Chapter 5

Jay Box

8:25 AM

"I'm sorry, what?" Mercer asked, trying to dance around my question.

"You heard me. Where is your family?"

"I don't have one." he answered, turning back to face the road.

"Bullshit. You wouldn't have a four-door Greenwood if you were single. You need people to use those doors." I answered. This guy was definitely hiding something.

"This isn't my car. I stole it earlier."

"Eric, I'm a cop. I can tell when people are lying."

He sighed. Ha! I must have struck a nerve.

"They're dead. I killed them." he replied, his voice cracking.

Soul Patch and I looked at each other. Then I turned to face Mercer, or at least the back of his driver's seat.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't know."

I felt like an asshole. I had rudely pressured this poor guy into giving up his darkest secret.

"It's alright. Like you said, you didn't know." he said.

"What happened?" Soul Patch suddenly asked.

I rolled my eyes. Okay, I'm officially changing this guy's nickname to Nail in the Coffin, I told myself.

"The zombies got them. I had to kill them."

Good enough for me, I decided. This is none of my business.

"How?" Nail in the Coffin asked.

"Arrgh! Shut up!" I cried.

The car stopped, and Mercer turned to face us. Unsurprisingly, his face was streaked with tears. Heck, I didn't blame him. I'd cry too if I had Nail in the Coffin in my car.

"You think you've seen it all." he said. "You never thought you'd have to kill your own wife and son. But you love them so much, you can never bear to see them sick. It tears you apart. If death is the only way to end their suffering, then so be it."

"Oh, I see. Like Old Yeller." said Nail in the Coffin.

I glared at him. This guy was officially the dumbest human being I've ever met. It's people like him that cause others to commit suicide.

"You know, the dog?" he said, having gotten no response.

Oh, thanks for clearing that up, because I thought you meant Old Yeller the dancing rabbit. Idiot.

"Yeah. It's kind of like Old Yeller." muttered Mercer, who was also growing annoyed.

"Why is it 'kind of?'" asked The Dumbass With The Soul Patch Who Puts The Nail In The Coffin.

"Because Old Yeller is a dog. In a book. I'm talking about humans, and real life. I had to kill my wife and my son to put them out of their misery."

"Totally like Old Yeller!" cried The Dumbass Who Pissed In The Gene Pool.

I socked him in the face. How this guy ever got into the Army, I'll never know.

"Hey, guys. Do you smell that?" asked Mercer.

"Is that gasoline?" I asked. I would have used the word 'gas' but I knew Dumbass would have made an immature joke if I did.

"Let's see."

Mercer and I exited the car and went around back. Sure enough, there was a trail of gas leading from the gas tank. I don't know how, or when we lost the gas tank cover, but I knew that it would be unsafe to keep using the car. Just then, Mercer tapped me on the shoulder.

"Look."

Two zombies stood in the distance, maybe thirty feet away. One of them was holding a cigarette lighter.

"Oh, shit." I muttered. Not good.

Mercer went back and pounded on the car window.

"Come on, you've gotta get out of there.

"What?" Dumbass asked.

The zombie with the lighter pulled back his arm, preparing to throw.

"Get out of there!"

"What? I can't hear you."

The arm went forwards and the lighter arced through the air.

"Get the fuck out, dumbass!" Mercer screamed, as he used the butt of his gun to shatter the window. He threw the door open, yanked Dumbass from his seat and they raced over to the side of the road. The lighter landed, landing perfectly in the puddle of gasoline. The three of us covered our heads as the car caught fire. The zombies, having done their job, ran back into the bushes.

"You sir, are an idiot. A Grade-A idiot." I muttered to Dumbass, as the three of us stood in the grass. I couldn't help it. This guy needed some real common sense knocked into him.

"The whole time, you have done noth--"

Just then, the car exploded in a ball of fire. Mercer and I dived out of the way, landing at the bottom of the hill.

"Oh, man." I muttered.

"You ok?" Mercer asked.

I nodded. "You?"

"I'm fine."

"Hey Dumbass, are you..." My voice trailed off. There, a few feet above us, lay Dumbass' body.

"Is he dead?" asked Mercer, as we went to take a closer look.

We gasped. A long metal pipe was lodged in Dumbass' head. Apparently, it had gone in through the back and come out through the front.

"Oh yeah. He's dead."

"Well, you don't see that every day." marveled Mercer.

"Now what?" I asked in exasperation, ignoring Mercer's comment.

"We're gonna have to walk."

