Chapter 9

“Do you know how to use a gun?” Megan asked, and Josh chuckled, as he grinned at her.

“Of course, I know how to use a gun,” he said, as he smiled, but then his smile faded when she handed him an automatic rifle.

Josh looked it over and then he made an unsure face as he looked at her.

“Uh, not this. Why can’t you just give me one of those hand guns?” he asked, as he looked at the bag, and then he looked back up at her.

Amanda, DJ, Megan, and Joe laughed.

“What?”

“Don’t worry. When we come across some mutants, I will teach you,” Megan said with a grin, as she tossed the duffle bag to DJ.

Megan jumped down from the bed and Amanda and Joe closed it. Megan grinned at Josh and then she pulled the slider back on her hand gun, looked in the chamber and then let the slide go as it slid back into place with a click. Amanda hit the button for the bed cover to close and then they cautiously made their way up to the old building.

The church windows were boarded up and it looked like the mutants had tried to make their way inside by the blood steaks on the siding. The building looked like it was painted white once, but now it was a dingy, dirty yellowish color and the roof was painted red. The air and the surrounding area were silent and eerie. The front double door of the place was wooden and it was also painted the same red color as the roof was.

DJ tossed the duffle over his shoulder, made sure that his rifle was ready, and Christy stayed close behind him. Joe and Josh readied their rifles as they exchanged looks and Megan and Amanda cautiously walked up to the door with their hand guns drawn. Amanda nodded to Megan, as they each grabbed a door handle and they quickly pulled the doors open. Easily, the doors swung open and everyone pointed their guns into the dusty doorway.

As they walked inside, the church smelled of decaying wood and death. The brown, wooden, empty pews faced forward toward a small raised stage. The large stained glass windows that were once beautiful now were covered in dried blood and dust.

Cautiously, Megan, Amanda, and DJ scanned the room with their eyes. The place was silent and DJ and Christy closed the doors quickly. They used a wooden plank that was lying on the side of the door for the lock, and slid it into place.

Noticeably, there was a back area behind the small stage, and to the left there was an old wooden staircase that led to the upstairs.

“DJ, you and Christy stay here. Joe and I will check the back, and Megan, you and Josh, check the upstairs,” said Amanda, and Megan and DJ nodded.

Slowly, Amanda made her way toward the stage with Joe close behind her. When they reached the stage, they saw that there was a door off to the side and Amanda signaled to Joe that they were headed that way. He nodded, and as they approached the door, Amanda curiously peered in the window pane.

There was a short hallway with a door at the other end that led outside, which was boarded up just like the windows were. There were two doors on one side of the hallway and there was one door on the other side. Amanda and Joe looked at each other and Joe swallowed hard.

Carefully, they opened the door slowly and stepped inside. They made their way to the first door on the side of the hallway that had the two doors. They opened the door and then looked at each other. It was a small storage closet that was empty except for a couple of mop handles. Amanda sighed quickly as she and Joe looked at each other.

They made their way to the next door and Joe slowly pushed the door open. Inside this door was an open bathroom and it was empty. Amanda looked up at Joe as he looked back at her and she nodded. He nodded back and then they turned to the other side as they looked at the last door. They crossed the hall and Amanda slowly opened the old wooden door, then they peered inside. It looked like it was an old office, and it was dark inside. Amanda sighed a sigh of relief as she giggled.

“I guess we can head back and let the others know that we are clear back here,” she said softly, and Joe sighed in relief, as he smiled at her.

Suddenly, a mutant night walker came running out of the office at her and snarled. The creature came at her fast, slammed into her as they flew across the hall and it slammed her against the other side of the hallway. As she was slammed into the wall, the force of the blow made her drop her gun. Immediately, she put her forearm under the thing’s chin and braced herself as she kept its teeth from biting her.

“Joe, shoot it!” she screamed, and he just stared at her frozen in place.

“Damn it! Joe!” she yelled, as she struggled against the creature.

At that moment, another mutant came running out of the office and it headed toward Joe, and he aimed his gun at its head as he pulled the trigger. Amazed, he watched the creature stop dead in its tracks and fall to the floor.

“Joe!” Amanda screamed, as she continued her struggle with the mutant that had her pinned against the wall.

