

I fished into my pocket and pulled out my extra magazine, replacing the empty one in my gun.

“Plug your ears,” I commanded, and Chloe fists balled around her ears.

With the window rolled down just enough for the muzzle of the gun, I pulled the trigger. The infected’s head whipped back. The smell of rot mixed with the scent of gun powder wafted through the window opening. My ears were ringing from the shot, like someone was banging wind chimes in my head to a bad version of
Beat It
.

Chloe was mouthing something to me, but I had no idea what she was trying to say. It took a good minute before I realized she wasn’t mouthing words; she was actually speaking them.

“That was loud,” I heard around the bells in my head.

I nodded, not sure if I would be able to speak without making my temples explode in pain. I started the car again, not having any idea of what the hell I was doing. It was like being back in my first year of university all over again, except I had another to care about besides myself this time around.