Young Writers Society

Word Count: 2034

“Welcome to Dallas. Home of the Dallas Cowboys,” Roy commented on the advertisement of a large billboard. The once brightly colored sign was now tattered and covered in soot from fires. Four hours of driving to see a decimated city was not something that people dreamed about doing. Seeing the apocalyptic state that the major city had been reduced to did not lift the spirits of anyone in the truck. Road blocks had been set up to keep people from entering the city in an attempt to keep the incident away from the populace; but the people that once manned the checkpoints were no longer on post. Only a pool of blood and spend bullet casings served as a mark for them ever having existed. Their bodies either devoured or shambling about in the streets of the city they had tried to keep safe.

The announcement over the radio got clearer and clearer the closer they got to the outskirts of the city. The static finally cleared up and the entire message could be heard.“To any survivors able to hear this message: come to the West Dallas Police Station.We have food, clean water, shelter, treatment, and can provide safety to anyone in need.”Ever since they had first heard the garbled announcement, no one had dared touch the radio in fear that if they turned it off or switched the station that it would disappear and their only connection to safety would be lost for good.

“Will you shut that thing off?” Bryan asked, irritated.“That thing is getting on my nerves.”

Jerry reached up and switched off the radio hesitantly.His fingers lingering for a moment as the truck went silent.They had tried playing I Spy earlier; but when the only things they could spy only reminded them of the nightmare they were living in they quickly gave up on it.He bounced Marian gently in his arms as he watched her grab one of her fingers and pull it to her mouth to try to suckle nutrients from it like a greedy vampire.“Did Jane have any formula?”

“I only ever saw her breastfeed,” Beth said grabbing Jane's backpack and riffling through it.“I'm not seeing anything in here.Not even a bottle.”

“We should stop for gas before we head into the city.Just to be safe.Maybe we'll find something for Marian.”Roy pulled off into a gas station.“Jerry.You and me are going in to make sure that it's safe and to turn on the gas.Bryan, you and Greg head inside with us and collect anything non-perishable.Beth you stay here with Marian.Dave you start pumping the gas.Let's get going.”

Everyone jumped out of the truck aiming their weapons in every direction.The small group quickly moved inside the dark convenience store.Spreading out through the isles, they made sure that the building was clear before attempting to start gathering supplies.Jerry searched around the small assortment of scattered merchandise for a bottle and formula for Marian.He sighed as the closest thing he could find was a Baby Bottle Pop.“Open damn it!” Bryan cursed under his breath, trying to get a bag of Cheetos open.He threw it down on the shelf and slammed his fist down on top of it.Orange colored puffs erupted from the forcefully opened bag and scattered across the floor.

“Bryan, you okay?” Jerry asked with concern.“You've been acting weird.”

Bryan leaned against the shelf, running his hand through his short, military-cut hair.“Yeah.Just... a little tired with this damn apocalypse thing.It's got me on edge.”

“It's got us all on edge, bud,” Roy said walking over and patting Bryan on the shoulder.“We'll get through this.Let's just make it to the safe house and try to get our wits about us.”Bryan nodded and pulled a bag from a nearby rack, filling it with canned and packaged goods.

Jerry headed to the office in the back of the store and slowly turned the handle.His pistol aimed in front of him he let the door creep open.Paperwork piled up in large stacks on a cheaply made desk.A blank computer screen, which normally had a spreadsheet of the previous day's transactions, lay overturned on the floor.Jerry sighed and lowered his pistol seeing the man that hung by his neck from the ceiling.Surprisingly, his tie didn't tear when his weight had been put on it.Jerry stepped into the office to search for any supplies with the hanging man suddenly sprung to life, grasping at him.“Fuck!” Jerry said backpedaling out of the room, tripping over a rack of snack size Doritos.

“What happened?!” Roy asked from the counter.

“This fucking asshole came to life,” Jerry growled, picking himself up off the floor.Pulling the hatchet, that he had kept from the sporting goods store, out of his belt he shoved a pile of papers over and stood up on the desk.The crazy reached out for him, trying to draw him closer for a bite.Jerry embedded the head of the hatchet into the crazy's skull and watched the man kick for a few more seconds and then go still.The thin metal beam that had been holding the man's weight suddenly gave out and his limp body dropped like a rock.

“You're getting better at that,” Roy commented as Jerry pulled his hatchet from the dead man's skull.Closing the door behind him he wiped the smooth metal clean.“Dave's waving at us.Looks like we've got a full tank. Grab what you can and let's get going.”Bryan and Jerry nodded and grabbed an armful of stuff before walking out with Greg.“Why don't you get up on the fifty cal. Jerry.Just to be safe.”Tossing the assortment of chips and snack cakes in the back of the truck, Jerry pulled himself up the ladder to the roof of the truck and sat down in the turret-like seat.

