Chapter Fourteen

Monday, September 14th 2009

12:07 a.m. – Damuca County

Ethan’s demeanor silenced everyone as he wove through the abandoned cars on the country road. His shoulders seemed relaxed but he maintained a look of fury as he stared straight ahead. No one was brave enough to ask what their new goal was but there was no way Stanley was going back to the city.

Unexpectedly, Ethan swerved the van off to the right. Isabel yelped and fell onto Stanley, who reacted just in time to stop her from falling forward. He would’ve smiled, but Claude’s rant to Ethan about his plan killed the mood. Ethan glared back at him, neglecting to keep his eye on the bumpy road they were on. Everyone fell silent again, until the van suddenly lurched. A terrifying noise came from underneath, and the van fishtailed.

“Hold on!” cried Ethan over Elisa and Isabel’s screams. He did his best to keep the van on the dirt track, but failed as the van slid into a deep trench, toppling it sideways.

Stanley could hear the crunch of the windows, the glass showering him. The impact had squeezed him like a bear hug until the van finally settled.

It was quiet.

He felt like he was in a limbo between his consciousnesses. His heart was pounding while his icy blood trickled down his forehead, but the constant tapping of the van from the rainfall kept him from going under.

“Stanley?” someone whispered. “Stanley?”

Stanley jerked his head around in a feeble nod, groaning. His eyes fluttered in a struggle to open them. A silhouette was on top of him, their cold hand slapping his face. His fingers burned in pain as he unbuckled his seatbelt. Noises of bumping could be heard on the opposite end of the seat that divided Stanley and Isabel from where Claude and Ethan were. Elisa’s side was dead silent.

“Are you okay?”

“Yea – argh.”

His heart gave another sudden spike. He may have been getting used to the pain, but it was still a startle every time it suddenly ached like that.

“Let’s get out of here,” he mumbled.

Isabel nodded and opened the door leading upwards, allowing the heavy rainfall to spray all over them. Her hands groped around outside, slipping constantly from the wet exterior. Stanley pushed her legs up before climbing out on his own. Hissing in pain, he made it out of the van before rolling off, smacking onto the muddy ground. He saw Claude crawl out through the shattered windscreen, a bit of skin above his eyebrow torn.

Stanley forced himself to stand, wobbling as he regained his balance. He took a quick headcount, and with Ethan and Elisa not in sight, he dashed for the back of the van first.

“Ethan’ll be fine,” thought Stanley, imagining the soldier heroically busting out of the car, cuts and bruises all over him. He kept his ears open, trying to listen through the splattering raindrops and chirping cicadas if any of the infected were coming.

“Argh, fuck!” yelled a voice. Just as Stanley figured, Ethan rolled out of the car and onto the mud, cradling one of his arms which appeared to be in severe pain.

“Stanley!” called Isabel. “I need help!”

Stanley slapped his hands on his jeans to clear the mud and jogged to Isabel. Elisa’s eyes were open as she tried to climb out. Stanley offered his hand alongside Isabel’s. Elisa clasped them both, and together, Isabel and Stanley heaved her out. Elisa ate mud as she fell face first into a pool of it.

“Are you okay?” asked Claude, coming from behind the van.

“I’m fine,” said Elisa, spluttering. “Don’t worry.”

She picked herself up. Stanley glanced around, looking for Ethan, whom he had seen just moments ago.

“Ethan?” called Stanley, wiping the drops of water out of his eyes as he went to find the soldier. “Ethan!”

“Leave the son of a bitch,” said Claude. “Look where he got us.”

Stanley looked around for any signs of Ethan. Where the hell had he gone? Surely he’d have stayed nearby the wrecked van with them. “I’m gonna go look for him.”

Claude snorted, dipping his hands into the muddied pockets of his guard uniform. “No. I don’t think so; we need to stick together.”

“We can’t just leave him out there. He got us this far out of the city.”

Claude shook his head. “Yeah, but not through that roadblock like he promised. And now look where we are.” He held his hands up to catch the falling rain as the trees rustled around them.

Stanley sighed, but the sounds of grunts nearby alerted him. “Did you hear that?”

Everyone took quick looks around them. Isabel spoke up first. “Hear what?”

“It came from over there,” said Stanley, pointing. About to go investigate, Claude slapped his hand on his shoulder. “Wherever you’re going, I’m coming with, got it?”

“Whatever,” said Stanley, pointing where he heard the grunts. “Over there.”

Claude brushed aside some bushes and moved forward, but Stanley turned to look at the women. “Just stay here. Yell if they come alright?”

