The Great Wreck (14 page)
I had to
think about that for a minute before replying, “Sandia is on the edge of
Albuquerque, right?”
“Right,”
Tony replied, “Telling me that it was probably overrun with the dead almost
right away.”
“No,
no,” I replied, “The west side is too steep. Almost a ten thousand foot
vertical face. The dead on the city side couldn’t have gotten up there and I
closed down the tram station. And unless the dead know who to operate a
generator and the tram controls, it’s unlikely they are able to get up that
way.”
“And the
backside of the mountain?”
“Remember
the forest service closed down the camp grounds early because of the dry
winter? They didn’t want anyone up there starting camp fires and burning the
whole mountain down.”
“Yeah?
And they had so many assholes going up there anyway, they finally had to tear
up huge chunks of the road to keep the people out,” Tony said.
“Yes!
And the cops started patrolling…”
“Along
with us,” Tony said before I could finish,
“Yes!
That’s why Dan and I were the last off the mountain. No one was coming up at
all anymore so they sent us home. They were either staying inside their homes
or getting out of town.”
“And
with the trails blocked off, roads tore up, and those crazy concrete walls
installed on the east side, no one, or at least very few, could get up to the
top,” Tony finished, “It might work.”
“Do we
have a better option?” I asked.
“I can’t
think of one,” Tony replied. We’d find out later that most of the dead, even
though moving around, were still decaying away and at some point their decayed
quadriceps in their leg muscles couldn’t lift up their feet more than an inch
or two effectively preventing them from climbing steep inclines like steps or a
mountain. That wouldn’t stop the newly dead or the Sprinters as we would find
out, but that would come much later, “We’d still have to get through the city,
thought. It’s going to be complete chaos.”
“Well,
it’s either that or sit up here on the mountain until the infected cut us off
completely and we’re stuck here for good.”
“The
dead.”
“What?”
“You
said ‘the infected.’ They’re dead, Casey.”
“Yeah,
their dead,” I replied and stood there thinking about what that really meant,
then said,
“We can stop and get Nicky’s folks,
and yours, then head up to the tram station. I still have the keys.”
Tony
nodded, “We’ll get packed up and leave in the morning.”
*
*
*
We told
the girls what we saw and that went as well as you could expect, “Are you sure
they were dead?” Nicky asked as Tony and I finished our story.
I just
nodded as Tony said, “She was eating his fucking guts out and her arm was gone,
all the way gone. She couldn’t have been alive. And the others looked dead too,
Missing hands, missing faces, stomach’s all ripped apart. No one with those
types of injuries could possibly be alive and moving around.” I thought Greer
might say something at this point, back us up with her story of the girl at the
supermarket, but she just stared out the window ignoring us all.
“Bullshit!
You guys are just fucking with us!” Dreysi said.
“Oh,
yeah, because this is loads of fun,” Tony yelled back, “Are we having fun
Casey? Good times for all? Yeah we’re just playing a very elaborate joke and
the whole fucking world is in on it except you Dreysi!”
“Easy,
Tony. We all just freaked out,” I said putting my hand on his shoulder.
He sat
down on the couch with a thump and put his head in his hands, “I know, I know.
What a fuck up.”
“Even if
the people weren’t dead, we still need to get off of this mountain,” Nicky said
looking around at each of us, “If the infected are all over the mountain, then
they’ll find us soon enough. We can go home, check on Mom and Dad, then we’ll
all go up to the tram.”
Even
Dreysi agreed with that even if she couldn’t accept that the dead were up and
walking around in the forest, “Great,” I said, “Pack up your stuff and we’ll
leave in the morning.”
That
night we packed our gear up into our backpacks as Tony brought out a few more
rifles and pistols for the girls. Tony laid out the firearms onto the table and
began showing Greer and Nicky how to load and unload a clip, aim, fire, clear
and jammed bullet and other basic gun safety rules. As they practiced loading
and unloading clips from the various guns and rifles, I had a thought and said,
“Hey, Tony? Do you have a battery charger here? Like a portable one?”
“Yes,
why?”
“The
Beast’s battery is liable to be dead,” I replied.
“What
Dreysi? No, I just saw her moving around a few minutes ago. Seemed fine to me.”
I
laughed, “The truck, Tony. It’s been sitting there for nearly two months. The
battery is likely to be dead.”
“Right.
Good thinking. I’ll get it out of the basement when we’re done here,” he said
as Dreysi, hearing her name, came down the steps.
When
Dreysi saw what Tony had laid out on the table, she freaked out, “What the fuck
are those for!? What the fuck are those for!? What the fuck are those for!?”
she screamed. I nearly dropped the gun I was cleaning she screamed so loud and
everyone jumped up to their feet, “I’m not fucking carrying one of those things
and neither should either of you assholes! You’ll more like shoot us than
anyone else!”
“Don’t
carry one you fucking crazy bitch,” Tony said when Dreysi finally stopped
yelling, “It’ll just make it easier for the fucking dead to eat you.”
“Fuck
you, Tony! I don’t need a fucking gun to make me feel like a man or define who
I am or make my penis feel any bigger!” Dreysi screamed as she stumbled down
the stairs.
“Well
thank god the feminist movement survived all of this,” Greer said and giggled
to herself.
“At last
you finally admit that you
are
a man
and
have
a penis! I’ve always
suspected it,” he yelled back.
