The Last Days (17 page)

“We obviously can’t turn around and go back. We are going to run out of daylight soon and I don’t think either one of us want to stay out here in the woods all night.” John said. “I think we have enough cover to sneak up and go under the bridge. It’s not very deep there. I think we can wade across the creek and climb out through the brush on the other side. There is an old abandoned car dealership up above the bridge on the hill. It was called Harbaugh Chevrolet. I think we can get through the fence and get inside the building. That should be a safe place to spend the night. We can work our way into town in the morning. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.”

Barb sighed in frustration. “It couldn’t be easy could it?”

John smiled. “Why should it start to be easy now?”

Barb laid her head back against the tree.

John felt a tug on his arm. He looked back to see Cindy standing next to him.

Before he could say anything, Cindy held up her hand and wiggled her pointer finger, signaling that she wanted him to follow her.

He followed Cindy about ten feet away from Barb.

When Cindy stopped John looked down at the concerned look on her face. She whispered. “Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom.”

John smiled. “Follow me.” He said and led Cindy over behind a large Oak tree.

“You can go to the bathroom here.” John said.

Cindy looked confused. She looked up at John and wiggled her finger again, wanting him to bend down closer to her.

When he bent down Cindy whispered.  “Mommy said she was going to smack my ass if she caught me going to the bathroom outside again. She said it’s not lady like.”

John had a hard time keeping a straight face. His little girl was an outdoors woman. She liked to fish, play in the creek and run through the mud and yes from time to time she had been known to go to the bathroom behind a tree in the yard. She had claimed she was too muddy to come in the house to use the bathroom, but Barb would have none of it.

John smiled. “That’s because we had a nice bathroom at home for you to use. We don’t have a bathroom out here. We all have to go behind a tree. Don’t worry she won’t be mad this time.”

Cindy thought for a minute and whispered again. “Will you stay here with me?”

“OK.” John said and stood by the tree while Cindy disappeared around the other side.

On their way back over to Barb, John could see Cindy’s “I got away with something” smile beaming across her face.

John smiled. He decided to let her enjoy thinking she got away with something. From the way their life had been the last two days, using a tree to go to the bathroom was not going to feel like a novelty for long.

When they got back to Barb, she looked up.

John smiled. “Pit stop!”

Barb smiled. “OK.”

“You ready before we lose anymore daylight?” John asked.

“I guess so.” Barb said.

John took Barb’s hand and pulled her to her feet.

Cindy looked up at him. John could see she was hoping for another piggy back ride.

“Not this time short stuff.” John looked serious. “We are all going to have to crawl on our hands and knees under the brush so we can stay out of sight from the bad people. Can you do that?”

Cindy nodded her head.

“And from here on we all have to be very quiet. We can’t talk anymore until I say it is OK.” John looked at her to be sure she understood.

John signaled for them to follow. He took Cindy’s hand and kept her close to his side.

When they reached the brush, John signaled for them all to get down on their hands and knees.

He led them under the thick leaves. He moved slowly, keeping close tabs on them to be sure they were close and staying under cover.

He stopped every few feet to give the girls a chance to catch their breath. He was concerned the dead would hear them if they were breathing hard.

They only had to travel about a hundred feet before they came out of the brush under the corner of the bridge. John helped the girls get to their feet and moved them quietly in the mud until they were standing with their backs to the concrete wall that supported the bridge where it connected to the road above them. The creek ran under the bridge in front of them from left to right.

He whispered. “Good job. Now that wasn’t too hard was it?”

Cindy smiled, Barb wasn’t as happy to be covered with dirt and mud.

John whispered again. “We are going to wade across here. When we get to the other side, we are going to crawl under the brush and go up around the right side and come out by those trees over there.” John pointed at the trees. “On the other side of those trees is Harbaugh Chevy.”

He looked down at the mud covered Cindy. “You get a ride until we get to the other side, then you have to crawl again. OK.”

