5
Scattered
i
SPLIT, DAY 1
____The air was like knives driven into Jaxson’s exposed flesh, stabbing repeatedly with every hobbling limping step Stacey helped him take. The pain was unbearable: far more than the grazing bullet wound he’d taken earlier in their adventures. It felt more surreal too, a part of him suddenly gone now. He could still feel where his fingers should be, could still feel the urges to clench them in pain. But there was just nothing left. Sacrificed for nothing, the cure still obliterated under the steel boot of that strange, pale man.
____Jaxson winced, cringing both in pain and at the thought. Why did he intervene? Why did he always have to? Jarek had rushed in reckless because he wasn’t sure if he had days to live or not. But Jaxson had no such cause to throw himself at the enemy like he had. This pain was just the appetizer, he knew.
You are going to die and very soon, acting the way you do. Maybe even today, if that man comes to finish the job. And if he does you might cost Stacey her life too, for good measure.
____She stumbled as he thought of her, finally setting him down and collapsing to her knees. Clearly exhausted having to help someone heavier over such a distance. She had barely squirmed her way from the wreck, cut and bruised and completely winded. The stranger was out of sight now but so was everyone else. They’d gotten lost.
____Still Stacey managed to sit up quickly, setting her backpack down and burying herself in it, looking for anything to bind her friend’s hand with. All while he sat there useless and still hyperventilating, just continuing to stare at the wound he was still struggling to accept existed.
____“Oh sh*t, oh sh*t, oh sh*t…” He muttered between gasps, just watching the blood squirt from where the top-half of his palm used to be.
____“Jax, it’s okay.” She told him, finding some medical tape at the bottom of the pack. Loot dating all the way back to Day One of the outbreak, forgotten until now. She began to bandage him as best she could, “Sit as still as you can.”
____The squeezing of the bandage across his ravaged palm did little to comfort him. He flinched and swore, biting blood from his lip, “Just go, Stacey…!”
____She slapped him.
____“Ow! Damn!” Jaxson shouted, stung by her sudden violence. It hadn’t exactly been a teasing swat, “What was that for?”
____“Hmph!” She finished tying up his wound, the tape already maroon with blood. But it was the best she could do for the moment. She stood up, dusting her bloodstained hands, “Men give up so easily!”
____“I was trying to be helpful!” He explained, “If that psycho comes after us, I’m only going to slow you down. God knows I left him quite the blood trail to follow. Hell, it could attract zombies…”
____“Even now you just can’t wait to jump on a grenade, can you?” Stacey told him, “I can’t stand martyrs.”
____“I’m not being a martyr, I’m
going to be a liability!”
____She frowned, “Being disfigured doesn’t make you a liability. Don’t give up, you’re just still in shock. You’re going to be okay. It won’t make you stronger, I know, but it doesn’t mean you’re worthless. You are still you, and that means a lot. Okay?”
____What a spiel. Jaxson forced himself to calm down as much as he could. Stacey was fire: if he didn’t want her constantly chewing him out he’d have to suck it up and stay alive. To what end? They were screwed. Their plans were ashes in the wind right now. But what else could they do?
____“Fine, fine…!” Jaxson staggered to his feet, still groaning with pain with every movement, “But what now?”
____“Uhm…” Stacey looked around, “We’ve got to find everyone else. I don’t know where we are or how to get where we’re going.”
____Jaxson followed her gaze about their surroundings. They’d fled quite some distance in the panic of the attack, with very little rhyme or reason to their movements beyond just Run. Where everyone else went he had no clue. He thought of calling out but wondered if that was only a good way of summoning trouble.
____Stacey apparently hadn’t reached the same conclusion, cupping her hands and screaming, “
GUYS!!! HEY YOU GUYS!!!”
____“Pipe down! You’ll…!” Jaxson started, but there was no reason to finish. Moaning answered her call, the swaying form of a zombie stumbling out into their little clearing. It had once been a terribly tall man by the looks of it, towering over the two of them as it approached.
____He didn’t have his gun anymore. Stacey had her knife but didn’t exactly brandish it and leap into battle. Its height intimidated her, he could tell.
____“Run!” He snapped at her, Stacey taking his good hand and not arguing the order. Deeper into the woods they fled.
____What little was left of the group moved. Thomas followed the two soldiers taking the lead. Their number was suddenly reduced to five: and he focused mostly on just making sure Brooke and Gene could keep up. He only looked back once, not seeing the stranger after them. That man was a movie-monster walker, that was for sure… but if he was like the zombies in any way then that meant that he wouldn’t ever stop for anything. Hit by a car and kept moving, shot in the head and kept moving… he’d doubtlessly keep up the hunt.
____But despite this fear the man never showed his face to them again during the entirety of their retreat. If he was still after them, he didn’t show it. Finally Header seemed to take this hint and slowed his movement to a gradual stop.
____Thomas gasped for breath as he struggled to speak, the crash having stolen much of his stamina, “I don’t think… he’s still after us…!”
____“Hm.” Header agreed, “Maybe he only wanted to smash the vial after all.”
____“It’s possible he went after Reed.” Thorn said.
____Gene gave the theory a light scoff, “Well, serves him right for ditching!”
____“Yeh, yeh.” Header said, managing to stand up straight. He was listening. Try as he might’ve during their run, he hadn’t seen a glimpse or peep of Jaxson and Stacey since they’d been separated. The more distance they put between themselves and that black-eyed mannequin with the sword, the worse their chances of bumping into their lost sheep. He grimaced at the thought.
____Thorn watched him, “Watcha doin’, old man?”
____The Sergeant had seemed to regain his cool, facing the group and announcing his battle-plan, “Okay. This Op’s off the rails. I’m gettin’ us home ASAP. That means us over Jax and Stacey until y’all is safe.”
