Save me, p.19
Save Me, page 19
"I always keep my promises, sweetheart," Dan whispered, wiping the tear with his thumb.
He picked me up off the ground and kissed me smack on the lips and winked before placing me back on the ground.
"He'll be fine," Will tried to reassure me, putting his arm around me as we watched Dan set off on foot alone.
I could tell he wasn't any more sure of that than I was.
The drive would have taken us about six hours if we could hop on the highway and drive straight there. Unfortunately, we all knew that wasn't going to happen. The roads were a mess these days. Abandoned cars, fallen trees, just about anything you could imagine, was in the roads. Some were clear enough to get through but others were pretty bad. We were able to make it around some of the debris, and when we couldn't, sometimes we could get out and move the junk out of the way. When we weren't so lucky, we had to find another route. It ended up taking us most of the day to get just over half way there. Janet and Mike alternated driving, which was probably a good idea. I wasn't exactly the best driver. I wasn't awful or anything. I had my license from before the outbreak, but I had just barely passed. I wasn't exactly prepared to maneuver around everything in the road without hitting anything, not that anyone asked me to drive. It probably never even occurred to Janet since she still saw me as a helpless child.
It was probably about two or three in the morning when we stopped to stretch and take a break. We stopped briefly a few times through the day but never for more than a few minutes at a time. We were all sick of being cooped up in that car and needed to move around.
"We are about two or three hours out," Janet assured us, but at this point, I doubt if anyone really believed her.
"I don't know if I can take much more than that. I'm going to lose my mind if we don't get there soon!" Nikki was being dramatic again.
Mike draped his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close against him. She didn't protest, but she didn't seem to particularly enjoy it either. Janet pulled out the map, going over it with Will. Rose leaned in, trying to be useful, taking in every word. I wasn't that interested in the map or the route or any of it. I just wanted to get this over with so Will and I could get back home. I should have paid attention since we would have to go back on our own but I just couldn't bring myself to give a shit.
The sky was clear. A billion tiny stars shown down on us, lighting the sky with their brilliance. I laid down in the grass to enjoy the view about ten feet from the SUV. Sometimes it was easy to lose yourself for a few minutes when you had something so beautiful to distract you. It was those few moments of distraction that helped you keep your sanity in this screwed up world. Nikki came over to join me in the grass.
"It really is beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, looking up into the sky with me.
"It's the one thing that's never changed. When everything is different and the whole world sucks, you look up and it's the same. The same stars I looked at with my dad in the back yard when I was little, the same ones above the lake on Saturday nights when everyone hung out having a great time, without having a care in the world. It's the only thing, ya know?"
Nikki didn't say anything. She didn't have to. She just sighed. She understood.
"You girls ready?" Will called over.
"Nooo," Nikki whined. "Not yet. Can't we have just a little longer?"
Janet crossed her arms over her chest and walked around the SUV, irritated. She had even less patience with Nikki than she did with me. My moment away from reality was over though. I jumped up, leaving Nikki there in the grass, and hopped back in the SUV. Nikki let out a groan in protest, then got up, following me, hopping up on the seat beside me where Will had been before.
We only made it a few miles before Janet slammed on the brakes, stopping the SUV in the middle of what I thought was a clear road. I looked around confused. My eyes tried to adjust to the darkness and see what was going on. There weren't any vehicles blocking the way. In fact, it looked mostly empty, which was quite uncommon for a main highway like this one.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked from behind Janet, looking around nervously.
Mike pulled out his gun and Will got his bow from his pack, ready for whatever spooked Janet.
Even in the dark, I could tell Janet was freaked out. If Janet was worried, it had to be bad. Will jumped up between the front seats to get a better look since Janet still hadn't opened her mouth to tell us what was wrong.
"Shit!"
Okay. Janet and Will were freaked out. This had to be bad.
"Oh my God!" Nikki started screaming, looking out the back window.
"Now what?" Mike practically whispered.
Janet flipped on the high beams, lighting the roadway enough to see what the hell was going on, making Nikki scream louder. I was about ready to slap her when I realized what was happening. Flesh eaters were everywhere. Up ahead, a massive horde packed together like sardines, a giant undead army. To the left, they came out from the trees, spilling onto the roadway, filling the space behind us as well. The only way to avoid them was to go right, but to the right was a large factory that we weren't able to drive through.
"What are our options, Janet?" Mike nearly screamed.
Janet stared straight ahead, ignoring him. Get a grip, Janet.
"Janet," Will shook her, trying to get her back to reality.
She didn't budge.
"Okay look, we have two options. One, we drive through them and hope to hell there isn't as many as it looks. Two, we get out and make a run for it and hope to hell they aren't in that factory," Will was pulling weapons from a duffle back and sticking them in his pockets and waistband as he spoke.
I guess that means he thinks we should run. I've seen what driving through a horde can do. It's not pretty. With that many of them, I doubt we'd make it through before they smashed through the windows and got to us. There was no way to know if our chances were better running either, but it looked like it was our only choice.
Will handed out the rest of the weapons and tried once more to get Janet's attention.
