Authors: Christopher Cox
I followed her, with my eyes alone, through the breaks in the boards, old and new, unable to look away in hopes that she would escape. I gasped as she fell, hard on the ground, instinctively breaking her fall while protecting Jacob. The gesture was tragically ironic, since he was going to die anyways, but her maternal instinct was firmly in charge. Before they were upon her, she scrambled to her feet, appearing frantic to put as much distance between the creatures and the house as possible.
True to her word, she ran out of strength. Limping badly and unable to go any further, she bolted directly for an open house. They followed her, pouring inside before she could close the door. “I love you,” I whispered, wiping my eyes.
I turned to Madi, who I realized was watching as well. “Let’s go,” I said, forcing her to turn away. She followed blankly, unable to process what was happening. Perhaps by the present tragic standards, she had reached adulthood in her own way- it only meant to me that I knew that she could feel the depths of the heart wrenching pain that I felt. As I flung the back door open, ready to escape into the shadows of the tree-line, a pained, violent scream burst from behind us. Aimee. It rose, and then suddenly fell silent.
I recalled what the woman had said. I hated when they stopped screaming, too.
On nearly any other night, the cool night air would have been refreshing. Tonight, however, it was just a cruel reminder that we were still able to feel- we could feel pain as easily as we could the night air.
Madi clung to my tear-soaked neck with a choking grip as she rode my back on our mad dash to the relative safety of the tree line. It wasn’t long before my lungs screamed for air as we raced and weaved through the thinning crowd, desperate to achieve distance before the horde stopped… feeding.
I forced the thought from my mind, trying to concentrate of our escape. Ignoring the pressure against my neck, and the fear tugging at my thoughts, I simply ran as fast as I could. Reaching the corpse wall, I paused for only a moment, my eyes straining in the night for any sign of movement- What had happened to Aimee terrified me, and I didn’t want the same for Madi and me. This, itself, was a disconcerting process, as looking carefully would reveal an occasional slow blink, mechanical flexing of a jaw, or the tracking eyes of a creature grazed and damaged; wounded, perhaps, but not quite dead. I didn’t understand their physiology; how they lived and how they died; that uncertainly was what birthed such horror that marked this era.
“Keep moving, please!” Madi hissed in my ear, her voice filled with both terror and heartbreak.
Carefully, I began to climb while watching for any movement. When I reaching the top, I skidding over to the other side, nearly falling but somehow keeping my balance. Some of the creatures, those that weren’t close enough when they would have heard the gunshots and screams and arrived late, turned their attention to us; their moans were already starting to rise in the otherwise quiet nigh- this sound, in turn, drew others, who began to pull towards us.
A quick glance confirmed that we were completely surrounded. Staying still was certain death; with no other choice, and unwilling to see Aimee and Jacob’s deaths made meaningless, I continued to run, not knowing exactly where I was going. Across the grassy field, I sprinted towards the dense tree line, knowing that unknown still terrors lurked inside.
In too short a time I reached the trees, with ghouls limping frantically towards us in a tightening noose. With a steeling breath, I plunged into the dark forest as my eyes struggled to adjust to the meager nighttime lights seeping through the thick canopy. The uneven ground and dense underbrush was a natural obstacle for undead feet, but it also worked to our disadvantage as we crashed noisily into the foliage. I ran headlong, with Madi breathing heavily into my ear, dodging trees and brush as we navigated through the unfamiliar woods.
The approaching sounds of moans and the random crash of flattened brush or broken branches were piercing in the dark as I pushed on through the exhaustion. It wasn’t possible to pinpoint the sounds, so we ran in any direction but towards the random, lunging shadows that we could see. I moved like a man possessed, desperate to break out of the closing snare, dodging gnarled hands and gnashing teeth by close inches.
I expected that it would be about a half mile before the mob began to thin, if I were to guess, and about a full mile after that before we felt safe enough to slow down, while still moving cautiously. The canopy had thinned and my eyes adjusted to the darkness as best they could, revealing the serine stillness of a forest at night. The serenity was spoiled, however, by the knowledge that an overwhelming wave of the undead was relentlessly and unthinkingly following our path.
With aching legs and burning lungs, I shifted direction towards what I believed to be north to avoid the straight line that I expected the horde to follow. I hoped they would, at least, because we would tire long before they rotted. Neither of us spoke for some time, desperate to distance ourselves from their advance, as we trudged on determinedly.
