Chapter 3: The Long Road Ahead
Kellan managed to rig up a make shift car seat for Azura. There are biters and here we are worried about being pulled over for not having her in a safety seat. Michael and Brandon had already piled into what would be their new home. Kellan asked me what I had hoped to find out there. I waited a few moments and decided to choose my words very carefully, for some weird reason.
“Honestly. I hope to find a biter free zone with other survivors. We already have a growing group and I know that along the way we will find more people and I want us to be a long lasting group. I want to live to see my 70th birthday and my grandkids and all that mushy shit. I just want a home. What do you want Kellan?”
“I want you and AJ, maybe even a little boy. I want the same Betts. I want to have a family with you. I think we could have lots of kids.”
“Are you high? There is no way in hell I would bring a child into this, right now anyways. Seriously... You are fucking.... Ugh... You are tripping.”
His jaw dropped and that ended that conversation pretty fast. I just didn’t want to hurt his feelings anymore than they already were. I finally had a little bit of breathing room as I tucked AJ into her little makeshift car seat. I looked at my new home. It was small but it would work and it was biter proof for the moment. I then noticed that above the passenger seat there was a CB. I turned the knob and automatically heard static and knew that I would be able to call out to survivors. I called out to Michael and asked if he had one in his RV. He nodded that he did, we decided that channel 22 would be our best way to communicate with each other.
I was ready to get on the road and see what type of devastation that we would be facing. I thanked God that Michael had thought of everything while preparing for some sort of dooms day issue. Kellan started the RV and it roared to life and he nodded to the other guys and Michael crashed through the garage doors with us trailing behind him. I just couldn’t believe that what I saw was worse than before. Biters were everywhere. They gathered in hordes around corpses. Bodies decayed at an exceedingly rapid pace. Half eaten corpses with jerky movements clawed the ground. Discarded body parts were littered across the extent of the land as if it was some sort of haunted house attraction.
I noticed that the biters who stalked the other undead cannibals looked and sounded the worse. They had flesh falling from any exposed body part and blood covered them as if someone had gone by and splattered red paint on them. The sound they made was nothing like what was in the movies; it was more a cross between a lion trying to roar and a snake hissing. I was so deep in thought that when the CB went off I screamed and almost pissed my pants. Kellan just chuckled that deep hearty chuckle he has when he is amused and went back to trying to avoid the large obstacles of overturned cars and trees.
“Can you believe this shit?”
I recognized Brandon’s deep southern drawl. I responded back.
“No. I can’t, kind of nasty huh? All I know is I was staring out the window so hard when the CB went off I almost pissed my pants. Off that subject though and I know your laughing so stop it. Which direction should we go? It needs to be towards a town with a large carry all store in it, but small enough that it doesn’t have a very large populace. I think that only leaves North or South.”
“Betty, there is a Haymoore’s about one hundred and ninety-six miles north of us. They have everything. They just opened a home store on the other side of Grovesails. I had seen their website not to long before the whole biter thing happened.”
“That’s great Michael. I guess we are going north. Lead the way.”
So we headed down the driveway and before doing so a biter jumped at the RV. Kellan floored it and left biter jelly on the tread of the RV tires. I didn’t really expect that to happen at all. After that little incident I decided that maybe it would be best that if I just relaxed and let Kellan drive. There were biters literally placed everywhere like an obstacle course. When we finally reached the end of the drive, we automatically knew that this day was going to suck. There were cars abandoned everywhere, some not so abandoned. They contained trapped biters. It looked like people seen what was happening and just said ‘ Fuck this shit. There are people eating people and I ain’t going to stick around for any of this and I won’t be made a meal today. I am getting the hell out of here. ‘ They are probably one of those undead fuckers or became a biter meal now. I looked around and all I seen was devastation. If the road wasn’t packed with cars and biters I would probably steal a better car seat or a couple of car seats for Azura. Maybe as we get closer to Whitesage.
