Dead World (Book 1): The Impetus (10 page)

20

Daniel wakes with a start. He shakes his head, the dream lingering in his mind. A nightmare about cold dead hands closing around his mouth, preventing him from screaming. He is covered in sweat. It’s still early morning. No one else is awake but he rolls over and sees that Faraday is still missing. It’s unlike him to be gone for so long.

Daniel rises out of his sleeping bag, shimmying out of the tent, and heads over to grab a bottle of water taking a long drink. The morning air is freezing but his heart is still racing from the dream. He rubs his hands roughly over his face trying to banish the memories. The past few days have been better than he hoped they could be. Truthfully he had no idea what to expect when they set out. But the lack of trouble they’ve had fills him with hope.

Maybe Faraday and Valentine are right. He hopes, maybe those things, whatever they are and whatever actually caused them will stay in the city.

A gunshot makes him jump. It was close. Too close and he knows Faraday wouldn’t use the gun unless there was no choice. Valentine pops her head out of the tent, her eyes bleary with sleep.

“What the hell was that?” Isaiah calls out.

Daniel hears footsteps running to them as the others stumble out of the tent. Faraday bursts through the wall of trees and looks at them all frantically. “We need to go now!” he yells.

“What happened?” Daniel tries to ask.

“There’s no time,” Faraday says as he waves them on. Everyone is up and moving now but not nearly as quickly as he wants. “Come on, come on,” he says to them panic edging his voice. The constant sound of moaning suddenly sounds a lot closer. Daniel wasn’t even aware of it until now. It is coming from all around them.

Daniel rushes over to the edge of the trees and as soon as he breaks through the foliage he sees what Faraday was so frightened about. His heart skips a beat as he sees thousands of dead. They are flooding out of the streets to the south of them. More than he can count. Like a sea of bodies they all press forward with one desire.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Daniel says under his breath.

There are just too many. It can’t be real and his heart thuds in his chest as fear plants him to the spot. A rough hand on his shoulder spins him around and Daniel finds himself face to face with Faraday.

“Come on man we need to move, now.” Faraday pulls him along. They take off running north up 2nd. They race past the dead, useless cars. The sun has barely started to come up as they frantically tear through the early morning cold.

Isaiah is holding Chloe tight. They leave the bags behind in their haste to flee.

They set a ground eating pace, almost a full sprint for as long as they can. Daniels legs burn furiously, his breath coming in gasps, but he forces himself to keep moving. They pass a Home Depot and the moaning increases as bodies spill out of the entryway, cutting them off. People that must have tried to take shelter there.

Daniel dodges around grasping hands. The smell is horrendous, the iron tinge of blood and decay. His throat is raw from running. They run until his legs feel weak, until he is stumbling and forcing himself to keep going.

Sasha stops clutching at her chest, heaving breath in, unable to run any more. “I…” she starts before she sucks in another breath. The horde is advancing behind them determined and implacable. Like a wall of death. “I can’t,” she says.

“Come on honey we need to run,” Isaiah says, stopping to pull on her arm. They take another few shuddering steps before she stops again.

Daniel whips his head around frantically. They are on high way 2. All the hope he had of them making it safely out of the city is dashed as he realizes it is only a matter of time before those things catch up.

The cars are still bumper to bumper. Useless he thinks as terror grips his heart. The sun is now full over the horizon. And behind him he sees that they have barely made any distance between the closing horde.

“We need to keep going,” Faraday says, gulping down breaths of air, “We can’t stay here.”

“We can’t keep running either. We’ll never make it,” Daniel says.

He sees a Hummer 3, he used to think they were unnecessarily large, but right now it could be his saving grace. It’s a few hundred feet ahead, but it’s big enough to go off road.

He hopes against hope as he runs to it. The rest of the group stumbles as quickly as they can behind him. He slams into the side of the vehicle and flings the door open.

“Oh thank god!” he says as he sees the keys are still in the ignition. “Come on guys we can do this.” The Hummer is empty besides a splash of blood along the middle seats.

Daniel rushes back to the group urging them to hurry. They get to the vehicle with only seconds to spare. Sasha and Isaiah jump in with Chloe, and Valentine takes the front seat. The horde is too close though. As Daniel jumps in the driver’s seat and turns the keys the engine starts.

