She sat there without saying a word. It had been three blocks since we saw anyone out walking around. It told me they had moved on for food or they were all dead. I hoped it was the first one, because if it was the second and they were dead, there was no hope for us or anyone else to beat this shit.
The quiet was eerie and I found myself getting in my own head. What would I do if one of us ended up with this before we got the answers we needed? She said she cut her leg on the tote, but I hadn’t been there to see it. What if she was lying so I didn’t kick her out? That wouldn’t have been unheard of, but it would have been rude, and I hadn’t seen her ever as rude.
She could have said the same about me though with the cut on my hand, only she hadn’t. She stuck by me and made me understand I hadn’t cut it on one of the infected. Shaking my head, I pushed that thought out and told myself it would be alright.
“Jake?”
“What?”
“Where is everyone?”
“I don’t know. There were so many when we left the house.”
“I know and now there isn’t a soul around other than a bear.”
“We need to keep going. It’s our only chance. If they aren’t here to get in our way, we need to be thankful for that and not question it too much. If this area got hit hard first, they might have moved from here already.”
“I thought about that too, but we’ve seen them eating the dead. If they are around, wouldn’t it make sense for them to stay and feast?”
“I thought that too. I don’t know what’s going on, Cammy. I do think we should swing by the hospital though if it stays this quiet.”
“Why would you want to do that?” she shrieked.
“Because our supplies have been hit hard. If I can sneak in and grab another round of bandages and antibiotics, it might help us. I know we don’t have far to go to the armory, but if they don’t have what we need, we will want to have it.”
“I think that is a dumb idea.”
“It might be. I don’t know if we will yet. We are still a few miles away and anything can happen in those last few miles.”
“Oh, I know.”
We made it a few more blocks without seeing another person. The stillness of the night without a sound was eerie. I turned the corner seeing the top of the hospital standing out above the smaller buildings surrounding it.
And froze.
The whole parking lot of the hospital was crawling with infected. They knew enough to go there for help before the virus reached the point where they turned into walking corpses, but they hadn’t gotten help and that was exactly what we faced.
One younger man saw us and grunted. That was all it took for the others to turn in our direction. I was sure some of them were people we knew, but the way their faces melted off them, it was impossible to tell who was who.
“Get that gun ready, but don’t shoot if you don’t have to. We are limited.”
“I know. I’m ready.”
“I think we are going to have to skip the medical supplies and hope they have enough at the armory.”
“Probably a good idea. Can you get us out of here?”
“I’m going.”
They picked up speed and were getting closer to circling us. I had to make a move and fast if we were going to get out of there.
I tried to go back and was blocked in. A man with his face dripping down his neck stood in our way. There wasn’t a good way to get around him and there were at least six moving toward us in the front. I looked to the left and was blocked there, so I looked to the right. There was a smaller female in the way, so I lined up the car and headed her way. She didn’t move and when I got closer, I swore I saw a smile slither across her face before I hit her. The bump, bump of running over her body was nothing compared to the sound of air leaking out of the rear tire from hitting her.
“Shit.”
“What is that, Jake?”
“She popped the tire somehow when I ran her over.”
“What are we going to do now?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t stay in this thing. It’s not going to get us very far and we are sitting ducks here.”
“It’s like they know too. Look at them swarming.”
“I see them. And we can’t run either.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You can run.”
“I’m not leaving you. We do this together or not at all.”
“Jake, don’t be dumb. If you have to leave, then leave. I don’t want you to though, but I would understand.”
“Then we stay together. Get that gun ready. I think I see a car across the parking lot that we can take. It’s not going to be easy to get there though.”
“You’re not going out there are you?”
“I have to. If we want to get out of here, then it’s our only shot.”
“There’s too many of them.”
“It’ll be fine. I need you to take that gun though and do something for me.”
“What?”
“Shoot it over there away from me. See if you can get them to move that way somehow so I can get over to the car. We only have one shot at this, so make it count.”
“I will.”
I started to open the door so I could run when she fired.
“Jake? Be careful.”
“Go.”
Boom.
Boom.
She fired like I asked, and I watched them turn in the direction of the shot. As soon as I saw a thin line, I made a break for it.
I was almost at the little green Toyota when I was grabbed from behind.
“Help me,” the older lady begged.
It took me a second to realize who I was staring at and when I figured it out, I almost threw up.
There in front of me was what was left of my grandma. One of her arms was gone and her face was so far gone that her eye was falling out of the socket. I stood frozen as she hobbled closer dragging her left leg behind her. With her remaining hand, she reached for me and all I saw were bony spindles where her plump fingers used to be.
She was the only thing stopping me from getting to the car and I knew what I had to do to help her. I wasn’t sure if I could though. It was one thing to kill strangers or someone I went to school with, but that was my grandma and the one who practically raised me. I also knew my way of thinking was screwed up because she was already dead.
I knew what I had to do for her.
“I love you, Grandma,” I whispered as I took the hammer out of my pocket and moved closer.
Bringing my hand up above my head, I swung down connecting with the top of her head. It went in like I had hit a bowl of jello. The head of the hammer went through the bone without an issue and stuck in what was left of her brain matter.
Pulling it back out, I watched as she collapsed at my feet, and I knew I helped her. She pooled at my feet in a puddle of blood. It was the worst place for her, and she hadn’t deserved it.
“I’m sorry, Grandma. I love you.”
I made it to the car I was after and pulled the handle up. Looking around for the keys, my heart dropped when I couldn’t find them. Cammy was counting on me and I was letting her down.
“Dammit.” I slammed my hands on the steering wheel and heard something jingle. Moving the visor, they fell into my lap. I put them in the ignition and started the car on the first try.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I heard the Toyota fire up and let out the breath I had been holding. Reaching behind me, I grabbed the ammo laying on the seat. I had enough for a few more shots from the shotgun. The rest was for the rifle in the backseat. All I could do was hope it would be enough to keep the infected off Jake until he grabbed our gear and tossed it in the new ride.
He detoured around the parking lot. I knew what he hoped to do. If they were distracted, he would have a better chance at getting back to me. Several of them were focused on the infected Jake killed with his hammer. I didn’t know why, but something inside wasn’t settling right about the woman I saw him put down. She seemed familiar, but with the infection raging on her body, I couldn’t tell from a distance.