“I think I’m going to go for a walk over to the homestead,” Kelly said. Julie smiled at her.
“Are you getting bored?” she asked. Kelly grinned.
“Yeah, I think I’ll go check on the puppies. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Okay,” Julie said and looked at her watch. “Stop at the smoke house and bring back a ham. We’ll cook some up for dinner, and if you see Zach, tell him to get his butt back here. He should have been finished helping Felix over an hour ago.” Kelly nodded with a knowing smile. Julie knew how much Zach liked ham. It was good to see the two of them getting along again.
Kelly walked along the path to the homestead and made her way to the barn.
“Number Four?” she called out as she entered the barn. “Are you here?” She looked over in the corner. Sure enough, Number Four was lying on her side nursing her puppies.
“There you are,” Kelly said in baby talk. She walked over and pulled some chunks of ground beef out of her knapsack. Number Four sat up and snatched a chunk out of her hand.
“You’re going to spoil her rotten,” Konya said. Kelly looked up to see him standing in the doorway. She smiled.
“She’s a mom, she needs her nutrition,” she replied and handed Number Four another piece of raw beef. Number Four swallowed it in one gulp. “See?”
Konya chortled. “She’s got you fooled.” He walked over and squatted down beside them. “Well, let’s check these puppies and see how they’re doing.” He picked each one up, there were four of them, and inspected them thoroughly before putting them back against Number Four’s belly.
“Any problems?” Kelly asked. Konya grinned at her.
“They’re all looking good. If we’re lucky, we won’t lose any of them.” He looked over at Kelly. “Which one do you have your eye on?” Kelly smiled and picked up a multi-color puppy with one blue eye. Konya grunted.
“I’m betting you already have a name for him.”
“Of course I do,” Kelly replied while she cuddled him. “His name is Blue.” Konya grunted again and walked out. Kelly sat with the dogs for almost an hour before reluctantly getting up.
“I have to be getting back, girl. I’ll be back tomorrow,” Kelly said and petted Number Four before starting to walk away. She made it to the door of the barn when she heard distant gunfire. She instinctively dropped to a crouch and scanned the area. She didn’t see any zombies, which she assumed was the reason for the gunfire.
Konya exited the house, armed with a rifle. The gunfire increased in intensity and it was then she realized it was coming from the direction of their house, and it was automatic weapons fire. They didn’t have any automatic weapons, she thought in confusion. She looked questioningly at Konya, who was scanning the area. He motioned her back into the barn before suddenly grunting and falling back. A second later, she heard the gunshot and quickly realized Konya had been shot by a sniper. She backed into the barn, bumping up against the door frame. She slipped and fell, scraping up against an exposed nail in the barn siding. She gasped in pain as she hurried toward the back of the barn. Looking down, she saw a tear in her pants leg and a growing blood stain soaking her pants leg. Instantly regretting not having a firearm, Kelly knew she was defenseless. Looking around, she made a split decision, ran to the back of the barn, and hid herself behind a stack or spare rain barrels.
It seemed like forever, but Kelly was too afraid to come out. She knew at any time someone would come, shout out the password, and everything would be okay. There had been a long pause in gunfire, perhaps an hour or so, and the she heard a couple of vehicles approaching. The vehicles were left running as she heard the doors open and the sounds of boots hitting the ground. The people were talking to each other in loud, angry voices. She did not recognize any of them. A gunshot from inside the homestead rang out suddenly, followed by a staccato of gunfire.
“Son of a bitch!” one of them yelled angrily. “Stewie is down. Lewis, Stevens, cover us, we’re going in.”
Kelly sat in anxious silence and listened as two additional gunshots rang out. She heard more obscenities, but the voices were muffled. Perhaps they were in the house, she thought.
“What’s going on, Sarge!” one of them yelled out.
“A damn dog bit me!” was the response. “Check the barn!”
Kelly’s stomach knotted up and she began silently praying. She heard them as they walked into the barn. Number Four began growling. More gunshots rang out and Number Four whimpered in pain. She felt hot tears running down her cheeks but she dared not move. Two more shots rang out and Number Four fell silent.
The soldiers, there were two of them, were verbally patting each other on the back while they walked around the barn. She heard the sergeant shout out.
“What’s going on in the barn?”
“All clear in here, Sarge, just a mangy dog and her puppies.”
Kelly stifled a gasp. She was frightened, very frightened. She could see daylight through gaps in the barrels and was deathly afraid of being spotted. She caught a brief glimpse of the men and saw familiar looking uniforms. They were dressed like the Marines they had met a couple of weeks ago. She held her breath as the soldiers stood within a couple of feet from her, and she listened as they made some crass remarks about killing her friends.
Eventually, they moved toward the door and stopped immediately outside when someone called them on the radio. She continued listening, and although she couldn’t hear the entire conversation, she heard enough.
“Corporal Stewart is down,” she heard the disembodied voice say. “There was someone inside the home, but we got him. A dog bit me, but there are no other hostiles at this location.”
She wondered who he was talking to and got her answer a moment later.
“Aye, sir.” The voice said. “Alright, listen up, the Colonel ordered us to rally up back at the main objective. Lewis, Stevens, load up Stewie. We’re going to carry him back with us.”
Kelly instinctively knew who the Colonel was on the other end of the radio. The question was, why were they killing everyone? The realization of what was happening was sinking in, and it was causing her to shake even more than she had been.
She remained hidden and listened. Her leg hurt like crazy, but she didn’t dare try any first aid, lest she made too much noise. Eventually, she heard the vehicles start up and drive away. Waiting ten more minutes, she carefully emerged from behind the barrels and peeked around. Number Four and her puppies were dead. Wiping away the tears, she carefully peered out between the cracks of the old barn siding. She was suddenly startled by someone croaking out her name.