In shock, Joe turned to her, and he swallowed nervously. After a quick moment, his eyebrows shot down in anger, as he aimed the rifle at the creature’s head and pulled the trigger. Amanda jumped at the sound of the gunshot as coagulated blood splattered her face and shoulders. The creature let go of her and then it fell to the floor dead and as she looked up, Joe was already by her side.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned, as he looked her over.

With wide eyes, she looked up at him and nodded as she swallowed hard.

“You, I mean, was that your first time killing one?” she stammered, and he shook his head.

“No, I have killed mutations before, but never with a gun,” he said, as he smiled.

“Well, I think that you were born for this,” she mumbled with a breath, and Joe searched her eyes.

“Joe! Amanda!” yelled DJ, as he ran to the back of the church.

Amanda and Joe looked at him, as he rushed into the hallway, but then he stopped, as he looked down and saw the two dead mutants on the floor. He looked up at them, shocked.

“Jeezus,” DJ breathed, as he sighed a sigh of relief, and Christy peered timidly through the doorway.

“This section is clear,” said Amanda, as she moved away from the wall.

“Nice shooting!” DJ said, amazed, and Amanda looked at Joe.

“Actually, it was your cousin that did the shooting while I was a little pinned up,” she said, as she wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt.

“Really?” DJ said, as he looked at Joe proudly, and Joe nodded as he grinned.

*********************

Megan and Josh quietly crept up the stairs and at the top of the stairs was a long hallway with a single door, and a pipe organ at the end of it. Cautiously, they walked to the door and opened it. Inside, the room looked like a classroom with small desks and chairs lined neatly in rows, a chalkboard on the wall in front of them, and a bigger desk and chair was in the corner.

Carefully, they walked into the room and they noticed a closet in the back of the room. Megan looked at Josh and jerked her head toward the closet. He nodded, and waringly they walked up to the door. He grabbed the door knob and Megan nodded. Slowly, Josh opened the door.

“Please don’t shoot!” a woman yelled, and Megan looked at the woman with wide eyes.

Noticeably, the woman had an infected bite mark on her leg, and Megan looked at Josh sadly.

“I am sorry, you are infected,” Megan said, as a tear slid down her cheek.

“I will set you free,” she added, sadly, as she aimed her gun at the woman’s head.

The woman looked at her with wide eyes and before she could say anything, Megan pulled the trigger. Quietly, Josh shut the door and looked at Megan with care. At that moment, they heard two loud gunshots and Amanda’s scream, and they both looked at each other. Quickly, they ran out of the classroom and down the stairs.

“Amanda!” Megan cried, and she and Josh saw her standing on the stage with Joe, DJ, and Christy.

“We’re okay. Back here, it is clear,” Amanda said reassuringly.

“Upstairs is clear,” said Megan, as she sighed a heavy sigh.

************************

That night, the small group filled their bellies and passed a bottle around. Seemingly, the liquor eased their nerves and soothed their sore muscles.

“We need to come up with a plan,” Megan stated, as she leaned against Josh sitting in the pews.

“Well, maybe we can see if we can get the Outcast’s broadcast to come over the truck radio. Maybe we can find out where it is being broadcasted from?” suggested DJ.

“Okay, then once we find out that we can start heading in that direction,” said Megan.

“Hey, we don’t know how old that broadcast is or if they are still even alive, so if we plan to do this, we need to be prepared for anything that we may encounter,” Amanda stated, and Megan nodded.

“And no matter what, we always stick together,” stated DJ, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Christy was sitting on the stage with them and she was leaning against the wall. It looked like she was fighting exhaustion. DJ walked over to her and sat down beside her. Caringly, he let her lean against his shoulder and then he looked up at everyone.

“Let’s get some shut eye, and we can talk about this more in the morning,” he said, and everyone nodded.

******************

Joe and Amanda were sitting in the first pew, and Amanda looked at him, as she was about to lean against him.

“Do you mind?” she asked, and Joe shook his head, as he lifted his arm.

Amanda leaned her head against his chest, as exhaustion caught up with her. The sound of his heartbeat and slow, steady breathing soothed her, and she was soon fast asleep.

******************

“Hey.”

Amanda slowly opened her eyes, and she saw Megan’s face above hers.

“Time to get up,” she said softly, and Amanda nodded.