They both nodded. Isabel whispered a soft “be careful” and Stanley gave her back a warm smile.

Stepping over some foliage, Stanley followed Claude, who was brushing aside several branches. “How many bullets you got?”

He unloaded the magazine and inspected it before slamming it back into the pistol. He gave a small grin. “Enough.”

Stanley shook his head at his immature partner before catching a glimpse of a man sitting against a tree just ahead of them. “Ethan? Is that you?”

The man held a stick in his mouth like a dog with one hand clasped on his own shoulder. His grunts grew more violent as they neared. Claude raised his handgun before the man snapped his shoulder. The stick dropped from his mouth as he howled in pain.

Claude kept the gun trained on him as Stanley saw Ethan’s face on closer inspection. He held his hand out to Claude before leaning towards Ethan. “What the hell were you trying to do?”

Ethan slumped against the tree, panting. “Fixing myself up.”

Claude was confused. “So why the hell did you leave us beh—“

His lecture was interrupted by the shrill screams of the women. Claude cocked the gun before rushing back. “God damn it!”

Stanley moved to follow, leaving Ethan to pull himself up off the ground. Back at the crash site, Isabel and Elisa just clambered on top of the overturned van. Four figures were slapping the sides, trying to find a way to reach their prey.

Claude fired off a round at one of them reaching to grab Isabel. Elisa was like a ragdoll in her arms as Isabel was frantically fending off the undead with her feet. She kicked one of them, sending him sprawling towards Claude. He pulled the trigger once more, knocking him back. The man growled before Claude took aim and fired another shot at the man’s head. A fountain of blood sprayed out of the gaping hole in his forehead as he crumpled to the ground.

Ethan made short work of the other two before Claude could even turn the gun towards them. As the last man splashed onto a puddle, Stanley raced towards Isabel.

“Are you okay?!” he said, scrambling on top of the wreckage to hug her.

She nodded as she cradled Elisa in her arms. “She needs help – she was bitten.”

Stanley glanced down at her. A lesion on her shoulder glistened underneath the moonlight, blood oozing out.

“I need help!” shouted Stanley. “One of you! Help!”

Claude answered Stanley’s cries, leaving Ethan to look at the dead corpse on the ground. “Elisa?”

He held his arms out as Stanley and Isabel lowered Elisa’s motionless body to him. Gently, he laid her on the gravel road and looked for a pulse. He sighed in relief. “She’s still alive, barely.”

He took off his jacket and pressed it against the wound on her shoulder. Stanley could hear his heavy breathing over the downpour as Ethan jogged towards them. “She’s not gonna make it, and we’ve gotta go. There’re more coming and I’m running dry.” He gestured towards his pistol before pointing down the dirt road.

“And where exactly are we gonna go?” asked Stanley, sliding off the van.

Ethan jingled a set of keys in front of his eyes. “Who knows what’s at the top of this hill, but we need to go.”

“Where’d you get those from?”

Ethan pointed at one of the dead men wearing overalls smothered in blood. His workers helmet hadn’t fallen far away.

But Stanley couldn’t help watching Claude’s efforts to keep Elisa breathing.

“C’mon!”

Ethan was already a fair distance away from them, waving at them all to come. Stanley looked to Isabel, who moved the jacket beneath Elisa’s head, cushioning it.

“Isabel let’s go,” whispered Stanley.

She stared at him, frowning. Her eyes darted between the man she once had feelings for, and another man struggling to keep another alive. But even Stanley had to suppress his desire to never leave anyone behind. Elisa had been infected after all, right?

But Stanley had his doubts. He was bitten too, and he didn’t feel any different, apart from the migraines and the stabbing pains of his heart.

“I’m not going,” she said.

Stanley dropped his hands in disappointment before turning back to Ethan. He had no idea what his next move was, but deep down, he knew he needed to survive. This selfish desire however, had coincided with his other desire for him to survive together with Isabel.

“Well, if you wanna come,” said Ethan, turning his back on them. The distant rumblings of more infected coming their way were becoming more pronounced. “I’ll be at the top. But you’d better decide now.”

Stanley’s breathing became heavier as he watched Ethan ascend the dirt track, supporting his recently relocated arm.

“Good!” yelled Claude, continuing his attempt to keep Elisa alive. “Get the hell outta here! We don’t need you!”

Ethan didn’t look back.

“Wait!” called Stanley. He returned one look at Isabel; a pleading one. From where he stood, he could see Isabel hesitating. “There’s nothing we can do for her. She’s infected.”

“And how do you know?” asked Claude, turning his anger on Stanley.