____Brooke frowned, “But they might still be close by.”
____“Ma’am, if you do still got cure particles, then we hafta cut our losses. ‘Might’ ain’t good enough with such an enemy still in the vicinity. We get to Omaha and send you guys safely off to VACC. That’s more important. Then the Corporal an’ I an’ whoever they can spare can check for those two. Okay?”
____Thorn nodded, “You try to catch every plate and you end up dropping them all. But how are we gonna get to Omaha now, Sarge? You don’t think it’s safe to backtrack to the jeeps now, do you? Five of us could fit in yours, provided it was still in working condition.”
____“Maybe, kid.” Header paused again, “But then, that’s why I was listening jes now…”
____Thomas followed his lead and listened carefully. The cool air was silent save for the gentle rustling of branches and waving of grass. No, there was…
____Revving! The Sergeant nodded in its direction and led on. They followed curiously.
____It was hard to believe that there’d be anyone else out here, so in the middle of nowhere that even the undead were sparse. It hadn’t been coming from the road they’d been on either, some jackasses off-roading if Thomas had to venture a guess. He didn’t like loud engines out of principle, and knew that noise attracted the undead, and as such he didn’t much enjoy the apprehensive feeling gradually building in his gut as the five of them ventured closer to the sounds.
____They found their quarry through the thin forests and out in a stretch of open farmland ahead. It was a pickup truck driving around like crazy, throwing dust and dirt high into the air as it swerved around. Hollering could be heard even from this distance.
____Header watched through the scope of his rifle, frowning at what he saw. “Sh*t.” he said, “Look at them burning fuel like it’s goin’ outta style. Must be on drugs or sumthin’.”
____Gene shrugged, “Well, perhaps it’s not in our best interest to hitch a ride with this one.”
____“Sh*t to that. I’ll steal that car if I have to.” The Sergeant checked his ACOG again, “...Damn hell. That’s a zombie bein’ dragged around behind that thing.”
____“Look closer.” Thorn added, “Through the dust. They’re chasing somebody around.”
____“They’re messing around with zombies?” Brooke asked sheepishly, almost knowing what the Corporal was going to say.
____“No. That’s a person.”
____Thomas frowned at the confirmation. What was wrong with this place? Had the one in the truck been driven mad? No, it had always been there of course, he imagined. Coaxed out into daylight by the apocalypse. Society frowned such lynchings into hiding, but now that it was mostly gone one could do what they pleased. Or perhaps it was desperation: he himself had killed a man by deliberately hitting him with a car in order to save his friends. He hadn’t been hooting and hollering in joy at the act though.
____“I don’t like this.” Brooke said, “Let’s go back to the jeeps and see if they’re still usable.”
____Thomas was reluctant to agree, “I just hope that stranger didn’t call in the rest of the helicopters our way. They’d blow our rides to hell just like they did before.”
____“Hold up…!” Header barked at them. His eyes were still glued to the truck out there. The man it’d been circling was down and still, and it had veered quite suddenly and was now heading their way.
____Thorn was watching, “No way in hell they saw us from out there.”
____There was another revving. Out from another patch of woods to the group’s right a second pickup truck raced out. It too went straight for them, less than ninety feet away.
____It was a piece of junk, the pickup, very much reminding Thomas of his old car commandeered so long ago. Rust-riddled and shaky as it moved. It drove up to them alarmingly fast, everyone bolting and diving out of the way as it darted through their ranks. Having split their number, the vehicle then swerved around and halted to meet them.
____“Well, howdy!” Came a greasy greeting. Thomas looked up to see a lanky man in gray standing in the bed of the truck, hunting rifle pointed right at him. Leaning out the passenger window was a second fellow holding a pistol pointed down at Brooke. While the first man looked smarmy this one looked strangely sad. Even his blonde hair looked desaturated and morose. A grim-looking young woman sat in the driver’s seat, hands firmly on the wheel.
____“Hold it!” Already Thorn’s rifle was aimed at her. Header’s M16 greeted the second truck as it pulled up and halted. Another driver and gunman in there, no one in the back. The Sergeant didn’t shoot them just yet.
____Thomas fumbled for his pistol in order to join the standoff, grimacing at the sight of guns pointed at him and his friends. He wasn’t about to let them all be walked over and tormented again. The man with the rifle saw him and aimed to fire, “Stop it right there, fella. You all lower your weapons, or I’ll blow this guy away.”
____The soldiers said and did nothing.
____“I mean it!”
____“I’ll drop y’all so fast the last of ya’d be dead before the first hits the ground.” Header growled back, “You wanna die so bad?”
____“I got three guns to your two!” The rifleman snapped back, “You wanna die or not?”
____Thomas cut through their jousting threats, “What do you want?”
____The lanky man smiled. Thomas could see at least one missing tooth. “Whatever you got.” he said. No one spoke. Guns were still trained on their respective targets.
____Brooke finally answered on their behalf, “Okay. Header, just do what he wants.”
____Header still didn’t speak, refusing to lower his rifle. Thomas wondered if he was planning to shoot his way out of this somehow, with all of them still intact. His eyes fell back to the guy in the passenger seat aiming his pistol at Brooke. Still looked miserable, as if he’d been so even before the outbreak. Ah, of course. Brooke had been looking at him too. No wonder she’d rushed to surrender.
____“Header!” She repeated, “We only have to make it to the base. Just give them what they need.”
____Finally he relented at her command, lowering his weapon. Thorn did the same at the gesture. Header spat. “Givin’ any help to nameless robbers is a sin.” he muttered.