Cindy smiled and crawled up on his back.

John looked at Barb. “Take my hand. We have to go slow and not splash.”

Barb took John’s hand and they stepped out into the creek. The creek quickly became thigh deep on John, stomach deep on Barb.

John stepped carefully. The stones were moss and mud covered and were slippery. The current pushed against him, making it tricky keeping his balance.

Barb’s ankle was still sore and hurt. The cold water numbed the feeling, which helped, but made it harder to feel her foot.

Half way across the creek, she slipped. She let go of John’s hand as she fell, screaming as she splashed into the water. The rapid current pulled her downstream about fifteen feet before she could regain control. John rushed out to grab her before she would get carried away any further.

As John helped Barb get to her feet and steady herself, the groaning started. John looked up and realized they were no longer under the bridge. They were standing in clear view of the dead that were crowding against the side of the bridge to get a better look at them.

Cindy screamed and choked John as the first of the dead came over the side of the bridge, splashing into the water next to them. Even though the water wasn’t especially deep, the rapid current washed the dead creature past them.

As the dead splashed into the water, one after another, John pulled Barb across the creek. “Come on!” He shouted as he pulled her away from the center of the creek to avoid the waves of the dead flowing down stream.

When they were at the bank below the patch of trees John had pointed out earlier. He set Cindy in the mud on the bank.

“Barb, take Cindy and crawl up the bank here and wait for me at the trees.” John shouted.

As the girls began to climb the bank, John began to yell at the dead up on the bridge. He picked up stones and threw at the dead.

This enraged the dead. John thought it was rage, but was willing to accept that his actions just excited the dead. Either way, it had the intended result. The dead poured down over the side of the bridge.

The more of them that came over the sides of the bridge, the fewer that would be above to keep them from getting into the abandoned car dealership.

If he was lucky, once they were down here, they wouldn’t be able to climb the steep bank to get out of the creek.

When the number of dead in the creek became so thick, the new dead coming over the side of the bridge began to crawl on top of the ones in the water.

John decided now was the time for him to get up on the bank with Barb and Cindy. The mass of dead was getting uncomfortably closer to him.

The eyes of the dead were locked on to him. The ones with their head underwater staring out at him were the creepiest.

John ran through the mud. He slipped and almost fell a couple of times before he reached the top of the bank.

He picked up Cindy and grabbed Barb’s hand and pulled.

They came out the other side of the small patch of trees.

The rear of the abandoned dealership stood in front of them. The entire property was enclosed by a six foot high cyclone fence.

John ran over to the midpoint between two of the fence posts. He reached down and pulled at the bottom of the fence.  It came up about six inches.

“Cindy.” John shouted. “Crawl under the fence!”

Cindy scurried under the fence without much trouble.

“Barb, you’re next.” John yelled.

“How are you going to get under the fence?” Barb asked in a panic.

“Just get under the fence, Please!” John urged.

Barb started crawling.  She ripped a six inch tear in her t-shirt and her stomach was scratched and bleeding, but she was able to finally get under the fence.

Barb jumped to her feet and bent down and pulled with all her might at the bottom of the fence. The fence barely moved.

She stood with tears in her eyes as she looked at John on the other side of the fence.

John jumped up and grabbed the top of the fence and slowly pulled himself to the top of the fence. He threw his leg over the top of the fence. He used his leg to pull this body up until he was straddling the fence. The top of the metal fence dug into his stomach.

He slid his body over the fence and dropped to the ground inside the fence along with the loud sound of his shirt ripping as he fell.

John took a glance down to see his shirt was ripped from the middle of his chest to his waist. A large scratch on his chest and stomach followed the tear in his shirt.

But he was inside the fence.

He grabbed Barb and Cindy and ran for the door on the back of the large sprawling building.

When they reached the building, the door was locked as he expected. But with a hard kick he busted the door knob, the lock broke and the door swung open.