I kept glancing at AJ laying peacefully and wishing that we would hurry up and make it somewhere safe soon. I sat back in my seat hoping that we would reach some sort of rest stop soon. I wanted to exit the RV. I hated car rides. There was something about being trapped in a metal box for hours that just didn’t fucking appeal to me too much. We made our way through all the abandoned cars and finally reached the sign that stated ‘ Now Leaving Silverspell ‘. Even though the town was about 10 miles long, it was a small rural town. I chuckled to myself and thought it was ironic as hell that the town looked a little dead.
About thirty minutes into the ride Kellan poked me in the arm.
“Hey. Try seeing if you can get any survivors on the CB. Switch the channels every ten to fifteen minutes. Remember to say your name, where you’re going, and keep doing it. Hopefully you can reach someone.”
I nodded and started on the first channel. After about an hour, it was a well rehearsed scripted saying. “This is Betricia and I am on Highway 392 headed towards Whitesage. If there are any survivors out there listening, please respond.” Then the line would be static. Repeating the saying at least twice before I would wait for the allotted time. I felt like a fucking abandoned alien left on Earth who is sending up random distress signals to the mother ship. AJ managed to sleep most of the trip. We had to stop a few times for diaper changes and feedings. I just had a feeling that she was going to be easy going and that she took to riding in a vehicle to like a fish to water.
As we got closer to Whitesage, I tried to contacting survivors again. I tried several times and stopped waiting the ten minutes. About the time I was going to give up, I heard a voice cloaked in static come on the channel. The voice barely squeaked “Help. I’m here. I’ve been locked in my basement for almost a month and I haven’t eaten in days. I live in Whitesage on Briar Mount Road. Please hurry and please help. My house is the last house on the street with a bright orange door.”
My only response was “We are on our way.”
I turned to Kellan who then asked what just happened. I guess the dipshit wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on like usual. I relayed that I just found a survivor and I told them that we would be there to help. Kellan just gave me the look of what did I do and then just without any warning he proceeded to tell me that I had made a mistake.
“Where the hell do you get off telling me that I made a mistake? No, I didn’t make a mistake. The mistake was ever fucking you in that tunnel. Helping someone escape the same situation we just did, that isn’t the mistake. Jesus, I swear Kellan you make no sense.”
“Betts, I am just saying you should have asked if we all thought it was a good idea before you just went and told someone that we would go and rescue them. I mean this thing or person could get us killed. You didn’t think of that and now we have to stick by our word and try to get this person out of the basement.”
“You are a selfish person. I am sure if I asked your dad, he would have said that I did the right thing. You on the other hand are just a damn disgrace. Don’t fucking talk to me.”
I switched the CB back to channel 22 and asked to speak to Michael. I then asked right away if I did the right thing. I was right, Michael and Brandon both agreed with me. I knew they would. Kellan had some burr up his ass. I decided to try to contact the survivor again.
“Hello, this is Betricia. If this is the Survivor is Whitesage, we are getting closer. I just want to talk to you and let you know more about us. If you can hear me at all please respond, please.”
I heard a stronger reply this time.
“Hello. Can you hear me?”
“Yes. I can hear you. You can call me Betty. I am traveling with my friend Kellan, his dad Michael, and another survivor Brandon and my daughter Azura. We are coming from Silverspell. We are going to come and get you out of the basement but I need you to listen carefully. Whatever you do don’t leave the basement. Stay there. Hold on okay?”
“Okay. Betty.”
“So how old are you and what’s your name?”
“I’m 26 years old and my name is Tammy. I came home to visit my family and everything was doing okay. We were watching the news and the special announcement stated that everyone was to stay indoors and barricade ourselves inside. Well we were in the process of doing that and some weirdo crashed through the window and attacked my dad. Then more came through and then they began eating my parents. Our pantry was located in the basement so I locked myself down there. Who knew finals week would be so exciting. I ran out of food about four days ago. I have managed to supplement my hunger with water. I won’t lie I am scared to death and I just want something to eat.”