____The man with the rifle motioned and his blonde compatriot in the passenger seat lowered his weapon. He himself kept his gun trained on Thomas, boasting loudly, “Ain’t no nameless robbers. It’s Pete Riker, if you must know. And everyone in the Rikers’ territory owes their tax, so it idn’t robbery.”
____“Riker
s? Which of you is the other?” Gene asked.
____“None. Ain’t here right now.” Riker gestured, “Now gimmie your sh*t like you said, nice an’ easy. Pile it in the bed here.”
____Header frowned at him, “We ain’t got a lot, you know.”
____“Nobody does, serviceman.” Riker sucked his lower lip in and his jaw wobbled about, as if chewing on something while he mused, “Hmm, now what to do with y’all? Who’s better off dead and who alive, I wonder?”
____Brooke stamped her foot, “Hey, we backed down fair and square! You don’t get to kill any of us!”
____He laughed loudly at her assertion, joyousness abruptly cut off by the sound of a distant shriek. It was loud and distinct: unmistakably inhuman. The screech echoed throughout the area, and Riker and his men peered toward its making in fearful recognition, “Ah, sh*t. They’re back!”
____Just that one dumb glance cost him: Header and Thorn instantly raising their rifles. Thomas ducked out of the way of the gun trained on him, and the two soldiers deftly advanced. The Sergeant barked loudly as he seized the control, “Down, now! NOW!”
____“Sh*t, sh*t! Don’t shoot!” Riker held up his arms and backed off.
____“Take ‘em.” Header instructed the rest as he quickly approached, climbing aboard Riker’s truck and disarming him. Thorn did the same for the second vehicle, taking the passenger’s pistol and forcing his way into the truck.
____Thomas took the hint and did his part, weapon drawn, imposing his way into the vehicle Header had commandeered. The pale man surrendered his weapon and his seat, awkwardly pressed into the middle of the vehicle. Thomas took his place and pointed his gun at the redhead woman at the wheel. In his other hand he felt around the dashboard for anything useful, finding a candy bar, a knife, and a box half-full of cartridges in the glove compartment. More bullets. Robbing would-be robbers, he gladly stuffed it all into his pockets, relieved to have found more pistol rounds.
____It felt good to be the one taking charge for once, Thomas smirking in remembrance of when Header, Thorn, and Brooke had commandeered his car back in Chicago. Man, how he’d hated them then. The woman scowled at him as he held her up, but said and attempted nothing. It was clear she was at his mercy.
____Header meanwhile held his gun tight into Riker’s back and twisted his arm, scanning the treeline and listening for more noise. He quickly interrogated as he watched, “Who’s back? You know what’s coming?”
____Riker yelped at the handling, answering between tight-grit teeth, “There’s a huge pack of Initiated been on our tail for days. We keep on ditchin’ ‘em, but they’re too fast to leave behind forever even with the cars.”
____“Twitchies?” Header said, scowling.
____“Whatever you call ‘em. Here I thought we was safe. Guess they chewed through whoever thrown them off our scent for as long as they did.”
____“Sh*t.” Header pointed to Brooke and Gene and gestured for them to get in the second truck bed, then pounded the roof directly above Thomas, “Git them to floor it! Eastward!”
____Thomas leveled the gun at the driver, “Do it! Hurry!”
____Her eyes left him, back to the treeline. There were shapes moving in there. Yellow eyes glowing, shifting, like swarms of fireflies in the dark waving back and forth. She floored it and swerved. The truck turned and fled.
____“Whoa!” Header and Riker nearly fell at the lurch. The Sergeant threw his prisoner down and clutched the railing, trying to hold onto his rifle.
____The undead were out in the open by now, Initiated spilling out into the field. Swarming like ants in fast-forward, they made for the second truck. Brooke and Gene had just climbed in, Cpl. Thorn turning to the driver with his gun, “Now, hurry!”
____The man he’d disarmed—some ugly rat-looking guy—practically put his feet onto the dashboard as he watched the Initiated rush forth, shouting to his compatriot: “Drive, Carlos, drive!”
____The driver had his eyes to the rear-view mirror, obeying at the last second and putting it in Reverse. The truck lurched back quickly, spinning and righting itself as he turned and went into Drive for a proper escape. His eyes were forward now. Thorn watched him, following his thoughts. He could hear the two in the back yelp at the hard reverse. But they were both holding on tight.
____He was waiting for them to get in. Thorn realized,
This one might be okay.
____The truck took after the first, speeding off, bouncing along the uneven terrain terribly. The Initiated were close behind, nearly as fast when sprinting. Thorn watched them in the side-mirror. They weren’t all equally fast, and he watched the fastest of the pack gradually part from the swarm and near the vehicle.
____B-B-Bang!! Bullets tore through the closest: Header firing from the other truck. It was astonishing how good of a shot he managed to be on this bumpy ride. But they’d need more than him.
____“Gene!” Thorn shoved rat-man aside and handed over the pistol he’d just relieved him of, giving it over to one of his own through the rear-window.
____“Who, me?” Gene shakily took the weapon and faced the monsters chasing after them, “Here Brooke, you take it.”
____“What makes you think I’d be any better?” She snapped back. One of the Initiated had caught up, shaky hands grasping the truck bed. She shrieked at the sight, shouting at Gene as the zombie hoisted itself up, “Just shoot, shoot!”
____His arm was nearly as shaky as the monster’s: thrust up and brought down by the rattling of the truck’s wheels on the open field. Hesitant shots rang out.
Bang! Bang!
____One bullet tore through its leg but that did little to a zombie. It shrieked and rushed forward, falling on top of him. The gun went off into its torso but still it persisted.
____“Gene!” Amazingly Brooke made the difference, fearlessly reacting in a heartbeat. She held tight to the truck with her arms and simply kicked with both legs, bucking the Initiated off and sending it teetering over the edge.