"Walk? There's zombies everywhere! You can't take a piss without getting attacked by a zombie! And they're intelligent, too! They knew how to set our car on fire!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry, Jay. We have no choice. If you wanna find us a car, be my guest. If you're not getting us a car, then we might as well start our little trek now."

"Alright then," I sighed.

"Keep your gun ready." he warned me.

"Damn, it's running low."

"There's more back there." he said, pointing to the site where we had previously fought alongside the three worst army men in history. I shuddered.

"Meh. I'll take my chances."

"Suit yourself. Let's go."

We started off towards the city.

It was 8:55 when we got into San Fierro.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.

"We'll be there soon." Mercer said, without looking back. I rolled my eyes. That didn't even answer my question.

I was glad we had gotten into San Fierro unscathed, but I couldn't help but think we were being watched. There were so many places for them to hide. I scanned left and right, searching for any signs of human life. Nothing. Were we the only humans left in San Fierro? I thought to myself. Nah. There has to be other people out here. If the army men were able to keep themselves alive, there has to be other people out here.

"Wanna go in?"

The voice shook me from my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

Mercer had stopped to look at a Burger Shot on the side of the road.

"Do you wanna go in?" he asked again. "There might be some food in there. Maybe even humans, if we're lucky."

"Sure," I answered, as the two of us headed to the door.

We sat at one of the booths, each eating a burger. It was only your typical Burger Shot cheeseburger, but at least it was food. Plus, it was still clean. Like zombies hadn't gotten to it.

"Hey, Mercer." I said suddenly.

He looked up from his food.

"What's up?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"Excuse me for asking, but what did happen to your family?"

Mercer sat back and let out a heavy sigh.

"Whoa, man. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was just curious."

"No, it's okay. You should know."

I set my burger down and began to listen.

"It was only yesterday. We were all in the Ammu-Nation. I was up in the front and Sarah and Jimmy were in the back room."

"Sarah and Jimmy?"

"Oh, sorry. My wife and son. So anyways, I hear a noise back there. Sounded like breaking glass. So, of course I go to see what the problem is. I get back there, and there's two zombies back there. Sarah's lying on the ground screaming and Jimmy's been clawed to death. Now keep in mind, I had never seen these zombies before. It was dark, and they looked like humans. I thought they were rapists. The first one kills Sarah and turns to face me. Now I know they're not human. I run into the other room and take a Desert Eagle off the counter."

"You kept a loaded Desert Eagle in the room right next to your son's?"

"Hey, who's telling the story here?"

"Right. My bad."

"Besides, the safety was on. Yeah, so anyways, I take the gun and shoot it at them. I hit one in the stomach, and they both haul ass out the window. Then, Sarah stands up, and she's a zombie. Jimmy does the same. And the whole time I'm crying out of total grief, sadness, and confusion, right?. I run into the bathroom and they follow me. I back up against the wall as Jimmy comes in. He's in before Sarah. I look into his eyes, and Jimmy's not there. Nothing...is there, you know? Sarah's the same way. Now they're moaning, wailing, slashing at me, so I draw my gun. I shoot Sarah in the side of the head and she falls past me, into the tub. I somehow bring myself to shoot Jimmy, and he, too, falls into the tub."

The bodies in the bathtub, I realized. No wonder Mercer acted so weird when I told him, back at his store. They were his own wife and kid! And he's the one who shot them!

Mercer shook his head.

"You never see things the same way after something like that. Never see things in the same light anymore. It leaves a void in your heart that can't be filled. I mean, when you're driven to shoot your own wife and two year-old son, just to put them out of their misery, something just leaves you. You know?"

"No." My voice choked. "I've never experienced that. And for the sake of me and my friends, I hope to God I never have to."

An awkward silence hung in the Burger Shot. So many things were rushing through my head at once. I didn't know how to react.

"So...have you been working at Ammu-Nation all your life?" I ventured clumsily.

"Just about."

"Oh. Cool."

There it is again. That silence.

"You know something, Jay? I'm glad I was able to tell somebody." Mercer said quietly.

"Yeah. I'm glad you were, too." I replied, not really paying attention.

Damn silence! I think I can hear myself think!

"You done with that burger? I wanna get going soon." declared Mercer.

"Yeah, sure. Let's get out of here. This place is getting creepy for some reason."

Mercer stood up first. His shoes sloshed against the ground as he walked, something wet on the bottoms.

"Dude, what is that on your shoes?"

"I don't know. Zombie guts?"

"Too bad. You know what? I bet there's gonna be a whole bunch of zombies outside, waiting for us to exit this restaurant. I just know it."

Mercer shrugged and threw open the door.

Aw, dammit. I'm a frickin' psychic.