The next morning I got up and checked on Jake. He was still asleep, so I went down and got some breakfast. Cereal bars weren’t exactly the greatest of breakfasts, being a milk and cereal man myself, but with the power out, the only milk I was going to get was from a cow, and I hadn’t seen one of those is these parts. I thought about the route I needed to take, and I figured to avoid main roads altogether. I planned on using the bike trails as much as I could to head south, but I was eventually going to have to cut through populated areas. Hopefully, I could avoid zombies and other ilk on my way.
I went through the house and really looked at it for what might be the last time. I looked at the hardwood floor I had installed last summer and the new bathrooms I had put in for Ellie. I ran my hand over the granite countertop she loved so much, and glanced at the curio cabinet which was now empty, everything being moved downstairs. In the darkened rooms I let my grief go a little, and cried one last time for my wife. After a moment, I heard Jake crying upstairs and hurried to go get him.
As I took him out of his crib, I looked out on the bike path and was relieved to see it was clear. I didn’t need any obstacles this morning, and the sun was bright and inviting. I had no clue how hot it was supposed to be today, and in all honesty, I didn’t care. I had sunscreen for Jake and a hat with a strap for his little head. He was good to go. Breakfast was a quick affair, and then I made preparations to move. I filled all of our water bottles and then turned the water off in the house. I turned on the faucet in the slop sink next to the washer in the basement and let the water in the pipes drain out. I went back upstairs and opened the faucets in the sinks and bathtub and shower. If I was going to be gone for a while, I didn’t want the pipes to freeze and I came back to more of a mess than I needed.
I went into the garage with Jake and strapped him into his seat. He was thrilled to be moving and he gave me a baby thumbs up with some arm waving and squeals. I put sunscreen on his arms and legs, strapped his hat on, and went to the garage door. Fortunately, we had windows on the garage door and I was able to look out. There were two people down the street, and I couldn’t tell from a distance whether they were infected or not. They moved slowly, but it was hard to tell if they were zombies or just trying to be careful. I decided to wait and see, rather than run the risk.
As they got closer, I could see they were not infected, they were just trying to avoid being seen. They were a man and woman, and they had backpacks loaded with materials. They walked down the center of the road, and carried makeshift weapons. The man, about twenty years old, carried a length of lead pipe, and the woman, closer to thirty, carried a police baton. They both wore knives on their belts and had a hard look about them. I decided to let them pass and go their way, and I would go mine. No need for getting together at this point. They turned to the west and headed off. I silently wished them luck.
I gave them about ten minutes to clear the area, during which I entertained Jakey. He was such a good boy, he didn’t care what we did, as long as I smiled at him and changed his diapers.
Checking the road again, I slowly opened the garage door, keeping an eye on the street. Those zombies from the other day were still out there somewhere, and I didn’t need a protracted battle at this point. The sun was starting to heat up the day, and the bright light made everything stand out in stark contrast. I had a brief thought about the length of the lawn, then shook it off as stupid. I put the padlock on the garage door leading to the house and locked it, then moved the bike and trailer out onto the driveway. Closing the garage door, I padlocked it as well, knowing that it would not do much for someone determined to get in, but I wasn’t planning to give anything away. I hung the key around my neck and with a last look at the house, got the bike and went towards the trail out back.
I followed my fence towards the trail, then turned towards my neighbors’ yard. The ground sloped more gently behind his house, and wouldn’t subject me and Jake to a four foot drop at the edge of the property. I glanced briefly at the two zombies I had disposed of earlier, and they were not a pretty sight. The heat and humidity, as well as incessant flies had done a number on them. George was missing an arm, and the girl’s face was completely torn off. I found that interesting. Apparently the virus only was harmful to humans, animals could feast on the dead without ill effect.
We crossed the field and hit the trail. The trailer was heavy, but moved easily. I kept to an easy pace, not wanting to tire myself too much in case I had to move quickly. My senses were completely keyed up, and I found myself listening harder than I had ever before, and staring longer at unidentified shadows and shapes much more than I had ever before. I smiled to myself. So this is what prey feel like.
We rode without incident to the Turtle Head crossing, and I was amazed at how quiet everything was. I had heard a few groans and such as I passed some yards, and at one point I could see some dark figures huddled over another on the ground through the slats of a fence. I could see many zombies in windows as I passed, and more than one beat on the windows of their prisons in futility. I kept moving and never looked twice. I didn’t need those images haunting me as I rode quietly past.
Turtle Back Lake was quiet, and I decided to rest for a minute and check on Jake. I stopped near the water and parked under a tree. My legs protested as I got off, not being used to this kind of riding. Jakey smiled as I got him out, and one whiff told me why he was smiling. He had managed to fill his diaper and was waiting for a change. I got the towel off the Enfield and laid it out on the ground. I put Jake on the ground and started to change him.
