They Walk

Chapter Thirty Five

Finally making it to Washington Street, the business’s drift off and we’re left with nothing but trees and grassy fields on either side of us. The dead dwindle down to nothing and we’re left alone for the next two miles. There aren’t even any cars or bodies anywhere now, and it should make me feel better, but it doesn’t. If anything, it makes me and possibly the others, very afraid of what is coming.

“You’re sure there will still be weapons at the armory right?” Gabe asks, and I almost jump out of the seat as his voice breaks the silence.

I glance at him, and he has his handgun in his lap. He keeps checking to make sure the safety is on, and it gives me a sense of familiarity. I lightly touch his arm, and he stills his movements and tries to give me a smile. It doesn’t quit reach his eyes though, and I can’t help wishing again that everything was normal.

“If anything there will be reserves with plenty of ammo, so I’m almost positive.” Noah replies, not even glancing from the road.

“We’re going all the way out here, and there might not even be weapons, how is that reasonable?” Claire says, and I realize this is the first time she has said anything since getting inside the car.

“It’s better than nothing, that’s why. It’s better to be safe than sorry. That has been my experience anyway.” Noah says.

“I just wish we would get to the place where there should be people hiding out is all. I know having extra ammo is important, it just sucks having to go so far for it.” Claire says, as she finally looks away from the window and down at her hands griping her bow.

“I know Claire, no worries.” Noah lifts his eyes in the rearview mirror and glances at us in the back. “The Collisee isn’t that far from the base, so it’ll be a quick trip after this. Just hang tight guys, okay?”

We all nod in agreement, and I think back to when we went over the plans of where we are going the night before. Noah had told us that he was certain of at least two places people would be evacuated to for safety, and the Collisee is one of them. Though it’s actually called the Androscoggin Bank Colisée, and is a huge stadium. I’ve never been there, but Noah says that it has many different stadiums inside that it’s perfect for housing large groups of people.

That sounded good enough for me, and it was supposed to be the first place we went.

But with our lack of ammo supplies, Noah suggested that we head for the army National Guard base. He can’t say for sure if we’ll find anything to use, but I agree that it’s better to check it out, than not. The second place where Noah thought there would be people is Bates College, and it is big enough for it. So if the Collisee falls through, that’s where we will be heading.

“Are you alright Mags?” Gabe whispers into my ear, as he leans closer to me.

Turning to him I say, “Yeah, why?”

“You’ve just been really quiet, like you’re lost in thought. I’m probably just over worrying.”

He puts his arm around me again, and I lean in with a sigh. Have I been out of it? I don’t really know, but I have been a little distracted I guess. I try to think if it’s really something to worry about, but it gives me a dull throbbing pain behind my eyes and I let the thought fade away. I close my eyes, and let Gabe hold me, and pretend everything is fine and we’re all safe. It doesn’t last though, I can feel the car turning and I know we’re heading for the next road.

Opening my eyes, I sit up and see where we are now and I regret it right away. On our left is a business building plaza and it’s in worse condition than any I’ve seen. The parking lot out front of it is full, and from the way half of some bodies hang out the windows, I know no one made it out from there. The ground below is littered with bodies, which will never get back up again, whether it is dead or alive. I glance away, as Noah steers us off the road and around to a highway exit on ramp. We turn back almost in the same direction we just were, but then we’re going off in a slightly different angle and we’re on highway 95.

“Well, this is going to be tricky.” Noah grumbles after a moment.

I lean forward in my seat, and look out into the expanse of the highway. Up a head there are parked cars lining the road every so often, and it looks like it might go on for a long time. Even from where we are, I can see the bodies of the dead moving in between the cars.

My body goes cold just knowing we will have to drive slowly around them.

“Do you think we can make it by?” Gabe asks, as he leans forward so he can actually see Noah.

“This is a really bad idea.” Sam utters under his breath.

Slowing down a little, Noah turns to look at Gabe.

“There aren’t that many cars, and I think I can squeeze us through the break down lane. If anything gets too close to us though, we should shoot them if we can.”

“Shoot them?” Sam squeaks out.

