Here comes the fourth chapter to the story! I am honestly considering changing the title of the story. Instead of Infection of the Dead, it could be titled The Roaming Dead or The Dead Roam, or something like that. I don't know, but suggestions are always helpful. If you have any suggestions, questions, or you just want to tell me how you feel about my story, feel free to leave a review! As always, enjoy!
Updated: 1/09/23
-Six Years Ago-
An arrow flew through the air as if it was a bird diving to catch a worm to eat. The air drag pulled the arrow closer to the ground as gravity played a part as well. The arrowhead pointed at a wooden round board with white paint as the outer target, the black paint between the blue and red paint acting as the inner target, and yellow paint acting as the center target; the bullseye. However, the arrow was dragged to the left by the wind and it hit the ground, missing the target. The arrow stuck itself in the dirt near a squirrel, making it scurry away in fright. A seven-year-old Vonda lowered her small bow and frowned.
"Daddy, this is too hard. I aim at the target, and yet I still miss!" sighed Vonda glumly.
"It's okay. You're just a beginner. This takes practice!" said Tim as he crouched to talk to Vonda.
"Why can't I just walk up to the target and shoot at it there?" whined Vonda.
"It doesn't work like that. How else are you going to hunt food when there are no grocery shops around? What about when you need to slay any scary monsters?" chuckled Tim.
"Why wouldn't there be grocery shops and why would there be monsters? I don't want to do this if I can't shoot like you do."
"It took me years of practice to aim very well. You can shoot like me. You just need to keep practicing. You'll notice when you get better. That's the best part about archery."
"But a few years is still a long time! Do I really have to keep practicing for that long?"
"Yes, but don't worry! One day, you will wake up and notice that a couple years have already passed. Now keep aiming for the target, Vonda," said Tim, grabbing a Fizz soda can and drinking it.
Chapter 4: Crossing the Line
I - Red Arrow
PRESENT DAY
-Day 13-
"Hello… Tim Crowley here. This is my seventh installment of Tim Tells The Truth. Today, we are going to talk about the incident in Iraq during the past week. As you know, as most people know… Major Quentin Black saved many civilians inside a hospital after the city was bombed. He got a Medal of Honor award for his courageous actions. Congratulations to him for doing that, right? Except, he doesn't deserve the medal. Who do you think was responsible for the bombing of the city…?" said Tim as continued to ramble on.
The tape, which was titled 'WAR HERO? 1/14/91', was 22 minutes long. Tim continued talking about Black's actions in the Gulf War. Lori played the tape in the walkie-talkie so that Vonda could hear it. Vonda wiped her tears and smiled a little, feeling grateful towards Lori for taking the tapes.
"Is it true? All of it?" asked Lori.
"What do you think?" replied Vonda through her own walkie-talkie. "My dad was a very intelligent guy and saw things that others did not. He had the facts and assumed things that sounded crazy, but look at him now. Hell, he even saw this whole apocalypse coming while everyone was worried about the Recession. Too bad... people didn't believe him. He was just like the other crazy conspiracy nut-heads to them. My teachers knew who he was. They thought he was crazy. They felt sorry for me. But I didn't feel ashamed. I thought he was the best."
Vonda looked out the back window of the RV. She saw the birds flying across the sky and the trees passing by.
"He was the best."
The group drove to a nearby pond about 40 miles south of Ann Arbor. The roads, as always, were filled with abandoned vehicles, making the trip longer than it had to be.
The group were prepared to go to sleep inside their vehicles when David knocked on all the vehicles. Everyone walked out of their vehicle and were ready to hear what David had to say.
"Tomorrow, we'll leave this beautiful Michigan soil and enter Ohio," announced David. "We won't stop for nothing, except maybe for lunch. We'll push forward on the journey ahead, and make no mistake, we won't lose another member. No matter what comes our way, we will keep pushing onward. Before we know it, General Black will get justice for what he's done and your parents will be rescued."
The group looked at David, all blinking and yawning. David felt awkward.
"That's all I had to say. You can go back now."
The group members returned to their vehicles, with the exception of Lincoln.
"I thought it was a good speech... just wrong timing," he said.
"Okay. Go to sleep."
Lincoln nodded and went inside an air-conditioned Vanzilla.