“Relax Tammy. We are on our way. Just hold on.”
I knew that we had to help this girl. If anything I would die trying. I relayed to Michael that Tammy lived on Briar Mount Road and that we needed to get there as soon as possible. Michael agreed. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the Whitesage city limit sign. I knew that Tammy was scared and I wasn’t really familiar with Whitesage, but thank God that Michael was. I got seriously nervous as we got closer to Tammy’s street. It was deathly quiet, I didn’t see any biters and I didn’t see any survivors.
I contacted Tammy again.
“Tammy. We’re on your street. We can make enough time to get you and some of your stuff out but that is about it. When I say run, you run to the nearest RV to you. Got it?”
“Yes, Betty. What are these things? I just don’t understand what they are. I know they used to be people but are they some sort of biological or chemical weapon?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. I just know that they eat people. We call them biters or Zombies, undead bastards, the cauldron born, flesh eaters, undead cannibals, you name it. We have probably called them everything we could have thought of. We just stick with biters, because well they fucking bite. They are severely dangerous and I have seen first-hand that if you get bit you will turn into one of them. So, safest bet, don’t get bit. Anyways we are in front of your house. You ready?”
“Yes. I cannot wait to see people. I just want food. My belly is growling worse than those biters.”
“Here is the plan. We are going to check the house for the safest route in and out. We then will proceed to kill any biter in the vicinity of the basement door. When the coast is clear for you, I will knock three times on the basement door, to let you know that it is us.”
She agreed to the plan and I relayed the information to all the important parties. I knew right away that from the silence that I was walking head first into a silent hell. I had no clue what waited for me. I just knew that I was going to try my damnedest to get her out of there. I had no idea how many biters were in there or if I could even get this girl out safe and sound without risking my family’s safety. I knew there would be no way in hell that I would even attempt to take Azura into that type of situation. I decided to ask Michael if he would mind staying back and watch my little bundle of hope while I risked my neck to save a total stranger.
“Michael, do you think that you could watch AJ in our RV, while we try to rescue this girl? I just don’t want to take a chance of taking her with me. It would mean a lot to me please.”
“Yeah, it won’t be a problem at all. It would be nice to have a bit of time with my granddaughter all to myself.”
I thanked him and then I realized that Kellan was looking at me like I was a totally different person. It made me feel like I was some sort of pariah in a city of holy men. I didn’t like it, then it dawned on me, I was getting too big for my britches. I guess I had what was known as a superman complex. I just wanted to save the world, one person at a time and I wasn’t really sure how to do it. Eventually I would have rescuing people down to a science. I had saved Azura and now I was bound and determined to save Tammy.
I guess the element of surprise was on my side today and I grabbed Kellan and kissed him as hard as I could. He stood in awe at what just transpired. “I love you Kellan, I really do. Yes, we may fight, bicker, argue, and I may say that I fucking hate your guts on a daily basis but the truth is I would be lost without you. You’re my best friend. Now how about we go and play Batman and Robin?”
I knew by the sparkle in his eye and the smile on his face that he would be up for anything now. I grabbed my katana and managed to peek my head out the window; there still wasn’t a biter in sight. I found it quite odd that the biters were nowhere to be found. I slowly exited the RV and still no biters. I figured if I didn’t make any sounds I would have the element of surprise still on my side and then maybe I could take the biters out one by one. I knew those bastards would be hiding somewhere wanting to kill us and make a tasty meal of my still beating heart and entrails. I didn’t trust anything I seen or heard in a strange or unusual place. I decided that it was now or never time for there was no going back now.
I made my way towards the front door and placed my ear on it. I listened for any movement or sounds of distress. What I heard was not what I expected. I peeked into what looked to be a broken window that had been boarded over and what I saw was a room full of decaying bodies and hungry biters. It was absolutely disgusting and I was amazed and how many bodies could actually fit in such a tiny room. It was like being at a circus and watching clowns pile into a tiny car, the only difference was that everyone in there but Tammy was dead.