“Fuck you!”
she said with so much hate and contempt in her voice Tony actually shut his
mouth with an audible snap. Dreysi glared at him as she walked up to the table,
grabbed a pistol, and pointed it at Tony.
“Whoa,
whoa!” we all said over one another scrambling back away from Dreysi.
“Put the
pistol down, Dreysi,” I finally managed to get out.
“Fuck you, Casey! And what if I decide you are
infected Tony? Should I shoot you? Should I shoot you now and save us all, in
case you might get infected in the future?”
“Put the
fucking pistol down, you crazy nut jobber,” Tony said as he backed away with
his hands in the air.
“Now I’m
a crazy nut jobber, huh? Then, since I’m crazy, I’ll put a bullet or two in
your ball sack? What do you say, huh, buddy? How’s that for crazy?”
“Yep,
that’s pretty fucking crazy, Frigadoris!” he yelled back.
“You
call me that one more time and I swear I will shoot! Your fucking! Dick off!”
Dreysi screamed, yelling out each word and gripping the pistol in both of her
hands.
“Guess
you don’t mind using a gun after all, eh Fridge?” Tony spat back. Good god I
think Tony was actually hoping Dreysi would shoot him. Almost daring her to.
“Tony!
Don’t antagonize her, you dumb ass!” I yelled.
“Antagonize
her?!” he said looking at me as thought I had lost my fucking head, “This bull
dike is the one with a gun pointed at my head! She’s antagonizing me!”
“Dreysi,
put the gun down,” Nicky said quietly putting her hands on Dreysi’s arms and
pulling them down, “You don’t have to carry a gun if you don’t want to. You can
carry a bat or something.”
“Or the
fucking wacko can stay here,” Tony said as Dreysi lowered the pistol.
Nicky
took the gun from Dreysi and set it on the table, “Why don’t you go on upstairs
and go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning. Dreysi nodded while looking at the
floor then headed upstairs and closed her bedroom door.
“I’ll be
sleeping with my door locked tonight,” Tony said as we packed up the guns and
ammunition and Nicky found a bat for Dreysi, “Fucking crazy.”
I think we
all locked our doors that night. Not because we thought Dreysi would go nuts
and shoot us all, or at least, shoot Tony, but because we all thought about
what might be out there in the woods closing in on the cabin. Locking the door
to the bedroom was just another way of putting up something, anything between
us and the inconceivable horror drifting around out there. It didn’t matter
thought, I don’t think any of us slept that night.
*
*
*
I have
never been so glad to see the gray, weak light of the sun creeping into our
bedroom. I crawled out of bed and jumped in the shower rinsing off the fear and
sweet that clung to me from yesterday’s flight through the woods. I dressed,
pulled on my boots and walked over to the nearest window. Looking out the side of
the cabin, I could see all along the southern edge of the fence line. I saw
something move far back away from the fence. My heart leapt, then I saw the
wind moving the braches around. I took in a deep breath and looked again. It
was empty. I breathed a sigh of relief at finding that we weren’t already
surrounded by the dead. I walked out of the bedroom and quietly closed the door
behind me and then went down the hall to the window that looked out the back of
the cabin to the west: the same. Nothing moved except the trees and my
imagination and no one was to be seen all along the fence line. Satisfied for
the moment that the dead had not blocked us in during the night, I headed down
stairs to cook what would be the last breakfast for us in the cabin. Soon I was
joined by the others as we nibbled on toast and tried to get some food in our
stomachs. We all knew that we’d need the energy for what lay ahead but none of
us had much of an appetite.
At some
point it became clear that we were just stalling and Greer began to clear the
table while Tony started washing the plates and putting them away.
“Why do
that?” Dreysi said watching the two, “Why fucking wash the dishes and put them
away? Who’s ever going to come back here again?”
“Whoa,
the crazy has gotten started early today, eh? Hide the guns,” Tony said, “I’m
putting them away because in case anyone does ever come back here, it will be
neat and tidy, ready for them to live out their lives and enjoy the wonderful
wilderness around them.”
“And you
say I’m crazy,” Dreysi said and began moving her gear into the basement.
Nicky
and I helped finish cleaning up, then moved our stuff outside of the front
door, then strapped on our guns and rifles as Tony carefully sealed up the
cabin closing all the roll down doors, turning off the gas and water, and
finally, flipping off the breakers. While Tony sealed up the place, I went to
the basement door and slowly opened it up looking again along the fence and
gates. Satisfied there was no one out there, I opened the door and stepped out
into the yard, then began making my way around the cabin until I had inspected
all the fence line along the property that I could see without having to walk
too far away from the cabin. I let out a long breath not realizing that I had
been holding it as I made my inspection. But something deep down in my brain
whispered to me that they were out there I just couldn’t see them.
I shook
off the thought. It really didn’t matter if they were out there and if I could see
them or not. What mattered was that we got to the truck and got off this
mountain as fast as we could, “Looks all clear,” I said to the others as we
stood outside and watched as Tony locked the door and ensured that it was
secured.
“Good
deal. Let’s get the bikes,” he said when he was done and walked off towards the
garage.
Tony and
I walked up the driveway to the garage, unhooked the charging cables from the
ATVs, and then hooked up the small trailers. We drove them down and began
loading up our gear into the wagons. We had decided that we wouldn’t bring much
food or water with us that might slow us down. We’d carry only what we might
need for the few days we thought it would take to get to Sandia.