Richard leaned close to David.
"It was a godawful speech," said Richard.
"Yeah. I don't know how my superiors did it."
"Maybe one day."
Richard went back into the RV while David continued to stand outside, looking at the dark sky and empty field. It was eerily quiet.
-Six Years Ago-
"Daddy! I did it! I hit the target! I actually hit it!" screamed Vonda in joy.
Tim looked at the target and did indeed see that Vonda hit the target. He also noticed that the arrow landed on the bullseye. He laid down his Fizz can and smiled. Vonda ran up to Tim and hugged him.
"See? Now with plenty of practice, you will be landing the bullseye every time!" said Tim.
PRESENT DAY
-Day 14-
Vonda woke up and saw the roof of David's RV. The warmth of the sun softly flowed through the curtains of the windows to her face. David started up the engine of the RV. Everyone was rubbing their eyes or stretching inside the RV. Vonda took out a small leather quiver from her backpack and attached it to her hips. She then walked to the booth table and sat there, staring out the window.
"Are you all ready to go?" asked David.
Everyone in the RV nodded their head. David then turned on his walkie-talkie.
"David to all. Ready to go?"
"Lori to David. My group and I are ready."
"Chunk to David. Luna, Sam, and I are ready."
"Sergei to David. Carol and I are ready."
"Remember, guys. Today, most of us leave home and enter the unknown. We will face the unknown together as a group. The month ahead of us will be difficult, but we can make it. I know we can," said David, now driving his vehicle and handing the walkie-talkie to Richard, who sat in the passenger seat.
"You remember to avoid the center of the cities, right?" reminded Lori.
"Sorry, Loud," said Richard. "The upcoming city, Toledo, can't be avoided. Not unless we want to add a couple days into the trip. We have to drive straight through the city, but the good news is that the highway is separated from the rest of the city by a couple hundred meters. But it's still risky, no denying that. But without risks, we won't ever make it to Houlton. Remember that, Loud."
"Will do, Mr. Bolts."
"Please, just call me Richard."
After a couple minutes of driving, the group passed by a sign, saying 'Welcome to Ohio'. By then, the group knew that they crossed the borderline of Michigan and Ohio. The view of the city was nice, but the rotters roaming around killed the once beautiful view.
"In the past 1,440 minutes, I've been pondering on the name that we classified the zombies, currently named rotters," said Lisa in Lori's walkie-talkie. "It has come to my understanding that these zombies do indeed decompose, but they are in need of a more accurate name to precisely describe them."
"How about 'roamers'? That's what my dad used to call them," suggested Vonda.
"Roamers? That fits perfectly," said Lincoln into Lori's walkie-talkie.
"I was going to suggest viventem et recedens abiit, but the term 'roamers' is more concise, I suppose," said Lisa.
The roamers as they were now called, followed the group's vehicles at their incredibly slow pace. As for the other roamers in the city, they kept chasing whatever they saw or heard days ago. The group left the city quickly to avoid any tangles with the undead.
The sun was high in the sky, signifying that it was already noon. The passengers were very grateful that each vehicle had their own AC. However, they were hungry since they skipped breakfast for the sole purpose of rationing food, so they decided to stop for a lunch break.
"Boo-Boo Bear, can you get me another can of tuna?" asked Lori while she grabbed a tiny water bottle for Darcy.
"Sure thing, babe," responded Bobby, opening the crate of food.
"Vonda, I've been meaning to ask. What did you bring another bow for?" asked Missy.
"Oh, umm… I brought another bow for anyone in here that knows archery," replied Vonda.
Lynn burped as she threw her can in the field as far as she could. She stood up and walked towards Vonda and Missy.
"I know a thing or two about shooting arrows," said Lynn. "Archery is a sport, and I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I am excellent at sports. Can I grab the bow?"
"Sure thing. And here you go," said Vonda, handing the bow and an arrow to Lynn. "Let's see how excellent you are."
Lynn looked around and pulled the string with ease. Vonda was surprised as she never seen another girl her age pull a bow with 55 lbs draw weight. Lynn then pointed at a tree with her index finger about fifty yards away. She placed the arrow on the string and aimed upwards. The group watched as Lynn shot the bow. The arrow flew through the air and stuck itself near the middle of the tree. Lynn turned around and smirked at Vonda. Vonda smiled and grabbed her bow.
