Beyond the Barriers Page 24

  We were tense, expecting them to come upon us at any time—a horde of the undead intent on either dragging us back or simply eating us. I didn’t think I had the strength to last much longer.

  Then I heard someone talking.

  I put my hand on Scott’s knee, and with the other, I motioned for him to be quiet by putting one finger to my lips. He opened his eyes and stared at me like I was a stranger. He was just as muddled as I was.

  I motioned toward my ears, but I didn’t know if he understood, so I did a little movement with my hand, the thumb and first two fingers coming together as if I were casting a shadow puppet on the wall. Scott shook his head again.

  Then a branch snapped nearby, and the voice came again. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it was male. Maybe it was a survivor. Maybe it was a ghoul. I held my breath and rose ever so slowly to my feet.

  A shape drifted nearby; it rose in the gloom then slipped away like a shadow. I took one step after it then another. A second shape followed not too far from the first. They moved in a direct line—not confused at all. I knew the sort. These were either military or trained individuals.

  A flash of camo reassured me of my assessment. I had to be careful, very careful. If they were tightly wound, they might shoot before asking questions. I knew I would.

  “Scott. Do we have any dry wood for a fire?”

  My voice echoed in my ears like I had just shouted in a deserted warehouse. Scott just about leapt out of his skin; his eyes went wide as he stared at me.

  “The hell, man?”

  “Go with it.” I made a rolling motion with my hands, hoping my gestures would guide him.

  The shape didn’t move for a few seconds, and I imagined a gun coming up to take aim at my head or Scott’s. I play-acted as best I could, which probably wasn’t very well. Leaning over like I was scrounging for wood nearly made me fall flat on my face. I pushed aside some leaves and brush, the ground cold and wet against my hand. There was an earthy smell, and it made me think of my body buried in its depths. That was how I wanted to go out—not in someone’s stomach.

  “Don’t move,” a voice said to my left. He was good; he had moved from his location with barely a sound.

  I hoped he didn’t mean it, because I put my hands up and then slowly straightened my back. When he didn’t shoot my fool head off, I decided that maybe he wasn’t as trigger happy as I had assumed.

  “Someone there?” My eyes darted around the dark space as I searched for his form.

  “You know I’m here. And you know I have a gun pointed at you, so stop the dog and pony and tell me just what in the fuck you are doing out here?” The voice was gruff but sounded young, based on the timbre and the way it wavered ever so slightly.

  “Okay, but can you lower the weapon and show yourself? There are four of us, and one is a young girl. You are probably scaring the crap out of her.”

  “Sorry. For all I know, you’re one of them and this is a trick.”

  “No trick. We just escaped the zombie camp back there.” I motioned in the general direction from which we had come, but to be honest, with all the walking and confusion, I could have been pointing in the opposite direction.

  The man stepped out of the woods. He was tall, lanky, and held his gun like a pro. I took one look in his eyes, which were hard, then I looked at his rifle. It was a very nicely kitted-out AR-15 with short stock, laser sight, probably fully automatic. He could cut us down in a split second.

  The man was younger than I. He looked like he was twenty or so. His clothing was in good shape, and his shoes weren’t polished, but they were clean except for the fresh mud caked around the soles.

  Jack rose beside me, with Scott on my other side. The man looked from face to face, and I wondered how we appeared. He didn’t betray any emotion, but we had to be in bad shape. It was nearing dawn, and the breaking light of morning had revealed Jack to be a bloody mess. His face was red, and his clothing was covered in crimson. Scott wasn’t too bad off, but the days in the cage were rough, and his clothing was dirty and drenched in water. He stood shivering like the rest of us.

  Haley peeked around my side. Her face was dirty, and her dark hair looked like it would make a good nest for a bird. Mud and small sticks caked it, making her look almost wild.

