The woman pulled on the seat belt, but it refused to budge. I was close enough to try a shot to distract them, but the odds of a hit at that distance were slim. Besides, the woman was between me and the zombies. I just kept running and hoped she could get the seat belt undone.
The woman screamed again and the seatbelt finally came free. She pulled her passenger out, and I could see it was a small child, maybe ten years old. She started to run forward when the first zombie hit her from behind. She went down to her knees, and screamed as rotten teeth sank into her neck. Blood spayed and another zombie came from behind, grabbing her arms and tearing into shoulder. She screamed at her child to run, then stood up and swung at her attackers, knocking one down and kicking at another. She didn’t have a chance, but she bought enough time for the child, a small boy, to get to me. His face was streaked with tears and he was yelling for his mother. I grabbed him and started backing up; keeping an eye on the group as they took the woman down again and began feeding.
She screamed for a long time before she finally died. I was headed back when I head another groan behind me. I looked and saw the group had finished with her and what was left wasn’t pretty. She had been completely gutted, and her blood stained the road. Long strips of flesh had been torn from her arms and legs, and I could see bits of flesh hanging from the ghouls as they began walking towards us. I could have killed them all, but I was hesitant about shots this far from home. I didn’t feel like a running fight all the way back.
Scooping up the child, I ran back to Frank and the man who had run. “We have to get out of here. They aren’t going to stop until they get us. Move.”
“What about my wife?” the man squeaked.
I pointed down the road where his wife’s body lay. “Not sure why you care now, but there she is. Help yourself. The zombies are finished with her. There might be enough of her to reanimate in a little while.” I had a vivid picture of this man saving himself and leaving his family behind, and if it wasn’t for the little boy I was carrying, I would cheerfully have left him for the zombies.
I didn’t stay any longer. If he wanted to stay and die, fine. But this little boy didn’t deserve that, just like he didn’t deserve to have such a coward for a father. I ran to the overpass hill and scrambled up. The boy followed me without a word, and I could see his mind was retreating to a state of shock. That’s fine. Shock works, as long as it’s quiet. I had seen this before, and in time he would be better. But for now, we needed to move. Frank and his friend crawled up as well, and Sarah kept her rifle on the zombies the whole time. She had seen everything, and when the man reached the top, she fixed him with such a withering stare I thought he would catch fire. He was clueless, and chatted away with his new best friend, Frank. The boy came out of his fog enough to take Sarah by the hand, and I saw a slight shudder go up her arm when he did that.
Time for that later. The zombies were under the bridge, unable to climb the embankment to reach us. They reached up with bloody hands and opened blood stained mouths. I had the urge to throw the man down the hill at them, but I couldn’t do that to the boy. I had killed in vengeance before, and I didn’t like what it did to my soul.
I headed back to the school, moving quickly. The man complained about the pace, but I was deaf to him. I needed to get back to the school and talk to Nate about some plans for the future, and that couldn’t get done out here. We moved swiftly, stopping only once to catch our breaths. The boy was a trooper, never leaving Sarah’s side. His father went over to talk to him, but the boy jerked away and hid behind Sarah. The man looked angry and started to move for the boy, but Sarah brought her rifle up and shook her head. The man wisely decided not to push the point.
We made it back to the school as the sun started to head down, throwing long shadows across the ground. A cold wind came up from the north, stirring the leaves and reminding me that I was running out of time.
Nate was at the entrance to greet us, and raised his eyebrows at the fact that we had left with three, and came back with five. “Busy day?” he asked.
I glanced at him. “We need to talk about a few things.” I looked pointedly at Frank, who was in an animated conversation with the man we had rescued. I could hear him say ‘What could you do?’ and making conciliatory gestures. The man hadn’t gone near his son, and Sarah was still trying to kill him with her eyes. She walked off with the boy after shrugging off her gear.
Nate nodded and went over to Frank and the man. “Get yourself out of your gear, I’ll take care of this.” Frank clearly did not want to leave his friend, but Nate’s look did not brook argument. Nate turned to the man. “Welcome to the fort. Who are you and how can you be of use to us?”
Nate’s twist on words was lost on the man. He stuck a hand out and said “Kevin Pierce. Pleased to meet you.” Nate shook his hand and I could see he wasn’t impressed. I took off my goggles, gloves and balaclava, and reslung my rifle over my shoulder.
Nate gave him the standard speech. “We’ll give you a room, you can decorate any way you like. We have clothes if you need them, and food is prepared three times a day. We eat together, and each person is responsible for cleaning up after themselves. If you have children, we have a sort of school…”
“I have a son.” Kevin interrupted.
“…which meets for four hours a day. You are expected to attend training to defend yourself and the community. If you are worthless or useless, you will not eat. Any questions?” Nate had given the speech before, but I always found it amusing to hear.
“Who’s in charge? Is it you?” Kevin wanted to know. “I was a superintendent of a pretty big district and can lend leadership advice.”
Nate pointed at me. “He is. He’s saved more than half of us. Fact is, this place probably wouldn’t exist without him. Superintendent, huh? John here used to be a principal before the Upheaval.”
Pierce actually tried to look down his nose at me. Which was tough, since at six-two, I was a full head taller than he was. “Just a principal, hmm?”
I looked at him. “What I was is irrelevant. What I am is disgusted by your presence. The only thing that is keeping me from throwing you to the zombies is the fact that your wife managed to save your son before she was eaten. If he had been killed as well, you wouldn’t be here. I saw you leave them. I saw you run. You can’t change that. What you were was a superintendent. What you are is a coward and a bastard.”
Kevin actually took a step back under my onslaught. Nate’s eyes hardened and he dropped a hand to his gun.
I spoke again. “We’ll keep you safe only for your son’s sake. But cross me, and I’ll throw you out. Run from a fight in here, and I’ll kill you.” Kevin sputtered but I cut him off. “Learn the rules and don’t speak to me. You might actually live. Right now you need to find your child and beg his forgiveness for leaving him and his mother to die.”
I turned on my heel and left him, signaling Nate to follow me. Frank came scurrying up and he took Kevin away. Sarah had left with the man’s son, and in all likelihood was getting him something to eat and drink.