900 Miles: A Zombie Novel (29 page)

There was no way they could have prepared for the hoard that found them.

Each day, more and more of the Zs surrounded the house.  By day three, the place was completely surrounded, and there was no chance of escape.  There was uneasiness in her voice as Jenn explained the feeling of being trapped, surrounded by the moans of the dead clawing at what she and Joe soon realized was a temporary safety.

It wasn’t long before the monsters outside had enough force to push down t
he boarded up windows.  Jenn and Joe had put up a good fight, evidenced by the looks of the place when we had arrived. As they were locking the door to the upstairs room, one overly persistent creature pushed its way through the door, managing to take a chunk out of Joe’s arm before he killed it. They had seen enough to know what that meant.

To try to save Jenn and the child, Joe insisted that he lock them up in the closet, hammering boards across it to make sure he couldn’t get in once he turned. I thought that was mighty admirable of him
, though I didn’t voice that as she continued in her soft, weary voice.

At first, Joe was still able to speak. In fact, they held a conversation for some time. He talked about his wife
, Sue, and how he’d see her soon. There was one point where they even wondered if he had been infected.

Not long after, he broke into the fever.
His speech began to change.

She could hear him kicking and hitting the dead body in the room. He was
screaming, “You killed me!” over and over again...until he trailed off. She heard a thump on the floorboards. After calling out for him, there was no longer a response. At that point, she speculated that he had died from the wound.

A low moan shattered the silence in the room.
She knew Joe had turned and could hear him pacing around trying to get out. She was locked in that closet, not making a noise for almost twelve hours before she heard the helicopter.

Pausing, Jenn
once again pulled herself into my shoulder.  She told me that she knew I would get back to her, and never lost hope that I would get there to save her and our child. I held her tight, pulling her close, the heat from our bodies providing a warm comfort, helping us both relax.

Safe and sound in the helicopter, wrapped up in a blanket, Jenn mentioned that her stomach felt a little tight before she fell asleep on the leather seats.
With the story still fresh in my mind, I decided to move up to the cockpit to discuss our next move. Kyle was heading towards the Army base in Augusta. He told me that we were low on fuel, and that we’d be running on fumes by the time we got there. They would have doctors, and I agreed with the plan, knowing that Jenn would need medical care as soon as possible.

“One more thing,” he said. “While you were in the house saving your wife, I got a radio transmission from Jarvis back at Avalon.”

“Are you serious?” I sat up abruptly.

“Yah, he told me he wanted his helicopter back,” he said with a big grin.

“Really though, he did contact us. Guess they got the place back in order. He told me we would be welcome, even wanted back if we decided to head that way. They have doctors and medical supplies.”

“What do you think?” I asked. I knew that Jarvis was one of the good guys, but I wasn’t really all that excited to return to the place we called a prison.

“It’s an option. It’s definitely an option. Right now, we couldn’t get there on the fuel we have left. Augusta is our best bet for the moment...if it hasn’t been overrun.”

We sat silent for a short while, mulling over that idea. It was a clear day and the sun was glistening through the clouds.  Up here, high above the ground, things still felt...okay.

When we reached Augusta, it was clear that Kyle was right; we were running on fumes. He began using the radio in the chopper to hale the base. Static is all that we received over the airwaves. Frustrated, Kyle continued flying closer to Fort Gordon.

Looking back through the small door, I watched Jenn sit up, fully awake. She was holding her belly, with an uneasy look
on her face. Worried, I started to unbuckle my harness. She shook her head, letting me know that she was all right. She then leaned forward to grab a cup of water and ice.

Reluctantly, I turned back toward the cockpit. I could see the look of concern in Kyle’s face as we flew over the large
Savannah River. Still, no contact with the base.

In the daylight, we could see zombies stumbling th
rough the streets. Highway 20 was infested with them, as they slowly crept around the crashed cars and trucks. I watched whole groups of them get stuck behind a roadblock. They didn’t appear to have the brainpower to turn back or simply walk around it. I remember thinking that they might stand there forever, trying to push through that barricade.

Through the headset, I heard Jenn
urgently speak, “I think the baby is coming.  These contractions are definitely real.”

Kyle and I shot a quick glance at each other. I must have looked horrified. I know he did.

That’s when Jenn screamed out.

I jerked violently as if shot, fumbling to release my harness. I lurched into the cabin. She was holding her belly and crying that the contractions were
really close together, coming almost on top of each other. I didn’t know much, but I knew that meant the baby was coming fast. Even I could tell that this was bad.  Usually, she would have had contractions for hours before.  The trauma and lack of help from a doctor through this ordeal must have wreaked havoc on her body.

Looking up at Kyle, he could see my
panic.

“You know anything about giving birth?
” I barked, horror stricken.

“No,” he cried, flicking his hand in the air. “I’m better at taking life out of this world than bringing it in.”

My attention went back to Jenn, writhing in pain. Something felt wrong, completely and utterly wrong. I could feel it in my very core. I let out a petrified cry when her eyes were pulled into the back of her head. She started to bleed all over the leather and carpet. I was helpless; not knowing what was happening and certainly not knowing what the hell to do.

“We need to land. These fumes aren’t going to get us much further!” Kyle snapped in desperation.
“Maybe the base has a medic.”

“We don’t even know if there
is
a base anymore!” I shrieked.

