"I think there are more out there now. From the interstate or maybe from families that didn't make it to safety."
Katie nodded. "We need to leave now."
"Kill me and my Dad first"
Katie looked sharply at the boy.
"Please, I don't want to be…that." The boy looked at the doors to the mess hall, his lips trembling.
Unable to look into his face anymore, Katie walked into the kitchen and found a man and a woman locked in a tight embrace in one corner. Already, he was not looking very well. He was sweating hard and his face looked grayish-green. He had multiple bites on his neck and shoulder. Blood was streaming down his chest. He was fading faster than his son who just had one little bite.
The woman looked up at Katie with glassy eyes and said, "You need to help us."
Katie walked over and looked at the man. He looked at Katie's gun, then at his wife.
"Take my wife with you. Do me and the boy a favor," he said softly. "You better go soon."
Katie hesitated, her brain feeling numb and overwhelmed, then nodded.
"I will."
"I'm not leaving them! I'm not leaving them," the woman shrieked. She was the classic soccer Mom of this area. Blond, short bob haircut, slightly pudgy, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.
Katie ignored her and walked over to the big stainless steel sinks. If she was correct, she could see the outside door from the high window over sinks.
Hoisting herself up, she peered out. To her relief, just one zombie was banging on the door. But that didn't mean there weren't more out there.
Jumping down she moved over to Jason and Jenni.
"Listen. Now." Her voice was so authoritative she sounded like her father for a moment. "We're leaving. I need both of you to stop crying right fucking now!"
They both blinked rapidly at her words and she could see that Jason immediately understood and wiped his tears away. Jenni reluctantly let go of her stepson and stood trembling.
"Okay. Now. Jason's friend is bit. So is the Dad. The mother is fine.
Those who are not bitten, we're leaving now. Before more arrive and the zombie football player busts through those doors." Katie pulled her revolver out of her holster and turned around to look at the man who was looking more and more dead with every second. "I'll take your wife."
He nodded, his fingers pressed tight to his bleeding throat. "Finish me.
And my son. Don't let us…don't let us…Take my wife with you, please."
Katie nodded.
The man kissed his wife and his son threw his arms around his neck.
They all three clung together as Katie approached.
She felt sick. She felt shaken. She felt anger. She felt sadness. But she didn't want this self-sacrificing man to die like the man back in that town.
Like Lydia had.
The wife's head was buried in the man's shoulder, her body heaving.
The man closed his eyes and Katie fired a single shot.
Blood spray didn't affect her anymore, she realized dully.
The son looked up at her, crying, covered in fresh blood, but nodding…ready.
The mother, though, launched herself at Katie, screaming,
"MURDERER!" and almost sank a knife she had been holding the whole time into Katie's chest. It was only her son tackling her and driving her to the ground that stopped her.
"Shit!" Katie said, her eyes wide, watching the struggle on the floor.
The boy rolled off his Mom, the knife buried in his side. The mother rose screaming and charged at Katie again.
Jenni stepped forward and slammed her upside the head with a pan and sent the crazed woman sprawling.
Wordlessly, Katie handed off the revolver to Jenni and headed to the door to the outside, snatching the shotgun up and cocking it. Not even hesitating, she whipped the door open and shot the zombie in the head before he could register that the door was open. Then she was running while reloading the shotgun with Jack at her heels and Jenni and Jason taking up the rear.
The woman came out of the building behind them, still screaming her incoherent words of rage at them. Howls rose in the forest. It was obvious they heard the woman and were now alerted of their escape.
"Fucking bitch," Jenni shouted in anger.
"Just run!" As Katie ran she could see figures emerging from the woods, moving fast. It would be close. Down to seconds.
She automatically hit the UNLOCK button on the keyless remote and the truck whistled at them. Ripping the driver side door open, she turned to cover those behind her with the shotgun. Knowing the drill, Jack hurtled into the truck. Jenni raced past her, Jason in tow, to the passenger side.
