Experiment Undead
Chapter 22

I’m so comfortable. I haven’t slept this well since before the virus came about. I sit up and stretch to replace Nate asleep in the single bed across the other side of the room, and swing my legs over the bed and sit staring at him. His hair has a grown at least a few inches since I first met him. His face was once free of hair as well, but like Todd, they haven’t been able to shave. Now both having a scruffy look about them. James though, he must have had access to products, as his chiselled face looks freshly shaven and his short brown hair, well groomed. I notice he isn’t wearing a shirt and see its neatly folding at the end of his bed.

Nates eyes blink open to replace me staring.

He smiles, ‘Good morning, did you sleep well?’ asks.

‘Ah, yeah. I did, thanks. I literally just woke up,’ I look around the room in confusion, ‘but, I don’t remember coming in here last night?’

‘You fell asleep at the back door. I carried you in here. You needed a good sleep. I saw you were struggling to stay awake all day yesterday,’ he says.

‘Was it that obvious?’ I sigh?

‘Yep,’ he says, sitting up, ‘Let’s get some breakfast into us, hey?’ he adds.

As he stands and stretches his arms, he flinches from the pain in his shoulder. I can see the dressing is soaked in blood.

‘Damn it, Nate,’ I say, stomp over to him and remove the dressing. The stitches have split, causing the bullet hole to reopen, ‘How did the stitches break? I have to clean this up and restitch it,’ I say unimpressed, narrowing my eyes at him.

Nate smirks, and raises his eyebrows, he has a cheeky look plastered on his face, ‘It happened last from lifting you up and carrying you to the bed,’ he says.

‘Oh,’ I reply, a feeling of guilt washes over me, ‘Sorry,’ I say softly.

‘It’s fine. I wasn’t going to leave you sleeping like that all night,’ he smiles.

I return the smile, ‘Thanks, Nate. I’ll go get the first aid kit from the truck. Meet me in the bathroom,’ I smile.

He nods and I dash out the door and collect the medical kit, and then replace a wash cloth in the linen cupboard and grab a bottle of water from my duffel bag. I enter the bathroom to replace Nate, patiently waiting, sitting on a bathroom stool. I place the first aid kit on the bathroom counter, open the water and pour some on the wash cloth. I scrub all the dried-out blood that had dribbled down his arm and chest, and open the saline solution. He scrunches his face as I squirt the bottle of fluid into and around the wound.

‘Sook,’ I smile, mischievously.

‘Are you going to call me a sook every time you treat one of my wounds?’ he asks.

‘Mmm, yeah, probably,’ I laugh.

He rolls his eyes, ‘Of course, you will.’

‘Is the sook ready for his stitches?’ I ask him, wiggling my eyebrows as I hold the needle and suture up.

‘Yep, let’s get this over with,’ he says, and looks away as I sew the hole closed. I place a clean gauze over the wound and use the medical tape to keep in in place.

I notice Nate’s eyes, focus on my cheek and neck, ‘The graze on your face doesn’t look as bad as yesterday, but the bruising around your neck looks worse,’ he frowns.

‘It might look worse, but it doesn’t feel as swollen. I’m not struggling to breathe so much today as I was yesterday,’ I reply.

‘Who the hell does that to a kid, anyway? What a monster,’ he says through gritted teeth.

‘I got my revenge. You saw his face,’ I say, in an attempt to calm him down.

‘Damn straight you did. A shame you didn’t get a chance to do more,’ he says.

A horrible feeling consumes me, I’m worried, my brows furrow, ‘He ordered the platoon to replace me. You don’t think he would still come after me again, do you?’ I ask, hugging myself with my bandaged hands.

‘I think he has more important things to deal with, Penny, like surviving the apocalypse. For all we know he could have already been bitten and turned since we saw him. Everyone is vulnerable and capable of being infected if they’re not careful,’ he replies. ‘Don’t worry about him, we should go have breakfast,’ he adds.

I stumble as a loud noise and heavy vibration rumbles through the house. Nate grabs me with his good arm. I cling on to him as the house continues to rattle, ‘What is that!’ I ask, trying not to freak out.

‘That would be army jets,’ he says.

‘Woah!’ we hear Oscar yelling.

We go outside to join the others, and stare up at the sky.