“You mean out the windows? Like, we’ll have to roll them down, to do?” Claire asks.

“That is what I mean, yes. There’s not that many of them, but if they all come towards us, they could tip the car.” Noah says, as he speeds up a little and we get closer to the makeshift roadblock.

“We can do it guys, just don’t let them get close. Shoot out as fast as you can, but don’t waste the bullets alright.” Gabe takes the safety off his handgun, and leans over to me and faces Claire.

“I’m not using that thing.” She says, as she raises the bow in her arms.

“Claire, you can’t use the arrows. You won’t be able to get them back, just take the gun please.”

He tries to hand it to her, but she pulls away and shakes her head. I know she’s scared, because I am too. But I’m more scared of those dead hurting me than using a gun. So I place my hands on his and take the gun from him. The gun is heavier than I thought, and I hope I can shoot this thing.

“Switch places with me.”

I’m already trying to push over Claire, when I notice she has tears running down her cheeks. She slides over to the spot I was sitting, and quickly wipes her face.

“I’m sorry.” She says.

“it’s fine, we’re all scared. This is just another bump in the road, and we’ll make it past, you’ll see.”

I give her a small smile, as I begin to roll the window down. As I do, a blast of summer heat comes inside and I forgot that we even had the air conditioner on. With the air comes the smell that tickles the back of my throat and makes me want to gag. It’s the same smell that I’ve been associating with the dead, and it’s a metallic meaty scent. Like raw flesh and old blood, and I have to breathe through my mouth to ignore it.

Noah is driving us closer to the cars now, and as we drive pass I can see movement from inside the closed ones. The cars shake with their incessant movements to get out, and this sends the ones out on the road constantly turning their heads, like dogs catching a scent. We’re just passing two small cars, when there is a gap up ahead on my side before the next group of cars. Out of the gap limps a young looking girl and the similarities between myself and her almost makes me hesitate to lift the gun up in my hands. Her chest is wide open, but with her long limp black hair covering her, I can’t see the complete damage. She shuffles to the window faster now, but she struggles to make her foot that is twisted at an unnatural angle, to move right.

Hearing Gabe or maybe even Sam fire on their side of the car seems to wake me up, just as she is almost within reach. Raising the gun, I focus on the top of her head and let everything else fade from my line of sight. Holding my breath, I squeeze the trigger and hit her right where I wanted. The bullet lodges right in her forehead, and from the impact her head is thrown back and she coughs up blood. My hands and arms get sprayed lightly, but I try to ignore it. Won’t do me any good to freak out about it now, and besides it’s not like I’m not already covered in dried blood.

She lies still on the ground as we pass, and I have to remember to take my fingers off the trigger, or we’ll have bigger problems. I glance over my shoulder to find Gabe watching me with a smirk on his face, and for some reason it makes a warm blush rise to my cheeks.

“Can I help you with something Gabriel?” I say as sarcastically as I can.

Now he’s the one to have his cheeks go lightly red, and I wonder what’s going through his mind. Probably something dirty and inappropriate, but do I really care?

“Just enjoying the view.”

He winks at me, before turning away. Now I know he’s thinking something dirty.

Men…seriously.

Leave it to them to have to problem being perverted while in a life or death situation. Although, it does make my heart do back flips in my chest, knowing he thinks that sort of thing about me. I know, I’m a pig too, but whatever. I’d say we’re a little entitled. I turn back to the window and try to pay attention, at the next dead that is approaching up ahead.

The next four miles are much of the same. Sam, Gabe, and I lean out our windows and fire into any of the dead that get too close. After the fifth one I killed, I stopped paying attention to their appearance. There are only so many faces I can look into and still be able to sleep at night. I found it’s easier to remove myself mentally when having to shoot them, or even killing them in general. But eventually, the highway ended and we’re back onto back roads surrounded by wildlife again. And the dead diminish as we go, so we get to settle in our seats again and roll up the windows. I don’t get to enjoy the wonderful creation of the ac for long though, because Noah is slowing us down. There is a building up ahead that is slowly coming into view, and I realize we finally made it.

We’re almost to the army base.