"Listen honey, I know where your head's at right now, but you gotta push it aside. We gotta make it out of this and we need you to do it. Please, Janet," Will said to her in a gentle voice, holding her face in his hands across the seat.
The flesh eaters hobbled closer. We could hear them moaning and growling now.
"Janet," he yelled this time, inches from her face. "Joe and Eli would want you to fight!"
That seemed to do the trick. Janet snapped out of it and took the gun Will was shoving at her. Janet turned around to look at each of us and took a deep breath before speaking.
"Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Everyone stays close to at least one other person if the group needs to get separated. Will, you're with Andi, Mike with Nikki, and Rose you're with me."
"We're actually gonna make a run for it?" The panic was clear in Nikki's voice.
"Why don't we just drive through them? Maybe there's not as many as it looks?" Rose was not quite to the level of panic as Nikki, but she didn't like this plan one bit.
"Have you ever tried to drive though a massive horde Rose?" Janet looked like she was going to jump across the seat and strangle the girl.
"No." Rose practically whispered, more afraid of Janet than the undead outside.
"Then shut the hell up!"
"We have to move!" Will flung open the side door, motioning for Mike to do the same and we all ran from the SUV toward the factory.
Will held on to my hand tightly, not looking back. I could hear Nikki screaming, but in the dark I couldn't see what was happening. Will pulled me harder and yelled at me to keep going.
Our hope was that the factory would be clear but once again, our hopes were crushed. The factory was crawling with them. Not nearly as many as back on the road, but still enough so that we had to take a lot out or we'd never get by. Will and I took out as many as we could, clearing the area quite a bit before Rose and Janet made their way to where we were, helping us take out more. Rose wasn't the best shot, but she did well enough. Janet started motioning for us to move ahead.
"What about Nikki and Mike?" I asked, pulling back on Will's arm to stop him from going.
Janet shook her head at Will and a tear escaped down Rose's face. I knew that couldn't be good.
"They're dead? Is that what you're saying?"
Janet looked at the ground, but no one spoke.
"Did you see it? Are you sure?"
Again no one spoke. I tried to pull away from Will. I was going to go back. What if they were trapped and needed our help? We can't just leave them there alone!
"Andi, please baby. It's too late," Will wrapped his arms around me, holding on tight.
I fought against him, trying to get away, hitting his chest with my fists.
"You don't know that!" I yelled at him. "Let me go!"
Janet came up behind me and pulled me away from Will, holding me by the arms. I could hear Rose sobbing behind her now.
"Andi, I'm so sorry but it's too late. We have to go." She looked into my eyes in an almost motherly way before pulling me against her and stroking her hand through my hair.
She kissed my cheek, then took my hand, pulling me along.
I don't even know how many we killed. I fired round after round with my handgun until I was out of ammo. I wasn't a good enough shot with the bow in the dark, but I did my best with that too. Will and Janet did most of the work until we were separated again. By the time we made it past the factory and over a tall fence, the sun was coming up over the horizon. Exhausted, we both collapsed into the grass. Will took my hand and pulled me closer to him. I rolled over, resting my head on his chest, listening to his heart beating hard. He wrapped his other arm around me, holding me so tightly it was hard to breathe and kissed the top of my head. I wanted to just fall asleep there in his arms. The stress, coupled with the physical exhaustion, totally drained me. I wasn't even sure I would be able to get myself off the ground at this point.
I must have started to doze off because I had no idea what was going on when Will pushed me off him and sprung to his feet.
"Wh..what's going on?"
The sun was high enough to tell it must be late morning. I listened to the tell tale sounds of undead, but heard nothing.
"Shh," he whispered, reaching for my hand to pull me to my feet.
This time I heard it, the sound of the fence rattling and branches cracking. It sounded like someone was jumping the fence behind the factory. Flesh eaters didn't jump fences. Will held his bow up, ready to take out anything coming toward us. Up ahead, we saw two figures coming toward us. They were holding on to each other like one was injured and the other was helping them walk.
Once they got a little closer, we realized it was Janet and Rose. Will dropped the bow and ran to help them. Rose was limping, holding on to Janet. Janet's shirt was torn and wrapped around Rose's thigh. Her leg was bloody and you could tell by her expression, she was in a lot of pain. Will scooped Rose into his arms and carried her back to where I stood waiting, and gently laid her on the grass.
Will peeked under the make shift bandage. His eyes shot up to Janet in alarm and I knew right away what had happened.
"She's been bit?" Even though I knew the answer, I had to actually hear the words being said.
"I thought they were finished off. I swear. He came out of nowhere through an air vent on the side of the building," Janet explained, looking guilty.
Rose whimpered, holding tight onto Will's sleeve. What the hell were we supposed to do with her now? I knew the process. I had seen it a few times before. Times, I would rather forget. She had about three days total, maybe less. During that time, she would alternate between excruciating pain, high fevers, unconsciousness, and delirium. It was by no means, an easy process. Eventually, she would turn and become one of them. Before the process was halfway through, most people begged to be put out of their misery. It was the only humane thing to do. It wasn't like we could give her a handful of aspirin and wait for it to pass. This wasn't going to pass.