“Come on Faraday.” Daniel yells. Faraday jumps into the back seat and Daniel guns the ignition. He slams into the car ahead of them pushing it forward a few feet before he flips it into reverse doing the same thing, trying to create space to get out.

Faraday looks out the window cursing. They are being surrounded and they need to move now. He grabs Daniels shoulder. “I’m going to buy us time, don’t you dare come back for me,” he snarls as he swings the door open and jumps out pulling out the gun, “You guys need to leave now!” he yells at them.

“No!” Valentine yells. Chloe is wailing in the back seat and Sasha is squeezing her as tight as she can.

“What is he doing?” Isaiah says, but Daniel knows what is going to happen even before it does.

They hear a gunshot and Daniel watches as the frontrunner drops. His head blown clean off. Daniel slams the car in gear and guns it forward again with urgency. The small Honda in front is pushed and crushed under the force. He twists the wheel savagely. Pulling up onto the sidewalk, there is barely enough room for them to fit but he knows this is the only chance. Ahead of them corpses are pouring out between the cars.

A wall of dead on all sides.

“Hold on!” He yells back to them and revs the car forward plowing through several undead before he is able to get enough clearance. He slams down the accelerator before more of the dead can get between them, and speeds away.

The gunshot reports again and he sees Faraday in the rearview mirror expend all the ammo before he throws the gun to the ground and takes off into the park. The horde of undead follow him leaving the car as Daniel swerves across the grass, tearing through small bushes and trees.

“We can’t just leave him behind,” Sasha cries, turning around in the seat as they pull away.

“If we go back for him we’re all dead,” Isaiah says and shakes his head, tears brimming in his small eyes. The mob that had been ahead of them turns instead to chase Faraday who has disappeared in the trees of the park.

“But…” Sasha begins again before she starts crying into her hands. “But…” she can’t finish her sentence. They all know that Faraday just saved their lives. Valentine sobs in the seat next to him as they fly down the sidewalk.

21

Daniel drives north most of the morning. They are forced to double back numerous times. Cutting through neighborhoods and finding viable paths. It’s a long slow process one that is frustrated even more by his frayed nerves.

The loss of Faraday hit him keenly, like a cold hand is gripping his stomach. Even Chloe kept talking about him until Sasha shushed her. He was only with their small group for a few days but the way things have been that is enough time to get closer than years in the old world. It’s different when you really need someone.

Valentine seems especially effected by the loss of the crazy old man. She hasn’t said anything about it but she sits with her knees pulled up to her chest and anger in her eyes. Daniel knows that she knew Faraday well, probably as well as he himself did, when she worked at the Edge but he doesn’t press her for information.

She will share when she is ready.

After a few hours of driving they find themselves getting closer to I-25. Daniel hopes to make it there by early evening but in the rush to leave they didn’t grab anything. His stomach grumbles at him and his throat is parched.

“We need some food,” Isaiah says from the back seat. Chloe is asleep in his lap. They are just coming up to 2
nd
and Adams. Daniel pulls into a gas station, the Hummer is still at half a tank so it isn’t necessary but he checks the pumps anyway.

A little ways away he can see E-470. It is a mess of wrecked cars and blackened corpses. The fire must have been out of control here, the whole neighborhood is charred. The smell of burnt rubber and charnel bodies hangs in the air.

“I’m going to check inside,” Isaiah says. Valentine follows him into the dark building. The windows were shot out and the spray of glass glitters in the light.

Daniel desperately wishes they still had a gun, but Faraday had the only one. He knows it is a long shot but he hopes the old guy made it out somehow. He never saw him get taken down. So it is possible. If anyone could do it, Faraday could.

Daniel stands by the Hummer. Sasha and Chloe are inside. He can hear their small voices.

The door to the gas station is propped open and after a few minutes Valentine and Isaiah slip out, they are carrying a few cans of tomato soup, dented and dusty like they were stuck under a packing crate.

Valentine tosses a bag of Doritos that she had behind her back and she smiles at Daniel. “These will be good.”

His mouth waters at the thought of them. After only canned food for so long it is remarkable she found this.

Isaiah brandishes a small hand axe. “It was the only one I could find,” His face is a grimace. “Fuck me, I thought there would be more guns around when shit hit the fan.”

“Yeah,” Valentine says with a shrug.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Daniel says. There are always guns abounding in the movies. But without weapons it is hard to get into the places that have weapons. He thought about trying Walmart and the like, but those places would be full of the dead.

