Chapter 8

Joshua King

Kids. That's all these people were. Alex, the oldest, was at the most in his early 20's. They couldn't last long by themselves. I wasn't sure if I might have been better off alone, or with them. Although when it came to this Salone person, I think I preffered being by myself. Racist fuck.

I had gone to the armory to stock up on ammunition and maybe a pineapple or two. I had almost ran out of ammo, and didn't want to repeat the same mistake. They had made a complete mess in here...shells and guns laying about. No organization, no plan in these people what so ever. Being covered in zombie bits really wasn't helping my mood. This whole thing reeked of hopelessness and decaying body parts. And after leaving and making our way about the city, our current position wasn't that desireable either. Not only were they wandering aimlessly around the city, but Salone of all people was opening his mouth. Would it really be that bad if I were to put a grenade inside it?

"And over here, ladies and gentlemen, we have your typical american busted out building. Notice the hands and bits of fingers hanging from the windows, a true icon of American marketing. And here, we have a lovely half-eaten body hanging out of a car. This bold new revolutionary type of body modification first began with the idea of bonsai kittens, and-"

Alex glanced at me before looking to Salone.

"Salone?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

He canned it, but you could tell he wanted to go on. He was trying to be funny. Like this was some sort of game. He didn't seem like the serious type at all. How he had survived this long without any of the other two shooting him was beyond me. Even when he wasn't being an ass, his voice alone annoyed me. He was like this jerk I had known in high school. Now that I thought about it, he kind of looked like him too, just a bit shorter. He seemed to have the same intelligence though.

"So um...anyone care to think up what we're doing just wandering around like blind men at a nude beach?"

I kept silent. I had already felt cold shouldered from this group. That was natural though, and I was used to it. They taught you things in SWAT, in the army too. They teach you to be cold, to become a killer. The people you see aren't really people. They're an enemy. Faceless, lifeless. They're just a target. After a while, that's what everyone else becomes to you: Faceless. Unimportant. They can be useful, but all in all, they were still faceless in a soldier's eyes. My team...I had lost my whole team. But did I feel regret? No, I hadn't. I hadn't seen them all perish, but they had been taken under my command...the only regret I had felt was my lack of initiative. Lives, in my line of work, were nothing more but gamepieces to some sort of game. Like Pawns in the game of Chess.

Once again though, Salone and his idiocy had jerked me back from my thoughts.

"Hey, a train. I like trains. Anyone else like trains? Trains were cool, until the engineers became zombies. I don't like zombies. Do you like zombies, Josh?"

"Hell no."

"Kibble for you."

Salone stopped. Almost in unison, we stopped, turning to look at him.

"So um...I had this idea."

We all blinked. This ought to have been good. At least, if it hadn't came from him.

"Since like, it seems like all the cars are either torn apart or empty of gas and keys and all that good stuff...who wants to actually take a train?"

Yeah. Definitely good idea. Almost as good as trying to rape a zombie and stay alive. I couldn't resist this time. I had to shoot one back, for the sake of intelligence.

"Yeah, and end up where exactly? Underneath another god-damn train?"

This idea seemed to have sparked interest in Alex, however. I looked around, to see where Salone had seen this train of his. Off to the right, there was a set of several railroad tracks, with trains and cars scattered about. One of the boxcars was smeered on the side-in blood. Alex mumbled something off, pulling my eyes away from what looked like half of an arm holding onto the boxcar door.

"I actually like this idea. Besides, where else do we have to go? We are certainly not driving. A train could take us farther than anything else we have. I say we vote on it. Nod your head?"

Everyone nodded their heads. Except for me. Alex raised his eyebrows.

"Something wrong, swat man?"

"My name is Josh. This idea is stupid. We're better off shooting each other."

"Ah well, Screw you then. Ve are going to do this. Come or leave."

I reluctantly followed. These people were going to die sooner or later if they kept this up. No rationalization.

As we neared the trains, I could make out the words "Sante Fe" labeled on the side of the train. It was black, with this red area through the middle, bordered by yellow pinstripes. What looked like a leg dangled off the side of one of the handrails. There was something about the train that just looked...evil to me. It was probably all the blood I had seen along the other cars, but this...it was monstrous and silent. Like I should be afraid.

Salone hauled himself up the ladder on the side, before walking the pathway on the side of the train. One at a time, we followed, climbing up the ladder. I felt stupid, like we were playing some sort of "Follow the Leader". And unfortunately, Salone was the leader.

He waltzed up to the side door and opened it, stepping in. Any person with at least half a brain would have drawn a weapon first, but he was an idiot. Slowly, we all piled inside the cabin. With the four of us, it was slightly cramped. Salone looked around expectantly, looking as if he was waiting on someone.

"So um...who's driving?"

Alex blinked, raising his eyebrows.

"We were under the impression that you were able to drive one of these things. I've never been on a train before."

Salone shrugged. Great, this was just perfect.

"I uh...used to play Microsoft Train Siumlator. Why do you ask?"

But Alex never answered. Salone put his hand down on the panel on the front, not looking at it as he leaned back on his hand. I tried to keep from squeezing my eyes shut as an blaring horn screamed across the rail yard, through the city, everywhere around us...great fucking dammit! Now everything knew where we were!

Alex paled as off in the distance, a low moan snaked it's way through our ears.

"You know what? You figure it out. I'm going to be out there, making up for your fuckup."

He unshouldered the M60 he was carrying. It suprised me...the way he carried it, it seemed so natural. You almost didn't notice it unless he moved the gun. There was something of a soldier in his eyes, in his face. As he opened the door, I followed.

"I'm going too."

I closed the door behind me as I walked out. I could already see a problem: The big part of the train seperated the left and right sides. And since there were doors on both sides, they both needed protection. There didn't seem to be any ladders that went to the top of the train...it looked like it was just up to us to decide who took which side.

"Rock paper scissors?"

I nodded, sticking out a hand. I moved it up and down three times through the air before throwing out two fingers. Alex's fist stayed the same. Dammit.

"Eh...sorry."

I left him in silence as I walked to the end of the train, making the turn to get to the other side. Alex shouted at me as I made my way across.

"Good luck."

Good luck. Luck was for the ones who didn't know any better. But as I heard what sounded like the chorus of shambing, unearthly moans vibrating throughout the air, I wished I'd had all the luck in the world. And as I stopped walking...I felt scared.