"Think you can do better?" asked Lynn cockily.
"I don't know…" replied Vonda as she grabbed an arrow from her back quiver.
She aimed carefully at the sky and smiled when she noticed the lack of wind. She shot the arrow and quickly grabbed another arrow and shot it. The first arrow landed on the top of Lynn's arrow, knocking it down from the tree, and the second arrow landed where Lynn's arrow was.
"...can I do better?" finished off Vonda, lowering her bow and smirking at Lynn.
"I thought you were going to split the arrow like in Brave!" exclaimed Lola. "But this was better!"
"I can't split arrows. At least not with the type of arrows that I have," said Vonda.
"Woah, someone actually beat Lynn in a sport!" said Lincoln happily.
"That was very, very impressive!" complimented Missy as she clapped.
"Woah, slow down there, buckos," boasted Lynn. "I admit that was cool. But we didn't have any sort of game yet, so I didn't lose in anything. How'd you do that anyways?"
"I was just lucky that there was no wind! And even after five years, I'm still practicing!" said Vonda. "You have a lot of potential, Lynn. We should train and hunt together. Are you the only one who knows how to shoot a bow and arrow?"
The group nodded their head.
"Looks like this bow is yours then," said Vonda.
She handed the red recurve bow to Lynn. She also handed another back quiver that she had in her backpack to Lynn. The quiver was red as well, to match her bow. She took eleven arrows out of her backpack and handed them to Lynn. Vonda and Lynn walked together to the tree, grabbing their arrows.
"Lori, why is she here?" whispered Becky while glancing at Carol quickly.
"Well, my boyfriend and my brother convinced me to keep her in the group," replied Lori as she nudged Bobby in the shoulders. "Not that I completely agree with them, though."
"Can't we do something about her?" whispered Dana. "I think she's going to cause a problem in the group."
The group looked at Carol. She was lying on her stomach while reading The Scarlet Letter.
"Oh, come on, what can she possibly do? I'm never going to let her take me away from Lori," said Bobby.
"True, but what about the other boys, or even the adults? It's not long before she turns eighteen," said Becky.
"You think so? Francisco, Clyde, Zach, Rusty, Liam, and Lincoln are too young for Carol. Luan and Benny are crushing on each other totally hard. David and Richard are way too old for her. Besides, David is too focused on his mission to interact with most of us and Richard already has a wife, right? Carol needs people. That's why we took her in."
Tad walked over to Carol, who looked up at him and smiled. They began speaking and only a few seconds in, Carol was giggling.
Becky lowered her eyebrows and glared at Carol and Tad, feeling her a bitter taste overwhelm her tongue.
"I still don't forgive her for what she did to us," said Becky.
"Why don't we confront her right now?" said Dana.
"Wait, for what?" asked Bobby.
Becky and Dana got up and walked towards Carol and Tad. Lori stood up and watched them with her arms crossed. Bobby distracted Darcy and played with her, though he still took glances at the girls. Tad looked at Becky before she kicked away Carol's book. Carol lifted herself until she was on her knees.
"Woah. What did she do to them?"
"Believe me. She deserves more than that," responded Lori.
"Guys, I'm really sorry about— hey!" yelped Carol as Becky grabbed her shirt and lifted her up to her feet.
"Woah, hey, Becky!" exclaimed Tad, grabbing Becky's shoulder.
"Listen to me, Pingrey. Don't think I'm not watching you," said Becky, releasing Carol.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were still dating," said Carol, her voice trembling. "We were just talking."
"We're not dating anymore. And I... I don't care. You can suck his dick for all I care. But don't you dare talk to Bobby or any of the taken guys. And don't you dare do all the shit you've done in high school. No gossiping, no manipulating, no snobby back-handed compliments coming from you!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry about those things! I swear I'm never gonna do those things again!"
"How do we know you mean it?" asked Dana.
"Hey! Hey! What's going on over here?" asked David as he ran over to the girls.
"I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your relationship– and Lori's relationship! I-I-I just crushed on the wrong guys. Bobby was j-just so handsome…"
"Hey! Don't call him handsome!" exclaimed Lori. "Only my friends, my family, and I get to call him that!"