____“Sh*t.” Thorn muttered as he watched, seeing the monster clutching the railing and managing to hold on. Hoping that he wouldn’t get pushed out, he risked leaning out of the window and aimed back. A single shot from his M4 punched through the monster’s head and sent it falling out of the truck and rolling limply across the ground. Sour blackened blood stained the yellow earth and it was quickly left behind. More raced, eager to take its place.
____Thomas meanwhile had to ignore the gunshots behind him, keeping his eyes forward and watching the path ahead. As they veered to avoid the swarm an occasional zombie would run out into the open, but the woman driving consistently evaded them. Finally the fields gave way to familiar open pavement. Thomas sat up and pointed, “There! Get on that road!”
____The pale man next to him seemed less happy with the idea, seeing the incline between the pavement and the ground and looking alarmed at even that slight of a difference, “Wait, wait! Slow down!”
____Again the woman chose to veer sharply, the pickup truck swinging and bumping—one wheel at a time—up onto the road. The vehicle again having even footing, she slammed the pedal down and took off. The second truck hit the pavement behind them, jumping as if it hit a speed bump and turning to follow. Initiated spilled out onto the highway after them, many of them falling and bleeding all over the asphalt as they skinned themselves upon it.
____One last member of the unnaturally fast mob made the turn and leapt onto the truck, clutching the open passenger-side window. But Thorn shot it down cleanly, breathing a sigh of relief as the road gave the cars better speed over the rest of the pursuers.
____“Hurry after them.” He instructed the driver, Carlos, “Stay close.”
____The two commandeered vehicles moved quickly down the road, keeping up a good speed to outpace their pursuers. It was hard for Header to stand going that fast, but he kept to it with a firm grip on the vehicle’s railing. His visor protected his eyes from the winds, and he kept them focused on the path ahead. He wouldn’t permit them to go bumping into an unexpected roadblock twice in one day.
____Unfortunately it wasn’t the road that blocked him. After what felt like a good many minutes of too-peaceful progress speeding along he heard it overhead: the rotors.
____“Goddammit…!” He grunted, looking for where the helicopters would be coming from. There was no way they’d be in this direction unless they knew. It just couldn’t be chance that’d thrown them together again. He pounded the roof of the truck, “Pull over! Off the road, now!”
____“(You’re kidding me.)” Thomas muttered, pointing his gun at the woman again. She’d done a good job driving but he couldn’t quickly forget where they all were less than twenty minutes ago, “Pull over. That way over there.”
____There were woods to their left, with open space good enough for the cars. Thomas would be damned if they let their vehicles be destroyed again. The woman obeyed and crossed over, pulling into the spot and slowing to a halt once Thomas found the forest canopy above a good enough shield to eyes in the sky. The second truck followed suite.
____Header leapt down and circled to Thomas’ side, “Just wait for them to pass. I didn’t see them, they might not’ve seen us.”
____“I sure hope so.” Thomas said, exiting the vehicle and making sure the others were okay. They seemed to be, albeit a little shaky. He could see Gene’s knees trembling as he tried to get his land legs back. He had zombie blood on his shirt but seemed otherwise okay.
____“Don’t git too comfortable.” Header told them all, “We’re back on the road once those copters pass.”
____“Oh no we ain’t!” Riker said, suddenly grabbing Thomas from behind. He didn’t have his rifle anymore but must’ve had a hidden gun, Thomas feeling a pistol barrel press into his back.
____“Hey! Drop ‘im!” Header raised his M16 to meet the hostage taker.
____“Like that’s gonna work.” Riker took Thomas’ pistol and tossed it to the pale man, “James, take it!”
____He caught the weapon and was immediately forced to point it at Thorn whose weapon had met him already. Gene quickly answered in kind, shakily holding up Carlos and the rat-man.
____Header spat, “Let ‘im go, Riker! We ain’t got time for this sh*t again! Those Initiated are still on their way, you know. An’ worse, if them copters find us.”
____“I got plenty of time.” Riker replied, “And nobody pulls one on me. I still need to pay you back for that. What are you afraid of with the helicopters?”
____“Bad people, don’t touch it.” Brooke said simply.
____Hoping he’d leave well enough alone, Thomas figured. She should know better.
____“Ha!” Riker said, “What’re you hidin’? ‘Bad people’. People who might lend a hand to poor ol’ survivors like me jus’ tryin’ to scrape by?”
____“...Don’t…!” Header sharply warned, aiming closely, finger tight on the trigger.
____“I’ll kill ‘im!” Riker barked, gun pressing tighter against Thomas.
____“...” Header didn’t budge, “...I don’t care.”
____Thomas hoped that was a bluff. They were playing chicken, the Sergeant and Riker. Waiting for the other to relent. Both obstinate: they wouldn’t do it, neither of them. Thomas knew that, or he hoped as much. He was just a guy, no serious bargaining chip.
____Silence. Thomas grit his teeth, waiting to die or be saved. He wanted Header to push his advantage, bluffing Riker down, using his three guns to Riker’s two. Header tied up with the psycho, Thorn with pale James, and Gene with Carlos and that rat-man.
____That wasn’t all of them, he suddenly realized. Where was the woman?
She’d up and vanished. He might be the only one who’d thought of it right now, the only one who’d been in the truck with her, thinking of her as she skillfully drove.
____Thomas looked around quickly, wondering where she’d slipped off to. Then he saw her, having snuck off into the woods and circled around to the second truck.
____“Gene!” He shouted too late, knowing that doing so might buy him a bullet in his back. But she’d pounced as he called, leaping out and stealing the gun from his hands in one swift clean motion.