“I guess not getting caught is better than needing a gun,” Isaiah says.

“Better to have one and not need one than need one and not have one.” Valentine says.

Daniel climbs back in the car, they pass around the bag of chips and eat in silence. The Doritos are amazingly salty. They are stale, but Daniel couldn’t care less at this point.

As they drive Daniel sees undead filter out from behind buildings or cars. It seems like they were lying down as he drove past but the sound of the engine causes them to stir and search for whatever is making the sound.

He thinks back to what Faraday said. If they really are just acting on impulse, and without the collective that impulse is much weaker. This far out they act lethargic and awkward. Not that the horde that chased them was graceful, but those seemed so much more… alive. He cringes as he remembers the press of bodies, the moan like a constant buzzing at the back of his mind.

It must have been a majority of the in Denver. Daniel wonders how many living people were able to escape. The chances are bleak.

Daniel turns the Hummer onto York Street and heads north driving on the opposite lane. So far from Downtown things have cleared up a bit, and he is finally making good time. They drive in silence.

Valentine searches through the glove box but there are no CD’s. The radio is dead, just static, and phones quit working weeks ago. Instead they just get the sound of the engine as they eat up the miles.

“We can take this all the way up to 168
th
and then try and cut across and head for I25,” Isaiah says. He has an old fashioned map out on his lap, tracking their progress whenever an accident or backed up traffic forces them to take alternative routes. “With any luck we will be able to get a clear shot north.”

“What will we do about gas?” Valentine asks eyeing the gauge. They have less than a quarter tank left.

“I know how to siphon gas if we need to,” Isaiah offers, “It will take a little while but it’s better than nothing.”

“Great,” Daniel says, “We will stop again in a bit and you should see if you can get whatever you can. Sasha, why don’t you try to find some food?” Daniel says. He feels like Faraday sacrificing himself galvanized him into action.

All the hope Daniel had about things being better, everything Faraday said about maybe the dead just staying in the city came apart when that horde closed in on them.

Without Faraday sacrificing himself Daniel knows they would have all died back there, and with him gone there is a void in leadership. He wants to keep everyone busy. He wants to make sure they focus on getting to safety because he knows how close they all are to snapping and someone needs to take charge.

Even Isaiah seems exhausted and Daniel refuses to cower like he did before.

At York and 156
th
Daniel pulls the car over into a Shell gas station, the sign is still lit somehow. He hopes that maybe this means the pumps are still. The store front is dark.  But it doesn’t look like there is any movement.

They wait for a few long minutes, to see if anyone comes out of the station. Knowing when to move is the key to survival out here.

“I think it’s OK,” Sasha says finally.

“I am going to go in there with her to make sure everything is safe,” Isaiah says. Daniel nods, it’s a good idea. There could be dead in there, trapped or unable to find their way out. “You stay in the car honey,” Isaiah says to Chloe giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Yes daddy,” she says, gripping a small yellow bear tightly. A gift Faraday found a few days ago. He told her to keep it as a special present, to keep her safe and protect her from bad dreams.

The trek through the city, trying to escape everything they had once called home is starting to change them. He thinks like a survivor now. He can’t afford to see them as victims and he knows that is important. If they are going to survive they need to think a couple steps ahead of everything else.

Surviving those first few weeks, until Faraday found them, was pure dumb luck. But surviving past this point is going to be a matter of willpower and ability. He knows the loss of Faraday will take time to sink in. And it is going to hurt like hell when it does, but right now he needs to protect them. Besides, he hopes, no one actually saw Faraday get taken down. He is tough, maybe he can make it on his own.

The gas station is mostly empty. There is the burned out wreck of a small Ford that is crashed into an adjacent Arby’s but other than that the lot is empty. If anyone made it out in those first few days it was probably on foot.

The sun is going down over the mountains bathing the world in orange and deep blue light.

Isaiah swings the car door open and steps out, gravel crunching beneath his shoes. He is carrying the hatchet he found. Sasha and him approach the store front. They open the door and disappear into the darkness.

“I’m going to go and keep a look out,” Valentine says, stepping out of the passenger side.

Daniel grabs her arm before she walks away. “Be careful OK?” he looks into her eyes.

“I will. I’m just going to look around for a bit. I won’t go far.”

He nods and she walks off. Daniel checks his pockets pulling out his wallet. He heads over to the pump. Not that money means anything anymore but he knows that is the only way to get the pump going.