I count twenty-nine jets and then three more trail behind. ‘We should start taking note of which direction they are coming and going from. Maybe we can replace our way to their main base and replace refuge there?’ Nate says.

‘But would that be safe? After what happened with the army personnel in Rokewood?’ I ask him.

‘I’m sure Commander Bryant had gone rogue and wasn’t following his superiors order, and commanding the platoon on his own terms,’ he says adamant.

The jets have gone, Nate marks an E for east on the map. The direction they are flying.

I hear his stomach rumble, ‘Now we can have breakfast,’ I smile at him.

We enter the kitchen. Mate replaces shelf milk unopen in a cupboard, while I search the pantry. I’m excited to replace a box of coco pops and rice bubbles.

‘Yes!’ I smile and place the boxes by the bowls and milk Nate organised.

‘I can’t remember the last time I’ve had rice bubbles,’ I say as I fill my bowl to the top.

‘Me either,’ Nate says also choosing rice bubbles.

We scoff it down, ‘That was so good,’ I reply.

We all hear Carrie, Kate and Nancy scream from outside. James, Todd and me all quickly grab our rifles and follow Nate outside. There’s eight soulless, that have circled around Emma, she’s crying and clutching tightly onto Molly her doll. Oscar is sneaking up behind one of them wielding a crow bar.

Kate and Nancy try to throw rocks at the soulless to get their attention but they seem to not care, and remain focused on Emma. Carrie runs inside the house, ‘coward,’ I mutter under my breathe. Todd gives me a scowl, while Nate and James, focus aiming their rifles at the soulless.

‘Don’t move, Emma,’ I shout to her. ‘Stay down, we are going to shoot them okay, get as low as you can,’ I say in a calm tone.

She nods, and sits where she stands and lowers her head, snuggling Molly.

Oscar hits one in the back of its head, but the crowbar remains. James, Nate, Todd and I shoot simultaneously. I kill two, but then run out of ammo.

The men, manage to take the rest out. Emma stands and runs in to Kate’s arms and they both cry.

‘That was a close call,’ Nate says, as he climbs onto the bonnet of the truck and looks around through his scope, ‘Shit! There’s a hole horde of them coming this way. Grab your bags, get the horses and let’s get out of here,’ he says.

Oscar and I run inside the house and grab our bags. I climb onto the back of the truck, with Oscar behind me. James returns holding the horses by the reigns. Kate lifts Emma into the back of the truck then helps Nancy up. Nate returns outside wearing his backpack and takes the last horse from James and hops on her back.

‘James,’ I say, before he gets into the driver’s seat.

‘Yeah, what is it, kid?’ he asks.

‘You don’t suppose there’s any ammo in the truck? I’m out,’ I ask.

James points to one of the cases near my feet. I nod, flick the latches, and lid up to see a few hand guns and different size magazines. I slide the release button on my rifle that unlatches the magazine, and pull it out. I toss it in the case and grab a thirty-round magazine, push it in the compartment, and click it in. I take another magazine, and stuff it in my duffel bag for later.

I look up to see all eyes are on me, ‘What?’ I ask.

Nate smiles, ‘Nothing,’ he says.

Oscar frowns at Todd, ‘If Penny, can use a gun, then don’t you think I should be taught how to shoot as well?’ he says to Todd.

‘Absolutely not!’ Todd replies.

‘That’s just unfair and stupid, Uncle Todd! I had to use a crow bar before when it would have been safer for me to shoot the soulless,’ he argues.

‘I. Said. No,’ Todd replies in a stern tone.

‘My father would let me,’ he answers back, crossing his arms.

Todd narrows his eyes at Oscar, ‘Yeah, well I’m not your father, but I’m still responsible for you,’ he growls.

‘Huh! Responsible?’ Oscar laughs, ‘You wouldn’t know what that word means. If you were being a responsible adult, you wouldn’t be taking drugs, plus I could smell the grog on you this morning too. So, don’t try an act like you have any authority over me. You’re a loser and you can’t even take care of yourself!’ Oscar shouts at him.

My eyes are wide, and I’m holding my breathe. The air is incredibly tense right now. I’m waiting for someone to drop a pin, or for the crickets to play a song. My eyes replace Nate’s and we give each other the “Oscar has a fair point” glance before averting our eyes to the soulless entering the yard.