____“Irene!” Carlos shouted her name with relief as she took the pistol from his captor. Everything changed in that one second.
____Riker grinned smugly, “Now—”
____Bang! He didn’t finish. The woman had taken Gene’s pistol, faced Riker and shot him through the head without hesitation. Thomas felt the barrel relax against his back and then vanish as Riker collapsed. She kept up the movement, facing her other allies and blowing rat-man away as well even as he raised his hands in panicked surrender.
Bang!
____He fell dead. The pistol turned next to the pale blonde man, but he was already crouched down with arms above his head in an obvious sign of quick submission. The bullet was stayed, and she put the gun away and just stood there, head up high and saying nothing.
____“Irene, you…” Carlos said simply, looking at his dead comrades. He turned to the surrendered man and made a motion to set down his weapon, “James, drop it. Before you get yourself killed.”
____He looked uncertain but obeyed, silently handing Thomas’ pistol back to him. Thorn watched him do so and lowered his M4. “...So…” The Corporal began, facing the woman, “...Why did you do that?”
____“‘Cause Riker was a bastard.” Irene answered, “I saw my chance with you guys and I took it. And I wanted to kill him myself.”
____Thorn gestured to the second dead man, “And him?”
____“Dilan? He was probably a piece of sh*t.”
____“‘Probably’?” Brooke was still staring at the rat-man’s corpse so close to her, “...He was unarmed.”
____“Uh-huh.” Irene faced Header, “Does this buy our trust to you? Wherever you’re headed, I want in. Carlos too, he’s with me. Riker was forcing us both to help him. You’re a serviceman, you’re supposed to help us.”
____“You did mention a base. Someplace safe?” Carlos added, “As soon as the other Riker gets wind of this, there’ll be hell to pay. Let us join you, please.”
____“Hmm.” Header said, looking skyward. The rotors were fading, “I’ll think about it.”
____He turned to leave but Brooke was quick to hurry after him, harrying him, “Header!”
____“What?”
____She frowned, “You’ll ‘think about it’? She just killed them. Her own people. One of them wasn’t even holding a gun.”
____Irene crossed her arms, “Is this your first day out here, Princess? Damn straight I killed him unarmed first chance I got. What’d you want, me to challenge him to a duel? Neither of those bastards were ever ‘my people’. But I did know him better than you, and you’d be thanking me if you knew him the same.”
____“You said ‘probably’ when you killed him.” Brooke said.
____“Yeah. I don’t like taking unnecessary risks.” Irene’s gaze fell back to Header, “Are we in or are you gonna just leave us here?”
____“Hm.” Header said again, musing it over, seeming more focused on checking their captured cars: making sure they’d be suitable replacements for the ones lost.
____“She killed an unarmed man.” Brooke pestered him.
____“...So have I.” He said, and left it at that.
ii
____Stacey looked around. Fields and forests, open roads and open plains as far as the eye could see. She and Jaxson had both been walking for quite a while now, but the terrain never seemed to change. Montag hadn’t been kidding when he’d called their location “blown way off course”.
____At least there probably wouldn’t be zombies too frequently. They’d managed to avoid the undead after them for now: she’d had Jaxson string it around in circles in a little dip in the ground while she threw rocks at it until it was dead for good. It was desperate and meandering work, but what other tools did they have to work with?
____Speaking of which, she’d seen no sign of the stranger since the initial incident. He must’ve chosen to follow the rest of the group. Provided they were still alive. How they were going to find each other she had no idea.
____Jaxson was lagging behind. His injury was still fresh and pain kept his pace staggered. Stacey slowed hers to match his, catching him mid-stumble, “Hey, I gotcha.”
____He panted. She could tell the bloodloss was getting to him.
____“How are we gonna make it?” He asked simply.
____“I don’t know, but we will.” Stacey looked around, “Let’s just… try to make it back to the road now. Maybe if the others circle back the same way we’ll run into each other.”
____“How’s that supposed to get us back to VACC alive?”
____“Uhm…” Stacey pondered her options, “If nothing else, Louis’ directions are still good. We follow the road, we’ll get to Omaha. And the base there.”
____“On foot? Provided it’s still there when we finally arrive.”
____“Will you quit b*tching and just help me get there?” Stacey snapped, “God, if Miles could hear you now…”
____“Ha…” Jaxson seemed to relax, only to clench in pain again, “Okay, okay.”
____The two ventured, working back to the road they’d been chased from. It was so meager here on foot, seeming to go on forever in both directions. Stacey took a few seconds too long to determine which way was the correct one, leading Jaxson eastward.
____They walked. The road was flat and cracked, and the wind cut easily through the open terrain. The cold bit Stacey’s ears, and she could only imagine how it must be afflicting Jax’s injured hand. The only beauty left to see about them was the firmament above: the sun’s rays cutting a path of gold between the dense silver clouds that obscured most of the sky. It’d have looked better from behind a safe window.
____“Come on, guys…” Stacey muttered as she moved, eyes constantly on the lookout for friends or danger alike, “Come on…”
____They wouldn’t be left behind. None of them ever got left behind, not since she and Jaxson had hitched a ride on that truck in Chicago. The soldiers, hard as they were, were altruistic in nature. Thorn wouldn’t let the two of them just be dust in the wind behind the rest. He wouldn’t leave her, she knew he wouldn’t. Men would bail when inconvenienced, but Thorn was different.
____Whatever her thoughts, when the time passed, it was hell that came before help. The wind picked up, and as Stacey clutched her baseball cap her numb ears heard the distant sound of spinning rotors. The helicopters had in fact come this way. It was getting closer by the second. They couldn’t be that unlucky—it just wasn’t possible.
