10. Last Stop
"Go, go, go, go," Chuck yelled as he chased after Megan.
"I'm running as fast as I can!" Firing behind her, she and Chuck ran uphill with several of the infected giving chase.
As they neared the top, a zombie leapt out from behind a rock and almost grabbed Megan by the shoulder. It was enough to stagger and bring her to the ground with the shotgun slipping from her grasp. She slid a few feet downhill and when she got her bearings back, she saw the zombie closing in on her with jaws open and hands extended.
"Chuck!" she yelled but he was still on the other side taking care of the few that were on their tail. She could hear gunfire come from his direction and from the rapidness of it, he was taking out quite a bit.
With the zombie a few feet away from her how she reached for the baseball bat strapped to her backpack. It came about halfway out before getting caught on one of the straps on the side. Panic took over her face as she couldn't get her weapon free. Her wide open eyes fixated on the infected's slobbering mouth, imagining the moment when she would feel it's teeth sink into her flesh.
That moment never came as the zombie's head violently exploded and the body fell before her. She looked up to see Chuck running over the hill, surprised at seeing her on the ground with the headless zombie body in front of her. Trying to get up and grab her shotgun, she glanced downhill and saw Ricardo with one of the hunting rifles they took from the store. Christopher was beside him with a crowbar, trying to pry open the door to the truck depot as she and Chuck ran down to join them.
"Nice shot," she told Ricardo.
"No problem," he told her. "Just your eyes open until Christopher can get the door open."
With a grunt, the heavy padlock broke off from the door Christopher was working on. It was a job to get it off since it was made of a heavy duty metal. "Got it. Now come on, get your asses in there."
Ricardo was the first one in. He had his carbine drawn and ready to use should any threat appear inside. Megan and Christopher were next while Chuck came in last, guarding their backs with the other hunting rifle. Once in, Christopher and Chuck worked on barricading the door while Megan looked for and found a light switch. The lights took some time to warm up but when they were at full power they could see how large the inside of the building was.
"Okay, let's work on covering these Windows. It's gonna be dark for we know it," Ricardo said.
"Are you sure we can stop?" Christopher asked.
"The radio broadcast said it'll take off tomorrow morning and not be back until next week at a different location. I don't want to chance going out after dark."
"But what if we take one of the semi-trucks?" Megan asked. "We could get there in what, two hours?"
"It'll still be dark when we get there. Besides, a 4 x 4 will shave about thirty minutes off that."
"Hey guys," Christopher said. "Instead of talking about it, how about we get one ready? The next area has semis that look to be in pretty good shape."
The truck depot was laid out in four separate wings with an office in each one. A large, heavy steel door separated each part from the other with two Bay doors to allow vehicles to enter and leave. The entire building was metal, like a much larger version of Ricardo's garage. Large florescent lights hung down from the forty foot high warehouse ceiling with long rectangular windows close to the top. The first section was more of a waiting area with the next two sections exclusively for semi-trucks and large construction equipment. The third held the smaller vehicles.
"What the hell is that for?" Chuck asked when he saw a big rig with a triangular metal mount attached to its front. "Don't bulldozers usually have those?"
"Looks like someone hates traffic," said Megan. "You could split a car in two with that thing. It looks like something that would be on the front of a snowplow."
"Hey ladies," Christopher called out. "I got a pickup 4 x 4 with about three fourths of the tank in it."
"That'll do," Ricardo said. "I'm gonna go and lower all the doors. Will sleep in the office in the last section."
After the doors were secured and all interior lights turned off, the group settled down for the night the best way they could. Bottles of water and empty cans of food lay on the desk in the manager's office with Chuck occupying the large leather chair with his cowboy hat over his face as he slept. His gun and rifle rested close by should he need them. Christopher slept in the corner farthest from the door, hugging his ax tightly. The leather sofa was for Megan but was empty as she quietly snuck out of the office.
Rounding the corner of the office, she saw Ricardo sitting against the wall facing the door that led to the previous section with the sleeves of his coverall off. A small candle was lit, giving him enough light to check on his healing wounds.
"How are you holding up?" She asked while leaning against the wall on her shoulder.
"Good," he told her as he finished wrapping up his arm. "Stitches seem to be holding up pretty good and the slashes on my chest were not too bad. They're coming along just as nicely."
"What did you put your weapons? I didn't see your bag anywhere."
"I put them in one of the semi-trucks. I'm figured if other people went to the bridge been there may be a lot of abandoned vehicles in front of us. One of the semis could be used to knock some out of the way in case we're in a hurry from those things chasing us."
"So, is that what you're doing here alone? Going over your wounds and potential plans?"
After putting the last of the bandage on his arm, Ricardo looked up at her. "Sort of. Kinda having a hard time sleeping knowing what's really out there now. What about you?"
"Same here. That and I got tired of hearing Chuck pass gas as he slept and Christopher mumbling in his sleep. So what's the big plan for the morning?"
"That's what I couldn't help but think about. I can't help think about how close we are. Once dawn breaks, we're out of here for good. You three take one of the trucks and I'll take one of the semis. When we leave and get the old Jeep Trail, you follow me while I see about knocking some of those vehicles of the way of there's any. Then again if I get stuck out there I'll climb in the pickup truck we'll hope it's not too crowded once we get the dam."
She moved over to him and sat between his legs with her back to him. As she nestled against him, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. She returned it by kissing the spot on his arm or he was wounded by the glass shard a day earlier. Being in his arms gave her a feeling of safety, that he would never let anything bad happen to her. She would also protect him if need be from any harm that may come his way should she be able to. At the same time, having her in his arms like that, Ricardo got the feeling of having something more to fight for. Being deployed overseas and thinking about her provided him a reason for him to come back to the small desert diner. Their time together only added to his determination to keep her safe no matter what the cost and made him regret for not telling her how he felt before this whole mess started.
"Where do you think we'll go once they pick us up?" she asked.
"Probably to a military base, somewhere where these things can't get to us."
"Do you think it's everywhere? Not just America, but all over the world?"
He held her a little tighter. The thought of those things being everywhere was something that had never entered his mind. "God, I hope not. There has to be someplace these things can't get to."
"Maybe you and I can find a deserted island somewhere. One where we can live by ourselves for rest of our lives. I'll even were a coconut bikini."
"I'd love that," Ricardo said with a grin. "But if it's deserted…"
"We can do that too," she giggled. "Just the sun on our skin and nothing else."
Leaning down, Ricardo begin to lightly kiss her neck. She moaned in approval especially when their lips met. She soon turned around to straddle his hips as they continued to kiss deeply. Clawing at his wife beater, she helped him get it off as he unbuttoned her blouse and laid her on her back where her hands moved to get his belt and lower part of his coveralls off. Her jeans were the next to be taken off and slid down her legs.
"Maybe I should've kept the skirt on," she said when they separated momentarily to draw a breath. "Just try not to rip anything off this time."
"No promises."
To Be Continued