The way Todd and Oscar are intensely, but quietly glaring at each other is unnerving. Carry places her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at Oscar, ‘Didn’t your parents teach you to respect your elders? Clearly not, maybe your uncle should teach you with that plank of wood over there,’ she yells at Oscar.

Nate and James now glare at Carrie, ‘If you thinking threatening a kid with a plank of wood is justified, then allowing you back on this truck with your attitude is not,’ James says.

Carrie stiffens, ‘But you heard what he said to his uncle,’ she argues.

I stand up, ‘If you all haven’t noticed the soulless are coming this way. I suggest we leave now.’

Nate purposely bumps into Todd, shoving him, ‘Get in the truck or walk,’ he warns, ‘You too, Carrie, or I’m happy to leave you behind,’ he says.

‘You wouldn’t dare?’ Carrie says, glaring into Nate’s blue eyes.

‘Try me,’ Nate replies, his eyes narrow in on hers.

‘You’re all worse than that freak,’ Carrie snaps, and storms past Todd, to get in the truck first, but trips over a rock and falls on her face.

We all laugh except for Todd, who’s busy fuming to himself, grinding his teeth.

‘Karma’s a bitch,’ I say loud enough for her to hear.

She stands, wipes the dust from her shirt, and sticks her finger up at me. Oscar and I smile and both return the gesture, both flipping her the bird.

She grizzles under her breath and gets in the truck up front. Todd gets in next to her and James as well in the driver’s seat.

As we leave the Dereel, we all sigh in relief that Carrie isn’t in the back with us, ‘Why did we have to replace her in Rokewood. Why couldn’t she have been picked up by another group of survivors or left wandering alone,’ I sigh.

‘She’s scary. I don’t like her,’ Emma says.

‘It’s okay, Emma, I don’t think anyone likes her,’ I reply.

‘Except for my stupid uncle,’ Oscar adds.

I frown, but then smile with an idea, ‘You know what?’ I ask.

‘What?’ he replies, tilting his head with curiosity.

‘Why don’t I teach you how to use the rifle and shoot?’

Oscar’s face lights up, ‘Really? You’ll teach me?’

‘Yup, Nate taught me. I just made sure no one at the time new I was being taught, but to be honest. If I didn’t learn how to then I could have been killed or infected by now or others could have been infected if I hadn’t been taught.’

‘That’s true, and that explains why you’re so good at it. I’ve watched Nate a few times and his precision is always spot on,’ he smiles.

‘I can teach you some of the basics now, and maybe at the next town you can practise taking some shots.’

I think back to the lessons with Nate, and explain it’s not a toy and to always treat the gun as if it’s always loaded. I notice Nancy and Emma, quietly watching and listening too as I show Oscar how to hold it.

‘The butt sits here, against your shoulder,’ I say to him, adjusting the rifle.

Emma giggles, ‘Penny, said butt,’ she smiles.

I return the smile, ‘The end here, where the bullet comes out is called the muzzle. Never look in it, and never point it at anyone unless it’s the target you need to aim at. This switch here is the safety. You should always have the safety on until you’re ready to shoot. This button here, you slide which ejects the magazine. You can then put the new magazine in which just slides in, and give it a push until you hear it click in place. Then this part here is called the charging handle. You pull it back and it releases it to chamber a round.’

Oscar, unloads the rifle then reloads it as I showed him.

‘Good!’ I exclaim.

Nate, gets Dreamer to trot faster around the truck to speak with James through the passenger window.

A few minutes later he returns to the back, ‘Where going to go to Enfield State Park. It won’t take long to get there. We can camp the night in the bush, and there’ll be picnic areas around with public toilets so at least her highness in the front there has a throne to shit on and shouldn’t complain,’ he says.

Everyone chuckles at Nate’s jab at Carrie, who’s sitting in the passenger seat, oblivious to our conversation of her.

‘Oh, she’ll still complain,’ I add, joining in the laughter.

‘Probably,’ he sighs, but then smirks, ‘We could always leave her out in the bush. At least she’d be in her natural habitat,’ he jokes.

We all burst into laughter, even Kate can’t help herself.