____Haven’t you taken enough?! Her first instinct wanted her to shout, but panic of how vulnerable the two of them were overrode her anger with fright. She grasped Jaxson’s hand, “We need to find cover!”
____He only nodded and the pair raced off the road. The spinning blades neared fast, as two helicopters flew overhead. They were already here.
____The trees had left the two behind, and Stacey ran across the open field with Jaxson behind, just trying to make it to the nearest treeline. There was no protection.
____The helicopters swerved in the air, clearly having seen the two. They came back, swooping down low like hawks. Stacey felt the misfortune closing in, all chances of survival dwindling right before her eyes. What should they do? What could they do?
____“Stacey, run!” Jaxson shouted, “Split up, leave me!”
____“No!” She knew there were two copters anyway, refusing to flee even as he fought with her, trying to spur her into a run. She wouldn’t budge to him, “I won’t leave you!”
____The helicopters were upon them, Stacey whirling to meet them. Doggedly standing her ground and brandishing her knife, she stood there: idiotically heroic against the military aircraft. The knife didn’t deter them as they landed.
____Men in black SWAT-looking gear dismounted the helicopters and fanned out, guns raised. They screamed over the volume of the spinning rotors, “Get down, get down! Now!”
____Stacey found herself disarmed in a moment, knife swatted aside. She was forcefully shoved onto her knees, caps skinned against the hard earth. Two guns she could see were pointed right at her head, two hands she couldn’t running down her sides and making her skin tingle with discomfort. Looking for the cure, no doubt. She didn’t have it, that was quickly apparent, and Stacey just grit her teeth in silent terrible knowing about what was going to happen. She was going to die, or they were going to do things to her and
then she was going to die.
____“Clear. They don’t have sh*t.” The unknown soldier patting her down said, rising to his feet, “Okay, tap ‘em.”
____“Wait!” Someone called out clearly, unstifled by the since-stilled helicopters. It was a rough-yet-feminine voice, one that Stacey recognized albeit very vaguely. She’d only heard it once before, making it hard to place. Nonetheless the troopers instantly obeyed, stalling the execution and looking over.
____Stacey raised her head and followed their gaze, turning pale at the sight and wishing they’d killed her, “You!”
____Alex Silvin strode over from the second landed copter, sunlight glinting off the circular lenses of his sunglasses as he approached. He grinned down at the pair, looking genuinely happy to see them, “I’ll kill any man who shoots these two.”
____Nighttime. Thomas watched rain drip lightly down windows. They’d made poor progress despite finally getting off NE-12. One of the cars had experienced some trouble, forcing them to pull over for a while. He’d never heard Header swear more as he and Thorn rooted around the open hood of the truck. By the time it was fixed up, darkness had come again. After hearing the helicopters earlier that day, they weren’t exactly up to risk driving in the dark: headlights making them easy prey. So they were crashing at an empty diner for the night. It wasn’t a decision Thomas was particularly happy about: that big pack of zombies was still out there. There was a half-decent chance they’d catch up.
____Header seemed to know it, sitting close to the entrance and keeping his eyes westward. Looking for bright eyes out in the dark. There were already a couple zombies in the area but they were of the slow variety, standing outside and dumbly clawing at the glass with decayed, limp pounding arms. They weren’t even worth shooting right now, not when the noise might attract more.
____It continued to rain, perhaps for the last time that year before it got too cold. The noise might ordinarily lull Thomas to sleep—it certainly had for Gene, sprawled out on one of the booths and dozing loudly—but he felt too on edge right now. They’d certainly make it to their destination early tomorrow, but only if nothing happened tonight. So pointlessly close to their ride home, back to safety and ready to celebrate their defeat.
____A big waste of time. He mused to himself,
We’ve only achieved losing Stanley and Shelley, and Jaxson and Stacey too. Killing Jarek and Gavin on top of that. Serves me right for taking a risk, chancing to hope again. We should’ve just stayed at VACC. His thoughts drifted again back to Lucas, standing there in similar weather with the airplane tickets in hand. He had chosen to stay in that moment. Maybe it had been better not to hope back then too. Maybe…
____His thoughts and then his eyes turned to Brooke. She was off sitting by herself, in no mood to voluntarily mingle with the others or borrow Header’s radio to chat it up with Louis. The sadness was plain across her face, or guilt rather, Thomas figured. It hadn’t even been a full day yet since she lost the cure. He shared plenty of that blame, but the vial had been in her hands when everything went down. That was more than enough to matter to her, he knew. She’d never stop thinking it was entirely her fault. He was perfectly comfortable wallowing in misery himself, but he loathed having to see her do the same.
____Thomas got up.
____“You might as well get some sleep.” He told her as he walked over and sat across from her, “You don’t have a gun. There’s no reason to keep yourself up on alert.”
____“I’m fine.” She said, words mingled with a sigh, eyes still looking out the window into the darkness, “I still feel like I need to keep an eye on our new friends.”
____As if that was it. Brooke had certainly been shocked by Irene’s actions, but Thomas knew she wasn’t one to hold a grudge for long, even a day.
____“Mm. That so? Well, I must say you’re doing a poor job of it. They’re in here with us, after all.”
____“...” No reply.
____Thomas frowned. She needs you right now. Do better. Perform harder.
____He reached out and took one of the small plastic menus from the end of the table, opening it up like a newspaper and looking through it.
____It caught her eye, Brooke finally turning her head to meet him, “What are you doing?”
____“Thinking about what to get. I could use a good bite to eat.”
____She smirked, “Why are… stop being ridiculous.”
____“Am I being ridiculous?” He set the menu down, the plastic hitting the table with a flat little
klik, “I’m not fooling you?”
