Almost immediately gray hands shoved in toward them.
The Senator began screaming as Charlie opened fire, precious ammunition splattering the brains of those creatures trying to reach them. Then Charlie and the Senator were through the door and Raleigh, despite his terrible fear, followed.
Blinking in the harsh sunlight, Raleigh tried to rid his eyes of the temporary blindness that instantly fell on him. Stumbling over the dead bodies near the door, he started to follow Charlie and the Senator. They had been holed up in the theater for days. He felt dizzy and knew that all the sugar in the movie theater candy he had consumed was affecting him. He had to keep moving. It was almost comical how he reached into his pocket, pulled out a bag of M & M’s and poured most of them into his mouth.
Ruben grabbed him from behind and shoved him down the alleyway. The moans of the undead echoed all around them. Ahead of them, the Senator was cussing at Charlie, telling him not to be so rough. Charlie, to Raleigh’s great satisfaction, was not listening.
The four of them, the last survivors of the second truck from the mall, stumbled into the street of the small town, and stood on unsteady legs, uncertain of what to do next. Their previous truck had broken down in this small town and they had to run for it when they were besieged by a mob of the undead. The theater had been their shelter until the front doors had given away.
A few vehicles stood in the street, empty of life. Some had flat tires now. The sun would soon bleach them of color and the elements would begin to slowly corrode them. Nearby, a gas station stood silent. In the shade next to it was a brand new truck. The paper license plate was long faded, but it had been new when all of this had began.
“Go,” Ruben ordered. The four of them hurried down the street, the soldiers holding onto the arms of the civilians. The undead were at least a block away, slowly moving toward them. They had a little time. Thankfully, the zombies were very slow now. But if the humans did not move swiftly and intelligently, that slow moving mob would find them and then…
Raleigh felt sick and wanted to throw up, but he kept chewing the chocolate in his mouth. For the billionth time he cursed himself for staying with the Senator. He should have gone to the fort. He should have taken a knock to his fucking pride and joined the rednecks of the area in making a new life. Instead, he was on the run with the Senator, barely keeping alive.
“Keep moving,” Ruben ordered as zombies appeared far down the street. “Just keep moving.”
Raleigh had been stupid and he knew it. He had been so flattered by the Senator’s pursuit of his skills as a campaign manager he had disregarded so much about her. Of course, her brother-in-law’s money had boosted his confidence that he could shape her into a real political threat. It hadn’t been easy. She was a bigot, an elitist and tended to not think before she spoke. She was a person of grandiose ideas with very little concept of how to execute them. People not in her own social circle tended to be disregarded. But he had worked damn hard on her. His whole team had managed to get her elected despite her stupid comment that she liked “brown people” when she was trying to impress the Hispanic vote.
What annoyed him the most was that he had known the Central idea was bullshit. He had sat in on her conversations. He had listened to everything said on the other side, but it was clear she never really understood what was truly happening. She had colored every conversation with her own point of view. She had been so intent on getting to Central, she didn’t seem to understand that Central was barely existing. That is why they had been so desperate to establish supply lines to other survivor enclaves.
Why the hell had he gone with her?
It had been his desire to somehow make it to a better place than that damn mall. He should have realized that was the fort.
Looking around, he knew how terrible a mistake he had made. The dead were coming.
Charlie moved swiftly to the truck and checked the doors. One was unlocked and he opened it swiftly. There was no key inside. Shoving the Senator in, he said, “If we’re lucky, the guy is inside the store.”
Ruben motioned to Raleigh to get into the truck and he willingly obeyed. Then the two soldiers disappeared around the corner.
“How did we get stuck with complete morons?” the Senator huffed. Her usual bouffant hair was flat and her face was clean of makeup. She began to search the truck, feeling under the seats, looking desperately for a key.
Raleigh joined her, uncertain of where to look, but scrounging around anyway. He could hear the moans getting louder. “They’re coming,” he whispered.
“I know, moron,” she snapped. Raleigh opened up the armrest and was startled to see the car keys. He pulled them out and looked at the Senator in shock.
“At least you can do something right.” She grabbed them from him and turned on the truck. With the ease of any rich soccer mom, she pulled the truck around to the front of the gas station and honked.
The two startled soldiers rushed out. They had been inside systematically killing the four zombies inside then looking through their pockets for keys. “Get in,” she ordered, sliding into the center of the seat.
Charlie slid in behind the wheel while Ruben moved around to the other side of the truck. Already the fit was tight and Raleigh tried to make himself as small as possible.
“Get out and let him in first,” the Senator ordered.
Raleigh hesitated, then obeyed. His eyes flicked to the horde coming closer and closer. Ruben slid in and pushed himself up tight to the Senator. Raleigh began to climb in when he saw the Senator smile then slam her foot down on Charlie’s as she shifted gears. The truck lurched forward, knocking Raleigh to the side.
He never realized how close the undead were until he saw one reaching down for him. He really should have gone with the others from the fort. He really should have…
*
Inside the truck, Ruben shouted, “What the fuck?”
“We needed a distraction,” the Senator answered, leaning across Ruben’s lap to shut the door. Shakily, Charlie continued driving, trying not to look at his mirrors.
“You are one cold-hearted bitch,” Ruben declared angrily.
“I could have driven off with him and left you,” the Senator answered coolly. “Remember that.” Behind them, the zombies feasted. Ruben averted his eyes from the mirrors and looked down at the M & M wrapper on the floor. He wondered if Raleigh tasted like chocolate.
2. When All is New
Everything had changed. Nothing was the same.