Crossing over a rise, I saw a silent outline reflected in the moonlight resting still on the ground. It was a small plane, battered and torn, with chunks of metal scattered over the surrounding area. Visually, I followed its apparent path of scarred trees and crushed undergrowth and reasoned that, for some reason, the pilot had attempted an emergency landing.
I lowered Madi to the ground, following her to eye level. “Stay here, I’ll be right back”. She held on to me, shaking her head violently. “Madi, we’re okay, we’re safe. I’m going right over there,” I pointed towards the plane, “to see if there’s a place to sleep or anything else we need. Okay?”
Gradually, she relaxed her grip and said softly, “okay”.
I kissed her forehead. “I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” she returned.
She watched with expectant eyes as I descended towards the plane, her head darting in a panic towards every animal noise or sudden gust of wind. I crept slowly towards the craft, the revolver and its lone bullet tight in my white-knuckled grip. Any hope for stealth was betrayed by the crunch of twigs and dried leaves under my steps as I cautiously approached, my eyes straining to make out any movement.
I hadn’t realized at first that I had held my breath as I approached; I let it out in a quick and quiet exhale as I ducked under the twisted wing. The landing gear had been destroyed, causing the fuselage lay low to the ground, allowing me to see clearly inside through the shattered cockpit window. Outside of the cockpit lay several still bodies, one propped heavily against the door. The pilot was still strapped and unmoving to the seat, with his thick jacket shredded and the silhouette of his head limp and disfigured. The smell of stale death hung heavy in the air.
Reaching forward with my body tensed to run, I tapped the body with the revolver. It didn’t move. I tapped again, harder. Nothing. I moved to the window- I still hated them and kept a respectful distance out of habit- and flicked on my flashlight, illuminating the cockpit with the fading beam. The still scene alone told a horrifying story; the shattered instruments were caked with dried blood and the windows were smashed in. The man had died horribly, as could be seen by the strips of flesh missing from his face and body and several fingers missing from his left hand. I was ashamed of my perverse delight when I saw that his right hand clutched a black pistol in a tight mortis grip. It made sense, then, why he hadn’t turned into one of the creatures; what I thought at first were gnaw marks in his skullcap was, in reality, a massive, empty exit wound. The blast had painted the cockpit ceiling with his brain matter and caused his hat to land, in an unlikely chance, neatly on the headrest.
I turned towards Madi and waved her to me, watching her thin form trot gracefully down the hill. Coming to me, she grasped my hand as I kneeled next to her. “Madi,” I started, “the passenger section’s fine, and we can sleep here tonight. But there’s a body in the front, and I’m going to take it out first. While I’m doing that, I want you to clean out the back so we have room, okay?” The passenger section was relatively clean, but I wanted to keep her occupied and distracted while I handled the body.
She locked my eyes, solemnly. “Are they dead dead?” She asked, gesturing towards the carnage; a wise question in these days- there was a big difference between dead and gone. It spoke volumes of our species, how quickly we could adjust to such a thing, and it would become a part of a normal conversation. I just didn’t know quite what it said.
“Yes, now get,” I replied, as I pushed the closest creature to the ground and opened the thin cockpit door. I jumped as the bulk of the pilot shifted towards the opening, but the harness held across his shoulder. Taking a deep breath to quell the rising nausea, I unfastened the belt, steadying his bulk as I prepared to lift him out. Almost as an afterthought, I reached over the body and began prying the rigid fingers from the weapon, hoping the man had left me a few rounds.
As I pulled the weapon free, my mind locked and my adrenaline fired as I felt the man’s teeth pressed into the soft skin of my neck. Before I could react, or even understand, his entire bulk was pressed upon me and forcing me to the ground. “Shit!” I yelled, as I collapsed under the weight, desperately pushing his head from me as I fell.
“Daddy!” Screamed Madi, although I couldn’t see from where.
I didn’t answer as I struggled, trying to free myself. The world froze as countless thoughts rushed through my mind in a disorganized mass.
She’ll be alone,
the thoughts said.
She’ll watch you die. She doesn’t know how to find food or defend herself; she’ll die alone just like this guy.
I stopped struggling when I felt that the pilot wasn’t moving.
“I’m okay,” I replied, finally, “He just fell. I’m okay.” I reassured her as much as myself as I pushed the body off of me and came to my feet, checking myself for broken skin; it was intact. “Just wait inside, I’ll move these.” I glanced towards the bodies at my feet.