I walked around the house and looked for any other openings or ways that a biter could possibly get in and something just felt wrong. There were no biters on this street or anywhere near this house but they were in this house. It was almost like they were placed in the home on purpose. I would hope that no one would ever do that to a person. That was a death far worse than even the worse criminal would deserve. I finally got to a place where I could make out the basement door. I knew right away this rescue was not going to be as easy as it looked. Inside the door were at least a dozen biters clawing at each other. It looked like they were starving and decided to eat each other. It was sickening.
They were getting restless and I noticed that one was sniffing the air like it could actually smell me. She started to chatter her teeth like some sort of rodent and it was disturbing to say the least. I knew we were going to have to hurry and rush this escape. The other biters started to follow suit. I literally would have to kill every biter in this house in order to save Tammy. The house was overrun with these bastards. I decided that the only way that we would ever survive is if we would get them out into the open and fight them there.
“Kellan, we have to get them in the open. If we don’t we don’t stand any chance of surviving. Our only option is to be bait and take them out one by one. If you don’t want to do this, I completely understand but I promised someone that I would get her out of that house and so I have to.”
“Betty. Use me as bait. I can run pretty fast, plus I am a great distraction. So if all else fails, I died trying to help someone. Just get her out of there and tell Michael that he was a great guy to talk to.”
“Brandon are you sure you want to do that? If you agree I may not be able to save you and if you become a biter I will kill you.”
“Kellan, just make sure if Betty is the one to kill me, she takes this letter and places it at the address on this envelope. It’s for my son, if he’s still there.”
“I can do that for you, Brandon. I promise.”
The conversation on that subject ended. I kept praying that everything would go according to plan and we all make it out safe and the biters in this vicinity would be dead. Brandon prepared for his loud run. He planned to make as much noise as he could when we opened to the door and Kellan and I would begin to kill each of the biters as they reached us, spacing them out so we had room. I felt bad for letting Brandon agree to be biter bait but it was the only way to actually rescue someone who needed it. We decided that we would count to three and then would begin the killing spree.
We counted together.
“One, Two, Three!”
Brandon sprinted around the yard yelling at the top of his lungs the most weird and random things he could think of and Kellan opened the door. It only took about 1 minute and biters started to pour out of the house like roaches when you flip on a light. I took my katana and just started hacking heads away like I was Genghis Khan and I was going to make damn sure I was going to get my way. It may sound horrible but it was fun slicing the heads off the biters. The last five or six biters were a bit harder to handle. The first one came out and I swung my blade and I nicked a chunk out of the left side of its head, leaving the brain exposed. I knew I was going to have to hurry and think fast. I knew that with the brain exposed that anything could cause serious damage. I asked Kellan to throw me anything that would be hard and long. I ended up with a steel pipe. I swung the pipe at the biter and it was right on target. It penetrated the brain and the body hit the ground and twitched for a few seconds before it went limp.
The next biter was easier a quick slice to the neck and the head was removed. The same followed for the rest. I was ready to get inside and clear the house and get the fuck out of here. I was getting tired and worn down. We entered the house and right away the stench of corpses and death permeated the whole house. The smell made me gag and puke in my mouth a bit. I was to the point where I just wanted to hurry up and get the hell out of this place. I got that weird gut feeling again telling me that something wasn’t right and that we should just leave but my conscience told me that I had to keep going. As of now all of us were alive, and I aimed to keep it that way. I headed straight for the basement door and knocked three times. I heard some shuffling movement and then what sounded like footsteps on stairs and then the door opened. I have never seen a person so happy to see me in my life. Tammy started to cry and just thanked me.
