Pestilence

Chapter 5

Liam

September 24

1800 Hours

“So tell me something, Weathers.”

“Sure.”

Daniel keeps his eyes on the road as he continues, “You’re active duty, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then how on God’s green earth did you manage to not be deployed right now. I figured that almost everyone in the service would be out defending our borders right now.”

I shrug solemnly and look down at my hands which are caked with dry blood, “They just put me on leave a week ago. I’m sure if they knew things were going to get this bad they wouldn’t have even given me leave.”

I look through the smears of dirt on the window and out into the world. We’ve gotten away from the city and into the rural parts of Illinois. It’s eerily quiet here, the calm before the storm. We’d decided to take our chances and drive down the opposite side of the highway. We had plowed our way through a horde that was surrounding an abandoned Semi. Part of me wondered if there was some poor person holed up in there waiting for the worst to past. The other part of me didn’t want to know. Now we were at a place where the violence hadn’t concentrated yet. We were between towns, I could see smoke drifting in the air behind and ahead of us, but here, where we were at this exact moment, the world was untouched by the zombie plague.

“Well that’s just some dumb luck then I guess.” Daniel muses,

“Yeah I guess so. I doubt that the Army is making much of a difference at this point. I’m not even sure how exactly this thing is spreading.”

“You got me. I ain’t no scientist.”

I laugh despite the situation, “They probably aren’t helping much either at this point.

“Well aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine.” Daniel remarks,

“I’m just callin ‘em as I see ‘em.” I reply simply

“Well I sure hope someone exceeds your expectations.”

“You and me both.” I mutter.

The smoke in the air starts to thicken. We’re nearing the next town. I can see Daniel’s fingers tighten nervously on the wheel. He slows slightly as our line of vision shortens. Here the highway is clogged with vehicles on both sides of the road. Some are still running with turned people desperately trying to claw their way out. I shift anxiously in my seat. The squeal of tires on pavement gives Daniel just enough warning to veer the truck to the side of the road before a car goes careening by in the opposite direction.

“Jeez.” He mutters angrily. I look back just in time to see the car slam into one of it’s coffin like counterparts on the highway.

“Turn back. They might need our help.” I order swiftly.

Daniel makes a u-turn and heads back to the crash. Before he even stops I hop out of the car and sprint the rest of the way. Both windshields  are smashed. The previously trapped zombie had traveled across the hood and was making a feast out of one of the unconscious passengers. He rips a stringy hunk of flesh off the passenger and turns to look at me. I run forward and plant my knife between those two moldy green eyes. The zombie lets out one last moan and crumples on the hood.

‘Damn.” I mutter.

“What a mess.” Daniel comments from behind me,

“I know.” I reply with a shake of my head.”

“Not just this.” He says grimly, “How the hell did something like this happen. The first signs of this happened what, three, four hours ago, and now all we see are dead bodies.

“I watch the bitten passenger uneasily, “Maybe it started earlier our here. We have no idea how long this thing has been spreading for.”

“That could be. Whatever it is they better come up with a cure fast or there will be nothing left to cure.”

The bitten passenger begins to stir. She shakes slightly and rolls her head back and forth. When she looks up at me with those moldy green eyes I put her out of her misery.

“Lets go before the others wake up.” I mutter

“They weren’t bitten.” Daniel points out,

“Lets not take any chances. Who knows what can make them turn.”

Daniel plants his feet more firmly on the asphalt, “Then we should stay. Figure out if they do turn when they aren’t bitten. For future reference.”

I look around us uneasily. We’re exposed. Zombies could come at us from any direction and we would have little warning. Although maybe if we stayed for a little while we could pick up some other survivors. That and Daniel was looking pretty determined to stay where he was,

“Fine, but if there are any signs of trouble we get back in the car and leave. We don’t have much man power between the two of us.”

He frowns slightly, “From the way you handled yourself back at that service station I don’t think you would need any backup.”

I shake my head and look around again, “It’s different out here, they could be coming from anywhere. And it’s getting dark.”

“It’s different everywhere now.” I don’t reply to the old man’s cynical voice. Instead I scan the trees in the distance for signs of movement. My ears pick up a slight scuffle and moan just in time for me to turn and see zombies start to shamble around our idling pick up in a seemingly never ending stream. Their groans grow twice as loud when they pick up the scent of fresh meat.

“Time to go!” I call to Daniel. His eyes grow wide just as I push him forcefully in the opposite direction,

“We can’t go back. We’ll run straight into the arms of the Chicago horde.” Daniel says quickly,

“I know I know.” I call back. For now at least we have speed on the horde. But they won’t get tired. Slow and steady wins the race. I rack my brain for an escape plan. The only way out is to go into the unknown,

“We need to get off the highway.” I say finally. In the dimming light the trees look extremely foreboding. Right now I wish I had my bag of guns which were sitting in the truck bed under a tarp. Maybe we could go back for them later, although they would probably be gone.

“We have no idea what is out there.” Daniel says back nervously. I can hear his breaths starting to become raspy,

“It’s our only choice.” With one last look at the horde which is not far behind, we turn and step off the highway and into the unknown.