The drive through the city was nerve-racking.The sound of the truck's engine bounced off the silent streets sounded like a siren calling to anything nearby of where they were.Roy pulled to a stop in front of the West Dallas Police Station.Tents had been set up in the car port area for any survivors to use while they were staying; but the site was anything but uplifting.The nylon fabric was torn to shreds and soaked in blood.Bodies lay strewn about and left to rot in the desert sun.A few of the crazies were still there, feasting on the remains of a fat man who one could imagine being a mall Santa.They were too engrossed in their meal of human flesh to worry about the large truck of people twenty yards away.They just tore off another piece of meat and shoved it into their mouth, much like a toddler eating a birthday cake.“Is it even worth me shooting?” Jerry asked Roy.

“No,” he responded.“Leave 'em be.”

“Let's move on already,” Bryan said.“I thought I saw something on the left.Might just be a crazy but they looked human.”Roy turned the wheel heading left down the car littered road.Everyone could feel the morale of the group dropping into the abyssal depths of the earth.There seemed to be nothing good left in the world.It was just all one long horrific nightmare.Jerry could imagine that there were many people up in the buildings that had closed themselves off and kept telling themselves it was a dream and that they would be waking up soon.Some part of him wanted to be doing the same thing. Sitting in a room that you knew was safe and just wait for the nightmare to be over.One way or another.

Jerry jumped as heard something give out a loud pop under the hood of the truck and suddenly started slowing down.“Oh, fuck!” Roy groaned letting the truck roll to a stop in an alley.Roy jumped out with Bryan right behind him.Jerry climbed down as they lifted the hood.“Please tell me the transmission didn't just blow.”

“A transmission would have been louder than that.What about a water line?” Bryan asked.

Roy climbed up on top of the truck's bumper and looked over the engine.“They look fine but that doesn't mean they are.Damn it!I was a field tactician not a fucking mechanic!”

Jerry sighed as the two of them tried to find the problem.Shambling around the corner came an older man, dressed in a tattered jacket, shirt, and pants, that paused and stared at the small unsuspecting trio.Walking forward on a bloodied leg that was missing the foot that would normally be at the end of it, he reached out toward Jerry with a hungry hand.A shot rang out, and a hole appeared through the man's head, throwing him sideways.Roy, Bryan, and Jerry pulled their pistols trying to find where the shot came from.“Whoooee!Did you see that shot right there?!” a woman called from the rooftop holding a hunting rifle in the air.“Stay right there.I'll be down in minute!”

“Well,” Jerry said, partly confused, “she isn't a crazy.”

“Yeah,” Bryan growled, “but that doesn't mean she wasn't already crazy.”

Their savior came around the corner still holding the rifle.“You fellas look lost,” she said in a heavy southern accent.Dressed in a pair of jean overalls and an orange tank top.“Name's Sue-Anne.Y'all are lucky I came round when I did.”

“Yeah, we owe you on that one,” Roy said.

“So why'd you fellas stop with this tank?You could blow clear through to the other side of the city with this thing.”

“Something popped in the engine and the engine just died.I'm not a mechanic so I don't know what's wrong.”

Sue-Anne walked up to the truck and took a quick look over it before exclaiming, “Your damn serpentine belt broke.You just need to get a new one and you'll be set up better than a coon on trash day.”

“How the hell do you know that?” Bryan questioned.

“I'm a mechanic,” Sue-Anne retorted.“Pretty damn good one too.There's an auto parts store 'bout a block away right next to the grocery store.I'm sure we can find the right size there.”She pulled out the rubber belt from the engine and draped it over her shoulder.“I'll be back lickity-split.”

“Hold on,” Beth said coming around the truck with a fussy Marian in her arms.“Did you say grocery store?”

“Why yes I did, hun.”

“There's formula and bottles at a grocery store,” Beth said, turning to Jerry.“If Marian is gonna stand any chance of lasting more than a few days she's gonna need it.”

“We can't take the time to get the belt, come back, fix the truck, then drive over there and get the formula.We'll have every crazy in the city on us,” Bryan argued.

“Then we cut the time in half,” Jerry said.“Roy and I will go with Sue-Anne to get the belt, the formula, bottles, and any other food we can gather quickly and be back here to fix the truck.”

“I'm liking this plan,” Greg said nervously.“The less time we spend here the better.”

“Then I'm coming too,” Bryan said forcefully.

“We need you here to guard the truck,” Roy explained grabbing his rifle and Jerry's shotgun.“You're the only one here besides myself with any emergency training and it's going to get dark soon.Keep these guys in line until we get back.If we aren't back in a couple of hours, take what you can carry and get out of here.”

“Alright boys,” Sue-Anne says, “stay close so that y'all don't get lost.But not too close.Try any funny business and I won't hesitate to drop your ass.I grew up with four brothers.”She turned on her heel and briskly started walking toward the end of the alley.

“I like her already,” Roy chuckled.