John closed the door and put a concrete block against the bottom of the door to keep it closed. The block wouldn’t keep anyone out, but hopefully the closed door wouldn’t attract any attention.

He turned. They had come in the service area. The bays were of course empty. There hadn’t been any cars being serviced in here for years.

Grease and a heavy layer of dust covered the lifts.

At the far wall, steps attached sideways to the wall, led up to the business offices.

John carried Cindy and led Barb up the steps. He looked in a couple offices and settled on an office that still had a few old office chairs inside. Chairs that had been considered not worth the effort to move out of the building when the dealership closed.

The office also had a snack vending machine. John didn’t know, but hoped when the dealership closed, they didn’t bother to check the machine.

It was worth a look.

It had been twenty-four hours since any of them had last eaten.

Chapter 17

Mike drove the Prius slowly down the narrow winding road.

It felt strange for him and his family, along with all their food and possessions, to be packed into such a small space after the last week of living in and driving the big RV.

The small cramped space inside the Prius was definitely not as comfortable as traveling in the RV but they could deal with that temporarily if the Prius would get them home.

The car was easier to drive and more maneuverable than the RV, which would allow them to go into and get out of places they wouldn’t have been able to do in the much larger RV. In the Prius they should be able to make better time on their trip home.

Traveling in the smaller Prius did have its advantages and disadvantages. But Mike worried most about its one big disadvantage. What if they found themselves surrounded by another mob of the dead? The ordeal of plowing through the horde up on the interstate had been tense. The five ton RV stood eleven feet tall and the large V-10 engine had powered the motorhome’s bulk through the mass of frantic creatures trying to get at them. It had allowed them to survive and escape even though the RV itself had suffered damage that made it impossible to drive much further.

The little car they were now traveling in would have never made it through that mass of dead bodies. Once stopped the dead would have made short work of breaking through the little car’s large windows to get at his family.

Mike hoped the best way to avoid running in to another large mass of the dead and other obstacles, was to take small back roads and stay away from the cities.

The road they were on was definitely small, but he had no idea where it went.

The sign on the interstate said it went to Graham, Kentucky.

He had never heard of Graham. Hopefully that meant it was a small town. The back hills of Kentucky were dotted with hundreds of small backward hillbilly towns.

They were on their way to Graham.

Mike hoped that Graham had a gas station that would have a map.

From the things he had read about the towns and people in the Kentucky mountains, he knew the map wouldn’t be up to date, but as long it had been published sometime in the last fifty years it should still show what he needed.

Besides more of the dead, Mike also hoped Graham would not be filled with shotgun toting hillbillies that took offense to strangers and foreign cars.

Times had changed in the U.S. Foreign cars had become a familiar sight on the streets thirty years ago.

However, most of the little mountain towns hadn’t changed much over the last hundred years.

Some of the residents had bought newer cars and trucks, many as new as a 1954 Chevy pickup.

It could be a strange journey, but Mike decided nothing would be as strange as what they had already been through.

Mike drove slowly. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t surprised by something jumping out on the road in front of him. He was leery about hitting anything as the vision of what the RV’s frontend had looked like flashed across his mind.

He also drove slowly because the car ran very quietly at slow speeds. Until he knew what was in Graham, he preferred to sneak in quietly rather than alerting the town and whatever awaited them that he was coming before he arrived.

“Daddy. I have to go to the bathroom!” Kimmy said quietly.

Mike smiled to himself as he remembered the other big advantage that the RV had over the Prius. “Can you wait until we get to Graham? They might have a bathroom we could use. You don’t want to go to the bathroom behind a tree do you?”

Mike realized he had just made a mistake as Kimmy said excitedly. “I want to go behind a tree!”

Kelly gave Mike one of her looks and shook her head. “Your daughter learned that from you. I never went in the woods when I was little. That was just a disgusting thing the boys did.”

Kimmy started dancing around in her seat.