Two sharp cracks of Jenni's revolver let Katie know it was getting closer.
The woman was almost on top of her now, screaming wordlessly. Not a zombie, but not human anymore. She wasn't infected, but her mind was gone. Behind her, still stabbed through, her son followed.
"Mom! Mom," he cried out.
And behind him, appearing in the doorway, a large, looming zombie followed by others.
Football Zombie guy had arrived.
The first blast of Katie's shotgun took out the mother.
The boy recoiled, stopped, stared at Katie, then leaned forward, his hands on his knees, and nodded.
Feeling numb, tired, but determined to do as the boy had asked, Katie fired and the boy fell back just as the football zombie hit him.
Then she was in the truck, slamming the door shut. She turned to look at Jenni and found herself looking at Jason. Jenni was crammed between him and the door. A zombie was already banging on the passenger side door.
"That went well," Katie finally said as she turned on the truck and shifted gears.
The truck did a sharp U-turn and sped down the dirt road away from the camp.
3. Return to Hell’s Highways
The next hour was rough. Jason slid between the front seats into the back seat and ended up with a lap full of doggy. Jenni leaned around the side of her seat, held his hands, and spoke in a tremulous voice as she recounted her story.
It hurt Katie just to hear Jenni's words. Jason's sobs from behind her told her how much those words devastated him.
Jenni broke down more than once as she told the story.
"…I woke up to the Benji screaming out "Mama" and there were…noises…"
"…I thought Mikey was still with me, but I was alone on the front steps…"
"…Tiny fingers…under the door…your father would never get the front door weather-stripping…"
At times, Jenni's voice vanished into anguished sobs of despair and Katie would reach out, eyes still on the road, to touch her shoulder.
Jason whispered, "No, no, no", but really did accept and understand what was being said. His family was gone and he had probably known it all along. But to hear how it happened was cutting deep. He seemed so young, no older than fifteen, and he would have to grow old quickly to survive.
When Jenni told of Katie's rescue of her, Jason's hand- a boy's hand still, not quite a man's- touched Katie's shoulder and he whispered, "Thank you.
Thank you!"
It took all of Katie's willpower not to cry.
Finally, Jenni told about the store. About Ralph and his Israeli wife who used to be a sniper and their newfound safe haven.
"And the hunting store is safe?"
"As safe as this world gets now," Katie answered. "Which reminds me, I need to check in."
Soon, Ralph's voice filled the cab.
"Yeah, we cleared out most of the town. No one in sight now. Awful mess though. All those bodies. I'll have to figure a way to get them away from the store so the stench won't be so bad. We're ready and clear for ya. Found Bill, our deputy sheriff was holed up down the road at the Parker place. He managed to get here on foot. Mighty brave of him. He wasn't bit. So he's safe.
We'll put him and yer boy up in the living room on cots."
"That's good news. You don't know how badly we want to get home."
Katie couldn't help but smile at the thought of reaching the store.
"How's the gas?"
"Honestly, we're coming in on fumes. We..ah…forgot the back up canisters."
"Noticed. Well, stay yer course. Stay steady. You should make it back okay if you do. We'll be on the lookout for you."
"Thanks, Ralph. We'll see you soon," Katie said and handed the CB transceiver to Jenni, who promptly secured it back to the dashboard.
Glancing into her rear view mirror, Katie saw Jason rubbing his eyes and nose. Jack was pressed up against him, whimpering softly, licking at his face. That brought a small smile to the boy's face and he hugged the dog tightly.
"Listen, both of you. We need to keep our heads together the rest of this trip. We can't lose it now."
Jenni looked at Katie plaintively and sighed. "I know. I know. I blew it."
"We just got lucky. But it could have gone down so much worse. You even left your gun behind."
Jenni took a breath and let it out slowly. She ran her hands over her bedraggled ponytail. "I…I just wanted him to be alive."