“It’s lucky that you guys brought so much gauze to a paint-ball match.” She said needing small-talk.
“That’s not luck, that’s Sanchez.” Jack laughed, “He always packs first aid in his gear.”
“Why’s that funny?” Veronica asked.
“Its not, I guess. It’s just what he does.” Jack said shaking his head. “In matches or camping, whenever someone got hurt, he’d spring into action and patch ‘em up. The man goes overboard on first-aid.”
“Nothing wrong with that. I am glad for it.” She said quietly.
“Yeah, he carries a lot of gear actually. I have to remind him to travel light in our matches but he never listens.”
Jack sensed her distraction and paused his wrapping to look at her.
“I’m just really scared,” she whispered.
“Me too,” he whispered back.
“What are we gonna do?” Veronica asked, her head shaking just a little.
“We’re in bad shape; you’re injured and we’re all exhausted.” Jack said while making another pass around her midsection.
“We need a safe place to sleep, ammunition, more guns” he continued. Veronica’s stomach tightened with apprehension. Jack noticed as he passed the gauze from one hand to the other, almost hugging her. The near intimacy felt as if he were letting his guard down. They were safe for the moment but things could change in an instant; he needed to keep that fact in mind. He suddenly had a feeling of dread; as if a rotting ghoul could leap from the brush and attack at any moment. Jack’s defensive instincts told him he was being careless by leaving his sword in the cab of the truck. Mason knew that nothing was behind him but still felt an unreasoning sensation of fear, the same fear that made him leave a light on at night as a child. He hurried to secure the ends of the bandages and free his hands.
“You’re not thinking about the plant?” She asked.
“Maybe; I don’t know. Whatever we decide we’re gonna need bullets.”
“What about Nikki’s parents?”
“Don’t know. We got three rounds left in one shotgun and there could be a whole town of those things down there,” He countered. She sat in silence, looking at Jack for a moment.
“Are you worried about your mom?” She asked.
The small flashlight was gentle, only enough to illuminate half of Veronica’s face. Her features appeared darker in the crimson monochrome. He could see the honesty in her gaze; the understanding and compassion in the pleasant contours of her face.
“Yeah. My stepdad’s pretty cool though. He takes good care of her. I’m figuring they’re okay.” He said.
She could hear the hesitation in his voice as he spoke.
“Would you want to come to Berkeley with us?” He asked.
“Berkeley?” she almost stuttered. The thought of a large city shook her agoraphobia. “You heard what the radio said about San Francisco; Berkeley is awfully close.”
“Give it some thought, our place is pretty secure. Tony and I have guns and maybe a couple thousand rounds each.”
Veronica frowned and shook her head. Even outside, just the thought of returning to a large city began to provoke her anxiety.
“And hundreds of thousands of dead cannibals.” She said.
Nikki Howe stood at the rocky edge of the curved mountain road. She leaned her knees against the scraped galvanized metal of a guardrail, grown rusty with years. Tony, finally catching up with the young lady, took a seat on the metal rail with his back to the town.
“You okay?” he asked, and instantly regretted speaking.
Nikki gave no acknowledgement.
“Sorry. Dumb question” he added as he watched her lift the binoculars to her eyes. They looked too large for her small face as she scanned the town from right to left. She settled on an area in the south-west and spoke.
“I can’t see my house from here.” Nikki almost pleaded.
Tony stood, turned, and looked over the town. It would be a nice view if the top floor of the tallest building in the vista wasn’t smoldering. Tall was an overstatement at only five stories but aside from the rooftop crucifix of a nearby church, it dominated the skyline.
“Where’s your place?” He asked.
Nikki pointed without looking away from the binoculars.
“Over there; Poet’s Corner.”
Tony followed her direction and saw a concentration of homes clustered among many trees. The neighborhood was close to the far end of the ammunition plant’s storage yard. The homes were too distant to differentiate one from another especially since the neighborhood seemed to have suffered a power outage. A car with only one headlight emerged from the neighborhood at high speed. It swerved around a corner, recovered and headed north.
“There goes Jakob Dylan,” Tony said.
“Who?” Nikki asked impatiently.
“Bad joke,” he apologized without elaboration, “Looks like people are getting out of there.” She mumbled an acknowledgement.
“What would I do if I was surrounded by those things?” She asked.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, without a gun.”
Tony took a deep breath before responding. He considered for a moment what Mason might advise, then reconsidered because Jack’s first instinct was always to fight. Jack would prioritize his foes, hit the weakest or smallest first and send it into the largest, clearing a way, or depending on how mad he was, just bring maximum violence as fast as he could. One never could tell what Mason was going to do. Tony wanted a different strategy for Nikki; something safer.
“Well, don’t get surrounded to begin with; evade and escape. Always get the hell away. Keep your back to a wall where you can limit your opponent’s attack, but also don’t get boxed in without a way out. Climb over stuff like fences or throw crap behind you to trip them up. Keep your wits about you and stay light on your feet. They’re not faster than us, but I’m a little worried that they don’t seem to get tired.”
“No, if anything they seemed to get more energy when they were coming at the shack.” Nikki said.
“Yeah, seeing us does seem to pep them up some” Tony agreed. A silence fell between them as they both considered the new realities of their lives. Nikki felt the empty pistol in her pocket. Her entire body felt weak. She took a breath and resumed looking through the binoculars and spoke again.
“How hard do you have to hit them, to… you know?”
“Actually they seem to take a blow to the head harder than a living person does. Maybe because they’re dead; their brains might be mushy or something. I don’t know. I stomped one pretty good yesterday. I don’t think a living person would have gone down that easy. Their bodies can take a lot more punishment then the living, but you’ve seen that already.” Tony said. She made no acknowledgement and continued looking out towards her home. Tony bumped her slightly with his shoulder.