____“You’re not…” She seemed to take the hint that he was talking about her, sighing and rubbing the sides of her head, “How am I supposed to ever sleep again? It was all my fault. I’ve never messed up so much in all my life. Why did it have to be then? The most important thing I’ve ever done…?”
____“It was my fault.” Thomas said plainly, “I hit him. All I had to do was swerve just a little bit.”
____“No, I—”
____“Brooke, it wouldn’t have come down to you if I had just seen him on the road.” He took her hand and held it up, to what little natural light there was to illuminate it, “And there wouldn’t be a cure without you, without your bravery. It was your hand that got cut; you are still the hope of everyone here.”
____Brooke stared at the faded cut on her palm, but her eyes faltered down to her lap instead, “That’s just desperate thinking, you know that.”
____“Bullsh*t. There’s got to be something we can still do. We’ll find a way out of this, no matter what it takes. Because there is a way out of this.”
____“You don’t believe that.”
____Again feeling that want for her hope, he held her palm in both hands now, “Help me start to.”
____Thorn’s own pacing kept him awake. He glanced back to Gene and the lovebirds off on their own, then back to Header, “Anything out there, old man?”
____“Nuthin’ yet.” The Sergeant grimaced, “But there’s a lotta hours b’fore light this time of year.”
____“Any luck contacting VACC again? Be nice if they could get Omaha to send an IFV our way for a lift.”
____Header had tried the radio earlier, but nothing had come through. No signal here, it seemed. Bad luck or worse.
____The new three—Carlos, Irene, and James—sat nearby quietly to themselves. Header didn’t quite trust any of them with guns just yet, though they had been kind enough to hand theirs over for the time being. But the distrust remained somewhat mutual. Carlos spoke up at their quiet conversing, chipping in: “What are we waiting around for anyhow? Every minute that pack gets closer. We should just leave now.”
____Header faced him, “That herd’s thinned out. I ain’t so worried compared to bein’ seen in the dark by any of them copters. We ain’t got no defense ‘gainst them guns.”
____“You said that before. A helicopter could mean anything. Who’s after you?”
____Thorn tried to put it into words, “A couple… people.”
____“Elaborate.” Carlos instructed, “I’m still half-a-mind about splitting with one of the trucks. I see no point in being hunted when I don’t have to be. There’s room for the five of you in the other.”
____“Carlos.” Irene said simply to him. He looked back at her and then said nothing more, seemingly dropping his argument in her favor. She’d heard enough about VACC and wanted in, that was clear.
____Thorn sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair, “We were at a lab. One of the sites where the virus must’ve been concocted to begin with. We’d received a hail from one of the rogue scientists there. He’d made a cure, we took it. Had to shoot our way through dozens and dozens of zombies and worse. But even after we escaped they’ve been fast after us, tying to destroy the hope their traitor created. At least five helicopters in that immediate area…”
____“Do you still have it?” Irene got to the point.
____“Naw.” Header said, “It got smashed by some strange fella. He came out of nowhere, took a jeep right to his face an’ kept on moving. Hell, I shot him through the head an’ he kept on moving… That weren’t long before we ran into you guys.”
____Carlos sat up at the words.
____“...Pale man?” Irene asked, “With black eyes?”
____Header gave her a puzzled look, “Yeah, yeah jus’ like that.”
____“You know him?” Thorn asked her.
____She gave a simple nod, “Before Riker volunteered us into his little gang, Carlos and I were in another group. But when we came across him, he…”
____“Hounded us for days.” Carlos finished, “Butchered everyone. We barely escaped, got stolen up by Riker, were driven far away. Now he’s out here it seems.”
____“Madalyn…” Irene muttered to herself, “I’ll kill him.”
____Her fists were clenched tight, the woman staring blankly forward while her mind clearly looked backward. Header only scoffed, “Best of luck. If assault rifle rounds through the goddamned head won’t do it, then—”
____Distant shrieking. Header immediately went silent and glanced back outside.
____Thomas and Brooke looked his way, the former getting up and drawing his pistol, “They here?”
____Header spoke directly to Brooke, his answer given in instructions, “Get Gene up, go an’ hide in the kitchen if you can.”
____“Right.”
____The Sergeant turned to Irene, “You always a good shot, ma’am?”
____She stood, “Uh-huh. You gonna let us play?”
____A nod toward Carlos, “Can he be trusted?”
____“With my life.”
____Header smirked and nodded to pale James next, “How ‘bout him?”
“I don’t know…” While she hadn’t killed him earlier she still didn’t look confident in his qualities, “Maybe… …No.”
____James frowned, “You think I’d whirl around and start killing you all, let alone during a time like this?”
____“I don’t know you!” Irene flared at him, “You think I’m dumb enough to trust anyone who ‘seems normal enough’ these days?”
____His scowl was the only reply he could seem to muster. Header made his conclusions at that, tossing weapons back into the new ones’ hands—save for James. He barked orders from there, “Corporal, git in the back with the others. Mind any doors leadin’ in there. Guard Gene, guard Brooke, an’ watch this one!”
____“Aye sir!” Thorn rapidly paced about, ushering all the unarmed ones to the kitchen. It was cramped and cold in that faded silver and white space, and the Corporal led them to a small storage closet to hide clustered in. He then turned, finding the employee exit door out and opening it cautiously, peering at the darkness outside. There in the dark and the rain he could see the faint yellow dots of the Initiated’s eyes: glowing like Christmas lights. He gulped, gripped the wet doorknob and shut it to wait for the enemy, rifle raised.
____Thomas nervously held his gun and waited in the dining area up front. There wasn’t much of a view here, not in such darkness. Only the hiss of rain and the chill of the air were there, as he carefully peered carefully out. What lights there were in the glowing eyes were getting nearer by the second, fast as the Initiated moved.