"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. I really am sorry for tormenting you guys. I really... really want to make it up for you guys. But you guys have to give me a chance. Please."
"We don't have to do anything," said Becky. "Not for someone like you."
"Girls, what's going on here?" asked David.
Dana stormed away into the RV angrily. Everyone was staring at Carol and Becky. Becky bent down and picked up Carol's book. She shoved the book in Carol's arm as she shook in fear. Then, she walked to the RV as David followed her. Carol looked down in shame and embarrassment as Lori shook her head. Bobby and Tad looked at each other and felt pity for Carol. Tad walked towards Carol to reassure her, but she simply turned around and walked away, her face reddened and on the verge of tears.
"Girls, what the hell? What did she do to you guys?" asked David angrily.
"What didn't Carol do? She ruined my relationship with my ex-boyfriend!" yelled Dana.
"She was also really close to ruining Lori's relationship with Bobby! On top of that, she always acted like a bitch to us and did everything to make my friends and me mad!" shouted Becky. "That girl loves to play victim. It's literally her thing."
"That doesn't give you and your friend the right to harass her! Be more like Lori! She's mature and I know she's struggling to keep her hatred toward Carol hidden, yet she still never lifted a finger on her!" argued David.
"Lori would've done the same thing," muttered Becky. "Carol just didn't do anything yet. But watch, she's probably going to cause problems for Lori. That sociopath... I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to get Lori killed. Or any of us."
"Oh, Christ. She has not caused a problem yet, and probably won't in the future... intentionally at least. However, you guys are already causing a problem right now."
"You're right," said Dana. "But that doesn't mean we are wrong. Carol is going to cause a conflict soon. Just watch."
"Apologize to Carol. Both of you."
"You're not the boss of me," said Becky. "You're not even the leader of the group."
David frowned and kept quiet for a couple seconds. He chuckled and rubbed his face and quickly stopped chuckling.
"Yes, I am. You cause problems again and I'll kick you out this trip."
Becky scoffed and left the RV. Dana frowned and followed Becky out of the vehicle. David looked at Lori and glanced at her to come over. Lori placed her can of tuna down and walked over to David's RV.
"I know why you called me here," said Lori. "Yes, I can tell them to not do it again, but you gotta understand why they did it."
"Sure, some high school drama, whatever," said David. "I allowed your friends to come inside my vehicle because I trust you. If they continue to cause problems, then I won't hesitate to remove them from my vehicle. They would be your problem. Understand?"
"Yeah. I understand."
"Also, that's not the only reason why I called you here. I also called you here to discuss leadership."
"That's one topic I literally did not want to talk about. Let's just leave it as we both take responsibility to take care of our group."
"You do realize that will eventually create conflict, later on, right?"
"Maybe not. We both think alike. Besides, this journey should only take about a month, right?"
"Right."
"We can keep it together in a month. We should probably head on to the road now."
Lori exited the RV. David watched as Lori walked over to Bobby, who was talking with Darcy. Becky and Dana took a walk away from the group while the children continued to eat and talk with each other. David went back inside the RV and groaned, rubbing his head.
After a few minutes, David walked out of the RV and called for the group to enter their vehicles. Lori and her family entered their vehicle. Carol and Sergei went inside theirs. Chunk, Luna, and Sam entered their own vehicle. The rest of the group entered the RV. They headed back into the journey, filled with hours of boredom and gloom. Rusty spent most of his time clicking the buttons to an already dead Game Boy Color which belonged to his younger brother. Leni lay her head on Lincoln's shoulder, while she weeped softly. Francisco was sitting on his back, tossing a ball into the air and catching it.
"Hey, guys. Do you ever wonder what's happening to our parents?"
"Probably the same thing that happened to them in Royal Woods," said Lynn. "Though, I still can't figure out what they were doing to them."
"That's what I'm wondering. Why do they need our parents? Are they doing some sort of tests on them? Or are they just torturing them for fun? Not know what they're doing... it's killing me, man."
"My poor dads," said Clyde. "Who knows what that evil jerk Black is doing to them? At least they weren't killed in the massacre or the bombings. Now that I think about it, I think I heard a helicopter fly away when my dads disappeared. Why do you think General Black captured them first, Lynn?"
