The dreams returned again, and I, again, did not sleep that night. I simply lay there, my eyes getting heavy. But as soon as I start to doze I see the man die. I am tired and my head is pounding, but all I can see is death.
* * *
Josh runs into the entrance startling us while we sat and ate. We look up quickly. I had placed my hand on the hilt of my machete and I notice Chad does the same with the gun behind him. Josh runs over to where we are, stopping just before running into us. It is nearly noon and we had all sat down to eat lunch. Seeley has taken a liking to Chad and so sits on his lap while he feeds him spoon-fulls of rice, but even Seeley is now looking up at Josh with curiosity.
"That large group of zombies that over ran the tent are in the city." I look at Dawn and her eyes are wide. I am sure mine are too. "They're close and we could only just make it here. We were held down in a gas station, hiding, for most of the night while they passed. We got here as soon as we could." he pauses and puts his hand over his mouth. There are hundreds. Like they're . . . like they're migrating or something."
"That's what I thought that morning at the camp," I say, but quickly change the subject. "All of our stuff is packed. Lets load it up quickly and get out of here."
"Why is it . . ." Josh ignores the question for now.
We quickly pack up everything, Charlotte has her gas mask on and Dawn and the boys do as well. She is fighting Seeley with his, but they are on. They each wait in the Hummer while Josh, Chad and I load up our supplies. The gas cans are filled and on the roof of the vehicle. He stack our supplies in such a way that someone can sit in the back with the weapons and food and Chad decides to sit back there, on a cooler Josh and Charlotte had brought back. We had filled it with cans of beans and rice and other vegetables and fruit, all in cans. Josh sat up front with Charlotte driving, and Dawn and I sat with our boys between us.
Charlotte quickly goes north on Hwy 1, trying to get to Hwy 20 that can take us back to Sacramento and back to Chad's house. There are some zombies on the road. Only a few, but enough to make it harder to avoid them. Charlotte swerves the car back and forth over the road, but the farther north we get the more there are. It is obvious they've already passed by Fort Bragg. I can see the turn to get onto Hwy 20, but there are a lot of zombies in our way. They see us and more are starting to come onto the road. Charlotte speeds up and we hit one of them with the left front side of the car. Blood sprays on Charlotte's side window and some of mine. Josh has his window open and is firing at oncoming zombies. We bounce over those that have fallen.
There are a lot now and Josh is back inside. Many grab onto the Hummer and hang on as we speed down the road and make a turn onto Hwy 20. There are still more, for several yards, walking across the highway, now turning towards us. Charlotte swerves off of the road onto the dirt and into a parking lot, mowing down bushes as she does so. There are less in the parking lot and so swerves around one, clipping a parked car, and then hitting it anyway. There is a dirt field just after the parking lot and she drives onto it, speeding as fast as the Hummer will go. If she hits an upright at this speed we will flip over.
There are still several on the road as we get back onto it and Charlotte hits one, sucking it under the Hummer. There is a loud bang and the right hand side begins to lower dramatically.
"Shit!" Charlotte says as she grabs a gun nearby. Josh opens his door and swings around firing.
"Dawn," I say loudly over the gun fire. "Get down and if they get to close lock all of the doors. She nods and puts the boys on the floor of the car. Chad and I get out at the same time. I throw my bag on, so I have access to my machete, and pull my M21 in front of me. There are only a few left near us. I fire several rounds and hit two of them in the head.
"Chad!" Josh yells. Get the tire changed. He turns to the rear and takes off the tire that is connected to the rear door. It takes him some time and we stand around him as he does so. Firing occasionally. Josh and I follow him around the car as Charlotte stays on the other side.
"There is a bone stuck in the tire," Chad says. amazed. "Like a rib or something." I look back, and sure enough, there is a large bone sticking out of the rubber. He gets the tire off quickly. I fire several shots but miss the zombie that is about one hundred feet away. I miss and wish I still had the CZ 750. They are moving closer and I fire again. Dropping most I aim at. Charlotte yells for help and Josh runs over to the other side of the car.
"I really enjoy," I say, and then fire a round, "how anytime we want to go anywhere, or stay anywhere, or do anything, we have to fight these guys off. I mean, seriously . . ."
"Well, think about it. Every person that was infected and died, which is probably most people, got turned," he strained on that word, turning the tire iron to tighten on of the last bolts, "and so, we basically have to fight against all of humanity."
Truth be told. I had never though about it that way. "Think about how it spreads," Chad continues, "If it is airborne then that would explain how it happened so quickly. And most people wouldn't have time to," I fire several rounds and miss what he says. "or anything, and so I would guess that most of the population is gone."
"We're now the one percent," I say in with some dark sense of humor. Chad laughs and tightens the last bolt.
"Yeah," he says, "I guess so." He stands up and yells, "Lets go!"
We each make our way into the car shut the doors and drive off. Leaving the zombies behind to migrate south or move wherever they have been moving to.
* * *
We make it to Chad's house a little after sunset. The ride was uneventful for the remainder of the ride and I found that curious. We had to drive through Sacramento, where I know there are a lot of zombies but none are in sight and none are on the highway. I hate not knowing so many things. Are there many survivors? Did the disease hit everywhere in the US? In the world? Is there work being done on a cure?
We are flying blind.
Chad's house is as we left it. Rear door busted out, but nothing stolen. His note is still painted on the wall. He wanders around it for an hour, shinning his flashlight on different objects. I watch him for a bit with Dawn standing next to me. He grabs a photo of all three of them and takes it out of its frame, folds it and places it in his jacket pocket.
Soon, we each turn in. Chad allows Dawn and me the master bedroom and bed to help hold us and our two kids. They are out in a manner of minutes and Dawn and I are soon to follow.
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