Impact (28 page)

“Not unless you orchestrated it or are in on one of Kirk’s ludicrous tests.”

He shook his head as we approached the ladder. “Goodness, the things you think up. And people say I’m crazy.”

I chuckled.

“Hey, wait,” he said. “Before we go, I have something I want to give you.” He reached into his pocket and handed me my pocketknife back.

I was stunned. “Kirk’s people took this from me when they first captured me. It was a present for my eighteenth birthday.”

“It ended up with a friend of mine and he told me the story. I thought you should have it, so I got it back for you.”

“How did you get it past Kirk?” I asked.

“One of my buddies slipped it to me on top of the roof. I told him I needed it to kill you.”

I chuckled, then slipped it deep into my pocket. “Thank you, Jim. This means a lot to me.”

“No problem.” 

I cautiously followed him up the ladder.

He lifted the lid, and we both sighed in relief that it opened so easily. He climbed up one more rung of the ladder and stuck his head out on the surface of the street. 

“See anything?” I asked.

“Looks clear,” he said. “Today just might be our lucky day.”

Jim climbed out, and I quickly scaled the rest of the ladder and squeezed out of the manhole and onto the street. I glanced around and so no one, living or living dead. 

“We did it!” Jim said. “Now let’s get outta here. We gotta run, fast as our legs can carry us, before they figure out what’s going on and come after us. Maybe we can snag a car, find a map.”

I couldn’t believe we were finally free from Kirk and his band of lunatics. I had no idea if Jackie and the others were still alive, but I had to get back to Fairport and find out. If they were still alive, if their death was just some ploy Kirk drummed up to manipulate me, I knew they would be busy planning another rescue attempt. The last thing I needed was for them to put themselves in danger again. I knew if Kirk got his hands on Nick or Val, they would be doomed to fight, just like I was.

“I know heading east will take us outta town,” Jim said.

I nodded. “Then east we go.”

Zing
!

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a bullet hit Jim right in the throat, sending a stream of blood down his chest. Within seconds, another bullet struck him in the forehead. He fell over and crashed to the concrete.

Sniper
! I thought, looking down at the dead man in a panic and, surprisingly, with great pity.

W
ith lightning speed and no time to mourn the fallen father of six, I ran toward the closest building. The front window was shattered, so I jumped inside. Bullets flew overhead as Kirk’s men continued with their onslaught. I ducked and kept low as I crawled through the aisles of the cooking store, clanging pots and pans and utensils along the way. I groaned when I slammed my knee down on a fancy ice cream scoop. I was sure there had to be a back way out, and going that way would be a lot safer than risking sniper fire on the street. 

As if my human enemies were not enough, a zombie was suddenly towering over me. My fingers instinctively reached for a frying pan on the shelf. I jumped at the zombie and whacked it in the head. It stumbled a few steps back and fell, but more growls came from behind me. Two more undead lumbered toward me, but I was ready to take them on with a culinary arsenal. I didn’t want to use my gun and stir up more zombies.

Suddenly, a hailstorm of bullets flew into the place, tearing a few zombies to shreds. I ran to the end of the aisle and knocked over several shelves and display racks to create a barricade as more bullets flew toward me. One ricocheted off the wall and nearly nailed me in the head.

My flashlight wavered in my hand as I hunted for the back exit. I knew anything could come out of nowhere and reach for me, so I had to be constantly on guard. I was ready to run, but I had to be smart about it.

I glanced down a corridor and saw a door at the end, marked with a placard that said, “Employees Only.” My heart practically leapt out of my chest as I walked into the dark area, because I had no idea what could be waiting for me back here. Holding my gun with one hand and my flashlight with the other, I took soft, quick steps. The hall and the lounge appeared to be abandoned, but I had to be on constant alert.

No way out. I had to keep going.

I opened the door to another huge room filled with shelves and boxes. I knew I was in some kind of warehouse area. Gun drawn, I scooted around some towering boxes.

Clear.

My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I ran past some more boxes and shelves. How do I get out of here? I kept moving through the room, just thankful it was empty. I never had lucky breaks like this. I didn’t think any zombies were back here. It was just me and a few rats that ran past my feet. 