“Kelly,” Terry said in a barely audible voice. He was standing a couple of feet away from the barn door, swaying unsteadily. Kelly gasped and tried to run to him, but her leg hurt too badly. She limped as fast as she could and grabbed him in a hug. He moaned in pain and nearly fell down. She looked at him and realized his chest was covered in blood.
“Oh, my God, what happened?” she asked in a whisper. Terry coughed in response. She looked around worriedly, put his arm around her and half dragged, half carried him into the barn. Terry leaned against a wall and slid down into a sitting position. His breathing was ragged and a bloody froth was coming out of his mouth.
“We were ambushed by Felix and his friends,” he painfully forced the words out. “They’re in cahoots with the Marines.” When he said the words, he doubled over and had a coughing attack. Kelly straightened him and ripped open his shirt. She saw a hole in his chest the size of her little finger and gasped again.
“You’ve been shot,” she exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Terry replied. It was obvious he was in a lot of pain but he managed a chuckle. “They missed my heart though. Otherwise, I’d already be dead.”
Kelly looked around frantically and found a box of scrap rags sitting on the work bench. She grabbed a bunch of them, separated the cleanest looking rags from the rest and started working on Terry. He grabbed her hand and made eye contact.
“It won’t be long, sweetheart, I’ve lost too much blood already.”
“We’ve got to do something,” Kelly said frantically. Terry shook his head.
“Too late for me,” he said in short breaths, “save yourself.” He clenched her hand tightly. “They’re dead. All of them, I think. The Colonel, I saw him. You’ve got to get away.”
“Where should I go, the school?” Terry shook his head.
“Don’t trust them.” His breathing was worse now and it seemed like it was a heavy effort for him. He coughed again, which sent shudders of pain through him. “If the Colonel found our house, he knows about the school. Stay away from them.”
“What do I do?” Kelly asked plaintively.
“Hide,” Terry said forcefully. “Hide until dark and then get to the semi. It’s got supplies in it and is ready to go.”
“Go where?” she asked.
“Fort Campbell,” Terry replied between breaths. “There’re good people there. Or, go anywhere, but get the hell out of here.”
“Terry, where’s Zach?” she asked. Terry’s eyes were half closed and his breathing was now in halfhearted, raspy gasps.
“Don’t know.”
Kelly wanted to ask more questions, but she felt Terry’s hand go limp and realized he had died.
Kelly was overwhelmed with emotion and it was everything she could do to stop herself from wailing with grief. After a few minutes, she pulled herself together, wiped the tears away and thought about what she needed to do. She started with searching Terry. He and Zach always carried all kinds of gizmos with them, but the only thing he had left on him was a wristwatch. She took it off with shaking hands and stuffed it in her pocket.
There were plenty of rags in the barn, but all of them were dirty. Finding a couple of saddle blankets, she wiggled herself back between the barrels and the barn wall and used them to cover herself. It wasn’t very comfortable, and if anyone bothered to search back there, she’d undoubtedly be found, but it was the only place she could think of to hide. She held one of the dirty rags against the cut on her leg and remained deathly still, only checking Terry’s watch occasionally.
When the digital display read twenty-three hundred hours, she worked her way out and cautiously stepped over to the door. She could see the outline of Terry in the dark, or at least she thought she could. She suddenly worried that he might have turned into a zombie. After all, he hadn’t been shot in the head. She stayed as far away from him as she could and tiptoed to the door.
Peeking out, she neither saw nor heard anything out of the ordinary. She was tired, thirsty, and her leg ached, but she knew she had to make her way to the Volvo big rig without being seen. It would have been nice if it was parked immediately outside, but she wasn’t so lucky. It was parked at the main house beside the new barn.
Kelly told herself to be strong, took a deep breath, and started limping toward her objective.
It seemed to take forever, and several times she was afraid she had wandered off in the wrong direction in the darkness, but eventually she saw a fire in the general direction of the house. She walked carefully. Being unarmed, out in the dark of the night with the possibility of zombies or marines nearby, it was almost too much for her. She fought the urge to return to the security of the old barn and kept walking.
There was a key fob hidden under the steps on the driver’s side of the truck, everyone in the group knew about it. She only hoped it was still there. She heard voices as she got close and realized there were people sitting around the bonfire behind the house. Kelly froze and slowly crouched. She didn’t have a clear view of all of them, but she could see Felix. He was passing around a bong and laughing at some unknown joke.
She couldn’t believe it, yet, there he was before her very eyes. Zach’s best friend had indeed betrayed them. She wondered where Zach was and could only assume he was dead as well.
The fob was still there. The locking mechanism seemed ungodly loud when she pushed the unlock button. She involuntarily jerked and crouched down quickly, shooting a jolt of pain up her leg, but she remained quiet. She waited beside the truck, ready to run at the first sign of anyone approaching, until she realized she wasn’t going to be able to out run anyone. She climbed the steps and opened the door as quietly as she could.
It was hard for her to get inside as her leg was really hurting now, but she managed to do it and closed the door gently. Now what, she thought.
Her stomach was groaning with hunger pangs and her mouth was dry, but she didn’t remember where the food and water were stored and she didn’t dare risk turning on the interior dome light. She knew she had a decision to make.
“Alright, I hope this works,” she muttered to herself. She turned the ignition on, waited for the indicator light, and then pushed the starter button. The Volvo fired up immediately. It was loud, too loud. She quickly disengaged the brake, put it in gear, and took off.
It wasn’t until she was about a quarter of a mile down the road when she saw headlights in her side view mirror. They closed the distance fast and she watched as someone leaned out of the passenger side and started firing. She tried desperately to increase her speed as bullets started striking the exterior of the cab, but it was futile trying to out run a passenger car.