“Wake up,” Ben said to Victoria, gently slapping her face.
Her eyes fluttered briefly before opening wide. She gasped for air, as if breathing were a foreign concept. She grabbed Ben’s shoulders as she calmly let her lungs fill up with the sweet country air.
“Don’t tell me…” she muttered, tears clinging to the corners of her eyes. She did nothing to stop them from falling. “Please… God…”
“We’ll get your girls back, Vic,” Ben said. “I promise.”
“I think we should get going,” Ross said. “I can smell the dead. They’re not too far away.”
“Me too,” Paul Scott said. “Maybe we can find somewhere to hold up,” he suggested.
“What’s the point?” Bob the Cowboy said, putting his hat back on. “It’s only going to delay the inevitable.” He shook his head. “You heard the sumbitch. Ain’t nobody ever lasted longer than twenty minutes.”
“So what do we do?” Ross asked. “Wait to die?” He shook his head furiously, brow furrowing. “Uh-uh. No way. I’m not going down like that.”
“Well, I’m staying here,” Bob the Cowboy stated. “Ya’ll can go run off and get eaten by zombies, that’s fine by me. But I’m waiting for those sumbitches right here. And they gonna put me down honorably.” He made his hand into a gun and pressed his pointer finger against his temple, then lowered his thumb. “I ain’t gonna be a pawn in their little game.”
“Look. We should spread out,” Josh said.
“What?” Ben stared at Josh wearily. “No, we stay together.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. If we want to be slaughtered simultaneously.” Josh paced around them. “We break off into small groups. We’ll be able to hide better and they’ll be easier to overtake separated.”
“What if they hunt together?” Ross asked. “Like in a pack?”
Josh looked at him. “That’s why we gotta spread out.”
Ben helped Victoria to her feet. “Okay. Let’s break off into groups of three. Josh, you’re with me and Victoria. Ross, you and your son go with Bob.”
“Told ya’ll. I ain’t going anywhere.”
“Fine. Then Ross and Landry go with Tabby and Anthony. Paul, you’re with us. That’s two groups of four. Good?”
“It’s better than one group of eight,” Josh said.
“Ya’ll are running out of time,” Bob the Cowboy said. “According to my watch, you only have a minute left on that head start.”
The paint-chipped barn doors opened. Bob the Cowboy watched three figures emerge from the shadows within, garbed in full hunting gear. Their faces were covered by handkerchiefs. They wore big orange wool hats, which would’ve been appropriate in the winter months, but seemed odd in the month of June. The fattest of bunch carried a shotgun. Bob assumed that was Otis, the leader. The other fat one was carrying a crossbow. The skinnier of the three was holding a high-powered rifle across his chest. Bob paid particular attention to the scope on the barrel. These boys sure ain’t fuckin’ around, he thought.
“Didn’t you get the memo, old man? We was givin’ ya’ll a head start,” the fat one in the middle said.
“I ain’t running from you,” Bob the Cowboy said.
“Sounds mighty fine by me,” he replied, then raised his shotgun, pressing the end of the barrel to Bob’s head. He pulled the trigger and the old cowboy’s head splintered into a million pieces. Blood and brains were sent airborne. Bob’s body crumbled to the muddy arena floor. The hunters walked over his headless corpse and continued with their adventure.
“Reckon I message Bobbi-Jo? Have her come grab da’ body?” one of them asked.
“Naw,” the leader answered, catching something move in the corner of his eye. “Let the dead claim ’em.”
Josh opened the door to the gutted Toyota. The frame of the car was mostly rust. He could barely tell that it was once painted teal. The door squeaked, bringing familiar worries. He could smell the zombies. They were close.
“Anything?” Ben asked.
“Hold on.” Josh sifted through the crap on the seat. There were porno magazines and old newspapers all over the place. He brushed them to the floor. “Shit. Nothing.”
“Let’s try the next one.”
They crept along the long row of abandoned vehicles, which seemingly belonged to previous victims. License plates and VIN numbers had been removed. Josh stuck his head in the next vehicle. He searched for something—anything—that could be used as a weapon. Food. Water. Anything.
“Shit, they’re coming,” Paul Scott yelled. Victoria and Paul had been on lookout, while Ben and Josh rummaged through the cars and trucks that littered a small section of the property.
“Walkers, runners, or Barkers?” Josh asked.
“Walkers mostly. There sure is a shitload of them.”
Josh looked to Ben. “We’re fucked here, aren’t we?”
Ben shook his head. He surveyed his surroundings. All he saw was an open field boxed by a never-ending stretch of forest. Trees, trees, and more trees. The sun finally showed itself, lighting the beautiful country atmosphere. They could faintly smell the morning dew on the grass. Ben checked the long row of cars, realizing the Barkers weren’t as dumb as they looked; they weren’t going to risk anyone surviving.
No one has ever survived.
“We need some bait,” Ben said.
“What do you mean?” Josh asked.
“I mean, the only way we’re going to get out of this alive is to fool these bastards.”
Josh shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
Paul overheard their conversation. “Yeah, I’m not too sure I understand.”
“One of us goes up into a tree and we let them surround it. Then the rest of us attack from behind. It’s our only shot without a decent weapon.”
“Without any weapon, you mean,” Josh corrected.
“Well…” Ben bent over, grabbing a stray branch. “We’ll make the best out of what we got.”
“One problem,” Victoria stated. “Who’s going to be the sucker climbing the tree.” All three of them turned to her. For a second she didn’t get it, then it suddenly hit her. She rolled her eyes as her shoulders slumped. “No…”
“If we’re going to take the three of them on in hand to hand… we’re going to need all the strength we can get,” Ben said. “No offense.”
“Oh, none taken,” she said sarcastically.
“Whoa, hold on. I’ll do it,” Josh said. “I’m not going to be much use with one arm anyway.”
Ben looked at him, realizing he may be right. “You sure?”
“Yeah. Besides. I think Victoria here is pretty motivated to get her daughters back. You’d be surprised how much strength people have when they’re backed against a wall.” Josh looked to her, winking. “Isn’t that right, Vic?”
“I’ll kill to get her back.”
Ben nodded. “Very well then.” He nodded. “I hope you can climb with one arm.”
The Three Little Pigs stopped in the middle of the field. Around them, the dead moaned. They crept out of the forest, one by one, stumbling toward them with one thing on the forefront of their dense minds. Otis laughed. He raised his shotgun and took out the nearest zombie with a loud bang.
“Sure ya want to be doing dat?” Floyd asked. “Might need the ammo. Sides. Ya’ll attract mo’ of dem.”
“Mo’ da betta,” Otis grumbled.
“Sheet, Otis,” Cooter said. “I ain’t goan get bitten by one of deez fuckers. And what bout the runners?”
“Fuck dem. We kill dem all.”