I thought about what I would do if it were Will who had been bitten. Would I have the strength to end his suffering? I didn't think I would. Rose though, none of us were that invested in her. I didn't want to see her dead, but honestly, I barely knew her and she was already half way there.
"Janet..." Will trailed off.
Janet and I both knew what he couldn't bring himself to say. She was going to die. If we tried to drag her along with us, we all risked meeting the same fate.
"Look Will," Janet pointed out over the trees to a water tower. "You see that? That's the military base. We aren't that far, twenty miles, maybe less."
"Okay, and?"
"If we can just get her there, maybe they can help her? I wasn't honest when I told you I heard talks of a possible cure. Will, I saw the lab. They were close when I left, really close. We need to at least try."
Will was thinking about what she said. I thought she was crazy. Even if there was a cure, how the hell were we gonna get Rose there? She could hardly walk. We couldn't carry her twenty miles. Why did Janet care anyhow? What had gotten into her?
"Please?" Rose looked up at Will, still gripping his shirt, pleading with her big brown eyes.
I could see he was actually considering this crazy plan.
"Will, you can't think this is a good idea?" I asked him, taking his free hand to get him to pay attention to me, hoping it would snap him back to logical thinking.
"Will..." Janet begged.
"Look, she's right. This isn't smart Janet. I can't believe you, of all people, are suggesting this."
"Andi," she turned to me now. "Please, we can't just leave her here to die. Maybe they could save her. What if it was Will who got bit?"
Okay now she was playing dirty. Janet begging me for help was a new one. If it wasn't for Rose's whimpering, I might have actually enjoyed it.
"I'm taking her, with or without, your help. You know my chances without you."
Will took a deep breath, pried Rose's fingers from his sleeve, and pulled me away to talk alone.
"Andi, you know she means that. She will do it on her own if she has to."
"Will, I know she's your friend, but you wanna risk our lives for a dead woman?"
"No. I don't. But babe, when it was you out there needing help, Janet didn't think twice. She battled a horde for you."
Okay he really wasn't playing fair. How could I say no now?
"I get that Will and I'll always be grateful for what all of you did, but her judgment is way off. What even happened with her in the car? She just froze there. There's just not time for behavior like that Will. That's how people get killed."
Now it was me telling him that she was going to get him killed. My, how the tables have turned.
"Andi, that's what happened to her family. They were driving when they ran into a horde. Her husband insisted they stay in the vehicle and drive through it and she wanted to get out and run. She took her son and ran, while her husband refused to get out and drove on. The car was overtaken and her husband was killed. Her son was ripped out of her arms while she tried taking off on foot. Both choices were wrong."
Wow.
"This is what you want?" I took a deep breath, trying to push images of our impending death out of my mind.
"I can't leave her, Andi."
"So twenty miles?" I asked, walking back over to Janet.
She nodded before pulling me in for a hug. I was pretty sure she must have been abducted by aliens and this was now a clone who only looked like the real Janet.
We had about eight or nine hours of daylight to go and twenty miles with an injured girl was gonna be a rough trip.
~Chapter Twenty-Three~
Will carried Rose on his back for the first mile or so, as she moaned, semi-conscious, her arms loosely draped around his neck. We had been keeping an eye out for something we could use to help with Rose. I was starting to think it was hopeless until we found a stray Volkswagen hood, which Janet tied some rope to that she always carried in her pack and made a contraption that we could pull Rose along on. It wasn't light, but it was easier than trying to carry her or help her hobble along. Rose moaned nearly nonstop. I would have loved for the unconscious stage to take over a little early just to shut her up. After we could pull Rose along, we moved much quicker. If we kept up a decent pace, we were likely to make it before dark. That was, if we didn't run into any problems.
Half way through the day, Rose was looking pretty bad. The fever kicked in and she was moaning even louder from the pain. Wet, garbled groans came up from her throat, making her sound like her lungs were filled with a thick liquid that couldn't quite make its way up. We were all exhausted and on edge. My feet ached almost as bad as my hand from pulling on this rope for the last hour. I had blisters on both palms that broke open and were now bleeding, turning the rope a reddish brown from dirt and blood. Both Will and Janet had pulled Rose a lot further than I had, plus Will had carried her for awhile, I couldn't even imagine how they felt, so I wasn't about to complain.
"You need me to take that babe?" Will asked, probably sensing my discomfort.
"Nah I'm fine," I lied.
Will took the rope from my hands, lifting them to see the bloody mess they had become and cringed. I could tell it hurt him more to see me like that than it actually felt to me.
"I got it," he insisted, not about to let me take the rope again.
I wasn't going to argue with him about it.
"Janet, can you take care of this please," Will called over to Janet, tossing her the first aid kit from his pack.
Will kept walking, pulling Rose along as Janet quickly bandaged up my hands.
"I've seen people die from infections on smaller wounds than this, Andi. You should have said something."
Yeah, right. So she could make a comment about me being a princess or something. No thanks.
"Look Andi, I know we haven't exactly been friends or anything. I just want you to know it's nothing personal. I just care about Will and I don't wanna see anything happen to him. I know that he wouldn't have helped me do this if you asked him not to. So thank you for that." She looked genuinely grateful and continued bandaging, more gently than I would have expected from her.