“I know.” Mike smiled sheepishly. “But it might be better if she went here. We don’t know what we are going to find up ahead.”

“You might be right.” Kelly said. “But you better make sure she doesn’t get Poison Ivy on her butt again or it will be your problem this time and not mine!”

Mike and Kimmy returned to the car a few minutes later.

Kelly kept a close eye on them as they had walked a few feet off the road.

She made a mental note to tell Mike if he was going to let Kimmy go to the bathroom in the woods, to a least make her go behind a tree so no one would see her. She was afraid not only was his daughter going to grow up with the mouth and manners of a drunken sailor, but now she was on track to also grow up an exhibitionist.

Everything seemed to be going to hell lately, but that was still no reason for him to not teach Kimmy to be a little lady.

Kimmy crawled in the back seat and squeezed in next to the bundles of clothes, blankets and pillows.

Mike closed the door and glanced over at Kelly. “Last chance.” He smiled.

“Drive!” Kelly said. As she turned her head Mike thought he saw her smiling. He definitely heard her say under her breath. “Smart Ass!”

Mike turned the key and pressed the accelerator. The car pulled out on the road and moved silently.

Five minutes later they passed a sign. “Graham town limits. Incorporated 1904.”

They drove on. So far the town of Graham had a population of maybe three hundred colorful Oak and Hickory Nut trees.

The road bent to the right. As they followed the road, the town came into view. The entire town appeared to be about fifteen or twenty houses that lined each side of the road. A larger building was at the far end of town. Mike thought it might be a town hall or small fire department. The entire main street was only maybe a quarter mile long.

As the car approached the first house, Mike stopped the car. He reached over to the consul and pushed a button that had the letters “EV” on it. The car’s engine stopped.

Mike noticed Kelly looking over at him. “EV, electric mode. The car will run on battery power only. We need to be quiet.” Mike glanced at Kelly. “Look at the road!”

The road ahead glowed a dull dark red color. The color spread up on the sidewalks and over the grass. It was then Kelly noticed the bodies lying in front of the houses and in the grass.

Mike stared. “It looks like our zombie friends paid the town a visit before we got here.”

Most of the bodies looked like all the walkers they had seen on the interstate. They were gray and mangled. They were missing arms, eyes, feet, and many had large holes where skin should have been. Then there were a number of bodies that looked normal, except for the color of their skin and the large holes in their heads.

Mike pushed the accelerator pedal down slightly and the car moved down the road silently.

Mike and Kelly stared out at the houses and bodies that lined each side of the road.

The amount of blood and bodies increased as they drove through the little town and approached the large building Mike had seen at the far end of the town.

Mike pushed on slowly and quietly.

As he was getting closer to the large building, Mike and Kelly saw one of the double doors on the front of the building open.

A man in uniform, Dress Blues Mike thought, came out the door. He seemed to be carrying an elderly man. As the soldier stepped out, the door closed behind him. He carried the elderly man down the steps and set him down on what looked like a park bench on the sidewalk in front of the building.

The soldier sat down next to the man and put his arm around his shoulders and leaned towards him. The soldier looked like he was talking to the man. The elderly gentleman looked like he was trying to talk back, but it was clear he had been injured. His chest and legs were covered in blood.

Mike stopped the car. Driving on battery power, the car had approached unnoticed. “I’m going to go see if they need any help.”

Kelly reached out and grabbed Mike’s arm. “They could be like the people we ran into on the interstate!”

“I don’t think so. They look normal. I mean look at their skin. The soldier carrying the old man walked regular. He wasn’t staggering around or anything. I think the old guy is hurt. We have a first aid kit, maybe I can help.” Mike replied. “Just keep the door locked until I come back. If I think something is off, we’ll get the hell out of here.”

“OK, if you feel anything is wrong get back here right away.” Kelly said nervously.

Kimmy just sat quietly in the back. Her body shivering as she looked out the windows. She was afraid the gross looking people were going to get up and start attacking the car like they did to the RV.