  The man looked from face to face and settled on Haley. I motioned for her to stay behind me. I was judging our distance, considering how far I would have to move to close and get my hand on the gun. He stood about eight feet from me, and his legs were spread, so he had decent base from which to fire. If I made a grab, I doubted I would have a chance. Even if I could get close and knock the barrel aside, there was a chance the bullets would hit some of the others in my troop.

  We stood in silence for a while longer, and I felt like, once again, my life hung in the balance. I wondered if it would be best to just give up here and now. A bullet to the head seemed more desirable that hanging out in the woods, being hunted, waiting for death every moment of the day. Despair was something I had faced before, and it was something I faced now.

  I grinned at the kid, and he relaxed.

  “You are one sorry group.”

  “We just got our asses kicked, tossed in a cage, and then left to die. Been in that place for almost a week,” Scott said.

  “We heard there was a ghoul camp around here. Let’s go talk to the old man. He’ll know what to do.” He lowered his gun, looked around the area, and motioned for us to go ahead of him. When we passed him, he didn’t level the rifle at us, but he did keep it at the ready.

  “Old man?” I asked.

  “Our leader. A lot of the men in our troop owe their lives to him,” the man recited this like a litany. His eyes lit up with something approaching religious reverence. “He even brings in some of the creepers. That’s what you guys remind me of, you know. Creepers. With any luck, he’ll be willing to help.”

  I knew this kid’s sort. Didn’t have a plan until he joined the ‘corp’ or army and found a purpose in life—like killing other men in faraway places, or protecting the country from terrorists. That had been the ultimate slap in the face as far as I was concerned. It was bad enough that thousands of our guys died in the jungles of Vietnam to protect the world from communism. On more than one occasion, I had wondered if the war on terror was just another excuse to get young men killed.

  I knew this firsthand, because I had joined up thinking I would make a difference. But the war dragged on, and I was lucky enough—although at the time extremely bitter—to get out while the getting was good.

  Allison—it had been she who saved me.

  “Is he close?” Scott looked around, as if the mysterious leader were about to pop out from behind a bush at any moment.

  “Near enough. That way.” He pointed with the barrel of the rifle. “I’m Andrew, by the way.”

  We did introductions.

  “I don’t know if I can make it. I’m really tired, man,” Jack said.

  He was in bad shape, probably the worst of us. All that blood, was it his? His eyes were bloodshot, and shone with an angry glint as he looked back at the man with the rifle. Not too long ago, he had been in a cage, expecting to be eaten. And before that, he watched his family being dragged away and slaughtered. I wondered if he were even sane.

  “We have food and water,” the soldier said.

  Jack looked between him and me, then nodded.

  We marched into more misery.

  * * *

  The break in the woods came much sooner than I had thought it would, and I never would have found it had we proceeded on our prior path. Not even a quarter mile from our resting spot. As we stepped out of the close-grown trees, we stumbled into a small creek. It ran parallel to the nearby road, but it wasn’t the first thing I saw. That vision was reserved for the military-grade vehicles pulled up alongside it. I went down with a splash and had a vision of the bloody water we had seen a few hours ago, but some of the stuff splashed in my mouth and tasted l
ike heaven. Instead of hauling myself to my feet, I drank my fill as I lay shivering in the water.

  It was warming up, but the night and captivity had taken their toll. I still felt chilled to the bone, but at least I was out of the woods. The risk of hypothermia had gone down considerably. Now that I was in the stream, all I wanted to do was lie there and drink until I was sick. I wanted to throw up a gallon of water and then drink again.

  My stomach clenched up as the cool water hit. Then I did feel like throwing up, but settled for a long, loud burp. As I sucked down water like a fish, I kept my eyes on the men and vehicles around us. A couple of guys had stepped out and trained their weapons on us. A nice mix of old and new barrels leveled in our direction, but the kid with whom we’d come out of the woods must have said something, or made some sort of motion, to assure them we were no threat.

