We'd been lucky with the weather up to today. The sky is grey, and bares little sun on our planet. No rain yet, but its imminent. At noon, Eva herded us to a restaurant: Doobie's Diner. The seats are glittery red under a thick layer of dust. One of the lights is somehow still working.
She looked out the window, where a half crispen building seems to be melting around a tall redwood tree. "We shouldn't move today," she tells me, "it's going to rain."
It's a bold decision- we’ve never paused more than a couple hours in daylight. Then again, there wasn't much daylight to call it that.
Augustus had heard us. He took it as his chance to make some influence again. "Stop now? You've got to be kidding me." Once again, his loud voice brought everyone's attention to our conversation. They were all listening.
"It could start pouring at any minute. That's going to be a miserable ride."
"Since when did you become the weather girl? And since when was this job supposed to be comfortable? It's not our job to cruise around in the sun all day. We have to move." Augustus had actually made a valid argument. Some of the others were joining his side now, a chorus of head nods and excited mumbles.
"The point of this job is to survive," Eva grumbled. "You keep acting like this is some kind of competition. Well guess what? You can't get anywhere when you're sick with a fever because you've been riding around with soppy clothes."
"Maybe your body can't handle a little drizzle," Augustus scoffed, "but everyone else here- I'm sure of it- could take a little challenge. Besides, if it starts to rain- worst case scenario- we end up back at Doobie's. We can push ourselves, right my friends?"
A few teammates were already settled on Augustus's decision, and the zipping of bags was all the sound that remained now. No one argued for Eva- not even me. I was one of the people who still quietly remained on the fence, wondering which of the two would compromise their plan first. Eva, slightly dejected that her merit was no longer being recognized, still seemed adamant on staying.
"Its not worth it, Augustus. If something bad happens, it adds a whole new layer to the problem if the weather is like this."
"Fine," Augustus raised his eyebrows, like he was suddenly struck with an idea. "If this is all about comfort levels and not about the actual job, what’s to say we can't split up? D-1..." he pointed at himself, and then to Eva, "...D-2."
Splitting the group had never crossed any of our minds until now. We all knew there were many safety benefits to traveling together, but it wasn't always convenient to have nine other bodies to look after. Eyes were shifting around in confusion and uncertainty as Augustus and a few other boys- his closer friends from the group- heaved their bags over their shoulders and started towards the door.
The reality of it was all the remaining people would leave with D-1 too. As great of a leader as she'd proven herself to be, Eva couldn't perform as well in an emergency situation compared to those three well-built men.
I did what I had to do to keep the group together.
I grabbed my bag and hurried out the door behind them.
The cold was already biting my arms. Eva chased me outside, but she couldn't get a word in before Augustus.
"Ah, the loyal sidekick decides to switch sides! How interesting..."
"Jace, what are you doing!?"
I hopped on my bike in silence. Already three more recruiters had come out as well. I was sure the other two were getting prepared to leave already. Eva lowered my arm forcefully as I tried to put my helmet on, and her aggressive action sent chills down my body, I ignored the sparkling sensation between my legs and gave her my reason. "Let's not split the group, Eva. Augustus might be right. Like he said- in the worst case we can turn back. You can say you were right."
A girl had Eva's bag strap across her arm. "Come on Eva, you shouldn't be alone."
She took a deep breath and gave in.
After riding a week in the front, I was too used to the position to give it up. A few minutes into the ride I noticed that Eva was somewhere in the middle of the line. It was Augustus who was next to me this time, his two buddies close behind us. With his incredibly loud voice, he was still able to talk to me- although I couldn't say much as yes or no in return. He seemed to prefer the one way conversation anyways.
At one point he asked, "so are you and Eva like... a thing, or something?"
"No!" I shouted back. I wasn't sure why I sounded so defensive.
"Oh good," he laughed, "'cause you can do so much better, man! I know there's not a lot to look at around here, but I mean, even Wilda Kenks beats oink-oink back there, am I right?"
