Back Thataway
1068 Words
We were standing in an office, surrounded by strangers. There were five of them that I could count; A woman, a little girl, and three men. The men had on ball caps and military gear that was too big on them all. One man was very tall with brown hair curling up from underneath his hat but his back was to us. The other two men, looked similar but one was short and stocky while the other was a bit taller than him with a lanky frame. They had rounded cheeks with square jaws and dark blue eyes. The shorter one had a short beard on his face. They didn't really act like military but they moved like a group that had been together for a while.
The woman and child were in the corner of the room. The woman had pretty blonde hair that fell in waves around a heart shaped face. She had light eyes and a cute button nose. The woman was protectively standing in front of the child but it didn't stop a head of blonde curls from peeking around her leg to watch us with wide eyes. I assumed that was her mother in front of her, if the hair was any indication. They all kind of gave off a redneck vibe. Just something about how they appeared and held themselves made me think of people from the country.
"Are you going to tell us why we're in here?" Branson said this carefully, so he didn't startle anybody. The three men who had been speaking quietly to themselves turned to face us. One of them walked towards where they had sat us in chairs in the middle of the floor. I felt like it was a bit of a cliché but I didn't think these guys were too capable of originality. The guy in front of us was obviously in charge and he had a large caterpillar of a mustache under his nose and features very similar to the other men. He examined us for a moment before slightly turning to address Branson.
"Well, I was expectin' a thank you, now. Y'all were just 'bout zombie kibble!" He started to chuckle, a full throated sound that the other men accompanied. " Little Chloe saw y'all comin this way and we couldn't let y'all run into what's back that away." He motioned to the little girl when he said this, she stood out from her mom slightly and waved at us. She zipped back behind her mother with a little giggle. I felt guilty for my instant perception of them. I had just assumed they were some crazy back-water hicks, but they just saved us at their own risk.
"Thank you, Chloe." I said to her and I could see a smile come across her face. "Thank all of you." I said, looking back at the guy in front of me. He stuck out a hand.
"I'm Wilbur Olsen. That's my brother Patrick, " He gestured to the taller of the other men. "That there is my brother Jimmy." This was the short, stocky man. "That's Pamela and her and Patrick's daughter Chloe." We both shook his hand and stood, nodding at the other as he introduced them.
"I'm Branson Jacobs and this is Laura Pierce. We appreciate the interference, Wilbur. So what did you mean about running into something that way?" Branson asked.
"We just came from there and barely even made it here, bud. We had a couple with us but they didn't make it. We was runnin' from a small group and ran right into a monster mob of 'em. This is an old building, made of brick and has bars on windows so we thought it'd be a good idea to hole up in here." Wilbur seemed to be the only one that wanted to talk but the other's didn't seem unwelcoming.
"That's weird. The same thing happened to us." Branson said, looking at me.
"I'm tellin' ya, they were herdin' us. Just like we do when we go hunting." This came from Jimmy. He sounded older than he looked and I had to wonder how old he was. When he said it, Branson's head snapped up to look at him.
"That's EXACTLY what they were doing. They're moving faster, communicating, and showing signs of intelligence." Branson began to pace in a two foot space. "They're changing."
"Damn boy, I think yer on to somethin!" Wilbur said. I glanced to Jimmy to find him staring at me with a confident smirk on his face. He looked between Branson and I as if assessing our situation.
"So what does that mean for us? What do we do? We can't stay in here forever and Scott doesn't know what's going on. He going to board up that door and as annoying as he is, I don't want him getting hurt because he's alone." I said this to Branson drawing Wilbur's attention. Patrick had walked to his family and they were speaking quietly in the corner. At the mention of the zombies changing, he had zoomed over to, presumably, distract his daughter.
"Y'all aren't alone? Where did ya leave yer buddy? He don't stand much of a chance by himself out there." Wilbur asked, grabbing his gun like he was ready to run out and save Scott. Branson looked at me for a moment and I could see the question burning in his eyes. Do we trust them? After a moment I nodded. I had a good feeling about these people. Plus, it's not like they had to save us but they did anyway.
"We cleared a wing out in the school. It's secure and there's a lot of space. If we can all get back there soon, we'll be safe." Branson told them. You could see relief wash across every face in the room.
"You have somewhere safe?" This came from Pamela. She rushed forward with Chloe in tow. Her eyes were brimmed with tears.
"If we can get out? Yeah. There's showers too with hot water. " When he said this, Pamela actually started to cry. It really is the small things you miss in the apocalypse. Now we just had to figure out how to escape a building that was surrounded by a giant group of nearly human, fast, smart zombies that could communicate over distances. Piece of cake. Right?
- Writer