Megan gently touched Joe’s shoulder and he looked up at her as he nodded. Everyone gathered themselves and then they cautiously walked to the front door. Megan and Amanda lifted the plank and then they opened the doors. They all walked out of the church and into the morning sunlight.

Amanda opened the truck bed, and Megan grabbed some MRE’s as Amanda filled the gas tank. Everyone else had gotten in the truck and waited patiently for the girls.

Amanda started the truck and they headed out of town. Amanda pulled onto the highway and she flipped the radio on. As she scanned through the channels, she had come across a station that was repeatedly playing the broadcast.

“Any survivors out there? This is Outcast broadcasting on all emergency frequencies. We are just off the coast of California, we have food, shelter and there is no infection here.”

Amanda looked at DJ, and he nodded.

“California it is,” she said, as she headed west on the highway.

*********************

It seemed like they had been traveling for a couple of hours. Sadly, there still wasn’t a soul insight.

“What is that up ahead?” asked Megan, as she leaned over the seat, and pointed out of the windshield.

Everyone looked at where she was pointing and they all saw a huge car pile up in the middle of the highway. Slowly, Amanda took her foot off of the gas and stepped on the brake.

“That’s strange,” said DJ, as he looked at the piled cars.

“Come on. Let’s get off the highway,” Joe said, as he looked at Amanda.

He had a bad feeling about the pile up and he just wanted to get out of there. Obediently, Amanda put the truck in reverse and then she drove off the last exit they had passed. She drove down the access road as they all looked at the cars.

“What happened here?” Josh asked, as he stared out of the window.

It looked like someone had blocked part of the highway and had made a small camp behind the wall of cars. Unfortunately, the camp didn’t survive and there were day walkers running all over the place, but then they saw another centipede creature just like the one that had attacked their camp. However, this creature was dead and its carcass was in the middle of the road.

Quickly, Amanda pushed on the gas and sped up to get past the overrun camp and they saw another car pile up.

“Looks like the highway is clear now,” said Christy, and Amanda took the next on ramp.

“Jeezus, the whole city is destroyed!” stated DJ, as he stared out of the window.

The buildings stretched to the sky were half falling down and the beams were sticking out. There was billowing smoke in spots of the city and there was no living, just the undead.

“Do you think that there are any survivors in there?” asked Joe, and Amanda looked at him as if he were crazy.

“I am not going in there, that place is crawling with the infected. Let’s just stay on track and get to California,” she said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

It wasn’t that Amanda didn’t want to save any survivors, she had just made a promise to herself that she wasn’t going to go into any more cities. There was no telling what the mutants could have mutated into and she really didn’t want to find out.

******************

They continued on the highway for a little while, and then Amanda pulled to the side of the road.

“What’s wrong?” Megan asked, and Amanda looked at her.

“Nothing, I just need to get out and stretch my legs,” she said, and then she got out of the truck.

Everyone else got out of the truck and they all stretched. Amanda lifted the seat in the back and pulled out a couple of water bottles.

“Our water is going to go fast with six people, so we are going to have to share,” Amanda stated, as she handed out the bottles.

“I’ll share with Christy, Megan and Josh can share, and you and Joe,” said DJ.

“Alright, then it’s settled,” she said, as she handed Joe a water bottle.

“So, how far do you think we are from Cali?” Megan asked, as she looked up at the sky.

The sun was still pretty high and it hadn’t begun to set yet.

“I’d say we have at least made it to Mississippi,” said Joe, and everyone looked at him in question.

“What makes you think that?” DJ asked curiously, and Joe looked at everyone with a smirk, as he jerked his thumb behind him.

Evidently, there was a large highway sign that read, Welcome to Jackson, Mississippi.

“Well, there is your answer,” Amanda teased DJ, and Megan nodded, as she grinned.

********************

They continued west until they saw a sign that read Welcome to Texas. There was smaller lettering on the bottom, but the only part that you could still read was, Please, don’t drive through it like hell.

“We should start looking for a place to make camp,” stated DJ.

“What about the base, the one that is down the road from here?” asked Megan.

Suddenly, they heard a few clicks come across the handheld radio. Immediately, DJ grabbed it and clicked the mic button a few times.

“Hello? Is there anyone out there?” asked a raspy voice that came over the tiny speaker, and DJ, Amanda, and Megan all looked at each other.

“This is Delta 1. Who am I speaking with?” DJ asked over the radio.