Tammy was a beautiful tan Mexican girl with long dark hair and even darker eyes. She spoke without an accent so I could see how someone would naturally assume that she was white or black over a CB, like me. It made me feel kind of bad, but all I was trying to do was put a picture to a face. I could have sworn that she was a model and not a college student, either way it goes she was gorgeous and I had a feeling that I would be a bit jealous of her. Finally, after I could stop staring, I gave her the details of what happened and informed her of what awaited outside.
“Tammy, there are going to be corpses without heads and bodies everywhere. We had to kill a lot of biters to get you out. The agreement was that we would give you long enough to get you a few items and then we would have to rush out of here. We can’t just stay put for too long.”
“I understand Betty. I have three suitcases that I never unpacked sitting in the hall closet. If we can get those and if I could just stop and grab that picture off the wall there and the photo album on the shelf by the TV. I would be happy. I’m sorry if that seems like an awful lot but I just want to make sure that I keep the memory of my family and friends. Those pictures are all there is now.”
“We can grab them. Brandon will be waiting outside for you. Get ready to run.”
We grabbed the items she asked for and gathered other essentials that might be needed such as toilet paper, paper towels, and other linens. I managed to rummage closets and grab a few items for myself. I went into what I guessed was Tammy’s parent’s bedroom. I thought that she might want to keep her mother’s jewelry and some of her personal belongings. I guess I can be a bit sentimental. I don’t even know if my own mother is still alive. I boxed and bagged all the items that I thought could be useful and headed back towards the RV’s.
Once I was tucked back inside my cozy little home on wheels, I sat Tammy down and gave her the small box that I picked up just for her. I guess she thought that it wasn’t that important, but I could tell in the look in her eyes that it was. Each little item she pulled out meant something very special to her and even though I didn’t know her that well I knew that it was important. I managed to grab a bottle of perfume, the jewelry box, a scarf, a blanket and little odds and ends from each of the bedrooms. I told her that if she needed time she was more than welcome to it. She just hugged me. I guess anyone would need a hug after seeing their family get ate by a horde of biters.
We all loaded up into the RV’s and I must admit that it was a job well done. I managed to save someone and not get everyone killed. I knew that Tammy would be hungry and everybody else would be too, I decided to start preparing for dinner. Tonight we would be celebrating the success and to our ongoing travels. I just couldn’t figure out what to make so I made my favorite food when we stopped at a roadside park. I refused to leave the RV so I made everyone come to me. I made lasagna with garlic bread. Good thing to, the cheese was going to go bad soon. I was glad that I could sit down and eat with my new family.
I would be happy to lay down tonight with my daughter and my best friend. I knew that eventually Kellan would want more and I knew that I would have to make up my mind with a yes or no answer. Sometimes matters of the heart are more complicated than they look. Everyone ate and I fed Azura and I could tell she was glad that everything turned out for the best. I kept thinking in the back of my head that it would be nice if Tammy and Brandon got together and had a beautiful half Mexican baby. I am pretty sure that baby would be amazingly gorgeous just like Tammy.
I knew that the night was wearing down and so was I and I couldn’t wait to curl up in a warm bed and sleep for ten or more hours. I needed it. I have killed more biters than most would expect from a seventeen year old and I did it without hesitation. I haven’t slept much since AJ and now if I could just find the time to actually catch up on what I missed. I know it will be hard now since we have to constantly be on our guards now. I hope that we can find that Haymoore’s and create it into a safe haven for awhile, if no one else already has.
We knew that it was going to be a good while yet before we got to Grovesails. We didn’t know how much longer it would be or what way we would have to take. We just knew that Haymoore’s was in Grovesails and that is where we wanted to try to make a safe place for all of us to live. Life on the road would be too hard on all of us and it would just take a bit of time to adjust to it all. Kellan looked like he could have passed out at any moment and I just didn’t want to stop anywhere and sleep. There could be robbers or squatters who try to steal what little we have. I suggested finding a gravel road or a field to park in or having Brandon drive. He liked the idea of Brandon driving better than being in a field. They managed to switch places and we began to travel onward to Grovesails.