  Scott staggered beside me and dropped to his knees. He rinsed his hands as if he were at home getting ready to do dishes. Then he dipped his hands once more and scooped up some clear water to drink. He sipped slowly, something I should have done, since I was cramping up.

  “Fuck me.” Jack sighed and leaned over to sip near me.

  The line of military vehicles, minivans, and trailers roared to life. I even saw a Stryker. It was moving, but it had seen better days. Someone had taken spray paint and tried to camouflage the sides, but it looked more like a six-year-old’s finger painting than a military transport.

  A couple of Hummers surged up the road with men poking their heads out the top as they manned the machine guns. Scouts.

  Men jumped into their vehicles, which quickly roared to life. The smell of exhaust tore at the early morning air. I took another sip of water.

  A man stepped out of one of the Humvees and strode toward me. I was still on my knees, so the first thing I saw were his boots. Diamond patterned snakeskin. I cursed under my breath. As soon as he saw me, it was over.

  “You guys look like hell spit you out. Bunch of creepers I bet.” Lee spoke the word like it was poison.

  My hair hung to the side and hopefully shaded my face, so I glanced toward him. Would he even recognize me with the week of beard and filth caked on? The only time he had seen my face was at the military checkpoint almost half a year ago, then again at the house they tried to trap us in. At that time I was clean-shaven.

  Lee strolled toward us then stopped beside Jack. I kept my head down and tried to act like I was breathing hard, which wasn’t too far from the truth. I wanted the appearance of a man that was too tired to get up and shake hands.

  A group of geese picked that moment to fly overhead, honking as they passed. A flight shaped like a V that swooped away from us. A couple of the men popped off a few rounds, which scattered the birds but didn’t hit any of them.

  “How many of you are out there?” Lee asked.

  “Not sure. They had us in a camp back in the woods. We just escaped a short while ago. Probably another twenty or thirty back there. But we need to get out of here. There are a shit load of dead in the woods,” Jack said.

  Haley stayed away from Lee. She was behind Scott, and didn’t look to be in much of a hurry to be noticed. Her face was pale and dirty, and she looked like she was a few years older. It was the weariness, the constant danger. It had to have worn on her worse than on us. Then again, I didn’t know what she had been through in the past six months.

  “Who’s the kid?” Lee pulled his gun. He had the barrel in the air, like he was going to shoot a bird out of the sky. Now that would have been an impressive sight.

  “She was trapped with us. They kept us in a cage, and she helped us escape. Her name is Haley, and she’s very brave,” I spoke up, feeling fiercely protective of the girl for no reason other than our companionship. I had never had kids, and didn’t know how to talk to them or relate.

  One of the men approached and whispered in Lee’s ear as he lowered the gun. He squinted as the man spoke, looked toward the woods, and then back at us.

  “Looks like you stirred up a hornets’ nest. There are a bunch of bodies heading our way, and when I say bodies, I think you know what I mean. So do I leave you here, or take a chance that you won’t do anything stupid and get us all killed? I really don’t have any use for more creepers.”

  Scott stared at the man like he had never seen him before. I wondered if he were about to break into a cry of protest, but his face stayed tense. He looked at me then back at the large man.

  Lee turned away and talked to the other guy, giving orders that I couldn’t hear. Scott leaned close and whispered in my ear.

  “Shit! That’s him. What the hell are we going to do when he recognizes you?”

  We didn’t have a choice. Maybe if we slunk to a truck, in the back we could get some food, and then sneak away at the next stop. It was a shitty plan, but it was either that or remain here and wait for the dead to find us. I doubted he would let us join his group. This was the same man that set a trap for my friends. These men were thieves, murders, and rapists. If I could fool them for a few minutes and get on board a vehicle without Lee noticing me, I might be able to get my hands on something useful, but I didn’t think I could stomach being so close to them.

  We were on an open stretch of road, and it would make us perfect targets if anything came out of the woods. Across the double-lane road was a fresh copse of woods into which we could crash and try to hide. I didn’t like either option, but maybe we could join up with the men and get away later.

