WorldLost- Week 1: An Infected Novel (16 page)

I knew she was right, I knew that, but mourning for Mary
right then and there wasn’t a safe thing to do. It put us all in danger.

“We can and we will find time to grieve and mourn our friends
and family that we lose, but we have to do it at a time where we aren’t at
risk.” I gave her a hug and then asked, “Can Cindy and Jamie sit in the cab and
will you sit with me in the truck bed. At least this way, if we have another
problem like what happened to Mary, you and I are better with dealing with it?”

Amy agreed and everyone changed where they were in the truck.
Jamie and Cindy traded spaces with Amy. After everyone was settled, I tapped
the cab of the truck letting Butch know we were ready to get moving. Butch gave
the truck some gas and we headed down the road.

We had been on the road for two hours, without any seeing any
living persons and just the occasional infected wondering down the road. We
passed homes, farms, small businesses; some of them looked like they were
inhabited by the living and some looked like the living had escaped as quickly
as possible. We didn’t stop at any of these places, we’d had enough of the
infected for today and really just wanted to get to Butch’s parent's place, a
place that would provide safety for all of us.

We eventually came to the corner of Rural Route 4 which was
where we would turn southwest to head to his parent's place. We turned the
corner and headed up the hill to a crest that would take us into the Squaw
Valley community, home to farms, a high-end housing community for some of the wealthiest
people from Charleston and a small one street town that in the past we would
stop at to have a drink before the last leg to Butch’s parent’s farm.

As we came to the crest of the hill, Butch slowed the truck down
and finally stopped. At the top of the hill and we looked down into the valley.
We saw that the road was blocked about a half mile down.

We could see a line of cars and trucks parked across the road
forming a blockade. There were newly dug ditches on each side of the road which
would make it impossible for us to drive our truck on the shoulder of the road
to bypass the roadblock. From this point of view, we were stuck; no way to get
around it and going through the roadblock presented a ton of potential
problems.

In the distance, we saw the high-end housing community known
as The Commons. Some of the homes were on fire and smoldering, there was smoke
in the sky and what looked like multiple vehicles and people moving around the
main area of the community. I pulled out a set of binoculars from my backpack
and stood against the cab, peering into the valley.

“We’ve got a problem,” I said to Butch, handing him the
binoculars through the open rear window. “We either try to make it through the
roadblock or we continue on SH 8 and backtrack to the house. We could go north
and east to come in a back way. What do you think?”

“Continuing on SH 8 will mean backtracking down dirt roads
across multiple farms for hours to bypass this place.” He said lowering the
binoculars and turning to me. “They know we’re here. Look, they’re already
starting to get people together and head our way. Maybe they’re good people,
just protecting their community from the infected and the creeps.”

“Could be, but are we willing to risk it? We’re not really ready
to deal with a threat. We have three people who are capable of fighting and two
that aren’t. If their intent is bad, then we’re in trouble. I think we have to go
the other way, deal with the time it takes to backtrack.” I tapped the cab letting
Butch know that we should get going.

Butch didn’t argue and put the truck in reverse and started
heading backward to get us out of there. As we pulled into the intersection and
started to head north, we could see the cloud of dust heading our way from The
Commons neighborhood.

“I think they’re following us,” Amy said to me.

She was right, we were being pursued. They had motorcycles
and trucks heading our way and based on their speed they were in a hurry to get
to us. I didn’t have a good feeling about this situation. “I think we need to punch
it and get somewhere safe, NOW!” I yelled to Butch through the cab window.

He turned the wheel and headed the truck north on SH 8. “We
need to get off the road and away from these guys.”

“I got this. I know these roads like the back of my hand, I
know where I’m going” Butch said through the window. He got the truck speeding
down the state highway and as we moved up a hill, we could see the pursuing
vehicles heading down the hill we had just come down. After cresting the next hill
we lost sight of them. We needed to turn off the highway when they were behind
a hill so they couldn’t see where we had turned off. “Find somewhere to turn
off on the way down a hill so they can’t see us,” I told Butch.