He swipes his card crossing his fingers, hoping it will go through. The machine takes what feels like an eternity to register but finally the beep returns. “Praise god,” he says under his breath and presses the high grade button pulling the nozzle out. He unscrews the gas cap and starts filling the tank.

Isaiah walks out of the store and gives a thumbs up. “Sasha is looking for any food that was left over but the place is empty,” he says. He is carrying two large red gas cans he lifts them up so Daniel can see. “I figure we can put as much as we can in here in case we can’t find any more on the way.”

“That’s a great idea,” Daniel replies. Isaiah walks over and offers to finish filling up the gas. “Why don’t you go check on Valentine,” he says.

Isaiah knows that Daniel is attracted to her. They talked about it in passing over the past few weeks but he knows Daniel is too afraid to act on it. Daniel eyes him for a moment before Isaiah chuckles. “Go on, at least see if she’s OK.”

“OK, OK man, I’ll go and check.” Daniel replies. Isaiah hands him the axe, handle first.

Daniel grips the axe tightly, the rubber grip feels good in his hand. He walks out onto the sidewalk, weeds have already started to grow in the cracks. Nature is already trying to reclaim the lost territory. He’s a few hundred feet from the gas station when a scream erupts ahead of him.

Immediately he takes off running. His legs still sore from earlier but the urgency of the yell drives him on.

Valentine is screaming.

He rounds a corner and sees Valentine backing up. His breath catches as he sees that there are a few hundred dead shambling toward her. They let out a collective moan and walk towards them with that stiff gait. Daniel grabs her arm from behind and she screams pulling her arm to try and get free.

Daniel curses himself for not having said anything.

“Run,” he says. She is frozen in shock. Much like he was that first encounter outside of the grocery store. He shakes her roughly to get her attention. ”Valentine you need to run!” he pushes her towards the car.

In that instant time seems to slow down for him. His mind races a million miles an hour and he sees the whole situation unfold. With a firm voice he stares her straight in the eyes and says, “Valentine, you need to get back to the car right now.”

She nods, shock still plain on her face and he puts his hand on her arm. The horde has moved closer, barely twenty feet away. At their head Daniel sees a young girl in tattered nurse’s outfit. The side of her head is matted in gore. Her eyes have that same dead look as all the others. The side of her body is torn, like she was dragged along pavement. Black blood and dirt cover her. Despite all of this, somehow her nametag is still visible.

It says Ashley.

In a moment of clarity he realizes that she used to be a person too. He wonders what she has been through to get right here at this moment. She takes another lurching step forward, speeding up. She breaks into a run.

Ashley growls at him, her arms raised and her cold eyes filled with hunger. The same fear that has locked him in place his whole life fills him. He can’t move. But he knows that if he doesn’t then there will be no one to protect Valentine, or Chloe, or even Sasha and Isiah. He has to move now.

The last shred of fear in Daniel’s mind snaps and he gives Valentine a final shove which sends her running back in the other direction.

Daniel steps forward and brings the axe down in a heavy over hand blow. There is a thud of wet meat as the axe sinks into the skull just below the temple. He feels Ashley’s body go limp, like someone pulled a plug.

Ashley falls to the ground, crashing into a heap. He yanks the axe free and then swings again, they are surrounding him. Daniel lands a glancing blow that sends the heavyset black man off balance sprawling into a row of bushes.

There is no end to their number. If he stands and fights he will just die, so he turns and runs. He tears around the corner and sees Sasha and Isaiah rushing over to him.

“Run!” he calls out to them. “Get to the car. We need to go now!” he says with as much force as he can. To their credit they react immediately spinning around and heading back to the car.

Daniel covers the ground as fast as he can but everyone else is already in the car. Isaiah is staring out the window as Daniel slams the door shut and revs the engine. He sees the horde turn the corner closing in on them. “Let’s go man, we need to move,” Isaiah says frantically.

Sweat makes his hands slippery. His breathing coming in short gasps. He forces himself to focus, trying the keys in the ignition. The leading dead catch up to the car, their grimy hands scratching at the windows. The moaning fills Daniel’s ears.

He finally gets the keys in and starts the Hummer. He flips it into gear and guns the engine, the back tires squeal before they catch. Dead bodies bounce off the front end of the oversized vehicle, some landing underneath them like speedbumps.