Mike quietly got out of the car and closed the door. The only sound he made was the quiet click of the latch when he softly pushed the car door closed.

He started to walk towards the two men on the bench, watching the corners of the buildings as he moved.

He was now about ninety feet from the two men. He could hear the soldier speaking softly. He couldn’t make out the words, but the soldier sounded distressed. Mike heard the soldier begin to sob quietly.

The older man had stopped trying to answer. His head now leaned forward, his chin resting on his chest.

The soldier sat up and leaned back from the old man.

Mike could now see the old man more clearly. The old man began to turn a dark gray color.

Mike stopped and stared. The last time he saw something like that, the blond haired girl at the campground started to growl at him.

Suddenly the old man’s head snapped up and his eyes, his milky white eyes glared at the soldier.

The soldier quickly pulled a pistol from the holster at his side, pressed it into the man’s head and pulled the trigger.

The back of the man’s head exploded. Blood and brains splattered across the bench.

Mike froze in his tracks as the soldier quickly stood and took two steps in Mike’s direction, his back to the old man who now slumped over on the bench.

The soldier now noticed Mike.

Mike could see the tears running down the soldier’s face.

The soldier pushed the gun back into his holster.

Mike held up his hands.

The soldier continued to sob, but didn’t make any threatening moves towards Mike. He just seemed consumed by his grief.

Mike decided to speak. “What happened?” He asked softly.

The soldier walked closer to Mike, his back still to the man on the bench.

The soldier composed himself. “One of those dead bastards bit him.”

Mike stood silent as the soldier looked at him. “He was my Dad,”

Mike was shocked, he hadn’t expected that.

The soldier now walked over to Mike. “A few hours ago a large horde of the dead came through town. The town folk

fought back the best they could, but the dead soon overwhelmed them. I took my Mom and Dad and a few others to the town hall. Before we could get ourselves barricaded inside, one of those things bit him on the chest.”

The soldier looked up into the sky and took a deep breath trying to compose himself. Tears were still running down his face.

“We were up at Carter Caves when a large group came through there.” Mike said softly. “Where the hell did they come from? What are they?”

The soldier continued. “I was stationed in Lexington. We heard that a war was breaking out in Asia. Scuttlebutt said the Chinese were experimenting with some kind of weaponized virus and it got out of control. It wiped out their country in a matter of two or three days. Can you believe it, almost two billion people dead within a few days? The virus spread into Europe, Africa and the Middle East. They are all gone. Somehow it was carried into the U.S. It started in the cities. It was like people started going mad. When they bit someone, those that got bit died and came back as…..”

The soldier stopped and sobbed briefly.

“The cities fell within hours. My unit was ordered to hold Lexington. We unloaded our weapons into them, but they still kept coming. It wasn’t until we were almost out of ammo that we realized the only way to stop them was to shoot them in the head. You could blow off their arms and legs, but they would still keep coming until you killed the brain. Even after we figured that out, we couldn’t stop them. There were just too many of them. We started to get over run, then the guys in the unit started to get infected. When that happened, all hell broke out in the ranks.”

Mike could imagine the horrific sights that the soldier saw in his mind as he told Mike his story.

“It was useless. The few of us that were left broke ranks and ran for our lives. They just kept coming. They had no fear of death or injury. The ones without arms, legs, the ones with their guts hanging out just kept coming as if nothing had happened. There was nothing we could do to stop them.

The few of us that were left decided to get out and come help our families.  This is my home town. I came back to help my Mother and Dad. I tried to tell the people what had happened, that they needed to get out and get higher up in the mountains. But they all thought I was crazy, until a few hours ago. Now all that is left is my Mom and two older guys. They’re back in the town hall. I said I would bring Dad out and when he turned, I would do what had to be done.” The tears flowed down his face faster. “It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I couldn’t let him become one of those things.”