After another couple of hills, Butch took a right onto a road
that went into the forest and we headed east. If you hadn’t been looking, you
would never have noticed the turn to the forest road. It was well hidden from
the highway. The road headed in the wrong direction from where we wanted to go,
but I had to trust Butch to get us somewhere safe. Lord knew I had no clue
where we were.

As we turned, I looked back to see if we had made a clean
escape and since I didn’t see any of the vehicles that were pursuing us, I was
pretty sure we had made it. Butch continued to speed down the partially paved
road till he came up to a fork in the road. He pulled to a top and said, “We
have a choice, south takes us into the hills and eventually back around to SH 8
about five miles south of RR 4. To the north, we end up using switchbacks to
cross the next valley and will end up around county road 10 which will get us
to Johnson’s Corner and then 40 miles back to my parents. Either way, will take
us all day.”

“I vote we head north and find a place to camp for the night,”
I replied. “If we can get to Johnson’s Corner, we could crash there and then
head south.”

“I agree,” Amy said. Jamie and Cindy were quiet, seemingly
still shocked by Mary’s death. Butch turned the wheel north and headed into the
valley.

The trip took us into a small valley, following gravel switchbacks
down the mountain and then switchbacks up the other side. We had just gone
through our fourth switchback on the upslope when I noticed a cloud of dust
coming down the mountain on the other side. It had to be someone from The
Commons neighborhood. They must have split up to search for us once we had
disappeared. We had to come up with a plan to put more distance between us and
the people trying to catch us.

For all we knew, there would be another truck heading south
on this gravel road from further up the highway. “We need a plan,” I said to Amy.

“I got one, but we need to stop once we get to the top of the
mountain.” She said. “Butch, pull over once we get past the top of the hill.”

As we crested the hill, Butch drove the truck little ways
further and then slowed down to pull to the side of the gravel road. “What now,
Boss?”

“Get out of the truck and get in hidden so they don’t see you.
Jamie and Cindy can go right and get hid behind those rocks over there.” She
pointed to an outcropping of boulders to the right of the path. “You and Butch
go to the left and get hidden behind those trees over there. Be ready when I
need help.” She climbed out of the bed and moved down the path a bit. “When
they stop to check me out, cover them and come out of the trees. Make sure they
hear and see you so they are distracted.”

We really didn’t have time to discuss the plan or think of
other options so we headed into the woods and the girls headed behind the
boulders. From our vantage point, we couldn’t see the girls and we couldn’t see
Amy as she was behind the passenger side of the truck, the opposite of us. The truck
that was pursuing us came around the last switchback and crested the hill
slowing down as they noticed our truck.

Amy was squatted next to the passenger rear tire, acting like
she was trying to fix a flat. The truck rolled up and stopped opposite of her
so she was now hidden from them. There were two guys in the truck and they both
climbed out. The driver moved to the passenger side of the truck and stood next
to his pal.

There was a short guy with a beer belly and a tall skinny guy
that was carrying a shotgun. They stood by their truck and the short one called
out to Amy. “Hey sweetheart, how about coming out here and talking with us for
a minute.”

“I’m fixing a flat. How about you come over here and help
me.” She said as she stood up and smiled at them. One hand was on the truck and
the other was below the bed of the truck. “I can’t get the lug nut to turn and
could use some muscle.” She kind of winked and turned her head a little.

I’d seen Amy use this trick on guys at the bar; it was very
useful when she was dealing with someone who had too much to drink. Flirting a
little could go a long way. I guess when a guy thinks there’s a possibility;
they start to think with a different head, which puts them in a vulnerable
position. At least, that’s what happens to me.

The short guy laughed, started to move to the back of the
truck as he pulled up his jeans and slung his rifle on his back. “I’ve got this
Jerry. I’ll get her loosened up and then you can finish her off.” He smirked at
his pal as he turned the corner of our truck.

At that point, I knew these guys were trouble and if they
were from the Common’s neighborhood, then no one there could be trusted.