"She's not that bad man, come on." Being serious with him would serve no purpose, but his slandering humor was starting to annoy me. I may have thought Eva was beautiful, what was so wrong with that? Ever since she'd opened her story to me and taken charge of our group, I started to look through her physical features and see her for the courageous girl she actually was. In fact, I was starting to believe I had less of a chance with her than she did with me. She was too focused on the task of getting us through our assigned route while reaching out to as many drifters as possible; if she thought about me becoming more than a friend she didn't show it. Her indifference to me didn't make my secret attraction to her any easier.
Augustus's laughter roared louder than his bike's motor. "You're funny, Jace. You're one of those nice guys. Every group needs to have one I guess. You should join me, Tid and Masco. We'll be unstoppable!"
He was charming, alright, I had to give him that. I liked the sound of having a quartet of bros to depend upon in this wild recruiting game, and I was already somewhat convinced. Tid and Masco were decent men from what I'd seen. Augustus? I guess he's "one of those mean guys." Every group needs to have one, right?
We sighted something unusual in the distance. A car had been flipped over, and the rusted metal works of its belly had some white markings on them. Augie and I halted the group.
The spray paint had faded, and it took some time to decipher the message.
Port Antigone Shelter - 50 miles South
"That's just an hour and half," Augustus exclaimed, "we can stop there for the night, and have an early-off day! Let's push this last stretch, people!"
His engine roared back to life before anyone could differ from his suggestion. A deep mist had already coated the atmosphere, and it didn't take long for the rain to start pouring down. My knuckles felt numb with the combination of wind and wet handles. I looked over at Augie occasionally but he kept his head forward, moving along while pretending he wasn't feeling what all of us surely were.
Ten minutes went by and then we heard a series of honks. One of the people in the back had started to tremble so badly that they could no longer control their bike. Eva was waiting with her, as well as one other person. A third had sped up to us to stop the group.
"What do we do?" Masco looked to Augie for a solution. Although he may have been wrong in pushing the limits, he was still the leader in the present moment.
His eyes flickered to the distance, and then he looked at me. "I guess we should find the nearest place to take shelter."
But there was nowhere to go. We'd been traveling along a narrow highway, only one lane to the east and one to the west. The rest was trees.
The girl who'd fallen wasn't too badly hurt -only suffering from rashes from scratching the asphalt- but she was shivering worse than the leaves in the wind. She kept apologizing when she was Augustus and I approaching, her eyes red and framed with teardrops.
Eva, who had been crouching next to her to comfort the girl, stood up to meet us. Though it was obvious in her face that she was frustrated her advice had not been heeded, she did not mention anything. "She needs to get somewhere warm, or she's going to be too sick to move tomorrow."
"She can sit on the back of my bike," Augie suggested, "we can still make it to Port Antigone."
"Penny isn't the only one struggling," Eva snapped, and a crack of thunder followed. She looked up to the sky and then sighed down at her feet. "We have to find the next place on foot, and leave our bikes here. The zombies must already be on their way because of the noise."
Something I'd picked up from living in Ramecha was that the z-word had become as triggering as a cuss to the people who'd lived within the confines their whole life. After all, most of the natives had never even seen one in real life. Augie seemed startled by her statement, but nevertheless nodded in agreement.
Another crash, and the rain poured even harder. Now I could barely hear anything under the sound of water droplets panging on my helmet.
Eva led a group off the road while Augustus, Tid, Masco and I took care of everyone's bikes, parking them all where we could find them tomorrow.
Then I heard another boom- but it wasn't thunder. It was a gunshot.
"Look out!" Masco screamed.
This one was large- maybe a teenager. It was so deformed I couldn't tell whether it had been a boy or a girl. Half of its skeleton crept out of its skin. It was just a few feet away from me, disguised between the trees and shadows.
Masco had shot it once, but anyone who knew about zombies knows it's not that easy. They don't respond to pain, and their chests are useless to puncture; it was as if they didn't need their lungs. A shot to the heart could stop one, but that required precision, especially in the younger ones. Even then, they seemed to gather themselves and keep coming at you. A shot to the head would eventually kill one, but still, they could keep moving for enough time to do some damage.
