Jacqueline Druga - No Man's Land

“I hope you find them.”

“Thank you.”

She must have noticed my yawn. “Why don’t I take first watch? You’re tired and Edward will start making a fuss soon enough.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Get some sleep.”

“Thank you. Wake me if you need anything.” I walked back to the cart, grabbed a sleeping bag and carried it up to lie down next to Edward. It didn’t take long to fall asleep. That beer probably helped.

I dreamt too. A weird dream. I was at an amusement park set up at the Value Store parking lot. Hannah laughed and giggled then she got on the ride that swung her around. Each time I watched her pass she would call my name with her arms in the air.

I kept looking at her and the strong man, raising that hammer and landed it on the surface trying to ring the bell, but he kept missing and the hammer made a ‘crack’ sound.

“Calvin,” Hannah called.

She whizzed by me.

Crack.

“Calvin, help me.”

When the swinging ride circled again, she was hanging on.

Crack.

“Calvin!”

Hannah screamed.

That was when I realized, she really was calling my name, and the crack of the strong man was a gunshot.

Just as I sprang awake, I heard another scream. That one was pain and it was not coming from Hannah.

Panicking, I slid down the hill as the cart moved from the underpass.

Diana cried out, her screams curdled as she hung on to the cart with Leah locked to her arm.

I ran after them, a man was driving the cart, pushing the horse to move. He picked up speed and Diana dropped off. Hannah screamed my name, reaching out.

The man driving reached back and hit her, knocking her down into the cart.

My heart raced, Leah had lunged onto Diana. Diana also reached out.

“Help,” she said. It didn’t look as if she were looking at me.

Leah released her and stepped away. I hurried to Diana.

“I’m sorry she did this,” I said. “I have to get Hannah.”

She coughed and choked, blood poured from her arm and chest. She lifted her head and once again looked beyond me.

“Kill him.” She coughed out the words.

“What?”

I turned and before I could do anything, I saw a figure and something struck down at me.

Everything went black.

I regained consciousness for a moment, only to realize I was moving in some sort of vehicle. I made the mistake of calling out Hannah’s name and it was lights out again, until I felt my back hit on the cold hard ground.

I opened my eyes.

I didn’t need to see very well to know what was happening and where I was. I was the proverbial feed for the watchdogs. I was on that highway, on my back surrounded by Vee.

My first thought was, This is how it ends.

Right there, on the dark highway alone, I would be torn to shreds.

This was how it would end.

I never worried about the Vee as much as I should have, mainly because I never thought they’d get me. Vee moved slow, I moved faster.

Yet… this was how it would end.

My eyes adjusted pretty quickly. The sky was clear, the moon was bright, and I would see it all unfold. Ripped to shreds, eaten while I would still comprehend what was happening. I wasn’t terrified for myself. I was terrified for Hannah. What would they do to her? And Edward, did they take him? Kill him?

I didn’t even know.

I was useless and helpless. My body was still healing from the previous attack, I wasn’t even sure I could move. A lightning speed of thoughts went through my mind. A part of me was glad that it was over, yet, I knew if my child had been spared and Hannah not killed, they would face a horrendous world. One where the Vee weren’t the enemy, they were the obstacle. Man took the opportunity to be the vilest of creatures. Even if mankind survived and outlived the Vee, humanity was dead.

I was proof of this by lying there as the next Vee meal.

Hannah was right. It was trap; a twelve-year-old girl saw it and I didn’t. The blockade of Vee forced us to move forward and we walked right into the trap.

I heard her voice in my mind.

“You know Vee look for food, right. I highly doubt animals are such a plenty that the Vee don’t need to move.”

“What are you saying Hannah? Someone is feeding them?”

“Yep.”

To me, she was being absurd that someone was feeding them to keep them in one place. Yet, there I was the next meal. Who were these people as to be so cruel to do that to someone? Were my belongings worth more than my life?

Apparently so.

It stunk. Rotting flesh mixed with a sour odor. It was thick and I was in the middle of it.

About six of them encircled me. Part of me wanted one of them to be Leah. If any Vee killed me, I’d rather it be her. Leah had her fill; she took a good bite out of Diana.

I knew it was a matter of seconds before rest came. Then I felt it, the gun in the waist of my pants. They hadn’t taken it. They didn’t even know I had it.

I reached for it, shifted the chamber and with a trembling hand put it to my head. I would pull the trigger before they took their first bite.

The moment the first hand reached down and touched me, I didn’t want to die. I thought about shooting them, but I didn’t know how many rounds I had in the gun and I wasn’t all that good of a shot.

This was how it ends… no. Not yet.

Edward was possibly unharmed or unnoticed. For all I knew he was in that basket screaming for help.

And Hannah… I promised her I would watch her, take care of her.

If I were going to die, then I would go down fighting.

I swatted away the first hand and kicked another Vee out of my way, enabling myself to roll to my knees and then stand. I thought again about shooting, but if I were going to try to get Hannah, then I couldn’t let them hear the shots.

My best way out was to fight and run.

They came for me. Hands grabbing my clothing. I spun and fought, trying not to get bitten or scratched. I knew I had speed and they didn’t. I was like a football player, charging my way through.

I broke free to a clearing only to trip over something. My hands smeared in the thick substance as I tried to stand up and my eyes caught the portion of the arm.

That was what they did. They didn’t barter a safe night. They convinced people to stay, knocked them out cold, took them to the Vee pen and kept their belongings.

I wasn’t out cold and I vowed I would not be one of their statistics. After making it to my feet, I dodged another. I believed it was only by the grace of God that I was able to fight my way out. By way of only a moonlit night, I pushed, shoved, kicked, and focused to get off that highway. I aimed for the Value Store tractor trailer; that was my goal to get to.

Finally, I did. There was an opening between that truck and another, and once I slipped through, I stopped to catch my breath. I had about a mile and a half good run to get to Trent’s place, because surely, that was who took Hannah.

I had to come up with a plan and do so quickly. I was the meal that was getting away and the Vee were pursuing me. They never slipped through the openings between the trucks because they were given incentive to stay.

Now they had incentive to leave.

They were going to make it difficult. Fending off the Vee while trying to figure out a way to get Hannah and get the people that took her.

Then, once more, I heard the voice in my head of that wise twelve-year-old girl.

“The only way to get them is to lead them. So lead them out.”

With that thought, her words, and the Vee right before me, the lightbulb went on and I smiled.