"I-I don't know," replied Lynn.
"Are you okay, Lynn? You seem a little sweaty. Sweatier than usual," worriedly asked Clyde.
"Yeah, she does. Something wrong, Lynn?" asked Francisco.
"No, it's nothing. I'm just feeling a little hot," said Lynn.
"Lynn, the AC is on," said Francisco.
"Yes, I know… please shut up, Francisco," whispered and pleaded Lynn.
"Is everything alright, Lynn?" asked Clyde.
"Mhm."
"No, I don't think so," said Francisco. "I think something's wrong."
"Okay, okay, yes, something's wrong. I can't take it anymore. I can't keep it a secret anymore!" said Lynn, hyperventilating.
"What are you talking about?" asked Clyde.
"I'm talking about your dads. They aren't alive anymore, Clyde! They were murdered! They were… murdered."
A complete silence washed over the group as Lynn panted for breath before swallowing hard. Lori drove awkwardly. Clyde just stared at Lynn with his mouth kept wide open.
"Clyde?" asked Lynn.
"Stop the car," said Clyde bluntly.
"Lori to all. Stop your vehicles."
After the vehicles came to a complete stop in the middle of the highway, Clyde stepped out of Vanzilla. All the group members decided to step outside their vehicles to see why they stopped. Lynn got out Vanzilla quickly.
"Wait, stop, Clyde. Don't leave."
"I need a minute."
"Yeah, I know, but not away from here."
"Why not!" screamed Clyde, tears running down his face. "You kept quiet when I wondered whether my parents were alive! How could you do that!"
"I'm so sorry, I was just too afraid to tell you."
"How do you even know they were murdered?"
"I saw their bodies."
"Y-You saw their bodies? Who else saw?!"
"Lincoln, Luan, Benny, and Lana. They saw it too. Not just me."
"Asshole," whispered Benny.
Clyde looked at Lincoln. David and Richard looked at each other confused.
"Is it true, Lincoln?"
"Yeah," sighed Lincoln. "I snuck inside General Black's station and went inside his basement. I saw Howard with his... dead in the floor, and Harold with his... stomach– oh geez. They were also... I... I can't get too much into the details. It was... horrifying, Clyde."
"Oh, God..." cried Clyde as he started hyperventilating.
Clyde collapsed to the ground and started wheezing and coughing.
"Oh my god, he's having an asthma attack!" yelled Lori.
Lincoln rushed inside Vanzilla and grabbed Clyde's backpack. He rummaged inside of the backpack and found his inhaler. He quickly went outside and handed the inhaler to Clyde. Clyde took a deep breath and held his breath. After releasing his breath, he looked at Lincoln.
"Why… didn't you tell me earlier? I trusted you, Lincoln."
An immense feeling of guilt washed over Lincoln. He could not find the right words to explain to Clyde why he refused to tell Clyde. After all, Clyde had the right to know since they were his parents. Lincoln opened his mouth, but no words came out. Lynn rubbed her arms and sighed before stepping forward.
"I told him not to," said Lynn. "I also told Lana not to tell you. Since I told Lincoln to not speak a word about what happened, he decided to tell Luan to keep it a secret as well. I thought you weren't going to be able to handle it, but the truth is... I couldn't handle it. I'm sorry, I should've told you earlier. Blame me. Don't blame Lincoln."
Clyde groaned as he closed his eyes. As he began to lift himself up, Lynn stretched out her arms to help him up. However, he ignored her offer and simply went inside Vanzilla. He grabbed his backpack before he walked outside of the van and headed to David's RV. Clyde sniffled loudly and walked inside of the RV. The guilt that washed over Lincoln also washed over Lynn, and they both walked to the van in shame. David walked back inside the RV, which signified the other drivers to get their vehicles ready for the road again.
"I feel bad for the kid," said Sergei.
"Yeah," agreed Carol. "If he didn't even know his parents were dead... how do I know mine aren't either?"
"Guess we can't know until we get there."
Richard and Missy were looking at their map while talking with each other.
"Looks like we gotta stop before we reach Cleveland," whispered Richard.
"Yeah, it would be best to do that anyway since we want to avoid being near the big cities," whispered back David.