Amy was waiting for him and just as he turned his head to
smirk, she moved forward and shoved her pistol into his beer belly. He stopped
short and she smiled at him.

“How about you ask your friend to put the gun down and then
we can talk about how you can help us.”

“Us?” He said with some fear in his voice.

“Yea, me and my friends,” Amy said louder so that we would hear
her.

Butch and I stepped out of the woods behind the tall guy
pointing our guns at him. “You’re making a mistake here missy.” The tall guy
said as he aimed his gun at Amy. “You’re dead already and don’t know it,
bitch.”

He was so involved with dealing with Amy; he didn’t hear me
approach him from behind. I used the butt of my rifle to try and knock him out,
but it only made him drop to his knees. A swift kick to his back got him to hit
the ground where he lost his grip on his gun. Butch followed up with another
hit to the head and the tall guy was out for the count. The short guy took this
opportunity to grab Amy’s wrist and twist the gun away from his stomach. Amy
tried to wrestle the gun away and get control, but the short guy was too strong
for her and they struggled behind the truck for control of the gun.

I moved towards them and was just about to round the corner of
the truck when the gun went off. The sound of the gun echoed through the valley
and it seemed like time stood still while everyone tried to figure out if they had
been hit. From behind the outcropping of boulders, Jamie came running and used
a large rock to hit the short guy in the head. He crumbled to the dirt ground just
as I reached Amy and moved her away from the body.

“Are you OK?” I asked as I looked her up and down for any
blood, not sure if she had been hit by the bullet.

“I’m fine, I think...” She stuttered and began to back up to
the truck bed for support. “I don’t feel anything, I mean...like I was hit.”

Jamie used the rock to hit the short guy again which made me turn
at the sound of his skull cracking. I grabbed the rock from Jamie and threw it
to the side. “You did good Jamie. It’s done.” She was shaking and crying as she
stared at the short guy’s body. I moved her away from the body and sat her down
in the passenger seat. Butch continued to cover the taller guy who was still on
the ground.

“Cindy, you can come out now,” I called as Cindy moved out
from behind a boulder and headed to Jamie in the truck. “Can you watch Cindy?”
I asked Jamie. She nodded at me acknowledging my request.

I grabbed my backpack and pulled out some rip cord to tie up
the tall guy. I moved over to him and began to tie his hands and feet together.
“We’ve got to get them off the road and hidden ASAP before re-enforcements show
up. Help me get them in the back of their truck.” I said as I grabbed the tall
guy by the wrist and started dragging him to the back of the truck. Butch
grabbed his legs and together we swung him into the bed of the truck.

“Is the short guy dead?” Butch asked as we moved back towards
Amy.

“I don’t know and I don’t care right now. Let’s just put him in
the truck and get out of here.” We both grabbed the short guy and moved him to
the truck laying him next to his buddy. The tall guy was coming to and noticed
his buddy lying next to him.

“What the fuck….you bastards, you killed him. You’re going to
pay for this.” He screamed. I grabbed a dirty rag from the bed of the truck and
shoved it into his mouth.

“Let’s hope he just doesn’t turn on you,” I replied. I moved
to the driver's side of the truck and turned to look at Butch.

“Get Amy in the truck and follow me.” I climbed into their
truck turning the key that was in the ignition and started it up. As I was
pulling away, I saw Butch get Amy into our truck and then start to follow me.
We needed to find somewhere to ditch their truck and the two guys, somewhere
that would be hard to find by any of their friends should they come looking.

I drove for a few more miles turning off the road with the truck
headed east. I stopped and waited till Butch pulled up so we could speak from
our windows. “Hang out here. I’m going to move their truck further into the
forest and backtrack to you guys unless you know of a better place to ditch
it.”

“Nope, this as good as any although there is an old stone
quarry about a mile northeast, but this should work just as good,” Butch said
from his truck.

“You think we should head to the quarry?” I asked.

“No, just letting you know.” He said.