Without a word, Madi climbed into the most rear seat and hugged her legs to her chest. I realized fully then that I had no idea how her fragile mind was holding up. I could only hope that she wouldn’t break. I wondered, too, how my own was holding up as I took a moment to recover my breath and wait for my heart rate to slow. The adrenaline began to dissipate, leaving my body feeling heavy and awkward.
I forced myself to concentrate, starting with checking the pilot’s gun- five rounds plus one in the chamber. I then knelt to the bodies and began searching pockets. Nothing unusual or valuable was found among the creatures. I found car keys, wallets, a cell phone, an asthma inhaler- things that at one time meant something to their owners. The pilot’s pockets were similarly useless- I didn’t find an extra pistol clip, like I had hoped, but the clean and wrapped candy bar was a rare treat that I tucked into my own pocket.
With serious effort, I dragged the bodies, one at a time, away from the plane and just out of sight, dumping the corpses unceremoniously in a nightmarish pile in a natural depression of the ground. I returned to the plane and climbed into the rear, shutting the door behind me. I sat in one of the seats, pulling Madi into my lap.
We didn’t speak at first; instead, Madi buried her face in my dirty shirt and began to sob inconsolably. Seeing her raw emotions brought my own from where I had hidden them, and I lost my composure as well. I held my crying daughter tightly as I cried, my tears falling in her dirty hair. “Daddy,” she said finally. “I miss Mommy and Jake.”
“Me, too, baby. I miss them, too.”
“Why did she do it?” She asked.
Deep down, I wondered the same, and wasn’t sure how to answer. Did she panic and was trying to escape, bringing her baby with her in some ill-advised maternal instinct? Did she realize that she and Jacob wouldn’t have survived in any case, and would have only slowed down Madi and me? Perhaps thinking that her sacrifice was the only way to save any of us? Was it intentionally suicide, her being unable to see her son turn into one of the hellish creatures that had bitten him? I didn’t know, but the unanswerable question would haunt me forever.
“To save us, honey- to give us a chance to escape. She saved our lives” I didn’t know if it was true or not, or if pretending to know was the right lie to choose, but it seemed to be the one that hurt both of us the least.
As we were no longer being chased, no longer running, we were allowed to cry. Madi resumed her tears, compelling mine to return, as we hugged and sobbed. We cried for Aimee and the lost baby. We cried for Jacob. We cried for ourselves. We cried for the world. The tears were healing, as we faced our new life and our uncertain future.
Gradually, our sobs became sniffles, and our sniffles became silence.
“I found something for you,” I said, breaking the quiet. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the candy bar, handing it to her with a sense of ceremony. It had, actually, been some time since she had been able to enjoy candy, with junk food being surprisingly rare in the areas we had searched. Her eyes grew wide and she grabbed the bar gratefully.
“Thanks!” she perked up a little; as much as could be expected, at least, given the circumstances. Again, small pleasures. She tore the wrapper greedily, and then paused for a moment. With scientific precision, she tore the bar neatly in half, and handed a portion to me. Touched at the gesture, I took it gingerly.
“Thank you, Madi,” emotion and pride welling in my throat.
She answered a muffled, “Welcome,” around a bite. I smiled and took a bite of my own. We ate the rest in small pieces, savoring the flavor of the rare treat.
Madi rested her small head against my chest. “Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you… could you sing me the song that Mom used to sing to me when I was younger?” ‘Younger’, in this case was as recent as the night before the Flu hit. I remembered that night clearly- she had a nightmare, and Aimee had given her back to sleep as only a mother could.
“Of course, honey.” I cleared my throat and began to sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star’. She sang along softly as I stroked her hair; the comfort that the memory brought was bittersweet for both of us, and soon she drifted into sleep.
I fell asleep soon after, resting peacefully until I woke with a start knowing that something was wrong. With a slow horror, I saw a grotesque mask of a face biting hungrily at the window. In a flash, with a blink, it was gone. A dream. A horrible, terrible dream.
I drifted fitfully back to sleep, clutching my daughter in my arms, like a child with a beloved stuffed animal. When I opened my eyes, decaying greedy hands were already pulling at Madi, drawing her into the shadows. I woke with a gasp. Another nightmare. The sky was still dark, and I doubted that much time had passed.