The ride for the rest of the day was a long and awkward one. Everyone in Vanzilla was quiet except Leni who sniffled very softly and Darcy who fidgeted with her giraffe. After sundown, the group stopped by a field. They grabbed a couple cans and ate dinner by a small fire. Carol stayed inside the vehicle reading her novel. Dana, Becky, and Lori took quick glances at Carol while Bobby and Darcy would play with each other. Clyde stayed inside the RV. The rest of the group finished their dinner in silence and headed back to their vehicles. The lights were off in the vehicles in order to prevent attracting roamers and uninvited guests. Some of the people inside the vehicles had trouble sleeping, but others did not. Vonda was sleeping lightly until her exhaustion took over and a deep sleep took over.
-Five Years Ago-
"Can you share some of your arrows to the young boy over there?" asked Tim to an eight-year-old Vonda.
"Why do I have to? It's not my fault he ran out of arrows before I did. I was conserving arrows like you told me to. Besides, I can win just by myself," whined Vonda.
"You and that boy are in a team. You gotta work with him or else those other kids are going to beat you," said Tim.
"Fine. Here you go. Thanks for nothing," said Vonda harshly to the boy.
After a couple hours, Vonda sat on the field angrily fidgeting with her arrows.
"You look annoyed, Vonda. You know, winning isn't everything," said Tim while sitting down next to her.
"I know that. It's just that little boy ruined the game for my team. He's so useless."
"Now, Vonda, don't say that. He tried his best and that's all that matters. You gotta learn to work with your group, your teammates. After all, they are the people who are going to have your back at all times whether it's just a game or in another sport. You never know, maybe that boy will win the next game for you," said Tim.
"Yeah, I understand now. He also drooled on my arrows."
Time chuckled and picked up Vonda.
PRESENT DAY
-Day 15-
Vonda woke up yet again to another beautiful morning. Everyone was already awake and some even washed their faces. She noticed that there were strong odors inside the RV, and realized that it has been a while since the group members took a nice, hot shower. She also realized that she would never be able to take a nice, hot shower since electricity went out in Ann Arbor on Day 5 after the Global Infection Event. She remembered the panics caused around the stadium as riots flared across the city, causing people to die and in effect, turn into a roamer. It was that day when the population of zombies outnumbered the population of the living. She stayed with her alcoholic aunt, who was her mother's sister, who was destined to die as she was part of the riots. Her father showed no signs of returning and that's when Vonda knew she was on her own.
Time flew as Vonda was zoned out. She quickly snapped back to reality when David started driving. She walked to the back of the RV and stared out of the window by the booth table. Through the back window, she saw Lori driving Vanzilla. Lori smiled and waved at her. Vonda waved back.
The group inside the RV grabbed a cereal box.
"Are yer sure you don't wanna eat?" asked Liam.
"I'm not hungry," said Rusty.
"But it's been like two days since you last ate," said Tabby.
"I said I'm not hungry."
"If he doesn't want to eat, then we can't make him eat," said Zach.
"But look at him, he looks pale and sickly."
"I don't think we can blame hunger for that, Tabby."
Tabby looked at Rusty. His skin wasn't just pale. His eyes were reddish. Bags slouched under his eyes. His eyes screamed despair.
"I guess not."
"Eh, what's one more day of not filling yer stomach up?" said Liam. As long as you get some water in ya'."
"We'll leave the cereal here for you if you want some."
As Tabby, Liam, and Zach prepared to leave, Rusty called out to them.
"Wait, guys," he said softly.
The trio turned around and looked at Rusty.
"There's been something... something that's been bothering me. Something... I've been thinking about a lot."
"What is it?" asked Zach.
"When Lori and the others went into the cemetery to look for Lucy and... my brother... why is it that they only came out with Lucy? Why was my brother not with them? Why just Lucy?"
"I... don't know."
"Tell me it's not what I'm thinking."
"Rusty..."
"Did Lori abandon my brother? Did she not care about him? Was Lucy the only person that mattered to her?"
Zach rubbed his head, not knowing what to say. Liam and Tabby snuck glances at each other, waiting for the other to answer.
"If she picks her family over us every time, how do you think this road trip is gonna end?"
Rusty grabbed the cereal box and a bowl and began to pour some cereal for himself. The three friends standing in front of him were left in silence.