We moved slowly into town, as I told Nate to take it easy. I wanted to give the appearance of a group just looking to see if things were okay before they stopped. If we were being watched and the hairs standing up on the back of my neck told me we were, then I wanted to present as much of a humble front as possible. It was one thing to try and trap someone. It was another when the person you trapped turned into a much bigger animal than you thought..
I felt like we had a huge target on the side of the RV and were getting closer to the order to fire. Trouble was, I had no idea who might be waiting for us. I just had the feeling. In all honesty, if it was an ambush by zombies, I would probably feel better.
Janna and Duncan sat at the kitchen table and he tried to get more information from her. Zeus the cat came down from his perch to meet the new arrival and he was currently lounging on the table in front of Janna. She idly stroked his back while telling her tale. She had been travelling with two friends, as it turned out, but the guy she was with had been killed. She didn’t go into any more detail. I was standing by the side window, watching the town move past.
We drove past several homes and turned onto High Street, which looked like it would take us through the center of town. We passed Harrisburg United Methodist Church and it looked worse for wear. All of the homes looked like this town had had a rough go of it, since it was so close to the interstate and all the blocked cars. When people fled their cars, where did they go? Right to Harrisburg. Who followed them? You got it.
As we passed Sycamore Street I noticed a truck sitting in the middle of the street. It seemed wildly out of place. The truck was of a military style, with a high cab and bias-ply tires. The back was canvas covered and it was just sitting there. It seemed to be a vehicle capable of hauling a lot of stuff over heavy terrain, so why anyone would leave it seemed odd to me.
“Nate,” I called up front. “Stop here. I want to take a look at something.”
“You got it.”
The RV slowed to a stop and Tommy immediately went to the ladder to the roof. Duncan reluctantly broke away from Janna and picked up his rifle. Nate stayed at the wheel, ready to gun it and get us out of there if need be.
I went over to the door and waited and in a few seconds, Tommy thumped the roof to let me know it was clear to go out. As I went, I heard Janna talking to Duncan.
“You guys act like you’ve done this before…”
I didn’t hear the rest as I was outside and moving around the front of the vehicle. The sun was brighter and I was wishing I had brought my sunglasses with. I moved down the center of the road, careful to make as little noise as possible. From experience, I knew that zombies might be waiting in ambush, but they would have to cross some open ground to get to me. I knew my back was being watched by Tommy and unless he was way off his game, the first shot I would hear would be his taking out a Z.
I moved over to the truck and pulled myself up to the cab. I didn’t see anyone in it and a quick look through the canvas showed some supplies, but no clues as to why such a truck was here. Strange.
I was about to jump down when a map caught my eye. It was tucked into the small storage area that ran the length of the dashboard. I took it out and opened it, figuring to see just another map of Ohio. What I didn’t expect was to see three areas circled. One was Harrisburg, which made a certain amount of sense. The other was a small forest preserve southwest of here and the last was a larger forest preserve called Stroud’s Run State Park. There was a red question mark over the area we had stayed the other night and Route 50 was heavily penciled over. There were cross marks on several towns and some were boxed in. It made no sense at all.
I left the map and walked back to the RV, shaking my head at Tommy and Nate. As I reached the center of the road, a shot rang out from in front of me. At first I thought it was Tommy, but then in the next second I realized it couldn’t be Tommy because I had been shot! The round slammed into the left side of my abdomen and there was a popping sound as the bullet hit me. Something hit my head and I stumbled backwards, dropping my rifle, and coming to a stop near the truck. My gut hurt like hell and I immediately tried to press both hands to stop whatever bleeding there might be. My head hurt and I could feel blood pouring down my face.
I heard several more shots being fired and the sound of the RV roaring to life. The last sound I heard was Tommy screaming my name as the RV pulled away. After that I didn’t hear anything.