When I finally saw the “Exit” sign across the room, I let out a sigh of relief. That quickly gave way to doubt, as I wondered if Kirk’s men would be expecting me to go that route.
Are they waiting for me out there?
I wondered.
Did I really beat them to the punch? 

I peered around me, one more time, shining my flashlight.

Nothing.

My boots echoed across the floor as I ran through the dark warehouse room. When I got to the exit, I took a deep breath. If Kirk was behind that door, I was so screwed. I pointed my gun, ready to fire if I had to.

I slowly opened the back door. A zombie as tall as a basketball player with festering skin and white eyes reached for me. Glancing up, I fired. I didn’t want to fire the gun and alert anyone else to my location but I just wanted out of here. Its head gushed black liquid, and I kicked the corpse away with my boot. It fell back against a garbage dumpster, leaving a long, black smear on the green metal.

I stumbled through the streets lost. After rounding the corner, I ran down the narrow alley and turned left, then right. I had no idea where I was going. I only knew I had to get out of there, and I remembered that Jim had said to head east. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a figure sprinting toward me. It was definitely one of Kirk’s guys. A swift swivel back around revealed that I was blocked by a fence, at what might literally turn into a dead end. Refusing to give in so easily, I got a running start and shimmied up the metal fence and threw my body over it with all the precision of an Olympic pole-vaulter.

I landed on my side, but the pain didn’t faze me. Scrambling to my feet, I zigzagged down a couple streets, then made a few more sharp lefts and rights and darted behind another building. I caught my breath and ran, never looking over my shoulder. I hurried down a flight of concrete steps, into a parking garage. Glancing around, I didn’t see any undead. What I did see, much to my relief, was a whole bunch of cars to choose from.

Everything was a blur, but I quickly hopped into a blue car that had a full gas tank. I had no problem hotwiring it, and I found a map in the glove box that would guide me through the most obscure route out of town. I knew it was best to avoid the main roads, because I was sure Kirk had roadblocks and ambushes set up already. 

I drove through alleyways and side streets like a maniac and finally found a relatively unknown way out of town. When I spotted a horde blocking the road ahead of me, I threw the car in reverse and went down a different road. As soon as the coast was clear, I stopped for a minute to take a glance at the map. “Why couldn’t I have stolen one with GPS?” I scolded myself, studying the folded paper carefully. The gas was dwindling, and I had to be careful not to waste it by going too far out of the way.

When I was far from town, I stopped to study the map again. No use going the wrong way.

Suddenly, a dead hand started pounding on the window. I looked out at the horrible atrocity and saw that a crowbar was lodged deep in its skull. I debated getting out and stealing the weapon, but I already had a knife, and two guns with ammo. I lost the bat somewhere along the way, not sure exactly where. I put the map away and grabbed a can of cherry cola and some Vienna sausages from the backpack.

The thing banged again.

“Sorry, buddy,” I said. “It’s dinner time...and I’m not gonna be your main course.” I found it funny and a bit sad that I was so accustomed to zombies that they didn’t even faze me anymore. Still, the thing was annoying, and I was way too whipped to fight it, so I just drove away.

I sped down the road hoping to get home before nightfall. As I wolfed down the food and soda, I thought about Jim. We had been enemies for a long time, but in the end, he had proven to be a friend. Like the rest of us, all he wanted was a fresh start, to get away and start over. Now, he would never have that chance. I had seen a spark of goodness in him, and I felt bad for the family he had left behind. Without his plan and his help, I would still have been in that city, held against my will and forced to fight. 

Clearly, Kirk had heard the gunfire and put two and two together. There were snipers already positioned when we came out of the manhole, and if I hadn’t run off the way I did, I would have had a bullet in my head too. I bet Kirk had every manhole cover in town guarded. Still, I regretted that I hadn’t stuck around long enough to give Jim a burial. He died on the cold, lonely asphalt, and I hated that, but when it came to survival, I knew I had to get out of there.
All things considered, I’m sure he woulda done the same thing,
I thought to myself,
before they were on him like...white on rice.
 

H
ours later, I pulled into the apartment complex. I rushed out of the car and saw Grandma, Ed, and Steven walking across the parking lot to greet me. “Hey!” I said, relieved to see familiar faces.