For twenty minutes, we hovered over
Augusta, as Kyle frantically called over the radio looking for any sign of life. Jenn was losing too much blood. She was clutching my hand, screaming with each push.

“This is it!” she
finally yelled.

Shifting into place, and p
ulling her legs apart, I looked down to see the crown of a small head.  With each contraction, the head was pushed farther out, revealing dark matted hair.  Jenn continued to cry out in pain as her body arched up, splashing through the blood that she continued to lose.

My
panic-stricken eyes were pulled up from Jenn and towards Kyle, when he suddenly sat up right in his seat, not saying a word as he lifted his hand up to the headset holding it tight against his right ear.

“Yes!  Yes, we’re up here!” I heard Kyle cry out
in excitement.  “We’re low on fuel, and in desperate need to put down.  We also have a woman in labor.  Request permission to land!”

He
went silent waiting for a response.  Jenn tried her hardest to mute her cries of pain as we both listened in anticipation for Kyle’s next words.

“
Yes, Sir.  We’ll be there in five minutes.  Make sure the medical unit has what they need for delivery.”

Looking back at us, he gave
thumbs up and told us to hang on.  We’d be cutting it pretty close and this was going to be a bumpy ride.

“Hold
on, baby.  Hold on,” I pleaded with Jenn.

“Ahhhn
gnn,” she screamed.  In an urgent and pain filled voice she said, “You’re going to have to pull him out.  You have to deliver him, John…we don’t have five minutes. He’s going to suffocate if he doesn’t get out!”

Having gone to a number of birthing classes over the past months,
I knew she was right.  Hands shaking, I reached down and wedged my fingers around the head, and started to pull.

“We’re
two minutes away!” Kyle screamed back.

Jenn pushed
with everything she had left in her. A vein was pulsating out of her forehead, and her hands were firmly squeezing on the side rail of one of the leather seats.

The head emerged, followed by an arm.  I
gently wrapped my fingers under his armpit, and slowly pulled the second shoulder through.  A split second later, the legs followed.

For a moment, he didn’t move. Covered in red, pale with blue lips, the baby hung in my arms lifeless.  Then
, in a moment of magic, a small burst of cries shot from his mouth.  With my eyes tearing up, and my whole body still shaking, I wrapped the child in one of the embroidered white blankets to warm him.  Jenn looked up at us.  Her eyes were half open, and her body was limp.

“One minute
,” Kyle yelled back.

I could feel the chopper coming down, the
pit of my stomach lurching up.

“Let me see him
,” Jenn whispered.

I placed the wrapped child in her arms, which she didn’t have the strength to hold up on her own.  She forced a smile, and her eyes widened for just a moment.

“Hello, Baby.  You’re more beautiful than I ever could have imagined,” she said.

Unsuccessfully trying to hold back my own tears, I leaned in
, kissed our baby on the forehead, and whispered, “Welcome to the world, little man.”

Gritting her teeth, s
he motioned with a weak hand for me to take the child.  I reached down to pull him into my arms.

Her body tensed up, eyes rolling from side to side. She kicked her legs out
involuntarily for a moment, and I pulled our son to my chest, protecting him from any inadvertent strikes.

I felt the helicopter hit the ground, and heard Kyle jum
ping out of the front cockpit.  Everything slowed down.  I was waving my hands feverishly from behind the window towards the medics who were running with a gurney towards the chopper door.  The sound of the chopper blades was deafening, as I yanked the headset from my head, trying to scream toward them to hurry.

Glancing down at Jenn, her body arched up, then fell to the red tinted lea
ther, and stopped moving.

Then, just like that…
In a moment of clarity, she met my eyes and spoke softly.

“John, I love you. You came back to me. After everything, you made it back to
us. I’m so proud of you. You are going to be a great father.”

Those were her last words.

I let out a primal scream as her eyes closed. Quickly setting the child in one of the seats, I wrapped my arms around her body, yelling, “Don’t leave us.  Don’t leave me.”

Glancing out
the helicopter window, the medics were just yards away from reaching us.

“
You need to wake up! You need to come back to me!” I screamed as I reached down to kiss my lifeless wife on the forehead. Clutching her in my arms, shaking her back and forth as tears poured down my face, I felt a small movement from one of her legs. Lifting my lips, I looked down to see her eyelids move.

Her red eyes opened.

The End

www.severedpress.com

Bonus Content:

To read a letter from Tyler, John’s son, visit this page: 
www.zombiebook.net/tylersnote

Read on for a free sample of Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension Book 1

Many of my best friends and family members were subjected to the early drafts of 900 Miles.  Whether they
read it, commented on it, or were simply a sounding board for me during its creation, I want each of them to know that I really appreciate every second that they spent with me on this journey to publish.

Specifically, I'd like to thank:

Debbie Davis

Phil Davis

Jamie Crosby

Ryan Dunn

Jenaya Cones

Stefanie Oberhansley

Chad Davis

Tim Davis

Sarah Davis

David Michaud

And of course, Gary at Severed Press for taking a chance on me as an emerging author.

Finally, I’d like to thank my wife, Laurie Davis. Without her encouragement and support, I would never have sat down to type the first word.

This book would not have come to life without all of you!

THANK YOU!

S. Johnathan Davis lives in
Atlanta, GA with his wife and two children.

For more information, please visit
www.sjohnathandavis.com