____“Mind the windows.” The Sergeant commanded in a hushed tone, the last quiet before the battle, “Here they come!”
____Shadows in the dark scurried like roaches across the lot, swarming up to the diner with speed only the Initiated could manage. Instantly all the windows lit up with gunfire as the survivors within fired their weapons out into that night. The zombies were numerous and the bullets had a hard time missing as a result. But it did not stifle their advance.
____The many hands of the undead slammed upon the diner windows, as the monsters began to mount their way in. They cared little for the broken glass that cut them as they entered, feeling no pain, though the small hurdle of clambering in proved to be their easiest killing point: head forward and back hunched as they climbed through. This is what Header was waiting for, and he shouted unheard orders under the gunfire and shot his M16 rapidly into their ranks as they entered. Thomas mimicked his actions. Initiated were hard to hit: a short window of them climbing in was valuable.
____Dead piled about the windows, further slowing the advance of the zombies entering that way. As the wave of monsters hit the restaurant proper, with so many bunched up at the front, others fanned out and attacked the sides as a natural result. Thomas backed up, seeing those glowing eyes to his left and right, aiming and firing his pistol into their ranks as they clambered in. Glass shattered and zombie blood sprayed in the dark.
____“Sides!” He shouted over the din, his meager pistol having too few rounds between reloads to stem the tide alone. That was proven quickly, and Initiated were in the diner and rushing him even as the word left his mouth.
____Bang!! Bang!! Rifle rounds fired and the monsters fell dead, Thomas staggering back and gawking at their killed bodies. He whirled and met Carlos there, quickly bolting his weapon. Impressive accuracy. He hurried to provide aid, facing the window opposite Thomas, “I’ve got this side, don’t worry.”
____Thomas nodded and again turned his attention to the windows. There were fewer undead here than had been in the car chase earlier: distance thinning the ranks between the faster and slower Initiated. The tide was stemming, the assault faltering, but such quick zombies remained dangerous and unpredictable. He continued shooting, seeing a number of Initiated bunched up around the wall outside where windows ended and the rear of the restaurant began. They sensed the life in the back. Thomas hoped Thorn could guard Brooke and the others all by himself.
____Thorn remained in the kitchen, rifle trained on the back door. He didn’t like how close it was to the storage room, knowing if he couldn’t contain them they would swarm that space easily. That one narrow doorframe was the only defense.
____Rapid thudding could be heard on the door, a multitude of Initiated on the other side banging with supernatural speed. They forced their way in and instantly the Corporal met them with a hail of bullets. Three collapsed dead, partially blocking the doorframe, and he continued to fire as the monsters tried to squeeze their way through.
____Despite fighting alone, he was containing the threat. But worse news came to him in the sound of fast and heavy footsteps rushing in through the downpour outside, the Corporal too busy to do anything about it. He just shouted out loudly, hoping those in the diner behind could hear, “Doorman!!”
____The too-tall, too-thin form came running out of the dark, crossing the lot quickly and barreling in to the diner. It mounted the window with ease even as Header saw and shot it, and its long arms reached out groping for Irene.
____“What the—?!” She panicked and fell as it came for her, having no clue that such a creature even existed, and her barely-aimed pistol fire did nothing to halt it.
____“
Irene!!” Carlos shouted. He dove for her, grasping her and yanking her from the monster’s vast swiping claw. Out its other arm came, and he was struck and sent flying: crashing against the wall and falling onto the jagged glass of the windows on either side. Initiated arms came quickly from outside.
____“Carlos!” Irene shrieked in turn. Thomas cringed in his inaction, unable to go to the rescue: not with a Doorman inside the diner. He aimed and poured fire into the bigger monster, Header circling and doing the same, until it at last collapsed dead. Thomas turned to Carlos then, but Irene was already up and over to him, pulling him from the window and emptying gunshots into the Initiated outside.
____The four bunched into a tight circle at the center of the diner, Header turning this way and that as he picked off the last of the attackers. They had thinned and thinned, and now only those about the back remained. Thorn killed off the rest of them one by one, until at last the assault abated. It was again quiet, save only for the rain and Carlos groaning in terrible pain.
____“Shh, shh, shh…” Irene muttered to him, worriedly checking all his wounds. He was bleeding all over from glass cuts, masking whatever might be beneath, and when she opened his shirt all she found was red and violet skin underneath. The Doorman had broken his ribs under such a strong blow. The panic was plain to see in Irene’s eyes as she surveyed such wounds, “Baby, you’re gonna be fine. Just hang in there for a bit.”
____“Agh!!” He shouted through shut teeth even at the slightest movement, forcing his eyes open to meet hers so the look was unmistakable as he shook his head, “Irene… Bit.”
____Header nodded.
____“Wait!” Irene protested, “You’ve only just escaped him! Don’t leave, not now!”
____Carlos’ glazed suffering eyes glanced to the Sergeant, “…Quick.”
____“Aye sir.” Header said almost too calmly, but Irene stood up sharply and lowered his weapon as he raised it.
____“NO!” She shrieked at him, “He’s mine! Don’t you dare!” She glanced sorrowfully down at her man, lying there bloodied and broken, “He’s mine. He’s all I have left. I have to be the one.”
____Carlos’ chest sunk as he exhaled, and he closed his eyes. Irene bit her lip and, wanting it done quick, raised her pistol and fired.
Bang!!
____He stilled. The casing clattered on the diner floor, and Irene lowered her weapon and wiped her eyes. He was gone. She mourned alone in silence, and there was nothing to be done. Thomas watched the sorry sight, wordlessly adding another name to the list of those lost. Knowing that one day, just as fast, Brooke might have to do the same to him.