“You’re alive!” Ed shouted. “He didn’t kill you! I’ve got to get Rachel!”

“Great to see you, man!” Steven shouted. “How on earth did you manage to escape?”

“Long story.”

He looked down at my bloody clothes. “I can see that.”

“Come inside my apartment,” Grandma said. “You have to be freezing.”

“I will, but not right now. I’m a nervous wreck.”

She looked at Steven. “Get him a blanket from your trunk.”

He nodded, walked over to his car, and popped opened the trunk. He grabbed a big black blanket and handed it to Grandma who wrapped me up in it.

“There. Now you’ll stay nice and warm.” She then threw her arms around me. “Dean! Are you okay?”

I squeezed her in a big hug. “I’m fine, and I’m so glad to see you.”

Her eyes widened. “What happened? You’re covered in blood. Are you hurt? I have a first aid kit in the bathroom.”

“It’s not mine,” I whispered. “I’ll tell you all about it later. I just need the truth right now. Are they...dead?”

“Who?”

“Jackie and the others. Kirk showed me a Jeep that they blew up, said she and some others died in the explosion.”

Sadness washed over her face. A shiver shot down my spine. And I knew that maybe Kirk was telling the truth after all. I swallowed hard as I pondered. If I found out they really did die, I was going back to find Kirk. I’d make him pay! And I didn’t care if I died trying. 

“Yes, a group was killed,” she said.

My stomach clenched. “Oh gosh. Nick? Val?” I asked, fearing the answer. I loved my siblings so much and couldn’t bear the thought of living without them. “Is Jackie alive?” I asked. “How about Lucas, Claire, Kate, and Asia?”

She looked up at me. “They’re okay. It wasn’t your group. They were volunteers from the next town. Some of their people were kidnapped, too, so they wanted to help.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I feel so bad for their loss.”

“I’m sorry, too, but they got out a few of their people in a third truck.”

“Who were they?”

“Sally, John, and Rick.”

“I met them once, but never really talked to them. I had no idea they were kidnap victims too.”

Her face beamed. “Nick, Asia, Kate, Lucas, Jackie, and Claire are all alive.”

Steven smiled. “Yeah, they’re all here. Let’s go tell them you’re back.”

They’re alive!

Happiness flooded through me. I collapsed to my knees and began to sob.

Grandma knelt down next to me and rubbed my back, comforting me.

“I-I don’t even know what to say,” I mumbled. “I thought...” I sniffled and began to tremble, overwhelmed with emotion. “I thought they could all be dead because of me. I wasn’t sure. I thought Kirk was playing mind games. But then I thought, what if he wasn’t? What if they were dead? You wouldn’t believe the things that ran through my mind.”

“It’s okay,” Steven said. “Kirk’s a liar. He was just trying to torment and manipulate you.”

“Dean!” I heard a beautiful voice call out behind me.

I glanced up and turned and saw Jackie screaming hysterically for me. I scrambled to my feet, raced toward her, and embraced her in a long hug. “Kirk told me—”

She touched my face and shushed me. “Baby, he was just playing mind games with you.”

“I didn’t want to believe him.”

Val screamed as she raced toward me. She hugged me as she wept. I was so overwhelmed by the tearful reunion.

When Nick came down, he gave me a bear hug, followed by Lucas.

“You got outta there just in time, little brother,” Nick said.

“Personally, I’m a little pissed,” Lucas said. “We’ve been planning to crash that party again tonight, and I was kinda lookin’ forward to it.”

“You would be,” Val said. “No rest for the brainless.”

I laughed at their banter as everyone else came over to greet me. They couldn’t believe I escaped. The girls wouldn’t stop hugging me, and Nick wanted to hear all about it, hanging on my every word. They couldn’t believe my story of escape to freedom.

“Lucas told us all about the zombie minefield,” Kate said. “That oughtta be a Hollywood script...or at least an Xbox game.”

Tears ran down Jackie’s face. “I was so worried. I couldn’t sleep or eat. Nobody could console me.”

I hugged her. “It’s okay. We’re all back together now, and that’s all that matters.” I held her tight and she wrapped her arms around me.