Isabel looked down at Claude, her shoulders tense. She looked unsure and reluctant. A helpless look emanated from her face. Perhaps Stanley was right, but it still took all her effort to say “I’m so sorry Claude.”

She ran towards Stanley, leaving Claude looking at them all with bitterness, his bloodied hands still cushioning Elisa’s head. Ethan seemed to have watched them sort out who was going where, as he stood still, ignoring the rainfall irritating his face.

“Let’s go,” said Ethan, unmoved. Stanley swallowed at his lack of remorse before following him up the hill, Isabel in tow.

“Fucking cowards!” shouted Claude. “Go to hell!”

Stanley bit his lip as he followed Ethan in a trek up the hill. Isabel was the only one who looked back.

Stanley panted, clutching his heart. They had run the last couple of feet after hearing the stampede of infected making their way up the trail. Claude was nowhere to be seen, and Stanley assumed he went his own way, or he was dead. Either way, the group was down to three, and Stanley couldn’t help but feel guilty about bringing this all to Elisa, Claude and even that pompous Phil kid.

“Hurry!” called Ethan, ahead of them. Isabel was ahead of Stanley, who was panting. His heart’s condition seemed to worsen with physical exertion. They were catching up.

Sounds of machinery groaned as they finally reached flat ground. The rain had subsided, only dribbling small drops now as the moon finally regained its stature in the sky. With the minimal light and the monotonous sound of machinery, Stanley realized that they were in an oil field, with wells working despite the current situation.

“Over there!” Ethan shouted. Stanley’s peeled his eyes away from the tall pumps and looked towards a small building of some sort across the field. Perhaps a foreman’s office?

“C’mon Stanley!” cried Isabel, who slowed her pace to wait for him. His throat was drying up quickly, having had nothing to eat or drink all day long. He was running out of energy.

Ethan reached the door to the prefabricated office first, jamming the set of keys into the lock. The growls were unsettling, but Ethan kept his cool, switching out keys when one wouldn’t work. He had no idea why the guy needed so many keys hooked onto the chain.

Isabel slammed against the prefab after running for her life, and Stanley arrived a minute later, wheezing. Behind them, a mob of about fifteen were racing across the field, some tripping over.

“Gotcha,” said Ethan, smirking as the door clicked open. Hurriedly, he pushed it open and trudged inside, mud sliding off his boots onto the linoleum floor. Stanley nudged Isabel in before getting inside himself, and slamming the door behind him.

“Out of the way,” said Ethan. It was a command. Stanley shifted sideways as Ethan slid a rather tall shelf in front of the doorway. “Pile up some stuff in front so it doesn’t fall over.”

Stanley nodded, but he was too exhausted to even put a chair in front. Luckily, Isabel got straight to work, grabbing a stool sitting by a desk and throwing it against the shelf. Ethan picked up a coffee table himself and pressed it as hard as he could against the barricade.

Breathless, Stanley fell against the wall. His head was throbbing and he found it hard to swallow any saliva left in his mouth. He barely registered the battering against the door, nor Isabel kneeling down next to him. She remained silent until Stanley finally looked her in the eye.

“Why did we –“

“Shit,” said Ethan, slamming his fist on a desk. “Claude had all the other bullets. That leaves us with three.”

Isabel ignored him, turning back to Stanley. “Why did we leave her there Stan?”

A frown grew on Stanley’s face. He didn’t want to think about it. “She was bitten, okay? There was nothing we could’ve done.”

She shook her head, refusing to listen to his dismissal. “But that didn’t stop the Stanley I know from helping them, no matter how hopeless it seemed.”

Stanley sighed deeply. It was true. He had been selfish lately. Perhaps ever since she kissed him lightly on the cheek back on the subway carriage, he had thought of nothing but himself and her, together. He couldn’t believe he was doing this to his brother, whom he had last seen with an evil grin back at the Yoshida building. No matter how much they disliked each other. Stanley wasn’t sure it was hate just yet.

“And what about you?”

Stanley was rescued from drowning in his thoughts of guilt. “What about me?”

“You –“ she lowered her voice to a whisper, “you’ve been bitten too.”

He nodded slowly. “I know... but I also know that this thing isn’t gonna affect me like everyone else. I won’t turn into one of them.”

“What if she was the same? Hmm?”

Stanley twitched his jaw. “You might be right, but think about it. If we were wrong, we’d probably be being eaten alive by her right now.”

Isabel was taken aback by his rebuttal. “And what if that was me? What if I was the one that was bitten back there? Would you have left me there too?”

Stanley blinked his eyes and bowed his head, unable to produce a response.