As I was working on Jake, I noticed a car slowly pulling into the Turtle Back Lake parking lot. It was a small compact car, and looked to be crammed full of stuff. There were two men in the front, and they seemed to be running on empty. From where I was, I could see them fairly clearly without being noticed. The tall grass hid the brightly colored trailer, and since I was kneeling by Jake, I was hidden as well. The car had numerous dings and dents, and the front fender looked as if it had been dented then fixed with a baseball bat. Dark stains were on the grill, and I could imagine how they got there.
The two men got out and looked around, and I could see they were both armed with Glock pistols. They were of medium height, one slightly taller than the other, and both were dark haired. One had a tattoo on his left arm, but I couldn’t see what it was. They looked like they had been running for a while and needed to rest. I didn’t get any bad vibes off them, and I needed to stand at some point. But I didn’t want to get shot for my trouble.
I figured the direct route was the best. I stood up and placed myself behind the tree, Jacob on the towel behind me. The two men had passed me and were making for the lake. Unholstering my SIG, I said loud enough to hear, “Don’t do anything stupid, you’re covered and I really am not in the mood for a fight today.”
The effect of my words was interesting. The two men stiffened and spun around, hands streaking towards their guns. Their hands stopped when they saw I had my gun out and as one, they placed their hands up in front of them, keeping a wary eye on me.
Tattooed man looked me over and spotted my bicycle behind me. “Thanks for not killing us, you sure had the opportunity. Nice ride, by the way.”
“Thanks.” I said. “I figure there’s not enough of us left to be shooting each other, so there’s no reason not to try to get along. But everybody is jumpy as hell, so you can understand my precaution.”
“No problem.” Tattoo said. “Can I put my hands down?”
“Sure.” I safed my SIG and, looking Tattoo in the eyes, holstered my weapon. The move was not lost on Tattoo or the other man. By holstering without looking, I was showing them I knew where my weapon was and knew how to use it.
“Where you guys from?” I asked, curious as to the situation in other parts.
“We rolled out of Los Platos this morning.” Tattoo said. “The wave had hit us a day earlier and if we didn’t get out when we had the chance, we weren’t going to make it.”
“Wave?” I asked. Lack of power really had limited my informational sources.
“Wave of the dead. Many of the infected that were in the city started moving to the outlying areas in search of prey. They would kill or infect, people would die and reanimate, and move on to the next. House by house, they broke in, killed and consumed. Duncan, there,” Tattoo indicated with a flick of his thumb, “Saw two cops surrounded and killed by a mob of over a hundred of the things. They never had a chance to even fire their guns.” Tattoo sighed. “But I gotta give the man credit, he went back to the carnage after the zombies had left and got the cops’ guns for protection. We figured we needed to bolt as soon as possible, so we threw everything we had into his car and made a run for it.”
I thought for a second. Maybe this was what I had been dreading and was running from. Something had warned me to go and this just confirmed I did the right thing for me and Jake.
“Sounds like you did the right thing. Name’s John, by the way.” I said, holding out my hand.
Tattoo shook it. “Tom Carter. My friends call me Tommy. At least they would if…” His voice trailed off and I got his meaning loud and clear. He had lost everyone as well.
Jacob chose that moment to introduce himself by babbling fairly loudly. He did that from time to time when he felt he was being ignored. I went over to him and picked him up. He smiled at the two men, and buried his head in my shoulder again.
Tommy got over his shock to see a baby to say, “Holy shit. You’ve got a baby with you.”
Duncan seemed shocked as well, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared for a second, then went back to the car. He sat on the other side of the vehicle, away from us. I cocked an eyebrow in question at Tommy.
“Don’t worry about Duncan,” Tommy said, “He’s gonna be quiet for a while, but then he’ll be all right. He lost his brother and his brother’s family to the dead, just so you know.”
“That’s too bad.” I said. “Seems like everyone left alive has lost somebody.”
“You, too, it would seem.” Said Tommy, indicating Jake.
“Yeah, me, too. This is Jake, by the way.” I said, my tone of voice telling him I was unwilling to go into it further.
Tommy changed the subject. “Where are you headed? You can’t be going too far on a bike.”
“I figured to head south, maybe hook up with other survivors or a town that hasn’t been infected. Find a place to settle into while this whole mess works itself out.” Even as I said it, it didn’t seem realistic. But it was all I had at the moment until something else came up that sounded better. “What about you two?” I asked.
Tommy shrugged. “We had planned to hole up at my house after his house got overrun. But when they started just going house to house looking for people to eat, it was time to leave. I saw a family that had boarded up their windows get attacked, and in no time, at least a hundred of those things were tearing at the windows and doors. The boards didn’t last long, and the family was eventually slaughtered. These things would beat their hands off trying to get into a house if they thought there was meat in there.”
“Sounds like you guys have seen a lot.” I said, shifting Jake, who was testing his “twisty” powers.
Tommy sighed. “Sometimes I wonder what the point is. Why bother to go on? Be real simple to just eat a bullet and join everyone who’s died, you know?”
I nodded. I had been there, and the only thing bringing me back from the brink was the little guy in my arms.
We got lost in our own separate thoughts, so much so that we jumped when Duncan leaped up. “We got company!” he yelled, pointing towards the entrance to the preserve.