They Walk

Chapter Fifty Nine

The first thing I feel when I start to wake up is pain.

My head is pounding so profusely, that I don’t feel the screams building until they are pouring out of my dry lips. The second thing I feel, are rough hands holding me tightly and pulling me in close. I have the sense that I am laying down, and by the cold hard surface, I’m guessing it’s not a bed I’m on. Beyond the pain in my head, I try to remember how I might have fallen down. As hard as I try to think, my head throbs even worse.

It makes me stop the screams so they can turn into a keening whining sound.

Sound is slowly forming in my deaf ears as a prickling static fills my head, and is sending shock waves through my entire body. As the sound turns into voices, I open my eyes and am afraid of what I’ll see. What I find though, is Gabe. Who is staring down at me so intently, I have to wonder what could make him watch me like that. He looks as if he is trying to tell me something, but his voice just sounds like static and I can hear what it is. From all the time I’ve known him, he’s never looked at me the way he is now, like he almost lost me or something.

But why would he?

All he’s ever done is teasing me and as far as I know I’m just his friend’s sister. I notice then that he looks different that when we arrived at Austin’s party. For one his hair is shorter, and his clothes are filthy. Wait a second is that blood on his clothes?

Taking my eyes off of Gabe I glance around the room we’re in and try to ignore the way my head throbs even more as I move. The room we are in isn’t a room exactly, but more like a lobby of some sort and is in no way part of Austin’s house. How in the world did we get here? We’re not alone either though, and the people around us seem to be in worse condition than Gabe. There is a guy slightly older than me that reminds me of Matt and looks worse for wear.

I wonder where Matt is and as I think about the dream I had, a memory tries to come to the surface, but it fades away before I know what it was. The Matt look-a-like is hovering near a pregnant girl, who looks like she could be his sister. There is another guy standing close to her, and the way he keeps close, I guess that he is involved with her.

Besides them, looking shell shocked and frightened, is Claire.

Her mother is standing behind her and looks just as frightened, and the both of them appear slightly rumpled and in dirty clothes. Everyone in the room is watching me, like I might sprout a second head or something. The thought of eyes on me waiting, tickles a memory, but it fades before I can grasp onto it. None of this makes sense to me, and I can feel hysteria building underneath all the pain. The static filled voices are getting clearer to me now.

When Gabe speaks, I turn back to look up at him. “Maggie, are you alright?”

Am I alright?

I have no idea, mostly because I have no clue as to where I am or how I even got here. And what is with the new people and the way they all look like it’s the end of the world? I really hope Austin’s party didn’t get busted or that we were in an accident or something. All I need is for my parents to find out and ground me for the rest of the summer. Of course, the way I feel right now, I wouldn’t mind a couple weeks in my bed. Gabe is still watching me his brows furrowing in worry.

Oh right, he’s probably waiting for me to reply.

“I…”

I never get the chance to finish though, since I’m now coughing and shaking again. My throat is burning and feels so scratchy like I spent to long screaming, and maybe I have. Gabe looks even more worried as he lifts me up a little so that I can catch my breath.

“What happened?” I say so softly, that my own voice doesn’t even sound like mine.

“You passed out and had us all worried too.” He says, as he lets a slight smile slip through his clenched lips.

Some of the others around us come in closer, and it makes me feel kind of smothered. But I ignore them as I try to stay focused on what Gabe said. I passed out, that’s it? Then why do I feel like I got hit by an eighteen wheeler going full throttle? Something tickles at the back of my mind, and I have the feeling I’m missing something big but I just can’t remember what it is. I realize then, that not only is Matt not with us, but neither is my brother Daniel.

Not knowing what is going on starts to make me nervous as to what happened.

“Gabe, where are the others and what is going on?” I ask, and I’m afraid of what I’ll hear.

He looks confused for a moment, and shares a look with the Matt look-a-like guy, who shrugs his shoulders.

“What do you mean? Everyone is outside waiting for us at the car.” He tells me in a tone, like I should already know what he’s talking about.

“Dan and Matt are at the car? Why are we in here and where is here?” My voice rises and I have to clear my throat as it does.

Gabe’s eyes go wide and he looks up at the others in alarm, while his arms that are holding me begin to shake. Claire comes closer then, and kneels beside me. She looks scared and very worried, and I can’t help to think about why. The others merge closer together and are heatedly whispering so quietly that I can’t hear what they are talking about.

“Maggie, what do you remember about what happened?”

Claire asks me so patiently, and I have the very blunt feeling I’ve missed a lot.

Claire isn’t the type to be calm, but rather dramatic about things. My head pounds behind my temples as I try to remember the last time I was awake. And all that comes to mind is the party at Austin’s we all went too. I know I’m missing something, but the harder I think about it, the father it goes in my mind.

“What did happen? We were just at Austin’s house right?”

Her eyes go wide and she shares an intense look with Gabe, who is shaking far worse than I am now. Having enough of getting no answers and feeling like a fool for not knowing about what is going on, I pull free of Gabe and try to sit up on my own. Shaky at first and feeling like I might fall over, I manage to sit on my own and I try to ignore the way Gabe looks hurt from my leaving his arms.

“That’s not what just happened. And you’re missing almost two weeks of things.” Claire tells me, and I can see the way she tenses, that she is afraid of my reaction, as well she should be.

I’m about to yell at her that she has to be lying, and it’s not nice to play this kind of trick on me. When the others of the group face us again, and I can’t help but to notice the way they look slightly irritated now and less worried about me.

Well, screw them too.

“Gabe, we don’t have time for this. We need to get out of here as fast as we can.” The blonde guy says as he steps further away from the pregnant girl.

“Don’t you think I know that Noah? What do you want me to do, huh?” Gabe says intently as he stands up and glares at the other guy.

“I don’t know and I’m sorry. But we have the advantage of the soldiers shooting at the dead as cover, and we should take it.”

Gabe sighs as he hunches over slight and rubs the back of his neck with his hands. His shoulders are tense, and the other guy looks just as frustrated. And did he just say the dead? Distantly an image of a car wrapped around a tree comes to mind and so does the blood covered body that comes out of it.

“…The dead?” I say softly as I get to my feet on shaky legs.

All eyes turn to me, and the blonde guy actually has the decently to look guilty before he looks away from me. Gabe and Claire both take a synchronized step towards me, and I follow them as I back up and keep distance between us.

“You don’t have to be afraid.” Gabe says.

“Yeah, it’s not really as bad as you think.” Claire says, but the way she cringes I know she is lying.

I scoff at them, and I continue my trek of backing up and putting as much distance between us as I can.

From the way that guys said ‘the dead’ I have the feeling I’ve stepped into a George Romero movie.

But that’s not possible is it?

Gabe tenses suddenly, and I get the impression that he is going to make a grab for me. Instead of letting him take hold of me, I turn away from them before he can. Behind me is a wide set of double doors, and I quickly rush at them before I change my mind. Whatever is out there has to be better than in here. As I’m reaching the doors and pushing them open, I can hear Gabe rushing at me.

I step out and away before he can get to me, and once outside I realize I’ve been planted in my worst nightmare. There is chaos everywhere, and as I watch a man I think is a soldier, shoot into another man missing half his body and still moving, things start to come back to me.

And none too subtlety either.