“What’s with the questions?”
“I have to get home.” Nikki said lowering the binoculars and turning her head to look directly at Tony, “I’ll go alone if I have to.”
“No, we’ll come with you,” Tony said lifting his hand across her back and resting it on her shoulder. “At least I will. There’s no way I’m gonna let you go alone.” he finished.
“Sanchez,” Mason’s voice gruffed from a distance
Tony gently squeezed her shoulder then tuned to join Jack leaving Nikki alone on the ledge, peering into the distance. Her parents were somewhere out there, somewhere too far for her to see. They must be insane with worry. As far as they knew, Nikki was supposed to be back from the lake last night. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d stayed out without prior notice. Even at twenty-one, her parents wanted to know her business as if she were still a minor. Things weren’t always great at home. Her father, who was kind and loving when she was a child, seemed oppressive in her teen years. He was quick to anger when she would get in trouble. He would hold a grudge, sometimes not talking to her for days. He never said as much but Nikki knew that he was disappointed in her lack of direction. Nikki showed no interest to continue the family tradition and become a teacher like both of her parents. She supposed that he was even more disappointed in her interest in leaving the area for college. Nikki didn’t know what she wanted to do, she just knew that she didn’t want to teach and she sure as hell didn’t want to stay in Whisper. She had spent so many years wanting to get out from under her parent’s roof and their rules. But now as she saw the blacked-out area that was her neighborhood, Nikki felt a terrible longing for home.
Mason stood about twenty yards away from the guardrail shining a path on the dirt with the red flashlight for his friend to follow. Tony recognized a look of tired resolve in his friend’s posture. As he neared, the stark image of Jack’s grimace shadowed in dull red was disconcerting.
“She okay?” Jack asked nodding towards Nikki.
“She wants to get her parents.”
“Then what?” Mason asked.
“Don’t know.” Tony said, “Maybe hole up with them until morning. Find out more of what’s going on.”
“I’d feel a lot better if we could get some ammo first. What’s that plant look like…?”
Gunfire crackled in the distance like popcorn dropped in hot oil. Rapid pops and blasts echoed from the ammunition plant. Jack’s ears told him that the weapons fire was coming from a number of different weapons. Tires squealed and more shots fired. He dashed parallel to Nikki and reached for her binoculars. She fumbled with the strap and hurried to give him the glasses.
Mason mentally cursed while scanning the perimeter of the Ammunition plant. He saw sporadic bursts of weapon’s fire about the compound but was too far away to discern anything more. Bright flashes lit up an alley between two buildings accompanied by the slightly delayed sound of small arms. Three dull-black vehicles shot past his field of view.
“Is that a firefight or just one group panicking?” Mason wondered underneath the binoculars.
A booming report split the night and echoed through the valley. The thunderous weapon barked again with a supersonic crack.
“That’s a big rifle,” Tony whispered in awe.
Mason’s hope for more ammunition disappeared with the realization that either the dead were inside the perimeter of the plant or a number of well armed men were; possibly both. Lowering the binoculars he looked at Nikki. She was staring off towards a cluster of homes with a pained expression.
“Nikki, does your Pop own a gun?” He asked.
“No, Mom doesn’t like ‘em.”
“Figures.” Jack sighed then continued to her.
“Look for a pen and something to write on in the glove compartment. Draw us a map of your neighborhood, as best you can.” Mason said as he handed the young blond Tony’s flashlight. She turned and double-timed back to the truck. Tony moved to follow but was stopped by Mason’s hand on his shoulder.
“Hold on man.”
“What’s up?” Tony asked worried by the weight of his friend’s tone. Mason waited until Nikki was well away.
“What if her parents are dead?” Jack asked while looking down and scratching his head.
The thought hadn’t occurred to Tony. He shuttered at the grim possibility.
“Shit,” Tony said slowly, “I’ll stay with her until we find out.”
Jack hesitated then looked up.
“You might have to put ‘em down.”
Tony recognized the doubt in his voice.
“Yeah…” he reasoned unable to finish.
Tony’s attention fell on the light in the truck cab as Nikki jumped in the cab. He saw her pretty blond hair fall over her face as she began searching the glove box. The thought of her parents joining the ranks of the rotting army gave Tony a hopeless feeling. He resolved that he would stick by her. If her parents had become mindless monsters, he would protect Nikki and put them out of their misery. The three shells he had should be enough for the task. He would act quickly and end it as painlessly as possible, if painless still applied to the undead. He frowned as he wondered if she would forgive him if it came to such a thing. He just hoped that she would understand. While watching Nikki speak with Veronica, Tony thought about a practical question of space.
“If they’re okay, where are we gonna put ‘em?” he asked.
“Damn,” Jack whispered, “help me get my bike down; we’ll hide it in the trees.”
“You sure?” Tony asked knowing how much the Kawasaki meant to him.
“Don’t have a choice really. We need the room and it’s too damn loud to ride into town.”
They moved back to the rear of the truck as a trickle of gunshots sounded once again in the town.
“We need a solid plan, and a contingency.” Jack said.
Inside the truck Nikki rifled through the contents of the glove box. She quickly found a pen and was now sorting through paper items in search of something with enough blank space to draw on. She found two white envelopes and her flurry of movement quickly faded. Veronica saw her turn ghastly white.
“What is it?” Veronica asked.
“These are their prize checks for the match.” Nikki said quietly, “Andy had me bring these to the boys at their camp.” She looked at Veronica sadly.