  “Are you okay, girl?” Lee had his full attention on Haley, and that concerned me.

  She stared at him but didn’t say a word. She wasn’t shaking anymore, and I was glad she was coping with the cold better than I was. She probably had more practice at it.

  “Haley?”

  She turned to regard me. Her eyes were darker now, lined in red—bloodshot and desperate. Had her eyes always been that color? I thought they were hazel, but now they were just black.

  “Are you okay?”

  She looked at Lee and took one step back.

  “What the hell?” Scott took a step after her.

  Lee took a pair of long strides, brushing past me.

  Lee grabbed her arm as she put it out as if to push him away. He took her wrist and yanked her to him.

  I went red with rage. What was he planning? If they had burned a family out of their home just to get their food, what was he going to do with a sixteen-year-old girl? Surely the entire world had not descended into anarchy. There had to be some humanity left.

  “Let me go,” Haley roared. She struck at Lee, but he deflected the blow with one hand like he was swatting a fly. He leaned over so he towered above her head as he stared down at her.

  “Let her go, God dammit!” I said, trying to get to my feet.

  At my cry he turned and looked at me—really looked this time. Then his face darkened. Strom clouds filled his eyes, and I could tell I was about to meet an early end. I hoped fate hadn’t planned for us to make it this far only to be shot down like dogs. I wasn’t planning on lying here and watching something bad happen to one of us, especially not Haley. She had come back when she could have ran, could have left us. In fact, we told her to, but she still came back for us. Without Haley, we would still be in the cages.

  “Erik,” she cried and looked at me. I met her eyes. They were filled with … something that wasn’t fear. They were brighter than before, like she had changed contacts. They had been dark, but now they were brighter and partially green.

  “Hello, Tragger. Nice to meet you, son,” Lee said in a low voice.

  Gasping, I tried to get to my feet.

  “Let her go.” I said with as much force as I could muster.

  “I’ll let her go, alright. Then you can join her. This little bitch is becoming one of them, and if you were paying attention you would have known that. But you know something?” He paused for dramatic effect. “Even if she wasn’t turning into one of those ghouls, I would still do this. Because I owe you.”
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  Lee pointed his gun at her head. I screamed from the ground and rose, but someone pushed me down. Thrusting my hand out, I found an ankle, hooked my hand in a claw and yanked. The man cried out in pain and nearly fell over. There was one other man near me, and he had a gun pointed, but I didn’t care. I planted my hand flat on the ground and shot my foot out. It slammed into the other guy’s shin, knocking him off his feet. In case he fired, I slid to the right.

  The soldier went down, and I struggled to my feet, but I didn’t have anything left. Lee moved fast. He slid to his left, boots shuffling over the wet ground with a whisking sound. He had Haley’s arm in hand and dragged her along with him.

  “Stop!” he yelled, pointing the gun at my face.

  If I were on my feet, I might have had a chance, but from my position on the ground, I would be dead before I could try to knock the gun aside and go for a strike. It was suicide, but I didn’t see the folly of my action. All I knew was that I had to rescue Haley before Lee did something to her.

  One of the guys I hit came back to his feet, and he was not happy. He pointed his gun at me, jabbing it in my face. The other guy rolled on his back, still clutching his shin. “Ah shit, man, that hurt. That fucking hurt!”

  “Don’t shoot him,” Lee ordered the guy with the gun pointed at my chest.

  The man looked at Lee, then at me, and snarled. He flipped the gun over and jabbed the butt into my gut, and I went down hard. My breath went out, and I couldn’t catch it again. Jack moved toward us, but the guy swung the gun at him. He stopped and held his hands out.

  Lee stared at me for a few seconds, while Haley struggled to get away. She snarled and pulled at him, but he held her just as firm as if she were tied to him. His face was unreadable. If he was trying to tell me something, then I didn’t understand the message.