I had never used a gun before. I sure none of us had. We were given guns, not training, not training. One was useless without the other, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to even draw my gun, much less shoot it. I'd only ever had to fight a zombie when I was with my parents, and we never killed them ourselves. We did what he had to do- hit them- run them over- then we'd make a run for it.
I shot the zombie in the head just as my mind finished racing with all these thoughts of self-doubt. It slowed, and then flopped over.
There were several more coming from behind that one. All of them were teens.
Unlike the tales in stories, these creatures moved just as fast as they could. Only a serious injury could stop them, and that didn't mean a hole in the leg, it meant a missing leg. All of these were mostly healthy compared to the first-comer, and they were charging.
I knew we had to flee, but Augustus stood his ground. He had his gun raised, parallel to his face. He shot several times in a row- until he ran out of ammo. It caused some of them to fall, but three were still sprinting right at him.
"You have to run!" I cried, but he responded too late. He kicked one of them off his leg, barely managing to scamper back to his feet.
I'd been so preoccupied watching Augustus struggle to catch up with me that I'd forgotten to keep moving. Tid and Masco were already out of sight.
Augie was beside me now, and we were speeding down the road as fast as we could- but running straight meant running in a random direction. We were lost.
He slowed down and both of us looked behind. Had we shaken off our pursuers?
We pressed our backs against a van, and both of us were trying not to breathe as hard as we were. The van began to shake. Zombies were not very intelligent at times; they tried to walk straight to the smell of their target, often mindlessly banging their bodies against solid surfaces to the point of dismembering themselves.
Finally one had found its way around the side, and I promptly shot it in the neck. At the same time, another had climbed over the van and jumped onto my back.
Augustus tried to help me pry it off, but it was too late. I felt teeth entering my skin.
The first stage is absolute pain.
The second stage is doubt. You doubt it just happened to you. You think maybe it wasn't that bad, maybe its survivable. You think of just about anything to keep from giving up. Fear kept me from allowing these things to continue eating away at my body; the thought was disturbing.
The next stage was anger, and I used that anger like fuel. I yanked off the door to the van; it wasn't difficult since the metal hinges were already aged with rust. Wielding the door like a shield, I pressed it up against the remaining zombies and watched them sloppily tumble to the ground.
While they fought against gravity, trying to find some way back to their feet, I managed to shoot each of the between the eyes. Four eardrum piercing bangs, and just one zombie left. Augustus was wrestling the one that had bit me. He screamed in agony as the creature sunk its teeth into his wrist.
I didn't have another bullet to spare, so while he continued to pin it down, I came around with the door to the van, placing the ridge across it's neck. With the energy I had left, I managed to sever the head from the body in one push.
They were all dead. Augustus and I had both been bitten. We looked at each other, completely out of breath. We wore blood all over our bodies- some of it, our own.
Eva broke into tears when she saw us. Tid and Masco were already at the campsite they'd created, and probably had relayed the news that we might not make it. "Are you okay?" she wrapped her arms around me for a moment that felt too short.
"We were both bitten," Augustus spoke for me, "we'll need to be disinfected and sewn up, but the vaccine should take care of the rest."
"Of course," she nodded her head, "come, follow me. We found a truck in the forest. Looks like someone tried and failed getting around the traffic. It's not big enough for all of us, but Penny is feeling better- you two can stay inside."
Everyone stared as we entered the circle. They built a fire beside the truck, and I was enchanted by the flame.
The fourth stage is wonder.
Will I die soon? Will I turn?
What if I turn and I infect more people? What will happen to my parents when the world discovers that I have lied about my age? What if they can't kill me in time, and I continue to roam around and kill, fully conscious yet unable to stop myself?
The fire dances, taunting me to come closer. Should I save everyone the trouble and end my life now? Should I walk into the flame?
I try to take a step forward, but my body is stiff. My neck aches and pulses. I just realized that Eva had been calling my name multiple times. "Jace, are you-"
The sound goes mute. The flames grows darker. My eyes close; I don't exactly feel it when my back touches the floor.
Just dreams now.
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